//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 // Story: A New Dragon in the Crystal Empire // by Vedues //------------------------------// The temporary meeting room for the Equestrian military wasn’t especially large or impressive. It was just a roughly rectangular natural cavern that had been carved in some places to be more even, with a crystalline table sitting in the middle, surrounded by chairs. And yet, it was obvious that Cliff had no business being here. Celestia and Luna sat at the head of the table, with Shining Armor and Cadance sharing a love seat opposite them. Both Cadance and Luna were still weak after overloading their magic fields when the Crystal Empire fell, but at least they were up and active again. Sitting opposite Cliff were several imposing figures. Spitfire, the leader of the Wonderbolts; Jadeite, the leader of the Earth Shakers; and Trixie, who spoke for the Solar Unicorns. Well, not all of them were imposing. Blueblood sat next to Trixie, looking extremely pleased with himself, while Trixie shot dark glares at him whenever he wasn’t looking. Cliff was here because that idiot had insisted that all Equestrian royals should be in attendance. Just one more reason to dislike him. Cliff himself was opposite Blueblood, near Princess Luna, with Spirit, Autumn, and Fire Claws sitting on his left, and Twilight on his right. Almost everyone had dark circles under their eyes, including Cliff. Sleep didn’t come easily these days. “Three times,” Luna said, drawing all eyes to her. “Three times Equestria and the Dragon Alliance have come into contact, and three times the result has been bloodshed. Celestia and I originally hoped to end this war peacefully, but we have discussed the matter and come to the conclusion that further efforts toward peace will only endanger the ponies of the Crystal Empire.” Celestia nodded slowly. “For now at least, we must consider this to be an actual war. We will resume our attempts at peace if and only if the Dragon Alliance shows that it would be willing to negotiate with us.” “At least we can take solace in the fact that they have been surprisingly gentle with the citizens of the Crystal Empire,” Luna said. “Unfortunately, they continue to gather them so that they can be evacuated to Canterlot.” She leaned over her notes, wincing slightly from the motion. “Shining Armor, I believe you had the most recent report from our captives?” Shining Armor nodded and rose. “Yes, all one hundred and nine dragons that the reserve army was able to capture remain under our control, thanks to our anti-magic holding cells …” Something, something, the prisoners were fine. Cliff couldn’t bring himself to care about all the stupid details that were getting tossed around. Another report about wyvern anatomy from their biologists? Wonderful, because apparently everyone needed to know the chemical composition of their tail venom. Cliff had more practical advice: don’t let wyverns inject you with their tail venom. Venom wyvern gas paralyzed soft tissues? Thanks, he figured that out when he inhaled a bunch of the stuff. Wyvern scales could be pierced by armor-piercing arrowheads? Well … okay, that one was actually good to know. Then Trixie got up to talk. Apparently she was a graduate from Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns that had caused some problems a few years back but had since been working as an honest showmare and part-time police consultant. All that, Cliff could respect. What grated on him was how much she seemed to crave attention. “Using the incredible illusions that Trixie taught them, my fellow Solar Unicorns and I have …” Yeah, yeah, brave death by sneaking into the Empire. Never mind that the Alliance was going out of its way to avoid killing anypony. No luck finding the Crystal Heart. Was it really news when nothing had changed? At least everyone seemed confident that the Crystal Heart could stand up to any punishment that the Dragon Alliance could deal out. His grandmother spoke next. Maybe it was blatant favoritism, but Cliff actually paid attention to her. “Everfree is still producing as many suits of armor as we can, but don’t expect the Equestrian Army to be fully outfitted any time soon. At most, they can finish six or seven suits a day, and we’ll need to go get them somehow. You’ll also need to tell me which groups we want to outfit and in what order, so we know which variants of the suits to build. Also, I’m putting Spirit Shield and Autumn Gem in charge of tactics and operations for the Everfree Platoon from now on.” Then Fire Claws sat down amid a round of confused mutters. Short and sweet. There