Ch. 8
Flame looked up to the buzzing sound, the changelings she had followed turning to search for love. She stopped a few distance from their stopping spot, watching through the brush.
She signaled her troops, the small band of unicorns setting up beside her. Her camo wrappings concealed her brown fur to the bugs. Her dark blue eyes watched as they consumed the love from a family of small deers. A dark purple pegasus walked up beside her, looking out to see what was happening. Flame looked to the stallion and whispered, keeping her eyes on the changelings.
“They should be going back to the cave now to give the love they stored for the queen. Be ready to fly off in case things go sour.” he nodded, walking back to get a better launch point. Flame motioned to her other troops, and they moved through the foliage towards the bugs. When they got just before the outing, one of the drones hissed to the air, making them stop in the brush.
From the sky a dragon dropped onto one of the bugs, shattering it's wings and roaring at the other drone. Before it could take off, the dragon leapt onto the second one, crushing it's neck with a audible snap. The second drone tried to limp away, but was stopped by a stallion walking out of the woods and striking its face. The dragon then walked over and held down the drone.
“Good, any new samples we can find are always a treat. Now, hold still.” The stallion took a small spike and hammer from a bag on its back, a bronze aura holding it to the changelings neck. With a quick strike, he broke the armor of the changelings, and began to put the ooze into a small canister. When it had been filled, he brought the spike to the back of it's head and killed the changeling, it's brains and blood oozing out of its eyes.
“Just a few more samples and I can reverse engineer one of my own. Just one step towards my new life programs.” He looked where flame and her crew were hiding and motioned for them to come forward. When they didn't, he motioned to the dragon, who spat a large icicle at the trees to scatter them.
Flame went to action, leaping out of the brush with a shield from two supporting unicorns. She fired her aura to the dragon, molding around its hands and linking chains onto it. Soon the dragon became a ball, rolling on the ground and trying to break the restraints. Her other guards walked out from the brush, approaching slowly as flame continued to hold him down.
On closer inspection, she saw it was a fairly young dragon. He was barely taller then a regular pony, and wore a sleek stone armor, which hid his silver scales. Before she could look further, she felt her neck tighten, a cord being wrapped around her neck.
“forget something miss?” the Earth pony from before suddenly faded into existence, his dark blue coat a few inches from her face. The other unicorns turned in shock at their leader held down. They primed their horns, but flame shut them down with a quick motion.
“Smart move girl. Now release my dragon and we can talk like civilized ponies.” She hesitated, but a quick pull of the cord made her magic falter, removing the cuffs from the dragon. He removed the cord and walked back to the dragon, leaving flame gasping for breath. Her second in command came to help her stand again.
“You're clearly special units, I assume hunting changelings by your reaction to my deeds. Mind talking about it?” Flame gave him a dark expression before speaking.
“We were tracking down the changelings to destroy the queen. But since you killed these we have no leads to the location now.” The stallion nodded, then pulled a small piece of paper out of his coat. He gave a warm smile before levitating it with a strange bronze aura.
“The dragon and I are currently on a experiment involving changelings, so I've made a map to the various caves they've been using through the region, including the underground tunnels. I could give you the spare map we have, but I'll need a favor back.” The unit stood by patiently, looking to flame to see how she responded. Finally recovered, she walked over to the floating paper and looked him in the eyes. He gave a soft smile, his grey eyes seemingly looking past her fasade.
“And what kind of favor would that be?”
“Work of course. Celestia will have no need of you once you perform your job, and you'll be a bunch of trained unicorns disbanded and left to try reintegration. But I could use your skills and talents for years to come.”
“She wouldn't. We are a valuable asset, hoof picked to defend her.”
“Believe what you will. Meet me at the edge of canterlot, just past the rock face, and then we'll see what the truth will be.” He dropped the map on the ground, the climbed on the back of the dragon. With a leap the two glided off from the hillside and towards the town. Flame picked up the map and began to wonder about what the strange stallion meant.
The train screeched to a halt outside the ruined city of Manehattan. The aura which surrounded the tinkerer faded away, leading him to roll off the cattle guard and landing on the track. Buttercup jumped off the train and ran to pick him up, placing him on her back and propping him to the side. Otaku and keros flew out of the train car, a loud gasp being heard from the other side of the train.
