Chapter 15: A Trial of Fire
That was all there was. Not a word, not a sigh, not a breath. The ice had stopped moving long ago. Now, there was only calm and silence inside the dark cave.
The blizzard outside parted just long enough for a little bit of gray sun to pierce through the wall of ice that had blocked off the cave. What it saw was almost meaningless. Ice, ice, and more ice covered the walls and floor of the cave. It shimmered softly with the weak glow from outside.
A small rustle sounded like a thunderclap as a trio of ethereal equines leered over the floor of the cave from above. Their howling was silent, and they seemed like they had finally run their hooves ragged on the ring of cloud they were racing on and had decided to give them a rest. A casual snort was exchanged between the demons as they watched, admiring their work.
The work in question was six immortal statues of ice on the floor below them. Each delicate sheet of indestructible ice contained one pony, lost in time forever. In the center of the room, three such statues huddled so close together that the ice was shared between them, forming one massive case. It stretched unbroken from floor to the very tip of a unicorn horn, stopping just under two inches from the very end.
Around the outside of the room were three more statues. Each of these was distant and distinct from its compatriots. One housed a bulky earth pony stallion, whose hat and regalia could be considered a crime against nature. Another held a gorgeous unicorn mare, with her lithe body and royal attire standing in stark contrast from the earth pony. Then there was a black pegasus clad in armor, frozen in place against the back wall.
To Commander Hurricane, the sensation was unnaturally vivid. He would have thought that the cold would have put him to sleep instantly. He also thought that being encased solid in ice would have suffocated him. So far, in some indiscernible amount of time, neither of those two things seemed to happen.
Instead, he was left painfully aware of everything going on around him. His hearing was incredibly muffled, and in the silence of the cave, it was difficult to even tell if he still had it or not, but what was much worse was his sight. The ice had frozen his eyes open, and no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t blink or look anywhere else. His eyes were focused on Princess Platinum’s face, and they seemed like they would be for all of eternity.
THUMP. Thump. THUMP. Thump.
The noise echoed in his head in a frightening rhythmic pattern, and it took Hurricane a while to realize why. It was his own heartbeat, each beat magnified several hundred times in his ears and dragged out to an incredibly slow pulse. With a few seconds of concentration, he figured he was doing only fifteen beats per minute.
Platinum’s face continued to scowl back at him from underneath her own icy tomb.
With that, Hurricane decided enough was enough. He needed to get out of this prison; if not for his own health, then certainly for his sanity. He quickly tested each of his limbs and found that the muscles responded even if he couldn’t move them.
That was fine. He was a pegasus, and that meant fire Empatha.
If he could have, Hurricane would’ve closed his eyes as he struggled to summon the Empatha needed to his wings. Just a few tongues of fire should be enough to melt the ice and give him some room to work with. From there, he could focus his magic to the rest of his body and finally escape from the icy tomb as a blazing torch.
Unfortunately, the plan fell apart when Hurricane found that his mana refused to move through his limbs. In fact, it didn’t seem to be present at all.
Hurricane mentally cursed and switched his attention to his limbs. It looked like he would have to break out the hard way. It was odd to start a physical exertion without any sort of deep breath or grunt to begin, but Hurricane poured all the strength he had into his powerful neck muscles. If he could separate his head from the ice, it would at least afford him the chance to breathe and think… not to mention blink. His eyes were desperately calling out to look at something else, and the ice pressed against them made him want to cry.
His own dull heartbeat began to climb with the exertion, yet even then, it was still much slower than normal. If he could grit his teeth, Hurricane would have, but there wasn’t much leeway to do so. Instead he simply strained and strained, feeling the tension knot up in his neck.
After fifteen seconds of struggling, he was rewarded with a small crack that shifted his vision by a few inches. He found that with a little effort, he could move his neck by a few degrees.
It was a start at least.
He began to apply himself more and more to breaking the ice around his neck. Each strain and each little pop or crack pushed his heartbeat up by a few points. By the time it was absolutely roaring in his ears, deafening him to all the progress he was making on the ice, he had put dozens of tiny cracks into the ice around his face and neck, but nothing more. He could twist or move his neck side to side for about an inch, maybe two. And now he really, really, needed to breathe.
Panic began to well up inside of him, and he started to thrash harder within his shell to try and break free. The efforts only left him exhausted, and without his Empatha to help him, he couldn’t break free. His thoughts wandered to the Gods, and he began to make his final peace with them.
Then several bright, pink sparks illuminated the room and danced across his petrified eyes.
If Hurricane could have winced, he would have, the light was so intense. In the darkness of the cave, the sparks blazed like wildfire. He could just see out of the corner of his vision where they were coming from; the little stub of Clover’s horn that protruded from the ice. Each little pinprick of light was accompanied by a crack and sizzle. Muffled as they were under the ice, Hurricane could still hear them over the pounding of his heart.
As the light began to intensify in the cave, angry snorting echoed off the walls just above Hurricane’s head. Loose shards of ice and snow began to swirl around the cave floor, and the icy chill redoubled against Hurricane’s frozen coat. Try as they might, however, Grabacr’s minions couldn’t stop the fire from growing in strength.
There was a hum of gathering mana, and Hurricane braced himself as best he could for what followed. As the demons above roared and whirled, the pink fire coming from Clover’s horn grew and grew until it ripped free from her horn and tore upwards. With a sudden explosion of heat, the fire formed into a heart and slammed the windigos against the cave walls. Each of the demonic horses shrieked and writhed in agony as the temperature quickly climbed. With one final shockwave, the heart dissolved into the walls of the cave as the windigos slumped onto the floor.
