The Mixer Chronicles

by Mixer

Moon's Rising

“What do you mean he’s gone?” Celestia questioned.
“He took some of the components for his hidden blade and left. There is no trace as to where he could have gone,” I said.
“Mixer, I know it must have been hard to do that to him, but it had to be done,” Luna said, trying to make things seem a bit better.
“I know it had to be done, and I took care of it. For now, I think we just need to give him time to cool off,” I said.
Celestia sighed, “Very well. It is the least we can do since you took care of the augmentation.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Now there is another matter that you need to attend to,” Luna said.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Tonight you and the Lunar guard are to go to Ponyville and meet Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres. There have been reports of strange sounds in the night, and some things have gone missing,” Luna said.
“We still can’t use the airship yet,” I said.
“Then you can take the train,” Celestia said.
“Alright then, I’ll inform the others,” I said.
I turned and walked away.
It was just past noon, and I was still a little concerned as to where Soulless had gone.
“So, how did it go?” Trottson asked.
“We have a new assignment,” I said.
“Don’t tell me we have to track him down,” he said.
“Don’t worry, we just have to go investigate some strange reports around Sweet Apple Acres,” I said.
He let out a breath, “That’s good, some easy work will be good for the team.”
“Yeah, they haven’t had any real action in a while,” I said.
We walked down a few corridors until we were at a courtyard that we had designated as a meeting point.
“Listen up everypony,” I started. “We have an assignment.”
“What kind of assignment?” Thunderlane asked.
“We’ll be investigating some strange reports around Sweet Apple Acres,” I said.
“That’s it?” Brick asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Well, at least it’s better than guard duty,” Star Shine said.
“Yeah, we actually have some time in the field,” Ivy said.
“Well, since we can’t use the airship, we will be taking the train,” I said.
“So when do we leave?” Phalanx asked.
“As soon as all of you are ready,” I said.
“Then let’s go,” Brick said.
“I have to get something before we leave, but the rest of you can head to the train station,” I said.
“Alright,” Trottson said, taking the rest of them to the train station.
I went to the cavern to grab something from my workshop.
As I walked to the workshop I noticed scratch marks on my house door.
I sighed, “I’m glad I made that door thick,” I said as I opened the workshop door.
I grabbed a bundle from one of the work tables and left, checking to make sure Soulless wasn’t hanging around. Satisfied that he wasn’t I headed up the lift and to the train station.
“So what was it you had to grab?” Ivy asked.
“Oh, just a little something,” I said.
“Well, any longer and the train would have left without you,” Thunderlane said.
“Well, I’m here now, so I hope the train gets a move on,” I said.
As if on cue, the train started to move, and soon we were on our way to Ponyville.
“So do we have anything to go on for these ‘strange reports’,” Phalanx asked.
“Just that there have been strange noises and missing items,” I said.
“What do you think it could be?” Rose asked.
“Maybe some timberwolves getting too close to town,” Thunderlane suggested.
“Maybe,” I said shrugging.
"Well, we’ll find out soon enough,” Trottson said as we neared Ponyville.
When the train pulled into the station, we got off and headed towards Sweet Apple Acres.
“Hey, what are you all doing in town?” Pinkie asked as we passed her.
“We’re here to investigate some strange reports around Sweet Apple Acres,” I said.
“Okie dokie lokie,” she said and trotted off.
“She’s entirely too upbeat,” Brick said.
“You get used to it,” I shrugged, and we continued on.
We soon made it to the Apple farm, and were greeted by Applejack and Big Mac.
“Howdy y’all, glad you could get here on such short notice,” Applejack said as we walked up.
“We would have been here sooner, but the airship is undergoing, renovations,” I said.
“Well, thanks anyways,” she said.
“So what seems to be the problem?” Thunderlane asked.
“We’ve been hearin some strange things from the forest lately, and some of our stuff is missin too,” she said.
“Do you have any idea what could be making these noises?” Ivy asked.
“Well, the only thing that gets close enough to the farm to make that much noise is a pack of timberwolves, but they sound different,” Applejack said.
“Well, we’re here to investigate, so when it gets dark we’ll start our search,” I said.
“In the meantime, do you have anything that we can help with?” Rose asked.
“Well, if y’all want ta help, then we could use some help buckin apples,” she said.
“I think I can handle that,” Brick said.
“Eeyup,” Mac said as the two large stallions headed out to the fields.
“Anything else?” Ivy asked.
