Chapter 38
Spirit, Autumn, Verre, and Liberty reached their destination a few minutes later, Verre’s house. She closed the door behind her and then pointed up the stairs. “Autumn, go to your room, shut the door, and do not come out until I call for you.” Her tone made it clear that she would accept no arguments.
Autumn seemed like she wanted to give some anyway, but then she nodded unhappily, coat fading and ears pressed down against her head.
Spirit went to follow her, but a hoof caught his arm.
“No, Spirit,” Verre said gently. “Please trust me when I say that you need to stay here.”
“I’ll be okay, Spirit,” Autumn said before slowly climbing the staircase.
“Valiant,” Verre said, “go to your old study. If this family ever meant anything to you, you will stay in there until I call for you.”
Spirit hadn’t really looked at the white stallion since their scuffle earlier, and so he was surprised to see that Valiant’s eyes were red with barely suppressed tears.
“You two have always meant everything to me,” he whispered as he walked away.
His study … Spirit watched the stallion go, then looked up the stairs to where Autumn had just stepped out of sight. Finally, his gaze turned to the older crystal mare at his side. “He was your husband, wasn’t he?”
Verre nodded before directing him into the kitchen. “Yes, Valiant was my husband and Autumn’s father.” She set about opening cupboards and preparing a pot of tea. “He was also a lieutenant in the Crystal Garrison.”
Spirit silently pulled out four cups for them and heated up some water with his fire breath.
“Thank you.” Verre poured the water into an old pink teapot that she favored. She stared down at the mixture of water and leaves for a moment. “Sombra’s rise to power was short and brutal. Overnight, the Crystal Heart vanished and Princess Amore was killed. Anypony that rose up against him on that first day was transformed into crystal and shattered along with their whole family. Valiant had to lock Autumn in her room to stop her from doing it anyway. She really believed that he could be overthrown if enough ponies just fought back.”
Replacing the teapot’s lid, Verre put the pot and teacups on a small tray, which Spirit grabbed before she could pick it up herself. The gesture brought a weak smile to her face, but it faded as they moved to the front room. She sat on the couch and motioned for him to sit beside her.
“Valiant and I swore our loyalty to that monster, but we were both just waiting for the day that Celestia and Luna arrived to destroy him. Autumn would have none of that, though.” Verre poured them each a cup. “She insisted that we had to fight and hoped to use Valiant’s connections with the Garrison to learn what Sombra’s goal was and prevent him from reaching it.”
With a sigh, Verre drank from her tea.
Spirit did likewise. Lavender and chamomile, not one of his favorites, but its soothing effects would definitely be needed in the coming minutes.
“They fought horribly over that,” Verre continued, staring down at her cup. “Every night, she wanted Valiant to tell her what sort of orders he was getting from Sombra and if any other guards would help in her resistance movement. Valiant, of course, refused to tell her anything. He felt that it would just be giving her the tools to hang herself. He kept telling her to forget this talk of rebellion and focus on staying alive. What neither of us knew was that Autumn was already sneaking out at night and stirring up trouble.”
Verre took another drink of her tea, much longer this time. “Then it happened. Valiant’s company captured a group of rebels … Autumn’s rebels.” Verre set her tea down long enough to wipe away a stray tear. “They were so idealistic. Most of the group volunteered to act as a distraction so that ‘the Crystal Peasant’ could get away, not realizing that, like any good group of soldiers would, Valiant had surrounded their meeting place long before his soldiers kicked in the front door. He caught Autumn himself as she was trying to sneak out the back door.”
She tilted her head back and breathed deeply. “It was just the two of them. He could have let her go, but he knew that she wouldn’t stop fighting against Sombra. Maybe he wouldn’t be there to make sure she was captured alive next time, and so Valiant dragged her back to his fellow guards, condemning her to the mines.”
Spirit let out a long breath. He had come to terms with Autumn’s imprisonment a while ago, but his mental image of the events had always painted Liberty as a heartless puppet of Sombra. Spirit didn’t agree with the stallion’s decision, he would have been helping Autumn all along, but it wasn’t hard to see where he had been coming from. “Is that why Valiant transferred to work in the prison? He wanted to keep an eye on Autumn?”
Verre nodded. “He tried to help Autumn by giving her extra rations, sneaking her a blanket when it was cold, or other such things, but she rejected all of his offers, probably because he was also whipping her almost daily.”
“What?!” Spirit jumped to his feet as any sense of sympathy he felt for Valiant disappeared.
“Three lashings,” Verre whispered, her voice breaking, “each time she broke a rule or tried to escape. He had no choice. If one of the other guards reported that he wasn’t enforcing the rules, Sombra would have thrown us both into the mines, and then somepony else would have whipped Autumn anyway.”
Spirit took a deep breath and sat down again, clenching his hands at his sides. “She … she doesn’t have any scars.”