“Umm, you two should come and look at this. Something isn't right here.” Keros voice came out from behind the barely standing train station, and buttercup hobbled him over to see the sight. Instead of a ruined city there layed a barren waste of sand and glass. In the center of it was a lone alicorn, sitting on a bend piece of metel with a small music box in their hooves. Otaku and keros went down into the crater to greet her, hugging and talking unintelligibly to the alicorn.
Buttercup began to hobble the tinkerer down to the area, till a large this sounded behind them. Fangorn stood above them, his armor glowing softly in the rising sun. The tinkerer moved off of buttercup, walking to the dragon with only a small limp. Buttercup reached to stop him, but turned back to the alicorn and walked down, leaving the two alone.
“Such a waste of life. Do you think we'll be able to work with this?” Fangorn held out a claw to help the tinkerer, supporting his body and keeping him upright. The tinkerer coughed, then nodded.
“Harmony is always restored. The dark grows bored of itself and the light must rest to allow the dark. But I know you'll be a great asset to her once the rebuild begins.” Fangorn growled, then walked down to the edge of the crater. The tinkerer watched as the four ponies made their way up, fangorn picking them out with his tail.
When they all got out flame walked over to where the tinkerer was, allowing him to look her over. The alicorn had lost all false body parts, leaving her a burnt husk of leather and metel. Her violet eyes shined bright within the hollow sockets of her chassie. Her left wing was broken and she had her right foreleg propped up, carrying a small music box. He gave a sad smile, and picked up the box, winding it up to play a soft Melody.
“Hard to believe this has happened. This began so many years ago, and trapped both of us in a darkness. With everything gone now, it's time for us to end our time here.”
“I know you wanted to apologise to Jade for getting her involved. I just hope I can make things right with our last act.” This made buttercup and otaku confused, the two giving odd looks before otaku spoke up.
“hold on a second, are you telling me that you just plan to retire? You're immortal, and have so much potential for magic! Plus with this mess we have to clean it up.”
“You're right, but you'll be doing it without us. This was my final idea, and it ended with such a failure. That's why flame and I will give one last act to correct our lives before passing. And we thank you for your time.”
“Sir… w-what am I supposed to do? That's a heavy burden to put on me and…” keros held his hoof and gave him a smile. She nodded to the tinkerer, and turned back to kiss him.
“It'll be on us. Don't worry, he planned for this while the project went out. Just follow what I say and we can rebuild Equestria like never before. Do you trust me?” Otaku opened his mouth to argue, but closed it and nodded. Buttercup stepped forward with a tear in her eye.
“it’s a shame it had to come to this sir. I've enjoyed the time we've been together, but I guess finding my own work was inevitable. Thank you for the service, and I'll make you proud of me.” The tinkerer gave a nod, and buttercup backed to where the others were. Fangorn lifted up the tinkerer and placed him on his back before flying off. Keros used her magic to repair flame as best she could, rebuilding the wing and leg enough to make it work. She then walked a short distance away and began a spell, a magic mark appearing on the ground.
“tunc sibimet manus, sic ego potest figere peccata mea.” the sound of a church bell rang in the air, and the alicorn disappeared. Keros put her hoof around otaku and walked back to the train, buttercup giving one last look to the crator before following.
Flame regained herself as she stood over the sleeping city, many years before the scheme they had performed had been done. Taking a cloak from within her chassie, she went to the dimly lit streets to find who she was looking for. The wind blew through the walkways, a nice change of scenery from the grime sight of her future.
The hospital layed silent before her, and flame made her way to the front desk. A unicorn mare was lazily typing on the computer when she noticed her entry. She gave a tired expression before leaning over the counter.
“Welcome to the Manehattan hospital, do you have an emergency?”
“I'm looking for a certain filly, dark green coat, named Jade I believe. Is she in the nursery?”
“Give me a moment to see if I can find one.” She began lazily typing on the computer, squinting at the computer after a few minutes.
“That's odd, we have a pony of that description that was born only a few days ago. The mother died and the father never showed up, so how did you know about it?”
“An old friend of mine told me. Now I think you should rest.” Flames eyes glowed, and the unicorn fell into a deep sleep. She grabbed the keys out of the counter and made her way down the halls. She soon found the nursery, and used the key to enter the small room. The various foals sat sleeping in their cribs, and flame played the music box she had to be sure that stayed.