“Well, I can’t think of much else, unless y’all want to help with the chores,” she said.
“Might as well,” Star Shine sighed.
“Trottson, you and Thunderlane take a look around from the air, see if you can see anything out of the ordinary,” I said.
“On it,” Thunderlane said with a quick salute before taking off.
“Oh, I got an an idea,” Applejack said.
“What?” I asked.
“Why don’t you go ask Carrot Top if she’s seen anything. She lives just over there,” Applejack said pointing to a carrot farm just over a hill.
“Rose and I can handle that,” Ivy said.
“That just leaves me and you , Phalanx,” I said.
“I’ll go see if Brick needs some help,” Phalanx said, flying off towards where Brick and Big Mac had left.
“Guess it’s just you,” Applejack said.
“I guess I’ll help you and Star with the chores,” I said.
“Well, with three of us it shouldn’t take long,” Applejack said.

After finishing the chores, Star and I flopped down on the grass.
“How do you do that by yourself, everyday?!” Star questioned huffing.
“Do you mean aside from having done it since she was a little filly?” I countered catching my breath.
“I wonder if Brick is this exhausted?” Star asked.
“Looks like Mac found himself a new friend,” Applejack said as the two of them came back lugging two huge cartfulls of apples, Phalanx laying on top of one of them.
“Eeyup,” Brick and Mac said together.
“How you doin Phalanx?” I called up to the pegasus.
“I don’t know how those two can do it, let alone make a contest out of it,” he said, rolling off the large pile of apples.
Brick and Mac laughed.
“It’s good hard work,” Brick said.
“I’m glad somepony enjoyed it,” Star said.
“Do you need a little shower?” Thunderlane asked, lounging on a cloud.
“Hey! I’ve been working my feathers off bucking apples and you get to lounge around?” Phalanx questioned.
Thunderlane was about to make a comeback when Trottson bucked the cloud, causing it to shock him.
“I told you to check back with Mixer, not take a break,” he said, annoyed.
“Sorry,” Thunderlane said, “It’s just nice being back in Ponyville.”
“Well, you’re still here to do a job,” I said.
“Yeah I know,” he said apologetically.
“Hey, here comes Ivy and Rose,” Brick said.
“Did you find anything?” I asked.
“No, she didn’t have any more information than the Apples did,” Rose said shaking her head.
“Well, it’ll be dark soon, so why don’t all of you come inside and have some supper,” Applejack said.
“Will it be ok with Granny Smith?” Thunderlane asked.
“Oh, I’m sure she won’t mind, after all, you did help out at the farm today,” she said.
“That’s sounds good,” I said.

We went inside and Granny Smith prepared a great big dinner for all of us, saying that she was glad that we were all helping out.
After we were done with dinner, we went outside and split up patrols.
“Ok, so there is a lot of ground to cover, so we’ll split up into three teams,” I said. “Applejack and Big Mac, you can take Rose with you. Ivy, you go with Thunderlane, Star Shine and Phalanx. Trottson, you and Brick are with me,” I finished.
“Why don’t I go with Rose and the Apples?” Star asked.
“Because, I want each team to have a unicorn to provide light,” I said.
“Alright,” he said.
“If anything happens, signal the nearest group,” I said.
“Alright,” they said and headed off in their respective directions.
“We’re going to check the south field,” I said.
“After you,” Trottson said.
We walked towards the farthest point from the barn and began our search.
“So what have you been carrying around with you this whole time?” Brick asked.
“Oh, just something I brought incase we happen to run into Soulless,” I said.
“You were expecting to run into him here?” Brick questioned.
“I was hoping not to, but with him you never know,” I said.
“Wait what was that?” Trottson said, dropping lower.
There were some growling sounds in the tree line, accompanied by a pungent odor.
“Timberwolves,” Brick growled.
Five of them stalked out from the trees, with a few more lurking in the shadows.
“That’s a lot of timberwolves,” I said, creating a wrist blade from crystal.
“And looks like there are more,” Trottson said, pointing deeper into the forest where more could be seen chasing a flitting light source.
“I hope that the others will smell this before this gets too hairy,” I said.
--
“There are so many!” Applejack cried as six timberwolves came out from the trees.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac said getting protectively in front of Rose, who was looking terrified.
--
“Take that you pile of twigs!” Thunderlane shouted as he came down on a timberwolf, sending wood scraps flying.
It sounds like the same this with the others,” Phalanx said, looking to the blue colored lights in either direction.
