Golden Dawn: Dusk of an Empire

Twilight couldn't help but stare at the flurry of commotion around her. Elves and Fairies darted to and fro, gathering last-minute supplies and reagents for the journey ahead. Though there were a few Elven soldiers present, most of the others appeared to be scientists and students, wishing to take this opportunity to learn more about the great white void they would soon visit. As her friends watched the activity around them, Rael'ia, flanked on either side by Aternus and Ezri, finally entered the room.

"Ah, wonderful, everyone is here," the Elven Princess smiled. "Is everyone ready for the excursion?"

"All set!" Rainbow Dash nodded. Aternus snapped his fingers, producing a vial of white liquid out of a puff of purple sparks. More vials suddenly appeared in the same fashion a split-second later, floating delicately in front of everyone present. The ponies and little dragon watched as the Elves and Fairies each grabbed their vials and drank the contents.

"This is simply a dose of Anti-Magic Sickness Prevention potion," said Rael'ia before finishing the rest of her vial with a gulp and a grimace. "It'll prevent nausea and the total loss of magical abilities while we're there. Because of what happened there... well, you'll see." This was enough to encourage her friends to tentatively drink their vials. Twilight studied the taste in her mouth: like a combination of marshmallow roots and wet flour with a mild burning sensation towards the end, like pepper seeds.

"Everyone take their potions?" Aternus asked, satisfied by the nods of everyone present. "Then let's get this expedition underway. Please stand in the center of the room, make sure nothing you don't want to lose is sticking over the lines."

Now Twilight's attention turned to her surroundings once more. The floor had white lines painted on it in a large triangle shape, with a standing sconce at each point. Each sconce held an egg-shaped chunk of Magicite that had foreign runes carved into each facet. Everybody began to pack themselves into the center of the triangle, peeking down frequently to make sure nothing went over the lines.

"Alright, everyone, we are porting in 3... 2... 1..."

~

Twilight felt herself nearly overwhelmed by nausea the instant she reappeared. She gasped for air as her eyes were blinded by the sheer whiteness of what she saw. They had reappeared in the middle of a vast, shimmering expanse, empty of everything save for the occasional dead tree and ruined building, stark white as well. Applejack nervously walked towards a fallen tree branch as the others took in their surroundings, recoiling as she touched and watched it crumble into dust in the wind.

"Oh, dear, I feel ill," Rarity groaned as she dropped to her knees. Twilight wanted to go to her, but her own rumbling stomach forced her eyes shut. Her mouth grew wet, she began breathing deeply and quickly in an effort to not lose her breakfast. Behind her, Rael'ia held her forehead, also breathing heavily.

"Oogh... Archmage, the extra-strength potion, please," she whimpered. His own eyes nearly squinted shut, Aternus weakly snapped his fingers again, producing another four hovering vials of white liquid. The four afflicted quickly drank the contents; Twilight noted that the wet flour flavor was much more pronounced this time. As soon as the liquid reached her stomach, it settled in an instant and her nausea was gone. She first looked to Rarity, finding her shaking her head and standing back up, seemingly cured. Rael'ia and Aternus both sighed in relief, allowing her to finally feel free to take in her surroundings. The vast whiteness stretched beneath endless blue skies as far as the eye could see. Everyone present stood within a similar triangular area as they had back in the palace, with lines carved into the ivory soil, leading to three similar sconces. However, one of the Magicite chunks had shattered, its pieces lying on the ground and no longer glowing from within, but now a solid, lifeless white. About thirty feet away were a couple yellowed tents and a wooden watchtower, populated by a dozen or so Elven and Fairy soldiers. They seemed to only briefly take notice of the group before turning their attentions elsewhere.

"Darling, what was that?!" Rarity coughed, holding her forehead tentatively.

"Anti-Magic Sickness," Aternus cleared his throat. "When the Alicorns were created, the resulting magical energy from the Elements, as well as all the ambient magic was absorbed into them, draining every last drop of magic from the very land itself. Ever since then, the White Wastes have been devoid of this energy... all magical races begin feeling nauseous upon setting foot here, with worse effects for those with stronger magical abilities. Also," he paused as he pointed to a nearby dirt road with a simple rope fence on the nearer side, "Unless you're within about ten feet of where the land's leylines are deep below, you'll find your own magical abilities... sorely lacking."

"How big is this place?" breathed Rainbow Dash. She found herself needing to flap her wings harder than usual to stay afloat.

