The Storm and the Scorpion

by BronyWriter

Chapters

Overwhelmed
Klugetown
Verko
Traveling
Seaquestria
Fight Another Day
War Council
The Battle for Baltimare
Regrouping
The Battle for Canterlot
Finale

Overwhelmed

"All of the booths are set up?"

"Roger, Prince Antares."

"The balcony for the speeches at maximum sound quality?"

"Check."

"Food?"

"Good to go."

I nodded and took a deep breath. So far everything seemed to be going well enough. Given that this was the first of the annual Veteran's Day celebrations in Canterlot, I wanted everything to be perfect. Maybe not on the level that Twilight would want, but we were honoring ponies who had fought and died in the worst war in the planet's history. I didn't want to half-ass this. Celestia insisted that I was doing a good job, which, if I'm being honest, is probably because her and the other princesses are helping out. We've even found a few odd jobs for Nymeria and Maia.

"I guess if I can organize a war I can organize a much smaller event like its memorial celebration, Captain Blaze," I mused. "Unlike the war, I don't think ponies are going to care if this doesn't exactly go according to plan. As long as we pay our respects and enjoy the freedoms that thousands of ponies fought and died for so we could have..." I shrugged. "I'm not too worried about it."

"Makes sense, Prince Antares." Blaze stopped and stretched out his legs. "But I'm just glad to be out of my armor at a thing like this once. I can't remember the last celebration or festival that I didn't have to work security for."

"Yeah, I just don't see ponies being open to the idea of soldiers everywhere, at least, not outside the actual veterans. That's a little different."

"Fair enough." Blaze and I walked down the main road of Canterlot, where dozens of ponies were setting up stalls and memorials. Many of them bowed to me when I passed, and I raised a wing at them in acknowledgement. Everypony seemed fairly self-sufficient here, which made my job a lot easier.

"So how are your fillies, Prince Antares?"

I smiled at the mention of a topic I rather enjoyed. "Both of them are helping out their respective mothers, I believe. Celestia and Nymeria are making sure the Canterlot Memorial is well decorated for the actual ceremony, and Maia and Luna are gathering flowers from the royal gardens."

Blaze snorted at that. "They don't want to help out their daddy with anything?"

I rolled my eyes. "Eh, I'm not really doing much other than a little managing here and there. They'll let me know if they need any help. Besides..." I smirked. "I don't know a darn thing about flowers. I've been a pony for over eight years now, and I'm still having a little trouble figuring out which ones are edible. That's more Maia's thing."

"Of course, speaking of your family..."

I smiled and put on a little speed as I saw my family around the memorial. Nymeria was on Celestia's back, pointing out different observations she had about this and that, while Maia was placing flowers around the edges of the memorial with Luna. All four turned around when they heard me coming and smiled.

"Daddy!" Nymeria cried, flying up to me to wrap her hooves around my neck. At least, as best as a five year old filly could.

"Hey, Nym," I said, putting a hoof around her to return the hug. "You being a good filly and helping Mommy?"

"Oh yeah, lots!" Nymeria said happily. She wiggled out of the hug and flew up to land on my head. "See, Mommy wanted to put the ribbons over there, but I said that we couldn't see some of the names, and that would be a bad thing." Given her tone, I could almost hear the pout in her next words. "But Maia isn't listening to me when I said the flowers are dumb."

"No they're not!" Maia insisted, turning back to Nymeria with wide eyes. "They're really pretty!"

"Nymeria, be nice to your sister," Celestia said, slight reproach in her voice.

"But Mooooommmm!" Nymeria whined. "You said today has gotta be perfect!"

"And dear Maia is doing a wonderful job at achieving that goal," Luna said, leaning down to nuzzle her daughter. Maia beamed with happiness and nuzzled Luna back.

"Something the matter?" a voice said behind me. I turned and saw a green pegasus with a blue mane walking up to us. "You and Maia aren't bickering again, are you, Nym?"

"Nuh-uh, Aunt Kristen," Nymeria insisted, flying off of my head to land in front of my sister. "I was just saying that Maia's flowers are dumb." She pointed back to the flowers. "They are, aren't they?"

"Now--"

"Aunt Kristen is gonna agree with me!" Maia said triumphantly. "She's got green fur like me, so she's gotta."

Nymeria stuck her tongue out at Maia. "No, 'cause she's got a blue mane like me, so she's gonna agree with me."

"Yeah, uh..." Kristen began backing away. "Not even gonna get involved in that one."

"That's 'cause--"

"Alright, Nymeria, that's enough of that," Celestia said, lighting her horn and levitating Nymeria onto her back. "How about we go check on some of the food stalls? You can start seeing what you might like to try when the celebration begins."

Nymeria instantly perked up. "Yeah! Maybe there's a pony selling ice cream! Ooh, no, funnel cake! Wait, wait, actual cake, with chocolate frosting and..."

Nymeria's voice faded away as Celestia walked down a nearby street, and I watched them go with a small smile on my face. I'd always suspected that Nymeria would have a bit of a sibling rivalry going on with her sister/cousin, but I didn't predict that Maia would go right along with it. I chuckled and turned back to my own sister.

"We were never like that, right?"

Kristen gave me a flat look, but couldn't keep the corners of her mouth from twitching up ever so slightly. "Uh-huh. Never. You never came home and insisted to our mother that you had better grades than I did."

"To be fair, I did."

"Did not."

"Did too. I might have sucked in that math class, but I had a better GPA."

"No, I had--"

"So what I am seeing here is that you two never really grew up, and you do not expect our children to either."

I turned back to Luna and rolled my eyes, ignoring Maia's gleeful expression. "Come on, I'm sure you and Celestia were the same way. It's practically in the sibling code."

Luna's eyes narrowed, and she glanced down to Maia. "Absolutely not. We are princesses. The height of class and sophistication." She put her hoof up to her mouth in a "shh" motion. Yeah, that's what I thought.

"So sibling rivalries aside, how are preparations coming on your end? Everything all set?"

"Yeah, Twilight and her buddies seem like they have everything in hand. Twilight's making sure that they're doing everything that they should, so it's not like I really had to do much," Kristen said. "I might have had to nudge them to be a little quicker, especially Rarity, but other than that..." She shrugged. "Nothing of note."

"Good, then it seems everything is going smoothly." I took a deep breath and glanced over to the nearby clock tower. The ceremony started in half an hour, and I'd wager that the trickle of ponies coming into Canterlot had turned into a tide, most of them coming to the palace to hear the opening speeches. That meant that Celestia, Luna, Cadance and I had to start making our way to the balcony to get ready. So of course Celestia had chosen that moment to walk away with Nymeria.

"Hey Kristen, can you go see if you can find Celestia and Cadance? We need to get this show on the road soon."

"Yeah, sure." Kristen spread her wings and flew a few feet into the air. "You want me to tell them to just go to the palace?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that should be fine. Tell her Luna and I will be there."

"And me, Aunt Kristen! Don't forget to tell Aunt Celestia that I'm gonna be there too!" Maia said, flying up to land on my back.

"Yes, and Maia. Can't forget about her."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Kristen said, giving me a small salute before flying down the road Celestia and Nymeria had gone.

"Alright, let's see..." I checked over the flowers Maia had placed around the memorial and nodded. "They look great. You did a very good job, Maia."

"Indeed she did," Luna said, getting to her hooves. "Do you want to be with your mother while she gives her speech, Maia?"

"Yeah!" Maia said happily, flying over to land on Luna's back. "You're gonna do great, Mommy!"

"As long as you've gotten enough sleep," I pointed out as the three of us walked over to the palace.

"I have become more diurnal since Maia was born, thank you very much," Luna said, sticking her muzzle in the air. "I'm an alicorn the same as you, Antares. I endure."

"Right. That's probably because Maia wasn't anywhere near as colicky as Nymeria was."

"Yeah, and that's why I'm the bestest!" Maia said. "I didn't cry at night and stuff."

Luna grimaced and her ears flattened. "No, you did not cry during the night. You cried during the day when I was attempting to sleep."

"Yeah, well, not anymore."

I chuckled and shook my head as the three of us entered the palace and made our way to the room adjacent to the balcony we gave our speeches on. A quick glance at a nearby clock told us that we still had twenty five minutes.

"Now Maia, you can be there with me when I give my speech, but--"

"Don't interrupt you. I know, Mom."

"Good. And you needn't fear being with me in front of all of those ponies. They're quite happy to see you."

Maia buried her head into Luna's mane and grasped onto her neck. "It's still scary. There are lots of ponies."

"You will grow accustomed to it, my dear," Luna assured her. "In time you will be giving your own speeches without fear."

"But that's a while away, Maia," I said, putting a hoof on her back. "Don't worry about it for now. You can just stand next to your mother and smile. That's not too hard, is it?"

"I guess not," Maia said, nuzzling Luna's neck.

It wasn't more than a few minutes before Celestia, Nymeria, Cadance and Kristen arrived. They were escorted by Blaze and Rapids, alongside Night Stalker and Raining Skies, the captains for Luna and Cadance respectively. I nodded in Cadance's direction, and she returned it before rushing over to fawn over Maia. I didn't want to say that Maia was Cadance's favorite, but... their personalities aligned a little more that her and Nymeria. She always insisted that she loved them equally, though.

"So, did you find any desserts you wanted to try, Nym?" I asked as I walked up to my wife and daughter.

"Oh yeah, there was a ton of good stuff!" Nymeria gave Celestia "Bambi Eyes" and nuzzled her leg. "Can I try them all, Mommy? It's a special occa-- uh, occat... special day!"

"Let me think about it," Celestia said. "However, you must remember the last time I granted that request."

"Uh... yeah, but they don't have as many this time. I'll be fine!"

Gosh she sounded like her mother. At least, I could see parallels between Nymeria's behavior and the stories Luna used to tell about Celestia at a young age. I was never a huge sweets guy, so she couldn't have gotten it from me.

"Maybe I'll spoil her when Celestia's not looking," Kristen whispered to me, a conspiratorial grin on her face. "It's my duty as her aunt."

"Okay, one: I doubt Celestia will let you just take her for that very reason, two: you do know I'm her father, right? I don't really want my daughter hyped up on sweets for the entire afternoon, only to go to bed with a stomach ache."

"Fine," Kristen grumbled. She raised an eyebrow before glancing over to Maia. "So maybe Luna would let me watch Maia for a bit, then?"

"And you run into the same problem of me being Maia's father and not wanting a sugar rush followed by a stomach ache."

"Oh come on, TD, you don't--"

"Oh look at the time, we should really get those speeches started, don't you think?" I said, making my way to the balcony entrance. "Celestia? Cadance? Luna? You three ready?"

"Sure am," Cadance said, following behind me with the rest of the princesses. "And maybe once that's over I can join Kristen in spoiling my cousins rotten."

"And I thought Kristen was the only chaos god here," I grumbled. "Besides, don't you have your own foal to spoil?"

"Oh, I'll get to that. Shining has her right now. Besides, she's too young to be eating a lot of dessert anyway."

I rolled my eyes and grumbled something under my breath that I really didn't want my daughters to hear. Sure, I could see why Cadance and my sister would want to spoil their young family members, but they weren't the ones who had to deal with the fallout of two young alicorn fillies quite literally bouncing off of walls. I pushed the thoughts of hyper daughters out of my mind. I had more important things to take care of at the moment.

"So all of that aside, who should go first? Do I get to because all of this was my idea, or...?"

"If that is the way you wish to do it," Celestia said, moving to stand beside me. "If you are ready."

I waved my hoof. "Oh yeah, I just wanted to make sure we were all on board with the order. So me, then Celestia, then Luna, then Cadance?"

The three princesses exchanged looks, then nodded. "Yeah, sounds good to me," Cadance said.

"Good, because it's about time." At those words, whatever happy mood I'd been in slowly faded away when it hit me just what this celebration was for. Sure, we were all hopefully going to have a good time today, but at its core the reason for all of it was the ponies who had fought and died so we could have a fun day like this. If Purgle had won the war... I don't even want to know what he would have done to my subjects. Enslavement? Mass death? Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Nymeria and I would all be dead, that's for sure.

But that hadn't happened. We were safe from the likes of him.

"Alright, ladies, let's do this."

The others gave assenting grunts, and we all made our way out onto the balcony. Thousands of ponies stood below us, and when they saw us appear, a deafening cheer went through the crowd. We all smiled and waved, as royalty should. I glanced back at my family. Kristen had gotten pretty good at the 'royalty wave'. Nymeria was a bit more enthusiastic about waving to the crowd, while Maia stuck to Luna's side like glue. I'd be surprised if anypony below could see her.

After a few more moments of cheering, I raised my hoof and the crowd instantly went silent, save for a few murmurs here and there. I lit my horn to check the sound quality, then stepped forward for my speech.

"Mares and gentlestallions. Fillies and colts. I welcome you today to the first annual Equestrian Memorial Celebration." The crowd applauded for a few moments before I continued. I was glad to see it was respectful applause, not rambunctious cheering. "Today is a day to enjoy yourselves, however I urge you to not forget the purpose of today. We can only have a day like today because of the brave sacrifices of countless ponies who were injured or killed in the protection of this great nation. Their sacrifices were not in vain. Our nation is free from the attempted tyranny of Purgle and his kind.

"Never shall we forget what they have done for us. The memorials set up in every town and city in Equestria will stand as a testament to that for the rest of time. All ponies from now until the end of all things shall remember their valiant actions. We all suffered losses in the war."

I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and I glanced over to see, of all things, freaking storm clouds rolling in. What the heck?! Somepony didn't do their jobs right. Whatever, I'd finish my speech and find Rainbow Dash so she could get it all sorted out. Probably just a scheduling error or... something. I pushed the thoughts aside and returned to my speech.

"Even we lost ponies close to us. Good and loyal ponies who should still be at our sides, helping us serve Equestria. But when the time came, they didn't hesitate to give the ultimate service to our great nation, and..." I looked over. Yeah, the storm clouds were getting a lot closer now. I grimaced and had to stop myself from rubbing my temples. Not the right time.

"Um, TD?" Kristen came up beside me and did her best to whisper in my ear. "Those clouds are coming in rather fast and I don't really feel any wind, do you?"

I exchange an uneasy glance with the other three. Yeah, come to think of it, that didn't make a lot of sense. It seemed like we needed to get this settled now, because I could already see and hear the crowd below us muttering in uncertainty at the rapidly approaching storm.

"I'd say we need to find Rainbow Dash, but I'm not sure this is something pegasus made," Celestia said, approaching the edge of the balcony to get a better look.

"No, neither do I."

"Is it gonna rain, Daddy?" Nymeria asked. "I thought you said it wouldn't!"

I turned to my daughter and gave her a comforting smile. "No, we're going to get it all figured out. It's just some silly mistake. Nothing that'll be difficult to sort out."

"But Aunt Celestia said the pegasuses didn't make it!" Maia pointed out.

Sharp as a tack, that one.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it won't be an easy fix," I assured her. I turned to the quartet of guards behind us. "Blaze, you wanna take the two of them for a little bit while we get this settled? Shouldn't be too long."

Captain Blaze saluted, then began herding the fillies inside. "Come now, children, let’s go inside while your parents fix this for a second. Hey, maybe we could get something to eat while we're waiting. You know, just some snacks."

"But what if I get too full and don't want to eat anything else?" Nymeria said.

"Well, then don't eat too much. Just a hoofful of chips."

I shook my head as I watched Blaze escort my daughters to the kitchens. I didn't want them around in case this got a little messy. I'd hate to need to keep an eye on them while the five of us had to do a repeat of when Flurry Heart was born and broke the Crystal Heart.

"Antares!"

I instantly wheeled around at the sound of my wife's voice. I hadn't heard worry in her voice like that since Luna gave birth. I rushed over to the edge of the balcony and looked to where she was pointing. My heart dropped at the sight. Large metal airships were coming along with the storm, which was moving faster than any storm I'd ever seen. They'd arrive in minutes. I narrowed my eyes, trying to get a clearer look at them.

"They have flags on the sides. I don't recognize the symbol, do you?" I asked.

Celestia shook her head. "No, these are not beings from the known world as far as I can tell. I've never seen that symbol before."

"Uh, yeah, so I know we're all about friendship and stuff like that, but..." Kristen walked up beside me and uneasily rubbed her leg. "I'm guessing they're not here to ask for a peaceful exchange of culture and ideas."

"Nope, I don't think so either." I turned to the remaining officers. "I want the three of you to gather every guard you can and arm them. Keep them back a little bit just in case we're wrong, but my gut says something's about to go down."

Rapids whimpered, but she stayed on her hooves, though I could see her shaking like a leaf. Raining Skies put a wing on her back and gently nudged her back into the palace, followed by Night Stalker.

Dang. Right. Rapids. She'd gotten a lot better since the war, but something like this wouldn't help her. I briefly thought about going after them to send Rapids into a room to calm down until it was all over, but she'd just say she was fine, and that would waste what little time we had until these mystery beings showed up.

Before I could think of the next thing to do, I heard the ear-splitting sound of metal crashing into stone. I spread my wings and began flying down with the rest of my family as the airships, which had crashed into several buildings and knocked over the rooftops, began landing. Yeah, either these people were drunk drivers, or we were about to be in a bit of trouble.

I stood next to my family in front of the largest ship, which touched down in the middle of the square. I exchanged a worried glance with Celestia. Today of all days was not one to get involved in another war. If they just wanted a ton of gold and gems, I privately wondered if we should just give it to them. We were a prosperous nation, after all. Regardless of what they wanted, Equestria couldn't handle another war so soon after the last one.

The airship in front of us landed, the weight of it cracking the stone street. The four of us took defensive stances, while Kristen stood behind us as backup, ready to fight whatever came out of the ship. I rued that our guns would be largely useless in this scenario, at least if the fighting got really heavy. Gatling Guns aren't really suited for urban combat, and tanks even less so. We had a few positions we could use, but if those were overrun we'd need to fight the old fashioned way.

I flattened my ears as a loud creaking noise like metal scraping against metal filled my ears. The door of the airship lowered, and crashed onto the stone ground. I couldn't see inside, as it was filled with fog so thick I couldn't see more than a few inches past the door. I briefly wondered if we were about to be charged by Stormtroopers.

The fog inside swirled as though somepony was walking through it, and after a few seconds, a figure emerged from the fog. My eyes narrowed when I saw that it was a pony. She was dressed in black armor emblazoned with the same symbol on the airship where her cutie marks should have been. Her most instantly noticeable feature was the broken horn on her head. There was barely anything left. I gathered it was broken in the same event where she received the scar that ran down the right side of her face.

"This isn't good," I whispered to Celestia. "She strikes me as a leader. Should we just open fire now and decapitate the leadership?"

"Perhaps," Celestia whispered back. "Let us take stock of the situation first. I do not believe she is here for peaceful reasons, but there still may be a peaceful resolution."

I really doubted it. If I really thought this was going to go wrong, I'd incinerate her and deal with Celestia being angry later. I could handle being chewed out.

Before any of us could say anything, a weird looking hedgehog-like creature rushed out of the airship, pushing what looked like some kind of megaphone on wheels in front of him. He stopped at the end of the ramp and cleared his throat before pulling the end of the megaphone down to his level.

"GREETINGS TO YOU ALL, PONIES OF EQUESTRIA!" he said in a voice that instantly grated on me. "IT IS MY HONOR TO PRESENT TO YOU IN THE NAME OF THE STORM KING, THE ONE, THE ONLY, TEMPEST SHADOW!"

The unicorn without her horn rolled her eyes, but stepped forward off of the ramp with perfect posture. A slight smirk crossed her face at the sight of the four of us.

"Ah, all four of Equestria's leaders here. Perfect."

"Tempest, is it?" Celestia said, taking a small step forward. "What can we do for you?"

Tempest's smirk widened ever so slightly. "Oh, I'm so glad you asked. How about we start with your complete and total surrender?"

"Yeah, not going to happen," I growled, stepping alongside my wife. "I take it you haven't been following current events lately, but we just finished a war where we crushed the most powerful military on the planet." My expression hardened into a glare. "I'll paraphrase one of the generals from my home world: we are a peaceful nation. We do not have weapons trained on you. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with us, we'll kill you all.”

"A little touchy after the war, aren't we, Antares?" Tempest said with a sneer. "We know all about your new weapons. We've been studying your nation for a long time. Here's the deal: I need your magic, and I need it now. Give it up nicely, please, or we make it difficult for everyone."

"And we are giving you one chance to turn around and leave this place," Luna growled.

"If you leave we'll just pretend this never happened," I agreed. "Tell your Storm King to leave us be, and that will be the end of it. What you have already damaged can be easily repaired. If you do not leave now, things are going to get ugly."

Tempest let out a quiet, almost inaudible chuckle. "I do love it when they do it the hard way."

Not good.

I lit up my horn for an attack. It was time for a preemptive strike, and she seemed to be a leader of some kind. Cut off the head of the minotaur and the body dies. A leaderless force is a lot easier to take out. I fired a beam of magic that would have incinerated her instantly had it made contact, but before it could, Tempest actually backflipped like she was an agent in The Matrix. My spell whizzed past her and hit the hedgehog thing behind her. He evaporated before he could even scream in terror. Instantly the other princesses lit up their horns and shot beams of magic at her, but she dodged each one of them with ease.

I gritted my teeth and lit up my horn for a more powerful spell. I didn't like this. She wasn't the usual type of Saturday morning villain, that much was certain. Whoever this Storm King was had trained her very well. It didn't really matter. We'd hit her eventually then figure out exactly what was going on.

Though, if that was the new plan, I probably shouldn't have tried to hit her with a spell that would have killed her instantly.

After dodging a few more beams, Tempest landed on the ground in front of the megaphone the recently deceased underling had been using. Her smug grin hadn't slipped an inch.

"Well, this has been fun, ladies, but the games are over. If you insist on doing this the hard way, let's get this party truly started. Ready to meet the Storm Creatures?"

Before we could do anything, Tempest shot a giant beam of pure lighting out of her horn straight into the air. Instantly the other airships began landing, crushing anything unfortunate enough to be underneath them. The moment they landed, the ramps came down and creatures I couldn't even begin to recognize poured out of them, all armed with various nasty looking weapons.

No doubt about it now: we were once again at war.

I turned back to Tempest and poured more magic into my horn. The very ground beneath us began crumbling into gravel that I called to myself. With another quick spell, the stone formed into a war hammer that I quickly smashed onto the ground just to show I meant business. Anything I hit with this wouldn't even feel the blow before death.

I spread my wings to fly at Tempest to turn her skull into a fine powder, but before I got anywhere near her, dozens more of her soldiers poured out of the airship, all pointing their weapons at us.

"I need the alicorns alive," Tempest said as her minions rushed past her. "Do what you will with anybody else who resists."

Yeah, that's not going to happen.

I swung my hammer at the nearest creature. It collided with his head, which burst like a ripe pumpkin on the wrong end of a shotgun. Seeing the oncoming army, the princesses lit their horns and called up their own weapons. Celestia drew power from the sun and produced a blade of pure fire. I could feel the heat radiating off of it even from where I stood. Luna summoned any speck of shadow over to her, then when she had enough, she formed a razor sharp spear, which she instantly stuck through the gut of a rushing Storm Creature. Cadance drew the moisture from the air around her and conjured up twin ice swords, which she instantly used to slice up any of the creatures that came near her.

The four of us could only hold our own against the onslaught for a short time. Even with our powers, we couldn't stop every one of the Storm Creatures, and more rushed from us on all sides as airships continued to land around Canterlot. I wheeled around and smashed another head in, then turned to meet an enemy rushing towards me, his spear at the ready. Before he could even get within five feet of me, a bullet collided with his skull. He dropped instantly. I turned to where the shot had come from and my heart leapt when I saw some of my soldiers firing a Gatling Gun into the oncoming crowd of soldiers, with more pushing additional guns into place. If we could hold those positions, we had a chance at driving them back. Of course, that did rely on having enough ammunition for a long-term battle.

With some desperately needed cover backing us up, I returned to the battle at hoof. Scores of dead Storm Creatures littered the ground at our hooves as we cut through them with unmatched skill. I looked up and saw Kristen casting magic from her hooves which turned the ground underneath a few Storm Creatures into molasses. I flew over to them while they were distracted and quickly dispatched them.

And still more Storm Creatures arrived as more airships landed. Several guards had grabbed their traditional weapons and joined the fray in the vain hope that we could fully push them back now and end this war before it got too out of hoof.

As if it wasn't already.

Tempest. I needed to kill Tempest. Forget interrogating her, a leaderless force was much easier to defeat. Even if they won here in Canterlot and we needed to retreat, they'd have a harder time organizing a quality defense without the pony whom I could only assume was high-ranking in the Storm King's army. If nothing else, killing her would be a huge blow to them. I flew into the air above the attacking army and looked to where I'd seen her last. She wasn't there. Of course not. It'd be stupid of her to just stand there where we could easily find her. I scanned the mass of creatures below us, hoping to spot her more distinctive dark purple coat. If I spotted her for even an instant, I didn't care how much agility she had. I'd hang up what was left of her corpse on Canterlot Castle as a warning to anything that would dare cross us. Unfortunately, all I could see was the mass of Storm Creatures and the other royals fighting them.

Before I could do anything else, a black orb flew through the air and collided with Cadance's side. It instantly shattered, and obsidian began covering her from where it had hit. She barely had time to scream in terror before she was nothing more than a statue.

With one of the princesses taken out, the Storm Creatures took their chance to swarm Celestia and Luna. I called upon the ice dagger spell that Luna had taught me and sent dozens into the crowd. Many Storm Creatures fell at my hooves, but not enough to hold the tide at bay. I flew down to help my wife fight, but just as I landed, another orb flew through the air and collided with Luna's head before I could even react. She let out a quiet, choked gasp before the obsidian completely overtook her and she joined Cadance as a statue.

"Celestia! We have to go!" I cried, glancing up at Kristen who was doing her best to cover us from above. "The only way to save Cadance and Luna is to fall back and regroup!"

"And then what?!" Celestia roared, slashing a nearby soldier in half.

"We gotta do something! We're about to lose Canterlot!"

Celestia slashed another soldier, then backed up so we were side-by-side. "I know of one magical society that could help us. They're past the badlands to the--"

A third orb sailed through the air. I lit my horn in a vain attempt to catch it, but it moved quickly enough that even my reflexes weren't enough. It hit Celestia right in the leg. Stone instantly began crawling up her body, and she only had enough time to gasp out one word.

"Childre--"

Children. Maia and Nymeria!

Knowing there was nothing I could do for my wife now, I flew into the air and pulled Kristen in the direction of Canterlot Castle.

"Kristen, we have to get Maia and Nymeria out of here!" I cried.

"What about Celestia and Luna and Cadance?"

"There's nothing we can do for them now. We'll come back for them when we're more organized, but we need to get Nymeria and Maia out of the city!"

As we flew, I looked down at the carnage below. The Gatling Gun positions had been totally overrun and their crews slaughtered. What few soldiers we'd managed to muster were being massacred by the seemingly endless wave of Storm Creatures Tempest had brought against us. I looked out into the horizon and saw even more airships approaching.

Who were these people?!

"TD, look!"

I looked to where Kristen was pointing and my heart sank when I saw an airship floating next to Canterlot Castle. More Storm Creatures were rushing out of the ship onto the balcony. It wouldn't be long before the castle was overrun completely. I lit my horn and encased Kristen in my magic, then flew straight through the nearest window, completely shattering the glass. My momentum carried me forward a few feet when I landed, but I quickly regained my balance and charged into the castle with Kristen running behind me.

"You need to do whatever you can to stop these things!" I growled back at her. "You're the god of chaos!"

"I know, I know, but... I'm not sure what to do that won't kill them!"

"In case you haven't noticed, we're in a battle!" I roared. "It's time to start killing things!"

"But--"

"We're not going to win if we don't use everything at our disposal, and that includes you!" I growled and turned a corner. "I think Blaze said he was taking them to the kitchens. Maybe they're still there."

I prayed that they were and even more that they were safe. If the Storm Creatures hadn't found them yet, I could get them out of Canterlot and to a safe place. The kitchens were close. I could get to them soon.

Even as I drew closer to the kitchens, I saw the blood staining the floor and soon after that, the first dead Storm Creatures.

"No," I whispered as I put on speed. "No, no, no, no, no."

I instantly saw the blood on the kitchen swinging doors. I couldn't miss the bloody hoof print. I burst into the room, my hammer at the ready to destroy anything that stood in my way. No enemies attacked me, but what I saw was far worse. Captain Blaze laid on the ground, blood pouring from several spear wounds presumably from the half a dozen dead Storm Creatures lying next to him.

"Blaze!" I cried, rushing over to my most valuable soldier. I lit up my horn and began casting every healing spell that I knew. "Come on, Blaze, just hold on!"

"TD," Kristen whimpered from behind me. "I don't know--"

"Get over here and help me!" I growled.

"I don't know any healing spells, and my magic isn't permanent anyway..."

Before I could respond, Blaze coughed, and groaned. "P-Prince Antares," he croaked out. "They took them. They took Nymeria and Maia."

"Where?" I cried. "Where did they take them?"

"One of their ships. It was only a minute ago. I think you can still catch them."

I turned to Kristen and pointed towards the door. "Go. They can't hurt you. I don't care what you do to them, just help me get my daughters back! I'll be right behind you once I..."

I turned my attention back to Blaze in an attempt to cast more healing magic on him.

But he didn't move.

I took in a deep, shaky breath and cast a vital signs spell on him. Nothing. He didn't move. He didn't breathe. He just stared at me with blank, empty eyes. I stared into them, hoping beyond hope that he'd blink and I could help him. But nothing happened. I shakily got to my hooves and walked out of the kitchen. I couldn't let his sacrifice be in vain, not when my daughters were still in trouble. I picked up my hammer, spread my wings, and flew down the corridor as fast as I could. Kristen took to the air as well, barely keeping up with me.

"We have another fight on our hooves," I growled. "Use any means at your disposal to stop them. Kill them if you must."

"TD, I don't think my chaos magic works like that!" Kristen insisted. "I can't just stop their hearts or break their necks. It just... wouldn't work. It doesn't work with my magic because something like that isn't chaotic."

"Use your imagination!" I snarled.

"But--"

We reached the end of the hallway and burst into a larger room with another balcony. I was greeted with the sight of dozens of Storm Creatures gathered around the ramp of an airship. The one closest to me didn't even see me coming before I smashed his head into a fine mist.

"Give me back my daughters!" I roared, crushing another nearby Storm Creature.

"Daddy!"

I paused for a brief moment and turned toward the sound of Nymeria's cry. She banged on the bars of the cage the Storm Creatures had stuffed her into, while Maia merely laid on the floor of her cage sobbing. White hot rage boiled up inside me. First my in-laws, then my wife, and now my daughters? Not going to happen. I will ensure the extinction of the entire Storm Creature race before I let them take my children from me.

I'm instantly rushed by more than a dozen Storm Creatures. I swing my hammer wildly at anything that got even close to me, bating the walls of the palace in blood and brains.

"Daddy!" Nymeria moaned as the Storm Creatures carried her cage toward the airship docked at the balcony. I spread my wings to fly toward them. I didn't want Nymeria and Maia to be splattered with blood, but it was better than them being taken away to whatever fate the Storm King had for them.

Unfortunately, Nymeria's cry distracted me for too long. I cried out as my side exploded with pain. It hurt enough that my hammer fell to the ground and shattered without my magic to keep it together. I dropped and grabbed at my side, my eyes widening when I saw a spear sticking out of it.

A Nightmare Weapon? How did...? No, I didn't feel any black magic with the pain. This was something else.

I groaned in pain as blood poured from the wound. I had to get back up and save my daughters! They... The Storm Creature who stabbed me pulled the spear back out, and I cried out again as the blood flowed more freely. I grabbed at the wound to put pressure on it before I bled out. I couldn't die here. Not like this. I needed to save my family.

I became aware that Kristen was standing over me, shooting any magic she could think of at the Storm Creatures. They backed up to get out of the way of her wild spells. Not that she was in the mental state to fend off the entire army if they wanted to kill me.

"Kristen," I groaned, trying to block out the pain. "We gotta--"

Before I could finish my thought, electricity crackled through the air, and the smell of burnt fur wafted through the room. At first I thought Kristen had been attacked, but it wasn't her screaming in pain.

"I believe I requested that the alicorns be left alive."

Tempest.

I slowly raised my head and saw Tempest walking over to us, leaving the charred remains of the Storm Creature who had stabbed me behind her. She stopped a few feet away and examined me. "Hm. He'll live. Get him out of here and tend to his injury before we begin."

"Not gonna happen!" Kristen roared, flying between me and Tempest. "Just--"

"I have complete control of Canterlot and the rest of the alicorns," Tempest said calmly. "Soon I will have control over all of Equestria. Stand aside, whelp."

