Rainbow Connection

by ahilty

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Twilight tried to calm her shaky nerves as she stared at the huge skeletal dragon that had just downed a very powerful, living version of itself. There was a bit less of the sheer terror now, mostly because this beast, though horrifying, did not resemble a pony, making it less sinister on an instinctive level. However, it was still large, and the sheer size made Twilight’s heart skip a few beats. The thing roared silently, flapped its decrypt wings, and swung its tail at the group.

The skeleton dragon’s tail swung at the group, a mountain of white bones sliding towards them. Twilight blinked as Wind Whistler dove, grabbed up Draggle and lifted her off Fizzy’s back. Twilight soared upwards and gave Draggle a push upwards to get her on Wind Whistler. At first she wasn’t sure why they had done this, but then she looked down to see Gusty and Fizzy suddenly teleport out of the way of the bones, winking up to the roofs of two nearby buildings. They must not be able to teleport with passengers. She saw Pinkie bounce away clear of the bones, and Twilight grabbed Big Mac with her telekinesis and lifted him away.

Gusty looked at Fizzy and nodded at her. Fizzy nodded back, and the two leaped off their respective roofs. As one they winked downwards near the skeletal dragon’s feet. The creature raised its claws and swiped at them, but they had already winked away to its rear, dodging the blows. The thing turned slowly, presenting its back to the others. All at once Twilight knew what Fizzy and Gusty were doing, acting as a distraction. Twilight dove close, blasting the back of the skeleton’s head with her horn. Luna added her own magic to the blow, and the skeleton staggered. Galenad dove close and slashed at the skeleton’s neck, beak cracking into the bones. The skeleton suddenly swing its claws, swatting at the griffon like it was swatting at fly, but Galenad dove between the creature’s ribs, flying into the things chest, kicking and clawing as he went.

Big Mac, who Twilight had lowered to the ground, charged forwards, giving the skeleton a mighty buck with his hind hooves, cracking a foot all the way up to the shins. The dragon attempted to move its leg, but Big Mac dove at it like a dog with a bone, pummeling at the bone and widening the crack as he went. Pinkie fired her party cannon, the cannon now apparently loaded with incredibly long streamers, tangling the skeleton’s left fingers and binding them.

The skeleton roared in anger and stamped the ground, kicking Big Mac away from itself and raising its arms. It lifted itself erect, rotating its arms like a windmill, claws and talons flashing as it tried to hit all of its assailants at once. All of them save Galenad, who clung to a rib with dogged determination, were blown back. The skeleton suddenly ripped a bone from its own rib and tossed it at Pinkie. Pinkie just managed to dodge away before the bone shattered against her party cannon, running it through. She leaped into the air; jaw falling to the earth in shock.

Gusty and Fizzy suddenly winked on the skeleton’s shoulders, each giving the skull a mighty kick at the same time. Cracks spidered against the skull, but the skeleton suddenly swept its hand against its shoulder, scooping Fizzy and slamming her against the ground. She squeaked in pain, and the skeleton slowly started to close its hand, slowly squeezing Fizzy and threatening to crush her.

“Fizzy! Wake up! Teleport!” Twilight shouted as she dove downwards. She was suddenly aware of Wind Whistler diving down until the two were side by side.

“She can’t.” Wind Whistler said, eyes focused on the hand holding her friend. “Our unicorn’s cannot wink through solid objects.”

Big Mac charged, kicking at the skeleton’s fingers, but it was clear that his efforts were in vain. Even though the fingers were splintering, the bones of the skeleton were simply to thick for even Big Mac’s strength to break in time. Twilight and Wind Whistler were almost there, but the creature’s tail suddenly swept up, knocking them aside. Big Mac whinnied in frenzy and bucked even harder, the fingers were suddenly pressing hard against Fizzy, and she screamed in pain. Even from hear Twilight could see that Fizzy was being squeezed, and hard. Soon the thing would snap her bones in half.

All of a sudden the skeleton’s fingers cracked and exploded, showering Big Mac with shards, fortunately none of them hit a vital area. However, he howled in pain and rage as it appeared that Fizzy had just been obliterated. He backed away, teeth gritted in horror.

“No!” Wind Whistler flapped her wings, attempted to right herself as Draggle shrieked obscenities at the skeleton, also enraged. Twilight felt a shudder of hate run through her as she looked at the skeleton that had just ended the life of a mare that Twilight was started to think of as much a friend as her Ponyville friends.

But then, the bone dust settled, and Fizzy slumped there, alive. Bruised and battered yes, but alive. She was surrounded by a protective pink dome, which she tapped in puzzlement as she lay on the ground, to squeezed to move right now, but still breathing.

“Twili! I got your back!”

