//------------------------------// // ???: Plainsong // Story: A Time of Reckoning: Seven Days in Sunny June, Book IV // by Shinzakura //------------------------------// A pony walked through a winter wonderland, as white powdery snow blew into drifts, carried about by the light breeze. The pony looked oddly at the snow, then at the summer sun above, then back at the snow that hadn’t melted in the past few days. It had been here since the airship dropped her off at the edge of this miles-long winter wasteland, and it didn’t look like it was going away anytime soon. One thing she knew, though, was that it was black magic, terrible and pure on a scale she hadn’t seen before. This had been how things had gone in the past few days since they’d all returned from Sibearia, when Luna met them to give Raspberry Beryl an assignment as the Archmage of Equestria for the Dark Arts. A century of the guard had been put at her disposal, as well as two of the most reliable mages that were available for a mission. And so now, she was put in charge of investigating a quandary that had so far confused her. As she climbed a fallen spar of ice, she looked to her side at something hidden under her weather saddle and packs. Her side glowed with black energy, something clicked and then suddenly a haunting guitar droned in the background, along with other musical instruments as a voice gently sang along. “I think it’s dark and it looks like it’s rain, you said And the wind is blowing like it’s the end of the world, you said And it’s so cold, it’s like the cold if you were dead And you smiled for a second….” Raspberry felt a tap on her withers, then turned to see a guardspony speaking to her silently. That is, she couldn’t hear him over the sound of the plaintive singer. “Oh, sorry!” Raspberry said, popping off her headphones and using her magic to hit a button on the white device. “What is that?” the guardspony asked. “Oh, it’s called an Empeethree player or something like that,” the unicorn said. “It’s a gift from a friend, and it plays music. Right now I’m listening to some songs by a band called The Cure, and it’s kinda nice in that elegiac way.” “That plays music?” She nodded. “I’d tell you more, but it’s classified. All I can say is that it’s a gift from one of Princess Celestia’s top spies abroad.” As the truth about Sunset was still not widespread and the townsfolk of Ponyville sworn to their usual secrecy – not that they’d likely tell anypony anyway – the unicorn’s brief return had been buried until the solar alicorn could come up with a better way to reintroduce her surrogate daughter back to ponykind. “I see,” the guardspony said in a way that indicated he absolutely did not. “Anyway, Archmagus, I was ordered to let you know that we finally broke through the ice barrier and found Rolling Hills…well, what’s left of it, anyway.” Raspberry looked around at the snowy hilltops, so beautiful and yet so unnatural right now. “Were there any survivors?” the mulberry unicorn asked, and the guard shook his head. “I see. Well, I’m dutybound to investigate. Let’s go,” she commented, following him down the freshly dug path, walking past the massive walls of ice that had been melted through by unicorn guard magic, and looking down towards the ruins of the town of Rolling Hills, nestled in a small vale not too far from her hometown of Lonesome Dove. “Hell of a way to be back home again,” she sighed, commenting to herself. Hours later, an exhausted Raspberry walked into the saloon back in Lonesome Dove. She was followed by an EUP lieutenant wearing Solar Guard division armor. A burly earth stallion by the name of Sarsasparilla Mug looked at her and waved, his handlebar mustache wobbling as he spoke. “Heya, Razz. How’d things go?” “Could be much better, truth be told,” she admitted. “We’ve given up on any chance of finding further survivors and have moved on to decedent aftercare,” she said, using the distasteful yet polite term. “I know it’s a little late, but is dinner still available?” “Oh, absolutely!” Sarsasparilla said with a nod. “Anything in particular?” “Just whatever’s the house special. And one for my lieutenant as well,” the mulberry pony insisted, nodding her head to indicate the other pony present. “You got it! Two House Specials, coming up.” Raspberry sighed in contentment as she sat down at one of the tables, taking the time to remove her packs, saddle and cloak. “Oh, so that’s what feeling light is like,” she joked. “Almost forgot.” The other pony, an armored pegasus mare with light-amber fur, a three-shade-blue mane and yellow eyes nodded. “It can be quite trying, your grace,” she answered. “You don’t have to do that, Indy,” Raspberry told her. “You’ve known me since we were foals, you know.” Lt. Indigo Zap looked at her commander with an even look. “We were never friends, your grace,” Indigo stated. “In fact, I was one of the schoolfillies who taunted you the most, as I recall.” “That’s in the past,” Raspberry insisted. “Water under the bridge and all that. So please drop the formality?” “I cannot, your grace,” Indigo continued. “I’m on du—” She quickly stopped as Raspberry levitated her helmet off her head. “Now you’re not. And I was saying, we’re adults now. I became who I am, and you went on to the Guard Academy and became a highly-decorated officer. We’re not the foals we were and we never will be. So, we can change.” “But…can you forgive me?” “Already did,” the unicorn said with a smile, as another pony approached. “And here’s another pony I’d like to talk to. I haven’t had a chance to thank you for letting my troops set up shop in the town square, Shady.” Shady Tourmaline nodded; at the moment, the old earth pony mayor was with Captain Javelin of the Lonesome Dove town guard. He waved at her. “No problem, Razz. After the refugees from Rolling Hills started coming in, we made sure to clear the square to make room for the guards we knew would come to investigate. I’m just glad I wasn’t wrong.” Javelin nodded, her short mane bobbing in time with her nod. “My troops are at your disposal, Razz. In fact, the few survivors from the Rolling Hills town guard now report to me, so I’ve effectively doubled my forces. Are we up against anything like what happened the last time you were here?” “Well, my lieutenant was just about to give me a report, so you’re more than welcome to listen. Indy, if you please?” “Well, well, well! Look who made lieutenant!” Javelin said with a laugh. “Almost seems like you just made ensign yesterday.” “You know her, Javelin?” Raspberry asked. “Oh yeah – Indy’s my kid sister,” the muscular earth mare replied. Indigo shrugged. “Hey, sis.” “That’s Captain right now, Lieutenant,” Javelin said, and Indy flushed with embarrassment. “Hey, just kidding, little sis. Seriously, though, why don’t you tell us what you found?” “Sure,” Indigo said, relaxing again. “This morning the archmagus and I arrived at the Rolling Hills site, where the advance group managed to finally break through all that ice to uncover the place. The town was frozen over by a massive glacier, the kind you usually find in the Empire; anyway, it was magically created and it looked as if it wasn’t about to disappear anytime soon. We went in and found that most of the building there had either been crushed by the ice, or had received extensive fire damage…a few of them were still even burning, despite the cold and the ice. Magical fire, obviously.” Indigo slunk her head as she added, “There were no survivors.” “That’s where you’re wrong.” Indigo looked up at Javelin and a smile came across her muzzle. “About half the town managed to make it out alive, thankfully. We have refugee tents set up at Glass Ruby park for all of them.” She then looked at Raspberry, adding, “Good thing you asked us to build it into a park and not a summer mansion – we really needed that space after all.” Raspberry perked at the words. “There were survivors?” Shady nodded. “Why I’m here: wanted to know if you wanted to meet with their leader, the town’s vice mayor. Have a meeting with her tomorrow, and if you’ve got the time, I’d love to have you there.” “That’d be great,” Raspberry replied. “I’d also recommend having the other two mages accompanying us join in as well,” Indigo suggested. “As it is, they volunteered to continue their part of the investigation. I’ve detailed Sgt. Siege Engine’s squad to keep an eye on them.” “And what about your courier?” Raspberry asked. Indigo laughed. “Your precious little cargo should arrive safe and sound, Razz. Per the last word from the garrison, Sgt. Lemon Zest departed this morning. She’s one of my best flyers and she’s not easy to take down. She even has a little Wonderbolt training, though she didn’t make the cut for other reasons.” A few seconds later, Sarsaparilla came out with a tray on which two huge bowls of corn chowder rested. “Guess everypony will be wantin’ the special?” he asked. “Couldn’t hurt. Also, I think we should probably move to the largest table you have, too.” Later that night, Raspberry was in the room that she’d been given by Shady. She’d set out the last of her things and was just about to call it a night when there was a knock at the door. “Come in,” she said, and the door opened, with two unicorn mares walking in, both wearing saddlepacks and looking exhausted, as if they’d worked themselves to the bone. “Sorry for bothering you; we just got back and we thought we’d give you a report while it was fresh in our minds,” the first said. She had a light thalo-blue coat, with a mane of ice-blue and white that ended in pigtails. She also wore red horn-rimmed glasses that were currently smudged. “Feeling a little exhausted, so I know I’m going to probably oversleep in the morning.” “Lucky