//------------------------------// // The Liberation of Cloudsdale (Part 2) // Story: MLDC Next Generation: Know Fear! // by Michael_Ravencroft //------------------------------// It was unbelievable, unheard of even, but they managed to pull it off. The griffons had effectively sealed off Cloudsdale from any and all outside forces, and had taken the citizenry hostage. Royal Guard forces had surrounded the city, but kept a safe distance away per the Pretenders’ demands. From city hall, Lazarus gazed upon the city, a smile forming on his beak. Rainbow Dash, Mayor Cumulus, and Spitfire hadn’t moved from the center of the room. Several times did Dash and Spitfire think about rushing the two griffons, but the addition of two more griffons at the door made escape impossible. “Well it looks like they’ve done as I’ve asked, now that I’m sure that we will not be disturbed, we can get down to business,” said Lazarus. “What, you gonna start making demands or something?” Rainbow asked. “Oh no, we have what we want already, we just need the final piece.” Lazarus turned towards the three ponies, he then pointed at Mayor Cumulus. Lara groaned in annoyance, she then grabbed the stallion by the neck and dragged him away from the two mares. She then threw the stallion before her brother. Mayor Cumulus shook like a leaf before the intimidatingly cold eyes of the lead griffon. “Now Mr. Mayor, where exactly is the Core Driver?” Rainbow Dash and the Mayor’s eyes went wide at the mention of this “Core Driver”, while Spitfire looked on in confusion. “H-H-H-How do you know about the Core Driver!?” Mayor Cumulus exclaimed. “Come now Mr. Mayor, my sister and I have been working for you for the last three years, so it’s not unlikely that we haven’t heard about it.” “What! You mean she was Ms. Fluff?!” Lara snorted at the mention of her undercover name. “Yeah, I was, and let me tell ya, it took every last ounce of my willpower not to rip your throat out every damn time you groped my ass!” The stallion’s blood ran cold recalling all the inappropriate things he did and said to Ms. Fluff, now that the griffoness no longer had need of her disguise, she was free to act as she wanted. For a brief moment Cumulus thought about begging her for forgiveness, but one look at the POed griffoness told him that no amount of begging would save his flank from her claws. “Lara, language, we are in the middle of negotiations at the moment.” Lazarus cautioned. “Mr. Mayor, my underlings have been searching high and low in this city, but have yet to find the entrance to the Core Driver. So would you kindly show us the way to it?” “Why do you want to know where it is, what possible use could you have for it!?” Lazarus gave the Mayor a leveled gaze. “To move Cloudsdale of course, that’s the whole reason we’re here.” “I-I-I can’t, I won’t! The Core Driver is Cloudsdale’s most guarded secret, only a very small group of ponies know where it is! And I won’t give you their names either! You’ll have to – GACK!” Rainbow Dash and Spitfire gasped in horror. Lara had driven a sharp blade, that extended from the from the side of her left gauntlet, straight through the Mayor’s back, the other end striking the cloud floor beneath him. The Mayor turned his head and saw Lara staring at him with wicked glee. She then grasped his throat with her right claw and the pulled back, raking her sharp talons across his trachea. Mayor Cumulus tried to scream, but it only came out as gargled noise as his mouth filled with blood. Lara then retracted the blade and let the body fall to the floor, with the Mayor bleeding out onto the floor. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire watched as the stallion’s body twitched until the he was lying in a pool of his own blood, dead. The prismatic mare glared at the griffoness, her eyes filled with bloodlust for the murder of her fellow equine. “You BITCH! How could you!!?” “I’m inclined to agree with Mrs. Dash, sister. We needed him to show us the way to Core Driver. That was rather – how should I put this delicately – idiotic.” Lara nonchalantly flicked her talons free of the blood that clung to them before answering him. “What, he wasn’t going to tell us anything. As much as a sleaze ball as he was, the damn pegasus still had his pride as one. You’re not seriously going to tell me that he would’ve caved!” “Well he might’ve if we threatened his wife and children, but now that he is dead that is a moot point.” Lazarus pinched the bridge of his beak in frustration. “I swear if you weren’t my little sister I would’ve disciplined you properly years ago.” Lara scoffed, “Please, ‘little’, you’re only older by like two damn minutes, so stop lording that over my head!” “In any case, now we have to find somepony who does. Guess we’ll have weed through the lot till we find one who does. Guess you’ll get the chance to ‘interrogate’ some of our prime suspects.” Rainbow Dash didn’t like the sound of “interrogation”, especially when it pertained to that crazy griffoness. Something told her that there would be a lot more deaths if she didn’t do something soon. “Wait…!” Lazarus and Lara both looked at Rainbow Dash quizzically. “I…I know where the Core Driver is…I…I can take you to it…” Lazarus let a small smile grace his beak at hearing this news. “Excellent Ms. Dash, now –!” “Hold on! I have two conditions! First: You have to promise me that you won’t hurt ANY of the Cloudsdale citizens! And two: Spitfire stays by my side the whole time! If she dies I’ll break my wings and throw myself off the edge of Cloudsdale!” Rainbow Dash fixed Lazarus with a steely glare, showing that she was very serious in her conviction. “Do we have a deal or not!?” Lazarus considered Rainbow Dash’s proposal, Lara gave her big brother an incredulous look for even considering her offer. After a few tense seconds of silence, Lazarus’ small smile turned into a big grin. “Very well Mrs. Dash, lead the way please.” 5 Minutes Later… Starburst flew at a speed that no normal pegasus pony could reach, zooming across the night sky faster than a rocket. It was mind blowing how much the ring increased her flying speed. As much as she was enjoying the rush, Starburst saw that she was quickly approaching the floating city, but she also saw that there were numerous Royal Guard ponies surrounding the perimeter. Lots of clouds were brought in to create floating bases for the RG pegasi to rest on and conduct their operations. Star stopped before she got any closer and looked herself over. My aura would be too noticeable, better switch to stealth. “Ring, EM Distortion.” [Acknowledged, activating now.] In the blink of an eye Starburst’s body became one with the night. She quickly flew towards the largest cloud that had a tent set up on it. Star then carefully phased into the tent, looking around to see if she could find out anything about what was going on. She almost gave away her position when she saw who was inside the tent. Standing among the other pegasi Royal Guards, clad in armor with two double-edged swords strapped to his side, was none other than Valiant Heart himself. His gaze was intense as she scanned a magical simulacrum of Cloudsdale. “So they’re completely cut off from the outside, and it’s too risky for us to go in. Is there any blind spot we can take advantage of?” Valiant asked. “No sir, our scouts have seen griffon soldiers stationed all around the edge of the city, plus, from what we can gather, they seem to be able to disguise themselves as ponies. We’re still working on finding out how, but with this ability, they could easily pose as a hostage trying to escape.” “That’s great! Even if we’re able to save them, we may inadvertently be helping some of those griffons slip right under our noses! That’s total BS!”A soldier shouted. Valiant didn’t waver in light of this information, another thing that Star admired about her cousin. Now that she thought about it, this was the first time she had ever seen him in him at work like this. She’d always seen Valiant Heart the cousin, Valiant Heart the trainer, but not Valiant Heart the Captain. “We can’t give up. They went through a lot of trouble to take over Cloudsdale. We can’t assume that this was a spontaneous event. For now, we operate under the assumption that they’ve planned for any contingencies. They already bombed several buildings within the city, and