A New Dragon in the Crystal Empire

by Vedues


Chapter 13

“We’ve been marching for an entire week,” Blueblood whined. “Why do I have to walk so much?”

In all fairness, it was nearly sunset and they had been on the move since breakfast. Their surroundings, a mostly open plain with small hills and patchy forests, did little to break up the monotony. All there had been to do for most of the day was watch a building storm front to the northeast.

Fire Eyes rolled her eyes. “We’re walking because the Dragon Alliance destroyed the railroads leading to the Crystal Empire. I swear, it’s like you didn’t pay attention to Celestia’s debriefing at all.”

Blueblood looked offended. “Of course I did, and I am well aware of what those beasts did and why. However, I see no reason that a prince such as myself should be forced to walk when an easy means of transportation is available.” He nodded up at the floating mass of clouds that formed the pegasus base of operations.

The Sky Base, as they called it, looked like a giant gray sphere with a flattened bottom and a balcony of sorts extending all the way around the middle of it to give incoming pegasi somewhere to land. Not only could the base hold all thirty companies of pegasi in the army, but it only took one company of them to push it, leaving the others available to either scout the surrounding areas or just relax. Cliff was certain that Blueblood was thinking about that second option.

Rainbow Dash turned back to look at him. “Unless you’re hiding a set of wings under that giant ego of yours, a cloud base isn’t going to help you much.”

The front of the army was entering a shallow valley with some rocky outcrops on the nearby hills. A light blanket of snow still clung to the ground, stubbornly resisting the sun’s warmth.

“I know the Cloudwalking spell, you commoner, and I am simply aware of my own importance.” Blueblood stuck his nose into the air, tripping seconds later.

“I’m curious.” Fire Eyes walked past him. “Were you aware that that ‘commoner’ has saved the entire world at least five times?”

Fluttershy paused and extended a hoof to help Blueblood up.

Blueblood accepted and mumbled his thanks. “We all have a role to fill in this life. Nobles are meant to lead and rule. Commoners are meant to serve and obey. The Element Bearers were simply performing their duty by following Princess Twilight, even if she was only a minor noble for many of their exploits. She deserves the true credit for all that they accomplished.”

“Oh my Celestia!” Rainbow turned back to Blueblood incredulously. “You really think that a normal pony can never be as important as a noble because no matter how much they help the world, it was just their duty and the nobles deserve all the credit?”

Blueblood nodded. “Obviously. I can hardly see how it’s my fault that you were born into a less important role in life.”

Rainbow facehoofed. “Do you even listen to yourself talk?”

“If your purpose in life is to lead,” Cliff said, “then would you care to explain how you became a grunt soldier under the command of Fire Eyes, who is under the command of my grandmother, neither of whom have any noble blood at all?”

Blueblood didn’t respond.

“I’m on the Everfree Committee, by the way,” Rainbow said. “So that makes me one of your superiors too, and you might be Celestia’s nephew, but Cliff is Spirit’s brother, which makes him Twilight’s brother and Celestia’s son. He’s an even higher ranking noble than you are, and Fluttershy’s his wife, so she is too.”

Fire Eyes nodded. “What do you know? That makes you the lowest ranking one here.”

Blueblood froze, jaw hanging slightly open.

“Aw yeah,” Rainbow pumped her hoof enthusiastically, “what do you say to that?”

“ … ”

“Um, Blueblood?” Fluttershy stopped next to him. “Are you okay?”

“ … ”

Cliff chuckled. “I think we broke him.”

“Well, it shut him up.” Fire Eyes shrugged. “Even if we have to carry him the rest of the way, that’s a trade-off I’m willing to take.”

“Agreed,” Cliff said.

“Halt!” Celestia’s magically enhanced voice called. “We will camp in this valley tonight.”

“I guess that means we can put off carrying him until tomorrow.” Cliff looked around. The valley was over a mile across and surrounded on three sides by hills. According to his map, there was a river just over the hills to the north. Beyond it, Cliff could just make out the distant spires of the Crystal Empire.

