A New Dragon in the Crystal Empire

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 15
Chapter 21
Chapter 37
Chapter 1
Chapter 3

Chapter 2

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Chapter 4

One of the problems about a hybrid society was that wyrm and pony culture each had a small mountain’s worth of innuendos, and both sets had survived remarkably well in Everfree Village. ‘Sharing a private meal,’ for example, carried a drastically different meaning here than in the rest of Equestria. Unfortunately, Fluttershy preferred to eat breakfast and lunch, and sometimes dinner, in the privacy of their home, rather than face the buffet-style madness of the Village’s main kitchen, which gave a lot of villagers the wrong idea about how the yellow mare and her husband spent those parts of the day.

Cliff didn’t really care what they thought, although the constant teasing from Spirit and Sky Painter, their father, did get old sometimes. He focused on preparing breakfast rather than dwell on that, smiling happily as he recalled the look on Scootaloo’s face when Rainbow announced that she’d personally teach her how to fly.

The haybrowns were just about ready, when Cliff heard Fluttershy come in. “Hey there, dear.” He flipped another pancake. “The most amazing thing happened at the lab today.”

“Oh, uh, that’s nice,” Fluttershy muttered.

Her tone made Cliff look up. Her cheeks were a little flushed, and she was avoiding eye contact for some reason. There was also a small brown package held under one of her wings. “What happened?”

She blushed a bit more. “Nothing, just a tiny misunderstanding about, well, these.” She held out the package to him.

Cliff took it and looked inside. Edible underwear. He really couldn’t understand how ponies even came up with these things. Dragons were the ones that associated food with intimacy, after all, but at least their weirdness was rather tasty. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Fluttershy still refused to meet his gaze. “Um, I’d rather not, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” he assured her. “Would you mind grabbing the utensils? Breakfast is about ready.”

As she did so, Cliff idly took out a strawberry-flavored pair of panties and began to nibble on them. He flipped out the last two pancakes, loaded up a plate for each of them, and joined his wife at the table.

Most of the houses in Everfree had similar floor plans, but individual touches marked the house as uniquely their own. The family-size nest in the living room had numerous pet toys scattered among the blankets, in case any of Fluttershy’s animal friends stopped by for a visit; the counter separating the kitchen from the living room was covered in lesson plans for Cliff’s job as a schoolteacher; and knitted items, ranging from blankets to murals to hot pads, were everywhere.

He set Fluttershy’s plate down on the place mat in front of her. Like nearly everything else that she had knitted, it bore the symbol of a butterfly with a wyrm’s slitted eye on each wing. “You know that I’m always here for you,” Cliff whispered into her ear, “right?”

She finally met his gaze, smiling as she did. “Yes. I just don’t want to dwell on what happened.”

“I understand.” Cliff shoved what was left of the edible underwear into his mouth and poured them both a drink out of the enchanted tea pot Celestia had given them as a wedding present. “By the way,” he took his seat next to Fluttershy, “Scoots was finally able to fly today.”

“Really?” Her mood lifted immediately. “That’s so wonderful! What happened?”

Cliff pressed one of the unicorn runes on the side of his cup, part of the same set as the tea pot, transforming the contents into hot cocoa. “Apparently they’ve worked out enough kinks with the magic batteries that they want to give them a test run …”

They spent most of the meal going over what had happened and wondering what Twilight and the Crusaders would do with their latest invention. As brilliant as those five could be, they didn’t seem to think much about who would want to buy the things they developed. That job fell to Rarity and Autumn.

“Twilight said she wants to use the profit from the batteries to fund an expedition to the southwest,” Cliff said, gathering up their empty plates to be washed. “One of the new wyrms in town says she’s heard of a small island where drakes and ponies live together in peace.”

“Really?” Fluttershy asked. “Where is it?”

“That’s the problem,” Cliff sighed, turning on the water to rinse off their dishes. “She didn’t know either. She just heard it from somedragon that was visiting from another coven, who heard it from a drake.” He shook his head. “You know, one of those wild rumors.”

“Why would Twilight want to investigate it?” Fluttershy asked. “She normally prefers to stay in the lab.”

The young dragon cleared his throat. “Actually, she was thinking about us. If other dragons have been living with ponies for longer than us, and if there are at least a couple of unicorns among them …”

“Then maybe one of them has developed a spell that would let dragons and ponies have children,” Fluttershy whispered, her eyes widening.

“Or at least there could be something that will help Twilight in her research.” Cliff took a deep breath. “But we shouldn’t get our hopes up in case it really is just a rumor.”

Fluttershy nodded slowly. “Still, it’s nice of her to look into it for us. Maybe we could go look into it ourselves after … uh, after my heat passes.”

That’s right, Cliff thought. She goes into heat next month. While she would still be able to go about her day-to-day life during that week, she would get tired easily and feel a little on edge and uncomfortable most of the time. Certainly not something either of them would want to deal with out in the wilderness. “Are you sure you want to go? We haven’t traveled much since we got married.”

She nodded, more firmly this time. “If it’s to help the two of us, it would be rude to make somepony else go. Besides, it was nice to spend all that time together.”

Cliff smiled as he thought back on their months spent going from coven to coven, getting volunteers to follow them back to Everfree. “Yeah, it was kind of fun, wasn’t it? Well, in spite of all the bug bites, and your sunburns, and the stale food, and the aching feet.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Yes, in spite of that.” She paused, and her expression became more thoughtful. “Cliff, do you like it when we’re intimate?”

“I- wha?" Cliff sputtered. "Yes. I mean, of course I do!” He flushed. “What under the Stars would make you doubt that?”

“I know you don’t want to feel like you’re pressuring me,” Fluttershy looked down, her own cheeks a little red, “but I realized that you’ve never asked for it, and it made me worry that you don’t really like it very much.”

Cliff left the dishes in the sink and wrapped his arms around Fluttershy’s chair, enveloping her in a hug. “I suppose I heard too many stories about guys tormenting their wives for sex. I didn’t want to be one of them, but I never realized it would make you feel this way. I’m sorry.”

She returned his embrace. “Thank you.” She took a deep breath. “Will you tell me, when you want to be intimate, that is?”

“You won’t feel pressured if I do?”

Fluttershy shook her head against his scales. “No, but it would be nice to hear. I sometimes worry that I’m not romantic for you anymore.”

“You’re extremely romantic,” Cliff assured her. It was true. The yellow pegasus rarely tried to be seductive in the traditional sense, and when she did it came out as more adorably silly than anything, but when she wasn’t sabotaging herself by trying too hard, she had a talent for innocent, almost-unintentional-seeming seduction.

Cliff checked the clock. They still had plenty of time before he had to get to his class, and Angel could run the pet store on his own if he needed to. “Uh,” he cleared his throat, “maybe we could, um … you know …” Come on, brain, think of a romantic way to say it! “Uh …” He sank his face into her mane. “I’m bad at this.”

Fluttershy giggled softly, but her hooves tightened around his arms. “Okay.” She pulled away and twisted around to look at him. Cliff noticed that she was still a little flushed, but the warmth and love of her smile made it very clear that she was happy. “Thank you.”

In an attempt to recover from his abysmal attempt at being romantic, Cliff gently lifted Fluttershy into his arms. “Nest chamber?”

She wrapped her forelegs around his neck and buried her face just below his chin. “If you don’t mind, then, yes, please.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

It has been three days since they met the drakes, and Talon Wind still didn’t know what to make of them. Apparently they had gathered from all over the world for some sort of a giant tournament between clans, but there weren’t any rankings, or scheduled matches, or anything of that sort. Instead, they all seemed to wander around the valley challenging other drakes to fights. When they weren’t fighting, they were usually sleeping, relaxing in those lava pits, or watching somedragon else fight.

Talon had once asked a passing drake why every match was a one-on-one duel. The drake just blinked at her and asked what it would prove to have two or more drakes fight a single opponent.

“No, I mean fights where there are an equal number of dragons on both sides.”

“Just have that many duels,” the drake said, “or better yet, have each side select a champion, and let those two duel.” Then he had shrugged and walked away.

Talon was still trying to make sense of the drake’s answers. Did he really not understand that teamwork and coordination meant much more in a battle than having a single powerful soldier?

The younger drakes were even worse. They couldn't compete in duels yet, and so they spent all of their time watching the older dragons fight or engaging in petty competitions of their own. Talon had lost count of the number of times they’d tried to talk her into joining them. According to them, she should be honored at the chance to hang out with ‘real dragons.’ At least they were easy to spot, and thus to avoid. Only young drakes still walked on their back legs.

Talon glanced around, there were a couple of juvenile drakes in the valley below her, but none seemed to have noticed that she was sitting at the top of a small cliff nearby. More importantly, two drakes were squaring off in the valley, and Talon had a front-row seat.

One of the combatants was Silver Tail, the dragon responsible for their new alliance. The other was a female drake with white scales about the same color as Silver Tail’s. However, this female had gray horns poking out of her head in place of the usual head spikes. Talon didn’t recognize her, but she was probably important, if the crowd that had gathered to watch the match was any indication.

Silver Tail shrank again. From overheard conversations, Talon knew that drakes could switch between huge and normal size at will. The thinking form was when they were smaller and the battle form was what they walked around in most of the time, but she couldn’t imagine why Silver Tail would choose to fight in his thinking form.

The dragoness closed her eyes for a moment and was suddenly covered in a golden aura.

That was new. Talon had seen drakes do minor changes with their battle forms, like making claws or fangs grow suddenly, but nothing like this.

A nod passed between the two drakes, and then they charged.

Drake combat had none of the tactics or finesse that Talon was accustomed to, but there was a certain brute ferocity that kept things interesting. She tossed a gemstone into her mouth, part of her lunch rations, and settled in to enjoy the show.

Silver Tail’s smaller form was paired with unbelievable agility, allowing him to dodge his opponent’s claws, teeth, and tail with ease. A single flap of his wings shot him well over his opponent to land on her other side. His foreleg swiped at the dragoness’s side, falling short by at least a dozen feet … or so Talon thought. She must have missed something, somehow, because the dragoness was knocked onto her side.

Seizing the advantage, Silver Tail launched into a flurry of attacks. All of them missed, yet impossibly, they were connecting anyway. Talon stared more intently and was just able to make out small flashes of movement between Silver Tail and his opponent each time he swung, followed immediately by a solid thump. Her jaw nearly dropped when she realized that Silver Tail was growing his forelegs up to full size for a split second with each swipe.

Her mind boggled at the implications. Silver Tail was as small and as agile as a wyvern, but could hit as hard as a drake. No wonder he was one of the top contenders in this tournament.

“Hey, Talon.”

“Hey, Thunderfang.” She glanced up at her squad leader. He was looking a little annoyed, but that was hardly new. “Come to watch the fight? It’s a good one.”

Down below them, the dragoness somehow released a beam of energy from her golden aura, forcing Silver Tail to dodge and buying her a moment to get back on her feet.

“No. I’m actually here to talk about some changes to Squad Five.” He paused for a moment. “You’re getting a new partner.”

“What?” Talon dropped a gem she had been about to eat. “Crystal and I have been together since before we even went to basic training. Why would the Hurricanes want to split us up?”

“You’ll see when you meet your new partner.” Thunderfang turned and spread his wings. “Don’t forget that gem. There aren’t many to spare.”

“I know.” Talon crunched down her final gemstone, sparing one more glance for the battling drakes. Silver Tail was unquestionably landing more blows, but the strange light around his opponent seemed to double as a type of armor. She barely even looked winded after taking enough hits to knock out any three normal drakes.

“Alright.” Talon sighed. “Let’s go.”

Jumping into the air, the two wyverns made their way to the camp.

Most drake clans had a cave to stay in during the tournament, but understandably, not even the largest cave had enough room for several thousand wyvern refugees. Instead, the wyverns had set up camp in the same field where they initially landed. It wasn’t ideal, but at least Silver Tail had been generous with his clan’s limited food supply. With rationing, they had enough food to last for another eight months or so. They needed to conquer the Crystal Empire before then or they’d all starve to death.

Talon shook her head to clear out the depressing thought. “Who’s Crystal’s new partner?”

“Cloud Breaker,” Thunderfang replied.

Talon grudgingly admitted to herself that he would be a good match for her timid friend. Cloud Breaker was a venom wyvern as well. He didn’t speak often, the result of a throat injury when he was a hatchling, but he gave off a sense of tranquility like there wasn’t anything that needed to be said anyway. It would certainly help him deal with Crystal’s occasional nervous ramblings.

They landed near the edge of camp, where a golden drake with brown spikes was resting. He was young by the looks of it, probably still able to walk on his back legs without trouble. The fact that he was in his thinking form set off a couple of warning calls in Talon’s head. Drakes usually preferred their battle form unless there was something that they needed to discuss.

Her suspicions were confirmed as soon as they landed. Thunderfang gestured to the drake, who had risen to all fours to greet them. “Talon Wind, meet your new battle partner, Tornado Wings.” Her squad leader must have seen the dismay his statement caused, because he smirked.

Talon scowled back, resisting the urge to slap him with her tail. “Why am I being paired up with a drake? They’re basically fire wyverns.” She turned to the other dragon. “No offense, but your abilities could be put to better use as part of one of our fire squadrons.”

Tornado Wings, who was nearly as tall as she was in spite of being on all fours, gave her a flat look. “You should trust your leaders. My talent is creating and controlling wind currents, which I am told is vital to how your kind fights.”

“Oh.” Talon cleared her throat. None of the drakes she had seen fight had used their wings for much other than flying. “You’re right. That’s going to be very useful for us.”

He nodded but remained silent.

“Each squad is getting at least two drakes,” Thunderfang explained. “You’ve probably noticed that they don’t normally fight in groups, so it’s up to us to teach them how. In fact, the Hurricanes are going to make most of the strategic and tactical decisions for this entire war.”

The golden dragon shrugged. “To a drake, disputes should be settled honorably, with a duel, but ponies are like wyrms.” He sneered at the word. “They fight as a whole clan, so we will too. Our survival demands it.”

Talon was still trying to piece together the full story behind this war, and it didn’t help that there were at least a dozen versions of it floating around, but they all had a few things in common. Nearly a year after the warriors of the northern drake clans arrived at the tournament, a messenger came from their home with dire news. Seemingly overnight, the ponies had built a vast city on top of the gem mines where the northern clans got most of their food. Several drakes had tried to challenge the ponies for control of the land, but each time the ponies had just sent an army to drive the challenger off.

The news had arrived four years ago. Since then, the northern clans had been living off their stockpiled gems while Silver Tail and the other clan lords used the Great Tournament to gather allies so that they could take back the mines they needed to survive.

“No wonder you asked for our help,” Talon said. “None of you have ever fought in a full-scale war.”

Tornado shrugged again. “It’s a waste to let hundreds die on each side of a disagreement when two champions could as easily settle the matter.”

Talon could see a certain amount of logic to what the drake was saying, but that kind of arrangement really only worked if both sides agreed to it, which these ponies clearly had not.

“Yeah, anyway,” Thunderfang turned to face Talon, “I’m getting the other drake as my new partner. The Hurricanes figure it should free up enough wind wyverns for a small team to deal with those flying ponies we’ve been hearing about.”

“Probably a good idea,” Talon conceded. “Any other surprises I should know about?”

Thunderfang nodded glumly. “Drakes don’t have a wind sense unless they develop one through training.”

Talon’s mood, already low, plummeted. “You’re kidding.” Sensing the rest of their squad through air pressure and wind movement was fundamental to wyvern tactics on the battlefield, easily as important as sight or hearing.

The thunder wyvern shook his head.

“How do they even fly in formation without crashing into each other?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. Luckily, Tornado here,” he gestured at the golden drake, “already has the beginnings of a decent wind sense, so you can focus on teaching him basic gas tactics. We only have a few weeks before the Hurricanes want to head out, so you’d better move quickly.” Thunderfang nodded to them both before taking off once more.

Talon returned the gesture then shifted her attention back to the golden drake. Except for his head spikes and lack of horns, he looked almost like a wyvern from the neck up. Now that she was looking more closely, she also noticed that his eyes were the same fresh-earth brown as his spikes. “Okay, what do you prefer to be called?” She hoped he had some sort of nickname. Both ‘Tornado’ and ‘Wing’ were military ranks.

He returned her gaze calmly, seemingly neither upset nor excited by his new position in life. “Tornado is fine.”

Maybe I’ll get used to it in time. Talon shifted her weight a little uncomfortably. “Well, Tornado, what sort of group combat experience do you have?”

“None. I have only fought in duels.”

Talon frowned. “Haven’t you at least seen a group fight?”

He thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. “Not that I can recall.”

The venom wyvern couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Have you ever worked together with other dragons for anything?”

“We often compete to see who can bring in the most meat or gemstones while hunting, if that is what you mean.”

“Not exactly.” Talon took a deep breath. “Okay, Tornado, what do you think the benefit of teamwork is?”

“The benefit?” The drake sat down with his back legs, but kept his front ones straight. Talon had seen other quadrupeds do that in the past, but it still looked weird. “I am sorry, but I do not see one, other than it allows dragons to accomplish tasks more quickly.”

Talon facewinged.

“Did I say something to upset you?” He actually sounded a little concerned.

“No, it’s fine.” Talon took another deep breath and let it out slowly. “Let’s start with the basics. Assuming it would take a team of seven wyverns to defeat one drake, how large of a team would be required to defeat two?”

Tornado arched an eyebrow. “I know how to do math.”

“I never suggested that you couldn’t.” She met his gaze calmly. “Just tell me what you think the answer is.”

“Fourteen.”

Talon shook her head. “Actually, the answer is ten, maybe eleven. As you pointed out, drakes don’t know how to work as a group, so two drakes is just that, two drakes. They wouldn’t be any more powerful than if they were fighting on their own. They might even get in the way of each other. Two wyverns fighting together, however, will support and protect each other. They will coordinate their attacks to be much more effective than anything they could have managed alone. Together, they could have much more of an impact on a battle than even three lone wyverns. Do you understand?”

Tornado was silent for a moment. “What you are saying is that a team is more powerful than the dragons that form it, correct?”

“Exactly.” Talon nodded. Maybe Tornado wasn’t going to be a lost cause after all. “Now that you can see why this is important, I’ll need to know what you’re capable of as an individual, so we can figure out how to apply your skills to the rest of Squad Five’s venom team.”

Over the next hour, Talon got a better feel for her new partner’s abilities, both in and out of his battle form. Getting huge was a useful power to be sure, except that rookies like Tornado became as dumb as rocks when when they transformed.

She was starting to understand why drakes weren’t very big on tactics. Any instruction more complicated than, ‘Kill the thing,’ had to be explained while Tornado was in his smaller form, otherwise it went right over his head. Unfortunately for them both, wyvern tactics involved a lot of complex maneuvers and techniques.

“No,” Talon sighed, flying in close to the larger dragon. “The breeze has to be more even and gentle.”

“Gentle breezes won’t hurt ponies,” Tornado objected. Volume control was yet another thing that seemed to escape him while in his battle form. The noise was beginning to give Talon a headache.

She groaned. “We’ve been over this twice already. The breeze isn’t supposed to hurt. All it’s supposed to do is carry our poison down to the enemy before it can dissipate. Otherwise, we’d have to be right on top of them.”

He frowned. “Wind hurts more than poison.”

They had been over that several times as well. “You’re forcing me to do this,” Talon grumbled. “Land.”

Once they were back on the ground, she approached the larger dragon and spat a cloud of poison into his face.

Tornado reared back, coughing violently with his eyes clenched shut.

Talon stepped back, in case he tried to swing at her, but kept her expression neutral.

Moments passed, and the coughing slowly transformed into more of a gasping wheeze. His eyes were still closed, but tears ran freely down his cheeks.

“Whatever you do, don’t change back,” Talon advised. “You inhaled enough toxin to completely paralyze the lungs of a smaller creature.”

He didn’t change back, but gave no other sign that he had heard her. Granted, the toxin’s paralyzing and numbing effects might have been affecting his vocal cords. He wouldn’t have had the extra air to waste on talking anyway.

As the minutes started to blend together, Tornado’s breathing very slowly began to deepen. Blood was beginning to leak from his nostrils by then, and smaller droplets of it seeped from his eyes to mix with the endless stream of tears. When he finally opened his eyes, they were both bright red. He immediately clenched them shut again.

Talon approached him and rested a wing across his snout. “I’m sorry that I had to do that, but imagine being able to do that to dozens of ponies every time you flap your wings. Can you understand how effective of a weapon that will be?”

Tornado nodded weakly.

“Do you see why I want you to learn how to do it?”

Another nod. “I’ll try … to learn.”

“That’s all I can ask.” Talon brushed some of his tears away with her wing. “I know it seems odd to you, but teamwork and coordination like this are going to be vital to this war. Trust me, once you get this down, those ponies won’t know what hit them.”

Author's Note

Culture tidbits: Drake society emphasizes personal growth above all else. Every drake is expected to push itself to be the best they can possibly be, especially in combat. More powerful drakes, like clan lords, usually have a few tricks up their sleeves, like how Silver Tail can transform parts of himself in a fraction of a second, or how his opponent in this chapter could generate a protective aura. Other abilities include growing extra bones, transforming themselves completely into fire, getting even bigger than a normal drake, and spitting beams of raw magic.

Chapter 5

“I don’t think your leaders like me,” Tornado Wings said. He had to shout a little to be heard over the wind generated by their flight.

It had been a few days since the drake joined their squad, and he was still under direct orders from Talon to remain in his thinking form unless there was a need to switch. Yes, he burned fewer calories in his thinking form and thus had to eat less, but Talon had her own reasons for giving the order: put bluntly, Tornado was less of an idiot this way.

“Which leaders don’t like you?” Talon asked, shifting her flight pack to a more comfortable position. “The Storms, the Tornadoes, or the Hurricanes?”

“Any of them. They haven’t offered to teach me, or even spoken to me at all other than to introduce me to Thunderfang.”

“Military leaders don’t like anydragon,” Talon said. “They can’t afford to get too close to any of their underlings, otherwise it might cloud their judgment when they’re sending us into battle.” There was a reason why Talon rarely saw her parents since she completed basic training. Both of them were among the leaders for her swarm.

“They aren’t so bad,” Crystal Sky said on the drake’s other side.

Her new battle partner, Cloud Breaker, flew nearby. Talon had to remind herself not to look at the jagged scar across his throat from where he had slipped on a spear years earlier. There was a reason he rarely spoke.

“Being responsible for us all is just a heavy burden,” Crystal continued. “Even Thunderfang gets worn out by his duties sometimes.”

“Either that, or he’s depressed because he doesn’t have more underlings to yell at.” Talon laughed.

Crystal frowned. “You know he cares more than he lets on.”

“You’re just defending him because you think he has a nice tail.”

The other wyvern looked away. “No I’m not … and you think he does too.”

Talon rolled her eyes and glanced to her right. Thunderfang was flying at the center of their formation. Yes, he had a nice tail, and his face wasn’t bad either, but his personality just ruined it.

Thunderfang’s new partner, an unusually small blue drake named Ember, flew beside him with nine wounded drakes strapped to her back—in their thinking forms, of course. Talon hadn’t spent much time with the other drake, but she seemed really sensitive of the fact that her battle form was so much smaller than average. At least she was experienced enough with it that she didn’t become quite as rocks-for-brains stupid as Tornado when she transformed. There was a reason why he wasn’t carrying the wounded.

“Anyway,” Talon said, “teaching you is our responsibility, Tornado, and I’d say we’re doing a good job so far. You’ll be ready for the battlefield in another week.”

Crystal nodded. “You have been progressing very quickly.”

Tornado grinned at the compliments. “Well, I have been tutored by Yol Toor, and some of his wind techniques are similar to yours.”

“Who?” Talon and Crystal asked in unison.

“My twelfth generation ancestor, the leader of my clan, and the most powerful drake alive,” he said with just a hint of smug pride.

Talon was about to call him out for boasting, but then she realized that he might be telling the truth. “So, he won the tournament last time?”

“And every other time for the last eight hundred years.”

Her jaw dropped open a little. “Wait, is he that gray-blue one that’s twice as large as a normal drake in his battle form?”

Tornado shook his head. “That is Torch, lord of the Rocky Shore Clan that controls this land.”

No wonder this territory is so big, Talon reflected. Drakes had no skill at all for farming, and so they needed massive amounts of land to be able to hunt and gather all the food they needed. She didn’t want to imagine how much a drake like Torch would be able to eat in a day. “What about that guy that looks like he’s wearing a skeleton over his scales?” I don’t think I’ve seen him lose a match yet.

To her surprise, Tornado laughed. “That is Diamond Hide, and she might take offense at you mixing up her gender.”

Even Crystal chuckled softly.

“In my defense,” Talon said with as much dignity as she could muster, “I’ve never seen her up close in her thinking form, and it’s tough to make out features under that exoskeleton thing she generates.”

“Which one is Yol Toor?” Crystal asked.

“I do not think he has been in many matches recently, but he is the gray drake with brown horns and no head spikes. You’ll know it’s him if he is surrounded by an aura of flickering blues and reds, much like a fire.”

“I think I’ve seen something like that,” Talon mused, recalling the dragoness she had seen fighting Silver Tail.

“Probably one of his other descendants,” Tornado said. “Aura control is one of the most difficult transformation to manage. If Yol Toor had not taught the rest of us, I don’t believe anydragon other than him would have figured out how to do it.”

“So you can do it too?” Crystal asked.

“No.” Tornado lowered his head just a little. “I understand the theory, but it can take centuries to actually transform with it successfully.”

Since he was obviously a bit ashamed of that, Talon decided to change the subject. “Why is his name so different? It doesn’t sound anything like the other drake names I’ve heard.”

Tornado shrugged. “It is from the Old Language. Nodragon uses that anymore.” He looked at the ground and his expression hardened. “In any case, we have nearly arrived. We should keep our eyes out for trouble.”

Talon reluctantly nodded and began to study the ground beneath them. Aside from large amounts of scrub brush, the terrain looked the same here as anywhere else in the area.

“What are wyrms like?” Crystal asked nervously.

“Dishonorable,” Tornado replied. “Brutal. Utterly baffling. They shun any challenge to a duel except among their own kind, and those matches are frighteningly vicious. Drakes fight to subdue their opponent. These wyrms …” He shook like he was trying to flick away something gross. “Everything about the match I watched screamed of a desire to kill. Limbs were broken or dislocated, near mortal wounds were inflicted, and yet, when it was finished, both warriors healed themselves and walked away, laughing like old friends.” He shook his head once more.

“Why bother trading with them?” Talon noticed that they were starting to angle down for a landing. “We’re low on supplies as it is.”

Tornado shrugged again. “They have things we need. The glowing stones that light our caves all have to be made by wyrms, and their magic can heal our wounded.”

The squadron landed in a small depression just to the side of a moderately large hill. From the air it had looked like just another patch of dirt, but now that they were on the ground, Talon saw a cave mouth in the hillside.

Silence descended on the assembled dragons as the soft thumps of their landing faded. Talon wasn’t entirely sure why nodragon moved or spoke. The quiet itself seemed to forbid it.

Strangely tense seconds passed before a single figure appeared from the darkness of the cave. As it stepped into the light, Talon got her first look at a wyrm. This one was female, the slenderness of her muzzle made that obvious. She looked like a short, extremely lithe drake with no wings. She was walking on her back legs, even though her arms and legs seemed to be about equally long, but the calmness of her expression and the wisdom sparkling in her eyes indicated that she was no juvenile. Purple scales covered her body, and she had dark red spikes coming off the top of her head. Her head spikes fell to one side, almost like hair, reaching just past the level of her pink eyes.

“I don’t know what lies these drakes have been telling you,” her voice was surprisingly soft, even though her tone was sharp, “but you can relax. We aren’t going to hurt you.” From the cave behind her, five more wyrms emerged. Much like drakes, there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason behind their coloration.

No words were spoken, but the five newcomers nodded and approached Ember, where the rest of Squad Five was busy unloading the wounded drakes. Meanwhile, the first wyrm approached Talon, Crystal, and Tornado, her expression quizzical.

Talon stood a head taller than this newcomer, but she couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated by her. “Uh, hello?”

“Hello.” The wyrm bowed slightly. “My name is Heart Echo, daughter of Radiant Light.”

Talon exchanged a glance with Crystal and Tornado. “Talon Wind, Junior Wing.” She returned the bow.

Crystal did as well. “Crystal Sky, Junior Wing.”

For a moment, it looked like Tornado would remain silent, but then he grudgingly said, “Tornado Wings, of the Shattered Mountain Clan.”

Heart Echo gave the drake a disdainful look before turning back to Talon. “Let me be blunt. I’ve been reading all of your emotions since you landed. You don’t have to keep hiding how unsure and frightened you all feel, and you certainly don’t have to ally yourselves with drakes, even if you have befriended this one.” She gestured at Tornado. “Whatever happened to you all, we can help.”

“What?” Talon asked. There were at least four things the wyrm had said that didn’t make any sense.

“We are helping them,” Tornado growled. “Our leaders have sworn to it, not that you would know anything about honor, wyrm.”

“Yeah, sure.” Heart Echo crossed her arms over her chest. “Just because we fight as a team, we must be dishonorable. Let me guess, your ‘help’ is using them as pony fodder during this insane war you all keep talking about.”

Talon looked past both of them to Thunderfang. The squad leader was looking partially annoyed but mostly confused about what the wyrms’ apparent leader was doing. Just behind him, the other wyrms were running their claws, which were glowing for some reason, over the wounded drakes.

“Okay, Tornado, knock it off,” Talon cut through the drake’s rant about honor and vengeance. She turned to Heart Echo. “I appreciate the offer, and you’re right, we are helping the drakes in this war, but the terms of our alliance are actually very generous. We …” She bit down a sigh. “We’re refugees, our entire species. The drakes are going to give us a third of the land our combined forces manage to retake and a permanent alliance, so they’ll come to our defense if we ever need them. They’re even taking care of our noncombatants until this is all over.”

To everydragon’s surprise, Heart Echo stepped forward and wrapped one arm around Talon and the other around Crystal, pulling them both into a strong embrace. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Whatever drove you from your homeland must have been terrible.” The wyrm released them and stepped back, leaving two thoroughly confused wyverns in her wake. “How many of you are there?”

“Around six thousand,” Talon said automatically. “Thirty-six hundred warriors and twenty-five hundred civilians.”

Heart’s expression fell. “I’m sorry, but that won’t be enough. Larger Equestrian cities are defended by between ten and twelve thousand guards. Let me send out messengers to the nearby covens instead. We don’t control much land, but at least we’ll find room to keep all of your kind safe.”

“Huh?” Talon could barely believe what she was hearing. “We just met two minutes ago. Why are you offering to take in six thousand of us?”

“I told you they are baffling,” Tornado muttered. He turned to Heart Echo. “Wyverns are an honorable race. They do not need your pity.”

“So you’re called wyverns,” she said. “I can’t say I expected a drake to understand, but when a wyrm sees somedragon in need, and the last of their species at that, our first instinct isn’t to throw them in front of an army of murderous ponies led by two goddesses.” Her expression became serious. “Talon, Crystal, talk to the rest of your kind. Don’t let the wyverns go extinct because you agreed to follow a bunch of drakes, who know nothing of teamwork or coordination, into a war.”

“How dishonorable are you?” Tornado demanded. “Our leaders and theirs have already sworn an oath.”

“There’s nothing dishonorable about changing your mind once new information comes to light,” Heart Echo shot back.

Talon finally snapped. “Tornado, shut up! We aren’t going to back out of the alliance, but she obviously knows more about the ponies than any of us, and it might be a good idea to let her talk!”

Both other dragons froze, and for a moment, Talon worried that she had offended them, but then Tornado bowed slightly and stepped away from Heart Echo. “I apologize for repeatedly interrupting your conversation. I will tell you the truth of any lies this wyrm speaks after we have returned to the others.”

Heart Echo sighed. “I’m sorry too. I just can’t believe that these drakes would force you to fight against our most dangerous enemies when they should just give you the land you need.”

“They took us in and helped us when even the elephants wouldn’t,” Talon said. “Asking that we help them in return isn’t at all unreasonable. More importantly, could you tell us how you learned so much about ponies? The information you have could be invaluable.”

Crystal nodded. “Yes, please? You mentioned something about two goddesses, and up to twelve thousand soldiers?”

Heart Echo looked from one wyvern to the other before turning to Tornado. “Alright, drake, they both believe that you aren’t taking advantage of them, so I’ll believe it as well, for now.” She returned her gaze to Talon. “I’m originally from the northern covens, next to the borders of Equestria, their nation. Anyway, my aunt and her husband spent years studying and exploring pony communities, looking for an egg they stole from her. My parents lived in a different coven than them, but whenever we went to visit, they’d tell us all about what they’d learned.

“Among other things, they discovered that larger cities have about twelve thousand guards assigned to protect them from internal or external threats. As for the goddesses, they’re called Celestia and Luna, and they’re supposed to be so powerful that they can move the sun and the moon in the sky.”

Talon’s knees suddenly felt a little weak. “But that’s just a rumor,” she swallowed, “right?”

Heart Echo’s eyes were sympathetic, but her tone was firm. “Maybe. If nothing else, they’re both immortal and extremely powerful. Celestia, the older of the two sisters, could probably hold over a hundred drakes in her magic without even feeling the strain.”

“Tornado,” Talon said, “did you know that we’d be going up against something like that?”

The drake nodded. “I’m sure your leaders have been told as well.”

“Now do you see why I’m worried?” Heart Echo asked. “Equestria has you outmatched in both numbers and raw power. This isn’t the sort of gamble you should make with the future of your race on the line.”

“We’ll come up with something,” Talon said, not quite believing her own words. “We can’t back out of the alliance now, after the drakes have been true to their word.”

Heart Echo sat down and groaned, pressing the palm of one hand to her face. Behind her, the other wyrms all paused what they were doing and looked at her intently.

“Uh, did we do something to offend you?” Talon asked, taking a step back nervously.

The wyrm let out a long sigh and shook her head. “Will your leaders at least consider negotiating an alliance with us? We could work out some kind of arrangement where you don’t actually join the drakes on the battlefield.”

“You can talk to them,” Talon said, “but I know they won’t let our allies fight alone when we could be helping them.”

Nodding weakly, Heart Echo stood back up and met Talon’s eyes. “Then we don’t really have a choice. Give us a week. We’ll send out runners to the other covens nearby, maybe call an emergency gathering or something. Gemstone is still visiting. Maybe he could convince the rest of the Mystic Forest Coven to lend us a claw.”

“Wait, what?” Talon asked.

Heart Echo didn’t seem to hear her. “There are eleven covens in the area,” she muttered. “We should be able to get a hundred or so volunteers.” She paused, and turned to nod at another wyrm. “Sweet Song tells me that the far eastern covens are having a gathering right now. If we send out a runner today, we might be able to get there before it’s over.” She turned back to Talon and the others. “If we’re lucky, we could see as many as a thousand from that alone.”

“You’re offering to join us?” Crystal asked.

Talon shook her head. “Just a minute ago, you seemed convinced that fighting the ponies would be suicide.”

Heart Echo took a deep breath and then nodded. “Yes, we are, and it probably still is.”

“Baffling,” Tornado repeated.

For once, Talon agreed with him completely. “Why would you offer to die alongside a group of dragons you only just met?”

“Because you need our help and it’s the right thing to do,” the wyrm said without any hesitation. “Besides, all of us would spend the rest of our lives regretting it if we let the third dragon tribe go extinct when our help might have saved them.”

Behind her, the other wyrms were all looking at them and nodding.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Twister, the leader of the Thirty-sixth Cluster, looked at Talon and Thunderfang from the other side of the flat stone that had been propped up to serve as a table. “Can they be trusted?”

Sitting around him, four other wyverns looked at Talon expectantly.

She fidgeted a little under their combined stares. Silently, Talon cursed Thunderfang for making her deliver the report. “I believe so, sir.”

Thunderfang stepped up beside her. “From what the drakes tell me, wyrms are vicious combatants, but outside of a fight they’ll do almost anything to help a dragon in need. Combined with their healing abilities, they could make for valuable allies.”

Twister nodded thoughtfully and turned to the fire wyvern sitting on his left. “Your thoughts, sir? Should we investigate?”

The older wyvern studied the papers laid out in front of him. “I believe so,” he said at last. “Twister, you have the most experience with new recruits. Go evaluate them, and tell us if you think they’re worth pushing our plans back for a few weeks.”

“Yes, sir.” Twister pushed himself up using a combination of his wings and legs before walking around the table to Talon and Thunderfang. “Lead the way.”

Both younger wyverns nodded and jumped into the air, flapping quickly to gain altitude.

They had only reached the edge of camp when Twister called for their attention. “We have followers.”

Talon looked back and groaned. They were far enough away that the dark green shape could have been any venom wyvern, but there was no mistaking the golden form beside her. “Crystal and Tornado.”

“I ordered those two to finish packing the glowstones we traded for,” Thunderfang muttered before turning to Twister. “I’m sorry, sir. That drake is suspicious of wyrms. He likely believes that we need his protection or something.”

“Crystal is probably trying to talk him out of it,” Talon said. “I’m sure she isn’t trying to go against orders, sir”

“Let him come,” Twister said, slowing to a hover. “We could use the extra set of wings if the wyrms decide to attack us.”

Talon had mixed feelings about that. Sure, Tornado would be useful in a fight, but he was also fairly likely to start one. Not that her opinion really mattered. It wasn’t her place to question the decisions of a superior officer.

“We finished putting everything away!” Crystal shouted as soon as she was close enough to be heard. “We aren’t going against orders. Tornado was just worried!”

Tornado nodded, slightly out of breath from his rush to catch them. “Wyrms are not bound by truth like drakes. They sometimes go back on their word, and they have been known to attack without warning.”

“You’re just lucky that Twister doesn’t object to having you accompany us,” Thunderfang said. “Crystal, you can return to camp if you want. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“If you don’t mind, sir, I’d like to come too. With Talon, Tornado, and myself, we would be able to use basic gas tactics, should the need arise.”

Thunderfang looked at Twister, who nodded. “Very well,” the thunder wyvern said. “Both of you, stay close, and don’t even think of starting a fight unless one of them attacks first.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Flying into the afternoon sun sounded nice on paper, but it didn’t work so well in practice. Between the glare in their eyes and the lengthening shadows, Thunderfang nearly brought the group down for a landing twice before realizing that it was the wrong hillside. Eventually he muttered something about delegation and ordered Tornado to lead them the rest of the way.

As the dragons finally reached their destination, Talon and Crystal both let out sighs of relief. The trip took nearly forty minutes without breaks, and they had already taken it three times that day.

Thankfully, no oppressive silence fell on them this time. Instead, a bright orange wyrm walked out of the cave and waved them over. “Heart said you’d be back. She’s inside, eating dinner.” She paused, as though listening to something. “Most of you are hungry. You’re welcome to eat with us, of course.”

All five of them exchanged confused glances.

“You may as well accept,” the wyrm said. “We can sense that you want to.” She motioned for them to follow and walked back into the cave.

“Just … be respectful,” Twister ordered. “We can’t risk offending them.”

They followed the wyrm down a winding tunnel for a few moments until it opened up into a surprisingly large cavern. Glowing stones were scattered randomly across the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling, revealing well over a hundred wyrms relaxing and talking in small groups as they ate off of ceramic plates of some kind. At least a dozen stone nests lined the sides of the cavern, most of them occupied by more wyrms.

Once they got closer, Talon saw that their food was an assortment of meats and vegetables that she didn’t recognize, along with some gemstones, probably the same ones they had traded to the coven earlier.

Most of the other wyrms were openly staring as they walked past, which did very little for Talon’s nerves. She reluctantly added, ‘Previously unknown subspecies of dragons’ to the list of things that made her uncomfortable, right next to, ‘My superiors,’ and ‘Anything that wants to kill me.’

It turned out that wyrms ate their meals buffet-style, much like how wyverns ran things in the barracks. After Twister and Thunderfang had served themselves, Talon took a plate of her own and held it with the thumb of one wing as she loaded it up with the other.

The orange wyrm waited for them all to serve themselves and then started leading them through the crowd again.

Talon noticed a couple of bubbles floating in place among the groups of wyrms. Whatever they were, they made her feel strange. Excitement shot through her as she passed the first one, even though she wasn’t excited about anything. Next came love, once again without a source or a target. By the time they passed the third, which inspired joy, Talon just wanted to get away from the mysterious bubbles and the curious stares of the wyrms that had conjured them.

Fortunately, Heart Echo’s group was sitting in one of the stone nests that lined the cavern walls. Talon was grateful to have at least a little privacy, even though she felt a pang of homesickness as she climbed into the nest. It seemed like an entire lifetime had passed since that last night in the Aerie.

“Welcome back,” Heart Echo said around a mouthful of food.

The other wyrms around her all offered their own greetings.

“It looks like you have some questions for me. Take a seat. We may as well eat while we talk.”

Unlike a wyvern nest, this one was filled with an assortment of pillows and blankets, which made it hard for Talon to find a level spot for her plate. After spilling some of her vegetables, she just gave up and held the plate with one wing while manipulating her fork with the other.

Next to her, Tornado, who had taken two plates but only filled one for some reason, put the empty plate on top of the full one and took a bite out of it like some kind of bizarre sandwich. Based on his grimace, ceramic plates weren’t a very good substitute for bread.

Obviously fighting down a chuckle, Heart Echo turned to the ice wyvern. “I take it you’re the leader they needed to go talk with?”

He nodded. “I am Twister, Storm-rank warrior, and leader of the Thirty-sixth Cluster.”

“Heart Echo, daughter of Radiant Light. If we’re going to be allies though, you can just call me Heart.”

Twister swallowed a small bite of meat. “I would be honored, and if you wouldn’t mind, I was hoping to see a demonstration of your combat magic. We will need to know what to expect if we want to incorporate wyrms into our battlefield strategies.”

“And to see if we’d be worthwhile as allies, of course.” Heart said without any hint of annoyance. “You’re being very diplomatic about it, but that is the real reason you’re here, isn’t it?”

“… Yes, you are correct.” Twister paused and studied his plate for a moment. “We have thirty-six clusters of one hundred wyverns at our disposal, and just over fifteen hundred drakes. If what you said about pony military strength is true, we will be facing an army more than double our size, that has the advantage of defense, and could likely call for reinforcements. We are in no position to refuse help, but we are even less able to afford rogue elements that could endanger the rest of our warriors. Integrating the drakes has already put a large strain on our squadrons’ ability to coordinate effectively. If we are going to increase that strain even more, especially given the state of things between drakes and your own kind, we need to know that you will be worth it.”

A chorus of chuckles met his statement.

“Sorry,” Heart said after a moment, “it’s just that this is the last coven that you would ever need to worry about when it comes to teamwork or coordination. You see, each coven has something it focuses on studying. Take Gemstone Aura.” She nodded toward a green wyrm with yellow head spikes, who was looking very uncomfortable about being the center of attention. He also wore a brown canvas bag on each hip for some reason. “He’s visiting from the Mystic Forest Coven, where they work with runes and enchantments. This coven, Moss Hills, specializes in magic that reads, reflects, or manipulates emotions.”

“So you really are reading our emotions with magic then,” Twister said.

Heart nodded and gestured to the other wyrms. “All of our emotions are linked as well. With proper training, it-”

“-means we can communicate-” another wyrm cut in without missing a beat.

“-instantly, and across large-” yet a third said.

“-distances without having to speak,” Heart finished, smirking at their stunned expressions. “Non-wyrms can be added to the link as well. I’m sure you can see the advantages of an army that responds instantly to its leader’s orders.”

Talon’s mind was buzzing with possibilities. Even the most well-trained army took a few minutes to relay and respond to commands. Cutting that down would give them an unbelievable advantage.

On her right, Crystal was smiling. No doubt she had come to the same realization.

On her left, Tornado just looked confused. Of course.

Twister was the one that needed to be convinced, however, and based on his expression, he still had reservations. “And what of the drakes? If your magic could make them more friendly toward you, they already would be.”

“You’re right,” Heart conceded. “The emotional changes are temporary, and nodragon appreciates it when they realize that they’re being manipulated. What we had in mind was using our linking magic to make sure that none of our fellow wyrms lose their tempers. If need be, we could even use it to incapacitate anydragon that tries to pick a fight.”

“Tornado, would the other drakes cause problems with a group of wyrms in the camp?” Twister asked.

The golden drake finished his plate sandwich, grimacing as he swallowed the last of it. “Doubtful, if we have a temporary alliance with them. It would be dishonorable.”

“Alright,” Twister turned back to the wyrms, “what can we expect from wyrms on the battlefield?”

“That would largely depend on the wyrm and the coven,” Heart replied.

“Then what could we expect out of Moss Hills and the Mystic Forest?” He nodded toward the green wyrm, Gemstone Aura. “Assuming your coven wishes to join the Dragon Alliance, of course.”

Gemstone fidgeted and looked down for a long moment before responding, “I … uh, I’ll have to ask them, but if they do join, they have anti-magic runes and defensive wards that are highly effective at preventing intruders from getting into secure locations.”

“Useful,” Twister said, though his tone indicated that he wasn’t terribly impressed.

“More than you realize,” Heart said. “Some ponies can teleport from one location to the other instantly. Without those runes, there would be no way of preventing them from appearing in our camp each night and killing a few hundred of us off before disappearing.”

“Extremely useful,” Twister amended, “and what of the Moss Hills Coven?”

“Most of the warriors here specialize in weakening opponents through emotion control.” She paused and looked at their confused expressions before elaborating, “We read a foe’s heart and find an emotional weakness to exploit. It could be shooting a bunch of fear into them, so they quit and run away, or anger, to make them attack their allies, or despair or guilt, so they just give up, or any one of a dozen other things.”

“No true warrior would be affected by something like that,” Tornado growled.

Heart raised an eyebrow. “Want me to demonstrate on you, drake? I’d be happy to prove you wrong.”

Twister spoke up before they could start arguing, “Can you affect multiple foes at once?”

She nodded. “Anything within thirty feet of the blast radius, which can be about a quarter of a mile away from me.”

“Then hit all five of us with it.” Twister gestured to himself and the others.

Crystal shrank down a little at his words, and Talon put a wing around her friend protectively, but they both knew better than to object.

Thunderfang looked wary but curious.

Tornado actually grinned. Talon suspected it was because he wanted to test himself against the spell.

Heart shook her head. “That isn’t a good idea, Twister. The drake would be fine, but the four of you are all coping with a major loss right now. My spell might push you over the edge and drive you berserk.”

“Wyverns do not have battle forms,” Tornado said. “Determination cannot make them transform.”

“It’s called greed,” Heart spat out the word like it was a curse.

Talon looked from one to the other in confusion.

“Whatever you two are talking about,” Twister said, “wyverns have no ability to transform.”

That made Heart and the other wyrms stop. Their expressions were a mix of sadness, regret, and relief. “You don’t know how lucky you are,” Heart said in a bare whisper.

Twister’s eyes quickly skimmed over the group. “Would your berserk form cause problems for the Alliance?”

“No,” Heart promised, “but if you do see a wyrm transform, get away from there and let the rest of us handle it.”

“Weak willed hatchlings,” Tornado whispered.

Talon slapped him with the flat of her tail blade then quickly glanced around. Luckily, nodragon else seemed to have heard him.

“Very well,” Twister said. “now then, I believe that you were going to demonstrate your emotion control spell on us.”

“It won’t be pleasant for any of you,” Heart warned.

“I need to know what to expect out of your magic,” Twister said. “We can’t rely on an asset that is unproven.”

The wyrm sighed. “I’m going to attack with a combination of fear, despair, and insecurity. Just knowing that I’m affecting you will help counteract my influence somewhat, but you should focus on determination and hope. It will help.”

The wyverns all nodded and braced themselves.

Heart Echo extended her arm, and one of those strange bubbles appeared over her palm. The bubble shot forward, nearly hitting Twister’s snout before it popped.

There was no explosion, or any other effect that Talon could see. It just … popped.

She felt her hopes sinking. The spell hadn’t worked. If she had had a future in the military, it was all over now. Twister was only here because of her. She had wasted the time of a superior officer. Not that it really mattered. Her older brother and sister had both been so much more capable than she was, and they had died in the war. By comparison, her own death was inevitable.

Sinking down, Talon closed her eyes so that she wouldn’t have to see the disappointed stares that she knew must be surrounding her.

She was a failure.

Crystal was sobbing quietly at her side.

Talon wanted to apologize, to somehow make up for the shattered trust her friend had had in her.

There was nothing she could say that would change the truth. The wyvern race was doomed to extinction, outcast from their ancient home, and fated to be slaughtered at the hooves of two goddesses.

Heart Echo’s voice reached the distraught wyvern, “In another ten seconds, I’m going to kill any of you that aren’t standing up.” Her tone was ice cold and full of grim conviction.

Maybe that would be for the best, Talon thought. At least I could die before I disappoint somedragon else.

Something nudged her side.

“Talon,” Crystal whispered through her gentle sobs. “They, they need you.”

“You deserve to live,” Talon whispered back, shaking her head with what limited strength she could muster. “I’m just a failure.”

“Five seconds,” Heart said.

“I’d just get in the way.” Crystal broke down completely.

“Four.”

Something inside of Talon snapped at the sound of her friend crying. She grit her teeth and pushed herself up a little.

“Three.”

Talon was already pressed up against Crystal, which made things easier. She wrapped one wing around the smaller wyvern and pushed her head under Crystal’s chest.

“Two.”

Her legs didn’t want to respond, but Talon forced them to. Even though everything inside her was shouting that Crystal would just be killed in the war anyway, she ignored it. All that mattered was that she wasn’t going to die today. Talon wouldn’t let that happen.

“One.”

With a shout of defiance, Talon pushed herself upright, dragging Crystal up as well.

“And that’s enough of that.”

All the pain and despair suddenly vanished. Talon would have collapsed from relief if standing hadn’t suddenly become so easy. She realized that Crystal, Twister, and herself were the only ones standing. Thunderfang was curled into a ball, and Tornado was covering his face with both paws.

Heart cautiously approached the group and wrapped Talon and Crystal in a hug. “I’m so sorry about having to do that. Wyrms train their whole lives to control their emotions, and Spirit Lightning is still an effective weapon against us. It was just cruel to use it on the five of you.”

Twister, who was fighting down tears, shook his head. “Don’t apologize.” His voice was a little strained, but it was still as sharp and commanding as ever. “If you still wish to join the Alliance, I will speak with my superiors on your behalf.”

Heart let go and turned to him. “And we will be honored to fight beside you. Just make sure that I get paired with those three.” She pointed at Talon, Crystal, and Tornado.

Twister wiped his cheeks with one wing and cleared his throat. “With all due respect, Squadron Five of the Thirty-sixth Cluster is the least experienced squad in the entire Alliance. You deserve to be in one of the elite squadrons.”

Talon looked away from Heart, suddenly feeling very small.

Heart quickly turned back around and pulled both Talon and Crystal into another hug. “There’s something you should know about that,” she said to Twister. “I don’t care.”

Author's Note

Culture Tidbit: All wyrm covens have an assassination team that has been trained to fight and kill anydragon that goes berserk. This is simply a matter of survival for them, as berserk wyrms tend to attack anyone they see. Smaller covens usually require every wyrm to be at least competent in a fight, in case the assassination team needs them. That same tradition has carried over into the daily training sessions at Everfree Village.

Chapter 6

It was already dark by the time Cliff reached the home he shared with Fluttershy. Cleanup duty in the cafeteria took up a lot of time. He paused as the front porch came into view, revealing a pacing figure. “Hey, Spirit. What’s going on?”

Spirit looked up and smiled nervously as his older brother approached. “Hey, Cliff, where’s Flutters?”

“She flew into Ponyville to see Pinkie. They’re planning a party for my birthday next month.” Cliff walked past his brother and opened the door.

“You don’t sound very excited.”

“It makes Fluttershy happy to throw me a birthday party, so I let her.” Cliff shrugged and stepped inside. “You know, if you wanted to talk, you could have waited inside.”

Spirit followed him into the living room. “It just feels weird walking into someone’s house when they aren’t there. Blame it on pony culture.”

“Fair enough.” Cliff climbed into the nest and leaned back against a mound of pillows and pet toys. “So what’s going on?”

Spirit fidgeted uncomfortably at the edge of the nest. “This is going to sound weird, but do you promise not to get angry at Autumn?”

That couldn’t be a good sign. Cliff nodded slowly. “I promise.”

“Use the Stillness.”

Definitely not a good sign. Cliff closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Like most wyrms, he had been taught to use the Stillness since infancy. Bits of amusement, worry, love, annoyance, and dozens of other emotions faded away, leaving his mind clear. “Okay, how bad is it?”

Spirit paused, and his face took on the tranquil expression of one wrapped in the Stillness. “This is going to take a while.” He climbed into the nest as well, resting on his back a few feet away from his brother. “You remember about a year ago when I was thinking of proposing to Autumn?”

Cliff nodded.

“Well, I actually did.” He took a deep breath. “She said no.”

Wait, she what?! Even without emotions, Cliff’s mind struggled to come to grips with what he’d just heard. “That fight you got in,” he guessed, “you told me it was over something silly but that you would hold off asking her to marry you until it was resolved. It was actually over her turning you down, wasn’t it?”

Spirit nodded unhappily. “She said that … she just doesn’t think marriage is for her. I wanted to know why, of course, but all she’s willing to tell me is that it’s because of her father. She even asked me not to look into it on my own.”

“It must be part of her burden,” Cliff said. Most wyrms had at least one burden, a memory that they simply couldn’t bear to face. Ponies had them too, but they generally called it trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder.

“That’s what I figured too.” Spirit stared up at the ceiling. “She never talks about her father, and I’ve given up trying to change that.”

Cliff sighed. As if his brother’s life didn’t have enough drama already. “Okay, so you want my help changing her mind or something?”

Spirit fidgeted uncomfortably. “Actually, that isn’t what I need your help with.”

Cliff pressed a hand over his eyes and groaned. “Oh Stars above, there’s more?”

“Yeah.” Spirit chuckled. “You know me, I can’t ever let my life be normal.”

There was certainly some truth to that. Spirit had a talent for getting himself into complicated situations. He almost seemed to do it on purpose sometimes.

“Let me guess,” Cliff said. “You have to get married in another week because of some obscure law about Equestrian royalty.” As adopted brothers to Twilight, both wyrms were technically Equestrian princes. That was doubly the case for Spirit, as Celestia considered him to be her son as well.

Spirit laughed. “Not quite. Actually, it’s Autumn again …”

“Of course it is.”

Spirit didn’t respond for a moment, then he quickly said, “Yesterday, she told me that she wants to be intimate with me. She knows that wyrm culture really frowns on sex outside of marriage, but Equestrian culture is a lot more okay with it, and in the Crystal Empire especially it isn’t a big deal at all. Autumn doesn’t want to pressure me into anything, which is why she waited so long to bring it up, and she didn’t try to defend it at all. She just told me that she wants it and asked me to decide for myself if I do too.” He was gasping for air by the end. “Whew, I don’t know how Pinkie Pie can say so much in one breath.”

Autumn wants to be intimate with Spirit? Cliff closed his eyes and winced. Oh Stars, I did not need that mental image. Fighting down the urge to gag, he said, “Okay, and how exactly does this relate to Autumn not wanting to get married?”

“Because normally I’d want to wait until marriage, but that might not be an option. I know it would make her happy if I say yes, but she also won’t let me give up some of my lifespan to extend hers unless we’re married.”

Cliff could only stare at his brother for a few seconds. “How do you even get yourself into these insane situations?”

“I don’t know!” Spirit flopped back against the edge of the nest. “Her exact words were, ‘It would be an insult to let you give up nearly half your lifespan for a selfish mare who can’t even promise a normal lifespan to you.’ So yeah, no marriage, no extending her life.”

It didn’t take an expert to realize that Spirit’s emotions were starting to bleed through the Stillness. “So how can I help?”

Spirit smiled weakly. “I want to know what you would do in my situation.”

Cliff thought about it. “Do you want me to answer as a wyrm, as a citizen of Everfree Village, or as your brother?”

Spirit elbowed the pillow behind him. “All three, I guess.”

“Well, wyrms see marriage as a promise of complete unity and devotion, that they’ll work through any and all arguments or trials that come up. Intimacy, the complete union of two beings, is the outward display of that promise, and so the act without the vow is just a lie. However, part of the reason wyrms are so firm in their stance about marriage is because the hatchlings from such a union deserve to be raised by loving parents. Wyrms and ponies can’t have children, so that doesn’t really apply to you, and furthermore, you weren’t raised as a wyrm, so forcing those cultural values on you would be idiotic.

“As a citizen of Everfree,” Cliff continued, “we’re told to accept other cultures and standards, and most stallions would jump at the chance to be intimate with a beautiful mare like Autumn. You’ve also been together for a long time, and no one can doubt your devotion to each other. I can’t think of any good reason why you shouldn’t, and I know Autumn would appreciate it if you did.

“Finally, as your brother, I know that Twilight, her parents, and our parents are all pretty firm in their stance about waiting until marriage. However, your situation is complicated and the choice should ultimately be yours. Waiting with Fluttershy was the right choice for me, but you’re not me, and I’m not you.” Cliff shrugged apologetically. “So I guess my answers are, ‘no,’ ‘yes,’ and ‘I don’t know,’ in that order.”

Spirit groaned. “That isn’t very helpful.”

“Sorry.” Cliff scratched his cheek thoughtfully. “How did things go when you talked to Autumn about it?”

The younger wyrm frowned slightly. “I told you that she wanted me to decide for myself.”

Now it was Cliff’s turn to groan. “Seriously, Spirit? You’re facing an important decision about your relationship with Autumn, and your first move wasn’t to talk it out with Autumn?”

“She didn’t want to push me into anything.” Spirit’s tone was just a little defensive.

Cliff facepalmed. “Spirit, the next time you see your marefriend, explain to her that understanding her point of view isn’t the same as being manipulated by it. Listen to all of her thoughts, hopes, and fears. Tell her your own. Sleep on the matter. Talk to her again, and accept that she might have come to a different conclusion than your own.”

“… Do you think that will work?”

“Even if it doesn’t answer your question, it will definitely help your relationship.” Cliff got up and climbed out of the nest. “I’m going to make some hot cocoa. Want a cup?”

“Sure.” Spirit followed after him. “Just one more question.”

Cliff got out the enchanted tea set. “What is it?”

“If I do decide to … you know, will you give me some advice?”

The older wyrm facepalmed again. “I’ll buy you a copy of the Camel-sutra, then deny all knowledge of doing so afterwards.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Tornado Wings hadn’t been kidding when he said that wyrms were brutal combatants. Their idea of a friendly sparring match generally resulted in broken bones on both sides. Talon had to keep reminding herself that if she had protection spells and healing magic too, then she probably wouldn’t see the point in holding back either. In fact, now that a decent number of wyrm volunteers had arrived, bringing those abilities with them, the Hurricanes had decided to make their training battles a lot more realistic.

A blast of ice energy flew up through the cloud Talon was generating, nearly clipping her right wing.

Off to her side, Thunderfang hissed in pain as another blast hit his foot, freezing it solid up to the knee. His entire body was also covered in glowing lines. Apparently it was some kind of a wyrm protection rune generated by the brown wyrm assigned to the thunder team. “Talon, get down there and buy us some time!” Then he turned his attention back to cloud generation.

Nodding, Talon turned to the rest of the venom team. None of them had the glowing runes. Gemstone Aura, that wyrm who always wore travel bags, was powerful enough that he could maintain the team’s protective spells directly. “Venoms, gas blanket. Gemstone, we’re going to need as much protection as you can manage!”

Gemstone Aura nodded from his place on Tornado’s back. Neither he nor Tornado was terribly thrilled about being stuck together. Heart could normally calm them both down, but she was off at a Council meeting today.

The venom wyverns dove off of their clouds, dodging enemy fire as they went.

On the ground beneath them, the ice squad that was serving as their opponent had already assembled an ice shelter and were taking full advantage of their ability to drop the local temperature.

Flying into their sphere of influence was like being hit by a wall. The air around Talon suddenly became so cold that it hurt to breathe. She had to squint to protect her eyes from the biting chill, and the shift in temperature was filling the whole area with fog, which didn’t make dodging ice blasts any easier.

As soon as they were close enough, the wyverns began taking turns passing beneath Tornado, spitting out clouds of poison as they went.

“Tornado, wide attack!” Talon ordered.

The golden drake did his job perfectly, sending out wide gusts of air to force the clouds down onto the squad of ice wyverns. Of course, spreading the toxin out like that also diluted it severely. It was a necessary trade-off to be able to hit the entire squad at once.

Talon saw a flash of blue light and pulled back just in time to avoid yet another blast of ice energy. The chilly sphere was only a few inches across, but a single direct hit could easily spell her doom … normally. Gemstone’s protection spell would keep her alive at least, but it would still flash freeze wherever it hit, bursting blood vessels and tearing apart muscles as crystals of ice formed and expanded from her very blood. Not something she wanted to experience if she could avoid it.

Tornado was drawing the most fire, which made sense. His larger size made him an easier target, and without his wind, the rest of the team would have to get suicidally close to effectively gas bomb the ice squad. It was a good thing that drakes were so tough, though if the angry red welts on his underside were any indication, he would need to be treated for several cases of local frostbite as soon as the battle was over.

Another ally cried out in pain as an ice bolt connected, freezing his shoulder and part of his wing membrane.

Talon dove to catch him before he could fall too far. Her talons wrapped around one of his legs. “I’ve got you, Mist. Keep hitting them, everydragon!” She pumped her wings as hard as she could to overcome their combined weight.

Thankfully the gas was starting to have an impact. Ice shots weren’t coming as frequently now, and they weren’t nearly as accurate.

A jumble of emotions echoed through the link Talon shared with Gemstone Aura and the other team leaders, far too quickly for her to keep up.

“Thunderfang says that’s enough,” Gemstone translated.

“Venoms, move out!” Talon shouted, panting as she finally reached Tornado’s back. She landed hard, letting go of Mist with one foot so that she could dig into the drake’s scales with her talons and steady herself. Luckily the spot just below his wings was flat enough that they weren’t in any real danger of falling off.

Gemstone hurried over and began healing Mist while Talon took off again. Tornado was an agile flier for a drake, but he didn’t need the extra weight.

As soon as they were clear, the thunder wyverns above them opened fire. Normally lightning breath wouldn’t be able to hit opponents so far below, but when shot through a thundercloud, both the range and the power were multiplied several times over.

Talon pulled her eyes away from the ground to focus on their next objective. Normally ice squads remained on the ground during a battle, only flying to change position or maintain distance from the enemy. However, to better simulate combat against actual ponies, one third of them had been ordered to stick to the air. The wind team in Squad Five had been keeping them busy, but now it was time to get rid of them.

The air currents were all messed up as they drew closer, of course. The only way for wind wyverns to counter temperature manipulation was to constantly pull in warm air from outside, making the entire area a maze of slipstreams. Luckily, there was a strong current right beneath Talon’s group, leading right into the heart of the aerial skirmish.

“Spit gas straight down!” Talon ordered.

Her team obeyed without question, and the gas was immediately pulled into a current that shot it at a cluster of four ice wyverns.

“Gemstone, tell Wandering Sky to calm the air,” Talon shouted. The wind team didn’t have a wyrm, so their leader had to serve as the relay point for messages instead. Talon just hoped he understood what the green wyrm sent him. “Tornado, speed us up! Crystal, Cloud, take lookout!”

Tornado nodded and sent a powerful gust of air at Talon and the others, accelerating them into the skirmish.

Her team smashed into the coughing ice wyverns; literally, in Talon’s case. The impact wrenched her neck and wings, but the unprepared ice wyvern was in far worse shape. He shouted in pain as his wing was crushed between them.

Talon blinked away the spots in her vision and kicked off of him. Her momentum was just enough to let her dodge his teeth.

As the ice wyvern fell, his wing in tatters, Talon pumped her wings to gain altitude. It was a simple law of aerial combat: being above your opponent almost always meant victory.

That law was reinforced a second later, when Crystal and Cloud Breaker, who had focused on gaining altitude, dove into two more foes.

Talon spared a second to glance down at the wyverns they had injured. Far below, a group of wyrms stood ready to catch them.

A quick look around confirmed that the wyverns that Crystal and her partner had hit were out of the fight as well. There didn’t seem to be any other ice wyverns still in the air.

Wandering Sky sent one of the messages that Talon had already memorized, “Air victory.”

On top of their cloud platform, Thunderfang paused long enough to acknowledge that.

There was a short flurry of emotions going back and forth before Thunderfang sent another simple message, “Peace.”

“The ice squad surrenders,” Talon called with a grin. “Everydragon, stand down and report in!”

-_-_-_-_-_-

As soon as everydragon was accounted for and healed, most of the wyrms split off to go to their coven. Gemstone was the one exception, like usual. “I’ll be fine,” he said, tousling Genesis’s green head spikes. “Just make sure everything is packed up and ready for tomorrow.”

That was right. Talon had gotten caught up in the practice battle and had nearly forgotten that they would be leaving for Equestria tomorrow morning.

The brown wyrm brushed his spikes back, still obviously uncomfortable, and glanced at Tornado and Ember, who were back in their thinking forms. “I’ll do my best, Gem, just … keep your eyes open, okay?”

“I will,” Gemstone said, following his friend’s gaze.

Once Genesis left, Gemstone reached into the bag on his left hip and pulled out a yellow crystal. “Heart’s meeting should be over soon.” He sank to all fours and took off toward the main camp, moving so fast that he was practically a blur.

Tornado relaxed visibly as soon as both wyrms were gone.

Crystal turned to the golden drake. “Why are you so tense around wyrms?”

A growl escaped Tornado’s muzzle. “Drakes never willingly go back on a promise. We have pledged to be your allies and so would lay down our lives to protect you if needed. Wyrms will lie and steal and cheat if it is convenient for them. There is always the chance that they will betray us.”

“They aren’t that bad,” Ember said. “Besides, why would they bother showing up to support us if they weren’t sincere?”

Tornado remained silent for a moment before answering. “I hope that you are right, but I will remain cautious until I can be completely sure. I won’t let my allies be harmed when I could have prevented it.”

Talon couldn’t decide how to feel about Tornado’s announcement. It was nice to know that he was so serious about protecting them, but at the same time, it was a bit insulting that he thought they needed it. Gemstone, on the other wing, had the opposite problem. According to Heart, Gemstone was using less than half of his full power to enhance and protect the venom team. Talon believed it. That green blur in the distance was running faster than she could fly, even with wyrm enhancement spells. “Come on, you three, let’s get back to camp.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

“I know that we leave for the Crystal Empire tomorrow,” Heart Echo said, looking around the small cavern to make sure that she had everydragon’s attention, “and I know that only half of the estimated two thousand wyrms have shown up, but we did get over a dozen warriors from the Pine Grove Coven yesterday, and they may be able to help us keep an eye on Equestria’s movements.”

“Please explain,” Aurora, the Hurricane of Ice, said. She radiated curiosity and respect, a welcome change from the dismissive attitude of some of the drake lords.

Heart nodded to her. “The Pine Grove Coven specializes in illusions. We could use them to infiltrate towns and cities around Equestria. They also have a way of sending coded messages over long distances. We could have a decent spy network with just these fourteen dragons.”

Reactions were mixed. Through her spells, Heart could tell that all five wyvern leaders felt intrigued. Silver Tail was only mildly interested. A drake lord named Yol Toor felt more curious than anything. He’d probably have more questions for her after the meeting. A blue female drake named Diamond Hide had no real reaction at all. Maybe she wasn’t listening. Finally, a massive grayish drake named Torch seemed to feel that this was all a waste of time.

Unsurprisingly, Torch was the first to voice his opinion. “What’s the point in listening to ponies gossip? We already have a plan to capture the Crystal Empire.”

“Think of it like a duel,” Silver Tail said. “Predicting your opponent’s next move is the first step to defeating him. Unfortunately, we don’t have time to let these spies go to work before winter sets in.”

“Why not?” Aurora asked. “We can capture the Empire halfway through winter. It will still give us enough time to prepare for Equestria’s response in the spring, if they even send one.”

Silver Tail shook his head. “It’s bad enough that we’re engaging in this group combat madness. I’m not going to let our defeated opponents freeze to death as they march to Canterlot from the Empire.”

“Kill or enslave them,” Aurora said as though it were obvious. “Fewer opponents to worry about later.”

Her words sparked a wave of outrage among the drakes. For once, Heart agreed with them.

“No,” Silver Tail said firmly. “We won’t kill civilians. That isn’t up for debate. And some dragons might keep pony slaves, but I’m not one of them.”

“Nor I,” Yol Toor said.

“Okay,” Heart said loud enough to get their attention back. “So we can’t wait until next year because our supplies won’t last that long, and we only have a few weeks left in this year before snow makes the roads impassible. One other possibility is to sit down and talk with the pony leaders. My coven specializes in magic that controls emotions, so maybe we can convince them to give us the Empire without a fight. As long as neither of the Immortal Sisters shows up, that is.” Heart shuddered at the thought of coming face to face with one of them.

Aurora shook her head. “Never build a plan that hinges on your opponent’s behavior, unless you have a backup plan for every possible action they could take.”

“Aurora is right,” Yol Toor said. “A bloodless solution would be preferable, of course, but Celestia would likely attend any kind of a meeting between ponies and dragons. There are even rumors that she uses mind control magic on any creature foolish enough to try to negotiate with her.”

“Then it seems our initial plan remains our best option,” Aurora said. “Blitz the Empire before they have a chance to prepare for us.”

The other dragons all voiced their agreement. Even Heart found herself agreeing that it was the best of their limited options.

“Let’s just do everything possible to minimize pony casualties,” she said. “The more ponies we kill, the less likely Equestria will be to accept any kind of long-term peace.”

“Very well,” Aurora continued. “We should all make sure that our forces are ready to leave tomorrow morning. This Council is now dismissed.” With that, the ice wyvern rose and started walking toward the cavern exit.

The other Hurricanes all followed after her. Most of the drake leaders did as well, shifting to their battle forms as soon as they were outside. Yol Toor, however, approached Heart instead. His gray scales and brown horns almost seemed to glow in the dimness of the cavern. The effect was especially noticeable around his golden eyes.

Heart smiled a little at him. “You’re curious about illusion magic?”

“Wyrm magic in general, actually,” Yol Toor said, returning the smile.

“That’s a pretty broad topic.” Heart motioned toward the cave exit. “Would it be okay if we walk and talk? Gem and Tornado will start fighting again if I’m not around to cool them both off.”

“Of course.” Yol Toor started walking with her. “I’ve been meaning to speak with Tornado anyway.”

“Sounds good.” Heart fell silent for a moment, thinking about how best to explain wyrm magic. “I guess at it’s most basic, we tap into our emotions to do things, like how drakes can focus on determination to shift to their battle forms …”

As they walked, Heart couldn’t help but shiver a little from all the drakes that they passed. Obsessive honor or not, drakes had fought with wyrms for thousands of years. She had even killed a few over the years, and it had never bothered her. Most of these drakes wouldn’t think twice about killing her either, if not for their alliance.

At least having Yol Toor at her side helped set Heart at ease. He was still much taller than she was, even on her back legs, but he was filled with so much love for his clan and his family that Heart could almost pretend that he was an abnormally large and muscular wyrm who happened to have wings. A wyrm that every drake would bow to as they passed. Heart tried to ignore that and focus on explaining magic. She was able get through the fundamentals of wyrm magic and the broad categories of spells by the time they reached the wyvern camps.

Squad Five was already back at their makeshift nest when Heart and Yol Toor arrived. Like she’d feared, Gem and Tornado were glaring at each other. Talon looked and felt like she had put up with more than enough from those two already, and even Crystal was starting to get sick of them.

“Hey, Talon,” Heart called, waving to get her friend’s attention. “How did the match go? Sorry I couldn’t be there for it.”

Relief washed over Talon’s emotions as she flew over to them. “Welcome back, Heart, but you don’t need to apologize for your responsibilities. You’re basically the leader of all the wyrms in the Alliance.” There was some confusion in the wyvern’s emotions as well, but that was nothing new. For some reason, Talon always felt confused whenever Heart’s position came up.

“I’m still a member of Squad Five,” Heart said. “Anyway, you never told me how the match went.”

Giddy excitement, but it was masked by a veil of calm disinterest. “Only three major injuries, one thunder and two winds.” A bit of a smile broke through her mask. “The ice squad had twelve, but nothing that couldn’t be healed.”

Heart smiled as well. “Glad to hear it.”

Crystal gave up on trying to distract Gem and Tornado and came over to join them. “How was your meeting?”

“Not bad.” It wasn’t as long as some of the other ones, but that was all that could be said about it. “The overall plan is still the same, but we’re short on wyrm volunteers, so we’ll have to stick to three per squadron.” She scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably. “I really thought that more would show up.”

Talon’s reply was cut short as Tornado finally noticed their presence and rushed over to Yol Toor. “Grandfather!” He bowed deeply. “It is good to see you. I apologize for being distracted by this wyrm.” He shot Gem a disdainful look.

Wait, grandfather? Heart studied Yol Toor more closely. His horns were about the same shade of brown as Tornado’s spikes and eyes, but that was where any similarity ended. The older drake was noticeably larger and more well muscled, with horns coming off the back of his head. His emotional state was almost always calm with an undercurrent of unshakable determination. Tornado was fairly quiet, but his emotions were usually bouncing back and forth between confusion, anger, and blind trust. It was hard to imagine these two being related.

“I was learning the basics of wyrm magic from one of our allies,” Yol Toor said firmly. “There is a lot that drakes can learn from wyrms.”

Tornado’s jaw dropped, then his back legs gave out. His emotions couldn’t have had more shock if Yol Toor had suggested that every drake commit suicide.

“It is good to meet you, Talon Wind and Crystal Sky,” Yol Toor continued, ignoring his grandson’s distress. “Heart Echo tells me that your bond with Tornado is what convinced her to join the Alliance in the first place.”

“What, really?” Talon looked at Heart in surprise.

Heart nodded. “Didn’t I tell you that already?”

“Not that I’ve heard, you haven’t,” Gem said, radiating annoyance.

“Oh, whoops.” Heart shrugged. “It was the first time I ever saw hope for the dragon races to get along, and I wanted to be a part of it. Anyway, this is Yol Toor, the lord of the Shattered Mountain Clan.” She gestured to the drake at her side.

Talon’s eyes shot open and her emotions filled with something approaching terror. She immediately dropped to a bow, as did Crystal. “Please forgive us for being so casual with you, Dragon Lord.”

“Respect should be earned, not demanded.” Yol Toor motioned for them to rise. “Until I have earned yours, bowing would be a lie to us all.”

“Thank you,” Crystal whispered as they both stood back up.

“You are welcome. Now then, Tornado?” He turned to the younger drake, who was still in a state of shock. “Do you still have trouble keeping a clear head in your battle form?”

Tornado nodded weakly.

“Heart Echo has told me of a wyrm meditation technique called the Stillness that might help. Perhaps one of the wyrms in your squadron will help you learn it.” He bowed to Heart. “Again, I thank you for your aid in this war.”

She bowed back automatically. “You’re welcome.”

Yol Toor inclined his head slightly to the group of them. “Honor to you all.” Then he turned and walked away.

Heart joined the others in watching him go, still trying to wrap her head around the emotional turmoil that had suddenly filled Tornado’s chest. “Tornado, is Yol Toor really your grandfather?” Of all the questions she could have asked, it was probably the dumbest, so of course it was the one her brain decided to spit out first.

Tornado finally managed to close his mouth, but even then it took him a few seconds before he could respond. “ ‘Grandfather’ and ‘grandmother’ can refer to any direct ancestor.”

“It’s nice that he wants to help you,” Crystal said. “He must have a lot of other descendants.”

“Hundreds. There are over a dozen generations of us.”

In the distance, a group of drakes saw Yol Toor approaching. Like all the others, they moved out of his way and bowed deeply as he passed.

“Drakes must respect him a lot,” Talon commented.

“Only because he has earned it.” Tornado got up and approached Heart Echo. To everydragon’s shock, he bowed to her and held that position. “If Yol Toor says that I can learn from wyrms, I will not doubt him. Please forgive me for believing otherwise, and please teach me how to use the Stillness.”

“I, uh, wow. I wasn’t expecting that.” Heart laughed a little. “Uh, you’re forgiven, and I suck at teaching, but Gem here is pretty good at it.” Not to mention, it might help those two learn to get along. She turned to the other wyrm. “Would you mind teaching him?”

Gemstone stared at the bowing drake for a moment then turned to Heart with a raised eyebrow. “Really?”

She nodded. “Please?”

His emotions blinked out of existence as Gem embraced the Stillness. After a long moment, the green wyrm sighed. “Fine.”

“Thank you, Gem.” Heart paused. “And, Tornado, stop bowing. It’s creeping me out.”

Tornado stood up again. “Thank you both. Gemstone Aura, if you don’t mind, I would like to begin immediately. We can even travel back to the coven if you would be more comfortable there.”

Gemstone glanced at Heart. They both knew that she was planning on staying with the wyverns tonight, in case there were any last-minute changes that she needed to hear about. “Here is fine. Just let me run back to the coven and let them know.”

Heart pretended not to notice his look. Instead, she turned her attention to the waning sun. “Okay, I guess that means we’ll all be staying with the wyverns. Your leaders won’t mind, will they?”

“No,” Talon shook her head, “Thunderfang might complain, but he isn’t going to argue with a superior officer like you.”

“I guess that’s one advantage to sitting through all those meetings,” Heart said under her breath.

Meanwhile, Gem’s emotions were grumbling unhappily, like he couldn’t believe what he was doing. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Then his emotions flickered rapidly through a set of spells, and he shot off toward the coven.

Talon watched him go, suspicion and confusion bouncing around her heart. “Tornado, I know it’s hard, but I really wish you and Gemstone would get along.”

“I will try,” Tornado said quietly.

Heart sighed. “Don’t blame all of Gem’s moodiness on Tornado. He’s against this war in general. In fact, the other day, he tried to convince me to befriend the ponies. The Stars only know why he insists on helping us fight them.”

Talon smirked. “I might know the reason.”

“No, he doesn’t have a crush on me.” Heart chuckled at Talon’s look of surprise. “He respects me and worries about my safety, but there’s nothing romantic in his feelings.” She shook her head. “Anyway, I can’t figure him out. He’s been like that since I first met him, a few days before you two showed up.”

“That is kind of strange,” Crystal said.

“Yeah.” Talon turned back to the nest. “We may as well get comfortable while we wait. In the meantime, you can tell us about Yol Toor. I was surprised at how well you two seemed to get along.”

“He respects me.” Heart slid into the nest next to Talon. “That makes it easy to respect him back.”

Tornado joined them, shifting over a bit to make room for Crystal. “Yol Toor respects everydragon. That is why so many dragons flock to his clan.”

The small group lapsed into silence as all around them the rest of the squadron chatted quietly. In the distance, the sun was setting, shining it’s last rays through the jagged peaks of the mountains to the north.

“Heart?” Talon said softly. “Why do drakes and wyrms fight so much?”

“In a word, biology.” She chuckled, but there was no real humor in her voice.

Tornado radiated agreement, but Talon and Crystal just felt confused.

“Drakes call it determination,” Heart said. “We call it greed. In any case, it’s the emotion you feel when there’s something you want so much that you stop caring about what it will cost you to get it. Drakes change into their battle form by focusing on that emotion. I guess wyrms do too, in a way.”

She paused and looked back at the sunset. “Imagine something the size of a drake, but like a crazed animal that will attack anything that gets in its way. Most of them have to be killed to keep the rest of the coven safe. It would literally be suicide for a wyrm to walk the path of determination that drakes have built their entire society around. At the same time, drakes could never accept the selflessness, the focus away from your own wants and desires, that wyrms focus on. It would mean giving up their single greatest strength.”

Talon leaned over and put a wing around the smaller dragoness. “Maybe you could get along anyway.”

Crystal did as well, placing her wing on top of Talon’s. “You and Yol Toor respect each other. It can’t be hopeless.”

Heart smiled up at the two of them. “When I first met you two, I could tell that wyverns were a lot like wyrms. Even driven out of your homes and halfway across the planet, you were still more worried about each other than yourselves. If you could be so selfless and still get along with drakes, then I thought maybe wyrms could too.” She glanced at Tornado. “All those centuries of hatred and fighting aren’t going to disappear easily, though.”

“Just wait until the first battle,” Talon said. “If the lions taught us anything, it’s that nothing brings different groups together like fighting against a common foe.”

A morbid laugh bubbled up in Heart’s chest. “I can’t argue with that, but next time, do you think we could pick a foe that isn’t ten times our size and led by two goddesses?”

“And maybe won’t lead to my race going extinct if we lose,” Talon added.

Crystal nodded. “I agree.”

Tornado just looked confused.

The three dragonesses looked at him for a moment before they burst into laughter. Males could be so thickheaded sometimes.

“You know,” Heart said once they’d all calmed down, “if I do get killed out there, at least I can die happy. I mean, living long enough to meet the third dragon type was special enough. Seeing all three types fighting together against our most dangerous foe is something else entirely.” She reached up and tousled both Talon and Crystal’s hair. “It makes me think that dragons will have a bright future after all.”

Author's Note

Culture tidbit: Wyvern leaders have absolute authority over their underlings. They can even kill a disobedient underling with no repercussions, although it is frowned upon. The lions usually outnumbered them significantly, and they couldn't afford to kill many of their own warriors.

Chapter 7

The ringing in his head reminded Spirit why he wasn’t a fan of being Dash’s punching bag during morning training. At least their matches ended quickly; Sonic Rainbooms at close range tended to have that effect. Once he was done picking up the shattered remains of his ego, Spirit usually had lots of time to practice his illusion magic and maybe have a match or two against a more normal opponent. Today however, he found himself watching Autumn duel against Cheerilee, the elementary school teacher.

Cheerilee was a moderately skilled fighter … probably. Spirit wasn’t really paying attention to her. His eyes were locked on his beautiful marefriend.

As a crystal pony, Autumn’s strength and endurance were better than a unicorn’s, but not nearly as good as an earth pony. Thankfully, empathy helped her predict an opponent’s moves, and thus avoid the majority of Cheerilee’s blows. Crystallization helped a lot too.

Spirit watched as Autumn stomped on the ground, shooting up a wall of crystals just as Cheerilee turned to buck at her.

The wall didn’t hold of course, crystals weren’t nearly as hard as gemstones, but it did buy Autumn a moment to get away from the edge of the ring.

Autumn was a fairly average combatant, but something about watching her fight made Spirit’s heartbeat skyrocket. It was rare to see her looking so fierce and determined outside of a training ring.

He might have checked out her flank a few times as well. Hey, even with the prismatic shield separating them, it was still a nice view.

As soon as the match ended—four to five, in favor of Cheerilee—Spirit stepped into the ring. “Hey, girls, good show out there!”

Both mares looked up, panting heavily and covered in sweat.

“I would wager we look less than good at the moment.” Autumn’s smile turned into a wince, probably due to her impressive black eye.

Cheerilee winced too, but it was out of sympathy. “I’m really very sorry, Autumn. I was aiming for your shoulder.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you both covered.” Spirit approached the two and quickly healed their injuries. He was careful not to use too much healing magic, though, otherwise it would undo the benefits of all that exercise.

“Thank you, Spirit.” Autumn nuzzled into his hand after he healed her black eye. “Cheerilee, please stop feeling guilty. I wouldn’t have challenged you to a match if I was not prepared to receive several impressive bruises.”

Cheerilee relaxed a little. “Thank you, Autumn, and thank you, Spirit.”

“My pleasu-” Spirit’s response was cut short by the sound of an explosion.

All three turned toward the sound of the noise.

A rainbow-patterned wave of light filled the training ring next to them. Spirit also noted that the containment field had been set to its maximum height. The energy faded to reveal Big McIntosh standing in place with his eyes closed. He looked completely calm, which was actually kind of freaky, given the circumstances.

Rainbow Dash stood on his back for a moment before flying up to the top of the containment field. Once there, she turned and dove, shaking the ground as another Sonic Rainboom shook the area.

Big Mac seemed a little shorter when it cleared, but otherwise hadn’t moved. Spirit’s jaw dropped when he realized that the blast had driven his hooves several inches into the ground.

Half a dozen Rainbooms later, the red stallion was up to his knees in the ground and still wearing the same calm expression.

Spirit shivered. “Those two are scary.”

“They are the highest producers of natural magic in the Village, next to Twilight.” Autumn sighed quietly. “It’s a little disheartening to think that I will never be able to fight either of them as an equal.”

“Tell me about it.” Spirit hugged her around the shoulders. “Even controlling a drake puppet, I’m just a warm up for Dash.”

Cheerilee didn’t say anything. She was too busy staring dreamily at Big Mac. Her crush on him was one of the worst kept secrets in the Village.

“Maybe we should leave the lovebirds alone,” Spirit whispered. “It’s time for breakfast anyway.”

Autumn nodded and led them both toward the castle.

Spirit formed a link with her as they walked. Crystal ponies often had a lot of trouble adjusting to life outside the Empire. Without the ability to sense emotions, other types of ponies all seemed completely insensitive. Autumn had gotten used to it, but Spirit still liked to give her a little taste of home by joining their emotions with his magic.

“I am sorry for causing you so much stress last week,” Autumn said. Remorse echoed through the link as she spoke. She changed over to emotion-based speech and sent, “You know I wouldn’t be angry if you would rather not be intimate, right?”

“I know,” Spirit assured her, “and I do want it, but I also don’t.” He sighed, trying to weigh Autumn’s desires against what Celestia, Twilight Velvet, and Night Light had taught him about respecting mares, not to mention the cultural values of his wyrm parents. “It’s complicated.” It had been five days since he talked to Cliff about things, and he still wasn’t exactly sure what he should do. It didn’t help that he and Autumn both had jobs that kept them busy for most of the day.

“I understand.” She pressed against his side as they walked.

The kitchen was still mostly empty when they got there. Spirit poured himself a bowl of cereal with a side of amethysts before grabbing two newspapers from the stack and joining Autumn at a table.

She thanked him for the paper, even though he grabbed one for her every morning, and began to read through it as she ate her breakfast of eggs and toast. A surge of confusion washed through her as she read aloud, “Prince Blueblood joined the Royal Army?”

“Really?” Spirit checked the front page, and indeed, Prince Flank-head himself was displayed in a suit of armor, smiling for the camera.

Autumn chuckled. “Oh Celestia, please let his platoon get sent Saddle Arabia or somewhere equally far away.”

Spirit couldn’t help but laugh along. “I think they’d interpret that as an act of war.”

The article itself talked a lot but said very little. Taking out all the fluff, Prince Blueblood had joined for unknown reasons—Spirit had his money on losing a drunken bet with his friends—then almost immediately tested out of basic training with his certifications from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns before declaring himself a member of the reserve forces.

“Maybe we can get Celestia to court martial him,” Spirit mused before flipping to the next page. “Second Dragon Migration,” he read aloud. “That’s weird.” From what Cliff had told him, the Great Dragon Migration was actually a bunch of drakes gathering together for a giant tournament of some kind, with losers trickling back to their home clans over the course of a decade or two. It made him extra glad that Twilight, Rarity, and Dash had prevented him from following the Migration to its end. A baby wyrm wouldn’t have lasted long among all those drakes. “I guess the northern clans lost early and decided to go home all at once or something.”

“Perhaps.” Autumn skimmed through the article. “Strange that they’re so far east of their normal route though. It’s as though they’re trying to avoid attention.”

“Who’s avoiding attention?”

Spirit looked up to see his adopted sister walking toward them. A plate of haybrowns and pancakes levitated beside her. “Hey, Twi.”

Autumn nodded. “To answer your question, a large group of drakes has been seen flying north across Equestria.”

“They were spotted by a prospector near Dodge Junction four days ago,” Spirit explained. “If they went straight north from there, the only other city along their path would be Hollow Shades.”

Twilight frowned a little as she sat down. “You’re right, that does sound like they’re avoiding attention. Maybe we should send somepony to keep an eye on them.”

Spirit nodded. “I’ll talk to Grandma after breakfast.” Grandma was the head of security and military in Everfree Village, and this definitely fell under her jurisdiction. “Oh, and I’ll write a letter to Mom, so we can get her permission.”

“Which mom?” Autumn asked with a smirk. “You do have three.”

Spirit chuckled. “Fair enough. I meant Celestia.” Thinking back on it, he wasn’t quite sure when he had stopped thinking of the white alicorn as almost like another parent, and started thinking of her as another parent, plain and simple. Sometime after he met his draconic parents, probably, when he realized that it was possible to have more than one mother and father. “I’m sure she won’t mind if we check things out, but it’d be best if we get things in writing first, in case our team runs into any royal guards.” One of the annoyances of making Everfree a separate country was that they had to fill out paperwork before they did much of anything on Equestrian soil.

“Maybe we should write a letter to Shining and Cadance too,” Twilight mused. “They might be as far north as the Crystal Empire by now.”

Spirit nodded. “Alright, I’ll ask them about it.”

“Thanks, Spirit.” Twilight started in on her meal.

“No problem, Sis.” Spirit idly skimmed the paper as he worked through his own food. There wasn’t much else of note, just some hoofball scores. Apparently there wasn’t much going on in Equestria at the moment.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Talon looked around. Flying wyverns and drakes in one long column, with ice-covered mountains spread out beneath them as far as the eye could see. The air was so cold that it hurt to breathe in the mornings and the evenings. Even fire wyverns struggled to keep things comfortable.

The Frozen North certainly lived up to its name. The last time Talon had seen bare ground was when Tornado melted away a patch of snow at the bottom of a canyon to give Squad Five a dry place to sleep, then he had curled around them in his battle form, sheltering them with one wing all through the night.

She wouldn’t admit it, but Talon was starting to be okay with the fact that Tornado was her new battle partner. He had flown all day every day for a week, even giving the venom team rides so that they could rest. Talon had taken her share of them, but this time she had a different purpose in mind as she came down for a landing on Tornado’s back. Once she was sure that she wouldn’t slip off, Talon approached Gemstone, who was sitting at the base of Tornado's neck, watching the ground beneath them. “Hey, Gemstone, how are you holding up?”

The green wyrm kept his eyes on the ground. “I’m fine. Tornado can’t really concentrate enough to work on the Stillness in his battle form, so I’m just killing time.”

Talon nodded. “Sorry that Heart hasn’t been able to be here all week.” She was riding on Silver Tail, so they could go over different strategies.

“That’s just life.” Gemstone looked over at Ember. Glowing runes covered the blue drake and the wind and thunder teams. “How are Genesis, Rune, and Clodhopper?”

“They were fine when I talked to them.” Talon could see the three wyrms from where she stood, sitting in a circle as they worked on some kind of design that they assured Talon would help the war effort. Ember herself was struggling a little with the giant leather bag of rations strapped onto her back, but that was why she had three wyrms around to power her up. “You four are the only ones from the Mystic Forest Coven to join the Alliance, right?”

A rare smile touched Gemstone’s face. “Yeah, I owe those three a lot.”

“We owe you too,” Talon said. “I don’t think I ever thanked you for being a part of Squad Five, so thank you.”

The smile disappeared from Gemstone’s face like a puff of smoke on the wind. “You shouldn’t thank me, Talon.”

Something about his voice made Talon wary. “Why not?”

Gemstone didn’t respond at first. His eyes drifted behind them to the east, where the Crystal Empire was just barely visible over the mountains between them. “I won’t be joining you on the battlefield tomorrow.”

“What?” Talon shook her head. “No. You’re part of Squad Five now. It’s your duty.”

“Not anymore.” Gemstone turned to look forward once more. “I think we’re almost to the Ice Spire Cave.”

“Don’t try to change the subject.” Talon grabbed the wyrm with one foot and turned him around to face her. “Why do you want to abandon the Squad all of the sudden?”

Gemstone looked down. “I thought I could do this, but I can’t. I’ll work as a healer, a rune-worker, and an enchanter, but I won’t be stepping foot on a battlefield.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, Talon, but nothing you say or do will change my mind.”

“So you’re just going to leave the rest of us to die?” Talon asked, struggling to not grip his shoulder a lot tighter.

“Rune Field volunteered to take my place,” Gemstone said quietly. “She’s the best rune master in the Alliance.”

Talon looked over at Ember again. Rune Field was the light orange one, if Talon remembered correctly. She was also Genesis’s great-great-great-grandmother or something. The older wyrm would probably make a great addition to the Squad, but … “Why?” Talon asked at last.

“My wife.” The words were so soft that Talon almost missed them. “I could never face her again.”

Talon finally released his shoulder and crouched next to the green wyrm. “Your wife?”

He nodded.

“I didn’t know that you were married.”

“I prefer not to talk about it.” Gemstone looked really sad, which was making it harder and harder to stay angry at him.

“Okay.” Talon let out a sigh and pulled the green wyrm into a hug with her wings. “I’ll tell the Squad tonight that Rune will be replacing you.”

“Thanks.” Gemstone weakly returned the hug. “We should be landing soon.”

Talon had noticed it as well. The front of the column was already coming down toward a low but wide peak with a rounded top. It would be nearly impossible to find from the ground, nestled as it was between several larger peaks, and a flightless army would be vulnerable as it passed through the narrow canyons to reach them. “What will you do?”

“Clodhopper and I will be setting up a ring of anti-magic runes around the cave,” Gemstone said. “Genesis and Rune too, when they aren’t busy with the Squad.” He gently broke off the hug and stood up.

Talon stood as well. “I’ll talk to Thunderfang about letting you and Clodhopper share our nest. I’m sure Genesis and Rune will appreciate your company.”

“Thanks.” He turned back to Talon with an oddly serious expression. “Stay safe out there.”

“I will.” There wasn’t much left to say, so Talon offered a quick goodbye and rejoined the venom team in the air.

They landed near the mountain’s top a few minutes later on a large flat expanse of rock and snow in front of a looming cave mouth. Massive icicles even hung from the top of the entryway like the fangs of some giant beast.

How charming.

At least Tornado didn’t seem worried. He walked right into the cave mouth after the drake in front of him, still in his battle form.

The path spiraled gently downwards for maybe half a full circle, with snow gradually giving way to stone and the temperature steadily rising to comfortable levels. Eventually the tunnel opened up into the single largest cavern that Talon had ever seen. It was roughly the shape of an egg, with the entryway as the pointed tip. Lava pools dotted the floor, lighting the area and radiating welcome heat into the air. She wasn’t sure how high the ceiling went, high enough to be lost in shadows. There were also a few smaller tunnels, by drake standards, leading off into parts unknown. It wasn’t exactly the most welcoming thing that Talon had ever seen, but it would do until they captured the Crystal Empire.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Talon officially hated moving the entire camp. By the time Squad Five reported in, was assigned a part of the cavern floor to sleep on, and got their evening rations, it was long past sunset. She only even knew that because the tunnel entryway had gone dark.

At least it was warm. Merciful Ancestors, Talon had nearly forgotten what it was like to be warm, fed, and at least relatively comfortable. Their position at the back of the central cavern was nice, shielding them from any cold air that might make its way down the entry tunnel.

The rest of the Squad was in high spirits too, talking softly among themselves. Crystal and Heart lay on Talon’s right side, with Tornado on her left. The four wyrms from Mystic Forest sat to the left, clustered around some design or other. The rest of Squad Five was loosely clustered in front of Talon, and beyond them, she could see almost every dragon in the Alliance settling down to sleep. Not all of them would be joining Squad Five on the battlefield, of course. There were plenty of wyrms that had only come along to heal the wounded, and dragons of all types that would be in charge of gathering food and supplies. Still, the army that would attack the Crystal Empire would be larger than any that the wyverns had been able to muster in decades.

“So, Rune,” Talon said, looking over Tornado’s back to the light orange wyrm. “Do you think you’ll be ready for tomorrow?”

“I think so.” Rune finished scrawling out a design on a thin sheet of metal. Her claws somehow left glowing lines in their wake. “I just wish I could get this magic-field strength reader to work.” She turned to Talon. “Would you mind if I tried it on you?”

“I wouldn’t do it,” Genesis said over Rune’s shoulder. “The last time I let her try an experimental rune on me, she rewired my magic field and almost made me melt my own teeth off.”

“It was an honest mistake.” Rune playfully smacked him with the metal sheet she was holding. “Besides, dragon teeth don’t melt. Their chemical composition is wrong. They burn.” A thoughtful look crossed her face. “Unless wyvern or drake teeth are made of something different. I need to test that.” She looked at Talon with smile that made the wyvern more than a little uneasy.

Talon leaned back a bit. “Uh, what are you hoping to do with that strength reader thing?”

That seemed to snap Rune back to her original line of thought. “Oh, right. For generations, wyrms have been theorizing about ways to kill the White Goddess, but nodragon knows for sure what she’s capable of, so all the theories are essentially just guesses. A decent reading of her magic field will at least give us a place to start developing real theories.”

“You want to kill Celestia?” Gemstone asked incredulously.

His tone drew the attention of the rest of the squad.

“Is that even possible?” Thunderfang asked. “I heard that she’s immortal.”

“I heard that she creates earthquakes every time she takes a step,” another wyvern said. Talon couldn’t see who through the small crowd that was gathering.

“A drake told me that she can move the sun,” somedragon else said.

All eyes turned to Tornado and Ember, who were sitting at Talon's side.

“Yol Toor can defeat her,” Tornado said firmly.

Ember looked at him skeptically and folded her arms over her chest.

“The Alliance isn’t going into this fight blind,” Heart said, drawing the group’s attention. “We’ve dug through every story and legend in wyrm or drake records. There are even some accounts from creatures that have talked to her face-to-face. They all agree that she’s extremely powerful and shows no mercy to anything that threatens her ponies.” Heart paused for a moment and looked around at the group. “But they also agree that she has her limits. So if Celestia does show up tomorrow, get as far away from her as you can, because the Hurricanes and every drake lord in the Alliance is going to be attacking her with everything they have.” She chuckled softly. “Even if all the stories about Celestia are true, I’d still vote on our champions. Have any of you seen drake Void Fire up close? Or the Hurricane of Thunder has this technique that can cut through anything, even magic.”

“How about we all try to be careful tomorrow,” Thunderfang said, “no matter what we run into?”

The rest of the Squad echoed their agreement.

“Okay then,” Thunderfang looked around at everydragon, “let’s all try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is the first battle of the Alliance, and if all goes according to plan, it’ll be our last one too.”

Author's Note

Other races say no plan survives contact with the enemy. Wyverns say no enemy survives contact with the plan.

Chapter 8

There was no reason to be nervous, Talon reminded herself. The plan would give them as quick and bloodless a victory as possible. Besides, the sun wasn’t even up yet. Most ponies would probably still be in bed. Squad Five was even positioned so that they could avoid most of the action, sitting in the mountains to the northeast of the Crystal Empire. The main army in the west would be drawing most of the Empire’s attention, freeing up four of the lighter, faster clusters hidden around the Empire to rush the palace and capture whatever pony was in charge of this place.

One cluster would be more than enough to deal with any hostile ponies on the way to the palace. Maybe. She hoped.

Heart stood at the top of a small ridge nearby, calmly watching the Empire. That wyrm was the only dragon in Squad Five that wasn’t pacing or fidgeting nervously. Not even the layers of snow beneath her feet or the freezing air seemed to bug her.

“This feels wrong,” Tornado said, puffing out bits of smoke. “Combat should be a chance for both warriors to test their strength, techniques, and determination, and grow as a result. It should never include an attack before your opponent is ready, and it should certainly never endanger bystanders.”

Through their link, Heart sent Talon a quick message in emotion-speech. Talon didn’t get the exact wording, but the general idea was that Tornado was trying to hide his own fears.

Talon sent back her thanks for the translation and turned her attention to Tornado. “Silver Tail is doing his best to keep things honorable.” Even if it meant giving up some of the element of surprise. “The rest of us probably,” hopefully, “won’t even see any fighting, so there’s no chance that any civilians will get hurt.”

That calmed Tornado down a little.

“Speaking of Silver Tail,” Heart said, “he’s almost in position.”

Talon peeked over the ridge and saw that Heart was right. The main force of the army, more than five thousand dragons in all, had reached the western edge of the Empire. She could even hear bits of the drake lord’s announcement of war, amplified as his voice was by drake wind magic so that most of the Empire could hear it.

“Cluster Thirty-six,” Twister roared, “form up and move out!”

Talon took to the air, flapping quickly until she was at an easy altitude to maintain. “Venom team, on me!”

Down below, Tornado had already switched to his battle form, and Heart was just getting into position on his back. Genesis and Rune were a little slower getting on Ember, prompting the blue dragoness to grab them both and put them into position herself. The thunder and wind teams were forming up already, their runes looking like glowing spiderwebs in the early morning light.

The formation rushed forward less than a minute later, led by their highest-ranking squadrons. Of course that put Squad Five at the back, an arguably good position. They wouldn’t have to break through any enemy lines, but they’d also be the first to know if Equestria tried any flanking maneuvers.

It only took another minute or so to reach the fields around the Crystal Empire, then the first houses. Soon they were nearly at the palace. And yet there was still no resistance from the ponies. None of Equestria’s fabled armies rose to meet them. No walls of arrows or rays of unicorn magic appeared. The few ponies that Talon could see on the streets all seemed to be running for cover, and the streets themselves had lit up like some kind of warning signal. Maybe they actually had caught the Empire completely unprepared.

Then a warning shout came from the front of the formation, followed by dozens more.

Talon looked up just in time to see a wall of blue energy flying at them, throwing dragons out of the way like flecks of dirt as it went. “Look ou-”

She didn’t even know how to describe what happened next. Dragons are out to get me! Are the foals safe? Not again, please not again! I have to get away!

Talon could tell that she was being hurled backwards, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. As long as those monsters left the Crystal Empire alone, nothing else mattered.

Instincts took over, flaring out her wings and maneuvering frills and letting her glide for a few seconds before crashing stomach first into the hard snow.

The impact knocked the wind out of Talon, but it also shook her out of whatever trance she had been in. Gasping for breath, she rolled over. Blinding blue light filled her vision. That wall—no, that dome—covered the entire Crystal Empire, and she was lying no more than fifty feet from it.

“Crystal?” Talon croaked, looking around. “Tornado? Anydragon?” Dark shapes dotted the snow around her, but none of them seemed to be moving.

“Over here,” Heart said weakly.

Talon looked behind her and saw Tornado and Heart illuminated by the Empire’s shield. Tornado was struggling to his paws, with Heart still clinging to his back.

She heard a cough. “Squad Five,” Thunderfang said, “report in.”

Talon quickly located the rest of the venom team. They were all safe, including Crystal, thank the Ancestors. Before she could pass the word along to Thunderfang, however, there was a flash of golden light that filled her vision completely, and Talon found herself falling to the snow once more. At least this time it was only a couple of feet.

“Is everydragon okay?” Talon froze. The rest of the Squad was there, but they weren’t in the same place anymore. The mountains were wrong, and way too many dragons were pulling themselves off the frozen ground. Only the Empire’s shield remained, but it was a lot farther away than it had been a moment ago.

More flashes of golden light filled the area, and new dragons appeared in the middle of each one.

“What’s going on?” Crystal asked nervously.

“I don’t know.” Talon shivered, and it had nothing to do with the cold.

“Now then,” a booming voice said in a tone of barely contained rage, “who would like to explain to me why you tried to attack the Crystal Empire?” A fiery silhouette appeared on the other side of the Empire’s shield. It matched the description of a pony, except that it was at least as tall as a wyvern, with a spear-like horn and two massive wings flared out at its sides.

A horn and wings? Talon’s legs almost gave out. This was it. This avatar of death in front of her was Celestia, as though the sheer power radiating off of her wasn’t proof enough. The air itself seemed to hum with magic, and it had suddenly become far too hot to be comfortable. Light surrounded the figure’s horn, and something impossible happened; the sun rose into the middle of the sky!

“Answer my question.” The voice was more quiet this time but so much more sharp, like having a claw pressed against your throat. Celestia stepped forward, passing through the shield like it wasn’t even there.

Four beams of energy collided with Celestia, each more than twice her size. Talon was blown backwards by the shock-wave, rolling uncontrollably across the snow and ice.

“Retreat!” a different voice shouted, and this one was definitely draconic. “We will hold her off!”

More explosions shook the area as Talon slid to a halt. She scrambled to her feet, searching desperately for the rest of the Squad. Blurs of light and the screech of wind and thunder filled the area next to the shield, nearly blinding and deafening Talon with their intensity.

Heart’s emotions reached out to Talon through their link. “Retreat, everydragon retreat!”

Another blast nearly knocked Talon off her feet. She grit her teeth and took off, flying away from the battle as quickly as she could. Obeying orders was the right thing to do. She had to believe that.

Suddenly everything went silent. No more explosions rocked the area.

Talon hesitated just long enough to look behind her. Celestia has disappeared, but the Empire’s shield was still as brilliant as ever. Dragons were scattered everywhere—alive or dead, it was impossible to tell—although at least a dozen drakes were glowing with auras of power. Among them, she recognized Silver Tail and Yol Toor. Yol Toor’s aura was an ever-shifting pattern of reds and blues, like Tornado had told her. Silver Tail’s was more of a sky blue, about the same color as his eyes.

“Get back to the cave,” Silver Tail said. His voice seemed to echo from everywhere at once. “Something tells me we don’t want to be here when Celestia comes back with her sister.”

A weight settled on Talon’s chest as the last few seconds caught up with her. Celestia could move the sun! Were the other legends about her true as well? Was Luna that powerful too? How could the Alliance possibly stand up to a creature with so much power, let alone two of them? Her breath caught in her throat as Talon reflected on the biggest question of all: had the Alliance just condemned itself to death?

-_-_-_-_-_-

Celestia reappeared next to the Crystal Heart, gasping for breath as blood poured down her legs, covering the ground beneath her. She had been such a fool to drop her guard! Her angry goddess act usually left power-hungry upstarts fleeing in terror, but not these dragons. They had to be fighting for something they believed in.

Shouts of fear and concern reached Celestia’s ears as civilians and crystal guards alike rushed to her side. Even Cadance and Shining Armor were there, both looking terrified.

“I am,” Celestia struggled to focus, “I am fine.” She pulled in more of the sun’s power, but she could barely bend it to her will. The sudden and intense magical assault had wrought untold damage to her body’s magic field.

“Celestia!” Cadance somehow reached her through the crowd. “Hold on! Twilight taught me some healing magic.”

Welcome relief flowed into Celestia moments later, but the Crystal Empire was still in danger. Dragons this powerful might be able to break through the Crystal Heart’s shield, given enough time. Celestia forced her mouth to work. There was something she had to say before she could let herself pass out. Only one other pony could protect the Empire if those dragons pressed their attack. “Call L-Luna.” Then she let the darkness take her.

Author's Note

First contact between the Dragon Alliance and Equestria. It ... could have gone better for all involved.

Chapter 9

The newly built Information Headquarters, or IHQ, wasn’t nearly as large or as fancy looking as its importance would have suggested. It was just a small cavern with four rough stone desks against one wall. They had probably been shaped by dragon fire just a few days ago. Opposite the desks, four chairs had been positioned in front of a stone shelf. Four wyrms were sitting in those chairs, carefully watching stone rods, about the size of a wyrm’s largest claw, set in front of them. Only one of the rods was active at the moment, flashing through a series of colors and patterns. The silvery wyrm in front of it wrote out the translated message on one of the many blank sheets of metal that they had for that purpose.

“What do you think?” Heart asked.

Talon looked around, noting Crystal’s awed expression and Tornado’s bored one. “I’m glad you’ve got it up and running, but we shouldn’t really be here. You’re the only one that’s high ranking enough to read any of the reports that come in.”

“Actually, the Hurricanes said I could pick anydragon I wanted as my assistants.” Heart patted her on the shoulder. “So I chose you three.”

Talon’s jaw dropped. “There must have been somedragon more qualified.”

Heart shook her head. “Two wyverns, a drake, and a wyrm. That gives us three distinct cultural perspectives on everything we come across.” A smile split her muzzle. “Besides, no dragon type has any experience with spying, so we’d be making it up as we went no matter who I chose.”

“She does have a point,” Tornado said.

Talon gave him a short glare. Battle partners were supposed to back each other up even if one of them was wrong. “Okay,” she said, turning back to Heart, “what are we supposed to be looking for in these reports?”

“Ideally, a reason why Celestia hasn’t shown up and killed us all.” Heart sighed. “Look, we all felt her power, and we all saw her teleport. There shouldn’t be anything stopping her and Luna from warping in and doing whatever they want, at least not until Gem and the others finish that anti-magic ring around the cave.”

As always, Talon glanced up at the mention of Celestia, half expecting the vengeful goddess to appear and smite her. “How long until the ring is finished anyway?”

Behind Heart, that wyrm translator with the silver scales stood up and approached them.

“Sometime today.” Heart frowned. “The IHQ would have been finished a few days ago if we hadn’t needed to build the receiver outside of the ring and then a transfer relay to get everything in here.”

“Excuse me,” the wyrm said, holding out two sheets of metal to Heart. “I think you need to read these.”

“Thanks.” Heart took the message and looked at it. “Well, Equestria’s officially at war with us. What else is new?” She passed the first sheet back to the other wyrm. “The motion to prevent it failed by a landslide.”

“Actually,” the translator wyrm said, “you were supposed to read the other message first.”

“I can’t see why it matters.” Heart looked at the other sheet of metal. Her brow furrowed almost immediately. “What?” She looked up at Talon and the others. “This one is from a pony news article. It says that Celestia has an adopted son named Spirit Shield, and that he’s a wyrm.”

“Huh?” Talon moved so that she could read over Heart’s shoulder. “I thought ponies and wyrms didn’t get along.”

“They don’t, or they didn’t.” Heart scanned the report some more. Talon noticed that most of it seemed to be the news article, but there were breaks every now and then for the spy’s notes. “It says that he was raised by an alicorn named Twilight until being found by-”

The sheet of metal fell from Heart’s claws, clattering against the stone floor.

“No.” Heart stepped backwards, colliding with Talon. “No, that has to be wrong.”

“Heart?” Talon wrapped her wings around the smaller dragoness. “It’s okay. Whatever it is, you can tell us.”

Heart shook her head. “Cliff Runner.”

Crystal picked up the sheet with one wing. “It says that Prince Spirit was found by his dragon brother, Cliff Runner, and the two of them and Twilight Sparkle eventually founded a town called Everfree Village where wyrms and ponies live together in harmony.”

Talon turned to the dragoness in her wings. “Who’s Cliff Runner?”

Heart took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “He’s my cousin.” Another deep breath. “We used to play together as hatchlings.”

Talon paused, as did Crystal and Tornado. Heart’s cousin is an Equestrian prince? That doesn’t make any sense. The legends about Celestia all said that she’s merciless to dragons. “… So maybe Celestia brainwashed them both,” Talon said. “More subjects for her to control.”

“I don’t know, maybe?” Heart shook her head. “Everfree would be an ironic name if they are all being controlled.” She shook her head. “Anyway, we need to get a spy to that place as soon as possible.”

“Agreed.” Talon turned back to Crystal. “What else does it say?”

“Oh, right.” Crystal cleared her throat. “ ‘Our beloved Princess Celestia and her adopted son, Prince Spirit, spoke at a peace rally yesterday, protesting Princess Luna’s decision to declare war on the mysterious army of dragons that so badly injured Princess Celestia last Saturday.’ ”

“Peace rally?” Talon repeated. “Why would she object to war? I thought ponies were all about conquering other races.”

“For that matter,” Heart said, “are you saying we actually hurt her back at the Empire?”

Crystal skimmed a bit. “I think so. It says that she was in the hospital recovering until just recently, and she urged the citizens of Canterlot to vote against the war at the polls today …”

“… Which obviously didn’t happen,” Talon finished.

Crystal nodded and looked back at the message. “Celestia said, ‘I sensed desperation and camaraderie among these dragons. They attacked the Crystal Empire because they felt that they had no choice, and their leaders attacked me because they believed that I was a danger to their friends and family. I beg you all, please do not add one misguided act of aggression to another.’ ” Crystal looked up guiltily. “What if she actually means that?”

Talon’s mind began to race. The same enemy that they had tried to kill was fighting to convince the rest of her nation to not retaliate. Yet another thing that didn’t make sense. There were reasons that Celestia could be doing all this and still be evil, Talon was sure.… She just couldn’t think of any. “Let’s pretend that Celestia is actually being sincere. Can’t she just order the other ponies not to fight us?”

Crystal looked back at the sheet of metal. “The spy says that neither Celestia nor Luna can override the orders of the other without a two-thirds majority vote. The ponies are so angry about what happened to Celestia that they’re expected to overwhelmingly side with Luna and demand a war.”

“And it looks like that’s exactly what happened,” Talon said.

“If any creature attacked Yol Toor,” Tornado said slowly, “I think that the northern clans would never rest until that creature was exterminated.”

“Not helpful.” Talon flicked her wings nervously, trying to wrap her mind around everything. “Okay, so … worse-case scenario, we have a lying goddess that’s about to round up a giant army and attack us. Best-case scenario … we …” She hung her head. “Other worst-case scenario, that goddess is honest, but her vengeful sister is about to round up a giant army and attack us.”

“Neither option is very appealing,” Tornado said.

Talon rolled her eyes. “Now there’s an understatement.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

It was said that you can always remember where you were when you first heard about a major disaster. Maybe it was true; Cliff didn’t think he’d ever forget the moment when they received that letter from Cadance and Shining Armor.

Fluttershy and Pinkie had put so much effort into his birthday party too, even if it was just a small gathering of friends and family. All of his favorite foods had been there: green-bean casserole, breakfast cereal, sausage pizza, and brownies and crystallized fruits for desert. He would also never know how Pinkie found a record that contained both classical piano and modern rock music. Rarity’s face had been hilarious when she saw the intentionally mismatched decorations.

Then Spirit burped up that letter.

“Thank you all for coming,” Luna said, pulling Cliff’s attention back to the present. “We can begin now.” They were in a small meeting room in Canterlot Castle. It wasn’t nearly as grand as many other ones in the palace, but it was clearly designed to be functional. A wooden table dominated the center of the room, where they were all sitting, with a large map of Equestria on the wall behind the table’s head. A few portraits of military ponies dotted the walls, but that was the limit of the room’s decoration.

Celestia and Luna sat at the head of the table, of course, in twin seats that must have been built specially for them. Cadance and Shining Armor sat to Celestia’s right, then a middle-aged white pegasus mare with a blue mane named Heroic Destiny. Apparently she led the Equestrian Army the same way that Shining Armor led the Royal Guard. She also made Cliff wonder if leaders in the two organizations were chosen for their name and their coloration.

Next to Heroic sat Cliff’s grandmother, Fire Claws. She was officially here to show Everfree’s support for Equestria, not that representatives from Everfree would be hard to find in this room. Claws’ husband, Burning Torch, sat at her side. Then came Cliff, then Fluttershy. Opposite them were the other Element Bearers, most of whom lived in Everfree, then Spirit and Autumn, also from Everfree, and finally Twilight near the head of the table, next to Luna.

“To begin,” Luna said, “there is more to the dragon threat than we have released to the public.”

Celestia let out a sigh. “I would not refer to them as the dragon threat; they are simply dragons in need of our help. However, Luna is correct. The group of dragons that I saw at the Crystal Empire consisted of more than just drakes. There were several wyrms and many dragons of a subspecies that I did not recognize.”

Cliff was too stunned to respond, but nearly everyone else in the room began talking at once.

“Quiet!” Luna paused as everyone fell silent. “Thank you. We will answer as many questions as we can, but only after we have discussed what we know so far.” She looked around, probably to make sure that no one would interrupt again. “I declared war as soon as I saw what happened to Celestia. It was an act of blind anger, I admit. However, once Equestria voiced its support for my decision, Celestia and I became obligated to obey the will of our ponies and seek the destruction of this group, which calls itself the Dragon Alliance. To that end, I began studying the dreams of their leaders and discovered many things that made me regret my rashness.”

Celestia levitated a packet to each of them. “This is everything that Luna has been able to learn about wyverns and the Dragon Alliance so far. It is also everything that we are likely to learn. They will be completing a protective enchantment around their cave within the next few hours, which will block Luna’s dreamwalking ability as well as other forms of magic.”

“Unfortunately true,” Luna said. “You should all read those packets on your own. For now, allow me to summarize.” She rose from her seat and walked to the map on the wall behind her. “The Dragon Alliance is made up of just over six thousand warrior dragons, with at least three thousand more that intend to support the others off of the battlefield. For any other race, this would constitute a modest threat, but it is the single largest gathering of dragons in our recorded history and merits our full attention and resources.”

Luna turned and pointed to an area on the map that was west of the Crystal Empire. “The core of the Dragon Alliance is two clans of drakes from the Frozen North. It seems that the land where the Crystal Empire now stands was once a mine where they gathered most of the crystals that they use to feed themselves.”

Cliff could see where this was going. Rockheads that they were, one of the drakes probably attacked the Crystal Empire to challenge its leader to a duel. The ponies sent out an army to deal with it, and the drake flew off, roaring something about honor and vengeance. Strange that he hadn’t read about that in the papers. In any case, now the drake was back with a mob of other dragons to conquer the Empire, because it couldn’t do something intelligent like just ask for a slice of land to keep mining for food. The crystal ponies would have no reason to say no. They could literally make crystals out of anything. Only one thing still confused Cliff. Why under the Stars were wyrms involved in all this?

Luna continued her explanation, following Cliff’s guess about ninety percent of the time. The would-be drake champion had attacked over four years ago, back when Cliff still thought that ponies were pure evil. That explained why he hadn’t seen it in the newspaper. The involvement of wyrms was still a question, however, as was pretty much everything about the new race, wyverns.

“The wyvern race comes from a land far to the southeast,” Luna continued, as if reading Cliff’s mind. Maybe she was. Cliff was never quite sure when it came to the Immortal Sisters. “Their homeland is beyond the edge of any known map. They were driven from it by an empire of war-like felines and decided to ally themselves with the drakes in return for new territory that they can settle.”

Okay, so desperation and stumbling across the wrong friends. Cliff nodded to himself. It probably wouldn’t be too hard to convince these wyverns that they’d picked the wrong side, and Equestria had plenty of unsettled land that they could use.

Luna shook her head. “I have never encountered a race quite like these wyverns. They have been at war for thousands of years, so long that most of them cannot even imagine a life without battle. They also possess an extremely strong bond between their fellows, similar to ponies, and an almost unquestioned loyalty to their leaders, who are determined to aid the drakes in capturing the Crystal Empire. To them, the drakes are long-lost friends. I do not believe we could possibly convince the wyverns to give up their alliance with the drakes.”

So much for that plan, and now Cliff was doubly suspicious that Luna was reading his mind. He focused on wyrm involvement in this Dragon Alliance, just to see what would happen.

“We should be careful,” Luna continued. “Wyverns have the ability to manipulate the weather, like pegasi. It seems to be significantly weaker than pegasus abilities, but also far more precise and capable of affecting a larger area.”

Maybe she wasn’t reading his mind after all.

“Equestria has ended most wars by simply wearing down our opponents with powerful storms,” Celestia said. “That same strategy may or may not work against the wyverns. We will need to develop several backup plans, just in case.”

Luna nodded. “Wyrms are the least common dragon type in the Alliance, and seem to have joined so that they could aid the wyvern race. However, they have gained some level of acceptance among the drakes as well. Some of them may side with Equestria if they learn about Everfree Village, but I believe the majority will stay loyal to the Alliance.”

“Why didn’t you release all of this earlier?” Twilight asked, earning a small glare from Luna. “Right, let you explain first. Sorry.”

Celestia sighed. “I’m sure I do not need to remind you all of Equestria’s opinion of the Dragon Alliance right now. I frightened the Alliance into attacking me, but by the time that was known, the public’s mind was already made up. Much of the hatred and anger that our ponies feel will begin spilling over onto Everfree Village once it is known that there are wyrms among the dragons of the Alliance. Everfree’s loyalty will certainly be called into question.”

“So Everfree declares that we’ll help in this war,” Fire Claws said. “Then you reveal that there are wyrms in the Dragon Alliance, and we shrug and say that it doesn’t matter; we’re sticking with Equestria.”

Luna looked like she was about to glare again, but she sighed instead. “Exactly. Your loyalty will be reinforced both before and after it is called into question.” She looked around the room. “I suppose the rest of you may ask your own questions now.”

“What’s the overall plan?” Spirit asked quickly. “I mean, are we actually thinking of going to war with these dragons?”

“Not in the least.” Luna smiled mischievously. “We are required to pursue this war, but Celestia and I will be able to halt the war effort if the Dragon Alliance will consent to terms of peace. My dreamwalking has also revealed a number of interesting facts. The Dragon Alliance has sent a number of spies throughout Equestria to gather information about our armies and our culture. They are also largely terrified of Celestia and myself. With this in mind, I will stay in the Crystal Empire, to ward off future attacks, and continue to play the part of the warmonger, gathering an army to fortify the Crystal Empire in case the Dragon Alliance does try anything.”

“And I will play the part of the peacekeeper,” Celestia said, “fighting to convince everypony that this was just a mistake. The Dragon Alliance can read several statements in the newspaper about how I would gladly discuss everything with them rather than resort to violence. Once the Empire has been reinforced, I will offer the Alliance a chance to negotiate peace. Wyrms dislike needless killing,” she nodded at Spirit, “and drakes view larger battles as dishonorable. I see no argument coming from either group. Wyverns will be the most difficult, but I have to believe that they will accept peace once they see that their target is unassailable.”

“And if they don’t?” Spirit asked.

“Then I will challenge a champion of their choice to a duel,” Celestia said firmly. “The drakes would never be able to refuse an honorable duel.”

“I should still like to be the one to do that,” Luna muttered.

“A warmonger would rather crush the enemy with numbers,” Celestia said. “The dragons would suspect treachery.”

Spirit cleared his throat. “Uh, are you sure you could win? It’s been over a century since you were in a real battle.”

“Your confidence in me is touching,” Celestia said with a hint of a smile, “but Luna and I have been sparring for the last three years to improve our wyrm magic, and it will take at least a month before a suitably large army can be raised. That should give me plenty of time to make sure that I’m ready.”

“Why should you have to handle everything yourself?” Rainbow asked. “Can’t we just hit the dragons with our Rainbow Death Blast thing and force them to get along with us?”

Twilight shook her head. “It’s called the Rainbow Harmony Blast, and that power is meant to purify corruption and evil. It won’t take away the free will of normal creatures that are doing what they think is right.”

Rainbow scratched at the back of her neck with one hoof. “Okay, well, maybe ask Discord to help?”

“Actually,” Fluttershy said, “Discord told me once that chaos is really just change. When things die,” she swallowed, “they stop changing. That’s why he never kills anyone and why he avoids direct conflicts. If a real battle started, the loss of all that chaos would hurt him terribly.”

Rainbow deflated a little. “Isn’t there some way that we can help?”

Celestia’s smile grew warmer, if slightly sad. “I appreciate your concern, truly, but my mind is made up. I worry about you as well, and this is the plan that will keep you all the safest.”

“Everfree will support you however we can.” Fire Claws said. “We’ll provide a company of fighters to help with the scare tactics.”

“A company?” Spirit asked incredulously. “That’s two hundred warriors, more than a third of our population.”

“One platoon of fifty should be enough,” Celestia said.

Burning Torch tapped his temple thoughtfully for a moment. “Perhaps a compromise would be best, one hundred warriors. It sounds significantly larger than fifty, large enough to make our loyalty clear.”

“Fine.” Fire Claws rolled her eyes. “One hundred, but we’re going to train them like they’ll be going into real combat.”

“Sign me up,” Rainbow said.

“Already planning on it,” Fire Claws said with a faint smile.

“I’ll go too,” Twilight said.

“Maybe for the show of force itself,” Claws said thoughtfully. “You’re our best enchanter, Twi. You’ll do more good making new suits of armor than training on the practice field.”

Twilight paused then nodded. “I understand.”

Cliff looked away from the others. He would have volunteered as well, but he had made a promise to Fluttershy a long time ago that he would stick by her side, no matter what.

“I volunteer too,” Fluttershy said, drawing gasps of shock from pretty much everyone else in the room. Cliff was one of the few that remained silent, too stunned to speak.

“Quiet!” Fire Claws snapped, silencing the uproar. She turned to Fluttershy. “What prompted this?”

Fluttershy blushed and looked away. “My Stare can help keep everyone safe.”

“No offense, Flutters,” Spirit said, “but you’re too nice to be anywhere near anything that might conceivably turn into a battlefield.”

Cliff finally shook off his stupor. “Spirit’s right. The two of us should stay in Everfree and find other ways to help.”

“I want to help Rainbow Dash, if I can,” Fluttershy said softly. “That’s what we’ve been training for all this time, isn’t it? And,” she turned to Cliff and offered a weak smile, “you want to be there to help too, don’t you?”

“Cliff,” Fire Claws said gently, “if it’s just to hold off drakes for a few seconds while everyone gets away, Fluttershy really is the most qualified member of Everfree.”

Cliff looked at the others in the room and then back at Fluttershy. Half of his mind was screaming at him to support her, no matter what, and the other half was screaming just as loudly that he couldn’t risk putting Fluttershy in that kind of danger. “Can we talk about it later?”

It was the wrong thing to say. Fluttershy flinched a little from his words, her eyes telling him that she had really fought to work up the courage to volunteer, and now he wasn’t supporting her. How could he, though? Sure, the danger was minimal, she’d be with Celestia and Luna, after all, and helping her friends meant everything to her, and it was a huge step for her to face her fears like this, and …

Yeah, he’d screwed up. Cliff pulled her into a hug and met his grandmother’s eyes.

Fire Claws nodded to his unasked question. She would keep Fluttershy safe to the best of her ability.

“Okay,” Cliff said. “I volunteer as well.”

“I think now would be a good time to break for lunch.” Celestia stood up. “We will reconvene after dinner to discuss the finer points of our plan. Before then, each of you should read through those packets.”

“Alright, fine, just one last question.” Spirit looked to Shining Armor and Cadance. “Are we sure that the Crystal Heart can hold out if the Dragon Alliance attacks early? We can’t afford another incident like Flurry Heart’s crystaling.”

Shining Armor chuckled. “I wouldn’t worry, Spirit. We’ve been pouring enchantments into the Crystal Heart ever since then. Celestia and Luna can’t damage it even with their combined power.”

“It is true,” Celestia said.

Luna just grumbled something under her breath.

Heroic saluted Celestia and Luna. “With your permission, I’ll leave the rest of you to catch up while I get started on this reading.”

“Of course.” Luna gestured toward the door.

Heroic saluted again and left, pushing past an obviously upset white unicorn as he came inside.

Cliff had to force down a groan. It was his least-favorite member of the royal family.

“Did you hear the news, Aunty?” Prince Blueblood asked, stopping right in front of Celestia. “The motion to prevent war has failed. What are we going to do?” He frowned at Rainbow Dash, who was hovering within hoof’s reach. “Excuse me, you are in my royal space. Kindly back away.”

Rainbow arched an eyebrow. “Yeah, no.” She flew a few inches closer.

Celestia sighed. “Yes, I was aware that the motion failed. By Luna’s order, we will begin mustering an army immediately.”

The prince gulped, and scooted away from Rainbow Dash just slightly. “Now, Aunty, surely this problem isn’t so big that it would require the reserve forces?”

Celestia looked down at him, her expression firm. “Every member of the Royal Army will be required to join this conflict, reserve or not.”

Cliff wouldn’t have thought it possible, but the white stallion paled. “B-but, Aunty, I’m one of the reserve troops!”

“Which you volunteered for,” Spirit pointed out.

“It was a tax write-off,” Blueblood said, as though that would somehow free him from all responsibility. He turned back to Celestia. “You know I’m not fit to be a soldier. I-I’d just get in the way.”

“Blueblood,” Celestia said, “you are the second most talented unicorn in Equestria when it comes to shielding magic. I would ask you to aid us even if you were not a member of the military.”

“Very well then,” Blueblood pointed a hoof at Twilight, “I’m moving to Everfree. I already have citizenship there.”

The entire group, except for Celestia, glared at Spirit. He was the committee member in charge of granting citizenship.

Spirit backed away from them, throwing up his hands in self defense. “Hey, he donated five million bits last year, and those additions to Twilight’s lab weren’t cheap. Making him an honorary citizen seemed like a small price to pay in return.”

Celestia massaged her forehead with one hoof. “Regardless, Everfree will be very much involved in this war as well.”

“They what?” Prince Blueblood gasped. “But- they- they’re just a tiny village! What could they do?”

“We’ll take him,” Fire Claws said, cutting off a string of angry retorts from Rainbow. “With your permission of course, Celestia.”

The white alicorn thought about it for a moment before nodding.

“What are you talking about?” Blueblood demanded.

Fire Claws crossed her arms. “The paperwork you signed to become a citizen of Everfree Village included an oath to obey the laws and orders of Everfree’s ruling committee. I happen to be the committee member in charge of security and military, and I am ordering you to be in Everfree Village by tonight. Training begins tomorrow morning.” She leaned toward him, her expression hardening. “If you don’t show up, I’ll come get you myself.”

Blueblood took a step back and his horn began to glow.

Whatever he was trying to cast was halted immediately when Fire Claws grabbed his horn and cast Anti-magic. The light around them both seemed to dim under the spell’s effect. “Oh, and if you try something stupid like that again,” she clenched her hand hard enough that he gasped in pain, “I will break off your horn and feed it to you. Do I make myself clear?”

Blueblood nodded frantically, eyes wide in terror. “Yes, p-please don’t hurt me!”

“I’ll hurt you less if you cooperate.” She released the white stallion, who ran screaming from the room.

Cliff wasn’t above laughing at the display.

Twilight didn’t share his amusement. If anything, she looked a little sick. “Um, Claws, you wouldn’t actually force him to eat his own horn, would you?”

The dragoness shrugged. “I just want him to take me seriously. He’s going to have an important position, and I can’t risk him screwing up.”

“You have something in mind for him?” Celestia asked.

Fire Claws nodded. “He’ll be on a team with Cliff and Fluttershy.”

Cliff could only facepalm.

Author's Note

Culture tidbit: Most wyrm fighters have a significantly dulled sense of pain compared to other races. Healing magic allows them to experience broken bones, ripped muscles, and ruptured organs almost daily with no long-term effects. Eventually, they just get used to the pain.

Chapter 10

“Did you really have to assign us to a front-line team?” Cliff asked. “We could be a healing and support group. The Stare would work perfectly for that.”

Fire Claws looked up at him sympathetically from her desk. “Yes, but it would also be perfect for stalling an enemy advance.” They were in her office, a simple room with stone walls and a window. The desk, two chairs, and a filing cabinet were the only furniture to be seen, unless one counted the glowstone lamp on the ceiling. “You’ve read Luna’s info too.” She gestured at a small stack of papers on her desk. “Over six thousand trained dragon fighters. If things turn ugly, Equestria is going to be in big trouble.” She got out of her chair and moved to look out the window.

It was early morning. Most of the Village was just waking up for morning training. There were some actual specks of frost on the ground, a herald of the oncoming winter.

“The Crystal Garrison is twelve thousand strong,” Claws said, still looking out the window. “Equestria's standing army is eighteen thousand, but most of them won’t have any experience in actual battle.” She turned back to Cliff. “If things go wrong, we’ll only have five ponies per dragon in the Alliance. Do you really think that enchanted armor and fire-immunity amulets are going to balance that out?”

Cliff reigned in his frustration. Getting angry wasn’t going to help anything. “Can’t we just hope that things don’t go bad?”

“No,” Fire Claws said flatly. “I’m not going to risk the lives of our fighters and of every pony in the Crystal Empire by just hoping that things work out, not when there’s something more I can be doing.”

He couldn’t exactly blame her for that. “Okay, but why do you need Fluttershy on the front line? You just admitted that she’d work on a support team too.”

Claws sighed. “Think about it, Cliff. I don’t need her, I need you. You’re the best wyrm we have when it comes to body-enhancement magic. With you to power up Rainbow Dash, the Sonic Rainboom will be our single most powerful weapon.” She ruffled Cliff’s head spikes. “For what it’s worth, I chose the other two members in your team specifically to help keep Fluttershy safe while maximizing your effectiveness as a group.”

“Right,” Cliff groaned, “you’re giving us Blueblood, the Magnificent Idiot.”

“And the second most powerful shield specialist in Equestria.” Claws folded her arms over her chest. “Give me some credit, Cliff. I don’t make decisions at random.”

That stung, but it was also true. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to question your judgment. I just worry about Fluttershy.”

“Try having some faith in her instead.” Claws sat back down at her desk. “Your team leader is Fire Eyes, by the way. You’re welcome.”

Cliff smiled a little. “Thank you.” In addition to being Cliff’s oldest friend and Fire Claws’ personal protege, Fire Eyes was also one of the best fighters in the Village. He couldn’t think of anydragon he’d rather have watching his back in a fight.

“Team matches start next week,” Claws said, going back to Luna’s notes. “I expect to see good things out of most of you and at least competence out of Blueblood.”

Cliff reluctantly turned to leave. “Four of us won’t disappoint you. I make no promises about the fifth.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Thanks to his morning detour, Cliff was one of the last villagers to reach the training grounds. Team assignments had already been posted, and he could see most of the chosen fighters grouping up to discuss strategies and techniques. The other villagers were going about their morning training like usual.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were waiting for him near one of the message boards.

Rainbow waved when she saw him. “Heya, Cliff, ready to get started?”

“Yeah.” Cliff turned to Fluttershy and his voice softened, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

She met his gaze and nodded. “Ability equals responsibility,” she quoted the old wyrm phrase. “I know the Stare can help keep you all safe.”

Cliff sighed gently before moving forward to embrace his wife. “Okay,” he whispered into her ear, “I’m proud of you.” It was the truth. He still didn’t think that somepony as loving as Fluttershy should be anywhere near a battlefield, but he had to respect her determination to help.

“Looks like Eyes and Prince Flank-head are here,” Rainbow announced.

Cliff followed her gaze and saw his oldest friend walking toward them. She was wearing a pair of saddlebags and dragging Blueblood by his right ear. Her white scales matched the prince’s coat almost perfectly, which only made their other differences stand out more.

Aside from the obvious fact that she was a wyrm and he was a unicorn, her silvery head spikes were combed straight back with little regard to looks or fashion, where Blueblood looked like he had spent at least an hour styling his blonde mane that morning. She also carried herself with the subtle grace of a skilled fighter and had an expression of mild amusement. Blueblood, on the other claw, was struggling just to stay upright as he was pulled along, shouting equal parts threats and pleas the whole way. “Ouch! Please cease that at once. Can’t you see that I’m a prince, you commoner?”

“You’re in Everfree now,” Fire Eyes said. “We don’t have princes here, just a committee that ordered me to turn you into a worthwhile fighter.”

Cliff chuckled a bit at the sight. If there was one thing Fire Eyes loved, it was knocking the arrogant down a peg or three.

Eyes waved when she saw them. “Hey, Cliff. Morning, Rainbow. Morning, Fluttershy. Ready for your first day of team training?”

They all nodded except for Blueblood, who was busy whining and complaining. At least he didn’t run away as soon as Fire Eyes released him.

“Good. We have to improve as much as possible before they send us off to the Empire. With that in mind, I asked Claws and Twilight to help me build a training regimen for each of you.” She opened her saddlebags and pulled out five magic batteries. Unlike the prototype, the finished versions had no window into the inside of the device. Instead, a small meter had been built into the side, which showed how much magic was left in it. “First, put these on. Twilight asked Ponyville to help her keep a pile of these charged. They’re sitting in her lab, so you can go exchange yours when it runs out. They also have medics there to cast recovery spells as needed, which is going to be often.”

Cliff winced. Healing magic was wonderful, but it undid the benefits of recent exercise. Recovery magic, on the other claw, accelerated the body’s natural recovery process after a workout so it happened in a matter of seconds, rather than days. Their training was very likely to be harsh if frequent applications of recovery magic were going to be needed.

“And what exactly are we meant to do with these?” Blueblood asked, eyeing his battery suspiciously.

“They store magic and use it to replenish your magic field,” Cliff replied automatically. Twilight, Spirit, and all four of the Crusaders had explained their newest invention to him so many times that he could probably recite all of this in his sleep. “No, it won’t increase the power of your spells, but it will allow you to cast more spells without getting worn out.”

Blueblood rolled his eyes. “I meant why do we need them?”

“They’ll restore the magic you use up during training,” Fire Eyes said. “You won’t need yours much until we get through with testing your physical limits. Start with one hundred push-ups.”

“Push-ups?” Blueblood said, aghast. “You can’t be serious. All that sweating would ruin my coat and mane!”

Fire Eyes immediately pulled his mane back with Telekinesis and sliced through it with Ghost Claws. “There, now you don’t have to worry about your mane.”

Blueblood stared in horror as the golden locks tumbled to the ground. One hoof came up to feel the back of his neck, where only a few jagged inches of his mane were left. “W-wha- what did you do?” He jumped at Fire Eyes, or rather, tried to. A small burst of wyrm Telekinesis hit his back legs as soon as he tensed them, causing him to sprawl out unceremoniously at her feet.

Cliff wasn’t surprised. He could use Precognition, but Fire Eyes was a master of it. She had probably known what Blueblood was going to do before even Blueblood did.

“Looks like you got some dirt on your coat.” Fire Eyes knelt next to the unicorn. “I can make it so you don’t have to worry about that either.” Both her hands began to crackle with electricity. “Either that, or you can quit worrying about these pointless things and focus on your training.” She held out one electrified claw so it was only inches from his face. “Whichever you prefer.”

Blueblood gulped loudly. “I-I can focus on training.”

“Excellent.” Fire Eyes released her spells and helped him up. “I’ll come with you to the exercise yard to make sure you actually do everything. As for the rest of you,” she reached into her saddlebags again and pulled out three pieces of paper, “these are your individual training routines. We only have a week until team matches begin, so don’t slack off.”

Cliff, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash took them without comment.

“Anyway, training on your own goes until dinner, with breaks for meals, and then we’ll do an hour of team training before bed.” Fire Eyes took a step closer to them. “Fair warning, those routines are going to be brutal, but just stick with them. They’ll help you a lot.”

“I’m sure you made mine extra difficult just to be annoying,” Cliff said jokingly.

“No, I made yours extra difficult to make up for you being a wuss.” Fire Eyes punched him in the shoulder. “Seriously though, good luck.” She turned to Blueblood. “Will you walk to the exercise yard, or do I have to drag you there?”

“I can walk,” he said in a voice that could best be described as pouty.

“Good, then get walking.”

Cliff watched them leave for a moment before turning his attention to the paper in his hands.

Rainbow groaned. “This is going to suck. Without any wyrm enhancement magic, I’m supposed to do as many double Rainbooms as I can before my wings give out, then get patched up by a medical wyrm and go back to do it again.”

Fluttershy gasped. “Oh my, are you going to be okay? The last time you tried that, it took a lot of healing magic before you could fly again.”

“I should be okay. I’ve toughened up a lot since then.” Rainbow studied her paper for a moment. “According to this, they already have a medic waiting for me at my practice field outside of Ponyville.”

“Good idea,” Cliff said. Sonic Rainbooms weren’t exactly something that should be done near population centers.

She took a deep breath. “Okay, so what about you two?”

Fluttershy looked at her paper. “I have to spar for morning practice without using the Stare then spend the rest of the day creating tornadoes.”

“What?” Dash grabbed her friend’s paper and skimmed through it. “That’s crazy! The Stare is awesome. Why wouldn’t they want you to use it?” She paused. “Oh.”

“What is it?” Cliff asked.

Fluttershy turned to him. “It says that I’ve already mastered the Stare and need to improve my physical strength and pegasus flight and weather control magic.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Rainbow said, “and making tornadoes takes all three, so it’s a good strategy, but are you sure you can handle it, Fluttershy? I mean, even I have trouble with tornadoes sometimes.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I have to at least try.” She turned to Cliff. “What’s your training?”

“Work on reaching tier six magic while running a bunch of high-power spells to strengthen my natural magic field,” Cliff said grimly. His biggest weakness had always been magical endurance. Sure, he could generate large bursts of power, but that didn’t matter if he also burned himself out after just a few minutes. “I may as well go to the lab now.” Cliff sighed. The magic battery on his arm would restore most of his spent energy, and recovery magic would help his body get over the strain of using up so much magic so quickly, but that didn’t mean he was looking forward to the pounding migraine that all this would bring, to say nothing of practicing new and difficult spells under those conditions. “Good luck, both of you.” Cliff leaned over and hugged Fluttershy. “I love you, beautiful. I’ll see you at breakfast.”

“I love you too.” She squeezed him back. “Good luck.”

Rainbow faked gagging. “Ugh, the mushiness. I’ll see you both later.” She took off, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake.

Cliff and Fluttershy shared a quick kiss before breaking off to go to their own training.

-_-_-_-_-_-

The first day of training was one of the longest and hardest days of Fluttershy’s life. Sparring without the Stare had been easy enough; she just challenged one earth pony after another. Fluttershy was fairly strong for a pegasus, but even she couldn’t hurt a trained earth pony very much with just her bare hooves.

After a quick breakfast, though, things got harder. Her wings and her magic field were a lot stronger than they used to be, but she was still nowhere near Rainbow Dash’s level, and she was, well, not very good at controlling the weather. The unusual effort wore her out quickly, even with the magic battery, and she had to go visit the medics a lot.

Cliff was always there at the lab, eyes shut in concentration as he practiced his magic. Back at the training grounds, Fluttershy could also see bursts of rainbow-patterned light coming from the direction of Ponyville.

Both Cliff and Rainbow Dash were pushing themselves really hard, and Fluttershy was determined to keep up with them, no matter how much her wings hurt. It didn’t matter that she never managed to create even a small tornado that whole day. She was doing her best, and that’s all she cared about.

Even so, both her and Cliff were so tired by the end of the day that they collapsed into their nest as soon as they got home after team training. She barely even noticed the uncomfortable tingling of her heat coming on before sleep claimed her.

The next morning, they climbed out of bed and shared a hug and a kiss before stumbling back to their training. Fluttershy’s whole body ached. She didn’t want to imagine how sore she would have been without recovery magic.

Frost covered the dimly lit ground, chilling Fluttershy’s hooves as she walked. She wrapped her wings around herself and adjusted her mane to protect her ears from the cold breeze. Fluttershy was focusing so hard on staying warm that she didn’t even realize she had reached the training grounds until she bumped into one of her friends.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Rarity.” Fluttershy shook her head to clear it. “I didn’t hurt you or anything, did I?”

“There’s no need to apologize, dear. No harm done.” Rarity brushed her coat off anyway and adjusted her scarf before pausing to take in her friend’s appearance. “Would you like me to braid your mane for you? It wouldn’t do to have your wonderful mane get tangled during training.”

Fluttershy brought a hoof up to her mane and blushed. She had forgotten to have Cliff braid it that morning. “Oh, uh, yes, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not.” Rarity’s horn began to glow as she deftly braided her friend’s mane with her magic. “I am somewhat surprised to see you here. Most of the Everfree Platoon are doing specialized training now.”

“Everfree Platoon?” Fluttershy repeated.

“It was either call it a large platoon or a small company.” Rarity produced a green ribbon from beneath her scarf to hold the braid in place. “There we are, much better.”

Fluttershy admired her friend’s work. As usual, it was flawless. “Thank you, Rarity, and part of my training is to spar without using the Stare. Fire Eyes says I shouldn’t be so reliant on it.”

“Yes, that makes sense.” She smiled mischievously. “Though I must say, I’m rather looking forward to today’s training.”

“Really? Why?”

In answer, Rarity simply pointed.

Following her gaze, Fluttershy saw Fire Eyes and Prince Blueblood walking toward them.

“Why do we have to start training every day before the sun even comes up?” Blueblood huffed, “and why is she here?” He waved at Rarity.

“The entire village has been doing this since it was founded,” Fire Eyes answered, “and Rarity here has graciously agreed to be your sparring partner this morning.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Wyrms had a saying, ‘The more you bleed during practice, the less you bleed during battle.’ If that was true, Blueblood would probably make it through the war without so much as a scratch.

Fluttershy wasn’t alone in staring. At least ten other ponies could only watch in morbid fascination as the Equestrian prince was beaten, sometimes literally, into the ground.

“We have enough healers and batteries that we can keep this up all day,” Fire Eyes called. “She won’t stop until you’ve kept her from landing a blow for five solid minutes.”

“I’m trying!” Blueblood wailed.

Meanwhile, Rarity used her telekinesis to hurl a rock just in front of his face.

Blueblood skidded to a stop to avoid it, only to have another thrust of telekinesis knock both back legs out from under him. If Fluttershy hadn’t been watching so closely, she would have missed how a patch of ground turned into spikes just as Blueblood sat down hard on it.

He jumped up, shouting in pain, before two pebbles shot up his nose, one in each nostril. The sputtering only lasted a second though. A much larger rock hit him in the stomach, and both pebbles were forcefully ejected in a spray of air and snot.

Fluttershy finally managed to look away from the bizarre spectacle and shifted her attention to Fire Eyes, who was standing on her left. “Are you sure this will help him?”

The dragoness nodded. “Blueblood’s shields are nearly indestructible once he gets them up, but he’s absolutely horrible at casting anything quickly or while under stress, and he’s way too used to others doing everything for him. After this, I’m going to shove a magic inhibitor ring on him and toss him into that hole that Big Mac helped me dig. We’ve actually got a bet going on how long it will take him to climb out. I’m saying three days.”

Fluttershy shifted uncomfortably. “Isn’t that a little mean?”

Fire Eyes shrugged. “It’ll teach him self reliance. Well, except for the food and water that will be down there for him. Besides, we don’t have time to waste fixing his hangups the nice way.”

Meanwhile, Rarity was cackling like an evil queen from the movies.

“Your friend seems to be enjoying herself.”

Fluttershy shivered slightly. “Yes, that’s true. Um, what about your training, Fire Eyes? Doesn’t this get in the way of it?”

“Not really. My training is just to maintain six spells at high power for as long as possible.” She growled softly. “I just lost another one.” The dragoness closed her eyes for a moment. “And that’s six again. I don’t know how Cliff makes this look so easy.”

“The other diamond is always larger,” Fluttershy said. It was a wyrm phrase, one of the first she had learned from Cliff. “You can do lots of things that he can’t.”

Fire Eyes chuckled softly. “Thanks, Fluttershy. Anyway, you’d better get to your training.”

“Oh, right. I’ll see you later.” She spared one last glance at Rarity, who seemed to be enjoying herself a little too much, and set out to find a sparring partner. It had been nice to talk with Rarity and Fire Eyes, but she felt a little guilty about just standing around when the others were already hard at work.

Author's Note

Culture tidbit: Wyrms have developed several non-magical martial arts, which generally focus on throws, joint locks, and grappling. Most wyrm hatchlings are taught these arts in preparation for their training in magical combat.

Chapter 11

Eight days had passed since Everfree Village started preparing for war, and it seemed like everyone wanted to know everything about fighting, tactics, etc., whether they would be serving in the Everfree Platoon or not. In the case of Spirit and Twilight, that meant playing a variant of Ogres and Oubliettes next to Blueblood’s pit during lunch.

“My pegasi attack your earth pony heavy infantry.” Spirit picked up the twenty sided die and rolled it.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief when the die landed on a three. “You missed.”

“Oh, don’t get too comfortable.” He leaned over the board and moved another piece into position. “Now my earth ponies are attacking from the mountain, which gives them a plus two circumstance bonus, and you’re taking a minus two penalty to AC for being flanked.” He rolled the die again and grinned. Seventeen. “I hit. Now for the damage.” Another roll. Fourteen. “And there go the last of your earth ponies.” Spirit leaned back smugly. “You two may as well surrender. I control the pass, and there’s no way your unicorn archers will be able to take it.”

“I told you we should have played more defensively,” Blueblood called from his pit.

Twilight shifted in her seat so that she could look down at him. “You’re the one who suggested that last push.”

“I can’t see the board down here,” he said. “How was I supposed to know that he was in a position to flank us?”

“By talking with your partner, obviously.” Spirit started gathering up the game pieces. “That’s the whole point of these gaming sessions.”

“And what, may I ask, is the point of leaving me stuck down here?” Blueblood pushed aside the remnants of his lunch and stood up. “Was it to test my intelligence? Any idiot would know that the only way to escape is to build a stairway from dirt and mud.” He emphasized his point by slapping another hoofful of mud onto the crude stairs he’d been working on. “As far as I can tell, this is nothing more than humiliation for its own sake.”

“Blueblood,” Twilight said gently, “no one thinks you’re stupid, and we aren’t trying to humiliate you. This is supposed to teach you self-reliance and how to cope with stressful situations. You barely seem to notice the mud on your coat anymore.”

“How wonderful,” Blueblood said, his voice thick with sarcasm.

“What’s wonderful?” Fluttershy asked, walking up to Spirit and Twilight’s table. She looked exhausted and was covered in sweat, but as always, she’d brought a bag from the kitchen.

“Princess Twilight wants me to rely on her but also on myself,” Blueblood said. “You do realize that those are conflicting goals, don’t you?”

Fluttershy frowned. “I don’t see how.” She walked to the pit and flew down, offering the brown paper bag to Blueblood. “I brought desert for you. I’m sorry, I know you don’t like apple and cream tarts, but it’s all they had today.”

Spirit was already preparing a retort for whatever mean thing Blueblood said, but to his surprise, the stallion accepted the bag without complaint.

“Thank you, Lady Fluttershy. Your thoughtfulness is appreciated and starkly in contrast to the half-baked schemes of some other members of this village.” He glared up at Twilight. “How am I even supposed to rely on my own strengths without my magic?” He flicked the inhibitor ring on his horn.

“Um, please don’t be angry at Twilight,” Fluttershy said. “You can do a lot more than you realize, even without magic, and she’s just trying to help you see that, but you also can’t do everything alone. That’s why we need to communicate and work together.”

“Exactly,” Spirit said. He gestured at the mud stairs, which nearly reached the pit’s edge. “I mean, you’ll be out of there by today if you keep working, and then you’ll join in team matches with Fluttershy and the others. Their lives could literally depend on you at some point, so of course they’ll want to know that you’re tough and smart enough to do your job, but they’ll also be protecting and supporting you, so you need to know how to rely on them. Besides, you’ll be able to tell people that you were part of an elite team of warriors. Maybe we can even get Celestia to give you the Star Medallion for bravery or something.”

“I’ll be taking a shower and two bubble baths once I’m out of here,” Blueblood said, “but … if I get out in time, I suppose I can help Lady Fluttershy and the rest of the team, except for Fire Eyes. It would serve her right if something burned her head spikes off.”

It was better than nothing. Hay, it was better than Spirit had expected. “Right, well we should get back to the lab. Good luck, Blueblood.”

“Oh, Twilight, Spirit, could you two wait up for a moment?” Fluttershy asked. She gave Blueblood a hug and an encouraging smile before flying up to join them. “Have either of you two seen Cliff anywhere? He wasn’t at the house for lunch, and I didn’t see him in the cafeteria either.”

“He was at the recovery station in the lab the last time I saw him,” Spirit said.

Fluttershy blushed. “Um, if you get a chance, could you tell him that … I’d like it if he came home for dinner?”

Something clicked in Spirit’s head. “Oh right, you’re in heat.”

Twilight smacked him, a light blush on her cheeks. “You don’t have to say it out loud.”

“What?” Spirit asked. “I’m not being lewd or anything. It’s just a fact.” He turned back to Fluttershy. “Don’t worry, I’ll let him know.”

Fluttershy was blushing furiously, but she gave him a weak smile. “Thank you.” Then she took off.

Spirit and Twilight walked back to the Castle of the Two Sisters in silence. They were almost to the door before Twilight finally spoke up. “Do you know where Autumn is? I haven’t seen her all day.”

“She’s going over our supplies for the march north,” Spirit replied. Both he and Autumn had been placed in charge of logistics for the army, which basically meant that they had to worry about getting equipment, maintaining it, and keeping everyone fed. Not the most glamorous job, but it had to be done.

Twilight wrapped a wing around his shoulders. “I know you must miss her, but it’s nice to spend some quality time with my little brother.”

Spirit patted her wing with one hand. “I suppose there is that advantage.”

They reached the lab and got back to work on what Twilight had dubbed the ‘Magic Amplifying Enchanted Battle Armor, Version Eight.’ Spirit preferred his own name, ‘The Armor of Unfairness.’

“How’s it going, Crusaders?” Spirit asked. As usual, the four had opted to work through their lunch break.

Apple Bloom, who was covered in grease and sweat, wiped her brow with a work rag. “I just finished modifyin’ the assemblers we built last month. They’ll give us the pieces we need for each of the types of suits, but we’ll have to assemble them and put the enchanted parts in ourselves.”

“Which shouldn’t be too hard,” Scootaloo said. “All the enchanted parts were designed so that they could be added or removed easily.” As usual, she was wearing a magic battery, but she also had on a vest full of tools. Like her friend, she was liberally coated in grease and sweat.

Sweetie Belle smiled, even though there were dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. “Whisper and I are nearly done with the enchanting circles.” She pointed to several dozen wheeled platforms with glowing circles on them. “We just need unicorns and wyrms to make them work.”

Whisper nodded from behind a stack of papers. “I’m finished with the instructions for individual enchanters.”

Spirit beamed. “You four are amazing.”

“Yes, excellent work.” Twilight took a deep breath. “I guess this is it. Contact Rarity as soon as you finish the last of the circles. The army marches in eight days, so we need to be producing at least fifteen suits per day if we want to have all of Everfree’s troops fully equipped before then.”

“Spirit,” a gruff voice called from the other side of the room, “come slap some sense into your brother.”

“Excuse me, girls.” Spirit slipped away from them and approached the recovery station that had been set up near the doors to the outside. Ten of their best medics were watching over a small group of dragons and ponies. These were the fighters whose training didn’t require them to move around at all and so had chosen to stay near the medics. Cliff was among them, as he had been all week. What was different, however, was that he was sprawled out on the stone floor, fast asleep. Spirit approached the lead medical wyrm, who had light-green scales and white head spikes. “Alright, Bone, what’s the problem?”

Bone Mender rolled his blue eyes. “My job is to keep our fighters alive and healthy. Your idiot brother seems determined to make that more difficult for me, so here,” he bent over and pulled Cliff up, shoving him at Spirit, “convince him that extreme physical and mental fatigue aren’t helping his training at all. Neither is sleeping through meals.”

Spirit stumbled back a bit under his brother’s weight. “I’ll do what I can.”

The medic just grumbled something incoherent as he walked away.

“What’s going on?” Cliff asked sleepily.

“You’re pushing yourself too hard in your training, Bro.” He adjusted his grip on the other wyrm so it would be easier to walk. “Come on, you need a break and a meal.”

Cliff didn’t complain, possibly because he didn’t want to, and possibly because he was too out of it.

Lunch had long since ended by the time they reached the cafeteria, but that was no big deal. Spirit left his brother sitting at a table and then asked the kitchen staff to see what they could scrounge up.

A few minutes later, Spirit walked back into the cafeteria with a large salad, a plate of scrambled eggs, some crystallized flowers, and a muffin. He set the tray down in front of Cliff and then sat across from him. “Okay, eat up.”

Even half awake, Cliff needed no second prompting. A side effect of recovery magic was a drastically increased metabolism. The Village had been going through nearly double as much food ever since this whole crazy training thing started.

Spirit didn’t have to wait long while Cliff destroyed his meal. “Feeling better?”

Cliff nodded tiredly. “Thanks for this. I’d better get back to training now.”

“Hold on.” Spirit grabbed his brother’s arm when he tried to rise. “I said you need to take a break too. You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

“I just haven’t been able to get much sleep lately.” Cliff didn’t meet Spirit’s gaze. “I’ll be fine.”

“Are you worried that we might have to fight these dragons?” Spirit asked.

Cliff shook his head. “No, nothing like that.”

“Then what?”

No response. No eye contact.

Spirit gripped his brother’s shoulder. “Remember back when we were living in Ponyville? You kept asking me to talk to you about the problems in my personal life, but I never did. You kept saying that you couldn’t help me unless I told you what was wrong.”

Cliff finally met his brother’s eyes. They looked at each other for a long moment, until the older dragon sighed. “Fluttershy is in heat.”

“I know, but what does that have to do with not sleeping … oh.” Spirit laughed uncomfortably. “Uh, isn’t that a good thing? I mean, a nice way to blow off steam after a long day of training?”

“A dragon’s libido was never meant to keep up with a pegasus in heat.” Cliff half-leaned, half-fell forward onto the table. His forehead made a decent thunk as it connected.

“So you’re saying that her heats are pretty strong?”

Cliff didn’t lift his head. “Did you know it’s possible for dragons to get rug burn?”

Spirit crossed his legs. “Ouch.”

Cliff nodded, scraping his muzzle across the table.

“I thought she’d be too worn out after all her physical training for too much of … you know, that.”

“Aerobic exercise has been linked to an increased sexual drive in most intelligent races.” Cliff slowly pushed himself upright. “Every day, she’s getting more than a week’s worth of exercise.”

“Wow, loved to death.” Spirit shook his head. “What a way to go.”

Cliff just slumped forward onto the table once more.

-_-_-_-_-_-

According to Twilight, the optimal length of a nap was either about fifteen minutes or over ninety. Spirit decided to let Cliff nap for the longer of those two. It was obvious that he needed the rest, even though Spirit couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of him.

Back at the lab, Twilight and the Crusaders had called in Rarity and the rest of the Village’s enchanters. They were all working like mad to produce more of the new battle suits.

Spirit wasn’t all that talented at enchanting or metalworking, but growing up around Twilight had taught him other ways to contribute. He organized all the different parts into easily available bins, outlined a schedule that would keep anyone from overworking themselves, picked up a batch of freshly charged magic batteries from Ponyville, and just generally did what he could to keep things running smoothly.

Unfortunately, he barely got to see Autumn. They were in charge of supplying very different things, after all, even though it all fell under the broad definition of logistics. Spirit’s connection with Twilight had made him the clear pick for overseeing the production of weapons and equipment. Autumn, on the other hoof, had spent most of her adult life helping her mother run a massive series of wheat farms, so having her be in charge of food was less a choice, and more of a matter of, ‘Well duh.’

After ninety minutes passed, Spirit went and shook his brother awake.

“Huh?” Cliff asked groggily.

“I said it’s time to get up.” Spirit chuckled. “Come on, we could use your help in the lab.”

Cliff got up and yawned loudly. “With what? I need to get back to my training.”

“Trust me, this is more important. We just finished putting together our first suit, and we need to know if the assembly models will work as well as the prototype.”

Cliff yawned again then nodded and motioned for Spirit to lead the way.

“By the way, Blueblood should get out of the pit today,” Spirit said as they walked down the hallway that connected to the lab.

“That’s good to hear,” Cliff half mumbled. “Team matches have been pretty rough with us being down a member.”

“Which reminds me; how’s your team doing? I don’t really get out of the lab much these days.”

“Things are going well, I guess. Sonic Rainbooms are almost as big a threat to us as to the other team, but Blueblood should be able to protect us from them. Fluttershy’s Stare is as powerful as ever, and she’s getting a lot more agile and can use wind control to help distract foes. Fire Eyes is still the master of spells that blow things up.” He shrugged. “Our only real weakness is that we don’t have much to counteract illusions.”

Spirit tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe you should go up against Mom and Dad. I know they’re a scout team, but you guys could use the experience.” He wasn’t exactly a fan of the idea of sending his parents out on their own with an army of dragons on the loose, but they were uniquely qualified for the job after nearly three decades of sneaking around Equestria without ever getting caught.

Cliff nodded. “True. Maybe we could get Big Mac to join them. Not a lot of our opponents can stand up to a Sonic Rainboom.”

Spirit had to force himself not to sigh. He could certainly understand the red stallion’s decision to stay home and look after his family, but Everfree really could have used Big Mac on the battlefield.

They reached the lab. One side was covered in metalworkers, mostly earth ponies, who were rapidly assembling shaped bits of metal into suit husks. The other side was filled by enchanting circles, with wyrm and unicorn pairs working hard to produce the various parts required of them. Twilight and the Crusaders were in the center of the room, putting husks and parts together to make finished sets of armor. Meanwhile, Rarity was examining two complete sets of armor laid out on tables. One was the prototype wyrm suit and the other was a freshly manufactured one, but Spirit really couldn’t tell them apart.

“What’s the verdict?” Spirit asked as they approached.

“The enchantments seem to be working beautifully.” Rarity smiled. “Cliff, are you feeling better? We were all worried about you.”

“I’m fine,” Cliff said, “but thanks for your concern.”

“Think nothing of it.” Rarity gestured to one of the suits. “Behold, the Harmony Armor! It should provide our fighters with a remarkable advantage on the battlefield.”

Twilight looked up from her station nearby. “Actually, it’s called the Magic Amplifying Enchanted Battle Armor, Version Eight.”

“All of Whisper’s notes call it the Crusader Armor,” Sweetie Belle objected at her side.

Sitting opposite her, Whisper’s dark green scales flushed red. “I-I just thought it sounded good.”

“We should have gone with the Armor of Unfairness,” Spirit muttered before speaking up, “Look, it doesn’t matter what we call it. We just need Cliff to take it for a test run.”

Rarity cleared her throat. “Yes, quite. If you could step forward, Cliff.”

Cliff did so, and almost immediately, pieces of the suit began to detach and fly toward him. First, a chain-mail jerkin to cover his body, then detachable sleeves of chain-mail for his arms and legs, then parts of the outer armor, which all clasped together like an intricate puzzle. Finally, boots, gloves, and a helmet. In less than a minute, he was completely covered in segmented chunks of gray metal, except for holes in the helmet for his eyes, nostrils, and mouth. His head and back spikes had also been pressed flat against his body.

Rarity walked around him, studying how it all fit together. “How do you feel, Cliff, and please be honest.”

He moved and twisted around for a bit before answering. “It’s a little too big for me, and I think you forgot to have me put on the padded clothing that normally goes under something like this. The metal is kind of uncomfortable by itself.”

“No need to worry.” Rarity’s horn lit up, and a similar light surrounded Cliff. “It should fit you perfectly now.”

Cliff repeated the movements. “You’re right. That’s an impressive spell.”

Rarity glowed at the compliment. “Well, my career as a fashionista has been rather busy of late, and rapid re-sizing can be very useful for that line of work.” She approached him. “Now that it has been sized for you, we can make it more comfortable. Tap the thumb and forefinger of each hand together twice.”

He followed her instructions, and the metal seemed to melt onto him slightly. The pieces and rivets were all still visible, but the armor moved and bent with Cliff, almost like a second set of scales. Even his head spikes popped up again under the helmet. “Whoa, what happened?”

“That’s actually something we were working on for guards stationed in warmer climates,” Spirit explained. “Like you said, normal armor requires padding to be bearable. This stuff is as soft as cotton, but only on the inside.” He walked up and tapped his brother’s side. It clanged like a block of solid steel. “What we didn’t expect was that the dividing line between the two sides would distribute the force from impacts so well. Even a unicorn would be as tough as an earth pony with dragon scales in this thing. Since we were able to hammer the metal extra thin, it’s light enough for a pegasus. It even conducts magic from the wearer, so when you cast Scale Armor, or Energy Resistance, or whatever else, the metal will get stronger and more durable along with the rest of you. We’re calling it Arcane Steel, or just Arcsteel.”

“Impressive,” Cliff said. “I don’t see what you need me to test though, unless you just want to smack me around and see how much of a beating it can take.”

“Nah,” Apple Bloom said, “we figured all that out back with version three. We need ya to test the other enchantments.”

Cliff looked surprised. “There’s more?”

Spirit and three of the Crusaders all fell down laughing. Whisper just chuckled softly.

Rarity gave them all a stern look before returning her attention to Cliff. “Yes, quite. We went through every enchantment and invention that this lab has ever produced and combined anything we believed would be useful.”

Spirit climbed back to his feet and patted Cliff on the shoulder. “Let me give you the short version. You’ve probably noticed that the metal is thicker around your upper torso. That’s partly to keep your vital organs safe, but it also holds an entire nexus of enchantments. We’ll teach you how to activate them later, but there are ones that cast tier five Scale Armor, Energy Resistance, and Enhanced Senses, as well as automatic heat immunity, for our non-wyrm fighters. There’s a new enchantment that raises the temperature of the inside of the suit, to help keep you guys warm out in all that snow, and another channels electricity harmlessly down the back of the suit and out either or both legs.

“We also built in three magic batteries,” Scootaloo said. “There’s one on each hip and another in the chest. They’re our newest models too, so they can hold a ton of magic. Those small packs at your waist are dimensional pockets that each hold up to a cubic foot, so you can carry about a hundred pounds of food or equipment without it weighing you down. Oh, and there are smaller pocket enchantments built into your gauntlets. They’re empty right now, but they can each hold twenty-two small objects and make one appear in your hand whenever you want.”

“You’ll have to memorize some hand and finger motions for controlling all of those,” Spirit said, “but the suit draws magic from the astral plane, so it won’t drain you as much as you’d think to power all this. For right now though, we want you to test these.” He tapped the back of Cliff’s left gauntlet. A small metal plate with three diamonds on it had been built into the suit there, with a matching one on the right gauntlet. “You know how gemstones make wyrm spells more powerful?”

Cliff nodded.

“Well, these plates take the natural process that happens with that and amplify it in such a way that even unicorn magic is affected. As long as you channel your spell through one of these while you’re casting, its overall power will experience a thirty-three point one percent increase with no additional drain from you. It’s too bad you can’t channel through multiple plates to make it grow even more. Otherwise, we’d just line up a couple hundred of these and fry the entire dragon army with one spell.”

Cliff gave him a flat look, or tried to. It was tough to be sure through the helmet. “You mean the same dragon army that Celestia is hoping to befriend?”

Spirit cleared his throat. “Anyway, we know the amplifiers work fine in the lab, but we want to test them in the field. You’re the best we have at body-enhancement magic, so we figured you could take the suit on a run to Canterlot and back, maybe try out some acrobatics, that sort of thing. If all goes well, we can see how it handles in a sparring match.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Cliff said. “If I’m not back in twenty minutes, just look for the smoking crater from this thing exploding on me.”

After he left, Rarity leaned over to Spirit. “Why did you want us to lie to him, Spikey? We have already tested these suits in every condition that any of us could think of. Even half destroyed.”

Spirit kept his eyes on the door. “Let’s just say, he has a dinner appointment, and I thought Fluttershy would appreciate it if Cliff got some aerobic exercise.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Time was a funny thing. Every single day leading up to deployment seemed to drag on endlessly as Spirit fought to get orders of metal, or diamonds, or whatever else they needed, delivered to the lab on time. Most days, he also wound up filling in because they needed an extra worker. However, as he got up that last morning, Spirit couldn’t believe that a month had gone by already.

“Spirit,” Autumn’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “You need to finish getting ready. It’s time to go.” The crystal mare put her helmet on and clapped her forehooves together twice, activating the Arcsteel enchantment.

“Right, sorry.” Spirit finished clasping the pieces of his chestplate together and started pulling on his gauntlets. Even though neither of them would be expected to do any fighting, Grandma had insisted that anyone accompanying the army should be ready to defend themselves if the need arose.

As he was buckling on the last of his armor, Spirit looked around the house that had been his home for the last few years. True, he had spent about half of that time in the Palace of Friendship whenever his or Twilight’s duties pulled him that way, but living here with his family and Autumn had made this modest house feel like much more of a real home than the crystalline structure in Ponyville. Almost all of their things were still here, organized in shelves and boxes, but just knowing that they were about to leave made the house seem empty somehow.

Spirit’s eyes lingered on the gray egg sitting on the kitchen table. The green spots, which marked it as holding a dragoness, had appeared last week. Only two more months until it was ready to hatch. A morbid part of Spirit wondered if some of them wouldn’t be coming back to help hatch the egg with their dragon fire. Spirit’s claws tightened inside their gauntlets. No hatchling should have to face being raised without its parents.

He put his helmet on last and activated the Arcsteel enchantment. “Okay, let’s go.”

The entire village had gathered to bid farewell to the hundred fighters and twenty auxiliaries that would be leaving. Pinkie wanted to throw them a giant going away party, of course, but Fire Claws had convinced her to reign things in. Wyrms didn’t like to make a big deal out of … well, anything, but they especially didn’t see the point in celebrating something that might get a lot of them killed, even if that was the worst-case scenario. There were a dozen tables full of snacks and banners wishing them all a safe return, but that was it.

They found Twilight giving Applejack a tight hug. The other Element Bearers, the Crusaders, and the rest of Fire Eyes’ team were standing nearby, exchanging hugs and goodbyes in the predawn light. Even Angel was there, nestled between Fluttershy’s armored wings.

“Don’t worry, everypony,” Twilight said, “we’ll be back before you know it.”

“Y’all had better.” Applejack took a slightly unsteady breath. “Whatever happens, y’all gotta promise me that you’re comin’ back to us.”

“P-promise me that you’re c-coming home,” Whisper begged Fire Eyes.

The older dragoness knelt down, even though they were nearly the same height these days. “Sis, we almost lost each other once. Don’t worry, I’ll never put you through something like that again.” She pulled Whisper into a hug. “I promise, I’m going to make sure that all of us come back.”

Scootaloo stepped back from embracing Cliff and moved to Rainbow Dash. “Whatever you do, just don’t …” she sniffled and wiped her eyes. “Just stay safe, okay?”

“Don’t worry, everyone, we’ll be okay,” Fluttershy promised. She gently lifted Angel off of her back and hugged him before giving him to Applejack.

“You know it, we’re the number one team in the Village.” Dash grinned and tousled Scootaloo’s mane. “Seriously, Squirt, we’ll see you in like two weeks.” It would have been more like two days, but the Dragon Alliance had taken out the railroads leading to the Crystal Empire last week.

“We’ll have Celestia with us,” Twilight said to Scootaloo. “I doubt the Alliance would risk an attack even if they wanted to.”

“Alright,” Fire Claws shouted over the crowd, “we’re scheduled to meet up with the reserve army soon. It’s time to move out.”

“Well then,” Spirit said, stepping to the front of the group, “let’s get this show on the road.”

Author's Note

Culture Tidbit: Metal of any kind is a symbol of community to wyrms. The wyrms of the Everfree Platoon see their metal armor as the physical manifestation of the community that's supporting them.

Chapter 12

“Flurry,” Cadance said gently, “I’m feeling tired.” She faked a large yawn. “Are you feeling tired?”

Flurry Heart paused in her nearly endless scampering about the playroom. “No, Mommy.” She shook her little head. “Wanna see moon up.” She looked at Luna pleadingly. “Moon up, peeze?”

Luna smiled. Young Flurry Heart was clearly a pony of good taste, and it was time to raise the moon regardless. “I would love to.” She looked out the window, taking in the sight of the Empire at sunset. Red-orange light filled the air, reflecting off the buildings and the streets like an enormous fire that had been frozen in glass. Without the wall, it would have been easy to forget that the Crystal Empire was technically at war.

Her eyes lingered on the wall for a moment, thirty feet wide, ten feet tall, and made from midnight-blue crystal. Only crystal pony crystallization magic could have built such a structure in less than one month. It would probably do little or nothing to defend against a dragon attack, but Luna knew that the wall’s true purpose was simply to make the crystal ponies feel more comfortable and happy, which would in turn power the Crystal Heart. So in a way the wall really was helping to keep the Crystal Empire safe.

Above the wall, Luna could make out a cluster of dark shapes approaching the Crystal Empire. Her eyes narrowed as the pegasus magic within her brought the distant shapes into focus. It was as she feared, dragons. The guards on the wall must have spotted them already, and Luna had no doubt that a messenger would arrive soon to inform her of the threat.

Refocusing on the present, Luna reached out to the heavenly orb that she could feel just over the horizon. Power enveloped her from the connection, like a welcoming embrace from an old friend, as she guided the moon up into sight.

“Moon up!” Flurry bounced into the air, flapping her wings excitedly. “Moon up! Moon up!” She landed on her mother’s head. “Mommy, moon up!”

“Yes, moon up.” Cadance used her magic to carefully extract the foal from her mane. She pulled Flurry into a hug before turning to Luna. “I always thought the terrible two’s meant that a foal would throw tantrums all the time. I think I might prefer that to being so excited about everything.”

Luna laughed softly as she pulled in even more of the moon’s power. “I wager that a week of tantrums would change thy mind.”

“Maybe.” Cadance looked down at Flurry and brushed a bit of mane away from the foal’s face. “Crying foals never gave me any trouble. Some part of my alicorn magic always seemed to cheer them up.” She returned her attention to Luna, frowning slightly. “Is something wrong?”

“The Dragon Alliance approaches.” Luna’s voice sounded strange to her own ears, deeper and yet softer, while echoing gently. This always happened when she drew on so much of the moon’s power. Luna knew that her eyes would be glowing white as well. A quick glance down confirmed that her body had become dark and insubstantial, like a piece of shadow given form. “Take Flurry Heart to the throne room. It should be safe while Shining Armor and I gather our forces to go meet them.”

Cadance tightened her grasp on Flurry protectively. “I’ll send a message to Celestia.”

“I shall attend to that.” Luna walked to the door, pausing to look back at the smaller alicorn. “Fear not, their intentions are not yet clear, but if they do seek battle, I swear that no harm shall befall thee.” She was out the door and on her way to her quarters before Cadance had a chance to respond.

