Chapter 35: Crystal Kingdom Adventure Part 1: Ruby City TIME: 07:17 DATE: War Day 338 LOCATION: 53km south of Ruby City The Supply Drop was scheduled for just a few minutes from now. We already had the smoke marker ready. The 'supply canisters' I'd created were like oversized bomb cases with hardened bases. They could store rifles, ammunition, and other supplies. Also coming along would be three.. well.. paratroopers. Norfy, Cosmic, and Gaze. Because fuck the 'soft touch' - I didn't want to be stuck like that again. The flyers would have taken several hours to make the trip - given that the Logistic Command's pegasi had to be as good at long endurance flights as those in Bomber Command - they'd be pretty tired by the time they got back. Right on schedule, I saw them come over the cloudtops. K: "Sunshine, lay smoke." I nodded. Sunshine: "On it." Jade: "You seem to be so organized.." K: "Humans have a gift for warfare, I won't deny that." I nodded. "Logistics are just as important as combat arms and tactics, if not more so." The smoke flare went off. I watched as the Logistic Command ponies released their payloads. The supply canisters were carried in tandem cargo nets - that way, the load was spread across two ponies - and so were my Paratroopers. A concession that had to be made for long-range flights. Ohh.. the second I could develop proper aircraft engines.. I watched the three of them roll off the cargo nets, and start freefalling. After a moment, their chutes opened. The cargo containers had drag chutes that would open almost right away. They were next, and the Pegasi from the Air Force circled, got a wave from us, and turned back towards base. We went out to the field where the boys should be landing. They came down well enough, though! K: "Tuck and roll!" I encouraged, as Norfy hit the ground. *Fwumpf!* Norfy: "Ah..! I don't like parachutes." He said, getting untangled and getting up. "Well, that was terrifying.." He frowned. "I'm not a Pegasus, I'm a Unicorn. We like magic, not flying." Dash: "Uh-huh." She snickered. Gaze: "ACK!" He crashed into Norfy. "Heya, Norf!" Norfy: "Geddoff!" He pushed a little. Cosmic: *AAHHAHAH!* *Fwumpf!* "Hey! That was GREAT! Let's do it again!" Norfy: "..seriously?" He got untangled from Cosmic. K: "Gentlemen, this is Gorcat and Jade." I motioned to them. "Collect the cargo, and get your packs squared away. The girls have to stay close to Cadence - there's a curse on this land, which causes their emotions to go haywire." Gaze: "D'at's not bloody fair!" He snorted. "Th' curse, General, not the duty. C'mon, lads." He and the lads went about recovering the paradropped containers. For weight distribution reasons, they'd dropped with only their sidearms. Norfy: "Life rarely IS fair, Gaze." He shrugged and lent a hand. Once everything got squared away, Cosmic took over Communications from Toola Roola. Now that I had the lads, I could have them out front as scouts and skirmishers. I made a mental note that they were definately coming with me every damned time. They may not be the Elements of Harmony, but they were part of the ingredients for a successful mission. TIME: 20:33 DATE: War Day 338 LOCATION: 1km south of Ruby City We were on some hills that overlooked Ruby City, looking down on it from above. The girls were clustered around Cadence, while Gorcat, Jade, Norfy, Gaze, Cosmic, Sunshine and I were on the next hilltop about 20 meters away. Right now, we were visually scanning the settlement for.. well, anything we could see. Ruby City looked markedly different from Emerald City. For one thing, the buildings all had a very unique architectural style. The buildings were made from cut stone that seemed to be stacked, THEN cut again into the shapes of crystals rising from the ground. The last series of cuts seemed to happen after the building was assembled, and the shaping was vague. So, you had three story buildings that, towards the top, had a trapezoidal appearance. Sunshine: "Never seen anything like this before." He shrugged, setting the binoculars down. "I didn't see any movement, either." K: "Strange." I frowned. "Gorcat." Gorcat: "Yeah?" K: "Go get Dash and Fluttershy.. fly down there and tell me what'cha see, eh?" I said, treating him, now, like one of the team. Gorcat: "Sure thing." Up he went, my living Spy Plane. Sunshine: "Should I make preparations for camp? It's starting to get late. Guaranteed the sun is down in that valley." He nodded. K: "Hmm.. yeah. I'd rather spend another night in the tents, than go down there tired and get killed by something." I motioned towards a clearing behind us. "Get the girls on it, hm? That's something they can do while sticking close to Cadence." Sunshine: "Right." And off he went. Norfy: "It looks.. very still, down there. I haven't seen ANY movement." Cosmic: "Mm.. yeah. Same." He was looking between the buildings. "It looks like.. everything just stopped happening all at once. No signs of life." K: "Yet at the same time, I don't see any indication of overgrowth or collapsed structures due to time and lack of maintenance." I shrugged. "Very strange indeed." Gaze: "Might be.. oh.. I dunno.. a time stop spell?" He shrugged. K: "As good a theory as any." I nodded. "Let's see what our Recon Flight brings back." TIME: 21:11 Gorcat landed with Dash and Fluttershy hovering nearby. He brought me a fine statue of a foal, perhaps ten years old or so. The statue.. looked TOO good. This confirmed something for us all. K: "They've been turned to stone." I frowned. Just like the ponies in Celestia's Garden. Gorcat: "Uh-huh.." He said, stepping back. "But that's not all." He pointed at the statue, which started to.. MOVE. K: "Doctor!" I hissed. Dr. Allcome: "What is.. oh!" He immediately got out his medical supplies, and waited. "She's coming out of it." He looked back towards the city. "I think they were cursed to stone.. probably the buildings, too." K: "Sunshine - distance to Crystalpolis?" Sunshine: "Two days at a slow pace. Day and a couple hours if we hoof it." He nodded. Foal: *Ahhh* And she looked at all of us. *AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!* K: "Why do they always scream?" I shrugged. Jade: "Because you're human. And.. and ugly!" I rolled my eyes as Dash started talking to the Foal. It was a Pegasus/Crystal Foal. The gem-cut irises gave that part away. Dash: "Relax, everything's going to be okay! We're not going to hurt you!" Fluttershy: "My name's Fluttershy, what's yours?" She came in, with that usual Flutter Charm. Friskie Gemlace: "Friskie Gemlace." She said, suddenly. "My-My daddy owns the jewlery store in town." She looked at the hills. "But-But, I'm not supposed to be this far from town this close to night! I hafta go back, or I'm in trouble!" K: "My dear, I'm K. I'm here on behalf of Princess Celestia." My rank pins.. her mark. "You know who Princess Celestia is, right?" Friskie: "Yeah.." She blinked. K: "Everyone in Ruby City has been turned to stone. Do you know anything about that?" I asked, my voice calm and parental. Friskie: "What..?" Her face screwed up. That would be a 'no'. K: "Can you guys grab anyone else?" I looked back at Gorcat. Gorcat: "Maybe if I had more Griffons with me. When she turned to stone like that, she.. well, she weighed like she was made of granite." He shrugged. "I was barely able to get HER out." K: "Well.." I shook my head. "I don't think we have enough Griffon expats in the entire kingdom to evacuate everyone from town." I looked at Cosmic. "Cosmic? Call this in to Colonel Green. That hill up there should give you just enough range." That was another problem - the latest version of field-portable long range magic-boosted radios only had a 95km range under the best conditions. Crystalpolis was over 200km (~125 miles) from Camp Crystal. I knew we'd be out of contact after Ruby City. We were at least 90km from Camp Crystal as it was. Cosmic: "Right. Anything to add to the message?" K: "Ruby City is a quarantine zone." I nodded. "Maybe after we restore the Crystal Heart we can come back and fix this, if stopping Sombra doesn't do that automatically." Friskie: "King Sombra..?" She lowered herself to the ground, recoiling a little. "You guys are gonna fight King Sombra?" K: "We're going to BEAT King Sombra. We have the Crystal Princess with us." I nodded to Cadence. "Why don't you go over and introduce yourself?" I gestured. As she did, I sat and considered our options. Sunshine: "This is shaping up to be a real load of wet