Twilight looked down and grinned. “Shining! Cadence!”

Indeed, Shining Armor and Cadence had just emerged from the Crystal Palace, and Shining Armor’s shield now surrounded Fizzy, saving her life. Shining ran up to were Fizzy still lay, and Fizzy blinked up at him. She seemed a bit surprised, but grinned at him anyway. He blinked back at her, not sure about this strange mare, but clearly accepting her as an ally.

Wind Whistler tapped Twilight’s shoulder. “Use your magic at once. We will distract it.” Before Twilight could respond Wind Whistler reared in mid air and launched herself at the skeleton. Her wings beat fiercely, and she hovered in front of the thing’s nose for a brief instant. Draggle’s eyes launched lighting as she clung to Wind Whistler’s back, and the pegasus suddenly dipped and circled around the skeleton’s head, the creature turning its head and swiping at Wind Whistler.

Twilight ducked down underneath the creature’s chin. “Luna! Cadence! Help me!” The other two alicorn’s soared towards her. She nodded at them. “At once?”

“Agreed.” Luna’s horn flashed.

“Of course!” Cadence’s horn light up as well.

“One…two…three!” Twlight shot her magic at the cracks in the spinal bones left there by Galenade’s beak. At few moments later, Luna’s pale moon magic and Cadence’s pink magic joined Twilight’s. The skeleton roared and its head suddenly popped off, flying backwards into the Crystal Palace and shattering into a million pieces. The body collapsed, but not before its huge hand lashed out one last time, cutting into Wind Whistler’s flank and nearly relieving her of her symbol, permanently. It only missed Draggle by a hair, and it cut into Wind Whistler’s flesh almost to the bone. She gasped and landed hard, skidding a bit.

Cadence landed, face frowning in concern as she raced to Wind Whistler. She barely noticed the Ponylander’s odd shape, more concerned with her wounds. Draggle looked up as the strange pink thing ran at them and tensed, eyes flashing as she stepped between them, holding her stick defensively. Cadence stopped.

“It’s alright, Draggle, she’s a friend!” Twilight landed near them. Draggle gave Twilight a hard look, and then stepped away. She eyed Cadence with clear suspicion, but she let her come close to Wind Whistler. Twilight looked over to Fizzy and floated her close. “Bring all the wounded over here! I’m teleporting us to the medic tent!”

Surprise landed, blood drying on her coat, but she seemed to have light wounds compared to the others. From the pile of bones a eagle’s talon emerged and Galenad dragged himself from the ruins of the skeleton dragon. He laughed slightly, coughing a bit in the middle of his laugh.

“That’s a battle to tell the grandchicks…” He said as he dragged himself closer to them. “Think I’m ready for a rest now…you sure you can use your magic on all of us?”

Twilight looked up at the still bleeding, barely conscious dragon. “I can manage everyone but him.”

“I had most of the civilians take shelter in the palace, and we got a few doctors. I’ll get them rounded up, we’ll help him.” Cadence said. “You take care of the other wounded, I’ll send help as soon as I can!” Cadence smiled and launched for the palace.

“Great! We’re stationed at the south point outside the city, you can’t miss it!” Twilight said as Big Mac limped over. It seemed that only Gusty, Pinky, Twilight Draggle and Luna had escaped this mostly unharmed. Twilight spread her wings and, with a grunt of effort, teleported the group to the medic tent. A fierce tug raced through all of their bodies, and Twilight was suddenly glad for the extra power practice and alicorn magic gave her for this spell. She sighed gently as they all arrived at the front of the medic tent in a flash of purple light; no pony hurt any further from the magic.

“Medics! I can use some help!” Twilight called out. Three nurses rushed out of the tent, examining each wounded pony in turn. They quickly hustled the group into the hospital tent, dividing the group and having each of them lay on a cot, or in the case of Fizzy letting Twilight use her magic to lift her onto a cot. The tent was lined with injured ponies, some with only minor scratches, others with deep lacerations and punctures. Most of them had been stabilized, or were in the middle of being stabilized.

Twilight urged Draggle, who had come along for the ride, over to the side. The witch glared at her, and Twilight had a feeling that Draggle wasn’t going to leave Fizzy and Wind Whistler’s sides even if Twilight levitated her out of the tent herself, so Twilight stuck with making sure Draggle wasn’t in the way.

Twilight watched each of the wounded in turn. Galenad was laying there, content and apparently happy. He seemed to be only suffering from a sprained wing and a few shards of bone stuck in his fur, digging into his flesh. Big Mac was in a similar position, with a few shards sticking out of his shoulders and hips. Most of them appeared to be flesh wounds, and most had stopped bleeding altogether. In fact where it not for the shards Big Mac might as well have been just sitting around on the farm. Surprise had been slashed along her back, but the wounds seemed to be shallow, and while the blood flow did make an interesting candy cane pattern with her coat, she didn’t seem all that bothered.

