Flight to Dreadlands

by Prince of Cavia

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Human, Twilight Sparkle, Original Character, The Elder Scrolls, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Flurry Heart, Adventure, Shining Armor, Violence, Princess Celestia, Crossover
Length: 28607

Human pirate and a unicorn healer team up to stop a threat that emerged in the long lost pony homeland.

Darian Frey is the best pirate in all of Cyrodiil, at least according to himself. After visiting Atmora, fighting off a vampire invasion, blowing up a Dwemer city and destroying the Awakener Cult, he started to run out of things to do.

Far away from the coast of Tamriel, the leader of the mysterious unicorns of Sun Tower learns about a threat that could spell doom to everycreature. To prevent it, she begins looking for an adventurer that might be daring enough to go to the place that most call the Dreadlands, that Ponies call the Old Country and that ancient texts call Equestria…

Crossover between MLP:FiM and Tales of the Ketty Jay (with a few other fandoms and ideas thrown in).

Published 2024-05-19 07:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-06-01 01:30:19 UTC

Thirteen

Duel Of Ages - Alicorn Down - Calamity - The Darkest Spell

“Flurry Heart mi Amore!” shouted Twilight, in a voice that almost shook the earth.

The pink Alicorn stopped mid-air and turned towards the other. “Aunt Twilight! You attacked Crystal City!”

“First, give me one reason why you thought sacrificing hundreds of thousands of Griffons to use Sombra’s spell to cast Crystal City thousand years into the future was a good idea?!” shouted Twilight. Despite her flying at a high attitude her voice was loud and clear enough for Frey to hear. It was also filled with anger.

“I want to protect my ponies!”

“Have you got any idea what you unleashed? Ponykind had to leave Equus. Your short-sighted decision has destroyed Equestria.”

“I am the Princess of Crystal Empire.”

“Flurry, don’t get me wrong. I know you have a good heart, but something made your judgment very off. I wish to help you. I know I should have done it sooner, and for that, I apologize.”

“I know that I did the right thing. If I didn’t banish it into the future, ponies would be long-extinct by now.”

“What do you talk about, Flurry?”

“It wants to get out! It wants entertainment. Entertainment! For it, hundreds of thousands of Griffons obliterated by megaspells are entertainment! Entire civilizations destroyed, whole continents wiped out, for fun!”

“Flurry, calm down, I want…”

“What do you want? Tear the barriers between the Panthalassic Ocean and the Realm of Probabilities?”

Twilight stopped for a bit. “We can’t undo the past, but we can search for a better future. Maybe, somewhere, there is another Equestria, one that hasn't collapsed…”

“AAAArghhh!” Flurry shouted, grabbing her head in her hooves.

She's a bigger nutcase than Pinn, Frey thought.

“You’re gonna DESTROY EVERYTHING!” Flurry shouted.

“Flurry, I…”

“I won’t let the universe get devoured! Crystal Ponies, attack!” Flurry ordered, and shot a bright golden beam of magic at Twilight. Twilight raised a magical ward that absorbed the beam.

“I hoped it won’t come to this, Flurry, but you leave me no choice,” Twilight said, and shot a purple beam towards her niece.

As the alicorns started dueling in the sky, Frey heard gunfire. The battle has resumed. He saw the pegasi in Crystal Empire’s uniforms attacking the Blocker robots. The robots replied with a volley of arrows, shooting far faster than anyone else would be capable of.

Frey drew his cultrass again and cut a robot’s arm. They were close to the entrance to Twilight’s laboratory now.

Robots have blocked the path. They began charging once again. Frey drew his revolver, attempting to slow them down. There were too many of them. He needed to back down…

“Fus!” someone shouted, and the robots got pushed back by some kind of force.

Frey looked, and saw Ugrik trying to massage his neck. “You did this?”

“Greybeards taught me,” he said in a hoarse voice

Frey saw the robots beginning to get up, so he charged with his cultrass. Ugrik followed him with the Blade of Ages.

They came to the main battlefield, close to the entrance to the underground. The robots in their diamond armor were attacking ceaselessly. They were not bothered by taking damage. Yet, they were more frail than the golems of Cyrodiil, and they were falling before the Pegasi gunfire.

Ground shook again, and Frey saw a hill crushing down on the ground some place further. He looked up, and was able to see two very bright balls of purple and golden magic attacking each other. Each spell sent a wave of energy downward, and the air was filled with it.

If that’s the kind of magic everyone was capable of hundreds of years ago, how come anything is still alive? Frey thought.

His thoughts were interrupted by arrows. He ducked, barely avoiding getting pierced. Frey started shooting towards the robots.

Then, a huge explosion landed them on the ground. Frey managed to quickly get back up, and saw pieces of rubble falling from the sky. There was a smoldering crater some distance away. Frey saw Twilight fly towards it, before a series of golden beams forced her to evade.

“We need to help her!” shouted Trinica.

“Let’s go!” Frey shouted and the group rushed towards the battling alicorns.

Frey and his crew ran towards the crater. Twilight and Flurry still exchanged the magic beams.

Frey had a revolver and a cultras in his hands, but he knew these were not enough to deal with an Alicorn. Yet, he had to help.

He reached the edge. Flurry Heart was quite battered, but didn’t seem willing to stop. She saw Frey, and was about to cast a spell, before having to jump at the last moment as a purple beam hit the ground.

“Stop fighting, Flurry! I’m only trying to protect you!” shouted Twilight. She had to put on a shield spell as Flurry shot magic at her again.

“Never! You want to give the world to it!” Flurry shouted.

Just as Twilight put down the shield spell, gunfire erupted. Bullets flew past her, but none of them landed.

“Leave us, humans!” said Twilight.

“I’m not letting you unleash a monster!” shouted Frey.

Flurry took advantage of the distraction. She casted a spell. Magical energy hit Twilight, and she fell to the ground.

Twilight quickly got on her hooves and shot a spell towards Frey. Golden ward appeared in front of him, absorbing the magic.

The ward disappeared. Silo tried to point his shotgun at Twilight, but a purple aura made him drop his weapon. Rest of the crew also got disarmed, except Frey and Ugrik, who still carried their enchanted swords.

Flurry cast another spell at Twilight, but the older Alicorn parried the attack.

“Fus!” Ugrik shouted, using the ancient Nord art. Twilight was pushed back, surprised by a magical attack from a human. Frey wasted no time, raised his cultrass and ran towards Twilight.

Just as Twilight was about to stand up, she received a powerful kick from Frey. Then, a spell from Flurry also hit her. Frey was about to strike with his cultrass…

“Stop!” shouted Flurry.

Frey stopped, his blade close to Twilight’s neck. Flurry casted a spell that seemed to bound Twilight.

“Auntie, surrender. Your crazy plan ends now!”

“Flurry, please! Don’t do this!”

“I’m not going to hurt you. I promised my father so,” she said. She flashed her horn, and a mirror covered in cloth appeared.

“No!”

“I won’t let you throw the world into chaos,” Flurry said, and uncovered the mirror.

Twilight attempted to get herself free from the magical bound, but was too weakened from it. Flurry used magic to make her look into the mirror. Frey saw Twilight’s hooves turning into stone. He almost turned to look at the mirror himself, but Flurry casted a spell on him that made him unable to move. Twilight attempted to scream or to free herself, but after a few seconds, she turned into a stone statue.

“Sorry, auntie,” Flurry said.

Frey was still frozen in place, but soon Flurry released him from her spell. Frey looked at the stone statue, then back at Flurry. “You killed your aunt?”

“No, of course not. Petrification is reversible and doesn’t have many side effects. She will be fine.”

“Great. Let’s go to…”

Suddenly, some kind of alarm started to ring. Flurry flew a bit up.

“She must have made an autodestruction system,” she said. She flew up. “Retreat!” she shouted, her voice enchanted by magic.

Then, she flashed her horn, and Frey and his crew were teleported away.

Flurry Heart was back at her palace. Her aunt was by her side, now a stone statue frozen in terror.

“Twilight!” somepony shouted. Flurry couldn’t turn around to look at him.

“What have you done?!” Shining Armor shouted.

“She couldn’t listen to reason.”

“That’s why you turned her into stone? Like if she was some kind of criminal too dangerous to be left alive?”

“Father, calm down. Aunt is okay. I would reverse the spell once I would finish my task here. Then, she will understand.”

Suddenly, she felt the ground shaking. Something was happening.

No, she couldn’t! She couldn’t! the panicked thoughts that were not her own filled her head, but she managed to shrug them off. Just wait. I will get you out and you will wish you stayed out of the mortal realm, she replied in her mind.

The shaking was getting worse. “Earthquake!” one of the guards shouted.

There was never an earthquake in the Crystal Empire. It must have been unnatural…

Then, it dawned on Flurry. Twilight Sparkle didn’t rig the Vanhoover Shelter Zone to self-destruct if she was out of the picture.

She rigged all of Equestria to self-destruct.

She quickly casted a translation spell and looked at the humans. “No time for talking. Give me the sword!”

“What about our payment?” asked Ugrik.

“I will teleport the gold to your airship. You get her airborne, fly as high as you can and get out of here. Watch up for falling mountains.”

“Wait, mountains?” asked Frey

“GIVE ME THE SWORD!” Flurry shouted. Ugrik gave her the Blade of Ages. Then, she flashed her horn and teleported them away.

“Father, find Sunburst. Help him to prepare the Darkest Spell.”

“You mean, Sombra’s spell?”

“The continent is breaking down! We have to save Crystal City.”

She saw the way Shining looked at her. Like on a monster.

“Please!” she said. Shining galloped into the palace.

Flurry grabbed the Blade of Ages and teleported to the Crystal Heart. Then, she casted a spell.

She felt the connection to Heart’s primordial magic. She used the Blade to redirect the power of the Heart.

Giant dome of golden magic surrounded Crystal City. Flurry teleported other artifacts, including the crystals she found in Baltimare. She poured their magic into the Heart. The ancient artifact started spinning quickly, its magic enchanted.

The shaking of the ground was becoming more violent. Flurry flew upwards, above the palace, and with all the power of the Heart in her control, she casted an levitation spell.

She saw that the city had already suffered damage. She saw ponies panicking in the streets, and buildings starting to crack. Luckly, the shaking has stopped after one powerful push.

Flurry felt as if her horn was on fire. Levitating a city with five million inhabitants was far beyond even the Alicorn powers, but with the Heart, the Blade and other artifacts, she was able to do it.

Dad, help me! she thought. She saw the earth breaking in the distance. She was pretty sure she saw a mountain jumping up and falling on its side.

She poured even more magic into her spell. She knew she wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long, but she had to do this. For her ponies.

Shining Armor galloped through the corridor. The paintings on the wall had fallen, and it seemed as if the palace would break down at any moment.

He saw an unicorn running towards him. “Prince, the Archmage is waiting. We need your help!”

The shaking was getting worse, until it suddenly ceased. Shining looked out of the windows and saw a golden glow surrounding the city.

He galloped into the archmage’s workplace. Sunburst and a few other unicorns were here.

“No time to lose. We need to cast the banishing spell!” said Sunburst.

“Sombra’s blood magic?”

“Only way to survive this!” Sunburst said, and picked up a walkie-talkie. “Everything ready?”

“Ready, Archmage. Should we begin the harvesting?”

“Harvesting? Who do you talk to?”

“Our soldiers at the POW camp.”

Shining Armor went pale. “No. I refuse. I order you to stop this!

“It’s the only way. Flurry ordered me to do this. She knows far more about the world than any of us. She knows what needs to be done.”

Suddenly, a violent shake got them all on the floor.

“Princess cannot keep us up for long. I beg you, Shining. You’re the strongest mage of us all.”

“I… will do it,” Shining said. Sunburst threw him a scroll, then shouted at the walkie-talkie. “Now!”

Shining opened the scroll. Foreign magic, he recognized it as Flurry’s, filled him. He poured his own power into the spell in the scroll. Others did the same.

He felt blood covering him. He looked at his leg, but she saw none of it. It felt beyond wrong to use dark magic, but it had to be done.

He looked at Sunburst. The sheer power of the magic started to overwhelm him. Shining saw Sunburst’s horn turning black, with corruption spreading on his head and his legs. Shining looked down, and to his shock, he was also being corrupted.

Yet, he pushed on. If this was what it would take to save Crystal City, then so be it.

He felt another magic added. Heart’s power.

The sheer strength of the spell overwhelmed him. He lost control, becoming only a vessel through which the magic was pouring. He felt as if he was on fire.

I wish I could’ve saved them, he thought, thinking of his wife and daughter.

Then, a great flash of magic overtook everything.

One

Drunken Plans - Marketplace at Sun Tower - Falling Sun - Return

“Cheers for the best pirates in Tamriel!”

The tavern was filled with laughter. By one of the tables, a group of four was sitting, drinking whiskey, laughing and generally having a good time.

One man was standing next to the table, a glass in his hand. He was a handsome Imperial, tall, with black hair. He smiled and emanated confidence.

“Yes, cap’n. We are the best,” said one of the men sitting at the table, a fat, balding older Imperial with glasses.

“Yes, Malvery. We are,” the captain responded.

“However…” Malvery continued, “as much as I love drinking whiskey with your lot, I started to wonder if our tour of the taverns of Cyrodiil might end with us running out of money sooner than we expect.”

The captain started considering this. “But the Archduke gave us a big reward for getting rid of that Awakener cult.”

“Half of which is already spent,” said an Imperial woman sitting next to the captain. She was quite pretty, with short blonde hair and a very pale skin.

“You always need to bring me down to the ground, right Trinica?” said the captain.

“That’s because I love you, Frey,” she said. Frey leaned down and kissed her.

“Malvery’s right,” said a young, red-haired Breton girl. She hugged the old man with one arm, and raised a cup with the whiskey in the other. “I say, let’s fly to New Cyrodiil. A whole new frontier. We can be explorers!”

“That… might be a good idea, Ashua. How about you, Silo. Do you have any ideas?”

The Redguard looked at the captain. He was tall and muscular, with a visible scar on his arm. He was the only one of the crew that wasn’t drinking alcohol. Frey know that despite his stoic demeanor, he still enjoyed spending time with them.

“We might go to Hammerfell, help beat down the Sammies,” he said.

“Yeah, I heard that things had heated up over there. I hope Murthians are faring well.”

“All the enslaved tribes had risen up in rebellion. I reckon that Sammie rule is coming to an end.”

“And good riddance,” said the captain, and swung another slip from the bottle. He sat down in his place, and hugged his girlfriend. “And you, where do you want to go?”

“I’ve been thinking about traveling out of Tamriel.”

“Trying to find Akavir?”

“Perhaps. The Great Storm Belt is getting weaker, so airships could fly into the Panthalassic Ocean again.”

“And fly where exactly?”

“There are rumors of different continents. Maybe if you found a new navigator, we would be able to find them.”

“This time find one that isn’t a creepy vampire,” Ashua interrupted.

Frey looked over his crew. Truth to be told, as much as he liked not being a wanted criminal anymore, he was starting to get a bit bored. You could only party for so long until the sky starts calling to you again. “You know, I will think about it. Maybe we will find a trace of another valuable artifact?”

“As long as you don’t start another civil war in Cyrodiil, I’m in,” said Malvery. Others agreed.

Far away from Tamriel, on the ocean, there was a large tower.

At the bottom of the tower, there was a town, built on ramps added to the giant structure. Above this town, there were several holes in the tower’s wall, with smaller ramps and docs for the airships.

In the lower city, a lone Unicorn mare was walking. She had a light blue coat and bright yellow mane. She had a backpack, and was walking through the marketplace.

The marketplace was busy with activity, with many Unicorn ponies and Soldavi humans walking around. The Unicorns of the Sun Tower had a very good relationship with the human nations from the nearby Sol Dawn Archipelago.

“Hello, Stellar Reflection. What can I do to you?” asked an old human from one of the stands.

“As usual,” the mare said with a smile. The human trader took out a few dried plants and a few crystals on the table. Stellar gave him several coins and took the ingredients into her backpack.

“How are you, Stellar? Have you become a full-fledged mage yet?”

“Not yet. The Abbess still wants me to complete a few tasks. She says I have potential, and the tasks will not be challenging for me.”

“In my opinion, you should already have your title. Look at me. Last year, I barely was able to walk with a cane, and now look!” the human said, walked out of his stand and did a little dance.

Stellar giggled. “I’m glad that you’re okay. How are you, by the way? How is your daughter?”

“She feels great. Little Tai is a healthy boy. I'm sure he will grow up into a great man one day. Actually, I will stay here for a few more days, then I will sail to New Aravale, then catch a caravan to Wirewood and stay there for some time. I will be the best grandfather every!”

“That’s great. Say to you daughter that I wish her the best. I will bring you the potions tomorrow. Say, how…”

“Wait… what’s happening to the sun?” someone shouted. Stellar looked, and indeed, the sun started to set many hours before the afternoon. Soon, beels started to ring.

“Emergency in the tower. I gotta go!” shouted Stellar. She levitated the bag on her back and started galloping towards the tower.

In the depths of the Sun Tower, a very old mare with white coat and pink mane was galloping. Abbess Sunrise, the custodian of the tower and the leader of the Unicorns living here, ran towards the main chamber.

She was in the scribe room, writing about new ways to use healing magic, when she felt it. Thung of the High Magic, the ancient art, lost after ponies fleed the Old Country. She looked in the window, and her feelings were confirmed. The sun moved, led by an powerful, unknown force. The sight filled the Abbess with terror, and she shouted for alarm immediately.

She arrived at the main chamber. Mages of the Sun Tower, powerful Unicorn mares that dedicated their lives to defending and healing others, gathered there. Other than them, there were many novices and apprentices that studied the art of Light Magic.

In the middle of the chamber, there was an emblem of the sun crawled into the floor. On the wall, there were paintings of the former leaders of Sun Tower. Sunrise looked at the portrait of the First Abbess. Many said she was very similar to her, but she didn’t see this.