“After you returned the Crystal Heart,” Verre said, “I found a cosmetic surgeon in Canterlot who could remove them for good.” She took a deep breath. “Valiant and I were divorced long before then, of course. Neither of us could stand knowing what Autumn was going through. All we ever did was fight about it, until one night he lost his temper and hit me.” Her expression hardened. “I told him to get out and never show his face in my house again.” The anger in her expression and coat slowly faded away, replaced by sadness. “That was the last time I spoke to him, until earlier today.”
Spirit looked down at his tea for a moment as he tried to sort out what he should even be feeling about all this. “What now?”
“I don’t know, Spirit,” Verre said. “Being angry at Valiant for so long has been … exhausting, but Autumn still hates him so much for what he did.” She set her teacup down and let out a sigh. “I want to start over with him, though. I want to talk with him once in a while, maybe even go on a date or two. I want to see if the pony I married is still in there, but …”
“But Autumn would never accept it,” Spirit finished.
Verre nodded. “Her anger has been controlling her for years. I don’t know what bringing Valiant back into my life would do to her.”
Spirit wished he could talk to Twilight about all this. His sister always seemed to have answers for everything, but this wasn’t exactly the type of information that he should be spreading around. He tried to imagine what Twilight would say, probably something about love and forgiveness. She had forgiven Discord when he sided with Tirek, after all. Shining Armor would probably vote to forgive Valiant as well. As protective as he was of Cadance and Flurry, Shining had always said that the life of a soldier sometimes meant making impossible decisions. Cliff would … well, Cliff would track down and kill anyone that whipped Fluttershy, regardless of the circumstances.
“You deserve the chance to be happy,” Spirit said at last. “Autumn needs to accept that you can make your own choices.”
At first Verre didn’t respond, but then she nodded slowly. “She will probably want to move back to the barracks rather than chance seeing Valiant here.”
“I guess that wouldn’t be so bad,” Spirit said. “Maybe she’ll be comfortable venting to me now that I know what’s going on instead of letting that anger fester.”
“That would probably help her greatly,” Verre said. She wiped away a bit of moisture from her cheeks before taking a deep breath. “I’ll talk to Valiant first. If he is willing to try to make this work, Autumn will be next.”
Spirit stood up. “I’ll give her a shoulder to cry on until you get there.”
“Autumn is lucky to have you.” Verre stood as well and walked toward the study.
“Oh, Verre?”
She turned back “Yes, Spirit?”
“Good luck, with both of them.”
-_-_-_-_-_-
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Cliff asked, holding Fluttershy close. It was strange to be without his armor. The air flowing across his bare scales made him shiver.
Fluttershy snuggled back against his chest, even though he could feel her heart pounding. “I’m sure.”
“But I still scare you.”
Her hooves tightened around Cliff’s arms. “I want to be close to you.”
Cliff’s lab wasn’t the most romantic place to cuddle, but at least it had a nest for the two of them.
“I want to be close to you too.” Cliff closed his eyes and focused on the sensation of Fluttershy’s fur against his chest, the warmth of her body, the smell of her favorite berry shampoo, and the steady rhythm of her breathing.
In … Out … In … Out …
…
“… Cliff?”
…
“Cliff?”
He grumbled something.
“What secret were you and Discord keeping from me?”
“Wha?” Cliff jerked awake, smacking his head against the wall behind him in the process. “Ow.”
“Oh goodness, are you okay?” Fluttershy rolled over and sat up, grabbing his head in her hooves as she leaned over to inspect it.
“I’m fine.” Cliff felt the back of his head. “Yeah, nothing that even needs healing.” He gently pushed away her hooves and sat up as well. “What did you say earlier?”
Fluttershy looked away, hiding behind her long mane. “I wanted to know what secret you and Discord were keeping from me.” She looked down, idly tracing the edge of the nest with her hoof. “He used to show up sometimes and ask if you’d told me yet, but he never said what it was that you hadn’t told me.”
“I …” Cliff sighed. “I should have told you this a long time ago, but remember how Discord got the Crystal Heart back from the Alliance?”
She nodded.
“There was more to it than that …”
Then Cliff told her everything: his time in the Alliance, the friends he had made, the notes he had taken, and how he and Discord had actually come back with the Crystal Heart. Cliff didn’t even know how long he sat there talking. The words just kept coming, like someone else was in control of his mouth, until there was only one thing left to say. “… I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid that you wouldn’t go back to Everfree Village if you knew. I don’t know, maybe I was afraid that you wouldn’t recognize me as the same Cliff anymore.”
Fluttershy didn’t say anything for a moment, then she took his hand in her hoof and pressed it against her stomach. “You’re still my husband, and this is still your daughter. Nothing will change that.” She frowned a little. “But you can’t lie to me about something this big again.”