Kristen shot her hoof forward, shooting ropes out that would have completely stopped Tempest if they'd made contact. She merely lit her broken horn and, with another crackle of electricity, shoved them aside. The barest smirk crossed her face. "Ah, you must be the new chaos god I've heard so much about. The Storm King will have many uses for you. You will comply with him if you do not want your brother to endure torments the likes of which neither of you can imagine." Her eyes narrowed and electricity began crackling out of her horn again. "You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"I'm warning you, I'll--"

"You will do nothing. You do not yet have the skill that Discord possessed. If you did, it might have actually been a small challenge to take over Canterlot." Tempest motioned to the two of us. "Take them away. If Antares dies you will endure the Storm King's full wrath. If she doesn't cooperate, well, we do have her brother and nieces."

I lit my horn for any kind of spell that might get us out of this mess, but that only aggravated the wound on my side. I couldn't do anything as the Storm Creatures drew closer. This couldn't be the end. I wouldn't let us suffer under the rule of this tyrant, not after we just won a war defeating another one. But what could I do? I was in so much pain that I couldn't even muster a spell to defend ourselves. We needed to run so I could heal, but if I couldn't cast spells there was no way I could fly away.

Fortunately, Kristen actually had an idea. She threw herself over me and touched the floor beneath us. Instantly the floor became liquid, and we sank into the ground. I heard Tempest shout something in anger, but we kept falling. It wasn't more than a few moments before we reached the bottom of Canterlot Castle and sunk into the mountain itself. Liquid rocks rushed all around us as we fell, solidifying above us once we'd moved past them. The journey wasn't doing my sides any favors as I continued bleeding heavily. It was better than being under Tempest's control. At least now we'd gotten away.

It wasn't more than a minute before we shot out of the side of the mountain and landed in the waterfall. I spread my wings hoping that I could stop the fall and we wouldn't hit the ground below us at a speed that would hurt the hell out of me, alicorn or not. Kristen's arms wrapped around my barrel, but she wasn't strong enough to prevent us from plunging into the water below. Just before we hit, she turned the water below us into a marshmallow, and we bounced harmlessly off of it. Good thing, too. Hitting the water at those speeds otherwise would have been like hitting concrete.

Now that we'd come to a stop, Kristen was trying to push me onto my hooves. "Come on, TD! We have to get going! I don't know if they're going to come looking for us or not. We need to get out of here!"

"C-can't," I groaned.

Kristen growled and turned the water into flat stone which allowed me to get a grip and push myself up from something solid. With her help, I shakily got to my hooves and walked out of what used to be the water into the forest. My head began spinning. I'd lost a lot of blood. I needed to stop the bleeding or I'd die before I could even get back to civilization. I made it about fifty feet before I collapsed.

"TD, we need to go! Come on, you can do it!"

"C-can't," I repeated, rolling onto the side that wasn't pouring blood. "Need to... stop the... bleeding."

"Right... right, stop the bleeding." Kristen took a few shaky breaths. "Stop the..." She sat down next to me and began trying to conjure up bandages. She gritted her teeth as her first few attempts fizzled out into nothingness. "I can... just..."

"You gotta relax," I croaked. "Just focus and--"

"I know!" Kristen roared. "Just give me a second! I'll have it..." Kristen took a deep breath and tried again. This time a roll of bandages appeared. She snatched them out of the air and instantly unrolled them to wrap my wound. I put a hoof out and pushed them away.

"Gotta... close it first," I said, painfully lifting my wing to reveal the injury.

"Right. Close it." She took another shaky breath and put her hooves on my wound. I hissed in pain as the wound began closing by itself. At least the bleeding had stopped. "It's not going to be permanent, so this is just until you can fix it yourself." She wrapped the bandages around my barrel until the roll she'd conjured was gone. "I don't... I don't think you're gonna..." Her breaths became shakier. "You're gonna be..."

She put her head in her hooves and began screaming. I couldn't blame her. Everything that had happened would have broken most beings, but we needed to focus. I reached out and put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Kristen, we need to go."

"It's m-my fault!" she wailed. "If I had j-just fought them ins-instead of being afraid w-we could have won and they wouldn't have t-taken your daughters a-and we... we could have..."

"Hey, it's not your fault," I insisted. "We all got overwhelmed. I froze the first time I was in battle, too."

"Yeah, but you actually got over that and fought. I wanted to. I just... I was scared. I didn't w-want to hurt anything."

"I know, but it's not your fault. It's theirs. We're going to take Canterlot back, okay?" I shakily tried pushing myself to my hooves again and hissed at the pain in my side. It seemed to have stopped bleeding, so that was a plus. Maybe I'd actually survive this thing. "We need to move. They're going to be looking for us."

"Okay," Kristen whispered, wiping her eyes and getting to her hooves. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know right now. First we need to find out if they've expanded the invasion to the rest of Equestria. If not then we can gather a counter force. Baltimare has the best weapons right now. It's where a lot of the guns and tanks are. If we can just get there we have a shot at beating them back."

"Won't they have the weapons in Canterlot, though?"

I grimly nodded as I limped down the dirt road through the forest. "Yeah. This..." My ear twitched. "They might have just started World War Two here. If they've taken over Equestria, they're probably not going to stop there. We need to get allies from other countries to fight them back."

"Okay," Kristen muttered. "So who first? Saddle Arabia or...?"

"Celestia said something about another society to the south past the badlands. That way's our best bet."

"Isn't the badlands just a giant desert?"

Nopony said this was going to be easy.

Klugetown

Thank goodness I was traveling with the god of chaos. As an alicorn I could survive far longer than normal, but with my injury I needed food and water just like anypony else, especially going through a desert. Good thing that Kristen had gotten a lot better at conjuring food and water, especially water. Hopefully now we'd actually make it to a place where I could get some proper medical attention and sleep.

We just had to cross through a gigantic desert to get to that point.

The two of us were fairly silent on our journey. It was hard to digest exactly what had just happened. One moment we're leading a celebration honoring ponies killed and injured in a brutal war, the next minute another war started, and my wife, sister-in-law, niece, and daughters were all captured by this Storm King person, not to mention the ponies who had died in a valiant but futile attempt to hold the city. The greatest loss, outside of my family and the city, was definitely Blaze. After Lieutenant Rapids was injured, he held the entire army together. Even without the war, he was my most trusted and valuable soldier. Now he was just... gone. Lying in a pool of blood in the castle kitchens. I didn't even want to think about what the enemy would do with his body. I doubt that he'd get the hero's burial he deserved.

That left Rapids in charge of my guard. She'd probably fall back to Baltimare, and with me gone she was in charge of coordinating the defenses of the city. I had the highest opinion of her, but that didn't change the fact that she wasn't ready to fight again. She had come a long way since the war, even being comfortable with having her mane shorter, but there was a big difference between coming to terms with a missing ear and some scars and fighting in another war, one where we were completely on the defensive and taken by surprise.

Would she overcome her demons and repel the invaders, or would she relapse back into her old wounds? I wished that I could be by her side. All I could do now was find this civilization beyond the badlands. If they could help us, we had a fighting chance, especially if we got the griffins, Saddle Arabians and maybe the minotaurs involved.

I grimaced at the thought. There were far too many "maybes" in that plan.

"How are you doing, TD?" Kristen asked me, taking me out of my thoughts. "How's your side?"

I grimaced and glanced down to the wound. It wasn't spewing blood, but it would definitely leave a nasty scar. As if I didn't have enough of those already.

"It's probably not going to kill me," I allowed. "I wish I could have a little more certainty about the healing magic. If I'm not careful it could open again, and then we'll really be in trouble. What we need is a place for me to rest and recover."

Kristen's ears flattened and she lowered her head. "Sorry I'm not better at healing. It's not something I really thought I'd need to practice a lot, you know? I'm better at making food right now."

"Which has been amazing for us," I pointed out. "When alicorns are injured we have to eat and rest the same as a normal pony." I shrugged, which was a bad idea because of the pain in my side. I grunted and stumbled for a few seconds, waving my hoof at Kristen when she rushed over to help me. "Anyway... we need to eat and sleep anyway, but when we're hurt we need it even more."

"Yeah, but you're still going to be okay, right? We'll find some place soon."

I really hoped so. I couldn't tell how long we'd actually been walking, but it seemed like an eternity. No matter what direction we looked, all we saw was endless desert. There wasn't even an oasis to rest at. The "badlands" name was not a misnomer.

"I think we will," I assured her. "The planet isn't nearly as big as Earth, so it's not like we're walking from the southern part of Africa to the north. We'll probably--"

My words were cut off when I felt something odd underneath my hooves. Something definitely not sand. I looked down and my eyes widened. I'd stepped on some stone. Not just any stone, but stone that had been put there deliberately to make a road.

"A road," Kristen said breathlessly. "A road means a town or something, right?"

"Yes, it does." For the first time in recent memory, I actually managed a smile. "I'm sure we can figure something out once we get there. I know we don't have any bits, but maybe you could make some?"

"I'm sure going to try."

The two of us rushed down the road as fast as we could with me limping along. Not for the first time I wished that I'd been hit in the leg or something instead of right underneath my wing. Flying would have made all of this so much easier. We'd already be where we needed to go.

The road led us to the top of the hill where we could see the city for the first time. It probably wouldn't be as great as Canterlot, but I'd take anything that wasn't endless desert. We reached the top and looked out to see the city.

Uh...

Hmm.

"Is... is that it?" Kristen said with a frown, stopping beside me. "I thought it would be a little more... Something. It's not the magical civilization that Celestia said it would be, right?"

"I really doubt it," I said. “It's probably farther south. Whatever the case is, it's a place to stop and rest for the night. If I can get some sleep we'll be a lot better off."

"You're probably right, but I'm still getting some major Mos Eisley vibes from it."

"So am I. We'll need to be a bit more discreet. I think I have enough in me to change our forms for a little while. A giant alicorn and a bright green pony are going to stick out alota lot in a place that seems like it's mostly grays and browns. The last thing we want is attention. I wouldn't be surprised if this Storm King or whoever has a bounty of some sort out on us."

"Neither would I," Kristen said. "So you'll just cast a spell and stuff?"

"I could, but why don't you try? If you can then I'll have backup energy in case we need it."

"I don't--"

"Kristen. Turn us into small brown ponies. You are literally the physical embodiment of chaos. You are a god. I am not. Just try."

Kristen actually snorted, and a small smile crossed her face. "Never thought you'd ever say that to me. I guess I can try, though."

"If we're going down the trail of Star Wars references..."

"Yeah, yeah." Kristen took a deep breath and stared at me with utter focus as though I'd turn into whatever she wanted if she just squinted hard enough. She took another deep breath and waved her hoof. Instantly I felt myself shrinking down to the size of a normal pony. I looked down at my body and brown fur started creeping over my normal peach color. My mane began receding and its ethereal effect shifted into normal brown hair.

"You did it," I said with a grin. "I think we might make a decent chaos god out of you yet."

Kristen giggled and waved her hoof. "Stop it, you. It's not going to be permanent, so we'll have to figure out how long it's going to last. It should hide us in the city for a bit, though."

"We'll stay out of sight, then. If we need to re-charge it, for lack of a better term, we'll hopefully be alone for that. Your turn, though."

Kristen nodded and cast her magic over herself. With in a minute she had the same brown coat and mane that I did. It would be fairly obvious to anybody that we were siblings, but at least we wouldn't stick out like we normally would.

"And now for the finishing touch..." With a quick spell, my horn faded away, leaving the impression that I wasn't anything more than just a common pegasus traveling through the area. "I think we're ready. We just need to stay close to each other and, judging from the way the town looks, not trust anybody and keep to ourselves."

"Well you never know," Kristen pointed out.

"True, but with everything that's happened lately, I'm not going to bet everything on this actually being a good place that just hit some hard times." I began walking down the path toward the town. "Just stay close. We'll figure it out."

We resumed our walk back toward the city. Thankfully it wasn't too far away, and we arrived within about twenty minutes. Unfortunately, the first thing that I noticed was that the Mos Eisley comparison was rather... apt. The dirty, decrepit streets were lined with stalls manned by beings I'd never even heard of before, all shouting about their wares. They all had the look of abandoned Disney characters. Each of them were various shades of the same pale green-grey color, and I doubted that any of them had so much as cracked a happy smile in eons. None of the stalls looked new or in good repair. All of them were made with splintered wood and covered in drab cloths that gave me the impression that they'd scavenged them from an insect feast.

All of them glared as we passed by, even as they shouted out the items they had for sale. Even if we did have money, I didn't really like the idea of buying dirty, chipped and cracked cooking pots from one of these guys.

As we went further into the city, we saw more of the locals crowding the streets, many of them standing in front of the various stalls. Seemed like we'd hit the main marketplace. I kept my eyes out for anything that looked remotely edible, but even as a carnivore by nature, I didn't see anything that I could keep down. Kristen's food was passable, but it wasn't overly... filling. Or nutritious. The average pony wouldn't be able to survive on it. Sure it looked and smelled and tasted like normal food, but since it was made out of thin air with chaos magic, it didn't have the same nutritional value as natural food. It was good to take the hunger pains away, but not much more than that. I'd need a hearty meal soon.

Interestingly enough, Kristen wouldn't. As the embodiment of chaos, she didn't need to eat, drink or sleep. Sometimes life isn't fair.

"TD, I'm not feeling very good about this place," Kristen said, moving closer to me so I could hear her whispers over the low din of the crowd. "It might be best to just push ahead to wherever the other kingdom is."

"I'd agree if I wasn't as weak as I am," I whispered back. "I need somewhere to get a meal and some rest and maybe somewhere to get my injury fully looked at." I looked down to my legs which were already shaking from weakness. "Soon. Plus I want to be at full strength in case something happens. After the desert, I'm not sure if I can just push through, especially since we don't know how far away this is. I can't even close my wing all of the way. We need help if we're going to make it through this."

Kristen opened her mouth to respond, but was cut short when one of the locals turned from a stall and ran right into her with enough force that she was knocked back into me. I cried in pain when she hit right where I'd been stabbed. Out of instinct I backed away right into another local, which knocked her over into the stall she'd been perusing.

"Watch it, pony!" the female roared, slipping a knife out of her belt and brandishing it at me. I backed away with my wing raised to head level in what is usually a conciliatory gesture.

"Sorry, just..." I grimaced when I felt something wet running down my side. The impact had reopened my injury. I gritted my teeth to try to push past the pain. "Just an accident."

"Bullshit!" the male who had run into Kristen snarled. "You ran right into me!" He grabbed his own knife and pointed it at Kristen. "Trying to steal my coin purse, ain't ya? Be just like you ponies!"

"No, I wasn't--"

"You assaulted me!" the female screeched. "I'd be well within my rights to gut you!"

"It was just an accident, I promise!" I insisted while trying to figure out a way past the growing crowd around us, none of whom looked very friendly. If it came to a fight, there was no way we could win, especially since the pain in my side had started flaring up again and I was losing more blood. Since we were at ground level, Kristen's trick to get us out of Canterlot wouldn't work here. I couldn't fly with my injury, and any spells wouldn't deal with them all and prevent what I could only hope wasn't a lynch mob.

Granted, if they tried that it wouldn't work in the slightest, but it still wouldn't help matters.

"Look, I'm sure we can figure this out like civilized beings," I said, looking back in the hope that we could just go the way we came and find somewhere else to go. No dice. The locals completely surrounded us. We'd have to talk our way out of this. The blood loss didn't help that as I'd started getting dizzy. "Just... we're sorry."

I looked to Kristen in the vain hope that she'd be able to do something that would get us out of here but not ignite the crowd. If only I could fly without losing even more blood!

"Sorry doesn't cut it in Klugetown," the male growled, advancing on us. "You were trying to steal from me!"

"It's true! I saw it!" one of the beings in the crowd shouted.

"They're ponies! What do you expect? They're all criminals and thieves!" yelled another.

The crowd's murmuring became angrier, and they advanced on us, more of them grabbing weapons. I continued staring at Kristen, who had begun shaking. Not in fear, though. I'd never seen that look on my sister's face. It was one of total calm, but with pure rage boiling underneath it. She'd hit her breaking point. This was going to get ugly. She ground her hooves into the dirt road beneath us, and I noticed one of the nearby stalls sinking into the ground like it rested on quicksand. Within moments more of them began sinking.

"If you don't all back away in ten seconds, you're going to see exactly what we can do," Kristen said, her voice as calm as her expression. The dirt beneath her hooves started to shift into glass which snaked out into the crowd. "We're weary travelers, that's all. The next being to call me a thief--"

"They're going to kill us all!" one of the locals wailed. "Somebody stop them!"

"Thieves and murderers! I shouldn't have expected anything less from ponies."

"Kill them before they kill us!"

The angry crowd noise was almost deafening as the locals began advancing on us. I flared my wings in a combat stance, but I wouldn't be much help losing blood like this. Kristen stood on her hind legs, using her wings for balance, and slapped her hooves together to create sparks between them. Her calm expression morphed into one of pure rage. Alicorns surging was bad enough, but if the god of chaos surged? I doubted there'd be a Klugetown left if that happened. She slapped her hooves together once more and sent out a shockwave of energy that pushed the locals back. They instantly quieted down in sheer surprise, but that only gave us a few seconds of quiet. Things were going to escalate into an all-out brawl, and I wasn't sure who'd actually win.

"Whoa, whoa, timeout everybody! How about we relax?"

Truer words were never spoken.

A cat-like being wearing a long, worn red jacket pushed his way through the crowd, his paws extended in a "calm down" gesture. "Let's not all do something we'll regret, yeah? In case you haven't noticed..." He pointed to one of the stalls sinking into the ground. "This is gonna get ugly if it keeps going. How about we all take a chill pill and let these ponies get on their way?"

"Stay out of this, Capper," the local who'd run into Kristen growled. "They're dangerous!"

"Couldn't agree more, my man, but not in the way you think." He slid up to me and motioned to my side. "Look at this guy? You think he looks healthy to you? I've spent a lot of time around ponies, you know? Enough to know the difference between a little scratch and something else!" He knelt down next to me and stared at my wound for a few seconds before tsking and shaking his head. "Yep. No doubt about it. This pony's got some kind of plague."

A few of the locals gasped, and the crowd began muttering among themselves. They still stared at us suspiciously, but now I could see a little fear in their eyes. Not the brightest bunch, were they?

"Y-you're lying," another one of the locals said. "It's some kind of wound from a weapon."

"You think this pony would still be alive if that was the case?" Capper said, straightening up and chuckling. "No way. I recognize this kind of plague, too. First you start bleeding real bad." He motioned to me. "Like so. Then it gets even worse. Your limbs start fallin' off one-by-one. First your hands, then your feet, then your arms, then legs, then.. heh..." He shook his head sadly. "Your eyes pop out. Pop out and roll away on the floor. Teeth aren't far behind. You're praying for death long before it actually happens. No, my friends, I'm afraid that this pony is going to live the rest of his life in pain like we can't even imagine. It's sad, really."

Well, if I'm left to bleed out on a dirty road in the middle of a run-down town he might be right about that. He'd calmed the crowd down, which was great, but step two was getting out of the city entirely, especially since it seemed all of the locals believed I was sick with some plague.

"Worst part is... it's really contagious. It's so bad..." He pointed to some random person in the crowd. "I'd be surprise if you didn't have it already! Or you! Maybe even you!" He dipped his tail into my blood and surreptitiously flicked it out toward the crowd, splashing one of the locals with a few drops. "I'll even bet that..." He turned to the local he'd splashed with my blood and let out a loud gasp. "Oh my word, madam!" He pointed at the flecks of blood on her arm. "I think you've already caught it!"

The local looked down at her arm and let out an ear-piercing shriek of terror. Everyone around her began running as fast as they could away from us, while she collapsed onto the street and wailed about how she was going to die. Given everything that had just happened, it'd be almost amusing if it wasn't so tragic. If nothing else, though, the crowd had run from us as if their lives genuinely depended on it. Within moments, one would never know that mere minutes before the street had been a crowded marketplace. I half expected a tumbleweed to go by.

"Well, that was something, wasn't it?" Capper said with a satisfied smile, dusting the sleeves of his jacket. "I don't think they're comin' back, do you?"

I gingerly sat down and lifted my wing to get a better look at my injury. It wasn't bleeding as bad as it had been, but it still hurt a ton, and I was losing more blood than I'd have liked.

"No, doesn't seem that way," I agreed.

"Hope you don't actually have some nasty plague or things are going to get even worse around here," Capper said.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed a nearby piece of cloth off of one of the stalls which I pressed onto the wound. It probably wasn't very sterile, but I needed to stop the bleeding. "Got in a nasty fight. You should see the other guy."

"Yeah, I'll bet. We need to get you to a doc, though. I don't think I've scared him off. That looks pretty bad. What happened?"

"Spear wound, actually." I hissed in pain as I put more pressure on it. "Like I said, though: you should see the other guy."

"Well, I can't very well just leave you to bleed out on the street, can I?" Capper pretended to take a hat off of his head and bowed deeply to the both of us. "Capper's the name. I've got a little place to rest not far from here. We can get you there and treat your injury."

Kristen's eyes narrowed and she stepped in front of me. "What's the catch?"

Capper straightened up with a laugh and patted Kristen on the head. "You might make it in Klugetown yet, my dear. The catch is that I'm mostly doin' it for me. If nobody comes back to this place then I don't have any customers. Besides, it'd break my heart if I left a good pony like you to just die, right? Nobody survives in Klugetown without friends, and right now you seem to need one."

I grimaced and exchanged a glance with Kristen. If this guy was some serial killer who was going to rob us of... nothing and dump our bodies in the nearest river then we could be in trouble. Bleeding out was the devil I knew, but that still left me very dead without rescuing my family. I still had enough energy to maybe help Kristen fight him off if it turned out he had ill intentions. That is, if we were just fighting him. Kristen put on a good show with making the stalls sink and all that, but we still wouldn't have won the fight if all of the locals had dog-piled us at once. They wouldn't have been able to kill or even injure Kristen, but in the state I was in... It's not like they could stab me in the neck and do any real damage, but they already had a nice wound to work with. Right now I had a glowing red weak spot, and I needed to solve that before I did anything else.

Damned if I do, damned if I don't.

"How far is it?" I asked, tying the cloth around my waist and slowly getting to my hooves.

"Oh, not far at all, my good sir." He pointed out deeper into the town. "You see that windmill there? That's where this cat rests his head for the night, you know what I'm sayin'? Not that far at all."

"Right. Let's get going, then."

Capper led the way and the two of us followed. I was weak enough from the blood loss that I had to lean against Kristen on the way over. I hated it. It all reminded me of the times I'd been hit with a Nightmare Weapon. Yeah, the spear I'd been hit with wasn't one. I'd be in much more pain and trouble if that was the case, but it still hurt.

"I don't like this, TD," Kristen whispered out of the corner of her mouth as we walked. "I don't trust him."

"Neither do I," I whispered back. "I'm not really sure of our other choices. He knows the town better than we do, so there's a chance this will all work out. If not..." I jerked my head back to the marketplace. "You seemed to handle yourself pretty well back there."

"Yeah, that felt weird." Kristen took a deep breath and shook her head. "I know I'm the god of chaos and stuff, but I've never felt that... powerful. I was in total control of everything. I guess back in Canterlot or Baltimare I'd never really needed to do a lot of powerful stuff but there I kinda lost myself for a bit."

"Well, keep a hold of that," I replied. "If we're in another tight spot that'll be really helpful. You're a lot stronger than you think you are. You're much closer to being a god than I am. I'm just immortal and really powerful. You? You're going to hit the point where nothing short of the Elements of Harmony could stop you."

"I know, and I hate that," Kristen muttered. "I never wanted this kind of power. I'm just content with swimming around in the continent sized swimming pool I have in my room."

"Yeah, and I wanted to teach fifth graders in a small town." A wry smile crossed my face. "Guess neither of us really got what we expected out of life, huh? If there's one thing I learned, though, it's that it's not about what happens, but--"

"If you start quoting Gandalf at me I swear I'm going to drop you."

I snorted as Kristen and I shared a small smile. "Sorry, it comes with being an alicorn. We've gotta be all wise and stuff."

"Then you really did change, because back on Earth? You were not wise."

"Well wisdom is born from stupidity," I pointed out. "No one ever got wise by not being dumb to begin with." I looked up to see where we were and saw that Capper had stopped in front of a wooden door. "I think we're here."

"Sure are, good sir," Capper said, pushing the door open and stepping aside to let us in. "Welcome to Casa de Capper. Please feel free to make yourselves at home while I get a doctor." He followed us into the house and pointed to a ratty couch that looked like it had seen the wrong end of a fight a hundred years ago. "You can lay down on that. I don't care if you get any blood on it. Once you stop bleeding we'll move you up to my bed so you can be more comfortable. Sound like a plan?"

"Whatever works," I said, gingerly lying down on the couch.

"Rock on, my man. I should have some food in the kitchen somewhere. I'm not sure if it was made with ponies in mind, but it's something to take the hunger off, right?"

"I might do that." Now that I was nestled into the couch, I actually managed to get a good look at the room. On the whole it looked worn-down and ratty, much like Klugetown in general. It could do with a new coat of paint or two. On the other hoof, various trinkets and baubles littered the desks and shelves, most of which actually looked kind of valuable. Maybe he was an antiques dealer, or something.

"You've got a lot of nice stuff here," I said, looking at what appeared to be a jade statue of a cat wearing a cape and a crown. "This how you make your living?"

"Something like that," Capper said, walking back into the room and shutting the front door behind him. "I deal in the rare and the mysterious. And anything shiny that catches my eye." He motioned to the top level of the room where I saw several books that I'd bet my crown were fairly valuable. "I'm also the closest thing that this town has to a library, not that anyone around here reads. It's still a nice way to kill some time, you know?"

I raised an eyebrow as a thought crossed my mind. "Books? I know this is kind of a long shot, but if you collect stuff like that, you wouldn't happen to have any maps, would you?"

"Maps?" Capper grinned and jumped up a nearby ladder with feline grace. "Most definitely. Anything you're looking for specifically?"

"You have anything about the lands south of here?" I asked. "That's where we're headed."

"Got you covered." Capper slid down the ladder with a rolled up map under his arm. He pushed an end table in front of me and swept the various empty cans and bottles off of it before unrolling the map. Kristen and I maneuvered closer to the table so we could see it better.

"Did Ce... your wife say anything about who we were looking for?" Kristen asked.

"No, but I think..." I leaned in closer and put my hoof on a section of the map marked "Mount Aris." Underneath that was one phrase that made my heart leap: "Kingdom of the Hippogriffs."

"Hippogriffs? Like the half eagle/half horse guys, right?"

"Yeah. I haven't heard her talk about them before, which, now that I think about it, is kind of an oversight, but they're the only civilization past the badlands." I glanced back up at Capper. "If this is a recent map."

Capper shrugged. "Wasn't made yesterday, but I think it's still good." He leaned against the end table and bent down to examine the map himself. "So the hippogriffs, huh? Yeah, I've heard of them. I mean, not for a long time, but then again, I don't think anybody has."

I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head. "Really? Why? Where did they go?"

"Can't say for sure. All I know is I haven't seen one around these parts for a long time. Ten, fifteen years, maybe? It's not like they came around here all the time, but we did some trade with them every now and again."

"Wherever they are, we have to get to Mount Aris. If nothing else it'll be a good starting point," I said. "Once I recover we'll be on our way. I wouldn't want to impose too much."

"Not at all, not at all," Capper said, straightening up and giving me a smile. "You won't be imposing. Happy to have you here."

Just then the door swung open, revealing what appeared to be a naked mole rat dressed in a suit of some sort with a ratty top hat and goggles. He was flanked by two of the locals who were carrying spears.

"These the ponies you were talking about, Capper?" the mole rat guy said, lifting up his goggles to get a better look at us. "They'd better shoot rainbows out of their eyes if they're going to pay off your debt. The one on the couch looks like he's about to die anyway." He grunted and jerked a thumb behind him. "Whatever. Brought the big cage for 'em." He turned to his two cronies with the spears. "Load 'em up, boys. Careful with that one. I don't want him to die before I can see what he's worth."

No. Freaking. Way.

I shot up to my hooves and glared at Capper. "You were going to sell us? Really?"

"Whoa, hey, man, it's nothing personal." He began backing away from me. "It's just business. This is Klugetown, you know?"

"Yeah, and I run Klugetown," the mole rat said as his cronies entered the room with their spears pointed at us. "Now are you gonna come quietly or do we have to make this a little more... interesting?"

"You're not taking us anywhere!" Kristen roared, knocking the table aside so she could stand in front of me with her wings flared. Her eyes narrowed and she bared her teeth. "Pick your next move very carefully."

The mole rat shrugged. "Interesting it is, then. Make sure you don't rough them up too badly." He poked his head through the door and whistled. "Hey, some backup would be nice here."

Kristen slammed her hooves on the ground and everything that wasn't bolted down flew over to her. She shot her hooves in the direction of the thugs, hitting them with everything she had. They raised their arms to block the assault as another half dozen thugs rushed into the room, all armed to the teeth.

"The female looks like she's powerful!" the mole rat said, rubbing his paws together with glee. "Make sure you don't hurt her!"

Kristen swept her forehooves aside, and half of the thugs were thrown into the wall beside them. I could hear one or two bones break from the impact. Anything to get them out of the fight. One of them rushed Kristen with his spear at the ready, but just as it was about to hit her, Kristen slapped it aside with her hoof, turning it into a rubber chicken of all things. The thug barely had time to register what he was holding before Kristen spun around and bucked him through the nearest wall. It splintered at the impact, and I could see blood on the tips of the splinters where he'd hit. I doubted that it had killed him, but he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

Another three or four thugs ran in, but unlike the other ones, I could tell that their weapons and armor were of a higher grade than the other bozos. Maybe this was the boss's honor guard, or something. I doubted that merely throwing a statue at them would work. Unfortunately, the addition of better fighters distracted Kristen for a second too long, and she was picked up in a bear hug hold by a burly thug. He wrapped one of his hands around her throat, holding her head in place.

Not good.

Drawing upon my untapped reserves of strength, I football tackled the guy, which had the effect of knocking him over so that Kristen could escape, but also aggravating my injury. I fell to the ground with a cry of pain. We weren't going to win in a straight fight unless Kristen got really crazy, which was a little harder to do in close quarters like this. Sure, they'd have a harder time maneuvering too, but the numbers didn't favor us, especially with me essentially useless.

We needed to get out.

I shakily got to my hooves. When did the room get cold? Did Kristen do that?

"Run," I croaked out. "We need to get out of here. If we don't--"

My side exploded in pain and I fell to the ground with an ear-splitting shriek when one of the armored thugs slammed the butt of his spear right into my wound. I almost blacked out from the pain, and the room felt a little colder. This wasn't how it was going to end. It couldn't be. I looked up to Kristen and pointed to the nearby window.

"Run. Find me." When she didn't move, I drew on the last of my power, lifted her into the air with my magic, and threw her straight through the window. Hopefully she'd get it. She'd be able to follow them in the air, or something. They didn't have the means to bring her down as far as I knew.

A heavy foot slammed into my head, pinning me to the floor as ropes were tied around my legs. I barely registered the mole rat kneeling in front of me, but I mustered enough will to glare at him.

"Jeez, you don't need to kill the guy. Bring him to HQ and get him to the infirmary. I saw that little trick he pulled, throwing the other one out the window. He's magic, too. Once we get him back to strength he'll have a few uses." The mole rat straightened up and looked over to Capper, who was staring at me with blank, haunted eyes. Yeah, bet he didn't see it going this way. "If we get a hold of the other one then we'll see about where your debt is. Right now you've definitely made a payment. In the state he's in he's not worth as much as the other one, though."

"Uh... yeah, Verko happy to help," Capper muttered, looking at the floor in an attempt to make eye contact with neither me nor this Verko guy.

"Good. Let me know if you find anything else."

I groaned in pain as I was lifted into the air and carried toward a large cage on wheels sitting just outside the door. I wanted to struggle, but all I could do was shiver. It was getting really cold. It wasn't winter here, was it? No, that wasn't right. We were still in the middle of summer. Why was it so cold?

I was roughly thrown onto the floor of the cage and the door was shut and locked behind me. After a few seconds I was jolted forward as the cage began moving. All I could do was continue shivering until I blacked out.

Verko

Somehow I woke up.

I wasn't as cold as before, which was a bonus. Now that I had a little more clarity I realized that I'd been bleeding out to the point where I was almost dead. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes. What I saw wasn't encouraging. I was in some kind of dark, dank stone dungeon. I heard chains clink when I moved my hind leg, and glanced back to see that I was chained to the wall by my right hind leg. I felt something around my neck and reached a hoof up to see what it was. Some kind of metal collar. My wings were bound to my sides, and I had some kind of Hannibal Lecter-esque muzzle over my face.