was a reason Cliff always got along well with his grandma. “Silence, please,” Luna said, cutting through the chatter. “Fire Claws, would you so kind as to tell us the reason for this decision?” “They’re better at that sort of thing than I am,” the dragoness replied without bothering to rise. “Neither of them have the experience necessary,” Heroic objected. “To say nothing of the responsibility of leading troops.” She shook her head angrily. “Do you really think they can handle that kind of pressure?” “They’re right over there.” Fire Claw gestured at Spirit and Autumn. “Ask them yourself.” “Fine.” Heroic turned to the pair. “When was the last time either of you had to explain to a family that, because of your mistake, one of their loved ones would never be coming home?” “… Never,” Spirit admitted. Autumn closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. “One thousand and seven years, eleven months, and fourteen days ago. New Year’s Day, to be precise.” The entire room went silent. Even Cliff found himself paying attention. “Princess Cadance,” Autumn continued, “I’m sure you’ve heard your citizens talk about the Crystal Peasant.” Cadance’s eyes widened. “That was you?” Autumn nodded and sat up more straight. “I trust that my qualifications are no longer in question?” “Wait, who was the Crystal Peasant?” Heroic asked. Cliff was wondering that himself. It was Spirit that answered. “A legendary outlaw.” He looked at Autumn like he’d never seen her before. “No pony knew anything about her, but she ran a rebellion against King Sombra the whole time he was in power, without ever getting caught.” Autumn nodded uncomfortably. “If I may be so selfish, please do not tell anyone else of this. The legend of the Crystal Peasant is far more inspiring when it could have been anypony.” The others in the room slowly nodded. “Anyway,” Fire Claws said, “qualifications aside, this matter is wholly in the jurisdiction of Everfree Village. I only brought it up so you wouldn’t be surprised when these two start showing up at meetings instead of me.” She glanced at Cliff. “Also, a number of Everfree’s fighters are suffering from severe psychological trauma in the aftermath of our first battle. Once the Heart has been found and the Crystal Empire returned to our control, Everfree Village humbly requests that either Princess Celestia or Princess Luna aid us in returning these citizens to Everfree, where they can recover in peace.” Luna nodded solemnly. “Your request is entirely reasonable, and many of Equestria’s soldiers have been deemed unfit for duty as well. All of them shall be returned to their homes as soon as we control the Crystal Empire once more.” And suddenly Cliff felt a burning need to find the Crystal Heart. He picked up a notepad and promptly stopped paying any attention to anyone. Trixie and the Solar Unicorns hadn’t found the Heart in the Empire, so maybe it was time to start looking beyond the Crystal Empire … Eventually a hand came down on his shoulder. “Cliff, it’s time to go.” Cliff looked up at his grandmother. Everyone else in the room was standing up, like the meeting had just gotten out. “Sorry, I was just brainstorming places to look for the Crystal Heart.” She hesitated for a moment. “You should remember that I can only send home villagers that are unable to fight. Fluttershy is off of active duty, but you aren’t.” “I know,” Cliff said quietly. “It doesn’t matter.” He stood up and slipped past her. Blueblood and Trixie were arguing in the doorway, blocking anyone from leaving. Of course. “Where were you when the Crystal Empire fell?” Trixie asked. “Because Trixie was on the field, putting her life on the line to protect it.” “And a wonderfully poor job you did of it too.” Blueblood smirked. “I’ll have you know, I was training with the most elite team of fighters in Everfree Village, and we were the heroes of our most recent battle.” “You spent most of that battle curled in a ball, whimpering like a frightened puppy,” Cliff said flatly. He was so not in the mood to put up with Blueblood’s crap today. Now that they had the attention of both unicorns, Cliff said, “Will you two move?” Trixie gave Blueblood a triumphant smile. “Of course.” She stepped back to allow them through. Autumn leaned over to Blueblood and whispered, “A word of advice, your companions would be more willing to acknowledge your accomplishments if you weren’t constantly doing it on your own.” Cliff, Spirit, and Autumn walked past Trixie and started down the hallway beyond. “How’s Fluttershy doing?” Spirit asked. “No change,” Cliff answered softly. Autumn rubbed against his side gently as they