//------------------------------// // Beacon // Story: Tales of the Battle Foals // by Sirdubya //------------------------------// The Battle Foals’ hike through the forsaken land was heavy if only for the fact that everyone was worried about Spiral’s condition. Frostbite kept assuring them she was barely breathing, but Greensprout made a point of giving her a small vital pulse every now and again. Skadi was of no threat, and she knew she had lost, so she simply let her exasperated body be carried off to her fate. Once they got to Frostbite’s cave, the drake took the time to hoard some gems together for the trip. There was an empty provisions sack likely once used by the former miners that he used to store them. As he exited the chamber with his new friends, he took one last glance back at the quiet, peaceful home he’d leave behind in favor of being in good company, even if they were mostly ponies. He ripped a couple more gems off the walls and chowed them down. When the silver light of Luna’s finally graced them once more, the Battle Foals were more than happy to be able to breathe fresh air once again. The serene presence of life itself was more than welcome after the harsh trial they had endured. Speaking of life, they quickly noticed that a group of people were approaching them, and were surprised at who it was. “King Grover!?” Valkyrie said. The ruffled royalty accompanied by a few guards warmly smiled at the sight of the bearer of the Valhalla. “I see you’ve safely returned once more, dear Valkyrie.” He said. He then glared towards Skadi. “And I see you’ve even brought the traitor along with.” “You know already?” Fire Fight asked. Grover nodded. “I received a mysterious letter detailing Skadi’s treachery.” “And…you seriously just believed it?” Bullseye inquired. “While outrageous as it may have seemed, no one had Seen Skadi anywhere in Griffonstone since the early afternoon. It’s unlike her to miss important meeting with the Council of Norn, especially when it concerns our economic crisis.” Grover explained. “Surely you didn’t decide to go out there yourself simply for investigation?” Greensprout asked. Grover shook his head. “Of course not. Upon receiving the letter, I had Skadi’s room searched, and we found a diary detailing the discoveries she’d made regarding these…alien machines that corroborated the claims made by the letter as well as the location of the…ruins, I suppose. It was all the evidence I needed to prosecute her at the very least, but I see that you’ve bested and arrested her. Am I to take that proof of her transgressions?” “Yes, Your Highness. She is indeed guilty.” Air Slash said. “Although, surely you were not planning on hunting her down with so few guards considering what you knew you’d be up against?” “Whoever wrote this letter assured me that you all would overthrow her, and it seems I was not led astray. On behalf of all of Griffonstone, you have my thanks.” Grover said. “Oh, it was our pleasure!” Frostbite declared. Grover looked curiously at Frostbite. “Hmm. Never would I have imagined ponies and dragons working together.” He then noticed the unconscious Spiral Galaxy. “Is that one wounded?” “Not wounded, just…has a mighty nasty headache.” Kickback said. “She didn’t get caught in that space laser or whatever it was that just shot down from the sky, did she?” one of the guards asked. “Oh! Uh… Y’all saw that?” Turf War asked. Skadi deviously smiled. “It was indeed she who summoned that star storm. It was enough to obliterate my entire fortress. Far too dangerous to be left unchecked, wouldn’t you say?” Tidal Wave glared back at her. “What do you think we’ve been doing this whole time?” he said firmly. “I assure you that this is the only time it’s ever happened, Milord.” Quantum Tech said. “Please see to it that it is the last. The entire city was in panic, fearing a coming apocalypse.” Grover said. The foals were glad that Spiral wasn’t awake at that moment. “But if she is in need of medical attention, I would be glad to have my court physician treat her.” “That’s very kind of you, sir, but I must be by her side as well. This group’s well-being is my responsibility.” Greensprout said. “Understandable, and please allow me to reward you for saving Griffonstone. A feast at my castle, perhaps?” “WOOOO!! Y’all read my mind! Or maybe my stomach, I don’t know. But look, we gotta be hungry as hell after all dat!” Turf