Long story short, things had gone really wrong.

I gingerly sat up and looked down at my side. It had stopped bleeding. In fact, my wound had actually been glued shut. At least that was good. I'd still need to be careful to avoid opening it again, but for the moment it was the lone blessing in this scenario.

Before I could think about my scenario more, I saw a small window of the door of my cell open, and the eye of someone peeking in on me, followed by the sound of keys jingling and being put into a lock. The door swung open, and Verko strutted in, followed by two of his henchmen.

"Oh, he's awake finally! You've been out for three days. Thought you might die. I've got the best doctors in Klugetown here, it seems."

"Is that saying much?" I croaked. I lightly coughed and cleared my throat. I needed water.

Verko shrugged. "We're not all backwater primitives, you know. I have standards. One of those standards is that if I bring something to my doctors, I expect it to survive the encounter. You're alive. They gave you some blood and glued the wound shut." He leaned against the back wall and stroked his chin. "You're a weird one, I'll give you that. The doctors tried giving you stitches, but they couldn't get the needles through your skin. Broke three of them before they gave up and just glued it. Worked well enough, it seems. Still, you've got some pretty thick skin. You are a magical pony, ain't ya?"

"Give me a little time and I'll show you exactly what I'm capable of," I growled.

"I'm hoping you will. We'll even get that other one you were traveling with down here, too. Between the two of you..." He chuckled and straightened up. "You'd be wasted at a zoo. A circus, maybe? That could work. Ponies are too common for a freak show, so I doubt that would work. Slaves, maybe."

"Unless you're planning on paying me for whatever you're going to have me do, I think I'm a slave either way."

"Fair point. On that note, though..." He motioned to my collar. "Bet you've noticed that. Well, it's not your usual collar like you'd put on a dog. No..." He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out what appeared to be a small remote. "This one is a little more useful."

My eyes widened, but I couldn't stop as he turned the dial on the remote. I twitched in pain as electricity jolted through my body. It only lasted a few seconds but it was enough to figure out what he had on me.

"That was one. This thing goes all the way up to ten. You don't want to see what happens when it goes to ten." Verko looked at the remote thoughtfully. "Oddly enough, I'm not even sure what happens. They're usually kissing the ground I walk on by four. Most anyone's lasted is six. It'll be interesting to see how you do." He shook his head and began pacing in front of me like a general addressing his troops. "So here's the deal, pony. I'm in complete control of you. You'll eat when I say, you'll drink when I say, you'll sleep when I say. I own Klugetown and I own you. You'd best accept that if you don't want any more pain."

He twisted the dial on the remote, and I gurgled and twitched at the shock going through me.

"That was two. I don't have to go higher than that, do I? No? Good."

"If you run Klugetown, why don't you have some giant carry you around on a backpack?"

Verko rolled his eyes and began pacing again. "If you talk back to me you'll get a zap. If you don't follow every instruction you get a zap. If you, heaven forbid, try to escape..." He wiggled the remote. "You're not getting that thing off. Plenty have tried, of course, but nobody's actually succeeded."

"So what, then? You're going to train me like a dog to do whatever you want?"

"Yeah, pretty much. It'll be easier for you if you just roll over." He paused and pursed his lips at me. "I said: roll over."

"I'm going to break your neck, do you know that? I know how to do it so that you'll survive."

Verko glared at me, and I braced myself for the shock. He twisted the knob a little farther, and I actually cried out in pain. He kept the remote on for a few more seconds before turning it off.

"Roll over like a good little doggie."

"When I get out of here I'm going to shove that remote so far up your ass you'll be coughing out metal."

He twisted the knob further and kept it on longer. I held my breath and bit my tongue hard enough to nearly draw blood just so he wouldn't be able to hear me scream. When he finally turned it off, I gasped for air and grabbed at my head, which was starting to hurt.

“Are you done?” Verko said with a roll of his eyes.

“When I’m done with you there won’t be enough of you left to piss on.”

"You may be magical, but you're not very bright, are you?" Verko said with an amused smirk. "I'll admit that you're not screaming as loud as they usually are by three, but there are still seven ticks to go, and I can keep it on as long as I want. An hour on two or three won't kill you, after all. Be as defiant as you want, pony. They all break in the end. Tell you what, though: you've got spunk, and I like that. Roll over and I'll get you some food and water. I ain't even going to make you bark. Just one little roll."

I was starting to get flashbacks from Sinosis. He wanted to torture me, too, even after he'd shot me with a Nightmare Weapon. In the end I beat him to death. This guy wouldn't be getting off so easily. Still, I needed to eat and drink if I was going to regain my former strength. I was certainly stronger than before, but it wasn't quite enough. I gritted my teeth and rolled over for him. Verko let out a bark of a laugh and clapped for me.

"Bravo! He can be taught!" He turned to one of the guards. "Bring him a little food and water. We wouldn't want our guest to starve to death, would we? That would be bad manners."

The guard saluted and walked out of the room, leaving just me, him, and one more guard. I rued that I couldn't get the remote from Verko before he realized something was up. It wouldn't be hard to get a hold of it once I was strong again, but for now it seemed I had to play along a little.

"So, tell me about yourself, pony," Verko said. "You're a long way from home, ain't ya?"

"A little bit, yeah."

"Yeah. We don't see many ponies around Klugetown, especially not ones bleeding to death." Verko crossed his arms and began circling me. "I'll admit that I don't know much about ponies. What I do know is that it's the ones with the horns that can do magic like I saw and you..." He tapped my forehead. "Do not have a horn. Neither does the other one. Who is she to you, anyway?"

"My sister." Who will be more than happy to help me ruin you.

"Sister. Sounds about right. Well, give it a little time and we'll have a nice family reunion for the two of you. Like I said before: I run Klugetown. I own Klugetown. I am Klugetown."

The barest smirk crossed my face. "I am Ozymandias. King of kings. Look on my works ye mighty and despair."

Verko stopped circling me and stared for a few moments, his eyes widen. I began to wonder if I'd pissed him off enough to get shocked again, but before I could think about what to say next, he began laughing and clapping, even jumping around a little bit.

"I like it!" he cried. "King of kings! Look on my works ye mighty and despair! I see you're getting it already, pony." He turned to his guard and giggled. "King of kings! That's me!" He turned back to me and patted me on the head. "I like it, pony. I like it a lot. Where'd you get that?"

"It's a line from a poem in my home."

"Never had much use for poetry, but I like the sound of that one. It's about a mighty king, then."

I allowed my smirk to widen ever so slightly. "Something like that."

"Well it's good. I should have it put on a statue of me, or something. King of kings. Look on my works ye mighty and despair." He turned back to his guard. "When Benny gets back with the food, tell him to get started on that. Hire some goldsmiths to make a statue."

With this guy's ego, I was actually surprised that he didn't have one already.

"Well, you've earned yourself a nice rest, pony," Verko said just as the guard returned with a bowl of what appeared to be gruel of some kind and a small wooden cup filled with water. He placed them in front of me then took my muzzle off so I could eat. "Now you go ahead and eat up. We'll get your sister down here with you soon. Meanwhile I'm going to think of what to do with you. I'm open to suggestions, of course. Real ones. Not 'let me go' of course."

"I hear Griffonia is always looking for more slaves for their empress," I pointed out.

Verko rolled his eyes and wiggled the remote. "I said real ones. The griffins outlawed slavery over five hundred years ago. Whatever I end up doing, I'd suggest you play along. You think the shock collar hurts now? You haven't seen the worst of it yet. Not by a mile."

With that, he walked out of the room, leaving his guards to watch me. Thankfully I still had my forehooves free, so I managed to pick up the water cup easily enough. I downed the whole thing in seconds. It tasted clean, even if it wasn't cold. At the moment, it was more valuable than all of the gems in Canterlot. I wished that I had a little more. I set the cup down and picked up the bowl of gruel. From what I knew of the stuff, it had enough basic nutrients to keep someone alive without the need for, you know, tasting good. I brought the bowl to my lips and slurped it down almost as quickly as the water.

Once I'd finished my meager meal, one of the guards took my dishes away while the other one put the muzzle back on. After that, they left without a word, shutting the door behind them and locking it.

Now that I was alone, it left me with time to think about my next move. My side seemed to be healed enough that it would take a little more than moving wrong to tear it open again. Alicorns did tend to heal fairly quickly, so this joker wouldn't be able to hold me for too long. The main problem was the shock collar. Even at full strength I doubted that I'd be able to handle him bringing it up to ten. It probably wouldn't kill me, but it would hurt enough that he'd have me trapped. I was way more resilient than most beings on the planet, but a shock like that would take me out for sure.

Or maybe I just thought that because I wasn't back at a hundred percent and just going to three hurt. Whatever the case, I needed to get it off.

I drew upon some of my magic and re-materialized my horn. It felt good to have it back on my forehead. Not that it was ever gone, per se, but the feeling was nice. If Verko ever saw it I'd be in real trouble, so I had to be subtle about this. I lit my horn and sent out a few practice spells to see what I could do. My side didn't hurt from the strain of drawing magic, so that was an obvious plus. It gave me hope that I'd be out of there soon enough. I could tell that I wasn't "split open the sky and summon a star" powerful quite yet, but I was getting there.

I tested a spell on my shock collar. If I could get that off then I'd be golden, regardless of what Verko had up his sleeve. Once that was off and he had no power over me, I'd be sure to thank him for his hospitality. With an axe to the face. Or something like that.

I found the key hole with my magic and tried to open it up. I expected the collar to pop right off. What I got instead was a little jolt on the level of two. My magic fizzled out as I twitched on the ground, pain coursing through my body. What the heck was this thing made of?! I encased the entire collar with my magic and pulled as hard as I could. All I got for my troubles was an even more extreme shock. I actually cried out in pain. Seems that it had been designed so that brute force couldn't get it off.

I'd deal with it later.

I cast a few more spells to test the chain around my leg and the muzzle. I confirmed that those could come off easily enough. I just needed to time it right. The guards looked into the room before coming in, and if they couldn't see me because I was hiding beside the door, it was shock city for me. Then I'd probably be under direct watch from a guard at all times.

No matter for now. I was stronger than I'd been since coming to Klugetown. This guy was going down. There was no doubt about it in my mind. I made my horn invisible once again before falling back asleep.

* * * *

I was awoke some time later by the sound of the door opening and the pitter-patter of Verko's feet. I groaned and opened one eye to glare at him. He grinned back and took the remote out of his pocket.

"Wakey-wakey, eggs and bakey, pony," he said with a nasty tone. "Today we're going to figure out what you're worth to me. If you cooperate..." He motioned back to one of his guards who was carrying a tray with more gruel and a bigger cup of water. "If not, well, you're smart. You figure it out."

"Yeah, yeah." I pushed myself to a sitting position. "What do you want now?"

"Well, I think that I like the idea of giving you to a circus the most. One that, ah, obviously wouldn't be going anywhere near Equestria. They do tours around the entire Storm Empire."

"Storm Empire?" I raised my eyebrow curiously. "Like, the one ruled by the Storm King?"

Verko scoffed and rolled his eyes. "My goodness, maybe you aren't as smart as I thought. Yes, pony, the one ruled by the Storm King. He controls many nations and whatnot, blah, blah, blah, it's good for business. He leaves Klugetown alone because we pay a little tribute to him and we're a small fish in his big pond."

I smirked at Verko and crossed my forelegs. "King of kings indeed. Maybe he should put that on his statues."

Yeah, I got a nice little shock for that one. Worth it, though.

"Do not be flippant, pony," Verko growled. "For your purposes here the Storm King is irrelevant. All you have is me and that useful collar of yours. That is your world. But on that note, we still have to figure out what kind of act you'll perform." Verko tapped his chin thoughtfully. "You're not clumsy enough to be a clown, so that's out. Juggling would be a little beneath you, so..." Verko's eyes and grin widened, and he snapped his fingers. "A death act! Yes, I can see it now! You'll be one of the best death defying acts around!" He cackled and rubbed his fingers together. "What shall it be? Shot out of a cannon onto a bed of spikes while bound in a straitjacket? Chained underwater with piranhas?"

"You do know that piranhas are fairly cowardly fish that aren't the eating machines that most movies portray them as, right?"

"Yes, yes, but these would be starving piranhas."

"Who would probably just start eating each other before getting to me."

I should stop provoking him. It would probably mean that he'd stop shocking me. Either way, the growing look of rage and frustration on his face was kind of worth it.

"I'll figure something out, pony. A non-unicorn doing magic isn't something that comes around every day. Though now that I think on it..." Verko motioned to one of the guards, who rushed out of the room for a few seconds before coming back with a chair. He set it down and dusted the seat off before Verko sat down and stretched his legs. "Tell me about yourself, pony. What's a pony like you doing in a place like this? The word on the street is that the Storm King hit Equestria with his whole army. I've heard that there isn't a single town or city that isn't occupied by his forces."

My heart sank at the news. I had hoped that it would take a little time before he moved out of Canterlot, but either his army was just that big, or he employed tactics that would make the World War Two blitzkrieg jealous. Either way, I didn't have a foothold where I could plan out defenses. Not in the country, at least.

"Pony, I want an answer."

I glared up at him. "Yeah, I'm from Equestria. Yeah, I was there when the Storm King took over. We put up a hell of a fight. My sister and I had to get out of there, though."

"A hell of a fight? That's not what I heard. I heard that he took the whole city over in under an hour. Had the whole country in two days." Verko snorted and shook his head. "Maybe I'm being silly, but I think a nation as economically prosperous as yours should have a larger military than 'we don't really have one'. I still remember stories about that wedding in Canterlot with the changelings."

Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. We hadn't been in a war in hundreds of years. At least, not one like that.

"So you're refugees, huh?" Verko continued. "Makes sense. What doesn't make sense is your magical powers. Sure, I know that the ones with wings control the weather and whatnot, but magic like you did?" Verko shook his head. "That doesn't happen. So what's the story with that?" He tapped the remote. "And I wouldn't lie, if I were you."

I shrugged. "Why bother, then? Are you actually going to believe anything that I say? Anything could be true."

Verko chuckled. "Try me."

"Fine. My sister and I were part of an experimental group of ponies bred to try to imitate the alicorns. We're the most successful of the ten original subjects in that we don't have a bunch of hideous deformities, or just died outright. We're not as powerful as the alicorns, but we did manage to get a little unicorn magic."

"Hmm. Interesting. I do know that warlocks and the like have been trying to make their own false alicorns for a while. You didn't get a horn, then?"

I shook my head. "Best thing, really. The ones that did..." I shuddered. "It didn't end well."

"I see." Verko stood up and motioned for the guard to bring me the food. "Either way, I'm going to go design your act, then we'll see how you do. Get comfortable, pony. You're going to have a lot of practice to do soon. Once again, if you have any suggestions about that, let me know. You're the one who knows your limitations, after all."

With that, Verko left, leaving me to my meager meal.

* * * *

I woke up again the next morning feeling stronger than ever. A quick check showed me that my side had healed a lot more, to the point where I wasn't even sure if it was still glued shut or if my body had completely closed up. After my latest meal I felt stronger than ever before. More than enough to take Verko out if I could get the remote from him. Heck, he might not be able to stop me even if he did have it. I got to my hooves and stretched out. Might as well escape today. Dungeon walls didn't match my decor tastes.

I heard the keys jingling again, and the door swung open revealing a very smug looking Verko. Something had him rather pleased. Didn't matter to me. Maybe he'd found a circus willing to add a slave to their collection.

"Good morning, pony." He pulled the remote out of his pocket. "If you could sit down, that'd be great. We have a lot to talk about."

"We sure do," I agreed, sitting on the floor. "You go first."

"Of course. You remember how I said that we'd get your sister eventually? Well..." He motioned to the door and, to my mild surprise, one of the guards led Kristen inside at spear point. She glared back at him but didn't resist. Her eyes widened when she saw me, but I smirked at her and shook my head. I didn't doubt that she could see how much stronger I was.

"Now that I have both of you, here's what we're going to do. So--"

"Yeah, that's all great, but I'm afraid that my sister and I must be on our way." I stood up and motioned to the remote. "That's a remote to this shock collar."

"If you don't sit down this instant, I'm going to make you endure pain the likes of which you never thought possible!" Verko roared.

"Oh yeah? With what?"

"With the..." Verko looked down to his paw, and his eyes widened when he saw that he wasn't holding anything. I motioned to Kristen, who was flying in the air outside of the reach of any spears. She grinned and waved to him. "With... uh..."

"Yeah, like I said: we're going to be on our way now."

With one burst of my magic, my disguise fell away. I grew back to my normal size, my horn reappeared, and the brown of my coat and mane melted away, revealing my full alicorn form. I extended my wings and the chains holding them down instantly shattered. With one quick spell, the chain around my leg and the muzzle were evaporated into dust. I stretched my legs and wings with a contented sigh.

"That's much better." I experimentally fluttered my wings to see how they's affect my wound, and was delighted when I only felt a small twinge of pain no worse than a paper cut. Seemed I was good to go.

"How are things, Kristen? You have any problems?"

Kristen shook her head and looked down at the remote in her hooves. "Nothing, really. You?"

"No, these guys were kind enough to fix me up and feed me. I feel like my old self again. Which does mean..." I lit my horn and encased Verko in my magic. I lifted him up and brought him face-to-face with me. "You and I have a few things to discuss, like I said."

"Oh, uh..." Verko gulped. "Y-yeah, that sounds good. What were you thinking about?"

"Let's start with the key to the collar, yeah? It's starting to get itchy."

"Oh, of course." He reached into his coat pocket and produced a small silver key. "Here you go."

"Kind of you." I took the key from him with my magic and floated it behind me to where I'd felt the keyhole before. The key slid perfectly into the lock, and with one twist, the collar fell to the floor at my hooves. I reached up and scratched my neck. It actually was kind of getting itchy.

"Now, then..." I glanced over to the guards. "I'm sure it goes without saying that you haven't been the most generous host. Dungeons and muzzles and gruel and shock collars? Tisk tisk, Mister Verko. Where did you learn your manners?"

"Look, pony, I was wrong to treat you that way. We should have gone into business together! Equal shares, fifty-fifty!" I glanced over to him and he gulped. "Um... seventy-thirty?"

"Sorry, I'd love to, but I have more pressing matters at the moment."

"Yes, yes, tell me what you want!" Verko said, desperation creeping into his voice. "You want money?! I'll give it to you! You want power?! You'll rule Klugetown like a king! I-if you just want out, I have ships I could get you!"

"Hmm. the last one actually sounds kind of interesting." A hopeful look crossed Verko's face. "Let me think about it." I glanced over to the guards who actually still had their spears pointed at me, though I could see them shaking. I chuckled and, with another quick spell, materialized a razor sharp ice dagger. "What do you think, Kristen? What could we use?"

"That ship sounds promising," Kristen said with a smirk. "Flying's nice, but it'd be one with all of the best luxuries a rat could afford."

"Oh yes, absolutely!" Verko insisted. "You tell me what you want on it and I'll give it to you! Just say the word!"

"Just tell me where it is and we'll be on our way."

"Right, right, of course!" Verko pointed in the direction of the door. "Go out the main entrance, then take a left. Keep going until you hit the docks. Mine's the largest one there."

"Sounds like a plan. Alright, Kristen, I think it's time to blow this joint."

"I agree one hundred percent."

"Good. I guess that just leaves the question of what to do with my host here."

Verko's hopeful smile instantly faded, and he began trying to struggle to break free of my magic. "Nothing! Just leave me be and I'll change! I won't take ponies to sell to circuses anymore! We'll just go our separate ways and never speak to each other again!"

"Hmm..." I tapped my jaw thoughtfully. "Sounds tempting, but I'm going to actually have to pass on that. You see..." I lifted up the shock collar with my magic and shrunk it down so it would fit on Verko. "I don't believe you. You're the type who's out for his own survival and power, and I can't trust somebody like that."

Verko whimpered when I locked the collar around his neck. One of the guards started running up to me, and I flung the ice dagger between his eyes. The other one instantly ran out of the room, dropping his spear behind him.

"Please, pony, I'll do anything," Verko wheezed, clawing at the collar.

"Anything?" I powered down my horn and let him drop. "Okay, how about you... roll over?"

Verko backed up and stared up at me with total fear in his eyes. "R-roll over?"

"Yes." I lit my horn and took the remote from Kristen. I looked over to her and saw the unease in her eyes. She gulped and shook her head.

"Don't do this," she whispered.

"Hmm. She says I shouldn't do this." I turned back to Verko. "You know, something you said made me curious. What does happen when I dial this up to ten? According to you nobody's ever made it past six."

"TD, you're not like this! Just... make it quick or something! Torture is wrong!"

"Yes, it is, isn't it, Verko? It would be torture for you if I turned this on."

"Please just stop!" Verko wailed, trying to back further into the corner. "I'll leave Klugetown and never come back! Nobody will ever hear from me again!"

"I know." I took a deep breath and looked back at Kristen. She shook her head. I looked back to Verko, the being that had spent two days torturing me.

What would Celestia want me to do?

I growled and let my magic fizzle out, and the remote fell to the floor. I stomped on it, shattering the remote to pieces. "This is your lucky day, I guess."

"Yes, yes thank you, your majesty!" Verko cried, crawling on his knees toward me. "I promise that I'll be better!"

"Kristen, let's get out of here. I'm sick of this place."

Kristen nodded, a look of relief on her face. "Yeah, let's just get to Mount Aris."

"Best of luck to you with that!" Verko said, clawing at his collar. "My ship will take you there in comfort and--"

“Verko, remember that poem I was talking about? The one you liked so much?”

“Uh... yeah, yeah I think so. King of kings?”

“Exactly.” I narrowed my eyes. “I am Ozymandias, king of kings. Look on my works ye mighty and despair. Nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare. The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

With one quick burst of my horn, I shot an ice dagger right through his left eye with enough force that it shot out the back of his head and shattered on the wall behind him. He fell to the ground without a sound.

* * * *

I pounded on the wooden door and waited, hoping that he'd be home. If not, I'd find him. He kind of stuck out a little bit.

"TD, I'm not sure you need to do this," Kristen muttered. "I get the other guy, but... this is kind of pushing it."

"I don't care right now," I growled. "Besides, he has something that we need. I'm not going to chop his head off or anything. We'll be in and out quickly once we get the map."

The door opened up after a few more seconds. Capper stood on the other side with a confident grin, one which instantly fell when he saw us.

"Oh, uh... the ponies. My, my, you've gotten... bigger."

"Yeah, sure have." I pushed past him into his room, which was still wrecked from the fight. I glanced down at the end table next to the couch and picked up the map still on top of it. I rolled it up and put it under my wing. "I'm taking this."

"Oh, yeah, totally. Take anything you need." Capper backed up into the room and began making his way to the ladder. "Is there anything else I can get for you? You need money or--"

I lit my horn and wrapped my magic around his neck. Before he could say anything, I snapped it like a twig. He fell to the ground silently.

"He didn't feel a thing," I said, pushing past Kristen. "Let's just get out of here. I'm sick of this place."

"Yeah," Kristen said quietly, looking at Capper's body with a blank expression. "Me too."

Traveling

We made it to Verko's ship without any further incidents.

Nobody stared at us with suspicion and hostility this time around. Instead now they all ran inside and shut every door and window they could think of. Honestly, after the days I'd had, I'd take it. I didn't have as much bubbling rage as I'd had with Verko that I'd managed to redirect as violent calm, but if anything messed with me right now, I'd probably kill them, regardless of how Kristen felt.

In any case, Verko's directions to the docks were accurate. Once we were there, it wasn't too long before we got a hold of Verko's luxury airship. At first the crew were a little wary of the two of us, but once they heard from a few of the guards who had shown up that, yes, I had put an ice dagger through Verko's eye and I wasn't in any mood to be messed with... Well, we were on our way in twenty minutes.

The ship did have a lot of the luxuries you'd expect of somebody who ran a town, but neither of us really focused on that once we'd given the captain directions and retired to our quarters. Sure, the beds were nice and soft, but they didn't erase the memories of what had happened in the last few days. I tried getting a little sleep, but the memories kept me awake. I idly scratched at my neck where Verko had that awful shock collar on me.

Part of me still wished that I'd dialed it up to ten, just so he'd know what he'd put other beings through. It wouldn't have ended well, though, especially with Kristen watching. Sure, she'd seen me kill before, but that was during a battle. This was different. I groaned and got up off of the bed. I needed some air. I'd been stuck in a small room for too long, even if I'd been asleep or unconscious for a lot of it. I walked out of my quarters onto the main deck, where I instantly spotted Kristen standing by the side rails looking out into the horizon. I slowly made my way up to her and stood by her side.

"Hey."

She barely glanced up at me from the corner of her eyes. "Hey."

"How are you doing?"

She shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Been through a lot lately."

I let out a humorless chuckle. "Yeah, I hear that. What happened after I threw you out the window?"

"Not much. I managed to start flying before I actually hit the ground, but I got kind of turned around. You actually threw me pretty far. It took a few minutes for me to even see the windmill. By the time I got back, everyone, even Capper, was gone. I wasn't sure what direction you'd gone, so I just picked one and started looking. It didn't help that Verko had a bunch of airships scouring the skies for me. I just picked a random spot that looked abandoned and hid out for a little bit."

"Yeah, I'm sorry I put that much pressure on you," I muttered. "I should have been fighting alongside you or at least attempted to escape."

"You were bleeding out to the point where Mister Orange wouldn't have envied you," Kristen pointed out. "I'm surprised you were even lucid enough to toss me out the window."

"Same here. After Verko threw me in a cage I just passed out. I didn't expect to wake up again." I fluttered my wing so I could see my healing wound. Sometimes it still didn't feel like I'd been hit with another weapon, but there it was. It had come even closer to killing me than even Sinosis's arrow.

"So, did the Storm Creatures have those, what did you call them, Nightmare Weapons? I thought you got them all."

I shook my head. "No, they didn't have Nightmare Weapons. I don't know what they were, but I didn't feel any black magic. If they were I'd be long dead. Maybe they were made out of some new material, or maybe this Storm King has some kind of magic that he cast on them. I don't know. What I do know is that I don't want to get hit by them again."

"Wonder if they'd do anything to me," Kristen said thoughtfully. "Would I be killed if I was hit by a Nightmare Weapon?"

I shrugged. "No idea. Let's not find out about that, shall we?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

Awkward silence fell between the two of us as we stared out into the horizon. From here I could see the shape in the distance that I'd been assured by the crew was Mount Aris. I could tell that Kristen had something on her mind beyond everything that had happened in Canterlot. I'd ask, but she wasn't really the kind of person who would open up about whatever she was feeling, especially when something was bothering her. Thankfully I didn't have to wait too long before she spoke again.

"TD... I know you're in kind of a rough head space right now. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't, too, but..." She took a deep breath and finally looked at me. "I know you're a lot different than you were before. I've seen it every day in the last five years. I just never thought... what happened with Verko and Capper... did you need to kill them?"

I grimaced and looked away from her. "No. I guess not. It wasn't a battle or anything, and they weren't threats at that point, I just..." I groaned and thunked my head on the railing. "I'd spent the past few days being tortured by him. Then he keeps assuring me that he'll get you, too, and we'll live the rest of our lives as freaks in a circus or something. After everything that happened in Canterlot, I've felt so... powerless. I can't do anything to keep anyone safe, including me. Plus he kept talking about all of the other beings that he'd done that to and, I dunno, I couldn't let him live. Do you really think that he'd just give up and change his ways because he captured the one pony who could actually fight back?"

"Not really, no," Kristen admitted.

"Exactly. I guess I just wanted to have a tangible impact on my situation. If I kill Verko then a lot of other beings in Klugetown aren't suffering under him."

"Alternatively you've just created a power vacuum that's going to have a negative impact on Klugetown for years to come," Kristen pointed out. "Or does that not matter because we're never going back?"

I glared at her. "Shut it. Name me one guy there who looked smart enough to take over the entire business."

Kristen shrugged. "Don't know. I didn't ask everyone there for their resume. You're the one always talking about how everything you do is going to have actions for hundreds of years, right? I'm not saying you should have just let Verko go with a warning, or something, but..."

"So what would you have suggested, then?" I growled. "Maybe just keeping that shock collar on him and turning it up to three until it blows a fuse? Well that's torture. Trust me, he didn't feel a thing when I shot that dagger through his head. Maybe there is going to be a power struggle, and maybe the next guy who takes over is going to be worse than Verko, but..." I sighed. "Like I said: he'd spent the past few days torturing me. I can't just let a guy like that walk away."

"I guess," Kristen muttered. "I'd just never seen you like that. I get the battles and stuff, but seeing you just casually kill somebody? You've changed, TD. You've changed and I don't think I like it."

"In some ways I don't like it either," I admitted. "Would I prefer to just be the unassuming human fishing in the lake around Ponyville with no real responsibilities?" I paused for a moment. "No, I guess. If for no other reason than my wife and daughters. You're right: I'm not that same guy anymore. The guy who talked to you that day when I almost got hit by the car..." I saw her flinch at that. “Well, we wouldn't even recognize each other. I guess that just happens, though. That was ten years ago. I don't think the Kristen that came through the portal would recognize who you are now."

"Yeah, but I'm not breaking anyone's necks," Kristen grumbled. "I get it, TD, you're going to have to do stuff I don't like just because that's what your job is right now and you're going to be doing it forever. That's true of any leader. Through that, though, I still see a little bit of my brother, you know? I'm sure as heck not going to start calling you Antares just because everyone else does."

I actually manage a smile at that one. It is kind of weird to hear somebody else call me by my old name. "Yeah, and that's one of the reasons I'm glad you’re here. We're both far more powerful than we were ten years ago, or even five. Life has taken us in a direction neither of us expected, but I'm glad we have each other to remind us where we came from. It lets me know that I haven't always been this powerful, immortal pony who could control the sun and moon if he wanted to. At one point I was a scrawny college student way in over his head in a bizarre situation."

"Yeah, and I never thought I'd be the god of chaos for eternity either, but here we are."

I chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, here we are."

"Ship ho!" one of the crew members called out, breaking us out of our reminiscing. I frowned and began looking around. There was nothing I could see between us and the rapidly approaching Mount Aris. So what...?

I turned around and my heart sank when I saw it: a large metal airship with a familiar and terrifying insignia emblazoned on the side. Somehow the Storm King's agents had found us. I wheeled around and began looking for any place to go below decks. Maybe this was a coincidence and they just wanted a bribe of some sort. I saw the captain, a Klugetowner from the looks of things, behind the wheel of the airship and flew up to him. He flinched when I landed beside him.

"Is this normal or are we in big trouble?"

He gulped and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Uh... this is kind of normal. Sometimes we'll get stopped to make sure that we're not carrying any illegal cargo. Just a random check."

I growled and looked back to the ship. In hindsight I probably should have switched back to my disguised form. I was pretty easy to spot with my size and coloration and ethereal mane. I was stupid not to do it when we boarded. Damn.

"Do you have any place for us to hide?" I asked, casting the disguise spell on myself in the vain hope that they hadn't spotted me.

"Er... I know that Verko was a crime boss and all, but he didn't use this thing for any smuggling," the captain said. "Too risky. He didn't want the Storm King taking it for himself."

I took a deep breath and looked at the airship, then back to Mount Aris. I still wasn't back to a hundred percent, but we could probably make the flight if we hurried. As much as I hated it, the luxury ship about to be boarded would make the perfect distraction until we were far away.

Before I could tell Kristen my plan, giant metal hooks were shot out of the approaching airship. The punched through the hull like they were made of paper and began reeling us in like a prized trout. I turned to Kristen and pointed to Mount Aris. "We gotta go."

"What about them?" Kristen said, motioning to the crew, most of whom were on deck.

"They're not hiding anything, especially if we're not on the ship. We can make the flight to--"

"TD! Look!"

I saw that she was pointing behind me and wheeled around to look at the airship. My heart sank when I saw who was on the bow.

Tempest.

"What should we do?" Kristen whispered. "I'm positive she's already seen us."

So was I. We made eye contact and a small smirk crossed her face. Even if she hadn't seen me before I transformed, there was no way that she didn't know it was me. I was at a crossroads. We needed to get to Mount Aris before she stopped us, but if I defeated her here it would make taking back Canterlot much easier. I pulled all of the moisture in the air closer and created an ice spear which I brandished at her. She chuckled and shook her head.

One of the Storm Creatures came out on deck and wheeled over the microphone thing that she'd used when she first arrived in Canterlot. She adjusted it so that it was at her level.

"Attention crew members. I have no quarrel with you. The ponies you are traveling with are my only prize. Surrender and I won't send this ship crashing down in flames. Antares? If you move from that deck I will slaughter every innocent being on this ship. Those deaths will be on your hooves. You are outnumbered. Surrender peacefully." Her grin turned nasty. "I think we all saw what happens when you try to do it the hard way. It makes no difference to me."