Seeing that there were enough Unicorns in the chamber, she walked to the center, and looked towards the sun. The large windows were opened.

Her horn started glowing. The horns of other unicorns started glowing as well. She shoot a beam of light upwards, to the very center of the chamber. Other unicorns also shoot beams, adding their magic to perform the most powerful spell available to them, possibly the most powerful spell that still exists.

The sphere of Light Magic in the center of the chamber was getting larger. Abbess reached towards it with her magic, and a bright beam shot out of the sphere towards the sun.

Abbess felt the colliding forces of High Magic. She hasn't felt such power for many, many years. She always hoped she would never feel it again, yet it was here, and was attempting to bring down the sun.

Abess increased the force of her magic. Sun started to slow down. Other unicorns were struggling, pouring their magic into the sphere, hoping their power will get the sun back into its place.

The air in the chamber started vibrating with the sheer power of magic gathered inside. Sunrise attempted to wrestle control of the sun from the attacker. Even with all her power, she struggled. Fear started gathering in her mind.

Suddenly, the weight that was bringing the sun down was lifted. The sun jerked in the sky. Sunrise took control of it, and put it in its correct place.

The magic sphere in the chamber disappeared. Sunrise heard a few unicorns tumbling down from sheer exhaustion. The spell they prepared today was far more powerful that what they used usually to guide the sun into the sunset and sunrise. Her head started to feel light. Soon, two apprentice mares ran towards her, helping her stand.

“What in Sun’s name was that!” shouted one of the mares.

Abbess Sunrise looked at the sun, and then towards the gathered unicorns. Fear was in her eyes. “It… has returned…”

Far away, in a land that was long considered lost and dead, a powerful magical whirlwind started to disperse.

The sun went back into its place, pulled by powerful magic. After a few moments, it looked like nothing happened here.

The attacker looked towards the sun. So she had survived, she thought. She looked beyond the giant magical shield. The surrounding territory was green and lush. In the distance, there was a flock of birds flying.

It was unexpected. After the Calamity, and with such a long time passing, the world should have been either a dark, frozen wasteland under the eternal moon, or a scorched, hellish desert under the eternal sun. Yet, it seems that ponies were persistent, managing to survive despite the fall of their civilization.

The attacker turned back. The magical clouds were still covering it, but they started to fade. Light started to shine down on the great city. The tall crystal spines were glistering.

Two

Talking Horse - Chasing Dreams - Landfall - Old Friend

It was a beautiful spring day. Frey was running through the field of dandelions, towards the top of the hill. Trinica stood there. She wore a yellow dress and a hat. Her long blonde hair seemed to glow in the sunlight.

Frey approached her. “You look beautiful,” he said. He leaned towards her.

Something in the corner of his eyes moved. The perfect moment was gone. He stopped and looked around, looking for the intruder.

“Darian, what's wrong?” asked Trinica.

“Something’s not right…” he said. He noticed a forest at the bottom of the hill. There was movement between the trees. He looked at his girlfriend. “Wait for me here.”

Frey walked down the hill and into the forest. He took out his revolver. “Who’s there!” he shouted.

Some dark shape moved behind the trees. Frey pointed his revolver that way and walked forward. “Better don’t try anything stupid!” he shouted.

The shape behind the trees was well visible now. It turns out it wasn’t a bandit at all.

“A horse?” Frey said. In the forest, there was a horse. Very strange one. It had a midnight blue coat, mane shining with starlight and also… horn… and wings?

“The heck? Did I take too much Skooma again?” he asked himself. He slowly walked towards the strange horse.

The horse smiled at him. “Hello.”

“AAHh!” Frey shouted. He pulled the trigger, but the hammer fell on an empty chamber.

“Why are you so scared? Have you never seen a pony before?”

“Umm… horses cannot talk,” he said. Then it dawned on him. “This is a dream, right?”

“You guessed correctly!” the equine said and clapped her hooves.

“Okay. And why am I dreaming of talking horses?” asked Frey, quite confused.

“You are Captain Darian Frey, of the Freys of Everfrost, captain of the Ketty Jay?”

“Um, yes?”

“Say, do you want to find a great treasure?”

“Well, yes. Of course. I like treasures.”

“I have an offer for you.”

“You know what, dream horse? Since this is my dream, I think I would rather go back to dream Trinica.” Frey said. He turned back, and found himself face to muzzle with the strange pony.

“I think you misunderstood me. I am talking about great fortune and fame in the waking world.”

“How would you give me one?”

“Tomorrow at midday, Grog Hatch tavern at Kingspire. There will be someone waiting for you. Together you will be able to find the treasure.”

Frey looked at the pony carefully. “Let me get this straight. I should fly over a hundred kloms away to meet somebody in a tavern because a talking horse told me so in a dream?”

“Pony, not horse. There’s a big difference. And yes, you should do so. I am the Princess of Dreams, and I keep my word. I would help guide you towards this treasure.”

“Okay. What kind of treasure do we speak of?”

“One that makes Dwemer artifacts look like cheap toys. Tomorrow at midnight. Grog Hatch. Don’t be late.”

Frey wanted to continue the conversation, but by then, the dream was becoming muggy. Suddenly he found himself in his bunk at the Ketty Jay.

Frey thought for a moment. “Grog Hatch… strange dream... eh, what's the worst that could happen.”

Ketty Jay wasn’t the most beautiful airship in the world, but she did her job very well. She was a heavily modified cargo hauler turned into a frigate. Heavy armored, she was able to take quite a beating in a fight. Autocannon on top and a set of machine guns in the front were able to defend her against attacking enemy fighters. Despite her clumsy and thick look, she was actually quite maneuverable. Her aerium tanks were able to be filled very quickly if the circumstances called for a quick deport from her standing place. Prothane engines, heavily modified by the ship’s engineer, Silo, made her capable of flying quickly and over a long-distance.

Overall, Ketty Jay was a very formidable airship. But for Frey, she was more than just an airship. She was his home.

“Cap’n, can you tell me why you want to be in Kingspire tomorrow?” asked Malvery, the medic and autocannon operator.

“I got a hunch that we might find something interesting there,” replied Frey.

“Well then, I hope you are right.”

Frey wasn’t a superstitious person. Far from it. In fact, he was kinda sorta the reason that fortune tellers in Cyrodiil were on the receiving end of angry mobs all over the country. Yet, something told him that this Princess of Dreams wasn’t just a fragment of his imagination.

He wished Crake was still in the crew. Having a sorcerer on board was useful. Maybe he will search for a new one, now that magic was on its way to be legal in Cyrodiil again. Other than that, he needed a navigator if he wanted to have Ketty Jay run on full potential.

He turned towards the crew gathered on the landing pad. “Okay, folks. I hope you are ready for the flight,” he said, and walked through the ramp into the airship.

He moved through the corridors into the cockpit. He started the pre-flight check. Silo, from his position in the engine room, announced that all systems were working. Trinica, sitting next to Frey in the navigator seat, set up the course to Kingspire. From the enchanted earcuff, Ashua said that the Skylancefighter was ready for flight.

Frey turned on the aerium systems. The liquid substance was boiled, creating an ultralight gas, which was then moved to the ballast tanks. With this, Ketty Jay lifted itself off the ground.

Once the airship was a few dozen metres off the ground, Frey turned on the prothane engines. The thrusters came to life, and Ketty Jay flew forward. Towards treasure, hopefully.

Trinica watched the moving landscape. The terrain was dominated by sharp mountains and deep valleys.

Cyrodiil, and in fact all of Tamriel, was a very mountainous place. This was the main reason why aviation was so developed. If you tried to move from one of the nine main cities of Cyrodiil to another one by land, it would almost be impossible. Hence, even the small rural villages had a landing pad and a small fleet of airships.

Trinica, daughter of an Imperial nobleman, was well educated, and knew that Cyrodiil wasn’t always so mountainous. Not long ago, it was actually a flatland, with railways connecting the main cities. Then, one hundred and sixty years ago, something catastrophic happened.

Gigantic, continent-vide earthquake shattered the land. New mountains arose. Large swatches of land sunk into the sea. The destruction was of apocalyptical scale. This event, called Landfall, was so impactful, many superstitious people claimed it a divine punishment. The last Emperor of Tamriel, Andreal Galen II, better known as Andreal the Demented, spent the few years before Landfall babbling of impending doom and falling into madness. Once Landfall shattered the country, surviving nobility overthrew the Empire of Tamriel, establishing the Nine Duchies of Cyrodiil in its place. Yet, the mad emperor’s ramblings survived, giving birth to the Awakener cult and the worship of Godhead.

Trinica obviously knew that Landfall was no divine punishment. It was just a natural disaster. The stories of Godhead’s wrath were as much of drunken peasant’s tales as the walking trees of Valenwood or that Skyrim was once ruled by dragons.

“What are you thinking about?” Frey asked, getting Trinica out of her thoughts.

“Nothing in particular,” she replied.

“I’ve been thinking about the future.”

“Really? Are you capable of that?” she said with a smile.

“Yes. I think we need to find ourselves a challenge. Well, maybe not something country-destroying this time, but something to work towards.”

“And you think you will find it in Kingsrock?”

“Yes. That’s my plan. Did I even have a bad idea?”

“I can think of a few hundred.”

Frey and Trinica laughed together. Their relationship went from great heights to the bottom of the abyss and back over the years, but she was glad they were together again. Besides, being an adventurer and a pirate was all about the company. Treasures were a nice bonus, but for her, she was just glad she had people that genuinely cared for her.

Kingspire was a small town. Just one of many stops for the airships traveling over Cyrodiil.

Frey and the crew walked towards the Grog Hatch. The tavern looked unremarkable. Frey entered it.

There weren’t many people in the tavern. There was ugly red haired lady that Frey vaguely remembered from somewhere. There was the bartender humming a tune.

“Frey! She was right, you’re here!”

Frey looked at who shouted at him. He saw a tall Nord. He had brown hair braided in traditional Nord style, blue tattoos on his face, and eyes of two different colors, green and blue. He was smiling widely and waving to him.

“Ugrik? What are you doing here?”

“Luna told me there’s a treasure to be found, and that I need a crew.”

“Luna? You mean…”

“The pony goddess of moon and dreams, yes.”

“Goddess?” asked Ashua, eyebrow raised

Frey just stared at the Nord in confusion. Ugrik was quite an eccentric person, and if Frey was being honest, he wasn’t too happy to meet him again. Granted, Ugrik did help him find the Dwemer city in Hammerfell, and helped him in not being devoured by Daedra on the way, so there were a few good things he could say about him.

“I heard you were quite busy here in Cyrodiil,” said Ugrik.

“Quite busy is an understatement.”

“Well then. Shall we go?”

“Wait. What do you know about the treasure?”

“Well, I don’t know about it, but I know how to get to someone who knows.”

“Right… Where should we go then?”

“Sun Tower.”

“Sun Tower? That’s in Summerset?”

“No. It is near the Sol Dawn Archipelago. Far to the east of Tamriel.”

“You want us to go outside of Tamriel?” asked Trinica.

“Yes.”

Frey thought about this. He turned towards his crew. “What do you think?”

“I don’t trust this man,” said Silo.

“Well, he did prove his worth back in Dwemer city. Besides, I’ve got a hunch,” said Frey.

“I always wanted to travel out of Tamriel,” said Trinica.

“Me too,” agreed Ashua.

“If your gut tells you the way to the treasure, I would follow it,” said Malvery.

Frey had made plenty of risky choices in his life. Some were good ones, some were bad ones. As a seasoned Rake player, he knew everything about risk. The cards picked by this strange horse were risky, but he went far with worse odds.

Well, what could get wrong, Frey thought to himself. Then turned towards Ugrik. “So, are you interested in becoming our new navigator?”

Three

Preparations - Blade of Ages - Journey Begins - Meeting of Sisters

Frey stood on the landing pad. A truck was standing next to the Ketty Jay. Pallets with barrels of prothane and aerium were being driven inside the cargo haul. There were also crates with spare parts and with food. Soon, the amphibious tanks that would allow Ketty Jay to float on water would be added.

“You know, there might be something in this whole being organized thing,” he said.

Trinica was looking at the Windblade-class fighter standing on the landing pad. It was Urlik’s plane, but since he will become the navigator, he decided to let Trinica have it for now.

Frey leaned on the Windblade’s engine. “Are you sure you want to be the outflyer?”

“Someone will need to get you out of trouble,” she said with a smile. It quickly vanished as she faced Frey. “Seriously though, do you trust this Nord?”

“I mean, he helped me take down Iron Jackal. He is… a bit weird, but a good guy. Also, the best navigator I know, other than Jez. Finding an intact Dwemer city counts for something.”

“Yes, it does. There’s just something… off about this, don’t you think?”

Frey looked at Urlik. The Nord was walking back and forth the Ketty Jay, mumbling something to himself.

“It will be okay. At least we will go on an adventure,” Frey said confidently. Trinica smiled. He knew she wasn’t fooled by this, but she let it pass.

Frey was always big on taking a risk. Be it in his job, his life or in playing Rake. He profited from it greatly. At least, usually. Even if he lost his first hand in Rake, he usually won his money back later. Usually.

However, flying outside of the borders of the known world, having slightly mentally unstable Nord as his navigator, chasing a treasure he knew nothing about because a horse in a dream told him so? It was the next level for him.

Still, Frey never let common sense get in the way of fortune before.

Frey walked towards Ugrik. The Nord still was babbling something to himself. “Why are you running around like this?” Frey asked.

Ugrik stopped mid-step and looked at the captain. “Umm… I was calculating the amount of prothane we would need to get to Sun Tower.”

“But… you are sure you know the way towards it?”

“Yes, of course. I know exactly where it is. The supplies you bought are more than enough to get there, even if the weather gets bad.”

“Well, it’s good. My fortune-finding intuition is saying you are telling the truth. Still, don’t you think all of this is slightly suspicious?”

“Not at all. Everyone knows there are lands beyond Tamriel. Many inhabited, some of them even inhabited by non-humans.”

“Non-humans?”

“Yes. I heard Elves are still alive in far away lands. I saw a Mermaid with my own eyes. And yes, Ponies are also real.”

“So, you know a lot about lands outside Tamriel? Where did you learn it?”

“I traveled far and wide. Read a lot too. There are fascinating things that you could learn by reading ancient Nord scrolls. I visited High Hrothgar. The Greybeards know things that you couldn’t imagine. Nords aren’t just barbarian tribesmen, you know.”

“Stranger things happened than a Nord scholar.”

“Yes, right. You know, I want to show you something you might be interested in.”

“I’m listening.”

Ugrik took off his backpack and opened it. Frey’s blood ran cold at the sight of what he took from it. “Is this the Iron Jackal?” he asked, barely containing his fear.

Ugrik held a black casket engraved with Dwemer runes. He opened it. Inside, there was a purple sword. He took the sword.

“Don’t!”

“Relax. You’ve broken the curse. Iron Jackal is no more. I can hold it just fine.”

“I thought the sword was destroyed when we blew up the Dwemer city.”

“I wouldn’t let it get destroyed. Besides, it was the payment for my help.”

“Good. You know how to fight with it?”

“Of course. If we get into a fight, Blade of Ages would ensure our victory.”

“Blade of Ages?”

“Yes. I managed to translate the runes on the casket. You know the Dwemer considered the sword as ancient and filled with extremely powerful magic? Dwemer! You can imagine how old and powerful it must be for the Dwemer to be impressed.”

“You know how to do magic?”

“Well, no. I haven’t yet learned how to actually use it. Still, it works great as a blade. Daresay, even better than your daedric cutlass.”

“I highly doubt it. Still, another sword is always useful.”

Frey sat in the pilot seat. Ugrik sat next to him, looking at a map of the east coast of Tamriel.

“Everyone is ready?” asked Frey.

The crew agreed.

Frey felt the excitement. He was going on a new adventure.

That’s what was the best thing about being a freebooter. The ability to just get on the ship and fly away. The opportunity to find riches. The thrill of adventure.

Most importantly, all the fun he would have with his crew. To think he once ignored it. That he thought he could do everything on his own. Now, he is older, more experienced. He knew what is really important in life.

Still, having a treasure is a good thing as well.

“Let’s go to the Sun Tower!” Frey shouted.

He turned on the aerium engines. Ketty Jay got airborne. Then, the prothane thrusters were activated. The ship, and its two outliers, were heading eastward.

At night, the Sun Tower and the surrounding town didn’t have much activity. It was a rather calm place. In her room in the top level of the tower, the Abbess was sleeping. Her dream wasn’t calm at all.

She was in a large port city. She saw an enormous fleet of ships and airships. There was a great number of ponies attempting to get on board one of them. They all were trying to leave in a hurry.

In the distance, on the sea, there was one particular ship. It looked more like a floating city. Many smaller vessels were transporting ponies to it.

She looked north. In the distance, there was a sickly green glow. Lightning came out of the clouds.

White unicorn with blue mane, wearing a well-made, formal dress, walked towards her.

“Princess, if you want, there is a space on my ship for you.”

“I’m not a princess anymore,” she replied, and looked back at the green glow.

She heard hoofsteps. She knew who was coming, and didn’t turn.

“Over a thousand years, and you still beat yourself up over what happened.”

“I could have prevented it. I could have done something. If only I took action, it wouldn’t be here.”

The blue alicorn walked towards her. She put a wing over her.

“Sister, we both knew that was beyond even our powers at the time. Nowadays, we have a chance.”

“Chance, you say?”

“The Hero is on his way. Blade of Ages is with him. If there’s anyone that could stop it, it’s him. We will save our niece and her daughter. We will recover Crystal City.”

“And if the Hero fails?”

“We can search for Twilight Sparkle. She surely made her own plan to prepare for the return. You know her.”

“We hadn’t parted on the best of terms, and I haven’t heard from her since the Exodus.”