hay, sir." He frowned. K: "No kidding." I scratched my chin. TIME: 21:42 We bedded down for the night, and compiled our observations. It wasn't much, sadly. Dr. Allcome: "On the plus side, she seems perfectly fine." He shrugged. "No health issues from being magically turned to stone." K: "Well, that's good. She asleep?" I looked over at Cadence, and Friskie was tucked up under her wing. "That.. yeah. She's asleep." I nodded. Twilight: "What do we do?" She shrugged. K: "Continue on to Crystalpolis.. that's about all we can do." I shook my head. "After we remove the mood curse on the land, then maybe we can come back and fix this." I looked at Sunshine. "Set guards. Two at a time. I'll take first watch." Sunshine: "Alright." TIME: 00:31 DATE: War Day 339 My watch had just ended, and I was getting comfortable with Applejack. She'd taken watch with me. We didn't do anything, we just spooned and cuddled. That's when it started. And, oh boy, did it START.. The wind picked up. Slowly, at first, but it soon became a steady gale. Once it hit a constant 30kph or so, I got up. K: "DASH! DASH! WAKE UP!" I called to her. Dash: "Ahh!" She put a hoof in front of her face. "What the buck!?" She crawled out of her sleeping blanket, and stuffed it under a nearby rock. "I got this!" K: "BE CAREFUL!" I yelled, over the wind. Friskie: *Ahh!* "I'm scared!" She burrowed next to Cadence. Dash took off into the skies, just as the lightning started. As soon as she got up there, I could tell, this wasn't normal weather. This was magical. Again, I was out of my depth. Magic just wasn't something I was accustomed to, even after two years. I watched her as long as I could, catching her dissipating clouds as lightning flashed behind her. Cadence: "It's alright, Friskie!" She hugged the little foal close to her. Reflexively, Sunshine got on her other side. K: "NORFY!" I pointed to the skies. "CAN YOU DO SOMETHING?!" Norfy: "I'D JUST TURN THIS INTO A BLIZZARD - I'M SORRY!" He was dug in with the lads. K: "EVERYONE STAY LOW TO THE GROUND!" I ordered. The wind whipped up to a howl. A thunderous howl. Lightning in the sky. I could hear it.. see it. Bushes railing weakly against the wind, loose brush kicked up everywhere. The fire was whipped apart, sending sparks everywhere.. and starting a couple of fires. Norfy saw this, and didn't need my orders to tell him what to do. Given the wind, it was harder for him to focus, but he did cast Snowballs at each flicker of flame, snuffing them out. I couldn't even SEE Dash any longer. I could only hope she was okay, and not harmed. Jade clung to the ground, holding on to a large boulder. She was deceptively strong, too.. the boulder had crack marks around her hands. Strong and magical? What a combination! The wind whipped up so hard that I couldn't communicate by voice any longer. All I could do was press myself to Applejack and the ground.. and hope for the best. Our tent collapsed on us, and I was then deprived of the ability to even see my friends. TIME: 05:24 The wind died down with the first rays of sunlight. When it was gone enough, I opened my eyes. The tent was still on us. K: "AJ.. you okay?" I nudged her. Applejack: *Groan* "Sure, honeybun.. but when I mean a wild night in'a sack, that t'ain't whut I had in mind.." She pushed the broken tent off of us, and got up. I could see our little campsite was in ruins. The tents had all collapsed, sleeping gear thrown everywhere, and even the fire circle was obliterated. I struggled to my feet, and dug out my Bradley. It was still intact. K: "SOUND OFF! SOUND OFF! EVERYPONY SOUND OFF!" I called. Cadence: "HERE! NOT INJURED!" Sunshine: "HERE! NOT INJURED!" Friskie: "I'M OKAY!" Twilight: "HERE! NOT INJURED!" Dr. Allcome: "I AM HERE! I'M STUCK, BUT NOT HURT!" Norfy: "HERE! NOT INJURED, BUT FILTHY! Pinkie: "I'M HERE! I'M OKAY!" Toola: "ME, TOO!" Cosmic: "I'M FINE!" Gaze: "REPORTIN' IN, ALL OKAY!" Rarity: "I'M ALIVE, BUT MY MANE IS RUINED!" *Slight whine* Jade: "YOU WON'T GET RID OF ME THAT EASY, HUMAN!" Gorcat: "I'M OKAY.. JUST.. KINDA STUCK." Silence. K: "FLUTTERSHY!? RAINBOW DASH!?" I called out. No response. "Twilight, Sunshine, help Doc Allcome and Gorcat. Norfy, Cosmic, Gaze, with me." I looked at AJ. "Stay here, by Cadence. You know the drill." She was fishing her Chaffee out from the ruined tent. Applejack: "Yeah, I hears'ya.. y'all be careful, now.." She gave me a kiss. A rather passionate one. K: *Ahem* "Thanks, honey." I motioned to the boys. "Come on, lads. Weapon status?" Norfy: "We were able to recover our weapons. Fortunately, they were stuck in the tents. No visible damage." He nodded. Gaze: "Issa real pisser, suh." He shrugged. "Da heck were 'dat wild gale, anyhoo?" K: "No idea. Probably magical." I shook my head. "Jade? You want to come? We could use the hand." I nodded. Jade: "I haven't got any GEMS, you know. Don't expect any MAGIC out of me." K: "Yeah, it's like I told you guys, she's the Jewel Wizard's daughter. And apparently, they cast magic striaght from Gemstones as spell components." I shrugged. "Alright.. the wind was generally blowing in that direction.." I pointed. "..huh. That's right towards Crystalpolis.." A brow quirk. "Sunshine?" Sunshine: "Yeah!" K: "When you're done salvaging whatever, break camp and follow us. We'll have to eat on the go. The wind was blowing towards Crystalpolis.. just start heading for the city. If we catch up to you, we catch up to you." I looked at Cadence and the girls. "If it's tactically feasible, go ahead and go into the city and start the investigation if you get there first. But if it looks hinkey in ANY way, wait for us." Twilight: "How long should we wait..?" She blinked. K: "Mm.. if you hoof it, you can get there by nightfall. Don't wait more than three days for us. If we're not back by then.. you'll have to handle things on your own." I shrugged. I was actually the slowest on foot/hoof - they could easily do 7.5kph or so, for up to 10 or 11 hours if they pushed it. I could do.. 6 for a few hours, but I needed a lot of water and a few more breaks than they did. Applejack could probably go all 12 hours without a break at all. We were perhaps 80km from Crystalpolis.. yeah, start early, they could get there in about ten and a half hours. Again, if they pushed it. Twilight: "Without all of the Elements of Harmony?" She seemed shocked at this. K: "Hope that Sombra is allergic to high-velocity lead poisoning." I gave a dismissive hand-wave. "But we have to find Fluttershy and Dash. I don't want to imagine what they're like if they're mood-swinging. Hopefully, we can handle them. We'll be headed in a rather zig-zagged search pattern, so.." I put up both my hands. "We make do with what we've got." Applejack: "Ah got'cha, honeybun. C'mon, everyone! Let's git th' camp packed up as best w'can!" She gave me a smile as we headed out. All I could hope for, was that Dash and Fluttershy were still okay, somewhere.. that nothing had happened to them. And that if that storm was magical, that we could get our hands on whomever it was that cast it, and put them down before they hurt anyone else.. {End of Part 1} Part 2: Insomnia TIME: 05:33 DATE: War Day 339 LOCATION: 80km south of Crystalpolis K: "Alright.. come on, standard search pattern." I motioned for everyone to fan out, as we moved in the general direction that the wind had been blowing towards. Norfy: "This is going to be interesting." He nodded. We moved in a spread out, almost star-shaped pattern over the hills. When we got to the top of each one, I'd stop a moment and use my binoculars to examine the area as best I could - the one good thing about looking for technicolor ponies was that they stood out REALLY well against a plain dirt/brown grass background. Jade made herself busy sniffing the air. Unlike Gorcat, she had a better nose instead of better eyes. She could, in fact, smell gemstones - it was how she found them for her father. I was still mystefied how he managed to reproduce, and the Jewel Wizard himself was dead, so I'd probably never know the truth. Jade: "I'm not smelling ponies." She shrugged. "Besides them. I mean, they all have their own smell.." She looked at me. "..even you." K: "Let me guess - I smell like a monster?" I cocked a brow, expecting the smartass remark. Jade: "No.. more like.. bananas." She shrugged. I fell in behind her and kept watch around the area. Every now and then, Norfy would stop and scan with his DMR Scope (A Buff & Lamb 'Sightmaster' scope), I'd scan with