Sandbar’s hooves were covered in mud and grass, and maybe a little fur. He wiped them off as he looked over the downed storm creatures. His flurry of kicks had all landed solidly. Yona had charged many of them with her horns, and Starlight’s magic had blasted the others. The few remaining after that had all ran off.
“I know the School of Friendship discourages violence whenever friendlier solutions can be found,” Starlight said. “But you both fought well. We need to find Silverstream and get out of here. I’m sure Hedron will fix things, but I don’t know how long that will take. We need to get somewhere safe.”
“Yona no like zappy staffs. They make Yona’s hair get all frizzy.”
Yona tried to pat her hair back in place from where the storm staffs had hit her. Sandbar walked up to help.
“They didn’t hurt you, though, right?”
“No. Lightning magic mostly miss Yona. It only tickled and made hair look silly.”
Sandbar leaned against her until his own hooves stopped shaking. Starlight muttered to herself and drew a little map on the ground.
“We should be here, if I remember that map from the tourist brochure of Mount Aris correctly. Silverstream ran that way…”
At that moment, a little bird fluttered to the ground in front of Starlight. It chirped and held up one leg, which had a small tube tied. Starlight used her magic to undo the tube and pull out a small paper.
“This is from Silverstream! She’s captured in the main ship. That means we need to go that way, and quickly.”
Starlight pointed and Sandbar stepped away from Yona’s softness and warmth with a quiet sigh. He caught an amused glance from Yona, but neither of them said anything as they moved to follow Starlight.
The road she picked circled around the edge of town. The majority of the storm creatures still seemed to be near the palace, so this road near the big protective cliff offered a great chance to sneak to the city gates without being seen, or at least it would have if they weren’t spotted.
A storm creature shouted at them at the first intersection they crossed. Starlight swore quietly and tried to blast him with magic, but she only succeeded in blowing up a tipped over cart. A flare shot up one street over.
“Shouldn’t we run if they spotted us?” Sandbar asked.
Starlight nodded. “Good idea. Let’s go!”
They galloped down the narrow street. Yona took the lead. Sandbar hoped no one would be foolish enough to get in her way, and she could push any blockades out of their path. The narrow road had a few carts in the way where the hippogriffs had tried to make a stand, but it was mostly clear.
Sandbar spotted a few more storm creatures running on the road parallel to them, but none of the enemy soldiers moved to block their path. They reached the final open square near the gates. Beyond it, airships were anchored to the mountainside. A squad of enemy shieldbearers stepped out and readied their shields. A blast of magic cracked the stone in front of Yona. She hopped over the hole then slid to a stop.
Tempest Shadow stepped out from between the storm creatures with a fierce grin on her face. She looked over each of them.
“Two ponies and one yak. I’ve never fought a yak before. What are you three doing here? Do you know where the hippogriffs have hidden themselves?”
Yona snorted. “Did you capture our friend? Yona not like mean pony.”
“I did. If you surrender quietly, you won’t be hurt. But if you want to do this the fun way, I’m ready for a fight.”
“Please, Tempest, you don’t have to do this!” Sandbar said. “We’re ponies, like you.”
“We know you’re with the Storm King,” Starlight added. “But we can help you more than he can. We know about your past. We know your name is Fizzlepop-”
Tempest stomped her hooves on the stones hard enough to crack them. “Ponies could do nothing for me! But I have the Storm King’s promise, and that’s worth fighting for. Enough talk. Surrender now, or face me.”
Starlight’s horn crackled. “We’re not giving up”
Sandbar stepped between the two unicorns. “Uh, maybe… we could agree to some rules before we fight?”
Tempest motioned to the soldiers and they fell back into line. “I’ll leave them out of this. I need some fun after the frustrations of tonight. I don’t hold back, and if you use any magic, I’ll use my own. I think I can take you all on at once. That’s more than fair, isn’t it?”