you,” the other one drolled, “as I can never sleep in, no matter how much I want to. Can’t help but be an early riser.” This one was turquoise in tone, with a short mane in two-shades of violet. When they’d been introduced, Raspberry had been instantly reminded of the pictures she’d seen of Twilight Sparkle’s mother, Twilight Velvet. This later made sense as the unicorn in question, Sunny Flare, was Twilight’s cousin on her mother’s side. “Anyway, we went through everything but the mines, and we found that there’s no chance that what befell the town was in any way an accident. The spells are pretty much alicorn-grade, or something that at the very least would exhaust a senior mage, maybe even an archmage like you or Twilight back when she was a unicorn.” “Not necessarily – a spellcaster specializing in pyrothurgy could have done this,” Sugarcoat pointed out. “Yes, but the chances of them working with a glacithurgist is rare, given the volatility of their disciplines,” Flare countered. “Besides, it’d be easier to just burn the buildings and make it look like a freak thunderstorm – occasionally, lightning storms do get out of control from pegasus weather teams, so it’s not unheard of.” “True,” Sugarcoat admitted, removing her glasses to wipe them against her coat. “So either we’re dealing with elemental forces doing this, or most likely black magic. My bet’s on the latter, so much so that if you weren’t on our side, you’d probably the top candidate, Razz. No offense.” “None taken,” Raspberry sighed. “As it is, I had The Agency – whatever that is – bothering me on a daily basis until Princess Celestia told them to knock it off.” “Funny, I’d heard they were disbanded,” Flare said. “Nope,” Sugarcoat stated. “My ex-coltfriend used to be part of the Agency before he got a new position with the Crystal Guard. Apparently, they were just doing some weeding of bad seeds and sending some agents into deep cover.” She looked at Raspberry. “Wouldn’t surprise me if they have a deep cover agent or two in Ponyville just to keep an eye on Princess Twilight and you.” “Anything else I need to know about what you found at Rolling Hills?” Raspberry asked, eager to change the subject. “Nothing comes to mind at the moment. Indy said you were going to interview survivors tomorrow – that still on the agenda?” “Yes, and I’d like you both there. Too many folks are worried about the guard presence, and having mages there might calm everypony down a little.” “I’d like to get a head start on the mines tomorrow,” Sugarcoat suggested. “Besides, Flare’s far more the social breezie than I am, so she’s the better pony to have around for this.” “Not a problem!” Flare insisted. “Good. You two get a good night’s sleep and we’ll go over plans in the morning.” “Sure thing, Razz,” Sugarcoat replied as she headed towards the door. “Night!” “Thank you for taking the time to meet with me, Vice Mayor Sabistar,” Raspberry said to the newcomer as they hoofbumped. She was an exceptionally tall earth mare, much like the residents of Saddle Arabia. She had a fire-orange coat, a pink-and-white mane and blue-green eyes. “That’s an unusual name you have, if I may say,” the unicorn commented. Sabistar laughed. “You can just call me Sabi, your grace,” the mare stated, “as my name is the Saddle Arabian word for desert rose. You see, my grandfather was from Saddle Arabia and fell in love with a local mare during his travels. He never returned home, and my family has had Saddle Arabian blood since. As for my name, it’s both the word for desert rose, and the name of a legendary heroine of Saddle Arabia who protected her people from camel bandits.” Shady then gestured them all to his conference table. “So, Sabi, what can we do to make the burden on the Rolling Hills refugees easier?” “We’d like to return home as soon as we can,” Sabistar told the group. “We need to bury the dead and decide on rebuilding.” “We already took care of that for you,” Flare informed the earth mare. “Infectious diseases are too high of a risk in situations such as these, and the last thing you want is a hoofrot outbreak happening. More importantly, your fallen deserve better than to lie around rotting. The guards and I spent a good part of yesterday using spells to encase them in crystal to prevent further deterioration. We then moved the coffins into one of our tents so they could be identified and buried once your folks are ready.” Sabistar’s eyes began to tear up. “Thank you,” she sobbed. “I couldn’t bear leaving my beloved husband behind, but I had on choice – I had to protect our children and the townsponies!” She looked at the table, tears filling her eyes. “I feel like an utter failure.” Shady looked at her. “Don’t even say that. Your quick thinking saved dozens of lives, and I’m sure Pickaxe would have never said you were a failure – you’re a hero to all those ponies that survived.” Raspberry produced a kerchief for Sabistar, floating it over to her. “I’m sorry to bring this up, but I need to know: Did you see anything that could have indicated how the attack happened?” “No! That was the thing!” Sabistar yelped. “Fire and ice rained down from the sky, as if it were coming from the sun and moon itself! Our town mage, Blazing Shield, tried to deflect it all, but there was too much coming! It punched through her shields and….” The mare looked away and was silent for a few seconds before continuing. “Once she was gone, then there was nothing to stop the barrage from cutting us down. Pickaxe started to evacuate the mine, while Mayor Saddlespur and I started to round the townsponies up and get them out of town. Then Spur was killed and it was all that I could do to make sure that I got as many ponies as possible to safety.” Sabistar started to bawl, and Flare immediately moved in to embrace her. “Thanks for your cooperation,” Raspberry told the soul-wounded mare. “I know it couldn’t have been easy.” She then turned to Flare. “We need to get back to Rolling Hills. We still haven’t checked the mine, and the answers may lay there.” As she headed to the door, Shady looked at the mulberry mare, whispering, “Didn’t want to say this aloud, but you know of anything that can get them back home soon, Razz? I know how she feels, and I know I’d be just as burnt if it was us stuck in Rolling Hills.” Raspberry looked at the heartbroken mare as Flare let go of the embrace. “Start building them homes here in Lonesome Dove,” Raspberry advised in hushed tones. “The magic in that iceberg is so powerful, it’s going to take a decade or two to start melting naturally, unless Celestia uses the sun directly against it. And even if then, there’s nothing left.” Raspberry looked at Sabistar once more before adding, “But I will see that those ponies get justice, Shady. You have my word on it.” A quick thirty minutes of steady galloping later, and the two unicorns arrived at the split canyon crevasse that was the western entrance to Rolling Hills. As Raspberry came to a stop, Flare came to a halt a couple of minutes later, sweat-soaked, exhausted and clearly on the verge of collapse. The other mare all but crashed against her superior, who had to turn to catch her. “When…did you become…gasp…an earth pony?” she exasperated between breaths. “I spent a long time on the run, Flare,” Raspberry told her. “When that happens, you pretty much end up in the best shape possible. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’m the Crown’s archmagus for black magic, I probably would’ve been recruited by either the Agency or one of the branches of the military. And while yes, I tend to be earth pony fit, thankfully I’m not bulked out to Tartarus like Bulk Biceps. That poor stallion’s a walking wall of muscles and magical enhancers, I swear.” “Razz!” At the foot of the trail, Indigo Zap waved to her. Next to her was her second-in-command, Ensign Sour Sweet. The earth mare had an alternating friendly and abrasive attitude towards everypony, but she’d once told Raspberry why: She was the sort of pony that didn’t want to see her guardsponies injured or worse, and if that meant having them more terrified of her than potential enemies, so be it. “Heya, you two,” Raspberry commented as she approached them. “Having a good morning?” Indigo started. “Just got back from a perimeter check, hoping to find any indicator of who did this. There’s no sign of encampments, which means that the perpetrator used long distance magic spells, well beyond standard-range. Ballistic-range spell have almost no use outside of combat, which means that we are dealing with some bad juju here.” Sour, for her part, smiled, the smile on the light-gold pony seemingly out of place against her two-tone rose and aquamarine hair and hard indigo eyes. “See, knew Indy could figure it out!” The smile turned to her more natural frown as she grumbled, “Took fucking forever, but she figured it out.” Indigo bristled at that. “Sour, save that shit for the junior troops, okay?” “Have to keep in form, Lieutenant – don’t want me to get rusty, do you?” Sour said with a wink. “Besides, I recall a certain friend of mine that needed that ‘encouragement’ once or twice while we were in the Academy. Furthermore, I may only be an earth pony, so my knowledge of combat magic may be summed up in the words jack and shit, but I knew what this was the moment I saw it. Remember, I was stationed in Canterlot when the changelings attacked.” “You think this is their work?” “You’re kidding, right? Changelings wouldn’t kill ponies – it’d be a waste of food for them. No, what we’d find is duplicated ponies sowing chaos with the refugees, and actual victims cocooned up somewhere in the mine, with Chrysalis draining emotions from them like she was sipping on a