//------------------------------// // 10. Parties Reunited // Story: Order-naries: Storm-chased // by CTVulpin //------------------------------// Being completely petrified is a fate that is far worse to consider in the abstract than it is to actually experience, if only because one is essentially unconscious when turned to stone. The majority of the horror comes from considering the possibility of not waking back up or wondering about how damage to the stone will affect oneself when flesh is restored. Petrification also preserves the victim’s state of mind in the moment just before full transition, so if it occurs slowly the victim will still be feeling panic and may lash out as soon as they can move again. For this reason, Sunburst positioned himself at Princess Celestia’s side – out of her immediate range of vision and where flailing hooves wouldn’t strike – before casting the spell to free her from her petrification. The light from his horn spread like veins through the black stone, and when it reached the tip of her horn the stone burst off her restored self in a cloud of dust and tiny flakes. Celestia gasped as she dropped from her reared-back pose to all four hooves, and then again as she was immediately targeted for an affectionate chest-nuzzling by her sister. “Luna,” Celestia said with warmth and surprise. “You managed to get away, then?” “Nay,” Luna said, turning away in shame, “I tried to fly, but I was struck by one of those horrid orbs mere moments after you.” “Oh,” Celestia said, looking around and taking in her surroundings for the first time. She and Luna weren’t in the festival courtyard anymore, but in one of the rooms of Canterlot Castle, and the room was full of ponies that she recognized, including Cadance, as well as Queen Cabbage Patch, who seemed to be pointedly avoiding Cadance. One face was conspicuous by its absence. “Where’s Twilight?” Celestia asked. “Far to the south, last I heard, Princess,” replied Ashen Blaze, who was standing off to one side of the room with a teal crystal encasing his horn and his teammates around him, “with Tempest Shadow in pursuit. We’ve been trying to fathom what Twilight and the Elements could be seeking down that way.” “The Hippogriffs, I would guess,” Celestia said. “When I saw what Tempest Shadow’s magic orbs did to Cadance, I tried to tell Luna to find the Queen of the Hippogriffs, both to beg the use of one of their cultural treasures to counteract the petrification and to get at least one alicorn out of the hooves of this Storm King. It seems Twilight took up the task when Luna couldn’t, naturally,” she concluded with a fond smile. “That is her wont,” Luna agreed. “Although I wonder if she will actually find the Hippogriffs,” she added with a frown, “since you only managed to say ‘hippo’ before the stone overcame you.” “At least she got away,” Celestia said. “Tempest Shadow went after her,” Ash reminded the princesses. Celestia’s expression became grim. “Right, you did mention that,” she said. She looked around the room again. “So, what’s been happening around here in my… absence? I gather that you and your Order-naries have been doing what you do best, Ash, but I would appreciate some details.” “Uh,” Ash said, looking to Looping Lines and Soul Mage, “who wants to tell the tale?” Loopy and Soul looked at each other. “Well,” Soul said, “there are two parts to it and we were each present for one...” “You go first,” Loopy said. Soul nodded graciously and then launched into a rollicking summary of the grand train and airship race to the Crystal Empire and the confrontation against the Storm King there. Loopy then gave a professional outline of the short, improvised campaign to retake Canterlot. When she was finished, Celestia and Luna had to sit down. “So, you’re telling us there is no more invasion crisis,” Luna said. “The five of you undid everything the Storm King’s forces inflicted on Equestria in only a couple days.” “Hey, it’s what we do,” Soul Mage said flippantly. Gold Heart gave her brother a wing-slap upside the head. “We had some advantage from showing up after the initial scuffle and being able to observe and learn a bit about the enemy,” she said. “I think what actually made it all possible, however, was all the old and new friends we were able to recruit along the way: Trixie, Starlight, Dragon Lord Ember, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Blueblood to an extent... Not to mention the two Changelings who drove the train for us, the four Gale found here in Canterlot, and, ultimately, the entire Hive under Cabbage Patch’s leadership.” “Huh,” Soul Mage said, “that’s actually an impressive number of allies we managed to gather without planning to. And that’s without any of us being the Element of Magic slash Princess of Friendship.” Heart gave her brother an amused sideways look. “Are you trying to imply Twilight’s going to come home with a small army of new friends at her back?” “Oh, at the absolute minimum,” Soul replied, folding his front legs across his chest. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she came home with two or three entire undiscovered nations calling her and Equestria their lifelong friends.” Soul’s comment earned an appreciative chuckle from Celestia, and Luna gave a wistful smile. “That would be a most pleasant outcome,” the Night Princess said, “however, I do not like leaving her and her friends’ fate to chance. We should commission an expedition to the South posthaste to locate and recover them.” Ash stomped a hoof in agreement, but before he could speak up, Thorax came barreling through the door and nearly tripped over his hooves trying to come to a stop in front of the group. His hole-free wings twitching, he cast a glance at his Queen before nervously clearing his throat. “I-I’ve just got back into contact with Orange Peel!” he exclaimed. “Who?” Ash, the twins, and the Princesses all asked. “That’s the Changeling that snuck aboard Tempest’s ship, right?” Gale asked. Thorax nodded vigorously, looking slightly less tense. “What’s their situation, then?” Gale prompted. Thorax shifted uncomfortably, clearly troubled by the news he bore. “She… Tempest Shadow has captured Princess Twilight Sparkle,” he said quickly. “The ponies that were with Twilight have been left stranded at a place called Mount Aeris. Orange Peel estimates that Tempest will arrive here within the next three or four hours.” Thorax let out the remainder of his breath in a quick huff of relieved tension, only to stiffen up a second later as he saw Celestia frowning grimly. “Mount Aeris is the Hippogriff’s ancestral home,” Celestia said. “How is it that Twilight’s friends could be stranded there?” “Uh… I’ll ask Orange Peel real quick,” Thorax replied, and then closed his eyes to concentrate on his mental link to the distant Changeling. “So far as Orange could see,” he said after a minute, “the mountain looked like it had the remnants of an old, abandoned city on its slopes. I… guess the Hippogriffs aren’t there anymore?” “That’s troubling news,” Celestia said, “but it’s a mystery for another day.” “Indeed,” Luna agreed. “We must intercept Tempest Shadow and rescue Twilight. Prepare the airships; we will meet them in force, and by using her own army’s ships we will be able to approach without raising her suspicions until it is too late.” “If I may,” Ash said raising his hoof and getting an intrigued nod from Luna. “I have no real objections to that strategy,” Ash said, “but consider this: Tempest is already heading right for us and she doesn’t know that Canterlot’s situation has changed since she left. Right?” he asked, giving Thorax a meaningful look. Thorax consulted with Orange Peel and then nodded in confirmation of Ash’s assumption. “So then,” Ash continued, “why waste time and energy meeting her halfway? If we’re going to prove her sense of security in her position false, we may as well do it in Canterlot and use the time to concoct a real good welcome party for her.” “That almost sounds like you’re approving of using deception, Ash,” Cabbage Patch cut in sardonically. “I thought you were morally opposed to such things.” Ash gave the Changeling Queen a flat look. “I do not speak deliberate falsehoods as a matter of personal principle,” he told her, “but I’m almost a pragmatist. Tempest Shadow thinks she’s all but won the Storm King’s war, and right now this city is flush with natural-born masters of disguise and at least one accomplished illusionist. So long as I am not expected to lie about anything, I see no reason not to use what we have to keep our foe off their guard until they’re no longer in any position to harm Twilight or escape.” Ash sat back and touched his crystal-splinted horn lightly with a hoof, sighing. “Besides,” he said, “with my horn like this, I can’t really employ any of my Standard Hostage Protocols anyway.” “Don’t count yourself out yet, Ash,” Gale said, reaching over to put a hoof on his shoulder. “I may have just come up with a way to use SHP #6.” Ash raised an eyebrow. “Do tell,” he said. As the cage that held her rose from the hold to the deck of Tempest Shadow’s airship, Twilight quickly reflected on what her captor had just revealed about herself, her past and reasoning for joining the Storm King and bringing war to her own homeland. It was a story Twilight was familiar with: a young pony who had experienced a tragedy and felt betrayed or abandoned by those they considered friends, and