with the whole population as their hostages, they can execute any number of them without running out of bargaining chips. As morbid as that sounds, it’s the truth. Until we know their endgame, we can’t make any rash decisions.” Valiant ordered. You may not be able to infiltrate the city Lance, but I can. Star quietly phased through the cloud and made her way towards Cloudsdale. It was kind of fun, passing through the perimeter RGs as she got closer to the city, she often wondered if this was how ghosts felt when they roamed around. If Star believed in ghosts that is. It wasn’t long before Starburst reached the edge of Cloudsdale, and just like Valiant and the other soldiers said, there were griffons standing sentry, watching the Royal Guard pegasi carefully. Luckily, none of them seemed to be aware of her presence. Thank Faust. Star’s helmet did more than hide her identity. It also allowed her to see in the dark, acting as a pair of night vision goggles. Which was good since it allowed her to navigate through the city, and, unfortunately, it also allowed her to see the damage done by the griffon infiltrators, and, despite what she thought, it could’ve been worse. Many of the taller buildings had large holes blasted into them, what was truly weird was that many of them had charred edges. Star flew into one of the buildings, landing gently as to not make any noise. “Ring, are there any enemies in the current area?” The yellow power ring released a few quick bursts, scanning the current vicinity for any sign of the enemy. [There are multiple enemies within a hundred mile radius. However, there are currently no hostiles within the immediate area.] “Alright, first off we need to find out how those griffons are able to look like regular ponies, if we do that, and then the Royal Guards can at least take care of the rest. For now we need to get at least one of them.” [Hostile detected, 800 ft. below.] Starburst crept towards the edge of the hole, looking down at the streets and saw a griffon soldier flying by. And it gave her an idea. Star dismissed her uniform, and took flight. Being the quicker, Starburst was easily able to fly over the griffon soldier, the full moon overhead casting a silhouette of her shadow down below. “HEY!” The griffon called out. Gotcha. Starburst quickly flew down one street, glancing behind her to see if the griffon was in pursuit, he was. Starburst led the griffon down a few more streets and luckily he was still giving chase, but she knew if she kept this up the griffon soldier might call for backup and she didn’t need to announce her presence too soon. Star then spotted a skyscraper with a hole blown into it and like the last one. She then ducked inside of it, curling up into ball in the corner of the room. The griffon grunted in annoyance and flew into the building. His eagle eyes allowed him to see in the dark, and with the light of the full moon it was even better. It wasn’t long before the soldier spotted Starburst; her back was to him, her body was shaking like a leaf as if terrified by his very presence. “Who are you!? Where did you come from – answer me!?” “I-I-I’m sorry! P-P-Please don’t hurt me! I wasn’t t-trying to escape!” The griffon growled as he moved closer to her, his eyes squinting in anger. “You’re lucky we aren’t executing you lot yet, or I’d just spare myself the trouble right now! C’mon, I’m throwing your sorry flank with the rest of your kind!” “…Interesting.” Suddenly Starburst’s body flashed with yellow light, blinding the griffon soldier. The soldier then found his forelegs and hind legs wrapped in golden-yellow chains and his wings wrapped tightly against his body. The griffon fell to the floor, squirming and writhing against the light construct chains. The griffon then looked to Star, who was now donned in her Fear Lantern uniform, her helmet obscuring her face from him. “What are you!?” “That doesn’t matter so much as what will happen to you if you don’t answer my questions!” Star raised her right hoof and the chained up griffon rose up as well. “Now, what is your mission objective!?” “Grarw org sarek blareg ohmgresh!” Star was not amused at the griffon’s sudden change to his native griffon language. She then manifested two daggers and drove them into the griffon’s hind legs, eliciting a grunt of pain. “In Equish, if you don’t mind?” “Blorg farr!” Starburst smacked her forehead, wishing that she had taken the time to learn foreign languages, especially those that pertained to their enemy. [Activating Xeno-linguistics translator.] “Brageg slok goran \~~~/ and when I’m done I’m going to –!” Starburst concentrated and made the chains constrict the griffon harder, cutting the griffon off before he could finish his sentence. I think I’m starting to fall in love with this ring. “Just so you know I can understand you now.” The griffon’s eyes widened when he heard her speak. He didn’t understand how, but when she spoke he heard her talk in the griffonian language. “There’s no possible way you could! I’m using a varied form, taken from different regions, there’s no possible way you could understand it!” “Well I do, and now I’m going to ask you again. What is your main objective!?” The griffon went silent, he wasn’t going to talk. On any other day Star would be impressed by his loyalty, but she was pressed for time and there were lives hanging in the balance. “There are different ways to get some information,” Star’s ring began to shine brighter, “and now I know how to get it.” Unknown Location… Lazarus and Lara walked behind Rainbow Dash and Spitfire. The two pegasi kept close together, the fact that they had two sociopathic griffons keeping right behind them wasn’t helping. The whole time they walked Spitfire didn’t understand what the big deal was about this “Core Driver”, it had to be important if it made Rainbow Dash look surprised, and it if it had something to do with Cloudsdale it couldn’t have been good. “Dash, what’s this Core Driver thing, and how bad will it be if they get to it?” Spitfire asked. Rainbow Dash glanced behind her, the two griffons already knew of its existence, so there was no need to be secretive of its use. “The CD is…it’s the engine that keeps Cloudsdale floating in the sky. Used to be, the city was kept afloat thanks to the Princesses.They would cast a spell that would keep Cloudsdale stationed in one place, but eventually, they knew that they needed to be self-sufficient. They got help from the unicorns, and the Princesses, and together they created a massive magical engine. It would act as Cloudsdale’s core and help to not only keep it floating, but to also help drive it any place anywhere in Equestria. Its location and existence is only known to the top officials in Cloudsdale, like the Mayor, as well as those who do maintenance work on it.” Spitfire’s eyes widened, she was the former Captain of the Wonderbolts, both of them were retired, and she didn’t know a thing about this! So how did Rainbow Dash know about it? “So…if only top officials know…how come you do?” Rainbow Dash gaze turned downcast, a hint of sadness was evident in her eyes. “I wasn’t always the best kid…My Dad worked a lot, and with my mother dead, it was just me and him. He would always keep secret about his work and it annoyed me that he wasn’t around. So…I kinda became a bit of a bad girl, getting into fights, staying out late, anything I could do get his attention… Until I really missed up and almost really hurt myself. My Dad didn’t want me to keep doing that stuff, so he told me, even though it would probably get him in trouble, he told me anyway. When he did, it felt like he really trusted me, he was putting his life – his job – into my hooves, because he loved me and cared about me.” Rainbow Dash chuckled at the memories of her past. “Now that I think about it, everything I did to get him to notice me, it was kinda pathetic back then…” “Yeah, real pathetic, so pathetic that I might actually throw up,” commented Lara. Rainbow Dash glanced over her shoulder and sneered at the griffoness. The four of them continued to walk through a long hallway, coming up to a pair of double doors. It had bronze carvings of pegasi flying about, there were four circles strategic placed at the four compass directions, and at the center was the image of Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy, the founders