A New Dragon in the Crystal Empire

by Vedues

Chapter 51

Genesis had probably agreed to Talon’s plan a little too quickly. He would be the first to admit that, and quite possibly the last.

“He ran into that house!” a pony shouted.

“Don’t let him escape!” another added.

“Not good,” Genesis said to himself, looking around frantically for an escape route. “So very not good.” If this were a cavern, Genesis would say that he was in the main chamber. Luckily ponies didn’t follow the usual dragon convention of only one entrance/exit. He could see a back door just across the chamber. He ran over and pulled it open just as the front door was kicked in by a pair of earth pony warriors.

Genesis charged outside and allowed himself a sigh of relief—right before he was tackled to the ground by a pegasus.

“Got him!” The pegasus pressed its weight firmly on Genesis’s back, pinning him down.

One flash of light later, Genesis was lying flat on his stomach in the pony house across the street from the last one. He coughed weakly. “The staff’s teleportation works as well in the field as it did in the lab. Good to know.” Of course, that also heavily drained its reserves. He’d be lucky to get a second teleport before the staff completely ran out of magic. Genesis climbed to his feet and looked around.

Shouts of surprise and anger came from the pegasus outside, but no one seemed to know where he was, and there weren’t any ponies in this house that could alert the others. Perfect. Now to figure out how under the Stars he was supposed to find Gemstone.

In all honesty, Genesis wasn’t sure why he’d agreed to the plan. Rain’s face had just popped into his mind, and he’d known that he had to act.

Genesis pressed a hand over his heart. Rain … his wife. Nearly six years had gone by since he lost her, and yet he still woke up sometimes, expecting her to be there next to him.

Sometimes he heard a voice that sounded almost like her, or saw a dragoness with similar coloration, and for just a fraction of a second he found himself hoping, pleading, that she was back somehow.

Just a few seconds to hold her tight and whisper that he loved her. That was all he wanted.

Genesis blinked away a few tears and crawled to the nearest window. Gemstone, Cliff Runner, it didn’t matter what his name was, that dragon was his friend, and Genesis would go berserk before he knowingly inflicted this kind of pain on a friend.

There was just the problem of actually finding Gemstone to warn him. Talon had said that he could simply get captured and wait for Gem to come visit him, but the Stars only knew how long that might take, and the Requiem Guard could strike at any moment. He would have to head toward the practice field the Alliance had attacked and hope that Gemstone or the Element Bearers were still nearby.

“Found him!”

Genesis looked behind him and found another pony warrior standing just inside the front door. In retrospect, he probably should have been paying more attention to his surroundings. He dove through the window and took off running.

This time he knew to expect pegasi attackers and managed to dodge two of them before he ducked into yet another pony house.

“Pardon me!” Genesis ran around two cowering ponies in the main chamber and ducked into one of the side rooms. This one was either a kitchen, a laboratory, or a torture chamber. He didn’t take the time to examine it before jumping through the window and into the small field of grass that most ponies kept around their houses.

The nearest house conveniently had a window open. Genesis scrambled through it and shut the window behind him. Ponies were shouting outside, but it sounded like none of them were quite sure where he had gotten to.

Finally, something’s going right! Genesis took a second to breathe before examining his surroundings. He was in a … Okay, so he had no idea what this room was. There was an opaque crystal floor with an extremely large bowl, easily big enough to fit a grown pony or two, off to the side and two smaller bowls on the other side, one of which was built into a counter, and the other was covered by a lid. The bowl in the counter had a mirror set on the wall just above it, and the counter itself had a number of small drawers.

At times like these, Genesis envied Heart for the time she had spent actually living in the Empire. She would know what all this was meant for. Heart wasn’t around, though, so Genesis could only assume that this was a pony grooming facility of some kind. Whatever it was, the door was shut and no ponies seemed to know he was here. Genesis quickly scrawled out a rune to recharge his staff and then started planning his next move. He would have to be careful, smart, and, above all, stealthy, but he could do this.

A friend was counting on it.

-_-_-_-_-_-

Cliff didn’t even know what he was looking at. Twenty minutes ago, the Alliance had attacked out of nowhere and retreated just as suddenly. Ten minutes ago, Celestia had come back and her and Luna had ordered them all to hold their position because an Alliance warrior was loose in the Empire. And now … this.