Celestia … her dear sister, unconscious and covered in bandages. Luna stomped with a little too much force, shattered part of the hallway beneath her. No, she would not let these dragons get near Celestia until she was certain that they were here to speak in peace. Until then, it was time to don her armor and prepare for whatever the night would bring.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Talon flew with the rest of Squad Five, doing her best to look strong and confident, which was about the dead opposite of the truth. To say that Talon had mixed feelings about what was about to happen would be a gross understatement. To say that it felt like fear, frustration, anger, hope, and determination had been tossed into a tornado inside of her chest would be … fairly close to what she was experiencing, actually. Talon shook her head to clear it. Bizarre metaphors aside, she still had a job to do. All of them did.

The main body of the Equestrian army was marching north, a force large enough to more than double the one already stationed at the Crystal Empire. It was possible that Celestia’s frequent talk of peace was honest, but even if it was, Luna seemed to have control of the armies, which counted for a lot more than words. So it all boiled down to a choice. They could wait around for the bloodthirsty moon goddess to amass her whole army and show up at their perch, or the Alliance could land the first blow and hopefully end this war before it really got started.

It didn’t matter that Talon would have liked to try at least one peaceful negotiation. It didn’t matter that Heart had tried to get the Council to try negotiations but had been outvoted. All that mattered was following the plan and trying to keep her friends alive.

“Is this going to be your first battle?” Heart asked. She was standing on Tornado’s back, so she had to yell a little to be heard over the flapping of his wings.

Talon took a deep breath and called back, “Yes.” Over four thousand dragons flying in formation should have been an awe inspiring sight, but today it just made her feel small.

Crystal nodded. “We finished our basic training right before the Hurricanes decided to evacuate.”

“I guess it’s better late than never.” Talon forced a chuckle.

“Don’t worry, those runes will keep you safe,” Rune Field said. Between her and Genesis, all of Squad Five looked like they had been covered in glowing spiderwebs.

“I should hope so,” Tornado said. Talon was surprised that he could speak so clearly in his battle form. Apparently, that training in the Stillness with Gemstone was paying off.

“Would you all please shut up?” Thunderfang begged.

Talon couldn’t blame him for wanting to maintain discipline. The Hurricanes were flying just a few hundred feet away, and they were known to crack down hard on squad leaders that couldn’t control their underlings.

The formation reached the Crystal Empire and slowed to a hover. Some of the heavy drake clusters settled on the ground to wait.

Talon could see thousands of armed ponies rushing to the wall beneath them, their crystalline armor sparkling like stars beneath the shield’s blue light. She paused to reflect on how idiotic ponies must be if they built a wall to keep out flying opponents. At least none of the ponies seemed eager to attack yet. They were wisely holding position as more and more reinforcements gathered around.

Eventually the pony army stopped growing, and not a moment too soon. They covered the wall and the fields beyond it, with some as far back as the streets of the Crystal Empire proper.

“Dragons of the Alliance,” an otherworldly voice said, “why have you come here?”

Talon shivered. If a bottomless pool of water could whisper on a moonless night, this was the sort of voice it would have.

A dark form appeared on the inside of the shield, close to the center of the dragon army. It was much larger than the other ponies that Talon had seen, and looked like living darkness had donned a suit of golden armor with silver highlights. Her mane and tail seemed as if they had been plucked from the night sky, and glowing white orbs served for her eyes. Talon knew that this had to be Princess Luna. “Unless you come to negotiate, return to your caves,” she ordered in that same ethereal voice. “The Crystal Empire seeks no quarrel with you.”

Silver Tail moved forward, hovering opposite Luna. His thinking form was about the same size as the Moon Goddess. “We want to speak with Princess Celestia.” He somehow managed to give the impression that he was sitting back and chatting casually.

“Why?” Luna dropped the enchanted voice, but her tone only hardened.

“Does it matter?” Silver Tail asked. “Just call her. We have things to discuss.” Drake honesty was a real pain sometimes. He couldn’t say that the Alliance wanted to accept her offer of peace, because that wasn’t true. Likewise, he couldn’t say that they wanted to know where Celestia was so that she couldn’t surprise them later. “She won’t be harmed.” She’d just be lured away from the Crystal Empire and distracted by fake peace negotiations while they conquered it.

“Why should I believe you?” Luna’s glowing eyes narrowed.

“Why shouldn’t you?” Silver Tail replied.

There was no response for a moment. “Celestia is as far from you beasts as I can arrange.” Clouds began to gather inside the Crystal Empire’s shield. “If thou will not even try to prove thy good intentions, then I would advise thee to likewise get as far from me as possible.”

Many wyverns gasped and stared at the storm that Luna had conjured, Talon included. Only the Hurricanes would be able to create such a powerful storm so quickly.

“Backup plan three,” Heart sent.

“Backup plan three,” Talon relayed to the venom team. “Get ready, everydragon.” She fought to keep her breathing calm. Step one of this plan was simply, ‘Piss off a goddess.’

“You’re really that afraid of us?” Silver Tail asked, his tone mocking. “Did seeing Celestia collapse in a pool of her own blood make you finally realize that you aren’t all-powerful?”

A low growl filled the air, promising endless nightmares to all who heard it. “Do not speak my sister’s name again.”

“Why not?” Silver Tail demanded. “You know these ponies don’t love you the way they love Celestia.”

Luna glared at him but didn’t respond.

“You can change that,” Silver Tail continued. “Help us kill Celestia, and earn-”

“You shall not lay a claw upon my sister!” With a scream of primal rage, Luna shot forward through the shield. She moved so quickly that Silver Tail barely had time to react, even though he’d been expecting her.

He slashed with both forelegs, growing and then shrinking them in less time than it took to blink. His claws left deep gashes across Luna’s golden armor. That didn’t stop her though. If anything, it just made her more angry.

The information they’d gathered had definitely been correct. Whatever problems they had in the past, there was nothing that Luna cared about more than her sister’s wellbeing.

Silver Tail barely managed to drop beneath the charging alicorn. “You can’t stop me,” he taunted, flying away from the city at speeds that would have impressed even the most talented wind wyvern. “I’ll kill Celestia myself if I have to.”

“Step two of the plan is a go,” Heart sent. “The Hurricanes say to get working on that storm!”

Talon and the others needed no second prompting. Equestrian warriors were already pouring out of the shield after their princess.

The nearest formation, a group of earth ponies, smashed into a swarm of drakes before they could fully take to the air. Meanwhile, their pegasi allies dive-bombed them from above. Squadrons of wyverns rose to meet the pegasi, and flashes of light announced the presence of wyrm attack spells among both other types of dragons.

Talon pulled her eyes away from the sight and focused her internal magic on generating clouds as she flew. It wasn’t easy, the weather up here seemed to have a mind of its own, but she could feel it slowly bending to the combined will of every wyvern in the formation.

On her other side, a team of bat-winged ponies shrugged off a wave of flame from a cluster of fire wyverns and moved in to engage them. It was true then, Equestrian soldiers really were immune to heat.

Just to the left of that, a team of blue-and-gold clad pegasi began flying in what could only be described as a corkscrew formation. Within seconds, a tornado had formed around them, battering aside anydragon unfortunate enough to be caught in their way.

By the Ancestors, how did they do that so fast? Talon pumped her wings harder, shouting encouragement to the rest of her team.

Silver Tail and Luna had already reached the back of the formation. A sky-blue drake aura surrounded him, shielding him from Luna’s constant magical assault. He would have been nearly invisible against the snow beneath him if not for its light.

Talon found herself unable to look away from the battling champions. Their speed, agility, and power was simply unbelievable. In mere seconds, Talon saw Silver Tail use the recoil from his own sonic cone to change directions suddenly and collide with Luna, clawing and biting furiously.

Luna kicked him away, then teleported beneath him and used her magic to grab onto the drake. Though the dark-blue field of her magic was disrupted by his aura, it held just long enough for her to hurl him to the ground below.

The dragon leader somehow generated a shock-wave to cushion his impact, and make a large crater for him to land in, before shooting back into the sky, yelling taunts as he went.

Most of Equestria’s troops began to fall behind as the Alliance army continued to fly northeast, generating clouds and strong winds as they went. Talon risked a glance behind them and saw that the heavy combat clusters were doing their job perfectly by covering the army’s retreat. Unlike Talon’s cluster, which was mostly wyverns with some drakes and wyrms thrown in, the heavy clusters were primarily composed of drakes, with the other two races acting as support for them.

The only group of ponies to make it past the drakes was a swarm of pegasi far to the left. They easily outpaced the Alliance’s forces, slamming into the back of the wyvern cluster closest to Silver Tail and Luna.

Heart Echo sent out a warning, but it reached the cluster too late, and dozens of wyverns and even a few drakes fell as pegasi dive-bombed them, breaking bones with their hooves.

“Keep flying!” Thunderfang ordered. “We’re too far away to help them.”

Silver Tail started to climb before turning sharply and diving back toward the Crystal Empire. It was a textbook wingover maneuver, executed so quickly that he almost seemed to switch directions instantaneously.

He flew through the formation of pegasi before they even realized he was there, leaving a trail of death in his wake.

Luna tried to pursue him, but the air around her suddenly froze, encasing her in a prison of ice. She teleported out after just a second or two. However, the distraction gave Silver Tail a moment to prepare for her, letting him land another solid blow.

Talon promised herself that she’d ask Heart to give a medal to whichever wyrm had been responsible for that ice cage.

“Circle back. Gas and storm,” Heart relayed, and Talon passed on.

Nearly as one, the wyvern clusters flipped around and flew over the heavy drake units. Gas teams began spitting out clouds of venom, which a combination of drakes and wind wyverns directed onto the confused and surprised ponies below. High above, thunder wyverns took advantage of the storm clouds they had just made and began sniping anypony that looked important, as fire, ice, and wind wyverns kept the enemy pegasi occupied. Rising winds and pelting rain from the growing storm only made things more difficult for the ponies beneath.

“Good job, Tornado!” Talon shouted as she circled around to spit more gas. The rain had soaked through her hair by that point, and she knew she would have to dry off soon to stay warm, but there were more pressing issues to worry about. Besides, like all wyverns, she had inherent magic that protected her from the worst of the storm.

“Good teacher,” he replied. No magic protected him from the elements, but he was simply too large to be affected by this amount of wind and rain.

“Look out!”

Talon looked up just in time to see a wall of purplish energy coming straight at them. Traumatic memories filled her head as she yelled the first thing that entered her mind, “Tuck in your wings!”

The wall hit hard, almost as hard as the Crystal Empire’s shield, knocking the entire cluster out of the way like it was nothing. Talon felt like she had rolled down a flight of stairs by the time the world stopped spinning and she could reorient herself. Luckily, the spell also pushed them upwards, giving them all a few precious seconds to start flapping again before they hit the ground.

A cry of pain made Talon’s heart freeze. “Crystal?!”

“I’m okay,” came the pained response.

Talon followed it and found Crystal struggling to stay in the air with an obviously hurt wing. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Cloud Breaker, get your battle partner to either Ember or Tornado so the wyrms can heal her.” “Heart, are you okay?”

“Yes, we’re all fine. The Hurricanes say to keep working on that storm, and Thunderfang says to regroup around Ember. She’s right next to us, by the way.”

Talon finally found Tornado’s golden form beyond the mess of confused and often wounded dragons around them. As promised, Ember was hovering nearby. “Tornado and Ember are over there, everydragon! Regroup around them, and don’t let up on that storm!”

Had the ponies been in a position to attack, they would easily have been able to cause massive casualties among the disorganized cluster, but luckily there were no ponies nearby. In fact, almost the whole Equestrian army was now inside of a miniaturized, purple version of the Crystal Empire’s shield. The Alliance’s forces had been scattered in all different directions, but at least that meant that they had the Equestrians surrounded.

A few drake clusters hit the shield, but even their combined power, amplified by the wyrms in their squads, barely managed to scratch it.

Talon got another message from Heart almost the second that they reached her and Tornado. “The Hurricanes say to ignore the shield and keep working on the storm between it and the Empire.” “Did Luna make that thing?”

Heart shook her head. “Luna and Silver Tail are still fighting to the north of the shield.” She sent a faint amount of worry. “He’s starting to get worn out, and she’s healing herself somehow.”

It was a tough call which bit of news was worse. An enemy goddess armed with healing magic was no cause for celebration, but it was more than a little scary to think that some normal pony had pushed their entire army out of the way with one spell.

At any rate, it didn’t change their role in this battle. Now that some semblance of order had been restored, the lighter clusters went back to storm generation, and the heavy clusters kept attacking the shield. Bringing it down was actually a low priority, but it wouldn’t do to let the ponies know that.

Just over a minute later, Talon saw something that made her grin like a hatchling. The shield surrounding the Crystal Empire sputtered and died.

Step two of the plan, ‘Distract the Equestrian army while Yol Toor and his twin daughters used their auras to slip through the Empire’s shield and grab the Crystal Heart,’ had been a success.

Nearly two thousand dragons emerged from their hiding spots around the Empire and flew toward it at maximum speed.

“Rush to the walls,” Talon ordered, “but don’t let up on this storm!”

The purple shield disappeared behind them. Talon didn’t know whether the drakes had finally smashed through it or the pony responsible had let it drop. At this point, it didn’t matter.

“Luna just teleported somewhere,” Heart reported. “She probably went to the Crystal Palace to find out what happened, but keep your eyes open anyway.”

Talon relayed the message and encouraged her team to fly faster.

Crystal’s wing was fully healed by then, so she rejoined them in the sky.

For a landlocked species to outrun a flying one would have been extremely difficult. To do so while stuck in the middle of a magical storm created specifically to slow enemies was downright impossible.

Talon landed with the rest of her cluster on the walls surrounding the Crystal Empire. She turned with a grim smile to see that the Equestrian army was almost entirely inside the storm now.

If the ponies hadn’t been so distracted, they might have noticed the five wyverns, one of each type, hovering in the very center of the swirling clouds.

“Everydragon’s clear, get down!” Heart sent.

Talon barely had time to shout the order before the storm began to glow faintly. A wall of air blasted into them all as the clouds began to spin violently. Rain poured out of the clouds as lightning crackled with terrifying intensity.

This is it, Talon thought in awe, the True Blessing of the Storm, and the reason wyvern leaders are called Hurricanes.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Luna was panting with exertion when she appeared in front of the Crystal Palace. It was all clear to her now. That scoundrel, Silver Tail, had goaded her into attacking him, and to her shame, she had fallen for it. It was too bad that she had been forced to abandon their fight though. It had been a very long time since she had fought such a skilled opponent. All this raced through her mind in the moment it took for her to open her eyes after teleporting.

The sight that greeted her made Luna’s blood boil. Three full-size drakes stood at the base of the palace, and one of them was holding the Crystal Heart. Even worse, all three were covered in those infuriating auras that negated most of her spells.

That drake turned to face her. His gray scales weren’t uncommon for a northern drake, but his brown horns and golden eyes were quite distinctive, and the blue-and-red patterns of his aura made him stand out even more. The two females behind him were quite similar to the first in appearance and build, although their coloration was fairly different, with gray horns, white scales, and golden auras.

Shining Armor appeared at Luna’s side in a flash of purple light. He quickly generated another shield, probably hoping to sweep them away as he had with their army. However, the expanding shield simply passed through them with no visible effect.

The lead drake silently passed the Crystal Heart to one of the others and moved in front of them. Much to Luna’s frustration, the Heart was always protected by at least one drake aura during that time, so she couldn’t simply pull it away with her magic.

“Now we see how they entered the Empire,” Luna said, not taking her eyes off the drakes, who watched her just as intently. “They are nearly immune to magic.” In her peripheral vision, she could see hundreds of dragons flying into the city and headed straight for the Crystal Palace.

Shining Armor saw them too and prepared another shield, but Luna held out a foreleg to stop him.

“Your shield could hold off an army of dragons, but only for a few hours, and they have superior airpower. Without the Crystal Heart, holding the Crystal Empire is unfeasible.” Luna took a deep breath. If Shining Armor’s shields wouldn’t work, then facing these dragons would be suicide for him. “Return to your soldiers, Shining Armor. I will attempt to retrieve the Crystal Heart.”

“And if you can’t?” Shining Armor asked.

“Then I will be waiting with Cadance and Flurry Heart at the safe house.” Luna was sure he would understand what she meant by that.

A wave of wind and magic passed over them, making Luna shiver. “Return to the battle with haste! Something frighteningly powerful has been wrought there.”

It was a credit to his loyalty and his training that Shining Armor didn’t question her orders. He only whispered, “Be careful,” before disappearing.

“I would rather avoid unnecessary bloodshed,” the lead drake said, stepping in front of the other two, “but I will be your opponent if you insist on challenging us for the Crystal Heart.”

Luna smirked. She was worn out after fighting Silver Tail, in no condition to challenge a foe of similar skill and power. A duel was out of the question. She lit up her horn and teleported, reappearing behind the drakes, where she ripped off the wall of a nearby building and hurled it at the dragoness holding the Crystal Heart.

She cried out in surprise and pain as she was knocked flat.

Luna teleported into the rubble, grasping for the Crystal Heart, but then a beam of red-and-blue light slammed into her, hurling her back into one of the foundation pillars of the Crystal Palace.

Luna could barely breathe as the energy did its best to crush her tired body, ripping away fur and skin as it flowed past her, cutting right through the foundation pillar as it went. She desperately called on more of the moon’s power to strengthen herself, but the attack suddenly cut off before she could even generate a proper shield.

A massive paw wrapped around her in the beam’s absence, smashing her into the ground. The crystal walkway shattered from the impact, and even the rocky foundation beneath gave way as she was driven several feet below ground.

The force of the impact would have killed a normal pony outright. As it was, Luna felt one of her back legs snap.

“You will not harm my daughters,” the drake roared.

Fighting through the pain, Luna called upon her earth pony magic as she grabbed onto the drake’s paw and wrenched with all her might. A howl of pain told her that she had succeeded in breaking the drake’s wrist, aura or no, but it was hardly as big a handicap as losing the use of her leg.

The drake’s paw pulled out of Luna’s grasp, only to be replaced by crushing teeth. Luna barely got her forehooves up in time to stop his jaws from closing around her head.

Drake necks were too flexible to break from this angle, but that wasn’t what Luna was worried about. The memory of that energy beam was still fresh.

Luna shot more rubble at the Crystal Heart, hoping to knock it away from the dragoness that held it. Unfortunately, the dragoness held her grip, and light began to build at the back of the lead drake’s mouth. With her options quickly running out, and her strength fading, Luna called upon her magic once more and teleported to the throne room, where she landed in a heap.

“Luna?!” Cadance shouted in surprise, rushing to the blue alicorn’s side. “Are you okay? What’s going on out there?”

Flurry Heart let out a frightened noise.

Battered, exhausted, and covered in cuts, Luna knew that she must have been quite a sight. “Give me your magic,” she instructed, struggling to her hooves. “I require every drop that you can spare.”

Cadance moved to support her. “What are you talking about? At least let me heal you first.”

Luna shook her head. “I will live, but unless we act quickly, many of our soldiers will not. We must take them and retreat to the safe house.”

Cadance pulled Flurry Heart into a hug and hesitantly touched her horn to Luna’s. Magic began to flow into the larger alicorn. “Luna, please tell me what’s happening.”

“The Alliance has overrun the Empire and captured the Crystal Heart.” Luna grit her teeth, calling upon the combined magics of the moon and Cadance. “Continuing to fight them in the streets would endanger every crystal pony that is relying on us to keep them safe, there are at least two enemy drakes that are as powerful as I, against which Prince Armor can do nothing, and I am in no condition to fight any longer.”

“What will happen to the crystal ponies?” Cadance asked over Flurry Heart’s frightened cries.

The magic was overwhelming, more than she had channeled since her time as Nightmare Moon. “The Alliance planned to evacuate them when last I watched their dreams. Only armed soldiers will not be free from their wrath. Thus we must move them.” Then, in a massive burst of power, Luna, Cadance, and Flurry Heart disappeared, as did each of the two thousand soldiers still within the Empire’s boundaries.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Wyvern hurricanes used up all of their power in just a dozen or so extremely violent seconds, and so Talon was legitimately surprised when she looked over the edge of the Empire’s wall and found that most of the Equestrian army was still alive. The return of that accursed purple shield probably had something to do with it, though it couldn’t have worked completely, because there were still plenty of dead and wounded.

“You fought well,” Silver Tail said, projecting his voice to the thousands of ponies. “Surrender now and we will permit you to reenter the Crystal Empire and provide healing for your injuries.”

There was no response.

Minutes passed, and the Equestrian army slowly gathered their casualties and came together into one large group. Even with all of their losses, they still outnumbered the dragons by a fair amount.

The shield dropped, leaving a purple blur across Talon’s vision and reducing the Equestrians to dark outlines. For a moment, Talon hoped that they might come forward and formally surrender, but then the ponies began marching west, toward the mountains in the distance. Apparently their commander was too stubborn to surrender, even when lives depended on it.

Talon couldn’t help but feel bad for those ponies, wounded and soaked on a frozen tundra after sunset. Many of them would die of hypothermia before the sun came up.

“We did it,” Heart breathed. “We actually won.”

Talon nodded, but she couldn’t bring herself to be truly happy. “Yeah,” she said quietly, “we won."

Author's Note

This battle and all others were run using a variant of D&D called Fields of Blood. It's actually the same thing that Spirit, Twilight, and Blueblood were playing last chapter.

Chapter 13

“We’ve been marching for an entire week,” Blueblood whined. “Why do I have to walk so much?”

In all fairness, it was nearly sunset and they had been on the move since breakfast. Their surroundings, a mostly open plain with small hills and patchy forests, did little to break up the monotony. All there had been to do for most of the day was watch a building storm front to the northeast.

Fire Eyes rolled her eyes. “We’re walking because the Dragon Alliance destroyed the railroads leading to the Crystal Empire. I swear, it’s like you didn’t pay attention to Celestia’s debriefing at all.”

Blueblood looked offended. “Of course I did, and I am well aware of what those beasts did and why. However, I see no reason that a prince such as myself should be forced to walk when an easy means of transportation is available.” He nodded up at the floating mass of clouds that formed the pegasus base of operations.

The Sky Base, as they called it, looked like a giant gray sphere with a flattened bottom and a balcony of sorts extending all the way around the middle of it to give incoming pegasi somewhere to land. Not only could the base hold all thirty companies of pegasi in the army, but it only took one company of them to push it, leaving the others available to either scout the surrounding areas or just relax. Cliff was certain that Blueblood was thinking about that second option.

Rainbow Dash turned back to look at him. “Unless you’re hiding a set of wings under that giant ego of yours, a cloud base isn’t going to help you much.”

The front of the army was entering a shallow valley with some rocky outcrops on the nearby hills. A light blanket of snow still clung to the ground, stubbornly resisting the sun’s warmth.

“I know the Cloudwalking spell, you commoner, and I am simply aware of my own importance.” Blueblood stuck his nose into the air, tripping seconds later.

“I’m curious.” Fire Eyes walked past him. “Were you aware that that ‘commoner’ has saved the entire world at least five times?”

Fluttershy paused and extended a hoof to help Blueblood up.

Blueblood accepted and mumbled his thanks. “We all have a role to fill in this life. Nobles are meant to lead and rule. Commoners are meant to serve and obey. The Element Bearers were simply performing their duty by following Princess Twilight, even if she was only a minor noble for many of their exploits. She deserves the true credit for all that they accomplished.”

“Oh my Celestia!” Rainbow turned back to Blueblood incredulously. “You really think that a normal pony can never be as important as a noble because no matter how much they help the world, it was just their duty and the nobles deserve all the credit?”

Blueblood nodded. “Obviously. I can hardly see how it’s my fault that you were born into a less important role in life.”

Rainbow facehoofed. “Do you even listen to yourself talk?”

“If your purpose in life is to lead,” Cliff said, “then would you care to explain how you became a grunt soldier under the command of Fire Eyes, who is under the command of my grandmother, neither of whom have any noble blood at all?”

Blueblood didn’t respond.

“I’m on the Everfree Committee, by the way,” Rainbow said. “So that makes me one of your superiors too, and you might be Celestia’s nephew, but Cliff is Spirit’s brother, which makes him Twilight’s brother and Celestia’s son. He’s an even higher ranking noble than you are, and Fluttershy’s his wife, so she is too.”

Fire Eyes nodded. “What do you know? That makes you the lowest ranking one here.”

Blueblood froze, jaw hanging slightly open.

“Aw yeah,” Rainbow pumped her hoof enthusiastically, “what do you say to that?”

“ … ”

“Um, Blueblood?” Fluttershy stopped next to him. “Are you okay?”

“ … ”

Cliff chuckled. “I think we broke him.”

“Well, it shut him up.” Fire Eyes shrugged. “Even if we have to carry him the rest of the way, that’s a trade-off I’m willing to take.”

“Agreed,” Cliff said.

“Halt!” Celestia’s magically enhanced voice called. “We will camp in this valley tonight.”

“I guess that means we can put off carrying him until tomorrow.” Cliff looked around. The valley was over a mile across and surrounded on three sides by hills. According to his map, there was a river just over the hills to the north. Beyond it, Cliff could just make out the distant spires of the Crystal Empire.

Celestia’s voice reached them again, listing off all ninety of the ground-bound Equestrian companies, each consisting of two hundred soldiers, and where they were to set up their bivouacs for the night. The Everfree Platoon came last. They were positioned almost in the exact middle of the army, beneath the Sky Base.

Fire Eyes took off her helmet with a sigh of relief. “Alright, let’s get our tents set up before we lose the light, then we can worry about dinner.”

“I am not lower ranking than you commoners!” Blueblood shouted without warning.

Rainbow snickered. “Yes you are and a lot slower too.”

A brown wyrm with fiery red spikes approached. Like Fire Eyes, he was holding his helmet under one arm and walking on his back legs. While not quite as trim or athletic as Cliff, the family resemblance was unmistakable. “Ah, Rainbow Dash, I have a request for you.”

“Hey, Grandpa,” Cliff said.

“Hello, Cliff.” The older wyrm nodded politely before turning back to Rainbow. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that upcoming storm front.” He pointed to the wall of clouds coming in from the northeast.

Rainbow nodded.

“The pegasi commander says that most of his soldiers are exhausted from scouting ahead and pushing that cloud base of theirs. I offered to ask if you wouldn’t mind clearing it up so they can relax for the evening.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Rainbow held out her hoof. “Cliff, can you give me a power boost?”

“Of course.” Cliff took her hoof and cast a number of body-enhancement spells. “You’re good to go.”

Rainbow grinned. “Now you see clouds …” If her armor made flight any more difficult than normal, she didn’t show it. Rainbow was already at mach speeds by the time she cleared the valley. A few seconds later, she was a silvery dot in the distance.

A multicolored explosion appeared near the wall of clouds, blasting a large hole in the storm front. Two more quickly followed, leaving only a few scattered clouds in the sky.

Rainbow smashed into the ground at the same time that the noise from the Sonic Rainbooms reached the camp. She grinned widely until the noise died down. “… And now you don’t.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

A few miles away, Talon stood at the mouth of a cave system that the Ice Spire drakes had known about. Crystal, Tornado, Heart, and Thunderfang were with her, and every one of them was staring at the sky in shock.

Only two dragons seemed unaffected, Aurora, the Hurricane of Ice, and Silver Tail.

“How did they do that?” Thunderfang asked quietly. “We spent all afternoon on that storm.”

“Senior Wing Thunderfang,” Aurora said, pulling the attention of everydragon to her. “Does your plan to counteract that technique hinge on understanding its mechanics?”

Thunderfang froze for a moment, then he dropped to a low bow. “N-no, sir.”

Aurora’s expression hardened just slightly. “What is your plan to counteract that technique?”

Thunderfang paused for even longer this time. “I don’t have one, sir.”

“Then don’t speak and waste all of our time listening to you.” Aurora shifted her attention to Heart. “I allowed you to bring these four because you said that they could provide useful insights.”

“Aw, give the poor guy a break,” Silver Tail said. “There’s nothing wrong with being impressed by an interesting new technique.”

Aurora’s expression didn’t change. “A technique that could kill hundreds of our warriors. We don’t need to be impressed; we need to be able to counteract it.”

“Talon has several ideas,” Tornado said without warning.

Talon froze as every eye leveled on her. She fought off her stage fright long enough to glare at Tornado. “What makes you think that I have some ideas?”

“You always have ideas,” Tornado said calmly.

Silver Tail chuckled.

Aurora leveled her gaze at Talon. “If you have suggestions, then by all means, share them.”

Talon leaned over to Tornado. “I hate you.” Then she turned her attention to Aurora. “Well, uh, none of our spies have mentioned a pegasus technique like the one we just saw, so it must be rare. However, the Equestrians used it to get rid of what they thought was just a harmless storm front, so it probably doesn’t weaken the user very much …” Talon wracked her brain for more observations and ideas. The pony had charged straight at the storm front for at least a mile before using the technique, but they had no way of knowing if that was a necessary part of the technique. For all they knew, it could be used while standing still. What about the effects of the technique? “… A shock-wave like that would probably harm everything in its way, so the best countermeasure for right now would be to stay close to the Equestrian army. Ponies are supposed to be very loving to each other. I don’t think they’d risk letting their own warriors get caught in the blast … sir!” She dropped to a low bow.

“Adequate, and your insights into pony psychology are appreciated.” Aurora turned back to the mouth of the cave. “Heart, do you still believe that you can sneak into their camp undetected?”

Heart nodded. “Easily.”

Talon bit down on her tongue. Everything in her screamed that it was too dangerous to send Heart into the middle of an enemy camp, even if she did know several illusion and manipulation spells. But the orders of a Hurricane were unquestionable.

“Then you should start getting ready,” Aurora said. “We need to know a lot more about this army before we can attack it.”

“Hold on,” Heart said. “We aren’t here to attack. We’re here to wear them down so they don’t attack us.”

“A task that, evidently, we cannot accomplish with simple snowstorms,” Aurora replied. “The six swarms with us should be more than enough to perform a quick ambush once you have collected the information we need.”

Heart turned to Silver Tail pleadingly.

“I don’t want to waste more lives either,” Silver Tail said, “but I don’t see any way to avoid at least one battle with that group.”

“I have relatives out there.” Heart gestured toward the pony army.

Aurora arched one eyebrow. “And that will prevent the eighteen thousand ponies with them from trying to kill us?”

“No, but …” Heart sighed. “Just let me talk to them. Maybe they can convince the ponies to leave us alone.”

“It’s worth a shot.” Silver Tail hummed thoughtfully. “If nothing else, tell them to tell Celestia that I want to fight her one-on-one. It might just keep her from blasting the rest of you with her magic.”

“I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t come to that.” Heart took a deep breath and started walking toward the pony camp. “See you all soon, I hope.”

“We will begin making plans in case you fail.” Aurora glanced at Talon and the others. “You four, return to your squadron.”

“Thanks for your input,” Silver Tail added.

Talon, Crystal, and Thunderfang all bowed low and quickly retreated into the cave. Tornado followed them at a more relaxed pace.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t be more help,” Crystal said quietly.

Thunderfang sighed. “I don’t see how you could have done anything.” The tunnel they were in opened up into a massive cavern, a former gem mine, which housed nearly three thousand dragons. It would actually be a nice place to live other than the fact that it was completely exposed to enemy attacks and had no gems left. “Let’s just hope that Squad Five gets through this next battle without casualties.”

“Even better,” Talon said, “let’s hope that Heart can stop a battle from happening at all.” She was starting to envy Gemstone Aura, studying the Crystal Heart in his lab back at the Ice Spire Clan’s cave. He wouldn’t have to go to sleep again wondering if it would be the last night of his life.

-_-_-_-_-_-

The sun had well and truly set by the time they finished setting up their tents and eating a healthy, if bland, meal of travel rations. Temperatures were plummeting with the onset of night, and there wasn’t enough wood for the whole army to have campfires, even if they chopped down every tree for miles. Luckily, the Everfree Platoon had an easy solution for that.

Dragon fire could exceed five thousand degrees, more than hot enough to make small pockets of lava in the rocky ground of the valley. Lava took the place of a campfire easily enough, and though the surface crusted over in a few minutes, the spot still put out heat for several hours afterwards.

There was just one problem, the reserve army was over eighteen thousand strong, plus several thousand medics, blacksmiths, cooks, and other workers, and Everfree only boasted seventy-six wyrms, including medics and scouts.

“There you go,” Cliff croaked out to yet another group of ponies. “Come find one of us if you need it reheated.” He acknowledged their thanks and poured a little healing magic into his throat before skirting around the army’s supply wagons and heading back to Everfree’s camp.

Normally, finding his team’s tent in a sea of identical tents would have been difficult. One of the few advantages of dealing with that privileged brat, Blueblood, however, was that Cliff could just follow the whining. He cast a minor spell to increase his hearing.

“… going to outlaw camping and enforce dirt removal checkpoints throughout Canterlot. I swear, I’ll never get all this grime out of my mane.”

There they were.

“Blueblood, just shut up already!” Rainbow almost shouted. “Equestria’s soldiers all have to put up with equipment that’s tons heavier and less comfortable, and you don’t hear them complaining.” Cliff wasn’t surprised that she was back already. Her ability to breathe fire meant that she had been expected to help just like all the other wyrms, but Rainbow wasn’t known as the fastest pegasus in Equestria for nothing.

Their tent came into view. Rainbow and Fluttershy were sitting next to a lava pit outside with their helmets off, but Blueblood was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey there,” Cliff said.

Both mares turned to him.

“Heya, Cliff.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Welcome back.”

Cliff took off his helmet and gave Fluttershy a kiss. “Are you two ready to go bathe?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, as soon as Fire Eyes gets back. We’re just trying to convince our lowest ranking member in there,” she jabbed a hoof at the tent, “that he doesn’t need to take his armor off in private.”

“I am a prince, you commoner,” Blueblood said from within the tent, “and no member of the nobility would degrade themselves to the point of stripping in public.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “You do realize that you walk around naked most of the time, don’t you?”

“Do I want to know what this is about?” Fire Eyes asked, walking up to them.

“Blueblood just feels a little self-conscious about taking his armor off in public,” Fluttershy explained.

“Okay, that’s weird,” Fire Eyes said. “Anyway, let’s go. He can catch up to us later.”

A company of unicorns had dammed off a part of the river at the northern end of camp, and then some specialists had whipped up an enchantment that heated the water to a comfortable temperature for bathing. Marching all day, even during the beginning of winter, was dirty, sweaty work, and all that needed to be cleaned off if they didn’t want their soldiers catching hypothermia. A warm bath at the end of a hard day also did wonders for morale.

Most of Equestria’s forces had taken their baths while Cliff and the other wyrms were heating up lava pockets, and so the only other bathers left were from Everfree. Even so, Cliff and Fluttershy found a spot away from the others.

Cliff melted a patch of snow and sat down in the grass beneath. He deactivated his armor’s Arcsteel enchantment and started working on the clasps that held his gauntlets in place.

Fluttershy smiled at her husband. “Let me help you.” Her nimble wings started on the bindings that held his breastplate together, working quickly until the front and back halves separated and fell to the ground. The chain-mail beneath was so well crafted that it almost looked like silvery cloth.

“Thanks.” Cliff pulled off his second gauntlet. “Let me get your wing guards off. They have to be making that difficult for you.”

“Oh, they aren’t so that bad.” Still, Fluttershy deactivated her armor’s enchantment and pulled her wings back so it would be easier for him to reach the complex pieces of armor that covered her wings and feathers. A loving smile lit up her face as he worked. “It’s nice to spend time with just you, even if we aren’t exactly alone.” She nodded toward Fire Eyes and Rainbow Dash, who were apparently racing to see who could take off their armor the fastest.

“I know exactly what you mean.” Cliff lifted away what could only be called a gauntlet for wings, freeing his wife’s primaries on that side. They were in need of a good preening. “We’ve both been so busy ever since this war started, and your heat didn’t exactly put you in the mood for talking.” He smiled wryly.

Fluttershy blushed. “Oh my, I’m really really sorry about that. I don’t know what happened. I’ve never had a heat that strong before.” It was at least the thousandth time she’d apologized.

Cliff kissed her gently. “Calm down, love. I know, and I’m not upset,” he said for at least the thousandth time. The other wing guard came off, and Cliff got to work on her breastplate.

“I know, but I still feel bad.” Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief as the heavy breastplate fell away, revealing the chain-mail jerkin beneath. “That’s so much better.”

“Glad to hear it.” Cliff smiled. The boots for each of her hooves came next, followed by the metal sleeves for her legs and the pieces that protected her stomach and hips. The chain-mail jerkin that covered her body was moist with sweat, making it a little difficult to get the buttons undone. Cliff had to pull it off gently, in case some of Fluttershy’s fur was stuck in it. Last of all were the metal clasps that kept her mane and her tail in place.

Now wearing only her wedding necklace, Fluttershy pulled her braided mane around so that she could undo it. Her fur was heavily matted and damp in most places, a side effect of wearing metal armor all day.

Cliff couldn’t help but smile as he took in the sight of her. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, running his claws across her wing.

Fluttershy tried to hide behind her mane, which didn’t work so well when it was still braided. It didn’t even cover her bashful smile. “I’m really not.”

“Yes, you are.” He leaned forward and kissed her just behind the ear.

A chill breeze passed over them, so Cliff couldn’t tell if her shiver was because of the kiss or the cold.

“Go ahead and get in.” He nodded toward the gently steaming water. “I’ll be there in a second.”

Fluttershy’s only response was to finish undoing her braid and then start on the clasps around the tip of his tail.

Cliff made a show of sighing, but they both knew it was fake. Besides, unlike Fluttershy’s armor, which had a simple opening for her tail to go through, Cliff’s armor encased his tail completely. Some of those clasps were nearly impossible for him to reach without help.

Bit by bit, his armor fell away, exposing him to the cold night air. Cliff would have breathed some fire to keep himself and Fluttershy warm, but Everfree Armor was actually very vulnerable to heat when it was deactivated. Even putting it in a campfire would be enough to damage some of the more delicate enchantments.

Once everything was off, Cliff and Fluttershy wasted no time in climbing into the warm water until it was up to their shoulders.

“Ah, heat,” Cliff sighed, wiggling his toes in the fine sand of the river bottom. He pulled Fluttershy’s back against his chest and rested his chin on top of her head. “I still can’t believe that anydragon would choose to live up in the arctic like this.”

Fluttershy snuggled against him. “At least the snow is pretty.”

“That’s true. We’ll probably see a lot more of it tomorrow.” Cliff pulled back a little and began running his claws through her mane. It wasn’t as good as a comb, but the dimensional pockets on their suits only had enough room for travel rations and other necessities for the journey north. “We should reach the Crystal Empire tomorrow evening, so we can enjoy both snow and heat.”

“Yes, that will be nice.” Fluttershy frowned a little. “I hope Spirit heard from the Empire today. I’m starting to worry that something bad happened.”

Cliff nodded somberly. “That makes two of us.”

Luna had been sending updates to Celestia and Spirit every Sunday, but even though yesterday had been Sunday, they had received no word from her.

Fluttershy winced as Cliff’s claws hit a snag in her mane.

“Sorry.” He gently undid the tangle, then an idea occurred to him. Cliff took a deep breath and cleared his heart before generating six different emotions in a very specific ratio. He focused on the shape he wanted and then poured his willpower into manifesting the spell.

A small comb appeared in the young dragon’s hand, made entirely from glowing green energy.

“Oh, is that one of your new spells?” Fluttershy asked.

“Sort of.” Cliff began to run the magic comb through his wife’s mane. It worked almost as well as a real one, sorting out tangles and removing bits of dirt and sand that had somehow gotten stuck in there. “It’s actually the tier six version of Ghost Claws. Lower tier versions just create energy claws, but this one can take any shape I want, and I can decide which parts, if any, will cut.”

Fluttershy giggled.

“What?”

“You’re using an advanced attack spell to comb my mane.” She shrugged. “I don’t know why, but thinking about that made me laugh.”

Cliff had to smile. “Yeah, I guess it is kind of ironic.”

Fluttershy watched the comb for a moment. “Why is it green instead of blue, like other versions of Ghost Claws?”

“Oh, it’s reflecting the color of my magic field. Most tier six and higher spells do that.”

“I think it’s pretty, and green has a special meaning to me.” She turned around and held out her wedding necklace, a silver pendant with a star-shaped emerald in the middle.

Cliff hugged her to his chest again and planted a kiss on top of her head. “I love you.”

She leaned into the hug. “I love you too.”

They held each other for a few moments before Cliff went back to grooming his wife. Scales and head spikes were decidedly low maintenance, just requiring some light scrubbing to get them clean. Fur, hair, and feathers, on the other claw, all had to be cleaned, groomed, styled, and sometimes trimmed or plucked. The Ghost … Comb turned out to be very useful in cleaning dirt out of her tail, and after some minor changes, worked nicely on her coat as well. He let it fade, though, once he got to Fluttershy’s wings.

Learning how to preen correctly had been a long and difficult process, but it was also one of the strongest bonding rituals and shows of affection between pegasi, so he had persevered. Cliff moved from feather to feather, using his lips and tongue to straighten and clean them, just as Fluttershy had taught him. All of the primaries and secondaries were fine, but a few of the coverts did need to be plucked. Cliff carefully positioned his teeth around each of those feathers, one at a time, and pulled them free.

Fluttershy winced as he pulled out one of the larger feathers.

“Sorry.” Cliff planted a kiss on that part of her wing.

The gesture made her giggle cutely, and she motioned for him to continue.

After finishing, Cliff quickly scrubbed off his scales with a handful of sand before braving the frigid air to collect their armor. Sand worked on the metal as well, scrubbing away sweat and grime to leave the pieces fresh and bright.

Fluttershy’s hooves worked surprisingly well for the job, cupping hooffuls of sand with the internal magic that allowed ponies to hold things, and scrubbing vigorously while her wings held the metal in place. She finished with her armor quickly and helped Cliff with the last few pieces of his own.

The water was noticeably cooler by the time they finished. Cliff leaned back and looked around. A few members of the Everfree Platoon were still bathing, including Blueblood, but Fire Eyes and Rainbow were already gone. “Should we head back now?”

Fluttershy yawned. “I think so, unless you’d rather stay a while longer, of course.”

Cliff yawned too. “Actually, sleep sounds pretty good right now.”

Though facing the night air while dripping wet was a daunting prospect, a few puffs of fire from Cliff left them both dry and pleasantly warm. They took a few moments to arrange all the cleaned-off pieces of their armor on the grass just past the riverbank.

“Ready?” Cliff asked.

Fluttershy nodded and began flapping her wings. A steady current of air extended from her to the disassembled suits, amplified by her pegasus magic.

Cliff breathed a weak stream of fire into the air current, creating a primitive blow dryer. Within a minute, all of the pieces were either dry or close enough that the small hoof towels they had been issued could finish the job.

Next came the long process of putting everything back on. They had Fire Claws to thank for that. She had ordered everyone to sleep in their armor, now that they were in potentially hostile territory. The armor really wasn’t all that uncomfortable to sleep in, thanks to the Arcsteel enchantment, but it was kind of difficult to cuddle with his wife while they were both wearing full body armor.

They were just finishing up when a purple wyrm approached from the camp. Her red spikes fell down the right side of her face, reaching about to her jaw and drawing attention to her vibrant pink eyes. Suspiciously, she walked on her back legs. Most wyrms from Everfree preferred to walk on all fours when they weren't carrying something, so that they didn’t tower over their pony friends. “Hey, Cliff?”

Cliff jumped between the newcomer and Fluttershy, casting defensive spells as quickly as he could. “Who are you?” She wasn’t from the Everfree Platoon, that was for sure, and there weren’t any wyrm covens this far north. That only left the Dragon Alliance, which meant that Fluttershy could be in danger.

“Whoa,” the newcomer held up her hands, “calm down, Cliff. Stars, you never used to be this jumpy.”

“You know Cliff?” Fluttershy asked.

The dragoness looked from Cliff to Fluttershy and back again. “I’m surprised he doesn’t recognize me, actually. He’s known me since we were hatchlings.”

Cliff frowned. There hadn’t been many wyrms his age at the Redstone Coven, where he grew up. It had mostly been him and Fire Eyes, with occasional visits from … “Heart Echo?” She had the right coloration to be his old cousin, but it had been so long since he’d seen her that he couldn’t be sure.

She smiled weakly. “Yeah, been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“More than a decade.” Cliff stepped back and wrapped one arm around Fluttershy, in case they needed to get out of there in a hurry. “Now you’re with the Dragon Alliance. Is this an ambush?”

A bit of hurt flashed across her face. “I’m trying to stop an ambush, Cliff, and yes, I’m with the Dragon Alliance, but is that any worse than being an ally of Equestria?”

“Please stop, both of you.” Fluttershy broke away from Cliff and took a step closer to Heart. “You’re an old friend of Cliff’s, right?”

“My cousin, actually,” Cliff said.

“Then it’s even nicer to meet you.” She turned back to Heart and held out a hoof. “I’m Fluttershy, and Cliff is my husband.”

“You married a pony?” Heart exclaimed.

Cliff rolled his eyes. “You can drop the act, Heart. We know about the spy.” True, they didn’t know who or where the Alliance’s spy was, but they would have to be idiots not to send at least one of them to Everfree Village.

Heart’s eyes shot open. “How?”

“We have a spy of our own.” Cliff decided it would be best if he didn’t mention that their spy was Princess Luna.

Silence fell on the trio, and yet through it all, Fluttershy kept her hoof extended.

“I know that a lot of ponies are angry at the Dragon Alliance,” Fluttershy said gently, “but Celestia and Luna are trying really hard to stop this from turning into a war.” She extended her hoof a little farther. “Please? We want to be your friends.”

Heart sighed and shook the offered hoof. “I’d like to be your friend too, but I don’t know if that’s possible right now. There’s an army over there,” she gestured toward the main camp, “that would really love to see us all dead, and Luna’s out there somewhere, plotting her revenge.”

“There’s something you should know about that,” Cliff said quietly, “but first I need you to promise me something. Promise that Fluttershy isn’t in danger right now.”

Heart nodded. “I promise. Now will you please just listen to me?”

“In a second.” Cliff closed the distance between them and pulled her into a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you again, Heart! I’m sorry I didn’t show it earlier. It’s just that if you’re here then the Dragon Alliance has to be nearby and everyone from Everfree could be in danger.”

Heart hugged him back, even though he couldn’t feel it through his armor. “I would have done the same in your place.” She broke off the hug. “You’re right, though. The Alliance is hidden nearby, and they’re going to attack if you don’t convince this army to turn around and go home.”

“Then you’ll have to convince them not to.” Cliff looked around, half expecting to see an army of dragons somewhere. “Celestia and Luna have a plan that ends in everyone happy and no one dead, but we need to join up with the Crystal Garrison for it to work.”

“What kind of plan involves rounding up thousands of angry ponies to come attack us?” Heart asked incredulously.

Cliff paused and sized up his cousin. True, they had played together as hatchlings, but so much had happened since then. Could he risk giving their plan away to the Alliance? “What are you hoping will come from all this?”

Heart seemed to pick up on his distrust. “I don’t want to kill all ponies if that’s what you’re worried about. I wanted to avoid a war in general, but the Alliance needs the gem mines beneath the Crystal Empire to survive.”

“Then sit down with Celestia and negotiate for them,” Cliff said. “She wants to avoid bloodshed as much as anyone.”

“I don’t know about that,” Heart said softly. “You and I both know that she’s wiped out entire drake clans for threatening her ponies. I don’t see her being very merciful to us anymore.”

“No pony was hurt in your attack,” Cliff said. “You don’t have to worry.”

Heart didn’t reply. She didn’t even make eye contact.

“Oh no,” Fluttershy whispered. “Did something happen?”

Still no reply.

Cliff got a sinking feeling in his chest. “Heart?”

“The Council decided that Luna is too much of a threat,” Heart said at last. “I don’t know if you’re paying attention to her lately, but she wants to wipe the Alliance right out of existence.”

“She doesn’t,” Fluttershy said. “Luna was angry when she declared war, but then she calmed down and realized that the Dragon Alliance was really just afraid. She’s working together with Celestia to keep everyone safe. Even this army is just to scare the wyverns out of attacking the Crystal Empire.”

“You actually believe that,” Heart said with a look of dawning horror. She turned to Cliff. “Both of you do.”

“They told us the plan themselves,” Cliff said. “Everything we know about wyverns says that war is all they know. We have to put them in a scenario where they can’t possibly win before they’ll consider an alternative, like peace.”

Heart swallowed, obviously fighting to keep herself calm. “What would Celestia do if somedragon hurt her sister and killed thousands of her ponies?”

The air seemed to freeze around Cliff. “What did you do?”

“Is Luna okay?” Fluttershy asked. “What about Cadance, Shining, and Flurry?”

“We conquered the Crystal Empire,” Heart said weakly. “Two days ago. I don’t know where Luna is. She teleported away before Yol Toor could finish her off, and we never found the Crystal Empire’s leaders. They might have been killed in the battle.”

Cliff swallowed. “Heart,” he said firmly, “run. Take the entire Dragon Alliance and disappear somewhere for a few weeks. We’ll find Luna and the others and put an article in the newspapers or something when Celestia is calm enough that we can try for peace again.”

“Haven’t you been paying attention?” Heart asked. “The Alliance is going to attack this army if I don’t get you all to turn around and go back to Canterlot.”

Cliff shook his head. “No one in this whole army, including me, would leave Princess Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, or Flurry Heart lost and in danger in the middle of enemy territory.”

“You basically just said that Celestia is going to try and kill us,” Heart said. “Do you really think the Alliance is going to let an army of her ponies come marching up to us?”

He didn’t respond.

“Don’t make me fight you, Cliff.” Heart gripped his shoulder. “Please. You know that we can’t hide from Celestia if she really wants to find us. We’ll have to fight just to stay alive, and I don’t want you, or Grandma, or anydragon else caught up in that.”

There didn’t seem to be any way out of a fight. At least, not that Cliff could see. He glanced over at Fluttershy. “I’ll try to convince the army to leave, but even if I do, we won’t be able to move out until tomorrow morning.”

Heart’s expression fell. “Okay,” she covered her eyes with one hand and took a deep breath before lowering it, “I’ll talk everydragon out of attacking until tomorrow at sunrise, but that’s all I can promise.” Heart stepped a bit closer and whispered, “Get your wife out of here before then.”

She had seen through his bluff then. That was okay, as long as it meant that he could get Fluttershy to safety before the killing started. “I will.”

“One last thing,” Heart said in a normal voice. “Silver Tail wants to fight Celestia one-on-one. Basically, he won’t attack Equestrian warriors if she doesn’t attack dragon ones.”

Cliff nodded. “I’ll pass that along to her.” He pulled his cousin into one last hug. “Thank you, Heart, really.”

“Don’t thank me.” Heart hugged him back. “Look, I’m telling you this as a family member. I sneaked through camp before I found you two, and every pony here is angry and confident. They want to fight, and they’re sure they’ll win. If the Alliance doesn’t hit them, and hit them hard, they’ll want to pursue this war until every one of us is dead. So for the love of the Stars, be careful tomorrow.” Then she stepped away from Cliff and Fluttershy and disappeared, leaving them alone by the riverside.

Author's Note

Culture Tidbit: Ponies are normally very peaceful and loving, but that can quickly change if a friend or family member is in danger. Almost all ponies see Celestia as a second mother of sorts, which is why they were so angry that the Dragon Alliance wounded her.

Chapter 14

Spirit looked up when he heard someone enter the tent. He smiled when he saw that it was Autumn, and she was holding a cup of steaming brown liquid. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Autumn walked to the desk he was using and held out the cup. “You look like you could use a cup of coffee.”

There was an understatement. Spirit had probably never needed coffee as much as he did right then. First Cliff and Fluttershy came out of nowhere with news that the Crystal Empire had been conquered, then they added that the Alliance had an army in the area and planned to attack soon, then Celestia and Twilight disappeared to check out this safe house where Luna, Shining, Cadance, and Flurry might be, then Spirit had been put in charge of helping Heroic alert the army and get everyone up and ready to defend themselves. Oh, and the Alliance messenger who kicked off this whole mess was apparently his long-lost cousin or something. You know, in case things weren’t insane enough already.

“Thanks.” Spirit accepted the cup and drained it in one go. He looked around the small tent that Heroic had turned into an impromptu command post. Two folding tables, one of which was serving as his desk, a bunch of maps, a few books on tactics, and that was about it. Heroic herself was out meeting with the other army leaders. “Is the Everfree Platoon up yet?” Grandma had insisted that at least one unit in the army be well rested for whatever happened at dawn. Spirit had gone along with it, mostly because Everfree’s troops had the unique advantage of being able to sleep in their armor.

“Yes.” Autumn sighed and took a seat on the bench next to him. “Cliff was beginning to panic that Celestia hasn’t returned to take Fluttershy to safety yet.”

“That makes two of us.” Spirit tried to take another drink of coffee before realizing that his cup was already empty. “Neither Celestia nor Twi has responded to any of my letters.”

“I’m sure they are fine.” Autumn wrapped her right foreleg around Spirit’s shoulders, making a metallic shriek as her armor rubbed against his.

“Of course they are. Why wouldn’t they be?” Spirit returned the hug as best he could. “I mean, it’s only going to be dawn soon, past when they said they’d be back, there’s an army of angry dragons out there, and the last thing I said to Twi was some stupid joke about her being part of an alicorns-only club.”

“They are fine,” Autumn said calmly but firmly.

“How do you know?” Spirit asked.

Autumn smiled at him in the way that said he’d missed something obvious. “The sun is coming up.”

“… Oh.”

She tousled his head spikes affectionately. “You’ve done everything you can here. Come back with me to the Everfree Platoon.”

Spirit hesitated. “What if Heroic needs me for something else?”

“Grandma and Grandpa can pass along any messages from her once they get back.” Autumn reached under the bench and pulled up Spirit’s helmet.

“I guess you’re right.” Spirit took the helmet and put it on before following Autumn out the tent’s door.

As they walked, Spirit looked around to make sure that everything had been set up properly after the relocation. The army had packed up and moved a half-mile or so to the south. There were some low hills dotted by trees around here, which would give them a bit of protection against aerial attacks and help in case any dragons came at them on the ground.

Natural cover was limited, though, so Heroic had ordered everyone to arrange their tents in a grid pattern and roll the walls up. In theory, the tents would trip up drakes on the ground while simultaneously hiding their soldiers from wyverns in the air.

Companies of unicorn mages covered the inside of the army’s defensive circle, ready to support their pegasus allies in the air. Meanwhile, the earth pony companies had mostly clustered around the outer edge of the army. The earth ponies had bows, of course, including some giant variant of a crossbow, but even the most powerful bows could do very little against a drake. Hopefully they’d be more effective against wyverns. Above them all stood the pegasus companies, stationed on clouds all around the army’s airspace, but they were mostly focused around the outer edges.

Spirit found his gaze drifting below the pegasi, toward the eastern horizon. The sun’s first rays were creeping into view. “Autumn, just in case anything happens-”

He was cut off when Autumn brought her hoof up to block his mouth. “Please, don’t talk like you might die. Not now.”

Spirit reluctantly nodded.

Autumn pulled her hoof back and looked away. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

The two lapsed into silence until they reached the Everfree Platoon. All hundred warriors, ten scouts, and ten medics had gathered beneath a cluster of tents. Cliff’s team stood at the edge of the cluster, near Spirit and Autumn.

“Does anyone know if Fire Claws and Burning Torch are back?” Autumn called to the group.

“Not yet,” Dash said, breaking away from the crowd. “Any sign of Celestia?”

Autumn shook her head. “Everyone, please listen. We need a decision now about who will be fighting and who will not. The noncombatants will stay here with Spirit and me.”

“We’ll sit out,” Cliff said immediately. “I can power up Rainbow from here.”

“Cliff,” Autumn said gently. “Fluttershy wants to fight, and we aren’t in a position to refuse her help.”

Fluttershy nodded weakly. “If I can save lives …”

“Then have somepony cast Cloudwalking on you all and get up to the Sky Base once you’re linked,” Spirit said, gesturing at the gray structure above them. He met Autumn’s curious gaze and leaned close to her. “Dash and Cliff will move around a lot anyway, so we may as well put the rest of their team in our most well-defended location.”

Autumn didn’t say anything, but her eyes sparkled warmly, a sure sign of approval. The rest of her coat was probably showing it too, except it was covered by her armor. “All combatants, link up.”

Everfree had developed a sort of grapevine system to keep everyone linked in battle without any one group getting so big that it was overwhelming. Each team leader had one link with the rest of their team and one link with one of the battlefield commanders—Spirit, Autumn, Claws, and Torch—who maintained their own link. Of course, only Spirit and Autumn were available at the moment, so things were a bit different than when they’d practiced.

It only took a minute or two to get everyone linked, have Blueblood cast Cloudwalking on Cliff’s team, and let Rainbow ferry the nonpegasi up to the Sky Base. One worry down, ten quadrillion to go.

Spirit closed his eyes and embraced the Stillness. He and Autumn were technically in charge until his grandparents came back. If anything happened, he’d need to keep a clear head.

Autumn controlled herself amazingly well, of course. Spirit could sense nervousness in her, but it was buried so far down that it wouldn’t affect her at all. “Remember, everyone,” she said loudly, “we’re the reinforcements. Keep an eye open for anywhere that needs our help.”

One agonizing minute ticked by as the sun slowly climbed over the horizon, then another minute passed, then a third. Spirit was almost annoyed that the Dragon Alliance was taking so long, right up until a single white drake appeared to the east, flying toward them before coming down to land on top of a hill just beyond the army’s borders.

Dozens of arrows flew toward the drake, but he simply batted one wing, and a wave of wind pushed them all off to the side.

“Why?” The dragon’s voice washed over the army like a strong breeze. “No seriously, why are you all so determined to fight us? We’ll starve to death without the gem mines beneath the Crystal Empire, so we don’t have a choice about whether or not to fight. You do. So help me out here, what exactly are you offering to lay down your lives for? To save a city full of ponies that aren’t going to be harmed anyway? To rescue some nobles? If they’re already dead, then there’s no point. If not, then we’ll happily turn them over to you once they’re found. We can have a big, violent, dishonorable slaughterfest if you really insist, but I hope that most of you would rather avoid that. We all have families waiting for us back home. Do them a favor, please. Just pack up and leave.”

No one spoke for a moment. No one even seemed to breathe. Then hundreds of new arrows shot from the Equestrian line.

The white drake growled and batted them aside like before. “I’ll take that as a no. Attack, everydragon! Make them regret that choice!”

Something rippled around him, like the air all around the hillside was rolling back to reveal-

Spirit’s breath caught in his throat.

-Hundreds and hundreds of dragons, most of them drakes, and all of them charging at the Equestrian line.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Up on the Sky Base, Cliff gripped Fluttershy’s hooves. Even through the metal, he could feel her shaking. He looked into her beautiful teal eyes, which were wide with fear, and did his best to smile confidently. “It will be okay. I’ll die before I let anything hurt you.”

“I know,” she whispered back, blinking away the tears that had started to gather, “and I’ll … I’ll die before I let anything hurt you either.”

They stood on some sort of balcony running all the way around the base, with doors spaced every few hundred feet. The balcony was a lot larger than Cliff had expected, over a hundred feet wide, and composed entirely of strangely solid-looking gray clouds. Thousands of armored pegasi covered the balcony, and most of them were already taking off toward the army of dragons.

“I’ve never even heard of an illusion that large,” Eyes breathed.

More screams of surprise and fear reached them, but this time they came from the west, opposite the drakes. Cliff turned and saw that a flying army had appeared. This one was larger, at least a thousand strong, and seemed to be made up of all three dragon types. The surprised pegasi in the area barely had time to realize what was happening before the dragons reached them.

The first rays of sunlight illuminated the sheer ferocity of the attack, as dragon claws and teeth tore into Equestrian armor with disturbing ease, leaving dead or dying pegasi to fall to the hard earth below.

For a moment, Cliff could only stare at the crimson blood trailing after the dozens of falling pegasi. It just didn’t seem possible that he was seeing ponies die right in front of him. It had to be fake, or a dream, or … something.

More pegasi rushed into battle, slamming into drakes and wyverns alike with brutal ferocity, as the earth ponies and unicorns below launched volley after volley into the Alliance’s ranks.

“Cliff, snap out of it!” Eyes sent through their link. “Spirit says to be on the lookout for other Alliance fighters.”

No sooner had she sent the message than another group of dragons appeared in the air above and in front of them, only a few hundred feet away from the Sky Base, and closing fast. They were flying in a formation of some kind, with two drakes near each other, surrounded by a cluster of wyverns, and they all had the grim look of dragons that knew they were about to enter a kill-or-be-killed situation.

“I hate my life,” Fire Eyes muttered. “Cliff and Rainbow, blitz them! Fluttershy, Blueblood, stay with me and defend the landing platform!”

Cliff touched Rainbow Dash and transferred a surge of momentum into her. As their mutual friend shot away, Cliff spared a moment to look at Fluttershy.

He could feel her fear coursing through their link, but when she turned to meet his gaze, it was replaced entirely by concern for his safety. “I love you,” he whispered before casting Speed Burst once more and jumping straight into the oncoming wall of scales and teeth.

As Cliff flew, a sickle-like blade of green energy extended out from between the first and second knuckle of each hand, nearly matching the length of his arms. He also tapped the thumb and middle claw of his left hand together twice, causing the suit to deposit one of its stored diamonds in that palm.

The explosive force of a Sonic Rainboom tore through the center of the dragon formation, killing dozens instantly with the shock-wave and knocking countless more away as they fought to regain control of their flight.

Cliff took advantage of that confusion, going invisible and angling his flight toward a green drake near the front of the group. Of course, he wasn’t planning to attack the drake yet. If the Dragon Alliance had any brains at all, they would be using wyrms to power up their drakes, and this particular drake was carrying two of them.

Just as he reached the closest of the two, Cliff transferred all of his momentum into the diamond in his left hand. He was suddenly holding perfectly still as the gem blasted right through the chest of the more distant wyrm, shattering his blue scales with the force of the impact.

The closer wyrm gasped, probably feeling his ally’s death through their link.

Cliff spun and slashed with the blade on his right hand, cutting off the unfortunate dragon's head.

With both wyrms out of the way, Cliff hacked with his energy blades into the joint at the base of the drake’s wings. The sickle-like shape was designed to pierce even a drake’s thick scales, and it worked perfectly, letting Cliff sink both energy blades deep into the muscles and tendons beneath.

Two of the closest wyverns tried to interfere but were struck by a thin beam of pink energy, one right after the other. The beams sliced through their wing membranes with almost surgical precision, leaving them to fall alongside the bodies of the two wyrms.

“Thanks, Eyes.” Cliff released Ghost Claws and jumped away from the falling drake without waiting to see how the other dragons reacted to the ranged attack. “Rainbow, can you reach me?”

“Yeah, get ready.”

He braced himself and was suddenly yanked forward as the blue pegasus came up beneath him.

“Green Spear,” Fire Eyes ordered. It was one of the techniques they had developed to let Rainbow take advantage of her insane speed and maneuverability. “Then get back here. They’ve reached the landing platform.”

Cliff magically attached himself to Rainbow’s back, increased her enhancement spells to max power, and shot out two new energy blades, one from either of his shoulders. These new blades were each nearly ten feet long, enough to make flyby attacks on drakes, and curved backwards so that Rainbow wouldn’t have to worry about them getting snagged on anything. “Good to go.”

Rainbow Dash’s reaction time was perhaps the most terrifying thing about her. Cliff had trouble matching it, even with magic enhancements. With those same enhancements pouring into her, Cliff didn’t even try to keep up. He just closed his eyes, cast Invisibility as often as possible, and focused on maintaining a spell called Momentum Bubble, which effectively negated g-force on the two of them. It still felt like he was trapped in a whirlwind, a sensation that was reinforced by the near constant pressure of his energy blades as Rainbow flew in such a way to make them slice into enemy dragons.

“Boom and snipe,” Fire Eyes ordered after a few moments.

Opening his eyes, Cliff found that they had made it to the back of the formation already. He pushed off of his friend, then changed his momentum so that he was sent flying in a giant arc over the dragons and back toward the Sky Base. He didn’t know how many enemies had fallen to their Green Spear technique, but it was considerable, based on the number of bodies either at or falling to the ground below.

Beneath and behind him, another Sonic Rainboom tore through the enemy’s ranks.

Cliff pulled two more gemstones out of his suit’s storage enchantments and sent each of them blasting away into wyrms near the base. He pulled out one more gem, an emerald, and angled himself down toward the rapidly approaching landing platform. Just as Fire Eyes had said, it was swarmed with dragons, mostly green or yellow wyverns. Many were already fighting with the pegasi there, and a large cluster had formed around Blueblood’s shield. Fluttershy and Fire Eyes were there with him, trading off as Fluttershy stunned groups of enemies and Fire Eyes blasted them.

Once again, Cliff came to a sudden stop by draining all of his momentum into the gemstone and shooting it at a nearby dragon. It caught a red drake in the side of the head, but that only seemed to anger it.

Cliff landed next to Blueblood’s shield and pulled out another gem, a ruby this time. “Enchant this to explode,” he asked Fire Eyes.

Fire Eyes sent out a stunning pulse toward the wyverns around Cliff before complying. Unfortunately, the spell seemed to have no effect on the yellow wyverns with the bony plates on their forehead.

“Thunder wyverns,” Fire Eyes sent it almost like a curse. “None of my electric spells work on them.” She reached out to Cliff through the link and cast a spell on the gem in his hand.

Ducking under a barbed wyvern tail, Cliff threw the gemstone into the wounded drake’s mouth as it roared. It seemed confused for a moment, until the gem exploded, and the drake fell out of sight with a cry of pain.

“Only wyverns have tried to land,” Fire Eyes explained, using her Telekinesis to knock one of the wyverns near Cliff into another one, “and even then it’s only the thunder and venom ones. I’m guessing that the other types can’t walk on clouds.”

The wyvern that had just attacked Cliff froze, thanks to Fluttershy’s Stare. He sank an energy blade into its chest before taking out the two that Fire Eyes had knocked down.

Another drake suddenly crashed down through the platform nearby, and Rainbow Dash landed right next to the hole it had just made. “You miss me?” she yelled over the sounds of battle.

“Very much so,” Cliff yelled back, slicing through a wyvern’s tail and jumping out of the way of a burst of fire from a nearby drake. The fire couldn’t hurt him, of course, and his armor was immune when it was active, but he had no intention of letting the clouds beneath his feet evaporate.

The clouds somehow remained firm. However, the venom wyvern that Cliff had just been fighting was caught in the fire. It screamed in pain as the flames consumed it.

“Wait, wyverns are vulnerable to heat?” He didn’t have time to linger on that revelation, however. One of the other venom wyverns spat a cloud of poison into Cliff’s face before he could dodge it. His face and chest seemed to explode in pain as he was reduced to helpless coughing.

“Cliff!” Fluttershy shouted through the link.

“Blueblood, shield him!” Fire Eyes blasted the wyvern away with her Telekinesis. “Cliff, can you heal yourself?”

“Y-yes.” Fighting through the pain, Cliff poured healing magic into his chest, followed by a spell to neutralize toxins, and another spell to heal his eyes and muzzle, both of which had begun to bleed. He resisted the urge to take a deep breath, however. A lot of gas was still in the shield with him.

Off to the side, a thunder wyvern spat a bolt of electricity at Rainbow Dash, which her suit channeled harmlessly into the clouds beneath her.

She poured pegasus magic into her wings and flapped, releasing a burst of wind strong enough to knock several wyverns away, then stomped on the clouds, releasing the stored electricity at the venom wyvern that had hit Cliff earlier. Finally, she flapped again and sent herself flying into one of the thunder wyverns that was scrambling back to its feet. Bones snapped easily beneath her metal clad hooves.

“Get back to the main shield, you idiots!” Blueblood sent.

No one bothered to acknowledge that.

Cliff and Rainbow were close-range fighters. Retreating behind the shield would severely weaken the team’s ability to attack, and the ranged support from their teammates was doing a lot to keep them safe anyway.

Another team of the Everfree Platoon, three wyrms, an earth pony, and a bat pony, shot up through a hole in the clouds, laying into the wyverns that were suddenly trapped between them and their allies.

“Spirit says to tell you, ‘Here’s a late birthday present,’ ” Fire Eyes sent.

-_-_-_-_-_-

“Keep transporting teams up, everyone,” Spirit sent. Only five unicorns in the Everfree Platoon knew the Cloudwalking spell, and the most powerful of them, Blueblood was already up at the Sky Base. Thankfully, Cliff’s team and the pegasi companies had been able to keep most of the flying dragons occupied while he and Autumn got the rest of the Platoon ready to help.

“Apparently, thunder wyverns are immune to electricity, and venom wyverns are vulnerable to heat,” Autumn relayed to the rest of the team leaders. “Other types might have similar weaknesses and immunities, so be careful and report back.”

High above, wyverns, drakes, and wyrms began firing spells and breath weapons at the Equestrian soldiers below. Thanks to the Sky Base, returning fire was almost pointless. It was constructed with military-grade clouds, which were enchanted to absorb or deflect arrows or energy attacks. Not good.

Spirit looked east to the army of drakes that was busy crushing its way through the earth pony companies. Then he looked west, to the flying army that had begun making strafing runs at the supply wagons. Finally, he looked up at the Sky Base. Alliance forces must have gotten inside, because they were opening up small holes in the base to let them fire at the ponies below.

Twin pincer movements and control over the only high ground, accomplished after giving the enemy all night to prepare, and done with a force of only a few thousand dragons. Spirit almost wanted to applaud the Alliance, if they weren’t killing hundreds of ponies every minute.

His eyes paused on that white drake, who was still sitting on that hill in the distance. Spirit’s gut told him that the drake was Silver Tail, one of the Alliance’s most powerful champions. Celestia wasn’t around for the duel he’d requested, so why hadn’t he joined in the battle?

A flash of blinding light encompassed the hilltop for a moment, and then it was just gone. Two blurs of white circled in the air where the hill had once been, and one of them was firing beams of golden light at the other.

“I think Celestia just got back,” Spirit said.

Autumn let out a sigh of relief. “And I’m sensing Twilight and your grandparents approaching us.”

All three arrived just seconds later.

“Spirit, what’s going on?” Fire Claws asked, skidding to a halt next to him.

“We need more fighters on the north side. Bring up three teams to the west where there aren’t a lot of enemies and push as one group!” He turned to his grandmother. “The Alliance’s plan seems to hinge on attacking from the cover of the Sky Base to keep the center of our army scattered and off balance. We need to retake it ASAP so our forces to the east and west can fall back and rally.” He pulled Twilight into a tight hug. “And where the hay have you been? I was scared spitless that the Alliance had ambushed you somehow.”

“What?” Twilight pushed him back a bit. “I sent you a letter saying that we were okay.”

“We never received a letter,” Autumn said, her eyes narrowed in concentration. “It seems only thunder wyverns, the yellow ones, are immune to electricity. Yellow, light green, and dark green, the main colors for this group, are all vulnerable to fire.”

“We can worry about lost letters later,” Fire Claws said. “What’s going on up in the Sky Base?”

Spirit nodded. “You’re right, we have more important things going on. For now, we’re bottlenecking the attacking dragons at the entrances to the base, but several hundred made it inside before we could get enough forces up there to stop them. There are pegasi companies inside that just returned from an all-night patrol. They’re getting slaughtered, and we don’t have the forces to do anything about it. Even our medics are up there fighting.” “Lightning Bolt, keep your backs to the wall! Help is on the way. Wind Whistler, get your team over there!”

Spirit almost sagged in relief as he felt Fire Claws extending a link to him. He gladly accepted it and linked her to the rest of the Platoon’s command chain as well. “Alright, Grandma, tell us what you need us to do.”

“I need you to tell me what our highest priorities are,” Fire Claws answered. “Just tell me what you need the Everfree Platoon to do, and I’ll make sure the best teams for the job are put to work on it.”

So much for being relieved of duty.

“The bottleneck would be more useful if we didn’t have to worry about enemies on both sides of it,” Autumn said immediately. “If we can somehow clear out the inside of the Sky Base, it will give us a more defensible position for a counterattack.”

Fire Claws turned to Spirit. “Who still needs Cloudwalking cast on them?”

Spirit looked. Only the unicorns that could use the spell and their teammates were still on the ground. They were standing nearby, waiting for orders. “I think we’re the only four left.”

The older dragoness nodded. “Noteworthy, Lucky, Steel Claw, where are you?”

“We’re on the ground.” Noteworthy waved sheepishly from his spot next to Minuette.

“Far east, next to Fire Eyes’ team.”

“Northeast, and we need backup!”

“All of you,” Claws said to the four teams on the ground, “you’re going to lead the base assault from the southwest. Torch and I will take the southeast. Spirit, Twilight, and Autumn, stay here and don’t engage unless absolutely necessary.” She pointed at Spirit and Autumn. “You two, just keep doing what you’ve been doing.” She turned to Twilight. “Keep them safe no matter what. The Everfree Platoon will fall apart without its command structure.”

Twilight nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

As they spoke, Fire Claws was also busy issuing orders, “Lucky, head into the nearest entrance and start clearing out any Alliance forces inside the base. Steel Claw, retreat into the base, if possible, and focus on holding the door until backup arrives. Scenic Trail, Sky Painter, you and the rest of the scout teams are that backup.”

Spirit noticed a wounded blue drake falling toward them. “Whoa, we need to move!”

Claws grabbed him before he could run out of the way. “We’re fine.”

Next to her, Burning Torch created a pyramid-shaped shield around the four of them. Spirit was confused by the shape right up until the drake landed on it, snapping it’s back on the point with a sickening crunch before sliding down one side.

Fire Claws reached out to the drake as her husband’s shield faded. The second her palm made contact, the drake’s blue scales began fading to a lighter tone, almost white, and its entire form grew thin and emaciated. Meanwhile, the few scales that Spirit could see under his grandmother’s armor grew richer and more vibrant.

The dragoness motioned, and some invisible force exploded from her clawtips. Spirit glanced up in time to see it explode and liquefy one drake and nearly a dozen wyverns. At least, ‘liquefy’ was the best word he could think of to describe it. One moment they had been a formation of dragons, the next they were nothing but a reddish smear falling to the ground like some kind of morbid rain.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “What kind of spell was that?”

Fire Claws turned to her. “That was a spell I don’t get to practice much because it requires the death of something that still has at least another century’s worth of life-force.” She held out a hand to the purple alicorn. “Now cast Cloudwalking on Torch and I and teleport us up to that base!” “Get moving, everyone. Oh, and Fire Eyes, tell Rainbow Dash that if she doesn’t get back into the air and start using the Sonic Rainboom again, I will personally kick her tail from here to the Crystal Empire!”

-_-_-_-_-_-

“Rainbow, start using the Rainboom again!” Fire Eyes ordered. “Cliff, be careful. Lucky’s team just got ordered to clear out the inside of the base.”

Above them, swarms of wyrms and light green wind wyverns maintained an almost continuous stream of attacks, either with magic or some type of concussive blast of air. The drakes were the worst, though. Once it became clear that their fire had no effect, they had started dive-bombing the platform, leaving it spotted with massive holes.

A roaring white drake flapped backwards in fear as Fluttershy’s Stare hit it.

Cliff jumped off the platform and slashed at its throat. Unfortunately for him, a thrust of telekinetic power knocked him away before he could connect.

The green wyrm responsible for the Telekinesis jumped off of the drake’s back, slashing at Cliff with a lower tier version of Ghost Claws.

Unfortunately for her, Fire Eyes released a spell that generated a small but powerful explosion right in her face. The dragoness was knocked senseless and fell off the platform without a sound.

Going invisible, Cliff changed the shape of his energy blades to be perfectly straight and shot back at the drake, stabbing it twice in the throat.

The familiar sound of a Sonic Rainboom rocked the area as Cliff jumped away, and Fire Eyes concentrated her willpower into a thin beam of energy that she shot out of her mouth.

It was a testament to her skill that the beam hit one of the wounds from Cliff’s attack, punching deep enough that vast amounts of blood began to pour out of the drake’s neck. She had managed to hit its jugular.

Coming back down, Cliff returned his energy blades to their sickle shape and charged at a group of thunder wyverns that had unwisely tried to pierce Blueblood’s shield. Fluttershy’s Stare locked them all in place, making them easy targets for a combination of blade and fire.

Instincts honed by years of training kicked in, and Cliff jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding another drake as it crashed through the platform behind him.

Fire Eyes sent a bolt of lightning after it, probably hoping to stun it long enough that it would crash, as Fluttershy used the Stare on yet another drake that had gotten too close, Cliff went invisible and slashed through a venom wyvern before it could spit more of that poisonous gas, the blast of another Sonic Rainboom shook the area, and Blueblood curled into a ball and whimpered.

Over the edge of the platform, a group of venom wyverns that were covered in glowing runes spat a massive cloud of poison right in front of a golden drake, who was similarly decorated. Cliff had no idea what they were planning, until the drake flapped and blew the entire cloud into them.

The problem with shield spells was that making them airtight was generally a bad idea. It took a lot more energy than a traditional shield weave, wasn’t any stronger, and tended to make those inside the shield die of suffocation.

Fire Eyes was closest to eastern edge of the shield when the gas hit. She started coughing almost immediately. “Fluttershy, clear the air!”

Fluttershy turned and began flapping her wings. They weren’t nearly as large as the drake’s, of course, but her natural pegasus magic, augmented by the batteries in her suit, was enough to blow away the toxic gas in the shield.

Cliff ducked inside the shield and started enchanting another gemstone to deal with that drake.

As soon as she finished healing herself, Fire Eyes joined him.

The gem, a sapphire, broke the sound barrier several times over as it shot out of Cliff’s hand, boring deep into the golden scales on the drake’s chest before exploding. The runes must have protected him, because he managed to stay in the air. At least most of the drake’s chest scales were blasted off, revealing a wide area of blood-streaked skin.

Before Fire Eyes could follow up, though, a purple wyrm slid down the drake’s neck, magically holding herself in front of the drake’s wounded chest. She even threw an attack spell of some kind, which hit Blueblood’s shield with all the force of a small pebble.

In spite of that, Cliff felt his legs go weak as he recognized the wyrm. Heart Echo. To his left, Fluttershy shrank back and covered her eyes. To his right, Fire Eyes stood motionless.

Why are we even doing this? Cliff looked down at the blood splattered across his chest.

“What happened to you guys?” Rainbow demanded through the link. “All of you just got super depressed.”

Another drake smashed through the platform, leaving the piece of cloud that they were standing on completely separate from the rest of the Sky Base.

“Emotion manipulation,” Cliff realized. He should have seen it immediately. Fluttershy had practiced the nicer variants of the Stare on him often enough that he could usually recognize when something was affecting his emotions. “Don’t let her control you, everyone!” he sent, along with a surge of determination, anger, and courage.

Fire Eyes quickly sent another wave of similar emotions.

Wyrm spell-casting required precise control over emotions, giving both Cliff and Fire Eyes a lifetime of practice in fighting off the effects of Heart’s spell. Fluttershy and Blueblood had no such advantage. In fact, they were barely conscious.

A blue drake flew into their shield from above. Freed from the rest of the base, their chunk of cloud sank easily with the impact, sending all four of the shield’s occupants hurtling toward the ground.

Cliff grabbed Fluttershy, Fire Eyes grabbed Blueblood, and they both jumped back up to the Sky Base before it got too far away. Thankfully, Blueblood’s shield had been set to keep him at its center, so it traveled with them. That was where their good luck stopped, though. The platform was swarming with dragons.

“Fluttershy, snap out of it!” Cliff whispered urgently to the shivering mare in his arms. “We need you. I need you.”

Fire Eyes looked down at the nearly comatose Prince Blueblood that she was holding. “Whatever, his shield’s still up.” She dropped him before turning and launching a ray of pink energy at Heart Echo, who threw out a shield to defend herself.

The ray cut through Heart’s shield and even pierced through her forearm before digging into the scales on her chest.

Gritting her teeth, Heart fired her emotion-based spell again. This time, it was at Blueblood specifically.

The white unicorn screamed in terror and passed out, dropping the shield that had kept the rest of them safe.

A blue drake crashed down on Fire Eyes, dragging her out of sight, as a group of light-green wyverns spat more of those blasts of air at Cliff, Fluttershy and Blueblood.

“Rainbow, Eyes needs you!” Cliff threw out a shield of his own over the three of them and launched another gem at one of their attackers. Shield magic had never been his specialty, however, and the poisonous gas still in the air was making it hard to concentrate.

Maybe it was the fact that they were in trouble, but Fluttershy suddenly regained control of herself. She sent out a burst of wind, clearing the air around the three of them, and directed a powerful Stare at the wind wyverns.

They fell motionless through the platform around her.

Rainbow Dash arrived just then, shooting after the blue drake and Fire Eyes at mach speeds. She returned to the platform a moment later, Fire Eyes held firmly in her hooves.

Eyes was gasping in pain and holding her ribs, but she managed to activate a healing spell for herself as Rainbow set her down next to the others. “Claws says they’ve rallied the pegasi inside and cleared out the wyverns that made it in.”

Most of the venom wyverns dove to catch their falling allies, but two remained next to the golden drake, continuing to spit out venom clouds for him to send toward Cliff and the others. Meanwhile, one of the thunder wyverns dove at Rainbow Dash, who was just crouching to take off again.

Cliff intercepted him midair, impaling him twice with his energy blades, and knocking them both away from the blue pegasus, who sent out a gust of wind to disperse more of the poisonous gas that was building up.

“Thunderfang!” one of the venom wyverns shouted.

“They’re starting to retreat along the northern side of the base.” Even though she was still lying down and gasping for air, Fire Eyes sent a bolt of lightning toward the wyvern that had just shouted.

The wyvern screamed in pain, but was able to keep flying. She even spat another cloud of venom, though the group was turning to retreat with their other allies.

Heart climbed onto the golden drake’s back, clutching her wounded arm to her chest, and released another of her strange attack spells.

Cliff quickly generated as many positive emotions as he could, hoping it would help.

What he wasn’t expecting, however, was the burning, almost uncontrollable emotion that appeared in his heart.

Protectiveness.

Fluttershy was his wife. How dare he put her in danger by pursuing this fight for even one more second? What about the others? He needed to keep them all safe! He needed to get them as far away from this battlefield as he possibly could!

Fluttershy grabbed onto one of Cliff’s arms, pulling him away from the Alliance’s fighters, as Rainbow Dash gathered Eyes and Blueblood.

They were almost to the doors of the Sky Base when something changed, and everyone paused, looking around in confusion.

“Is everyone okay?” Rainbow asked. “What was that?”

“I’ll explain later,” Fire Eyes replied, holding her sides and gasping. “Rainbow, hit them with a Sonic Rainboom before they get out of range.”

Rainbow stared at her incredulously. “What? They’re retreating. We already won.”

“We don’t need to fight anymore,” Fluttershy added.

“Do it,” Fire Eyes ordered. “Every enemy we kill today is one that can’t kill more Equestrians tomorrow.”

“That was Cliff’s cousin.” Rainbow waved a hoof at the retreating dragons. “I know she’s on the other side, but I’m not going to just murder her like that!”

Cliff didn’t want her dead either. Unfortunately, Fire Eyes was right. “Her emotion manipulation spell is too dangerous,” he said. “It’s on par with the Stare. She’ll kill dozens of soldiers with it, maybe even hundreds, if we don’t stop her now.”

Rainbow looked from him to Fire Eyes to the retreating dragons, fluttering her wings uncertainly.

“You have to do it!” Cliff insisted.

“No, she doesn’t!” Fluttershy yelled.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Fluttershy couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She didn’t want to believe it. Her husband, the dragon who had always been so kind and loving, was shouting at Rainbow to kill his own cousin!

Cliff turned to face her, and Fluttershy really saw him for the first time since the battle had started. Blood was splattered all across his armor, some of it fresh enough to still be dripping off of him.

She remembered how that venom wyvern had screamed a name as Cliff killed the thunder wyvern. Thunderfang. Had she been his friend? Mate? Sibling?

The blood dripping off of his armor was making her stomach churn. Fluttershy looked down and saw flecks of blood across her hooves and chest as well.

Time seemed to stop.

That’s right, Fluttershy realized, I killed a lot of dragons today too, maybe even more than Cliff. He, Rainbow Dash, or Fire Eyes had always been the one to deliver the final blow, but she had paralyzed countless dragons for them with the Stare. That made her at least as much of a killer as the others.

She thought back to how the Crusaders had all hugged them tight and begged for them to come back alive.

How many children or parents would never see their loved ones again because of her?

“Fluttershy?” Cliff asked, his voice heavy with concern. She could feel it too, coming through the link. He knelt in front of her.

No, don’t look at me with those warm green eyes! She wanted to run away and hide somewhere that no one would ever find her.

The blood still covered him. It was all over both of them.

She felt the bile rising in her throat as she began to tremble.

“Fluttershy!” He reached out to her with a blood-covered hand. She tried to pull back, but he grabbed her shoulder with it anyway.

Don’t be so kind to me, her mind silently begged. He had murdered dozens of dragons. She remembered him horribly burning a group of wyverns before slicing them to pieces. He can’t be the same Cliff Runner that stayed up and held me all night that time I had a terrible nightmare. She remembered him throwing an enchanted gemstone into a drake’s mouth so it would blow up and kill it from the inside. He can’t be the same husband who kissed me so tenderly every time we were intimate. Tears began to pour down her cheeks. He can’t be that same dragon … and if he is, a sob escaped her, he couldn’t possibly love a killer like me!

“Fluttershy, speak to me!” Cliff whispered urgently.

Cliff can’t be a killer, but he is. Uncontrollable sobs rocked her. Cliff can’t love me and yell at Rainbow Dash to kill one of his own family members, but he did. The world was spinning around Fluttershy. I can’t be a killer, but I am.

She looked away from Cliff and saw the lifeless eyes of that wyvern, Thunderfang.

It felt like darkness was rushing toward her from every direction. Please, Celestia, this all has to be a dream!

As the residual magic in the wyvern’s body faded, it gently slipped through the cloud and was gone.

Fluttershy was hit by the sickening realization that only the thunder and venom wyverns that she had paralyzed with the Stare had been finished off by Cliff and the others. Most of the others had fallen to their deaths.

No one else could share the blame for that.

Their deaths were entirely her fault.

That thought snapped any vestiges of control that she still had. Fluttershy turned and was noisily sick before letting the darkness take her.

Author's Note

There isn't much that can be said. Fluttershy is capable of incredible destruction on the battlefield, and she'd do anything to protect her friends and family, but can you imagine what it would do to her, knowing that she killed intelligent creatures?

Chapter 16

Talon’s chest burned as she flew, which was expected. Acid had to be used to add to a rank scar, otherwise scales would just grow over it. She spared a glance at the two quarter circles on each side of the large ‘X’ that made up the center of her scar. It was the scar of a senior wing.

Most wyverns took years to go from junior wing, to wing, to senior wing, but Talon wasn’t dumb enough to think it was because she was some sort of prodigy.

She touched down on one the many crystalline streets that lined the Crystal Empire.

Tornado landed beside her in his thinking form.

“Hello, squad leader,” Wandering Sky said, bowing slightly. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”

That right there was the real reason for her promotion. Squad Five of the Thirty-sixth Cluster had needed a leader after Thunderfang’s death, and a wyvern needed to be familiar with the squad and be at least a senior wing to fill that role. None of the available wyverns had met that criteria, and so the Hurricanes had just promoted her and called it a day.

“Where’s Heart?” Talon asked. “I asked her to be in charge of evacuation duty.”

“She was called back to the Ice Spire Cave for some sort of emergency with Gemstone,” the wind wyvern replied.

“Has he been injured?” Tornado asked quickly, which was enough to draw Talon’s attention. He had been quiet and withdrawn ever since the battle.

Sky spread his wings and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I’m sure Gem’s fine,” Talon said, patting Tornado’s shoulder before shifting her attention to Sky. “So anyway, what’s the problem? I was talking with Crystal about some new strategies for the venom team.” She had been letting Crystal cry on her shoulder about Thunderfang’s death.

“A couple of thunders are arguing with a stubborn local.” Sky nodded toward a house behind him. Shouting could be heard from inside. “I ordered them to ignore that pony for now, but they won’t listen to me because I'm not their team leader.”

Talon sighed. “Of course.” Only two of Squad Five’s thunder wyverns had survived the battle, requiring them to pull in new ones from a different squad that been disbanded after getting almost completely wiped out. The newcomers had been causing problems ever since. “Tornado, stay here.”

She walked up to the indicated house, ducking down just a bit to fit through the front door, and found two thunder wyverns, Lightning Flash and Storm Front, yelling at an elderly gray pony with white hair, who was sitting in a chair with its hooves crossed over its chest.

“I don’t think you understand,” Lightning shouted. “You’ve been conquered. You have to leave!”

The pony shook its head. “I’ve lived here for fifty years. I’m not moving!”

Talon took a deep breath. “Lightning, Storm!”

The two thunder wyverns stopped and turned to face her.

“What do you two think you’re doing here?” she demanded.

“Sir, this pony refuses to leave,” Storm Front said.

Talon had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. “I noticed.”

Lightning Flash glared at her. “We could have finished this block already if you hadn’t ordered us not to harm anyone.”

Talon glared right back. “Is it your job to question orders or to obey them?”

“Obey,” he said grudgingly.

“Then get out and let me deal with this.” Talon motioned toward the doorway. “And just so you know, those orders came from Silver Tail himself.” She waited until the two had gone before turning her attention to the pony, who was watching her silently. “I’m sorry about that …”

“Inkwell,” it answered her unspoken question.

“Inkwell,” Talon repeated. “I know this is kind of a strange concept, but we’re trying to be polite conquerors. No civilian deaths, and you all get supplies and an escort back to your capital city. Isn’t that better than the usual looting, killing, and slavery that you’d get out of an invading army?”

“I built this house with my own hooves,” Inkwell said. “I raised my children here. My dear Zirca died in the bedroom upstairs. I’ve been through crystal drake attacks, King Sombra’s rule, getting shot forward in time a thousand years, and losing the Crystal Heart twice, all in this house.” The pony looked deep into Talon’s eyes. “I’m not leaving. If you have to kill me, then just kill me.”

“I’ve had enough killing to last a lifetime,” Talon said. Capturing the Crystal Empire had been almost bloodless from her point of view, but that more recent battle … five dragons that she had known for years, dead. “I also know what it’s like to leave the only home you’ve ever known.” She knelt next to the old pony and put a wing on its shoulder. “No one should have to go through that, but think about your friends and children. They’ll need you now more than ever, so no, I won’t kill you, but I don’t have the authority to let you stay here either.”

“Dragons like crystals, don’t they?”

The question caught Talon off guard. “Huh?”

Inkwell leaned over to the bowl at the base of its chair and picked up one of the orange fruits in it. Starting where the fruit touched the pony’s hoof, it began to change, shifting and taking on a more angular look. It even became partially see-through. Inkwell held it out to Talon. “Let me know how that tastes.”

She took the crystalline fruit tentatively, cupping it in the membrane between the second and third digit on her wing. “How did you do that?”

Inkwell smiled sadly. “All crystal ponies can crystallize things. It’s the reason dragons have been attacking the Empire since it was founded. How do you think I built this house?” It gestured at the structure around them. “I wouldn’t recommend eating it, though. I mostly used dirt and old chunks of wood.”

Talon studied the solid blue walls. They certainly didn’t look like dirt or wood. “Didn’t that take you a long time?”

“About a week,” Inkwell replied. “Whether it’s to build our new dictator a giant palace or give dragons all the food they can eat, our crystallization magic makes us the ideal slaves.” The pony sighed. “The Crystal Peasant will free us this time too.”

“I don’t know who that is, but only rogue drakes keep slaves.” Talon looked at the crystallized fruit more closely. “If crystal ponies are willing to help produce food, though, Heart might be able to talk the Hurricanes into letting you stay as citizens.”

“Really?” Hope lit up the old pony’s face.

“No promises, but I’ll talk to her.” Talon brought the fruit closer and sniffed it. The aroma was mouth watering, like a combination of topaz and citrus. Venom wyverns were also immune to poisons, in case Inkwell was trying anything. “First let’s see how edible this thing is.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

“How did it go?” Tornado asked a few minutes later when Talon stepped back outside.

Talon looked sheepishly down at the basket of crystallized fruit she was carrying. “I, uh, decided to keep Inkwell around as a personal consultant.”

“We can learn something of value from that pony?” Tornado asked.

“Sort of.” Talon cleared her throat. “Equestria might be less willing to attack us we accept ponies as equal citizens.”

Tornado nodded. “A good clan lord should always think of the welfare of his followers.”

Storm leaned over to Lightning and whispered something that probably wasn’t flattering.

Talon ignored those two. “Anyway, Wandering Sky, you’re the leader of the wind team for this squad. I don’t care if they’re winds or not. You outrank these two, and if either of them tries to ignore your orders from now on, you have my permission to hurt them until they change their mind.”

Sky grinned. “Yes, sir.”

Both Storm and Lightning looked more than a bit nervous, and with good reason. Sky wasn’t known for holding back when it came to punishments.

Talon placed the basket on the ground and gripped it with one foot. “Come on, Tornado.” She spread her wings and pushed off with her other leg.

Tornado pulled up alongside her. “How can you trust dishonorable allies such as those two? It would not surprise me if they enjoyed the bloodshed of battle.”

“Some wyverns do,” Talon said softly. “It’s probably the only way they can survive decade after decade of war.” She shivered at the thought that one day she might be counted among those wyverns. “I’m surprised that you’re fine with letting that pony stay.”

“It is the duty of the strong to help the weak, and the duty of the weak to follow the strong.” From the way Tornado said it, Talon got the feeling that it was a common phrase.

They passed over the last of the pony houses and into a large ring of flat ground that separated the rest of the Empire from the Crystal Palace and its surrounding neighborhoods. The drakes had been crushing pony houses to create it, which gave them crystals to take back to the Ice Spire Caves as well as a defensive break in the houses so that groups of ponies couldn’t sneak up on them.

“So because she, or he …” Talon realized that she had never asked Inkwell what its gender was, and she wasn’t familiar enough with ponies to be able to tell. “Anyway, because she,” it was as good a guess as any, “accepted our leadership, she deserves our help?”

Tornado nodded.

“Well, let’s hope the Hurricanes let her stay, otherwise I’m going to look very bad.” Talon and Tornado passed through a large anti-magic bubble, making them both fall for a second before their flight magic reasserted itself.

They landed on one of the houses near the Crystal Palace, and Talon’s eyes drifted to the statue at the Palace’s base. Oddly, it was of a baby wyrm holding out the Crystal Heart, as though offering it to somedragon. Talon could only guess that this was a tribute to the wyrm that Celestia adopted.

“Everfree Village proves that dragons and ponies can live together in peace when the ponies are in charge,” Talon said. “If they can accept having dragons in charge for a change, then maybe there won’t be any need to keep fighting.”

Tornado followed her gaze. “Let us hope so. The warriors from Everfree Village would make far better allies than foes.”

Talon silently transferred the basket of oranges to her mouth. Because of Everfree, Thunderfang was dead, as were all but two of the thunder team, and Heart, Tornado, and herself had barely escaped with their lives. To cap it off, Everfree had vanished along with the rest of the reserve army, presumably joining up with the Crystal Garrison so that they could plan a counterattack.

Talon and Tornado jumped off the house, flapping a little to soften their landing, and then made their way to the front door.

Inside, most everything was the same as when the old residents had been driven out. Cloud Breaker was reading a pony book on a couch in the front room. He bowed respectfully from his seat when they walked in.

Talon nodded back as she put the basket of crystallized oranges down. “Hey, Cloud. Where’s Crystal?”

He gestured upstairs.

“Thanks.” Talon took a deep breath. If Crystal was still upstairs, then she hadn’t stopped crying. “Tornado, could you wait here until we come back?”

“Of course.”

Climbing the stairs, Talon came to the pony equivalent of a nest chamber. At least, that’s what it had been before they improved it. All the furniture in here had been tossed out and replaced with a large ring of blankets and pillows. Just because they were living in a pony city didn’t mean that the Squad couldn’t sleep like civilized creatures.

Crystal herself was curled up in the far corner, with her wings covering her face like she was asleep.

Talon wasn’t fooled. “Crystal,” she whispered, stepping toward her oldest friend. “It’s okay, you know you can cry as much as you want to with me.”

The other dragoness slowly folded her wings back to reveal a tear-streaked face.

Talon didn’t have to say anything. They both knew that Crystal had had a crush on Thunderfang. Instead, Talon reached under the blanket and pulled out her flight pack. She undid the clasp and lifted out a plush thunder wyvern with her thumb. “Remember the night before the left the Aerie, when you flew by my old house to get Refy for me?”

Crystal smiled faintly and nodded.

“I think he’s the only reason I’ve been able to handle the massive ball of crazy that used to be our lives. Whenever things start getting to the point that I can’t handle them anymore, I just hug him for a few minutes, and everything seems a little better.” She held out the plush form to her friend. “Here. Maybe it will help you too.”

Crystal accepted Refy, and slowly sat up so that she could press him to her chest.

Talon wrapped her much larger wings around her friend’s shoulders, shielding both her and Refy from the outside world.

If she was being completely honest with herself, Talon had had a slight crush on Thunderfang as well, or maybe she just respected his position. It was hard to tell at this point, not that it really mattered. Either way, something had made her call out when he was killed by that one armored wyrm with the energy blades.

She shuddered slightly thinking back to that battle. Equestria claimed to be an empire founded on the principles of love and friendship, but Silver Tail had given them every possible reason to leave in peace, and they had chosen war regardless. Talon had no doubt that they would slaughter every dragon in the Alliance if they got the chance. The trick, then, was to make sure they never got that chance.

Author's Note

Culture Tidbit: New wyvern commanders usually crack down hard on their underlings to establish themselves as a strong leader. Talon has actually been a lot more gentile with her underlings than a normal commander, which is why the newcomers are so disrespectful to her. In wyvern culture, she's basically saying that she's a weak leader and will let her underlings do whatever they want.

Chapter 17

The temporary meeting room for the Equestrian military wasn’t especially large or impressive. It was just a roughly rectangular natural cavern that had been carved in some places to be more even, with a crystalline table sitting in the middle, surrounded by chairs.

And yet, it was obvious that Cliff had no business being here.

Celestia and Luna sat at the head of the table, with Shining Armor and Cadance sharing a love seat opposite them. Both Cadance and Luna were still weak after overloading their magic fields when the Crystal Empire fell, but at least they were up and active again.

Sitting opposite Cliff were several imposing figures. Spitfire, the leader of the Wonderbolts; Jadeite, the leader of the Earth Shakers; and Trixie, who spoke for the Solar Unicorns.

Well, not all of them were imposing. Blueblood sat next to Trixie, looking extremely pleased with himself, while Trixie shot dark glares at him whenever he wasn’t looking. Cliff was here because that idiot had insisted that all Equestrian royals should be in attendance. Just one more reason to dislike him.

Cliff himself was opposite Blueblood, near Princess Luna, with Spirit, Autumn, and Fire Claws sitting on his left, and Twilight on his right. Almost everyone had dark circles under their eyes, including Cliff. Sleep didn’t come easily these days.

“Three times,” Luna said, drawing all eyes to her. “Three times Equestria and the Dragon Alliance have come into contact, and three times the result has been bloodshed. Celestia and I originally hoped to end this war peacefully, but we have discussed the matter and come to the conclusion that further efforts toward peace will only endanger the ponies of the Crystal Empire.”

Celestia nodded slowly. “For now at least, we must consider this to be an actual war. We will resume our attempts at peace if and only if the Dragon Alliance shows that it would be willing to negotiate with us.”

“At least we can take solace in the fact that they have been surprisingly gentle with the citizens of the Crystal Empire,” Luna said. “Unfortunately, they continue to gather them so that they can be evacuated to Canterlot.” She leaned over her notes, wincing slightly from the motion. “Shining Armor, I believe you had the most recent report from our captives?”

Shining Armor nodded and rose. “Yes, all one hundred and nine dragons that the reserve army was able to capture remain under our control, thanks to our anti-magic holding cells …”

Something, something, the prisoners were fine. Cliff couldn’t bring himself to care about all the stupid details that were getting tossed around. Another report about wyvern anatomy from their biologists? Wonderful, because apparently everyone needed to know the chemical composition of their tail venom. Cliff had more practical advice: don’t let wyverns inject you with their tail venom. Venom wyvern gas paralyzed soft tissues? Thanks, he figured that out when he inhaled a bunch of the stuff. Wyvern scales could be pierced by armor-piercing arrowheads? Well … okay, that one was actually good to know.

Then Trixie got up to talk. Apparently she was a graduate from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns that had caused some problems a few years back but had since been working as an honest showmare and part-time police consultant. All that, Cliff could respect. What grated on him was how much she seemed to crave attention.

“Using the incredible illusions that Trixie taught them, my fellow Solar Unicorns and I have …”

Yeah, yeah, brave death by sneaking into the Empire. Never mind that the Alliance was going out of its way to avoid killing anypony. No luck finding the Crystal Heart. Was it really news when nothing had changed? At least everyone seemed confident that the Crystal Heart could stand up to any punishment that the Dragon Alliance could deal out.

His grandmother spoke next. Maybe it was blatant favoritism, but Cliff actually paid attention to her.

“Everfree is still producing as many suits of armor as we can, but don’t expect the Equestrian Army to be fully outfitted any time soon. At most, they can finish six or seven suits a day, and we’ll need to go get them somehow. You’ll also need to tell me which groups we want to outfit and in what order, so we know which variants of the suits to build. Also, I’m putting Spirit Shield and Autumn Gem in charge of tactics and operations for the Everfree Platoon from now on.” Then Fire Claws sat down amid a round of confused mutters.

Short and sweet. There was a reason Cliff always got along well with his grandma.

“Silence, please,” Luna said, cutting through the chatter. “Fire Claws, would you so kind as to tell us the reason for this decision?”

“They’re better at that sort of thing than I am,” the dragoness replied without bothering to rise.

“Neither of them have the experience necessary,” Heroic objected. “To say nothing of the responsibility of leading troops.” She shook her head angrily. “Do you really think they can handle that kind of pressure?”

“They’re right over there.” Fire Claw gestured at Spirit and Autumn. “Ask them yourself.”

“Fine.” Heroic turned to the pair. “When was the last time either of you had to explain to a family that, because of your mistake, one of their loved ones would never be coming home?”

“… Never,” Spirit admitted.

Autumn closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. “One thousand and seven years, eleven months, and fourteen days ago. New Year’s Day, to be precise.”

The entire room went silent. Even Cliff found himself paying attention.

“Princess Cadance,” Autumn continued, “I’m sure you’ve heard your citizens talk about the Crystal Peasant.”

Cadance’s eyes widened. “That was you?”

Autumn nodded and sat up more straight. “I trust that my qualifications are no longer in question?”

“Wait, who was the Crystal Peasant?” Heroic asked.

Cliff was wondering that himself.

It was Spirit that answered. “A legendary outlaw.” He looked at Autumn like he’d never seen her before. “No pony knew anything about her, but she ran a rebellion against King Sombra the whole time he was in power, without ever getting caught.”

Autumn nodded uncomfortably. “If I may be so selfish, please do not tell anyone else of this. The legend of the Crystal Peasant is far more inspiring when it could have been anypony.”

The others in the room slowly nodded.

“Anyway,” Fire Claws said, “qualifications aside, this matter is wholly in the jurisdiction of Everfree Village. I only brought it up so you wouldn’t be surprised when these two start showing up at meetings instead of me.” She glanced at Cliff. “Also, a number of Everfree’s fighters are suffering from severe psychological trauma in the aftermath of our first battle. Once the Heart has been found and the Crystal Empire returned to our control, Everfree Village humbly requests that either Princess Celestia or Princess Luna aid us in returning these citizens to Everfree, where they can recover in peace.”

Luna nodded solemnly. “Your request is entirely reasonable, and many of Equestria’s soldiers have been deemed unfit for duty as well. All of them shall be returned to their homes as soon as we control the Crystal Empire once more.”

And suddenly Cliff felt a burning need to find the Crystal Heart. He picked up a notepad and promptly stopped paying any attention to anyone. Trixie and the Solar Unicorns hadn’t found the Heart in the Empire, so maybe it was time to start looking beyond the Crystal Empire …

Eventually a hand came down on his shoulder. “Cliff, it’s time to go.”

Cliff looked up at his grandmother. Everyone else in the room was standing up, like the meeting had just gotten out. “Sorry, I was just brainstorming places to look for the Crystal Heart.”

She hesitated for a moment. “You should remember that I can only send home villagers that are unable to fight. Fluttershy is off of active duty, but you aren’t.”

“I know,” Cliff said quietly. “It doesn’t matter.” He stood up and slipped past her.

Blueblood and Trixie were arguing in the doorway, blocking anyone from leaving. Of course.

“Where were you when the Crystal Empire fell?” Trixie asked. “Because Trixie was on the field, putting her life on the line to protect it.”

“And a wonderfully poor job you did of it too.” Blueblood smirked. “I’ll have you know, I was training with the most elite team of fighters in Everfree Village, and we were the heroes of our most recent battle.”

“You spent most of that battle curled in a ball, whimpering like a frightened puppy,” Cliff said flatly. He was so not in the mood to put up with Blueblood’s crap today. Now that they had the attention of both unicorns, Cliff said, “Will you two move?”

Trixie gave Blueblood a triumphant smile. “Of course.” She stepped back to allow them through.

Autumn leaned over to Blueblood and whispered, “A word of advice, your companions would be more willing to acknowledge your accomplishments if you weren’t constantly doing it on your own.”

Cliff, Spirit, and Autumn walked past Trixie and started down the hallway beyond.

“How’s Fluttershy doing?” Spirit asked.

“No change,” Cliff answered softly.

Autumn rubbed against his side gently as they walked. “We’re both sorry.”

Cliff didn’t really want to talk about it. “I never knew that you used to lead a rebellion.”

“Yeah, me either,” Spirit said. “Why didn’t you ever mention it before?”

“Very well, we can change the subject.” Autumn gave him a sad smile. “The rebellion I started was actually rather small and short lived. The only noteworthy thing we accomplished was creating the persona of the Crystal Peasant, a normal pony who stood up to King Sombra with nothing but wit, skill, and courage. Once word of her began to spread, other ponies began to take up the mantle. Any act of defiance against Sombra was accredited to her, and so, even if one insurgent was captured, the acts of rebellion, and the legend of the Crystal Peasant, only continued to grow.”

Spirit whistled. “You made up your own superhero and let her legend inspire the rest of the Empire to fight against Sombra’s rule. That’s brilliant.” He paused. “Oh, but the legend only worked if she had no real identity.”

Autumn nodded. “Otherwise she could be captured, killed, or defeated. The Crystal Peasant was never actually me. Of necessity, she was simply an idea. I only brought her up so that Heroic would stop questioning us.”

“Thanks for that, by the way,” Spirit said, “and I guess I can see why you didn’t bring the Crystal Peasant up before.”

They reached the main cavern. Well, one of the main caverns. With over ten miles of tunnels, there were quite a few of them. This particular one was beneath the outer edge of the Crystal Empire and where about half the army had set up camp.

Thousands of ponies filled the cavern. Some were busy caring for armor or weapons, but the majority of them simply relaxed or wandered aimlessly around. The numerous makeshift kitchens were busy as always, just like the blacksmiths and the tailors.

“Shining Armor wants to go over some plans for locating the Crystal Heart,” Spirit said, nodding toward the tunnel that would take them to Shining’s quarters. “We’ll come say hi to Flutters once we’re done, though.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate it,” Cliff said, turning at a walkway between one of the kitchens and a long line of sleeping bags, which led to another tunnel at the far side of the cavern. “I’ll see you then.”

The tunnels between large caverns weren’t as well lit as the caverns themselves, but it was still more than sufficient for Cliff’s eyes. He followed the stone path in silence, broken only by the occasional drop of water, and echoes of noise from the cavern he was leaving behind.

After a couple of minutes, he emerged into a slightly smaller cavern, though this one was completely silent. Rather than ponies, row upon row of fresh graves covered the cave floor.

Cliff didn’t know why the burial cavern was in between the two occupied ones, and he didn’t care. He continued down the path, looking at the graves with a faint sense of resignation. He knew he was going to die eventually, but seeing this made it seem more real, somehow. It wasn’t even that he was particularly afraid of death. He just didn’t want to be separated from his loved ones while he waited for them to join him in the afterlife.

That, and dying would probably hurt a lot.

Thinking about separation brought his mind back to Fluttershy. She had to go home. He couldn’t risk letting her get caught up in another battle.

Eventually he reached the third cavern. Like the first one, it was filled with ponies, supplies, and equipment. A number of wyrms were visible as well, most of them wearing their armor.

He took a tunnel on his right, which curved away from the main cavern for a few hundred feet before ending in a door. On the other side was Fluttershy and Rainbow’s room—not Cliff’s.

A bag containing Cliff’s armor sat in a small alcove near the door, which was the only sign that he had been living in this tunnel for the last few days.

Cliff knocked on the stone door. “Fluttershy, I’m back.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Fluttershy jumped at the sudden noise. “Ah!”

“I’m sorry,” Cliff quickly added from the other side of the door.

Fluttershy pressed a hoof against her chest in an attempt to calm her racing heart. “No, it’s okay.”

“She’s just a little high strung,” Rainbow added, rubbing her friend’s foreleg soothingly. “Anyway, how did the meeting go?” There wasn’t much in the way of furniture, and so they were both sitting on their travel blankets.

“… It was fine,” Cliff said. “How are you feeling, beautiful?”

Fluttershy sank down onto her blanket once more, her eyes downcast. Cliff was lying. She could hear it in his voice. “I’m doing better,” she said, willing herself to believe it. She hated being so weak that Cliff was afraid to tell her the truth.

Rainbow Dash settled down next to her and wrapped a wing over her shoulders.

“That’s good.” Cliff’s tone said that he wasn’t fooled either.

Silence descended on the trio.

Fluttershy could only stare at the blanket beneath her and hate herself for feeling this way. She wanted more than anything to run into Cliff’s arms and have him tell her that everything would be okay, even if she knew it wasn’t true. She thought about his smile, and saw blood splattered across his face. The grin on his lips turned feral as young dragons cried out in agony for the parents that would never return to them.

A small whimper escaped Fluttershy’s lips as she tried to force the disturbing scene from her mind.

Rainbow tightened her wing around Fluttershy. “It’s okay, Flutters, we’re here for you.”

Fluttershy squeezed her friend’s hoof but couldn’t bring herself to say anything back. Why was she so weak?

“There is some good news,” Cliff said quietly. “After we get the Crystal Heart back, Fire Claws is going to let you return to Everfree Village.”

“Hey, that is good news,” Rainbow said. “Don’t you think, Fluttershy?”

It should have made her happy to hear that, but instead it just made her feel like more of a failure. She really was so useless that they were trying to get rid of her. She tried to be positive and think about seeing her other friends again, but it was hard when she knew that things would never be the same with any of them.

He didn’t mention himself, Fluttershy realized. She swallowed. “You’re coming with me, right?”

Silence.

“… I can’t,” Cliff said eventually.

A weight settled in her stomach. “No, you have to.” Fluttershy shook her head. “We promised, didn’t we? We’ll stay together, no matter what.” Does he not want me anymore? She blinked away a tear.

“I wish I could, Fluttershy,” Cliff almost whispered. “I would give anything to be able to go back with you.”

“Then I’ll stay here instead.” She broke away from Rainbow’s wing and rushing to the door, pressing both forehooves against it. “Please, Cliff, don’t leave me!”

“I would never do that,” Cliff said firmly, “but remember how I told you what happened to me after,” he took a deep breath, “after Steel Spines and Water Drop?”

Fluttershy nodded slowly, even though she knew he couldn’t see her.

Steel Spines and Water Drop had been hatchlings at the Redstone Coven, where Cliff was raised. Both had gone berserk in their youth, transforming into giant versions of themselves and attacking the rest of the coven. Cliff had been among the dragons that killed them to protect everydragon else. He had never really forgiven himself for that.

From what he had told her, it took Cliff months after both incidents before he could be near hatchlings again without experiencing painful flashbacks.

Cliff must have taken Fluttershy’s silence for understanding, because he continued, “I know that being around hatchlings all day would have just made things worse at first. I needed to get away for a bit and let myself recover. That’s all this would be, Fluttershy, a chance for you to recover where you wouldn’t have to see wyrms and ponies in armor every day.”

Fluttershy’s head lowered. Her mind could understand what he was saying, but in her heart, it still felt like he was abandoning her.

“… We still have a few days until we need to make a decision,” Cliff said. “Just, promise me that you’ll think about it?”

“I promise,” she whispered.

Silence reigned for a moment, until Cliff spoke again, “I can take your dishes from breakfast now, unless you haven’t finished yet.”

“Nah, we’re done,” Rainbow said, gathering up the plates and cups with her wings. She moved to the door.

Fluttershy backed away so that it could be opened. As always, she locked gazes with her husband as soon as he came into view, and as always, scenes of death and blood assaulted her. Blood staining her coat. Unseeing eyes that still seemed to glare at her accusingly. Dozens of dragons breaking their promise to return to their friends and family alive, all because of her. She fought down her rising bile and tried to steady her shaking hooves.

“I love you,” he whispered.

She wanted to run to him and bury her face in his scales. She wanted it so badly that it hurt, but it was already becoming difficult to focus through the pain in her head and her growing nausea. “I love you too.”

Before things could get any worse, Cliff took the dishes from Rainbow and closed the door. “I’ll,” he sighed, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

As the sound of his footsteps faded, Rainbow silently went to her friend and wrapped her in a warm hug.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Cliff was nearly back to the main cavern when an all-too-familiar voice reached him. “Cliff, we need to talk.” Normally it was a voice filled with enthusiasm and mirth, like the speaker was on the verge of laughing from some remembered joke. Today, it was soft, sharp, and laced with anger.

Cliff whipped around. “Discord.”

The draconequus stood only a few feet behind Cliff, with his mismatched arms crossed in front of his chest. A rare expression of pure anger adorned his face, but it slowly transformed into an even more frightening smile. It was the kind of look that guaranteed pain, and lots of it. “When Fluttershy told me that she wouldn’t be able to make our monthly hang-out session, I assumed that she would be helping Everfree Village gear up for war, but it never occurred to me that anydragon would be so stupid as to send her into battle!” He was practically roaring by the end.

Instincts kicked in, and Cliff immediately cast Scale Armor, Energy Resistance, and half a dozen other spells to protect himself.

Discord idly snapped the fingers on his eagle hand, and Cliff’s magic vanished. It wasn’t even that he ran out of willpower; the ability to cast or maintain spells was simply gone.

An invisible force wrapped around the young dragon, lifting him into the air so that his muzzle was only inches from Discord’s.

“Now then,” Discord whispered, “I don’t suppose you have anything to say for yourself?”

Cliff tried to struggle, but whatever held him in place wouldn’t budge. He stopped after a moment and let his shoulders slump in defeat. “Just do whatever you have planned, Discord. I probably deserve it.”

“Fine then.” Discord’s lion paw came up and tapped against Cliff’s forehead.

The sensation that came over Cliff then was unlike anything he had experienced before. It was like throwing up, but with his mind rather than his stomach. Thoughts and memories that he had once taken in now came bursting out, leaving an unpleasant tingling in their wake.

“Hmm.” Discord frowned, then returned to his usual smile. “Well, Cliff, today’s your lucky day. I’m letting you off the hook.” A massive fishing hook appeared in his hand. “In fact, I won’t even make you get on it first.”

Cliff was too busy trying not to puke to say anything back. A migraine had also decided to take up residence where most of his sapient thoughts had once been.

“Oh, don’t be like that. Memory reading spells leave everyone a bit dazed.” Discord snapped his fingers, and suddenly Cliff was perfectly fine, the defensive spells he had cast earlier were even active once more. He was also sitting down, they both were, in high backed chairs, each holding a cup of tea and a saucer. A long table, covered in treats, filled the hallway between them, and for some reason, Discord was wearing a large green top hat.

“Now then,” Discord sipped his tea, “you do realize that Fluttershy’s recovery will be much easier if she’s away from this unfortunate war of yours, right?”

It took Cliff a moment to organize his thoughts. Part of him was surprised to be alive, or at least sane. Unless Discord had actually made him insane and he just couldn’t tell. Cliff pushed that thought away as soon as it formed. Worrying about his sanity would get him nowhere when Discord was around.

“If her trauma is like mine, then yes.” Cliff noticed something at the top of his field of vision. Two large black rabbit ears, which he traced with his free hand back to his own forehead. He shook his head, ignoring the way his new ears flopped around, and continued, “She can go back to Everfree as soon as we reclaim the Crystal Empire.”

Discord leaned toward Cliff, resting his elbows on the table. “Are you willing to let her go, even knowing that you might not live to see her again?”

“If you read my memories, then you know that I am.” Cliff looked down at his tea. Thinking about tea was easier than thinking about never seeing Fluttershy again.

It was brown and opaque, unlike any tea he had ever seen before.

He took a sip. Chocolate milk. Why am I surprised?

“In that case, I have a favor to ask of you.” Discord produced a quill and parchment and started writing something. “Will you help me retrieve the Crystal Heart so that we can get Fluttershy out of this forsaken hole in the ground?”

“You know where it is?” Cliff asked quickly.

Discord nodded, still writing.

“Yes, of course I’ll help.” Though he couldn’t imagine why the Lord of Chaos would need his help with anything.

“Excellent.” Discord set the parchment on the table. “This note explains where we’ll be, in case anything comes up. Oh, and I should leave some key lime bars for Fluttershy. You know how much she loves them.” He snapped his lion paw, and a plate of the desserts appeared next to the note.

“Wait, we’re going right-”

Snap.

“-now?”

He was in an area of darkness that seemed to stretch out forever.

Cliff sighed and looked around. Yep, a whole lot of nothing. Even the floor felt like nothing, literally. He could feel the weight of his body pressing down on his feet, but there didn’t seem to be anything beneath them. Cliff glanced down past the hem of his dress to verify it. His feet were floating in the middle of nothing.

…

Wait, dress? Cliff looked down again. He standing upright and wearing a blue dress with a white apron of some kind, and he was alone. “Discord, where are you?”

“Right here, of course,” a disembodied voice said. Discord reappeared, floating in midair. He was purple with pink stripes, and sporting a pair of cat-like whiskers on his upper lip. “I’ll be your guide on this wonderful trip down the rabbit hole.”

Cliff got the feeling that he was missing something, which was pretty standard whenever the draconequus was around. “Fine, whatever. What do you need me to do?”

“What a silly question.” Discord chuckled. “All I need you to do is everything. I can help, but if we’re going to get the Heart back, you have to handle the heavy lifting.”

Incomprehensible as always. Discord had been coming over to spend time with Fluttershy and the Crusaders every month for as long as Cliff had known any of them, but Cliff still couldn’t make sense of most of what Discord said or did. “I was hoping something more specific, like a set of instructions.”

“Fine.” Snap.

A glowing wall appeared next to them, and black and white images began to form on it.

Discord pointed. “This is the layout of the main cave of the Ice Spire Clan, and this is where they’re keeping the Crystal Heart.” He traced a path from the entrance to a small chamber far to the back of the cave system. That chamber began to glow blue. “There’s just one problem, your dragon friends are quite fond of anti-magic runes, making it impossible to simply warp in and grab it.” A number of red circles appeared on the map.

“I could overload them, of course,” Discord continued, “but that would set off all of their alarms, and then the Alliance would know that we have the Heart, and their entire army would be on guard when you try to recapture the Crystal Empire, and hundreds of creatures would die on both sides.” He stuck out his tongue in disgust.

“I’m surprised you care.”

“Life is beautiful chaos, Cliff.” Discord patted him on the head. “Why would I want to end even one life, let alone hundreds?”

“Fair enough.” Cliff went back to studying the map. “So you need my help to get the Heart without anydragon noticing?”

“Precisely. You see, walking through one of those runes won’t hurt you. It will just cancel any spells you’re using. All the others will see is a dragon in a cave full of dragons.”

“I could still be recognized,” Cliff pointed out, “and won’t they get suspicious if they see a strange new wyrm going into a secure area?”

“Whoever said you couldn’t use a non-magical disguise?” Discord snapped his fingers, and Cliff’s scales became forest green. “I just permanently change the pigments in your scales, spikes, and eyes then alter your voice box a little, and even anti-magic won’t make you go back to normal. As for going where you aren’t supposed to go, that’s simple. You’re already down there, studying the Heart.”

Cliff pulled one of his head spikes down into his field of vision and found that it was light yellow. “Wait,” he paused at how different his voice sounded, softer and smoother than normal, “You’re saying there’s some member of the Alliance that looks like this and has access to the Heart?” He hated to admit it, but he was impressed. All he needed to do was walk up to the Heart, grab it, and leave.

“Of course, but you can’t just take the Heart and run. There are highly trained empaths down there. They’d recognize you as an impostor before you got anywhere near the Heart.” Discord’s grin became a little unfriendly. “You know that I can manipulate time, right?”

Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, Cliff nodded. “I, yes. Fluttershy told me that you took her back to see the dinosaurs a couple of times.”

Discord’s grin widened. “So when I said that you’re already down there, that’s exactly what I meant. It’s a good thing that time doesn’t pass in this realm, because I’m going to need to inject a lot of knowledge about crystals and enchantments into your head.” He produced a large needle from somewhere. “Let’s get started.”

Cliff swallowed and took a step back. Something told him that whatever came next wouldn’t be pleasant.

Author's Note

Enter Discord, exit sanity. So who can guess which member of the Dragon Alliance has actually been Cliff all along?

Chapter 18

---Four months earlier---

Rune Field stepped back from her work, brushing orange head spikes away from her lighter orange face and mint-green eyes. “Alright, Genesis. How do you feel?”

The much younger wyrm studied himself. He looked like somedragon had drawn glowing lines across nearly his entire body, which, to be fair, was basically what had happened. It was hard to tell that his scales were normally brown. At least his green head spikes and yellow eyes had remained untouched. He really didn’t want to imagine runes drawn on his eyes. “I feel about like normal, I suppose.”

At least their experiment was taking place outside, otherwise the light probably would have been keeping everydragon up. Besides, Genesis enjoyed watching the stars. The Mystic Forest Coven was actually in a meadow on the edge of the forest, giving them a clear view of the night sky.

Rune frowned a little. “You feel normal? I just rewrote almost your entire natural magic field to channel all available magic into fire breath. How can that feel normal?”

Genesis shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, Rune.”

“Try breathing fire.” She tilted his head back. “Just not on me. I don’t know how how hot your fire could get, and the last thing I need is a blast of plasma melting my scales.”

“But you don’t mind if it melts my teeth,” Genesis muttered. Still, he breathed some fire upwards. It didn’t melt his teeth, which was always nice, but what he had intended to be a small plume turned out to be a massive pillar instead.

Night watch was usually a complete bore, but things became a lot more interesting whenever his ancestor was involved. Often dangerous, but interesting.

“Ah, dirt clods.” Rune leaned over and studied the glowing lines across her descendant’s chest. “I must have tied everything into volume instead of heat. Here, if I can just tweak the concentration a little, it should give us the heat increase we want while scaling back the size of your fire breath.”

Genesis looked over her shoulder. “Uh, you might want to wait on that.” He pointed to a wyrm he had never seen before, who was walking toward them from the treeline.

As he drew closer, the wyrm was revealed to have green scales, light yellow spikes, and blue eyes. The new wyrm was walking on all fours, but that wasn’t unusual, nor was the travel pack near his hips. He did look ready to collapse though.

“Are you alright, stranger?” Genesis stepped forward to greet him. “Is there anything we can do to help you?”

“I’ve been better.” The newcomer yawned and held his head for a moment. “Sorry. Is this the coven that specializes in rune-based enchantments?”

“It sure is.” Rune jammed a thumb at her descendant. “What do you think all that stuff covering Genesis is?” She extended a hand to the new wyrm, which he took. “I’m Rune Field, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Rune Field, Genesis. I’m, uh, Gemstone Aura.” He poured a bit of healing magic into his palms and rubbed them on his temples. “I know this is going to sound odd, but what time of year is it?”

Genesis exchanged a confused look with Rune. “Uh, it’s the middle of summer. Why?”

Gemstone’s eyes widened, then he groaned. “I’m going to kill him.”

“What?” Genesis asked. “Kill who?”

“No one. I mean, nodragon.” He yawned again. “I hope you don’t mind, but I need to study enchantments here for a while.”

“I don’t see a problem with that,” Genesis said. Specialty covens, like Mystic Forest, tended to attract wandering experts and members from other specialty covens that wanted to gather and exchange information. This newcomer would be the fourth to have shown up in the past year. “Besides, Rune can always use another victim for her crazy experiments.”

Rune elbowed him, but she nodded. “You’re exhausted. Come inside. You can sleep in our nest tonight.”

“Thanks.” Gemstone followed as they led him down into the main cave.

Like many covens, they had built it themselves using a combination of claws, tools, and magic. Glowstones were scattered across the ceiling and floor, casting the twenty-three nests in light that was strong enough to make everything visible but soft enough to sleep through. A couple of runes were in the middle of the cavern, radiating heat. Caves got rather cold at night, even during the summer. More runes covered the ceiling and walls, reinforcing everything.

Genesis pointed at a rune to the side of their path. Not only were the lines of the rune jet black, but the air itself seemed to grow dark around it. “You’ll want to avoid that one,” he whispered. “It won’t hurt you, but it’s an anti-magic ward, so it will turn off all your spells. Walking through one also doesn’t feel great.”

Gemstone gave the rune a wide berth. “Thanks. I have to avoid anti-magic for the next week.”

Rune glanced back at him in confusion. “Why?”

He rubbed his head again. “Experimental memory implants. Apparently they’ll get fully incorporated into my brain in another few days, but for now, anti-magic would undo them.”

Both Rune and Genesis stared at each other before looking back at Gemstone.

“I’ve never even heard of something like that,” Genesis admitted.

“Neither had I, until …” Gemstone frowned and shook his head. “It might have been yesterday, it might have been a month ago. I can’t really tell.”

What under the Stars happened to this dragon? Genesis wondered. “Anyway, here’s our family’s nest. Do you want us to wake you for breakfast?”

“Yes, please.” Gemstone crawled into the nest and flopped into an empty space between two of Genesis’s cousins. He was asleep before he even took off his travel pack.

-_-_-_-_-_-

“Gemstone?” Genesis shook the sleeping wyrm. “Gemstone, it’s time for breakfast.”

The green wyrm squinted up at him. “Who?”

“Gemstone Aura. That’s your name, remember?”

Gemstone blinked a few times and yawned. “Oh, right. Sorry.”

“Those implanted memories must really be messing with your head.” Genesis extended a hand and helped the other wyrm up. “Who even did that to you, anyway?”

“A jerk.” Gemstone winced a little from getting up suddenly. “Yeah, definitely a jerk.” He poured some healing magic into his head. “I swear, he included these headaches as a side-effect just to annoy me.”

Genesis led him toward the serving area. Most of the coven had already gotten their food and were scattered through the cavern in circles of friends and family as they ate and talked. The new wyrm was getting a few curious looks, but word was spreading quickly that he was just another traveler here to study runes. “No offense, but why did you let somedragon like that crack open your mind and mess around with the contents?”

“Imagine learning in a single day as much as you could normally pick up in a couple of years.” Gemstone frowned and shook his head. “Maybe it took longer, like a week. I don’t know.”

“That does sound nice,” Genesis admitted. “Was this one of the dragons at your home coven?”

“No, it’s a chaos spirit that wanted to be helpful.”

“A chaos spirit?” Genesis repeated. He didn’t know what those were, but they didn’t sound especially helpful.

“Let’s just say that this world never ceases to surprise me.”

They reached the food, roast pork with rice and beans. Both dragons loaded up their plates.

“What coven are you from, anyway?” Genesis asked. He looked around, and noticed one of his friends near the wall, waving them over. “Come on, we can sit with Clodhopper.”

Gemstone nodded and followed after. “I’m originally from the northern covens, but I left home a few years before … before I got married.” He sighed, then frowned and shook his head. “Let’s just say I don’t really have a coven these days.”

“Oh.” Genesis glanced back at the new wyrm. There was sadness and regret in Gemstone’s eyes. Did his wife die? Is that why he left his coven and was traveling alone? Until he knew more, Genesis decided not to comment. They had reached the wall by them, and so he gestured to the pure brown wyrm in front of him. “Gemstone, this is Clodhopper, my best friend. Clodhopper, this is Gemstone Aura. He’ll be studying runes with us for a while.”

“You both can just call me Gem,” the green wyrm said.

Clodhopper grinned. “It’s always nice to see a new face, Gem. I’ll have to transmute some diamonds for you as a welcome present.” To say that this dragon was brown was a bit of an understatement. His scales were brown. His eyes were brown. His spikes were brown. Sometimes Genesis was surprised that his teeth didn’t turn brown just to match the theme.

“Right,” Genesis sat down next to his friend, “if you ever actually manage to transmute anything.”

“I’m getting close,” Clodhopper said. “I can feel it. Soon we’ll be able to transmute all the food we could want out of ordinary dirt.”

Gem sat down as well. “Are you using an existing gemstone as a base for the transmutation, or are you coding the molecules from scratch?”

Both Genesis and Clodhopper looked at him. “Huh?” they said in unison.

“Enchanting gems and crystals is kind of a recently acquired specialty of mine, so I learned a way to create them.” Gemstone shrugged casually.

“You know how to transmute things?!” Clodhopper shouted, drawing the attention of several other wyrms. “Ah Stars, I wanted to be the one to invent that.” He latched onto Gem’s shoulders. “You have to teach me how you do it!”

Gem remained surprisingly calm throughout the display. “Sure, it only takes a second.” He reached into his travel pack, which he still hadn’t removed, and pulled out a small diamond. “This diamond provides a crystalline base for me to work from.” He set the diamond on the ground and carefully scrawled a rune circle around it and then another rune circle off to the side. A bean from Gem’s plate went in the other circle moments later. “This will provide the raw material for the transformation.” Both rune circles began to glow. “All I do is copy the molecular structure, store it in a matrix, and then apply it to the bean.” As he spoke, the bean shifted and changed into a small brown gem. “The only problem is that I use up far more energy creating the crystal than I would get out of eating it.” He passed the bean-gem to Clodhopper. “It’s useful for research, but unless you’ve got a crystal pony around, crystallization isn’t a viable method of feeding a coven.”

Clodhopper didn’t seem to hear. He just ran off with the gem, shouting something about a major breakthrough and forgetting his breakfast in the process.

“I didn’t know that you could already use runes,” Genesis said, leaning down a bit to study the circles. He recognized most of the individual parts, but they were put together in ways that he had never even imagined.

“I’ve been studying them for a while.” Gem returned the diamond to his travel pack and continued eating.

Genesis waited a few seconds for the other dragon to elaborate.

He didn’t.

“So anyway,” Genesis cleared his throat and picked up his own food, “what was that about a crystal pony?”

Gem winced. “Oh, that? It was just a rumor I heard once about a type of pony that can crystallize things with almost no effort.”

Genesis whistled. “It would be nice to have one of those around. You know, if we could somehow convince it not to kill us all.” He chuckled softly.

The other dragon just looked away. “… Yeah.” Gem ate a few more bites of food. “Who do I talk to about jobs around here?”

Great, less than five minutes into a conversation, and he was already making things uncomfortable. Genesis looked down, wondering what he had said to upset Gemstone. Did ponies kill his wife? “There’s a sign-up board over there by the entrance,” he waved in that direction, “just mark your name in the metal next to whatever job you want.” He glanced up at Gem, who seemed back to normal. “Uh, if you want, Rune Field, Clodhopper, and I are looking for a new lab partner. It doesn’t come with any special privileges, and you’ll have to get used to Clodhopper blowing things up, but the three of us should be able to help with your personal projects too.”

A thoughtful look crossed Gem’s face. “Sounds good to me. Thanks for the offer.”

“No problem.” Genesis looked around to make sure nodragon was listening in on their conversation. “Just do yourself a favor and don’t let Rune use you as a test subject. It never ends well.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Gem hadn’t been kidding when he said that he had been studying runes for a while. The green wyrm seemed to have an encyclopedic knowledge of characters, structures, and designs, even managing to teach Rune a few new tricks on his first day, then a few more on his second.

His practical skill, on the other claw, was almost nonexistent. It took him twice as long as any other rune master to draw even a simple rune, and he made a lot of mistakes even then. Genesis began to suspect that the green wyrm was badly out of practice. At least he was getting better. Every day saw a modest increase in his skill and speed.

Throughout it all, Gem’s headaches slowly diminished and his memories sorted themselves out, or so Genesis assumed. Gem never really talked about his past. There were other strange things about him as well, like how he almost never took off his travel pack, or how he walked on all fours whenever his hands weren’t occupied, or how he kept looking off to the north, like he was hoping to see something. He also insisted on training with their warriors every morning, though he outright refused to become a warrior when they asked. Some days, Genesis would even find him talking to an empty cavern. In spite of Gem’s oddities, though, Genesis enjoyed having him around. He was friendly, hardworking, and the source of many surprising new advances into runes and rune theory.

“Gemstone Aura, you’re a genius!” Rune Field exclaimed one day.

Genesis and Gem looked up from where they had been working on a temporal stasis enchantment. In theory, time would pass at less than one tenth the normal rate inside of the affected area. In practice, it either exploded or did nothing at all.

“What did you do?” Genesis asked.

Gem shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“He confirmed the existence of the astral plane, that’s what!” Rune practically squealed with joy. “Look at this enchantment!” She shoved a plate of metal into Genesis’s face.

He had to lean back to see it more clearly. Most of the runes were fairly simple, designed to make the metal glow softly. The rune at the center of the plate, however, was completely new to him. He pointed at it and looked to Gem. “What does that one do?”

Gem flushed. “Oh, that was just something I was experimenting with.”

“This is more than just an experiment.” Rune set the plate on the table between them. “Look at these characters.” She pointed. “Conjuration, alteration, and release to create a never-ending flow of astral energy, then movement-based generators on either side to harness that flow and power all the other runes with it. This could be the first completely self-sustaining enchantment that we’ve ever seen!” She pulled Gem into a tight hug. “I can’t believe you’ve only been here for two months, and you’ve already created something so remarkable!”

Gem didn’t respond, but Genesis could have sworn he heard the green wyrm mutter, “crap,” under his breath.

After Rune finally let go, Gem straightened his head spikes. “Actually, I heard that there’s a coven around here that specializes in emotion control and manipulation. If possible, I was hoping to go visit them for a few weeks. There’s a relationship between crystals and emotion magic that I’d like to explore some more.”

Rune laughed. “Of course you can go. I’ll talk to Lightning Strike and see if we can dig up a map for you. Before that, though, you have to teach me how you created this rune!” She grinned wistfully. “I wish Luminous could have lived to see this. He always wanted to create a self-perpetuating enchantment.”

Genesis smiled. Rune hadn’t spoken about her deceased husband very often in the forty years since he passed on, but he knew that she still thought about him often. After all, the loss of a spouse was something they both shared, and Genesis knew he would never stop thinking about Rain Water.

-_-_-_-_-_-

“Remember, Cliff, you can’t change the past,” Discord’s voice echoed in his head. “It isn’t even that you shouldn’t change the past. You literally can’t. There’s a certain amount of wiggle room when you're traveling farther back, but if it’s just a few months like this, there’s a role that has to be filled, and if you try to act against that, it will stop you.”

“I know,” Cliff replied, shooting across the vast plains that surrounded the Moss Hills Coven. This wasn’t the first mental conversation the two had shared since traveling back in time. The draconequus has created some kind of link between them, which at least helped Cliff get through some of the lonelier days, when all he could think about was Fluttershy. He paused for a moment to reflect on how crazy he must be if he was actually grateful to have Discord around.

Cliff shrugged off the oddness of it all and kept running. “You must have explained it to me a dozen times before you dropped me next to the Mystic Forest Coven.” He jumped off of a particularly large hill, soaring through the sky for a few seconds before landing. “You never did tell me what ‘it’ was that would stop me, though.”

“Who knows?” Discord replied. “Fate? Time? The universe? Whatever it is, you can’t change things that are, from your point of view, the past. You can try all you want. Sometimes it will even make an alternate timeline or two, but those always fall apart in the end and everything reverts to how it was originally.”

“So basically, I can’t do anything to stop Heart from joining the Dragon Alliance.” Cliff jumped again, bringing into view the hill he had heard about. He could just make out the cave entrance at its base.

“Yes, which makes it rather baffling that you still insist on coming here to meet her, before she sends somedragon out to recruit you.”

Cliff skidded to a halt just far enough away from the coven that he could finish his conversation in private. “Discord, the last memory I have of Fluttershy is her on the verge of throwing up just from looking at me. The last thing I said to her was that I’d be back in ‘a few minutes.’ That was nine weeks ago!” He threw up his hands in frustration. “Yes, I know it hasn’t even happened yet from her point of view, but I still think about that every minute of every day. I need to see a familiar face before I go crazy.”

“Fine, have fun with your family reunion. Oh, as an added bonus, Heart will be meeting her new wyvern friends in another three days. Won’t that be fun for you to watch?”

“Yeah, loads of it,” Cliff sent back sarcastically. “Let’s get back to the time travel thing. Did you really have to send me back so far?”

“You’ve had time to establish a reputation with the Mystic Forest Coven while taking notes on every single rune they can use, and after that slip-up with teaching them how to make astral chargers, they’re sure to recommend you to help them study the Crystal Heart. It’s just a pity you had to teach them something that will make all of their runes more effective and easier to maintain.”

“I didn’t mean to teach them anything,” Cliff insisted. “I’m just so used to using astral chargers whenever I had to enchant something back at Everfree that I modified one into a rune without thinking.”

“Yes, I’m sure all those dead soldiers will be completely understanding.” Discord somehow conveyed that he was rolling his eyes. “Just remember to bring back complete notes about everything useful that they have. Hopefully that will help balance things out.”

Cliff patted the travel pack that he was rarely without these days. “Don’t worry, I will.” He took a deep breath, and stepped toward the coven. “Okay, wish me luck.”

“I wish you chaos, does that count?”

“Coming from you, probably.” Cliff reached the base of the hill, bringing the cave entrance into full view. He could make out a purple form sitting just inside.

“Hello, stranger,” a surprisingly familiar voice called. Heart Echo emerged from the shadow of the cave. “We don’t get many visitors this close to the Great Tournament.”

Life around crystal ponies required a lot of emotional control to avoid offending them, which is the only reason Cliff was able to contain his surprise. From what Discord had told him about this coven … would tell him about this coven, whatever, they almost all used the Empathy spell to read the emotions of those around them. Heart would definitely notice if he reacted to her as anything other than a new acquaintance.

“Well, I’m kind of a traveling researcher, and the focus on emotion spells around here might help with my studies.” He stepped forward and extended his hand, generating the emotions of casual friendliness. “I’m Gemstone Aura, by the way.”

Heart shook his hand. “Heart Echo. It’s nice to meet you.” She paused for a moment. “Sweet Song, a friend of mine, is coming up. I’m stuck on watch duty for today, but she can show you around and get you acquainted with things.”

Cliff masked his disappointment with more casual friendliness. “Thanks. I’ll just meet her halfway, if you don’t mind.”

“Nah, it’s fine.” Heart waved him in.

“Glad to hear it.” He walked past her. “I’ll see you around, Heart Echo.”

“See you around, Gemstone. I hope your stay is an interesting one.”

If only she knew. “I have no doubt it will be, and just call me Gem.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Spending time with Heart proved to be difficult. Apparently she was the best empath that Moss Hills had, and the wyrm in charge of security and training for the entire coven. Cliff attended as many of her training sessions as he could, but it was a large coven, and she had lots of students and even more friends to keep her busy.

Not being very social himself, Cliff was still little more than an acquaintance when the wyverns first arrived.

It was weird enough just knowing that Heart had joined up with the Dragon Alliance. Being there when it happened had been completely surreal. The strangest moment came when a wyvern named Twister asked what the Mystic Forest Coven could do to help in the war effort. Cliff knew he had to say something to make himself seem like a valuable ally, but he also didn’t want to risk giving them any ideas for strategies or techniques that Equestria just hadn’t seen yet.

In the end, Cliff had told Twister about anti-magic runes. He already knew that the Alliance would use them, so he couldn’t see any harm bringing them up. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a little like a traitor to Equestria, and especially to Fluttershy.

At least he made himself feel better by handling ‘recruiting’ at Mystic Forest in his own special way.

-_-_-_-_-_-

“… So basically, we’d be volunteering to get ourselves killed,” Cliff finished, addressing the hundred and thirty or so members of the coven. “I’ll be heading back in an hour, if anydragon wants to come.”

Not surprisingly, most of the wyrms suddenly had somewhere else they needed to be. Cliff had to hide his grin. The Dragon Alliance was/would be a formidable enough threat without a bunch of rune masters on their side. Not to mention, he had grown to think of some of these dragons as dear friends. The last thing he wanted was to lead them to their deaths fighting in a war that shouldn’t have happened.

“Hey, Gem,” Genesis said, walking up to Cliff. He was followed by Rune Field and Clodhopper. “Sounds like you had an interesting couple of days.”

“That’s an understatement.” Cliff didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he thought about everything that was getting set in motion. He looked at the three dragons that had been crazy enough to take him in and treat him like family for so long. A sigh escaped him. “I’m really going to miss you guys.”

“I don’t know how,” Genesis said with a smirk. “We’re coming with you.”

“What?” Cliff stared at them in disbelief. “Didn’t you hear? This is a suicide mission that could have been avoided if the drakes were just willing to see past their deluded sense of honor or if the wyverns weren’t so stubborn about pushing for war.”

“You said we’re going up to the place where crystal ponies live,” Clodhopper said with a grin. “I’ve been working on crystallization magic for years, but they can just do it naturally. I can’t wait to study their methods!”

Rune Field leaned against Genesis. “We might be separated by five generations, but I’m still not letting one of my descendants travel halfway across the planet without family there for support.”

Genesis tousled her head spikes before turning back to Cliff. “I know you’re just trying to scare us off because you don’t want us getting hurt, but you obviously want to help if you’re volunteering. Besides,” he nodded at Rune and Clodhopper, “four rune masters are better than one, right?”

What Cliff wanted to do was facepalm and talk them all out of it, but instead, the young dragon found himself smiling gratefully and saying, “Thanks, really. How long until you’re ready to leave?”

“Just give us a few minutes to get everything packed.” Genesis paused, his light yellow eyes thoughtful and distant. “Hey, Gem, I don’t know if any of us will be much use on the battlefield, but thanks for giving us a chance to try and make a difference anyway.”

Cliff barely managed to hold onto his smile. “Yeah, no problem.” After they left to get ready, he slipped outside to try and figure out what had happened. “Hey, Discord, are you there?”

“No, I’m not there, but I’m certainly here, if that’s what you meant.”

He rolled his eyes. “Close enough. Listen, I think I just ran into one of those things that ‘it’ wouldn’t let me change. I was trying to talk some dragons out of supporting this war, but I wound up accepting their help instead.”

Discord sent back the sensation of nodding. “Yes, but I don’t see what all the fuss is about. I did warn you to expect that sort of thing.”

“Except I thought you said I could change some small details.” Cliff growled in frustration. “If we can’t, then why are you even out there, messing with wyrms’ heads to make them less likely to join the Alliance?”

“Because I can, Cliff. Isn’t that obvious?” Discord chuckled. “When time traveling, the only way to know for sure if you’ll be allowed to do something is to try it. I’m convincing hundreds of wyrms not to join the war, but that won’t make the army any smaller when we catch up to the present, because the army was already smaller than it would have been, thanks to my future self’s actions, who is the present me ever since we jumped back.”

Cliff tried to wrap his head around that and failed miserably. It actually made his head hurt a little to wonder if he had any sort of free will at all, or if everything was flowing along some predetermined path. “So we can stop worrying about these arbitrary restrictions on our behavior once we get back to the present, right?”

“Of course. As soon as our past selves disappear, we’ll be free to do whatever we want. Why do you think I spend most of my time in the present? It’s the only point in time that can really be changed,” Discord sent the feeling of a wide grin, “and after all, change is the very essence of chaos.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

The next two and a half weeks were a blur for Cliff. He was assigned to Heart’s squad—by dumb luck, as far as he could tell—along with Genesis, and when the two of them weren’t training with the rest of Squadron Five, they were helping Rune Field and Clodhopper come up with ways to weaponize various runes.

It was a tricky line for Cliff to walk. He didn’t want to give the Alliance any new weapons, but he also needed to do enough that they’d chose him to help study the Crystal Heart. In the end, he decided that getting the Heart was his biggest priority and showed them how to incorporate astral chargers into most of their runes.

He also tapped into the well of information that Discord had literally injected into his head—not a pleasant memory—and developed an enchantment that would let a crystal absorb the emotions of those around it and reflect them later. Cliff couldn’t think of a stronger way to shout that he should help study the Heart than to literally build a simplified version of it. That, and he couldn’t see any way that it could be turned into a new weapon.

Unfortunately, Cliff didn’t get a lot of time to spend with Heart Echo. She was off at meetings most of the time, and he was always working in the rune lab. Just about all he could do was wait while she talked with those two venom wyverns, Talon and Crystal, after their training battles, so he could escort her back to the coven.

“Hey, Gem?” she asked on one such occasion. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” he replied, running at the relaxed speed of fifty miles per hour or so.

“Is war really as bad as they say?”

Cliff slid to a halt, carefully suppressing the confusion and worry that were bubbling up inside him. “What makes you think I’d know that?” Did I say something to tip her off?

Heart shot past him by several hundred feet before grinding to a halt. She closed the distance between them slowly, like she was afraid of scaring him off. “Every time somedragon mentions this war, you react. It’s a mixture of fear, regret, hopelessness, and longing.” She looked at him sympathetically. “It’s the reaction of a dragon that has seen more than he should have to.”

Images flashed through Cliff’s mind, mostly of Fluttershy. “War destroys lives on both sides,” he said, not meeting his cousin’s gaze. “It would be a lot better to try negotiating with these ponies than to attack their city and just hope that things work out.”

Heart looked at him incredulously. “Do you know how many times Equestria has fought with dragons over control of land?”

“I know of eight covens that were driven from their homes,” Cliff said, “but that’s only eight in more than a thousand years of history.”

“I only knew about six covens,” Heart said, “but there have been fifty-seven incidents with drakes as well. Do you know all sixty-three of those incidents I studied had in common?”

Cliff could guess. “None of them ended well.”

“The dragons were killed or driven out of their homes every single time, even though they were always there first.” Heart stepped closer to him. “Sometimes they tried to get along, as long as the ponies recognized that they were on drake land.” She shook her head. “The ponies wouldn’t accept that. They always called in Celestia, or rounded up an army, or attacked the drakes in their sleep, or something.”

“You know,” Cliff said, “they could’ve sat the ponies down and tried to work out a peaceful treaty.”

“What would be the point?” Heart asked. “Sixty-three conflicts over land, and sixty-three times that dragons were either killed or forced to leave. I think the ponies have made it clear that they aren’t interested in sharing their territory.”

“Ponies don’t understand wyrm or drake ways of doing things,” Cliff said, “A drake duel or a wyrm silent agreement won’t mean anything to them. You need to sit down and talk with them. That’s the only way ponies know how to make agreements.”

Heart looked at him curiously. “You’ve talked with ponies?”

“You might say that.” Cliff shook his head. “Just try talking with them, please?”

Heart studied for a moment before she nodded. “Okay, I’ll talk with the Council but don’t expect them to agree to it. Wyverns don’t even understand what diplomacy means, and drakes …” She rolled her eyes. “You know what drakes are like.”

Cliff could only nod.

“Look,” Heart said, “I might not think talking with the ponies will do any good—I mean, look at their track record—but I don’t want to cause unnecessary bloodshed, and neither do the drake lords. That’s why we’re planning to surprise the ponies, capture their leader, and peacefully evacuate them all. More than that, this is a chance to finally unify the dragon race. Even if it comes to a fight, isn’t unity worth fighting for?”

Cliff thought about Thunderfang. It hadn’t escaped his noticed that he would kill/had killed their always stressed and often grumpy squad leader. Would he agree that the fighting will be worth it? “Just … please, try to talk with the ponies,” Cliff said at last, stepping away from the other dragon. “They might surprise you.”

Author's Note

You might want to reread some of the earlier scenes with Gemstone. You'll probably see them in a new light now that you know it was Cliff all along.

Chapter 19

On the morning of their departure, Cliff woke up in the wyvern camp with the other members of their squadron. Heart had asked him to teach Tornado, one of the drakes in their squad, how to use the Stillness. They had spent most of the night practicing.

Tornado was still asleep, with Talon and Crystal resting against him like some kind of scaly pillow.

Heart was in the middle of the tangle as well, but her eyes were open. “Good morning, Gem,” she whispered.

“Good morning,” Cliff replied. “Need help getting out of there?”

Heart shook her head and extracted herself from the other three dragons. She wasn’t even especially gentle about it, but none of her companions so much as stirred. “Drakes and wyverns are heavy sleepers, or maybe it’s just those three.” She stretched both arms over her head and let out a yawn. “You ready to head out?”

“Yeah.” Cliff looked around. Everything had already been packed the night before, so there wasn’t much left to do until the other wyrms arrived.

“It’s a strange sight, isn’t it?” Heart’s gaze went to the three sleeping dragons. “Our ancient enemy sharing a nest with our new allies.” She shook her head, smiling gently. “This is probably the first time in history that all three dragon races have come together.”

Cliff looked at the three as well, trying to decide how he felt about them. Talon and Crystal weren't bad individuals, but their absolute obedience to the Hurricanes was kind of infuriating. They might not understand the reasoning behind orders or even disagree with the orders completely, but they'd still obey without hesitation. Nearly every wyvern was the same.

His eyes were drawn to a rare exception, Thunderfang. The leader of their squadron was the only one who openly disagreed with orders from his superiors. He might even be willing to try diplomacy to resolve this conflict.

And Cliff's past self would kill him in a little over a month.

With a sigh, Cliff turned and walked away to get himself breakfast.

The wyrms arrived a few minutes later, and the Alliance started forming up to leave. Apparently dimensional pockets were unheard of. Instead, most of their supplies had been crammed into huge bags of animal hide that the drakes would carry across their backs.

Not everydragon would be leaving, of course. The youngest drakes and wyverns would be staying here, along with a few hundred other drakes that either couldn’t or wouldn’t join in the war effort. Cliff was glad of it. He didn’t want to risk civilians getting caught up in a battle.

Eventually, it was time to leave. Cliff climbed onto Tornado’s head, poured some minor enhancement spells into the drake to help counteract the weight of the jewels he was carrying, and then sat back to do a lot of nothing.

Tornado wasn’t smart enough to practice the Stillness while he was berserk—the drakes called it being in his battle form—Heart was riding on Silver Tail’s back during the flight north, so they could discuss strategies, and Genesis and the others from Mystic Forest were with the other drake in their squadron, Ember. Cliff vaguely recognized her as the drake that had/would nearly kill Fire Eyes before Rainbow Dash saved her.

He still wasn’t sure if he should think of events like that as part of his past or future. They were kind of both.

Unfortunately, the Alliance’s flight north wouldn’t take them anywhere near the Redstone Coven, where Cliff grew up. It would have been nice to see everydragon, but then again, Cliff had no idea how he would explain his appearance or his membership in the Alliance, or convince everydragon not to warn Equestria about what was about to happen.

On second thought, maybe it was for the best that they wouldn’t be going near Redstone.

With nothing to do, Cliff spent most of the first day idly skimming through the information Discord had injected into his mind. It didn’t work like normal memories. Instead, data just seemed to pop into his head whenever he needed it. The strange part about it … well, one of the strange parts, was that he didn’t know what all was in that mental library. Skimming through it was mostly a matter of letting his mind wander to various subjects and seeing if it triggered anything.

Flight … hmm, an enchantment to increase airflow caused by movement. Potentially useful for pegasi troops. Maybe a way to reduce the weight of their armor … rats, nothing there. A more efficient astral charger? They could provide power indefinitely, but the actual output they generated was rather small. Nothing on that either.

Cliff stared up at the sky for a while, trying different subjects and having varying degrees of luck. Eventually, he realized that he needed to use the restroom, and immediately clenched his eyes shut as the intimate workings of a waste disposal enchantment made itself known to him.

“Lovely.” He stuck out his tongue in disgust. Discord really deserved a punch for adding images to that one.

At least they would be landing for lunch soon. He could take care of things then.

-_-_-_-_-_-

The third and final day of their journey was the only noteworthy one. Talon dropped in to talk with him about something or other. Cliff wasn’t sure what she was hoping to accomplish, but it did give him the chance to explain that he wouldn’t be joining everydragon on the battlefield. Training with them all had given him a good feel for wyvern tactics, but he would never be able to face Fluttershy again if he fought with the Alliance to kill ponies.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Cliff had held true to his word and refused to join the others on the battlefield the next morning, but he did follow them enough to see everything happen from a nearby mountaintop.

They spent more than an hour maneuvering everydragon into position in the pre-dawn light and then attacked as the first rays of sunlight crept over the horizon.

Maybe Cliff was just a jerk, but he took a certain amount of sadistic enjoyment out of watching the Crystal Heart’s shield knock all six thousand warriors of the Dragon Alliance back beyond the Empire’s borders.

“Morning, Cliff. Want some popcorn?”

Cliff jumped in surprise. “Discord!”

“The one and only.” He grinned and held out a bucket of extra-buttery popcorn. A picnic blanket had appeared over the snow beneath them at some point. “Now take a handful and sit down. Celestia will be here in a moment.”

It was strange, after nearly three months of mental communication, Cliff had almost forgotten that Discord was a twelve foot tall, god-like avatar of chaos. He had just been someone to talk to. The one individual that Cliff could be completely honest with.

Perhaps against his better judgment, Cliff took a seat and accepted the offered popcorn. It tasted like bacon. “It looks like we’re entering the home stretch, aren’t we?”

Discord nodded. “Four weeks and two days until the Empire falls, and then another five days until we’re free to grab the Heart and run.” He glanced sideways at Cliff. “Do you feel bad about your upcoming betrayal?”

The young dragon didn’t respond.

“Remember Fluttershy,” Discord said gently. “We’re doing this for her.”

Celestia made her grand appearance soon after, teleporting the smaller groups over to the main army and then using the Royal Canterlot Voice to further intimidate them. The tactic backfired moments later, when the Alliance hit her with everything it had.

Both Cliff and Discord winced as more than a dozen rays of Void Fire blasted her back through the Crystal Empire’s shield.

“Discord,” Cliff said quietly, “is there any way that you could end this war? Like, turn everydragon in the Alliance into frogs or something until they agree to peace with Equestria?”

“No can do, Cliffy boy.” Discord pointed at the retreating dragon army. “See that oversize bag of wind in the metal armor?”

Cliff followed the draconequus’s paw to one of the drake leaders. “What about him?”

“That’s Dragon Lord Torch, leader of the Rocky Shore Clan, and he has a rather unpleasant little gizmo called the Bloodstone Scepter.” Discord shuddered, causing both his horns to fall off. “It lets him control any dragon unless they belong to a different clan.”

Realization hit Cliff. “And you’re part dragon.”

Discord nodded. “You’re protected as part of the Everfree Coven, but I’m a chaos spirit. Chaotic meaning not part of any structure. The scepter would always see me as a valid target.”

The solution seemed fairly obvious to Cliff. “Okay, so we steal it along with the Crystal Heart.”

“Wouldn’t work.” Discord grabbed one of his discarded horns and used it to spear a piece of popcorn. “The scepter can only be taken from him when he gives it to his successor, and drake law says that leaders can’t step down during a time of conflict, so that won’t be until this war is over.”

“Dirt clods.” Cliff grabbed a handful of popcorn and tossed some of it in his mouth.

“You aren’t losing much.” Discord shrugged. “It would only take one dragon killing itself to weaken my powers long enough for the others to blast me to pieces.”

Cliff paused in the middle of eating another bit of popcorn. “You can die?”

“I never said that, but I wouldn’t be in any condition to do much of anything for a century or two.” Discord glanced toward the Empire. “It looks like they’re starting to head back this way. Keep in touch, Cliff.” Then he disappeared, leaving the young wyrm sitting on a blanket with a bucket of bacon-flavored popcorn.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Four weeks was a very long time. Excruciatingly long, in fact. No matter how busy Cliff kept himself drawing anti-magic runes, working in the rune lab, or studying wyvern tactics, he was still entirely too aware of each passing minute until he could see Fluttershy again. The only way he found any peace was writing notes in a journal of sorts.

They’ve sent out wyrms to spy on Equestria. I didn’t get where they’re being sent, though, or even how many there are. The Hurricanes don’t like to share details. Three weeks and five days until the Crystal Empire falls.

…

Wyrms of the Spider Marsh coven pour all of their spells and willpower into a single warrior, making a champion powerful enough to take on higher ranked berserkers solo. Two weeks and six days until I get my claws on the Crystal Heart. I hope.

…

More skilled venom wyverns can generate clouds in the middle of battle, letting them hide from and surprise opponents. Two more weeks.

…

Crystal and Talon talked to me about how much they miss their home in the Aerie today. I hope they survive this war. One week and three days.

…

Tornado finally mastered the Stillness. It actually helps him a lot with his battle form, even if it did take him nearly a month to get it down. He seemed thrilled and kept thanking me for teaching him. I wonder what he’ll think when I betray him. Just five more days.

…

The Equestrian reserve army starting marching today, according to Heart Echo. The Alliance can’t afford to wait any longer. Three days.

The next morning, Silver Tail announced to everydragon that they would be attacking the Crystal Empire in two days. Cliff didn’t hear the details of the plan, not that he needed to. He already knew that it would work.

“Are you okay, Gem?” Genesis asked. It was late, and they were putting up some new runes in a small chamber at the back of the cave. It was meant to be a secure lab for their most important projects, and if Discord was right, this is where the Crystal Heart would be stored soon. “You’ve been looking really down lately.”

“I’ll be fine,” Cliff said automatically. “I’m just … I’m just thinking about all the soldiers that are going to die in this stupid war.”

Genesis looked at him sympathetically. “You lost somedragon in a war, didn’t you?”

“Sort of,” Cliff replied. He finished drawing the anti-magic rune and moved on to the next one. A ring of them would create a hollow sphere of influence, affecting everything that passed through it without harming creatures or objects on the inside. Cliff was building the very security system that would require him to travel back in time in the first place. The irony wasn’t lost on him. At least working on the defensive runes for the Alliance meant he knew how to get around them, should the need ever arise. “It’s complicated.”

“Do you want to talk about it, or her?” Genesis asked. “It is a girl that you’re thinking about, right?”

“Yeah,” Cliff whispered, “my wife. She was caught in a battle, and things kind of … happened.”

“I lost my wife too,” Genesis said quietly. “It isn’t the sort of thing you get over, is it?”

Cliff paused and looked up from his work. “I’m so sorry, Genesis.”

“Thanks.” The other wyrm stared intently at the rune in front of him, though he had given up any attempt to work on it. “You said that you only ‘sort of’ lost her, so there’s still some hope, right?”

Cliff nodded.

“Even a little hope is a lot better than none.” Genesis smiled faintly. “I’m sure you’ll get her back, one day.”

“Yeah,” Cliff said without emotion. He knew what his friend was thinking. It wasn’t uncommon for wyrms to go berserk in battle. Sometimes they even did it on purpose if their allies were in trouble and they thought it would help. If the resulting berserker survived, it usually found a place to hole up and go into hibernation. All the other wyrms could usually do was keep an eye on it and pray that he or she returned to normal in time.

Cliff’s situation wasn’t nearly that desperate. Fluttershy was hurt and upset, but she was still Fluttershy. He would be seeing her again in another week, if all went according to plan. Genesis was going through something far worse, and Cliff couldn’t believe that he was so focused on himself that he never noticed. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Genesis shook his head. “Not really. I prefer to think about the good times we had together, not, you know, how it ended. I hope you don’t mind.”

Cliff thought about it. “I understand. How did you two meet? If you don’t mind telling me, of course.”

“I’d love to.” Genesis laughed softly. “It’s actually pretty funny. I was at a gathering one year, and Clodhopper dared me to join a dueling tournament. Little did I know that Rain, my wife, got dared to do the same thing by her brother. So there we were, both totally sure that we were going to get the crap kicked out of us by some expert warrior, not knowing that my grand strategy was to draw runes at my opponent, and hers was to make the air around me really dry so I’d cough a lot …”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Cliff didn’t go out to watch the Alliance capture the Crystal Empire. He didn’t think he could have done so without getting involved, possibly getting himself killed, and making all of this pointless. Instead, he paced the length of the cave and waited.

Then he waited some more.

He wasn’t the only one in the cave. Nearly two hundred other non-combatants were there as well. Most were drakes, members of the Ice Spire Clan, but there were some juvenile wyverns and wyrm medics as well.

Eventually Cliff stopped to look over some notes with Clodhopper. The brown wyrm had actually never been part of a combat team. Instead, he was helping with healing, runes, and weapon development.

Anti-magic runes were, more accurately, siphons that pulled in nearby magic and dissipated it harmlessly. Clodhopper was helping Rune Field develop a staff that would apply the siphon effect to distant creatures but then store the siphoned energy, which could be released as a blast of energy, much like a unicorn energy ray. Cliff had been secretly interfering with this line of research for a while now, and he took the opportunity to add a few subtle flaws to the design.

Then it was back to waiting.

After several eternities, Yol Toor arrived with a small team of allies and the Crystal Heart. “The Crystal Empire is under our control,” he announced.

The cheers were thunderous.

After waiting for it to calm down, he said, “Gemstone Aura, Clodhopper, please come forward. Your expertise is needed.”

Cliff was a little surprised that Yol Toor even knew his name, but walked up to him anyway. “Yes, how can we help?”

Yol Toor shrank down to his thinking form and held out the Crystal Heart. “The clan lords, the Hurricanes, and Heart Echo all agree that destroying this object will effectively end the war. However, it appears to be indestructible. Perhaps with your aid, we can unravel the enchantments on it so that the crystal itself can be broken.”

Cliff could feel the blood draining from his face. “You want to destroy it? The Heart means everything to the ponies of the Empire!”

Yol Toor nodded solemnly. “It is not something I revel in, but as long as the Crystal Heart exists, there is always the chance that it will be retrieved, dragging this war out far longer than necessary, and killing more warriors on both sides of the conflict.”

“We’ll do what we can,” Clodhopper said uncertainly, taking the Heart. “That secure lab at the back of the cave should keep it safe, right, Gem?”

Cliff had a strange epiphany as he stood there, looking at the two of them. He was exactly the same as Yol Toor. Not in terms of power or importance, of course, but in motivation. If there was some crushing blow he could deliver to the Alliance that would end this war immediately, he would do it without hesitation.

Looking up at Yol Toor, the most powerful drake alive and one of the biggest advocates for unity among the dragon races, Cliff realized what might be such a blow. “Uh, yes, Clodhopper, that lab should be perfect. Yol Toor, if you don’t mind, studying your aura might help in finding a way to suppress the Heart’s enchantments long enough to destroy it. If you could come by the lab sometime, I’m sure it would help.”

“Of course.” Yol Toor nodded. “I must return to the Empire and help enforce order, but I will attempt to return tomorrow, if that is acceptable.”

Cliff allowed some of his excitement to show. The others would expect him to be excited over being given such an important task, and he had come way too far to let his disguise slip now. “That should be fine. It will give us time to set everything up.”

Author's Note

Genesis's wife had a genetic disorder that made her infertile. She spent decades looking for a way to cure herself, but after the last line of research failed, she fell into depression and went berserk. The rest of the Mystic Forest Coven was forced to kill her. Genesis was so traumatized that he nearly went berserk as well, but Rune stepped in and started forcing him to work as her lab assistant. The work gave him something else to focus on, and he slowly recovered.

Chapter 20

“You already sent out troops to deal with that reserve army?” Cliff asked Yol Toor as he worked. They were inside the fledgling lab, and Yol Toor was covered in at least a dozen runes and enchanted gemstones.

“Yes,” the gray drake replied. He was in his thinking form to make things easier for Cliff. “However, attacking is to be their last option. Their objective is simply to demoralize the Equestrians so that they will be less likely to attack the Empire. I would have gone with them, except the Council decided that destroying the Crystal Heart was of greater importance.”

“I have to agree with them.” Cliff was in favor of anything that kept a drake as powerful as Yol Toor off the battlefield. “Okay, I think that’s everything. Go ahead and turn on your aura.”

Yol Toor did so. The runes disappeared instantly, and the gemstones all shot away from the drake in different directions. One of them connected with Cliff hard enough that it hurt.

“Let’s see if we got any data.” He rubbed a bruise forming on his shoulder and went to gather the gems. Cliff scanned each of them, growing increasingly frustrated. “So much for that idea,” he muttered after finishing with the last one. “Anti-magic normally just suppresses enchantments, but your aura erased them completely.”

“I feared this would happen,” Yol Toor said. “My aura has always negated foreign magic.”

“That’s something, at least.” Cliff studied the shifting blue-and-red light that surrounded Yol Toor. “What would happen if somedragon touched you when your aura is active?”

“It repels them, but not with enough force to harm unless I wish otherwise.” Yol Toor extended one wing toward Cliff. “See for yourself.”

Cliff looked at the wing for a moment then shrugged and reached out to touch it. Some kind of a tangible force pushed back against his palm. It was like trying to push against water coming out of a hose. He applied more pressure, but it didn’t budge. After a few moments, he gave up and let his hand drop. “How exactly do you generate an aura, anyway?” In retrospect, he should have asked that first.

Yol Toor retracted his wing. “When a drake shifts to his or her battle form, or goes berserk, as wyrms call it, their natural magic field expands to fit their body’s new size. The first principle of aura generation is to expand the field slightly farther, past the scales and out into the physical world.”

“So, I’m really just staring at your natural magic field?”

Yol Toor nodded. “Though a highly concentrated form of it.”

Cliff stepped back and scratched his cheek thoughtfully. Each magic field had a unique signature to it, almost like DNA, and it would repel any magic with a different signature. No wonder a concentrated field would provide such a good defense against enemy magic. A high enough density of magic would even function like a shield spell, which explained how the aura pushed away inanimate objects.

Maybe the key to defeating him lay in attacking the aura itself. “Yol Toor, would you mind stepping into the anti-magic ring surrounding this lab? I’m curious how they’d interact.”

“Actually, you might want to avoid doing that,” Clodhopper said, grinning sheepishly. “I just installed a rune that will send out an alert loud enough for the whole cave to hear if the ring is ever broken, or if somedragon passes through the ring without one of the four of us from Mystic Forest. I used to use it to keep Genesis from messing with my research.”

Cliff gave him a flat look. The security system that even Discord had to think twice about getting through, and its inventor was Clodhopper?

The brown wyrm seriously misread his expression. “What? One time he stole some of my notes as a prank, and it took me all day to rewrite them.”

“Never mind.” Cliff sighed. “Just give me a few moments to draw up another anti-magic rune.”

Yol Toor nodded and turned off his aura.

“Thanks for your patience.” Cliff sat down and started drawing a medium-size rune. His clawtips left thin glowing lines on the cave’s stone floor.

“Here, let me help,” Clodhopper said, coming over to sit opposite Cliff. He started on the other side without hesitation. His lines mirrored Cliff’s perfectly, of course. Both wyrms had been drawing anti-magic runes from morning until night for over a month. They could probably manage their task blindfolded.

Yol Toor watched them both with clear fascination in his eyes. “I must say, wyrms never cease to surprise me.”

Cliff frowned a little in confusion. “What, you mean the rune?” He gestured down at it.

“The rune is intriguing, yes, but that isn’t what I was referring to.” Yol Toor shook his head. “The way you are able to coordinate so effortlessly. I doubt even Silver Tail and I could synchronize our movements so well, and we have known each other for our entire lives.”

Both Cliff and Clodhopper looked at each other and shrugged.

“It’s a fairly complicated rune,” Cliff said, “but drawing one together isn’t all that impressive.”

“Perhaps not to a wyrm or a wyvern.” Yol Toor moved so that he could see both of them clearly. “Drakes prize the abilities of the individual above all else. While it does help lift each dragon to be their best, I think my kind has stagnated for far too long because we refuse to coordinate our efforts except in times of dire need.” A weary smile crossed his lips. “I hope that this alliance will help the drakes to find a better path. It would be … relieving if I was not expected to shoulder all of my clan’s burdens by myself. Far too many times, I have fallen short of what they needed.”

“I think you’re doing a good job,” Clodhopper said. “There’s this one drake in Genesis and Rune’s squad, Tornado, and he just thinks the world of you.”

Yol Toor chuckled and nodded. “Yes, my grandson does have a rather biased view of me. I only hope he won’t feel betrayed when he realizes that I am not perfect and have made my share of mistakes.”

He sounds disturbingly like Celestia, Cliff realized, always worried that she won’t live up to the myth others had built up around her. And here Cliff was looking for a way to kill that dragon. “Okay, it’s, uh, it’s finished. Just let me charge it.” He drew a simple rune closer to him, connecting it to the main one with a single line. Then he put his hand on the smaller rune and poured magic into it.

Now charged, the rune’s lines changed from white to black, and the air around it grew slightly darker.

Yol Toor activated his aura and looked at Cliff and Clodhopper expectantly.

“Oh, yes, it’s ready.” Cliff stepped back. “Go ahead.”

The drake touched his paw to the rune. The aura around his hand grew noticeably weaker, but only for a moment, then the rune shifted back to white, and his aura returned in full force.

“Wow,” Clodhopper said, leaning closer to examine the rune. “Depleted already. It normally takes a lot longer than that, but I guess having your magic field right there in the open for it made things go quickly.” He looked up at Yol Toor. “How are you feeling?”

“Slightly drained, but not terribly so.” He clenched the affected hand experimentally. “It seems I should avoid these runes when my aura is active, however. I doubt you two would be happy about wasting your willpower to charge runes that I carelessly depleted.”

Clodhopper laughed. “That’s for sure.”

“Yeah, something like that.” Cliff fought down his rising guilt. It would be a lot easier to plan out ways to kill Yol Toor if the drake weren’t so nice and helpful. He reminded himself that tomorrow morning Fluttershy was going to have her whole world shattered by fighting against the Alliance. Yol Toor had even said that one decisive blow to end the other side’s will to fight is the best way to minimize future casualties. “Anyway, I’ve already tried destroying the Heart while it was in an anti-magic rune,” he hadn’t, for fear it might actually work, “but the way your aura overloads enchantments provides us another direction to research. I have a few more tests I’d like to perform so we can get a better idea of how it works, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” Yol Toor curled up on the floor. Cliff had learned that this pose was basically an invitation to relax and drop formality. “I am happy that I can help.”

A rough plan was forming in the back of Cliff’s mind. He knew that an accidental death would only solidify Yol Toor’s legend as an invincible warrior and a paragon of dragonkind. To truly crush the Alliance’s spirit, he would have to die in battle, and finding a weakness in his aura was the first step toward making that happen. Cliff just wished he didn’t feel so guilty about it.

-_-_-_-_-_-

This is it, Cliff realized as he woke up, the day I end his mission and see Fluttershy again. He pulled himself into a sitting position and looked around. Some dragons were already up and about, but the majority of them were still asleep. What time had it been when he and Discord left? He wasn’t sure. Maybe nine thirty or so. Cliff searched through his travel pack for a crystal that was enchanted to tell time. Seven twenty-eight. He had about two hours.

Two hours suddenly seemed like an eternity.

First things first. He reached over to Clodhopper’s sleeping form, and cast a spell to ensure that the brown wyrm would stay asleep for at least three more hours.

Next, Cliff ate breakfast. He barely tasted the gems and bread, but it was important to keep up appearances, even if he was eating by himself.

A part of Cliff was sad that Heart and the others were still assigned to the Empire. It would have been nice to see her one more time, and Genesis and Rune had been like a family to him since he first arrived at the Mystic Forest Coven. Talon and Crystal had also grown on him over the last two months. Hay, he would even miss Tornado.

I'm going to miss spending time with a drake? Cliff he forced down another chunk of bread, wondering what this mission had done to him.

After his meal, Cliff checked the crystal again. Less than twenty minutes had passed since he had woken up. “Great.” He put the crystal away and got up. There was one other thing he could do to pass the time.

Cliff casually walked down to the cavern where the Alliance stored its food. He gave the guards some excuse about harvesting crystals for his research and then walked right in. The cavern was huge, of course, nearly as large as the central cavern above, and it was nearly full with the Alliance’s stored food. Well, it was a bit inaccurate to call it the Alliance’s food, since most of it had come from the Crystal Empire. Drakes had been hauling back crystals and grain ever since the Empire was captured.

Cliff carefully reached into his travel bags and pulled out a small sack full of powdered poison joke flowers, courtesy of Discord. He found the gems, crystals, and grain that the Alliance would be using in another day or two and split the powder evenly among them. With any luck, most of the Alliance would be affected, leaving them unable to strike back against Equestria for a week until the effects of the poison joke wore off.

There was nothing else to do after that, so Cliff went back to the main cavern and walked around it a time or two … or three or four … or ten or twenty.