It was Fizzy and Wind Whistler who seemed to be in the worst state. A great crushing pain in her chest damped Fizzy’s normal happy outlook. She hissed a bit, leg kicking out as she hunched a bit on her cot. “Hurts…” She hissed.

Draggle frowned and walked over, giving her a pet between the ears. Fizzy sighed a bit as a doctor came closer. He was a young looking cream colored unicorn. His Cutie Mark was a cracked bone encased in a cast. He frowned.

“I never worked with this kind of pony before…” He hesitated, looking at Twilight.

“Do what you can.” She said. The doctor hesitated, but nodded, his horn lighting up orange as he scanned Fizzy with an x-ray spell. His eyes narrowed and he looked at Twilight. “Is there anypony I can model?” He asked.

Twilight opened her mouth, but by that time Gusty had arrived, sweaty and panting, as she had clearly run all the way here to make sure her friends were okay. Shining Armor was right behind her, looking worried. Draggle shot Shining a rather nasty look, but by now Twilight just assumed she shot eveypony she didn’t know well a nasty look. For his part Shining didn’t appear to notice. Twilight waved Gusty over. She walked over, frowning in suspicion. Shining came and sat next to Twilight, nodding at the few ponies who took time out of their busy schedules to give the prince a brief bow.

“Relax, I just need to see what a healthy one of you looks like.” The doctor scanned Gusty with his magic. Gusty fidgeted at the feel of the foreign magic, but stayed still as the doctor looked her over. Twilight took a moment to study the spell. It was a basic spell that most first year medics knew, that she had read about in a medical journal once and memorized just in case. It allowed the user to look at the bones and skeletal structure of the patient, so they could see where to set the bones. After studying Gusty for a bit, the doctor turned, his horn lighting up orange again. He turned to Fizzy, levitating a body cast while spreading his magic to Fizzy’s body. Fizzy yelped in pain as the doctor’s magic flowed through he, and Draggle glared at him. He ignored her, instead swiftly realigning Fizzy’s bones back into place.

“Let’s see…cracked rib, cracked rib, fractured leg, fortunately it’s just a hairline fracture, but it’ll still hurt.” The doctor said as he levitated the casts onto Fizzy. “There, that should do it. Need something for the pain?”

Fizzy blinked as the casts settled around her. She had one around her ribs, to keep them in place, and another around her back leg, which had been cracked by the skeleton dragon’s claws. She nodded. “I…think so.” The doctor blinked slightly now that he got a good look at her eyes, but shook it off as he levitated a bottle next to her. “One teaspoon every five hours.” He levitated a teaspoon next to her. “I’ll be back around in a few hours to check on you, but I need to get to the next patient as soon as I’ve filled out this chart. Name?” He levitated a clipboard.

“Fizzy.”

“Uh huuuuh…and…what exactly are you?”

“Twinkle-eyed unicorn Ponylander.” Fizzy smiled.

“Ah…haaaah.” Twilight smiled a bit at the doctor’s efforts to be nonchalant. “Any known allergies, previous diseases or conditions we should know about?”

“Huh, what?” Fizzy blinked.

“She has no allergies, and the only previous condition she has suffered from is blindness.” Wind Whistler looked over. While the cream colored unicorn had been taking care of Fizzy another unicorn doctor had trotted over to Wind Whistler and was cleaning her deep wounds with a bottle of something. Wind Whistler’s wings would twitch on occasion, though from her expression she might as well have been sitting around sipping tea. She barely winched as her doctor, a mint colored mare, levitated a needle and thread.

“Blindness?” Fizzy’s doctor asked.

“My eyes were blinded, and replaced by the crystals. They help me see.” Fizzy said.

“Really? Fascinating.” The doctor said. “Anyway…” He went back to the chart.

“This is going to hurt, miss.” The mint colored unicorn said to Wind Whistler as she levitated a syringe, holding it beside the needle and thread. “But once I numb the area you won’t feel a thing.” Wind Whistler nodded at her.

“Understood, please proceed. Do mind the bow though. It is a very important feature for our kind.” The mare doctor nodded and gave her the shot, which Wind Whistler didn’t appear to feel. The mare doctor smiled gently at Wind Whistler.

“You’re very brave, miss, not many ponies would be so calm.” She said.

“What use would there be for me to panic?” Wind Whistler said. “It would only make your job harder, and cause myself further harm.”

The mare doctor nodded as her stallion cohort finished Fizzy’s chart. The cream colored stallion paused to look at Twilight. “They’re friends with that butterfly winged pony, right? The Flutter Pony?”