An entire company of earth ponies was chasing a single wyrm across the expanse of devastation caused by the Alliance’s attack. The wyrm in question was hardly the deadly assassin that Cliff had been imagining. He seemed to be panicking, actually, and he looked suspiciously familiar, even from a distance.

“Oh Stars.” Cliff groaned as the wyrm finally got close enough for him to see who it was. “I’ll be right back.” He gave Fluttershy a quick hug then shot into the air and down at his old friend.

Genesis let out a yell of surprise and threw himself to the side.

“Calm down,” Cliff said quickly. “I’m here to help.” There wasn’t time to say much else, or to see how Genesis responded. Cliff turned to the oncoming earth ponies and shouted, “It’s okay, everypony! I can vouch for this dragon!”

The earth ponies slowed, coming to a stop just in front of Cliff. One of them—a captain, judging from his armor—stepped up to Cliff and jabbed his hoof forward. “That dragon is with the Alliance. He was with them when they attacked.”

“He’s an ally,” Cliff said, risking a glance over his shoulder. Genesis had stopped running, at least, but he was looking at Cliff suspiciously. “You can confirm it with Princess Twilight if you want.”

The earth pony nearly mirrored Genesis’s expression. “Yes, I think we should do that.”

“Alright, come with me.” Cliff turned to Genesis and paused before taking off his helmet. “Come on, Genesis,” he did his best to smile reassuringly, “let’s get this cleared up.”

Genesis only stared at him for a moment, then he stepped closer. “Gemstone?”

Cliff nodded.

Genesis let out a relieved sigh and grabbed Cliff in a tight hug. “I made it.”

“Uh … sure.” Cliff patted the other wyrm on the back and exchanged a look and a shrug with the equally confused-looking pony captain.

Eventually Genesis let go, and the three of them walked to where everyone else was waiting.

“Twilight,” Cliff said very deliberately, “could you please tell this pony that Genesis here is one of our trusted friends and allies?”

Most of the group just looked confused, including Luna. Fluttershy got a warm smile; she had heard all about Genesis from Cliff. As for Celestia, well, it was impossible to tell what she was thinking most of the time, so Cliff wasn’t surprised that she just watched them with her usual calm expression.

“Huh?” Twilight asked. Then she noticed Cliff’s sudden glare. “Oh, I mean of course. It’s good to see you again, Genesis.” She held out a hoof to him.

Genesis glanced at Cliff questioningly.

“Shake it,” Cliff whispered. “And go on all fours. Ponies are more comfortable that way.”

Genesis sank down onto all fours, took Twilight’s hoof in his claws, and gave it a weak shake. “It’s, uh, good to see you again too.”

“Anyway,” Cliff said, sinking down as well and turning to the earth pony captain, “they still need help clearing the wreckage. We can handle things from here.”

The pony still didn’t look entirely convinced, but a reassuring nod from Celestia seemed to tip the balance. He bowed respectfully to each of the princesses and excused himself.

“Cliff Runner,” Luna said gently but firmly, “please explain what is going on. I met this dragon once and he told me that he was a friend of Gemstone Aura, but you never indicated that you were still in contact with him.”

“Actually, I wasn’t.” Cliff turned to Genesis. “It’s good to see you again, but why are you here?”

Genesis cleared his throat and scratched at his head spikes. “Uh, Talon asked me to come warn you.” He glanced at Celestia and Luna before continuing. “The Alliance has a plan to kill the Element Bearers.”

“You know of their plan?” Luna grabbed him in her magic and pulled him right in front of her. “What is it? We implore you, tell us everything!”

Big Mac nudged Luna’s side at the same time that Celestia cleared her throat and gave her sister a meaningful look.

“Oh,” Luna set Genesis down, “please forgive me. I became over excited.”

Genesis stumbled and fell backwards before scrambling away, only stopping when his back connected with Cliff’s armor.

“Whoa there.” Cliff grabbed his friend gently by the shoulder and leaned down to whisper in his ear frill. “I know the Immortal Sisters are a bit intimidating at first, but they aren’t really that different than Yol Toor or Silver Tail. Just treat them like with proper respect and you’ll be fine.”

“A-are you sure?” Genesis asked, glancing at Celestia and Luna nervously. “The last time I was this close to Princess Luna,” he gulped, “she kind of dropped a mountain on me.”

