Order-naries: Storm-chased

Chapters

1. Late to the Party
2. Splitting the Party
4. Sneaky Scouty Party
5. Party Train's Derailed
6. Ain't No Party Like a Changeling Party
7. Party Central Briefing
8. Crystal Party Jam
9. Party Central Blowout
10. Parties Reunited
Epilogue: Personal Princess Interview
3. All Aboard the Party Train

1. Late to the Party

Two mirrors stood on opposite sides of an otherwise empty room near the heart of Princess Twilight’s castle in Ponyville. One mirror had a purple frame shaped like an elongated horseshoe and was further encased by a machine of eclectic construction. The other had a more modest-looking frame of Zap Apple wood wrapped in gold and copper wires and dozens of gems in a range of sizes and colors. As different as the mirrors appeared, they had a similar purpose in common: each was actually a portal to another universe. Twilight kept them together in this room so they would be out of sight of the general populous so ponies would not wander into strange and potentially dangerous realities unprepared.

On this particular day, a note had been stuck to the glass of the second mirror, at about the height of a pony reared back on its hind legs. The note remained put as the gems on the frame began to glow and the glass rippled, at least until an ash-grey unicorn stallion with a red and orange, flame-styled mane and wearing a necklace made of gemstones strung together with gold and copper wire in arcane patterns began to emerge through the mirror, walking on his hind legs. The note stuck to his face as he came through, startling him into losing his balance and rolling to the side.

“Skvetch,” the stallion swore, pawing at his face until the note transferred to his hoof.

Four more ponies emerged from the mirror one at a time, each landing on all fours with much more decorum than the first. They were a golden-yellow unicorn pegasus mare with a short brown mane, a unicorn stallion of matching colors, a brown earth pony mare with a messy mud-brown mane, and finally a turquoise pegasus mare with russet mane and a curiously dog-like tail. They all looked bemusedly at the grey unicorn as he got to his hooves and glared at the note.

“What do you have there, Ash?” asked Gold Heart, the yellow pegasus.

“Somebody’s idea of a prank,” Ashen Blaze replied. “Some dragon’s, I should say, judging by the signature. ‘Hey Order-naries,’” he read, “‘If you’re reading this, then everypony’s probably in Canterlot already. Better shake a leg if you don’t want to miss the Friendship Festival.’ Signed, Spike.”

The brown pony, Gale, rolled her eyes. “I knew it,” she said, “I knew we were running late. Great job, Ash.”

Ash shook the note off his hoof and snorted. “I’m sorry,” he said, “It’s not like I planned to find that lousy Nipponese Grudge-ghost in my shower this morning!” he said.

“Yeah,” said Soul Mage, the yellow unicorn, “and you can’t leave those things uncontained. How late could we be, anyway?”

“It took us forty-five minutes just to wrangle the thing into a closet,” Gale said. “And that’s not counting having to then drive to Samantha’s house and pick her up and then get back to my place and open the portal.”

Gold Heart cleared her throat and gestured pointedly to the door with a wing. “Perhaps we could be walking while having this discussion?” she said. Gale coughed into a hoof and nodded with an embarrassed look, and Soul took the lead as the group filed out of the room and headed for the castle’s entryway.

“Say,” the turquoise pegasus, who was known as Samantha Smith on the other side of the mirror portal, spoke up, “I almost forgot to ask this, but, do I get a pony code-name like the four of you?”

“I didn’t know you wanted one, Sam,” Ash said, giving her a sideways look.

“Well, that’s the thing here, isn’t it?” Sam asked. “When you step into this world and change from human to magical talking horse, you take a new name to go with the change, right?”

“Not… exactly,” Soul said. “The ‘codename’ bit came from when we dropped into another magical pony world earlier in the Tau’rin Chain and the locals couldn’t seem to wrap their minds around names like ‘Ray,’ ‘Rachelle,’ and ‘Carmilla.’ Come to think of it, ‘Ashen Blaze’ wasn’t an easy sell either, but the Meis of Stubbornness there decided to tough it out.” Ash snorted and rolled his eyes, but a small smile gave lie to his apparent irritation. “Then when we wound up here,” Soul continued, “we used the pony names again to try and sidestep any awkwardness. By the time we figured out that wasn’t necessary, though, the names had stuck.”

Sam tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips. “Still,” she said, “it doesn’t seem right not to have a pony name…”

“No one’s stopping you,” Ash pointed out. “Just, try to pick one out before we get to Canterlot, all right?”

“No problem,” Sam said with confidence. A few seconds later, however, she got a sheepish look and asked, “Any suggestions?”

“Wolfy,” Soul Mage said quickly. Everypony gave him a flat look. “How about Lady Lupine?”

“No,” Samantha said.

Soul’s eyes started to glint with mischief. “Wolfette,” he suggested, grinning.

“No,” Sam said, sharply.

“Lupony.”

“Soul,” Sam said, clearly irritated.

Undaunted, Soul pressed on with, “Occasional Doggo.”

“Ray M’Dale,” Samantha snapped, baring a set of oddly sharp teeth, “so help me, if you don’t make a serious suggestion or shut up, I will bite you and we’ll find out if lycanthropy is transmittable in this universe!”

Soul’s cheeky grin didn’t waver, although he did draw a hoof across his mouth in a zipping motion.

When the group reached the front doors, they found another note taped to the door and a pouch of money on a small table nearby. Heart grabbed the note and read it: “Dear Order-naries and friends, I’ve ordered the skies over Canterlot remain clear because of all the fireworks and aerial shows we have planned for the festival. That means you’ll have to take the train, so I’ve left you bits for tickets. Hopefully it’s enough, but if not, feel free to leverage our connection to cover the shortfall. Your friend, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.”

“We are bringing that note with us,” Ash said as he grabbed the money pouch in his magic. “Having a princess’s permission to name-drop her in writing will make for a short argument, if it comes to that.” He opened the pouch and looked inside. “Not that that’s likely,” he said.

“Hey,” Gale said, picking up something that had been under the pouch, “this looks like a train schedule. Let’s see…” She scanned down the list quickly, and then looked around for a clock. Finding one, she did some quick calculations, and then headed for the door at a brisk trot. “Move your flanks, ponies,” she said. “Next train to Canterlot leaves in twenty minutes!”

Fifteen minutes later, the five ponies arrived at the train platform to find a six-car train waiting there. Ash, the twins, and Sam started toward the ticket window, but something caught Gale’s attention and drew her toward the engine. As she neared the engine, she realized what was bugging her: the train was silent. There was no bell ringing to alert would-be passengers of the looming departure time, no low rumble of pressurized steam in the boiler, and none of the other small, persistent sounds of an idling steam-powered locomotive. The presence of two earth ponies, one grey with a brown mane and dressed in a train conductor’s uniform and other dusty green and wearing an outfit befitting an engineer, putting their heads together over one of the drive-pistons, all but confirmed Gale’s suspicion that the train was broken.

Holding in a sigh, Gale stepped right up next to the two ponies and examined the piston herself. “What seems to be the problem here, gentle-colts?” she asked.

“Ah,” the conductor said, quickly masking his surprise at Gale’s intrusion, “our apologies ma’am, but I’m afraid there’s going to be a bit of a delay in departing.”

“I figured that much,” Gale deadpanned. She leaned her head even closer to the engine and started poking about with a hoof. “That’s why I asked what the problem was. Leaky seal in the piston? Lost a bolt somewhere? Wait…” she grasped the drive-shaft linking the piston to the wheels and managed to jiggle it a little without much effort. “Oh yeah,” she said. “That’s just itching to come completely off at the worst time. If you’ve got some basic tools and spare nuts and bolts, I can fix it up and get us on our way no more than ten minutes behind schedule.”

“I’m sorry,” the conductor said, “but, who are you? We can’t just let any pony fiddle with our engine, Miss.”

Sam had wandered over in time to catch the question, and she provided the answer before Gale could respond for herself. “She’s Gale, of the Order-naries,” the pegasus said, “and a master mechanic to boot. Note the cutie mark.” She pointed to the wrench on Gale’s flank.

The conductor and engineer both looked at Gale’s cutie mark, and then at each other. “That certainly does give her claim some merit, Iron Horse,” the Engineer said.

“I guess it does, Coal Hob,” the conductor replied. Coal Hob climbed up into the engine and emerged a minute later with a toolbox in his mouth. “All right, Gale,” Iron Horse said, nodding at her, “let’s see what you’ve got.”

Gale gave a nod of gratitude to Sam, and, as Coal Hob set the toolbox down on the ground, turned her full attention to her task.

A little over eight minutes later, Gale joined the rest of the group in the first train car and flopped on her back onto a seat with a satisfied grunt. “Well, it’s not perfect,” she declared, “but I can guarantee this train won’t be falling apart on us today.”

Ash raised an eyebrow. “Do my ears deceive me,” he said, “or did you just admit to stopping short of perfection in a repair job?”

Gale lifted her head and gave Ash a glare. “I don’t have the tools – or the time – to try and fix the problem any better than I did,” she said. “And what I did is more than good enough for the train to get to Canterlot and then to a yard for a full repair.”

“I’m just a little surprised we didn’t have to stop you from dismantling the engine to fix a faulty spring or something,” Ash said.

Gale sat upright. “I have not tranced out that bad in years, Ash,” she snapped, “and you know it!”

Gold Heart let out a long, frustrated growl that grabbed everypony’s attention. “Need I remind you all of the theme of the festival we’re heading toward?” she asked through gritted teeth as she stepped between Ash and Gale’s seats.

“Friendship?” Soul offered cautiously.

“Exactly,” Heart said. “So, although we’re all a little grumpy at running late, it’s time we stopped biting each other’s heads off! Lest we give all the ponies a bad first impression of our friendship.” She leveled a hard look at Ash, Gale, Soul, and Sam in turn, causing each to rethink making a comment in their defense.

“You’re right, Heart,” Gale said at length. “We all know Soul has a sharp wit that won’t quit, and Ash and I only take digs at each other to keep our egos in check, but strangers won’t understand that. And since I’ve been the crankiest of us all, I’ll be the first to apologize. Sorry, Ash, for blaming you for something out of your control.”

“I’m sorry for going a little too far a minute ago,” Ash responded. “You did a great job fixing the train so fast.”

“Sam,” Soul said, “I’m sorry I pushed your wolf button too many time in a row.”

“Hmph,” Sam said with a superior air. “I don’t think I have an apology to offer. I was just reacting to your tease, after all.”

“You threatened to bite me,” Soul countered.

“You pushed my buttons!”

“I just apologized for that.”

“Oi!” Heart shouted, glancing between her brother and turquoise friend.

Soul and Sam shared a look and said, at the same time, “Truce,” then shared a smile. Gold Heart sighed.

The train chugged its way up the mountain toward Canterlot at a quick but steady pace. Most of the Order-naries had settled in for the ride, meditating or watching the scenery rush by, but Sam was resisting the urge to bite through the pencil gripped in her mouth as she glared at the pad of paper resting in front of her. She lowered her head to bring pencil to paper and started to write, but the lead snapped, and she spat the pencil out in frustration. “You guys are certain this how ponies write things?” she asked.

“Earth ponies and pegasi at least,” Soul said, getting out of his seat slowly. “And young unicorns that haven’t mastered levitation spells yet,” he added as he reached Sam’s seat and looked at her paper. “Nice scribbles,” he said.

“I was trying to jot down ideas for my pony code-name,” Sam grumbled. “But… seriously, with my mouth?”

“Never underestimate the dexterity of Equestria ponies,” Gale said.

Sam’s eyes traced the path her pencil had taken when she’d spat it away and spotted it under the seat across the aisle from hers. “Feh,” she said, “some journalist I’ll be if I can’t take notes on this festival.”

Ash looked up from his meditation. “You were planning an article on the Friendship Festival?” he asked, confused. “Where would you publish it? Even the Unseen Happenings doesn’t concern itself with news that happens outside our own universe.”

“I’ll have you know,” Sam said, “I’ve been stockpiling every story about Equestria I’ve been able to squeeze out of the four of you. All for my own amusement, I swear,” she added when Ash and Gale both gave her scathing looks. “From what little I’ve seen of this world so far, I already understand why you don’t want all of Taryn knowing how to get here and turning it into a tourist destination or something.”

“I also appreciate not having tons of people queued up in my backyard to use the portal,” Gale said pointedly.

“Oh!” Soul said suddenly, “Sam! I just came up with a name idea.”

“Really,” Sam said, suspicious.

“This one’s a serious suggestion,” Soul said, waving a hoof. “But, uh, it might sound silly at first blush. Keep in mind, we know of ponies who, in all earnestness, go by things like ‘Ditzy Doo’ and ‘Fancy Pants.’”

“Not to mention our good conductor on this train,” Gale added, “Iron Horse.”

Soul did a double-take. “Yes, thank you, Gale,” he said after a moment.

Sam propped her head up on a hoof and gestured at Soul with a wing. “Go on, then,” she said.

“Looping Lines,” Soul declared. “‘Loopy’ for short, if you can stand that.”

The turquoise pegasus mulled the idea over for a short while. “Fair,” she said, “but you just couldn’t resist slipping a wolf pun in, could you, Soul?”

Soul Mage cocked his head in confusion. “I what?”

“Loopy sounds just like Lupé, which in turn is not too far from ‘lupine,’ and thus wolf,” Sam said.

Soul pointed a hoof at Sam. “You made that connection, not me,” he said. “And it’s one too many steps removed to be a proper pun anyway.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say,” she said. “Still, it is better than anything I’ve come up with. Call me Looping Lines.”

The door at the back of the car slid open and Iron Horse walked in with a troubled look on his face. “Excuse me, folks,” he said, “but I’m not sure if we’ll be able to stop at Canterlot today.”

“Whyever not?” Ash asked as everypony looked at the conductor with a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

“Well…” Iron said nervously. “I just got word through… our semaphore that there’s trouble brewing in the city and it might be best to just run straight on through without stopping at the station.”

“What sort of trouble?” Ash pressed, while Heart and Soul went to the windows to try and see if they could see anything.

“Remind me, brother,” Heart said, “but didn’t Twilight’s note say something about keeping the skies clear over Canterlot?”

“It did, dear sister,” Soul replied, grimly.

“Details, please, oh cagey pair,” Gale said.

The twins looked at the rest of the group and pointed out the window in unison. “Angry dark clouds,” Soul said. “The kind of weather that never portends good for the ol’ city.”

“Zeppelins too,” Heart added. “Dark and armored, and probably armed to boot.”

Ash, Gale, and the newly-dubbed Looping Lines crowded to the windows to see for themselves. “Yep,” Ash said, “that’s not a pony party atmosphere at all.” He turned to Iron Horse and said, “Conductor, we are definitely getting off at Canterlot.”

“You want to go into that?” Iron Horse asked, incredulous, “On purpose?! Who are you ponies?”

“I’m pretty sure I told you earlier,” Loopy answered. “You’re looking at the Order-naries: Ashen Blaze, Gold Heart, Soul Mage, and Gale. Had a hoof in saving Equestria on at least a couple of occasions, I believe.”

The conductor looked at each member of the group with confusion for a few seconds, but then his eyes went wide and his ears stiffened. “Oh!” he exclaimed, “Right, you were all involved in defeating the Changelings at Chr- er, the second invasion!”

“We played a small part during the first one too,” Ash said dully, “but whatever. You know us now, right? We’re the kind of pony that runs into danger, not from it.”

Iron Horse nodded, a look of sudden determination in his eyes. “Right,” he said, “I’ll go tell Coal Hob to stop at Canterlot Station.”

2. Splitting the Party

“Now arriving at Canterlot Station,” Iron Horse announced as the train slowed to a stop. “I sure hope you ponies know what you’re doing,” he added in a mutter.

“No worries, Train-horse,” Soul Mage said, lightly shoulder-checking the conductor as he walked by to join the rest of the group by the exit doors. “We’ve tussled with Discord and darkness-enhanced Changelings, and kicking demon butt is practically our day-job. Whatever’s out there can’t be that bad.”

“Nevertheless,” Ashen Blaze said, “let’s be cautious.” He telekinetically fetched the pencil Looping Lines had dropped earlier, cast a spell to sharpen it, and sketched a sigil of complex, knotted loops on a sheet of paper, which he then floated over to a nearby bench. “Don’t disturb that, please,” he told Iron Horse. “It’s a way-point marker for my teleportation spell. If we need to make a quick exit, we’ll be back here in a flash.”

Iron Horse eyed the sigil, and then gave Ash a sour look. “We’ll just sit here and keep the train ready to go at a moment’s notice then, sir?” he asked.

“Most appreciated,” Ash said, nodding. He went over to the doors, starting tracing another, simpler sigil on the ground with his hoof, and then gripped the doors with his magic. “Everyone in position?” he asked.

“Ready,” the twins said, standing to either side of Ash, a tendril of ethereal blue magic linking them and surrounding Gold Heart’s hooves and Soul’s horn.

“Just realized I don’t have my gel launcher,” Gale said.

Looping Lines growled, her dog-like tail swishing slowly back and forth. Ash cast a brief glance at her, and then threw the doors open. Two bulky, shaggy-furred, bipedal creatures wearing thick armor and face-obscuring helmets were standing just outside, and both took a startled step back when the doors opened suddenly. Ash took advantage of their surprise to finish his sigil sketching and unleashing a pair of orange blasts from his horn and the central gem of his necklace. Each magic blast struck one of the creatures in the chest, but their armor absorbed all the force, glowing briefly orange.

“Welp,” Ash said, taking a step back as Heart and Soul made their move, shooting ethereal bolts of blue at the heads of the creatures. The bolts passed through the helmets without resistance, and the two creatures fell senselessly into each other. Ash gave them a nudge with his hooves so that they toppled backwards and mostly cleared the doorway for the ponies to exit. “Magic resistant armor,” Ash noted as he stepped out onto the platform. “Wise choice for invading the heart of a kingdom of magic-slinging ponies.”

“Well, they didn’t count on spiriter power,” Soul Mage said, exiting with a smug spring in his step.

Gale knelt down next to the creatures and examined their armor closely, tapping it in multiple places and listening to the sounds. “It’s definitely more than common steel,” she said, “but I don’t know what the anti-magic component could be. It’s not a Magebane derivative; that I'm certain of.”

Ash gripped one of the creatures’ helmets in his magic and managed to pull it off, revealing a horned, vaguely goat-like face. “I guess it’s less generally anti-magic and more resistant to magical force,” he said, discarding the helmet. “Now, what are these guys?”

Soul Mage and Loopy both looked the beasts over. “Hooved feet on digitigrade legs, thick, rough hair,” Soul mused, and then he and Loopy rolled one of them over. “Not much of a tail…”

“Very goatish,” Loopy said. “Yet oddly humanoid. Some sort of… goat minotaur?”

“No such thing,” Soul said. “And Equestria has minotaurs, somehow. No, this might be… Ah!” he stomped a hoof and grinned. “Satyrs!” he declared. “Hellenic mythic race, part man, part goat, all mischief.”

“You sure?” Heart asked. “I thought Satyrs were not as… thick as these guys.” She indicated the broad shoulders on the beasts.

“Different universe, different rules,” Soul said dismissively. “Maybe they call themselves something else, but I don’t care. They’re satyrs.”

“And we have more important questions,” Gale said. “Like, where’d they come from, why are they in Canterlot, and how am I going to be of any use without a freaking gel launcher?!”

“Shh,” Ash said, gesturing for quiet. “We’re going to get the lay of the land first, avoid fighting until we know who’s in charge and what’s happened to everypony. Particularly, the Princesses and the Element Bearers.”

“Right, right,” Gale murmured, shaking her head. “My adrenaline’s just up. Lead on, capitano.”

After stuffing the two unconscious soldiers into the station’s ticket booth and sealing the door with a spell, the Order-naries crept out onto the streets and started working their way toward the center of the city, sticking to shadowed areas whenever possible. When they reached a corner that turned onto a main thoroughfare, Ash poked his head out for a look around and bit back an angry curse at what he saw. Ponies were locked in cages along either side of the street, some bearing looks of defiance but most apparently resigned to their fate. A satyr soldier patrolled the street, locking eyes with each prisoner he passed and kicking the cage of anypony who dared glare back.

Two more satyrs entered the street from the far end, dragging a blue unicorn mare weighed down with chains, a muzzle, and a magic suppressor clamped to her horn. Despite her bindings, the unicorn was putting up a serious fight, bracing her hooves against any divot in the cobblestones she could find purchase in and tossing her head like a madpony. The soldiers dragged her to an empty cage, shoved her inside, and then reached in to remove the muzzle, magic suppressor, and most of the chains after locking her in.

“Ha ha!” the unicorn laughed defiantly, “Do you think this setback will stop the Great and Powerful Trixie? I am the master of the stage, mistress of illusion, and escape artist extraordinaire! Your pitiful cages can’t contain the Great and Powerful Trrixie!” One of the soldiers gave the cage a hard rattling, and then he and his buddy walked off with an unconcerned air, nodding briefly to the patrolling sentry.

“Sounds like some things haven’t changed,” Soul deadpanned, sneaking a look under Ash’s head.

“I hope so,” Ash said, pulling back behind cover and bringing Soul with him. “Get ready,” Ash said, charging his horn. Soul nodded, linking up with his sister and taking aim. Ash released his magic in a little spark that flew a short way into the intersection before exploding with a quiet but sharp crack. A few seconds later, the patrolling satyr came into view, investigating the noise, and Soul dropped him with a spirit blast to the head.

“Oh,” Looping Lines said in an eager whisper, as the group rounded the corner and headed for Trixie’s cage. “I always forget how amazing it is to see you guys at work.”

The caged ponies all perked up as the Order-naries walked down the street, and they started talking to one another.

“Look! The Storm King hasn’t got us all yet.”

“I wonder who they are?”

“The pegasus and unicorn with the matching colors, I think they were part of the Princesses’ personal guard some years back.”

“Wait, isn’t that Gale, the one who invented those gel cannons the Guard carry sometimes?”

Trixie’s jaw dropped as the group stopped in front of her cage. “Well well,” she said, recovering her aplomb quickly and leaning nonchalantly against the side of her cage, “if it isn’t Equestria’s back-up heroes, the Order-naries. Have you ever got a sense for dramatic timing.”

“We try, Trixie, we try,” Soul responded.

“What happened here?” Gale asked.

Trixie sighed and sat down, rolling her eyes skyward in dramatic fashion. “Well,” she said, “everything was going just perfect for Princess Twilight’s big festival. The stage for Songbird Serenade’s performance was being set up, the sky had been cleared of every last lingering cloud, the food was getting laid out, there was this big old song-and-dance number highlighting the contributions of each of Twilight’s closest friends… typical Ponyville things but on a bigger scale, you know?

“Next thing we know, this black storm front rolls in out of nowhere ahead of the first of those eyesore blimps. This obnoxious little… badger thing came out first, and he said these brutes represent someone called the Storm King, and then introduced the king’s right-hoof mare, Tempest Shadow.”

“Sounds like your kind of name, Ash,” Loopy said in an aside.

Trixie paused in thought for a second. “She did have this dead-serious attitude that kinda reminds me of you, Ash,” she said. Ash grunted in mild annoyance. “But anyway,” Trixie continued, waving the tangent aside, “all the Princesses stepped up to confront her about her intentions, and she, calm as you like, demanded they give up their magic to her. Such inspiring confidence from such an evil pony, especially with her horn broken as it was.

“Naturally, the Princesses refused, so Tempest called in more airships and then attacked. In all the confusion, I didn’t see exactly what happened, but in the end, three of the Princesses had turned to stone and Twilight and her friends were missing. They must have got away, because a little while later, while the goons were still rounding up ponies, I saw Tempest Shadow take her airship and head off to the south. That was just a little bit ago; I got jumped and chained up about the same time Tempest took off.”

