"... also, and unsurprisingly, there have been several nobles who have voiced to me their complaints about their living arrangements, all of which involving how they find their accommodations to be unfit for a pony of their standing."
Sol managed to keep himself from rolling his eyes at this last bit of Fancy Pants' report, but was less successful with the annoyed sigh that had accidentally slipped through his lips. The same couldn't be said for the two guards that were escorting Sol and Fancy Pants down the hallway from the throne room who, while professional, couldn't help but roll their eyes in annoyance from having dealt with some of the more uptight and snooty nobles themselves.
"Personally, I don't mind my accommodations one bit," Fancy Pants continued. "Contrary to what they might believe, I have actually come to find the architecture and interior designs to be a surprisingly nice change of scenery."
A small smile formed on Sol's lips. "Thank you, Mr. Fancy Pants."
"Please, Your Highness, just Fancy Pants will do."
Sol nodded. "Very well. In that case, feel free to just call me Sol."
Fancy Pants smiled. "I believe I can manage that," he said with a chuckle.
A smile had formed on Sol from their exchange, but it didn't last long.
"They may not like it, but they will just have to make do with what they have been given. It's taken a lot of time and magic for me to try and modernize this kingdom to what it currently is, despite a few things that I've noticed I missed." Sol furrowed his brow as he looked ahead. "Besides, I currently have more important matters to attend to at the moment. While pretty much everypony down here has found a place that they like and have started to settle in, which is an admittedly large load off of my mind, there are still those on the surface who didn't make it that I need to think about."
Fancy Pants gave Sol a worried look. "I share your sentiment with those who didn't make it, but what can we do to help them? It's been a week now since that terrible evening. I hate to say it, but those changelings have probably captured anypony on the run by now."
Sol's gaze fell slightly. "I know. I fear for their safety and odds of escape every day, but we can't give up. The Crystal Empire is still secured, so the portal to it will remain open to all. Also, I have been told that Shining Armor, Cadence, and Princess Celestia have increased the shield's power to help keep the changelings and Tirek out, should any of them try to enter."
"So there is still a chance to save them?"
"There is, albeit a small one. The train isn't running anymore, so anypony running from them would have to either fly or make it by hoof."
"I see. And what of Princesses Luna and Twilight?"
"Princess Luna has been working overtime to tend to the nightmares of everypony down here. She's had particular trouble with the foals and their wild imaginations after seeing what happened." Sol's sad frown curved into a small smile. "As for Twilight, she and her friends have been busy helping ponies settle in to their new homes. Once they helped them, things started to go more smoothly. Although, despite their new living situations, the pegasi do seem to be a bit restless. Especially those who used to work with the Cloudsdale Weather Factory."
"Yes, I could imagine so. Though I do find that giant tree that they're living in to be quite fascinating."
Sol smiled with pride. "I would hope so. The amount of magic it took to grow that tree was-"
"King Sol!"
Sol and Fancy Pants turned their attention down the hall where one of the pegasi guards were flying towards them, stopping a few feet away from them and saluting Sol as he panted.
"I'm sorry for... the interruption... Your Highness."
"Alright, but take a moment to catch your breath first." The guard nodded and regained his breathing. "There. Now, is something the matter?"
"No, Your Highness. In fact, it's just the opposite," the guard gladly announced. "A group of ponies have just passed through the barrier into the Crystal Empire."
Sol's eyes widened in hope. "Are any of them disguised changeling or influenced by them?"
"No, sir. Everypony who made it through was clean. In fact, nopony believed if any of them were actually for real, considering who was leading them."
"Why? Who led them?"
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to come see it for yourself. Hay, I already saw it and I'm still having trouble believing it."
Sol gave a fanged smile. "Then let us not waste any more time and go greet these new ponies." Sol turned to Fancy Pants. "I apologize for ending our talk so suddenly, but I must see to this. Was there anything else that you needed to report before I leave?"
"No, that was about it, actually," Fancy Pants said before giving a small bow. "May you have a pleasant day, Sol."
"And you as well, Fancy Pants."
