Chapter 43: South Base
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It hadn't taken that long for the group to get their stuff together and board a train leading to Appleloosa--with a little help from Princess Celestia, of course. They didn't take much, only what they were sure they would need. One of the newly created Elements of Chaos might have landed there, and the entire group knew they needed to get them before the ponies did.
However, their assault had come unexpectedly, and had caused the release of the most vile creature that had assaulted Equestria. With the two back-to-back crises finally resolved, the adrenaline generated among the group had already begun to wear off. All this had happened in only a day, and it wasn't even over yet.
Though Twilight, Spike, and the other Element Bearers weren't feeling the exhaustion--at least physically--Silver, and the Royal Guards in the car with them had been through difficult fights one after another; particularly Virid and Crimson, who had to fight with their own captain. He'd been more or less able to hold them off, but even he was starting to feel the ache like the others did. However, they still hadn't suffered like Azure had.
After his encounter with the batpony, he had been covered in small cuts that had gone untreated during the fiasco with Discord. Even after all that, he narrowly had to be forced to be treated. Now, covered in bandages, he was napping on one of the beds in the cars, and had to be put there after falling asleep on in the train within about a half hour of it starting to move.
"He's out like a light..." Twilight said in a hushed tone as she drew the blanket over him with her magic.
"Who could blame him?" asked Applejack, making sure to not raise her voice too much.
"Anyone'd be that tired after fighting like how he did..." Rainbow said.
"You had this...batpony, and then, not once, but twice, had to go up against whatever Discord--"
"Don't mention that name..." Virid was about two octaves short of full on yelling at Blitz, which caused everyone to flinch a bit and look to Azure, who didn't so much as move. Everypony turned back to Virid, who only said, "Please...?"
"He's earned his rest..." Twilight observed, letting Virid's outburst go--after what Discord had done while he was free, she could hardly blame him for it. "And he's so tired I don't think any of us could stop him even if we wanted to..."
"Didn't Az miss out on when we went that first time?" Applejack asked, cutting in, "When we went to plant Bloomberg before?"
"Yep," Twilight responded, "He had something from his job he couldn't put off until he could get back to Ponyville, and he couldn't have come along."
"It probably wouldn't have changed too much even if he had," Spike observed from the edge of one of the beds. "Even if Azure had come along, he would have still wound up picking a side one way or another..."
The incident that had come out of the group's last trip to Appleloosa didn't involve Royal Guards or Silver either, but it was definitely one to remember. The local buffalo tribe were at odds with the settlers, and had treenapped Bloomberg. The orchard the Appleloosan settlers had upset the buffalo since that was their stomping grounds, so to speak. The group had tried to make peace between the two, but Pinkie's song somehow made things worse between the opposing forces. Fighting broke out quick, but after tasting the local's apple pie, the chief was quick to reconsider, and thus things were different between the tribes from then on.
Even though there was a great lesson to be learned from all of that, Twilight couldn't help but feel, upon reflection, that at least some of that conflict could have been avoided--
"Well, it'll be another day's trip to get there," Blitz said, "We'd better do something to pass the time..."
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The train chugged its way down the track tirelessly, as evening turned into night. Eventually, all of the ponies on the train went to sleep, and began to dream. For one that had been sleeping peacefully, dreaming was something he probably shouldn't have done.
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For the most part, Azure’s nap had been dreamless, but he soon found himself in a place all too familiar—the area where Discord had been apparently killed off for real. The crater was still there, as was the mysterious item within it. Nopony was around, unlike when Azure had been at this point before. Azure found himself called to the jewel, even though a voice inside of him was urging him, begging him, to reconsider investigating it.
You have no idea what this thing can do, Azure, the voice scolded, You know it’s somehow related to him, and you’re just gonna walk right up to it like there’s nothing wrong with it…
Azure was now millimeters from the jewel, gazing deep into the dark green gem on the corroded silver crown. Once he looked into it for more than a few seconds, Azure felt as though something had pushed very fiercely on his hind end, and bounced him straight into a trippy swirling vortex. The rainbow that Azure could recognize as the Elements of Harmony seemed distorted, like the colors had been altered—what was red was now pink, orange now brown, and other such alterations.
At first, it was silence save for Azure’s confused yells. Then, distant voices became more easily heard over the din. It didn’t take long for Azure to realize who they were.
“Twilight?!” Among the screams of terror that were now ringing very clearly in his ears, Azure floated his way around the void, fighting at the torrents that threatened to rip his being apart. He whirled around, seeing only empty air, “Applejack?!”