Sandbar could hardly meet her fierce gaze, but he nodded and backed up behind Starlight. “Uh, Starlight, how strong is she?”
“It doesn’t matter. We need to save Silverstream. Just do your best.”
Tempest sprinted across the square. Yona tried to tackle her, but the yak’s hooves caught nothing but air. Starlight charged up a blast of magic, but Tempest’s own burst of lightning caught Starlight in the side. Starlight screamed.
Her hair was smoking from the magical attack. Sandbar pulled her up. She could still stand, even if she looked shaky.
“That was fun,” Tempest said as she circled around them. “Ready for round two?”
There was no time for a reply as Tempest charged forward. Yona’s magical horn rings dispersed a bolt of lightning from Tempest’s horn, but the unicorn’s speed was harder to stop. She slipped past Yona and Sandbar. The thud of a hoof hitting Starlight’s head echoed behind them. Sandbar gasped in surprise and caught Starlight before she could fall over.
“Starlight! Wake up! We need your help!”
Sandbar tried to shake her, but she was out cold. Sandbar placed her on her side and tried to see what Tempest was doing. A purple hoof nearly hit him in the head, but he moved back enough for it to hit his shoulder instead. His entire right leg went numb.
“No! Stop hurting Yona’s friends!”
Sandbar could feel the power of Harmony in him and Yona. Yona’s hooves blurred as she moved to intercept Tempest’s next attack. Yona blocked a kick by redirecting it to the side with her horn then swung her head the other direction and hit Tempest directly in the chest.
Tempest laughed. “If that’s what it takes to get a good fight, it was worth it.”
Sandbar was terrible at fighting, but he stayed at Yona’s side. Yona growled and watched Tempest carefully. The unicorn’s kicks and spins were almost too fast for him to see. He turned upon hearing the clack of a hoof on a horn next to him. Yona had caught Tempest’s kick. Yona reared up and unbalanced Tempest before counterattacking. Yona’s front hooves pushed Tempest to the ground. Tempest tried to get up, but Yona stomped right next to her. Tempest’s hooves slipped, and she stayed down.
“No! More! Hurting! Friends!” Yona shouted.
Tempest stared up at Yona in surprise. The storm creatures started muttering, and a few started charging up their magical staffs.
Sandbar’s ears folded back and his mane stood on end as electrical energy built up. “Wait! Tempest! We won. Call your soldiers off and take us to see our friend.”
Tempest thought silently. Some of the longest seconds of Sandbar’s life passed as he waited to see if she’d try some trick, but Yona’s angry scowl was enough to deter her.
“I’m impressed,” Tempest said. “I shouldn’t have agreed to that rule about magic, but I didn’t think I’d need it against a young yak. Fine. I’ll let you see your friend. I might also trade your friend’s freedom and safety for the right information, but I will show you that she is unharmed first.”
Yona took out a small vial of ponybalm and handed it to Sandbar. “You help Starlight. I’ll keep close to Tempest to make sure she keeps her word.”
“Thanks Yona. You did great. I was too scared, and I’ve never been good at fighting.”
Sandbar applied the ponybalm to Starlight’s bruises.
“Yaks need to be strong to defend village from monsters in the mountains. Yona practice stomping and fighting.”
Starlight opened her eyes slowly then rubbed her forehead. “Ugh… did I get kicked? Ow… I haven’t had a headache this bad since that drinking contest with Trixie. Oh… Sandbar! Sorry. Ignore that. What happened with Tempest?”
“We won the fight. Or well, Yona did. I didn’t help much.”
Sandbar helped Starlight to her hooves. She locked eyes with Tempest for a moment then looked away.
“Yona beat Tempest?” Starlight whispered. “Anyway, as long as we get Silverstream back, that’s all that matters.”
The soldiers parted as Tempest walked toward them. She motioned for the group to follow behind her. “Your friend is on my ship. Come this way.”