With renewed vigor, Hurricane slammed his neck downwards what little he could. This time, however, the ice shattered into hundreds of brittle pieces as he did so. Even before they hit the ground they were already melting into water. With a gasp, Hurricane took a deep breath and shook his head, savoring the feeling of being able to breathe and blink his eyes again.
“What was that?!”
The voice belonged to private Pan Sea. Barely opening his eyes, Hurricane saw the Legionnaire standing shoulder to shoulder with Clover the Clever and Representative Smart Cookie. Each of the three ponies were shaking various shards of ice and frost from their bodies and stretching their limbs one by one as they stood together in the center.
As the pink glow dulled from Clover’s horn, Smart Cookie adjusted his hat and approached her, wide-eyed. “I didn’t know unicorns could do that…”
Clover raised a hoof to her horn and, feeling its warmth, shook her head and blinked several times. “I didn’t either,” she breathlessly admitted. “Nothing like this has ever happened before. But I know it couldn’t have been just me.”
Reaching out, the mare placed a foreleg across Pan Sea’s and Smart Cookie’s shoulders and pulled them close. “It came from all three of us, joined together, in friendship.”
The three ponies smiled and exchanged a heartfelt hug, letting the warmth of each other’s coats and their own friendship burn away the chill of the windigo curse.
Hurricane decided three seconds was enough before he rather harshly cleared his throat. “Ahem. How about we all get out of this ice before we start celebrating?”
Pan Sea broke apart rather quickly from the other two and spun about in place before finally locating his commander. When he did, he gave a quick salute and trotted over to Hurricane’s side.
The ice gluing Hurricane’s torso to the ground had weakened considerably, but it was still too much for the Commander to break through without any leverage. Lining up a shot near Hurricane’s right foreleg, Pan Sea coiled his legs and delivered several bucks to the ice. It chipped, cracked, and finally shattered with a few seconds of effort, and Hurricane was free to twist his torso. As Pan Sea began to go to Hurricane’s other side, the Commander raised his one free hoof and waved him off.
“I can take care of it from here, Pansy. Go and take the earth pony and help break out the others.” His eyes darted towards Platinum’s frozen scowl, and they narrowed accordingly. “Or maybe just the Chancellor, and then Platinum if she’s really necessary.”
Clover rolled her eyes and trotted over to Hurricane’s side. With a flare of her horn, her Arcana gripped onto the ice binding his left foreleg in place.
Hurricane looked at her before trying to wave her off with his hoof. “That really won’t be necessary, Clover.”
Clover simply raised an eyebrow but continued to pull on the leg. With a few seconds of combined effort, the two ponies managed to shatter the ice binding that limb to the ground, and Clover moved around towards Hurricane’s flanks.
“Why do you hate her so much?”
The question caught Hurricane off guard. “Well, I…” his focus shifted towards where Pan Sea and Smart Cookie were trying to buck Chancellor Puddinghead out of the ice. They were making slow progress, and Hurricane was sure that the earth pony was going to have a headache for the next few days.
Clover waited expectantly.
Hurricane sighed and shook his head. “She’s a terrible leader and a horrible, conceited pony.”
With a snap of ice, Clover managed to pry a sheet from Hurricane’s flank and flung it across the floor. “Commander, how long have you known her?”
Hurricane shook his head. “Too long.”
“Right.” With a quick pause to wipe the sweat from her brow, Clover worked on pulling out the ice from underneath Hurricane’s gut. “And have those all been political meetings, or…?”
“Political,” Hurricane answered. “Why does it matter?”
“She’s a very different pony when you get to know her.”
Hurricane snorted . “Get to know her? I’d say that’s impossible when she acts like a stuck-up child with something to prove. Didn’t your King ever discipline her?”
Clover shook her head. “Beside the point. But you’re right; she does feel like she has something to prove. And she doesn’t know how to prove it. She only acts how she thinks royals are supposed to act. She almost never spent any time with the common pony.” Clover touched Hurricane’s shoulder, causing his head to turn so she could look him in the eye. “But I know how she’s really like. She’s gentle and generous. She gave her crown—her Sun-forsaken crown—to a little filly at Onyx Ridge.” Letting the last sentence hang in the air, Clover nodded and stepped back. “Talk to her, Commander. Don’t make her feel like she’s got something to prove around you.”
Hurricane quietly bit his lip while Clover helped pry the last of the ice from his body. In a few minutes, he was entirely free, and he walked away from the ruins of his prison and towards the center of the room. Before he could go much farther, however, a weak whinny towards the side caught his attention.
There they were. The demons that had frozen him solid. The demons that had killed thousands, tens of thousands, a million ponies with their cold and cruel winter. They were weak, helpless, and whimpering as they lay against the far walls.
Without thinking, Hurricane drew his sword and drove it straight through the heart of the first horse.
The beast let out a howl of pain before it dissipated into an ethereal mist and a shower of cold water. The other two windigos saw this, and they struggled backwards in response.
As Hurricane marched over to the second, Clover took her attention away from the mostly freed Chancellor Puddinghead and galloped over towards the Commander.
“Stop!” she shouted, even as Hurricane impaled the second windigo. “Commander, stop!”
As Hurricane pulled the sword from the mist of what was previously another demon, Clover tackled him and tried to wrestle the sword from his grasp. With an expert roll and a kick, Hurricane easily rebounded from the grapple and turned to face her, the sword still in his mouth.
“What the hell?!” he shouted at her. “Clover, what are you doing?!”
Clover placed herself between Hurricane and the last windigo. “They don’t need to die, Commander! They’ve learned their lesson! Can’t you see?!”
The windigo behind her whimpered and scooted backwards several inches.