“South, huh?” Ash said. “I wonder if we could catch up?”

“In what vehicle?” Soul asked. “Our train’s pointed the wrong way right now, and if this chase goes farther than the edge of the Badlands, we’ll be out of track.”

“Could go back home for the Lirin,” Ash mused, then shook his head. “No, the trail would be cold by the time we got back here after taking the long way ‘round. Besides, there’s enough worth fixing around here. Trixie, has this Storm King fellow shown up in person yet?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” Trixie said.

Ash nodded, smiling slyly. “And the second-in-command is off chasing Twilight, most likely,” he said. “Chain of command here should be weak at the moment, then. Good time to strike, if we can find the right targets. Come on, team!” He took off down the street at a gallop. Soul, Gale, and Loopy were hard on his heels, but Heart followed with some hesitancy, looking back at Trixie and the other caged ponies.

“Hold it!” Trixie shouted. “You can’t just leave me…” She glanced around at her fellow prisoners. “You can’t just leave us here like this!”

“Sorry, Trix,” Ash called back. “I don’t want the enemy on high alert because of a mass breakout just yet. This is still a stealth mission, but we’ll be back for you.”

“I can be stealthy!” Trixie shouted back. “I can be the stealthiest pony you’ve never seen! Just get me out of this cage!”

“What happened to ‘escape artist extraordinaire’?” Soul shot back, grinning. Trixie glared at him, fuming.

“Shh!” Somepony near the end of the street hissed, “I think I hear soldiers coming!” Ash, Trixie, and Soul shared a chagrined look, and then the Order-naries took off, with Heart casting one last, apologetic look toward Trixie.

“Hold up a sec,” Gale said, stopping suddenly just inside the entrance to an alley behind a row of shops in a higher part of Canterlot. “I think there’s a Royal Guard station around here.”

“So, what?” Loopy asked.

“The Guard adopted a saddle-based version of my gel launcher,” Gale answered. “They don’t use all the same types of gels that I do, but they do have Magebane and a sticky type that might be useful.”

“Uh, Gale,” Heart said, “I get where you’re coming from, but the gel launcher has never been a very… stealthy piece of equipment, you know?”

Gale waved a dismissive hoof and crept back out into the street, looking around. “We aren’t going to be creeping around forever,” she said, “and I’d rather like to be useful when it finally comes time for a fight.”

“Can’t it wait until after we have something to fight?” Soul asked.

“Actually,” Ash said, “I think we should check out the Guard stations. I’m curious how they’re holding up against this occupation of the city they’re supposed to protect.”

Gale smiled at the ash-grey unicorn. “Thank you, Ash,” she said. She led the way as the team crept back out of the alley and down a street she thought she remembered.

Gale’s memory proved accurate, for they soon came in sight of a building bearing the banners of the Royal Guard. It was a building under siege, however, as a large squad of the Storm King’s soldiers were blasting away with lightning-spewing lances at a number of magical barriers that had been erected over the doors and every window that faced the street. Ponies dressed in Royal Guard armor occasionally appeared in the windows long enough to cast a spell or fire globs of either white or beige-yellow gel at the attackers. The white gel stuck to whatever it hit, which turned out to be the ground more often than not, while the other kind caused the satyrs’ lances to short out for a couple seconds. The spells were just absorbed by the attacker’s armor and shields.

The Order-naries hung back and watched the battle for a couple of minutes, until Gale let out a frustrated snort and turned to walk away. “Forget it,” she said, “they’re going to need every launcher they’ve got in there if they’re going to hold out.”

“We could lend a hoof,” Heart pointed out.

Gale glanced back at the station, frowning. “Yes, but at the risk of one of those goons getting away to alert whoever’s in charge? Arming myself isn’t worth that. The Guard can hold this stalemate, and if the other stations are in the same situation, that’s that many fewer soldiers we’ll have to sneak around.”

“This is starting to leave a sour taste in my mouth,” Heart muttered as the Order-naries slinked away. “We’re heroes; we’re supposed to help in situations like this.”

“In good time, Gold Heart,” Ash assured her. “As soon as we find the best place to strike, for the biggest impact.”

There weren’t many satyr soldiers patrolling the streets, considering the size of the city, so the Order-naries had little trouble getting to Canterlot Castle. There, however, the enemy presence was thick, with four satyrs posted at the main gates and half a dozen others at other obvious points of entry. “How are we going to get in?” Loopy wondered.

“Ash carved a waypoint into one of the lower corridors back during our first, extended stay in this universe,” Soul said.

“That’s long since degraded,” Ash said. “But if we get up high enough, I might be able to teleport us by line-of-sight.”

Heart looked up, starting to spread her wings for flight, then gasped and pushed the group deeper into cover as she saw a zeppelin flying overhead, toward the castle. “They’ve got air support, remember?” Heart said. “We’ll be spotted if we go too high.”

The group watched as the zeppelin docked at the lower viewing platform, and then Soul poked his head out a little to survey the guards by the castle entrances again. “There’s only one goon at ‘Stella Moon’s’ garden gate,” he said.

“Who?” Loopy asked.

“Eh…” Soul said, glancing warily at the turquoise pegasus. “Stella is… a pony Heart and I know,” he said. “Amateur journalist with royal connections. That gate there was her preferred way to slip in and out of the castle grounds without attracting attention.”

“So, what?” Gale asked. “We can’t attack that guard; he’s in sight of the next guard over.”

“We can’t attack from the front,” Soul said, smirking, “but a pegasus could probably get over the wall without being spotted…”

“On it,” Heart said, smiling eagerly as she slipped away. A minute later, she reappeared gliding silently through the air, barely clearing the top of the garden wall and dropping down behind it. The guard at the gate continued to stand at its post, unaware of any intrusion until an ethereal blue blast of light emerged from his chest and he fell over. Heart opened the gate and started dragging the guard inside as the rest of the team darted across the street and into the castle gardens.

“Now, where do we go from here?” Gale asked. “Throne room? Guard barracks? Dungeon?”

“The main stage of festival was going to be on the lower viewing platform,” Ash said, “and that’s probably where the initial attack occurred, if I understand Trixie’s story right. There might still be clues there.”

Loopy nudged the unconscious satyr with a hoof. “Do you think these guys speak our language?” she wondered.

“Possibly,” Ash said. “The second-in-command of this thing is apparently a unicorn, and Trixie did mention a… badger spokesman of some kind. At the least, the common soldier should understand Equestrian.” He lightly kicked the satyr as well and looked at Heart and Soul. “How long does a soulshock usually last, again?” he asked.

“About an hour, if the shot goes through the heart,” Soul answered. “Headshots vary depending on the creature.”

“Skvetch,” Ash muttered. “Better go find ourselves a different goon to interrogate, then.”

The lower halls of the castle were crawling with Satyrs, but never in groups smaller than two or three. With careful timing and liberal use of Ash’s teleportation spell, the Order-naries worked their way from the gardens to the kitchens, and from there up a set of back stairs to the residential wing, which turned out to be totally empty.

“Seriously, no one’s even claimed Celestia’s or Luna’s suites?” Soul asked, bemused, emerging from the latter. “I’m getting the feeling the Storm King isn’t actually intending to occupy the castle. So why the heavy guard presence below?”

“I’m starting to wonder if this ‘Storm King’ actually exists,” Looping Lines said. “What if Tempest Shadow’s the one actually in charge, and the Storm King is just something she made up to sound intimidating?”

“She’d be one odd conqueror if that were true,” Ash said. “I mean, her own name’s got enough edginess to convince ponies she’s the leader of this… storm army.” He approached a set of doors at the end of a hallway and tried the handle. “Oh, locked, are you?” he said, grinning. He called up his magic and focused it into the keyhole until the lock clicked. Opening the door carefully, Ash peered inside. “Ha!” he exclaimed, throwing the doors open, “Jackpot!” The rest of the Order-naries followed him inside to find a long room that was empty save for three figures in dark, jagged stone: the Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. All three had expressions of terror on their faces, indicating that the process of petrification had not been instantaneous, or pleasant. Ash was prancing about the room, smiling gleefully in defiance of the creepy atmosphere.

“What are you grinning about, Ash?” Heart asked sharply. “This is awful!”

“Awful?” Ash replied, stopping in the middle of the three statues and gesturing about. “All three of the Princesses known to have been captured, here in one place with nopony else around? There couldn’t be a better place for us to be right now!”

Heart’s eyes widened. “Oh!” she said, giving herself a light slap upside the head. “Duh.”

“I doubt it’s a coincidence they’re all here together,” Soul said. “Check out the floor. Each Princess it at the end of a pointed ellipse that meets the others at a common point.”

Ash examined the diagram on the floor. “Trixie did say that Tempest demanded the Princesses’ magic,” he said. “These lines don’t form a pattern I recognize, but it must be for a ritual to gather and focus the magic from four targets into a single point. Probably to charge some artifact or another.”

“Oh dear,” Loopy said.

“They’re missing one Princess, though,” Heart said, pointing to the empty spot on the fourth point of the diagram. “Twilight Sparkle.”

Ash nodded, grinning. “And they’ll be missing all four,” he said, “once I untangle the petrification spell holding these three. Watch the doors,” he instructed, indicating both the way they’d come in and the door leading to a balcony at the other end of the room.

“Ex-cuse me?” a voice snapped from the hallway. Everypony looked up as a satyr, taller and lankier than the soldiers, wearing black and blue armor with no helmet to cover his blue-eyed face, and carrying a thin staff with a long, glowing blue gem set in the top, strode into the room. He surveyed the room with an expression that promised trouble if his confusion wasn’t alleviated soon, and asked, “Did I just hear something about freeing the ponies my soldiers worked so hard to capture and bring up here?”

Ash quirked an eyebrow and turned to face the tall satyr directly. “Storm King, I presume?” he asked with an unconcerned air. “Is that a title, or did your mother actually name you that? It’s so hard to tell in this world, sometimes.”

The Storm King rolled his eyes. “Oh, great,” he said, “another pony who thinks they’re all that.” He pointed his staff at Ash. “Yes, I am the Storm King, despoiler of the southern lands. I’ve toppled kingdom after kingdom in search of ultimate power, and soon I’ll add your precious Equestria to my list of conquests. Look at your Princesses, the most powerful magic users in the land. They’ve already fallen to me. Do you think you stand a chance?”

Ash scoffed. “One Princess still defies you, so far as I know,” he said. “And as for ‘the most powerful magic users’? Allow me to introduce myself: they call me Ashen Blaze!” He sketched a quick pattern on the floor with his hoof, charged his horn and necklace, and pounced.

The Storm King jumped back, grasping his staff in both hands, and swung it at the leaping unicorn. The gem in the staff connected with Ash’s horn, and there was a terrible cracking sound as the magics collided and exploded. Ash was blown backward, landing in a heap at the feet of the petrified Princess Cadance. Half a second later, the top half of his horn clattered to the ground beside him.

“Ash!” Looping Lines exclaimed as she and the Order-naries rushed to Ash’s side, taking a protective stance between him and the Storm King.

The Storm King, who’d been knocked over by the explosion, pulled himself to his feet and quickly checked the state of his staff. He found no cracks, breaks, or missing bits, so he sighed in relief and beamed. “Ha! Looks like this twig’s s good for something even without absorbing the pony princess magic.” He looked over at the ponies, frowning at the anger he saw in Heart, Soul, and Gale’s stances. “Still want to fight?” he asked. “That’s cool, but would it be worth it? I’m not going to stop with Equestria, you know. With the power I’m going to get, I could whip up a storm strong enough to challenge the Dragons, and I could use more agents with spunk like yours. Even you, Ashen Blaze. Join my side, and I’ll fix that horn up for you.”

Ash sat up, snarling. “I may be a mercenary,” he said, sketching another pattern with his hoof, “but I do not sell out to petty. Small-minded. Warlords. Destulf juri friet, Transport!” His horn sparked and fizzled, his gemstone necklace glowed bright, and a flash of blinding light filled the room, forcing the Storm King to cover his eyes. When the light faded, a large black scorch mark marred the place where the Order-naries and the petrified Cadance once stood.

The Storm King’s jaw dropped, and it took him several seconds to regain control of his tongue. “No!” he sputtered at last, charging out of the room. “Soldiers!” he screamed as he ran, “Find them!”

A ball of orange magelight appearing above the sigil sketch on the seat was all the warning conductor Iron Horse got before the Order-naries and a rough stone statue of an alicorn suddenly appeared in the train.

“AAAAAAAAGH!” Ash screamed, clutching his head and collapsing to the floor. “My head’s splitting!”

Gold Heart knelt down next to Ash as her brother and Gale ran to the exit doors and checked outside for signs of pursuit. “Easy, Ash,” Heart said soothingly. “You’ll be ok.”

“What happened?” Iron Horse asked.

“Cocky morag cast a teleportation spell with a broken horn,” Gale responded. “Speaking of which…” She stepped away from the doors and started searching the floor.

“It shouldn’t hurt so much!” Ash exclaimed. “I don’t use my personal power for that spell!”

“Evidently, you do,” Soul said. “At least in this universe.” Ash grumbled incoherently.

“Ah-ha!” Gale declared, emerging from underneath the seat the waypoint had been placed on. She held out the broken fragment of Ash’s horn. “We’ve got the parts to fix you, at least,” she said.

Ash tried to stand up, but Heart held him down. “You rest,” the pegasus ordered. “Let the pain pass before standing up, or you might black out.”

“Fine,” Ash grumbled. “But we need to get moving, quick.” He gave Iron Horse a meaningful look.

“Uh, where to?” the conductor asked.

“Crystal Empire,” Ash said shortly. He gestured to the petrified princess nearby. “We managed to get away with Princess Mi Amore Cadenza in tow,” he said. “Hopefully, her bond with the Crystal Heart will fix her up when we get her in range. If not… the Empire’s far away from here and has resources for researching a counter-spell.”

“The Crystal Empire,” Iron Horse said slowly. “Sure. No problem.”

Gale hoofed Ash’s horn over to Heart. “Be careful,” she said. “The repairs I made to the engine won’t hold up forever.”

“Well, you can just fix it again, right?” Loopy asked.

“I might, if I weren’t staying here,” Gale answered, heading for the door.

“Ngh, come again?” Ash grunted.

“Somepony ought to stay behind and try to keep the Storm King’s focus anywhere other than the fact a train’s leaving the city,” Gale said. “Failing that… well, you did promise Trixie we’d come back to help her, remember?”

“Yeah,” Ash said, sighing. “I did at that. Go on, then. I expect to return to a liberated city.”

“Yes, sir,” Gale said, saluting.

“I’ll stay behind, too,” Loopy said, joining Gale at the doors. “If there’s going to be fighting, a wifwulf… marewolf?” She nodded once. “A marewolf would be more useful in the city than on a train.”

Gale nodded. “I appreciate the back-up, Loopy,” she said. The two mares stepped off the train, and Soul Mage closed the doors after them.

Author's Note

Incidentally, I wrote the joke about Trixie's escape artist... "skills" before I saw the episode"Uncommon Bond."

4. Sneaky Scouty Party

“Oh, woe is Trixie,” Trixie declared with a dramatic sigh. “To think one so Great and Powerful could be brought to such a lowly state. Trapped in a cage while other ponies try to save the day. They spurned Trixie’s offer of help, and for what reason? Am I not important enough for them? Not a close enough friend to Twilight Sparkle to be considered a worthwhile ally? I may not be an Element of Harmony, but I was instrumental in turning the Changelings from enemies of the state to new allies!”

The satyr in charge of the block – a replacement guard for the one the Order-naries had knocked out earlier – marched past Trixie cage and growled, “Shut it.” The command lacked vigor, since it had been uttered at least ten times since the guard had taken up the post and Trixie’s monologues had only grown more impassioned over time.

“I was a star on the Manehatten stage once,” Trixie continued. “Not a big one, I’ll admit, but my magic shows filled the house often enough. If only I could have been content with that, but no! I am a traveler as much as a performer at heart, so to the road I returned, and formed a small but varied troupe that drew the praises of Princess Luna herself.”

The Satyr guard’s patience ran out, and he stopped in his tracks to turn and give Trixie a piece of his mind. Before he could get a word out, however, a turquoise shape flew in from above and slammed into his head from behind. He fell prone a few cages down from Trixie, the wolf-tailed pegasus Looping Lines perched on the small of his back with a hoof raised in preparation for another blow. The satyr didn’t move, so Loopy held back and inclined her head to investigate. “Oh. He’s already out cold,” she said, a little surprised. She stepped off the satyr and whistled at the end of the street.

Gale emerged from behind the corner and approached. “Nicely done, Loopy,” she said.

“These hooves of mine pack more punch than I thought,” Loopy said with a modest shrug.

“You came back!” Trixie exclaimed. “I take back everything I just said about you Order-naries.”

“Ash did say we’d come back for you,” Gale said as she approached the cage and started examining how the door was secured.

“Where is Ash, anyway?” Trixie asked, looking around expectantly, “and the twins, for that matter? Looking out for other soldiers?”

“Headed for the Crystal Empire in pursuit of a hunch, actually,” Gale answered. “Loopy and I are in charge of things here.” She looked up from the lock and over at the turquoise pegasus. “By the way, Loopy, say hello to Trixie Lulamoon. Trixie, Looping Lines.” She returned to her examination of the lock.

Trixie’s enthusiasm faded. “Oh,” she said.“I got stuck with the supporting cast. Typical.”

Gale glared at Trixie. “There’s no ‘supporting cast’ among the Order-naries,” she said. “But if you have a problem with who’s doing the rescuing, I can probably find more appreciative ponies elsewhere.”

“No!” Trixie wailed, waving her hooves wildly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. Please let me out.”

Gale sat back and crossed her front legs across her chest. “I accept your apology,” she said, “but let me make one thing clear: when I let you out, I’m expecting you to help us liberate the city. Are you willing to do that?”

Trixie snorted. “Of course I am,” she said. “I’ve actually got a reputation for taking action when trouble befalls Canterlot, you know. The Great and Powerful Trixie always backs up her boasting.”

“Fair enough,” Gale said with a small smile, then turned around and bucked the cage slightly above the lock. Something in the lock broke with a sharp crack, and the door swung open slightly. “Welcome aboard, Great and Powerful Trixie,” Gale said.

Trixie stepped out of the cage and posed with her head held high. “So, what is the plan?”

Gale turned so she was facing the greatest possible number of the caged ponies on the street and pointed in the direction of the castle. “The Storm King himself is in the city right now, holding Princess Celestia and Luna captive,” she said. “Who else will join us to strike back at him, to save your city, your kingdom, and your rulers?” She hadn’t expected every pony to rise to the call, but the defeatist mumblings she heard from every corner of the block still left Gale feeling annoyed. “Come on everypony,” she said, “you’ve seen how easily the soldiers can be taken out when we have the element of surprise, and the Storm King won’t be that much worse.”

“I don’t wanna get turned to stone,” one pony said.

“Yeah,” another agreed, “I’ll bet you haven’t seen those petrifying bombs Tempest Shadow was throwing around. Nothing the Princesses did could stop them. The Storm King must have the same kind of weapons on him, if nothing worse!”

Gale and Loopy shared a worried look, remembering what the Storm King’s staff had done to Ash’s horn.

“Well,” Loopy said after a moment, “you’re not wrong but-”

“Not interested!” Several ponies exclaimed.

Trixie sighed and shook her head. “Forget it, girls,” she said.“It’s a rare pony who’s cut out to be a hero like you or me.” Gale gave her a bemused look, and Trixie huffed. “Remind me later to introduce you to a couple ponies that you can ask about the plundervine incident,” she said. She then gave Gale a measuring look and said, “Now, I hope you have a plan that doesn’t involve an army.”

“I’ve got ideas,” Gale said. “Just follow my lead.”

A squad of five satyr soldiers strolled down Restaurant Row in silence, paying no attention to the lure of the storefronts or the aromas of abandoned dishes, such was their single-minded focus on their orders: find the ponies who had made off with one of the Princesses. As they passed by The Tasty Treat, a rock struck one of the satyrs in the back of the head, causing him to stagger into his fellows, half-stunned. The squad turned around and saw Gale and Looping Lines standing in the street, each holding another large rock.

“Thicker skull on that one?” Loopy asked, seeing the hit satyr regain his balance.

“Nah,” Gale said, “just a loss of force due to distance. Hey fellas, mind coming a little closer, so we can knock you out properly?”

The satyrs all blinked in bemusement, then the one that had been hit let out a war cry and the squad charged at the pair. Gale and Loopy dropped their rocks, turned tail, and fled down the street. Despite the ponies running all-out, the soldiers narrowed the gap to only a few strides within a couple of blocks.Loopy glanced over her shoulder to see a satyr reaching to grasp her tail and miss by inches. “I have concerns about this plan, Gale,” Loopy said, flapping her wings to get a brief surge of speed.

“Just keep going,” Gale replied, flicking her own tail out of grasping fingers. They made it to the end of the third block, and Gale shouted, “Now!” before leaping straight up, bucking the satyr directly behind her in the chest, and then breaking off to the left down the side street. Loopy mirrored Gale’s actions, heading to the right, and the satyrs paused in the intersection to pick their comrades up and look at the retreating ponies with uncertainty. Before they could make up their minds, a smokescreen erupted in front of them and just as quickly blew away to reveal Trixie standing behind a row of fireworks aimed at the satyrs.

The normally eloquent showmare merely smirked as the soldiers realized their predicament and started scrambling to find cover or get away. Trixie ignited the fireworks with a touch of magic, and the intersection was quickly filled with colorful sparks, loud bangs, the smell of burnt gunpowder, and five concussed satyrs with ruined armor and future hearing problems.

“Well,” Trixie said as Gale and Loopy came back, “that actually worked out ok. What did we accomplish, though? These are just simple thugs, as far as I can tell.”

“We made noise,” Gale answered.“Reclaiming Canterlot from the Storm King is the long-term goal, but our immediate concern is becoming a big enough nuisance that his attention goes to us instead of realizing that half the team and Cadance have left the city.”

Loopy looked at the satyrs with a frown. “Trixie has a point, though,” she said. “Hitting small groups of the rank-and-file like this isn’t going to draw much attention quickly enough. I think we’ll need to get right up in the Storm King’s face.”

“Agreed,” Gale said. “How many more fireworks do you have, Trixie?” she asked.

“None at hoof,” Trixie answered, “but I know there are plenty to be had near the Friendship Festival’s main stage. That’s up at the castle, though, and most of the Storm King’s airships are moored there…”

Gale nodded.“Sounds like a good place to strike then,” she said. “Let’s go.”

“Wha- seriously?” Trixie exclaimed, hurrying to catch up as Gale and Loopy took off. “You do realize how dangerous that might be, right?”

“Heroes like the Order-naries don’t flinch at ‘might be’ danger,” Loopy said. “We don’t even flinch from definite danger.”

“We?” Gale echoed, giving Loopy a sideways look. “Counting yourself as part of the team now, Ms. Lines?” Loopy stammered and looked embarrassed until Gale chuckled and said, “I for one, have considered you an honorary member for years now.”

As the ponies ran up the street, something watched them unnoticed from the shadows behind a restaurant, then slinked out to follow them when they’d disappeared from sight.

The trio made their way to the upper section of the city, avoiding ever-larger patrols of the Storm King’s soldiers along the way. A couple blocks short of the castle, Gale suddenly called a halt and pointed to a Royal Guard Station she’d spotted on a street corner. “Let’s make a quick stop in there,” she said.