Celestia’s voice reached them again, listing off all ninety of the ground-bound Equestrian companies, each consisting of two hundred soldiers, and where they were to set up their bivouacs for the night. The Everfree Platoon came last. They were positioned almost in the exact middle of the army, beneath the Sky Base.

Fire Eyes took off her helmet with a sigh of relief. “Alright, let’s get our tents set up before we lose the light, then we can worry about dinner.”

“I am not lower ranking than you commoners!” Blueblood shouted without warning.

Rainbow snickered. “Yes you are and a lot slower too.”

A brown wyrm with fiery red spikes approached. Like Fire Eyes, he was holding his helmet under one arm and walking on his back legs. While not quite as trim or athletic as Cliff, the family resemblance was unmistakable. “Ah, Rainbow Dash, I have a request for you.”

“Hey, Grandpa,” Cliff said.

“Hello, Cliff.” The older wyrm nodded politely before turning back to Rainbow. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that upcoming storm front.” He pointed to the wall of clouds coming in from the northeast.

Rainbow nodded.

“The pegasi commander says that most of his soldiers are exhausted from scouting ahead and pushing that cloud base of theirs. I offered to ask if you wouldn’t mind clearing it up so they can relax for the evening.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Rainbow held out her hoof. “Cliff, can you give me a power boost?”

“Of course.” Cliff took her hoof and cast a number of body-enhancement spells. “You’re good to go.”

Rainbow grinned. “Now you see clouds …” If her armor made flight any more difficult than normal, she didn’t show it. Rainbow was already at mach speeds by the time she cleared the valley. A few seconds later, she was a silvery dot in the distance.

A multicolored explosion appeared near the wall of clouds, blasting a large hole in the storm front. Two more quickly followed, leaving only a few scattered clouds in the sky.

Rainbow smashed into the ground at the same time that the noise from the Sonic Rainbooms reached the camp. She grinned widely until the noise died down. “… And now you don’t.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

A few miles away, Talon stood at the mouth of a cave system that the Ice Spire drakes had known about. Crystal, Tornado, Heart, and Thunderfang were with her, and every one of them was staring at the sky in shock.

Only two dragons seemed unaffected, Aurora, the Hurricane of Ice, and Silver Tail.

“How did they do that?” Thunderfang asked quietly. “We spent all afternoon on that storm.”

“Senior Wing Thunderfang,” Aurora said, pulling the attention of everydragon to her. “Does your plan to counteract that technique hinge on understanding its mechanics?”

Thunderfang froze for a moment, then he dropped to a low bow. “N-no, sir.”

Aurora’s expression hardened just slightly. “What is your plan to counteract that technique?”

Thunderfang paused for even longer this time. “I don’t have one, sir.”

“Then don’t speak and waste all of our time listening to you.” Aurora shifted her attention to Heart. “I allowed you to bring these four because you said that they could provide useful insights.”

“Aw, give the poor guy a break,” Silver Tail said. “There’s nothing wrong with being impressed by an interesting new technique.”

Aurora’s expression didn’t change. “A technique that could kill hundreds of our warriors. We don’t need to be impressed; we need to be able to counteract it.”

“Talon has several ideas,” Tornado said without warning.

Talon froze as every eye leveled on her. She fought off her stage fright long enough to glare at Tornado. “What makes you think that I have some ideas?”

“You always have ideas,” Tornado said calmly.

Silver Tail chuckled.

Aurora leveled her gaze at Talon. “If you have suggestions, then by all means, share them.”