Luna hugged her sister close. Celestia appreciated this gesture, but it still hadn’t washed all the guilt away.

“We can still make everything right,” said Luna.

Celestia wished to believe it.

Four

Awoken After Millennium - Love And War - Alicorn’s Eyes - Discarded

Shining Armor drove through the streets of Crystal City.

The haze of magic still lingered in the sky. Shining’s head felt light. Still, he managed to keep his composure.

He looked towards the streets. The city looked and felt abandoned. There were only a few Crystal Ponies outside, despite the warm and sunny late May weather. The ponies that were outside were either standing still, or moving as if in trance.

Shining saw Crystal Ponies act like this before. The day when he led the Equestrian army to seize Crystal City from Sombra, eighteen years ago.

Eighteen years? It felt far longer than that. When he was promoted to be the Captain of Equestria’s Royal Guard, the world seemed a different place. Celestia kept peace and harmony reigning supreme. Ponies were happy and content. Those who joined the army were here mostly to keep in shape, learn new skills or occasionally deal with a rogue monster. Nopony thought an actual war would happen.

Then, Chrysalis attempted a decapitation strike on the day of his wedding. She was defeated, but she returned several years later, leading a modernized army with tanks and guns. Shining and the Crystal Army held the line, and Changelings were defeated, after a long and brutal war. The war changed the Crystal Empire and changed Equestria.

After the Great War, and after the two smaller skirmishes with Stalliongrad and the Arctic Empire, it seemed that peace finally returned to Equus. Yet, it wasn’t so. The warmongering dictator of Karthinian Empire has attacked New Mareland, starting another war, even larger than the one with Changelings.

Then, a week ago, in the middle of the night, something happened. Nopony was sure as to what. It seemed only the closest advisors to the Princess knew it. There was a bright flash of green light that knocked out everypony in the city.

Shining saw a similar flash before. Over the northern horizon, just before the information came from the frontier that Sombra had returned.

No, Shining. She’s not at all like Sombra. She knew what she did, he thought, more to reassure himself.

After driving through the city, the car reached its destination. Crystal Fields Air Force Base.

Unlike the city, the air base was busy with activity. There were ponies walking around, and planes were getting ready. Shining saw a pony fall over, and many only barely managed to walk, but discipline and will to fight made them push through the magical haze that clouded their minds. Luckly, nopony was trying to fly. Shining was a strong mage, and was resistant to magical exhaustion, and if he felt as if he was barely awake, how would other ponies do?

Shining got out of the car and walked towards the command center. He saw three important ponies standing next to it.

There was a red pegasus stallion with a white-brown mane. Martini Markerlight, Chief of Crystal Air Force. There was also a pink earth pony mare with red and white mane. Dusty Ember, general of the First Army.

Between them, there was a mare in a military uniform. She was far taller than either of the officers. Her expression was serious, as she spoke to them, explaining another of her brilliant strategies. She was as fair as her mother, and as strong as her father. Shining knew her as a brave warrior, ambitious leader, a diligent and erudite student. Her mere presence seemed to demand obedience and discipline.

Most importantly of all, this mare was his sixteen years old daughter.

“Field Marshal,” said Dusty and Martini, and saluted to Shining Armor.

“Welcome, father. I am glad you managed to attend the meeting,” said Princess Flurry Heart, Princess of Crystal Empire and Princess of Ponies.

“Hello, Flurry,” Shining replied.

He knew there was something off about Flurry. Maybe not a possession, as if the few remaining naysayers said, but there was something. It started when she was eleven, and started parroting the anti-penguin rhetoric of Cadance. It became even stronger when Cadance appointed her as her main advisor at age fourteen. With Cadance’s declining mental state, Flurry became the de facto leader of Crystal Empire. Eventually, Shining and the rest of the cabinet managed to pressure Cadance to step down, and for Flurry to be crowned the new Princess.

Looking at his daughter now, Shining was having doubts.

“I hope you will finally tell me what’s up with the magical fog over the city,” said Shining, trying to keep the tone.

“Yes. Follow me, I will show you something.”

The officers walked through the airfield. They were guarded by a group of soldiers. Shining had to appreciate the discipline in their movement, especially given that they suffered from the effects of the fog as well.

The group reached a gate. Flurry opened it with her magic. They walked on a road for a short while, and then Shining saw what Flurry wanted him to see.

The road just stopped at a point. It seemed as if it was cut by magic. Shining saw that the trees surrounding it were also off. Some had branches seemingly cut.

“So, it is true. We are in the future,” said Shining. He was suspecting it, and the soldiers in the city were spreading rumors. Now he saw it.

“Indeed. We are over one thousand years in the future.”

“But, why? Why did you decide to send the city into the future?”

“My job was done.”

“What about Equestria? Why had you abandoned it?”

“They outgrew their usefulness.”

Shining was quite unnerved by the way his daughter was speaking. He looked into her eyes, and he didn’t see his little filly in them. It was as if something took control of Flurry.

“What do you mean?”

“They're gone. Equestria, Karthinia, all of them. At least, they should be, but given the sun and moon are still moving, Celestia and Luna are still alive.”

Shining looked towards Dusty and Martini. They seemed completely unfazed with this information. As if they already knew about it, and approved. “Gone? How is that possible?” he asked.

“The Dread Tide washed over Equus, stopping it. The plan that we made was to finally reach the conclusion. As you can see, the mission is not done yet.”

Shining was unnerved and couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You mean… the rest of Equus…”

“Should have been destroyed, but it seems the plan had some unexpected flaws.”

“The plan?!” Shining shouted, finally losing his composure. “You want to tell me you planned to destroy the continent? That you somehow managed to move Crystal City thousand years into the future? Why? How could you?!”

The guards wanted to move, but Flurry stopped them. “Father… I knew you might not understand why it needed to be done. That’s why the plan was being kept secret from you. As the Princess of Crystal Empire, it is my duty to keep my ponies safe. Equus was doomed to fall no matter what I did. I just ensured Crystal Empire will survive.”

“Survive, by letting the entire continent be destroyed?”

“Celestia, Luna and Twilight were left in Equestria. You think they did nothing to stop the fall of Equus? If the sun still rises and sets, it means ponies of Equestria survived. Possibly fled the continent before the Dread Tide even reached the borders of Equestria.”

“That… might be true. Still, that’s no excuse for…”

Flurry walked a few steps towards her father. Shining felt her power. Mere presence of Alicorns had an effect on ponies, but Flurry seemed to be even stronger at this. She was their leader. She was the rightful Princess.

“I will need your help if we are to save the ponies. Can you help me?”

Shining looked Flurry in her eyes. There was something that unnerved him in these eyes. Still, Flurry was his daughter. Even with a rough exterior, she was a good pony at hearth. She was.

“Yes, I will help you,” Shining said. I can’t lose you like I lost Cadance, he added in his mind.

After the meeting at the airbase, Shining Armor returned to the Crystal Palace. Flurry stayed in the base, personally overseeing the preparation for the upcoming mission.

The Crystal Palace felt empty. Sure, there were servants and guards, and in the lower levels there were politicians and office workers, but there was a vital element missing.

Shining’s thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a family member. “Spike, good to see you,” he said.

Spike, Shining’s adopted brother, was one of key advisors for Cadance. Mostly, his duty was to shoot down the more unhinged ideas the Princess got. There were many arguments during the council meetings, and Shining suspected that Spike kept his position only thanks to his popularity in the Empire and the fact of being Shining’s brother.

The dragon hadn’t looked well. “Is it true? Are we really in the future?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Flurry showed me that all the infrastructure outside of Crystal City is just gone, decayed after a millennium of unuse. She thinks ponies evacuated the continent shortly after we left.”

“I should have quitten when I had the chance. Take my family back to Ponyville.”

“How is Gemini, by the way?”

“I haven’t told him yet. Poor boy, he loved to visit Twilight. How can I tell him that…”

“If anypony could find a way to survive a continent-destroying cataclysm, it's her. Besides, she’s an immortal alicorn. She’s fine. Flurry plans to find her.”

“Are you completely sure about that?”

Shining lowered his head. “I hope so. You know what Sombra’s spells looked like?”

“He absorbed magic from blood and bones. Pony sacrifices were commonplace. Do you think that Flurry…”

“She told me the spell used the lifeforce of Griffons from Karthin, Falcor and ten other cities. She dropped megaspells on them.”

Spike’s eyes went wide. “She sacrificed griffons?”

“The worst part was that she seemed confused as to why I got angry at her,” Shining said, defeated. “What in Harmony's name happened to her?”

Shining remembered a day from back when Flurry was eleven. It was after the end of the war against Stalliongrad. Princess Cadance made a plan to start another war, this time against the Penguins of the Arctic Empire. Many supported getting rid of the last non-harmonic nation on Equus, but some opposed it. There was one staunch supporter of the war.

“... Will we stand idly by and watch them arm themselves while Crystal Empire is undefended? Or will we disarm this threat before it grows beyond our power?”

Eleven years old Flurry Heart was listening patiently to the recording of her mother’s recent speech. The tensions between the Crystal Empire and the Arctic Empire were growing. The Crystal Armed Forces, which helped defeat Stalliongrad merely three weeks ago, were on the move towards the Polar Bear Communities, a Crystal protectorate in northern Equus. War seemed inevitable.

Shining Armor looked at her daughter. She was becoming interested in politics. It was a good thing considering she was the heir to the throne, but Shining was getting worried about her.

“The so-called emperor Orvar is an evil bird! We need to throw the penguins to the ocean! There can only be one Empire in the north!” Flurry shouted.

“Flurry, how about you go play with other foals?” asked Shining.

“Dad, you know I’m right. Attack is the best defense. We must deal with the penguin menace as soon as possible.”

Shining wasn’t sure how to argue with that. Flurry was getting more and more like Cadance.

He still remembered how his blood went cold as he realized that he thought of it as a bad thing.

When Flurry was a baby, before the war and everything, Shining often thought about what she would do in the future. Would she be a scholar-princess like her aunt? Would she travel around the Three Continents and beyond, spreading friendship and harmony?

Shining remembered clearly the day four months ago. The day Flurry took over the Empire.

On a cold January morning, the most prominent politicians and generals of the Crystal Empire meet. Shining Armor, Spike, Sunburst, Idol Hooves, Flash Sentry, Martini Markerlight, Cloudie, Deimos Falafel, Silver Stone and Dusty Ember meet on the request of Flurry Heart.

“My mother fell ill. I request you to help me convince her to step down, and for me to assume the role of the Princess of Crystal Empire.”

Flurry had recently turned sixteen and became a legal adult. Even before, since the age of fourteen, she attended the government meetings. With Cadance’s declining mental health, she became a de facto leader in her place. The coronation would be a formality.

“Have you spoken to Cadance about it?” Shining asked.

“I am sure she would cooperate.”

“You have my full support, Princess,” said Martini Markerlight, known for sharing Cadance’s obsession over airplanes and almost cult-like loyalty to her.

The rest of the staff agreed. Shining felt a bit of conscience about plotting against his own wife, but he knew Cadance needed professional help. Leading a nation at war was not something she was capable of doing right now.

“Me and Flurry will talk to her. She will accept it,” said Shining.

“What if she refuses?” asked Spike, always the voice of harmony and reason.

“She will be arrested for the sake of our country. I will strive for friendship and harmony in the world, no matter what it takes,” said Flurry. Shining was concerned about her tone. Still, he hoped his daughter would do the right thing. She was a good filly.

After the meeting, Shining and Flurry moved towards the dining room. Cadance was supposed to be there. Shining looked out of the windows. He saw soldiers waiting for something. He started to understand why his decision to send Crystal Armed Forces to defend New Manehattan was overruled and why the army was ordered to gather near Crystal City instead.

Shining and Flurry entered the dining room. Cadance was there. Shining’s heart sank. Cadance’s mane was unkempt, she was shaking and her eyes were full of fear.

“Mother, it is time.”

Cadance shuddered in her chair. “Discarded. Unneeded. It needs better…” she babbled.

“Cadance, you need serious help. It pains me to say this, but you are in no condition to continue leading the country. You should abdicate in favor of Flurry.”

“Better. Rightful. What it needs…”

Shining walked closer to his wife, grabbed her hoof and looked her in the eyes. It was bad, she hasn’t even reacted.

“She has now grown old enough to rule the Empire,” Shining said. Flurry placed a document on the table. Official act of abdication.

Something changed in Cadance’s expression. The fear was gone, replaced by... something that Shining couldn't put his hoof on. “So it is decided.” Cadance said calmly. She picked up the pen and signed the document. Then, the strange glow in her eyes suddenly faded, and she fainted.

“Cadance!” Shining shouted. The doors opened, and guards came here. Shining turned towards them. “Bring a medic here. Quickly!”

Shining held his unconscious wife. He looked at Flurry, and saw her changed.

Flurry looked at the guard. “Tell the staff to gather in the war room. As the new Princess, I need to take action,” she said. Shining saw something in her expression and her eyes. Terrible eyes, just like those that Cadance had at her worst. As if whatever was inside Cadance’s mind suddenly changed its host and took root in his daughter.

Shining often reminisced about if he made the best decisions. This time, he again was not sure if he did the right thing.

After the talk with Spike and remembering the events from Flurry’s life, Shining Armor found himself walking the streets of Crystal City. He headed towards the Crystal City Neuropsychiatric Hospital. The biggest and most modern of such institutions in the world. Cadance was interested in developing medicine and investing in mental health, before the threat of the war changed her. Now, after her abdication, she was the most important patient there.

Shining entered the hospital. The doctor personally responsible for Cadance led him to the meeting room.

“Princess is waiting for you,” he said.

“How is she?” Shining inquired.

The doctor sighted. “Not good, I’m afraid. Since the flash, she’s been worse.”

“Is there anything you can do?”

“It seems like a magical-related illness, but nothing we tried helped. Possibly it is due to her unique Alicorn status. We don’t have much information about Alicorn physiology, and history showed us that they might have something that causes them to lose themselves in magical delusions. We will try everything we can.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

“I may say that being with family will for sure improve her well-being.”

Shining and the doctor reached the meeting room. Shining entered it alone.

In his eyes, and in the eyes of many stallions in fact, Cadance was the most beautiful pony to ever live. The Alicorn Princess of Love, the noble ruler of a nation recovered from darkness, a great wife and mother.

Yet, since the uncertain times just before the Great War, something seemed to be off about her. Illogical decisions that made sense many months later. Sudden interest in all things military. Increasing militarization of the country and aggressive foreign policy. Finally, her obsession about creating the greatest air force in the world. Many ponies assumed all Alicorns act this way, as it was well known they are far more than mere ponies. Others just blindly followed what Cadance said, as her already great charisma increased even more. Some, very few, silently whispered that the Princess was getting mad.

Seeing the unkept mane, the dulled coat and overall state his wife was in, Shining’s heart itched.

“Hello, my love,” he said. Cadance didn’t respond.

He sat down in a chair next to her, and looked into her eyes. These eyes were empty, as if something was missing.

“I just returned from the Crystal Fields Air Force base. Everyone was asking about you. They miss you. You remember how happy you were when the base finished construction?” he said. Cadance still hasn't acknowledged him. “I feel good. Granted, I’m not as young as I used to, but I still can show the recruits how a real warrior fights,” he mock-bragged. Cadance still looked at something in the distance. “Caddy, what about you? How do you feel?” he asked. He still hasn’t gotten an answer. To see the mare he loved so much in such a state, it was breaking his heart. He continued talking “Flurry is doing great as a princess. The Crystal Empire is safe…”

“Safe,” Cadance replied absent-mindly. Suddenly, she seemed as if she awoke. She looked at him. “Shining.”

“I’m here,” he said with a smile.

“Flurry. She’s not safe. Not safe at all. We’re not safe. It is coming…”

“With the amount of fortifications you and Flurry build around Crystal City, I’m pretty sure even your Ultima Ratio won’t scratch it.”

“The world will break! It wants it to. We have to make it stop!”

Shining’s expression soured. He wanted to help Cadance, but didn’t know exactly how. “No matter what would come here, I will protect you and Flurry. You may count on me.”

“It chose Flurry. I was just a means to an end. Flurry can stop it. She’s better than me.”

“Stop what, exactly?”

Seeing the expression of horror, panic and disgust on Cadance's face, he instantly regretted the question.

“Caddy, calm down…”

“The monster. It wants us! Help Flurry make it stop! Please, I beg you. Make. It. STOP!” Cadance shouted. Shining grabbed her hoof and hugged her. She broke down into tears. “Make it stop.” she repeated a few times.

“Shh. It’s okay. I will protect Flurry, I promise. Don’t worry. She will be safe.”

Cadance hugged Shining back. “I love you, Shining,” she said, in a voice similar to the loving mare he married. The two just sat in silence for a long while. Shining Armor wished the old Cadance back. He wished that whatever made her the way she was now would be gone.

Most importantly, he thought of his daughter. She went on a dark path, and it might be too late for her to turn back. Shining however wasn’t a stallion that gave up. He promised to keep Flurry safe, and he will do so.

Five

Planes - Princess’s Orders - Scouting Mission - Remnants

Starlight Berry was looking at her plane.

It was a Lincoln-class strategic bomber. Heavy armed. It was using cutting-edge technology within about the best engines developed. Its range was so large, it was able to cover the whole of Equus from the Crystal Fields Air Force Base or, as Starlight did, bomb Wingbardy from the air bases in Severnaya.

The air base was full of activity. It was completely full after Princess Flurry Heart ordered almost the entire Crystal Air Forces to relocate here. While most of the ponies here were barely capable of walking after the Princess’s recent magic stunt, they did so anyway. They were soldiers of the Crystal Empire, and it was their duty to serve their Princess.

“Hello, Handsome. You still remember how to fly this junk?” said another pilot, Steel Rose.