maregarita on the beach in Acoltpulco.” She looked at the burnt shells and shattered husks that were once buildings, all that remained of the once-bustling town. “No, I’ll bet my next paycheck that this is something else – and I’m not sure that I want to know what exactly did this.” “Lieutenant!” One of the unicorn troopers raced down the street at top speed, rushing towards them. He came to a stop in front of them, rendering a salute. “Cpl. Diamond Cutter, reporting, ma’am. We found something in the mines.” “That should be interesting. Isn’t the makeup of the product here not high-grade?” Flare asked. Indigo nodded. “Yeah, Rolling Hills’ mine is a gourmet gem supplier for the dragonlands. They’re not good for magical or treasure grades, but for a dragon’s diet, apparently they’re top shelf.” “Spike loved it when I brought him some gems to snack on from the last time I was here,” Raspberry added. “He has one of the markets in town make an order for him on occasion now.” Sour looked at the corporal. “Continue, Corporal.” “Yes, ma’am. Mage Sugarcoat found something in the mines just now, and it does not look good. She’s requested the presence of the senior cadre, as well as Archmagus Beryle and Mage Flare.” Sour slipped her helmet back on and looked at the others. “Time to get some entertainment around here, shall we? Lead the way, Corporal.” Several minutes later, the group made it towards the mine entrance at the opposite end of the town, nestled where the canyon ended. As the group entered, they saw gems of various types as they sparkled and glittered in the lantern light. Normally they would have shone with their own innate light – the sign of magical- or precious-stone grades – but as these were lower, they merely reflected the soft glare of the magical lights. These were the food grade gems, with too many inclusions to be pure, but for those who consumed such far, far more important than being set on the crown of a Canterlot noble or the end of a mage’s staff. “How much farther?” Flare, still tired from her run, asked. “Just around the bend, learned one,” the guardspony replied, and sure enough, he was right. Sugarcoat, along with three other guardsponies, were looking at a giant pillar of hiddenite that was encircled with multiple layers of floating runes of black and red, spinning and emitting an ear-grating sound as they did. If there was something that screamed “black magic”, this was it. “What in Tartarus is that?” Raspberry asked. “I don’t know,” Sugarcoat replied, not taking her eyes off the pillar, “but it’s grown about three feet since I got here this morning.” She finally turned away from the object to look at Raspberry. “I take it you have no idea?” Raspberry shrugged. “Hey, on my research trips to the Empire, I still find shit from Sombra that boggles the mind. It’d probably drive the average unicorn to drink.” She looked at the pillar again and said, “Whatever it is, it’s got more black magic in it than I could reasonably put together in a week. This thing has been down here long enough for somepony to put some effort into this.” “I’d recommend putting a quarantine around town,” Sugarcoat told her. “We can transport the dead to Lonesome Dove for burial there, but I don’t think it’s a safe idea to have anypony here.” “Sabi isn’t going to like that,” Flare commented, “but it’s better than having her ponies turned into strange abominations or whatever this thing was created to do.” “I already told Shady that it’s not safe for ponies to come back here,” Raspberry told them all, “and you just gave me a good reason to make that official.” She turned to Indigo. “Have your best flier present head over to Fort Mountainside and get me every able-bodied pony the Army can spare. If the commanding brigadier present complains, they can come along and complain to me personally.” “You want the Army involved in this?” Indigo asked. “This is usually outside their jurisdiction.” “You need the backup, and we don’t have time for pleasantries – you need reinforcements until Shining can send some.” She pointed at the pillar, which seemed to be throbbing. “We don’t know how long that’s been there, or if the attack on the town was to protect it…or wake it up. I’m going to do the safe thing and have this place locked down. Please, Indy, make it happen.” “You heard the lady, Sour,” Indigo said. Sour nodded to everyone present, then departed to start barking orders as needed. Looking at her mage subordinates, Raspberry said, “Ladies, time to get back to Lonesome Dove – we need to get in touch with Canterlot immediately.” “Somepony order room service,” Flare groaned as she collapsed on the floor of Raspberry’s room. “I don’t know if I can keep up this galloping back and forth.” Sugarcoat snickered and poked her friend’s barrel. “Toldja you should’ve stayed in shape.” “She did,” Raspberry teased. “Round is a shape.” “Are you saying I’m overweight?” Flare pouted. “I’ll have you know that I work out!” “Yeah, yeah, sure,” Sugarcoat replied. “And Princess Celestia hates cakes, too, I’ll bet. Anyway, Razz, what now?” In response, Raspberry walked over to her bags and pulled out a small wooden birdstand before she went to open the window. “Got a note that Sgt. Zest arrived an hour ago, which means that Heelee’s probably hunting for dinner right now,” the unicorn explained. “And if Twi got what I asked for, then this should be easy.” “Who’s Heelee?” Flare asked, and as if to answer the question, a young phoenix with feathers of emerald and gold soared into the room from the open window. He came to a perfect landing on the perch before chirping a hello. “Done hunting, you little rascal?” Raspberry asked the bird; Heliodor, in turn, puffed out his chest to pantomime being full before chirping out a sort of burp. Turning to the others, she said, “Anyway, this is Heliodor, or Heelee for short. He’s my pet phoenix and closest confidante.” Flare got up and looked at him carefully; Heliodor responded by posturing like a model. “Wow,” she said, reaching to touch him. “Non-red phoenixes are extremely rare. How’d you get him?” “Long story,” Raspberry replied, “but remind me later and I’ll tell you.” She then asked the phoenix, “Were you able to pull off the spell?” The bird jauntily saluted with a wing, then spat out a burst of green flame, which began to sparkle and swirl in midair as it grew larger. “Flamefax?” Flare asked. “Thought only dragons and alicorns could do it.” “Spike wasn’t sure, so he asked me to leave Heelee behind for a day so he could teach him the spell,” Raspberry explained. “Looks like it worked. Good thing, too, because it’s perfect for situations like this.” As the unicorn spoke, the flame turned into a strangely-shaped object, which a second later became an odd contraption of precious metals and crystals. As it clattered to the ground, the three mares noted that it looked like an orrery gone mad, a steampunk mishmash of copper, bronze and steel spokes, gears and switches, many holding either tubes of gas or large glowing quartz crystals. As the others stared with wonder, Raspberry explained, “This is an astralpresence device. It was one of the items that Sombra had been working on for the day he’d conquered the world – he’d need a way of keeping in touch with his generals and governors, right? Anyway, Princess Cadance had some mages in the Empire inspect the prototype and found that aside from its creator, it’s a normal magical device that runs off a neutral magic spell, so anypony can use it. The Guild’s artificers got wind of it and now they’re churning them out by the dozens. Twi suggested that we field test one, so I had her send one.” Heliodor pridefully puffed again and Raspberry giggled. “Yes, you silly bird, you were very helpful in bringing this.” In response, he flew over and perched on her horn, contentedly cooing. Ignoring him for the time being, she added, “To use it, it’s very simple – all you have to do is touch the crystals with our horns – or a wing or hoof if you’re pegasus or earth pony – and we’ll be operating in an astral form with those we’ll be conferring with.” “Who’s going to be there in the conference?” Flare asked. “Twi, the other Bearers, and most likely Princess Luna, given that she’s overseeing this investigation, why?” To Raspberry’s surprise, Flare started backing away. “I…think I’ll pass on this one if you don’t mind.” “Seriously, Flare?” Sugarcoat looked at her friend with disappointment. “That’d be very unprofessional.” “Something I should know about?” Raspberry asked. Sugarcoat nodded her head. “Flare here always feels inadequate around Princess Twilight.” “SUGARCOAT!” Flare cried. “You promised not to tell!” “Yes, but that was mitigating circumstances. Our boss needs to know,” Sugarcoat explained. “Why?” Raspberry asked Flare. “Twi’s one of the kindest mares I know.” “You try being five years older than her and looking like a laggard,” Flare said with anger. “Hell, some of our family is in the top of our fields! And as for my cousins? Shining’s the captain of the guard and a prince – and the other is a freakin’ alicorn! Me? I’m barely a mid-ranking mage, and I’m surprised I can hold my own!” “You have an advantage that she doesn’t, right now: You know what’s going on, and she doesn’t. You can do this, Flare,” Sugarcoat insisted. “You’re one of the best investigative minds in the Guild. Besides,” she added, “you could end up with my cousins.” “Well, excuse me for not growing up with my cousins,” Flare spat back. Seeing the confusion on Raspberry’s face, she added, “Sugarcoat here was raised by her aunt since her parents were killed in a train crash outside of Manehattan when she was a kid.” “Hey, my cousins are pretty much my sisters,” Sugarcoat said with