As she made her way through the foals, she froze when a sudden tugging happened on her cloak. Turning around, she found a grey Earth pony mouthing on the end of it. Flame tried to shake the foal off, but it held on tight. Frustrated, she lifted her wing to shake the foal off. But the filly held on, and flame had to place the foal in a different crib to make it let go. She then continued on, unaware she had placed it in the crib of a white unicorn with electric blue hair.
Flame then found the filly she was looking for, and cradled it in her wings before turning to the door. As she closed it, an alarm blared in the narrow halls. Looking around, she saw one of the nurses pulling an alarm, and made a rush to get to the door. The filly stayed silent from the music box, but it prevented her from flying out. Instead, she bucked down the locked door and fled out of the city, intent on getting the filly to ponyville.
Fangorn and tinkerer stood before the tree of harmony. Though it looked less majestic then before, the colors of the elements drained and the crystal only faintly glowed. The tinkerer nodded, and the dragon pulled out his sword, striking the tree and cracking the crystal.
Blow after blow was struck, each one sending cracks farther up the tree. A final swing shattered the remaining tree, felling the jewel and breaking the tree to pieces. The elements of harmony remained, still uncolored from the respected owners death. The two grabbed the elements and placed them into a bag which they had. The tinkerer jumped back onto fangorns back and they flew out of the cave, flying to ponyville.
“Do you think the princess will listen to me? I doubt she would allow a dragon to enter and speak, especially with the news I have.”
“One way or another she will hear it. I see it better to hear from a eye witness then a mere commoner. trust me my friend, this place will thrive again, and you will be apart of history.”
Flame flew through the night, cradling the foal in one of her forelegs. She had evaded the city and flew to get it to safety. Arriving in ponyville, she landed near a small home which the tinkerer had instructed. She laid the foal at the door, placing the small music box she had in her chassie in their lap. She then knocked on the door before heading into the shadows.
A stallion wearing a apron walked out of the door, looking around till he found the foal. He picked up the small note attached to them, and with a growl brought them inside. Flame smiled, and walked out of the city, prepping her time spell.
Fangorn landed on a hill outside of ponyville, sitting silent before them. The tinkerer jumped off and walked to the edge of it, overlooking the city.
“You sure she will come? You asked a tall order of flame, and I'm not sure about her ability.” He said nothing, and fangorn simply sighed. He turned to fly off, but the tinkerer stopped him with a bit of magic.
“Before you go, i need you to do me a favor. Remove your blindfold, so I can see your eyes again.” The dragon hesitated, then removed the blindfold from his eyes. He then popped the contacts from his eyes, reveling the glowing rainbow he had for pupils. The tinkerer smiled, then turned back to the town.
“You wont be needing that guise anymore. I used it for all your time to give you an edge. You no longer need it, or me. Good luck with my final request, and thank you for being my friend.” the dragon nodded, and flew off, leaving him alone. A minute passed, before the sound of a church bell rang behind him. He turned and smiled, flame regaining herself from the time spell. She walked over to where he layed and wrapped a hoof around him.
“I'm guessing the deed is done?”
“Yeah, I'm sure when ponyville begins rebuilding she'll play into it. Perhaps even fangorn can give her something to do.”
“It will still be a better fate then what we did. Ready to go?” The alicorn nodded, and fully embraced him, a click sounding in her chassie. A silent minute passed, neither saying a word or looking away. A loud blast came from within her, tearing the two to pieces and leaving nothing but a smoke pile to show they had been their. A small green foal walked out of her home to see what had happened.
Fangorn landed on the paved crystal roads, his claws cracking the material slightly from the impact. He made for the castle, ignoring the panicked screams of the nearby ponies. The dragon was blocked at the entrence by two crystal guards, their spears facing to his neck.
“Halt dragon, what business do you have here in the crystal empire?”
“I have matters involving Equestrias balence, make way so I can speak to cadenza, least I break you into pieces.”
“What matters could you possibly have to need the princess so urgently?” Fangorn reached into the bag he was holding and held out the dull element from the tree. The two guards gave worried glances, and parted for him to pass.
“You should limit access to the castle now. The news I have will crush the queen in more ways than one.” Fangorn walked into the castle, leaving the guards to wonder what he meant.