War said to his comrades. “I guess I could go a night without cooking.” Fire Fight said. The Battle Foals all happily agreed to the king’s offer, and the guardsmen took custody of Skadi, allowing Frostbite to gently load Spiral onto Shrapnel’s back. As he did, Tidal Wave approached him. “How is she?” “Cool it, shrimp. She’s fine.” Frostbite said. “Put me up there with her.” Tidal Wave said. Frostbite sighed before doing so, which the aqua colt was thankful for. He laid next her and made sure she didn’t fall off as Shrapnel trudged along the dirt path. Her breathing was light, but he could tell that she was going to make it, and he could breathe easy knowing she’d be in good hands. He blushed upon remembering the light pecked she’d given him during their captivity and put his hoof on hers. “Wake up soon, Spiral…” As they all followed the king, Shadow Shroud hung in the back a little ways. She picked up the sound of something creeping behind the bushes and smiled, as she knew what the entity was. A familiar black shadow jumped out the bushes next to her, and he unveiled his head. “A job well done.” She said. Dark Veil chuckled. “Just doing my sworn duty.” “And I’m proud of you.” Shroud said. Dark Veil narrowed his eyes and looked away from. “Oh, come now. Don’t act as if you weren’t waiting for me to say that.” Dark Veil sighed. “It was obvious, huh? Ok, ok. You got me. I just wanted somepony to tell me something that wasn’t ‘get good’ or anything. And….rgh….it’d hold more weight if it came from you…” he grumbled. “So….thanks….” “And thank you for providing aid. Perhaps we can be a little more cordial from now on?” Shroud said. Dark Veil eyed back at the Battle Foals with frustration and then back at his smaller senior. He donned his mask once more. “Just this once. Next time, I might not be so lenient.” He disappeared back into the shadows of the forest. Shadow Shroud trotted back to meet with her comrades, and as she did, she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, only to be replaced by something else. Slowly, her earlier frustration seemed to creep back into her mind, and she did her best to tame it. “If only they knew…” Earlier in Ponyville… The Ponyville residents of the search party had arrived by train back home earlier in the evening, still dejected at their failure at the Great Horn Temple. They all knew that they’d be heading for Griffonstone tomorrow, so they decided to rest their tired bodies for the night. Sky Strike had been given leave from his captain until he could find his son, and Twilight had graciously allowed him sanction in her castle, where he slept from exhaustion even if his worried mind would otherwise keep him awake. Twilight herself along with Spike found themselves standing outside on her bedroom balcony with only the twinkling stars to comfort their sorrow. They had the runaway foals within hoof’s reach, and they still slipped away. She had never felt more like a failure as a princess. The most jarring thought was that they were still out there, vulnerable to Celestia knows what because of a misguided conviction that they weren’t completely at fault for thinking. “Twilight….I’m starting to lose hope.” Spike said. “It’ll be alright, Spike. We now know where they are, and there’s not many places to go out there, so I think we can corner them.” Twilight said. “You make it sound like their wanted criminals.” Spike joked. Twilight sighed. “Maybe because they feel like criminals…” “I just hope that ‘Shadow Shroud’ doesn’t turn out to be one. She sounds scary.” Spike said. “You’re right, Spike. We need to confront her about her intentions. Somepony that dangerous needs to be handled carefully.” Twilight said. Suddenly, a section of the sky noticeably shone with unusual luminosity. They looked up and were both awestruck and horrified as a web of light formed from the stars and shot down a pillar of light that struck the earth from very far away. It dissipated after a few long seconds, and all was calm once more. “Wh-Wh-What was that!?” Spike stammered. “I-I-I don’t know, Spike, but it was the direction of Griffonstone!” Twilight said. That’s when she had an epiphany. “ Spiral Galaxy…. They must be in serious danger! We have to wake everypony up and go there now!!” “Huh!? B-But Twilight, we don’t know if that was actually-” “No buts, mister! Now get moving!” Twilight rushed out of her room with a somewhat