The rebel trio carried on for a while, but soon they started getting tired. "Shouldn't it be night by now?" Gallus groaned.
"The king moves the sun and moon when it suits him," Ocellus said. On cue the sun and moon swapped place in the blink of an eye, the sudden darkness caught them off guard.
"Great," Sandbar groaned. "I can't see." He came to stop to avoid bumping into anything. "As if having one eye wasn't bad enough."
"It's okay," Gallus said, "We'll just camp here for the night. We've come pretty far."
"I'll help with the tents," Ocellus said placing her bags down. The changeling got to work as Gallus looked at the map he brought and he flew into the air to look around to see where they were. The moonlight wasn't bright enough for him to make out the area, so he just decided to help Ocellus.
"What's with all the leaves and branches?"
Ocellus placed them on the tent. "We need to stay hidden if we want to get to the Crystal Empire. If we get caught, I don't want to know what the king will do."
The griffon nodded and looked over to the earth pony. "You okay Sandbar?"
"I'm fine," he replied. "I just can't do much because I can't see to good. I hate this stupid eye patch."
"I think it makes you look cool."
"Thanks, but I just want to get to sleep. What if somepony comes looking for us?"
"They wouldn't know where we're going anyway. I'm pretty to ponies going missing... Poor choice of words."
"Just get in the tent," Ocellus ordered. The boys did so, and the changeling hid their supplies in the other tent. "Okay, I think we're in the clear."
"Do you really think night patrols are going to look this far?"
"I'm not risking it."
"I understand," Sandbar said. "I just hope my parents don't worry too much."
"Relax," Gallus said, "We're going to get through this. It's better than just hiding in a hill." He started getting a little nervous while inside the admittedly small tent.
"Something wrong?"
"I... Don't do well in tight spaces."
"I know how you feel," Ocellus said. "You don't want to know what the rooms me and the other army creatures stay in."
"Can we just get some sleep?" Sandbar asked. "I'm nervous about what we'll see tomorrow." Not another word was said as they drifted off to sleep.
Gallus opened his eyes to find he was in a space where everything was white. The only other things that were there were Sandbar, Ocellus, and the Tree of Harmony.
"Where are we?" Ocellus asked.
"A dream realm," Gallus said. "That's my best guess."
"How we can we see this thing in two dreams?" Sandbar questioned.
"There's something magical about this tree."
"Indeed," said a voice. In front of the Tree of Harmony was the light that looked like Twilight Sparkle. Sandbar bowed to him and Ocellus stared in shock, Gallus just started at the faux alicorn. "I can tell something's on your mind."
"You think? I'm stuck in a world that has unspeakable horrors, and none of my friends know each other, except for these two." The fake Twilight looked at the earth pony, then to the changeling, who she walked over to.
"Who... Who are you?" Ocellus asked.
"I'm a creation of the tree you see. The princess and her friends used the element on my branches to bring peace and harmony. But without Twilight, everything is in ruin."
"Then how do we fix it?" Sandbar asked.
"You'll need three more to come together."
"There they are!" cried a voice. Smolder, Yona, and Silverstream charged towards them. Ocellus turned into a tortoise and tucked into her shell to cower, so did Sandbar. Gallus didn't move, he was betting on the tree protecting him. The tree's branches glowed as some sort of mist flew up and grabbed the storm trio, stopping them in their tracks.
"Let yak go," Yona demanded.
"Not until we get answers," Gallus said. "Why do you work for the Storm King?"
"We don't have a choice," Silverstream said. "I never wanted this. He did things that... Broke us."
"Broke you. How...?" Gallus cried out in pain as he held his chest.
"Gallus," Sandbar gasped running up to him. "What's wrong?"
"My lungs hurt." The griffon groaned as the tree shook violently.
"What's happening?" Ocellus questioned. Her answer came from a loud crack, which came from the tree. Cracks appeared all over it as the fake Twilight started to fade.