Talon leaned over to Tornado. “I hate you.” Then she turned her attention to Aurora. “Well, uh, none of our spies have mentioned a pegasus technique like the one we just saw, so it must be rare. However, the Equestrians used it to get rid of what they thought was just a harmless storm front, so it probably doesn’t weaken the user very much …” Talon wracked her brain for more observations and ideas. The pony had charged straight at the storm front for at least a mile before using the technique, but they had no way of knowing if that was a necessary part of the technique. For all they knew, it could be used while standing still. What about the effects of the technique? “… A shock-wave like that would probably harm everything in its way, so the best countermeasure for right now would be to stay close to the Equestrian army. Ponies are supposed to be very loving to each other. I don’t think they’d risk letting their own warriors get caught in the blast … sir!” She dropped to a low bow.

“Adequate, and your insights into pony psychology are appreciated.” Aurora turned back to the mouth of the cave. “Heart, do you still believe that you can sneak into their camp undetected?”

Heart nodded. “Easily.”

Talon bit down on her tongue. Everything in her screamed that it was too dangerous to send Heart into the middle of an enemy camp, even if she did know several illusion and manipulation spells. But the orders of a Hurricane were unquestionable.

“Then you should start getting ready,” Aurora said. “We need to know a lot more about this army before we can attack it.”

“Hold on,” Heart said. “We aren’t here to attack. We’re here to wear them down so they don’t attack us.”

“A task that, evidently, we cannot accomplish with simple snowstorms,” Aurora replied. “The six swarms with us should be more than enough to perform a quick ambush once you have collected the information we need.”

Heart turned to Silver Tail pleadingly.

“I don’t want to waste more lives either,” Silver Tail said, “but I don’t see any way to avoid at least one battle with that group.”

“I have relatives out there.” Heart gestured toward the pony army.

Aurora arched one eyebrow. “And that will prevent the eighteen thousand ponies with them from trying to kill us?”

“No, but …” Heart sighed. “Just let me talk to them. Maybe they can convince the ponies to leave us alone.”

“It’s worth a shot.” Silver Tail hummed thoughtfully. “If nothing else, tell them to tell Celestia that I want to fight her one-on-one. It might just keep her from blasting the rest of you with her magic.”

“I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t come to that.” Heart took a deep breath and started walking toward the pony camp. “See you all soon, I hope.”

“We will begin making plans in case you fail.” Aurora glanced at Talon and the others. “You four, return to your squadron.”

“Thanks for your input,” Silver Tail added.

Talon, Crystal, and Thunderfang all bowed low and quickly retreated into the cave. Tornado followed them at a more relaxed pace.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t be more help,” Crystal said quietly.

Thunderfang sighed. “I don’t see how you could have done anything.” The tunnel they were in opened up into a massive cavern, a former gem mine, which housed nearly three thousand dragons. It would actually be a nice place to live other than the fact that it was completely exposed to enemy attacks and had no gems left. “Let’s just hope that Squad Five gets through this next battle without casualties.”

“Even better,” Talon said, “let’s hope that Heart can stop a battle from happening at all.” She was starting to envy Gemstone Aura, studying the Crystal Heart in his lab back at the Ice Spire Clan’s cave. He wouldn’t have to go to sleep again wondering if it would be the last night of his life.

-_-_-_-_-_-

The sun had well and truly set by the time they finished setting up their tents and eating a healthy, if bland, meal of travel rations. Temperatures were plummeting with the onset of night, and there wasn’t enough wood for the whole army to have campfires, even if they chopped down every tree for miles. Luckily, the Everfree Platoon had an easy solution for that.

Dragon fire could exceed five thousand degrees, more than hot enough to make small pockets of lava in the rocky ground of the valley. Lava took the place of a campfire easily enough, and though the surface crusted over in a few minutes, the spot still put out heat for several hours afterwards.

There was just one problem, the reserve army was over eighteen thousand strong, plus several thousand medics, blacksmiths, cooks, and other workers, and Everfree only boasted seventy-six wyrms, including medics and scouts.

“There you go,” Cliff croaked out to yet another group of ponies. “Come find one of us if you need it reheated.” He acknowledged their thanks and poured a little healing magic into his throat before skirting around the army’s supply wagons and heading back to Everfree’s camp.