binoculars, or we'd poke around the bushes. Soon, we got to the edge of a forest. TIME: 09:07 K: "Gaze.. this look like wind damage to you?" I said, grasping a snapped branch. Gaze: "Mmm.. might be." He shrugged. "Look'n m're like somethin' crashed through here." K: "We'll check in here." I motioned. It struck me that I was in the company of MALE ponies by majority, Stallions, for once. In fact, there were no Mares with us at all - the only female was Jade. And she sure didn't act like one! Norfy: "Mm.. seems likely." He nodded ahead. "I wonder if Rainbow Dash was the one that ended up in here?" K: "What I want to know is - how did Fluttershy go missing? I didn't see her take off.. maybe she saw Dash falling, and went to help her?" Cosmic: "Seems possible, suh-uh-oh!" He pointed dead ahead. "Look! I see something.. feathered!" I motioned for them to spread out as we advanced. K: "Be careful." I nodded. "FLUTTERSHY! DASH?!" I called out, once they were a bit farther from me. We moved up to the 'feathers' that Cosmic saw.. three of them, clumped together, on a branch. With blood. They were blue. Jade: "Not pony blood." She stated. K: "We search. Whoever it is, might be hurt, and need our help." I gave a dismissive hand wave. "Can you tell what kind of blood it is, Jade?" Jade: "I've never smelled this before. Even the bird-brains Daddy hung around with, with Tirek." She shrugged a little. K: "Spread out and search. We may be their only hope." I nodded to the bushes. Cosmic: "Uh, sir.." He nodded to a clearing. "Something moving over there." Jade: "Hmmm.." She paused a moment, and rubbed her chin. K: "Stay here and cover me." I got a.. perplexing feeling. Like, something wasn't quite right. Gaze: "Gotcha." He motioned with his left hoof to set up defensive positions. I paced out over to the clearing up ahead. The roof cover of the forest was such that I couldn't get much light to see by. It was enough to avoid falling over things, but it was dense enough that I couldn't make out details like I wanted. I noted the trees here were exceptionally thick, and the trunks were very dense. This would be excellent for logging. Right into the center of the clearing, where there was a bit more light to see by. I could make out four figures. K: "...I wasn't aware that Sombra had this kind of power." I said, as I was able to make out the four of them. I mean, the Shadowbolts had been a magical construct of Nightmare Moon at her full power. Now, I was seeing them in person. Real. Frighteningly real. And one of them had a cut across his flank, and a small tuft of feathers missing. Of course, I spoke loud enough for them to hear me. Shadowbolt #1: "Oh, great - here's the Human now." It gestured towards me. "Looking for something?" It hissed as all four of them hopped into an attack-ready position. K: "I'm looking for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy." They didn't have the same color coat as either of the girls - that ruled out hypnosis or something like that being done to them. "What are you?!" I drew Celestia's sword and pointed it at them. "There's no way you can possibly exist. No way." Shadowbolt #2: "Heart's Desire, mate." Australian accent. "Seems someone wants to soar with th' eagles." K: "She refused last time." And she wasn't even here. Shadowbolt #4: "But.. last time we were just a trick of the mind." A grey spotted coat. It stepped forwards the farthest - their leader, I presumed. K: "Are you saying.." I looked at the injured flank of Number Three. "..no, you must be real. Real enough." I paced three steps to the right, giving the lads a clear field of fire. "Sombra's magic is this strong? To create life from nothingness? Based only on the darkest thoughts of ponykind?" Shadowbolt #3: "Seems that way, doesn't it?" He shook off a little. "We're here for Rainbow Dash. She will join us. She won't have a choice.." All Together: "..we are her Heart's Desire. Fame. Glory. Speed. We represent what is in her darkest thoughts - her biggest dream, come to life. She will be one of us." They practically chanted this. K: "Not on my watch." I lowered my sword, and.. "..FIRE!" Gaze: "FIYAH!" He pulled the trigger-bar of his Ridgway, as the other two opened up with their Bradleys. Shadowbolt #1 went down immediately, while #3 and #4 took to the skies. #2 dove for cover, and fired back - FIRED BACK - with a weapon that appeared from smoke, that resembled a shrunk-down B.A.R. I had to dive behind a fallen log. It was faster for me to pull my Hickok Revolver than get my Bradley out. I squeezed off two shots at #2's position. Norfy: "Get the ones in the air!" Jade: "I'm, like, totally useless for this!" She ducked down behind a rock, and just put her hands over her head. Cosmic: "Got it!" He started squeezing off chip shots towards the sky - not aiming for center-of-mass, but looking to saturate the air with enough lead at any one section that it might cause a grazing hit. Shadowbolt #2: "DIVE BOMB THEM!" It ordered, before firing at me again. The 'bullets' were actually tiny, dark shards that seemed to give off a hue of dark purple. One of them hit a tree behind me, causing me to look at it. They had just enough velocity to be harmful. And their "guns" seemed to have an unlimited amount of these. Really, the guns might just be manifestations of my own heart's desire, and the shadow shards are just their method of attack. I leaned over the log I was behind, and aimed with both hands grasped around the Hickok. Waiting. Waiting for #2 to stick its head out again. And when it did, I fired the four rounds left in my cylinder at him. He was about 6 meters away. Just far enough that the rounds would deviate a bit. One struck the rock, and sent sparks everywhere. The next three hit him. Two in the neck, one in the skull, right above the left eye. The blood that came out - now that I had a chance to look - was dark red, sticky, and more like syrup than blood. Certainly explains why Jade said she'd never smelled anything like it before. I reloaded quickly, and brought up my Bradley. K: "SIT REP!" I called to the lads. Cosmic: "They tried to drop a big-ass black crystal on us!" His position was different, I could tell by the location of his voice. Norfy: "One target down! One target.. flying around somewhere!" K: "REGROUP!" I commanded. "ON ME!" Bradley was swung up to the tree tops, looking for the last target. Cosmic: "Coming!" He jumped over a bush, and landed right next to me. "Sir!" A nod, with a grin. Gaze: "OVAH HEAH!" He was the furthest away. "COME QUICK! PONY DOWN! TAKIN' FIYAH!" I got up, just as I was about to pat Cosmic on the back, and dashed for the sound of Gaze's voice. Norfy fell in just a bit after us, and Jade (begrudgingly) fell in right after Norfy. We got to where Gaze was, and found him covering Rainbow Dash. The last Shadowbolt was in the trees, sniping at them. K: "COVERING FIRE!" I directed. I raised the Bradley/Gavin, and got a sight picture as best I could. The grenade portion was fired at the trees - I had a Timed Fuze loaded. I angled it about right, but I knew I was too close to get instant detonation. I let Norfy and Cosmic pepper the tree branches with fire while I ran over to where Gaze and Dash were. She didn't seem injured.. that was the strange thing. She was just unconscious. I managed to get to her right as the grenade went off. I could hear it blast splinters through the trees. I heard a body drop. It sounded.. sickeningly wet. I was pretty sure I got 'em. K: "Jade, Gaze go over and make sure that.. thing is dead." I directed. "Norf, Cosmic." I motioned over to where we were. "Go check the other bodies. Tell me what you can figure out about them. Anything. How they were made, what they're doing.. anything." I gestured. Norfy: "Alright. Will she be okay?" He asked, tilting his head a little. I could see concern flash over his eyes. K: "I don't know why she's unconscious in the first place, Norfy, but she is breathing on her own, nice and steady. So, that's something." I shrugged. "Go on." I examined her again. I had some basic first aid training from college, but I'd never really used it before. I did the basic things - checked pulse, respiration, made sure her airway was clear, checked for bleeding, any signs of blunt trauma, and swelling. As a last test, I checked her pupilary response by opening each eye individually and testing their contraction time. Normal. Nothing seemed to be 'wrong' with her, other than she was unconscious. So, I