a shrug. “Grass Glade and Lilypad never treated me as anything less, so that’s how I grew up. Nothing wrong with that, right, Razz?” Raspberry smiled. “Remind me sometime to tell you about a mare I know – she has a cousin who is in the same position you were. Anyway, let’s start.” She placed her horn on one of the crystals. “Ladies, if you will?” Sugarcoat joined her, and after a second of hesitation, so did Flare. A second later, the trio were standing underneath the shadow of Castle Everfree, by some crumbling buildings. “This is where my old hideout used to be,” Raspberry commented. “I used to live here at one time, and still have my artificial crystal labs here.” “What are you talking about?” Sugarcoat asked, looking at the mulberry mare with an odd glance. “We’re in my favorite park, in downtown Baltimare. About a block from my aunt’s place and right across the street from that bakery that made the best cupcakes ever. I used to go to the park sometimes just for the smell.” “You two are both nuts – we’re here in Seaside Village, where I grew up,” Flare insisted. “Over there’s my parents’ seashell shop, and over by the docks is Mr. Guido’s boat repair shack. That old griffin’s like a grandpa to me – to all the foals in town, actually.” She lifted her muzzle in the air. “You can still smell the seabreeze.” “And that’s because each of you sees a different thing central to your lives,” a familiar voice said, and a second later, Princess Luna appeared from out of nowhere; at her side was an earth mare with a cream-colored coat and a bouffant mane and tail of an evenly-split cobalt and fuchsia. “For example, my friend here was just regaling how this looks to her like Jamaneca, where she and her husband went on her honeymoon.” “Glad I only told you about the outdoor parts,” the mare teased. “As the current saying goes, I believe – TMI?” the alicorn teased and the earth pony snickered. Raspberry recognized the other mare instantly. “Bon-Bon? What are you doing here?” It was Luna that answered. “There’s a time and a place for that, but now is not it,” the alicorn said as the Bearers showed up. The sextet briefly discussed their dream locations – Pinkie’s was by far and away the weirdest of them all – and finally Luna interrupted the small talk. “As entertaining as this all is, I suggest we dispense with the chit-chat. We don’t know how long the charge on this device will last, so expediency is key.” “You’re right, sorry,” Twilight replied. “Razz, what were you able to find out?” Raspberry pointed at the other two unicorns, and Flare unconsciously pulled a Fluttershy, hiding behind Sugarcoat. “Flare and Sugarcoat found out that we’re dealing with somepony who has alicorn-level magic and used it to completely decimate the town, killing dozens. Unless Celestia wants to dedicate using her full power on the glacier covering it – and I don’t recommend that – the town is a complete loss. I’ve requested assistance from the local Army garrison to set up a quarantine until we can completely lock down the place.” “That bad?” Luna asked. Sugarcoat created a replica of the hiddenite pillar and its magic wrappings. “Razz wasn’t able to identify this, but it’s growing at an accelerated rate in the main shaft of the Rolling Hills mine. It’s pumping out extreme amounts of miasma and black magic.” She then adjusted her glasses and said, “One thing’s for sure: it’s something we have to assume could be a critical threat to the nation.” “Because a week doesn’t go by when there isn’t one,” Rainbow Dash drolled, rolling her eyes. “There’s a whole lot of weird going on lately,” Bon-Bon strangely noted. “First the sudden return of—” “That’s classified and not germane to the situation,” Luna interrupted. “I think it is, but you’re the boss,” the earth mare commented. “Disregarding that earlier issue, there was a report of a fatality at the Castle Everfree restoration site; the victim was a pegasus with his magic almost completely drained; from the report, he’d probably been pushed from one of the towers. Additionally, there was a murder at a Royal Astronomer’s Guild research station; in that case, the mare at the facility was also drained of magic and stabbed to death. Then there was the White Garden incident, though as I recall, that’s tied more to the previous unmentionable than anything else. Lastly, the towns of Merriweatherston, Townsville, Road Island and Hoofstep Pass were all recently attacked as well and much in the same way as Rolling Hills.” She looked at everypony present and said, “At some point you start to see something you really wish you hadn’t.” “With the exception of the White Garden, none of that was reported in the news,” Twilight noted, “nor did I get any intelligence briefings on it. How do you know about all this, Bon-Bon?” The mare opened her mouth as if to speak, but then her ears drooped and she closed her mouth, ending any potential reply. “Twilight, we can discuss this later,” Luna assured the other alicorn. “But I’m interested in why a town with a regional weather facility, a village known for its rutabaga crops, a lakeside village with a sizeable griffin population and a town with a regional train maintenance depot were all hit. Have we sent ponies to investigate?” “We already did,” Bon-Bon explained. “The Director recommended a media blackout, and with your sister’s permission, just to be on the safe side. All residents have been reimbursed by the Crown and relocated to adjacent towns, as we do not know how long the towns will be quarantined, or like Rolling Hills, is permanently made off-limits.” She then looked at Sugarcoat’s hologram. “But nothing like that was ever reported.” The room grew quiet again until Rarity spoke. “Ladies, perhaps we’re looking at this the wrong way. Perhaps that…thing…is there for a different purpose? Could it be there to disrupt certain parts of the economy? As I recall, Rolling Hills is famous for their food-grade gems. Road Island and Townsville were attacked as well, correct? Trains are important for shipping goods from one part of the nation to the other, and if I recall correctly, Road Island is famous amongst the griffin community in Equestria for its seafood.” She said the last part with distaste, owing to her pony nature as a partial herbivore. “But that doesn’t make sense, Rarity,” Bon-Bon retorted. “Townsville is on a sure of the rail system that isn’t often used; in fact, if I recall correctly, the Townsville Depot is set more for supply to the other depots with material to fix their issues. And hitting Road Island only inconveniences the carnivore and pescavore populations – Dodge Junction is only a half-day’s travel to the south and its cherry orchards are far more vital to Equestria’s economy.” “Or it could be a pre-emptive military strike,” Rainbow suggested. “Attacking a supply depot is a good way to prevent repairs in case the nation gets invaded. As for Road Island, the Thunderheads are there.” “The who?” Flare asked. “The Thunderheads. They’re a Royal Navy combat squadron made up of Equestrian griffins. They’re not as famous as the Wonderbolts, because, well, we’re cool an’ all, but their skills lend far more towards combat than those of the ‘Bolts, admittedly. Anyway, I’ve flown a few times against their CO, Capt. Gallard, and he’s one hell of a flyer. Anyway, the Thunderheads are based out of Road Island, and probably a few of them have relatives in town there. Hitting them hard would make sense, save that they’re out in Inari right now, doing military maneuvers with the kitsune.” “But then how does Merriweatherston factor into it?” Applejack asked. “Attackin’ a regional weather station just means th’ weather happens on its own until the station’s rebuilt, am Ah right, Rainbow?” Rainbow, a former weather manager, nodded. “You do have a point. Merriweatherston makes it the oddball in the mix, not to mention those other deaths that Bon-Bon mentioned.” “Well, what if they’re trying to cause interspecies strife?” Fluttershy asked in a voice that sounded as if her heart was breaking. “An attack on Equestrian griffins would cause strife in the griffin lands and that would make things worse, wouldn’t it? Plus, cutting off dragons and other lapidivores from a needed food supply would also come into play, right?” “Ah don’t think that’ll be much of a difference, Flutters,” Applejack stated. “Th’ griffins’re tearin’ at each other like a whole passel o’ pigs in a sty back in th’ griffin lands, so Ah don’t think they give much of a hoot at what happens t’ griffins that live here.” “And the dragons are on one of their migrations,” Rarity noted, “and if I recall, during those times they rely more on diamond dog mines in Canistralia and kitsune gemfields in southern Inari, am I right?” “Then maybe we should look at the socioeconomic factors again,” Pinkie suggested. “So far, that seems to be the angle that makes the most sense, given that each of these places somehow play a minor role in the economy. Is it possible that these are just probing affairs into what could later be hits on the tentpoles of the Equestrian economy?” Flare, silent all this time, looked at the other mares. “Wait – you’re a baker, a farmer, a vet, a fashionista and a former weather manager. Rainbow, I can see that you might have intel access now, given your status a Wonderbolt…but how can any of you make the kinds of detailed analyses you just did?” The five mares, as one, pointed at Twilight. “Her fault,” they all said in unison, while the young alicorn merely blushed. “Speakin’ of that,” Applejack commented as she looked at Bon-Bon, “Ah’m wonderin’ how a simple candymaker knows how t’ do this stuff, especially when she doesn’t have th’ advantages of bein’ around Twi on a