Other dragons were starting to give him odd looks, and so Cliff gave up walking and took a quick bath in one of the rivers that passed through the cave. Water wasn’t as plentiful in the caves where Equestria’s troops were hiding. He might not get a chance to bathe again until the Empire was retaken.

After thoroughly scrubbing himself off, Cliff checked the crystal again. One hour to go.

You’ve got to be kidding me! He jammed the crystal into his pack and made his way to the lab. All of his research notes were already in his pack, but there were a few experimental runes that Clodhopper had been working on. Cliff spent a few minutes subtly damaging them so that they would have to be redrawn from scratch.

Cliff considered leaving a note, apologizing for his betrayal, but the whole point of doing things this way had been to keep the Alliance from realizing that anything was wrong until it was too late. Actually, a note might be helpful. He located a spare sheet of metal and wrote out a short message.

Clodhopper,

All this sitting around and researching is starting to make my head spin. I’m going to take a quick run around the area to clear my mind. I’ll be back in a day or two.

-Gemstone Aura

Satisfied, Cliff left the note on Clodhopper’s workstation. With nothing else to distract him, his eyes turned to the Crystal Heart. As always, it was strange to see such a powerful and important relic just lying on the raised piece of stone that served as his desk.

Now was as good a time to switch them as ever. Cliff reached into his travel pack and searched around until he located a small blue gem in the vague shape of a heart. Another gift from Discord.

Cliff activated the gem’s enchantment, and it suddenly expanded into a perfect replica of the Crystal Heart. Not only did it look the same, but it gave off an identical magical wavelength and would be nearly impossible to damage or destroy. With any luck, Clodhopper would still be studying this fake until the real one could be used to free the Crystal Empire.

He quickly placed the Crystal Heart in his travel pack and put the false one on his desk. Now he just had to wait for an hour and leave. Cliff took a deep breath to calm his rapid heartbeat. He had been wearing a travel pack every day for four months. Nodragon would question him for it now, and they certainly wouldn’t want to look inside.

Cliff sat at his desk and tried to will the minutes to pass more quickly. He even pretended to be doing more research, though he wouldn’t have been able to accomplish anything even if he had wanted to. He was far too anxious.

After a few minutes, he heard somedragon walking down the tunnel that connected the lab to the main cavern. Cliff looked up and smiled a little as one of his previous wishes came true. “Hey, Heart. I thought you were still down at the Crystal Empire.”

Heart stopped just outside of the anti-magic ring that surrounded the lab. She didn’t return his smile. In fact, she was glaring at him. “What are you planning, Gemstone?”

Cliff didn’t have to fake his confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not an idiot,” Heart almost growled. “I’ve always known that you sympathized with the ponies, but I didn’t interfere because I wanted to believe that I could trust you.”

Behind her, Cliff saw a small group of dragons gathering in the tunnel.

“You can trust me,” Cliff said. The anti-magic ring would block out her Empathy spell, but he generated a wave of sincerity anyway to help with his acting. Were they on to him? Oh crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!

Heart shook her head. She looked sad. “I’ve had a couple of wyrms keeping an eye on you for a while now. We know that you don’t want to destroy the Crystal Heart,” she nodded toward the fake on Cliff’s desk, “and you’ve been observed interfering with the research of your fellow rune masters. Then this morning, Sweet Song noticed you displaying all the characteristic signs of an impending betrayal.” She sighed. “Gem, she wanted to throw you in a containment cell right away, but I came back from the Empire because I still want to believe that you’re on our side. So, I’m sorry, but I have to ask,” she leaned forward, nearly touching the anti-magic bubble, “are you intending to betray us?”

Cliff looked her right in the eye. “Of course not.”

Heart’s shoulders sagged. “You’re lying.” She looked down. “You hold a little too still when you lie. Not even your tail moves.” Her eyes hardened and she pulled herself back up to her full height. “Step away from the Crystal Heart. We will escort you to one of the containment cells, where you will be detained for the duration of this war.”

Cliff froze. Discord couldn’t hear him inside of an anti-magic bubble, and nearly a dozen warriors stood between him and the exit. There has to be a way out of this! Think, Cliff! Think! He glanced down at the fake Heart. They thought it was the real one. Even if ‘Gemstone Aura’ was a traitor, they won’t be that concerned about one wyrm getting away. “Alright,” he said gently. “I won’t fight you.” That much was certainly true. He recognized Yol Toor as one of the drakes in the tunnel. Fighting wasn’t an option. Cliff got up and moved away from his desk, hand raised in surrender.

“Thank you for not making this harder than it has to be.” Heart smiled weakly as she stepped through the anti-magic ring. No doubt she hadn’t done so earlier for fear that he would attack her while the rune negated all of her defensive spells. However, what she wasn’t aware of was the upgraded security that Clodhopper had installed. A piercing shriek filled the chamber before she could even reach the false Heart. It only lasted a second, but that was all he needed.

Cliff cast Speed Burst while everydragon else was covering their ears from the painfully loud noise, rocketing himself through the anti-magic ring and over the heads of the dragons gathered in the tunnel beyond. Unfortunately, the ring deactivated all of his protective magic, making his collision with the stone floor far less than pleasant.

Something in his left forearm snapped, making him gasp in pain, but there wasn’t time to focus on that. Cliff pushed himself back to his feet and ran toward the main chamber, casting spells as he went.

A blast of red and blue energy flew just past the front of his muzzle, leaving a burning hole in the floor.

“Surrender, Gemstone,” Yol Toor commanded. “I have no desire to kill you.”

Not an option. He still needed to get out of the cave so he could contact Discord. Cliff turned invisible, shot up to the ceiling, and ran out into the main chamber just in time to avoid a much wider blast that filled the whole tunnel.

Almost everydragon in the main chamber was looking toward the lab, frozen by confusion.

If listening to Spirit and Autumn had taught Cliff anything, it was that confused and frightened beings will believe almost anything they hear. Normally that was a state that they worked hard to avoid, but Cliff saw a golden opportunity. He jumped into the middle of the crowd just as his invisibility wore off and shouted, “Princess Celestia is impersonating Yol Toor! Get her!”

At first, nodragon moved, then murmurs of fear and anger began to build, and within seconds, they were charging toward the lab, shouting for the defeat of Princess Celestia.

Suddenly, Cliff was terrified. Too terrified to run, or to even breathe. He generated a wave of courage to counteract it and dove out of the way before another spell could hit him.

He saw Sweet Song, Heart’s second in command, scanning the crowd for him. She must have been the one behind the emotion-based attack. Cliff ignored the pain in his arm and slipped away from her. That attack had cost him precious seconds, and the wyrms from Moss Hills were quickly pacifying the crowd.

“Gemstone Aura is a traitor,” Heart yelled, running into the main cavern. Magic infused her voice, demanding that everydragon who heard her believed what she said. “Stop him before he can get away!”

Cliff shot toward the entrance, but a drake saw him coming and reared up to block him. He crashed into the drake’s wing membrane. A shout of pain escaped his lips as the impact shook his broken arm.

Some kind of energy net pinned him to the ground before he could move.

“Oh, do I have to do everything myself?” Discord appeared over Cliff. The net disappeared instantly, and the drake was lifted into the air. It smashed into the oncoming crowd with a sound like a bowling ball. Discord snapped his fingers just as Yol Toor shot another beam of energy.

The beam split before it connected with them, creating two smoking tunnels on either side of the main one.

“Four months!” Discord pulled Cliff upright. The wyrm’s broken arm healed instantly at his touch. “Four months of planning, and you had to ruin it in the last forty minutes!” He snapped his fingers again, and a hail of wyvern breath attacks transformed into rose petals.

“They still think the fake Heart is the real one,” Cliff sent through their mental link, not bothering to wonder how Discord had known that he was in trouble. He retrieved a gemstone from his pack and was about to shoot it at one of the nearby dragons when Discord smacked it away.

“Killing destroys chaos, which makes me weaker. I thought we covered that already.”

“Draconequus,” Torch roared, rearing up near the back of the cavern. “Stop!”

“As you command.” Discord’s eyes began to glow yellow and the air around him began to warp and ripple. He thrust both arms forward, and the effect suddenly expanded to fill the whole cavern.

As it hit, dragons seemed to freeze. Even wyvern breath weapons and wyrm spells froze midair.

“What did you do?” Cliff asked.

“He said stop, so I stopped time.” Discord wiped a thick coat of sweat off of his forehead. “It won’t last forever, though, so how about we leave while we still can?” He turned and ran toward the cave entrance.

“Can you teleport us back to the caves?” Cliff asked as he hurried to keep up.

“Not inside of this giant ring of interconnected anti-magic runes,” Discord huffed in response. “Just running through it the first time nearly made me pass out.”

“Why would that affect you?” Dragons walked through it all the time.

“Anti-magic only affects high concentrations of magic, like active spells,” Discord said through gritted teeth. “I’m a spirit, so my entire body is a high concentration of magic, and did you really have to include over a thousand runes in this particular ring?”

They had reached the mouth of the cave by that point. Cliff dropped his spells before jumping through the runes he knew sat under the snow and ice there.

Discord fell in a heap beside him, gasping for air and almost see-through in places. “I hate … those runes.”

Cliff shivered, though he couldn’t tell if it was from shock, worry, or the freezing temperatures. “How did you know I needed help?”

“Sensed chaos building in there,” Discord replied weakly. He snapped his fingers, and Cliff was suddenly back to his usual purple scales and green spikes. “Now then … we have thirty-eight minutes until our past selves disappear from the caves beneath the Empire.” He shrank down to the point that he could have fit in the palm of Cliff’s hand. “How about you carry me to the entrance … and then I’ll warp us inside. Deal?”

“Deal.” Cliff scooped up the tiny draconequus and placed him in his travel pack. “And, Discord, thank you.”

“Oh, you know.” Discord waved a paw dismissively. “Friendship … Magic … All that stuff. Now if you’ll excuse me, I could use a nap.” He reached up and pulled the pack closed around him. “Wake me in thirty-eight minutes.”

“I will,” Cliff promised. He looked around for a moment to get his bearings. Wait for me, Fluttershy. I’ll be there soon. Then he activated his running spells and shot off toward the secret cave entrance and the yellow mare he hadn’t seen in four months.

Chapter 22

Talon was having trouble sleeping. Again. Lightning Flash and Storm Front had told the whole Squad that she lost an argument with that crystal pony, Inkwell. Most of the Squad had scoffed at the idea, but there had been some suspicious looks as well. Talon glanced at the sleeping forms of Lightning and Storm. They obviously didn’t think she was fit to be a squad leader.

They weren’t exactly wrong. Unlike higher ups, squad leaders were expected to know everything there was to know about their underlings. The new wyverns were far more experienced than Talon, but they were newcomers to the Squad, which was the only reason that one of them wasn’t leading it.

That would change in another month or two, and Talon would be demoted to venom leader. It was probably what was best for the Squad as a whole, but Lightning and Storm didn’t have to be so happy about it.

Talon glanced around the room. Nineteen other wyverns, two wyrms, because Heart was still off dealing with whatever had come up in the Ice Spire Caves, and two drakes, all fast asleep in a pile. Apparently she was the only one still up. No wonder Thunderfang was always so grumpy, she thought. She hadn’t slept well since she was promoted.

After a few moments of staring at the room, Talon reached for her flight pack and gently pulled out Refy. She held the plush wyvern against her chest, letting the tension slowly bleed out of her as she watched the moonlit sky.

A flicker of light at the base of the Crystal Palace caught her attention. She looked more closely and noticed shapes outlined by the moon’s silvery light.

Talon felt her suspicions rise. The shapes were wrong for any dragon that she knew of, and a faint blue light seemed to be coming from one of their … horns? Light of the same color surrounded an object that she couldn’t make out.

Talon stood up. Those were ponies, she was certain of it. Somehow, they had just appeared inside the most heavily defended part of the dragon camp, in spite of all the anti-magic circles that were supposed to keep them out. “Wake up, everydragon!”

Some kind of faint yellow light appeared in the sky above the palace.

Rune Field sat up next to Talon and rubbed her eyes. “What’s the big deal?” she asked groggily.

“Something is happening,” Talon replied. “There are ponies at the base of the palace, see?”

Rune squinted. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

The streets outside began to glow a vibrant shade of blue.

Hadn’t the streets glowed before when they activated the Crystal- Talon’s breath caught. That thing they were carrying, could it be the Crystal Heart? No, it should be safely locked up at the Ice Spire Caves.

The glow was getting brighter.

Maybe the Equestrians made a new one somehow. “I need every enhancement spell you can cast on me,” Talon ordered, “and quickly.”

Rune had seen the glowing street as well by then. She nodded and began to cast.

“Everydragon, get outside!” Talon jumped through the window, closing her eyes against the broken glass, and started beating her wings furiously as she flew toward the castle. She didn’t even know what she would do once she got there, but she had to stop whatever was happening.

Halfway to the palace, the light around the ponies exploded outwards into a wall of blue energy, moving far too quickly for Talon to have any hope of dodging.

The last thing she remembered was being hurled aside like a fleck of dust.

-_-_-_-_-_-

A wave of blue energy passed through Spirit and the entire Everfree Platoon, giving them all the same crystalline appearance as crystal ponies. Spirit couldn’t help but hold up his armor-covered hand to inspect it before looking down at the rest of his now translucent body. The formerly dull metal now sparkled and shined, even in the dim illumination of the caves.

“That’s the signal,” Fire Claws yelled. She pulled the switch that opened the secret passage into the palace library. “Let’s move, everyone!” She ran through first, followed by her husband and the rest of the Platoon.

Spirit stood at the very back of the narrow tunnel, and he couldn’t help but worry about his friends and family. There probably wouldn’t be any members of the Dragon Alliance still around after the Crystal Heart activated, but underestimating them had already cost several thousand lives.

Autumn rubbed against Spirit’s side while sending him feelings of reassurance. The sound of her armor against his wasn’t exactly calming, but Spirit appreciated the gesture anyway.

“The library is clear,” Fire Claws reported seconds later, calming a number of Spirit’s worries.

“Amethyst isn’t seeing anydragon other than us on the lower floors,” Scenic Trail added. “I think we’re in the clear.”

“Glad to hear it, Mom,” Spirit sent back. “Tell her to keep her eyes open anyway, just in case.” He and Autumn hurried after the rest of the Platoon, emerging into the Crystal Palace’s library. Amazingly, the room looked completely normal. Well, except for all the Platoon members in combat armor.

Autumn looked around. “Someone stay here to guard the entrance. The rest of you, start searching the upper floors, but stick together and be careful! If a member of the Alliance is still here, then they’re either smart, powerful, or lucky enough to withstand a blast from the Crystal Heart.” “We should check in with Celestia.”

Spirit nodded and sent back agreement. “Mom, have Amethyst check the stairs to the courtyard with her x-ray vision spell.”

“Already done,” Scenic Trail sent. “It’s clear.”

Spirit and Autumn hurried down the nearest stairwell and into the open courtyard beneath the palace.

All four alicorn princesses were wearing full armor and standing around the Crystal Heart, which was spinning in place on its pedestal once more. Shining Armor was there as well, standing beside his wife. Everypony was sporting the crystalline look. Even their armor had changed to look more like something crystal ponies would wear.

Spirit and Autumn approached them carefully. Living with Twilight had taught them both to appreciate just how much destruction an alicorn could cause by accident.

Twilight grinned when she saw them. As the shortest of the alicorns, and the only one wearing Everfree Armor—Spirit still preferred ‘the Armor of Unfairness’—she was easy to pick out. “Spirit, I’m so glad you’re safe!”

“Same to you, Sis,” Spirit said, quickly walking over to her. “Everfree is still checking the palace, but I’d be surprised if we find anything. How’s the rest of the city?”

She gestured toward the south, where several balls of light were floating in the air. “Trixie just signaled that everything is okay with the crystal ponies, and that they’re coming to the palace. No one else has checked in yet.”

“Were there any difficulties in activating the Heart?” Autumn asked.

Twilight shook her head. “No, it worked fine. A wyvern did see us and was flying toward the palace, but the shield activated before it could get too close.”

All around the edges of the Empire, blue lights began shooting into the air, signaling that the dragons opposite the shield were alive but not trying to counterattack.

Shining let out a long breath. He was wearing his guard armor, but it did nothing to hide the relieved look on his face. “Good, we’re in no position to respond to a full attack from those aura drakes.”

Luna nodded. “More time to establish our position can only be a good thing.” Her own armor was gold with silver highlights and covered in intricate runes. Designed with speed and maneuverability in mind, it left her upper legs and wings exposed, but at least her vital organs would be safe, and thick metal boots gave her a convenient weapon against dragons. A crescent moon symbol stood out on her chest, with another around the base of her horn, and two more positioned just above her cutie mark on either side of her hips. Much like the moon itself, the armor seemed to glow softly in the darkness.

Autumn nodded gravely and stared over Twilight’s shoulder at the Crystal Heart. Through the link, Spirit felt a mixture of relief and frustration. “It’s almost a shame that the Heart rarely kills anything. This war would have been over twice by now if it did.”

Twilight looked a little shocked that Autumn would say such a thing, but she didn’t argue.

“It did kill some of them,” Cadance said, drawing the group’s attention to her. She had relatively little experience in combat magic, which was reflected by the fact that her armor was just standard crystal guard armor with a modified helmet for her horn. At least the silvery breastplate, helmet, and boots were better than nothing. “The Crystal Heart responds to the emotions of the crystal ponies.” She clenched her eyes shut. “Most of them just want to be free, but some were so angry and so hurt that they wanted the Dragon Alliance destroyed.”

Spirit shivered a little as he looked around at the Empire. Signal lights were popping up more and more as teams investigated their surroundings and found everything to be clear. “How long till we start building those defenses around the Heart?”

“We will begin in a moment,” Celestia said, stepping forward. The Solar Alicorn’s armor was minimal, to put it generously. She had a set of metal boots, a chestplate, wing guards, and a crown. It would almost have been possible to mistake it for her usual regalia if the whole thing weren’t reddish-gold. Of course, armor was kind of pointless when you could transform into a being of living plasma at will. Anything that could hurt her when she was like that wouldn’t be affected by a few plates of metal. “I believe it is time to show these dragons what happens when they harm my subjects.” Her eyes flashed pure white as she took to the air.

“I would suggest covering your ears,” Luna said as she flew after her.

Spirit didn’t have to be told twice.

The two alicorns rose high into the air, until they were almost touching the upper edge of the shield.

“Members of the Dragon Alliance,” Celestia shouted in a voice so loud that it rumbled in Spirit’s chest like thunder, “I give you one last opportunity to chose peace.” As she spoke, the sun rose into the sky, casting the land in painfully bright light. “Silver Tail, come forward now so that we can discuss this like civilized creatures.”

Somehow things got even brighter, and Spirit noticed the temperature rising. Most of the guards around him were sweating.

“But if you reject this offer,” Celestia continued, “understand that your deaths will be upon your own heads!”

A ball of blue energy shot from the borders of the Empire toward the alicorn sisters. Shining Armor managed to generate a shield before it struck, but the force of the explosion still knocked Spirit flat onto his stomach. Blinding light obscured everything outside of the shield for a moment, and when it cleared, Spirit gasped.

The flattened ground around the Crystal Palace was gone, like someone had scooped all of it up, leaving a deep trench in its place. At least the civilian houses on both sides of that area were still intact, but Spirit doubted that it was just some happy coincidence. In every direction, the destruction stopped just short of the civilian houses. That kind of precision had to be on purpose.

Silver Tail’s voice filled the area, seeming to come from everywhere at once. “Five hundred and fifty-four murders.” His voice shook with barely contained rage. “They never had a chance to defend themselves. You think I would speak to you about peace now, seconds after this atrocity?”

Another ball of energy shot into the sky outside of the Empire, creating an explosion large enough to level nearly half the Crystal Empire.

“Be grateful that we aren’t like you. We don’t kill foes in their sleep. We don’t kill foes without warning them and giving them a chance to surrender. But we will return. We will challenge you to battle once more. Then, we will lay waste to your armies until you beg us for peace. This I promise you as Dragon Lord of the Ice Spire Clan!”

Spirit swallowed and looked up at Celestia and Luna, still hovering in place over the Crystal Palace.

“So be it,” Luna roared.

Snow began to melt in a circle around the Empire, which suddenly expanded until the entire countryside was brown, snowless, and soaking wet.

The sun set as quickly as it had risen, and the moon returned to its position in the sky.

Spirit’s ears were ringing, and he shivered as the temperature dropped back to normal for a winter night in the Empire. The change was probably even more extreme on the outside, where the Empire’s magic didn’t keep everything warm.

Celestia and Luna came back down, panting heavily.

“That was a rather exhausting display, Sister,” Luna breathed. “Did we really have to thaw the entire northern half of the continent?”

“Maybe we did go a bit overboard,” Celestia wiped a bit of sweat off her forehead, “but I doubt the Alliance will be able to rally their troops tonight with all of them cold and wet like that.” She shook her head sadly. “I know it was foolish to hope for peace now, after two battles, but I wish they had at least considered our offer.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Twilight asked. “I can’t imagine how much magic you both just used.”

“We can rest once the Crystal Heart is secure,” Luna replied. She took a deep breath. “In the meantime, I would dearly appreciate a cup of coffee.”

Shining pointed to one of the guards. “See if there’s any left in the palace kitchens.”

“I’ll get started on those defensive enchantments,” Twilight said as the guard left.

Spirit, meanwhile, turned to Celestia. “Remind me to invite you two to our next Winter Wrap-up in Everfree.”

Celestia smiled. “What do you think that spell was intended for in the first place?”

-_-_-_-_-_-

“… You think he gave it to the ponies?” a vaguely familiar voice asked.

“Either him or that chimera thing that showed up to save him,” Heart Echo replied from nearby.

Talon groaned softly and opened her eyes. It was a bit dark, and she was lying on her stomach in a stone nest somewhere, but that was all she could figure out from her limited view. She felt something pressed against her chest and shifted a little so that she could get a look at it.

Refy? She stared at the plush wyvern in confusion. How did he get here?

“Oh, she’s awake.” Heart climbed over the side of the nest. Orange light radiated from her scales for some reason, but she smiled gently. “Hey there, Talon. How are you feeling?”

Talon let go of Refy and tried to push herself up but faltered when her vision blurred.

Heart ducked under the wyvern’s wing to support her.

Smiling gratefully, Talon said, “I’m a little weak.”

“That’s no surprise. Head injuries and healing magic are both pretty draining.”

Head injuries. Wonderful. Talon blinked away the last few spots in her vision. “What happened to you?”

“Something in our food supply.” Heart’s glow shifted to red. “Don’t worry about it. Lots of other dragons have it worse.”

The good news just kept coming. “Crystal?”

“Can’t stop breathing poisonous gas. She’s fine, but we had to isolate her.”

Talon’s headache flared for a moment. “What happened at the Empire?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Heart asked. “We’ll start there.”

Talon looked around. Tornado was curled around the stone nest in his battle form, which was against regulations. Being in that form used up an unbelievable amount of calories, and they had to conserve food, especially if something was wrong with some of their supplies.

Beyond Tornado’s sleeping form, Talon saw that they were in the Ice Spire Cave, and it looked like the entire Alliance was with them. Not a good sign. As worrisome as that was, however, most of her attention was held by the group of dragons looking at her expectantly.

All five Hurricanes, Yol Toor, his twin daughters, and Silver Tail were sitting just beyond the edge of the nest. The light from a lava pit behind them cast all of their scales in shades of orange and red, which only made some strange things stand out all the more. Silver Tail had buck teeth for some reason, and his eyes seemed to be looking in two different directions. Meanwhile, Yol Toor had both his paws clamped around his muzzle. It looked like he was struggling to hold his own mouth shut. The Hurricanes looked normal, at least, except that Aurora’s eyes were shut, even though she seemed to be listening like everydragon else.

It occurred to Talon that, oddities aside, the leaders of the Alliance had just seen her sleeping with her childhood toy. “I …” Talon looked away from the assembled dragons before she could choke. Ancestors, kill me now. “I saw a group of ponies under the palace. They were carrying something that looked a lot like the Crystal Heart. I told my squad to get outside, in case something happened, and was flying toward the palace to … I don’t know, stop them, when they activated that Crystal Heart thing.” She shook her head. “I'm sorry, that’s all I can remember.”

Silver Tail sighed and shrugged. “You’re forgiven. I’m not sure why you think you need it, though. I was asleep right up until they blasted us out of the Empire.”

“This is more evidence that Gemstone Aura betrayed us,” Heart said angrily as the red light around her flared.

He what? Talon knew that the quirky rune master had some misgivings about this war, but she hadn’t expected him to leave them, especially with how loyal Rune and Genesis were.

Heart sighed and turned to Talon. “He was behaving suspiciously. When I confronted him about it, he risked his life to escape, rather than accepting imprisonment. Wyrms don’t act that way unless somedragon is depending on them. Less than a day later, Equestria used ‘something a lot like the Crystal Heart’ to blast you all out of the Empire.” She adjusted her grip around Talon’s shoulder and wing. “The evidence against him just keeps growing.”

Yol Toor let go of his muzzle. “The Crystal Heart itself remains in our possession, but he may have found a way to replicate it and then taught that to Equestria. I always sensed some kind of ulterior loyalty within him, but I never expected it to be to Equestria. Perhaps it wasn’t to Equestria at all, though. He could have simply been abducted by them and-” He clamped his mouth shut again.

“We can’t hold the Empire if Equestria can make Crystal Hearts at will,” Aurora said, still with her eye shut. The elderly ice wyvern ‘looked’ up at the roof of the cave, her expression unreadable. “Giving Equestria time to regroup is less than optimal, but flying headlong into a situation we don’t fully understand is even worse.” She brought her head back down. “We will hold off on attempting to reclaim the Crystal Empire until we have more information on this new Crystal Heart. The supplies we’ve gathered will last for nearly a year if we ration them. Time will let us devise a new strategy. Torch,” she turned to an empty spot on the cave floor, “you said you recognized the creature that aided Gemstone Aura?”

Talon looked more closely and saw a miniaturized version of Torch sitting on the floor. He nodded gravely. “The Rocky Shore Clan has legends of a creature called a draconequus.” Oddly, his voice was as deep and strong as ever. “I never saw it until today, but it’s supposed to be nearly unstoppable. Only the Bloodstone Scepter can protect us from it.”

“It did retreat when you invoked the Scepter’s power,” Aurora said. “For now, we will act as though the Bloodstone Scepter is the only thing keeping us safe. Our spies should look for information about that creature as well.” Aurora lowered her gaze to the other dragons. “Until we are ready to act once more, we should assume that anything Gemstone knew about us has been shared with Equestria.”

“I’ll warn our spies to be careful,” Heart said. The light around her shifted to green. “Equestria will probably want to get rid of them as soon as possible.”

“We should look for strategies to kill Celestia and Luna too,” Silver Tail said. “We shouldn’t underestimate foes that melted the Frozen North just to prove a point.”

As they discussed other problems and strategies, Talon struggled to pay attention. Her head felt both light and heavy at the same time, and she found herself leaning more and more against Heart.

The wyrm dragoness must have noticed, because at the next lull in the conversation, she said, “Let’s take this somewhere else. I think we’ve kept Talon awake long enough already.”

“No, it’s okay,” Talon said, fighting down a yawn. “You don’t have to move.”

Heart rolled her eyes. “You and Tornado both need your rest.”

“Tornado?” She looked at the sleeping drake again. “Is he okay?”

“He got a rather bad concussion from diving to catch you,” one of Yol Toor’s daughters said. They both had white scales, gray horns, and golden eyes, but Talon was moderately confident that this one was Dun Brii, Tornado’s ancestor.

“It was kind of awesome to watch, though,” the other said. Qo Peyt, if Talon remembered correctly.

The rest of the group turned to stare at her.

“What? I got woken up by a giant shield smashing me through a bunch of houses, and the first thing I see is a drake diving toward a wyvern with one paw stretched out to grab her and the other holding a stuffed toy that he knows she cares about, while calling her name at the top of his lungs.” She sighed wistfully. “If I was nine hundred years younger and single, I would have swooned right there.”

Talon didn’t share the sentiment. In fact, she was seriously considering finding a hole to crawl into and die. Sleeping with a toy, like a hatchling, and getting to play the damsel in distress, both in front of my leaders. Seriously, Ancestors, can this get any worse?

“You don’t have to look so embarrassed,” Silver Tail said to her. “Tornado’s a nice drake, and nodragon here is going to judge you if you two have been sharing some,” he winked, “private training sessions.”

The sound of a wing slapping onto a forehead echoed throughout the cave.

“You know, Talon,” Heart said, “you really should avoid more head trauma until you’ve gotten over your concussion.”

Chapter 23

The cavern was bustling with activity as thousands of ponies packed up supplies and equipment then loaded them into wagons. There were also a lot of ponies shouting in surprise and running toward Spirit and Twilight, but that might have had something to do with the fact that Twilight had just teleported them into the cavern a few feet above large cauldrons full of soup.

Just maybe.

“It’s okay, everypony,” Twilight said, waving off a dozen offered hooves and climbing sheepishly out of a vat of tomato soup. “We’re fine.” She was probably blushing like mad under all that red liquid, but how could anyone tell?

Spirit grabbed onto the hoof of a sturdy-looking earth pony and climbed out of his own cauldron. “Yeah, we’ll pay for any damages too. I guess you could say that lunch is on us.” He licked up a bit of the white liquid that coated his scales. “Mm, cream of carrot soup.”

Twilight groaned and facehoofed, splattering more soup over her face. “That has to be the worst pun you’ve ever used.”

“Hey, I thought it was pretty good.” Spirit thanked the pony that had helped him and then started wiping the broth off of his scales.

Twilight tried to do likewise but only succeeded in working more of it into her fur. She gave up with a sigh. “Spirit, who’s the chef in charge? I need to apologize for this.”

A cream-colored unicorn stallion with a blonde mane stepped forward and bowed low. “Please don’t concern yourself it, Princess Twilight. There was no harm done, and we were about to start cleaning those pots anyway. Why don’t you go bathe instead, so you can rinse that soup out of your beautiful coat?”

“Um,” Twilight glanced at the gathered ponies, “are you sure you don’t want me to at least help clean up first? It was my fault, after all.”

The stallion held his bow. “We can manage. In fact, I insist, Princess.”

Spirit shrugged when Twilight looked at him for input. “You don’t have a lot of time until you’re supposed to meet up with Celestia, and Fluttershy would freak out if she sees you like this and thinks it’s blood.”

“Alright.” Twilight turned to Spirit, looking a little defeated. “Come on, let’s get cleaned up.”

“Sounds good.” Spirit started walking with her. As they left, he heard the chef ordering everypony back to work.

Groups of ponies fell silent as the sauce-encrusted duo passed. It was obvious that they were doing their best to look like they weren’t staring, while staring as much as they thought they could get away with.

“Rats,” Spirit muttered.

“Huh?” Twilight turned to him curiously.

“I know there’s a great joke in here somewhere,” he gestured to the two of them, “but I can’t figure out what it is.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Why are you trying to make a joke out of everything lately? I think you’ve been spending too much time with Dad.”

“Jokes are how I’ve stayed sane ever since the battle, Twilight,” Spirit said quietly. He pointed to a small tunnel to their side. “It’s down this way.”

It took a few more steps for him to realize that his sister wasn’t following him anymore. He turned back to her. “What’s the holdup?”

Even drenched in tomato soup, Twilight managed to look remorseful. “I’m sorry, Spirit. I should have been more sensitive.”

“Relax, Sis. It isn’t a big deal.” He motioned down the tunnel. “Come on, I don’t know about you, but I have soup congealing in uncomfortable places and I’d like to wash it off ASAP.”

After another moment’s hesitation, she started walking again. “You know I’m here if you need to talk to someone about it, right?”

“Thanks, but you really don’t need to worry.” Nightmares and blood-soaked flashbacks were par for the course around here. Spirit didn’t think he had the right to complain when all he had done was stand on the sidelines and direct the others.

“Right now,” Spirit continued, “what we need most is someone to replace Fluttershy on Eyes’ team. They need to be a close- to mid-range fighter capable of holding off even drakes so that Eyes can focus her attack spells on supporting Cliff and Dash at a distance. The only fighter I know of that fits the criteria is Big Mac, and he already said that he wouldn’t join the Platoon.” Spirit sighed in aggravation. The Sonic Rainboom was their best weapon against large groups of dragons, but Dash couldn’t use it as well without a good support team.

“Maybe I can talk with Big Mac when we get to Everfree,” Twilight said. “I know he must be worried about supporting his family, but the planting season won’t be here for another five months. He might be willing to help us until then.”

Spirit shrugged. “It can’t hurt to ask.”

They reached the bathing area, a small cavern with a stream trickling through the far end of it. A couple of glowstones along the bed revealed that it was only a foot deep in most places, and metal grates had been placed at both the entry and exit points. There were nearly a dozen other ponies in the stream already, with more drying themselves off on the sand that coated the rest of the cavern floor.

Ignoring the curious looks they were getting, Spirit walked over to the stream and plopped himself down between a pegasus and a crystal pony. “Oh my Celestia, that’s cold,” he gasped, drawing a few chuckles from the other bathers. A few dozen feet away, Twilight was going through a similar ordeal.

Spirit scrubbed himself off as quickly as he could before climbing back onto the sand and blowing some fire on his arms and chest to warm himself up.

Not surprisingly, Twilight took longer. Fur was a lot harder to get clean than scales, and she had a pair of wings to deal with as well. They also hadn’t brought along a brush or a comb, and there wasn’t time to preen her wings properly, so she looked like a half-drowned purple rat by the time she crawled ashore.

A chuckle escaped Spirit’s lips. “Need me to dry you off?”

“If you wouldn’t mind.”

Spirit took a deep breath then released a stream of emerald flames onto his sister. It was fairly cold by the standards of dragon fire, which meant somewhere around a thousand degrees.

Thanks to her pendant, a round piece of steel with an amethyst in the shape of her cutie mark, Twilight emerged completely unharmed. “Thanks, Spirit.” She ran a few waves of magic through her mane and tail to get out the worst of the snarls. “Come on, we need to hurry if we’re going to meet up with Celestia on time.” She motioned for him to follow then hurried out of the chamber.

“I think you mean that you need to hurry so that you can meet up with her on time,” Spirit said as he pulled up alongside her. “I’m not going back to Everfree yet, remember?”

Twilight blushed. “Sorry. I wish you could come with us.”

“I do too,” Spirit admitted, “but we both need to go where we can do the most good.” In Twilight’s case, that meant developing new weapons and armor in her lab at Everfree. She would teleport up with Celestia whenever it look like a battle would break out, so it wasn’t like the Platoon would lose out on much of anything.

They reached the tunnel leading to Fluttershy’s room and slid to a stop when they found a large wooden table, covered with treats, blocking their path. Rainbow Dash was seated at it, helping herself to a plate of doughnuts.

She looked up and waved. “Oh hey, Twilight, how’s it going?”

“We’re here to get Fluttershy,” Twilight replied, rushing over to embrace her friend. “I wish we could talk, but I only have three minutes left before I have to meet up with Celestia. I expect lots of letters from you, telling me how you're doing. You too, Spirit. Bye!” With one final hug for each of them, she skirted around the table and hurried down the tunnel.

Spirit and Dash stared at each other and shrugged in Twilight’s wake.

“So anyway,” he gestured at the table, “where did this thing come from?”

“Oh, Discord created it. He said we could help ourselves when he came to say goodbye.” Dash patted the seat next to her. “You want anything?”

Spirit looked at the table. There were cookies, cakes, pies, and a dozen other things that made his mouth water. Glancing up, he saw that Twilight had reached the end of the tunnel and was shaking Cliff awake. It looked like he had fallen asleep while leaning against the door there. “Sure. Cliff and Fluttershy don’t need someone else butting into their goodbye.” Half the food was probably laced with poison joke, but he happened to know that Shining Armor kept a supply of the cure ever since the last time Discord visited the Crystal Empire.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Fluttershy woke to the sound of voices. Cliff and Twilight were whispering about something nearby. A part of her understood what Twilight’s presence meant, but the rest of her mind shied away from it. She pulled her blanket more tightly around her and willed the voices to be a dream.

In spite of her hopes, she heard Cliff whispering through the door to her, “Fluttershy, it’s time to get up.” After a few seconds of silence, he tried again, “Fluttershy?”

“I’m up,” she whispered back. Regretfully, she pulled off her brown cotton blanket and pushed herself up. “I’ll be ready soon.”

“Can I help you with anything?” Twilight offered.

Fluttershy paused and looked around the small, roughly triangular cavern that had been her home for nearly a week. Aside from the blankets, a couple of dimensional pockets, and a chamber pot in the far corner, there really wasn’t anything there. It was all just gray walls, lit by a single glowstone in the gray ceiling, casting light on a gray floor. There was nothing here that she wanted to take with her, least of all the part of herself that had focused only on her own pain when those around her were suffering. “N-no, it’s okay.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked.

“Yes.” She knew that Cliff and Rainbow Dash were both hurting from seeing her like this. Fluttershy couldn’t stop the nightmares, or the flashbacks, or the fits of crying, no matter how hard she tried, but at least she could take them somewhere else, somewhere that they couldn’t hurt those she loved. “I think I’m ready to go, but, Cliff?”

“What is it?” His voice was so warm, so full of compassion. Fluttershy couldn’t imagine what it would be like to live without it.

She swallowed. “Whatever happens, promise me that … you’ll survive. You have to promise, you have to swear that nothing will happen to you!” She bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from crying.

At first Cliff didn’t respond, then he took a deep breath and said, “Before all the Stars in the sky, I solemnly promise that I will survive this war and return to you unharmed.”

In spite of everything else, Fluttershy felt her spirits lift a tiny bit. That pledge was sacred to wyrms and only given when they felt that the Stars themselves would aid in fulfilling it.

Maybe they would. Just this once.

“I know you’re scared, beautiful,” Cliff said, “but right now there’s nothing I want more than for you to be away from all this. It might be selfish of me to say this, but go back to Everfree and focus on your own well being for a change. Rainbow and I will be back before you know it.”

“Okay,” Fluttershy whispered, blinking away a tear. “You’ve never been selfish, though. I love you, Cliff.”

“I love you too, Fluttershy,” he whispered back, “so very much.”

She pressed her forehead against the door, wishing she could feel him through it. “Twilight, I-I’m ready.”

Twilight appeared at her side in a burst of purple magic. “Don’t worry, Cliff, she’ll be in good hooves.”

“I know, Twi. You two look after each other.”

“We will.” She gently touched her horn against Fluttershy’s side, and the world around them disappeared.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Fluttershy didn’t remember much about the journey home. There had been a large cavern and dozens of ponies with lowered heads and sad eyes. Celestia had been talking, her voice full of compassion as the rhythmic dripping of water echoed in the distance.

Twilight had helped Celestia teleport them all back to Canterlot. Fluttershy remembered seeing them standing together, an aura of power around them both, but what came afterwards was a blur.

Somehow, Fluttershy and Twilight wound up on a train to Ponyville, along with Sea Swirl and Meadow Song. Those two plus Fluttershy were the only members of the Everfree Platoon to go home for psychological reasons.

The other ponies in the train car chatted happily among themselves, while silence hung over the residents of Everfree. Fluttershy remembered looking out the window and thinking how strange it was that silence could be wrapped in noise.

It had been a beautiful day outside. From halfway up Canterlot mountain, trees were reduced to bits of red and orange. Clusters of them dotted the land, breaking up the more gentle shades of green and yellow that dominated the countryside. Fluttershy knew that the last of the birds would be flying south any day now. Most of her other critter friends were already preparing for hibernation.

Mayor Mare stopped them at the train station and talked with Twilight for a couple of minutes before the group continued on its silent way.

Ponyville itself was a blur of crowds and shoving. If Twilight hadn’t been pressed against her side, Fluttershy would have collapsed from the weight of their stares. Everfree Forest was a safe haven by comparison. The reds, oranges, yellows, and greens that she had seen from the train surrounded them as they walked, but new colors joined them as well, like the browns of tree trunks and the blues from small patches of poison joke. It was too bad that no critters were around. She would have loved to see them again.

Eventually the forest rolled back to reveal Everfree Village. Fluttershy had to pause, pulling Twilight up short as well. Has it really only been ten days since they left? It felt like so much longer. She looked around. School was just getting out. Young ponies and dragons walked with groups of friends, talking excitedly about everything from homework to hoofball. The teenage and older wyrms sent shivers down Fluttershy’s spine. They were too much like her victims from the Dragon Alliance.

“I can get home on my own from here,” Sea Swirl mumbled, walking past the duo. “Thank you, Twilight.”

“You’re welcome, Sea Swirl,” Twilight replied. “Remember, all of you have your first meeting with the therapist on Monday.”

“I will,” she said before trudging away.

“I should go home on my own too,” Meadow Song said. “Fritter deserves a stallion who can do at least that much.” He swallowed and walked off as well.

Twilight watched the two ponies walking away for a moment before turning to Fluttershy. “By the way, now that we’re alone, I should tell you that your parents are here.”

Fluttershy snapped out of her trance-like state immediately. “Oh no, Mother and Daddy are here?” She ducked behind her friend. “Where are they? Do they know that I was in the Platoon?”

Twilight wrapped her wings around the yellow mare. “Shh, Fluttershy, it’s okay. They’re at the house, and yes they know that you were in the Everfree Platoon. It’s strange, but they didn’t know until I sent them a letter to tell them about your trauma. Your mother thought Cliff was trying to hide it from them, but I told them that you probably sent a letter to let them know what you were doing and it got lost in the mail somehow.”

“A-actually,” Fluttershy shivered, “I never told them.”

“What?” Twilight gasped. “Why not?”

A chilly breeze washed over both of them, which did nothing to help Fluttershy’s shivering.

“Mother always said that she’d … that she’d k-kill Cliff if he ever let me get hurt.” She buried her face in the alicorn’s fur. “I knew she would get angry at him if I told her that I joined the Platoon to help him.”

“She is really upset,” Twilight admitted, hugging Fluttershy closer with her wings. “She wants you to go back to Cloudsdale with her.”

Fluttershy shook her head against Twilight’s coat. “I don’t want to go.”

Twilight wrapped her hooves around the other mare as well. “It will be okay, Fluttershy. We’ll all support you.”

Fluttershy sank into the embrace, drawing strength from her friend’s warmth. “Could you talk to her, maybe? I-I don’t want to argue with her right now.”

“I understand.” Twilight gently stroked the yellow mare’s mane. “I’ll talk to her. Let’s just get to your house for now. Everypony is waiting for us.”

Nodding reluctantly, Fluttershy followed after her friend.

“By the way,” Twilight said after the first few blocks, “Rarity and I were thinking that maybe we could move in with you for a while. Just if you don’t mind, of course.”

Fluttershy was stunned by the offer. Without Rainbow Dash or Cliff, she had expected to spend most of her time alone. “I would like that,” she whispered, “if it’s not too much trouble on either of you, that is.”

Twilight shook her head. “It’s no trouble. Things would be pretty lonely for me since everyone left, and I know Rarity wants to try living with roommates.”

“Thank you.” Fluttershy rubbed against her sister-in-law’s side. “I don’t deserve such wonderful friends.”

“Yes you do, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. “Don’t ever forget that we’re all here for you.”

The rest of their walk was uneventful. A few dragons and ponies called out greetings as they passed, but that was it. After a few minutes, Fluttershy’s home came into view.

The yellow pegasus hesitated when she saw it. Even though she wouldn’t have to stay there alone anymore, just knowing that Cliff wasn’t inside made it seem empty somehow.

“It’s okay,” Twilight whispered reassuringly. She led them to the door and pushed it open.

A small white shape leaped out of the house at Fluttershy and latched onto her foreleg.

Fluttershy gasped in surprise and reared back until she recognized her pet. “Angel? Oh Stars, you scared me.”

“Angel!” Twilight pried the bunny off with her magic. “I told you not to surprise her!”

“No, Twilight, it’s okay.” Fluttershy pressed a hoof against her chest and breathed deeply, trying to calm her frantic heart. “I missed you too, Angel.” She lifted him out of her friend’s magical field and gave him a hug.

“Okay, if you’re sure,” Twilight said. She pushed the front door the rest of the way open and walked inside. “Hello, everypony, we’re back.”

Pinkie and Applejack were lying in front of the large nest in the front room. There was a deck of cards scattered on the floor in front of them.

“Welcome back, Fluttershy,” Pinkie said. Her voice was uncharacteristically soft and she looked sad, even though she was most likely responsible for all the balloons and confetti that littered the room. “Sorry about Angel.”

“Yeah, we were supposta be watchin’ him. Still, it’s good to see ya again, sugarcube.” Applejack took off her hat and pressed it to her chest. “Welcome home.”

The sound of movement made Fluttershy look over to the dining room, where she saw both of her parents and Rarity climbing out of their seats around the table.

Her father, Sunrise, approached cautiously. Like his daughter, he had a thin frame and large eyes, though his eyes were deep green and his coat was orange. “Hello, Flutters. How are you feeling?”

The light reflected off his red mane just wrong for a moment, making it look like fresh blood.

Fluttershy’s stomach clenched and refused to calm down, even after he stepped closer and the visual effect ended. She hugged Angel more tightly and forced herself to keep looking. “I-I’m okay.”

He stopped just a few inches away and raised a hoof tentatively. “Can I hug you, darling?”

Instead of responding, Fluttershy moved Angel to her back and wrapped her hooves around her father. “I love you, Daddy.”

A cream-colored pair of hooves wrapped around the two of them as Silver Lining, her mother joined the hug. “I am so sorry, Fluttershy. I should have kept you safe.”

“There’s nothin’ you coulda done,” Applejack said, climbing out of the nest.

Silver Lining looked up from the embrace, her icy blue eyes hard. “It is well documented that wyrms have a distorted view of conflict. They would have to if they sent my daughter, of all ponies, to the front line. I should have anticipated that they would want to capitalize on her ability to use the Stare and taken steps to prevent what happened.”

The force of her gaze made Applejack stumble backwards, bumping into the nest behind her.

Silver Lining turned her attention back to her daughter. “We can stay here tonight, Fluttershy, but in the morning we have to return to Cloudsdale, and you will be coming with us. It is time we had a very serious discussion about your marital status to that dragon.”

Twilight swallowed and stepped forward. “Actually, Madam Silver Lining, we need to speak about that.” She caught Fluttershy’s gaze and nodded reassuringly. “Everfree Village is the best place for Fluttershy right now. We have some of the best cognitive therapists in Equestria, Fluttershy has familiar surroundings and a strong support network here, and moderate exposure to wyrms will be an important part of her recovery.”

“And how can I be sure that she will be safe here?” Silver Lining’s wings tightened around Fluttershy, almost to the point of being painful. “Your committee has already thrown her into danger once.”

“Fluttershy volunteered for the Everfree Platoon,” Twilight said firmly. “None of us forced her into it, and none of us expected the Platoon to see battle, but it did, and now we’re doing everything we can to help her. Everfree Village is her home, and no one has the right to take her away from it if she doesn’t want to go.”

Angry silence filled the room, and Fluttershy found herself desperately wishing she could escape to somewhere else, anywhere else. Tears started to roll down her cheeks, and she wasn’t even sure why.

“Silver,” Sunrise said quietly, putting a hoof on his wife’s shoulder.

Silver Lining met his gaze, and a silent conversation passed between them. Eventually, she lowered her head and released Fluttershy. “Very well.” She looked back to Twilight. “I have permanent residency in Everfree Village. We will have a cloud house delivered within the week so that I can remain here and oversee Fluttershy’s rehabilitation.”

Twilight looked confused. “Just you?”

“Sunrise will return to Cloudsdale to oversee our responsibilities there.” Silver Lining’s voice softened ever so slightly as she spoke. For Fluttershy’s mother, that was the same as a heartfelt embrace and a proclamation of love.

“Can I get you anything, Flutters?” Sunrise asked. “Your friends were nice enough to bring lots of food over for you, and it would be a shame to let it go to waste.” He gestured to a pile of snacks on the counter.

Fluttershy from her mother, who was still looking icily at Twilight, to her father, was clearly trying to direct the conversation in a happier direction. She wiped her cheeks. “I am kind of thirsty.” A strange sense of deja vu overcame her as she remembered another party, on the day she met Cliff, and how her guilt over using the Stare on him had driven her to ask him relentlessly if she could bring him a snack or a drink. That had been less than four years ago, but it seemed like another lifetime. Would her past self even recognize her now?

Sunrise went to get her a drink, taking Silver Lining with him.

“It’s good to have you back, dear,” Rarity said, coming forward to hug Fluttershy.

Applejack joined them.

Pinkie wrapped her forelegs around the whole group. “I’m really sorry I couldn’t throw you a bigger party, but Twilight said that you need to rest and relax more than anything. I hope you don’t mind. I can throw you a better party when you’re feeling better.”

“It’s okay, Pinkie.” Fluttershy blinked away a fresh set of tears. Why couldn’t she stop crying lately? “I like smaller parties.”

“How’re ya holdin’ up?” Applejack asked.

More tears were falling. Fluttershy tried to focus on everything her friends had done to help her. “I’m okay.”

Does a murderer really deserve such good friends?

Her stomach clenched harder, making it hard to breath. “I’m okay,” Fluttershy repeated, willing herself to believe it.

Chapter 24

Dr. Insight looked up from her desk with a kindly smile. She was an older unicorn with a chocolate coat and a creamy white mane that complimented the gentle timbre of her voice “Ah, Fluttershy, so good to see you again.” She gestured to a couch. “Would you like to take a seat, or do you feel like standing again today?”

Fluttershy had always liked this office. Unlike most buildings in Everfree, the inner walls were made of wood, enchanted so it couldn’t catch fire. Pictures of landscapes dotted the walls, except for right behind the Psychiatrist’s desk, which held a license, her degrees, and several pictures of her family. The desk itself was small and unimposing, with only a few stacks of paper, a notebook, and a tiny artificial waterfall, which filled the room with the sound of running water. Aside from the couch in front of Fluttershy and the desk to her left, there were also two chairs and a small table against the wall to her right.

She stepped into the office and closed the door behind her. “I’ll stand, uh, if you don’t mind, that is.”

“Not at all. It’s perfectly,” Dr. Insight winked, “under-stand-able.” She chuckled and adjusted her glasses. “Oh, Dr. Stable is going to have my license if he finds out I’m still telling jokes like that.”

Fluttershy smiled timidly. “I don’t mind.” She moved deeper into the office and stood in the open space in front of Dr. Insight’s desk.

“Well that’s what matters.” Dr. Insight heaved herself up and walked to one of the chairs opposite her. “There’s plenty to talk about, but I suppose the first and most important question is, would you like a cookie?” She lifted a plate of them off the table and held it out to Fluttershy with both forehooves. “Baked fresh this morning.”

“Oh, uh, thank you,” Fluttershy said meekly, picking out a white chocolate and macaroon one from the pile. She took a bite. As always, Dr. Insight’s treats were delicious.

Dr. Insight returned the plate to the table and lifted her notebook off the desk with her magic. Her magical aura was the same light green color as her eyes. “How is your nausea? I’d hate to make you sick.”

“It’s okay.” Fluttershy wiped a few crumbs away from her mouth self consciously. “It hurts more in the evening lately, around dinnertime.” She took another bite of the cookie, although more carefully than her first one.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Dr. Insight scribbled a quick note in her book. “How are your other symptoms?”

Fluttershy swallowed the last of the cookie and pretended to be interested in something on the doctor’s desk. “They’re okay,” she whispered.

Dr. Insight remained silent, but Fluttershy heard her put the notebook down. She didn’t have to look to know that the older unicorn was leaning forward slightly with a look of patient expectation. It was the same look she got every time Fluttershy tried to dodge a question.

The yellow mare bowed her head. “I still have the nightmares,” she whispered. “Blood. Dragon hatchlings demanding to know why I killed their parents. Sometimes Cliff is in them.” She remembered claws sinking into her flesh and a pair of remorseless eyes that both did and didn’t belong to her husband. A shudder passed through her as she wrapped both wings around herself. “Last night, he … killed me.”

“You aren’t a bad pony, or even a bad wife, for having these dreams, Fluttershy.”

“Yes I am.” She clenched her eyes shut, refusing to let more tears fall. Her tears always inconvenienced others.

“No you aren’t,” Dr. Insight said, her voice firm. “Princess Luna has published several books on the subject of dreams, and every single one of them says that sometimes dreams are just dreams, random combinations of thoughts and worries with no real bearing on the pony experiencing them.”

She got out of her chair and lifted Fluttershy’s head so that they could look each other in the eyes. “Flashbacks and recurring nightmares are common after a traumatic experience. Cliff was there during the battle, so it’s to be expected that he would show up in your dreams as well.”

Fluttershy nodded silently. She had heard that nearly every session for the past six weeks, but it still didn’t help.

Dr. Insight smiled sadly and whispered, “It’s okay. Knowing something and believing it are two very different things.” She returned to her seat and held out the plate of cookies again. “How’s Discord? You said he visits you sometimes.”

“I think he’s back to full strength.” Fluttershy frowned and took another cookie. “But he keeps asking if Cliff has told me something yet.”

“Told you what?” Dr. Insight set the plate back down.

“I don’t know,” Fluttershy said. “He won’t tell me.”

“Do you think it’s one of his pranks?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “If Cliff is hiding something, it must be for a reason. He’ll tell me when he thinks the time is right.”

“That’s very nice of you.”

“Rarity says that trust is the most important part of a relationship,” Fluttershy said. “Mother doesn’t agree with her, though. She says that respect and honesty matter most.”

“Oh dear.” Dr. Insight picked up one of the cookies and took a bite. “Are those two fighting again?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, Mother calmed down as soon as she read your note about exposure therapy. She even started asking Whisper to come over more often.”

“That’s good to hear.” Dr. Insight smiled. “Whisper is such a sweet young dragoness.”

“She is.” A weak smile made its way onto Fluttershy’s face.

“Maybe Rarity and Silver Lining can put their disagreements behind them.”

Fluttershy’s smile faded. “I’m not sure. Mother thinks Rarity is coddling me, and Rarity thinks Mother is being too harsh with me, but they both say they’re only doing what’s best for me.”

Dr. Insight hummed thoughtfully. “It might help if I explained to them that they’re both right, in their own way.”

“They are?” Fluttershy asked.

Dr. Insight nodded. “Trauma and anxiety are as real and as painful as a broken leg. It simply isn’t possible to carry on like nothing is wrong. Rarity is helping you while you recover, and I can’t thank her enough for that. However, physical therapy is also an important part of recovering from any major injury, and that means pushing yourself and the affected area so that it can be as strong as it used to be. Everything your mother does, from having you do household chores again to taking you on daily walks, is meant to push you in the same way, so that you can be as strong as you used to be.” She smiled. “They’re both just doing what they think is best, and both methods are important to your recovery, but I’ll talk to them after I get off work. There’s no need for them to fight when they both have the same goal.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Please, and thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now then, how are your animal friends?”

Fluttershy was happy to answer that question and spent quite a few minutes talking about Angel and her other critter friends. The ones that weren’t already hibernating came to see her whenever they could, and they always had stories to tell about the other denizens of the forest.

It wasn’t until near the end of their session that Dr. Insight brought up a difficult subject once more, “Do you have any plans for Hearth’s Warming Eve?”

“… Yes.” Fluttershy lowered her head. “We’re going to spend the night at Sweet Apple Acres. Daddy will even be flying in from Cloudsdale.”

“What’s wrong, dear?” The elderly unicorn set her notebook aside. “That sounds like it will be nice.”

“Well,” Fluttershy moved her hoof in small circles on the floor, “there are a few things.”

Dr. Insight silently gestured for her to continue.

“Big Mac,” Fluttershy said after a moment. “He won’t be there, because he took over for me in the Everfree Platoon.”

“Do any of the Apple family members blame you for his decision?”

Fluttershy had to stop and think about it. “No.”

Dr. Insight smiled affectionately. “Fluttershy, you’re surrounded by loving friends and family members that just want to help. They don’t want you to feel guilty for their support any more than you would want them to feel guilty if your positions were reversed.”

In spite of herself, Fluttershy felt a little better. “I guess that’s true.”

“As always, I’m here to help.” Dr. Insight picked up her notebook once more. “The holidays are a stressful time for us all. Maybe I can help with some of your other worries too. Only if you don’t mind talking about them, of course.”

A sigh escaped Fluttershy’s lips. “Well, there is one thing. I only have a few days left, and I still can’t think of anything to get Cliff.”

“Has he mentioned anything in his letters?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “He asked what I would like, but he hasn’t mentioned anything about himself.”

“I’m sure he would love anything you get him.”

“I know,” she admitted, “but this is the first Hearth’s Warming Eve that we haven’t been able to spend together, and I want to give him something special.” Fluttershy walked to the doctor’s desk and stared at the miniature waterfall there. It made her kind of thirsty to look at the running water. “Even though wyrms don’t normally celebrate our holidays, he always gave me a very thoughtful gift.”

“Even before you got married?”

“Yes.” She smiled. “It was during those months that we were traveling from coven to coven, asking for wyrms to move to Everfree. He had all of my friends write letters, telling me how much they missed me and loved being my friends. Pinkie and Applejack even sent us a nice dinner, and we spent the whole day relaxing and reading a book together.”

“Perhaps that’s your answer,” Dr. Insight said. “The most meaningful gifts are rarely about the gift itself. Rather, it’s the thought that goes into them.”

“That’s true …” But what could she do to show Cliff that she was thinking about him? Fluttershy already wrote him a letter every day. She glanced at the door. Maybe Rarity would have an idea … Her eyes widened. “Oh, I think I know what I can do.”

“Wonderful. Unfortunately, our time is up, but I can’t wait to hear what he thought at our session next week.” Dr. Insight groaned a little as she stood up. “Goodness, I’m not as young as I used to be.” Using her magic, she lifted the remaining cookies into a brown paper bag and passed it to Fluttershy with a wink. “For the Crusaders.”

Fluttershy gripped the bag with her wing. “Thank you, I’m sure they’ll love them.”

“It’s my pleasure,” the elderly unicorn hugged her. “Giving them a little treat is the least I can do to thank them for their help in your recovery. Speaking of which, your homework is the same as always; spend an hour outside of your house or your cottage each day. I assume your mother will see to it that you do that.”

Fluttershy nodded. Maybe they could go walking through Whitetail Woods this time instead of Everfree Village or Ponyville. “Thank you for everything, Dr. Insight.”

“I’m glad I can help.” The brown unicorn sank into the seat behind her desk once more and brushed some of her mane back into place with a hoof. “Do you feel up to telling Golden Song that he can come in next? If not, I can just have my secretary do it.”

“I-” Fluttershy swallowed, “yes, I can tell him.”

Dr. Insight smiled proudly. “You really are getting much better, dear. Happy Hearth’s Warming, and I’ll see you next Monday.”

“Happy Hearth’s Warming,” Fluttershy replied, blushing a little at the doctor’s words.

The lobby was mostly deserted when Fluttershy stepped out into it. Rarity was focused on the portable enchanting table she had brought with her, which sat in the chair next to her own. Fluttershy thought she recognized the components for a new magic battery on it.

Angel sat on the table’s other side, frowning angrily. When he saw Fluttershy, though, his expression lifted and he ran into her forehooves, squeaking his concern.

Fluttershy hugged him. “It went well. Thank you for worrying about me, Angel.”

The rabbit shrugged and communicated through a series of gestures and squeaks that he was just looking out for her, unlike a certain purple-haired fake that had spent most of the last hour trying to cram him into a stupid frilly outfit. He glared at Rarity.

Now that she was looking more closely, Fluttershy noticed a rabbit-size blue-and-white tuxedo on the seat next to her unicorn friend. “I’m sure she was just trying to be nice. Rarity puts a lot of effort into her clothes.”

Angel frowned and made a few suggestions about better ways she could be spending her time.

Fluttershy blushed and whispered, “Angel, it isn’t her fault that she hasn’t found a special somepony yet.” She glanced up at Rarity, who was still completely focused on her work. From there, her gaze wandered to the other patient in the lobby.

Golden Song was a light blue wyrm with black spikes. Fluttershy often wondered why he needed Dr. Insight’s help. He always looked so relaxed. Today he was sitting with his arms up and the back of his neck supported by his interwoven claws. The wyrm’s eyes were closed, and he was humming a tune that Fluttershy didn’t recognize.

Fluttershy transferred Angel to her back and approached him. Even more than a month since her return, being this close to an adult wyrm still made her shiver. She had killed dozens of dragons. What right did she have to speak to them after that? Fluttershy forced down her nagging thoughts and pressed forward. “Uh, excuse me, Golden Song, Dr. Insight says you can go in now.”

His eyes opened. They were the same color as ripe wheat, and crinkled slightly in a cheerful smile. “Oh, thank you, Lady Fluttershy.” He got up slowly and walked to Dr. Insight’s office.

Watching him go, Fluttershy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. A tiny smile of her own crossed Fluttershy’s lips as she realized that she had actually done it. She had spoken to a dragon other than Whisper! She went over to Rarity next.

Rarity jumped a little when the other mare touched her shoulder. “Oh, Fluttershy, how was your session?” She lifted the enchanting table into the air with her magic and stood up.

“It was nice.” Fluttershy led them both to the door and out into the streets of Everfree Village. It must have snowed while they were inside, because a thin layer of white powder crunched beneath their hooves as they walked. Luckily for Fluttershy, the street was also nearly deserted. A wyrm or two was one thing, but she didn’t think she could handle a whole street full of them just yet. “I think I finally know what to get Cliff for Hearth’s Warming.”

“That’s wonderful to hear, darling,” Rarity said. “What did you have in mind, and is there anything I can do to assist you with it?”

“I might need you to help a little.” Fluttershy’s wings twitched nervously. “Only if you don’t mind, of course. I want to knit a blanket for him, but Hearth’s Warming Eve is just two days away and I’m not sure if I can finish it that quickly on my own.”

Rarity smiled and rubbed against her friend’s side. “I would love to help you, Fluttershy. It will also be nice to see you knitting again after so long.”

So long? Fluttershy thought back and realized that she couldn’t remember the last time she had knitted anything—before the war started, maybe. It had never occurred to her to knit anything since coming back home, but now that she was thinking about it, Fluttershy realized that she had missed knitting a lot. “I guess it has been a while.”

“Far too long,” Rarity agreed. “It’s always a shame to see talent such as yours going to waste, especially when you enjoy it so.”

Angel squeaked his agreement from his spot on Fluttershy’s back.

“I’m sure Cliff wants you to be happy as well,” Rarity continued, “even if he can’t be here to see it.”

Fluttershy remained silent as she thought about her friend’s words. It almost seemed wrong to be happy when Cliff, Rainbow Dash, and Big Mac were stuck in the Crystal Empire, constantly on the lookout against the Dragon Alliance. Then again, she also knew that none of them would want her to be miserable. Fluttershy stared up at the gray sky. Maybe she needed to try harder to be happy, and knitting something did sound like it would be fun.

By the time they got home, Fluttershy was surprised at how excited she felt. It had been a long time since she felt the satisfaction that came from making something with her own hooves and wings.

A motif afghan would be perfect, Fluttershy mused as she collected supplies from the spare nest chamber upstairs. They were fairly simple to make and easy for groups to work together on. She gathered several skeins of dark green yarn for the main color and went back downstairs.

Getting it completely done by Hearth’s Warming would be hard, but a part of Fluttershy was actually looking forward to the challenge.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Hundreds of miles to the north, Heart Echo, Talon, Crystal, and Tornado sat in a nest in the home cave of the Ice Spire Clan, methodically working their way through a large stack of metal sheets that sat in the middle of their little circle.

Talon’s frown grew a little more with each spy report that described ponies as generally peaceful and loving. It made her wonder how things might have gone differently between the Alliance and Equestria.

She picked up a new sheet of metal. “Another report on this holiday the ponies are about to celebrate.” Talon skimmed down it a bit and groaned. “And they included the complete script for the Hearth’s Warming Eve Pageant again.”

“I think it’s a nice idea for a holiday,” Crystal said.

“I’ll definitely take it over dealing with the Hurricanes,” Heart said. “Every day, I have to talk the Council out of another plan to kill every pony in the Crystal Empire.”

“Yol Toor would never agree to kill civilians,” Tornado said firmly.

“He promised to obey the Council,” Heart said. “He won’t have a choice if the Hurricanes ever get a majority vote for one of their genocidal plans, and Equestria would never forgive us either, which is bad, because the Hurricanes already have five of eleven votes in the Council, and my vote only counts as a tiebreaker.” She sighed. “No wonder the wyverns were constantly at war with those five in charge.”

“Don’t talk bad about the Hurricanes,” Talon whispered quickly, looking around to make sure nodragon had heard them. “Do you have any idea what they do to disobedient underlings?”

“I would never let them harm any of you,” Tornado said.

“You wouldn’t have a choice in the matter,” Talon said, “but thanks for the thought.”

“I’m not one of their underlings anyway,” Heart said. “So I’m allowed to say whatever I want.” She picked up another spy report and started reading through it.

Talon went back to her own report. Apparently the spy in Manehattan had stumbled across some kind of creature that looked like a pony but wasn’t. They had nearly come to blows before realizing that neither of them was an ally of Equestria. Now the spy wanted to know how to respond when they met up again. Talon put that into the pile of reports that would require the Council’s attention.

“Let me know if anydragon finds the report from Everfree Village,” Heart said. “Maybe this is the week that Gemstone finally reveals himself.” Her claws clenched into fists, like they always did when she mentioned Gem.

Crystal smiled sympathetically and put a wing over the smaller dragoness. “There’s no need to be so hard on yourself. Gem fooled us all.”

Heart gripped her friend’s wing for a moment before setting aside the report she had been reading. “I shouldn’t have let him work on the Crystal Heart. It must have brought all his pony sympathies boiling to the surface, and all signs indicate that he taught Equestria how to make a new Crystal Heart. Without that, Equestria probably would’ve surrendered soon and no more dragons or ponies would have to die.” She threw the spy report into the pile of read ones, making it clatter noisily against the other metal sheets. “So yeah, I think there’s at least a little need to be hard on myself.”

“I have the Everfree Village report,” Tornado said, motioning with one paw at the bound stack of sheets lying in front of him. “There is no mention so far of a new wyrm in the Village, though it claims that the Equestrian army was hiding in a series of caves and tunnels that connects the Crystal Mountains to the Empire itself.”

Talon looked up and met Crystal and Heart’s eyes. “We’ve considered that possibility,” she said, turning to face Tornado, “but is the spy sure, or is it just a guess?”

Tornado read some more of the report. “He, or she, claims to have overheard four separate ponies discussing the matter in private. One of them was Princess Twilight, and the other three were all members of the Everfree Platoon.”

“Alright,” Talon said, “but do they know where the tunnel entrance is?”

Tornado shook his head. “It says that the entrance is somewhere in the mountains to the west of the Empire, but they do not know the precise location and warn that it has likely been protected by any number of enchantments. There is a similar warning about the entrance to the Crystal Empire, wherever that may be.”

Talon looked around the cave. Two swarms of six hundred dragons each were off scouting around the Crystal Empire, and another swarm was digging for gems, but everydragon else was sitting around waiting for something to happen. “If nothing else, we should have a few squads look around for the entrance. It’s not like they have anything else to do.”

“There is some information about the creature that aided Gemstone.” Tornado frowned as he continued to read. “I do not believe this is correct, though.”

“What does it say?” Heart asked.

“The report claims that the draconequus is named Discord and that it retrieved the Crystal Heart with the help of a wyrm named Cliff Runner.” He looked up at Heart. “That was the name of your cousin, correct?”

“Yeah, but Cliff didn’t help the draconequus, Gemstone did.” Heart frowned. “And we still have the Crystal Heart.”

“Maybe he replaced it,” Talon said. “Gem did pretty much all of the research on the Crystal Heart. Would Rune and the others even know if he swapped it out?”

Heart shook her head. “I have no idea.”

A surprisingly large grin split Tornado’s muzzle. “I just realized, Rune and Genesis both said that Gem was affected by some kind of chaos spirit just before his arrival at their coven. The draconequus is a chaos spirit, and now we know that it is an ally of Equestria. It may have planted Gemstone as a spy against his will. Meaning that he never truly betrayed us.”

“That …” Talon paused and thought about it. Of course Tornado would jump on any chance to vindicate Gemstone; he’d been doing that since the betrayal. Was his theory possible, though? “Gem showed up out of nowhere at Mystic Forest not long before the Alliance formed and randomly traveled to Moss Hills one day, the closest wyrm coven to the Great Tournament. It’s possible that he was controlled, but the draconequus would have needed to know that the Alliance was forming before the wyverns even arrived at the Great Tournament.”

“Before the first wyvern scouts even ran into the drakes,” Heart said, a look of concentration on her face. “But it might be possible that the draconequus, Discord, wanted to use Gemstone for something else, like getting the Bloodstone Scepter.”

“Then Gem is innocent?” Tornado asked hopefully.

“Probably not,” Heart said apologetically. “I know you want to trust your allies, but Gemstone’s unusual emotions made me pay extra attention to him the whole time I knew him. In nearly two months, I never caught a hint of anything that would indicate mind control. Right from the beginning, his emotions were more consistent with somedragon planning a betrayal. It’s more likely that he was an ally of Discord all along, maybe from Everfree Village.”

“Like your cousin in disguise,” Talon said. “The report did say that he helped Discord.”

“Cliff couldn’t have been Gemstone,” Heart said. “I talked to Cliff the night before our second battle, and Gemstone was working in the lab with Yol Toor and Clodhopper that whole night.”

“Is it possible that he replaced Gem on that last day?” Crystal asked.

“Maybe?” Heart cupped her chin in one hand. “I never read Gem’s emotions because of that anti-magic ring, but his body language was exactly the same as normal. Cliff would have to be an insanely good impersonator to imitate Gemstone so well.”

“Which wouldn’t have been necessary if Gem really was on Equestria’s side all along,” Talon said.

Heart nodded.

“So there are holes in every theory.” Talon massaged her right temple with one wing. “This would be a lot easier if we could just find Gem and get the truth out of him directly. If he really is a friend to the ponies, maybe he could even talk to them for us; negotiate a ceasefire until Silver Tail calms down enough to talk peace”

“That’s why all our spies are looking for him,” Heart said. “He can’t hide from them forever.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

“Gem?” a voice asked.

Cliff turned around. “Yes?”

Sitting against the wall of the barracks, two other wyrms in the Everfree Platoon looked back at him in confusion. One of them had paused in the act of offering a small ruby to the other.

“Oh, I …” Cliff shook his head. “Never mind.” He turned around and kept looking for his team. They didn’t seem to be inside of Everfree’s barracks, which was basically one giant nest for the hundred and twenty of them to share.

Stepping back outside, Cliff paused to look around. The sides of Silver Tail’s Trench, as it had been named, rose before him on either side, a constant reminder of the drake lord’s power. Yet the trench itself was filled with row upon row of barracks, circling all the way around the Crystal Palace. It was as if the soldiers of Equestria were telling the Alliance that they weren’t afraid, they would protect the Crystal Heart no matter what.

Cliff looked away from the Palace. There was a training yard nearby, bordering the edge of the trench, but it was taken up by a platoon of earth ponies training with a type of giant bow called a scorpio.

Maybe they’re in the mess hall. Options for entertainment were pretty limited around here. Buying souvenirs got old after the first week, and there wasn’t much else to do other than train, eat, and sleep.

On the way, he ducked down the gap between two barracks to avoid a group of crystal ponies singing ‘Deck the Halls with Pies and Cupcakes.’ As Gemstone, he had avoided crowds to minimize the risk of discovery. Cliff didn’t know why he was still doing it now, or why he kept looking over his shoulder, expecting to see an angry drake bearing down on him.

He reached the mess hall and slipped inside. The rest of his team wasn’t with all the other warriors, thank the Stars. He actually found them in the spare kitchen, away from the hustle and bustle of the cooking staff.

Blueblood was sitting at a counter, writing out a list of presents that he wanted for Hearth’s Warming. His armor now sported numerous embellishments to make it less ‘common.’ For starters, it was encrusted with hundreds of small gems and painted to look like a tuxedo. A plume of golden hair had also been added to the helmet, and for some reason, he had gotten his helmet enchanted to make his mane blow around dramatically for a few seconds every time he took it off.

Next to him, Fire Eyes and Rainbow were having a contest to see who could maintain a stream of fire the longest. Eyes was looking a bit blue in the face. Rainbow might have been turning blue as well. It was hard to tell with her fur color.

Eyes’ armor was the same as the day she had first gotten it, but Dash had painted hers light blue. She said it was to help her blend in against the sky, though Cliff had his suspicions. It was the exact same shade of blue that the Wonderbolts used for their flight suits. At least she had skipped the yellow underbelly.

On the far side of the counter, Big Mac had a green apron on over his armor and was calmly pulling a sheet of apple fritters out of the oven. Like the rest of them, he had taken his helmet off. It was sitting on the ground next to a barrel of Sweet Apple Acres cider, a gift from Applejack.

Cliff had often wondered what it would be like to really get to know the large earth stallion, and honestly, he was still kind of wondering. Big Mac showed up to all of their team practices without complaint, went along with it whenever someone wanted to spar, helped out wherever he could, and kept a completely neutral expression the entire time. Cliff only ever saw him smile when he was reading or writing letters to his family back at Sweet Apple Acres. He rarely spoke unless spoken to, and even then his answers were usually one word long. Like Fire Eyes, he hadn’t personalized his armor at all.

Cliff glanced at the metal covering his upper arm, where his suit’s only embellishment had been added; a pink butterfly, one on each shoulder. He cleared his throat. “Hey, everyone.”

Eyes and Rainbow stopped their contest. Big Mac and Blueblood both looked up, but then they went back to what they were doing before.

“Hey, Cliff,” Rainbow said between gasps of air. “Wh-where you been all day?”

“I was working on something in the lab.” Cliff took a seat on Rainbow’s right, opposite Fire Eyes and Blueblood, and undid the clasp on his helmet.

“Again?” Rainbow facehoofed. “When did you turn into such an egghead?”

“When Discord turned me into a rune master.”

“I still don’t see why he bothered,” Eyes said. “You were only impersonating that other dragon for what, five minutes?”

Actually, that other dragon never existed, and I was pretending to be him for four months, but no one here needs to know that. “He was just being cautious.” Cliff set his helmet on the floor and reached into the dimensional pocket at his hip to pull out a sapphire. “Plus it let me build this.” He placed the blue gem on the counter in front of Rainbow. “Now I just need an aura drake to test it on.”

Fire Eyes reached over and picked the gem up. “Hopefully they’ll attack soon. All this waiting around is driving me insane.” She held it up to the light. “Anyway, how does this thing work?”

“Just charge it with magic then chuck it at someone you don’t like.” Cliff stretched his arms above his head and yawned. “It explodes on impact, negating magic in the area that isn’t yours and hopefully draining the target to unconsciousness.”

“Nice.” Eyes glanced at Blueblood, a mischievous smile on her face.

“Don’t even think about it.” Cliff grabbed the sapphire out of her claws. “It took me nearly an hour to enchant this, and the rest of us would get caught in the blast as well.”

“Party pooper,” Rainbow said. “It would be totally worth it.”

“Nope,” Big Mac chimed in. The earth stallion set a plate with an apple fritter in front of each of them. Three cups of cider quickly followed.

“Woo, thanks, Mac!” Rainbow dove into her fritter with gusto, crunching happily and only pausing to lick bits of glaze off her cheeks and gulp down cider. “Apple family food is the best!”

Big Mac smiled indulgently. “Eeyup.”

“You do make great food.” Fire Eyes bit into her own snack with more restraint, but her grin made it obvious that she was enjoying it every bit as much as Rainbow.

Nodding, Big Mac walked over to Blueblood. “Fritter?” he asked, gesturing at the sheet of them behind him.

Blueblood looked up and wrinkled his nose in disgust. “You expect me to eat carnival food? Eugh, I would never debase myself so.” He went back to his list.

Big Mac just shrugged and made a plate for himself.

“And don’t even offer me any of that swill you call cider,” Blueblood added.

Rainbow choked on her fritter. “What did he just say?!” She grabbed the sapphire from Cliff's hands.

Cliff had just enough time to duck.

-_-_-_-_-_-

When Spirit heard the term ‘war room,’ he thought of steel walls, loads of scientific instruments, a gigantic map covering one wall, and dozens of workers running around to maintain everything.

Then again, if he imagined a war room designed by Cadance, the Princess of Love, his mind would cook up something pretty much identical to what he was seeing. Despite the sharp crystalline aesthetic of the palace, cheerful murals covered most of the walls, with potted flowers near the double doors leading in, and classical violin music coming from the gramophone in the corner. A large map did cover most of the table where they were all seated, but the tea and snack cakes in front of everyone ruined any chance the map had of seeming official or threatening. There weren’t even normal chairs. Instead, a number of deep-red love seats surrounded the table. If the Alliance had seen this room during their brief occupation of the Crystal Empire, they had probably passed it off as the Royal Gossiping Room or something.

Cadance and Shining Armor shared a love seat, even though their expressions were serious as they listened to Scenic Trail and Sky Painter, Spirit’s draconic parents, give their report.

Spirit sat with Autumn on the royal couple’s left. They were both studying papers in front of them, but as usual, their tails were intertwined.

Opposite them, Princess Luna and Heroic Destiny were sharing a love seat and doing their best not to look self conscious about being the only two in the room that were single.

An explosion in the distance made the entire room pause.

“Huh,” Sky Painter said after a moment, “I guess someone is having fun with their training today.”

Scenic Trail shrugged. “It’s probably just Rainbow Dash.”

“It sounded like it came from the kitchens,” Spirit said. He got up and looked out the window behind him. The Everfree Platoon had a kitchen all to itself, which was sporting a rather large hole in one of its walls. He squinted and was just able to make out the telltale sparkle of Prince Blueblood’s armor among the wreckage. “Ah, Blueblood must have pissed someone off again.”

“I can’t believe that he hasn’t learned to keep his comments to himself by now,” Autumn said. “In any case, I can help repair the damage after we finish here.”

Scenic Trail nodded. “Well as I was saying, our scouts have noticed increased activity among the Alliance forces lately. They might be getting ready for another attack.”

Luna nodded gravely. “I will increase guard forces on the wall. If they do not attack, nothing will have been lost.”

“At least we’ve been able to pick off a few of their scouting parties,” Sky Painter said. “Ambushing smaller groups has netted over fifty kills since the Empire was reclaimed.”

“Excellent work,” Autumn said, “but please be careful out there.”

“We will,” Scenic Trail promised.

Spirit looked away. All his life he had been taught that killing was wrong, and now his friends and family were getting congratulated for it.

“Actually,” Scenic Trail continued, “we were hoping to train some more troops for these kinds of hit-and-run skirmishes. Pegasi are faster than both wyverns and drakes in a straight flight, so they’d be ideal.”

“Do we really want to go down this road?” Spirit asked. “Look, I get it, the Alliance has sworn revenge on us, but it feels like all we’re doing with these ambushes is provoking them.”

“We’re chipping away at their numbers,” Autumn said, “and taking no losses of our own. This is exactly the kind of road we want to be going down.”

“She’s right, Spirit,” Shining said. “As horrible as it sounds, if a decision is dishonorable, unfeeling, or even cruel, but it will let more of our soldiers see their families again, then we owe it to them to not hesitate.”

“I agree,” Luna said. “I am authorizing your request, Scenic Trail and Sky Painter, though membership in ambush and assassination squadrons will be strictly voluntary. All must understand exactly what is being asked of them and can leave at any time.”

Spirit didn’t say anything. He could handle Heroic talking about something as horrible as mass murder. Luna was a bit of a shock, but he could deal with it. Even his draconic parents were understandable. Wyrms were as charitable as could be most of the time, but they really had no concept of the term ‘fighting dirty.’ Autumn and Shining Armor, though, they shared the same values as him, or at least he thought they did, and here they were arguing in favor of more killing. Spirit looked out the window and wondered what this war was turning them all into.

Chapter 25

Hearth’s Warming Eve had always been special to Fluttershy. Maybe it was because she sometimes wished she had been born an earth pony. Maybe it was because she had married a dragon. Maybe it was because she bore the power of one of the Elements of Harmony. Whatever the case, she loved the idea of taking an evening to celebrate friendship and unity between all creatures.

The Apple family’s front room was just a little crowded with Fluttershy, Twilight, Rarity, Angel Bunny, and all four Crusaders, but it was the happy kind of crowded. Pinkie would have been there too, but she was going with the Cakes to the Hearth’s Warming Eve Pageant.

Fluttershy was propped up against a small table, standing on her hind legs as she knitted with a combination of hooves and wings, pausing every now and then to sip from a large mug of apple cider.

Rarity sat at the same table, using magic to help knit the last of the presents they would be sending to the Crystal Empire the next morning.

Twilight sat opposite Rarity and was busy working preservation enchantments into the gifts they had already completed.

Fluttershy paused for a moment to look out the window. Snow was still coming down, coating the apple orchards in a blanket of white flakes. Despite the cold outside, warmth filled the room as the fireplace crackled merrily, and a pile of presents was stacked in the far corner of the room. It was almost a perfect vision of Hearth’s Warming Eve.

Even Angel Bunny was getting into the spirit of things, sitting in Whisper’s lap as the dark green wyrm stroked the fur on his head. The orange jacket that Sweetie Belle had knitted for him—with some help from Rarity—looked positively adorable on his small frame, especially with the mug of hot cocoa in his paws.

Mouth-watering scents from the kitchen revealed that Applejack and Granny Smith were still hard at work preparing a feast for them all. It was just a shame that Fluttershy’s stomach was hurting again. She resolved to eat a least a little bit of food anyway. It just smelled too delicious to pass up.

A content sigh escaped Fluttershy’s lips as she stood there, idly listening to the Crusaders talk about what they were hoping to get when they opened their presents. For perhaps the first time since leaving that dark cave beneath the Crystal Empire, she felt truly happy.

If Cliff were there, the moment would have been perfect, but at least his letter that morning had mentioned a large celebration being held in the Empire. Hopefully he was enjoying himself.

A knock at the door made all of them look up.

“AB, can ya get that?” Applejack called from the kitchen. “It’s probably Silver Linin’ comin’ back from pickin’ up her husband.”

“Sure, Sis,” Apple Bloom called back. She got off the couch, moved to the door, and pulled it open. “C’mon in, both a you. It’s freezin’ out there.”

Silver Lining stepped inside, wearing a beautiful blue dress that was studded with tiny sapphires and enchanted to protect its wearer from the cold. Fluttershy knew, because she had been there when Rarity made it. “Apple Bloom, remember what we talked about with formal manners.”

“Oh, sorry.” Apple Bloom bowed lightly. “Madam Silver Linin’, Sir Sunrise, welcome to our home.”

“Much better.” She stepped to the side, making room for her husband.

Sunrise came inside next, wearing a brown winter jacket that complemented his orange coat and red mane. “Thank you for inviting me.”

“No proble-” Apple Bloom looked at Silver Lining. “I mean, it was our pleasure.”

Silver Lining smiled approvingly. “Good. Remember, formality is a way of showing respect, but it is also a way of earning it.”

Apple Bloom nodded.

Meanwhile, Sunrise hurried over to Fluttershy and pulled her into a hug. “Oh, Flutters, it’s so nice to see you again! How are you feeling? Are you getting enough to eat?”

“Dear,” Silver Lining stepped up behind him, “she can only answer one question at a time, and I’ve made certain that she is eating well, at least.”

Apple Bloom joined them as well, extending a hoof to Sunrise. “I can take yer coat, if you want.”

“Oh, I forgot to take it off.” Sunrise’s cheeks flushed red. “I’m sorry. That was rude of me.” He took his coat off. “I’ll hang it up, if you don’t mind showing me where, that is.”

“No need to worry, the coat rack’s right over here.” Apple Bloom led him back toward the door.

Silver Lining watched him go with an amused look on her face. “Hurry back so that I can introduce you to everyone.”

“You’re right,” Sunrise said, hesitating halfway to the coat rack. “I’m sorry, just give me a moment, please.”

“And stop apologizing, dear.” Silver Lining shook her head, smiling slightly.

“Were you waiting in Ponyville long?” Rarity asked. “I hope that dress was warm enough.”

“Sunrise’s chariot arrived shortly after I did,” Silver Lining said, “and the dress held up admirably.”

“I wish you would allow me to refund at least some of your purchase,” Rarity said. “Consider it a family discount, if you will.”

“Quality work deserves full price.” Silver Lining glanced back at her husband, who had just rejoined them. “There you are.” She turned to the Crusaders. “Apple Bloom, Whisper, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, allow me to introduce my husband, Sir Sunrise. Sunrise, meet Apple Bloom, Whisper, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. These are the fillies who are helping Fluttershy with her recovery.”

The Crusaders all exchanged greetings with Sunrise.

“Although,” Silver Lining looked at Whisper, “may I ask why you are here? Fluttershy hardly needs a wyrm around tonight, when she should be able to relax.”

Stunned silence filled the room as jaws everywhere dropped.

Whisper cringed. “I-I c-can leave, if it w-would help.” Without even waiting for a response, she lifted Angel Bunny out of her lap and held him out to Sweetie Belle.

The sad look on all of their faces spurred Fluttershy into action. She moved forward and wrapped her wings around the young dragoness, preventing her from getting up. “Whisper, please stay. I really want you to be here.”

“A-are you sure?”

Fluttershy nodded.

“O-okay.” Whisper hugged her back. “T-thank you.”

Meanwhile, Angel was squeaking out some rather colorful suggestions for Silver Lining.

“I won’t tell her that,” Fluttershy whispered.

More squeaking, and a gesture he had learned from a wyrm at some point.

Fluttershy ignored that and turned back to Silver Lining. “Whisper has been like a little sister to me for years. She is one of the most sweet and thoughtful dragons I’ve ever met. Even though she’s working full-time in the lab, she comes over to my house every day to help me with my trauma. I want her to be here, Mother.”

Silver Lining chuckled softly and smiled just a bit. “Well done, Fluttershy, and thank you for your help, Whisper.”

Whisper squeezed Fluttershy again. “Y-you’re welcome. I was t-trying to cry, but I c-couldn’t fake the e-emmotions well enough.”

“What you did was more than enough.” Silver Lining met Fluttershy’s gaze. “This was a type of exposure therapy that I discussed with Dr. Insight. A gentle reintroduction to emotional conflict.”

“Y-You,” Rarity sputtered, “you did something like that to poor Fluttershy on Hearth’s Warming Eve of all nights?”

“Dinner’s ready!” Granny Smith called from the other room. “Y’all git in here so we can eat.”

Silver Lining kept her eyes on Rarity. “I have suffered through battle trauma as well, and helped dozens of other soldiers through it during my career in the military. You may disagree with my methods when you have a similar level of experience.” Then she turned walked into the kitchen.

The others trickled after her, leaving Whisper, Angel, and Fluttershy.

“I-I’m sorry about ups-setting you,” Whisper said quietly.

Fluttershy took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. “It’s okay.” She couldn’t remember the last time she had stood up to her mother so directly. It had felt … good.

Angel hopped out of Whisper’s lap and climbed into his favorite spot on Fluttershy’s back, still carrying his mug of cocoa.

Fluttershy did her best to hold still for him. “Please be careful not to spill.”

Angel assured her that she didn’t need to worry.

“Uh..?” Whisper fidgeted nervously.

“What is it?”

“Y-you said I’m kind of like a … a l-little sister,” she swallowed and looked up at Fluttershy timidly, “so would it be okay, maybe, if I called you my big s-sister sometimes?”

For a moment Fluttershy was too stunned to answer, then she pulled the young dragoness into a tight hug. “Of course you can, Whisper! You’re sure Fire Eyes won’t mind?”

Whisper shook her head, returning the hug. “F-Fire Eyes likes you a lot too.”

Fluttershy giggled. She had always wanted a little sister. “Okay then, um, Sis, let’s go eat dinner.”

A huge smile lit up Whisper’s face. “O-okay, Sis.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Ah, quiet. I remember this. Cliff walked to the edge of the balcony and glanced over the railing. He was about halfway up the Crystal Palace, just high enough that the singing below was reduced to a faint humming in the background. He hopped up onto the railing and let his feet dangle over the side.

“So this is where you were going,” Fire Eyes said behind him.

Cliff glanced back and saw his oldest friend standing at the door to the balcony, wearing full armor, like usual. “Hey, Eyes.”

“Hey.” She walked forward and leaned over the railing. Thousands of ponies filled the streets below, performing a complex song-and-dance routine, complete with multi-level harmonies and solo performances, and they hadn’t practiced it beforehand. At all. “Don’t you have dinner with Shining Armor and Cadance soon?”

Cliff nodded. Realistically, Shining and Cadance had only invited him because of his connection to Spirit, who would also be there, but at least it had been nice of them to include him. “I’ll meet up with them later, maybe. I just really needed to get away from the music for a while.”

“Ugh, I know.” Fire Eyes groaned. “I’m going to lose my mind if I hear ‘Crystal Bells’ one more time.”

“In that case, care to join me?” Cliff patted the railing next to him.

“Don’t mind if I do.” She climbed up next to him.

“What were they singing when you came up?” Cliff asked. “ ‘Deck the Halls’ again?”

Fire Eyes shook her head. “No, they graduated to ‘The Fire of Friendship’ after the pageant ended. Spirit was actually in the middle of a solo.”

Cliff laughed. “I’ve never understood how he can do that. I tried to join in a song with Fluttershy once. Big mistake.”

“How bad was it?”

“Let me put it this way, she said it might be a good idea if I didn’t try it again.”

Fire Eyes whistled. “Wow, you must have sucked.” She reached into one of the dimensional pockets on her suit and held out a small box wrapped in red paper with a golden bow on top. “By the way, here’s your gift.”

Cliff arched an eyebrow at her. The two of them had worked together to get presents for the rest of their team and most of their friends back at Everfree—ponies kind of expected that—but getting anything for each other had never come up. “What’s the prank?”

“Nothing,” she said in a voice that was way too innocent. “Now go on,” she pushed the box at him, “open it.”

“Alright, if you insist.” He took it and sliced off the wrapping paper with his claws before opening it.

The inside of the box was empty.

“When Rainbow asked what you wanted for Hearth’s Warming, you said ‘nothing,’ so I got it for you.” Fire Eyes grinned.

“Ah, how nice of you.” Cliff chuckled. “Thanks for nothing.”

“What can I say?” Fire Eyes punched him in the shoulder. “You deserve it.”

Cliff tossed the box onto the balcony behind them. “I actually got you the same thing, but I forgot to wrap it.”

“I think I can forgive you for that.”

The two of them shared a laugh before falling into comfortable silence.

A minute or two passed before Fire Eyes turned to Cliff. “What did you get Fluttershy, anyway?”

Cliff sighed. “I thought about telling her something that I should have a while ago, but that didn’t seem like a very nice gift.” He switched to a more dopey voice. “I love you so much, dear, that I won’t lie to you for a change.”

“So you were going to tell her that you and Rainbow hooked up?”

Cliff somehow managed to choke on the air he’d been breathing. “What?”

Eyes laughed. “Calm down, idiot, I was just kidding.”

“I hope so.” Cliff shook his head. “Rainbow would kill me if I tried to hook up with anyone other than Fluttershy, including herself.”

“I’d lend her a claw.” Eyes chuckled. “Anyway, what did you get Fluttershy?”

“An enchanted emerald that plays some of her favorite heartsongs,” Cliff said, “and another that radiates love and encouragement.” He glanced over at his friend. “How about you, did you get anything for Whisper?”

“I wrote a really long letter, telling her everything I admire about her.”

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.” Cliff glanced at the streets below them. It looked like the singing had finally stopped, and everyone was breaking off for whatever they had planned for the evening. “Speaking of presents, I still have one more to give.” He took a deep breath and then shouted, “Hey, Discord!”

A draconequus made entirely out of hay appeared on Cliff’s side, opposite Fire Eyes. “Did somedragon order a hay Discord?” He grinned.

Cliff rolled his eyes. “Sure, why not.”

Fire Eyes looked from Discord to Cliff. “I thought you two didn’t get along.”

“Well I did spend some quality time with Cliffy here.” Discord pinched Cliff’s cheek with his eagle hand. “Getting the Crystal Heart back was a nice bonding experience.”

“Something like that.” Cliff pried Discord’s hand off of his face. “Anyway,” he passed the draconequus a ruby, “pour some magic into that and enjoy your Hearth’s Warming present.”

The hay disappeared, revealing Discord’s regular form beneath. “A Hearth’s Warming present?” He looked at the ruby in surprise. “For me?”

“I set up a bunch of runes around the Empire,” Cliff said, gesturing to the streets below. “They’ll increase love and happiness while lowering inhibitions, not to the point that anypony will do anything they regret, but enough to cause a fair amount of chaos and spontaneous parties.” He nodded to the ruby in Discord’s hand. “That’s the trigger to set them off.”

“Why, Cliff, a citywide prank. This is one of the nicest things anyone has ever gotten me.” He looked down at the jewel in his hand and smiled.

Cliff shrugged. “Like you said, friendship, magic, all that stuff. Just promise me you’ll deactivate the runes if the Alliance shows up suddenly.”

“I do want Equestria to win this war, you know.” Discord’s smiled widened. “Actually, I have a gift of my own that may help with that.” His eyes glowed yellow for a moment before returning to normal.

“Uh,” Fire Eyes looked around, “what did you do?”

“I do believe both of you promised your loved ones that you’d come home safely. I just gave your promises a little,” he tapped his fingers together, “insurance.”

“Meaning?” Eyes asked.

“Meaning the Everfree Platoon will have an unusually high survival rate. You’re welcome.” Discord took a seated bow. “Now then, back to my present!” A long black mustache appeared on his face, which he twirled around his eagle claws. “Let the chaos begin. Muahaha!”

There was no obvious effect when he activated the gemstone, but the smile on Discord’s face only widened. “Oooh, I can feel it working already.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Spirit looked at the door when it opened, but it was just another servant. This one carried a large pitcher of crystal-berry juice. “Come on, Cliff,” Spirit muttered, “what’s taking you?”

Cliff was more of a scatterbrain than normal lately, but this was Hearth’s Warming Eve dinner for Celestia’s sake! Not only that, but it was dinner with some of Spirit’s pony family who also happened to be the prince and princess of the Crystal Empire.

“He’s still on one of the upper balconies,” Autumn sent through their link. “… Mother says she’ll stall for time.”

They were seated in a small, comfortable dining room. The formal Hearth’s Warming Party was over for the night, and it was time to relax with friends and family. Their table was only large enough for ten ponies total, and it wasn’t even full. Shining and Cadance took up the head of the table, of course, with Luna opposite them. Spirit sat on the side to Shining Armor’s left, next to Autumn and Autumn’s mother, Fleur de Verre. The opposite side of the table was glaringly unoccupied.

“I’m curious,” Verre said, looking at Luna. “Have any of the alicorns ever tapped into crystal pony magic?” She was a cream-colored mare with vibrant shades of purple in her mane, tail, and eyes. She even wore an artful touch of purple eye shadow to accentuate the look.

“Not that I know of,” Luna said. “Myself and Celestia have been known to receive burst of insight from time to time, which might be attributed to crystal pony empathy, and Cadance has a gift for sensing the emotions of others, but none of us have successfully used crystallization magic.”

“I have been trying,” Cadance said, “but so far all I can do is replicate basic umbrum spells to create crystals.”

Autumn’s expression didn’t change, but Spirit could feel fear and anxiety spike in her at the mention of umbrum. Spirit didn’t blame her. The most famous umbrum in history had been none other than King Sombra. Luckily the others had all been imprisoned by the Crystal Heart long ago.

But what did that matter? They were just another in a long line of threats that Equestria had overcome. Ditto for the Dragon Alliance, really. Equestria would be fine. Everything would be fine.

Spirit leaned over and kissed Autumn on the cheek.

Autumn frowned slightly. “Positive emotions are suddenly filling everywhere that I can sense. I think … I think they’re Cliff’s.”

“That’s nice.” Shining Armor shook his head. “I mean, should we do something about it?”

“They aren’t very strong,” Autumn said, snuggling up against Spirit. “Just enough to bring out the happiness and love we’re already feeling.”

“I think the Crystal Empire could use the pick-me-up.” Cadance kissed Shining on the cheek and then motioned for the maids to start serving dinner. “I’ll have to thank Cliff for his thoughtfulness when he gets here.”

“And for reminding me that I am yet without a consort.” Luna froze. “I meant, of course, that I have yet to locate a stallion worthy of me.” She cleared her throat.

Spirit chuckled as a plate of food was set in front of him, some kind of salad with fruit in it.

“Of course,” Verre said. “Although you may want to be careful. Emotions like these tend to loosen the tongue.” She lifted a fork and ate a bite of her salad.

“What are you looking for in a stallion?” Cadance asked, her eyes twinkling with excitement.

Luna blushed. “Somepony large in stature, preferably. It is difficult to feel amorous about a significant other that stands barely taller than a foal.”

“I’d recommend Bulk Biceps,” Spirit said, grinning, “but he’s barely smarter than the dumbbells he lifts.”

“You could try a dragon.” Autumn smiled at Spirit. “I’d like to.” Her smiled morphed into a look of embarrassment right before she facehoofed. “Please tell me that I didn’t just say that out loud.”

Spirit laughed. Jerk move? Probably. Worth it? Totally.

“I thought you two already were,” Shining said. “You were talking about it when you first got here.”

“That conversation effectively killed the topic,” Autumn said from behind her hoof.

“Not to mention that the Everfree barracks aren’t exactly private,” Spirit said.

“I said I could get you two a private room.” Shining looked around the room nervously. “If everyone promises not to tell Twilight, of course.”

Verre leaned over to her daughter. “Your old bedroom is still available.”

Autumn groaned. “Could we possibly not discuss Spirit’s and my sex life while we are under the influence of an enchantment?”

“We still need to find a special somepony for Luna,” Cadance said. “What about that big earth pony in the Everfree Platoon?”

“Big Mac,” Spirit said. “He’s nice but kind of oblivious. This one mare has been pining after him for years, but he never even noticed.”

“Perhaps,” Luna said. “I would hate to steal the desire of another mare’s heart, but if she hasn’t moved to claim him then I see no reason why I should not.”

Shining tapped his chin. “There are a couple of burly stallions in the Crystal Garrison you might like too.”

Luna blushed. “Maybe you could point some of them out to me?”

As the others kept talking about potential stallions, Autumn leaned over to Spirit. “We really do need to discuss the matter of our own relationship.”

“Yeah,” Spirit whispered back. “We do … tomorrow.” Maybe he could decide what he wanted by then. Maybe.

Chapter 26

Fluttershy had been a little anxious about sleeping over at Sweet Apple Acres. It wasn’t that she thought anything bad would happen, but she just got nervous if she was away from home for more than a few hours.

At least Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie had been there for her, quietly reassuring Fluttershy whenever her fears started to get the better of her. Thanks to them, Fluttershy eventually drifted off into a mercifully dreamless sleep.

“… Happy Hearth’s Warming Day, everyone!”

One shout of panic and a few moments of blind thrashing later, Fluttershy found herself clinging to a lighting fixture on the ceiling, while her heart beat furiously in her chest.

Down below her, the Crusaders were all standing at the door to the kitchen, and Rarity was struggling to untangle herself from the red blanket that had somehow gotten wrapped around her head. “Sweetie Belle,” she gasped through the fabric, “I thought we talked about the proper way to rouse sleeping ladies.” She pulled the blanket off, revealing a bad case of bed mane and a twisted-up pink nightgown on her body.

Twilight sat up and looked around blearily. “Morning, everyone.” She casually brought Fluttershy down to the floor with her telekinesis. “Are we the last ones up?” A loud yawn coursed through her.

“Eyup,” Apple Bloom said. “Everypony else is in the kitchen, eatin’ breakfast.” Her ears folded down against her head. “Uh, sorry about scarin’ ya, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy pressed a hoof against her chest and took a few deep breaths. “I-it’s okay, Apple Bloom. You all must be excited about your presents.” She leaned down and scooped up Angel Bunny, who was somehow still asleep.

“You know it,” Scootaloo said with a grin. “Oh, Twilight, can you send our presents to everyone in the Empire now?”

Twilight glanced at a grandfather clock next to the presents in the corner. “Well, it is a few minutes before when I told them I’d send their gifts, but I suppose Spirit and Cliff wouldn’t mind.” Purple light surrounded her horn then reached out to encompass one of the stacks of presents. Moments later, they all disappeared in a flash of light. “Okay, let’s have a quick breakfast before we open our own presents.” She yawned again. “And coffee. At least two mugs of that.”

The Crusaders let out a collective “Awwwhhh” of disappointment but followed her back to the kitchen anyway.

Fluttershy didn’t know what to expect as she tailed behind the group. It was surreal to see both of her parents sitting and talking with Applejack and Granny Smith at the kitchen table. Plates full of food sat at the center of the table, with smaller plates around the edges so that everyone could help themselves to whatever they wanted.

“Luna’s history as a military leader is largely unknown to us,” Silver Lining said, “but if Celestia believes in her, then I have no doubt that she will direct our troops well.” Fluttershy’s mother looked far more approachable now that she was out of her formal dress and had let her mane down. Her eyes were still as deep and probing as ever, but a relaxed smile, coupled with the mug of hot cocoa in her hooves, stopped her from looking too scary.

Next to her, Sunrise was enjoying a plate of apple slices and cheese as he stared out the window. The snowfall had gotten lighter since the night before, but tiny flakes were still coming down. There was probably at least a foot of snow out there already.

“Ah sure hope she knows what she’s doin’,” Granny Smith said. “Big Mac’s a right tough one, but ah can’t help but worry ‘bout him.”

“Any parent or grandparent would feel the same.” Silver Lining saw Fluttershy and the others then, and her smile grew just a little. “Good morning, Fluttershy, and happy Hearth’s Warming.”

“Good morning, Mother.” Fluttershy smiled back nervously. Everything was perfect, like a dream that could evaporate at any moment. “Happy Hearth’s Warming.”

Breakfast was eaten quickly, with the Crusaders practically begging for everyone to hurry up. Fluttershy dug into her meal enthusiastically, more than making up for barely eating anything last night. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, she also felt the need to have a cup of coffee with cream and sugar.

The smell roused Angel Bunny, and Fluttershy poured a mug for him as well. Angel always had been a night owl.

Soon they were all finished, and the group moved into the front room. The Crusaders took the floor this time, leaving the couch for Granny Smith, Twilight, and Rarity. Fluttershy’s parents seated themselves at the small table, and Fluttershy herself stood with Applejack next to the wall, watching the younger members of their group with a smile.

No sooner had they all taken their spaces than a wisp of smoke came in through the chimney and expanded into a new pile of presents with a scroll on top.

“Hmm, seven minutes late,” Twilight said, lifting the scroll with her magic. “I guess Spirit slept in again.” She removed the seal and cleared her throat, “ ‘Happy Hearth’s Warming, everyone. Thanks for all the presents, and we hope you like the ones we got for you. Anyway, not to scare you, but an army of dragons was spotted flying toward the Empire a few minutes ago. It looks like they’re here to attack-’ ”

Gasps and shouts of surprise filled the room.

“Quiet, everyone!” Applejack shouted, cutting through the noise. “Twi, what else does it say?”

Twilight gulped. “He says they might need my help. Celestia will be teleporting to the Castle of Friendship to pick me up in five minutes. I have until then to get my armor on and get to the castle.” She looked around, her eyes full of worry. “I’m sorry, everyone. Just open your presents and try to enjoy your Hearth’s Warming Day. I’ll be back as soon as I can, but that might not be for a while.” Then she disappeared in a burst of purple light.

Silence fell on the room as they exchanged frightened looks.

“… I don’t feel like opening presents anymore.” Scootaloo pushed one of the wrapped boxes away from her.

“I know Rainbow Dash would appreciate it if you did anyway,” Silver Lining said almost gently.

The whole room turned to look at her.

“I witnessed a number of skirmishes and riots during my time as a member of the Royal Guard,” she continued. “One thing I can assure you is that all soldiers prefer to think of their friends and family as doing something happy while thinking of them fondly.”

“Maybe … we could talk about them,” Sunrise whispered, shrinking back a little at the attention he was drawing. “Big Mac’s present?” He looked at his wife.

“An excellent suggestion.” Silver Lining squeezed his hoof with her own before getting up and approaching the presents from the Empire. She selected a large red box and pushed it to Apple Bloom. “Why don’t you open your brother’s gift, read his note, and then share a memory about him?” She turned to Granny Smith. “If that is acceptable to you, of course.”

Granny nodded and wiped a tear from her cheek. “Go on, AB. Let’s see what Mac got ya.”

Apple Bloom reluctantly peeled off the wrapping paper, revealing a wooden box underneath. After prying off the lid, the young mare’s eyes widened. “Sweet Celestia.” She reached down and lifted out an ornate helmet. “This is traditional Crystal Empire guard armor. Lookit the way the pieces of the helmet’re all nailed into place. They haven’t made armor this way since the Empire reappeared, and he got me a whole suit of it!” A faint smile crossed her lips. “Where’d he even find this?”

“Why don’t ya check the note?” Applejack suggested, smiling a little too.

“Oh, yeah.” Apple Bloom pulled a piece of paper out of the box and cleared her throat. “It says, ‘I know ya really like studyin’ armor, so ah got ya this. It should fit ya too. I’m sure the boys won’t be able ta keep their eyes off ya if ya wore it. I …’ ” She paused and blinked away a tear, “ ‘I’m so proud of the mare yer growin’ into. Love, yer big brother.’ ”

The young mare looked around at the others in the room, then down to the note in her hooves, a sad smile on her face. “Big Mac always did think about the rest of us more than himself. The reason he didn’t want ta join the Everfree Platoon at first was because he worried about what’d happen to us if somethin’ happened to him. He actually asked for our permission to go after Twi asked for his help. Sometimes I wish I’d told him no,” she looked up at Fluttershy, “but then I remember that he’s helpin’ the entire village, especially Cliff an’ Fluttershy, an’ suddenly I couldn’t be more proud of him for goin’.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I suppose it’s your turn, Scoots.”

Scootaloo nodded solemnly and rummaged through the pile until she found her present from Rainbow Dash. It was a rolled up scroll of some kind. She took off the ribbon holding it in place and unrolled it. A piece of paper fell to the ground as she did so, but Scootaloo barely seemed to notice it. “Whoa, this is the new Wonderbolts poster, and it’s autographed by their entire starting lineup!” She grabbed the fallen paper and read, “ ‘Heya, Sis. The Wonderbolts all say thanks for helping to invent and build their new suits of Everfree Armor. Those things have already saved a ton of lives in the Everfree Platoon, and I know they’re going to help a ton more Equestrians before this is over. Still a year until you become an adult, and you’re already changing the world. I always knew you’d find your own special way to be awesome. I couldn’t have asked for a better little sister.’ ”

Scootaloo rubbed the back of a hoof across her eyes. “Dang it, crying isn’t awesome.” She rubbed her eyes again, but that didn’t seem to help. “Dang it …” She shook her head and pressed on through the tears. “Rainbow Dash was always my hero, but at first it was just cuz she was such a great flier. Then I got to know her more and saw that she was an even more awesome pony. When I realized that I’d probably never fly on my own, I was about ready to give up on ever achieving anything good in my life. It was Rainbow Dash that showed me I didn’t have to fly to be special or important. I could be awesome just being, well, Scootaloo.” She wiped her eyes one more time. “Ugh, someone else go before I fall apart completely.”

And so they went around the room, with each of them opening a gift from their friend or family member in the Empire, reading the note aloud, and sharing some memory about the dragon or pony that had written it. Fluttershy’s parents didn’t have any gifts to open from that stack, but neither of them seemed to mind. Tears became more and more common as the morning went on. Fluttershy barely made it through Cliff’s note, breaking down and sobbing into Applejack’s shoulder as soon as she finished reading it.

Eventually there was only one present left. “Prince Blueblood?” Apple Bloom said in confusion. “Uh, it’s addressed to you, Fluttershy.” She held out the medium sized, and extravagantly decorated, box.

“For me?” Fluttershy accepted the box, wiping away a stray tear. “Why would Blueblood send a gift to me?”

“And why couldn’t he have shown that kind of interest three years ago?” Silver Lining asked.

Ignoring her mother’s—hopefully—joke, she undid the ribbon and carefully unwrapped Blueblood’s present. Inside of the box was a bag and a short note. “ ‘To Fluttershy, thank you for supporting me during my training and never insulting me when I made a mistake. I was sorry to see you go. I didn’t know what you like, so here’s one hundred bits. Buy yourself something nice. From, Prince Blueblood.’ ” She opened the bag and saw that it was full of golden coins.

Looking up, the yellow mare blushed a little when she saw the rest of the room focused on her. “I, um, I don’t really have any stories to tell about Blueblood.” She shrugged apologetically.

“Cheapskate,” Rarity muttered. “He could have afforded to buy you a private island.”

“It was nice of him to send anything, though.” Fluttershy looked at the box in her hooves a moment longer before putting it next to Cliff and Spirit’s presents. “Should we start on our presents to each other now?”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Applejack said. She looked behind her, to the north, and her expression clouded. “Ah think we’d all drive ourselves crazy if we just sat around an’ worried until we hear back from Twi.”

“I think you’re right.” Fluttershy followed her friend’s gaze. A shudder coursed through her as she wondered what might be happening to Cliff at that very moment. Until Twilight returned, all she could do was wait.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Celestia appeared at the base of the Crystal Palace with Twilight at her side. She glanced around, drawing on over a thousand years of experience to take in every detail as quickly as possible. The first thing she noticed was that there were two clusters of dragons in the distance. They were still a few minutes away, but one group was clearly moving to the Empire’s northern borders while the other was aiming for the south.

They must have developed a way to penetrate the shield, she reflected. Most likely they could only negate it in a small area if they were splitting their forces, but Equestria needed to remain cautious in case this was a bluff to cover their actual goal.

Thousands of soldiers stood on the walls to the north and the south, preparing to face the oncoming dragons. Celestia had no doubt that they would fight bravely if it came to that, laying down their lives to protect their home. A part of her glowed with pride at the quiet nobility of her subjects, while another part wanted to hang her head in shame that she wasn’t powerful enough to protect them on her own.

Luna was part of the group to the south, flapping her wings steadily to hover above the troops she would be commanding. That had to mean General Heroic was with the troops in the north.

The streets of the Crystal Empire were barren, for which Celestia was grateful. She had seen far too many civilians killed by stray spells or arrows during war. “Stay safe, my little ponies,” she whispered, silently vowing to protect them all with every ounce of the power that she did have.

Closer to the palace, thousands of soldiers stood at attention, their golden armor shining brightly in the morning light. Among them she noticed two groups in Everfree Armor. The presence of wyrms marked one group as the Everfree Platoon. Spirit and Autumn Gem stood at the front of the group, watching the Alliance forces cautiously. Celestia wished she had time to speak with them and provide whatever help or reassurance she could.

The other group was comprised entirely of unicorns. Even with the face-concealing helmets, Celestia recognized enough of them to know that they were her Solar Unicorns, the most powerful battle mages in Equestria. Their leader, Captain Shining Armor, was already running toward Celestia and Twilight. He was most likely here to protect the Crystal Heart. Even if drake auras could allow them to pierce his shields, Shining Armor was still the most talented defensive mage of his generation. There were plenty of other things he could do to keep the Heart safe.

“Princess Celestia, Twilight, I’m glad you both made it!” Shining embraced his sister. “The dragons aren’t here yet, but they’ve split their forces to the north and south.” He pointed to clusters of dragons Celestia had noticed earlier. “Luna is in charge of the troops in the south, and Heroic is leading things up north. The rest of us are here to make sure they don’t try anything with the Crystal Heart.”

Celestia nodded politely. She had centuries of practice with ponies telling her things that she had already deduced. “I assume Twilight would be able to contribute best if she remained here with you and the Everfree Platoon, and I should join Heroic to the north?” Being polite didn’t mean that she couldn’t hurry things along, however.

Shining stared at her for a moment before regaining his composure. “Yes, exactly.”

“Very well. I should tell Heroic that I’ve arrived.” Celestia began channeling magic into her horn for another teleportation spell.

“Good luck out there,” Shining said.

“To you both as well.” Celestia extended a wing and laid it across Twilight’s back. “I hope that you won’t be required to fight, but if you are forced to take a life today, please remember what you’ve been telling Fluttershy for the past month.”

Twilight paled a little bit under her armor. “I will, and Celestia, please be careful.”

“I will be, my friend. Please keep your own eyes open. The Alliance has surprised us at every turn so far. They must have prepared at least one trick for today, and we must be ready to stop their plan as soon as it is revealed.” Celestia gave the smaller alicorn one more squeeze with her wing before teleporting away.

Reappearing above the northern wall, Celestia located a cluster of military leaders below and to her left. Heroic stood at the center of it, no doubt giving last-minute directions. Celestia landed just outside the group and approached on hoof.

“Princess Celestia,” Heroic bowed when she saw the alicorn, “thank goodness you’re here. What are your orders?”

“Arise, Heroic. You are this army’s general. I am at your command as well.” Celestia wouldn’t have given the pegasus control of these troops if she didn’t trust her judgment, and it was important that the other leaders recognized that trust.

Heroic got back up and paused to look at the oncoming dragons. “The Alliance hasn’t tried to hide at all. We spread our troops out to protect a larger area, but they’ve actually been flying straight at the middle of our formation. That means either this is a giant diversion, or they honestly think they can punch through our lines.” She turned back to Celestia. “I want you opposite the main force of the dragons, wherever that is when they get closer. The Wonderbolts have the same orders, so stick with them and keep an eye out for any tricks. Stalling their initial charge wouldn’t be a bad idea either, but don’t be afraid to abandon the wall if something happens and they need you back at the palace.”

Celestia saluted. “Yes, General.” Heroic’s orders were almost exactly the ones that Celestia herself would have given, which was to be expected. After all, she had written most of the books about military strategy and tactics that she expected her generals to study.

“That’s everything,” Heroic said. “You all have your orders, now let’s send these dragons running and enjoy the rest of our Hearth’s Warming.” Her confidence was feigned, but Celestia doubted any of the others could tell, and she certainly wasn’t going to say anything. The Equestrian Army had already gone through two crushing defeats. It needed every ounce of morale it could get.

As the other leaders returned to their troops, Spitfire, the captain of the Wonderbolts, approached. She was wearing a suit of Everfree Armor, but painted blue and yellow to resemble her team’s normal flight suits. “It will be an honor to fight alongside you, Princess Celestia. The Wonderbolts are holding their position just above us.” She pointed to a group of similarly outfitted pegasi. “What’s the best way we can support you once things turn ugly?”

Looking up, Celestia counted just under eighty Wonderbolts. Mostly reserve members, but they had all seen battle at least once. “There is a drake among the Alliance forces named Yol Toor. He is gray with brown horns and likely to be surrounded by a red-and-blue aura once the fighting begins.” Celestia lowered her gaze to Spitfire. “Leave him to me. You will only get your teammates killed if you try to fight him.”

Cliff’s notes had told Celestia something very important. Silver Tail and the Hurricanes might be the heads of the Dragon Alliance, but Yol Toor was its heart. If she was able to kill him in battle, the others would almost certainly lose the will to fight.

It was only a shame that either herself or Luna would have to face Yol Toor alone. His lifetime of duels would give him a strong advantage in a one-on-one battle, but Silver Tail could wreak untold destruction on the battlefield if left unchecked.

“I’ve heard about him, Your Highness,” Spitfire said, shifting nervously. “The drake that defeated Luna. We’ll stay out of his way, but if it looks like you’ve run into some trouble with him, don’t expect us to just sit by and do nothing.”

“I understand.” Celestia spread her wings and pushed off, soaring higher and higher into the air as she opened herself up to the sun. Power flowed into her, as it had since the very first time she moved the heavenly body. Her mane and tail began to glow, radiating some of the light and heat that she was drawing into herself. Soon her entire form was glowing, and her mane and tail had become masses of fire.

Equestria was a peaceful place now, but it hadn’t always been that way. Monsters, invading armies, and even a fair number of dragons had threatened her ponies in the early years of Equestria, and with Luna, she had crushed all of them to protect her subjects. Nearly a thousand years of peace had dulled her skill and power, but sparring matches with Luna had helped restore both over the past few years.

Outside of the Crystal Heart’s shield, the Alliance warriors were drawing close enough to be seen clearly, and it seemed luck had favored Celestia. Yol Toor was at the head of the army. The gray drake met Celestia’s gaze, and an unspoken message passed between them. He knew that she was here to fight him specifically, and he would oblige her.

Very well then. Celestia began channeling the sun’s magic into dozens of different things. The earth pony magic within her took some of it, strengthening her bones, muscles, and tendons. Pegasi magic reached out to the air currents around her, readying tornadoes, hailstorms, and bolts of lightning. Unicorn magic wove itself into spells for attack, movement, and defense, ready to be completed the moment she needed them. Finally, wyrm magic, the most recent addition to her repertoire, further amplified her body, while healing magic began to flow just beneath her skin, ready to activate as soon as any harm befell her.

To onlookers, Celestia now appeared less a creature of flesh and blood and more a fiery outline with piercing white eyes. If it weren’t for the metal boots, chestplate, wing guards, and horn guard, it would have been difficult to tell that she was a pony at all.

None of that armor was meant to protect her, of course. With a body temperature measured in tens of thousands of degrees Fahrenheit, Celestia actually had to maintain a special shield to protect the rest of the army from herself. Almost anything solid that got close to her would be melted instantly, and only the most powerful spells could reach her without the magic of the sun repelling them. Her ‘armor’ only served as a focus for Celestia’s magic. Yet even then, Celestia knew that her true power wasn’t in her magic. Fundamentally, she was not a warrior. She was a diplomat.

“The plan will not work,” Celestia whispered, letting her magic carry the words to every dragon in the approaching army. A unicorn spell that she had learned from Starswirl made each dragon who heard the words accept them as their own. A nagging doubt was planted in thousands of minds simultaneously, and the effects showed.

Celestia noticed how dozens of Alliance wyrms were carrying staffs, and how they each gripped them a little tighter at her words. The dragons without staffs either glanced at the wyrms who did carry them or stared at the Crystal Palace with expressions full of grim determination.

Cliff’s notes had mentioned a staff-like weapon that could drain the magic out of its victim from a distance. It was unfinished when Cliff returned with the Crystal Heart, but the Alliance could have completed it since then. “These staves will never get through the shield,” she whispered to the wyrms carrying them. Then to the rest of the army, she said, “The Crystal Heart is too well defended this time. It won’t be taken again.”

The wyrms behaved about how Celestia expected, looking more and more unsure of themselves, but the other dragons actually seemed to grow more confident.

“Don’t listen to that voice,” a dragon shouted to the army. Celestia quickly found the speaker, a purple wyrm with red head spikes standing on the back of a golden drake. “One of the ponies is doing something to us!”

Celestia frowned. She had been hoping to get more information out of them before they caught on.

Yol Toor locked gazes with Celestia across the gap that separated them. “Ponies of the Empire,” he roared, “evacuate the Crystal Palace. It will be destroyed in this battle.” His expression told Celestia that her subterfuge was both unnecessary and beneath her.

She looked back evenly. The Alliance was using every weapon and strategy at its disposal to gain the upper hoof over her subjects, and she would respond in kind to defend them. “I won't let you harm the Palace,” she whispered, sending her voice to his ears.

“Evacuate it anyway,” Yol Toor replied.

Celestia hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Do as he says,” she sent to the Palace. “It never hurts to be cautious.” Though deep down, she knew that Cadance would stay behind, trusting in Celestia and Luna to keep her safe. That mare had always been a stubborn one.

Yol Toor nodded back to Celestia and then ordered his forces to wait while the Palace was cleared of civilians.

Tense minutes ticked by as the two armies watched each other, knowing that they would soon be locked in battle. Celestia spent the time studying Yol Toor. Understanding an opponent was key to defeating them, that fact was true of any conflict, but the gray drake was extremely difficult to read. He was almost motionless other than the beating of his wings, and his eyes were studying her with the same intensity that she was directing at him.

Eventually, as if by some unspoken signal, Yol Toor transformed. Like the other drakes, he had been in his battle form all along, but now he grew even more, to nearly half again his previous size. Large fangs protruded from his upper jaw, looking harder and far sharper than those of a normal dragon. Bony ridges appeared all over his body, interlocking into what could only be called a suit of bone armor, as his claws extended and curved into sickle-like blades. The tip of his tail expanded into a spiked ball, large enough to crush a normal pony with its weight alone. Fire appeared around his wings, growing stronger and brighter until the flesh and bones disappeared, leaving not one but two sets of fiery wings which passed through each other as they flapped yet somehow still held the drake aloft. Finally, blue-and-red light exploded from his body, extending out a few inches past the bone armor that had replaced his scales.

“Now the battle begins,” he called. “Let us fight together, my friends and allies. Until either death or victory, stand with me against this foe!”

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the wyrms with staffs all pointed them at the Crystal Heart’s shield and fired some sort of spell. Spirals of dark energy shot from the ends of the staffs, impacting the shield before fading away. For a moment, it seemed as if the spell had failed, but that hope quickly evaporated as a dark outline formed on the shield where each spell had hit, stretching out to connect with the other marks nearby. Within seconds a spidery rune had formed on the surface of the shield, large enough that at least one hundred drakes would be able to fly through it at once. To the left and right, similar runes were forming.

On the walls beneath Celestia, thousands of earth and crystal ponies took aim with their scorpios, personal ballista that fired arrows the size of small spears, while an equal number of unicorns readied attack spells. The pegasi around Celestia were still and almost silent. They all knew that they would be the first to engage the Alliance forces, and the most likely to take heavy casualties.

“Ready yourselves, my little ponies,” Celestia said to each soldier that would fight alongside her. “Steady your nerves and steel your hearts. The ponies of the Crystal Empire are depending on us, and we will fight to the death to protect them!”

All at once the inside of the runes faded, taking the shield in that area with them.

“Cover your eyes,” Celestia whispered to her soldiers as dragon forces rushed to the gap. She reached out to the sun again and released a wave of blinding light.

Somewhere among the ranks, a pony shouted, “Praise to the Sun Goddess!”

Celestia chose to ignore that. A thousand years of telling ponies that she wasn’t a goddess hadn’t worked, and this was hardly the place to discuss it anyway.

“ATTACK!” More than a mere battle cry, the power of the Royal Canterlot Voice hit the dragons like a wall, deafening them before they could regain their sight.

Thousands of arrows fired at her command, bearing down on the dazed Alliance forces, but a wall of fire erupted from Yol Toor’s wings, destroying many of the arrows before they could reach his allies. Even enchanted ice arrows fizzled and disappeared from the heat. Yet their unicorn attack spells and remaining arrows struck true, cutting into the leading edge of the dragons.

Blood and dragon bodies fell in almost equal measure as roars of pain filled the air.

Pressing their advantage, Celestia released a wave of plasma at Yol Toor while generating a dispelling charm around the rune that was keeping the shield open. Unfortunately, her charm had no effect on it whatsoever.

A set of giant fangs crashed together around Celestia, nearly piercing the shield she was holding just a few inches above her coat.

What? She teleported several hundred feet up and sent a bolt of crackling electricity down on her attacker. Somehow Yol Toor had closed the gap between them in the moment that she had been distracted. His glowing wings were even brighter than they had been seconds earlier, and the lightning didn’t seem to affect him at all. Celestia grit her teeth.

Yol Toor glanced up, and his fiery wings suddenly flared outwards to three times their previous size. The energy in them was familiar to Celestia. It had come from the sun.

He absorbed my plasma somehow. Celestia threw everything into strengthening her body and dove to meet him.

The look in Yol Toor’s eyes said it all. He wouldn’t try to dodge or trick her. He wanted to test himself against her defenses, and he was offering her the same chance in return. Turning so he could ram her with the horns coming off the top of his head, the ancient drake shot upwards, roaring a challenge.

Just before they hit, Celestia sent millions of pounds of telekinetic force down through her hooves, and Yol Toor’s fiery wings expanded out so far that they nearly touched the ground.

There was a sound like an explosion as the two met. Celestia’s forehooves felt like they had nearly been shattered, and her shield rippled like water, but it held, and Yol Toor was sent crashing into the ground below.

Celestia took a deep breath and rubbed her aching hooves.

Down below, Yol Toor climbed out of the crater he had made and looked up at her, nodding as a show of respect. A small crack ran the length of his horn, but otherwise, he looked completely unharmed.

He had landed just inside the Empire’s wall, where ponies were exchanging ranged volleys with the Alliance’s forces.

Celestia teleported in front of Yol Toor and tried to deliver an uppercut to his jaw, but he somehow managed to do a back flip and dodge, hitting her hard with his club-like tail.

Pain exploded across her wings and her vision blacked out for a moment as she went flying through the Empire’s wall, rolling and careening across the field outside the Empire until she finally ground to a halt.

A beam of red-and-blue energy engulfed her immediately, pummeling her already weakened shield as the ground beneath her melted into lava. Celestia couldn’t see anything other than blinding light, and she couldn’t hear anything over the screech of his attack against her shield. This, she knew, was Void Fire, among the most destructive techniques any drake could use.

Her ponies were still in danger.

Celestia slowly climbed to her hooves, ignoring the agonizing pain in her wings, and teleported back to the Crystal Empire.

Yol Toor was already turning to her, his fiery wings transforming into lunging tendrils. One of them even slashed across Celestia’s side, cutting into her shield, before the ground beneath Yol Toor disappeared, reappearing just above the drake’s head and smashing down as hard as Celestia could manage.

Violent tremors shook the area, knocking ponies and dragons flat, as Celestia lifted the pillar of earth and slammed it down again. Meanwhile, healing magic flowed into her wings, snapping bones back into place.

Another beam of energy shot clean through the pillar, and Yol Toor flew into the air once more. Bits of molten rock slid off his aura as he turned to her and flapped. Hundreds of nearly invisible shapes flew from his wings, jabbing into Celestia’s shield like spears and covering the ground around her.

She gasped in pain as one spear cut through her shield and pierced her right foreleg, but her wings were safe, and that was what she needed.

Celestia teleported into the air and jerked her wings back, ripping every bit of heat from the area around Yol Toor. Even the air liquefied, bubbling and steaming around the edge of her influence.

In the center, the ancient drake’s fiery aura fought against the cold, generating heat as quickly as she could pull it away. Yol Toor met her gaze for a moment, almost seeming to apologize, then he roared and shot the largest beam of Void Fire yet, even wider than Celestia’s full wingspan.

It would have missed her anyway, but she strengthened her shield and flew to the side. The energy in Void Fire was unbelievably strong, and Yol Toor was still maintaining it for some reason.

Celestia risked a glance over her shoulder—and felt the blood drain out of her face.

He hadn’t been aiming for her at all. More than a dozen other beams of Void Fire were being launched by drakes around the battlefield, and all of them were aimed directly at the Crystal Palace. There were even two golden beams firing down on the palace from above. A small group must have moved into position during the battle, she realized distantly.

Shining Armor’s shield was already up to defend against them, but Celestia knew that even her Captain of the Guard wouldn’t be able to defend against so much raw power.

Celestia had a single heartbeat to realize that Cadance was in there, and then Shining Armor’s shield collapsed, and the Crystal Palace was sliced to pieces by a dozen beams of energy. Nearly half of the structure crashed into the ground, shattering into countless fragments, before a purple aura surrounded what was left, holding it unsteadily in place.

Celestia turned back to Yol Toor, feeling numb on the inside but determined to continue fighting if need be. She even flew towards his beam of Void Fire, anything to make him attack her instead of her subjects.

To her surprise, the drake ended his attack before she could reach it, his eyes sad and knowing. “Cease fighting,” he shouted, ignoring the frost that covered him. “The Palace is gone, but the shield remains. We will retreat and plan our next move.” He nodded once to Celestia. “Save as many as you can.” Then he turned and flew beyond the edge of the Heart’s shield.

Now Celestia understood. The Alliance knew it couldn’t destroy the Crystal Heart, and so it had targeted the Palace instead.

Down below, the rest of the Alliance forces broke off and followed him toward the gap in the shield, which was beginning to shrink as the rune around it faded. Scorpio fire rained down on the retreating dragons, striking down a few unlucky ones, but the vast majority of them flooded through the gap, escaping safely.

Celestia waited only long enough for the shield to close behind them before she teleported away. Twilight wouldn’t be able to hold up the remains of the Crystal Palace for long, and she had to believe that Cadance was still alive in there.

Please, she begged of any forces that might be listening, let Cadance still be alive!

Chapter 27

A flash of light in the distance was the only warning they got before more than a dozen beams of energy shot from each cluster of Alliance forces.

Cliff could only stare in awe as a dome of purple energy exploded from Shining Armor just in time to protect the Crystal Palace. A deep roaring sound, like a prolonged explosion, filled the area as the beams and shield met. Cliff clapped both hands over his ear frills, as did every other dragon and pony that he could see.

“Blueblood,” Fire Eyes sent, “can you-”

Shining Armor cried out in pain as his shield shattered, and the energy beams sliced through the Palace above him. One of the palace’s four supports crumbled immediately, bringing chunks of the building down with it.

“-use your shields to support his …” Fire Eyes stared up and the gigantic structure, which was rapidly collapsing on top of all of them. “We need to get out of here!”

Cliff brought his body-enhancement spells up to full power and grabbed Blueblood. The rest of the team could get themselves to safety.

Suddenly the palace began to glow purple, holding its position mid-collapse.

Cliff glanced around and saw Shining Armor collapsed on the ground, struggling to get up. Twilight was next to him, eyes clenched shut, and a pained grimace on her face. Her horn was so bright with magic that it almost hurt to look at, and a crater was rapidly forming around her as some invisible force crushed her into the ground.

“Everfree, Solar Unicorns,” Spirit shouted from somewhere in the crowd, “there were some ponies that refused to evacuate. We need to get them out now! The rest of you, get as far away as you can!”

Fire Eyes paused as more detailed orders came through her link to the Platoon’s leaders. “We have the top floors. She turned to the rest of the team. Big Mac, you’re with me. Cliff, go solo. Use Empathy to locate survivors.”

A piece of a balcony fell off the main structure and crashed to the ground nearby, shattering into thousands of tiny pieces.

Debris bounced off her armor as Fire Eyes climbed onto Big Mac’s back. “Rainbow, give the two of us a lift to the top, then you and Blueblood will be in charge of carrying down anypony we can get to the outside. Now move!”

Cliff shot into the air on a wave of magic, latching onto the side of the Crystal Palace before running up it, thanks to the Spider Climb spell. “What about Cadance?”

“Minuette is grabbing her,” Fire Eyes replied.

He was nearly to the top before he picked up the emotions of a confused and terrified pony just on the other side of the wall. Unfortunately, he was no Big McIntosh, so punching his way through wasn’t an option. There was a window nearby, but it wasn’t very big.

Instead, Cliff ducked through a hole to his right and found himself in a small bedroom of some kind. Unfortunately, the pony he had sensed wasn’t in there with him. Deep cracks covered every wall in sight, and dust was starting to clog up the air. Cliff shoved open the door, trying to ignore how everything was shaking around him.

Outside, he found a hallway lined with doors, most of which were still closed. Following the emotions, Cliff pushed a door open and was finally rewarded with his target, a green crystal pony maid.

Time wasn’t on his side, so he skipped introductions and explanations and jumped right to the rescuing part.

Running through a collapsing building with a panicked and screaming crystal mare in his arms was every bit as difficult as Cliff had been expecting. He silently vowed to stick to all fours when rescuing the next one.

Once they got outside, a piercing scream erupted from the mare’s lungs, then she fell limp. In her defense, she probably hadn’t been expecting to hang from the side of a collapsing building when she went into work that day.

“Rainbow, I have one.”

Rainbow flew by just then, carrying two ponies. “Gimme a second.” She felt stressed and more than a little worried.

“I can get her,” Blueblood sent. A shield appeared around the unconscious crystal mare, gently but quickly lowering her toward the ground.

“Thanks.” Cliff ducked back inside. “See if any of these ponies know where the others might be.”

A shudder coursed through the entire palace, but then things actually got more stable. Cliff glanced out the nearest window. The magical aura surrounding the palace was now shifting between purple, gold, and dark blue. He hoped that meant Celestia and Luna had arrived.

Farther inside, Cliff picked up another set of emotions at the same time that he heard cries for help. He saw her moments later, huddled against the wall and trying to control her sobs. It was another crystal pony maid, though this one was blue.

The mare wasn’t completely panicked, and the palace was holding steady for the moment, so Cliff decided to try reassuring her. “Don’t worry, I’m here to help.” She didn’t resist when he tossed her across his back. That was a good sign. “Where’s the nearest balcony or large window?”

“J-just around the corner,” the mare finally broke down and sobbed as she held onto Cliff. “Please don’t let me die!”

Cliff didn’t bother to respond. The dust was getting worse and things were starting to shake again. He ran around the corner—and nearly fell right off the side of the palace. The balcony, and a fair chunk of the hall, must have collapsed sometime before he got there.

He slid to a halt and looked around. “Rainbow, Blueblood, can either of you get to me?”

“Sure,” Rainbow sent back, “where are you?”

“A few stories from the top, on the far eastern side,” Blueblood answered, much to everyone’s surprise.

Rainbow appeared in Cliff’s field of vision moments later. “Okay, I see you.” She dove in and grabbed the crystal mare in her forelimbs. “Don’t worry, I’ve got ya.”

Any response was muffled beyond comprehension by the mare’s sobs, and the fact that she was burying her face in Rainbow’s chest.

Cliff ran back into the palace, looking for any other ponies that might need his help.

A question occurred to him as he searched. “Blueblood, how did you know where I was?”

“I placed a magic marker on each of you,” Blueblood replied. “It allows me to locate you at a moment’s notice.”

“That’s a useful trick.” Cliff sensed the emotions of Fire Eyes and Big Mac on the floor just above him.

“I always knew you could be useful if you set your mind to it,” Fire Eyes sent. “Anyway, I think we got everypony on the upper floors. Spirit says they need a claw in the throne room right now and then to get out of here. The inside is starting to collapse, even with those alicorns holding up the outer walls.”

An explosion shook the hallway, blasting a hole in the ceiling and down through the floor. There was a brief flash of gray and orange through the dust as Big Mac jumped down through the hole he had just created, Fire Eyes still hanging onto his back.

“Shouldn’t we have just climbed down the outside walls?” Fire Eyes asked as they continued to free fall right through the middle of the palace.

“Faster,” was the only response.

Cliff jumped after them, landing at Big Mac’s side at least twenty floors down. The momentum he’d built up during the fall transferred into the air around them, blowing away the dust cloud that surrounded the three of them. As it cleared, Cliff realized that they were in the throne room, along with more than two dozen crystal ponies, most of whom were screaming and trying to hide from whatever had just exploded through the ceiling.

“Okay, it was faster,” Fire Eyes muttered, “I’ll give you that.” Then in a louder voice she called, “It’s alright, everypony! We’re here to get you out of here.” “We’ll have to take them all in one group. The other teams are already clearing out.”

Minuette appeared just then. The blue unicorn mare was holding her horn and groaning. “Fire Eyes,” she gasped, “thank Celestia. I don’t think I can teleport much more.”

“It’s fine, we just-”

A deep shudder passed through the entire room, throwing most of them to the ground. A crashing sound started up above them, getting louder by the second.

“Oh dirt clods.” Fire Eyes jumped up, and tendrils of fire shot from her arms, grabbing everyone in the room and violently pulling them toward her. “Blueblood, we need a shield around all of us! Now!”

The crashing had grown so loud that it drowned out everything else, and the scent of burning flesh mingled with the taste of dust in the air, making Cliff want to wretch.

A shield appeared around them all just before the room exploded. Cliff could only cover his ear frills as the sheer noise of it all pounded through him.

Then, after a few endless seconds, everything fell silent.

Cliff looked up and breathed a sigh of relief. Most of the palace interior had collapsed around them, leaving the outer walls more or less intact, like some sort of gigantic husk, but everyone was alright.

Fire Eyes pushed herself up. “Blueblood, I take back everything bad I ever said about you.”

The floor inside of the unicorn’s shield was the only part of the throne room still left. In fact, there wasn’t another piece of floor left anywhere around them. As far as Cliff could tell, they were floating in the air about ten feet above a pile of debris.

He wanted to collapse there and then, but these poor crystal ponies were covered in lines of charred flesh, and the stench of it still filled his nostrils.

One mare next to Cliff had especially bad burns across her forelegs and back. She looked middle aged, with a light tan coat and a purplish mane and tail. It was hard to be sure, though, with all the dust and grime that covered her.

Cliff tried to reassure her that she would be fine, but his words were completely silent. At least, he couldn’t hear them over the ringing in his ears.

The crystal mare must have been experiencing the same problem, because she grimaced and mouthed, ‘What?’ Or maybe she actually said it. Cliff couldn’t tell.

“I think I ruptured my eardrums,” Cliff sent.

“Yeah, ditto.” Eyes put a hand to her ear frill and winced. It came back with a small amount of blood. “Let’s just get everyone healed.” She helped up Minuette, who leaned heavily on her.

Cliff sent back agreement then moved his hand to the mare’s burned forelegs and cast a healing spell.

Relief washed through her expression as Cliff finished off her limbs and moved to her back.

He ended by healing her ears and then his own. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

“No, thank you so much.” Her expression fell as she looked up at the destruction around them. “I can’t believe it. The Crystal Palace …” Tears rolled down her cheeks, leaving tiny rivulets in the grime on her coat.

Cliff gripped her shoulder sympathetically before turning to heal the next pony.

“I’ll check,” Fire Eyes sent, probably to Spirit or one of the other team leaders in the Platoon. “Is one of you called Fleur de Verre?”

“I am,” the mare Cliff had just healed said.

“She’s here, and she’s fine … Okay.” “Your daughter, Autumn, says you aren’t ever allowed to scare her like that again.”

“I suppose I’ll have to cancel my plans to go over Neighagara Falls in a barrel, then.” She chuckled mirthlessly before wiping her eyes, which only smeared the tear streaks on her face more. “Please, tell her I love her.”

Fire Eyes relayed the message as she worked with Cliff to heal the rest of the ponies. “Blueblood, any chance you can pull us out of here? Twilight and the Immortal Sisters must be tired of holding up the walls by now.”

Embarrassment echoed through the link. “Actually, I cannot. Moving a shield that was set around myself is one thing, but trying to move a fixed-point shield at a distance is something I never quite mastered.”

“That’s fine. We’ll just carry them out once we’re done healing everyone.” She looked over at Big Mac. “You okay?”

“ ‘Yup.” Big Mac was standing at the edge of the shield, looking around at the gutted ruins of the palace with an expression of quiet sadness. He turned away from the destruction and walked back to join them. “Let’s get out of here.”

By the time they emerged from the wreckage, most of the other soldiers were gone, leaving the courtyard almost eerily quiet. The only exceptions were a group of crystal ponies crying as they embraced their loved ones, and a group of armored unicorns that had started sorting through the debris with expressions of mournful determination. Princess Luna was helping them, giving out orders in a subdued voice.

Spirit, Twilight, and Autumn were with the rest of the Everfree Patrol, including Prince Blueblood, who actually smiled when he saw them. Nearby, Celestia had pulled Cadance and Shining Armor into a tight hug, probably a little too tight, based on the way Shining was gasping for air.

“Cliff, you’re safe!” Spirit rushed over to his brother and hugged him. “When the inside collapsed, I …” He shook his head. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Behind him, Autumn and Fleur de Verre were embracing as well.

“I’m pretty happy about it myself.” Cliff returned the hug. “Did everyone else get out safely?”

“The Everfree Platoon did, since you saved Minuette, but the Solar Unicorns had a few members still inside. Luna just finished a spell to check for survivors, but,” he shook his head, “there weren’t any.”

Cliff nodded. He probably should have felt worse about their deaths than he did, but he was just happy to still be alive. “What’s the Alliance doing?” He looked around, but couldn’t see any signs of battle to the north or south.

“Leaving. They stopped their attack as soon as they hit the palace.”

Cliff nodded again. “I guess that means it’s time to heal and clean up.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

It was well past lunchtime when they finished getting everyone healed and accounted for, and the entire Platoon retreated to the kitchen to enjoy what they could of their Hearth’s Warming day. The food was actually very good, but the mood was understandably sober.

“Hey, Big Mac,” Rainbow said to the stallion sitting next to her, “pass me another drink.”

“Seriously, Dash?” Sky Painter, Cliff and Spirit’s father, gave her an incredulous look from across the table. “That’s like your twelfth mug.”

Rainbow shrugged. “It’s non-alcoholic, so it’s not like I can get drunk off of it.” Out of necessity, the Everfree Platoon avoided anything alcoholic. Drunk wyrms were far more likely to lose control and go berserk.

Big Mac wordlessly filled Rainbow’s mug from the barrel on the end of the table, then he went back to his third plate of mashed potatoes and stuffing.

“Thanks, Mac.” She took a sip. “Ugh, I still can’t get the taste of rubble out of my mouth.”

“Agreed,” Cliff said at her other side. “Or the smell of burning flesh out of my nose, for that matter.”

Farther down the table, Fire Eyes and Blueblood both nodded.

Burning Torch, who was at the very end of the table, was caught up in a conversation with Twilight about something or other and didn’t seem to hear.

“Allow me to assure you,” Fleur de Verre said from her spot next to Cliff’s parents, “the smell is even more nauseating when it was your own flesh that was burning.”

Fire Eyes winced. “I’m really, really sorry about that.”

Verre rubbed a hoof across her chest, where the burns had been. “Your actions helped save my life. It’s worth the pain to still be alive.” She glanced at Autumn, and the two shared a look of sympathy and understanding. “I do have to say, though, I never imagined that staying at the palace for Hearth’s Warming would turn out this way.” The older mare looked out the window behind her to where the Crystal Palace had once stood.

The outer walls had been lowered at some point, confirming once and for all that the building had been destroyed. By the grace of the Stars, the Crystal Heart was still functioning, though apparently it wouldn’t be able to convert emotions into a shield as efficiently without the palace to focus its magic.

“I can’t believe they actually destroyed it,” Verre said quietly.

“We should’ve seen it coming.” Spirit slammed his mug down, spilling some of the cider in it. “Of course they’d destroy the Palace, hoping to get rid of the shield. It’s the only thing keeping us in this war.”

His words snapped Twilight out of her conversation with Torch. “Spirit, we had no idea that the Alliance was capable of destroying the Crystal Palace from the edges of the Empire.”

“Twi’s right, Son,” Sky Painter said. “There’s no need to beat yourself up over it. Besides, we didn’t lose nearly as many soldiers in this battle compared to every other time Equestria and the Alliance have fought. That’s something to be happy about, at least.”

Cliff raised his mug. “Here’s to just how screwed up the world is that over five hundred deaths is something to be happy about.”

The rest of the table raised their mugs as well before taking a drink.

“Five hundred seventy-seven, to be precise,” Twilight said, “but Mom’s right. Our losses were over two thousand in both of our first two battles.”

Autumn raised her own mug. “A toast to those who have fallen, today and every other day of this Celestia-cursed war.”

Another round of agreement.

“At least no one from Everfree has died,” Fire Eyes said. “How about we make that a repeating theme?”

“Here here,” Autumn said.

“I will do my best to keep you all alive,” Blueblood said, “but that is going to be difficult if you keep running into collapsing buildings.”

“I certainly hope we don’t have to do that again,” Eyes said. “Just once was more than enough. Though I feel like I should add, ‘Stand inside of a building as it collapses,’ to my bucket list, just so I can cross it off.” She laughed softly, but it turned into a sigh halfway through.

“What do you think Shining and Cadance will do now?” Spirit asked. “We can’t leave the Crystal Heart in the open, but building another palace would just be asking the Alliance to blow that one up too.”

Twilight tapped a hoof against her chin thoughtfully. “Shiny was talking about putting a bunker around the Heart and moving the army’s headquarters into the caves for a while.”

“Wherever you put it,” Cliff said, “there had better be a lot of protective enchantments. Yol Toor and Silver Tail imploded a mountain with their Void Fire once.”

Rainbow coughed for a few seconds. “Wait, really?” She wiped the spilled drink off of her chin.

Cliff nodded. “To get rid of the crystal drakes that used to rule the north. That’s why Yol Toor’s clan is called the Shattered Mountain Clan.”

“That was all in those notes that Discord gave us,” Twilight said, looking at Rainbow suspiciously. “You know, the notes we were ordered to read more than a month ago.”

Rainbow blushed. “I mighta, kinda, forgotten about that.”

“Of course you did.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Breathing fire normally involves the accumulation of magic in an organ near the lungs that converts it into fire so it can be breathed out at will. Void Fire bypasses the conversion so that concentrated magic is breathed instead. As I’m sure you noticed, magic doesn’t disperse nearly as quickly as fire, so its range as an effective weapon is multiplied exponentially …”

-_-_-_-_-_-

As Twilight launched into a detailed explanation of Void Fire, Spirit leaned over to Autumn. “You know, we never did get a chance to talk about, you know, what we talked about last night.”

Autumn raised an eyebrow. The emotions flowing through their link made it clear what she was thinking.

“I know this isn’t the best time,” he said quickly, “and maybe this is just the near-death experience talking, but I was hoping we could maybe talk about it sometime soon. I don’t want to put the important things off anymore.”

Her emotions changed briefly, showing love and gratitude, but also regret. She knew it wasn’t a good time either.

Fleur de Verre noticed it too, because she nudged her daughter. Spirit could tell she was using her empathy to tell Autumn something.

After a few moments, Autumn nodded and bent down to pick up the helmet that had been sitting beneath her seat. She put it on and got up, motioning for Spirit to follow her.

“I didn’t mean we had to talk about it right this minute,” Spirit sent.

Autumn blushed a little under her helmet. “Just … walk with me, please.”

“Okay.” Spirit retrieved his own helmet and followed after her.

It was still a bright afternoon outside, which almost seemed wrong. Too much had happened today for it to bright and sunny. Luckily the streets were mostly deserted, giving the two some much-appreciated privacy.

Autumn led the way, walking silently up a ramp and past the remains of the Crystal Palace.

Spirit remained silent as well, letting her work out whatever it was that she wanted to say.

She turned to him when they reached the far end of the palace courtyard. “My mother thinks very highly of you, Spirit. She even told me once that it’s a shame that ponies and dragons can’t cross-breed.”

Spirit blushed. “That’s nice of her.”

Autumn nodded. “Back there, she suggested my old bedroom again, if we wanted some alone time.” A small blush coated her cheeks, but it was nothing compared to Spirit’s bright-red scales.

“That’s … nice of her.”

Autumn chuckled softly. “You can relax. For now, at least, I only want to talk.”

“I’m okay with that.” Spirit rubbed against her side, ignoring the scraping sounds their armor made against each other. “What do you want to talk about?”

“What changed your mind.” She gave him a sideways smirk. “Your emotions have been far from subtle about the matter today.”

If it was possible, Spirit blushed a little harder. “I’m not really sure what changed.”

“Then tell me why you feel this way.” Her expression was hard for a moment before it softened. “Please. I have to know that you aren’t acting out of guilt or pity, or even just wild impulse,” she stopped and looked back toward the palace courtyard, “especially after what happened today …”

He followed her gaze. “Promise you won’t get mad if my reason is kind of silly?”

She nodded.

Spirit took a deep breath. “To be honest, if this only affected me, I still wouldn’t know what to do, but we both know that that isn’t the case.” He reached out and stroked her cheek, or rather, the armor over her cheek. “I love you, Autumn, and I want my actions to speak louder than my words. If there’s something you want, I want to give it to you, and I can only hope you’ll accept it.” He smiled. “I hope that’s a good enough reason, because it’s the only one I have.”

Autumn leaned into his hand. “It’s more than enough.” Love filled the link between them, but it was also tinged with worry. She looked up at him. “Are you sure you won’t regret this?”

He nodded.

“Okay,” she whispered. Nervousness echoed between them as she started to blush more heavily. “My old house is just a few blocks away … maybe we could … stop by?”

Spirit’s mouth was suddenly too dry to speak, not that he would have been able to form a coherent sentence anyway. Instead he just hugged Autumn Gem, the mare who had stuck by his side even after all of his selfishness and indecision.

They held that pose for several long moments before letting go. Still not trusting himself to speak, Spirit motioned for Autumn to lead the way.

-_-_-_-_-_-

“… and a drake’s aura acts like a magnifying glass for it all, resulting in a devastatingly powerful attack,” Twilight finished. “You really need to know these sorts of things if you want to fight against the Alliance effectively.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and frowned. “Fine, I’ll remember it.”

Twilight crossed her hooves over her chest. “How does it work, then?”

“By the, uh …” Rainbow waved her forehooves in front of her. “The thing that fire the … stuff?” She tossed her hooves in the air. “Whatever, you’ve forgotten things too.”

“Only about three in her entire life,” Sky Painter said. “Everything else is on a list somewhere.”

A round of chuckles passed over the table.

Even Rainbow laughed along. “Sorry,” she said after a moment. “I still have those notes sitting around somewhere. I’ll read through them tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry too, Rainbow.” Twilight sighed and then yawned. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I was letting the stress of everything get to me.”

“It’s okay, Twilight. This has been about the worst Hearth’s Warming Day ever.”

“Eyup,” Big Mac said.

“I don’t know,” Cliff said. “I got a hoof-made blanket from Fluttershy and a note telling me how much she loves me.” He smiled warmly. “Not even having a building fall on me is enough to undo all that.”

“You always were a hopeless romantic,” Scenic Trail said with a smile of her own. “That’s one of you better qualities.”

“Which you definitely didn’t get from me,” Sky Painter added.

Twilight chuckled. “I’ve missed having you all around. Things are so much more quiet now, even sharing a home with Fluttershy and Rarity.”

“By the way,” Cliff said, “does anyone know where Spirit and Autumn ran off to?”

“They wanted some romantic time alone,” Fleur de Verre said casually.

Silence fell on the table as everyone exchanged uncomfortable glances.

“Do you think that means what I think it means?” Rainbow whispered to Cliff.

“I think I’d be happier not knowing,” Cliff replied before clearing his throat. “Uh, Twilight, how’s Fluttershy doing?”

The alicorn looked like an epic battle was taking place within her between awkwardness and anger. “I gave him forty-three reasons not to,” she muttered before shaking her head. “Uh, anyway, Fluttershy is doing much better lately. She was really worried when we learned that a battle was imminent, but I’m sure she calmed down … after …” Twilight’s ears pressed down against her skull and her pupils shrank. “Oh no, I forgot to send them a letter to tell them that we’re all okay!” She jumped out of her seat and ran away. “I need parchment! Does anyone have a quill?”

The others at the table all watched her go for a moment until Sky Painter said, “I take it back. She’s forgotten four things in her life. Everything else is on a list.”

Chapter 28

Dear Fluttershy,

I’m sure you already heard that there was another battle, and considering what happened last time, I thought I should send you a letter right away to let you know that we’re all fine. Things were nearly identical to the battle on Hearth’s Warming Day a few weeks ago. The Alliance forces came right up to the shield and used their staffs to get through and attack briefly before they blasted a bunch of abandoned neighborhoods and pulled back. No clue what they were up to, but I’m not going to complain.

I won’t tell you not to worry, because I know you will anyway, but we’re all fine, really. Rainbow says hi, by the way.

Anyway, is your stomach hurting again today? You said that it didn’t help when Twilight used healing magic on you. Maybe a pony doctor would be able to figure out what the problem is and help you start feeling better.

They still need my help cleaning up some rubble, but I’ll write you again once we’re done. I love you, beautiful, and I hope your morning has been a little less hectic than mine.

Love, Cliff

Cliff rolled up the scroll and sent it away in a puff of emerald fire. He pushed against the side of the Empire’s wall as he climbed slowly to his feet, doing his best to ignore the aching in his newly regrown foot. Everfree Armor was great, but even it couldn’t stop the bite of a fully grown drake.

The rest of the Everfree Platoon was nearby, standing in near silence in front of the Crystal Empire’s outer wall. The wall itself was filled to overflowing with Equestrian soldiers, all of them armed with either bows or magic.

Beyond them, half a dozen smoking craters dotted the Crystal Empire. Cliff didn’t know why the Alliance had targeted unoccupied areas, but he suspected that this attack had only been one part of a larger plan.

Rainbow Dash was lying against the wall next to Cliff. Sweat and dirt were caked into the fur on her face, and the jagged edges of her armor around one foreleg showed where the limb had been bitten off—by the same drake that got Cliff’s foot, actually. Rainbow flexed her new hoof experimentally and glanced at the drake corpse, embedded in the rubble of the Crystal Empire’s wall off to her left. Several tons of falling dragon tended to have that effect on crystal. Her attention turned to the army of dragons, hovering in place just outside of the shield. “What do you think they’re waiting for?”

“I don’t know,” Cliff said. He tried to put some more weight on his foot and winced as a spike of pain coursed through it. “At least they gave us some time to catch our breath.”

Fire Eyes grabbed him around the shoulders and let him lean on her. “Easy there, Cliff. We both know that it takes a day or two for your body to adjust after losing a body part and growing it back.”

“Speaking of which,” Rainbow said, “should we cut that drake open to get our limbs back? I kinda feel like we should bury them or something.”

“There’s no point.” Cliff shook his head. “Dragon stomach acid can handle diamonds. Your foreleg and my foot have probably been dissolved completely by now.”

Rainbow shuddered and tried to stand but stopped when Big Mac gently forced her back down.

“Nope. Rest.” Dozens of small marks coated the earth stallion’s armor, but nothing had actually managed to wound him.

Rainbow brushed his hoof away. “How come Cliff can get up and I can’t?”

“Hurt worse,” Big Mac replied.

“I’m really sorry about that, Rainbow,” Cliff said. “I can’t believe I didn’t even see that drake until he was clamping his teeth down on my leg.”

Rainbow shrugged, forcing a casual smile that didn’t fool anyone. “At least I can tell everyone how I got this awesome war wound trying to pry a friend out of a drake’s mouth.”

“So long as you don’t tell Fluttershy until after this is all over.”

Rainbow laughed. “Yeah, she’d panic big time.” Her mood sobered quickly. “I miss seeing her around.”

“Me too,” Cliff whispered.

“If they do decide to come back and attack again,” Blueblood said, “could the two of you try not to do anything suicidal this time?”

Rainbow bristled. “Hey, if you’d been faster with your shield, neither of us would have gotten chomped.”

“I made the mistake,” Cliff said before they could start arguing again. “I should have asked Blueblood to cast a shield as soon as that drake surprised me, and Rainbow was just trying to help, so if you’re going to get angry at anyone, it should be me.”

Blueblood glared at Rainbow before shrugging and turning away. “Well as long as you realize your mistake.”

Rainbow looked like she was about to respond, but an unbelievably loud voice cut her off.

“Listen to me, Crystal ponies of the Empire.” Cliff recognized the voice as Silver Tail’s, and followed it back to the drake himself, flying near the center of the formation in front of them. “We respect the fact that many of you have tried to stay out of this conflict. Because of that, we have been trying to avoid harming you. However, we’ve learned that the Crystal Heart can only maintain its shield because all of you are channeling magic into it. Taking the Heart didn’t work, destroying the Palace didn’t deactivate it, and so now we’re forced to go after the source of its power. In other words, each of you.”

What! Cliff felt the blood drain from his face as murmurs of shock and fear rippled through the other forces nearby.

“Would they actually do that?” Fire Eyes asked.

Before he could respond, Silver Tail began speaking again, “Please understand that this is our last resort. In fact, I’m begging you all to leave. Find some other part of your giant empire to live in. Raise your hatchlings, love your spouses, grow old together, and know peace all your days. The Alliance won’t stop you. We’ll even provide an escort to make sure you get to your new homes in safety. Just don’t stay here and force us to kill you in order to reclaim the land we need to survive.”

Cliff activated an eyesight-enhancing spell and stared at Silver Tail incredulously. The white drake’s expression was regretful, sad even, but full of determination. Cliff let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “Yes, Eyes, they would.”

“Consider this warning a show of our respect for you,” Silver Tail continued. “In one month the Dragon Alliance will return, pierce your defenses yet again, and lay waste to any who remain. If you decide to stay and die honorably, defending your homeland, we will respect that, but please let me beg this much as a father; send your children away. All of them this time. We solemnly pledge not to attack any groups leading children or civilians away from this war zone. They don’t deserve to die because of a conflict that is outside of their control. Honor to you all, ponies of Equestria. I am Silver Tail, leader of the Ice Spire Clan, and I sincerely hope that our paths do not cross again until this war has ended.”

The last echos of the drake leader’s voice were still fading as the swarm of dragons pulled back, turning toward their cave in the mountains to the northwest. There was a finality in each of their expressions, and Cliff had no doubt that they intended to kill everyone still in the Crystal Empire when they returned.

“Spirit says that ponies are starting to panic all around the Empire,” Fire Eyes sent. “We need to help calm them down before they start to riot!”

Even the massive shield began to flicker erratically as the Crystal Heart reacted to the wave of fear assaulting the Empire.

Rainbow Dash gulped. “Uh, Cliff? How are we going to explain this one to Fluttershy?”

“I …” Cliff shook his head. “I don’t know.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Silver Lining pulled a bundle of carrots out of the fridge and put them on the counter. “Fluttershy, please pass me a knife.”

Fluttershy hesitated. “I, um, yes, mother.” She opened a drawer next to the sink and paused over the shining bits of metal within.

All it would take was one moment of thoughtlessness, one slip or loss of control, and these blades could easily kill somepony. Fluttershy could already see the gleaming metal covered by warm blood as shouts of fear and pain filled the air. What made her think she could get through life without killing again, even if it was by accident?

“Fluttershy?” Rarity asked. “Are you alright? You’ve been staring at that drawer for while now.”

That snapped Fluttershy back to the present. “I was?” She shook her head. “I mean, I’m sorry.” She carefully used her wings to lift out one of the deadly tools and pass it to her mother, handle first.

“Thank you.” Silver Lining took the knife and began chopping.

Rarity pressed against Fluttershy’s side. “I should have offered to gather that for you.”

“No,” Fluttershy rested a wing over her friend’s back, “you were getting the tomatoes, and knives don’t usually scare me anymore. I think it’s because of the battle today.” A shudder coursed through her. Cliff, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and many of her other friends could be fighting for their lives at this very moment, and all Fluttershy could do was help make lunch for herself and the Crusaders.

Her eyes drifted over the kitchen counter to the family nest, where the Crusaders were talking and relaxing for their lunch break from school. Whisper sat near the edge of the group, watching the others with a smile as she stroked Angel’s tummy. The other three seemed to be talking about some improvement to assembly process for Everfree Armor. It made Fluttershy a little sad to think about how much they had all grown up.

A scroll appeared in front of Fluttershy’s face, dropping nearly to the ground before she caught it with her wings.

“Ah,” Rarity said, “I imagine that will be Cliff. Why don’t you read through it with the Crusaders while Silver Lining and I finish lunch?”

Fluttershy nodded eagerly and slipped past her mother out of the kitchen.

Apple Bloom was the first to notice Fluttershy’s approach. “Cliff sent you a letter?” She gestured at the scroll held beneath Fluttershy’s wing. “What’s it say? Is Big Mac alright?”

“I don’t know yet.” Fluttershy climbed into the nest with them and unrolled the scroll. She waited for the Crusaders to gather around her. “Let’s see. It says, ‘Dear Fluttershy …’ ”

The letter was disappointingly short, but it was a huge relief to know that everyone was okay. One thing did stand out, though.

“Maybe you should go see a doctor,” Scootaloo said. It looked like the same thing had stood out to her. “I mean, wyrm healing is cool and all, but they don’t really have things like stomach medicine.”

“It’s t-true,” Whisper said. “P-pony doctors are really good at f-figuring out what makes you sick or hurt.”

“I dunno,” Apple Bloom said. “Doctors can diagnose most things, but whatever’s buggin’ Fluttershy can’t be a normal problem if healing magic doesn’t work on it.”

Sweetie Belle looked at Fluttershy. “Do you want to try it?”

“I …” Fluttershy had never thought about seeing a doctor for her stomach, because she had always assumed that the pain and nausea was caused by her battle trauma. Dr. Insight said she was getting better, though, and her nightly attacks of stomach cramps and nausea were only getting worse. Twilight had tried healing magic twice now with no effect.

“Lunch is ready,” Rarity announced.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo scrambled up and over to the table, with Fluttershy, Whisper, and Sweetie following more slowly. It was a little cramped with all of them plus Silver Lining and Rarity around the kitchen table, but at least they fit. Angel climbed onto the table itself and sat back against Scenic Trail’s egg, which was sitting in the middle of the table like always.

It was still hard to believe that Cliff’s little sister was in there, just waiting for the warmth of dragon fire to help her hatch.

“A traditional salad with your choice of dressing,” Rarity said, passing a plate to each of them, “and thin-sliced pork to go on Whisper’s.” Thankfully, the pink substance didn’t set of Fluttershy’s gag reflex anymore.

“Hey Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said with a mischievous grin, “I dare you to eat a piece of pork.”

“Scootaloo,” Rarity said sternly, “that’s disgusting.”

Silver Lining met Whisper’s eyes and gestured toward the small bowl of meat. “May I?”

Whisper nodded.

Without any hesitation, Silver Lining plucked out a small slice of meat and ate it.

Scootaloo stared at her. “Whoa, I didn’t think anypony would actually do it.”

“I served for a year in a mixed griffon town right out of the academy.” Silver Lining picked up the salad fork and began serving herself. “Many of us tried meat on a bet or a dare. Some even developed a taste for it. Meat is very nutritious and easier to digest than most plants, after all. I have been trying to get the military to include it as part of our soldiers’ rations.”

Rarity shuddered. “Fluttershy, what did Cliff have to say?”

“He says that everyone is safe.” Fluttershy took the salad fork next and served herself a small portion. “He also wants me to go see a pony doctor about my stomach.”

“Which sounds like a good idea, if you ask me,” Scootaloo said.

“We would have to go to Ponyville Hospital,” Rarity said. Nearly every wyrm in Everfree Village could use at least basic healing magic, which made having a doctor’s office kind of unnecessary. “Are you feeling up to a trip like that?”

Fluttershy didn’t want to imagine the pressing crowds, the suspicious looks, and the lingering whispers of a trip through Ponyville. She forced herself to nod anyway. It was miserable to feel sick every night.

“We can go after lunch,” Silver Lining said. “I’m ahead on my work at the moment anyway.”

“I’ll go as well,” Rarity said. “The lab can spare me for a few hours, if need be.”

Apple Bloom tapped her chin thoughtfully. “We have to get back to school, but we can at least walk you there.”

“You can stay here,” Fluttershy said, looking at the clock. “You’d have to come back as soon as we got there.”

Sweetie Belle shrugged. “That doesn’t matter. We promised that we’d be there for you whenever you need us.”

The other Crusaders all nodded.

“It looks like you’re outvoted,” Silver Lining said with a faint smile. “Try to be graceful in defeat.”

Fluttershy nodded, blushing a little at the Crusaders’ show of support. “Okay. Thank you all.” Then she dug into her meal as quickly as her stomach would allow. The least she could do was try to make sure that the Crusaders weren’t late getting back to work.

Everyone else must have had the same thought, because lunch passed quickly and quietly. They even skipped most of the cleanup, only stacking their dishes in the sink before heading out.

The streets of Everfree were crowded with ponies and wyrms. Fluttershy should have expected that; most citizens took their lunch breaks around noon. She swallowed and tried not to imagine blood staining the scales of every wyrm in sight. A shiver passed through her, and it had nothing to do with the layer of snow on the ground.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” Rarity said, pressing against her friend’s side. “We’re all here for you.”

Whisper silently pressed against her other side.

Apple Bloom stepped in front of the group. “Team, assume defensive positions.”

Scootaloo moved up next to the earth mare, while Sweetie stepped back to stand behind Fluttershy.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth, just like Dr. Insight had taught her. “There’s nothing to worry about,” she whispered to herself. “It’s just a quick walk.”

Angel hopped onto Fluttershy’s back and patted her side.

“Thank you, everyone.” Fluttershy took one more deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Alright, everyone,” Apple Bloom turned back to the street, “move out.”

Silver Lining walked alongside the others without complaint, but her expression made it clear that she thought their defensive formation was unnecessary.

Fluttershy kept her eyes on the ground, partially to avoid looking at the wyrms in the street, and partially so that she wouldn’t have to see her mother’s disapproving eyes.

“I-I wish I could face my fears as well as you, Sis,” Whisper said, fidgeting uncomfortably as she spoke.

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy looked over at Whisper. “Is there something in Everfree Village that scares you too?”

“Not quite.” Scootaloo smirked. “More like something she’s been dragging her hooves with.”

“Oh, are we talking about Glaive?” Sweetie asked.

Whisper turned bright red.

Apple Bloom frowned a little. “Real smooth there, Sweetie. Anyhow,” she looked back at Whisper, “I keep tellin’ you that he’d be crazy not ta be interested. Just go talk to him, or send a letter if you’re really so worried about yer stuttering.”

“A fillyhood crush?” Rarity beamed. “That’s wonderful to hear, Whisper. Who, may I ask, is the lucky stallion?”

Whisper mumbled something incomprehensible.

Angel hopped over to Whisper’s back and squeaked reassuringly.

Fluttershy smiled. “Angel is right, you don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.”

“N-no,” Whisper shook her head, “i-it’s okay.” She gulped and looked at Apple Bloom pleadingly.

Apple Bloom nodded in response. “Glaive’s the son of that family of griffons that moved in last year. Whisper’s been crushin’ on him somethin’ fierce for a while now, but she’s too nervous ta go talk to him.”

“It’s rare for griffons to form a long-term relationship with any non-griffon,” Whisper, well, whispered. “I don’t know if he’s interested in dating at all, let alone with a dragon.”

“Oh dear, that does sound frightening.” Fluttershy thought about her honorary little sister’s predicament. Years earlier, when she first noticed her feelings for Cliff, she had felt a lot like Whisper did now. Then Discord’s magic took away her shyness for the evening. She winced at the memory of Cliff’s panic attack, which had also been caused by Discord’s influence. Even so, an idea occurred to her. “Whisper, um, if you want, I could use the Stare on you, to make it easier to go talk to Glaive.”

Whisper was as red as a ripe apple, but she nodded a little. “D-do you think that w-would work?”

“It’s worth a shot,” Scootaloo said.

The dragoness took a deep breath. “M-maybe right before we go back to school …?”

Fluttershy hugged her. “I would love to,” she smiled, “little Sis.”

“That was an excellent distraction tactic,” Silver Lining said.

“What?” Fluttershy looked around and realized that they were already out of the village and partway down the road to Ponyville.

Whisper shrank down a little. “S-sorry. I-I didn’t mean to manipulate you, S-Sis.”

“What did she do?” Scootaloo asked.

Sweetie looked confused too. “What were you distracting her from?”

Whisper glanced at Silver Lining. Fluttershy couldn’t see her expression, but she knew it was the same pleading look she had used with Apple Bloom moments earlier.

“You can explain it to them yourself,” Silver Lining said calmly. “I’m sure they won’t fault you for it.”

“Fault her for what?” Sweetie asked.

“D-distracting Fluttershy,” Whisper said quietly. “S-she always f-forgets her fears when she’s helping someone else.”

“Huh,” Apple Bloom said. “That’s really smart of you. Does anyone else have any embarrassing secrets they want to share when we get to Ponyville?”

Silence fell on the group, broken only by the sound of walking.

“It was your idea,” Scootaloo said. “You can say something.”

“I don’t have any secrets though.” Apple Bloom frowned in concentration. “I guess there was that one time I snuck a drink of our alcoholic cider.”

“But you just said that out loud,” Sweetie said. “Now it won’t be a surprise when we get to Ponyville.”

Rarity sighed. “Girls, I hardly think it will be necessary to delve into embarrassing secrets.”

“Just having you all with me is enough.” Fluttershy turned to Whisper and smiled. “But thank you.”

Whisper smiled back. “Y-You’re welcome.”

They arrived at Ponyville a few minutes later, and luck seemed to be on their side for once. The streets were almost empty.

“We got you here safe and sound,” Apple Bloom said proudly, “just like we promised.”

Sweetie nodded. “We’ll come by after school and you can tell us what the doctors said.”

“Wait,” Fluttershy said before they could start to walk away. “Do you still want me to use the Stare on you, Whisper?”

“I-If it isn’t t-to much trouble.” Whisper blushed a little. “Please?”

“You know I’d do anything to help you.” Fluttershy took a deep breath and focused on the emotions of bravery and determination. It felt like she only had the tiniest scraps of either within her, but Fluttershy willed them up into her eyes and from there into Whisper.

The young dragoness stood up a little straighter, and a weak smile crossed her lips. “T-Thank you. I-I’ll talk to Glaive today, I promise.”

Fluttershy gave her a hug. “Just be yourself.” She let go and waved to the Crusaders as they started back toward Everfree.

“Come along,” Silver Lining said, gesturing to the hospital behind them. “Let’s see if these doctors can fix whatever is wrong with your stomach.”

Both Rarity and Angel nodded their agreement.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Fluttershy really didn’t like hospitals. They were supposed to be places of healing, but they always felt so stiff and uncomfortable, like ponies and dragons didn’t belong in their sterile halls. She could almost feel the building staring down at her disapprovingly as she filled out form after form, talked with the nurse, and let the doctors do a complete scan. Eventually there was nothing to do but wait in one of the examination rooms.

“I’m sure you don’t have anything to worry about,” Rarity said, sitting in one of the two chairs.

Silver Lining sat down next to her. “Let’s hope that these doctors can at least find something wrong.”

Rarity gasped. “You actually hope there’s something wrong with your own daughter?”

“Something is obviously wrong.” Silver Lining turned to Fluttershy, who was sitting on the room’s bed with Angel. “We can’t treat it unless we know what the problem is.”

The nurse walked in before Rarity could respond. Fluttershy didn’t know her name, but she was a white earth mare with a pink mane and tail. Strangely, she was also blushing slightly. “Well, um, Mrs. Fluttershy, we know what’s causing your symptoms.”

Fluttershy nodded, a little confused by the nurse’s behavior. “What is it?”

“Actually,” the nurse coughed uncomfortably, “after reviewing your file, I think it would be best if you allowed me to give the result to either of your friends so that they can tell you when you return to Everfree Village.” She nodded toward Rarity and Silver Lining. “Dr. Insight was very clear that you shouldn’t receive any shocking news unless you’re in a comfortable setting.”

Fluttershy paled a little as all sorts of horrible possibilities ran through her mind. “Is it that bad?”

Angel squeaked the same question.

“Tell us now.” Silver Lining looked at Fluttershy nervously. “I’m sure that we will have a number of questions for you.”

The nurse shook her head. “Trust me, this isn’t the sort of thing that should be discussed in public.”

“You can tell them,” Fluttershy whispered. She swallowed, and forced herself to speak in a normal voice. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be easier to hear from a friend.”

Rarity looked uncertain, but nodded. “Very well, if it will help.” She gave Fluttershy a hug and then followed the nurse into the hall way.

“Whatever it is,” Silver Lining said firmly, “we will get through it together.” Then she too went out into the hallway.

A few seconds later, Rarity shouted, “What?!”

Am I dying? Fluttershy’s legs trembled a bit. The rainbow power from the Tree of Harmony was so powerful that it was kind of scary to think about. Maybe using that had damaged her body beyond repair somehow. Fluttershy gasped. If that was the problem, then her friends would be affected as well!

No, that couldn’t be it. She forced herself to breath deeply, in through the nose and out through the mouth. The Power of Harmony always felt so comforting when she used it, like she was a foal wrapped in her mother’s embrace. It had to be something else.

After what felt like hours, Rarity and Silver Lining returned. Both looked shaken, and Rarity was holding a large envelope in her magic. “Oh, Fluttershy,” she put on a big fake grin, “how are you?”

Fluttershy began to shake. “What did she tell you?”

“That we need to talk.” Silver Lining held open the door and gestured for Fluttershy to come with her. “Back in Everfree, if your psychiatrist is to be believed.”

Fluttershy followed after her, scooping up Angel as she went.

Their little group was silent until they were out of Ponyville completely and on the path to Everfree Village. “Fluttershy, dear,” Rarity said at last, “have you … Oh, how do I say this?” She blushed. “Have you been spending much time outside the house since you returned?”

“No … Should I be?” Did she need to get more sunlight?

“No no,” Rarity said quickly, blushing more heavily now. “I was just curious who you’ve been spending time with when neither of us is around.”

“The Crusaders, mostly.” Fluttershy could feel her heart pounding in her chest. Was she contagious? Had she infected her friends?

“Rarity,” Silver Lining said, “stop talking before you give her a panic attack.”

Silence fell over them once more, and Fluttershy could do nothing but follow after the other two and try not to let panic set in until she knew for sure what was wrong.

When they reached the house, Fluttershy was surprised, but happy, to find Twilight lying in the nest in the front room. The alicorn looked exhausted, and her mane and tail were a mess, but she perked up when she saw them. “There you three are. I was starting to get worried.” She smiled, but it was a bit strained.

Rarity hurried over to her friend. “Twilight, is everything alright?”

Fluttershy stayed near the door with her mother. If she really did have a contagious disease, she didn’t want to risk getting her friends sick as well.