Trixie looked at the building, noting the many broken windows and the singed door that hung ajar off only the top set of hinges. “Why?” she asked. “I doubt we’ll find any Guard ponies just lounging around in there; it looks abandoned, to say the least.”

“It’s a bit beat-up, sure,” Gale said lightly as she approached the building, “but I doubt it’s been ransacked much. I haven’t seen any satyrs walking around with any appropriated Royal Guard weapons like, say, gel launchers, after all.”

“Ah,” Looping Lines said, grinning, “we’re going to gear up in case we have to take the festival area by force, aren’t we?”

“Exactly,” Gale said, shoving the front door aside walking inside. “And, if the opportunity presents itself once we get Trixie’s fireworks, we can try to capture one of the airships. That ought to hold the Storm King’s attention.”

Trixie nodded appreciatively. “I like the sound of that plan,” she said. “I could put on quite the show from an airborne stage.” She paused at the doorway and looked up when she heard a low droning noise, and her ears laid back in fear. “That is,” she said, “assuming there are any airships left.”

“Huh?” Gale asked as she stepped back out onto the street and looked up as well. What appeared to be most of the Storm King’s fleet was ascending into the sky and forming up facing north. “Oh,” she groaned, “don’t tell me…”

“That the Storm King’s probably already figured out Ash’s plan?” Loopy asked. “Ok, I won’t.”

“Thank you, Newshound,” Gale deadpanned. She went back inside the Guard Station. Loopy and Trixie shared a look, and then followed her inside.

“Ok, I know I keep asking,” Trixie said, “but what are we doing now?”

“Same thing as before,” Gale said, marching through the front room of the station and into the back areas, searching for the armory. “Minus the airship capturing part. We don’t know if the Storm King’s going to personally lead the pursuit of Ash and the twins, but even if he does there’s no way he’s going to take every soldier he’s got and leave Canterlot and the other two Princesses unguarded. We gear up, grab some fireworks, find who or whatever’s in charge, and then raise some Inferno et Cocytus.”

“Some what now?”

Gale turned around to answer, only to let out a small shriek of fright to discover the question hadn’t come from either of her companions, but from behind them. Trixie and Loopy turned to look and were likewise startled to see a short, black, insectoid equine figure with flat purple eyes and two long fangs jutting from its upper lips was suddenly standing right behind them. As Gale pushed past the initial shock, she took a guarded stance facing the Changeling, ready to react to its next move, and Loopy followed suit.

Trixie, however, relaxed with a large exhalation of breath and then gave the Changeling a scathing look. “Pharynx!” she said. “What’s the big idea, sneaking up on us like that?”

“I’ve been following you since you took out those soldiers at the restaurants,” the Changeling replied. “It’s not my fault you ponies didn’t notice me.”

“Trixie, you know this Changeling?” Gale asked.

“Yes,” Trixie said in a longsuffering way. “His name’s Pharynx, and he fancies himself to be a great Changeling warrior.”

“Hey,” Pharynx said, narrowing his eyes, “I don’t ‘fancy’ anything.I am one of the toughest, meanest fighters in the Hive.Just ask my brother.”

“Speaking of which,” Trixie said, not looking impressed by the little bug-pony’s claims, “what happened to you and the rest of the group? I lost track of you all when the airships showed up.”

“They’re all fine,” Pharynx answered.“I’m supposed to bring you to them, now that I’ve found you.”

Gale raised an eyebrow. “Them?” she asked.

“The rest of the Changelings that came to the Festival,” Trixie answered. “The Queen thought it would be a perfect opportunity to show how her Hive’s changed their ways.”

“Wait, wait,” Looping Lines cut in, waving a hoof in the air, “I’m lost. Gale, didn’t Ash say that Changelings were an… evil race here?”

“Changelings are shapeshifters,” Gale said simply. Loopy mouthed a silent “oh” and then looked over at Pharynx contemplatively. “Still,” Gale said to Trixie, “I’m surprised too. I never figured Chrysalis, of all creatures, would turn over a new leaf.”

“Chrysalis isn’t the Queen!” Pharynx exclaimed angrily. “She’s a criminal, a nasty stain on Changeling honor! No, the Queen’s name is Cabbage Patch.”

Gale blinked several times in confusion, and eventually shook her head. “Ok,” she said, “that’s definitely a story I haven’t heard yet, but we can save it for later.”

“Good,” Pharynx said, “because I’m not a Lorekeeper; telling stories isn’t my thing. Come on now,” he said, turning to the door, “let’s go.”

“No,” Gale said. When Trixie, Loopy, and Pharynx all gave her bemused looks, she turned back toward the interior of the Guard Station and said, “I’m not giving up another chance to get a gosh dang gel launcher! We can go after I’ve searched this place.”

5. Party Train's Derailed

As the train rolled on through the northern regions of Equestria, Ashen Blaze leaned back in his seat, staring intently at the petrified Princess Cadance across the table from him and fighting the urge to keep touching his broken and splinted horn. “Why are we all ponies?” he asked after a while.

Gold Heart, Soul Mage, and Dragon Lord Ember all looked up from their own time-killing activities, glanced at Ash, then at each other, and then back at Ash.
“Uh,” Ember said, pointing to herself, “I’m… not a pony.”

“I’m not including you; you’re a native,” Ash said dismissively. “The twins and me, Gale, Sam, Yu-san… Every person who’s come to Equestria from Taryn turns into a pony on arrival. Why?”

“That’s just… how it… works?” Soul said, scratching his head. “This universe doesn’t have humans, so we get changed to fit the dominant sapient lifeform.”

Ember snorted, a wisp of smoke curling from one nostril. “Ponies aren’t a dominant anything,” she said. “They’re too… touchy-feely in general, with a few rare exceptions.”

“Yet, ponies exert complete control over the environment wherever they live,” Soul pointed out, “not to mention that two of them control the very cycle of night and day.”

“And yet,” Ash said sharply, “I can easily list off a dozen other species in this world that are just as sapient as ponies, complete with distinct societies and, in many cases, territory recognized as legally equal to Equestria. Why, then, does every human that passes into this reality become a pony?”

“Ethnicity, maybe?” Gold Heart suggested. “Our group’s entirely Euro-amerigo, after all.”

“Nope,” Ash said, pointing to himself. “Vat-grown alien, remember?”

“Well, maybe you’re based on the Shadowstar version of European, then,” Heart said throwing up her hooves. “You certainly look it.”

“And Yu-san?” Ash asked. “Nipponese back home, yet became an earth pony here.”

“Asia has a pony equivalent,” Soul countered. “Maybe all the non-pony races correlate to our Mythics. I mean, both universes have dragons, after all.” He gestured to Ember in demonstration.

Iron Horse, who has stepped into the car partway through the Order-naries’ conversation, sidled up to the Dragon Lord and asked, “What are they talking about?”

Ember shook her head. “I lost track about eight sentences ago. Please tell me we’re almost to the Crystal Empire, or that the Storm King’s finally caught up to us.”

“Actually,” Iron began, looking slightly nervous. Before he could utter another word, however, the train shuddered and then jerked backwards, throwing Iron and Ember off their feet and Ash out of his seat.

“What the skeb?” Ash exclaimed, scrambling to his hooves and quickly checking that his horn was still splinted. He followed Heart and Soul to the rear of the car, poking his head out the door while the twins crowded onto the platform, and they all looked up as the train jerked and slowed again. Flying above the train were a dozen or so of the Storm King’s airships flying in a V formation, and two harpoons stuck out of roof of the last car on the train, connected to the two ships directly behind the formation leader.

“Those things have no business being so freaking stealthy,” Soul said.

“All right, you troublesome little horses,” the Storm King’s voice bellowed from the lead ship, “I’m giving you one last chance to stop that train and hand over the Princess!”

“I suppose we are on our third strike,” Soul mused, looking at his sister out of the corner of his eye, “so shall we swing for the fence, or just bunt?”

Heart met his sideways look with one of her own. “Just link up,” she said. Soul saluted and extended a tendril of spirit energy from his horn to touch Heart’s shoulder. An aura of ethereal blue fire enveloped the twins, and Heart took to the air, holding her front hooves close together and off to one side. “Your analogy was a bit off, brother,” she said as her aura concentrated between her hooves and turned into a spinning disk of red, blue, green, and yellow energy, “because I’m about to throw them a curveball. Element Wheel!” She spun in the air and threw the disk with all her might toward the harpoons. The Element Wheel sheared cleanly through the lines, and the train lurched slightly as it got back up to speed.

“I’d call that a ‘bunt,’ sis,” Soul said.

“I’m not done,” Heart said, face scrunched in concentration as she swung a hoof up. The Element Wheel flew upward and sheared through a stabilizer wing on one of the zeppelins before fading away. The damaged craft listed to the right, into the path of the ship behind it, causing a domino effect of evasive maneuvers that left half the formation in disarray.Gold Heart landed next to Soul and asked, “How’s that?”

“Eh,” Ash said, pushing his way between the twins, “a hit, but only a double at best. Let me take a swing and-” His horn flickered with orange light, and he winced in pain. “…Right,” he muttered, then stepped back inside the train car and pointed at Ember. “Time for the pinch hitter, then.”

“What are you talking about?” Ember asked, exasperated.

Ash waved a hoof toward the Storm King’s zeppelins impatiently as he answered, “Go do what you tagged along to do: roast a goat.”

Ember had to take a second to parse Ash’s instructions, but then she grinned and nodded. “Out of my way, then,” she said, striding to the door. Once outside, she hopped onto the platform railing and then climbed onto the roof of the car. As she spread her wings in preparation to take flight, she looked back down at Heart and Soul and said, “I thought that pink pony in Ponyville was weird, but you guys are stranger.” She launched into the air, circling as she gained altitude before heading for the lead airship.

“Stranger than Pinkie Pie?” Soul asked, incredulous, “Us?”

“Ash just told her to ‘roast a goat’,” Heart said. “She may have a point.”

“Says the pair who just pulled an extended sports metaphor and managed to rope me into it unwittingly,” Ash retorted with a smirk.

“Pojnt,” the twins conceded.

Three zeppelins launched harpoons at the train, and two of them hit the end of the train and held. The ponies braced as the lines went taut and the train jolted and slowed again. Heart sighed and started preparing another Element Wheel, but paused when Iron Horse shouted, “Uncouple the cars!”

“Come again?” Ash asked as he and the twins glanced back at him.

The conductor waved insistently at them. “Uncouple the cars, I said. We’re too big a target right now, and if we lose all but this first car, we’ll be able to squeeze out a bit more speed. Hopefully that’ll be enough to get us to Hivetown safely…” he finished in a lower tone.

Heart and Soul exchanged a glance, and then Soul turned and reached down to pull the lever to separate the car from the other five. He stumbled as the train jumped back to its original speed, but Heart caught and steadied him before he fell. Soul watched the five train cars as they drifted away in the distance, and said, “I hope that’s not going to become an issue for other trains.”

“We’ve got enough issues of our own to worry about,” Iron Horse said, going over to a window and looking out. “Like, can one small dragon hold off all those ships?”

Ember reached the airships, turned herself belly-up, and unleashed her fire as she glided just beneath the formation leader. The purplish flames wrapped up both sides of the ship, catching on every exposed bit of wood, and quickly ate through the lines holding the gas envelope. Satyrs were flung into the air as the ship tumbled down to the earth and shattered into smoldering rubble instantly on impact.

Heart and Soul both winced slightly at the impact, but Ash’s face remained stoic as he cast a glance at Iron Horse. “Seems she can handle it,” he said.

Two airships dropped out the formation to attempt rescue operations on the downed craft, but the rest continued to pursue the train with nary a pause.
Ember rolled upright, dodging a couple bolts of electricity fired from the deck of the nearest ship, and darted underneath it to start her next attack. Before she could, however, the Storm King’s voice boomed from an airship on the other side of the formation. “Ok, I’ll admit that’s some impressive firepower,” he said, “but if you thought I was on that ship, you’re sorely mistaken.”

“Not a lead-from-the-front type, is he?” Soul commented.

“He didn’t set foot in Canterlot until it was conquered,” Ash pointed out. “If he’s actually on the ship that just broadcast his words, I’ll be surprised.” He frowned suddenly. “It’s a lure!” he exclaimed. “Quick, Heart, fly up and warn Ember not to-”

“Too late,” Gold Heart said, grimly, watching Ember fly out from the airship she’d taken cover under and head straight for the one the Storm King had seemed to speak from. As the Dragon Lord neared her target, three cannons emerged from the side of the ship and fired shots that burst into weighted nets.Ember barely had time to realize her mistake before she was tangled up in one of the nets and being hauled aboard, unable to sputter more than weak wisps of flame.

“Skvetch,” Ash swore softly, face-hoofing. Turning to Iron Horse, he asked, “how much farther to the Empire?”

“We’ll make Hivetown in just a few minutes,” the conductor replied. “From there, it’s a hop and skip to the Crystal Empire.”

“Hm,” Ash said, looking back up at the airships. “Well then, if the twins can keep us free of anymore harpoons…”

“We’ll do our best,” Soul Mage said, reigniting the blue aura of his horn. Gold Heart flew up onto the roof of the car and stood there on her hind legs, wings flapping slowly for balance, as she started another Element Wheel and watched the airships intently.

The airships accelerated, catching up to the train with ease, and the formation split to surround the train. Cannon ports were thrown open, and satyrs armed with grappling lines and lighting-spears lined up on the decks. Gold Heart looked around, bit her lip, and then launched her Element Wheel at one of the ships at random before jumping off the roof and dragging Soul inside. “We’re completely outgunned,” she said, just before the guns started firing.

The first volley left everypony on the train covering their ears against the thunderous report of dozens of cannons, but the only damage sustained was a couple broken windows and a few holes burnt through the roof by lightning-spears. “Well,” Ash started to snark before he was thrown off his hooves by a sudden deceleration of the train. “The skeb?” Ash exclaimed over the screeching of the brakes.

Coal Hob burst into the cabin, and by some silent agreement he and Iron Horse picked up the petrified form of Princess Cadance, carried her over to the side doors, threw it open, and leapt out into the snow with Cadance held between them. Ash, Heart, and Soul exchanged a sequence of glances that encompassed bewilderment at the train ponies’ actions, acknowledgment of their poor strategic position, and grudging acceptance that Iron and Coal probably had the right idea. They jumped out of the train as a group, the twins using their spiriter power and Heart’s wings to control their landing and protect Ash’s horn from any unnecessary tumbling, and then they galloped to catch up with the train ponies, who were already an impressive distance away.

“Skeb vetchiu?” Ash asked as he and the twins caught up. “I don’t think they were aiming to actually hit us.”

“They took out the tracks,” Coal Hob said.

Ash glanced back toward the train in time to see it hit the spot where cannon fire had destroyed the track. The engine jumped, twisted in the air, and came back down on its side, carving a wide rut through the snow as it shed the rest of it momentum. The train car broke apart as it was dragged over the damaged ground. “I see,” Ash said, stoically. “Well, now that the crash is over, why aren’t we heading toward this Hivetown place?”

“We won’t make it going the direct route,” Iron Horse answered. “Besides, I don’t want those airships bombarding the town.” He pointed to a cluster of large rocks just ahead. “We’re headed there.”

“Why?” Gold Heart asked.

“Wait,” Soul said, “let me guess: secret tunnel.”

“Why would you need a secret tunnel to get into a town?” Ash asked. “This sort of situation isn’t exactly common.”

“You’re not… entirely wrong, Mr. Soul Mage,” Coal Hob said. Heart and Soul exchanged a look.

The group reached the rocks, and Iron Horse stopped them in a clear spot near the middle. Soul Mage immediately started poking around for hidden entrances, while Ash and Gold Heart turned to watch the Storm King’s fleet turning about to come after them again. “So, what’s the plan, smart guys?” Ash asked.

“Give it a second,” Iron Horse said with forced calm.

“I can’t find a way out of here,” Soul said anxiously.

“Give it a second,” Iron Horse repeated.

The airships approached, spreading out in preparation to land all around the group. “We’re out of seconds, guys!” Heart said as the first ship’s shadow passed over. The Storm King himself appeared, peering over the railing of the deck, as another Satyr hung a rope ladder to the railing.

Coal Hob nodded once. "Brace yourselves,” he said, and the ground suddenly fell away from beneath the group’s hooves.

6. Ain't No Party Like a Changeling Party

The rumbling noise of tons of dirt falling away barely muffled Gold Heart’s screaming or the string of Shadowstar curses pouring from Ashen Blaze’s mouth as the group tumbled downward. Soul Mage kept quiet, too distracted with trying to puzzle out how they’d come to this point to make any noise.

Suddenly, the noise ceased, and Soul found himself in the thick, furry arms of a hulking, canine creature wearing a metal helmet and cuirass. Heart and Ash had been caught by two more of the creatures, and a smaller, bare-headed canine with big ears and a red vest was standing nearby. Soul Mage recognized the creatures and quipped, "“Hey! If isn’t our old friends, the Diamond Dogs! Sup, pups?”

The red-vested Dog narrowed his eyes. "Great. The troublesome ponies; should’ve known.”

“I should’ve known you lot were involved,” Ash shot back. "I don’t know anything else that can dig out a tunnel so…” He trailed off as he caught sight of figures standing just outside the little circle of Diamond Dogs, setting the petrified Cadance down carefully between them. Before Heart and Soul could turn to see for themselves, Ash twisted out of his Dog’s grasp, exclaimed, "Changelings!” and tried to channel magic through his horn. The spell exploded, bowling Ash into the Diamond Dog behind him and snapping the splint around his horn, leaving the broken piece to dangle precariously between his eyes by a strip of medical tape.

Heart and Soul quickly extracted themselves from the Diamond Dogs holding them and took up protective stances between Ash and the rest of the cavern, Spiriter auras alight. Nobody moved as Soul looked around the cavern, noting several more Changelings watching warily from a nearby tunnel entrance, and then focused on the pair standing near Cadance. "Would I be right in guessing that you two are the ones we knew as ‘Iron Horse’ and ‘Coal Hob’?”

One of the Changelings smirked at its companion. "You owe me a bit,” it said.

“I do not,” the other protested. "We had to drop the guises before they figured it out.”

“Boy,” Soul cut in, aiming his horn at the pair, “you must have felt like the luckiest Changelings in Equestria, having us deliver one of the Princesses right into your holey hooves. I mean, sure, the whole dang land’s in dire enough straits as it is with the Storm King out there, but Queen Chrysalis has proven to be an opportunistic little louse in the past.”

“You’re not wrong about that,” the second Changeling commented darkly.

Soul paused in thought for a second, exchanging meaningful looks with Heart. "How’d you manage to get control of a train in the first place?” he asked.

“Because Imago and I legitimately work for the rail service,” one of the pair replied flatly. "And before you ask, yes, they know we’re actually Changelings. Iron Horse and Coal Hob are… official nicknames, if you will.”

“Oh… skvetch,” Ash groaned. "The place you were taking us to is called Hivetown. Skvetchte…” He got shakily to his hooves, rubbed his head, and tried to set his horn back in place. "Convenient how you didn’t mention that until we had our hooves full with airships and harpoons. ‘Just a hop and a skip to the Crystal Empire.’ Pah.” He gave up fumbling with his horn and pointed at Imago. "You tell Chrysalis that-”

“We don’t serve Chrysalis anymore,” Imago’s partner said, spitting the name out like it was a rotten apple.

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Oh,” he said, “we’ve fallen in with a little band of conscientious objectors, have we?”

Despite not having pupils, Imago managed to convey the impression of rolling his eyes. "I owe you a bit after all, Kumquat,” he said to his partner, and then gave Ash a curious look. "What rock have you been living under the last few years?”

“I’ve got better things to do than stay current on your kind’s internal politics, bug,” Ash snapped.

The Diamond Dog in the red vest closed his eyes and pinched his forehead with a pained groan. "Gah,” he muttered. "Ponies arguing, complaining… Such headaches they cause. This is why we moved away from Ponyville.” He waved his free hand in a beckoning way as he headed for the tunnel. “Come, Diamond Dogs, we got better things to do.” The rest of the canines followed him obediently. When they reached the tunnel, however, they had to stop suddenly to make way for a Changeling twice the height of the others, with yellow eyes that had normal-looking pupils and an image of a black, hole-studded heart wreathed in green flames on her flanks. The red-vested Diamond Dog bowed his head slightly to the Changeling and said, “We gots the ponies down safe and sound, queenie.”

“I see,” the Changeling Queen said. "Thank you, Rover.”

“That’s all we’re doing for them though,” Rover said, jabbing a thumb in Ash’s direction. "That one in particular; nasty attitude it’s got.”

“I know,” the Queen said, giving Ash a flat look. Rover and the rest of the dogs slipped past the Queen and disappeared down the tunnel.

Ash returned the Queen’s look, projecting an air of restrained danger despite the slow twirling of his broken horn. "Do I… know you?” he asked at length.

“It has been a long time,” the Queen replied, “and we’ve crossed paths only a few times, but your reaction when I flew into Ponyville in my true shape left quite an impression on me.” She closed her eyes, concentrating, and green flames enveloped her body as she shrank down to an average pony size and took on the appearance of a sea-green earth pony with a blue mane, retaining her yellow eyes and the flaming heart mark. “Does this jog your memory, perchance, Ashen Blaze?”

The broken horn finally broke free of the medical tape, bouncing off Ash’s nose and spinning to the floor, where Gold Heart quickly put a hoof on it so it wouldn’t roll out of sight. Ash didn’t seem to notice, as his eyebrows rose in unexpected recognition. "No,” he said in disbelief, “you couldn’t possibly be that little filly from Trixie’s performance group. That pitiful little Changeling with the crocodile tears.”

“Cabbage Patch,” the Changeling Queen said, changing back to her original form. "That’s my name, and by the will of the Hive, I am the Queen of the Changelings.”

“Will of the Hive? You guys have a democratic government?” Soul Mage asked, looking slightly intrigued.

Cabbage shrugged. “It’s a little complicated,” she said. "Suffice to say, the Changelings got fed up with Chrysalis throwing their lives away trying to take over Equestria, and I had the bad luck to be considered the only alternative.”

“Lovely story,” Ash drawled. "Now, I’m just going to warn you once, shapeshifter, if you think to interfere with-”

“Your goal to get Princess Cadance to the Crystal Empire and try to undo her current condition?" Cabbage cut in, casting a glance at the petrified alicorn. "On the contrary, Ashen Blaze, my intentions are to insure you accomplish that very goal. The Changeling Hive is an ally of Equestria now.” She walked closer to Cadance, eyes narrowed in mild annoyance as she addressed the statue directly. "On the chance you can hear me in there, Cadance,” she said, “perhaps this will convince you that I’m genuine? Imago, Kumquat,” she gestured to two train-Changelings, “would you mind helping me carry the Princess to the cart?”

Ash growled and took a step forward, only to be stopped by Gold Heart putting a leg in his way. "Easy, Ash,” Heart said. "You’ve blown your horn off twice already today.”

“Like I could do much worse right now,” Ash grumbled. Heart gave him a withering look. "You’re not going to trust a bunch of Changelings with the Princess!” Ash exclaimed.

Heart held Ash’s gaze in silence for a moment, and then looked over at her brother. "Soul,” she said, “go help them carry Cadance, would you?”

“Uh,” Soul said, hesitating for a second and looking deeply into Heart’s steely eyes. At length, he nodded. “Sure thing,” he said.

“Gold Heart!” Ash protested.

“What?” Heart asked, staring at Ash again.

Ash opened his mouth, closed it again, and then face-hoofed. "Come on Heart, they’re shapeshifters! Deception is their stock in trade.”