“I put a shield around you first,” Luna said.

“Um, excuse me?” Fluttershy must have removed her helmet when Cliff wasn’t looking. She came forward, hunching down just slightly so that her eyes were level with Genesis’s. “I know you’re scared, but it’ll be okay. Nopony here will hurt you, I promise.” She smiled.

Genesis relaxed a little, and a weak smile touched his own lips. He looked from her to Cliff. “Is she …?”

Cliff nodded. “Genesis, meet my wife, Fluttershy.” He turned to Fluttershy and smiled gratefully for her help. “Fluttershy, meet Genesis, the wyrm that kept me sane while I was with the Alliance.”

Fluttershy stepped forward the rest of the way and gave Genesis a friendly hug. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Genesis returned the embrace. “Yeah … same.” He seemed a lot more in control of himself when he let go. “Cliff, that whole attack was just a diversion. The Requiem Guard snuck into the Empire through some of the old diamond dog tunnels. I don’t know where they are, exactly, but they’re waiting somewhere to ambush the Element Bearers.”

“Cliff,” Celestia said, both her tone and her expression inscrutable, “we will need to be sure that he is speaking the truth.”

Cliff tensed a little but forced himself to nod. “Okay.” He turned to the brown wyrm. “Genesis, Celestia’s going to do a mind scan. It isn’t exactly fun, but it only takes a few seconds, and no one will be able to question your motives once it’s done.”

Genesis looked from Cliff to Fluttershy, then he took a deep breath. “Okay.” He turned to Celestia and closed his eyes.

Celestia stepped forward and touched her horn to his forehead. A faint aura surrounded them for a moment, then she stepped back and rose to her full height. “He is being honest and did not withhold anything.” She turned to Pinkie. “Twilight told me that a venom wyvern came to Everfree Village and warned you about the Requiem Guard?”

Pinkie looked nervous. “Well, I kinda, sorta, Pinkie Promised not to tell anyone about that, so I’ll have to pretend I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I understand,” Celestia said with a faint smile. “I believe her name is Talon, the same venom wyvern who asked Genesis to come warn us.”

“The Hurricanes execute traitors on sight,” Cliff said. “No wonder she wanted to remain secret.” He turned to Genesis. “Do you know if she’s working with Heart?”

Genesis shook his head unsteadily. “She isn’t. Heart’s been saying that Equestria would never accept long-term peace unless the Alliance surrenders, but Talon said Heart’s vote on the Council is too important to risk losing.” He turned to Celestia. “Please, don’t tell anyone else about Talon. The more ponies know, the better the chance that the Hurricanes find out about it.”

“Don’t worry,” Celestia said, “we will not risk harming a friend and ally.” She turned to Luna. “We should bring Cadance and Shining Armor here so that we can discuss our strategy. I fear that our usual planning room must be declared a potential trap. The Element Bearers should avoid the entire Crystal Bunker and their usual barracks, just to be safe.”

Luna nodded. “Their barracks was destroyed in the attack, but thou art correct. Go fetch Cadance and Shining Armor. I will guard the Element Bearers.”

Cliff sat down on the ground next to Genesis. “Anyway, I can’t thank you enough for coming to warn us.”

“I’m just glad I made it.” He looked at Cliff quizzically. “You look different than how I imagined you, Gem.”

“Uglier, I’m guessing.” Eyes came and knelt next to the three of them. “I’ll never understand how Cliff managed to snag one of the most famous ponies in Equestria.”

Cliff faked a sigh. “And this, I’m sorry to say, is my oldest friend, Fire Eyes.”

Genesis chuckled softly. “Nice to meet you.”

The rest of the group came forward as well to introduce themselves, even Blueblood and Luna. They wound up forming a loose circle around him. All the stares didn’t exactly help calm Genesis down, but the display of acceptance helped balance things out.

“How’s everydragon back in the Alliance?” Cliff asked. “I haven’t seen Squad Five since …” He could feel heat rising in his cheeks. “Since that battle where I captured Heart.”

Genesis looked away and his ear frills drooped.

That simple act caused a massive weight to settle in Cliff’s stomach.

“Oh no,” Fluttershy said, her voice barely above a whisper. She wrapped her wings around Genesis and gently brought his head to rest against her shoulder. “It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about what happened if you don’t want to.”