Azure called out everypony’s names, one after another, hearing them all screaming in what sounded like horrific pain. As the screams died down, Azure became aware he was hearing evil laughter.
“You idiot…” Azure now felt a heated blade—or what felt like one—pass right along his side. Azure didn’t dare look—he was convinced it was a bad wound. “You really expected to be able to protect them from the forces of chaos?”
Recognizing the voice from that night at the barn so long ago, Azure whirled around, “Where are you!?”
An equally recognizable voice rang out as Azure suddenly lost the ability to move save for his head, “No need to shout…You’ll startle the masses more than they already are…”
Azure wasn’t quite deterred, but this was one of the worst nightmares he’d ever had in his life.
“Now that his essence has been split up into six parts, we can shape the world as we see fit…”
Azure could see silhouettes of the ponies he knew were part of the same group, including the one that had already been captured so long ago. But that wasn’t right; any one of the Royal Guards would have mentioned that the formerly empowered earth pony had escaped in all the chaos. That wasn’t the issue; behind them, Azure could see the silhouette of the one creature he had just gotten sick of seeing.
“What, and do exactly as he did?” Azure asked.
“Chaos isn’t dead…” a distorted voice answered, “In fact, it’s now more of a problem than ever…”
Azure felt pain. He looked, seeing his hooves moving against their will, connected by what looked like wires made of pure magic energy…
“You can’t halt those that control chaos!”
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Azure sharply gasped, awoken from his dream at once, as though something had catapulted him straight out of the nightmare. The cyan unicorn was sure of one thing right now: he was no longer tired. He was wide awake now, the adrenaline from the nightmare still very fresh in his mind and body. In fact, it was a bit too much for him. He looked to his forehooves, which were now on the blankets in front of him, and he was shaking.
Azure ran a hoof along the side he could have sworn had been split open by an invisible blade. Nothing, nothing at all. Azure closed his eyes, setting his hooves in front of him and preparing to meditate.
It felt so real...but it was all just a dream...a terrible one... Azure noted to himself, hoping to calmly go back to sleep. He had a jam-packed schedule tommorrow, and even though he'd slept eight hours already, he didn't want his rhythm to mess up.
A pair of hooves grabbed hold, and Azure, against his better judgment, let out a slight gasp, opening his eyes. However, as he looked over, he saw one hoof over his--a purple one. Even in the dark, through the moonlight shining through the window, he could see Twilight had squeezed onto the bed right next to him. It was a wonder he hadn't noticed her straight away.
"Azure?" Twilight asked, clearly worried. She could probably still feel his hoof shaking, "Are you okay?"
Azure took a slight moment to himself to enjoy the feeling of Twilight's hoof on his own; after yesterday he certainly felt entitled to the soft touch. But he couldn't delay his answer.
"It was..." Azure paused.
Do I really want to worry Twilight over a nightmare?
He was just about ready to deny there was anything wrong, when everything that had just happened with a certain spirit of disharmony. Keeping things to himself had only made things worse--it didn't help that the triangle, which had happened entirely without "his" interference, was another result of such a thing.
No more secrets...I can't keep things from the others anymore...
"I had...I had a nightmare, a bad one." Azure finally said. Twilight shifted a bit, moving ever closer to Azure, such that their sides were now touching.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Twilight asked; Azure could only nod and scooted over to the wall so he could sit up. Twilight leaned in, resting her head on his chest. The two remained like that as Azure prepared to recall what he'd just experienced.
"I don't know what it was, but it started when I found myself in Ponyville standing in the crater," Azure began at last after a minute of silence, "That Element of Chaos, the crown, was sitting in the exact same spot, as though it hadn't been moved. For some reason, I felt compelled to approach it, even though every fiber of my being was warning me not to. When I finally reached it, it felt like I had been pushed into it.
"But instead of falling over the crown, I fell into the gem and went...into somewhere, like a vortex..." Azure was confused; Twilight was looking straight at him now, "Whatever the case, I couldn't get out..."
Azure halted. He didn't want to have to tell Twilight what happened next. However, she saw right through him.
"That's not all, is it?"
Azure could only smile, "You can read me like a book..."
Azure nuzzled Twilight as she giggled at the joke. However, it didn't last. Twilight reached up to Azure's face, grabbing hold of it gently.
"Tell me..."
Even in the darkness of night, Twilight's eyes were still so bright. Azure sighed, and leaned in until his forehead made contact with hers. Closing his eyes, he continued his story.