"Find them before it's too late," she cried before disappearing. Shortly after that, the tree exploding with a flash of light engulfing everyone.
Yona woke up in her team's tent and looked around. While the yak was in shock, the dragon had a look of anger on her face, while the hippogriff looked emotionless, the best she could. "Weird dream," Yona said.
"You think?" Smolder asked as she got up. "Get your armor. I'm not letting the king down again. You know what he'll do to you." The yak nearly vomited again as stood up. "Hippogriff, scout ahead."
"Right," Silverstream asked as she flew off out of the tent.
"But hippogriff help carry supplies," Yona said.
"She was chosen for scouting," Smolder said. "King's orders. Now, what did I say about your armor? Do I have to burn off your fur to make it fit?" Yona didn't say anything else and just walked towards their supplies tent.
Silverstream had already got her suit put on and she was booking it towards Ponyville. Her wings were flapping as fast as a humming bird's. With only the moonlight light her way her flight wasn't going to be easy, but she pushed on. "I'm not going back empty-handed," she said to herself with a bit of fear in her voice.
Back to the rebels, they just finished packing up their supplies. "That tree is kind of creepy," Ocellus said.
"You don't know the half of it," Gallus said while breathing heavily.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Sandbar asked.
"I'll be fine. I just need something to eat."
"But we have a long way to go."
"I can help with that," Ocellus said. She changed into an elephant that was big enough to carry the bags and boys. "Climb on." Gallus had to help Sandbar get on the elephant's back as well as help Ocellus with the bags. She helped the griffon with the map and compass by changing her eyes to be like the ones of an owl. She turned until they faced North."
"Alright," Gallus said landing on the elephant's back, "Let's go." Ocellus slowly walked off as Sandbar dug through his bag to find some apples for him and his friends to eat.
"These should last us until tomorrow night," Sandbar said.
"You might last a little bit longer," Ocellus said. "I haven't felt hungry since you two have been nice to me." The boys smiled, even with their limited light, they were already making good progress.
"So, Ocellus," Gallus said, "Can you tell us what we'll have fight through?"
"Well, the king isn't letting any creature in unless they're granted. They had yaks, dragons, even extremely powerful unicorns. Hippogriffs and griffons are always scouting the outskirts for intruders. If you get caught, you don't want to know what'll happen to you."
"Right." Gallus began to think of what to do as he and Sandbar ate.
He wasn't the only one thinking. General Gallus was trying to get to the Storm King's room, where he was sleeping. "Your Highness!" the general cried bursting into the room.
"Gah! What is it?" the king asked waking in shock.
"We've made mistake by sending the three off to get my imposter. I don't know how, but some rock tree is connecting to them. The changeling known as Ocellus has joined the Clears, no doubt the other three will soon follow."
"Where did you see this?"
"I was looking at the doubleganger's point of view in his dream. I thought it was pointless, but seeing the same things happen twice is something I'm not risking it."
"Why are you worrying? The changelings were starving, they just joined them for food. What makes you think that a dragon's going to join them? They're the most powerful creatures in my army."
"What about the changelings? What's stopping them from turning into something, like a roc?"
"Look, you're the general, you do something about it." The griffon just groaned and walked out of the room. The Storm King stood up and stretched. "Oh well, I'm up anyways." Using his staff, he moved the moon out of the sky and put the sun where it was.
Many creatures were caught off guard, including Silverstream. Her eyes didn't have time to adjust to the sudden light, causing her to fall. She barely managed to recover only just scraping her wings against the ground. Silverstream landed and looked at her wings, which were now injured, so she wouldn't be flying anytime soon.
Lucky for her, there was a river so she used her pearl piece to turn into a seapony and went for a swim. The river led South so she swam down it to find the rebels.
Ocellus's elephant form wasn't all that fast, but still, she made good progress, even when she and the boys were blinded by the sudden sunlight. "How are you guys holding up back there?" she asked.
"Just fine," Sandbar said. "I never knew the change of time was just so sudden."