I glowered at her and cast a spell on my throat so my voice could be heard. "Pretty lucky for you that you found us, isn't it?"

If I knew how she found us in the first place I could block it next time. That didn't matter too much now since I needed to figure out how to escape my current predicament first.

"Hardly," she sneered. "Ponies stand out in Klugetown. We knew you were going south, and after that it was just a few simple questions before we knew you were on this ship. Where are you headed, I wonder?"

"Now that you're here one of us is going to Tartarus!" I snarled. "Are you so weak that you need an army behind you to stop us? Even when you took out my family you did so while we were in the middle of a battle?"

"I am no fool," Tempest snarled. "I am aware that you are the superior fighter. Why would I fight you head on and lose when I can distract you and win?" Tempest flicked her hoof and dozens of Storm Creatures flooded the deck of the airship, many of whom were armed with bows. I grimaced and cast a spell over the airship I was on, encasing it in a shield that would hopefully stop whatever they threw at us for a little while. Not forever, though. Unless you're amazingly talented at casting a shield like Shining Armor, the larger the shield the more fragile it was. A shield the size of a pony was much easier to maintain therefore harder to break. Something the size of a large airship? Not as easy.

"You don't give yourself enough credit, coward," I shot back once I'd cast the spell. "I think a one-on-one fight between the two of us would be quite interesting, don't you agree?"

Tempest chuckled just as her airship stopped alongside ours. Two of the Storm Creatures set up a metal ramp between the two airships, allowing Tempest access to ours. She lit up what was left of her horn and shot out blinding bolts of lightning. My shield only held for a few seconds before completely shattering, leaving us all exposed. The Storm Creatures drew back their bows and pointed them at us.

"Kill anyone that tries to run," she said as she walked down the ramp. "If Antares tries to cast a spell kill everyone on deck." Tempest looked over at Kristen who was inching closer to me and shook her head. "If Antares sinks through the deck with that sister of his..."

"Alright, so you have me," I growled. "What does the Storm King want with us anyway? We've never been a threat to him."

"He wants your magic," Tempest said. "For what is of little consequence to either of us."

"If you take me prisoner then who's going to raise and lower the sun?" I pointed out with a smirk. "How's the three days of sunlight treating you?"

Tempest rolled her eyes. "You are a fool. We've enslaved your nation. The unicorns are raising and lowering the sun and the moon at our command, just as they did before the alicorns. We have no use for you. You'll be trapped in stone alongside your family where you will remain as trophies commemorating his defeat of your pathetic nation."

"Your nation too," I snarled. "You're a pony! Why are you following this madman?"

"That is also of little consequence to you," Tempest said coolly. "All that matters is that you are here and are coming back to Equestria with me." Tempest opened up the saddlebag at her side and slid out one of the orbs she'd used to turn my family to stone. "Stand still. This won't hurt a bit." She chuckled. "I think."

Before I could react, she threw the orb at me. On instinct I lit my horn to catch it, but before I could, Kristen leaped in front of me. The orb collided with her chest, and the stone began crawling over her body, petrifying her.

"That will do for the moment, I suppose," Tempest said, taking another orb out of her bag. "For..." Tempest's eyes narrowed as she stared at Kristen. The stone had almost completely covered her, but it had stopped just before it reached her neck. Kristen breathed heavily, and I could see her straining. I looked closer and saw, to my amazement, that the stone was actually receding. As it faded away from her body Kristen began breathing more normally, and within a few short seconds the stone was gone.

All of us stared at Kristen who took a few deep breaths and glared at Tempest.

"Bitch," she growled.

I could see the rage in Tempest's eyes, but it only lasted a moment before her calm returned. "I admit that was unexpected. However, I made the consequences quite clear." Tempest raised her hoof, then shot it down. I lit up my horn for another spell, but it was too late. Arrows began raining onto the deck.

I heard the pained cries of the crew members who were hit by the barrage. I lit my horn and took to the air, shooting every spell I could think of at the attacking Storm Creatures. Many of them were evaporated before they could reload. Some of them raised their bows to me and fired. I shot higher into the air to avoid the arrows. The movement saved me. Just as I went higher, another one of the orbs sailed past me, hitting the crow's nest and turning it into stone. I looked back down at Tempest who was aiming another orb at me.

Just as she wound up to throw it at me, a hoof connected with her jaw, sending her flying back into the railing. In her attempts to hit me she hadn't noticed Kristen charging.

"You gonna stay down or do I have to get creative?" Kristen growled.

Huh. Go her.

Tempest bared her teeth and flipped onto her hooves. She cracked her neck and got into a fighting stance. Kristen shot to her hind hooves and slapped her forehooves together. Electricity crackled through them that she instantly shot at Tempest, who lit her horn and countered Kristen's lighting with some of her own. I summoned another ice spear and readied it. Maybe Tempest had a point: why take her in a head on fight when I could just snipe her from up here when she was distracted?

Just before I threw the spear, another arrow thudded into the mast inches from my head. It knocked my aim off and the spear hit the deck a good five feet from where Tempest. It was far enough away that she didn't even flinch. Instead she materialized two whips made out of pure electricity. She shot them both out at Kristen simultaneously. Kristen dodged one easily, but the other wrapped around her neck. Tempest began reeling Kristen in, but Kristen slapped the whip around her neck, turning it into harmless ash that blew away with the wind.

Throughout all of this I continued dodging arrows. I know that Tempest wanted them to take me alive, but a good shot could take me out of the fight without killing me, which was probably what they were banking on. I cast a shield spell around myself then shot out a flurry of ice daggers which struck some of my attackers and scattered the rest. I heard the noise of more electric whips being summoned. I lurched back when one of them wrapped around my leg. Tempest tied it around the mast in a vain attempt to keep me secured while she could defeat my sister. I began casting spells on it to cancel it out. I admit, Tempest was powerful. It took me at least ten seconds to get rid of it.

Alright, enough was enough. I angled my wings and shot toward the deck. Kristen might not have much combat experience, but Tempest couldn't take on both of us at the same time. I hit the deck hard enough to dent it from the impact, and lit my horn for a spell. Tempest tore up a giant chunk of the deck and put it between the two of us, preventing my spell from hitting her. It destroyed the section of deck, but she was unharmed. She glared at me and stomped on the deck. Instantly dozens of Storm Creatures began running down the ramp, weapons at the ready.

"I don't need you intact, Antares," she growled. "You just need to be alive."

She turned just in time to dodge Kristen's blow. Tempest caught Kristen's leg mid strike and slammed her hoof into the joint. Chaos god or not, it wasn't supposed to bend that way. Kristen fell to the deck clutching at her leg. She wasn't crying out in pain like I would have been. I guess it didn't hurt. She just glared at Tempest and shook her leg, instantly repairing the damage. However, Tempest used the distraction to swing around and slam her hind hooves into Kristen's face with all of her might. Kristen flew back and crashed into the mast. I heard the loud crack from where I was. I didn't know if it was Kristen's spine or the mast, but it sounded like it hurt.

I couldn't help her at the moment. I cast a spell that Celestia had taught me, summoning a blade of pure sun fire. The psychological effect of the blade was enough that the first few Storm Creatures flinched back, allowing me to go on the offensive. I cut through three of them before they could react. A trio of arrows thudded into the deck just missing my hooves. I flinched for a moment too long, and before I could do anything, two of them tackled me. Even as strong as I was, their sudden weight made me topple over, and they dog-piled me the instant I hit the deck. I swung my sword wildly about, but I didn't feel it making contact with anything. One of the Storm Creatures slammed the end of his spear right into my horn. I cried out in pain and my magic fizzled out with the sword soon following.

"Don't break his horn just yet," I heard Tempest say from behind me. "Do whatever you must to--GAH!"

In between the mass of Storm Creatures I managed to spot Kristen slamming her hooves right into Tempest's side with enough force to dent the armor. Tempest flew back, sliding across the deck and almost straight into the hole she'd made. With Tempest out of the fight for the moment, Kristen slammed her hooves down, sending a shock wave through the deck that made it ripple like water. Storm Creatures flew back as they got off balance, allowing me to light my horn and shoot off a spell that shoved away the ones dog-piling me. A few of them went over the railing, their screams of terror filling the air. I shot back up to my hooves and created another fire sword.

"So, how's it going with you?" I said through gritted teeth as more Storm Creatures stomped onto the deck from the ramp.

"Oh, same old same old," Kristen replied. I could hear the fatigue in her voice. "I don't think it's best if we stay here."

I glanced back to where Tempest had fallen. She was already getting up. I could see the murder in her eyes. At this rate once she had my magic she'd probably start torturing me in ways that would make what Verko did look tame just for revenge. Kristen was right: we needed to get out. We'd just be overrun if we continued fighting.

"Same trick?" I said as we backed away from the opposing army.

"Same trick."

Kristen grabbed my foreleg and we began sinking through the deck. I could hear Tempest's cry of rage as we went out of sight.

Seaquestria

The wind rushed around us as we fell. I glanced down and saw an entire forest rapidly approaching. Excellent. It would make perfect cover. Tempest would send out a search party, but they were looking for two ponies, both of whom could camouflage if need be.

And, well, we needed to.

At the last second, both of us extended our wings to stop our fall. It slowed us down enough that it wouldn't hurt when we hit the ground. Either way, Kristen shot her hooves out and turned the ground beneath us to marshmallow. We landed harmlessly on the ground below.

We laid there for a few minutes, staring up at the airships as best we could through the thick treetops. It would take a little while for them to land, so we had time. I still wanted nothing more than to take a little nap before continuing.

"Man. What a day," I groaned.

"Yeah, it's been weird," Kristen agreed, rolling onto her stomach. "You think they can follow us down here?"

"Eventually, but we'll be long gone. Tempest said it herself: they don't know where we're going."

"Yeah, but we also can't fly there," Kristen pointed out. "She knows we're in the area and she's going to be watching the skies. She's probably going to call all of the backup that she can. You're her seventh book Harry Potter here."

I snorted and turned in the direction we'd last seen Mount Aris so we could begin walking. I wished we could fly, but at the moment that didn't seem like the smartest move. No doubt Tempest would be calling all of the reinforcements that she could, and if she saw us flying toward Mount Aris... yeah, we'd be in big trouble. I didn't fancy the idea of getting the help of the hippogriffs if we had half of the Storm King's army following us. That wouldn't make a good first impression.

"So we're just going to walk there?" Kristen asked as we made our way through the forest. Couldn't we just, you know, fly under tree level?"

I stopped walking and looked up at the trees. The treetops were close enough together that we could fly under them undetected, so all in all it wasn't a bad plan. I nodded, spread my wings and took to the air with Kristen promptly following me. Yeah, much better time. We had to make a few turns to avoid hitting trees, but overall we were going much faster.

"Heh, I knew I kept you around for some reason," I said with a smirk.

Kristen rolled her eyes and flew a little faster to keep pace with me. "I'm not sure how you survived the first five years without me, or did Celestia do all of the work?"

A pang went through my heart at my wife's name, but after everything we'd gone through, I didn't want to lower the mood by being upset. We'd gone through enough as it was. We needed something to lighten us up.

"Oh come on, I'm perfectly able to take care of myself if I need to. I ruled from a whole different city for two or three years before I married Celestia. I fished for my own food in Ponyville, even."

Kristen snorted and cracked a grin. "That must have been difficult. You were never one for fishing when we were growing up."

"I was... I just wasn't any good at it."

Our smiles slowly fell as the reality of our situation hit us again. I sighed and looked up to the trees. "You think we can risk checking to see where we are?"

Kristen shrugged. "Might be. I can go check. You're a little large to be doing recon." She spread her wings and flew to the tops of the trees, poking her head just above the treeline. She looked around for a few moments, then floated down to me. "I see Tempest's ship in the distance there, but we're close enough to Mount Aris that I don't think we'll have too much of a problem."

"Yeah, but if she sees us then we might draw her straight to where we're going, and that'll be bad."

"The alternative is just walking there, and I think we've lost too much time already. We can disguise ourselves a little bit, right?"

"Probably for the best, if for no other reason than we'll be harder to spot." I lit my horn again and shrunk myself down to Kristen's size. "You're the one who did the recon. I'll trust you on this."

Kristen blushed and flattened her ears. "Uh... thanks. Yeah, I think we're close enough. Twenty minute flight, maybe?"

"Sounds good."

We angled our way up and broke through the treeline. I glanced behind us and saw the small speck that was Tempest's ship in the distance. Huh, we'd made more ground than I thought we would. No complaints from me. I turned my head back and saw Mount Aris looming ahead of us. If I had to guess, the hippogriffs were at the very top. Or at least, their center of government was. Unless they were living inside the mountain itself like a sort of Moria thing. Unlikely, since hippogriffs had wings and winged species tended to not like living in dark caves, Luna's bat ponies aside.

We flew as surreptitiously as we could, constantly looking back to see if we were being followed. Tempest's ship grew smaller and smaller as we approached Mount Aris, which suited me just fine. We'd managed to escape last time, but every time we fought her she'd more than likely be more violent in her attempts to catch us. She probably wouldn't even bother to take Kristen back as an extra trophy to the Storm King. I didn't know if they could hurt her with their weapons, but I wasn't really willing to test it out, no matter how eager Tempest would be to.

We reached the base of the mountain without any incident. Seeing nothing resembling civilization, the two of us flew to the top. It wasn't really all that impressive of a mountain, all things considered. the one that Canterlot was perched on dwarfed it. Having said that, Kristen and I both lived in Colorado, so our perception of what an impressive mountain looks like might be a bit skewed.

"What do you think we'll find up there?" Kristen whispered as we got closer to the top. I could see the unease in her expression, which made sense to me. After everything that had happened so far, we weren't going to bet the house on this working out perfectly.

"Not sure, but hopefully the next step in taking Equestria back. I'm not sure what they're going to do, but anything would help at this point."

A wry smile crossed Kristen's face. "You know, this kind of reminds me a little bit of Mass Effect. Unstoppable force randomly takes over our country and we have to gather allies from all over to the world in a desperate effort to take it all back."

I snorted and nodded. "Yeah, sounds about right. Although I doubt The Storm King can shoot lasers out of his eyes that could destroy whole towns."

"Don't jinx it, though."

"Fair enough. What I'm worried about is--"

My words died in my throat when we reached the top and saw it. The first thing I noticed was the unrelenting feeling of doom covering the landscape. All around us were buildings, homes, businesses in various states of disrepair. Some just looked abandoned, but most appeared as though they'd been purposely knocked down. I looked out into the town as far as I could see and saw nothing that indicated that life had been here for a long time.

Kristen and I landed and walked deeper into the ruined city. Maybe if we found some center of government we could at least get an idea of what had happened. Not hippogriffs themselves, but at the very least some records of where they had all went.

"It reminds me of one of those ghost towns you see on TV," Kristen muttered, her wings fluttering nervously. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I," I responded. "We haven't found any bodies yet, so maybe they just all left."

"Yeah, but why?" Kristen stopped and stared at what looked like it used to be a store of some sort. The sign above it had been torn down and lay in pieces in front of the door frame which had no door. The windows had all been knocked out, and the roof tiling had begun sliding off. "Does this look like a place that was just abandoned for some reason?"

"No," I muttered. "I don't like this any more than you do, but we have to figure out where they went next. I doubt Celestia just told me to go to the first civilization that popped into her head. She had a reason to send us here, and I'm not leaving until I find something."

"I guess. I still don't like it."

I grimaced as I continued examining our surroundings. "What's been there to like for the past few days?"

"Good point. Maybe--"

I raised my hoof to cut Kristen off. "Shh. Do you hear that?"

Kristen tilted her head and swiveled her ears around. "Hear what? I don't..." Her eyes narrowed and she leaned forward. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I do hear something. It sounds like singing, I think."

I managed a small smile as the two of us followed the noise. If something was singing then that meant that something was there, and if something was there, we could find out what to do next. If nothing else we'd be able to find out what the heck happened around here.

As we grew closer to the singing, we saw a large cave in front of us. It didn't take bat pony hearing to know that we would find what we were looking for in there. I put on enough speed that Kristen had to take flight to keep up with me. Cool air rushed over me as we entered the cave, and it took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the relative darkness.

The cave had a sort of humid feel to it, which made sense since the first thing I noticed was a lake that took up most of the ground. A rock poked out of the center of the lake and on it sat... something. Nothing I'd ever seen before. It looked kind of like a mermaid pony of some kind. I hazarded a guess that it was a she based on her looks. She was definitely the one singing. Kristen and I exchanged an uneasy glance before taking a few tentative steps into the cave.

"Uh... hello?"

The creature on the rock squeaked in fear and, before I could say anything else, dove into the lake.

Huh. Skittish.

Kristen and I slowly walked up to the lake and peered into its depths. The water was crystal clear, which made it all the more impressive that we couldn't see whatever had run from us.

Kristen and I looked at each other and shrugged. "Should we go in?" Kristen asked.

"Might as well," I replied. "It's not as though we have any other options. Whatever that was is our best lead for what's going on right now."

"True." Kristen looked back to the water and dipped her hoof in it. "So, I know that I can hold my breath as long as I want, but can you?"

"I'm actually not totally sure," I admitted. "It's never really come up." I smirked at her. "Don't suppose you have any gillyweed with you?"

Kristen snorted and shook her head. "I think I left it back in Baltimare. Oh well. We'll figure it out." Kristen slid into the water, going all the way under for a few seconds before poking her head up out of the water with a grin. "Okay, this water is awesome. I might have to get a pool of it for my room." She made a noise of contentment and flopped back to float on the water. "Much better than that desert."

I rolled my eyes and lit my horn to shrink myself down. I didn't know if I could hold my breath indefinitely, and making sure I could squeeze through any smaller areas would probably be best. Plus, even though I was an alicorn, I couldn't turn on a dime while swimming like Kristen could. Being smaller and sleeker would probably serve me better here. Once I was down to a better size, I went into the water after her.

Kristen went under the water for a few seconds too scout out a direction for us to go. I dunked my head under and she pointed to a hole in the rock wall surrounding the underside of the lake. I nodded to her and began using my wings to push myself through the water. After a few moments I lit my horn and a bubble of air appeared around my head. Kristen rolled her eyes at that.

"Hey, better safe than drowning," I said, my voice sounding echo-y in the bubble.

"Yeah, yeah," Kristen said with a wave of her hoof. "Let's just find whatever we're looking for."

"Of course you can talk underwater," I grumbled as I swam alongside her. "Of course you can."

"Being the god of chaos has a few perks every now and then," Kristen said smugly. "It doesn't even feel like I'm breathing in water. Feels like air right now."

"Ducky for you." I scanned our surroundings, which had grown a little darker now that there wasn't a little sunlight to illuminate the water. I lit my horn to illuminate our surroundings. "You think we're going the right way?"

Kristen shrugged. "I think so. This was the only way that I saw, so unless whatever we saw can go through walls..." She smirked. "Like I can, she probably went this way."

I scanned the sea floor for any trace of... anything. All I saw was sand and rocks. "Well, I guess so. I can't shake the feeling that we're headed into another bad area."

"Can't be any worse than Klugetown..." Kristen's ear twitched. "And even if it is, at least Tempest won't follow us down here."

"I'd be rather surprised. From what I saw of the abandoned town, the Storm King has left this place be lately."

"Um... excuse me?" a voice said from behind us. Kristen and I turned to see the mermaid pony thing behind us, poking out from behind a rock. She shrinks back when she sees us looking at her and nervously waves. "Yeah, uh... I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear you talking about the Storm King. You're ponies, right?"

Kristen and I exchanged a glance, then looked back to her and nodded. "Yeah, we're ponies. We're looking for the hippogriffs."

The mermaid pony instantly perked up and swam out from behind the rock. "Ooh, that's awesome!" She swam up to us and took one of my hooves in her flippers and began shaking it. "My name is Princess Skystar! We used to be the hippogriffs!"

Wait... huh?

"Um... used to be?" I said.

"Uh-huh!" Skystar said happily. "It's a really interesting story!" She lets go of my hoof and waves a flipper at me. "But pssh, I can't tell you it now! My mom's going to want to meet the two of you!" She grabs my hoof and begins pulling me in the direction we were already going. "Come on! It's this way!"

Well... this seems to be working out, I guess?

I slide my hoof out of Skystar's grip and begin swimming alongside her with Kristen. "So, you said your name was Princess Skystar?"

"Mhm," Skystar replies with a happy nod.

"So, if you're the princess, that would make your mother the queen of the hippogriffs?"

"Well yeah, sure, she used to be, but that was before we moved down here. Now she's the queen of the seaponies of Seaquestria!"

I blinked, tried to register that, failed, then blinked again.

"S-Seaquestria?"

"Oh yeah, that's what we've been calling it. We were half pony anyway, and since we don't have claws anymore we're half fish and half pony, so we couldn't think of a reason to not call ourselves seaponies because it worked the best and ponies live in Equestria, right? So Seaquestria!"

"That... makes sense to me, I guess," Kristen said. "How much farther is it?"

"Oh, not far at all." Skystar sped up and swam over to a large curtain of seaweed. She clapped her flippers together and made an excited squeeing noise. "Ponies, I wanna be the first to welcome you to..." She hooked her flipper on some of the seaweed and pulled it aside. "Seaquestria!"

Kristen and I swam through the curtain of seaweed and took in our first sights of the underwater kingdom. Dozens of seaponies swam around, talking to each other, playing games, shopping at stalls carved out of rocks, and just generally going about their day-to-day lives. Scanning the area showed me that the underwater civilization didn't look terribly different from the one on the surface. Guess they'd wanted life to change as little as possible.

Skystar swam beside us and let out a contented sigh. "It's probably not as fancy as your Equestria, but we're all happy here. It's home, and that's what matters the most. Oh!" Skystar swam over to a rock and picked up two seashells that had googly eyes glued onto them. She hugged them close, then swam back up to us. "Ponies, I want you to meet my best friends: Shelly and Sheldon!"

Um...

Kristen and I uneasily waved to them. "Hey, Shelly and Sheldon," Kristen said, giving a nervous laugh. "It's... nice to meet you."

"I'm glad," Skystar said, cradling the two shells in her flippers and giving them a loving smile. "Most of the seaponies think they're kind of weird, but that's okay! I'm sure you two have some weird friends, too."

"I... have a pet octopus," Kristen said.

"Ooh, that's awesome! Shelly and Sheldon like Octopuses, too! With all of their tentacles and how smart they are and stuff! I knew you'd get along." Skystar nuzzled the two shells before flipping them around and putting one on each flipper and holding them out like she was talking to them. "Okay, Shelly. Okay, Sheldon. I need to take the ponies to see Mom right now, and you know how she gets with you two." She paused for a moment as if they were responding before rolling her eyes. "Yes, Shelly, I know it's weird. I thought she'd be used to you two by now, but I guess she needs a little more time." She paused again, then frowned. "Now that's not very nice, Sheldon. She's still my Mom, and I don't appreciate you saying things like that about her." Another pause, then she rolled her eyes. "Well if you're going to be like that." She chuckled and swam back down to the rock she originally placed them on. "I'll see you two later."

Well she seems to be a few books short of a library.

"Sorry about that," she said as she swam back up to us. "They can be a little rude. Let's go see my mom now, shall we?"

"Y-yeah sounds good," I said uneasily. "You lead the way."

Skystar chuckled and waved her flipper. "Well I have to, silly. You don't know where she is!"

"Fair point?" Kristen said.

"Follow me. I'll show you the way."

We swam back beside her and let her lead us to wherever her mother was. We passed through what appeared to be the town square, and every seapony stopped whatever they were doing and stared at us. I could hear them whispering all around us. Heh, looks like one thing is similar to Klugetown. I'd long since gotten used to it. This wasn't my first gig as a totally unseen species.

"So, Skystar..." Kristen began. "Shelly and Sheldon. You know..."

"That they're just shells?" Skystar stopped swimming and floated alongside us, a small, sad smile on her face. "Yeah, I know. I'm not an idiot. I know how it looks. Everypony thinks it's really weird." Her jaw wobbled and her voice cracked when she spoke next. "Someti... sometimes things just don't go how you think they will, and you make do. Mom says I should find real friends, and I want to, it's just..." She instantly perked up and pulled us both closer. "Well, I've made two new friends today! That's something, right?"

With that, she went ahead of us, humming a happy tune. Kristen and I followed behind her, wondering how the heck the queen would be if this was her daughter. Hopefully she was a little more level-headed than Skystar.

It wasn't more than a few minutes before we found, of all things, guards armed with flint spears. She let Skystar pass, but when they spotted us, they crossed their spears together while a few more swam around us, pointing their spears at us.

"Halt! What is your purpose here?" one of them growled.

Sheesh, bring out the welcome wagon, why don't you?

"We are here to see the queen," I said calmly. "We mean no harm."

"Oops! Sorry!" Skystar swam between us and the guards. "They're with me! I found them and I'm bringing them to see Mom. You know, royal business and stuff."

The guards exchanged suspicious glances, but they raised their spears after a few moments.

"Very well," the guard said. "Proceed. But be warned, ponies. We are watching you."

"I understand," I replied before continuing to follow Skystar. We turned a corner and it's then that we saw whom I could only guess was the queen of the hippogriffs... seaponies... whatever. She was lounging on an ornate shell made up to look like a throne. All around her was an underwater garden that would rival any in Canterlot Castle. Above her were strands of what appeared to be some kind of jellyfish looking thing holding some kind of pearl that I figured had some kind of importance. Maybe it was their culture's version of the Arkenstone, or something. She spots us a small frown crossed her face, and she glanced over at Skystar. She straightened up on her throne and crosses her flippers.

"Skystar, I hope you have a good explanation for this."

Oh goody. One of those types.

Regardless of her personality, there are manners that must be observed. I swim up closer and bow as well as I can underwater.

"Your Majesty, my name is Prince Antares of Equestria."

"Prince?" The queen raised her eyebrows. "Hm. Should have figured with the horn and the wings. Very well, Prince Antares. I am Queen Novo of the seaponies of Seaquestria." She tilted her head and frowned again. "I have to admit, I never thought I'd see the day when a pony was down here." She looked over at Kristen and her frown deepened. "Much less one that could breathe underwater."

"Oh, uh..." Kristen moved to my side and bowed. "I guess I'm not technically a pony. Sort of, Your Majesty. I'm the God of Chaos."

Queen Novo shot out of her throne and all of her guards instantly pointed spears at us again while Skystar hid behind a piece of coral. "Discord?" Novo said, venom dripping from her voice. "What gives you the right to be down here? And why this feminine form? Did you think to fool us? Have you sprung your trap?"

Kristen's eyes widened. "What? No! I'm not Discord! I'm his replacement!"

"Discord is actually dead, Your Highness," I chimed in.

Novo looked back to me, her eyes narrowing. "And how do you know that?"

I shrugged. "I killed him."

"Really?" Novo replied, disbelief in her voice. "And you managed that how, exactly?"

"A crap ton of dark magic, if I'm being honest," I said, rubbing the back of my neck. "Him and I... well we had a bit of a fight and I killed him. Turns out there always has to be a chaos god, so his powers transferred into my sister."

"And I'm not nearly as powerful as Discord," Kristen said. "I only got really good at making edible food a few years ago."

Novo stared at the two of us, her eyes narrow and her brow furrowed. I could almost see the gears turning in her head. Yeah, I'd have a hard time believing it, too.

"Well, um... I guess that makes sense to me," Skystar said, poking her head out from behind the coral. "I believe them!"

"Hm." Novo sighed and sat back down on her throne. "I see. Very well, Prince Antares of Equestria. To what do I owe this meeting?"

"I've come seeking your aid, Your Highness," I said, bowing again. "My country was attacked and has been completely taken over by the Storm King and his armies. We require help to take our country back."

At the mention of the Storm King's name, Queen Novo instantly straightened up, the guards gripped their spears tighter, and Skystar went back to hiding behind the coral. Not good. I gathered that they already knew about him, then.

"The Storm King. You require our help against the Storm King." Queen Novo scoffed and shook her head. "My my. I have to admit that I didn't see that coming." She sighed, and for the first time since I'd arrived, her expression held a little softness. "You have my sympathies if the Storm King has attacked your country. That monster is unlike any I have ever seen."

"He has taken my wife and daughters," I said, moving a little closer. "I cannot let them suffer any more under his control. My subjects deserve to live their lives as free ponies, not the slaves he'll use them as."

"I understand. I truly do. However, I am afraid that I cannot help you."

My face hardened into a glare, and my wings twitched at my side. "Is that so? Why, may I ask, can you not?"

Novo stared at me for a few seconds before turning to her daughter. "Skystar, please leave. Prince Antares and I have some things to discuss."

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Skystar said, slowly moving out from behind the coral. "Yeah, totally." Her expression brightened. "Hey, do you want to play catch the seaweed with me, Kristen? It's really fun!"

"Um..." Kristen looked to me, then back to Skystar. "Sure... I guess."

"Awesome!" Skystar zoomed over to Kristen and threw her flippers around her in a crushing hug. "See, Mom? I'm making friends just like you said!"

A brittle smile crossed Novo's face and she nodded. "That is wonderful, daughter. Now if you could..."

"Yep, yep, totally." Skystar grabbed Kristen's hoof and began swimming away. "Come on Kristen! Let's go play!"

I turned and watched the two of them go. As weird as Skystar was, I hoped that hanging out with Kristen would help at least a little bit. Give her some real interaction. She seemed starved for it. I heard a sigh and turned to see Queen Novo floating beside me.

"I worry about that child. She didn't used to be like this." We watched as Skystar gathered up a ball of seaweed and tossed it over to Kristen, who swam forward to catch it. "I do wish I could help you, Antares. I really do, but look around you. Do you see a military force? Do you see anything capable of beating back his forces?"

"No," I muttered. "I only came here because Celestia told me to. It's the last thing my wife said before..." I took a deep breath. "Before they got her."

"Your wife? Celestia is your wife?" I nodded, and Novo made a thoughtful noise. "Hm. So Celestia actually got married and popped out a few foals. Good for her. Never thought she would. She always seemed so focused on ruling Equestria."

"You know her well?"

"Not lately, but we certainly knew each other back in the day. Thirty, forty years ago." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Has it really been that long? My word how time flies."

"So she knew you well enough that she told me to go to you before any of the other nations. Not the griffins, not the Saddle Arabians... you."

"Yes, I can see why. I think she thought the artifacts we used to have would be of some help to you."

"Used to?"

"Mhm." Novo took a deep breath and finally looked at me. "I think you've already guessed, but we know of the Storm King. He hit our kingdom before yours."

"I thought something like that had happened."

"He sent spies first. They called themselves Cherry Pie and Mort. A pony and a little hedgehog thing. Recon, I guess."

"Tempest," I muttered.

"I guess so. I never found out her real name. They just said they were weary travelers in need of rest and I took them in. By the time I found out what their real goals were it was too late. They knew enough to let the Storm King take us over quite easily."

"If it's any consolation, I killed the hedgehog thing when they took over Canterlot."

Novo let out a light chuckle. "I suppose that does make me feel a little better." Her smile instantly fell. "When Tempest left, I knew we didn't have much time. I had to get my subjects to safety. We didn't have an army capable of beating him back. All we could do was... buy time."

"What happened?"

I created a volunteer army to go on a suicide mission to prevent the Storm Creatures from reaching our capital before we could flee. I had to protect as many of my subjects as we could. I took our most valuable artifact and brought us down here where I knew we'd be safe. I also knew we didn't have the time to get everyone down here before he arrived. We barely made it as it was, even with our defense force."

"Do you think he might have taken prisoners?"

"It's possible, but I doubt it. I don't think any of them would have let themselves be taken prisoner anyway. He would have tortured them to find out where we'd gone." Novo took a deep breath and stared out at her daughter. "We all lost something. Almost every family sent at least one member off to protect us all. My daughter had two friends from as far back as she could remember. They did everything together. They were inseparable." Novo smirked and let out a little chuckle. "Many is the time when I had to stop them from roughhousing in the throne room while we had some important business or dignitary. Even though it irritated me to no end, I was happy to see my daughter with two others who cared for her so much. When the Storm King attacked, they went off to fight him. 'We want to protect you' they said."

"That must have been hard."

"I've never seen such devastation than when they didn't come back. For months afterward, she kept asking anyone who went near the surface to gather supplies or on scouting missions if they had seen them. I wept to see my daughter in such a state. I wept even more the day she stopped asking." Novo closed her eyes and bowed her head. "Now she has those infernal seashells..."

I put my hoof on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I know what it's like to lose everything."

"I know. You've endured his evil as well. You lost your wife and daughters. I can't imagine what that must be like." She opened her eyes and turned to me. "And that is why I cannot do what you ask. We are safe down here. My daughter is safe down here. I cannot put her through that again."