“It’s either go with them, or stay here where we can’t help Cadance,” Soul pointed out as he wrapped a tendril of spirit energy around Cadance and started to lift her.

Ash scowled, then reached down and picked his horn up in his mouth. Muttering darkly around it, he followed the group out of the little cavern and into the tunnel. There was a large cart a little way in, and Soul, Kumquat, and Imago carefully set Cadance inside it. As the Changelings went to grab the pull-handles, however, Soul planted himself in their way and looked at Cabbage. "One last question before we move, if you don’t mind,” he said.

“Yes?” Cabbage asked guardedly.

“What happened to Chrysalis?” Soul asked.

Cabbage sighed and glared off into the distance. "I tried to bring her around to doing things my way, but she just played along for a while and then ran off after failing to seize the Queenship again. She’s still out there… somewhere. With a small band of like-minded Changelings… Making my job of building a new reputation for the Hive ten times harder…” She sighed dramatically.

Soul went over and gave Cabbage a pat on the shoulder. "All right,” he said, “I believe you.”

“Seriouthly?” Ash exclaimed.

Soul ignored his friend, looking up to meet Cabbage’s eyes. “It’s not easy to take something bad and make it good,” he said, “but it’s always worth the effort in the end, right Ash?” He cast a meaningful look at the ash-grey unicorn, who just rolled his eyes and lowered his head, chastened.

The walk down the tunnel was over quicker than the Order-naries expected, and the three of them stopped and stared in awe at the massive cavern that greeted them at the end.It was more than a mere cavern; it was an underground town so vast the ponies could not quite see the edge, full of carved stone buildings tall enough to double as supports for the cavern’s roof at least fifty feet overhead. The streets looked like they were paved with hexagonal paving stones, but on closer inspection Soul discovered it was just the cave floor carved and smoothed to resemble paving. An enormous crystal embedded in the center of the roof shone with a brilliance that rivaled the sun on a summer afternoon, and many of the building sported signs with street names and directions spelled out in softly glowing gemstones. Changelings, Diamond Dogs, and even a couple of Earth ponies were walking around, engaging in typical everyday business with one another.

Queen Cabbage Patch allowed the Order-naries to absorb the sight for a few seconds before stepping out ahead of the group, posing proudly and saying, “Welcome to Hivetown’s underground portion. The ‘Hive’ portion, if you will. The majority of the Changelings and all our Diamond Dog citizens make their homes down here, while our pony citizens mostly live and work aboveground. Our main industries are-”

“No offense, Your Highness,” Soul Mage interrupted, “but we don’t have time for a tour. The sooner we get to the Crystal Empire, the better.”

“You’re right,” Cabbage said with a sigh. "However,” she gave the ponies a look that forbade argument, “I insist you take a little rest and refreshment before you move on. Ashen Blaze’s horn needs to be re-splinted, after all, and the decoy team needs time to work.”

“Decoy tean?” Ash asked.

Cabbage nodded in both confirmation and to indicate the group should start walking again. As she led them to a small yet distinctly castle-like building near the center of town, Cabbage explained, “I’ve sent a group of Changelings out disguised as the three of you and Princess Cadance – for extra enticement – to lead the Storm King’s ships in different directions so you can get into the Empire without being seen. How does that sound, Ashen Blaze?”

“Hmph,” Ash said, taking his horn out of his mouth and sticking it behind his ear. "Deception and misdirection. Just the sort of tactics I’d expect from a shapeshifter.”

“Thanks?” Cabbage said, uncertainly.

“Don’t mind him, Queen Patch,” Gold Heart said. "Decoys sound like just the thing we need at this point.”

“Thank you,” Cabbage said more sincerely. She opened the doors of the little castle and gestured for the Order-naries and the cart with Cadance to go in ahead of her. "One more thing I’ll insist on,” she said. “Just call me Cabbage, please. I already get more ‘My Queens’ and ‘You Highnesses’ than I can stand just from my Changelings.”

Heart, Soul, and Ash exchanged looks, then shrugged and walked inside.

A short time later, Ash was sitting with his head propped on a surprisingly comfortable ottoman, his vivid green eyes locked in an unflinching, challenging glare across the parlor at Cabbage Patch, Kumquat, and Imago, while Soul Mage and Gold Heart studiously applied a new splint to Ash’s broken horn. An untouched platter of tea cakes sat on a table in the middle of the room, and an awkward silence hung over the whole space. At length, Cabbage shot Ash a challenging look in return and walked over to where they’d parked the petrified Princess Cadance. Ash bared his teeth and started to raise his head only for Heart to gently but firmly push him back down so she could finish wrapping the splint.

Cabbage let out an amused snort. "I’ve met a lot of ponies who were uncomfortable with Changelings,” she said, “and that’s perfectly understandable. Below the anger and distrust, they’re afraid of us because we feed on emotions and because of Chrysalis’s attempts to conquer the kingdom.”

“Yes,” Ash interjected. "Let’s focus on that for a moment; address the elephant in room. Just how do you manage to… convince ponies to live here and have their love drained out?”

Cabbage Patch sighed and rubbed her forehead. "We don’t drain love from ponies,” she said with the exasperation of having to recite a speech for the umpteenth time, “not anymore. It’s not necessary. Changelings are able to subsist on virtually any positive emotion: happiness, affection, admiration, friendship… Love happens to be the most potent and satisfying of the feelings we can feed on, and so that’s what we focused on collecting in the past.
However, Love is also difficult and time-consuming to cultivate, so the Changelings of the past felt compelled to reach deep into their targets and extract love from the very core just to balance the cost.

“I was exiled from the Hive at a young age, ostensibly because I was too runty and lacking in ability and the proper attitude to be worth spending scarce resources on, but more likely because Chrysalis recognized my potential to replace her and didn’t want to admit her plans for the Hive were dangerously flawed. Separated from the Hive and its traditions, and bearing a lot of emotional trauma on top of my soft-hearted nature, I was too scared to draw much from the ponies I came into contact with, and yet I survived. I realized that Love wasn’t the only thing I could feed on, and by simply being near ponies who liked me and keeping myself open to the emotional energy they gave off – taking only what was given freely – I was getting more than enough to make it through the day.”

Cabbage stepped away from Cadance and approached Ash, kneeling down and looking him in the eye. "Thanks to Chrysalis’s insane second attack on Canterlot and the later schism she caused in the Hive, I only had about a dozen Changelings when Hivetown was founded. There are a little over a hundred of us now, and every Changeling in this town follows my rules of passive feeding. I maintain an open border and a policy of transparent operations; everypony in town knows how the Changelings are supposed to behave and everypony is free to leave if they feel uncomfortable with the fact that their emotions radiate off them and that Changelings can absorb that energy just by walking by. Our current number of pony and Diamond Dog citizens could easily support twice as many Changelings are there are.”

Ash pursed his lips and rolled his eyes to the side, digesting Cabbage’s speech. "Fascinating story,” he said at last. "Did you learn how to act with such passion from traveling with Trixie, or does it just come naturally?”

Gold Heart made an exasperated noise. "You’re just being difficult now, Ash. You know that, right?”

“Meh,” Ash grunted.

Cabbage Patch stood up. "You confuse me a little, Ash,” she said. "Unlike most ponies who hate the Changelings, you don’t fear me, and for all your glaring and bluster your hatred doesn’t go nearly as deep as your simple distrust. Why is that?”

“I don’t fear what I can defeat under normal circumstances,” Ash answered curtly.

“Ash doesn’t trust anything that can alter its form at will,” Soul said. "It’s a deep scar; a shapeshifter broke his heart once, you see.”

Ash shot Soul a confused look. "If you’re talking about Samantha-”

“No, not Sam, silly,” Soul said. "I’m talking about the Meis of Deception.”

“Dele-” Ash braced his legs to stand up, but then stopped and glanced at Heart. "You done?” he asked. Heart nodded, and Ash surged to his hooves and whirled on Soul. "Delepra?!” Ash exclaimed. "Delepra never- I never had anything like that with that sneaky snakey… vetch’ku or any part of her sneaky lying cadre!”

“Really?” Soul asked, a teasing smile growing on his face. "I figured, with those mythical pheromones of hers…”

“No more effective than any other kind of mind control on this or any other Meis,” Ash said, pointing at his head emphatically. "Yes, Delepra and her minions taught me some hard lessons about how far you can trust something that can change its face with a thought, but romantic dealings between her and… Just… Ew.” He stormed off to a corner of the parlor and sat down facing the wall.

“And there it is, out in the open,” Soul Mage said to Cabbage and the Changelings, shrugging. Gold Heart whapped him upside the head with a wing. "Yeah,” Soul said, rubbing his head, “I deserved that.” He grabbed a couple of tea cakes in his spirit tendril and took them over to Ash, ears back in an apologetic expression.

“Uh,” Cabbage said, nonplussed.

“I barely understood half of that,” Kumquat said flatly. "Where in Equestria do you ponies come from, anyway?”

Gold Heart glanced over at Ash and Soul with a conflicted look on her face. "Can we just say it’s no place you’re likely to have heard of and leave it at that?” she asked.

“That’s fine,” Cabbage said. She returned to where Cadance was, grabbing a teacake as she went. As she went to take a bite of the cake, however, something seemed to catch her attention and she hesitated. "The plan seems to be working,” she announced, turning around to face the ponies.
"Whenever you’re ready, I can take you up to the edge of the Crystal Empire.”

Ash came out of his brooding corner, chewing on a mouthful of tea cake, and marched pointedly for the door, giving Cabbage, Imago, and Kumquat dirty looks as he passed them. Soul followed the ash-grey unicorn, meek and apologetic for the moment, and everyone else followed after them, with Kumquat and Imago pulling Cadance in the cart. Once back out on the underground streets, Cabbage trotted up to the front of the group and led them to a nearby building that reached all the way to the cavern roof. Once inside, the Order-naries realized the building contained only a pair of spacious cage-style elevators and a staircase leading up to surface.

As the Changelings loaded Cadance into one of the elevators, Ash finished eating his tea cake and looked up at Cabbage out of the corner of his eye. "How do you know what’s going on up there?” he asked. "Nobody came in to deliver a message or anything.”

“Oh, you don’t know?” Cabbage responded. "The Changelings are all part of a mental network.”

“You’re all telepaths,” Ash said in a resigned tone. "Shape-changing, emotional parasites that are also psychic. A skvetchte triple threat.” He stepped into the elevator, sat down with his back against the wall, and quirked an eyebrow at Cabbage and the twins. "Let’s not waste any more time,” he said.

Cabbage, Heart, and Soul got into the elevator and Imago pulled the lever to start it up. "If it makes you feel any better,” Cabbage said to Ash, “we can only read the thoughts of other Changelings. With any other creature, it’s only the emotional state we can sense.” Ash made a noncommittal noise, and Cabbage let out a gentle sigh of defeat.

Flash Sentry perched on the roof of one of the checkpoint huts that had been built along the border between the Crystal Empire and Hivetown, his wings raised in tense attention. Smoke was rising from somewhere beyond the far side of the Changeling town, and several zeppelins built in an unfamiliar, dangerous-looking style had flown over shortly after but had then turned around and flown off to the west. Clearly, something was afoot, but since the Empire’s borders hadn’t been crossed Flash could do nothing except stand at his post and wonder.

Seeing something move at the edge of his vision, Flash pulled his attention away from the distant smoke and saw a group of Changelings and ponies – including the Queen herself! – approaching the border with a cart in tow. Flash flew down to the road and met the group at the barrier. "Halt,” Flash ordered, somewhat unnecessarily, because the Changelings had already stopped short of the barrier, which would’ve become solid for them had they tried to cross, and the three ponies hesitantly followed the Changelings’ example. "Queen Cabbage,” Flash said, inclining his head to the Queen slightly as he looked over the rest of the group with a practiced eye, “might I inquire as to your busi…ness…” He trailed off as he got a good look at what was in the cart: a stone statue of Princess Cadance in a frightened pose. "What is that?” Flash asked, pointing.

“That,” said the ash-grey unicorn with a splint on his horn, “is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza having a very bad day. And this,” he pointed to his horn, “is Ashen Blaze having a very bad day. Do you need us to spell things out more, soldier, or do you get my meaning?”

“Uh,” Flash said, thinking.

Ashen Blaze let out an irritated huff and gestured to one of his companions. "Soul,” he said, “I’m about out of patience. Explain things to the poor pegasus.”

“Hold up,” Flash Sentry said. "You’re saying that statue is actually the Princess? She went down to Canterlot to take part in that Friendship Festival that Princess Twilight’s holding. What happened?”

“According to witnesses,” Soul Mage said, “some uninvited guests from lands unknown crashed the party, stoned three-quarters of the kingdom’s heads of state, and chased Twilight and the Elements of Harmony southwards. As for us, we crashed the party-crasher’s party, stole Cadance from them, jumped on a train and raced up here, nearly got blown up just outside Hivetown, and are in desperate need of a few hours rest, actual medical attention for Ash’s horn, and somepony who knows how to reverse a petrification spell.”

Flash Sentry’s face had gone blank with surprise halfway through Soul’s rambling, and after the unicorn finished Flash had to take another second to process it all. "What are you waiting for, then?” he finally said, standing aside and waving hurriedly. "Get the Princess to the castle immediately! I’ll send word ahead.”

“Thank you,” Heart said as she, Ash, and Soul crossed the border with Cadance in tow.

7. Party Central Briefing

Gale fought down a grimace as the gel launcher strapped to her back shifted again, catching and pulling a clump of her brown fur. “Agh,” she grunted under her breath, “stupid mass-produced belts either slightly too loose or way too stinking tight…” She shook her head and cast a glance at Pharynx, who was walking just slightly ahead of her. “Are we almost there?” she asked.

“Yep,” Pharynx said, turning slightly to guide Gale and the rest of the group around a corner. "We’re holed up in there,” Phaynx said, pointing. Up ahead, standing well apart from the nearby buildings, stood a wide, three-story purple building with three towers rising from the star-studded roof.

“Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns?” Trixie exclaimed. “You couldn’t pick someplace more… discreet?”

“Don’t worry,” Pharynx said, “we made the sure the enemy was done searching it before we moved in. They’ve got no reason to suspect it’s occupied now. At least, they won’t so long as we can get inside before any patrols come around.” He shot the ponies a withering look and then bolted for the school.

“He’s certainly serious about soldiering,” Gale said with a warm smile as she, Trixie, and Loopy ran after Pharynx. “Do you know how old he is, Trixie?”

“I’m not sure,” Trixie admitted. “He can’t be more than a couple years old, though.”

“What?” Loopy gasped, nearly stumbling in shock.

“Changelings don’t waste much time between hatching and becoming what we’d consider colts and fillies,” Trixie explained. “A couple of months at the longest. After that, though, I’m not sure how they normally grow. Cabbage Patch was tiny for years, but then she was chosen as Queen and - poof! - she’s as tall as Princess Luna.”

“Hey!” Pharynx hissed, holding the school’s front door open and waving impatiently, “Get in here already!”

“Ok, ok,” Loopy said, giving Pharynx a playful swat with her tail as she went through the door, “keep your shell on, kiddo.” Pharynx rubbed the spot Loopy had hit, and the irritation on his face slowly faded as he watched the pegasus walk down the hall. Gale paused upon entering the school, noticing Pharynx’s growing distraction. She looked in the direction he was looking, saw Loopy’s tail disappearing around a corner, and then looked back at Phaynx with a coy smirk. After a second, Phaynx blinked and whipped his head around to glare at Gale. “What are you feeling so smug about, pony?” he snapped.

“Puppy love,” Gale said, lightly, walking away. “She’s too old for you, you know.”

Pharynx’s face screwed up in a bemused grimace. After a second, he let go of the door and trotted to catch up with the ponies. “This way,” he said, taking the lead and heading for some stairs, “everyling’s gathering to meet us in a classroom on the second floor.”

The door of the classroom opened as the group approached, and a young Changeling with an unusually long horn and hole-free, iridescent wings poked its head out to look around. Its flat blue eyes widened in mild fright as it spotted Pharynx and tried to withdraw back into the room, but the small, purple-eyed Changeling pounced and grabbed the other in a headlock, dragging it out into the hall and laughing as he noogied it mercilessly.

“Phaaaarynx!” the other Changeling whined, struggling in Pharynx’s unyielding grip, “cut it out!”

“I’m just helping you toughen up, Thorax,” Pharynx replied.

Gale leaned close to Trixie and whispered, “Are these two brothers, or…”

“Exactly,” Trixie replied, equally soft. “I think Thorax is slightly older than Pharynx, but… well,” she gestured helplessly at the pair of Changelings.

Thorax twisted and bucked until Pharynx finally let him go.“I keep telling you,” Thorax said, rubbing his head, “I don’t need toughening up. I’m a going to be Lorekeeper, not a solider.”

“Psh,” Pharynx replied, rolling his eyes. “Right.”

“If you two are quite done screwing around,” an impatient, feminine voice from inside the room said, “we have some rather important matters to handle. ”Pharynx turned to look toward the speaker with his mouth open to protest, but apparently thought better of it and just slunk through the door.
Thorax let out a quiet sigh of relief and went in as well, and then Gale, Trixie, and Loopy followed suit.

Once inside the classroom, Gale looked around, lips pursed in bemusement as she identified the members of the small group inside. To start with, the three young fillies who comprised the original chapter of the Cutie Mark Crusaders were sitting together at a table and perking up as they recognized Gale and Trixie. Gale gave them a smile and a little wave before continuing to look around. Over by the chalkboard stood a white stallion with a styled blonde mane and wearing what appeared to be a steel cuirass styled to look like a tuxedo. Finally, near the back of the room, being joined by Thorax and Pharynx, were two more identical-looking Changelings which stood half a head taller than the brothers and were further distinguished by having short, red, stringy manes, long horns that had grown in a wavy shape, and raspberry eyes with cat-like pupils.

“What’s this?” the unicorn stallion asked pompously, staring down his nose at Gale, Loopy, and Trixie. “I’m told to expect ponies who could help turn this invasion around, and these mares are all that show up?”

“Go jump in a lake, Blueblood,” Trixie retorted. “And don’t bother taking that ridiculous costume off first.”

Blueblood snorted indignantly. “I have never-”

“As amusing as a contest of egos between you two would be,” Gale cut in shortly, shooting hard looks at both Blueblood and Trixie as she removed her Gel Launcher and set it aside, “can we please save it for when the city’s not occupied by a foreign army?” The two unicorns reluctantly obliged but continued to shoot silent glowers at one another. “As for you guys,” Gale said, walking over to the Changelings, “you’re the only creatures here that I don’t already know.” She held out a hoof for shaking. “You can call me Gale. I’m the sniper, mechanic, and anti-magic specialist of the Order-naries, if you’ve heard of us. My friend here is Looping Lines, journalist and semi-official public relations specialist of the Order-naries.”

Thorax stepped up and shook Gale’s hoof. “Pleased to meet you both,” he said. “I’m Thorax. You know Pharynx already, obviously, and these two,” he gestured to the matching pair of Changelings and bowed slightly to them in the same motion, “are Chard and Kale, the twin princesses of Hivetown.”

“Oh my!” Loopy exclaimed, running a hoof through her mane self-consciously, “actual royalty? Pharynx, Trixie, you should have warned us!” She bowed deeply. Blueblood’s nostrils flared, but kept whatever outraged thoughts he was thinking to himself.

Gale bowed as well, although not as dramatically as Loopy. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, your highnesses,” Gale said.

“The pleasure is ours,” one of the princesses said.

“Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo have been regaling us with tales of the Order-naries ever since Pharynx reported that he’d located you, Gale,” the other said.

Gale looked at Phaynx curiously. “When did-”

“Changelings can communicate mind to mind,” Trixie answered, predicting the question.

“Interesting,” Gale said, giving the four Changelings a new, appraising look. She then turned to the Cutie Mark Crusaders and said, “Now, I hope you three haven’t been exaggerating our stories too much.”

“Nah, just a little bit,” Scootaloo responded cheekily.

“Hold on a second,” Trixie said. She went over to the Changeling group and counted them. “Two, three, four… we’re missing a ‘ling.” She looked around, and then cast a spell that sent a pulse of blue light through the room to no evident effect. “Where’s Orange Peel?” she asked, looking at Thorax in particular.

“Uh, well,” Thorax said, looking around nervously and trying to hide behind Pharynx.

Pharynx, however, stepped aside and turned to face his brother as well. “I’m wondering that too, Thorax,” Pharynx said, cocking his head to one side. “Cuz last I heard, she’d snuck aboard that broken-horned pony’s airship disguised as a storm soldier.”

“She did what now?” Trixie said, keeping her tone even despite the growing tension in her ears and face. “I promised Cabbage I wouldn’t let any of you get lost. If I have to go hunting all over Equestria…” She left the statement unfinished but with a clear warning in her voice.

Thorax coughed, stared at the ground, and licked his fangs nervously for a long moment before saying, in a very small voice, “I… Orange moved outside my range about three hours ago. They were in the Badlands the last time I heard from her.”

“That’s an impressive distance,” Gale commented. “I don’t know much about telepathy, but if you Changelings can sense each other from halfway across the kingdom…”

“Most of us can’t, actually,” one of the Changeling princesses said. “Normally, a single ‘ling’s range is about half a mile, and even the entire Hive gathered together could only cover most of Canterlot. Thorax here is uniquely gifted at mental communication. He could tell you what the Changelings way up in Hivetown are doing right now.” Thorax kicked at the ground with an embarrassed smile on his face.

“I’m more interested in why, of all places, Orange Peel is on Tempest Shadow’s ship,” Trixie said.

“Tempest is pursuing Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Pharynx replied, “so we thought it would be a good idea to have an eye on the situation. We… weren’t expecting them to get so far away, though,” he concluded with a sheepish look.

“That makes sense to me,” Looping Lines said. “And Thorax will be able to sense when Orange Peel comes back into his range, right?” The Changeling in question nodded. “So,” Loopy said, with an emphatic gesture of a wing, “we’ll have a chance to prepare for Tempest returning. Or Twilight. Whoever comes out on top between them.”

“Yes,” Gale said as a slight gleam came into her eyes. She started to pace around the room, thinking. “Oh yes, that will be useful in the long term,” she said, “but in the meantime…”

“Excuse me,” Blueblood said brusquely, “but I was expecting somepony to arrive with an actual plan already in order.”

“I had a plan,” Gale said as her pacing brought her near the noble unicorn, “but now I have more resources to consider and…” She paused and gave Blueblood a measuring look. “What are you doing here anyway, Your Snobbiness?”

Blueblood’s mouth went through some tense contortions as he struggled to keep his temper. “I,” he said at last through gritted teeth, “am representing the Unicorn Council.”

“Oh, not that nonsense again,” Trixie moaned dramatically. “Have you always been so quick to try and seize power when the Princesses are indisposed?”

“For your information,” Blueblood said, staring down his nose at Trixie, “the Council is a legally recognized body organized for precisely one purpose: to maintain order in Canterlot and in the cycle of day and night should every capable alicorn become incapable of performing their duties. That the Changelings and you, Trixie Lulamoon, happened to earn our ire the last time we were convened-”

“Spare me the excuses,” Trixie spat. “That was a gross abuse of power, and you know it.”

“Ponies!” Gale said, her tone equal parts sharp rebuke and exasperation. “Stow the egos, both of you!” She pointed at Blueblood and snapped, “You, give me a good reason to care about your band of petty nobility with emergency power, or just stay out of my way.”

Blueblood’s mouth worked soundless for a few seconds in the face of Gale’s careless disregard for his rank and the deference it was due. Gale snorted dismissively and started to turn away, but then Blueblood managed to say, “Hold on.” As Gale glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow, Blueblood composed his features and said, “The Council is attempting to locate any resistance to the Storm King’s occupation, so we can coordinate efforts. I happen to know of a squadron of the Royal Guard that is prepared to act as soon as they receive information on where to strike.”