pulled Dash up into my lap, and held her, defensively. I didn't know what was wrong with her, and it worried me. Magic? The cursed ground? Something else? Jeeze, she was heavy. I recalled that from when I.. uh.. yeah, her and AJ at the same time. AJ was about a hundred pounds. Dash was less. Ninety or so. Gaze and the lads were around 110-130. I think Cosmic was the heaviest. He looked a bit pudgy in the face - not that he was fat, he just looked heavier, a bit, than Norfy (who looked the thinnest). Mac was about 200lbs., maybe a bit more now that he was a full-time soldier and put on more muscle from all the military stuff. I sat there and wondered about Fluttershy. Where was she? What.. dark-and-evil heart's desire.. was chasing her? The lads and Jade came back after a bit. Jade was dragging the corpse of Shadowbolt #1. Jade: "They were constructs." She stated, as though I'd understand. I shrugged my shoulders and looked at the guys. Jade: "Okay.. whoever made these, had some kind of material to work from. Something they could breathe life into and transmogrify into a living creature. The blood is.. well, it's not real blood, it's an approximation of blood. Just as they are approximations of living creatures. But, being approximations, they can die like normal living creatures can. The guns they summoned up are.. like an extension of themselves. The little black shards are.." She held one up. "..like gems, but they drain power. This is Sombra's magic, no doubt. Unlucky for him, I can use these gems for spells - they'll all be.. uhm.. Vacuum Element. Not darkness, but an absence of alignment, in a sense. Very destructive, really." She gave a bit of a grin, and held up her gem bag. She'd gone and collected as many 'bullets' as she could. "They're small, so, don't expect just one at a time to be too powerful, but it's something." She shrugged. K: "I have no idea why she's unconscious. I checked her over - every inch - and I can't find any evidence of injury. Gaze, Cosmic, rig a litter. We're going to have to carry her." Cosmic: "Right away." He nodded and took off into the woods to gather the materials. Without our shelters, we would have to rig one up from uniform shirts. Jade: "Beats me." She shrugged again. "Now what?" K: "We find Fluttershy and hope she isn't also unconscious." And another thing - Dash didn't have any of her gear on her. Nothing. She was as bare.. as she usually was. I could only guess the wind blew it all off. I got up and set her on the litter when the lads returned. K: "Alright. Back to searching." I nodded, and we got out of the woods. "Jade.. you have any idea how Sombra would make something so specific?" Jade: "Hm.. it reminds me of a spell Daddy was trying to perfect. Basically, the spell changes the area - it responds to something in the target, and uses the spell components to change the area to reflect the spell. I think.. in this case.." Norfy: "Sombra set up the spell components in the area, and waited for Dash to enter. Maybe she crash-landed, or something, or the wind knocked her out. Either way, when she got close enough, the spell activated." He looked at the others. "What? There was a theory on it at the school I attended." A shrug from him. "One of my professors talked about it." K: "It's a Trap Spell." I nodded. "Alright.. why's she out cold, then?" Blank stares. No theories. K: *Sigh* "Hopefully, we can catch up to Doc Allcome and the others, and he can fix her. Until then.. let's go." TIME: 17:38 It was late afternoon when we decided to stop. And that was only because we found something approaching a decent camp site. We were out on the plains by now, and away from the forest, still tracking the traces of the windstorm. What we found was a semi-circle of rocks, all the rocks hanging over the center slightly, providing some shelter. In the very center was a bowl-like depression made of rock. No carvings or anything, but it looked like a natural camp site, or, one that was reguarly used in antiquity. Doc Allcome and Lyra would be jealous. The archeological opportunity here was amazing. I sent Cosmic and Gaze off to gather water from a nearby stream. Norfy would have to magically purify it - one of his little tricks, actually, related to his ice magic. K: "Norfy, try to give her some water." I directed, as we set the litter so it was suspended between rocks. Norfy: "Right." He pulled out his canteen, and put it to her lips, gently pouring a little into her mouth. As soon as it got down her throat, she vomited. Norfy: "Uh.. K.." He nodded to her. K: "Did she puke?" I queried as I moved over to her. "I don't get it.." I rubbed my chin. "Wait.." I gave Norfy a look like 'this isn't going to be pretty' and stuck my finger down her throat. All the way. She.. uh.. her gag reflex isn't easy to trip, alright? But I got it. She retched HARD, and I rolled her on her side to help her.. and I could see something move up her throat. Jade: "I smell a gem!" She scooted over to us, got on her knees.. er.. sorta, and reached into Dash's mouth. One grasp of her dainty fingers, and she was able to pull it free. Another dark gem. "See!? I knew it." Rainbow Dash almost immediately woke up. And groaned. And tried to roll over on her side. K: "Dash, take it easy. You swallowed.. it looks like one of Sombra's gems.. dark crystals.." I shrugged, and petted her mane. "I guess the evil energy in it was more than her body could handle." Dash: *Groan* "Water.." I got out my canteen and handed it to her. She was moving - painfully, but moving - and managed to drink from it herself. K: "I'm glad you're okay. You've been out since.. well, all day, and probably part of last night, too." I shrugged at her. "Where's your gear?" Dash: "Mm.. lost it.." She waved a hoof at me. "..the storm. I lost most of it there. I remember something being forced down my throat, and.. and being thrown towards the ground.." She curled up in a little ball. "He looked like the most evil unicorn I'd ever seen." K: "Sombra. Or a projection of him." I shrugged again. "Just relax, Dash. And stay on the stretcher. Don't get off and touch the ground. We're right here. The girls went on to Crystalpolis." I propped myself up next to her. Dash: "Mm.." She lazily, weakly, put a hoof on my head. "..thanks." K: "Fluttershy is missing, too." I shrugged. "We'll find her, though. Don't worry." I encouraged. Dash: "I know we will." She rolled over on her back as Gaze and Cosmic returned. Cosmic: "Uh.. Miss Dash..!" He stammered a little. Dash: "Just RD, Cosmic, come on, we're friends." She chuckled a little. Gaze: "Ah see'yre up'n moving.." He nodded as he set the full canteens off to the side, so Norfy could do his bit. Dash: "Well.. moving.. not up. Not yet. So tired.." She shook her head a little. K: "She swallowed a dark crystal somehow. Jade managed to get it out of her." I shrugged and nodded to Jade. Jade: "She said someone forced her to swallow it. And her description sounds like Sombra." She held up the crystal. Three inches long, an inch wide. K: "Alright, everyone get some oats and some rest. I want to start moving at dawn." I nodded to the firebowl. "And let's see if we can't get something to burn. I don't want to sleep in total darkness. Not around here." Primitive human instinct. Fire keeps the dark things away. Tomorrow, we'd have to look for Fluttershy. The girls might already be at Crystalpolis, for all I knew. I just hoped the investigation and the solution to all of this mess would be easier to find, than our trip here. {End of Part 2} Part 3: Wild Flower TIME: 05:07 DATE: War Day 340 LOCATON: 23km south-southeast of Crystalpolis I awoke alone the next day. Rather, I was the first one up. I'd spent the whole night next to Dash. She improved greatly after she got some cooked oats in her. Getting up, I swore I smelled Fluttershy's usual all-natural shampoo. Just a wafting of it, on the wind. In my stupor, I forgot to pick up my Bradley, or wake anyone, letting the scent draw me towards its source. I must've walked for over an hour. When I got to wherever it was that I was going, I found a field of ruin. Sharp rocks jutting up from cracked ground. Small pools of lava oozing out from cracked spires. It was a haunted scene. And right in the middle of it, was Fluttershy, flittering around without a care in the world. K: "FLUTTERSHY!" I called out to her. No answer. Have you ever wondered what it must be like to see a hypnotized person? I was seeing it. No doubt. She stopped briefly, and it looked like she was sniffing a flower. What I saw her sniffing was a darkened, thorny vine of somethng. No flowers, no bulbs, nothing. Just a thorny, dark green vine. K: "FLUTTERSHY! SNAP OUT OF IT!" She ignored me. More like, she never heard me. She started following the vine as though it were a happy trail of flowers. Sniffing here and there.. getting dangerously close to some of the active lava pools. Fuck personal safety. I had to do something, or Fluttershy might become Roastedshy. I climbed down into the depression into the earth, and started trying to clamber over the (hot, duh, I was an idiot to think otherwise) rocks and spires to try to get to her. I nearly got my face seared off by a jet of steam coming from one of the tubes. I didn't care. I watched as Fluttershy got closer to a gigantic bulb.. it was much larger than I was. Easily ten feet across, and probably twelve high. It seemed to be connected to the vines. My guess? Carnivorous. It looked like a giant turnip.. with lips. K: "FLUTTERSHY!! FLUTTERSHY!! FOR FUCK SAKES, LISTEN TO ME!