Fallout: Equestria - The Spark of Life

Chapter 10: The Destruction of Seaquestria

Honey, I'm sorry about your home. I truly am. But my responsibility is to protect my subjects. The pearl... is not going anywhere.

The plan was set. Everything had fallen into place… somewhat. I gazed out into the dark murky waters and sighed. We only had one real shot at this and if we failed… we would likely die here. I shook my head to clear the thoughts. I didn’t need to think of failure, I needed to focus.

The others had already moved into the safe room and locked it. A magical communication between Sunshine and I confirmed that the room drained and that they were fine.

It was now up to me.

I was fucking scared as hell, but I needed to continue to focus on the magical energy needed to maintain a shield strong enough to repel the water around me. I’d been trying to enact it on a small scale with no such luck. I worried deeply I wouldn’t be able to do it and would be fried alongside the shark.

At least my friends would make it out alive. I could be content with that. The pearl’s magic could still be used to save Equestria. If I had to make the sacrifice play, I would.

The city itself was quiet. It was almost as if it knew what was about to happen. That sounded silly in my head. The seapony ghouls were likely watching to figure out the best time to attack. Even feral ghouls had some sort of a pack mentality, and they’d already seen what I could do. I couldn’t pick out where the shark was, so maybe they were just afraid of it showing up. I wasn’t sure.

Something moved in the darkness of the water, subtly shifting the bubbles directly in front of me. Two very deep glowing red eyes emanated out of nowhere, and it was only then that I was able to get a full breadth of understanding of what this thing was. It wasn’t just a shark. It was some sort of an amalgam of different sea creatures. Its white teeth glinted in the watery depths, and it made very loud groaning noises as it regarded me.

I must have seemed like a tiny snack to this beast right then as I quickly realized just how big this thing was. It hovered there for a very long time before it began to move.

My eyes widened as it sprung forth. This thing was incredibly fast and agile as I pulled up to dodge out of its direct path. Snapping teeth barely caught my tail as the creature whipped back around and moved its bulk like it was nothing. I noticed that it was not just shark-like with a massive fin, but it had arms and claws almost like a reptile. The tail that whipped behind it was barbed and spiky.

“What the fuck were the seaponies thinking, making you?” I said to myself as I pushed myself double time to get out of the way of the snapping and thrashing creature just behind me. “I think I succeeded in pissing you off!”

The creature roared in response and I couldn’t really fault it. It was definitely mad that it couldn’t catch me. Another near miss of teeth made me scowl however. I couldn’t keep this up forever and I still needed to lead it towards the power plant.

I dove downwards into the city proper, dodging and weaving between the buildings as the thing tried to keep up behind me. It didn’t even attempt to move around things, choosing instead to simply slam through any obstacle in its way.

Movement to my side forced me to speed up as best as I could. A seapony ghoul lunged out from nowhere directly into the path of the creature. With a swift snap of its jaws, the ghoul splattered into nothingness, its blackened blood staining the waters around us. I couldn’t keep this up forever. My body wouldn’t allow it at some point. I needed to make a stand somewhere and hope to possibly incapacitate it. My flittered up towards the palace above the city. It was crazy and way open, but maybe it would work.

I veered off to the left, deftly dodging yet another ghoul that decided that it was time for lunch. It too became lunch as the massive sea beast devoured it whole before slamming through a set of buildings, turning them to rubble. I pivoted upwards and snapped back towards the palace, the creature’s momentum carrying it into another grouping of buildings before it could begin to pivot with me. I had to give it credit that it was quite maneuverable. I sped full on towards the palace, knowing it was just behind me as I pushed through the opening.

“Star, what are you doing?” a voice in my earbud said. It was Tempest. “You’re leading it away from the power plant?”

“I can’t keep up with it chasing me, it’s too fast!” I shouted. “Plans off the rails, I need to try to trap this thing or stop it some other way.”

“I’m coming to join you,” Tempest said. “You can’t do this alone.”

I cursed under my breath as the creature zipped past me and struck the outer wall of the palace on the opposite side, cracking it. It temporarily stopped to shake its head.. “No, I’ve got this you don’t…” static. Shit, I thought to myself.

“Hey fucker,” I called out to the thing as it wheeled around, glaring hot icy death at me. “Yeah, you. Big fat fucker. Come and get me, you piece of shit!”

The creature gargled a roar and gathered all of its energy for a charge, springing forth like a destructive force of nature. I scowled, gathering all of the energy I could into my horn and formed the image in my mind of Shining Armor’s shield spell. The magic blossomed forth as the creature's jaws made to snap itself around me, finding purchase on the hard magical shell around me instead. I heard a few teeth crack on the shield and the creature roared yet again, trying to wrap its jaws around me to attempt to swallow me whole.