Gale’s eyes widened. “Seriously?” she said. Blueblood nodded, and Gale’s face split into a huge, shining-eyed grin. “Perfection!” Gale exclaimed, rushing over to the chalkboard and grabbing some chalk. “That should give us the bodies we need to hit every point at once.” Everypony and Changeling gathered around as Gale started expounding on her thoughts. “Here’s the situation,” she said. “The Storm King and most of his airship fleet are no longer in the city because they’re chasing Ashen Blaze, Gold Heart, and Soul Mage, who are heading to the Crystal Empire to try and cure Princess Cadance. The army’s second-in-command, Tempest Shadow, is going south in pursuit of Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony. This actually presents us with a problem because there’s no clear leader among the remaining army in the city; there’s no ‘head of the snake’ to remove in one focused strike. On the other hoof, because the enemy just seems to be in a holding pattern, we should be able to take back control of the city if we accomplish three tasks.

“First,” Gale drew a sketch of Canterlot Castle, “Celestia and Luna remain in the castle, still petrified, and the Storm King’s plans require that he possess them as well as Cadance and Twilight. He wants to steal their magic.”

“Why?” Sweetie Bell asked.

“I’m not sure,” Gale admitted, “but that doesn’t matter. He’s not going to get all the Princesses. Twilight can take care of herself, the rest of my team has Cadance, and we are going to seize Canterlot Castle, or at least hold the room the other Princesses are held in.

“Second,” Gale sketched a cage, “we need to free all the captives. Hopefully we’ll find enough ponies willing to fight back once they’re loose, but at worst we’ll sew confusion among the satyrs. Last, and perhaps most important,” she sketched an airship, “the enemy left some airships behind, so they still have control of Canterlot’s airspace. He who controls the skies controls the entire battlefield. So, we either take them over or take them out.” She finished her writing and sketching, set the chalk down, and turned to face the group. “I’ll admit,” she said, “that is a lot to pull off even with a couple squads of Guards backing up this little group of eight, but-”

“There’s eleven of us,” Scootaloo said flatly. “You, Ms. Looping Lines, Trixie, Prince Blueblood, Chard, Kale, Thorax, Pharynx, Sweetie Belle-”

“This is going to be dangerous, girls,” Gale said to the CMC.

“Seriously?” Apple Bloom exclaimed, face-hoofing. “When did you become Applejack, Gale? Look at us, we ain’t little fillies anymore. Heck, we’re older than the four of them put together!” She pointed at the Changelings. “And you didn’t think twice about counting them.”

“She makes a valid point,” Kale contributed. “Queen Cabbage holds those three in very high regard. That’s why we made the effort of freeing them from the cage they’d been thrown in.”

Gale glanced between the CMC and the Changelings, not looking convinced.

“Just let them help, Gale,” Loopy said. “You just said we’re going to need as much help as we can get.”

“Fine,” Gale said. “But I don’t want to have to explain to Rarity and AJ why their sisters got seriously wounded. You three,” she pointed at the CMC, “are going to be the team that focuses on freeing ponies, ok?”

“That’s cool,” Sweetie Belle said. “I was going to ask to be on that team anyway.”

“As for the rest of us…”Gale paused and gave Blueblood a cautiously optimistic look. “Give me about an hour to scout enemy positions and the number of zeppelins, and to determine what talents everypony here has to contribute, and I’ll have detailed plans of action for the Guard regarding taking the castle and dealing with the airships.”

“That seems reasonable,” Blueblood said with a nod. “I doubt I’ll have any issue convincing the Unicorn Council to back your strategies.” He left the room, and Gale turned her attention to the Changelings.

“Now,” Gale said, “any volunteers to go scouting?” Before anyone could respond, Blueblood backed back into the room, followed by four satyr soldiers menacing with lowered spears. “Oh,” Gale said quietly, glancing between the satyrs and her discarded Gel Launcher. “Well then…”

8. Crystal Party Jam

Ashen Blaze made a pleased noise as he and the twins stepped into their guest suite in the Crystal Empire castle and saw two comfortable-looking couches waiting for them. Ash ran to claim one of the couches all for himself, stretching out on it and sighing, “At long last, I can relax.”

“Really?” Soul Mage asked as he and Gold Heart took the other couch. “The only reason you’ve been a stressed-out, guilt-wracked workaholic all your life is because you didn’t have access to that particular couch?”

Ash rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, make your jokes,” he muttered. He lifted his head and looked directly at Soul. “The hard part’s over now,” he said. “Sure, simply being near the Crystal Heart hasn’t fixed Cadance, but we still got her here and the Storm King’s not breathing down our necks anymore. Shining Armor’s assigned the Empire’s best magic scholar to researching a counterspell to Cadance’s petrification, and somepony’s going to be along shortly to deal with this,” he touched his broken horn gently. “With the Storm King off chasing Changelings, there’s nothing more for us to worry about.”

“That’s optimistic of you,” Gold Heart said with an approving smile. “No worries about how Gale and Loopy are doing in Canterlot?”

“Nah,” Ash said with a dismissive wave. “Considering how many airships were pursuing us, I doubt there are enough soldiers left to give those clever ladies much trouble.”

“What about Ember?” Soul asked.

“Ah, right,” Ash said, giving himself a light smack on the head, “I forgot she’s still a prisoner. Well, once Cadance is fixed up I was thinking we’ll need to do something more… conclusive about the Storm King. We can rescue Ember then. Er, you two will, at least,” he added, tapping his horn with a rueful smirk.

“That’s fair,” Gold Heart said, nodding.

There was a knock on the door, and an aquamarine crystal mare wearing a nurse’s cap and carrying a small teal crystal entered the room and walked straight to Ash, who looked at the crystal and the nurse’s lack of other kit with guarded curiosity. “Hi,” he said.

“Hello,” the nurse replied with a gentle smile as she stepped closer. “Let’s take a look at that horn, shall we?”

“By all means,” Ash said. The nurse grabbed his head gently in her hooves and leaned in close to examine the splinted horn. “It’s been having a doozy of a day,” Ash said conversationally. He frowned as a thought occurred to him. “Has it only been a day?” he wondered aloud. “Given the present states of the Princesses…”

“Time is hard to track when the sun hasn’t moved,” Soul said in agreement, “but, I don’t think we’ve been at this much more than twenty-four hours. Maybe thirty. Point is, I don’t think the land has quite reached ‘baked by the sun’ crisis mode yet.”

“Hold still,” the nurse instructed Ash. “This splint needs to come off.”

“But I just got it back on,” Ash protested. The nurse ignored him as she put one hoof on the end of Ash’s horn to hold it in place while quickly undoing the splint with practiced speed. As soon as the splint came off, the nurse grabbed the crystal she’d brought in and pressed it against Ash’s horn. The crystal glowed and started to grow, first encircling the break and then spreading to encase the entire horn and form an anchoring base on Ash’s head.

“Ah, good,” the nurse said “that actually took better hold than expected. The crystal is charged with healing magic to repair your horn faster, and you should be able to manage light telekinesis without hurting yourself. Don’t try anything more complex, though or you may cause yourself permanent damage. I recommend you come back in about a week so we can check on your progress.”

“Yes ma’am,” Ash said, saluting. “You have my eternal gratitude, as does whoever invented this crystal.”

“You’re welcome,” the nurse said with a satisfied nod and smile. “Have a good day, and remember: get a check-up in a week.” She left the room, and as soon as the door closed Ash started rubbing the crystal cast lightly.

“Is that making you itch already or something?” Soul asked.

“No,” Ash said, dropping his hoof quickly, “It’s just… kinda fascinating. Oh, and before I forget,” he looked at Heart and Soul with a humble expression on his face, “thank you both for putting up with me through all this today.”

The twins both gave their friend surprised looks. “What, you mean the angst about your horn?” Soul asked, and then waved it off. “You had every reason to be a grouch, man.”

“You’ve actually been handling it quite well,” Heart added. “If this had been even just a couple years ago, I think you’d have gone into Meis Mode after the Storm King broke your horn off.”

“Most likely, yes,” Ash agreed with a sardonic smile. “I owe most of that mellowing to you two and Gale, you know, so thank you again for putting up with me. Through everything.”

“No worries, Ash,” Soul said. “We’re all practically family at this point. In both good times and bad, we’ll have your back no matter what.”

A comfortable silence fell over the room for a few minutes, but eventually Ash sat up with a grunt and declared, “I can’t actually just sit here while there’s a spell to untangle. Shall we go see how Sunburst is coming along on fixing Cadance?”

“Sure,” Soul said, getting up. “It’s the perfect excuse to raid this castle’s library.”

“Of course it is,” Heart said with an over-dramatic roll of her eyes.

The trio left the room, but before they could take another step a Crystal Guard came cantering up to them. “Mr. Ashen Blaze,” the Guard said, “Prince-captain Shining Armor needs to speak to you right away, down at the Crystal Heart.”

“Ok…” Ash said hesitantly.

“Go on, Ash,” Soul said. “You can meet up with us at the library when you’re done.”

Ash gave Soul a little pout. “I see,” he said, “the lure of a library is too much for you. What happened to ‘we’ll have your back no matter what?’”

Soul snorted in amusement. “I see,” he said, “you need Heart and me to shield you from the terrifying sight of Shining’s gratitude. Don’t want to get any ‘liquid pride’ on your coat now, do we?”

Ash cuffed Soul on the shoulder, beating Heart’s obligatory wing-slap to the head by half a second. “Fine, I’ll catch up with you two later,” Ash said, and then followed the guard down the hall toward the main doors.

As Ash came down the stairs and started to round the corner to the Crystal Heart courtyard, he heard a voice that gave him pause. “So, this Crystal Heart is the key to the very existence of your kingdom?” the speaker asked, “How interesting.”

“No,” Ash said is a small voice, rushing into the courtyard to a sight that confirmed his fear: the Storm King, with a squad of satyr soldiers behind him, was standing there chatting with Shining Armor and within lunging distance of both the Crystal Heart and the petrified Cadance, who had been left by the Heart on the off chance that such close proximity would free her before a counterspell was found. A zeppelin was moored on the far side of the courtyard, where it would have been out of sight from the part of the castle Ash had been in. “Skvetchte...” Ash swore as he ran over and threw himself between the Storm King and Cadance. “How, how, how?!” he exclaimed. “We left you goats chasing shadows over the tundra!”

The Storm King gave Ash a condescending smile. “Did you really think those decoys would fool me for long?”

“That was the hope, yes,” Ash deadpanned. He glanced over at Shining Armor, who was starting to look mildly concerned. “And you let him in,” Ash said.

“I did,” Shining said, giving the Storm King a hard, suspicious look. “He said he was only chasing you because you stole something from him, Ash.”

Ash rolled his eyes. “From a certain perspective, I suppose you could say I did,” he said. “Take a guess as to what it was I ‘stole,’ though,” he added, glancing pointedly at Cadance. Shining glanced at the petrified princess as well, and then leveled a deadly glare at the Storm King.

“Hey,” the Storm King said, shrugging, “my people captured her fair and square, and she’s rather crucial to my plans. I’m perfectly justified in trying to reclaim stolen assets. That’s how war works, you know.”

“You are just a petty warlord,” Ash growled, taking up a braced stance and pointing his horn at the Storm King. Shining Armor assumed a similar stance, and cast a protective bubble around himself, Ash, and Cadance, and then another one around the Crystal Heart for good measure. Ash nodded slightly in approval, but then looked up at his horn and sighed. “I should go get us some back-up, Shining,” he said. “I’m not fit for combat right now.”

“My shield will let you out,” Shining said, nodding slightly while keeping his eyes locked on the Storm King. Ash turned to head back to the castle entrance, only to find that while he and Shining had been focused on the Storm King, some of his soldiers had sneaked around to flank the ponies from behind. They were all outside Shining’s barrier, but their positions gave Ash no way to get past them without using magic.

Ash eyed the two satyrs closest to him for a moment, wracking his brain for options. “Skvetch,” he said at length, turning back to face the Storm King, “we seem to have reached an impasse here. We’re outnumbered and surrounded, but Shining Armor’s shield can keep you from getting in for days if need be. We won’t need to wait that long, though.”

The Storm King smirked and lifted his staff above his head. “Agreed,” he said simply before swinging the staff down so that the glowing gem set in it collided with the shield. The shield shattered like thin glass and Shining was driven to his knees by the magic backlash. The soldiers immediately leaped forward to restrain the two unicorns. Sighing, Ash didn’t bother to resist. “You said your name was Ashen Blaze, right?” the Storm King asked, stepping a little closer. “I’ve faced entire armies that didn’t have as much spunk and endurance as you.” He used his staff to lift Ash’s chin until he was looking him in the eye. “I thought I could use that when we first met, but...” He let Ash’s head drop. “Now,” he continued, “I think you have a little too much spunk. I’ve already learned not to rely too heavily on creatures with powerful ambitions of their own. I couldn’t entice you to join, and I apparently can’t break you, so-”

“I give up,” Ash said.

The Storm King blinked. “Come again?”

Ash looked up and into the Storm King’s eyes. “I. Give. Up,” he said. “What, do you take me for a zealot or something? I have no way out of this. Checkmate, you win. I’ll only ask for two conditions: show mercy to the Crystal Empire by leaving the Crystal Heart alone, and take me back to Canterlot with you. I’m... morbidly curious how things will play out there.”

“No,” Shining Armor protested, struggling against his captors, “we can’t surrender, Ash. I can still...” He started to focus his magic, but one of the satyrs whacked his horn with the back of its hand, disrupting the magic. The Storm King looked at Shining with mild annoyance, and then reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a glowing green ball. The satyrs holding onto Shining quickly released him and stepped back as the Storm King threw the ball, which exploded into a cloud of green smoke and turned the stallion to stone.

“As for you,” the Storm King said, turning his gaze on Ash and letting silence hang in the air for a tense moment. “How can I trust that you won’t try anything if I agree to your conditions?”

“I value the integrity of my word above all else,” Ash answered. “And really, is there anything I could do at this point that would accomplish anything other than delaying what you’re going to do for more than a second?” The odds of the twins or the Guards realizing what’s happening here in time to do anything aren’t great, he added to himself, so my best bet is getting you to Canterlot where Gale and Sam can re-balance the game.

Soul Mage made a disappointed sound as he reached the end of the final shelf in the castle library – a room that barely deserved the label, in his opinion. There were more empty walls than shelves and only four free-standing shelves which didn’t even reach the ceiling, and every shelf was only half-full at best. “This is easily the most disappointing royal library I have ever witnessed,” he declared.

“That’s not saying much, dear brother,” Gold Heart said with amusement, “considering that we know Twilight Sparkle.”

Sunburst looked up from the scroll he was studying. “You also need to consider that the Crystal Empire was locked in limbo for about a thousand years,” he said, “and it was under the control of King Sombra before it disappeared. Most of the books that were in this room had to be removed because they were either outdated or… dangerous. I may also have borrowed a large number of the remainder and, uh, keep forgetting to bring them back,” he added with a nervous chuckle.

“All of those facts are valid,” Soul said, “but do nothing to change my...” He trailed off as he peered out the window and saw the distinctive shape of the Storm King’s zeppelin below. “Heart,” Soul said slowly, “could you come over here and give me a reality check, please? Because I’m seeing something that should not be where it is.”

Heart came over, took one look out the window, and then ran her hoof down her face with a long sigh. “How does he keep doing this to us?” she asked.

“I dunno,” Soul said, “but he’s down on our level now, at least. And only one ship that I can see.”

“What’s going on?” Sunburst asked.

“Trouble,” Heart said. “Is the spell ready?”

Sunburst looked his scroll over one last time. “Well, I know how do this one,” he said. “Whether it will work on the Princess...” He shrugged.

“It’ll have to do,” Soul said, unlocking the window with his spirit tendril and throwing it open. “Stormy’s getting on the ship, and he’s got Ash and two stone ponies in tow.”

“Soul Mage,” Heart said, giving her brother a flat look, “you better not be thinking of pulling what I think you’re going to pull.”

“Well,” Soul said, leaning out the window slightly, “not from this height.” Heart sighed in relief. “Once they’ve gained a little altitude, however...” Soul added, and Heart groaned. “Look,” Soul said in a more serious tone, “if we go the sensible way, we’ll never catch them. Give Sunburst a lift, would you?”

“I do not like the implications of this conversation,” Sunburst said.

Heart placed a comforting wing around Sunburst’s shoulder. “Welcome to the club,” she said. “On your mark, brother.”

“Get us airborne,” the Storm King ordered as soon as the petrified Cadance and Shining Armor had been brought on board. “Let’s get out of here before any more ponies decide to play hero. No more delays; I will have my ultimate storm!” The soldiers rushed about to their duties, save for two that remained on guard over Ashen Blaze, and the zeppelin soon began to rise into the air.

“All this effort just to be able to cobble together a bit of bad weather?” Ash asked blandly. “Too cheap to import a pegasus team or something?” The Storm King rounded on the unicorn with an angry snarl, but before any more words could be exchanged, a golden-yellow shape plummeted to the deck from above.

“Kemoooo...” Soul Mage cried as he descended, then tucked into a roll to shed his momentum and bring him up next to Ash before springing to his feet and flailing at the satyr guards with a pair of spirit tendrils as he completed the battle cry: “Kiyaski!” Both guards collapsed into soul shock as the unicorn’s attack found their marks.

“Where the skeb-” Ash began, but then grinned. “I mean, perfect timing, Soul. And full marks for the dynamic entry, even though you did steal my battle cry.”

“Thank you,” Soul said, bowing dramatically. “And the score from the satyr judge?” he asked as he straightened up and gave the Storm King a cheeky look. An angry sound escaped the Storm King’s throat and he swung at Soul with his staff. Soul high-stepped backwards to dodge the blow, sticking his tongue out. “A five then?” Soul asked.

Distracted by Soul Mage’s buffoonery, the Storm King didn’t notice that Gold Heart had flown Sunburst down from the castle, setting the unicorn near Cadance and Shining Armor. “Work fast,” Heart advised Sunburst before rushing over to aid her brother by kicking the Storm King in the leg, forcing him to abort a second swing of his staff.

‘What the-” the Storm King exclaimed, looking down at Gold Heart and then spotting Sunburst starting to focus magic into Princess Cadance. “Hey, idiots!” he bellowed at his soldiers. “Sound general quarters already! Repel boarders!” A bell started clanking, several of the deck crew stopped their tasks, and many more soldiers started emerging from below decks carrying weapons.

Heart and Soul backed off from the Storm King and placed themselves between the massing soldiers and their own allies. “Two against… a lot,” Soul noted. “How long do you wager we can hold, Heart?”

Gold Heart glanced at Sunburst, who was gritting his teeth as he continued to weave the spell to free Cadance. “Not long enough,” she said, resigned.

Suddenly, a section of the deck exploded in a geyser of purple fire and Dragon Lord Ember flew up in its wake. “Finally got out,” she said in a tone of venting frustration, going into a hover just under the zeppelin’s envelope. She looked around, spotted the ponies, and gave them a cheerful wave. “Oh, hey there!” she said. “Did you guys get captured too?”

“Yes and no,” Ash answered, pointing to himself and then the twins. “We could use some more help, if you’re willing.”

Ember surveyed the deck and nodded, eyes locked on one satyr soldier in particular. “Oh, I’m willing,” she said, dropping to the deck and cracking her knuckles as she stared down the army. “I’ve got some payback to give out.” She spat a tongue of flame at the soldier she’d singled out, and then braced herself to meet the first couple of soldiers that charged at her in response.

Soul Mage nodded in appreciation as Ember made herself the most dangerous target on the ship, and then jumped back as the Storm King’s staff narrowly missed taking his horn off. “Forgot about me?” the king asked.

“Hardly,” Soul responded, wrapping a spirit tendril around the staff. He strafed around as the Storm King tried to pull his weapon free, angling the tug-o-war away from Ash and the petrified ponies. “Hey, Ash?” Soul asked in a conversational tone as he leaned back against the Storm King’s pull, “Do you think it’d be ok to break this stick?”

Ash peered around Shining Armor’s petrified form, studying the blue gem in the staff’s head for a moment. “It doesn’t seem to be linked to anything,” he said at length, “nor even particularly thick with magic. I still wouldn’t break it right next to myself, though.”

“Basic precautions, got it,” Soul said. “Heart-”

“I don’t think so!” the Storm King said, lunging toward Soul, trying to throw him off balance. The unicorn let himself fall back and rolled out of the charging satyr’s path, keeping a firm grip on the staff with his spirit tendril the whole while. Soul leaped to his feet with a quip on the tip of his tongue, but a sudden intake of breath brought the battle to a momentary stop.

Heart, Soul, and the Storm King all looked over to see Princess Cadance blinking owlishly as Ash helped steady her and motes of stone fell away from her pink coat. “What’s...” Cadance murmured, looking around in growing terror at the sight of the Storm King and his soldiers.

“Steady, Madonna Cadenza,” Ash said in a calming tone. “We’ve got everything under control.”

The anger on the Storm King’s face reached a level that threatened to set his fur on fire. He let go of his staff with one hand and reached for his pouch of petrifying bombs. Gold Heart seized the chance, headbutting the Storm King in the back. The tall satyr stumbled, and his staff fell from his grip. Soul pulled the staff in close, looked it over, and then broke the gem off with a stomp. “Ready, sis?” Soul asked, lifting the gem in his spirit tendril.

Gold Heart swept the Storm King’s legs out from under him and jumped onto his back when he fell prone. Planting one rear hoof on the king’s head, she stood up and readied an Element Wheel. “Pull!” she said. Soul hurled the gem over the side of the ship and Heart sent the Element Wheel after it. The disk of whirling energy cleaved the tumbling gem in half, and the pieces spun away from each other and out of sight without so much as a spark of light. “Woo!” Heart said, pumping a hoof in the air, “First try!”

The Storm King grunted, planted his hands on the deck, and surged to his feet, throwing Heart off his back. “Enough!” he bellowed, clenching his fists, “I- oof!” He went down again – on his back this time – as Soul tackled him from the front at the same time that Heart flew in to get him in a choke-hold from behind. Working together, the twins pinned him to the deck. “I won’t... yield,” the Storm King gasped. “I’ve conquered half the world; I won’t lose to a couple of simple ponies!” He tried to break out of the twins’ holds, but then a pinkish light coiled around his body and transformed into chains.

“We’re hardly simple,” Shining Armor said, shaking dust out of his mane as he completed his spell. He then sent out a pulse of light that drew the attention of everyone on board, putting an end to Ember’s fight against the half-dozen soldiers that still stood against her. “This battle is over,” Shining announced. “Your king is captured. Stand down at once, or you’ll have more than just one dragon to deal with.” There was a momentary pause, and then the satyrs threw down their weapons and put up their hands.

Heart and Soul backed off from the Storm King and stood next to each other, catching their breaths, and then Soul smirked and gave the Storm King a light kick. “Sorry to rain on your parade, thunderhead,” he said, “but your storm’s passed! Forecast for tomorrow: clear skies with a high of a hundred and ten, due to angry solar flares!” He flashed his cheeky grin around the ship, getting only blank looks in return. “What?” he said. “He’s called the Storm King! I’ve been preparing to drop a burn like that ever since he introduced himself. Though, what would have been just a passing breeze in Canterlot has grown into category 3 hurricane of puns!”

Gold Heart sighed and gave her brother a light smack upside the head. “And that,” she said, “just made it into a category 4.”