so turned to anger and bitterness and a quest to seize control of their lives from uncaring Destiny. It was a path Twilight knew could be turned away from, and she figured that guiding Tempest toward the right path wouldn’t be much harder than guiding Starlight Glimmer had been. Granted, she didn’t have access to a time travel spell that would let her show Tempest the end of her current course… In fact, Twilight didn’t have much to work with at the moment besides her words, but those were better than nothing. As the cage came to a stop on the deck and Tempest rejoined her, Twilight gave the tall unicorn a sympathetic look and said, “I’m sorry you felt so alone.” Tempest cast a brief glance at Twilight, and then walked away a short distance. “I saw the truth,” she said without looking back. “My ‘friends’ abandoned me when times got tough. Looks like I’m not the only one. Face it Princess,” she spared one more glance back at Twilight, “Friendship has failed you too.” Twilight’s ears drooped. “Friendship didn’t fail me,” she said sadly. “I failed Friendship.” If Tempest had a response to that, she didn’t get a chance to voice it, because at that moment the little honey badger Grubber came huffing and puffing up from somewhere below decks, waving a bottle filled with a blue potion that was pulsing with light and emitting an odd musical jingle above his head. “Tempest! Tempest!” he gasped, “I think it’s him!” Tempest’s stoic expression broke briefly into mild panic, but she quickly regained her composure and snapped, “Well don’t keep him waiting, you idiot. Go fetch a bowl.” “Uh, right,” Grubber said, turning around quickly and plowing right into the stomach of a satyr who had come up behind him with a large metal bowl. The bottle flew out of Grubber’s grasp as he toppled backwards, and it flipped through the air twice before being skillfully caught in the bowl by the satyr. The satyr casually shoved Grubber aside with one foot, came over to set the bowl down a little ways in front of Tempest, and then poured the potion into it. Blue smoke billowed up thickly from the bowl, and once the cloud grew large enough the visage of a long-faced satyr with crown-like horns appeared inside, looking around uncertainly. “Is it working?” he asked. “I think I see something. Tempest Shadow?” “Right here, Your Excellency,” Tempest said with measured calm. The Storm King’s eyes settled on Tempest, and he smiled and stepped back a little, revealing some of his armored chest and shoulders. “Ah,” he said, “there you are.” “You’re getting better at this spe-” Tempest started to say, only to be interrupted by the Storm King erupting with anger. “Where are you?!” the Storm King demanded. “I’ve been walking around in this cutesy pony castle for hours and I only see three pegaunipony princesses. I thought we needed four for this plan to work.” “We do,” Tempest said, sounding like a long-suffering parent dealing with a fussy foal. “I just had a little difficulty getting the last one to stay still. We’re on our way back right now; we’ll be in the city within the hour, and then you’ll get the power you’re looking for.” “Ugh, fine,” the Storm King huffed, “I suppose I can endure these prissy rooms a little longer. Don’t dally, though, Tempest. This castle’s got a dock for airships, so I want you to come directly here, got it?” Tempest nodded. “As you command, Your Excellency.” “Good,” The Storm King said with a curt nod. “Now... how do I stop this sp-” The image vanished abruptly and the smoke dissipated. Tempest heaved a long sigh. “Soon, my horn will be restored,” she murmured, and then looked sharply at Grubber and the satyr. “Well, you heard him,” she snapped, “get us to Canterlot with all possible haste, and dock at the castle.” “Do you really think he’ll give you your horn back?” Twilight asked as Tempest turned and walked by the cage. Tempest paused and shot Twilight a hard look. “He will,” she said. “I’m giving him all the magic of Equestria’s mighty alicorns. With that much magic at his disposal, restoring my horn will be a trivial matter.” She marched away from the cage and toward the tiller without another word for her captive. Twilight watched her go for a moment, and then returned her gaze to the distant shape of Canterlot on the horizon. Tempest Shadow paid no heed to the goings-on in the streets of Canterlot as her zeppelin flew over the city. Her focus was entirely on the castle and preparing herself to deal with what lay within. The long months of working under the alleged authority of the Storm King and weathering both his inconsistent temperament and the little Grubber’s constant inane commentary had taught Tempest how to hide her own emotions under a stoic mask