"I understand. I wouldn't either in your position." I grimaced and looked back to Kristen and Skystar. "Is there nothing you can do?"

"The Storm King took our more powerful artifacts when he took over. I have no doubt that he is stronger now than he was when we faced him. All I can do is offer you a place here." Novo swam over to the pearl I'd seen over her throne and took it out of the seaweed containing it. She turned back to me, the pearl in her flippers. "I can use this to transform you two into seaponies. You would be safe here."

"I appreciate the offer, but..." I shook my head. "I have to save my family and my subjects. No matter the cost."

"I understand, of course." She put the pearl back. "I do have this to say to you, then: from what I know the Storm King does not have any magic by himself. He uses artifacts to gain his power. If you manage to get whatever he's using away from him, he will be largely powerless, and I imagine that the Storm Creatures will fold quickly without their king."

"Good to know." I take a deep breath and stretch out my wings. "So I suppose that's that, then. We should be on our way."

"I am sorry. I wish I could be of more help."

"Yeah, I know. I'll let you know if we beat him. That way you can go back to the way things were."

"Perhaps. I don't know. My subjects rather like it down here."

"Well, either way. Best of luck to you."

"And to you as well."

Without another word, I swam away. Kristen and Skystar were still playing with the ball of seaweed when I approached them, and Kristen seemed to be having a little more fun, which was nice to see.

"Okay, I'm going to put a little more spin on it this time! Be ready!"

"Okay!" Skystar said, rubbing her flippers together. "Which way will it go?"

"That's for you to find out," Kristen said, getting into a pitcher's stance and raising the ball of seaweed over her head. "One... two... three!" Kristen threw the ball of seaweed to her right, and Skystar moved to catch it, but just as she moved, the seaweed screeched to a halt and began going left. Skystar squeaked and quickly changed directions, reaching out and catching it with the tips of her flippers.

"I got it!" she said triumphantly, holding it over her head like a trophy. "You were trying to cheat but I still got it!"

"Cheat? Me? Never," Kristen said, waving her hoof. "I was just keeping things interesting."

"Uh-huh, sure." Skystar noticed me floating nearby and turned to me with a smile. "Hey, Prince Antares, want to play with us? I think your sister really has the hang of this!"

"I'd love to, Skystar, but I'm afraid my sister and I must be on our way."

Skystar's happy demeanor instantly faded, and she dropped the ball, letting if float to the sea floor. "Oh... Right. You probably have royal stuff to do." She turned her gaze to the floor. "I understand. You're busy."

"Hey..." Kristen swam up to Skystar and put her hoof on her shoulder. "I had fun, alright? Maybe I'll come by some other time and we can get a new game going."

A hopeful smile crossed Skystar's face, and she raised her head a little. "Really? You'd do that?"

"Of course. Don't friends hang out and stuff?"

"Y..." Skystar's voice cracked. "Yeah, I guess so."

Before Kristen could say anything else, Skystar threw her flippers around her and pulled her in for a crushing hug. Kristen had to wiggle to get her hooves free, but when she did, she returned it.

"Come back soon," Skystar whispered.

"I will. Don't worry."

Kristen gently pried Skystar's flippers off, and, with one final round of goodbyes, we were off. We followed Skystar's directions back to the pool, and before long we were back to the large curtain of seaweed.

"You seemed to get along well at the end there," I said.

"Yeah. She's been through a lot." Kristen turned to me and smirked. "God of chaos. I'm pretty good at eavesdropping."

"I figured you might be listening in."

"So they're not going to be helping us, are they?"

I shook my head. "No. They're not. She gave me a little intel on how to defeat the Storm King, but other than that, we're on our own for now."

"What do you want to do?"

"Well, I recall you mentioning Mass Effect earlier. How in that game Shepard gathered together a bunch of races to fight the big evil villain. The griffins are the closest. I think it's time we go see Empress Kathyrine.

Fight Another Day

It just felt like... a waste. All of that time and effort to get to the hippogriffs and all I managed to learn was that the Storm King wasn't magical and that he was vulnerable without any relics or around him.

It didn't matter in the end. I was going to pull his spine through his stomach and destroy every single one of his Storm Creatures. And Tempest? Well, her and William Wallace would be able to swap stories. Nobody fucks with my family. Nobody takes my daughters away in cages. They will know pain.

But first things first. We needed an army.

"I think it's best that we head to Griffonia," I said, casting a spell on the two of us to dry us off. "It's a good spot for a council because it shares a border with us and Saddle Arabia. Mesud is our closest ally and I'll bet good money that he joins up. Once he does then Zebrica and Griffonia should follow suit shortly."

"I think Griffonia would regardless," Kristen pointed out as we walked back through the ruins of what used to be the kingdom of the hippogriffs. "Kathyrine kind of owes you, doesn't she?"

I bobbed my head in a conceding nod. "True. She'd be a huge help, too. I obviously cannot overstate the advantage of an air force in a war like this."

"Plus she'd probably assume that her country is next once Equestria falls?"

"Exactly. I think we'll have some luck getting her aid." Kristen and I spread our wings and take flight in the direction of Griffonia. Honestly we needed some form of transportation. I could teleport long distances, but nothing like the distance we had to travel, and I'd get worn out pretty quickly. Kristen hadn't figured out how to pop in anywhere she wanted like Discord had, otherwise this would have been easy.

Of course, we wouldn't be in this situation if Kristen had all of Discord's powers, but still...

No. This isn't her fault. She did what she could, I guess. She'd never been in a battle before. I know I froze up the first time I had to fight. She'd figure it out in the end. She had to. Whether she knew it or not, she was one of our most valuable assets. A wild card that the Storm King wouldn't totally be able to plan for. I could be dangerous when I surged. When she got emotional? I didn't even want to know.

The two of us flew in silence for a few hours, neither of us really sure of what to say. There wasn't any battle strategies we could form, nor any plans in general beyond getting to Griffonia. Everything so far depended on that. We could figure more things out from there.

Just as my stomach started to feel the early twinges of hunger, I spotted something in the distance. It looked like... I squinted and leaned my head forward a little bit more. It looked like an airship.

"Do you see that?" I asked, pointing to the horizon.

"Yeah, it looks like a ship." Kristen shot me an uneasy glance. "You think it could be Tempest?"

"Possibly. If it is then we can try for a surprise attack. Knocking her out of the war would be a huge advantage, not to mention that we'd have a ship to get us to Griffonia."

"I guess it could be worth the risk." Kristen glanced down at the ground and rubbed her leg. "I dunno. Seeing you hurt... what if it is Tempest and she hurts you again? Or worse, what if she hurts you and captures you? I think the war is over if the Storm King gets you. What's going to stop him at that point?"

"Not going to happen," I said with a confident smirk. "Besides, I have you, don't I? If I get hurt..."

Kristen flew over to me and grabbed my shoulder. "TD, I'm not doing that again. I can't have a repeat of what happened with Klugetown! I can't see you on the ground bleeding to death with me as your only possible hope for survival!" Kristen took in a deep, shaky breath and I saw the beginnings of tears forming in her eyes. "I know we gotta do what we gotta do to win the war, but I don't want to lose you. I couldn't do this Equestria/chaos god thing without you. You're all I've got."

"Nothing's going to happen," I assured her. "Let's just start with the ship though, yeah?"

The two of us flew down to the treeline so we wouldn't be spotted as we approached the ship. Every so often one of us would check above the trees to see how close we were to the ship.

"It's flying the Storm King's colors, but it definitely isn't Tempest's ship," Kristen said after one of our checks. "I don't even see any weapons on it like those grappling hooks."

"That should make things a little easier for sure," I admitted. "So should we sneak on board and Assassin's Creed this, or go in gun's blazing like a kind of Call of Duty thing?"

"Let's do Call of Duty. I'm sick of sneaking around and hiding everywhere," Kristen grumbled.

"Sounds like a plan to me." I poked my head over the treetops one last time to make sure that we were in a suitable position to go in guns blazing. Seemed like the coast was clear. "You ready?"

"For once yes."

"Then let's do this."

Kristen and I angled upward and shot out of the treeline. I summoned a pair of ice daggers, readying them to kill whomever I laid eyes on. The two of us slammed onto the deck, our wings spread in aggression. Any Storm Creatures we saw wouldn't last very long. We were primed and ready for combat.

Imagine our surprise, then, when instead of seeing Storm Creatures with sharp, deadly weapons, we saw...

Parrots?

Large anthropomorphic parrots.

Huh. Not what I was expecting.

There were about half a dozen or so on deck, and they all seemed to be in the middle of doing the various jobs required to run an airship. Each one of them stared at us with wide eyes and slack jaws. To be honest, I wasn't really sure of what to make of the situation either.

The two sides just stared at each other for a few minutes before one of the parrots cleared his throat and glanced over to the only female on deck.

"Uh, Cap'n? What exactly does the Storm King's manual say about this?"

"I... don't know." The captain parrot reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a book emblazoned with the Storm King's logo. She opened it up and flipped through it for a few seconds before giving her crew a helpless shrug.

"Well, then you're able to take a few liberties here, I guess," I said, walking up to them with a smile. "Sorry to say that I'll be commandeering your ship here. Whatever you're hauling for the Storm King is going to be put on hold. Permanently, I suppose, given where we're going."

"Um... I'm not sure we can really do that," the captain said, uneasily rubbing the back of her neck. "I mean, if the Storm King found out he--"

"Yeah, but how can he find out if we're in Griffonia?" I sighed and shook my head. "I see that you're not getting it. I'm not asking you, I'm telling you." I walk over to the captain and throw a wing around her shoulders. "I've had a hard couple of days, so you'll have to forgive me for my mood. Having said that, you can either do it willingly and get paid handsomely for your efforts, or I can break your legs, prop you up so you can still give orders, and then you'll all do it for free. Sound reasonable?"

The captain's mouth flopped up and down for a few moments before she slowly started nodding. "Y-yeah. Uh... Griffonia, was it?"

"Sure was. So glad you understand the situation." I patted her on the shoulder and motioned to the wheel. "So, no time to waste, am I right, Captain...?"

She blinked a few times then seemed to snap out of whatever stupor my appearance had put her in. "Uh... Celaeno. Captain Celaeno."

"Nice to meet you, Captain Celaeno." I spread out my wings and puffed myself to my full height. "My name is Prince Antares of Equestria, First of his Name, Sacker of Schunie, Father of the Scorpions, Slayer of Chaos, um... and..." I looked back at Kristen and shrugged. "I don't know. I'm sure someponies call me something else. In any case..." I motion to Kristen. "This is my sister Kristen. She's the Lord of Chaos. Kind of like Discord except, you know, not dead."

"Wait, is Discord dead?" one of the crew muttered.

"Sure is, my good man. Killed him myself. Now..." I flicked a hoof at the wheel of the ship. "Griffonia?"

"Right. Griffonia." Captain Celaeno rushed up the wheel and spun it, turning us hard to port. Good. We were underway. Now that there weren't any problems, I could drop the alpha-male, chest-beating crap. I was certain that they were slaves to the Storm King and not actual soldiers in his army. If that were the case, I think they would have fought a little harder against us. As it was, they looked like orphans from Oliver.

"So, uh, that went well enough, I guess?" Kristen said as she walked up beside me. "I expected a little more of a fight."

"Me too, but I'm glad we didn't have to go in that direction. There will be enough bloodshed once we take Canterlot back without having to kill some random crew of... parrots."

"Yeah, I've been learning about all sorts of new species on the planet in the past few days," Kristen grumbled. "Ponies really didn't explore the world like they thought they did, huh?"

"I guess not. Either that or the Storm King was just some nobody from a small country that didn't register as a blip on our radar. If that's the case, he probably found something to make him that powerful."

"I dunno. They'd have to be an industrial giant to make a fleet of airships like they have, or else they took over a country that did have those capabilities. I doubt that whatever country they come from is really this world's version of Wakanda."

"It is unlikely," I admitted. "At any rate, once this is all over we'll have to do a little more outreach around the world. I am not letting something like this happen ever again. If a madman like the Storm King rises again, we'll be ready for him."

"Yeah." Kristen walked over to the edge of the airship and looked out into the distance at the rapidly retreating Mount Aris. "I guess the world is going to see him as even worse than Purgle now. You managed to beat that madman before he did some serious damage. Here, though..."

I nodded. "In the last war we were seen as defenders, then conquerors. Now we'll probably be seen as liberators by whatever countries we free from the Storm King."

Kristen smirked at me and nudged my side. "Because you don't have enough ponies worshiping you already. Are you trying to be your own leader in Civilization Five and spread your religion to the whole world? You have advanced beyond printing press technology, after all."

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "No, I don't think so. I'm just glad that Baltimare has my only official church, though I know there are some small pockets here and there."

"Either way, you get to add to another one of your stupid titles, if you want." Kristen stuck her tongue out at me. "Because you weren't big-headed enough already."

"I'm sure we can find some for you too, Kristen, Lord of Chaos, Princess of Equestria, Tamer of Bob, Goddess of the Sea."

Kristen raised an eyebrow. "Goddess of the Sea?"

I shrugged. "Well you are definitely more comfortable underwater than you are on land, that's for sure." My smile slowly faded and I took a deep breath as I stared into the distance. "But I guess we'll figure all of that out when we take Equestria back from the Storm King."

"It's going to be difficult, isn't it?" Kristen muttered. "Just thinking about how fast he took over..."

"Yeah, it probably will come with some challenges, but I see three advantages we have that he doesn't: one, we know the terrain better than he does. Two, If he's as good as he is at lightning war, then he probably doesn't know how to fight a defensive war. Why would he ever need to? He's just crushed all of his opponents in days. Equestria is one of the most technologically advanced, prosperous nations in the world and he rolled through us like we were nothing. Three, we have the rest of the world powers, that we know of, fighting with us. I don't care how big his army is. When it's faced with Equestria, Saddle Arabia, Griffonia, Zebrica, and maybe even the minotaurs and some Diamond Dog clans..." A confident smirk crossed my face. "We have a lot to work with."

"I guess so, though it's all just speculation until we actually get to Griffonia and see what the political climate is like. I can't foresee any issues gathering up an army to fight the Storm King. Our allies are nothing if not pragmatists, and they have to know that if we fall, they're next on the list. The Storm King isn't going to stop until he's taken over the entire world."

Kristen's ears flattened and she scuffed her hoof on the deck of the ship. "Yeah. I remember Tempest saying that the Storm King would have a lot of uses for me. Being under his control to make sure nothing happened to you..." She shuddered and shook her head. "No. I don't even want to think about that."

"Hey, it's not going to happen, okay? He doesn't have a chance once we all get together. He's bitten off way more than he can chew now that he's invaded us. There's no way his army isn't stretched really thin, and a combined force of several world powers?" I shook my head. "I don't even see this war being as long as the first one."

Kristen smirked and glanced up at me. "Good thing that this world's World War One and World War Two are far less bloody than the ones on Earth."

I scoffed and vigorously nodded. "Yeah, no kidding. I just hope that I don't have to invent any weapons to win this war. Hopefully all we have to do as take back Canterlot. Once we do then the back of his army will be broken and he won't be a problem. Best case scenario he's actually in Canterlot waiting for me to get back there one way or another so that he can drain my magic."

"What are you going to do with him once you have him? Are you just going to kill him outright like you did with Purgle, or...?"

My eyes narrowed slightly and I shook my head. "Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answers to."

"TD--"

"He took my family from me. He imprisoned my wife in stone and stuffed my daughters into cages. He's killed or enslaved my subjects. I need to make an example of him."

"TD, you're just getting revenge if--"

"End of discussion." I turned around and walked away, leaving Kristen to her thoughts. I guess she hadn't quite figured out that sometimes my job requires me to do some nasty things. If I need to make a brutal example of the Storm King so that I never have to see my daughters in cages again...

It's not even a question.

I pushed those thoughts out of my mind for the moment. They were for future Antares to worry about. Right now my only goal was to get to Griffonia so that I could raise an army. Everything else would fall into place after that.

I made my way to Celaeno, who flinched when she saw me, nearly jarring the wheel of the ship. I gave her a friendly smile. "Sorry about all of that earlier. I'm really not that bad. Like I said: hard few days. The Storm King took over my country and I'm trying to get it back."

Celaeno stared straight ahead and grunted, shifting away from me ever so slightly.

"So... um... how far to Griffonia?"

"Little over a day of straight sailing," she said without looking at me.

"Good. I did mean it when I said that you will be well compensated for your efforts. Maybe enough that you don't ever have to work another day in your lives. Retire like a queen. Once I overthrow the Storm King, you won't ever have to worry about him again."

Celaeno scoffed lightly and finally shot a glance in my direction. "I've heard that talk before. I've heard it more times than I care to count." She motioned to her crew. "We weren't always like this, you know. We used to be..." For the first time since I'd met her, a small smirk crossed her face. "Well, maybe I shouldn't be telling this to a member of royalty, but we used to be sky pirates. Sailing the Seven Winds and doing what we pleased."

"Looting and pillaging?"

"We wouldn't be sky pirates without taking a little booty for ourselves." She actually managed to wink a me. "In more ways than one."

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "Well, you do this and I'll throw in an official pardon for you."

"That would really only hold water in Equestrian skies, but I appreciate the gesture. Not that it matters too much, though." She sighed and leaned against the wheel, looking longingly into the distance. "There used to be a lot more of us, and I'm not just talking about my crew, although I used to have twice as many crew members. We had a port all of our own to call home. A place where a pirate could really be a pirate, you know? Then the Storm King came along."

"I'm gathering he hit your home pretty hard."

Celaeno nodded. "Yeah. He basically gave us the standard 'join me or die' spiel. All of us captains got together to decide what to do. I... I was a coward. I said we should join him to save ourselves, but I thought that the life of my crew was more important than our stupid pride." She sadly motioned to the remnants of her crew. "They were the only ones who stuck by me. The rest said all of the same crap you did when he started to move into our territory. 'Once we defeat this Storm King bastard then everything will be back to what it was. We'll sail the Seven Winds and live life as we please.'" Celaeno scoffed and stood up. "What a joke. I didn't get all of the details of the battle, but from what I understand, they at least put up a pretty decent fight. In the end, though..."

"Yeah, I can relate," I muttered. "When they attacked Equestria it was pretty much the same thing. We put up a good fight in Canterlot, but at the end of the day I still had to run."

"You almost feel like you should have stayed there," Celaeno replied. "You know? Better to die standing up than live with the fact that you took the coward's route out."

"On the other hoof, there is something to be said for living to fight another day." I grimaced and my wing twitched as I recalled the wound I had suffered. "When I retreated, I was bleeding out from a spear wound that nearly killed me as it was. I barely got medical treatment in time, and that wasn't really under the best circumstances either. But I didn't die as you can see, and now I'm getting ready to form an army to destroy him once and for all."

"Or you'll get in some heroic last stand that history will ultimately forget," Celaeno said bitterly. "Do you think that the Storm King's version of history will remember my friends and comrades when they tell of his victories? Do you think he'll tell of their bravery and valor before they fell under his might, or will he describe them as another group of ants he crushed?" She gave me a knowing look. "How do you think he'll describe Equestria?"

"It won't matter how he wants to describe it, because I'll destroy him before he ever gets the chance to write his own history books."

Celaeno shrugged and turned back to her ship. "If that's the way you want to see it, I guess. Who knows? Maybe you'll be right." She sighed and motioned to a spot on the deck. "The quarters are down there if you want to get some rest. I'll let you know if anything changes." I nodded in thanks and walked down to where she motioned, but as I did, I heard her mutter behind me. "Not as though anything will."

Author's Note

There are two big updates for you guys: one there is now a tumblr for my story The Secret Life of Rarity found --> here!
Secondly, I'm taking orders for the print version of TD the Alicorn Princess. PM me if you would like one!

War Council

As promised, the airship reached Griffonia after just over a day of flying. None of us really said anything to each other, and I spent most of the time sleeping. I needed it after everything that had happened. We did have the foresight to take off all of the Storm King symbols on the airship, so we weren't shot out of the sky the second we entered griffin airspace. Even so a group of griffins flew up to us as we approached Iselin. I stood on the bow of the airship and acknowledged them with a wave of my wing. Within a few minutes they had landed on the deck, and I went out to meet them. They lined up on the deck and took their helmets off, while Kristen came out of her cabin to stand next to me. We exchanged brief nods and they all took off their helmets.

"Good day, gentelgriffins," I said as Captain Celaeno came up behind me. "I have come to talk to Empress Kathyrine. We have much to discuss."

"No doubt, said one of the griffins, who was the leader if his armor was any indication. "We have heard that your nation was conquered by someone called the Storm King and that you had escaped. In truth we expected you before now."

"I had some... difficulties getting here," I admitted. "As I'm sure you can imagine, being a fugitive from an invading army poses some challenges."

"Of that I am certain," the captain replied. "In any case, we shall escort you to Empress Kathyrine with all haste. She has already sent emissaries to the Saddle Arabians, minotaurs, zebras and even some Diamond Dog warlords. She had the foresight to realize that we were likely next once you fell."

"A wise move," I replied with an approving nod. "And I can't disagree with the logic. The Storm King is more powerful than any foe we have yet faced. With our might, we can defeat him, though. I am sure of that."

"If you are, then I shall accept that," the griffin said with a bow of his head. "You are the god of war, after all."

My expression flickered into a slight grimace for a few moments, but I managed to shift my expression into a more neutral one. "Yes, well, in any case, I should speak to Empress Kathyrine with all speed. If you don't mind I shall go straight to the palace. Have any of the other leaders arrived?"

The griffin nodded and spread his wings so that the three of us could take flight. "Yes. The President Mando and Sultan Mesud arrived a day after the invasion, while King Grorim arrived yesterday with a few Diamond Dog warlords. Now that you are here we can truly begin discussing defensive measures."

"Defensive?" I frowned and tilted my head as we flew in the direction of the palace. "Why defensive? He's not going to stop because you beat him back once. We have to take the fight to him if we're going to end this threat once and for all."

The griffin shrugged. "That is for you to decide. I am a soldier, not a strategist. If Empress Kathyrine in her wisdom decides that we should retake Equestria than I shall follow her orders."

Well, that simplified things a little bit. It showed me that Kathyrine likely wasn't completely set on just defensive measures and was at least open to the idea of destroying the Storm King with an offensive strike on Canterlot. Her army would be the most vital, not just because of the obvious advantages of an air force, but because it was the most intact one after the end of the last world war. Whatever paltry poisonings and acts of sabotage the Blade Wings did wasn't actually enough to dent their forces, just break their spirit, which was enough.

The three of us were silent as we made the rest of the short flight to Iselin and Kathyrine's palace. We touched down after about an hour or so and a squad of griffins immediately came out to meet us.

"Empress Kathyrine will be informed of your arrival," the captain said. "She was planning a meeting with the rest of the leaders later this afternoon, so you can take some time to rest from your journey here."

"Thank you but no thank you," I said, walking in the direction of Kathryine's throne room. "If you could actually get her to move the meeting up as soon as possible I would appreciate that."

The griffin frowned and sped up to keep pace with me. "Now wait a minute, Empress Kathyrine has many things to do today, and we--"

"Nothing she has to do today is more important than this," I said simply. "She can have the meeting with the rest of the leaders late, but her and I need to talk now."

"Um... TD, we are guests in their country..." Kristen shot the captain an apologetic look, but he didn't acknowledge her. "Maybe we should just take a few hours to--"

"I've rested too much," I growled. "I'll rest when I've rescued my wife and daughters."

I ignored the rest of the captain's protests and went straight into Kathyrine's throne room, not even acknowledging the various guards who tried to get in my way. I was in no mood to waste any more time than I already had. Kathyrine was sitting on her throne reading over some paperwork and talking with a griffin who was probably her secretary. Both of them looked up when I came in. Kathryine's eyes widened and she stood up from her throne.

"Antares?" She frowned and slowly walked up to me. "The heck? I thought you were dead."

I smirked at her and shook my head. "Nope. Pretty close, though. A lot closer than I'd like. As you can imagine, I've had quite the go of it in the last week or so. I should give you the whole story once everything is over."

"I..." Kathyrine blinked and slowly nodded. "I mean... yeah, for sure. I guess we have a lot to talk about, though. I've got Mesud and Mando here and stuff. I guess you want to talk to all of them, too."

"I do. I know you have a meeting scheduled with them this afternoon, but if you could change it to about nowish, I would appreciate that."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Kathyrine nodded again. "I mean, no, yeah, for sure. Right." She took a deep breath and turned to her secretary. "So, uh... yeah, go get the other leaders. We'll meet them in the war room."

"Of course, Empress Kathyrine," the secretary said, bowing low. "I shall have them all there at once."

"Good. Thank you." She turned back to me. "So I guess we'll get over there now."

"Excellent. I look forward to seeing everyone else."

"Yeah, some of them just got here. I'm sure they'll all be interested to hear about what happened and what we should do next."

"No doubt."

Kathyrine led us to a door behind her throne and stepped aside so that we could enter. It was a fairly small, not very well lit room with a large table in the center and several cork boards filled with various papers and maps. There was even a table with various refreshments on it. I didn't care about any of that. I just found the chair right next to the largest one, which I presumed to be Kathyrine's, enlarged it a little so that I could actually sit on it without breaking it, and took my place at the table. Kristen gave Kathyrine an apologetic look, but took her spot next to me.

"Yeah, uh... sit down, I guess." Kathyrine walked over to her chair and sat down. "The others will be here in a few minutes."

"Excellent." The room was silent for a few moments. I saw Kristen scanning the various cork boards, which I'm sure held information that, under different circumstances, might be interesting to know. Probably not huge state secrets or anything, but if we were still at war with the griffins then there might be info in here that I'd want to know. I didn't care about any of that, though. I just stared forward at the door, sparing an occasional glance at Kathyrine.

"So what did you hear?" I asked. "About the Storm King and stuff."

Kathyrine let out a long sigh and looked down at the table. "Yeah, it's complicated things for sure. Most of what I've had to deal with is stuff about trade relations and stuff like that. We heard about it not too long after it happened. Merchants and airships came back here as fast as they could once the Storm King hit, and I was flooded with reports that your entire country had been taken over. I thought for a little bit about maybe coming to help you, but I'd heard reports that Celestia and Luna were captured and you had been killed and I just... didn't want to rush into something without knowing what was going on."

"A wise move," I said with a nod. "In your position we probably would have done the same thing. I heard that the rest of the country put up a bit of a fight, but since there were no leaders there was no real way for the country to organize a quality defense. Did you hear anything more about that, though?"

Kathyrine shrugged. "I've heard a lot, but I'm not sure how much of it is actually true. I heard that the guard captains all got together and organized some kind of defense out of Baltimare, but it's the outcome that I'm not sure about. Obviously it didn't work, but I've heard that none of the captains survived, I've heard that one of them did but the rest didn't, I've heard that they all made it out and are some kind of guerrilla force now... There's really no way to know. The Storm King has the country locked down pretty good."

"Blaze didn't make it," I muttered. "He was killed trying to protect my daughters during the initial invasion."

"Oh." Kathyrine wilted a little bit and stared at the table. "I'm... I'm sorry. I know he was one of the guys who was with you the longest."

"Yeah." I took a deep breath and poked at a loose piece of wood on the table. "But his sacrifice won't be in vain. We will retake my country and rescue my family. No matter what it takes."

"Yeah. Sure."

I could hear the unease in her voice. I guess I couldn't fault her on it. From her perspective I suppose it looked like I was just coming in and taking control of her army to take back my country. That couldn't be easy for her, especially since she wanted to be seen as a strong empress who wasn't some Equestrian puppet ruler. Maybe I did need to tap the brakes a little bit, or at least not be so aggressive with my allies. Still, though, I needed to destroy the Storm King more than I needed to be nice.

It wasn't more than a few minutes before the door opened up again and Sultan Mesud walked in, followed closely by President Mando and their respective bodyguards. Mando raised an eyebrow when he saw me, but didn't say anything as him and Mesud took their seats. Kathyrine stood up and took a deep breath.

"Gentlestallions, it is an honor to have you here and... yeah, we wanna get this stuff settled as soon as we can, so--"

The door opened once more and Grorim walked in followed by a pair of seedy-looking diamond dogs dressed in simple chainmail armor and carrying daggers at their sides. Usually it was a big no-no to carry weapons into a meeting like this, but the diamond dogs were never really ones for that kind of thing. Grorim tilted his head in a nod to me, but the diamond dogs didn't acknowledge me at all, save for one small glance in my direction from one of them.

The newcomers all took their seats and exchanged courteous nods with each other before Kathyrine cleared her throat again and patted down some of the feathers on her head. "Um... yeah, so we all know why we're here. The Storm King took over Equestria and we want to make sure that he can't take over any of us. Thankfully Prince Antares..." she nodded to me in acknowledgement. "And his sister Princess Kristen made it out of Equestria okay, so they want to talk to us about stuff. So I'll just let them..." she started sitting down and motioned to me again. "Let them... yeah. Talk."

"Thank you, Empress Kathyrine." I stood up and nodded to each of the other leaders at the table in turn. "Good day to you, fine sirs. It is an honor to be here with you today. As Empress Kathyrine has stated, and as you can see before you, I survived the Storm King's invasion of my country and am here today to ask for your aid. My wife, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance have all been captured by the Storm King and his forces, and he is attempting to capture me so that he can drain my magic. Once he has I fear he shall be unstoppable. The time is now to unite and defeat this madman once and for all."

"Prince Antares, I believe I can speak for the rest of us when I say that it is good to see that you are alive," Mesud said as he stood up, though I couldn't help but notice one of the diamond dogs roll his eyes. "We were, of course, all horrified to hear of what happened in Canterlot, and on a day of remembrance, no less. I think we can all agree that something must be done about the Storm King. However, we must all agree about what should be done. I for one am wary of simply gathering my army and charging into an Equestria occupied by an army that so quickly took it over. I am also not alone, I am certain, in being wary of a force that can take out three alicorns. Do they possess Nightmare Weapons?"

I narrowed my eyes and shook my head. "No, they do not. But think on this: I have fought them before. I know their tactics. I know their strengths. They are an army equipped for lightning offense, and so I have my doubts about their abilities to fight a defensive war."

"There is also the matter of them capturing your human weapons, which they would use against us," Mando pointed out. "My troops saw what your tanks and gatling guns did during the war, not to mention your napalm. I do not like the idea of sending my army out to face one with those weapons."

"Unless we could develop some of those weapons in our country to have a fighting chance," Mesud said. "Then--"

"You have been trying to get your hooves on my human weapons since the war, Mesud," I growled. "Same to you, Mando. Don't think I'm not aware that Grorim gave you two my napalm so that you'd go easier on his country."

Mesud and Mando exchanged a quick glance while Grorim didn't move an inch, instead just staring at me with a neutral expression. I could see why. He wasn't sorry he had done it, and I likely might have as well in his position.

"We wonder why we're even here at all," one of the diamond dogs spat. "We know better than any here what it is like to be on the wrong end of Antares's nasty human weapons. Our soldiers still speak of the fire spreading through our tunnels during the war, not to mention the actions taken by Princess Cadenza during her hunt for Nightmare Weapons!"

"Oh, you know what being on the wrong end of the human weapons is like better than anyone, do you?" Grorim said with a raised eyebrow. "I do not recall you fighting their guns and tanks, or even their napalm."

"I don't think that any of us want to fight the human weapons," Mando said. "And what if there are weapons that Antares was developing that we didn't see during the war?" He turned his attention back to me. "I'm just saying that it would be nice to have some of them in order to level the playing field when we fight the Storm King, whether that is on offense or defense. We're not asking for everything, just a few tanks, perhaps. A couple of Gatling Guns? Just enough so that we're not going into a slaughter."

"The tanks were not designed with Storm Creatures in mind," I pointed out. "There is no way that they could work them with their size. It takes several ponies to work one tank, and I can promise you that."

"Which still leaves the Gatling Guns," Mesud said. He nodded in Grorim's direction. "I am certain that he can attest to their efficiency."

"I confess that I am also wary of sending my already war-weary soldiers out to fight against Eqeustrian weapons again, especially in Equestria's defense," Grorim admitted. "I fear that I would have a difficult time of gathering up a force capable of making a difference in the fight."

"Any soldiers you gathered would open up a second front, thereby making the Storm King split his forces," I said. "He is likely already stretched dangerously thin after taking over one of the largest countries in the world, not to mention what forces he has tied up in any other countries that he has taken over. A combined force of our nations would likely obliterate him!"

"Perhaps," Grorim said. "Or it could be an absolute bloodbath on both sides."

"And we are still unsure of why we should join!" the other diamond dog growled. "We came here merely as a courtesy to see if there was some danger to our people. We see no evidence that there is."

"Seriously? Do you think he'll just leave you alone once he takes over the rest of us?" I asked incredulously.

"We shall spend our time underground as we always have," the first diamond dog said. "He is welcome to try to send his troops down there."