Giving a small, respectful bow of his own, Sol left Fancy Pants and his two guards to follow the messenger to the portal. Several minutes of flying later, the two made it to the portal to the Crystal Empire and flew through into the crystalline city. It wasn't until Sol saw Cadence and a crowd of crystal ponies surrounding a group of roughly thirty ponies that he and the guard had landed outside of the crowd.
Politely maneuvering his way through, Sol made his way past the ponies towards Cadence when he suddenly paused as he saw her talking with a rather familiar pony.
"Like I said, sir," the guard spoke, "you had to see it for yourself."
"And you were right. Thank you for informing me and escorting me here."
Thanking and dismissing the guard, Sol resumed his trek past the ponies to greet their new visitors.
"I should have known you would escape their capture, Miss Do," Sol said with a chuckle.
The tan pegasus' ears perked up as her head turned to face him with a cocky smirk.
"Well, now there's a face I haven't seen in a while. Glad to see you made it in one piece. And what did I tell you before about calling me 'Miss'?"
Sol chuckled. "Sorry, but it's a-"
"Force of habit. Yeah, yeah, I know. But I'm kinda disappointed that you thought I would let myself get caught so easily. By this point, I've done stuff like this long enough that I could probably do it in my sleep." Daring's smirk grew as her eyes glanced off to the side. "But I gotta admit, I did have a bit of help escorting these ponies here."
"Really?"
"Mhmm. I was a bit surprised by the sort of magic she could do, but you could say-"
"You could say that her Great and Powerful acts of heroism was what saved everypony from a terrible fate at the hooves of the changelings."
Recognizing the loud and arrogant voice, Sol looked over to see a tired and exhausted Trixie leaning on another pony for support, but managing to maintain her signature smug smile. Despite how annoying she could be at times, he was just happy to have more ponies show up safely. That, and he knew that Starlight would be overjoyed to see her again.
"As annoying as she is," Daring said with an eye-roll, "she isn't wrong. With the way she was using her magic to self-levitate and fly around, shield everypony, and create some rather convincing illusions, she was surprisingly helpful with our escape."
Trixie let out an indignant humph. "Well of course Trixie was helpful. After all, it was thanks to Starlight's magic lessons that the Great and Powerful Trixie managed to perform all of those wonderful feats of magic that saved everypony... that, and the occasional smoke bomb."
"So you keep reminding us." As glad as she was that Trixie had helped save these ponies, Daring could have done without the mare's attitude. "Hey, Sol?"
Sol's ears perked. "Yes?"
"Do you think you and Princess Cadence here could call the other royals for a meeting? It's really important."
"We can do that," Cadence said with a nod. "We can meet up in the Crystal Castle. I'll go inform Shining Armor and Aunty Celestia, and increase the patrols around the city, just in case."
"In that case, after I see to these ponies, I'll go find Twilight and our friends, and Au- Princess Luna," Sol said, quickly correcting himself before anypony in the surrounding crowd could catch it.
"In the meantime, while we're getting everypony together," Cadence began, "why don't you go on ahead to the castle and ask the chefs to make you something? I'm sure you must be hungry from your travels."
"Yes, Trixie could go for a decent meal right about now... and maybe a bath," Trixie said as she approached them on her own with unsteady legs. "Besides, Trixie needs to talk to you all too."
"I'd listen to her if I were you," Daring nodded. "Turns out that Trixie saw something that actually correspond with what I have to report."
Cadence's eyes shifted between the two mares for a moment before she gave a small nod.
"Very well. You may both go on ahead." Cadence looked over the crowd and spotted one of her guards, and called him over. "Would you please escort Daring Do and Miss Lulamoon to the castle?"
"Yes, Princess."
"Thank you." She turned back to address Trixie and Daring. "We will be meeting in the throne room in about an hour. After you two get yourselves bathed and have something to eat, come meet us there."
With their bellies full and their bodies cleaned after a quick bite and bath, Daring and Trixie found themselves sitting at a circular table in the throne room, along with the Princesses, Sol, Spike, the Element Bearers, and of course Starlight, who had clung to Trixie the moment she saw her, and was now seated at her spot at the table with Trixie sitting on her lap, and her forelegs wrapped around her in a possessive hug.