Handsome was Starlight’s callsign. With a shining light blue coat and a blue-yellow mane, she was the center of attention for many stallions in the airbase. Thanks to both her looks, the fact she came out unscratched from many fights with Griffon aircraft, and the fact she sent many fascists straight to Maar, she was a bit of a celebrity here.

“Hello, Sunshine. I can fly this beauty even in my sleep,” replied Starlight.

Steel Sunshine Rose was a fighter pilot, flying the most modern aircraft developed, Meteor-class jet fighter. These fighters were the pride of Crystal Air Force, and were decimating Karinthian planes over New Mareland. Still, even despite Princess Cadance’s quite bizarre decision to order every single military factory in the Crystal Empire to produce airplanes, many pilots still had to fly Great War-era Spitfires.

“My head feels like I’ve been drinking cider with the southorns for the last week. Why in Heart’s name are we being sent on a mission now?”

“If you want to complain, you should have gone to the softies in Equestria. We are the Crystal Empire!” Starlight said, even though she felt about the same.

Suddenly, the speakers around the airbase started to speak. “Announcement. Princess Flurry Heart and Chief of the Air Force Martini Markerlight will make an important announcement in an hour at the command center. All pilots are to attend it personally.”

“Maybe finally she will tell us what we are supposed to do now,” said Steel Rose.

The pilots of the Crystal Air Force gathered by the command center. There was a large podium built on the site. Starlight Berry and Steel Rose, as one of the best pilots in the air force, were closests to it.

“I hope she tells us that we all can have paid leave for the next two weeks,” said Steel.

“I think she teleported the city away because we have better targets to bomb than Wingbardy,” replied Starlight.

“By the way, have you heard that Unicorns cannot teleport anymore? They cannot even do any magic other than simple levitation. Same with Pegasi, they cannot land on clouds or control the weather. This is quite strange, don’t you think?”

“Probably the Princess messed up some spell. Whatever. We Earth Ponies never needed magic to be awesome.”

“Damn right!”

The chatter was silenced by an officer walking towards the microphone. “Her Majesty, Princess Flurry Heart, Princess of Crystal Empire, Princess of Ponies.”

The gathered soldiers stood at attention. From the command center, the Princess walked towards them. The Chief of the Air Force, Martini Markerlight, was walking behind her.

Despite the Princess being barely an adult, everypony gathered here felt obliged to listen to her. Starlight knew that Alicorns had something in them, and believed that Flurry in particular was blessed by the Heart to lead ponykind. She just felt this inside her soul.

The young Princess walked towards the microphone. “Pilots of the Crystal Air Force. First of all, I want to thank you for the great job you did against the Karinthian Empire. The air superiority you managed to establish was the key in the success of my special mission. For this, you have my gratitude.”

Steel looked at Starlight smugly and smiled.

“Now, as many of you probably know, a week ago, I unleashed a powerful spell that teleported the city exactly one thousand four years into the future.”

As the Princess said this, there were murmurs of confusion and discontent over this. Starlight was also confused. By the Heart, she actually did it. Why though?

“I know this decision would have been controversial, and this is why no official announcement was made. This is also why the majority of Crystal Armed Forces are currently in Crystal City. The good news is, Karinthian Empire and all others enemies of Ponykind are long gone.”

The war is over? Well, that’s a good thing, I guess, thought Starlight.

“However, our fight is far from over. That’s where you come in. Your mission is to fly recon flights over Equus, in order to check for any activity. As far as I know, all Ponies were evacuated from the continent a millennium ago. However, I cannot be sure of it. Martini Markerlight will deliver detailed orders of the regions that you will scout. If any of you find traces of civilization, photograph it and give it to the command center. Go with the Heart.”

The gathered Ponies stomped their right hoof three times.

Starlight Berry was flying over the area once known as Equestria.

From what she was able to see, there were no traces that an industrial civilization was ever there. The land was only a natural forest, as far as you can see.

“Did the erosion erase it, or was it intentional?” she thought aloud.

She and her crew were to scout the Baltimare area. She hoped there would be something there. On the way through Equestria, she flew over a few smaller towns. At least, according to the map. There was nothing down there.

Flying over the empty coastal land, Starlight began to get lost in thought. What happened to the world? Where was anypony?

Two days before she was recalled to Crystal City, she heard some strange rumors. Some pilots in the Petershoof Air Base have claimed that strange things were happening over at Southern Cross, the Crystal-crewed air base in New Mareland. DDS agents were supposedly seen there. There were three Meteor fighter wings and one Lincoln strategic bomber wing there, all crewed by the ponies that were known to be the most devout followers of the Princess. Something was happening over there.

There was a talk that Princess Flurry Heart wanted to deploy megaspells against Karinthian Empire. Princess Cadance has created the first one four years ago, and by now Crystal Empire had dozens of them, supposedly. Could Flurry Heart do it? Could she order to throw the megaspells that emptied the world?

No. These were treasonous thoughts. Princess Flurry Heart was a defender, she wanted to protect her ponies. There was no way she would have done this.

But if not her, then who?

Her rumination stopped when she was something. Far to the south, on the coast, there was visible light. It flicked unnaturally.

She recognized what it was. A lighthouse.

In the town of Maretime Bay, things were perfect. Sunny know this. Since magic went back, everything was great.

There were some incidents, of course. Like the one time an Earth Pony mare insulted an Unicorn, and the town was almost devoured by Void. But she said sorry, so it was okay now.

Sunny walked over the promenade. There were happy ponies there, mostly looking at their smartphones. They surely looked at various proofs of tribal unity, as they were the only things worth looking at.

Sunny wasn’t looking at her phone. She was looking at the sea on the warm late May day.

She heard some strange noise. Something like an old engine her father sometimes worked with in his free time, when he wasn’t working in praising Canter-Tech on his radio station.

She looked around, but there were no machines like this nearby. She was a bit confused.

Then, she looked at the sky. There was something over there.

Sunny wasn’t sure what she was looking at. Was it a strange bird? It seemed to have wings, but it didn’t flap them. Sunny was almost sure the strange noise came out of it. What was that, then? Some strange contraption that somepony sent into the sky? Maybe a Pegasi prank?

Ponies around her also noticed the strange thing in the sky, and started filming. Who made the best video would be the best pony. Sunny, as much as she wanted too, didn’t have time for that. She did what she was supposed to do when something strange was happening. She galloped to her friends in order to fix it together.

Her friends knew this as well. They meet in the middle of the way.

“Have you seen the giant bird in the sky, Sunny?” Izzy said cheerfully.

“It’s not a bird, it’s a machine. Very strange one. How did it start to fly?” asked Zipp.

“I wanted to ask about it too. It looks like one of your pranks, Zipp,” Sunny said.

“I promise you I had nothing to do with this.”

“Come on. It is just a big bird,” said Pipp. “I’ve got an idea! How about we have a contest of making the best photo of a bird and posting it on the best social media website, Hoofstagram? You know, the one site everypony should visit all the time, so I could have advertisement money?”

“That’s a great idea!” said Hitch.

“Amazing idea. Let’s do a contest, then!” announced Sunny. She got her phone, and started thinking of a good lookout spot. Surely, this strange-sounding bird that was circling above the city was just that, a bird. What else would it be?

Six

Beyond the Storm Belt - Sun Tower - Quest Started - New Recruit

Darian Frey was a very experienced pilot. He flew various craft since he was twelve. Started as a courier employed by a company owned by Trinica’s father. Then worked as a logistician in the army during the Aerium War against Hammerfell. Finally, became a freebooter, flying Ketty Jay to where treasure was. Thinking about it, he spent a huge part of his life behind the steer of an airship. And he was enjoying every minute of it.

However, being a pilot was hard work. Double so if you tried to fly through a storm. Triple so if you attempted to fly through the Great Storm Belt.

Frey held the steer hard. Ketty Jay was being thrown left and right by the strong wind. Everything not tied down was flying around the cockpit.

Ugrik, the navigator, didn’t seem fazed by this. Instead, he seemed to enjoy it very much.

“Wooo-hooo!” he shouted with joy as a gust of wind almost made the Ketty Jay spin.

“Why are you so happy? I feel like the ship will get torn apart soon!” shouted Frey.

“I love going through the Storm Belt. It’s always great fun. You know, this storm is created by the warm seas surrounding Tamriel meeting the cold and static Panthalassic Ocean…”

“I don’t really care!” shouted Frey, as lightning barely missed the airship.

“Yeah. It's unusually quiet today. Maybe it's to help the remaining Awakeners flee from Tamriel? The Belt seems to answer to things like that.”

“You call this quiet?!”

“I’ve flown here many times. It is quiet.”

Frey focused on getting the Ketty Jay under control. Then, after a while, the storm suddenly stopped, and Ketty Jay found herself over a calm ocean. Giant wall of storm clouds was behind him.

“Behold, Panthalassic Ocean!” shouted Ugrik and dramatically waved his hands.

Frey looked carefully. The contrast between the weather in the Storm Belt and over the ocean was unnatural. In fact, it seemed as if the clouds had met an invisible barrier and were incapable of going further. In front of them, there were no clouds at all. Just empty skies.

“No clouds. No winds. No life. No bottom. Panthalassic Ocean, the empty area between realms. Infinite and static, just like the world it fills,” said Ugrik.

“Is the ocean bottomless?”

“Possibly. Nobody actually measured it, but for sure it's deeper than the oceans surrounding Tamriel.”

“Incredible.”

“Well then, I see you are on the correct course. Just fly in a straight line. There should be no problems between here and the destination. I’m gonna go play with Kate the Cat,” said Ugrik and quickly left the cockpit.

Frey looked at the ocean. It was the first time he was beyond the Storm Belt. New frontier, new adventures. Hopefully, new treasure as well.

The journey over the Panthalassic Ocean was long and boring. Other than landing on water and refilling the prothane tanks, as well as beating the rest of the crew in Rake a few times, Frey didn’t have much to do.

Eventually, however, he saw something in the ocean. In the distance, a tower was glittering. Gold and white, similar to the one Trinica once showed him in a history book he hadn’t cared about.

“This is the Sun Tower. Unicorns living here claim to have the power of raising and lowering the sun,” said Ugrik.

“So, we will see actual Unicorns?” Frey asked skeptically.

“You will see. You know, you won’t be so cynical if you saw half of the things I saw in my travels,” replied Ugrik.

The Ketty Jay reached the tower. On the side, there was some kind of landing pad, in the form of many platforms.

The radio systems activated. “Tamrielic aircraft. Identify yourself.” said a female voice.

“Captain Darian Frey of the Ketty Jay. I came here for business.”

“Landing platform number 9. You and your crew are to stay inside until the guards come.”

Frey landed as he was ordered to. The crew walked towards the cargo hold. He opened the ramp. Then, he looked at the landing pad, and asked himself if he didn't take some Skooma.

On the pad, there were three Unicorns. Actual Unicorns. They were about a metre tall, and had colorful manes and coats. They were wearing clothes. Two of them had fancy armor, with swords by the side. One of them was wearing some kind of dress. The horn was glowing in faint pink light, and a notebook was levitating next to it, submerged in similar light.

Frey looked at his crew. Silo was similarly bewildered by the sight. Malvery was also confused. He looked towards the captain. “That’s the kind of thing you see when you buy stuff smuggled from Hammerfell,” whispered the doctor.

“Reality is stranger than fiction,” said Ugrik aloud, smiling.

The Unicorn in a dress coughed to get their attention. “You are Captain Darian Frey?” she asked in unmistakingly feminine voice. She had a strange, melodic accent.

“Yes, I am.”

“I had information that there will be Tamrielic airships flying towards the tower. Just sign here and you are free to go. You should go to the Abbey and ask there about the job.”

Frey carefully took the levitating pen and notebook in his hands and signed.

Trinica walked towards the unicorn. “You are so cute! And such a pretty dress,” she said and patted the unicorn on her mane.

The mare took a step back. “Thanks?” she said unconvinced, then added something in her melodious language. Frey guessed it was something on the line of stupid humans, but didn't want to disrupt Trinica’s moment.

“Well, this is all. Enjoy your visit in Sun Tower, and don’t cause trouble,” the mare said, and left. Guards turned back as well, but Frey knew they had an eye on him.

“Well, let’s find a tavern and see if unicorns have alcohol!” said Malvery.

“I would rather go find this Abbey first and get our job started. Then we will find a tavern,” said Frey.

Frey walked the straits up the tower. He was escorted by a female unicorn in strange armor.

The tower was tall and quite beautiful. Solar motives and paintings decorated it. It seemed like a place from a fairytale.

It made him quite uneasy. He felt it might be a trap. Maybe unicorns ate humans?

Eventually, he reached the door. The guards turned to him and spoke in her language. Frey didn't understand any of it, but he guessed it was something on the line of our leader is in this room and don't do anything stupid.

“Yeah, whatever you say. I just hope she won’t try to scam me.”

The guard seemed quite annoyed, but didn’t take the bait. She opened the door. Frey and his crew walked into a chamber.

There were two unicorns. One of them was very old, with white coat and pink mane. She wore robes that reminded Frey of the Awakener speakers. Next to her was a younger unicorn. She had a light blue coat and bright yellow mane and was wearing a simple white robe and a strange medallion.

“Welcome, Captain Darian Frey, of the Freys of Everfrost. Please take a seat,” said the older unicorn in perfect Tamrielic.

Frey and his crew sat down by the table. Frey looked at the older unicorn. She called his family Freys of Everfrost, just like the dream horse did. How did she know? It was only a month or so ago when Trinica dug out information from the archives that Darien Frey was, in fact, a noble, and that his family were dukes in far away land who moved to Tamriel some time before Landfall.

“I heard you are looking for help in retrieving a treasure?”

“Indeed, Captain. The words of your exploits have reached even outside of Tamriel. I think you will be the best bet if I want to get the artifacts I need.”

“Artifacts, you say? I guess they are powerful and valuable?”

“Indeed. In fact, more powerful than the Dwemer artifacts that Tamriel is known from. Almost as powerful as Blade of Ages that your friend owns.”

Frey looked at Ugrik, who just smiled smugly. Then he turned back towards the unicorn. “So, what are those artifacts?”

“They are two artifacts that I want you to retrieve from the Dreadlands.”

Frey noticed the younger unicorn shuddering at the mere mention of it. “Dreadlands?”

“The long-lost Pony homeland. Ancient Ponies had access to High Magic, and were capable of great feats, both of good and harmony, but also of evil and chaos. I heard that there are many artifacts still left in the ruins of the Old Country.”

“Dreadlands don’t sound like a welcoming place.”

“You have challenged the vampires of Atmora and beat back the Godhead cultists that attempted to take over Tamriel. Pony curses shouldn’t be much trouble for you.”

“Indeed. So, what artifacts do you look for?”

The Abbess took a scroll and placed it on the table. “First, I need three crystals. They are called Unity Crystals, and might be even capable of granting a pony access to High Magic. Needless to say, if they went into the wrong hooves, it could be disastrous.”

“Understood. What are the other artifacts?”

“Only one more, but taking it would be more challenging. It is an artifact of enormous power, possibly the strongest in the entire world. It is the Crystal Heart.”

“Crystal Heart, you say?”

“The Heart is ancient beyond measure. Powerful magic emerges from it. Needless to say, if used by an evil pony, it could be destructive.”

“So, you want me to steal those crystals and give them to you for safekeeping?”

“Indeed, but not only for that. I have a project of a spell that might change the entire world.”

“What project?”

“It is top secret. What you need to know, that other than thirty thousand septims that I give you for all the artifacts, you will also get a boon once I manage to get the magic going.”

“Thirty thousand?” Frey said. It was a great sum, high enough to set him up for life. Too good to be true.

“Yes. All the money I managed to get. The artifacts are worth any price.”

“I guess it wouldn’t be easy to find them.”

“Finding them would be easy. They will be in the only city in Dreadlands, Crystal City. The problem will be in getting into it and out of it undetected.”

“I guess if it is a Unicorn city, humans walking around would stick out like a sore thumb.”

“Right… That’s where my apprentice comes in,” the old unicorn turned towards the younger one. “Stellar Reflection, I would like you to accompany Captain Frey in his journey towards the Old Country.”

“Me? Going to the Old Country?”

“Indeed. Our human friends would need a guide that knows pony customs and could help them blend in. Besides, they need somepony who knows magic,” she said, and took out another scroll. It was sealed, and seemed to emit magic. “This is a High Magic spell. It will allow the humans to turn into ponies for the duration of a week. Once you arrive in Crystal City, you will cast this spell.”

“Casting High Magic? I don’t know if I can.”

“You only need to guide the magic hidden in the scroll. It is just basic levitation. Beware, you can only cast it once. The scroll will disintegrate once magic leaves it.”

“Wait wait wait… you want to turn us into ponies?” protested Frey.

“Only temporarily. Unless you want to walk into a pony city whose inhabitants have never seen a human before. The ruler of the city wouldn’t think twice before obliterating you.”

“Okay… this doesn’t sound good.”

“Abbess, may I ask you something?” the young unicorn said.

“Take off the medallion first.”

The young unicorn took off the medallion from her neck, and then proceeded to talk with the older one in their language.

Frey turned towards his crew. “What do you think about it?”

“Why are you even trusting those creatures?” asked Silo.

“She is telling the truth. There are tons of artifacts scattered in Dreadlands. Granted, most adventurers who sail there never return, but those who did, like the unicorn Sapphire Belle, told about cursed treasures,” said Ugrik.

“Where did you learn this?” asked Asura.

“Travels teach you things.”

“I think that we might trust them,” said Trinica.

“Why do you think so?” asked Frey.

“I know how to read people. They seem honest, and they seem to be desperate if they called for you. These crystals must be very important. I don’t think thirty thousand septims would be enough. Maybe we could negotiate more once we get them.”

“That is a good argument.”

The two unicorns stopped talking between themselves, and turned back towards the humans. “So, would you accept my offer?” asked Sunrise.