“Yes, of course.” Twilight didn’t meet either of their gazes. “Cliff told me that he sent you a letter about what happened in the battle?”

Fluttershy and Rarity nodded.

“Well, after he sent it, the Alliance threatened to attack the crystal ponies, so now Celestia and Luna are trying to figure out how to evacuate them all without weakening the Crystal Heart. Assuming the crystal ponies are even willing to go.” Twilight sighed. “I don’t know how many more complications I can take.”

“Unfortunately,” Silver Lining said, “you will have to deal with at least one more today.”

Twilight looked at her nervously. “What’s wrong?”

“Well,” Rarity cleared her throat, “you see, we went to Ponyville Hospital to see if they could diagnose the cause of Fluttershy’s nausea, and they discovered that …” She trailed off with a fierce blush.

“That what?” Twilight prompted. “Is it serious?” She turned to Fluttershy. “I can try to heal you again.”

“Actually, this complication is of a rather different nature.” Rarity lifted the envelope from the hospital in her magic. “Perhaps it would be easier if you both just read the news for yourselves.” She motioned for Fluttershy to join them.

Fluttershy hesitated. “I don’t want to get either of you sick.”

“You aren’t sick, dear.” Silver Lining walked past her and climbed into the nest, leaving enough room for Fluttershy between her and Rarity.

More confused than ever, Fluttershy joined the other mares.

Rarity opened the envelope and pulled out a sheet of paper.

Fluttershy leaned forward and studied the document, which seemed to be her test results. She didn’t understand most of it, but at the bottom was a diagnosis that made her heart stop. “No,” she whispered, shaking her head. “That can’t be right.”

On Rarity’s other side, Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Fluttershy,” she looked at her friend with an expression of complete shock, “you’re pregnant?”

Chapter 29

“I’m not pregnant,” Fluttershy said, backing away from Twilight, Rarity, and Silver Lining so quickly that she fell out of the nest with a cry of surprise.

Rarity, who was bright red, climbed out of the nest and helped her up. “I know it’s hard to hear, Fluttershy, but,” she reached into the envelope from the hospital and pulled out a sonogram picture with an obvious shape on it, “the doctor can already tell that your foal will be a pegasus.”

Fluttershy numbly took the picture. “I …” She shook her head. “No, I can’t be pregnant. Dragons … dragons can’t impregnate ponies.”

“Which brings up a rather important point,” Silver Lining said tersely. “When were you going to tell me that you’re having an affair?”

Twilight blushed. “None us would blame you. Cliff was really busy with his training the last time you were in heat. It’s completely understandable if you ran into a stallion and things just kind of,” she cleared her throat, “happened.”

Fluttershy was too stunned by the implication to even respond.

“Is it Prince Blueblood?” Silver Lining asked. “I thought his Hearth’s Warming present was a little suspicious.”

“I would never cheat on Cliff!” Fluttershy felt her cheeks burn red, as much from anger as embarrassment. “How could you three even suggest that?”

The others all shrank back from her outburst, even Silver Lining.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight said gently, both her ears pressed back against her head, “I don’t believe you’d do something like that, but you said it yourself; ponies and dragons can’t cross-breed. I’ve done hundreds of experiments. I’ve even used samples from both you and Cliff, and nothing indicates that it’s even possible.”

“Cliff is the only one I’ve ever been with.” Fluttershy stomped the floor with one hoof. “The hospital made a mistake.”

Rarity paused, and then nodded. “I believe you, dear.” She wrapped her hooves around Fluttershy. “I feel horrible for even thinking for a moment that you were capable of such a thing.”

Though she was still a little upset, Fluttershy returned the hug.

“I want to believe you,” Silver Lining looked away. “I really do, Fluttershy, but that sonogram isn’t just evidence, it’s proof.”

Twilight looked from her to Fluttershy, indecision playing across her face. “There’s a spell I can use to double-check.”

“You don’t trust me?” Fluttershy whispered, feeling a little heartbroken.

“No, it isn’t that.” Twilight gestured to the test results in her hoof. “Your hormones are going crazy, and that sonogram proves that something is happening in your uterus. Maybe it’s a tumor or something, but we need to know so that we can treat it.”

Fluttershy paused then lowered her head. “Okay.”

Twilight smiled gratefully. “Thank you, Fluttershy. This should only take a few seconds.” She placed her horn on Fluttershy’s forehead and lit it up with magic.

Fluttershy’s body started to tingle. At first it was soft, almost like a tickle along her skin, then it got stronger, especially around her stomach. She squirmed a little at the uncomfortable sensation but didn’t say anything.

Seconds passed, and the sensation got even stronger, bordering on real pain.

“Twilight,” Fluttershy grimaced, opening her eyes, “what are you doing?”

Her friend gave no sign of hearing her. She was frowning a little, and her horn was a lot brighter than it had been before.

Eventually Twilight’s spell ended, and she sat down hard. “I don’t believe it,” she said quietly.

“Believe what?” Rarity asked.

Fluttershy rubbed her stomach. “What did you learn?”

Twilight breathed deeply. “I have … impossible news for you, Fluttershy. You’re pregnant, but your foal is half dragon.”

“What?” Fluttershy looked down at her stomach.

Silver Lining looked at Twilight. “You’ve published two papers saying that such a thing is impossible.”

“Yes, but …” Twilight covered her face with her hooves and groaned. “Ugh, you’re right. This shouldn’t be possible! Dragons and ponies are just too genetically dissimilar. We couldn’t even fertilize an egg in a controlled environment.”

Fluttershy put a hoof back to her stomach. She had wanted a foal of her own for a long time, and now she could finally have one with the dragon she loved. Did anything else really matter? Her stunned expression fell away, replaced by an awestruck smile. “Is the baby healthy?”

“I don’t know!” Twilight tossed her hooves into air. “I’ve read everything there is to read about cross-breeds, and I haven’t found a single confirmed case of a dragon and a pony producing offspring. I don’t even know what a healthy foal would look like at this stage of development.”

Silver Lining stood up and walked to the door. “I’ll gather Everfree’s best experts on wyrm pregnancies and bring them to Ponyville Hospital. The rest of you, go straight there and gather their specialists in prenatal care. A room full of experts can do more than the four of us.” She paused, came back, and pulled Fluttershy into a firm hug. “Congratulations, Flutters. I’m sorry for doubting you.” Then she was out the door so quickly that Fluttershy didn’t even have time to respond.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Nearly an hour later, Fluttershy found herself staring out a window in Ponyville Hospital. The town outside was beautiful, coated in snow like a cottony blanket, but she kept her eyes locked on it for a very different reason.

Rarity stood at her side, quietly supporting her friend’s body and spirit.

Others filled the room as well, including Twilight, Silver Lining, a brown unicorn named Dr. Stable, and a wyrm, an adult wyrm with the same green coloration as one of the drakes that Fluttershy had helped kill.

“Sorry to keep you all waiting so long,” Dr. Stable said. There was a creaking noise that probably meant he had taken his seat at the room’s table. “We’ve reexamined every part of Mrs. Fluttershy’s tests and scans, and we believe we have some answers for you all.”

“As far as we can tell,” the wyrm dragoness said, “the hatchling is healthy.”

Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief.

“It seems to be between ten and eleven weeks old,” the dragoness continued, “which corresponds to the last time Fluttershy was in heat. “We can see the beginnings of four legs, a tail, and wings. However, the tail is more similar to what I would expect from a wyrm at this stage in development.”

“As with other cross-breed pregnancies,” Dr. Stable said, “Mrs. Fluttershy’s magic field has altered itself to better meet the needs of the foal. The increased thirst and restlessness she’s been experiencing are actually common signs of wyrm pregnancy, but Dr. Insight mistook them for symptoms of her trauma.”

“Oh my Celestia,” Twilight groaned. The sound of hoof meeting forehead echoed through the room. “I saw Mom, uh, Scenic Trail, go through the same thing just under a year ago. How did I not catch on?”

“Likely because you didn’t expect a pegasus to show the symptoms of draconic pregnancy,” Dr. Insight said flatly. “Even her morning sickness was mistaken for simple nausea. It didn’t help that the bouts struck in the evening.”

“Do you know how she got pregnant?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy looked over at the table, but had to go back to the window moments later. She could almost see fresh blood pouring from the dragoness’s mouth as she fell helplessly to the ground below.

“We have no idea,” Dr. Stable said with a sigh. “Even now, pony and dragon magic fields seem to be fighting within the foal for dominance. A battle like that should have destroyed the sperm and egg the moment fertilization took place.”

“Just like in the lab,” Twilight said.

“Which presents a problem,” Dr. Stable said.

Rarity hugged Fluttershy a bit more tightly.

“We have no way of knowing what traits the foal will inherit. Dragonesses normally lay their egg between thirteen and sixteen weeks after fertilization, and obviously, Mrs. Fluttershy doesn’t have the biology required to produce an egg. In other words, we could be as little as two weeks away from a very big problem.”

Deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Fluttershy had to believe that life wouldn’t give her this miracle only to steal it away.

“Don’t tell us what the problem is,” Silver Lining said sharply. “Tell us how to fix it.”

“We don’t know,” the dragoness said. “Dragons almost never cross-breed, and ponies have only ever produced offspring with other mammals. This is entirely new territory.”

“I asked Celestia if she knew anything,” Twilight said. “She said Luna can use the foal’s imprint on the dreamscape to look for others of the same species. If there are other hybrids on the planet, she can find them.”

“Let’s hope she discovers something,” Dr. Stable said. “In the meantime, we should look into a spell to replicate dragon egg production. I would much rather have it and not need it than the other way around.”

“Meanwhile,” the dragoness said, “Dr. Stable and I will put together a list of dietary suggestions that might help the hatchling, or foal, or whatever we’re calling it. I’ll also write a list of things dragonesses experience during pregnancy, so you’ll know what to expect.”

“Thank you for everything,” Fluttershy whispered, risking a glance at the green dragoness, “Mrs …”

“Prosperity.” The dragoness smiled. “I promise I’ll do whatever it takes to make this pregnancy a success.”

“Thank you.” Fluttershy had to look away before her back legs could give out.

Rarity gave her a comforting squeeze. “Yes, we cannot thank you enough for your help.”

“We’re glad to help,” Dr. Insight said. “Prosperity, wait up. I was thinking that cheeses and yogurt would be excellent dietary choices. They’re both high in protein …”

The door opened and then shut.

“It’s okay,” Twilight said, “you can look now.”

Fluttershy turned away from the window and confirmed that they were the only four in the room. “What do we do now?” Her wings crossed down over her stomach.

“Now,” Silver Lining said, getting up from her seat, “we stay with you through your first prenatal checkup, then we go home, and you write a letter to your husband.”

“Yes, you’re right.” Fluttershy walked to the door as well. “He needs to know.”

As soon as Fluttershy opened the door, an explosion of ribbons and confetti hit her in the face. Shouting in surprise, she flew backwards into Rarity, knocking them both onto the ground in a tangle of limbs.

“Congratulations!” Pinkie jumped into the room, holding a pink cake and wearing a blue party hat. She paused and her mouth dropped open in shock. “Rarity, you’re pregnant?”

“What?” The white unicorn untangled herself from Fluttershy and stood up. “Of course I am not pregnant! Why would you even say that?” A look of horror came over her and she clamped both forehooves over her stomach. “Oh my Celestia, I look pregnant!”

“No no, that’s not it,” Pinkie said quickly, “but my Pinkie Sense told me that someone was just finding out that they’re pregnant. Prosperity is turning two hundred and seventeen in fifty-two days, so she isn’t fertile anymore; Fluttershy is married to Cliff, and everyone knows that dragons can’t get ponies pregnant; and Twilight still hasn’t, uh,” she put the cake down and bumped her forehooves together conspicuously, “so she can’t be pregnant. I guess that Silver Lining is …” She trailed off amid a withering glare from Silver Lining. “Sorry, I guess my Pinkie Sense must be on the fritz.”

Fluttershy got up next to Rarity. “Actually, Pinkie, I’m the one that’s pregnant, and Cliff is the father.”

Pinkie didn’t move for one entire second, then she was suddenly at Fluttershy’s side and wrapping her in a tight hug. “Bestdayever! Best day ever! Best! Day! Ever!” She all but forced the cake into her friend’s hooves. “I get to throw you my usual ‘Congratulations, You’re Having a Baby,’ party, and a special ‘Congratulations on Finally Getting Pregnant,’ party, and an extra special, ‘Congratulations on Being the Mother of the First Dragon-Pony Hybrid in Equestrian History,’ party!”

She let go and bounced to the door. “Oh, you must be on your way to your first prenatal checkup. I’ll come along. Tell me everything! Except for how you got pregnant. I already know how that works.”

Fluttershy blushed a little as she went after her friend, followed by the others.

Pinkie kept talking energetically, not giving any of them a chance to respond. “Ooh, do you know what you’re going to call her yet? Or him? Is your baby a boy or a girl?” She slapped herself in the forehead. “Oh, silly Pinkie, they won’t be able to tell you that for at least another few weeks. I know, do you hope that she or he can breathe fire? How about flying …?”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Luna looked up at her sister, eyes wide in shock. “Thou expects me to spend the night scouring the dreamscape for a race that likely doesn’t exist when I could instead be searching for weaknesses of the Dragon Alliance?”

Celestia nodded, ignoring the billowing wind and the flakes of snow landing on her coat. “Fluttershy has helped save Equestria on numerous occasions. She deserves this much and more.”

“Very well.” Luna looked forward to the mountain they were approaching. “Then let us at least strike a decisive blow to these dragons.” She dropped the illusion that was keeping them both invisible.

“Agreed.” Celestia opened herself to the sun’s power, drinking in as much of it as she could hold. Next to her, she saw Luna’s body change to shadows as she drew on the moon’s power. Celestia didn’t have to look down to know that her own body was now blindingly radiant. The rocks melting beneath her hooves were an obvious enough clue.

“Dragons of the Alliance,” Luna called in the Royal Canterlot Voice. Snow and rocks were blasted away by the force of her voice. Even the air rippled in front of her. “We did not attack your citizens because you did not attack ours! Retract your threat, or my sister and I will be forced to lay waste to your home as you have threatened to lay waste to the Crystal Empire!”

Silence greeted them for one minute, then two, then ten. Finally, two drakes emerged from the cave near the mountain’s summit. One flew with like a living embodiment of the earth, firm, unstoppable. The other was like watching the air itself given form, elusive, ever-changing. Yol Toor and Silver Tail, the most powerful drakes in the Alliance.

They landed within ten feet of Celestia and Luna. Both were in their thinking forms, but both had all the marks of their battle forms. Bony plating covered Yol Toor’s scales, reflecting the orange light generated by his fiery wings, and his claws looked more like sickles. Silver Tail, on the other hoof, looked ethereal, almost see-though. Only his eyes, deep and penetrating, appeared solid.

“No,” Silver Tail said firmly. “We don’t accept your demands, because there isn’t a single civilian in this mountain; they’re all somewhere safe, very far away from you. Every last dragon that is here is willing to fight and die if that’s what it will take to create a better future for our kind.”

“Then accept an offer of peace,” Celestia said, keeping her eyes on Yol Toor, just as she knew Luna was keeping her eyes on Silver Tail. “We will give you mining rights in the outer caves around the Crystal Empire. You will have the gems you need to survive.”

“No we won’t.” Silver Tail took a small step forward. “I don’t know if you’ve been down there recently, Princess Celestia, but we exhausted those gem deposits centuries ago. We need the land directly beneath the Empire, and something tells me you won’t give us that willingly.”

“The crystal ponies can produce gems for you,” Luna said. “As many as you need.”

Silver Tail scoffed. “Like we would be stupid enough to trust our continued survival to Equestria, the empire that wants us dead.”

Yol Toor nodded ever so slightly, his eyes still locked on Celestia.

“Equestria does not want you dead,” Celestia said. “We only want peace.”

“Really?” Silver Tail arched an eyebrow. “Ninety-three percent approval to continue this war as of, oh yeah, yesterday. Lies and threats don’t impress us. Actions do, and right now, your actions tell me that you can here expecting a fight.”

“That we did, Dragon Lord.” Luna lowered her shadowy horn at Silver Tail. “Hoping to avoid one, but expecting one nonetheless.”

“Then take your best shot.” Silver Tail lowered his stance and spread his wings.

Celestia let out a heartfelt sigh. “You force us to do this.” Her horn flared to life. High above the mountain, air and light bent and refracted as if by a magnifying glass several miles across. The sky went dark and the temperature plummeted as every drop of the sun’s light and heat was concentrated into one beam at least ten feet across. It cut into the mountain, evaporating rock instantly as it bored straight down. The Alliance’s anti-magic bubble did nothing against it, of course, because the only magic was the massive spell pulling all that energy together before setting it loose.

Luna added her own spell to Celestia’s, and the beam turned pitch black, casting them all in darkness as profound as midnight. Light to darkness, heat to cold. The ice that had been blasted from the mountain’s rocks now returned. Even the air froze into sheets of white ice.

Yol Toor flipped around, growing to his full size, and spat a huge beam of energy. It’s brilliant light cut into the ray of darkness, canceling it just before it reached the mountaintop.

“You can’t stop it,” Celestia grunted, pulling in even more light and heat for her sister to convert. “Surrender now or watch your army die!”

Yol Toor’s claws gouged into the rock beneath him, and his features were bunched in concentration. Yet still tiny bits of the dark ray pushed through his Void Fire, spreading more ice on the mountain beneath.

Something crashed into Celestia, hurling her backwards as tendrils of destructive energy rushed down her throat.

Celestia teleported away, leaving a bluish-silver form to coalesce where she had just been. She recognized it’s blue eyes. Silver Tail.

Lances of compressed air shot from his wings by the hundreds, cutting into Celestia’s fiery chest and forelegs before her shield could fully form.

Luna appeared next to Celestia, pushing them both away from the onslaught as the sky returned to normal.

Some kind of energy blade came down from above, cutting through Celestia’s shield and slicing across Luna’s back.

Celestia looked up and saw five wyverns flying a dizzying formation, moving so quickly and changing directions so suddenly that even attempting to hit one without blasting the whole area would be an exercise in futility.

The air inside of Celestia’s shield suddenly froze, hissing angrily against her fiery body.

Another teleport, and she stood with Luna behind Yol Toor. The darkness that made up her sister’s body had faded in places, showing bits of painfully red skin beneath, but she nodded to Celestia.

Celestia nodded back, and the two sisters launched themselves at Yol Toor.

The drake spun and brought up both forelegs defensively as his aura sprang into existence. Celestia’s blow made the aura ripple, but Luna’s hoof punched straight through it, crunching into the bony plating beneath.

Overlapping beams of golden light hit the sisters, slamming them into the ground. The other void-fire drakes, Celestia realized through the crushing agony of the assault. They’ve joined the fray as well.

Luna somehow grabbed onto Yol Toor and pulled him into the path of the Void Fire, letting it blast him instead.

Celestia stabbed her horn into his chest and released everything she had, launching him high into the air, where he crashed into two white drakes. Gasping, Celestia fell to her knees. “We can’t stay here.”

As if to punctuate her point, Silver Tail appeared in front of her, his gleaming teeth already closing around her neck.

Then both sisters disappeared in a flash of blue light, reappearing in the foothills to the north of the Crystal Empire.

Celestia fell to her stomach in the powdery snow. It didn’t even sizzle at her touch. “Luna,” she breathed, “are you … all right?”

Luna groaned. “I have been better.” She stepped into Celestia’s field of view. Angry red splotches covered much of her body, especially her back. “So …” she didn’t as much bend down as fall. “Do you think Yol Toor could have been killed by our assault?”

“Unlikely,” Celestia said. “Even if his wounds were mortal, wyrms would be able to heal him long before he succumbed to them.”

“Tis a shame.” Luna rolled over onto her back, pressing up against Celestia as she did so. “I would like to try again, but perhaps we should first eliminate several of their other champions.”

“I agree.” Celestia snuggled a bit closer to her sister, enjoying the peace and the companionship. Even the snow felt pleasantly cool against her wounds.

“I apologize for not teleporting us directly into the Empire,” Luna said after a moment. “I thought it a bad idea to let our ponies see us in this state.”

Celestia nodded.

“That, and I’m aware that thy vanity knows no bounds.” Luna shoved Celestia playfully.

“Ha ha.” Celestia shoved her back, drawing on more of the sun’s power to fuel a healing spell.

They lapsed into silence again. Celestia didn’t know what Luna was thinking about, but she was simply enjoying the chance to rest. There would be millions of ponies waiting for them when they got back, expecting to see two perfect princesses. It was a lot easier to be a beaten-up older sister.

“So …” Luna said eventually, “thou wished for me to search the dreamscape on behalf of Fluttershy?”

“If you don’t mind.” Celestia cast her healing spell and stood up.

Luna did likewise, her dark-blue coat regrowing almost instantly, and the two of them started walking toward the Crystal Empire. Their little break was over, and Equestria needed its princesses again.

Chapter 30

Fluttershy woke to the smell of cooking haybrowns. She pushed away the thick blanket that covered her and sat up. She was in her front room. Balloons and streamers covered the floor of the family nest, half concealing the forms of Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, and three of the Crusaders. She looked toward the kitchen, where Applejack and Apple Bloom were busy putting together breakfast.

“Mornin’, sugarcube,” Applejack said quietly, gesturing for Fluttershy to come join them. It was a little strange to see her without her usual hat. “You’re sure up early. Village trainin’ won’t even start for another two hours.”

“I usually get up around this time.” Fluttershy didn’t want to risk getting in either of the Apple sibling’s way, so she stood by the counter. Several plates of haybrowns and mixed vegetables were already there, probably because the kitchen table was still covered in cake, punch, and other snacks. Scenic Trail’s egg was even wearing a party hat. “I used to think it was a side-effect of my trauma, but Prosperity said it’s part of the restlessness that most dragonesses feel during pregnancy.” Pregnancy. That word still sounded strange to her. “Um, have you two seen my mother?”

“She went back to her cloud house for the night,” Apple Bloom said as she walked by with another plate of haybrowns and cooked vegetables. She put it on the counter as well and went back to helping her sister at the stove.

“Can’t say I blame her.” Applejack flipped some more haybrowns out of the skillet and onto a fresh plate. “Pinkie parties don’t make it easy to fall asleep.”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Especially when she’s throwing three of them at the same time.”

Applejack finished the last of the haybrowns and turned the stove off. “Anyway, I’d best be headin’ out. Pinkie’s still worn out from partyin’ all night, so we’ll hafta work extra hard to get everythin’ ready for early mornin’ snacks without her.” She pointed at the plate nearest Fluttershy. “You go ahead and enjoy your breakfast, sugarcube. After all, you’re eatin’ for two now.”

Fluttershy blushed and put a hoof to her stomach. “I guess you’re right. I am.”

Applejack gave her little sister a hug before taking her hat off a peg near the door. “Take care of yourself, AB, and try to keep Twi from doin’ anything crazy to Flutters while I’m gone.”

Apple Bloom saluted. “Will do, Sis.” As soon as her sister was gone, the younger earth mare motioned to the food. “You heard AJ, dig in.”

Nodding, Fluttershy grabbed a fork and started eating. She was an okay cook, and both Twilight and Rarity knew their way around the kitchen, but none of them could compare to anything produced by a member of the Apple family.

“So …” Apple Bloom said after a moment. “What’s it like? You know, bein’ pregnant?”

“I’m not really sure,” Fluttershy admitted. “I only found out that I’m pregnant yesterday.”

Apple Bloom nodded thoughtfully as she started on her own breakfast, still opposite the counter from Fluttershy. “You know, before Everfree was founded and there was all that hubub about whether dragons should let ponies take some of their life-force so they could live longer, I started thinkin’ that not even dragons can live forever. We all gotta pass on someday, maybe even Celestia and Luna. The only thing that really lasts forever is family,” she smiled and gestured at Fluttershy’s stomach, “like the one you’re starting right now. In another thousand years, if anyone even knows my name, it’ll be cuz they read it in a history book somewhere, but the Apple Family itself’ll still be alive, growing good food and doin’ honest work all over Equestria.” She took another bite of her breakfast. “I guess that’s the little slice of immortality that we can all share. You know, having kids and teaching ‘em right.”

Fluttershy could only stare for a moment. “Apple Bloom, that was beautiful. When did you get so insightful?”

The filly blushed a little. “Well, when your older sister’s gonna live for seven hundred years, it kinda changes the way you look at things.”

Fluttershy looked down at her breakfast. Like all the Element Bearers, she had been given an extended lifespan by Cliff’s home coven. She was extremely grateful for the gift, of course, but other ponies like Apple Bloom were just so vibrant and full of life. Did she really deserve to live on while they all aged and died? “I’m sorry.”

“You ain’t got anything to be sorry about,” Apple Bloom said between mouthfuls. “I’ve got as long as any other pony, and there’s nothin’ wrong with that. Besides, Whisper’s still insisting on giving the rest of us Crusaders an extra century once she becomes an adult.”

“My goodness.” Fluttershy turned to look at her little sister, still asleep in a pile with Sweetie and Scootaloo. “That’s really nice of her.”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Yeah, I felt guilty saying yes, but she got really down and begged me to accept. Said she wanted the four of us to be together longer.” She looked at the sleeping dragoness sadly. “I just wish I could pay her back somehow.”

“Just be her friend,” Fluttershy said. “I’m sure that’s what she wants most.”

“I’ll certainly do that,” Apple Bloom smiled, “though I was thinking of helping her and Glaive get together too.”

Fluttershy suddenly realized that she had forgotten to ask Whisper how things went with the young griffon. “Oh, were they able to talk?”

Apple Bloom chuckled. “We could barely get them to stop. At first she just asked him for advice on carving things, but then she started cuttin’ up an emerald she brought to practice on, and his eyes got huge and he started blushing like mad. Turns out one of the most attractive features a griffon can have is a strong pair of talons, and well, not even the toughest griffons can crush gemstones.”

Fluttershy giggled. “You know, before I met Cliff, I always thought I’d marry a doctor or a veterinarian.”

“Really?” Apple Bloom cocked her head to the side. “Why?”

“I wanted somepony who could help me take care of my critter friends.” Fluttershy took another bite, savoring the taste of freshly cooked haybrowns. “Then I found out about wyrm healing magic.” She smiled fondly at the memory. “I hope things turn out as well with Whisper and Glaive as they did with Cliff and me.”

Apple Bloom took another bite of her meal. “So long as he turns out to be a decent guy, of course. I ain’t sharing one of my best friends with just anyone.”

Fluttershy nodded. She felt the same way.

Eventually, everyone got up, ate a quick breakfast, and left for morning training. Fluttershy saw them off before going back into the house. She gathered a piece of parchment and a quill then took a seat at the table, in front of Scenic Trail’s egg. Fluttershy paused and looked at the egg. Cliff had a little sister in there.

“He’s going to have a child soon too.” Fluttershy put a hoof on her stomach. “He needs to know.” She took a deep breath, then put her quill onto the parchment.

…

What am I supposed to say? He would have questions, and Fluttershy didn’t think she could answer any of them. It was also really hard to concentrate on writing when her legs were almost begging her to get up and walk around. She was almost ready to give up when Twilight teleported into the front room.

“Fluttershy, Luna found something!” She held up a scroll and grinned.

“Really?” Fluttershy hurried over to her friend. “What is it?”

Twilight held out the scroll to her.

She took and unrolled it. The writing on the inside was beautiful and elaborate, almost to the point of making it unreadable.

Dear Fluttershy,

I am pleased to say that my search last night was a grand success. Your child is not the only one of its kind to walk the dreamscape. There is, in fact, and entire village where ponies and drakes live in peace, and half-dragon-half-pony creatures, called kirins are not uncommon.

Their village is on an island far to the southeast, surrounded by a dense rain forest. I was unable to learn more, for I sensed an ancient presence that watches over all who live there, and I did not wish to risk offending it by delving into the dreams of its charges. The ambient thoughts of the village did provide a clue as to the identity of this guardian, however.

The village is home to at least one creature called a kumiho, a shape-changing spirit of some kind. This kumiho also seems to have a hoof in the safe birth of kirins. I believe that we must convince it to aid us in your hour of need, dear Fluttershy.

I wish I could dispatch several hundred of my best pegasi to seek out this island, but all of our forces are busy defending the Crystal Empire. I’m afraid that the most I can offer is two of my personal guards. I shall teleport them to my best guess of the island’s location tomorrow morning. Should any of your friends wish to go with them, please have them write back as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

-Luna

Fluttershy slowly lowered the letter. “Kirins,” she whispered, testing out the new word. “My child is a kirin.”

Twilight nodded. “I’m going to round up the villagers while they’re all training and ask if anyone wants to go on this expedition.”

The door to the house burst open and Pinkie and Applejack rushed in.

“Twi, Pinkie said you got a letter from the princess?” Applejack looked at the scroll in Fluttershy’s hooves. “What’s it say?”

“They found something, right?” Pinkie almost begged.

“Yes, actually.” Twilight quickly summed up the contents of the letter. “… I’m about to head back to the training grounds to ask for volunteers.”

Pinkie laughed and put a foreleg around the alicorn. “Oh, Twilight, we need to go to the training grounds alright, but not to ask for volunteers.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“I know exactly how we can find this island now that I know there’s something to find!” Pinkie bounced to the door and pointed forward dramatically. “Onward, for Fluttershy’s baby!”

Applejack and Twilight exchanged confused glances but followed after her.

“I’ll be back as soon as we figure out what she’s planning,” Twilight said.

“Um, actually,” Fluttershy steeled herself, “I’ll go too.”

“You sure about that, sugarcube?” Applejack asked. “I’m sure I don’t hafta remind you what wyrm sparring matches’re like. Seein’ that sort of thing won’t do you a whole lot of good.”

“If it’s for my child, I should be there,” Fluttershy said. She hoped the others didn’t hear the quiver in her voice.

“All right, then.” Applejack motioned to the door. “Let’s try to catch up to Pinkie.”

As they rushed to the training field, Fluttershy realized that she couldn’t remember the last time she had flown. It felt really good to stretch her wings again.

Pinkie was standing at the edge of the field when they got there. “Oh, Fluttershy, glad you could make it!”

Fluttershy nodded, though she was careful not to look at the combatants in the field beyond them.

“Time to set my plan into motion.” Pinkie pulled a giant megaphone from somewhere, and turned to the field. “Attention, everyone, there will be a giant stupenderific party in the Castle after breakfast, but I’m not going to plan it. None of you are allowed to plan it either. See you there!” She returned the megaphone to wherever it had come from and nodded to herself. “There, perfect.”

“What exactly did announcin’ a party accomplish?” Applejack asked. “Especially when you just said that no one can plan it?”

“I hear you folks are in need of a party planner,” a deep voice said behind them.

Jumping in surprise, Fluttershy turned back toward the village and saw a pony wearing a poncho and a hat standing in the alleyway between two houses.

“Heya, Cheese!” Pinkie bounced over to the newcomer.

“Hi, Pinkie!” The pony’s voice suddenly went much higher as he tossed off his hat and poncho, revealing Cheese Sandwich. “I haven’t seen you since we threw that anniversary party for Everfree Village last year.” He gave her a hug. “How’s it going?”

“Not bad.” Pinkie returned the hug enthusiastically. “I just have to ask, will you go on an adventure with me? Pretty please? It’s to help my friend, Fluttershy.” She jumped back and gave the stallion her puppy-dog eyes.

“Of course, Pinkie. I’d love to help.”

Pinkie’s expression changed into a huge smile. “Great!” She draped one foreleg over Cheese’s back and gestured forward with the other. “Then I’m going to throw a big party at this island village in five days, and I need you to help me plan it. Think you can get there in time, punk?”

“Pinkie,” Twilight said, “he doesn’t even know where it-”

“Oh I’ll be there,” Cheese said, his voice going deep again, and his expression turning serious, “but the real question is, do you think you can handle another collaboration party, Pinkie?”

She nodded.

“Alright then. This is going to be great!” Cheese grinned. “I’d better hurry up, my cheesy sense is telling me that I’ll have to leave as soon as I’m finished with this party at the castle if I’m going to make it in time.” He turned toward the Castle of the Two Sisters. “I hope you ponies are ready to party.”

“Oh, one last thing, Cheese,” Pinkie called after him. When he turned back to her, she grinned sheepishly. “Can I go with you to that village? I kind of don’t know where it is.”

Cheese’s voice went deep again. “There’s no need to fret, my little pony. My cheesy sense will guide you there straight and true.” He broke into another grin and tossed a pair of goggles to her. “You can ride copilot in the party-fighter-plane. Say, want to help me with the party at the castle? It can be a warm-up for our big one on the island.”

“Sounds great!” Pinkie turned to her friends and solemnly crammed a cupcake into her eye. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy, I Pinkie Promise that I’ll be back within twelve days with a kumiho, whatever it takes.” Then she turned and bounced after Cheese.

“Uh,” Applejack turned away from the departing ponies to look at Fluttershy and Twilight, “should we tell Luna that Pinkie’s got it covered?”

“I don’t know.” Twilight pressed both hooves against her head. “I nearly drove myself crazy trying to figure out the Pinkie Sense. I don’t even want to try with the Cheesy Sense.”

“Maybe we should have her send out those guards anyway,” Fluttershy whispered. She felt bad saying it, because she knew how seriously Pinkie took Pinkie Promises, but they needed a kumiho for her child to be healthy, and she wanted to do everything possible to find one.

In the distance, an explosion of color turned the Castle of the Two Sisters pink with yellow spots.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Spirit had to admire the crystal ponies of the Empire. It had only been a day since the Alliance made their announcement, and nearly every remaining child was going to be evacuated to Canterlot, where they could stay at Canterlot Castle with the other evacuees. However, the vast majority of adult ponies insisted on sticking around to power the Crystal Heart, even at the risk of their own lives. Luna and Cadance had commissioned a series of fallout shelters to keep the crystal ponies safe, but everypony understood that there were no guarantees that they would work, and that was assuming there was enough time to get to the shelters in the first place.

In spite of that, life around the Empire was stubbornly determined to remain normal. Even the businesses were open, which made it easier for Spirit to take Cliff and Sky Painter out to eat.

Spirit took his helmet off as they stepped into the diner. It was far from lavish, but the food was good and the prices were low. He stepped up to the waitress behind the counter, a cute crystal mare with a grayish purple coat and a blonde mane and tail. “Table for three, please.”

“Yes, right away.” She bowed, even though she was shaking with excitement. “It’s such an honor to have you here, oh Great and Honorable-”

“Just Spirit is fine.” He gave the mare his best smile, mostly to cover his grimace. He hated that title.

The mare blushed a little and looked at him dreamily. “Yes, of course. Please follow me.”

She led the three dragons to a quiet corner of the restaurant. Like most building in the empire, the walls were made from crystal, white in this case. At least the tables were made of wood and the chairs were padded. Seriously, whoever invented crystal chairs must have had a personal vendetta against rumps.

Spirit settled down and put his helmet under his seat. His father and brother did likewise with their own helmets.

The only other customer near their booth was a wyrm in a black hooded cloak. He was wearing Everfree Armor, just like the rest of them, but Spirit made a mental note to identify that dragon before they left anyway. Alliance spies could be pretty much anywhere.

“My name is Amber Waves, and I’ll be your server today.” The crystal mare passed a menu to each of them. “Can I get you three anything to start with?”

“I’ll take a cup of coffee,” Spirit replied.

“Ditto,” Sky said.

Cliff grimaced. “Hot chocolate, please.”

Spirit just didn’t get why his brother hated coffee so much. He and Autumn practically lived on the stuff.

After their waitress left, Cliff turned to Spirit. “Okay, what’s going on?”

“What?” Spirit asked innocently. “Do I really need a reason to take my dad and brother out to breakfast?”

“Yes,” Cliff said.

“The last time you did this was so that we could help you plan Autumn’s surprise birthday party.” Sky shrugged. “We’re happy to help and all, but you may as well cut to the chase.”

Wow, tag-team much? Spirit rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine, but you two suck at small talk.”

“Duly noted,” Cliff said, at the same time that Sky said, “So?”

Sometimes Spirit was glad that he had been raised by ponies. “Anyway, first off, I wanted to know how those anti-aura gems you’re developing are coming along, Cliff.”

“Things are improving nicely.” Cliff paused to thank the waitress as she returned with their drinks. “I still don’t know how to convert the rune-based enchantment into a more traditional one, so unless somedragon at Everfree wants to spend a year or two obsessively practicing runes, I’ll have to produce them for the entire Platoon. Luckily, I’m nearly finished with a new rune that will write the anti-aura runes for me.”

Spirit nodded. “Awesome. Luna wanted to know if you could enchant a couple dozen of those gems for her.”

“I’ll do my best,” Cliff promised. “Have you talked to Luna and Shining about letting me study one of those umbrum crystals before they evacuate them all?”

“They’re still debating about it,” Spirit said. The last thing the Empire needed was for Cliff to accidentally turn loose another umbrum like King Sombra. Spirit turned to his draconic father. “Anyway, how are things with Mom on the scout team?”

“Nothing to complain about.” Sky chuckled. “Actually, there’s a funny story. Last week the two of us were hiding and watching the Ice Spire Caves, when at least a thousand dragons come out and start doing a practice battle right on top of us. At first I thought we’d be fine, but then this drake gets knocked out of the sky and lands right next to us, destroying our hiding spot in the process.

“So anyway, we figure we’re dead, surrounded by all those enemy dragons, but the drake just looked at us and asked if we were part of the support crew for the battle.” Sky laughed. “I had no idea what the support crew was supposed to be doing, but I told him yes anyway. In a stroke of genius, Trail volunteered to heal him and escort him away from the battle, since, ‘casualties shouldn’t loiter under a battlefield,’ ” he said in a passable impression of his wife’s voice.

“As soon as we got him out of the way, we told him we were heading back to look for more dragons that might need us, and then hightailed it out of there.” Still chuckling, the gray wyrm drank his coffee in one go. “I have no idea why he didn’t think it was strange for us to be wearing Everfree Armor, but hey, I’m not going to check the karats on a gift-gem.”

Cliff laughed too. “Just be grateful that drakes aren’t too bright in their battle forms. I know a few that were dumber than the rocks they walked on.”

Spirit didn’t share their sense of amusement. “I really wish you and Mom would be more careful out there. I nearly have a heart attack every time I have to send you into enemy territory.”

“Relax, Spirit.” Sky tousled his son’s head spikes. “Your mother and I managed to spend a week in Canterlot once without a single pony realizing who and what we were.”

“Just promise you’ll be careful, okay?” Spirit brushed his head spikes back into place.

“We have two sons and an unhatched daughter that are counting on us to make it through this war,” Sky said, dropping his normally relaxed attitude. “You can bet the Stars we’re being careful.”

Spirit nodded. “Thanks, Dad. Anyway, how’s that,” he grimaced, “assassination team coming along?”

“They’ll be ready to go before the Alliance comes back, if that’s what you’re asking.” He cleared his throat. “So, Spirit, we all know you didn’t invite us here to talk the usual business. What did you actually ask us here for?”

The waitress chose that moment to return and ask for their orders.

Perfect timing. Spirit smiled up at the waitress. “A breakfast burrito with a side of crystallized flowers.”

Sky leaned over to Cliff. “What’s a good number?”

Cliff shrugged. “Nine.”

“I’ll take whatever your number nine special is,” Sky told the waitress.

Spirit resisted the urge to facepalm. The last time Sky pulled this stunt, he had wound up with an extra light hay salad and no dressing.

Cliff skimmed over the menu. “I’ll have the egg and pancake breakfast platter.”

The waitress gathered their menus and left as both older wyrms turned to Spirit expectantly.

Oh right, back to the impending humiliation. Spirit cleared his throat. “Uh, remember how Autumn and I disappeared for a few hours on Hearth’s Warming Day? It’s because we were …”

“Sharing a private meal?” Sky suggested with an amused grin. “Exploring the secret tunnel? Doing the newlywed dance? Churning some butter? Doing an in-depth study of pony anatomy? What’s the one that ponies are always saying? Ah, plowing the fields?”

“Wait, you two know?” Spirit demanded.

Cliff pressed a hand over his face. “Spirit, the entire Everfree Platoon knows. Autumn’s mother told us a few minutes after you two left.”

“You’ve been sleeping over at her house too.” Sky grinned. “Really, why else would you want to get away from prying eyes?”

Spirit could feel his face turning bright red. “Oh.”

“Yeah, so is there any particular reason why you’re sharing this with us?” Cliff asked.

“Well, er …” I can’t believe I’m doing this. Spirit took a deep breath. “Do you two have any advice for me?”

The two older dragons looked at each other and then back at Spirit. “What?” they said in unison.

“Advice,” Spirit repeated, staring down at his claws. “I’m new to this whole intimacy thing, and I want to make sure I’m doing everything possible to make her happy.”

“I’ll get a copy of the Camel-sutra later,” Cliff said. “Then, as per our agreement a few months ago, refuse all knowledge of having done so.”

“I already checked the bookstores and the library,” Spirit admitted without looking up. “Nopony has a copy.”

Sky nodded sagely. “Well I’m sure your mother and I could demonstrate some things for you.”

“Oh Stars, my brain!” Cliff covered his eyes and groaned.

Spirit felt like throwing up. Now there was a mental image he’d never be able to erase.

Meanwhile, their father was shaking with barely controlled laughter. “You should have seen the looks on your faces!”

Cliff looked out from between his claws. “Dad, learn to keep some things to yourself.”

Disturbingly familiar laughter echoed around the three of them. “Now, Cliff, maybe you should follow his example and be more open. After all, you still need to tell Fluttershy about our little field trip. You know, the one that went like this.”

Cliff disappeared.

“Discord!” Spirit jumped to his feet. “What did you do to Cliff?”

“Nothing. I’m over here.” The wyrm in the cloak stood up and lifted his hood, revealing Cliff. He walked over to join them and flopped down into his old seat.

“You okay, Cliff?” Sky asked. “What happened?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Cliff replied. “He just sent me back in time a few minutes. I got here right before we did.” He frowned. “You know what I mean.”

Spirit looked around the restaurant for any sign of the draconequus. “Uh, Bro, does this sort of thing happen with you a lot?”

“Only when Discord runs out of other ways to keep himself amused.” Cliff shrugged. “You can stop looking for him, Spirit. It isn’t that big of a deal.”

Spirit shook his head. A little bit of time traveling with breakfast isn’t a big deal? Sure, why not? “At least you got a nice cloak out of it.”

“Oh, is it?” Cliff undid the clasp and held the whole thing out to Spirit. “You can have it, if you want.”

It was a tempting offer. The cloak was jet black with golden highlights, and all woven from some kind of material that was thick and looked warm while somehow remaining silky and free flowing. “You should hang onto it,” Spirit said with a sigh. Knowing Discord, it was probably cursed. “Anyway, do either of the two of you have any advice that isn’t going to scar me for life?” He gave his father an accusing look.

“Fine, here’s some real advice for you.” Sky leaned forward. “Talk to her. See what she likes and doesn’t. Don’t be afraid to experiment or try new things, but never try to get her to do anything she isn’t comfortable with. Above all else, remember that sex is fundamentally a duet. No team will function perfectly together without lots of practice.”

Cliff belched suddenly, producing a scroll that landed on the table in front of them all. “Sorry.” He picked it up and unrolled it. “Looks like Fluttershy decided to write me a little early today.”

“No worries.” Sky waved a claw dismissively.

As his older brother read, Spirit leaned over to their father and whispered, “Hey, Dad … thanks for the advice.”

“It’s what I’m here for,” Sky said.

“Anyway, Cliff, do you think maybe Discord’s right about telling everyone how you really got the Heart back? Fluttershy is on the mend, after all.” Spirit turned to his brother, only to find him staring at the letter in shock. “Uh, Cliff?”

No response.

Spirit waved his hand in front of the older wyrm’s face. “Cliff!”

Cliff took a deep breath. “Discord, please tell me that this isn’t another one of your pranks.”

“What isn’t?” Discord appeared behind the wyrm and leaned down over his shoulder. “… Oh my.” He grinned. “I do love it when the unexpected happens. Now what should I get Fluttershy to congratulate her?”

Sky groaned. “Would somedragon mind telling me what under the Stars you’re all talking about?”

Cliff looked up and a stunned smile worked its way across his face. “Fluttershy and I … we’re going to be parents.”

Chapter 31

Party-fighter-planes were actually really, really tricky to fly. Pinkie learned that the hard way. In her defense, how was she supposed to have known that pulling up on the wheel-thingy would make the plane go down? For that matter, why did turning the wheel left make the plane turn left? If up and down were reversed, shouldn’t left and right have been reversed too?

“I think that’s everything,” Cheese gasped, pulling the last bit of their emergency party supplies out of the confetti-encrusted wreckage. He looked at the twisted metal and broken trees sadly, pressing his hat to his chest. “Rest in peace, Big Bertha.”

Pinkie put her foreleg around him. “I’m really sorry, Cheese. I should have told you that I don’t have my party-plane license yet.”

“It’s okay, Pinkie, she gave her life for a good cause.” He turned to the forest around them. Actually, it was more like a jungle, or a rain forest. What was the difference between a jungle and a rain forest anyway? Whatever it was, Cheese turned to it and put his hat back on. “We best get movin’ before we lose the daylight. Your friend’s counting on us to find that kumiho.”

“You’re right, there’s no time to waste.” Pinkie stuffed half the boxes into her mane and tail, while Cheese did the same with the rest. “I’m pretty sure I saw the village just before we crashed, so it has to be close.”

“I think you’re right, little filly. My cheesy sense is telling me that we can be there in a few minutes.” Cheese grinned over at Pinkie as they walked. “I’ve never been in an airplane crash before. I wish I’d been awake for more of it.”

“It was kind of scary, but really fun.” Pinkie bounced along at his side. “Kind of like a roller-coaster, only more like a flier-crasher.”

“And you were all ‘Aaaahhh!’ ”

“And then you woke up and were like, ‘Aaaahhh!’ ”

“And then everything was BOOOOMMM!” they finished as one, laughing enthusiastically.

The rain forest, or jungle, around them was strangely peaceful as they walked. There were tons of animals, Pinkie didn’t recognize most of them, but none seemed at all afraid of the two ponies. It was like one of Fluttershy’s dreams come true.

Eventually the forest gave way, revealing a bunch of giant buildings, like Castle of the Two Sisters giant. The city, town, village, or whatever was bigger than Ponyville by far. Drakes about the size of Celestia walked the streets next to ponies, and they actually looked really happy together.

Pinkie’s eyes widened when she saw a minty green stallion that wasn’t exactly a stallion. He had a pony’s coat, hooves, and mane and tail, but a drake’s wings, teeth, and eyes. He was walking down the street next to a purple drake.

“Ohmygosh, look, Cheese, it’s a kirin! Let’s go say hi!” Without waiting for him to respond, Pinkie ran over to do just that. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie.” She pushed her face right next to his as the dust around her cleared. “What’s your name?”

“Gah!” The kirin jumped back in surprise. Lots of ponies and dragons did that when Pinkie introduced herself, now that she thought about it.

“I’ve heard that joke before, I know your name isn’t gah.” She chuckled anyway though, just to be nice. “Come on, what’s your real name?”

A leathery wing inserted itself between Pinkie and her new friend. “Excuse me, you’re scaring my cousin.”

Pinkie gasped as she turned to the purple drake that had just spoken. “I am? I’m sorry, I’ve just never seen a kirin before and I got really really excited about becoming his newest friend.”

Now that she was up close, Pinkie realized that the drake was a dragoness, with royal purple scales and an elegant bearing to match. Not Rarity elegant, more like Spitfire elegant. The kind that could fit in at a nice ball but also have fun wrestling around in the dirt. Her light-blue head spikes were styled short but pretty, and her dark-blue eyes reminded Pinkie of a Canterlot guard. She was wearing a black collar with white spikes though, which was strange. If she was wearing a dog thing then did dogs wear ties and dresses here? Pinkie giggled as she imagined Applejack’s dog, Winona, in one of Rarity’s dresses.

“Just who are you?” The dragoness stared intently at Pinkie. “I’ve never seen you before, but I’ve never met an outsider that knew what a kirin is either.”

“I’m Pinkie Pie, your new friend!” She pulled one of her signature gem cupcakes out of her mane and gave it to the dragoness. Why did ponies and dragons always look surprised and confused when she gave them things? “What’s your name?”

“… Amethyst,” the purple drake said. She lowered her wing and held the cupcake out to her cousin. “Uh, Emerald, you want this?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got another one for him.” Pinkie gave Emerald one of her other cupcakes. “Oooh, I hope I have enough for everyone. How many ponies, dragons, and kirins live here?”

Emerald stared at her quizzically as he accepted the cupcake. “Zephyr, is that you?”

“Who’s Zephyr?” Pinkie pulled out a mirror and checked to see if she had changed into a pony named Zephyr when she wasn’t looking. “Nope, I’m still just Pinkie. Is Zephyr my long lost twin sister? Ooh, I bet Maud would be really excited to have a new younger sister. I hope Marble won’t be jealous.”

“I don’t think that’s Zephyr,” Amethyst whispered to her cousin. “He always drops the act when you guess that it’s him.”

Cheese walked up and stood next to Pinkie. He tipped his hat to Amethyst and Emerald. “Howdy, little dragons,” he said in his serious voice. “The name’s Cheese, Cheese Sandwich. I hope my friend here didn’t scare you too badly. You see, we need a kumiho’s help for a friend of hers. Either of you two know where we can find one?”

Emerald stepped forward. “The kumiho all live in the forest, but you shouldn’t worry about finding them. Just go out and wander around for a while. If you really do need their help, and it’s for a good cause, they’ll find you.”

“Much obliged, son.” Cheese turned to Pinkie. “Looks like there’s only one thing left that needs doing here.”

Pinkie already had several thousand invitations in her hooves. “I agree, Cheese. It’s time to get our party on!”

-_-_-_-_-_-

“… And then, the great party ponies finally arrived at their destination, a place they would soon learn is called Kumiho Village. For centuries afterwards, the villagers would tell stories about the day they came. In the blink of an eye, if that eye took sixty-three minutes to blink, they rounded up everyone in town and threw the most awesome, super-amazing party they had ever seen. The tutti-frutti sherbet sugar punch was the perfect ratio of seven parts sugar to one part tutti. The cakes had come directly from the sacred hallowmount of deliciousness, Sugarcube Corner. Rocking jams from the legendary DJ Pon-3 filled the air. Most amazing of all, everyone got a brand-new best friend forever, that wonderful pony, Pinkie Pie! The end.”

Gathered around Pinkie’s hooves, a group of children cheered.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll tell my future hatchlings about it,” Amethyst said, struggling to get out of Pinkie’s grasp. “Now would you let me go?”

“No problem.” Pinkie released the purple drake. “So anyway, Amethyst, do you know if the kumiho will help us?”

Amethyst rubbed her neck. “They’ll definitely want to help your friend, so yes.”

One of the children, a mostly unicorn filly with a turquoise coat, a white mane and tail, and a yellow scaled underbelly, nodded. “Elise is really nice. She made sure that Grandma could have Mommy without any problems, then she helped again so that Mommy could have me.” Her name was Dulcita, Pinkie recalled. Her birthday was in eleven months and four days, her favorite snack was gumdrops, and she had two older brothers.

“Aw, that is nice.” Pinkie gave Dulcita a gumdrop cupcake.

Nearby, Cheese was literally blowing away the competition in a belching contest.

Ponies, dragons, and even kirins were crammed into the central square of the Village all around Cheese and Pinkie, eating, laughing, dancing, and generally enjoying the party. There weren’t nearly as many kirins as the other races, only a few dozen total, and it looked like every one of them had inherited a different combination of pony and dragon traits, which was really cool!

“What kind of drake is your friend married to, anyway?” Amethyst asked. “The martial arts he specializes in will give some hints about what the baby will inherit.”

“Huh? Oh, Flutters isn’t married to a drake. Cliffy’s a wyrm.”

The children gasped and backed away, and Amethyst jumped between them and Pinkie, spreading her wings to shield them. “You come from a village of wyrms?”

Pinkie paused. “Uh … yes? That’s not a problem, is it?”

“Wyrms hate ponies,” Amethyst almost growled. “Actually, they hate pretty much anything that isn’t a wyrm. It’s my duty to protect Kumiho Village against any threats, and if you really call those honorless dragons friends, then you just made the list, Pinkie.”

“No, wait! Wyrms really aren’t like that.” Pinkie reached into her mane and pulled out a picture. “Look, see how nice they are?” She held it out to Amethyst.

It had been taken a few days before the Everfree Platoon left for the Crystal Empire. All six Element Bearers were smiling for the camera. Fluttershy sat at the side of the picture. Cliff was next to his wife with his arms wrapped around her and a loving expression on his face. Whisper was sitting front and center, grinning in a pile with her fellow Crusaders. Twilight stood behind them, surrounded by Spirit and her draconic parents and grandparents.

Amethyst took the picture and looked at it suspiciously. “All this proves is that you really are friends with wyrms.”

“Wyrms and ponies being friends at all does say a lot though,” a dark-green earth colt named Aqua Vista said from behind Amethyst.

“Exactly.” Pinkie pointed at the photo. “Look there. That’s my friend, Fluttershy, the one that’s pregnant with a kirin. She’s really nice and takes care of animals for a living. She even channels the power of the Element of Kindness. That’s her husband, Cliff Runner, next to her. He loves children, and used to be Everfree Village’s middle-school teacher. Do either of them really look mean or vicious?”

The purple drake looked down at the photo and then back up at Pinkie. “Even wyrms can be relaxed and friendly around their own kind, but they’ll never trust a drake. If I walked into this village of yours, they’d try to kill me as soon as my back was turned. Anyone that associates with them is the same.”

“Then why do I just want to be your friend?” Pinkie asked.

Amethyst frowned. “You’re … different.”

Pinkie giggled. She couldn’t argue with that. “Tell you what, Emerald said that kumiho can tell if you need them for a good cause. If they agree to help, you come back to Everfree Village with us, so you can see for yourself that wyrms can be nice.”

At first Amethyst didn’t respond, then she looked down at the picture and held it out to Pinkie. “The Village organizes an honor guard whenever a kumiho leaves for a potentially dangerous area. If you can convince one of them to go with you, I will volunteer for it.”

“Great!” Pinkie reached into her tail and pulled out a book, ‘Claws and Hooves: Mending the Rift between Two Races.’ “Here, you should read this. It’s a book about Cliff and Fluttershy.” She turned and bounced away toward Cheese Sandwich. “We’ll be back in a few hours, so you’d better read quickly.”

As she hopped, Pinkie looked up at the sky. There was still another hour until sunset, and with Big Bertha out of commission, they’d have to move fast to make it back to Everfree before twelve days had passed.

“Heya, Pinkie.” Cheese put away the accordion he’d been playing to accompany his belching solo. “Ready to go?”

“Yup.”

Cheese pulled his poncho and hat out from behind his back and put them both on. “Well then, little filly, let’s get a move on.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

The jungle—or was it a rain forest?—was still really, really quiet as Pinkie and Cheese wandered around, hoping to get found by a kumiho. Well, the animals were quiet.

“Hello, Kumiho?” Pinkie yelled into her megaphone. “We’re still here, so could one of you come find us, please? My friend really needs your help!”

“Would a signal fire help?” Cheese asked. “We can send up flares if you’d prefer!”

Pinkie set her megaphone down and rubbed her throat. “I don’t get it,” she croaked, “we’ve been out here for hours and they still haven’t found us.”

“It’s getting pretty dark, Pinkie.” Cheese tossed his poncho onto the ground. It bounced back up as a tent. He flipped his hat upside down, revealing a cheery bonfire that he set in front of the tent. “Maybe we should settle down for the night and keep trying in the morning.”

“Nu-uh.” Pinkie shook her head. “I broke a Pinkie Promise once. I won’t break another one, even if it means I have to keep looking all night. A kumiho has to find us sooner or later.”

Cheese nodded and folded his hat in half, smothering the fire. “Alright then, my little pony. Let’s keep looking.” He lifted the hat, and frowned when he realized that it was full of ashes. “I’ll wash this later.” He retrieved his poncho as well and put them both away. “Lead on, Pinkie.”

After a few more minutes of stumbling through the rain jungle—it was the perfect name!—Pinkie noticed something bright in the distance. “Uh oh, I think we must’ve gotten all tipsy-turvy’d around and wound up back at the Village.”

“Getting found is harder than it sounds,” Cheese said, then he chuckled. “Hey, that rhymed. We should make a song out of it.”

“Okay.” Pinkie turned around and led them back into the rain jungle. Songs inspired by the magic of harmony were one thing, but normal songs took real work before they were good enough to sing in public. “What are some words that rhyme with ‘found’ and ‘sound’?”

“Round, ground, mound, hound, bound, wound, pound, zound … is zound a word?” Cheese asked.

“I don’t know,” Pinkie said. “Let’s use it anyway.”

About halfway through the first verse, Pinkie noticed a familiar light through the trees. “Wait, how did we get back here again?”

“We’ve been walking in a straight line,” Cheese said. “Maybe the light’s following us.”

“Celestia said kumiho are shape-changers. Maybe that’s one of them!” Pinkie jumped into the air and shot toward it. “Let’s go toward the light!”

“The last time my party howitzer fell on me, a bunch of ponies started yelling at me to stay away from the light,” Cheese said, but he ran after her regardless.

As they got closer, the rain jungle around them started getting lighter and lighter, until it was as bright as day, but there was no sun in the sky. Pinkie was sure of that; she checked. Twice.

Even with the light, though, things seemed to get fuzzy and fade away into the distance. Pinkie decided that she should check up with an eye doctor once they got back to Everfree.

Pinkie slowed to a walk. She could hear running water, but there weren’t any streams nearby. “Um, hello?” Her voice sounded a lot softer and more gentle than she was expecting, almost like Fluttershy.

Nothing responded.

Cheese stepped up next to Pinkie. “Maybe you should stay behind me, just in case something bad happens.” His voice was a little different too, deeper and more soothing.

“Maybe you should stay behind me,” Pinkie said, stepping in front of him. “I’ve fought an army of angry changelings.”

“I threw a birthday party for Queen Chrysalis,” Cheese said, taking the lead.

Pinkie stopped. “Wait, really? That meanypants let you throw a birthday party for her?”

“Yeah, it was a good one too.” Cheese trotted forward, smiling back over his shoulder. “Even changelings deserve to enjoy a party once in a while.”

“I guess …” Pinkie started to follow after him, but stopped when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned, noticing a path that she could have sworn wasn’t there a moment ago, except that she had sworn never to swear. Pound and Pumpkin were at a very impressionable age. At the end of the path was- “Cheese,” Pinkie whispered urgently. “Look!”

Cheese turned back to her, looking a bit worried. “What is it, Pinkie?”

She motioned for him to come back toward her. “I think we found what we’re looking for.”

At the end of the path, surrounded by rabbits, was a creature unlike anything Pinkie had seen before. She looked like a fox, but only in the same way that Celestia looked like a normal pony. Light gray fur covered her arms and face, with a light pink mane combed down to cover one of her brown eyes, and more pink tufts on the inside of her large ears. In one hand, she held a long thin pipe, which she puffed on before letting out a small cloud of smoke. A blue shirt with a high collar covered her torso, but Pinkie couldn’t see how far down it went, because her lower body was hidden by eight ginormous tails. Unlike the rest of her body, the tails were creamy orange, and each ended in a white tip. Three baby foxes were nestled among her tails, and they looked so adorable that Pinkie had to fight the urge to grab one and snuggle it to her heart’s content.

Though she didn’t say anything, the pony-sized-spirit-fox-creature-thing smiled and motioned for both Pinkie and Cheese to come forward.

Looking over at the other pony, Pinkie nodded and walked toward this strange new friend. She was sure that this was a kumiho. It had to be.

A small bird fluttered down from the trees above. The second it touched the ground, it changed into another kumiho, but this one wasn’t wearing anything and only had four tails, which were all much smaller than the other one’s. She also walked on all fours, like a pony, and her forelegs didn’t really have hands as much as paws. “Hello, Pinkamena Diane Pie and Cheese Sandwich. I am Azure Essence, and my teacher, Elise, the Fallen, bids you welcome to the Court of Passage.” Her voice was melodic, like she was singing each word. Pinkie wished she knew how to do that. “What is your request?”

Pinkie swallowed and looked at Elise. At least, she hoped the one in the shirt was Elise. “My friend, Fluttershy, is pregnant with a kirin and she really needs your help. So will one of you pretty please come help her?”

Elise smiled compassionately. “Tell us the whole truth, Pinkie Pie.”

“Oh, uh.” Pinkie looked down. “Well … her husband is a wyrm.” She tapped her forehooves together and gave Elise a pleading stare. “But that’s okay, isn’t it? You’ll still help her, right?”

“Of course we will,” Elise assured her. “Kumiho live to guide all spirits to and from this world, regardless of species.” She turned her pipe upside down and shook out a few specks of glittering light, which faded before they even touched the ground. “A kirin between a pony and a wyrm. I haven’t seen one of those in a very, very long time …” Elise turned her attention to the four-tailed fox. “Azure, would you mind taking these two to Kumiho Village and asking Zephyr to accompany them back to Everfree Village?”

“Yes, Elise.” Azure bowed.

“Thank you.” Elise’s body began to glow, and suddenly a normal fox stood in her place, no larger than the young ones that surrounded her. She whistled energetically and ran into the bush, with the three younger foxes in hot pursuit.

Azure laughed softly as she watched them go. “Now then,” she stepped toward Pinkie and Cheese, “we should return to the Village. The Court of Passage is not a place where mortals should linger.”

At her words, the forest around them began to grow dark and everything lost its softer edges.

“What is the Court of Passage, anyway?” Pinkie asked, looking around. Her voice was returning to normal too.

“A gateway between your world and the worlds of the spirits,” Azure replied. She walked between Pinkie and Cheese. “Come, Zephyr awaits.”

Turning around, Pinkie was super-dee-duper shocked to find that they were standing right in front of the Village. Even at a distance, Pinkie could tell that the party in the central square had died down a lot, but almost everyone was still there. “We’re right back where we started?”

“Life is a circle,” Azure said. “Why should the Court be any different?”

When they reached central square, a hush fell over the crowd, broken only by a couple of the younger children pointing and laughing at Pinkie and Cheese.

Pinkie pulled out a mirror to examine herself, but didn’t see anything strange. Cheese looked normal too. With a shrug, she put it away and waited for Azure to say something.

It was a drake near the back of the plaza that actually broke the silence. He raised his head and began to sing in a language that Pinkie didn’t understand. The others joined in right away. Whatever they were singing about, it sounded like some kind of mystery, like that excited feeling Pinkie got right at the start of a really good game of hide-and-seek.

Azure stood almost completely still until the song was finished, then she nodded. “Thank you, but I’m not bringing a message from Elise, I just need to talk to Zephyr.”

Aqua Vista, the dark green colt that had listened to Pinkie’s story, came running toward them with a huge grin. “She wants me to go with them, right?”

The kumiho laughed. “Yes.”

“Alright!” He jumped into the air, and when he landed, he was another kumiho. Unlike Azure and Elise, he was reddish-brown with tufts of black fur on his ears and at the tips of his six tails, which were all twitching energetically. He turned back to the crowd and called, “I still don’t need an honor guard, but if you insist on forming one anyway, I’ll be leaving at sunrise tomorrow morning.”

Amethyst groaned and stepped out of the crowd. “I volunteer for the honor guard.”

A bunch of other dragons and ponies volunteered right after her. Ninety-three, to be precise, but Pinkie hadn’t had time to learn forty-one of their names yet.

“I’ll return to the Court, Zephyr. Take care.” Azure turned and walked sedately toward the forest.

“See you in a few years,” Zephyr called after her. “Two decades, tops.”

Pinkie rushed up to the new kumiho. “Hi there, my name’s Pinkie, but you probably already knew that if you disguised yourself as a pony and sat in on my story.”

“You’re a good storyteller,” Zephyr said. “Besides, I wanted to see if Amethyst would notice that there were two of Aqua Vista running around tonight.”

Cheese tipped his hat to Zephyr and said in his serious voice, “The name’s Cheese, Cheese Sandwich. I can’t thank you enough for helping us out of this bind.”

“No need to thank me,” Zephyr said. “Helping spirits is what kumiho do. Well, that and playing pranks.”

“Really?” Pinkie grinned.

He nodded. “Yep, speaking of which,” his tails reached forward and pulled something off of each of their backs, “it looks like Azure got you both good.” He held out two glowing signs. Both said, ‘I’m With Crazy’ and had an arrow so that Cheese’s would point at Pinkie and Pinkie’s would point at Cheese. “Those were enchanted so that everyone could see them except for you two.”

Pinkie giggled. That was a good one.

“Would she have minded if I pranked her back?” Cheese asked, then he facehoofed when Zephyr nodded. “Why didn’t anypony tell me that I could play pranks on the immortal spirit guardians of a hidden village? I had a brand new whoopee cushion and everything!”

Zephyr chuckled. “You can always try to prank me, if you think you can, that is.”

“Ooh, ooh!” Pinkie hopped up and down, ignoring the looks the three of them were getting. “I’ll join in too. It’ll be a three-way battle to see who’s the best prankster ever!”

The fox spirit grinned. “How about whoever pulls the most pranks between now and when your friend has her baby wins?”

“Sounds like you’ve got yourself a deal,” Cheese said. He held out his hoof. “Let’s shake on it.”

Pinkie, however, hesitated. “What if your Cheesy Sense calls you away before then?”

Cheese shrugged. “Then I’ll come a runnin’ back as soon as the party is finished.”

Being on the road by himself would give Cheese a disadvantage, but if he was okay with it, then Pinkie was too. She bumped her hoof against his. “Okay. This is going to be great!”

“May the best kumiho win.” Zephyr joined in the three-way hoofshake.

Fun fact: three joy buzzers going off simultaneously could, and often did, result in small explosions. Pinkie didn’t care about that though. After all, they had succeeded in their mission, and eyebrows grew back.

Chapter 32

WHACK.

“Ow,” Heart Echo muttered, rubbing her head.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Talon said, “but aren’t you supposed to hit your opponent with the staff, not yourself?”

“Very funny.” Heart healed herself and went back to the first form of the sequence. “Have our scouts finished checking out that tunnel they found?”

Talon winced. “That’s classified, remember?”

“Fine, fine, I’ll ask again when we’re alone.”

Shaking her head, Talon settled back down against Tornado’s back. She could feel her muscles, sore from two hours of squad training, soaking in the drake’s body heat. Maybe she was pushing the Squad too hard; they were doubling the required lengths for morning and evening training. Not to mention the fact that they were doing it without wyrm enhancement magic. Rune and Genesis were always busy helping Clodhopper make new staffs, and Heart was stuck in planning meetings with the Hurricanes.

Next to her, Crystal was enjoying the warmth as well. Her folded wings pressed against Talon’s a little, but neither of them cared. Tornado’s thinking form wasn’t much larger than a wyvern, so they’d gotten used to sharing.

About halfway through her sequence, Heart dropped the staff, which looked and felt like it was made out of polished bones. Clodhopper said it was just highly modified stone. Muttering darkly, Heart picked it up and started over again.

“Perhaps she should seek guidance from an instructor,” Tornado said.

“Don’t look at me, wyverns don’t have arms, remember?” Talon extended a wing into Tornado’s field of vision and waved her thumb at him.

“An instructor who knows how to use a staff,” he clarified.

Crystal shook her head. “I asked her about that. She said that she already took several years of instruction from her grandfather and just needs to get back into practice.”

WHACK.

“Desperately needs to get back into practice,” Talon said. She understood where Heart was coming from. Clodhopper’s staffs needed to be nearly as long as a wyrm was tall to fit in all the enchantments. Since she needed to carry that thing around anyway, Heart had decided to practice using the staff itself as a weapon. Unfortunately, as she was now, the wyrm dragoness was more likely to give herself a concussion than to harm any opponents.

At least she wasn’t alone in her frustration. Nearly every other wyrm in the Thirty-sixth Cluster occupied the same part of the cave, stumbling through their own practice routines.

“Do either of you know if any more ponies have evacuated to the south?” Tornado asked after a moment.

Talon shook her head, scraping across the scales on Tornado’s back. “Apparently Celestia and Luna have been warping pony hatchlings out almost every day, but almost all of the adults have stayed.” Talon sighed. Some part of her had naively hoped that the ponies would leave or at least offer the Alliance some part of the Crystal Empire where they could mine the food they needed.

She didn’t know why she’d let herself dream about peace. Equestria’s approval rates for the war were as high as ever. Several newspapers were even demanding for the Alliance to be massacred down to the last dragon.

And they called the Dragon Alliance genocidal.

Well, the Hurricanes were, but the drake lords and Heart always shot down the more horrific plans. Apparently their most recent idea had been to sneak into the Empire at night and unleash a wyvern hurricane, easily destroying most of the Empire and killing countless ponies. Talon didn’t want to imagine what the Hurricanes would do if they ever got a majority vote in the Council.

“At least the hatchlings will be spared,” Tornado muttered.

Talon closed her eyes and tried not to think about what was going to happen to the other ponies in the Crystal Empire. Even Heart couldn’t stop the Council from killing at least some civilians. Was it really so much to ask for one side to back down? She didn’t even care which side anymore.

Equestria was calling for dragon blood, but everything she knew about Celestia and Luna indicated that they were extremely forgiving and merciful when their subjects weren’t being threatened. Talon honestly believed that the Immortal Sisters would give the Alliance the crystals they needed to live if they just declared peace, but she knew the Hurricanes would never put the Alliance’s survival in the hooves of a former enemy.

Of course, she didn’t know why Equestria didn’t just offer the Alliance a part of the Empire either. A part under the Empire proper, that is, where the gem mines hadn’t been exhausted. Yes, the Alliance had attacked without warning and tried to force the crystal ponies out of their home, but they’d only done it because every negotiation in recorded history between dragons and ponies had ended in the ponies either forcing the dragons to give up everything or going back on their word and attacking the dragons. Could they really blame the Alliance for trying something new when their very survival was at stake?

Talon was sure that there was some solution that would make both sides happy and end all this pointless killing … Why couldn’t she find it?

…

Somedragon was shaking Talon awake.

“Huh?” Talon opened her eyes and saw an orange wyrm standing over her. “Oh, Sweet Song,” she yawned, “what’s going on?”

“There’s an urgent message from one of our spies.” She held out a sheet of metal.

“You should have let her sleep,” Tornado said.

“I’ll take it if you’d rather sleep,” Crystal added.

Talon rolled her eyes. “It’s fine you two.” She took the sheet and started reading through it while Sweet Song left. A confused frown worked its way across her face. “It’s our spy in Manehattan. Remember that weird creature she stumbled across about a month ago? The one that looked like a pony but wasn’t?”

Crystal and Tornado nodded.

“Apparently its queen is offering her entire army to boost our spy network.”

“That seems ideal,” Tornado said.

“It’s too good to be true is what it is.” Talon regretfully stood up. “I’d better get this to the Council. They can figure out how to respond.”

“What do you think they will say?” Tornado asked, sliding out from beneath Crystal and hurrying after her.

“I think they’re going to use that tunnel we found to finish this war as soon as the ceasefire ends,” Talon said. “They probably won’t care about getting new allies until after that.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

“Good morning, Fluttershy.” Dr. Insight motioned her inside. “It’s good to see you again.”

Fluttershy closed the door behind her and stepped farther into the office. “It’s good to see you again too, Dr. Insight.”

“That’s sweet of you to say.” She held up a plate of miniature tarts. “Apple and cream cheese, if you’re hungry. Both are high in protein.”

“Thank you.” Fluttershy accepted one and took a bite. The pastry was still warm and tasted delicious.

Dr. Insight stood up and moved to the chairs at the other side of the small room. “Is your mother still forcing you to eat beans and legumes every meal?”

Fluttershy nodded, frowning. “I know my baby probably needs protein, but I just don’t like beans very much.”

“I understand the feeling. During my second pregnancy, I had the strongest craving for spinach, even though I can’t stand how it tastes.” She groaned softly. “That was a very long eleven months.”

“Was your baby okay?” Fluttershy’s voice quavered a bit and her ears fell.

Dr. Insight nodded. “Yes, Dawn was a beautiful little foal with the most adorable blue eyes. She’s living in Fillydelphia now with a family of her own.” The older mare sighed wistfully. “I’m sure she’d love to meet you one day.”

“I’d like to meet her too.” Fluttershy finished the last of her tart, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet Dr. Insight’s eyes. It had been nearly two weeks since she learned that she was pregnant, and in spite of everyone’s best efforts, there were still a lot more questions than answers.

“Has there been any word from Pinkie Pie or those royal guards that Luna sent out?” Dr. Insight asked.

“Not yet,” Fluttershy said. “Twilight says that the spell should create an egg for my baby if I do go into labor at the same time as a wyrm, but they haven’t been able to test it on anypony yet.” She swallowed. “There’s a chance it won’t work.”

Dr. Insight got up and gave Fluttershy a hug.

Fluttershy clung to her. “I don’t want to lose my baby. Everyone is saying it’s a miracle that I got pregnant in the first place. If something happened …” She didn’t want to finish that thought.

“Shhh,” Dr. Insight whispered. “Twilight and Princess Celestia developed that spell just for you, and every expert in Equestria has studied it and declared that it will work. Pinkie Pie promised she would find a kumiho to help, no matter what. Whatever happens next, all of us are here to support you.”

Fluttershy didn’t say anything, she just hugged the unicorn a little tighter.

After a few moments, an incredibly loud voice echoed through the room, “It’s okay, everyone, they’re here to help Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy and Dr. Insight both pulled back enough that they could look at each other. It wasn’t hard to recognize Pinkie’s voice, even distorted through a megaphone.

“Perhaps we should go outside,” Dr. Insight suggested.

Fluttershy was already at the door. She rushed out onto the street, looked up, and froze.

Hovering above the buildings of Everfree Village, Pinkie and Cheese Sandwich stood on the back of a giant purple drake wearing a spiked collar. More drakes were coming into view behind them, dozens, maybe even hundreds of them.

Drakes. Fluttershy’s back legs gave out, dropping her onto the packed dirt. Why did it have to be drakes?

“What in the world?” Dr. Insight said, coming up beside her.

“Everydragon, land over there in the training grounds then shrink back down. We don’t want to scare everyone.” Pinkie turned away from the small army of drakes and back to the village. “By the way, does anyone know where Fluttershy is?”

“I … can go meet her and bring her back to the office,” Dr. Insight said, “or would you prefer to speak with her at your house?”

“At the house, if you don’t mind,” Fluttershy whispered, looking firmly at the ground.

“Not at all.” Dr. Insight knelt down and wrapped her hooves around Fluttershy briefly. “Can you make it there on your own?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Then she took off at a quick trot.

Fluttershy forced herself up onto her hooves and set out as well. She eventually reached her front door, in spite of the crowds, and pushed it open.

Pinkie was standing just inside with a giant grin. “SURPRISE!” she somehow managed to shout quietly. “Is that quiet enough? I didn’t want to startle you.” Without waiting for a response, she pulled Fluttershy inside and shut the door. “Cheese and I did it. We found a kumiho, and now,” gestured to a giant cake with the words, ‘Everything’s Going to be Fine!!!’ spelled out in bright pink frosting.

Angel was sitting on top of the cake, holding a pair of sparklers, wearing a party hat, and glaring daggers at Pinkie.

Next to the cake stood Cheese Sandwich, Fluttershy’s mother, and a creature that Fluttershy had never seen before. He looked like a mix between a gray fox and a red fox, only the size of an adult pony and with six tails that waved gently behind him. Fluttershy’s attention was so focused on the new creature that she barely even noticed the streamers, party hats, and snacks that filled the front room and dining room.

Dr. Insight stood next to the dining room table, looking at all the decorations with an expression of bafflement. “We only got here a few seconds ago …”

Pinkie ignored her and guided Fluttershy to the fox creature. “Meet Zephyr, a six-hundred-year-old kumiho. Pinkie Promise fulfilled. Aw yeah.”

Zephyr rolled his eyes but smiled indulgently.

Fluttershy stepped forward nervously. She had never met a kumiho before. What was the polite thing to say? “Um, thank you for coming to help me?”

The front door burst open, making Fluttershy jump, and Twilight ran inside. “Pinkie, were you able to find a kumiho? Where did all those drakes come from?”

“A kumiho?” a voice from behind Fluttershy asked. “What’s that?”

Turning around, Fluttershy found Zephyr gone, and in his place stood a reddish-brown earth stallion with a black mane and tail.

“The creature that they went out to find,” Twilight said automatically before she noticed the stranger. “Excuse me, but who are you?”

“Zephyr, but you can call me Zeph.” He stepped past Fluttershy, winking at her as he did, and extended a hoof to the alicorn. “It’s nice to meet you, Princess Twilight.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Zeph.” Twilight shook his hoof quickly before turning back to Pinkie Pie. “Were you able to find a kumiho?”

“We found Zeph,” Pinkie said brightly.

Twilight glanced at Zephyr then gave Pinkie a deadpan look.

Zephyr put a hoof to his chest and sighed dramatically. “Yes, I am quite the disappointment, aren’t I?”

“I didn’t mean that,” Twilight said quickly. A light blush coated her cheeks. “It’s just that Luna said that kumihos can help with kirin pregnancies.”

“Congratulations!” Zephyr grabbed Twilight’s hoof and shook it. “When are you due?”

Now Twilight was bright red. “Uh, I’m not pregnant, Fluttershy is, and we need a kumiho to make sure that everything goes well. Pinkie,” she glared at her friend, “was supposed to find one and ask for her help.”

“Yes, Pinkie did mention something about that on the flight over here,” Zephyr said. As he spoke, his tail split into six behind him and everything but the tips turned the same color as his coat. “A kumiho would be extremely useful in a situation like this.”

Pinkie giggled.

“This is no laughing matter!” Twilight walked toward Pinkie. “That child could need an egg by the end of the week, and we have no way of knowing what other surprises could be in store for us.”

Zephyr’s ears began expanding and his muzzle started to slim down. “You must care about Fluttershy a lot.”

“Of course I do,” Twilight said. “She’s one of my best friends and my sister-in-law.” She shook her head and sighed. “I just hate feeling helpless now when she needs me most.”

“I don’t think you need to worry.” The last of Zephyr’s pony features melted away, revealing his true form. “After all, you might say that helping in situations like this is my special talent.”

“It is?” Twilight turned back to Zephyr and froze, noticing his transformation for the first time.

Zephyr just grinned wolfishly.

“I did Pinkie Promise to find a kumiho,” Pinkie said. “You should know I’d never come back without one.”

“Bu- you- what?” Twilight gasped. “You’re a kumiho?”

“Last time I checked, yes.” Zephyr chuckled. “I think that’s one prank point for me.”

“And one for me,” Pinkie said. “I played along after all.”

Cheese Sandwich shrugged. “I was just giving you two a head start.”

Silver Lining facehoofed. “My grandchild is doomed.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Zephyr’s mischievous smile fell away, replaced by a look of calm professionalism. “I like a good joke, but I take my role as a guardian spirit seriously. If you’re alright with it, Fluttershy, I’d like to check on your baby now.”

“Yes, of course.” Fluttershy approached the fox creature a little self-consciously. “Um, what do you need me to do?”

“Just hold still. This won’t hurt at all, but it may tingle a bit.” Zephyr closed his eyes and sat down. When he opened them again, they glowed white. Behind him, each of his six tails waved back and forth in unison.

Fluttershy did feel a little tickle along her coat, but that was it.

Zephyr smiled. “She’s doing fine, better than I was expecting, actually.”

“She?” Fluttershy repeated.

He nodded. “Your child is female.”

A daughter … Fluttershy didn’t know if it was Zephyr’s magic that made her suddenly feel so warm and happy, but she didn’t care. She would have been happy with a son too, of course, but knowing that she was carrying a daughter made the tiny life within her feel so much more real.

“Some of her traits have already been resolved, but most are still changeable.” Zeph squinted at Fluttershy’s stomach, like he was studying something the others couldn’t see. “Do you have any preferences on what she inherits?”

“You can change the child’s DNA?” Twilight asked.

“It’s changing itself as we speak,” he replied. “I can just influence how some things turn out.” He turned back to Fluttershy. “So?”

Fluttershy thought about it. “I don’t care what,” she grinned, “my daughter inherits from Cliff and me, as long as she’s safe and healthy.”

“I am sensing the ability to switch between battle and thinking forms,” Zephyr said. “From what Pinkie’s told me, that’s a big problem for wyrms. A wyrm kirin probably wouldn’t be able to control her battle form either. Unfortunately, that ability is already resolved. I can’t change it now.”

The yellow mare winced and covered her stomach with her wings. “Oh no.”

“It will be okay, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, putting her hoof around Fluttershy. “We haven’t lost a wyrm to the berserk transformation since Everfree was founded.”

Fluttershy nodded but didn’t trust herself to speak.

“By the way, Zephyr?” Twilight asked.

“I told you to call me Zeph.”

“Oh right.” She gestured toward Fluttershy’s stomach. “What do you mean when you say that some of her traits have already been resolved?”

“To understand that, you have to know more about kirins in general.” Zephyr frowned a little. “With your permission, Fluttershy, I’d like to accelerate your daughter’s growth. This pregnancy is going to be rough on both of you, and cutting off a few months will help minimize complications.”

Fluttershy hesitated. “Well … if you think it’s for the best.”

“It is,” Zephyr said. “This will take a few minutes. I can answer your question while my tails are doing that.” He smirked and muttered something under his breath.

“What?” Fluttershy asked.

“Nothing, they’re just being lazy.” Shrugging casually, Zephyr moved so that he didn’t have to look over Fluttershy to see Twilight. “Anyway, kirins can only be conceived between a dragon and a pony that both have extremely high levels of magic flowing through their systems. Most creatures never reach those levels normally, but intensive magical workouts can give the kind of boost they need.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Both of us were training hard when I was in heat.”

“And you had batteries to recharge the magic you were depleting,” Twilight said. “The ambient magic in your systems was so high that we worried about it harming you.” She sat down hard. “I don’t understand, though. Magic levels that high should attack magic with a different signature. That’s why I never tested it in the lab, the sperm and egg would destroy each other.”

“The two signatures need to be almost equal in power,” Zephyr said. “If they’re close enough, they’ll exhaust each other before they can harm the genetic material, and all the fused magic floating around in the aftermath jams that material together and makes fertilization possible. Even then it’s rare, but without those conditions, you’ll never be able to get a kirin at all.”

Twilight pulled a quill and paper out of a cabinet on the wall and began taking notes. “Please continue.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Yes, please.”

Zephyr seemed happy to comply. “Well, once the embryo starts growing, the magic signatures of the two parents reassert themselves and each individual trait starts fighting with its counterpart for dominance over which one will be inherited. More powerful traits in the parent obviously have an advantage. For example, I’m sensing a lot of magic in the channels around Fluttershy’s eyes, and a similar pattern exists in her daughter. Her husband was probably using some kind of magic that related to his eyes as well, because the duel, I suppose you could call it, between those traits isn’t quite resolved yet. If I don’t step in and change things, the daughter’s eyes will be about ninety percent pegasus, including whatever trait Fluttershy has that uses magic in her eyes, with some superficial wyrm characteristics thrown in. Her teeth, on the other paw, are probably going to be more like a wyrm’s. She’ll get pegasus wings more or less by default, because there’s no opposing trait for that to fight against.”

“What about traits that wouldn’t work together?” Fluttershy asked nervously. “Like if she can breathe fire but she isn’t immune to it?”

“That’s one of the reasons you need a kumiho to guarantee a healthy kirin child,” Zephyr said. “I’m actually influencing a lot of smaller traits right now to prevent those sorts of problems. Protein generation versus proteins needed, digestive processes, what sort of immune system she’ll need, and so forth.”

The yellow pegasus hugged her stomach with her wings again. “Zephyr, thank you so much for helping my daughter.”

“It’s what kumihos do,” he smiled, “and how many times will I need to repeat it? Just call me Zeph.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

An octopus has about two-thirds of all neurons in its arms, so basically each one has a brain of its own, with the actual brain just giving basic directions to them. Spirit didn’t know why he knew that, but it was a pretty accurate metaphor to his role in the Everfree Platoon. He and Autumn were in charge of twenty teams of five, and it was their job to know what each team did best and direct them to problems as needed. So morning training was a very different beast for Everfree’s commanding ‘brain.’

A ray of energy shot through Spirit’s invisibility sphere, skimming the tip of his armor’s nose.

“A shield would be nice.” Spirit gave a smug look to Autumn. “Or are you too distracted by your impending defeat to focus?” Meanwhile, he sent out commands for his teams to press harder. The center of her line was starting to give.

“Oh hush.” Autumn finished crystallizing the air around them into a dome just large enough to hold them both. “Be careful not to let your illusion slip when I turn the tides.”

“Yeah, sure.” Spirit ducked as a boulder shattered against the dome next to his head.

Noteworthy, the pony that thrown it, yelled something to his teammates and charged at Spirit and Autumn’s hiding place.

“Time to leave.” Autumn dissolved enough of her dome that both of them could scramble away.

Spirit kept both themselves and the old dome invisible as they ran to a new spot. Directing a battle while hiding in the middle of it was tough, especially since any team that knocked out him and Autumn was excused from cooking and cleaning duty for the day.

“And I win,” Autumn said triumphantly.

Spirit looked around and realized that pushing at the center of Autumn’s line had just made it easier for her sides to extend and wrap around, completely encircling his forces. “Oh, that’s just playing dirty.” He ordered his flying teams to cluster and fly over the enemy lines before ramming back hard, opposite his heaviest earth-pony team.

That bought him a a narrow corridor out of the trap, but Autumn’s teams were hitting his forces hard as they rushed to escape. “Eyes,” he sent, “I need your team to stand still. Everyone else, get out of there.”

“I hate you,” Eyes sent back, but her team dutifully held their position as Autumn’s forces closed in around them.

Spirit waited until most of his teams were clear before he sent the next command, “Appleboom, max power.”

Big Mac reared up and slammed both forehooves down. The resulting earthquake collapsed most of the training field, leaving Autumn’s forces rolling down a slope toward Eyes and her team.

Dash struck next, zooming into the ground like a meteor and filling the newly created pit with an explosion of rainbow-colored light.

“Surround the pit,” Spirit ordered the rest of his teams. “Hold position at the edge and snipe anything that moves.”

Autumn smacked him in the side. “You never told me that Big Mac was capable of such a thing.”

Spirit grinned. “I never told you that he wasn’t either.”

The sound of a bell rang out across the field.

“Time’s up,” Spirit sent to everyone. “Report in with your losses.” Not that they were actually losses, of course. A loss was anyone that had depleted the first of their suit’s batteries. He waited for them all to get back to him before turning to Autumn. “Seventeen casualties. You?”

She frowned. “Twenty.”

Spirit let his teams know the result and excused them to go do whatever they wanted until lunch. “Good match, sexy.”

“Good match.” She dissolved the dome around them, and they relocated to the edge of the training yard to watch the next group train.

Spirit pulled off his helmet and settled down next to Autumn. His arm wrapped around her back, with his clawed hand coming to rest against her flank opposite him. It was strange, having his hand there would have left Spirit all kinds of awkward and aroused just a month ago. Now it was no more strange or noteworthy than if he’d wrapped his arm around her shoulders instead. Spirit preferred it this way. Some kind of barrier between them had disappeared, and he could just enjoy being close to his marefriend.

Autumn leaned into Spirit’s shoulder with a slight smirk. “Any excuse to touch my flank, I see.”

Spirit chuckled. “If that were my goal, I would have waited until you weren’t wearing full body armor.”

“Well, maybe at lunch …” Autumn trailed off and twisted to look behind them. Like a switch had been flipped, anger and confusion began to wash through her in equal measures. Even her coat faded to a steely blue, and her eyes narrowed dangerously.

Spirit followed her gaze and found a company of crystal ponies approaching, led by a white crystal pony with a blue mane and tail. All of them were wearing full armor. He looked back at Autumn. “What’s wrong?”

The leader’s eyes locked onto Autumn. “Autumn,” he said sharply, “I bring orders from Princess Luna for you.”

Autumn’s eyes narrowed, and when she spoke, her voice was like the hissing of a blade across stone. “My name is Counselor Autumn Gem of Everfree Village.” She stood up. “Give me the orders and then leave.”

The stallion’s coat flushed gray with hints of purple, and Spirit could sense anger exploding within him. “You’re still acting like a petulant child, Counselor Autumn Gem.”

“The orders,” Autumn said, grinding her hooves into the ground. “Now.”

“The Eighth Legion will be Everfree’s opponent in mock battles starting tomorrow.” The stallion glanced at Spirit before returning his attention to Autumn. “We look forward to testing ourselves against you and Prince Spirit Shield.”

Autumn’s expression reminded Spirit of the phrase ‘if looks could kill.’ “I see.” She turned, grabbed her helmet, and walked away.

Spirit almost had to run to keep up with her, shoving his own helmet on as he went. “Okay, what just happened?”

“Why would Luna assign us to train with him?” Autumn muttered.

“I don’t know,” Spirit said. “Shake things up and keep us from getting complacent, maybe?”

Autumn just kept walking, or stomping. Yeah, stomping was definitely a more accurate description of what she was doing.

Spirit threw a nervous glance over his shoulder. That crystal stallion was watching them go, and he was staring at Autumn a little too intently for Spirit’s liking. “Seriously, who was that guy?”

Autumn turned a corner toward her mother’s house, but she fell against the back of a house before she had gone more than a few steps.

“Autumn?” Spirit grabbed her.

She was shaking like she could collapse at any moment. “I can do this,” she whispered. “I can do this.”

Spirit gathered her into his arms. He wanted to say something, but … what was he supposed to say? He didn’t even know what was going on, and so he just held her close.

Ever so slowly, she leaned into his embrace. “Thank you.” She took a few deep breaths before gently pushing him away and setting out once more.

Unsure what to do, Spirit followed after her.

“… That stallion,” Autumn said quietly, “do you really want to know who he is?”

Now there was a question Spirit hadn’t been expecting. “Yes, please.”

Autumn slowed until she was barely moving and looked up at the clouds. “I was nothing more than a spoiled brat when Sombra took power. I honestly thought I could overthrow him, and many of my friends had that same blind trust in me. When we were discovered, many of them sacrificed themselves to buy time while I escaped.” She stopped walking entirely and let her gaze sink to the street beneath her hooves. “I lost five friends on the night that he captured me.”

“He?” Spirit looked toward the training field, even though there was a house in the way. “You mean that he was-?”

“Liberty Valiant,” Autumn spat the name, “the pony that turned me over to King Sombra and condemned me to months of slavery, starvation, and whippings down in the mines. He even transferred to the prison just to make sure I never escaped.”

“You …” Spirit’s mind reeled with what he had just heard. “You never told me that you were a prisoner.”

Autumn didn’t respond. A few tears fell to the ground in front of her, but then she wiped her cheeks and kept walking.

Spirit watched her go, too dumbfounded to even call after her.

Chapter 33

Yol Toor landed just outside of the Crystal Empire, close enough that his muzzle nearly touched the Empire’s shield. Not one hundred feet away, ponies had clustered on that crystalline wall, aiming bows, horns, and various other weapons at him. “I wish to speak with Celestia, Luna, or Cadance,” he called. “It matters not which, and I have no desire to harm them.” His voice would’ve carried easily in his battle form, but the ponies would likely take a battle transformation as a sign of aggression.

Most of the ponies held their positions, but one did turn and leave, presumably to call one of the alicorns.

“Thank you.” Yol Toor settled down to wait, idly studying the many Equestrian defenders that he could see. Most of them had the look of a warrior that knew they could be killed at any moment but had resolved to stand firm regardless. Such courage was admirable, and Yol Toor nodded to them as a group, though he doubted they would understand the significance of that act.

Eventually, Luna appeared just on the other side of the shield. Her expression and stance were wary.

Her mere presence told Yol Toor much, and little of it good. Luna was not the diplomat that her sister was, but her fighting style was highly physical, an effective counter to Yol Toor’s magic-negating aura. Celestia, on the other claw, focused more on spells. Equestria hadn’t sent her, even though she would be more likely to negotiate peace, but had instead sent the leader who would have the best chance of defeating him in a duel.

They were expecting a fight.

Furthermore, Celestia hadn’t joined her sister, which meant she was likely holding back to either ambush him or respond to other threats as they arose. Cadance also hadn’t come. She was the least capable fighter of Equestria’s four alicorns, and so the decision to withhold her was likely out of concern for her safety.

They were expecting treachery.

Yol Toor reminded himself that any representative was better than none at all. “Hail, Princess Luna.”

“Hail, Lord Yol Toor,” Luna replied. “Why have you come here?”

“To ask for peace once more.” Yol Toor curled up on the ground with his head facing her. “The Dragon Alliance will starve to death without the gem mines beneath the Crystal Empire, but we do not need all of them. Give us a piece of the Empire proper, and this war can end now. I can even show you which areas have suitable gem mines.”

Luna scoffed. “You attack the Crystal Empire unprovoked, kill thousands of ponies, threaten to massacre civilians, refuse the piece of land we do offer, and now you think we will force our civilians off their land because it is more to your liking?” She also remained standing. Was it traditional for ponies to discuss these matters while standing, or was it an insult, visibly refusing to join him in negotiations?

“It is not their land,” Yol Toor said firmly, though not angrily. “The Crystal Empire existed for less than four-hundred years before it was sealed away. The northern drake clans have controlled this land for more than eight-hundred years. Our claim upon it is at least equal to theirs.”

“All of my other points still stand,” Luna said. “I will not force ponies from their homes when the Dragon Alliance could easily survive on shipments of crystals from the Empire. Consider it payment for the land, if you wish.”

“The Alliance will never accept those terms,” Yol Toor said. “It would make us wholly dependent on Equestria’s good graces for our continued survival. You could force us to do anything, and we would have to obey or starve.”

“If that ever happens,” Luna said, “you may declare war on Equestria and return us to this exact situation. What would you lose by at least testing our goodwill?”

“You ask us to trust you with our lives, but you give no reason why we should, not even a token gesture.” Yol Toor shook his head. “Please, Princess Luna, consider our terms. Tens of thousands will die soon if we do not find peace.”

“Consider our terms first,” Luna said. “The first shipment of crystals will be waiting for you outside the Empire the day after the Alliance announces that it will stop its attacks.”

Yol Toor reached out through the wyrm link that connected him to the rest of the Council. The decision was nearly unanimous, they would not accept.

He sighed deeply. “I am sorry, Princess Luna, but we refuse your terms. Please beg your civilians once more to evacuate the Crystal Empire. We will attack tomorrow. You have until then to get them to safety.”

Luna stared at him deeply for a moment. “So be it.” Then she teleported away.

-_-_-_-_-_-

The next morning dawned bright and clear … probably. Talon would’ve have known, she was stuck walking through a dark cave, barely able to see her own muzzle in front of her.

Her legs burned from all this walking, but Talon forced herself to pretend that she didn’t feel it. She wasn’t going to wimp out when one of the leaders of the Alliance was watching.

“… What you need to do is think of the growth itself as another way of moving,” Silver Tail was saying, a few steps ahead of Talon, “not just a side-effect of switching forms.”

Tornado nodded thoughtfully at the drake leader’s side. “And that will increase the effectiveness of my wind?”

“A lot,” Silver Tail said, “but getting the timing right is a pain. It took me a few decades to figure it out.”

This wasn’t exactly what Talon had had in mind when Silver Tail offered to give Tornado a lesson in wind magic. A lesson crammed in on their way to a mass murder.

Talon pulled her thoughts away from that subject yet again. It wasn’t her place to second-guess the Hurricanes, no matter how much she wanted to.

Crystal was on Talon’s left, wincing a bit with every step.

On Talon’s right, Heart had her staff resting across her shoulders. “You know, I could just use some enhancement magic on you two.”

Crystal shook her head. “I need the exercise.” She took a deep breath. “You don’t need to worry about me.”

“All this walking is good for us,” Talon said, willing herself to believe it. “By the way, what was in that emergency message you got at breakfast today, Heart? Unless you aren’t allowed to tell us, that is.” The leaders of the Alliance had called a meeting right after the received it, so it must have been something important—and probably bad.

Heart shook her head. “No, I can tell you. I want your thoughts on it anyway. Equestria is calling in reinforcements.”

Talon paused as she digested the news. Equestria had a population of over one hundred million. Even a minimal draft would give them an army so big that the Alliance would have no hope of victory.

Of course, that might actually be a good thing. Even the Hurricanes couldn’t keep insisting on war if there was no chance for victory.

“How long before the Equestrian recruits get here?” Talon asked.

“Actually,” Heart said, “there aren’t any Equestrian recruits. Celestia still refuses to force any of her subjects to fight unless they volunteer. They’re asking their allies for help instead. The griffons, actually.”

“How many?” Talon asked. “For that matter, what’s a griffon?”

Heart shrugged. It was still weird to see a creature without wings do that. “According to our spy, Celestia sent the request out last night and hasn’t heard back from their kingdom yet. As for what they are, apparently they’re what you’d get if you fused the front half of an eagle with the back half of a giant cat. They’re pretty rare in Equestria, so there wasn’t much information available. We do know that they’re a lot more warlike than ponies.”

“Fun,” Talon deadpanned. “Is there any chance their leaders will refuse her request?”

“Not really.” Heart shook her head. “Celestia offered to pay them a lot. Apparently that’s all griffons care about.”

“Maybe we could get help from the changelings to balance it out?” Crystal suggested. “Didn’t you say that they almost overthrew Equestria by themselves once?”

“They did,” Heart said, “but Chrysalis, their leader, made it clear that the changelings wouldn’t be joining us on the battlefield any time soon.”

“Why dirty her claws with taking out the Immortal Sisters when she can have us do it for her?” Talon muttered.

“Our information network would be a hundred times as big if we let them join us,” Heart said. “We should be grateful that they want to help at all.”

“If not the changelings, maybe some other race would fight alongside us,” Crystal said. “The wyverns are new to this continent, but the wyrms and drakes must have some friends.”

Heart sighed. “Drakes aren’t well known for being social. I doubt they have any allies outside the other drake clans, and all of them that are willing to help are already here. As for us wyrms,” she cleared her throat, “well, we mostly keep to ourselves. There have been a few loose alliances with the minotaurs over the centuries, and one with the centaurs a long time ago, but both of them are steadfast allies of Equestria now.”

There was an uncomfortable silence, filled only by Silver Tail and Tornado’s discussion about some drake technique that Talon didn’t understand.

“There must be some nations that don’t get along with Equestria,” Crystal said at last.

“Well,” Heart tapped her chin, “I don’t think they have any major enemies, but there are a few races that don’t really like ponies either. I guess it couldn’t hurt to look into approaching some of them.”

Another idea occurred to Talon. “Maybe we could let something out of that special prison the ponies have. I doubt anything in there would have any problems with fighting against Equestria.” It would also be another shortcut to ending the war. Some of those prisoners were supposed to be obscenely powerful, and even a nation as mighty as Equestria might ask for peace rather than face them on the battlefield.

“I’ll have our spies look into that too,” Heart said, “but from what I’ve heard, we might be better off facing Equestria by ourselves than risking an alliance with anything they locked up in Tartarus.”

Silver Tail stopped, and the others all paused around him. “This is about the edge of the fallout zone.” He turned around to look at them. “You should all head back now. If we don’t see each other again, tell Yol Toor to write something nice about me in the Hall of Remembrance.”

Tornado bowed. “May fortune lead you to glory.”

Silver Tail ruffled the younger drake’s head spikes. “I’ll settle for not getting crushed, but thanks.” Then he turned and disappeared into the oppressive darkness.

Talon glanced over at Tornado. “So, learn anything good?”

Tornado unfolded his wings and flapped them slowly before nodding. “Many of his techniques are simply beyond my skill at the moment, but he did explain a much simpler maneuver that I should practice.”

“Really?” Crystal asked. “What is it?”

“Mixing high- and low-pressure zones to strike foes at a great distance.” He flapped his wings again, obviously thinking about the movements very carefully. “I do not understand exactly why it works, but Silver Tail said that it is extremely effective when used properly.”

“Is there anything any of us can do to help you?” Talon asked, motioning for the small group to start heading back the way they had come. Just thinking about all those miles of tunnels made her legs ache.

Tornado followed after her. “Perhaps you or Crystal could be my training partner. Your flight magic is similar enough to my own that you should be able to learn the technique as well.”

Talon thought about it. Her schedule was about to get a lot more hectic now that the ceasefire was over, but she would probably be able to spare an hour or so a day for personal training. “I’m no wind wyvern, but I’ll give it a shot.”

“I wouldn’t mind learning either,” Crystal said.

Tornado smiled. “It will be an honor to train with you both. In any case, what were the three of you discussing?”

“The ponies will be getting help from some allies soon,” Heart said. “We were brainstorming about where we might find some allies of our own.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know of any groups that would be willing and able to help us,” Tornado said. “However, I cannot thank you enough for the aid that the the wyverns and wyrms have already given during this war. We could never have asked for more loyal allies.” He turned to Heart very deliberately and said, “Or more honorable ones.”

Heart missed a step and nearly fell. “Did you just call a wyrm honorable?”

He nodded. “You follow a different kind of honor than what most drakes recognize, but it is honor nonetheless.”

Shaking her head, Heart said, “Well … thank you. For whatever it’s worth, drakes are a lot more selfless than I used to think.”

Talon smiled. It was hard to believe that Tornado and Heart would have happily tried to kill each other a few short months ago. “Come on, you two. We only have an hour until the plan starts. We need to join up with the rest of the cluster before that happens.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

The Alliance had been scouting out this tunnel for weeks already. A few teams of pony guards had even been seen patrolling the caverns, but none of them had been harmed. After all, it wouldn’t do to let the ponies know that the Alliance had just gained a new way of reaching the Empire.

Of course, everydragon knew they would only get to use the tunnel once before Equestria either collapsed it or extended the Crystal Heart’s shield to cover the underground as well. The only real question had been how to make the most out of that one use.

The drakes had been split between digging for more gems and asking the Crystal Empire to evacuate all its civilians there so they couldn’t get hurt. Heart had suggested trying to steal back the Crystal Heart and hoping that Discord didn’t retrieve it this time. All of them had been outvoted by the Hurricanes, though, who had decided that the best use was to massacre ponies.

Talon was starting to wonder if it was really for the best to put the Hurricanes in charge of all tactical operations for this war. She wasn’t stupid enough to voice that thought, though, especially not when they came around a corner and saw the rest of the cluster waiting for them in the small cavern beyond. Many dragons were standing at attention near Typhoon, the Hurricane of Wind, who was studying a map on a small table that somedragon had set up.

Light filled the cavern from a hole in the ceiling that hadn’t been there earlier. Apparently the rest of the cluster had been able to create their new exit without any problems.

“Welcome back, Senior Wing Talon Storm,” Typhoon said dispassionately. “Were there any complications?”

“None, sir,” Talon said. “What happened over there?” She gestured toward the back of the group, where several dragons were standing around something that Talon couldn’t see clearly enough to identify. She could make out Rune Field among them, grinning like a maniac.

“A few pony guards were patrolling the farthest edge of the cave system,” Typhoon said. “They are unconscious but alive. Clodhopper did ask that we return with unicorn and crystal pony captives, if at all possible.”

“It’s just like we expected,” Rune said loudly enough for them all to hear. “Their horns function along the same basic principle as our staffs. Think about all we can learn from them! I hope they don’t mind talking with me about their magic.”

Typhoon cleared her throat, pulling the group’s attention back to her. “I imagine that more test subjects will yield even better results. As such, please follow our original plan.”

“We will. Thank you for the update, sir,” Talon said. She bowed to Typhoon one more time and led the small group to the rest of Squad Five. She took her place with the venom team, as did Crystal, Tornado, and Heart.

“I’m so glad our fearless leader and her pets could rejoin us,” Storm Front, one of the more outspoken objectors to Talon’s leadership, said quietly.

The words had barely left his mouth when he collapsed with a gasp, pressing both wings against his chest.

“You will respect proper authority, Senior Wing Storm Front,” Typhoon’s quiet voice echoed in the air around him. “Talon Wind is your squadron leader, and Heart Echo is a member of the Council. By disrespecting them, you are disrespecting all of us. Disrespect destroys obedience and unity, the only two things that have kept the wyvern race alive. To remind you of that, you will suffer near-suffocation and a heart attack for the next few minutes.”

Talon shuddered and glanced at Typhoon. She was still studying that map like nothing had happened.

No, Talon certainly wasn’t stupid enough to speak out against the Hurricanes. “Rune,” she said carefully, “Crystal, Tornado, and I still need our protective runes.”

“What?” Rune looked up at them. “Oh, right. C’mon, Genesis.” She waved to her descendant, and the two of them got to work. Soon the three of them were covered in spidery lines of light.

Tornado looked down at Storm Front’s gasping form like he was trying to decide if he should say something. Luckily, common sense won out, and he shifted his gaze to Talon. “With your permission, I would like to practice the technique that Silver Tail taught me.”

Talon nodded. “Go ahead. Wandering Sky, could you observe? I want to know if it would be useful for the wind team.”

The wind wyvern bowed. “Yes, sir.”

Tornado stepped away from the rest of the Squad and reared up on his back legs. Apparently juvenile drakes walked that way all the time, but as they matured that pose became more and more difficult to hold. Tornado was fairly young, though, so it didn’t give him much trouble. He took a deep breath, then flapped both wings forward. It stirred up a small breeze, and Talon’s wind sense could detect areas of high and low pressure in an alternating pattern.

“I think I recognize that,” Sky said. “It’s called the Wind Lance.”

“Silver Tail referred to it as the Wind Spear,” Tornado said, flapping his wings again. “He also said that even a drake’s thinking form can generate the wind required to kill prey at more than one thousand feet.”

Wandering Sky looked a bit dubious but didn’t try to argue. “Maybe drakes have more powerful wind magic than we realized.”

“No, they simply put forth an enormous amount of time and effort.” Typhoon’s voice echoed around the group.

They all froze.

“There is no need to worry,” she said, still without looking at them. “I have always thought the Wind Lance is overlooked by many of our younger warriors. It’s a shame. When properly used, it travels much farther than any other technique.” She flicked one wing, and a series of holes appeared in the wall next to Talon. It was like a pattern of tiny four-pointed stars, all connected by their tips. They formed a rough circle, about a foot across. “If Silver Tail considers that to be a beginning wind technique, I must ask about his more advanced ones.”

She rolled up the map in front of her. “Senior Wing Storm Front, get up and remember proper respect from now on. All of you should prepare yourselves. Silver Tail has reached his destination and is about to put the plan into motion.”

“How does she know that?” Heart asked Talon.

“Her wind sense is the most developed of any wyvern,” Talon said back. “She can probably feel the air currents they’re making.”

A few moments later, there was a faint rumbling in the distance, and the ground beneath them began to shake.

“To the air!” Typhoon ordered. She opened her wings and shot up through the hole in the cavern ceiling.

The five squadrons of the cluster flew after her one by one, in the order of their ranking.

The shaking had stopped by the time Squad Five took off, which meant that Silver Tail had either escaped or was dead.

Talon passed through the cramped entrance and into the open air beyond. Brilliant daylight stung her eyes, but she ignored that and flew higher. Soon she climbed high enough that she could see over the small hill that stood between them and the Crystal Empire.

It was obvious that their plan had worked. Silver Tail’s Void Fire had collapsed a huge part of the tunnels beneath the Empire’s largest marketplace, bringing the buildings down with them and probably crushing tens of thousands of ponies.

Talon wished that it had never come to this. None of those ponies had deserved to die. It was hard, but she fought down her guilt and focused on the plan. “Attack!”

A small cluster of ponies stood at the walls of the Empire nearest to them, but most of them were staring in shock at the collapsed marketplace. Not that it mattered if they were paying attention. Every single dragon in the Alliance was emerging from their hiding places nearby and rushing at the shield as one. A few clusters of Equestrian warriors would barely qualify as a distraction.

It had taken all morning and afternoon for their illusionists to move everydragon into position for this, but the results were more than worth it.

Silver Tail shot out of the ground in an explosion of blue light, about halfway between Talon’s group and the Empire.

“Is that him? Is he okay?” Tornado asked. He flew easily, in spite of being in his thinking form and carrying Heart.

Talon nodded. “Yeah, he’s fine.”

“Thank the Ancestors,” Crystal said.

Tornado switched to his battle form. “Then may the battle be swift.”

Even Heart Echo breathed a sigh of relief as she aimed her staff at the Empire’s shield. “I’m right there with you, buddy.”

Silver Tail turned to the Empire and called in a magically amplified voice, “I’m sorry it had to come to this. Dragons of the Alliance, rush the walls! Kill everything that rises to face you, and pummel the Empire until it has no choice but to surrender!” Then he flew toward the shield, followed by Squad Five and the rest of the Alliance.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Spirit looked up at the wall of scales, claws, and teeth. They were only seconds from punching a bunch of holes in the Empire’s shield and crashing down on them.

This probably wasn’t going to go down in history as his all-time favorite shift on the wall, even with the protective ceiling that the crystal ponies had built to defend against aerial fire. At least the Solar Unicorns had seen through the Alliance’s illusions a few hours ago, letting them quietly move forces around to deal with whatever was coming.

One of those ‘forces’ was standing next to Spirit, shifting her weight from hoof to hoof.

“It’ll be okay, Twi,” Spirit said.

Twilight managed a weak smile, but it didn’t last long. “Do you think we can handle this? I mean, we really have no idea what the Hurricanes are capable of.”

Fire Claws stepped forward, putting her hand on the alicorn’s shoulder. “Nothing’s going to hurt you as long as Torch and I are around, Twi.”

Burning Torch repeated the gesture on Twilight’s other side.

“The Hurricanes have been spotted,” Autumn sent. “Move north to support the earth pony companies!”

“We’ll keep the rest of the dragons off you three,” Spirit said, already starting to move. “Just focus on taking out the wyvern leaders.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

As soon as the Shield Cracker rune activated, the swarm pushed through the shield, blasting away at the pony defenders below.

At least, they tried to. As soon as they crossed the threshold, some invisible force wrapped around Talon and every other member of the swarm, freezing them in place.

-_-_-_-_-_-

In spite of the situation, Cliff felt a sense of grim satisfaction when the trap went off perfectly. He jumped onto Rainbow’s back and poured as much enhancement magic into her as possible. “Remind me to thank the Solar Unicorns for setting that up.”

“Less talk, more kill,” Fire Eyes sent back.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Talon struggled in vain against the pony magic that held her. It felt like bands of metal had wrapped around her entire body, preventing her from moving. She wasn’t falling to her death, but that was the only good news.

An all-too-familiar rainbow blur was shooting toward them from the south. That pegasus was responsible for nearly one quarter of the Alliance’s casualties just by itself.

Just before it hit, the Hurricanes broke out of their restraints and poured their magic out in one synchronized flap.

Talon could barely believe what her wind sense was telling her. A small mountain’s worth of air slammed down into the unfortunate pegasus, who had a wyrm on her back now that Talon looked more closely. Both were hurled to the ground below.

The attack didn’t end there. Typhoon flapped again, and all the air around those two was pulled away, leaving a near complete vacuum in its wake.

A shield formed around them almost immediately and rapidly contracted. It was the first airtight shield Talon had seen, and it brought the pressure inside it back up before any serious damage could occur to its occupants.

Off to her left, Tornado shrank back to his thinking form. Somehow, that let him slip free of the magic that held him.

“I’m increasing the power to your Energy Resistance spells,” Heart sent. “It should dissolve this spell more quickly.”

A moment later, just as Squad Five started regaining the ability to move, a burst of purple magic on top of the Hurricanes announced the arrival of three new combatants, two wyrms and—was that an alicorn?

Talon couldn’t even follow the blur of movement and techniques as the three of them engaged the Hurricanes.

On the ground beneath them, the rainbow pegasus and her wyrm ally were climbing back to their feet. Apparently they weren’t done yet.

Just our luck. Talon glanced from the duo on the ground to the group fighting with the Hurricanes, trying to decide where her squad would be able to help the most.

At least two other squadrons were already moving toward the Hurricanes, and the pegasus and the wyrm looked like they were almost ready to take off.

“Pin those two down,” Talon ordered, diving for the ground. “Whatever you do, don’t let the rainbow one take off again!” “Heart, call for backup.” She remembered facing the rainbow pegasus and her team once before and doubted Squad Five would be able to hold them for long.

“On it,” Heart replied, jumping off of Tornado’s back and firing her staff at the pegasus. A ray of dark energy hit the pony’s armored back, stunning her long enough for Heart to land on top of her with a metallic clang.

Talon had been meaning to crash into the wyrm, but he dodged out of the way just before she hit, making her hit the ground with a lot more force than her sore legs would have liked.

Tornado hit the ground a moment later and charged at the armored wyrm, but his momentum ground to a sudden halt, then reversed as he was swung in a full circle and sent crashing into Ember, who had also just landed. Both drakes went down in a heap, nearly crushing Genesis and Rune, who had been on Ember’s back.

A large male earth pony stood behind where Tornado had just been, coming back down onto all fours after the throw. Like the others, he was wearing that gray armor that seemed all-but indestructible.

Meanwhile, the pegasus flipped over and knocked Heart away with a blast of concentrated wind.

An armored wyrm dragoness ran past the earth pony. She motioned, and some kind of magic latched onto Talon and threw her toward the male wyrm.

Green blades of energy formed around the male’s hands, ready to meet Talon.

“Gem, don’t!” Heart shouted from nearby.

Talon was barely able to flap her wings in time, killing just enough momentum that the wyrm’s blades missed her.

Much to Talon’s surprise, he hesitated for a moment instead of pressing the attack.

Half a dozen wind blasts struck the wyrm from above, violently knocking him flat, and announcing the arrival of Wandering Sky’s wind team.

“Did you just call that wyrm Gem?” Talon asked.

A shield went up around the wyrm as he struggled back to his feet.

“Yes,” Heart sent back. “I don’t know how, but that’s him. His emotions are exactly the same as the Gemstone Aura we knew.”

Talon didn’t have time to waste clawing at a shield that had withstood everything an entire swarm could throw at it. She spat a cloud of extra strong poison into it and flew away, searching desperately for the rest of her squad. “Sky, keep an eye on the wyrm in that shield. If he comes out, kill- take him prisoner.”

Tornado was still disentangling himself from Ember, but at least they were both okay. Heart was bleeding from a number of deep wounds, probably from that female wyrm and her pink energy beams.

Crystal flew into the enemy dragoness from behind, knocking her to the ground and holding her there with one foot while she spat more gas at the wyrm’s face.

Cloud Breaker, Crystal’s battle partner, landed next to her and helped pin the armored dragoness down.

Meanwhile, the rest of the venom wyverns were spitting poison at the earth pony, but he barely seemed to care as he retaliated with a series of rocks that made deafening explosions in midair.

A shield went up over the fallen dragoness, knocking Crystal and Cloud away as it expanded.

“Somedragon take out whatever is creating those shields!” Talon glanced around, trying to find the pegasus before she got away, but a rainbow explosion near the Hurricanes showed that she already had.

“We’re trying!” Storm Front’s emotions crackled with anger and frustration.

Talon found her and the rest of the thunder team attacking yet another shield a little ways away from the rest of them. Inside of it, a unicorn stood proudly, watching them with a faint smirk. His armor was elaborately painted and covered in jewels. Talon really hoped those gems didn’t represent rank or enemies killed or something.

“Thunders, snipe the earth pony from up high. Maybe we can overload that armor.” “Venoms,” Talon called, “switch with the thunder team. Pump as much gas as you can into that unicorn’s shield!” “Heart, give them a wing. Has anydragon seen that pegasus who can stun dragons just by looking at them?”

“I don’t think she’s here,” Heart sent. She healed herself as she ran toward the gem-encrusted unicorn. “Our backup is finally arriving.”

Talon looked up and saw the rest of the swarm swooping down to help, but several hundred Equestrian warriors were nearly on them as well, and at least a hundred were wearing those gray suits of armor. “Maybe we got lucky and somedragon killed her in another battle.” She took a deep breath and shouted, “Stay focused, everydragon. We can do this!” Under her breath, she added, “I hope.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Twilight winced as yet another wyvern attack connected. Even through her shield, the temperature dropped so low that it hurt to breathe, and that pain spiked right afterwards when more air was forced down her throat.

She teleported away in Semi-random Pattern Thirty-seven-A. It left behind most of the frozen air that had been crammed into her lungs, but her chest still burned.

Dropping the temperature in order to reduce air volume, Twilight noted, creating a vacuum that can be used to more efficiently pull in air, which would likely then be super-heated, causing rapid expansion within the lungs to burst them. She fought down a shudder.

It had only been one minute and five seconds since appearing above the Hurricanes, and already she had been forced to teleport to avoid thirty-seven potentially lethal moves. She couldn’t just teleport once either. Any teleportation chain shorter than ten jumps always ended with one of the Hurricanes waiting for her at the end of it.

Another new technique raised the temperature around her mid-chain, which made finishing the last two jumps of the sequence difficult. Twilight checked the line of metals on her left foreleg and saw that the tungsten wire had melted, but not the enchanted tungsten. That put the temperature of the attack somewhere between thirty-five hundred and seven thousand degrees Celsius.

It was more than a fifty percent increase since their last heat-based attack. Twilight hoped that meant they were running out of new techniques and were opting to simply increase the power of previous ones.

“Maze eighteen,” Burning Torch sent before filling the sky around them with a new wave of shields, all in different sizes and shapes. They weren’t very strong, and would only last a few moments, but they limited the Hurricanes’ maneuverability. They also gave Burning Torch a number of platforms to stand on.

The Hurricanes all managed to dodge out of the way of the suddenly forming obstacles yet again and moved to surround Twilight and Torch, launching a technique that, thankfully, Twilight recognized.

“Torch, Air Hammer, interception!”

Burning Torch reversed his momentum suddenly, narrowly avoiding the descending column of air.

Neither he nor Twilight had been able to return fire yet. The Hurricanes were all simply too fast and too agile to even attempt to hit them, especially while they were both completely occupied with staying alive.

“I’m nearly ready,” Fire Claws sent. There wasn’t time for Twilight to look and see what her adopted grandmother was doing, but it involved Zecora’s speed potion, a life-drain spell, and the two squadrons that had tried to come to the Hurricanes’ aid.

Twilight would have breathed a sigh of relief, if the air around her wasn’t suddenly filled with poisonous gas. Gas that was somehow eating away at her protective spells. She only had fifty semi-random teleportation chains memorized, and she was certain that the Hurricanes would realize the moment she started repeating them. She also needed at least one tenth of a second to recharge her horn enough to teleport again. It was a small opening, but an opening nonetheless.

A burst of wind from her wings did nothing to drive away the poison, so she used Pattern Thirty-eight then immediately had to flap backwards when she reappeared just in front of a pair of downwards slashing talons. The Hurricane of Thunder had somehow predicted the sequence.

Some kind of force, magnetism perhaps, pushed the wyvern’s talons right through Twilight’s shield, while simultaneously pulling her toward him.

She felt a flash of pain as the talons raked down her forehead, slicing through the helmet with ease. Then Burning Torch crashed into her from the side, knocking them both away from the yellow wyvern.

“Get out of there, both of you!” Fire Claws appeared behind the Hurricane of Thunder, little more than a blur of green fire, gray metal, and purple light.

The thunder wyvern dodged out of the way, and a tornado suddenly appeared around Fire Claws, but a quick burst of magic from Twilight teleported her grandmother to safety. Another warped the three of them to the ground nearly a half a mile away.

Fire Claws took a deep breath and released her fiery aura. “Thanks, Twi.” Dents and slash marks covered her armor, reaching all the way through to the scales in at least a dozen places. Blood dripped from more than one gash. The glowing purple liquid of Zecora’s speed potion still coated her hands and feet, but it was beginning to fade. “Remind me to thank Rainbow too. She saved my life at least twice back there.” After a deep breath, she pressed one set of claws to Twilight’s heart and another to Burning Torch’s. “Now let’s put that life-force I just gathered to work. You know what to do?”

Twilight nodded, still breathing heavily as it started to sink in that she had been a few inches away from death. She ignored the warm blood spilling down her forehead, wove together five different emotions, and extended them toward Fire Claws through their link.

The dragoness took them and six more from her husband before adding nine of her own. Then she opened the gate to her newly augmented life-force and poured one thousand years’ worth of life into casting the spell.

Twilight felt a surge of excitement in spite of the situation. There was no confirmed record of Supreme Insight having been cast in more than six centuries. This spell was perhaps the best example of her all-time favorite phrase: knowledge is power.

The world around Twilight changed as the spell took effect. Every single blade of grass in the field around them stood out clearly to her, and she could see the tiny amounts of magic within them all. Twilight hadn’t studied the magic of grass in the Crystal Empire, and yet she somehow knew that it was meant to protect the plant from harsh temperatures.

She quickly determined that there wasn’t anything else she could learn from the grass and turned her attention to something far more interesting, her grandmother.

Fire Claws positively glowed with magical energies, sixty-one spells that Twilight could see. She knew fifty-three of them already, but the way the other eight were woven together made it obvious what all of them did. In fact, Twilight was confident that she would be able to cast them herself when she reached tier nine wyrm magic. I just learned eight new spells instantly. That thought made Twilight giggle, but the sounds came out oddly distorted, like slow motion.

“Our minds are moving too fast for our bodies to keep up,” Fire Claws sent. “Get us back to the Hurricanes quickly, Twi. We don’t have long before this wears off.”

Twilight tried to nod, but that was in slow motion as well. She gave up halfway through and started charging up for a teleportation spell. She gave up on that too when she realized that using the magic a different way would be more quick and efficient.

When they reappeared in front of the Hurricanes, Twilight was amazed at how much magic surrounded the air around them all and how fast they reacted. A wave of air pressure was already forming around the wings of the Hurricane of Wind. It was a fairly simple technique that would generate intense sound waves, meant to deafen and disorient foes across a large area. Twilight could also tell that the Hurricanes were growing frustrated and using more energy than normal in the hopes of defeating either Twilight or her draconic grandparents.

Twilight flicked one wing and sent out a wave of magically generated wind that would interfere with the wyvern’s technique when they met in another few seconds, from Twilight’s point of view, at least.

“You just bought us a moment to counterattack,” Fire Claws sent approvingly as she landed on one of her husband’s shields. “Let’s make the most of it.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Cliff grit his teeth. Why did we have to run into Squad Five? In the rush of battle, he had fought them like any other foe, but now it was starting to sink in. He was literally stuck in the middle of a battle to the death between two groups of friends and family. It wasn’t like he could just ask both sides to be nice and go find other opponents to kill.

The Empathy spell let him listen in on everything the members of Squad Five were sending to each other. Heart knew that he was Gem. How long until she realized that he was Cliff also?

He clenched his eyes shut before Talon’s poison could affect him too much. It was time for a good hard look at himself and his situation.

Option one, he could kill Talon. Without her, the Squad would fall apart and need to retreat. Option two, he could do what Eyes told him to do, and try not to think about what was happening. Option three, he could try to make sure his friends in the Alliance got out of this in one piece.

“Cliff,” Fire Eyes sent, “that emotion manipulator is headed toward Blueblood. I need you to stop her right now!”

He hesitated. He could feel Heart’s emotions, a mess of shock and denial. She had heard Eyes call him Cliff. “And by ‘stop,’ you mean ‘kill’?”

“Duh.”

That was it then. Cliff stood back up, feeling oddly detached from everything that was happening. There was only one course of action he could really follow here, and there was no use pretending otherwise. “No, Fire Eyes. I won’t kill my cousin. I’ll see if I can convince her to retreat instead.”

“What?!” the rest of the team shouted in unison, but Cliff had already gone invisible and launched himself in an arc over Heart Echo to land in front of her.

Even if she couldn’t see him, Cliff knew that her Empathy spell would still let her locate him. “Heart,” he shouted, “you need to listen to me!”

Heart froze. “Who are you, Gem or Cli-” She cut off suddenly as Cliff shot a gem through her upper leg, shattering the bone as it went. Her cry of pain was short lived, however, because another gem hit her in the chest.

A green explosion lit up the battlefield for a moment, knocking Heart’s body away like a rag doll. Two more gems connected before she could even stop rolling, creating similar explosions on contact.

“Cliff,” Fire Eyes asked in shock, “what the heck was that? I thought you weren’t going to kill her.”

Cliff called out two more anti-aura gems and launched them across the battlefield at Genesis and Rune, who had been hiding next to Ember. He knew that the pain Heart had radiated when he broke her leg would briefly stun anydragon not used to sharing a link in battle. One gem each was enough to negate the protective runes they were both using, and then another finished the job. “I’m ending this as quickly as possible.”

Taking out Heart first had been important. She was the biggest threat in Squad Five. Luckily, her Empathy spell had let her listen in on Cliff’s conversation with Fire Eyes. She had dropped her guard for a crucial second because she heard him say that he only wanted to talk. Just one more lie for Cliff to add to the list.

Genesis and Rune had to go next. Neither of them were very talented fighters, but they would maintain a link to the rest of the Squad after losing Heart. Divide and conquer.

“Oh Ancestors, Heart!” Talon’s voice reached Cliff over the noise of the battle going on around him. Just as he’d expected, she was flying next to Tornado, probably trying to set her next plan in motion.

Cliff knew he wouldn’t be able to bring down Tornado by himself. The golden drake was a rank three berserker. Talon was a serious threat as well. She was fast, smart, and her poison wouldn’t be stopped by Everfree Armor at all. Cliff knew her weakness, though.

He canceled his invisibility and launched himself across the battlefield toward Blueblood. More specifically, toward a certain venom wyvern among the team that was attacking him.

A green energy blade pierced Crystal’s chest before she even knew he was coming.

Cliff twisted as they fell so that she would land first, with him standing over her body and his blade in plane sight.

If Talon’s scream before had been one of pain and loss, this one was of pure wordless agony.

Cliff shot another gem at Crystal’s battle partner, dropping him, and turned to meet Talon’s heartbroken glare. “Eyes, that wyvern is distracted. Hit her with an anti-aura gem.”

“Wait, you want me to-”

“Just do it!” Cliff was past caring how his request sounded. “Tell everyone to switch to those gems. There aren’t any aura drakes nearby anyway.”

“… Okay.” Fire Eyes pulled out a gem and relayed his message to the rest of the Platoon.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Any thought of the rest of the Squad, or the battle, or even the war shot out of Talon’s mind when she saw Crystal fall to that accursed wyrm. She flew forward, ready to tear him limb from limb, but then something crashed into her side. There was a deafening explosion, and everything went black.

Thud.

What … no …

Talon fought back the wave of darkness that surrounded her. She couldn’t see. She couldn’t hear anything. Somehow, she was lying on her side on the ground with the taste of blood in her mouth. Just breathing was difficult.
Talon bit down on her tongue and let the pain help her focus.

Brain death didn’t occur until a few minutes after the heart stopped beating. If she could get Crystal and Heart to help fast enough, maybe … maybe there was still a chance.

Talon latched onto that thought and forced herself to remain conscious. Her wind sense was still working, at least. Tornado was curled around her protectively. “Tornado.” She gasped for air. “Can you hear me?”

He gave some sort of reply, but her wind sense wasn’t nearly well developed enough to tell what he’d said without also being able to hear it.

“Order Squad Five to retreat.” Now that the initial shock had passed, it was getting easier to breathe, and her eyes could actually make out the blurry golden form of her battle partner. “Tell Ember to fire shift, grab our wounded, and get them to the first allied wyrm she sees.”

Tornado relayed her orders, and Talon wrestled through the weakness in her limbs enough to be able to push herself upright. Her vision swam from the effort, but there wasn’t much to see anyway. Tornado’s giant form still surrounded her on all sides.

Her wind sense could just pick up the foggy outline of that wyrm kneeling over Crystal’s form, with Cloud Breaker next to them.

What was that monster doing to her friend? She tried to take a step and nearly collapsed again. “Tornado, lift me onto your back. We have to get to Crystal and Cloud, now!”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Twilight couldn’t believe that all five Hurricanes were still active. They were moving in slow motion, and yet they still coordinated so well that any attempt to harm one would be countered by at least two more. On the positive side, every second of the fight was teaching her things she had never even known that she didn’t know.

She fired a massive energy ray at the Hurricane of Thunder, and watched in fascination as the wyvern almost instantly began manipulating electric and magnetic fields to direct the energy around and then back at Twilight.

A burst of cold negated parts of Twilight’s magic signature with surgical precision, so the ray would effectively register Twilight as a completely different entity than the one who generated it. There was no way now for her to simply re-absorb the spell’s energy.

“Uh oh.” There wasn’t time to teleport away before it hit.

“Allow me to help,” Burning Torch sent. A ripple of energy, not quite a shield, formed in front of Twilight, deflecting the ray so that it flew harmlessly beneath her. The wyrm himself stood nearby, balanced on a small shield and surrounded by another one that extended just a few inches past his skin.

Fire Claws was at the opposite side of the Hurricanes, standing on another shield as she sent out dozens of tiny balls of fire, which all seemed to home in on the enemy wyverns.

Unfortunately, a wall of ice extinguished them before they could get close. The ice then shattered into tiny fragments filled with magic and shot at Fire Claws, forcing her to jump out of the way and throw out a protective shield.

“Okay, fancy techniques aren’t working,” she sent as she flew through the air, “and the spell is going to wear off soon. Twilight, have you figured out their upper limits yet? We’ll have to settle for one kill.” She landed on a new shield and began crouching to kick off again.

“Yes,” Twilight sent back. It was hard to ignore the sound of her own heart slowly beating in her ears. She was sure that it was actually pounding. “Most of them have less raw power than I was expecting, actually. It’s just technical skill that makes everything they do seem so overwhelming.”

“I’ll use maximum power anyway. We’ve only got one shot at this.”

“Understood, dear.” Burning Torch jumped as well. He narrowly dodged a wind blade that had been filled with poisonous gas and grabbed onto Twilight’s hoof.

“Which one do I aim for?” Twilight asked, slowly adjusting to counteract her grandfather’s added weight and momentum.

“It doesn’t matter. Just pick one!” Fire Claws pushed off, flying right into the middle of the Hurricanes. Heat energy from the Hurricane of Fire was already forming a circle around her, with ice magic taking shape directly above, and a net of magnetic waves beneath, but Claws ignored those and threw her willpower into surging Anti-magic.

For a normal wyrm, it would negate magic outside of a living body in a small radius around the caster. Fire Claws wasn’t a normal wyrm though.

The anti-magic energy shot out like a wave in all directions, dispelling the trap the Hurricanes had been generating and all of Burning Torch’s shields in the area. Most importantly, it ripped control of the air away from the Hurricanes.

Twilight felt the wave hit her, and reminded herself not to panic as gravity reasserted itself. Her wings weren’t nearly large or strong enough to hold her up without pegasus flight magic. She concentrated energy into her horn.

Like any insulator, anti-magic could be overcome with a strong enough charge. For example, an alicorn firing all of her magic through an amplifier and into the nearest wyvern, the Hurricane of Ice.

The ray hit right in her chest, blasting through the heart, one lung, and a large part of the spine.

It was the first time Twilight had ever killed another intelligent creature. She desperately wanted to look away, but found herself unable to. Her magically enhanced eyes took in every detail. The shade of the wyvern’s scales. Drops of crimson blood seeming to fall upwards as they plummeted. Even the look in her eyes.

Time, already at a crawl, seemed to stop entirely as their gazes met. The Hurricane of Ice didn’t seem shocked, angry, or even frightened. The only emotion that Twilight could see on her face was one of resigned acceptance. She could almost feel the wyvern thinking, ‘So, this is how it happens.’

The wyvern’s magic field was slowly collapsing in on itself, unable to sustain life any longer. The Hurricane of Ice was dying. In some respects, she was already dead.

Twilight couldn’t take it anymore. This wasn’t some test in a lab, it was a thinking, feeling creature, nearly as old as Celestia. She was one of the last champions of a dying race, and Twilight had just ripped her from this world!

At last, Fire Claws ran out of willpower for her anti-magic field. The air beneath Twilight snapped back under her control, and she started flying again.

The ice wyvern didn’t. She fell out of sight still wearing the same expression, trailing a ribbon of blood in her wake.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Something sharp connected with Cliff’s upper right arm. It punched through the armor and scales there and embedding itself in his flesh.

Hissing in pain, Cliff threw up a shield over himself and Crystal. A small rock was sticking out of his arm, surrounded by the blood that was starting to well up. Another rock hit his shield, piercing through and driving itself deep into the metal of Cliff’s breastplate.

This time, Cliff was able to follow it back to its source, a wyrm on the ground nearby. Cliff knew him from the Alliance, if only vaguely. “Blueblood, keep that wyrm off my back while I finish healing Crystal!”

A shield popped up around him.

“Who?” Eyes shot a beam of energy at the enemy wyrm, cutting deep into his side.

The wyrm stumbled back behind a fallen drake corpse.

“Crystal, the wyvern I just stabbed. I made sure not to hit her heart, but she could still bleed out if I don’t move quickly.” He glanced up at Tornado, who was charging at him with Talon clinging to his back. Cliff silently cursed himself for assuming that one gem would have been enough to knock Talon out.

Behind Tornado, Ember had transformed into a giant drake-shaped fireball. Her body had split into dozens of tendrils and was pulling in all the wounded members of the Alliance nearby. “And tell the rest of the Platoon to aim their gems at Ember, that chunk of living fire. She’s a drake fire-walker, but anti-aura gems will still work on her.”

“You know these dragons, Cliff?” Rainbow asked. She suddenly felt guilty, probably about all the ones she’d been killing.

“Yeah,” Cliff sent back. “Why do you think I wanted everyone to switch to anti-aura gems?” The explosions they generated could still hurt their target, but they mainly worked by draining their target’s magic field to the point that they passed out.

“How could you possibly know drakes and wyverns?” Heart asked.

He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Do I have to remind you that I’m still holding my breath over here?” Blueblood demanded.

Cliff kept up the work on Crystal’s wound and glanced at Blueblood. The unicorn’s shield was full of poison gas.
At least the rest of the venom team had followed Tornado’s shouted orders and were beginning to retreat. Unfortunately, it looked like most of them were going to get away, in spite of the anti-aura gems being fired after them. “Sorry,” Cliff sent, “you should be clear to drop that shield and find a patch of clean air for a new one.”

“You and I are going to have a long talk once this is over,” Fire Eyes sent, exchanging ranged attacks with that one wyrm who threw enchanted stones.

“Just focus on the battle,” Cliff sent back. He finished healing Crystal’s wound and pulled out two more anti-aura gems. Tornado and Talon were almost on top of him. Those were two more friends that he wanted to get off the battlefield until this whole war was over. For their own sake, he had to bring them down.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Talon couldn’t believe it. She had seen enough healing magic to recognize it now. That wyrm had been healing Crystal only moments after he had nearly killed her! Heart had also called him Gem. Was it really possible?

Glancing around, Talon saw that the rest of the Alliance was starting to break off the attack. If Squad Five didn’t move quickly, they would be left behind.

It was risky, but a plan formed in Talon’s mind. “Tornado, I might be able to distract that wyrm while you grab Crystal and Cloud. Get them to safety. Retreat without me if you have to.”

“Never.” He growled over the gems that were exploding against his scales. His voice sounded distant, but Talon was surprised that she’d been able to hear it at all.

The shield around Crystal, Cloud, and the wyrm disappeared, and the wyrm shot into the sky, arching over Tornado’s head to land on his back.

Talon turned to the armored wyrm and shouted, “Gemstone, I always loved you!”

Amazingly, her desperate, stupid, and almost-certain-to-fail plan succeeded. The wyrm hesitated for just a moment.

Talon poured every last ounce of energy into one burst of speed, latching onto his closest arm with one foot then pulling him right next to her as she spat a cloud of poison into his face. She jammed the venomous barb on her tail into a rip in his armor for good measure. “Sorry, Gem,” she whispered breathlessly before kicking him away.

Tornado nearly dislodged her when he scooped Crystal and Cloud up and took to the air. It was only by dumb luck that she fell toward the middle of his back rather than over the edge.

Talon watched as the ground shrank beneath them. “Oh thank the Storm, we’re alive.”

“You loved Gemstone?” Tornado asked, almost nervously.

Talon coughed weakly and crawled farther toward the middle of Tornado's back. “So help me, if you actually just asked that, I’m going to break one of your wings.”

A flash of color made Talon look up. Her blood ran cold when she recognized the rainbow pegasus coming toward them. “Tornado, I need you to shrink right …” she waited until that infernal pegasus was nearly on top of them, “now!”

Tornado shifted back to his thinking form, leaving nothing but empty air for the pegasus to crash into. As an added bonus, he had been flapping down at the time. All that force transferred into his suddenly much smaller form, accelerating the four of them right through the gap in the shield, where they nearly crashed into Ember and the remains of Squad Five.

Talon had just enough energy to call for a healer before she fell unconscious.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Cliff ignored Fire Eyes’ uncontrolled laughter as he pushed himself upright and finished healing his lungs.

“She loves you? I can’t believe you fell for that!” Eyes held her sides as she rolled around on the ground. Pools of blood splashed against her, and mud clung to her armor, but she didn’t seem to care. “Sweet Stars in heaven, Cliff, how can you be so dumb?”

“Oh shut up.” Cliff winced as he tried to stand up. Luckily wyvern venom didn’t move around much past the injection site. He didn’t have to worry about it reaching his heart, but it still felt like every nerve in his right arm was being electrocuted simultaneously. The venom was also magical in nature, making it resistant to healing.

Eyes was finally able to regain some semblance of control. “By the way, Spirit’s coming over. He’s pissed that you changed orders for the entire Platoon without running it by him and Autumn first.”

“We captured a lot of prisoners, didn’t we? Not as many as I would have liked, but whatever.” Cliff turned his attention away from the retreating Alliance forces and toward a certain wyrm dragoness lying on the ground nearby. She had been cloaked, thanks to his modest talent with illusions.

Underestimating Talon had cost him the chance to get most of his friends in the Alliance to safety, even if it was the safety of a jail cell, but at least he’d been able to capture Heart Echo.

Chapter 34

The first thing Heart Echo became aware of was the murmur of voices in the background. They were upset about something, based on the tones they were using.

Next, she realized that she was lying down with something warm over her. Her unprotected face felt chilly by comparison.

“Ugh, what happened?”

…

“Song? Are you there? Talon? Crystal? Anydragon?”

It took Heart a few moments to realize that she wasn’t linked to anyone. Her heart felt strangely empty without the river of emotions she was used to from her friends and allies. She tried to cast Empathy so she could at least sense nearby emotions, but she didn’t seem to have the willpower for it.

Thinking back, she remembered the battle, and Gem hitting her with some kind of weapon. At least, she was fairly certain it had been Gem. His teammates had called him Cliff, but those two couldn’t possibly be the same. They had disproved that theory months ago.

Getting back to the matter at hand, she was still alive, which meant the Alliance must have gotten her to a medic before she died from her wounds. So why couldn’t she hear any voices that she recognized?

With some difficulty, she pried her eyes open and saw nothing but a gray stone ceiling.

That didn’t help.

Summoning even more energy, she sat up, and nearly came face to face with a door made of metal bars, which were all glowing slightly.

Visible in the gap between bars was Cliff Runner, covered in armor except for his head. He was sitting on a crystalline chair in a hallway of some kind, studying a large red crystal on a table in front of him. Both the table and the crystal were covered in complex runes. Cliff’s eyebrows were bunched up and he was frowning slightly.

Heart took a moment to look around. She was in a tiny room, barely longer than she was from muzzle to tail tip, and only about half that wide, with a low enough ceiling that her head spikes would brush against it if she stood on her back legs. Most of the room was taken up by the square nest that she was lying on.

In the hallway outside, she could see several other doors like hers, with a dragon behind each of them. Her limited view only let her see four of those dragons, but there were three wyverns and a drake, and all of them looked exhausted and hopeless. None even returned her gaze. They were all staring at the floor.

It was looking less and less likely that she had been rescued by the Alliance.

Heart cleared her throat. “So, Cliff, would you mind telling me what’s going on?”

Cliff jumped. “Oh, Heart, you’re awake.”

“Obviously.” She forced herself to stand up in the narrow area between her nest and the wall. It was meant as a gesture of defiance, but that didn’t come across so well when she had to lean against the wall just to stay upright. Doing her best to look casual, Heart met her cousin’s gaze and said, “So?”

Cliff drew a quick rune around the crystal before standing up and approaching. “Those gems I hit you with drained your magic field to the point that you passed out. You’ve been resting here since yesterday.”

Heart did a double-take. His mannerisms and inflection were exactly the same as Gem’s when he’d been explaining something to her. One behavior attached to two different faces. “You actually are him,” Heart whispered. “Gemstone Aura. You were him all along?”

Cliff nodded but didn’t meet her gaze.

“How?” Heart sat back onto the nest. “You were working with Yol Toor and Clodhopper in your lab the same night that I talked to you and your wife.”

“It’s a long story,” Cliff said.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Cliff’s claws tensed ever so slightly and his expression hardened. “Discord helped me.”

Heart wasn’t sure what to make of his reaction. She could detect anger, sorrow, and frustration in his body language, like he dealing with a personal loss of some kind. “Did something happen to him?”

Cliff looked at her for a long moment before sitting back down. “Life is chaos. Discord was in the Empire when you collapsed that marketplace. All that death put him into a coma of some kind.”

It was strange; Heart should have been thrilled to hear that Equestria’s most powerful ally had been taken out by sheer accident, but she couldn’t bring herself to feel the least bit happy. “The market …” She took a deep breath. “How many died?”

“Do you really care?” Cliff stared intently at her. He was angry, and Heart didn’t blame him.

“Their deaths are on my conscience, Cliff.” She let a bit of her anger and frustration show. “Yes, I care how many of them died.”

At first it didn’t seem like he would respond, but then Cliff moved his chair a bit closer to the bars. “It’s too early to have exact numbers, but there are over one hundred thousand ponies missing. At least half of them are probably dead.”

It was more than Heart had expected. She could barely even imagine that many lives, let alone all of them burning out at once. She hadn’t collapsed the tunnel herself, but still … so many deaths … “We didn’t have a choice,” she whispered, fighting down tears.

“Don’t give me that!” Cliff grabbed onto the bars that separated them. “You’re here alive because I decided to use non-lethal weapons on you. There’s always a choice!”

Heart blinked away her tears and glared at him. “You really think that? I’m stuck in the Alliance’s Council between five drakes that grew up hearing stories about how ponies like to kill dragons in their sleep and five wyverns that think peace is just a break between battles. I can’t get them to trust Equestria to keep us all fed, so the Alliance will starve if they don’t get those gem mines. I can only see two options there, get involved and try to minimize bloodshed or sit back and watch the Alliance and Equestria massacre each other.” She flopped back onto the nest, too worn out to even stay upright. “Do you have any idea what the Hurricanes might do, now that I’m not around to vote against their worst plans?”

Cliff didn’t respond.

“Is it really worth it,” Heart said after a moment, “to keep fighting like this all so these ponies don’t have to pack up and move?”

“… I don’t know,” Cliff said at last. “The decision is out of my claws anyway.”

“That’s how I feel too.” Heart shook her head. “It was all I could do to keep the Hurricanes from slipping into the Empire at night and dumping a hurricane on all of your heads. Easily half the Empire could’ve been killed.”

“Thanks for stopping them,” Cliff said quietly. “I’m working on mass producing those gems I hit you with. Hopefully they’ll keep casualties to a minimum.” There was longing in his voice, but also a huge amount of guilt and regret.

A shiver ran down Heart’s spine. Cliff was involved in something that would kill a lot of dragons; she was sure of it. “Gem was a good friend,” Heart said, “and I wish I could move past what you did while you were pretending to be him, but I can’t do that if you’re going to keep betraying us, Cliff.”

Even more guilt in his body language. Her suspicions were confirmed.

Pretending she didn’t notice, Heart continued, “Using your knowledge of Squad Five to knock me out like that was a pretty low blow.”

Faint hints of relief and even a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I just wanted to make sure we wouldn’t be forced to try and kill each other again.”

Good, he didn’t know that she’d picked up on anything important. Heart stayed quiet though. She needed to know what he was planning if she wanted to save her friends, and silence was a powerful tool for prompting others to speak.

As the seconds dragged on, Cliff’s eyes kept flicking toward the red crystal he had been working on, but he didn’t actually say anything.

“What is that thing?” Heart asked, gesturing toward the crystal.

“A hibernating umbrum.” Cliff brushed his claws over the crystal. “Imagine a creature so powerful that just one of them was able to conquer the entire Crystal Empire.” He turned to Heart. “On a related note, the Alliance nearly woke several thousand of them up when you destroyed the Crystal Palace. Celestia and Luna warped the rest of them to Tartarus, thank the Stars. Otherwise your stunt yesterday definitely would have finished the job. I don’t think there are words to express how extraordinarily bad that would have been.”

Heart had never heard of an umbrum before, but her spies had given plenty of details about the pony who conquered the Crystal Empire and banished it for a thousand years. She didn’t want to imagine several thousand of King Sombra on the loose. “Why is this one still here?”

“Umbrum can crystallize things, just like crystal ponies, but dozens of times more efficiently.” Cliff nodded toward the umbrum. “The Alliance could survive off of rocks if I can just find a way to replicate that thing’s power.”

“I’ll help any way I can,” Heart said immediately. Cliff’s plan to kill dragons still worried her, but a discovery like this could end the war overnight. More than that, it could change life for dragons all over the planet.

“Actually, I was hoping you’d say that.” Cliff shifted the table a bit closer to the bars that separated them. “Umbrum somehow feed off emotions. Maybe you could help me track them through its system and get a better idea of how its magic field even works.”

Perfect. He would subconsciously relax and let her get more information now that they were working together. In a best case scenario, she could help him finish his work and still learn enough about his plan to escape and warn everydragon. “Well,” Heart looked at the umbrum crystal, “let’s get to work.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Twister looked at Talon from across the small table where the cluster leaders were seated. As always, his calm demeanor made it impossible to tell what he was thinking. “And you believe that Heart Echo is still alive?”

Talon nodded, ignoring the background noise that was just a part of life in the Ice Spire Caves. Several thousand dragons made a lot of noise even when they weren’t trying to, and it wasn’t like they could order all of them to shut up just because the leaders of one cluster were trying to have a meeting. At least the table they were using was near the back corner, which cut down on distractions a bit. “As far as the medical wyrms could tell, those gems cause no damage to the body at all. At worst, the explosions they generate will knock you around a bit. The warriors from Everfree wouldn’t have been using them unless they wanted to take prisoners.”

“Very well,” Twister picked up a piece of charcoal with the thumb of one wing and wrote something on the paper in front of him, “I will speak with my superiors about a rescue attempt. However, I find it doubtful that they will agree.”

“I understand,” Talon said, trying not to sigh. She still couldn’t believe that Squad Five had suffered such a crippling blow. It was more than just losing Heart. The entire thunder team had been wiped out by one of those rainbow shock-waves at some point. Seven dragons that had put their faith in Talon were now dead, and she didn’t even know when exactly it had happened.

“Unfortunately,” Twister continued, “Cluster Thirty-six has taken heavy enough casualties that some changes will be required. To begin with, Squads Two and Four will be merged, with the extra wind team going to Squad Three to cover their losses.”

Hindering Fog, the leader of Squad Four, looked away unhappily but didn’t object. He would lose his position with the merger.

Twister shifted his gaze to Talon. “Squad Five, now Squad Four, will have to operate without a thunder team until further notice. There aren’t enough spare thunders in the swarm, let alone the cluster, to put together a team for you right now.”

She had expected as much, but that didn’t make the prospect of operating with a reduced squad any less daunting.

Thunk.

Talon jumped when a stack of metal plates was dropped on the table in front of her. She looked up at the wyrm dragoness responsible in confusion. “Sweet Song, what are you doing here?”

“Those are the reports from our spies in the Crystal Empire,” she said before walking away. “Sorry for interrupting,” she called over her shoulder.

“Uh,” Talon glanced at Twister, who seemed just as confused as she was, “permission to go after her, sir?”

“Granted. That was all of our business anyway.”

Talon scooped up the stack of reports in one wing and hurried to catch up with the retreating dragoness. “Sweet Song, wait.”

She paused.

“Why are you giving me these?” Talon held out the stack of metal sheets.

“Because you’re in charge of them now that Heart’s gone,” Sweet Song replied. She chewed on her lower lip and looked away for a moment before saying, “Did you mean what you said, about her still being alive?”

Talon sighed and patted Sweet Song on the shoulder with her free wing. “Yes, I’m sure she’s fine.” She held out the reports. “I don’t have clearance to read these without Heart’s permission, though. You’re her second-in-command among the wyrms, so they’re your responsibility now.”

Sweet Song shook her head. “I’m a supporter, not a leader. You and Heart always made the decisions, and I’ll support you just like I did with her.” She turned and started walking down one of the side tunnels toward the IHQ.

“Heart asked me for my thoughts and I gave them, but that doesn’t make me a leader either.” Talon went after her. “Look, Heart’s the leader of the wyrms in the Alliance. I can’t fill in for her if I’m not even a wyrm.” She held out the reports again.

“What does your species have to do with anything?” Sweet Song asked. “You, Crystal, and Tornado are the ones she would talk to about things. That makes you the best qualified for this.” She pushed the stack of metal back at Talon. “Tornado even said that you wouldn’t mind filling in for Heart.”

For a moment, Talon was too shocked to resist. “He said what?”

“I asked him a few minutes ago. I didn’t want to interrupt your meeting unless you were the right dragon to give those to.” She gestured at the reports.

Talon shook her head vigorously. “Look, there’s no way the other Alliance leaders would accept having a mere senior wing get promoted to a position that important.”

“At least two of them don’t mind.” Sweet Song pointed in the general direction of the cave exit. “Silver Tail and Typhoon were just outside, teaching Tornado something, when I asked him. They both said it was fine.”

So not only was Tornado volunteering her for a position she wasn’t qualified to fill, he was doing it in front of her superiors, again. “I don’t believe this,” Talon muttered, shoving the reports at Sweet Song. “Hold onto those. I’ll go talk to my idiot battle partner and clear this whole thing up. In the meantime, if you can’t fill in for Heart, think of somedragon else that can.”

Grumbling darkly, Talon stomped back to the main cavern and up the winding tunnel that connected the Ice Spire Caves to the surface. It was actually a pretty nice day, despite the layer of snow and ice on the ground, with comfortable temperatures and only a light breeze to push around the few clouds in the sky. It couldn’t compare to the Aerie, but Talon also had to admit that the view of windswept mountains on all sides was pretty nice.

Standing not too far from the cave mouth were Typhoon and Silver Tail. Tornado was visible in the small meadow beyond the ridge where the other two were standing. He seemed to be practicing the Wind Lance.

Talon walked close enough that Typhoon and Silver Tail would know she was there and then stood at attention.

“I wish I could do it directly like that,” Silver Tail was saying. “Drake magic only lets us move the air itself around. High and low pressure zones are just a side effect of that movement.”

“It is helpful,” Typhoon responded, “but your more limited options has led to the development of a better refined technique, and one that any type of wyvern could use. With your permission, I would like to teach the rest of our wyvern forces the Wind Spear.”

“You won’t hear any complaints from me.” Silver Tail turned to Talon. “Hello there … Talon, right?”

She nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“You’re looking a bit pale. Feeling nervous about your new responsibilities?”

Talon swallowed. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”

Typhoon fixed the young venom wyvern with a look that was almost bored. “You aren’t qualified for the position, and you’re going to respectfully decline it, correct?”

Talon dropped to a bow. “Exactly, sir.”

The older wyvern let out a sigh. “Unfortunately, Senior Wing Talon Wind, you must accept.”

“I-” Talon stopped herself before she could say anything that sounded like disobedience or disrespect. She bowed a little lower. “Yes, sir.”

Silver Tail put his paw beneath her chin and gently lifted her back up. “You and your friends were already helping Heart with about half of the stuff she did, and the wyrms don’t care who represents them, so things are just easier this way.”

Typhoon frowned slightly. “I’ll never understand why drakes and wyrms feel the need to justify their decisions to their subordinates.” She shifted her gaze to Talon. “I will go over your primary responsibilities later, but for now, tell the changelings that we accept their terms and then review anything we might need to know for the Council meeting in two hours.”

“I will. Thank you both, sirs.” Talon bowed again before glancing at Tornado, who was still focused on his training. She’d find some way to get him back for this.

Sweet Song was waiting for her back at IHQ, and strangely, so was Crystal.

“I found somedragon else to fill in for Heart,” Sweet Song said, gesturing to Crystal. “She has the same qualifications as you.”

Talon didn’t know why she was surprised.

“I thought you just wanted my help reading through the reports,” Crystal said, paling. “I’m just a Junior Wing. I can’t be on the Council.”

“What is it with wyverns and rank?” Sweet Song asked nodragon in particular. “Shouldn’t you be more worried about finding the place where you can do the most good?”

Talon facewinged. “Crystal, calm down. Sweet Song, I’m taking the job, so you can give me those reports back.” She turned to Crystal. “Would you mind helping me read through them? I’ve got a meeting coming up fast.”

“Of course I’ll help,” Crystal said, even though she looked very confused. “Why isn’t Sweet Song taking over Heart’s responsibilities?”

“Tornado volunteered me again,” Talon said, “and Typhoon ordered me to do it anyway.” Taking a deep breath, she turned her attention to the other wyrms in the cavern. If she was going to be their leader, it was time to start acting like it. “I’ll need you all to send out new orders to our spies. Tell them that Heart has been captured and probably subjected to one of those mind-reading spells we’ve heard about. Tell them to relocate as soon as possible, and have the spy in Manehattan tell the changelings that we accept their offer.”

Was there anything else? Talon thought about it. “Also, we need as much information as they can find about any nations that might be willing to ally with us against Equestria. They don’t have to be large or powerful. Anything will do at this point. Also, I want a list of every prisoner they have in Tartarus.”

Sweet Song came back then, looking just a little too pleased with herself. “Here are the reports, sir.”

Talon sighed and took them. “Sweet Song, how long would it take one of our runners to reach the southern wyrm covens from here?”

“A few days, maybe a week. Why?”

“We could use some more rune masters to lighten the load on Rune, Genesis, and Clodhopper.”

Sweet Song nodded. “Right, I’ll go ask around for volunteers.”

Talon had to admit, it was kind of cool to suddenly be in charge of things here. Maybe she’d let Tornado off with a warning this time. “Anything else we should be worrying about, Crystal?”

Crystal tapped her foot thoughtfully. “Maybe a plan of some kind to deal with that rainbow pegasus?”

“Good idea.” That pegasus had been causing problems for the Alliance since it first showed up. Killing it would save countless lives in future battles. “I’ll bring it up in my meeting with the Council. Maybe they have something in mind already.” She held out the stack of spy reports to Crystal, who took about half by sliding her wing between two sheets of metal and lifting. “In the meantime, let’s just worry about getting through all of these.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

“Ugh, how can they stand living with those traitors?” a blue earth pony mare asked as Fluttershy, Silver Lining, and Zephyr walked past.

“I know, right?” her pink companion said. “Celestia should just lock them all up in the royal dungeons.”

Fluttershy kept her head down, unconsciously running a wing across her slightly enlarged stomach. Going into Ponyville for her weekly checkup was getting worse every week.

“You two,” Silver Lining barked. “Come here!”

Both earth ponies froze before slowly approaching.

Fluttershy froze too and took a step back from her mother.

“Are you aware,” Silver Lining said, “that ‘those traitors’ have been working seventy-hour weeks ever since this war started? And what do you think they’re working so hard to produce?” She glared at the two ponies. “Well?”

“Armor,” the pink one muttered, looking at the snow-packed ground.

“Armor,” Silver Lining said. “Armor that keeps ponies safe on the battlefield, that will let them come home in one piece. Armor that has saved and will save pony lives. And do you know what ‘those traitors’ are charging Equestria for that armor, the best that our soldiers have ever worn?” She jabbed a wing into the blue mare’s chest. “Do you?”

She shook her head.

“Barely enough to cover the materials they use. Meanwhile, what are you doing to support our soldiers?”

Neither mare answered.

“That’s what I thought.” Silver Tail turned and walked away toward Everfree Forest.

“You know,” Zeph said, “these walks would be a lot shorter if you stopped chewing out every pony that says something about dragons.”

“And leave a trail of prejudiced fools behind me?” Silver Lining asked. “I consider this time well spent.”

Zeph shrugged. “Suit yourself. I prefer object lessons. For example,” his tails began to wave back and forth behind him. “Aaaand, now they’re dragons. Twelve hundred forty-eight.”

Glancing back, Fluttershy saw that the two ponies had been replaced by two wyrms with identical coloration. Strangely, neither of them seemed to notice. “Zeph, you didn’t hurt them or anything, did you?”

“It’s just an illusion visible to everyone except those two,” Zeph said. “Sophey thought they could use a taste of their own medicine.”

“Sophey?” Fluttershy repeated.

One of the kumiho’s tails came forward and waved in front of Fluttershy. “They have spirits of their own.”

Fluttershy stared at the tail again. All of Zeph’s tails could stretch and bend in ways that a normal fox tail couldn’t, but other than that, they looked perfectly normal. “Really?”

He nodded. “It’s amazing how much more you can do when you have the spirits of seven powerful spell-casters crammed into one body. Well, effectively six. He,” Zeph pointed at one of his tails, “is still dormant.”

They passed the last few houses on the outskirts of Ponyville and entered the field beyond.

“I’m sorry, um,” Fluttershy glanced at the tails, “all of you. I would have thanked you earlier for your help if I’d known.”

“They say not to worry about it. Oooh, let’s race back to Everfree! You two can fly.” He took off without waiting for a response. “It gets the blood and the magic flowing. Very good for your little miracle of a daughter!”

Fluttershy hesitated and looked at her mother.

Silver Lining nodded. “Go. I’ll catch up.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.” Fluttershy spread her wings and took off after the kumiho. She caught up to him quickly, just before they entered the path through the forest, but then Zeph grinned cheerfully and matched his pace to hers. Fluttershy smiled as well and found a comfortable flying speed.

Zephyr had called this a race, but it didn’t feel like one at all. Instead, it felt like two friends enjoying themselves. The snowy woods spread out below Fluttershy, but the air was surprisingly warm as it blew across her coat and feathers. She almost wanted to close her eyes and fly on forever beneath the sun’s warming light.

Eventually, though, they reached Everfree Village and Fluttershy’s house. Twilight sat on the floor just inside, slowly removing her armor. “Sorry, Fluttershy.” She tried to cover herself with two dirt-encrusted hooves.

Zeph staggered back from her, covering his mouth like he might vomit. “Never mind that. What happened up at the Empire? I’ve never felt so much death on one pony before.”

Fluttershy spotted some blood on Twilight’s helmet, mixed in with the dirt and scratches. She looked away before the sight could make her nauseous. “Are you okay?”

“I actually need your help with something, Zeph.” There was a rustling sound. “Discord lost pretty much all of his chaos energy yesterday. I know you’ve been having a prank war with Pinkie and Cheese. Would you mind taking him with you when you go out pranking? I know it would help him recover.”

“Of course.” One of Zeph’s tails reached out and took the object that Twilight had been holding. It turned out to be a small container, about as long as one hoof, that looked disturbingly like a glass-top coffin. Inside lay Discord, tiny, unmoving, and almost colorless. “This is bad. I need to find Pinkie and Cheese.” Zeph hurried out the door. “Don’t wait up, you two.”

Once they were alone, Fluttershy helped Twilight take her helmet off and then pushed it behind the door so she wouldn’t have to see the blood on it. “Cliff told me about the battle,” she said, working to undo more clasps on Twilight’s armor. “Taking a dragon’s life and then having to dig through the wreckage of the marketplace for survivors … I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Twilight.”

No response. Twilight even stopped working on her armor.

“I know that I reacted worse than this when I … killed those dragons,” Fluttershy continued, forcing her voice to hold steady, “but if you ever want to talk, or if you just need somepony to be there for you, well, I’m always here, Twilight.”

At first there was no response, but then Twilight let out a long breath and whispered, “According to Discord’s notes, her name was Aurora, the Hurricane of Ice. She was more than nine hundred years old and the one who pushed the rest of the Hurricanes to ally with drakes in the first place. In many ways, it’s fair to say that she was the cause of this war.”

Fluttershy silently gripped her friend's shoulder, waiting for her to continue.

Twilight’s head slumped forward in exhaustion. “It wasn’t just seeing her die, though. It was looking at all the bodies, the Alliance, our forces, and all those civilians, seventy thousand and ninety three at last count, and realizing that all of them were alive two days ago.” She started to shake. “So many hopes and fears and dreams, all of them snuffing out in less than an hour. It’s like …” she bit back a sob, “all those losses took a part of me with them.”

Fluttershy squeezed her tightly. “I’m sorry.”

Twilight nodded, leaning into the embrace a bit more.

Fluttershy didn’t say anything else. She knew from experience that the best cure for battle trauma was time and loving support, two things that she was determined to provide for Twilight now.

-_-_-_-_-_-

“So we need to round up as much chaos as possible?” Cheese asked in his serious voice, while slipping a whoopee cushion under the hooves of a passing stallion. “I reckon that won’t be a problem. One thousand seventy-one.”

“This will be fun, and we get to help a friend!” Pinkie grinned, bouncing along at his side. She paused mid-hop to pull out a slingshot and shoot.

Several blocks away, a pebble hit Whisper’s hand, making her drop the book she had been carrying, and prompting that nice griffon, Glaive, to pause and pick it up for her.

Hey, just because Pinkie was pulling pranks didn’t mean she couldn’t do some good with them too.

“Eleven hundred eighty-three,” Pinkie said, finally coming back down from her hop. “Let’s go to the Castle and start setting up a party!”

The road to Pinkie’s left suddenly spun around, leaving a confused wyrm to wonder how he was now walking back the same direction he had just come from. “Twelve hundred sixty,” the road commented. “Whatever we do, it will probably take a few months to get your friend back to his old self. Still, I think a party sounds great. Lots of chaos energy, and all of it positive. It will help my honor guard fit in better too. They’ve been keeping to themselves ever since we got here.”

“Gotcha, we’ll start with a Getting-to-Know-New-Friends party.” Pinkie used her tail to spin the wyrm back to where he’d originally been headed, quickly drawing a mustache on him as she did so. “Eleven hundred eighty-four. Let’s get some supplies!”

A short walk and a few dozen pranks later, they were at Apple Fritter’s Bar, even though it wasn’t really a bar. How could anyone run a business inside a giant chunk of metal? Or wood. Bars could be made of wood too. Bars really should be called non-bars, which sounded like a tasty kind of candy bar, which weren’t actually bars either.

In any case, Pinkie and Cheese went into the non-bar, while Zeph stayed outside to flip more ponies and dragons around.

Meadow Song, Fritter’s husband and a former member of the Everfree Platoon, was working at the register. He was doing much better since coming home, even though he still fainted at the sight of blood. Pinkie reminded herself to avoid using any red decorations when she threw him a birthday party in two months and twenty days. “Heya, Pinkie,” the brown earth stallion said when he saw them. “What brings you and Cheese here?”

“Hiya, Meadow.” Pinkie bounced over to him. “We’re throwing another party this afternoon at the Castle, and we want you and Fritter to handle some of the food and drinks.” She went through her knowledge of all the ponies and dragons that would be in attendance and rattled off a list of things they would need—without overwhelming the poor shop owners, of course. It was important to get smaller orders from lots of different sources.

After writing everything down, Meadow Song looked over the list. “We should be able to manage that, Pinkie.”

A loud rumbling shook the building and also made Pinkie cover her stomach and laugh nervously. She had gotten caught up in pranking and forgotten to have lunch again.

Cheese came forward and put some bits on the counter. “We’ll take two daffodil and rye sandwiches.” He glanced outside, toward Zeph. “Oh, and one more for the road.”

Meadow scooped up the bits and put them in the register. “Those will be out in a moment.”

Pinkie smiled up at Cheese. “Aw, Cheesy, you didn’t have to buy me lunch.”

The orange stallion tipped his hat. “It’s my pleasure, little filly.” He directed her toward an empty table to wait. “Lady’s first.”

Rather than go the the table right away, Pinkie leaned closer and said, “There is one thing I have to say though.”

“What is it, Pinkie?” He leaned a little closer too, so their muzzles were almost touching.

“One for the road?” She laughed. “Where did you come up with that?”

Cheese grinned. “A party pony never reveals his secrets.”

Pinkie took her seat and pulled out the container with Discord in it. “Don’t worry,” she whispered to him, “the three of us will cause however much chaos we need to to get you feeling better.”

Even though he didn’t respond, Pinkie thought she saw the tiny draconequus smile, just a bit.

Chapter 35

Talon’s wings ached by the end of daily squad training, but a smile worked its way across her face as she studied the results. They were hovering in place about five hundred feet away from the nearest cliff face, which was thoroughly covered in small puncture holes. The Wind Spear technique was even more effective than Talon had hoped.

Making things better, they were surrounded by a large sphere of toxic gas. Talon wished she could take the credit for that, but it had actually been Tornado’s idea.

“Alright, good job, everydragon,” Talon shouted. “Let’s get inside, wash up, and have breakfast.”

A chorus of cheers met her announcement, and the group started flying back up toward the entrance to the Ice Spire Caves. The days were starting to warm up again, but mornings were still freezing cold for anything that wasn’t an ice wyvern.

Thankfully, a bunch of heating enchantments in the cave’s bathing pool kept the temperature comfortably warm. Talon slid into the water with a sigh and started scrubbing off the layer of sweat and poison that was clinging to her scales.

“Today’s the day,” Rune said to her right. “I can feel it.”

There was no need to ask what the older dragoness was talking about. She had been completely obsessed with finishing an improved design for those staffs for weeks now. Of course, she had been predicting a major breakthrough for just as long.

“Genesis,” Talon said, “how close do you think the three of you are getting to finishing those staffs?”

The brown and green wyrm looked into the distance for a moment before he answered. “A few hours, maybe. We were pretty close when we finished last night, and Clodhopper pulled another all-nighter.”

“I can’t believe how much we’ve learned from talking with those unicorns and studying their horns,” Rune said. “Normally an advancement like this would have taken us years!”

Talon nodded. “Keep me updated.” She had to fight down a bit of shame over the fact that, while she had gotten a third of her squad killed and Heart captured, a couple of squads in other swarms had succeeded in taking several dozen ponies prisoner.

“Have any of our spies been able to check up on Heart yet?” Genesis asked.

“Not yet,” Talon replied softly. The Empire’s prison was deep in the basement of the old Crystal Palace, surrounded by countless enchantments to keep prisoners in and intruders out.

After washing, Talon, Crystal, and Tornado made their way to IHQ.

Talon looked at her desk, which had the usual stack of reports, but her attention was drawn to the pulsating crystal orb next to them. She sighed. Changelings were amazing spies, easily as good as the best wyrm infiltrators, but working with them had one major drawback, Chrysalis.

“Crystal, Tornado, get started on the spy reports.” Talon scooped up the orb and made her way to a private alcove that had been added next to her desk. “I’ll see what Chrysalis wants this time.” She put the orb on a small shelf and closed the curtain behind her before whispering the orb’s activation phrase, “Stupid pink princess.”

A face appeared in the orb. “So you finally decided to answer,” Chrysalis said. As always, her voice echoed strangely, almost like two voices overlapping.

Talon bowed. “My apologies, Queen Chrysalis. I was at morning training with my squadron.”

“Have one of your underlings go get you next time,” Chrysalis said. “I don’t enjoy having my time wasted, especially when I have important news for you.”

“I will,” Talon promised. “What’s going on?”

“Good, straight to the point.” Chrysalis smiled. “We were finally able to retrieve detailed instructions for the creation of Everfree Village’s magic batteries, as well as a number of working samples.”

“That’s excellent,” Talon said. Rune had been dying to get her claws on those things for a while now. “When can you get them to us, or should we send out a runner?”

Chrysalis rubbed the bottom of her chin with one hoof. “What makes you think we’ll give them to you?”

Talon froze. “What?”

“We already tracked down a parasprite for you, without so much as a thank you in return. These batteries represent an alternative feeding method for my kind, and the possibility of living peacefully with other races.” Chrysalis leaned forward. “If we’re giving something like that up, doesn’t it only make sense that we should receive something in return?”

“I …” Talon might have been able to think of a reply if she wasn’t so shocked that the changeling leader would even pull something like this. “I don’t know.”

Chrysalis grinned, revealing a number of sharp teeth. “How about I make things easier for you? Those staffs you have can drain the magic out of a pony in seconds, but the stored magic would recognize you as a foreigner and attack. All it’s good for is to shoot at some other opponent. These batteries, can purify magic so that anyone can absorb it. Put the two of them together, and you have the most effective feeding method imaginable for a changeling.”

“You want us to make those for you,” Talon said, fighting to keep her voice calm.

The changeling queen tapped her forehooves together in mock applause. “If Silver Tail promises me one hundred staffs made to my specifications, then I will send you the blueprints and batteries myself.”

Talon did her best not to glare at the orb. “I will speak to Silver Tail at our meeting today, but he won’t be happy to hear about your demands.”

Chrysalis shrugged. “Happy or not, I will expect to hear back from him by sundown. After all, we all know that my changelings represent the vast majority of your information network. I doubt the Alliance wants to risk getting by without them.” Her smug grin disappeared as the orb went clear once more.

Talon was starting to hate that bug. With a sigh, she grabbed the orb and went back to her desk.

Crystal was sitting at her own desk, next to Talon’s. She looked up from the results of a questionnaire that the wyrms in the Alliance had been asked to fill out. “What did Chrysalis want?”

“To cause me headaches,” Talon grumbled. She returned the orb to its stand on her desk and grabbed the first spy report from the pile. “She had a message for Silver Tail. I’ll tell you about it if he gives me the okay.”

Crystal nodded and went back to her own report.

Sweet Song came by a few minutes later with breakfast for them all, but she had to leave again after a few minutes. Talon was having her teach other wyrms how to use Spirit Lightning, and apparently that required a lot of time and effort.

Hours passed, and things fell to near silence in the IHQ, broken only by the scrape of claws on metal from the code translators. Eventually Sweet Song returned with lunch for everydragon and then left to give out the latest opinion poll from Crystal.

After her meal, Talon checked the time crystal in the wall in front of her. It was nearly time to go. At least they had made a serious dent in all the spy reports. Talon stood up and stretched her neck from one side to the other, trying to work out some of the kinks she had built up. “Now I know why the Hurricanes are always so grumpy,” she muttered. “It’s all this hunching over reports day in and day out.”

“What was that?” Crystal asked.

“Complaints about life in general,” Talon said, stretching her wings out to restore some blood flow to them.

“I think I can make you feel better,” Rune announced, walking in from the main cavern.

“The staffs?” Talon guessed.

Rune nodded, grinning widely. “They’re up and running, and we should be able to upgrade all our existing staffs without too much effort.”

“Finally, some good news.” Talon pulled out a fresh sheet of paper, grabbed a quill with the thumb of one wing, and leaned over her desk to write. “What all can they do?”

“Telekinesis and an energy suppression aura,” Rune said, walking over to her. “The aura won’t protect you quite as much as a unicorn shield, but it’s a lot more energy efficient. By the way, what kind did you want?”

“What kind of what?” Talon asked. “Do you mean what kind of aura?”

“No, what kind of staff? We can make them in any shape now, so how would you like to carry yours?” Rune stepped closer and pulled one of Talon’s wings out to full extension. “Maybe a wing guard of some kind.”

Talon let out a rather undignified, “Gah!” and pulled her wing back. “Hey, those are sensitive, you know.” She folded it carefully at her side.

“Oh, they are?” Rune shrugged. “So about your staff? Silver Tail says he wants you as protected as possible, so we don’t risk losing another wyrm leader.”

“Even though I’m not a wyrm,” Talon muttered. “Anyway, something to wrap around my right ankle will be fine, but you might want to hold off on building it for a while. Chrysalis could be sending us blueprints for those magic batteries by the end of the day, and I’ll need all of you to figure out how to replicate them without unicorn magic.”

“Really?” Rune got her characteristic wild grin. “That magic purifier they have could do wonders for our staffs!”

“I know,” Talon said. “In the meantime, have Ember help you expand the lab. Lightning Strike and the other rune masters from Mystic Forest should be getting here in a few days, and they’ll need places to work.”

“Will do.” Rune hurried out of IHQ, already talking to herself about how they could apply a magic purifier to the staffs.

Talon scooped up a stack of papers in one wing. “Alright, Tornado, let’s move. Crystal, if we aren’t back in time for individual training, start things off without us.”

Crystal fidgeted a little. “I’ll do my best.”

“Don’t worry,” Talon said as she left. “If anydragons disobeys your orders, Sky and Cloud have permission to use them for target practice.”

The meeting room was on the complete opposite side of the cave system, of course, but at least Talon and Tornado weren’t the last to arrive. All five Hurricanes were already seated around one end of the table, with most of the drake leaders sitting along one side. Silver Tail was nowhere to be seen, though.

“A good morning upon you both,” Yol Toor said as Talon and Tornado took their seats opposite him.

“Good morning, Grandfather.” Tornado bowed in his seat, nearly headbutting the table. “Thank you so much for your instruction yesterday.”

“It was my pleasure,” Yol Toor said. “If you continue to apply yourself, you may be able to generate a full aura within the next few months.”