Hurricane advanced towards it until he was nose to nose with Clover. “They have learned nothing. They are demons, spawns of Grabacr himself, and they must die. They have killed too many. Who knows how many more will die if we let it live.” Lowering his sword so that the tip brushed against Clover’s shoulder, he hardened his stare and leaned closer. “Stand aside, and let me finish it off.”
Clover gulped and put a hoof to Hurricane’s chest. “You will not kill it. It’s not a demon, it’s a living thing, just like us. Every life is precious. Don’t take another when nopony else needs to die.”
“It’s not a pony!” Hurricane snarled. “And how many lives did you take in Onyx Ridge?!”
“None!” Clover protested. “I simply loaded the ballista! I killed nopony!”
“You still put rounds into a machine that killed others!”
“I tried to save whom I could! When I broke out of my cell, I could have killed the guard that was there! Instead, I spared him his life!”
“Enough of this!” With an angry hoof, Hurricane practically threw Clover to the side and advanced on the windigo, his sword raised to deal the death blow.
It was too late.
With a scream of anger and fright, the windigo dispersed into mist and fog that simply slid past Hurricane and flowed upwards. The stone ceiling hissed, and the windigo returned to its equine shape. With one final howl of anger, it fled through the rock towards the east.
Hurricane watched the spot where it disappeared for several long seconds. During that time, Clover slowly backed away towards Smart Cookie, Pan Sea, and the mostly freed Chancellor Puddinghead. They were all quiet when Hurricane screeched in rage and slammed his sword into the ground.
A gash of bedrock nearly a foot long surrendered to the Gladius Procellarum.
Clover took a cautious step closer to Hurricane and raised a pleading hoof as a desperate apology. “Commander Hurricane, I—”
“Damn it, Clover,” Hurricane whispered. The tension and emotion in his voice was so powerful that it immediately silenced the mare. “We could have ended this. Right here. The blizzard over the Compact lands would have been gone. And we wouldn’t have had to leave after all.” When he looked back at her, his eyes were haunted and angry. “The pegasi wouldn’t have had to run. Not now. Not later. Never again.”
Clover’s ears flattened against her skull and she lowered her neck in shame. “Please, Commander, I’m sorry—”
“You know nothing. You couldn’t have. But it’s okay. Soon, you’ll find out. You’ll know what it feels like.” Then he turned his face away and sighed. “Remember this, years from now. There’s a price we pay for mercy. There’s a price we pay for loyalty.” He looked at her one last time before moving towards the frozen mouth of the cave. “In a few months, ask yourself if it was really worth it. Ask yourself if you still would have stopped me from killing the demon.”
With a flick of his wings, Hurricane summoned sobering flames of fire and leaned against the ice wall. Clover, meanwhile, collapsed onto the floor and stared into space.
Hurricane’s words struck her over and over again as she thought.
-----
The smell of food woke Typhoon that morning. Or night. Her bleary and tired eyes couldn’t see very well. That, and the stone cell she was in didn’t have any windows.
She hazarded a yawn, and was thankful when she wasn’t struck across the face like she had been for the past few hours. Days? Weeks? The beatings were so irregular that it was hard to even use them as a means to tell time. Her sleep schedule consisted of what little rest she could get between having her gut pummeled and her wings twisted.
After Jewel had found her, he used his Arcana to knock her out. When she awoke, Typhoon had found herself chained to the wall, unable to move more than a few inches in any direction. Four manacles secured each of her hooves in place, and loose leather straps held her wings. After all, it was hard for the unicorns to yank on them and burn them if they were chained down like her legs.
Food, what little she got, usually was coarse grain bread mixed with a lot of sawdust and a few pebbles for good measure. Occasionally she would be granted a piece of rotted lettuce or celery to chew on while she waited for her next beating. Whatever it was they gave her to drink… she didn’t want to think about it. It didn’t taste good at all.
So when she saw a bowl of freshly made stew, mixed with some small carrots and potatoes, her stomach let out a righteous and jubilant growl. Her mouth watered, and she leaned as close to the meal as she could with her body fastened to the wall.
“Ple-ease,” she croaked, her parched throat making it difficult to speak. “Food…”
She was rewarded with a dull green magical aura taking hold of a ladle and bringing it to her lips. The mare greedily gulped down the portion before the ladle returned to the pot, empty. She swished the broth around her cut tongue and chipped teeth several times before finally swallowing the soup. It was delicious, hearty, and most of all, warm.
Feeling reinvigorated by the meal, she looked up at the pony feeding it to her. Tired, old eyes under a blue hat with jingling bells looked back at her with a soft smile. The sight of Star Swirl the Bearded nearly caused Typhoon to choke on her meal.
“Star Swirl?” she whispered, squinting for good measure to make sure it actually was the archmage.
The old stallion nodded. “Yes, it is. Please do eat fast; the others are going to be here shortly.”
Typhoon didn’t need to be told twice. She gulped down the stew as fast as Star Swirl could ladle it to her. All too soon it was empty, even though the mare was still left wanting more.
After a few seconds to savor the taste, Typhoon raised her head and looked at Star Swirl. “So… what brings you to my humble abode?”
“Guilt,” Star Swirl simply answered. “You and your brother were at my house when the Diamond Guard showed up. I should have done something to help you two. I underestimated the tenacity of River Rock’s military, I suppose.”
Typhoon was silent.
Star Swirl nervously glanced over his shoulder before pushing the empty bowl of soup away. “If I could break you out of here, I would. You don’t belong here. But I can’t. As long as you’re in here, they won’t kill you. But believe me, I’ll do everything in my power to get you back home to your family. I’m sure your brother esp—”
“Fuck Cyclone,” Typhoon interrupted. “He left me to die. He left me to die, and he knew it, too. He doesn’t care about what happens to me. I was just another obstacle he needed to clear for ‘the coming empire’. I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. I can’t believe I trusted him.”
