Chapter 72
Tsunami
The ocean trembled and swayed, unprepared for so many forms charging for the surface, which created a tsunami of a wave. It was out of this wall of water that Trident’s chariot finally emerged into the night air, announced by a colossal splash. His royal guardsponies followed suit, breaching and arcing from the side of the wave like dolphins. The guards leapt and twisted and swam and dove all in perfect formation, so it was a bit more interesting to watch the random routines of the inquisitive hippocampi trailing behind. Mares, stallions and children alike chased after the royal chariot, gawking after the land ponies seated in the back.
“Hello!” Time Turner enthusiastically waved to one young filly, who sheepishly blushed and waved back.
“We did it! We really did it!” Charcoal cheered, laughing to himself and leaning back into the chariot. He hadn’t realized how exhausted he had become, but entering into the crisp night air reminded him of the time. The full moon hung almost directly overhead; it must be midnight.
“Sure did, lad,” Water Mark agreed, following the form of a rather energetic hippocampus stallion as he silhouetted the moon and soared clear over their heads.
“Land ho!” Trident exclaimed, summoning another wave to carry the troops along.
“Look at all these ponies! We didn’t even know they were here!” Ditzy exclaimed. “Chrysalis won’t stand a chance!”
“Uh, speaking of whom...” Time Turner took his companion by the shoulders and twisted her around. Peering around King Trident at the shores ahead, the ponies were met with a frightful scene.
“Oh, no!” Charcoal exclaimed. Judging by the humongous silhouettes of six dragons poking up from somewhere within the town, the flock had arrived safely. However, they were not the only ones. Chrysalis’ minions had descended upon the village. Trixie had kept up her end of the deal, and created a protective force field of her pale pink aura around the entire town. But even between all of the unicorns, the shields were not holding up. The drones beat and bashed against the force field, creating giant fissures and cracks in the magical wall.
“Faster!” Water Mark urged the king.
“Hurry!” Ditzy agreed.
“Onward!” King Trident ordered the chariot. Charcoal’s eyes were glued to the changelings. There was no way they would make it in time to do anything, at this rate.
“Charcoal, no!” Time Turner just missed as he made a wild grab for Charcoal’s tail. Before Charcoal even realized what he was doing, his wings snapped open, shooting him up amongst the stars. His wings were still heavy with water and the weight of the day, and it took an immense amount of effort to carry him anywhere. But his family and friends were in that town. He had to get to them.
In the air, he was much faster than the hippocampi, and zoomed into the lead. Ditzy had also been recruited by Time Turner and Water Mark to go after him, and followed a little further behind. Still, there was no way the clumsy mare would catch up to the outraged colt at this pace.
“HEY UGLY!” A couple changelings turned away from their work on the barrier to find the source of the voice. Five of them honed in on the rapidly approaching shape of Charcoal Stormwood, son of the Element of Forgiveness and more importantly, one of the most wanted by their mistress. The five changelings sneered greedily and abandoned the wall for the colt, at least a hundred others following suit as the news spread through the hive mind.
Charcoal set his jaw, eyes narrow, seething with contempt for the creatures. He’d teach them to mess with his friends. The charge soon turned into a game of chicken as both parties flew head-on. The changelings’ fangs flashed in the moonlight, blue eyes glowing and piercing the night sky. Charcoal’s amber orbs shot open. What was he doing? One thestral couldn’t take on that many changelings! He spread his wings, hoping to catch air and divert his course, but the changelings were still coming at him. Charcoal’s hooves flared up just in time to teleport him back to his brother’s jaws instead of the changelings’ hooves.
“Oh! Well, isn’t that just a nifty little trick?” Time Turner grinned from the chariot. “I do love a good teleport,” he commented, elbowing Water Mark.
“Doctor?” Water Mark nudged him right back, pointing back to the second form lingering in the sky. Time Turner’s pupils shrank.
“DITZY!”
“Welcome back,” Garble greeted, gently setting the pony down.
“So? Did you find them?” Spectrum eagerly inquired, pushing through the crowd.
“We found ‘em alright,” Charcoal confirmed, pointing out to the dark ocean waters. It was hard to see the traveling sea ponies from here, admittedly, but the changeling swarm now chasing after them was undeniable.
“Is that...?” Spectrum squinted at the night sky.
“Ditzy?!” Charcoal exclaimed. He hadn’t been aware the mare was following him. Now that he was safely inside, she had turned back and was fleeing to the protection of the hippocampi, but Ditzy was not the fastest mare around.
“Get her in here!” Spectrum hollered, shaking Charcoal.
“I’m trying,” Charcoal panted. After everything that had happened today, he was surprised he had managed his own last-minute teleport. Now he couldn’t even seek out the pegasus mare to bring her in.
“Hurry!” The rainbow-maned pony was almost ecstatic. The changelings were almost upon her!
“I’ve got her!” It was not Charcoal that had spoken, but a black thestral with a black mane and a flaming scroll for a cutie mark. The thestral’s hooves flared up with pale yellow flame, depositing the trembling mare on the ground in front of him.
“Ditzy!” Charcoal and Spectrum both pounced her. Only now did she dare open her eyes.
“Charcoal? But how...?”
“We teleported you here. I learned a new fire dancing trick,” he told her. “But that doesn’t explain how Fink got you here.”