of the floating city. “My Dad took me here, once. There are multiple ways to get in for the workers, but this is the main entrance.” “Good, now, would you be so kind as to open it?” “I led you to the damn thing, open it yourself.” Rainbow spat. “Oh, ho, ho, Mrs. Dash, you don’t appear to understand your situation.” Lazarus nodded to his sister. Lara reached for the whip at her hip. She then unfurled it and cracked it towards Spitfire. The whip wrapped itself around the yellow pegasus’ neck, she then pulled it back and dragged Spitfire all the way towards them. She then pulled off the whip and grabbed the mare by the neck. Lara started to squeeze tightly as the former Wonderbolts captain started to wheeze and thrash about, trying to pry the griffoness’ grip on her neck. Rainbow Dash lowered into an attack position, flaring her wings and glaring daggers at the two griffons. “Let her go! We had a deal!” “Yes, the deal was that we wouldn’t kill her. And we won’t. You see, my sister has a particularly nasty penchant for…how shall we say, prolonging ones suffering.” “That’s just Laz’s nice way of saying I’m a total sadist,” Lara sat on her haunches, she then dragged one of her right talons from Spitfire’s belly, all the way up to her chest, careful not to puncture the mare’s flesh, “so I know how to make others wish they were dead.” “Well now, there you have it. I’m sure that door has some sort of protection to prevent griffons and outsiders from entering it, so you can understand my hesitation in wanting to touch it. So, again, if you please Mrs. Dash, open the door.” Rainbow Dash shifted her gaze between the two griffons and then to Spitfire. She didn’t like this dynamic. The brother was calm, polite, and crafty, but at the same time, a total psychopath. While the sister was a foul mouthed killer, who actually got off on hurting others. And from the look in the griffoness’ eyes, she looked as if she wanted Rainbow Dash to say no or defy them just so she could have an excuse to hurt Spitfire. Although, Rainbow knew Lara didn’t need a reason, the only thing barely keeping her in line was her brother and even that wasn’t guaranteed. Rainbow’s body tensed, she wanted nothing more than to barrel into these murderers and take them down, hard! But this wasn’t like a long time ago, she had husband, and two sons to waiting for her, the same with Spitfire, she too had a family waiting for her to come back, and Rainbow wasn’t going to be the reason why Fleetfoot and her daughter Sunny didn’t have a mother and wife anymore. So, reluctantly, Rainbow Dash turned around and walked right up to the door. Rainbow Dash then tapped to door and immediately something began to occur. The door glowed with a strange light, four orbs floated off the door, along with words written in ancient pegasian. Directionibus quatuor ventos quatuor magnos spiritus loquimini nobis domain nomina et intrare. “Boreas,” the top orb glowed, “Notus,” the bottom orb glowed, “Eurus,” the left orb glowed, “Zephyrus,” the right orb, the last, glowed. All four orbs glowed brightly, taking on the forms of four regal ponies. The four orbs then returned into the door, activating the mechanisms that made the double doors open. It was a slow process, but well worth the wait. When the doors opened, all four gazed in awe at what they saw. The Core Driver was a massive machine, a giant pool of spectra, liquid rainbow, swirled at the bottom, swirling about as it was sucked into a large pillar that was stuck into it. Above it, the second pillar let loose hundreds of dozens of lightning strikes, hitting the clouds and discharging almost every nanosecond. At the center, there was a console that ringed around a central pillar where a blue, sapphire crystal hummed with power. Lara released Spitfire, throwing her towards Rainbow Dash. The prismatic mare quickly caught her friend and helped her to her hooves. Once she finally was able to breathe she too stared speechless at the sight. “Something like this was below the city the entire time!?” “The spectra down below acts like as fuel. It gets sucked up and turned to raw power. It’s then filtered through the sapphire, changing it, and transforming it to electrical energy. That lightning up there is what moves the city, and also keeps it from staying in one place.” “And your dad showed you all this!?” Spitfire asked incredulously. Rainbow shrugged and gave a sheepish grin, “What can I say, he really loved me.” Suddenly they heard the cracking of a whip behind them, Lara’s subtle way of getting them to start walking. The four of them walked inside slowly, looking over every inch of the amazing structure. Spitfire glanced behind her at the griffons, still trying to figure out what their agenda was. “You realize that what you’re doing to Cloudsdale doesn’t just affect Equestria, it affects the rest of the world. The Weather Factory has a treaty clause that prevents it from using weather to harm other nations, and to provide continuous, scheduled weather even in wartimes. The fact that you guys have taken over the city and shut down the factory puts your Empire in danger as well!” Spitfire argued. “Drought, dying crops, and all kinds of bad stuff can happen; your whole ecosystem could be thrown off by this! You’re only hurting yourselves,” shouted Rainbow Dash. “That would be a bad thing, but then again, maybe that’s why we haven’t needlessly killed all the inhabitants of this city, or harmed the Weather Factory.” Rainbow Dash and Spitfire stopped walking as they both came to the same conclusion. “No…you’re not seriously –!” “Oh we are,” said Lara. “We’re relocating Cloudsdale.” “Relocating Cloudsdale!?” Starburst had spent the last hour prying information from the solider. During her interrogation, emphasis on “terror”, Star was able to gain useful intel on her enemy. One of the most intriguing pieces was the fact that the armor of the Pretenders Division actually had the ability to cast an advanced form of the Glamour Spell she had Nidra cast on her months ago. It worked so well that nopony, even with detection spells, can tell the difference. And now the griffon had revealed a disturbing piece of information. “Y-Yes, our objective was to capture and isolate the workers of the Weather Factory, the employee’s families, and hold them hostage. Once that was complete, we were to close off the entire city, no one in or out. The last objective was to locate the Core Driver and move the city of Cloudsdale to the capital of the Empire, Griffonia...” That’s insane! If they do that they’ll have control over all weather systems – not just in Equestria – but the world! They could put us through a never ending drought, create floods, and rain down tornados! That is, they would, if Equestria didn’t surrender, and with a whole city of innocent ponies on the line…they’d be hard pressed not to comply. I’ll be damned if that’ll happen on my watch! Starburst made the chains snake underneath the soldier’s armor. The griffon shuddered at what the super powered mare was going to do. Suddenly the gaps in his armor were filled with yellow light, pushing against the protective gear and expanding to the breaking point. At last the soldier’s armor gave way to the power and the locks and straps that kept it in place broke off, stripping the griffon of his special armor. The enchanted creation fell to the hardened cloud floor. The griffon looked on in confusion as to why he hadn’t been killed, but decided to keep quiet. “Ring, analyze the armor, can you find a way to make it so that they can’t use their armor to hide?” Star pointed her ring at the pieces of armor, the power ring released a thin beam of light that passed over the pieces ten times and then stopped to process the data. [Armor enchantment appears to work upon the same principals as EM Distortion. I may be able to create a jamming frequency, but it will take time.] “Understood, how about intercepting their communications? Their using CommCrystals and it would be great to hear what they’re up to.” [Communication method uses magical elements, and I am not able to replicate such an ability. However, further analysis indicates that the magical energies are used to manipulate radio waves, using a similar frequency, interception is possible.] “Make it happen.” [Acknowledged.] Star then looked at the griffon soldier, who was staring