"Well, you and the others have lived underground for about a year," Gallus chuckled before holding his chest in pain. "What is wrong with me?"
"We can stop and take a look," Ocellus said.
"No, we can't. We have to stay on guard. Anyone could be looking for us."
"You may be right. Maybe if I had some chains and muzzles I could make you two look like prisoners."
"That's not a bad idea. But where do we get them?"
"I don't know. I'm just trying every option."
"We know, but we don't have many things that can fool the king."
"Shouldn't be too hard."
"So, how far is the Crystal Empire?" Sandbar asked.
Gallus looked at the map. "Got several miles to go. We should be getting close to a river though." The griffon was right. They came to a stop so they could get some water. Ocellus put the boys and the bags down so she could change back to her original form.
"I've gotta say, walking for hours can really make you thirsty," Ocellus said. The changeling took a sip as the earth pony thought he saw something swim past them.
"Was that a fish?" he asked.
"Must've been a big one," Gallus said before remembering something. "Or maybe..."
"It's a seapony," Ocellus cried. Before they could react, Silverstream leaped out of the water and grabbed Gallus. She quickly dragged him down with her. Ocellus quickly turned a cheetah and chased them down with Sandbar riding on her back.
"Shouldn't you change into a sea creature?" Sandbar questioned as he held on tight.
"If she was a hippogriff, Gallus could just fly away." The said griffon was struggling to get out of the seapony's grip.
"Stop struggling," Silverstream said. "You're just going to make it worse for the both of us." The cheetah tried pouncing on her, but the seapony just dodged and splashed her with water. She did get high enough so Gallus could breathe but was still at high speed.
Ocellus turned into a dragon that was big enough for Sandbar to ride on and she took off. "She's too comfortable in the water," she said.
"Then how do we get Gallus?" Sandbar asked.
"...Maybe we can splash them out." Sandbar didn't know what she meant until she went for a nose dive. The dragon's splash was so big, the seapony and griffon were launched back onto land. Gallus took his change and ripped the pearl piece of Silverstream's neck.
"Hey, give that back," Silverstream ordered.
"I'm showing mercy," Gallus said. "I don't want to hurt you." Ocellus and Sandbar walked over to him, with the changeling in her old form. "Nice work guys."
"No problem," Ocellus said.
The three took a look at Silverstream, who couldn't do much in her seapony form. Instead of getting angry, she looked terrified. "Please, don't hurt me," she begged.
"We just want to talk," Gallus said. "You can join us if you want."
Tears were escaping the seapony's eyes. "I can't. He's already hurt me."
"The king?" Sandbar asked. She simply nodded as she pulled back her sleeves to reveal several scars and bad burns, which made the trio cringe. "He... Tortured us. All the hippogriffs he captured."
"What about Queen Novo?" Gallus asked.
"S-s-she was the first." Silverstream explained what happened.
Monthes ago, Silverstream and several other hippogriffs were chained to a wall as Queen Novo was held down in the middle of the field. The Storm King, as well as two dragons. "So, will you tell us where the rest of your followers are?" the king asked.
"Never," Novo replied. "I'm not going to make them listen to a dictator like you."
"Very well." He turned to the dragons. "Do it."
"Yes sir," they both said. Both got to work beating up the queen. The hippogriffs did their best not to look, but Silverstream couldn't help but watch what was happening to her aunt.
The dragons stopped as the queen breathed heavily. "Last chance, where are the others?" the king asked.
"I'll... Never... Talk," Novo panted. The king snapped his fingers and the dragon breathed fire on the queen.
Silverstream was speechless as she couldn't do anything about it. After the fire was out, she pulled at her chains at the slimmer of hope she could escape.
"Where are you going?" The hippogriff was frozen as the king stood above her. "Oh, you want to be the first?" Despite Silverstream shaking her head, the king used his staff to levitated her down the hall. He walked right behind her, allowing Silverstream to kick him in the eye, making him drop the staff.