"The Pony-kin kingdom was a respectable size," said Rael'ia. "From its center, the White Wastes reach for about two hundred miles in radius. Nothing lives here anymore... nothing can."

"So much dead land..." Applejack remarked sadly. Fluttershy uttered a sorrowful noise as she spied a decaying vulture in the distance.

"Archmage," an Elven soldier interrupted. "One of the teleportation beacons has been expended, we'll replace it immediately." Aternus nodded in response as the soldier and a pair of scientists began digging through a random sack.

"Because of the nature of the area, we can only teleport in and out of here at specific bases, like this one," he explained. "This is the furthest we can go before the lack of magic is just too great to attempt teleportation."

"What happens if you try?" asked Spike.

"Ask him." Rael'ia pointed to a nearby Elven scientist who had a mechanical left arm and right leg, studded with the familiar white crystals. Spike nodded uncomfortably.

"Anyway, it's a long walk to the epicenter," Ezri spoke, pulling on a pair of leather gloves tipped with Magicite. "We'd best get going if you need some new Harmony receptacles."

"Yes, let us begin," Rael'ia stepped forward. "Everyone, let's go!"

~

Twilight and all the others walked, and they walked, and they walked. The soldiers flanked the procession as Rael'ia, Aternus and Ezri led the way. The whiteness of their surroundings hurt her eyes; Twilight's horn flashed pink as she summoned some sunglasses for herself and her friends, her heart leaping into her throat as she realized such a simple spell required as much effort as she would have needed to expend all the way back in Magic Kindergarten. She barely registered the thanks of her companions, it should've only taken half a thought! She was a nigh-immortal demigod now, for Celestia's sake! She realized how little her power seemed to matter here, how she was suddenly reminded of how much power she really had... was supposed to have. And it chilled her to her core. She glanced at Rainbow Dash, who was sweating profusely as she flapped her wings to stay aloft. She turned to Pinkie Pie, who was struggling to maintain her usual gait of hopping and skipping, only managing a slightly-sprightly step. Applejack and Fluttershy trailed slightly behind, silently but stoically, and Spike simply exhaled, offering a weak but welcome breeze against her mane as he fanned himself while riding on her back. A weak pulse of blue light drew her attention to Rarity, trying her hardest to summon a sunhat, squeezing her eyes shut in concentration. Her own magic pulsed and intertwined with hers; a rose-pink hat decorated with feathers and a brim wide enough to shield the white unicorn's entire body with shade finally materialized on her head. Rarity turned and nodded her thanks to Twilight, and they continued to walk.

The morning sun had climbed into the center of the sky by the time the occasional remains of civilization finally disappeared in favor of ground that seemed scorched and turned to glass. The simple dirt road with its rope fence narrowed, the fence ending into simple metal posts driven into the earth every hundred feet or so. The crisp shards of burnt sand and ash crackled under their feet as they walked ever further. Finally, an hour later the level ground became a gentle downwards slope, and the path began its shallow descent. Twilight and her friends' eyes widened at the sight: irregular lines of slightly darker white traveled down the sides of the crater; the lavender Alicorn surmised that these were errant streams of water drawn by gravity. They mixed and pooled into the bottom of the crater, and in the very center lay a tiny black dot, though judging by the distance it was a sooty black starburst as wide as a barrel. She ran the numbers in her head, concluding they had walked an approximate total of fifteen miles. The majority of the Elven soldiers accompanying them now broke off and began marching around the rim of the crater in groups of two, leaving only a couple to walk with them.

At long last, they reached the center. While Rael'ia, Aternus and Ezri assisted the scientists and students in setting up various forms of research and Magicite tools, Twilight dragged herself to a nearby pool of water. A tiny cascade of liquid bubbled down from a pile of rocks, the resulting babble a welcome invitation to the parched. The pool itself shimmered and gleamed like the most beautiful of aquamarines, yet she wondered if water in such an area was safe to drink.

"The water is perfectly fine to drink," Aternus suddenly spoke, as if he'd sensed the question coming. "Doesn't taste very good, though." Exhausted, Rainbow Dash allowed her wings to rest and plopped down into the water, splashing Twilight as her horn glowed. She let out an audible grunt as she willed a scroll of paper and a quill into existence, wanting to do research of her own. Her tongue absentmindedly licked some water off her muzzle and she recoiled at the taste, trying to think of what it reminded her of.

