//------------------------------// // 50. Operation Highland's Edge Part 1 // Story: The Atlantean-Dominion War // by The Atlantean //------------------------------// Mirage scouted ahead with a few of her Changeling soldiers while the regiments walked the winding path that lead from the rail’s end to the Upper Rapids, where the Whispering Highlands ended and the Canyon began. Seventy miles down the twisting corridor of rock and abandoned mines, the Lower Rapids set the boundary into the Inland Swamp. Fifty miles west, a major mountain pass to Griffonstone was guarded by a small fort. Wind whipped her purple mane into a flag behind her head. Then the wind shifted, sending frizzles of hair into her face. She frowned and held it back with her magic. A few more steps through the rocky terrain revealed the Canyon in all its craggy glory. The Harmony Run had cut its way through the solid sandstone over the past few thousand years. Periodic earthquakes joggled loose rock into the river, which in turn found a new way around the obstruction. Flash floods weren’t uncommon in these parts. Oranges, browns, and reds layered up the canyon walls all the way to the Lower Rapids, where they finally ended in a massive cliff and the river cascaded nearly half a mile through spires and an enormous waterfall to rival Equestria’s Neighagra Falls. Around the lake at the bottom, wildlife had taken advantage of the overabundant water and soggy soil, creating the huge bog known as the Inland Swamp. Large gusts of wind were so normal up here a preened feather would never reach the ground. It shifted constantly, as if unsure where to go. Mirage shook her head and kept climbing the trail. She still had to find the Rangers, and she didn’t have a clue where to start. All she knew was that they weren’t an official unit, more of a gun-club-turned-militia, and that they were excellent at sneak attacks. Their daily lives usually consisted of practice skirmishes, model trains, and beer. Other than that, she had nothing to help her find their base. The Changeling to her left lit his horn and investigated a nearby cave. She followed him in, chastising herself for having not noticed it, and motioned for the rest of the group to do the same. They all lit their horns for light as well. As they ventured farther into the cave, the opening behind them slammed shut. All seven Changelings whirled around in surprise, they formed a circle with Mirage in the center. They drew their weapons and snarled at the dark unknown. The floor dropped, sending them tumbling down a tunnel. Rusty nails and old planks dotted the walls, and Mirage received more than a mouthful of cobwebs. She was still spitting them out when she landed on the ground and her group on top of her. Everyone had a couple of bruises. As soon as her group undid its unexpected pileup, Mirage found a bayonet in her face. She stood to talk, but was instantly pushed back to the ground. “I wouldn’t move if I were you, Changeling.” The gruff voice of a middle-aged outdoorspony had a thick mountaineer accent its speaker shared with the locals, but with the trim of somepony with status. “The Whispering Hive shouldn’t even be allowed to exist. Their alliance with the invaders disgusts me. Take their arms, Rangers.” “Wait!” Mirage cried. “We’re with AREA!” “That’s what the last crew said. They want to get in here and root us out to the Doms.” Hatred - deep, resonating hatred - filled the voice. “Fire on my command!” The click of several rifles being cocked was heard. “Unless you can tell me where your hive is, we’ll have to kill you all.” The Changelings glanced at each other. “I’ll consider you from the Whispering Hive. Ready! Aim! And-” “Emberforge! Emberforge Valley!” Mirage screamed. “There’s a hive there? We must wipe them too!” “No! Well, yes, there’s a hive, but we allied with Silvercrest and Sarge!” She defiantly stood up. The Earth pony who was obviously the leader had a black-and-white body with a red mane and tail. His cutie mark was four cards like ones held during a game, with a spade on the frontmost card. His red eyes looked like red diamonds; his nose a club. “Alright, I’ll ask you two more questions. You have a few minutes to give me the correct answer for each. If you’re wrong, or you fail to reply in five minutes, you’re dead. What thestral family currently has significant influence in Atlantis?” “There are multiple families. Three guesses.” “Fair enough. You still have a chance to lose; after all, I know of ten.” Mirage searched her memory. “Sparklelight.” “Wrong. Two more.” “Prethoryn.” “Wrong again. One more guess.” This is not good. “Uh…” What other thestral families are there? I thought there were two! Out of a wild guess, she said, “Nightmane.” “Ah! You are intelligent! Last question: is my Rose safe?” “The only pony I know who has that name is Nurse Lieutenant Rose Thorn, currently attached to the Second and Third Coastal for the duration of this mission. Which I am a part of.” “That’s not answering-” someone began, but the leader held up his hoof. “Rose Thorn. That was her name, right? Dark pink Unicorn, leafy green mane?” “Yes.” The leader relaxed. “Oh, thank Harmony! They’re friendly, boys!” He took off the bandana masking his face. “I’m Solitaire, Rose’s father.” She took his extended hoof. “Princess Mirage, Emberforge Valley Changeling Hive. Commander of the Second Coastal Regiment’s Changeling company.” “General Silvercrest said something about you guys, but honestly, I didn’t think the advance party was gonna be Changelings! Sorry about earlier. Here, let me give you a tour of the place.” -------------------------------- “…And down there is where we keep the trains,” Solitaire said, gesturing to a vast chamber beside him. He and Mirage were up on a balcony overlooking the entire works. Dozens of model trains, each about the size of a pony, were perfectly ordered with their respective rail cars. Between them, ponies checked systems, oiled joints, and conducted other maintenance procedures. “Each of those babies has a specific tunnel assigned to them. With sound-detecting spells, we know where every single one of them is at for any given point in time. They can haul several times their own weight, giving us extremely easy