at her in silence. It was hard to tell with her helmet on, but the narrowing, white eye slits made it clear that she was glaring at him. “Leave,” she ordered. “What!?” “You have no armor to hide you, and there’s an army of Royal Guards surrounding Cloudsdale. Trust me when I say that you’d be better off in a dungeon cell than running off to warn your comrades.” The griffon started to chuckle at Starburst’s act of mercy. “Do you honestly think that one pony is going to make a difference!? You think you can free the city and stop us!?” “Why not, I freed Stalliongrad.” At the mention of the liberated city, the griffon’s expression went from bemused superiority to shocked realization. “Y-You’re the Golden Star!?” Star nodded, confirming his fears. “So now you know what I’m capable of,” the Fear Lantern then began to move towards the opening, turning her back to the griffon, “if I were you I’d just surrender myself to the RGs.” The griffon flexed his talons, and stealthily crept towards Starburst, “You may be right, however...” he then crouched low, preparing to pounce, “I would offer to you that mercy should never be shown in the face of your enemy!” The griffon soldier lunged for the Fear Lantern, Star didn’t even turn around. Before the griffon could land on his target, a large, yellow, jagged spike construct formed between them. The griffon soldier had no time to get out of its way as he impaled himself on the construct, his momentum carrying him, further pushing him against the sharp protrusion. He coughed and gagged as blood filled his mouth, and even more spilled out from the wound “The last griffon I should mercy to got killed by Steel Wing, so he had an excuse. You have none, and while I admire your devotion to your homeland, I have a duty to mine as well, and that’s to protect it from the likes of you. And one more thing…” Behind the griffon, a large yellow casket with a face appeared. The casket then quickly opened up and revealed a myriad of sharp spikes on either side of the doors and on the back. The griffon tried desperately to get free from the spike, but it was too late. The spike vanished and the Iron Maiden construct closed around him, shutting with a powerful thud and the grotesque sounds of bone and internal organs being crushed and skewered. “Thanks for the advice…” Star dismissed the construct, not daring to look behind her to see the constructs handiwork. “Ring, scan all of Cloudsdale, designate hostiles and civilians, and give me a location of the largest concentration of them, once you have, display it.” The ring released a few more pulse waves; it didn’t take long since the power ring had already done a small scan of the city. Once it was done, the ring created a three dimensional construct of the city, similar to the one she had seen Valiant Heart looking at. Except hers had more detail, showing the griffons, shown as triangles, and ponies, shown as circles, and of course, the scan penetrated deeper down, showing Star the earlier mentioned Core Driver. [Scans show the populace is being held in three different locations. One is located at an arena, the second at a large museum structure, and the third at a facility designated the “Weather Factory”. Current number of hostiles is 549,999.] A small infiltration force, but large enough to cripple and effectively hold the city hostage. So long as they have those civilians the Guard can’t move in and –! Suddenly Star felt a violent jostling of the building. Everything rumbled and shook to the point that Star had to hover to stop being jostled. “Since when does a city in the sky experience an earthquake!? Ring, what’s going, what’s the cause of this!?” [Processing…Processing…Analysis complete. City is currently in motion, at a rate of five miles per hour, and speed is steadily increasing.] “Dammit they must’ve reached the Core Driver! I –!” [Alert: Enemy communication, wide broadcast to all hostiles.] “Let me hear it!” The ring made a few static sounds before the voice of their leader, Lazarus, came in clearly. {Attention all Pretenders: We have successfully taken control of the Core Driver, and are now in motion. We are now moving into the final phase of the operation and will be delivering this city to our Emperor. Maintain control of your groups, if you have to, kill three or four nonessential hostages – you all know exactly which ones I mean – in order to make a point. And that’s per group not for each of you. Rejoice my brethren, for we will bring to our homeland a glorious trophy! For the honor and prosperity of the Griffon Empire!} The transmission ended and Starburst gritted her teeth. She wasn’t about to let Clousdale become their “trophy”! “They will burn!” Starburst flew through the city, heading to her first destination. The ring had told her that a group of hostages were being kept at a large arena, and there was only one place that Star knew of that matched that description, the Cloudiseum. She flew under the cloak of her EM Distortion, not wanting to attract any attention until she could be sure as to the condition and actual location of the hostages. Star took a quick glance of the moon, noting that its position had changed and that some time had passed since she entered the city. For now, the night was her ally, and would conceal much of her activity from her enemies. Should daybreak come, Star was fully prepared to go all out, but for now, stealth was a must. She soon arrived at the Cloudiseum, and just like she thought, it was guarded by dozens of griffon Pretenders. They were situated at every exit, some were flying around the perimeter, and others were standing on the edges keeping watch of the ponies within. Star flew past the sentries, oblivious to her presence. When she peered inside Star gasped. The Cloudiseum was normally bottomless, since it was created by pegasi; there was no need for a floor since they could fly. But there were occasions when a floor could be brought out and fastened to the bottom of the arena. That is where many of the pony hostages were, all cramped into the large arena, some were consoling foals, and their fear was well known to Star thanks to her ring. The griffons did not care for the comfort of their hostages, so long as they had a place where they could control them and was easily defendable, it didn’t matter. Star then saw a sight that made her blood boil. Pinned to four of the cloud pillars were four pony bodies, two were stallions and two were mares. A spear protruded from their abdomens, large arrows pinned their wings into a flared position, while their hind and forelegs were also skewered. They laid splayed, heads down having been dead for who knows how long, like somepony’s sick butterfly collection. Her only lucky break here was that the hostages were in a central location, which made it easier for her to enact her plan. Star flew up till she was in the center above the arena. Taking into account the griffons who kept guard in the rafters, she began. Star pointed her ring at the large group of ponies below, firing a beam of yellow light that seemed like it appeared out of nowhere. The beam stopped a few feet and then quickly burst open, surrounding the group and forming a protective sphere. “Ring,” she whispered, “jam all communications, ten miles wide.” [Acknowledged, jamming all communications within a ten mile radius.] The griffon soldiers all began to shout and yell, all asking the same questions, “Where did that come from!?” and “Break it before they escape!” Several of the soldiers flew towards the sphere and began beating at it with their swords, spears, and talons. But nothing they did would break the protective shell. It was at this moment that Starburst deactivated her EM Distortion and allowed herself to be seen, her yellow aura flaring in contrast to the full moon behind her. Many of the griffons stopped their assault and stared up at the new arrival, wondering what they were looking at. Beware your fears made into light! Star raised her right hoof and let the light of the yellow power ring shine. Twenty of the hundred-thousand griffons flew up to attack the Fear Lantern, but they realized too late that that was a mistake. Suddenly one of the griffons was covered in tiny construct spiders; they crawled all over his body, swarming him. The griffon frantically tried to claw them off of his body, but all his