The hippogriff flew away as fast as she could, but some griffons and yaks blocked her path. Before she could think the king kicked her into the wall. "What should we do?" a griffon asked.
"I'll handle her." The creatures walked off as the Storm King look angrily at the hippogriff. "You think you could just hit me like that?" He grabbed Silverstream's arm, hard. She cried out in pain from the king's grip, his claws were sharp and he used this his advantage. He left a large scar on Silverstream's arm and tossed her into a cell. "I have to admit, you have some guts, but I don't like when overs get the better of me."
"Wh-what are you going to do?" Silverstream asked frightened. Her answer came from several kicks before he stomped on her paw.
"I gave the others a warning. You obviously need a bit more breaking. This isn't the first time this will happen. I'll make sure you'll break."
"No, I'll get suited up right away."
The king walked out of the cell and locked Silverstream in it. "Too late." He walked away leaving the caged hippogriff.
"No, wait. Let me out! What's going to happen?"
The seapony sniffed as she paused. "What... Happened?" Gallus asked.
"He sent creatures in, so they could... Beat me," she replied shaking. "No matter what I did, they would punch, kick, and worse... They mocked my aunt. They said horrible things about her, and how I was just as a failure as her. I saw her... I saw her..." Silverstream couldn't hold it back anymore and broke into tears.
Sandbar walked closer to her. "I'm so sorry for your loss," he said. "I couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose somepony in my family."
"You're lucky. Your's are still alive."
"I'm sure Queen Nova was great. You can't let them talk down to her. She would want you to stay strong. You're cousin's been doing good." Silverstream sniffed as she looked at Sandbar, who she promptly hugged. "It's okay."
"Try something he did to make me feel better," Ocellus said. "Rip off that emblem and throw it away." The seapony released her hug and did as the changeling said. She tossed the emblems into the river and they floated away.
"Nice throw."
"Thanks," Silverstream said. She looked surprised when Gallus handed her back her necklace.
"You feeling better?" Gallus asked.
"...A little." Using her pearl piece, she changed back into a hippogriff. "Thanks."
"So, you want to join us and take down the king?"
"You can't do that. He's too strong."
"On the outside. My plan is going to be an inside job. Ocellus said Sandbar and I would go as prisoners."
"But, what if we get caught?"
"It's still in the works. I wasn't planning on you trying to capture me."
"I'm sorry, I was..."
"Just given orders," Ocellus finished. "I know how you feel." Suddenly, something just hit her. "We forgot our bags." The boy knew what she meant and they raced back to find them, with Silverstream following behind.
They were a panic, and they nearly lost it when they saw a mare checking on their gear. The mare had a dark orchid mane and a moderate rose coat, but the thing that caught their eyes wasn't the scar on her right eye, it was the broken unicorn horn.
"It's not a good idea to leave your gear out in the open," the mare said. "Especially ones with food."
"Who the heck are you?" Gallus questioned.
"Tempest Shadow?" Sandbar guessed.
"That's me," the mare replied. She looked towards the changeling and hippogriff and was about to fire at them, but Gallus and Sandbar stood in front.
"Wait, they're good," Gallus cried.
"It's true," Ocellus added cowering a bit.
Tempest stopped before she attacked. "Alright," she said. "What are you doing all the way out here?"
"We're going to take down the Storm King," Gallus explained. "I think we can take him down on the inside."
"You really expect that to work?"
"We've got two former members of his team."
"Uh, I can't be the only one who curious of why he looks like the general," Silverstream said. "Someone back me up here."
"I'm not from this world."
"I could tell," Tempest said. "I've seen the general in action before. He might not be the strongest, but he is certainly crafty, even for a griffon."
"Yeah, a yak and a dragon are heading this way," Silverstream said.
"Then a direct path to the Crystal Empire isn't going to work anymore," Ocellus said. She took a look at the map and tried to think of a different path. "Hmm, maybe if we follow this river, we can try and get them off our tails."