"Not that I'm complaining or anything, Starlight, but is now really the best time to-"
"Shush," Starlight interrupted with a small squeeze. "During this week down here, I was afraid that Chrysalis had captured you and stuffed you in one of her pods again. I've been worried sick about you so badly that I have barely slept, so stop complaining and let me have this."
Though Trixie didn't normally mind the cuddling, the fact that they were in the company of not just their friends, but all of Equestria's royals, was causing Trixie's face to flush in embarrassment. It also didn't help her much either that there was a bit of snickering coming from Rainbow and Applejack, and cooing coming from across the table from Rarity and Cadence.
But, despite the jovial mood around the table, Pinkie, to everypony's surprise, frowned unhappily and folded her forelegs across her chest.
"Just a week? Seriously? Because it feels to me like we've been down here for over two months."
"Trust me, Pinkie, it's been only a week," Celestia replied, putting aside Pinkie's odd comment and behavior. "And as heartwarming as this is to watch, I believe that you two had something you wished to report to us?"
"Yes. I would like to very much," Trixie hastily replied, much to Celestia's mirth.
"Very well, then."
"Thank you." Trixie then proceeded to clear her throat. "As Daring Do said before when we first got here, I saw something that I think you all should know about. You see, three days ago when I was escorting a small group of ponies away with a spell of invisibility-"
"You what?!" Twilight exclaimed, clearly surprised by Trixie's boasting of not just using a spell like that, but on a group of ponies. This also led Trixie to glare at her.
"... The Brave and Heroic Trixie would appreciate it if she wasn't interrupted while telling her story," she said with a huff. "But if you must know, it was thanks to my magic lessons with Starlight that I was able to pull off such a spell. Trixie was already good with magic that involved illusions, and with her help, turning myself and others invisible wasn't really that hard. I mean, I saw her do it myself, so it was easy-"
"Uh, Trixie? I think they get it," Starlight interrupted, giving Trixie's middle a gentle squeeze and causing her to pout.
"Oh, fine. A story for another time, I suppose. But as I was saying, while the Stealthy and Elusive Trixie was helping sneak her ponies away, she and the others saw Tirek marching towards the east with about thirty changelings following him. From the looks of the direction he was traveling, and after taking a look at the map we had, he had come from Canterlot and was heading to Baltimare."
All eyes were on Trixie.
"You mean to tell us that Tirek has left the safety of Canterlot?" Luna cautiously asked.
"Him being in Canterlot was the entire reason why we had to restrain ourselves," Sol commented with a look of annoyance and confusion. "Why would he leave the city and leave himself vulnerable like this?"
"I don't know, but I wouldn't say that he's exactly vulnerable." Trixie shuddered, which in turn caused Starlight to hold her more securely to her chest. "Even from as far away as we were, I could still feel the magic radiating off of him, and I've seen what those changelings can do to unicorn magic."
"And this ties in with what I have to report," Daring spoke, taking over the talking. "Two days after the invasion, the day before I met Trixie and her refugees, I infiltrated Canterlot and tried to free as many ponies as I could. During my time there, I managed to overhear a few interesting rumors from Chrysalis' changelings. If what they said was true, and from what Trixie said, it probably is, then Tirek has left Canterlot to collect magic from ponies from the other cities. In addition, I also heard that he's come up with a new, not to mention obvious and torturous, method of draining their magic."
"Which is?" Celestia hesitantly pressed.
Daring frowned. "Instead of completely draining ponies of their magic like he did last time, he's going to take just enough from them so that they'll be able to replenish their magic."
"Which will give him a seemingly endless supply of magic to feed on," Twilight concluded with a worried shiver.
"Exactly. Tirek gets as much magic as he wants, and Chrysalis and her minions can continue to feed on everypony. It's a win-win for them."
The room echoed with the sound of Rainbow's hoof slamming down on the table.
"Then we need to stop him now, before he can get to anypony else!" she exclaimed. "We can't let him become as powerful as he was last time."
"That won't happen," Sol spoke up, drawing the attention to himself. "From what I recall from your stories, the last time he was confronted, he had the powers of every unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony in Equestria, plus Discord. We have over half of Equestria's population down here in the Underkingdom, along with Discord, so it will take him a while before he should even come close to what you all described him to be last time."