walked. “We’re both sorry.” Cliff didn’t really want to talk about it. “I never knew that you used to lead a rebellion.” “Yeah, me either,” Spirit said. “Why didn’t you ever mention it before?” “Very well, we can change the subject.” Autumn gave him a sad smile. “The rebellion I started was actually rather small and short lived. The only noteworthy thing we accomplished was creating the persona of the Crystal Peasant, a normal pony who stood up to King Sombra with nothing but wit, skill, and courage. Once word of her began to spread, other ponies began to take up the mantle. Any act of defiance against Sombra was accredited to her, and so, even if one insurgent was captured, the acts of rebellion, and the legend of the Crystal Peasant, only continued to grow.” Spirit whistled. “You made up your own superhero and let her legend inspire the rest of the Empire to fight against Sombra’s rule. That’s brilliant.” He paused. “Oh, but the legend only worked if she had no real identity.” Autumn nodded. “Otherwise she could be captured, killed, or defeated. The Crystal Peasant was never actually me. Of necessity, she was simply an idea. I only brought her up so that Heroic would stop questioning us.” “Thanks for that, by the way,” Spirit said, “and I guess I can see why you didn’t bring the Crystal Peasant up before.” They reached the main cavern. Well, one of the main caverns. With over ten miles of tunnels, there were quite a few of them. This particular one was beneath the outer edge of the Crystal Empire and where about half the army had set up camp. Thousands of ponies filled the cavern. Some were busy caring for armor or weapons, but the majority of them simply relaxed or wandered aimlessly around. The numerous makeshift kitchens were busy as always, just like the blacksmiths and the tailors. “Shining Armor wants to go over some plans for locating the Crystal Heart,” Spirit said, nodding toward the tunnel that would take them to Shining’s quarters. “We’ll come say hi to Flutters once we’re done, though.” “I’m sure she’ll appreciate it,” Cliff said, turning at a walkway between one of the kitchens and a long line of sleeping bags, which led to another tunnel at the far side of the cavern. “I’ll see you then.” The tunnels between large caverns weren’t as well lit as the caverns themselves, but it was still more than sufficient for Cliff’s eyes. He followed the stone path in silence, broken only by the occasional drop of water, and echoes of noise from the cavern he was leaving behind. After a couple of minutes, he emerged into a slightly smaller cavern, though this one was completely silent. Rather than ponies, row upon row of fresh graves covered the cave floor. Cliff didn’t know why the burial cavern was in between the two occupied ones, and he didn’t care. He continued down the path, looking at the graves with a faint sense of resignation. He knew he was going to die eventually, but seeing this made it seem more real, somehow. It wasn’t even that he was particularly afraid of death. He just didn’t want to be separated from his loved ones while he waited for them to join him in the afterlife. That, and dying would probably hurt a lot. Thinking about separation brought his mind back to Fluttershy. She had to go home. He couldn’t risk letting her get caught up in another battle. Eventually he reached the third cavern. Like the first one, it was filled with ponies, supplies, and equipment. A number of wyrms were visible as well, most of them wearing their armor. He took a tunnel on his right, which curved away from the main cavern for a few hundred feet before ending in a door. On the other side was Fluttershy and Rainbow’s room—not Cliff’s. A bag containing Cliff’s armor sat in a small alcove near the door, which was the only sign that he had been living in this tunnel for the last few days. Cliff knocked on the stone door. “Fluttershy, I’m back.” -_-_-_-_-_- Fluttershy jumped at the sudden noise. “Ah!” “I’m sorry,” Cliff quickly added from the other side of the door. Fluttershy pressed a hoof against her chest in an attempt to calm her racing heart. “No, it’s okay.” “She’s just a little high strung,” Rainbow added, rubbing her friend’s foreleg soothingly. “Anyway, how did the meeting go?” There wasn’t much in the way of furniture, and so they were both sitting on their travel blankets. “… It was fine,” Cliff said. “How are you feeling, beautiful?” Fluttershy sank down onto her blanket once more, her eyes downcast. Cliff was lying. She could hear it in his voice. “I’m doing better,” she said, willing herself to believe it. She hated being so weak that Cliff was afraid to tell her