“How’s that for a jawbreaker?” I crowed in victory before gathering more magic in my horn. It was painful, but I felt the magic come easier and easier the more I pushed myself. In a flash I disappeared along with the shield, reappearing on the other side of the palace. The creature’s jaws, once held in place by the magical power, slammed shut immediately due to the force and the creature began to roar once more in pain. I could see blood filtering into the water around its mouth.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did that hurt? Good,” I said with a grin.

The creature shook off of its pain and turned around, glaring at me. Its eyes were filled with utter and absolute hatred. It pulled back to charge, launching itself across the space between us.

“Fuck!” I shouted, trying to move out of the way. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck!”

The creature came within mere inches of me before a blast of magical energy struck it, sending it hurtling through the water into another pillar. Floating there, huffing and puffing, was Tempest Shadow.

“Motherfucker!” she shouted. “You are not hurting my friends!”

My eyes widened as Tempest swam up in front of me. Her horn ignited once more, the chaotic energies of the mare’s broken horn combined with a power I’d only seen her use once before this erupted forth, wrapping the massive sea creature in a shroud of power.

The magic spread across the creature, tiny electrical impulses slamming into it over and over as it roared and tried to escape. It was no longer concerned about attacking. It desired release. Tempest wasn’t letting it go. Her eyes flared with dark and terrible strength. I recoiled away from her as she swam up in front of the creature.

“No!” she cried out in great anguish. “This is for Glitter Drops. This is for Spring Rain. This is for Queen Novo. This… this is for Equestria! You belong to the old world… it’s time to return to it!”

Her horn flared once more and the magic exploded all around the creature, pulling on it from every which way. I could hear its bones ripping apart at the seams. Blood began to cloud the water as the seapony ghouls began to appear just outside the palace walls. They bit and clawed at the creature in its death throes as the magic continued to wrack its body.

“Tempest, that’s enough!” I shouted. “It’s dying!”

“No! It’s not enough!” Tempest snarled. “This power… it can save Equestria! I must use it!”

The magic paused briefly before the insides of the creature began to explode outward, flashes of magic coming from inside of it. The palace began to rumble all around us as the thing thrashed against the walls. Magic streaked up into the ceiling, laying waste to everything around us. Tempest growled angrily as the magic took hold of her.

“Tempest! You have to stop it!” I said as I moved to place a hoof on her shoulder.

The magic latched onto my hoof as it landed there for a brief second I felt a buzz of electrical power through my body before it ejected me into the water outside of the palace. All around me the palace began to break up in chunks, falling down to the city below. Buildings were crushed under the weight of the debris and the entire city began to shake.

She’s going to get herself killed! I thought. I have to do something!

I reached out with my magic, pulling as hard as I could. Something was pushing back against me, but I poured more of my strength into the spell to try to overpower it. The spell failed spectacularly, the magic dying at my horn. I growled under my breath. I had to get Tempest out of there before something bad really happened.

“Star, what’s going on out there? We’re hearing all sorts of rumbling,” a voice came through my communicator. It was Violet.

“Get out of there!” I called out. “Head for the door to the surface water. I’ll meet you there, I just have to collect Tempest.”

“We’re on it,” Violet replied. “Be careful, love?”

“You know me and ‘careful’, my dear,” I said with a grimace. “Now hurry!”

Another huge chunk of the palace pulled away from it, and in the midst of the destruction I could see Tempest hovering in the water there. A golden magical field surrounded her, holding her in place. I couldn’t pull her away from there, so I had to try something else.

I sped forward, swimming through the rubble and debris until I was within some form of a safe distance from Tempest. The mare didn’t even seem to register my presence.

“Tempest! Come on! You have to knock this off! Think of Glitter Drops! Think of Trick! They wouldn’t have wanted you to die here! If you keep this up, that’s what’s going to happen!” I shouted. “The pearl isn’t in control of you! You have control of it! Use that!”

Tempest slowly turned in my direction, her eyes glowing. “They deserve to burn. For how they treated me. Seaquestria deserves to die.”

“Okay… so not Tempest…” I muttered to myself. “Why? Why destroy it all?”

“I was used, abused by their Queen,” Tempest said, her voice very monotone in nature. “I was not given proper respect. They deserve to die.”

“They’ve been punished enough,” I said with a sigh. “This place is their grave. There’s nothing more you can do. Please… I just want my friend. Let her go. This place is dead already.”