"I see your point about needing to unite against him, Antares," Mando said. "However, I do not wish to fight him without something to even the playing field, and I doubt that Sultan Mesud and Empress Kathyrine disagree with me on this point. All of your thoughts of them not being able to use them are simply conjecture. All of your ideas on this are."

"And so are yours, then!" I snapped back. "You have no evidence that they will be able to use them effectively."

"And we would rather err on the side of caution, or at the very least gather more information on the Storm King before we commit to anything," Mesud replied.

"Really? Because from my perspective you're trying to use the situation to get more human weapons out of me," I growled. "If you want them then make them yourself!"

"That will take some time that I am not sure we have," Mando pointed out. "I am not saying that we will not help you take back Canterlot, but we must--"

I'd heard enough. I slammed my hoof on the table with enough force that I cracked it, and spread my wings out to their full length. Kathyrine flinched back and her wings twitched and the other leaders just stared at me.

"All of this talk is getting us nowhere!" I roared. "Whether you like it or not, you are involved in this! The Storm King will not stop at Equestria, especially once he has harnessed the magic of the alicorns! It might not be long before he decides that he doesn't need me and drains the magic of the alicorns that he already has, if he hasn't done that already! Once he does there will be nothing we can do to stop him! We have to fight him now before he comes for you, and he will come for you. Your only chance is to unite and fight him before he gets to that point." My eyes narrowed and I leaned forward, staring each of the other leaders in the eye in turn.

"You can fight together today. Or you can die alone tomorrow! Regardless of what you decide, I am going back to Equestria to save my subjects and family. It will be far easier for me to succeed if I have your support, but I will go on without it if I must. If I fail, he will be completely unstoppable. He will be able to move the sun and moon with a whim. He will have power to rival Discord, but he will not be shy about killing anyone who stands in his way. So what will it be? Will you sit here and squabble about petty things, or will you help me save my subjects and by extension prevent him from slaughtering your own?"

I took a deep breath, folded my wings back at my sides and took my seat again while all of the other leaders stared at me with open jaws and wide eyes. I could see why. An alicorn losing his temper was not a pretty thing. Well, let them be uncomfortable. I was just laying the truth out for them. If they didn't like it then tough.

It was Kathyrine that finally broke the silence. "Um... I think it's a good idea to fight with Antares. If none of the rest of you do, I will. He's right: we have to stop the Storm King before he gets too powerful." She turned to me with a nod and reached out her claw to put it on my shoulder, but I guess she thought better of it because she retracted it quickly. "I mean, if nothing else we should help him take back Baltimare, right? That's where he's probably got a lot of his weapons, so it's a start."

"That might be wise," Mando said. "A foothold in Equestria would give us many options for our next move."

"Thank you," I grumbled. "Grorim? What of you?"

"I think it will still take me time to mobilize any forces," he said. "I am sorry, but I would rather hold back until I at least get news that you have retaken Baltimare. It will be easier to gather soldiers if they believe that they are fighting in a winning effort, and you would likely recapture many of your human weapons."

"I understand." I turned my attention to the diamond dogs. "And you?"

The first one grunted and crossed his arms. "We see no reason to fight. There are no spoils to be gained from taking Equestria back."

"Fine," I said with a shrug. "Although it's possible with the Storm King and his army destroyed his kingdom, wherever that is, will become destabilized and we might have to go in. Could be spoils from that, I suppose. But whatever. You don't want them anyway, so--"

"Wait, wait, perhaps we were a little hasty!" the second Diamond Dog said. "We shall... think about helping you."

"Very well. Don't take too long, though. Alright." I turned my attention to the rest of the leaders at the table. "Let's take back Baltimare."

The Battle for Baltimare

It took two weeks for the various nations to gather the forces they were willing to commit to the battle into Griffonia. During that time I wanted to just charge ahead and take Baltimare back myself, regardless of the consequences. The fact that they had weapons that could hurt me stopped those ideas pretty quickly. Of course that left me wallowing in one of Kathyrine's guest rooms. I didn't come out except for the occasional meal and to strategize and read whatever meager pieces of intel came out of Equestria. All we knew so far was that the Storm King had secured the borders of the country really well, and very little information was coming in and out. All I really gleaned from it was that the Storm King had an iron grip on my country, and by extension my subjects.

It was after the two weeks that I found myself standing in front of the mass of soldiers from all nations, which had mobilized on the Equestrian/Griffonian border. I stood alongside Kathyrine and Grorim, both of whom were decked out in armor. Mesud and Mando wouldn't be fighting, as they were a little too old for that, or so they said.

Well, they wouldn't be getting anything from me once this was all over.

I paced aback in forth in front of the army and lit my horn to magically amplify my voice.

"Friends and allies, soldiers from lands near and far, we have gathered here to answer the threat of the Storm King. He has already taken over my country, and will undoubtedly come for your lands next. He will not stop with Equestria. What you do here today is more than just freeing ponies under the control of a madman. You are protecting your homes and families from his evil in the future. All who stand with me today will be honored in the years to come. I cannot ever truly repay what you are doing here.

I know such a force has never been mobilized in the history of the planet. Never before have minotaurs and zebras and diamond dogs and griffins and ponies fought alongside each other in unity against a threat. It is my hope that today we will forge bonds of friendship that will prevail from now until the end of all things. In our unity, let us forge a new path that will lead to a brighter future."

I turned to Kathryine and Grorim and tilted my head in a nod as I quieted my voice again. "I am honored that you stand with me. I will not forget this, that's a promise. Alicorns do tend to have a long memory, after all."

"We are ready to help you take back your home," Kathyrine said. "We're not gonna let him threaten our subjects."

"Hopefully this will be a short affair," Grorim said. "A second world war is not something we had hoped for."

"Of course. I will do my best to make sure we are quick about this. With our combined might and resolve, we will win quickly."

I turned to Kristen who was trying to stay behind all of us, which I couldn't begrudge her for. She probably wanted to be in another big battle as much as I did, but we needed her if we were going to win quickly. Her powers would be invaluable for our cause, especially since they couldn't truly hurt her.

I hoped. After my injury I couldn't totally be sure.

"Well, no time like the present." I turned back to Kathyrine and Grorim and nodded. "We have a country to take back."

Kathyrine and Grorim nodded and walked over to their various officers to give them orders. The officers bowed and went to disperse the orders among the gathered soldiers. The thought crossed my mind that I could share with them the comm gem technology that I had developed during the first war. I'm sure they would appreciate it.

With that, I turned and began walking back to Baltimare. Normally I could make the flight in an hour or so, but with the large army following me I wouldn't be able to go as quickly. I heard the noise of the gathered forces beginning to move out behind me as Grorim, Kristen and Kathyrine rushed to my side. I didn't even acknowledge them. They didn't attempt any conversation either. They just silently walked by my side.

After five hours, I saw the rising buildings of Baltimare in the distance. We were close, and I had no doubt that the Storm Creatures knew we were coming. It's kind of hard to miss an army of fifty thousand beings marching to the border. I took to the air with Kristen and Kathyrine by my side. I scanned what little of the city I could, hoping for any intel before we went into the city.

"So, uh... I expected a little more," Kathyrine said. "Kind of like a bunch of fortified positions and all of the streets just packed with Storm Creatures. It's a little... bare."

Kristen nodded and flew a few hooves forward to get a better look. "Yeah, I mean, I think I see a few of them around, but I expected a... I dunno, something other than this."

"It's probably a trap, then," I said.

"Either that or they knew Baltimare wasn't a defensible position and withdrew most of their troops to fortify Canterlot," Kathyrine guessed. Maybe their army really is stretched thin enough that they're not gonna sacrifice small groups of troops to fight a larger army."

"Possibly. I don't even see any airships around." I frowned and tapped my jaw. "Should we fly up for a better look of the middle of the city?"

Kristen looked up and nodded. "Yeah, there's a little cloud cover. Even if their wasn't, they already know we're coming and it's not like they can hit us. Like you said: they don't even have a nearby air force. We'd be able to see them from this high up."

With that settled, the three of us flew up higher for a better look into the city. The first thing I noticed was that there was a concentration of Storm Creatures around my palace, which made sense. It was really the only building of importance in the city. If we took it back, we'd take back the city. Long story short, this seemed fairly easy, especially with our forces.

The three of us flew back to the army and landed in front of Grorim. "We think we have a plan," I said as he stood up.

"I'm all ears."

"Our initial intel is that most of the army that occupied Baltimare has retreated to fortify Canterlot, with most of the remaining ones inhabiting my palace. I see some fighting in the streets, but nothing that would be too difficult. They don't even have airships backing them up."

"I see. My suggestion, in that case, is that we send the griffin troops in to pick them off from the air. That way if we are springing a trap, they can retreat, leaving us to react accordingly," Grorim said.

"Yeah, I guess that could work," Kathyrine muttered. "I don't like the idea that we're taking on all of the risk here, though."

"That's part of war, and they're going to be at risk when we take back Canterlot anyway," I pointed out. "Like Grorim pointed out, though, the risk is fairly minimal. Just take some ranged troops and start picking them off from the air with crossbows. I'll lead a strike team of volunteers to take the palace back. About fifty good troops should do."

"Alright." Kathyrine sighed and shook her head. "Yeah, I suppose that will work. We'll want to rest a bit, though. It's been a long journey."

"Very well. I wouldn't want to go to battle with weary troops, and it is time for dinner anyway." I nodded and motioned to the army, most of whom was sitting down and resting. "Let them relax for a bit then we'll move out in an hour, sound good?"

"Yeah, I guess," Kathyrine said. She spread her wings and flew back to her generals, all of whom immediately swarmed her to get her orders. Grorim gave me a look that I couldn't quite figure out before walking back to his officers, leaving me and Kristen alone. We walked over to a secluded spot and sat down, allowing Kristen to conjure up a few granola bars and cups of orange juice. I gave her a grateful nod and opened up one of the granola bars. Kristen opened up one of hers, but didn't take a bite. She just sighed and put it back on the ground.

"So, TD, I know that it might not be my place and I've never had to lead a war before, but..." She grimaced. "I can't help but notice the way you're going about this, and I don't think that Grorim is missing it either."

I frowned and tilted my head. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying that I don't think you would lead ponies this way is all. I can't help but suspect that you're seeing them as... disposable troops that you're okay with dying for you if it means that you get to rescue Equestria. From what I remember, the other leaders just promise to take back Baltimare, but you're already drawing up your plans for what they're going to do during the battle to take back Canterlot. You're totally okay with putting them at risk for your ends."

I narrowed my eyes and put the granola bar on the ground so I could give Kristen my full attention. "This is war, Kristen, and there are risks when you're taking back a country. Kathyrine seems to agree with my ideas. You heard her; she was concerned for her troops, but at the end of the day she saw it our way."

Kristen gave me a flat look and crossed her forelegs. "Seriously, dude? Kathyrine has been willing to do whatever you want her to since you put her on the throne. She's not going to disagree with a guy who saved her life and gave her that much power... and revenge."

"Kathyrine is not a puppet ruler, Kristen. She's her own ruler."

"Yeah, yeah, I get that, but she's not going to ever stand up to you, you know that, right?" Kristen countered. "Why would she argue with her savior? She'll do her own stuff on a day-to-day basis for sure, but when international stuff comes up? She's going to defer to you. You've been doing this longer and put her on her throne."

"Are you saying Kathyrine is a weak ruler who wouldn't stand up to me if her subjects depended on it?"

"Uh-huh."

I frowned and shook my head. "I think a little more highly of her than that. I can see how in the beginning she might have been that way, I was with Celestia, but that's just the experience gap. She's ruled her own country for five years now. She has strength that I don't think you see. She has to. She's had a lot happen to her."

"I'm not saying she's someone who doesn't know what to do unless you're holding her hand or anything, just that she's going to go with your judgement ninety-nine times out of a hundred. You're in charge here, as far as she's concerned. Like I said: Grorim sees it, too."

"Well, I suppose we'll see," I grumbled, picking up my granola bar again. "I just think she's stronger and more independent than that is all."

"I hope you're right, but it's something to think about, that's all." Kristen shrugged. "It's just something I've observed is all."

The two of us ate in silence, with Kristen making more food and drink appear as needed. All the while I kept looking in the direction of Baltimare. I hoped that thinks would be as simple as I planned. Taking back Baltimare would prove to be a valuable foothold in taking back Canterlot. If nothing else it would grant me access to my weapons room again. It had my weapons and armor, which would make it nearly impossible for them to hurt me again.

They were going to die. All of them.

After an hour, I stood back up and walked over to where the other leaders were. They had already gathered in front of the army with the fifty soldiers, all a mix of the various forces, that I'd asked for. Good. That would make things simple. I had no doubt that we would be able to win.

"Are we all ready?" I asked as we approached them.

Grorim nodded and strapped his sword to his side. "Yes, Prince Antares. All is ready to take your city back. I will join the ground forces while Empress Kathyrine will be giving orders to her air troops."

"Excellent, then this should go smoothly."

"It never does," Grorim pointed out. "One of the first things we're taught during our training is that no plan survives first contact with the enemy."

"That's true, but I hope that enough of the plan survives to make it through fine. We just need to take the city back and we'll have a good place to launch the rest of the invasion."

Grorim and Kathyrine exchanged a look, but didn't comment any further. Grorim merely nodded. "Very well. Let us not waste any more daytime."

"Yes, let's not."

I lit my horn and summoned all of the nearby stone over to me, once again forming my rock war hammer. I slammed it on the ground to test it out, causing everyone else around me to flinch. I grinned and slung it over my shoulder. "Alright, ladies and gents, let's go."

* * * *

We didn't meet any resistance when our strike team entered the city. I glanced up at the griffins flying over us and smiled. They'd win the day for us easily. I had no doubts about that. Hopefully all we'd need to do is mop up a bit.

As we walked through the streets, I took note of how little damage there seemed to be. A few windows had been broken and the shops we passed had been ransacked, but other than that, the city was largely intact. Nothing had been burned down or destroyed.

"I don't like this, TD," Kristen growled. "It's too quiet. Where are all the ponies?"

"Hiding in their homes, I assume," I replied. Even if that was true, I couldn't fault her nervousness. Grorim was right: no plan survives first contact with the enemy, and we were going into a city where, for the most part, we couldn't see the enemy. I scanned the buildings and shook my head. "Perhaps we--"

Before I could finish my sentence an arrow shot from the windows of one of the buildings and embedded itself into the chest of one of the minotaurs. He yelled out in pain and surprise before falling to the ground. My eyes widened as several more arrows flew in our direction.

Oh dear.

I instantly encased all of us in a large shield, letting the arrows bounce harmlessly off of it. However, just like on the airship, the size of the shield meant that maintaining it against constant assault was difficult for a long period of time. It wasn't more than a volley or two before cracks started showing.

"We need to find cover, Antares!" Grorim roared.

"We don't know where they all are!" I retorted. I spotted a Storm Creature in a window and shot a beam of magic at it, blowing its head clean off. I followed that up with shooting sparks into the air, hoping that the griffin forces would see it and come to our aide.

"Well we're sitting ducks here!" Grorim pointed to an abandoned clothing store. He flinched when an arrow hit my shield, making a crack in it that went all of the way to the top of the bubble. "Unless you have better ideas!"

"It's as good of an idea as any," I growled. "On my mark, make your way to cover! Ready... now!"

We all rushed toward the store and ran through the door and the broken windows just as one final pair of arrows hit my shield, shattering it completely. A zebra was hit in the back while another arrow struck a minotaur in the neck. I set up another shield to protect the last remaining stragglers before running into the store myself. I instantly checked to see if there was anything above us, but the store seemed abandoned.

Before I could say anything, I heard squawking from the air outside. I grabbed a piece of a broken mirror nearby and slid it outside, tilting it so that I could see what was going on. The griffins and Storm Creatures were firing at each other, with a few arrows finding their marks, causing the griffins on the receiving end to plummet to the ground. I had to help them. I spread my wings and jerked my head to Kristen.

"Come on, we have to go help them!"

Kristen bit her lip, but nodded and spread her wings. I put a small personal shield around myself and flew out of the store, Kristen flying close behind me. I flew up to one of the windows and saw a pair of Storm Creatures with longbows in the process of grabbing arrows out of a shared quiver. I evaporated them with a single spell before moving onto the next window. Kristen flew to another window and shot her hoof out, and as I passed by that window, I saw the trio of Storm Creatures inside of it were sinking into the floor, trying in vain to grab onto something that would stop them from sinking further. With one quick spell I snapped their necks.

With Kristen and I entering the fray, we gained a little more control of the situation. Storm Creatures were still trying to snipe us from the windows, but as the the griffins and I dispatched them, their rate of fire slowed down. In the distance I could see the griffin soldiers scanning each building they passed looking for any more hidden snipers. Just as I was about to go help them, the ground below began shaking, as hundreds of Storm Creatures began pouring out of buildings, their weapons at the ready. I whirled around to face them and tore up a chunk of the street, tossing it like a Frisbee into the wave of enemies. The buildings had been a great place to hide, but the narrow streets made the Storm Creatures into sitting ducks. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

The griffin troops noticed the attackers and, in a delightful example of turning the tables, began sniping the Storm Creatures from above. Between their attacks and mine, they began dying in droves, many of them running in the opposite direction to my palace. I flew down after them just as my strike force rushed out of the store, their weapons at the ready. Whatever stragglers that stayed behind were slaughtered by the strike force and the griffin snipers above. I laid waste to them with my hammer, and it wasn't more than a few minutes before they were in full retreat, yet still we chased them down the street. We weren't going to give them a moment to catch their breath.

The few remaining Storm Creatures rushed into my palace, all while avoiding the arrows that the remainder of Kathyrine's troops that had stayed behind rained arrows down upon them. A group of Storm Creatures at the entrance closed the heavy wooden double doors, leaving a few dozen of their kind trapped out into the open where they were quickly slaughtered. I landed in front of the double doors, with Kristen and Kathyrine quickly landing behind me.

"so, aren't those doors enchanted so that you can't just break them down?" Kathyrine asked. I mean, they'd be pretty weak otherwise, all things considered."

"Yes, they are," I said lighting my horn. "But you forget who actually put those enchantments on the doors."

"Celestia?" Kristen guessed.

I grimaced and flattened my ears. "No." I lit my horn and the doors began glowing red with runes covering almost every square inch. With another spell, the runes faded away, leaving just the heavy wood. "I did."

A blast of pure energy from my horn blew the doors inward, sending the Storm Creatures who were holding it shut flying back. A group of about twenty Storm Creatures had created a pike wall in a silly attempt to hold me back. I smirked at them and summoned a row of ice daggers that I flung into them, slaying the entire line.

"Well, I guess that worked," Kristen muttered, stepping over a dead Storm Creature. "So what now?"

"We bring in more of the army to secure the city and take out any last pockets of resistance," I said. "I'll need the strike team to clear out the palace so we can set up a base of operations. Kathyrine, tell your forces to take some prisoners if you can."

"Sounds like a plan." Kathyrine spread her wings and flew out of the main entrance, leaving Kristen and I to make our way down the deathly silent palace.

"This doesn't feel right," Kristen said, moving a little closer to me. "It's quieter than a graveyard in here."

"I know," I muttered. "Usually it's so... full of life."

"Do you think we'll find any survivors?" Kristen whispered. "Like... your staff and some guards?"

I grimaced as we made our way to the throne room. "I... I pray so. No, I'm sure my staff is fine. Maybe a little worse for wear, but... they're alive. They weren't combatants. They were unarmed. I'm sure the Storm King wouldn't..."

I wasn't sure, though. Did he kill my staff? Was he torturing my daughters? No, he wouldn't. He wasn't going to kill all of his potential subjects. They weren't his subjects, though. They never would be. I'd make sure of that.

Kristen and I walked into my throne room, and my heart sank at the sight. My throne had been broken into several pieces that they'd scattered on the floor. All of the windows had been smashed and the artwork had been torn to pieces. It was almost as bad as when I'd been shot by Sinosis. At least then I'd been the one to do the damage when I'd surged. Here, though...

"It's... looked better," Kristen muttered.

"Yeah. I guess it has."

"I guess they can't get into our rooms, though, right?"

I shook my head. "Yeah, not a chance on that one. I can't imagine that you're automatic food dispenser has stopped working either, so Bob should be fine."

"Yeah, probably. He's a hardy little fella in any case."

"I suppose the next step is getting into my weapons room. I have some things in there that should help, like my weapons and armor." I led Kristen through the back door of my throne room, though the door itself had been ripped off of its hinges, and down into the underground level of my palace. We walked in silence, always ready for the next wave of Storm Creatures, though if any did attack, they'd have the same problem that they had in the streets: too many packed into a tight hallway.

We rounded a corner and the first thing I saw was a Storm Creature. I lit my horn and blasted him back. He flopped into the wall and slid to the ground harmlessly. I readied my war hammer again as I noticed another trio of them nearby. It took me a second to realize that... they weren't moving. All three of them were lying on the ground, and based on the smell they'd been there for a while. I frowned and took a few tentative steps forward. After a few seconds realization set in.

"Ah..." I pointed to the nearby door. "That's my weapons room. I'm surprised that they only sent four Storm Creatures to try to break in, but, as you can see here, anything that did try to break in would die a pretty horrible death." I nudged one of them with my hoof. "My guess is they were hit with the spell that stopped their hearts."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess we know your security works now. It's still gonna be hard for you to get in without the guards though, right?"

I shook my head. "Those passwords were meant for the guards themselves to make sure that I was the real Prince Antares." I lit my horn and began working on the spell to unlock the door. "It'd be a bad idea for this very reason if the door permanently closed because the guards had been compromised."

I floated a ball of magic out of my horn that slid into where the door handle would have been. I heard a click and I pushed the door open. Kristen and I walked in and found that my weapons room had been left completely untouched by the invasion. It was just as I had left it. I scanned the room with a spell just to be sure.

"Huh. Interesting." I pointed to the ceiling. "It seems like they were trying to tunnel in from above when they realized that the front door would fry them."

"Oh. I take it that wouldn't work either."

I shook my head. "I have to imagine that they lost a few soldiers on that genius plan, too." I walked up to the stand that held my armor and ran my hoof down the chestplate. I sighed and dissolved my current hammer before picking up my true weapon. I smiled and gave it a practice swirl. "Like new."

I lit my horn and the armor, hammer, and a few additional boxes vanished. I turned around and began herding Kristen out of the room. "Alright. We're done here."

"We are? Where did you send them?"

"They're in my room. I want to spend as little time in here as I can, just on the off chance that someone stumbles across us." We exited the room and I closed the door behind us, taking a few minutes to put the protective wards back up.

The two of us began walking down the hallway to the main level, but were stopped when I heard something. My eyes narrowed and I stopped Kristen with my wing. "Do you hear that?"

"No, I..." Kristen frowned and swiveled her ear. "Wait, yeah, I do." She turned around and looked in the opposite direction. "It sounds like... children?"

My eyes widened and I whirled around and began running in the direction of the noise. The noise was coming from the direction of my palace dungeon! I'd never actually used the place, but it had plenty of room if someone wanted to, say, keep a large group of ponies prisoner. I reached the doors and blasted them aside with a quick spell before running into the room.

My breath instantly died at the sight before me.

My staff had been herded into the half-dozen cells like cattle. Each of their forelegs were chained up, the unicorns had magic blockers, and the pegasi had their wings tied to their sides. Each of them had a look of utter defeat on their faces, and were simply staring at the ground. At the noise of me blasting in, a few of them looked up, their eyes widening when they saw me.

"P-Prince Antares?" one of the pegasus maids croaked. "Is it really you?"

"Of course not," a pony who turned out to be Time Keeper said, glaring at the maid. "Prince Antares is dead, don't you remember? It's another trick from the Storm King." He turned to me with a glare. "You hear that? I'm not falling for it! You're going to have to do better to fool me!"

Despite myself I let out a laugh of relief. They weren't so far gone that they'd gone completely mad. I walked up to the cell door and looked Time Keeper in the eyes as I lit my horn, taking off his chains and horn blocker. "Dang it, Time Keeper, every time you burst into my throne room something goes wrong. Well, I'm bursting in here, and now things are going to start going right."

"I..." Time Keeper's jaw dropped and he stared at me with wide eyes for a few moments before doing his best to stand up in the crowded cell. "P-Prince Antares?"

"In the flesh. You're safe now. You don't have to worry."

That was enough for them. Instantly I heard cries of relief from my staff, and several of them put their hooves through the bars as best as they could, hoping for my touch. I lit my horn and went down the row of cells, opening the doors and taking off their restraints. Several rushed over to me and latched onto me, crying into my fur. A few of them even mobbed Kristen, just to have somepony safe to hold onto. Through the whole thing I still heard the foals crying. I made my way to the final cell in the line and saw Tulip sitting in the middle of a half-empty cell, holding onto the twins, who were crying loudly. She was whispering to them and bouncing them, trying to get them to calm down.

"It's okay, it's okay," she whimpered. "Prince Antares is here now. He's here. He's saved us." She looked up at me and I saw tears streaming down her face. "He's alive. He's alive. He's saved us."

I opened the cell door and freed the ponies inside before sitting beside Tulip and wrapping a wing around her, which also helped the twins. One of them noticed me and crawled into my embrace, nuzzling my side. Tulip sniffled and leaned into me. She had lost weight, though I imagine that the Storm Creatures had underfed all of my staff. She seemed like she'd gotten the worst of it, though.

"You're safe now, Tulip. You and the twins and everyone else here, you're all safe."

"Okay," she whispered. She nuzzled my side and groaned. "I didn't know how much longer I was going to hold out. I was giving most of my food to the twins, but they didn't give us a lot anyway and I had to make sure th-that they weren't going to take my children and th-that I w-was g-gonna make it out okay because a lot of us didn't and..."

She couldn't go any further. She just leaned fully into my embrace and wept.

* * * *

We brought my staff into my throne room and did our best to feed them with whatever we could. Many of them didn't want to leave my side, but I assured them that they wouldn't have to worry any more. Kristen and Tulip were taking care of the twins, so that was good. I had to imagine that my staff felt better when they saw the soldiers around to protect them. Speaking of, I noticed Grorim in the crowd and walked up to him.

"Anything to report?"

Grorim glanced at me from the corner of his eye and shook his head. "Not really. We found a few pockets of resistance, but nothing enough to put up a fight. We have a dozen or so prisoners. I think they were scattered enough that we didn't lose anything after the ambush."

I didn't miss the distaste in his tone at the last two words, but the important part was that my subjects were safe. We had take back Baltimare.

"Their sacrifice will not be forgotten, King Grorim."

Grorim grunted in reply, but still didn't look at me. "There's one more thing, though. He motioned to a corner of the room where I saw a couple of medics sitting around a pony lying on a bed roll. "We found her in the city square outside of Town Hall. They'd strung her up next to a few bodies. Figured you'd want to know."

My heart sank as I left Grorim and slowly walked up to the medics. My suspicions were confirmed the instant I saw the unmistakable blue fur. I took in a shaky breath and sat down next to her, putting my hoof on her shoulder.

"Rapids? Rapids, are you okay?"

"She's in shock, Prince Antares," one of the medics said. "It looks like she was fed and watered better than the other prisoners, but if I had to guess, that's because they wanted her to last as long as possible." The medic grimaced and exchanged a look with another one. "There is something else. They, uh..." The medic grabbed her shoulder and gently rolled Rapids onto her back. My eyes widened as I instantly saw what they had done. They had taken a knife and carved a word onto her chest.

Coward

Rapids just stared blankly at the ceiling, not even registering that I was beside her. I gently rubbed her shoulder, trying to get some response out of her, but I got nothing. She didn't even look at me.

"The bodies we found around her belonged to Captain Blaze and Captain Night Stalker. Neither of them had their heads," the medic continued. "We don't know what happened to Captain Skies, so it's possible she's still alive. We won't know more until she snaps out of it."

"I see. Thank you." I lit my horn and cast a spell on Rapids to relax her. Her wing twitched and her gaze slowly moved until it landed on me. Her breathing became a little more even, and she slowly reached out a hoof to put on my foreleg. I smiled comfortingly down at her.

"Just rest now, River. You're going to be okay."

Regrouping

I laid next to Rapids and watched her chest rise and fall. Occasionally she'd twitch and whimper, but she didn't wake up. I didn't doubt that she was having horrible nightmares, and likely had been having them for quite a while. Once I'd freed Luna I'd have to have her help Rapids with that. She didn't deserve everything that had happened to her in the past few weeks. Heck, she didn't deserve what happened to her during the war. I grimaced and draped one of my wings over her. She grunted and nestled deeper into the feathers as she opened her eyes.

"Prince Antares?" she whispered.

I gave her a comforting smile and nodded. "Yeah, I'm here. Don't worry, Rapids, you're safe. We've retaken Baltimare, and we're going to retake Canterlot very soon."

Rapids whimpered and flinched back in a way that rather reminded me of Fluttershy. Her jaw wobbled and tears began welling up in her eyes. "They told us that they had killed you. They said they had your body strung up outside of Canterlot Castle."

I shook my head. "Clearly not. They came pretty close, but I came out on top in the end." I gently nuzzled her, and she relaxed a little bit. "Now, if you aren't up for it, that's fine, but I want to know what happened after the Storm King took Canterlot."

Rapids whimpered and curled up into a ball. Tears streaked down her face and she raised up a hoof to wipe them away. "W-we retreated out of Canterlot once it became clear that the city was lost. Prince Shining Armor, Night Stalker, Raining Skies and I all regrouped back here and gathered every soldier we could to fight them. W-we set up a defensive perimeter around the city and got every civilian we could into the center of the city so that they wouldn't be in the fighting. Every able-bodied stallion and mare was conscripted into the army. We barely had enough weapons and armor to arm them, but we were fighting for our homes.

"Their airships arrived within a day. We tried to send up a pegasus force to take them down, but they were shot out of the sky while their ground troops poured into the city. We couldn't fight them back with the forces we had. Us commanders tried to organize the mess into an effective fighting force, but th-they were killing so many of us! I don't know what happened to Raining Skies, b-but Night Stalker was hit with two arrows, and the Storm Creatures dog-piled Prince Shining Armor and kept stabbing him. I wanted to help him, but I just... froze. Everywhere around me ponies were dying and... and pegasi were falling from the sky." Rapids's breathing became heavier and her tears fell faster.

"I saw Tempest fighting, and for a moment I just thought if I could kill her then maybe we'd have a fighting chance. I had a clear shot at her with my spear. I just needed to throw it and she'd die and we could fight them back. That's when she killed the pony she was fighting and turned straight at me. She grinned at me and her horn started crackling and I just... ran. I dropped my spear and ran as fast as I could in the other direction. We were losing and with the other two dead and one missing the troops needed somepony to rally them but I just ran! I was a coward!

"I ran into an alleyway and tried hiding behind some trash cans. I hid my head under my wings and tried not to hear the sounds of the battle. The screams of ponies fighting and dying just wouldn't stop! I don't know how long I laid there, but eventually the battle died down and I was left there, wallowing in my own cowardice. I heard the sounds of hoofsteps coming toward me and for a moment I thought that we'd won. When I looked up I saw that it was Tempest. She had the nastiest grin on her face, and she told the Storm Creatures to grab me. I wanted to fly away, but my wings wouldn't move!

"I was grabbed by two Storm Creatures and dragged out into the middle of the square where they'd already strung up Night Stalker's body. I don't know what they did with Shining Armor. T-Tempest told them to take off my armor and hold me down. I thought... I thought they were gonna..." Rapids shuddered, but after a moment she continued. "Tempest grabbed a knife, got on top of me and..."

Rapids couldn't continue from there. She just curled up and began loudly sobbing, covering her face with her wings. I had to hold back my own tears as I scooped her up and held her close. She leaned into my chest and held on to one of my forelegs as if I was the only pony left on the planet. After a few minutes of letting her cry, I lit my horn and cast a dreamless sleeping spell on her. She didn't need to remember what had happened.

I gently laid her down on the bed roll and pulled a blanket over her before standing up and walking out of the throne room. Kristen was talking with Grorim, and both of them stopped their conversations when I approached.

"How is she?" Kristen asked.

I grimaced and shook my head. "She's... it's going to be hard for her. She'd been through a lot even before all of this, so I'm not sure what's going to happen once this is all over. I'll do my best to help her, but I don't know if she's ever going to go back to the way she was."

"I am sorry, Antares," Grorim said. "I know she was a good soldier and a loyal friend."

"Yeah," I muttered. "Yeah. We'll do everything we can to help her, but for right now, I'm not optimistic." I shook my head and pushed those thoughts aside. I'd deal with Rapids once I'd taken Equestria back. "Any more news?"

"We've freed the civilians and are doing our best to feed them," Kristen said. "They, uh, burned your church down. There were some ponies in there and..." Kristen's wings fluttered uneasily. "Also, um... we found Shining Armor. What was left of him, anyway."