the truth. Rainbow Dash settled down next to her and wrapped a wing over her shoulders. “That’s good.” Cliff’s tone said that he wasn’t fooled either. Silence descended on the trio. Fluttershy could only stare at the blanket beneath her and hate herself for feeling this way. She wanted more than anything to run into Cliff’s arms and have him tell her that everything would be okay, even if she knew it wasn’t true. She thought about his smile, and saw blood splattered across his face. The grin on his lips turned feral as young dragons cried out in agony for the parents that would never return to them. A small whimper escaped Fluttershy’s lips as she tried to force the disturbing scene from her mind. Rainbow tightened her wing around Fluttershy. “It’s okay, Flutters, we’re here for you.” Fluttershy squeezed her friend’s hoof but couldn’t bring herself to say anything back. Why was she so weak? “There is some good news,” Cliff said quietly. “After we get the Crystal Heart back, Fire Claws is going to let you return to Everfree Village.” “Hey, that is good news,” Rainbow said. “Don’t you think, Fluttershy?” It should have made her happy to hear that, but instead it just made her feel like more of a failure. She really was so useless that they were trying to get rid of her. She tried to be positive and think about seeing her other friends again, but it was hard when she knew that things would never be the same with any of them. He didn’t mention himself, Fluttershy realized. She swallowed. “You’re coming with me, right?” Silence. “… I can’t,” Cliff said eventually. A weight settled in her stomach. “No, you have to.” Fluttershy shook her head. “We promised, didn’t we? We’ll stay together, no matter what.” Does he not want me anymore? She blinked away a tear. “I wish I could, Fluttershy,” Cliff almost whispered. “I would give anything to be able to go back with you.” “Then I’ll stay here instead.” She broke away from Rainbow’s wing and rushing to the door, pressing both forehooves against it. “Please, Cliff, don’t leave me!” “I would never do that,” Cliff said firmly, “but remember how I told you what happened to me after,” he took a deep breath, “after Steel Spines and Water Drop?” Fluttershy nodded slowly, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. Steel Spines and Water Drop had been hatchlings at the Redstone Coven, where Cliff was raised. Both had gone berserk in their youth, transforming into giant versions of themselves and attacking the rest of the coven. Cliff had been among the dragons that killed them to protect everydragon else. He had never really forgiven himself for that. From what he had told her, it took Cliff months after both incidents before he could be near hatchlings again without experiencing painful flashbacks. Cliff must have taken Fluttershy’s silence for understanding, because he continued, “I know that being around hatchlings all day would have just made things worse at first. I needed to get away for a bit and let myself recover. That’s all this would be, Fluttershy, a chance for you to recover where you wouldn’t have to see wyrms and ponies in armor every day.” Fluttershy’s head lowered. Her mind could understand what he was saying, but in her heart, it still felt like he was abandoning her. “… We still have a few days until we need to make a decision,” Cliff said. “Just, promise me that you’ll think about it?” “I promise,” she whispered. Silence reigned for a moment, until Cliff spoke again, “I can take your dishes from breakfast now, unless you haven’t finished yet.” “Nah, we’re done,” Rainbow said, gathering up the plates and cups with her wings. She moved to the door. Fluttershy backed away so that it could be opened. As always, she locked gazes with her husband as soon as he came into view, and as always, scenes of death and blood assaulted her. Blood staining her coat. Unseeing eyes that still seemed to glare at her accusingly. Dozens of dragons breaking their promise to return to their friends and family alive, all because of her. She fought down her rising bile and tried to steady her shaking hooves. “I love you,” he whispered. She wanted to run to him and bury her face in his scales. She wanted it so badly that it hurt, but it was already becoming difficult to focus through the pain in her head and her growing nausea. “I love you too.” Before things could get any worse, Cliff took the dishes from Rainbow and closed the door. “I’ll,” he sighed, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” As the sound of his footsteps faded, Rainbow silently went to her friend and wrapped her in a warm hug. -_-_-_-_-_- Cliff was nearly back