A solemn silence fell over the group, broken only by murmurs of reassurance from Fluttershy.

Eventually Genesis swallowed and looked up at Cliff. “Rune. We … lost her in the battle where Yol Toor was captured.”

Cliff’s heart sank. Rune had all but adopted him during his time as Gemstone. How was it possible that she had been dead for months and he was only learning about it now?

A pair of tears coursed down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Genesis.” He wrapped his arms around him and Fluttershy, then Twilight did as well, and suddenly the entire group had joined in, with the exceptions of Blueblood, Luna, and Zephyr.

“Thank you,” Genesis said quietly. “I know her only real regrets are that she didn’t get to finish her work on the staffs and that she didn’t get to meet the real you.” He looked at Cliff and his expression became a bit more firm. “With that in mind,” he held up a clawed hand in the cramped space between them, “it’s nice to meet you. I’m Genesis and my special talent is developing new runes.”

Cliff didn’t wipe away his tears before taking the offered hand. Rune had never been one to hold back in anything. It would feel wrong to do so now, when he should be showing his respect for the life she had lived. “Nice to meet you. I’m Cliff Runner, my special talent is body-enhancement magic, and I’d love to introduce you to some of my friends and family that I know would love to be your friends as well.”

The rest of the group all sounded their agreement.

-_-_-_-_-_-

“What does the spy have to say?” Typhoon, the Hurricane of Wind, asked.

They were back at IHQ, Talon, Tornado, Heart, Crystal, oh, and every single member of the Council. Talon was fairly certain that the anxiety would kill her before the Hurricanes found out about her latest betrayal and did the job themselves.

The code translator looked up at Typhoon and licked his lips nervously. “Well, our spy saw Genesis run up to the Element Bearers. He spoke with them, some members of the Everfree Platoon, and both Immortal Sisters. The Element Bearers haven’t moved since, and half of the Equestrian army has taken up defensive positions around them.

“Then he has betrayed us,” Typhoon shifted her gaze to Tornado, “and you, Tornado Wings of the Shattered Mountain Clan, aided him. Why?”

“He asked me to send him into the Empire on a current of wind,” Tornado said. He looked down, and his ear frills drooped. “I did not know that he would betray us. I … believed him to be a friend.” He rubbed his eyes.

Typhoon studied him for a moment. “You are telling the truth. Consider yourself fortunate; if you had knowingly aided a betrayer, you would be dead right now. Still, you failed to check with your superior before deviating from the plan, and in doing so, you may have nullified a plan that would bring Equestria to its knees, ending this war and saving countless dragon lives.”

“We should encourage our warriors to trust each other,” Silver Tail said, stepping between Typhoon and Tornado. “Tornado’s trust was betrayed, but his behavior was still something he should be proud of. I’d rather live with occasional betrayals than never trust anydragon ever again.”

“No,” Tornado said quietly. “Typhoon is correct. My mistake will cost many dragons their lives. I deserve to pay for it.” He stepped out from behind Silver Tail. “Do to me as you wish.”

“Very good,” Typhoon said. “You understand.” She turned to Talon. “Select an appropriate punishment for him, and if it isn’t harsh enough, I will choose one myself.”

Talon froze. She was the one that had come up with this whole scheme. She’d even told Genesis to ask for Tornado’s help without explaining himself at all. Tornado was so trusting that she knew he wouldn’t ask questions, saving himself from execution by virtue of ignorance. But now she had to punish him for unwittingly going along with her plan?

It wasn’t right. Tornado didn’t deserve to be punished, she did. Actually … Her eyes widened. “Tornado cares far more about his allies than about himself. He’s especially concerned about my safety. Therefore,” she took an unsteady breath, “you should inflict some punishment on me. I assure you it will have a greater impact than anything else you could do to him.”

Stunned silence filled the room.

“Talon,” Heart said, “are you insane?”

Tornado shook his head. “No, the mistake was mine. Talon has done nothing to deserve your wrath.”

“It is a rather unusual request,” Typhoon said, looking Talon up and down, “but I can see the merit in it. Very well.” She turned to Tornado. “Break a major bone in her right wing, or the Hurricane of Thunder will trigger every nerve in it that she can while keeping Talon conscious to suffer through it.”