Star Swirl stood silent. “I… don’t know what to say. Cyclone never struck me as the kind who would betray family.”
“Then I suppose this is a lesson for both of us,” Typhoon bitterly droned. “I don’t know what he’s planning, but he’s going to kill Cirra. I know it.”
“Even the best laid plans take time to come to fruition,” Star Swirl reminded her. “There will be time for you to stop this, and to make amends with your brother.”
Typhoon looked to the side. “The only way to make amends with a traitor is with the sword.”
Star Swirl shook his head. “One day, you’ll understand just how important family is, Typhoon. And when you do, I know you’ll make the right choice.”
Somewhere distant, the iron clang of a door echoed through the dungeon. Without wasting any time, Star Swirl gathered his things and began to make for the exit. “Be strong, Typhoon. I shall be back next time with news.”
The door opened and closed, leaving Typhoon alone in her cell.
She wasn’t alone for long, though. Soon enough the door opened, and in walked three unicorns dressed in Diamond Guard armor. One figure in particular raised the hair on Typhoon’s neck.
Jewel pulled over a stool from the side of the chamber and sat down in front of her, a cheery smile decorating his face. With a little flair, he removed his helmet and bowed to Typhoon.
“My lady, I hope your accommodations have been… to your liking. If there is anything you should want, I trust you would be courteous enough to ask nicely.”
Typhoon glared at him. “What are you doing here?”
Jewel shook his head. “What, aren’t you happy to see me? I’m offended, Ty, I truly am.”
“Don’t call me that.”
He cocked his head to the side. “And why is that, Typhoon?”
“Only my br—only my family calls me that.”
“I see.” Standing up, Jewel walked closer to Typhoon. “So how have you been? It’s been quite a while since we last spoke pony to pony.”
“I’ve been busy killing the likes of you,” Typhoon spat back. “How about you free me from these shackles and we’ll see if the practice has paid off?”
Jewel laughed quietly. “An amusing sentiment, my lady, but hardly a reasonable one. No, I think you’re doing just fine where you are.” With a frightening smile, he placed a hoof on the wall next to Typhoon’s flank. “Tell me, is there anything you would like to ask before we begin?”
Typhoon pointedly looked away for several seconds before answering. “How did you get into the Diamond Guard?”
“Oh ho! Now that’s a lovely story! Come, take a seat, and I’ll tell you about it.” He let the last taunt hang in the air for a second longer before beginning. “Well, I’ll tell you the truth. I got in through basic training, just like any other soldier you’ll find in the Diamond Guard.”
“I find it hard to believe that the Kingdom would just let terrorists and gang members into their ranks.”
“I do apologize, I forgot to set the time frame. Let’s see, this must have been… oh, ten years ago.”
Typhoon raised an eyebrow. “So you went rogue? Funny that they would take you back.”
Jewel smiled and shook his head. “Oh, see, I understand your confusion. You think I actually left. Understandable misconception. I never did.”
Typhoon gawked at the implications of his words.
“Shocking, isn’t it?” With a sly smile, Jewel placed a hoof on Typhoon’s flank. The mare shuddered from the contact, but was unable to move away. “You know what’s even more shocking? C’mon, guess.”
Typhoon gritted her teeth and remained silent.
After a few seconds, Jewel sighed and stepped away. “Really, you’re no fun, Typhoon. It has to do with your brother.”
Typhoon jolted slightly but refused to make a noise.
Jewel saw it, and his hoof returned to her flank. “Right, Cyclone. Funny thing about him and I. We’ve got a lot in common.”
His hoof slowly inched its way around her flank and closer to her tail.
“I don’t know when it was that he and I first met. A few years ago, I suppose. But, see, we had this connection. This kind of kindred spirit. We both knew we were destined for greatness. And, well, rather than wait around for greatness to find us, we decided to move the heavens and the earth to bring it to us. So what did we do? We formed a plan.”
With a malicious smile, Jewel paused long enough to feel Typhoon’s shivers before continuing. “We knew that on their own, the tribes were weak, but together, they could be one hell of a fighting force. And when you’ve got an army, what do you do next? Drive out the Crystal barbarians? Why, that’d be perfect, if it weren’t too easy. Besides, Cyclone was interested in something much more important. Some land by the name of Dioda, far across the sea. Apparently, it’s supposed to be important to you pegasi. I’m just interested in the adventure, and the killing of… what are they called? Griffons?”
He laughed loudly, an evil thing that jostled Typhoon’s very soul. “Supposedly they’re good sport, and they’d put up a fight. Not like the Low Valleys. So, in a few days, we knew what we were going to do.”
Typhoon shied away from Jewel’s contact as best she could. “And what’s that?”
“Well, I—” he cut himself off and grinned. “I wouldn’t want to ruin all the fun. It’ll be a surprise, I can assure you. And once it’s over with, we can finally get rid of you.”
“Then why not just kill me?” Typhoon dared. “What good am I to you alive?”
Jewel’s hoof had found its spot between Typhoon’s legs, causing the mare to shudder. “Entertainment, for one. Two, Cyclone demanded that you be returned to him alive when this is all over. He didn’t say unharmed. Now,” He withdrew his hoof even as a darkness came over his smiling face. “Would you rather do this the easy way or the hard way?”
Typhoon spat directly into his eyes. “Go fuck yourself.”
Jewel cursed and wiped the spittle from his face. When he looked back at Typhoon, it was with anger, not pride. “The hard way it is, then.” He gestured towards one of his companions, and the unicorn left the room only to return a minute later with a bucket full of coals and fire, in which a sword rested.