Talon was fairly certain that her battle partner could have died happy right then. She smiled indulgently and ruffled his head spikes before going back to her notes.

Silver Tail stumbled in a few minutes later, yawning so widely that Talon got a clear view of his tonsils. “Sorry I’m late.” He took a seat. “Clear Cut must be getting lonely.”

The other drakes all chuckled.

“What’s the joke,” Talon whispered to Tornado, “and who’s Clear Cut?”

“Silver Tail’s mate,” the golden drake replied. “She is partway through a Long Sleep. Mates often go into the Long Sleep together, but he remained awake to continue leading his clan.”

Talon knew about the hundred year hibernations that drakes sometimes took, of course. She had even seen the cavern where all the sleeping drakes rested. “Does that mean he’s going to start a Long Sleep soon?” She couldn’t keep some of the worry out of her voice. Silver Tail was one of the best fighters they had, and a good voice of reason against the Hurricanes’ more genocidal plans. Losing him would be a major blow to the Alliance.

“Perhaps in another few years,” Tornado whispered back, “after he has found a temporary replacement.”

“Alright,” Silver Tail said, “so I know we’re all a bit on edge ever since Griffonstone promised Celestia a thousand new warriors, but have we made any progress in figuring out what route they’re going to take to get here?” He turned to Typhoon.

The wind wyvern shook her head. “My scouts have searched everywhere between Equestria and Griffonstone, and we still cannot locate these new warriors, let alone guess their intended path.”

“Crap,” Silver Tail said. “Well, since we’re on the subject of attacking, how did your mission go, Night Fire?”

The Hurricane of Fire, a relatively young female, stood up. “No problems were encountered. A group of changelings delivered the parasprite, as promised, and we hid it in the Empire’s food reserves.” She turned to Talon. “Has the Empire discovered them yet?”

Talon cleared her throat. “I asked our code translators to tell me as soon as that report came in. Everything is silent so far.”

Using, for lack of a better term, animal warfare, was a new move for all of them, but they couldn’t risk trying any of the plans that Heart knew about before her capture, which was forcing them to get creative. Talon was okay with that. Creative usually meant fewer casualties on either side.

“Let us know if anything changes,” Silver Tail said. “Have we made any progress in brainstorming ways to take out that rainbow pegasus?”

Night Fire shook her head. “She’s too fast and agile to pin down with regular methods, and the shields that pop up every time she’s in danger are nearly invincible. We’re experimenting with wide-area stunning effects, hopefully those can bring her down, preferably away from her allies, long enough for an aura drake or some wyrms with staffs to finish the job.”

Silver Tail nodded. “Anydragon else have any suggestions?”

They went around the table for a while, weighing different options for how to deal with the pegasus. After that, they moved on to ideas for dealing with Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, and that trio of Twilight Sparkle and two wyrms who had managed to kill Aurora.

Luminous Blade, the new Hurricane of Ice was especially determined about that last one. No surprise there; she had served under Aurora for more than two centuries.

Talon paid attention to all of their ideas, writing down anything that needed more research, but made no attempt to join in the conversation. As the saying went, it’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Unfortunately, Tornado had no such reservations. “Would it be possible to surround Celestia with a drake aura, cutting off her connection to the sun?” The Hurricanes rarely dignified his input with a response, but at least the drake leaders didn’t seem to mind.

“We tried that last battle,” Qo Peyt said. “The two of us sneaked up on her while her and Luna were double-teaming Dad with those new gem weapons they have. We drained enough magic to fill both our staves to capacity and then grabbed her in our auras, and it barely slowed her down.”

“I wish you two had not gotten involved,” Yol Toor said. “She might have killed one of you.”

“She might have killed you if we had not,” Dun Brii, his other daughter, pointed out. “Even you cannot fight both of the Immortal Sisters on your own.”

“Especially not when they’re using those exploding gemstones,” Silver Tail added. “Seriously, after fifty-four of them, I’m surprised you even managed the flight back here. I only got hit by fourteen, and they were already making me lightheaded.”

Talon did her best not to gawk. She had barely managed to stay conscious after getting hit by just one of those gems.

“I did sleep rather well that night,” Yol Toor said with a wry grin. “In any case, I could hardly pass out while the rest of my family was in danger.”

Silver Tail chuckled. “Sentimental old dragon.”

“You’re the same age, Uncle,” Qo Peyt said, “and don’t even pretend that you aren’t as sentimental as he is.”

“I never said I wasn’t.” Silver Tail cleared his throat. “In any case, that’s enough talk about killing stuff. Let’s move on to a less morbid subject.” He turned to Talon. “How goes the hunt for allies?”

Talon looked down at her notes, all too aware of the Hurricanes silently watching her. “To begin with, I should inform you that our existing allies, the changelings, have everything we could need to reverse engineer magic batteries, but refuse to give us those materials unless you promise them one hundred staffs made to their specifications.”

Silver Tail sighed. “I knew we shouldn’t have trusted Chrysalis.” He shook his head. “Anyway, do you think it would be worth the trade-off, Talon?”

Talon stopped and thought about it. Even with Rune, Genesis, and Clodhopper working almost constantly, they were barely turning out two staffs per day. However, the others from the Mystic Forest Coven would arrive soon, which could boost their output as high as ten per day. Losing ten days’ worth of work would be annoying, but nothing that the Alliance couldn’t make up for. “I suppose it would be, sir, but I worry about letting Chrysalis get away with this sort of thing.”

“That makes two of us,” Silver Tail said. He turned to the rest of the table. “Your thoughts?”

“Maybe they need a stronger incentive to be loyal,” Luminous Blade said. “If we reconsidered offering them pony captives after we capture the Empire-”

“No,” Silver Tail said flatly. “It’s bad enough to kill ponies that barely qualify as combatants because they’re maintaining that shield. Once this is over, they’ll be civilians again, and part of our clan if they choose to remain in the Empire. I won’t turn civilians and clan-mates into food for anything, let alone our least trustworthy allies.”

“Let us put it to vote,” Luminous Blade said.

Talon winced.

“Those in favor.” Luminous Blade raised a wing, as did the other five Hurricanes.

“Those against.” The five drake lords raised a paw.

Luminous turned to Talon. “It seems the deciding vote is yours once more. What is your decision?” Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

Talon had to look away. “A-” she swallowed, “against.”

“Very well,” Luminous said calmly, though her expression promised that she would find a way to punish Talon for that choice later.

“There’s no need to be upset,” Silver Tail said. He got up and walked over to Talon, wrapping one of his wings protectively around her. “Talon is a member of the Council just like the rest of us, and I would respond rather poorly if I found out that someone had been coercing her into voting one way or the other.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Luminous Blade said, turning back to the table.

“Glad to hear it.” Silver Tail went back to his seat. “Anyway, Talon, once we’re finished here, I’ll come by and tell Chrysalis that we accept her terms, but in the future, we should have our own spies collect anything valuable.”

Talon nodded. “I agree, sir.”

He smirked. “And quit calling me sir.”

“Have our spies had any luck searching for other races that might help?” Typhoon asked.

Talon looked down at her notes once more. “Yes, actually. As you know, there are quite a few intelligent species in Equestria, and at least a few are unhappy with their treatment here. A race of fuzzy animals called sheep seem to have the worst of it. They’re locked up like slaves and have their fur harvested to make into cloth, but they’re too scattered for any sort of rebellion. The more politically important races, like donkeys and minotaurs, are still treated a little strangely, which gives us some racial tensions to work with, but for the most part they seem to want reform, not rebellion.” Talon glanced at the Hurricanes again.

They were still watching her intently.

She flipped to the next page in her notes. “We have had some luck with an unexpected race. There’s a small nation of barely intelligent bipedal canines called diamond dogs that would be willing to help us so long as we repay them in gems.” She got up and walked around the table, passing out pieces of paper for each of them. “These notes contain everything we know about them.”

Silence fell on the group as they read.

It was Typhoon that spoke first. “Diamond dogs may not be worth the resources they would demand as payment. Undisciplined troops are only an asset to their enemies.”

“I don’t know,” Silver Tail said. “If they really are that good at digging, we could keep them off the battlefield and just use them to harvest gems from beneath the Empire. We might not even need to fight anymore if they can bring enough.”

“Assuming they are willing to share what they gather,” Dun Brii pointed out, “but I can see what you mean.”

“Perhaps they could take gems from beneath the Empire as their payment,” Yol Toor said. “We would gain their help without any drain on our resources.”

“Diamond dogs would probably be able to pass through the shield,” Choking Breeze said. He was the Hurricane of Venom and the only male among his peers. “I believe we should at least attempt to make use of them.”

“If we will not be relying on them in battle, I have no objections,” Typhoon said.

“I guess we all agree then.” Silver Tail looked around the table and was met with nods. “Alright, so on to our food situation.”

“Actually,” Talon said quietly, half hoping they wouldn’t hear her, “I have one more item to discuss.”

Qo Peyt grinned. “She spoke without being spoken to. You owe me a ruby, Uncle.”

“You can grab one out of my hoard later,” Silver Tail said before turning to Talon. “Anyway, what’s up?”

Talon cleared her throat. “Our spies finally managed to get a list of the prisoners in Tartarus. The results were … disturbing.” She stood again and passed out a list of the inmates.

She was in no position to tell her superiors what to think, but Talon had to fight the urge to beg the Council to turn their backs to Tartarus and hope that not a single thing in there ever got out.

A magic-sucking megalomaniacal centaur that had nearly conquered Equestria twice, a demonic ram that threw his victims into a world of shadows, eight suits of living armor that thought they were perpetually at war with Equestria, and a cloud monster that ate shadows were only a few of the things locked away in that forsaken-by-the-Ancestors prison, and Talon would be more than happy if all of them stayed right there. It boggled the mind to imagine one country being attacked by so many abominations, let alone overcoming them all.

Qo Peyt looked up from her paper. “So … is it just me, or does it feel like we can’t let anything in there free without dooming the planet?”

“The octopus thing would probably only doom the oceans,” Silver Tail said, “but I know what you mean. I wouldn’t want any of these creatures fighting beside me.”

“We could turn one of the suits of armor loose in the Empire,” Sudden Strike, the Hurricane of Thunder, said. “They could probably defeat just one, but not without taking heavy losses.”

“That plan is too dangerous,” Typhoon said. “The suits are unstable and could attack us while we are trying to move it.”

The thunder wyvern shrugged. “High risk, high reward.”

“Is a strategy best left to the desperate,” Yol Toor said. “Things have been difficult for us since Heart Echo was captured, but I do not think we have reached the point of desperation quite yet.”

The rest of the Council exchanged nods, and that was that.

Talon let out a sigh of relief. She was willing to do whatever it took to save the wyvern race, but letting a world-ending monstrosity loose didn’t seem like a good way to go about it. In fact, the only thing she wanted to set free was Heart Echo, still trapped in a pony jail somewhere.

Talon couldn’t help but feel nervous as she thought about her friend. Equestria had to know that she was one of the leaders of the Alliance. How long would it be until they decided to execute her?

-_-_-_-_-_-

“Okay, I think that should just about do it,” Cliff said, adjusting a few glowing lines on his right hand. He glanced at the umbrum crystal in front of him, checking the flow of magic in it, then tweaked a few more things. He was down in the prison for another late-night research session.

Heart watched her cousin through the glowing bars that separated them. It had been thirty-three days since her imprisonment, and she still hadn’t figured out a way to escape. These cells constantly siphoned off the natural magic of their occupant, so it was impossible to build up enough to try and break her way out. There was a circular indent in the wall next to each cell, which could open or lock the cell door, but it was tied to the guards somehow and couldn’t be used by anyone else. “Remember what you promised,” she said, fighting down a yawn. “If this works, you teach it to the Alliance as a show of good faith, and then we try to open negotiations with them.”

Cliff nodded, determination reflecting in his expression and the way he held himself. It would have been easier to analyze his body language if he wasn’t wearing that armor, but at least he had taken his helmet off. “I know, Heart. I want the killing to end as much as anyone.” He turned back to his glowing hand and trapped his thumb against his middle and middle claw in quick succession. A rock appeared in his hand in response.

Heart really wished she knew even the basic concept behind those gauntlets. Unfortunately, Cliff refused to discuss them.

“Knowing our luck, this is going to explode.” Cliff brought up his left arm to shield his eyes. “Crystallization experiment, attempt one, go.”

Cliff’s hand, armor and all, evaporated into black mist, leaving the rock to fall to the ground with a sharp thunk. Blood from the stump of his wrist quickly followed, splattering across the stone floor.

“Wha-” Cliff lowered his other arm and stared dumbly at the space where his hand had just been. “Oh dirt clods.” He clamped his remaining hand over the stump and pressed down. “An explosion would have been better,” he muttered between clenched teeth, leaning against the bars to steady himself.

“Heal yourself before you bleed out!” Heart almost yelled. She managed to cram one hand through a gap in the bars and shake her cousin’s shoulder. “Come on, don’t go into shock on me.”

“Not planning on it,” he gasped, before suddenly relaxing. “Oh, that’s better.”

Heart let out a sigh, figuring that he must have healed himself. “Are you oka-” She was cut off as a ray of blue energy connected with the hand that was outside of her cell. Without any defensive magic to protect her, the ray blasted her scales clean off and cut through to the bone. “Agh!”

Heart yanked her mutilated hand back and pressed it against her chest, gasping for breath.

“Get away from him! Sir, are you alright?”

Two unicorn guards ran into view. One of them pulled Cliff away from the bars, while the other nearly headbutted them, glaring at Heart as it shouted, “What did you do to him?!”

She heard him, but Heart couldn’t think beyond on the waves of crushing pain and the sensation of warm liquid pouring down her arms and chest. She could now say from experience that wounds hurt a lot more when she wasn’t in the middle of battle and preoccupied with staying alive.

You learn something new every day.

“She didn’t do anything,” Cliff’s voice cut in. “Get the door open, and don’t touch that crystal.”

There was a creaking sound, which made Heart look up, squinting from the pain.

Cliff stood in the open doorway to her cell and was reaching out to her. The door itself had stopped glowing, for some reason. “It’s okay, Heart, I just want to heal you.”

A healing spell. Magic works when the door is open. With some difficulty, she organized her emotions and cast a minor suggestion spell before prying her good hand away from the wounded one. Nearly half of the flesh had been destroyed by one of those unicorns, leaving the bones underneath exposed, though it was hard to be sure through all the blood. The edges of the wound were black, almost like the burned flesh she had sometimes seen on her meals.

Cliff held a glowing palm over the wound. The pain quickly died away. Flesh and skin regrew, followed by purple scales, leaving her hand whole once more.

An unexpected shove knocked Heart into a sitting position against the far wall as Cliff stepped out of her cell and shut the door. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “You needed healing, but I couldn’t risk you trying to escape. It would have just ended in you getting hurt worse.”

Trying to get past three trained warriors, while weakened, disoriented, and in the middle of enemy territory … that did sound like something she would do. Heart chuckled softly and tried to muster the energy to rise. No luck. She shifted to make herself more comfortable on the floor. “How did you regrow your armor?” she asked, gesturing weakly at Cliff’s armored, and apparently fully healed, right hand. The rune was even back in place around it.

“I didn’t.” Cliff turned to the unicorn guards. “Heart and I were trying to replicate umbrum crystallization magic, but it looks like we mixed things up somehow and got their ability to transform into shadows instead. The rune only covered my hand, so it got converted without the rest of me, and you saw the result. Heart was just trying to snap me out of it before I went into shock.”

Both ponies looked away guiltily, although one glanced at Heart as though he wanted to apologize.

Turning back to Heart, Cliff continued, “There wasn’t much power in that rune, so when it ran out, my hand reverted to normal, armor and all.” He let out a long sigh and clenched his hand. “We were so close …”

Heart nodded, a humorless chuckle escaping her lips. “All this time working, and we managed to copy the wrong ability.”

“That’s just our luck, isn’t it?” Cliff closed his eyes, and the anger, frustration, and guilt he was showing disappeared. “At least figuring out the right one shouldn’t be too hard. We’ve already decoded most of its field.”

“There is that,” she agreed, wiping away some of the blood that covered her chest.

“I will bring warm water and a washcloth later,” one of the ponies said. “So that you can clean off.”

Heart smiled gratefully. “Thanks.” After so long without a bath, she probably smelled horrible enough without adding a bunch of blood to congeal and rot all over herself.

“Oh my Celestia, Cliff, what happened to you?!” Spirit ran into view and grabbed his brother. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Spirit.” Cliff hugged the younger dragon before disentangling himself. “Thanks for worrying about me, but it was nothing serious.” He briefly explained what had happened.

Spirit glanced at Heart during Cliff’s story but didn’t say anything to her. That was pretty common, actually. Heart got almost daily visits from her aunt and uncle, her grandparents, and Cliff, but Spirit only showed up when one of the others dragged him along, and even then he was quiet and awkward. “Anyway, Cliff, it’s past midnight. Celestia and Luna are waiting for you.”

“I know,” Cliff said. “I’ll meet up with them as soon as I wash off.”

“Gemstone was never late,” Heart said as her cousin buckled on his helmet. “He arrived early to all of our meetings, actually.”

Cliff paused, and looked at her with a slightly pained expression.

“I’m just saying that maybe there are some parts of him that are worth remembering,” Heart said. “Some aspects of his character that are worth imitating.”

After a moment, Cliff nodded. “See you both later.” Then he grabbed the table with the umbrum crystal and wheeled it out of sight.

Heart leaned forward as the sound of her cousin’s footsteps faded. “Spirit, can I talk to you in private, just this once?”

The young wyrm looked conflicted, but he nodded. Meanwhile, the two pony guards excused themselves, promising to come back later and clean up the blood.

Once they were alone, Heart slowly pulled herself upright and asked, “How are things with Autumn?”

Spirit was clearly caught off guard. “What do you mean?”

“I know the two of you have been sharing meals since the start of the new year,” Heart said. “New phases of a relationship always lead to some adjustments, and I thought maybe you could use a feminine perspective on things.”

“Thanks, but if there were any problems or misunderstandings, they were so minor that I can’t even remember them,” Spirit lied. It was obvious that he was happy with that crystal pony, but there was at least one issue that weighed on him.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Heart said. “Just remember, there’s no such thing as a perfect relationship. The only question is if it’s worth taking the good with the bad.”

“Yeah, I’ll remember that.” Spirit glanced toward the exit. “Anyway, I need to get back to the rest of the Platoon.” He took a step in that direction.

“Spirit,” Heart said firmly, making him pause before he could slip away. “I’m serious. Grandma has told me enough about Autumn for me to know that she has real burdens in her past. You can’t expect your love to erase them. She doesn’t need to be fixed; she needs to be accepted.”

Spirit didn’t turn back, but he did nod very slowly. “I know. Thanks for worrying about her.” Then he walked away.

Heart didn’t try to stop him. Instead, she waited until she was sure they were alone, and then let out a whistle.

The few dragons she could see across from her cell all looked up, and Heart knew that all the other ones nearby were doing the same. Bringing them all back from the verge of utter hopelessness hadn’t been easy, but Heart was proud to see their warrior spirits burning brightly once again.

“Okay, everydragon, this is it,” Heart kept her voice soft, so guards would be less likely to overhear, but it was still strong enough to inspire courage. “Whatever their plan is to attack the Alliance, Cliff just left to get it started. We need to get out of here. Now.”

“What about your work to crystallize things?” Rock Fall, the drake in the cell next to Heart’s, asked. “That could solve all of our food problems.”

“Cliff hasn’t needed my help with his research in weeks,” Heart replied. “He can finish it without me, but our friends and family are going to die if we don’t warn them tonight.”

“I saw how they opened your cell,” Jolt, the thunder wyvern opposite Heart, said.

“Perfect.” Heart grinned. “I was able to cast a compulsion spell on one of the guards when they opened the door. That will give us an advantage, but we still only have one shot at this …”

Chapter 36

Both the prison and Cliff’s lab had originally been part of the extensive basement of the Crystal Palace, but had since been assimilated into the bunker they built to replace it. Luckily, both had escaped with only minor damage when the Palace collapsed. Cliff was especially grateful that he didn’t have far to go tonight. He wasn’t in the mood to explain to anyone why he was covered in blood.

Cliff walked into his lab, fighting the urge to destroy something. Over a month of work, and he’d managed to copy the wrong ability. Brilliant, just brilliant. He let out a sigh and looked around.

His lab wasn’t very big, maybe twenty feet wide by fifteen feet deep. A three-foot wide workbench took up the far wall, and the entire thing was covered in runes, gems, and enchantments in a way that could charitably be labeled organized chaos. The rest of the walls were covered in blackboards or cabinets.

Cliff shoved the umbrum crystal into the far corner and sat down in front of his desk, brushing his clawtips over a framed sonogram, his one and only picture of his unborn daughter. “It looks like I won’t be able to get home as soon as I was hoping, but don’t you worry. I’ll be there for you, no matter what.”

There were just some things he’d need to do first. Cliff found a blank sheet of paper and pressed his right hand against it. A simple spell transferred the rune from hand to parchment. He would have to experiment with that rune later. Physical threats would mean little or nothing if he could transform into shadows at will.

At least something good had come from his screw up.

Out of habit, Cliff checked the automatic enchanting station he’d built and removed the two dozen anti-aura gemstones it had completed in his absence. In another day, the astral chargers in those gems would fill them up completely, and they’d be ready for use in combat. Fresh gems replaced the completed ones, and then Cliff made his exit.

He climbed a few flights of stairs before reaching the front door. Cliff felt a little bit of grim satisfaction as he passed through the extremely thick and magically reinforced doors. The Crystal Bunker, as ponies called it, had none of the whimsical beauty of the Crystal Palace, looking like a giant upturned bucket, but it certainly kept the Crystal Heart safe. Ten solid feet of enchanted diamonds and steel made up the outer walls, with a second and a third layer farther inside. Cliff wasn’t sure if there even was a path to the Crystal Heart itself.

Once outside, Cliff jumped into a small river on his way to the meeting area. The water was surprisingly warm and comfortable, thanks to Winter Wrap-up a few days ago. More importantly, it washed away most of the blood on his armor.

He reached the kitchen for the Everfree Platoon and paused to take a deep breath before stepping inside.

Faint light from the inside illuminated the two most famous ponies in all of Equestria, Celestia and Luna, sitting at one of the tables.

“At last you arrive,” Luna said. “How went your experiment?”

Cliff couldn’t meet her gaze. “Not the breakthrough I was hoping for, Princess.” He took a seat on Celestia’s side of the table, just because it happened to be closer. “I was studying the wrong ability and will have to start over from scratch.”

“I’m sorry,” Celestia said. One of her large wings reached out and wrapped around his shoulders.

“It is regrettable,” Luna said. “We must proceed with option two before the Alliance can attack our citizens once more.”

Cliff nodded unhappily before leaning over the table. “Here’s the layout of the main Ice Spire Cave.” He quickly drew a glowing map. “Their prisoners are probably being held in one of these caverns,” he tapped three spots, “but this one by the rune lab is the most likely.”

“And the faulty rune in their defense system is here by the edge of the cliff, correct?” Luna tapped another spot.

“Yeah,” Cliff said quietly. “Are you sure you don’t want anyone to come along? I can guide you through the cave too, and Shining Armor’s shields would be really helpful if a fight broke out.”

Luna shook her head. “Nay, this war has struck down too many of our citizens as it is. We alone shall attend to these more dangerous missions.”

Celestia tightened her wing around Cliff. “I know this is difficult for you, but the Alliance will not surrender until they are in a position where they cannot possibly defeat Equestria. For the good of all, we must strike a mortal blow as soon as possible.”

“I know.” Cliff tried not to think about Tornado, or Crystal, or any of the other dragons that would die tonight. “Good luck out there.”

“Thank you, Cliff.” Celestia pulled her wing back and stood up. “We will return shortly. In the meantime, you should consider how you will tell Fluttershy about the months you spent living with the Alliance.”

Cliff blushed. “I’m hoping to tell her in person.”

Luna stood up as well. “Then we shall do all we can to end this war tonight and let you speak with her as soon as possible.” Then she lit up her horn, and both her and Celestia disappeared in a burst of light.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Heart was lying against the far wall of her cell when the pony guards returned. Blood covered her arms and torso, and her breathing was labored.

“Oh my Celestia,” one of the guards said. He was carrying a bucket in his magic but set that down so he could run to the door. “What’s wrong?”

“Magic fatigue,” Heart replied weakly. “Getting healed takes a lot out of you.”

“I’ll weaken the drain in her cell a bit,” the other guard said. “Just enough to help her replace what her body used up.” He approached the wall to the left of her cell and pressed something.

“We brought you some water,” the first guard said. He lifted the bucket in his magic again and pushed it under the flap where her meals were delivered.

“Thank you,” Heart whispered. Whatever they had done to her cell was having an effect. It was getting easier to breathe at least, but she didn’t let it show. She slowly pushed herself up on all fours and approached the bucket. A quick check confirmed that the water inside was comfortably warm. Heart took the small cloth dangling over the edge and began to methodically scrub herself clean. “Where are you two from?”

“Canterlot, born and raised,” the first guard said.

“… Same.” His companion also had a bucket full of water, and something that looked like a collection of rags on the end of a stick, which he was moving with his magic to scrub blood off the floor.

“How about you?” the first one asked.

Heart couldn’t tell them apart, but from the way he was behaving, she suspected that this guard was the one who was being affected by her suggestion spell. She sank the cloth she had been given into the bucket, watching at the water turned red. “A small coven named Redstone, the same as Cliff Runner, but only when I was a hatchling. My parents moved around a lot, so I didn’t really have one coven that I could call home until I moved to Moss Hills.”

“That must have been difficult,” the first guard said.

She shook her head. “I liked it, actually. Every time we moved, I got to make dozens of new friends, and when we met up at a gathering, I’d introduce my new friends to my old ones and make them all friends too.” Heart sighed. “Life was a lot simpler in those days.”

The second guard paused in his efforts to clean the floor and looked at her skeptically. “You mean in the days before you led an army of murderous dragons to slaughter the ponies of the Crystal Empire?”

“Oh come on, Rule,” the first guard said. “I know you’ve heard their conversations too. She was just trying to help her friends.”

“This isn’t the time to get into that again,” the pony, who was apparently named Rule, said.

The first guard tried to argue, but Rule just cut him off. Eventually he sighed and turned back the Heart. “Sorry about him. We just have some differences of opinion about this war.”

“I understand,” Heart said. “Honestly, I’d almost be willing to switch sides if it just meant I could look up at the stars one more time.” She pressed her palm against the bars of her cell and stared up at the ceiling longingly.

The pony guard put his hoof on the opposite side of the bars. “I … I wish I could arrange that. I really do.”

He was finally in position. Heart was tempted to give the signal right then, but she needed one last bit of information. She smiled gratefully at her guard. “Be careful, you don’t want your shoe to slip and let me out by accident.” She nodded toward his armor covered hoof.

For a moment, the guard’s face showed indecision, and Heart thought that he might actually set her free, but then he shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, pulling his hoof back.

Crap! Now he was out of position again, but at least the expressions on both guards had verified that their armored boots were what opened the cell doors. “It isn’t your fault.” Heart kept her palm against the bars, but let her gaze sink to the floor. “After everything I’ve done, they’ll probably execute me as a war criminal soon anyway.” She paused and looked up nervously, letting a few tears fall down her cheeks. “Maybe … if I’m lucky, my execution will be outside and at night.”

“Equestrian law forbids the execution of prisoners,” the guard said, leaning down so his face was on the same level as hers, and pressing his hoof against the bars across from her hand. “You’re going to be just fine.”

Perfect. Heart wiped away her tears with her free hand while tapping her tail against the stone floor in a very specific pattern.

Magic, like all forms of energy, couldn’t be destroyed. It could only change locations or form. Heart had learned through careful questioning that these cells simply gathered magic energy from inside and dispersed it into the hallway outside. It was probably the easiest form of magic suppression to design or build, but it came with one noteworthy flaw; magic was highly volatile, and could explode in high enough concentrations. For example, the kind of concentration you’d get if a bunch of dragons heard Heart’s signal and started releasing as much magic as they could.

The light around Rule’s horn suddenly flared as it came in contact with the cloud of energy being released. It was hardly an explosion, more like a small shock-wave, but that was still enough to throw both guards off balance and push the first guard’s hoof through the bars as he fell forward.

Heart latched onto the hoof and yanked his boot off before shoving her hand along with the boot back through the bars to click against the circular impression on the wall next to her cell.

Before either guard could recover, the door was open and Heart was out. She tossed the boot away and threw most of her limited willpower into a spell before grabbing the guard with his leg stuck in the door and using another spell to send a wave of terror and sadness into him.

Even standard guard armor protected at least a little against foreign magic, so Heart used twice as much power as would normally be required. Apparently that was enough, because the guard collapsed, either unconscious or too scared to move.

By then the other guard, Rule, had shaken off the blast from Heart’s allies. “Prison break!” He launched a beam of energy at Heart, hitting her right in the stomach.

Heart didn’t hit the ground until she was halfway down the hallway, where she was noisily sick.

To say that dragon vomit was dangerous would be an understatement. Their stomach acid could dissolve diamonds. Heart forced herself to scramble away from the expanding pool, spitting as much as she could even as she gasped for air.

Another beam hit her, and it wasn’t another one of those telekinetic pushes. Heart’s leg buckled as the beam of energy sliced through her thigh, narrowly missing the bone. She fell, struggling just to stay awake through the crushing pain and her empty lungs.

Back at her cell, Rule was standing over his fellow guard protectively and trying to call for help. Unfortunately for him, Heart’s first spell had surrounded the entire area in a bubble of silence. Rule could hear himself, but nothing farther away than about twelve feet would be able to hear a thing. Unaware of this, the pony guard leveled his horn at Heart and shouted something.

Heart clamped one hand over her wounded leg, trying in vain to staunch the bleeding as she finally managed to gulp down her first breath of precious air.

Keeping an eye on her, Rule checked his friend for wounds. He didn’t find any, of course.

Heart coughed weakly. “Maybe,” she coughed again, “you should worry about that drake sneaking up behind you.”

A moment later, the guard was wrestled to the ground by a white drake with yellow spikes. Behind them, a fire wyvern was making good use of the boot that Heart had tossed to him as soon as she got out. At least a dozen other dragons were already free.

Crawling slowly, Heart worked her way back to the pinned guard. “Don’t hurt that pony. We're trying to save lives, not end them.” She pulled off Rule’s helmet, ignoring his shouts of defiance. Without armor to interfere with Heart’s magic, she crushed out any fear or anger he was feeling, replacing them with trust, compassion, a willingness to help, and even physical attraction, because she would take any advantage she could get. “I’m really sorry about this, Rule,” she said honestly, “and your friend is fine, but a lot of our friends are going to die tonight if we don’t warn them.”

Rule stopped struggling and looked up at her with wide eyes and a slight blush. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know. You’re sure Bastion is okay?” He glanced at the other guard.

“Yes, just stunned.” Heart forced a smile, in spite of the throbbing pain in her leg and a rapidly forming migraine. She released her silence spell, mostly because she couldn’t maintain it any longer. “Okay, everydragon, we need to stay quiet. If the other guards see us, they’ll start a fight. We don’t want to have to hurt any of them.” She turned to the drake holding Rule down. “Let him up.”

Rule climbed to his hooves, holding his head. “You don’t want to hurt the other guards?”

Heart shook her head. “If I had it my way, Rule, we would’ve called a permanent ceasefire as soon as I learned that Celestia and Luna didn’t want to pursue this war.”

Indecision played across the guard’s face, then he slowly nodded. “I’ll help you get outside, and call me Golden.”

Heart didn’t have to fake her relief. “Alright, everydragon, Golden here is going to help us get to freedom. There are more than two hundred dragons in these prisons, so we’ll have to move quickly and quietly.” She turned back to Golden. “Give a message to Cliff when you see him next. Tell him I’ll keep the Alliance from attacking as long as possible. He needs to finish that gem-creation rune fast so we can put a stop to all this madness.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Luna flew beside her sister, encased in a sphere of invisibility as they approached their destination. The part of the mountain that Cliff had described loomed large before them. It was the only place that a non-dragon could pass through the Alliance’s defenses without setting off an alarm. Luna folded her wings just before she passed through the anti-magic bubble, dropping the last few feet to the snow-covered ground beneath. She already didn’t like how the inside of the bubble felt. The moon was still there, but she could barely draw any strength from it, like trying to breathe through a small tube.

Celestia landed beside her, though with less grace.

“Tread carefully,” Luna said with a smirk. “We would not want our foes to hear thy cake-laden flanks stomping across their ceiling.”

“I work off every last calorie, and you know it,” Celestia said, rolling her eyes.

“Indeed.” Luna started walking forward slowly, checking for any signs of a trap. “Thy workouts take up many hours each day. Perhaps thou should seek a different means of stress relief.”

Celestia kept pace with her. “Perhaps you should stop drooling over that red stallion from Everfree and just ask him out already.”

Luna blushed a little. She was fairly certain that she had never drooled over any stallion. This one just happened to be enjoyable to look at. “Perhaps we should focus on what we are doing.”

“Just perhaps.” Celestia chuckled softly. “Although I’ve caught him looking at you from time to time when you were busy with other things.”

“Truly?” Luna caught sight of her sister’s amused smile. “I meant, of course, to say that that is an interesting coincidence.”

Celestia declined to comment.

A few minutes later, Luna sensed a suitable crack in the rock beneath them. “Remain here, I will return soon.” Then she dropped her invisibility spell and evaporated into a puff of blue smoke, working her way down through the layers of rock. Soon she emerged into the central cavern for the Dragon Alliance.

It was larger than she had expected, large enough to fit a small town, and lit by glowing pools of lava. Ignoring that, Luna guided herself toward one of the small tunnels near the back of the cavern, which had a glowing line running along the wall for some reason. Cliff had believed that prisoners would most likely be held in this chamber near the rune laboratory.

Fate must have smiled upon her, because Luna rounded a corner and found a wall of energy blocking the entrance to a smaller cavern, which held several dozen ponies, perhaps fifty. It was less than a quarter of what Equestria had captured, but then again, the Alliance had abandoned the field of battle after every engagement thus far, leaving behind the wounded from both races.

Luna drew herself together and returned to her corporeal form.

“Princess Luna?” a white pegasus asked. He ran to the field that separated them. “Is that really you?”

Others heard him and ran to her as well.

“Silence, please.” Luna tapped her horn against the field, testing its strength. “You shall be rescued, but I require a moment to disable this enchantment.”

It was surprisingly powerful, maybe even strong enough to hold Luna herself.

“Are you guys okay?” a new voice asked, and it was coming from the direction of the central cavern. “I thought I heard some shouting or something.” A brown wyrm with green spikes walked into view, freezing when he saw Luna. “Oh dir-”

Luna’s magic wrapped around the newcomer, binding his mouth shut and pulling him close. “If you value your life, dragon, you will not struggle nor try to escape.”

He nodded, shivering in her grasp.

She loosened the magic around his muzzle. “Tell me how to disable the shield holding these ponies prisoner.”

“Just,” he swallowed, “just disconnect it from the power supply. Cut that glowing line on the wall.”

Luna flicked one wing and sent a blade of compressed air at the wall. It neatly sliced the line in two, and the glowing field dissipated.

A subdued cheer went up among the prisoners, and many of them rushed to Luna’s side, thanking her.

“Wait,” the wyrm said quickly.

Luna gave him a stern look.

He shrank back, or tried to. Her magic still held him firmly in place. “B-before you go, do you know Gemstone Aura?”

Cliff’s false name. So the Alliance still didn’t know of his true identity. Luna nodded anyway. “I do.”

“Could you tell him from Genesis that I’m not angry and I hope he’s happy, wherever he is? Please?”

A friend, then, or rather, a friend of the disguise that had been Gemstone Aura. “I will tell him.”

“Thanks.” Genesis closed his eyes and took an unsteady breath. “Y-you can kill me now.”

The former prisoners all gasped or called for Luna to stop.

Luna turned to them in surprise.

“He was always very kind to us,” a yellow unicorn mare said quickly.

“The Hurricanes ordered him to torture information out of us, but he refused,” an orange crystal stallion added.

“The wyrms and drakes even threatened to leave the Alliance if the Hurricanes hurt any of us,” somepony behind Luna said.

Luna lifted a hoof, silencing the group. “I never intended to kill him, my little ponies.” She turned back to Genesis. “Sleep now. You may hate me when you awaken, but the war will be over regardless.” She touched her horn to his head and sent him into a dreamless slumber. Next she generated a small but powerful shield around Genesis and laid him on the tunnel floor.

She shifted her attention to the ponies around her. “Prepare yourselves. I will teleport us to the surface.”

“Dragons of the Alliance,” an extremely loud voice filled the cave, rumbling up the tunnel from the main cavern. “Wake up! You’re under attack!”

That wasn’t part of the plan. Luna teleported the entire group of ponies up to her sister. The air was shockingly cold after the warmth of the caves, but Luna forced herself to stand strong. “Protect them, Sister. We must act quickly.” She started gathering her earth-pony magic.

“Stay calm, my little ponies,” Celestia said, surrounding all of them in her magical aura. “You’re all safe.” She turned to Luna. “Are you sure you don’t want my help?”

Luna managed a smirk. “Cake workouts do not make one an expert in earth magic.” She reared back and slammed both forehooves into the ground.

The mountaintop beneath their hooves rumbled and then collapsed, bringing countless tons of rocks to bear on the unfortunate dragons below. Luna and the others would have fallen too, if not for Celestia’s magic holding them all in place.

“I’ll throw them to you,” Celestia said quickly.

Luna focused her pegasus magic and propelled herself at the anti-magic bubble. She only lost control of her flight for a second as she passed through it before steadying herself and turning back to Celestia.

A blinding explosion of reds and blues filled her vision, engulfing the entire mountaintop. Luna almost didn’t see the ponies being thrown through the bubble in time to catch them.

Celestia came last, and as the explosion faded behind her, Luna saw that their plan had succeeded … sort of.

The entire top of the mountain was gone, revealing the caves beneath, but there wasn’t nearly as much rubble as there should have been. Many dragons looked wounded, but the majority of them were still alive.

That explosion must have destroyed most of the rock before it could crush them, Luna realized, gritting her teeth. The Alliance was still alive. At least we caused some damage, and they won’t be able to live here any longer. Luna looked at the ponies she and Celestia had rescued and nodded to herself. It wasn't the total victory they had hoped for, but she was willing to call this a win.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Exhausted, freezing, and covered in her own blood, Heart looked up at the roofless Ice Spire Cave. “We made it,” she whispered, falling forward against the drake that had carried her here. “We warned them in time.” Then she did the only logical thing to do in her situation, she passed out.

Chapter 38

Spirit, Autumn, Verre, and Liberty reached their destination a few minutes later, Verre’s house. She closed the door behind her and then pointed up the stairs. “Autumn, go to your room, shut the door, and do not come out until I call for you.” Her tone made it clear that she would accept no arguments.

Autumn seemed like she wanted to give some anyway, but then she nodded unhappily, coat fading and ears pressed down against her head.

Spirit went to follow her, but a hoof caught his arm.

“No, Spirit,” Verre said gently. “Please trust me when I say that you need to stay here.”

“I’ll be okay, Spirit,” Autumn said before slowly climbing the staircase.

“Valiant,” Verre said, “go to your old study. If this family ever meant anything to you, you will stay in there until I call for you.”

Spirit hadn’t really looked at the white stallion since their scuffle earlier, and so he was surprised to see that Valiant’s eyes were red with barely suppressed tears.

“You two have always meant everything to me,” he whispered as he walked away.

His study … Spirit watched the stallion go, then looked up the stairs to where Autumn had just stepped out of sight. Finally, his gaze turned to the older crystal mare at his side. “He was your husband, wasn’t he?”

Verre nodded before directing him into the kitchen. “Yes, Valiant was my husband and Autumn’s father.” She set about opening cupboards and preparing a pot of tea. “He was also a lieutenant in the Crystal Garrison.”

Spirit silently pulled out four cups for them and heated up some water with his fire breath.

“Thank you.” Verre poured the water into an old pink teapot that she favored. She stared down at the mixture of water and leaves for a moment. “Sombra’s rise to power was short and brutal. Overnight, the Crystal Heart vanished and Princess Amore was killed. Anypony that rose up against him on that first day was transformed into crystal and shattered along with their whole family. Valiant had to lock Autumn in her room to stop her from doing it anyway. She really believed that he could be overthrown if enough ponies just fought back.”

Replacing the teapot’s lid, Verre put the pot and teacups on a small tray, which Spirit grabbed before she could pick it up herself. The gesture brought a weak smile to her face, but it faded as they moved to the front room. She sat on the couch and motioned for him to sit beside her.

“Valiant and I swore our loyalty to that monster, but we were both just waiting for the day that Celestia and Luna arrived to destroy him. Autumn would have none of that, though.” Verre poured them each a cup. “She insisted that we had to fight and hoped to use Valiant’s connections with the Garrison to learn what Sombra’s goal was and prevent him from reaching it.”

With a sigh, Verre drank from her tea.

Spirit did likewise. Lavender and chamomile, not one of his favorites, but its soothing effects would definitely be needed in the coming minutes.

“They fought horribly over that,” Verre continued, staring down at her cup. “Every night, she wanted Valiant to tell her what sort of orders he was getting from Sombra and if any other guards would help in her resistance movement. Valiant, of course, refused to tell her anything. He felt that it would just be giving her the tools to hang herself. He kept telling her to forget this talk of rebellion and focus on staying alive. What neither of us knew was that Autumn was already sneaking out at night and stirring up trouble.”

Verre took another drink of her tea, much longer this time. “Then it happened. Valiant’s company captured a group of rebels … Autumn’s rebels.” Verre set her tea down long enough to wipe away a stray tear. “They were so idealistic. Most of the group volunteered to act as a distraction so that ‘the Crystal Peasant’ could get away, not realizing that, like any good group of soldiers would, Valiant had surrounded their meeting place long before his soldiers kicked in the front door. He caught Autumn himself as she was trying to sneak out the back door.”

She tilted her head back and breathed deeply. “It was just the two of them. He could have let her go, but he knew that she wouldn’t stop fighting against Sombra. Maybe he wouldn’t be there to make sure she was captured alive next time, and so Valiant dragged her back to his fellow guards, condemning her to the mines.”

Spirit let out a long breath. He had come to terms with Autumn’s imprisonment a while ago, but his mental image of the events had always painted Liberty as a heartless puppet of Sombra. Spirit didn’t agree with the stallion’s decision, he would have been helping Autumn all along, but it wasn’t hard to see where he had been coming from. “Is that why Valiant transferred to work in the prison? He wanted to keep an eye on Autumn?”

Verre nodded. “He tried to help Autumn by giving her extra rations, sneaking her a blanket when it was cold, or other such things, but she rejected all of his offers, probably because he was also whipping her almost daily.”

“What?!” Spirit jumped to his feet as any sense of sympathy he felt for Valiant disappeared.

“Three lashings,” Verre whispered, her voice breaking, “each time she broke a rule or tried to escape. He had no choice. If one of the other guards reported that he wasn’t enforcing the rules, Sombra would have thrown us both into the mines, and then somepony else would have whipped Autumn anyway.”

Spirit took a deep breath and sat down again, clenching his hands at his sides. “She … she doesn’t have any scars.”

“After you returned the Crystal Heart,” Verre said, “I found a cosmetic surgeon in Canterlot who could remove them for good.” She took a deep breath. “Valiant and I were divorced long before then, of course. Neither of us could stand knowing what Autumn was going through. All we ever did was fight about it, until one night he lost his temper and hit me.” Her expression hardened. “I told him to get out and never show his face in my house again.” The anger in her expression and coat slowly faded away, replaced by sadness. “That was the last time I spoke to him, until earlier today.”

Spirit looked down at his tea for a moment as he tried to sort out what he should even be feeling about all this. “What now?”

“I don’t know, Spirit,” Verre said. “Being angry at Valiant for so long has been … exhausting, but Autumn still hates him so much for what he did.” She set her teacup down and let out a sigh. “I want to start over with him, though. I want to talk with him once in a while, maybe even go on a date or two. I want to see if the pony I married is still in there, but …”

“But Autumn would never accept it,” Spirit finished.

Verre nodded. “Her anger has been controlling her for years. I don’t know what bringing Valiant back into my life would do to her.”

Spirit wished he could talk to Twilight about all this. His sister always seemed to have answers for everything, but this wasn’t exactly the type of information that he should be spreading around. He tried to imagine what Twilight would say, probably something about love and forgiveness. She had forgiven Discord when he sided with Tirek, after all. Shining Armor would probably vote to forgive Valiant as well. As protective as he was of Cadance and Flurry, Shining had always said that the life of a soldier sometimes meant making impossible decisions. Cliff would … well, Cliff would track down and kill anyone that whipped Fluttershy, regardless of the circumstances.

“You deserve the chance to be happy,” Spirit said at last. “Autumn needs to accept that you can make your own choices.”

At first Verre didn’t respond, but then she nodded slowly. “She will probably want to move back to the barracks rather than chance seeing Valiant here.”

“I guess that wouldn’t be so bad,” Spirit said. “Maybe she’ll be comfortable venting to me now that I know what’s going on instead of letting that anger fester.”

“That would probably help her greatly,” Verre said. She wiped away a bit of moisture from her cheeks before taking a deep breath. “I’ll talk to Valiant first. If he is willing to try to make this work, Autumn will be next.”

Spirit stood up. “I’ll give her a shoulder to cry on until you get there.”

“Autumn is lucky to have you.” Verre stood as well and walked toward the study.

“Oh, Verre?”

She turned back “Yes, Spirit?”

“Good luck, with both of them.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Cliff asked, holding Fluttershy close. It was strange to be without his armor. The air flowing across his bare scales made him shiver.

Fluttershy snuggled back against his chest, even though he could feel her heart pounding. “I’m sure.”

“But I still scare you.”

Her hooves tightened around Cliff’s arms. “I want to be close to you.”

Cliff’s lab wasn’t the most romantic place to cuddle, but at least it had a nest for the two of them.

“I want to be close to you too.” Cliff closed his eyes and focused on the sensation of Fluttershy’s fur against his chest, the warmth of her body, the smell of her favorite berry shampoo, and the steady rhythm of her breathing.

In … Out … In … Out …

…

“… Cliff?”

…

“Cliff?”

He grumbled something.

“What secret were you and Discord keeping from me?”

“Wha?” Cliff jerked awake, smacking his head against the wall behind him in the process. “Ow.”

“Oh goodness, are you okay?” Fluttershy rolled over and sat up, grabbing his head in her hooves as she leaned over to inspect it.

“I’m fine.” Cliff felt the back of his head. “Yeah, nothing that even needs healing.” He gently pushed away her hooves and sat up as well. “What did you say earlier?”

Fluttershy looked away, hiding behind her long mane. “I wanted to know what secret you and Discord were keeping from me.” She looked down, idly tracing the edge of the nest with her hoof. “He used to show up sometimes and ask if you’d told me yet, but he never said what it was that you hadn’t told me.”

“I …” Cliff sighed. “I should have told you this a long time ago, but remember how Discord got the Crystal Heart back from the Alliance?”

She nodded.

“There was more to it than that …”

Then Cliff told her everything: his time in the Alliance, the friends he had made, the notes he had taken, and how he and Discord had actually come back with the Crystal Heart. Cliff didn’t even know how long he sat there talking. The words just kept coming, like someone else was in control of his mouth, until there was only one thing left to say. “… I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid that you wouldn’t go back to Everfree Village if you knew. I don’t know, maybe I was afraid that you wouldn’t recognize me as the same Cliff anymore.”

Fluttershy didn’t say anything for a moment, then she took his hand in her hoof and pressed it against her stomach. “You’re still my husband, and this is still your daughter. Nothing will change that.” She frowned a little. “But you can’t lie to me about something this big again.”

“I didn’t exactly lie,” Cliff said. “I just didn’t tell you what happened.”

Fluttershy gave him a flat look, one of her eyebrows raised.

“Okay, I lied.” He looked away. “I’m sorry.”

Fluttershy looked away as well. “I forgive you. I just didn’t want our daughter to think she can’t trust her father.”

Cliff looked over Fluttershy’s shoulder to the sonogram he always kept on his desk. Their daughter. She deserved a father that she could trust. She deserved a perfect father, really, but she was going to get him instead. At least he could do his best to be perfect for her. “Have you thought about a name for her yet?”

“Well, a little.” Fluttershy put a hoof over her stomach. “Since it was such a miracle that I got pregnant, I was thinking that, um, maybe we could call her … Miracle. Only if you like it, of course.”

Miracle. Cliff thought about it, smiling warmly. There really didn’t seem to be any other name that would match their daughter so perfectly. “I love it.” He kissed Fluttershy on the forehead. “Miracle it is.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

“How are you liking the Crystal Fair?” Twilight asked.

“It’s nice,” Zeph said, “but these crystal ponies are under so much stress.” He looked around the open field they were passing through. Crowds of ponies were milling about, eating food from the stands nearby. “I’d like to prank them, but I worry that they couldn’t handle it right now.” He shook his head. “They really needed this pick-me-up.”

“It’s hard to believe that an army of drakes is really at war with such a peaceful city,” Amethyst said. The dark-purple drake had introduced herself as the leader of Zeph’s honor guard.

“Hard to believe, but true.” Twilight paused at the edge of what used to be the largest marketplace in the Empire. It had been five weeks since the Alliance collapsed it, but the bottom was still covered in debris. Most of a house was tilted at a forty-five degree angle far off to their right, with one wall and part of a room still sitting flat on the ground just a few feet away from it. “This is what they did during their last attack.”

Zeph walked to the edge and sat down, with all six of his tails drooping to the ground around him. “Twilight, how many lost their lives here?” His normally cheerful tone was completely gone, replaced by reverent sadness.

Twilight walked forward and sat next to him. “Seventy thousand, seven hundred sixteen, more than eight times as many as have died in the rest of this war combined.”

Zeph lowered his head and motion in the air in front of him. “Peace upon you all, my friends, and may the Court of Passage guide you home.”

Behind him, the other dragons and ponies in the honor guard made the same sign and then held their bowed positions.

Twilight didn’t know exactly what they were doing, but waited silently for them to rise.

After exactly sixty seconds, Zeph rose, followed by the others.

“Zeph,” Amethyst said, approaching him and Twilight.

Unfortunately, Pinkie came running up to the group right then, shouting for Zeph excitedly.

“One second,” Zeph said to Amethyst before turning to Pinkie. “What’s up?”

“Discord’s awake!” Pinkie grinned. “He’s still really weak and small, but he’s awake!”

“That’s great news, Pinkie!” The kumiho smiled. “I’ll come talk to him in a minute. I always wanted to meet a chaos spirit.”

“Okey dokie loki, see you in a minute!” Pinkie ran back toward the fair, shouting, “Woo hoo!” as she went.

Zeph’s own smile faded as he turned back to Amethyst. “What were you going to say?”

“I can’t believe that drakes would do something as dishonorable as this.” She gestured toward the crater. “With your permission, I would like to lend my strength in helping to protect these ponies from the Dragon Alliance.”

He cocked his head to the side, as if he were listening to something. “I understand.” He turned to the rest of his honor guard. “Do you all feel the same?”

One by one, the other ponies and drakes nodded.

Zeph glanced at Twilight. “Would Princess Luna mind housing a few new warriors?”

Twilight looked from him to the honor guard and back again. “I’m sure she’d be happy to have some more soldiers on her side, but aren’t they supposed to be protecting you?”

Zeph laughed. “It’s pretty obvious that Everfree Village isn’t going to try to harm me any time soon, and the first rule of being a Kumiho Village warrior is to protect those who need it. I’d join them myself if I hadn’t already promised to take care of Fluttershy and her daughter.”

“And I can never thank you enough for that,” Twilight said before turning to Amethyst and the rest of the honor guard. “We’re working on a very dangerous plan right now, one that may also force the Alliance to surrender. I know we would all feel better if you were helping to cover our backs during that.”

Amethyst bowed. “We would be honored, Princess.”

Zeph gave Twilight a searching look. “You’re going after him, aren’t you?” he asked. “The drake who’s been fighting Celestia to a stalemate for the last three major battles?”

Twilight shivered a little at the reminder of exactly how powerful their opponent was, but she nodded. “Celestia and Luna are. How did you know?”

“You talk in your sleep sometimes.” A bit of a wild grin split Zeph’s face. “It’s been a few centuries since I got in a fight that could really challenge me.” He turned and looked to the northwest. “Fluttershy is far enough along now that I can afford to take a day off …”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Meanwhile, far to the northwest, Talon was beginning to see why the Alliance had been staying in the Ice Spire Cave ever since they arrived in the north. Aside from being a dozen miles closer to the Crystal Empire, it had also been large enough to hold everydragon, with its own water supply, and light was provided by those lava pits.

Then Equestria had tried to bring down the roof on them all, and the Alliance had been forced to move to the Shattered Mountain Caves.

Their new home was a series of smaller caves all built into the sides of a cliff-like canyon. Normally Talon would be fine with that, it kind of reminded her of the Aerie, but the Aerie had never forced her to deal with constant snowfall, or howling winds, or snowdrifts so large that they blocked off whole tunnels. Not to mention, the caves themselves were like a maze.

As though summoned by her annoyance, a diamond dog wandered into the dead-end tunnel that was the new IHQ. “Hello, queens.” He bowed low.

Talon glanced at the dog then went back to reading another spy report. “We aren’t queens. You’re an equal citizen like the rest of us.”

The dog didn’t seem to hear her. “We follow new kings and queens no matter what.”

“We appreciate your friendship and loyalty,” Heart said from her own desk next to Talon’s. “But what are you doing here?”

Well, not everything with their new situation was terrible. Heart was back, which was reason enough to be grateful.

“Here to widen cave for squadron,” the diamond dog said.

“That’s Squad Two of the Fifth Cluster,” Talon said. “Go back to the last intersection and take the second tunnel on your right.”

Heart Echo shook her head. “And there goes one of the military geniuses behind the Hurricanes’ new plan.”

“Let’s hope your cousin finishes the gem-creation rune before it comes to that,” Talon said.

“He’d better move quickly too. ” Heart slowly got up. “I should head to the Council meeting. We’re voting about the next attack, and I don’t think it’s going to go my way.”

Talon gave her a sympathetic smile. She knew exactly how unnerving it was to vote against the Hurricanes. “Just do what you can.” She watched Heart go for a moment before turning back to her work.

Equestrian approval rates for the war were still high, but Talon had noticed that they started dropping whenever the Alliance hadn’t attacked in a few weeks. The ponies were getting tired of the fighting, maybe tired enough to consider discussing terms of peace. It wouldn’t be hard to have a spy send a letter to Canterlot Palace or maybe just slip one into Princess Twilight’s mailbox …

Talon shook her head. The Council would never agree to that. The drakes would see it as a cowardly way to open a dialogue, and the Hurricanes would see it as an admission of the Alliance’s weakness, prompting Equestria to come finish them off. Talon could send the letter without getting their permission, maybe, but … no, the Hurricanes would execute her and anydragon else that willingly got involved in something like that.

There had to be some other way that Talon could help end this war peacefully. She put aside the spy report and started writing down ideas.

Chapter 39

Princess Luna strode back and forth along the wall that surrounded the Crystal Empire, eyes fixed on the mountains to the northeast. Her golden armor gleamed softly in the moonlight. “Remain steady, soldiers.”

In front of the lunar princess, several thousand pegasus soldiers stood at attention, their lines stretching for nearly a mile in each direction. Unlike their pacing leader, the pegasi held their position with barely a move or a blink.

Beyond the wall, three fresh bunkers had been constructed on top of the foothills leading up to the mountains. Their dark outlines concealed thirty-five companies of their best ranged combatants.

Inside of the Empire, a small crowd had gathered, no doubt wondering why such a large number of soldiers was up and ready for battle at four in the morning.

“Soon our griffon allies will reach the Empire,” Luna said loudly enough that the pegasi could hear, as well as most of the crowd. “We must be ready to defend them should the Alliance attempt to interfere.” She was aware that at least one Alliance spy had probably overheard her. In fact, she was counting on it.

The Alliance had made a critical error when they relocated to the Shattered Mountain Caves. There weren’t enough anti-magic circles to protect them all, and so they had simply increased the number of night guards. Such a choice had kept them protected from physical threats, but it did nothing to shield their dreams.

Every night for weeks, Luna had been carefully manipulating the dreams of the Hurricanes. Unfortunately, she couldn’t change their opinion about the war in general, but at least she’d been able to fixate them on stopping the griffon mercenaries, no matter the cost. Soon their spies would contact the Alliance, and then Equestria would be in the rare position of having a battle take place entirely on their own terms.

-_-_-_-_-_-

In the mountains to the northeast, Spirit and Autumn sat next to each other, staring at a map on the stone floor in front of them. The grating of metal on stone echoed all around them, a constant reminder that they weren’t alone. Over a thousand pegasi were currently getting into formation near the entrance to the cavern where they were all hiding.

“Let’s say they attack from this angle.” Spirit put a clawtip to the southeast of their current position and moved it toward the griffons.

Autumn looked at him incredulously, with the same emotion radiating through their link. “That is directly opposite the location of their new base and offers no tactical advantage. Why would they come at us from there?”

Spirit shrugged. “To catch us off guard.”

“Fair enough.” She turned her attention to the map. “Either Yol Toor or Silver Tail would probably be here when the fighting starts,” she tapped the map with her hoof, “and the other would be about here.” She tapped a spot a little to the right, closer to where they were hiding. “If we’re fortunate, and that turns out to be Silver Tail, we could surprise him with a gem barrage before Shining and Cadance’s shield even comes up.”

“Sorry, am I interrupting you?” Twilight asked, walking up to the couple. She sounded tired, and her posture was a little slumped.

Spirit looked up. “Hey, Sis.” He patted the floor next to him. “We were just killing time.”

“Yes,” Autumn added, “please sit down. You feel exhausted.”

“I’m fine.” Twilight sat next to Spirit with a relieved sigh. “Maintaining that portal was harder than I was expecting.” She took off her helmet, revealing a sweat-soaked face and painfully red eyes. “I see why Celestia and Luna moved the griffons and some of our pegasi up here a few days ago. They needed a break before moving the rest.” She brushed a bit of mane out of her eyes.

Spirit whistled as he took in his sister’s haggard state. “Twi, maybe you should sit this one out. You aren’t looking so great.”

“I’m fine,” she repeated before yawning. “We’ve just been working overtime at the lab to give all your suits that new Shadow-form enchantment.”

“Many soldiers will owe you their lives for that,” Autumn said.

“That’s for sure,” Spirit agreed, “but just stick next to Grandma once the fighting starts, okay? You look like you’ll pass out if you push yourself much harder.” He looked across the large cavern and located his draconic grandparents, who were talking with Cliff and Fire Eyes.

“I’ll be careful, Spirit. Don’t worry.” Twilight reached into a dimensional pocket on her suit and pulled out a thermos. “Coffee? Fluttershy brewed it before I left.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Spirit accepted the cup that Twilight passed him. “Just don’t offer it to Autumn. She could drain the whole thing in one go.”

Autumn hit him in the shoulder, which accomplished little since they were both wearing armor.

“Hey, it’s just the truth.” Spirit stuck out his tongue at Autumn, then leaned over to let Twilight pour some coffee into his cup.

As she poured, Twilight used her magic to retrieve another thermos, which she passed to Autumn. “There’s no need to tease her, Spirit.”

“A bit of teasing can do wonders to relieve tension.” Autumn took a long drink from the thermos. “On a night like this, I am glad for it.”

Twilight looked down at her own thermos before taking a sip from it. “I suppose I can understand that.”

“Please remain calm, my little ponies,” Celestia’s voice filled the cave, yet was somehow no louder than if she were speaking calmly. “Our scouts have located the Alliance forces. They will be here soon, and you must be ready to face them.” She sighed, her voice full of regret. “I wish that I could fight beside you this time as well, but I know that you will strengthen and support each other with everything that you have. I am proud to call each one of you a treasured friend and a valued ally. Now prepare yourselves, and let us bring this accursed war to an end.”

As soon as Celestia’s voice cut out, there was a massive scramble to get into position.

Spirit looked from Autumn to Twilight, then he held up his cup. “Four battles with no casualties from Everfree. Here’s to one more.”

The two of them paused for a moment, then joined in the toast. “Here’s to one more,” they said in unison.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Talon gasped for air as she flew. She didn’t know why the Council insisted on rushing to intercept the griffon mercenaries. Heart’s attempts to talk them out of it had all failed spectacularly, and only Yol Toor had considered the possibility of waiting on Cliff Runner to finish that gem-creation rune. None of them wanted to trust a dragon that had already betrayed them once, but at least Yol Toor had been willing to hold off their next attack for a while to give Cliff the chance to prove himself.

The formation came around another peak, and Talon’s eyes locked onto a swarm of lights in the canyon below them, though not quite on the ground. What she saw baffled her.

She knew that ponies had a number of vehicles to carry supplies around, including several that could fly, but none of them compared to what she was looking at now. The first thing that came to mind was that they had somehow gotten giant brown-and-gold turtle shells to float. Once she looked more closely, Talon realized that they were actually made of metal, with a sharp point coming off the front, twin propellers in the back, and had a number of cannons poking out each side. Whatever these vehicles were, they were almost as long as a drake and had clearly been designed for war.

“Curious,” Yol Toor said.

“Aerial tanks,” Heart said. “They’re a griffon specialty.”

“Cut them off before they can reach the Empire,” Silver Tail ordered from far off to the right. “Surround them and give them a chance to surrender.” Taking his own advice, he dove toward the tanks, easily outpacing the rest of the Alliance’s forces.

Squad Four didn’t even have to be ordered to dive after him, along with every other cluster on the front line.

“Tornado,” Talon shouted over the wind, “tell your uncle to stop charging ahea-” She saw a flash of rainbow light from the other side of the canyon. “Look out, everydragon, it’s the rainbow pegasus!”

“The Hurricanes are ordering us to stun her,” Heart sent with helpless frustration. “Sorry, Cliff.”

A wave of crackling blue energy shot from nearly every wyrm in the Alliance. According to Heart, it was one of the most powerful wyrm spells ever developed, and it had only one purpose, to paralyze any non-dragon caught in its range.

The pegasus didn’t have time to even think about dodging before the spell hit, and she spiraled out of control, crashing into the mountain almost directly beneath Talon’s feet.

“More Equestrians,” Heart sent. “They’re all around us!”

Talon looked up, and any sense of relief or accomplishment faded. Pegasi were emerging from every nearby peak. Even in the gloom of the night, she could tell that they had the Alliance surrounded.

“They’re ordering the collapse,” Heart sent.

“I will finish the rainbow one off and rejoin you,” Yol Toor shouted, diving toward the stunned pegasus.

Talon reflexively nodded and started relaying orders to make a defensive formation, but her mind was preoccupied with the simple fact that this was impossible. Their spy had reported that every pegasus in the Empire was currently standing in formation on the northeast wall with Princess Luna. How could they have gotten here so quickly?

-_-_-_-_-_-

Luna jumped in surprise as Equestria’s three new bunkers suddenly collapsed in on themselves, throwing out he clouds of dust as they did so.

“The attack has just started, Luna. Get here as quickly as you can!”

The ponies in those bunkers probably needed her help, but defeating Yol Toor had to come first. Luna grit her teeth. “Solar Unicorns,” she called, “cease your illusions and gather troops to aid the soldiers that were in those bunkers!”

The thousands of pegasus soldiers in front of her faded away, replaced by just over fifty exhausted unicorns.

Their leader nodded weakly. “Good luck, Princess Luna.”

“Thank you, Lady Trixie, now make haste!” Luna released her spell, disappearing in a shower of blue light.

-_-_-_-_-_-

“Spirit says to get Rainbow out of there!” Fire Eyes sent. “Take some of my willpower.”

Cliff sent back agreement and let his friend’s willpower flow into him, fueling another burst of speed as he jumped the last of the way to the flying griffon vehicles. He landed on one and immediately pushed off again, soaring over Silver Tail and toward Rainbow Dash.

Unfortunately, Cliff wasn’t the only one rushing toward the pegasus. A terribly familiar gray drake was nearly on top of her, and light was beginning to gather around his open mouth.

Cliff had seen Void Fire often enough to know what was coming. “Blueblood, put a shield over Rainbow! Now!”

A glowing barrier appeared around Rainbow just before a pillar of red-and-blue energy surrounded her, shield and all. The intensity of the light stung Cliff’s eyes, to say nothing of the shock-wave that crashed into him midair, swatting him away like a fly and forcing the breath from his lungs. Even the air around Cliff seemed to scream in pain as the two forms of magic battled for dominance.

Killing most of his momentum, Cliff hit the snow-packed ground with a thump. He was at the foot of the mountain where Rainbow had crashed, and even though she was halfway up the peak, the sheer force of the energy being thrown around was pounding in his chest like a drum. Ignoring that, Cliff pushed himself up and took off toward the blinding light.

Yol Toor wasn’t holding back at all, and Blueblood’s shield couldn’t withstand that for long.

He offered a silent prayer as he launched himself into the pillar of energy. It was time to put the Shadow-form Enchantment to the ultimate test.

His body converted into insubstantial darkness as he touched the pillar, then pain like he had never imagined overwhelmed him. The raw power of Yol Toor’s Void Fire ripped through his essence, shredding him, tearing every inch of him apart all at once.

Then he was through, fighting just to stay conscious. So much power filled the air now that it was like repeated blows to the chest and head, and the light was far too intense to be able to see anything. He didn’t know if he wanted to scream or collapse more, but Rainbow didn’t have time for either.

Cliff dumped the stored magic from all three of his suit’s batteries into himself. The sudden influx of magic nearly overwhelmed him, but at least it gave him the strength to move once more. He groped around until he found his unconscious friend and then shot back through the pillar.

Blinding light gave way to darkness just before Cliff slammed into the valley floor. He slid through the snow and ice on his back for a moment, cradling Rainbow against his chest as he fought to catch his breath.

Unfortunately, Yol Toor wasn’t known for giving his opponents room to breathe. Another beam of energy shot toward the young wyrm, barely giving him time to redirect his momentum and dodge it.

The beam changed directions too, engulfing both Cliff and Rainbow once more.

A shadow didn’t have lungs, which was the only reason Cliff didn’t scream as the Void Fire ripped into his essence again. Desperately, he altered his momentum back to its original course and generated an invisibility field around him and Rainbow.

For a moment, it seemed to have worked, and Cliff killed his momentum before scrambling to his feet and throwing Rainbow over one shoulder. Then a ball of radiant red-and-blue energy hit the ground nearby.

Time froze just long enough for Cliff to realize what it was, a Void Bomb, a compressed ball of Void Fire.

He clenched his eyes shut but was stunned to realize that nothing was actually connecting with him. He opened his eyes and saw that he, and a patch of ground at his feet, had been protected by another one of Blueblood’s shields, which was lined heavily with cracks. Beyond the glowing barrier, at least a square mile of the valley’s floor had been transformed into a lake of molten lava.

“Get out of there!” Blueblood yelled through the link. “I don’t think I can stop another one!”

“We’re on our way,” Fire Eyes added. “Just hold out a bit longer!”

Tired, aching, and nearly out of magic, Cliff pulled in more of the willpower that Eyes was offering to him and shot away once more.

He risked a glance over his shoulder, and saw that Yol Toor was already caught in battle against Princess Luna. Thank the Stars.

Shifting his attention forward, Cliff landed on a foothill just outside the circle of lava from the last explosion. His legs gave out beneath him, throwing both him and Rainbow flat against the hillside.

Two other teams from Everfree were already there, and the rest of the Platoon wasn’t far behind. Beyond them, Silver Tail was fighting against Zephyr, who had grown a pair of feathered wings.

The kumiho was hit by an invisible force, the wind that Silver Tail controlled, knocking him past the Everfree Platoon and onto the lava, which he somehow landed on as if it were solid ground.

A wall of fire erupted out of the lava around Zeph, shielding him as countless blades of compressed air sliced into the molten surface around him, tossing bits of scorching lava in every direction.

Some of the molten rock splattered across Cliff’s back and legs, but luckily neither combatant paid him any attention. Instead, Zeph’s six tails jabbed forward as one, and what could only be described as a tornado of electricity surrounded the drake leader, filling the air with the crack of thunder.

Meanwhile, a ray of golden energy sliced across the ground. Cliff winced as it connected with his arm before he could roll out of the way, but at least the shadow-form enchantment kept him from any serious harm.

What’s trying to kill me now? Cliff pushed himself onto his knees, holding Rainbow’s unconscious form against his chest, and looked to the south, where the beam had originated.

To Cliff’s relief, he saw that it hadn’t been aimed for him at all. Both of Yol Toor’s daughters were rapidly firing those beams at Celestia, who was dodging between them.

The rest of the Platoon reached Cliff moments later, including Spirit, who knelt next to his brother and gave him a firm hug. “Thank Celestia you’re safe!” He turned to the others and shouted, “Hunker down, everyone. We’re here for the duration!”

Cliff shook his head weakly. “Spirit, we need to get out of here.”

Autumn appeared from the crowd as well, panting heavily. “There is no time, Cliff.” She pointed off toward the center of the lava lake, where Shining Armor and Cadance were floating in midair, surrounded by purplish light. “Everything else is in place, and we must trap him now.”

“Everfree can’t handle something like Yol Toor,” Cliff said, struggling to rise. Even when he was focused entirely on defense and escape, Yol Toor had nearly killed him five times in as many seconds.

“We know,” Spirit said. “All we can do is hope he doesn’t come after us.” He took a deep breath. “I’m telling them to raise the shield.”

There was barely enough time for Cliff to close his eyes, then the magic from Shining and Cadance’s expanding shield rolled over them all like a wave.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Talon didn’t know why the pegasi weren’t advancing, but she didn’t like it. After their sudden attack, the Equestrian warriors had let the Alliance fall back and regroup over the western edge of that lava lake that Yol Toor had created. That lake probably meant the end of the rainbow pegasus.

At least the pegasi seemed more interested in keeping them surrounded than in moving in to attack. They were clearly up to something, but Talon couldn’t guess what.

Then purple light filled the corner of her vision.

Talon turned just in time to see one of those massive shields that Prince Shining Armor could generate crashing into the back of the Alliance’s forces.

“Grab onto the nearest drake,” Talon ordered, realizing what the plan was. “They’re using the shield to knock us into the pegasi!” She dove for Tornado’s back, landing just before shield hit them.

The force of the impact nearly flattened her against Tornado's scales, but she somehow managed to hold on until Tornado flared his wings and brought them to an abrupt halt.

Talon didn’t have to look to know that they were surrounded by pegasi. “Start creating a gas bubble-” She cut off when something crashed into her from above, knocking her flat across Tornado’s back.

Her wind sense gave her the blurry outline of a pegasus, rearing back like it was about to slam down on Talon’s wing.

Heart knocked the pony away with a blast from her staff, but tons more pegasi were already landing. “We need to get out of here!” She helped Talon up.

“All squadron leaders, listen to me,” the cluster leader ordered. “The Hurricanes say that Yol Toor is trapped in that shield. Until we get him out, we need to reform our swarms and hold this area!”

“I guess getting out of here isn’t an option!” Talon used her staff to suck the energy out of the closest pegasus then shot it back at another one.

“Hold on!” Tornado shouted. He shrank to his thinking form, and for a moment it was just Talon and Heart clinging to the back of a dragon about their own size. The pegasi suddenly found themselves without their platform and dropped away. Then Tornado switched back and gave a mighty flap of his wings. Dozens of highly pressurized spears of air shot from the drake, right into the squad of pegasi that he had just dislodged.

Talon’s wind sense told her everything she needed to know about the effects. Some pegasi only took glancing blows, which their armor was able to deflect. Many others weren’t so lucky, and their screams of pain filled the air as holes were punched through their wings, legs, or even their whole bodies.

“No one shall harm my allies!” Tornado roared before unleashing even more Wind Spears.

There was a blinding flash of light as thirty or so drakes that Talon didn’t recognize appeared in the air above them.

“But it’s okay if I harm you, right?” a purple drake with a spiked collar shouted as she crashed into Tornado.

Talon was thrown off of Tornado’s back and spread her wings to keep herself from falling. Around her, other drakes were rushing to attack members of the Alliance. Most of them were even carrying ponies on their backs. The drakes from Kumiho Village, Talon realized. She would have gulped if there had been time. “Regroup around Tornado, everyone, and if you see a drake you don’t recognize, it’s probably an enemy!”

Down beneath her, Heart ran along Tornado’s neck as he clawed and bit at the purple dragoness who had attacked him. When she reached Tornado’s head, she fired a blast of Spirit Lightning, but the purple drake managed to get her head out of the way in time.

At least the distraction gave Tornado an opening to kick her away.

Talon swooped down toward Tornado to help. Dozens of pegasi were closing in on Tornado, and the purple drake was coming back. Talon had nearly reached her battle partner when a bolt of agonizing pain filled the link, then cut off abruptly.

“Rune!” Genesis shouted. “Oh Stars, she fell!”

Something crashed into Talon from above, hurling her down onto Tornado’s back. “Regroup,” Talon managed to send, flipping weakly onto her back. “Do it or we’re all dead!” Now that she could finally see her attacker, a pegasus, she spat a cloud of poison into its face.

The pegasus fell off Tornado’s side, gasping for air, but another pegasus shot out of the dark sky, hitting Talon right in the stomach.

Her vision went black and her cry of pain ended in a breathless whimper.

“Somedragon catch her!” Genesis begged.

A ray of dark energy connected with the pegasus, making it collapse on top of Talon.

Heart reached her moments later, throwing the pegasus off the side and creating a shield around them both. “We can’t hold this position, Talon!” She shot off two orbs of Spirit Lightning in quick succession and then started healing her friend.

“We’ve been ordered to hold our position,” Talon gasped. She took aim with her battle staff and sent out a burst of telekinetic energy at the purple drake.

The drake shrugged off the blast and slammed into Tornado from the side. There was a sickening snap from Tornado’s wing, and both Talon and Heart were knocked flat. Making matters worse, the drake clamped its jaws around Heart’s shield.

Heart reached through the rapidly collapsing barrier and grabbed onto one of the drake’s teeth. “The ponies and dragons you think are your allies are actually tricking you. Fight alongside us, your real allies.” She let go and turned back to Talon. “If we stay here, we’re dead!”

“Launch a Shield Cracker,” Talon suggested to their cluster leader. “That will get Yol Toor free!”

“We tried. It didn’t work,” he sent back.

The purple drake had let go, but Tornado’s wing was still in bad shape, and they were losing altitude fast.

“There are too many of them,” Sky sent, fighting to control the desperation he felt. “We’re getting overwhelmed!”

Tornado somehow forced his injured wing muscles to start flapping again, but then a bolt of pegasus lightning hit him, and he dropped like a stone.

Talon slammed into the top of Heart’s shield, and for just a moment, she saw Ember high above them, with a swarm of wyverns around her. Illuminated by the lightning, Talon could make out the shapes of hundreds of pegasi surrounding what was left of her squad, and two more drakes were closing in fast.

Beyond them, Talon saw other clusters of dragons, but it was impossible to tell if they were friend or foe. Pegasi were everywhere.

Time slowed as the reality of their situation sank in. Twister had ordered them to hold their position, but Heart was right. The dragons who had put their trust in her would die if she tried to enforce that order. “Everydragon, get out of there!”

Then Tornado hit the ground, and everything went black.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Orange-red light from the veritable lake of lava beneath Celestia clashed jarringly with the neon purple glow of Cadance and Shining’s new shield, illuminating a scene that was both hellish and bizarrely alien, like something out of a fevered nightmare.

Zephyr Wind ran across the surface of the lava as though it were solid ground, his eyes narrowed in concentration as each of his six tails moved behind him, casting spells seemingly of their own accord. At that precise moment, four of his tails were creating a shield to deflect a blast of Void Fire, while the remaining two shot wisp-like balls of energy, which seemed to home in on their target regardless of how he attempted to dodge them.

In the air beside Celestia, Luna’s horn crackled with blue energy as she dove, a battle cry on her lips. The light from her horn mixed with the orange and purple reflecting off her golden armor in a way that was almost painful to look at.

A kaleidoscope of colors reflected across Celestia’s own face from the dozens of anti-aura gems she was releasing from a dimensional pocket in her chest piece.

At the convergence point of all of their attacks, near the lava’s shore line, stood Yol Toor. The ancient drake’s entire body had transformed into a mass of red-and-blue fire, and yet every feature of his bony armor stood out in clear detail. What really caught Celestia’s attention, however, was his eyes.

He knew that he was trapped.

Shining and Cadance’s new shield had been specifically developed to be impenetrable; once it was up, nothing could get in or out; and yet Yol Toor’s eyes showed no despair, fear, or even frustration. Within those burning orbs of energy, Celestia could make out only quiet, unshakable determination.

He actually intended to win this fight. Somehow.

This was the kind of moment that legends were made from. A single champion standing defiant against overwhelming odds.

Then the moment ended, and Celestia threw the full weight of her magic and experience into guiding each individual gemstone as they spread out before converging on Yol Toor from every angle.

The drake’s body rippled as dozens of balls of energy shot from his form, intercepting the gems and Zephyr’s projectiles before they could reach him. He rushed forward to meet Luna’s charge, and his wings transformed into blade-like tendrils that stabbed at her from both sides.

Mere feet before they made contact, the light from Luna’s horn exploded outwards, batting both tendrils aside and even forcing Yol Toor back.

“Dad!” two voices shouted in unison.

Celestia didn’t spare a glance for the twin dragonesses who had joined Silver Tail in attacking the shield with their auras. A part of her balked at the idea of attacking, possibly killing, a father in front of his children, but the solar princess knew that she had no choice.

She teleported to her sister’s side and released a wide beam of power. It’s golden light should have crashed into Yol Toor and pinned him against the shield’s outer wall, but his form split down the middle, letting Celestia’s spell pass between them.

The two halves rushed at each of the sisters individually. It was so unexpected that Celestia was barely able to get a shield up in time to defend herself. Luna, on the other hoof, jumped at the mass of fire, hitting it with both forehooves before getting thrown aside.

The halves reached the lava and dove in with a massive splash.

Celestia’s heart stopped for a moment when she realized that she didn’t know where Yol Toor was going. Her eyes turned to Cadance and Shining Armor, still floating in place at the shield’s center. A column of magic surrounded them, reaching from the top of the shield down past the lake’s molten surface. It was actually an extension of the shield, designed to keep them safe, but Celestia couldn’t help but worry about her niece and nephew-in-law.

Most of her concern, though, was reserved for the Everfree Platoon. About halfway to the shield’s outer edge from its center, and huddled on top of a small foothill, they had little to protect them from an opponent such as Yol Toor, and he had been targeting Rainbow Dash specifically before they trapped him.

Farther out on the lake, Zephyr paused, then all six of his tails made a sort of throwing motion at once. A massive boulder, nearly the size of an adult drake, erupted from the lake’s surface several hundred feet away, flying high into the air. Whatever he had been attempting to do apparently failed, because he grit his teeth in frustration.

The lake suddenly cooled and hardened near Zephyr, shooting out in a circle until only a flat expanse of rock remained. The boulder that Zephyr had controlled earlier fell back to earth and shattered on impact, leaving an impressive crater.

Then Yol Toor reappeared, emerging from the ground like some ghostly harbinger of doom. With a roar, he sent another of those destructive Void Bombs out of his mouth at the kumiho, who summoned another of his flame barriers to meet it.

Celestia took advantage of his momentary distraction to fire an extremely powerful beam of golden energy. The explosive power of the Void Bomb raged all around her, hammering away at her defenses, but a small smile crossed her lips when she felt her own attack strike home.

Luna teleported in, almost invisible in the fading aftermath of the explosion. Supporting herself with her wings, she kicked at Yol Toor with all four hooves at once.

Amazingly, even while being thrown forward by Celestia’s attack, Yol Toor was able to shrink and flap his own wings just enough to get out of the way of Luna’s hooves. He was back to full size the next moment, spinning midair and shooting a ray of black energy from the top of one forearm. Celestia knew all too well that that was where he carried the staff that the Alliance had built for him, and exactly how powerful its magic-draining ray was.

Luna’s body stiffened as the magic was ripped from her. It was a tiny thing, her hooves didn’t even touch the freshly liquefied valley floor before she recovered, but that was more than enough of an opening for Yol Toor.

He was already swinging his tail at her. The massive spiked club at its tip reverted to flesh and bone mid-swing.

Celestia was suddenly in front of her sister. The magic in her horn blended seamlessly from teleportation to protection as a shield sprang into existence between the two alicorns and their opponent. Celestia grunted from the strain of the impact, and her glowing barrier bowed inward, but it held.

A pillar of fire erupted around Yol Toor, and surprisingly, the drake flew away with a grimace of pain on his face.

Celestia looked back toward Zephyr and found him near the center of the restored lava lake. A large patch of fur had been burned off his shoulder, back, and neck, and the skin beneath was charred and black, leaking drops of blood that either disappeared into his red-brown coat or fell to the molten rock beneath his paws, where it evaporated with a hiss. Yet still the kumiho stood ready to fight, not taking his eyes off Yol Toor for a moment as he generated another of those fiery pillars. Like the first one, it struck true, forcing the drake back toward the shield’s outer edge.

Fire that can harm a drake, Celestia reflected, tucking that revelation aside for later. For now, she needed to focus on ending this as quickly as possible. Brave pegasi were laying down their lives every moment that the battle dragged on. She launched a volley of energy beams to keep Yol Toor on the defensive.

Luna added a barrage of anti-aura gems to her sister’s assault. “He leaves himself open when he begins a followup attack.” Her emotions rippled with the same urgency that was pushing Celestia.

Celestia had noticed that as well. Yol Toor was almost untouchable in a one-on-one fight, but against multiple opponents, he committed himself too fully to his attacks. Whoever he was attacking would be in no position to retaliate, he was simply too fast, accurate, and powerful, but their allies would have a valuable window of opportunity.

Yol Toor shrank to avoid most of the combined attacks, though several beams and gems still impacted against his aura. He was nearly against the outer wall now, just opposite his daughters and Silver Tail, who were still pouring Void Fire into the shield. The fire that made up his being was noticeably dimmer now, and he was breathing heavily, but still his eyes were resolute.

He lifted his right forearm. Bluish light surrounded it for a moment, then he jerked it back toward him.

Luna gasped in surprise as she was pulled toward Yol Toor, horn first. She countered the spell before she had traveled more than a few feet—defeating a foe’s telekinesis was fundamental to unicorn battles, after all—but both sisters were still left in a state of shock.

Telekinesis? Celestia thought in confusion. How? He had even matched the magic’s glow to the light that was already coming from Luna’s horn, concealing it until he acted.

“Look out!” Zephyr yelled.

Celestia turned her attention back to Yol Toor and saw that the fire making up his body had returned to its former brilliance, then a wave of dark-red energy shot from him in all directions.

Both alicorn sisters teleported to Zephyr’s side and brought up a combined shield around the three of them. It had barely formed when the explosion crashed over them like a tsunami, obscuring everything on the outside as the energy howled in their ears.

Through the link they shared, Celestia could feel Cadance and Shining Armor struggling to maintain their shield from the attacks on both sides.

A new pulse of energy filled the air, but unlike the drake’s stubborn assault, this one filled Celestia with hope and love. Those same emotions were reflected in her niece and nephew-in-law, along with relief.

When the destructive energy finally died down, Celestia couldn’t help but smile.

Cadance and Shining Armor’s shield now glowed the same sky blue as the shield that protected the Crystal Empire. The energy in that pulse had been familiar to her, and it seemed her suspicions were correct. Somehow, the Crystal Heart had granted some of its power to the prince and princess who were fighting to protect it.

Highlighted against the shield’s light, Celestia could see Yol Toor, back to his flesh and blood form, except for a pair of fiery wings, and with an aura that was far more dull than normal. Surprisingly, the drake wasn’t even facing them. He seemed to be sharing a look with his daughters and Silver Tail.

Celestia held out a hoof to stop Luna or Zephyr from attacking. Though Yol Toor was their enemy, he deserved that much kindness, at least. It also gave her a moment to look around.

The destruction left by Yol Toor’s most recent attack was astounding. Every inch of ground inside of the shield had been reduced to molten lava, even the mountainside to the west. Celestia felt a surge of fear as she realized that the Everfree Platoon, including Twilight and Spirit, had been caught in the blast and were nowhere to be seen.

Then Yol Toor turned back to Celestia. On his face was an expression that she had seen far too many times in the past. It was the look of a soldier who knew that they would die soon but had resolved to fight until the very end.

“I will create an opening for you both,” Luna whispered before teleporting toward the drake.

“Luna!” Celestia grit her teeth and readied herself to attack.

The smaller alicorn appeared over Yol Toor’s back, stomping down with all four legs.

Yol Toor realized what was happening and shifted to his smaller form, but it was a moment too late, and he was knocked into the lava below, though not before he was able to retaliate with a beam of Void Fire, catching Luna full in the chest and smashing her backwards into the shield.

It was all Celestia could do not to teleport to her sister’s aid at that very moment.

Yol Toor shot back into the air and flew toward Luna with open jaws.

There it was, the opening Celestia needed. With a cry of rage, she released a torrent of destructive energy, and at her side, Zephyr did the same. What neither of them expected, however, was for several dozen anti-aura gems to join in the barrage, seemingly from nowhere.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Spirit let the last of his illusion fade. It wouldn’t stand up to close inspection anyway. The combined efforts of the Everfree Platoon’s shield specialists had protected them from Yol Toor’s Void Bombs, even preserving the top of their hill as a sort of floating platform.

They would have been happy to wait out the battle in hiding, but then for some insane reason, Celestia and Zephyr had stood by and watched as Luna attacked Yol Toor by herself.

Twilight disappeared in a flash, reappearing moments later with a slightly dazed Princess Luna. Spirit couldn’t blame her for being a bit out of it. Her entire chest was one bloody smear.

Even worse, Yol Toor was somehow still up, in spite of a severely weakened aura and countless fractures in his bone armor, and his eyes were fixed on the Everfree Platoon’s floating hilltop.

“Plan B,” Spirit sent. Plan B was simple enough, ‘Scramble. Hit Yol Toor with everything you have, and try not to die while you’re at it.’ Plan A had been even more simple, ‘Hope it doesn’t come to Plan B.’

“I shouldn’t have voted to attack,” Autumn whispered at his side, pressing a hoof against the crystalline dome that she had generated.

And then Yol Toor was on top of them. Both front claws slashed down at Luna, while he released another blast of energy.

The dome shattered instantly, and for a single moment, Spirit could feel his body being ripped to pieces by the overwhelming magic. Then his Shadow-form Enchantment activated, and pain overwhelmed everything else.

It seemed to last for an eternity, but then golden light filled his vision, and there was a crashing sound like one mountain being dropped onto the other.

When his vision cleared, Spirit found that Celestia’s magic was wrapped around him and every other member of the Everfree Platoon. Cliff’s team also had shields from Blueblood, including one that held both Luna and Big Mac. The apple farmer must have tried to protect Luna, because he was standing in front of her protectively, and deep gouges ran along his forelegs, going clear to the bone in most places.

Standing at the center of them all was Celestia, and she looked positively livid, with eyes more angry than Spirit had ever seen, and so much light coming off her horn that it hurt his eyes to look at it.

Pressed up against the outer wall of Shining and Cadance’s shield was Yol Toor. Even with his aura completely gone and most of his bone armor shattered, the drake was still fighting against Celestia’s telekinesis.

“You can do it, Dad!” one of Yol Toor’s daughters shouted, her voice thick with tears. “We believe in you!”

He paused, then shrank suddenly. The abrupt change in size nearly let him slip loose, and somehow he found the energy to bring up a flickering aura.

“You’re not getting away!” Zephyr shouted, and a section of lava beneath Yol Toor rose up to pin him more firmly in place before cooling into rock.

“All of you,” Celestia said, her voice tense with strain, “if you have any gemstones left, use them quickly, and as one!”

Nearly half of the Platoon was unconscious, but those that were able to respond certainly did. At least a hundred gems arched through the air, almost gracefully, before exploding against Yol Toor’s shrunken form.

Celestia’s magical grip was destroyed completely in the blast, but that didn’t matter. Yol Toor fell unmoving to the lava below.

Heartbroken shouts came from the drakes outside of the shield, but Celestia didn’t seem to notice. She carefully lifted Yol Toor up to the platform of golden energy she was creating for the rest of them to stand on. She pressed a hoof to his chest, and a tired smile crossed her face. “He is alive, but will be unconscious for several days, at least.”

Spirit barely heard her. His limbs all felt like they were made of jelly, but his primary concern was for Autumn, who had collapsed next to him. Her coat had faded nearly to white, and she was barely breathing.

“We need a healer!” Lucky sent.

“Two members of my team are dead!” Minuette sent in a panic. “What do I do?!”

“Someone needs to help Steel Claw. His Shadow-form Rune didn’t activate properly!”

“Does anydragon have any willpower left for healing?”

“CALM DOWN!” Spirit roared through the link, even though he could feel an icy lump settling in his stomach. “Heal anyone that looks like they need it to stay alive, but only as much as they need to stay alive! All non-wyrms, take off your magic batteries and give them to the nearest wyrm. We need all the willpower we can get.” He took an unsteady breath, and looked at Yol Toor’s limp form. “By the Stars, you had better be worth this.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Celestia wanted nothing more than to collapse and sleep for a couple of days, but her subjects still needed her. “Spirit,” she said, “I am going to teleport all of you back to the Empire. Whatever happens, you must ensure that Yol Toor is put in that special cell we prepared to contain him.”

“O-okay,” Spirit said, his voice weak with exhaustion.

“Princess Celestia,” Silver Tail’s voice hit them like a wall, his tone filled with pain and rage. Celestia followed it back to, of all things, the center of the aerial battle that had been taking place in their absence. “You will return Yol Toor to us, or I will kill every last pegasus in these skies.”

Luna struggling to her hooves, ignoring the efforts of Big McIntosh to make her stay down. “That fiend!” Luna’s voice came out as more of a gasp than anything. “I will help you distract him while our troops escape to safety.”

Celestia shook her head. “I can occupy Silver Tail by myself.” It was probably a lie, but she knew that Luna was in far worse condition. “Our soldiers will reach the Empire soon, and likely with thousands of wounded. Conserve your magic to heal as many as you can, Luna.” Then her horn flared, and Celestia was standing alone, except for Zephyr, who was suddenly at her side, even though he had been hundreds of feet away moments earlier. Celestia arched an eye at the kumiho. “You prevented me from teleporting you?” She hadn’t known that he could do that.

Zephyr shrugged, which turned into a wince as it moved the burns on his shoulder and neck. “My friends from Kumiho Village are still out there, Princess, and you look like you could use a helping paw.”

Celestia nodded wearily. “Thank you.” “Cadance, do you and Shining have enough magic for a regular shield?”

“Yes, I think. We can probably manage one.”

“When I give you the signal, teleport to the center of our pegasus troops and cast it, then follow them as they retreat.” Celestia took a deep breath, and pulled more of the sun’s energy into herself. Her horn ached, her head pounded, and her body shook, but her voice came out firm and controlled as she projected it to the entire battlefield. “Dragons of the Alliance, as Silver Tail has just confirmed, we have defeated Yol Toor, your greatest champion. He will be released along with all other prisoners as soon as this war comes to a close. If, you want that day to come soon, as I do, then give up this needless bloodshed. Working together, I know we can find terms of peace that will be acceptable to all. If, however, you choose to continue this war, remember that not even Yol Toor could stand against the might of Equestria, and then ask yourself why you think that you will fare better!”

As the last words left her mouth, Celestia gave the signal to Cadance and Shining Armor, then teleported with Zephyr to where Silver Tail was hovering in the air. The undeniable power of Shining Armor’s shield pushed aside most of the Alliance like flakes of snow, leaving only a few dozen aura drakes, many of whom were now surrounded by the weakened, but still able to fight, pegasus companies.

“Retreat to the Empire, my little ponies!” Celestia called as she launched her first attack spell. Silver Tail was as skilled as Yol Toor and nearly as powerful, but as long as her subjects were in danger, Celestia would find the strength to keep protecting them. That was her responsibility as a princess.

Chapter 40

Talon had spent all her life listening to stories of heroic battles. Over the years, she had noticed one thing, they always ended in death. Sometimes it was the hero, bravely sacrificing himself for others. Sometimes it was the villain, being overcome once and for all by the hero. What those stories never told, though, was what it was like to wake up exhausted, wounded, and half frozen, lying among the bodies of her allies.

The stories sometimes described daring adventures to reclaim the body of a fallen hero, but never a day-long slog of gathering frozen corpses out of the snow. They certainly never told her what it would be like to sit up all night, looking at her squadron and reflecting how much smaller it was than just the day before.

Most of all, the stories had never prepared Talon to lead funeral rites for those that had died under her command. It was something that Talon had grown terribly familiar with during her time as a squadron leader, but things were different today. An air of hopelessness had settled on the entire Alliance with Yol Toor’s capture. Without their most powerful champion, it seemed like it would only be a matter of time before they were crushed beneath Equestria’s hoof.

Talon let her gaze sweep over each member of her squad, dragons who had trusted her with their lives time and time again. Then, she turned around to look at two still forms, laid out on the snow. “Junior Wing Mist Jumper, Junior Wing Mossy Fields, we release you from your service in Squad Four, and thank you for your sacrifice.” She motioned, and the Wind team and Tornado and Ember stepped forward.

The team of wind wyverns concentrated their power, lifting the bodies of their comrades on pillars of wind.

Taking the place of fire wyverns, Tornado and Ember breathed out large streams of fire. The heat of dragon fire quickly reduced both venom wyverns to ashes.

Talon took a deep breath to steady herself. This never got easier. She didn’t want it to; it would mean that she had grown numb to death. “We commend you to the Storm, honored Ancestors.”

Sky and the other winds brought the pillars of air together. Tiny flecks of carbon, all that remained of the two, mixed freely in the reverently controlled wind.

“May you always watch over those of us that live on,” Talon continued with some difficulty, “and may our lives be worthy of your guidance and strength, until we too rejoin the Storm.” She nodded to the wind wyverns and then watched the tornado of ashes rise into the sky until it became a tiny black dot.

Scattered across the sky were countless other tornadoes, bearing the remains of warriors in other clusters and squadrons. Many of them were already beginning to disperse, letting the high winds bear the ashes off to parts unknown.

“Goodbye,” Talon whispered. Though she had never been close to those two, they had been in Squad Four since the very beginning.

Tornado approached her timidly. His normally beautiful brown eyes were red and puffy. “I am so sorry that I failed to protect them.” His head sank, and fresh tears began to course down his cheeks.

Talon took a moment to get herself back under control. Since hearing about Yol Toor, Tornado had barely spoken, and he hadn’t eaten at all. “Tornado, I need you to listen to me.” She gently lifted his head with one wing and pressed her forehead against his. “Refraction, the greatest wyvern hero in our history, was killed in a minor skirmish by a stray bolt that wasn’t even aimed at him. He wasn’t perfect or all-powerful. In fact, he admitted that he was afraid to die. But that never stopped him from doing his best right up until the end.”

A shudder coursed through Tornado.

Both of Talon’s wings wrapped around his head and hers, closing them off to the outside world. She wanted to say that everything would be fine, or that Yol Toor would come back safely, or … something, but the words died on her lips. She just held him as he cried away one more bit of his child-like optimism.

Half of the Alliance was calling for a massive offensive to rescue Yol Toor, but the Council would never approve of it until they were sure where he was being held. The Crystal Empire was the most likely place, but Canterlot was possible as well, or one of the dozens of military bases across Equestria. There just wasn’t anything they could do until Chrysalis got back to them.

Eventually, a clawed hand gripped Talon’s shoulder. “We should go,” Heart said quietly. “There’s still another funeral to attend.”

Talon nodded and reluctantly let Tornado go.

They landed at the bottom of the canyon and Talon led the rest of Squad Four down a large tunnel that wound its way deep into the earth. Glowstones lit the rocky path at first, but soon glowing mushrooms began to appear, casting everything in an eerie blue light.

At the end of the tunnel was a cavern that was at least three drakes long in any direction. The ground changed from rock to dirt as soon as they entered, and Talon could make out rows of tiny green plants stretching the entire length of the floor. It was a farm that some of the wyrms had set up, but today it was serving a far more depressing function.

Lying there in the dirt of an unplanted section was Rune Field. The wyrm dragoness’s orange scales looked pale, thanks to the bluish light of the mushrooms that dotted the cavern, and even though her expression was peaceful, nothing could hide the damage to her neck and head, a grisly testament of the fall that killed her.

It was strange, but Talon hoped that the pegasus dive bomb had actually killed Rune when it knocked her off of Ember’s back. She didn’t want to imagine her kind and quirky friend being forced to stare at the upcoming ground with no way to save herself.

At least a dozen other wyrms, the newcomers from the Mystic Forest Coven, were already standing a short distance from the body.

There was no script to follow here. Each dragon was to speak from the heart, say whatever they felt was appropriate, and then stand by and wait for the others to do the same.

Talon approached first, and the rest of Squad Four formed a line behind her. She knelt next to the body and stared at it for a moment, trying to find the right words. “Rune, I …” she swallowed a lump in her throat. “I’m so sorry that this happened to you. You were a researcher, but you followed me into danger without question.” She blinked aside a tear. “Sorry. I don’t know why this is so hard. Maybe it’s because wyverns die all the time. It’s just … what we do.” A burning feeling coursed its way up her throat, erupting into something that was half laugh and half sob.

“Wyrms though,” she said quietly, “you’re weird, silly, amazing creatures, and it just doesn’t seem fair that you had to lose your life in this stupid war. I mean, you volunteered for it just to help us.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ll keep an eye on Genesis for you. The Hurricanes are making us an elite squad, which is going to help with that. They want us to stay next to them in battle from now on so that they can keep an eye on us.” Another sad laugh escaped her lips. “Would it really have killed them to do that one battle earlier?”

She wiped away more tears. “I hope your husband’s there, wherever you are. I hope … I hope I’ll get to see you again, when it’s my turn to go.” Talon leaned closer and whispered, “Until then, thank you, for everything.” Then she stood up and joined the other wyrms in their silent vigil.

One by one, the rest of the Squad paid their respects. The onlookers were far enough away that they couldn’t hear what was being said, letting them say their last goodbye in relative privacy.

Eventually they reached the final dragon in line, Genesis. The brown and green wyrm threw his arms around Rune’s still form, hugging it tightly as he sobbed.

Talon had to look away from the spectacle, tears flowing down her cheeks as she did so.

Warfare. Death. They were just facts of life to a wyvern.

What is wrong with us that we treat something like this as normal? Talon had been to countless funerals. She had the speech memorized long before she was expected to give it on behalf of her fallen underlings. Yet in all that time, she had never even thought about a life without war. Is that why the Hurricanes had accepted war against Equestria so easily? Would they not know what to do with their lives if there wasn’t an enemy to kill?

Talon shook her head. No, this can’t be the way things are anymore. She looked back at Rune’s body and solemnly promised herself that she’d contact Equestria somehow and beg them for peace under any terms that kept everydragon alive. The Hurricanes would kill her if they found out she was going behind their backs, but they’d kill the entire Alliance if something didn’t stop them first.

Eventually, Genesis calmed down enough to whisper a last farewell. He stood back up slowly, and motioned for the other wyrms to come forward. Even Heart joined them. They formed a circle around Rune’s body and closed their eyes.

There was a flicker, and suddenly Rune was gone, replaced by a wyrm-shaped pile of dirt. It was rich and brown, perfect for growing crops, but the thought of eating anything grown in it made Talon feel sick.

The wyrms seemed to have no such concerns. They retrieved some shovels that were leaning against the cavern wall and mixed the dirt into the ground. Once they were done, they started back toward the exit, pausing only long enough to return their shovels to the tool rack.

“I guess that’s everything,” Talon said quietly. Then, loudly enough for the rest of the Squad to hear, she said, “Thank you for coming, everydragon. You are dismissed until individual training after lunch.”

As the rest of the group dispersed, Talon made her way to where Genesis still stood, looking at the ground. Heart was already at his side, with one arm around his shoulders, and Clodhopper was reflecting the gesture on his other side. Talon wrapped her wings around all three of the smaller dragons. There didn’t seem to be anything left to say.

Crystal joined them moments later, followed by Ember. Even Tornado joined in, silently curling around them all.

From the center of the little cluster, Genesis said, “Rune helped me through Rain’s death,” his voice caught, “but … I didn’t think there would be anydragon around to help me though this … I’m glad I was wrong.” He leaned against Talon’s wing. “Thank you, everydragon. Thank you.”

Heart carefully untangled the arm that had been wrapped around his shoulders and then brought it up to his cheek. “Rest now. We’ll be here when you wake up.”

Genesis’s eyes closed, and he slumped forward.

“I’ve got him,” Heart said. The group hug broke off, and she hoisted the unconscious wyrm into her arms. “That sleeping spell will keep him from waking up for at least an hour, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he slept clear through until tomorrow morning.” She stared at Genesis for a moment. “Whoever Rain was, she meant a lot to him.”

“She was his wife,” Clodhopper said quietly.

Talon didn’t even know that Genesis had been married. She felt a little ashamed that she hadn’t known something so important about one of her squad-mates.

Heart, however, just nodded. “Would somedragon mind giving me a ride back to the nest?”

“I will,” Ember said.

“I’d better get back to IHQ,” Talon said. She had a letter to send.

Tornado pulled himself up and stood next to her.

Crystal nodded. “I’ll join you, but,” she turned to Clodhopper, “do you need a ride to the lab first?”

“I’ll be fine,” he assured her.

With everything settled, the group made their way back to the tunnel, and from there, out into the canyon once more.

They had barely emerged when a tremendously loud voice shook the area. “Members of the Dragon Alliance, you may choose to not to believe this, but I am sorry for your losses.”

Talon froze. She recognized that voice, but she couldn’t imagine what Celestia would be doing here. At least, she couldn’t imagine any scenario that didn’t include a surprise attack. “Back to the tunnel!”

“However,” Luna’s voice joined in, and her tone was far more menacing, “each time that we offer you mercy, thousands of the ponies who look to us for protection and guidance pay for it with their lives. No longer!”

Talon didn’t have to encourage them to run faster.

Something exploded behind them. Even though she was looking away, the light was so brilliant that it left spots in Talon’s vision. Two more explosions followed in quick succession.

“Consider this warning shot a gesture of gratitude for warning the citizens of the Crystal Empire before you attacked them,” Celestia’s voice boomed.

“Sometime in the next three days,” Luna continued, “we will return and destroy a part of this canyon, as well as any dragons who are caught in the blast. Then, sometime in the three days after that, we will do it again, and then again, and again until either the Alliance surrenders or there are none of you left to harm our subjects.” The conviction in her voice left no doubt that she was serious.

Talon pulled the group to a halt and waited.

There were no more explosions, and no more of that incredibly loud speech. In fact, things were almost eerily silent.

Crystal choked back a sob. “They’re going to kill us all, aren’t they?”

“I …” Talon shook her head. “I don’t know.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Spirit wasn’t having a good day, or month, or year, for that matter. He paused and thought back. The peace talks were in late October, and it was early April … Wow, they’d had nearly six months of this insanity. Spirit shook off that thought and focused back on the matter at hoof. It was almost noon, and Autumn had been missing since before breakfast.

No one around the barracks had seen her, and she wasn’t at her mother’s house. Spirit didn’t want to be paranoid, but there was always the chance that an Alliance spy had grabbed her.

Now Spirit was out wandering around the nearest business district. Unfortunately, none of the shoppers or shop owners had seen her.

“Okay, thanks anyway,” Spirit told the owner of a small jewelry stand. The stand was at the edge of a large plaza, so he’d hoped that the mare running it had seen something. Maybe he should look into some kind of tracking spell, in case this ever happened again.

Spirit hated to admit it, but he hadn’t seen or talked to his marefriend since the battle. The immediate aftermath had left Autumn nearly dead from Yol Toor’s aura blast, and Spirit so drained that it took two of his suit’s batteries just to bring his magic field back up to normal levels.

He bit on the inside of his cheek as he remembered that he and Autumn had been lucky. Nine members of the Everfree Platoon lost their lives in that blast.

Even so, there had been thousands of Equestrian soldiers that needed healing. Spirit remembered doing the best he could but passing out from exhaustion sometime after sunrise.

When he woke up again, around sunset, there had still been soldiers in urgent need of healing, and Autumn hadn’t yet regained consciousness. This time, Spirit had actually been awake when they finished with the last of the critical cases, but gladly passed out as soon as he could.

That pretty much led him up until now. Autumn had been gone when he woke up, and Spirit had been trying to find her ever since.

A crystal guard saw Spirit from across the plaza and ran toward him. “Excuse me, Prince Spirit?” Nervousness reflected in his coat and his expression.

A guard running up to an authority figure, apparently to tell him something important. Yeah, no way this was good news. Spirit fought down a groan. “What is it?”

“I was told that you are looking for Lady Autumn Gem, is that correct?”

Spirit grabbed the pony by his shoulders. “Do you know where she is? Is she hurt or something?”

The guard pulled back but otherwise kept his composure. “She is safe, sir. I can escort you to her.”

“Sorry.” Grinning sheepishly, Spirit gestured for the guard to lead on.

He simply nodded and set off at a fast walking speed.

As soon as they were clear of the plaza, Spirit asked, “How did you know that I was looking for Autumn? For that matter, why do you know where she is?”

“Lieutenant Valiant mobilized a platoon of soldiers when he heard that a foreign dignitary had gone missing,” the guard replied. “We were also instructed to take you to her in the event that she was found unharmed.”

Spirit wasn’t exactly sure what to make of that. Valiant hadn’t been at Verre’s house when he stopped by there, so either she told her ex-husband about it afterwards or he had learned about it through some other means. Either way, he had taken steps to help. “I … guess I should thank Valiant the next time I see him.”

There was no reply from the crystal guard, and so they continued in silence.

After about ten minutes, they came to a place that Spirit had definitely not expected. It was a small building between two larger ones, with a sign that simply read, ‘Honey’s Bar.’

“Oh boy,” Spirit muttered. He should have expected this. Autumn only woke up this morning, which meant that she had just learned about Everfree’s casualties. Where else would she be after getting news like that? He turned to the guard. “Thanks for bringing me here. I’ll handle the rest on my own.”

The guard nodded. “I will remain here if you need me.”

Inside was a surprisingly nice bar. There were none of the stereotypical overturned stools, suspicious ponies hidden in dark corners, or spilled drinks. It wasn’t even dark. Instead, it looked like a friendly little restaurant that happened to include a bar and a pool table.

Sitting at the bar was Autumn, without the suit of Everfree Armor that had almost become a second skin to them all over the past few months. Her coat had reverted to a muted gray-blue color, and her mane and tail both hung low without the metal bands she usually wore. A half-finished mug of beer sat on the bar in front of her.

The middle-aged yellow mare behind the counter gave a cheerful smile when she saw Spirit. “What can I get for you?”

“Just a beer.” He pulled up a seat next to Autumn. “You had me worried when you left without talking to anyone.”

“I needed to be alone,” Autumn whispered back. She took a long drink from her mug, nearly emptying it. “I apologize for worrying you.”

“I’m just glad you’re safe.” Spirit grasped Autumn’s closest hoof with his hand. “I nearly lost you the other night. I guess that made me a little paranoid.”

Autumn let out a sigh and finished the last of her drink. “Honeysuckle, another beer, please.”

“Of course.” The yellow mare passed Spirit a full mug and began filling one for Autumn. After they had both been served, she gave them a knowing look and said, “I’ll be in the back. Call if you need me for anything.”

Spirit smiled gratefully. “Thanks.”

Once they were alone, Autumn lowered her head until it hit the bar, her fresh mug of beer still clutched in one hoof. “Spirit, nine of our friends are dead.”

“I know.” Spirit squeezed her other hoof. “There’s nothing we could have done.”

“We could have stayed hidden,” Autumn said. “I cast the deciding vote between you and Twilight. If I hadn’t tried to get us involved in a battle that was clearly out of our league …” She trailed off as tears started to appear in her eyes.

“I voted to attack too,” Spirit reminded her. “One of my mothers was out there fighting. I couldn’t sit by and do nothing.”

“So we made a mistake, and our friends died because of it.” Autumn sat up enough to take a long drink of her beer. “What are we going to tell their families, Spirit?” A sob rocked her. “How can we ever face them again?” Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Spirit pulled her against his chest and let her cry.

Minutes ticked past, and Autumn’s sobs slowly quieted.

“I talked with Celestia while we were healing the wounded last night,” Spirit whispered. “Would you believe that she’s blaming herself for those deaths too?” He took a sip of his beer. It wasn’t the best he’d ever had, but it was far from terrible. “Apparently she keeps a running tally of every intelligent creature that has died in a war under her command. She’s up to eight hundred and thirty thousand, something or other.” Another sip. “After a thousand years of thinking about it, she came to the conclusion that all she can do is remember those sacrifices, and try to make them mean something.”

Autumn nodded against the chestplate of his armor. “Cliff is also blaming himself for what happened. I visited their graves this morning, and he was crying next to the one for Steel Claw. He said that if he had gotten away from Yol Toor more quickly, or if he had done a better job creating the Shadow-form enchantment, then his old friend would not have died.”

Spirit hugged Autumn more tightly. He hadn’t spent much time with Steel Claw, but he knew that the older wyrm came from the same coven where Cliff grew up, and that he had even been a sort of mentor to Cliff from time to time over the years. “What did you tell him?”

“I told him …” Autumn sighed. “I told him that he did his best, and not to blame himself for things beyond his control.” She sniffled a little. “What did you tell Celestia?”

“That she needed to stop beating herself up for not being perfect.” Spirit squeezed Autumn’s shoulders again. “Not even she can keep every last soldier safe.”

Autumn leaned into Spirit more heavily. Her coat slowly brightening from despairing to simply very tired. “Do you know why soldiers have been keeping an eye on this building? One of them led you here, right?”

“Yeah, they were out looking for you.” Spirit drained his mug down to about the halfway point. Honestly, he was a little worried about his alicorn mother. Their conversation the other day had inspired a look in her eyes that he wasn’t entirely comfortable with.

“You didn’t have to mobilize troops to find me.” Autumn chuckled weakly. “I would have returned as soon as I was finished drowning my sorrows.”

“It wasn’t me.” Spirit paused as he realized what her next question was going to be. Crap.

“Who was it?”

Crap! He took a long drink of his beer, emptying the mug completely as he tried to think about what to say.

“Spirit?” Autumn sat up enough to look him in the eyes. “What’s-” She cut off abruptly as anger overtook her features. “It was him, wasn’t it?”

Spirit sighed. “Yes.”

“I can’t believe that he’s still trying to act like my father after what he did!” Every time Valiant had come up in the past week, Autumn had launched into a tirade about how much she hated the stallion.

Before she could really get going, Spirit called, “Honeysuckle, could we get a refill on our drinks?” Maybe it was selfishness on Spirit’s part, but he didn’t enjoy having his marefriend yell at him for an hour or two, even if it was about somepony else.

This particular rant wasn’t quite as eloquent as normal, probably a side-effect of the beer, but she made up for quality with quantity. Honeysuckle refilled their drinks, then handled the lunch rush, then refilled their drinks again, then brought them a large plate of miniature sandwiches, then refilled their drinks again, and was getting ready for the dinner rush when Autumn finally ran out of steam and passed out.

“Sorry about this,” Spirit said as he gathered his sleeping marefriend in his arms. “I hope she didn’t disturb your other customers too much.”

Honeysuckle shook her head. “My husband and I used to be part of Autumn’s group of rebels. He died fighting Valiant’s soldiers on the night that Autumn and I were captured.” She gathered the mugs and the plate that had held their sandwiches. “I agree with everything Autumn said, and more.”

Spirit froze. “I … I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about.” The yellow mare gestured at Autumn. “Just get her home and let her rest.”

“I will,” Spirit promised. “How much does our bill come to?”

“It’s on the house.” Honeysuckle gave him a look that was equal parts sad and sympathetic. “I know it’s hard, but venting like this is helping her a lot.”

Spirit looked down at the mare in his arms, then back at Honeysuckle. “I hope so, and thanks.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

When Spirit got back to the barracks for Everfree, he was surprised to find Celestia standing in front of them, wearing her battle gear, and seemingly lost in thought.

“Is something wrong?” Spirit asked as he approached.

Celestia jumped a little. “Oh, Spirit. I’m sorry, I was just thinking.” Worry crossed her face. “Is Autumn injured?”

“No, she had a bit too much to drink.” Spirit had neutralized the alcohol in her system on the way back. “Anyway, what bring you here? I thought you’d be in Canterlot by now.”

“Luna and I had to deliver a message to the Alliance first,” Celestia said calmly. “Then Luna asked that I come along for emotional support while she asks a stallion out.”

Spirit’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“Luna is asking a stallion out.” Celestia gave him an amused grin. “You didn’t think she was interested in mares, did you?”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” Spirit shifted Autumn’s weight a little. “You and Luna went to the Alliance?”

“We were careful,” Celestia assured him. “Shining Armor can give you the details.” She leaned closer and whispered, “However, your concern is touching.”

“Well, you are one of my mothers.”

Two white wings engulfed both Spirit and Autumn and pulled them into a hug with Celestia. “I’ll never get tired of hearing you call me that.” She nuzzled the top of his head.

Since his arms were occupied, Spirit had to content himself with leaning into the hug. “Just don’t do anything reckless without telling us, okay?”

There was the sound of a door opening, followed immediately by Luna shouting, “He agreed!”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my subjects,” Celestia whispered before looking up and retracting her wings. “That’s wonderful to hear, Luna! Although perhaps you should leave your armor behind the next time you ask someone out.”

Now that Spirit was free, he saw that Luna was indeed wearing her armor, including her helmet.

Luna put a hoof to her chest. “I merely wanted to remind him that he should obey the orders of this army’s commanding officer.”

Celestia arched an eyebrow at that.

“So you ordered some pony into a date with you,” Spirit surmised.

“In a manner of speaking. I ordered him to accompany me while I dream walk tonight.” Luna grinned. “But he still said yes.” Her grin faded as she looked at Autumn. “Is your concubine ill?”

Spirit made a face. “She’s not my concubine!”

“Actually,” Celestia said gently, “she is. Concubine means the pony you live with and have sexual relations with, but aren’t married to.” Then to Luna she said, “Autumn is fine, but that term has taken on a more negative connotation over the years. It would probably be best if you avoided using it.”

Celestia knows that I’m having sex too, Spirit realized before abruptly moving to the door of the barracks. “Well, it was nice to see you both, but I’ve got some things to do. Take care!” Unfortunately, a golden aura covered the door before he could reach it.

“Spirit,” Celestia said, “you’re allowed to have different thoughts and opinions than I do. It doesn’t make me love you any less.” She released her hold on the door. “I hope you both have a good day.”

Spirit managed a sheepish smile. “Thanks, Mom. You too.”

The inside of the barracks was nearly full, not surprisingly. Most of the Platoon usually relaxed in here right before dinner. What Spirit wasn’t expecting, though, was that most of the platoon members weren’t even looking at the door when he entered. Instead, their gazes were drawn to a very shocked-looking Big Mac, who was sitting with the rest of his team, minus Cliff.

“Uh …” Fire Eyes finally broke the silence. “Did Luna really just say that, or am I hallucinating?”

“She said it alright,” Dash said, blushing slightly.

Blueblood shook his head. “I just doesn’t make sense.” He turned to Big Mac. “Why would Princess Luna order you to sleep with her?”

Spirit nearly dropped his marefriend.

Big Mac shrugged helplessly. “Dunno.”

“Actually-” Spirit started to say, before Blueblood cut him off.

“Whatever the case, we need to get you ready.” Blueblood grabbed onto the larger stallion with his magic and started dragging him toward the door. “I know an excellent spa that will make you presentable before royalty.”

On second thought, he’d let them figure it out on their own. Spirit wordlessly stepped aside and let them pass. It was all he could do to hide a smirk.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Big Mac had never been to a spa before in his life, and he would be just as happy if he never went to one again. By the time they finished scrubbing his coat and detangling his mane and tail, he felt like somepony had rubbed his entire body down with sandpaper.

At least the clothing store only required him to stand still for an hour or so. Of course, that gave him plenty of time to worry about how he would explain this to Granny.

It was past sundown by the time they finished, but Big Mac was grateful for that when he discovered that their next stop was an adult novelty store. He didn’t think that these even existed in Everfree or Ponyville. Also, Blueblood recognized most of the things in this store. That raised questions that Mac was fairly sure he didn’t want answered.

At least Blueblood had paid for everything, and provided several hours of slightly nauseating instructions so that Big Mac would be able to accommodate Luna’s ‘preferences,’ no matter how bizarre.

As the product of good old-fashioned Apple-family values, Big Mac had never heard of most of the things that Blueblood described, and he was starting to think that he’d rather get thrown in the dungeon than go through with half of them.

Eventually midnight came, and Big Mac made his way to Luna’s room in the lower floors of the Crystal Bunker. The halls were almost completely empty, and the echoing of his hoofsteps on the crystalline floor only reinforced the feeling of isolation.

Big Mac thought about stopping by Cliff’s lab. That dragon had barely left his lab since the battle. He couldn’t stop this war on his own, and he needed to stop trying before he burned himself out completely. It was like dealing with AJ all over again.

Unfortunately, Princess Luna had been very specific about when she expected to meet up with him, so Big Mac continued on his way.

He found a couple of bat pony guards in front of Luna’s room, but they didn’t stop him. They didn’t even blink an eye at the tuxedo-clad stallion, carrying a box of frankly terrifying objects, as he walked up to the door and knocked.

Luna appeared moments later, without any of the regalia that he was used to seeing her in, and yawning widely. “Whatever it is, speak quickly. I have a date to …” She trailed off as her eyes fell on him. “Big McIntosh Apple, what has brought you here, and why are you dressed so?”

Big Mac stared back at her. “… Sleep?” Maybe she forgot or changed her mind. He could live with either.

Understanding lit up Luna’s expression. “Ah, so you came to see me? How very thoughtful!” She leaned over to one of her guards and said, “Fetch a cot and a sleeping roll.” Then she returned her attention to Big Mac. “Come in. I had intended for everything to be done at the barracks, but it will be easier to instruct you here.”

She wanted to do it at the barracks? It was all Mac could do to follow her quietly rather than run screaming in the other direction.

The inside of Luna’s room was a lot more spartan than he had expected. The crystals that made up the walls and floor were the same light blue as the rest of the Crystal Bunker, and there were no windows or personal effects other than a trunk with her cutie mark on it. The only two hints that this wasn’t a normal pony’s room were the princess-size bed and a collection of glowing dots on the ceiling. Big Mac kept his focus on the dots, mostly so his gaze wouldn’t linger on the bed. They seemed to be organized in the same pattern as the stars in the night sky, with a large one for the moon. They also seemed to be the only lights in the room, casting everything in weak silvery light.

Luna fidgeted nervously next to Big Mac, which confused him to no end. “There was no need to dress up, nor to bring me a gift. In truth, this was my way of thanking you for protecting me during the recent battle.”

That only raised more questions. Why did Luna think that a stallion would want to be thanked with … never mind. Big Mac knew at least a dozen other stallions, and even some wyrms and mares, that would do anything to be in his horseshoes right now. Maybe he could get out of it if this was meant to be a reward of sorts. Sure, Luna was probably the most beautiful mare that he had ever seen, but Granny Smith had raised him better than that. He cleared his throat. “Don’t thank me.”

Unfortunately, his lengthy speech had the opposite effect from what he’d intended. The Princess smiled warmly before lying on the bed and rolling around to face him, resting on her stomach. “Selfless and humble, I like thee.”

Big Mac knew about bedroom eyes, but this was his first time seeing them in an actual bedroom. He mentally facehoofed.

“Now what gift has thou brought?” Grinning, Luna lifted the box off of his back with her magic. The light from her horn stood out strongly in the dimness of the room.

“From Blueblood,” Mac said quickly. Celestia only knew what night of horrors would await him if she thought that he wanted to use any of those things.

Luna’s smile faded a bit. “Truly? I have spent very little time with my nephew, but I was led to believe that he was quite the cad. Perhaps membership in the Everfree Platoon has changed him for the better.” She undid the ornate bow and opened the box. Her expression immediately changed to one of shock, followed by disgust. “Or perhaps not. I have seen more than enough erotic dreams to know what these were intended for.” She levitated out a bridle and a pair of hoofcuffs.

Big Mac looked away. It was a good thing that his coat was so red. It made it nearly impossible to see when he was blushing.

“I should speak with Blueblood about making indecent suggestions to a princess.” She made a gagging noise and tossed the box to the far side of the room. “What did he believe that we would be doing tonight?”

Big Mac shrugged. He risked a glance back at Luna. Surprisingly, she was blushing a little as well.

Luna shook her head, making her mane flow back and forth behind her. “Now then, what is thy most cherished dream?”

That was easy. “Mah family.”

“A most respectable dream,” Luna said approvingly. “Dost,” she cleared her throat, “do you wish to speak with them again?”

He looked up at the pseudo night sky. It was the beginning of April. Sweet Apple Acres specialized in apples, but they grew plenty of other crops as well. AJ and AB had already planted the broccoli and cauliflower. Soon they would be getting started on the carrots and cabbage. By the end of the month, corn and pumpkins would be added to their workload too, and the odds were good that he wouldn’t be there for any of it. Some villagers were lending a helping hoof or claw, but the simple fact was that his family was struggling without him.

The stallion lowered his gaze to Luna and shook his head. Talking was good, but that’s what letters were for. “Ah wanna help with their farm work.”

Luna paused, and then tapped a hoof to her chin. “Thy- Your desire is admirable. I had planned on taking you dream walking to see your family, but …” A smile graced her features.

Relief flooded through Big Mac. Her order had been to go dream walking with her, and not … something that would lead to Granny Smith tanning his backside.

The trunk against the wall opened, and a piece of parchment and a quill floated out.

Luna pulled them both to her and began to write. “Officially, I should not leave the Empire. This enchantment will allow my guards to contact me in the event of an emergency, but it would still be best if no one were to see us.”

Mac nodded his agreement to her terms.

With a wave of her horn, Luna opened the door and called, “Guards, you may forego the cot. We are not to be disturbed unless absolutely necessary.” Then she set the paper down on the bed and stood up to join Big Mac, smiling mischievously. “Now then, shall we perform an anonymous act of service to a certain apple farm?” She held out her hoof to him.

He took the offered hoof, and for the first time since he arrived at this room, Big Mac smiled. He even had to fight down a few tears. “Eeyup.”

Chapter 41

Talon looked around the IHQ. It was abandoned except for her and Steel Mind, their code translator. Crystal and Tornado were off training with the rest of Squad Four, and Heart was in another Council meeting.

Perfect.

The Hurricanes would execute anyone they caught betraying the Alliance, and Talon wasn’t going to risk the lives of her friends by getting them involved in this. “Any response from our spy in Everfree Village?”

Steel Mind shook his head. “They haven’t checked in for a week, and all the changelings in the area say they have no idea why.” He arched an eyebrow. “Their responses were a little too uniform, if you ask me.”

Talon would have kept Steel Mind out of this as well, but she needed a wyrm to operate the sending stones that their spies used. That, and the Hurricanes couldn’t overhear a suspicious conversation if it was in emotional speech. “You think the changelings are behind it?”

Steel Mind nodded. “The spy reported seeing a changeling a few days after he dropped off that first message to Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“And Princess Twilight never responded or acted like she even got our messages.” Talon sat down and rubbed her head with one wing. “Okay, so the changelings are probably interfering with our attempts to peacefully contact Equestria. The question is why. What could they possibly get by forcing us to keep up a fight that we can’t win?”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Queen Chrysalis, the leader of the changelings, the destroyer of countless towns and cities throughout Equestrian history, who had nearly overthrown Canterlot, who had even defeated Celestia in single combat, was currently standing in the Canterlot throne room.

Against all military protocols, there wasn’t a single guard in the room to keep an eye on her. In fact, most of the castle had been emptied. Celestia wasn’t going to risk innocent casualties. The only individuals here were herself, Luna, and the changeling queen.

Chrysalis’s dark carapace stood out in stark contrast to the multitude of colors pouring in through the stained-glass windows to her left. The thick red carpet beneath her hooves only made the holes in her legs stand out more clearly. Even the changeling queen’s gossamer mane, hanging in a tangled mess off the side of her neck, clashed with the neat and orderly atmosphere of the throne room. Yet in spite of it all, Chrysalis stood proudly, even smiling a little, which revealed a row of sharp teeth.

Celestia studied the creature in front of her, searching for any sign of trickery or deceit, but she could find none. Even scanning the changeling queen’s emotions and surface thoughts revealed nothing but complete honesty. At last, Celestia spoke, “I have only two questions, Chrysalis. First, why are you offering to betray the Alliance, especially to Equestria, a nation that you hate? Second,” she lit her horn and leveled it at the queen, “why shouldn’t I destroy you here and now for all the pain you have caused my subjects over the centuries?”

Chrysalis smirked. “My changelings have information that would lead to the deaths of millions of your ponies if they delivered it to the Alliance, which they will, unless I return to them by noon.”

“You base coward,” Luna growled.

“I prefer to think of it as strategically minded,” Chrysalis replied smugly. “Incidentally, I’m betraying the Dragon Alliance for the same reason. You two have been slowly crushing them to death ever since you captured Yol Toor. Their numbers are dwindling along with their supplies. Meanwhile, your army is safe in the Crystal Empire with nothing to do but watch farmers replenish your food stores.”

Any hint of amusement faded away, and Chrysalis gave Celestia a very serious look. “The Dragon Alliance is going to lose this war, but you know that they won’t surrender quietly. They’ll drag this out as long as they can, killing countless ponies in the process.” That smug smile returned. “My betrayal will cut that time short, preventing battles and saving lives. I’m even offering the location and identity of every Alliance spy, and details on all of the battle strategies that they have discussed since Yol Toor’s capture. Finally, I’ll withhold that vital piece of information from the Alliance, information that might even let them defeat Equestria.”

“And what vital information would that be?” Celestia asked.

“Where you’re holding Yol Toor, of course.” Chrysalis’s expression became serious. “We searched every inch of Equestria and confirmed that he isn’t there, every inch except for the dungeons of Canterlot.”

Celestia carefully maintained her calm facade. “What if you missed something?”

Chrysalis shrugged. “That message will still bring every dragon in the Alliance crashing down at your door. Isn’t preventing that worth the little I ask in return?”

“A full pardon for every changeling is hardly a small thing to ask,” Luna said.

“I thought ponies were all about second chances and living together in harmony,” Chrysalis returned. “Changelings can hardly live in peace with you if we’re imprisoned on sight, now can we?”

Celestia remained silent as she reflected on the issue. She didn’t doubt that Chrysalis would gladly betray her closest friends if she thought it would benefit her in some way. Betraying the weaker side in a war in order to gain favor with the stronger side was a deplorable tactic, of course, and Celestia hated to play a part in such a thing, but she couldn’t risk the safety of her subjects. Unfortunately, allowing changelings to roam free across Equestria had the potential to be just as damaging as an army of dragons, which made the decision all the more tricky.

“I believe I have a solution,” Celestia said at last. “If every changeling will go into hibernation in a secure area-”

“In a cell, you mean,” Chrysalis said.

Celestia nodded. “Yes, in a cell. One hundred changeling will be awakened and set free every year, with you as the last. They will receive funding for their material needs until they can find work of their own, and it will give Equestria time to adapt to your kind and establish a method to allow you to feed.”

Chrysalis’s eyes narrowed. “Are you really stupid enough to think I would agree to that?”

“If you wish a more favorable solution,” Luna said, “all of your changelings could go free, but you would be required to remain within this castle for the span of one year.”

“You can both stop,” Chrysalis said, looking annoyed. “I’m not going to change my terms. You can pardon every changeling, including me, and I’ll have the Alliance’s information network disabled by sundown, or you can let millions of your subjects die.” She turned toward the door and called over her shoulder, “Oh, and this offer expires as soon as I leave the room.” Then she took a very deliberate step.

Biting down her frustration and anger, Celestia turned to Luna.

The younger alicorn was glaring daggers at Chrysalis’s back. “I understand that we cannot, but I would dearly like to kill that abomination,” she whispered.

Chrysalis took another step, giving no sign that she had heard.

“Luna,” Celestia whispered, “can you enter the dreams of changelings?”

“I have by accident on a number of occasions,” Luna replied.

Another step.

“Do you believe you could find out what she’s planning?”

Luna turned and met her sister’s gaze. “I can guarantee nothing, but yes, I believe I can.”

Celestia nodded. “Thank you, Sister.” Then in a louder voice she said, “Wait, Chrysalis.”

The changeling queen stopped and looked back at the two alicorns. “Yes?”

“You will have your freedom, and your subjects will too. However, I must insist that the majority of you remain in Canterlot for the time being. Our foremost scientists and mages all live here, and we will need their help to find a method that will allow changelings to feed without harming ponies.”

Chrysalis laughed. “That, Celestia, has already been taken care of. The Alliance was kind enough to provide us with staffs that can drain targets of their magic from a distance. At a reasonably low setting, your precious ponies won’t suffer any lasting damage.”

“Then allow us to at least provide you with lodgings and volunteers,” Celestia said. “There is an empty barracks near Canterlot Castle that could hold all of your subjects, and I will send out word immediately, asking for volunteers who will allow you to absorb some of their magic.” She put on her best motherly smile and let her heart radiate emotions of love and compassion. “We should also organize a grand celebration in your honor to commemorate the dawn of a new era of friendship between changelings and ponies.”

For a moment, Chrysalis made no move, then a grin worked its way across her muzzle. “Make it official.”

Fighting down the urge to sigh, Celestia spread her wings and intoned, “I hereby proclaim that every changeling shall be given a full pardon for all their past offenses against Equestria and granted full rights and citizenship. All this, on the condition that you, Chrysalis, hold true to your promise and provide us with the battle plans and captive spies of the Dragon Alliance, as well as withholding from the Alliance any information that it could possibly use to harm Equestria or its subjects.”

Chrysalis’s smug grin made Celestia want to throttle her. “Very well, I’ll tell my changelings to start rounding up Alliance spies, but we’ll show up for your little party, and we’ll take that barracks for our new business venture. I assume it’s still legal to run a brothel?”

Celestia barely contained a sigh. “Yes, it is.”

“Ah good.” Chrysalis gave both her and Luna an amused smile. “I can only imagine how much some ponies would pay to bed an alicorn princess, even knowing that she’s a changeling in disguise. I’m sure you two will be among our most frequent requests.” With a wicked cackle, Chrysalis turned and left.

The resounding silence of her departure was broken when Luna asked, “Which one of us do you suppose will be requested more often?”

At least there were no guards around to witness as Celestia facehoofed.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Several hours later, Luna had returned to the Crystal Empire and Celestia was finishing the first draft of a general pardon for all changelings. She still had trouble believing that she was going to let Chrysalis and her brood get away with all of the things they had done, but the safety of Equestria’s citizens had to come first. With any luck, they might even be able to win over some changelings to the Equestrian way of life, or at least get Chrysalis so focused on the economic success of her new ‘business’ that she forgot to carry out whatever plan she was concocting.

Celestia put the scroll aside and rose to her hooves. Her office was actually a simple room with white walls and a plush red carpet, decorated only by a few pictures of her closest friend and family. Most of the room was taken up by a desk so large that it doubled as a table for smaller meetings.

She opened the door and stepped into the hallway beyond, where the Royal Scheduling Adviser waited. “Kibitz, what’s next for today?”

The cream-colored old unicorn consulted the official schedule as he fell into step beside her. “You have another meeting with Yol Toor. The mayor of Phillydelphia had to postpone her appointment, so you will have a free hour after that.”

“I would like to spend it with Flurry Heart,” Celestia said. She would need some time with her adorable grandniece to help her unwind after dealing with both Chrysalis and Yol Toor.

“Very good.” Kibitz made a note on the schedule. “After your free hour, there is a graduation ceremony at the Royal Guard Training Academy that you should attend, and then you will be free for the rest of the day.”

“That’s wonderful to hear.” Celestia didn’t try to hide the relief in her voice. She picked up the pace a bit so that she could get to her free evening faster.

It only took a few minutes to make their way into the caves beneath Canterlot Castle, and from there to the dungeon. Until Yol Toor, no one had been held down here in centuries, but it was still one of the most secure areas in Equestria. The tunnels had all been reinforced by Starswirl himself, and the cells had been specially designed to hold creatures of immense power.

“Thank you for accompanying me, Kibitz,” Celestia said when they reached the door to the first cell. “I will return soon.”

“Of course, Princess.” Kibitz took his usual spot next to the door.

Inside, Celestia found ten of her most capable guards standing watch over Yol Toor, five of them facing outwards for potential threats, and five of them facing inwards, in case their captive tried anything.

Not that there was much he could do. Instead of bars, the entire front of the cell was covered in a thick layer of glass that was many times more durable than steel. It was also more than one hundred times as rare and extremely difficult to forge. Food and water were delivered through a small compartment in the bottom corner. It had two doors, one to the inside and one to the outside, but only one could be opened at a time, and they couldn’t be closed if any living creature was inside the compartment. The cell was airtight as well, with special enchantments to keep the air fresh and to allow those inside the cell and those outside of it to hear each other.

Yol Toor himself stared back at his guards with an expression of calm neutrality. The cell constantly siphoned off his magic in order to strengthen its walls, which had taken much of the luster out of his gray scales, but his golden eyes were as sharp as ever.

“Leave us,” Celestia ordered.

The guards did so without complaint. They knew to expect it by now.

As soon as they were alone, Yol Toor’s mask of calmness slipped away, replaced by worry and concern. “Has there been more bloodshed since we spoke last?” It was the same question that he always asked when she came to see him.

Celestia nodded regretfully. “Yesterday. Luna and I attacked the Shattered Mountain Canyon again, although we only collapsed one cave this time.” She closed the distance between them and sat down opposite Yol Toor. They were about the same height while he was in his thinking form, letting them look each other in the eyes. “We also had Cadance and Shining Armor with us, to overload more anti-magic circles before they could be completed.”

The drake lord never got angry at her for these admissions, nor did he issue threats. Instead, the concern on his face grew as he asked, “Are my daughters still alive?”

“They are,” Celestia promised. “They fought bravely to defend their allies. One of Qo Peyt’s legs was broken by Luna, but they are both alive.”

Yol Toor closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. “And Silver Tail?”

“We didn’t see him, but we have no reason to think that he is dead.”

From there, Yol Toor went down a long list of his friends and descendants, asking one by one if they were still alive.

Even though Celestia knew that it would have been faster for her to simply tell him which dragons had been killed, she never interrupted this little ritual. Part of it was that she admired the idea of a leader who knew the names and faces of each of his followers. Mostly, however, she just wanted to delay admitting that she had killed another dragon.

Eventually, Yol Toor reached the name that Celestia had been dreading, “… And Stone Sky? A gray-blue drake with head spikes of the same color. His scales take on the appearance of polished marble during battle.”

Celestia bowed her head, which was all the response Yol Toor needed.

“I see.” The ancient drake’s heart seemed to break just a little, as it always did when he received this kind of news. “… He will be missed.”

Normally they would both be silent for a few moments, but today, Celestia found herself unable to stand the guilt and frustration that were eating away at her. “Yol Toor.” She paused as soon as the words left her mouth, unsure what to say next. “… I’m sorry.” The alicorn shook her head. Offering something as feeble as an apology wouldn’t bring his dead family members back. “I wish I could have prevented this war, but I don’t have the authority to order ponies off of their land. I simply can’t give the Alliance what it wants.”

Yol Toor looked up at her with regretful eyes. “I know, Celestia.” His gaze held firm but there was compassion in it too. “Perhaps negotiations could have prevented it, but we were both blind to that option. I hated and feared ponies for much of my life, a trait that was passed on to my followers. Now they are paying the price for my failure as a leader.”

Silence fell upon the two, broken only by the rhythmic pattern of their breathing.

It was Celestia that finally spoke, “What was Stone Sky like?”

Yol Toor frowned. “Why do you ask?”

“Perhaps we both need a reminder sometimes that we aren’t fighting an army of faceless monsters, but living, breathing individuals, just like us.” Celestia smiled weakly. “I know that I don’t deserve to ask anything of you, and I would understand if you would rather not speak to me right now.”

Yol Toor stared intently at her for a moment, then he curled into a loose ball on the floor of his cell, with his head facing her. “Stone Sky was my fourth generation descendant and a loving husband and father. I have never met another dragon that enjoyed climbing as much as he did. One day, when he was still too young to fly, he fell onto my back while I was resting in the middle of a cavern. When his parents weren’t looking, he had scaled the cavern walls and started making his way upside down across the ceiling.” A nostalgic smile touched Yol Toor’s features. “That was how he eventually earned his true name …”

Celestia sat down to listen, letting the drake’s voice take her back to a simpler time.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Fluttershy was knitting peacefully in her bedroom when Discord appeared in front of her. He was still less than half of his original size, about as big as a normal pony, but that didn’t seem to be upsetting him today. In fact, he was rolling around in the air and laughing. “Oh, Fluttershy,” he wiped tears from his eyes, “you have to go look at your kitchen. I haven’t seen anything this funny in years!”

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy whispered. “Is Sweetie here for her cooking lesson already? I didn’t hear Mother come back with her.”

Discord shook his head. “This is even better. Go look!”

She took another long drink of water before pushing herself up to her hooves. It was a little hard to move around these days, thanks to her rounded belly and constant fatigue, but at least the restlessness had ended a while ago.

The stench of burning plastic hit Fluttershy as soon as she opened her door, prompting her to hurry down the stairs as quickly as she could. What she saw in the kitchen made her gasp and look around in awe.

A thick layer of mashed potatoes and strawberry jam covered the counter. The blender had been placed on the stove for some reason and melted nearly beyond recognition. Below it, the oven door hung by a single hinge, and it looked like something brown had exploded within the device. There was even a large dent in the cupboard opposite the oven. Meanwhile, the floor was covered in a mixture of flour and water.

Sitting in the middle of it all, Zeph scratched the back of his neck with one paw. “Oh, hi there. I may have accidentally brought a slice of bread to life, but the good news is I think it’s friendly.”

“I don’t understand,” Fluttershy whispered over the sound of Discord’s laughter. “I thought you were just making yourself a sandwich.”

Zeph chuckled nervously. “I was.”

Eventually Fluttershy snapped out of her stupor enough to start cleaning things up. Zeph helped, and thankfully his cleaning skills were much better than his cooking ones. Even Discord agreed to lend a helping paw.

“Zeph,” Fluttershy said as they worked, “um, how much cooking experience do you have?”

The kumiho chuckled nervously. “Uh, none? I can’t even walk down the street in Kumiho Village without getting showered with food and gifts, so I never bothered to learn.”

“And I hope you never do,” Discord said with a grin. “I haven’t felt that much chaos since Pinkie’s last party. Keep cooking like this, and I’ll be able to warp up to Cliff and the Crystal Empire soon.”

Zeph finished scraping potatoes and jam off the counter and into the trash can. “Won’t he be home by the end of next week anyway? So he can be here for the birth?”

“Yes.” Fluttershy grinned. Cliff had been given permission to come home for a week, starting a week from Friday, and she was scheduled to give birth the Tuesday after that. A shiver of excitement went through her as she realized that she was exactly two weeks away from becoming a mother. “I can’t wait to see Cliff with our daughter.”

As if reacting to her thoughts, Miracle kicked.

Fluttershy grinned and massaged her stomach with one hoof. “I think Miracle is excited to meet her daddy too.”

“Don’t worry,” Discord laid a hand on her shoulder, “she’ll get over that as soon as she spends some time with him.”

She chuckled. “Discord, be nice.”

The front door opened and Silver Lining walked in, followed by all four Crusaders.

Silver Lining’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the mess. “Discord, what did you do?”

“Zeph had some trouble in the kitchen.” Fluttershy picked up what had once been a blender, and threw it away. It left a ring of hardened plastic on the stove’s cooking element. She would have to deal with that later.

Scootaloo whistled. “He must be an even worse cook that Sweetie.”

Sweetie blushed and looked away. “I’ve been getting better …”

Silver Lining’s wing came down over the young unicorn’s shoulders. “Yes you are, but it seems we should delay your next cooking lesson until this mess is cleaned up.”

Whisper picked up a broom and joined the cleaning effort without a word.

Fluttershy gave her a hug. “Thank you, Sister.”

She smiled back. “Y-you’re welcome.”

Apple Bloom joined them in the kitchen as well, but instead of cleaning, she made her way to the fridge and looked inside. “I’ll see if I can throw together a lunch for everyone.”

A little while later, they were all sitting in the family nest as they ate a lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

“Maybe you should join in Sweetie’s lessons,” Apple Bloom said, pointing at Zeph. “At least get you to the point that you aren’t a danger to others in the kitchen.”

“Apple Bloom,” Silver Lining said firmly, “you should consult with me before you offer my help to someone.”

“Oh,” Apple Bloom’s ears pressed back, “sorry.”

“I learn better on my own anyway,” Zeph said. It was fascinating to watch all the things he could do with his tails. One of them was holding a bowl of soup in front of him, and two more each had half of a sandwich, bringing them up to his face whenever he wanted to take a bite or a sip. “I’ll be going up to the Crystal Empire as soon as Miracle is born, though, so I wouldn’t have a lot of time to practice.”

Sweetie’s expression fell a little. “Do you really have to go?”

Zeph nodded. “The warriors of Kumiho Village are up there, putting themselves in danger to protect those in need. What kind of guardian spirit would I be if I didn’t join them as soon as I could?”

“You could always become a chaos spirit instead,” Discord said. He was holding his own head in one hand with a bowl of soup in his other one. “Life’s so much more fun when it’s your job to break the rules.”

“That reminds me,” Apple Bloom said. “Is there such a thing as a helper spirit?”

Discord tilted his head back with one hand and poured soup into his mouth with the other. “Not that I’ve seen. Although they sound positively boring, so I’m not sure why you’d want to know.”

“Well a buncha stuff’s been getting done around the farm lately, and neither AJ or me remembers doing any of it.” Apple Bloom looked down at her soup and frowned. “Like this morning, the pumpkin patch had been weeded and the last of the corn boxes had been planted, and it wasn’t like that when we went to bed.”

“Weird.” Scootaloo rubbed her chin with a hoof. “Maybe Sweet Apple Acres is haunted or something.”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Well if the ghosts of Ma and Pa decided to get up and do some farm work, you’d think they’d at least have the decency to drop by the house and say hi.”

“M-maybe they’re af-fraid of scaring you,” Whisper said.

Apple Bloom laughed. “Whisper, I’m saying that it isn’t ghosts. There’s no such thing.”

At that moment, Angel came running in through the pet door with a slice of white bread in hot pursuit.

Fluttershy was so shocked that she didn’t respond until Angel jumped onto her shoulder, grabbed her spoon, and leaped back at the bread slice, brandishing the spoon like a battleaxe.

The bread slice got knocked backwards by the assault and then ran out the pet door, releasing small yips of pain.

Silver Lining and the Crusaders turned to Discord, who shrugged.

“Thanks, girls, but I’m afraid I can’t take the credit for this one.” The hand holding his head motioned to Zeph.

“I guess it wasn’t friendly after all,” Zeph said. “Anyway, Apple Bloom, there actually are lingering spirits, but most of them move on after a year or two, and they’re generally harmless.”

“Not all of them,” Discord said quietly.

Something about his tone sent a chill down Fluttershy’s spine. “What do you mean?” She motioned Angel over and lowered her soup so that he could have some.

Discord put his head back on his shoulders, his expression unusually serious. “Every living thing creates at least a small amount of chaos, that’s just the nature of life. However, locked up in Tartarus, Celestia has a handful of creatures that destroy chaos instead.” His voice got deeper as he said, “Whatever those thing are, they certainly aren’t alive.”

Silver Lining nodded. “The Requiem Guard from the Great Minotaur War. A mere ten of them held off the Equestrian Army for eleven years, slaughtering anypony that dared venture into their tunnels.”

Sweetie started to shiver. “Can we talk about something else, please?”

“Of course.” Discord poured the rest of his soup into his mouth, followed by the bowl, which crunched loudly as he chewed. “I was thinking of starting an Ogres and Oubliettes group. Do any of you want to join?”

“I will,” Apple Bloom said. “I used to play with Big Mac sometimes.”

Now that the conversation was back on more pleasant things, Fluttershy felt her mood lifting. Soon Cliff would get to come home, and just a few days after that, they would be welcoming their daughter into the world. She didn’t think that there could be a happier thought in the world than that.

Chapter 42

Talon and Tornado landed in a dark forest. Theoretically, they were out on patrol. The truth wasn’t nearly so innocent. In fact, Talon was fairly certain that, one way or another, she’d die for what she was about to do.

“Tornado,” she said quietly, “do you trust me?”

“With my life,” he said without hesitation.

“Then stay here.” She turned to him and bit down on the inside of her cheek, fighting down her nerves. “If- if I’m not back by tomorrow morning, go back to the Alliance and tell them that you had no idea what I was doing.”

Tornado’s wings fluttered nervously. “What are you doing?” He took a step toward her. “Are you okay? You are shaking.” He pressed against her side, supporting her weight.

“I’m fine.” Talon soaked in his welcome heat for a moment, then she steeled herself and pulled away. “Stay here.” She turned and walked away.

Tornado called out to her, but he didn’t follow, and Talon ignored his voice until it faded away, replaced by the sounds of the forest.

She didn’t have to go far. In less than a half hour, the trees rolled back, revealing a small Equestrian community. Talon took a deep breath and kept walking, silently praying to the Ancestors that they wouldn’t kill her on sight.

“Excuse me,” a high-pitched voice said, “you’re a wyvern, aren’t you?”

Talon turned and found the end of a cannon less than a foot from her face. Behind it stood a bright pink pony.

Instincts kicked in, and Talon jumped back, spreading her wings for takeoff.

“You sure look like a wyvern,” the pink pony continued. “I just want to know because they say some wyverns want to kill all ponies, and I really don’t want you to kill anyone here, ponies or dragons.”

“I,” Talon forced her wings to fold at her sides, “yes, I’m a wyvern, but I don’t want to kill anyone. I need to talk with Princess Twilight Sparkle. This is Everfree Village, right?”

“Yuppers, this is Everfree Village alright, and it’s really good that you don’t want to hurt anyone.” She grabbed the cannon, there was a blur of movement, and suddenly the cannon was gone. It wasn’t behind her, or nearby; it was just gone. “That means I get to make a new friend!”

Another blur, and Talon found herself accepting a small, gem-encrusted cake of some kind.

“I’m Pinkie Pie,” the pony continued. “What’s your name?”

“Talon, and I really need to talk to Princess Twilight.”

“Oh, she’s in Canterlot right now,” Pinkie said. “Why don’t you just come into the Castle for a welcome party? You can talk to her when she gets back.”

Talon shook her head. “No. No one can know that I’m here.” Two of the Alliance’s spies had escaped when Chrysalis betrayed them. The Hurricanes would certainly hear about it if Equestria learned that a wyvern was trying to help them. Talon might have been willing to accept it if only her life was at stake, but all of Squad Four and every worker in IHQ would become suspects if she were identified as the betrayer. The Hurricanes would torture all of them for answers. “Please,” she begged, “you can’t tell anyone about me other than Princess Twilight.”

Pinkie gave her an appraising look. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. I won’t tell anyone.”

Talon sighed in relief and took a few steps back toward the trees, just in case someone was looking her way. “Will you give Princess Twilight a message for me as soon as she gets back? The fate of Equestria could depend on it.”

“What’s the message?” Pinkie asked.

“The Hurricanes got desperate.” Talon shifted her weight nervously. “They … they decided to let something out of Tartarus, and Heart Echo and Silver Tail couldn’t overturn the rest of the Council. They’re probably setting them loose as we speak.” She shook her head. This pony didn’t need to know the inner workings of the Alliance. “Just tell Princess Twilight that Equestria needs to ready their armies, the Immortal Sisters, the Elements of Harmony, and anything else they can possibly use, because you’ll all get wiped out if you don’t.”

Pinkie’s curly mane suddenly fell straight and bits of real worry entered her eyes. “What are they setting free?”

-_-_-_-_-_-

A diamond dog poked its head out of the tunnel entrance in the canyon wall. Dirt, rocks, and bits of plant material cascaded down around it, but the furry creature barely seemed to notice. “We founds the cave. Big cave. Down very deep. But no gray dragon in it. Many other creatures, but no gray dragon.”

Silence fell over the small group of about a hundred dragons.

Silver Tail’s head lowered slightly at the news. “Good job anyway. Bring up the others. Our backup plan is going to be dangerous.”

That was an understatement if Heart had ever heard one. She fought down a shudder as she imagined what they were about to unleash on the world.

“Do you think that Yol Toor would approve of this?” Heart asked.

“We both know he wouldn’t,” Silver Tail said, “but I promised to uphold the will of the Council, not just when it happens to agree with me.”

At least it was a nice day out, which helped with her bluff. Down here in central Equestria, the temperature was pleasantly warm, green grass covered the hills, and a cheerful stream ran along the bottom of the canyon where they were standing, as though nature itself was playing along with the lie.

Nothing to see here. Just a peaceful canyon in the middle of nowhere.

Moments later, three diamond dogs emerged from the tunnel widening it enough that a thinking-form drake could fit comfortably inside. “The passage is ready, my king,” a dog said. “Be careful. Something smells wrong, very wrong, in the cave.”

“No surprise there,” Silver Tail muttered. He stepped forward, pausing at the entrance to the dark tunnel. “If we’re not back in two hours, then we’re probably dead. Send in the second team and hope for better luck.”

Heart hurried after Silver Tail before he could disappear completely into the tunnel’s depths.

It was a little hard to walk on the loose dirt and rocks of the slanted tunnel, especially in near total darkness. Heart cast a spell to make her body glow, which at least took care of one problem. “Silver, can we talk about this?”

“What’s to talk about?” Silver Tail asked.

“Disobeying the Council and waiting for Cliff to finish the gem-creation rune.”

He shook his head. “I promised to obey the Council, Heart. You know drakes can't break promises.” He did a good job of hiding it, but Heart could pick up faint signs of hesitation in his voice and mannerisms. He was worried, and Heart couldn’t blame him. She was downright terrified. “They’re supposed to go after ponies and leave everything else alone. We can hold them at the Shattered Mountain Cave and threaten to turn them loose unless Celestia and Luna stop their attacks. With any luck, we’ll never have to unleash them on ponies at all.”

“I hope so,” Heart said. “Things would be so much easier if Yol Toor had been here.”

“Yeah …” Silver Tail shook his head slowly. “I know you’re the diplomat, but try to stay behind me once we get there. If these things turn violent, run and don’t look back.”

“I’ll do what I can to make sure it doesn’t come to that,” Heart said.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, broken only by the shifting of dirt and stones beneath them.

After what felt like hours, the tunnel expanded into a massive cavern. Heart had to stare at the immensity of it. They were on a small ledge, with dozens of faintly glowing blue circles in the distance. Thanks to their feeble light, Heart could see the cavern stretching out almost endlessly before her. The ceiling was lost in the dimness above their heads, and she couldn’t see the floor when she looked over the ledge either. Narrow walkways rose out of the depths, splitting and zigzagging all over the cavern like some kind of twisted spider web. Those walkways seemed to be the only path one could take to reach the glowing circles that had first drawn Heart’s attention. Now that she was looking more closely, Heart could see that each circle sat near the top of a jagged peak, with thin spires of rock rising around it, almost like grasping claws.

“Welcome to Tartarus,” Silver Tail whispered. His voice sounded oddly muffled, like the cave around them was somehow enforcing silence.

Heart shivered, and not just from the icy cold air that filled her lungs. She activated a spell to improve her eyesight. Creatures of all sorts filled the glowing blue circles around them, but for the most part it was one captive per circle. What she needed to find was … there. Eight bipedal shapes, partially obscured by darkness. “I found them.” She pointed.

Silver Tail knelt down and exposed his back so that she could climb on.

“I don’t sense Cerberus nearby, but let’s be careful anyway.” Heart gripped onto her friend’s shoulders as he took off.

As they neared their goal, Heart felt herself starting to breathe more heavily, like the air wasn’t giving her what she needed from it. By the time they landed, she was starting to feel lightheaded as well.

Most of the platform was taken up by the glowing circle, but resting against one of the spires to Heart’s right was a massive and ornately engraved metal chest with a heavy padlock. She only glanced at it, though, because they had finally reached the captives that they had come to free.

Within the circle’s dim light, eight bipedal forms sat or stood. Golden metal covered all of them except one, who was coated in dark silver, but regardless of color, none of the metal reflected any light. Instead, it seemed to pull it in, filling their cell with a kind of darkness that was felt as much as seen. Runes of glowing blue covered each chestplate, with more trailing down the sides of their thick arms and legs. Combined with the unnatural darkness around them, it was almost like staring at bolts of lightning frozen in the middle of a thundercloud. Yet the creatures didn’t even seem to notice Heart and Silver Tail landing nearby.

Fighting down her weakness, Heart stepped forward, nearly to the circle’s edge. “Hail, Requiem Guard.”

The nearest figure rose to its full height, almost three times the size of Heart. Yet, it wasn’t even facing her. The small tail on the back of the suit hung limply, giving no hint about its owner’s mood.

Heart took a breath. “We bring word from King Asterion. He-”

The figure turned and violently punched at Heart’s face.

She threw herself back, nearly falling off their little platform. There had been no warning or tension of muscles. The attack had come out of nowhere, and if some kind of force-field hadn’t stopped the armored fist from leaving the circle, Heart was sure that it would have shattered the bones in her muzzle.

Silver Tail jumped between her and the circle, his wings flared out protectively. “We are messengers from your king,” he spoke each word clearly and loudly.

There was a sound like screams carried on the wind, only with a metallic edge to it. Heart didn’t even realize at first that it was the creature talking.

“My … oooing toooo …”

Heart got back to her feet and walked up beside Silver Tail. Try as she might, she couldn’t keep her limbs from shaking at the deathly rattle that was the creature’s voice.

“A babyyyy soooonnnn. I’mmm …”

She got her first good look at the creature’s face. Armor covered its entire head, including two massive horns. The only gaps she could see were two slits for its nostrils and two openings for its …

Those weren’t eyes.

Two orbs of blue light flickered where its eyes should have been. They were the same ocean blue as the runes on its chest and limbs, but they were unsteady, almost like the light from a candle. They didn’t even fill the eye sockets for the armor. Around the edges, Heart could see past the orbs and into the helmet.

Stars, watch over us, Heart silently prayed.

There was no head in that helmet. She could see clear through to the back.

“Beee … an …” The creature tilted its head to one side as those soulless orbs continued to bore into Heart Echo. “… Kkkking?” Then it turned around and walked away.

Somewhere, in a part of her mind that wasn’t terrified, Heart felt sorry for these creatures. They were minotaurs, or had been, a very long time ago. Guilty only of loyalty to the rest of their kind, they had been locked in here since the early days of Equestria. Now historians were the only ones that knew of the Requiem Guard.

The Guard shook one of its sitting companions and gestured toward Heart and Silver Tail.

This new Guard stood and approached them. It was a little taller than the other, and the faint light from its runes and ‘eyes’ was a much lighter shade of blue.

Heart stared up at the new Guard. Somehow, its eyes seemed sharper and more penetrating than those of its comrade, but the biggest shock came when it spoke.

“Yyou bring word ffrom the king?”

Heart cleared her throat. “Y-yes. King Asterion sent us to release you.”

The massive suit knelt down so that he was face to face with Heart. “Asterion iss, was a good frriend. I attennded his funeral over thhree hundred and sixty thhousand days ago.” It leaned forward. If it had been possible, Heart was sure it would have been narrowing its eyes at her. “What rreally brings the living here, to converrse with the dead?”

It was getting harder and harder to breathe. Heart had to take a step away from the suit before she passed out. This wasn’t right. She shook her head. The Requiem Guard wasn’t supposed to be coherent anymore. They were all supposed to be like that first one, trapped in the past, convinced that their ancient war against Equestria was still being waged.

“My name is Silver Tail,” the white drake suddenly spoke up. “I am one of the leaders of the Dragon Alliance, and we are at war with Equestria.”

The Guard rose and shifted its unblinking gaze to him. “Providence, Ccaptain of the Requiem Guard, annd why shhould I care about thhe squabbles of dragons and pponies?”

“Wyrms and minotaurs were once allies.” Silver Tail gestured to Heart with one wing. “They’re out there fighting and dying against the same foe you fought over nine hundred years ago. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

There was silence for a few moments, as Providence’s gaze shifted to Heart and then back again.

Heart felt a shiver course its way through her. There was nothing natural about those eyes. Even calling them eyes was a stretch.

“Yyou think death meanns anything to me, dragonling?” Providence asked. “You doon’t underrsstand the meaning of the word.” It stared down at its thick right gauntlet, clenching it tightly. “This is deathh,” Providence continued in a more somber tone. “The eend of all. Thhe air in yourr lungs. The warrmth on your skiin. Plleasure. Pain. All of itt, gone.”

The Guard’s head jerked sharply up to stare at Silver Tail. “We emmbraced death, dragonling. We gave eeverything for Minos. Our lives, our mortallity, even our miinds have slowly crumbled ovver the centuriess. Noww look me in thhe eyes andd tell me that yyou have the right to assk us to giive more!”

Heart could feel Silver Tail’s fear, but he kept his voice calm as he answered, “I can give you revenge on Celestia for locking you up in here.”

That seemed to catch Providence’s attention. “Ccelestia?” His voice, already the literal combination of wind, metal, and death, grew even harder. “Shhe is dead. Too much tiime has passsed for any ponyy to sstill live.”

Silver Tail shook his head. “The Alicorn of the Sun is immortal. For over a thousand years, she has led Equestria.” He hesitated for a moment before adding, “Minos was absorbed by it more than nine hundred years ago.”

Darkness seemed to gather around the ancient suit of armor, while the light from his runes grew ever brighter. “No.” Providence took a step back, shaking its head. “You lie! Prrince Ashur …” It pressed one hand over its eyes for a moment. “King Ashur, gave uss to Equestrria in rreturn for peace. Our ssacrifice … savved it …”

Even Silver Tail was beginning to feel the weakening effect by now. Heart could sense him fighting to keep his stance firm. “Minos was absorbed by Equestria twenty-two years after your imprisonment, upon the death of King Ashur, son of Asterion. Minos is gone, and today minotaurs are scattered across Equestria, slowly dying out while the ruins of their last great civilization crumble to dust.”

Providence’s form was getting hard to see underneath the darkness that surrounded him, but Heart could see enough to know that he threw his head back before letting out a primal roar of loss, denial, and impotent rage.

Heart clapped both hands over her ear frills as the unholy metallic scream filled the air.

Even the other members of the Requiem Guard took notice. The ones that were sitting slowly rose, and all of them turned to watch their leader.

When at last Providence stopped, it lowered its head to face Silver Tail. Those soulless orbs that passed for its eyes burned so brightly that it was hard to see anything else. They stood out against the growing darkness like twin gateways to oblivion. “Whaat price do you assk in return for ourr revenge?”

Through sheer force of will, Silver Tail remained firm against the leeching influence. “Do what I cannot; protect the Alliance. If you promise to do that, I will release you.”

Providence stepped closer to Silver Tail, towering over the white drake. His voice came out in an ominous whisper, “Sswear that youu will hellp us kill Cellestia.”

Silver Tail’s gaze fell slightly. “On my honor as a representative of the Alliance, I swear that, in return for your help and protection, we will do everything reasonably possible to let you take your revenge on Celestia.”

“Iff you arre lying abouut Minos, dragonnling, I willl kill your whole aarmy.”

Heart gulped. She knew that wasn’t an empty threat even without being able to sense this creature’s emotions.

Silver Tail nodded. “I understand.”

The massive suit of armor nodded slowly, and the darkness around it began to fade. “Our weaponss and shiields are inside of that chest.” He gestured to the metal chest that Heart had noticed earlier. “Touuch a shield to tthis circle to free us, but ddo not unsheathe anyy of the weapons, orr they may kiill you.”

Heart finally worked up the courage to speak, “Thank you.”

Providence stood up straight and turned to the rest of the Requiem Guard behind him. All seven of them stared back, unmoving. “Guards,” Providence barked, “attention!”

As one, each suit pressed one fist to its chest. The glowing runes in their armor seemed to glow more brightly, while seven sets of fiery orbs stared at Providence. An army of ghosts in the most literal sense.

“What doess it mean to be aa Guard?” Providence asked.

“Noo resst,” the others intoned. Each one slurred their speech differently, but the otherworldly chant still came through clearly. “Noo merrcy. Noo miinotaur lefft unndeffennded. Noo ponyy lefft allive.”

Providence pressed a fist to its own chest before turning back to Silver Tail. “If youu tell the trruth, then I swwear two things, dragons: the Requiem Guard will bbe your ally durring this war, and bbefore it iss over, Celestia will lie dead att my hooves.”

Chapter 43

“… This is Big Mac we’re talking about,” Cliff said, sitting at his desk. “The poster colt for traditional family values.”

“Yeah,” Spirit said, leaning against the wall to Cliff’s left, “and he’s also spending the night with Luna at least twice a week. You’ve seen how he looks when he comes back in the morning, fresh out of Luna’s private shower, totally exhausted, with that goofy little smile on his face. She’s even taking him with her to the changeling ball tonight.”

Cliff rolled his eyes. He had to hope that Celestia knew what she was doing with this ball, because it was obvious that the changelings couldn’t be trusted. The fact that they were betraying the Alliance was proof of that.

“They do seem rather close,” Autumn said. She leaned back in her chair to Cliff’s right and stared at the ceiling. “However, Cliff has a point. Big Mac would certainly be radiating more guilt if he were acting against his own morals.”

“Exactly. I would have sensed guilt when I’m linked with him during practice.” Cliff carefully adjusted the rune matrix in front of him. “Besides, weren’t you the one who heard Luna saying that she just wanted to go dream walking with him?”

Spirit hesitated, probably because he realized that the evidence was stacked against him, but Cliff’s little brother was nothing if not stubborn. “Fine then,” there was the sound of metal scraping against itself as Spirit crossed his arms, “would you care to explain what kind of dreams would leave Mac looking so worn out, and so … satisfied?”

Autumn blushed. “None that are appropriate for polite company.”

“Well, there’s no one polite here,” Spirit said with a chuckle, “but I say it still counts, even if they are just doing it in the dreamscape.”

“I’d say it counts too, but so would Big Mac, so we’re back to that lack of guilt.” Cliff pulled over his notebook and wrote, ‘Crystallization, test fifty.’

This particular rune matrix had been built into a spare sheet of metal, mostly because the surface of his desk was already covered in other runes. Cliff picked up one of the test rocks he kept around and placed it in the middle of the sheet. He sent a pulse of magic into the complicated rune and watched it morph into a large ruby.

Successfully transmuting the rock was nothing new, he’d been able to do that for weeks, but Cliff still felt a wave of satisfaction as he watched the change take place.

“Maybe Luna convinced him that he doesn’t have to be guilty over a dream,” Spirit said.

Autumn hummed doubtfully. “Or maybe she is using the dreamscape for some sort of combat training. It would explain the exhaustion if the dream affected their bodies somehow.”

Cliff ignored them for a moment to focus on his work. This was the most efficient rune matrix he had managed to come up with, but unless the gems provided more energy than it took to create them, he would have to scrap it and try again.

He put the newly created ruby in another rune circle, tapping his claws against the desk as he waited for it to finish analyzing the calorie and nutrition content.

A number of smaller runes around the central one began to light up, showing the presence and concentration of various things that a dragon would need to be healthy. The results were encouraging.

Cliff jotted everything down in his notebook then started adding each of the columns up. According to the sensors, he had used five point three willpower to create the ruby, and from what he was seeing, a dragon would get back enough to generate … Six point two.

Finally!

He reached into a drawer on his desk and pulled out a stack of metal sheets. First, he had to record everything.

“… I think we lost him,” Spirit said. A gauntlet-covered hand came into view, waving up and down. “Cliff? You in there?”

Cliff pushed his brother’s hand out of the way. “I just had a breakthrough.”

“Oh, well that’s good news.”

The older dragon ignored him and kept working.

“Why don’t you hook those things up to an astral charger?” Spirit asked. “That way it powers itself.”

“Not efficient enough,” Cliff replied. “It takes about eight hours to build a matrix this complicated, and even my best charger setup would only let it produce a gemstone or two per day. The Alliance would starve to death long before they built enough of them to be a viable food source.”

Silence fell on the room once more until Autumn finally said, “It’s nearly dinnertime. Do you want to come with us to the kitchens?”

Cliff shook his head. “No thanks. I need to get this done.”

“If you insist.” Autumn put her hoof on his shoulder as she made her way to the door. “I’ll bring you something later.”

“Thanks, Autumn,” Cliff said. “And thanks for stopping by, you two.”

As the two of them left, Spirit muttered, “I swear, he’s getting worse than Twilight.”

Cliff chose to ignore that.

Once everything important had been written down, he put a copy of his notes on top of the rune matrix and packed it all into one of the dimensional pockets in his suit. It was time to fulfill a promise he’d made to Heart Echo.

Cliff paused at the door and glanced at the cloak Discord had given him a while ago. He didn’t have much use for it, and so the cloak had wound up hanging on his wall. Still, it might be helpful if he wanted to sneak into the Shattered Mountain Canyon. An illusion spell could turn its black and gold colors into shades of white, and the cloak itself would break up his outline enough that it would be hard to spot him from a distance.

With that decided, Cliff pulled the cloak down and clasped it around his neck.

“Why hello there, Cliff.” Discord’s voice echoed in his mind. “Long time no prank.”

“Discord?” Cliff looked around. “Where are you?”

“Everfree Village, of course.”

“Really? I didn’t think you were recovered enough to make a link from that far away.”

“Yes, nasty stuff all that death energy.” There was the impression of Discord sticking out his tongue in a mock gagging motion. “Luckily that cloak you’re wearing is woven from pure chaos. It boosts our connection enough that we can talk. Oh, and Fluttershy says that,” more gagging, “she loves you and can’t wait for you to come home next week.”

Cliff froze. “You can talk to her?” He shook his head. “Never mind, obviously you can. Tell her that I love her too.” He opened the door and started on his way up to the surface.

“Where are you going?” Discord asked.

“How do you even know that I’m going anywhere?” Cliff shook his head. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to the Shattered Mountain Canyon.” He reached the stairway and started up. “What are you and Fluttershy up to?”

“Cliff, acting irrationally is my job. Why on earth are you going to the Alliance’s new base?”

“I finished the prototype for something that can solve the Alliance’s food supply problem. Once they get this, they can declare peace and we can put all this stupidity behind us.”

“Overly optimistic, aren’t we?” Discord sent.

“I just trust Heart,” Cliff replied. “She can be very persuasive when she wants something.”

“At least you’re wearing the cloak,” Discord sent. “It would’ve been more fun if you figured it out by yourself, but the chaos energy in it can respond to simple commands. Order it to keep dragons from paying attention to you.”

Cliff paused at the landing between flights of stairs. “Wait, you gave me a chaos-powered cloak and you never thought to mention that it could be useful?” He grabbed onto the corner of it and held it up to the light. It was a nice black cloak with gold highlights near the edges, and the whole thing was made out of some material that he’d never bothered to identify, but there didn’t seem to be anything magical about it.

“A chaos spirit gave you a cloak while you were traveling through the gaps between time, and you never considered that it might be more than a normal cloak?” Discord shot back. “Honestly, Cliff, sometimes I worry about you.”

Cliff sighed. “Good point. How do I order the cloak to do things?”

“Just think what you want it to do, but you’ll have to figure out its limits yourself,” Discord sent in a voice that could best be described as pouty. “I only told you that much because Fluttershy would be heartbroken if something happened to you.”

“Thanks, Discord. Now let’s get back to what you and Fluttershy are doing.”

“Maternity yoga.” There was a sensation like groaning. “The things I do for my friends …”

Once outside, Cliff took off running at just below the speed of sound. Windows and sonic booms didn’t mix well. A flying leap took him over the Empire’s outer wall and into the plains beyond. Off to the north, he could still see the unnaturally flat chunk of ground where Yol Toor’s lava lake had solidified.

Cliff cursed himself yet again for not being able to get Rainbow out of there before the shield came up. Steel Claw was dead because of that failure.

Returning his attention to the present, Cliff activated several different spells to help him run on snow and ice more easily. Then, just to see what would happen, he ordered the cloak to help him power his spells.

The result was less than impressive. Cliff felt his spells get a little stronger and easier to maintain, but it wasn’t the colossal boost that he’d been hoping for.

When he reached the first mountain, Cliff switched to jumping enchantments and ordered the cloak to morph into a hang glider. Fluttershy had given him one for Hearth’s Warming during the first year of their marriage, and they sometimes used it to go flying together. A year or so without practice wouldn’t be a problem, right?

“Let me guess,” Discord sent between chuckles, “that mountain came out of nowhere?”

“Ha ha,” Cliff sent back, picking himself out of the snowdrift where he had crashed. “Could this cloak just transform into a pair of wings?”

“It could,” Discord sent, “but would you even know how to use them?”

“I’ll, uh, try the hang glider again.” It took a few attempts, but Cliff was able to establish a controlled glide and steer himself in the right direction.

A short time later, Cliff was poking his head over the edge of a steep canyon. Massive craters dotted the walls and floor beneath him, even collapsing large areas of the canyon. Celestia and Luna had been attacking this place for nearly two months, though. It could have been a lot worse.

Dragons still flew in and out of the numerous caves on both sides of the canyon, and there were even some diamond dogs mingling with dragons on the canyon floor. All of them looked a lot more cheerful than Cliff would have expected, given their situation. They didn’t even seem to mind the light snowfall that was just starting up.

“You’re sure this cloak will keep them from paying attention to me?” Cliff asked.

“It will make you seem so boring that you aren’t worth their attention,” Discord replied. “That’s not far from the truth lately, based on your letters. How many hours per day are you spending in that cramped little lab?”

“I needed to finish the gem converter,” Cliff sent. “Now that it’s done, I can finally relax.” He ordered the cloak to keep him from being noticed and then shifted it to white before starting a careful descent to the canyon floor. “At least, I can relax as soon as I deliver this to Rune, Genesis, and Clodhopper.”

He was nearly at the bottom when Discord suddenly sent, “Wait, don’t move!”

Cliff froze about a hundred feet from the canyon floor.

“Cliff,” Discord sent, “I need you to listen very carefully. I’m sensing something nearby that I haven’t felt in nearly a thousand years. Look around and tell me if you see anything that looks like a minotaur wearing battle armor.”

He looked around. “No, it’s just dragons and diamond dogs. Where are you sensing them?”

“Down and to your left,” Discord replied. “Move carefully. If it’s what I think it is, the cloak won’t fool them, and I can’t teleport you out of there without nearly killing myself in the process.”

Cliff dropped to the ground and found a cave entrance that went in the right direction. “Right, we’ll call that Plan B.” He stepped into the sharply ascending tunnel.

Soon Cliff heard a voice that sent a shiver down his spine, “Daaanna mussst be …”

It sounded like the gasps of a mortally wounded soldier, heavily slurred and heard through a metal pipe.

“Peeace, Flint Hoof,” another voice said. This one was significantly more clear, but still held the unearthly qualities of the first. “We will haave our reveenge soon.”

“Yessss, sir,” the first voice said.

Cliff leaned around a bend in the tunnel and saw the tunnel extend for another dozen or so feet before it expanded into a small cavern. Even in the dimness, he could make out several minotaurs in armor standing together there. Each of them held a weapon of some kind, usually a spear or an axe, and almost all of them held a massive shield that looked like it could double for a full-length mirror. One of the minotaurs, one of the two without a shield, turned to look at Cliff with eyes that glowed light blue. Runes of the same color coated its chest, arms and legs.

“Yyou can come oout, dragonling,” the minotaur said.

“Cliff,” Discord’s voice was unusually hard, “turn around and leave. Now. If they come after you, run. Twilight is spending the night in Canterlot because of Chrysalis’s ball, so you need to warn Celestia and Luna yourself that the Alliance has freed the Requiem Guard, and will be attacking with them tomorrow morning.”

Maybe it was the unsettling voices of the minotaurs, or the way their eyes glowed, but Cliff was more than happy to follow Discord’s advice and back away. At least the creatures didn’t chase after him.

Back on the canyon floor, Cliff took a moment to calm down. The snowfall was getting heavier now, making everything look a bit hazy. “How do you know that they’re going to attack?”

“My hearing is better than yours, Cliff. More than a hundred dragons in this canyon are talking about their battle plan for tomorrow.”

Cliff ran to the first wyrm that he saw. “Excuse me, do you know where the rune masters are staying?”

The wyrm, a lime-green female with white head spikes, barely glanced at him before continuing on her way.

Right, Cliff realized, the cloak. He mentally commanded it to make him at least a little noticeable then repeated his question.

This time, the dragoness paused and nodded. “They’re in that cave over there.” She pointed at a distant tunnel entrance.

Cliff retrieved his notes and the crystallization rune and pressed them into her hands. “Sorry, but I need you to deliver these to them. It’s urgent.” He barely waited for her to agree before he reactivated the cloak’s power and then ran back up the canyon walls.