"Bleh!" Rainbow spat as she surfaced violently. Twilight silently agreed with her, the water tasted like denatonium benzoate... extremely bitter, as Rainbow would have asked her to translate her nerdiness. "No wonder nothing can live here!"

"Even the water is tainted here," Ezri sighed. "Don't worry, we brought plenty of normal water with us." Rainbow quickly flew out of the pool and shook herself dry as many of the others began pulling out canteens from their supplies for a well-deserved break. The water tasted as sweet as cider after such a long journey. In moments the canteens were dry, yet the Water-enchanted Magicite within glowed and slowly began regenerating their life-giving contents. Sated, Twilight accompanied Rael'ia and Ezri as they approached the burnt spot in the crater's center. Upon closer inspection she saw that the spot was really two separate bursts of soot close together, staining the otherwise immaculate whiteness. Her eyes widened slightly as the realization hit her: this was the very spot where her beloved princesses Celestia and Luna had been created... born.

"I had always wondered why were there two scorched areas," Rael'ia spoke as Aternus moved to join them. "Now we know for sure what happened here." Twilight laid a hoof in the center of one of the burnt patches. Though the land around them was silent, she could sense the faintest whispers of magic here... chaotic, untamed, and fleeting. She felt a simple memory rushing back to her from her early fillyhood, one of how soft and warm Celestia felt when they touched. Ezri landed in the center of the patches, placing a hand on each one and closing her eyes. The Magicite tips of her gloves glowed intensely.

"Hmm... yes..." she hummed as she closed her eyes in focus. "It's barely there, but I can indeed sense them. Six powerful energies that became two."

"You can recreate the receptacles, yes?" asked Aternus. Ezri nodded as she lifted her eyes.

"It'll take time, but yes. Rael'ia, dear, hand me the materials, would you?" The Elven Princess nodded as her hands glowed with purple light. Six large chunks of perfectly clear Magicite shimmered into existence, floating gently around her before flying towards the Master Gemcutter. They glowed with a sublime light that seemed somehow whiter than their surroundings. Ezri took them up in her own field of magic, selecting one to hover in front of her as the others floated to the side. Her eyes closed as she set one hand down between the burnt patches, the other held up in front of the floating crystal. Tendrils of bright Arcane magic slowly sprouted forth from the ground and wrapped themselves around her hand, writhing around her arm, her back, and to her other arm and hand. As they wrapped around her fingers, the Magicite tips glowed brightly and suddenly shot thin lasers of magic towards the crystal. The lasers soon turned to ropes, writhing with controlled spasms as their tips began to grind and sand and etch the surface. The ponies watched in quiet awe as the crystal slowly transformed into a sphere the size of a grapefruit with thousands of tiny facets. The facets became thousands of prisms that filtered all but one light, forming a core of color that had not been there before. Finally, after about twenty minutes Ezri opened her eyes, levitating the newborn jewel to Rael'ia. Instead of an angelic white, it now glowed a shade of radiant orange to rival the most perfect of sunrises.

"Hey, that's mah Element's color!" Applejack grinned.

"The Element of Honesty, soon to be reborn," Rael'ia nodded. "Ezri, it's absolutely perfect! Great job!"

"Thanks, Your Highness," Ezri replied as she levitated another Magicite crystal towards her. "Just five more to go."

~

Soon after Honesty came Kindness, Laughter, Loyalty and Generosity. Ezri now focused on the final and most difficult of the crystals, the one that would come to bear the Element of Magic itself. Twilight let out a tired sigh; the whiteness of the surrounding land seemed to magnify the sun's effects. The radiating heat was sweltering, the air stale and hot. With a bit of effort she had conjured up some beach umbrellas to shelter her companions and friends, while Rael'ia focused on transforming a nearby pool into a large, upright ice crystal. Each gust of wind that hit the ice offered a brief respite of coolness for the rest. The lavender Alicorn glanced at her friends: Applejack had been trying in vain for the past half hour to make a dandelion seed sprout in the ruined earth. She sat beside her, fanning her brow with her hat as Twilight took notes. Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Spike were quietly conversing amongst themselves under an umbrella near the ice crystal, while Fluttershy was tending to a Fairy scientist that had been showing early signs of heat exhaustion. Rainbow Dash was busy soaring up above, claiming the lack of magical energy in the skies made for a great workout. Suddenly, however, the pegasus paused in midair, then swooped downwards as a horn blared in the distance.