regular basis.” Bon-Bon chose to sidestep any answer. “Ladies, have you considered any other patterns we might have precluded, like the most obvious one? Why is there a large, unidentifiable gem pillar in the middle of the Rolling Hills mine that’s pumping out pure, unadulterated evil?” “Patience, Agent Sweetie Drops,” Luna advised. “Sweetie Drops?” everypony present save Luna and Bon-Bon parroted. “Long story,” Bon-Bon replied. “We have other concerns right now?” “Fine, but you and are talking later, Agent,” Twilight said. “I get the feeling you’re hiding something from Lyra, aren’t you?” Bon-Bon seemed to deflate. “It’s for her own good,” she said with a tone of sadness. “Can we please get back on subject?” “The most obvious point that we know of is Rolling Hills’ gem mine,” Luna stated. “However, it’s food-grade, not magical grade, so I think that—” “THAT’S IT!” Everypony turned to look at Sunny Flare, who up until now had spent most of the conversation being as quiet and unassuming as the average mouse. “Think about it, ladies: What’s the biggest problem with food or industrial grade gems?” “Well, that’s rather obvious, dear,” Rarity stated. “Ponies don’t usually use anything other than precious or magical grade gems, because the lower in quality a gem is, the lesser magical force it can be enchanted with. As I recall, food-grade gems only hold a third or so of a full magical charge and industrial ones can barely hold any sort of charge at all. I don’t see where you’re going with this, though.” “Minos,” Flare responded. “The minotaurs’ gem mines on their island nation tend to be almost entirely industrial-grade, right? So how do they compensate for it? By fusing the gems together. Sure, it’s never going to look as pretty as precious-grade, but they’re not using them for that purpose. And as for magical-grade, well…a Minoan gemblade has as much magical force behind it as a standard sword with a magical grade gem, because it’s entirely made of gems.” “And you’re saying that…?” Luna prodded, a clever look in her eyes. She’d figured it out the moment Flare had made the gem connection and wanted the others to as well. “I just remembered: Merriweatherston is the location of an old mine from a couple of centuries ago. All the precious and magical grade gems are gone, and all that’s left is industrial – and there’s a risk that further mining could destabilize the whole complex. The town decided to rejigger the whole place as a tourist trap, because they’ve set it up to create this really interesting light show,” Flare explained. “Went there when I was just a foal, and loved it.” She then conjured a map, laying it down on the ground. “As I recall, though, there were more than enough gems in there to fuse into something magical grade, like that column.” Rarity’s eyes then lit up with a sudden recollection. “A couple of weeks ago, Filthy Rich approached me about an investment suggestion. He said…they’d just discovered a major subterranean gem cave underneath Hoofstep Pass, and that the gems were all food-grade. Rich thought that with our financing, the prospectors could create a decent competitor to Rolling Hills.” The others finally began to look at each other as realization began to work its way through the small group. “I’ll be right back,” Luna said. “I think I need some information that will be of use to us all.” She immediately vanished from the conference and as one, everypony looked at Twilight. “I’ll be right back as well,” Twilight commented, looking at Bon-Bon. “Agent Sweetie Drops and I need to have a conversation.” The earth mare stood there with a guilty look on her face, at least until Twilight teleported over to her and both vanished immediately afterwards. Raspberry looked at Flare. “Can you illuminate the areas that were impacted?” “Sure thing.” Flare then added small fire images to indicate the known incidents: The White Garden, the research station and Castle Everfree attacks, and the five towns that had been hit. “Anyone else see a pattern?” Sugarcoat asked. “With Rolling Hills, Merriweatherston and now Hoofstep Pass?” Rarity stated. “So do I, sad to say.” A second later, Luna reappeared. “Well, that is some disconcerting information,” she said aloud. She was about to speak further, when she noticed two absences. “Where are Twilight and Bo—” The two suddenly reappeared, the former with an angry look on her face and the latter with a guilty one. “We’re back, Luna. Bonnie and I had to have a ‘chat’.” Luna looked at the younger alicorn with disappointment, but then turned back to the conversation. “Were any of you aware that one of the upcoming talks between the Appaloosa provincial government and the bison tribes involved the mineral rights underneath the apple orchards? Apparently, there’s a massive gemfield underground that could stretch from south of Appaloosa…all the way to well north of Townsville. In fact, the bisons have already started to set up a mine there for industrial-grade gems.” She gave Flare a smile. “Mage Flare, it seems that you may be due for a well-deserved promotion.” “Anyone want to explain what’s going on for us stupid ponies?” Rainbow asked testily. “Massive gem deposits of the type that ponies usually don’t care about – but could still be magically charged with enough patience and process,” Bon-Bon explained. “Anypony want to take bets that we’ll find them under Road Island as well?” “Celestiadammit, why didn’t we see this sooner?” Rainbow said more to herself than anypony else. “Sweet Stars of Harmony!” Twilight went over and hugged her cousin, much to Flare’s surprise. “You did it, Flare!” “But Flare has three other spots marked on the map: Castle Everfree, a research station near Merriweatherston, and the White Garden,” Pinkie inquired. “All of which have had casualties as of late,” Sugarcoat explained. “But outside of the White Garden, everything else is tied to another location. The ruins of Everfree are actually closer to Townsville than any other location. And the research pony station was overseen by the Royal Astronomers’ Guild office in Merriweatherston.” “They’re likely coincidences or attacks of convenience on the way to another target,” Bon-Bon suggested. “The White Garden can likely be written off in entirety due to the distance. Regardless, this isn’t the work of some random monster. This is starting to get out of my branch of the Agency, though if you need me I’ll do whatever I can to assist.” Suddenly another figure popped into the room, namely Shining Armor. “Okay, I got that information you needed, Luna,” he told the night alicorn. “Somepony want to fill me in on what’s going on?” “First reveal what you’ve found, Shining,” Luna asked. “It will help fill a vital piece of the puzzle.” He nodded. “The Ministry of the Interior reported that new gem deposits were discovered in an underwater grotto underneath Road Island. The griffins reported that there are some precious gems there, but most of them are industrial-grade. However, they’ve left it alone because it could potentially destabilize some of the land on the northern part of the island. However, due to its discovery, it was required to be reported under ministry rules.” She nodded in understanding. “Thank you, Shining.” She then looked at the others. “So all five towns have gem deposits. I suspect that if we searched, we’d find something like that pillar growing in each of them. But as to what it’s purpose is, I don’t think we should wait until something happens. Shining, I want you to liaise with Adm. Tumblehome and Gen. Halberd and deploy troops to those other four sites immediately. We need to know if those other locations are impacted.” She then looked at the map. “Now, as to the remaining sites….” “Remaining sites, Princess?” Sugarcoat asked. With that, the night alicorn designated three towns on the map: Berryville, a farming community northwest of Ponyville; Cloudy Vista, a ground-based pegasi settlement just north of Cloudsdale; and Icicle Works, a new settlement being built on the snowy border between the main portion of Equestria and the Empire. “With these three potential sites, look at what forms.” Raspberry looked at the map and her jaw dropped. “That’s a massive magical circle. Worse, the nexus—” “Is Canterlot, which has a massive abandoned gem mine underneath it,” Twilight interrupted. “Cady and I were stuck down there once and the number of gems that are still down there could create something that will make this other pillar look like a pencil.” “I can have the Crystal Guard running through Icicle Works by tomorrow,” Shining told Luna. “I’ll have advance troops there within the hour.” “We can be in Berryville by tomorrow as well,” Twilight told the others. “Bonnie, I want you with us.” “You sure about that, Twi?” Bon-Bon asked. “You know things that I need to know now,” Twilight said. “You can brief us on the way.” “Fine. Let me just tell Choc. I haven’t had time to tell him the truth yet, so I need something to tell him.” “Tell him the truth,” Twilight insisted. “That I need you for something that you might be an expert on, and that we’re just going to Berryville. Should be vague enough to cover you.” “But you’d better tell him the whole truth sooner or later,” Applejack insisted. “Ah don’t cotton to tellin’ lies, as you can guess.” “Lyra, too,” Rainbow added. “If she’s your best friend and you’re doing some super-secret stuff for the government, then you put her in danger. And she deserves to know the truth.” At the sound of that, Bon-Bon’s ears flattened and she looked down. “Fine,” she replied. “When we get back.” “What about us?” Raspberry asked. Luna looked at the archmagus and her subordinates. “I’ll have Adm. Tumblehome detail a ship out to you