Frey knew that easy hand in Rake often meant trouble. This job was quite strange. Yet, something told him that it might just work. Yes. It would work.

“I accept.”

Frey and his crew went to the town at the base of the tower. The young unicorn, Stellar Reflection, was with them.

“Do unicorns have whiskey?” asked Malvery.

“Well, we don’t have whiskey. However, at the tawern, there is Flowing Light.”

“What is that?”

“Traditional unicorn wine. You may try it. If you don't like it, we also import some beverages from the humans of Sol Dawn.”

“Where did you learn our language?” asked Frey.

“I didn’t. This medallion somehow translates what you say into ponish.”

“Daedric enchantments?”

“No, of course not. Pony High Magic. This medallion must be over a thousand years old. Abbess placed great trust in me to lead you into the Old Country, and I will not fail her.”

“You are not afraid?” asked Trinica.

“I will do what I need to do. Besides, I always wanted to see the wider world.”

The group reached the tawern. Golden Horn. The bartender was a unicorn stallion, and customers were both unicorns and humans. Humans from Sol Dawn looked differently to those from Tamriel, and spoke a strange language.

Stellar had ordered Flowing Light for them all. The crew sat at the table.

Frey took a sip of the wine. Indeed, it tasted magical.

“So, Stellar, what were you doing in the tower?”

“I train to become a healer. Unicorns of Sun Tower are masters of Light Magic.”

“I never heard of it.”

“It’s actually a human magic school from Sol Dawn.”

“So, you are a doctor?”

“Not yet, but I will be.”

“Say, can you conjure us a bed to sleep at night?” asked Malvery.

“No. The art of High Magic is long-lost. Average unicorn is capable only of our innate ability of levitation,” she said, and demonstrated it by levitating the cup to her muzzle.

“Interesting. You think there will be trouble in Dreadlands?”

“For sure, but if Abbess trusts your abilities, then I do as well.”

Frey emptied his cup. He thought about whatever could be so dangerous over there.

Seven

Princess of Ruins - Air Superiority - Defensive Measures - The Right Thing

The night in Canterlot was quiet and chilly. Just like every other night.

Lone unicorn walked through the ruined roads. Vegetation has overrun most of the city. Once, it might have been a giant metropolis, far larger than Bridlewood. Nowadays, there are only two inhabitants here. Her, and her Princess.

During the day, Misty had many tasks. Cleaning the palace, maintaining the crumbling walls, cooking, gathering food from the small garden. Recently, after strange things appeared in the sky, she also had to check for the Canterlot’s defense. Princess Opaline, the wisest Unicorn to ever live, told her that those things were called planes and the appearance of them were a bad omen. She quickly recalled her from her esponiage mission in Maretime Bay.

During the night, Misty had free time, and she used it to watch the stars and to think. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was a bit torn. She loved her Princess, that was true. There was some quiet simplicity to the tasks she did in Canterlot. Yet, each time she looked at this smartphone device and saw the saved photos of these five ponies that somehow gave High Magic to the Three Cities, she felt… something. She knew they weren’t honest with her, she knew she wasn’t honest with them. They were but fools that somehow got their hooves on something that only Princess Opaline was competent enough to handle.

Yet, these times they pretended to be her friends… those times felt good.

Suddenly, she saw something in the corner of her eye. Something moved in the darkness.

Sometimes, wild animals tried to move into the city, and Misty had to chase them away. She levitated a pistol she had by her side and walked towards the movement.

She entered a dark alley. She was almost sure an unicorn walked there. At this hour, Princess was either asleep or deep in her studies on the ancient Equestrian civilization.

She reached the site of a half-collapsed building. She saw a skeleton of an unicorn lying by the rubble.

“Oh well, I guess I just thought I saw something,” she thought aloud. There were many skeletons in Canterlot, both of ponies and of other strange creatures. Sometimes, she thought some skeletons moved, but it was obviously just an illusion.

She went back to the main street and headed back to the palace, wanting to get some much-needed sleep. Suddenly, she heard hoofsteps behind her. She turned around.

Tall mare was standing in the empty street. In the moonlight, Misty was able to get a good look at her. She was wearing a strange security uniform. She had a pale pink coat and pink-blue mare. The strangest of all, she had both horn and wings.

“Princess Twilight!” Misty shouted. The mare didn’t move. Dread started creeping into Misty’s mind. Run away! Go to your Mistress, her subconsciousness told her. She turned around and galloped towards the palace.

Misty ran as fast as she could. She ran inside the palace and through the corridors, until she passed next to Opaline’s workplace. She saw a light from behind the door, and she opened them.

“I told you to not disrupt me!” Opaline shouted, as she had to stop a magical experiment.

“Princess! Twilight Sparkle is in Canterlot!”

“What! That’s nonsense. I hope you have a very good explanation for why you just ruined my experiment.”

“I tell the truth. I saw her. Horn and wings and all. She is coming here!”

Opaline seemed to barely control her anger. Misty was waiting for her Princess to start shouting at her again, but then, she heard hoofsteps.

“You heard this?” Misty asked.

Opaline’s outraged expression changed into determination. She rushed towards a locker in the side of the room. She opened it, levitated two rifles and some ammo, and handed one of them to Misty. “As we trained. If the intruder doesn’t leave the palace, shoot her.”

Misty loaded her rifle and followed Opaline. They moved quietly through the corridors. The hoofseps were getting closer.

Finally, after taking a turn, Opaline and Misty came muzzle to muzzle with the intruder. The Alicorn mare had a stoic expression. Opaline and Misty froze into place. Misty felt that there was something behind this strange Alicorn that shouldn’t be bothered.

Opaline quickly broke out of the shock. “Who are you?! I am t…” she shouted, but couldn’t finish it. The Alicorn shot a bright energy beam from her horn. It created a perfect circle in Opaline’s chest. The older unicorn fell on the floor.

No, no, NO! Misty attempted to scream, but couldn’t. She held the rifle in her magic, but wasn’t able to shoot it. There was something with the Alicorn. Something that was so seriously and utterly wrong, Misty’s senses were too overwhelmed by it to do anything.

The Alicorn walked towards Misty. The small unicorn was still in shock. She felt the upcoming death.

The Alicorn stopped right in front of her, looking at her carefully. “Now, you will come with me, and you will tell us everything.”

Starlight Handsome Berry was flying in her plane. Hundreds of airplanes were flying with her. They were flying towards this Equestrian break-away state in the Baltimare region, to bring it under the rightful rule of the Princess of Ponies.

When they were leaving, Crystal City was in uproar. There was much discontent when the recon planes found only three cities in all of Equestria still inhabited. Later, Flurry made an official announcement. The Princess said that she captured a spy and learned valuable information from her. She also officially announced that the Crystal Empire declared war on the Confederation of Three Cities. Ponies in the Crystal City started to riot, accousing Princess Flurry Heart of lying, throwing them into the future without asking anypony and declaring war with no valid casus belli. The Cabinet and the Crystal Army were busy attempting to boost the stability of the country. It seems that even the public hanging of Arctic Lilly and the rest of leadership of Red Crystal Worker’s Party a few months ago wasn’t enough to quell all discontent in the country.

Well, that was the government’s problem. Starlight Berry was doing her part for Crystal Empire. She was tasked with providing air support for the military operation. Three Pegasi divisions were to paradrop next to the three cities. Modified long-range fighters were to provide air superiority, even though as far as the Princess could tell, the inhabitants of the Three Cities didn’t even know planes existed. Starlight Berry and other pilots of bombers were to attack the possible defense positions.

Starlight was content with this. It seemed to be just a straightforward operation to get a breakaway nation back into the fold. Still, she had to be carefull. She didn’t know what the inhabitants of Three Cities could do to defend their land.

“Alright, ponies. I know that some of you are afraid, but we all need to remain calm. Take a few deep breaths…”

“No! Sunny! You have no idea what we are dealing with!”

Sunny looked at Misty. Since she went back to her family for a week, she was acting strange. Of course, there was nothing wrong with being strange. Everypony was strange, after all.

“As I was saying,” Sunny continued addressing the crowd gathered on the promenade, “There are those planes in the sky and a few grumpy looking ponies are approaching our city. We know what we need to do.”

“Run! Before it catches you all!” Misty shouted.

“Misty. Please calm down. It’s rude to run away from guests, even if they are grumpy.”

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

“Of course I believe you. You are my friend. So, as I was saying. If these grumpy ponies really want to take our city, we need to stop them.”

“How do we do this, Sunny?” asked some random earth pony.

“That’s a good question. Hitch, show them.”

Hitch carried a bucket of glue.

“If they want to enter our city, we need to stop them. Therefore, my friends and I will glue ourselves to the road at the entrance of the town. The grumpy ponies will look at our act, and will get a change of heart. They will become our new friends!”

“Great idea, Sunny,” somepony said. The ponies of Maretime Bay all agreed with it.

“Wait, no! It’s not something you can just befriend!”

“We can befriend anything. No matter their tribe, gender, i…”

“IT WANTS US DEAD, DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND!” Misty shouted and launched herself at Sunny. Hitch and Zipp grabbed her.

“We don’t say that word, Misty,” said Sunny. She looked towards the shocked ponies. “I apologize. My friend is in a dark place right now. I shall help her anyway I can. But now, we need to show something to the grumpy ponies.”

Sunny and her friends moved to the edge of the town. They set up the transparents, and proceeded to glue themselves to the road.

“Are you really sure this is a good idea?” asked Zipp.

“Don’t be such a complainer, Zipp. It will work. We will teach them that being open and friendly is the best,” said Sunny.

The planes were circling above the city. Most of the ponies were either hiding in their houses, watching the spectacle in the sky or looking at the young ponies gluing themselves to the road.

Sunny was sure this would work. Sometimes, drastic measures were the only way to speak to someone about what you believed in.

Finally, she saw the ponies walking towards the city. They were all pegasi, in purple uniforms with a snowflake. They carried rifles.

Unimaginable, thought Sunny. Guns were something only from the worst of horror movies. To see a living pony carrying a gun was surreal. These ponies must be even worse than Posey at her worst.

Then, Sunny saw something even more shocking than ponies with guns.

Alicorn mare walked in front of the pegasus soldiers. Her mane was flowing with ethereal energy. She was wearing the same uniform as other soldiers.

Sunny normally would be elated at the prospect of seeing an alicorn. But this one… there was something… she didn’t know what, but it wasn’t nice. Not nice at all.

“Citizens of Three Cities,” shouted the Alicorn mare. “I give you one chance to surrender. Give up and join the Crystal Empire, so we can rebuild Equestria together!”

“And who are you to tell us what to do?” shouted Sunny.

“I am Princess Flurry Heart, Princess of Crystal Empire, Princess of Ponies and the rightful heir to Equestria. I am your leader by right. Follow me, and I will lead you to safety.”

“We have no princess. We are free ponies. We w…”

“Open fire.”

Shining Armor looked at the column of captured ponies.

The operation was a complete success. The resistance was minimal. There were zero casualties on the Crystal side, not even injuries. Despite this, Shining Armor didn’t feel like a victor.

The column of ponies, young and old, was being led out of Maretime Bay to a newly built prison camp. Flurry Heart ordered all of the inhabitants of Three Cities arrested for treason and placed in a secure place. During the rounding, there were actually some Crystal casualties. Some less disciplined soldiers picked up those glowing machines called smartphones that the ponies living here had. The soldiers ended up in hospital with various degrees of brain rot. Flurry Heart declared them traitors and ordered them to be thrown into the prison camp together with the corrupted ponies.

Shining looked at the DDS agents that started swarming the city looking for degenerate technology. He also looked for the engineers that were preparing to build a makeshift airfield to connect it with Crystal Empire. For now, the planes with special buoys landed on water. Shining understood why Cadance ordered them built two years ago. How did she know?

“Field Marshal, I think we found all of the ponies that hid here. What should we do with them?” asked one of the officers

“Build them accommodation and keep them under watch.”

“Who will build it?”

Shining thought about it. “Get them to work, then,” he ordered. He didn’t dare to disobey orders from his daughter.

Shining thought about the enemy casualties. Flurry met some resistance, and ordered an attack. The enemy was unarmed. Some security forces and police. Other than them, a bunch of youngsters that attempted to talk Flurry down from attacking. There were also incidental casualties.

Shining couldn’t lie to himself. It was not a battle. It was a slaughter of innocent ponies.

He saw Flurry Heart walking towards him. She was carrying three strange-looking crystals, and grinning. Shining hasn’t seen her so happy since before she became Cadance’s advisor. Did she enjoy this situation?

On the other hoof, didn’t he make it possible by going on with it?

“Father, I need to congratulate you on another victory. Your battle plan was executed flawlessly. Three Cities capitulated without much resistance.”

“Many innocent ponies died defending them.”

“They were corrupted beyond help anyway. We did them a favor by putting them out of misery.”

“Putting them out of misery?” Shining asked. He wanted to be outraged, to speak up to this thing wearing his daughter’s skin… yet he couldn’t. Something tried to convince him that he did the right thing. The same thing that gave him the battle plan, and that gave him many other ideas. The same thing that kept him loyal to his wife and his daughter despite their descent into madness. “You are right, Flurry. They didn’t seem right in their mind.”

“Indeed, father. The mistake has been erased. Now, we need to work towards the next step of our plan. Let’s go back to Crystal City.”

“Let’s go, then,” Shining said. The doubt was still there, but less so. He believed Flurry did the right thing.

Eight

Dreadlands - Intruders - Going Deep - Underground State

When Frey heard about Dreadlands, he expected some monster-filled fields of ash and bones that would make Morrowind look like a summer resort.

What he saw instead, was a forest. Quite colorful and calm. There were many birds above it. Overall, a quiet serene place.

However, if there was one thing that his crazy rollercoaster of a relationship with Trinica taught him, is that looks are deceptive.

“The Dreadlands. Ponies call them Old Country. In the ancient texts, they called it Equestria. You know that according to pony mythology, Equestria used to be ruled by two deities that were capable of raising the sun and moon?” said Ugrik, as excited about obscure history as always.

“And according to Awakeners, the world is a dream. The same bullshit no matter who says it,” Frey answered.

“Perhaps you are right. Still, this place has some magic in it. Evil magic.”

“Let’s ask our magic expert then, shall we?”

Stellar was watching the approaching land with a look that Frey remembered from his younger days, when a novice crewman flew outside of his boring Cyrodiili town towards more outlandish places in Tamriel. “Do you enjoy the trip?” he asked.

“Yes. Old Country is so… beautiful.”

“Then, why did the ponies leave it?”

“There are a few theories. Most probable is a magical calamity that got High Magic corrupt and go haywire, forcing ponies to go find a new home.”

“Magic going haywire resulting in access to it being blocked? Sounds a bit like our Landfall, don’t you think?” asked Ugrik.

“Probably,” replied Frey. He looked at the unicorn again. “Do you know anything about possible dangers?”

“There is only scant documentation from the crews that returned. According to the most comprehensive account written by Sapphire Belle, there are undead monsters ready to attack you, hidden traps left behind from ancient wars and pockets of wild magic causing strange effects. The land itself is hostile and poisoned by necromantic magic.”

“So we will run into zombies?”

“Most probably, yes”

“Great. I mean, I have some experience dealing with vampires, so I can deal with a few undeads.”

The Ketty Jay passed over the forest.

“This is strange,” said Ugrik. “According to the map provided by Sunrise, there should be a town named Vanhoover here, or at least its ruins. Yet there is no trace of it.”

“Strange indeed,” said Stellar.

Frey looked over the forest. It didn’t look dangerous. Besides, Sunrise told them that there are tons of artifacts in Dreadlands. “Crew, how about we make a short stop here?”

“It would be great,” said Stellar.

Ketty Jay and her outflies landed in a clearing. Frey walked out of the airship and took a look around. The forest looked unremarkable, but there was something in the air. His intuition sensed danger.

“Finally a break,” said Ashua as she walked out of her Skylance. She took a look around. “Honestly, I expected more monsters in Dreadlands.”

“Looks can be deceitful,” replied Trinica. Frey had to agree with her.

“So, what do we do now, cap’n?” asked Malvery.

“Just… look for anything of value. According to a map, there should be a city here. It would be strange if there was nothing left of it,” he said.

The group spread over the forest, glad to finally get some fresh air. Frey decided to walk with Trinica. This idyllic forest and the signing birds reminded him of simpler times, when he was a young courier in love with his boss’s daughter.

“So, what do you think about these unicorns, Darian?” asked Trinica.

“They seem a bit too nice. They probably hide something.”

“You think…” Trinica started to say, but suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

“Somebody is following us.”

“You think so?” Frey asked. The pair took out their revolvers and started looking towards the forest.

Indeed, something was walking around in the forest. It looked at them, then moved away.

“Hey!” shouted Frey and went into a chase. The person in the forest stopped.

Frey and Trinica reached the stranger, but it wasn't who they thought it was. It was a vaguely humanoid creature, but angular. Frey saw in the sun’s reflection of its square head that it was made out of metal. It seemed to be created in a human's image, with clothes, skin, face and hair painted over its smooth surface. This strange creature just stood in place, looking at Frey and Trinica.

“What’s that, Darien?”

“For me, it looks like a Dwemer construct.”

“Dwemer? What does a Dwemer automaton do in Dreadlands?”

“No idea. Don’t make any sudden moves. The automatons only attack when provoked.”

“Talos?” the automaton suddenly said, and turned straight towards Frey. The captain almost jumped.

“What Talos?” Frey asked in confusion.

Then, the automaton picked up a pickaxe from… somewhere and started hitting the ground. Suddenly, a square hole appeared, and the automaton buried itself in the ground.

“Okay… that was weird,” said Frey.

“Indeed. Better go back to the rest,” replied Trinica.

Some time later, all of the crew was standing by the square hole in the ground. Stellar was watching it carefully.