“Then we need to help them,” Ivy said, beating a timberwolf back.
“What about us?” Star Shine asked, tossing one with his magic.
--
I slashed at a timberwolf as it lunged at me and sent it whining away, a gash along its wooden muzzle.
The flitting light was now heading this way, pursued by three timberwolves.
“Take this!” Brick cried as he bucked on into another.
“Why did you do that?” I yelled as the two of them formed into a larger one.
“Whoops,” he said, slamming another one to bits.
The light was now almost to the tree line and I could make out the silhouette of a pony.
Trottson dropped onto the back of the larger timberwolf and started beating on the back of its head. It started running around trying to shake him off.
“Brick help him out,” I called as I went to meet the oncoming pony.
He was wearing a cloak, but I could still tell that it was Soulless who was running from the timberwolves.
He slid to a halt just in front of me and turned around. I could hear the sound of his hidden blade extend.
“How’ve you been?” I asked as I turned around to face two more timberwolves.
He didn’t reply, only back closer to me until we were back to back.
“As talkative as ever,” I said, making another wrist blade. “Oh and take this,” I said tossing the tightly wrapped bundle I had into the air.
He slashed at a lunging timberwolf and grabbed it out of the air.
I swiped at another and rolled over him, blocking another as it went for him.
He shredded the wrap and it unveiled a gauntlet with a swirling pattern in the metal, with a gem placed in the center.
“Thought it might make for a better sorry,” I said as he put the gauntlet on and extended the hidden blade within. “Oh, and lux,” I said, making the gem on the gauntlet glow with yellow light, illuminating the area.
I heard Soulless grunt as he started going on the offensive.
I did the same and soon both of us were a whirlwind of slashes and stabs, pushing the timberwolves back.
I looked over once they had retreated or broken at Brick and Trotson, now both trying to wrestle with the beast.
“How are we supposed to deal with this thing?” Brick yelled as he held onto a swinging back leg.
Soulless dashed up and plunged both of his blades into what would be it’s throat.
It shuddered and then fell to pieces.
“The new blade is different,” was all that he said, examining the blade in the shine of the gauntlet.
“It’s a bit thicker for parrying and for penetration,” I said.
He went invisible but the light from the gauntlet gave away his position.
“At least help us with the rest of them,” I said, heading towards the next group of fighting.
“Fine,” he growled, becoming visible again.
Brick, you and Trottson go help the Apples, Soulless and I will help the others.
“Right,” Trottson said, flying off.
“I think I’ll just follow you, and then let Phalanx and Thunderlane go help the Apples and Trottson,” Brick said.
We rushed over to the others who were having a better time.
“And don’t come back!” Thunderlane yelled as a timberwolf ran from him.
Brick jumped at one and crushed it, grunting as he pulled twigs out of his armor.
“Phalanx, you and Thunderlane go help the Apples,” I said.
“Got it,” Thunderlane said, taking off, while Phalanx wrestled with a timberwolf.
Soulless dashed over to the timberwolf and slashed at where would be its joints, and it howled in pain.
“Thanks,” Phalanx said, getting up.
Soulless just went over and finished off the timberwolf.
Star threw another one clear to the trees, and the rest followed as Brick chased after them.
“We have to help the others, looks like they have a bigger problem,” I said.
“Rose!” Star said, as he heard her scream.
The four of us charged through the trees, our way lit by three orbs of light.
They were fighting two larger timberwolves, and a third massive one, almost three times the size of Rose, who it was bearing down on.
I picked up Soulless with my magic and tossed him at the beast.
He did a flip in the air to steady himself, then stuck both of his blades into it’s muzzle hanging there for a few seconds.
This gave Star Shine enough time to pull Rose to safety with his magic.
“Thanks,” she said as Star pulled her close.
I created a few spikes of crystal and threw them at the smaller ones, dazing them while the others beat them back.
Soon it was us against one very large, very angry timberwolf.
“Any ideas?” Brick asked.
I threw him on top of it with my magic, “Yeah, start beating on it!”
The pegasi got on top of it as well, while the rest of us harassed it.
After a minute or so of it thrashing about Brick finally fell off of it.
“Ok, this thing is too big,” he said as he got back up.
“And I can’t penetrate deep enough to kill it,” Soulless said.
I created a few long spikes of crystal, and spread them amongst the unicorns.
“Try to pin it down,” I called.
I jammed a spike through it’s foot into the ground.
I howled in pain and turned to me while Soulless jammed another in it’s back foot.