immediately. I want you to investigate Cloudy Vista. Having a military unit suddenly storm in may not be the best idea, so having just three mages and their Guard unit will be more than enough. I’ll get in touch with the mayor there and have her contact you as soon as possible.” “We won’t let you down, your highness,” Flare replied. “Of that we have no doubt, Grand Mages Sunny Flare and Sugarcoat,” Twilight said, looking at Luna, who only nodded and agreed. “But we’re not….” Flare commented as Twilight’s words suddenly sank in. “You are now, dears,” Rarity said with a congratulatory grin. The following morning, the airship Sunny Rainphase began its trek across the skies of Equestria. The captain, an avuncular earth stallion by the name of Fiery Yellow, made sure that the units accompanying his ship was set up and ready to go. “So, y’sure y’ won’t be needing anythin’ else, lass?” he said, a large grin on his face that somehow barely managed to hold onto the corncob pipe in his mouth. With his curly chinstrap beard of white and fire orange, his faded white captain’s cap and the blue bridgecoat he wore, it was hard for Raspberry and her friends to not see him as a larger-than-life character from a book. “No, Captain, I think we’ll be fine, thanks,” Raspberry insisted. Light blue eyes looked around the room and said, “Aye, ‘tis no finer berthin’ than you’ll find in this ship, all. And why not? The Navy rules th’ skies and seas, dontcha know. No, if y’ll be excusin’ this ol’ salty dog, I have a ship t’ run.” With that, the earth pony departed the stateroom, headed towards the bridge. “Yeah, he reminds me of Captain Fairwinds, from those old novels,” Flare said. “All he needs is a blue phoenix just like Fairwind’s loyal companion Seasprite, and we’re good to go.” From where he sat on his perch, Heliodor chirped with a sense of indignity. “No one’s going to paint you blue, Heelee, so you can calm down okay?” Raspberry assured him. Looking at Flare, Sugarcoat and Indigo, she explained, “He can be a little defensive at times, so don’t take it personally.” “No problem; I wish my pet dog Emma was as loyal,” Indigo told her. “Anyway, what did you want to talk about?” “Something that I’d been thinking about during the meeting – it helped that we were back in Lonesome Dove at the time. Indy, what do you know about dross?” “Dross? Well, that usually it’s the fifth classification of gems. They tend to be magically useless and have so many metal or mineral inclusions that they’re essentially trash. Some dross locations end up being good rock farms, but that’s few and far between, why?” “My family farm was mostly dross,” Raspberry explained. “My parents thought they’d found fertile land, but it in retrospect, it must’ve been part of the mountain chain in prehistoric times, and everything was worn down since. Maybe if they’d considered becoming rock farmers, we would’ve thrived – everypony needs bricks and stones for building material, right? But no, my old stallion just spent the majority of what little bits we had drinking himself stupid and….” Raspberry fell silent for a moment. “Well, you already know the rest.” The four fell into an uncomfortable silence until Sugarcoat said, “Look, we’ve got a day’s trip ahead of us and we’re not going to get there until tomorrow. So why don’t we take this time to rest? I know I could use some sleep.” “Sounds like a plan,” Indigo said. “Besides, I haven’t really flown in a while, so I can do some ship sprints with the deckhooves.” “Yeah, and I’ve got a letter to write to my parents,” Flare said. “Think you can send it for me, Heelee?” The bird saluted her with a wing and chirped his agreement. “We’ll see you later, then, ‘round lunch, okay?” Raspberry nodded, and looked at the books and other items that Twilight had sent via flamefax the moment they settled in. “Well, looks like I’ve got some reading to do, Heelee,” Raspberry commented. “I should be so busy I won’t get airsick like last time.” Heliodor nodded, then looked at the port hole. The unicorn added, “Unfortunately, we’re too high up for you to go hunting on your own, but I’ll have Indy take you later, okay?” “Okay, sure thing, toots,” the bird said in a Maresechusetts accent. Raspberry stared in shock until her bird opened its mouth wide, and a gooey substance looking worse than week-old vomit spewed out from the bird, who immediately fired a bolt of green flame at it. The liquid dodged, then moved upwards starting to take shape, until it revealed…. “Discord,” Raspberry said with a facehoof. “What are you doing here?” “Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…” “Discord….” Raspberry said, only to have the draconequus hold up a sign that read WAIT FOR IT…. while he continued. “…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…” “Look, I don’t have time for this!” the mare said to the Avatar of Chaos. “…aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” He then took a bow. “Thank you, I’ll be here all night, boys and girls. Try the chicken – it’s great!” He then went over and hugged Raspberry. “Hey, Razz! El Razzo! The Razzman! The Razzinator! Sir Razzius of Razzistan! How’s it going?” “It—” “Well, I was just swinging through town and who else but Luna asked me to check up on you! Actually, the words were more like ‘Get out of mine sight or I shall smite thee henceforth to the moon!’ but who’s actually counting, right?” “Look—” “And so since I heard that you were looking into some interesting things,” he said as he produced a spyglass from nowhere and looked through it, his eyeball elongating four times its length and moving around on its own accord, “I thought I could be of help!” “Disc—” “Besides, Fluttershy insisted that I needed to get out more and help my circle of friends. And since I have only a very small circle of friends – you certainly know how that goes, right? – I figured I’d start with my bestie! Or at least my worstie bestie!” He then changed into a duplicate of her. “We can do each other’s hooves or powder our horns, or—” He then changed into a copy of Sunset Shimmer and added, “—we can tell each other stories that I missed while I was out of town while Little Baby Celly was here!” Despite her annoyance at him, Raspberry couldn’t help but giggle. “Little Baby Celly?” A bassinet suddenly appeared underneath “Sunset” as she became wrapped up in a bonnet and diapers. “Oh yeah, Celestia’s little bundle of explosions and chaos! I swear, that’s a mare after my own heart – she really had the castle going at one point. But enough about that.” Discord pulled a blind down from out of nowhere, and behind it rang out an explosion, followed by a mushroom cloud. The blind then retracted and there he stood in his natural form, or at least as much as one could call a being like Discord natural. “So, what are you here for, Discord?” “What, can’t be here to back up a buddy and chum?” A gaudy Haywaiian-style shirt and oversized shades suddenly appeared on him. “Figured we could go out for a few Mai-Tais in Hoofalulu tonight. My treat.” She looked at him evenly and he gave her a smile as the clothing disappeared. “Isn’t it obvious? Why, I’m here as your stealthy secret weapon!” He then changed into a Day-Glo-colored version of himself while a giant neon sign behind him read YOU CAN’T SEE ME – I’M INVISIBLE! “You see, somepony – or rather, something – is sniffing you out.” He walked over to a door and opened it, revealing a titanic-sized red nose poking its way through the door. Startled by the thing, she said, “What the hell?” Pushing the thing out the door, he commented, “Oh, please, that’s just a taste of things to come, Ol’ Razzy! Why I—” A green ball of flame enveloped him and a second later, a pile of ashes fell to the ground. The pile grew a mouth that said, “You know, that was completely uncalled for.” From his perch, Heliodor gave as much of a self-satisfied smile as any phoenix could give. “Heelee, stop – he’s a friend. I think.” Raspberry then walked over to the pile of ash. “Discord, what’s going on?” As if in response, the ash turned into a desk that the draconequus, dressed in a cap and gown. “Class is in session!” he crowed, and a split-second later, Raspberry, Flare, Indigo and Sugarcoat found themselves all sitting at desks, while Helidor was placed in a corner with a dunce cap on his head. “Well, boys and girls and mostly girls because I’m the only boy here—” Heliodor gave an angry squawk and Discord shrugged. “Okay, almost the only boy here, happy?” There was no further complaints, so he continued. “What’s going on?” Flare asked. “Discord, should’ve known,” Sugarcoat drolled. “Razz, what the hell is he doing here?” Indigo asked. “Ladies, can I please get back to being the good guy here?” There was a puff of smoke and a second later, Discord wore a red cape and blue tights with a red D emblazoned on a yellow shield. “That or we’ll have to deal with copyright infringement.” He snapped his claws and a second later the four ponies stood before him. “Anyway, as I was saying, there are plenty of things out there, Razz, even things that neither Celestia or I are aware of, or things that neither of us have seen in quite some time. And believe it or not, not everything is as charming or friendly as yours truly.” “We’re still trying to comprehend the ‘charming and friendly’ part,” Indigo drawled. “Why Lieutenant, you wound me!” Discord suddenly had an oversized arrow appear in his chest and he fell dead to the ground, his eyes showing Xs and the arrow turning into a lily. His ghost floated out of his body and continued to talk. “So anyway, as I was saying, many of these things have their own natures and specialties, and there’s something out there that runs on dark magic, so to