“Of course this would happen when everyone’s off at a party,” Cliff sent as he climbed. “Did Chrysalis at least uphold her part of the deal that got her pardoned?”

“Yes, she rounded up all the Alliance spies, which is so dreadfully boring.” Discord huffed. “Ponyville was a lot more chaotic when everypony was acting paranoid.”

“I’m sure you’ll survive,” Cliff sent back. “What can you tell me about those minotaurs? You called them the Requiem Guard.” He reached the top of the canyon and jumped into the sky. On command, the cloak transformed back into a hang glider.

Now all he had to worry about was navigating back to the Empire, through unfamiliar territory, at night, in the middle of a snow storm. Just his luck.

“Your sympathy is overwhelming,” Discord grumbled, “but fine, I’ll answer your question. How much do you know about the Great Minotaur War?”

“… Uh,” Cliff adjusted his flight a little to avoid a mountain, “I’m going to assume that it was a war that involved minotaurs.”

There was the unmistakable sound of a paw connecting with a forehead. “And this is the father of my best friend’s child. Yes, Cliff, it was a war that involved minotaurs. More specifically, it was the first war that the newly united empire of Equestria ever got caught up in, and the longest lasting one in its history to boot, thanks mostly to those suits of armor you just saw.

“You can read the details in a history book,” Discord continued, “but the important part is that, after the Nightmare Moon incident, Celestia really started cracking down on the country of Minos. She more than doubled the size of Equestria’s army and even started leading attacks herself. The minotaurs got desperate and decided to do something unthinkable. They took their ten most capable champions and sealed their consciousnesses into the most powerful suits of armor they could build.”

Discord was getting more and more serious, which honestly frightened Cliff. He put on another burst of speed.

“These suits are magic leeches. Firing spells at them is like throwing hayburgers at Twilight, and if you do ever hurt one, it will just heal in a few seconds. Those things spent more than a decade in near constant battle with Equestria, and only two were ever destroyed. The rest got a nice visit to Tartarus, but now it looks like the Alliance went and released them.”

Cliff took a deep breath. “Alright, so nearly indestructible suits of living armor that can drain your magic if you get too close. That’s not exactly good news, but now that the Alliance’s food problem has been sorted out, maybe they won’t use the Requiem Guard to attack.”

“And maybe they will,” Discord sent back. “Either way, Celestia needs to know that the Requiem Guard is free.”

“I’ll tell her.” Cliff produced a small sheet of metal and a stylus from one of his suit’s dimensional pockets. He scrawled a quick message to explain the situation then sent it away in a puff of green fire. With that done, Cliff focused on getting back to the Empire as quickly as possible. “Discord, if the Requiem Guard does attack, how bad will it be?”

“Let me put it this way,” Discord sent, “if you want Miracle to grow up knowing her father, stay as far away from them as you can.”

Chapter 44

The Crystal Empire was a buzz of activity by the time Cliff got back. He landed next to a team of griffons working on their aerial tanks and paused to look at the vehicle for a moment. The griffon leader still refused to let Cliff see schematics for them or for the personal firearms the crews carried. Maybe some day.

Cliff had nearly reached the Crystal Bunker when a glowing purple aura surrounded him and pulled him across the courtyard to face a very upset purple alicorn.

“Cliff, what were you thinking, going to the Alliance like that?” Twilight practically had steam coming out of her ears. “It would destroy Fluttershy if something happened to you!”

“Hey, Twi,” Cliff waved, “how was the changeling ball?”

A shudder passed through Twilight. “They all transformed into extremely attractive ponies and were making the most obvious advances imaginable on the guests. Chrysalis said that she was just giving out ‘free samples’ of her upcoming business.”

“I get the feeling that she’s doing all this to mock Celestia,” Cliff said. “Anyway, would mind putting me down?”

Twilight paused and frowned. “Hey, I was yelling at you for taking such a dangerous risk when you have a wife and daughter waiting for you at home.”

“Trust me, Twi,” Cliff said calmly, “no one is more aware of that than I am.” Out of curiosity, he sent a mental command to Discord’s cloak.

The aura around Cliff fizzled as the cloak consumed it, and he dropped to the crystalline pavement.

Twilight gasped. “What was that? That wasn’t anti-magic.”

“A present from Discord and also insurance to keep me safe in the Shattered Mountain Caves.” The more Cliff thought about this cloak, the more he was grateful that Discord had given it to him. Too bad it would get in the way if he tried to wear it in combat.

Actually … Cliff sent another command, and the cloak formed itself around him perfectly so that it looked like his armor had just been dyed black and gold. Another command shifted the color back to the steel gray that he was used to.

“I’m surprised that Discord had the energy to give such a gift,” a regal voice commented.

Both Cliff and Twilight turned to see Celestia approaching them. She was wearing a green and black dress, probably to match the coloration of a changeling.

“He actually gave it to me a while ago,” Cliff said. “I just didn’t figure out what it was until tonight.”

Celestia nodded. “Regardless, the next time you invent a revolutionary piece of magical technology, I would appreciate it if you showed it to Luna, Cadance, or myself. Presenting it to the Alliance more openly would have done much to start building trust between our nations, and may have even convinced them to accept terms of peace.”

Cliff felt his stomach clench as Celestia’s words sank in. He covered his eyes with one palm. “Ugh, I didn’t think of that.”

Celestia’s wing settled across his shoulders. “I will go to the Alliance tomorrow morning, after they have had time to reflect on what has been given to them. They may still be willing to accept peace. In the meantime, we should all get to sleep. Our forces have their orders for dealing with the Requiem Guard, should they attack.”

“Already?” Cliff asked. He had only sent that note about fifteen minutes ago.

“Members of the Requiem Guard nearly killed me once,” Celestia said gravely. “I have had a long time to reflect on what I should do if I were ever faced with a similar enemy.” She must have seen the frightened expressions on Cliff and Twilight’s faces, because she smiled reassuringly. “They are an extremely dangerous foe, but not an unstoppable one. Powerful magic can still incapacitate them temporarily, and indirect uses of magic remain effective. Non-magical weaponry, like the cannons used by our griffon allies, should work especially well against them. Our pegasus soldiers have been given griffon bombs for the same reason, and non-enchanted diamonds thrown by the Everfree Platoon should have very little residual magic for them to feed on.”

At least that was a little reassuring. Cliff took a deep breath and asked, “Is there anything else I should know, if we do have to fight them?”

“Be careful,” Celestia said immediately. “They can regenerate from nearly anything. Only melting them completely will prevent that.”

Cliff filed all that away. “Thank you, Celestia.” He fidgeted uncomfortably before adding, “And I’m sorry. I should have told someone that I was finished with the rune before I gave it to the Alliance.”

To his surprise, Celestia pulled him into a short hug. “You’re more like Spirit than you realize, Cliff. I’m proud to call him my son, just as I’m proud to call you my friend.”

A faint smile worked its way onto Cliff’s muzzle. “Thanks.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

“Cliff, time to get up,” Fire Eyes said gently but firmly.

Cliff jerked awake and looked around. He had fallen asleep on the small nest in his lab again. Fire Eyes stood over him, looking grim. That fact alone wiped away any vestiges of sleep from Cliff’s mind. “What’s happening?” He forced down a yawn.

“The Alliance is on its way here,” Eyes said, holding out her hand to him.

Cliff took it and pulled himself up. Glancing at his desk, he saw the outlines of a rune to make dragon fire more hot. Of course, it wouldn’t be ready for at least another week. “Any chance they just want to talk?”

“They brought along those suits that Celestia warned us about.” Eyes went to the door then glanced back at him. “Something tells me that we’re about to have a really bad day.” Then she sank onto all fours and headed out.

There wasn’t much Cliff could say to that, so he just hurried after her.

They climbed the stairs of the Bunker and were almost at the front door when Eyes spoke again, “Hey, Cliff?”

“Yeah?”

Eyes paused, and didn’t quite meet his gaze. “In case anything happens to me, tell Whisper and our parents that I love them.”

At first, Cliff wasn’t sure he had even heard her right. Fire Eyes was no airhead, but she had never said something like that before. He moved up so that their sides were pressed gently together, which also brought his face right next to hers. “Hey, Eyes, you know we’ll get through this in one piece, right?”

“I know.” Eyes gave him a fake smile. “It’s just, if these suits really are so powerful that they can fight Celestia, then it could be like taking on Yol Toor all over again.”

Cliff nodded slowly. “Yeah … I know what you mean. If anything happens to me, tell Fluttershy that I love her, and keep Miracle entertained with stories about all the stupid things we did when we were younger.”

“That should take up a century or two.” Eyes gave a weak smile, but at least it was sincere this time. She took a deep breath, and turned her gaze forward. “Come on, the others are waiting for us.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Cliff hated the anxiety that always attacked him before a battle. Once the fighting started, there was always something that demanded his attention, and once it was over, he was just grateful to still be alive. At times like these, though, all he could think about was how much it would hurt Fluttershy if something happened to him.

He would have been pacing nervously if the rest of the Everfree Platoon weren’t crowded around him. They were at the top of the Empire’s wall, so space was limited. Cliff glanced out between the rib-like arches that protected them from aerial attacks. Beyond the arches, the shield glowed softly, and through it’s blue veil, he could see the Alliance getting ever nearer.

Rainbow Dash turned to Big Mac on her left and said, “So, Mac, is it true that you and Luna are plowing the fields?” She bounced her eyebrows suggestively under her helmet.

Big Mac looked at her with an unreadable expression, then he shrugged. “Eyup, n’ nope.”

Rainbow frowned. “What do you mean? Are you or aren’t you?”

“Eyup.”

“So you are?”

Big Mac shook his head. “Nope.”

“So you aren’t.”

Another head shake. “Nope.”

Rainbow looked baffled. “No, you’re not, or no, you are?”

Big Mac paused to consider it. “Eyup, n’ nope.”

Next to Cliff, Blueblood groaned. “I swear, I can feel a few more of my brain cells die every time he does this.”

On Cliff’s other side, Fire Eyes chuckled. “You just have to know how to phrase things with him.” She turned to Big Mac. “Hey, Mac, are you and Luna having sex?”

Big Mac shot Rainbow an amused smile. “Nope.”

Cliff could hear the rest of the Platoon muttering things about lost bets and whether they’d been right all along.

In front of the Platoon, Autumn turned around and said, “Okay, everypony, that’s enough gossip for now.” She gestured behind her at the oncoming Alliance forces, which were nearly on top of them. “We need you all to stay focused.”

“Even though you owe me five bits,” Spirit added.

Autumn smacked him on the back of the head with her tail before turning around to face the Alliance once more.

“Worth it,” Spirit said with a grin.

At Spirit’s other side, Twilight giggled.

The Alliance reached the shield a few moments later. They didn’t attack though, unlike the other times. Instead they hovered in formation a little bit away, while Silver Tail landed and approached the shield by himself.

His voice washed over them all. “I need to speak with Cliff Runner, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna.”

All eyes in the Platoon turned to stare at Cliff.

He stared back at them. “Uh … I’m clueless too.”

Twilight looked from Cliff to Silver Tail and then back again. “Let’s at least see what he wants.”

Cliff nodded and walked over to her.

One teleport later, they were standing opposite Silver Tail in nearly a foot of snow. Celestia and Luna appeared at their side moments later, watching the white drake suspiciously.

Silver Tail ignored the alicorns and kept his eyes on Cliff. “I can’t thank you enough for sharing your invention with us.” He bowed deeply. “We can finally stop fighting to retake the Crystal Empire now.”

“What?” Cliff asked. “Really?”

“You think we wanted all this bloodshed?” Silver Tail shook his head. “We needed the gem mines to keep ourselves from starving to death, but now we have a different food source, and we wouldn’t have to rely on a hostile foreign nation’s good graces to keep ourselves fed.” He rose and looked to Celestia and Luna. “Unfortunately, there are still two obstacles between us and peace.”

“And what would those be?” Luna asked, looking at him suspiciously.

“First tell me this, what would happen if the Alliance surrendered?”

“We would accept,” Celestia said. “All hostile activities would stop immediately, and we would begin negotiating the terms of peace.”

Silver Tail turned to Cliff. “Is she telling the truth?”

Cliff nodded. “She’d never lie about something like that.”

“Alright,” Silver Tail took a deep breath, “obstacle one, two days ago, the Alliance released the Requiem Guard from Tartarus.”

“We are aware,” Luna said, scowling.

“Hey, I didn’t agree with that choice either,” Silver Tail said, “but I already made a pact with their leader by the time we got Cliff Runner’s rune.” He turned to Celestia. “The terms of the pact are that they will protect us from Equestria in return for the chance to take revenge on you. They’re going to attack as soon as we’re done talking, and if Equestria manages to destroy them,” he shrugged, “then our agreement is void, and I can call for the Council to vote on peace.”

“And if we cannot destroy them all?” Celestia asked.

“Then they’ll kill you,” Silver Tail said, “but the rest of your nation will live on. Providence and I had a long talk, and he agreed that once he kills you, he’ll stop fighting ponies. The Requiem Guard will hole up in one of our caves and not harm anypony ever again unless ponies attack us first.”

“What will the Alliance do during this battle?” Celestia asked.

Silver Tail sighed. “The Hurricanes voted to attack, but if Prince Shining Armor were to protect your army with one of his shields …” He smiled. “Well, we wouldn’t be able to get through it for at least a few minutes. Destroy the Requiem Guard before then, and I’ll call for an immediate vote of the Council, which leads me to the second obstacle.”

“I’m listening,” Celestia said.

“The Hurricanes will never agree to surrender.” Silver Tail shook his head. “I don’t know if they even understand what the word means, which is bad news for all of us, because they have majority vote in the Council. If Yol Toor were to vote, though, he could convince the other drake lords to vote for peace, giving us five for surrender to counter the five Hurricanes voting against it. Heart Echo gets the tiebreaker vote, and I know she’ll choose peace.”

“You want us to release Yol Toor,” Luna said. “What would prevent you from resuming this war if we released your most powerful champion?”

“Nothing would,” Silver Tail said. “I need you to trust me.”

Luna scoffed. “After all the deplorable acts you’ve committed?”

Celestia extended a wing between her sister and Silver Tail. “Now is not the time to exchange insults.” She turned to Silver Tail. “If we did agree to this, how long would we have to retrieve Yol Toor?” Her tone made it clear that it was a very big if.

“A few minutes.” Silver Tail looked back at the Dragon Alliance, still flying in position. “I know ponies aren’t used to taking others at their word, and I don’t blame you for suspecting treachery, but I really don’t see any other way we can end this peacefully.”

“We will consider your offer,” Celestia said.

Silver Tail sighed and nodded. “I suppose that’s the best I can hope for.” He turned and flew into the sky.

Celestia watched him go. “You should all prepare yourselves. Whatever happens, the Requiem Guard must not be allowed to survive this battle.” She gave Twilight a weak smile before lighting her horn and teleporting away.

Moments later, Cliff and Twilight reappeared next to the Everfree Platoon.

“So what was all that about?” Spirit asked.

“I’ll tell you later.” Cliff pushed past Spirit and Twilight and walked to his team. “We need to focus on the Requiem Guard for now.”

As if summoned by his words, eight suits of armor jumped off of the dragons they had been riding and plummeted to the ground below. The fall would have killed any normal creature, but the members of the Requiem Guard barely even bent their knees when they crashed into the snowy ground.

“Be ready,” Celestia’s voice filled the area. “We must destroy the Requiem Guard quickly and completely.”

The eight suits reached the shield just as the Alliance fired their Shield Cracker Rune. Amazingly, the shield had almost no effect on the Requiem Guard. Six of the suits just raised mirror-like shields over their heads and walked through without stopping. The two remaining suits had no shield and both slowed a little but muscled their way through without much trouble.

Cliff took a moment to study each of them. Six of the suits held those giant rectangular shields, although three of them had spears where the other three had axes.

One of the two guards without shields had what looked like a massive hammer with a haft so long that it must have been designed to be swung with both hands. The eighth and final Guard was something of an oddity. For starters, it was much more thin than the others and noticeably shorter. It carried an ax in either hand and unlike the other Guards, which were all a sort of bronze-ish gold, this last one was dark silver.

They were nearly to the wall by then, and the Alliance’s Shield Cracker was just opening three holes in the shield.

“Alright,” Fire Eyes muttered, summoning a gem into either hand, “show time.”

Cliff pulled out two gems of his own and started channeling magic into them. These weren’t anti-aura gems, like the Platoon usually carried. They were just normal gemstones. Hopefully that would give the Requiem Guard less magic to feed on.

“Now!” Celestia’s voice echoed across the wall.

On command, Shining Armor and Cadance conjured one of their new shields, blocking the holes in the Empire’s shield. Just as importantly, it left the Requiem Guard isolated in the middle of enemy territory.

As one, every arrow, gun, cannon, gemstone, bomb, and lightning bolt that the Equestrian army could generate was unleashed. The pounding force of their impacts beat against Cliff’s chest as dirt and smoke filled the area.

Cliff summoned and threw a second pair of gems, then a third, then a fourth. Each one rocketed out of his hands with more force than a griffon cannonball, slamming into any metallic form that he could see.

High above, Celestia’s magic began concentrating the sun’s light like a giant magnifying glass.

“Shield your eyes!” Celestia ordered only a moment before a blinding pillar of light hit whatever was left of the Requiem Guard.

Finally, Fire Claws and Twilight teleported near the impact zone and both surged Anti-magic, scrubbing the area clear of residual magic, before they both teleported back to the wall, nearly collapsing with exhaustion.

Cliff let out a sigh of relief as he looked at the massive crater they had generated, but his breath caught when he saw movement.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Fire Eyes sent.

Cliff could only nod.

Somehow all eight members of the Requiem Guard were climbing back to their feet and pressing forward. Dents and holes covered every one of them, some were even missing an arm or a leg, but already the metal was flowing back into its proper form.

The stunned Equestrian Army started attacking again, but the Requiem Guard had already reached the base of the wall by that point, blocking Everfree and thousands of others from getting a clear shot.

The Guard with the hammer pulled itself onto the top of the wall and began laying waste to the griffons and earth ponies positioned there. The others quickly followed, but rather than join their companion, they charged off the far end of the wall, right toward the center of the Crystal Empire.

“Go after them,” Autumn ordered. “They may be targeting the Crystal Heart!”

“You heard her, let’s move!” Eyes sent, then she jumped off the wall toward the Empire. The first of her orders reached the team before she even hit the ground.

The suits were just reaching the outer houses when a rainbow-patterned mushroom cloud exploded in front of them, blasting a crater in the earth.

Maybe it was the force of the explosion, or maybe it was confusion about its color, but the suits actually hesitated for a moment before pushing on.

Pain and weakness filled the link from Dash as they got closer to her.

“Get out of there!” Eyes sent. She pulled out a gemstone and fired. “Cliff, aim for their legs!”

A blue drake, one of Zephyr’s honor guard, landed between Rainbow and the Guards. Its tail swung at the group of them.

By all rights, even a group of minotaurs should have been knocked aside from the force of that blow, but the lead Guard simply braced its shield against the ground, and somehow the drake’s tail barely forced it back at all. That same Guard buried its ax in the drake’s flesh.

Cliff really didn’t know how to explain what happened next. The drake’s blue scales faded to gray, and his entire form went from muscular to emaciated in less than a second. Meanwhile, the Guard’s warped and damaged form began to repair itself more quickly.

The drake thrashed in pain, pushing himself away from his attacker, but the other Guards slashed or stabbed with their own weapons.

They had reduced the drake to a mere husk by the time Cliff could reach them. At least the drake’s sacrifice had bought Rainbow a second to fly away.

“What are we supposed to do against these things?” Rainbow asked weakly. Throbbing pain radiated from her. “I felt like I was going to pass out just from getting near them.”

“Just try to keep them distracted,” Eyes replied.

Cliff jumped into the air and landed on a rooftop nearby. Two gems shot out of his hands at the nearest Requiem Guard.

The force of a sonic boom shattered windows across the block as both gems hit the Guard square in the chest—and shattered against its armored form.

For a heartbeat, Cliff could only stare. He always cast Speed Burst twice on the gems he used. That gave them over thirty-seven thousand newtons of force. Not even enchanted dragon scales could withstand a hit like that. Yet the Guard didn’t even seem to notice. Instead, it ran into a different house, and the sound of screams followed quickly.

More screams filled the air as other members of the Requiem Guard ran into different houses.

Cliff gasped. “Oh Stars, they’re targeting civilians!” He shot back down to the street and after the first Guard.

A wave of weakness hit him just before he reached the door. It was like the air was too thin to breathe, and his body and mind suddenly felt sluggish. He wrestled down the sensation and stumbled inside.

What he found inside was like something out of a nightmare. A Guard was just pulling its ax out of the remains of a white mare’s skull, as an orange stallion screamed in shock and denial.

“Over here!” Cliff summoned another gem, and cast Speed Burst three times before launching it.

That gem punched a hole in the back of the Guard’s armor, but again the Guard didn’t seem to notice or care.

It advanced on the stallion, ax raised. “Nnnnoww …”

“Cliff, duck,” Big Mac ordered.

He barely had time to obey before his companion sailed overhead and slammed both forehooves into the Guard, launching it through the wall and into another house.

Big Mac chased after it, his expression set. “Heal ‘er.”

“I’ll try.” Cliff scrambled to his feet and ran to the fallen mare. Up close, the damage was even worse than he’d feared.

The male civilian ran to her side as well. “You’re a wyrm,” he grabbed at Cliff’s armor, “that means you can heal Egg White, can’t you? Please, please you have to heal her!”

The sound of more blows echoed from outside, along with a deathly rattle that could only be the Guard’s voice.

A magic-draining weapon destroyed this mare’s brain. Cliff clenched his eyes shut, and not just because of the headache the Guard’s influence was causing. “She’s already gone.”

“No …” The stallion’s grip tightened. “No, you have to. Even if there’s only a tiny chance, you’d still try if it were your wife, wouldn’t you?” Broken sobs filled the air. “Please.”

Cliff knew that the stallion was right. “I’ll try.” He took a deep breath then drained one of his magic batteries completely. The excess magic roared through his veins like a tidal wave, threatening to overwhelm him. Cliff ordered his scattered thoughts together and cast the most powerful healing spell that he could manage.

“None of my shields work at all on it,” Blueblood sent.

Gritting his teeth, Cliff put both hands over the mare’s ruined skull and released the flood of magic within him. “Come on, heal!”

Pain filled the link.

“Big Mac, get out of there!” Eyes sent. “Their weapons must negate the Shadow-form Rune.”

“Heal!” Cliff ordered Discord’s cloak to help him, and pushed himself even harder.

Another Rainboom shook the ground, filling the area with color. “We need your help out here, Cliff!” Rainbow sent.

More pain, only this time it was much worse.

“I’ve got him,” Eyes sent. “Oh Stars, I thought those were both minor cuts. I need all the magic you can spare. Dash, Blue, buy me whatever time you can.”

The battery was completely drained, Cliff was starting to get lightheaded from overloading his body with all that magic, but the mare hadn’t healed at all. “I’m sorry,” he gasped before shooting out the hole after the rest of his team.

Fire Eyes was kneeling over Big Mac, and Blueblood stood defiantly between them and the Guard. Rainbow was much closer to the Guard, sending out gust after gust of wind with her wings.

The Guard itself had almost completely recovered from any damage. Even the hole that Cliff’s gem had made in its back was mostly closed. In spite of the hurricane-force winds assaulting it, the monster was still pressing forward, its eyes locked on Big Mac. “I caannn’t beeelievvve …” its unearthly voice rattled.

Cliff pulled out another gem. Casting Speed Burst multiple times took up time and willpower when there wasn’t much of either to spare. On the other claw, anything less than three uses of the spell didn’t even qualify as an annoyance to the Guard. He dumped six uses into the gem, his maximum, and let it fly.

The projectile punched right through the Guard’s armored leg, leaving a gaping hole and a thunderous rumble in its wake.

Precious seconds ticked by as Cliff enchanted another gem six times and launched it, then another gem, and another, and another. Sweat poured down his face from the strain of casting so much so quickly.

A final gem severed the Guard’s hoof completely, and yet it continued to press forward, limping slightly on its stump of a leg. “Tooooo late noww …”

“I can’t keep this up much longer,” Cliff sent, fighting down his panic.

“And my wings are just about spent,” Rainbow added.

“I have an idea.” Blueblood’s horn lit up, and a shield formed around the Guard. It did nothing to the Guard, but it did push the ground away beneath it and dig out a small crater. More shields quickly followed, digging deeper and deeper until the Guard had disappeared completely beneath the earth. Meanwhile, Blueblood sank to the ground, panting for breath.

A metallic hand appeared over the edge of the newly formed pit, followed by the rest of the Guard. “Neverrrr had … a chiiiild!” It roared the last part like a battle cry, and charged.

“Can you do that again?” Cliff grabbed a large piece of crystalline rubble and fired. It shattered on impact against the Guard’s arm.

Blueblood struggled back to his feet, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, it seems that my shields are far better at withstanding force than exerting it.”

Rainbow nodded weakly. “Thanks for doing that anyway. I’ll hold it off as long as I can.” She jabbed both wings forward once more, and another burst of pressurized wind crashed into the Guard, slowing its advance.

“Mac’s stable.” Fire Eyes stood up. “Dash, get out of its way. Cliff, when I attack, grab its weapon.” She took a deep breath and spat out a thin beam of pink energy at the Guard’s right arm.

Cliff shot past the Guard moments later, grabbing its ax as he went. Unfortunately, Eyes’ beam hadn’t managed to slice all the way through the Guard’s arm, and its grip on the weapon remained firm. Cliff was brought to a jarring halt with his hands still wrapped around the ax.

Before he could move, something slammed into him like a train. His entire left side exploded into agony as he was thrown into a nearby wall. The air was forced from his lungs, and black spots filled his vision.

“I … caann’ttt beeelieve …”

The last thing Cliff saw before the darkness overwhelmed him completely was the Guard approaching, its ax held high.

Chapter 45

Fire Eyes felt her heart skip a beat. Cliff’s link was down, which meant that he was either unconscious, or … no, he was unconscious. He had to be! “Blueblood, get him away from that monster! Dash, buy me a second to heal him!”

A shield popped into existence around her oldest friend, pulling him toward the rest of the team.

The Guard took two steps after him, but then a rainbow-patterned blur crashed into it, kicking the suit away with all four hooves. It staggered back on its one hoof before falling backwards with a crash.

Rainbow Dash fell to the ground as well, just a few feet away from the Guard. She barely managed to get back to her hooves in time to avoid the Guard’s swinging ax. A flap of her wings sent her flying backwards to smash into the ground near Fire Eyes and the others. “My suit’s batteries are empty, everyone.” Groaning in pain, she forced herself up once more. “I’ll keep it off you as long as I can, but that might not be much longer.”

Fire Eyes poured an entire battery’s worth of healing magic into Cliff’s head and chest, ignoring the obviously shattered bones in his arm and leg. He was alive, barely, but he wouldn’t stay that way much longer with that Guard sucking out his magic. Dash and Blue were both exhausted, and half of Mac’s internal organs had shut down when that ax nicked his side twice. “Blueblood, take the others and run. I’ll hold it off as long as I can.”

“Nope.” Big Mac forced himself up. Sweat covered the parts of his face that were visible through his helmet, but his emotions were firm. “Just Cliff.”

Blueblood shook his head. “I won’t leave you.” His horn lit up with flickering light, and several chunks of crystalline rubble flew toward the Guard.

“Cliff is going to die if he doesn’t get away from that Guard’s influence,” Eyes shot back. “Your magic is the only thing that can carry him without messing up his injuries even more.”

Blue hesitated for a moment, then he lifted Cliff’s unconscious form in his aura. “As a prince of Equestria, I’m ordering all of you not to die!” Then he took off. Fire Eyes didn’t know where he was headed, but she didn’t care, as long as it was away from here.

Eyes returned her attention to the Guard. Dash was fighting valiantly, but it was obvious that she was running on nothing but determination.

A burst of Eyes’ telekinesis pulled Dash away from a swing that would have severed at least one leg. Fire Eyes quickly redirected her spell to put Dash on top of a nearby house. “I owe you one, but you’re done for this battle.”

The Guard turned its attention to Fire Eyes and Mac. “Chhillld …” it hissed, stepping toward them.

“D-didn’t earn the Element of Loyalty by abandoning friends.” Dash struggled to get back to her hooves, but it was obvious that she didn’t have the strength anymore.

Eyes ignored her and kept her gaze locked on the living suit of armor that had nearly killed three of her closest friends. “Mac, I’ve been working on a spell that might at least slow this thing down. If it doesn’t work, tell Whisper that I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.”

Mac nodded and started running toward the Guard.

Just before they collided, Fire Eyes opened her mouth and spat out a thick ray of pink energy. The beam melted most of the Guard’s helmet before Fire Eyes fell to the ground, coughing up blood.

Imitating Void Fire wasn’t nearly as easy as she’d hoped.

The Guard didn’t seem concerned about suddenly losing its face, but at least Big Mac was able to knock it away before it could land a blow with that ax.

Like before, it only went back a couple of steps before it ground to a halt. Rivulets of molten armor poured down the Guard’s chestplate as the front of its helmet fell away, revealing a nightmare beneath.

An ethereal minotaur face stared back at them all, but it was thin to the point of skeletal. Tight skin stretched over a ghostly skull, and those flickering orbs that served as its eyes shined with all of their hideous glory. No expression or sign of life marked the creature’s face, if it could even be called a face.

The liquid metal on its chest slowed and began to course back upwards, reforming the front of the Guard’s helmet.

Big Mac took a few steps back toward Fire Eyes, breathing heavily.

Then, in a burst of magic, Luna appeared in front of them both. Her gold and silver armor was dented and broken in places, and blood dripped to the ground beneath her, but still she stood proud. “Stay back, all of you!” Then she charged. One forehoof came up to grip the Guard’s ax while the other knocked its shield aside. Her wings swept the suit’s hooves out from underneath it, bringing it to the ground with a crash.

Luna quickly repositioned herself so that one of her back hooves was holding the Guard’s shield arm down. One forehoof gripped the ax, holding the Guard’s arm straight up, while her other forehoof slammed into the arm with a sound like thunder. “You. Shall. Not. Harm. Our. Subjects. Any. Further!” Each word was accompanied with another blow to the Guard’s arm.

The Guard managed to wrench its shield arm free, and Luna barely teleported away in time to avoid getting bashed across the skull.

Luna reappeared in the air and immediately lit up her horn. A nearby house lifted off the ground then flew diagonally downwards to catch the Guard’s shield arm and pin it once more.

The alicorn teleported back, and though Eyes couldn’t see exactly what happened, she let out a cry of pain before latching onto the Guard’s ax again. A trail of blood ran down her other foreleg, which was thinner and weaker looking than it had been moments earlier, but her good foreleg still managed to pull the Guard’s arm out straight once more.

Big Mac ran forward and turned around to buck at the extended arm.

“Sever it quickly, Big McIntosh,” Luna grunted through the strain.

Both his hind legs slammed into the Guard’s arm. Metal groaned and bent, but held.

“Again!” Luna’s weakened forelimb came up to brace her other one. “Before this creature can weaken us both further!”

Another Applebuck, and the metal started to give, then another, and another, and finally the Guard’s forearm came loose from the rest of its body.

Luna hurled the forearm, ax and all, as far away from them both as she could manage.

“It’sss toooo late …” the Guard muttered, just before its shield arm broke free from the house wall that had been pinning it down.

This time, Luna didn’t react quickly enough. The edge of the Guard’s shield caught her across the hip, knocking her into Big Mac with enough force that both of them were hurled away.

The two scrambled back to their hooves, but Luna’s back leg hung limply and her face was pinched with pain. Even her mane was beginning to change back to a mass of normal hair.

“Noowww.” The Guard stood up slowly, revealing a fully repaired helmet. It stared at the severed stump of its arm, which was already regrowing, then it turned its attention toward Luna and Big Mac. “I nevvverrr …”

“Mac, listen carefully,” Fire Eyes sent. “I’ve got enough willpower left for one more attempt at Void Fire, but I need Luna to teleport the two of you to the Guard’s other side so its shield will face away from me.”

A moment later, Luna and Big Mac disappeared and reappeared on the opposite side of the alleyway. Luna’s mane had also started to billow once more, and tiny lights were appearing in it.

Like they’d hoped, the Guard turned to face them once more, just in time for a beam of pink energy to connect with its remaining arm.

Fire Eyes struggled just to stay upright, coughing uncontrollably with blood pouring out of her mouth. It would be so easy to let unconsciousness carry her away. At least she’d be free of the agony in her chest and throat.

Except she’d promised Whisper that she’d come back alive.

Eyes somehow found a bit of willpower left to heal her throat.

Past her, Luna used her magic to rip a thick piece of crystalline wall off the nearest house and slam it down on the Guard’s damaged arm, severing it.

“Crush its body, Big McIntosh,” Luna ordered, leaping at the Guard with both hooves.

With only half an arm to defend itself, the Guard was quickly forced to the ground beneath the pounding hooves of Luna and Big Mac.

Eyes risked a glance toward the wall of the Empire. It looked like the Alliance had gotten through Shining Armor and Cadance’s shield, but strangely, they hadn’t attacked. What are they doing?

-_-_-_-_-_-

“… I said hold your positions!” Silver Tail sent.

“That goes against the plan,” Typhoon pointed out. “We should force our advantage now, while Celestia and Luna are busy with the Requiem Guard.”

“Forget the plan.” Silver Tail growled, and he made sure that all five Hurricanes heard it. “The Requiem Guard wanted a fight with Celestia, and we’re giving it to them without risking any casualties of our own.” Silver Tail had to hope that he wasn’t making a huge mistake by holding the army back. Celestia was weak from fighting Providence until the living suit had run into the Crystal Empire, chasing after the scattered members of the Requiem Guard. Luna was in even worse shape. It would only take a few minutes for the Alliance to massacre the pony defenders and claim victory in this war.

“You’re doing the right thing,” Heart send him privately.

Silver Tail just nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He was throwing away the victory that so many dragons had fought and died for, and all because Heart insisted that the only way to achieve long-term peace with Equestria would be if the Alliance surrendered.

Victory wouldn’t be worth it if it only led to more wars and more bloodshed.

His eyes focused on Luna, slowly crushing one of the Requiem Guard to pieces. Good, the Hurricanes would be less likely to press for another attack if Equestria managed to destroy a couple of the suits, and it would get rid of one more barrier between the Alliance and peace.

If only he had been able to hold off the Hurricanes’ decision to release the Requiem Guard. Even a few days longer would have given Cliff Runner time to complete his gem-creation rune, and Silver Tail would have been able to start pushing for peace instead of releasing these monsters.

A cluster of golden figures caught Silver Tail’s eye. The rest of the Requiem Guard was closing in on Luna, and one of them was already pulling back to throw its spear.

No. Luna was an honorable warrior. He wouldn’t stand by and watch as she was killed by a dishonorable ambush. Silver Tail jabbed both wings forward.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Luna looked up just in time to see a spear from the Requiem Guard get pushed out of the way, clattering against the wall of a house instead of plunging into her throat.

Instinctively, Luna teleported herself and Big McIntosh back to where Fire Eyes crouched. Not more than a hundred feet away from where they had just been, another Guard was rushing to the damaged one. Behind it, the rest of the Requiem Guard stood, silently watching.

This new Guard looked at them and tightened its grip on the giant hammer that it carried. “Coount yoursellf lucky, Mistress of tthe Night. You aand the resstt of yourr misbegotten kind wallk the pathh to oblivion, but my quarrrel iss with yourr sister, and sso I will alllow you to livve a shorrt time longer.” Then it lifted the other Guard over its shoulder. “Requiem Guard,” it glanced at Luna and the others one last time, as though second-guessing its decision to spare them, “ffall back.” It paused only long enough to gather its companion’s fallen shield and ax before turning and walking back toward the wall.

The other six members of the Requiem Guard silently followed after it.

Luna watched them go, as tears of helpless frustration started to run down her cheeks. Equestria had struck those creatures with everything it had, soldiers and civilians lay dead because of them, and yet they hadn’t killed a single Guard?

The suits kept walking, reaching the Empire's wall and climbing over it as they continued toward the Alliance's army.

“Ponies of the Crystal Empire,” Silver Tail’s voice echoed across the distance between them. “Do not attack our caves again, or I will order the Requiem Guard to attack the Empire once more.” Then he and the rest of the Alliance began to fly away.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Silver Tail looked back at the Crystal Empire, wondering what would happen now. He could see Celestia standing on the wall. She was still alive, which meant his pact with the Requiem Guard was still in effect.

Life would be so much easier if drakes could go back on their word. He could kill the Hurricanes, bury the Requiem Guard beneath a mountain somewhere, and then surrender to Equestria, stopping this war by sundown. Of course, that was only a dream. Other races didn’t understand it, but drakes simply couldn’t break a promise. He could as easily sprout gills and breathe underwater.

Silver Tail skimmed the ground far below and located the eight suits of armor to which he had effectively sold his soul. He angled down toward the group, only flapping at the last moment before landing in the powdery snow. The draining aura of the Guards made his limbs feel weak as he fell into step with them.

Providence led the group, with another Guard slung easily over one shoulder. The other Guard was strangely listless, and the glowing runes that covered it were far weaker than those of its fellows.

“You were able to face Celestia,” Silver Tail said. “Are you satisfied?”

Providence stopped and held up one fist.

The others all came to an abrupt halt as well.

“I willl be ssatisfied when she iss dead.” Providence lowered its arm before turning to look down at the drake leader. “And neverr forget that it iss not yourr order to give.”

Silver Tail stood there, puzzled for a moment, before realizing what the Guard was talking about.

“I willl order the Requiemm Guard tto attaack. Iff the Allliance doess not fight beside uss next tiime, they willl be the firsst to fall.” Providence turned and resumed its march. The crunch of snow beneath its hooves almost drowned out its parting words, “And nexxt time, there will be no retreaat.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Fire Eyes, Luna, and Big Mac sat in silence as they watched the Alliance forces slowly fade into the distance. Eyes was propped against the house that Luna had lifted in their battle.

The battle played over and over in Eyes’ head as she tried to think of something different that they could have done. Her team was arguably the best in the Everfree Platoon, and they had even had the help of one of the Immortal Sisters. How could things have ended like this, with all of them exhausted and Cliff possibly dead?

She could only pray that Blueblood had gotten him to a medic in time.

In front of her, Mac and Luna leaned against each other. Like Fire Eyes, they were covered in dirt, blood, and sweat. Their armor was battered and ripped in places, showing painful wounds beneath.

“It would seem,” Luna said at last, “that a new strategy is required if we are to be victorious against the Requiem Guard.”

Big Mac pressed against her side a bit more, his eyes downcast. “Eyup.”

Chapter 46

Spirit knelt next to yet another mortally injured pony. This one was suffering from numerous punctures to the chest and back, a dislocated shoulder, and Celestia only knew what else. “You’ll be okay,” Spirit muttered, pouring in some healing magic. Ribs cracked back into place and blood stopped pouring from the stallion’s mouth, which was always a good sign.

As his magic worked, Spirit took a moment to look around. This had been a nice neighborhood yesterday, and the Requiem Guard had killed nearly everypony in it. Spirit felt his lips curl back into an angry snarl. Fighting enemy soldiers was one thing, but turning monsters loose on civilians was crossing a line. He gave one last burst of magic, to make sure the stallion wouldn’t die of internal injuries, then moved on to the next pony.

That one was already dead.

Spirit moved on to the next, stepping over shards of rubble as he went.

Autumn was off somewhere with the other ponies in the Everfree Platoon, using her empathy to detect wounded ponies among the ruins of their houses. Meanwhile, Spirit was one of five wyrms available to heal whoever they found. The other wyrms were already at the wall, doing what they could with the army’s wounded.

“How can I help you?”

Spirit glanced up, and found Trixie standing in front of him. Grime and powdered crystal streaked her coat, and it looked like she had been crying. “Help Autumn and the others look for survivors. She’s off in that direction.” He waved. “Just follow the ponies that are dropping off the wounded.” Spirit finished healing the pony he was working on then skipped two more dead ones before finding another that he could still help. “How are things at the wall?”

“Worse than it should be,” Trixie replied shakily. “Celestia would have been able to kill that Guard with the hammer if Everfree had been supporting her along with the Solar Unicorns.” Trixie shook her head angrily. “You shouldn’t have left us.”

“We had to at least try to stop the others,” Spirit said.

“Seven more of my friends in the Solar Unicorns died!” Trixie stepped toward him. “Celestia used so much magic that she can barely stand, and Luna might be dead for all we know!”

“Everfree has six confirmed deaths, and my brother’s entire team is missing.” Spirit grit his teeth. “And don’t you dare say that what happened is our fault!”

“It’s what cowards do,” a new voice said.

Spirit looked toward the sound of it and saw Blueblood stumbling toward them with an injured wyrm held in his flickering telekinetic field. “We blame others … It’s what we do.”

“Blueblood,” Spirit ran to the wyrm, “where are the others?” His breath caught when he saw the butterfly pattern on the wyrm’s shoulder plate. “Oh Celestia, is Cliff okay? What happened to him?”

“One of the Requiem Guard,” Blueblood said, setting Cliff down. “Fire Eyes and the others were still fighting it when I left.” He flopped to the ground and pulled off his helmet. His normally pristine coat was streaked with sweat and dirt.

“You ran out on your teammates?” Trixie gasped. “And you accuse me of cowardice?”

Spirit ignored them and focused on Cliff. Even a brief glimpse let him know that his brother’s right arm had been shattered. The entire thing was mangled and twisted to the point that Spirit wondered if it would be easier to just cut it off and grow a new one. Cliff’s ribs didn’t look right either. They were partially caved in, which probably meant internal injuries. He was in danger of bleeding to death from the inside if his arm and ribs didn’t get fixed immediately.

“He would have died if I hadn’t gotten him away from that monster,” Blueblood said defiantly. He pushed himself up and glared at Trixie. “Saving an ally’s life isn’t the work of a coward.”

“Oh, and I suppose fighting on while a different Guard killed ally after ally makes me a coward?” Trixie stepped forward until they were practically nose and nose.

Blueblood held his ground. “No, it makes you a hero, and I’m sure you’ll never let us forget it.”

Spirit frowned. Something was wrong with Cliff’s injuries. It was like they were fighting against his healing magic.

“I wish I could forget all of it,” Trixie said angrily. “My friends are dead now because I couldn’t think of a way to stop that monster!”

“I wish I could forget everything too,” Blueblood almost shouted. “Even if it was to save Cliff, I still ran away. The rest of my team might be dead by now!”

“So you’re as big of a failure as Trixie, is that what you want to hear?!”

…

Spirit glanced up, just to make sure that one of them hadn’t killed the other, and his jaw dropped in confusion.

Blueblood and Trixie were kissing, and not the polite little peck on the cheek kind of kissing either. This was more like the ‘How do your tonsils taste?’ brand of kissing.

Spirit shook his head and turned his attention back to Cliff. Once his brother’s life was out of danger, he could take a moment to figure out what under the Stars had just happened.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Passing out from magical exhaustion was never a fun experience. In fact, Spirit could say from experience that it sucked a little bit less than having one of his hands frozen off by an ice wyvern. He opened his eyes, then clenched them shut again. Sunlight and headaches didn’t mix well.

The day wasn’t starting horribly, at least. His helmet was off, and he was lying on something comfortable. Warm sunlight shining through his eyelids also told him that he had been allowed to sleep in.

Spirit waited for the throbbing pain to die down before cracking his eyes open and looking around. He was back at the barracks, but it was mostly empty. Only a few other dragons or ponies were scattered around the circular room, and most of them were still asleep.

Autumn was snuggled up next to him with her helmet off as well and her head resting across his chest. She shifted to look at him, and a weak smile played across her lips. It didn’t touch her eyes, though. They were red and swollen, and her coat had reverted to dark gray.

Spirit almost reflexively extended a link, then he cringed from the overwhelming amount of frustration, anger, and fear that was coursing through his marefriend. He quickly pulled together feelings of love and support to counteract them.

The obvious question would have been ‘are you okay?’ but the equally obvious answer was ‘no.’ At least six of their friends had died yesterday. He would be more concerned if she was fine. “You know I’m always here for you,” he said quietly, “right?”

Autumn looked away and pressed herself against his chest a little more. “The Requiem Guard attacked again last night.”

“What happened?” Spirit wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

“One of them appeared in the middle of the Empire and massacred several dozen civilians before disappearing back into a network of tunnels.” Autumn shuddered. “It was already over by the time word reached us.”

Spirit took a moment to process what he had just heard. Celestia and Luna would still be weak from the battle yesterday. Hay, most of the army would be. They were in no condition to defend against repeated attacks from an enemy like the Requiem Guard. “Has anyone come up with a plan yet?”

“They were still arguing over ideas when I left.” Autumn looked down. “I just stopped by for a few minutes on my way to my mother’s.” Her emotions surged for a moment then were almost-violently pulled back under control.

“Is Verre alright?” Spirit’s arms tightened around Autumn. She wasn’t the type to leave a meeting unless it was for something important.

“Mother is fine,” Autumn said quietly. “She needs me to go with her to a funeral.”

“Would it help if I came along?” Spirit asked.

Autumn shook her head and stood. “I would rather that you represent Everfree at the strategy meeting, but only if you're feeling up to it.”

“Are you sure?” Spirit stood up as well, which made his headache flair. “Oh, dumb move.” He grimaced and pressed a hand to his left temple.

Autumn pressed against his side. “Forget the meeting. Just stay here and relax.”

“I’ll be fine, as long as they’re serving coffee with extra painkillers.” He let his hand drop. “I’m more worried about you … Were you close with the pony that died?”

She looked away. “Your subtlety and tact are overwhelming.”

Okay, so that hadn’t been the best way to ask. “Sorry.”

“Rest here, Spirit.” Autumn stepped away from him and pulled her helmet on. “I’ll return in a few hours.” Then she started walking toward the door.

Spirit grabbed his own helmet and hurried after her. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“It isn’t important,” Autumn said. She pushed her way out the door.

“Autumn, wait.” Spirit caught her shoulder just outside. “I just-” He sighed. “Just stop doing this to me, please.”

Autumn’s ears pressed back against her skull and her head sank. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t pull away either.

“Stop trying to hide yourself from me,” Spirit said quietly. “I know there are things in your past that you’d rather forget, but when they do come up, I want to be able to help you through them. You can’t keep bottling your feelings up forever, so just … talk to me. Please.”

At first she didn’t respond, but then her hoof came up and pressed against Spirit’s hand. “Lieutenant Liberty Valiant.” Her voice was soft and flat, almost a whisper. “That’s the pony whose funeral I’ll be attending. Mother insisted.”

Spirit gasped. “Your father?”

“He stopped being my father over a thousand years ago.” Autumn turned her gaze up to the sky above. “I know I should forgive him now that he’s dead, but I just can’t. I cried over every pony and dragon that died in the Everfree Platoon, but with him …” She shook her head. “I don’t know what I feel. Anger, perhaps.” She squeezed his hand. “I need to get going, but … if,” she looked at Spirit with an expression that he couldn’t decipher, “if you want … we could … talk about it some more when I come back.”

“I can go with you.” Spirit squeezed her hoof in return.

Autumn shook her head. “No, I, I want to tell you all the things I keep hidden, but I’m … not good at opening up. I need time to try and get ready. Please understand.”

Spirit reluctantly nodded and leaned over to kiss Autumn on the cheek. “Give Verre a hug for me.”

Autumn pulled him into a tight hug. “Thank you.” Then she released him and hurried away toward her mother’s house.

Spirit watched her go. “Thank you.” He considered going back into the barracks and resting some more, but his headache was actually starting to calm down, and there was still that meeting at the Crystal Bunker. He turned and set out for it.

He passed a few ponies along the way, but things were generally subdued. This weird, for lack of a better term, fog of silence always seemed to cover the Empire for a day or two after a battle. It was the kind of quiet that Spirit had come to associate with funerals, gratitude for making it through another battle, and anxious fear about the next one.

At least the quiet made it easier to think. Spirit wasn’t a fan of Liberty Valiant by any stretch of the imagination, but he was sad to hear that the stallion had died. Verre really seemed to have hoped that they could share a future together.

Eventually Spirit reached the Crystal Bunker and worked his way down to the meeting room. It had all four alicorns, Shining Armor, Spitfire, Jadeite, and both of Spirit’s draconic parents. Trixie was suspiciously absent, though. Spirit decided not to linger on that, and his sudden wince definitely didn’t have anything to do with imagining what she and Blueblood might be up to. There was also a palace maid standing in the corner in case anyone was hungry or thirsty, like usual. Twilight and Luna giving each other a death glare, however. That was new.

“Did I miss something?” Spirit slid into an empty seat next to Twilight. He motioned the maid over. “Could I get a cup of coffee, extra strong?”

She nodded. “Of course. I’ll be back in a moment.”

Celestia cleared her throat. “Good afternoon, Spirit. We were just discussing the viability of using the Rainbow Harmony Blast to defeat the Requiem Guard.”

Spirit thought about it. “Well, handling monsters from Tartarus is sort of what that power’s for, but we’d have to wait until Fluttershy gives birth first. I don’t know what it would do to Miracle if Flutters went all rainbow powered before then.”

“Tis a negligible risk,” Luna said. “The power of harmony would never harm an innocent life.”

“Except that kirin development is different than any other known species,” Twilight said, her tone clipped. “Everything about Miracle’s DNA was decided by Fluttershy and Cliff’s DNA fighting for dominance. Her fundamental makeup isn’t harmonious at all. Discord even said that her body generates chaos energy to keep her pony and dragon parts working together. All that harmony energy might make half her organs fail or try to rip her in two at a genetic level.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “It would not do either. Pinkie Pie generates chaos energy as well, and the magic of harmony has never harmed her.”

“But Pinkie doesn’t need chaos energy to live.” Twilight folded her hooves across her chest. “I know that the Requiem Guard needs to be stopped, but I’m not going to risk Fluttershy’s daughter.”

“Then are we to simply wait for the Requiem Guard to attack again?” Luna glared at Twilight. “Thousands of ponies could die before Fluttershy gives birth.”

Celestia cleared her throat. “As I understand it, Zephyr is our expert on kirins. We should get his input before we come to a decision.”

Twilight looked from Luna to Celestia and back again before she let out a sigh. “I’ll ask him.”

“Another option,” Celestia said, “is to induce early labor.”

“What?” Twilight stared at her. “I can’t ruin Miracle’s birth like that!”

Celestia calmly returned her gaze.

Twilight slowly looked around at all the other faces in the room. Her expression fell. “This is supposed to be Fluttershy and Miracle’s special day. Not something to rush through so that we can get back to killing.”

“I think,” Celestia said, “that Miracle would be proud to know that she saved hundreds, maybe thousands, of lives, by being born a few days early.”

“But …” Twilight paused, then her head sank. “I’ll see if Fluttershy is willing.”

“Will Cliff still get to go home for the birth?” Spirit asked.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, broken only by the maid coming back with Spirit’s coffee.

“Oh,” Spirit said quietly. He looked down at the steamy brown liquid. A headache suddenly seemed like a minor problem.

“I wish it were otherwise,” Luna said gently, “but every soldier is required if there is to be any hope of-”

“I get it,” Spirit said without looking up. “I just … I don’t know how I’m supposed to tell him is all.”

More silence, until Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder. “He’s still unconscious. I can delay going back to Everfree until he wakes up, though. That way we can tell him together.”

Spirit gripped her hoof with one hand and took a long drink of coffee with the other. “We can’t afford the delay. I’ll figure something out. Thanks anyway, Twi.” He turned his attention to the rest of the room. “Alright, what’s next on the docket?”

Jadeite, the leader of the Earth-shakers, stood up. “As you all know, the Empire’s shield was adjusted to keep out diamond dogs as soon as we learned that they are working with the Alliance. However, last night’s sneak attack proves that we haven’t found all of their old tunnels yet. We need to map the tunnels out as soon as possible, but exploration teams would be easy targets if there are any members of the Requiem Guard still around down there …”

Spirit had trouble paying attention as the meeting dragged on. Important things were being discussed, sure, but his thoughts kept wandering back to Cliff and Fluttershy. How would they react when they found out that Cliff wouldn’t be able to make it home for his daughter’s birth?

-_-_-_-_-_-

Yol Toor stared back at one of his ten guards. There was little else for him to do during his incarceration. He could feel his magic slowly building, in spite of this accursed cage’s draining influence. Unfortunately, it would take months before he had gathered enough to risk an escape attempt, and so he watched the guards.

They were clearly experts in controlling themselves. Yol Toor had a lifetime of experience in reading the expression and body language of others. The thoughts and feelings of most creatures were an open book to him, and yet these guard ponies were difficult to read even for him. That, of course, only made the challenge more enjoyable.

Today, Yol Toor’s attention was drawn to a unicorn guard that wouldn’t quite meet his gaze. Instead, his eyes shifted constantly over Yol Toor and his cell. The pony’s expression was mostly neutral except for a slight narrowing of his eyes. Also, his stance was relaxed but ready. He had been standing in the same position for the last five hours.

Anger. Yol Toor nodded. This pony was definitely angry at him. It wasn’t the explosive type of anger, which tended to burn out. Rather, it was the kind of simmering heat that could last for centuries. Well, decades. Pony lifespans were so short.

The anger was well controlled. This pony clearly valued duty and honor above settling whatever personal grudge he had against Yol Toor. Furthermore, he acted with confidence and precision in his role as a guard. If he had been a drake, Yol Toor would have considered offering to mentor him.

Perhaps that was still possible, in a way.

“Why have you readied yourself to charge at me?” Yol Toor asked. “It seems that your abilities as a unicorn would serve you better in a ranged battle.”

The guard didn’t respond, although the other nine did glance at him.

Yol Toor hadn’t been expecting a response. It had been six weeks and two days since he awoke in this cell, and the guards still had yet to address him directly.

After several more minutes, the room’s only door opened and Princess Celestia entered. Her movements lacked their normal crisp elegance, although she still walked with far more grace than a normal pony. Yol Toor could make out faint coloration in her cheeks and along her neck. Also, her jaw was slightly more tense than normal.

Celestia was normally far more in control of herself than this. Something had affected her. Possibly multiple things. She was showing signs of exhaustion, frustration, and anger in equal measure.

All ten guards snapped to attention as soon as they noticed her.

She acknowledged them with a nod. “Leave us.”

The guards did so without complaint.

Yol Toor closed his eyes for a moment to ready himself. Celestia had all the signs of a warrior who had recently returned from battle.

As soon as the door closed, Celestia turned to him. “Silver Tail has released the Requiem Guard.”

The name tugged at something in Yol Toor’s memory, but it took him a moment to place it. “Those creatures that you locked in Tartarus?”

“Yes.” Celestia stomped her way around the room, her wings and tail flicking randomly as she went. “They attacked yesterday morning and then again last night.”

Yol Toor studied her entire form, searching for signs of deception. He found none. “Do you know which drakes were killed in the attack?”

Celestia paused, sighed, and sank to a sitting position. “No drakes were killed. The Requiem Guards fought alone.”

Yol Toor curled up on the floor as well and reflected on what he had heard. The Alliance must have been desperate to release creatures from Tartarus. Even the Hurricanes recognized how dangerous such a move was.

“Then I had to encourage Twilight to ask Fluttershy to have her baby early,” Celestia said quietly.

Yol Toor had heard enough about those two to understand what Celestia was saying, but he couldn’t imagine how such a thing could relate to a battle or to the Requiem Guard.

Celestia must have sensed his confusion, because she quickly explained that Fluttershy was being asked to have her child early so that she could be ready to summon the Power of Harmony and help defeat the Requiem Guard.

“Assuming you are able to defeat them,” Yol Toor said slowly, “will you continue to attack the Shattered Mountain Caves?”

“No.” Celestia shook her head. “I don’t want to push the Alliance into a corner again. They could release something else from Tartarus, or possibly one of the monsters sealed away in the Arctic Wastes.”

At least some lasting good had come of this.

“There can be no reasoning with the Requiem Guard,” Celestia said quietly. “They exist only to kill ponies. However, once they have been defeated, I would like to open negotiations with Silver Tail and the rest of the Alliance.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “With your help, we may be able to present the Alliance with terms that are acceptable to both dragons and ponies.”

Yol Toor thought very carefully about what she had just said. It was possible that Celestia was lying about the Requiem Guard, but it didn’t really matter if she was. She wouldn’t be asking for help coming to terms of peace unless the end of this war was in sight. That meant that one side or the other, possibly both, was near the breaking point. Of course, there was also the chance that this was just a trick to gain information about the Alliance.

“Every land dispute between dragons and ponies in recorded history has ended in the dragons being killed or forced from their lands.” Yol Toor locked eyes with Celestia. “Prove that you will not continue this trend. Offer the Alliance part of the Crystal Empire’s land, enough that we could keep ourselves fed.”

“Food is no longer an issue,” Celestia said. “Cliff Runner has given the Alliance a rune that produces gemstone from rocks.”

“Does that somehow undo our claim upon the land?” Yol Toor asked. “I am willing to compromise, but you must be as well.”

Celestia’s ears pressed back against her head, all but disappearing into the ever-shifting mass that was her mane. “I don’t have the authority to order anypony to give up their land, but I will speak to the ponies of the Crystal Empire. This is their home. They deserve to have their voices heard.”

Yol Toor nodded.

“There are many other things that we should discuss if we hope to make a lasting peace.” Celestia looked at him pleadingly. The implication of her statement was clear.

Yol Toor held her gaze. “Very well, to put a stop to this mindless killing, I will help you work out terms of peace that may satisfy the Alliance.”

Chapter 47

Talon paced back and forth nervously. Her feet were numb from walking in the snow for so long, but she barely noticed. The only thing on her mind was the cave entrance that loomed ominously before her.

Providence had disappeared last night after they got back from the battle, and nodragon had seen him since. Now the Council wanted her to go talk to the Guards that were left and see if they could still be directed without their leader.

There was a very good reason why Talon was being charged with this and not somedragon more important; almost their entire information network was down. Only two dragon agents escaped to tell of Chrysalis’s betrayal, and both of them were still on the run from Equestrian authorities. In other words, Talon was now expendable but still important enough on paper that sending her as a diplomat wouldn’t be seen as an insult.

Her only consolation was that Crystal didn’t know about her new orders yet, and Tornado and Heart were both too clueless about wyvern culture to know what was really going on. Talon preferred things this way. Marching off to her probable death was bad enough without her three closest friends insisting on coming along too. Alone was definitely better. It was just … a hug would be nice right now.

“This could still work out,” Talon said to herself. “The others might be reasonable.” Maybe if she said it enough she’d actually start to believe it.

A shout from the other dragons nearby made Talon look up to see a golden form come plummeting down toward her.

The figure kicked against the cliff face, pushing itself just far enough out of the way that it landed next to Talon instead of on top of her.

Talon’s legs shook from the thunderous impact, but relief welled up in her when she realized who and what she was looking at. “Providence, thank the Storm you’re okay!”

Providence hefted its massive war hammer over one shoulder and turned to face her. “You arre worried about mme, dragonling?” It didn’t sound amused or insulted by the prospect, just mildly surprised.

“We, uh,” Talon glanced at the cave entrance, “we didn’t know where you went, or if you’d be back.” Oddly, she didn’t feel any of the weakness that normally went along with standing near a member of the Requiem Guard.

“Ark needss life-force. The poniess of thhe Crysstal Empire arre a rready source of itt.” Providence stepped out of the small crater that its landing had created and walked into the darkness of the cave. “How llong until the Allliancce has enoughh gemm creation runes to ffeed itself?”

Talon’s jaw dropped. “You attacked the Empire by yourself?”

The suit had almost completely disappeared from view. “Answer mmy question, drragonling.”

Talon steeled herself and hurried after it. “All of our rune masters are doing their best, but they tell me it’s a really difficult rune to create.” She caught up with Providence at a bend in the tunnel. Beyond it, she could see a small chamber that held the rest of the Guards. “It will take weeks before we have enough of them to feed even a small part of-”

Providence’s metal hand shoved her into the cave wall so hard that Talon felt the finger bones in her left wing break. She gasped in pain at the same time that a spiraling beam of darkness passed through the space she had just occupied. It looked like the kind of beam that her staff used to drain a foe’s magic, but much thicker.

“Samhane,” Providence stepped in front of Talon, and its voice dropped to a harsh whisper, “whyy are youu attaacking one of ourr allies?”

“Aark’s armmor needss energy,” one of the Guards answered. It was the silver one that was shorter and more lithe than the rest.

Talon suddenly felt weak and tired. Her legs struggled to support her, and the air was so thin that she had to breathe in gasps just to get enough.

Providence glanced back at her then returned his attention to the other Guards. “Deactivate yourr auras. Thhe dragons are alliess.”

And just like that, Talon felt some of her strength returning. Her wing still throbbed, though, and she felt a headache beginning to form.

“Do nott attack annother of our alliess.” Providence stomped over to the Guard it had called Samhane. “I alrready have the energy hhe needs.” Providence knelt next to another Guard that was resting against the wall.

Talon fought down the urge to run and kept a wary eye on Samhane. The Council would need to know what the Requiem Guard was doing and why.

The Guard next to Providence looked almost the same as the others except that the glowing runes across its chest and limbs were faint to the point of hardly being visible. By comparison, Providence’s runes cast enough light to read by. The weakened Guard turned to look at Providence. “I neeverrr … mmyyy ownn …”

Providence gripped it on the shoulder with one hand. “I knnow, Arrk.” He extended his war hammer, hilt first, with the other hand. “Taake hold.”

The Guard lifted its hand and gripped the offered weapon. The runes on its body suddenly flared back to full strength.

Apparently satisfied, Providence took back its war hammer and rose to its hooves. “Ssamhane, yourr orders are to keeep them togetherr in battle.”

Samhane held its ground under Providence’s stare. “Theyy caause morre desstructioon by sprreading oout.”

“Thhey are vullnerable onn their ownn.” Providence leaned closer. “Ark’s injurries are proof of thhat.”

“Hhe iss alrready dead.” Samhane gestured at the newly recovered Guard. “Thhat sshell iss not Arrk annd you knnow itt.”

Both Guards simply stared at each other for a moment. Talon was sure that they would be glaring if they were capable of it.

“I willl watch ovver them ffrom noww on,” Providence finally said. It turned and walked back toward Talon.

“Doess tthat meann I’m alllowed to paay thesse ponies a vvisit whhile we wait?” Samhane asked, its tone mocking.

Providence paused, and glanced back over its broad shoulder. “Celestia iss mine, do as yyou wissh with the otherrs.”

Talon got the feeling that Samhane was grinning cruelly. “Hhow generouss of yyou.” It stroked the ring on its right hand. “Iit hass been too llong sincce I fed.”

“Do nnot let itt control yyou,” Providence said, its tone warning.

“I amm no ffool,” Samhane replied acidly.

Providence turned back to Samhane and said very firmly, “Ddo not make mme kill yyou, Ssamhane.” Then it returned its gaze to Talon. “Doess the Counccil have a pllan to killl Celestia yet?”

Talon tried to hold the Guard’s gaze and failed miserably. The firmness in its voice left no doubt that Providence would kill Samhane if it seemed necessary. Providence would kill a friend that it had known for centuries. Talon knew that her own death would barely be worth a second thought compared to that.

“I-I don’t know.” A shudder passed through her. “We’ve tried everything we can think of since this war started, but nothing seems to work.” Talon hated thinking about Celestia. She didn’t want to remember all those weeks of living in fear, never knowing when Celestia and Luna would reappear to rain down more death and destruction. Was that what the ponies of the Crystal Empire had been feeling this whole war, constantly under threat from dragon attacks? “At least the Immortal Sisters won’t risk attacking us as long as we have you on our side. We can call a ceasefire, maybe even an indefinite one, and focus on keeping ourselves fed-”

“Nno.” Providence leaned down, nearly shoving its face into hers. “There willl be no ceassefire until Celesstia is dead.”

Talon took a step back without even realizing it. “Y-yes,” she looked away, “Celestia will die. One way or another, the Council will make sure of it.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Fluttershy could tell that something was wrong as soon as Twilight got back from her most recent battle. It wasn’t just the way her head and tail drooped or the dark bags beneath her eyes. Fluttershy wasn’t sure what exactly it was, but something about Twilight’s expression frightened her.

She led Twilight to the kitchen table. Angel was already there, leaning back against Scenic Trail’s egg. He was grinning as he watched Zeph clean up after his latest attempt at cooking.

Fluttershy took the bag that held Twilight’s armor and set it aside. “What happened?”

Twilight tapped her hooves together for a moment before looking up at Fluttershy. “A lot of things.” She looked down at her hooves again. “I don’t know quite where to begin.”

“Probably at the beginning,” Zeph said. He wiped off the last bit of maple syrup from the counter then took a seat at the table. “By the way, Pinkie left a message for you a few days ago.”

“What was it?” Twilight asked.

“We don’t know.” Fluttershy went to one of the bookshelves and came back with a sealed envelope. “She made us Pinkie Promise that only you could read it.”

Twilight took the envelope and opened it, skimming the contents for a moment. “A wyvern told her that the Requiem Guard was about to be released.” She frowned. “But why would a wyvern do that? I thought they never disobeyed their superiors.”

“Wait,” Zephyr said, “did you say the Requiem Guard? Those doomsday suits of armor?”

“Yes.” Twilight’s frown deepened. “They attacked the Empire yesterday, but Pinkie’s letter says the wyvern talked to her two days ago. That would’ve given us so much more time to prepare.”

“What happened in the battle?” Fluttershy asked.

“Sorry.” Twilight took a breath. “You deserve the whole story. Two nights ago, at the Changeling Ball, we got a letter from Cliff …”

Fluttershy had to fight more and more to keep calm as the story went on. The Alliance had released the Requiem Guard from Tartarus, and they had attacked the Empire, killing dozens, including some ponies and dragons that Fluttershy knew, and leaving Cliff seriously injured. Now it looked like they would keep attacking until they were defeated, and Equestria needed her to help fight those monsters with the Rainbow Harmony Blast.

Twilight gripped the other mare’s hoof with one of her own. “I’m so sorry to ask this, Fluttershy. We really tried everything we could to defeat them without the Elements.”

“I … I understand.” Fluttershy squeezed back. “I’ll do my best.”

Twilight shifted her gaze to Zeph. “Do you think it would be safe to expose Miracle to that much harmony magic?”

Zeph frowned at her. “What do you mean, expose Miracle to harmony magic? She’s practically been swimming in the stuff since she was conceived.”

“What?” Twilight looked at Fluttershy’s stomach then back to Zeph. “Fluttershy hasn’t used her rainbow power at all since she got pregnant.”

Zeph rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Twilight? You and the other Bearers are bonded with your Elements at a fundamental level. That power isn’t going to go away just because you haven’t called it to the surface in a while.”

The kitchen timer went off.

“Oh, my pie’s ready.” Zeph jumped out of his seat and went to the oven.

Twilight silently put a shield around Zeph.

Angel positioned himself so that Scenic Trail’s egg was between him and the oven.

Fluttershy, meanwhile, looked down at her stomach. “Has that affected her chaos magic at all?”

“Nah. If anything, they’ve boosted each other.” Zeph opened the oven and peered inside. “Chaos magic and harmony magic are pretty similar when you get down to it. They both take a bunch of pieces that shouldn’t work together, and then make them work together.” He reached into the oven with two of his tails and pulled out an apple pie. “Hey, I think this one actually turned out al-”

The pie exploded, splattering bits of crust and filling all over the inside of Twilight’s shield.

“-right.” Zeph wiped bits of pie filling out of his eyes. “Spoke too soon.” He licked some of the mess off his front paw. “Hm, that’s not bad. Now if I could just get them to stop exploding …”

Twilight moved her shield away from Zeph, pulling with it every bit of pie gunk so that he emerged perfectly clean. “So it would be safe for Fluttershy to help us unleash the Rainbow Harmony Blast?”

“It wouldn’t harm Miracle, if that’s what you mean.”

“Something else could still hurt her,” Fluttershy said quietly, thinking back on the battle that she had fought in. She had nearly died more than once, even with everyone working together to keep each other safe. “But,” she grit her teeth, “we can’t let those creatures keep killing ponies either.”

Twilight tossed the pie remains in the trash, then put a hoof on the other pony’s shoulder. “Well … Celestia did bring up another option, but you don’t have to take it.”

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked quickly. Anything had to be better than either taking her daughter into a battlefield or letting innocent ponies die.

“We could induce labor.” Twilight looked away. “I know it’s not a good alternative either, and this has to be really hard for you, especially since Cliff can’t come home right now, but,” she turned back to face Fluttershy, “we’ll all support you no matter what.”

Fluttershy remained silent and looked down at Angel.

He folded his arms and arched his eyebrow.

Both of them were silent, but Fluttershy knew what her pet was thinking. The choice was between putting Miracle in danger and keeping Miracle out of danger. That wasn’t a choice at all, and they both knew it.

Fluttershy bowed her head and focused on her breathing. The words fought against her, but eventually she managed to force them up her throat, “How soon can we induce birth?”

Zeph frowned thoughtfully. “Miracle still has a few things that I need to finish straightening out, but if I started working on them now, you could be a mother by sundown.”

Twilight gripped Fluttershy by the shoulders. “Are you sure about this? You wouldn’t even get to spend any time with her. Celestia wants us back at the Empire as soon as we can possibly get there.”

Fluttershy turned and looked out the window behind her.

The streets were deserted, except for a pair of earth ponies. Golden Harvest and her little sister, Noi. Neither of those two would have to choose between abandoning their child and condemning thousands of ponies to death.

Fluttershy bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from whimpering. “I’m sure.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

What followed was somehow one of the longest and yet also the shortest days in Fluttershy’s life. Twilight went to tell the hospital what was happening. Meanwhile, Fluttershy wrote a letter to her father and another to Spirit, with a note for Cliff. Then, there had been nothing to do but wait, and worry.

Zeph was there the whole time, telling jokes and stories. They never quite managed to let her forget her fears, but they still helped.

Angel stayed on Fluttershy’s head for most of the day, running his paws through her mane as he reassured her that everything would be fine.

Silver Lining said very little when she came home and learned what was happening. She simply hugged Fluttershy, said that she was proud of her, and then stayed by her side, an island of calm in a sea of worries.

Twilight, on the other hoof, passed out from hyperventilating. Twice.

Rarity literally squealed with excitement when she got home from work and heard the news.

Fluttershy spent the time just trying to follow her mother’s example and stay calm. She had heard that labor would be easier if she was relaxed. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation made that impossible. Cliff wouldn’t be there to see his own daughter born, and it would be because of a decision that she had made. Fluttershy didn’t think there was anything she could ever do to make that up to him.

Eventually it was time to go to the hospital.

She didn’t remember the walk, or what anyone said. Everything was a blur in her mind, except for the all-consuming fact that she would be a mother soon.

What if I’m a bad mother?

Breathe in. Breathe out.

What if something happens to Miracle during the birth?

Breathe in. Breathe out.

I’m not ready yet!

Breathe in. Breathe out.

Somehow, they got checked in and taken to a birthing room, where a nurse gave Fluttershy a shot then set up an IV before leaving them alone.

“… And I can’t wait to see how adorable the two of you will be together.” Rarity let out a happy sigh. “Oh, do you suppose she’ll have your eyes, or Cliff’s? I can just imagine a pair of teal eyes looking back at me over the top of a cute little baby muzzle.” Her voice was practically a coo by the end.

Angel, who was sitting on the bed with Fluttershy, made a gagging motion.

“I don’t know what she’ll look like.” Fluttershy stayed focused on her breathing. “I just want Miracle to be healthy.”

“She had better be,” Silver Lining said, her eyes locked on Zeph.

“She will be,” Zeph said. “Trust me.” His six tails all bobbed up and down like they were nodding.

Fluttershy swallowed. “I do, but …”

One of Zeph’s paws came up to cover her mouth. “It’s okay to be scared. Just don’t forget that you aren’t alone. You have a lot of family and friends that will help you be the best mother possible.”

Something about his confident tone helped calm Fluttershy’s racing heart. “Thank you.”

“He’s right you know,” Rarity said, gripping one of Fluttershy’s hooves. “I may never have been a mother, but I will certainly help you in every way possible.”

Silver Lining walked around the bed and took Fluttershy’s other hoof. “Being a mother means carrying the weight of the world so that your child doesn’t have to.” She met Rarity’s eyes and nodded. “But there’s no reason why friends and family can’t help you carry the load.”

Angel nodded.

Twilight stepped into the room just then, holding a brown paper bag. “Pinkie, Discord, and Cheese are setting up a party in the waiting room, but I think they’ll stay out of trouble.” She took a couple of deep breaths from the bag. “Oh, and your father just arrived. He’s helping them.”

“Any excuse to stay in the lobby.” Silver Lining glanced at Fluttershy. “You remember how he faints at the sight of blood.”

The door opened yet again, and Doctor Stable came in. “Okay, Fluttershy, are you ready to begin?”

All of her worries and fears came rushing back. “I, uh.” Fluttershy glanced at the door. Maybe she could still change her mind and go home.

A creamy white hoof pressed against Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Miracle needs you to be strong for her.” Silver Lining looked down at Fluttershy’s stomach very deliberately then back at her face.

It was hard, but Fluttershy held her mother’s gaze. She knew that the older mare was right. “Y-yes, Doctor Stable, I’m ready.”

“Excellent.” He drew closer and hooked something up to her IV. “This will induce contractions, although it will take a few minutes before you start to feel the effects. Once the contractions start becoming painful, just let me know, and I’ll give you a painkiller to help you be more relaxed and comfortable.”

Fluttershy nodded mutely and focused on her breathing. Whatever the doctor had given her was already flowing into her system. It was too late to turn back now.

Silver Lining gripped Fluttershy’s forehoof a bit tighter. “Would you believe that I was terrified when I had you?”

The question caught Fluttershy off guard. Her mother had never even seemed frightened before, let alone terrified.

Silver Lining shook her head slowly. “I looked at other mothers and saw nothing but smiles and love. They seemed to know everything and always had fresh cookies to give to an upset child. I knew that I could never measure up to that.”

Fluttershy had never heard her mother talk like this before and didn’t know how to feel about it. “You were a good mother,” she said quietly.

A soft laugh escaped Silver Lining’s lips. “You can be honest, Fluttershy. I know that I was worse than average, even on a good day, but somehow you still grew up into the most wonderful daughter imaginable. You’ve saved Equestria and the world a number of times, and are about to do it again. Yet you’ve remained just as humble, and loving, and kind as you were as a child. You didn’t learn those virtues from me.” She smiled warmly at Fluttershy. “So even if you can’t trust in yourself to be a good mother, at least trust in Miracle. Trust that she can take your best efforts, however meager they are, and use them to become someone truly remarkable.”

Fluttershy had to fight down her tears. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, dear.” Silver Lining leaned over and wrapped her wings around both of them.

The rest of the room stayed quiet as the two mares finally pulled back. Fluttershy was okay with that. There wasn’t anything left that needed to be said.

The first contraction came a few minutes later. It wasn’t nearly as bad as she had feared. It just felt like her stomach was clenching up on its own, and then it went away a few seconds later.

More contractions came as the minutes ticked by. Twilight and Rarity passed the time with idle conversation, but Zeph and Silver Lining kept their attention solely on Fluttershy. Doctor Stable didn’t say anything either, although he did occasionally check Fluttershy’s … lower area to make sure that things were progressing correctly.

The contractions were getting closer together now, and much more intense. Her stomach was beginning to ache.

A particularly strong contraction hit. Fluttershy’s whole body locked up, and for a moment it was impossible to even breathe. She also felt warm liquid running down the inside of her thighs. Her cheeks burned red, in spite of the situation.

The doctor looked up and smiled reassuringly. “There’s no need to be embarrassed, Mrs. Fluttershy. Your water just broke.”

Fluttershy nodded but was too embarrassed to say anything.

“Now would probably be a good time for you and Miss Rarity to leave, Princess Twilight,” Doctor Stable said.

Twilight gripped Fluttershy’s shoulder with her hoof. “We’ll be right outside if you need us.”

Rarity didn’t say anything, but the warmth of her hug expressed more than words ever could.

Doctor Stable escorted them to the door. “Nurse Redheart, I believe we need you now.”

A white earth pony with a pink mane and tail came in a few moments later, pushing a cart full of tools. “How close are the contractions?”

“Less than a minute apart.” Doctor Stable selected a needle from the cart and readied a shot. “The Pitocin’s working better than expected.”

“Or maybe the six-hundred-year-old fox spirit is trying to give his friend a shorter and easier labor,” Zeph said.

The doctor cleared his throat. “Or it could be that.” He approached with the needle. “I think you may want this now.”

Fluttershy nodded. She could already feel another contraction coming on.

Unfortunately, the shot took time to work as well, and Fluttershy suffered through three more full-body contractions before the burning in her stomach and hips calmed down. Even then, she couldn’t breathe during contractions, and they were starting to come closer and closer together.

Time quickly lost all meaning. Maybe it was the painkiller, but Fluttershy couldn’t tell if she had been in labor for ten minutes or ten hours. It was all like a dream, or a nightmare, trapped in an endless cycle of her body clenching up, and then gasping for breath before it could do it again.

The medication had dulled the pain but didn’t remove it completely. Her whole body ached, and the pain in her abdomen was so bad that it was making her vision blur. Fluttershy could feel tears pouring down her cheeks, but when her body wasn’t locked up, she was too tired to reach up and wipe them way.

The others were talking around her, but she couldn’t understand them. Trying to understand them was like grasping at smoke.

Only her mother’s hoof on her own kept Fluttershy grounded in reality.

Then, like a switch had been flipped, her whole body went limp, and she heard a sound that made her heart soar. A baby was crying.

Fluttershy couldn’t muster the energy to look up, but she knew that it was Miracle. Her breath still came in gasps, but she found herself smiling weakly. She had done it. Miracle was out.

“You did a wonderful job, dear.” Silver Lining wiped away Fluttershy’s tears with a tissue then dabbed her own cheeks. “I’m proud of you.” She turned her attention to the rest of the room. “Finish cleaning my granddaughter off quickly, then bring her here. Fluttershy should hold her first.”

The baby’s cries calmed down quickly, replaced by aww’s from the rest of the room.

“Be gentle with her,” Zeph said. “She needs her rest.”

It was tempting to just fall asleep as well. Her body desperately wanted it. Fluttershy fought that down though. She refused to sleep until she had the chance to hold her daughter.

A few minutes later, the nurse approached with a small bundle wrapped in pink, and gently lowered the sleeping newborn into Fluttershy’s arms.

Tears filled her eyes once more as she looked at her daughter for the first time.

Miracle had a pony’s coat, but it was the exact same shade of purple as Cliff’s scales. She also had a scaled underbelly that was darker purple. A pink mane, the same color as Fluttershy’s own, covered the top of her head, with a pair of pony ears poking out through it.

Looking down from Miracle’s head, Fluttershy moved the blanket aside and saw a pair of pegasus wings, the same color as the rest of her coat. Her legs all seemed to have the same joints as a wyrm’s, which probably meant that her forelimbs were actually arms. Her hands and feet had stubby claws, but her palms were covered with a stiff material that reminded Fluttershy of hooves. Her tail was mostly like a wyrm’s except for a tuft of pink hair at the end.

Miracle yawned and opened her eyes. They were forest green, and her pupils were somewhere between a slit and a circle. She also had teeth, unlike a newborn pony, and they looked sharp.

The kirin met her mother’s gaze for a moment, and made a soft cooing sound before closing her eyes and nuzzling into the yellow fur that surrounded her.

“She’s beautiful,” Fluttershy whispered.

Everything suddenly seemed worth it. All the fear and uncertainty. All the sleepless nights, because her body was too restless to sleep. The months of eating foods that she didn’t like. Fluttershy realized that none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was the precious life she was holding in her arms. She didn’t even hear what the others around her were saying as she slipped off into sleep.

Chapter 48

Cliff first became aware of the pain in his arm and side. It was almost like the kind of tingly pain from when a foot or a tail fell asleep. Cottony sheets pressed against his scales, an unusual sensation after living in his armor for so long. The last thing he remembered was getting hit by a Requiem Guard’s shield and being knocked into a wall.

He frowned. The Shadow-form enchantment was supposed to protect against physical injuries like that. Then again, Celestia had warned that magical defenses would have little to no effect against a Guard.

Discord warned me to keep my distance. I should have listened. Cliff groaned and cracked his eyes open. He was in a hospital room somewhere, never a good sign, and Spirit was sitting to the right of his bed. Beyond him, Cliff could see out a window. The Crystal Bunker was visible in the distance, illuminated by a brilliant orange sunset.

Spirit noticed him looking. “Hey, Cliff, how’re you feeling?” The younger dragon gave a rather unconvincing smile.

Cliff didn’t bother trying to smile back. “I’ve been better.” He tried to sit up, but that idea was quickly abandoned as a lance of pain shot through his injured arm and chest.

“Don’t try to move.” Spirit got up and put a hand on Cliff’s shoulder. “Blueblood told us what happened. That shield left some residual anti-magic when it hit you, which made healing your injuries a real pain.”

“I don’t think they’re quite healed yet.” Cliff grimaced. “Forget me though. Is the rest of my team okay?”

Spirit watched him for a moment then sat back down. “They all had to be treated for magical exhaustion, but thanks to Luna they’ll be fine.” He must have seen Cliff’s confused face, because he elaborated. “Luna showed up to help right after you got knocked out.”

Cliff nodded. “And the Requiem Guard?”

“All eight of them are still active, as far as we know.”

Icy bits of fear sank into Cliff’s chest. “How did you drive them off?”

“We didn’t,” Spirit said. “They left on their own, but then they attacked again last night. The Empire’s getting ready in case they show up tonight as well.”

A weighty silence filled the room as Cliff reflected on that. “Okay, what’s the plan for dealing with them?”

Spirit looked away. “We, uh, talked about it, and decided to, uh …” He glanced at Cliff. “We asked the Element Bearers for help.”

“What?” Cliff winced as the pain from his injuries flared. “You actually want Fluttershy to fight monsters like that?”

“We don’t have a choice,” Spirit said quickly. “We threw every normal resource we had at them, and you saw how much good that did.”

Cliff grit his teeth. “… And now you want to throw a pregnant mare at them? Who knows what that could do to Miracle?”

For a long moment, the two brothers just stared at each other.

Eventually Spirit’s head sank. “There’s something else I have to tell you.”

Cliff wasn’t ready to let this go quite yet, but he also knew that the rest of the Everfree Platoon had been fighting those suits. There must have been some casualties, and they deserved at least a moment of mourning and respect. He took a deep breath and prepared himself to hear about the deaths of more friends. “What is it?”

“Fluttershy gave birth a few minutes ago,” Spirit said without looking up.

“What?” Cliff whispered. Fluttershy wasn’t scheduled to give birth for nearly two weeks. He couldn’t have been unconscious for that long.

“The Rainbow Harmony Blast is the only thing that could possibly stop the Requiem Guard,” Spirit said quietly. “We’re at the Alliance’s mercy until the Element Bearers get here, but Flutters didn’t want to risk bringing Miracle into this fight, so she decided to induce early labor.”

Cliff closed his eyes and bit down on the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood. He pulled the Stillness around his heart, letting it wash away the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm him. “How are they both doing?”

“They’re great.” Spirit’s voice broke a little. “They’re both sleeping right now, but Celestia will be bringing Flutters and the rest of the Element Bearers up here first thing in the morning.”

“Who’s going to take care of Miracle?” Cliff asked.

“Fluttershy’s parents and Discord.”

He nodded without opening his eyes. “Thank you for telling me, Spirit. Would you mind leaving? I’d rather be alone right now.”

“Not a chance.” A warm hand pressed against Cliff’s good shoulder. “I’ll go berserk before I leave you alone like this. Autumn’s helping her mother through the death of her father, and both of them threatened to kick me in the stomach if I even thought about abandoning my brother when he needs me.”

A few cracks worked their way into the Stillness, and Cliff felt the first tears course down his cheek. “I knew.” He swallowed. “I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go home for the birth unless we stopped the Requiem Guard right away. S-so it’s not like I lost a-anything, really. It’s just … I w-wasn’t ready for it this soon.” He pressed a hand against his face, like it would somehow hide him from what had happened.

Spirit’s grip tightened, but he didn’t respond. There was nothing that could be said anyway.

-_-_-_-_-_-

The first rays of sunlight were just peeking over the horizon when Twilight stepped into the hospital room. “Fluttershy,” she said gently, “it’s time to go.”

“… I know.” Fluttershy was still in the hospital bed with her arms wrapped around her newborn daughter. She gave Miracle a loving nuzzle before passing her to Silver Lining, who stood next to the bed. “Take care of her.” She blinked away her tears.

Silver Lining nodded solemnly. “We will.”

Sunrise passed Fluttershy her saddlebags. “I put some pictures of Miracle in there for you and Cliff.”

“Thank you so much, Daddy.” Fluttershy hugged the bags to her chest before putting them on.

Sunrise nodded and wrapped a wing around his wife and the newborn. “Please be careful up there, Flutters.”

“I will be,” she promised, carefully rising out of the bed. Angel was still asleep and she didn’t want to disturb him.

Her body felt strange now, so much lighter than it had been before, even with the saddlebags. Twilight’s magic had healed her completely, erasing all the strain that normally came with giving birth.

Fluttershy did feel a little sad though. The same healing magic that restored her to full strength had also stopped her from lactating. Miracle needed a special formula to be healthy anyway, but she still felt like she was missing out on an important part of being a mother.

There was a faint pop, and Discord suddenly appeared next to Fluttershy. He was smaller than he had been the day before, shorter even than a normal pony. “I’ve cast a powerful probability manipulator on you, Fluttershy. It will help keep you safe, but you’d still better not do anything reckless.” He gave her a firm hug.

Fluttershy hugged him back. “You didn’t wear yourself out too much, did you?”

He shrugged. “Chaos always comes back. Sometimes friends don’t.”

Fluttershy didn’t know what to say, so she just hugged him again before walking over to Twilight.

“Bye bye, girls,” Discord said. In a flash, he was wearing a dress with an apron over the top of it. A mass of curly brown hair and two large pearl earrings adorned his head. “Have a nice day at the Empire!”

Fluttershy managed a weak smile as she followed Twilight out of the room. A few rebellious tears coursed down her cheeks to drip to the floor below. It was true what they said; the first step of a journey was usually the hardest.

Twilight put a wing over Fluttershy’s back as they walked. “It’ll be okay, Fluttershy. We’ll be back before you know it.”

“I hope so.” Fluttershy spared a glance back at the room that held her daughter.

When they got outside, Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack all rushed to Fluttershy’s side, offering words of comfort and support. Behind them, Zeph, Cheese, and Princess Celestia stood next to several stacks of wooden crates, which Fluttershy knew held the latest shipment of Everfree Armor. She tried not to think about that and focused instead on Cheese Sandwich. He was smiling broadly beneath a giant sombrero that read, ‘Number One Party Pony.’

Zeph was at his side, looking a bit pouty. “I still say that I should have been given a handicap for all the time I spent helping with Fluttershy and Miracle.”

Pinkie giggled and looked up from the group hug she was sharing with Fluttershy and the others. “Cheese had a handicap too, silly, with all the traveling he had to do, and I gave myself a handicap by not doing pranks when you two couldn’t.”

“We could always go for another round,” Cheese said. “Whoever can get more crystal ponies to smile, wins.”

Zeph paused and stroked his chin. “Those ponies do need a serious pick-me-up. Deal.”

“I am sure the ponies of the Empire will very much appreciate your efforts,” Celestia said. She turned to Fluttershy, and her expression became surprisingly contrite. “I’m so sorry that you had to make this sacrifice, but Equestria owes you a great debt for your selflessness.”

Fluttershy just nodded, not trusting herself to speak without crying.

Princess Celestia looked like she wanted to say something else, but then she shook her head and turned to the rest of the group. “Please gather together, everypony.”

They all pressed a bit closer to her.

Moments later, there was a flash of gold, and suddenly they were standing in a plaza of some sort, surrounded by crystalline buildings. The air was colder too, and Fluttershy felt a slight breeze that hadn’t been there in Ponyville. Only the wooden crates remained the same, sitting just to the side of the group.

Princess Celestia’s shoulders slumped just a bit as the last of the magic faded. “Twilight, perhaps you could take Fluttershy to see Cliff? In the meantime, the rest of you can come with me. I have to speak to Cadance and Shining Armor about possibly giving some land to the Dragon Alliance as an offer of peace, but after that, we should visit the blacksmiths. We don’t know when the Requiem Guard will attack next, and I would like you all to be fitted for suits as quickly as possible.”

Fluttershy’s wings twitched nervously. It had been nearly two months since she had last seen Cliff. Would he still look at her so lovingly, or would he be angry that she had induced labor without him?

The others didn’t seem to notice Fluttershy’s misgivings.

Cheese grabbed one of the crates and casually tossed it onto his back. “Sounds like a plan. Let’s get a movin’.”

Pinkie and Applejack each lifted a crate as well, and Rarity levitated a fourth in her magic.

Zeph’s tails snaked out and grabbed six more. “Is my honor guard getting suits too?”

“The ponies are.” Princess Celestia levitated the rest of the crates. “We still haven’t devised a means of allowing suits to grow and shrink with drakes as they change form.” She motioned for the group to follow and set out toward a squat building in the distance.

“Take a look at Amethyst’s collar.” Zeph followed after her. “It has the kind of enchantment you’re looking for.”

“I’ll have to look at it when I get a chance.” Twilight gently brushed against Fluttershy’s side. “Come on, Cliff is staying at the hospital over this way.” She pointed in the opposite direction that Celestia and the others were going. “It isn’t far, just into the civilian district.”

Fluttershy nodded and followed her friend. One wing absently rubbed her stomach as she walked. A part of her expected to still feel a pregnant belly.

They walked in silence for a few minutes until Twilight suddenly spoke up, “I still expect to see the Crystal Palace every time I’m here. The Empire just doesn’t look right without it.”

“Maybe they can rebuild it.” Fluttershy glance back at the Crystal Bunker. She wasn’t really thinking about it, though. What if Cliff was crying? Just the thought made her tremble a little. It would be her fault if he was.

They walked down a ramp into the ring of barracks around the Bunker. Off to the left, Fluttershy could see large groups of ponies attacking each other. Shouts of anger and pain echoed across the distance between them.

The sight snapped Fluttershy back to the present. She gasped and grabbed Twilight. “Oh goodness, what’s happening?”

Twilight barely glanced at the scene. “Oh that? All of the companies in the army are expected to run mock battles each day as part of their training. It helps improve the skills of the individual soldiers, as well as their ability to work effectively as a team.”

Fluttershy swallowed. “It looks so … violent.”

“Don’t worry.” Twilight put her wing over Fluttershy’s back. “It isn’t uncommon for soldiers to get hurt, but it’s nothing that our healers can’t handle.”

They reached a large building on the other side of the field. The lobby was empty except for a pony sitting behind a desk, who nodded at Twilight before going back to reading a magazine.

“Cliff’s room is on the second floor.” Twilight nodded toward a flight of stairs.

Fluttershy found herself going back over the calming exercises that Dr. Insight had taught her during those months of therapy. Deep breaths in through the nose then out through the mouth.

“We’re here,” Twilight said gently. She nodded toward a door in front of her.

“Okay.” Fluttershy took another deep breath. “I’ll talk to him alone, if that’s okay with you.”

Twilight nodded and stepped out of the way for her to pass.

Steeling herself, Fluttershy pushed open the door and stepped inside. Her eyes immediately locked on Cliff, who was lying on a hospital bed, drawing a complex pattern of glowing lines on his left arm, which was on the opposite side from her. He didn’t notice her.

Spirit sat on a chair on the closer side of the bed. He was wearing his armor, but Fluttershy did her best not to let her fears show when he looked up at her. A grin split his face. “Well, Cliff, I should go. Autumn and I are going to have a long overdue talk.”

“Okay,” Cliff said without looking up. “See you later.”

Spirit rolled his eyes before getting up and sweeping Fluttershy into a tight hug. He brought his mouth close to her ear. “Congratulations, Flutters. Come find me after you’ve talked with Mister Clueless over there. We need to catch up.”

Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile. She had almost forgotten how warm it was to hug a dragon, even through a metal suit. “I will.”

Spirit let her go and slipped outside. Fluttershy could hear him greeting Twilight out in the hallway.

She turned her attention back to Cliff, who was still busy drawing glowing lines on his left arm. He seemed to look at what he was doing without really seeing it, and his eyes were red and swollen. In spite of that, his expression was blank. It was almost like he was in a trance.

Fluttershy hesitated. She had seen Cliff when he was worn out before, but it was never quite like this. Why was he even drawing those runes on his arm?

Eventually she worked up her courage, approached the bed, and tapped on Cliff’s right shoulder. “Cliff?”

He jumped, then clenched his left upper arm and let out a hiss of pain.

“I’m sorry! Let me help.” Fluttershy jumped onto his bed and gently but firmly moved his hand out of the way with her wings so that she could see the arm beneath. It didn’t have any visible wounds, but many of the scales were discolored, almost white, and the arm was definitely swollen and bruised. It looked like it could be broken.

“Fluttershy?” Cliff’s voice came out in a whisper.

Fluttershy pulled back so that she was sitting next to his chest, instead of leaning across it. She forced herself to face him. “I’m sorry for startling you. Are you..?” Her gaze sank. She already knew the answer to that question. “Is your arm okay?”

Cliff didn’t respond. He just stared at her as his eyes began to fill with tears.

It was all Fluttershy could do to keep herself from breaking down under the weight of his stare. “Cliff, I … I’m so sorry.” This reunion wasn’t at all like she had hoped.

“Why are you sorry?” Cliff asked. “I’m the one that wasn’t there for such an important moment.” He sighed and gestured at his wounded arm. “I was an idiot and got too close to one of the Requiem Guard. Otherwise, I would have run back to Everfree Village to be there for you.”

“You aren’t angry at me?” Fluttershy asked quietly. A weight lifted off her chest when he shook his head. “I wasn’t angry at you either. Of course it scared me to hear that you’d been injured, but I could never be upset at you for that.” She looked at his wounded arm. “Does … it hurt a lot?”

“It’s okay if I don’t move it.” Cliff gently put his good hand over the injured upper arm. “The Guard’s shield left some residual anti-magic. We could overload it now that it doesn’t have a power source, but I wanted to study it a bit first. Maybe I can figure out a way around it or something.” He gave a forced smile. “It’s a long shot at best, but I couldn’t just lie here and do nothing.”

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, then they both looked away.

“… I have some pictures of Miracle,” Fluttershy said, “if you want to see them.”

“You do?” Cliff’s expression immediately lightened. “Yes. Please.”

Fluttershy opened her saddlebags with one wing. “I know this isn’t very much, but …” She lifted out a stack of photographs, and shifted them to her hooves before offering them to Cliff.

Cliff’s breath caught when he saw the first photograph. It showed Fluttershy and Miracle in the hospital bed back in Ponyville, both fast asleep. “Is,” he swallowed, “is that her?”

Fluttershy nodded.

Cliff rubbed his thumb across the photo’s surface. “She’s so tiny.” He made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a cry. “She has your mane.” Cliff put the photo down and wiped his eyes. “Sorry, I-I don’t even know why I’m crying. I just …” This time he definitely laughed, in spite of the tears running down his cheeks. “We’re parents.” He looked at the picture with eyes full of wonder. “We have a daughter.”

“We do.” Fluttershy found herself laughing as well. She couldn’t take it anymore, and leaned down to hug him. “I love you, Cliff.”

Cliff nuzzled against her cheek. “I love you too, Fluttershy.” His good arm wrapped around her back and held her close. “You’re going to be an amazing mother.”

The tension that Fluttershy had been feeling finally started to melt away. “You’ll be a wonderful father.” She shifted so that she was lying on Cliff’s right side, still pressed up against him, but leaving his arm free to look at the other pictures.

Everything would be alright as long as the two of them were together. They would defeat the Requiem Guard and get back to Miracle as soon as possible.

Fluttershy had to believe that.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Spirit wasn’t running. The ponies of the Empire might get the wrong idea if they saw him running through the streets. He was, however, walking a lot more quickly than usual.

“Where are we going?” Twilight asked, trotting alongside him.

“The Platoon is in the middle of morning training,” Spirit replied. “Which means Autumn will be there.”

Twilight nodded. “How’s she doing? You said someone close to her died.”

“She isn’t great, but she agreed to finally open up and talk to me.” Spirit allowed himself a weak smile. “Maybe I can actually help her now, instead of feeling useless because I have no idea what she’s going through.”

“You’re a good special somepony for her,” Twilight said. “I just hope she appreciates that.”

“She does.” Spirit turned one last corner, and the training grounds came into view. Everfree was already caught up in a massive free-for-all with the Wonderbolts, the Earth-shakers, and the Solar Unicorns.

Units outfitted with Everfree Armor were all but unkillable with traditional weapons, thanks to the Shadow-form Rune, so that only left each other as a potential challenge for training battles. All of the groups had found creative ways to harm each other even with the rune, which kept anyone from relying on it too much.

Near the edge of the battlefield, an earth pony and a unicorn stood, both wearing suits of Everfree Armor. Their faces were concealed, but Spirit would know the unicorn’s styled purple tail anywhere. It wasn’t hard to guess the blonde-tailed earth pony’s identity from there.

Spirit came up behind them. “Hello, ladies. Enjoying the show?”

Both of them jumped.

“Spikey,” Rarity asked, “is that you?” He could see her squinting at him from behind her helmet.

“The one and only.” Spirit saw a beam of energy coming at them and immediately threw out a shield.

Twilight did as well, and the beam dissipated harmlessly against their combined magic.

“Keep your eyes open for those.” Spirit let his shield drop. “Anyway, where are Pinkie and the others?”

“They said something about settin’ up a party.” Applejack shook her head and gestured at the battlefield. “Y’all train like this every day?”

Spirit nodded. “Assuming the Alliance doesn’t attack, of course. They like to pop up around sunrise, so you’ll have to be ready by then. If they don’t show, report here for training.”

Rarity looked at him nervously. “It’s rather more violent than morning training at Everfree. Aren’t you worried about injuries?”

“They happen,” Spirit admitted, “but we have medical wyrms on standby. Besides, the Alliance isn’t known for being gentle. It’s better to get used to it now so you don’t panic in battle.”

Rarity shifted uncomfortably. “I suppose …”

Spirit knelt down and put one hand on her shoulder and the other on Applejack’s. “None of us are willing to risk losing one of the Element Bearers to the Requiem Guard, so as tough as it is, just remember that we’re doing this to help.” He looked over at Twilight, who nodded. “With that in mind,” Spirit continued, “your training today is to find Big Mac’s squad and stick with them for the entire battle without getting knocked out. Have fun.” Then he surged a spell to increase his strength and shoved them both as hard as he could.

The unsuspecting duo was tossed about ten feet forward. Not enough to get them into the battle proper, but definitely enough to get Spirit’s point across. Rarity turned back and glared at Spirit, but he could tell that she was mostly being dramatic.

He chuckled. “Keep an eye on them, Twi.”

“You too.” Twilight disappeared and reappeared next to her two friends. A shield popped into existence just long enough to deflect a bolt of lightning from a pegasus above them.

Spirit generated a sphere of invisibility and plunged into the madness as well. Well, it wasn’t really invisibility. It was more like an illusion that projected everything on one side of the sphere to its opposite side. It still made him invisible to outsiders, but anyone could see him if they happened to wander into the sphere, or noticed the ripple it made, or sensed wyrm spellcasting and came to investigate. At least it was better than nothing.

Unfortunately, most of Everfree’s forces were on the opposite end of the battlefield, so Spirit had to carefully wind his way through a skirmish between the Solar Unicorns and the Wonderbolts.

Blasts of wind and lightning pummeled the ground around Spirit, and pegasi would sometimes divebomb nearby unicorns before retreating back into the sky. The unicorns used a combination of illusions and teleportation to keep themselves from getting pinned down and retaliated with energy rays, spears thrown with telekinesis, and balls of magical energy that exploded when they reached a certain altitude.

At least Spirit didn’t have to worry about the Earth-shakers. Most of them could sense him through vibrations in the ground.

Eventually Spirit broke through the group and reached the Everfree Platoon. They were busy with the Earth-shakers but seemed to be faring pretty well. Four teams were still being held in reserve, and standing in the middle of them was a tiny building made of clear crystal. It looked like a hemisphere, just large enough to hold one pony.

Spirit ran up to the structure. The crystalline walls did nothing to hide the purple mare inside, and he knew that she could see him as well, now that she was inside of his illusion. Spirit knocked on the wall. “Hey, beautiful. Open up.”

The wall in front of him dissolved into mist and then started reforming into a structure large enough to hold both of them. It didn’t connect to the ground, though. A crystalline shield was great for deflecting stray fire and letting the two of them focus on the battle, but they needed to be able to ditch it at a moment’s notice if something ever got through Spirit’s illusions and came after them directly.

“I’m glad that you could make it.” Autumn nuzzled him quickly.

Spirit barely even noticed the scraping sound of his helmet against hers anymore. “How’s your mom?”

“She’s thinking of retiring and coming to live in Everfree Village once the war is over,” Autumn said.

“I’d love to have her.” Spirit looked around. “So what’s the current situation with this battle? Also, is there anything else in your past that I should know about?”

Autumn glanced at him and arched an eyebrow before turning her attention back to the battle. Colors of amusement danced across her tail, though. “We are keeping an eye on the Solars and Bolts, in case they try anything, and is now really the best time to talk about my past?” She reached out a hoof to him.

“Why not?” Spirit gripped her hoof and cast the spells to join himself to Everfree’s command network. Status updates and requests for backup immediately began pouring into him. “I want to know everything there is to know about you. Is that so wrong?”

Autumn smiled faintly. “Lucky, help Noteworthy. We have to stop that push before it gains momentum.” She turned to Spirit. “Liberty was a professional jouster in his free time.”

“Really?” Spirit knew that Autumn was on her school’s jousting team, but not where she got her interested in it in the first place. “Did he coach you?” “Fire Eyes, has Twilight reached you yet?”

“Yeah,” Fire Eyes sent. “Just barely.”

“For an hour every day and three hours on weekends.” Autumn sighed. “They were once some of my happiest memories, but now I can’t think of them without feeling nauseated.” A tangled mess of emotions radiated off of her.

Spirit felt a surge of guilt as he put an arm around Autumn. He wanted to ask for more details, but shoving her face in these unhappy memories just seemed wrong. She had proven that she was willing to open up, and for now, just one extra detail about her life seemed like enough. “Hey,” he grinned, “did you hear that Blueblood and Trixie hooked up?”

Autumn’s jaw dropped. “You must be kidding.”

“Oh really?” Spirit chuckled. “Watch this.” “Fire Eyes, ask Blueblood how many times he and Trixie did it their first night.”

There was a pause. “Blueblood, where did you go after that last battle? … Yeah? What kind of help?” The sensation of laughter echoed through the link. “Oh Stars, you did, didn’t you?” More laughter. “Isn’t there some kind of army regulation against sharing private meals with your sparring partner?”

Spirit gave Autumn a smug grin. “Told you so.”

Autumn laughed and leaned against him. “I’ll tell you more about myself tomorrow, if you don’t mind waiting.”

“I think I’ll manage.” Spirit leaned into the embrace as well. “You’re worth waiting for.”

Chapter 49

Cliff checked the batteries on his suit. They were all empty, of course. He wasn’t surprised that they hadn’t mysteriously refilled in the last ten seconds, but hey, a dragon could hope. It wasn’t like he had the energy to do anything else. Fighting against Luna tended to have that effect.

“Alright, good job, everyone.” Spirit’s voice carried across the practice field. “Group training is over for the day. You can go and grab breakfast.”

Ponies and dragons all over the field slowly picked themselves up and started shambling toward the medic station. Among them were members of the Wonderbolts, the Earth-shakers, the Solar Unicorns, and of course, the Everfree Platoon. Cliff could even see Celestia weaving her way through the crowd toward his team. More specifically, toward Luna and the Element Bearers, all of whom were standing nearby.

A concerned yellow face appeared over Cliff’s head. She wasn’t wearing her helmet, but that was normal. Fluttershy always took her helmet off as soon as she could after training. The rest of her armor shined brightly in the morning light. “Are you okay, Cliff? Did Luna hurt you very much?”

“I’ll be fine.” Cliff tried to sit up without much luck. His stomach muscles screamed in protest as soon as he tried to move them, and where was a good lava pit to relax in when you needed one?

Fire Eyes came into view as well. Like Cliff, dirt and grime covered her armor. “I’ll admit, you did pretty well out there.” Her voice probably sounded perfectly normal to everyone else, but Cliff knew his oldest friend well enough to pick up the hard edge to it. “But maybe you should be a bit more careful.”

Cliff met her gaze without flinching. “We have to keep them safe.” He had to force down some anger in his voice.

The Requiem Guard was attacking more often lately, slipping into the Empire at night and slaughtering a household or two before disappearing without a trace. At first it had been once a week or so. Now it was practically every night. Equestria needed a small, mobile group if they wanted to have any chance of catching the Guards and defeating them. That group was the Element Bearers, Cliff’s team, Cliff’s grandparents, Zephyr, and the Immortal Sisters, and this ten-against-one insanity was their morning training.

That didn’t mean he had to like it though. A small army was attacking his wife every morning, and they weren’t even allowed to use the Shadow-form Rune, because it didn’t work against the Guards.

Fluttershy knelt next to him and helped him up. “Fire Eyes is right. You need to be careful.”

“I thought he held his ground admirably,” Luna said, drawing near the trio. “In fact, your whole team did a magnificent job of holding me off.”

Cliff pressed a hand against his aching skull. What Luna called a magnificent job, he called a desperate scramble. It didn’t help that Rainbow had to stick with the other Element Bearers now, leaving them short a team member. They had been on the verge of getting overwhelmed when training ended for the day.

“Thanks, Princess,” Eyes said, “but I think you’re giving us too much credit.” She leaned down and put a hand on Cliff’s shoulder.

Cliff’s whole body tensed for a moment as his friend’s magic flowed into him. Recovery magic, as the name implied, let the body recover from a workout almost instantly. The only downside was a few seconds of feeling like your heart was about to burst out of your chest. Cliff collapsed back against Fluttershy when the spell ended. “Thanks, Eyes.”

Fluttershy shivered a bit but held her ground. “You shouldn’t push yourself so hard.”

“Eyup,” Big Mac said, approaching the group as well. Like Fire Eyes, he looked tired and dirty but ready for another round if the situation required it.

Luna walked over to the large stallion and put a wing over his shoulders. “Big McIntosh and Lady Fluttershy do have a point. Performing well in training is of little merit if it incapacitates you for the battle that may follow.”

Cliff rolled his eyes and produced a gem from the dimensional pocket at his waist. “These can recharge the batteries on my suit,” he pressed it against the magic battery over his chest, “which then recharge me.” Cliff dumped the battery’s magic into himself. “There you go, I’m back in fighting shape.” Except for a headache, weakness, and strain from using too much magic, but none of them needed to know that.

“A useful innovation.” Luna took the gem and held it up to the morning sun. “When did you develop it?”

“They’re just regular anti-aura gems,” Cliff said. “Actually, it was dumb luck that I realized they could be used like this.”

“Tell me why I’m not surprised,” Fire Eyes said.

Celestia drew near the group. “Sister, I believe that it is time for our meeting.”

Luna sighed and removed her wing from around Big Mac. “Very well.” She turned to the red stallion. “I will see you tonight.” Then she joined her sister and set out toward the Crystal Bunker.

Fire Eyes shook her head and leaned over to Big Mac. “You know, these late-night walks where you and Luna disappear for a few hours aren’t doing much to stop the rumors about you two.”

Mac just shrugged and started walking in the direction of his sister and the rest of the Element Bearers.

“I’ll never understand that pony.” Eyes turned to Cliff and Fluttershy, and her expression hardened. “Anyway, Fluttershy, I’m going to have to borrow your husband.” Then she grabbed Cliff by the shoulder and roughly pulled him away.

Cliff didn’t try to resist.

Eyes walked until they reached a relatively deserted part of the field, far enough away that Fluttershy couldn’t overhear them. She whipped around to face him. “Okay, what’s going on?” Her voice came out in a harsh whisper. “The way you threw yourself at Luna today was borderline suicidal.”

“Did you forget about last night’s attack?” Cliff demanded. “One of these nights we’re actually going to catch the Requiem Guard. We have to be ready when we do.”

“Yeah, I forgot all about spending half the night on a stakeout only to have the Requiem Guard attack some other neighborhood.” Eyes sighed. “Look, Cliff, I worry too, but if you keep this up, someone is going to hit you in just the wrong way and you’ll wind up dead before one of us even has a chance to heal you.”

Cliff didn’t respond.

Eyes gave him a probing look. “Just try to be a bit more careful, okay? Fluttershy needs her husband, and Miracle needs her father.”

His heart ached at the words, like it always did when someone mentioned his daughter. Cliff nodded stiffly.

Eyes winced. “Sorry.” She pulled him into a hug. “I’m sure you’ll get to see her soon.”

“Be careful,” Cliff said, returning her embrace, “the rest of the platoon might start to think that you actually care.”

A jolt of electricity course through him, just enough to be painful. “That’s their mistake.” Eyes pulled back and smiled sadly. “Anyway, I’m going to grab some lunch. I’ll bring something for you two in an hour or so.”

“Thanks.” Cliff gave a weak smile of his own before heading back to where Fluttershy sat, holding her helmet under one wing and staring at the ground. Seeing Everfree Armor still made her uncomfortable, especially if it was worn by a wyrm. “Sorry about that. We can go now.”

Fluttershy rose and walked with him back toward the Crystal Bunker, but there was a slight frown on her lips.

Cliff waited until they were off the practice field before he spoke. “What’s wrong?”

“Fire Eyes was really worried about you,” she said quietly without looking up.

“She’s just worrying about nothing.”

Fluttershy was silent for a moment. “Is it because of the way you’re fighting lately? Blueblood said that you’re taking more risks than normal.” There was real fear in her voice.

Cliff bit down a surge of guilt. “I’ll be more careful from now on, I promise.”

She nodded, and they continued in silence.

They were reaching the outer barracks that separated them from the Bunker. Cliff looked at the two of them in the reflective surface of one bunker wall. His own reflection was completely ordinary; just another wyrm in armor. Fluttershy though … she was different. Her armor was still fresh and shiny, and the way she walked was a little stilted, like she hadn’t fully adjusted to wearing it yet.

There was more than that, though. Cliff couldn’t really describe it, but the Fluttershy at his side today was different from the one he had said goodbye to in the caves beneath the Empire more than half a year ago. He had felt something similar when she came to visit him for that one day, but it had just been a fleeting thought at the time. Now he was thinking it more and more.

These practice battles still scared Fluttershy, a lot, but she faced them every morning without complaint. Cliff asked her once how she could stand it, and she had simply replied, ‘I think about Miracle.’

Miracle … Every time Cliff thought about her, he couldn’t help but reflect on how easy it would be to run back to Everfree Village and spend a few hours with her. Cliff could almost feel her fur against his scales and hear the gentle mumbles of his newborn daughter. Would she smile at him when he held her for the first time? How long until she first called him daddy?

Cliff shook his head. He would never forgive himself if the Requiem Guard attacked while he was away. His focus needed to remain here, where he could actually do some good.

They finally reached the lab, and Cliff silently helped Fluttershy take off her boots.

“Thank you.” Fluttershy sat in the small nest that they had been sharing since he got out of the hospital. She rubbed her forehooves together. “Uh, Cliff?” She glanced up at him. “Is there anything I can do to help with your research?”

“I wish.” Cliff thought about Genesis, Rune, and Clodhopper. They were probably the only creatures on this half of the continent that could help him develop new runes, and they worked for the Dragon Alliance. “Thank you for the offer, though.”

Fluttershy’s eyes fell and she nodded. “In that case, could I borrow Discord’s cloak, just for a little bit?”

“Of course.” The top layer of Cliff’s armor seemed to peel up, coalescing into a single mass on his back. Meanwhile, it reverted to its original colors, black with gold highlights. Cliff removed the cloak and held it out to Fluttershy.

She took it and wrapped it around herself. A warm smile lit up her face moments later.

Cliff turned away and sat at his desk. The cloak was their only connection back to Everfree Village now that Twilight was staying up at the Empire. Through it, a dragon or pony could stay in mental contact with Discord, and through him they could see … Miracle.

A lump formed in Cliff’s throat, but he forced it down and focused on his desk. It was covered with pieces of paper, sheets of metal, and runes, all holding information and observations about the Requiem Guard. There were even some notes by one of the minotaurs that had helped create the Guards.

Cliff picked up the nearest sheet of paper and continued reading. Apparently the Requiem Guard could generate a field that negated kinetic energy. They had to activate that enchantment consciously, though, and it drained a lot of their stored magic.

That would explain why it was so hard to pierce their armor … unless of course the armor is just naturally that tough. Cliff frowned. He had seen one of the Guards take a hit from a drake without even moving. No matter how tough their armor was, that kind of blow should have sent the Guard flying. It must have been using that enchantment to hold itself in place. However, the Guard he fought might not have bothered to use the enchantment against Cliff’s gems. A few punctures wouldn’t even bother one of the Requiem Guard.

Cliff scribbled a few calculations on some scratch paper. It had taken somewhere between thirty-seven and fifty-six thousand newtons of force to break through one layer of Guard armor. Assuming it hadn’t been using its kinetic-suppressor enchantment at the time, and taking the rough guess that said enchantment doubled the suit’s durability, more than two hundred twenty-two thousand newtons might be required to punch clean through a Guard that was at full strength.

… That was way beyond what Cliff could generate, even on a good day. He might be able to get through one layer if he aimed for a thin spot in the armor. Maybe. And he was only guessing about how powerful the enchantment was; it could quadruple the armor’s durability for all he knew.

So relying on gems was a risky proposition at best. Maybe he could hold them in place somehow. A strong net of some kind might work, assuming it didn’t rely on magic.

He had long since given up on trying to melt the Guards with dragon fire. It was theoretically possible, but the Guard would have to be holding still for a long period of time. Melting them just wasn’t as practical as trying to keep them busy for a few seconds while Fluttershy and the others charged up the Rainbow Harmony Blast.

Cliff glanced over his shoulder at Fluttershy. She was lying in their nest with her eyes closed, spending time with Miracle the only way she could. Cliff turned back to his work. He had underestimated the Requiem Guard once before, and it had nearly cost him his life. He wasn’t going to make that mistake again, especially now that Fluttershy’s life could be hanging in the balance. “Wait for us, Miracle,” he whispered. “I’ll bring your mother back alive, no matter what.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Celestia paced back and forth self-consciously. Today was the eleventh day since Fluttershy left her newborn child, and they still had nothing to show for it other than more dead ponies. She thought she had finally found a pattern to the Requiem Guard’s attacks when she set up the stakeout last night. Obviously, she had been mistaken.

“Sister,” Luna said gently from the bed, “cease this pacing before thou wearest a groove in the floor.”

They were back at their shared quarters in the basement of the Crystal Bunker. It housed the only alicorn-size bed in the Empire, and so the two of them had been sharing it. Both sisters had been required to explain at length that they were fine with the situation and turn down numerous offers to convert three normal beds into one that would fit.

Celestia paused then let out a sigh. “I’m sorry, Luna. I saw you speaking with Fluttershy and Cliff Runner. Neither of them blames me for what has happened, but I couldn’t bring myself to look them in the eyes.”

Luna rolled her eyes and flipped onto her back. “I do not blame myself that the Alliance has reconstructed its anti-magic circles and blocked my access to their dreams. When wilt thou learn from my example and stop blaming thyself for things that are not thy fault?”

“When will you stop using archaic pronouns?” Celestia shot back. “Hardly anypony understands the significance of them anymore.”

“But thou doest.” Luna smiled.

Celestia paused as realization set in. The th- pronouns had fallen out of usage centuries ago, but they had once been used to convey a sense of emotional closeness, such as between friends or family. So that’s why she still uses them with me. “I’m sorry for snapping at thee, dear Sister. These long days of waiting have worn upon my nerves.”

Luna’s smile widened. “This is why I suggested that thou return to Canterlot for the day. All that red tape will doubtless calm thy nerves, though the why of it is beyond me.”

How long had it been since she deliberately used archaic speech? Celestia couldn’t remember for sure, but it felt good. “Paperwork is almost like meditation after so many centuries, and I’m sure that a great deal of it has built up in our absence.” Celestia’s wing’s fluttered at her sides. “Thou wilt inform me immediately should the Requiem Guard attack, yes?”

Luna laughed softly. “I am just as capable of teleporting the Element Bearers around the Empire as thou art, but yes, I will inform thee.”

Celestia nodded, and started charging her horn for the teleport back to Canterlot. “And when I return, I would like to formally meet the stallion that has caught thine eye.”

“I am simply repaying him for protecting me,” Luna said a bit too quickly. Her face flushed red.

Celestia rolled her eyes before opening her wings and releasing the spell.

She reappeared hundreds of miles to the south, about ten feet above her throne. Her wings immediately caught her weight and held her in the air.

Most ponies probably thought that Celestia did this sort of thing for dramatic effect. She didn’t. Not since that time she appeared, practically straddling a delegate from from Phillidelphia in front of a crowd of thousands.

The throne room was empty today, except for her guards, Raven and Kibitz, and—Celestia had to resist the urge to facehoof. “Queen Chrysalis,” she forced herself to smile, “what a pleasant surprise.”

Chrysalis grinned. “Why, Celestia, what excellent timing.”

“Princess,” Kibitz said quickly, “I had no idea that you would be returning to Canterlot today.” He gestured at Chrysalis. “This … scoundrel has tarnished your good name in the worst way imaginable.”

Celestia landed gently next to her throne and tucked both wings at her sides. “You know that I allow my subjects to say or do anything that they desire, within reason.” She turned to Chrysalis, and her expression hardened. “What is it that you have done?”

Chrysalis held onto her smug grin. “Business is going extremely well, but I fear that some ponies haven’t heard of our unique services, so I commissioned a few pamphlets to help with advertising.”

“A few?” Kibitz sputtered incoherently for a moment. “Canterlot has practically been inundated with your smut.”

“Now that’s unfair.” Chrysalis put a hoof to her chest. “It wasn’t just Canterlot. We sent copies to every major city in Equestria.”

A sinking feeling told Celestia that she wouldn’t like where this was headed. “What was in those pamphlets, Chrysalis?”

“Just honest information about our humble brothel.” Chrysalis’s horn flashed, and something the size of a small magazine appeared in the air between them. The cover showed the old barracks that Chrysalis had turned into her ‘business,’ and large green letters spelled out, ‘The Queen’s Palace: See What You’re Missing.’ Chrysalis extended it to Celestia. “See for yourself.”

Celestia knew that she would regret this, but she accepted the pamphlet, and opened it to the first page.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Back in the Crystal Empire, Fire Eyes paused and glanced up. Had the sun just flared for a second?

-_-_-_-_-_-

Chrysalis looked at the pile of ashes that had once been a pamphlet. “What’s the matter, Celestia, didn’t you like what you saw?”

Celestia took several deep breaths. “Freedom of the press does not permit you to publish anything you want, Chrysalis, and it especially does not allow you to make deliberate character attacks.”

“Actually, this is protected.” Chrysalis produced another pamphlet and flipped it to the back.

Bold letters there stated, ‘All models within this pamphlet are transformed changelings. Not all changelings can perform all transformations. Please schedule an appointment to ensure that an appropriately skilled changeling will be available.’

“As you can see,” Chrysalis said, “we make it clear that you are not the actual model of any of these pictures, regardless of how accurate they may be. The treaty you signed specifically gave changelings the right to take any form they desire, as long as they make no secret of what they actually are.”

Celestia ground her teeth. Chrysalis was right. “Very well, but I will be issuing a royal decree today. No pony can purchase, sell, or own these pamphlets unless they are of legal age. I won’t have impressionable young colts viewing material like this.”

“Ah, why not?” Chrysalis turned the pamphlet to herself and flipped through a few pages. “Can you imagine how many more colts would want to grow up and join the royal guard if they saw this?” She turned the pamphlet back to Celestia.

The alicorn caught a glimpse of herself and Luna, splayed out on a bed and looking seductively at the camera, each with one hoof pressed against the other’s-

A burst of flame reduced the second pamphlet to ashes as well.

Celestia ignored the rising heat in her cheeks. “My decree stands. If you violate it, the pamphlet will be recalled and your brothel will be heavily fined. Do I make myself clear?”

“Oh, if you insist.” Chrysalis chuckled. “By the way, would you like to know which alicorn princess is being requested most?”

“Out,” Celestia said briskly. “I have other matters to attend to today.”

“Very well, I’ll just post the results in tomorrow’s newspaper.” Chrysalis bowed deeply. “It was a pleasure, as always, oh great and wise Princess Celestia.” Then she turned and sauntered toward the exit.

Celestia let out a groan. “Kibitz, I am going to my office. Have any important paperwork sent there. Raven, send a cake as well, chocolate with cherry filling and vanilla icing on top.”

Kibitz gasped. “Princess, think of your cholesterol!”

Cholesterol was the least of Celestia’s worries these days. “I will be returning to the Crystal Empire at sundown. We have until then to get as much work done as possible.”

Raven nodded. “Understood, your highness. The cake will be delivered momentarily.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Celestia stared at the paperwork in front of her without really seeing it. On top of everything happening at the Crystal Empire, now she had to deal with Chrysalis and her sadistic games. Celestia paused. Where was I in this document again? She sighed, took another bite of cake, and started over from the beginning.

It wasn’t like this was the first time that her subjects had developed an erotic interest in her. At least a dozen artists had asked to paint her in some provocative pose or other during the early classical period. Then there was that time a few centuries ago when Prench erotic art was all the rage. She had dealt with the unwanted advances then and she could do it again.

Celestia realized that she was at the end of the document and couldn’t recall any of its contents. She started over once more.

…

Maybe she could just turn Chrysalis into stone. There had to be some minor law somewhere that she could use to justify it, and the other changelings would certainly be more open to friendly relations without their queen around to keep them focused on petty revenge.

Celestia was nearly at the end of the document again, and all she knew was that it had something to do with hiring more castle staff. She sighed, got up, and opened the door to her office. “Kibitz, I’m going to speak with Yol Toor. There are some details of our peace treaty that I would like to discuss.”

Kibitz fell into step beside her. “Yes, your highness. Is there anything that I can provide you?”

“No, but thank you.” She had to remind herself to walk slowly so that Kibitz could keep up. “If possible, I would prefer to eat lunch with the crystal pony children that are staying with us.”

“I suppose that can be arranged.” The old unicorn glanced up at her. Celestia could almost see the gears in his head turning as he tried to decide if it would be appropriate to comment on her unusual behavior.

He must have decided against it, because they continued in silence until they reached Yol Toor’s cell.

Celestia ordered the guards to go outside and barely waited until the door shut behind them before letting her calm demeanor shatter. “I can’t believe that Chrysalis would have the gall to do something like this!” She generated a flat shield in front of her and then punched it as hard as she could.

The shield held, but a shock-wave of energy shook the room shook around them like something had exploded.

“Princess, are you alright?!” The door burst open and her ten guards poured back in. Kibitz was right behind them.

Celestia forced herself to smile. “I am fine. I was just displaying some earth pony combat techniques for Yol Toor.”

The guards seemed to buy it, although they shot Yol Toor suspicious looks.

Kibitz just looked at Celestia quizzically.

“Please allow us to speak in private,” Celestia said. “We still have much to discuss.”

“Will you be demonstrating further techniques?” Yol Toor asked with a faint smile.

Celestia cleared her throat. “Yes, quite possibly.” She shooed the guards and Kibitz back outside before shutting the door once more. She turned back to the ancient dragon. “Thank you.”

Yol Toor looked better than he had the last time Celestia spoke with him. His scales had regained some of their shine, and he didn’t seem as weak or exhausted. “Leadership is a heavy burden to bear.” He curled up on the floor of his cell, with his head facing her. Celestia had learned his body language well enough to know that he was inviting her to talk about it if she so desired.

“Chrysalis is …” Celestia grit her teeth and punched the shield again. “She is being Chrysalis.”

“In other words, infuriating,” Yol Toor said.

Celestia nodded and reared up to deliver two more punches. “And the Requiem Guard is attacking more and more frequently.” Another punch. “Every time I think that I can guess their next move, they prove me wrong.” Two more punches. “And every time I fail,” she turned and bucked at the shield with both hind legs, “more ponies are butchered in their sleep.” Celestia grit her teeth and launched into a series of blows against the shield, stopping only when she realized that she was starting to pant from the exertion.

The Princess of the Sun forced herself to stop and take a deep breath. Hesitantly, she turned to Yol Toor, fearing what he would think of her foalish display of anger.

To her surprise, he looked back at her soberly. “Silver Tail cannot go back on his alliance with the Requiem Guard unless they either betray him or are all destroyed.”

Celestia nodded.

“Can they be destroyed by anything other than the Elements of Harmony?”

“I,” Celestia shook her head, “I do not know. There used to be ten. I destroyed two of them during the Great Minotaur War, but they were both alone and surrounded by Equestrian troops. Even so, I nearly died both times. If the remaining eight work together, I doubt that anything short of the Elements could stop them.”

Yol Toor took a moment to absorb that information. “Have the crystal ponies agreed to our terms of peace?”

“Yes.” Celestia sank down so that she was sitting opposite Yol Toor. “Sixty-eight percent of the population would be willing to give up a piece of the Crystal Empire if it meant an end to this war. One business owner named Fleur de Verre even offered to give up a large part of the farmland her company controls. It is well within the borders of the Crystal Empire, and a preliminary scan showed plenty of gems. We just need to locate and destroy the Requiem Guard,” she let out a sigh, “somehow.”

“I have confidence that you will succeed.” Yol Toor paused thoughtfully. “When that happens, please trust me enough to release me. I know I have not earned such trust yet, but my vote on the Council may make all the difference between peace and warfare.”

Celestia looked him in the eyes. “And if they choose war, in spite of your best efforts?”

“Then I will join them on the battlefield once more,” Yol Toor said, “but I will continue to plead with them until peace is reached.”

Drakes were honest, Celestia had to admit. Perhaps too honest for their own good. He might be able to help bring about peace, or he might use his power to lay waste to Equestria’s armies. Setting him free wouldn’t be a choice as much as a guess, a wild gamble to see if he would do harm than good. “I … will think about it.”

He nodded. “That is all I can expect. Though I do have one more request, if you would indulge me.”

“What is it?” Celestia asked, more than willing to change the subject.

“The Alliance needs a new ruling system of some kind.” He sighed. “Drake and wyrm society as they exist now can only support communities of one or two hundred before order dissolves into anarchy. That is why our races have always been too thinly spread to form a country. Wyvern society can accommodate communities of millions, but everything about that society is built around the assumption of constant warfare. As soon as peace is declared, it will fall apart.”

Celestia almost asked if he wanted her to help him design a better government, but she quickly realized that he wasn’t the kind to think that way. He would accept answers if they were given to him, but he preferred to be given the tools to find the answers himself. “You want me to teach you about other forms of government?”

He smiled. “If you would be so kind.”

Chapter 50

Talon looked around what had once been a bustling IHQ. Now it was nothing more than a collection of empty desks at the end of a tunnel. Steel Mind, their code translator, sat at at one of the desks, studying the messaging rod he used to communicate with their spies. Well, to communicate with the two spies that had escaped Chrysalis and her changelings.

Steel Mind groaned. “They’re still demanding to know why we want them to warn Celestia about the attack.” He looked up at Talon. “I don’t think they believe it’s an order from the Hurricanes.”

“Well, they’re right,” Talon sent.

“What should I tell them?”

“Just insist that it’s a part of their plan.” Convincing a spy to risk near-certain capture in order to warn their enemy was harder than Talon had expected, and she had been expecting it to be hard.

According to Heart, the Alliance had to surrender or negotiate to get long-term peace with Equestria, but the Hurricanes had all voted to pursue the war regardless, and they’d happily torture Talon to death if they found out she was actively going against them. They’d also kill or torture anyone they thought was involved, hence why none of Talon’s friends were in on it.

“… They say they’ll try,” Steel sent, “but I’m not sure how honest they’re being.”

“Tell them it’s urgent.” Talon looked around nervously. “The plan takes off today.”

“Talon,” Tornado said aloud. He was standing by the door, like he’d been since she came in. “It is time to meet with the rest of the squadron.”

“I’ll keep talking with the spy,” Steel promised.

Talon nodded and walked past Tornado, down the tunnel to the outside. “Okay, sorry to keep you waiting.”

Tornado fell into step behind. “Were either of the spies able to find Yol Toor?”

“Not yet.” Talon couldn’t bring herself to tell him that the spies weren’t hunting for Yol Toor anymore. There was just too much else they had to do. “The rescue mission will have to wait a bit longer.”

Tornado nodded. “Why have you and Steel Mind been using emotion-speech lately?”

So that he couldn’t overhear anything that would endanger him. “I’m trying to practice my emotion-speech, and he’s helping me.”

Tornado didn’t respond, and so they walked in silence for a time.

“Talon?” he said at last.

She stopped and looked back at him. “Yes?”

His expression became firm. “I will always protect you, even from other dragons.”

Talon had no idea how to respond. Did he know what she was doing and had promised to protect her from the Hurricanes if it came to that? Had he noticed that she was on-edge lately and was trying to make her feel better? For all Talon knew, he’d just proposed.

“I cannot forgive the Hurricanes for assigning you to speak with the Requiem Guard, knowing full-well that they might kill you.” Tornado growled.

Talon paused, then she gave him a hug. It was nice to know that at least some dragons didn’t think she was expendable. “Is that why you’ve been sticking so close to me lately?”

“I will protect you,” he said.

She decided not to point out that, even at his best, he could hold off the Requiem Guard for maybe two second. “Remember to protect yourself too.” Talon turned and started walking. “Too many good dragons have died in this war.”

They came to the tunnel’s mouth, an opening high along the canyon’s nearly flat walls. A wave of chilled air hit Talon, making her shiver. Even wind and fire wyverns couldn’t seem to calm that breeze down completely. The frozen ground far below almost seemed to glow in the early dawn light, revealing the dark forms of diamond dogs as they hauled around wagons full of dirt.

Those dogs were diligent, Talon had to give them that. They were still digging for gems, even after two weeks of nonstop work creating new tunnels that would let them sneak up on the Crystal Empire.

Talon turned away from the ground and silently took to the air, followed by Tornado. A few flaps brought them both above the canyon’s edge and into view of the plateau where the entire Alliance was gathered. It was always a bit awe inspiring to see so many dragons organizing themselves into squadrons, clusters, and swarms as they prepared for the battle to come.

Talon saw the Hurricanes in their usual place at the head of the army, accompanied by Silver Tail, Torch, and Yol Toor’s twin daughters. Behind them were the elite squadrons, including Synapse.

Well, it was only elite in that the Council didn’t want Heart Echo to get killed or captured. They’d promoted the whole unit just to keep her out of danger.

At least it was better than being on the front lines.

Near Synapse were eight metal forms, strangely dark in spite of the morning rays shining down on them. It was the same loose formation that they had held every time that Talon visited them in their cavern. Two of the Requiem Guard were sitting down, another seemed to be leaning against a nonexistent cavern wall, and three more were standing with their arms at their sides.

Samhane’s dark silver coloration made it easy to spot. It was at the edge of the group, like usual, but instead of pacing, it had its twin axes out and was flowing through a series of stances and attacks with them. Thank the Storm that Samhane was at least opposite from Talon’s squad. The dark silver Guard was barely stable at best.

Providence was the only Guard out of place. It usually sat near the middle of the group, staring into the distance. Today, however, it stood at the far side of the group from Samhane, engaged in a conversation with two wyrms holding combat staffs. Two very familiar wyrms …

“What are Heart and Genesis doing?” Talon wondered aloud. It wasn’t like talking to the Requiem Guard was against orders or anything, but who in their right mind would want to? She angled her flight so that she came down next to the trio, with Tornado right behind her.

Flakes of snow whipped up around the two dragons as they landed. Heart and Genesis both covered their faces. Providence didn’t bother. It didn’t even move when some bits of snow flew in through its eye sockets.

“Greetings, Providence.” Talon dropped to a respectful bow then bit down a sigh when Tornado positioned himself between her and the Guard.

Providence turned to her. Soulless blue orbs shone from within the eye sockets of its helmet. “What newss do your sspies bring?”

“Everything seems to be normal,” Talon said, fighting down a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold. “We should arrive a few minutes before the Element Bearers finish their morning training, as we planned.”

Providence merely turned to the other Guards. “Come, mmy friends, let uss make thhe King prroud.”

A chorus of unearthly voices responded.

Samhane, though, shook its head and made a sound that could have been laughter. The metallic edge to it sent shivers down Talon’s back. “Killling ponniess is enoughh forr me.”

Either Providence didn’t hear that or it chose to ignore it. “Let uss be onn our waay, dragonling.” It started walking toward the center of the other Guards.

“Wait.” Genesis raised an arm like he wanted to keep the Guard from walking away but then thought better of it. That same arm had one of the spiraling staffs wrapped around it, even though he held a normal staff in his other hand. “Please. They deserve to be spared.”

Providence didn’t look back or even slow down. “Sso do many whho die.”

Talon turned to Tornado. “Get ready to go. If any of the Guards try anything, flip over and drop them.”

Tornado bowed. “As you command.” He moved away from the others before shifting into his battle form and sinking down so that the Requiem Guard could climb onto his back.

“Now,” Talon said, shifting her gaze to Genesis, “what exactly were you talking to Providence about?”

Genesis cringed a little at her scrutiny. “That rune Gemstone invented is going to permanently change how dragons think about food. Heart and I just thought that we should repay him by not trying to kill him or his wife.”

The Hurricanes were nearby, which is the only reason that Talon didn’t commend him for his bravery. Instead, she patted him on the shoulder.

Heart silently gripped his other shoulder.

Talon glanced over at Tornado. The Requiem Guard was already getting into place on his back. “Heart, tell Silver Tail that we’re ready. Genesis, you’ll have to rune me up quickly. I’d rather not leave Tornado alone with those things.”

After Heart left, Genesis stepped closer and gripped the spiraling metal staff he was wearing. It seemed to take a life of its own, uncoiling and straightening until it was a staff identical to the other one he held. “This is our newest model of combat staff. Rune would have wanted you to have one of the first ones.” He looked away as he held it out to her.

Talon felt a lump in her throat but accepted the staff without complaint. She swapped it with her old one, then offered the older one to Genesis so that he could upgrade it later.

Silver Tail’s voice hit them all like a wave. “Alliance forces, prepare to move out!”

Genesis quickly started on Talon’s combat runes.

“What can this staff do?” Talon asked as he worked.

“Basic improvements all around,” Genesis said. “It should work at distances of up to a thousand feet now. The shield is also stronger and the purifier works better so you’ll get more of a boost when you drain creatures to restore your magic. The only new feature is short-range teleportation. It isn’t very efficient yet, so don’t use it too much, but it can move you about fifty feet in any direction.”

“Good to know.” Talon brushed the staff with one of her wings. She'd wear Rune's legacy proudly.

“I need to track Gemstone down after the war is over and give him a staff too,” Genesis said as he worked. “I know Rune would’ve wanted it.”

Talon froze. Cliff Runner, Gem’s real identity, was an Equestrian prince. He could easily get Princess Celestia’s attention. But it was too late to go back to IHQ and tell their spy to get in contact with him. They were about to fly there, though. All she needed was somedragon either brave, loyal, or crazy enough to get captured on purpose in order to pass along a message.

“Genesis,” Talon said, “would you mind riding on Tornado while we fly to the Empire?”

Genesis paused and looked up from a rune on Talon’s left wing.

She cleared her throat. “Ember and the winds already have your runes, anyway, and having a second wyrm around to power up Tornado could make all the difference if the Requiem Guard tried anything.”

Genesis followed her gaze to Tornado. “Of course I’ll help.”

“Good,” Talon glanced at the Hurricanes, “because I’ve got a few other ideas I’d like your thoughts on, but I’ll wait until we’re linked up before I go into them.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Cliff dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding a diving pegasus, and Blueblood generated a shield to protect him from three more. The Wonderbolts were extremely good shots.

Two pegasi struck Big Mac, but he withstood the hit with barely a flinch.

A shield formed around one of the enemy pegasi and pulled it straight down, pinning it to the ground. Blueblood was getting better at that.

Cliff managed to clip one of the pegasi attackers with a gem, and Eyes took out another one with her energy beam, but the remaining Wonderbolts easily avoided the rock that Big Mac threw. It exploded moments later in an impressive, but unfortunately harmless, display of earth pony magic.

The three remaining pegasi shot straight up, disappearing into the clouds above.

“Cliff,” Eyes sent, “get up there and tell me what they’re planning.” She fired a short burst of energy at the trapped pegasus. Her spell phased through Blueblood’s shield and caught the pegasus in the chest.

Cliff glanced behind him, toward Blueblood and, more importantly, Fluttershy. Celestia was hitting them hard, but Rainbow, Twilight, and Cliff’s grandparents seemed to be holding their ground against her. Blueblood was just behind them, maintaining a shield around the other Element Bearers. Applejack and Pinkie looked like they wanted to join in the fray, but neither of them were nearly far enough along in their training to take on a foe like Celestia.

Beyond them, Zephyr was doing his best to keep Luna occupied. The kumiho was more of a hit-and-run fighter, which didn’t work so well for protecting a stationary target, but Luna also got distracted easily. At the moment, she was punching her way through a small army of illusions, all of which were somehow shooting blasts of energy at her.

Okay, Fluttershy wasn’t in any immediate danger. Cliff turned back to his own fight and launched himself into the air. Dark gray clouds surrounded him for a moment, then he passed through into-

Something large hit Cliff in the side. He was barely able to recognize it as a pegasus as the two of them fell in wild tangle of limbs. Based on the pegasus’s confused shouts, he hadn’t been expecting the impact either.

Cliff quickly stored all of his downward momentum, pulling himself to the top of their impromptu wrestling match. Then he transferred his stored momentum into the pegasus.

The unfortunate pony suddenly accelerated headfirst into the ground. Meanwhile, Cliff transformed Discord’s cloak into a glider and angled himself back toward the clouds above. He put on a burst of speed.

Shining Armor’s voice suddenly filled the area. “Alliance attack on the southern wall! Citizens, get to your shelters. All soldiers, report to your commanding officers right now!”

Cliff dove to the ground, stumbling a bit when he touched down. A quick look to the south confirmed that a large group of dragons had somehow gotten to the southern edge of the Empire undetected, and they were already firing their Shield Cracker.

“Form up around the Element Bearers,” Fire Eyes sent. “Does everyone remember the plan?”

Cliff sent back that he did then ran toward Fluttershy, skimming the crowd around her as he went.

Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie all looked fine. That’s where the good news ended though. Twilight’s armor was covered in magical burns, and the alicorn herself was holding her head like she had a pounding migraine. Rainbow didn’t have any visible injuries, but she was lying on the ground, gasping for breath.

So two of the Element Bearers were at less than peak condition, and about to face down a foe that would need all six of them to be at their best.

Great.

Both of Cliff’s grandparents were looking pretty worn out as well, and Celestia, Luna, and Zephyr weren’t much better.

Just great.

“How’s everyone set for magic?” Eyes asked.

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Cliff sent back. “I’ve got a hundred and seventy anti-aura gems in one of my suit’s dimensional pockets. That will be more than enough to recharge everyone.”

“A hundred and seventy?” Eyes repeated, and sent the impression of a low whistle. “I guess I can’t fault you for being prepared.”

Cliff forced himself to feel more confident than he actually was. “I also rewrote my Shadow-form Rune to draw magic from those gems. It should work against Guard weaponry now, theoretically.” Although he was in no hurry to test that claim.

Celestia teleported away just as Cliff reached the group. Meanwhile, Luna and Zephyr took up positions at opposite sides of the Element Bearers.

Cliff slid to a halt next to Fluttershy then turned to keep an eye on their surroundings. The other combatants were all scrambling to get their wounded to the medical wyrms stationed at the edge of the field. They’d head to the wall as soon as everyone was either patched up or declared unable to fight today. Even the rest of the Everfree Platoon wouldn’t be sticking around. The group protecting the Element Bearers needed to be as mobile as possible.

They also needed to be at their best. Cliff pulled out a dozen or so anti-aura gems and dumped them on the ground in front of him. “If anyone needs these, better get them now.” Then he turned his attention to Fluttershy. “Are you ready for this?”

Her response was cut off when Spirit caught both of them in a hug. “Be careful, you two. I’ll see you when it’s over.”

Cliff returned the hug. “Yeah, you be careful too.”

“Please stay safe,” Fluttershy added.

Spirit broke away and ran to Twilight next, leaving Cliff and Fluttershy almost isolated by the chaos around them.

“I think I’m ready,” Fluttershy said, “but, Cliff …” Fluttershy stepped closer to him and wrapped her wings around him from the side. “Promise me that you won’t do anything dangerous, please?”

“I won’t do anything reckless.” He returned the hug as best he could. “I don’t think it’ll be possible to avoid doing anything dangerous.” He looked at the Alliance's army again. “Keep your eyes open once the battle starts. All of us will be doing everything we can to protect you, but I don’t know if it will be enough to keep you completely safe. Miracle’s counting on both of us getting through this in one piece.”

Fluttershy pressed herself against Cliff’s side, shaking softly. She turned to the army of dragons in the south and took a deep breath. “For Miracle.”

As soon as the Shield Cracker Rune activated, beams of Void Fire and spherical Void Bombs shot from the Alliance’s ranks, but none of them were aimed at the Equestrian defenders. It looked like they were coming right at-

“Look out!” Cliff barely had time to cast a shield around the group before the first beam hit.

Lines of brilliant energy sliced across the practice field, maiming or killing the unprepared soldiers and gouging deep furrows into the ground.

Two shields exploded out from Twilight and Luna respectively to cover the whole field, just in time to intercept the first Void Bomb.

Cliff clenched his eyes shut against the blinding explosions that followed, and focused on maintaining his own shield while he held Fluttershy tight.

Twilight cried out in pain, her voice almost lost over the roar of the blasts.

The noise eventually faded, and Cliff risked glancing up to check on the damage. One of Blueblood’s shields surrounded their little group, but luckily it hadn’t been needed. Luna’s shield had held, in spite of the deep cracks that ran like spiderwebs over its surface. All the nearby barracks had been destroyed, though, including Everfree's. Wounded dragons and ponies littered the inside of the shield, while others crouched beneath shields of their own.

Twilight was on the ground with one hoof was pressed against her horn. She had a grimace that he could see even through her helmet.

Claws of fear sank into Cliff’s heart as he realized that Spirit and Autumn had been outside of Blueblood’s shield, and he couldn’t see them anywhere. He pushed the feeling down and focused on Fluttershy.

She was staring at the destruction with a expression of utter shock, but at least she hadn’t been injured.

“Reactivate your Shadow-form Enchantments,” Luna said quickly. “We must prepare to counterattack!”

“All of you,” Fire Claws, his grandmother, sent, “get ready. Celestia could be back any second.”

“What about all the wounded?” Cliff asked. “Are Spirit and Autumn okay?”

Claws sent back reassurance. “The rest of the Platoon is fine, somehow. They’ll handle the wounded while we do our job.”

That was a load off his chest. Cliff turned his attention back to the Alliance and tried to be ready for anything, but strangely, it look like the Alliance was already retreating. They had pulled away from the Empire’s shield and looked to be heading back toward the Shattered Mountain Caves.

Seconds passed.

Then minutes.

They started hearing reports that a lone wyrm had jumped into the Crystal Empire, but the rest of the Alliance slowly faded into the distance without so much as pausing in their course.

Cliff kept his tail wrapped around Fluttershy while his mind worked furiously.

The Alliance had gone after the Element Bearers specifically. There was no doubt of that. Only dumb luck had stopped one of those beams of Void Fire from hitting one of the Bearers and crippling Equestria’s ability to fight the Requiem Guard. The Requiem Guard itself had either been absent or so well hidden that Celestia hadn’t been able to find them. The Alliance was probably keeping them in reserve until the Element Bearers were removed. Okay, that plan made sense, but it hadn’t worked. Wyverns always had a fallback plan, though. Usually two or three. The lone wyrm was a possible threat, but it wasn’t like the Hurricanes to base a plan around a single dragon. They were more big-picture thinkers.

Cliff growled angrily. Some unknown threat was going to try to kill Fluttershy, he was sure of it. He didn’t know what, where, or how, though, so how under the Stars was he supposed to stop it?

-_-_-_-_-_-

Deep in the earth beneath the Crystal Empire, Providence waited. One day wasn’t so long to wait, not after nearly one thousand years in Tartarus. All he had to do was be patient a little longer, and the Element Bearers would be dead. Then Celestia would have nothing left that could stop him. She would die, and Minos would finally be free from the oppressive rule of ponies.

King Asterion would be so happy when he heard the news. Providence could almost see his old friend fighting to hold back tears as he announced that the war was over. Asterion always was more soft than he was comfortable letting on … and he would never hear of Celestia’s death, because he was already dead.

A memory danced across Providence’s consciousness, weak and fleeting, like a dream. Asterion being laid to rest in the ornate battle armor that had served him so well over the years.

“Thrree hundred sixty threee thoussand, five hundred seeventy-six,” Providence said to himself. That was how many days it had been since the funeral. Asterion was dead, and Minos was gone. He had seen the ruins himself after the Alliance freed them all from Tartarus.

Providence gripped Shattering Justice more tightly in his hands. The war hammer had been forged as a weapon to protect against the pony invaders, but it would serve just as well for revenge. He turned his gaze to the others. That’s all any of them were anymore, weapons for revenge.

Six suits of armor stared back at him, their runes casting just enough light to illuminate the rocky tunnel around them. Six suits, where there should have been seven.

“Ssamhane.” Providence fought down the urge to destroy something. She was letting her blood-thirst control her again, and he couldn’t afford to go after her now. After a brief internal battle, Providence turned back to the blank stone wall in front of him and resumed his vigil. Samhane could take care of herself. His only real worry was that she might find an opportunity to kill Celestia before he could do it himself.

Chapter 51

Genesis had probably agreed to Talon’s plan a little too quickly. He would be the first to admit that, and quite possibly the last.

“He ran into that house!” a pony shouted.

“Don’t let him escape!” another added.

“Not good,” Genesis said to himself, looking around frantically for an escape route. “So very not good.” If this were a cavern, Genesis would say that he was in the main chamber. Luckily ponies didn’t follow the usual dragon convention of only one entrance/exit. He could see a back door just across the chamber. He ran over and pulled it open just as the front door was kicked in by a pair of earth pony warriors.

Genesis charged outside and allowed himself a sigh of relief—right before he was tackled to the ground by a pegasus.

“Got him!” The pegasus pressed its weight firmly on Genesis’s back, pinning him down.

One flash of light later, Genesis was lying flat on his stomach in the pony house across the street from the last one. He coughed weakly. “The staff’s teleportation works as well in the field as it did in the lab. Good to know.” Of course, that also heavily drained its reserves. He’d be lucky to get a second teleport before the staff completely ran out of magic. Genesis climbed to his feet and looked around.

Shouts of surprise and anger came from the pegasus outside, but no one seemed to know where he was, and there weren’t any ponies in this house that could alert the others. Perfect. Now to figure out how under the Stars he was supposed to find Gemstone.

In all honesty, Genesis wasn’t sure why he’d agreed to the plan. Rain’s face had just popped into his mind, and he’d known that he had to act.

Genesis pressed a hand over his heart. Rain … his wife. Nearly six years had gone by since he lost her, and yet he still woke up sometimes, expecting her to be there next to him.

Sometimes he heard a voice that sounded almost like her, or saw a dragoness with similar coloration, and for just a fraction of a second he found himself hoping, pleading, that she was back somehow.

Just a few seconds to hold her tight and whisper that he loved her. That was all he wanted.

Genesis blinked away a few tears and crawled to the nearest window. Gemstone, Cliff Runner, it didn’t matter what his name was, that dragon was his friend, and Genesis would go berserk before he knowingly inflicted this kind of pain on a friend.

There was just the problem of actually finding Gemstone to warn him. Talon had said that he could simply get captured and wait for Gem to come visit him, but the Stars only knew how long that might take, and the Requiem Guard could strike at any moment. He would have to head toward the practice field the Alliance had attacked and hope that Gemstone or the Element Bearers were still nearby.

“Found him!”

Genesis looked behind him and found another pony warrior standing just inside the front door. In retrospect, he probably should have been paying more attention to his surroundings. He dove through the window and took off running.

This time he knew to expect pegasi attackers and managed to dodge two of them before he ducked into yet another pony house.

“Pardon me!” Genesis ran around two cowering ponies in the main chamber and ducked into one of the side rooms. This one was either a kitchen, a laboratory, or a torture chamber. He didn’t take the time to examine it before jumping through the window and into the small field of grass that most ponies kept around their houses.

The nearest house conveniently had a window open. Genesis scrambled through it and shut the window behind him. Ponies were shouting outside, but it sounded like none of them were quite sure where he had gotten to.

Finally, something’s going right! Genesis took a second to breathe before examining his surroundings. He was in a … Okay, so he had no idea what this room was. There was an opaque crystal floor with an extremely large bowl, easily big enough to fit a grown pony or two, off to the side and two smaller bowls on the other side, one of which was built into a counter, and the other was covered by a lid. The bowl in the counter had a mirror set on the wall just above it, and the counter itself had a number of small drawers.

At times like these, Genesis envied Heart for the time she had spent actually living in the Empire. She would know what all this was meant for. Heart wasn’t around, though, so Genesis could only assume that this was a pony grooming facility of some kind. Whatever it was, the door was shut and no ponies seemed to know he was here. Genesis quickly scrawled out a rune to recharge his staff and then started planning his next move. He would have to be careful, smart, and, above all, stealthy, but he could do this.

A friend was counting on it.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Cliff didn’t even know what he was looking at. Twenty minutes ago, the Alliance had attacked out of nowhere and retreated just as suddenly. Ten minutes ago, Celestia had come back and her and Luna had ordered them all to hold their position because an Alliance warrior was loose in the Empire. And now … this.

An entire company of earth ponies was chasing a single wyrm across the expanse of devastation caused by the Alliance’s attack. The wyrm in question was hardly the deadly assassin that Cliff had been imagining. He seemed to be panicking, actually, and he looked suspiciously familiar, even from a distance.

“Oh Stars.” Cliff groaned as the wyrm finally got close enough for him to see who it was. “I’ll be right back.” He gave Fluttershy a quick hug then shot into the air and down at his old friend.

Genesis let out a yell of surprise and threw himself to the side.

“Calm down,” Cliff said quickly. “I’m here to help.” There wasn’t time to say much else, or to see how Genesis responded. Cliff turned to the oncoming earth ponies and shouted, “It’s okay, everypony! I can vouch for this dragon!”

The earth ponies slowed, coming to a stop just in front of Cliff. One of them—a captain, judging from his armor—stepped up to Cliff and jabbed his hoof forward. “That dragon is with the Alliance. He was with them when they attacked.”

“He’s an ally,” Cliff said, risking a glance over his shoulder. Genesis had stopped running, at least, but he was looking at Cliff suspiciously. “You can confirm it with Princess Twilight if you want.”

The earth pony nearly mirrored Genesis’s expression. “Yes, I think we should do that.”

“Alright, come with me.” Cliff turned to Genesis and paused before taking off his helmet. “Come on, Genesis,” he did his best to smile reassuringly, “let’s get this cleared up.”

Genesis only stared at him for a moment, then he stepped closer. “Gemstone?”

Cliff nodded.

Genesis let out a relieved sigh and grabbed Cliff in a tight hug. “I made it.”

“Uh … sure.” Cliff patted the other wyrm on the back and exchanged a look and a shrug with the equally confused-looking pony captain.

Eventually Genesis let go, and the three of them walked to where everyone else was waiting.

“Twilight,” Cliff said very deliberately, “could you please tell this pony that Genesis here is one of our trusted friends and allies?”

Most of the group just looked confused, including Luna. Fluttershy got a warm smile; she had heard all about Genesis from Cliff. As for Celestia, well, it was impossible to tell what she was thinking most of the time, so Cliff wasn’t surprised that she just watched them with her usual calm expression.

“Huh?” Twilight asked. Then she noticed Cliff’s sudden glare. “Oh, I mean of course. It’s good to see you again, Genesis.” She held out a hoof to him.

Genesis glanced at Cliff questioningly.

“Shake it,” Cliff whispered. “And go on all fours. Ponies are more comfortable that way.”

Genesis sank down onto all fours, took Twilight’s hoof in his claws, and gave it a weak shake. “It’s, uh, good to see you again too.”

“Anyway,” Cliff said, sinking down as well and turning to the earth pony captain, “they still need help clearing the wreckage. We can handle things from here.”

The pony still didn’t look entirely convinced, but a reassuring nod from Celestia seemed to tip the balance. He bowed respectfully to each of the princesses and excused himself.

“Cliff Runner,” Luna said gently but firmly, “please explain what is going on. I met this dragon once and he told me that he was a friend of Gemstone Aura, but you never indicated that you were still in contact with him.”

“Actually, I wasn’t.” Cliff turned to Genesis. “It’s good to see you again, but why are you here?”

Genesis cleared his throat and scratched at his head spikes. “Uh, Talon asked me to come warn you.” He glanced at Celestia and Luna before continuing. “The Alliance has a plan to kill the Element Bearers.”

“You know of their plan?” Luna grabbed him in her magic and pulled him right in front of her. “What is it? We implore you, tell us everything!”

Big Mac nudged Luna’s side at the same time that Celestia cleared her throat and gave her sister a meaningful look.

“Oh,” Luna set Genesis down, “please forgive me. I became over excited.”

Genesis stumbled and fell backwards before scrambling away, only stopping when his back connected with Cliff’s armor.

“Whoa there.” Cliff grabbed his friend gently by the shoulder and leaned down to whisper in his ear frill. “I know the Immortal Sisters are a bit intimidating at first, but they aren’t really that different than Yol Toor or Silver Tail. Just treat them like with proper respect and you’ll be fine.”

“A-are you sure?” Genesis asked, glancing at Celestia and Luna nervously. “The last time I was this close to Princess Luna,” he gulped, “she kind of dropped a mountain on me.”

“I put a shield around you first,” Luna said.

“Um, excuse me?” Fluttershy must have removed her helmet when Cliff wasn’t looking. She came forward, hunching down just slightly so that her eyes were level with Genesis’s. “I know you’re scared, but it’ll be okay. Nopony here will hurt you, I promise.” She smiled.

Genesis relaxed a little, and a weak smile touched his own lips. He looked from her to Cliff. “Is she …?”

Cliff nodded. “Genesis, meet my wife, Fluttershy.” He turned to Fluttershy and smiled gratefully for her help. “Fluttershy, meet Genesis, the wyrm that kept me sane while I was with the Alliance.”

Fluttershy stepped forward the rest of the way and gave Genesis a friendly hug. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Genesis returned the embrace. “Yeah … same.” He seemed a lot more in control of himself when he let go. “Cliff, that whole attack was just a diversion. The Requiem Guard snuck into the Empire through some of the old diamond dog tunnels. I don’t know where they are, exactly, but they’re waiting somewhere to ambush the Element Bearers.”

“Cliff,” Celestia said, both her tone and her expression inscrutable, “we will need to be sure that he is speaking the truth.”

Cliff tensed a little but forced himself to nod. “Okay.” He turned to the brown wyrm. “Genesis, Celestia’s going to do a mind scan. It isn’t exactly fun, but it only takes a few seconds, and no one will be able to question your motives once it’s done.”

Genesis looked from Cliff to Fluttershy, then he took a deep breath. “Okay.” He turned to Celestia and closed his eyes.

Celestia stepped forward and touched her horn to his forehead. A faint aura surrounded them for a moment, then she stepped back and rose to her full height. “He is being honest and did not withhold anything.” She turned to Pinkie. “Twilight told me that a venom wyvern came to Everfree Village and warned you about the Requiem Guard?”

Pinkie looked nervous. “Well, I kinda, sorta, Pinkie Promised not to tell anyone about that, so I’ll have to pretend I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I understand,” Celestia said with a faint smile. “I believe her name is Talon, the same venom wyvern who asked Genesis to come warn us.”

“The Hurricanes execute traitors on sight,” Cliff said. “No wonder she wanted to remain secret.” He turned to Genesis. “Do you know if she’s working with Heart?”

Genesis shook his head unsteadily. “She isn’t. Heart’s been saying that Equestria would never accept long-term peace unless the Alliance surrenders, but Talon said Heart’s vote on the Council is too important to risk losing.” He turned to Celestia. “Please, don’t tell anyone else about Talon. The more ponies know, the better the chance that the Hurricanes find out about it.”

“Don’t worry,” Celestia said, “we will not risk harming a friend and ally.” She turned to Luna. “We should bring Cadance and Shining Armor here so that we can discuss our strategy. I fear that our usual planning room must be declared a potential trap. The Element Bearers should avoid the entire Crystal Bunker and their usual barracks, just to be safe.”

Luna nodded. “Their barracks was destroyed in the attack, but thou art correct. Go fetch Cadance and Shining Armor. I will guard the Element Bearers.”

Cliff sat down on the ground next to Genesis. “Anyway, I can’t thank you enough for coming to warn us.”

“I’m just glad I made it.” He looked at Cliff quizzically. “You look different than how I imagined you, Gem.”

“Uglier, I’m guessing.” Eyes came and knelt next to the three of them. “I’ll never understand how Cliff managed to snag one of the most famous ponies in Equestria.”

Cliff faked a sigh. “And this, I’m sorry to say, is my oldest friend, Fire Eyes.”

Genesis chuckled softly. “Nice to meet you.”

The rest of the group came forward as well to introduce themselves, even Blueblood and Luna. They wound up forming a loose circle around him. All the stares didn’t exactly help calm Genesis down, but the display of acceptance helped balance things out.

“How’s everydragon back in the Alliance?” Cliff asked. “I haven’t seen Squad Five since …” He could feel heat rising in his cheeks. “Since that battle where I captured Heart.”

Genesis looked away and his ear frills drooped.

That simple act caused a massive weight to settle in Cliff’s stomach.

“Oh no,” Fluttershy said, her voice barely above a whisper. She wrapped her wings around Genesis and gently brought his head to rest against her shoulder. “It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about what happened if you don’t want to.”

A solemn silence fell over the group, broken only by murmurs of reassurance from Fluttershy.

Eventually Genesis swallowed and looked up at Cliff. “Rune. We … lost her in the battle where Yol Toor was captured.”

Cliff’s heart sank. Rune had all but adopted him during his time as Gemstone. How was it possible that she had been dead for months and he was only learning about it now?

A pair of tears coursed down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Genesis.” He wrapped his arms around him and Fluttershy, then Twilight did as well, and suddenly the entire group had joined in, with the exceptions of Blueblood, Luna, and Zephyr.

“Thank you,” Genesis said quietly. “I know her only real regrets are that she didn’t get to finish her work on the staffs and that she didn’t get to meet the real you.” He looked at Cliff and his expression became a bit more firm. “With that in mind,” he held up a clawed hand in the cramped space between them, “it’s nice to meet you. I’m Genesis and my special talent is developing new runes.”

Cliff didn’t wipe away his tears before taking the offered hand. Rune had never been one to hold back in anything. It would feel wrong to do so now, when he should be showing his respect for the life she had lived. “Nice to meet you. I’m Cliff Runner, my special talent is body-enhancement magic, and I’d love to introduce you to some of my friends and family that I know would love to be your friends as well.”

The rest of the group all sounded their agreement.

-_-_-_-_-_-

“What does the spy have to say?” Typhoon, the Hurricane of Wind, asked.

They were back at IHQ, Talon, Tornado, Heart, Crystal, oh, and every single member of the Council. Talon was fairly certain that the anxiety would kill her before the Hurricanes found out about her latest betrayal and did the job themselves.

The code translator looked up at Typhoon and licked his lips nervously. “Well, our spy saw Genesis run up to the Element Bearers. He spoke with them, some members of the Everfree Platoon, and both Immortal Sisters. The Element Bearers haven’t moved since, and half of the Equestrian army has taken up defensive positions around them.

“Then he has betrayed us,” Typhoon shifted her gaze to Tornado, “and you, Tornado Wings of the Shattered Mountain Clan, aided him. Why?”

“He asked me to send him into the Empire on a current of wind,” Tornado said. He looked down, and his ear frills drooped. “I did not know that he would betray us. I … believed him to be a friend.” He rubbed his eyes.

Typhoon studied him for a moment. “You are telling the truth. Consider yourself fortunate; if you had knowingly aided a betrayer, you would be dead right now. Still, you failed to check with your superior before deviating from the plan, and in doing so, you may have nullified a plan that would bring Equestria to its knees, ending this war and saving countless dragon lives.”

“We should encourage our warriors to trust each other,” Silver Tail said, stepping between Typhoon and Tornado. “Tornado’s trust was betrayed, but his behavior was still something he should be proud of. I’d rather live with occasional betrayals than never trust anydragon ever again.”

“No,” Tornado said quietly. “Typhoon is correct. My mistake will cost many dragons their lives. I deserve to pay for it.” He stepped out from behind Silver Tail. “Do to me as you wish.”

“Very good,” Typhoon said. “You understand.” She turned to Talon. “Select an appropriate punishment for him, and if it isn’t harsh enough, I will choose one myself.”

Talon froze. She was the one that had come up with this whole scheme. She’d even told Genesis to ask for Tornado’s help without explaining himself at all. Tornado was so trusting that she knew he wouldn’t ask questions, saving himself from execution by virtue of ignorance. But now she had to punish him for unwittingly going along with her plan?

It wasn’t right. Tornado didn’t deserve to be punished, she did. Actually … Her eyes widened. “Tornado cares far more about his allies than about himself. He’s especially concerned about my safety. Therefore,” she took an unsteady breath, “you should inflict some punishment on me. I assure you it will have a greater impact than anything else you could do to him.”

Stunned silence filled the room.

“Talon,” Heart said, “are you insane?”

Tornado shook his head. “No, the mistake was mine. Talon has done nothing to deserve your wrath.”

“It is a rather unusual request,” Typhoon said, looking Talon up and down, “but I can see the merit in it. Very well.” She turned to Tornado. “Break a major bone in her right wing, or the Hurricane of Thunder will trigger every nerve in it that she can while keeping Talon conscious to suffer through it.”

“I,” Tornado shrank back, “I cannot harm her. Please-”

There was no warning. Talon’s right wing lit up in utter agony. It was like having her entire wing ripped apart by millions of fiery needles.

She fell to the ground, screaming in pain as she clutched her wing.

Voices were shouting.

Somedragon grabbed her.

Talon couldn’t see, though. She couldn’t think. All she could do was scream until the last bit of air was forced from her lungs.

Even then, she couldn’t stop, her mouth still open in a silent cry of agony.

Then it stopped, and she was able to pull in a gasping breath as tears poured down her cheeks.

“Now break her wing or we’ll do it again,” Typhoon said firmly. “Failure to obey harms every one of your allies. If you did not wish to harm them, then you should have checked with your superior before you went against the plan.”

Talon forced her eyes open, still gasping for breath. Her vision swam with black spots and tears, but she still found Tornado crouched at her side, surrounded by Heart and Crystal. Silently, she extended her right wing, begging him, pleading with her eyes that he would do what they asked and not make her suffer through that again.

Tears rolled down Tornado’s cheeks as well. “Harm me instead, I beg you!”

Talon collapsed, screaming as her wing lit up again.

“That’s enough,” Silver Tail said. “Tornado understands his mistake, and Talon didn’t even do anything wrong.”

“You won’t accomplish anything by hurting them more,” Heart said. “Just stop.”

“Very well,” Typhoon said, “those in favor of suspending this punishment.”

Four drake paws went up.

“Those in favor of continuing it.” Typhoon lifted her wing, as did the other four Hurricanes. “And Heart only gets a vote in the case of ties.” She turned back to Tornado. “Five against four. Your punishment continues. Now break her wing or we will continue to hurt her until you do.”

Shaking violently, Talon extended her wing once more. “P-pl-please.”

Tornado let out a helpless roar and spun around, slamming his tail down into her wing.

Something cracked, and Talon fell to the ground, too exhausted to even care what had been broken.

“I am so sorry, Talon!” Tornado wrapped himself around her like a living shield, carefully avoiding her broken wing. “I am so sorry!”

“I’ll heal you,” Heart said.

Welcome relief flowed into Talon’s wing.

“Now then,” Typhoon said, “Code Translator Steel Mind, tell our spy to contact the Requiem Guard. They need to know what’s going on. After that, have him go back to observing the Element Bearers. We need to know exactly where they are and what they’re doing.”

Steel Mind looked at Talon sympathetically before focusing on the stone rod that he used to send and receive messages, but before he could grab it and start sending the orders, the rod began to flash through a series of colors and patterns. Someone was sending a message of their own.

He stared at the flashing lights with a growing frown. The message only took a few seconds to send, and when it ended, Steel Mind turned to the group with an expression of confusion bordering on fear. “I think the situation just got more complicated. A pony guard just ran up to the Element Bearers, shouting about the Requiem Guard massacring ponies in the outer districts of the Empire. Celestia is teleporting them there now.”

Chapter 52

Fluttershy steeled herself as the light of Celestia’s teleportation spell faded. This was where the Requiem Guard had last been seen. She had to be ready.

Things were terribly dark for a moment, but then light radiated out from the horns of every unicorn and alicorn in the group, revealing a scene from a nightmare.

Dead ponies were everywhere. No, they weren’t just dead, they were destroyed. Most had been mangled beyond recognition, with limbs either bent the wrong way or missing entirely. Blood-soaked tufts of fur and shards of bone covered the floor, the walls, even the ceiling, and the stench of rotting flesh filled the air.

Fluttershy desperately wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. This shelter had once held several hundred crystal ponies. It was supposed to keep them safe during Alliance attacks, not cage them in so that they could be slaughtered like this.

Gasps of shock filled the air, and at least one pony was noisily sick. Fluttershy joined them moments later, shuddering as the smells of vomit, blood, and rot mixed in her nostrils.

“For Miracle,” Fluttershy whispered, forcing her shaky limbs to steady. She couldn’t pass out or collapse now, not with the monsters that had done this still on the loose. Her daughter deserved to grow up in a world that didn’t have atrocities like this.

“I don’t sense anything still alive,” Fire Claws said grimly. “Anyone else?”

The wyrms in the group all shook their heads, including Cliff. Her husband barely seemed affected by their horrific surroundings, and that scared Fluttershy. How could anyone see this and not want to break down and cry for all the ponies that had died here?

Surely Twilight had to be feeling something. But no, she had the same mask-like expression as Cliff.

“The Guards must have escaped through there,” Rainbow said, pointing at a large hole in the wall. “If we hurry, maybe we can catch them!”

Luna shook her head. “Nay, Rainbow Dash. It would be foolish to chase the Requiem Guard through an enclosed tunnel where they could easily surprise us.”

“What’re we supposed to do?” Rainbow gestured at the carnage around them. “Wait for them to do this to a fresh batch of ponies?”

“If they managed to kill even one of you,” Celestia said firmly, “nothing would be able to stop them from doing this to all of Equestria and beyond.”

Rainbow grumbled but didn’t press the issue.

Meanwhile, Cliff looked up and jumped onto the ceiling, his magic held him there just as if he were crouching on the ground. He grabbed a spherical rock, about the size of a large marble, from a small indent. “The glowstones have been drained completely. Even the astral charger has been wiped away on this one.” He looked at the floor and frowned. “It looks like most of these ponies were drained too, but why hack them up if they’d already been drained to death?”

Fire Eyes knelt next to one of the corpses. “They shouldn’t be rotting this soon either. A lot of the wounds have already turned black.”

“This is probably the work of a Guard named Samhane,” Celestia said. “She earned a reputation for brutal slaughter before she was locked in Tartarus, and one of her axes is enchanted to cause necrotic wounds.” Her eyes widened. “If Samhane did this alone, the others could be attacking different shelters as we speak.”

“We must evacuate the other shelters immediately,” Luna said quickly. “Our soldiers can look after them at the training grounds.”

Celestia nodded and lit up her horn. “Gather around, everyone.”

Cliff dropped back to the floor, landing in a small puddle of blood that splashed up around his arms and legs. “Keep your eyes open, everyone.”

Fluttershy couldn’t hold herself back any longer. “Wait!”

Silence fell on the group as all eyes turned to her.

“W-we can’t just leave them like this.” Fluttershy forced herself to look at the mangled corpses that surrounded them. “They were thinking, feeling ponies. They … shouldn’t be left here like they don’t matter.”

None of them responded for a moment, then Cliff stepped forward and held out his hand to her. “We’ll give them a proper burial, but not until we make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Fluttershy looked around at all the bodies. These ponies had trusted in the Element Bearers to keep them safe, just like others were still trusting in them. As wrong as it felt to leave their corpses here in the dark, Fluttershy knew that Cliff was right. They had to take care of the living. She took Cliff’s hand, trying not to look at the blood dripping off her armored hoof, and let him lead her to Celestia’s side. “I’m sorry,” she whispered to the ponies they had failed to protect. “We’ll save the others, I promise.”

Then they disappeared, leaving only the dead in their wake.

-_-_-_-_-_-

“They’re moving again,” Steel Mind said over the wind of their flight. “Luna just shouted orders for every pony in that district to leave their shelters and head toward the training fields around the Crystal Bunker.”

The Hurricanes all nodded, leaving Talon with nothing to do but hold on to Tornado’s back and worry.

The entire Alliance was rushing back to the Empire, but the situation was changing so quickly that not even the Hurricanes knew for sure what they would do once they got there. Apparently, Samhane had gone rogue, massacring ponies in the outer districts and drawing in the Immortal Sisters and the Element Bearers. One mistake here could cost Equestria the war, and Talon couldn’t think of a single thing she could do to help them, especially not with all five Hurricanes clustered around her.

“Is our spy still with the rest of the Requiem Guard?” one of the Hurricanes asked.

Steel Mind nodded. “They should reach the outer districts soon, about the same time as the rest of us.”

“At least something’s going right today,” another Hurricane muttered. “Have our spy tell Providence to hurry. They must be ready to strike as soon as we have maneuvered the Element Bearers into position.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Cliff couldn’t help but pace back and forth across the top of the watchtower where they were all standing. Luckily it was large enough that he could do that, about twenty feet across. That seemed to be the only bit of luck that Cliff would experience today. Samhane had slaughtered two more shelters full of ponies. At least the ponies in other shelters were being evacuated safely, but there was still no sign of her or the rest of the Requiem Guard.

The tower where they were all standing was set in a row of houses, giving Cliff a clear view of the streets on either side. Hundreds of crystal ponies were coming together to form what looked like a river of sparkling gems. Golden Royal Guard Armor mixed with silver Crystal Guard Armor, forming a bank of sorts around the twin rivers, as the Equestrian soldiers directed the civilians toward the center of the Empire. Hopefully they would be safe there.

“Do you think the Requiem Guard is gonna risk attacking them out in the open like this?” Rainbow asked.

“Hopefully they will not,” Luna replied. “No more civilians need die today.”

“I have to agree with that,” Discord’s voice echoed in Cliff’s mind. “The chaotic love of life has almost gone out in these crystal ponies.”

“Just let me know if you hear the Requiem Guard anywhere.” Cliff sent back.

“Easier said than done, I’m afraid. That gigantic conga-line of ponies is really noisy, you know.” Discord grumbled. “I could sense the magic they drain from the atmosphere if I were at full power.”

Cliff paused and looked at the evacuating ponies below. “Do what you can.” Then he went back to pacing.

Discord must have sensed that Cliff wasn’t in the mood to talk, because he only sent back agreement before falling silent.

After pacing some more, Cliff glanced at Fluttershy. She was still talking to Twilight—about something serious, judging from their expressions. Cliff went back to his pacing and tried not to dwell on how terrible this day had been. First a surprise attack by the Alliance, then finding out about Rune’s death, then those shelters full of massacred ponies, and to top it all off, he could tell how hurt Fluttershy was by the way he had reacted to all the carnage. How was he supposed to tell her that this was just life here in the Empire? If he let each individual death bother him, he would have been driven mad with grief long ago.

“You’re going to wear a hole in the roof if you keep that up,” Fire Claws said, drawing near.

Cliff smiled weakly. “Sorry, Grandma, I can’t sit still.”

“Why are you apologizing?” She jumped onto the gap between battlements and sat down with her feet dangling over the tower’s edge. “I was just making an observation.” She turned to him and patted the gap next to her. “Feel free to jog in place if that helps.”

“I think I’ll be fine.” Cliff sat down in the other gap.

“So what’s going on with you and Fluttershy these days?” Claws asked softly, her voice low enough that the others wouldn’t hear it. “I heard that she attacked you in her sleep the other night.”

“It was just a night terror,” Cliff said, “and all she did was push me away.”

“Is that why you’ve been acting so strangely around each other lately?”

“No, it was like this before then.” His eyes wandered aimlessly across the streets beneath them. “I guess … the two of us have changed too much from back before this all started. I don’t really know how I’m supposed to act around her anymore.”