Star and Rose couldn’t penetrate it, but they distracted it so I could create a bunch of long thick poles of crystal.
“I get it, pen it in,” Applejack said.
I nodded, concentrating on keeping enough of them coming to cage it in.
After a few moments it was surrounded by poles of crystal and had a solid roof over its head.
“Well, that takes care of that,” I huffed.
“Great, now what about the rest?” Trottson asked.
“They shouldn’t come back,” I said.
“Great, now can you get this thing to turn off,” Soulless said.
“Fine, lux,” I said, and the gem dimmed.
“Thanks,” he said, turning invisible.
“You can’t be able to do that for long,” I said.
“Oh really?” he said, still invisible.
“Lux,” I said, and his gauntlet lit up.
“Fine,” he said, becoming invisible.
“Do you think we can sleep in the barn tonight Applejack?” I asked.
“Sure, it’s the least we can do for you since you helped us out,” she said.
I noticed that Soulless had disappeared again.
“Lux”I shouted, and a slight ways off he light up.
“Would you stop doing that!” he yelled.
“Just get over here,” I called.
The light walked over to us.
“Just, let me apologize, then you can go off and do whatever,” I said.
He became visible, “Alright.”
“I’m sorry for what I did, but Celestia forced me to. I really didn’t want to have to do it, especially since, you know, but I’m sorry. And the command for the light is ‘lux’, simply say it and it will switch it on and off. I figured that you might like something like that, plus the gauntlet is more armored,” I said.
He didn’t say anything, just tested it out.
“Are you comin?” Applejack asked as they headed toward the barn.
“Yeah,” I said, following the others.
When we got to the barn, Applejack and Big Mac separated some hay into mats for us to sleep on.
“I know it’s not as good as a proper bed, but it’s better than sleepin on the floor,” she said.
“Thanks,” I said, fluffing up my own hay mattress.
All of us laid down to sleep even Soulless.
“Good night y’all,” Applejack said, closing the door.
I fell asleep soon after that.

Soulless was the first on up. He was also the first to leave.
When I woke up, he was nowhere to be found.
“Well, I suppose I couldn’t expect any less from him,” I said to myself.
“Hmm?” somepony mumbled, rolling over.
“Oh, nothing,” I said.
“Well, now that I’m awake, I might as well stretch,” Phalanx said.
“Ugh, sleeping in armor is rough,” Thunderlane said.
“Mornin everypony, we brought you breakfast,” Applejack said, carrying plates of steaming food.
“Yum, breakfast,” Ivy said.
We ate quickly, all of us hungry after last night’s fight.
“I sent Apple Bloom over to Twi’s,” Applejack said. “I figured maybe she could explain why so many of em were around last night.”
“Yeah, they normally don’t run in such big packs,” Thunderlane said.
“Hmm, that is unusual,” I said.
We waited a few minutes until Twilight arrived with spike and two saddlebags full of books.
“Ok, where is it?” she asked.
“Out back,” Applejack said.
“Let’s go then,” she said.
We took her to the large cage that I had made, where the timberwolf was laying down.
“Wow, that’s one big timberwolf,” she said, pulling out one of her books.
“Yeah, that was my bad,” Thunderlane said.
“How many did you knock together?” she asked.
“Four...” he said.
“Well, that explains the size,” she said, looking through her book.
“Does it say anything on why there were so many?” Applejack asked.
“No. They shouldn’t be in packs of more than five, but from your description, there were over twenty,” she said.
“Anything in there about how to get rid of him?” I asked.
“Yes, there is a spell in here that undoes this kind of amalgamation,” she said flipping through another book.
“So will it just split them up?” Trottson asked.
“Yes, but then they can be taken care of easily,” she said finding the spell.
She prepared the spell, then cast it on the large timberwolf.
It barked and howled, and fell apart, reforming into four regular sized ones.
“Applejack, how do you want us to deal with them?” I asked.
“Well, it wouldn’t be right to just put em down,” she said.
“Alright then, we will have a team come and relocate them deep into the Everfree,” I said.
“Thanks,” she said.
“Well, We have to report back to the castle now,” I said, turning to leave.
Just then Spike produced a letter from Celestia.
“It’s addressed to you,” Spike said to me.
“To me?” I asked reading the letter.

Dear Mixer,
An issue has arisen, and I require you to return to the castle immediately. The airship will be ready when you get back.