“Gee, really? Thanks,” Soul said, giving Heart his goofiest fake-flirty look. Heart raised her wing to smack him again, but then lowered it and hugged him instead.

“Not to spoil the sibling moment,” Ash said, “but we should probably be getting this ship back down to earth and start dealing with that lot,” he pointed a hoof toward the satyrs, who were starting to shift restlessly under Ember’s intense monitoring.

An hour later, Cadance, Shining Armor, and Ashen Blaze gathered in the throne room to discuss business. “Equestria owes you another debt, Ash,” Cadance said. “You and your friends managed to put a stop to a threat that nearly brought the kingdom to its knees. And at significant personal cost,” she added, looking at Ash’s broken horn.

“I appreciate your gratitude, Madonna Cadenza,” Ash said, “but we’re not done yet. The Storm King’s out of play, but this isn’t chess. Canterlot may still be occupied, there’s a small fleet of airships out there that don’t know their leader’s been captured, and there’s still the matter of Twilight and her friends fleeing from Tempest Shadow.”

Shining Armor nodded. “Gale and your other friend are in Canterlot now, though, right?” he asked. Ash nodded. “So at least something’s being done there,” Shining continued. “Twiley and her friends can take care of themselves, so as much as I want to rush to her side and protect her, we should focus on the closer issues first. As to those airships-”

Flash Sentry burst into the room, ran up to the group, and saluted them. “Pardon the interruption Your Highness, Captain, uh… sir.”

I should get myself a formal title, Ash thought idly.

“I have urgent news,” Flash continued: “The remainder of the Storm King’s airships have been sighted near the western border of Hivetown.”

“Well,” Ash interrupted with a chipper tone, “at least we won’t have to go hunting for them.”

Flash shot Ash a slightly nervous look. “They’re, uh… the ships aren’t flying the Storm King’s flags anymore,” he said. “Instead, they’re flying a flag of a black heart on a Changeling-magic-green field.”

Ash, Cadance, and Shining all blinked slowly, processing the information. “Does the Changeling Hive have an official flag?” Ash asked at last.

“I suspect they’ve just adopted one,” Shining Armor said. “And they’ve taken the Storm King’s entire fleet. Come on.” He galloped out of the room with his wife and Ash hot on his heels, headed for the Empire’s border.

9. Party Central Blowout

Despite the clear skies, a dull grayness seemed to pervade the streets of Canterlot. The myriad ponies locked up in chains and cages throughout the city had mostly given up hope and very few even bothered to cry about it. The Storm Soldiers were eerily silent themselves and patrolled the streets simply from a lack of anything else to do without orders from their King or Commander Tempest Shadow to raid for magic items or treasure. On one particular street, however, some caged ponies found the energy to whisper to one another after the satyr guarding them was out of earshot.

“I wonder how those mares are doing. The earth pony seemed confident they could get rid of these creatures, but it’s been a while since they left with that showmare.”

“Those mares are Gale and Trixie and… I don’t know who the pegasus was, but the other two have each saved the city from disaster a couple of times at least.”

“Yeah, when they had the Elements of Harmony or a bunch of tame Changelings working with them. If it’s still just those three… Maybe we should have joined them when Gale asked.”

A crackling sound like a PA system being turned on suddenly echoed through the streets, stilling what little activity there was. “Attention all loyal soldiers of the great Storm King!” an amplified voice said. “Let it be known that the last of the ponies in the city have been captured. Good work, everyone. Now, to celebrate a job well done and kill some time until our leaders return, some of the recent captures have been persuaded to put on a little show for all of us. Every satyr in Canterlot is to report to the castle courtyard immediately. That includes you guys up in the zeppelins; get down here and let off some steam.”

As the echoes of the announcement faded, the gossiping ponies exchanged crestfallen looks. “The last ponies? That can only mean...”

Storm soldiers crowded into the courtyard where the Friendship Festival stage still stood, chatting with one another about the unexpected but not unwelcome celebratory downtime. None of them could recall being allowed any significant breaks in the King’s campaign to the plunder the world of its riches and magic, especially in the time since Tempest Shadow had talked her way into such a high position. Neither the King nor Tempest were around right now, though, so there was probably no harm in enjoying a little performance put on by some captives. Just so long as it was all over before either of the aforementioned leaders returned, of course.

Four soldiers stood on the stage keeping an eye on four ponies who stood in chains in the center: three young mares representing each pony race and one more mature unicorn wearing a pointed purple hat with stars all over it. Once the audience was settled, one of the guards unchained the hat-wearing unicorn and gave her a shove toward the front of the stage.

“All right, all right,” Trixie grumbled, dusting off the spot on her cape the soldier had touched, “no need to be rough. Ahem.” She faced the audience, put on an unconvincingly large smile and said, “Welcome… one and all! It is time to bear witness to the splendor, the dazzlingness, and the wonder that is the Great and Powerful Trrrixie!” She reared up as puffs of smoke erupted around her, revealing tables covered with an array of props. “First,” Trixie said, grabbing a large metal ring with a long tube of cloth draped from it, “Trixie requires a volunteer from the audience.” She scanned the unresponsive crowd for a few moments, and then pointed to a satyr near the middle of the front row. “You, my fine goat-thing,” Trixie declared, “you seem like a brave individual. Join Trixie at center stage, please.”

The singled-out soldier was hesitant, but with some cajoling and shoving from his neighbors he stepped up and accepted Trixie’s invitation. As the satyr got up onto the stage, Trixie set the ring down carefully so that the cloth folded itself neatly on the ground. “Stand here, please,” Trixie said, guiding the satyr into the ring, “and hold still until Trixie says so. You may feel a slight tingle.”

With her victim in place and looking adequately nervous, Trixie levitated the ring until the satyr was completely hidden from view by the fabric. “Trixie shall now attempt one of the most difficult kinds of magic known to pony-kind: transformation. Gaze in wonder as… one moment.” Trixie dropped the curtain, revealing that the satyr’s fur had somehow turned pink. “Trixie should probably say what transformations she’s going to do first, huh?” She raised the curtain around the satyr again. Nothing drastic, I assure you,” she said, “just a couple color changes, maybe a new set of horns...” She dropped the curtain, revealing an impressive rack of antlers on the satyr’s head. There was some applause from the audience.

Lifting the curtain once more, Trixie took a bow. “Thank you,” she said, walking a full circle around the curtain, “and now, for the most impressive feat of all. As you see, there is nothing behind or around the magic curtain and my own magic is focused entirely on keeping the curtain up. Yet, before your very eyes, my brave volunteer shall disappear!” With a grand flourish, she released the curtain and let it drop to the stage. The satyr soldier was gone, but the space inside the ring was not empty. Instead, there stood a brown earth pony wearing a saddle with a small metal cannon strapped to one side and balanced by a metal box on the other, and with a storm soldier helmet perched on top of her head.

“Showtime!” Gale shouted, before gripping the gel launcher’s trigger mechanism in her mouth and firing a sticky white gel at the closest satyr. With simultaneous flashes of green fire, the four satyr guards on the stage transformed into Changelings. Pharynx immediately launched himself into the midst of thesoldiers and transformed again into a giant insect monster, flailing scything claws and clubbing legs about with wild abandon, while Thorax, Chard, and Kale fell in to guard Gale and Trixie’s flanks. Emerging from hidden positions outside the courtyard, dozens of squads of the Royal Guard poured in to surround the storm soldiers and divide their attention away from Pharynx. One platoon held back until the battle was engaged, and then broke off to head for the castle.

Gale walked to the back of the stage where the Cutie Mark Crusaders were already shrugging off their unsecured chains and tossed them a ring of keys. “Ok girls,” Gale said, “go rally the masses. Chard will help you get to the streets.”

“Yes ma’am,” Scootaloo said with a salute as Sweetie Bell took charge of the keys.

Gale then turned to the Changelings and Trixie. “Thorax, go with the platoon heading for the Princesses and keep me updated on their status,” she instructed, “Chard, I want you on overwatch once the Crusaders are out of here. Kale, stick by me to relay information. Trixie-”

“Trixie knows her part,” the unicorn said with an impatient wave. She opened the trapdoor Gale had used to swap places with the luckless satyr “volunteer” and started levitating out a wide array of fireworks and setting them up across the stage.

“Good,” Gale said. She walked up to the edge of the stage, surveyed the mayhem of two armies and one giant bug monster clashing, and then raised her view to the airships parked on the far side of the courtyard. “This is going to be fun,” she deadpanned. “Ready, Kale?” she asked. The Changeling princess simply nodded and readied her horn with magic. “Here we go then,” Gale said. She and Kale leaped off the stage and immediately ducked and covered their ears as the first wave of Trixie’s pyrotechnics arced into the air and came down to explode just above the soldiers who were preparing to charge the stage, raining hot embers onto their heads as the concussive force of the explosions knocked several of them down. Gale and Kale pushed through the stunned and singed soldiers and from there started to fight their way toward Pharynx’s position.

When the storm soldiers had answered the summons to the courtyard, many had left their weapons behind, but many had not and even those that were unarmed still had their magic-resistant armor on and possessed enough reach and muscle mass to give the Royal Guard’s spearponies an even fight. The satyrs with spears of their own were trying to congregate on Pharynx, but with the confusion caused by the sudden ambush and prolonged by Trixie launching fireworks at random spots in the melee, their ability to coordinate with their buddies was still limited. By sheer determination and a liberal application of hoof strikes, Changeling goo, and point-blank sticky gel shots to the face, Gale and Kale reached Pharynx’s side and helped the oversized bug monster clear some breathing room around the three of them. “Make for the zeppelins!” Gale ordered while the storm soldiers were still reeling. Pharynx nodded, changed into a large Yak, and charged toward the airships, bowling satyrs aside while Gale and Kale guarded his flank.

Seeing the trio bulling a path through the middle of their formation in the direction of the zeppelins, the satyrs nearest the zeppelins broke away from the fighting and ran to reach them first. As they neared the gangway of the middle ship, however, a turquoise pegasus swooped out of the sky and landed in front of them, teeth bared in a feral grin. “Go on, take another step,” Looping Lines dared the soldiers, who had paused momentarily. The satyrs looked at one another in bemusement, and then the one leading the charge snorted and took a step toward Loopy.

Loopy’s eyes glinted and then screwed shut as she hunched her shoulders. Her flesh slowly rippled from the crown of her head down toward her tail, changing her smooth coat into coarse, bristling fur. With a sickening series of cracks and pops, her rear hooves split and shifted into five-toed paws with black claws, and her front hooves followed suit a second later by turning into sharp-clawed hands. A second set of ripples passed through Loopy’s body starting from her extremities as her muscles and bones shifted into a bulkier, lupine profile, and her wings migrated up to her shoulder blades. Finally, her muzzle grew longer and more pointed as her teeth became fangs, and she reared up with her arms spread wide as she let out a piercing howl.

The storm soldiers hesitated, and some tried to back away, but Loopy didn’t give them a chance to fully process her transformation. Pouncing forward, she grabbed one satyr by the neck with one hand while cutting deep scratches in another’s breastplate with the other. As she landed, she threw her captive at the soldiers right in front of her, then caught an incoming fist and pivoted to throw its owner to the ground with his own momentum. Two satyrs rushed her from either side, but she leaped straight up out of their way, flapping her wings once to extend her airtime until the satyrs collided, and then crashed down onto their heads. “Ha!” she crowed, posing triumphic on top of their senseless forms, “Can’t touch this!”

“Having fun, Loopy?” Gale asked as she, Kale, and Pharynx burst through the last of the satyrs in their way.

“I’m a wifwolf with wings,” Loopy replied, joining the trio as they made for the gangplank. “I haven’t had this much fun in years.”

“That’s good,” Gale said, trotting to the top of gangplank and turning around to survey the battlefield. “Now, how about finding-” She stopped herself short as Blueblood and four Royal Guards broke through a clump of satyrs and galloped toward the airship. “Wow, you actually made it on your own,” Gale said.

Blueblood snorted indignantly and tossed a stray lock of hair out of his eyes as he approached. “Contrary to your opinion,” he said, “I am not wholly incompetent in a base brawl such as this. Shall we get airborne?”

Gale nodded. “I’ll go find the engines,” she began.

Blueblood shook his head and pushed past her to enter the zeppelin’s interior, two of the Guards in his wake. “I will get the engines running,” he said. “I know how to operate every system on my personal airship, and I doubt this craft will be too different. You are the commander in this farce, so you should get yourself up top where you can command properly.”

“Ok,” Gale said with a sigh, “that works.” She looked around again and groaned as she saw that some satyrs had gained the gangplanks of the other two zeppelins. “Loopy, Pharynx,” she ordered, “try to keep those other two ships from taking off as long as possible. We have to be in control the skies.” The wifwulf and Changeling both saluted and took off, the latter changing into his giant bug form as he flew. “Now,” Gale said, stepping inside the zeppelin with the remaining two Guards, “let’s get into the air and hope the Cutie Mark Crusaders’s reinforcements start arriving soon.”

“There we go!” Sweetie Bell said in triumph as the key she was holding slid into the lock of a cage and turned easily. “Fifth time’s the charm, I guess.” She threw open the door and then trotted off to the next one down the street. Scootaloo went with her up to the corner, keeping an eye out for any pursuit.

The two ponies who were in the cage stepped out and looked down at Apple Bloom. “Thank you girls,” one of the liberated ponies said. “Might I inquire as to how you obtained the keys?”

“Sure ya can,” Apple Bloom said. “We got ‘em off one of the soldiers after we lured them all ta the festival stage.”

“You don’t mean that show that got announced after the cads captured the last ponies in the city was your doing?” the other pony exclaimed.

Apple Bloom grinned. “Pretty much,” she said. “It’s darn easy to act captured when ya got a few Changlin’s on yer side to pose as the enemy. Now,” she said, sobering and raising her voice to be heard by the rest of the ponies that Sweetie had been letting out of their cages, “we’re takin’ the fight to those monsters and showin’ ‘em they can’t just invade Equestria and get away with it! Our side’s outnumbered, though, so everypony willing ta step up and join the fight is needed. Who’s with us?”

The freed ponies murmured among themselves, and then started to wander off in every direction except toward the battle. “Sorry, girls,” one of them said before running off, “but this isn’t one of your border towns full of thrill seekers; it’s Canterlot. If you want help here, you go to the Royal Guard.”

“Seriously?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed at the retreating figures. “Ain’t y’all got any courage from that rallyin’ speech?”

“I thought it was a good speech,” Scootaloo said as Apple Bloom slumped toward her. “They made a good point though: maybe we should try to find where the rest of the Guard are locked up before trying to recruit ordinary ponies.”

“Hey! Scootaloo! Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Bell shouted from down the street, “Guess who I just found!”

The shock of the Royal Guard’s ambush was wearing off and the storm soldiers were quickly organizing into proper ranks and getting the weapons they had to where they would be the most effective. The Guard were too few in number to keep the satyrs surrounded and their lines were being broken up into smaller pockets by the counter-pushes. Trixie’s fireworks were beginning to run out and the satyrs were dangerously close to overwhelming her position. And there was still no sign of any reinforcements from the city.

Chard relayed all this to her twin, Kale, before diving out of the sky to try and help take some pressure off of Trixie. Kale, in turn, relayed the news to Gale as the earth pony took shots from the main deck at the satyrs trying to force open the zeppelin’s gangway. “On a more positive note,” Kale concluded, “Thorax says they haven’t encountered any resistance inside the castle and they’re just about to reach the room where Celestia and Luna are being kept. Two Guards will hold the room while the rest intend to come and help out here.”

“Fine,” Gale grunted around her firing bit. She fired another sticky gel and made a frustrated sound as it was intercepted by a raised shield. The besieging satyrs were starting to figure out her patterns. “Confound it,” she said, spitting out the bit, “I could really use some shock gel. This adhesive stuff isn’t cutting it anymore.” She turned away from the railing at the sound of one of Blueblood’s attendant Guards – a unicorn – approaching. “What news from below decks?” Gale asked.

The Guard saluted briefly and reported, “The engines are proving more difficult than anticipated, but the Prince is certain they’ll be running in a few minutes. As to weapons, we couldn’t find anything that can be used on the ground without suffering collateral damage or risking unacceptable friendly casualties.”

“Of course,” Gale sighed. She looked out over the battlefield, scowled, and then turned away and headed for the tiller. “They so no plan survives first contact with the enemy,” she said, “but I didn’t think things would fall apart this quickly. We need more hooves on the ground.”

The muffled, sputtering whine of machinery starting up made Gale gallop the last few feet to the tiller, ready to take the zeppelin up. As she grabbed the controls, however, she realized the sound hadn’t come from her craft. The whine was echoed, and the two other zeppelins – those still in the control of the storm soldiers – started to ascend. “No no no no!” Gale ranted, looking around for a speaking tube or other means of informing Blueblood that he needed to hurry up! She couldn’t find what she needed on her first look, and she felt an itch forming in her front hooves. Nothing was working as intended and she had to know why; what faulty parts had she missed; what calibrations-

The sight of Pharynx landing hard on the main deck, one hoof pressed against a wound in his side, pulled Gale away from her own troubles enough to ward off the oncoming trance, and she forced herself to join Kale in running down to check on him. “They got lucky,” Pharynx spat, clearly in pain despite his efforts to mask it. “Hit me with a spear. Didn’t hit anything vital, but...” His balance wavered and he winced in pain.

“Can you patch him up?” Gale asked Kale. The royal Changeling nodded, and Gale turned to leave her to it, just in time to see Looping Lines, back in pegasus form, alight on the deck, panting. “And what’s your excuse?” Gale asked sharply.

Loopy’s lip curled as she looked at Gale sideways from wild eyes. “Do you know how much energy it takes to keep a lycanthrope form going?” she shot back. “Add the workout of flying on top of that. I haven’t had a proper meal since before we came through the portal, and those goat-things are starting to look tasty. Do you want were-goats? ...Were-satyrs? That’s not right either...”

“Ok, ok, I get it,” Gale said, trying to speak calmingly despite her own stress. She began to pace, anxious to fix the situation but not able to think of any action she could take that wouldn’t send her into a spiral of obsession and deconstruction. “We’re going to have to pull back,” she muttered, “get ourselves out of this jam and maybe hole up in the castle until-”

Fweeeee! A giant purple rocket covered in white and blue stars, wrapped in an aura of turquoise magic, and being ridden by two ponies, came flying toward the zeppelin. As the rocket passed over the deck, the riders jumped off and rolled to their hooves, Trixie with a dramatic flare of her cape and Starlight Glimmer with much less drama and far more concentration as she continued the guide the firework into a spiraling curve that ended by puncturing the envelope of the enemy zeppelin to the aft of Gale’s before exploding. Without pausing to watch the airship crash back to earth, Starlight turned toward the bow and unleashed a wide beam of magic at the other zeppelin, encasing the entire thing and its crew in a stasis bubble that resembled a gemstone. Only then did Starlight relax and turn to acknowledge everyone else. “I’m not too late to the party, am I?” she asked.

“Holy smoke and cinders,” Loopy breathed.

Gale was about to make a comment, only to be interrupted by a sputtering whine and a slight tremor in the deck. Blueblood had finally gotten the engines on. Rushing to take command at the tiller, Gale called over her shoulder at Starlight, “Take down as many of the enemy as you can from here.” Starlight nodded and ran to the railing, preparing spells to rain down on the satyrs. Gale reached the tiller and – feeling much more in control – quickly examined the controls to figure out how to get the ship off the ground.

With only one false start, the zeppelin rose into the sky. As it did so, Chard, having tried to follow Starlight and Trixie’s rocket and been left far behind, finally caught up and collapsed in a weary heap next to her sister. Starlight raked a couple beams of magic through the middle of the satyr ranks, freezing a couple dozen inside stasis crystals, which proved to be enough to make the remaining soldiers pause to reassess the situation. The Royal Guard rallied and pushed to link their scattered positions into two solid lines pressing the satyrs between them. The squad that had gone to secure the Princesses reappeared in the courtyard and quickly moved to reinforce one of the lines, and as the zeppelin rose even higher Gale thought she could see ponies massing in the streets and making their way toward the battle.

“Ah, this is more like it,” Gale said, grinning. “Now,” she said, setting the zeppelin to hold its altitude and giving the controls a closer look, “is there some sort of broadcasting device here or… Actually, Trixie! Can your voice projection spell amplify other’s voices or just-”

A ragged cheering rose up from somewhere below, accompanied by a rhythmic beat. Gale went over to the railing to see what was happening. The cheers were coming from the storm soldiers, who were drumming out an increasingly synchronized beat on their shields and breastplates, much to the confusion and concern of the Royal Guard. “What’s gotten into them?” Gale asked.

“Probably that,” Trixie said, pointing toward the northern sky. A vast black storm cloud was moving rapidly toward the city, and as it got closer the silhouettes of a small fleet of zeppelins became discernable.

Gale’s eyes went wide as her irises shrank and her ears flatted against her head. “The Storm King’s back,” she said. “We’re not ready for this. Not by a long shot.” She bit her lip as her mind raced, trying to calculate the chance of getting any ponies aside from those already aboard out of danger. “Maybe if the Changelings mimic satyrs again...” she mused under her breath, trailing off when she noticed a distinct lack of anxiety in Chard, Kale, and Pharynx’s postures. “Why aren’t you three worried about this?” she asked.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Chard replied. “I think you’ll be able to see why about… Now.” She pointed, and Gale looked. The storm cloud had dispersed as the leading ship entered Canterlot’s airspace, and every pony and satyr could now clearly see the Storm King himself, lashed to the prow like a living and extremely livid figurehead. The storm soldiers’ cheering died out into confused mutterings.

“Your attention, please,” boomed the voice of Ashen Blaze from the lead airship as the rest of the fleet split up to surround the courtyard. “All soldiers of the Storm Kingdom, you are to lay down your weapons and cease hostilities immediately. Your march of conquest and terror ends here, due to the unconditional surrender of your king to her Royal Highness Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire and Cabbage Patch, Rightful Queen of the Changelings. By extension, that means surrender to Equestria and the end to your ambitions. That means you too, airship crew. Park yourselves back on the ground and...” The announcement trailed off as the lead Zeppelin pulled up alongside Gale’s and the ash-grey unicorn met eyes with his earth pony mechanic. “Ah,” Ash said, speaking more softly into the loudspeaker box he was using, “you’re an Equestrian craft now, I see. Never mind, carry on.”

Gale peered over the side of her ship to see if the satyrs were complying – which they were – before shouting across to Ash, “What they hay, boss? Retaking Canterlot was supposed to be my job, remember?”

“Right,” Ash replied. “And how was that going?”

“I actually had things well in hand before you came waltzing in to steal my thunder at the last second!” Gale shouted back, smirking. “How was your trip?”

“It had its ups and downs,” Ash said, shrugging. “De-petrified Cadance and captured Stormy, but our train got blown up and I had to endure Cadance and the Queen Bug bickering over politics for the whole flight back.” He paused as he noticed Kale, Chard, and Pharynx standing at the railing of Gale’s ship alongside Trixie, Starlight and Loopy. “I see you had to accept some Changeling assistance as well,” Ash said.

“And perfectly happy to have them,” Gale shot back. “Hey, can we continue this after we’ve all set down and gotten the clean-up started? I’m going to go hoarse if we keep this up.”

Soul Mage came running up to Ash from the main deck, clearly bursting to unleash a pun at Gale before the moment passed, but Ash held him off with an outstretched hoof and spoke a quick “agreed” into his loudspeaker before switching it off.