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Finally.. FINALLY, she turned to look at me. Fluttershy (Dazed voice): "Oh, no! A horrible monster!" K: "Wait-what? No-no-no! FLUTTERSHY! IT'S ME, K! I'M NOT A MONSTER!" Hypnosis. Best guess. Meanwhile, the plant behind her shifted in place. I realized she was standing on one of the vines. K: "FLUTTERSHY! GET OFF THE VINE! GET OUT OF THERE! THAT THING IS GOING TO EAT YOU!" Best guess as to its intentions. "GET OUT OF THERE! FLUTTERSHY!! RUN!" Fluttershy (Dazed Voice): "Oh! It wants to hurt the big flower!" She stood on her hind legs, and defensively got between me and the giant bulb. K: "Big flower? Wait ..oh, fuck." The vines around the creature grasped her arms, and went around her waist. The giant bulb opened up, revealing teeth and more tendrils. She was going to get eaten! Weapon.. weapon.. I reached for my Bradley that wasn't there, my hand shot to my hip that was missing my sword scabbard and my revolver. I was unarmed. Well, fuck it. I'm not letting some horrible monster eat one of my friends without a fight. I grabbed the nearest spire I could, and heaved all my weight on it, snapping off a nice four foot long chunk, that ended in a jagged edge, with a little lava dripping off the end. It was hot. I didn't care.. I barely felt it. But I charged at the creature, screaming my head off. K: "PUT HER DOWN, YOU FUCKING SALAD!!" Salad. My greatest nemesis in the human world. Come to haunt my waking nightmare in this place, AND give me potential nightmares about tentacle rape. I landed my first hit on one of the vines holding her in place. Not that getting a clear shot was easy. She was now fighting me, trying to keep me from hurting the plant. Thankfully, in her dazed state, she wasn't very strong at all. But still, I had to keep from hurting her. I slammed the jagged rock down on what looked like the monster's tongue, and made it jiggle like a bowl of vegetable jell-o. I flipped the spike over, and jammed the tip straight down into the monster, impaling its tongue. A vine smacked me in the chest, knocked the wind out of me, and sent me rolling back, almost into a puddle of lava. Really, I wasn't even mentally aware of how hot it was. Lava, though, gave me an idea. I kicked another spire as hard as I could, and snapped it off. Instead of a heavy mace-like chunk, I got a sword-like chunk. Still, it was enough, and I dipped the very tip of it into the lava, and stabbed it into the creature. The lava hurt it, big time. I was sure I was screaming in pain, but adrenaline tends to block pain quite well - it can even keep a person going beyond the point of death. I took the sword-like stone spire and chopped at vines.. I had to get her out of there. That's when the giant bulb uprooted itself and tried to get away.. Fluttershy (Dazed Voice): "Yes, Noble Flower.. run from the Monster.." She looked right at me with the most dazed, nearly-dead look in her eyes. It was creepy. K: "YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS!" I got in its way. It hit me with a vine again, and I fell to the ground. It trampled me. It felt like I was getting run over by a vegetable garden that weighed as much as an elephant. It hurt. My body screamed in pain. Okay, maybe it SHALL pass.. Once it was past me, I managed to pull myself to my feet. I could feel blood running down my face, and arms. I didn't care. It was not going to eat my friend. I charged after it, with the now broken hunk of sharp rock in one hand. K: *Primordial scream* I jumped on its.. back, I guess.. and carved into it fiercely, as though it was the largest, most demonic pumpkin I'd ever seen. Hacking and slashing at it, I could feel its thorny vines rip at my flesh, but the pain was dulled by adrenaline. It took what felt like hours, but I'm sure, in retrospect, it was only a few minutes. I carved it open, flayed it, with nothing but a sharp rock. It oozed plant goop all over me. I still didn't care. It made my wounds burn. Still didn't care. Finally, the huge beast fell over. I staggered on top of it, and pounded my chest, letting out a primitive, inhuman roar. Man had conquered Nature. Then, I nearly collapsed. Huffing, choking on the toxic air.. bleeding everywhere.. first and second degree burns all over the place. K: "F-Fluttershy.. w-wake up.. please.." I panted, as I tried to get close to her. She'd slumped over. Passed out. I followed suit. The adrenaline gone from my system, and my body too battered to do anything about it. TIME: 12:27 DATE: War Day 341 I woke up with Dr. Allcome over me. A hazy eye opening to see a familiar face. Dr. Allcome: "Get me my drug bag! HURRY!" He commanded. The words sounded drown out, as though I was under water. K: "Fluttershy.." I reached out for where I remembered her being. Toola Roola and Pinkie were helping her up. Dr. Allcome: "Sunshine! Get over here! Help us get him off this thing!" I felt myself lifted. Carried. Moved. I couldn't tell by whom. I dozed in and out of consciousness. Finally, I felt myself placed on a litter of some kind, and carried. I don't recall how far. I was placed down, finally, next to a stream. I was being declothed. Washed off. I was so out of it, I don't remember who did the washing, nor did I connect with why that was necessary. I just let things happen. TIME: 15:12 I woke up again, and sat up, bandaged up like a mummy. I was vaguely aware that there was a bandage over my face. I groped for my glasses, and put them on. Everyone was milling about. Cadence was sitting in the middle of everyone, relaxing, trying not to strain her powers. Sunshine and Friskie were near her. Gorcat: "Hey, you awake now?" He came up to me and handed me a piece of smoked meat. "Here." K: *Chuckle* "Griffons and meat.." I shook my head and accepted it, giving it a chew. Not bad. "..report." I said, again, treating him no different than any other member of the team. Gorcat: "It took us over a day and a half to find you. You're banged up pretty bad. Doc says you might have a broken rib. Besides that, you're scalded, cut up, and you're lucky you don't have a concussion. You lost some blood, you were covered in plant goop which turned out to be the same fake blood that the fake Shadowbolts had, and you had thorns in you that changed into those dark crystals. But, here's the odd thing.. the Doc says the dark crystals didn't seem to have any effect on you what so ever. Fluttershy is alright, she was just.. well, the theory is that she was entranced by that Heart's Desire stuff. Princess Cadence thinks its actually meant to reflect your.. well, your evil desires. Not the ones you strive for, but the ones that can seduce you, the dark desires you try to run away from. For Fluttershy, it was a world at total peace with you as a monster. And Dash, it was the Shadowbolts." He gave me a smirk. "How'd I do?" K: "That about covers it." I nodded. "APPLEJACK!" She zoomed over, and hugged me. It hurt, but I didn't care. Applejack: "Ahw-mah-goodness, ah thought you weren't gonna make it this time, honeybun!" She squeezed, then french kissed me. And rubbed her hooves over my bare torso. K: *Mmmm*POP*Mrgfr* "Honey! We're in public! There's people watching!" I got a little red faced at this level of a public display of affection. Applejack: "Uh.. no offense, honeybun, but y'all've slept with 'bout half'a of 'em." She gave me a smirk. Well, it was true. "Ah don't think