to the main cavern when an all-too-familiar voice reached him. “Cliff, we need to talk.” Normally it was a voice filled with enthusiasm and mirth, like the speaker was on the verge of laughing from some remembered joke. Today, it was soft, sharp, and laced with anger. Cliff whipped around. “Discord.” The draconequus stood only a few feet behind Cliff, with his mismatched arms crossed in front of his chest. A rare expression of pure anger adorned his face, but it slowly transformed into an even more frightening smile. It was the kind of look that guaranteed pain, and lots of it. “When Fluttershy told me that she wouldn’t be able to make our monthly hang-out session, I assumed that she would be helping Everfree Village gear up for war, but it never occurred to me that anydragon would be so stupid as to send her into battle!” He was practically roaring by the end. Instincts kicked in, and Cliff immediately cast Scale Armor, Energy Resistance, and half a dozen other spells to protect himself. Discord idly snapped the fingers on his eagle hand, and Cliff’s magic vanished. It wasn’t even that he ran out of willpower; the ability to cast or maintain spells was simply gone. An invisible force wrapped around the young dragon, lifting him into the air so that his muzzle was only inches from Discord’s. “Now then,” Discord whispered, “I don’t suppose you have anything to say for yourself?” Cliff tried to struggle, but whatever held him in place wouldn’t budge. He stopped after a moment and let his shoulders slump in defeat. “Just do whatever you have planned, Discord. I probably deserve it.” “Fine then.” Discord’s lion paw came up and tapped against Cliff’s forehead. The sensation that came over Cliff then was unlike anything he had experienced before. It was like throwing up, but with his mind rather than his stomach. Thoughts and memories that he had once taken in now came bursting out, leaving an unpleasant tingling in their wake. “Hmm.” Discord frowned, then returned to his usual smile. “Well, Cliff, today’s your lucky day. I’m letting you off the hook.” A massive fishing hook appeared in his hand. “In fact, I won’t even make you get on it first.” Cliff was too busy trying not to puke to say anything back. A migraine had also decided to take up residence where most of his sapient thoughts had once been. “Oh, don’t be like that. Memory reading spells leave everyone a bit dazed.” Discord snapped his fingers, and suddenly Cliff was perfectly fine, the defensive spells he had cast earlier were even active once more. He was also sitting down, they both were, in high backed chairs, each holding a cup of tea and a saucer. A long table, covered in treats, filled the hallway between them, and for some reason, Discord was wearing a large green top hat. “Now then,” Discord sipped his tea, “you do realize that Fluttershy’s recovery will be much easier if she’s away from this unfortunate war of yours, right?” It took Cliff a moment to organize his thoughts. Part of him was surprised to be alive, or at least sane. Unless Discord had actually made him insane and he just couldn’t tell. Cliff pushed that thought away as soon as it formed. Worrying about his sanity would get him nowhere when Discord was around. “If her trauma is like mine, then yes.” Cliff noticed something at the top of his field of vision. Two large black rabbit ears, which he traced with his free hand back to his own forehead. He shook his head, ignoring the way his new ears flopped around, and continued, “She can go back to Everfree as soon as we reclaim the Crystal Empire.” Discord leaned toward Cliff, resting his elbows on the table. “Are you willing to let her go, even knowing that you might not live to see her again?” “If you read my memories, then you know that I am.” Cliff looked down at his tea. Thinking about tea was easier than thinking about never seeing Fluttershy again. It was brown and opaque, unlike any tea he had ever seen before. He took a sip. Chocolate milk. Why am I surprised? “In that case, I have a favor to ask of you.” Discord produced a quill and parchment and started writing something. “Will you help me retrieve the Crystal Heart so that we can get Fluttershy out of this forsaken hole in the ground?” “You know where it is?” Cliff asked quickly. Discord nodded, still writing. “Yes, of course I’ll help.” Though he couldn’t imagine why the Lord of Chaos would need his help with anything. “Excellent.” Discord set the parchment on the table. “This note explains where we’ll be, in case anything comes up. Oh, and I should leave some key lime bars for Fluttershy. You know how much she loves them.” He snapped his