and to tune out the more annoying sounds around her. Grubber was probably nattering about cakes or pies or some other kind of confectionery right now, but all Tempest heard from his spot at her side was “blah blah blah.” Tempest had hoped to break the little princess’s spirit a bit more by carting her through the streets where she could see how her subjects were being treated, but the Storm King’s patience had been thinner than thread during the last conversation, and the hour that had passed since likely hadn’t done that patience any favors. Some soldiers were waiting at the airship dock to catch the mooring ropes and tie the zeppelin in place. While they were busy with that, Tempest went down to the hold and told Grubber to flip the switch to lower Twilight’s cage onto a cart frame. As the cage descended, four satyrs stepped up, two with spears to a position behind the cage and the other two ready to grab the tow ropes. The Storm King’s haste meant there was no time to get any of the enslaved ponies to pull the cart. Still, Twilight still looked crestfallen as the cage settled into place, so Tempest figured things were good enough. Besides, it didn’t really matter how the Princesses were feeling; the Staff of Sacanas would gather their magic into itself regardless. All Tempest needed to worry about was keeping the Storm King’s promise to her fresh in his mind. The gangway lowered and the little procession rolled out of the zeppelin and into the castle. Tempest took a second to recall her memory of the castle’s layout, and then led the group toward the room where the ritual of extraction was set up. Two soldiers stood guard at the double doors and silently pulled them open as Tempest approached. The two satyrs with spears halted just before the threshold, but the two who were pulling continued inside with Tempest, as did Grubber. The sentinels shut the doors behind them. The room was dimly lit and seemed to be empty except for the three petrified forms of Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. Tempest stepped to the center of the ritual diagram and turned to watch as the tow-satyrs moved Twilight’s cage into place. Twilight finally looked up from her funk, meeting Tempest’s eyes. “You don’t have to do this,” she said. “Don’t give the Storm King-” “Your magic?” Tempest asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Did you really think you’d keep it all to yourself? Time to share. I’d love for everybody out there to see what I can really do.” “Oh so?” said a voice from the darkness. “And what can you do?” Tempest whirled toward the source of the voice, and Twilight’s ears perked slightly. “One,” the voice said, and the room brightened as the shimmer of illusion spells fell away all around. The two satyrs, who had withdrawn toward the doors, suddenly found themselves being menaced by a sapphire-blue dragon and a turquoise monster that looked like a mix between a pegasus and an upright wolf. Near the far end of the room were five ponies arranged in a slight curve: a brown earth pony and azure unicorn on the ends, then a pegasus mare and unicorn stallion with matching golden-yellow coats and brown manes, and in the center was an ash-grey unicorn stallion with a teal crystal encasing his horn. “Ash!” Twilight exclaimed happily. “Soul Mage, Gold Heart, Gale, and Trixie! You all made it!” “Sorry we’re late, Twilight,” Ash said. “We had a last-minute emergency at home that needed attending to. Then when we got here, we discovered there were some uninvited guests that needed to be taught a lesson or two in common courtesy. How’s your day been?” Twilight’s elation died quickly and she looked down at the floor. “Not so great,” she said. “My friends and I-” “They couldn’t put up with all the danger she dragged them through anymore,” Tempest cut in coldly, “so they left her all alone and vulnerable.” “Spike never left me!” Twilight snapped, bringing her head up to glare at Tempest. “And the girls were justifiably upset at me for making a bad call...” She choked for a second and had to wipe a tear from her eye before continuing. “Yeah, I screwed up,” she said, “and we exchanged some harsh words, but they didn’t abandon me; we just needed time to cool off. You just took advantage of the situation.” “Hmph,” Tempest said, turning her stoic gaze back to the Order-naries. “It doesn’t matter if that’s true or not, I still have all the Princesses now. Once the Storm King returns from whatever distraction you used to lure him away-” “About that,” Ash said. He looked over at Trixie and said, “Two.” Trixie nodded and her horn flashed. Another veil of illusion fell away from one of the corners behind the Order-naries, revealing the Storm King sitting there