10. Parties Reunited

Being completely petrified is a fate that is far worse to consider in the abstract than it is to actually experience, if only because one is essentially unconscious when turned to stone. The majority of the horror comes from considering the possibility of not waking back up or wondering about how damage to the stone will affect oneself when flesh is restored. Petrification also preserves the victim’s state of mind in the moment just before full transition, so if it occurs slowly the victim will still be feeling panic and may lash out as soon as they can move again.

For this reason, Sunburst positioned himself at Princess Celestia’s side – out of her immediate range of vision and where flailing hooves wouldn’t strike – before casting the spell to free her from her petrification. The light from his horn spread like veins through the black stone, and when it reached the tip of her horn the stone burst off her restored self in a cloud of dust and tiny flakes. Celestia gasped as she dropped from her reared-back pose to all four hooves, and then again as she was immediately targeted for an affectionate chest-nuzzling by her sister.

“Luna,” Celestia said with warmth and surprise. “You managed to get away, then?”

“Nay,” Luna said, turning away in shame, “I tried to fly, but I was struck by one of those horrid orbs mere moments after you.”

“Oh,” Celestia said, looking around and taking in her surroundings for the first time. She and Luna weren’t in the festival courtyard anymore, but in one of the rooms of Canterlot Castle, and the room was full of ponies that she recognized, including Cadance, as well as Queen Cabbage Patch, who seemed to be pointedly avoiding Cadance. One face was conspicuous by its absence. “Where’s Twilight?” Celestia asked.

“Far to the south, last I heard, Princess,” replied Ashen Blaze, who was standing off to one side of the room with a teal crystal encasing his horn and his teammates around him, “with Tempest Shadow in pursuit. We’ve been trying to fathom what Twilight and the Elements could be seeking down that way.”

“The Hippogriffs, I would guess,” Celestia said. “When I saw what Tempest Shadow’s magic orbs did to Cadance, I tried to tell Luna to find the Queen of the Hippogriffs, both to beg the use of one of their cultural treasures to counteract the petrification and to get at least one alicorn out of the hooves of this Storm King. It seems Twilight took up the task when Luna couldn’t, naturally,” she concluded with a fond smile.

“That is her wont,” Luna agreed. “Although I wonder if she will actually find the Hippogriffs,” she added with a frown, “since you only managed to say ‘hippo’ before the stone overcame you.”

“At least she got away,” Celestia said.

“Tempest Shadow went after her,” Ash reminded the princesses.

Celestia’s expression became grim. “Right, you did mention that,” she said. She looked around the room again. “So, what’s been happening around here in my… absence? I gather that you and your Order-naries have been doing what you do best, Ash, but I would appreciate some details.”

“Uh,” Ash said, looking to Looping Lines and Soul Mage, “who wants to tell the tale?”

Loopy and Soul looked at each other. “Well,” Soul said, “there are two parts to it and we were each present for one...”

“You go first,” Loopy said. Soul nodded graciously and then launched into a rollicking summary of the grand train and airship race to the Crystal Empire and the confrontation against the Storm King there. Loopy then gave a professional outline of the short, improvised campaign to retake Canterlot. When she was finished, Celestia and Luna had to sit down.

“So, you’re telling us there is no more invasion crisis,” Luna said. “The five of you undid everything the Storm King’s forces inflicted on Equestria in only a couple days.”

“Hey, it’s what we do,” Soul Mage said flippantly.

Gold Heart gave her brother a wing-slap upside the head. “We had some advantage from showing up after the initial scuffle and being able to observe and learn a bit about the enemy,” she said. “I think what actually made it all possible, however, was all the old and new friends we were able to recruit along the way: Trixie, Starlight, Dragon Lord Ember, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Blueblood to an extent... Not to mention the two Changelings who drove the train for us, the four Gale found here in Canterlot, and, ultimately, the entire Hive under Cabbage Patch’s leadership.”

“Huh,” Soul Mage said, “that’s actually an impressive number of allies we managed to gather without planning to. And that’s without any of us being the Element of Magic slash Princess of Friendship.”

Heart gave her brother an amused sideways look. “Are you trying to imply Twilight’s going to come home with a small army of new friends at her back?”

“Oh, at the absolute minimum,” Soul replied, folding his front legs across his chest. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she came home with two or three entire undiscovered nations calling her and Equestria their lifelong friends.”

Soul’s comment earned an appreciative chuckle from Celestia, and Luna gave a wistful smile. “That would be a most pleasant outcome,” the Night Princess said, “however, I do not like leaving her and her friends’ fate to chance. We should commission an expedition to the South posthaste to locate and recover them.”

Ash stomped a hoof in agreement, but before he could speak up, Thorax came barreling through the door and nearly tripped over his hooves trying to come to a stop in front of the group. His hole-free wings twitching, he cast a glance at his Queen before nervously clearing his throat. “I-I’ve just got back into contact with Orange Peel!” he exclaimed.

“Who?” Ash, the twins, and the Princesses all asked.

“That’s the Changeling that snuck aboard Tempest’s ship, right?” Gale asked. Thorax nodded vigorously, looking slightly less tense. “What’s their situation, then?” Gale prompted.

Thorax shifted uncomfortably, clearly troubled by the news he bore. “She… Tempest Shadow has captured Princess Twilight Sparkle,” he said quickly. “The ponies that were with Twilight have been left stranded at a place called Mount Aeris. Orange Peel estimates that Tempest will arrive here within the next three or four hours.” Thorax let out the remainder of his breath in a quick huff of relieved tension, only to stiffen up a second later as he saw Celestia frowning grimly.

“Mount Aeris is the Hippogriff’s ancestral home,” Celestia said. “How is it that Twilight’s friends could be stranded there?”

“Uh… I’ll ask Orange Peel real quick,” Thorax replied, and then closed his eyes to concentrate on his mental link to the distant Changeling. “So far as Orange could see,” he said after a minute, “the mountain looked like it had the remnants of an old, abandoned city on its slopes. I… guess the Hippogriffs aren’t there anymore?”

“That’s troubling news,” Celestia said, “but it’s a mystery for another day.”

“Indeed,” Luna agreed. “We must intercept Tempest Shadow and rescue Twilight. Prepare the airships; we will meet them in force, and by using her own army’s ships we will be able to approach without raising her suspicions until it is too late.”

“If I may,” Ash said raising his hoof and getting an intrigued nod from Luna. “I have no real objections to that strategy,” Ash said, “but consider this: Tempest is already heading right for us and she doesn’t know that Canterlot’s situation has changed since she left. Right?” he asked, giving Thorax a meaningful look. Thorax consulted with Orange Peel and then nodded in confirmation of Ash’s assumption. “So then,” Ash continued, “why waste time and energy meeting her halfway? If we’re going to prove her sense of security in her position false, we may as well do it in Canterlot and use the time to concoct a real good welcome party for her.”

“That almost sounds like you’re approving of using deception, Ash,” Cabbage Patch cut in sardonically. “I thought you were morally opposed to such things.”

Ash gave the Changeling Queen a flat look. “I do not speak deliberate falsehoods as a matter of personal principle,” he told her, “but I’m almost a pragmatist. Tempest Shadow thinks she’s all but won the Storm King’s war, and right now this city is flush with natural-born masters of disguise and at least one accomplished illusionist. So long as I am not expected to lie about anything, I see no reason not to use what we have to keep our foe off their guard until they’re no longer in any position to harm Twilight or escape.” Ash sat back and touched his crystal-splinted horn lightly with a hoof, sighing. “Besides,” he said, “with my horn like this, I can’t really employ any of my Standard Hostage Protocols anyway.”

“Don’t count yourself out yet, Ash,” Gale said, reaching over to put a hoof on his shoulder. “I may have just come up with a way to use SHP #6.”

Ash raised an eyebrow. “Do tell,” he said.

As the cage that held her rose from the hold to the deck of Tempest Shadow’s airship, Twilight quickly reflected on what her captor had just revealed about herself, her past and reasoning for joining the Storm King and bringing war to her own homeland. It was a story Twilight was familiar with: a young pony who had experienced a tragedy and felt betrayed or abandoned by those they considered friends, and so turned to anger and bitterness and a quest to seize control of their lives from uncaring Destiny. It was a path Twilight knew could be turned away from, and she figured that guiding Tempest toward the right path wouldn’t be much harder than guiding Starlight Glimmer had been. Granted, she didn’t have access to a time travel spell that would let her show Tempest the end of her current course… In fact, Twilight didn’t have much to work with at the moment besides her words, but those were better than nothing.

As the cage came to a stop on the deck and Tempest rejoined her, Twilight gave the tall unicorn a sympathetic look and said, “I’m sorry you felt so alone.”

Tempest cast a brief glance at Twilight, and then walked away a short distance. “I saw the truth,” she said without looking back. “My ‘friends’ abandoned me when times got tough. Looks like I’m not the only one. Face it Princess,” she spared one more glance back at Twilight, “Friendship has failed you too.”

Twilight’s ears drooped. “Friendship didn’t fail me,” she said sadly. “I failed Friendship.”

If Tempest had a response to that, she didn’t get a chance to voice it, because at that moment the little honey badger Grubber came huffing and puffing up from somewhere below decks, waving a bottle filled with a blue potion that was pulsing with light and emitting an odd musical jingle above his head. “Tempest! Tempest!” he gasped, “I think it’s him!”

Tempest’s stoic expression broke briefly into mild panic, but she quickly regained her composure and snapped, “Well don’t keep him waiting, you idiot. Go fetch a bowl.”

“Uh, right,” Grubber said, turning around quickly and plowing right into the stomach of a satyr who had come up behind him with a large metal bowl. The bottle flew out of Grubber’s grasp as he toppled backwards, and it flipped through the air twice before being skillfully caught in the bowl by the satyr. The satyr casually shoved Grubber aside with one foot, came over to set the bowl down a little ways in front of Tempest, and then poured the potion into it.

Blue smoke billowed up thickly from the bowl, and once the cloud grew large enough the visage of a long-faced satyr with crown-like horns appeared inside, looking around uncertainly. “Is it working?” he asked. “I think I see something. Tempest Shadow?”

“Right here, Your Excellency,” Tempest said with measured calm.

The Storm King’s eyes settled on Tempest, and he smiled and stepped back a little, revealing some of his armored chest and shoulders. “Ah,” he said, “there you are.”

“You’re getting better at this spe-” Tempest started to say, only to be interrupted by the Storm King erupting with anger.

“Where are you?!” the Storm King demanded. “I’ve been walking around in this cutesy pony castle for hours and I only see three pegaunipony princesses. I thought we needed four for this plan to work.”

“We do,” Tempest said, sounding like a long-suffering parent dealing with a fussy foal. “I just had a little difficulty getting the last one to stay still. We’re on our way back right now; we’ll be in the city within the hour, and then you’ll get the power you’re looking for.”

“Ugh, fine,” the Storm King huffed, “I suppose I can endure these prissy rooms a little longer. Don’t dally, though, Tempest. This castle’s got a dock for airships, so I want you to come directly here, got it?”

Tempest nodded. “As you command, Your Excellency.”

“Good,” The Storm King said with a curt nod. “Now... how do I stop this sp-” The image vanished abruptly and the smoke dissipated.

Tempest heaved a long sigh. “Soon, my horn will be restored,” she murmured, and then looked sharply at Grubber and the satyr. “Well, you heard him,” she snapped, “get us to Canterlot with all possible haste, and dock at the castle.”

“Do you really think he’ll give you your horn back?” Twilight asked as Tempest turned and walked by the cage.

Tempest paused and shot Twilight a hard look. “He will,” she said. “I’m giving him all the magic of Equestria’s mighty alicorns. With that much magic at his disposal, restoring my horn will be a trivial matter.” She marched away from the cage and toward the tiller without another word for her captive. Twilight watched her go for a moment, and then returned her gaze to the distant shape of Canterlot on the horizon.

Tempest Shadow paid no heed to the goings-on in the streets of Canterlot as her zeppelin flew over the city. Her focus was entirely on the castle and preparing herself to deal with what lay within. The long months of working under the alleged authority of the Storm King and weathering both his inconsistent temperament and the little Grubber’s constant inane commentary had taught Tempest how to hide her own emotions under a stoic mask and to tune out the more annoying sounds around her. Grubber was probably nattering about cakes or pies or some other kind of confectionery right now, but all Tempest heard from his spot at her side was “blah blah blah.” Tempest had hoped to break the little princess’s spirit a bit more by carting her through the streets where she could see how her subjects were being treated, but the Storm King’s patience had been thinner than thread during the last conversation, and the hour that had passed since likely hadn’t done that patience any favors.

Some soldiers were waiting at the airship dock to catch the mooring ropes and tie the zeppelin in place. While they were busy with that, Tempest went down to the hold and told Grubber to flip the switch to lower Twilight’s cage onto a cart frame. As the cage descended, four satyrs stepped up, two with spears to a position behind the cage and the other two ready to grab the tow ropes. The Storm King’s haste meant there was no time to get any of the enslaved ponies to pull the cart. Still, Twilight still looked crestfallen as the cage settled into place, so Tempest figured things were good enough. Besides, it didn’t really matter how the Princesses were feeling; the Staff of Sacanas would gather their magic into itself regardless. All Tempest needed to worry about was keeping the Storm King’s promise to her fresh in his mind.

The gangway lowered and the little procession rolled out of the zeppelin and into the castle. Tempest took a second to recall her memory of the castle’s layout, and then led the group toward the room where the ritual of extraction was set up. Two soldiers stood guard at the double doors and silently pulled them open as Tempest approached. The two satyrs with spears halted just before the threshold, but the two who were pulling continued inside with Tempest, as did Grubber. The sentinels shut the doors behind them.

The room was dimly lit and seemed to be empty except for the three petrified forms of Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. Tempest stepped to the center of the ritual diagram and turned to watch as the tow-satyrs moved Twilight’s cage into place. Twilight finally looked up from her funk, meeting Tempest’s eyes. “You don’t have to do this,” she said. “Don’t give the Storm King-”

“Your magic?” Tempest asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Did you really think you’d keep it all to yourself? Time to share. I’d love for everybody out there to see what I can really do.”

“Oh so?” said a voice from the darkness. “And what can you do?” Tempest whirled toward the source of the voice, and Twilight’s ears perked slightly. “One,” the voice said, and the room brightened as the shimmer of illusion spells fell away all around. The two satyrs, who had withdrawn toward the doors, suddenly found themselves being menaced by a sapphire-blue dragon and a turquoise monster that looked like a mix between a pegasus and an upright wolf. Near the far end of the room were five ponies arranged in a slight curve: a brown earth pony and azure unicorn on the ends, then a pegasus mare and unicorn stallion with matching golden-yellow coats and brown manes, and in the center was an ash-grey unicorn stallion with a teal crystal encasing his horn.

“Ash!” Twilight exclaimed happily. “Soul Mage, Gold Heart, Gale, and Trixie! You all made it!”

“Sorry we’re late, Twilight,” Ash said. “We had a last-minute emergency at home that needed attending to. Then when we got here, we discovered there were some uninvited guests that needed to be taught a lesson or two in common courtesy. How’s your day been?”

Twilight’s elation died quickly and she looked down at the floor. “Not so great,” she said. “My friends and I-”

“They couldn’t put up with all the danger she dragged them through anymore,” Tempest cut in coldly, “so they left her all alone and vulnerable.”

“Spike never left me!” Twilight snapped, bringing her head up to glare at Tempest. “And the girls were justifiably upset at me for making a bad call...” She choked for a second and had to wipe a tear from her eye before continuing. “Yeah, I screwed up,” she said, “and we exchanged some harsh words, but they didn’t abandon me; we just needed time to cool off. You just took advantage of the situation.”

“Hmph,” Tempest said, turning her stoic gaze back to the Order-naries. “It doesn’t matter if that’s true or not, I still have all the Princesses now. Once the Storm King returns from whatever distraction you used to lure him away-”

“About that,” Ash said. He looked over at Trixie and said, “Two.” Trixie nodded and her horn flashed. Another veil of illusion fell away from one of the corners behind the Order-naries, revealing the Storm King sitting there in chains and a muzzle. “Stormy’s blustering has been dealt with. It was quite the battle; a shame you missed it.” He gave Tempest a cocky smirk.

Tempest took a step back, eyes widening as her stoic facade cracked. “I-impossible. The Staff of Sacanas-”

“If you’re talking about this,” Ash said, gesturing with a hoof at Gold Heart, who turned around and picked up something behind the group, which she passed to Ash. It was the Staff, recognizable to Tempest even without the gemstone on its crown. “I’m afraid we had to break it,” Ash finished his thought, throwing the staff dismissively to the floor at Tempest’s hooves. “We had a Changeling imitate the Storm King and call you through that rather intriguing communication potion,” Ash continued, walking very slowly toward Tempest. “Trixie and her friend Starlight Glimmer conjured up a convincing illusion of the city still under occupation, but it wouldn’t have held up if you actually went down to the streets, so we told you to come directly to the castle. Incidentally, you have a spy in your midst, but that doesn’t seem like a high priority now, don’t you agree? Lastly,” he stopped just a few inches from Tempest and looked her square in the eye, “if you’re thinking any desperate thoughts about harming our poor, petrified princesses in retaliation: Three.” Trixie’s horn flashed again and three statues vanished in one last shimmer of broken illusions. “We revived them all and hid them away from all this. Your army’s beaten, your leader’s been captured, and you have no bargaining chips. Tempest Shadow, I suggest you stand down.”

“No...” Tempest said weakly. “No… I...” Her gaze hardened. “You can’t take this from me. I came so close!” Her horn sparked and sputtered, and before Ash could react she let loose an explosive blast right in his face that sent him flying back to land just behind the Order-naries.

“Ash!” Twilight screamed in horror as everypony else leaped into action. Looping Lines grabbed the satyr she’d been staring off with by the scruff and slammed him against the wall. Ember took a deep breath in preparation to torch her opponent, until it transformed into a small Changeling and held up its hooves in surrender. Ember let her breath out in a frustrated stream of smoke from her nose and turned to check the rest of the room. Grubber was being held aloft in Soul’s spirit tendril, pleading for mercy. Gold Heart and Gale both stood firmly in front of Tempest, their eyes steely and Heart’s hooves glowing with spiriter power. Trixie was making for the balcony door to send out a distress flare.

All movement stopped as Ash coughed and rolled to his hooves, accompanied by the tinkle of falling crystal. As he stood up, there was a light thump as his horn landed on the floor. Ash slowly looked down at the horn, then slowly back up to stare deep into Tempest’s eyes. “Seriously?” he said in a low voice. He advanced toward Tempest, his hard, vivid green eyes standing out especially stark against the blackened fur of his face. “That. Was. Starting. To heal,” he said. “I. Could. Feel it. Healing.”

“Ash,” Gold Heart said, glancing over her shoulder with concern, “do you need a minute?”

“Can I have two?” Ash asked, still staring at Tempest.

“Sure,” Heart said.

“‘Need a minute?’” Tempest asked, looking disgusted. “Are you going to cry, Ash? After all that acting like you’re the baddest pony in the room, you’re actually as soft as- gurg!” Without any obvious signal passing between them, Gale and Heart had both jumped to the side as Ash charged and drove his head into Tempest’s throat. Tempest staggered back, gasping for air, but Ash didn’t let her have any space. Going low, he forced himself between her front legs and then heaved upward, forcing her to rear up. Continuing his motion, Ash hooked Tempest's rear legs out from under her and flipped her onto her back, tore off her pouch of petrifying bombs and threw it aside, then straddled her and alternated between delivering flurries of hoof strikes to her body and tearing at the fastenings of her armor with his teeth. All throughout, he uttered nothing more than wordless growls of rage.

As the beat-down commenced, Gale made her way over to Twilight’s cage and got to work on the lock. In about a minute, she got the cage open and helped Twilight out of it. As soon as Twilight and Gale were clear, Ash rolled off of Tempest and kicked her toward the cage. Tempest tried to resist as Ash came over to finish the job, bracing two hooves against the bars and feebly trying to strike back at Ash with a third, but the ash-grey unicorn neatly dodged the blow and smacked Tempest on her horn stub, dazing her long enough for him to get her into the cage and close it. Ash then sat down, took a long, deep breath, and said, “Kalbarandt.”

“Done already?” Soul Mage asked. “You’ve still got forty seconds or so.”

“It’s enough,” Ash said. “If I’d gone any longer, I’d have started breaking bones.” Tempest, who had struggled up to a seated position, flinched as Ash glanced her way. “I’m not fit to judge you for your crimes,” Ash said to her, “but I’ll say this: you seem to be that rare breed of pony that doesn’t shy away from necessary violence. You could’ve been an ideal protector of the realm, if you hadn’t mistaken self-sufficiency for true strength and reliance on others for weakness. We’re a social species, Tempest; we’re at our best when we work together. That’s the Magic of Friendship, at least from this war-weary fighter’s viewpoint.”

“I think that’s as true as any other definition I’ve heard,” Twilight said, coming over and giving Ash a hug. “Are you ok, though Ash? Your horn, I mean.”

“Eh,” Ash said, rolling his eyes, “I’ve putting up with that for… I dunno how long. Hey,” he pointed toward his team and then to the door, “somepony go tell Celestia and Luna they can get the day and night back on track. I want my sense of time passing back.”

“On it,” Soul Mage said. “Who wants to hold the badger?” He waved Grubber slowly in the air like he was a stuffed animal.

“E-excuse me?” the little Changeling in the corner said, waving a hoof for attention. “Um, sorry to butt in, but I just heard something from the ‘lings near the city gate that you might be interested in?”

“Orange Peel, I presume?” Ash asked. “Out with it, then.”

“Well...” Orange said slowly, “Twilight’s friends just showed up at the gate hitched up to this giant cake...”

“Does anypony else feel like they got gypped?” Rainbow Dash asked her friends as they stood off to the side watching Captain Caelano, her crew, and Skystar clean frosting of themselves while Capper tried to explain himself to the Royal Guard for the second time in ten minutes.

“Whaddya mean?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow Dash flew up a little higher and spread her front legs out to take in the scene in front of them and the city as a whole. “I mean,” she said, “we went on this grand adventure to save Equestria, making new friends and enemies along the way, discovered a lost civilization hidden under the sea, had our best friend get captured by the bad guys, and then get back to find out somepony else already did all the Equestria saving and Twilight rescuing parts! It’s like Daring Do fighting and puzzling her way through an entire lost temple only to find some other archaeologist already took the artifact she was looking for to the museum.”

“I understand where you’re coming from, darling,” Rarity said, “but to be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to possibly having to fight the Storm King with all the Princesses’ magic at his command.”

“Ok, I’ll admit that wouldn’t have been fun,” Rainbow said, “but that’s why we grabbed the Elements before we came up here, isn’t it?”

“True, “Rarity admitted, brushing the Element of Generosity at her neck with a hoof, “still, it’s the Order-naries who did all the work. Do you honestly think Ash and his team would walk into a Canterlot overtaken by some enemy and not try and do something about it? That certainly doesn’t sound like my dearest knight in sour armor.”

“I’m not entirely sure what that mean, milady,” came a voice from behind the group, “but I’ll take it as a compliment since it’s coming from you.”

Rarity spun about with stars in her eyes to see her beloved Ash approaching in the company of Twilight, but her joy was quickly replaced by horror. “Good gracious!” Rarity gasped, “Ash! What happened to your horn?!”

“Magic staves, deliberate sinkholes, and a cornered unicorn with a busted horn of her own,” Ash replied, a trace of weariness giving color to his matter-of-fact delivery as everyone turned to stare. “Not to mention my own hubris,” Ash added after a second.

“Oh, darling,” Rarity said, rushing over to hug him, “you must have had the most awful time! We must get that looked at right away.”