"I see. What happened?"

"They strung him up in a different part of the city," Grorim said. "Right outside the entrance. I guess to deter anyone from coming in. We're not sure what happened with their heads. It's hard to interrogate the Storm Creatures. They don't speak our language."

"Leave that to me," I said. "I have some ideas of how to get them to talk."

"TD, don't do any--"

"End of discussion, Kristen." I turned my attention back to Grorim. "Where are they?"

"We've taken them to your palace dungeon," Grorim said. "I have some of my finest guards making sure they don't try anything."

"Good. I'd like to talk to them, then," I said as I began walking in that direction. I heard Kristen groan from behind me, but I ignored her. She didn't have the stomach for the kind of nasty work I had to do to protect my country. She probably would eventually, especially after the invasion, but for the moment she still needed to grow up a little bit.

The three of us reached the dungeons where, as promised, a group of minotaurs were guarding the dozen or so Storm Creatures we had captured once we'd taken the city. All of them averted their eyes as I passed the cells. I smirked at them. Guess they didn't like it so much when the tables were turned. I took a deep breath and made it to the final cell at the end of the hallway where a single Storm Creature was sitting on the floor in the middle of the cell. His armor was a little more ornate, showing me that he was some kind of leader. He'd do.

"TD, I don't like this," Kristen muttered.

"We have to find out what has happened to Canterlot since we've been out of the country," I said. "I'll try to make this as painless as possible."

I lit my horn, which made the Storm Creature look up. When he saw me he let out an almost pig-like squeal and tried running around the cell in a vain attempt to stop whatever I was going to do. I caught him in my magic and pulled him right to the bars. He thrashed around, but that didn't stop me from putting the tip of my horn onto his forehead. He instantly stopped thrashing around and went limp in my grasp. My eyes went white as I poured magic into his mind.

"Who are you?"

The Storm Creature twitched and whimpered. "Name Tinra," it groaned. "Loyal soldier of Storm King."

"Why have you invaded my country?"

"Heard tales of pony magic. Pony treasure. Storm King wanted treasure. Wanted power. Wanted to control world. Might of alicorns too good to resist."

"Where are you from?"

"Land far away. One many weeks away by airship. Land of poverty. Storm King gave us purpose. Gave us glory. Gave us might. Storm King rules over many lands."

"What has happened to Canterlot?"

"Alicorns drained of magic. Won't beat Storm King. Will drain your magic. Will be unstoppable. Will control night and day itself."

"What of my daughters?"

"Storm King drained all alicorns."

My heart sank and I exchanged a glance with Kristen, whose eyes were wide in horror. Even Grorim was shifting uncomfortably. I glared at the Storm Creature and went back to my interrogation.

"What happened to the heads of the captains?"

"Taken to Canterlot. Put on pikes outside palace. Unsure of where pegasus captain is."

"And the Element bearers?"

"In chains in catacombs. Will publicly execute them upon your defeat. Want to wait until Storm King's might is absolute."

I felt a little stress wash away at the news. Even if the Elements couldn't wield the Elements anymore, they were still a beacon of hope for Equestria. They were symbols and national heroes. If we could rescue them, that would help us a lot. I put more magic into my horn and prodded a little deeper into the Storm Creature's mind.

"Where is your army?"

"Withdrawn back to Canterlot. Will inflict your final defeat there, then we will have total control of your country for good. Will move on to other nations. Slaughter soldiers. Enslave populace. All will serve the Storm King in the end. None shall oppose him once he has your magic."

Yeah, we'll see about that. If the Storm King thought that, he had another thing coming. I'd take him and put his head on a pike before this war was over, then, once I felt content, I'd erase even the memory of him from the history books. It would be like he had never existed at all.

"What are your tactics? How do you think you shall beat us?"

The Storm Creature groaned and I felt him trying to fight back against my mental attacks, but he was never going to win in a fight against an alicorn. I forced more magic into his mind, and he twitched and began whimpering. I hit the point where I could see every single one of his memories if I had wanted to. Instead I just focused my attention on the Storm King. He began thrashing about more violently and foaming at the mouth a little bit. I saw his memories of the Storm King. He was a satyr dressed in black armor with a rather unpleasant look on his face. He carried some kind of staff that I imagine he'd used to drain my family's magic.

I probed even deeper into his mind and saw his usual tactics. True to my guesses, he'd never fought a defensive war before. His blitzkrieg tactics had always destroyed any resistance to his assault. His airships proved to be his biggest advantage, as most of his targets couldn't fly up to meet them in combat. I saw that Tempest was a recent addition to his army, joining him in a forest setting less than a year previous.

"TD, that's enough!"

I snapped out of my prodding when Kristen put her hoof on my shoulder and shook me. I powered down my horn, causing the Storm Creature to flop down onto the ground in a weak heap. I stared at him as he twitched, and I had no doubt that I'd completely destroyed his mind. For the briefest of moments I felt a shred of pity for him, but that quickly faded away when I remembered what he had told me and what he was. With a quick spell I stopped his heart, letting him slip away peacefully.

"I must admit, I had not expected him to reveal those things, Antares," Grorim said quietly. "You are right: the Storm King must be stopped at all costs. What he has done to your children is beyond twisted."

I didn't respond, choosing instead to walk out of the dungeon with Grorim and Kristen following closely behind me. Kristen put on some speed to walk alongside me.

"TD, I know we have to stop this guy. We have to rescue your family. Do you have any plans on how to stop him? Something beyond just throwing your troops at him and seeing if you can break past his lines?"

"I'm thinking, okay?" I growled. "I know it's going to be an advantage to have the griffin army, but we have to be careful so that they don't share the same fate as the pegasi defending Baltimare. I have to talk to the other leaders about it. Now that we have an idea of what we're up against, we need to be smart about this. One thing I can assure you of, though: the Storm King is going to pay in ways he never even imagined."

The Battle for Canterlot

The next evening saw all of the world leaders, Kristen and myself meeting in my throne room. Grorim hadn't said too much since the interrogation of the Storm Creature. Mesud, Mando, Kathyrine and one of the Diamond Dog warlords all brought a token guard force with them, all of whom took places around my throne room as we sat down at a table I'd had brought out for the meeting. All of the leaders were muttering among themselves as I entered the room, and they stopped when they saw me. I took my place at the head of the table and nodded to each of them.

"Gentlemen, I thank you for coming so quickly. As I'm sure King Grorim has told you, there is no doubt anymore that the Storm King will come for your countries next. Our interrogation of the captured Storm Creature promised your death and the enslavement of your subjects. We must fight now, or all will fall into darkness."

"King Grorim has indeed informed us of the danger the Storm King presents," Mesud said. "However, I am still wary of a full assault on Canterlot. If the Storm Creature is correct, and I see no reason to believe otherwise, his entire, rather considerable force has withdrawn to the city and has had several days to dig in and prepare their defenses."

"Would it not be wiser to merely surround the city and lay siege to it?" Mando suggested.

"No, I don't think that would work," I replied. "A siege works best against and opponent who does not have the means to just fly out of the city whenever they desire."

"Indeed, but you are forgetting that doing so would leave them exposed to any flying forces," Mesud pointed out. "Besides, they would likely fly to an area not as well defended and hard to get to as Canterlot, nor would they have the time to set up proper defenses before our army was upon them."

"Or they'd just use their air force to ferry supplies into the city," I countered. "Equestria does not have a significant amount of airships, and the ones we do have are for civilian uses. It would take time to convert a cruise ship into something that could effectively blockade Canterlot, and that doesn't even take into account the fact that they'd just be shot out of the sky. And even if we could stop their air force, it would take a considerable amount of time for them to run out of supplies such as food." My expression darkened and I leaned in slightly. "And where do you think they would get their food supplies when their conventional meals would run out? I'm not going to go into the city to find my subjects slaughtered as a food source."

The rest of the leaders exchanged uneasy looks, with Mesud and Mando leaning in to say something to each other. They both nodded before turning back to me.

"Prince Antares," Mesud began. "We don't think--"

"Oh you don't?" I growled. "After everything you've seen, after everything that has happened, do you really think that the Storm King and his army wouldn't do such a thing?" I scoffed and shook my head. "You really don't get it, do you? You really don't understand what we're up against. How many ways do I have to spell it out for you? When I retook my city I found the headless bodies of our captains strung up beside one of my officers who had been tortured! They beheaded the bodies and have put them on pikes outside of Canterlot Castle! I found my staff stuffed into cages like cattle! There are no redeeming qualities to the Storm King; no scraps of mercy in his actions. He will inflict every horror onto your people that he has to mine!" I slammed my hoof on the table, causing the rest of them to flinch. "If we do not take Canterlot back as soon as possible, we are all going to die!"

"Um..." Kathyrine slowly raised her claw. "I agree with Prince Antares. I think our best benefit here is my people. I heard that your pegasi were shot out of the sky, but their army wasn't as big as mine is. We can fly higher than their airships if we really need to. Also, I know that Mesud has airships of his own." She nodded in his direction. "My country has been on the wrong end of them many times. Maybe he doesn't have as many as the Storm King, but enough that we could put up a fight while the ground forces take Canterlot back. If we beat the Storm King back, and especially if we capture or kill him during the battle, I don't think we're going to have an issue with the Storm Creatures anymore."

'Perhaps," Mando said. "Though I have my doubts about that. What if they regroup in twenty years and fight us again?"

"Then we will be ready for them," I said. "He has an entire empire under his control. Freeing them would be simple once the bulk of his forces have been destroyed by us."

"And who can prove that this is the bulk of his forces?" Mesud pointed out. "Perhaps this is merely a small fraction."

"In a lighting war? I don't think so," I said. "Maybe it's not all of them, but he's not going to risk being beaten back because he doesn't have enough troops. The whole point of a lightning war is that you don't suffer defeats because of the power, size and speed of your army. Any roadblock would be devastating because it would give your opponents time to regroup and defend while you gather more troops for another try. Unless he's an idiot, we're seeing almost all of his army. I'd imagine that all he's held back are the troops he's using to occupy other nations."

"That is all merely conjecture, Antares," the Diamond Dog growled. "You are assuming a lot."

"Perhaps, and I'll admit that I haven't studied the wars of this planet very thoroughly, but I can tell you of my experiences studying Earth wars. We have seen this kind of war before. Have any of you?" I looked around the table and didn't get a response from any of the other leaders. "Yeah, that's what I thought. I'd say the only reason we're having this conversation now is because he paused to try to capture me and drain my magic. If he does then his victory is assured. He will enslave the world. If he captures me, then all of this discussion is moot. Everyone at this table will be dead within a week."

"All save one, perhaps." Mando looked over to Kristen and tilted his head. "We do have an ace that we have not discussed, Princess Kristen: you."

Kristen flinched back and flattened her ears. "Oh, um... I see what--"

"You are the God of Chaos, Princess Kristen," Mesud said. "You can bend reality to your whim. We would be foolish to waste such an asset."

"I get what you're saying, but I'm not as powerful as Discord was. I'm not gonna be for hundreds or even thousands of years."

"That may be so, but I cannot imagine that you are powerless," Mando said.

"I mean, so, but..." She gave me a pleading look before turning back to the rest. "I've never been in war before."

"Incorrect, My Lady," Grorim said. "You were there for the first Battle of Canterlot. You fought alongside your brother, did you not? You were not some casual observer?"

Kristen's ears pinned to the side of her head and she looked to the ground, uneasily rubbing her foreleg. "I... yeah, I did. I didn't kill anybody, though. I just incapacitated them. I don't even know if I can kill anybody with my chaos magic."

"Maybe not directly. Maybe you couldn't just stop their hearts with a wave of your hoof, but I can see other ways you can go around that. Perhaps you could crash two airships together, incapacitating them both? It would certainly save a lot of lives if you could."

"I mean..." She looked back at me, probably hoping that I could get her out of it. Instead I just shrugged.

"I think it's worth exploring. It wouldn't be any different than when you incapacitated them during the first battle. We're not asking you to kill everyone on board. We just want you to ground them. Our soldiers would take care of the rest." I smiled at her and put my hoof on her shoulder. "I get it, this isn't an idea situation. You want to fight in this about as much as we do, however, this is the reality of things. You know what they've done to our people; to our family. We need you, Kristen. I need you, just like I needed you back in Klugetown."

"It's not like I stopped you from getting captured there, or getting hurt in the first battle," Kristen muttered.

"I know, but that was then and this is now. We're not being ambushed this time. We're fighting with other beings and a good plan on our side. I know, you're not violent like I have to be. But I'm sorry, I won't let you try to not see the reality of the situation anymore. We're at war, and we're all going to die or get enslaved if we don't win. Just... do your best. I know you have it in you. I saw it in Klugetown."

"I guess..." Kristen took a deep breath, then slowly began nodding. "Yeah, I'll do my best. I don't like the idea of killing, but if I can at least make things a little easier for the rest of you, then I'm willing to do my part to make sure we win."

"Excellent," Mesud said with a smile. "I feel like we may have a chance to avoid massive casualties now. Quickly knocking out their airships will give us an invaluable advantage. If our air force is not worried about them, their ground forces will fold quickly."

"Then we have a plan," I said. "Kristen, the griffins and myself will begin the battle by focusing on the airships, allowing the rest of the troops to focus on their ground forces. I will send out what troops I can to gather intel to finalize our strategy. We will need to move out as soon as we can."

The rest of them voiced their agreement, and we all stood up from our chairs and made our way out of the throne room. The moment my guards opened the door I was greeted with the sight of a pony that I thought I might never see again.

"Captain Skies?"

Raining Skies gave me a weak smile and a salute. "Prince Antares. It's a pleasure to see you again. From what I've heard, it sounds like we've both been through it."

* * * *

I instantly took Raining Skies to my private dining room and got her what food I could. She instantly grabbed the bread I set in front of her and tore into it, chewing for a minute before she gave me her attention again.

"What do you know?"

"Just what Lieutenant Rapids has told me. You tried to fight them back, but it didn't go well and the city was taken."

"River survived?" Raining Skies smiled and relaxed her wings. "I'm really glad to hear that. How is she?"

"Not well," I said quietly. "They strung her up in the city square next to Blaze and Night Stalker."

"Oh..." Raining Skies flattened her ears and put her bread back down on the table. "I knew that Blaze died in the first attack, but I hadn't heard that they'd killed Night Stalker."

"Him and Prince Shining Armor as well."

"I'd heard the rumors of that. Sorry to hear that they're true. Princess Cadance..." Raining Skies took a shaky breath in and poked at the bread. "It's gonna be hard for her now, I guess. Between ruling the Empire and Flurry..."

"We'll do everything we can to help her, of course."

"If we make it out of this, I guess," Raining Skies said. "And that's a big if right now. When I retreated out of Baltimare with the fifty or so pegasi who hadn't been killed trying to take out their airships, I spent all of my time trying to gather as much information as I could through my usual contacts. A few of my networks were still intact, including one in Canterlot, so I got every scrap of info I could."

"What did you find out?"

Rapids opened up a satchel at her side and slid out a stack of papers. She flipped through them and pulled out a photograph that she slid over to me. My eyes widened at the sight. It showed Canterlot, surrounded by what must have been over thirty airships, while an endless sea of tents surrounded the city, no doubt holding the Storm Creatures that couldn't fit into the city itself. I couldn't see into the city itself, but I could only guess what they were doing in there.

"Initial guesses state that there are over thirty thousand troops occupying the city, and that's not even including the ones manning the airships. From what my contact has been able to tell me, the Storm King is in the city, and he spends his time holed up in what's left of Canterlot Castle."

"And Tempest?"

"She's back in the city now that his army has withdrawn," Raining Skies said. "I'd be surprised if she wasn't in the castle giving orders in the Storm King's name. I haven't been able to spot her anywhere. I can't imagine that she's out of the city. All of my other contacts have stated that the only place that Storm Creatures are occupying is Canterlot. They don't strike me as the kind to hide small garrisons of troops in a tiny hamlet. That's ignoring the fact that they tend to stick out a little bit."

"And Ponyville is probably the only strategically significant place for them to occupy," I said. "If they managed to damage the Tree of Harmony then we'd be in a lot of trouble."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if they even know it's there. I know they have the Element Bearers, so hopefully they haven't tortured that information out of them."

"I wouldn't put it past them, but that would require them to suspect that something that powerful was there," I pointed out. I grabbed the stack of papers and began flipping through it. "So basically it all boils down to the fact that they have their army in Canterlot and are dug in like a tick. Our current plan is to focus on the airships first, then that should make things easier for the ground forces."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Raining Skies said with a shrug. "Especially if we make the airships crash onto the army on the field, that would be killing two birds with one stone."

"Right." I flipped to another page. "So I heard that they took over everything. Is that true, or did we have some successful holdouts?"

"Well, despite their good air force, they didn't really plan on cloud cities. Las Pegasus and Cloudsdale are both completely untouched, so a lot of pegasi fled to those cities. There's a bit of a refugee crisis, but otherwise the industries of both cities are intact."

"That is going to help us a lot," I said with a smile. "We can move what ponies we can to Las Pegasus, then use Cloudsdale as a resupply station and point of attack for our air force."

"So we'll move Cloudsdale to Las Pegasus, make the swap, then put Cloudsdale in the range of Canterlot and move our air force from there." Raining Skies shrugged. "It's as good of a plan as any. The Storm Creatures can't occupy either city, and any airships he uses to try to stop us leaves Canterlot open for attack." She grabbed the bread again and tore off another chunk. "Gud 'nuff."

"I'll relay the info to the other leaders," I said, taking the intel in my magic. "I think we might just win this war yet."

* * * *

The griffins and what pegasi we had left flew out the next morning for Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus. I went to Las Pegasus personally and sent a scroll with my orders to Cloudsdale with Raining Skies. There were a few hiccups, of course, but by the end of the day we were well on our way to enacting our plan. Most of my job entailed setting up areas for the thousands of refugees that would be coming from Cloudsdale. Oddly enough, the casinos really helped out in that regard. Plenty of space for the pegasi in there. Not everypony got a room, of course, but everything worked out pretty well.

One of the bigger hiccups was the Las Pegasus weapons dealers. At first they were a little resistant to our plans, but pragmatism won out in the end. If the world was taken over then they wouldn't have anybody to sell their weapons to. They weren't tripping over themselves to give us their top-of-the-line stuff, but I was satisfied in the end that we'd be relatively well armed.

All throughout the process, Raining Skies and her intel network gave us what information they could on Canterlot. Nothing really changed, though I doubted that they didn't know we were mobilizing to take them down. We wouldn't have any element of surprise, but at the end of the day, I hoped to counteract that with our airbase. I wished that I had developed a weapon that would allow us to just snipe at the airships and ground troop from Cloudsdale, but I didn't have the time to develop something like that. We'd have to do this the old fashioned way.

We were finished within a week. All non-essential pegasi had been moved to Las Pegasus, leaving only the attack force. The Storm King's forces still hadn't moved out. I had no doubt that they'd spent the week digging in as much as they could. I had no illusions that this wouldn't be a bloody battle for both sides.

At the end of the week I stood at the edge of Cloudsdale with Kathyrine and Kristen. I felt the city move underneath me as the spires of Canterlot drew ever closer. I took a deep breath and fluttered my wings.

"We're almost there," I said.

"Yeah. From what I've been told, we're a few hours away at most," Kathyrine said.

I looked down at Kristen and draped a wing over her. She was staring at the approaching city, unblinking, with a haunted look on her face. I couldn't blame her. Between what had happened the last time she was in Canterlot and what we were asking her to do now... She wouldn't come out of this the same pony, and she knew it. None of us would.

As I watched, a pony came out of the crowd and stood next to us. I turned my head and my eyes widened when I saw who it was.

"Lieutenant Rapids? What are you doing?"

Rapids didn't look at me. She simply stared ahead at the Storm King's forces. "I was a coward in your name twice since this invasion started. I'm not going to let that happen again. Not when you need me."

"Rapids, it's there's no shame in waiting this out. You were wounded and tortured for weeks."

Rapids shook her head. "I don't care. I was tortured because of my cowardice. If I can, it would be an honor to redeem myself at your side."

I took a deep breath and looked over to Kathyrine and Kristen, both of whom nodded at me. Yeah, I got the point. She needed to do this, and would never be able to live with herself if she didn't. I took a deep breath, turned back to Rapids, and nodded.

"Very well, Lieutenant Rapids. If you feel you must."

"I do. I shall not fail you again."

I looked out and in the distance I saw the airships begin moving into a defensive position, while on the ground below them I saw the hustle of their army taking down their tents and getting into formation. I rued that there was only a narrow pass to get into the city itself unless a force wanted to get lost in the caverns in the mountain. We'd sent some Diamond Dog scouts out to see if they could find us a way with no success, and if the Diamond Dogs couldn't do it, I didn't think that anybody could. I wasn't going to risk a strike force getting lost.

I peered over the edge of the city at the mass of soldiers of all races marching underneath us. They would be the real force in the attack. If we could destroy the air force, that was one thing. Taking the city back was something else. One would lead to the other, though.

"Kind of makes you wish that we had cannons, doesn't it?" Kristen said, looking at the row of airships. "Though I'm not sure we could get in range by the time they started to engage us."

"True. They'd still be good."

I took a deep breath and twitched my wings, feeling the weight of the wing blades. It had been years since I had been in my full armor. My war hammer sat beside me, enchanted so that it wouldn't fall through the clouds. Behind me I heard the air force portion of the army getting ready. I took a quick glance and saw the gathered griffins and pegasi all chattering nervously among each other. It had been hundreds of years since a pegasus-griffin force of this scope had fought alongside each other. If nothing else, this war would likely help relations between the various nations. I rued that it took a madman like the Storm King to bring it about.

The three of us stared out at Canterlot, waiting for us to get into a good position. Once I felt we were close enough, I shot red sparks out of my horn. The army underneath us instantly stopped marching at the signal. It wouldn't do for them to get caught in the crossfire and ruin that advantage.

We were close enough that I could see the Storm Creatures make a pike wall for the advancing ground troops. Between the lines of the pike wall I saw a few Gatling Guns. I'd need to go for them first. If the soldiers had to get cut down by the guns, only for the few survivors to get to a pike wall, that would be less than idea. There would be casualties, but I didn't want an almost total destruction of the first wave.

"It's time. I'm going to give my orders for the ground troops."

I spread my wings and flew down to the front line, Kristen and Kathyrine close behind me. I landed at the front of the line, where Grorim was waiting with a few officers. I landed in front of them.

"All is ready?" Grorim asked.

"Yes. If everything goes smoothly, we'll have taken Canterlot back in a few hours. We have a solid plan."

"We're as ready as we can be, then." Grorim motioned to the army. "Anything you want to say to the troops?"

I lit my horn and a mist floated out of it, working its way through the army. Some even went up to Cloudsdale to get to the air troops. It was an old spell that allowed for orders to an entire army so that the opposing forces couldn't hear the orders.

As I saw the mist covering the army, I thought about what I wanted to say. During the first war I gave them. a big rallying cry that lifted their spirits and united us in our desire to end the war. I could have said something like that. I could have pumped them up with passionate words about how we were protecting our lands and our homes.

But I didn't do that. Instead I gave them two short sentences.

"I have no use for prisoners. Kill them all."

With that, I dissipated the mist and flew back up to the edge of Cloudsdale. Kristen and Kathyrine went to my sides again, though I could see their blank expressions. No doubt they'd been disturbed by my order. Well, that was too bad. Prisoners were a complication I didn't really want. No prisoners, no problem.

As we got closer, I nudged Kristen with my leg. "It's time, Kristen. Let's see what you can do."

Kristen took a deep breath and stepped forward. She reached out a hoof and squeezed her eyes shut. I held my breath and stared out at the airships. For a few minutes, nothing happened. The row of airships didn't move an inch.

"You can do it, Kristen. Just focus."

"Don't, TD," she growled. "Just... don't." She was getting really frustrated with her lack of success. I needed to use that.

"Kristen, just--"

"I said shut up!"

She swiped her hoof down, and I heard the groaning of metal as the airship in the middle of the line took a hard left turn, crashing right into the closest airship. The airships around began flying out of formation in an attempt to avoid being brought down. The two ships involved in the collision tried to pry themselves apart, but it was too late. The collision had suffered too much damage, and it wasn't more than a few seconds before they began going down. The Storm Creatures below tried to move out of the way, but they were packed too tightly together. Even from here we could hear the surprised and horrified shouts and screams of the Storm Creatures who couldn't avoid the death from above. With a loud, ear-splitting crash, the airships both landed, crushing the Storm Creatures below. I didn't like the odds for the Storm Creatures on the ships either.

The other ships had scattered, abandoning all sense of any kind of formation. It wasn't going to work, though. Kristen swiped her hoof again, and one of them went in the complete opposite direction, right into another ship, sending them both crashing to the ground. The Storm Creatures underneath began scattering in an attempt to avoid the crashes.

The remaining airships were in full retreat, trying to avoid Kristen's chaos magic. She clapped her hooves together and three more collided. Now that seven of them had been taken out in the first few minutes of the battle, a few of the remaining ones flew back around to behind Mount Avelon, while some attempted to get away completely. None of them even tried flying to Cloudsdale in a vain attempt to take us out. I lit my horn and shot green sparks into the air. Instantly the sound of thousands of beings taking off filled the air as the massive force of griffins and pegasi flew straight to the airships, backed up by Mesud's fleet. Given that they were more focused on escaping Kristen's powers, they didn't have the time to prepare for the boarding parties. Each ship was swarmed with pegasi and griffins, and they could not fight back against the sheer numbers.

Content that we wouldn't be bothered by the air ships, I spread my wings and flew back down to the ground troops. I shot orange sparks out of my horn and the soldiers instantly began charging. Given the disarray in the Storm King's numbers from their attempts to avoid the crashing airships, their pike wall had completely collapsed. A few dozen attempted to reform the line, but they were instantly slaughtered the moment the two armies collided. The Storm Creatures were being beaten back by the sheer force of our army. Kristen and I landed in the middle of the fray, and I swung my hammer at every Storm Creature I saw, sending them flying back.

I looked to the path up to Canterlot and saw that the Storm Creatures had re-formed their pike wall there. Storm Creatures behind the pike wall fired into the air, their arrows landing in the fray and striking both sides. I lit my horn and began drawing all of the moisture I could to me, and a ball of ice began forming just above my horn. When it was large enough, I slung it into the pike wall, crushing some and scattering the rest. I took to the air and shot out a beam of fire that I used to cut through the line.

Between my attacks, the lack of air reinforcements, and the disarray of the main army, the Storm Creatures were quickly pushed back. I led the charge up the main road and into the city itself. We met another pike wall at the main gate, but Kristen swiped her hooves down, and the ground underneath them turned to liquid and the sank into the ground. Kristen re-solidified the ground as our army reached the gate. I barely stopped to slaughter the trapped Storm Creatures.

Once we had reached the city itself the battle dissolved into complete chaos. Storm Creatures poured out of every building, almost surrounding our army. However, given that they had no semblance of organization, they were quickly pushed aside. I smelled the blood and heard the screams from both sides in the air as I lost myself in the fighting. Every Storm Creature that I saw was slaughtered, either with my magic or weapons. I swung my wings through the crowds, cutting death into the Storm Creatures. I wasn't going to be stabbed in the side by a surprise attack this time. Nothing would stop me from reaching my goal.

As we fought, I looked into the distance and saw Canterlot Castle. It looked relatively unguarded, as the occupying Storm Creatures had likely been deployed back to the front lines. I spotted Kristen incapacitating enemies in the crowd and flew down to her side. She whirled around to face me, likely thinking I was an enemy, but when she saw it was me, she put her hoof down. I motioned to the castle, and she nodded before we both took wing and flew away from the battle. Some of the Storm Creatures on the ground took pot shots at us with their bows, but we easily avoided them. We couldn't be bothered with the common soldier now. It was time to cut the head off of the enemy.

As we charged further into the fray, several of the air troops flew over to us, no doubt having finished fighting the airships. Some landed and fought that way, while others took crossbows and picked the Storm Creatures off from the air. I noticed a Storm Creature raise his bow to fire at me, but his attack was stopped when Rapids tackled him and slid her wing blade over his throat. She flipped off of him and landed in front of me with a salute before turning to face the other Storm Creatures. I landed alongside her and for a few minutes the two of us carved death and destruction into the Storm Creatures. Rapids fought like a feral berserker, slicing through the crowd with her wing blades.

I stopped in my tracks when a group of Storm Creatures pulled out bows and fired a volley into the crowd, once again hitting both sides. I put up a shield and the arrows bounced harmlessly off of it. I readied my wing blades to charge at them when I heard a gurgle at my side and felt something collapse onto me. My eyes widened when I saw what it was: Rapids had gone to the ground, three arrows sticking out of her side. I gasped and quickly scooped her up, placing her on my back and flying somewhere safer.

"Just hold on, Rapids, you're going to be okay! Just stay awake!"

Rapids groaned and nuzzled closer to my neck, holding on to me as I approached a deserted alleyway.

"Did I do it this time, Prince Antares?" she whispered. "Was I brave?"

"You were the bravest soldier on the battlefield today, Lieutenant. Just hold on and I'll help you."

Rapids let out a noise of contentment as I landed in the alley and threw up a shield so that we wouldn't be disturbed. I slid Rapids off of my back as gently as I could and laid her on the ground. I began charging a healing spell, but Rapids didn't move. She just laid on the ground, her eyes closed and a content smile on her face, even though she had been hit with three arrows. I cast a vital sign spell on her and my legs began shaking when it came back negative.

Not her. Not after everything that had happened to her.

I gently slid the arrows out of her side and placed my hoof on her head. "Go be happy in Paradise, Lieutenant River Rapids, my bravest, most loyal soldier. Put down your burden and rest."

I wished that I could do more for her, but there was still a battle. The Storm King had to pay for this, too. And he would. He'd pay for it a thousand times over.

I ran out of the alley and spread my wings to fly straight to Canterlot Castle, Kristen following close beside me. No more wasting time with his troops. No more avoiding the confrontation. The time was now to meet this Storm King.

We burst through the doors of the castle and ran straight for the throne room on the second level. If the Storm King was here, that's where he'd be hiding.

The first thing I noticed was that the castle was so... quiet. It didn't sound like there was a single soul around. I could hear the din of the battle in the distance, but it sounded like something out of a dream; something I could push aside and ignore with no real effort.

"Are you ready for this, TD?" Kristen asked as we approached the large double doors to the throne room. "This is it."

"I'm more than ready," I growled. "This ends today."

We turned the corner to the throne room and instantly stopped in our tracks at the sight before us. There wasn't some massive ambush waiting or us. All we saw was a single being standing in the middle of the room holding some kind of staff and flanked by two Storm Creatures.

The Storm King.

The Storm King grinned at us and gave us a condescending wave. "Well, this has been a long time coming, hasn't it?" he said with a chuckle, spinning the staff in his hands. "We meet at last, A... whoa!"

I fired a powerful beam of magic at him that would have left him a writhing mass on the ground had it struck. Instead he swiped the staff and the beam slammed into a bright red shield and dissipated harmlessly. He just giggled at me and pointed the staff at my head.

"Now, now, Antares, there are manners that must be observed here. We're two world leaders, after all, and I am a guest in your home." He tisked at me and waggled his finger. "It won't do at all."

"Do you really think that you're going to make it out of here?" I growled, my horn crackling with electricity. "I'm going to make you wish you had never been born. You will know pain like no other once I'm through with you."

The Storm King let out a loud, cawing laugh and stomped one of his hooves on the ground. "Oh, oh this is too rich! You really think you've won here because you've gotten the upper hand on my army? No no no no no, that's ridiculous. Sure, we've suffered casualties, but that will all be moot..." His grin turned nasty and a ball of magic appeared in his staff. "When I take your magic. It's useless to resist, Antares. You've done a good job getting to this point, better than I expected, even, but you're going to lose in the end. They all will. So be a good boy, and just get it over with."

I smirked and got into a combat stance. "And what makes you think that you can take my magic? I'm still quite capable of fighting."

"Oh, I know you are, I know you are, but you seem to have forgotten a few little, tiny, filly-sized details." He motioned to the Storm Creatures, who went over to the door and pulled it open. The Storm King giggled and clapped his hands together. "And what do we have behind door number three? Come on down and show the contestant what he's won!"

Tempest emerged from the darkness of the throne room, dressed in thick black plate armor complete with a heavy helmet. Her horn crackled as she cracked her neck.

"I believe you and I have some unfinished business together, chaos god," she growled at Kristen.

"Bring it on," Kristen growled.

Before I could say anything, two more Storm Creatures emerged from the darkness carrying cages, one with Nymeria and one with Maia. Both of them had glassy eyes from the Storm King draining their magic, but when they saw me, they cried out and reached through the bars for me.