attempts were futile, either his talons bounced off the spider constructs or they gouged his own flesh. To his horror a few of them started to enter his body, making him plummet to the ground, writhing in terror and agony. The others weren’t faring any better. Some were being drowned in a pool of construct water, some were being pressed into a tighter and tighter box, and others had horrific monsters tearing them apart. It didn’t take long for those twenty to die, prompting the remaining warriors to launch ranged attacks. Star’s aura made the useless spears and arrows bounce off of her like they were nothing, she didn’t even feel them. Starburst then whipped her right hoof through the air, in its wake a stream of yellow light appeared, taking the form of a large leviathan hydra that coiled in a protective circle around the Fear Lantern who created it. Star then swiped her hoof from left to right, ordering the beast to dispatch her foes. The nine headed creature quickly went to work. Quick as a cobra, the heads lashed out and plucked one griffon soldier after the other. The griffons attempted to attack and slay the construct, but like their fallen brethren, they too found out the futility in attacking the yellow constructs, and paid the price for it. Eventually the guards from outside joined in the fight, thinking that they could overwhelm the beast with sheer numbers. Not wanting to let them escape, Star fired a blast into the air, creating a tightly woven birdcage around the Cloudiseum, preventing any attempt at escape. One of griffons had somehow made it through Star’s hydra construct and tried to strike her down with his sword. Starburst quickly created a shield construct around her right hoof, making the blade bounce harmlessly against its surface. To her left hoof, she created a flamberge sword and slashed upwards with the weapon! The light blade easily pierced through the griffon’s armor, leaving a bloody gash across his chest. Another tried to attack her from behind, his spear pointed directly at her heart. Star surprised her opponent by doing a backflip in midair. Unfortunately for her opponent, his spear missed his original target and instead found its home in the heart of his ally. The shocked state of the soldier gave Star enough time to create futuristic, mini-cannon around her left foreleg. She then pointed the weapon at the two griffons and released a single shot. The beam instantly incinerated the two foolish griffons. Star flew higher into the sky, nearly reaching the ceiling of her birdcage. It was from this height that she was able to see multitudes of griffons trying to escape, having come to their senses that battling the Fear Lantern was a death sentence. “You had your chance!” Her voice boomed, altered slightly to make her sound older than her actual age. “Now it’s time for you to be punished for your crimes!” The light from her ring shined brighter, the fear from the griffons was intensifying its power. From the depths of ancient myth, Star summoned forth a new construct. Its body resembled that of a worm, but it was gigantic and nearly took up all the space in the cage. At the head of the beast there were a dozen eyes, and in its mouth were rows, upon rows, upon rows of sharpened teeth that rotated like an enormous grinder. This was the swallower of sailing ships, devourer of sailors, the vortex, Charybdis. Starburst then unleashed the beast upon the helpless griffons. It circled the interior of the cage, swallowing all the griffons it could in its giant maw. The terrified screams of the griffons echoed out into the night air as one by one they fell. Once she was sure that her Charybdis construct had eaten its fill of griffons, she dismissed her construct. “Ring, target remaining hostiles!” An orb surrounded Starburst, on the surface of the interior it displayed the remaining griffon soldiers, and each one had a target stamped on it. [5,000 hostiles remaining. Targeted and locked on.] Star commanded the sphere to let loose, exactly, five-thousand energy beams. These beams, however, did not shoot straight. They bent and curved around different obstacles, searching, hunting down their target with deadly precision. The griffons tried to outrun the beams of yellow light, but it was no use, each one found its mark, shooting straight through their armor, and piercing their hearts. Once the beams eliminated their targets they disappeared into tiny light particles. Soon the area was littered with the corpses of her enemies, griffons either taken apart by her constructs or killed instantly by her energy beams. [Remaining hostiles: 0. Civilian deaths: 0. Power levels currently at 85%.] Good to hear, looks like all that training is paying off. Star waved her hoof over the sphere that contained the hostages, making the barrier break apart and fade away. Star had made the sphere solid, allowing for zero visibility so as to spare the foals and older ponies the sight of her killing them in such horrifying ways. It didn’t take them long to see all the dead griffon bodies, and even less to link that the mare in yellow armor was the one responsible for it. “Be calm citizens of Cloudsdale, I mean you no harm.” Star’s voice was once again altered, instead of the intimidating tone it carried before, it was now more soothing and warm, but it still sounded like she was older. “The griffons keeping you captive have been dealt with.” “What was that quake earlier!?” A mare cried. “Did they blow up the Weather Factory!?” asked stallion. “They did not blow up the factory; the quake was caused by something else. For now, I urge you to hide the best you can, and take up arms. Do not engage the griffons, stay down and I promise you, I will take back your city!” Star could see it in their eyes, they were still a bit distrusting of her, but after seeing the carnage she could unleash, it didn’t take much convincing for them to comply with her. With that settled, Star made her way to her next stop. Damn, those assholes were tricky! Star had had a little more difficulty dispatching the griffon soldiers in the museum. They were all hiding amongst many of the exhibits and in hidden areas of the building. Luckily Starburst was able to take care of them, without any of the civilians getting hurt. Now she was on her way to her last stop before dealing with the remaining Pretenders in the city and stopping the Core Driver, the Weather Factory. Starburst flew through the expansive and, admittedly, impressive factory. She had been to the Weather Factory, at the very least five times when she was a little filly, but given that that was a while back Star was taking in the whole setup. After all, as a pegasus pony, this was her heritage. It wasn’t long before she found the captives. All were still wearing their working clothes, white helmets, with white lab coats and protective glasses. Star perched herself on a rafter, hiding in the shadows. Yes she was pretty much invisible, but it helped to be cautious in these kinds of closed quarter areas. It was obvious to her that the griffon she interrogated was correct, they had not harmed the Weather Factory, for their plan to succeed they needed it intact. For a moment, Star contemplated damaging the Weather Factory enough for it to be useless to the griffons, but the flipside to that would be that the factory would also be unusable to Equestria too. Depending upon the damage, it could take weeks or months, too long and Equestria’s ecosystem could be thrown out of whack. Last resort, that will only be a last resort, she thought. “Ring,” she whispered, “what’s Cloudsdale’s current speed?” [Speed has increased to fifty miles per hour – correction – it is now at fifty-two miles per hour.] And since I don’t know what a floating city’s top speed is, it’s better to operate under the assumption that it’ll go faster. Need to take care of them, now! Adopting the same tactic as before, Starburst incased the ponies in a dome of protective yellow light and began her attack on the griffons. She merely strode through the mayhem she created, letting her constructs take care of the soldiers, all the while making sure that they did not damage any of the machinery in the factory itself. Starburst mostly used the Fear Shine, assaulting their minds and eliminating them with localized constructs of those fears was easier and assured that the