“The tales from the Old Country told about strange machines that were able to come alive, but nothing about them being angular,” she said.

“So, was it a Dwemer automaton or an Ancient Pony automaton? Because I’m confused,” said Malvery.

“Only way to find out. Let’s get underground!” suggested Ashua.

“This sounds like a very bad idea,” noted Silo.

Frey walked towards the hole. It was a perfect square. The walls were perfectly smooth. The hole was so deep there wasn’t a bottom seen. Frey picked up a stone and threw it inside. It was a long time before a sound of stone hitting metal was heard back.

“I think we're on top of an underground city. Ashua is right, we need to go deeper.”

“And how exactly are we supposed to do so? Because I for sure am not going to be the first to walk down there,” said Silo.

Frey considered his options. Considering how his previous visit to a Dwemer city went, being careful was the sensible option. On the other hand, who knew what kind of treasures could be hidden down there.

“I will go. Who wants to stay behind can stay. Silo, how much rope do we have on Ketty Jay?

“A lot.”

“Great. Let’s bring the rope here and try to get down there. Who volunteers to be the first to go?”

“The captain should lead by example,” said Trinica. The rest of the crew agreed with her.

“Very well.”

After a short while of making sure everything is safe-ish, Frey stood by the hole. He looked down. Bottomless depths were one of the very few things he was afraid of, among them Awakener Daedric Enforcers, jackals and angry Trinica. Yet, the promise of treasure and his pirate instincts were telling him that going down this hole was actually a very good idea, so down he went.

He moved down, looking at the smooth sides of the corridor. He wondered what kind of technology was capable of creating it.

Eventually, he arrived at the bottom. He stood on a metal hatch. The stone he threw before was down here as well.

“I hope there is a way to opeeaaAA!!!” he screamed as the hatch opened and he found himself falling down. He barely had the time to think of all the things he wanted to say to Trinica before he plunged into the water. He quickly managed to gather his wits and get out of it.

“You ok?” somebody asked. Frey looked up. The familiar automaton was standing by him.

“Um, yes?” Frey replied.

“Follow me. We should go to the devs,” the automaton said.

“Okay,” Frey said, not exactly trusting this machine.

“Let’s go,” said the automaton. Frey walked behind him.

Frey looked at the corridors. They were made out of polished, smooth stone. Overall, they made quite a strange impression, as if they were from a different world.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he said aloud. He just hoped the automatons won’t suddenly turn hostile.

The automaton led them through the maze of corridors. Eventually, they entered a room.

Frey saw four ponies inside. They were watching a tree. Next to the tree was an angular automaton with an axe. It swung the axe at the tree. Suddenly, a part of the tree disappeared, while the rest illogically floated in the air. Then, the automaton took out a piece of wood, and placed it in the empty spot. The piece grew to become a cube and filled the space. The four ponies started noting something down.

“Okay, that is just ridiculous,” said Frey.

Then, the tallest of the ponies turned. She had a purple coat and blue-pink mane. She wore white clothes that slightly resembled those worn by professors at Ruby City’s university that Frey met when he visited Trinica there. Strangely, the pony had both horn and wings.

“You’re here? Thank Harmony, I thought you got lost,” the tall pony said.

“You were expecting me?”

“Indeed. It is the thousand fourth year since the disappearance of the Crystal Empire. It was logical that once the Empire returns, Celestia will send someone to investigate. It was also logical that anyone traveling to the Crystal Empire from the west would visit Vanhoover in two to three weeks after the Empire returned. Therefore, I’ve been expecting you.”

“Oh, right. I am Captain Darian Frey of the Ketty Jay.”

“It is very nice to meet you. I am Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Equestria and Director of Obsidian Council. I would like for you to help me."

Nine

Alicorn Dreams - Alicorn Future - Alicorn Mistake - Alicorn Closure

Luna flew through the dreamworld. Spheres flung past her. She saw lots of nightmares. All of them had one source.

Finally, she reached her destination. Large ball of golden aura. Despite the millenia since she saw it last, she recognized it instantly. It was her grandniece’s dream. Luna felt the sheer power of the nightmare inside it. She drew a breath, prepared her magic, and phased inside.

She arrived in a desolate wasteland. Grass was black and dead. Leafless trees dotted the landscape. The smell of decay, rot and unwashed bodies was almost overwhelming. Luna looked around for Flurry. She found her easily. Yet, it was not her she was looking at, for they were not alone in this dream.

Luna stared at the… thing that floated over the dead land. It was so gruesome, grotesque and just plain wrong, it took all of her magic to keep herself sane. She was sure that if she were a mortal, the mere sight of this being would result in her eyes melting down in bloody tears, her insidies rushing out of her body to escape the horror, and her psyche shattered in million pieces, capable only to feel unimaginable agony for the few seconds that would seem to be stretched to infinity.

Yet the appearance wasn’t the worst thing about this creature. It radiated psionic energy, filling the dreamland with its thoughts. Luna hoped her body back in the waking world didn’t expel her stomach after hearing them. These thoughts were of Flurry, and of every other creature in the world. They redefined the word improper. Luna came face to face with a being that had a single goal. It was hungry. It wanted.

It wanted the thing that made a stallion content with his family starving to death as long as he had a bottle of alcohol in his hoof. It wanted the thing that made a mare smother her foal because it was preventing her from parting. It wanted the thing that made a filly with a beautiful voice choosing to whore herself out to every stallion in the village. It wanted the thing that made a bright colt toss his books into the fireplace in order to listen to short, fictional stories instead.

In its crazed rush to fill its hunger, it set its sights on the mortal world. It wouldn’t stop, it wouldn’t listen to reason, it wasn’t even capable of that. Only the hunger mattered, and mortals were to fulfill it.

Luna managed to get herself in enough order to be able to tear off her gaze from the sheer force of degeneracy given physical form. She looked at Flurry. Her grandniece was running just below the disgusting form of the creature. Flurry was blasting off tentacles that attempted to catch her. Around her, there were countless cardboards with poorly reflected shapes that vaguely resemble real people. She saw herself, her sister, Twilight and many others. The cardboards were moving, doing things, the more degenerate the closer to the creature they were. The cardboard wannabe Luna moved closer. “Flurry!” Luna shouted.

Flurry looked at her grandaunt. Her eyes went wide. There was a look of mare who saw far too much, and was barely managing to not have her psyche shattered. Her mane was unkempt, her coat mated with sweat. “Auntie?”

“What happened?” Luna shouted, attempting to drown out the disgusting and degenerate sounds the creature was making.

“Make it stop. Please. Make it stop!” Flurry shouted, her voice breaking.

Luna attempted to run towards her grandniece. Then, tentacles surrounded her and the creature’s focus was on her. It looked at her, as if weighing if Luna might have been a better special interest.

It was too much even for the Princess of Dreams with millennia of experience in facing nightmares. She screamed in terror, escaping the dreamworld.

In the waking world, Luna promply emptied her stomach and broke down in tears, mourning her grandniece, who was on the spearhead of torture that this being was preparing for them all.

“I am so happy that you visited me. I guess Celestia asked you to steal Unity Crystals and the Crystal Heart from my niece, right?”

“I did… wait. Celestia? Your niece? How do you know it?”

“I guess Celestia changed her name. Makes sense, Alicorns stuck out. And yes, Crystal Empire is currently ruled by my niece, Flurry Heart. As for how I know about it, why would an ambitious pirate visit the ruins of Equestria if not to steal artifacts?”

“So, you and Sunrise, or Celestia, worked together to get me to steal them?”

“Yes. See, I plan for a great future…”

“Princess, may I say something?” asked one of the pony scientists.

“Oh, right. Sorry, I’ve got excited and forgot about introducing you. Darien Frey, these three ponies are the best scientists of Underequestria. This is Notched Pickaxe, our chief geologist, head of our mining operations,” she pointed at the grumpy-looking earth pony. “This is Jebediah Red, our chief arcanoengineer, head of the Blockwork Development Program,” she pointed at the red unicorn with a long beard. “This is Dinner Bone, our chief bioengineer, head of our underground colonization program,” she pointed at the white pegasus.

“Nice to meet you all.”

“Princess, why is this foreigner speaking to us right now? What happened to going to the surface will kill us all?”

“Professor Pickaxe, I understand that bringing mister Frey here is a severe breach of our safety protocols, but if all goes smoothly, we won’t need to be in hiding anymore.”

“You should have asked the council for advice. I could think of at least twenty different reasons why this is a terrible idea.”

“Professor, do I need to remind you that one, I am the Director of the Obsidian Council, and my decisions are final and two, that I told you all my plans and that they will be completed soon?”

“With all due respect, we are nowhere near ready to proceed. Red, tell her about it.”

“We have barely finished the Survival Test. Not even started the Infinite Development yet. Proceeding with getting Blockwork to work at 100 percent capability would most certainly result in severe errors that could potentially be fatal.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Could you just explain to me in simple, uneducated terms why I am so important to you?”

“Right, mister Frey,” said Twilight. “So, as you can see, we are working hard on getting automatons working. You know what an automaton is, right?”

“Yes, meet some in a Dwemer city. They are your servants, right?”

“No, not exactly. See, thanks to many years of research and the combination of pony high magic, psionics, robotics, bioengineering, necromancy…”

“I lost it at pony.”

“We developed a psionic network that we called the Blockwork. We can use the Blockwork to host a creature’s soul independently of a physical body. Blockwork has a great amount of uses, for example you can teleport, communicate over extreme distances, or command an automaton as if it was your own body.”

“So, you mean you put souls into machines? I heard of this and know it is a terrible idea,” Frey said, remembering the sad story of Crake.

“You heard about this? It seems civilization developed faster than I expected. We don’t exactly put souls into machines, just make it possible for souls to control them. Due to Blockwork’s non-physical form, souls bound to it are not in danger of slipping off this plane of existence. In other words, connecting to Blockwork makes you immortal.”

“So, you want to make yourself immortal through some magical net?”

“As an Alicorn Princess, I am immortal already. But yes, I want to give the gift of immortality to my ponies. But this is not all. This is only one half of my plan. The other half is even more exciting, and as an explorer, you would want to hear it.”

“I’m listening.”

“As you know, the Panthalassic Ocean is infinite, and there are an uncountable number of islands and continents. Actually, the ocean is not really infinite due to the quantum integer limit and the Irregularity of Neight…”

“Uncountable number of islands…”

“The point is, the universe is infinite only in two spatial dimensions, as water and air pressure create a height limit. But what would happen if the universe was infinite in seven spatial dimensions?”

“I’m not good at math but that’s not how dimensions work.”

"There are twenty one spacetime dimensions. Forty two if you count the negative ones. But working on seven is enough for me. See, I found a way to change the settings in order to turn the infinite ocean into a seven-dimensional bubble. Imagine, instead of islands separated by vast, empty ocean, there could be entire worlds separated by high-dimensional membranes.”

“Okay…”

“Imagine if your home continent was actually a three-dimensional ball, a planet if you want.”

“Yes. Won’t the people fall off it?”

“Imagine then that there are thousands of those balls, each with its own magic, its own rules, etc. Imagine then, that you could travel between them. The possibilities would be infinite.”

“So instead of islands on the ocean, there would be those planets on some kind of… membrane? And there will be magic?”

“Lots and lots and lots of magic. It would be interesting to see what magic that wasn’t dulled by the absorbing power of the Panthalassic Ocean would be capable of doing.”

“Would I grow wings?”

“Yes, if you played your cards right.”

“Yes, this sounds fun. What would you get out of this?”

“This is the best part, due to the far larger amount of probabilities thanks to the change of setting, it might be possible for me to find another Equus!”

“Equus?”

“Dreadlands, before they became Dreadlands. I cannot go back in time, it is impossible. But if I go forward and use an all-encompassing psionic network for search, I will find another Equus! Pony civilization could begin again!”

“To do this, you need Crystal Heart and the Unity Crystals?”

“Making changes on such a fundamental level would require an immense amount of magic. There are only three artifacts that are strong enough. Crystal Heart is basically a magic generator, it provides magical energy to the world. Unity Crystals are actually my creation, after I broke down and reassembled Elements of Harmony. They allow you to control an enormous quantity of magic, I talk about deity-levels. The third artifact I need is something you already have, the Blade of Ages.”

“Jackal Sword?”

“Blade of Ages is basically a key that could allow you to fine-tune the universe itself to your will. If a creature strong enough to use Blade of Ages would channel the magic generated by Crystal Heart through the use of Unity Crystals, the resulting spells would be powerful enough to reshape the universe.”

“Well, it sounds good. How should I go about it then?”

The next night in Sun Tower, Abbess Sunrise was able to sleep well.

She dreamed about a young lavender unicorn filly smiling at her. She was lying on a carpet, surrounded by books. She picked up one of them.

“Magical Theory for Beginners”, she read the title.

“Yes, Princess. Let’s read it together!” the eager filly shouted.

Sunrise was disrupted by knocking at the door. She frowned, what could be so important as to disrupt the lesson with her Faithful Student?

Newtherless, she stood up and went to the door. She opened it. Midnight blue alicorn stood there. Her expression was serious.

“Sister, we have to talk. Your plan has an enormous flaw and needs to be canceled as soon as possible.”

“Canceling my plan? You mean canceling the only chance I could somehow repent from letting Equus fall into ruin?!” Celestia shouted.

“I visited Flurry’s dream. She’s not corrupted by a Nightmare as you thought. It’s far worse.”

“What do you mean worse?”

“She’s not insane at all. She knows exactly what she wants to do. She wants to stop a gruesome monster from invading the mortal world.”

“What monster?”

“It is… It is something beyond the worst nightmares. As if all of the sins and degeneracy that mortal creatures are capable of jumbled together into one abhorrent form. And it wants to devour us!”

“That sounds insane.”

“Celestia, I know you want to bring Equestria back, but think about it. Flurry is attempting to starve this creature to death. She is still in control, but what if we open the higher dimensions? I tell you what, Flurry will lose control, and the monster will get out. Our souls will end up as a part of a macabre feast.”

Celestia looked at her sister. They loved each other very much, and always wanted to help. Yet, sometimes, they just couldn’t get into an agreement.

“I tell you what the real truth is. You just went and came muzzle to muzzle with the Nightmare that came to you at your darkest hour. It attempted to mess with your brain as it did with Cadance, Flurry and basically everypony in Crystal Empire at this point. Now it is you who tries to get it out, because deep down, you know this creature very well!”

Something inside Celestia’s heart hurt when she saw Luna’s shocked and angered expression. Yet, Celestia will not back down. Too much was at stake.

“You accuse me of treason? I want to be back in Equestria as much as you do, but I know as well as you do that there is no such thing as turning back time! Look at the world now, Ponies survived. They founded several new states. Many of them still remember and venerate us. They cherish the time when we led their ancestors, but they make their own path now. Let them continue.”

“Ponies survived, but they lost Harmony, the very thing that makes a Pony a Pony. Who are they now? Yet another species of creatures, nothing special. We always wanted for Ponies to be more. To be a shining example of Harmony and Friendship for all the universe to see.”

“That was always an utopia, and you know it. If you actually want to bring it, you will fail catastrophically, and the world will end up a monster's feeding ground.”

Celestia always was a level-headed pony, but hearing Luna openly mock Harmony in front of her was too much. “GET OUT OF MY DREAM!” she shouted in an outrage. Luna flashed a teleportation spell and disappeared.

Celestia went back to the reading room. Little Twilight was looking at her, worried.

“Princess, what happened?”

Celestia hugged Twilight to her chest. “Nothing, dear. I believe in you. You are the smartest of us all. You will fix this. You will.”

Flurry watched the Crystal City from her balcony.

Despite the late night, there was activity. The lights were on. A few cars were driving the streets. There was still activity.

Five million ponies. Crystal City was indeed a world metropolis. Her mother’s industrialization effort and her own effort to stockpile everything the city would need to survive turned Crystal City into a powerhouse.

She had a port now. She could order to build a navy, and then send it to search for survivors in the Panthalassic Ocean. She could recolonize Equus step by step, claiming the empty lands for the Crystal Empire. She could…

She stopped. It was tempting her again. No, she won’t give up.

Blade of Ages. This was her goal. She will find, then it will all be over. She will make it stop, forever.

Let the creatures live their own life. Not be puppets to a monstrosity’s whims, like her mother was. Like she was.

Flurry took another look over the city. She loved it, she loved its ponies. What could she do to them? Give them a chance to live in safety, that was the least she could do. Don't throw them away, don't use them as toys. They were living creatures.

Maybe if she repeated this enough times, she would finally start believing it.

Focus, Flurry, she thought to herself. Just wait until Blade of Ages gets to Crystal City. She will cut the monster away. It will never play again. It will never make ponies into its toys. It will leave them.

Forever.

Ten

Warning Dream - Ponification - Crystal City - Invitation

Frey was glad to see Ketty Jay again. As fun as it was to spend time being lectured about advanced magic by an immortal alicorn, he was glad to go back to his simple aircraft.

“Frey? You’re back? We started worrying about you,” said Trinica.

“I am fine. Had an educational discussion with Twilight Sparkle.”

“You meet Twilight Sparkle?” Stellar asked, wide-eyed.

“Yes. She told us that we need to bring her the Crystal Heart and the Unity Crystals for some kind of mega-spell that could change dimensions or something. The point is, we will get rich!”

“That’s great!” said Trinica.

“I have to meet Twilight!” said Stellar.

“First, we need to get to Crystal City,” he said, and yawned. “Let’s do it tomorrow. Listening to magic theory made me tired.”

Frey headed to his room. He quickly changed his clothes, and fell on the bunk. Sleep came very quickly.

Usually, Frey dreamed of riches, of girls, of Trinica or of flying. Today, however, he found himself in a small town.

The town didn’t resemble the towns in Cyrodiil. Buildings were mostly made of wood. They were painted in pastel colors, and were richly decorated. The strangest thing about this town were its inhabitants.