“We are.” Wind Whistler responded to him as her doctor began to levitate a needle and thread, stitching up her wounds and closing them. “She is hurt?” A slight wrinkle between Wind Whistler’s eyes and a slight frown were the only sign of her concern.

“I…shouldn’t say but…you two should rest.” The stallion stammered.

Gusty stepped forwards. “What happened?”

“She’s” The stallion gulped. “She’s outside to the west. Her wings were…shredded.”

“What!” Gusty reared. “What the hell!”

“Apparently the Element of Loyalty tried to combine her magic with the Sonic Rainboom. It worked, but your friend’s wings are-” The doctor backed up as Gusty turned and raced out of the tent, snorting in aggression.

Wind Whistler calmly looked at Twilight. “You should probably follow her and make sure she doesn’t start another fight with your friend. I would, but.” She nodded at her doctor, who had just finished Wind Whistler’s first cut and was going on to the next. There were five in total. Twilight nodded.

“I’ll make sure nothing happens. And I’ll check on Morning Glory for you.” Twilight said.

“I’ll check the rest of hospital, make sure everything is going smoothly.” Shining Armor stood up and nudged Twilight. “Hang in there, Twili.” He trotted down the aisle, checking the worst of the wounded ponies and paying attention to anypony that looked like he or she might be in distress. Twilight smiled and raced after Gusty.

Earlier in the day, while Twilight and the others fought the dragon, Rainbow Dash darted to the medic tent, Morning Glory slung over her back. The Flutter Pony’s eyes were half lidded, and Rainbow wasn’t sure if she was awake or not. Rainbow landed just outside the tent.

“Hey! Hey! I need some help out here!” She bellowed. Quick as a flash Fluttershy flapped out of the tent as soon as she heard her friend calling. Her eyes widened.

“What happened?”

Rainbow attempted to calm herself. “I…Rainboom…destroyed her wings! I’m so sorry!” Rainbow wailed.

“Shhhh, it’s okay.” Fluttershy patted Rainbow on the head and then stepped close to look at Morning Glory’s wings. Fluttershy bit her bottom lip. “I…think I can help you, Morning Glory.”

Morning Glory raised her head. “How? My wings are too fragile. There is little anyone can do for a Flutter Pony with wings this damaged.”

“Yes, but…taking care of animals is my special talent, not that you’re an animal but…I’ve taken care of sick moths and butterflies before. And once we made friends with Zecora…well she knows a lot about potions. She helped me make a salve that can fix butterfly wings.”

“R-really?” Morning Glory asked.

“It works only half the time, because many of the poor little things will always sort of flutter away to soon before the salve can work. But you won’t do that, right?” Fluttershy asked.

Morning Glory smiled at Fluttershy. “No, I won’t.”

“Alright, let’s find a nice sunny place for you, and I’ll go mix up the salve.” Fluttershy smiled and led them to a rock a bit away from the tent. She managed to flag down a doctor and got him to bring her some ingredients. As she was starting to mix up the salve in a small pot, also provided by a doctor, Gusty rushed up, glaring at Rainbow and about to give her a piece of her mind.

“YOU! WHAT DID YOU DO!” Gusty screeched to a halt. Rainbow snorted, becoming defensive now that she knew that Morning Glory was being taken care of.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to get her hurt, I was trying to kill that cloud!”

“And you’d thought it’d be a great idea to kill our friend along with him!?” Gusty roared.

“Gusty, I’m not dead. And if I had to do it again, I would.” Morning Glory said. “Especially know that I know it would work.”

“But your wings!”

“Gusty.” Morning Glory reached out a hoof and touched her on the shoulder. “It is alright. I promise. I knew what I was getting into. I don’t blame Rainbow, and neither should you.”

“But-“

“Gusty, they are my wings and it was my choice.” Morning Glory smiled at Gusty reassuringly. “I am fine.”

Gusty sighed and sat down. “If you say so.” She looked up as Twilight trotted up to them. She blinked at the sight of Morning Glory’s ruined wings and gasped.

“Is there anything I can do?” She asked.

Fluttershy looked up and nodded. “This should work. You can help me by spreading her wings and holding them with your magic. If you don’t mind, Morning Glory?”

Morning Glory lay on her stomach and shook her head. “Not at all.”

“Now, see if you can get the edges to match up, Twilight.” Fluttershy instructed, her normally shy tones fleeing, replaced by gentle, but somewhat stern and professional, tones. She dipped a paintbrush into the goop by her side. She lifted the paintbrush and approached Morning Glory, who watched her with trusting eyes. Twilight gently guided the frayed edges of Morning Glory’s wings, connecting them with deliberate precision. Very gently Fluttershy brushed each section of Morning Glory’s wings, going slowly so that none of it would be bent out of place. Morning Glory made no motion as the brush slowly ran across her wings. She didn’t even tremble as the two carefully worked on one wing, then the other, soaking them through and coating them entirely.

