About twenty minutes later the group, twenty-one ponies and a dragon, were sitting somewhat comfortably in a private train car. Even with their own car it was a tight fit for such a large group. The friends volunteered to sit together, leaving as much room as possible for the traumatized group from Canterlot: Pinkie Pie sat next to Fluttershy, Applejack next to Rarity, Starlight next to Trixie, and Rainbow Dash next to Spike. Ivory Wind sat beside one of the other guards, while the third was next to one of the Canterlot ponies, trying awkwardly to comfort and reassure him.
The conductor had tried to protest when he saw the size of the group they were bringing aboard, but there wasn't much that he could say to three determined royal guards. They'd hustled the refugees into the relative safety of the train, demanded privacy and whatever food and water was available, and promised that the railroad would be reimbursed generously from the royal coffers when possible. He had finally led them, with a fair amount of grumbling, to a car near the middle of the train and taken the passengers from there into other cars. He also warned them that there would be a significant delay as they had to bring up an engine to the other side of the train so that they could head back the other way.
Eventually the commotion died down and everyone picked their seats. A heavy silence settled over the car; the day's events, and the fear of another attack, weighed down their spirits and smothered any desire to talk. Even Trixie, with her normally indomitable spirit and unshakable confidence, just stared out the window and said nothing. The only sounds were an occasional sniffle or muffled sob, and the irritable drumming of Spike's claws on the wooden bench.
After several agonizingly long minutes, Rarity delicately cleared her throat.
"It seems to me that this will be an awfully long ride if we spend it not speaking to one another," she said. Even though she spoke gently, a few ponies winced at the sudden noise. "I am Rarity." When nobody else spoke up, she elbowed Applejack.
"Oh! Uh, right. I'm Applejack." She smiled awkwardly as a dozen sets of eyes turned to look at her. "Pleased ta meet y'all."
Rainbow Dash, who was sitting in front of Applejack, gave a small wave.
"Hey there. I'm Rainbow Dash."
"Spike," Spike grunted.
"Um. My name's Fluttershy. It's nice to meet you."
"Pinkie Pie!"
Pinkie kicked the back of Starlight Glimmer's bench, and she sat up with a start.
"Huh? Oh, sorry!" She laughed uncomfortably. "I was thinking about—well, never mind. I'm Starlight Glimmer." She gave a too-wide, too-tense smile at the rest of the car.
Trixie smiled at her reflection in the window and gave a small chuckle. These ponies needed a distraction and some entertainment, did they? They couldn't have picked a better car for that.
She stood up in the small space between her bench and the one in front of her, and doffed her hat in a dramatic bow.
"And no doubt you already know The Great and Powerful Trixie!"
One of the other guards, a dusky-blue unicorn, stood up and inclined her head. "My name is Aurora. It is an honor to meet all of you."
Ivory Wind took Aurora's lead and introduced himself, followed by the remaining guard, a light brown earth pony stallion whose name was Pear Crisp and whose voice carried a faint hint of a twang. Applejack's ears perked up immediately.
"You're a Pear?" she asked with interest. "I'm half Pear myself."
"You are?" Pear Crisp sounded surprised. "I thought you were an Apple."
"Oh my dad's side, yeah, but my ma was Pear Butter. Afraid I never had much to do with that side o' the family, though." More like they never had much to do with us, she thought, but there was no sense in opening wounds. Today had more than enough pain to go around already.
Pear Crisp shrugged. "Sorry, ma'am, I don't think I've ever heard of her. Maybe she was from a different branch of the family."
"Well... maybe so," Applejack forced out, as close to a lie as she could manage. Pear Crisp looked younger than her, so there was no way he was around when her parents were courting, and he'd undoubtedly been away in Canterlot when the two families finally made up. They had a lot to talk about, but definitely not here and not now.
"Ah, excuse me, Miss Rarity?" One of the refugees, a unicorn mare with a yellowish coat and a light blue mane, finally spoke up in a lilting Canterlot accent. "You wouldn't happen to be the same Rarity who owns the Canterlot Carousel?"
"I would indeed!" Rarity, who did not get out to her Canterlot branch nearly as often as she meant to, was both surprised and pleased to be recognized. She stood up and walked to the other end of the car, closer to the other unicorn. "You must be something of a fashionista yourself, I imagine."