factory would remain intact. It took all of three minutes for the griffons to fall to ground. Each had a terrified expression frozen on their faces. Star once again brought down the barrier and was treated to her own round of shocked and scared expressions. “Do not worry, your families are safe, but there are still griffons within the city,” said Star. “We’ve felt the quakes, and it looks like the city is moving, is that true?” asked a mare factory worker. Starburst thought about it, from what she was able to gather, the Core Driver wasn’t exactly a widely known thing. It did annoy Star that her mother and father didn’t tell her about something that important to the stability of Cloudsdale. It may not be where she grew up or lived, but she was still a pegasus, and she had her pride as one. “It is moving, I don’t know what’s causing it,” she lied, “But I’ll get to the bottom of this. For now, find a safe place and fortify it. Do not let anypony in unless it’s the Royal Guard, and be sure before you do!” The factory workers agreed to her plan, after seeing what Star could do, they weren’t exactly sure arguing with her was a good idea, plus, she did save them. After making sure that the workers were in a safe enough place, Starburst left them and hurried outside. She flew high above the floating city, noting that the moon was about to dip below the horizon, and it wouldn’t be long before Princess Celestia raised the sun. So far, she had managed to keep her activities quiet, but they wouldn’t go announced in broad daylight. So, instead of losing the element of surprise, Starburst decided to draw their attention, solely, to her. Starburst waited patiently a few feet above the city. For her plan to succeed, she would need to draw the attention of every griffon occupying Cloudsdale, so long as they focused on the yellow, glowing pony in the sky, they wouldn’t bother looking for the civilians she saved. “Ring, what’s the remaining enemy count? [Number of hostiles is 200,000.] “Alright, check power levels.” [Power levels at 65%.] “Stealth and phasing really drain the charge, well, luckily this next part is meant to be flashy and less stealthy.” Starburst pointed her ring at the empty air. It then emitted a bright yellow glow that tore open a hole in space. From the hole floated her power battery. The yellow lantern floated directly to her, where she quickly took hold of it in the crook of her left hoof. This was probably one of the few times she was going to take a lesson from her Aunt Rarity, as far as making a grand entrance that is. Starburst looked to the horizon and saw that dawn’s early light had shone, it was time. Starburst quickly placed her hoof into the open port, at that moment the lantern blazed to life with yellow fear energy, brightening the sky and illuminating most of the city. “In Blackest day, in Brightest Night, Beware your fears made into light! Let those who try and stop what’s right, Burn like my power – FEAR LANTERN’S LIGHT!” Starburst’s body erupted with yellow energy, blazing like a Golden Star in middle of the day. Every griffon in Cloudsdale, as well as the pony residents, and even the pursuing Royal Guard, stared in amazement and wonder at the sight. Starburst then made the energy take the shape of the Fear Lantern insignia, the emblem shining behind her for all to see. She then returned her power battery back to the pocket dimension. [Power levels at 100%.] “Hear me griffon Pretenders of Cloudsdale!” Starburst used her ring to magnify her voice, making it boom across the sky. “I am the Golden Star of Stalliongrad, I am the Fear Lantern! I have come to liberate Cloudsdale from your tyranny, if you think you are brave enough, I welcome you to try and defeat me!” Now I just have to hope that they are dumb enough to – [Incoming hostiles detected. Number of hostiles: 199,998.] Guess those last two must be their leaders. I’ll deal with them soon enough, but first… The air was swarming with griffon soldiers; each one had a furious look in their eyes. Star had played them well, she knew that they might want revenge against the one who cost them Stalliongrad, and that they wouldn’t pass up the chance to get the glory of defeating said opponent. “Good, there’s just one more thing I need to do. Ring, is it ready?” [Affirmative, Jammer is prepared and on standby.] “Then let’s make sure they can’t ‘pretend’ anymore!” Starburst raised her right hoof into the air, the ring upon it then released a powerful yellow wave that radiated outwards, its range continued to grow till it encompassed all of Cloudsdale. After a few seconds the wave retracted back to the ring. At first the griffons didn’t feel any different, but they soon found out the true target of her attack. The crystals on their armor all began to crack and the shatter into tiny dust particles. The source of their Glamour Spell was destroyed. Starburst didn’t wait for them to figure it out, from her ring, Star produced hundreds upon thousands of demonic creatures, some from the pages of ancient philosophy books of Tartarus, and others from her own imagination, either way they were all grotesque and nightmarish. The constructs began to attack the griffon horde, easily decimating them. They tore into them with their razor sharp claws, ripped them apart with their dagger teeth, Starburst was literally painting the sky red with the blood of her enemies. Some tried to escape the onslaught, but she wasn’t about to let them get away. Using her great speed, Starburst got the drop them, one right after the other, fending off two, three, five opponents at once. These Pretenders fought a little differently from the griffon soldiers in Stalliongrad, but their style had similarities to them. Still, it made little difference in preventing their fate. Starburst would dual wield different swords, some floated in circle around her, creating a halo of blades, and often, when she flared her wings, the construct swords would align to mimic additional wings, making her look even more intimidating than usual. As horrifying as it was to the griffons, they couldn’t help but be astonished. Star was battling one griffon, holding a broadsword in both hooves, while two other swords were fighting two griffons to her left, another two blades were dueling with opponents to her left, and lastly another three were doing the same behind her. She was seeing the results of Claire’s training, keeping your focus while multitasking. Despite Star battling the griffon before her, she was completely aware of the other seven around her. The griffon she was personally fighting raised his blade for an overhead strike, but Star quickly deflected the blow, and spun in place, adding momentum to her horizontal slash, slicing the griffon in two. Star then created seven copies of herself to go with the blades that were fighting on their own. It threw the soldiers off their game to see a pure light version of their real opponent, which was her intention. At nearly the same time the construct copies cut down their individual opponents, their lifeless bodies falling out of the sky. The copies nodded to each other, and finally to the original, to which Starburst did as well before they disappeared. The final vestiges of the griffon Pretenders were doing all they could just to survive, having given up on trying to fight against the demon constructs. Starburst, for her finale, created a giant version of her Aunt Pinkie Pie’s party cannon, deciding this should end with a bang! The cannon’s mouth quickly gathered energy. The demon constructs had effectively herded them into a neat cluster. The particles of the demon constructs were deconstructed and absorbed into the cannon. Too late, to leave the blast zone, Starburst kicked with her right hind leg, mock lighting the fuse and having the cannon fire. The discharge was like a giant, concentrated fireworks show. The sparkling, crackling blast hit the remaining griffon Pretenders, making them explode in a shower of glittering, golden particle dust. Star dismissed the cannon and took a moment to catch her breath, being careful not overexert herself during the battle. It did her no good to pass out in the middle of a fight. “Ring, what’s the remaining enemy count?” [Number of hostiles is two, which are located several feet below the city.] “Bring up the map!” The ring showed a holographic