lion paw, and a plate of the desserts appeared next to the note. “Wait, we’re going right-” Snap. “-now?” He was in an area of darkness that seemed to stretch out forever. Cliff sighed and looked around. Yep, a whole lot of nothing. Even the floor felt like nothing, literally. He could feel the weight of his body pressing down on his feet, but there didn’t seem to be anything beneath them. Cliff glanced down past the hem of his dress to verify it. His feet were floating in the middle of nothing. … Wait, dress? Cliff looked down again. He standing upright and wearing a blue dress with a white apron of some kind, and he was alone. “Discord, where are you?” “Right here, of course,” a disembodied voice said. Discord reappeared, floating in midair. He was purple with pink stripes, and sporting a pair of cat-like whiskers on his upper lip. “I’ll be your guide on this wonderful trip down the rabbit hole.” Cliff got the feeling that he was missing something, which was pretty standard whenever the draconequus was around. “Fine, whatever. What do you need me to do?” “What a silly question.” Discord chuckled. “All I need you to do is everything. I can help, but if we’re going to get the Heart back, you have to handle the heavy lifting.” Incomprehensible as always. Discord had been coming over to spend time with Fluttershy and the Crusaders every month for as long as Cliff had known any of them, but Cliff still couldn’t make sense of most of what Discord said or did. “I was hoping something more specific, like a set of instructions.” “Fine.” Snap. A glowing wall appeared next to them, and black and white images began to form on it. Discord pointed. “This is the layout of the main cave of the Ice Spire Clan, and this is where they’re keeping the Crystal Heart.” He traced a path from the entrance to a small chamber far to the back of the cave system. That chamber began to glow blue. “There’s just one problem, your dragon friends are quite fond of anti-magic runes, making it impossible to simply warp in and grab it.” A number of red circles appeared on the map. “I could overload them, of course,” Discord continued, “but that would set off all of their alarms, and then the Alliance would know that we have the Heart, and their entire army would be on guard when you try to recapture the Crystal Empire, and hundreds of creatures would die on both sides.” He stuck out his tongue in disgust. “I’m surprised you care.” “Life is beautiful chaos, Cliff.” Discord patted him on the head. “Why would I want to end even one life, let alone hundreds?” “Fair enough.” Cliff went back to studying the map. “So you need my help to get the Heart without anydragon noticing?” “Precisely. You see, walking through one of those runes won’t hurt you. It will just cancel any spells you’re using. All the others will see is a dragon in a cave full of dragons.” “I could still be recognized,” Cliff pointed out, “and won’t they get suspicious if they see a strange new wyrm going into a secure area?” “Whoever said you couldn’t use a non-magical disguise?” Discord snapped his fingers, and Cliff’s scales became forest green. “I just permanently change the pigments in your scales, spikes, and eyes then alter your voice box a little, and even anti-magic won’t make you go back to normal. As for going where you aren’t supposed to go, that’s simple. You’re already down there, studying the Heart.” Cliff pulled one of his head spikes down into his field of vision and found that it was light yellow. “Wait,” he paused at how different his voice sounded, softer and smoother than normal, “You’re saying there’s some member of the Alliance that looks like this and has access to the Heart?” He hated to admit it, but he was impressed. All he needed to do was walk up to the Heart, grab it, and leave. “Of course, but you can’t just take the Heart and run. There are highly trained empaths down there. They’d recognize you as an impostor before you got anywhere near the Heart.” Discord’s grin became a little unfriendly. “You know that I can manipulate time, right?” Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, Cliff nodded. “I, yes. Fluttershy told me that you took her back to see the dinosaurs a couple of times.” Discord’s grin widened. “So when I said that you’re already down there, that’s exactly what I meant. It’s a good thing that time doesn’t pass in this realm, because I’m going to need to inject a lot of knowledge about crystals and enchantments into your head.” He produced a large needle from somewhere. “Let’s get started.” Cliff swallowed and took a step back. Something told him that whatever came next wouldn’t be pleasant.