"Or we can swim," Gallus said looking towards Silverstream's necklace.
"What do you mean?" Sandbar asked. The hippogriff caught on, leaped into the river, and resurfaced as a seapony.
"Perfect," Gallus and Ocellus said in unison. After getting their gear, they all stepped into the water and Silverstream used her pearl piece to turn Sandbar, Tempest, and Gallus into seaponies. Ocellus didn't need Silver's pearl piece, she just used her changeling magic to turn herself into a seapony.
"Wow," Gallus gasped, "So this is what happens when a griffon uses the pearl."
"Yeah, this is kind of weird," Sandbar commented.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Tempest asked.
"I didn't plan for Silver to show up," Gallus said. "If things go right, we should get to the empire by tomorrow night."
"Maybe we can make up for lost time if we pick up the pace," Ocellus said. The group swam off quickly, hopefully getting to the empire as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Yona and Smolder were making slow progress. "Uh," Smolder groaned, "Why couldn't I be paired with some creature that could fly?"
"Yona going as fast as she can," Yona protested. The dragon and yak then notice a large shadow hanging over them. A large cage came down and swooped them up.
"What the heck?"
"Sorry, kid," a stallion said. "General's orders."
"What is he thinking?"
"Something about a changeling joining the rebels." Smolder's anger built up as tried to break the cage's bars apart.
"Stop struggling," General Gallus ordered walking to the cage.
"Why general put troopers in cage?" Yona asked.
"That doubleganger has the changeling on his side now. And judging how the hippogriff is no longer with you, I say she's on his side too."
"Look, I can make him a crispy dinner if you let me go," Smolder said.
"I'm risking it." The general walked over to some other griffons and hippogriffs. "You, spread out, and find that kid." The group nodded and flew off.
"What will happen to Yona?" Yona asked. "Not going to crush creatures. Will she?"
"I see what I'll have you do." Smolder wasn't so excepting and tried to break out. "Oh, would you stop that?"
"No, you gave me a mission," Smolder protested while kicking and punching the bars.
The general sighed. "Do it."
"Yes, sir," said the stallion. He gave his horn aglow and used it to keep Smolder in place. This didn't stop her from breathing fire, catching both Gallus and the stallion off guard. With the cage bars weakened, Smolder broke through them and flew down towards the ground. She had thrown one of the bars at the stallion, knocking him out.
General Gallus looked towards Yona. "What are you waiting for?"
"Yona catch her," Yona said giving chase. The dragon was nearly off the deck but the yak grabbed her by the tail.
"Let go of me," Smolder ordered.
"Yona following orders."
"Why do you dragons have so much trouble with orders?" Gallus asked. Smolder didn't reply to this, she just picked up Yona and flew off.
"Put Yona down."
"I need you for something first," Smolder said. The general would've followed her, but he knew her strength and literal firepower would be too much for him.
Elsewhere, a griffon and hippogriff flew over a river. "Why are here?" the griffon asked.
"The general wants us to search everywhere," the hippogriff said. "That's why he sent me with you." Using his pearl piece, the hippogriff turned into a seapony and swam up the river.
The griffon stayed on land and followed to see if the rebels were traveling on foot. This wouldn't be necessary as the seapony as the rebel group.
"Shoot," Sandbar cried. Tempest thought fast and punched enemy seapony so hard, he flew out of the river.
"Change me back," she ordered Silverstream. The seapony did so and the unicorn leaped out of the river. The griffon quickly let out a shriek before Tempest even hit her. The shriek wasn't for the shock or pain, it was alert the other storm soldiers, who nearby and closing in. "Get out of here, I'll hold them off."
The four swam away as fast as they could as the former storm member fought off the army the best she could. The bolts from her horn could be seen from the airship's above. General Gallus took note of this and sent the dragons he had on board for the toughest of foes. Even with her combat experience, Tempest was overwhelmed by the army.
The rebel group was booking it. "How the heck did they find us?" Gallus asked.