reluctant Spike following. Meanwhile in Canterlot… The Royal Sisters dined together in Luna’s room. It was nearly time for Celestia to hit the hay, but she never passed up the opportunity to spend time with her little sister. They snacked on some waffles made for them at their request as they discussed currently mostly pressing issue. “Sister, have you heard from Twilight at all regarding her search of the runaway foals?” Luna asked. “For better or for worse. In her most recent letter, she mentioned that they had managed to find the foals, but they escaped via a portal leading to Griffonstone, destroying it in the process so that they wouldn’t be followed.” Celestia said. “After that, it seems they’re exact whereabouts are unknown.” Luna breathed an internal sigh of relief. “That’s….troubling. Wait, you don’t perhaps mean the Asgard Forest portal, do you?” Celestia nodded. “I do. It shocked me that was even still operational.” She took a sip of her tea. “I have no doubt that she plans to travel there when tomorrow rises. Perhaps we should accompany her.” “I would not be opposed to the idea. The foals’ sudden presence in Griffonstone may shock it’s residents, and we as leaders may need to intervene.” Luna said. “Oh! I didn’t think about that. However, the foals should be our priority.” “Of course, sist-” Luna was cut off when a guard stormed into their room. “Your Highnesses!” he exclaimed. “What is it, Iron Defense?” Celestia asked. “Something is amiss with the sky!” Iron said. Despite the lack of detail, royal sisters went outside onto Luna’s balcony and quickly noticed the anomaly Iron Defense spoke of. A small group of stars connected their light like a connect-the-dots puzzle and formed a sort of web. From the middle of the ‘web’ shot down a huge congregation of light that touched the earth from very far away. The sisters could hear some of the residents panicking, likely fearing a doomsday event. The celestial beam petered out, but the unrest remained. Celestia ascended off the balcony, motioning for her sister to follow. “We need to calm everypony down and figure out what that was!” Luna followed her without a moment’s hesitation. “Right.” As she did, her thoughts went back to the Battle Foals, worrying how they might have been involved in whatever this anomaly was… In the Frozen North… Shining Armor, accompanied by Steel Sheen, a small battalion of other guards and the exploration team was led through the frigid landscape to the magical phenomenon he was warned of. He was no stranger to the eternal blizzard that raged throughout the frozen wilds, but he could tell that it was raging in a way that it almost felt…aggressive, as if something was trying to keep them away. Piles of snow being blown around in the storm would pound them, making it difficult to keep their balance. Eventually, the actual anomaly itself came into view, and it wasn’t quite what the Prince of Love was expecting. Before them was a massive dome of ice that was surrounded by debris violently swirling around it, and the blizzard became more intense as they neared it. Surrounding its base were clusters of ice spikes jutting outward. Shining had never seen a more ominous sight. “What….is that?” the prince asked. “We don’t know, Your Highness.” One of the explorers said. “But whatever it is, we’re worried it could get out of control.” “No kidding. We shouldn’t get any closer until we’re better equipped to deal with its…defenses.” Shining said. “We should head back to the Empire. I’ll need to inform the Sisters.” “Yes, sir!” Steel Sheen said. Just as they were marching back home, a surge of power radiated from the ice dome, causing the ground around the violently rumble. They all turned around to see what was happening only to find the dome eerily shining. “Shiiiiniiiiing Aaarrrrmooorrr…..” A ghastly voice boomed from the dome, startling the entire entourage, but just as they thought it couldn’t get any scarier, a small horde of ice monsters suddenly spawned from the snow. They were seven feet tall and took the form of bipedal lizards whose icy armor and claws almost made look like armored aliens. They roared and hissed. The dome shined as though it were some kind of beacon commanding them “GET BACK!!” Shining Armor cast a shield spell that blew the monsters back. He left the force field erected in its place to hold them back so that they could make a clean escape….