Normally, finding his team’s tent in a sea of identical tents would have been difficult. One of the few advantages of dealing with that privileged brat, Blueblood, however, was that Cliff could just follow the whining. He cast a minor spell to increase his hearing.

“… going to outlaw camping and enforce dirt removal checkpoints throughout Canterlot. I swear, I’ll never get all this grime out of my mane.”

There they were.

“Blueblood, just shut up already!” Rainbow almost shouted. “Equestria’s soldiers all have to put up with equipment that’s tons heavier and less comfortable, and you don’t hear them complaining.” Cliff wasn’t surprised that she was back already. Her ability to breathe fire meant that she had been expected to help just like all the other wyrms, but Rainbow wasn’t known as the fastest pegasus in Equestria for nothing.

Their tent came into view. Rainbow and Fluttershy were sitting next to a lava pit outside with their helmets off, but Blueblood was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey there,” Cliff said.

Both mares turned to him.

“Heya, Cliff.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Welcome back.”

Cliff took off his helmet and gave Fluttershy a kiss. “Are you two ready to go bathe?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, as soon as Fire Eyes gets back. We’re just trying to convince our lowest ranking member in there,” she jabbed a hoof at the tent, “that he doesn’t need to take his armor off in private.”

“I am a prince, you commoner,” Blueblood said from within the tent, “and no member of the nobility would degrade themselves to the point of stripping in public.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “You do realize that you walk around naked most of the time, don’t you?”

“Do I want to know what this is about?” Fire Eyes asked, walking up to them.

“Blueblood just feels a little self-conscious about taking his armor off in public,” Fluttershy explained.

“Okay, that’s weird,” Fire Eyes said. “Anyway, let’s go. He can catch up to us later.”

A company of unicorns had dammed off a part of the river at the northern end of camp, and then some specialists had whipped up an enchantment that heated the water to a comfortable temperature for bathing. Marching all day, even during the beginning of winter, was dirty, sweaty work, and all that needed to be cleaned off if they didn’t want their soldiers catching hypothermia. A warm bath at the end of a hard day also did wonders for morale.

Most of Equestria’s forces had taken their baths while Cliff and the other wyrms were heating up lava pockets, and so the only other bathers left were from Everfree. Even so, Cliff and Fluttershy found a spot away from the others.

Cliff melted a patch of snow and sat down in the grass beneath. He deactivated his armor’s Arcsteel enchantment and started working on the clasps that held his gauntlets in place.

Fluttershy smiled at her husband. “Let me help you.” Her nimble wings started on the bindings that held his breastplate together, working quickly until the front and back halves separated and fell to the ground. The chain-mail beneath was so well crafted that it almost looked like silvery cloth.

“Thanks.” Cliff pulled off his second gauntlet. “Let me get your wing guards off. They have to be making that difficult for you.”

“Oh, they aren’t so that bad.” Still, Fluttershy deactivated her armor’s enchantment and pulled her wings back so it would be easier for him to reach the complex pieces of armor that covered her wings and feathers. A loving smile lit up her face as he worked. “It’s nice to spend time with just you, even if we aren’t exactly alone.” She nodded toward Fire Eyes and Rainbow Dash, who were apparently racing to see who could take off their armor the fastest.

“I know exactly what you mean.” Cliff lifted away what could only be called a gauntlet for wings, freeing his wife’s primaries on that side. They were in need of a good preening. “We’ve both been so busy ever since this war started, and your heat didn’t exactly put you in the mood for talking.” He smiled wryly.

Fluttershy blushed. “Oh my, I’m really really sorry about that. I don’t know what happened. I’ve never had a heat that strong before.” It was at least the thousandth time she’d apologized.

Cliff kissed her gently. “Calm down, love. I know, and I’m not upset,” he said for at least the thousandth time. The other wing guard came off, and Cliff got to work on her breastplate.