"Well, the general is you," Ocellus said. "He must've thought that we joined your side and used the pearl piece to swim in the river."
"That's impossible," Sandbar said.
"But maybe somehow he saw our dream," Gallus said.
"Think about that later," Ocellus cried, "We need to lose them." The sea creatures picked up the pace but Gallus's vision started getting blurry. He could only hear his heartbeat as he started slowing down and losing conciseness.
"Uh oh," Silverstream cried seeing Gallus slow down. "This is no time for a nap."
"I don't think he's sleep," Ocellus said as she stopped swimming. They swam back to the heavily breathing seapony. He gave several painful groans as his friends looked over him.
"Gallus, what hurts?" Sandbar asked.
"My chest," he replied. "And my head."
"Get him onto land," Ocellus said. After changing back to their normal form, they took out the first aid kit. Looking up, Ocellus saw Smolder and Yona flying above. Without warning, they landed on the ground, superhero style.
"Yona would like warning next time," Yona said a little shaken.
"Shut it," Smolder said.
Gallus let out some grunts as he slowly stood up. "Smolder, I don't want to fight," he said.
"Well, I do." Ocellus and Silverstream stood in the dragon's way. "Get lost traitors. I'll handle him."
"No, we're not letting you hurt our friend," Ocellus said.
"Couldn't we just talk this over?" Silverstream asked.
"Yona can't," Yona said. "Yona has to fight."
Ocellus turned to the boys. "Get him out of here," she said to Sandbar. The earth pony nodded and carried Gallus away as the changeling turned into a dragon to fight against Smolder. The two dragons countered each other's fire, while Yona bashed past Silverstream to chase the boys.
"Keep away from him," Silverstream cried.
"Yak has job to do," Yona said with a bit of guilt in her voice. Sandbar ran as fast as he could, but he saw that he was nearing a mountain. "Yaks make for mountains." Despite his disadvantage, Sandbar raced up the mountain, which thankfully wasn't all that steep, at first.
Soon the incline was getting steep. Silverstream helped out by constantly getting in Yona's way. Steering her with her horns, blocking her eyes, or even just tripping her up. Ocellus was having a harder time with Smolder. They both kept trading punches and kicks, all while Smolder kept trying to chase down Gallus.
"Get off," Smolder yelled roundhouse kicking Ocellus. This sent her flying down towards the mountain, with the dragon following her.
"I can't lose her," Sandbar said to Gallus. Yona nearly rammed into them, but the pony dodged.
"It doesn't have to be this way," Gallus said to Yona.
"Yak don't have choice," Yona replied. Silverstream had tried her hardest, but she couldn't keep the yak away from her friends. She then heard something falling, that something was Ocellus. Silverstream managed to catch her and saw Smolder heading straight towards them.
"Guys, she going to burn us," Silverstream cried. The group was nearly the edge of the mountain as Smolder crashing into it. The crash caused a loud boom which caused some of the snow on the higher cliffs to fall down on them.
"Avalanche," Yona cried in fear.
While Gallus couldn't stand properly he did see an old hollow tree that was nearly going to break in half. "Yona, can you break that tree down?" he asked.
"Why should Yona trust fake general?"
"It's the only way we can get away from the avalanche. You need to trust me." The snow was getting closer to them. The yak rammed the tree as hard as she could, breaking it down. "Everybody, get on." Smolder pulled her head out of the snow she crashed into to find the other five sliding away on the hollow tree like a sled.
"Get back here," she demanded. Unfortunately, the dragon was swept up by the avalanche before she could react. Gallus and his friends were barely able to stay ahead of the avalanche chasing them.
"We're not going to make it," Silverstream cried.
"We need more speed," Gallus said. Yona lunged for as the tree sled accelerated.
"Lunge," she cried. The group did so and they slid down the mountain at tremendous speed. However, with the speed, they started to lose control of the sled.
"We can't hold it," Sandbar cried as he tried to keep the sled balanced.