“I,” Tornado shrank back, “I cannot harm her. Please-”

There was no warning. Talon’s right wing lit up in utter agony. It was like having her entire wing ripped apart by millions of fiery needles.

She fell to the ground, screaming in pain as she clutched her wing.

Voices were shouting.

Somedragon grabbed her.

Talon couldn’t see, though. She couldn’t think. All she could do was scream until the last bit of air was forced from her lungs.

Even then, she couldn’t stop, her mouth still open in a silent cry of agony.

Then it stopped, and she was able to pull in a gasping breath as tears poured down her cheeks.

“Now break her wing or we’ll do it again,” Typhoon said firmly. “Failure to obey harms every one of your allies. If you did not wish to harm them, then you should have checked with your superior before you went against the plan.”

Talon forced her eyes open, still gasping for breath. Her vision swam with black spots and tears, but she still found Tornado crouched at her side, surrounded by Heart and Crystal. Silently, she extended her right wing, begging him, pleading with her eyes that he would do what they asked and not make her suffer through that again.

Tears rolled down Tornado’s cheeks as well. “Harm me instead, I beg you!”

Talon collapsed, screaming as her wing lit up again.

“That’s enough,” Silver Tail said. “Tornado understands his mistake, and Talon didn’t even do anything wrong.”

“You won’t accomplish anything by hurting them more,” Heart said. “Just stop.”

“Very well,” Typhoon said, “those in favor of suspending this punishment.”

Four drake paws went up.

“Those in favor of continuing it.” Typhoon lifted her wing, as did the other four Hurricanes. “And Heart only gets a vote in the case of ties.” She turned back to Tornado. “Five against four. Your punishment continues. Now break her wing or we will continue to hurt her until you do.”

Shaking violently, Talon extended her wing once more. “P-pl-please.”

Tornado let out a helpless roar and spun around, slamming his tail down into her wing.

Something cracked, and Talon fell to the ground, too exhausted to even care what had been broken.

“I am so sorry, Talon!” Tornado wrapped himself around her like a living shield, carefully avoiding her broken wing. “I am so sorry!”

“I’ll heal you,” Heart said.

Welcome relief flowed into Talon’s wing.

“Now then,” Typhoon said, “Code Translator Steel Mind, tell our spy to contact the Requiem Guard. They need to know what’s going on. After that, have him go back to observing the Element Bearers. We need to know exactly where they are and what they’re doing.”

Steel Mind looked at Talon sympathetically before focusing on the stone rod that he used to send and receive messages, but before he could grab it and start sending the orders, the rod began to flash through a series of colors and patterns. Someone was sending a message of their own.

He stared at the flashing lights with a growing frown. The message only took a few seconds to send, and when it ended, Steel Mind turned to the group with an expression of confusion bordering on fear. “I think the situation just got more complicated. A pony guard just ran up to the Element Bearers, shouting about the Requiem Guard massacring ponies in the outer districts of the Empire. Celestia is teleporting them there now.”

Comments

[GrimmWolfDragon]

Great chapter 51.
A reunited with an old friend that was nice.
I think the dragon alliance is going to fall apart very soon.
The Requiem Guard just massacring ponies out side the Crystal Empire, so basically innocent civilians. Yeah the dragon alliance are falling apart, and this just sent a bad message.

[Arcane Howitzer]

I don't think there's anything more I can say about the Hurricanes after that display. Any just world would see them executed as war criminals.

[Hillbe]

When you punish your own troops for 'nothing' you lose the war. Time to frag the Typhoon commander.

[cosmic flash]

I hope we can have a "Nuremberg" trial for the Hurricanes when this is over.

[ArchimediesMD]

Yeeah nukes are too good for the council of five hitlers

PRIME THE REALITY BOMB!!

[AGE-00]

7748610
Oh, it's been that time for a while now. Unfortunately, the wyrms won't do it because they're too passive, the drakes won't do it because they're only as good as their word, and the wyverns won't do it because they've embraced obedience as a cultural value. I guess it'd take an angry wyrm, a drake with no self respect, or an outcast wyvern...?

[Toa Coy]

*still in dragon form*

All:... we are going to kill them

The hurricanes are just so war driven that they have lost the forest through the trees

[The Great Derpsby]

I wonder why Steel is afraid.

Maybe he fears they found a way to destroy their precious terror troopers. At which point, the Alliance is utterly -d.