“Now all we have to do is wait a few hours. The salve will fall off on its own, and your wings should be better.” Fluttershy said. “Though I don’t recommend flying to much. You have to go easy on yourself.”

“Alright.” Morning Glory said, letting her wings settle to the ground as she let the sun dry them. “Even if this doesn’t work, I’m very grateful.”

“No more then we are indebted to you.” Cadence walked up, followed by Shining Armor and Luna. “I heard what you did for us, and what you almost sacrificed for us.” Cadence bowed. “I’m very thankful for what you have done for us.”

Morning Glory lifted her head proudly. “Flutter Ponies are not cowards. We just don’t fight when we think we will win, and we never abandon our friends.”

“Of course not.” Cadence blinked. “I’ve never met a pony like you before.”

“I’m the only one in Equestria, the rest are back home in Dream Valley.”

“I’m growing concerned myself.” Luna said. “Celestia should have been back by now. I’m taking some of the guard to fetch the mirror and bring it back here. We must make contact with your people, Morning Glory, Gusty.”

Gusty nodded. “Yeah, sounds good to me. I’d feel better if we all were together. Somehow I don’t think Arabus is the end of this.”

“Until then, I’d like you all to stay in the Crystal Palace with me and Shining.” Cadence smiled. “At least until you are feeling better.”

“I’m sure most of us will be honored.” Morning Glory said politely. Gusty just sort of shrugged. She lived in a palace before, and they really didn’t impress her.

Still, it would be nice to relax a bit before they headed home.

The Equestrian forces had suffered minimal causalities, a fact that somewhat surprised Twilight. She was grateful that most of the soldiers had survived the battle, but she still felt as if they were still missing a bigger picture. Even as the wounded were transported to hospitals around the Crystal Empire, and even when she and her friends, old and new, were invited into the Crystal Palace and giving pretty much anything they wanted or needed within reason, Twilight still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was still wrong.

She couldn’t’ figure out what could be wrong though, so for the moment she put it in the back of her mind until she could figure it out. She spent the next few hours, while Morning Glory’s wings dried, talking to Shining and Cadence about what had happened so far.

“Hmmm, I’m going to talk to a few of the Crystal Ponies, most of them must have been alive during the time Equestria and Dream Valley were linked.” Cadence said. “Maybe they can help us get them back home.”

By the time Fluttershy deemed it was alright to move Morning Glory, Luna had apparently stopped to lower the sun and raise the moon. Twilight was glad that Luna could apparently still preform the sister’s royal duties. She wasn’t sure if she or Cadence could do it, alicorns or no. She sighed as they arrived in the Crystal Palace, and Cadence showed them a set of rooms they could choose from. It didn’t surprise Twilight that the Ponylander’s choose to all pile into one rather large room. All except Morning Glory. She said she wanted to find a balcony and look at the stars.

“Thanks.” Twilight had said. “It’s nice that more ponies are enjoying Luna’s night.”

“What?” Morning Glory blinked.

“Oh, sorry, forgot your people don’t raise the sun and the moon.” Twilight said. It was an odd concept for her to grasp. Sure it happened in odd magical places like Everfree, but Twilight wasn’t used to the idea of ponies living without controlling the weather.

Morning Glory, for her part, was confused by the idea that a pony could control the night. In the end she just kinda shrugged and went off to find that balcony.

“Princess.” A Crystal guard walked up to Twilight. “Princess Luna has returned with the mirror. Something appears wrong. She wants to talk to you.”

Putting Morning Glory out of her mind, Twilight followed the guard to the side chamber that Cadence, Shining and Luna had placed the mirror. A few guards linned the walls, but Twilight barely spared a glance for any of them. Standing with the royal family were a pair of crystal unicorns, who were tapping at the stones that lined the mirror’s frame. The mirror looked dark to her, as if the surface was a deep pool of darkness. Luna was tapping the surface with her hoof, frowning.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

“The mirror is deactivated, but not from this side.” Luna circled it. “All the crystals appear to be intact.”

“Is it like the mirror leading to Canterlot High?” Twilight asked.

“In some ways, yes.” One of the crystal unicorns, a bright marble colored fellow, looked over. “Hello, Princess. My name’s Distance. I helped stabilize this mirror when it was first created a thousand years ago.”

“Do go over it again, Distance.” Luna asked.