model of the city. “Zoom in on the lower section.” The ring complied with her request, bringing up the image of the Core Driver. Two triangles indicated enemy combatants, but the circles indicated civilians. Star thought for a moment, and during the entire night, amongst the many pegasi she saved, there were two who didn’t seem to be among them. It was then that she made the startling realization that Rainbow Dash and Spitfire must be with the enemy leaders. “Oh no, I need to hurry and get to them! Ring, map the fastest route to the Core Driver!” [Processing…Proncess –] “Oh screw it, I know a faster way! Keep the map displayed!” [Acknowledged.] Starburst zoomed off ahead of the city, putting a good fifty miles of distance between her and the floating metropolis. Her position on the map was indicated via the Fear Lantern insignia. Once she was sure about her position, Starburst shot towards the city at blinding speed. She intentionally aimed low, going for the side of the cloud. A construct formed in front of Starburst, taking the form of a drill. It spun rabidly and whirred to life. Starburst then struck the side of the city and started boring through the hardened clouds. Hold on Aunt Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, I’m coming!!! Down below, Lara was getting frustrated as she paced back and forth, and every so often glared daggers at the two captive mares. Her brother Lazarus was busy fiddling with the controls to the Core Driver, paying little heed to his sister’s agitated state. It had been some time since they lost communications with their forces on the surface, and with the shattering of their Glamour Crystals, and the disruption of the CommCrystals, things were going south for them fast. “Dammit Laz, we need to abort the mission! Didn’t you hear that freakin’ loud as Tartarus announcement!? The Golden Star is here! You know the one that beat us at Stalliongrad in one night – ONE F’ING NIGHT! You don’t think that our forces aren’t all cannon fodder by now!?” Lazarus ran a talon through his plumage, trying to remain cool and collected. “Lara, now is not the time to lose control, if anything, we must maintain what control we still have.” Lara slammed her fist on one of the guardrails and growled in anger and frustration. “Damn you Laz! Wake up and smell the horseshit! We’re going to have our asses served to us on a silver platter!” Rainbow Dash and Spitfire watched as Lara continued to curse and chew out her brother for not retreating now while they had the chance. “Hey, how’re you doing,” whispered Rainbow. “Better, if you got something planned that is,” replied Spitfire. Rainbow Dash glanced at the two griffons and then to the Core Driver, she then grimaced as an idea came to the forefront of her mind, and Rainbow Dash wished she had thought of something better. “Yeah…but you aren’t going to like it…” “I haven’t liked anything about this whole situation, what’s your plan?” “……We have to destroy the core of the Core Driver, by which I mean that glowing sapphire at the center.” Spitfire did a double take at that, she knew Rainbow Dash couldn’t be considering doing what she just said, could she? “Dash…you do realize what that’ll do to Cloudsdale!? The entire city will fall out of the sky like a lead weight!” “It’s better to die standing than on our knees begging! We can’t let them get Cloudsdale and every foal, mare, and stallion in it! I’d rather die than see that happen!” Spitfire looked to the quarreling griffons, and then the sapphire crystal. She hated to admit it, but Rainbow Dash was right, deep down every pegasus was born warrior, it was in their blood. If it meant sparing the lives of the pegasi from having to endure slavery and fates worse than death, then…the unthinkable must be done. “……I don’t plan on dying here today Rainbow.” “I don’t either, so long as we can kick their asses, think of the other as a Plan B.” “Then I’ll take the crazy sadist bitch, I owe her one.” “Great, I get the creepy, calm sociopath…I’d rather fight the sadist.” Rainbow Dash and Spitfire loosened up, relaxing their muscles, they needed to be nimble, quick, and above all, deadly for the attack. Lara had, for the last five minutes, cussing her brother out, trying to convince him that they needed to go while the getting was good. Rainbow and Spitfire had to admit, the crass griffoness had a way with stringing profanities together. It was almost funny. Unfortunately, Lazarus seemed to have reached his limit and had begun arguing with her, the brother wasn’t as good at cursing as his sister. Meanwhile, the two pegasus mares readied themselves, their eyes fixated on their targets, doing little gestures to tell the other how and when they would move, something that only two former Wonderbolts could understand after years of working together, flying, and putting their absolute trust in each other. With a nod of Rainbow’s head, the two mares launched themselves at their perspective targets. Spitfire landed a flying punch right into Lara’s beak, sending the griffoness smashing into the guardrails. Rainbow Dash opted for a flying kick, landing her blow square in the griffon’s chest plate, knocking him back against the console. Lazarus barely had time to recover before Rainbow Dash went into pummeling him with rapid fire punches, forcing him to go on the defensive. Spitfire squared off with Lara, who looked particularly miffed at having been sucker punched by a pony. She wiped away a trickle of blood from her beak with a single talon, and then licked it clean. Spitfire cringed at the sight. “Oh I’m going to enjoy this! I’ve been wanting to carve my name into that flank since I first saw you!” “Sorry I’m taken, but speaking of my flank, ever wonder how I got my cutie mark?” “I don’t care how you got your ‘oh so special’ butt tattoo!” Lara hissed with venom. “Oh you should…!” Spitfire flared her wings as she narrowed her gaze at Lara. At that moment, the fiery maned pegasus sprinted at Lara. The griffoness had little to no time at all to counterattack. Spitfire’s left wing began to spark with fiery embers, like a lighter about to ignite until, finally, her left wing caught fire just as she brought across Lara’s eyes! The griffoness howled in pain the searing flames burned her eyes and flashed at the moment of contact. Spitfire came to a rest, wisps of smoke lapped off of her left wing as the air around it fluctuated from the heat. “Fire Flash, my signature flight move, and its the very thing that got me my cutie mark!” Lara continued to howl in pain from having her eyes burned, the smell of searing flesh and burnt feathers wafted in the air and it only made Lara sicker knowing that it was emanating from her. “LARA!” Rainbow Dash, taking advantage of the distraction, halted her barrage of punches. She then did a flip kick and caught the griffon under his beak with her right hind leg, which sent him spinning till he landed on his back in a daze. Rainbow Dash looked from the disoriented Lazarus to the glowing blue sapphire crystal. She then glanced over to Spitfire; the question did not need to be verbal. One look said it all. Spitfire, with determination in her eyes, nodded. With the knowledge that Spitfire was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice along with her, Rainbow Dash took flight. She flew higher and higher inside the enormous room and slowly began to angle back. Rainbow Dash was building up momentum, she was going to use herself as a battering ram to smash the sapphire. Once she was at the right angle, Dash looped around and dove. Faster and faster she plummeted, forming a perfect rainbow arc as she prepared to end that arc right at the crystal. Lazarus, after regaining his senses, noticed Rainbow Dash’s odd flight pattern. It didn’t take the intelligent griffon long to figure out what she was planning on doing, and he was worried. He quickly turned to Lara who, at the moment, was blindly swinging her large forearm blade back and forth, trying to cut down Spitfire. Her enraged frenzy made it hard for the former Wonderbolt captain to get close to deliver any kind of blow. “Lara, your whip, NOW!” Despite her lack of sight, Lara grabbed her whip and, surprisingly, tossed the weapon right to Lazarus. He only had a few seconds left, Rainbow Dash was gaining speed and soon they’d all die. Lazarus whirled the whip over his and