speak. And it’s hungry and looking for you.” “Me?” Raspberry asked. There was a puff of smoke, and a market stall suddenly appeared, with a dozen plastic duplicates of the magic pillar in Rolling Hills. “Get yer enchanted pillar!” Discord barked like a carnival worker. “Five down, maybe three to go – and we don’t know what any of them do! Fun for the wife and kids – if they survive!” “What are you prattling about?” Sugarcoat asked. In response, Discord looked at his right wrist and pulled back the fur to reveal a watch. The watch’s face opened up and spat out a long platform, upon which was a cuckoo clock. The cuckoo looked at its right wing, which revealed a watch, whose face opened up and spat out a long platform, upon which was another cuckoo clock. That cuckoo clock opened up to reveal a miniature Sunset Shimmer, who held out her smartphone, revealing the time. “Well, whaddaya know, this is the part of the chapter where I leave you all with more questions than answers. So riddle me this, Batman: what is the one thing that could be sniffing you out, and why could it be dangerous to us all?” Discord then changed into a fruitbat, and opened the port hole. “And now I bid you auf wiedersehen!” As Discord disappeared into the distance, Sugarcoat was the first to recover. “Well, that was an…experience.” “He really freaks me out,” Flare said to nopony in particular. “Should I put the Guards on alert?” Indigo asked. “As it is, I need to meet with Capt. Yellow in thirty minutes to discuss defense issues, as he’s under your command until you release him.” “Do that. As it is, I think the rest of us will be looking into this research Twi sent over. We don’t have much time left before something bad happens, and I hope with the stars as my witness that we’re not too late.” “We’re too late,” Shining said softly as he looked into the sky. There, where the recently-erected town hall of Icicle Works once stood, was nothing more than crystalline and wooden rubble. In its place, a massive pillar, made out of dozens of industrial-grade gems continued to reach into the sky. A deep black fog radiated from the pillar as did a hum that seemed to resonate through their bones. “Sweetheart, what is that?” Cadance asked. As the ruler of the Empire, she felt obliged to come, and sensing a need to make sure the populace stayed calm, for once Shining didn’t argue with his wife. Now, however, he questioned that wisdom. “I don’t know,” he told her. Then he explained the rest, what Luna had told him about and what Twilight and Raspberry’s investigations had uncovered. And as he explained, a horrified look came over the face of the romance alicorn. “I…I can sense great evil in that…thing, Shiny,” she told her husband. “It needs to be destroyed. It needs to be destroyed right now!” “You sure?” he asked her and the look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. “Firestorm!” he shouted to the unicorn next to him. “Want to show off a little?” Lt. Firestorm grinned widely. “Absolutely, sir!” he said with a laugh. His horn began to glow with electric blue energy, as he put magic into his most destructive spell. As one of the sappers assigned to the Crystal Empire, Firestorm knew just about everything there was to making stuff go boom. “Better stand back, everypony,” he told them as winds whipped up by his spell began to encircle him. “This might get just a bit messy.” “Everypony, stand back!” Shining shouted and cast one of his shield spells. While the pillar before him could likely be encircled by the same spell he used to cover all of Canterlot, he knew the toll that level of spell would take on his body. Instead, knowing the level of destruction Firestorm was capable of, the captain of the guard opted to throw up multiple layers of small shields, yet even this did little to prevent the intensely blinding light that came from the unicorn’s magic bolt. The blast hit the pillar straight on, turning it into a glowing candle of such brilliant luminosity that it drove everypony for miles around away from the sky and towards the safe darkness of the ground. The unicorn poured the blast on for all it was worth, and the force of the blast almost made him buckle his stance; certainly the ground beneath him began to slowly give way as the pressure of his own strike began to slowly feedback on him. Finally, the world filled with blue-white and the energy could be seen even through closed eyes and as others in the area screamed in fright and panic, the energy disappeared and the pillar appeared completely unharmed. Unfortunately, the same could not be said of Firestorm. With a look of utter horror on his face, the unicorn looked completely frozen and almost completely blanked out, as if he were a statue hewn from marble. Only the realism of the “statue”, in a way no artisan could ever capture, told the terrifying truth of what they had seen. “Medic!” Shining shouted. “Get the lieutenant out of here!” Another guard, a pegasus mare wearing the light armor of a field medic, approached. “I’ll keep you shielded, Heartbeat,” Shining told the mare, “but you’ll have to get him to medical care immediately.” “You can count on me, Captain!” she said with a grin and approached the fallen guardspony. “C’mon, Stormy, let’s get you out of here,” she said as she reached over to grab him. The moment she made contact with him, however, she screamed in pain and a steady mist of plum-colored energy flowed from her towards the pillar. When it was done, she too looked like a statue. Seeing the reaction, Shining reacted quickly. “Thunderchaser! Star Flicker! Get the Princess out of here now! The rest of you, start evacuating the town immediately!” He then turned to his right. “Heaving Line, I’m going to throw up a shield. The minute I do, I want you to grab them with your magic. Do not touch them at all – I just want to get them out of the blast zone. Bullwhip, you stay here as well.” He then finally turned to Cadance. “Cady, we need to get you out of here.” “No! I’m staying with you,” she insisted. “I don’t want you at risk either.” “We talked about this,” he told her. “You are the ruler of the Empire. If something happens, our ponies need you, Cady!” She opened her mouth to protest, but knew he was right and said nothing. Giving him a sad look, she followed her escorts away from the location, and as soon as she did, Shining threw up a shield between the others and his troops. He then turned to the earth pony next to him. “Bullwhip, if for some reason her spell fails, I want you to grab all three of them with your whip.” “I gotcha, captain.” Bullwhip, who was the son of Equestria’s ambassador to Minos, nodded. He’d been named after a Minoan weapon that he’d learned how to use since he was a foal. Reaching over for the specially-made bullwhip, the namesake pony nodded. “Hey Line, you’d better not fail, or else you’re paying for the beers after this is over!” Heaving Line laughed, her voice a soft, lilting giggle. “Trying to flirt again, Bullwhip?” “No, succeeding at it,” he joked. “I always do.” “Well, tell that to our daughter, I guess,” she said wryly to her husband before turning back to Shining. “Captain, I’m going to cast the spell now, sir. Keep me covered.” “Of that I have no doubt,” Shining replied, throwing another spell around her, the parts almost forming another suit of armor. With that, she then fired a tractor spell at the two stricken ponies, with the intent to pull them away immediately. Instead, the moment she connected her spell against them, the mint-green of her magic started being sucked into the pillar, and then a mist the same color was pulled away from her. A second later, the magic armor Shining had cast around her started to split apart, dissolving into a cerulean mist that was quickly absorbed by the pillar. “LINE!” Bullwhip shouted, moving towards his wife’s side, but then found himself pushed back by Shining’s shield. “Can’t risk you too!” Shining shouted back. “Pull those others back with your whip and let’s get out of here! Bullwhip looked at his wife worriedly, then back at Shining. “Bullwhip, I promise that as soon as we figure out what’s going on, we’ll make sure she’s okay,” Shining told his trooper. “I worry about my wife too, you know.” “Yes, sir,” Bullwhip said, taking the handle of the whip in his mouth. A second later he cracked the whip, the snap of the sonic boom ringing out as the lash encircled Firestorm’s leg. Bullwhip slowly but surely pulled the unicorn towards Heaving Line, finally stopping when they were both close. “Now for Heartbeat.” Shining looked around as his other guardsponies started to clear out the town of Icicle Works. He looked at the pillar, which seemed to continue growing, and knew something had started – something terrible. Across Equestria, as if bidden by an unknown signal, massive pillars erupted in eight places throughout the nation. Meanwhile, on Mt. Canterhorn itself, the mountain began to change and glitter as it transformed into a titanic copy of the others. In the various towns surrounding the pillars the military forces went on alert and tried to destroy the strange obelisks, but in each case the magic – and lifeforce – of the attackers was absorbed, leaving behind ponies in stasis. In Berryville, just as Twilight and the other Bearers entered the town, they looked with horror to see a massive spar of hibonite in the middle of the town, punching through what had been the town market. Around the base of it were dozens of white ponies, far more than could naturally be of that coat color. And rushing towards them panic on their faces, was the rest of the town of Berryville, in utter panic. “Stop!” Twilight shouted, and coming to mind before a princess of the realm, many of