Tempest paused for a moment before the glow began to fade from her eyes. She shook her head and looked up at me. “Star…? What… what happened?” she said.

“This is really more of a later conversation,” I said, pointing upwards at the crumbling palace all around us. “We need to get the hell out of here!”

Tempest nodded, grimacing deeply as she began to swim after me. We rushed through debris and bloody water as we managed to push out of the palace and back into the open sea above Seaquestria. I glanced down, looking at the destructive force wrought upon the underwater city.

“Did I… did I do all of this?” Tempest asked softly.

“The pearl did it,” I said. “It forced its magic through you, like it was alive.”

“I can feel its power inside me,” Tempest replied. “It wanted retribution for how Queen Novo… for how ponies treated its power.”

“I’d say it got what it wanted,” I said with a sigh. “Come on, we’d better meet up with the others.”

Tempest nodded once more, following behind me as we began to swim towards the upper regions of the cavern. The murkiness of the water began to resolve itself into the shapes of Violet, Bright Ember, and Sunshine Sky.

“Star! Tempest! You’re okay!” Violet said, rushing forward to embrace me.

“What happened down there? We got out just before the city began to crumble apart,” Sunshine asked.

“Doesn’t really matter,” I said. “The monster is dead… and Seaquestria is laid to rest. We’ve been here long enough. We need to get back and find the ‘Heart’ that Queen Novo spoke about.”

“How do we do that?” Bright Ember asked. “The door is sealed… and even then how do we change back to regular ponies… well Kirin in my case.”

I glanced up through the murky depths. At the upper end of the cavern was a massive steel door. It reminded me of a Stable door. In fact, it was almost exactly like a Stable door. It made sense. This place was a lot like an actual Stable in so many ways.

“I think we may be able to open it,” I said, floating upwards towards the door. Sure enough, floating on a platform nearby was what appeared to be a control console with a terminal made entirely out of… barnacles?

I looked around for an interface, finding one exactly like I expected. I connected my PipBuck to the terminal and almost immediately the startup program began to run, issuing the command to open the door. I vaguely recalled not seeing a PipBuck on any of the ghouls we saw under the sea, which made sense. It was locked by a PipBuck, so not allowing anypony to have one kept the door locked.

The door groaned, pulling away. Behind it was a tunnel leading up and out of the cavern.

“See? Easy as pie,” I said.

“That solves one problem, but what about when we reach the surface?” Bright Ember asked again.

“I’ll take care of that,” Tempest interjected. “The pearl’s magic will change us back.”

Before I could say anything the unicorn mare raised a hoof.

“I know, I know,” she said. “If you all must know, the pearl’s magic… it’s almost sentient. It took me over a little down there, but I can feel its power and I think I can tap into it enough to change us all back.”

I grimaced, nodding. “We should get going then,” I said.

* * *

The tunnel was fairly long, and I got the sense that Seaquestria was indeed at the very bottom of the ocean, but eventually light began to actually filter through the water as we found ourselves in the open seas, not far from the surface water.

I swam upwards and broke out of the water, getting my first glance at our surroundings as the others came up around me. Mount Aris loomed in the distance, not actually super far away, but far away enough that swimming there didn’t make much sense.

Not that it seemed like it was a good idea, really. Squinting, I could make out more of those Storm Guard things on the island itself. The Storm King was holding down fort there for some reason. My mind began to wonder why. Maybe trying to access the research on the pearl? Did he figure out specifically what had happened to Tempest? My mind raced.

“We’re going to have to make it to shore and out of sight,” Tempest said from beside me. “He’s going to know what happened there sooner or later.”

“And we’d better not be within spitting distance when he does,” Violet said.

“Right,” I said. “Let’s get closer to shore and hopefully we can change back without being noticed.”

We moved as one against the crashing waves, finding a secluded cove to rest in. I looked to Tempest as the unicorn began to focus, a soft pale light washing over her before extending out over the rest of us. The light began to brighten, and in an instant we regained our natural forms. I felt my legs extending into the water and sighed as the glow faded from Tempest. She looked woozy, nearly falling over into the water. Sunshine reached out and grabbed her before she fell.

“Whoah there, you’re okay,” she said. “That took a lot out of you.”

Tempest nodded, sweating profusely. “I don’t think there’s much of the pearl’s magic left after that,” she said. “I can feel its power waning. That power… I think it’s keeping me alive. If it fades…”

My eyes widened. “You would die,” I said. “We need to get to the Heart of Equestria.”