“Very well.” Distance nodded. “Before King Sombra and Discord the Crystal Empire was a place of magical discovery. We held the most prolific magical Academy at the time, and were the envy of even the unicorn tribe. My mentor, Bright Eye, developed the theory of dimensional travel. Equestria was young at the time, and the tribes had just united, and the unicorns were starting to aid us in our efforts, when previously they had been rivals. The project jumped forwards ahead greatly when Clover the Clever volunteered to help us. Our first prototype was actually the Canterlot High mirror, but it was considered ineffectual due to its dependency on moon cycles, and its bad habit of changing the forms of whoever stepped through. Added to this was the fact that the Canterlot High world was quite savage at the time, and it was considered to risky to try and colonize or befriend the creatures there. This one is far more advanced, and it doesn’t alter a pony’s body. Or anything else’s body.”

“What was the original intent of the mirrors?” Twilight asked.

“Originally the project was meant as a form of transportation, like trains today, only far faster. It utilized a kind of solid rainbow that can pass through space at an almost instantaneous speed. It was proven that the rainbow technology was too powerful to be used for such sort distances as between cities. It’s sort of the equivalent of using a stone club to break open a peanut. Yes you would break the peanut, but at the cost of smashing the nut. But we found that we could travel much greater distances with the technology, even breaking through dimensions. Eventually we created our second prototype, this mirror. It landed us in Dream Valley. After a few misadventures with the monsters there, Clover made contact with Queen Majesty the First, the monarch of Dream Valley. After which another mirror was made on their side, to stabilize the connection, and the Dream Valley ponies became our allies. This continued until the rise of Sombra. We didn’t want him to have access to the mirrors, so this one was transported to Equestria in secret, after which Princess Luna and Celestia.” Distance nodded at Luna. “Sealed Sombra away.”

“The mirror stayed in Equestria with us until the Nightmare began to influence me.” Luna said.

“So, does that mean you can reconnect the mirrors?” Twilight asked.

“Unfortunately I was a mere lab assistant when Bright Eye and Clover created the mirrors, though Clover did make some notes she left behind. Bright Eye was one of the first to rebel against Sombra and...” Distance scuffed the ground with his hoof. “The notes they left behind were either spirited away, or destroyed so Sombra couldn’t have access to the Rainbow Bridge. We couldn’t let him find and attack Dream Valley. I’m not sure where they were hidden. As for myself, I don’t know the combination that leads to Dream Valley.”

“Combination?”

Distance pointed to the gems encrusting the frame. “There is a spell that activates each gem. A certain pattern will send the Rainbow across dimensions or space to the destination. Technically if we used the right pattern we could view Dream Valley right now and be there within the second. The second mirror is only used as a permanent anchor to Dream Valley. You can just activate the main gem up here.” He tapped a large crystal ball sitting at the very top of the mirror. “And it sends you to Dream Valley instantly, but if you have the combination for Dream Valley it isn’t needed. It will take a day for the bridge to recharge so you can send another Rainbow, as they are a bit unstable. The second mirror also eliminates that issue as well. Unfortunately without the combination or the other mirror working…” Distance shrugged.

“But you worked on it before, surely you must know the combination?” Twilight asked.

“Princess, between Sombra’s rule and the fact that I was a very young colt, and never given the combination in the first place, all I can do is try as many combinations as I can and try to find Dream Valley. But there are an infinite number of universes out there. I could be searching for the rest of my life.”

“Aren’t there any hints to the combination at all?” Twilight asked.

“Maybe if you searched Clover’s old quarters, she was given a space of her own here.” Distance said. “She might have left a clue.”

“I'll work on that, and you can work on the combination. Hopefully one of us with break through.” Twilight smiled at Spike, who was on her back, snoozing. He was a bit tuckered out. “I’d best start tomorrow though…” Normally she would have dove into the research, but after the dragon even she was looking forwards to sleep.

“Indeed, I’d hate to be responsible for making our newest princess collapse.” Distance smiled. “I’ll get to work on this while you rest.”

Twilight nodded and bide them all a good night. As she walked back to her quarters she passed by the others rooms. All of them seemed to be asleep, and she guessed it was the middle of the night. She shivered, as she suddenly felt a slight chill in the air. She gasped, wings thrashing as she slipped on an iced up portion of the ground. She blinked.

“What’s all this ice doing here?” She wondered. Spike yawned himself awake. “Wha?” He muttered.

“Look at all this-“

“GET AWAY YOU BULLY!”

“Fluttershy!” Twilight’s wings flared. Her timid friend rarely used that tone, and when she did something was wrong. She lifted into the air, Spike clinging to her back, and flew down the hall. She gulped as she noticed the ice increasing the further she went, as did the cold.

Something was defiantly wrong.