“I know, but I still feel bad.” Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief as the heavy breastplate fell away, revealing the chain-mail jerkin beneath. “That’s so much better.”

“Glad to hear it.” Cliff smiled. The boots for each of her hooves came next, followed by the metal sleeves for her legs and the pieces that protected her stomach and hips. The chain-mail jerkin that covered her body was moist with sweat, making it a little difficult to get the buttons undone. Cliff had to pull it off gently, in case some of Fluttershy’s fur was stuck in it. Last of all were the metal clasps that kept her mane and her tail in place.

Now wearing only her wedding necklace, Fluttershy pulled her braided mane around so that she could undo it. Her fur was heavily matted and damp in most places, a side effect of wearing metal armor all day.

Cliff couldn’t help but smile as he took in the sight of her. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, running his claws across her wing.

Fluttershy tried to hide behind her mane, which didn’t work so well when it was still braided. It didn’t even cover her bashful smile. “I’m really not.”

“Yes, you are.” He leaned forward and kissed her just behind the ear.

A chill breeze passed over them, so Cliff couldn’t tell if her shiver was because of the kiss or the cold.

“Go ahead and get in.” He nodded toward the gently steaming water. “I’ll be there in a second.”

Fluttershy’s only response was to finish undoing her braid and then start on the clasps around the tip of his tail.

Cliff made a show of sighing, but they both knew it was fake. Besides, unlike Fluttershy’s armor, which had a simple opening for her tail to go through, Cliff’s armor encased his tail completely. Some of those clasps were nearly impossible for him to reach without help.

Bit by bit, his armor fell away, exposing him to the cold night air. Cliff would have breathed some fire to keep himself and Fluttershy warm, but Everfree Armor was actually very vulnerable to heat when it was deactivated. Even putting it in a campfire would be enough to damage some of the more delicate enchantments.

Once everything was off, Cliff and Fluttershy wasted no time in climbing into the warm water until it was up to their shoulders.

“Ah, heat,” Cliff sighed, wiggling his toes in the fine sand of the river bottom. He pulled Fluttershy’s back against his chest and rested his chin on top of her head. “I still can’t believe that anydragon would choose to live up in the arctic like this.”

Fluttershy snuggled against him. “At least the snow is pretty.”

“That’s true. We’ll probably see a lot more of it tomorrow.” Cliff pulled back a little and began running his claws through her mane. It wasn’t as good as a comb, but the dimensional pockets on their suits only had enough room for travel rations and other necessities for the journey north. “We should reach the Crystal Empire tomorrow evening, so we can enjoy both snow and heat.”

“Yes, that will be nice.” Fluttershy frowned a little. “I hope Spirit heard from the Empire today. I’m starting to worry that something bad happened.”

Cliff nodded somberly. “That makes two of us.”

Luna had been sending updates to Celestia and Spirit every Sunday, but even though yesterday had been Sunday, they had received no word from her.

Fluttershy winced as Cliff’s claws hit a snag in her mane.

“Sorry.” He gently undid the tangle, then an idea occurred to him. Cliff took a deep breath and cleared his heart before generating six different emotions in a very specific ratio. He focused on the shape he wanted and then poured his willpower into manifesting the spell.

A small comb appeared in the young dragon’s hand, made entirely from glowing green energy.

“Oh, is that one of your new spells?” Fluttershy asked.

“Sort of.” Cliff began to run the magic comb through his wife’s mane. It worked almost as well as a real one, sorting out tangles and removing bits of dirt and sand that had somehow gotten stuck in there. “It’s actually the tier six version of Ghost Claws. Lower tier versions just create energy claws, but this one can take any shape I want, and I can decide which parts, if any, will cut.”

Fluttershy giggled.

“What?”

“You’re using an advanced attack spell to comb my mane.” She shrugged. “I don’t know why, but thinking about that made me laugh.”

Cliff had to smile. “Yeah, I guess it is kind of ironic.”