Claws reached out and pulled Cliff over so that his head was resting against her shoulder. “I’m sure she’s just as confused as you are, Cliff. What you two need is to stop judging the other based on what they would have done a year ago and start learning everything you can about the new individuals you’ve both grown into.”

“I’ll try, Grandma.” Cliff leaned against her more heavily and let his eyes sink closed for a moment.

Metal scraped against metal as Claws adjusted her position and wrapped one arm around him. “Don’t worry, everything will be alright with you two, as long as you’re willing to put forth the effort.”

Cliff smiled and opened his eyes. “For Fluttershy, always.” Cliff shifted a little bit to get into a more comfortable position then simply relaxed in his Grandmother’s comforting presence. It was nice to have a moment where he could just stop thinking about everything.

…

An explosion rocked the area. Cliff would have been thrown clear off the tower if Blueblood hadn’t generated a shield around the group almost instantly. It turned out to be a very good thing that he did, because the part of the tower that wasn’t encased in Blueblood’s shield collapsed moments later, cascading down into a huge pile of shattered crystalline rubble.

Cliff scrambled to his feet and turned toward the source of the blast. His heart almost froze in his chest at the sight that greeted him.

A large chunk of ground had been blown away near a part of the Empire’s wall, and thousands of dragons were pouring out of it.

“Oh crap.” A pair of gems appeared in Cliff’s palms as his mind began frantically analyzing the situation. A few companies of ponies were guarding the walls, some more were watching the edges of the district in case the Requiem Guard tried anything, and a final group was escorting the crystal pony civilians to safety.

That was nowhere near enough to stop an invading force this large.

-_-_-_-_-_-

The Element Bearers were all still alive. Talon gasped in relief from her spot on Tornado’s back. It had taken forever to sneak the entire Alliance into the Empire through that tunnel, requiring countless uses of the Shield Cracker, but it looked like their surprise attack had failed regardless. That light-blue shield must have deflected the Hurricanes’ attack. Unfortunately, the waves of cutting energy aimed at the watchtower had connected, which meant they were clear for Backup Plan One.

Every aura drake in the Alliance released the energy they had been building up in a fantastic display of concentrated Void Fire. It actually hurt Talon’s eyes to look at the shield where all the beams were converging, and the high-pitched hum of their magic filled the air. Could even the Immortal Sisters hold off an attack like that for very long?

“All soldiers,” Luna’s voice filled the area, “to the southern edge of the Empire immediately! We are under attack!”

Talon winced from the sheer volume that the Equestrian princess could generate. The whole Crystal Empire probably knew that they were here now, which was actually a good thing. It meant the Alliance would have to get out of there quickly.

Typhoon turned to Steel Mind. “Are the rest of the Requiem Guard in position?”

He checked that communication rod he used. “Yes. They’re waiting for us to give the word.”

“Good.”

Talon quickly checked their surroundings. Synapse was at its usual spot, near the center of the Alliance’s formation, which gave her a good feel for the overall shape of the battle. Some heavy drake clusters were clearing away the few pony defenders on the wall, and the rest of the Alliance had clustered around their aura drakes protectively.

A flash of silver caught Talon’s eye along the wall. Samhane, that rogue member of the Requiem Guard, was hacking its way through a retreating squadron of ponies, trapping them between the Guard and a squad of venom wyverns that were pursuing on foot. Samhane’s silvery form looked strange, though. Pulsating red cracks, the color of fresh blood, covered the surface of its armor like spiderwebs.

Talon tapped Heart on the shoulder and pointed. “Can you tell those wyverns to get away from Samhane? Something’s wrong with it.” She turned her attention back to the many beams of Void Fire. Good, the Immortal Sisters were still holding out, but everything was too bright to know if they were starting to get tired.

Heart’s emotions suddenly echoed through their link, filled with shock and fear. “Oh Stars,” she pointed, “look at the wall!”

Talon ripped her attention away from the Element Bearers and followed her friend’s pointing claw.

Samhane had finished with the squadron of ponies and had started attacking the venom wyverns without even slowing down. A beam of dark energy shot from the Guard’s right hand. It struck one of the farther-off wyverns in the chest, reducing it to a shriveled husk in seconds. Meanwhile, the ax in its left hand slammed upwards into the bottom of another wyvern’s head, resulting in a gory explosion of red and gray.

The Guard pivoted to the side, burying its right ax in a third wyvern’s neck and severing the leg of a fourth with the backswing of the ax in its left hand. Another ray of dark energy shot from its right hand, draining yet a fifth wyvern to its untimely death.

“Synapse,” Talon shouted, “hit that Guard on the wall with everything you’ve got!” Four more wyverns died in the time it took her to give the order. “Hurricanes,” she called, drawing their attention, “Samhane is attacking our forces.” Hopefully they would do the smart thing and fall back, or at least divert forces away from the Immortal Sisters. She turned to Steel Mind. “Tell Providence that his missing Guard has gone berserk and is attacking our forces. We need him to get over here and knock some sense into it before Samhane kills anydragon else!”

Samhane finished with the rest of the wyverns at the same time that Talon finished speaking. The Guard let out an animalistic roar and jumped right at the Alliance’s formation. It practically flew through the air before crashing into one of their precious aura drakes and sinking both of its axes deep into the dragon’s flesh. The unfortunate drake died almost instantly, and Samhane jumped at another dragon, shooting a beam of dark energy at a cluster of wyverns as it went.

“Too late.” Heart brought up her arm with the staff wrapped around it and fired a concentrated blast of magic. The attack hit, but Samhane continued its rampage without seeming to notice or care. Its armor wasn’t even damaged, and it seemed to be headed for the nearest living aura drake.

Steel Mind gulped. “Uh, Talon? Our spy says that Providence doesn’t care what Samhane does when he’s this close to getting his revenge.”

“Continue the attack,” Typhoon ordered. “The Immortal Sisters must be weakening. We only need to hold out a bit longer.”

Talon felt the blood drain from her cheeks. More and more squadrons were pulling their attention away from Equestria and the Element Bearers as Samhane slaughtered its way through their ranks. They needed to retreat, now, or the entire Alliance could get wiped out.

“Their shield is finally lowering!” Typhoon grinned. “Tell Providence to take his revenge so we can put an end to this!”

-_-_-_-_-_-

The severed top of the watchtower came down to rest more-or-less flat on the ground next to the rubble that had once been the rest of the tower. The multilayered shield around Cliff and the others made it hard to see what was going on exactly, but someone was hitting the Alliance hard enough that they had abandoned their Void Fire assault. Not a moment too soon, either.

Blueblood collapsed as soon as they touched down. “Forgive me,” he gasped as his shield flickered and disappeared from among the others surrounding them. “I couldn’t hold on any longer.”

Twilight, Celestia, and Luna, the other three maintaining the shield, were looking pretty worn out as well.

“It’s fine.” Cliff pulled out two more anti-aura gems and launched them at the nearest aura drake. The last thing they needed was for the Alliance to rally and take out whoever was distracting them.

Eyes knelt next to Blueblood. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you were amazing. Heck, you kept up with three alicorns.”

“That is true,” Luna said, her voice thick with strain from maintaining her part of the shield around them. “Thy speedy reaction doubtless saved many of our lives.”

“Cliff,” Discord sent with a note of urgency that forestalled any disagreement, “get everyone away from that rubble right now!”

Cliff didn’t waste time asking questions. He knelt down and shot as much kinetic energy as he could generate into the tower top. His spell went off just as seven armored forms jumped out of the rubble at the group of them. Cliff barely had time to register the overwhelming weakness they caused before the lead Guard’s hammer came swinging down at his head.

His body dissolved into shadows, and agony filled his being. It was like being ripped in half between the claws of an angry drake, only it tore away at every inch, every cell in his body. He couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t hear anything. He couldn’t even feel anything other than the all-encompassing pain.

At last it ended, and Cliff fell limply to the ground. At least the upgraded Shadow-form Rune had worked.

That was the last thought to cross his mind before his body dissolved once again and everything was washed away in a sea of crushing pain.

Cliff was barely clinging to consciousness by the time it ended, but he did hear a loud crash, the rapid stamp of metallic hooves, and Fluttershy frantically calling his name. Her voice was distant though. The tower top must have kept moving without him.

He needed to get back to it and protect her … somehow. Cliff rolled over, gritting his teeth against the pain, and nearly had the tip of his muzzle ripped off as huge chunks of crystalline debris flew past him.

The tower top had crashed into a house farther down the street, but it looked like everyone was still on it, except for Cliff himself. Fluttershy was getting back on her hooves, along with Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie. Twilight and Rainbow were already up and helping the others. Cliff’s grandparents and the rest of his team had joined Celestia, Luna, and Zephyr as they cast or threw anything they could at the approaching Guards. Luna was already grabbing an entire house in her magic.

That wouldn’t hold them off long enough, though. The Guards would reach the tower in another few seconds, and the Elements were only starting to power up. Cliff summoned what little energy he could and launched himself over the lead Guard toward his allies.

The Guard moved more quickly than Cliff would have thought possible, swinging its hammer up at him as Cliff passed overhead.

Cliff exploded into shadows once more, as the weapon ripped through his very essence, leaving him to crash headlong into the side of the broken watchtower.

He felt so numb and so hollow, like he could collapse inwards any moment. There was something that he needed to be doing. What was it?

Fluttershy screamed his name, cutting through the fog that filled his mind. Fluttershy is in danger. Cliff’s eyes shot open in time to see Luna’s house smash into the oncoming Guards. They paused for a moment as the walls of crystal hit, but then they kept charging.

Beams of magic and exploding rocks pelted the suits, to little effect. Most of the Guards simply held up their massive shields and pressed onward. That one with the hammer didn’t seem to have a shield, but it blocked or deflected everything with its weapon, all the while drawing farther ahead of the group. A giant boulder exploded out of the ground beneath that Guard, but it dove forward out of the way before coming back up to its hooves and continuing the charge. The boulder smashed down moments later on a second Guard, shattering completely on impact. The Guard it had hit shoved broken fragments of rock out of its way as it pressed forward, with only a few dents to show for the impact. A hole opened up beneath another Guard, and it fell out of sight, only to emerge moments later.

The lead Requiem Guard was almost on top of them now, and Cliff was too weak to stand. He motioned, and his suit deposited in his hand the only anti-Guard weapon that he had completed. It was a large balled-up sheet of metal, enchanted to be extra thin, extra light, as soft and flexible as cotton, and to unroll when thrown. Hardly what one would expect to combat demonic suits of living armor, and he only had two of them, but times were desperate.

Cliff shot the first ball. It unfurled just in time to engulf the Guard with the hammer, who swung at it like it did with every other projectile. However, that just made the cloth-like metal wrap around the Guard’s weapon and arms more fully before the enchantments were destroyed and it returned to what it had originally been: an extremely thick and extremely heavy sheet of steel.

The Guard stumbled as more than thirty-six tons of metal suddenly appeared around its arms, dragging it to the ground.

Cliff would have grinned if he had the energy. Instead he launched his other projectile at the second-nearest guard, one of the ax users, with even better results. This Guard simply met the cloth-like steel with its shield, letting it wrap all over the Guard’s shield and helmet before it hardened.

The sound of screeching metal filled the air, pulling Cliff’s attention back to the hammer Guard. It was ripping its arms free of the metal with frightening ease, and the other Guards had nearly caught up to it.

For just a moment, the creature’s soulless gaze met Cliff’s. “Thhere must bbe ssacrifices, dragonling,” it said in a voice as cold and absolute as death. Then, ignoring a ray of concentrated sunlight, it hurled the torn up piece of steel at Celestia.

A beam of rainbow-colored light hit the steel before it could connect, sending it crashing to the ground.

There was a burst of light, and all six Element Bearers appeared around Cliff, their tails unusually long and brightly colored. The sheer power that rolled off of them was unbelievable, threatening to overwhelm him with its intensity. It would have been terrifying if he didn’t know exactly who was directing all that power.

Fluttershy knelt next to Cliff and helped him up as the other five directed beams of pure energy at the Requiem Guard, stopping them all in place just before the nearest one could get close enough to strike.

“Thank goodness you’re okay,” Fluttershy said. Cliff’s armor literally groaned under the force of her hug. “I, I thought …” She hugged him again.

“Finish them off quickly,” Cliff gasped, “before they can try anything.”

Fluttershy hesitantly nodded before turning with the rest of her friends to face the Requiem Guard.

Cliff didn’t even have words to express how much power he felt radiating off of Fluttershy as her own beam of energy joined with the other five. Now fully complete, the rainbow of energy expanded into a blinding sphere that completely surrounded the seven members of the Requiem Guard.

The sphere faded after a moment, and silence filled the area. No one moved. Cliff wasn’t sure if anyone even breathed.

The members of the Requiem Guard all lay scattered among the debris, silent and unmoving. The ones that were facing upright stared at the sky with empty eye sockets, and the runes across their metallic forms had all disappeared.

We succeeded. Cliff sagged against Fluttershy as the adrenaline started to wear off and the consuming emptiness in his chest started to overwhelm him.

“That can’t be,” Celestia said, fear and shock filling her voice.

Cliff snapped his attention back to the Requiem Guard. The one with the hammer had collapsed on top of another Guard, but it was slowly pushing itself upright. New runes even appeared along its arms and legs.

“Impossible.” Cliff shook his head weakly. “How can it still be alive?”

The Guard paused, facing away from them as it knelt over the body of its companion. It’s head slowly lifted, looking around at the other. “Requiem Guard,” it said softly. “Attention.” Its voice was different than before. The slurring and the unearthly echo were gone. It almost sounded like the voice of a normal creature, albeit with a strong metallic edge.

None of the other Guards moved.

“Guards,” it repeated, lowering its head, “please.”

Silence.

With a roar, the Guard turned and hurled a spear at the group.

Cliff tackled Fluttershy to the ground before he realized that the spear hadn’t been aimed at her. A gasp of pain pulled his attention up to the tower top, where he saw Celestia falling to her knees with the Guard spear lodged in her chest.

Then Luna’s horn flared, and everything around them disappeared.

Chapter 53

Celestia gasped as the spear in her chest was jostled from Luna’s teleport, then she screamed when her sister’s magic ripped the spear out entirely. Warm blood spilled from the wound, splashing against the crystalline floor below. Celestia dimly noted that they were in the quarters she shared with Luna.

“Sister,” Luna almost shouted, “hold on. We shall heal thee immediately!” She put her hooves over the wound and scrunched her face in concentration, but the hooves didn’t light up with healing magic.

Celestia pulled in more of the sun’s power to strengthen her faltering body. “Claws,” she gasped through the pain.

The dragoness, who was already running to Celestia’s side, shoved Luna’s hooves out of the way. “Let us handle this while you get control of your emotions.” Healing magic immediately began pouring out of her palms into the wound. “Torch, Eyes, I’m going to need all the willpower you can spare. The spear punctured her lung. Twilight, I could use a second healer.” She turned back to Celestia. “You’re lucky it didn’t hit your heart.”

It actually would have if Celestia hadn’t seen Providence throw that spear and tried to dodge. Obviously, she hadn’t been fast enough. Celestia could only nod, and even that sent a fresh wave of agony coursing through her. She jerked involuntarily.

“Try not to move,” Claws said quickly as Twilight teleported to her side and cast her own healing spell. “Wounds from Guard weapons are hard enough to heal without you aggravating them.”

Celestia was starting to feel like she would pass out, but she did her best to remain motionless. She had to take very shallow breaths to keep herself from flinching, and the urge to cough was becoming stronger every second, but that wasn’t her main concern. The entire Alliance army was still inside of the Crystal Empire; as well as Samhane, who hadn’t been with the other members of the Requiem Guard; and Providence, who was somehow still alive after being struck by the Elements.

The urge to cough finally became too much. It was a relatively quiet one, but that didn’t stop the pain from blacking out Celestia’s vision.

“Hang in there,” Twilight said shakily. “You’ll be fine. Just fine.”

Celestia did her best to smile reassuringly, but she knew that it came out as more of a grimace. Her mind kept returning to Providence. How was he still alive? He had been a powerful minotaur in life, and transforming into one of the Requiem Guard had made him even more formidable, but the Elements were on a completely different level. The only answer that Celestia could come up with was that they had deliberately spared Providence for some reason, though she couldn’t imagine what that reason could be.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Talon didn’t want to believe what she had just seen. Providence had survived a blast from the Element Bearers and then mortally wounded Celestia. “No,” Talon whispered. All hope of peace would be lost if Celestia died, and she didn’t think anything could survive getting hit by a Guard spear like that.

She turned just in time to see a blast of wind from Silver Tail send Samhane flying to the ground. The berserk Guard smashed through four houses before coming to a stop, but it got up and flew back at Silver Tail without even a moment’s hesitation. Flew, not jumped. Talon didn’t know how it was even possible, but somewhere in the middle of this battle, Samhane had started legitimately flying, and even the combined strength of the Alliance was barely slowing it down.

A crushing weight settled on Talon’s chest as she realized that this could be it, the last stand of the Alliance. “Heart,” she had to force the words out, “what do we do?”

“I don’t know,” Heart said. “Are these things really unstoppable?”

Samhane reached the cluster of dragons around Silver Tail and quickly disappeared from Talon’s view among the many scaled forms. Rays of magic, bursts of fire, and clouds of smoke filled the area once more, as dead and maimed warriors began to fall to the streets below.

Silver Tail’s voice filled the air. “Retreat, everydragon! We’ll hold it off as long as we can!”

His voice snapped Talon back to the present. “Tornado, get to that shield. Heart, I need as much of a boost as you can give, then get to the shield and get everydragon out of here. I don’t know if I’ll be able to talk Providence into helping us stop Samhane.”

Heart shook her head. “You stay with Tornado. I’m not letting you get yourself killed trying to reason with one of those monsters.” She had already taken a step toward the edge of Tornado’s back when Talon grabbed her with one wing.

“Heart, wait.” Talon spat a cloud of gas into her friend’s face. “Sorry,” she said over Heart’s uncontrollable coughing, “we need your vote if we ever want to end this war. Tornado, get moving!” Then she took off toward Providence.

She landed hard on the street, near what looked like a severed tower top embedded in the side of a house.

Six Guards lay scattered among the debris, silent and unmoving. Kneeling among them, though, facing away from her, was Providence. It seemed to have its head bowed.

Talon paused. This creature might be the Alliance’s last hope. What was she supposed to say to it?

“Dragonling,” the Guard said without turning around, “six of the most loyal and selfless minotaurs in the history of Minos just died, and I just took my hollow revenge on a good ruler. Do you think I care what you have to say right now?”

The sound of its voice made Talon stop short. It was almost like the voice of a normal creature. “Celestia,” Talon swallowed, “i-is she really dead?”

“I …” Providence bent down and lifted his war hammer from the debris at his hooves. “I did not know how to feel anything but anger and grief, not after so long.” He hurled the weapon back down. “I killed … mares and foals. Their blood …” His hands began to shake. “Their blood is on my hands!” He pressed both hands to his face, roaring in a voice of utter loss and emptiness.

“Why?” He punched the ground, shattering crystalline pavement. “We were meant to be guardians! We were meant to protect, never to attack!” He slammed both fists down.

More blows shattered the pavement as he continued to shout, “We were never meant to do this! We were never, never to harm anything …” He looked at his arms and let them fall limp, “that had not … sought to harm us first …” His final word came out as a whisper, “What was I?”

Talon gathered her courage and stepped closer. “Providence, we need your help. Samhane has gone berserk. Its attacking the Alliance, and we can’t stop it.”

Providence’s body tensed. “Samhane.” He turned and looked at Talon, his eyes boring into her. “She’s still alive? Has she been using her ring?”

Talon stumbled backwards and did a double take. Yes, Providence had eyes now instead of featureless blue orbs. They were still ethereal and she could see right through them, but they were definitely eyes, eyes that shone with a kind of desperate hope. “Y-yes, she’s using her ring.”

Providence looked down at his hands and slowly balled them into fists. “Where is she?”

“Over there.” Talon pointed with a wing.

He turned to the cluster of dragons in the distance. “Tell Silver Tail to force her in this direction with his wind. I will calm her blood lust or die trying.”

Talon relayed the message to Heart through their link—Heart was more than a little pissed about what Talon had done—then she took a few more steps back. Whatever kind of duel was about to happen, it was clearly going to be way out of her league.

“You should remain close,” Providence said, gripping his war hammer and rising to his hooves. “Samhane will attack any creature that tries to run from her.”

Talon stopped and had to fight down the urge to twitch her wings. There was nothing more she could do except wait.

A few seconds later, Talon saw a dark form get blasted toward them, forced by a giant wall of wind lances. She ducked, but not quite fast enough. One of the lances grazed her back, leaving a line of burning pain between her shoulder blades.

Providence weathered the barrage without so much as a flinch. Only his arm moved, shooting up to grab Samhane by the throat. That kind of impact should have sent both suits flying, but somehow Providence didn’t budge an inch.

Samhane looked even worse than when Talon had last seen her. So many glowing red cracks covered the Guard’s armor that it was hard to tell that it had once been dark silver, and some kind of ethereal liquid dripped from the cracks, evaporating before it could touch the ground. Each of her axes was caked in blood and gore, and her draining aura made Talon’s knees feel weak. Samhane’s eyes were the worst part; orbs of red that flickered wildly like a bonfire in a storm.

“I challenge you, Samhane,” Providence said, his voice hard and angry.

An unearthly roar escaped Samhane’s helmet, like a thousand needles being dragged along a piece of steel. Both her axes buried themselves deep in Providence’s arm while at the same time she kicked herself off of his chest.

Talon only caught a glimpse of Providence’s counterattack, but when Samhane landed she was missing part of her right arm, just below the elbow. More of that red substance poured from the stump.

Providence charged, one of Samhane’s axes still embedded in his arm, and brought his hammer crushing down in an overhead strike.

Samhane was on her hooves just in time to twist out of the way. She completed the spin and sank her remaining ax into Providence’s helmet, although that seemed to have no effect on the other suit as he reversed his previous swing into a vicious upwards blow that sheared away half of Samhane’s helmet.

More ethereal liquid flowed from the wound, obscuring the face inside the helmet, but what Talon did see made her feel nauseous. It was like a ghostly fusion of minotaur, dragon, and pony features, shaking and twisting in ways that wouldn’t have been possible for solid flesh.

Samhane’s stump of a right arm, which was already regrowing, came up to block Providence’s own arm from coming back down, while her left ax slashed wildly at Providence’s chest and torso, carving wide gouges with each swing.

Without even slowing, Providence let go of his hammer with his left arm and grabbed Samhane by her broken chest armor. He lifted her up and slamming her back down into the ground with a sound like thunder.

The crystalline road beneath her shattered from the impact as she was driven almost out of Talon’s sight.

Another hellish roar escaped Samhane as her newly regrown right hand latched onto the ax still embedded in Providence’s arm. She wrenched it free, breaking off most of Providence’s arm in the process. Samhane pushed herself up, goring Providence in the chest with her remaining horn.

The haft of Providence’s hammer forced her back just long enough for Providence to bring the weapon’s head crashing down. His blow pushed both of Samhane’s axes aside as the hammer smashed a path clear down the front of her armor. Red liquid exploded from the wound, highlighting Providence’s form.

Then it stopped, Samhane’s draining aura faded, and Providence knelt down to lift up the other Guard’s unmoving form. Her armor was still badly damaged, but her eyes and the runes across the wreckage of her chest had returned to their bluish glow. The spiderweb of red cracks across her armor had almost entirely disappeared as well.

Talon worked her mouth noiselessly for a moment, trying to come to grips with what she had just seen. “Is she going to be okay?”

Providence didn’t answer right away. First he put Samhane down, revealing the tattered wreck that was his own chestplate, and picked something off the ground, the hand that he broken off of Samhane at the beginning of their fight. The metal looked brighter now, except for an ornate ring on one of the fingers. Providence pulled the ring free and slipped it into a pouch on his waist. “I do not know what will happen to her, dragonling.” He sighed, looking at the broken form of his companion. “She must have absorbed the life-force of hundreds of creatures to lose herself so completely.”

Talon didn’t know what to say to that, so she stayed quiet and looked around. The Alliance had continued its retreat, a wise move. They didn’t have nearly enough forces to occupy a part of the enemy’s stronghold. She ordered Tornado to get over here on the double and pick them all up. “What did the Element Bearers do to you?” she asked at last.

“I … don’t know.” Providence knelt next to Samhane and put a hand on her metallic shoulder. “It was like waking from a long nightmare,” he lowered his head, “only to discover that it had been real all along.”

Chapter 54

Talon hated to admit it, but the Frozen North could be breathtakingly beautiful sometimes. The sun was just touching the horizon behind Synapse, casting the snow and ice beneath them in varying shades of red, orange, and pink. She closed her eyes for a moment and let out a contented sigh as the chill wind washed over her. After twelve hours of flying patrol, they were heading back to the Shattered Mountain Caves for the night. She opened her eyes and called to the rest of the Squad, “I know you’re tired, everydragon, but we’re almost home.”

Tornado let out an enthusiastic growling sound. At least, Talon thought it was enthusiastic. He was tough to read in his battle form.

Her own wings ached, but Talon knew that she didn’t have room to complain. Synapse was one of the few squads that hadn’t taken any casualties from Samhane’s murderous rampage yesterday. They were down a wyrm, though, thanks to Genesis’s ‘betrayal.’

Talon was still fighting with herself about whether she should accept Clodhopper’s request to join Synapse. She didn’t want to repay Genesis’s trust in her by putting one of his best friends on the battlefield.

They came around the last peak, revealing their usual landing zone at the top of the canyon’s walls.

Silver Tail was waiting there for them.

Talon’s gut clenched. Silver Tail wouldn’t be here unless it was for something important. Are they on to me? Have I done anything suspicious lately? … Other than nearly everything I did yesterday? She winced.

The Squad touched down a few minutes later, and by then, Talon was fairly certain that she’d given herself an ulcer. She joined the others in bowing low to the white drake.

Silver Tail waved them back up. “I just need to talk with Talon Wind. The rest of you can go enjoy your evening.”

“May I remain?” Tornado asked, glancing at Talon. He must have sensed her nervousness.

“I think you can afford to let your special somedragon out of your sight for a bit,” Silver Tail replied with a light air of humor, but his expression was serious.

Oh, that can’t mean anything good! Talon took a deep breath and forced herself to breath it out slowly. “Just go, Tornado. I’ll meet up with you later.” I hope.

Heart approached Talon and leaned in close. “So you aren’t going to deny that he’s your special somedragon?”

“Not the time for teasing,” Talon whispered back.

Heart patted her on the shoulder. “Silver Tail isn’t mad at you, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Then she climbed onto Ember’s back before she could fly away.

The rest of the Squad disappeared over the canyon edge as well. Tornado was the last to go, giving Talon a reassuring look before he took off.

“I want you to go talk to Providence,” Silver Tail said as soon as they were alone. “He’s been acting strange all day.”

“Of course, sir,” Talon said respectfully, “but Providence has been different since the Elements hit him.”

“This is different.” Silver Tail stepped a bit closer. “Providence came by the cave where we were holding Samhane. He spent more than an hour staring at her before leaving without a word. He’s been sitting at the eastern edge of the canyon ever since.”

“Is Samhane awake?” Talon asked.

Silver Tail nodded solemnly. “She keeps speaking in gibberish, yelling randomly, and pulling against all the chains we’ve got holding her down. Sometimes she reverts back to being normal, but the rest of the time …” He shrugged. “Even the Hurricanes realized that she can't be turned lose ever again. For all intents and purposes, Providence is the only Requiem Guard left, and you’re the closest thing he has to an ally anymore.”

Talon could see what he was getting at. If they lost Providence too, there would be nothing standing between them and the Immortal Sisters. “I’ll do my best to cheer him up.”

“Thanks, Talon.” Silver Tail spread his wings and took off. “I’ll be hiding nearby in case something happens and you need to get out of there in a hurry.”

That, at least, was a bit of comfort. Talon took off as well and headed for the eastern edge of the canyon. The flight wasn’t terribly long or hard, and her tired wings were grateful for it. The first stars were appearing overhead when she found her objective, a golden suit of armor sitting among the rocky slopes.

Talon came down about ten feet away from him and slightly higher on the slope, so that her head would be level with his.

Providence gave no sign that he had noticed her. His whole attention seemed to be caught up in the cleaver-like blade held gingerly in his massive gauntlet. The weapon had hung at Providence’s side for as long as she had known him, but she had never seen it out of its sheath before. The blade almost sparkled in the dimness, illuminated by a gently glowing blue stone in the handle. It would have been a sword in the claws of a wyrm, but it was little more than a dagger to the silent Guard.

“Providence?” Talon said, folding her wings around her to ward off the nightly winds that were picking up.

No response.

“Why are you out here alone?” She pressed a bit closer, carefully stepping over the icy ground.

Again, no response. Providence remained completely motionless, his eyes fixed on the mysterious blade. Now that Talon was closer, she could see bits of snow coating the windward side of his armor.

Talon was nearly touching Providence before he responded. It wasn’t sudden, but Talon still jumped back when the suit’s gauntlet slowly closed around the dagger’s hilt. The frozen metal of his form creaked and groaned weakly as bits of ice were crushed in the joints of his fingers.

A low sigh echoed from Providence, barely audible over the wind. “There once was a time when the world was wild and free … when heroes battled monsters … when I was a hero.” He turned to face her, dislodging bits of snow from his helmet. The glowing blue eyes within his helmet reflected nothing but soul-crushing weariness. “That time is long gone.”

“You can still be a hero,” Talon said. “Help us make peace with Equestria. End the killing once and for all.”

Providence turned away and looked up at the darkening sky. “My kind had a legend once, of a great god who descended from the heavens to save the minotaurs in their hour of need. It never gave its name, only telling the broken and scattered tribes to be at ease, because they were under its divine protection, its providence. They say that the god left a constellation in the sky, a constellation that would burn brightly to signal its return.”

Talon paused and looked up as well, but she couldn’t see anything unusual in the emerging stars. After a few moments, she brought her gaze back down to Providence. “Are you hoping to see its constellation tonight?”

He slowly lowered his own gaze before standing and sheathing his weapon. “It is just a story, dragonling. There never were any gods, and the heroes of old are long dead.” He stepped past Talon, heading back toward the caves. “Only monsters remain.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Celestia came awake with a start; someone was moving the sun! Her attempt to rise was brought to a sudden halt, though, when pain bloomed in her chest.

“Princess,” Kibitz rushed to the side of her bed, “please do not exert yourself! I am told that the injury you sustained was quite severe.”

“Kibitz?” Celestia lay back down and took a moment to examine her surroundings. She was in her bedroom in Canterlot Castle. “How did I get here?”

The old stallion forced a thermometer into her mouth and held up one of her forelegs to check her pulse. “Princess Luna brought you here while you slept. By her decree as head of the Equestrian Army, you are to take a full week of bed rest.”

Celestia made a mental note to have words with Luna over that. “What is the situation in the Crystal Empire?”

“It was calm when Princess Luna last sent an update.” Kibitz set her leg down and moved to the balcony, throwing open the double doors so that the last rays of the sunset could flow in. “I expect she will send another as soon as she has finished lowering the sun.”

“I hope you’re right.” Celestia gently rubbed her chest where the Guard spear had struck her. Tender new skin covered the wound, and the whole area ached. The spear’s disruptive magic had been cleared out, at least, but it would still take time before she was back to full strength. Celestia called upon the sun’s power to bolster her weakened body.

Kibitz came back from the balcony and retrieved his thermometer from Celestia’s mouth. After examining it, he looked up at Celestia with arched eyebrows. “Princess, your temperature is over one hundred and twenty. I can’t say how much over, because that is as high as this thermometer goes.”

“Close to two hundred, I would guess,” Celestia said, calmly meeting his gaze. Kibitz of all ponies should know that a healthy temperature for her could range anywhere from one hundred to three million degrees.

The old stallion set aside the thermometer and pulled a quill and a notebook from his vest pocket. “Very well, I have prepared a list of healthy dinner options for a wounded pony. Select your preference and I will have the kitchen send it up momentarily.”

A scroll appeared over Kibitz’s head, bouncing off of it before he grabbed it in his telekinesis.

“That must be word from Princess Luna.” Kibitz passed her the quill and notebook. “Please choose what you’d like for dinner while I read her message.”

Celestia took the objects in her magic and circled the first item without really looking at it. “What does Luna have to say?”

“Just a reminder that I may have to tie you to the bed to ensure that you get your rest, Princess.” Kibitz passed Celestia the scroll and accepted his quill and notebook in return.

Celestia skimmed over Luna’s brief message, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. “Surely she doesn’t think that such a thing is necessary.” She lowered the scroll. “Kibitz, what are you doing with that rope?”

Kibitz looked at the roll of fireproof cord held in his magic and then back down at Celestia. “You do need your rest, Princess.”

This time Celestia did roll her eyes. “Kibitz, do you know what happened the last time a stallion tried to tie me to a bed?”

“I can’t say that I do, Princess.”

“The town of Gelding Grotto was founded.”

Kibitz cleared his throat. “Well, er, tying you down would likely make it hard for you to rest anyway.” He pressed his back legs a bit closer together. “I’ll return shortly with your dinner.”

Celestia watched him go before turning her attention to the nightstand next to her bed. Her magic retrieved a quill, a pot of ink, and a fresh scroll of parchment. Luna would want to know that she was awake, and Celestia wanted a much more detailed report of what was happening in the Crystal Empire.

Kibitz returned a few minutes later with Celestia’s meal, though she did have to talk him out of spoon feeding her. He also had a small stack of bills and resolutions for her to read through and either sign or veto. They passed a few hours working in near silence except for the scrape of quill on parchment. Once the stack was finished, they moved on to the royal budget. It was amazing how much expenses had gone down now that Blueblood was halfway across the country.

Luna’s reply eventually came, giving Celestia an excuse to get up and stretch her legs a bit before turning in for the night.

“Are you sure this is wise?” Kibitz asked nervously. “Pushing yourself could aggravate the injury.”

“I am told that regrown muscles and tissue are usually sore and tender for a few days.” Celestia gingerly rolled over and pushed herself up. Her chest ached, but not terribly. “Exercising them is important to their healthy recovery.”

Kibitz pressed himself gently against Celestia’s side, giving her something to lean on. “Once around the room, Princess?”

“Once to the dungeon.” Celestia picked up Luna’s report. “Yol Toor deserves to know what has happened.”

The old unicorn grumbled something about the distance but dutifully opened the door with his magic.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Yol Toor met his student’s angry look with a calm one. “Be careful, anger is a very dangerous emotion. It leads us to act predictably and without thought. Many powerful drakes have been defeated because they lost their tempers.”

The unicorn guard just glared harder.

Yol Toor had to wonder if anything he said was getting through to this pony. Two weeks had passed since he began instructing his guards in the principles of combat. None of them had yet spoken back to him, but at least the majority seemed to accept that his advice was good. This one unicorn, however, just became more and more angry with each passing day. The unicorn would never grow until he was willing to set aside the destructive emotion and recognize the need for improvement, but so far, Yol Toor had been unable to find its source. “Even a master warrior will become more capable when he learns true control.”

No change.

So pride isn’t the source of the problem. “The Immortal Sisters are prime examples. Princess Luna has as much power as he sister and faster reflexes, but Princess Celestia is the more dangerous combatant because she keeps her emotions in check, allowing her to strategize instead of blindly rushing into the fight.”

The pony’s head lowered at the mention of Celestia, pointing his horn at Yol Toor, and his legs tensed when Yol Toor talked about strategy. Interesting.

“Celestia is a remarkable opponent, and I would like to spar against her as an ally in the future.”

No response until he mentioned being Celestia’s ally, and then the response had been disbelief.

So this pony thinks that I don’t actually want to be Celestia’s ally. Anger over strategies, protective feelings for Celestia, and suspicion over Yol Toor’s motives. The pieces were finally beginning to reveal themselves. Yol Toor locked gazes with the unicorn and said very firmly, “You should know that Celestia is one of my allies now. I will never harm her as long as she holds true to our agreement.”

Shock, fear, suspicion, anger, and disbelief in rapid succession.

This unicorn believes that I am scheming to harm Celestia somehow. The ancient drake took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was never easy to talk someone out of a firmly held opinion. He had already offered to speak to the Alliance on Celestia’s behalf. He had even sworn an alliance with her, albeit a more conditional one than what he had sworn to the Hurricanes. Yol Toor knew that he still made plenty of mistakes, but he liked to think he learned from them. He wouldn’t lock himself into an unconditional alliance again.

Yol Toor was still pondering what to say next when the door opened, revealing an obviously wounded Celestia. A bare patch of skin on the left side of her chest was flushed red and slightly swollen. Her normal regalia was missing, and messy patches of fur revealed that she hadn’t groomed herself recently. Even her normally serene expression was pinched slightly with pain. From the looks of things, she had been in a battle recently. Yol Toor prepared himself to hear bad news.

“Leave us,” Celestia said gently.

At first the guards were too shocked to respond, but then one of them saluted and began to leave, which snapped the others out of their stupor. That one unicorn was the last to leave, shooting Yol Toor a glare that promised death before he let the door close between them.

And now he believes that my nonexistent plan nearly killed his beloved leader. Yol Toor sighed. Sometimes fate had a malicious sense of humor.

“How are you feeling?” Celestia asked, sitting down with a grunt of effort.

“Well enough.” He was less than halfway back to full strength, but this cage drained so much of his magic that it couldn’t be helped. Yol Toor shifted so that he was sitting opposite Celestia and gave her a questioning look.

“There was another battle yesterday,” Celestia said. “The Alliance attacked as a distraction while the Requiem Guard maneuvered into position to ambush the Element Bearers.”

“An ambush that failed,” Yol Toor said. Celestia looked troubled, not despairing.

“Yes, thanks to Discord and Cliff Runner.” Celestia looked away slightly as she began to elaborate, describing the ambush and its surprising aftermath. More details were provided from a report written by Princess Luna, explaining what happened after Celestia had been forced to retreat. She even had a physical description of every dead drake that had been left behind by the Alliance’s hasty retreat.

Yol Toor was relieved that none of his friends or descendants were among those listed, but that emotion was tempered by the knowledge that Guard called Samhane still lived. The creature needed to be put down, preferably before it could recover.

The Guard called Providence was a more confusing matter. Several ponies reported seeing it protecting a wyvern from Samhane. Celestia seemed to believe that this meant that the Elements had changed Providence, awakening whatever bits of honor and friendship still remained inside its metal form. That seemed a rather optimistic interpretation to Yol Toor, but he didn’t voice his misgivings.

“What will you do now?” Yol Toor asked.

“Wait,” Celestia replied simply. “The Elements are more wise than I could ever hope to be, and they value all life equally. They must have spared Providence because they knew he would help end this war with minimal bloodshed.”

“And if he ends it by giving the Alliance control of the Crystal Empire?”

Celestia looked sad at the thought, but she met Yol Toor’s gaze without flinching. “I would accept it.”

“You are more generous than I ever dared hope,” Yol Toor said.

She smiled weakly. “Our agreement still stands. If the Alliance surrenders, it will receive the land that was offered by the crystal ponies.”

“Thank you.” Yol Toor hesitated for a moment before nodding to himself. Celestia’s show of friendship deserved one in response. “If Providence or Samhane resume killing civilians, I will fight to protect those civilians. Furthermore, if Equestria is forced to surrender, I will ask that the Council grant Equestria control of one half of the Empire.”

Celestia looked stunned for a moment. “A show of respect to a capable foe?”

Yol Toor shook his head. “An offer of friendship to a new ally and a simple desire to save lives. Perhaps seeing a drake fight alongside an alicorn would even do something to break down the walls of fear and mistrust that have built up between dragons and ponies over the centuries.”

She looked away guiltily, though he couldn’t tell if the reaction was natural or feigned. “May I ask a question?”

Talk of fighting alongside her caused her to change the subject, Yol Toor noted. That probably meant she didn’t trust him enough to let him out. Unfortunate, but understandable. “You may.”

“You developed the Void Fire technique over eight hundred years ago, and the Void Bomb more than five hundred years ago.” Celestia looked down at her hooves. “Why, in all that time, did you never use either technique to destroy Canterlot Mountain?”

It was a fair question. More than that, in the framework of this conversation, it was the kind of question that one asked when they were looking for a reason to trust someone. At least, Yol Toor hoped that was what she was doing.

“I considered it in some of my weaker and more vengeful moments,” he admitted, “but then I always remembered that the last time I angered a group of ponies, my daughters lost their mother.”

He held up a paw to forestall anything that Celestia might have said. “It was a long time ago, and we were both young and foolish. We left the Frozen North to raise our family away from the constant crystal drake attacks. After a few years, earth ponies founded a town in our territory. Convinced that the drake way of life was universal, we went to the town to welcome these new members of our clan. We, of course, offered to duel any challengers for the right of leadership. None stepped forward, which we took to mean that they accepted us as their clan lords. Our first act was the usual combining of hoards, which is to say that we ordered them to bring everything of value they owned to our cave as soon as they could.”

Yol Toor shook his head at how naïve they had both been. “That night, the ponies arrived with a cart full of barrels. As soon as they got inside of our small cave, they lit a fuse on the barrels and ran. The barrels exploded. The cave collapsed.” Yol Toor bowed his head. “Snow Storm died. Dun Brii, Qo Peyt, and I were gravely injured.”

Celestia didn’t respond, for which Yol Toor was grateful. The honorable dead deserved a moment of respectful silence.

He brought his gaze back up to Celestia. “I didn’t take my vengeance on the town because I knew that Equestria would retaliate in kind. I couldn’t risk losing Dun Brii and Qo Peyt too.”

“I’m sorry,” Celestia said quietly. Her voice was filled with real sorrow, as far as Yol Toor could tell.

“Thank you.” Yol Toor took a deep breath. “However, I didn’t tell you that to gain your sympathy. I wanted you to understand that my first priority is, and always will be, the wellbeing of my family and my clan. We both know that an alliance will do more to benefit dragons and ponies than one race destroying the other ever could. If you can trust in nothing else about me, trust that.”

“Trust isn’t something that a leader can afford to give lightly,” Celestia said with a sigh. “Especially to someone that could easily destroy Canterlot.” She shifted and slowly pushed herself upright once more, grimacing a little from the effort. She moved to the door and glanced back at him. “But … I will try.”

Yol Toor nodded. “That is all I can ask of you.”

Chapter 55

Raw hatred surrounded Celestia like a fire, scorching her heart and mind with its intensity. She tried to shrink away from it, but it was everywhere.

Yol Toor stood in front of her for a moment before fading into nothingness. A gasp of pain reached her ears, then a shuddering breath, then silence.

Roars of sorrow and anger echoed through the air. Blood soaked her coat.

Celestia awoke with a start and sat up in her bed. The sudden movement made her chest hurt, but she barely noticed.

A prophetic dream, the first she had experienced in years.

Something terrible was about to happen, something that involved Yol Toor and would result in a catastrophe.

She briefly considered sending a message to Luna, but there wasn’t time. Something pulled at her, demanding that she had to act now or live to see the deaths of millions.

Celestia called on her magic and teleported to the dungeon’s entrance. She would have teleported right into his room, but one of the dungeon’s many enchantments prevented that. She punched the door open, ripping it from its hinges, and took off down the dimly lit tunnel as fast as her wounded chest would allow.

Yol Toor’s cell was at the very end of the tunnel, and its door would be nearly impossible to force her way through. Celestia pulled it open with her magic instead and jumped through at full speed, ready to do whatever was necessary.

Nine pony guards lay on the ground inside with trace amounts of a knockout spell surrounding them. The tenth guard, a unicorn named Ebon Light, stood next to the control node for Yol Toor’s cell, and he was turning toward her with a look of shock on his face. Yol Toor himself was lay on the floor of his cell. The drake’s normally glossy scales were more dull than Celestia had ever seen them, and he seemed to be struggling just to breathe.

“Princess?” Ebon asked incredulously. “What-?”

That was as far as he got before Celestia reached the unicorn and shoved him away. Her right hoof connected with the node, which read her magic signature and granted her control over it. Celestia couldn’t believe it. The magic drain in the cell had been turned up to maximum, enough to kill any creature trapped inside of it. She ordered the magic drain to stop completely.

“Princess,” Ebon said weakly, rolling over to face her, “what are you doing?”

Celestia ignored him and turned to Yol Toor. He was alive. She pressed a hoof against her chest and leaned against the wall, breathing a sigh of relief.

She had made it in time.

“Are you hurt?” Ebon climbed to his hooves and ran to her side. “Princess?”

“Why?” Celestia asked, unable to face him. “Assault on nine royal guards and the attempted murder of a prisoner. You will go to jail for this, my little pony, and your career in the royal guard is over.” She blinked away a tear. “Why did you do this?”

The unicorn stepped back, then his legs gave out, dropping him to the floor. “I … He tried to kill you.” Fear, anger, pain, and confusion warred in his voice. “I couldn’t let him trick you into another ambush, Princess. I couldn’t.”

“He tricked me into nothing.” Celestia touched the control node again, commanding the cell to open. The enchanted glass lifted up into the ceiling, and she stepped into the cell and knelt next to Yol Toor. “I was injured by the Requiem Guard. Yol Toor had nothing to do with it.”

She touched her horn to the dragon’s forehead. He seemed to be in a meditative state of some kind, drastically reducing the magic he needed to live. His body was critically low, though. She wove together a crude magic filter and let some of her power flow into him.

“No.” Ebon shook his head. “He’s the reason. He …”

“Stop.” Celestia knew the look of horror that was coming over that poor pony. He was realizing the gravity of his crimes and how much he would pay for them. It was an expression that never failed to break her heart. “Come here.”

Ears pressed back, eyes wet, and legs shaking, he did.

Celestia touched the bruise she had left on his shoulder and healed it. She gently pulled him down into a hug. “I am sorry, my little pony, but you let your anger drive you to the point that you almost committed murder. There is nothing I can do to change that.”

A sob shook Ebon, then another, and soon he was crying helplessly onto her shoulder.

Celestia held him as she reflected on her dream. This poor misguided pony had nearly caused untold destruction across Equestria. What if some other pony tried something similar?

The obvious solution would be to let Yol Toor out of this cell and give him a guest room in the castle. He was skilled and powerful enough that there would be little to fear from normal ponies, but that same power made Celestia hesitate. One burst of his Void Fire could cut through Canterlot Peak, destroying the city in the process.

Celestia doubted that Yol Toor would do such a thing, but did she have the right to risk millions of lives on the chance that she could be wrong?

Ebon eventually pulled away from their embrace and wiped his eyes. “I am ready to face my punishment, Princess.” He gave a shaky salute.

“It will take at least a week to arrange a trial.” Celestia used her magic to wipe away a tear that he had missed. “Until then, go home.”

He stared at her in shock. “What about the others?” He gestured to the unconscious guards.

“I can wake them,” Celestia said. “Go, spend time with your family while you still can.”

Ebon looked at the floor and nodded weakly. “Thank you, Princess.” He walked to the door and paused, looking back at her. “I … I’m sorry.”

“I know,” Celestia said, “and I will do everything I can to make your sentence as light as possible.”

Ebon took a deep breath and saluted once more before leaving.

Celestia watched him go. If only admission of mistakes also undid the consequences of them. She rose and stepped out of the cell, leaving Yol Toor inside. She wanted to let him out, he deserved at least that much trust, but the safety of her subjects had to come first. No matter how terrible it made her feel.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Talon couldn’t sleep. No matter how exhausted she felt, her mind simply refused to shut down and let her rest. Their spy had confirmed that Celestia was still alive, but would she be vengeful after her brush with death? Was Genesis safe in Equestria, or had Talon’s plan condemned him to a jail cell? What had the Elements done to Providence? Could she have changed how the ambush went down? Should she let Clodhopper into the Squad? What would happen to Samhane?

The nightly wind storm formed a howling background to Talon’s restless thoughts, constantly blowing in more freezing air to sap away what little heat had built up.

Eventually Talon heard the rest of Synapse beginning to stir. A part of her insisted that she get up with them, but it was drowned out by the bone-deep exhaustion that filled her body and mind. She pressed her back more firmly against Tornado’s warm chest.

Some dragons in the squad had commented on how Tornado always curled up around Talon to sleep. Some dragons thought it meant they were in a relationship now. Some dragons were idiots. Tornado put out more heat than a furnace. Talon would have shared him with Crystal if she didn’t insist on sleeping next to Cloud these days.

Crystal. Talon couldn’t help but feel guilty when she realized that it had been weeks since she talked to her oldest friend about anything personal. She needed to fix that. Maybe after morning training she could pull Crystal aside and just talk for a few hours.

She should probably do the same with Heart when she got a chance. Heart was always off at Council meetings these days, arguing the Hurricanes out of one genocidal plan or another. She probably needed a chance to just relax and vent.

The sound of claws on stone announced that somedragon had entered their nest chamber. “Senior Wing Talon Storm?” Talon didn’t recognize the voice, but it was strong and formal.

So much for sleeping in. Talon regretfully slid out from under Tornado’s wing and stood up. Her scales were assaulted by the freezing cave air, but she forced herself to act as though it didn’t bug her and casually brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes before turning to the messenger. “Yes?”

A junior-storm fire wyvern approached and bowed. “The Requiem Guard called Providence has freed the Guard called Samhane and taken it to the eastern edge of the canyon. The rest of the Council is observing them, but the Hurricanes have ordered you to go remind Providence that Samhane is too dangerous to turn loose.”

Samhane was out of her restraints and the Hurricanes wanted Talon to go into that area. Talon groaned. It was never a good sign when the day started with orders to go on a suicide mission.

She bowed back to the messenger, wondering which Ancestor she had managed to piss off. “Tell them that I’m on my way.”

Wandering Sky stepped up next to Talon and bowed quickly. “Should I ready the Squad to go with you?”

Talon shook her head. “No. We don’t want to send the wrong message by showing up in force.” And one squadron won’t make a difference if either Guard turns hostile anyway. “Don’t wake Tornado until I’m gone.”

Sky nodded his understanding.

With that taken care of, Talon set out down the short tunnel to the outside. She paused momentarily at the cave’s mouth.

The sun was just barely peaking over the horizon, leaving the canyon covered in shades of gray. Flecks of snow and ice danced through the air, blown about by the usual howling winds. The chilled air blasted away any lingering bits of warmth from Talon’s scales.

She regretfully pushed off, flapping quickly to steady herself as she began working her way upwind to the canyon’s eastern edge.

Her flight was almost silent for a few minutes, but then a wave of blue energy exploded from the east, washing over Talon before she could even try to dive out of the way. The strange energy felt like it would melt her scales off, and it left her weak and dizzy.

That can’t be good. She forced herself to speed up, arriving at the canyon’s mouth a minute or two later. At least it was easy to find Providence on the ground, his golden armor shining red beneath the sun’s first rays. She angled herself down toward him.

“Providence?” Talon stumbled a bit as she came down to land. Her legs were still weak from that strange explosion. “What happened?”

Providence slowly turned around to face her, revealing a crumpled silver form on the ground behind him. Samhane, or what was left of her, looked like she had ripped apart from the inside. The glowing runes that normally covered her form were gone with no hint that they had ever been there. Providence was in bad shape as well. Thick gashes covered his armor, one of Samhane’s axes was still lodged in his side, and his runes had all dimmed a lot. Strangely, he wasn’t holding his war hammer. Instead, that cleaver-like dagger was held in his fist, and the glowing gemstone in its handle had cracked and gone dark.

“Are …” Talon looked at Samhane’s motionless body then back to Providence. She suddenly knew without asking what that blade had been intended for, and that it had served its purpose. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Samhane was once among our greatest protectors,” Providence said quietly. “She used to say that none of her allies were allowed to die without her permission.” He turned and knelt down, gently scooping Samhane’s body into his arms. “I know she would have given it now, to stop this monster she had become.”

“That’s why you brought her out here?” Talon asked.

“No, dragonling.” He looked off toward the glowing horizon. “I wanted to watch the sunrise with an old friend, one last time.” Then he stood up and began walking out into the frozen valley beyond the canyon. “I will return in a few hours, after the last hero of Minos has been put to rest.”

Talon watched him go for a moment, conflicting feelings burning in her chest. “There are still heroes,” she called at last.

Providence paused and looked back at her.

“I have to believe that there are still heroes,” Talon said more quietly. “I have to believe that there are dragons, ponies, and minotaurs that will help us build a better future. Otherwise,” she let out a long sigh, “otherwise, what’s the point in getting out of the nest in the morning?”

Providence stared at her for a long moment, his glowing eyes unreadable, then he nodded once. “Cling to that optimism. It is more valuable than you know.” He turned and kept walking.

Chapter 56

“Do you think Miracle will be angry at me?” Fluttershy asked nervously, looking around the lab. Both of their suits and all of Cliff’s notes had already been packed. All that remained was a desk with some pictures, two filing cabinets, and the small nest that she had been sharing with Cliff. “I abandoned her right after giving birth to her. What if she doesn’t know who I am anymore? What if she’s afraid of me and won’t speak to me ever again for the rest of her life?”

“Whoa, whoa.” Cliff sat down in front of her, pausing to reflect on how cold the floor was without his armor, and pulled her head down so that they could look each other in the eyes. “Deep breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth.”

Fluttershy nodded and started doing her breathing exercises.

Cliff linked with his wife and sent her feelings of comfort and tranquility. One clawed hand ran up and down her back, bushing through her soft fur. “It’ll be okay. You told me that Discord imitates your voice whenever you want to say something to Miracle, right?”

She nodded, still fighting to breath calmly.

“Then she’ll at least know your voice.” Cliff pulled Fluttershy into a hug. “She’ll have an entire lifetime to get to know the rest of you.”

He felt her nodding against his shoulder. “B-but I wasn’t there the first time she spoke, or walked, o-or-”

“We were keeping Equestria safe for her and every other child. That’s what matters.” At least, that was what Cliff kept telling himself. Miracle was a month old today, and he hadn’t even seen her in person yet. He hugged Fluttershy a bit tighter. “It’ll be okay.”

Fluttershy took a deep breath. “Okay.” She pulled back and wiped her eyes. “Is it time to go?”

Cliff reached for one of the dimensional pockets at his waist only to pause when he realized that those were normally attached to his armor. “One second.” He sat down the bag with his armor and rummaged through it until he found the right pocket. A moment later, he pulled out a gem that told time. “Yeah, Luna should be gathering everyone outside.”

“Okay.” Fluttershy lifted the bag with her own armor and set it across her back. “Should we go, then?”

“Yeah.” Cliff paused and magically attached the dimensional pocket to his thigh before opening the door for Fluttershy. Maintaining the spell would be easy for him anyway.

It was late morning outside, with a light breeze that tickled Cliff’s scales. The rest of the Everfree Platoon already seemed to be waiting in front of the Crystal Bunker. Princess Luna stood near the Bunker’s wall to Cliff’s left. Not surprisingly, Big Mac was next to her, and the rest of Cliff’s team was next to him as well as the other five Element Bearers.

Cliff made his way toward them. “Are we late?”

Twilight hurried to Fluttershy and gave her a hug. “No, you’re just on time. Luna’s about to open the portal.” She looked around. “Have you seen Genesis? I thought he was with you.”

Cliff shook his head. “I thought he was with you.” Twilight had wanted notes on every rune that Genesis knew, and he had been doing his best to accommodate her.

Rainbow landed next to them. “I saw him over by the barracks. Want me to go get him?”

“I’ll do it,” Cliff said. None of the Element Bearers were supposed to go anywhere alone, just in case the Alliance had a trap set for them. In fact, Luna was sending all six Bearers to Canterlot Castle to prevent exactly that kind of thing from happening. The Everfree Platoon would be going along as well, but only for one week. After that, it would be some other platoon’s chance to relax for a week before coming back to this nightmare.

Fluttershy gently broke off her hug with Twilight. “I can go with you.”

“It’s okay.” Cliff kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll be right back.” He put down the bag with his armor and shot away. The barracks was close by, and Cliff reached it a few seconds later. “Genesis?” He pushed open the door and stepped inside. “You in here?”

Genesis was sitting against one of the inner walls, still clad in his new suit of armor, and surrounded by dozens of glowing runes. He jerked a little when Cliff came in. “Huh? Oh crap, what time is it?”

“Just past eleven.” Cliff walked over to the other wyrm, admiring all the runes. “What are you working on?”

Genesis looked away. “Oh, uh, this.” He held up the white staff that he had brought with him from the Alliance. “I think I finally got it to synchronize correctly with the armor’s central node.”

Cliff frowned in confusion. “I thought you didn’t want to help Equestria develop combat staffs.”

“I don’t.” Genesis got up. “But, I,” he held out the staff, “I want you to use this one. I know Rune would’ve wanted it too.”

Cliff was speechless.

Through their link, Fluttershy sent curiosity about the change in Cliff’s emotions.

He sent back that he would explain when he got back to the Bunker. “Rune would’ve wanted you to be safe.” Cliff closed Genesis’s claws back around the staff. “This is part of her legacy, and it will help protect you.”

A soft laugh escaped Genesis. “Protect me from what? I won’t be stepping on the battlefield again.” That much was true; his armor was only to keep him safe in case of surprise attacks. Genesis held out the staff again. “You made friends with the ponies, and they helped develop this armor I’m wearing. You made friends with a chaos spirit, and he gave you that magic cloak.” He swallowed. “You made friends with Rune and me … and I know that she’d want you to use this to keep yourself safe out there.”

Cliff could see the firmness in his friend’s eyes. He nodded slowly and accepted the staff. “I studied some of the older models that were recovered from the battlefield. Does this one work the same?”

“Mostly.” Genesis smiled. “I’ll teach you the mental commands for the newer functions.”

“Thank you, really.” Cliff commanded the staff to wrap around his forearm, and it did so without any problems.

“I’m just glad I can do something to help you.” Genesis paused. “Dirt clods, we’re late, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, come on.” Cliff motioned for the other wyrm to follow him as he ran to the door and jogged back up the ramp and to the Crystal Bunker.

The portal to Canterlot was already open when they arrived. It was a relatively small one, only large enough for one or two creatures to fit through at a time, but the Everfree Platoon had already passed through. Only Luna and the Element Bearers remained.

“There you two are,” Rainbow called. “What took you so long?”

“Genesis was finishing up a project,” Cliff said, walking over to Fluttershy. He gave his wife a hug and a quick kiss.

Meanwhile, Genesis stopped a few steps away from the group, not quite looking at any of them.

Fluttershy’s eyes moved from Cliff’s face to the staff around his right arm and from there to Genesis. The look in her eyes told Cliff that she knew exactly what had happened. She approached the brown wyrm. “Um, Genesis?” Fluttershy had spent a lot of time around Genesis, but her hooves still shook a little whenever she looked directly at him. “You can hold Miracle when we get to Canterlot, if you want that is.”

“I’m not very good with hatchlings,” Genesis said quietly, but Cliff could hear the longing in his voice.

“That’s fine,” Cliff said. “Neither am I.”

Genesis stared at him for a moment. “Yes you are. The hatchlings at Mystic Forest adored you.”

“They were all at least a few years old.” Cliff scratched his cheek self-consciously. “I never know what to do with newly hatched dragons, so I just sit there and make funny faces at them, hoping they’ll take pity on me and laugh.”

Fluttershy giggled. “It’s true.”

“So don’t worry about it,” Cliff said. “You saved both of our lives when you warned us about the Requiem Guard. I want you to be part of my daughter’s life too.” His daughter. The entire concept still seemed so unreal.

“Yeah,” Rainbow said, “the daughter that’s waiting for us, so can we quit wasting time already?”

“Sorry, yes.” Genesis hurried through the portal.

Cliff and Fluttershy followed him, stepping through into one of the courtyards of Canterlot Castle. It looked like all of Everfree Village had come to meet them. Cliff could barely see over the crowd of ponies and dragons embracing their loved ones. He stepped out of the way of the portal, keeping his back against the wall. That also brought him right next to Genesis.

“Were you expecting a crowd this big?” Genesis asked.

Cliff shook his head.

“Rainbow!” Scootaloo ran past them, tackling Rainbow Dash to the ground. “Welcome home!”

Rainbow chuckled and hugged her back. “Good to see you too, squirt.”

Apple Bloom ran past a second later, throwing her hooves around Applejack and Big Mac.

“Sweetie!” Rarity ran to embrace her own sister. “Oh, it’s so good to see you again!”

“Welcome home, Fluttershy, Cliff.”

Cliff turned to the left and found Silver Lining approaching with a small purple-and-pink form on her back.

“Miracle,” Silver Lining looked back and nudged her with one wing, “say hello to your parents.”

The small form looked up at them, mumbled something that was lost in the crowd, and then buried her face in Silver Lining’s mane again.

Cliff froze. Miracle, his daughter, was right in front of him. What was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do?

Fluttershy had no such problem. She practically ran to her mother. “Miracle?” Her voice was soft and sweet, filled with all the love that a mother should have.

Miracle poked her head out of Silver Lining’s mane just a little, looking at Fluttershy curiously. She turned and looked behind her, to where Discord and Sunrise stood. Discord was about the same height as the other pony, even on his back legs.

“Not me,” Discord said. “It’s your real mother this time.”

“That’s right,” Fluttershy said, smiling as she fought back tears. “I’m here. I’m finally here for you, and I’m never going to leave you again.”

Miracle turned back to Fluttershy, making soft noises of confusion.

“It’s okay.” Fluttershy lifted her daughter into her hooves. “You can be confused if you want, just as long as you know that I love you.”

“I’m surprised she isn’t crying,” Silver Lining said. “Normally Miracle hates meeting new ponies, especially out in public like this.” She glanced at Cliff. “Are you going to keep standing there, wasting time? Celestia wants to meet with you and the Element Bearers soon.”

That snapped Cliff out of his trance. He took a deep breath and walked up to Fluttershy, wrapping his arms around her and Miracle both. “H-hey there, little one. I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited to meet you.”

Miracle looked at him and immediately bursts into tears, reaching toward Silver Lining.

“Yes, that’s the response I was expecting,” Silver Lining said.

Fluttershy held Miracle against her shoulder, bouncing her up and down gently. “I’m sure she’ll get used to Cliff once she spends some time with him.” She looked around. “Maybe we should go somewhere quiet, where she’ll feel more comfortable?”

Silver Lining turned and walked toward the edge of the courtyard. “It will be more quiet on the way to meet with Celestia. You can meet us in the guest wing once you’re done.”

Genesis watched her go. “I’ll, uh, just follow her. She’s your mother-in-law, right?”

“Yeah.” Cliff kept his eyes on Miracle, wondering when it would be his turn to hold her. “We’ll try to meet up with you soon.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

A few minutes later, Spirit found himself walking down a stone tunnel with Autumn, Cliff, and the Element Bearers. “Okay,” he said, looking at Celestia, “where are you leading us?”

“Someone has requested an audience with you,” Celestia said. “I cannot say anything else until we get there.”

“Ooh,” Pinkie said, bouncing up and down, “are we meeting with your super secret spy? I met a spy before, but I'm not allowed to tell anyone about it.”

Celestia chuckled. “No, Pinkie, we aren’t going to meet with a spy.”

“There’s already a spy among us,” Autumn said. Amusement radiated off of her.

“What’s so funny?” Spirit asked through their link.

She actually laughed. “Cliff, remember?”

Oh, duh. Spirit didn’t know how he’d spaced his brothers time-travel shenanigans with the Alliance. He looked back at Cliff. The older wyrm was making funny faces at Miracle, who was sitting between Fluttershy’s wings. Miracle seemed more confused by Cliff than anything. At least it was a step up from screaming.

“How is your mother doing, Autumn?” Celestia asked. “I heard that she announced her early retirement.”

“Yes,” Autumn said. “Things in the Crystal Empire have made her feel that we should spend more time together. She hopes to immigrate to Everfree Village as soon as the war is over.”

Spirit didn’t know how Autumn always avoided mentioning her father. He had died not two months after he started to patch things up with her mother. That same mother was so upset that she had effectively ended her lifelong career so that she could spend more time with Autumn, the only family she had left. And yet Autumn still carefully edited the deceased stallion out of her life, refusing to even acknowledge him except to Spirit. Even then, she could only speak about him for a minute or two before she had to change the subject.

He really needed to ask a psychiatrist if this kind of behavior was healthy, maybe the one that Fluttershy had been going to.

“War is a terrible thing,” Celestia said, “but it does tend to remind us of what is most important in life.”

They walked for another minute or so before reaching a doorway. There must have been a door there until recently. Spirit could see bent hinges, but the door itself was absent. They passed through into a hallway lined with stone doors on either side.

Celestia led them to the door at the end of the hallway and then stopped. “Please do not tell anyone what I am about to show you. The Alliance may still have spies in Equestria.”

They all nodded.

“Don’t worry, Princess,” Rainbow said. “We promise.”

“Thank you.” Celestia pulled the door open.

Inside was a small room with ten royal guards, one unarmored gray unicorn, and a glass wall separating them from- “Yol Toor?” Spirit said. “This is where you’ve been hiding him?”

The whole group shuffled in, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with the drake lord.

“Thank you all for coming,” Yol Toor said. “I wanted the chance to speak with you all, and Celestia was kind enough to allow it.”

Spirit looked at the eleven other ponies. They were all stern and silent. Even the unarmored one was acting like an on-duty guard. “To what do we owe the pleasure of this summons?”

“I wished to thank the Element Bearers for defeating most of the Requiem Guard,” Yol Toor said. “Samhane’s betrayal shows that they were dangerous and could have turned on the Alliance at any time.” He looked directly at Twilight. “Your actions may well have saved the lives of my daughters and Silver Tail.” He bowed deeply. “As a father and a friend, I thank you all.”

Miracle started to cry again.

“You’re welcome,” Twilight said over Fluttershy’s attempts to hush her child.

“She is hungry and tired,” Yol Toor said, looking at Fluttershy. “Don’t feel that you have to remain. The needs of your child should come first.”

“Oh, um, thank you.” Fluttershy went to the door. “Um, could somepony show us the way back, please?”

One of the guards detached himself from the group. “I can. Follow me.”

“Cliff Runner,” Yol Toor said before the wyrm could go after them, “please wait for one moment.”

Cliff hesitated, looking at Yol Toor nervously.

“Be at ease,” Yol Toor said gently, “I have no grudge against you. Actually, I would like to hear your thoughts on several policies I would like to create within the Dragon Alliance. Perhaps we could discuss them after you have spent some time with your daughter.”

“I, thanks.” Cliff looked after his departing wife. “I’ll try to come back after dinner.” He went after her.

“Try holding your daughter when you play with her,” Yol Toor called. He shook his head and smiled. “New parents are always a heartwarming sight. I didn’t even know that dragon-pony hybrids were possible.”

“Neither did we,” Twilight said. “Until just recently, that is.”

“I can’t read him,” Autumn sent with an undercurrent of frustration. “That wall is blocking my empathy, and his body language doesn’t give anything away.”

Spirit sent back that he understood. “May I ask why the two of us were invited?” He gestured to Autumn.

“I asked you to come, Spirit,” Celestia said. “We need you and Twilight to sign a legal sentencing.”

“Someone is on trial?” Twilight asked.

“Not precisely,” Celestia said. “Ebon Light committed a crime against Yol Toor,” the unarmored pony shrank down a little, “and Yol Toor wishes to pursue the usual drake method of repayment. Equestrian law allows this for foreign envoys, but it must be signed by at least two rulers or ambassadors that weren’t involved in the incident.” She produced two sheets of paper and held one out to Spirit and the other to Twilight.

So Celestia was involved in whatever happened. Spirit read through the short declaration. The details must have been obscured deliberately, because it didn’t provide any more information than what Celestia had said. The sentence itself was kind of odd; Ebon Light would have to be Yol Toor’s personal assistant for the next year, but he’d still get paid and have time off. It was basically just an employment contract, with the added benefit that Yol Toor was sworn to protect him from physical or emotional harm to the best of his abilities. “You’re okay with this?” he asked Celestia.

She nodded. “This is the most common form of punishment among drakes, although we did reduce the sentence from a decade to a single year.”

“Good enough for me.” He signed it and gave it back to her.

Twilight did likewise.

“Thank you all,” Celestia said. “I can lead you back to your rooms, or you can stay here and talk, if you wish.”

Spirit looked at Yol Toor. “I think I’ll stay here.”

The Element Bearers all found reasons to excuse themselves, leaving just the nine guards, Spirit, Autumn, and that gray unicorn who had to be Ebon Light.

Autumn looked at Yol Toor as well. “Why do you want to talk with him?”

“He’s a thousand-year-old drake lord,” Spirit sent back. “Aren’t you at least a little curious about what we could learn from him?”

“He killed nine of our friends.” Autumn kissed him on the cheek. “I’m sorry, but I can’t be in the same room as him.” She silently followed the others.

Yol Toor waited until the door closed before shifting his attention to Spirit. “What did you wish to speak with me about?”

Spirit took a deep breath and put on his best diplomat face. “To begin with, I’m curious what your plans are regarding Ebon Light.” He nodded toward the unicorn.

“Celestia has given me access to the royal library,” Yol Toor said. “I expect Ebon’s duties will mostly involve fetching and returning books when he isn’t engaged in a specialized training routine that Celestia and I developed for him.”

Through all this, Ebon continued to stare straight ahead.

“I assume this training will be to duel in the traditional drake way?” Spirit asked.

Yol Toor nodded. “As my debtor, Ebon Light is officially a member of the Shattered Mountain Clan. The Alliance will be forced to accept him as a friend and ally. He can live among dragons, learn our ways, and teach us his own. That will be the first step to understanding and true peace.”

Okay, he’s training Ebon to be a sort of diplomat between the races. Celestia obviously approved of the idea, and Spirit could see its merits as well. “He’d be welcome to spend some time in Everfree Village. The wyrm culture there would certainly help prepare him for the Alliance.”

“I agree,” Yol Toor said. “Thank you for the offer.”

…

Great, twenty seconds in and we’re already running out of things to say. Spirit kept his expression calm and latched onto the first idea that came to mind. “Do you think more understanding between ponies and dragons could have prevented this war?”

“Yes,” Yol Toor said without hesitation. “This war is a mistake that only happened because neither side believed the other would be open to a reasonable discussion.”

That was true. Spirit had no doubt that Celestia would have found a peaceful solution if she had just gotten the Alliance’s leaders to sit down and talk with her. “It would be nice if we could go back and do everything over again.”

“I try not to think about that,” Yol Toor said. “There have been far too many things in my life that I wish I could go back and change, enough that I could waste the rest of my life dwelling on them instead of focusing on the present and the future.”

“I know that feeling.” Spirit could name at least twenty similar regrets just off the top of his head. “So what are your goals for the future?”

“In a word, harmony. The dragon tribes only bonded because they faced a common enemy. It will take real effort to hold them together once the war ends, and even more to erase the eons of hatred and mistrust between dragons and ponies.” Yol Toor got a look in his eyes then, the kind of fierce determination that would let a dragon move mountains, even if it was one stone at a time. “I promise you this, Prince Spirit Shield, that I will fight for peaceful coexistence for as long as I remain on this earth.”

Spirit found himself smiling at the promise. He’d been on the receiving end of this dragon’s wrath once, not a fun experience. He almost pitied any member of the Alliance that tried to oppose Yol Toor’s quest for peace. Almost.

-_-_-_-_-_-

The rest of the day was peaceful, dull even. Rarity didn’t know why, but it put her on edge. She loved staying at Canterlot Castle, of course. It was beautiful, elegant, and sophisticated. The very air inspired nobility in all who were fortunate enough to walk its halls. Even Sweetie and the other Crusaders seemed to feel its effect, calming them all from rambunctious to merely energetic. That was why Rarity felt comfortable leaving them unsupervised for a few hours at nightfall.

She slipped out of her room, passing the one that Fluttershy and Cliff shared, and made her way outside.

Canterlot at night was truly breathtaking. Each store and restaurant shone brightly in the darkness, revealing only the best in goods and services.

Rarity wandered from street to street, looking in at these islands of warmth and light as she idly noted what everypony was wearing. It would be time to design her fall line soon, and she needed the inspiration. All of her recent attempts to design had been stuck on the impossible task of using clothes to tell Equestria what she has seen and felt in the Crystal Empire. For once in her life, she didn’t know where to even begin. She couldn’t describe it in words, let alone in fabric.

The other Element Bearers understood that secret something. There was a look they all shared, a weight they all carried, even though it wore down on each of them differently. She had caught Pinkie scrubbing herself in the shower until her skin was raw, and Applejack was often as silent as Big Mac. Fluttershy admitted that she still cried herself to sleep most nights, tormented by all the ponies that they had failed to save.

It wasn’t just the other Element Bearers, every pony and dragon in the Crystal Empire understood. Rarity had felt it in the way shop owners looked at her armor, half hoping and half pitying. She had seen it in the massive cemeteries, where there were always at least a few others looking at the graves of their friends and family. She had heard it in the chaotic maelstrom of battle and in the looming silence that followed. She had even smelled and tasted it in the debris that covered whole neighborhoods of the Empire. And yet, Rarity still couldn’t represent it in her art, no matter how much her muse demanded it.

A month of living in the Empire, a month of constant fear and sleepless nights, and Rarity felt like the essence of the experience had been locked away inside of her, a secret that was impossible to share with any that didn’t already know it.

She found herself stepping into a noisy dance club. It wasn’t the kind of establishment that she would normally frequent, but loud music had always drowned out her muse in the past. For once, she welcomed that.

The inside was like something out of a ghastly memory from her teenage years. Ponies wore clothes in every garish color imaginable, and the clothes themselves seemed specifically designed to not fit properly, flopping, folding, and almost falling off in some places, while restricting, compressing, and barely giving room to breathe in other places. Celestia help her if Sweetie ever requested an outfit like one of these travesties.

Rarity pushed her way through the crowd of jostling eyesores and sat down at the bar. “Bartender, could you be so kind as to bring me a drink?”

The bartender, a blue unicorn with a cream-colored mane, squinted at her and perked up his ears. “Huh?” He almost had to shout to be heard over the music.

She sighed and shouted back, “A drink, please.”

“Oh, what kind?”

This certainly wasn’t the kind of place where she could order imported wine, and she wasn’t so desperate for alcohol that she’d order a beer. “One cosmarepolitan, please.”

He nodded and started gathering ingredients.

A changeling slid into the seat next to her. “It’s a shame to see such a beautiful mare feeling so down.”

Rarity jumped then forcefully reminded herself that changelings were accepted members of society now.

“No need to be worried, beautiful.” Green fire engulfed the changeling for a moment, leaving a gorgeous unicorn stallion in its wake. He was shadow gray with a charcoal mane and tail that both had the careful kind of style that pretended not to have been styled at all. His warm forest-green eyes crinkled a little as he smiled. “I just wanted to cheer you up.”

“And what makes you think I need cheering up?”

“Changeling, remember?” He gestured to his flank, which had a picture of a winking changeling’s face. “I can sense it, and the great thing for you is,” he flashed again and became an exact replica of Soarin’ from the Wonderbolts, “I can be whatever you want me to be.”

“How very flattering, but I’m not interested.” Rarity shifted in her seat a little so that she was looking away from him.

There was another flash of green light. “I understand, darling.”

Rarity looked back in a hurry, and found herself staring at … herself.

The other Rarity slid a card over to her. “Come by if you change your mind. We’re more than just a brothel, you know, and sometimes we all need to sit down and have a long talk with ourselves. It might help you feel better.” Then she—or was it a he?—got up and disappeared back into the crowd.

Rarity flipped over the card. As she had suspected, it was for that dreadful brothel that Chrysalis ran. She tossed the card into a nearby trash can. A mirror would do if she ever felt the need to talk to herself.

The bartender returned with a glass of red liquid. “Here’s your drink.”

“Thank you.” Rarity paid him and took a sip. The taste of lime, cranberry, and orange filled her mouth. It was a little too sweet and the lime wasn’t terribly fresh, but overall, it wasn’t bad. She took another sip.

Two cosmarepolitans and five unwanted advances later, Rarity decided that she had had enough. Any more alcohol and she would pay for it the next morning, and these idiot stallions were useful only as an example of what not to do.

“Um, excuse me?”

Rarity turned to the new voice, pausing briefly to assess its owner, a tawny brown earth pony with a cinnamon mane and azure eyes. A nice color scheme, but with sadly limited options for clothing. Luckily he wasn’t wearing any, an empty canvass just waiting for an artist’s touch. His smile was cute but forced, and his muscular form was shaking just a little. Not more than ten feet behind him, a group of other ponies were laughing and stage-whispering advice.

Now this was interesting. Rarity smiled and pretended that she didn’t notice the others. “Yes?”

“C-can I … buy you a drink?”

Rarity laughed softly. She felt terrible about doing so, but this hapless stallion’s attempt at a pickup line was just too cute. Quickly, she invented a line to excuse her laughter. “And to think I had just given up on meeting any nice ponies tonight.”

He blushed. “Oh, uh, is that a yes?”

“Yes, it is.” She patted the seat next to her. “I am Rarity, and you are?”

He slid into the seat. “Er, Thunder. I know it’s a strange name for an earth pony.” And certainly not one Rarity would have guessed from his cutie mark, a gold medal of some kind.

“I think it suits you.” His voice was a pleasant baritone, and she could well imagine it rumbling like thunder.

He blushed again. “Thank you. Oh, what did you want to drink?”

“A virgin strawberry daiquiri.” Her night had suddenly gotten a lot more interesting, and she wanted to keep her wits about her for it.

Thunder relayed her order to the pony behind the bar, getting a second one for himself. “Thanks for being so nice,” he said quietly, almost low enough that Rarity couldn’t hear him over the booming music. “I know you’re just doing this because you don’t want me to look like a bigger loser in front of those guys, but I really appreciate it.”

She lifted his forehoof onto hers with her magic. “You should give yourself more credit.”

Minutes passed as Rarity got to know her unexpected drinking partner. He was adorably awkward, handsome but not egotistical, and observant to boot. Early signs were making him out to be a keeper. The only thing he really lacked was confidence. She liked it when a stallion took charge sometimes.

Eventually Rarity yawned, struggling to hide it behind her hoof.

“Oh, it’s getting pretty late, isn’t it?” Thunder stood up and offered her a hoof. “I can walk you back to the Palace, if you want.”

Rarity took the hoof and stood up as well. “Thank you.” They were out the door before it occurred to her to ask, “How did you know that I’m staying at the Palace?”

“Well, you’re Rarity,” Thunder said, “the Element Bearer of Generosity. The papers said that you’re up at the Crystal Empire, but if you’re here then Celestia must have given you a place to stay in Canterlot Castle.”

So he knew who she was, that was flattering. It also explained why he was so nervous to approach her. Rarity smiled as an idea worked its way into her mind. Thunder still needed a boost of confidence, and what better way to give it than to let him enjoy a passionate kiss beneath the moonlight with a national heroine? She just needed to find a properly romantic setting.

The doorstep was the traditional place for such things, and Rarity was a fan of it. An enthusiastic kiss, a flirtatious look, and then close the door while the stallion’s brain is still coming to grips with what just happened. Unfortunately, this front door would be the gates of Canterlot Castle, surrounded by royal guards. No, that wouldn’t do at all. She needed somewhere else, a romantic location that would be burned into Thunder’s mind forever.

“There’s a small park nearby,” Rarity said. “Perhaps we could pass through it on the way to the Castle?”

“If you want to,” Thunder said, leading them down a side street toward it.

They arrived a few minutes later. By then, Rarity’s mind swam with images from her favorite romance novels. Yes, this was perfect! She led him under the concealing branches of a weeping willow, engulfing them both in the kind of darkness where all forms were merely outlines. She turned around, smiling sweetly.

A wyrm’s outline stood where Thunder had just been.

Rarity opened her mouth to say something, but then two clawed hands came up, grabbing her head on either side. There was a surge like electricity, and then …

Then …

What was I doing? Rarity frowned.

“It’s okay, Rarity,” the wyrm said. “You brought me here to help me with something.”

“Oh,” Rarity said, struggling with the fuzziness in her brain. She must have had more to drink than she realized. “What was it, Thunder? I’m afraid I’ve forgotten.” She leaned against his palm a little bit.

“You were going to help me find where Yol Toor is being held,” Thunder said, his voice calm and reassuring.

Rarity giggled. “That’s easy, dear. They’re holding him in the old dungeon beneath the Castle.”

He gasped. “You’re sure?”

“Of course. I saw him myself just earlier today.” Hadn’t she promised Celestia that she wouldn’t tell anyone about that? Oh well, she could trust Thunder.

Thunder perked his ear frills up like he was listening to something. He looked back at her and quickly whispered, “Forget everything about me.”

Pain exploded through Rarity’s head, making her fall back with a gasp.

Someone was running away; she could hear the sound of it, but how was that possible? I was out here alone, right?

“Hey, you!” a voice shouted nearby. There were more sounds of running, but coming from the opposite direction.

Rarity pried her eyes open enough to see a new shape rushing toward her.

He slid to a halt and bent down to check on her. “Are you okay? That was an Alliance spy, wasn’t it?” His horn lit up, revealing a changeling.

“A what?” Rarity pressed a hoof against her head. “Go away, I’m quite fine on my own.” She shuddered at the thought of being alone in the dark with one of these unscrupulous creatures.

The changeling somehow looked concerned. Rarity didn’t know how a creature with huge fangs and no pupils could look concerned, but this one did. “I can’t leave you here. The spy might come back.”

“What spy?” Rarity forced herself back to her feet, wincing a little from the changeling’s glowing horn. “Can’t you see I was here alone?” She took a step back.

At first the changeling didn’t move, but then he took a step towards her. “Let’s get you back to the Castle. I think he did something to your memory.”

“I’m all for returning to Canterlot Castle,” Rarity took another step back, “but I won’t be going there with you.”

“Really?” the changeling demanded. “I keep an eye on you all night, probably saving your life in the process, and now you’re giving me the cold shoulder?”

“All night?” Rarity asked. “Have you been stalking me?” She remembered turning down a changeling’s advances in that dance club. “That was you in the club, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, and yes.”

“I could have you arrested for that.” Rarity took a wide stance and lowered her horn. Headache or no headache, she had fought plenty of changelings in the past, and that was before her years of training in Everfree Village. Dealing with this one now would be a walk in the park, both literally and figuratively.

The changeling facehoofed. “How about this, I’ll turn myself over to the city guard for stalking if you can do one thing.”

“And what might that be?”

He gestured to the ground at her side. “Explain how those wyrm tracks got there.”

Rarity stepped back, letting her look at the spot without taking her eyes off the changeling completely. Fresh wyrm claw marks were on the dirt there. Rarity frowned, looking from the tracks to the changeling and back.

“Do you remember why you came out here?” the changeling asked.

“To …” Rarity paused. It was for something romantic, she was certain of it, but the details eluded her grasp.

“Look,” the changeling said, “the Element Bearers are the only thing that can stop the Requiem Guard from using me and every other changeling for target practice, so when I saw you wandering the streets, I decided to make sure you stayed safe. You led some hunk of an earth pony out here, then your emotions went all cooky and his went all evil overlord. Now you can’t remember him at all, and those tracks are pretty good evidence that he was actually a disguised wyrm all along. Do I have to connect the dots? It was an Alliance spy.”

Rarity looked at the tracks again then back to the changeling. Something was wrong, on that much the changeling was certainly correct. She pressed a hoof against her throbbing head. “You can come with me to Canterlot Castle. I know wyrms that can verify if my emotions have been manipulated.”

“First sensible decision you’ve made all night.” He flashed green for a moment, revealing a duplicate of Rarity beneath. “I’ll match my emotions to yours.” He imitated her voice and inflection perfectly. “That should make our friend hesitate if he is foolish enough to return.”

Keeping an eye on him, Rarity started walking toward the Castle. She had to fight more and more to keep calm as everything started to sink in. Had an Alliance spy actually been manipulating her? What if it had implanted a suggestion to attack her friends? What if she attacked Sweetie Belle? If she couldn’t trust her memory, how could she trust her thoughts?

The changeling matched her pace step for step. “Can you remember what you told him?”

Rarity thought back, but all she could remember was walking beneath the tree, something warm against her cheek, and then a terrible headache before the changeling arrived. All of it had happened in a matter of seconds. “I don’t know.” She squinted at the ground, willing herself to remember. “If there really was a spy, I don’t believe there was time to tell him much of anything.”

“Well, thank the Queen for that.” He—or was it a she now?—turned and smiled at Rarity. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

“I will thank you when we have proven your story,” Rarity said, “not before.”

Chapter 57

“… And this is the floating city of Cloudsdale,” Celestia said, coming down for a landing on the soft clouds.

Yol Toor looked over the white surface that made up the city. “Should I remain flying?”

Luna flew past him, a slight frown on her lips. “I have altered the dreamscape to allow you to walk on clouds as a pegasus does.” She landed next to Celestia.

Yol Toor came down near them. “An interesting texture, to be sure.” He pressed down on the clouds, driving his front paw into the fluffy surface.

Celestia leaned over to Luna. “Thank you for setting this up, Sister.”

Luna kept her eyes on Yol Toor. “I still believe it was a mistake to deactivate the enchantments in his cell.” It had been necessary to let Luna access his dreams, of course, especially from all the way up in the Crystal Empire, where her body rested.

“He barely has a fraction of his full power,” Celestia said. “I can easily subdue him if he attempts to escape.”

Luna nodded silently.

Celestia took that as her cue to turn back to Yol Toor. “I think you will appreciate the military history of the pegasi. They have always formed the bulk of the Equestrian Army.” She directed the small group toward a museum. “This is the Hall of Heroes.”

The inside was one room full of paintings and sculptures of military leaders, each with a plaque describing that pony’s life and accomplishments. The clouds of the building were all darker gray, giving the whole area a more stern and formal feel than the rest of the bright and colorful city. Likewise, the paintings favored darker tones, often accentuated by silvers and golds.

Yol Toor stepped into the building slowly, almost reverently. His gaze swept across the whole room, then he bowed his head.

Celestia exchanged a look with Luna, followed by a shrug. Different cultures always meant at least a few unexpected behaviors. The first griffon ambassador she ever met had drawn a blade in front of her. She had almost attacked before the griffon extended the blade to her hilt first. She later learned that it was tradition to offer your weapon to kings or nobility, who were supposed to take the blade and then give it back as a gesture of good faith.

After a moment, Yol Toor looked up. “I did not expect ponies to have a Hall of Remembrance.”

“We call it a museum,” Celestia said. “It is a place to remember, though, and to learn about those that came before us.”

Yol Toor nodded and approached a sculpture of an earth pony general from several centuries ago. His claws brushed across the plaque at the statue’s base. “These legends are much shorter than the ones in drake Halls of Remembrance. This one only tells of a single battle.” He looked around. “Are they not organized by family?”

Celestia joined him at the statue. “I believe General Mountainside died without ever having children of his own, and even if he had, I would hope that there would be no tribute to them in here.” She caught Yol Toor’s eye. “There are many types of museums in Equestria. This one is to honor generals who died in battle.” She touched the plaque with one hoof. “And these are only a small reminder of the ponies you see here. Their real histories are written in books so that anyone can read them.”

“Interesting.” Yol Toor turned back to the statue, frowning slightly like it was a puzzle that he wanted to solve. “Are the remains of these heroes placed here as well?”

“No, those are in cemeteries, usually next to the remains of their family members.” Cloudsdale obviously didn’t have any cemeteries. Their dead were laid to rest in the Hallowed Fields, a vast cemetery at the base of Canterlot Peak.

Yol Toor touched the plaque once more, his claws brushing across Celestia’s hoof. “It is strange. Halls of Remembrance are very similar to your museums, and yet they are also very different. A drake Hall is lined with the skulls of the deceased. On each skull is written the legend of that dragon’s life. Sometimes the legend is so large that it will not fit, and so metal plates contain what the skull cannot.” A smile crossed his lips. “That is why drakes always try to die while in their battle form, so that their descendants will have more room to write of their deeds.”

Celestia watched him in silence, not even moving her hoof.

“The skulls will often be reorganized to account for new dead,” Yol Toor continued. “They say that it is impossible to walk through the same Hall of Remembrance twice, for each time an ancient hero will be found anew, and each hero brings with him or her a legend, reminding us all of who we were and who we still are.

“I have spent countless hours walking through the Hall of the northern clans, and still I cannot describe its every corridor and cavern. Once Snow Storm was lost to me for thirty-two years before I found her and could read her legend again. Another time I became lost for several days.” He closed his eyes and took a deep, peaceful breath. “Even the greatest fool can feel the dead in those tunnels, feel their honor, their legacy, and their love. I have never felt more safe than when I laid down to sleep among them. It was almost a shame when I found the exit.”

Silence fell on the group for a moment. Even the light from the windows darkened, most likely a reflection of Luna’s mood.

Celestia felt a kind of tugging at her mind. Luna had told her what that meant. “Someone is trying to wake me, but perhaps we could visit the northern Hall of Remembrance tomorrow night,” she kept her eyes on Yol Toor. “If that is acceptable to you, of course.”

He smiled faintly. “I would like that.”

There was another firm tug, and Celestia found herself lying in her bed.

“-elestia, please wake up!”

Celestia rolled over and looked toward the voice.

Kibitz was standing at the side of her bed. A worn blue dressing robe covered his old frame, and his mane and mustache were in disarray.

“What’s the emergency?” Celestia asked, rising with a groan. Kibitz wouldn’t wake her in the middle of the night unless it was urgent.

“Lady Rarity just returned to the Castle, claiming that she was attacked by an unknown wyrm who she believes was a spy for the Dragon Alliance.” He stepped aside as Celestia rushed past him. “She is currently in your office, accompanied by Fire Claws and a changeling who witnessed the attack. I’ll prepare a pot of tea. What flavor would you prefer?”

“Oolong, if you could.” Celestia only paused to don her royal regalia before rushing to her office. She could already hear voices coming from inside.

“You were more charming when you were trying to seduce me,” Rarity said.

“Stop and think about that for a second,” an unfamiliar voice said.

Celestia opened the door just in time to see Fire Claws roll her eyes. The wyrm dragoness was standing behind Rarity with her claws lightly touching the unicorn’s temples. A changeling sat in a chair to Rarity’s right. Celestia couldn’t see his face, but his body posture was that of a pony trying very hard to look relaxed.

“You know,” Fire Claws said, “it’s harder to check for implanted suggestions with your emotions riled up like this. Calm them down.” She looked up at Celestia. “It’s good to see you again. Care to lend me a claw?”

“Perhaps first you should fill me in on what happened.” Celestia looked at the changeling. “I am told that you witnessed it …?”

“Nymph, Your Highness,” the changeling said. “You see, Miss Rarity was at a bar when this stallion came up to her …”

The story unfolded quickly, ending just as their tea arrived. All signs pointed to an Alliance spy. Why else would a wyrm attack one of the Element Bearers and then erase her memory of it?

“Is it possible,” Celestia asked, “that you told him anything in those few seconds that you were under his control?”

Rarity shifted in her seat. “I don’t know. I suppose I could have, but there wasn’t time to have shared much.”

Celestia took a sip of her tea, reflecting on what she had heard. “If nothing else, we now know that the Alliance will specifically target the Element Bearers even here in Canterlot. You and the others should remain in the Castle until I can arrange for a team of bodyguards to accompany any of the Element Bearers whenever you go into the city. We will also need to improve security in the city as a whole.” She could bring in guards from other cities just in case the Alliance chose to attack in force. It wouldn’t be nearly the size of the army stationed at the Crystal Empire, but at least it would be better than nothing.

“Meanwhile,” Celestia continued, “Luna should know to stay on alert in case the survivors of the Requiem Guard attack the Crystal Empire while the Element Bearers are away.” Celestia looked at the changeling, Nymph, and decided not to mention added security for Yol Toor. Chrysalis knew of the dragon lord’s location, but most of her swarm probably did not.

“Everfree can supply guard details for the Element Bearers,” Fire Claws said, still standing behind Rarity. “At least, until we go back to the Empire.”

Celestia shook her head. “No, you all deserve a chance to relax.”

“If you insist.” Claws finally stepped away from Rarity. “I finished checking her mind for foreign magic. Somedragon was messing with her head recently, but none of their spells are still active.”

“Thank you,” Celestia said. She’d have a unicorn specialist check Rarity in the morning, just to be safe.

“No problem.” Claws walked to the door. “I’ll be asleep if you need me for anything else.”

Celestia watched her go, frowning slightly. “No doubt at least a few ponies saw you and Nymph making your way back to the Palace.” She turned back to Rarity. “We will need to prepare a press statement as soon as possible, preferably before the newspapers catch wind of this.”

Rarity nodded, fidgeting slightly. She clearly wasn’t happy that all of Equestria would soon know about her disastrous night.

“Meanwhile,” Celestia turned her attention to Nymph, “your quick thinking likely saved Rarity’s life. Please allow me to award you with a Star Medallion for bravery this Friday evening.”

“I wouldn’t call what I did bravery,” Nymph said. “I just shouted ‘hey, you’ at some wyrm.”

Celestia gave him a reassuring smile. “Will you accept?” Honoring a changeling would also help affirm that they were equal citizens in Equestria now.

Nymph bowed in his seat. “It would be my pleasure, Your Highness.”

“Perhaps the other changelings could help us too,” Rarity said. “Their abilities would be ideal to track down this spy.”

Nymph looked back at Rarity like she was crazy, but then his eyes moved back to Celestia. “Er, you could ask Chrysalis, Your Highness, but I wouldn’t bet on her help.”

“Changelings could volunteer,” Rarity said. “Chrysalis isn’t your queen any longer.”

Nymph turned back to her. “She’s still my boss, and I’d rather not get fired for going against her orders.”

Rarity arched an eyebrow. “You work in a brothel. I would think you’d be happy to upgrade to working for the crown.”

Celestia chose not to point out that she had offered Nymph a medal, not a job.

“I happen to like working in a brothel, thank you very much. The pay is great, I get free room and board, there’s all the lust you can eat, and I get to spend most of my work nights pretending to be Princess Celestia.” His eyes shot wide as the last words left his mouth.

The entire room went uncomfortably silent, and Celestia tried her best to not think about what she had just heard.

“Er, I mean,” Nymph turned back to Celestia, blushing heavily, “it’s amazing how much the ponies of Equestria really love you, Your Highness. Most of them can’t even get through a bondage session before they untie me and start begging for my forgiveness-” He cut himself off with a strong facehoof. “I’ll, er, I’ll stop talking now, Your Highness.”

“Thank you,” Celestia said, getting up and turning to the door. “Both of you will need to fill out a full report about the incident. Wait here and I will send somepony by momentarily.” She needed cake, and she needed it now.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Rarity waited until the door closed behind Celestia before slapping Nymph across the cheek. “How dare you say things like that in the presence of the Princess?”

“Ow.” Nymph rubbed the red mark on his cheek. “Look, I’ve only got two modes—seductive, and myself. It was either be honest or try to get Celestia into bed.”

“I was under the impression that changelings were supposed to be able to imitate anypony,” Rarity said, crossing her hooves over her chest. “Why couldn’t you have imitated somepony with manners and tact?”

“I’m an overnight impersonator,” Nymph said. “Some other changeling stuns the spouse, I give the other spouse a night they’ll never forget, we slip the stunned spouse back into bed, and I fly home with a ton of love for the swarm.”

Rarity gagged. “So you’re a professional rapist. How charming.”

Nymph groaned. “Remind me again why I saved your life.”

“I,” Rarity sighed, “oh, very well, thank you for saving me in my hour of need, but I simply cannot overlook your behavior.”

“Well I’m not a rapist,” Nymph said a bit harshly. “I only ever suggested sex. The husband or wife was always the one that said yes. I didn’t even force them if they just weren’t in the mood.”

“Husband … or wife?” Rarity pushed her teacup away. “I do believe I’m going to be ill.”

“Oh, for the Queen’s sake! Look, it was my job to harvest love from any pony I could, and that meant meeting whatever preferences they had. Every other seduction specialist was in the exact same boat. Now would you stop looking down on my race, my profession, and me just because we don’t happen to fit with your precious little sensibilities?” Nymph grabbed Rarity and turned her to him.

Rarity’s training kicked in, and she broke the changeling’s grip before pressing a bolt of telekinetic energy against his throat.

Nymph tried to pull away, but her grip was firm. “Please don’t kill me,” he said shakily.

She released him with a gasp. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that. It was just the stress of the night getting to me.”

He took several steps back, rubbing his throat. “Yeah, stress.” He turned to the door and pulled it open. “Excuse me, could I fill out my report in another room?”

The royal guard outside shrugged. “I don’t see why not. Follow me.”

“Thank you.” Nymph gave Rarity one last glance before following after the guard.

The sound of the door closing seemed to echo all through the room, making Rarity feel very much alone. She buried her face in her hooves and tried not to think about how she could have died tonight if it weren’t for the same changeling that had just walked away from her in disgust.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Dawn had risen on a surprisingly pleasant day for the Frozen North. The air was still as cold as an ice wyvern’s breath, but the sun’s glowing presence and the lack of wind were slowly bringing the temperature up to something that a sane creature could enjoy. It was about the best weather Talon could have hoped for to get caught up with her oldest friend.

“So, Crystal,” Talon said, settling down next to the other wyvern, “how are things going with you and Cloud? Are you two officially courting yet?”

Crystal blushed and looked toward the canyon edge, where Cloud sat next to Tornado.

“They can’t hear us,” Talon assured her. She reached into her bag of rations and pulled out a sapphire. “So come on, start talking.”

“It was nice of Tornado to clear off the snow for us,” Crystal said.

They were sitting on the side of the canyon opposite the plateau. Things were a lot more mountainous on this side, giving them a nice little alcove out of the wind. As Crystal had said, Tornado’s fire breath had cleared away the snow and ice to give them a patch of dry ground to sit on.

“You’re not getting out of giving an answer,” Talon said, smiling a little. “Come on, you two are wrapped all around each other in the nest most nights.”

Crystal blushed. “Do you promise not to tell anydragon?”

Juicy secrets, then. Talon grinned and ate the sapphire. “I promise.” Maybe the two of them have been courting in secret for a while. Maybe they’re lovers already. Maybe there had been a secret wedding-

“We aren’t courting yet.”

Maybe I need to keep my expectations in check. “What?” Talon asked. “Why would I need to keep it a secret if nothing’s happening?”

“Well,” Crystal pulled an emerald out of her own ration bag, “I’ve been hoping for a while that he’d ask me to start courting, but he hasn’t yet. I’m starting to think he never really liked me that way at all.”

Talon facewinged. “Crystal, did you forget that Cloud’s throat was injured when he was a hatchling?”

Crystal blushed a little. “Of course not.”

“Then what made you think he’d ever start a conversation?” She gestured to Cloud and Tornado. “Just look.”

Both of their battle partners were sitting near the edge of the canyon, looking at each other impassively as they ate.

Crystal fidgeted. “I don’t want to have to bring it up myself. What if he says he isn’t interested? I don’t know if I could handle the rejection.”

Talon sighed and tossed another gem into her mouth. “I’m doing this for your own good. You’ll thank me later.” She turned and shouted, “Cloud, get over here!”

Cloud stood up, gripping his ration bag in one foot, and took to the air.

“What are you doing?” Crystal asked, looking around frantically. “You can’t say anything! You promised!”

“I promised not to tell anyone that you aren’t courting yet.” Talon watched as Cloud came down next to the two of them. “Crystal wants to know if you’d like to start courting.”

Crystal froze with her shoulders hunched and her wings covering her face.

Cloud, on the other wing, just looked relieved. He nodded, smiling widely.

“Let me guess,” Talon said, smirking a little, “you’ve been hoping for a while that she’d ask you?”

Another nod.

“There you go,” Talon said. “You get one kiss, and then I’ll be monopolizing my friend again until lunch is over.”

And kiss they did. It started with one of those adorably nervous looks, then a tender brush of lips, then it escalated to one of those desperately passionate embraces, to the point that Talon felt embarrassed just watching them.

She counted to ten and then cleared her throat.

Crystal jumped back, blushing furiously.

Cloud looked like he was in a daze.

“Okay,” Talon shook her head, “I’m going to pretend that didn’t just happen. Cloud, go back to Tornado.”

Crystal and Cloud exchanged another of those adorable looks before Cloud took to the air again, leaving Crystal to pull Talon into a tight hug. “Thank you,” she whispered, “I couldn’t have done that on my own.”

Talon hugged her back. “You’re welcome. Ancestors help me, I’d better not have to propose for you too.”

“You won’t.” Crystal pulled back, doing her best to look casual. “If I ever do propose, of course.” She grinned. “I can’t believe he wanted to court me all along!”

“I can.” Talon settled back down and ate another gem. “It’s pretty obvious from the way he looks at you.”

“How does he look at me?” Crystal asked.

“Like he’d do anything at all just to be with you.”

Crystal sat down as well. “I never noticed. Is it kind of like the way Tornado looks at you?”

“I … guess.” Talon idly crunched on another gem, trying to recall exactly how Tornado looked at her. “It’s a bit different with Tornado. Cloud looks at you like he’s, I don’t know, satisfied? No, more than satisfied, but in a relaxed way. It’s the kind of expression a cold dragon might have as a warm breeze blows across her scales. Tornado’s look is more firm, like a warrior going into battle, but with a sense of awe, like a fresh recruit seeing one of the Hurricanes up close for the first time.”

“I always thought it was more adoring,” Crystal said.

Adoring. That was a fairly good word for it, Talon had to admit.

Crystal selected a gem from her bag and chewed on it while looking at Tornado and Cloud. “I’m surprised you two aren’t courting,” she grinned, “like Cloud and I are.”

Talon followed Crystal’s gaze. “I never really thought about courting anydragon. Surviving this war has always been enough to keep me occupied.”

“Do you want to?” Crystal asked. “Court Tornado, I mean?”

Talon looked at Tornado for a long moment. Drake biology was strange—there was no getting around that. Tornado’s legs were far shorter than the legs of a wyvern, not to mention the fact that he had four of them. His wings and tail were attractive enough, and his face wasn’t bad either. His golden scales, unheard of among wyverns, gave him an exotic look, and the way they shimmered in the light was undeniably beautiful, regardless of the dragon they were attached to.

Tornado was also dependable and hard working, two traits she admired most. Of course, he could also be unbelievably clueless, and the way he insisted on protecting her bordered on insulting. He was probably the only dragon in existence who seemed to think that she was all-knowing and all-powerful, but worried that she’d die by tripping over a rock the moment his back was turned. His blind devotion to her was kind of charming, but she could never tell if there was anything romantic behind it.

Did she want there to be?

“I don’t know,” Talon said at last.

Crystal nodded and went back to her lunch, sneaking glances at Cloud every now and then.

Talon found her own mind drifting to all the same subjects that she had hoped to get away from: spy updates from the Empire and Canterlot, whatever was going on with Providence lately, status reports on rune creation, and the endless debates about what the Alliance’s next move should be.

That wasn’t even mentioning all of her duties as a squad leader for Synapse. She still had to prep Clodhopper for the Squad’s training battle after lunch, do the usual performance evaluation for him, talk to Silver Tail about some new technique that built off the Wind Spear, and get in her two hours of individual training.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Heart climbed over the side of the canyon wall next to Tornado and Cloud. “Talon, Crystal,” she motioned for them to come over, “big news!”

Talon ate the last two gems of her lunch and then glided over to her friend. “What happened?”

“We found Yol Toor!” Heart grinned. “Our spy in Canterlot confirmed that he’s being held in the dungeon beneath Canterlot Castle. We need-”

She was cut off as Tornado pulled her into a tight embrace. “I knew you and Talon would find him!” He nuzzled down into her head spikes. “Thank you. Thank you!”

Talon wasn’t quite as enthusiastic. Providence didn’t seem to care about killing Celestia anymore, so Yol Toor’s vote was the only thing keeping the Alliance away from peace, but the Hurricanes would want to launch an attack as part of the rescue operation.

Canterlot didn’t have nearly as many troops as the Crystal Empire. Thousands of pony soldiers could be killed if Talon didn’t find a way to warn them, but should she?

Equestria would have to be stupid to keep Yol Toor in Canterlot if they knew that the Alliance was coming to get him. He would disappear, and the Storm only knew if they’d ever see him again. Without his vote on the Council, peace would never be achieved.

Maybe Equestria would set him free on their own eventually. But … maybe they wouldn’t. Could she really take that risk?

Maybe she should just have a spy send a letter to Crystal Palace, explaining that Providence was normal now and the Alliance would vote for peace if they just released Yol Toor. She could warn them that the Alliance would attack again if they refused. Hopefully they’d realize that her message was a warning, not a threat.

Meanwhile, Tornado finally released Heart. “I am sorry, I hope I did not squeeze you too hard. It is just,” a wild grin split his face and he wrapped his legs and wings around Talon instead, “we found him!”

“So I’ve heard.” Talon hugged him back. She turned to Heart. “Do the Hurricanes know yet?”

“Not yet,” Heart said. “It’s just us, a couple of IHQ workers, and Providence right now.”

“He’s still hanging out in IHQ?” Talon asked. “I thought he would’ve taken his lunch …” Right, possessed suits of armor didn’t need lunch breaks. She broke off from Tornado enough to facewing.

Heart chuckled. “Yes, he’s still there, telling stories about ancient Minos to pass the time.” She sat down and motioned for them to do the same. “For now, though, let’s focus on what’s important. We can’t hide this from the Council. At least one of the workers is going to say something sooner or later. So we need to figure out exactly how we’ll present this to the Hurricanes so they don’t use it to hurt any more ponies.”

Chapter 58

There were some things that every new parent needed to know. One of them was that you should never try to burn baby poop off your claws with dragon fire. Cliff learned that the hard way.

“Oh, Stars.” He covered his nose and rushed to the window.

“Thank you for changing Miracle’s diaper,” Fluttershy said, looking a little green, “but please don’t do that again.”

Silver Lining was already at the other set of windows. “I believe you may have discovered one of the single worst smells in existence.” She gagged. “Perhaps you should weaponize it.”

“Sorry,” Cliff pulled the windows open, “I didn’t think-”

“That much is obvious,” Silver Lining cut in.

“It’s okay.” Fluttershy started flapping her wings, creating a breeze to push out the nearly toxic air.

Fluttershy’s father alternated between coughing and gagging. “Well,” another cough, “at least Miracle is getting used to you, Cliff.”

“There is that.” Cliff leaned out the window and took a breath of fresh air. The city of Canterlot spread out before him, a shockingly un-crystalline sight after more than seven months in the Empire.

Miracle, seemingly unaware of the smell pollution, just giggled.

Cliff braved the stench and started putting on her new diaper. “I hope you don’t get your true name for stinking up houses, or your cutie mark. Whichever you’re going to get.”

“Zeph said she’ll get a mark,” Fluttershy said, still flapping her wings.

“I wonder what it will be.” Cliff tried to tickle Miracle, but apparently she wasn’t feeling very ticklish.

Her coat was a lot harder than the coat of a normal pony, and the skin beneath was likewise extremely tough. It was nowhere near as strong as the row of belly scales that ran the length of her underside, but her coat and skin would easily be enough to stop a knife or a claw. She had pony bones and joints, though, which were significantly more durable than dragon ones. An impact that would break Cliff’s arm would probably only bruise Miracle.

Cliff shook his head. He really needed to stop evaluating how well his daughter would do in a battle. She’d never be in one if he had anything to say about it. He finished with her new diaper and threw the old one away. “Should we feed her again?”

“She should be okay.” Fluttershy lifted Miracle up and nuzzled her. “Good job, Miracle, you didn’t even cry.”

Miracle nuzzled her back, but then she looked toward Silver Lining and held out her stubby claws. “Ga?”

“I played with you enough today,” Silver Lining said, returning to her seat and opening a book. “Play with your parents for a change.”

Miracle started to cry at the same time that someone knocked at the door.

“Cliff, get that,” Silver Lining said. “Fluttershy, don’t let go of her. She needs to learn that crying won’t let her have her way.”

“I could play with her,” Sunrise said, “if she really wants.”

“No,” Silver Lining said firmly.

Cliff opened the door. “Yes?”

Genesis stood on the other side. He made a face and covered his nose. “Oh Stars, what happened in here?”

“Mistakes were made,” Cliff said. “What’s up?”

“Discord sent me to get you all. Celestia wants the Element Bearers and everydragon from Everfree Village to meet her in the throne room.”

“Okay.” Cliff turned halfway around before he paused. “Wait, everydragon or everyone?”

“Everyone, sorry.” Genesis sighed. “I’ll get used to saying it eventually.”

“Don’t worry, it took me a while too.” Cliff turned and relayed the message, speaking loudly so that he could be heard over Miracle’s cries.

Miracle did calm down as they walked to the throne room, but she never stopped trying to wriggle out of Fluttershy’s hooves.

Discord was waiting for them. He immediately snatched up Miracle and blew a loud raspberry into her stomach. Literally. There was a raspberry on her stomach when he pulled back, which he gave her to nibble on. “And how’s my cute little chaos kirin?”

Miracle made a raspberry noise of her own.

“Discord,” Silver Lining said firmly. “We talked about giving Fluttershy and Cliff Runner time to bond with Miracle.”

“So we did,” Discord said. “Try to make her smile, Cliff. I haven’t had my morning laugh yet.” He handed her over.

“Don’t be mean,” Fluttershy said. “I’m sure she’ll smile for him soon.”

“I hope so.” Cliff smiled awkwardly at his daughter. “Hey there, Miracle. Can you smile for daddy?”

She just tilted her head to the side a little.

“Come on, you can do it.” Cliff made the biggest smile he could, then he alternated through a couple of silly faces.

Miracle’s brow furrowed and she twisted to look at Discord. “Kuh?”

Discord chuckled. “Sorry, but I won’t rescue you this time. You’re stuck there until you smile for the doofus.”

A few minutes ticked by as the rest of Everfree Village poured in. Cliff did his best to ignore the growing crowd while he tried to coax a smile out of his daughter. First he made a bunch of funny noises, earning another of those furrowed-brow looks from Miracle. After that he tried tickling again. No luck. She seemed to like it when he bounced her up and down, but then he tossed her into the air a little, and she promptly flew onto Silver Lining’s back.

Discord suddenly looked like a reporter checking a notebook. “Aaand, that makes it Cliff zero, Miracle fifteen.”

“Thank you all for coming,” Celestia said, cutting off Cliff’s response. She stood at the far end of the room, next to her throne. “Some of you may already have heard about the incident last night. All of you should know about it, especially the Element Bearers, as this will affect them specifically.”

“Do any of you know what she’s talking about?” Genesis asked.

Cliff shook his head.

The story that unfolded was … not really that bad. Cliff had been expecting news of a major battle up in the Crystal Empire, or a natural disaster hitting Everfree Village while they were all here, or the assassination of someone important. Rarity having a run-in with an Alliance spy was fairly tame by comparison. Guard escorts for the Element Bearers made sense. He was even okay with giving a medal to the changeling that saved her. Celestia wouldn’t have decided to do it unless it would benefit Equestria somehow.

One thing did bug Cliff, though. No matter how many times he looked around the room, he couldn’t see Rarity, Spirit, or Autumn anywhere.

-_-_-_-_-_-

“You’re sure that nopony will be able to recognize us?” Rarity asked nervously.

“Of course I’m sure,” Spirit said. “Illusions are kind of my thing, remember?”

“They do seem to be working,” Autumn said. “No one has felt even the slightest hint of recognition toward us.”

On the outside, they were just three nondescript unicorns walking through the streets of Canterlot. Even their voices were modified to sound incredibly average. No one would pay any attention to them, which was for the best, considering their destination.

The three of them ducked down a side street, passing through dim alleyways before emerging in front of a huge building. It was two stories tall, a block long, and had recently been painted dark green. A neon sign over the door read, ‘The Queen’s Palace.’

“Thank you both so much for accompanying me,” Rarity said. “I can’t even imagine the media circus if the newspapers found out that I came here.”

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Spirit said. “I wanted to come anyway.”

Rarity looked over at him, raising her eyebrow. “Why on earth would you want to come here?”

“I want to hire a changeling for a while,” Spirit said with a perfectly straight face. “It could take most of the day, so you might have to wait in the lobby for a while.”

Autumn slapped him with her tail. “Stop teasing her.”

Of course, she had no way of knowing that he was serious. All three of them were masking their emotions with the Stillness, just in case a changeling was spying on them.

“Fine, I’ll stop joking.” Spirit touched the dimensional pocket hidden under his illusion. It held enough bits to cover an eight-hour session, in case Autumn needed that long.

They walked inside and were immediately assaulted by photos of ponies in all kinds of provocative poses. They covered the walls, giving Spirit nowhere safe to look except for the front desk, which had a single changeling with a small stack of papers in front of him … or her. Spirit couldn’t tell when they were in their natural form.

“Welcome to the Queen’s Palace,” the changeling said in a distinctly female voice. “What can we do for the three of you today?”

Rarity pulled her eyes away from the walls with a shudder and approached the desk. “Yes, I am looking for one of your, uh, employees, Nymph.”

The changeling looked down at the papers on her desk. “Let me see … ah, Nymph is with a client at the moment, but he will be free in another forty minutes if you would be willing to wait.”

“If I must.”

“The waiting room is this way.” The changeling got up and opened a door into a dark room full of secluded booths that were barely visible in the dimness. “Just find an unoccupied booth and we’ll be with you as soon as possible.”

Rarity looked around. “Do you have any magazines or other reading materials?”

“We have copies of our catalog at each table,” the changeling said, “and lanterns to provide reading light. Take your time while perusing them. They may give you some ideas.”

Rarity turned a little green. “Lovely.” She looked back at Spirit and Autumn. “Shall we?”

“One second.” Spirit approached the desk and took a deep breath. “I need to rent a changeling for my marefriend and me.”

“What?” Autumn gaped at him. “I thought you were joking!”

“Oh Celestia,” Rarity said, “please tell me that you aren’t serious.”

Spirit cupped Autumn’s face in one hand, staring deeply into her eyes. “Just trust me, please. It isn’t what you think.”

“It had better not be.” Autumn let go.

The changeling seemed unaffected by the little outbursts. “Actually, our workers are called escorts, and there is an increased charge for a second customer in the room. Will that be okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Spirit said. He leaned closer. “Could we go somewhere private while I explain what I need?”

“Certainly, sir.” She stepped through into the dark room. “Please follow me. We only want the best for a prince of Equestria.”

What? Spirit looked down at himself. His illusion was still active. How had they known it was him?

“Your illusions won’t be necessary here,” the changeling continued. “Each booth is magically insulated against both sound and light. No one will be able to see or hear you.”

Spirit dropped their illusions and turned to Autumn. “I’ll be right back.”

Autumn gave him a flat look. “I hope you appreciate how much I’m trusting you right now, Spirit Shield.”

Wow, full name. She really is ticked. “I appreciate it.” Spirit turned and followed the changeling through a different door and down a flight of stairs.

They wound up in front of an ornate black door with colored patterns that shifted between blue and green, depending on the angle that Spirit looked at them.

The door opened and Queen Chrysalis stepped through, grinning widely. “Well, well, well, this is a wonderful surprise, Prince Spirit.”

Oh. Crap. “Chrysalis, how nice to see you.”

“I imagine it is.” Chrysalis motioned for him to follow her into her frankly massive office. There was a desk, but also a bed, a dinner table, a fridge, and even a hot tub. She sat down at the desk. “What can we do for you today? Or rather,” her grin turned feral, “what can we do to you?”

Spirit shuddered. “I’m actually just here to help my marefriend with something that isn’t the least bit sexual. Do you have any escorts that are especially talented at impersonations?”

“Not sexual,” Chrysalis said. “Now I’m curious, and I happen to be our best impersonator. It would be my pleasure to help.”

There isn’t enough ‘no’ in the solar system. Spirit kept his face impassive. “Well I was hoping for a specialist, and I would hate to bother you.”

“What’s the matter?” Chrysalis asked. “Don’t you think I’m good enough?”

Captain, the enemy has painted a target on her face and is requesting that we take a potshot immediately. “Well, your impression of Princess Cadance was somewhat less than perfect.” Shots fired! Shots fired!

Chrysalis laughed, leaning back in her chair. “Aw, you actually believe that, don’t you?” She patted his head spikes. “The first rule for any long-term impersonator is that it’s impossible to act exactly like your disguise at all times. You need to gradually introduce your own traits and mannerisms to keep the disguise believable over time. Did you ever wonder why Celestia, Luna, and even Shining Armor believed that I was Cadance right up until I revealed myself? Twilight didn’t even see through my disguise, she just thought I wasn’t good enough for her dear brother.”

It’s no good, Captain, everything’s deflecting off her ego. Spirit sighed. There was no diplomatic way to turn her down. “In that case, let me thank you for your kind offer. I will need something very specific from you.”

“Go on,” Chrysalis said with a smile.

And so he explained what he had in mind, in exhaustive detail, even showing her pictures, recordings, and journal entries.

Chrysalis remained surprisingly calm and businesslike the whole time, only interrupting to ask a few questions. “Interesting,” she said once he finished. “I’m certain that I’ll be able to help. Oh, and don’t worry about anyone finding out. We’d have to pay a large fee if we broke customer confidentiality.” She leaned forward across the desk. “So I wouldn’t think of doing it unless there was something that I really wanted.”

Spirit forced himself to look back steadily. “That’s about what I figured.”

“How wonderful that we understand each other.” Chrysalis turned to the other changeling. “Prepare a room for us, and make sure the noise suppressors are at full power.”

“Yes, my queen.” She hurried away.

“You can pay in the lobby,” Chrysalis said to Spirit. “A worker will collect you from the waiting room once everything is ready.”

Spirit just nodded before starting back. He sure wasn’t going to thank her.

A new receptionist was sitting at the front desk when he got there. “Welcome back, Prince Spirit Shield. I can take your payment now.”

Spirit sighed and started counting out the bits.

“We only require payment for the first hour up front,” she said. “You can make up any difference when you’ve finished.” She reached under the desk and pulled up a staff of some kind. “Also, would you prefer to pay the emotion fee now or later?”

“Let’s get it over with now.” Spirit pushed the bits over to her.

“Understood. Just hold still for a moment and focus on a positive emotion. This won’t hurt at all.” She touched the staff to his outstretched arm, and a faint glow surrounded the area.

Spirit didn’t know what he was expecting, but he was strangely disappointed that he didn’t feel anything other than a faint sense of weakness.

The changeling pulled the staff back. “Thank you, Prince Spirit Shield, and we hope you enjoy your visit to the Queen’s Palace.”

Spirit bit down a sarcastic comment and walked back into the waiting room, which was almost empty. Some kind of curtain covered the entrance to each booth. It was thin enough to see if anyone was inside but thick enough to blur any details. Spirit found Autumn and Rarity’s booth on the second one he checked. Rarity herself was sputtering incoherently and making gestures at the open catalog on the table in front of her.

“What’s going on?” Spirit asked.

Autumn looked up at him, her expression unreadable. “She just found out that they have a sale; buy one Element Bearer, get a second one free.”

Spirit facepalmed. “And here I thought Chrysalis couldn’t sink any lower.” He sat down.

“I do not look like that,” Rarity almost shouted. “That pony’s flanks are far too large to be mine!”

“You won’t tell me what you have planned,” Autumn said.

Spirit shook his head.

“And they call that a sexy fashionista outfit? How dare they? It’s completely out of style!”

Autumn didn’t even look at the indignant unicorn. “If this is your attempt to have a threesome, so help me I’m kicking you in the groin and leaving.”

“Understandable.”

“Why would they even have me kissing poor Fluttershy?” Rarity continued. “She would be mortified if she ever saw this!”

“You don’t want to know what they had you and Twilight doing,” Autumn said.

“Wait, I’m in this?” Spirit reached for a catalog, but Autumn grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“Trust me when I say that you really do not want to know.”

Spirit pulled his arm back. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“What makes stallions even think that two mares kissing is attractive?” Rarity continued with no sign of stopping.

A few minutes later, a changeling entered the booth. “Prince Spirit, your room is ready. Please follow me.” It’s voice was hard to pin down, somewhere between a masculine girl and a feminine guy.

Spirit got up. “Thank you.” He turned to Rarity, who was still ranting. “Good luck.” Then he followed the changeling out, through a new door, and down a flight of stairs before reaching a simple wooden door.

Autumn didn’t say a word the whole time.

“Please wait inside,” the changeling said, opening the door for them. “Your guest will arrive momentarily.”

The inside was pretty boring. It was kind of like a generic living room with two chairs and a couch. A landscape painting adorned one wall, and there was a window opposite the door, but it was made of that bathroom kind of glass that was impossible to see through. There was also a large closet, but frankly, Spirit was afraid to look inside.

Autumn waited until the door shut behind her before speaking up, “Okay, I’ve been patient long enough. What’s going on here, Spirit?”

Spirit sighed. “There’s something that you need to get out of your system.”

Someone knocked at the door. Perfect timing.

“It’s for you,” Spirit said.

Autumn looked at him suspiciously before opening the door. She stumbled back with a gasp as soon as she saw who was on the other side.

Liberty Valiant stepped in, closing the door behind him. “I hear you have some strong opinions about me, Autumn,” he said, “start talking.”

Spirit had to admit that he was impressed. He knew it was just Chrysalis in disguise, but she looked, sounded, and acted exactly like Autumn’s deceased father.

Autumn’s coat went metallic and her mane and tail faded almost to black. “Spirit,” she spoke slowly, pronouncing his name one syllable at a time, “what in the name of Celestia do you think you’re doing?”

“Stop blaming others for the fact that you have a problem,” Liberty said harshly, his own coat went metallic as well, but his mane and tail grew brighter, a sign of condescension among crystal ponies. “You never worked up the guts to tell me how you actually feel. You never even admitted it to yourself. So here I am.” He patted himself on the chest. “Go ahead, let loose. The next time you spit on my grave, I want you to be doing it honestly.”

“Would you shut up!” Autumn roared. “I didn’t come here to get insulted by some changeling impersonating my father!”

“I’m a reflection, Autumn,” Liberty said. “Everything you think about me, everything you feel about me, that’s what I am. Now you have the rare opportunity to make me sit down, shut up, and listen as you shout everything you hate about me right in my face. Are you going to take advantage of that or are you going to storm off and yell at your stallionfriend instead?”

A ripple of some kind started at Autumn’s nose and passed back along her body until it reached her tail.

Spirit didn’t know what it meant, but it was probably something to do with snapping her anger back under control.

“I’m sorry,” Autumn said in that frighteningly chilly voice of hers, “I can’t express how much I actually hate you without a whip and something to tie you to.”

“Check the closet,” Liberty said, smiling like this was a victory for him somehow. “You can whip, kick, or stab me to your black little heart’s content.”

Autumn took a step back.

Liberty took a step forward. “I could always whip you again. How expensive was it to get those scars removed?”

Autumn’s hoof came up, slamming into the side of Liberty’s head.

Liberty barely moved. “Is that the best you can do? I thought you wanted to hurt me for all the times I hurt you.”

“I do.” Autumn grit her teeth. “I really do.”

“Then do it.” Liberty pushed his face right into Autumn’s. “Do you think I’ll scream like you did?”

“Uh,” Spirit said, “I was more thinking that you could just yell at him for a while to clear the air before really saying goodbye.”

“Shut up, Spirit.” Autumn pushed past him and opened the closet. She came back with two sets of hoofcuffs and some kind of a wooden frame on wheels. “This will do.”

Liberty stepped onto the frame without being asked and lifted his forelegs toward Autumn.

She cuffed each foreleg to the frame, holding Liberty in place, before diving back into the closet and emerging with a whip. It wasn’t a toy whip either.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Spirit said. “Stop and think about thi-”

CRACK.

Liberty gasped in pain as a line of red appeared across his back, spreading across his white coat.

“Autumn!” Spirit shouted.

She pulled back for another swing, still holding the whip in her mouth.

CRACK.

“Stop it!”

CRACK.

Spirit grabbed the whip. “This is not what I had in mind! You need to stop.”

“He never stopped,” Autumn said, speaking around the whip’s handle. Tears filled her eyes and coursed down her cheeks. “Ten lashes.” She pulled away and swung again.

CRACK.

“Every day.”

CRACK.

“For months!”

Two more swings, and two more gashes across Liberty’s back.

“I deserve this much, at least.”

Spirit could only stare in horror as she delivered three more lashes, splattering blood across the wooden frame.

“I-I deserve this …” Autumn collapsed, crying uncontrollably.

“Does it f-feel good?” Liberty asked between gasps.

Autumn covered her eyes and pulled herself into a tight ball as sobs rocked her. “N-no.”

“Th-then yell at m-me instead.”

“No.”

“Don’t you hate me?”

“No.” She hit the ground beneath her before covering her eyes again. “I don’t.”

Spirit’s breath caught. How in the world did Chrysalis do that? He was afraid to move, or even breathe, like it would somehow break the changeling queen’s spell.

Meanwhile, Autumn slowly cried herself out. “I don’t want to hate you,” she said quietly, “but whenever I saw you, I just couldn’t help it. I know I put you in an impossible situation. I know I would have kept defying Sombra if you hadn’t sent me to jail. I know you probably saved my life. But I can’t change how I feel.”

“S-so you h-hate yourself?” Liberty asked.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Autumn shouted, pulling her hooves more tightly around her. “My friends died because of me! You and Mom got divorced because of me! I ran away from the Crystal Empire because I was a coward and couldn’t face my mistakes! I stole Spirit from Rarity, and she just forgave me for it! I couldn’t even marry Spirit because I knew that one day he’d realize what a terrible pony I am, and he’d be disgusted by it!” A shudder passed through her. “And today is that day.”

Spirit realized that he’d let the Stillness slip away in all the chaos, revealing his emotions for Autumn to see, and, well, disgust had been among the feelings raging through his heart. In his defense, she’d just whipped someone right in front of him. “I’m not disgusted by you,” he said quickly.

Autumn shook her head. “Just … leave.”

Spirit didn’t respond for a moment, then he sat down next to Autumn and wrapped his arms around her. “I love you.”

“How?” she demanded. “You saw what I did to that poor changeling-” She gasped. “Spirit, heal him, please!”

“Oh, crap.” Spirit jumped to his feet and cast a healing spell. Not even Chrysalis deserved to hang there and bleed.

Liberty’s lips twitched in a weak smile. “I love you, Autumn. I’m sorry I wasn’t better at showing it.”

Autumn undid the hoofcuffs and guided Liberty to the couch. “I’m sorry too. I …” She wiped away a fresh set of tears. “I will visit your grave with Mom as soon as we return to the Empire.”

“Good.” Liberty’s eyes closed, but his smile remained. “I’ll see you there …”

Autumn stared down at his apparently sleeping face for a long time. “How can you still love me, Spirit? I’m worse than he ever was.” She lightly traced Liberty’s back with her hoof.

Spirit put his hand over her hoof. “There’s nothing you could do that’s so bad that it would change how I feel about you. This,” he gestured at Liberty, “was a mistake on my part, and whipping him was definitely crossing a line, but I know the two of us can work through it.”

“And what happens the next time my anger gets control of me?” Autumn asked, her voice breaking.

“Well I’m not going to let you hit me,” Spirit said, “but as long as you’re willing to keep working at it, I’ll never give up on you.” He pulled her into a hug. “Ever.”

Autumn hugged him back fiercely, not saying anything, just holding him so tight that it was hard to breathe.

Minutes ticked by, and Spirit was starting to get really uncomfortable when Autumn finally let go.

“My new answer is yes,” she said quietly.

Spirit stared at her for a moment. “What?”

“Let’s go back to Rarity and let him sleep.” Autumn got up and hurried to the door.

“Spirit,” Liberty groaned, opening his eyes, “stay for a moment.”

Spirit turned to Autumn. “Go ahead. I’ll catch up.”

Autumn was surprisingly willing to oblige.

“Well then,” Liberty disappeared in a ball of green flame, revealing Chrysalis in his place, “did my performance leave something to be desired?” She propped her head up with her hooves and grinned smugly.

“Okay,” Spirit said, “I was wrong. Your performance was perfect.”

“Of course it was. Mind reading happens to be one of my little tricks.” Chrysalis chuckled. “I gave her exactly what she wouldn’t admit to herself that she wanted.”

Spirit shuddered. “I can’t believe that you let her whip you.”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes. “I thought a fellow illusionist would recognize a simple trick when he saw it.” She point to the wooden frame, which was mysteriously unstained by blood. “As if I would let a pony actually injure me.”

He probably should have seen that coming. “Well, thank you anyway.” Spirit walked to the door.

“Oh, and Prince Spirit?”

“Yes?”

“Whatever she said yes to, it was extremely important to her.” Chrysalis rolled onto the side. “You should figure it out as quickly as possible.”

Good advice, probably, but why would Chrysalis of all creatures be acting so helpful?

She must have sensed his suspicion, because she grinned and said, “Satisfied customers are more likely to return. We offer some very fun options for couple’s counseling, if you ever need it.”

Spirit could imagine, and once again, imagination was enough to make him feel sick. “I’ll … remember that.”

Chapter 59

“Oh, you’re back so soon?” Rarity asked.

“Yes.” Autumn sat down and slid over next to her.

Spirit followed. “I’m as surprised as you are.”

Rarity studied them both. Autumn’s eyes were red and swollen, and her coat had lost much of its luster. Spirit, on the other hoof, looked the same as he ever had. He was watching Autumn carefully, though. “What was Spirit’s surprise?”

“He …” Autumn let out a long sigh. “He had a changeling transform into my father so that I could say goodbye properly.”

Rarity waited for more of an explanation, but one never came. Thinking about it, Rarity had never heard Autumn talk about her father before. It was probably a touchy subject—best not to pry.

Spirit didn’t say anything either, and so Rarity went back to her work.

Several of the models in that dreadful catalog had been wearing lingerie pieces. They weren’t her specialty, but Rarity knew enough to see that most of the outfits these changelings were wearing would be laughed out of any quality fashion show. Even worse, the models and the outfits didn’t go together at all. Violet lingerie on Princess Luna certainly fit her natural color scheme, but the shade was too dark, making it disappear against her coat. It needed to be lighter, to attract the eye and arouse the imagination properly. Furthermore, a chemise did nothing for Luna’s figure. True, it looked like sleepwear, and so Rarity could understand the connection, but a flyaway babydoll was really much more flattering, and it could be removed without having to fuss with her ever-flowing mane.

She was nearly done with her preliminary sketch when an unfamiliar voice said, “Excuse me, miss?”

Rarity looked up and found that a changeling had brushed aside the curtain to their booth.

“Nymph can see you now.”

“Thank you very much.” She picked up the catalog, slid out of her seat, and motioned for the changeling to lead on.

They left the waiting area and walked down a hallway until they reached a locker room of some kind. The sound of running water filled the area, and wisps of steam brushed across Rarity’s coat.

“Nymph,” the changeling called, leading Rarity around to a communal shower. Nymph stood under one of the shower heads, letting the hot water pour over him.

“Yeah?” Nymph replied. He glanced over his shoulder at them, brushing soap suds off of his forelegs. His eyes focused on Rarity. “Need me for another Element Bearer special?”

The other changeling shook its head. “Visitor for you.” It turned and walked away.

“Wait,” Nymph pointed at Rarity, “you’re real?”

Rarity took a deep breath. “Nymph, I’m here to apologize to you.”

“You what?” Nymph took a step toward her before he paused. “Er, give me a second.” He turned back to the shower head and quickly rinsed himself off. Once clean, he turned off the shower and walked over to her. Water rolled right off of his carapace as he walked, leaving him mostly dry without even needing a towel. “You’re here to apologize? To me?”

Is that really so unbelievable? Rarity must have been more rude than she’d thought. “Yes, I was terribly ungrateful to you for helping me. I also judged you by the standards of my culture instead of your own. I am truly sorry.”

Nymph looked at her blankly. “Huh, I’ve never had a pony apologize to the real me before.” He shook his head. “I mean, thank you.”

“Nopony has ever apologized to you?” Rarity asked in disbelief.

“Not before now,” Nymph said. “I think most of them think that we’re just mindless puppets for Chrysalis or something.” He tapped his hoof against the shower floor. “Actually, maybe I could bring that up in my acceptance speech Friday.”

“I could as well,” Rarity said. “Celestia asked me to speak just before she gives you the Star Medallion. Perhaps we could meet tomorrow and compare our speeches.”

“Well, if you want to, sure.” He brushed past her, grabbed a towel, and started wiping off the moisture that still clung to his carapace. “Is there anything else you needed to talk to me about? I’ve got to turn into Princess Luna in a few hours, and I need to recharge on some love first.”

“Actually, it’s fortunate that you mentioned Luna.” Rarity flipped through the brothel’s catalog with her magic until she found the picture of Luna in a violet chemise. “Will you be wearing this outfit?”

Nymph looked at the picture. “Yeah, it’s part of the Dream Girl package.” He leaned closer. “Actually, I think I was the model for this.”

Rarity grinned. Her preliminary sketches and measurements had all been based on that picture. If Nymph was the model, she could start working on the piece immediately. “I insist that you allow me to create a better lingerie piece for you. This one simply isn’t good enough.”

“What’s wrong with it? I look hot in this picture.”

“And with my help, you will be radiant.” She grabbed onto his hoof. “Come with me to the Palace. I can have you back in two hours.”

Nymph pulled back a little. “Er, I need food, remember?”

“Does a creature have to feel love toward you for you to be able to feed off of it?” Rarity asked.

“No, love toward anything is fine, but it can be really painful if we don’t use those modified staffs from the Alliance. That’s why I always waited until my targets were asleep first.”

“Then count yourself lucky,” Rarity started pulling him toward the door, “because I love my art and I’m willing to suffer to see it completed.”

Nymph let himself get pulled along. “You know, you’re really sexy when you take charge like this.”

In spite of herself, Rarity smiled.

“Maybe I should be more dominant when I’m impersonating-”

“Stop talking, dear. You’re ruining the moment.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Less than an hour later, Rarity and Nymph were standing in Rarity’s room in Canterlot Castle. She stepped back from the ponequin and took a moment to admire her work.

A flyaway babydoll was similar to a vest in crudest sense, a sleeveless shirt that was held together by a clasp in the front. It was much longer than any vest, though, coming down to the model’s hips. For this particular outfit, Rarity had chosen a light, almost ethereal cornflower-blue material. A proper lingerie piece needed to show nothing and yet hint at everything, and this fabric had just the right thickness to do that. Frills at the edges and wave-like ripples in the fabric would keep the design visually interesting as well as guide the eyes to either the model’s chest or her hips.

Of course, there had to be something interesting at both ends, or there would be no point in guiding the eyes there. For the front, Rarity had added royal-blue silk surrounding a simple but elegant crescent-moon clasp. That clasp had been a lucky find at a fabric shop on the way home. Not only did it match the theme, but it would be very easy for an eager stallion to undo.

At the other end, a pair of panties covered the ponequin’s flanks. They were the same shade of blue as the rest of the outfit, but made from a slightly thicker material. The sides had been kept thin, so as not to hide Luna’s cutie mark, but the material on the front and back was wide enough that it wouldn’t qualify as flank floss, which was terribly uncomfortable to wear. Intricate designs had been embroidered into the fabric, letting light and shadows play across the panties more effectively, but they weren’t so strong that they would overshadow the shape of the model’s flanks.

There were many other details to the piece, of course. Slits for wings were hidden among the ripples of the top, a divot had been cut out of the material over the back so that it would spread across the model’s flanks more effectively, the clasp would pop free of the outfit before it could tear the material, and the list went on. Rarity knew that most other ponies would never even notice some of these features, but they were the things that mattered most to her, the small improvements that made each piece she designed uniquely her own.

Rarity turned to Nymph. “And you’re sure that these will be your measurements once you transform?”

“Yeah.” Nymph circled the ponequin, whistling softly. “This is amazing, Rarity. I’m getting turned on just thinking about myself in this thing.”

“As well you should.” Rarity took a deep breath and smiled. “Now come, feed off my love for this work of art so that we may have the final ingredient, a model.”

“You’re a bit dramatic sometimes. You know that, don’t you?” Still, Nymph touched his horn to Rarity’s and lit it up with magic.

Rarity gasped. It was as though something had reached down through her horn pulled on her very heart. Her whole body shook as something indescribably precious was ripped from her chest and out through her horn. She tried to scream, but more of that precious substance erupted from her mouth, choking her as a river of glowing green energy flowed from her into Nymph’s waiting mouth.

Then then he pushed her away, knocking her backwards into the side of the bed. A loud crash told her that something had hit the far side of the room as well. Rarity shuddered and looked up to see what had happened.

Nymph lay opposite her, clutching the back of his head and gasping. “You, uh … you really … love fashion.” He rolled over and stood up on three legs, leaving one against the back of his head. “Oh wow, I … I was expecting … like a high school crush … or something … but that was like.” He groaned happily. “That was like a long-term romance.”

Rarity coughed and pressed both forelegs to her chest. She felt hollow, weak, exhausted. Even getting up seemed like too much effort. Her art, though. It had to be complete. “Were you able to get enough love to transform into Luna?”

“At least three times over.” Nymph twitched and shook like a dog drying itself off. “I took way too much.” He rushed over to her and carefully touched the back of her head where it had connected with the bed frame. “Good,” he sighed, “you’re alright.”

“Just transform.” Rarity tried to get up, but Nymph blocked her.

“One second, let me give you some of this back.” He pressed his horn to hers before she could object.

Now energy flowed back into her, and she soaked it up like a patch of dry ground soaks in the life-giving rain. It was an experience unlike any she had ever felt, both relaxing and exhilarating.

All too quickly, the sensation ended and Nymph was helping her to her hooves. “Sorry about that. The stronger the love is, the more quickly and easily we can feed. I really underestimated your love of fashion and pulled too hard.”

Rarity took a deep breath. “I understand.” She still felt tired, but now it was the good kind of tired, like she had stayed up all night designing outfits again. “Now transform, and I will add the finishing touches.”

Nymph flashed a brilliant emerald green, and then Princess Luna stood in his place. His mane and tail didn’t wave, but otherwise, he looked like Luna in all aspects. “What do you think? Sexy, right?”

Rarity could only blink for a moment. That had been Luna’s voice, but in a tone that Luna herself would never use. “It is a very good impersonation, although your mane and tail are a bit off.”

“Oh that?” Nymph ran a hoof through his mane. “I normally cover them up with illusions.” He looked back at his flanks. “By the way, do you think I should make this bigger?” He wiggled his hips from side to side. “I always thought Luna’s rump looked a bit scrawny on her.”

“Her rump is fine, Nymph.” Rarity started fitting the babydoll top over his shoulders. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. Whoever impersonated me in your catalog made my own flanks far larger than they actually are.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Nymph ducked his head through the top and then pulled his long mane through as well.

“Of course it’s a bad thing! If changelings insist on impersonating me, they should do it right.” She shut the clasp and then started on the panties.

“Big rumps are popular lately, and yours is on the small side. We gave Rainbow Dash a boost too”

Rarity finished adjusting the panties and then looked back at her flanks. Were they too small? She shook her head. Now was not the time to get distracted. “I just need to apply some makeup and you will be ready to go.” She hurried to her vanity to gather the right items.

“Probably not a good idea,” Nymph said. “My job gets pretty sweaty.”

Rarity arched an eyebrow at him. “And just who do you think you’re talking to? I can climb a mountain and fight a dragon without my eyeshadow or eyeliner running. It will certainly hold up for one of your, uh, sessions.” She came back and pulled his head down. “Now hold still. I also need to style your mane and tail.”

A few minutes later, Rarity nodded to herself. “Finished.” None of the makeup stood out or was obvious, but the countless little changes had certainly added up. Luna’s features had never looked so exotic and alluring, at least, not that Rarity had ever seen. Nymph’s bangs were styled to frame his face, drawing attention to his eyes, while the rest of his long hair cascaded down his back. Meanwhile, his tail was unstyled other than being brushed to a fine shine. Like parsley on a dish, Nymph’s tail was only meant to complement everything else. She guided Nymph to the vanity mirror. “Behold, my art!”

Nymph’s jaw dropped. “Wow, I could totally seduce a straight mare like this.”

“Somehow I find that doubtful,” Rarity said, “but I’m glad you appreciate the effect.”

“Doubtful, huh?” Nymph pulled Rarity into an embrace, standing on his hind legs so that he could hold her against his whole body. He leaned closer and whispered in her ear, “but not impossible?”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Save it for your client.”

Of course, that had to be the exact moment when someone knocked at the door.

“Enter,” Nymph commanded, smiling mischievously.

“Princess Luna?” A royal guard opened the door and looked inside. His face turned bright red. “Forgive me, Your Highness, I didn’t realize I was interrupting.” He went to pull back.

“No, stay.” Nymph winked at Rarity and then set her down. “Lady Rarity was simply aiding me in the creation of a new outfit.” He turned to the guard and tossed his mane expertly, striking a pose. “We would know thy opinion, loyal servant. Is this pleasing to thee?”

The guard gulped. “Um … Yes?”

“Thou canst be honest. I wish for honest praise or none at all.” Nymph smiled seductively and approached the guard, running his hoof along the guard’s armor. “Dost this outfit give thee a desire to lie with me?” He spun slowly, letting the guard take in every detail.

“Yes,” the guard answered in a voice that was nearly a squeak.

Nymph produced a card from somewhere and tucked it into the guard’s chestplate. “Then come visit me and see that dreams do come true.”

Rarity cleared her throat. “Please ignore Nymph. Was there something you needed?”

The guard gawked at Nymph. “You mean you’re-?” He shook his head. “Lady Rarity, Celestia wanted to see if you will be able to come to lunch with her and the other Element Bearers. A similar invitation was extended to the changeling that saved you …” He looked at Nymph.

Rarity sighed. “Yes, that’s him. I offered to design outfits for the brothel as a way of showing my gratitude.”

“I’d have to leave early,” Nymph said, going back to his normal tone. “I have an appointment right after lunch, but I’d be honored to spend at least some time with Princess Celestia and the other Element Bearers.” He turned to Rarity. “Can I leave this on for lunch?”

“Absolutely not,” Rarity grabbed him by the hoof. “You could stain it.”

“Fine, fine.” Nymph undid the clasp and slowly peeled back the babydoll top. His eyes turned to the guard. “Tell Celestia we’ll be there as soon as we’ve both,” he winked, “finished.”

“As I said, please ignore Nymph.” Rarity found a box for the lingerie piece and the makeup. “Please tell Celestia that we will be there momentarily.”

The guard nodded. “Y-yes, ma’am.” He gave Nymph one last look before shutting the door.

“I’d call that a successful test.” Nymph slid off the panties and passed them to Rarity. “And I got a new client out of the deal.”

“What makes you think that he’s interested?” Rarity put everything into the box and then closed it.

“He kept my card.” He turned to Rarity. “Any chance I could get you interested? It would be nice to have some more mares among my regulars.”

Rarity turned to him in surprise. “I thought you preferred stallions, considering how you flirt with them.”

“Most of our clients are stallions, but I actually prefer to be with mares. Stallions usually jump right to the main course. Mares like it to be more than just rutting somepony that happens to look like a celebrity. They want to feel loved and romanced, and that just makes it better for everypony.” He licked his lips. “Not to mention lust tastes a lot better when there’s some love and affection mixed in there.”

“Nymph, do me a favor.” Rarity got a cloth and poured some makeup remover on it.

“Sure, what?”

“Whenever you’re about to finish a thought, don’t. You might actually be charming if you knew when to stop talking.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Far to the north, Providence sat looking at a stack of metal sheets. “We don’t need this many backup plans.”

Talon agreed with him, but she wasn’t going to say so with the Hurricanes and the rest of the Council watching.

“You’ll get used to it,” Heart said. “I swear, wyverns won’t even eat breakfast without at least two backup plans.”

“Rescuing Yol Toor would be a major victory for the Alliance,” Typhoon said. “We can’t leave anything to chance.”

“Yeah,” Silver Tail said, “but you do need to change a few details.” He flipped to the second page of his notes. “Right here is says that, after we free Yol Toor, you want me to use Void Fire to bring down Canterlot Peak.”

“It will cripple Equestria’s government, destroy many of their reserve forces, and likely kill at least one Element Bearer,” Typhoon said.

“And kill millions of innocent civilians.” Silver Tail pushed the stack of metal away. “I’m not going to do that.”

Drake Lord Torch nodded. “I don’t know of any drake that would.”

“Perhaps we should vote on it,” Typhoon said. “Or have you all forgotten your oath of loyalty to the Alliance?”

“Change the plan,” Silver Tail said, “or I’ll find a way to break my oath even if it kills me.” His eyes narrowed dangerously. “I’ll do my best to make sure it kills you too.”

Typhoon sighed. “Very well, we will change it. Now onto the next part. Yol Toor’s cell almost certainly has alarm wards. We can’t open it without alerting Celestia, and so we use diamond dogs to maneuver our warriors into position around Canterlot Castle, capturing it first.”

“Actually,” Heart said, “let’s go with backup plan three instead. A flying ambush will distract Celestia long enough to rescue Yol Toor.”

Typhoon shook her head. “Capturing the castle will be far more difficult without teams on the inside.”

“We don’t need to capture the castle,” Heart said. “This is a rescue mission above all. We’ll lose warriors in an extended battle when a quick distraction will be all we need. Plus we’d never pin Celestia down in her own home. She must have at least one safe room she can teleport to if things get dangerous for her.” She flipped to a page of her notes. “We can cluster our most powerful champions around Yol Toor while we rescue him. That should be enough to keep Celestia at bay.”

“Protecting Yol Toor from Celestia might be difficult,” Silver Tail said. “We don’t know what kind of shape he’ll be in. But you’re right, focusing on defense will give us the best chance of success.” He hummed thoughtfully. “A quick strike will be safer for our warriors, but they’ll be vulnerable to Celestia if all of our champions are guarding Yol Toor. I say we have the warriors scatter into the city after they reveal themselves. Celestia won’t unleash her full power where it might harm her followers.”

“You refuse to kill these ponies, but you’re willing to use them as living shields?” Typhoon asked.

“I refuse to attack them,” Silver Tail replied, “but I’m not going to let our warriors get slaughtered either.”

Typhoon sighed. “Very well, we will revise our plan to incorporate both of your suggestions.” She looked from Silver Tail to Providence. “Does anydragon else have anything to say?”

Nodragon spoke up.

“Very well.” Typhoon stood up and stretched her wings. “We should all get some rest. We fly to Canterlot tonight.”

Talon rose as well, going over the timeline in her mind. It was Wednesday afternoon. By dawn on Thursday, Elite Swarm One, six hundred of their best dragons, would be hiding in a cave system near the base of Canterlot Peak. That gave the diamond dogs the better part of two days to find the dungeons beneath Canterlot Castle. According to their spy, an award ceremony was supposed to take place at the Castle on Friday night, giving the Alliance a perfect distraction while they maneuvered their forces into position. By Saturday morning …

Talon looked over at Tornado. She could see the hope burning in his eyes. It was the same hope that she felt.

By Saturday morning, Yol Toor would be back with the Alliance, and they could finally vote to end the war forever.

Chapter 60

Despite his best efforts, Cliff didn’t get Miracle to smile for him all Wednesday or Thursday. Cliff knew it was petty, but he couldn’t help but feel jealous of how Fluttershy could make her smile so easily, even in the middle of a crowd.

At that very moment, Fluttershy had Miracle giggling and cooing happily, in spite of the fact that they were in an enormous banquet hall, surrounded by changelings. “And what’s this?” She tapped Miracle’s left hand with one hoof, holding her against her chest with the other foreleg.

Miracle looked down at her hand. “Und?”

“That’s right!” Fluttershy nuzzled her, prompting another giggle. “Hand. You have two hands.”

Cliff sighed and leaned against the wall. Life wasn’t fair sometimes … most of the time … ever, really. It would be nice if it were unfair in his favor for once, though. He looked past Fluttershy and Miracle, scanning the room around them.

There were no tables in sight, even though this was apparently Canterlot Castle’s largest banquet hall. There wouldn’t have been room for them anyway; Chrysalis has brought her entire hive, over three thousand changelings. Several thousand of Canterlot’s elite also littered the room along with least a hundred reporters that had managed to squeeze in.

‘Squeeze’ really was the right word. Both levels of the balconies were filled to capacity, and the floor was standing room only. Some pegasi had built a second floor of sorts out of clouds, but even that was crowded, and pegasi and changelings hovered wherever they could find an empty bit of air.

Celestia stood at the side of the stage, watching them all as though waiting for an unspoken sign to begin.

Closer up, Cliff stood in a loose circle with his family and the Element Bearers and their families. Oh, and Discord. He was a bit taller now, coming up to about Big Mac’s height. Apparently that was partially thanks to Miracle. The chaos energy she generated was good for him.

Next to Discord stood Rarity and that one changeling that had saved her from the Alliance spy. Like most of the group, he was staring at Fluttershy and Miracle, but Cliff didn’t appreciate the way he kept licking his lips.

“Would you please quit drooling over my daughter and granddaughter?” Silver Lining said, stepping between Fluttershy and the changeling.

The changeling blushed. “Sorry, it’s just, motherly love is sooo delicious. I feel like I could get full just standing next to those two.”

Rarity smacked him across the rump with her tail. “Nymph, we talked about what is and is not acceptable to say in public.”

“You’re right.” He rubbed the spot where she had hit him. “Sorry, Rarity.”

Twilight’s pony father chuckled. “You two sound like an old married couple.”

Nymph looked over at Rarity, seeming to study her from horn to hoof. “I could do a lot worse.”

Rarity gave him a flat look. “And I could do far better.”

Spirit winced. “Oooh, burn.”

At his side, Autumn just smiled knowingly. Cliff assumed that meant Rarity actually did like Nymph but was pretending not to for some reason. Maybe it was a pony thing. He’d never really understood the intricacies of pony courtship.

“Back on topic,” Spirit said, turning to Autumn, “were you saying yes to my growth plan for Everfree Village.”

“No,” Autumn said.

“The new training schedule?”

“No.”

“I’m running out of ideas.” He looked around. “Can any of you think of anything?”

This was the latest bit of insanity from Spirit and Autumn’s personal life. Apparently Autumn had agreed to something, but she wouldn’t tell Spirit what until he guessed it. Cliff had long since given up on trying to understand those two.

“Maybe she wants to move in with you,” Nymph said.

Rarity smacked him again.

Autumn smiled. “That’s … close.”

Both of Spirit’s pony parents glared at them.

Twilight grinned nervously and stepped between Spirit and her parents. “Oh, uh, Fire Claws, why don’t you tell everyone about that new spell you taught me?”

Fire Claws arched an eyebrow at her. “Twilight, I haven’t taught you any new spells in months.”

“Cliff,” Discord’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind, “embrace the Stillness. Now.”

Cliff focused his attention on Discord. The draconequus was standing oddly still, his brows furrowed in concentration. Cliff took a deep breath, soothing all of his emotions away. “What’s wrong?”

“One of the Requiem Guard is here. It’s not alone either. I can hear it talking to Silver Tail, both of Yol Toor’s daughters, and the Hurricanes.”

“What?” Cliff’s breath caught. He looked around the room again. Nothing had changed. “Where are they?”

“Somewhere beneath the Castle, but they’re rising quickly.” He locked eyes with Cliff. “I’ll tell Celestia. You get Fluttershy and Miracle out of here. Whatever you do, don’t let anyone know what’s happening. Panic will spread like wildfire with all these empaths around, and the last thing we need is a bunch of trampled ponies.” Then he stretched. “Well, this is wonderfully boring. I think I’ll liven things up a bit.”

In a flash, Discord was on stage at the podium. “Hello, everyone! Welcome to this celebration in honor of the bug that saved a marshmallow from a lizard.”

The crowd murmured in confusion.

Celestia crossed the stage quickly. “Discord, what are you doing?”

Discord grinned. “You. Every Thursday and sometimes on Friday.”

Celestia facehoofed amid a chorus of laughs from the changelings. All the ponies seemed unsure if laughing would be socially acceptable.

“There will be time for your foolishness later.” Celestia lifted Discord in her magic and walked backstage with him.

“All right! I guess it’s one of those Fridays!” Discord called before he disappeared behind the curtain. “Your turn.”

Cliff sent back his agreement before turning to the group. “All of you come with me. It’s important.” He took Fluttershy by the hoof and started working his way to the exit.

In the hall, Cliff turned back to the confused group that had followed him. Surprisingly, even Nymph had come along. No one else was around, but it couldn’t hurt to be careful. “Grandma, generate a bubble of silence around us.”

She nodded. “Done.”

“Some of the Alliance’s most powerful champions are somewhere beneath Canterlot Castle and rising quickly.” Cliff took a breath. “Discord is telling Celestia, but the rest of us need to figure out what we’re going to do.”

“We need to evacuate the banquet hall,” Spirit said immediately. “Hundreds will die if there’s a stampede.”

“We need to guard the dungeon,” Autumn said. “That must be what they’re after.”

“Can we even slow them down?” Fire Claws asked. “Who all is in this group?”

“Silver Tail, the Hurricanes, Yol Toor’s daughters, and …” Cliff looked at the group, “one of the Requiem Guard.”

Fluttershy hugged Miracle to her chest. “We have to get the children out of here.”

There was a loud popping sound, and suddenly they were standing in a room that Cliff didn’t recognize, although from the sun pattern on the doors and the expensive furniture, he guessed that it was Celestia’s bedroom.

Celestia herself stood in front of them with Discord beside her. “Spirit,” she said quickly, “I need you to send a message to Luna right away. Tell her to come immediately with Cadance, Shining Armor, and Zephyr.”

“Good idea.” Spirit ran to a desk and grabbed a quill and some ink.

“I assume that Cliff has told you all what Discord told me.”

They nodded.

Celestia looked at each of them for a moment. “There isn’t time to mince words. Yol Toor is being held in the dungeons beneath the Castle, and the Alliance is likely here to free him.”

“Wait,” Nymph said, “he’s here? I thought you’d have him locked down in some hidden bunker somewhere.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Applejack said. She turned to Celestia. “Think the Rainbow Power will stop that Requiem Guard?”

Celestia shook her head. “Discord tells me that it’s the same one that was hit by the Rainbow Power earlier. Harmony spared it once, and I will not risk your lives against it again.”

Fire Claws stepped forward. “Let Torch, Twi, and me deal with the Hurricanes. We can at least keep them off you for a while.”

“Thank you,” Celestia said. “Luna has more experience fighting Silver Tail than any of us, and Providence will likely seek me out. That leaves Zephyr to face Dun Brii and Qo Peyt.”

“Two against one and five against three are bad odds,” Autumn said. “Let the rest of the Everfree Platoon help.”

“Most of the Platoon wouldn’t be able to contribute meaningfully,” Celestia said.

“The Shadow-form Rune would at least make us hard to kill,” Cliff said.

“But you can still die if you run out of magic.” Celestia shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I won’t let you sacrifice yourselves.”

“My team can help at least,” Rainbow said.

Celestia shook her head again. “You won’t be able to use your Sonic Rainboom in a cramped dungeon, and even if you did, it would be as much of a threat to your allies as to the Alliance.”

“What should we do then?” Apple Bloom asked.

“The evacuated foals from the Crystal Empire are staying in the west wing, directly above the dungeon” Celestia said. “I need you to take them to the east wing, where you all are staying.” She turned to Autumn. “The Everfree Platoon will need to guard them once they’ve arrived.”

Autumn and Apple Bloom nodded.

“Actually,” Discord said. “I have a better way to keep those foals safe.”

All eyes turned to him.

“Let me send them forward in time by one day.” His expression was unusually serious. “Whatever’s about to happen will be long done with by the time they reappear.” He turned to Fluttershy and held out his lion paw to Miracle. “There’s one little kirin that I’d especially hate to see hurt.”

Fluttershy exchanged a look with Cliff before kissing Miracle on the forehead. “It will be okay, sweetie.”

Cliff nuzzled his daughter. “Discord will keep you safe.”

Then Fluttershy held Miracle out to Discord.

Discord took her and blew another raspberry on her stomach. “See you in a second, Miracle, from your point of view, at least.”

Miracle tilted her head to the side. “Wh-?” She disappeared mid-word, leaving Discord holding nothing but air.

Cliff looked at the space where she had just been, silently promising himself that he’d be here with Fluttershy when Miracle reappeared. “Are you going to be okay, sending all of those foals forward in time?”

Discord shrugged. “I don’t think we have a choice, Cliff. Although I wouldn’t object to a little help from any sources of chaos energy you happen to have.”

Pinkie held up a hoof. “Ooh, I know!” She cleared her throat. “Boy, we sure do need a party planner right now!”

The door opened and Cheese Sandwich walked through. “Did someone call?”

Out in the hallway, two royal guards stared at the newcomer in shock. One of them pointed at him. “Where did you come from?” He shook his head. “I mean, you can’t go in there!”

Celestia smiled. “He is a welcome guest, you need not concern yourself with him.”

Pinkie bounced over to Cheese. “We need your chaos magic to help Discord protect a bunch of crystal foals. I’d do it, but Celestia wants anyone with a set of Everfree Armor to suit up and protect the guests in the banquet hall.” She turned back to Celestia. “That is what you were going to say next, right?”

Celestia stared at her for a moment. “Yes, it is.”

A shudder coursed through Pinkie, so strong that every hair on her body stood up simultaneously. “Oh no, we’ve gotta hurry! Something unexpected is going to happen soon!”

“Then you must all get your armor on as quickly as possible.” Celestia turned her attention to Nymph. “Cadance and Shining Armor will put a shield around the dungeon, which should keep everyone safe. However, it would be best if we get our guests out of the banquet hall as quickly as possible. I will award you your medallion, and you can still speak, but please make it as short as possible and then tell everyone to go out to the gardens for refreshments.”

Nymph nodded. “Can do.”

“What about Chrysalis?” Rarity asked.

Celestia took a deep breath. “She deserves our protection just like everyone else. Now all of you go. Meet me in the banquet hall as soon as you can.”

Cliff held back as everyone else hurried away. “Celestia, I have nearly two hundred anti-aura gems stored with my suit. At least take those with you.”

“Gladly.” Celestia looked from him to Fluttershy, who had paused at the door. “Both of you be careful. Whatever surprise Pinkie just sensed, I fear that it will endanger us all.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Celestia was the picture of tranquility when she walked on stage a few minutes later. Rarity had to admire that as she watched from backstage. Luna, Cadance, and Shining Armor, recently arrived from the Crystal Empire, were also hiding backstage, and they made no secret of the fact that they were on edge. Even Zephyr had gone silent, standing with his eyes closed and a slight frown on his face. His six tails wove and rippled behind him, almost like they were responding to music that only they could hear.

At Rarity’s side, Nymph was fidgeting so badly that he could barely stand. “I’m gonna die. Either the Alliance will kill me for messing with their plans, or Chrysalis will for not giving the speech that she wrote.”

Rarity pulled him into a hug. “There there, calm down. The Alliance isn’t here for you, and I thought you were going to write your own speech.”

“So did I,” Nymph said, “but she wanted to spice it up a bit.”

“She will understand. I’ll speak to her myself, if I must.”

Nymph stared at her. “You’d do that?”

“Of course.” Rarity stepped back now that Nymph wasn’t shaking so much. “I’m not afraid of her.”

“Well you should be.” Nymph shivered. “Lust isn’t as good as love, but she’s had so much of it to feed on lately that she’s probably more powerful than Celestia.”

“Really?” Rarity tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Perhaps she could help Celestia against the Alliance’s champions.”

Nymph laughed nervously. “And how did you plan on convincing her to do that?”

“By appealing to her better nature.” Rarity paused. “Never mind.”

A shout of fear went through the crowd. Rarity couldn’t make out their individual voices very well, but the word ‘dragons’ was being repeated a lot, and everypony was pointing to the windows. She couldn’t see what was going on outside, though. There were no windows backstage.

“Do not panic!” Celestia’s voice filled the room, so loud that Rarity could feel it in her chest. “Exit in an orderly fashion. My royal guards will escort you to a safe part of the Palace.”

An explosion of some kind went off behind Rarity, and she turned just in time to see Luna finish blasting her way through the room’s outer wall. In the sky beyond, hundreds of dragons were bearing down on them. Some of the drakes were already glowing with those energy auras that they could generate.

Shining Armor generated a shield over the room, but oddly, it wasn’t needed. Beams of Void Fire shot from the drakes, but they all hit the ground around Canterlot Castle without even touching the structure itself.

Cadance added her strength to Shining Armor’s shield moments later, but the Alliance forces didn’t seem interested in attacking it. They turned and flew away from the Palace, right into the city of Canterlot.

Luna gasped. “Are those fiends attacking the civilians of Canterlot?” Her horn began to glow. “I will distract them while the rest of you bring to bear whatever forces you can rally.”

Celestia galloped to them, sliding to a halt in front of the destroyed wall. “Luna, don’t! Their true objective is Yol Toor, and we can’t defeat their champions without you.”

“We can’t let these dragons attack Canterlot either!” Shining Armor said.

Indecision played across Celestia’s face for a moment, then she lowered her head. “Put a shield around the Castle, holding all of them in.”

“What?” Rarity looked out at the crowd of ponies, still fighting to exit the banquet hall. Strangely, the changelings hadn’t moved at all other than Chrysalis, who was walking toward them. “What about everyone here?”

“Thousands of civilians, surrounded by guards,” Celestia said quietly, “weighed against millions of civilians with no defense at all.”

Shining locked eyes with Cadance and lit up his horn.

Cadance looked out at Canterlot for a moment, then she touched her horn to his.

A taffy-pink wave of energy exploded from their horns, shooting out past the Alliance forces before solidifying into a shield. At the same time, a column of energy formed around Cadance and Shining.

Shining looked up at Celestia. “We’ll create a shield around the dungeons as well. It won’t hold if Silver Tail and the others attack it seriously, but it should at least minimize collateral damage.”

Celestia nodded. “Luna, Zephyr, we should go. Twilight, Fire Claws, and Burning Torch are already on their way to the dungeon.”

“I think you owe me an explanation first,” Chrysalis said, walking up to Celestia. “What is going on?” She paused and looked at Nymph, nodding slightly. “Oh, so they finally realized where Yol Toor is.” She turned and pointed at Celestia and Luna in turn. “If you two, and,” she paused at Zephyr, “whatever that is, are going to the dungeon, then there must be some truly impressive dragons down there trying to set Yol Toor free. Will you be able to defeat them? I need to know if I’ll have to deal with them too after they’re done killing you.”

Celestia held up three dimensional pockets in her magic. “Cliff Runner supplied me with these. Hopefully they will be enough to turn the battle in our favor.”

“Ah good.” Chrysalis stepped past her and looked up at the dragon forces, which were attacking the inside of the shield. “I’ve seen enough of your job to know that I don’t want it. I’ll take care of these dragons for you.”

A warm smile lit up Celestia’s face. “Thank you.”

“Don’t misunderstand,” Chrysalis turned back to Celestia, “I’m only doing this to protect my changelings.”

“You have my thanks regardless.” Celestia turned to Luna and Zephyr, then she lit up her horn and all three of them disappeared in a flash of golden light.

“Now then,” Chrysalis grinned evilly. “Time to feed.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

“I thought Shining Armor was still in the Crystal Empire!” Crystal said, scratching uselessly at the shield with her claws.

“He’s supposed to be!” Talon clawed at it as well. “Heart, what are our chances of using the Shield Cracker?”

“Not good,” Heart sent from her spot on Tornado’s back. “We don’t have enough staffs to make a completed rune, and none of our aura drakes are powerful enough to break through the shield with raw force.”

Tornado flapped, sending dozens of wind lances into the shield.

“The cluster leaders are asking for permission to attack the Castle,” Heart continued. “I turned them down, but most are demanding some kind of plan. Ideas please.”

Talon thought about it. Celestia had to be in the Castle. This swarm was composed of the best that the Alliance had to offer; they could at least put up a fight, but what would it really gain them in the end? Hundreds of deaths, probably. All Providence and the others really needed was a few minutes to find and free Yol Toor. There had to be a way to give them that without ordering most of the swarm to their deaths.

Then the answer came to her. Nodragon would like it, but it really was the best choice.

“Have the swarm surrender instead.” Talon turned to Heart. “It will take a while to figure out what to do with us all, more than enough time for the Council to do its job.” And hopefully give Silver Tail the time he needed to call for a vote of peace, she added silently.

Heart nodded and sent back agreement. “I always did say that the Alliance needed to surrender. Now’s the perfect time to do it.”

“Dragons of the Alliance,” a new voice shouted—a very familiar voice.

Talon turned in disbelief. Yol Toor was flying toward them in his thinking form.

“Do not attack. The need for this war has passed.” He paused a respectful distance from the swarm.

Talon gasped. “Heart, is that really him?”

“I don’t know,” Heart sent back. “It feels like him, but we know that Equestria is allies with the changelings now. I’m going to ask him some questions.”

Talon sent back agreement and flew to her battle partner. “C’mon, Tornado. Let’s make sure that’s really Yol Toor.”

Tornado nodded, looking at the newcomer suspiciously.

Up close, Yol Toor looked a little bit worse for wear. He was more thin than before, and his scales were a bit dull, but his smile was completely genuine. “Hello, Heart, Tornado, and Talon. It is good to see you all again.”

Tornado didn’t smile back. “Use your aura,” he said in a throaty growl.

“I understand,” Yol Toor said. Glowing red and blue energy surrounded him. “But remember that changelings are experts at illusion magic. Replicating my aura would be easy.”

Talon wasn’t so sure. She could imagine a changeling recreating the visual aspect of his aura, but the pulsing energy she could feel radiating from him was something else entirely.

Heart didn’t seem convinced. “What did you say when I first introduced you to Talon and Crystal?”

“I told them that their bond with Tornado was what motivated you to join the Alliance,” Yol Toor said. “I also advised Tornado to learn the Stillness to help him control his battle form.”

Heart looked over at Talon. “That was months before changelings joined the Alliance. Do you have any questions?”

“Just one.” Talon turned to Yol Toor. “What’s going on?”

“Celestia offered me a deal,” Yol Toor said. “She would set me free and give the Alliance control of the gem mines beneath the Crystal Empire if I swore to destroy the two remaining members of the Requiem Guard.”

“What?” Talon shook her head. “No, only Providence is left, and he’s our ally.”

“That rainbow blast did something to him,” Heart said. “He’s normal again.”

“Interesting …” Yol Toor turned back to the Castle. “Let us go speak with Celestia. She may be willing to renegotiate our agreement. Even if she is not,” he looked at Talon and the others, “none of you will be required to fight anymore. That is a significant victory.” He started flying back toward the Castle. “Bring the whole swarm. Celestia is not easily intimidated, but she does understand negotiating from a position of strength, and nothing in my oath will prevent me from protecting you all.”

Heart hesitated for a moment before sending out the order. “Okay, take us to Celestia.”

Yol Toor nodded and led them back to the Castle. He landed outside of a large hole in the wall and stepped through.

Talon waited for Tornado to go back to his thinking form before she followed. “Keep your eyes open, everydragon.”

Inside was a wide room with a massive curtain that covered one whole wall. Two ponies floated in a glowing pillar of energy the same color as the shield outside. Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor, priority one threats. Members of the Alliance had orders to kill either on sight, and here Talon was less than ten feet from both of them. She shuddered and focused on Yol Toor.

He walked to the curtain and brushed it aside, revealing a giant room full of ponies. There must have been thousands of them, all watching nervously as Talon and the rest of the swarm trickled in. Around the edges of the room, Talon also caught sight of royal guards, and ponies and wyrms wearing Everfree armor.

Great, the last thing they needed was a fight against those suits if things turned ugly. Still, she followed Yol Toor to the very center of the crowd, where Princess Celestia stood.

Talon had never seen the Alicorn of the Sun this close before. She towered over the other ponies, easily tall enough to look down at Talon with eyes that seemed to pierce right to her very soul. Her mane and tail were masses of fire, dancing and crackling against her pure-white coat. Even the white unicorn at her side seemed intimidated by her.

Celestia looked at Heart. “I know what you said to Yol Toor, now tell me what you didn’t say. What exactly has happened to Providence of the Requiem Guard?”

Heart licked her lips and swallowed. “A-after you hit him with the power of Harmony, it’s like he went back to the minotaur he used to be …”

Talon looked around as Heart continued her story. The ponies all still looked terrified, but they were slowly approaching the dragons and introducing themselves. By the time Heart finished explaining how Providence killed Samhane, the dragons and ponies were so mixed that they weren’t really two separate groups anymore.

“… So now he understands that what happened to him isn’t really your fault,” Heart continued. “All he wants is to help us and to see if he has any descendants living in Equestria.”

Yol Toor stood next to Heart and put a paw around her shoulders. “I believe it’s time for this to end.”

Celestia nodded.

Yol Toor tilted his head back. Radiant green energy surrounded him for a moment, then that same green energy shot from him, filling the room and knocking Talon flat.

She tried to get back up, but some kind of green slime held her to the ground, along with every other dragon that she could see. “Wha-?” She looked to Yol Toor and felt the blood drain from her face.

Chrysalis stood in his place, grinning cruelly, with Heart bound and gagged by more of that slime. “Attack!”

Celestia was engulfed in green fire and emerged as a changeling. The same thing happened to nearly every pony in the room, and before the weight of their predicament could really sink in, the changelings were on them.

Dragons roared and struggled behind Talon, but she couldn’t turn her head to look, and their struggles quickly turned into screams of pain. Even that only lasted for a few moments.

Chrysalis leaned over Heart, inhaling deeply. “Mmm, your love for each other is delicious, but who to feed on first?” She skimmed the room, and her eyes locked on Talon. “Ah, Talon Wind, the head of the Alliance’s information network, and a perpetual thorn in my side.”

Talon tried to shrink back, but the slime held her firmly.

“Do you know how close you came to foiling my plan?” Chrysalis asked, drawing near. She leaned down and whispered, “Equestria would never have pardoned the changelings if I hadn’t threatened them with the big bad Alliance. Your little olive branch to Twilight Sparkle could have changed that if we hadn’t intercepted it.”

Something rumbled nearby, but Chrysalis didn’t seem to notice.

“Changelings could still be hunted and persecuted, because you couldn’t wait one week longer to show Equestria that most of the Alliance just wants peace.” Her lips curled back, revealing sharp teeth. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

A glowing tail swung over Talon’s head, smashing into Chrysalis and sending her flying into the stage.

Tornado ran into view in his battle form. Brilliant light shot from his scales, but the rays of light seemed to wave and billow, like wisps of hair caught in a powerful storm. He curled around Talon and Heart protectively, even covering them with his wing. “I won’t let you hurt them!”

Bits of his … aura surrounded both dragonesses, slicing away the gunk holding them down.

Talon got back to her feet, struggling to come to grips with everything that had happened so quickly.

“Cute,” Chrysalis said. Talon couldn’t see her, but her wind sense told her that the changeling queen had picked herself up. “I changed my mind. I’ll eat you first.”

Tornado went flying, pushed by a beam of green energy from Chrysalis, until he crashed into the second-story balcony.

Chrysalis appeared above him, slamming down with both forelegs.

Tornado was knocked through the balcony, leaving a huge dent in the floor below. His aura flickered and faded.

“Don’t hurt him!” Talon yelled. “We surrender!”

Chrysalis landed and looked over at her. “Do you, now?” She pulled Tornado’s head up with her magic. Green energy erupted from Tornado’s giant mouth, flowing into the changeling queen’s much smaller one. “Too bad I don’t care.”

“Stop it!” Talon kicked off, flying through the hoard of changelings as quickly as she could. “Please, I’ll do anything!”

Something small shot past Chrysalis, leaving a deafening rumble in its wake.

She jumped back and turned to the nearest wall, where a wyrm in Everfree armor stood at the front of a small group of armored warriors.

“They surrendered,” he said firmly. “Leave them alone.”

Chrysalis stared at him for a moment, then she laughed. “Oh, what on earth makes you think I’d do that?”

The wyrm gestured, and then two gems appeared in his palms.

Behind him, two pegasi spread their wings, a large earth pony and a female wyrm dropped into fighting stances, and a unicorn lit up his horn.

“How adorable.” Chrysalis crossed the distance between them in a flash. “But I don’t think so.” Then she punched the lead wyrm through a wall.

Chapter 61

“Stop!” Fluttershy shouted.

Cliff groaned and sat up. The Shadow-form Rune hadn’t worked, probably because he had rewired it to draw energy from the dimensional pockets he usually had at his waist, dimensional pockets that he’d given to Celestia. He stood up and hurried back through the hole that his flying body had just made.

Fluttershy and Chrysalis were frozen in place, glaring at each other, and beyond them, the changelings had gone still as they watched. Even Talon and Heart, crouching next to Tornado’s downed form, watched nervously.

Through their link, Cliff could feel the silent battle that his wife was waging. Fear, doubt, guilt, and shame flowed up through Fluttershy’s heart, radiating out through her eyes, demanding that Chrysalis back down and apologize.

Chrysalis was fighting back, though. Her horn glowed with sickly green energy, and Fluttershy’s eyes glowed the same color. Cliff wasn’t even the target of her spell, but he could still feel the overwhelming despair that it inspired. Give up, it seemed to whisper. You can’t win.

Cliff threw his own emotions into the battle, giving Fluttershy every drop of determination and confidence that he could generate. “Chrysalis,” he said between clenched teeth, “don’t make us fight you.”

“Three thousand against two isn’t a fight.” Chrysalis smirked. “But I am impressed by this little pegasus.”

“Yeah,” Spirit said, stepping into view. “Flutters is pretty awesome. She distracted you long enough for the entire Everfree Platoon to surround you, including a few unicorns that can block teleportation. Isn’t that interesting?”