"I started...I started to hear screaming...yours, Applejack's...Rainbow's..." As he went down the list, Azure could hear them all over again in his head, "I could hear everypony...All of you scared, in pain, and I couldn't do anything to stop it..."
Azure's body began to shiver again, but he went on, not paying it any notice, "I don't know what it means...and it scares me."
"What if something bad is about to happen? Something I can't stop? What if something bad were to--"
Azure couldn't finish. Twilight had pushed her lips against his, kissing him; Azure blinked, not realizing it at first. However, he soon relaxed, kissing her back. They remained like this for what felt like forever--only maybe a minute in real time--before Twilight pulled back, looking Azure straight in the eyes.
"Azure, listen to me...I want you to look at everypony in this cart, every single one of them..." Twilight said.
Azure did what he was told. Everypony else was still asleep; they were, however, still breathing. Once he was done, he looked back to Twilight, who spoke up again.
"We're all okay, and we're all safe. And that is because you refused to let anything bad happen to us. You'll do whatever it takes, up to and including putting yourself in harm's way to make sure the ones you love won't get hurt...
"And you're not the only one who will do whatever it takes...your cousins, my brother, Silver, the rest of us...all of us will do what it takes to keep each other safe. No matter what it is, we'll always find a way to overcome it if we stick together."
Just like that, any doubts or fears lingering in Azure's mind finally cleared. His shaking finally stopped as a smile crept on his face.
"You've really gotten good at this relationship stuff," Azure said, pulling Twilight closer. She giggled, returning the hug, and closing whatever distance had been left in them.
"What can I say, I'm a fast learner..."
Both closed their eyes and fully relaxed. It wasn't too long before the rhythm of their breathing settled them back itno the land of the dreams.
No matter what was going to happen from here on, they could overcome it...together...
With the help of their friends.
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As the train continued towards Appleloosa, a pair of darkened figures were making their way over the badlands on foot. They were taking their time for ponies that really should have been in more of hurry than they were.
"Shade, you know a fair amount about them, correct?" Mendex asked of his partner as the two made their way towards Appleloosa.
"I was involved in the first couple of brushes with them..." Shade responded, his gaze never leaving the horizon line, "All I know is, this one is going to be the last..."
"It's personal for you, isn't it?" Mendex questioned again, "Fighting to avenge that pride of yours as a summoner?"
Shade didn't respond, looking ahead all the while. "I owe them personally for what happened when we last met in person..."
"Don't lose your cool, Shade..." Mendex said again, "You know full well Boss said to keep it, even now..."
"Is there a point to any of this, Mendex?" Shade questioned directly.
"Actually, yes, but you went on a tirade..." The cloaked pony said, "Can I say why I asked now?"
When Shade remained silent, Mendex went on.
"Was wondering if you knew anything about them specifically that could be used to my advantage...You know what my skill is..."
Shade turned to Mendex, sneering, "Now that you mention it..."
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The sun came up, and by noon, the group had finally arrived at their destination. Azure and Twilight were still sound asleep against the wall, and ponies inside the train were starting to take notice.
"Wonder what happened last night..." Blitz whistled, returning his focus to the task ahead as he got his things. Virid, meanwhile, looked as though he wanted to say something, but whatever it was, wasn't coming out today. Whether it was because his captain so obviously approved of what he was looking at here or if he just wanted to preserve the moment wasn't totally lost on everypony else.
Rarity took in the sight as she went about her business, obviously enjoying it like any other romantic-at-heart would. The others generally took in the sight, but it was Shining who finally got the group to focus.
"Could someone remind them what we're here for?" Shining asked, "Not that I don't approve or anything..."
"Right!" Virid snapped to attention, immediately executing his captain's orders as his horn became alight with an amber glow. A small pair of cymbals appeared just above the sleeping unicorns, and crashed together with a small flash and a loud noise, startling both of them.
Everypony turned to the source of the noise, as Azure and Twilight both jumped up and scrambled around a bit.
"I don't think...I ordered...the wake up call..." Azure quipped groggily, his tone very indicative of how much of a morning pony he was.
"Well, you can nap all you want after we've done what we have to do..."
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As the group left the train, Virid had gone over the plan in detail.
"So to recap: since we can't run the risk of splitting up with how much power these ponies obviously have at their disposal, we have to go to each location together and hope to beat them to the item and recover them first. While we do that, units from other parts of the Royal Guards will scatter across the land, trying to find any other strange anomalies.