"We're nearly at the bottom," Gallus said looking to the mountain's base. They slid all the way down but crashed when they slid off the snow and onto the grass. "Man... I thought I felt bad before. Is every creature alright?"
"I think I'll be fine," Silverstream groaned standing up.
"What happened to Ocellus?" Sandbar questioned running over the unconscious changeling.
"She was knocked out before we slid down."
"Dragon knock changeling out," Yona said.
"How did you know?"
"Happen several times before. Don't ask."
"Don't worry," Sandbar said, "I've got the first aid... Oh no. I forgot the rest of our gear."
"It's not your fault," Gallus said, "We were being attacked. Speaking of."
They all looked towards Yona, who had just removed her helmet. "Yona didn't want to hurt anyone," she sighed. "Orders by general."
"Well, look where that got you." Gallus tried to stand up, but his legs wouldn't let him.
"If Yona disobeys, Yona will have to crush heads."
"Crush heads?" Sandbar questioned. "You mean... Kill?" Just the sound of the word nearly made the yak vomit.
"Please, don't tell what happened," Silverstream said.
"You could help us take down the king," Gallus said as he failed to stand up again.
"Yaks outclassed by king's magic," Yona protested.
"But doesn't he only have the magic in his staff?" Silverstream questioned with Yona nodding.
"If that's the case," Gallus said as Sandbar helped him up, "We just need to get rid of his staff and we get rid of his power."
"Does fake general know what he's doing?" Yona asked.
"Sort of, and call me Gallus."
"Yes, fake gen... Gallus. Hollow tree sled good idea, and kind of fun. Yona miss sledding in Yakyakistan, now it's just training camp for soldiers."
"Really?" Sandbar asked.
"It's true. Yona misses her home. Her real home."
"Listen, Yona," Gallus said, "If my plan works, we'll get all your homes back."
"Uh... Where are we?" Silverstream asked.
"I don't know. We lost our map and compass, not to mention our food."
"Yona sorry," Yona sighed.
"It's not your fault," Sandbar said placing his hoof on her shoulder.
"What creatures do now?"
"I don't know," Gallus sighed. "But I think thanks to this avalanche they'll think we're dead."
"What about that dragon or Tempest?" Silverstream asked.
The dragon in question was on the other side covered in snow, and she survived. Smolder was more furious than hurt. Before she could even get her legs unstuck, General Gallus and some griffons flew up to her. "What are you doing?"
"I was trying to get that griffon," Smolder replied. "I crashed into the mountain and avalanche happened."
The general looked at the amount of snow on the ground, then looked how tall the mountain was. "No one but a dragon could survive that." He turned to the two dragons that were accompanying him. "Get back to the base and remember to double check if they left any gear." He then looked back to Smolder, "As for you, stay on stand by until further notice."
"What?"
"You don't disobey the general," one of the griffons said. The general groaned a bit as he held his sides. "There a problem sir?"
"It's nothing," the general groaned, "It felt like I had a bruise for some reason. Just get their gears." The two dragons nodded and flew off. He turned to Smolder. "Follow me." Smolder just groaned and followed the general back to the airship.
"I can't just sit around with wings up my nose," Smolder said.
"Look, you have some weird connection to the other me. I don't want to risk upsetting the king." When they landed on the airship, they heard some fighting from below deck.
"The heck was that?"
"Our prisoner. She was helping the rebels. Stay here." The general walked below deck to find Tempest locked in a cage. "It's interesting to see how the tables have turned."
"If I wasn't in here, I would've ripped your beak off by now," Tempest growled.
"Just my beak? Come on, I thought you could do better than that. For example, you're a pretty clever pony, so I think you can tell me what you've been doing since you abandoned the king."
"I left for good reason. What Twilight Sparkle said was right about that heartless monster."
"So what made you join?" The mare gritted her teeth as her broken horn sparked. "No answer? Alright, then answer this: Where are the Clears?"
"Even if I wanted to answer you, I couldn't. I just wander around Equestria and stop the king's army where and whenever I can."
