Several weeks from the incident, Maria sat at a table, looking over the ponies in front of her. It was thanks to them that she and her friends sat here drinking, yet nothing about them seemed normal.
One a mute, one a changeling, and one the very thing she had locked away for years in the travel area she had kept up. Attacking them on several fronts, and seemingly causing the war that raged in the north of the city, but still willing to help them.
Yet, sitting within a inn at the moon kingdom, she was now supposed to work with them to end the war raging by the sun and moon. Beside her, inktip simply ate her food, either unaware or ignoring the tension of both the chaos being and her. She wondered what the mute thought of this as well, a story she would probably never hear due to what they're heading into.
The changeling shuffled nervously in his seat, not really needing the food in front of them. Was the changeling responsible for the girls muteness? And why has he not been latched onto by Glassclaw? She may have had some loss of thought due to the hours of hanging around the repairing city in a daze, but she hasn't forgotten the chaos and crystal drones that were used in the building she worked so long ago.
The sound of steps made the group look over to the door. Glassclaw stepped into the tavern, using his tail and hands to move some of the empty tables and chairs to get to their seat. He took a seat near them, crossing his legs as no chair in the bar could even attempt to hold him. Once he was settled, a waitress wolf pony rolled a barrel of brew over to the dragon, nodding as he broke in the lid.
"It seems all the pieces are together to finally bring peace to this world." He took a long draft of the liquid, licking his face as he looked to the group.
"You mean the plan to remove the crystal king and instill peace for the Queen's?" The dragon nodded to the changeling, another waitress handing him a towel to use for his mouth.
"I honestly wondered how we would fit the use of the elements into the final duel. But now, these three can beat the elements and finish this."
"You really think a being of chaos, the hybrid thing at the cells, and a changeling can weild elements of that power?" Pupter took a swig of his own drink, looking over the dragon as he took another draft of the drink.
"Of course. As long as you embed the work of the elements, you can weild them." He pointed to each of them in term as he spoke. "Hornet is honesty, Marinette is kindness, you're magic, Maria is loyalty, inktip is laughter, and Duelblood is generosity."
"I'm not so sure I can believe that." Inktip whispered over her cup, unsure how to feel about taking the spotlight again. The dragon simply scoffed and finished the last of the drink.
"We'll get it done, believe me. I've thought out every detail, and we can get it done. And besides, pupter will deal the majority of the work, so the small training we did will be enough." He placed the empty barrel to the side and stood up, walking to the counter and paying once again for their stuff. Maria then finished her drink and walked over to the carriage.
Glassclaw stepped into the jail of the kingdom, stepping down to the newly built cell. Inside it, Duelblood sat with his face buried in his claws. His hooves were coated in crystal, holding him in place as Glassclaw approached. The light reflected off his scaled front, which was stretched and torn where the scaled skin met his natural skin. He sighed, his head slightly tilting to look over to the dragon.
"What do you want? Have you come to lash at me for my mistake? To finally confront me about my body mutation?"
"I've come to see if you're ready to leave back to the crystal empire." The guards gave the dragon a dirty look, but stayed silent as they say on either side of the cell.
"You can't be serious. I've broken through a city, hurt or killed who knows how many innocents, and even endangered the ones you entrusted me to help. I should just be left here."
"Hardly. Someone like yourself should be trying to redeem their actions, not sit and mope." Glassclaw signaled to one of the guards, who hesitantly opened the door to the cell. Duelblood didn't move, still looking at the dragon.
Glassclaw waved his hand, the crystals on his shoulder glowing as the cuffs on his legs dissolved. It took Duelblood a few moments to move and walk to the door of the cell. The two guards prepped their weapons, but he only walked out of the room in silence.
"You'll need more pep then they to weild the elements friend. Put on a happy face so the plan to work." Glassclaw followed him out of the room, half smiling as he flew over to the carriage area.
The track leading back to the empire was long and silent. The four in the cabin sat silent, with Duelblood sleeping at the window. Maria and inktip rode on top of the carriage with the driver, Glassclaw flying ahead to make the preparations for their entrance.
As the walls of the city came into view, the ground became stained with spots of red and fallen bodies. Maria had a glance over to the charred remains of the travel home that all the events of the past few months had passed in. She was then brought back to the road as the sound of the gate opening rang out on the silent field.
The carriage rolled into the walls again, the slaves moving out of the way to allow them a quick ascent to the castle. Once their, Maria and inktip hopped down to the road. The driver opened the door for the other four, each cloaked to hide their appearence, along with hornets new crystalized look. Maria gave the driver one last hug before he drove back to the storage area.
Maria lead the group through the halls, with hornet almost breaking character from the large crystal hydras which lined the gateway to the castle. The group continued through the halls of the castle, eventually finding the door to the main throne room. With a few knocks, the door opened with the magic of the king inside. From this, they walked inside to meet him again.
Glassclaw stood by the throne, decked in a royal uniform beside him. The king stood smiling at the group, watching as they made to the middle of the room and bowed to him.
"Like I told you my king, my mission was a success. All the element bearers, along with the elements of harmony, brought before us."
"I had my doubts due to the time, Glassclaw. But this does seem rather conclusive. The war of the sun and moon, along with the one thing which could defeat me still brought to my hooves, this is a great day indeed." He got up from his thrown, stepping forward to see them closer.