While Twilight had been talking to Distance about the mirror, Morning Glory had been stargazing outside. She had wanted some alone time after all of the fuss the others had been making. She just wanted to relax and not think about the possibly of never flying again. She wanted to trust Fluttershy. She liked Fluttershy. She seemed very low key compared to the other intense Equestrians. Sure Pinkie was nice. Rainbow seemed nice, and Princess Twilight seemed nice. But they were all so…intense. It was hard for Morning Glory to feel comfortable around them.

She idly wondered what would happen if Fluttershy was wrong. What if her wings never healed? She didn’t want to think about it, but the thought kept creeping into her mind. She shivered, as the night suddenly turned cold.

“Well well, fancy meeting you here…Morning Glory?”

Morning Glory started and turned her head. She had thought she was alone on this balcony. She blinked. There was another Ponylander, but one that Morning Glory wasn’t familiar with. At least not until the pony stepped into the moonlight. Morning Glory stood up. “You’re…a Princess Pony?” She studied the other pony’s hat, only the Princess Pony’s had hats like those, and this was clearly a Ponylander pony. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

“No, no we haven’t. But I do know a few things about you.” The Princess pony was a dark, almost black navy blue, rather like the night sky, and her mane was dark red. Her back was kept in the shadow, so Morning Glory could not see her symbol. Morning Glory shivered as the cold grew more intense, and she could suddenly see that the strange pony’s fur was covered with small ice shards, and her hooves seemed to spread ice. The ice pooled at the bottom of the princess ponies’ hooves.

“Who are you?” Morning Glory asked. She was confused, and scared. There was something wrong about this pony.

“Royal Blue. You were responsible for killing the cloud demon…tell me, Flutter Pony…if I pinned one of you against the wall, can I have a Flutter version of a butterfly collection?”

“Wha-“ Morning Glory managed to say before ice spikes suddenly shot towards her from Royal Blues hooves. She eeped and darted away, her hooves skidding on the icy ground. Morning Glory turned to leap through the door, but a wall of ice shot up, blocking her. “No! Stop! What are you doing?!”

“I can’t tell you how fun this is. So this is why…hehehe…” Blue giggled as she taunted Morning Glory, making ice shoot up inches from her, only to retract them as Morning Glory scrambled away, only to shoot up more in new places. “Never knew it would be so much fun to watch you squirm! I’ll have to do this more often.”

“No, stop, please!” Morning Glory pleaded, but Blue just laughed.

“Your kind really are useless without your wings!” She laughed again.

“S-s-stop. You’re scaring her.”

Morning Glory looked up to see Fluttershy land near Royal Blue, avoiding a spike of ice as she went. “P-p-please?” Fluttershy asked. “She’s had a long night.”

“Oh has she?” Blue laughed and launched ice shards at the timid pegasus. “Maybe you would like some ice as well!”

Fluttershy ducked, squeaking in fear as ice surrounded her, making a sharp cage around her. Royal Blue laughed and suddenly shot a far more accurate shard at Morning Glory, hitting her on the leg and pinning her leg to the wall.

“This is going to be fun. Why don’t you watch me nail your friend to the wall. Then you’re next. How about that?” Royal Blue smiled at Fluttershy, then lifted another ice shard, aimed at Morning Glory’s other leg.

“No.” Fluttershy gasped in horror at the sheer cruelty of the suggestion. “Don’t.” She began to glare as the ice rose up to impale Morning Glory’s leg. “Don’t…you…DARE!”

Fluttershy suddenly kicked through the ice and buzzed her wings. Blasting through ice like a battering ram she leaped between Blue and Morning Glory. Her wings spread wide, her body drawn up and tense. Her neck arched and her eyes bugged. “GET AWAY YOU BULLY!” She bellowed, her eyes seemed to grow even wider, and all of a sudden her body seemed to radiate with a dominating aura as she gave Royal Blue the Stare. She didn’t like to give other ponies the Stare, but sometimes it happened of its own accord, though it was rare that she used it on ponies. Perhaps it was because of what Royal Blue was doing to her friend. Maybe it was working because a Ponylander was just alien enough for the Stare to work. Whichever the reason Royal Blue found herself ducking her head in submission and backing away.

“How DARE you attack my friend! How DARE you try to kill her! Were you raised in a CAVE!?” Fluttershy ranted. “You take away all of this ice right now, young lady, or I’m going to be very very cross with you!” With each word Blue cringed lower, and her ice sort of shriveled and melted, running along the balcony and dripping off.

At this point Twilight and Spike flew through the now melting doorway, avoiding stepping in the water for fear of tripping. She hovered, watching Fluttershy staring down a strange Ponylander. She looked over and saw Morning Glory nursing a bleeding leg, and she dove down to check on her.

“Are you alright, what happened?” Twilight asked.

“She…attacked me. I don’t know why!” Morning Glory said.