Dozens of small, colorful horses walked the streets. They were smiling, talking and generally enjoying life.

“Idyllic, isn’t it. To think only a few years later, many of these ponies had to pick up guns and defend their country.”

Frey looked at the person talking to him. It was a midnight blue Alicorn. “Dream Horse?”

“Call me Luna.”

“What is this place?”

“This is the town of Ponyville. Nice and calm place on the outskirts of Canterlot. Granted, after Twilight came here, it became a magnet for magical disasters, but she and her friends were always able to defeat them,” Luna said. She became somber, “It’s sad how it ended, but the past cannot be changed.”

“Okay. Why did you come to my dream, then?”

“Let’s go eat something first, shall we?”

Frey entered one of the buildings, a restaurant of sorts. A happy-looking pink mare brought him a cupcake. Luna took one for herself as well.

“Look, Frey. As I know, you already met Twilight Sparkle.”

“Yes. She really likes talking about magic.”

“She learned well. The point is, she is incorrect in her plan.”

“She is?”

“Yes. She wants to steal the Crystal Heart. She hopes it will stop Flurry. The problem is, Flurry is actually trying to save us.”

“From what?”

“Terrific monster that could devour the world.”

“You’re serious?”

“Yes. Twilight and Celestia have no idea what we are dealing with. Therefore, I need to ask you something.”

“Yes?”

“Do not steal the Crystal Heart. In fact, you should help Flurry in her plan. She might have a rough exterior, but there is still light inside of her.”

“Twilight said something about dimensions.”

“If she did this, the universe is doomed. Listen to me, we need to help Flurry stop it.”

“How can I know that you are telling the truth? Your words against Sunrise and Twilight.”

“You need to trust me.”

Frey thought about it. Trust? In his career, it was an unknown word. Only recently he allowed himself to trust again. But this?

He agreed for this strange mission because he wanted to explore the world beyond Tamriel and to earn a fortune doing so. These ponies however, were a strange lot. Maybe they had a soft exterior and looked innocent, but inside, they were as deceitful and full of secrets as humans are. Maybe even more.

“This is a very nice cupcake,” Frey said. He will need to think about his options very carefully.

“Now, you shall see the power of Pony magic!” Stellar Reflection announced with excitement.

Frey had seen his fair share of magic in his life, but Pony High Magic was new for him. He found himself quite interested.

The unicorn prepared the scroll given to them by Abbess Sunrise. “This scroll was enchanted by ancient unicorns. It would allow any creature to turn into a pony for a duration of a week.”

“So we will become unicorns?” asked Trinica.

“Ponies. Unicorns are one of three tribes of ponies. Well, according to some, there are seven tribes, but nevermind.”

“Is that going to be safe?” asked Malvery.

“Yes. The Abbess said so.”

“Well, do you think, I guess,” said Frey.

Stellar Reflection unfolded the scroll. Her horn started glowing in a bright blue light. The scroll seemed to react to it, and the light changed color to golden. Then, Stellar shot a magic beam towards the gathered humans.

Frey was enveloped in bright light. He felt quite weird. The magic was tickling him a bit.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash. “It worked!” shouted Stellar. “I casted High Magic!”

Frey looked at his arms, or hooves now. It seemed he had a gray coat. There was a strange feeling at his sides. He turned, and saw wings.

“Whoa, I have wings!”

“Me too!” said Trinica. Frey looked, and indeed, she was now a black-coated pegasus. She flapped her wings, and lifted off the ground effortlessly. Frey tried to do this as well. He moved his wings. Some kind of energy, or magic, started flowing, and he managed to lift himself as well.

“This is amazing!”

“That’s nice and all, but also it is mighty strange. Besides, how are you supposed to work with hooves? How did ponies even build anything?” said Silo, now a brown-coated and green maned earth pony.

Frey saw some golden light. White unicorn with a blue mane was lifting a stick with telekinesis.

“Look, Asura. I can do magic now!” said Malvery.

“Looks fun. Do I also get a special power?” said Asura, now a red-coated and green maned earth pony. She walked towards a tree and bucked it with all her strength. The bark started falling off and the tree shook. She smiled. “Malvery, how about some friendly brawl?”

“No, thanks.”

“I might try to fight you,” Ugrik, now a blue unicorn, said. He grabbed the Blade of Ages in telekinesis.

“Sorry, you’re not cool enough.”

“Damn it.”

Frey landed next to Stellar. “Well, I feel fine. Time to go to Crystal City, or is there something more.”

“It’s good that the spell worked. Yes, we should go to Crystal City, but you need to learn how to act like a pony as well.”

“Good idea. How do we start?”

Frey sat down by the cockpit. The Ketty Jay was designed with the assumption that her crew would have fingers, but after some trial and error, Frey managed to use his hooves to work on her as well.

“Everyone, or I guess everypony, ready?” he asked. The rest of the crew agreed.

“Well, let’s steal some crystals. Next stop, Crystal City.”

Ketty Jay and her fighters lifted off the ground and headed northeast.

Frey wondered how a Pony city would look. Would it be a whimsical mess of colors and glitter? It would fit these creatures.

After a relatively short time, Crystal City became visible. Frey looked at it and was in awe.

First, the city was huge. Even bigger than the Ruby City, the largest city in Tamriel. The buildings weren’t made out of crystals as the name would suggest, but rather out of concrete and metal. There were many industrial chimneys there. Frey saw some glittering crystals as well, in the distance. It seemed that the city center was crystal-made. There was a very tall, crystal tower in the distance. Frey’s treasure-hunting intuition told him that the Crystal Heart must be there.

“Okay crew. Remember the plan. We will hide Ketty Jay somewhere here, then we walk into the city, act natural, get the crystals and quickly leave. It’s that simple,” he said. He knew that this plan would probably backfire spectacularly, but he wished it wouldn't.

Frey and the crew walked through the streets of Crystal City’s industrial district. He saw many ponies moving a large amount of crates away. They were preparing for something big. Hopefully nothing dangerous.

He saw a road sign labeled train station. He moved there.

The station was a small one. There were a few ponies waiting in there.

“Excuse me. When will the next train for the city center leave?” Frey asked a random mare.

“Just in a few minutes.”

“Good. Nice weather we have today.”

“Indeed,” the mare replied.

“I saw that there were some transports being prepared. Is that a government order?”

“Princess ordered to stockpile everything before she banished the city. I mean, she probably had a reason for doing so, but still. She might have at least given us a warning.”

“Shame that other cities weren’t taken with us.”

“Indeed,” the mare said. Frey found this mare… kind of cute? He decided to blame it on the spell that turned him into a pony, so as to not get into an ethical dilemma about finding them cute.

The train arrived, and they moved inside. Frey took a seat by the window, and looked at the city.

Frey noticed that the cute mare was looking at him. It was good that the spell hasn’t made him less handsome. The mare got out of her seat, and walked towards him.

“Would you like to visit the Royal Palace?” she asked.

“Well, I would like to, but I guess the Princess is very busy.”

“I am sure she will find a time for you,” she said, and took some kind of legitimation. “Silver Stone, DDS. You are coming with me.”

Eleven

Through The Crystal City - Princess of Ponies - Cutting Down - Misguided Attack

“Don’t you need to worry. We actually wanted to go to the palace,” said Frey.

“Fine. Just, don’t try and do something stupid,” replied the agent.

“May I ask why we were invited?”

“Princess expected a foreginer arriving at the Crystal City.”

“Do I look like a foreginer?”

“Yes.”

“Frey, can I ask you something?” said Silo. Frey decided to follow him.

“Should I…” Silo said, hitting his hoof on the floor.

“No, Silo. Let’s see what the pony princess wants from us. Maybe she will give us a better offer?”

“It looks like a trap.”

“If it was, we would already be shooting our way out of it.”

Frey wasn’t exactly sure if he was making the right decision. Luna’s warning was kind of cryptic. Still, he thought it would be better to listen to both sides.

He took a seat by the window, and looked at the city. Industrial district was replaced by residential district with many flats, most of them looking under construction. Then it was replaced by a district of small, wooden houses that wouldn’t be out of place in a suburban village in Tamriel. Then, he entered a district made out of crystals.

“You have quite a pretty city,” Frey asked the agent.

“Yes, Crystal City is the World’s Metropolis. The greatest city in the world.”

“How many ponies live here?”

“Just over five million, not counting those who live at military bases.”

“Five million?!”

“Yes. As I said, a metropolis.”

“Incredible. I would like to get a closer look at the city. Say, would you get us on a tour?”

“Well, probably not,” the agent replied. Frey was sure she would have taken the bait, but as he felt Trinica’s cold gaze upon him, he dropped the topic.

Frey and the crew walked through the main square of the city.

The great spire of the Crystal Palace was before them. It was made out of highly polished crystals, and seemed to glow.

Below, just by the palace gate, Frey saw the thing he went here for. Giant, floating heart made out of crystal was slowly rotating inside a glass cube.

“This is the Crystal Heart. Source of all Love and Magic in the Crystal Empire. She protects us from our enemies, and gives us her blessing. As Crystal Ponies, it is our duty to protect her,” the agent said, as if seeing what Frey was thinking about.

“So, this heart is alive? And gives you blessings?”

“Indeed, she’s alive. Ancient beyond measure. She hid in the mountains, waiting for worthy guardians, many centuries before Great Frost.”

Frey wasn’t exactly interested in pony superstitions. He was more interested in how much money this entire quest would get him.

Group of guards joined them, and together they entered the palace.

Frey looked at the many paintings and decorations. The palace seemed even grander than the Archduke’s Palace back in Ruby City.

After a short walk, the group reached a great and highly decorated door.

“The Princess is waiting for you. Behave yourself,” said the door guard.

The doors opened, and Frey walked towards the throne room.

On the throne of crystals sat a young Alicorn mare. She wore a simple officer uniform. By her side, there was an older unicorn stallion and a… dragon? Yes, Frey was sure, it was a small dragon, just like the one in Nord legends.

The Princess of Crystal Empire looked carefully at the group. There was something strange in her, but Frey couldn’t exactly place it. She flashed her horn, and magic washed over Frey. Suddenly, there was a flash and he was back in his human form.

“Tell me, human. Who are you, how did you find the Crystal Empire, and what brings you here?”

“Your highness. My name is Darien Frey, I am captain of Ketty Jay. I found the Crystal Empire following the direction given to me by Twilight Sparkle. I am just a simple explorer who wanted to visit the infamous Dreadlands,” Frey said, deciding to go with honesty and compliments. He also noticed there was a visible reaction from the unicorn and the dragon on the mention of Twilight.

“Aunt Twilight is here? Interesting. Say, Captain Frey, are you interested in work?”

“Depending on the payment, of course.”

“Obviously, you will be rewarded. I need information about the outside world. The Crystal Empire was isolated for many centuries. You are possibly the first human who ever visited it. What is the name of the country you are from?”

“Nine Duchies of Cyrodiil.”

“Cyrodiil? Haven’t heard of this place. Sunburst would be glad to write down everything about it. But this would be for later. Now, let’s talk about my aunt. What did she want from me?”

Frey wasn’t sure how much he should tell, but the look of the Alicorn Princess got him to talk.

“She’s afraid that there might be a danger to you.”

“Some kind of monster out to get me?”

“Yes, you can say so.”

“Interesting. However, I am capable enough to deal with it without her help. I see you brought the Blade of Ages with you.”

Ugrik took the sword out. “Yes, Princess. This sword was dug out of Dwemer ruins. It has incredible power.”

“You probably don’t have any idea just how much power it has,” Princess said. She stood up from her throne. “Come with me, Captain Frey. I need to show you something that would erase your doubts.”

Frey and his crew, together with Flurry and her advisors, walked towards the corridors.

The older unicorn walked towards Frey. “You’ve really seen Twilight?”

“Yes, I did. She seems like a very smart person, although with a tendency to use words ununderstandable for mere mortals.”

The unicorn smiles. “Yes, that’s just like Twilight. How is she?”

“She seems fine. She worries about her niece.”

“Me too. I hope we can fix this”

Flurry led them to a room. There was a map of Dreadlands.

“Thousand years ago, Equus, Griffonia and Zebrica were home to quite advanced civilizations. Yet nowadays, they are empty. You know why?” asked Flurry.

“No idea. I also wondered about this.”

“It’s because there is an intrinsic quality of the universe that would prevent a disruptive civilization from arising. The civilization of Equus collapsed, because it had to. Otherwise, it could have collapsed the world.”

“But, we are inside a giant city on Equus and it looks fine.”

“Because I sent it a thousand years into the future. I knew something would happen after my return. I expected Twilight or Celestia to send someone here. Granted, I didn’t expect a human.”

“What might I help you with?”

“There might be a way for me to stabilize the world. I located the main source of disruption, and made a plan to remove it. I have everything I need here. I just need to borrow the Blade of Ages.”

“What would you do with it?”

“I will cut out the disruption, therefore saving the world from collapsing into chaos.”

“How do you know the world is collapsing into chaos?”

“Say, was there a large-scale natural calamity in the recent history of your country?”

“There was the Landfall, hundred sixty years ago. Large parts of the continent sunk into the ocean and new mountain ranges formed.”

“Exactly. Was there something magical that happened around the time?”

“I mean, the last Emperor went insane and started claiming that the world is a dream. There was an entire cult that started with his babblings.”

“The world is a dream?,” Flurry said, and levitated one of the old books. She searched for a moment. “Was the emperor a blue-yellow elf?”

“No.”

“Wait,” Trinica interrupted, “I read that he claimed to meet a blue-yellow elf.”

“What happened to the cult?” Flurry asked.

“I destroyed it. Personally. Blew up the leadership when they attempted a coup.”

“Blew it up. Good, one less insane thing to worry about,” Flurry said and crossed something in a notebook. “As you see, your continent also almost met its end due to a highly disruptive event. I’m afraid that, given time and chance, these disruptive events will increase in number, and one day it won’t break a continent, but the world itself. However, I can stabilize it.”

“How would you do this?”

“As I say, I need Blade of Ages, Crystal Heart, the….”

Suddenly, a guard broke into the room. “Princess. The city is under attack!”

“WHAT!”

“We got a message by artificial dragonfire a few minutes ago…”

“Who dared to attack the Crystal Empire?” Flurry said, and teleported away. Frey saw the unicorn and the dragon run down the corridors.

“I ask you to leave the room,” said one of the guards.

Frey had an idea what might just happen.

Shining Armor was galloping through the corridors towards the council room. Crystal City was under attack! He had to do something.

He opened the door. His daughter and the rest of the council were there already. Battle plans were being put on the table.

Flurry Heart seemed to barely contain her anger. She was holding a scroll.

“Who attacked our city?” Shing asked.

Flurry just levitated the scroll towards his father. He grabbed it and read. He recognized the hornwriting.

“To the fair alicorn Flurry Heart. May you live in harmony and contentment. This is a formal declaration of WAR. Our armies shall meet on the field of battle!” he read it aloud.

“Aunt Twilight has gone insane,” Flurry said.

“Why though? It makes no sense. Why would Twilight even attack Crystal City?” asked Shining.

“Officially, to retake Baltimare for Equestria. No idea why she would need it. She attacked with a robot army,” said Flash Sentry.

“Robot army?”

“Yes,” Flurry said through her teeth. She attempted to calm herself down. “Father, I need to tell you that I won’t be merciful towards her only because she is my aunt. Treason is treason.”

“I understand,” said Shining.

“Now then. You all know what the plan is. We trained for this event. Let’s get to work,” Flurry said, and flashed her horn.

Shining found himself teleported to the western part of Crystal City. Soldiers were running forward. Gunfire was heard.

Seeing the field marshal materializing before them, some soldiers stood and saluted. Shining turned towards an officer. “What is the situation?”

“Robots are attempting to assault our positions. They surprised us, but we managed to beat down the initial attack. They are not well armed, and seem to lack artillery or air force. Yet these robots are tough and unbothered by casualties.”

“You think the defenses will hold?”

“There is no force that could break these fortifications. Not even an Alicorn Princess. Em, no offense, Field Marshal!”

Shining heard artillery firing. He knew the Crystal Army would hold on against any enemy. Still, why would Twilight even want to attack them? Maybe she really went insane?

Twelve

De Jure War - Joining The Fray - Flight to Vanhoover - Pirates VS Robots

Twilight Sparkle, Director and Princess of Equestria, had to make a lot of difficult choices during her rule. From helping the war effort against Changelings, to being crowned the sole princess when Celestia and Luna abdicated and left Equus, to organizing Project Exodus and Project Under. Today, there was another hard choice to make.

Her niece has fallen to the darkness, just like her sister-in-law did. She hasn’t done enough to stop them from doing so.

Yet, if Flurry didn’t unleash the terrific spells, ponykind might have only learned of Equus’s limited time when it was too late. Ironically, Flurry gave them the nudge to abandon a doomed land and find a new home. Twilight had no contact with the surface for almost a millennium, but the fact ponykind survived meant Project Exodus was a success. If they started it ten years later, when the signs became clear, they would have run out of time.

“Hey, Twi. Why are you so gloomy?” Rainbow Dash, who flew next to Twilight, asked.

“I need to order my robots to fight ponies.”

“Yeah, but don’t you remember how much fun it was to see Applejack roll over the commies on her tanks and capitulate Stalliongrad in nine days? I am sure your robots will take Crystal City no problem.”

“It’s not the point that I might lose. It’s that this whole situation could have been easily prevented.”

“Twi, don’t go into sad mode yet. I know you a…” Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped talking and froze mid-fight.

Twilight sighted. “Blox. Cancel. Load autosave. Commit,” she said.

Rainbow Dash fell on the floor, then went up on her hooves and blinked a few times. She looked at Twilight. “Hey, Twi. Why are you so gloomy?”