Using his Arcana, Jewel pulled the weapon from the pile of coals and held it near Typhoon’s face. Even from several inches away, she could feel the heat pouring off of it. With a few strokes around her head, Jewel pulled it back before doing any harm.
“We’re going to play a game. I’ll give you a simple question, and if you answer it correctly, you won’t get burned. Answer it wrong, though…” his cruel smile sent Typhoon’s heart racing, and the calm that came with her adrenaline rushes was frighteningly absent. “Shall we begin?”
Typhoon kept her eyes fixated on the blade.
“Good. Now, easy one to start off. Whose sword is this?”
Typhoon’s answer came without hesitation. “Mine.”
“Right you are, my lady. This is your sword. Very good. Next question; where are we?”
“River Rock,” Typhoon flatly answered.
Jewel shrugged his shoulders. “Too general. Be more specific.”
Typhoon brought her eyes up and to the left as she thought. “Castle Burning Hearth.”
“Narrower.”
“Gods, I… I don’t know. The south tower?”
A sear of pain burnt across Typhoon’s chest as Jewel laid the flat of the sword across it. She screamed in agony, and Jewel let the blade linger for an eternity before pulling it away. In its place was a perfectly straight line going from her left armpit and across her stomach before disappearing out the right side.
“Wrong. We’re in the west tower. Basement level, actually.” He paused for a second to come up with another question. “Alright, how about this. How did the Diamond Guard find you?”
“They were told?” Typhoon shrugged.
“By whom?”
“Cyclone must have let you know somehow.”
“Half a point for that one,” Jewel remarked as he quickly slapped the sword across Typhoon’s right flank before pulling it away. The mare grunted and gasped from the short burst of pain and hung from the wall, panting.
Jewel smiled and leaned back. “I was the one that told the Diamond Guard to be ready. I told Cyclone to be here on that night so that we could get rid of you. All he had to do was put the pieces into place to do so.”
Sweat was pouring from Typhoon’s mane and into her eyes. Jewel took the time to tease some of the strands of her mane from her face with his Arcana, separating, red, brown, gold, black, and orange hairs into their proper place.
“What a beautiful mane you’ve got, my lady. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a pony with that many colors to her hair.” Tapping the scalding sword against the tips of her ears, Jewel amused himself for a second longer before lowering the weapon. “How about this one; why are you in a River Rock dungeon?”
“Because Cyclone betrayed me,” Typhoon bitterly answered.
A scream and a streak of red across her shoulder was Jewel’s response.
Typhoon gritted her teeth and glared at the unicorn. “Fine… because I was trespassing in Diamond Kingdom territory?”
“Nope,” Jewel cheerily answered as he pressed the sword against her leg.
“Aaugh!!” Typhoon’s screams became more panicked and wild. “I don’t know! Because you framed me for a crime?!”
Jewel lowered the sword and leaned back on his stool. “That’s the official story, anyway. ‘Cirran assassin caught trying to murder Star Swirl the Bearded, with plans to kill King Lapis IV and plunge the Diamond Kingdom into terror and anarchy.’ I think it has a nice ring to it. The nobles need something to read while they wait out the storm in the comfort of their homes.”
Then the cruel smile returned to his face and he slowly, teasingly pressed the tip of the sword against her stomach until the acrid smell of burnt flesh and the screams of the tortured mare dominated the cell. “It’s not why you’re here, though.”
“Why?!” Typhoon screamed. “Why am I here?!”
With a quick flick of the sword, Jewel drew a jagged scar along her flesh, letting the heat of the blade immediately cauterize the wound.
“You’re here because I want you here,” he snarled. “Your brother may have left your… care… to me, but you’re in this cell because I want you here, and you’ll be here for as long as I want you here. Do you understand?”
Typhoon was too busy moaning and panting to respond.
Jewel sneered at her and held the sword to her face. “Now, I do believe it’s getting late. So, let’s wrap this up. One more question. We’ll see if you can get this one.”
Typhoon nodded her head even as she took painful breaths to try and recover from the burns.
“What is my name?”
Typhoon paused, hesitant of earning another scar on her body. “…Jewel?”
Jewel smiled and walked away, lowering the sword into the bucket. “Good, Jewel. That’s my name, alright. Looks like you’re good to go.” With that, he began to walk towards the door, leaving Typhoon to sigh in relief.
Just as he put his hoof on the latch, however, he smile and trotted back. With a quick burst of Arcana, he grabbed the sword and pressed it against Typhoon’s right side, eliciting a powerful scream. “Now now, who ever said I would tell you the truth? My name isn’t Jewel. That’s simply what I told you when we met in Amber Field the second time. Guess again.”
He pulled away the sword and let Typhoon have a moment to collect herself. As she did, she looked him up and down, trying to associate a name with a face or some identifying characteristic. She had met a few unicorn officers and soldiers before… could he be one of them?
In the end, one name kept coming to her mind, and with no others to go on and Jewel getting impatient, she decided to go with it.
“You couldn’t be… Chiseled Gem? You’re too young.”
Jewel raised an eyebrow and whistled. “I’m impressed. You know my father. He knew your father, too. They fought together during the Crystal raids against River Rock, way back when.” Then his smile turned cruel, and Typhoon flattened her ears in fear. “But it’s not my name. My name is Shattered Gem, even if I never use it. You can feel free to call me Jewel, though.”
Looking at both his comrades, Jewel smiled and pulled over a torture rack from the side of the room. “Unbind her. Place her on the rack, and flatten it out.”
Typhoon gawked at him even as he began to step back. “No! No, please! Please!! By the mercy of Mobius, please don’t!!”