“Well then, let’s shake it, the princess needs us back now,” I said rolling the scroll up and handing it to Spike.
We hurried to the train station and got on.
“What do you think’s wrong now?” Ivy asked.
“Do you think it’s Soulless?” Brick asked.
“I doubt that Soulless is the cause. She said that the airship would be ready for us when we got there, so it must be somewhere else,” I said.
“Where would there be trouble? Most of Equestria has been better than ever lately,” Trottson said.
“The only place that there could be trouble that would need us to use the airship would be Saddle Arabia, or the Crystal Empire,” I said.
“Then it must be serious,” Rose said.
“Well, we’ll find out soon, the train is moving faster than usual,” I said.
We arrived shortly in Canterlot and hurried to the Castle.
“Good, you have arrived,” Celestia said when we arrived.
She and Luna had been talking until we arrived.
“What do you need us to do?” I asked.
“We have received word that the Saddle Arabians are under siege from the minotaurs. You and Luna will go to assist them,” she said.
“Right away,” I said, leading the way to the cavern lift.
“What is she talking about?” Ivy asked as we ran.
“I was in Saddle Arabia before, and I helped them repel an attack by a tribe of minotaurs. They must have come back, and now have the city under siege,” I said.
“You’ve been to Saddle Arabia before?” Rose asked.
“He was the one who discovered Saddle Arabia,” Luna said.
“Wow,” she said.
Once we got to the lift, we went down and hurried to the hangar.
“The ship is already,” Clockwork said as we boarded.
“Where is Sombra?” I asked Luna.
“He had to go to the Crystal Empire to help Cadence and Shining Armor with some building problems,” she said.
“Oh, well I was hoping to have him along with us,” I said, going to the wheelhouse.
Luna and Star got the door as Thunderlane and Brick went down to the engine room.
“Brick, after you check the engine room, go and evaluate the cannon,” I called into the comm crystal.
“Ready to go,” Thunderlane said from the engine room.
“Hold on,” I said, easing the airship out of the hangar.
Soon the airship was clear of the hangar and turning towards the south.
“Going full throttle,” I said over the comm crystals.
I pushed the throttle to full and held onto the wheel as we lurched forward.
“How long do you think it will take to get there?” Thunderlane asked from the engine room.
“We should reach the city by tomorrow at this pace,” I said.
“Well, we might have to extend that by a bit, because I’m not sure the engines could take that the whole way,” he said.
“We’ll deal with that when the time comes. Brick how is the cannon?” I asked.
“The targeting sight is weird, but it appears to be functioning,” he said.
“Give it a test fire,”I said.
Shortly after that I heard a boom, followed by a thud in the forest below.
“Hmm, I’ll need to practice more,” he said.
“Well, you can come back up now, we’ll save the ammunition for the battle,” I said.
“Phalanx, you take the helm for a bit,” I said, after we had been traveling for a while.
“Aye aye,” he said taking the wheel.
I walked out to the deck where Trottson, Rose and Star Shine were talking with Luna.
“Rose, Star Shine,” I said. “Today I’ll be teaching you how to manipulate crystal.”
“Really?” Rose asked, excited.
“Yes. Let’s start with these,” I said, forming a crystal for each of them.
“What’s first?” Star asked.
“First, focus on the crystal. Think about it’s shape, about its form,” I said.
Both of them stared intently at their crystals.
“Now, channel a little magic into them,” I instructed, showing them with my own crystal.
Both of their horns started glowing and the crystals were enveloped in the same glow.
“Now, think about changing the shape of the crystal, something simple like size should be a good start,” I said, making my crystal longer.
Stars grew slightly, while Roses, shrank.
“Good, now practice changing it back and forth between the original shape and a different one, at least until you are used to how it feels to change it,” I said.
They did as instructed for a few minutes until they could change it’s size with relative ease.
“Good, now try to change the shape of it, like so,” I said, changing the crystal into a flat square.
They both tried this but neither of them got it.
“Just keep trying, you have all day to practice,” I said, heading back to the wheelhouse.

The rest of the day was uneventful, just traveling and the siblings practicing crystal magic.
“Mixer, the engines are going to overheat soon,” Thunderlane said from the engine room as the sun started to set.
“Ok,” I said as I pulled the throttle back to minimal speed.
“Does this mean we will be stopping for the night?” Ivy asked.
“No, we’ll still be moving, just not very fast until the engines cool down, and you can get some sleep whenever you want,” I said. “That goes for all of you,” I called to the ponies on the deck.