“I didn’t exactly lie,” Cliff said. “I just didn’t tell you what happened.”
Fluttershy gave him a flat look, one of her eyebrows raised.
“Okay, I lied.” He looked away. “I’m sorry.”
Fluttershy looked away as well. “I forgive you. I just didn’t want our daughter to think she can’t trust her father.”
Cliff looked over Fluttershy’s shoulder to the sonogram he always kept on his desk. Their daughter. She deserved a father that she could trust. She deserved a perfect father, really, but she was going to get him instead. At least he could do his best to be perfect for her. “Have you thought about a name for her yet?”
“Well, a little.” Fluttershy put a hoof over her stomach. “Since it was such a miracle that I got pregnant, I was thinking that, um, maybe we could call her … Miracle. Only if you like it, of course.”
Miracle. Cliff thought about it, smiling warmly. There really didn’t seem to be any other name that would match their daughter so perfectly. “I love it.” He kissed Fluttershy on the forehead. “Miracle it is.”
-_-_-_-_-_-
“How are you liking the Crystal Fair?” Twilight asked.
“It’s nice,” Zeph said, “but these crystal ponies are under so much stress.” He looked around the open field they were passing through. Crowds of ponies were milling about, eating food from the stands nearby. “I’d like to prank them, but I worry that they couldn’t handle it right now.” He shook his head. “They really needed this pick-me-up.”
“It’s hard to believe that an army of drakes is really at war with such a peaceful city,” Amethyst said. The dark-purple drake had introduced herself as the leader of Zeph’s honor guard.
“Hard to believe, but true.” Twilight paused at the edge of what used to be the largest marketplace in the Empire. It had been five weeks since the Alliance collapsed it, but the bottom was still covered in debris. Most of a house was tilted at a forty-five degree angle far off to their right, with one wall and part of a room still sitting flat on the ground just a few feet away from it. “This is what they did during their last attack.”
Zeph walked to the edge and sat down, with all six of his tails drooping to the ground around him. “Twilight, how many lost their lives here?” His normally cheerful tone was completely gone, replaced by reverent sadness.
Twilight walked forward and sat next to him. “Seventy thousand, seven hundred sixteen, more than eight times as many as have died in the rest of this war combined.”
Zeph lowered his head and motion in the air in front of him. “Peace upon you all, my friends, and may the Court of Passage guide you home.”
Behind him, the other dragons and ponies in the honor guard made the same sign and then held their bowed positions.
Twilight didn’t know exactly what they were doing, but waited silently for them to rise.
After exactly sixty seconds, Zeph rose, followed by the others.
“Zeph,” Amethyst said, approaching him and Twilight.
Unfortunately, Pinkie came running up to the group right then, shouting for Zeph excitedly.
“One second,” Zeph said to Amethyst before turning to Pinkie. “What’s up?”
“Discord’s awake!” Pinkie grinned. “He’s still really weak and small, but he’s awake!”
“That’s great news, Pinkie!” The kumiho smiled. “I’ll come talk to him in a minute. I always wanted to meet a chaos spirit.”
“Okey dokie loki, see you in a minute!” Pinkie ran back toward the fair, shouting, “Woo hoo!” as she went.
Zeph’s own smile faded as he turned back to Amethyst. “What were you going to say?”
“I can’t believe that drakes would do something as dishonorable as this.” She gestured toward the crater. “With your permission, I would like to lend my strength in helping to protect these ponies from the Dragon Alliance.”
He cocked his head to the side, as if he were listening to something. “I understand.” He turned to the rest of his honor guard. “Do you all feel the same?”
One by one, the other ponies and drakes nodded.
Zeph glanced at Twilight. “Would Princess Luna mind housing a few new warriors?”
Twilight looked from him to the honor guard and back again. “I’m sure she’d be happy to have some more soldiers on her side, but aren’t they supposed to be protecting you?”
Zeph laughed. “It’s pretty obvious that Everfree Village isn’t going to try to harm me any time soon, and the first rule of being a Kumiho Village warrior is to protect those who need it. I’d join them myself if I hadn’t already promised to take care of Fluttershy and her daughter.”
“And I can never thank you enough for that,” Twilight said before turning to Amethyst and the rest of the honor guard. “We’re working on a very dangerous plan right now, one that may also force the Alliance to surrender. I know we would all feel better if you were helping to cover our backs during that.”
Amethyst bowed. “We would be honored, Princess.”
Zeph gave Twilight a searching look. “You’re going after him, aren’t you?” he asked. “The drake who’s been fighting Celestia to a stalemate for the last three major battles?”
Twilight shivered a little at the reminder of exactly how powerful their opponent was, but she nodded. “Celestia and Luna are. How did you know?”