As the two unicorns unlocked the shackles, Typhoon tried to fight back. She thrashed her limbs and her wings in a desperate attempt to strike one of them, but it was no use. With a single punch to her burn marks, the two guards sent Typhoon reeling and screeching in agony. Before the mare could flush the haze of pain from her mind, they had already fastened her flat on her back onto the rack.
Jewel walked over and held the sword and inch from Typhoon’s face. “‘And them that take the sword shall perish by the sword.’ I hear that you pegasi use your emotions to make skysteel. Something about bonding your sword with your experiences, making it more than just a metal blade. If that’s true, than I wonder what it must be like to be wronged by your own weapon.”
“No…” Typhoon pleaded. “Please don’t! Please… I beg you…!”
Jewel cocked his head to the side and smiled. “Too late.”
With that, he simply dropped the sword on Typhoon’s chest. The mare screamed and writhed in agony, shaking and struggling every which way to knock the weapon off of her. Her struggles and convulsions did manage to knock the blade off her chest, but instead it went through the air and struck her across the face. As she shouted and cried out even louder, she finally knocked the blade onto the ground. In its wake it left a painful burn mark that went across her forehead, over her right eye, and alongside her muzzle.
Jewel laughed and grabbed Typhoon’s face to look at the scar. “That one’s going to leave a mark! I’m sorry I had to ruin your pretty face, Typhoon.” With sudden intensity, he leaned in and snarled into her ear. “See how helpless you are? Imperator Typhoon, the mighty Praetorian, brought screaming and crying to her knees by her own weapon. Your time is over, pegasus. Your reputation for being calm and fearless has failed you. You’re a broken mare now.” Standing up, Jewel chuckled softly. “‘You’re a broken mare.’ I like that. You, Typhoon, the mare who was branded by her own weapon. Typhoon the Broken. Years from now, that is how ponies will remember you. Not as some great Praetorian. Even if you grow into greatness, what I’ve done today will stay with you the rest of your life. And that’s the absolute power I have over you.”
The stallion leered at her before nodding to his two guards. “I have things to do, Broken. How about you relax and think about everything that’s happened so far… and everything that will happen in the future.”
As the trio of unicorns left, Typhoon moaned softly from the pain she felt all over her body. The scars would never heal; that much was true. But she wasn’t worried about the physical scars.
She could see her sword on the ground next to her, so painfully close yet easily beyond her reach. The metal glowed with a bright orange, and Typhoon could see some of her coat and flesh melting along its surface.
Typhoon the Broken.
The sting of that title, the betrayal it embodied, and the simple truth it carried was enough to bring her to tears. Jewel was right. He had broken her. Her legendary calm-under-pressure reputation had failed her and had left her crying and begging Jewel to stop. Years and years of training had meant nothing to the burns decorating her tortured body and the pain that came with each one.
He had broken her.
But even then, a small voice cried out in the back of her mind, and it only grew in intensity as her tears dried up.
He had broken her. Once. She would not stay broken for long.
-----
With a sudden explosion of Empatha, the icy wall covering the mouth of the cave finally gave way and exploded into huge chunks of ice as massive tongues of fire swept past them. In the steamy aftermath, Commander Hurricane stepped forward and into the sunlight, letting its golden rays wash over his armor triumphant. On either side, the other five ponies emerged, each one pausing in line with the Commander to bask in the sun and admire the land around them.
There was still snow and ice on the ground, sure, but it was melting at an amazing rate. In just a few minutes since the windigos were defeated, most of the snow had melted and the skies had entirely cleared. Green grass once again dominated the landscape, gently cascading up and down the hills. The blue skies were a welcome sight, and Hurricane felt like stretching his wings and flying despite the injury to his ribcage.
And that was exactly what he did.
As the four earthbound ponies trotted to and fro on the hillside and admired the reborn land around them, Hurricane and Pan Sea made slow and leisurely circles in the sky. Finding a warm updraft, Hurricane spread his wings to their fullest and let it carry him upwards. Gods, he had been walking so long he almost forgot what it was like to fly.
After several minutes of flight, Hurricane and Pan Sea settled down next to the other leaders at the base of the hill. Together they formed a wide circle on the grass and enjoyed the warm breeze from the west. It was then that Hurricane noticed that no chastising remarks or crude insults were being shared. Things were almost sociable.
“So…” Hurricane began. “We’re alive. What now?”
“I suppose we’ll have to go somewhere else for land,” Smart Cookie mumbled as he scratched his neck with a hoof. “I wouldn’t want to intrude on somepony else’s claim.”
“Right,” Platinum murmured. She turned away from Hurricane and the rest of the group and began to walk. “I suppose this is where we go our separate ways.”
Hurricane looked at his hooves and sighed. “You don’t have to go.”
The other four ponies stopped and turned to face him.
When Hurricane looked up, it was with determination. “The pegasi have been fighting with the other tribes for nearly the past twenty years now. The earth ponies and unicorns have fought even longer than that. Isn’t it time we put that hatred aside and work towards something new?”
“What do you mean?” Clover asked.
“Simple.” With a broad sweep of his wings, Hurricane gestured to the entirety of the land around him. “We all left Compact lands to try and find a new place to live. For one reason or another, the Gods brought all of us here, together, this day. It might very well be coincidence, but I believe that they’re asking us to start anew. Today, six ponies set aside their hatreds for each other and survived together. Why can’t three nations do the same?”
“Are you suggesting that we work together?” Platinum took a cautious step towards Hurricane, and the hope in her words was plainly heard.
Hurricane’s eyes moved to her and he dipped his head. “Aye, work together. Separate, we’re nothing. We’re weak and cruel. But together… well, who knows what we could accomplish. Even Cirra would benefit, as much as we pride ourselves on our military.”