"Now, you wouldn't want me to hurt these precious little fillies, would you? We've got the third one stashed away in the room behind the throne room, but we figured you'd want to see these two. I don't have to hurt them, do I?" the Storm King said. "And I won't. All you have to do is stand still..." He reached into a pouch at his side and pulled out one of the orbs that turned beings into stone. "And let this happen. It won't hurt... I think. If I see you move..." Tempest put a hoof on Nymeria's cage and crackled electricity around her horn threateningly. "Just stand still. And that goes for you too, chaos god." I glanced over at Kristen, who hadn't moved a muscle since Tempest had come into the room. "If you move--"

Unfortunately for him, the Storm King was so focused on what he thought was Kristen, that he didn't notice that it was merely a doppelganger that Kristen had created of herself. The real Kristen appeared behind Tempest with a large rock in her hooves. She shifted slightly to get into position, then, before Tempest could do anything, she slammed the rock into the back of Tempest's head as hard as she could.

Thus the final battle for Canterlot began.

I summoned ice daggers and flung them into the necks of each of the Storm Creatures around us so they wouldn't interfere, then fired off another beam of magic at the Storm King. With surprising speed he blocked it with the staff, stopping the beam in midair. He swiped his staff and the beam of magic flew toward Nymeria's cage. I barely cast a shield spell around her in time, and the spell bounced harmlessly off of the shield.

Tempest had recovered before Kristen could make another move, and slammed her hoof into Kristen's stomach as hard as she could, knocking Kristen back into the wall. Kristen took to the air just in time to dodge Tempest's next attack while I gathered magic around me to fight the Storm King. He shot two beams of magic at me, both of whom missed, but both of them stopped in their tracks and flew straight toward me, as if magnetized to my armor. I blocked one with a spell and dodged the other before sending out another row of ice daggers at the Storm King which he easily brushed aside.

* * * *

Okay, I had hoped that my attack would take Tempest out right away, but she must have had some really good armor. Probably protected with magic against a blunt force attack like mine. Even so, she'd probably have a splitting headache when she woke up the next morning. I'm sure that TD wouldn't let her worry about that for too much longer, if he wanted to capture her at all. He might just want to execute her and be done with it.

But that meant that I had to stop her first.

I lifted up the cages with my magic and began running as fast as I could away from TD's battle with the Storm King. I didn't need them in the crossfire, and if half of TD's focus was on protecting them, it would make his battle with the Storm King that much harder.

I didn't make it more than a dozen or so steps before Tempest tackled me from behind. I turned the ground into a soft pillow-like substance so that the foals wouldn't be hurt when their cages hit the ground, then twisted around to face Tempest.

"You're really not getting on my good side here," I growled.

Tempest bared her teeth at me and got into a fighting stance. "You've been a thorn in my side since we first took over your pathetic country. It will be a pleasure breaking your spirit, even if I can't break your body. By the end you'll be begging to serve the Storm King."

"You wish." I got into my own fighting stance. "Let's end this once and for all."

Tempest's horn fired up as if she was going to fire lightning at me, but at the last second she twisted her head and sent the bolts at Nymeria and Maia. My eyes widened and I jumped in front of the bolt just in time to prevent them from frying. Even with my powers, it still hurt. A lot. I had barely recovered when Tempest began slamming her hoof into my head. In desperation I shot out my hoof and collided with Tempest's jaw. She grunted and stepped back just long enough for me to get out from under her. I encased the fillies in a shield of rock, leaving a small opening at the top so that they could breathe.

That, of course, left me open for Tempest's attack, and she slammed both of her hind hooves into my side. I flew back, but flared out my wings to stop myself from hitting the wall. I flew down at the floor and slammed my hoof into the floor. The force of the blow combined with my magic made the floor flow out like a wave, sending Tempest flying. Unfortunately, she used the momentum to back flip and land on her hooves. I had to imagine that she was either ridiculously strong, or her armor was enchanted to make it feel lighter without sacrificing any of the protection. If it was metal, though, that would prove to be a problem for her.

She charged at me again, shooting lightning out of her horn, but I took to the air and shot my hooves out. The chestplate on her armor slowly began turning red as it heated up. Tempest cried out in pain, but didn't stop charging. She leaped into the air and wrapped me in a bear hug, pressing the heated metal against my body. It didn't hurt a ton, but it certainly made me uncomfortable enough that I stopped the spell. We landed on the ground and I tried rolling to get Tempest off of me. She landed a hit right on my throat, and I gurgled as my air was cut off. I reached up to grab my throat, but Tempest pressed her hoof down harder. Without air I began panicking out of sheer instinct.

I tried struggling out of Tempest's hold, but she began repeatedly slamming her hoof into my head as hard as she could. I twitched with every blow and tried to struggle, but even as a young chaos god, the blows disoriented me. All I could do was try to struggle and ignore the pain shooting through my head that got worse every time a blow landed. I weakly tried pushing aside the hoof that was pressing against my throat, but Tempest's assault weakened any efforts of mine. It hit the point where all I could do was twitch every time a blow landed.

Then she stopped.

I sucked in air as she removed her hoof and felt her get off of me. I rolled aside and shakily got to my hooves as my strength returned. I wobbled over to a wall and took a moment to regroup. I didn't doubt that she wouldn't leave me alone for long. I shook my head like a dog and got on my hind legs in a fighting stance, turning aside just in time to see Tempest standing in front of me with a spear in her hooves. Before I could do anything she slammed it into my gut. The spear went clear through me and into the wall behind me, pinning me in place. I weakly twitched as pain shot through my body. I pushed at the spear, hoping that it would loosen, but Tempest kept pushing the spear farther into my gut until she hit something solid behind the wall.

"Stay there, chaos god," Tempest growled. "If you try to fight me again I will not stop until you wish you were dead."

I shakily opened my eyes and tried glaring at her as I tried pulling the spear out of me. She just smirked and shook her head before slamming her hoof into my stomach just below where she'd impaled me.

* * * *

I dodged an attack from the Storm King and flew down a side hallway. I took to the air and fired several powerful spells down at him, all of which he brushed aside. He had the combined magic of Celestia, Luna and Cadance at his command, and knew how to use it. This wasn't going to be like fighting Purgle. He hit me with a spell around one of my hind legs and he slammed me into a nearby wall. I cancelled out the spell before he could throw me into anything else and threw a loose chunk of stone from the ceiling at him while at the same time turning the floor into a liquid. He dodged the stone and jumped back, avoiding the floor. I expanded the spell, but he simply waved his staff over the floor and turned it into solid chunks which he began hurling at me with speeds that would have killed a normal creature.

I landed on the floor and swung my hammer at him. He dodged but I continued my assault, forcing him to retreat if he didn't want me to take his head clean off. He fired his staff at the floor again, and it turned into solid ice. With my armor I couldn't get good footing and I slipped for just a moment before using my wings to balance myself. It was all he needed to blast my hammer out of my grip. It hit the wall behind me and obliterated it, but I didn't go to get it. It would waste precious seconds, and he was probably counting on me trying to get it back.

This wasn't working. Neither of us could beat each other in a straight fight. He had my family's magic, but I had rage and desperation, not to mention some pretty powerful magic of my own. It looked like it would go until one of us dropped from sheer exhaustion. Given my alicorn stamina, it would probably be him unless he had magical augmentations.

"You're doing well, Antares, I'll give you that," the Storm King said. "It will almost be a shame for this to all end. You're more of a worthy opponent than I thought. Too bad you don't have any of your human weapons!"

"Oh yeah?" I smirked at him and lit my horn. "Are you sure about that?"

Before he could respond, I reached into a small pouch strapped to my side and pulled out the pistol I had developed back when we were still at war with Purgle. The Storm King's smirk flickered ever so slightly. He probably knew what it did, but wasn't sure if his magic could block it. I pointed it at him and began firing repeatedly. In desperation he put up a shield that began cracking with each bullet strike. He poured more magic into the shield, and it began repairing itself almost as fast as my bullets were damaging it. Eventually he couldn't hold it anymore, and the shield shattered. His eyes widened in fear and he stepped back. I gave him the evil grin that he'd given me so many times and pulled the trigger once again.

Click.

Oh for Pete's sake.

"Oh, out of ammo, are we?" the Storm King said with a condescending frown. "It was a better effort, I must admit."

I snarled and tossed the gun aside. "I don't need it to take you down. I summoned my hammer to myself again and twirled it menacingly. "It's time to finish this."

* * * *

Tears welled up in my eyes and I couldn't help but whimper as I tried to pull the spear out of my chest. Given that Tempest had impaled me in such a way that my hind hooves couldn't touch the ground, each breath sent pain coursing through me. I ground my teeth together and pulled at the spear again. It didn't budge an inch.

I chanced a glance at Tempest and saw her circling my stone shield. If she got through it while I was trapped like this then the fillies were done for. I had to get out of here before she found a way through it. Tempest tried shooting her lighting at the shield, but nothing happened. She growled and slammed her hoof into it. A small chunk flew off. Not good. Tempest took a few deep breaths, whirled around, then bucked the shield as hard as she could. Cracks began running through it, and I didn't doubt that it wouldn't take more than a couple more hits, if that. I needed to get out now.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. This wasn't going to be pleasant, but it had to be done. I grabbed the shaft of the spear and began pushing it through my side like I was the T-1000. Every instinct in my body told me that I was in a lot of pain, and maybe I was, but this was the only way out. With one final push, I slid the spear out of my side and fell to the ground just as Tempest hit the shield again. It wouldn't survive another hit.

I pushed every thought aside and got to my hooves. I grabbed the spear and turned it from a solid to a ghostly-Danny Phantom type thing. I slid the spear out of the wall, turned it solid again, then hurled it as hard as I could right at Tempest just as she was gearing up for the final blow.

To my horror, the spear merely glanced off of her back, not even scratching her armor. She paused for the briefest of moments before slowly turning her head, a look of pure, quiet rage on her face.

I, uh, may have pissed her off a little bit.

With a scream that would have freaked me out a little if I had any more emotions left, Tempest charged and rugby tackled me. She used her momentum to slam me into the ground, but I was ready for her this time. I put my hind legs onto her chest and pushed up as hard as I could, forcing her off of me. I barely had time to stand up before her hoof connected with my jaw. I took a step back to avoid it, opening me up for a nasty uppercut. I couldn't beat her hoof-to-hoof. She was just too good and too fast. I needed to think of something better and quick, but Tempest had far more experience than me and could think faster in battle.

I jumped back as Tempest threw another punch, and shoved her into the wall as she overextended her swing. She hit the wall but recovered much more quickly than I had intended, and as such, I couldn't stop myself as I ran toward her. She whirled around and bucked me in the face as hard as she could. I flew back straight through a doorway that led to a balcony. I slid across the balcony floor with enough force that I almost flew off of the side. If I did, there was no way I was stopping Tempest before she got to my nieces.

I hit the railing with enough force that I had the wind knocked out of me. I took a half second to recover, just in time to see Tempest charge at me as fast as she could. Time seemed to slow down. I had my shot here. It was now or never. I raised my hooves and slammed them on the balcony floor just as Tempest stepped onto it. The whole balcony instantly turned into glass.

Tempest stopped her charge and looked down, her jaw dropped and, for the first time since I'd met her, I could see fear in her eyes. She stood there staring at the glass floor for a few moments before slowly raising her hoof in an attempt to step back inside, but the glass underneath her began cracking from the weight. She let out a breath and gently put the hoof back on the ground.

I quickened my breathing as I stared at Tempest. I had to do it. If I didn't the battle would start again and that was the last thing I wanted. It was a battle. She was an enemy. A completely defenseless enemy, but an enemy nonetheless. She wanted to kill my nieces. Tempest slowly raised her head and the two of us made eye contact. I had never seen such fear on the face of somebody before, and to know it was me... I took in a deep, shaky breath.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

I slammed my hooves onto the balcony as hard as I could. The glass instantly shattered into small pieces. Tempest whirled around and swiped her hoof, trying to find some place to hold on to, but it was too late. She plummeted down to the ground with an ear-splitting scream that drowned out the nearby sounds of battle as she flailed around, trying to find something to break her fall.

* * * *

The Storm King and I continued trading spells, each hoping to find some weakness in the other's defenses. He'd run out of stamina before I would, but his magic was more powerful than mine. I needed something to turn the tide.

That's when a loud scream echoed through the hallway for just a moment. It sounded like Tempest. Maybe Kristen had finally beaten her. That didn't matter, though. What mattered was what the Storm King did.

He flinched, but just for a moment.

It was all I needed.

I hit him directly in the chest with a spell that knocked him back against the wall. His staff flew out of his hand and rolled out of reach. The Storm King tried getting to his knees and began looking around for his staff, but I could see it in his eyes. He knew he'd lost. I flew over to him and knocked him onto his back, pressing my hoof to his chest and pinning him down. The Storm King looked up at me with fear for just a few seconds before his confident grin returned. He chuckled and gave me a little golf clap.

"Well done, Antares. Well done indeed. I may have underestimated you."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," I said with a smirk. "Surely you know that there's nothing you can do now."

"Oh, I imagine not," he said. "Well, from one leader to another, I merely request that you make it quick. You have a lot to do, after all. You can't waste time with silly little me."

"Hm. You really think so?" I chuckled and shook my head. "No, no, I've given it some thought and I have some ideas I'd like to run by you. You're familiar with the Canterlot Gardens, I assume?"

"Oh, those?" He scoffed and waved his hand. "I burned those. On a relevant note, do you know that buzzing vultures that really buzz taste like chicken?"

"I'll bet, but you're getting off track here. You surely saw the statues in those gardens, did you not?"

"Oh, I see where this is going," he grumbled.

"Do you? I really rather doubt it." I motioned with a wing to the gardens. "We had a lot of statues there representing many things. Bravery. Honor. Valor. We're missing one, though. Do you know what that is?"

"Is this about Discord?" He rolled his eyes. "News flash: I'm not the chaos god. Your sister is, remember?"

"No, no, no, I'm not thinking about chaos. I have something else in mind. The time for needing a statue for chaos is over, but our collection is still incomplete. Do you know what we're missing?" I leaned in and put my muzzle right next to his ear. "Agony. We're missing a statue representing agony."

This time the Storm King couldn't hide his fear with false bravado. His eyes widened and he began grabbing at my hoof in a vain attempt to push it aside.

"Antares! Antares, listen to me! Let's just talk this out! Y-you don't need--"

"Don't I? After everything you've done. You're a fool." Ignoring his pleas, I grabbed his left arm in my magic. "This one's for Celestia, Luna and Cadance." With a quick spell, I snapped the arm, bending it backwards. The Storm King let out a shriek of pain that rivaled Tempest's earlier cry, but I continued, wrapping my magic around his right arm. "This one is for my daughters." I quickly broke that arm before moving onto a leg. "This one's for Blaze and Rapids." I bent the leg in the opposite direction it was intended before moving on. "This one's for my subjects. For everyone you've hurt, enslaved, tormented, killed."

I snapped the last bones, leaving him a paralyzed, screaming wreck on the ground. I cast a silence spell on him so I wouldn't have to hear the screaming anymore. I raised my hoof and hovered it over his chest.

"And this one? This one's for me."

I slammed my hoof down and felt his ribs cave in. He began twitching and still silently screaming. I took a deep breath and walked over to the throne room doors where he had dropped his stone orb. I picked it up in my magic and returned to the Storm King, who was still a writing mess on the ground. I lit my horn and set his arms and legs so that they weren't at an awkward angle.

"We'll put you in the castle gardens in a secluded, forgotten corner. No one will know you are there. No one will ever see you. Eventually you will be forgotten. Birds won't even come to land on your arms. But you will still see in there. You will still be sentient. But all you shall see for the rest of eternity is the small corner of the gardens. The world will turn and the years will pass. Countless years. Still you will be there. Alone and forgotten in your agony."

With that, I slammed the orb onto one of his broken legs. Stone began crawling up his body, and he thrashed his remaining limbs about as best as he could. Tears began dripping out the corners of his eyes as the stone traveled up his body. He only managed one final silent scream before he was nothing more than a statue, his face forever twisted in his agony.

I stared at the Storm King for a few minutes, almost as if I expected the stone to fade away and for him to get back up. That didn't happen, though. He'd never move again. I took a deep breath and went over to the staff. If he had drained my family with it, it was my best bet for releasing them. I stepped over the bodies of the Storm Creature guards and walked into the throne room.

As expected, the other three rulers were placed there, their faces still showing shock and horror. I noticed a small groove in the center of the floor and slid the staff into it and powered it up. Green lines flowed from the staff into the statues of my family, and cracks began forming in the statues as the stone fell away. I didn't look at them. After everything, how could I?

Cadance was the first to be freed, and I heard her begin breathing deeply as she came out of her statue. Luna was next, followed closely by Celestia. The room was silent for a few moments before Celestia spoke up.

"Antares?" I flinched at my name, but didn't respond. "Are... are we safe?"

I slowly nodded and lit my horn to slide my helmet off. I dropped it on the ground and turned to see the princesses staring at me with uncertain looks. I nodded again and walked over to Celestia. I sat down next to her and leaned my head against her shoulder, staring blankly at the floor.

"What of Maia and Nymeria?" Luna said, putting her hoof on my back. "Are they safe as well?"

"Yes," I whispered. "I think Kristen has them."

"Where's Flurry?" Cadance whispered.

"The Storm King said that he has her in one of the back rooms." I took a deep breath and nuzzled Celestia. "Blaze and Rapids didn't make it." I glanced over at Luna. "Neither did Night Stalker. Raining Skies was alive the last time I saw her, though."

"And... Shining Armor?"

I raised my head and looked at Cadance. I could see the fear in her eyes that I couldn't even begin to imagine. Her jaw was already wobbling as she braced herself for what she'd already figured out from my reaction.

"I'm sorry, Cadance."

Cadance's legs began shaking and tears streamed down her face as she let out a few heaving sobs. Luna put her hoof on Cadance's back, just as Cadance threw her head back and let out an Alicorn Scream, the force of it shaking the remnants of the stained glass windows. She collapsed onto the ground and Luna wrapped her hooves around her in a tight hug as Cadance sobbed into her chest. I would have cried with Celestia, Luna and Cadance if I had any emotion left. Instead I just stood up and went to one of the back rooms of the throne room.

I opened the door and the first thing I saw was a small cage in the middle of the room. Fluttery Heart was sitting in the middle shaking like a leaf. I lit my horn and dissolved the cage. Flurry Heart looked up at me and sniffled.

"Momma," she whimpered.

"It's okay," I soothed. I picked her up in my magic and put her on my back. "We're going to go see Mommy, okay? You're safe now."

We walked back into the throne room where Cadance was still sobbing. I lifted Flurry Heart off of my back and levitated her over to Cadance. Flurry Heart's jaw wobbled and she put her hoof on Cadance's leg. Cadance stopped sobbing for a moment as she registered that her child was there. She scooped her up in a tight hug and held on like they were the only two ponies left in the world.

"We should give them a moment," Celestia muttered to me. "We need to see our daughters now."

At the mention of Maia, Luna instantly shot to her hooves. I led the two of them out of the throne room and down the hallway Kristen had taken the girls. When we reached them, both girls were holding on to Kristen. She had wrapped her wings around them, but had her hooves over her ears and was shaking worse than Flurry Heart had been. Celestia and Luna instantly levitated their daughters over and hugged them close. Nymeria and Maia instantly began crying while Luna and Celestia tried to soothe them and assure them that everything was okay.

I walked over to Kristen who hadn't even acknowledged that we had arrived. She just stared ahead, shaking with her hooves over her ears. I gently grabbed one of her hooves, but she wiggled it out of my grasp and put it back over her ears.

"Don't," she whispered. "I can't until she stops. Tell her to stop."

"Tell who to stop what?"

"Tempest." Kristen let in a shaky breath. "Tell her to stop screaming."

I grimaced and wrapped a wing around her, pulling her close in what I hoped was a comforting hug.

We had done it. We had won.

Why didn't it feel good?

Finale

I walked through the battlefield, completely blank from everything that had happened. My family was safe and Equestria had been taken back. That was really all that mattered in the end. The Storm King would never hurt anyone ever again.

I circled the castle until I found what I was looking for. I found them underneath the main balcony where we would give speeches to the crowd: three pikes holding the heads of Night Stalker, Burning Blaze and Shining Armor. It seemed that they had been well-preserved, as they didn't even smell and didn't look a little decayed, despite them having been dead for almost a month. I took a deep breath and teleported them into my weapons room. If nothing else, Cadance didn't need to see this. She was emotionally destroyed enough without the sight of her husband like this.

With that settled, I continued circling the castle until I reached the destroyed balcony where Kristen and Tempest had fought. Shattered glass littered the ground and crunched underneath my hooves. I found Tempest in the middle of the shattered glass. She wasn't moving, and a few of her limbs were twisted at odd angles. I imagined that the only reason she wasn't lying in a pool of blood was her armor. I lit my horn and rolled her over so that she was facing me. Her glassy eyes stared ahead at nothing, and a quick spell revealed that she was gone.

She didn't suffer enough, in my opinion. She should have shared the fate of her master. I lifted her up with my magic and stood her up as straight as I could before casting a petrification spell on her, totally encasing her in stone. Even though she was encased in stone, I could see that her expression wasn't as lively as the other statues. Her eyes still stared ahead blankly. If one didn't know the story behind this particular statue, they'd still be able to tell that something was wrong.

Whatever. She wouldn't be able to hurt anypony again. I teleported her statue to the statue garden. I'd move her and the Storm King to a better area of the garden where they'd remain forever; one representing agony, the other the price of betrayal.

Not exactly statues we wanted to put front and center for foals touring the gardens.

With nothing else to do, I turned around and walked away from the castle. Hundreds of bodies from both sides littered the streets, and I briefly thought about taking to the air to avoid stepping on the fallen soldiers. All around me beings of every type were gathering the dead from their sides. I noticed with some distaste that my orders to leave none of them alive had not been followed. A small group of unarmed Storm Creatures were being guarded by a dozen minotaur guards. Great. Just great. Now I'd have to figure out what to do with them. It would be a war crime to just kill them all right then and there.

Granted, we were so far past that point I wasn't even sure it would matter.

I reached the plains outside of the city and saw even more destruction. The Storm Creatures here had been almost totally wiped out, and tens of thousands of them were dead on the ground. I passed by several crashed airships, their undersides splattered with blood from the Storm Creatures they had crushed.

At the end of it all, I saw my victorious army, some of them cleaning up the dead, while many just stood around and talked to each other. I could see weariness on the faces of each and every one of them as the adrenaline of battle had faded away. Some of them had even laid down for naps.

In the sky the fleet of airships just floated there. Mesud would take his back, of course, but that left the question of what to do with the enemy's. We'd probably scrap them for parts. Maybe we could see what technology we could glean from them.

We'd won, but I still had a trillion different things to do. Before we could leave a lot to the minotaurs under our supervision, but now we had the daunting task of rebuilding our own country. It was likely that we'd need a lot of help from our allies, who hadn't suffered under the Storm King. The fact that Cloudsdale had been untouched would be an invaluable advantage. Our weather production wouldn't be affected, which would help a lot.

Maybe now wasn't the time to think about all of that. My duty as a prince of Equestria meant that I should be putting my subjects over myself and my family. They had suffered just as much as we had. For the moment, though? My family needed me. At the moment I just wanted to be a pony taking care of his family, not a prince leading a nation.

I stared out at the destruction of my home and wanted nothing more than to hide from the world.

* * * *

Celestia shifted in my grasp as we laid in our bed. I could hear her light breathing as she slept. Hopefully she wasn't having any nightmares. I had avoided sleep myself for that very reason. Between nearly being killed, being sold by Capper, imprisoned by Verko, the deaths of Blaze and Rapids, seeing my family taken from me, the fighting and death and destruction... I couldn't do it. I'd be having nightmares for weeks, if not months. I wanted to avoid that as long as I could.

I glanced over at a small bed that we'd placed next to ours where Nymeria slept. From what I understood, Luna would be taking care of Nymeria, Maia and Flurry Heart to make sure that they had peaceful dreams. How she'd do it with everything that had happened, I didn't know, but dreams were her realm, so I trusted her.

As for me, I just stared at the wall, the events of the past month replaying in my head over and over again despite my best efforts. There were times like these when I cursed my alicorn memory. Seeing the bodies of Blaze and Rapids, as well as the near catatonic state of my sister would be burned into my mind's eye forever.

Celestia shifted in my grasp again and her breathing shifted, letting me know she'd woken up. She rolled over and nuzzled my chest.

"You are still awake? Have you slept at all?"

"No," I muttered. "I don't really feel like it."

"Antares, you must be exhausted."

"I feel like I'm about to drop dead, but I just... can't right now. There's too much to think about."

"You have been through much. We all have." I glanced down to see her looking up at me. "What happened after the Storm King's invasion? What did you do?"

"No. I don't want to talk about it. Not now. Maybe never." I took a deep breath and hugged my wife closer. "After everything that happened it's not important. We won, and that's all that matters."

"It is important, Antares," Celestia said a little forcefully. "It is clearly affecting you, and it is not healthy to merely bottle that up. You're my husband. I'm here to listen if you need me, and I feel that you do."

I was silent for a few moments as I chewed over her words. She didn't need to hear it right away, but she was also right that I shouldn't bottle it up. I had enough self-awareness to know that if I was keeping things in, it tended to come out sideways until I confronted whatever the problem was. I took a deep, shaky breath and squeezed my eyes shut so that I wouldn't cry. I couldn't cry in front of her.

"I... I did terrible things; things I don't know if I can ever forgive myself for. I lost myself in my rage and helplessness more times than I can count since this all began. I've killed and tortured beings who didn't pose a threat. Some of them could have just gone on with their lives, but after what they had done to me, I had to hurt them. I had to kill them."

"If this is about what you did to the Storm King, I understand," Celestia said running her hoof down my chest. "Given the circumstances, I am not completely sure that I would not have acted in a similar way."

"It was more than just him. After retreating, I ended up in Klugetown. One of the locals took advantage of me in my weakened state and sold me to the local crime lord. I killed them both. I didn't need to... but I did."

I glanced out the window in the direction of the castle gardens, where we'd placed the statues of Tempest and the Storm King in a secluded corner. It sparked a thought in me.

"Celestia, when you were in the statue, were you... aware?"

Celestia was silent for a few moments as she chewed over my words. She took a deep breath and nuzzled closer to me. "Yes. Not as aware as I am now, but I could certainly see and hear what was happening around me. I heard the cries of the foals. I heard the destruction of my home. It was torture unlike anything I had ever experienced. I couldn't even weep in fear."

I tightened my jaw and hugged my wife again. "And I just did that to him."

"I do not think I would endorse it under normal circumstances, but after what he did to Nymeria, Maia and Flurry Heart..." Celestia tone turned dark enough that my legs twitched. "He deserves it. He deserves to endure what he has done to others."

"Yeah. I know. I still have moments where I question it, though."

"Of course. Brutality of that nature is not something we gravitate towards, even in dark times. However, there comes a time when we must show that we are not a weak people just because we strive for peace. If that is what must be done so that no one like him dares attack us again, then that is what we must do."

"Yeah." I was silent for a few more minutes, just feeling my wife's body against mine. It would have relaxed me under normal circumstances. "I can't imagine what Kristen is going through. No one is really prepared to be in war, of course, but after what Tempest did to her, I'm not sure how she's going to cope."

"She is stronger than she appears to be. Whether that is merely how she is, or the result of her new form, she will endure. Of course it will not be simple. We will do whatever we can to help her."

"I put too much on her at once," I muttered. "I completely relied on her in the beginning, then asked her to do things she wasn't comfortable with."

"And she stepped up to the challenge, as you can see," Celestia pointed out. "No one is comfortable in war. I, of course, hope she never has to make those choices again."

"Yeah, me too." I took a deep breath and nuzzled deep into the pillows. "It's going to be okay, right?"

Celestia paused for one moment too many. "Yes. I think it will be."

* * * *

Dawn had just broken as I walked down the halls of Canterlot Castle. I hadn't managed to get any sleep, even after Celestia's insistence. I'm sure I'd sleep for a week at some point, but for now I had too much on my mind.

I turned the corner and stopped in my tracks when I saw Kristen staring out of one of the windows. She didn't move or acknowledge that I was there at all. She just stared into the distance at nothing in particular. I walked up to her and put my hoof on her back. She didn't even flinch.

"Hey. How are you doing?"

"How do you think?" she muttered, rubbing her stomach where Tempest had impaled her.

"Yeah, I get it," I said. "It's going to be tough, I know that, but--"

"TD... I need to go."

I frowned and took my hoof off of her back. "Go? What do you mean?"

"I mean that I need to get out of here for a while." She finally turned and looked at me. "I need some time to think things through. Process what happened."

"Are you saying going back to Baltimare and shutting yourself in your room for a bit?"

Kristen shook her head. "No. I'm leaving Equestria. I mean, nothing's going to happen to me, right? I'm the chaos god. If this can't stop me..." She grabbed at her stomach again.

"I..." My chest tightened up and I took a step back. "Kristen, I won't stop you if you feel it's right, but... come on. We're family. You're my sister. I need--"

"I just have some tings to figure out." She took a deep breath and glanced at the ground. "And... I think you do, too. This whole thing changed us both, and I don't think I like it. I know that it was a war and all, and you were saving your family, but I've seen and done things I don't know how to handle right now."

"Then stay. We'll help you through them," I insisted. "Celestia and Luna have had long lives and--"

"I know. But I'm gonna have a long one too, right? I can't stay under their hooves forever. I don't want to be completely reliant on you guys." She put her hoof on my leg. "I don't think I'll be gone forever, though."

"How long do you think you'll be gone?"

Kristen shrugged. "Months? Years? Decades? I can't really say. I'll come back when I'm ready."

Each word was like a punch to the gut, but... "If you're sure this is what you need."

"It is." Kristen took a few steps back and turned to the window again. "I'll be okay."

With that, she spread her wings and flew through the open window. I looked out and stared at her until she'd completely disappeared over the horizon.

* * * *

The trip was much shorter this time. I knew right where I was going and I didn't have my dying brother to take care of. It all seemed much less... overwhelming. Not quite a simple morning flight, but I wasn't scared that we'd all die.

It was on the third straight day of flying that I reached my destination. I landed right at the edge of the lake and hopped in. The feeling of the water pressure around me was relaxing, and I just floated for a bit under the water. After a few minutes, I began pushing myself through the water with my wings. I remembered where I needed to go. I reached the draped seaweed and pushed through.

I was instantly greeted with the sight of the seaponies going about their day. Despite what the Storm King had done to them, they were very content. Happy, even. For the first time in a long time, I managed a genuine smile. Maybe this could work out.

"Kristen!"

I didn't even have time to react before I was tackled and grabbed in a crushing hug. The force sent both of us flying, but I stopped us with my wings before we hit a wall.

"Hey, Skystar. How are you?"

"I'm so, so, great now!" Skystar squeed. "You're back!"

"Told you I would," I chuckled while trying to wiggle out of her oddly strong grip. "I have a little bit of news for you guys, too."

"Ooh!" Skystar instantly let me go and swam back a few feet. "What happened? What's your news?"

I looked around us and noticed that the various seaponies in the area had stopped their days to look at the commotion the two of us had made. Even Queen Novo had swam out of her throne room and looked at us in interest.

"It's... um, it's about the Storm King." The seaponies all gasped and began muttering among themselves, which gave me a minute to organize my thoughts. "He, uh... well, the other nations on land all got together and fought him. And we won. We defeated him, and he's never going to bother anybody ever again. We're safe."

A deafening cheer instantly went through the crowd, and I didn't react in time to avoid another crushing hug from Skystar. I weakly chuckled and managed to slide my forelegs out of her grip to hug her back. Novo swam up to us, and I actually saw a genuine smile on her face.

"Antares succeeded? Truly?"

I nodded back. "Yeah. He freed Equestria and the rest of the rulers. It wasn't easy, but... he's not going to hurt anyone else."

"There is no chance?"

I shook my head. "We have him trapped in stone. Even if he did somehow manage to escape that, we completely broke his body. He's not going to recover. He wouldn't even have an army to lead."

Novo took in a deep breath and lowered her shoulders as she exhaled. I could tell that I'd just lifted a huge weight off of her back. She took another moment, then smiled at me again. "Then we have much to do. We can return to the surface safely now. We can rebuild."

"Are you gonna stay, Kristen?" Skystar squeed. "Are you?"

"Yeah, if you'll have me."

"Of course, Princess. Stay as long as you'd like," Novo said.

"Good, then I'll be around for a little while, then. I'll help you rebuild."

"We welcome your help," Novo said, putting a flipper on my shoulder.

I smiled back at her as Skystar let out happy sobs. I hugged her back and closed my eyes, feeling for the first time in a while that things might just be okay.