Fluttershy watched the comb for a moment. “Why is it green instead of blue, like other versions of Ghost Claws?”

“Oh, it’s reflecting the color of my magic field. Most tier six and higher spells do that.”

“I think it’s pretty, and green has a special meaning to me.” She turned around and held out her wedding necklace, a silver pendant with a star-shaped emerald in the middle.

Cliff hugged her to his chest again and planted a kiss on top of her head. “I love you.”

She leaned into the hug. “I love you too.”

They held each other for a few moments before Cliff went back to grooming his wife. Scales and head spikes were decidedly low maintenance, just requiring some light scrubbing to get them clean. Fur, hair, and feathers, on the other claw, all had to be cleaned, groomed, styled, and sometimes trimmed or plucked. The Ghost … Comb turned out to be very useful in cleaning dirt out of her tail, and after some minor changes, worked nicely on her coat as well. He let it fade, though, once he got to Fluttershy’s wings.

Learning how to preen correctly had been a long and difficult process, but it was also one of the strongest bonding rituals and shows of affection between pegasi, so he had persevered. Cliff moved from feather to feather, using his lips and tongue to straighten and clean them, just as Fluttershy had taught him. All of the primaries and secondaries were fine, but a few of the coverts did need to be plucked. Cliff carefully positioned his teeth around each of those feathers, one at a time, and pulled them free.

Fluttershy winced as he pulled out one of the larger feathers.

“Sorry.” Cliff planted a kiss on that part of her wing.

The gesture made her giggle cutely, and she motioned for him to continue.

After finishing, Cliff quickly scrubbed off his scales with a handful of sand before braving the frigid air to collect their armor. Sand worked on the metal as well, scrubbing away sweat and grime to leave the pieces fresh and bright.

Fluttershy’s hooves worked surprisingly well for the job, cupping hooffuls of sand with the internal magic that allowed ponies to hold things, and scrubbing vigorously while her wings held the metal in place. She finished with her armor quickly and helped Cliff with the last few pieces of his own.

The water was noticeably cooler by the time they finished. Cliff leaned back and looked around. A few members of the Everfree Platoon were still bathing, including Blueblood, but Fire Eyes and Rainbow were already gone. “Should we head back now?”

Fluttershy yawned. “I think so, unless you’d rather stay a while longer, of course.”

Cliff yawned too. “Actually, sleep sounds pretty good right now.”

Though facing the night air while dripping wet was a daunting prospect, a few puffs of fire from Cliff left them both dry and pleasantly warm. They took a few moments to arrange all the cleaned-off pieces of their armor on the grass just past the riverbank.

“Ready?” Cliff asked.

Fluttershy nodded and began flapping her wings. A steady current of air extended from her to the disassembled suits, amplified by her pegasus magic.

Cliff breathed a weak stream of fire into the air current, creating a primitive blow dryer. Within a minute, all of the pieces were either dry or close enough that the small hoof towels they had been issued could finish the job.

Next came the long process of putting everything back on. They had Fire Claws to thank for that. She had ordered everyone to sleep in their armor, now that they were in potentially hostile territory. The armor really wasn’t all that uncomfortable to sleep in, thanks to the Arcsteel enchantment, but it was kind of difficult to cuddle with his wife while they were both wearing full body armor.

They were just finishing up when a purple wyrm approached from the camp. Her red spikes fell down the right side of her face, reaching about to her jaw and drawing attention to her vibrant pink eyes. Suspiciously, she walked on her back legs. Most wyrms from Everfree preferred to walk on all fours when they weren't carrying something, so that they didn’t tower over their pony friends. “Hey, Cliff?”

Cliff jumped between the newcomer and Fluttershy, casting defensive spells as quickly as he could. “Who are you?” She wasn’t from the Everfree Platoon, that was for sure, and there weren’t any wyrm covens this far north. That only left the Dragon Alliance, which meant that Fluttershy could be in danger.