As they continued their conversation, the royal guards went the other way and stood near the rest of the group, awaiting permission to speak.
"You guys really don't have to do that," Rainbow Dash said to them.
"Yeah," Pinkie Pie agreed, "get comfy and stop acting like we're your drill sergeants. That's an order!" She giggled at her own contradiction.
"Speaking of," Rainbow cut back in, "what are your ranks? Have any of you led a unit before?"
The three guards looked sideways at each other.
"Well... no," Aurora muttered with a faint flush creeping up. "Actually, none of us are officers. We're just guards."
"Hah. More like grunts," Pear Crisp added.
"Oh." So they were the lowest of the low in the royal guards, probably barely out of training. Rainbow Dash tried to hide her disappointment. Their low ranks weren't surprising given how young they all were, but she'd been hoping for somepony with some experience.
"What Rainbow Dash means," Fluttershy cut in over her less-tactful friend, "is that you three did wonderfully getting all these ponies out of Canterlot all by yourselves. You saved lives today, and you should be very proud."
"Thank you, ma'am." Ivory inclined his head toward Fluttershy. Though his tone was formal, inside he was glowing at the kind words.
"Hey!" Pinkie Pie pointed sharply at the three guards. "I gave you three an order."
Aurora laughed. "So you did. Sorry, ma—uh, Pinkie Pie."
"That's better!" Pinkie grinned at the three of them.
"So." Aurora shifted nervously. "What do we do now?"
The group of friends went quiet again as grim reality came crashing back onto them. It really was up to them to figure out what to do next; and they had to do it without Twilight.
Applejack was the first to speak.
"All of us—well, 'cept for Trixie—live in Ponyville. We were figuring on goin' back there and makin' plans to fight back. 'Course, that was before we had all these folks to worry about."
"Yes, where are these poor ponies going to go?" Fluttershy asked. "Do any of them have friends or family outside of Canterlot they could go to?"
"I'll ask around," Pear Crisp said. "Seems like we'll have plenty of time to figure it out."
Spike lifted his head. "The castle's plenty big enough for anypony who doesn't have somewhere else to go."
The others glanced around at each other.
"Are you sure?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I know the castle's big, but that would be a lot of ponies to take care of."
"Yeah," Spike answered firmly, "I'm sure." He looked over to the only other pony he currently shared the castle with. "Starlight? What do you think?"
"Huh?" Starlight's head snapped up. "Oh, uh, yeah! Yeah, that sounds good."
Trixie leaned over to her friend.
"You have no idea what you just agreed to, do you?" she whispered into Starlight's ear.
"I... no," Starlight admitted in a murmur. Trixie frowned.
"I'm getting worried about you," the showmare said in an uncharacteristic display of compassion. "This isn't like you."
Starlight sighed. "It's been a long day. I'm tired. Sue me."
Trixie's frown didn't let up, but she didn't press the matter either. However, a moment later Starlight felt a warm hoof resting gently on top of her own.
"We'll need to spread the word about the attack," Rainbow Dash was saying to the others.
"Are you sure?" Ivory Wind asked. "If news about the princesses got out it could cause a panic."
"But if we don't tell them, they'll be helpless if those creatures attack," Fluttershy said.
"Word is going to spread one way or another," Rarity reasoned, having come back from her conversation with the other passenger. There was now a steady stream of talking coming from that end of the train car, so clearly she'd been able to get at least some of the refugees out of their shells. "Best we make sure that it spreads on our terms."
Starlight Glimmer stifled a yawn with her hoof. She knew that what they were talking about was extremely important, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to care. She just felt tired, and empty, and cold except for one small point where Trixie's hoof still rested. What was with that, anyway? Had she not noticed that her hoof was on Starlight's?
"We gotta get a message to the Crystal Empire too, pronto," Applejack said. "Shining Armor needs ta know what happened here."
Aurora nodded in agreement. "You're right, they've kidnapped the princess of the Crystal Empire. He could be an ally for us."
Applejack turned her head to glare at the guard. "I wasn't talkin' politics, or military or whatever. Those things have his wife and his sister, and Shining Armor's got a right ta know that."
Aurora flushed. "I... of course. That's more important."