Tempest nodded, grunting as she pushed away from Sunshine onto her own hooves and onto the shore. “I think I’m okay for now, but you’re right. If we’re to rejuvenate the pearl’s magical powers and use it to stop the Storm King, we need to go to the Heart.”

“That means… Canterlot,” Violet said.

I grimaced. “Yeah…” I said aloud.

“What’s wrong with Canterlot?” Bright Ember said quizzically.

“It’s… it’s not a great place to go. Even when Gardens of Equestria was cast, it couldn’t fully clear away the shit in that place. There’s a settlement just near the city limits called Glyphmark. It belongs to the zebra,” Violet explained. “But they don’t go into the city limits proper. Despite having been cleared away by the Enclave, the city is still pretty dangerous and full of ruins. And not only that… we have to go underneath it, which may be more difficult than it sounds.”

“Glyphmark may be our best destination at this juncture,” I said. “The zebra there are superstitious, but they’re friendly to the alicorns as well as the Followers of the Apocalypse. We may be able to get some help there, provided the Storm King hasn’t taken over all of Equestria by the time we get back.”

“It’s going to certainly take us a while to get back to Equestria from here,” Sunshine said. “We should probably get moving before it gets dark and find a place to hunker down for the evening.”

“Preferably some place far away from Mount Aris, so we don’t tip off the Storm King’s army that we’re alive,” Tempest interjected. “Our only advantage here is surprise.”

I glanced down at my Pipbuck and then at the landscape around us. The terrain was rough, rocky, and a mountain range in the distance loomed. I stepped up to the edge of the cove, peering out for any possible patrols. Quiet. I turned back to the others.

“I agree with Tempest. Getting out of here and away from the Storm King’s army is first priority. We should make for those mountains. Bound to be some form of shelter there we can use,” I said, pointing outwards.

The others nodded, pulling themselves out of the cove waters onto the shore. We waited for a few moments longer and let ourselves dry off before we started to move. As we made our way across the rocky terrain I kept glancing about for any sign of the Storm King’s army. Thankfully none was to be found and we were able to continue on at a fairly brisk pace. Eventually the terrain gave way to actual rocks as we found purchase in the mountain range.

Frost littered the ground, creating a peppering of flakes of white that almost looked like a chess board. The temperature began to drop sharply as we trudged forward. I could tell already that the others were starting to feel the effects of sheer exhaustion, Tempest moreso than everypony else. The mare appeared as though she was going to fall over at any minute.

The mountain path wound up into the mountains proper as I searched desperately for somewhere we could bed down for the night. Eventually my search proved fruitful. An opening in the rock face revealed a small cave just large enough to allow us to take refuge from the cold. A quick search revealed that whatever animal had lived here had moved on from this shelter.

I set about making sure everypony was in reasonable shape before taking the first watch. As the others fell asleep, I let my gaze fall over the mountain range below us, pondering on the nature of all we’d gone through since starting this journey. Our next stop was supposedly the Heart of Equestria. What were we going to find out when we got there? Would it be enough to stop the Storm King?

A voice interrupted my thoughts.

Star? Are you there? The voice said as I struggled to see where it was coming from. Everypony else was fast asleep. Star… it’s Spark. Can you hear me?

Spark? I thought, hopefully projecting my words to the spirit attempting to contact me. What are you doing? I thought the connection didn’t work anymore?

Well, we’ve been trying a number of different ways to reach you, you big dummy, Spark replied. Unfortunately most of those ways have not worked until this one. Lot of power being directed just to get in touch with you.

I understand. What’s happening in Equestria? I asked.

It’s not good. The creature, who I assume to now be known as the Storm King from your thoughts, has moved out into the open. His army is terrifying… and well… we lost Fort Knowledge, Spark said, a tinge of sadness in her voice.

My eyes widened. How? I said. How is it that he was able to take a settlement defended by alicorns?

He has some sort of magic staff, Spark said. It has… powerful magic. The alicorns there did their best to defend the settlement, but it wasn’t enough. He has access to all of the knowledge stored in those vaults now.

He won’t stop until he has all of the power of Equestria, I thought aloud, grimacing. Spark, let the others know that we have a plan, but it’s kind of fucking crazy.

Your plans always generally devolve into crazy, Spark said wryly. But do go on.

While we were in Mount Aris… we found something. Or rather, someone. They are tied to some really powerful magic, but that magic is rooted in a place beneath Canterlot. Are you familiar at all with the crystal caverns below there? I asked.

Intimately, actually. Twilight spent some time down there with her sister-in-law, Princess Cadence, when Cadence was imprisoned there during the Royal Wedding in which the queen of the changelings was impersonating her, Spark said. I don’t quite understand though, what’s down there?