“Whoa,” the newcomer held up her hands, “calm down, Cliff. Stars, you never used to be this jumpy.”

“You know Cliff?” Fluttershy asked.

The dragoness looked from Cliff to Fluttershy and back again. “I’m surprised he doesn’t recognize me, actually. He’s known me since we were hatchlings.”

Cliff frowned. There hadn’t been many wyrms his age at the Redstone Coven, where he grew up. It had mostly been him and Fire Eyes, with occasional visits from … “Heart Echo?” She had the right coloration to be his old cousin, but it had been so long since he’d seen her that he couldn’t be sure.

She smiled weakly. “Yeah, been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“More than a decade.” Cliff stepped back and wrapped one arm around Fluttershy, in case they needed to get out of there in a hurry. “Now you’re with the Dragon Alliance. Is this an ambush?”

A bit of hurt flashed across her face. “I’m trying to stop an ambush, Cliff, and yes, I’m with the Dragon Alliance, but is that any worse than being an ally of Equestria?”

“Please stop, both of you.” Fluttershy broke away from Cliff and took a step closer to Heart. “You’re an old friend of Cliff’s, right?”

“My cousin, actually,” Cliff said.

“Then it’s even nicer to meet you.” She turned back to Heart and held out a hoof. “I’m Fluttershy, and Cliff is my husband.”

“You married a pony?” Heart exclaimed.

Cliff rolled his eyes. “You can drop the act, Heart. We know about the spy.” True, they didn’t know who or where the Alliance’s spy was, but they would have to be idiots not to send at least one of them to Everfree Village.

Heart’s eyes shot open. “How?”

“We have a spy of our own.” Cliff decided it would be best if he didn’t mention that their spy was Princess Luna.

Silence fell on the trio, and yet through it all, Fluttershy kept her hoof extended.

“I know that a lot of ponies are angry at the Dragon Alliance,” Fluttershy said gently, “but Celestia and Luna are trying really hard to stop this from turning into a war.” She extended her hoof a little farther. “Please? We want to be your friends.”

Heart sighed and shook the offered hoof. “I’d like to be your friend too, but I don’t know if that’s possible right now. There’s an army over there,” she gestured toward the main camp, “that would really love to see us all dead, and Luna’s out there somewhere, plotting her revenge.”

“There’s something you should know about that,” Cliff said quietly, “but first I need you to promise me something. Promise that Fluttershy isn’t in danger right now.”

Heart nodded. “I promise. Now will you please just listen to me?”

“In a second.” Cliff closed the distance between them and pulled her into a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you again, Heart! I’m sorry I didn’t show it earlier. It’s just that if you’re here then the Dragon Alliance has to be nearby and everyone from Everfree could be in danger.”

Heart hugged him back, even though he couldn’t feel it through his armor. “I would have done the same in your place.” She broke off the hug. “You’re right, though. The Alliance is hidden nearby, and they’re going to attack if you don’t convince this army to turn around and go home.”

“Then you’ll have to convince them not to.” Cliff looked around, half expecting to see an army of dragons somewhere. “Celestia and Luna have a plan that ends in everyone happy and no one dead, but we need to join up with the Crystal Garrison for it to work.”

“What kind of plan involves rounding up thousands of angry ponies to come attack us?” Heart asked incredulously.

Cliff paused and sized up his cousin. True, they had played together as hatchlings, but so much had happened since then. Could he risk giving their plan away to the Alliance? “What are you hoping will come from all this?”

Heart seemed to pick up on his distrust. “I don’t want to kill all ponies if that’s what you’re worried about. I wanted to avoid a war in general, but the Alliance needs the gem mines beneath the Crystal Empire to survive.”

“Then sit down with Celestia and negotiate for them,” Cliff said. “She wants to avoid bloodshed as much as anyone.”

“I don’t know about that,” Heart said softly. “You and I both know that she’s wiped out entire drake clans for threatening her ponies. I don’t see her being very merciful to us anymore.”