Luna frowned and nodded. "If Tirek is traveling by hoof, then to obtain a power such as he did the last time would take him months to accomplish, if not longer. Even if Chrysalis would gather all of the captives to one place for him for quicker access, Tirek would still have to wait for them to naturally replenish their magic."
"So we have timeframe in which we can save them?" Rarity asked.
"We do, but even with us alicorns working together, it would still be difficult for us to do with the changelings' amulets protecting them from our magic."
"And what forces of ours that did manage to escape are about a fifth of our total number, and most of them are from Canterlot," Shining added. "We are at a total disadvantage here. We lack numbers, our magic is practically useless against them, and overall, we just don't have the power to pull this off."
As they mulled this over, Fluttershy slowly raised a hoof in the air and held it until Cadence noticed her.
"Yes, Fluttershy?"
"Um... this is just a thought I had," she began, lowering her hoof, "but if we don't have the ponies to do it, then could we maybe get somepony to help us?"
"But there are no other ponies to help us," Rarity commented. "Everypony is either down here, inside the Crystal Empire, or captured. Nopony can help us."
Spike raised his head and blinked as Rarity's last few words echoed in his head. Moments later, a grin slowly began to form on his face before his fangs were on display for all to see.
"Rarity, you're a genius!" Spike shouted, lifting Rarity up and kissing her in front of everypony, leaving her flustered.
"Um... thank you for the compliment, darling... but I'm afraid you lost me."
"You're right! No pony can help us, but what about non-ponies? Think about it for a second."
It didn't even take Twilight a full second for her eyes to widen in realization.
"You're talking about Ember and Thorax, aren't you?!"
"Exactly!" Spike beamed excitingly. "Once we tell them what's happened and who's behind it, I'm sure they'll come help us!"
Hmmm. That could work, Sol mulled over in his head. And Torch still owes me a favor for that one time. Guess if there was ever a time to cash it in, now would be it.
"Ooh! Then that means that I go to Yakyakistan and ask Prince Rutherford for help!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"But how will you even be able to get to the Dragon Lands and the Changeling Hive without Tirek or Chrysalis' changelings noticing you?" Twilight asked Spike.
"With the amulet Sol gave us," he replied. "Remember, it's locked on to Ember's cave, so once I take the portal to the Crystal Empire, I can activate it and teleport straight to her. After I explain the situation to her and get her help, I can run from the Dragon Lands straight for Thorax."
Rarity looked up at Spike with a hint of concern. "Are you sure you can do it? It's a rather long way between the Dragon Lands and the Hive."
Spike smirked. "Yeah, it is. But I'm also the fastest dragon alive, if not the fastest creature alive-" Spike paused when he heard a grumble coming from Rainbow. "... on land, anyway."
Despite his confidence, Rarity frowned. "Regardless, it would not be appropriate for you to just run off like that and not keep in touch with Ember. And so, I shall be accompanying you to the Dragon Lands, and I won't take 'no' for an answer."
Now it was Spike's turn to be concerned. "Are you sure?" he asked, taking Rarity's hoof and holding it in his claw.
"Why, of course I am, Spikey. After all, it would make more sense if I remained behind with Ember, since you're the closest one here to Thorax."
Sol nodded at their plan. "This could actually work. But, if it is going to work, then I'll need to make you new amulets to allow for multiple, long-ranged communication, and to create a new returning point for your teleportation back. I'll make one for you too, Pinkie, and one for us, so that the four of us can keep in touch and coordinate the attack."
"It sounds as though we have a plan," Celestia spoke, looking over everypony gathered before her eyes settled on Sol. "How long will it take for you to finish these amulets?"
"... since I've done teleportation runes before, it shouldn't take too long, but the communication runes will be a bit tricky and naturally take longer. If if I start on them as soon as we're done here, then I could probably have them finished sometime tonight or tomorrow morning."
"Very well. Then tomorrow, Rarity, Spike, and Pinkie Pie will travel to the Dragon Lands, Hive, and Yakyakistan, and ask their leaders for help in retaking Equestria."