"But how?" Rarity asked. "The trains are out of the question; all of the main lines pass by Canterlot."
"I'll take the message out there," Rainbow Dash offered. "I can swing by Cloudsdale on the way and talk to the Wonderbolts too."
"You?" Ivory Wind gasped. "Ma'am, you're much too important to risk on a mission like that."
Rainbow Dash arched an eyebrow. "If you think you're fast enough to stop me, be my guest," she challenged the other pegasus.
Ivory looked like he wanted to take her up on that challenge, but eventually he looked away and stomped a hoof nervously. "Point taken. Just, please promise me that you'll give Canterlot a wide berth on your way north."
Rainbow Dash relented and gave a reassuring nod. "Don't worry. I will."
"You're not going today, are you?" Fluttershy asked.
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and exhaled.
"No," she said. As much as she wanted to go right away, her wings were tired enough from carrying her friends down the mountain. Flying to the Crystal Empire today would just be asking for an injury. "On the other hoof, it doesn't make much sense for me to go down to Ponyville with you guys just to come back up here tomorrow." She shrugged. "I guess I'm staying in Riverbend tonight."
That decision set off a whole round of worried discussion about potential attacks and whether Rainbow Dash would be safe on her own. Starlight yawned again. It was perfectly logical for one of the fastest pegasi in Equestria to carry the messages to the Wonderbolts and the Crystal Empire. It also made sense for her to stay here, rather than riding south to Ponyville just to fly north again tomorrow. Starlight didn't see the problem, and didn't have the energy to fight about it.
She didn't have the energy for much of anything, actually. Between their desperate fight and flight from Canterlot, and the emotional stress of it all, she was simply burned out. Her eyelids were heavy and drifting closed. There was a twisting, crawling ache in her stomach and chest that she wished would stop, but it wasn't enough to keep her awake. In fact, it just seemed like another reason to go to sleep; if she were asleep, she wouldn't be thinking about Twilight.
Starlight Glimmer laid her head down and drifted away.
Upper Crust had taken one look at the throne room, at the four black stone statues within, and had turned away with a cry. Tempest Shadow drank in the sight her of conquest with satisfaction. Canterlot had been the greatest, and easiest, victory of her life.
"Yeesh," Grubber muttered. "Creepy." He tapped the nearest princess with a claw, then yelped and jumped back as if he expected it to bite him.
Tempest rolled her eyes and walked into the middle of the throne room to inspect the setup. She checked the position of the sun coming in through the enormous windows; as she'd ordered, the storm creatures had placed one of the princess statues at each of the four cardinal directions, facing inward toward each other. The directions weren't actually important, but she'd worried that the dull creatures would somehow mess up "arrange them in a square."
Tempest reached over and pulled a knife from her belt with her teeth. She twisted her head to dig the point down into the marble floor, then pounded the haft a few times with her hoof. It was awkward, but when she lifted her head there was a small chip missing from the floor. That would serve as the center point of the array and the place where the Staff of Sacanas would sit to activate it.
"What are you doing?!" Upper Crust demanded, then cried out as a storm guard knocked her roughly to the floor.
Tempest turned her head just enough to see the outspoken pony from the corner of her eye. Between her and the storm creatures, who were noisy, heavy-breathing, grunting beasts even when they tried to be quiet, this would get very annoying very quickly.
"Leave," Tempest ordered. "All of you, out."
The storm creatures looked dully at each other and stumped out of the massive double doors. One paused briefly to scoop up Upper Crust, then they were all gone except for Grubber. He stood near the doors, nervously wringing his hands, uncertain whether the order applied to him too.
"You," Tempest added for Grubber's benefit, "stay out of the way and stay quiet."
"R—right."
Tempest opened a pouch on her belt. She took out a piece of paper, which she spread on the ground, and a small piece of chalk. The paper had a pattern of lines and symbols drawn on it: the array that would activate the Staff of Sacanas's magic-draining powers. Lines and curves spun out from the middle of the page, a central point echoed in the throne room by the small hole that Tempest had dug into the floor.
The array wasn't terribly complicated, and Tempest had time to think as she worked. It was an unusual feeling for her. She was a pony of action; drawing and introspection weren't things she usually devoted much time to. Still, she found herself remembering what brought her here to Canterlot in the first place, the bold plan that she had proposed to the Storm King.