"So you're the one who shot me down in Appleloosa," Smolder cried.
"I told you to stay on the deck," the General growled. Smolder just walked away back to her place.
"What did you do with the group?" Tempest questioned.
"I didn't do anything. They were caught in an avalanche. There's no way they could've survived that."
"Maybe a blanket of snow would've been good for you." The griffon didn't say anything, he put on some glowing glove. Tempest was confused by this until the general grabbed her by the horn and electrocuted her. The mare collapsed from the pain she just went through.
"I prefer a glove like this. The king made this just for me. Absorbing magic and sending it back twice as hard. You've just given me enough for a full day. Now, you rest well, the king has a lot to say to you." Knowing that she couldn't escape, Tempest just stayed down and waited for the worst.
Gallus's team was wandering around as they had no idea where they were going. Sandbar was carrying Ocellus and Silverstream carried Gallus. "We have to be close to the empire," Silverstream said.
"We should," Gallus said rubbing his claw. "How's Ocellus?"
"She's still breathing," Sandbar said. "She's still out cold."
"Yona used to cold," Yona said.
"It's not that cold," Gallus said. "Silver, can you fly and looked around?"
"Someone has to carry you," Silverstream said.
"Yona can carry Gallus," Yona said. The hippogriff placed her friend on the yak's and then flew upwards. Ignoring the mountains, she couldn't see much. She flew around a bit until she could see some pegasi heading towards her. Silver panicked and flew back towards her friends, but the pegasi weren't giving up their chase so easily.
"Guys, we have a problem."
"What's going on?" Sandbar asked. The look and saw three pegasi landing with a cart behind a stallion. The stallion was nearly white with a dark blue mane, next to him was a mare with light green with a white mane and the other mare was yellow with a fiery mane.
"What are you doing here?" asked the fire-maned mare.
"Yak and friends lost," Yona explained.
"We don't get a lot of visitors around here," the stallion said.
"What's in the cart?" Gallus asked seeing there was a tarp covering it.
"Don't worry about it," said the green and white mare.
"Listen," said the fire mare, "You look pretty tired. We've got some food if you want."
"We would," Silverstream said. The group was given some food that was in the shape of carrots that were on the pale side, which they mistook for parsnips.
"Hmm," Sandbar said chewing his food. "This kind of taste funning. Did you do something do to this?"
"What do you think?" the fire-maned pony asked. Sandbar suddenly felt light-headed as his vision got blurry.
"Sandbar?" Gallus questioned. The earth pony collapsed onto the ground with Silverstream following suit.
"What ponies do?" Yona questioned as she struggled to stay upright.
"You didn't think we wouldn't notice the clothes you wear?" the stallion asked. "Not to mention that emblem." Yona still had the storm emblem on her shoulder plates.
"Yak... Yak..." Yona passed out, leaving just Gallus with the three pegasi.
"We're not part of the Storm King's army," Gallus protested.
"You're three creatures that we've seen in action before," the fire-maned pony said. "I haven't seen this pony before, but I have seen you."
"Wait a minute. Are you the wonder bolts?"
"Were." The mare walked up to the griffon and tried to forcefield him the carrot. Gallus tried to fight back, but his muscles wouldn't respond properly. He didn't have a choice as he was forced to swallow the food given to him.
"What the heck are... You going to do... To us?"
"You'll find out soon." The mare just smirked and stared at the griffon that was slowly losing consciousness.
Back the ship, General Gallus slowly walked towards Smolder. The griffon was stumbling a bit which confused the dragon. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Something's wrong," he groaned nearly fainting. "It's that second me. He..." The general held chest in pain he started feeling lightheaded. "I'm not doing this alone."
Without warning, he grabbed onto Smolder's arm. "Hey, what the heck?" Smolder cried. Before she could react, she was electrocuted until she passed out. Seconds later, the general did the same. Both lied on the deck, with some of the crew on board not knowing what just happened.