Apparently the place where this magic was born, the Heart of Equestrian Magic, I said. If I can get there, I might be able to end this war.

Where are you now? Spark asked.

In a mountain range off the coast of Mount Aris, I thought. It might take us some time to get there though.

Understood. Time is of the essence, but there’s nothing we can do about that, Spark replied. I’ll relay the message to the bearer. We’re in the process of pulling back to Junction R-7. It’s heavily fortified. Calamity and Velvet are handling things alongside the New Canterlot Republic.

I grimaced as Spark’s voice faded from my mind. I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I looked to my side and saw Tempest.

“Everything okay?” she asked. “Here to take over the next watch.”

“News from home, well… what’s left of my home. Fort Knowledge has been destroyed.”

I heard Violet gasp from nearby as she walked over. Apparently we had woken her as well. “What? How… how did you find out?” I could see tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

“Spark. She was able to reach me. The NCR forces are pulling back to Junction R-7. The Storm King attacked with some kind of staff,” I explained.

“It can’t be… the Staff of Sacanas,” Tempest said angrily. “How was he able to charge it back up? It required alicorn power to give it magic!”

“Well, I mean… there are certainly enough alicorns around that a few of them could have given it a big boost,” I said with a sigh, looking down at Violet. “I’m sorry, love. I wish I had better news.”

Violet wiped away the tears. “It’s okay. There’s nothing we can do from here besides continue our current course. We have a current course, right?”

I nodded. “Canterlot is still the destination. I just hope we can get there before the Storm King has wiped all of Equestria off the map. We have to be days away at least from there, possibly even a week.”

Violet and Tempest nodded, wandering back off to go back to get some sleep before I realized one of our other number was missing.

“About that,” a voice said from the darkness. Bright Ember appeared in the gloom. “I was doing some exploring while it was dark out.”

“That’s… dangerous.” I said. “What about Sunshine?” I craned my neck over to peer over at the pink unicorn. She appeared to be sleeping peacefully, snoring ever so slightly. It was sort of… cute. I turned back to Ember. “You have a good reason why you aren’t just getting some sleep?”

“I know, I shouldn’t have ran off, but I thought I saw something while I was helping Sunshine get ready for bed. My hunch was correct. There’s a Hippocampus power plant right near here,” Bright Ember said. “Furthermore… there appears to be a big wagon with a harness for somepony who can fly there?”

My eyes widened. “A skywagon? For real? That would… that would cut our travel time considerably, provided the Storm King’s forces aren’t watching the skies of the Badlands too closely.”

“I don’t know if it’s still working or not,” Bright Ember said. “I don’t really know what it needs to work, but it could help us get to where we need to faster.”

I smiled before turning stern. “That was still pretty irresponsible. Please don’t do that again. I… I’ve never seen Sunshine this happy before.”

Ember sighed and nodded. “I understand. I expected that my… nature would scare other creatures away, but I shouldn’t have done it. It won’t happen again.”

I lifted a hoof and placed it on his shoulder. “You had your heart in the right place, of course. I just hope this works out. Now go and get some sleep. I’ll keep watching. It’s not like I actually need to sleep really. I just like doing it.”

Bright Ember chuckled and headed back over to his bedroll next to Sunshine. As he curled in, I saw Sunshine snuggle closer inward to the Kirin. A smile formed on both of their faces. This is what I was fighting to protect. And despite the fact that my very home had been ripped apart while I wasn’t there to protect it, I felt no immediate responsibility there. I wasn’t there and there was no way I could have stopped it.

But I could get to the Heart of Equestria and stop all of this for good.

* * *

Morning came with little to do but pack up camp and get moving. I very quickly explained to the others about having seen the Hippocampus plant, leaving Bright Ember’s part out of it. I wasn’t sure if they actually believed me, but the prospect of finding faster travel overrode any real suspicion.

We walked out of the cave and back into the blistering cold as we skirted the mountain range towards the location that Ember had indicated to me when he’d woken up before the others. The cold blasted us as we found ourselves over a ridge looking down at a very nondescript building that appeared to be utterly resisting the frozen cold, in spite of the fact that it was jammed right up against the mountain like it was built right into it. A small airway extended off an icy platform, ending in a steep cliff straight down. Most of the cargo wagons in the airway were flattened, but one of the smaller skywagons appeared to be entirely intact, if a little frosty.

“Well, the major problem might be whether or not the thing’s too cold to get a battery going,” Violet said from beside me. “We’ll cross that bridge if we can find a battery.”