Before he could move far, Glassclaw unsheithed his blade and slashed off the horn of the king. He roared in pain, as the others took off their cloaks, reveiling the elements around their necks.
Pupter leapt forward, his element glowing as the others began to float and channel energy as well. Glassclaw stepped forward and crushed the horn with his foot, smacking the king into his chair as he looked around stunned.
"You, you would betray me, after all I've done for you?!"
"I shouldn't he alive, and I hate you for cursing me to this. But now I will not only have what you always wanted, but even more." The elements fired out a beam of energy, striking the king back into his chair and causing his skin to crack. He roared in pain, with Glassclaw rushing behind the group to avoid any sort of residual attack.
With one final yell, he burst apart, shadows flying in multiple directions as the thrown shattered. The slaves and guards looked to the tower in shock and confusion, unsure of what was happening. While they were distracted, a group of unicorns teleported into the city, the gates flying open by a unknown magic force.
Within the main chamber, Maria stood up shaking, her eyes blurred as she tried to look around to the group. She mumbled something her ringing ears couldn't hear, before she felt something strike her head, and she fell unconscious.
Maria blinked the tears out of her eyes, straining to see around herself to understand the new situation. She rubbed her head, the sound of metal rattling telling her that she had been captured and jailed again.
Her vision continued to clear up as she looked around, finding herself in a open room. The metal she heard was chains connected to the floor of a metal plate. Her movement wasn't too much hampered, with only a ring around her waist preventing flight and a small lengh of chain.
"Good, someone who I can talk too without much worry." Maria turned to see Glassclaw enter the room from a stairway near the end of the room. Though his appearence was similar, he had pure white crystals on his shoulder, which also seemed more clean cut. He wore a cape over his non jeweled arm which bore a different symbol then what he normally did.
"You'll have to forgive your current dress, it relates to the cause of what happens next." He went to a wall behind her, taking a chair from it and placing it a short distance in front of her. After sitting, he pulled out a barrel of some brew, which he lightly sipped while leaning to her.
"So… you planned on betraying us and the crystal king this whole time?"
"For you, I honesty wanted better. The whole thing after the elements was a bigger mess then what I had envisioned, and I had to make a change to what the final steps would be." He turned his normal eye away, not wanting to show the tear which built within it.
"Speaking of, I guess you disposed of them too, leaving me as a soul witness?"
"Maria, you've known me long enough to say that's a lie. My only kill was the one who came from chaos, and even that wasn't from a direct blow." He took another draft of the drink, placing it to the side and taking a sandwich from under his cloak, placing it at Maria's forelegs.
"The aftermath of the elements left all of you sickly, and so my partner and I brought you all to be cared for. You were out the longest, since one of their guards knocked you out, and as the last of them please let me talk to you as a friend again."
"Partner?" Maria took up the sandwich and ate part of it, some kind of cooked meat with a smokey sauce. At least she had a decent meal before whatever was coming next. As she ate, hoofsteps came down the stairway, a unicorn wearing a armor like the color of his cloak bowed to them.
"Miss flurry reminds you of the ceremony which must be completed soon, so please finish your business quickly." The unicorn then walked back up the steps, with Glassclaw turning and nodding to Maria again.
"Yes. Even if I could take over his throne, I'm not fit to rule. So, I needed someone to help me with that. The sun and Moon are too full to themselves to work with me, so why not do someone who has a similar cause?" Maria simply glared as she continued to eat her meal, unsure of where this was going.
"If you wish to know about the others, it doesn't end well honestly. The chaos one blew into dust when the elements faded, and the mute one was incredibly distraught about it. So much so that she crippled herself of the last of her senses and curled up into a ball. I don't know what happened to her since we placed her outside the walls, most likely died of some animal."
"Can't say I'd blaim her. She seemed very close to that one, despite the risk. Even with what little I saw of him I could tell she had some bond."
"The changeling may have made it to the hive again if the mute one had choosen to help, but the element drained him to the point that he couldn't make it."
"What about inktip and Duelblood? Did you kill them too?"
"Not yet, though in all truth I don't want to kill you all. I hoped we could allow you to be heroes, to be giving a good reward in the new year to come so you can retire peaceful and happy." His voice trailed off, most likely to hide the sadness which built in it. After gained his composure he took a draft of his drink and looked to her again.
"The generals of the sun and moon however want a proper response for who could kill someone like the crystal king. I voted against it, but the majority picked you, inktip, and Duelblood to quell the uproar of the ponies nerves. You'll be killed off soon in front of a crowd, but I wanted to tell you my feelings of it." Maria didn't respond, simply laying down on the metal floor and closing her eyes, making Glassclaw sigh.
A wave of the dragons hand brought two unicorns into the room, who picked up the metal and walked Maria up the steps. The roar of a crowd made Maria briefly open her eyes, seeing the multitude which stood before the balcony. She was placed between both inktip and Duelblood, inktip bound like her while Duelblood was heavily chained to the metal slab, smoke coming from his nostrils.
A quick speech was giving about Maria, the griffion not even listening since she knows it'd be a fabrication. After one last roar of the crowd a large blade was drawn from its sheith, unmistakable to Maria. She only sighed and waited as the blade fell on her body, remembering no more.