“No pony was hurt in your attack,” Cliff said. “You don’t have to worry.”

Heart didn’t reply. She didn’t even make eye contact.

“Oh no,” Fluttershy whispered. “Did something happen?”

Still no reply.

Cliff got a sinking feeling in his chest. “Heart?”

“The Council decided that Luna is too much of a threat,” Heart said at last. “I don’t know if you’re paying attention to her lately, but she wants to wipe the Alliance right out of existence.”

“She doesn’t,” Fluttershy said. “Luna was angry when she declared war, but then she calmed down and realized that the Dragon Alliance was really just afraid. She’s working together with Celestia to keep everyone safe. Even this army is just to scare the wyverns out of attacking the Crystal Empire.”

“You actually believe that,” Heart said with a look of dawning horror. She turned to Cliff. “Both of you do.”

“They told us the plan themselves,” Cliff said. “Everything we know about wyverns says that war is all they know. We have to put them in a scenario where they can’t possibly win before they’ll consider an alternative, like peace.”

Heart swallowed, obviously fighting to keep herself calm. “What would Celestia do if somedragon hurt her sister and killed thousands of her ponies?”

The air seemed to freeze around Cliff. “What did you do?”

“Is Luna okay?” Fluttershy asked. “What about Cadance, Shining, and Flurry?”

“We conquered the Crystal Empire,” Heart said weakly. “Two days ago. I don’t know where Luna is. She teleported away before Yol Toor could finish her off, and we never found the Crystal Empire’s leaders. They might have been killed in the battle.”

Cliff swallowed. “Heart,” he said firmly, “run. Take the entire Dragon Alliance and disappear somewhere for a few weeks. We’ll find Luna and the others and put an article in the newspapers or something when Celestia is calm enough that we can try for peace again.”

“Haven’t you been paying attention?” Heart asked. “The Alliance is going to attack this army if I don’t get you all to turn around and go back to Canterlot.”

Cliff shook his head. “No one in this whole army, including me, would leave Princess Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, or Flurry Heart lost and in danger in the middle of enemy territory.”

“You basically just said that Celestia is going to try and kill us,” Heart said. “Do you really think the Alliance is going to let an army of her ponies come marching up to us?”

He didn’t respond.

“Don’t make me fight you, Cliff.” Heart gripped his shoulder. “Please. You know that we can’t hide from Celestia if she really wants to find us. We’ll have to fight just to stay alive, and I don’t want you, or Grandma, or anydragon else caught up in that.”

There didn’t seem to be any way out of a fight. At least, not that Cliff could see. He glanced over at Fluttershy. “I’ll try to convince the army to leave, but even if I do, we won’t be able to move out until tomorrow morning.”

Heart’s expression fell. “Okay,” she covered her eyes with one hand and took a deep breath before lowering it, “I’ll talk everydragon out of attacking until tomorrow at sunrise, but that’s all I can promise.” Heart stepped a bit closer and whispered, “Get your wife out of here before then.”

She had seen through his bluff then. That was okay, as long as it meant that he could get Fluttershy to safety before the killing started. “I will.”

“One last thing,” Heart said in a normal voice. “Silver Tail wants to fight Celestia one-on-one. Basically, he won’t attack Equestrian warriors if she doesn’t attack dragon ones.”

Cliff nodded. “I’ll pass that along to her.” He pulled his cousin into one last hug. “Thank you, Heart, really.”

“Don’t thank me.” Heart hugged him back. “Look, I’m telling you this as a family member. I sneaked through camp before I found you two, and every pony here is angry and confident. They want to fight, and they’re sure they’ll win. If the Alliance doesn’t hit them, and hit them hard, they’ll want to pursue this war until every one of us is dead. So for the love of the Stars, be careful tomorrow.” Then she stepped away from Cliff and Fluttershy and disappeared, leaving them alone by the riverside.