they much care." Rarity: "Darling.." She sauntered up, and gave me a very unladylike kiss. "..we were all worried." She said in her normal tone, but then whispered "..besides, if you were to perish, where will I have my affairs!?" In a bit of a hiss. She passed a wink to AJ, who winked back. "Don't worry, I've already repaired your uniform, washed it, and fluffed it out. You'll have clean clothes to change into - but you're so hard on them, darling, I may have to see about making them from something else." K: "DuPont Kevlar." I smirked. "It's an artificial material. But that won't come for a long time. Equestria's chemistry isn't high enough, I don't think. Besides, the exact formula is.. was.. a trade secret, I don't have access to it." A shrug, as I ate the mystery meat. It was pretty good. Twilight: "We're just glad you're okay." She gave me a grin. "Fluttershy came around before you did." She nudged the lemon quiet one in front of her. Fluttershy: *Very slient mumble* "I'm.. sorry.. called.. .... monster.." She bowed her head. I could barely make out the words. K: "It's alright, Fluttershy. It wasn't your fault - there's nothing to forgive." I reached out, she came over, and I hugged her. "Don't worry about it." I looked at all of them. "Now, I thought I told you guys to get to Crystalpolis?" Toola Roola: "When the rest of them realized you were missing, Dash took off to come find us. We doubled-back." She shrugged. K: "It's fine, it's fine. I'm glad you came." A warm smile. Not very military-like - other than the Leave No Man/Pony Behind concept - but it worked. Here, it worked. Being concerned for your friends, and going to any length to save them. Even if it delayed or endangered a mission. What was the point, if you left a friend behind - someone you could save - to their certain death? It's what made them all special. It's what made me proud to be with them. Lead them. Now, we had to get to Crystalpolis, and end this bullshittery, before Sombra could hurt anyone else. {End of Part 3} Part 4: United Journey TIME: 09:33 DATE: War Day 342 LOCATION: 24km south-southeast of Crystalpolis We waited until the next day to move out. Fortunately, my rib wasn't broken, but I was pretty badly bruised. It was shitty. It hurt. I hurt. But I kept moving. Gorcat volunteered to carry my backpack. Fluttershy tried to avoid me - she felt responsible for my injuries. Applejack was just the opposite - she didn't want to leave my side. Twenty four kilometers. We'd be there by this evening, given that I was going at a slower pace. I felt like a cripple, really. RD ended up with Fluttershy's spare shirt, my Bradley/Gavin, and a loose collection of 'extra' equipment. She wasn't happy that she'd lost (one of) her leather jacket(s), but Rarity promised her a new one. Jade wasn't talking much, throughout the walk. In fact, she didn't say anything when I got rescued, either. So, I finally asked.. K: "Jade? You've been avoiding me since yesterday." Jade: "Mmm.." She gave me half a look, and kept walking. Applejack: "Somethin' on yer mind, sugarcube?" She tilted her head at Jade. Jade: "I.." She sighed, heavily, and looked at me. "I.. owe you.. an apology.." She stammered that out. K: "Oh? For what?" I chuckled a little. Jade: "For.. for treating you like a monster. I'm sorry. You.. no monster would almost kill themselves to save a friend, like that. I'm really sorry. I was wrong about you.." *Murmur* "..and that's not easy for me to admit." She stuck her hands into pockets on her top. K: "I get it." I nodded. "Nah, it's nothing. I tend to think of myself as pretty foul for bringing human evils to such a pure place. I'm not like the humans that were here in antiquity - they were children, still innocent. I'm an adult. I know better. I have.. thoughts and impulses (well, not in the last few years) that are dark and evil. I'm not as pure as the driven snow, you know." A shrug with an upturned hand. Jade: "Mmm.." She blushed a little and kept walking, moving ahead of us. Applejack: "..there's 'nother. Callin' it now." She giggled a bit. K: "Mhm." I frowned a little. "But I'm not chasing her." I reminded my love. Applejack: "Dun' matter, honeybun.." She drawled in that seductive little voice as she gently rubbed against me. "..yew've NO idea how I feel that thar's ladies out there bah th' herdload wantin' MAH stallion.." She glanced around a little. "An' that t'ain't th' magic talkin'." No one ever said our love life was devoid of passionate couplings or regular flirtations. Even through the pain of my injuries, the way she talked about me - that I was at once coveted and treasured, AND her personal piece of meat to flaunt around - gave me a real thrill in all the right places. Had there not been a war on, one of us would be getting naked right about now. TIME: 19:04 We finally arrived on the outskirts of the city. It was quite impressive - the architecture was similar to Emerald and Ruby Cities, but more.. formal. More embellished. A little bit of extra glitz on everything. It seemed more polished. We sat there - about 600 meters from the edge of the city - and gave it a good once-over, visually. K: "So, beyond this.. is the bubble." I looked to Cadence. Cadence: "Call it what you will. This is the point of no return. Without my magic, anyone that enters, won't be able to leave. I don't know exactly what kind of condition the ponies inside there, are in, but.. they've been there since this whole mess started." She shrugged. "As for the spell itself.. I think once I get inside, I can remove it. That done.. we can try to fix things. Of course, if we fail.." She trailed off. "..I have no heirs to try this again.." She lowered her head. Sunshine: "Buck up, Your Highness." He nuzzled her. "We can do this. If General K has taught me anything, it's that, together, friendship can defeat ANY evil. Friendship and bullets." A smirk. Friskie: "YEAH! Friendship and.. whuts a bullets?" She cocked her head to the side. Twilight: "I.. I know you're still upset about Shining.." She put a hoof on Cadence's shoulder. "But you have us. We're behind you. Always." And gave her a hug. "You didn't have a chance to marry my brother, but I still.. I think of you like my sister.." Cadence: "Thank you, Twilight.." She hugged back. She even teared up.. the tear dropped to the ground.. and the grass around it instantly came back to full life. K: "The Force is strong with this one.." I muttered under my breath. Jade: "Wow.. First Class magic, right there." She blinked a little. "Uh.. Hum-uh, K.." She corrected herself. "Could you.. give me a moment?" She scooted over to Rarity and they started talking. "I need to gather some Gems right quick, so I have at least some magic options here." K: "Rarity, of course. Don't stray too far - remember, the ground is cursed." I reminded. Cadence: "Mm. I'll try to extend my protection farther out." She nodded, a small grin on her face. K: "Just to be sure we're ready for this, we'll camp here for the night. I don't want to breach the barrier until we have to." I gave a nod. "Twilight, Doc, Pinkie, Toola.. uh.." I shrugged. "..do what you can for making shelter. Norf, Cosmic, Gaze, gather fire wood. Sunshine, dig a fire pit. AJ, give him a hand. Gorcat, Dash, Fluttershy, scout around a bit. Don't violate the barrier for any reason." The windstorm had torn up most of the tents and things, but we had enough to construct one relatively large - if oddly shaped - five-sided shelter that could fit all of us. Snugly. It was going to be.. tight.. but do-able. The troops dispersed - more or less. Everyone stayed within about 50 meters of the 'camp' and I found Friskie crawling into my lap for warmth and comfort. Friskie: "Y.. you're going to fix my mommy and daddy, right?" She looked up at me with those innocent little eyes.. eyes that reminded me of my own daughter, Starlight Mint. K: "I'll do everything in my power, Friskie. I promise you that. Everything." I nodded to her, and gently pet her mane, trying to give the most reassuring smile I could. The night was.. cool. I supposed that was because we were fairly far to the north, in comparison to Canterlot and Dream Valley. We ate, and got under the shelter for the night. I found myself sandwiched between Applejack and Dash on one side, and Rarity and Toola Roola on the other. At some point during the night, Friskie decided to sleep on top of my belly. Which was just as well - with my injuries, I wasn't going to be shifting around a