Chrysalis took a step back and broke eye contact with Fluttershy. Just as Spirit said, the Everfree Platoon surrounded them, including scouts and medics. Her expression remained cocky, though. “You do realize that you’re all surrounded by my changelings, right? They could easily kill you all.” She locked her gaze on Spirit. “And I really want you to stop being so difficult and let us claim our prize. After all, you’re threatening to fight your allies to save the same dragons that tried to kill you a few minutes ago, or am I the only one who remembers that Void Fire attack?”

“They surrendered,” Spirit said. “That makes them prisoners. Equestria doesn’t kill or torture prisoners. Ever. Anyone that does is considered a felon and imprisoned. Not even a prince can make an exception.”

Chrysalis frowned. “You had better do it anyway, or your story will be in the papers tomorrow.”

Autumn frowned. “Spirit, what did you do?”

“Uh,” he swallowed, “remember that shopping trip with Rarity the other day?”

Autumn facehoofed. Her coat changed as well, becoming hard-edged. “Fine.” She turned to the rest of the Platoon. “I hated my father for a long time because he supported King Sombra, even if it was to keep me and my mother safe! Then he caught me trying to start a rebellion and threw me in jail! I didn’t speak to him for years, but then he was killed in battle recently, and Spirit hired a changeling to transform into my late father and give me a chance to say a proper goodbye!”

Her face was bright red when she turned back to Chrysalis, but her expression was firm. “There goes your leverage.”

Cliff didn’t know how to feel about what he’d just heard, but now wasn’t really the time to worry about it, and it wasn’t his business anyway.

Chrysalis groaned. “You really are a persistent group, but you all need to ask yourselves one question; what would stop me from killing all of you and blaming these dragons?”

“I-I would.”

Cliff followed the new voice and found that changeling, Nymph, standing next to Rarity. He looked … somewhat less than heroic. His legs were shaking and he couldn’t meet Chrysalis’s gaze. The shaking only got worse as the entire room focused on him, to the point that he had to sit down.

“Er, well, it’s … pretty nice living out in the open like this, and we’ve never been this well fed before. Maybe we shouldn’t risk all that on the chance that Celestia and Luna could find out what we did here. We don’t need these dragons to feed on anyway. Oh, and there’s Shining Armor and Cadance.” He pointed toward the stage. “I don’t think we could get through their shield before everypony comes back.”

Chrysalis gave him a hard stare for a moment, then she shifted her gaze to the rest of the changelings. “What do you all say? Do we claim our rightfully earned prize, or do we submit ourselves to the laws of Equestria?”

The changelings all exchanged looks, but very little was actually said. Cliff reminded himself that they were probably communicating through their empathy.

Eventually Chrysalis’s expression hardened. “Very well, but if these Equestrians don’t want us to benefit from our own hard work, I see no reason why they should either. I’m leaving now, and any of you that want to keep your jobs,” she glared at Nymph, “had better come with me.” She pushed her way through Spirit and Autumn and walked toward the exit.

Cliff let out a sigh of relief as all the changelings followed after her. Actually, no. Not all of them followed. There were a few that hesitated, looking from Chrysalis to the Everfree Platoon like they weren’t sure what to do. Nymph was among them, but maybe that was because he was shaking to badly to walk.

Spirit looked around at the hesitating changelings. There were eight of them in all. “You know,” he said loudly, “Everfree Village is always accepting of newcomers.”

Rarity pulled Nymph into a hug. “And I could certainly use a model that can transform into anyone I need.”

The last of the other changelings filed out, and Chrysalis’s voice echoed out from the hall, “I would worry more about what I just said, if we can’t benefit from our own work, neither can you.”

Green light filled the room for a moment. When it faded, the goo holding the Alliance’s warriors down had disappeared, and most of them were starting to get back up.

“You all have fun killing each other.” Chrysalis laughed.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Celestia, Luna, and Zephyr reappeared at the entrance to the dungeon, right in front of the shield that Shining Armor had promised to create. Just inside, the door frame to the dungeon loomed darkly.

“You’re all here!” Twilight called, galloping over to them. “We got here a minute ago and deactivated the teleportation block, but we were waiting for you to arrive.”

Fire Claws pulled up next to her. “There were some noises coming from inside. We think the Alliance’s champions are already in there.”

A loud crash echoed through the door frame.

Burning Torch approached as well. “They must be searching for Yol Toor’s cell.”

Celestia hated to imagine what would happen if they found it. Her ten guards were skilled, certainly, but they would have no chance against the Alliance’s most powerful dragons, let alone one of the Requiem Guard. Ebon Light would likely die in the battle as well, and Yol Toor would be free. She wanted to believe that he would bring the Alliance to a peaceful negotiation, like he had promised, but she couldn’t sacrifice innocent lives in that hope. “Link up.”

The six of them joined their emotions and quickly decided on a plan, communicating through empathy so they couldn’t be overheard.

Another crash came from inside the dungeon.

Celestia pulled in as much of the sun’s power as she could hold, so much that the stone beneath her hooves melted. She turned to face the dungeon. “Begin!”

She flew through Shining Armor’s shield and into the dungeon proper, her fiery body illuminating a large hole in the floor. Shattered doors lined the hall, revealing empty chambers beyond. Their foes stood midway down the hall; Silver Tail, the drake lord who had fought so hard to save his clan; Dun Brii and Qo Peyt, Yol Toor’s twin daughters, who had lost their mother so young; the Hurricanes, five wyverns who had lived a nightmarish life of bloodshed in a desperate attempt to protect their race; and Providence, who had sacrificed everything for a nation that disappeared into the recesses of history regardless. Celestia didn’t want to fight any of them, but she knew that she didn’t have a choice.

Silver Tail was already launching a volley of compressed air at her. It tore through the dungeon’s stone walls as it advanced, filling the hallway.

“HALT!” Celestia shouted. The force of her voice ripped through Silver Tail’s wind, giving her a chance to return fire with a wave of extreme heat. Molecules in the air were ripped apart, filling the hallway with plasma as hot as the surface of the sun.

Silver Tail flapped his wings again, and Celestia could feel the air rushing away from the wave of plasma, presenting a vacuum that not even her heat could travel through. The stone of the hallway began to melt into rivulets of brilliant orange, but the Alliance’s champions survived relatively unharmed.

The Hurricane of Ice roared, and the stone around them froze solid once more.

Well, Celestia certainly had their attention now. Perfect.

Three dimensional pockets appeared at the feet of the enemy champions, still glowing with residual amounts of Luna’s aura. They exploded a moment later, releasing the combined energy of every anti-aura gem that Cliff Runner had given Celestia.

Celestia herself was hurled back toward the door, but she could see Twilight, Fire Claws, and Burning Torch moving like blurs past her.

“Providence’sarmorwasdamagedslightlyintheblast,” Twilight sent so quickly that her message was a blur. “I mean, wowthisisharderthanIexpected, Providence’s armor was damaged slightly in the blast. It’s healing itself quickly from all the residual magic, though. The Hurricanes are in the worst shape; Ice and Thunder are unconscious. We’ll target the other three. The drakes are all weakened, but they can still fight.”

It would have been really nice if that spell Twilight, Claws, and Torch were using could affect more than three creatures at a time. Still, three members of their group were thinking at supernatural speeds and could understand almost anything just by looking at it. That was nothing to complain about.

Providence’s hammer swung at Twilight, forcing her to teleport back. “Keep searching,” he positioned himself in the center of the hallway, “I will hold them off!”

Luna appeared at the far end of the hallway, her eyes glowing with the moon’s energy. “No you will not.” She stomped with both forehooves, and every surface in the hallway exploded into countless sharp fragments of rock, all flying at the Alliance’s champions.

Golden light exploded from Dun Brii, blasting the fragments into powder, as Qo Peyt fired a beam of Void Fire at Luna.

Luna phased down through the floor just in time to dodge, letting the Void Fire gouge deeply into the floor where she had just been.

“Excuse me,” Zephyr appeared between the Dun Brii and Qo Peyt, and chains of darkness appeared all over them both, “but I’ll be your opponent today. It would hurt my feelings if you paid attention to anyone else.”

Providence spun and hit Zephyr square in the chest with his hammer, sending the kumiho crashing through an unopened door.

“Celestia,” Zephyr sent, “would you mind occupying those three for a moment while I regrow most of my torso? It’s a good thing I don’t run on life-force like the rest of you, or that could have been the end for me.”

Celestia didn’t have time to ask what he did run on, because Providence was already chasing after Zephyr.

Meanwhile, Silver Tail had tackled Luna, and the two of them were grappling fiercely, exchanging kicks and slashes that would have torn right through any normal creature.

In front of them, Twilight had teleported into the middle of the Hurricanes with Claws and Torch. Unfamiliar techniques were already flying between the two groups. Celestia was most surprised by how well the Hurricanes were able to maneuver on the ground in these cramped conditions. They seemed just at comfortable here as they were in the sky.

The others would have to take care of themselves for a moment. Celestia teleported between Zephyr and Providence. Earth pony magic surged into her head and neck as she blocked Providence’s downwards swinging hammer with the tip of her horn.

The floor gave way beneath Celestia, driving her into the ground in spite of her magic distributing the impact, but she grit her teeth and pushed back. The hammer sucked away her magic, true, but Celestia’s horn was exactly where her body was designed to release magic anyway, and the sun’s infinite power restored everything she was losing.

With a mighty flap, Celestia hurled herself at Providence, catching him in the chest and flying with him back into the hallway and through the opposite door.

Her back hooves slammed into the floor, stabilizing her as her forehooves pounded into the Guard’s armor. His hammer was a fearsome weapon, but he couldn’t use it in close quarters like this.

Providence quickly proved otherwise. One of his hands grabbed onto her mane, pulling her head back, while his other hand gripped the hammer near the end of its shaft and slammed that section into her neck like one would use a dagger.

Celestia staggered back just as Providence reversed his grip and brought the hammer’s head swinging right up at Celestia’s face.

The world exploded into purple, and suddenly she was standing next to Twilight.

“OhmyCelestia, youalmostdied! Areyouokay?”

Though shaken, Celestia brought up a shield in time to block some kind of ray from the Hurricane of Venom. “I’m fine, thanks to you.” She pressed a hoof to her neck. She would probably be suffocating right now if her flesh hadn’t been replaced by super-heated plasma. “Zephyr, how are you?”

Five flying tails shot out of the cell where Zephyr was, forming a circle around Dun Brii and Qo Peyt. “Can’t complain, because I still don’t have lungs. Had to let the kids go play for a bit.” Darkness engulfed the twin dragonesses, drowning out a confused shout. “That pocket dimension should hold them for a minute or two.”

There was an explosion, and the dragonesses reappeared, gasping and covered in sweat.

“Or not. They must’ve overloaded the enchantment.”

Celestia ducked to the side, narrowly dodging a focused sound wave from one of the Hurricanes. It tore through her shield and the stone beneath her with equal ease.

Providence emerged from his own cell. The dents Celestia had made were already disappearing. “Go!” he called to his allies. “Release Yol Toor and end this bloodshed!”

At the end of the hallway, Luna finally kicked Silver Tail away, sending him crashing into the ceiling with such force that he disappeared completely.

Luna flipped onto her hooves. Glowing white energy dripped from her in place of blood, but she charged at Providence without hesitation. “You shall not touch our sister!”

Twin balls of golden energy hit her in the chest, but they didn’t explode like normal Void Bombs. Instead, they hurled her backwards, smashing her diagonally through the wall and dozens of feet of stone before she came to rest.

“And you,” gasped Qo Peyt.

“Won’t touch our uncle,” finished Dun Brii.

Zephyr’s tails all flew back to his cell, and he emerged, holding a paw against the bloody mess that was his chest. “You’re hurting my feelings, girls.” Red electricity shot from his tails, arcing to the dragonesses and hissing angrily as they screamed in pain.

Providence’s hammer swung and caught Zephyr in the head, but the kumiho’s entire form simply disappeared with a pop.

“Fool me once …” a disembodied voice said.

The ground beneath Providence suddenly turned into liquid, and he fell out of sight with only a ripple to show where he had been.

Zephyr reappeared next to Twilight and Celestia, collapsing immediately. “Are we done yet?” He coughed up blood.

Celestia grabbed him and teleported away from yet another of the Hurricanes’ attacks. She reappeared at the edge of the dungeon. “Stay here.”

Back in the hall, Twilight, Claws, and Torch were being forced back by the Hurricanes, Dun Brii, and Qo Peyt.

Celestia took advantage of their distraction to pull in more of the sun’s energy and convert it into a beam of destructive energy.

Unfortunately, something took control of the beam and pulled it off to the side, heading straight for the hole where Luna had been thrown.

There wasn’t time to wonder which foe had done that or how. Celestia teleported in front of Luna, blasting away stone to make room for herself, and threw up a shield. Her legs nearly buckled beneath the force of her own spell, but her shield held.

Luna struggled to her hooves in the cramped space that Celestia had created. Her body had reverted back to flesh and blood, but her expression was far from defeated. “Thank you, sister. We must try to end this quickly, before we do irreparable damage to the Castle’s foundation.”

She teleported away, reappearing between Qo Peyt and the Hurricane of Venom. Luna’s forelegs and wings shot out in unison, sending the unfortunate dragons crashing through the stone in opposite directions.

Dun Brii’s tail caught Luna by one foreleg, and her aura transformed into golden spikes that drove themselves deep into the alicorn’s flesh.

At the same time, a line of red energy from the Hurricane of Fire sliced along Luna’s other side, exposing her ribs.

Luna’s flesh knit itself back together almost instantly, though, and she slammed her free forehoof into Dun Brii’s face while at the same time pulling the white dragoness between her and another attack by the Hurricane of Wind.

Celestia appeared at Luna’s side, unintentionally taking a beam of Void Fire from the hole where Qo Peyt had been thrown. She crashed into her sister, sending them both down in a tangle of limbs.

Twilight appeared next to the pair. Her magic wrapped around Dun Brii, overwhelming the drake’s aura long enough to slam her into the same hole as Qo Peyt. A deafening purple explosion came from the hole moments later, shaking the entire dungeon.

Fire Claws and Burning Torch reached the alicorns as well, and quickly engaged the Hurricanes of Fire and Wind.

“Our spell is only going to last for another thirty-one seconds,” Claws sent. “We have to finish this now!”

Farther back in the hallway, Providence’s metallic form emerged from the floor, breaking aside stone with contemptuous ease as he climbed to his hooves.

Someone is going to die if this continues, Celestia realized. Twilight, Claws, and Torch were all exhausted, Luna wasn’t much better, and Zephyr couldn’t fight at all anymore.

Only two Hurricanes were still active, but Providence had literally been designed and built to fight in cramped conditions like this. Celestia could potentially defeat him if she fought on her own, but she knew the others would never stand by and let her take such a risk. They would get involved, and something deep in Celestia’s heart told her that it would prove fatal for at least one of her dear friends and family.

She could only imagine the death that was already happening in the Castle above. Chrysalis was powerful, but would she be able to protect everyone from the Alliance’s warriors? Even if Chrysalis was able, Celestia knew that the changeling queen might not be willing to keep all of those ponies safe.

There was only one way to stop all this, end the battle immediately. Celestia knew how, she had known for weeks, but fear of the risks had always held her back.

She couldn’t let anyone else die because of her fear.

“Focus only on defending yourselves. I’ll return in a few seconds!” Celestia teleported one more time, appearing in front of Yol Toor’s cell.

“Princess,” Ebon Light gasped, “what happened? Are you okay?”

The other guards all pressed toward her, asking similar questions.

Celestia ignored them and focused on Yol Toor. “Do you truly desire peace more than victory? Do you believe we can end this war and create that peace?”

Yol Toor looked back at her, his expression set. Celestia could tell that he knew exactly what was going on outside. “Yes, I do.”

This was it. Yol Toor was still weak, but his power might enough to turn the tide of this battle. He could help Providence kill them all, ensuring complete victory for the Dragon Alliance, but he could also call a vote for peace, ending the war by nightfall. It was almost funny how months of bloody combat came down to this one moment. The fate of the world depended on the choice of one dragon—victory or peace?

Celestia held her breath and commanded Yol Toor’s cell to open.

Chapter 62

Cliff looked around. Hundreds of the Alliance’s best warriors were getting up and forming a defensive line around their wounded. He could see the fear and the desperation in their eyes after what Chrysalis had done to them. They were like the wounded animals that Fluttershy brought home sometimes.

The Everfree Platoon and a handful of royal guards looked back silently, surrounded on three sides with their backs pressed against a wall. They were organized and ready to fight, but they were also outnumbered at least five to one. The royal guards stood firm and unwavering, even though they would likely be the first to fall if things turned ugly. Their equipment simply wasn’t as good as Everfree Armor.

Not far away, Heart and Talon still knelt over Tornado’s crumpled form. The aura he had briefly displayed had winked out, leaving his scales dull. Crystal broke free of the crowd and flew over to join them, begging Tornado to be okay.

Almost no one seemed to notice. It was like they were all holding their breath, just waiting for something to happen.

Cliff decided that somebody had to make the first move, so it may as well be him. He stepped forward, hands raised. “Hey there, everyone.”

All noise and motion ceased as the entire room focused on him.

He took a half step back without even realizing it. “L-look, I know you’re worried and angry, and you have every right to feel that way, but if we let this turn into a battle, lots more of us are going to die. I don’t want that, and I have to hope that you don’t either, not really. Right now, what I do want is to check on my friend, Tornado, over there,” he gestured to the fallen drake, “and help heal him if he needs it. I’m going to walk over to him now. Slowly. Please don’t attack me while I’m doing it.”

“Cliff,” Fluttershy sent, “are you sure about this?”

“As sure as I can be,” he sent back.

That thirty-second walk was probably the longest of Cliff’s life, but no one attacked him.

Talon stood up and walked out to meet him. “You’re Cliff, right? The dragon we knew as Gemstone?”

Cliff nodded and pulled off his helmet. “Yeah …” He looked into her eyes, seeing the same nervousness and uncertainty that he felt. Maybe a familiar face would help her be more at ease. “Fluttershy, do me a favor, go get Genesis. He should be in his room.”

She hesitated for a moment before answering, “Please be careful. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Thanks, I will.” He focused his attention on Talon. “It’s nice to meet you as the real me.”

Talon didn’t respond.

“I know it won’t change anything,” Cliff continued, “but I’m sorry for betraying you, and for …” He sighed. “And I’m sorry for killing Thunderfang.”

Talon winced. “It’s …” She shook her head. “I can’t say that it’s okay. I was so angry at you when I figured out who you were that I actually hoped we’d run into each other in battle again.” She looked over his shoulder to the rest of the Everfree Platoon. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for all the ponies I killed.”

Cliff couldn’t tell her that it was okay either. All he could say was the truth, “I understand why you did it.”

A tiny smile crossed Talon’s face. “I just realized something. Back when you quit the Squad, you said you’d never be able to face your wife if you joined us in battle. That makes a lot more sense now that I know you’re married to a pegasus.”

Cliff smiled too. “She’s off getting Genesis, but I know she’d like to meet you when she comes back.”

Talon looked down at the ground and nodded. “Tornado kept telling me that he wanted to come visit you after the war.” She bit her lip. “Is he … going to be okay? I don’t know what happens when a changeling feeds on somedragon.”

“It shouldn’t have any lasting effects.” Cliff looked around her to Tornado. The golden drake was unconscious, and Heart and Crystal still knelt next to him, but that was all Cliff could tell. “Do you need me to help heal him?”

“No, his aura must have protected him.” Then she whispered, “I can’t believe he finally unlocked it.”

“Tornado would find a way to raise the sun if he thought it would protect his friends.” Cliff swallowed and looked at the rest of the Alliance’s warriors. They still watched him nervously, but at least none of them seemed ready to attack him. “So … what happens now?”

Talon laughed, but her tone was one of pure nervousness. “I was going to ask you the same thing. We did kind of surrender to you.”

“I thought you were surrendering to Chrysalis.” He glanced back at the Everfree Platoon. “Spirit will be pissed at me for saying this, but we really aren’t in a position to stop you if you want to just leave. I could convince Shining Armor and Cadance that it’s safer to let you out than to keep you trapped in here with us.”

“We can’t leave,” Talon said. She looked at her own forces. “I probably shouldn’t be saying this either, but we have orders to keep you busy until we’re given the signal to retreat.”

“You mean the signal that Yol Toor is free?”

Talon gasped. “You know?”

“Yeah, we were supposed to hold you off until Celestia, Luna, Zeph, Twi, and my grandparents finished dealing with the Alliance’s—your champions.”

“I wondered where the real Celestia was.” Talon looked down and the floor. “I guess … nothing we do here really matters, does it?”

“Not really. The only thing that matters is what happens down there.” Cliff didn’t know why, but he laughed. “I guess I’m okay with that. It means I can’t possibly screw things up.”

“Yeah.” Talon finally met his gaze again. “However things turn out, would it be alright if we did come visit you in Everfree Village once all this is over? We’d wear magic nullifiers or have guards follow us if that would help everyone feel better.”

Cliff nodded. “I’d rather not make you do that, but it might be necessary. Do you think I’d be allowed to come visit you all in the Alliance?”

“Maybe? I’d have to ask the rest of the Council.” Talon looked over her shoulder at Tornado, Heart, and Crystal. “You can say hi to them now, at least.”

“I’d like that.” Cliff smiled. “Thank you.”

She turned and led the way.

Crystal stood up as they approached. “Cliff Runner?”

Cliff nodded. “Hi, Crystal.” He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably. “I’m sorry for, uh, stabbing you in the chest that one time.”

Crystal’s wing brushed across her chest. “At lot has happened since you left us, but …” She seemed to fight with herself about something for a moment, then she opened her wings and looked at him expectantly, an invitation for a hug if he wanted one.

Silently, Cliff stepped forward and embraced the larger dragoness. He was a little shocked to realize that her chin rested easily on top of his head. Crystal’s personality always made her seem small, and she was small for a wyvern, but even a short wyvern still towered over a wyrm.

“Thank you,” Crystal whispered as she pulled back.

Finally, Heart stood before him. She didn’t look happy, or angry, or anything, really. Cliff couldn’t guess what she was thinking.

A few seconds passed as they stared at each other, and then Heart sighed and looked behind her at Tornado’s massive form. “He’s going to be fine.”

“That’s good.” Cliff took a breath. “Look, Heart-”

“Could you go get the rest of the family?”

“Uh, what?” Cliff looked from her to the Everfree Platoon and back again. “I mean, yes, I can.”

“Thanks.” Heart kept her eyes on Tornado. “It’s just, before whatever happens next, I want to give you all a hug, even the ones I don’t know very well yet, like Spirit and his … whatever you call a pony significant other.”

“Special somepony.” Cliff looked at the Alliance warriors again. “I’ll call them.” He reached out through his link to Fire Eyes and extended the invitation.

“We’re here!” Fluttershy sent, appearing a few seconds later with Genesis in tow.

The brown wyrm shrank under the gazes of his former allies and scooted a bit closer to Fluttershy.

In spite of that, both of them joined Cliff’s parents, Spirit, and Autumn in crossing the invisible barrier between the two sides.

Heart pulled him into a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay. I promised Rune I’d look after you.”

“I know.” Genesis hugged her back. “I just … I couldn’t stand by and let one of my friends lose their spouse too.”

Heart pulled back a bit and studied his face. “Your wife would be proud of you.” She hugged him again.

“I,” Genesis’s voice caught, “I hope so.”

Next Heart hugged both of Cliff’s parents. “I worried every day that our patrols would find one of your scouting parties and wipe you out.”

“We’re pretty hard to find,” Sky Painter said. He laughed. “We actually saw you on patrol a couple of times.”

“Really?” Heart asked.

Scenic Trail rolled her eyes. “I had to stop him from slipping you a note that said hi.”

They let go, and Heart turned her attention to Spirit and Autumn. “It’s nice to see that you two have gotten closer.” She hugged Autumn. “Thank you for telling everyone about you and your father. I know how hard it was, but you helped prevent this from turning into another bloody battle.”

“Life in general is hard,” Autumn said, “but in a strange way, you owe your thanks to Chrysalis as much as to me. One of her changelings helped me get past my anger enough to speak about it.”

Spirit cleared his throat. “Actually, the changeling that helped you was Chrysalis in disguise.”

Autumn stared at him. “What? But I whipped that changeling!”

Everyone stared at her.

“You whipped your dead father?” Talon asked. She turned to Cliff. “Is that normal?”

“There were extenuating circumstances,” Spirit said quickly. “Let’s just leave it at that.”

Heart gave him a hug as well before finally coming to Fluttershy, who stood next to Cliff. “It’s been a long time.” She wrapped her arms around the pegasus. “It feels like a lifetime ago that we met at the bank of that river.”

Fluttershy returned the embrace with her wings. “I feel the same way. Thank you for being Cliff’s friend while he was with the Alliance.”

Talon’s brow furrowed. “How did you do that, anyway? You were studying in your lab with Clodhopper and Yol Toor at the same time that Heart was talking to you by that river.”

Heart looked over at Cliff. “You told me that it had something to do with Discord, but you never said anything else.”

“It’s a pretty long story,” Cliff said, looking around, “but I guess we don’t have anything else to do.” He sat down on the floor and waited for everyone else to get settled as well. “From my point of view, it all started a few days after talking with Heart by the riverbank …”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Yol Toor reappeared in the hallway beyond his cell, Celestia at his side. “Halt!” he roared.

“Stop fighting, all of you!” Celestia added.

In front of them, surrounded by shattered walls and a broken floor, stood the Hurricanes of Wind and Fire, and a suit of golden armor that could only be Providence. Just beyond them were Princess Luna, Princess Twilight, and two wyrms that Yol Toor didn’t recognize.

The combatants all slowed, exchanging one or two final blows before the two groups backed away from each other.

Silence fell as Providence and the Hurricanes turned toward Yol Toor and Celestia.

“As a member of the Council,” Yol Toor said firmly, “I call for a vote of peace with Equestria as soon as all members of the Council have been healed and are awake.”

“You want peace?” Typhoon, the Hurricane of Wind, said incredulously. “Peace would only give Equestria time to gather its forces and exterminate us once and for all.”

“They could do that if they desired,” Yol Toor said, looking to Celestia, “but I do not believe that they would.”

Typhoon shook her head. “I will not trust the survival of the wyvern race to the whims of our enemies. Celestia must have warped your mind if you would think differently about your own clan.”

Providence approached the wyvern leader. “Then what terms of peace would you accept?” It’s voice held a metallic echo, but it was nowhere near the icy hiss of death and metal that Yol Toor had expected.

“Destroy everything that Equestria could use to harm us,” Typhoon said. “Only then will we be safe to live in peace.”

Night Fire, the Hurricane of Fire, nodded. “Other Hurricanes tried peace with the lions more than once. The cost for their foolishness was always wyvern lives.”

“I am sorry,” Providence said quietly, then its hammer flashed through the air, obliterating the heads of both wyverns in a single blow. Shards of bone and droplets of blood fell to the ground around them.

Every other creature in the hallway fell into a fighting stance, watching Providence warily.

Providence looked down at the corpses for a moment before shifting its gaze to Yol Toor and Celestia. “Thinking such as that is what led to the creation of the Requiem Guard. The world will be a better place without these two.” It wiped a bit of scale and bone off the end of its hammer.

“It most likely will,” Yol Toor said, grimacing at the sight. His instincts all screamed in protest at the betrayal he had just witnessed, but he reminded himself that other races weren’t bound by honor the way drakes were. “New Hurricanes will be elected to replace these two, but I will not let you kill them, even if they are just as bad. Oppression and murder cannot be used to create real peace.”

Providence simply nodded.

Silence fell on the hallway once more, as Yol Toor looked around. His daughters were nowhere in sight, but he did find Silver Tail at the top of a hole in the ceiling. His oldest friend’s body had been lodged into the stone there, and at least two of his legs were broken.

The Hurricane of Venom lay dead against one wall. Someone, most likely Luna, had punched him with enough force to collapse his entire chest cavity. The Hurricanes of Ice and Thunder were both unconscious on the floor nearby.

“We need to gather the wounded,” Celestia said. “A battle is taking place in the Palace, and we must stop it before anyone else dies.” Her horn lit up, and Silver Tail was plucked from the ceiling and floated down to them. Meanwhile, Dun Brii and Qo Peyt floated from a hole in the wall.

Yol Toor gasped in relief; they were unconscious, but alive. “Yes. Lead on, Celestia.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Brilliant light filled the banquet hall, and Celestia’s thunderous voice shouted, “Stop fighting!”

Cliff looked up from where he was sitting with his friends and family, including most of Talon’s squadron. A truly unexpected sight greeted him.

Celestia stood with Luna, Twilight, Zephyr, and both of Cliff’s grandparents, but Yol Toor was also there, and one of the Requiem Guard, and Silver Tail, both of Yol Toor’s daughters, and two of the Hurricanes. Ten royal guards were there as well, Yol Toor’s jailers, and that unicorn who had apparently tried to kill Yol Toor at some point.

“Uh,” Spirit said on Cliff’s left, “we never started fighting, so we can’t exactly stop.”

Some members of their little group chuckled.

Celestia looked around in confusion. “What happened here? I expected the Castle to be a battlefield.”

“You can kind of thank Chrysalis for forcing us into a position where we had to talk,” Spirit said. “Just finish punishing her for it first.”

Heart stood up. “Princess Celestia, is it okay if I come over there and heal some of the wounded? Silver Tail looks like someone tied him up and rolled him down the side of a mountain.”

Luna smirked.

“Yes,” Celestia said. “Almost all of us would benefit from healing.”

“I’ll help.” Spirit stood up.

Cliff joined him. “Me too.”

Celestia turned to the rest of the room. “All of you deserve to know what happened in the dungeon. Obviously, there was a fight between us, and lives were lost. Hopefully they will be the last deaths of this war. I released Yol Toor, who has called for a vote of peace as soon as the Council can be gathered.”

“Or as soon as six members of the Council choose peace,” Yol Toor said. “A majority vote is final even if some members are absent.”

Heart paused in front of him. “I really hope you’re not a changeling, but I wouldn’t say anything even if you were. I know the real Yol Toor would want peace, no matter what.” She turned to the rest of the Alliance’s forces. “Whoever our fastest flight team is, take off for the Shattered Mountain Caves. We need Drake Lord Torch back here as soon as possible.”

“I wondered where he was,” Cliff said as he healed Silver Tail.

“Someone had to be in charge while we were gone,” Heart said. “Getting super huge wasn’t going to help much in the middle of a dungeon.”

Silver Tail stirred and groaned. “Ugh, remind me to slap whoever came up with those exploding gems.”

Cliff did his best to look innocent.

“It’s good to see you again, old friend.” Yol Toor knelt next to Silver Tail, smiling warmly.

“Yol Toor. What happened?” Silver Tail reached up and pulled the other dragon into a hug. “Actually, I don’t care right now. Let’s just vote for peace and end this stupidity.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

The surviving dragon champions all started to wake up as they were healed, and within a few minutes, they were coherent enough to cast their votes.

Silence fell over the banquet hall as the Council members positioned themselves in a circle, midway between their own forces and the Equestrians. Celestia and the other pony leaders stood a respectful distance away.

“Welp,” Silver Tail said, “before we vote, it seems only fair that we promote at least one of the new Hurricanes. As always, it’s whoever has been in the highest position the longest.” He coughed then winced and pressed a paw to his chest. “Talon, get over here.”

Talon, who was still sitting with Cliff’s friends and family, got up and walked to Silver Tail. She bowed deeply. “What is it?”

“You’re the new Hurricane of Venom. Congratulations. Now let’s vote.”

Cliff couldn’t see Talon’s face from where he was sitting, but he could well imagine the baffled look coming over her. It was probably the same one he wore.

“Wh-what do you mean?” Talon asked. “I’m not the highest ranking venom wyvern. I’m just a Senior Wing.”

“Your wyvern rank isn’t very high,” Silver Tail said, “but you were officially the representative of the wyrms while Heart was imprisoned. You stepped down when she came back, but we never actually demoted you. You still have the highest wyrm rank in the Alliance, making you equal to a Hurricane and the obvious choice for the new Hurricane of Venom.”

Talon looked to the Hurricanes of Ice and Thunder. Both of them stared at her for a moment before grudgingly nodding.

Heart pulled Talon into a hug. “Silver Tail, you sneaky little dragon! Did you have that planned all along?”

Silver Tail smiled. “Well, there’s a reason why I convinced Typhoon to make Talon your replacement.” He turned to Talon. “So, let’s vote. Those in favor of peace?”

Talon’s wing shot up, as did Heart’s hand, and the paws of Silver Tail, Yol Toor, Dun Brii, and Qo Peyt.

“Six votes for peace.” Silver Tail grinned. “By majority vote, the Dragon Alliance is no longer at war with Equestria.”

A chorus of cheers went up among the dragons in the room. It wasn’t the kind of wild enthusiasm that Cliff had always imagined would usher in peace. Rather, it was like a collective sigh of relief, mixed with tears and bits of laughter.

Talon sank to the ground, crying with the others as she wrapped her wings around Heart and hugged her.

“So,” Cliff whispered to Celestia, “what happens now?”

Celestia smiled and tapped the floor with her hoof, drawing the room’s attention. “I can’t tell you all how glad I am to have witnessed this. Yol Toor and I discussed the details of a lasting peace treaty, which leaders from both Equestria and the Alliance will need to vote on, but first, as a show of good faith, I hereby enact a motion that was accepted by the Crystal Empire some time ago. A large area of farmland within the Empire now belongs to the Dragon Alliance. The ponies who work there will be informed immediately, and they have three days to remove any items or equipment that they wish to keep.”

Most of the Alliance looked shocked or thrilled by this turn of events, but Heart actually looked worried. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” she asked. “It’s a wonderful gesture, but do you really think we should put dragons and ponies into close contact right now? All it will take is one incident escalating into a riot to start another war.”

“I believe I have a solution for that as well,” Celestia said. She turned slowly, looking around the entire room. “Equestria is perhaps the most prosperous nation on earth, and I fear that it has gone to many of our heads. We need to remember that our ways are not necessarily the best, and they are certainly not the only ways. We need to respect other cultures and traditions, even if we do not share them.” She walked to Yol Toor, bowing deeply in front of him. “For the injustices I committed against the Dragon Alliance, I offer myself as your debtor for one year.”

The gasps and shouts were deafening.

Cliff didn’t say anything, mostly because he didn’t know what Celestia was up to. For starters, he had no idea what injustices she had committed against the Alliance. Well, other than blitzing their base for a month and a half, killing dozens. That had been an act of war, though, and the Alliance had done as bad or worse to the Crystal Empire. So why was Celestia offering to become Yol Toor’s underling and clan member for a year?

Yol Toor looked similarly confused.

“Celestia,” Luna almost shouted, “hast thou lost thine mind? What of Equestria? How would it function without thee?”

“Thou art a capable ruler thyself,” Celestia replied. “Thou canst certainly rule in my stead for a single year. And the benefits shall far outweigh the costs.” She turned back to Yol Toor. “Do you accept me as your debtor?”

He waited for the commotion to die down before speaking, “The Alliance attacked Equestria first, and under incorrect premises at that …” He trailed off as Celestia looked up at him. He must have seen something in her expression, because his eyes widened just slightly.

Cliff almost missed the hint of a smile that crossed his lips.

Yol Toor cleared his throat. “I will not take you as a debtor, but I will gladly accept you as a member of the Shattered Mountain Clan and ask that you live with us for a time, so that you can better understand our ways and teach us your own. Your experience as a leader and administrator will certainly be crucial in the coming months.”

“Smart,” Spirit whispered.

“What is?” Cliff asked.

“She’s offering herself as a living shield,” Spirit said. “Equestria won’t dare attack the Alliance if she’s living with them, and Yol Toor basically just asked her to help them build their government while she’s at it.”

“Perhaps a member of the Council should be sent as a permanent diplomat to Equestria,” the Hurricane of Ice said. “If Equestria would allow it, of course.”

Celestia nodded. “Of course.”

“Then I nominate our newest Hurricane, Talon Wind.” She turned to Talon with an expression that was decidedly less than friendly. “Will you accept?”

Talon hesitated and looked around at her squadron. “Yes,” she said at last. “I accept.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Talon had once thought that nothing could be as long and boring as strategy meetings with the Hurricanes. Oh, how wrong she’d been. Dawn was breaking, and Equestria’s leaders and the Council were still sitting around discussing the ins and outs of the peace treaty. Luckily, Princess Cadance had called for a short break so everyone could stretch their legs.

Providence had remained almost completely silent during the long meeting. He had only spoken up once, to state that he intended to found a minotaur town in the ruins of the city where he used to live. Now that they were taking a break, though, he was walking out of the castle and toward the edge of the city.

Talon didn’t know why she wound up following behind him. Tornado was still unconscious, so it wasn’t like she had anything else to do.

They reached the edge of the city, a small wall that separated them from the drop to the valley floor beyond. Providence turned and looked back at her. “This is where we part ways, dragonling.”

“What?”

“Go check on your friend.” His war hammer smashed through the wall three times, leaving a hole just large enough for his massive frame.

Talon paused. He was leaving them now? “But what about finding your descendants? Celestia said she’d have her scholars look through the records for you.”

“I realize that she is a good leader and a firm advocate for peace,” Providence said, “but I wish to find my family on my own.” He turned around and knelt down so that he could look Talon in the eyes. He pulled off his helmet, revealing a ghostly blue head beneath. She had never seen his face before. It was strong and resolute but also lined with years of focus and worry. What really made Talon pause, however, was the bit of anxiety dancing in his eyes. “Would you believe that I’m afraid of what will happen when I find them?” He shook his head and chuckled, a deep sound that rumbled through the air. “They say a soldier is trained for every aspect of duty except for how to go home again, and I think my case is more complicated than most.”

Talon didn’t say anything.

Providence put his helmet back on and stood up. “Enjoy the peace you have earned, dragonling. I will return if the Alliance needs me again.” Then he stepped through the broken wall, plunging from view.

“Wait!” Talon rushed to the edge after him, looking down at the golden suit as it fell away. “Thank you, for everything!”

She hoped that he heard her.

Eventually Providence hit the ground and started walking slowly but steadily to the west, away from the rising sun.

Talon sat down at the edge and watched him go, reflecting on his parting words. The war was officially over. No more group training exercises. No more patrols. No more battles. No more funerals. What exactly would replace all of that? Her new duties as ambassador would keep her busy, but what about the rest of the Alliance?

What would happen to Synapse without her? Would it be dissolved, scattering her underlings among the other squadrons? They deserved better than that. Yes, Synapse was still technically the least experienced squad in the Alliance, but Talon liked to think that they’d proven themselves to be more than just another batch of recruits.

Talon didn’t know how long she’d been sitting there when a familiar voice called her name.

She turned around. “Tornado, you’re awake?” She shook her head. “I mean, obviously you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

Tornado looked a little weak, probably the aftereffects of the beating he had taken, but he just shrugged and sat next to her. “Yol Toor is free and this war is over.”

Talon shifted a bit to look at him. “You sound disappointed. I thought you’d be ecstatic.”

“I am very proud of you all,” he said without smiling. “Yol Toor helped create peace even while imprisoned, Heart Echo signed the treaty confirming it, and you will be a diplomatic envoy to Equestria. All I did was unlock my aura and then get defeated instantly regardless.”

She rolled her eyes and put a wing around his shoulders. “First off, you probably saved my life when you distracted Chrysalis. Second, she’s supposed to be nearly as powerful as Celestia. It would have taken Silver Tail or Yol Toor to defeat her. Third, I’m going to be in Everfree Village most of the time. They thought it would be a good idea to let me adapt to pony society away from all the reporters.”

“Regardless,” Tornado said, “I promise to train even harder to keep you safe.”

“You aren’t my battle partner anymore. Well, maybe you are … I hope you are, at least.” Talon sighed. “We haven’t had a chance to talk about how the Alliance is going to work now that we aren’t at war.”

Tornado shrugged. “We will go where you go.”

“You know the Hurricanes only volunteered me because I’m expendable, right?”

“You are not expendable, Talon.” Tornado pulled her into a hug.

“I am to the Hurricanes,” Talon said quietly, though she leaned into the hug. “Well, to the rest of the Hurricanes. Apparently I’m one of them now.”

“They are blind fools,” Tornado said. “The Hurricanes have never been better than they are with you as one of their number.”

Talon didn’t respond. Her eyes drifted over Tornado’s wings to the countryside below. She realized that she couldn’t see Providence anymore.

“You know,” Talon finally said, “I’m the youngest wyvern in history to become one of the Hurricanes. I should be thrilled, or honored, or something, but instead, I feel dirty just being associated with the rest of them.”

Tornado squeezed her shoulders gently with his wings.

“I think they’re hoping some pony will kill me while I’m serving as the ambassador,” Talon said. “It will give them an excuse to start this war all over again. That, and I can’t vote on the Council if I’m halfway across the continent, not that it will help much. Even without me, the five drake lords will be able to outvote them.” She smiled a little at that.

“Nothing will harm you,” Tornado said. “Synapse will make sure of it.”

“Synapse?” Talon shook her head against his chest. “The Storm only knows where they’ll end up.”

“We will go where you go,” Tornado said again. “I ran into Prince Spirit Shield while I was looking for you, and he gave us permission to follow you to Everfree Village.”

For a moment, Talon was speechless. “You need to stop volunteering dragons for things.”

“I did nothing of the sort. The Squad discussed it, and we voted unanimously to follow you, wherever you may go.”

“But …” Talon pushed him away enough to break off the hug. “But all of our friends and family members will be up north with the rest of the Alliance. You won’t even get the peaceful lives you’ve been fighting for.”

Tornado met her gaze firmly. “All of us would rather be alone with you than together with the dragons that sent you away.”

Talon leaned back into his embrace and wiped away a few tears that had somehow gotten on her cheeks. “You’re stupid, you know, giving up everything for me.” She hugged him back. “Thank you.”

He didn’t say anything, for which she was grateful. There was an entire world of noisy insanity and mind-numbing repetition out there waiting for them. Talon wanted to stay here a little longer, where everything was quiet, filled only with the sound of wind and the beating of Tornado’s heart.

Chapter 63

Time was a very strange thing when Fluttershy stopped to think about it. Everyone experienced it, but it was different for everyone too. Five months was barely a blink to Celestia, but to Miracle it was almost her entire life. For Fluttershy herself, five months was a constant struggle to leave the past behind her and embrace the future. Weekly meetings with Dr. Insight helped, but the past still had a way of creeping up on her.

She woke with a gasp, covered in sweat and shivering from the cold. Somehow she knew that she was in danger, and that thought was confirmed a second later when she realized that a pair of scaly arms had wrapped around her, pinning her wings to her sides as sharp claws grazed her unprotected body.

Shouting in fear, Fluttershy pushed the arms away and jumped to her hooves, turning quickly to use the Stare on-

It was Cliff, scrambling to his own feet and looking around in confusion. “What is it? Who’s attacking?”

From her cradle next to the nest, Miracle began to cry.

Fluttershy put a hoof to her chest and took several deep breaths, fighting to push down the terror that had threatened to overwhelm her just seconds earlier. “I … I’m sorry.” More breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. “It happened again … I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Cliff got Miracle out of her crib and held her against his shoulder while he bounced gently up and down. “I needed to get up soon anyway.”

“Right, you’re testing that new suit against Tornado.” Fluttershy shivered from the sweat that covered her body. “Um, can you get Miracle her breakfast while I shower quickly, please?”

“No problem.” He kissed her and went into the hallway that led downstairs.

There was no such thing as a too-hot shower, not with her wedding necklace protecting her from heat, and so Fluttershy turned the temperature up as high as it would go and allowed herself a moment to soak in the heat.

Winter was definitely here once again, and Fluttershy was still kicking her blankets off when she slept. Maybe she could have Twilight enchant the house to stay warmer during the night. Twilight would have more free time now that she wasn’t helping teach Talon about pony culture.

After rinsing off and drying, Fluttershy made her way downstairs.

Cliff was helping Miracle hold her bottle as she drank. “Hey there, beautiful.” He smiled. “Feeling better?”

She nodded, feeling ashamed. “I’m sorry that I’m still doing this.”

“The war affected us all.” He leaned down and kissed Miracle on the forehead. “Besides, you’re getting better. This is the first time you’ve had night terrors all week.”

“It’s Monday, Cliff, but … thank you.” She motioned back towards the stairs. “You’d better get ready.”

Cliff hugged her, cradling Miracle between them. “Wish me luck today.”

She hugged him back with her wings. “Good luck. I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too.” Cliff went upstairs to the spare bedroom he had converted into a rune lab. He came back a few minutes later, wearing his suit of Everfree Armor. “See you in an hour or so. Love you.”

Fluttershy managed to look directly at him as he left. “I love you too.”

Miracle finished her bottle quickly, and Fluttershy burped her before checking the mail slot by the door.

There wasn’t much, just a letter from her mother. Fluttershy opened it with her wings.

Dear Fluttershy,

Unfortunately, it seems that we won’t be able to make it to Miracle’s party today. One of the new recruits went and got herself hospitalized defending a wyvern in Canterlot, and I’m sure you can guess who they asked to help deal with the media circus.

It’s a good thing that the Alliance ambassador will be moving to Canterlot soon. Most of Equestria still hates the Dragon Alliance, and it’s about time somedragon was around to try and fix that. They probably would have voted to attack again if Celestia weren’t living with the dragons up north.

Oh, and the next time you see Discord, tell him to give back my sense of humor. I don’t know how he did it, but I am literally incapable of laughter ever since we saw him during our visit last week.

Love,

Madam Silver Lining

Fluttershy sighed. Discord was nearly back to full strength again, and a part of her wondered if that was for the best.

Someone knocked at the door.

“Just a moment.” Fluttershy opened the door and found Cliff’s mother standing there, holding a squirming gray hatchling with green head spikes. A thin layer of snow covered the ground behind her. “Good morning, Trail.”

“Morning.” She yawned. “Sorry to make you watch Zip again.”

Miracle perked up at the name. “Zih?”

“Yes, dear.” Fluttershy set Miracle down, and Trail did the same with Zip.

The two immediately began chasing each other around the front room.

Trail shook her head. “Those two are definitely Cliff’s daughter and little sister. I used to have to chase him all over the cavern just to get him to sit down long enough to eat.”

Fluttershy smiled as she imagined that. According to Trail, Zip was almost exactly like Cliff when he had been a hatching.

The little gray hatchling was barely more than a month younger than Miracle, hatched just days after the peace treaty was signed. She had been all but inseparable from Miracle from the moment they first saw each other.

“I don’t mind watching her,” Fluttershy said. “I can’t handle morning training anyway.” She had tried it a few times since getting back, but she couldn’t bring herself to fight anymore unless real lives were depending on her. “You just missed Cliff.”

“I’ll see if I can catch up to him.” Trail turned and jogged off. “Thanks again. I’ll watch Miracle this afternoon, like usual.”

Fluttershy waved to her departing mother-in-law before turning her attention to the young kirin and wyrm in her front room. Miracle was hovering a few feet off the ground, giggling at Zip’s attempts to jump up to her. “Miracle,” Fluttershy said, “it’s unfair to use your wings. You might be Zip’s niece, but you’re still older than her and should set a good example.”

Miracle grumbled a bit, but then she dove onto the floor and started running away with Zip in hot pursuit.

Another knock came at the door.

Maybe Scenic Trail forgot something. Fluttershy opened the door and blinked in surprise.

Four of Rarity stood outside her door. One was obviously fighting to control her giggles, while a second levitated a brown box next to her. All four of them smiled. “Good morning, Fluttershy” they said in unison.

Fluttershy turned to the one that was levitating the box. “Good morning, Rarity. What brings you by this early?”

That Rarity looked around self-consciously. “I’d actually rather talk about it inside, if you don’t mind.”

“No, it’s fine.” She stepped back and motioned for them to come in. “Oh, and Discord,” she turned to giggling one, “you said you were going to give Mom’s sense of humor back after one day.”

“Well she never used it,” Discord said, talking with his normal voice. “I just wanted to let the poor thing get some exercise.”

Fluttershy gave him a flat look.

“Oh, fine.” He shifted back to his normal form. “I’ll go give it back now.” He snapped his lion claw and disappeared.

“Discord was easy,” another Rarity said, “but can you tell who the rest of us are?”

“Well you’re Zeph.” Fluttershy closed the door and gave him a hug.

Zeph transformed back into a fox. “How’d you know?”

“Nymph isn’t competitive enough to ask something like that.” She turned to the fourth Rarity. “Although I am surprised you haven’t tried to flirt with me yet.”

He shrugged and said in Rarity’s voice, “I didn’t want to give myself away completely.”

Fluttershy nodded and gave the real Rarity a hug. “And the color of your magic aura let me know it was you all along.” She motioned to the box Rarity was levitating. “What’s that, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Rarity cleared her throat. “Actually, it’s a little something for you.” She opened the box and held it out to Fluttershy.

She looked inside. “Edible underwear?”

“You did say that your, ah,” Rarity blushed, “physical relationship with Cliff isn’t what it once was. I thought this might help.”

“Or you could just let me transform into you for the night,” Nymph said. “I can guarantee he’ll come back for seconds.”

Rarity slapped him with her tail.

“What?” Nymph asked. “She can join in too, or should I have offered to transform into Cliff for her instead?”

“Thank you, Nymph,” Fluttershy said, “but this sort of problem is common in combat veterans with battle trauma.” She smiled, remembering the intimate moment they’d shared yesterday. “It’s taking time, but Cliff and I are working through it bit by bit.” She carefully closed up the box and set it behind her. “Thank you, though, Rarity. I’ll see if he’s interested in using these.”

“So that’s a no for transforming into one of you?” Nymph asked.

Rarity groaned. “So help me, you are going to be my first sparring partner today, and I am going to pound some etiquette into you.” She turned to Fluttershy. “I’ll see you at breakfast, dear. Take care.” Then she almost dragged Nymph out the front door.

“By the way,” Zeph said. “I got word that my honor guard made it back home safe and sound. They’ll be sending a diplomatic envoy in the spring, though.”

“Is that why you decided to stay?” Fluttershy asked. “You want to help set things up before they get here?”

“That’s one of the reasons,” Zeph said. “Another is the kirins.” He gestured to Miracle. “I think we’ll be seeing more of them in the coming years, so I may as well stay where I’m needed.”

Fluttershy thought about it. Some of the younger ponies and dragons in town were dating. It would be a while before any of them were in a position to start a family, but then again, Zeph was over six-hundred years old. A few years was probably nothing to him. “I think I understand, and I’m glad that you’re staying.” She hugged him again.

Zeph returned the embrace. “So am I. Now if a certain dragon would just get his head on straight, we could be seeing another kirin in as little as another year.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

In their house at the other side of the Village, Spirit got the strangest feeling that someone was talking about him.

“Is there anything interesting in the paper?” Autumn asked, tying up her mane so it wouldn’t get in the way during training.

“Just some more pictures of Mom, Celestia, helping dragons dig for gemstones.” Spirit said. “I don’t know why they still think that’s newsworthy after so long.”

“Who knows?” Autumn finished with her mane. “I’m surprised they haven’t mentioned how much she’s done to help them create a better government. Didn’t Talon say they’re holding their first election next month?”

“I think so.” Spirit flipped to the next page of the newspaper. “Dirt clods. Chrysalis’s appeal went through. She’ll have to wear a power limiter and pay a big fine, but that’s it.”

Autumn groaned. “Sometimes I feel that she was the true victor in this war. She started as a fugitive and ended as one of the most powerful businessmares in Equestria.”

“At least some good came of it,” Spirit said, skimming through the article. “More and more changelings are leaving the brothel. I guess it’s worth putting up with her if it means the entire changeling race gets the chance to live peacefully in Equestria.”

“Yes, though it would have been even better if changelings got their freedom and Chrysalis had been condemned to rot in a cell somewhere.”

Spirit nodded and tossed the newspaper onto the table. “I guess you can’t have everything.” He got up and walked to the door. “Okay, let’s go.”

They left the house and started making their way to the training grounds. Snow from the night before crunched beneath their feet, and their breath came out in misty puffs. Sometimes, Spirit really missed the heating enchantment in his armor.

“So,” Autumn said, “any new guesses as to what I said yes to?”

Spirit sighed. “I ran out of ideas months ago. You said moving in together was close.”

“It is,” Autumn kissed him, “and I do enjoy having you to myself.”

“Your Mom lives with us,” Spirit pointed out.

“In a mother-in-law apartment.”

Spirit went up on his back legs and shoved his hands into his armpits. “You know, technically it isn’t a mother-in-law apartment, since we’re not married. And unless you were saying that yes, you would marry me, I think we should rename it a marefriend’s mother’s apartment.”

Autumn stumbled a bit.

Spirit paused. “That wasn’t what you were saying yes to, was it?”

She didn’t meet his eyes.

“Oh my Celestia, it was!” Spirit sat down then jumped right back up when his underside touched the snow.

Autumn blushed. “I can’t believe you took so long to figure it out.”

Spirit self-consciously wiped snow off his rump. “I didn’t want to bring it up again after the fight we got in over it a few years ago.”

“A lot has happened since then.”

“You’re not kidding,” he gripped her shoulder, “but what changed?”

She put her hoof over his hand. “I used to be afraid of myself, afraid that I’d turn into my father.” She patted his hand. “You saw me at my worst, though, completely overwhelmed by my anger and hatred, and you still loved me. You also reminded me that even my father had redeeming qualities, so maybe I did too.” She smiled at him nervously. “I thought you would guess what I was talking about that same day.”

“And it never occurred to you to just tell me?” Spirit asked.

She looked away. “I’m not very good at taking the first step with things that frighten me, but … I am sorry.”

Spirit sighed and pulled her into a hug. “Apology accepted.” He felt a little angry, and perhaps justifiably so, but they both knew it would pass. In fact, a warm grin was already splitting his face by the time he let go. “So we’re engaged now?”

“We’ve been engaged for months,” Autumn said. “It just took you a while to realize it.”

“I can deal with that!” Spirit sped up a bit. “Let’s get to the training field. I can’t wait to tell everyone!”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Meanwhile, Cliff was standing at the edge of the training field, watching the villagers spar. He stood here for a minute or two every morning before he started his own training, just looking around. Something about all the dragons and ponies fighting without actually trying to harm each other always grabbed his attention.

“Morning, Cliff!” Scootaloo called, flying over to him and giving him a big hug.

The rest of the Crusaders followed, practically engulfing him.

Cliff smiled. “Morning, girls.”

“Will it be much longer until you come back to teaching?” Sweetie asked.

“I don’t know,” Cliff said softly. “It should be soon, but Luna really wants us to finish designing the new suits.”

“But,” Sweetie said, “if you don’t come back quickly, you won’t be our teacher when we graduate.”

“We can help with the suits,” Apple Bloom said. “We practically built the first ones from scratch.”

Whisper gave him a pleading look.

Cliff sighed. “Okay, you can all help, but only after you’ve finished your homework for the day, and you have to take weekends off.” Whisper needed at least some time to spend with that griffon she was dating, and the other three deserved a chance to pursue their own interests as well.

“Deal,” Apple Bloom said. “So what are you experimentin’ with today?” She tapped her hoof against his suit. “You’ve got your armor on, and you reserved one of our drake-size dueling rings.”

“I-is it a t-test run of the new enchantments?” Whisper asked.

“Is it?” Scootaloo’s eyes lit up. “Can we watch?”

“… Sure.” Cliff disentangled himself from the four of them and started walking. “The others are probably waiting for us already?”

“What others?” Sweetie asked.

“Synapse,” Cliff replied.

Like he’d guessed, the former Alliance squadron was waiting at the designated ring. A small crowd of other dragons and ponies had gathered around them, including Blueblood and Trixie, who were visiting from Canterlot again. Cliff’s focus didn’t stay on them long, though. It went to the closest group of dragons, Fire Eyes, Heart, Genesis, and Clodhopper.

“Glad to see you could make it,” Fire Eyes said. “Heart and I were just taking bets on who’s going to win this little duel.” She grinned. “Want to know how much I bet on you losing?”

“You didn’t bet anything,” Heart said. “We both think that Tornado will win.”

Cliff rolled his eyes. “I’m really feeling the love, you two.”

“Besides,” Scootaloo said, “Cliff is going to kick flank!” She turned to him and whispered, “Which one is Tornado again?”

“The golden drake,” Cliff said. “He’s the one stretching in the ring.”

“I think Cliff can win,” Genesis said.

Heart chuckled. “Of course you do. You developed a lot of the runes he’ll be using.”

“I helped too,” Clodhopper said, “but I’m still voting for Tornado.”

Cliff stepped past them into the ring. “This isn’t really a duel, you know. It’s just a test to see how the new enchantments work.” He approached the center of the ring. “Morning, Tornado.”

Tornado paused in the middle of stretching his wings. “Good morning, Cliff. I am excited for our match.”

“Me too,” Cliff glanced at the crowd he had left behind, “for the most part.”

“Is something wrong?” Tornado asked.

“No, I just hate dueling in front of an audience.”

“Why?” Tornado asked. “It is impolite for drakes to ignore a duel. It shows a lack of respect for the combatants.”

“Too long trying to keep my inventions secret.” Cliff started checking everything on his suit. All the traditional enchantments for Everfree armor were working perfectly, as were his personal additions, Discord’s cloak was responding correctly to his commands, and Genesis’s staff had linked with the suit’s command nexus. “Okay, we’ll follow the rules of a teaching duel. Tell me if there’s anything you don’t understand, and I’ll explain it to you.”

“Will you be teaching me something?” Tornado asked.

“Not exactly. The world is going to have years to study this armor. I’d rather see how it fares against opponents who know what to expect.” Cliff activated the dueling ring’s enchantment, bringing up a glowing shield around them. “Use any moves you want, just don’t turn on your aura yet.”

Tornado nodded and quickly grew into his battle form. He towered over Cliff, easily ten times his height, and Tornado was on all fours.

“You can make the first move,” Cliff said.

Tornado stomped down on him with his front paw.

There was a moment of pressure, and then Cliff transformed into shadows and mist, sliding between Tornado’s claws with ease before reforming on top of the drake’s paw.

A pair of energy blades extended from Cliff’s arms as he stabbed down into Tornado’s paw.

Tornado roared and flicked him aside. A flap of his wings sent dozens of Wind Spears crashing into Cliff’s armored form.

Cliff was thrown against the ring’s wall, but he noted with satisfaction that the suit had been able to take those hits without any damage.

Tornado must have noticed it too, because he flapped again, spitting out a ball of fire at the same time.

There was just enough time for Cliff to shut his eyes before something hit him in the stomach so hard that he transformed into shadows once more.

The Flame Lance was the latest move that Tornado had picked up from Silver Tail. It was based on a simple principle: heat causes air to expand. Tornado just funneled that expansion so that it was concentrated on a single point—in this case, Cliff’s stomach.

A ray of spiraling darkness shot from the staff on Cliff’s arm, sucking away some of Tornado’s magic and buying Cliff a second to activate the staff’s teleportation enchantment. He reappeared on Tornado’s back and sent a wave of kinetic energy straight down into the drake.

Tornado was knocked flat, but he rolled quickly, nearly smashing Cliff before he could jump out of the way.

Cliff rolled across the hard-packed dirt, twisting to shoot a blast of Tornado’s energy back at him. Cliff knew it wouldn’t be enough to do much harm, but it did shock the drake, buying him a moment to launch two anti-aura gems. Light surrounded Tornado as they went off, illuminating a pained wince.

Still, Tornado was far from finished. He flapped again, sending out a wave of magically infused air that filled the width and height of the ring.

Discord’s cloak formed into a shield on Cliff’s arm, protecting him against the wind as he launched another gem. “I think I’m ready for your aura now!”

Tornado met his gaze and nodded. “Be careful.” Then white, billowing light shot out from his scales, reflecting across the prismatic walls of their ring.

It was time to see what his suit was really capable of. Cliff dumped a bunch of magic into the staff and fired a beam of concentrated energy.

Tornado didn’t move, but wisps of his aura flickered out to the beam, deflecting it just enough that it shot over Tornado’s shoulder.

Cliff launched two more gems, but they were both deflected as well.

Before he could try something else, Tornado swept his wings swept back, and the air was forced from Cliff’s lungs.

Smart. Armor couldn’t protect against suffocation, and the sudden decompression would wreak havoc on Cliff’s body. Luckily, his suit registered that something was harming him and transformed him into shadows again. Shadows didn’t need to breathe, and the lack of pressure just made him spread out a bit.

Tornado flapped again, and the air came rushing back. This time, it wrapped around Cliff, trying to crush him. The pressure itself didn’t bother Cliff’s gaseous form, but all of Tornado’s magic mixed in with it sure did. He could feel it eating away at his essence like acid.

Cliff threw his gaseous form at the pressure field’s outer wall, reforming on the other side with a gasp of relief. He teleported behind Tornado and went invisible before the drake could do anything else, firing another anti-magic beam with one hand while he shot a gem with the other.

Both attacks struck true, but they barely did anything to Tornado’s aura, and the drake retaliated so quickly that Cliff was completely off guard.

Three beams of light shot from Tornado’s back, knocking Cliff backwards across the ground.

Tornado spun and launched a flurry of Wind Spears just as Cliff slid to a halt. These Wind Spears glowed with the light of Tornado’s aura, punching through Cliff with ease. Even worse, they didn’t fade.

Cliff reformed and slashed at one of the spears just to see what would happen. It was like hitting a piece of stone, and the magic in it made his hand ache.

Tornado kept flapping his wings, filling the entire ring with glowing spears. Quite a few of them even touched the drake, but he somehow moved through them like they weren’t even there.

Okay, so mobility isn’t an option anymore, and Tornado’s wind sense will let him find me in a few seconds every time I teleport. Time for my ace.

An extra-large dimensional pocket on Cliff’s back opened, sending out a cascade of gems that formed a loose sphere around him. Meanwhile, Cliff’s body transformed into shadows once more, spreading out to fill the sphere. He could feel his natural magic field stretching and expanding to fill the larger area, sucking up huge amounts of his suit’s power reserves to keep itself strong. The gems all attached themselves to the field’s outer edge, forming a complex network in the shape of Cliff’s body, just much bigger than normal.

Within five seconds, Cliff was staring out of a pair of emeralds that floated on the same level as Tornado’s eyes. Cliff grinned, pulling back amethyst lips to show diamond teeth. Of course, the teeth were visible all the time anyway. Each gem hovered a few inches from the others, so it would be easy to see through his entire form, even with the darkness that made up the puppet’s core.

Tornado stared at Cliff. “What in the name of the Storm is that?”

“I was trying to create a safe way for wyrms to use their battle form,” Cliff said. His voice sounded weak and raspy in his artificial ears, the side effect of not having real lungs. “It’s based on the principles of a drake aura and given stability from all these gems.” He gestured with one arm at the other. “By the way, the gems should slide around most physical attacks, but they’ll come together into a more solid mass when I try to hit or move something. I’m still working out the bugs, though, so we might have to take a break if the whole thing falls apart on me.”

Tornado grinned, then he laughed.

“What?”

Tornado stepped closer and pointed at one of the gems that made up Cliff’s claws. “Gemstone.” He gestured at the construct as a whole. “Aura.”

Cliff paused, then he smiled too. “I think we just found the perfect name for it.” He assumed a fighting stance, crushing several of Tornado’s Wind Spears in the process. “Shall we see what it can do? The gems themselves power this, but they can only store enough to keep it running for about eight minutes.”

“It would be my pleasure.” Then Tornado charged.

Cliff ducked low and brought his shoulder up into Tornado’s chest, generating a burst of kinetic energy for good measure.

Tornado stumbled back, giving Cliff an opportunity to strike again. He grabbed onto the drake’s chest and pushed him all the way to the other side of their training ring before picking him up and slamming him into ground.

Wind Spears shattered like crystal and the ground itself shook from the impact.

Cliff quickly positioned himself on Tornado’s chest and latched onto the drake’s arms with his own.

Tornado flapping his wings, hurling Cliff across the ring like he was weightless.

Right, I only weigh a few hundred pounds like this. Cliff mentally slapped himself for trying to pin Tornado down without anchoring himself somehow. He rolled onto his feet just in time to be sent flying by another wall of pressurized air.

A Flame Lance punched Cliff in the chest, tearing away at the shadows that were his essence.

Cliff gasped in pain, clutching at his chest. He made a mental note to develop some kind of long-range attack options for this form. He was basically helpless once his opponent was out of arm’s reach. Luckily, the teleportation runes in his staff still functioned.

He warped just above Tornado’s back, grabbing the drake’s wings and forcing them to his sides. His legs hooked around each other under Tornado’s belly, ensuring that he wouldn’t be thrown off again, and then Cliff spat out a blast of raw magic.

It wasn’t exactly Void Fire, more like an extremely unpolished version of the drake technique, but it still shredded through Tornado’s aura and dug into the scales across his back.

Tornado roared in pain and rolled again, crushing Cliff’s artificial body beneath his weight.

The gem network reformed itself almost instantly, just in time for the billowing wisps of Tornado’s aura to expand all at once, skewering nearly every part of Cliff’s artificial body.

It was just as painful as it sounded.

Tornado twisted around, ripping his wings and tail free, and sent a blast of wind at Cliff’s face.

The gems that made up his head went flying, but the rest of his body remained intact. Cliff slammed both of his palms down and generated as much kinetic energy as he could.

They both sank several feet into the hard earth, and Tornado’s aura quills retracted.

Cliff slammed down again, driving himself and Tornado even farther into the ground. He followed up with more energy breath.

Then Tornado did something completely unexpected, he shrank, slipping through the gems of Cliff’s body and into the chest cavity. Roaring fiercely, Tornado sent out a wave of magic and wind in all directions, tearing the gem network to pieces.

Cliff reappeared, suit and all, where his shadowy head had just been, falling to the ground with a thud. He rolled onto his feet, a gem in each hand, and launched them up at Tornado.

Tornado gasped and fell, barely catching himself before he hit the ground.

Another pair of gems appeared in Cliff’s hands, and he was about to launch them when he heard Tornado call, “Cliff, are you okay?”

Cliff froze.

“Were you hurt when I destroyed that false body?” Tornado’s eyes locked onto Cliff and he sighed in relief. “Good. For a moment, I thought I had seriously injured you.” That was when Cliff realized that Tornado was still in his thinking form, and his aura had grown so thin that it was difficult to see.

“I’m fine.” Cliff looked at the gems in his hands then sent them back to his suit’s storage enchantment. “Here, let me heal your back.”

“I am able to continue our duel if you so desire,” Tornado said, wincing a little as he crouched and spread his wings.

“I really don’t desire it,” Cliff said, stepping forward. “I have more than enough information to start building a better Gemstone Aura.” He smiled a little as he said the name. “Thank you for your help.”

Tornado’s aura flickered and disappeared, making the cuts and bruises on his body stand out a lot more. “It was an excellent duel.”

“It was.” Cliff started healing the drake’s wounded back. Luckily, the damage was mostly superficial. As he worked, Cliff looked around at the devastation their match had caused.

They were both standing in a large crater, roughly shaped like Tornado’s battle form, and foot-wide holes covered the rest of the ground inside the ring. Countless gems were scattered around the area as well. It would probably take him hours to pick all of them up.

“Cliff?” Tornado said after a moment. “Are you sure that these suits are a good idea? Equestria’s army will be nearly unstoppable with them.”

“I know,” Cliff said. “They could take over the world if they wanted to. I guess I’m just trusting and hoping that they’ll use the suits the way they’re intended, as a deterrent against war in general. It’s up to Celestia and Luna to do the other half and convince the world that Equestria’s willing to sit down and negotiate peacefully instead.”

Tornado smiled. “I am certain that Talon will help with that once we arrive in Canterlot.” His expression faltered. “Though I will miss you and the rest of this village.”

“You can always fly down to see us.” Cliff finished with Tornado’s back and started on the other cuts and bruises. “Or you can catch a ride with Luna when she teleports here to see Big Mac.” He paused. “Although I guess he usually goes up to Canterlot now that the harvest season is over.” Cliff had seen a lot of strange things, but Princess Luna harvesting apples had to be in the top ten.

“I will come as often as I can, but …” Tornado sighed. “It will not be the same, will it?”

“No.” Cliff bent down and picked up a gemstone, his eyes lingering in the direction of his house. “Things never stay the same.”

Fluttershy was different now, somehow both weaker and stronger than she had ever been. Many good dragons and ponies lay dead, but the two races were peacefully allied for the first time in history. He had a daughter now, a little ball of energy that he would do absolutely anything for. He considered the drake at his side to be one of his best friends. None of that would have happened without the war.

“Sometimes things get worse,” Cliff said, “but sometimes they get better. I guess the trick is to roll with it and try to be happy wherever life takes you. Now come on,” he gestured to the edge of the ring, “I bet everyone watching will want to tell you how amazing you were out there.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Talon hated to admit it, but Tornado had really impressed her in that duel. It wasn’t that he was powerful, although she certainly didn’t mind that. Rather, it was how compassionate he’d been, asking if Cliff was okay even in the middle of being attacked by the other dragon. That single-minded focus on the welfare of others really was one of his most endearing traits.

She stepped forward and hugged him when he walked out of the ring. “Good job, partner.”

He tried to suppress a grin, failing spectacularly. “I need to be powerful to keep you safe.”

“Yes,” Prince Blueblood said, “everyone important should have at least one great and powerful bodyguard.” He turned to the blue unicorn mare at his side. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

She rolled her eyes. “You don’t pay Trixie nearly enough to put up with you.”

Blueblood didn’t seem at all upset by that. He put his foreleg around her shoulders. “You make double what you did while working for the Solar Unicorns, and I give you paid vacations to tour the country and do your magic shows.”

Trixie grumbled something under her breath, but she didn’t remove his leg.

“Besides,” Blueblood continued, “I thought you enjoyed these diplomatic trips to Everfree Village. You get to do whatever you want while I give Talon here lessons on diplomacy and current affairs in Equestria.”

Trixie nodded.

“I even offered to help you with your show this time because Talon’s all finished with her lessons.”

“I get it!” Trixie yelled, drawing every eye in the crowd to her. She cleared her throat. “I mean, Trixie understands that you have been a gracious employer, but if you continue to boast about it,” she slid out from under his leg, “then you can forget about enjoying any more of Trixie’s special private shows.”

The crowd laughed, and Blueblood wilted a little. “Oh look at the time,” he motioned to the sun, “I should really start setting up for that show you kindly offered to do. I’m sure the villagers will love it.” He took off at a quick walk toward the Castle of the Two Sisters.

Talon shook her head and patted Tornado. “Have I ever said how grateful I am that you aren’t like either of those two?”

“No,” Tornado said, “though at least they seem happy together.”

“In a disturbing kind of way.” Talon turned and walked toward the smaller dueling rings. “Come on, I need to get in at least one match before training ends for the day.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Talon wound up fighting a unicorn. It was a close match, but her heart wasn’t really in it. She just couldn’t stop thinking that this was her last day living in Everfree Village. There weren’t even any lessons or items of business to keep her mind occupied. She wound up ordering Tornado to go rest while she flew lazy circles above the village, enjoying the sun’s warmth before winter set in completely.

It was peaceful up there, away from the stress of her responsibilities and the frustration of knowing that the Hurricanes both needed her and thought that she was expendable. There was nothing except the wind across her scales and the peaceful little village beneath her.

She flew all through the day, only coming down for meals, until at last the sun began to set. Talon was tempted to keep flying even then, but she decided to get her packing done early instead. The party would probably run late into the night, and she didn’t want to rush through packing everything in the morning.

Pinkie and Cheese had planned this party as a combination farewell for Synapse and to celebrate that Cliff’s daughter was turning six months old. Talon appreciated the effort; she just worried that someone would ask her to give a speech and then she’d break down and cry. She hated crying, especially in public.

At least packing was easy. One of the two bags in her flight pack got filled up with Twilight’s notes about pony culture and politics, and the other was taken up by some formal outfits from Rarity. Last of all, she packed Refy, the plush thunder wyvern that Talon had had since she was a hatchling. His polished stone eyes stared at her from over the bag’s side.

“I know,” she said quietly. “I don’t want to leave either. At least things are a lot better now than when we left the Aerie.” She pulled the lid down over Refy, securing him in place. Then she sat back and looked around the room she had been using as an office. She saw a desk, blank stone walls, a glowstone lamp, and a window looking out at a beautiful sunset, the kind that had fiery reds swirled in with calmer oranges, yellows, and even some wisps of purple.

Talon sat and watched it, taking in the fleeting beauty.

“Talon?” Crystal’s voice called from downstairs.

“Up here,” Talon said.

Crystal walked into the room a few seconds later. “I just checked with the rest of Synapse. They’re heading to the party now. Oh, and has Tornado found you yet? He kind of panicked when he woke up and you weren’t there.”

Talon sighed. “One of these days he’ll learn that I won’t die the second his back is turned.”

Crystal giggled. “I think it’s sweet that he cares so much.”

Talon rose and looked at the sunset one last time. “Anyway, I guess we should head to the party.” She motioned for Crystal to lead the way. “How’s your courtship with Cloud going?”

“Really well.” Crystal reached the stairs and went down to the ground floor of the small house they shared. Half of Synapse lived here, actually, with the other half next door. “We’re taking things slow for now.”

“Wyverns are at peace for the first time in our history,” Talon said. “Now’s a good time to take things slow.”

The party was already in full swing by the time Talon and Crystal arrived at the Castle of the Two Sisters. Most of the Village must have come out, filling the cafeteria with ponies and dragons of all sorts, many of whom were dancing to the energetic music that filled the air. Around the edges of the room, groups talked and laughed as they helped themselves to more kinds of food than Talon had once thought existed.

“Oooh, you made it!” Pinkie appeared out of nowhere and slapped a party hat onto both wyverns. “Now we can get started!”

“What do you mean?” Talon looked around the room. “Everyone’s already-” The pink pony was gone again. “Pinkie?”

“Attention everyone,” Pinkie said.

Talon followed her voice to the stage, where Pinkie stood with a microphone in one hoof.

“Both our guests of honor are here, and it only seems right that we give them each a chance to give a speech!”

Most of the room cheered.

Talon facewinged.

“So c’mon up, Miracle,” Pinkie continued. “You too, Talon!”

Talon made her way through the crowd, reaching the stage at about the same time as Cliff and Fluttershy. Miracle perched on Cliff’s back, looking around with equal parts nervousness and excitement.

Pinkie motioned for all of them to join her at the center of the stage. “Miracle, why don’t you go first?” She held the microphone out to her.

Miracle just stared at it in confusion.

“There’s no need to worry.” Pinkie brought the microphone a little closer. “Just say whatever’s on your mind.”

“Say you love your mama,” Cliff whispered.

“Love mama,” Miracle said.

“Aww,” Pinkie wiped away a tear. “That’s so sweet. Can you give us a big smile for your daddy?”

Miracle stared at her. “No?”

The crowd giggled.

Fluttershy nuzzled the little kirin’s stomach. “She just says that whenever she doesn’t understand what someone is saying to her. Miracle, say ‘I love daddy.’ ”

“Love dada.”

The whole room awwed, including Talon, but she’d be willing to deny it if asked.

“Thanks a ton for your touching speech.” Pinkie tickled Miracle’s side, earning a squeal of delight. “Now let’s turn things over to Talon.” She held out the microphone.

Talon sighed and took it, wrapping her wing around the unwanted item and holding it in place with her thumb. “I really don’t know what to say.”

Pinkie smiled reassuringly. “Whatever’s on your mind.”

Talon looked around the room for a moment. There were so many different color and creatures here. It reminded her of … “I was watching the sun set before I came.”

Great, possibly the worst opening line ever. Talon grit her teeth and pressed on. “I don’t know why, but the sunset today reminded me of when we left the Aerie over a year ago. Back then …” She growled and wiped her eyes. “Back then, I honestly thought I would be dead before the year was out.”

The room was silent. Even the music had stopped at some point. Talon didn’t know or care when. She just wanted to get through this with some shred of dignity left intact.

“I only survived because of my squadron. Thirty wyverns served with me at some point. Sixteen of them lost their lives. Two brave drakes fought alongside us, and I’m happy to say that they’re both still at my side.” She gestured to Tornado and Ember. “Five wyrms volunteered to help, expecting nothing in return. One of them died for that act of charity. Another was captured but escaped and came back to us. A third left the Alliance because he wanted to help a friend. The fourth,” she looked back at Cliff, “was that same friend, a spy that was doing everything he could to stop the killing, just like I was. And the fifth was a friend to both of them, who just wanted to help wherever he could.” She spotted Clodhopper in the crowd and nodded to him.

She turned back to the crowd in general. “I made incredible friends that I’ll treasure for the rest of my life, but that will never change the fact that seventeen dragons died under my command, all while fighting a war that should never have happened in the first place.” She sighed. “I think that sometimes you have to fight, but this time, this time was just fear and anger getting control of us.” She shook her head. “I know you’re all trusting me to make sure that no one else has to die over a stupid mistake. I also know that I’m not qualified for a job that’s so incredibly important. I promise, though, I promise every dragon and pony in this room, I promise in the memory of those seventeen dragons, I promise before the Ancestors and the Storm that I will give everything I have, give my entire life, to protecting this peace we’ve forged.”

Talon wiped away another tear. “I don’t know what the future will bring, but I promise that we’ll face it together.” She looked around the room once more, pausing on each of the eighteen dragons that had stuck with her through everything. “I promise. So enjoy the rest of today and look forward to tomorrow. Whatever happens next, let’s face it with our heads held high.”

The End

Chapter 15

Spirit didn’t exactly know how to feel as he looked around. The Alliance’s troops were only specks in the distance, and the Everfree Platoon had somehow made it through the insanity without losing a single fighter, but Equestria hadn’t been nearly so lucky. The earth pony companies on the eastern side of the valley had been hit hard by all those drakes, and things up in the Sky Base had been even worse if the amount of blood dripping through the clouds was any indication.

Compounding the problem, almost all of their supplies had been destroyed in the attack. The Crystal Empire was only about a twelve hour march away, but it was looking like most of their soldiers would have to make that march on empty stomachs, and apparently the Crystal Empire was the Alliance’s control anyway.

A group of ten wyrms, Everfree’s medics, were being lowered by pegasi from the Sky Base. As soon as they landed, Bone Mender, their leader, barked, “Spirit, you’re coming with us. You too, Autumn.” He started running toward the earth pony companies without even waiting for a response.

Spirit joined with Autumn and the rest of the medics in running to keep up. “How bad were our losses up there, Bone?”

“Spirit, I’m a medic, not a mortician.” The cantankerous wyrm sounded strangely tired as he answered. “My job is to keep everyone alive. You can get someone else to write you a list of the ones that died before we could get to them.”

“Sorry.” Spirit wasn’t sure why he was apologizing, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

Bone didn’t respond, and the group remained silent until they reached the earth pony camp a few minutes later.

Army doctors were everywhere, working to stabilize wounded ponies among the debris and carnage that the battle had left in its wake. The only things that there seemed to be more of than doctors were dead or wounded soldiers. Ponies made up the majority of those as well, but here and there, Spirit saw a dragon body crumpled on the ground. He could only stare in horror at the blood and body parts scattered randomly across the area. One drake corpse still had a dead earth pony stuck in its teeth.

Nausea filled the link between Spirit and Autumn as the two of them struggled to keep from puking.

If the sight affected Bone Mender at all, he didn’t show it. “Spread out and heal anything that still has a heartbeat; I don’t care whether it’s a pony or a dragon. Now move!” He turned to Spirit and Autumn. “Spirit, link with me then get healing. Autumn, start detaching the magic batteries from your suit. They hold enough raw magic to let us heal at least fifty more wounded.”

Spirit quickly formed a link with Bone then ran to the first injured pony he saw. She was an unconscious earth pony that had lost most of one back leg.

Two unicorn doctors, one of them a white stallion and the other a dark blue mare, were frantically trying to prevent her from bleeding to death.

“Here, let me help,” Spirit said, coming up to the duo.

They looked at him for a moment, then the dark blue unicorn mare turned to her companion. “Go check on the field hospital. Tell them that a group of Everfree’s wyrms has arrived to help.”

The stallion nodded. “Yes, Doctor Artery.”

Spirit took that to mean that they were fine with accepting Everfree’s help, and knelt next to the unconscious earth pony.

“You’ll need at least tier four healing magic for that,” Bone supplied through their link. “Can you do it?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” After embracing the Stillness, Spirit created the emotions of hope, wonder, love, and joy in his heart, then imagined a sprouting seed and threw his willpower into making the spell real. His right palm began to glow in response, and he placed it over the bloody stump that had once been this pony’s back leg.

Blood flow stopped immediately, and the stump slowly began to extend, pushing Spirit’s hand back with it. The drain on his willpower made him feel a little weak, but within a minute, the earth pony mare had a whole leg once more.

“Spirit, you idiot!” Bone Mender sent. “You need to conserve your willpower. Just get them to the point that they won’t die and move on. We can worry about healing them completely later.”

Unaware of Spirit’s chastisement, the unicorn doctor stared at the restored limb in wonder. “That’s amazing.”

Spirit nodded, fighting down a combination of shame and lightheadedness. “Could you direct the eleven of us to your most critical cases? The ones that will die without our help.”

“Yes, of course.” She motioned for him to follow her. “We’re setting up a field hospital just over that way. Everypony that can be moved is being taken there.”

Spirit passed the message along to Bone and set out after the doctor.

The ‘hospital’ was more of a large tent, with rows of wounded ponies covering nearly every part of the floor. Screams of pain mixed with cries of loss, a constant background noise that all the staff had to shout over to be heard, and blood was everywhere. The smell of it filled the area, making it even more difficult to resist the urge to vomit.

The wounded had been loosely divided into three groups: ponies that could wait, ponies that needed immediate attention, and ponies that were beyond saving. That last group was quickly renamed, ‘ponies that needed healing magic to be saved.’

Spirit knelt beside the first in a long row of seemingly hopeless cases, a brown pegasus stallion with a shattered skull, a broken neck, and a missing wing. Blood from the severed wing had stained most of his back and soaked into his cream-colored mane.

Fighting down the bile in his throat, Spirit followed Bone’s advice and healed the stallion just enough that he wouldn’t die for at least a few days. Spirit washed himself quickly with a pot of near-boiling water and moved to the next pony in line, an earth stallion with multiple deep puncture wounds across his chest and stomach.

Next was a case of severely crushed legs, after that was a broken neck, then third degree burns, then more puncture wounds … The patients started blending together after a while. Maybe it was a defense mechanism. Spirit knew, for example, that he had healed at least one pony that had been disemboweled and was barely clinging to life, but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember what that pony had looked like.

He had a feeling that it was for the best. The patients that he could remember were already enough to ensure that he would have nightmares for the rest of his life. Nearly all of them had been crushed, sliced, burned, or mangled almost beyond recognition. Many died before he could even get to them, and the rest were all at risk of serious infection because healing magic did very little against bacteria or viruses.

Time quickly lost all meaning, but eventually ponies started saying that Celestia would be leading them somewhere safe as soon as they were able to travel.

Spirit didn’t know why, but that thought finally pushed him over the edge, and he emptied his stomach onto the ground.

Thankfully none of it got on anyone. Dragon stomach acid could dissolve diamonds.

Spitting the last of it out of his mouth, Spirit muttered, “Travel rations. Not as good the second time around.” Then he kicked some dirt over it and moved on to the next wounded soldier. His meltdown would have to wait until later; these ponies still needed him.

-_-_-_-_-_-

“… Now that you’re all cleaned up,” Rainbow Dash’s gentle voice reached Fluttershy.

Groaning softly, Fluttershy opened her eyes. At first, all she could see was the light gray canvass from their tents, but then Rainbow Dash came into view looking concerned.

“Heya, Flutters. How are you feeling?”

Fluttershy closed her eyes and pressed a hoof against her forehead. It was strangely hard and cold, but she couldn’t understand why. Her eyes also ached, like she had been using the Stare a lot recently, and her throat burned. “I-I’m okay,” she lied.

“Are you sure?” It sounded like Rainbow was leaning closer to examine her. “You had us all worried when you passed out.”

“I passed out?” Fluttershy thought back. They had been traveling north toward the Crystal Empire, then an army of dragons ambushed them and … She groaned as the pain in her head suddenly got much worse.

“Whoa, easy now.” Rainbow helped her sit up and pressed something into Fluttershy’s hoof. It was about as wide as her hoof, the same height, but less than half as thick, and made entirely out of metal. “Here, I bet you’re thirsty.”

Fluttershy opened her eyes enough to recognize the object as one of the dimensional pockets they all carried. A metal straw was sticking out of the top, though it seemed to shrink and fade from existence just before it reached the dimensional pocket itself. That was because the metal object was really just a generator for a gateway to the small pocket of space-time where everything was held. The gateway was actually a few millimeters above the device, and large enough to fit a hoof through with ease. Fluttershy knew that, but the sight had always fascinated her anyway.

She drank some of the water, swishing it around to rinse the rancid taste out of her mouth, before giving the dimensional pocket back to her friend. “Thank y-”

Rainbow Dash was wearing her battle armor. Looking at her own metal-clad hoof, Fluttershy realized that she was as well. At that moment, everything came rushing back to her. The battle. Cliff yelling at Rainbow to kill Heart Echo. The blood that had covered both of them.

She began to shake.

Rainbow dropped the pocket and grabbed onto Fluttershy’s shoulders. “It’s okay, Flutters. You’re safe now.”

Fluttershy shook her head. Things would never be ‘okay’ again. There were still flecks of blood on both of their suits. There would always be blood on their hooves. They were killers. “Help me take it off,” she begged, already reaching for the clasps around one hoof. “Please!” The first clasp was stuck.

She looked more than a little worried, but Rainbow nodded. “You have to undo the Arcsteel enchantment first, remember?”

That was right. Fluttershy tapped her forehooves together twice and got back to work. The clasps came undone easily this time, much to her relief. With Rainbow’s help, it only took a few minutes to get everything off.

Fluttershy backed away from the scattered pieces of armor until she hit the wall of the tent they were in. She hugged herself with her wings.

Rainbow moved between Fluttershy and the armor, blocking her view of it. “Do you need me to take mine off too?” she asked softly.

“… If you don’t mind.” Fluttershy looked away, noticing for the first time that the tent was completely empty except for the two of them and the pieces of armor.

Neither of them spoke as Rainbow Dash took off her suit, but there were plenty of sounds from outside, yelling, mostly. Fluttershy couldn’t pick out any one voice well enough to understand what they were saying, but they sounded angry and scared.

“There,” Rainbow said once the last piece of armor came off. “This is better, right?”

Small bloodstains covered her friend’s blue coat, but Fluttershy nodded.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?”

She shook her head.

“Okay, I’ll go get Cliff. He’s really worried about you.” Rainbow turned to leave. “Oh, and Twilight and Celestia are finally back. They arrived not long after the battle started.”

Thinking of Cliff made Fluttershy remember the last time she had seen him, covered in the blood of the dragons he had killed, but looking at her with warm, concerned eyes.

A brutal killer … A loving husband … Fluttershy’s head begin to ache again. She winced and pressed a hoof to her forehead. “W-would it be alright if you got Twilight instead?”

Rainbow paused at the doorway. “Are you sure?”

Fluttershy couldn’t fight the rising shame as she nodded. Just thinking about the battle, or the suits, or Cliff, made her stomach churn and her head pound. “Please?”

“Alright,” Rainbow almost whispered, “I’ll be right back, so just wait here, okay?”

Fluttershy nodded again.

After Rainbow Dash left, Fluttershy sat down to wait and did her best to avoid looking at the suit parts that were still in the tent with her. She also tried to avoid thinking about what had happened.

A few minutes later, Twilight opened the tent door and stepped inside. Her fur was damp for some reason, and her mane and tail desperately needed to be combed, but she managed a kind smile. “Good morning, Fluttershy. How are you feeling?”

Fluttershy tried to smile back, but failed. “I’m okay,” she lied again. “Is it really still morning?”

“Yes, eight seventeen, to be precise.” Twilight moved cautiously forward. “You were only unconscious for about thirty minutes.”

It wasn’t even noon yet? How? The battle felt like it had been days ago. “Are you okay, Twilight? We were all worried about you.”

“I know, and I’m so sorry that I wasn’t here when you needed me.” Twilight reached the yellow pegasus and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Shining and the others are hiding in a cave system beneath the Crystal Empire. It’s safe, but there must be some anti-magic rings between here and there, because none of Spirit’s messages got through to us, and none of our messages reached him either.” She pulled Fluttershy into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”

Fluttershy hugged her back, savoring the warmth and compassion. Twilight was still Twilight, she didn’t want to kill anyone. “Were Cadance and Luna okay?”

“They will be.” Twilight sighed. “They were both unconscious and suffering from extreme magic exhaustion when we got there. I was able to use a magic battery to get them out of danger, while Celestia healed the wounded soldiers.”

Fluttershy nodded, trying not to imagine how terrifying everything must have been for poor Flurry.

“The army needs to move out soon,” Twilight said after a moment. “We’re too exposed right now.”

Fluttershy nodded unhappily. The last thing she wanted to do was go back out there and see all the death and carnage that she had helped cause, but she couldn’t put everyone at risk because of her own selfish feelings.

Twilight must have sensed her unease, because she hugged Fluttershy more firmly. “Don’t worry, the wyrms were able to provide emergency healing for all of the most badly wounded, and Celestia and I have worked out a way to move the army more quickly. Celestia knows a variant of the Cloudwalking spell that can be used on large groups. We’ll load everyone onto the Sky Base and have the pegasi push us as fast as they can. I’m sure it will be a bit cramped, but if it’s only for a few hours, we should be able to manage. I’ll just lift you and this tent up to the base when the time comes, if that’s okay. You won’t even have to look at the place where you fought.”

“If I don’t have to see it, I think I’ll be okay,” Fluttershy said quietly.

Twilight rested her head against the other mare’s neck. “Okay, that’s what we’ll do.”

“Thank you.” She finally mustered a bit of strength to hug Twilight back.

“Rainbow told me what happened after the battle.”

Fluttershy stiffened.

“Are you angry at Cliff?”

Cliff. She remembered the blood on his suit. The blood on her own suit. Death everywhere. Death that she had helped cause.

Fluttershy began to shiver. “N-no,” she gasped. “It isn’t like that. I just … I can’t think about him, or the suits, or Fire Eyes, or anything like that without remembering …” How many hatchlings did she make into orphans?

She didn’t deserve Twilight’s kindness. Fluttershy tried to pull away before she could somehow infect her friend with what she had done, but the alicorn’s hooves remained firmly around her.

“I’m so sorry for what you had to go through, Fluttershy,” Twilight whispered, “and you aren’t weak for feeling like this. Hundreds of soldiers are reacting the same way.” She squeezed her friend tight. “It’s okay to cry, if you feel like you need to.”

A low sob escaped Fluttershy’s lips. “Oh, Twilight. I killed so many …” She broke down and wept, letting all of her sorrow and despair come pouring out of her.

Twilight didn’t say anything as Fluttershy slowly cried herself out. She just held the yellow mare until her sobbing calmed and she drifted back into sleep.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Cliff was wrapped deeply in the Stillness. There were lots of things that needed to be done, and his emotions would just get in the way. He lifted another tarp-covered body into his arms and carried it into the Sky Base, which had been lowered to the ground to make things easier.

One of the advantages of a cloud building was that walls and doors could be added or removed at will. The cargo hold on the lowest floor of the base had been given several large doorways and converted into a morgue for Equestria’s fallen soldiers. The dragon bodies were being placed into a mass grave at the eastern end of camp, except for the ones that they wanted for research purposes.

The earth pony in front of Cliff placed a body in the long line of covered forms.

Cliff stepped forward after him and did likewise before returning to the pile of bodies outside and continuing with the grim work. He did wonder briefly why they hadn’t bothered to give every floor the same enchantments as the cargo hold, which let it support any creature or object, even without the Cloudwalking spell. The only thing it wouldn’t hold was liquid, which was why the hold floor wasn’t covered in blood. Idle thoughts like that were good. They kept his mind off the bigger concerns.

Eventually, all the bodies had been loaded. They took up almost all of the spare room in the cargo bay, requiring them to be stacked nearly to the ceiling in places, but at least they all fit.

While the other workers left to the upper floors to find their squad-mates, Cliff turned off the lights and sat against the wall in the small empty space near the stairs.

There was some shaking a few minutes later, which he had to assume was from the base taking off, but then everything went still and it was impossible to tell if they were moving or not.

Some light and noise came from the top of the stairs. It wasn’t much by pony standards, but it was enough to give Cliff a clear view of the seemingly endless stacks of covered bodies. Two thousand five hundred and thirty-one casualties total, from what he had overheard, most of them pegasi.

The sad part was that most of them could have been saved if healers or doctors had been able to get to them in time. One of the batteries in Cliff’s suit was still completely charged because, by the time he had finished draining the other two, everypony on the base was already either stabilized or dead.

After some amount of time, Cliff wasn’t sure how long, he noticed movement from the top of the stairs.

“There you are,” Rainbow Dash said, squinting down at him. She was wearing her armor again, unlike when she had come to Cliff earlier with some distinctly bad news. “I’ve been looking all over for you.” When he didn’t respond, she sat next to him and took her helmet off. “How are you holding up?”

He shrugged. “Fluttershy is probably going to be messed up for life after this.”

Rainbow put a hoof on his shoulder. “Hey, I know it seems really bad right now, but Fluttershy’s a lot stronger than ponies realize. She’ll pull through this.”

Cliff shook his head. “Lack of strength isn’t the problem here. Fluttershy is a caregiver. Hurting another creature is against everything she believes in and stands for, and because she’s so strong in that conviction, she will never be able to forgive herself for what she did today.” He closed his eyes and rested his head back against the wall. “Maybe it would be best if she can never look at me again without feeling sick. I don’t deserve to be her husband after this.”

“Don’t even say something like that,” Rainbow said. “Seriously, Cliff, you’re the best thing that ever happened to her. The Fluttershy from four years ago was too shy to sing in public, even though she’s amazing at it. She was scared of almost everything. Just doing her shopping was hard on her. Then you came along, and she started becoming more confident, more determined, and, I don’t know, happier.”

The two lapsed into silence as they looked at the bodies surrounding them.

Cliff thought back to the fear he had felt when Fluttershy passed out in the aftermath of the battle. He had worried about her all through the frantic rush to heal the wounded still on the base, but at least there had been something to keep him distracted.

Then the rush ended, and there had been nothing to do except pace and worry. Unfortunately, his worries had proven justified when Rainbow came up to him and explained that Fluttershy was awake but didn’t want to see him.

He realized he was clenching his hands tight enough to hurt.

“Cliff?” Rainbow asked after a few minutes.

“Yeah?”

“Does it bother you, all those dragons we killed today?”

He shook his head. “I guess I’m used to it. Before we learned about that unicorn memory spell, killing was pretty much all we could do to stop berserkers when our friends and family transformed.” He looked over at Rainbow Dash. Her prismatic mane was even messier than usual, and there was a deep sadness in her eyes that hadn’t been there earlier. “It’s bothering you, though, isn’t it?”

Rainbow’s ears fell down against her head. “I guess a little.” She sighed. “Everyone keeps telling me how great I am for killing so many dragons, but I don’t know, it just doesn’t feel like the sort of thing that they should be looking up to me for, ya know?”

“Yeah.”

They fell silent again, each lost in their own thoughts, until a small amount of shaking announced that they had landed.

The doors to the outside opened again shortly afterwards.

Cliff winced from the sudden change in light, but got up anyway to help unload their ‘cargo.’

Rainbow silently joined him.

A body across his back, Cliff stepped out into the snow and looked around. They had entered a fairly sizable valley. He could make out the top of the Crystal Palace over the mountains to the east, though it looked a little warped through the massive illusion spell that Celestia had placed around them. He idly wondered what they looked like on the outside.

Several hundred soldiers were already on the ground, including the Everfree Platoon, and more were coming out of other doors in the Sky Base every second. They were quickly running out of room on the valley floor.

Celestia’s height made her easily visible over the crowd. The Princess of the Sun looked unusually tired as she stood next to a sheer cliff face on the eastern side of the valley. Twilight probably stood next to her, judging from the bits of purple that Cliff could see through the crowd.

A purple horn that was probably Twilight’s tapped against the mountainside. At first nothing happened, but then a large part of the wall sank away to reveal an equally large set of stairs, which also happened to be filled with crystal pony soldiers, all of whom hurried out to lend a hoof.

“I know you are all exhausted,” Celestia said. Even though she spoke softly, magic carried her voice to the entire crowd. “But please move quickly to unload everything. I do not know how much longer I can maintain this invisibility field.”

Twilight flapped into the air just enough so that she was clearly visible. “Whether you’re carrying supplies, wounded, or casualties, please follow me.” Several large boxes and one tent floated into the air, suspended by her purple aura. Then she landed and started down the stairs.

Cliff and Rainbow joined the line of ponies making their way toward the stairs. Most of the Everfree Platoon was there as well, but Cliff couldn’t see Fluttershy anywhere.

A certain part of the young dragon was grateful for that. Seeing him carrying a dead body around would probably just upset her, and seeing that wouldn’t do his troubled emotions any good either.

They finally reached the stairs, which were wide enough for seven ponies to walk abreast, and began a long descent. Cliff had been expecting more darkness, but glowstones in the ceiling provided enough illumination that even the ponies could see clearly. Eventually the stairs leveled out and opened up into a large cavern with several tunnels at the far end. The cave was also full of crystalline wagons for some reason.

“Put supplies in the wagons over here.” Twilight placed all of her boxes against one cave wall, leaving just the tent in her aura. “Casualties go in the ones over there. Leave the ones to the left and right of the stairs for injured ponies. Once everything is down here, we can start making our way to the safe house.”

“And how far is that?” Fire Claws asked.

“It’s under the Crystal Empire,” Twilight shifted her stance nervously, “so about ten miles.”

Cliff sighed. Wonderful, today hadn’t sucked quite enough yet.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Spirit numbly put one foot in front of the other. He had no idea how long he’d been pulling this wagon full of injured ponies with Autumn. An ice age or two, maybe. It was hard to keep track of time when there was nothing to do but watch the back of Twilight and Shining’s wagon as it rumbled down the tunnel in front of them.

Autumn bumped into him with her shoulder, drawing him out of his stupor. “You said,” she panted, “that I should be more open with my desires, right?”

“Y-yeah.” Spirit grit his teeth and pulled a bit harder to get the wagon over a bump in the path.

“Then … will you please … make up your mind about sex?”

Spirit turned to look at her. It was supposed to be an incredulous expression, but that probably didn’t come across very well while he was gasping for breath. “Please tell me … that you aren’t the type … that gets turned on by violence.”

Autumn rolled her eyes. “I’d slap you if I had the energy.” She took a deep breath. “Call it … a new appreciation for life.”

“Or a lot of aerobic exercise.” Spirit smiled weakly.

Autumn just looked at him in confusion.

“Never mind.… Inside joke with Cliff.” Spirit yawned. “Although, I don’t … think I’d be able to … do that even if I wanted to today.”

“Wuss,” a new voice said.

Spirit looked back and saw that one of the wounded ponies, a blue earth pony with his right foreleg in a makeshift cast, had leaned up against the front of the wagon and was watching them with an amused smile.

“I had a drake land on me and I’d still be up for it if a beautiful mare asked me to take a roll in the hay.”

An orange hoof came into view from the wagon. “Same.”

“Flattering,” Autumn said between gasps of air, “but the offer … wasn’t to either of you.”

“What about me?” a third voice asked.

“No one is allowed to sleep with my marefriend but me!” Spirit paused. That had come out a lot louder than he’d expected.

The wagon in front of them ground to a sudden halt, and Twilight’s head poked around the side of it. “What did I just hear?”

“Nothing,” Spirit said quickly.

“Twily,” Shining said, “what they do in private is none of our business.” His head poked around the other side of the wagon. “I can find private sleeping quarters for you two if you want.”

Twilight gasped. “Shiny!”

“Cultural norms are different in the Crystal Empire,” Shining said calmly. “Although it’s usually frowned upon to have multiple partners at once.”

“Wait,” Twilight turned to Autumn, “that’s what you were suggesting? Oh my Celestia! I can’t believe that you’d actually want to do something like that …”

Autumn groaned and facehoofed as Twilight continued on her rant. “On second thought, I’m retracting my offer.”

Spirit facepalmed as well. “Are we there yet?”

Chapter 21

Autumn leaned over the map, blocking the light with her head again. She sighed and sat back up.

“Here.” Spirit created a ball of light in his palm and held it over the map. They had a limited supply of glowstones, totally understandable, but Cadance and Shining Armor’s room really could have used more than one. Maybe it was to help Flurry sleep. He glanced at the crib against the far wall.

“Thank you.” Gratitude radiated from Autumn as she rotated the map so that Shining Armor could see it. “The Crystal Empire has been searched thoroughly. The Alliance must have hidden the Heart in the caves of either the Ice Spire or Shattered Mountain clans.” She pointed to those locations. “If we are going to attack, these should be our targets.”

“I don’t know,” Spirit said. “They could have an outpost somewhere. There’s a lot of ground out there that our scouts haven’t been able to cover yet.” He shifted uncomfortably on the crystal chair beneath him. These things were seriously hard on the rump.

Sensing his discomfort, Autumn responded with sympathy and agreement.

Shining Armor studied the map in front of Autumn, unaware of their silent conversation. “We can’t keep waiting. They’re going to start evacuating the crystal ponies soon.”

“Why not?” Spirit asked. “We have enough crystal ponies down here to generate at least a medium-strength shield once we get the Heart back. Our supplies will last for another month, which gives us plenty of time to find the Heart, and we don’t have to risk attacking secure locations until we have more information.”

Shining and Cadance’s personal quarters were a lot smaller than one would have expected, with only a table, four chairs, and a bed. Cadance was off with Luna, trying some new method to track the Crystal Heart, which gave the rest of them a few hours to plan out an attack that may or may not get a lot of soldiers killed.

Spending time with family was pretty depressing these days.

“The Alliance wanted to mine for gems beneath the Empire,” Autumn said. “In the extremely likely event that they discover this cave system, we would be caught in a bottleneck trap with dwindling supplies.”

“Another good reason to make our move quickly,” Shining Armor said. “I’m sorry, Spirit, but I think that the potential benefits outweigh the risks.”

Spirit was a little annoyed that they were both willing to risk so many lives on a gamble, but he reassured Autumn through their link that he at least understood where they were coming from. “Okay, but if we’re going to attack, at least change it from a full-out assault to more of a sting operation. A company or two of our best troops for each target, and we can hopefully retrieve the Heart and get out of there before the rest of the Alliance realizes what’s going on and intercepts us. Our first two battles against them didn’t exactly go well.”

Someone knocked on the door.

“I’ll talk to Luna about it,” Shining promised. “I’d rather avoid a battle too, but smaller groups also run the risk of getting wiped out if something unexpected happens.” He turned to the door and called, “Come in.”

Much to Spirit’s surprise, Cliff walked in, on his back legs for some reason. His draconic older brother looked dazed, almost like he was sleepwalking. There were some other weird things too, like the worn saddlebags on his hips, or the fact that his scales looked much more clean and well polished than they had been a few minutes ago, when they parted ways after the strategy meeting. Cliff let out a sigh of relief. “You have no idea how good it is to see you all again.”

“What?” Spirit asked.

Cliff didn’t answer. He just walked up to Spirit and pulled him into a tight hug. “I missed you, Bro.”

“Okay, you’re officially creeping me out now.” Spirit pushed the other wyrm back to arm’s length. “What’s going on?”

“Ugh,” an all-too-familiar voice groaned from Cliff’s saddlebags. “Can’t a draconequus get a little sleep?”

“Sorry, Discord.” Cliff turned to Shining Armor. “Do you have a quiet place where he can rest? Warping us back in here took more out of him than he was expecting.”

“You, what, back?” Shining Armor shook his head. “Never mind, you can explain in a minute. Guard?”

The door opened and a guard poked his head in. “Yes, sir?”

“Could you take,” he gestured at Cliff’s bags, “uh, Discord here, to that empty sick room down the hall?”

Cliff reached into his bags and pulled out a miniaturized version of Discord, who looked half dead, and passed him to the confused guard.

“I’ll … be back in a moment, sir.”

“Thank you.” Shining Armor waited until the guard left before turning back to Cliff. “Okay, what’s going on here?”

“It’s a long story.” Cliff reached into his saddlebags again and produced something that made every other jaw in the room drop.

“The Crystal Heart?” Autumn gasped.

“Is that real?” Spirit asked.

“Yes, it’s real.” Cliff took off his saddlebags and placed both them and the Heart on the table where the others were sitting. “Also, you’ll find a bunch of notes in there about the Alliance. Hopefully they’ll help.”

Spirit opened one of the bags, the one Discord had been in, and found it nearly overflowing with pieces of paper and thin sheets of metal, all of which were covered in cramped writing.

Shining looked at the notes, then at Cliff, then to the Heart, then back to Cliff, his expression one of utter bafflement. “I don’t care if it’s a long story. Tell me everything.”

Cliff shook his head as he walked to the door. “With all due respect, sir, I’m going to go see my wife.” He opened the door and stepped outside.

“Wait, Cliff?” Spirit went after his brother, but Cliff was already a purple blur at the end of the hallway. Spirit sighed and turned back to Autumn and Shining. “Okay … now what?”

Any response was prevented as Cadance and Luna teleported into the room, nearly landing on top of Spirit.

“Shiny, we think we found the Heart!” Cadance beamed. “It’s in these caves-” she cut off abruptly as she noticed the Crystal Heart still lying on the table.

“It cannot be,” Luna whispered, lifting the Heart with her magic and leaning closer to study it. “This is it, the true Crystal Heart.” She looked up at the three of them. “How is this possible?”

Spirit looked at Shining to explain, but his equine older brother looked right back with an expression that said, ‘I wouldn’t even know where to begin.’

Giving up on that, Spirit tried Autumn.

She spread her hooves in confusion. “He’s your brother.”

“Thanks, guys.” Spirit took a deep breath then let it out. “Uh … Discord.” Yeah, that about summed it up.

Autumn and Shining seemed to agree, because they both nodded and echoed, “Discord.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Cliff had to admit that he was a little out of shape as he ran to Fluttershy’s room. The life of a researcher didn’t involve a lot of opportunities for exercise. At least drawing runes all day had kept his willpower strong.

He slid to a halt just above the table covered in snacks where he had spoken with Discord so long ago. His chocolate milk was even sitting on the table next to his chair, steaming gently.

Have I really only been gone for a few minutes? Cliff dropped to the floor next to the table and picked up Discord’s note.

To whom it may concern,

Cliff and I are off collecting a heart, a brain, and some courage. Back in five minutes.

-Discord

“Well, that sure clears everything up,” Cliff muttered, but he couldn’t hold back a little smile. He grabbed the plate of key lime bars that Discord had made for Fluttershy and hurried down the hallway. He could pick up sounds coming from the room, but he was at the door before he realized what they were.

Fluttershy was crying.

Cliff froze.

“He … he must hate me,” Fluttershy sobbed.

“Are you kidding?” Rainbow said gently. “I’ve never seen anyone love a pony more than Cliff loves you.”

“But I can’t even hug him,” she whimpered. “All I want to do is hug him. W-why,” she choked down another sob, “why can’t I?”

Battle trauma, Cliff realized, his heart sinking. Of course she wouldn’t be over it so soon! “A few minutes,” Cliff whispered, taking a step back.

How did he not realize that she would still be like this? Cliff sat down against the tunnel wall and covered his face with one hand, the other still gripping the plate of lime bars. To Fluttershy, it had only been three days since the battle. Not nearly enough time to recover from what had happened.

Fluttershy was still crying softly. She needed his support.

Cliff got back up and stepped toward the door, pausing in front of it. What was he supposed to say? Cliff had no idea. Gemstone … Gemstone would approach the situation logically. Rune circles had dozens of smaller pieces that all worked together to create a single effect. What effect was he trying to create here?

He wanted Fluttershy to be happy again. Not just that, he wanted Fluttershy to be happy and safe back in Everfree Village.

How could he get her there?

Well, use the Crystal Heart to reconquer the Empire, obviously.

What else might stand in the way?

Cliff swallowed. He was his own biggest obstacle. Fluttershy would never willingly leave him if she knew how much he had missed her over the last four months. That put her in danger of getting caught up in another battle.

Unacceptable.

She couldn’t find out, then, but he couldn’t tell her that he hadn’t missed her either. Who knew what an emotional blow like that would do to her? It would be best if she never found out about his time traveling at all.

Cliff had to lean on the tunnel wall to support himself as things began to sink in. Could he tell her the truth once she was safely back at Everfree?

Maybe in time. He couldn’t think straight anymore. Fluttershy had stopped sobbing, but he could still hear her on the other side of that door, so close that he could almost feel her velvety coat against his scales. Was one last hug really so much to ask?

Cliff wiped his eyes. No. He didn’t trust himself to be strong for Fluttershy right then. He’d break down completely if he saw her, and everything would come spilling out. He’d find some other way to support her. He had to.

-_-_-_-_-_-

A knock came at the door, making Fluttershy jump.

Rainbow’s wings tightened around the two of them protectively. “Easy there, Fluttershy. It’s okay.” She lifted her head to the door. “That you, Cliff?”

…

“Cliff?” Rainbow let go of Fluttershy and moved to the door. “Hello?” She opened it. A napkin-covered plate sat in the tunnel beyond, but there was no one in sight. “What’s this?” She leaned down and looked at the napkin. “It’s a note for you, Fluttershy, and it’s got some great news!”

“F-from who?” Fluttershy asked, fighting to control herself.

“Cliff.” Rainbow picked up the plate with one wing and brought it back into the room, kicking the door shut with one rear hoof. She put the plate in front of Fluttershy. “I don’t know why he didn’t tell you himself though.”

Glowing letters covered the napkin, spelling out a short message.

How could I ever hate you, beautiful? Your hugs are worth waiting for. YOU are worth waiting for. Discord got the Crystal Heart back, by the way. Spirit needs my help with a few things. It might take most of the day, but I’ll come back as soon as I can.

Love,

Cliff

-_-_-_-_-_-

“So any idea how this is all possible?” Spirit asked, gesturing to the pile of notes in front of him.

Things were a little bit cramped in the small bedroom with all six of them. Cadance was on the bed, channeling magic into the Crystal Heart. Flurry had woken up and was playing with her mother’s mane. Luna and Shining were reading through some of Cliff’s notes at the table, while Spirit and Autumn were on the floor, doing the same thing.

“I believe he was gone for much longer than a few minutes,” Autumn said softly, flipping a page in the book she was reading. “This seems to be a journal of some kind, and his entries go back more than a month.”

“Are you suggesting time travel?” Cadance asked.

“It does seem to be the most likely possibility,” Luna said, tapping one hoof idly on the table. “Discord has manipulated time more than once, although temporal inertia has always prevented him from changing the past.”

“Thank the Stars for that.” Spirit didn’t want to imagine what Discord would have done prior to his reformation if he had been able to change the past.

Shining gestured at the stack of metal plates in front of him. “This is a report on the common tactics and strategies of wyverns. I don’t care where it came from. If it’s accurate, this will be a turning point in the war.”

“I guess I can’t argue with that.” Spirit went back to studying a lengthy document about runes and their construction. “Assuming we’re right about this, how long do you think he was gone?”

The door opened, and a guard poked his head in. “Excuse me, sirs, I know you didn’t want to be disturbed, but Cliff Runner is back.”

“Permit him to enter,” Luna said before turning to Spirit. “The simplest way to answer that question is to ask him.”

The guard opened the door all the way and gestured for Cliff to go in.

The purple wyrm was on all fours, but his movements were a little stiff, like he was readjusting to standing that way. His eyes were slightly red, and Spirit noticed the completely neutral expression of a dragon using the Stillness.

“Things with Fluttershy couldn’t have gone well,” Autumn sent through her link with Spirit.

Spirit sent back agreement. “So … time travel?”

There was a long pause, then Cliff sighed. “The journal?”

“Among other things,” Autumn said.

“How long were you gone?” Spirit asked.

Cliff looked from Spirit to Autumn and then to the rest of the group. “All of you have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you, especially Fluttershy.”

“Cliff,” Shining Armor said gently, “you must have your reasons, but it’s never a good idea to keep secrets from your wife.”

“You really think I don’t know that?” Cliff shook his head. “Look, this is Fluttershy we’re dealing with. She’s on the verge of staying here as it is. How do any of you think she’d react if she knew that I …?” He shook his head. “She’ll never go home if she learns what happened.”

“She can stay at the palace,” Cadance said.

“You’re sending Flurry to live with Celestia in Canterlot until the war is over,” Spirit pointed out. “We all supported you and agreed that it was the best decision. I can’t blame Cliff for feeling the same way about Flutters.”

“When will you tell her?” Autumn asked. “The truth will hurt more the longer you lie.”

Cliff looked down. “I’ll figure it out once she isn’t at risk of being killed. Now do you promise or not?”

One by one, the others nodded, Autumn last of all.

“Thank you.” Cliff took a deep breath. “I was gone for four months. Discord sent me back in disguise as a wyrm named Gemstone Aura to spy on the Alliance right from the beginning.” The words came out in a rush, almost like he’d been wanting to say them all along. “At first I just wanted to learn about the Alliance so we could defeat it more easily, but then Gemstone started making friends, and now they all think he’s a traitor, and I guess they’re right about that, but …” He sat down on the ground and covered his face with both hands.

Spirit didn’t say anything, mostly because he had no idea what to say.

“Look,” Cliff said at last, “the Alliance has set up some anti-magic circles around the Crystal Palace.” He lowered his hands and stood up. “I need to break the connecting lines so that the crystal ponies can power up the Heart.”

“You just said that the Alliance thinks ‘Gemstone’ is a traitor,” Spirit said, positioning himself between Cliff and the door, “and they’d certainly notice if you went up there as just yourself.”

Cliff’s scales suddenly went from purple to forest green, his spikes changed to blonde, and his eyes became sky blue. “I know enough illusions to pull off being Gem for a bit, and the dragons that know he’s a traitor are all stuck in a time-dilation field for another twenty-two hours.” Cliff’s coloration went back to normal as he walked around Spirit to the door. “I’ll be done long before that.”

“Wait,” Luna said gently.

Cliff paused at the door.

Luna got up from her seat and moved to stand in front of him. “You returned the Crystal Heart to us and provided information that could be just as useful. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for the service you have provided to Equestria.” She bowed.

Cliff looked away uncomfortably. “Give Discord the credit. He’s the one that did everything important.”

“Discord will be rewarded as well,” Luna said. “Now one of the Solar Unicorns can get you safely into and out of the Empire, but is there anything at all we can do to aid you beyond that?”

“Just have everydragon,” Cliff shook his head, “everyone ready when I get back. We have to recapture the Empire tonight, before the time dilation field wears off and the Alliance goes on high alert.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Genesis wasn’t sure how many anti-magic runes he had drawn today. They had been working since sunup, in any case, and his back was painfully aware of it. At least they were doing something productive with their time. These rune circles would keep everydragon safe from surprise pony attacks.

“I think that does it for this rune.” Genesis stood up with a groan and rubbed his aching back.

Rune didn’t even look up from her work. “Just heal yourself and quit moaning.”

“Love you too, Rune.” Genesis poured a bit of magic into his back. The muscles immediately calmed down. “We could really use some more rune masters, though.”

“It usually takes beginners a few years before they can draw anti-magic runes reliably.” Rune shrugged and stood up. “We’d have better luck sending a runner back to Mystic Forest. Some more dragons might be willing to help now that we control the Empire.”

“Maybe.” Genesis looked around for a moment. They were at the southeastern edge of the new dragon district, giving him a clear view of the flattened expanse that separated them from the rest of the Empire.

Ember stood in her thinking form a few feet into that expanse, practicing some kind of drake combat technique. It seemed to involve generating reddish fire around her fists and then punching the rocky ground repeatedly.

Rune followed his line of sight and then sighed. “Ember, you’re going to break your hands if you keep that up.”

“That’s what your healing magic is for.” She gave a particularly strong punch then winced and shook her hand. “Dad thinks that being strong is the only thing that matters. I’ll show him when I use Flame Walking to become clan lord.”

“Uh, sure.” Genesis sat down where the next rune would go and started drawing. He knew that Ember’s father was Drake Lord Torch and that they didn’t get along, but that was about it.

“Flame Walking?” Rune asked. “I don’t think I’ve heard of that drake technique yet.” She looked around for a moment. “Dirt clods, there’s never a notebook around when I need one. Just give me a summary now. I’ll take longer notes tonight.”

“It’s a high defense and maneuverability technique.” Ember balled up her fists and started punching again. “You turn your body into fire, so most physical attacks go right through you. You can even use it in your thinking form, so I can use it in the Gauntlet of Fire.”

Rune nodded thoughtfully. “A clever manipulation of the rules.”

Genesis had no idea what rules they were talking about, but he was intrigued by the technique Ember had just described. A dragon made of fire would be nearly unkillable, but it wouldn’t be able to hurt other dragons unless there was something to the technique that he didn’t understand, which was likely. He shrugged and got back to work, listening idly as Rune and Ember talked about some obstacle course named the Gauntlet of Fire, and how it would be used to pick the new lord for the Rocky Shore Clan once the war officially ended.

Minutes passed, and Genesis was almost finished with his next rune when somedragon called out to them.

Looking up, Genesis smiled. “Hey, Gem!” He waited for the other wyrm to get closer before speaking again, “I haven’t seen you or Clodhopper since we captured the Crystal Empire. What brings you down here?”

Gem stopped slightly farther away than Genesis would have expected. He wasn’t wearing his travel pack either, which was strange. “It’s a long story.” His voice was different too, much deeper and more rough than normal.

“We have time,” Rune said. “By the way, what happened to your voice?”

“That’s … another long story.” Gem turned to Ember. “I’m sorry. I heard about what happened to your battle partner.”

Ember paused in her workout and nodded sadly. “Thanks.” She hit the ground especially hard.

Gem nodded as well, his eyes downcast.

“Anyway,” Genesis motioned toward the rune he was working on, “as long as you’re here, could you lend us a claw on these? We still have to finish all the houses on this street.”

“Actually,” Gem said quietly, “I had something else I needed to take care of. I wanted to see you two, though, so I could say goodbye.”

“Goodbye?” Genesis repeated. “What do you mean?”

Gem didn’t meet his gaze. “I have to leave the Alliance. Hopefully I can tell you both why the next time we meet.”

Genesis felt like somedragon had punched him in the stomach. “Where will you go?”

“To that dragon and pony village that Heart told us about. You two could come along,” Gem said hopefully. “It would be nice to have somedragon with me that I can trust.”

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Genesis considered the offer. He glanced at Rune, who shrugged. She would support him either way.

Ember watched them silently, her expression unreadable.

Genesis looked at her. “Aren’t you going to tell us how dishonorable abandoning you would be?”

The blue dragoness rolled her eyes. “I’m not Tornado, you know. I don’t go around condemning everydragon for not being as honorable as Yol Toor.”

Genesis smiled weakly. “Fair enough, but what do you think about all this?”

“I hope you stay, but it isn’t my responsibility to tell you which bond to honor.” Ember nodded toward Gem. “He seems dishonorable for pledging his help in this war then changing his mind, but I guess it’s just one of those wyrm things.”

“When did drakes become so reasonable?” Rune muttered.

“About the same time that wyrms started making sense,” Ember replied.

Genesis watched to two of them for a moment, his expression somewhere between amused and sad. Drawing a deep breath, he turned to Gem. “I really wish we could go with you, but I still think unity between the dragon tribes is worth fighting for.” He looked down at his hand, then slowly extended it to his friend. “See you after the war?”

Gem nodded reluctantly and stepped forward to shake the offered hand. “I’ll be at the village for at least a few years. Just come by and ask around for me. I’ll find you.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Rune said. She got up and gave Gem a hug. “You can introduce us to the pony friends you’ve made.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Gem hugged her back and then Genesis. “Thanks.” He wiped his eyes. "Thanks for everything." Then he turned and started walking away.

“Hey, um, Gem?” Genesis called after him.

The green wyrm turned back to him. “Yeah?”

“May the Stars watch over you.”

Gemstone smiled sadly. “You too, both of you.” He wiped away another stray tear. “Well … bye.” Then he turned and continued walking. This time, nodragon stopped him.

Chapter 37

Spirit was shaken out of his sleep by a loud pounding at the door. He groaned and hugged Autumn tighter, hoping that that they wouldn’t knock again.

They knocked again.

“Could you get that?” Autumn said drowsily.

He sighed. “If you insist.” With no small amount of reluctance, Spirit let go of his marefriend and got up to see what the bad news was. It would be bad news, of course. Good news never came pounding on your door at two in the morning.

As always, Autumn’s porcelain dolls seemed to watch Spirit, their eyes reflecting bits of light in the darkness. Moving into Autumn’s old house had come with certain benefits. The dolls weren’t one of them. Autumn thought it was hilarious that he turned them around every time they made love, but really, how was he supposed to get in the mood with those soulless eyes staring at him?

Spirit slipped out of the bedroom and descended to the ground floor. “Okay,” he said, opening the front door, “what happened and where?”

A green stallion stood outside with nervousness reflecting all over his coat. “Oh, Prince Spirit,” he bowed, “I must speak with Fleur de Verre.”

“Unless you urgently need her help,” Spirit said, “we may as well let her sleep. Just tell me and I’ll pass it along.”

“I’m already awake.” Verre walked up beside him, her face covered in some kind of overnight beauty mask. “Although I do appreciate your concern.”

“Lady Verre,” the stallion said, “somehow parasprites have gotten into the grain silos. We’re rounding up a marching band as we speak, but the damage to our food supply could be catastrophic.”

Verre’s coat snapped to opaque crystal, a sign of firm attention and determination. “How widespread is the damage?”

The stallion shook his head. “I don’t know. The night manager ordered me to come to you before I even got to the scene.”

Spirit pointed behind the stallion to another crystal pony that was running up to the house. “Please tell me that he’s with you.”

“I don’t think so,” the stallion said. “He looks like a palace guard.”

Well duh, he was wearing palace armor and coming from the direction of the Crystal Bunker. The Bunker also happened to be in the opposite direction from the grain silos. “Prince Spirit Shield,” the newcomer said as he drew near, “Princess Cadance requires you and Lady Autumn Gem to come to the Bunker at once.”

Verre turned to Spirit. “I’ll wake Autumn.”

“Thanks.” Spirit looked back at the palace guard. “What’s going on?”

“All of the captured Alliance soldiers have escaped.” The guard took a few deep breaths. “Private Golden Rule says they used some kind of mind magic on him and forced him to show them a tunnel leading out of the Empire.”

Spirit facepalmed. “No food and no prisoners either. Great, can tonight get any worse?” He froze, realizing what he’d just said. “I take it back!” It didn’t count as tempting fate if he took it back, right?

-_-_-_-_-_-

“… And there is a new situation we need to be aware of,” Shining said, looking around the war room.

Spirit banged his head against the table. Fate was a jerk sometimes.

Well, maybe not. The new situation turned out to be that Celestia and Luna had snuck off to the Alliance’s base again, freed all of the Equestrian soldiers, and brought the roof crashing down on everydragon. Spirit could handle that.

“… We’ll keep our guards and scouts on high alert,” Shining said, “but for now we need to focus on our food situation.”

Cadance stood up once Shining was finished. “Number Cruncher, how long will our supplies last if we ration them?”

A gray pony with a darker gray mane and tail sat in the corner at a small table that was covered in notes and calculations. He finished scribbling something before he answered. “Private company supplies are currently at seven point seven five percent of normal for this time of year. The emergency food we have stored in the caves can boost that somewhat, but even if we ration it, our food will run out in approximately sixty-eight days.”

Cadance nodded gravely. “Celestia and Luna aren’t here because they are working out a plan to bring in supplies and earth-pony farmers. It should let us scrape by until the first harvest, but it will also leave both of them extremely drained for a few days.”

In other words, Spirit reflected, we’d be screwed if the Alliance attacks on any one of those days. Well, it was that or starve to death.

“There’s one more problem,” Cadance said. “After everything that has happened to them, the crystal ponies are beginning to lose hope. The Crystal Heart can barely maintain a shield. We could have it cover a smaller area, but that would mean giving up lot of farmland, and we desperately need all of it right now.” She was doing a good job of hiding it, but Spirit could tell that his sister-in-law was scared.

Autumn pressed a hoof against her forehead and finished off the last of her coffee. “Perhaps a celebration of some kind. An emergency Crystal Fair, if you will.”

“That would use up a large amount of our limited supplies,” one of the other ponies said. Apparently he ran a series of crystal berry farms, but that didn’t stop him from being a cantankerous old stallion that had tried to shoot down every single idea proposed so far. Spirit was deliberately paying no attention to him whatsoever.

“I think a fair would help,” Cadance said. “Maybe some of Twilight’s friends could help plan it. They did a wonderful job putting a fair together when the Empire first reappeared.”

A maid placed yet another cup of coffee in front of Autumn.

“Thank you,” Autumn said before downing the entire thing in one gulp.

Spirit smiled a little at that. Autumn spent so much time trying to be the perfect leader and tactician that it was a rare treat to see her give up all pretense and just act normal. He shifted his attention to Cadance. “I’m sure Twilight would love to lend us a hoof, and as luck would have it, Cheese Sandwich, a professional party pony, is staying in Everfree right now. We could ask for his help too.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

In the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie frozed as both her front legs went weak and her left ear started flopping back and forth. “Oooh, one of my friends is going to ask me to throw a party today! A big one too!”

“That’s nice to hear, Pinkie,” Mr. Cake said, spreading chocolate frosting on a batch of donuts.

Pinkie pulled out the miniature coffin that held Discord. “Maybe this will be the one that finally gets you back to your old self.”

Discord was wearing a black suit and cape with a pair of fangs peeking below his upper lip, but otherwise he hadn’t changed at all since Pinkie first got him.

Returning the draconequus to wherever it was that she stored everything, Pinkie grinned. “I’d better start getting ready!” She was gone before the last echoes of her voice even faded.

Cheese Sandwich stopped mixing his bowl full of cake batter as a series of shudders and twitches washed over him. Once it ended, he turned to Mr. Cake and tipped his hat. “Sorry, Mr. Cake, but the ponies of the Crystal Empire need me.”

“Don’t worry,” Mr. Cake said, waving absentmindedly after the departing stallion. “Tell me how it went when you get back.” Once he finished with the donuts, Mr. Cake put a fresh batch of cookies in the oven and then picked up where Cheese had left off with the cake batter. As days with those two went, this was one of the more normal ones.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Spirit had long since come to grips with the fact that he was at his best when he was helping others. Sure it wasn’t as impressive as running at mach speeds, or building revolutionary suits of armor, or sneaking into enemy territory to report on troop movements, but he did take a fair amount of pride in his ability to take a bunch of different groups and get them to work together more effectively. It was a talent he put to good use over the next few days.

Autumn and Verre were working out an Empire-wide rationing system with the other important businessponies, but they couldn’t do that without knowing how many supplies Celestia would be able to gather from the rest of Equestria. Celestia, meanwhile, couldn’t do her job without updates on what was most needed in the Empire. She also wanted to know how the barracks for the griffon mercenaries were coming along. Pinkie and Cheese Sandwich had taken over most of the preparations for the crystal fair, but they weren’t in the Empire yet, obviously, so Spirit had to give them all the details they needed. Twilight, meanwhile, wanted to bring up the rest of Everfree Village so that they could see their friends and family, which meant discussing security with Shining Armor, just to make sure that nothing happened to any of the Element Bearers. The Rainbow Power of Harmony wasn’t going to help in this war, but Equestria would still need it the next time some god-like being of evil showed up.

It was disturbing how often that happened.

Perhaps the biggest trick was keeping all news of the upcoming fair a secret from the rest of the Empire. The Alliance couldn’t crash the party if they didn’t know that one was being held. As such, it was with a barely concealed grin that Spirit met with the the Everfree Platoon in front of the Crystal Bunker at sunrise the next Saturday.

“Spirit,” Cliff grumbled through a yawn, “I thought this was supposed to be a meeting about your new plan to defeat Yol Toor. What’s going on, and where’s Autumn?”

The younger dragon chuckled. “She’s working on some things with Verre, and our plans for Yol Toor are coming along nicely, but today we’ll be taking a break from military stuff.”

Cliff looked at him for a moment before shrugging. “Fine, then I’m heading back to the lab.”

“Oh no you don’t.” Spirit caught his brother by the arm. Looking more closely, he realized that Cliff’s armor was spotted and unpolished, while the dragon himself was slumped forward and had bleary eyes. He also didn’t smell great. “Cliff,” Spirit growled in frustration, “you pulled another all-nighter, didn’t you?”

“He did,” Fire Eyes, who was standing on Cliff’s other side, said. “I found him at his desk this morning.”

Spirit sighed. “When I installed that personal nest in your lab, I was expecting you to use it, you know?”

Cliff scratched at the metal covering his cheek with one claw. “I figured out how to make the shadow rune work right.”

At least that was some good news. The ability to transform into shadows would probably save more than a few lives before this war was over. Before Spirit could say anything though, Luna stepped to the front of the group, next to a wall of the Crystal Bunker.

“We thank you all for coming,” Luna said. “My sister has finished gathering a shipment of supplies and volunteers, and we will now open a portal to the storeroom in Canterlot where they currently are. However, we can only maintain it for a few minutes. Please stand clear so that things can go quickly.”

Fire Eyes frowned. “Stand clear? Why are we here if it’s not to help?”

Spirit just chuckled.

Luna’s eyes flashed white, and she turned to face one of the walls of the Crystal Bunker. Light flowed from her horn as the wall started to flicker, then shift. It was kind of like trying to stare at the bottom of a pond while someone was splashing around in the water.

After a moment, the ‘splashing’ started to fade, revealing something very different than the flat surface that had been there previously. Now it looked like a large square entryway, with Celestia standing on the other side, holding Flurry Heart in one foreleg. The young alicorn had grown since the last time Spike saw her. Behind them was a huge stone room, filled with ponies and wooden crates.

Celestia stepped to the side, clearing the way for a line of a dozen or so earth ponies hooked up to wagons. “Please move quickly, my little ponies. We cannot maintain this gate for long.”

The ponies needed no second prompting. They all but ran through, making the wagons they were carrying creak and groan from all the equipment weighing them down. Next came a long caravan of ponies of all types, pushing or pulling flat metal platforms on wheels. Each platform was more than twice as wide as a pony was long, and loaded up with eight wooden crates, which they started to unload as soon as they were all clear.

Spirit knew that it would only be enough to keep the Empire fed for a month or so, but it was still impressive to see how much food Celestia had been able to round up, and at the beginning of planting season no less.

He turned back to the portal and grinned as a familiar purple alicorn walked through, followed by the rest of the Element Bearers, plus Cheese Sandwich and a six-tailed fox that could only be Zephyr. Behind them was pretty much every single member of Everfree Village, including a large group of drakes and ponies that he didn’t recognize, which was probably Zephyr’s honor guard. “Hey, Cliff,” he nudged his brother, who was still looking at the supplies, “there’s someone here to see you.”

Cliff turned, freezing when he saw Fluttershy.

She was noticeably round in the stomach, and her mane was back to hanging so that it covered one eye, a style he hadn’t seen much since she and Cliff got married.

Spirit held his breath when she met Cliff’s gaze, and behind Fluttershy, he saw their other friends do the same. Fluttershy herself didn’t seem to notice anything other than Cliff. Tears welled up in her eyes as she literally flew into his arms.

That opened the proverbial floodgates, and soon everyone was gathered into one big cluster of hugs, laughter, and tears.

A rather big surprise came in the form of a blue stallion and a light gray mare, Spirit’s pony parents. They both latched onto him in what would have been a vice-like hug if he wasn’t wearing armor.

“It’s been far too long, honey,” Velvet, his pony mother, said, pulling back to get a better look at him. “How dare you throw a party and not invite us?” She frowned, but it wasn’t serious.

Underneath his helmet, Spirit found himself blushing. “Sorry, Mom. Things have been crazy and I kind of forgot.”

Night Light, his pony father, smacked him playfully on the shoulder, which made a metallic clunk against his armor. “You might have more sets of parents than the average pony or dragon, but that’s no excuse.” A warm grin split his face as he leaned in for another hug. “It’s good to see you again, Son.”

Spirit returned the gesture. “You too, Dad. We thought about bringing you up for Hearth’s Warming Eve, but considering what happened, it’s probably for the best that our plans fell through.”

Both ponies fell silent for a moment.

Velvet recovered first. “How are you holding up?” She did her best to pinch Spirit’s cheek through his armor. “Twilight says that things have been hard lately.”

“Losing most of our supplies and having all our prisoners escape, both in the same night, didn’t exactly do wonders for morale,” Spirit admitted. “Cliff is so upset about Heart Echo getting loose that he keeps working himself to exhaustion.” Over Velvet’s shoulder, Spirit saw that Cliff had taken off his helmet and was tenderly nuzzling Fluttershy as he held her close.

“I think he’s feeling better now,” Velvet said with a warm smile. “Speaking of relationships,” she turned back to Spirit, and her expression hardened, “Twilight told us something about you and Autumn that we need to talk about.”

Spirit blushed a little under his helmet. “And what exactly did she tell you?”

“Something that shouldn’t be spoken about in public,” Velvet said.

Really? Spirit glared at Twilight, who was caught up with their draconic parents. She’d gone and betrayed his trust like that?

Night Light noticed the look. “There’s no use getting mad at her over it, Son. We have a right to know.”

Spirit didn’t see how. He also made a mental note to have words with Twilight.

Across the courtyard, Luna stepped away from a group hug with Celestia, Shining, Cadance, and Flurry and called out in a loud voice, “We welcome you all to the Crystal Empire. The other citizens are gathering in a large park to the south for a glorious fair that has been prepared for us all. Let us retire there and renew the spirit of love and friendship in each of us!”

Several thousand children were coming through the gate now, the evacuees from the Empire, and were being directed to the park by the guards on duty.

The rest of the Platoon started walking with them, but Cliff and Fluttershy slipped off into the Bunker’s side door.

Meanwhile, Spirit found himself still confronted by the expectant gaze of his pony parents. He took a deep breath and embraced the Stillness. “We can talk in my office. Just give me a second.” He pushed through the crowd to Twilight. Giving her a hug brought his mouth conveniently close to her ear as he whispered, “Mom and Dad say that you told them about me and Autumn, Twi.”

“They have a right to know,” she whispered back, even though she was returning his hug.

Spirit rolled his eyes. As far as he was concerned, the only individual who had a right to know about his business was himself. “Whatever. If you see Autumn, tell her that I’ll be a bit late.”

“I will,” Twilight said, looking a bit sheepish as she turned to follow the crowd. “Don’t be mad please.”

“I’ll do what I can.” He’d also find a way to get even. Spirit turned back to his pony parents. “Alright, let’s go.” He directed them toward the Crystal Bunker and what would probably be one of the most awkward conversations of his life.

-_-_-_-_-_-

In retrospect, things weren’t that bad. Sure, he must have spent a good hour reminding his mother that he was an adult and could make his own decisions, but at least she never pulled out the ‘Where did we go wrong?’ line.

His father only asked one question. Unfortunately, that question was, “When are you two getting married?” And no amount of explaining that Autumn didn’t want to get married would satisfy the older unicorn.

At least Spirit was still in one piece by the end, and that was all he could really hope for after his pony parents found out that he was sexually active. He even got them to promise to be nice to Autumn before he dumped them with Twilight and set out to find said marefriend.

The Crystal Fair was in full swing by that point, so Spirit had to dodge around groups of ponies as he looked for Autumn. At least their plan to increase love seemed to be working. Everywhere he looked, refugee children were clinging to their parents. The only group that didn’t seem to be ecstatically happy was one large cluster of children that was following around a chestnut brown crystal mare. Spirit recognized her as the owner of the local orphanage, which had more than tripled in size since the marketplace collapse.

It was strange. Once Spirit had thought that he didn’t have any parents either, then he realized that Celestia, Velvet, and Night Light had considered him their son all along. With Scenic Trail and Sky Painter thrown into the mix, he now had five loving parents. Spirit couldn’t help but feel a little guilty when he looked at these young ponies and thought about how much had been taken from them. At least all the game booths nearby seemed to be keeping their spirits up, even if they weren’t as energetic as the other foals around.

Finding Autumn took a lot longer than expected. She wasn’t at the game booths, or watching the jousting matches, or on any of the rides. Eventually yelling near the food court drew his attention.

“Now what?” Spirit muttered, rushing toward the noise. What he found was Autumn and a white crystal stallion engaged in a shouting match as Fleur de Verre stood between them, holding them apart.

Much to Spirit’s surprise and anger, he recognized the stallion as Liberty Valiant, the pony that Autumn had said arrested her and threw her in jail during Sombra’s rule. The crystal pony’s blue eyes were hard like steel, and powerful muscles flexed just beneath his white coat, which was flashing brightly, a sign of unbridled rage. Even his blue mane and tail seemed to have taken on a jagged appearance, like a pony could cut themselves just touching them.

Autumn stood opposite him, out of her armor for a change. Her coat had faded from its normal light blue to something like the color of tarnished silver, and her purple mane was dark, almost to the point of being black. That wasn’t the sign for anger; it was the sign for pure hatred.

Fleur de Verre was stuck between them, struggling to keep them apart as they pushed toward each other, shouting so loudly and so quickly that their individual words were lost. Spirit could pick up, ‘What was best,’ being shot back and forth, but he didn’t want to waste time trying to figure out what they meant by it.

Spirit ran in between them to give Verre some much-needed support, dropping a noise suppression field over them while he was at it.

Of course, he only held it for a moment before Liberty grabbed onto Spirit’s hand with his hoof and threw him out of the way. “Mind your own business!”

Oh, thank Celestia! Spirit grinned maliciously as he flipped back onto his feet. It was bad enough that they had to deal with this guy during morning training every day, and that just being near him stressed Autumn nearly to the breaking point. Now Spirit had a golden excuse to do something he had dreamed about and hurt that jerk for what he’d done to Autumn.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t be smart about it, however. Spirit’s talent was illusions, which required caution, foresight, and careful manipulation to be effective. An extremely bright light suddenly flared in the crystal stallion’s eyes, just as a noise-amplifying field quadrupled the sounds of his own shouting, but only within a foot-wide diameter of his head.

Liberty reared back, shouting in pain as he tried to cover both his eyes and ears with his forehooves.

Spirit switched from amplification to negation, cutting off all sound and light right around the stallion’s head. He also threw in an emotion field, effectively scrambling his crystal pony empathy.

Meanwhile, the air around them all grew dark as Spirit pulled in sunlight, a little trick he had learned from Celestia.

The entire food court fell silent as Spirit stepped forward, his scales glowing faintly. “Did you know that light is really just a form of electromagnetic radiation?” A spell guided his voice directly into Liberty’s ears. It would be the only thing he could hear. “Right now, I’ve gathered enough of that radiation to cook your heart right in the middle of your chest.”

Verre stepped between Spirit and Liberty, her expression firm. “That won’t be necessary.”

Spirit paused.

The older mare turned suddenly and hit Liberty across the face hard enough to knock him flat on his side. “You can release him now.”

He did so.

Liberty winced as complete darkness switched back to a bright, sunny day.

“That was for lying,” Verre said. “You said you could control yourself.”

Autumn approached her mother and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Nice hit.”

Verre turned and hit Autumn as well, just hard enough to make a sound.

Autumn stumbled back, pressing a hoof against her cheek.

“Young lady,” Verre said, “I am neither a foal nor a fool. I can talk to him if I wish.”

Spirit hurried over to Autumn and pulled her into a hug. He could feel her shaking in his arms. “Verre,” he said, barely controlling his rage, “you had better have an extremely good reason for hitting the mare I love.”

“It’s okay,” Autumn whispered, brushing a tear off her cheek. “I-I deserved it.”

“There’s a lot you need to understand about this situation,” Verre said, “and this isn’t the place to discuss it.” She turned back to Liberty, her coat rippling angrily. “With Amore as my witness, I should send you on your way right now, but you’re going to come home with the rest of us, and we are going to have a civilized discussion for once.” Then, all but dragging the stallion onto his hooves, she stormed off, leaving a stunned crowd of ponies in her wake.

Spirit carefully pulled Autumn’s hoof away from her cheek, revealing a small bruise. “Are you okay?”

Autumn looked away, her coat reflecting shame and hurt in equal measure. “Do I look okay?”

In retrospect, it had been a pretty dumb thing to ask. “Sorry.” Spirit healed her cheek.

“We should keep up.” Autumn followed after her mother.

“What happened?” Spirit asked, keeping pace with her.

“I left to use the restroom,” Autumn said numbly. “When I came back, he was there, speaking to my mother. I demanded that he leave, but he refused, and …” She lowered her head and whispered, “you saw the rest.”

Spirit looked ahead at Verre, who was practically stomping down the street, and Liberty, who walked with his head low and his coat faded to gray. Verre had said that she wanted to talk to him. “How do those two know each other?”

“She …” Autumn shook her head. “She just does.”

“You don’t want to tell me.” Spirit couldn’t help but feel a little hurt.

“I do want to tell you,” Autumn said, “but I just can’t force the words up.” She sighed. “Sometimes it feels as though something in me is broken. Why do you think I want you to find someone better after I’m gone?”

Spirit remembered the last thing Heart had said to him before she escaped: Autumn didn’t need to be fixed; she needed to accepted. “You aren’t broken.” He pressed against her side. “And I don’t want anyone else. Ever.”

Autumn didn’t respond, but she did lean into him a bit.

Chapter 1 Author's Note

I really wouldn't blame you for skipping the first story, but you should at least read this summary of it.

That being said, I hope you enjoy this new story, and feel free to be brutally honest with your feedback. I can take it.

Chapter 1

Talon Wind would always remember how quiet things were during that final day at the Aerie. Ever since she had been a hatchling, things had always been so loud—training officers shouting at their troops, cluster leaders explaining the strategy for their next battle, and mourners calling out lists of casualties from the last one. Now everything was quiet, filled only with the sound of wind and the occasional flapping of wings.

The Aerie, the last bastion of the wyverns, would be abandoned in the morning. This was the last night her kind would ever spend in their ancestral home, and they were all so busy preparing for their departure that nodragon could properly mourn.

Glancing out the window, Talon realized that the sun was beginning to set, casting the Aerie’s many peaks in dark silhouettes. Beyond them, the clouds took on vibrant shades of orange, red, and purple.

She forced herself to look away and finished packing the meager rations they had been able to find. If they were lucky, Squadron Five would have enough for their upcoming journey. If not, well, it wouldn’t be the first time they had gone hungry. That had been happening more and more since the lions of Panthera started razing their farm lands.

Talon passed another flight pack filled with rations out to Crystal Sky, her battle partner, who was distributing them to the rest of the squadron.

She paused to look around the now empty storage room. This wasn’t just some horrible dream. They really were leaving. Talon stood there for a moment, like she could somehow halt the passage of time if she held still enough.

Of course, it didn’t work like that. The sun continued to set, making the once-brilliant colors fade and then disappear entirely. The final day at the Aerie had ended.

Talon shook her head slowly and went back outside, where she discovered that Crystal was still waiting for her. Like Talon, Crystal was a venom wyvern, which meant dark green scales and a patch of brown hair on top of her head. They also shared curved horns, which wrapped just around the outside edge of their delicate ear frills, but that was because they were both female. Male horns went straight back.

Outside of the similarities from their gender and types, however, the two of them were nearly opposites. Talon kept her hair long, where Crystal’s was cut short. Talon’s shoulders were broad and her wings were large. Crystal’s were slender on both counts. Two long, well-toned legs made Talon taller than average, while her friend sometimes had trouble jumping into the air properly because of how short she was. At least they both had a long tail, ending in the scorpion-like venomous barb that all wyverns shared.

“Talon?” Crystal asked softly as the other wyvern approached.

“Yeah?”

“Here.” She extended the wing that had been hidden by her body. The four digits running through the membrane had curled it into a cup shape. Resting there, held in place by Crystal’s thumb, was a toy thunder wyvern that Talon hadn’t seen in years. His fabric hide was wearing thin in places, and his wings needed to be restitched, but his polished stone eyes still seemed to twinkle with an inner warmth.

“Refy?” Talon stared at her friend in confusion. “Crystal, how did you get him?”

“I found a bit of time to fly past your old house.” She stepped a bit closer. “I know you always wanted to give him to your first child, and he doesn’t weigh very much. I’m sure it would be fine if you brought him.”

Talon reverently accepted her childhood toy. “Thank you, Crystal, this,” she blinked away her tears before they could form, “this means a lot to me.” She switched Refy to her mouth, picked up her flight pack with one wing, and opened it with the thumb of the other. Once Refy was safely inside, she pulled it closed once more and slipped it into place around her neck, just above her shoulders.

Crystal donned her own pack then turned to look over the edge of the Aerie. “Talon, do you think we’ll … be alright out there? What if these new allies betray us?”

Walking up beside her friend, Talon extended a wing across the shorter wyvern’s back, covering her clan tattoo there. “The scouts said they’re dragons, like us, and that they think honor is more important than anything. I’m sure they’ll hold true to their word.”

Inwardly, Talon was cursing the local nations for refusing to take them in. Sure, risking the lions’ wrath was a bad idea, but at least one of them should have been willing to take that chance. Instead they were forcing her kind to travel thousands of miles away and ally themselves with a race that they had never even seen before their scouts stumbled across them.

“Come on, Crystal,” Talon stepped to the side and spread her wings, “the others must be waiting for us.”

Crystal nodded and spread her wings as well.

The two wyverns took off, gliding over the edge of the platform and spiraling gently down to the barracks below. Frills extended from the base of their tails as they flew, stabilizing their flight and granting them extra maneuverability, not that it was really needed. The air currents around the Aerie had always been gentle. They landed on the large platform outside the barracks and pushed through the hanging curtain that served as a door.

It was dark inside, with only a few torches and the fading light from the windows to provide illumination. There wasn’t much to see anyway. It was a round room with ten nests, each meant to hold about ten wyverns. Normally there would be a dozen or so wyverns talking in the common area at the center of the room, but understandably, nodragon was in the mood tonight. Instead, they were huddled into their nests, trying to pretend that their entire world hadn’t just come crashing down around them.

After countless centuries of battle, the Endless War was finally over, and they had lost.

Talon and Crystal made their way to one of the nests and settled down among the others.

The silence around them was oppressive, filled with all the things everydragon wanted to say, but didn’t know how.

“So this is it,” a wyvern named Thunderfang muttered. It wasn’t very loud, but his voice echoed in the quiet of the circular room. His eyes were deep and sad beneath the bony plate on his forehead. It, along with his bright yellow scales, identified him as a thunder wyvern. “Tomorrow we leave, and what’s the grand strategy from the Hurricanes?” He spat out a small bolt of electricity, which crackled across the stone floor, illuminating the nests around him. “Get involved in a new war; because the last one turned out so well for us.”

Crystal whimpered softly at Talon’s side.

Thank you for making us all even more depressed, Talon thought as she looked around. Nearly every head in the barracks was bowed as the weight of their situation began to sink in. I thought squadron leaders were supposed to help the morale of their warriors, not destroy it. She took a deep breath to steady herself and then rose and walked toward Thunderfang’s nest.

The scraping of her claws against the stone floor seemed to echo in the dark room, drawing the eyes of the rest of the cluster. Some of them watched her with morbid curiosity, others with what could only be described as hopeless hope. They knew that nothing would change what was happening, but still they yearned for some kind of reassurance.

It was that second kind of look, especially the one she was getting from Crystal, that drove Talon forward, even though she had no idea what she was going to say.

When she reached the edge of Thunderfang’s nest, Talon waited a few moments to be sure that she had everydragon’s attention, and then she said the first thing that came to mind, “Look at the mark on your back.” She gestured with a wing at his tribal tattoo.

It depicted a female wind wyvern, hovering in front of the full moon, with a walled city beneath her talons, just above the maneuvering frills that extended from the base of Thunderfang’s tail.

“Do you really need me to tell you the story behind your own clan’s emblem? How Sudden Storm’s tactical genius captured dozens of Panthera’s cities?” Talon looked away and swept her gaze across the other wyverns in the barracks. “Each of you, think of your own emblem. They all show a great hero whose bloodline lives on through you. How long have we fought against overwhelming odds, as the ground beneath us withered and died? We made the lions pay in blood for every inch of land they’ve taken from us. Do you really think the Ancestors are going to betray us now?” She gestured to Crystal Sky. “Are we somehow insulting Shimmering Horizon by surrendering a land that has become impossible to defend?”

Crystal twisted her head around to look at the tattoo on her back, a female fire wyvern, surrounded by an aura of flames. Silently, Crystal looked back at Talon and shook her head, the barest hint of a smile on her face.

Talon smiled back. “That’s right. We all know she’d be proud of our decision. The Ancestors and the Storm have watched over us this long. What makes you think they won’t continue to do so? One final campaign, for the sake of our new alliance, and then we can rebuild our dwindling race.”

She turned her back to Thunderfang and spread her wings so that he could see her own marking. Five wyverns faced each other in a circle. The wings of two, a venom and a wind wyvern, extended out, and the ink of their wings faded right as they connected with Talon’s real wings. Similarly, the maneuvering frills of two more, a fire and an ice wyvern, were connected to her own. Only the thunder wyvern at the top of the circle remained completely on her back. Behind the five swirled a hurricane, the ultimate symbol of teamwork between the five types. “Wouldn’t Refraction be proud of us for deciding to fight alongside our new allies? After all, they might not be wyverns, but they are dragons, just like us.”

Thunderfang sighed and gave her a resigned smile. “ ‘All things grow old and eventually die. When this new way of life does as well, we must have courage to leave it behind and embrace the future,’ ” he quoted one of Refraction’s most famous speeches.

Talon smiled gratefully and brushed the tip of her wing across his cheek before turning back to face the rest of the barracks. “I don’t care if we only have seven swarms of able fighters, or if we are the youngest and least experienced cluster among them.” She ran the thumb of her wing across the large ‘X’ shaped scar on her chest, marking her as a Junior Wing, fresh out of training. “The future of our species depends on us, and by the Ancestors and the Storm, we will not fail!” She stomped her foot in emphasis.

Around her, looks of hopelessness slowly lifted. Talon noticed a few more weak smiles.

She smiled back, projecting far more confidence than she actually felt. “So offer a prayer to your honorable dead and then rest well, because tomorrow is a new beginning for us all.” She swept her gaze across the room one last time before walking back to her nest.

“Thank you,” Crystal Sky whispered. “I think we all needed to hear that.”

Talon Wind shrugged. In truth, she was no more confident than Thunderfang, but if they really were flying out to their deaths, they may as well do it with their heads held high.

Chapter 3

By all rights, Spirit Shield reflected, controlling a berserker puppet should have been awesome. The process was simple enough: link with Twilight, let her build the internal structure while he coated it in illusions so that it would look real, and then finalize everything, leaving the two of them floating in the chest cavity. Twilight used her magic to maintain it, while he wired up a simple nervous system, taking the place of its brain. Awareness of his own body faded, and suddenly, he was the fifty-foot tall, hundred-foot long, incredibly powerful embodiment of destruction!

Ego trip? I’ll take two!

One Stare and a couple of Sonic Rainbooms later, not so much.

“Okay, everypony,” Spirit Shield called, trying to ignore the ringing in his ears, “that concludes our anti-berserker training session for today. They need this ring for team matches, so let’s all pick up our teeth and clear the field. Enjoy the rest of the hour, and we’ll see you tomorrow!” He followed his own advice and got out of the way before sitting down and holding his head. “Ugh.”

“I’m afraid I must agree, Spikey,” a voice to his side commented.

“Hey, Rarity,” Spirit said without bothering to look up. He would have known that voice anywhere. Besides, only one friend still called him ‘Spike,’ ‘Spikey,’ or any variation thereof. It had been nearly three years since he earned his true name, after all. “Your berserker got roughed up pretty badly too, huh?”

Rarity’s level of fine control with magic was unbelievable, surpassing even Twilight’s. Getting her help with creating the berserker puppets had very much been a ‘Well, duh,’ matter. What they hadn’t expected was that she would turn out to be so good at piloting them too.

“I think I made a fairly good showing of myself,” even with his eyes closed, Spirit could tell that she was adjusting her frazzled mane, “but I must admit that Rainbow Dash has gotten much better lately.”

“Oh my, are you two okay?” a quiet voice asked.

“Yeah, Fluttershy, we’re fine.” Spirit poured some healing magic into his head, clearing the buzzing from his ears and getting rid of a spectacular headache that had been forming. He opened his eyes to see his brother’s wife standing in front of him, her face scrunched up in concern. “Those Sonic Rainbooms just left us a bit rattled. It’s no big deal.”

“Are you sure?” Fluttershy pressed. “I can use a Revitalizing Stare on you, if you’d like.”

Rarity adjusted her mane some more and straightened her fire immunity pendant. Unlike most residents of Everfree Village, she had quite a few of them—the better to match her numerous outfits. Today’s was gold with a circle of tiny diamonds around the edge. “If you wouldn’t mind, Fluttershy, that would be most appreciated.”

Spirit nodded his agreement.

“Okay.” Fluttershy took a deep breath then opened her eyes wide.

The teal orbs seemed to pull Spirit in for a moment, commanding away his fatigue and worries, and filling him with a sense of peaceful enthusiasm. Yeah, the Stare was pretty awesome … when it wasn’t being used to paralyze him with an overdose of fear.

Rarity let out a sigh of relief as the effects washed over her as well. “Thank you very much, dear. What will you be doing for the rest of the hour?”

“Fire Claws wants me to practice holding the Stare for longer, but I don’t need to be here to do that, so I was going to walk to the cottage and surprise Angel with an early breakfast.” She smiled sweetly. “He always likes it when I do that.”

“If you don’t mind, I believe I’ll accompany you.” Rarity brushed herself off and stood. “My own training is simply to levitate a dozen small weights, and I see no reason why a short walk can’t be added to that. I need to pick something up in Ponyville in any case.”

“Have fun, you two.” Spirit rose as well. “Twilight wants my help with the final test of our new magic batteries.” He looked around but couldn’t find his sister anywhere. “Huh, she must be setting up at the lab already. Anyway, I’ll see you later.” He left the two mares and made his way to the castle.

Twilight being Twilight, one of the first things she had insisted on adding to Everfree Village was a giant lab where anything and everything could be built, tested, or studied. An old ballroom had been donated to the cause. Then expanded upon. Several times.

Spirit squeezed into the lab, past the automatic apple-to-orange converter that blocked the door from opening all the way, and walked past a bunch of shelves full of machines, enchanted items, chalkboards full of equations, and other things that he didn’t even have words to describe, before coming to the mostly open center of the lab.

The walls in this area were all covered in chalkboards that could be opened up into storage containers. The rest of the room was filled with dozens of workstations, ranging in size and complexity from a simple desk to an enormous metal cubicle that could have comfortably held a berserker. That last one extended up right through the second-story ceiling. Spirit tried not to think about the fourth and fifth floors that they had been forced to add just so that thing could fit.

At least they had been able to convert those floors into additional workrooms. Enchanted items were the Village’s main export, and they had been running out of room to build them all.

Spirit found Twilight, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Written Whisper waiting for him. Next to them stood Autumn Gem, the crystal pony mare he had been dating for the last three years, they had all gathered around one of the medium workstations. He approached Autumn first, planting a kiss on her lips. “Hello, sexy.”

“You’re certainly amorous this morning,” Autumn said, while her coat reflected that she was very much okay with that. It hadn’t been easy learning to read a crystal pony’s emotions through the changes in her coat, but hey, it had been three years.

“Is Cliff going to be here soon?” Scootaloo asked, her wings fluttering nervously.

“Don’t worry.” Apple Bloom patted her friend on the shoulder. “I’m sure everythin’ will go fine this time.”

“Me too,” Sweetie Belle chimed in. “I bet you’ll be flying around in just another few minutes.”

“Shh!” The orange pegasus covered her friend’s mouth. “You’ll jinx it!”

Whisper gently gave them both a hug. Her dark green scales clashed a bit with Scootaloo’s orange coat, but Spirit had to smile at the four of them. It was adorable how the Crusaders were still so close.

Scootaloo relaxed a little at the contact. “Thanks, Whisper.”

“N-no problem,” she replied before going back to preparing her notes. The years had added to the young wyrm’s confidence, but her stuttering had sadly remained, especially when she was feeling nervous.

“Let’s just worry about doing this test correctly for now,” Twilight suggested. “You did help design the magic batteries, and even if it doesn’t work today, this could still be a major breakthrough in the study of natural magic fields. The four of you could go down in history because of your work on this.”

Scootaloo blushed a little. “I didn’t do that much, Twilight. Sweetie and Whisper helped you develop the magic purifier and filtration systems. Apple Bloom and I just helped design the casing to hold it all.”

“That’s still a very important part,” Twilight assured her.

Further conversation was cut short by the arrival of Cliff and Rainbow Dash.

“Sorry we’re late,” Dash called. “This slowpoke was taking forever to finish his match.”

Cliff shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry, Mom was using a lot of illusions.”

The Crusaders greeted the older wyrm with their usual hug/tackle. It was a good thing that Cliff was so obviously devoted to Fluttershy, otherwise the sight of him getting mobbed by four almost-adult girls would have raised a few eyebrows. Well, among the ponies at least. Wyrms tended to be very physical with how they showed affection.

Laughing softly, Cliff gathered the four of them into a big hug. “What are you all doing here? Not that I’m complaining about seeing you before class, but I thought this was just going to be another test of the battery’s intake enchantments.”

Rainbow grabbed Scootaloo as soon as she could and pulled the younger pegasus into an affectionate noogie. “And no one has told me why I’m here at all, Squirt.”

“Well,” Scootaloo looked down, and her wings fluttered nervously, “if the battery can take a charge from all of you without any problems, Twilight’s gonna let me give it a field test.”

“The Crusaders have put a lot of work into this.” Twilight stepped forward, levitating the finished prototype behind her. It looked like a metallic half cylinder with the flat side indented slightly so it could be strapped to the foreleg more comfortably. Two buttons adorned the rounded outer side, and a small window revealed the dark interior of the device. “They wanted you two to share this moment with them.”

“You were always encouragin’ us when things were tough,” Apple Bloom explained to Cliff.

“And you never let me settle for anything other than my best,” Scootaloo told Rainbow.

Rainbow beamed. “That’s what big sisters are for.”

Cliff just smiled and gave the rest of the Crusaders a hug before turning to Twilight. “Okay, let’s get started.”

Twilight passed him the battery. “Press the red button, like with our earlier models.”

Cliff held the device to his forearm and followed her instructions. The machine began to hum slightly, and a faint green light, the same color as his eyes, became visible through the window. “Well, it isn’t draining me nearly as much. About what it would take to maintain a basic defense spell.”

Scootaloo sighed in relief. “That’s good. I still feel bad about knocking you out last time.”

“Okay, that should be enough,” Twilight said. “We only need a few seconds for each test subject.”

Nodding, Cliff pressed the red button again to deactivate it. The light from the window shifted from green to white as the magic was purified. He passed it to Twilight.

Twilight, Sweetie, Apple Bloom, Rainbow, and Autumn each took turns letting the battery drain them for a few seconds, changing the light purple, light green, orange, red, and blue respectively before it reverted back to white.

“Six different subjects,” Whisper recorded with a grin, her earlier nerves forgotten, “each able to charge the device successfully, with no apparent complications between different magic signatures. The purifier seems to be working.”

Scootaloo took the battery next, strapping it into place on her foreleg. “Now for the real test.”

“Be careful,” Cliff warned.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “We’ve locked it on the lowest setting, so there’s no chance of the battery getting overwhelmed.”

“I think he’s more worried about you, Scoots,” Spirit said. The young pegasus had an abnormally weak natural magic field, which is why she could never manage to fly properly. The battery would, theoretically, augment her magic field up to about normal pegasus levels. Unfortunately, they had yet to develop a way of measuring the magic channels in her wings to see if she could even handle that much.

Twilight nodded. “That’s the other reason it’s on the lowest setting. We’ll want to test her upper limits later, but for today, we just want to see if her body will accept the infusion of purified magic and incorporate it into her natural field.”

“Right.” Scootaloo took a deep breath and pushed the green button. Her eyes widened, and Spirit could have sworn the colors of her mane, tail, and coat deepened just slightly. The wings on her back started twitching, and a faint grimace overtook her previous look of surprise.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked quickly. “We can stop if you need to.”

“N-no, I’m fine. My wings just feel strange. It isn’t burning, exactly, more like the feeling you get when you try to stretch a sore muscle.”

Twilight carefully scanned the young pegasus. “The battery is working, and it looks like your body is taking in the extra magic, just like when we tested it with stored samples of your own energy. That sensation must be your body trying to adapt to having so much more magic than it’s used to.”

“Yeah, that’s what I figured.” Scootaloo closed her eyes. “It’s starting to feel better. Can I try to fly with it now?”

The alicorn thought about it for a moment. “Yes, but only a hover, like we practiced. There isn’t a lot of magic in that battery, and I don’t want to risk you running out mid-flight.”

An uncharacteristically timid smile lit up Scootaloo’s face. “Okay. Thanks, Twilight.” She extended her wings and gave them a hearty flap, rocketing herself into the ceiling nearly twenty feet above.

Rainbow shot into the air and caught her before she could fall more than a few feet, much to everyone’s relief.

Scootaloo rubbed her head and smiled sheepishly up at her honorary sister. “Thanks. I guess that means my body is using the extra magic.”

“You can say that again, Squirt,” Rainbow agreed.

“Need me to heal your head?” Cliff asked from his spot on the ground. “It looked like you hit it pretty hard there.”

“Nah, I’ll be fine.” Scootaloo started flapping her wings more softly, taking on most of her own weight as she did so. “You can let me go now. I want to try and float back down on my own.”

“I’ll catch her if she falls,” Twilight promised.

Rainbow nodded. “Alright. Keep flapping your wings, but don’t channel too much magic into them.”

Scootaloo nodded that she understood, and Rainbow released her. The young pegasus floated very slowly back toward the floor. She almost touched it before stopping, holding her position for a moment, and then rising back toward Rainbow. “I’m doing it,” she laughed. “I’m actually flying!”

“You’re awesome, Scootaloo,” Sweetie shouted.

“Congratulations.” Whisper smiled broadly.

“Yeah, now git down here so we can give ya a hug!” Apple Bloom commanded.

“No way,” Dash said, grabbing the younger pegasus and giving her a fierce squeeze. “She’s my little sister, so I get the first congratulations hug.”

Scootaloo obviously didn’t mind and wrapped her hooves around Rainbow.

After a moment, the pair landed, and everyone clustered around the orange pegasus in a group hug.

Twilight joined in too, as did Autumn.

Eh, what the hay. Spirit added himself to the pile.

“I can’t believe it. I flew all on my own!” Scootaloo looked down at the magic battery on her foreleg. “Well, sort of.” She grinned. “Ah, who cares? It’s still awesome!”

“You’re the awesome one, Scoots,” Dash said, holding her adopted sister tightly. “And I couldn’t be more proud of you.”

The others all echoed their agreement.

-_-_-_-_-_-

The path through the Everfree Forest to Ponyville was wide and well maintained, as could only be expected. At least a hundred ponies traveled it daily. It was also protected by a series of unicorn, wyrm, and even zebra enchantments, designed to ward off anything that might want to harm anyone. Fluttershy really appreciated the safety of the path, especially after running into some of the forest’s scarier inhabitants.

In spite of its dangers, the Everfree Forest was beautiful. Everything was lush and vibrant here. Even the animals teemed with energy, scampering about their lives with more satisfaction than most ponies ever found.

Many of the squirrels and birds called out greetings to the yellow pegasus when they saw her.

Fluttershy wished she could look at them directly, they were always so adorable, but she was still practicing the Stare, and she didn’t want to risk hitting anyone with it. She switched to the Love Stare, just to be safe, and waved whenever she heard a critter calling out to her. I really am a lucky pony to have made so many friends.

Rarity walked beside her. “I must say, I never imagined that you, of all ponies, would willingly face a berserker every morning, let alone three of them.” With her telekinesis, she idly spun a bunch of foot-long iron cylinders, in a figure-eight pattern over her head.

“It is surprising,” Fluttershy agreed, “but Rainbow Dash really wanted my help.”

“Did Rainbow pressure you into this? I could have a talk with her, if you’d like.”

“Oh no,” Fluttershy shook her head, “she just asked me. I’m the one that agreed. After all, my Stare can really help dragons that have gone berserk, and it would be wrong of me if I didn’t learn how to use it.” She also felt just a teensy bit proud of herself for overcoming her fear of berserkers, but she didn’t want to brag.

“You’re beginning to sound like a wyrm, my dear.” Even though Fluttershy couldn’t see it, she could hear the smile in her friend’s voice. “What’s that thing they’re always saying, ‘Ability equals responsibility’?”

“Well, I am married to Cliff, and he’s a wyrm, so … I guess it’s normal that I sound kind of like one?” Fluttershy beamed at the compliment anyway.

The forest came to a sudden halt, leaving them in the fields outside of Ponyville. Fluttershy took a moment to enjoy the warmth of the sun on her back and the feel of the wind in her mane. Three of her bird friends were flying lazily over the green grass. They chirped when they saw her and flew over to land on her head, whistling a greeting as they came.

She smiled. “Good morning to you too. Rarity and I were just headed to the cottage to serve breakfast. Would you like to come with us?”

They all chirped their agreement.

“Actually,” Rarity said, “I think I’ll run to my shop quickly and pick up that package before I join you at the cottage. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh no, of course not.” Fluttershy gave the white unicorn a hug. “I’ll see you there.” In truth, she was actually a little relieved that she wouldn’t have to go with her friend into town. She didn’t want to be mean, but ever since Cliff and the other wyrms were forced to leave Ponyville, she always felt a little uncomfortable walking its streets. Fluttershy knew it was wrong of her to blame all of Ponyville for the actions of a few mean ponies, but she couldn’t help it.

Still maintaining her Stare, the yellow pegasus started down the familiar path to her old home.

The cottage came into view. Not much had changed over the years, except for the sign over the door that read, ‘Angel’s Animal Emporium.’

Fluttershy walked up to the door and knocked before opening it. “Angel, I’m here.”

Angel wandered out from behind the counter inside, yawning loudly. His fur was terribly matted in places, and his ears didn’t have their normal perkiness.

“Good morning, Angel.” She scooped him into a hug, making the birds on her head quickly readjust. “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

He squeaked out that she hadn’t, but he was surprised to see her so early.

“Oh, training ended early so I thought I’d come by and make breakfast for you all.”

Angel disentangled himself and hopped down, gesturing for her to follow him into the house.

It wasn’t on Everfree’s land, but the cottage was the official pet shop and veterinary office for the village. Twilight had offered to teleport it into Everfree proper, but most of the critters that lived here were a little frightened by the wild forest. Besides, leaving it midway between Everfree and Ponyville made it easier for residents of both towns to come here for pets.

Following Angel inside, Fluttershy noticed that several bits had been left on the counter. “Do we have a new patient, Angel, or did someone get adopted?”

Luckily it turned out to be the latter. Angel explained through a series of gestures and squeaks that an earth pony had come by last night and asked Misses Owl to be her new pet. Fluttershy grinned for her friend. Misses Owl had been hoping to get adopted for quite a while now.

Aside from the front counter and cash register, things looked about the same as before she moved out. A couch and a few chairs still sat around the front room, next to the bookshelf, and dozens of small critter houses either hung from the ceiling or were built into the walls. The birds that had come with her flew to the kitchen, singing happily.

Fluttershy stepped over a family of mice and walked into the kitchen as well. Everyone still needed to be fed.

Rarity arrived just as she finished filling all of the bowls in the house and making Angel a nice salad, because he’d really wanted one.

“Fluttershy,” Rarity called, “are you in here?”

“Yes, I’m up here,” she replied, coming down the stairs. Her old bedroom had been converted into more animal homes, and there had been plenty of bowls that needed filling. Fluttershy placed an empty box of food in the trash before joining her friend at the door. “Should we start on our way back?”

“Yes, I imagine Cliff would be terribly disappointed if you were late for breakfast,” Rarity said with a smile, eyes darting to the small brown package on her back.

The tone of her voice made Fluttershy stare at her friend in confusion. That proved to be a mistake as the Love Stare made Rarity start giggling like a schoolfilly. The weights hovering over her head even formed into the dotted outline of a large heart.

Fluttershy looked away immediately. “Oh, I’m sorry, Rarity!”

“That’s,” she giggled, shaking slightly, “quite all right, dear.” She backed out of the doorway, still fighting down a love-struck smirk.

Fluttershy followed but was extra careful to keep her eyes on the ground.

By the time they entered the Everfree Forest once more, Rarity seemed to have regained control of herself. “I have been meaning to ask for some time now, but how are things with Cliff? It has been more than two years, after all. You two barely qualify as newlyweds anymore, and they say that this is when stallions often start to neglect their mares.”

“No, he’s always very thoughtful,” Fluttershy assured her.

“That’s wonderful to hear.” Rarity hummed thoughtfully. “I know you two were considering adoption, seeing as how you can’t have children of your own.” She cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Have you given any more thought to that?”

Fluttershy’s head sank. She knew it wasn’t her fault, but it felt like she was failing Cliff somehow, not being able to give him the children that they both wanted so badly.

Even Twilight hadn’t been able to help them yet. Transforming Cliff into a stallion or Fluttershy into a dragoness for the afternoon was easy enough for the alicorn, but the pony version of that spell had absolutely no impact on the target’s DNA, so getting pregnant still wasn’t possible. There was a wyrm transformation spell too, but it was permanent, and neither Fluttershy nor Cliff wanted the other to give up their species.

Fluttershy sighed. “Yes, we’ve talked about adoption. A lot, actually.”

“Do you think you will?”

“Yes, probably soon.” Her mood lifted a bit as she imagined holding a young child in her arms, whether dragon or pony, it didn’t matter. “We both think we’re almost ready.”

Rarity rubbed against her side as they continued down the forest path. “I’m sure you’ll be a wonderful mother for some fortunate child.”

Fluttershy hugged her back with one wing. “I really hope so.” She looked up wistfully. Many branches passed overhead, but she could still see the clear blue sky above.

“Before we get back to the Village, I should give you this.” Rarity gestured to the package and levitated it over to her. “I’m sure you’ll put them to good use, especially with you coming into heat soon.” She smiled suggestively.

Fluttershy blushed and looked inside. Just as she had suspected, it was a ten-pack of strawberry-flavored edible underwear.

“I must say, you certainly go through a lot of those. That’s your second package this week.” Rarity’s face became unusually serious as she leaned closer. “You do know it’s okay to tell him no sometimes, right?”

Fluttershy looked at the ground, turning bright red. “Oh, he doesn’t normally ask. He just takes one whenever he’s in the mood.” She realized a second too late exactly how that would sound.

Rarity’s jaw dropped. “Oh my Celestia!” Her training weights clattered to the ground as she pulled her friend into a tight hug. “I had no idea that Cliff was such a brute! You must leave him immediately! We’ll talk to Twilight. I’m sure she can-”

“Oh no, that isn’t what I meant!” Fluttershy insisted.

“You just told me that he was forcing himself on you, dear!” Rarity pulled her closer. “No matter what anypony tells you, a wife should never be a mere tool to fulfill her husband’s-”

“He doesn’t force himself on me! I’m always the one that has to ask him for sex!” Fluttershy’s pupils shrank. Oh dear! I can’t believe I said that!

“I- you- he- what?” Rarity sputtered.

Fluttershy felt like she must be more red than yellow. Luckily they were still hugging, so Rarity couldn’t see it. She forced down her embarrassment and explained, “Cliff hates feeling like he’s pressuring me into anything, so he always lets me decide when we’re going to be … intimate.”

“B-but didn’t you say that whenever he’s in the mood …” the white unicorn trailed off uncertainly.

“He likes the taste of the edible clothes, and eats them whenever he’s in the mood for a snack.” Fluttershy pulled back enough to look her friend in the eye. “Cliff has never forced me to do anything that I didn’t want. Actually, I sometimes wish that he would speak up when he wants to be with me, um, that way, so that I don’t feel like I’m the only one that …”

Rarity wasn’t listening. She was, however, bright red with a grin so large that only Pinkie Pie could ever hope to match it.

It took Fluttershy a moment to realize that one, the Love Stare was still active, and two, in her embarrassment, she had turned it up to maximum power. She released her friend, who collapsed backwards onto the dirt path.

“Oh, I wish I had a stallion that would tell me things like that too.” Rarity giggled. “I would love to be loved! It must be so wonderful!”

Fluttershy slowly registered that she had just overloaded her friend with so much love that she would probably propose to the first stallion she saw. The yellow mare sighed, facehoofed, and prepared a Fear Stare to get Rarity back to normal. Apparently it was going to be one of those days.

Author's Note

Uploaded early as a present to you guys for getting this story featured. Really, everyone, thank you. It means a lot to me.

In case anyone is curious, this world deviates from the show's timeline just after the season 4 finale. Most of seasons 5 and up still happened, but there were some alterations. For example, and the Gauntlet of Fire was put on hold indefinitely, and the season 6 finale didn't happen.