cracked it in Rainbow Dash’s direction. The prismatic mare didn’t have time to register what happened next. The whip had wrapped around her left hind leg, she then felt a powerful pulling motion jerk her down to the platform. The speed of her attack, combined with the strength of Lazarus’ pull, made for a painful crash landing, causing Rainbow Dash to bounce a couple of times before coming to a stop, sprawled out on her back. Rainbow groaned in pain, trying to get her bearings after her violent landing. Lazarus was on her now, wrapping his claw around her throat and raising her up as he steadily applied pressure. It was then that Rainbow Dash saw something from the griffon she thought she’d never see, anger. “I consider myself to be a patient and well-mannered griffon. I’ve tried to be calm, and as civilized as possible when dealing with you pegasi, but now…now you have ruffled my feathers!” Lazarus raised Rainbow higher, making her gag and gasp for air. “You know, Rainbow Dash, I had entertained the idea of possibly letting you and Spitfire go, maybe keep you two as pets, I would’ve treated you with the respect you have earned. But you just had to go and get me angry, just had,” Lazarus delivered a punch to Rainbow’s stomach, forcing her to release more of her precious oxygen from her lungs, “to get me angry!” “RAINBOW DASH!” Spitfire was about to fly to Rainbow Dash’s rescue, but Lara found her prey, pouncing on top of the pegasus mare and pinning her to the floor. Lara growled and smiled wickedly as she licked her chops, thinking of the many ways she was going to make the mare scream in pain for taking her sight. “I may not be able to see you, but I can still enjoy the sound of you squealing for mercy!” Rainbow Dash and Spitfire’s eyes met for a brief moment, conveying their joint disbelief and anger for not being able to stop the two psychotic griffons and save Cloudsdale. Suddenly the room rumbled. The two griffons and pegasi looked around to see what the cause of it was. At that moment the wall to the far side of the room burst open as a giant yellow drill pierced through. The drill then disappeared and a yellow streak of light zoomed from the giant hole it had dug. Flying right to their location, body aglow with yellow light, armor shining like the sun, was the warrior that had challenged them, the Fear Lantern. Before the griffons could properly react, the Fear Lantern thrust both her forelegs forward, and from them appeared two menacing claw constructs. The left claw grabbed hold of Lazarus, making him drop Rainbow Dash he thrashed about in its grip. Lara, being partially blind, only felt the claw wrap around her and pull her off of Spitfire. Fear Lantern brought the two griffons up close to her, glaring at them with white narrowed eyes. “You two must be the leaders, good.” “Release us or –!” “Or you’ll what, have your underlings kill the hostages? Sorry, you have no more soldiers; I took care of them before coming for you two.” Lara growled loudly, “You lying bitch! There’s no way you could take down half a million troops!” “I took down more than that in Stalliongrad, and that was before I knew what I was doing.” The Fear Lantern then sent electrical surges through the claws, making the two griffons writhe from having their pain receptors attacked directly. “I should kill you two, after all you’ve done, and all you were planning to do! It’d only be fitting! But…we’re going to need information from you two, so…” The Fear Lantern sent one powerful jolt through their bodies, making Lazarus and Lara lose consciousness. She then threw their bodies onto the platform, where they fell limp and unmoving. Rainbow Dash and Spitfire watched as the Fear Lantern landed on the platform and immediately went to the console. “Hey, what are you doing!? Get away from that!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Don’t worry, I’m here to help,” said Fear Lantern. “Ring, scan the console and tell me how to stop Cloudsdale from moving.” Fear Lantern pointed her ring at the console, releasing probing waves of yellow light over the series of levers, buttons, and gauges. [Scan is complete, this technology is not entirely foreign to me, and some of the principals are similar to other devices within my data.] “Who the hay was that?!” Spitfire asked as she looked for the voice. “It’s complicated. Ring, walk me through it.” Rainbow Dash and Spitfire watched as the Fear Lantern went to work trying to stop Cloudsdale from moving. Many tendrils shot out from the ring, throwing levers, pushing buttons, and turning dials that were out of reach from the mare working at her station. “Do you think she can do it?” “I think the real question here is: is she a pony or another griffon in disguise…?” The actions of the Fear Lantern started to show in the Core Driver. The lightning above started to calm, the swirling pool of spectra gradually stopped swirling like a vortex and became a calm sea of rainbow colors. The machine eventually made whirring and groaning noises as the Core Driver wind down. All three mares waited and listened, from what they could tell the Core Driver had stopped. “Ring, what is the current speed of the city?” [Zero miles per hour, the city has come to a stop 500 miles from its original location.] Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, and Fear Lantern all breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks…uh, Fear Lantern right?” Rainbow asked. “Yes, um, are you two hurt?” “Banged up to Tartarus, but otherwise nothing permanent,” said Spitfire. “Good to hear…” Fear Lantern noticed that Rainbow Dash was staring at her, “Uh, is there something wrong?” “Not sure…” Rainbow Dash cautiously walked up to the Fear Lantern, noticing how great the height difference was between her and other mare. “So, what are you, a superhero or something?” Fear Lantern rubbed the back of her head with her left hoof nervously, “I wouldn’t call myself a superhero. I’m more a soldier for justice…is there something else?” Rainbow Dash scrunched her face in contemplation, “Don’t know why, but you kinda remind of somepony I know.” After a moment Rainbow Dash just shrugged, she knew it was going to nag at her later, but now wasn’t the time. “Anyway, thanks for stopping them.” “No problem.” “Hey, are the citizens safe? What about the Royal Guard, are they moving in?” “They’re all safe, Mrs. Spitfire, I took care of all the griffon occupiers. As far as the Royal Guard is concerned, I don’t think they’ve moved in yet. Most likely they’re waiting to see what’ll happen after my little display.” “And what a display it was.” All three mares jumped at the new voice. They swiveled their heads around until their eyes came to a rest at the main entrance. A brown feathered male griffon, wearing the same armor as the rest of the Pretenders, was standing there, grinning at the two mares. “Ring, I thought that there were only two left, why didn’t you alert me to a third!?” [Scanning…Scanning…Error, target does not show up on any scans, target is an Unknown.] The Fear Lantern stepped in front of Rainbow Dash and Spitfire, acting as a barrier between them and this new griffon. He started to slowly walk towards them, shaking his head as if disappointed. “Really, I would’ve thought Lazarus and Lara more capable, but considering who their opponent is I can’t really blame them now can I?” Fear Lantern raised her right foreleg and held it steady with her left. The ring began to glow as energy built up within it. “That’s far enough, now who are you – what are you!?” The griffon chuckled at her request. “Forgive me, but it’s rude to ask for my name when you hide behind a mask and don’t bother to give me your name. You’ll just have to settle for my nom de guerre.” Suddenly the griffon’s body was enshrouded in darkness. The shadows swirled around him like a twister, obscuring his form from view. After a brief moment the shadows retracted and took the form of large bird-like wings. Attached to those wings was a different griffon from before. His feathers and fur were black as night, with a gray colored beak and talons, and piercing, icy blue eyes. His armor was a dark violet, and looked similar to the Pretenders armor, except it lacked the crystals that helped to facilitate the Glamour Spell. “I am one of the four Commanders of his Majesty’s army, my name is Shadow Wing.”