Sandbar could still remember the huge airships from when they invaded Equestria, and Tempest’s flagship was especially huge. They climbed up a metal ramp and into a huge room meant for quickly dropping soldiers. Ramps, ropes, and ladders all waited. Tempest kept them moving quickly through the large wooden corridors of the ship.
A smaller storm creature with a basket full of food sauntered up. “Hey Tempest! Is this the yak that beat you? All the guys are talking about it.”
Tempest glared at the newcomer. “Quiet, Grubber. I’m negotiating here. Go stuff your face with whatever you found. I’ll figure out a way to make everyone keep quiet later.”
“Uh, sure, Tempest. I mean, you should try some of these crab cakes before they’re gone, but your loss.”
Grubber disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. They walked down a large staircase and into a room close to one of the ship’s boilers. Several large cages hung from chains, but only one was full.
Silverstream held the bars and stared at them. “Over here! I’m so glad my message got to you!”
“Now for the hard part,” Tempest said. “You beat me, but I have an entire army. I’m not letting my only source of information on the hippogriffs get away without some answers!”
Sandbar felt a strange pulling sensation in his stomach. Starlight smiled and pulled Yona in closer.
“Sorry, Tempest,” Starlight said. “But our time here seems to be up.”
Tempest looked confused then charged up her horn until it crackled with electricity. Sandbar huddled against Yona in fear. He blinked, and the angry unicorn and airship were gone.
The massive crystals and etched walls of the Nexus surrounded him again. Sandbar sighed in relief.
A portion of the wall lit up, and the crystalline yak-like figure in it spoke. “Welcome back! It seems some of you have sustained some damage in your temporal journey. I can fix that to a minor degree now.”
A surge of healing magic from the surrounding crystals made Sandbar feel stronger. He stood up taller and smiled.
“The interruption of those infiltrators nearly ruined my more complex magic, but I’ve managed to stabilize the temporal fields enough to buy you three more days. It is the best I can do without inflicting more dangerous temporal displacement upon your group. I have some other business before we go on, but we must hurry. Storm Surge has been moving. But before I ask for your help against him, I must ask the earth pony something. Why are you carrying seeds of chaos tied to Storm Surge’s magic?”
Sandbar’s ears folded back and he scuffed at the floor with a hoof. “I… he promised a way to let us go home! If I spread the seeds, he’d send us back.”
“I don’t doubt that he would do that, but the cost would be terrible to your world. Give me the seeds. I will dispose of them safely. In exchange, I will pledge my own support for returning you to your world.”
Sandbar didn’t want to see any innocent creatures hurt by Storm Surge, so he dug into his saddlebags and placed the seeds on a floating tray that appeared. The tray floated up between the crystals. Each crystal shot a brilliant beam of magic at the seeds until the seeds turned to ash.
“I trusted Storm Surge too quickly,” Sandbar said. “I had never met an evil hippogriff, so I thought he’d be nice and helpful, like the ones from Mt. Aris.”
“You have my promise now. Take this. It will enable me to help you in times of need, but its magic will have to be recharged from time to time.”
A circlet of crystal and metal appeared on the tray as it floated back down to Sandbar.
Starlight whistled as she looked it over. “That’s like some of the old relics from the crystal empire, but far more advanced.”
It tingled as Sandbar slipped it into place above his left front hoof. A smaller version of Hedron appeared on the tiny flat crystal in the center of the circlet.
“It is a conduit and communicator,” Hedron said. “Call on me with it, and I can aid you with my magic, but the device only carries so much power at a time, so greater magic will drain it quickly. But let’s get to the next situation that requires our attention. Even now, Storm Surge moves to take control of another place. I sense others moving to counter him. I shall send a few of my helpers with you to stop him. There is no time to waste, so I must teleport you all now.”
They gathered in the center of the room where a magic circle lit up.
“I’d love to get some rest,” Starlight said. “But in this crazy place, we’ll have to wait until we’re safe.”