“There are still rooms below decks right?” Star asked.
“Yes, they should be,” I said.
Everypony but Luna went below deck to get some rest.
“Aren’t you going to rest too” I asked her, leaving the wheel with Phalanx.
“I still have to raise the moon,” she said.
“I know you usually fly off to do it, but I know you can do it from here,” I said.
“I didn’t think anypony knew,” she said.
“I figured that since the only time your sister raises the sun somewhere other than the castle is on the summer sun festival, that you could raise the moon too,” I said.
Luna’s horn started to glow, then after a minute or so, the light faded.
“Was that it?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said.
“So what? You don’t manually raise the moon?” I asked.
“Not exactly, My sister and I merely keep them moving across the sky. To move them manually would take too much energy for even both of us combined, so that is why were simply give them a push to start them,” she said.
“Well that’s... interesting,” I said, a little bewildered.
“You are the first pony to know about this since my sister and I became the princesses of Equestria,” she said.
“I’m honored that you would tell me such a secret,” I said.
“It feels nice to tell somepony,” she said. “Everypony always reveres us for our powers, but this information makes us seem less powerful.”
I shook my head, “It’s not just your power that you are revered for, but also because of your fair rule,” I said.
“Thank you Mixer, you are one of the few ponies that don’t always bend knee to us every time we are present,” she said.
“Well, I guess that’s because I’ve always worked with royalty. I’m pretty comfortable around them,” I said
“Thank you anyways. Now shouldn’t you get some sleep as well?” she asked.
“I suppose I should,” I said. “Phalanx, do you think you will be good taking the helm for a while?”
“Sure,” he called back.
“I hope they left some room for us,” I said.
Luna and I both went below deck and found that there were still beds enough for both of us.
I went to the engine room where Thunderlane was still watching the engines.
“How much longer until they cool down?” I asked him.
“They’re hot enough to fry eggs on, so it’ll be awhile,” he sighed.
“Well, when they cool off, wake me up, I’ll have Brick take over,” I said.
“Alright,” he said as I left.
I went to the bunk with room in it and caught some sleep before the engines cooled.
After an hour or so of sleep Thunderlane shook me awake.
“Hey, the engines are good to go now,” he yawned.
“Ok, you get some sleep,” I said, moving over to Brick.
I prodded him until he woke.
“What?” he groaned.
“You’re going to take over in the engine room while Thunderlane gets some sleep,” I said.
“Alright,” he said, rolling out of the bed.
I went to the helm and saw that Phalanx was drooping.
I put my hoof on his shoulder and he jumped, “What? Huh?”
“Go get some rest,” I told him.
“Alright,” he yawned.
I took the wheel and gave the throttle a bit more.
By that time we were just starting to cross the mountains that made the border between Saddle Arabia and Equestria.

By the time morning came, we were almost over the mountains.
“Rise and shine everypony,” I called into the comm crystals.
I heard some groans from below decks, but soon everypony was up.
“I don’t suppose you have a plan for breakfast?” Star asked.
“There might be rations in storage, but other than that, no,” I said.
“Great...” he said, his ears drooping.
“We should be there soon though,” I said, pointing to the city on the horizon.
“Then let’s go,” he said.
I throttled it up to full, and soon we were nearing the city.
“Sweet Celestia...” Trottson said when we saw the horde of Minotaurs camped outside the city.
“There are more this time,” I said gravely as some of them started bellowing at the approaching airship.
“Brick, do you want to test your aim?” I asked through the comm crystal.
“Gladly,” he said.
Soon enough, there was a boom, followed by cries from the minotaurs and some of them were hit by the cannon.
“Good shot,” Phalanx said.
As we neared the walls, they started throwing spears at us.
“Shouldn’t we get more altitude?” Rose asked worriedly as spears bounced off the hull.
The envelopes should protect against spears at this height,” I said as we soon crossed over the walls and floated near the palace.
Haakim and Alim were waiting on a balcony when we lowered the airship so that we could get off.
“I am glad that you were able to get here with such haste,” Haakim said.
“And that you have brought such power with you,” Alim added marveling at the airship.
“So, it looks like they came back,” I said.
“And with more numbers,” Haakim said.
“Fortunately we have the aid of the airship, and Luna,” Trottson said.
“Mixer, who are these? They wear the same armor as you,” Alim asked.
“These are the Lunar guard, they are here to make sure Luna stays safe,” I said.
“And to help break this siege,” Phalanx said.