in chains and a muzzle. “Stormy’s blustering has been dealt with. It was quite the battle; a shame you missed it.” He gave Tempest a cocky smirk. Tempest took a step back, eyes widening as her stoic facade cracked. “I-impossible. The Staff of Sacanas-” “If you’re talking about this,” Ash said, gesturing with a hoof at Gold Heart, who turned around and picked up something behind the group, which she passed to Ash. It was the Staff, recognizable to Tempest even without the gemstone on its crown. “I’m afraid we had to break it,” Ash finished his thought, throwing the staff dismissively to the floor at Tempest’s hooves. “We had a Changeling imitate the Storm King and call you through that rather intriguing communication potion,” Ash continued, walking very slowly toward Tempest. “Trixie and her friend Starlight Glimmer conjured up a convincing illusion of the city still under occupation, but it wouldn’t have held up if you actually went down to the streets, so we told you to come directly to the castle. Incidentally, you have a spy in your midst, but that doesn’t seem like a high priority now, don’t you agree? Lastly,” he stopped just a few inches from Tempest and looked her square in the eye, “if you’re thinking any desperate thoughts about harming our poor, petrified princesses in retaliation: Three.” Trixie’s horn flashed again and three statues vanished in one last shimmer of broken illusions. “We revived them all and hid them away from all this. Your army’s beaten, your leader’s been captured, and you have no bargaining chips. Tempest Shadow, I suggest you stand down.” “No...” Tempest said weakly. “No… I...” Her gaze hardened. “You can’t take this from me. I came so close!” Her horn sparked and sputtered, and before Ash could react she let loose an explosive blast right in his face that sent him flying back to land just behind the Order-naries. “Ash!” Twilight screamed in horror as everypony else leaped into action. Looping Lines grabbed the satyr she’d been staring off with by the scruff and slammed him against the wall. Ember took a deep breath in preparation to torch her opponent, until it transformed into a small Changeling and held up its hooves in surrender. Ember let her breath out in a frustrated stream of smoke from her nose and turned to check the rest of the room. Grubber was being held aloft in Soul’s spirit tendril, pleading for mercy. Gold Heart and Gale both stood firmly in front of Tempest, their eyes steely and Heart’s hooves glowing with spiriter power. Trixie was making for the balcony door to send out a distress flare. All movement stopped as Ash coughed and rolled to his hooves, accompanied by the tinkle of falling crystal. As he stood up, there was a light thump as his horn landed on the floor. Ash slowly looked down at the horn, then slowly back up to stare deep into Tempest’s eyes. “Seriously?” he said in a low voice. He advanced toward Tempest, his hard, vivid green eyes standing out especially stark against the blackened fur of his face. “That. Was. Starting. To heal,” he said. “I. Could. Feel it. Healing.” “Ash,” Gold Heart said, glancing over her shoulder with concern, “do you need a minute?” “Can I have two?” Ash asked, still staring at Tempest. “Sure,” Heart said. “‘Need a minute?’” Tempest asked, looking disgusted. “Are you going to cry, Ash? After all that acting like you’re the baddest pony in the room, you’re actually as soft as- gurg!” Without any obvious signal passing between them, Gale and Heart had both jumped to the side as Ash charged and drove his head into Tempest’s throat. Tempest staggered back, gasping for air, but Ash didn’t let her have any space. Going low, he forced himself between her front legs and then heaved upward, forcing her to rear up. Continuing his motion, Ash hooked Tempest's rear legs out from under her and flipped her onto her back, tore off her pouch of petrifying bombs and threw it aside, then straddled her and alternated between delivering flurries of hoof strikes to her body and tearing at the fastenings of her armor with his teeth. All throughout, he uttered nothing more than wordless growls of rage. As the beat-down commenced, Gale made her way over to Twilight’s cage and got to work on the lock. In about a minute, she got the cage open and helped Twilight out of it. As soon as Twilight and Gale were clear, Ash rolled off of Tempest and kicked her toward the cage. Tempest tried to resist as Ash came over to finish the job, bracing two hooves against the bars and feebly trying to strike back at Ash with a third, but the ash-grey unicorn neatly dodged the blow and smacked Tempest on her horn stub, dazing her long enough for him to get her into the cage and close it. Ash then sat