"Uh, guys? Something's coming," she yelled. Rael'ia's ears perked up with concern.

"Oh, no... why now? Archmage, come look," she groaned. Her body glowed a light shade of purple as she levitated into the sky while Aternus, who had been sunbathing on a slope floated up after her. No sooner did they reach an altitude of about ten feet when the glow around their bodies began to flicker, and though they continued to rise, it was obvious it took much more effort than usual. As they reached the top of the crater they gazed into the distance; Aternus' usual robes immediately reappeared on his body in a flash of light, accompanied by the appearance of transparent purple armor.

"How'd they know..." he stammered at first, but he quickly regained his composure. His throat glowed purple as he shouted, his voice amplified enough for everyone to hear. "Everyone, pack up and prepare! We're under attack!" Twilight's ears pricked up as she picked up on a faint buzzing noise, almost imperceptible but quickly advancing closer. The Elven and Fairy scientists and students around them began hurriedly throwing their research notes and tools into their bags, and heaving out chunks of Magicite onto the ground. Some quickly arranged them into an unbroken circle while others began scratching runes into the glassed sand within. Meanwhile the soldiers above began retreating with haste down the slopes, preparing their own defenses. The buzzing noise grew louder, more choppy.

"Is it the Humans?" Spike asked as he and the ponies gathered near Twilight. She and Rainbow Dash flew upwards to join the Archmage and the Princess, Twilight cursing to herself just how difficult it was to flap her wings and fly in such a magic-less place. Her eyes turned to the horizon and she gasped. A fleet of at least ten strange flying ships were quickly approaching in a V-configuration, their Nullium-plated hulls coloring them a dull, ugly green. Large, circular engines stuck out from the sides, keeping the ships aloft as their yellowed dragonhide sails propelled them forward. On their decks and within small windows in the airships' walls, she saw Humans armed and pointing their firearms straight at her. Rainbow and Rael'ia flew downwards, Rainbow to rejoin her friends and Rael'ia hovering beside Ezri, who hadn't moved an inch despite the panic.

"Ezri, how much longer until you're done?" Rael'ia shouted worryingly.

"I need about five more minutes," Ezri replied without as much as a flinch, yet her eyes betrayed her nervousness. "I can't stop now; this last receptacle needs my total concentration. If the facets aren't perfect, the whole thing will be useless."

"The others are already forming an emergency Teleportation Base, Your Highness," a soldier called out, saluting. "We will also need about five minutes to complete it and get the hell out of here!"

"How convenient," Rainbow coughed dryly, ascending once more.

"Have your workers finished the new gemstones for my friends' armor?" Rael'ia spoke as she began rising upwards again.

"Only half of them, I'm afraid. The modifications to Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow's have been completed." Upon hearing this Rael'ia's hands glowed purple and she grunted loudly. A few seconds later, Twilight's and Rainbow Dash's armor materialized scale by scale around their bodies, while Rarity's fell from the sky and landed right next to her. She quickly put it on with a huff.

"We're going to need all the help we can get to keep them occupied for five minutes." Rael'ia's tone was dark and low. "I'm not even sure we'll be able to teleport out even with the emergency base, we've never attempted it at the epicenter before."

"You just leave it to me!" Rainbow thrust a hoof into her chest; she seemed revitalized by the multiple Magicite gems now fused into the scales and leatherwork of her armor. They glowed a subtle yellow as her entire body began slightly crackling with lightning. With a single flap of her wings she rocketed off in the opposite direction of the approaching fleet, they only barely heard her yell at them to cover her. She was out of sight within a few seconds.

"What's she thinking?!" Aternus yelled, confused.

"I think I have a pretty good idea-" Twilight cut her speech short as she heard multiple explosions coming from the fleet, instantly followed by missiles trailing thick smoke behind them. While she summoned her newfound, Magicite-enhanced strength to create a shield bubble around the entire crater, Rael'ia held her hands out in front of her. Her hands glowed a violent violet as thousands of star-shaped projectiles erupted from them, speeding out to meet the missiles. The missiles were struck and exploded, but yielded a great number of smaller, dull green missiles from their remains.

"You and your "bullet hell" style," Aternus sighed. His hand glowed with molten fury as he merely pointed in the general direction of the mini-missile cluster. The air around them suddenly grew extremely hot, steam evaporated in swirls around his body. A point of red light flickered in front of his finger, very quickly followed by a massive torrent of brilliant fire Twilight would have expected from a fully-grown dragon. It swept through the missile cluster, melting and causing them all to explode harmlessly seconds later.