lot. It also prevented the four most likely suspects to possibly molest me, from trying to do so. Fluttershy finally ended up curling up around the top of my head. We did guarding in shifts, of course. Everyone insisted that I not take a shift at all - Doc Allcome threatened to sedate me, if necessary. So, I accepted the friendly mutiny and just slept all night. I needed it. Really. I had no idea how bad Sombra was going to be, so, I'd need every bit of strength to keep up with him. Of course, I had no way of knowing... never mind, you'll see. TIME: 08:00 DATE: War Day 343 LOCATION: Outskirts of Crystalpolis I awoke with a filly on my belly, snuggled up partially under a fold in my overshirt, with four mares on either side of me, and a fifth hugging my head. Trapped. And my bladder was screaming at me to GOOOO.. so, I extricated myself. First, Friskie. She was placed in Applejack's embrace (figuring she had experience with Applebloom doing the same thing). Then, Fluttershy. I gently squirmed upwards, and dislodged her from around my head, carefully pushing her aside. Now, the remaining three ladies clinging to me (partly for lack of room, partly for warmth, and partly because.. well, yeah). I nudged Rarity over on her side - that was easy. Dash, I had to gently push with my leg to get her to roll over. Toola, I rubbed her belly with my foot, and got her to shift away from my legs. Then, I squirmed 'upwards' towards my head. FREEDOM! Off to take a leak - I grabbed one of the Bradleys, just so I was armed. Coming back, I brushed off my feet, and got my socks and boots on. Sunshine was standing guard with Gaze, so I moved over to where they were, and sat down. Sunshine was.. kinda staring off in the distance. It was a familiar look - the kind of look my brother got when he had girl problems. K: "You're in love with Princess Cadence, aren't you?" I broke the silence that way. Gaze: *Coff* "Roight, then! Gonna.. guard o'er here.." He paced away quickly. Sunshine: "..she's out of my league, sir. I don't deserve her. She's a princess. I'm just a soldier from a lowly family." He shrugged. "A poor family." And looked at me. "There's no way in Equus I could ever be with her." K: "But.. you do love her." I nodded to him. Sunshine: "Yes, sir. With all my heart. When we.. mated.. it.. it was just the beginning, sir. It felt like.. nothing I'd ever felt before. I'm no virgin, sir, but.. that was special. Ever since then, I've been infatuated with her - not that I've let my feelings interfere with my duties. But.. over the last few days, I've completely fallen in love with her. Having Friskie along..? I felt like a father. I.. know the fantasies I had about it were wrong, but.. I imagined us as a family. And it felt.. GOOD, sir." He shrugged, defeatedly. "But.. it'll never happen. Her fate is with Shining Armor, sir.. and the secret of the Wishing Star isn't much of a secret, sir. Soldiers talk. Someone overheard. And, I know you, sir - you'll get the Wishing Star. You'll bring Commander Shining Armor back to us.. so he can become King alongside her, and lead these people.. help these people." K: "You have a lot of confidence in me, Sunshine.." I chuckled. Sunshine: "You brought ME back from the dead, sir." He nodded, with confidence. "You can bring Commander Armor back, too." What I didn't realize - and neither did he - was that Cadence heard EVERY WORD of that. That she was watching, listening.. TIME: 09:00 LOCATION: Entering Crystalpolis We walked right up to the barrier. All of us. United. And stood there. I was the dumbfuck that reached my hand out and touched it. I could feel its power - there was something there, definately. It was.. whatever it was.. powerful. Cadence: "I think I can dispell this. But that's only the first step. We need to find the Crystal Heart." She nodded.. then reached out and grasped Sunshine's hoof in hers. Sunshine: "Your Highness..?!" He looked perplexed. Cadence: "Give me a moment.." She ignored Sunshine's query. One massive flash of light later, and the.. bubble.. barrier.. whatever you want to call it, it dissepated. It felt like it drained away. That's the best way I could describe it. Like it drained away into nothingness. As we made our way into the city, at long last, all I could do was think about the battle I knew was coming. What kind of enemy would Sombra be? How tough was he? Could we find and power up the Crystal Heart in time? And if Sombra wasn't acting alone - which, given our track record, didn't seem likely - who was pulling his strings, and how were they doing it? I'd find the answers.. though part of me would regret the knowledge. {End of Part 4} Part 5: A Higher Calling TIME: 09:07 DATE: War Day 343 LOCATION: Crystalpolis As I remembered from the unauthorized previews and leaked images, the Crystal Ponies seemed dull and lifeless as we walked in. They seemed to perk up when Cadence walked by them, and as we made our way towards the Crystal Palace, we started to get some followers. Cadence was.. her power wasn't ebbing away at all. It started to grow. To gather itself. Friskie was.. living up to her name. She was animated, excited.. trotting around our legs. Twilight: "Should we split up according to the plan?" She asked, as we got near the palace. K: "Yes, but be on your guard. Sombra won't wait long, once he knows we're here. And Tirek could have forces waiting for us to do exactly what we just did." I nodded. "Girls, you stay together. Jade, Sunshine, Gorcat, with me. Lads, you and Doc Allcome stick with the Princess." I gave Gorcat a look. "Just so you know, I'm going looking for trouble." I left it off with a note of 'you don't have to come.' Gorcat: "Suits me just fine." He nodded. So, off we went. I wondered where Sombra had been keeping himself all these years. Cadence went to the palace, and started searching around there with her team, Twilight broke off to search the town area, and my group.. we went for a lengthy patrol. Someone was going to stick their fool head up and want a piece of this. Someone. And we'd be ready. Of course, I didn't expect that someone to be.. who it turned out to be. TIME: 13:01 Everything started to go belly-up right around one in the afternoon. And it proved to me just how unorganized the opposition could be - and what an advantage our own organization and discipline was. When we weren't horribly outnumbered. Gorcat: "Hey, what's that in the sky?" He pointed to a trio of dots near the sun. K: "No idea.. I can't get a clear look.." Yeah, you try shielding your eyes.. "..they're coming this way." Jade: "Equestrian troops?" Sunshine: "Not likely." The low thrumming of insectoid wings.. that sound reached us before we could get a positive visual identification.. K: "..HOW!?" Was all I could manage to get out of my mouth. "SUNSHINE!" I pointed back towards the palace. Sunshine: "Right!" He took off at a full gallop. Gorcat: "What ARE those..?" K: "CHANGELINGS!" I pointed. "SHOOT THEM!" Jade: "You don't have to tell ME twice.." Gorcat raised his Chaffee towards the sky, and opened fire on the three incoming Changelings. His fire was accurate - probably a gift of his Griffon side - and he managed to knock them down. Jade pulled a few red gems from her pouch, and flung them to the sky, making a fire arc that incinerated the little bastards before they hit the ground. Jade: "..there will be more.." She stated under her breath. K: "Withdraw. Pull back, come on!" I tapped them both and retreated towards the center of town. Most of the Crystal Ponies seemed completely oblivious to all of this, expressing only mild concern. Just as well - they probably didn't have anything for the Changelings to feed on, in them. Twilight: "K!" She was hefting her Merrill. "They're everywhere!" She pointed to three of them coming around the corner of one of the buildings. K: "This is not good." I frowned. Drawing my Hickok, I braced myself in a teacup stance (really, the only viable shooting stance with this kind of gun and trigger bar) and squeezed off a couple of shots. I got one. Jade flicked a green gem at another, it burst, and its head melted. Acid magic! Twilight shot the last one with a bolt of magic from her horn, blowing its neck out. Applejack: "HONEYBUN!" She scooted over next to me, and we were soon joined by the rest of the girls. K: "Withdraw to the palace." I pointed. "Chrysalis will make her appearance." I said, grimly. Okay - brief aside to asses our tactical situation. Most everyone had Bradleys, and