“Should hopefully be spares inside. Look at the building though,” I said, pointing.

“The power’s still on,” Sunshine said. “Hippocampus made everything to last, it seems. But why is this here?”

“It was part of the project,” Tempest said, starting down the ridge towards the plant, taking care not to slip. “The power needs for Mount Aris were immense. I didn’t know where all of these were myself, I just knew there were a lot of these plants scattered across southern Equestria and the Badlands to provide the power to the Mount Aris project.”

“Insane, if you think about it,” Violet said, following behind her. “All of that power to study the pearl.”

“The pearl’s magic was far stronger then when it was under the control of Novo,” Tempest added. “The amount of energy needed to contain it… it was too much.”

I allowed Sunshine and Bright Ember to walk behind the other two while I took up the rear, watching on as Tempest attempted to explain the functions of the power grid to the others. I found myself sorely missing Trick Shot and even moreso thinking of the ponies back home. I had to hope this skywagon would get us somewhere.

The slippery slope down to the plant leveled off to a gravelly path that led us up to the main doors just off the skyway. I flipped on my E.F.S., not seeing any sort of possible threat thankfully. I used my magic to push open the doors and after nothing happened we stepped inside.

Immediately, a blast of what I assumed was magical warmth washed over us, drying us off entirely. It was almost like stepping into a sauna from the very frigid temperatures outside. A bright and almost happy looking front lobby sat before us. Well, it would have been happy if not for all the skeletons piled off to one side.

“What the fuck happened here?” I asked aloud, remembering that I already knew the answer somewhat. It was war. War’s what happened here. “Don’t answer that.”

“No, I think you make a very valid point,” Sunshine said, grimacing. “If those ponies died at the end of the war… why are they all in a pile in the corner? Something doesn’t add up.”

“Maybe they were trying to get free and got caught up on one another?” Bright Ember offered.

“No… Hippocampus protocol was to man your station at all times,” Tempest said, walking forward into the lobby. Her eyes narrowed. “They shouldn’t have even left their terminals. Something put those skeletons there. Look at them… there’s bite marks on the bones!”

“Whatever it was, it’s not here now,” I said, flipping my E.F.S. back on. Nothing but the yellow blips of my friends appeared. “Not a single dot of red.”

“We should probably get looking to see if we can find a battery for that skywagon,” Sunshine said, grimacing. “If something does live here and it comes back while we’re still here…”

“Which means we had better be efficient,” I said, nodding.

We broke up quickly in teams of two and three, Violet and myself heading up the stairs from the lobby to the office space above. The entire floor was pretty barren of mostly anything. It became very clear that any skeletons or bodies had been moved downstairs to the pile. Granted, it seemed like this branch didn’t have many employees to begin with. Where did these ponies go when the end of the day came? Did they just live here? My mind swirled with questions.

At the far end of the floor was a large spacious open office with a title plate that had been scratched mostly away, at least in name. The title was still there, stating that this office belonged to the Chief Operating Office of Hippocampus Branch numbered 173. I poked my head inside and immediately the temperature got much much colder. My eyes widened.

A large gaping hole had been carved out of the back of the wall, opening up into a large mountainous cavern. A blast of cold air emanated from it, somehow stopping at the door to the office. A deep tunnel descended into darkness.

“Uh, Vi?” I said as I stepped back into the main office level. “I found something.”

Violet didn’t respond immediately as I lifted my gaze to scan. I found her quickly and growled under my breath. Two large, furry white bipedal creatures stood over her, spears leveled at her throat. Violet grimaced painfully. One of the creatures grunted loudly, its beady dark eyes staring right at me. Violet’s eyes were tearful, scared.

“You’re making a really grave mistake here,” I said quietly. “Let her go… now.”

The leader, or what I assumed to be the leader, barked loudly at me in a language I didn’t quite understand. From behind them, three others appeared, stringing along Tempest, Sunshine Sky, and Bright Ember, also with spears at their throats. They appeared strained but mostly unhurt. Tempest looked like she had a bit of a black eye from possibly fighting back.

“Do you really think you have a chance?” I asked. “I’m an alicorn. You can’t take me.”

The leader barked again, what almost sounded like a laugh. I considered these had to be the creatures that piled up the skeletons below. They seemed almost intelligent, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Still, they held my friends captive and I couldn’t stand for that.

“Again, I am not asking you. I am telling you. Let my friends go, or you will regret it,” I said sternly. “I will not allow you to hurt them.”