“In a minute,” Ash said, patting Rarity’s back before gently pushing her off and aiming her at Twilight. “I think your Princess has something to say, first.”

Twilight nodded and lowered her head contritely. “Girls,” she said, “I’m so sorry- ack!” Pinkie Pie glomped Twilight before she could say anything more, and the rest of the Elements of Harmony and Spike quickly followed suit.

Apologies and expressions of forgiveness were tossed around quickly for a few seconds, and then the pony pile broke up and Rarity stalked right back over to Ash. Grabbing him by the muzzle in her magic, she led him away with a curt command of, “Hospital, now.”

“Es’m,” Ash mumbled, smiling.

Epilogue: Personal Princess Interview

Twilight Sparkle walked into the Map Room as she worked her way down a checklist. “…Ash is at the hospital, the rest of the Order-naries have gone home, Capper’s crashing at Rarity’s until Captain Celaeno’s new ship is ready...” She glanced up at the sound of china being set down on the Map table. “Princess Celestia is- ack!” Twilight dropped her list, staring at the unexpected alicorn in the room.

“Hello, Twilight,” Celestia said casually, stirring a sugar cube into the cup of tea in front of her.

“P-prin… C-celestia!” Twilight stammered. “What a pleasant surprise! Uh, can I get you…” She trailed off as Celestia levitated and waggled her teacup with a raised eyebrow. Twilight looked at the table and saw a full tea service, including a second cup waiting for her by her chair. “Right,” Twilight said, lamely. She picked her checklist up off the ground, rolled it up as she went over to her chair, and set it down next to her teacup as she sat down. As she poured herself some tea and prepared it to her liking, she was able to get over her shock enough to relax her face and ears so that she didn’t look like a skittish foal.

Celestia waited until Twilight was settled and had taken a sip of tea before speaking again. “So, I was speaking with Queen Novo a little while ago, when the Festival was winding down,” she said. It took every ounce of Twilight’s will not to choke on her tea. “Is it true you tried to steal her transformation pearl?” Celestia asked.

“Yes,” Twilight said, staring down at her teacup.

“Twilight,” Celestia began, but the younger Alicorn cut her off.

“I don’t need a lecture, Princess,” Twilight said, looking up with a fierce expression.

“Twilight,” Celestia said, more sternly.

“Seriously,” Twilight said. “I know what I did was wrong, totally wrong. Attempted theft is bad enough, but I also betrayed my friends’ trust in the process.” Her gaze sank to the table again. “I even know why I was willing to cross that line.”

“Do tell,” Celestia said.

Twilight took a deep breath. “Because of you, Princess,” she said. “After so many close calls with Tempest, I was desperate to succeed, to accomplish the task that you… that I thought you wanted. I was so focused on saving you, pleasing you, that I lost sight of the big picture and who I was supposed to be. The same thing almost happened when the Crystal Empire and Sombra returned, you know.”

Celestia nodded slowly and drank some her tea.

Twilight eventually looked up and met Celestia’s gaze. “I…” she faltered. “I’ll try not to let that happen again.”

“Good,” Celestia said, and her expression softened as she set her cup down. “It’s good that you’ve identified one of your faults so early, Twilight,” she said. “Perhaps you’ll be less prone to mistakes than I, eventually.”

Twilight laughed ruefully. “You? Prone to mistakes?” she exclaimed. “What are you talking about? You’re Princess Celestia! The greatest, wisest, most powerful ruler in the whole world. You don’t make mistakes.”

Celestia frowned as Twilight grinned manically at her. “Twilight,” Celestia said gently, “don’t feel you have to protect my ego.” Twilight’s grin barely flickered. “You don’t honestly think I’m infallible, do you, Twilight?” Celestia asked, concerned.

“Not when it counts,” Twilight responded.

Celestia shook her head in disbelief. “You’re an incredibly smart, detail-oriented pony, Twilight Sparkle,” she said. “Surely you’ve noticed certain… trends to the major events we’ve been involved in together?” Twilight cocked her head in curiosity. “Consider Cadance and Shining Armor’s wedding,” Celestia said, “where only you we able to see through Chrysalis’s deception, and I was overpowered by her. Or when Flurry Heart broke the Crystal Heart: I left the task of solving the actual problem to you and took on the relatively simpler task of trying to fight back the storm. Or when Tirke escaped,” she added with an emphatic stomp. “You must admit, I made many unwise decisions during that crisis.”

“Yeah,” Twilight hedged, “but when Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Sombra were about to return, you had things under control.”

“True,” Celestia replied, “but don’t you see the difference between my examples and yours? In the cases you mentioned, I knew what was coming well ahead of time. I had centuries to plan, to research the ponies and artifacts involved, test theories, and find a pony capable of carrying out the plans.” She looked pointedly at Twilight with her last statement. “In the other cases,” she continued, “there was little to no forewarning, no time to make and test detailed plans. I still feel ashamed that while I prepared for Nightmare Moon’s return and Discord’s eventual escape from his stone prison, I never considered Tirek could actually escape from Tartarus. That’s my big failing, Twilight: while I can craft perfect plans for possibilities far in the future, I stumble and miscalculate against spur-of-the-moment threats.”

“I… see,” Twilight said, staring contemplatively into her tea. “Thinking back, that does all line up. How did I never notice?”

“You said it yourself,” Celestia said, gesturing with a wing, “you have a blind spot when it comes to me. You’ve idolized me since you were a filly, spent most of your school years studying under me, and even now you still have difficulty seeing past the public persona I put on for the benefit of Equestria. Do you know why I chose you to be my personal student all those years ago?”

Twilight looked up, confused. “I… had a magic surge during the entrance exam to your school, and you felt you had to take a personal interest in training that potential?” she said.

“That’s the reason I gave you at the time, yes,” Celestia said, “but it was only part of the whole reason.”

“You felt I had the potential to awaken the Elements of Harmony properly,” Twilight said, a little more confidently, “and by extension be able to form a group of friends to fill the key roles in your plans for Nightmare Moon, the Crystal Empire, and Discord.”

“Close,” Celestia said, smiling. “During the thousand years of Luna’s banishment, I came to terms with my faults and realized Equestria needed more than what I could provide. There had to be more Princesses, more alicorns. Specifically, I wanted an alicorn who could face unexpected challenges and not falter, but overcome them. Cadance might have had the potential, but her destiny proved to lie with the Crystal Empire more than with Equestria as a whole. Sunset Shimmer… I moved too quickly with her. You, however, are turning out to be everything I hoped for, Twilight. Albeit, with some bumps along the road.”

Twilight blushed. “Thank you for saying that, Celestia,” she said modestly, “but you know it’s not all my doing. I wouldn’t have been any kind of success without Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy standing beside me, teaching and learning in kind. The Order-naries have been a big help, too, whenever they’ve been around.”

“Yes,” Celestia said with some hesitancy, “although they have brought their own share of trouble to our land… I will admit, though, Ashen Blaze seems to have an admirable ability to gather the right kind of ponies to solve his problems, much like you.”

“Ash is a natural leader,” Twilight said. “He has this stubborn, infectious confidence that makes anything seem possible.”

Celestia grew thoughtful. “He’s going to be here for a good long while, until his horn heals,” she said. “I wonder what more could develop from you and him in that time…”

Twilight felt her face turning very red. “Y-you know that Ash and Rarity are already… almost official, right, Princess?”

Celestia looked momentarily confused, and then burst out laughing. “Goodness, Twilight!” she exclaimed, “I didn’t mean to imply that!” Twilight’s blush deepened even further.

Celestia got up from her seat, came over to Twilight, and embraced her with her wings. “Just keep learning, Twilight,” Celestia said. “Keep improving, and become the kind of Princess who can lead and protect Equestria in the ways I can’t.”

Twilight nodded, still blushing a little. “I will, Celestia,” she said. “I promise.”

3. All Aboard the Party Train

“Agh…” Ashen Blaze hissed as Soul Mage twisted the fragment of Ash’s horn about with a tendril of spirit magic, trying to fit it back onto the jagged stump properly.

“Stop being such a baby, Ash,” Heart said, digging through a first-aid kit she’d found in the second car of the train. “It probably wouldn’t hurt so much if you’d let us do a soothing on your headache.”

“You know perfectly well that doesn’t work on me,” Ash retorted. “My soul’s so infused with the Shadowstar’s twisted energies that spiriter power hurts me, no matter how the two of you channel it.” He winced again as Soul jiggled his horn again, settling it better. “Just having your brother’s magic holding onto my detached horn is aggravating my headache.”

“That could just be in your head,” Soul said. “So to speak. We’ve never actually tried doing a soothing on you as a pony.”

“Yeah,” Ash said, “because there’s no point in trying.”

“Are you sure?” Soul asked. “Your fear-gaze doesn’t transfer to your pony form, so there’s reason to suspect that other baggage you still carry from your Shadowstar days might not transfer, either.”

Ash rolled his green eyes up to give Soul an unconvinced look. “My cutie mark is the cadre symbol of Meis Thamule,” he said. “And while my body may change when passing into a different universe, I’m pretty sure my soul doesn’t. Heart,” he said, glancing over at the pegasus, “please tell me you’ve found what you need.”

“Yes, yes,” Heart said, walking over with two tongue depressors and a roll of medical tape under her wing, “I’ll save you from the philosophical discussions now.” While Soul continued to hold the broken horn in place, Heart laid a tongue depressor on either side and wrapped the horn tightly with the tape from bottom to top. “There,” she said when she finished, “that should hold until you can get proper medical care. You should probably avoid doing any magic, though.”

Ash sat up and gingerly touched his splinted horn with a hoof. “Duly noted,” he said, glumly. “You can stop holding my horn now, Soul.”

“Already have,” Soul said, pointing to his unlit horn as he walked away. Ash climbed up onto a bench and slumped back with a grumble. “I’ll go fetch you a glass of water so you can take an aspirin for the headache now,” Soul said, heading toward the back of the train in search of a dining car. Just before he reached the end of the car, however, the door slid open and Iron Horse came bustling in.

“It seems we may have made a clean escape, everypony,” the conductor said. “Canterlot has dropped below the horizon, and the skies are clear of any kind of pursuit.”

“Huzzah for good news,” Ash said, waving a hoof in the air half-heartedly.

Iron Horse nodded with satisfaction and turned to leave. “By the way,” he said as he put a hoof on the door latch, “we’ll be stopping in Fillydelphia in about forty minutes.”

“Hold it,” Soul said, grabbing the conductor’s leg with a spirit tendril. “Why aren’t we going nonstop to the Crystal Empire?”

Iron Horse tried to shake his leg free, to no avail, as he replied, “Coal Hob thinks we’re pushing the repair your friend Gale made to our drive piston too far. Fillydelphia’s the next city where we can switch over to a new, less damaged engine. And before you ask, we’ve already signaled ahead, so there shouldn’t be much delay.”

“Ok,” Soul said. “Sounds reasonable enough to me. Any complaints or choice words on the matter, Ash?”

The ash-grey unicorn sat up and gave Soul and the conductor a flat look. “Just get me the skvetchte water and headache pills already,” he said.

The train clanked and shuddered to a halt. “Now arriving at Fillydelphia station!” Iron Horse announced.

“Fantastic,” Ash said, not moving from the seat where he was lying down, staring up at the ceiling. “When do we leave again?”

“Shouldn’t be more than a few minutes,” the conductor said. Just then, however, Coal Hob, the train’s engineer, entered the car with a grumpy look on his face. “What’s wrong, Hob?” Iron Horse asked.

“From the looks of things,” Hob said, “whoever’s coordinating train switching here today is a sluggard. There’s no replacement engine waiting for us yet.”

“There’s the other horseshoe,” Ash muttered. He pointed to an imaginary object falling from the ceiling, punctuating its impact with a deadpan, “Clang.”

“Need a chill pill on top of that aspirin, Ash?” Soul asked teasingly.

“No,” Ash said, rolling off the seat and onto his hooves. “My headache’s about cleared up, by the way. It’s just… you know.”

“I’m sure we can afford a little wait,” Heart said. “There’s still no sign the Storm King’s sent anything after us. Uh, any idea how long we have to wait, Mr. Hob?”

“I’m going to go bug the stationmaster about that right now,” Coal Hob said. “Best guess though, even if phrases ‘royal emergency’ and ‘major looming catastrophe’ can grease the wheels, it may still be the better part of hour to get everything ready.”

Everypony made disgruntled noises at that. “Great,” Iron Horse said. “Well, I know Engine 38’s here today, not doing anything, so pressure them to give it to us, Hob. 38’s a particularly fast and sturdy engine,” he explained to Ash, Heart, and Soul.

“So, we’ve got time to kill and bits left over from Twilight’s train fund,” Soul Mage said. “What say we go get some lunch, and maybe find a doctor to look at Ash’s horn?”

“Food’s fine by me,” Ash said, “but we’re not wasting time with doctors. I know exactly what they’d say: ‘check into a hospital right now’ or, because I refuse to not see this mission through, ‘keep the splint on and don’t stress it with magic until you can get to a hospital.’”

“We really should get a professional opinion,” Heart said, “but… You’re probably not wrong, Ash.”

Ash nodded once, justified, and headed for the exit door. “Then let’s go,” he said.

The Order-naries found a café not too far from the station, and Ash insisted on sitting at one of the outdoor tables “so we can move quickly if things go wrong.” After several minutes, however, the looks of pity and commiseration his broken horn drew from virtually every pony that walked by was starting to grate on his nerves. Even after ordering, he’d retained his menu and tried to hide behind it under the pretense of examining the dessert options. When the food arrived, he just sat with his head resting on the table, glowering at nothing in particular while occasionally nudging his eggplant sandwich and fries with a hoof.

“Hey Ash,” Soul said, trying to break his friend out of his funk, “tell us how the fries measure up.”

“Not in the mood for fries,” Ash muttered.

Heart and Soul exchanged a concerned look. “Ash isn’t in the mood for french fries?” Heart exclaimed.

“His second-favorite food after stinim.” Soul said. “Is the world ending?”

Ash groaned and rolled his eyes. “Spare me the dramatics, you two!” he pleaded.

“But Ash,” Soul said, “building a comprehensive ranking of all french fries in the known… multiverse now, I guess - is like the one hobby you have.”

“Hmph,” Ash grunted sourly.

Heart cuffed Soul lightly on the head with a wing. “Breaking your horn is weighing more heavily on you than you thought it would, isn’t it?” she asked Ash.

“I’m not used to being a cripple,” Ash said. “If that’s the right word.” He focused his attention on his food, and his horn started glowing fitfully. Heart reached over quickly and tapped the end of Ash’s horn lightly, which was still painful enough to break the unicorn’s concentration. “Skvetch,” Ash hissed.

“No magic,” Heart said sternly.

“It was just going to be simple telekinesis,” Ash protested.

“Oh?” Heart countered, “and would you ‘simply’ stand on a broken foot and expect not to hurt yourself more?”

“…Point,” Ash admitted. He awkwardly shoveled a couple fries into his mouth with a hoof and chewed listlessly.

“Maybe you should actually consider a dessert,” Soul said. “Some sugar might help you perk up.”

Ash swallowed his fries and glanced contemplatively at the menu. Before he could give an answer to Soul’s suggestion, however, the menu was snatched up a cyan female dragon with downward-growing curled horns and stood only about a head taller than an average pony. She stared at something on the back of the menu with fascination, seemingly oblivious to the bemused stares of the Order-naries, until Ash cleared his throat loudly and said, “Um, rudeness.”

The dragoness looked up from the menu with a scowl that was almost instantly replaced with sheepish shock. “Oh no, that was rude of me, wasn’t it?” she said. She set the menu back on the table, almost exactly how she’d found it, and said, with a tiny, hopeful smile, “Uh, I’m sorry I did not ask permission first? I’m still learning the rules of pony friendship.”

“No kidding,” Ash deadpanned. He grabbed the menu between his hooves and turned it to look at the back. “What the skeb caught your eye on this anyway?” He scanned the back quickly, and his eyebrows went up. “Huh,” he said, “a whole section for dishes that incorporate gems. This café caters to dragons.”

“I didn’t know there were enough, uh, friendly dragons in Equestria for it to be worth catering to them,” Soul said. He gave the dragon a questioning look.

The dragon shrugged. “I didn’t know either,” she said, “but I started hearing rumors of a group of dragons living in this city, so I came to investigate. You ponies wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

“We’re not from Fillydelphia either,” Heart said.

“Oh well,” the dragon said, turning to leave.

“What’s your interest in finding these dragons?” Ash asked. “Normal dragon society too rough for you, and you’re hoping you’re not the only one who thinks so?”

“Ash!” Heart hissed at him.

The dragon whirled on Ash, her wings spread wide and her fangs bared. “Dragon society is not too rough for me!” she exclaimed. “I’m Dragon Lord Ember! All the dragons in the world answer to me!”

Ash’s face scrunched up in skepticism as he looked Ember up and down. “I don’t believe you,” he said at last.

“Seriously?” Heart exclaimed, giving Ash an incredulous look. “You’re picking a fight with a dragon, right now and in your condition?”

“Please,” Ash said with a dismissive wave, “even with a broken horn, I could take a half-pint like her no problem.” Ember growled dangerously at the comment, and Ash met her glare with a calm, stoic, confident stare.

After a few tense moments, Ember furled her wings and her snarl changed to a smirk. “Wow,” she said, “you’re the first pony I’ve ever met who can both insult me and not flinch when I get annoyed. You’ve got stronger nerves than some dragons. What’s your name?”

“They call me Ashen Blaze,” the ash-grey unicorn answered.

Ember’s eye ridges rose slightly. “That’s a rather dragon-ish name. You’re not a dragon in disguise, are you?” Soul Mage put a hoof over his mouth to muffle a sudden fit of laughter, while Gold Heart fidgeted in her chair with confused worry. Ember and Ash ignored them, and Ember suddenly snapped her fingers as she realized something. “Hold on,” she said, “I think one of Spike’s letters mentioned an ‘Ashen Blaze.’ That wouldn’t be you, would it?”

“Spike?” Ash exclaimed, his own eyebrows rising. “Small purple dragon from Ponyville, assistant to Princess Twilight Sparkle? That Spike?”

“The same,” Ember said. “So, if we both know him… does that make us friends?”

“It’s a starting point, at the least,” Soul cut in. “Better still, you seem to have snapped Ash out of the mood he was just in.” He turned and gave his sister a big grin. “Ember’s practically part of the club already, don’t you think, Heart?”

Heart looked around at Ash, Soul, and Ember, and then relaxed. “Sure,” she said.

“Cool,” Ember said. “Spike seemed a little disappointed when I told him I wasn’t going to that ‘Friendship Festival’ thing Twilight was putting on today. Maybe if I tell him I made more pony friends anyway, he’ll forgive me.”

“Eh,” Ash said, dismissively, “I wouldn’t worry about that. Spike’s used to small disappointments. Besides, the Friendship Festival didn’t, uh, quite work out anyway.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” Heart muttered.

“Oh?” Ember asked, “What happened?”

Before anypony could answer, there was a low rumble of thunder from the seemingly clear sky, followed by amplified voice that gave the Order-naries a mild fright. “Attention ponies of… this city! This is the Storm King speaking! I recently had the pleasure of taking over the capital of your lush little kingdom and taking your rulers captive.”

The Order-naries and Ember looked up and saw one of the Storm King’s zeppelins approaching Fillydelphia, backed by a trail of dark, rumbling clouds. “That happened,” Ash said simply, answering Ember’s question. He grabbed his sandwich and shoved as much as he could into his mouth, chewing quickly.

“How did he manage to sneak up on us like that?” Soul wondered. Ash shrugged and mumbled something like “doesn’t matter” around his food.

As the zeppelin grew closer, the Storm King himself could just be seen on the deck, speaking into an oversized bullhorn held up by two of his soldiers. “Unfortunately,” the Storm King continued, “some ponies decided to try and be heroes and ran off with one of the Princesses. I know they’re in this city somewhere, so here’s the deal: turn over those ponies and the Princess, and I won’t bring the full might of my army down on you. Oh, and if you also surrender any magic treasures you may have, I may forgo sending any of my army down to sack the place.”

Ash rolled his eyes as he finished off his sandwich. “What a showboat,” he said.

“Well, what do we do?” Soul asked. “That ship’s too high up to hit with an Element Wheel from here and you’re unarmed, Ash – no offense – but if we make a run for it again, Stormy might just attack the city.”

“That would slow him down,” Ash pointed out. Heart and Soul both gave him a flat look, and he quirked an eyebrow at him. “Distasteful, I know,” he said, “but true.”

Ember stared up at the zeppelin with a thoughtful look, and then cracked her knuckles. “I can distract him, if you want,” she said.

“I’d be most grateful if you could, Ember,” Ash said, “but are you sure you can handle it?”

Ember looked askance at Ash. “I’m the Dragon Lord,” she said. “I’ve matched fire with dragons bigger than that ship and won. Besides, if that guy ruined the Friendship Festival, then he must have hurt Spike in some way, and I won’t let that stand.” Without another word, she spread her wings and took off into the air.

“Hey, what do you know” Soul said, smiling, “a dragon’s on our side for once.”

“Spike doesn’t count?” Heart asked.

Ash stood up. “Enough jabber,” he said. “Let’s get back to the train station. Hopefully they’re ready to go so we can make the most of Ember’s efforts.”

“Right,” Heart and Soul said, getting up in unison.

The Order-naries arrived just as a big, black train engine was backing into the hitches at the front of their train. Iron Horse was standing on the platform watching the process until Coal Hob the engineer poked his head out of the engine’s window. “Hob,” the conductor said, “that’s not 38.”

“I know,” Coal Hob replied with a grin, “it’s Old 97!”

“Oh!” Iron Horse exclaimed, looking mollified.

“Is that good?” Ash asked as he and the twins approached.

“Old 97’s a legend,” Iron Horse answered. “Strongest engine of its generation, and still able to out-pace newer engines. I thought it was running on the Manehatten line today, though.” He looked back at Hob questioningly.

“It was,” Coal Hob answered, climbing out of the driver’s compartment to check that the engine had hitched to the train properly, “but it just so happened to be here ahead of schedule, and when I mentioned that we were ‘escorting’ Princess Cadance, they told me to take it, and they’ll have 38 take over 97’s line.”

“Wonderful,” Ash said, heading for the first car. “All aboard and let’s get going then!”

“But what about... that?” Iron Horse asked, looking up at the sky. Just as he sighted the Storm King’s zeppelin, Dragon Lord Ember had reached it, apparently traded words with the Storm King, and then flew back a short way and unleashed a huge plume of purple flame that engulfed the bow of the ship. The flames caught on several points, including some of the lines leading up to the zeppelin’s envelope. While the satyrs started rushing about to put out the fires, Ember strafed the ship with more focused bursts of fire breath. “Ah, never mind,” Iron Horse said. “All aboard indeed!”

The train had been underway for several minutes and the Order-naries were starting to relax when a sudden thump on the roof of their train car put them on guard again. Heart and Soul got up to investigate, but only made it a little way down the aisle before the rear door slid open and Ember walked in. “I sent ‘em packing,” she reported with casual pride. “I doubt they’ll be able to stay in the air very long, either, with everything I managed to set on fire.”

“Thank you, Ember,” Gold Heart said.

“You caught up to us just to tell us that?” Soul Mage asked.

Ember shook her head. “That Storm King creature said that wasn’t the only airship he had,” she said. “I thought you ponies would need help if more come after you, and friends help each other with their problems, right?” She walked closer to the group and froze mid-step when she caught sight of the petrified Cadance. “I’d like to know more about what I’ve gotten involved in, as well.”

Ash chuckled. “Fair enough,” he said. “Take a seat; I’ll tell you what we know.”