down, took a long, deep breath, and said, “Kalbarandt.” “Done already?” Soul Mage asked. “You’ve still got forty seconds or so.” “It’s enough,” Ash said. “If I’d gone any longer, I’d have started breaking bones.” Tempest, who had struggled up to a seated position, flinched as Ash glanced her way. “I’m not fit to judge you for your crimes,” Ash said to her, “but I’ll say this: you seem to be that rare breed of pony that doesn’t shy away from necessary violence. You could’ve been an ideal protector of the realm, if you hadn’t mistaken self-sufficiency for true strength and reliance on others for weakness. We’re a social species, Tempest; we’re at our best when we work together. That’s the Magic of Friendship, at least from this war-weary fighter’s viewpoint.” “I think that’s as true as any other definition I’ve heard,” Twilight said, coming over and giving Ash a hug. “Are you ok, though Ash? Your horn, I mean.” “Eh,” Ash said, rolling his eyes, “I’ve putting up with that for… I dunno how long. Hey,” he pointed toward his team and then to the door, “somepony go tell Celestia and Luna they can get the day and night back on track. I want my sense of time passing back.” “On it,” Soul Mage said. “Who wants to hold the badger?” He waved Grubber slowly in the air like he was a stuffed animal. “E-excuse me?” the little Changeling in the corner said, waving a hoof for attention. “Um, sorry to butt in, but I just heard something from the ‘lings near the city gate that you might be interested in?” “Orange Peel, I presume?” Ash asked. “Out with it, then.” “Well...” Orange said slowly, “Twilight’s friends just showed up at the gate hitched up to this giant cake...” “Does anypony else feel like they got gypped?” Rainbow Dash asked her friends as they stood off to the side watching Captain Caelano, her crew, and Skystar clean frosting of themselves while Capper tried to explain himself to the Royal Guard for the second time in ten minutes. “Whaddya mean?” Applejack asked. Rainbow Dash flew up a little higher and spread her front legs out to take in the scene in front of them and the city as a whole. “I mean,” she said, “we went on this grand adventure to save Equestria, making new friends and enemies along the way, discovered a lost civilization hidden under the sea, had our best friend get captured by the bad guys, and then get back to find out somepony else already did all the Equestria saving and Twilight rescuing parts! It’s like Daring Do fighting and puzzling her way through an entire lost temple only to find some other archaeologist already took the artifact she was looking for to the museum.” “I understand where you’re coming from, darling,” Rarity said, “but to be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to possibly having to fight the Storm King with all the Princesses’ magic at his command.” “Ok, I’ll admit that wouldn’t have been fun,” Rainbow said, “but that’s why we grabbed the Elements before we came up here, isn’t it?” “True, “Rarity admitted, brushing the Element of Generosity at her neck with a hoof, “still, it’s the Order-naries who did all the work. Do you honestly think Ash and his team would walk into a Canterlot overtaken by some enemy and not try and do something about it? That certainly doesn’t sound like my dearest knight in sour armor.” “I’m not entirely sure what that mean, milady,” came a voice from behind the group, “but I’ll take it as a compliment since it’s coming from you.” Rarity spun about with stars in her eyes to see her beloved Ash approaching in the company of Twilight, but her joy was quickly replaced by horror. “Good gracious!” Rarity gasped, “Ash! What happened to your horn?!” “Magic staves, deliberate sinkholes, and a cornered unicorn with a busted horn of her own,” Ash replied, a trace of weariness giving color to his matter-of-fact delivery as everyone turned to stare. “Not to mention my own hubris,” Ash added after a second. “Oh, darling,” Rarity said, rushing over to hug him, “you must have had the most awful time! We must get that looked at right away.” “In a minute,” Ash said, patting Rarity’s back before gently pushing her off and aiming her at Twilight. “I think your Princess has something to say, first.” Twilight nodded and lowered her head contritely. “Girls,” she said, “I’m so sorry- ack!” Pinkie Pie glomped Twilight before she could say anything more, and the rest of the Elements of Harmony and Spike quickly followed suit. Apologies and expressions of forgiveness were tossed around quickly for a few seconds, and then the pony pile broke up and Rarity stalked right back over to Ash. Grabbing him by the muzzle in her magic, she led him away with a curt command of, “Hospital, now.” “Es’m,” Ash mumbled, smiling.