The sound that came next wasn’t from the creatures, but was instead behind me. A deep thunderous growling sound erupted from the cavernous tunnel in the office. The leader of the furry white creatures mewed and motioned for the others. They very quickly dropped their spears from my friends and moved to leave. I growled under my breath as soon as Violet was free, reaching out with my magic to grab a hold of the leader. The creature struggled, the dark and beady eyes wide and full of fear.

“What is that?” I asked. “What down there scares you?”

The creature shook its head, its eyes pleading. I let it go and it ran as another growl erupted from the cavern. The creature shrieked loudly and ran off.

“What the hell is that noise?” Sunshine said, covering her ears.

“I don’t know,” I said, looking back at the cavern tunnel. “Are you all okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“Other than getting sucker punched by one, we’re all fine,” Tempest said. “Got the drop on us.”

“We’re okay, just a bit shaken up,” Sunshine said. “More worried about… well, that.”

“Vi?”

“I’m… I’m okay,” Violet said, wiping her tears. She had yet to move from the spot where she had sat. “Really, I’m fine.”

I grabbed her and pulled her into a hug, letting her sob quietly into my shoulder blade. Another growl came from the tunnel, followed by a large rumbling sound, forcing us to pull away.

“Something’s coming,” Tempest said, scowling. Her horn lit electric blue, sparks popping from it. From behind us, Sunshine’s horn glowed a supple green and Bright Ember sort of just… stood back away from her.

Violet wiped her face, lighting her own horn, green magical energy erupting from it. “Something… big.”

The rumbling got louder and louder as a silvery white large snout pushed through the hole, ice cold blue eyes piercing out of the darkness. My mind went blank. It can’t be, I thought. Dragon!

The head of the creature shoved its way out of the tunnel and into the space before us. It was a lot smaller than I initially imagined, but I could tell the tunnel was still very cramped for it. It seemed to grin, looking down at us as one would imagine a spider looked at a fly.

“I was asleep,” the beast rumbled. “But now I see I have guests. Ponies no less. I haven’t seen ponies in a long time.”

I decided very quickly to jump on a chance to talk. Dragons were intelligent. Maybe this one could be reasoned with?

“Hey there, we’re so very sorry about waking you up, we definitely didn’t mean to. In fact it was the white furry guys that did that,” I said. “We’ll just be out of your scales post haste, right guys?”

“Right…” Tempest said, focused on the dragon.

“Oh, I don’t really think so,” the dragon said, grinning widely. Rows of sharp teeth glinted in the low light. “After all, I have to have a snack after I wake up. And it has been so long since I’ve tasted pony.”

“Run!” Bright Ember shouted as he turned tail.

The dragon growled deeply, inhaling for a moment as I reached out with my magic to use telekinesis to force his head sharply to the side. A blast of frozen icy breath came out of the creature’s mouth, missing us and hitting the nearby wall.

Sunshine Sky snarled, her magic trying to pull life into existence as she made two magical vines appear that wrapped around the creature’s front legs, followed by a sparkling blast of electrical energy from Tempest Shadow. A flash of green from next to me heralded the arrival of an emerald green magical fire that struck the creature dead center in its chest, making it roar painfully.

“Bright Ember had a good idea, run!” I shouted as well as the others began to pull back. I managed to erect a shield spell just in time for the dragon to snap one of the vines and swipe out with its massive claw. The shield seemed to hold, preventing the claws from going any further as I followed behind the others.

The dragon growled and roared, pulling itself up and out of the cavern tunnel entirely, forcing the bulk of its body to exist within the small Hippocampus office. The entire building shook with the force of its body. My eyes widened as I took in the full majesty of this massive beast.

I turned and ran as we jetted down the stairs and out of the lobby back into the freezing cold and out onto the skyway. The Hippocampus office began to shake once more violently. The outer walls of the office began to crack, pieces falling away as the creature exploded out of the building, its wings flapping hard. It roared once more, expelling a blast of frozen air that struck the ground in front of us.

“Shit shit shit shit!” I yelled frantically. “Too close too close too close!”

“We’ve gotta get out of here!” Tempest called back.

“Where?! That thing can fly, where can we even run?” Sunshine said, sounding very panicked. “I’m not very equipped to fight a dragon, especially a full grown one!”

Violet grimaced, stepping up next to me. “I have an idea,” she said. “It’s fucking crazy, but you like crazy, so let’s do it, right?”

My eyes widened and I nodded. “I believe in you, Vi. I always have. Do it.”

Violet grinned, turning her attention to the frozen skyway beneath us. “Just keep him at bay if you can.”

“Got it,” I said, turning to the others. “Run interference for Violet. She’s got a plan.”