“It’s nothing, really. Maybe you should check on Fluttershy,” Twilight said. Her current project still had a few flaws, but as an Alicorn Princess, she had all the time in the world to get it working. Besides, if she played her cards right, she might find a way to bring a real Equestria back.

She reached the council room. The best scientists in Underequestria were sitting by the square obsidian table. All of them were in discussion, but once Twilight got into the room, they all went silent and stood up. Twilight waved at them to sit down.

“Welcome, Princess. Is the council meeting called due to the foreigners entering our shelter?” asked Notched Pickaxe.

“Indeed. I have two important announcements to make. First of all, the matter of succession.”

“Succession. You’re immortal, your majesty,” said one of the scientists.

“Indeed. Yet, because I’m about to conduct a very dangerous experiment, I need to make sure your work will keep going even without me. Therefore, I officially declare that if I became unable to continue leading Underequestria, professor Notched Pickaxe would succeed me as Director and Prince, with professors Jebediah Red and Dinner Bone as vice-directors. His successor in turn should be decided by a vote of the Obsidian Council.”

The rest of the scientists started to grumble and tried to convince Twilight it was a bad idea. However, she silenced them with a gesture.

“The second thing is, I decided to open the Vanhoover Shelter Zone to the outside world and move the robot army stationed there towards Crystal City. I will also declare war on the Crystal Empire.”

“That’s insanity!” one of the scientists shouted. The others agreed. “It would compromise our experiments.” “Equus would be destabilized and might get destroyed.” “You ordered us to never break into the surface.”

“I know, I know, I know. The point is, I can get my hooves on extremely powerful magical artifacts. Powerful enough to reshape the entire world. If I succeed, we won’t need to surround ourselves with anti-magic barriers that keep us separated from the outside world. The world will get magic back, and we might even find a new Equestria!”

“Princess, with all due respect, we…”

Twilight summoned a scroll. “Crystal Empire seized the city of Baltimore, which is a de jure part of Equestria. Therefore, I declare Equestrian-Crystal De Jure War over Baltimare to reconquer it.”

“Why in Tartarus do we need Baltimare? Isn’t it an empty forest by now?”

“Actually, my spies told me that there were in fact ponies in Baltimare. But it is irrelevant. The point isn’t to win this war, it is to provide a distraction for Flurry Heart so she will not attempt to foil our main plan.”

The scientists were still complaining, so Twilight silenced them again. “I know the plan is incredibly risky, but we need to do so. Besides, as long as I am the Princess, the Obsidian Council is only an advisory board. I decided on the plan and will begin it. I order you all to get on a train to Canterlot before I order the Vanhoover Zone to be quarantined. If I don’t reestablish contact with you in a week's time, assume Vanhoover is lost and I’m dead. Promise me one thing, that you will continue Project Block even without me.”

“We will, Princess,” said Notched Pickaxe.

Frey was escorted to the guest room after the news of the attack.

He guessed the motives. Twilight was trying to cause a distraction to help him steal the Crystal Heart.

Yet, thinking about it, should he be stealing the Heart? It is word against word. Sunrise and Twilight promised him everything short of godhood. Luna supported this, then just turned around. Then, Flurry. She was strange indeed, but seemed to want to help her ponies.

Darien Frey, a man who spent a large part of his life as an outlaw, had zero trust in government and rulers. Crystal City seemed to be a beautiful place, but given how militarized the society was, it was probably just a facade.

Still, he already caused enough trouble during his adventurers. He started a civil war, almost got a city devoured by vampires and accidentally assassinated the heir of the Archduke. Helping some daedric monster to get to the mortal world would probably top all of this.

“Frey, are we going to steal these crystals or not?” asked Malvery.

“I think this Sunrise mare is quite suspicious.”

“What do you mean, suspicious? The Abbess is wise and kind,” said Stellar.

“I once had a mission with an even bigger reward than what she offered me. I was to steal a box of jewelry. Things went south, fast.”

“Oh my, you learned how to plan for the future?” said Trinica, as if he was a kid who learned something basic.

“I’m serious. This situation is slightly suspicious. If the Crystal Princess was evil, I doubt she would talk to us.”

Suddenly, the doors opened. “Princess wants to meet you.”

Frey and the crew walked back towards one of the castle rooms. Frey entered, and saw Flurry Heart looking at a map.

“Here’s what I offer you. I will buy the Blade of Ages for, let’s say, triple its weight in gold. Then, you will be escorted back to your ship and will leave Equus.”

“I guess there’s a or there?”

“Indeed. You seem like a capable warrior. You will help me defeat my insane aunt. Obviously, you will be rewarded accordingly.”

Frey thought about it. “I’ve met Twilight, and she claimed that you are the crazy one. What proof do I have?”

“I have no reason to backstab you. I don’t even need you, I only need the Blade of Ages. Twilight, with all her power, won’t be able to continue her plan alone. She will use you to get what she wants, and will promise you anything you want. If you didn’t survive, she would just go look for other adventurers to do her bidding.”

Frey thought about it. If this was a game of Rake, Flurry would have the stronger hand. Granted, even a weak hand could win if you manage to add the Ace of Skulls.

Would ponies call this a hand? Do they even play card games? Frey thought for some reason.

“I will help you,” he blunted out suddenly. He was slightly confused, as if there were someone else’s words. This happens when I talk before thinking.

Flurry Heart managed to smile. “I knew you are a reasonable human, Captain Frey. I will ask my father to add your crew to the forces we gather to strike Vanhoover. Time to stop Twilight’s plan.”

Frey was sitting in an archaic-looking propeller transport plane.

He got a purple armband with a white snowflake. Other than that, he only had his own guns and ammo. Pony gun designs weren’t made for humans and were too clumsy to use. Ponies offered him some melee weapons, but his Enchanted Daedric Cutlass was more than enough.

Besides the crew, there were many ponies here. All of them were armed and armored. Despite the fact they were small and colorful, they still attempted to look tough and intimidating.

Yet, even though he didn’t understand a word from the chatter, he guessed they were afraid. Guess trying to fight an immortal sorceress was a bit beyond what they were training for.

One of the ponies told something to Stellar. The unicorn put on her translation medallion and spoke to Frey. “We are dropping in a minute.”

“What do they talk about?”

“They speak quite archaic version of my language, but for what I understand, some think it is a suicide mission.”

“Works for me,” said Frey. “And you. Have you jumped off a plane before?”

“No. They offered to get me down with a pegasus. Have you jumped before?”

“Obviously. Every kid in Cyrodiil trains parachute jumping. It’s basic safety.”

The ramp opened. Pony officer shouted some commands, and the soldiers started jumping.

Lucky for Frey, Pony parachutes were almost identical to those used in Cyrodiil.

He was floating down. He took a good look at the situation.

He was in the same place that he met Twilight before, but it was now hardly recognizable. Large part of the forest was cleared. There were multiple square holes in the ground. Frey noticed that there were straits going down.

Then, there were the robots. Thousands of vaguely humanoid machines, clad in armor that looked as if it was made of diamonds. Frey saw a volley of arrows, shot with inhuman speed towards the approaching pegasi.

The Crystal Army was gathering. Topaz Thunderer Division was almost an all-pegasi unit. The pegasi were setting up a formation, preparing to strike. Meanwhile, the Crystal Air Force was harassing the enemy ground units. Frey saw one plane falling, seemingly pelted with arrows.

Well, let’s have some fun, he thought.

Frey and his crew landed at the drop point. He checked his rewolvers and his cutlass.

“Well, Mr. Smart, what is your plan?” asked Trinica.

“I have an idea! That horse told us that we will get a reward for bringing her these crystals? How about we rob her blind instead?” said Asura.

“This is… actually a good idea,” replied Frey.

Suddenly, two diamond-clad robots went out of the woods. They looked at the humans in confusion.

They didn’t look for long, as the head of one of the robots exploded after being shot by a shotgun. The other robot started running towards Frey. The captain took out his cutlass and parried the attack. Robot was attempting another swing, but Frey managed to avoid it. Then, he managed to land a hit on the robot’s hand, severing it. Frey heard a strange robotic Ouch! The machine attempted to attack again, but Frey managed to score another hit, this time in the chest. The robot fell on the ground, making strange sounds and smoking.

“Let’s go then,” said Frey.

“Wait, are you really sure this is a good idea?” asked Stellar.

“Obviously. Why build an underground vault if not to keep something valuable in it?”

The rest of the crew agreed with Frey. The group walked towards one of the entrances.

The battle between ponies and robots was in full swing, with gunfire blasing, screams and robotic Ouch!’s all around them.

Frey ran into a group of a few robots fighting a group of pegasi. With a swift swing of his sword, he decapitated one of the robots. The others were met with gunfire. They were turned into scrap metal fairly quickly.

Frey was starting to get confident, until suddenly an arrow flew right past him. He ducked, barely avoiding being pierced. He hid behind a tree.

He saw his crewmates and the pegasi soldiers attempting to score hits with their guns. He took his revolver and attempted to shoot as well. He hadn’t hit, never being a very good shooter.

Suddenly, he felt as if the temperature suddenly rose. Then, he saw lava spreading. He quickly retreated.

Some distance further there was a large rock. He hid there, and met his crewmates.

“Are they building a lava wall?” asked Asura.

“Seems so. We need to get around this somehow. Follow me,” replied Frey.

Frey went out of the cover, and looked up. At first, it looked like a fiery comet, but then, he noticed the vaguely horse-like shape. Flurry Heart was in the sky, surrounded by magic. She shot a powerful golden beam that resulted in a massive explosion. Frey saw pieces of rock, wood and metal raining down. Flurry stopped over the lava wall, and with a flash of her horn, teleported the lava on top of a large gathering of robots.

“I guess we have our entrance. Go!” shouted Frey.

He took a few steps, and then fell to the ground. Another massive explosion of magic. This time, however, it was purple.

Frey looked up, and saw a windmill of magic. Inside of it, there was an outraged Alicorn.

“Flurry Heart mi Amore!” shouted Twilight, in a voice that shook the earth.

Fourteen

Escaping the Dreadlands - The Usual Ending - Broken Sun - Maybe Another Time

Darien Frey looked at the ground below and couldn’t believe his own eyes.

The continent was breaking apart. Great cracks were created, mountains were crumbling down. Chunks of the ground had fallen in the depth. Water was being poured up from the cracks.

“Did we just start another Landfall?” asked Frey.

“Yes, yes we did,” replied Ugrik.

The crew looked through the window at the carnage. Suddenly, a great flash of green light filled the world, and Ketty Jay was shaken. Frey managed to stabilize the flight path.

“What was that?” Ashua asked through earcuff.”

“Pony Princess probably attempted to stop the Landfall,” replied Frey.

In the distance, he saw a few airplanes, most probably Crystal planes that didn’t manage to return to Crystal City on time. He wondered what would happen to them.

Well, it wasn’t his problem. It was time to get back to Tamriel.

Frey and his crew were in a tavern in some random pirate city, drinking whiskey.

“Truth to be told, we caused a continent-wide disaster and only got a meager reward. Again,” said Malvery.

Frey couldn’t argue with this. He took the bait once again. Good thing that no one from his crew was hurt.

Doors of the tavern opened. Stellar Reflection entered, and walked in towards Frey.

“Captain, I want to tell you that I’m quitting.”

“Quitting? Why?”

“Why!” she said, with barely contained anger. “You destroyed the Old Country! The mission failed. I trusted that you were a better person.”

“Trusting a pirate is a bad idea,” noted Trinica.

“I’m taking my share, and I’m staying here.”

“You don’t want to go back to Sun Tower?”

“No. I cannot show myself to Abbess Sunrise anymore. She will never forgive me. I have advice for you, don’t go anywhere near Sun Tower either. We are healers, but we know offensive magic as well, and we aren’t going to tolerate traitors.”

“Another town we can’t come back to,” said Malvery.

“Sure, you can stay here if you want. I’m not going to force you to go with us,” replied Frey. Stellar walked away.

“Didn’t fit our crew anyway,” commented Ugrik.

Frey looked at the Nord, and was about to reply to this, but there was no point. The mission was almost a complete disaster. Again.

I need more whiskey, Frey thought.

Far away, in the Sun Tower, there was an old and sad mare.

Sunrise looked through the window, in the direction of Dreadlands. She knew something bad happened over there. Her sister saw this in the dreams of these adventurers she sent there.

How much of a fool she was, trusting a bunch of pirates to save Equestria? Doom-Driven pirates, but pirates anyway. It was obvious they would not finish the mission. Now, Crystal City is banished again, and Equestria probably finished disintegrating. What happened to Twilight?

“Abbess?”

Sunrise turned, and saw one of the novices walking in the room.

“I wished to be left alone.”

“Everypony is getting worried.”

“I said, I wished to be left alone.”

The novice walked out of the room. Sunrise was alone again.

She thought about Stellar Reflection. She had high hopes for her, yet it turned out she wasn’t a Faithful Student material after all.

Sunrise looked at the horizon, still not accepting that the country she vowed to protect was long gone.

Frey walked through the streets of the pirate city. He had a big hangover after the previous night’s victory party, but he decided to take a walk anyway.

He was considering his next move. Going back to Tamriel? What would he even do there? Maybe join the battles in Hammerfell, but he wasn’t in the mood to fight in yet another war.

Maybe just buy some house in the countryside and finally marry Trinica? He shuddered. This is not his way. He planned to marry her, in some nebulous future.

“Mister, are you a pilot?”

Frey looked, and saw a young Imperial boy carrying a stack of paper.

“Yes, I am.”

“That’s cool. Have this,” he said, and gave him one. Then, he went away.

Frey looked at the leaflet. Do you own an airship? Aren’t afraid of long and dangerous voyages? Want to find treasure and get rich? Admiral Zai Mao is looking for pilots to explore the lost continent of Parania…

Frey read the rest of it. It sounded kinda like the bragging of some wannabe pirate king. However, considering he didn’t have anything better to do…

“Let’s ask the crew about this,” he said aloud. He was going forward towards the next adventure.

Epilogue

Deep underground, under what used to be Canterlot, an earth pony stallion was walking.

He was confident in himself. He was given an important mission, and he wouldn’t fail. It was up to him to restore Equestria now.

The earth pony entered the council room. By the obsidian table, many pony scientists sat. There was one chair far larger than others. He sat in it.

“Everyone is here?” he asked.

“Those that aren’t here had not made any contact since before the earthquake. According to the director's plan, they should be.”

“Professor Pickaxe, why have you taken the Princess's place?” asked another scientist.

“You heard what she said before asking us to get here. If she doesn’t contact us in a week’s time, she’s dead. Therefore, as it was her will, I am the new Prince of Equestria and Director of the Obsidian Council.”

“Prince Notched Pickaxe. It sounds ridiculous,” said the pegasus to his left.

“You are the vice-director now, Dinner Bone.”

“Right, Prince Notched,” said another scientist. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“Wait, wait. Twilight might not be dead yet!”

The council started arguing between those ponies that still hoped Twilight would come back and those that wanted to respect her orders and follow Notched Pickaxe.

“Silence!” Prince Notched shouted. The scientists recently obeyed. “First, we need to assist our damages. What is the situation of the Canterlot Shelter Zone?”

“The damage to residential districts and the research districts was minimal. There were only a few ponies injured, lucky none of it fatal. The damage is being fixed. However, the industrial districts and the mining districts…”

“What happened to them?”

“The enchantments put to protect them were far weaker than the ones in the center, and snapped when this magical earthquake struck us. We managed to evacuate many ponies out of them, but sadly, we couldn’t save everyone in time. Most of the industrial and mining areas have collapsed.”

“What about supplies and food production?”

“Stable. Professor Bone’s inventions in genetically modified agriculture increased the output and decreased the need for felitizers. Canterlot will not run out of food. We also still have enough supplies to survive even with our industrial base in ruins.”

“We have enough robots to rebuild it, right?”

“Yes, but it would take time.”

“Ponykind already waited a thousand years, we can wait more,” Prince Notched said. He turned to the red unicorn to his right side. “Jebediah, have you managed to get contact with other Zones?”

“Sadly, not. All corridors and railroads out of Canterlot collapsed. We have no signal from outside. Even the Blockwork communication doesn’t work.”

“Blockwork stopped working? It was supposed to be always working.”

“Yes, but it seems the connection was severed. Probably something causes connection issues. Me and my team will fix them.”

“Connection issues, you say?”

“That, or…”

“We are alone…” finished Prince Notched.

“I’ve begun designing a special subtype of Blocker, capable of quickly mining tunnels in order to dig our way to the other Zones. We will manage,” said Jebediah.

“We will manage. Ponykind survived far worse. We will rebuild our country underground. We will wait for the right moment. We will reclaim the surface!”

“About the surface…” said one of the scientists.

“Yes?”

“Some corridors were flooded. We sent Blockers to fix them, but the moment they entered the flooded area, contact was lost. Only one Blocker returned, horribly irradiated and barely functioning. It broke down, but we managed to recover the recording it took. It seems, there are cracks that go from the Zone to the surface. However, the magic at the surface interferes with the Blockwork in a catastrophic way.”

“So, we cannot send Blockers outside? We can send Ponies, then. Unless the magic is dangerous.”

“It isn’t dangerous per se, but there is another problem. Old Canterlot is now underwater.”

“Underwater? It was built on a mountain. Unless…” Prince Notched looked at the documents he had. “Unless the readings were true. Parts of the land fell kilometers down, while others fell only slightly. It means the surface was horribly shattered.”

“So, Equestria is gone?” asked another scientist.

“It isn't,” said Prince Notched. “It isn’t because we are still here and we will rebuild it. Even if we have to do this block by block with our own hooves. We cannot fail.”

Notched Pickaxe, the new Prince of Equestria and Director of the Obsidian Council, was confident in this. He will lead ponykind into a new age. He will rebuild Equestria.

Maybe, thousands of years later, future ponies in reborn Equestria would remember that it was Prince Notched Pickaxe who rebuilt it.