them actually did. “Oh, thank Celestia you’re here, Princess!” an earth mare said to Twilight. She was an aged mare, with a lime-green coat, salt-and-pepper mane and had a chalkboard for a cutie mark. “The town’s been decimated by that…thing!” “Are you okay, ma’am?” Applejack asked. “Chalk Board,” the mare stated. “I teach at the elementary school here. But I’m glad to see that the Bearers are here.” She then looked at the ponies in question. “You did bring the Elements, right?” “Long story,” Rainbow said, and opted not to elucidate further. “OKAY, PONIES,” Twilight shouted with the Royal Canterlot Voice, “IF YOU HEAD DOWN THE ROAD YOU’LL SEE THAT MY GUARDS ARE SETTING UP CARETAKER CAMPS THERE. YOU’LL BE SAFE THERE!” The townsponies got the clue and started marching out in an orderly line. “Rainbow, can you notify the guards to expect incoming?” “Sure! I’ll be back before you know it!” Rainbow immediately blasted off like the proverbial rocket. “Everyone, let’s get closer,” Twilight told them. “I want to get a better look at that thing, and to see what happened to those ponies that aren’t moving!” “Don’t get too close!” a pony passing by warned Twilight. “If you touch one of them, you get turned into a statue, just like them!” “What?” Rarity asked, surprised. “He’s right, you know.” The others turned to see Discord standing there, wearing some sort of weird yellow suit that covered all of him. “They’re caught in a stable chronospatial subpocket while momentum, mana and even bioelectromagnetism is being taken from them!” He made the suit vanish and as he stood there, all the color drained from him. “That’s what the pillars are! They’re force vacuums!” He almost looked pleased to see them. “This is a stroke of brilliance! Why didn’t I think of this back when I was naughty?” “Discord!” Twilight shouted at him. He shrugged, then left his arms floating in the air as he walked away from them and then grew new ones. “Hey, I didn’t say I was considering it, just a bit nostalgic. Anyway, we need to get everypony away from these pillars. From what I can figure, they’re placing ponies in a chrono—” “Wanna explain it in clearer words?” Applejack asked. He bowed. “Of course. To simplify it, put a pony in a bag, and then take all the air out – they can’t breathe, right?” The ponies looked at the draconequus in horror as he explained. “Only it’s not that simple. The pillars are stealing momentum from them – that’s the energy any living being, magical or not, produces as they move. When ponies move, they produce momentum. When donkeys move, so do they. Every being does.” He brought out a whiteboard and drew an eerily-precise copy of Applejack on the board, along with a thin blue circle that enveloped the figure. At the same time, a blue field of light started to encircle Applejack as well. “What’s going on?” the farmmare asked, glaring at the draconequus. However, she never actually voiced it, because she found she couldn’t move. Discord ignored her. “Because momentum is being stolen from the ponies, they can’t move at all. They’re not dead, but how can you really tell? Anyway, to continue.” He then drew a thin red line around the blue one. “Next to be stolen is the mana field that magical creatures generate. Earth ponies, unicorns, pegasi, whatever – every magic user is vulnerable to this.” As he finished the circle, a similar red one enveloped Applejack and she fell to the ground, the color bleeding away from her until she was no different than the other ponies near the pillar. “Discord, change her back,” Twilight threatened. “Almost done with the example, I promise,” Discord replied. By now, an artist’s smock and paint-splattered beret had appeared on him, and the whiteboard suddenly became a canvas, with the realistic image of Applejack now animated, and moving, as if the mare’s presence had been transferred to the painting itself. As he put a brush to the canvas, he began to paint a green circle. As he did, he explained. “And eventually, when the second layer runs out – or isn’t there, in the case of non-magical beings – it’ll start working on the third, your bioelectromagnetic field.” “Gezuntheit,” Pinkie responded. “What is that?” Fluttershy asked. “It sounds scary.” “It is,” Discord said sadly. “You might have heard of it by another name. The kitsune call it ki, while the pandas call it qi, and the tanuki chi. As for us in the western lands, well, we refer to it as life.” Everyone looked at Applejack, who looked as if she was going to die, and Discord giddily painting a circle around the panicking Applejack figure on the painting. “And once there’s nothing left, there’s nothing but a husk.” Just as he finished the circle, he pulled the bottom of the easel up as if it were a blind, rolling it up. It vanished, and at the same time, Applejack returned to normal, getting off the ground. She shivered as if she’d been in the middle of a blizzard for hours. “Never wanna go through that again.” She looked at him. “Never.” “I know. I don’t want any of us to do so, either,” he said, offering her a cup of hot apple cider. She hesitantly took a drink and felt better; downing the cup, she was back to normal. He then looked at his friends and said, “If what these things are doing locally is correct, they’re storing that energy for use. And they have to send that energy somewhere.” “Or?” Rarity asked. “Nothing can hold infinite power eternally,” Twilight said. “It’s both a law of physics and magic. But you think they’re going to steal all of the magic in Equestria?” “No, but the magic circle Luna said would form is spot on,” he told her. He conjured a map of Equestria and most of the parts affected by it. “The inner circle’s already begun to form,” he told them, “and I’m sure there are places in Equestria where a secondary circle could form.” “Which means?” “We’re in trouble,” Raspberry said. At the moment, they all stood on the weatherdeck. They’d arrived just outside of Cloudy Vista, as a pillar, seemingly made of grandidierite tore into the air and slowly started to split apart into a tuning fork. “What the hell’s going on?” Flare asked. However, Indigo, as a pegasus, knew exactly what was about to happen. “Captain! Bring the ship earthside?” “Earthside?” Yellow asked, looking at the guardspony with surprise. “Yer askin’ me t’ dive the ship?” “If that tuning fork goes off, we won’t have to worry about it much longer!” she told him. In the distance, a deep, bassy rumble began to sound in the air. Without warning, the air turned into solid black, so much so that everything outside the bridge windows was nothing but inky darkness. “Captain!” one of the boatswain’s mates shouted. “We’re losin’ power in the forward aerostat!” “Get th’ mage’s mates t’ the foredeck!” Yellow thundered. “Get that ‘stat afloat pronto! All hooves to battlestations!” Klaxons sounded throughout the airship and sailor scurried to and fro. “Anything we can do to help, Captain?” Raspberry asked Yellow. “Aye – find out what happened t’ m’ mages!” he told her. “Sugarcoat, Flare, you two stay here and see if you can help the captain with anything. Indy, we’re going on deck!” The two rushed out of the bridge, headed towards the foredeck. But as they headed towards the forward airlock, they could see black miasma streaming through cracks in the hatchway. “That does not look good,” Indigo said as she looked at the door. “I want you to stay here—” Raspberry began. “Overruled, Razz. My job’s protecting you,” the pegasus reminded her. “And you will – if something happens out there, I want you to get me out of there,” Raspberry insisted. Indigo looked at her and Raspberry looked back. “I trust you, Indy. Trust me, too?” “I don’t like this plan,” Indigo said as she reluctantly sat down. “I don’t like it either, but I just might if you have to pull my flank out of the fire,” she insisted as she opened the hatch and stepped out of the deck. She walked into pure miasma, like nothing she’d ever seen before. She couldn’t see anything before her, and if it wasn’t for the fact that she just shut the door behind her, she wouldn’t have known it was there. She could barely hear herself as it was with the bassy rumble around her that was so loud that it was starting to give her a headache. “Great, just great,” she muttered as she cast a spell. “Glad I’m the one doing this.” The miasma spell pushed away the miasma just enough to give her enough of a space to see where she was going. She couldn’t dispel it completely – that took a light magic spell, and she could only do neutral magic ones outside of her specialty – but she could make it easier for her to maneuver around. A column of clarity opened around her and she made her way towards the ship’s prow. “Where are the…uh oh.” She found the mage’s mates…or rather, what was left of them. Four mummified ponies, as if everything had been sucked out of them, lay on the deck. She was momentarily bothered by the fact that she’d seen so much death during her life that it didn’t faze her anymore, but what did was that four ponies were killed by miasma, when that shouldn’t have been the case. Miasma only made ponies sick, it didn’t kill them much less turn them into mummies. What the hell’s going o— A major explosion ripped above and Raspberry didn’t need to wonder what that was. She could feel the deck lurch and twist beneath her feet, followed by the anti-slip spells as the power gave away and the hull began to list. It would be microseconds before the airship, with nothing left to keep it in the air, fell to earth. And as the mulberry unicorn felt her hooves pull away from the deck as the ship entered freefall, she knew two things: First, Equestria was in big trouble. Second, she hated that tooth-jarring rumble.