“Then let us go to the walls to evaluate the situation,” Luna said.
“That might not be advisable without some armor princess,” Alim said. “The minotaurs have been taking out our guards with spears if they get too close to the wall without proper protection.”
“May I?” I asked Luna.
“Way you what?” she asked.
“Create your armor,” I said.
“As you wish,” she said, standing in a ready position.
I created a number of crystals and floated them around her.
The first armor piece to form was her chest guard, which moved into place to meet with the back plate. Next was armor to protect her flank, which made a link with the rest of the back plate. Next were armor pieces for her legs, overlapping to provide better protection while still giving her mobility. Finally were segments that ran up her neck, connecting to a helmet that started to form to her head.
“Amazing...” Haakim said as I finished.
Luna was now clad in a magnificent crystal panoply that was the same color as polished steel. Her mane and tail fit through slots in the armor, billowing in the wind.
There was one final crystal floating in front of her.
“What’s this one for?’ Luna asked.
I answered by forming it into a star shape, serving as both a shield and a blade, its two main points jutting out on either side.
“This should serve as a good weapon considering you can wield it with magic,” I said.
She took over holding it with her magic and spun it around a few times.
“I like it,” she said.
“Then let us go to the ramparts,” Trottson said.
We all went to the Ramparts, all except Ivy and Brick, who were manning the airship.
“They have had the city surrounded for two days now,” Haakim said as we climbed the stairs to the top of the wall.
“And they haven’t tried to storm the walls?” I asked.
“No, they just harass the guards and keep trade from getting in. In a few days they would have starved us out,” he said.
“That seems awful smart for them,” I said.
“They seem to have a new chieftain,” he said, pointing out to an area where a simple tent had been set up, surrounded by war banners.
“You might want to cover your ears,” Luna said before taking in a breath.
All of us who knew what was coming covered their ears.
“MINOTAURS! LEAVE THIS PLACE AT ONCE, OR SUFFER THE WRATH OF THE MOON PRINCESS!” she bellowed in the royal canterlot voice.
A large minotaur stepped out of the tent and bellowed back, in a voice that seemed quieter than Fluttershy, “Puny pony, just try and reach me!”
“Trottson, Mixer,” Luna said, brandishing her new blade.
“Right,” both of us replied as she jumped off the walls, diving into the minotaurs below.
“The rest of you, make sure they don’t try and breach the walls, I said, creating a board to follow after Luna and Trottson.
“What about you?” Rose asked.
“I’ll be fine, but take these,” I said, tossing them a bunch of small crystals, “Use them as spears or darts.”
I didn’t give her a chance to reply as I jumped down to join in the push through the sea of minotaurs.
Trottson and I stayed back far enough so that Luna could swing her star blade in a full arc around her.
We could hear shouts and bellows from behind us as they started to attack the city.
“Here!” I called to Trottson, making him a crystal blade.
He took it and started to carve at minotaurs as we flew past them.
We were making good time, closing the distance to the tent, and the leader of the minotaurs. As we approached it, the minotaurs started to back away from us.
Waiting for us was a circle, ringed with minotaurs, and the chieftain standing in the center of it.
“Come then pony. Face me!” he bellowed, slamming a large battle ax down on the ground.
Luna entered the circle, the minotaurs preventing Trottson and I from interfering.
“I am chieftain Garak Stonehoof, and you should feel honored to be the first pony to hear that name,” he said, before bellowing a war cry and swinging his ax at Luna.
She dodged it easily and brought her blade to bear upon him.
He put up the haft of his ax and caught the blade with it, blocking the blade from slashing his chest open.
He pulled back, putting distance between the two of them, before going in again.
This time, Luna deflected the blow with the flat of the blade, bringing it across his left arm as she flew past him.
He bellowed in pain, but recovered in time to knock away Luna as she tried to bring it down on him from behind.
He followed her descent with a swing of his ax, impacting on Luna’s armor with a ring.
She grunted as she flew a few feet away.
The armor had enough protection to prevent that from cutting her, but it hurt all the same.
Luna got up and met his charge with her own, locking weapons near the center of the circle.
Minotaurs cheered and bellowed as each tried to overpower the other.
I saw an opening and extended the blade so that it cut Garak across the face, cutting off one of his horns.
He reeled backwards, grabbing his face where it was cut.
Luna lunged with her longer blade, but Garak grabbed the blade near the base, tearing it from Lunas magical grasp.
Luna gasped as he brought the ax down on her, just above the shoulder.