Chancellor Puddinghead walked over from the side and tipped his hat. “The earth ponies are with you. Maybe together, we won’t be pushed around and walked all over like we have been too often in the past. And it’ll be a heck of a lot easier to distribute food that way.”
Together, the two stallions looked towards Platinum. The Princess kept her eyes to the dirt, thinking things over in her head. With a small hum and a determined expression, she rose her head towards Hurricane and nodded.
“I don’t like Cirra,” she began. “Never have, and I doubt I ever will. But this is above even my own petty hatreds. As much as we pride ourselves on tradition, the Diamond Kingdom needs this partnership. Perhaps an alliance such as this would end our tensions with Cirra, and trade between our two nations would flourish.”
With that, the three leaders all shook hooves and stepped back to the edge of the circle. All present were smiling with varying degrees of enthusiasm, and each felt genuinely happy that they had done something to settle their conflict—something they had failed to do weeks ago in Amber Field.
“Three tribes, united as one,” Clover said, almost not believing her own words. “One nation for every equine, with wings, horns, or nothing at all.” Pausing, she looked towards the south, where she imagined her father and the other prisoners from Onyx Ridge were gathered. “Equestria, home of the ever free.”
“It’s a wonderful name,” Smart Cookie assured her, to which Pan Sea nodded.
Chancellor Puddinghead took his hat off and scratched his head. “It doesn’t exactly have the same ring to it as The Middle Plains, but it’s cool anyway!”
“I was hoping for something more glamorous, but it’ll do,” Platinum said.
Hurricane shrugged his shoulders. “It doesn’t matter what it’s called now. In time, I’ll give it a reputation to be respected, just like Cirra.”
Then, smiling, the first six Equestrians went into the forest together to find food on the virgin soil.
-----
“I’m telling you, sir, what you propose is the greatest chance for the Empire. The Legion will follow you. You can be assured of that.”
“And what if they don’t?” Cyclone asked his companion. “What happens if I make my move and I suddenly find that the army behind me has fled? What happens if their resolve isn’t as great as you say it is?”
The Praetorian at Cyclone’s side accelerated to keep up with his quick pace down the halls of the barracks. Small oil lanterns cast dim light on either side of the dark cloudstone hall deep within the heart of the Legion. They shed flickering shadows over both soldiers’ faces as they moved with chilling purpose.
“Cyclone, sir, they will not. Your claim is true; your father is dead and your mother refuses to save her daughter. You’re the last one in Hurricane’s family who actually remembers their vows.”
“Aye, that I do, but suppose my father isn’t dead. He’s a magnificent soldier; I hardly doubt anything west of here would keep him tied down for long. What happens if he comes back in the midst of this mess? Do I have to kill my own father then?!”
The Praetorian stopped Cyclone with a hoof on his shoulder. In the light of the lantern, the Imperator looked tired, haggard, and most of all, nervous. His red feathers were disheveled and each breath seemed like it was too little. His teeth were slightly bared under the wild look on his face. At the sudden crackle of fire from a nearby lantern, Cyclone nearly jumped out of his armor.
“The Praetorian is yours to command, Cyclone. Whatever you ask of us, however you want us to do it, it will be done. Even if there are doubters in the Legion, you can rely on us, the best trained soldiers in the entire world, to stand by you. And if we follow you, more will, too.”
Cyclone sighed and nodded. “Right. You’re right, Thunder Hawk. I… I don’t know where I’d be without your help.”
Thunder Hawk patted Cyclone on the back once and tilted his head towards the end of the hallway. The two of them resumed their walk. “Believe me, I’m glad to give it to you. I was there when the griffons razed Nimbus. Then, Feathertop… believe me, after what happened during the war, there’s not a soul more eager than I to fly back there and get some vengeance for the Empire. And even if I die, it’d be under my home skies, not some distant icy wasteland across the ocean.”
Cyclone blinked and bit down on his tongue. He watched the Praetorian out of the side of his eye as they walked. Thunder Hawk was a few years older than Hurricane, and his gray coat and light gold mane were trending towards the silver lining of age. The soldier walked with a slight limp, and a horrid scar slashed across his muzzle, down his neck, and through the knee of his left foreleg. How he didn’t die from that wound during the war, Cyclone would never know. Adorning his flank was a swooping hawk, with talons sharp as daggers.
After a period of silence, Cyclone turned to Thunder Hawk again. “How many do we have?”
“Thirty-five thousand, if you count the five thousand of the Praetorian Guard. Most of them are from the Sixteenth Legion. It was formed immediately after the Exodus. Those soldiers didn’t see any kind of action during the war, and they’re eager to settle things once and for all.”
“Thirty-five thousand is a start, but hardly the army I need to take on Gryphus.”
“You’re right about that, sir, but give it time. A year from now you’ll have ten times that amount, not to mention how many thousands of unicorns.”
“I wish we could have had more to work with,” Cyclone muttered. “I’ll need at least twenty thousand to sweep aside the Diamond Kingdom’s pathetic excuse for an army. I know that Cloudsdale is going to resist. The Praetorian may be loyal to me, but the Legion answers to Swift Spear. Fifteen thousand is too few.”
“We should be lucky that we have this many. Any larger and word would have gotten out.”
“That was never a problem,” Cyclone countered. “I told every soldier to report to me with any information on dissenters. Not a word of it reached my parents, that you can be sure of.”
“Still, sir, it was only a matter of time before somepony talked to your sister. Not to offend you, but it was convenient that the Diamond Guard managed to capture her while you two were in River Rock.”
“Right. Convenient.” Cyclone exhaled and rounded the corner with Thunder Hawk. The corridor went on for another fifty feet before opening up into a courtyard. There, Cyclone could see several thousand soldiers, most of them centurions and legates. The bulk of the Legionnaires that were part of the plan were elsewhere, waiting for the orders that these centurions and legates would bring to them.