"Hey, I destroy things just as well as you," Rael'ia replied with playful annoyance. "Besides, mine's cooler, anyway."

"Bah! All you need is one good shot." Aternus pointed towards another incoming barrage of missiles and let loose another blast of fire.

"One shot's lame, though. Unimpressive. Now, thousands of equally-strong shots, now that's a display of power!" With that, Rael'ia's magic switched from Arcane to Lightning. A large, crackling ball of yellow energy grew from her hands, quickly arcing out lightning bolts towards the remainder of missiles.

"Compensating for something, are we?" he grinned.

"No, but you sure are!"

"Wha? Whatever do you mean by that?"

"You know what they say, huge beam of magic, small-"

"Are you two seriously fighting right now?!" Twilight groaned. A couple of missed missiles made contact with her shield, exploding harmlessly and causing barely a ripple.

"What? No, we're always like this," Rael'ia's surprised face reddened slightly.

"She's always gotta outdo me during battle," Aternus replied smugly. "But you can't be better than the best Archmage ever!"

"Boy, you're only the Archmage because members of the royal family aren't allowed to have that title!" she snapped, her face growing redder.

"Suuure... that's why," he smirked. "Not because Her Highness could absolutely rewrite the rules about that, no, that's not it..."

"Oh, you want power? I'll show you power!" Just before she could finish charging up her next attack, however, everyone flinched at the sound of distant thunder. In the far distance, a faint rainbow halo in the sky could be seen expanding outwards. Barely a second later a flash of rainbow whizzed past, Rainbow's voice screaming a barely audible, enthusiastic warcry. She plowed into the right half of the fleet's V-formation, ripping huge holes in their hulls effortlessly, the crashing and tearing of metal deafening. At the end she banked upwards sharply and returned to them as those five ships immediately plummeted down to the land below. Numerous Humans could be seen abandoning ship and floating safely down on parachutes before the airships exploded upon contact with the ground. While Twilight seemed only mildly surprised by Rainbow's newfound power, Rael'ia and Aternus were left speechless.

"...Alright, she wins," Aternus finally uttered.

"Oh. My. Gosh. That was so. Awesome." Rainbow could barely contain her excitement, so she threw her head back and shouted triumphantly, flailing her limbs. "I AM THE STRONGEST PONY ALIVE!!!"

Down below, the Humans had landed and were now advancing towards the crater. Though Twilight's shield kept them all safe from their missiles and other weapon fire, their Nullium armor would pierce the shield like it wasn't even there. As they marched closer, Rarity finally made her way over the crater's ridge and walked calmly towards them until she was just behind the safety of the shield. Despite the purple hue the protected surroundings took on, her armor gleamed almost as brightly as the sun itself. Besides having numerous Magicite gems added to her armor, shards of Magicite floated gracefully around her body, making her horn appear three times its normal length and making her body appear to have wings and longer, tapered ears. She stood before the Human army, unimpressed.

"Come," she spoke simply, venomously. The front lines broke out into a run, holding their dull green bayonetted firearms like spears while some drew sharpened Nullium swords. Rarity watched stone-faced as they advanced, and when she decided they'd advanced enough, her eyebrow raised slightly as her horn glowed ice blue. Her aura of diamonds seemed to duplicate exponentially until there must have been a thousand of them, and in an instant they shot towards the Human army. The razor sharp tips easily slid through the gaps in their armor and into their flesh, leaving trails of blood in their wake as they pierced the entire wave. They collapsed into heaps as the shards flew upwards and back to their owner, who merely blinked. "Is that all?" was her icy reply.

However, the remaining airships had grown closer despite Aternus and Rael'ia's magic assault. Rarity gazed upwards and prepared her shards as ropes emerged from trapdoors in the bottom of their hulls, Humans quickly dripping down them and onto the ground. One of the trapdoors on one of the airships was much bigger than the rest; a horrifically familiar, giant suit of dull green armor dropped down and dented the earth with its landing. The Angel rose slowly, staring the white Unicorn down. Her demeanor changed drastically.