Tempest nodded, fanning out and sending magical sparks into the air at the dragon, who flew back and forth to dodge them. One set of sparks shot out from another and smacked into the dragon’s side, sending it soaring above us. I generated a magical shield once more, managing to deflect another icy breath.

Violet growled under her breath and her horn glowed a bright fiery green, expelling energy into the ground beneath her. Her growling turned to full on roaring as she poured more and more magic into it. I couldn’t quite see what she was doing as I launched another shield in the air as well as a bolt of magic at the dragon.

“Vi, sweetie? You might wanna hurry it along!” I shouted as a breath of frozen ice hit the ground just mere feet away from me.

Violet grunted and growled, her horn glowing fiercely. “Get him to land!” she cried out. “Do it now! I can only hold it so long!”

I grinned. That I could do. I waved a hoof up at the dragon. “Yo, silverado! You want me? Come down and eat me!” I shouted up at it.

The dragon’s eyes narrowed. “The food thinks it’s funny, does it? I’ll pick my teeth with your bones!” It roared and charged straight down at me from the air.

“What now?!” I called back to Violet.

“Get the others off the skyway!” she shouted back. “Wait for it to get close and teleport all of us!”

I nodded, charging my horn for just the right second. I had to time this right or we were all dead. Just within ten feet of the dragon’s hot breath bearing down on me, I released the spell as Violet did hers and we disappeared, reappearing further up the path that we’d taken to come down to the energy plant.

The dragon struck the ground of the skyway and something cracked as magical energy filled the air around it. Lacerating magical energy wrapped around the dragon’s wings as the entire skyway shattered into thousands of pieces of rubble and rock. The entire thing being situated on the edge of the cliff began to fall. The dragon, being held down by the glowing green fire magic, couldn’t even begin to break free. Several pieces of rubble struck it in the face and wings, sending it tumbling down the mountainside with the rest of the skyway.

Violet grinned and stood out on the path. “Go fuck yourself, asshole!” she shouted.

I blinked. “Vi… sweetie… how the flying fuck did you…?” I started to say.

Violet just turned and smiled. “I told you, I had a plan and that it was crazy. I didn’t know if that would work or not, but I had to try. I’m just glad my magic held out.”

I shared a glance with Tempest. She smiled softly. My mind immediately jumped to the pearl’s magic. Had it done something to Violet? Had it changed her? Violet had never been that powerful even before her injury.

Sunshine Sky and Bright Ember went over to peer over the cliff edge. Sunshine whistled softly.

“I think you did it, Violet. You killed a fucking dragon!” she exclaimed.

“Yes, but we are forgetting one very important thing,” Bright Ember said.

“What’s that, sweetheart?” Sunshine asked.

“The skywagon we were trying to use was on that skyway,” the kirin replied casually.

I groaned loudly, facehooving. “Oh, right. Well, we didn’t find a battery for it anyways, I guess,” I said aloud. “Still, I wonder if there might be something else down that tunnel. It was a dragon, yeah? Dragons hoard, don’t they?”

“Dragons absolutely do hoard,” Tempest said. “Even Spike hoarded.”

“Oh, yes, I’ve seen his hoard. Very interesting stuff,” Violet said.

Tempest’s eyes widened. “You have seen Spike’s hoard? How?”

“A story for when we’re warmer, I think,” I said, my teeth starting to chatter again. All the adrenaline had temporarily washed away some of the cold, but I was starting to feel it again. “Let’s go check out that dragon hoard, shall we? Then we can build a fire and try to figure out what to do next.”

The others nodded and I followed behind, watching Violet closely as she and Sunshine talked excitedly over what had just happened.

What had just happened?

Author's Note

Finally, a chapter! Almost a year later, but proof this story is not dead!

If you've seen any of my recent activity, you will know that I was in the process of working on this, and then mid-year I was recruited to help work on the Ponyville Ciderfest Interactive Storytelling Adventure project, so much of my writing time and effort was solely devoted to working on that, leaving not much time for this story.

But now we're back and wow, this chapter had some action to it. There was a lot I had to process, and we're starting to see some beginnings of how Tempest's actions are shaping our group of friends.

Will they get to Canterlot in time though?

I have to admit, this story is likely approaching something of a halfway point if we aren't there already. I wasn't expecting this to be Starlight length or possibly even Mending Hearts length, there was a very clear macguffin storyline here that I wanted to tell and unlike a lot of FoE there wasn't going to be a ton of sidequests. It's something I learned a lot on Starlight is that sometimes you can be leaner in your execution and not wander as much.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter! I hope to get another out very soon!

• volrathxp