Cyclone paused by the exit to the corridor, and Thunder Hawk walked past him to ready the crowd. As soon as the Praetorian stepped out, the idle murmur among the soldiers came to an abrupt halt.
“Ready!!” Thunder Hawk called out in an authoritative voice. Thousands of pairs of hooves snapped together in response. After a few seconds to inspect the soldiers near him, Thunder Hawk stepped back and pivoted ninety degrees. “All salute Imperator Cyclone, First Emperor of the New Empire!”
With that introduction, Cyclone walked into the open in the rigid posture of a leader. There were thousands of flutters and ruffles as each Legionnaire spread their wings and saluted the red pegasus as he passed. Coming to a rest by Thunder Hawk’s side, Cyclone made a stiff pivot and stomped his hoof on the ground. As one, the thousands of pegasi closed their wings and returned to the ready position.
“At ease!” Cyclone shouted to them, releasing them of their posture. “Today, we are more than just soldiers of the Cirran Legion. We are the finest it has to offer, not because of rank or distinction, but because of one simple fact; where the rest of the world thinks the Red Cloud War has ended, we alone know it is not! Gryphus did not win the war, they only won a reprieve. And while the griffons grow fat and confident off of the raped fields of Cirra and dance on the graves of our forefathers, we remember. And for the past twenty years, we have sworn never to forget what they did to the Empire. For the past twenty years, the Legion has trained for this very moment. The Red Cloud War is hardly ended; today, we begin the steps towards retaking Dioda!!”
Thousands of cheers answered Cyclone as his voice split the air in two. Feeding off of their enthusiasm, the emperor began to pace back and forth in front of them. “There are those who will not follow us; those who do not believe that we must finish the fight. They think that the war is over simply because we’re safe. But so long as a single griffon is so much as allowed to take a shit on our land, it can never be over!”
He was applauded with more cheering, and Cyclone smiled back at them, feeling confident in his power. “So we will fly to Dioda and we will put the heart, head, and balls of every last soldier we see on pikes. The usurper, Magnus, will burn and die, screaming like the coward he is as we skin him alive with a blade of fire! And when we are all finished, Dioda will become the final resting place of the griffons! Not a one of them will be left to live. Every last Gryphon, every father, every mother and child, will be spared no mercy! We will make Dioda pure, and in the end, each one of you will have been a part of the greatest empire the world has ever seen, spanning an entire ocean as its domain! Does that sound good to you, faithful Legionnaires?!”
Cheering and applause. Settling down into his rhythm, Cyclone began to deliver his ultimatum with a chilling grin. “But before we can take on Gryphus, we must unify ponykind against Magnus. Today, we begin by taking Cloudsdale and River Rock, the homes of the two most powerful militaries in the world. Our numbers are few, and this will not be an easy task.”
The audience had quieted down with Cyclone’s last words, and he took a deep breath before beginning again. “Today, we must first kill our brothers. Even though our cause is just, there will still be those that stand against us. But know this; every Cirran who tries to stop you is helping Gryphus. They seek to stop us from finishing the Red Cloud War, and if they will not join us, they need to be shown no mercy. In the end, hopefully their deaths are few. It is a regrettable task that we must perform.
“Then, we must take River Rock, the home of King Lapis and the Diamond Guard. When their monarchy is beheaded, their soldiers will go into chaos and disarray. We will shepherd the pieces back together and make them staunch allies to the pegasus cause. Together, we shall annex the Low Valleys into the Empire, and following that, sail to Dioda… and take back what is ours.”
Cyclone loosened his wings against his sides as a silent plea. “These are tough tasks I ask you to do, but I pray that you will complete them without hesitation, not for me, not for anypony else, not even for the Gods, but for Cirra. We shall make the Empire born anew. Now, go. The centurions and the legates have their orders.
“Through the fires of our own blood, we shall arise victorious.”
With nothing more than a curt nod, Cyclone flared his wings in a brief salute before turning to leave. Behind him, the pegasi in the courtyard dispersed in all different directions, getting ready to execute their orders. As they flew off, Thunder Hawk left them and trotted over to Cyclone’s side.
“Excellent speech, sir,” he said. “I was surprised you didn’t end on a prayer before battle like your father does.”
“My father prays to Mobius for mercy before each battle,” Cyclone flatly answered.
Thunder Hawk paused. “And you do not?”
Cyclone stopped and, without turning his head, answered him. “Hurricane, Swift Spear, Twister, Typhoon, all are followers of Mobius, and his mercy has done nothing for them. No, I do not pray to him.” When he turned back, his eyes blazed with a determined fire. “I pray to Ofnir, God of War and Lord of Conquest. Where Mobius asks for prayers through words, Ofnir only asks for tribute through the blood of the enemy.”
“Very well, sir,” Thunder Hawk neutrally answered. “Where will you be in the coming fight?”
“I will be in River Rock. I trust that you can handle the change of leadership for me in Cloudsdale while I’m gone.”
“Of course. It should be simple enough with the Praetorian Guard to help.”
“No,” Cyclone objected. “I will take the Praetorian to River Rock. I want somepony I can trust watching my back when I’m going up against unicorns.”
Thunder Hawk moved to object but stopped the words before they could form. “Very well,” he spoke instead. “Are there any other orders for me, sir?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.” He began to walk away, leaving Thunder Hawk behind. “Take four of your finest Praetorians and take care of my mother. I want her alive and unharmed. If any of you so much as wound her…”
He stopped and turned to leer at Thunder Hawk. “Only the intervention of Mobius himself will bring you the mercy you ask for.”