"You sure about this?" the Storm King asked. "You're one of them."
"No, I'm not."
"Right, 'cuz you were... what's your deal, anyway?" It had just occurred to the Storm King that he'd never asked about his commander's past. "Did you get kicked out, or what?"
"No. I left on my own."
"Ah well, whatever." He turned his attention back to the plans that Tempest had drawn up. A surprise attack using his fastest ships, led by Tempest herself. Storm soldiers equipped with magic-reflecting shields, and Tempest armed with those weird new stone bombs they'd gotten from the goblins out west. They were designed to stop monsters in their tracks, but should work just as well against alicorns. They'd hit Canterlot like lightning out of a blue sky. He loved it; it was classic Storm King.
"Alright then. You pull this off for me and you're set for life." He gave her a sharp-toothed grin. "If you'll turn on your own people like this, then I know you'll do anything for me."
"They turned on me," Tempest replied coldly, "but it makes no difference now. I'll get you the power you want."
"Good. And then I'll give you what you want."
"Tch." Tempest grunted in annoyance as the line she was drawing went crooked. It was stupid of her to let her mind wander like that, anyway. What if she'd been ambushed? There could be secret passages all over this damned palace that the slow-witted storm creatures hadn't found. She rubbed out the line and redrew it more carefully.
That wasn't the only reason she didn't like taking too much time to think, though. The problem was that, sooner or later, she'd start thinking about herself. She'd spent years looking for a way to get her horn back, her magic back, her life back. Now she was on the verge of actually doing it, and all it had cost was her homeland. Shouldn't she feel something about that? Happiness, sadness, remorse, something? She didn't, though. She was just doing what she must, like the lethally efficient machine she had become.
She considered the guard she'd killed on her way to the palace. It was hardly her first kill; Tempest had been a soldier before she became a commander, and she'd fought in half a dozen campaigns for the Storm King across as many different lands. But that stallion had been the first pony she'd ever killed. Was she supposed to feel something about that? She turned her attention inward and found that she didn't. All she felt about any of this was a cool determination to complete her mission.
Tempest drew the final line, closing the circle and completing the array. She spat out the chalk and stepped back to check her work, comparing it to the guide she'd brought. It was flawless. All it needed now was a catalyst.
Tempest lowered the broken stump of her horn to the outer edge of the array. Her magic flared and sparked wildly as it always had since she was injured, but she was able to direct the power into the lines of chalk. Her power filled the array, and the lines began to glow the same blindly bright, electric blue as her magic. The glow remained for a few seconds after Tempest stopped channeling into it. When it faded, so did the chalk lines.
Her mission here was as good as finished. The array was ready—invisible, but the lines of magic were there. She could feel them like a tingling itch in what remained of her horn. All she had to do now was hold Canterlot until the Storm King arrived. With the alicorns and what passed for Equestria's defensive forces swept aside, that wouldn't be much of a problem.
"Let's go," she said to Grubber. "We're done here."
"Yeah," Grubber nodded eagerly, "you got it." He watched her as she slowly crossed the large throne room, heading for the doors. "So..."
Tempest arched an eyebrow at him. "So?"
"This is it, huh? You're finally getting your horn back?"
"Yes." The thought brought her satisfaction, but not the excitement she expected it to. She had been without her horn for most of her life, and the fact that she would soon have it back didn't quite seem real.
"Then what?"
Tempest tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"Well..." Grubber rubbed his hands together nervously. "Once you've got that, you won't need us anymore, right? I mean, you won't need the Storm King anymore."
Tempest shook her head. "Need? No. But the Storm King will soon be the most powerful being in the world. At his right claw is the best place I could be."
Grubber's mouth fell open into a wide grin. "So you're not leaving once this is over?"
Tempest snorted softly. "Where would I go? The Storm King controls half the world." Thanks to me. "With alicorn magic, he'll have the rest of it soon enough."
"Yeah," Grubber nodded eagerly. "Yeah! And once he has it all, we'll have it all! Right?"
"Right." Somehow she doubted it. The Storm King wasn't quite that generous, even to his favorite subjects. "I'm sure we'll have everything we could ever dream of."
The two walked side-by-side out of the throne room, Grubber cackling loudly as the doors swung shut behind them.