"Er... while I feel quite powerful with these new gemstones, I'm not sure I feel quite that powerful," she laughed nervously. As if on cue, the Angel knelt with a hiss of steam and charged forward. Rarity's eyes widened in fear, her crystal shards forming into a shield twice her size just before the impact sent her forcefully sliding backwards. She grunted loudly as she tried with all her magical might to stop the mechanical creature and herself, but found it made no real difference. Her hooves reached the edge of the crater, gravity and momentum causing her balance to fail, and she tumbled down the slope as the Angel watched. Spike reached and called out to her, running to her aid as she finally came to rest at the crater's bottom. She picked herself up with some difficulty and glared angrily upwards at the advancing army, the Angel leading them down the slope. Her magic formed her crystal shards into a massive, elegant broadsword the size of a small tree, and she swung it menacingly before pointing it at the massive harbinger of death that approached. Just before she could charge, however, all were stopped in their tracks by a sudden, bright pink light.

"It is finished!" Ezri cried, the tendrils of magic finally releasing her as the finished Receptacle of Magic hovered in midair, glowing like a star. She quickly took up all six crystal orbs in her magic and darted towards the emergency Teleportation Base. "Get us out of here!" Her shield penetrated, Twilight let it dissolve as she, Aternus and Rael'ia flew towards the others already gathered within the circle. Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Fluttershy were doing their best to calm the noncombatants while the Elven soldiers surrounded them protectively. Rarity began slowly backing up as she continued to stare down the Angel, Spike by her side.

"Spike, darling, please go to the others," she pleaded quietly. "This is hardly safe."

"Not without you, Rarity," the little dragon replied, putting on a brave face but quivering with every step.

"This is not the time to put on airs! I will keep us safe, now go!" she ordered. Spike began to turn his body to run to the circle, and the Angel let out a loud hiss. Just as Rarity brought her sword back to strike a blow, a sound of thunder echoed throughout the air just as the Angel charged forward. A streak of rainbow appeared, followed by a loud crash and explosion of color and white dust as Rainbow Dash slammed into the Angel with all her might. She skidded to a halt as the mechanical creature was sent flying back, rolling like a boulder into the advancing Human army and all the way up and out of the crater.

"C'mon, let's go!" Rainbow shouted as she sped away to the circle. Rarity grabbed Spike with her magic and set him on her back as she fled towards the others. Now that everyone was within the circle, Rael'ia and Aternus began focusing their magic on the Magicite circle around them. The stones glowed a faint purple at first, gradually growing brighter in color but began flickering unsettlingly. Meanwhile, the Human army were nearly halfway down the slopes, charging forward with vigor as the Angel reappeared at the edge, emitting a hiss and a cloud of steam.

"It's not gonna work!" Aternus yelled. "There's just not enough magic!"

"Twilight, please, help us!" shouted Rael'ia.

"What do I do?!"

"Think of that room in the palace we ported to before and focus your magic on the circle!" With that, Twilight tried her hardest to picture that room, its walls of pure Magicite slabs, the dim, dark blue color. Once she felt confident in her memory, she pointed her glowing horn towards the circle and channeled as much magic as she could muster into it. The crystals stopped flickering and became a brilliant shade of purple. The Angel charged.

"Perfect! Porting now!" Aternus shouted. After a few uneasy moments, everyone within the circle disappeared in a flash of purple sparkles just as the Angel reached the circle, scattering the crystals everywhere.

But in the wake of that circle of crystals and runes, unnoticed by everyone, a dandelion seed sprouted.

~

When Twilight noticed the air felt cool, she tentatively opened her eyes. They had made it. They were all safely inside the dark Magicite room. She and her friends breathed a sigh of relief, sinking to the cold stone floor. The Elven and Fairy scientists, students and soldiers sighed as well, celebrating their escape quietly with relaxed glances and a couple of hugs. Ezri flittered to the side, holding all six radiant Element receptacles in her field of magic as they slowly orbited her. Aternus sat down with a thud as Rael'ia sank to her hands and knees, their eyes closed.

"That was too close..." she finally spoke. "How did they know we were there? They have no reason to go there..."

"Someone must've told them," Aternus breathed. "There must be some double agents in the chain of command. Traitorous little-" he grumbled but cut his sentence short to start another one. "Oh, your eye fell out, Rae."

"Wha?" She waved her hand in front of her face, sighing heavily before drooping her head. "...Damn it."

"Well, we've got receptacles for the Elements of Harmony," he smiled at Twilight and the other ponies. "Now for the hard part..."

Twilight smiled back weakly.