"It's a bit risky, sure, but it was a far bigger risk to let these items fall into their hooves. If they get their hands on what...that thing...left behind, we might be facing chaos all over again, and we don't know what it could do in the hands of a tactician like the boss of these ponies...We don't quite know what they have at their disposal outside of body modifications to non-unicorns to give them powerful specialized magic; perhaps even unicorns are given modifications like what we saw with that earth pony...
"Point is, we don't know exactly what we're up against, but expect to see some old and new faces among their ranks...If we are able to subdue any of them, we can do to them what they did to their friend. We also know what we're capable of..."
"Which is why I'm the way we know where the next one is?" Spike had to cut in at that point.
"Precisely..." Virid responded, "When the other teams find an item, they report back to the princesses, who will send that info to you, and that's where we go next..."
"What's stopping the other Royal Guards from getting the item themselves?" At this point, Rainbow Dash questioned.
"If this item's any indication, it'll be because it's unapproachable by their small squad..." Virid answered, "We're ten ponies and a dragon; we should be able to do what they can't if we work together...We shouldn't be here longer than a day, if all goes well."
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"So everypony is clear, then?" Virid asked as he left the train alongside Shining and Blitz. The others had already stepped off.
"I can see what the plan is," Silver responded dryly.
"So we've just got to find the Element that dropped here, and get it out of enemy hooves..." Azure stated, following this up with a question, "How do we know if they haven't already been here and gone?"
"Town is still in one piece, the local ponies here don't seem any more disturbed than what the last report told us..." Twilight said.
"And I didn't get a letter in the middle of the night," Spike said, before adding under his breath, "Hate it when that happens..."
The group walked through the settlement.
"So..." Silver said, "First time in this town for a good few of us..."
"I didn't get to come along, so don't look at me..." Azure responded, "You feel anything off?"
"Not yet," Silver responded, "But I can tell this place isn't like Ponyville. Quiet, sure, but we're...in the middle of a desert, aren't we?"
"Shoot, "Applejack interjected, "My cousin's...Wonderin' if he's alright with all the commotion about all this..."
"Hmm..." Shining said, "The item did land somewhere not too far outside the town...and it does affect the landscape..."
"If that's the case," Virid interjected, "Perhaps we'd better split up into groups and find out if everything checks out. Some time has passed since the item landed. We don't want to find out we're in a maze."
"Alright then..." Shining responded, "Always quick to think, Virid...In that case, here's how we're gonna do this..."
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Shade and Mendex had arrived at the settlement, or rather, just outside it. They had managed to move past the buffalo without much trouble--a little help from Mendex's magic made sure of that. There they stood, on what appeared to be an ordinary orchard of apple trees. Beyond that was the quaint village that formed Appleloosa. However, if a pony stood close enough, they could hear ponies and buffalo alike within, crying out in confusion and fear. A group of ponies were nearby, no doubt trying to form a rescue party for the supposedly lost ponies.
"The Element landed in there?" Shade questioned, "Hardly looks any different..."
"It's a complex illusion, Shade..." Mendex responded, "That's just what it wants you to think, but when you walk in there it turns into an absolute maze..."
"Thought so..." Shade nodded, sighing. "Well, how are we gonna do this?"
"If the harmonics come along, they must be dealt with..." Mendex responded. "Otherwise, stay low...The ponies and buffalo here learned to work together some time ago. If either one sees you without me around, it's gonna be ugly quick..."
"Very well. I won't do a thing until I see them..."
"That will do," Mendex responded. His cloaked body began to become enshrouded in translucent gray magic. When it cleared, before Shade appeared a fairly ordinary buffalo, save for the silver eyes and darker-than-average fur.
"Now," the buffalo said, "I'm just making sure no one can tell me apart if I manage to find any pony in that maze...Let's go."
Mendex, still looking like a buffalo, made his way down the hill. Shade looked towards the settlement again.
"A shame the buffalo didn't roam all over this place...certainly would have saved us some trouble..." Shade quipped, sighing as he hung his hooded head a bit. "Oh well..."
Shade continued to watch the horizon and the opposite side of the orchard. There was a pony going in with a rope tied around one of his ankles. After a few minutes of him somehow getting lost in what seemed like a fairly ordinary orchard, the pony was yanked out, and he adjusted his hat in frustration. He said something, or at least it looked like something, when suddenly he looked back to the horizon, seemingly startled.
There, on the horizon...
Was a group of ponies, a few of which he recognized.
"Well, well..." Shade said, standing up. "They sure are early..."
His mouth opened wide into a grin as his horn, protrudng from his hood, became enshrounded in the blue-black aura. "In that case, why don't I reward them...?"