access to the abandoned mines throughout the area. We can send or receive supplies anywhere in the Highland’s Edge as long as they have an underground station.” “Wouldn’t the smoke kill you?” Mirage asked, genuinely curious. “Not in the slightest. These babies all run on magic, not steam. And since we’ve got only two Unicorns in the entire Rangers, we get our magic from the Harmony Run - that river’s filled to the brim with it! Feedwater pipes lead it to our machinery, which then runs it through and sends it out the other end. The machinery was designed by our Unicorns, but operated completely by Pegasi! It’s amazing what you can do with just a little imagination.” “I agree.” Mirage leaned over the rail to get a closer look. “So, is this why Silvercrest needs the Canyon cleared?” “Yep. With Doms in the Canyon, and now the Whispering Hive helping them, we can’t operate through the mountains to Griffonstone - too risky. Y’see, those routes actually require breaking the surface in several places before reaching the mountains, and there’s this old mining bridge dangerously close to the hive’s claimed territory. If we could clear them out, we could hop back into the Griffon black market and even tap Equestria’s for raw materials and such to run this war.” “And Queen Atlanta permits this?” “She doesn’t even know the route exists. The area was abandoned when the silver mines ran dry 500 years ago. The Rangers have been restoring the mines, using them as our base, and adding to them to make an interconnected network.” “And because the Rangers are a private institution not controlled by the government, the only thing you need to say is that you own the land and you’re good to go.” “Exactly.” “But if you did tell the government…” “They’d march in and confiscate the equipment. They’d take the land. The Rangers would lose everything.” “How do you know that’s what will happen?” “Because it’s what happened in Port Snowfall,” Solitaire snarled. “The mayor was so focused on private groups owning all sorts of equipment, he didn’t see the Doms until they were in his office, setting demands.” “So why show us now?” “We want you to see how useful it is, so that you’ll advocate for our keeping this.” --------------------------------- Treetop scratched his head. “They disappeared here.” He paced back and forth along the canyon wall. “What the hell happened?” A regular shrugged. Crimson leaned against a rock face, sighing. As he did, the rock opened silently, throwing him off guard for a moment. “That doesn’t normally happen, does it?” “No,” Treetop said. “Follow me. Lieutenant Thorn, stay with Crimson.” The four walked in slowly, weapons drawn. Rose cast an illumination spell. Crimson eyed a wet spot on the floor. Taking a closer look, he saw it was green, as if a Changeling accidentally cut himself. Before he could say anything, the floor dropped and they fell through a winding path. Treetop slid through a loop-de-loop, then saw Crimson next to him before the red Pegasus took a sharp turn and disappeared. Rose flew through the air for a second as her tunnel sent her over an underground gorge. After many twists and turns, ups and downs, and odd cartoonish tunnel mishaps, they piled up with Rose on top. “Ow,” Treetop muttered as three ponies fell on top of him. As they shook themselves off, Mirage bounced into the room. “Crimson! Treetop! We found the Rangers!” “Maybe a warmer, more conventional welcome would’ve been nicer.” “Ah, yes, Colonel, but they’re on the lookout for the Whispering Changeling Hive, which allied the Doms. This is just security.” Solitaire walked in more calmly than the Changeling princess. He recognized Rose Thorn immediately. She knew him too, and they embraced. “You’ve kept her safe,” Solitaire said. “I can trust you.” The Earth pony showed them around the place like he did with Mirage. Treetop was impressed by the scale of the operation; fifty small trains and 400+ ponies far exceeded his expectations of the Canyon Rangers. He was especially interested in their sphere of influence, which extended from the Celestial Sea all the way to the Northern Run, from the Whispering Mountains to the quarries of Lake Autumn, just west of Emberforge Valley. They had access to raw materials, fuel, and isolated communities. Their huge cavern by the Lower Rapids was still under construction, but would no doubt be an invaluable base for wheeled variants of the Summercrest Project’s flying machines. Solitaire remained adamant that the military not take over the facility. It took half an hour, but the incoming regiments were able to convince him that they wouldn’t do anything of the sort. “If you have all of this stuff, then how come almost nopony’s even heard of you?” Treetop asked Solitaire while the regiments set up camp in the Lower Rapids cavern.. “Truth be told, it’s because we don’t advertise ourselves. We’re well known in our sphere, and anyone who’s dealt with the ponies we deal with don’t even know where the stuff comes from, just that it’s sold. But we do regulate what comes through - no illegal drugs, limited alcohol, stuff like that. Weapons are hard to get in the system, but it does occasionally happen. But no bombs. Medical supplies are common. Personal transaction documents come through every now and then. I think we haul farm animals, stone, stuff like that. Found a slave ring one time; it shut down pretty quickly. If you don’t know us, it’s not your fault. We just happen to stay where we are.” “Huh. I guess I’ll get started on clearing the Canyon. With the search pattern you guys recommended, we can cover a quarter of it in a day, minus engagements.” “I can double that land.” ------------------------------------- Queen Echo of the Whispering Highlands Changeling Hive reclined on her throne, waiting for the day’s messages to arrive. After all six thousand finally cycled through, she stood up and headed for her palace’s dungeon. She smiled upon arriving. Suspended in cocoons were almost a thousand ponies - the original Canyon Rangers. Their leader, Solitaire, was her personal prize, as she knew every single thing she needed to about his life and career. She chuckled. She had two veteran Atlantean regiments in her sights. All she needed to do now was wait.