“You talk in your sleep sometimes.” A bit of a wild grin split Zeph’s face. “It’s been a few centuries since I got in a fight that could really challenge me.” He turned and looked to the northwest. “Fluttershy is far enough along now that I can afford to take a day off …”
-_-_-_-_-_-
Meanwhile, far to the northwest, Talon was beginning to see why the Alliance had been staying in the Ice Spire Cave ever since they arrived in the north. Aside from being a dozen miles closer to the Crystal Empire, it had also been large enough to hold everydragon, with its own water supply, and light was provided by those lava pits.
Then Equestria had tried to bring down the roof on them all, and the Alliance had been forced to move to the Shattered Mountain Caves.
Their new home was a series of smaller caves all built into the sides of a cliff-like canyon. Normally Talon would be fine with that, it kind of reminded her of the Aerie, but the Aerie had never forced her to deal with constant snowfall, or howling winds, or snowdrifts so large that they blocked off whole tunnels. Not to mention, the caves themselves were like a maze.
As though summoned by her annoyance, a diamond dog wandered into the dead-end tunnel that was the new IHQ. “Hello, queens.” He bowed low.
Talon glanced at the dog then went back to reading another spy report. “We aren’t queens. You’re an equal citizen like the rest of us.”
The dog didn’t seem to hear her. “We follow new kings and queens no matter what.”
“We appreciate your friendship and loyalty,” Heart said from her own desk next to Talon’s. “But what are you doing here?”
Well, not everything with their new situation was terrible. Heart was back, which was reason enough to be grateful.
“Here to widen cave for squadron,” the diamond dog said.
“That’s Squad Two of the Fifth Cluster,” Talon said. “Go back to the last intersection and take the second tunnel on your right.”
Heart Echo shook her head. “And there goes one of the military geniuses behind the Hurricanes’ new plan.”
“Let’s hope your cousin finishes the gem-creation rune before it comes to that,” Talon said.
“He’d better move quickly too. ” Heart slowly got up. “I should head to the Council meeting. We’re voting about the next attack, and I don’t think it’s going to go my way.”
Talon gave her a sympathetic smile. She knew exactly how unnerving it was to vote against the Hurricanes. “Just do what you can.” She watched Heart go for a moment before turning back to her work.
Equestrian approval rates for the war were still high, but Talon had noticed that they started dropping whenever the Alliance hadn’t attacked in a few weeks. The ponies were getting tired of the fighting, maybe tired enough to consider discussing terms of peace. It wouldn’t be hard to have a spy send a letter to Canterlot Palace or maybe just slip one into Princess Twilight’s mailbox …
Talon shook her head. The Council would never agree to that. The drakes would see it as a cowardly way to open a dialogue, and the Hurricanes would see it as an admission of the Alliance’s weakness, prompting Equestria to come finish them off. Talon could send the letter without getting their permission, maybe, but … no, the Hurricanes would execute her and anydragon else that willingly got involved in something like that.
There had to be some other way that Talon could help end this war peacefully. She put aside the spy report and started writing down ideas.
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has anyone commented on how assbackwards the Hurricanes are some times?
or any of the leaders in this story for that matter?
edit-
not meant as anger, just statement of fact.
So in chinese/korean mythology a kumiho is a flesh eating nine tailed fox or do I have the wrong one, and yes I know it's a bit late to be asking this
P.S a chaotic fox spirit and two alicorns teaming up sounds fun
Great chapter 38.
I feel like the big end is coming. Now that Twilight have more support on her, and the dragon alliance have their support the big one battle is coming. The dragon alliance really need to talk about peace with the pony.
Oh please let him have a real rough time in this fight! I'd love it if he had to eat those words!
7718333
Agreed. I'm up for seeing Celestia and Luna taken down a peg or two as well, since this whole situation is mostly attributable to them.
7718353
Not really. The dragons are the aggressors, while the princesses try to work out some form of peaceful resolution.
Also, they've both been taken down a few pegs already. The dragons nearly killed Celestia during their very first fight, when she was simply trying to scare them off, and she and Luna didn't have any real victories since then.
Another thing I wonder... the Diamond Dog called them queens and said the dragons were in charge now. Just what kind of deal did they work out with them? Are the dogs allies... or are they slaves now?
7718417
I would argue that cutting the dragons off from an essential resource was what started this. Celestia and Luna have perpetuated it through their arrogance (trying to intimidate an army and being shocked when it didn't work) and poor leadership ("Oh, we would pursue peace, but the opinion polls won't let us.").
And I won't consider either of them duly humbled until they've had to concede a straight fight to a superior opponent, something neither of them have the stomach for.
Hey, Talon?
You might wanna listen to this.
*still in dragon form*
Me: I no longer hear under pressure from Cliff
Robot: Oh look Drakes fighting drakes, I wonder how the DA will feel about that.
F.wolfdragon: Well that was adorable with cliff and fluttershy
M.wolfdragon: Now to blare War again because yep we going to that next