“Changeling!” Twilight turned and blasted Royal Blue with a Changeling Reveal spell, but the spell did nothing, save for startling Royal Blue out of the Stare. She snarled and drew herself up.

“No, no Changeling.” She said. “I just came to give a little message.”

“What is going on…a Princess?” Wind Whistler slid in, her hooves sliding on the water before she gave up and hovered instead, like Twilight hade. She looked down at Royal Blue. “Royal Blue…what is wrong with you?”

Royal Blue smiled. “I just came to tell you something.”

“Your appearance. It is wrong…what has happened?” Wind Whistler frowned.

“Tirac.” Royal Blue grinned wide. “Has something to say to you.” She laughed. “I win.”

“What?” Wind Whistler blinked. “Tirac is dead.”

“Not anymore.” Royal Blue pulled out what looked like a hand mirror from a sack on her back. Wind Whistler dove at her, but she waved the mirror, and a small cut appeared in the air. Royal Blue stamped her foot, and a wall of ice appeared between her and Wind Whistler. Wind Whistler had to pull up before she collided with the wall. “I wouldn’t come back to Ponyland if I were you. Unless you want to come serve our Master willingly.” She stepped through the strange cut, which sealed behind her.

“Hey, come back here and fight, you coward!” Spike shook his fist at the area where Royal Blue had disappeared, sneering.

“What was that?” Morning Glory asked.

“That thing was from Ponyland, right?” Twilight asked.

“She…is one of the guardians of the Heart of Ponyland. There are six Princess Ponies that guard the Heart of Ponyland from evil. They are…were allies. She did not look like that before, nor did she use her snow magic like…that.” Wind Whistler landed. “She mentioned Tirac…he must somehow be back…or at least something has taken on his name.”

“If he did that to a Princess Pony…oh no!” Morning Glory gasped. “The Heart is in danger!”

“What exactly is the Heart?” Twilight asked as Spike tilted his head, listening as well.

“The Heart of Ponyland is an ancient relic, that prevents Ponyland from completely falling to evil. As long as the Heart remains pure, there will always be hope that Dream Valley will not completely fall to evil. While there have been times where the Valley was mostly filled with darkness, the Heart always served as a light against it, keeping hope alive. The more of us that keep true to our ways in the Valley, the brighter and full of life it becomes, and Heart becomes strong. However, if you corrupt the Heart, all of Ponyland will revert back to its darkened state. Reviving the Heart, and giving six of her kin the job of protecting the Heart, was the first act Queen Majesty did when we returned to Dream Valley, and for years it has helped us protect it.” Wind Whistler frowned slightly. “If Royal Blue is…like that, then something or someone must have gotten to her, and perhaps the Heart.” She looked at Twilight. “We must return to Ponyland as fast as we can.”

Twilight fluttered her own wings. “I was just talking to the Crystal Ponies. We know how the mirror works, but something just have happened to the other mirror.”

“Mirror…that princess had a mirror…a small one.” Morning Glory said. “It looked like it almost created a small rainbow path.”

“The Crystal Ponies mentioned rainbow power as a way to travel between Equestria and Dream Valley. The enemy, Tirac or whoever, must have figured it out before we did!” Twilight snorted. “That must be how that other witch, the one on their side, is keeping contact with the Changelings. And how they managed to get a cloud demon from Dream Valley here to threaten the Crystal Empire!”

“It is worse then that.” Wind Whistler said. “Think about it. Kidnapping, or at least luring, your foals away. Then your two friends. Then your sun princess? Using the Changelings to cause trouble between our two groups, having us waste time fighting. We would have been working on the mirror problem ages ago if we all weren’t running around blaming each other for things the others didn’t do. And then just as we get on the same page Arabus shows up, and stronger then before? I doubt the one behind this expected Arabus to win, but he did expect Arabus to slow us down. The fight was far to easy from the start.”

“Slow us down…so he can get to the Heart of Ponyland!” Twilight spread her wings in alarm. “And we fell for it!”

“Indeed…we must get home. We must warn the Estate. It may not be to late to go to the Royal Paradise and prevent a disaster.” Wind Whistler said.

Twilight’s wings snapped back to her body. “She said…that this Tirac’s message was ‘I win’. Wind Whistler he may have already succeeded!”

“We must try. I will not leave my friends to the Night that Never Ends. Would you?”

Twilight bite her lip, and then shook her head. “No. Never.” But the sinking feeling in her gut told her that it was already to late. But they had to try.

They had to.

Comments

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Ah, I hate it when I fall behind on great fics. Anyway, glad to see Morning Glory healing up. I think Gusty backed down a bit too quickly, but that's me. ;) Awesome action in the beginning, too.

[Leave a Whisper]

What a close call but they have to get back pronto!