Garak had the strenght to crack the armor, letting chips of crystal fly.
When he went to swing again, the ax slipped from his bloody hand, dropping to the ground with a thud.
Luna got up shakily and grabbed the star blade with her magic.
Garak forewent his ax for taking a more direct approach, thinking that Luna was still unarmed.
As he tried to grapple with her, Luna brought the blade to her, driving it into his back.
He howled with pain, but brought his fists down on Luna anyway, slamming her in the back.
There was a dull crack, followed by a cry from Luna.
There was a sound like a flash, followed by a whizzing, as a crystal spike rocketed into a nearby minotaur.
This got their attention, even distracting Garak as three more did the same, seemingly appearing from out of nowhere before embedding themselves in minotaurs.
This gave luna the time to grab the fallen ax and bring it to bear on Garak’s turned back.
He howled and stumbled as a great gash formed on his back.
Luna pulled the star blade out of him and rolled him over, holding it to his throat.
“Go ahead, finish me off,” he grunted.
“Order your horde to leave!” she growled.
“They won’t listen to me now, I have lost,” he grumbled.
As if in a verification of his words, the minotaurs started advancing on her.
Trottson and I broke to her side and got ready to protect her.
“Can you fly?” Trottson asked.
“No I don’t think so,” Luna said, trying her left wing painfully.
More of the crystal spears appeared and took out a half a dozen minotaurus.
“What keeps doing that?” Luna asked.
“Looks like Rose from the color of the flashes,” I said.
“What?” Trottson said, looking around for a way out.
“Um...” I trailed off as I saw a large number of flashes over by the wall.
I created a crystal barrier around us as a rain of crystal spikes came down from the sky.
The crystal rain cleared out more room for us, as I created a board so that Luna could escape with us.
Luna got on the large board, and fended off a few minotaurs that had survived.
As soon as we were both on the board, we took off toward the city.
As we flew, spears and javelins were thrown at us by the horde. One of them narrowly missed hitting me in the shoulder, instead just brushing by.
As we got closer, we could hear the boom of the cannon, as small groups of minotaurs were sent flying by the cannonballs from the airship.
Thunderlane and Phalanx flew out to meet us, both of them carrying shields to protect them from javelins.
“Luna’s hurt,” Trottson said when they were closer.
“How badly?” Phalanx asked, as Thunderland took up position behind us.
“She can’t fly, probably a broken shoulder and some cracked ribs,” Trottson said.
“What about the minotaurs?” Thunderlane asked, a spear bouncing off his shield.
“They look like they’re already destabilizing,” I said, noticing that some were retreating.
We were soon at the walls, and Haakim and Alim were there to greet us.
“It looks like your plan worked,” alim said, pointing to the breaking ranks of minotaurs.
“That’s what it appeared to be last time, but they came back,” I said.
“It would appear then, that there is something behind their recent attacks,” Alim said.
“Well, for now let’s recover,” I said, removing Luna’s armor.
We took Luna to the palace where the rest of the wounded were being tended to.
“Lie down,” I instructed Luna once we got her to one of the cots.
“I will be fine,” she said.
“We still have to check your injuries,” I said.
“I can help with that,” Amira said, trotting up to us.
“Yes, Mixer we have to talk,” Alim said.
I followed him and Haakim into another room while Amira tended to Luna.
“We fear that a dark prophecy is coming to pass,” Alim said in almost a whisper.
“These attacks are not random, they are planned...” Haakim said.
“What prophecy?” I asked.
“It is lost to most of us, but what we do have says that a great evil, Karbash, a great black dragon, long ago thought slain,” Alim said.
“What do you want me to do?” I asked.
“I want your airship to take my wife and the injured ponies out of the city, I don’t want to worry about them if it is indeed Karbash,” Haakim said.
“Alright, I’ll have Ivy take them away, but what about you?” I asked.
“We will stay and defend the city. If it is the return of Karbash, then perhaps we can buy time for the other cities,” Alim said.
“I don’t know, but I will stay here since Luna will want to stay as well,” I said.
“Very well,” Haakim said.

After our private talk I convinced Ivy to take the airship to the closest city to resupply the ammunition on the airship, as well as get some of the injured ponies to better care. She didn’t want to at first, but she conceded, taking Amira as a guide.
“We should be back in a couple of days,” Ivy said as they prepared to take off.
“We’ll see you then,” I said.
“We shall see,” Alim said after they had taken off.