had about eight magazines each. Twilight had the Merrill Commando Machine Gun, and three belts (one loaded, two spare). Applejack had another four on her. Cadence, Applejack and Gorcat had Chaffee Shotguns, and eight tubes each. Gaze, Toola and Doc Allcome had Ridgway SMG's, and twelve magazines each. Dash was borrowing my Bradley/Gavin, and Fluttershy was down to only her sidearm. Jade didn't have a firearm at all, but she had a sack full of gems to cast magic with. Still.. we were probably going to be assaulted by a whole got-dang hive of Changelings, without air support of our own. This was going to be very messy. We managed to get back to the palace in time to see Sunshine going CQH (Close-Quarter-Hoofing) on another Changeling trio. He bucked one of them in the head, flipped over his back, shot the second one in the face with his Morgan, broke the first one's neck as he landed, then whipped its body over and used it to impale the third one's horn, which he snapped off, and slammed his rear hooves down on the third one's head. K: "Sunshine!" Gaze: "Suh! Changelings're all over the place! They just sta'hted comin' oop from nowheres!" He flipped the Ridgway in his hooves, and fired off a few shots up the hallway. Sunshine: "He's right, General. It's bad." He shook his head. "I don't think we have enough ammunition." K: "Conserve your shots." I shrugged. "Cadence!" I moved over to her as everyone assembled and got into a defensive formation. "Is there anything you can do, to buy us some time?" Cadence: "...I think there is." She said with determination. "But it's going to immobilize me." She warned, pushing the Chaffee into my hands and pulling off her shotshell tube quiver. Chrysalis: "NOT IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT!" She screeched - but it was echoing in the front hall, and without light in every corner, I couldn't see her. I leaned in to Cadence. K: *Harsh whisper* "Whatever you're going to do, do it quick!" I motioned to everyone else to get into a protective position around her, as I walked out away from them. Time to be bait. "SHOW YOURSELF, BUG QUEEN!" I demanded. "HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!?" My eyes flicked this way and that, looking for any sign of her. Chrysalis: "..you can't kill me." She said, the voice echoing through the chamber. "As you said, I'm a 'bug' queen, little human. The best you can do is squash me for a little while - so long as there's Changelings, there will be Chrysalis!" Massive green bolt from nowhere, I barely managed to avoid it, and it burnt the ground so hard, the ground cracked. I traced it back towards its source, and fired off all the shots left in Cadence's mag. They hit all over the place, but all I got was stone. She was hiding in the shadows.. too well for me to draw a bead on her.. or, perhaps.. Hickok out, I spun and fired into the corner nearest me, causing a spurt of green blood to fly back and hit the wall. Teleportation! Chrysalis: "Nice shot, human, but it will do you no good." She warned. "My swarm is HERE!" *Manic laugh* True to her words, a huge swarm of Changelings started melding out of the darkness - out of every shadow, every corner.. hundreds of them.. ????: "VILE WENCH! THIS EMPIRE IS MINE!" A massive black bolt of energy hit the ground in front of me, and cut a swath through the Changeling horde. Then, he appeared in a swirl of black energy. Standing well over my head, with that spired horn, clad in armor, cracking with dark energy, was King Sombra. Jade: "Is this the sort of thing that happens regularly to you guys?" She asked, aside, to Gaze. Gaze: "Aye. Join th' army, see th' werld, foight nasty wizzards!" He glanced to me, for orders. I reloaded quickly. Mexican stand-off - three powerful factions, all ready to jump each other all at once. I pulled back towards the ring that was standing guard over Cadence, trying to think of a plan - all three of us wanted the other two dead. I just needed to stall for time. K: "And what makes you two think you're going to win?" I looked between Sombra - half surrounded by Changelings - and Chrysalis, who was up on a balcony, healing her wound. Sombra: "Because I am the most powerful.." Chrysalis: "Because I am the most powerful.." I looked between them again, and smirked. They really were at odds with each other - right down to mutual claims of dominance. K: "And which one of you has Tirek in their corner?" I asked, opening my arms a little. Chrysalis: "Tirek came to me, to ask my assistance.. he, too, will be dealt with when the time comes. I see my little gift to him was rescued - as to be expected from an incompetent like him." Sombra: "..I wouldst never permit MY Empire to bow to some ancient horror like that. HE IS NOTHING TO ME!" He bellowed, causing the Changelings nearest him to cower. Right about then, I felt the ground vibrate. Energy. Pure energy. Coming up from where Cadence was sitting, lowered to the ground on all fours. Cadence: "Now, Twilight!" In an instant, Twilight and the girls had their power jewelry on.. K: "COVERING FIRE!" I started blasting everything in range.. Twilight: "Rainbow time!" One massive bolt of energy came from the girls as they chanelled their power directly into Cadence. The Elements of Harmony feeding into the Power of Love - and together, the gigantic blast of magic that eminated from the center of our group let off a magical explosion so loud, it drown out the sounds of gunfire. Light - pure, warm light - bubbled up from them, and burst forth, making an ever-widening bubble of pure energy. So rapidly did this bubble expand - probably close to the speed of sound - that it flicked all the Changelings, King Sombra, and Chrysalis out of the Crystal Palace as though they were ants. In an instant, every negative creature inside the city, was ejected in a burst of warm, rainbow light. When I opened my eyes, I realized I was on the floor. Pushing up off of it, I looked back to see Cadence lowered to the ground, almost meditating. The girls were removing their jewelry, and putting it back in Twilight's bag. K: "That didn't kill them, did it?" I asked, a note of hope. Cadence: "No, it didn't.. and I can't keep this up forever. They're going to.. they're already trying to brute force my barrier. We must hurry." K: "Right. I'll go buy us some time." I held my hand out for Applejack's spare Chaffee magazines. Sunshine: "Not without me, sir." He stepped up. Friskie: "Nuuu! Uncle Sunshine!" She immediately clung to his back left leg. Cadence: "S-Sunshine..! You could be killed!" She.. genuinely seemed worried. K: "Sunshine. Get some spare mags." I nodded to him, and looked at the others. "Find the Crystal Heart. Restore its power. Sunshine and I are going to go confront Chrysalis and Sombra." I shrugged. Applejack: "Honeybun.." She just walked over and hugged me. "..be careful." And slid the spare magazine tubes into my (Cadence's) quiver. She turned on her heels and gave Cadence a look that I didn't see. But I think it was something along the lines of 'If you love him, you'll let him go.' Cadence: "B-Be careful.." She gave Sunshine a look. A hard.. sad.. pained look. "I-I.." She couldn't say it. Sunshine: "Princess." He bowed to her, and trotted over to me, having picked some extra mags up from Norfy, and extra Grenade shells from Rainbow Dash. As we walked towards the door, though.. Cadence: "SUNSHINE SMILE, I LOVE YOU!" She finally yelled out, desperately. I hadn't seen nor heard it, but it was Twilight, of all ponies, who pushed her to admit her feelings. Sunshine: *UH!* He turned back to face her. "Princess..?" Cadence: "I love you, Sunshine! I love you with all my heart! Come back to me! Alive. Beat them.. beat them and help me rebuild OUR kingdom." She bowed her head to him. Sunshine: "Of course, My Lady.. but first." He paced over to her, asserively. No, dominantly, and when he got over to her, he swept her into his arms and placed the most passionate kiss on her lips that I'd ever seen and had not been a primary actor in. "A Soldier always kisses his girl before a battle! For luck!" A hug, and he ran over to join me. K: "Prince Sunshine.." I smirked. "..nice ring to it.." He thumped my arm, playfully. So, we set out, for the edge of the barrier, to confront - and stall - Chrysalis and Sombra. With luck, we might even kill them. What worried me, though - no one that Tirek truly trusted had shown up. Yet. I was in for a shocker on that front. {End of Chapter 35} |