“Glitter Shine has been teaching all the thestrals in time how to defend themselves from the changelings,” the disguised changeling explained. More quietly, he added, “Though I am a changeling, in this form, I have the abilities of your kind.”
“So it looks like Trixie hasn’t had much luck with the unicorns here,” Charcoal mentioned, glancing up at the cracked ceiling above him.
“No,” Fink agreed. “Nor have any proved strong enough to relieve Shift of the hive mind.”
“Where is Trixie?”
“She and the other unicorns have set up a headquarters of sorts in the Unbridled Inn’s conference room.”
“Right.” Charcoal nodded his thanks to the changeling and headed for the building.
“I’ll come too,” Ditzy decided. “Or at least walk with you until we get to the TARDIS. The first thing the Doctor is going to want is a new sonic screwdriver. He loves that thing as much as I love muffins!”
“Uh huh.” Charcoal didn’t have time to pay attention to Ditzy and her wild stories of time travel and alien invasions. He had to see how things were with Trixie, pronto. He broke into a gallop upon spotting the hotel, and paused only to ask a maid where the conference room was.
“Charcoal! You’re back!” Glitter Shine rushed from Trixie’s side to offer him a welcome back hug. Normally, Charcoal’s face would have flushed at the gesture, but he was both too busy and too tired to even acknowledge it. Things weren’t looking good, here. Trixie sat at the head of the table, horn aglow but with bags under her eyes. She slumped over the table, head resting on her hooves. Several other unicorns accompanied her, though none appeared to be in any better shape.
“How are you holding up?” Charcoal moved to check on the blue unicorn in charge.
“Not well,” she confessed with a cough. “I’m not practiced enough in the spell to hold it up much longer. It’s because of all the energy we’re getting that we’ve kept it up this long,” she gestured to the many faces around her.
“I couldn’t figure out how the thestrals made their own barriers in the uprising,” Glitter sighed. “It’s just been Trixie protecting us. But they can’t keep it up much longer.” As if on cue, one of the other unicorn stallions in the room finally slumped completely over, eyes shut and horn dimmed as he passed out from lack of energy. “See what I mean?” Glitter hurried to his side and got Charcoal to help hoist him atop her back. “This is the third one so far. They’re all spent. We need someone to properly cast the spell.”
“Runestone refused to come! Who else could we possibly get?” Charcoal wracked his brain, yet came up with nothing.
“Ah!” Trixie yelped, clutching her head.
“Trixie!” Charcoal hurried back as Glitter dashed to deposit her passenger into new care. “What’s wrong?”
“The shield... something’s hitting it... bigger than changelings...” the unicorn panted, veins popping out from the sheer strain as she did her best to hang on. Charcoal rushed to find a window.
“No! No, no, no!” He knew precisely what was wrong. King Trident had finally reached shore, and was fulfilling his promise to help them... sort of. In order for his soldiers to even reach the changelings, they either had to lure them down to the water or make the water go to them. Trident had chosen the latter. Massive waves as large as the tallest buildings crashed upon the shield, achieving their goal of washing away the changelings but putting a tremendous amount of weight on the already cracked wall. “No! Stop!” He wasn’t sure who he was shouting at at this point. Trident wouldn’t hear, and everypony else was too busy frantically running for their lives to pay attention anyway.
No. It just couldn’t end this way! Would his own plan be the very thing that killed them? Water began to spurt from the cracks in the shield, showering the ponies below.
“Char!” A long red tail wound itself around Charcoal’s middle and yanked him back. Recognizing the eminent danger, Garble had begun to collect the ponies beneath his huge bulk. Not that it would help. That much water would still wash them all away.
Charcoal clung to his brother’s ankle. He had done this. It was his fault. Ponies would drown. Ponies would die. All because he-
The roof finally caved in, and tons upon tons of seawater began crashing down. Garble balled up as tightly as he could beside the other dragons in hopes that their combined mass would provide some protection from the weight of the water.
The crushing pressure never came. Charcoal peered out from his brother to see a renewed magical barrier form beneath the falling waves, catching it before it could crush those below. Cheers erupted from the entire town, and only increased in volume as it expanded outward, pushing both water and changelings back. The unicorns even showed off a bit by giving it a sloped roof, thereby allowing all the water to drain off. And with all the changelings already dazed and slumped at the edge of the shield, Trident had no reason to send another tsunami upon the village.
“Great job, Trixie!” Charcoal dashed up to the unicorn, just emerging from the hotel with Glitter’s help.
“It wasn’t me,” the baffled unicorn shook her head.
“But... if it wasn’t you...” Charcoal’s eyes darted around the town, looking for whoever could have possibly managed such a feat. The crowd parted as their hero stepped forward.
“Hope I’m not intruding,” a white unicorn grinned.
“Shining Armor!” Charcoal, Glitter, Trixie, Spectrum, Gilda, and even Gable nosed his way over to greet the newcomer. The prince was followed by a rather long train of his own ponies, mostly crystal guards from his empire. The existing crowds also pressed in to see what was going on, which made for a rather crowded square.
“Your highness!” Trixie and Glitter both respectfully dipped their heads to the prince they had come to know quite well over the years. (The Crystal Empire was by far one of their favorite places to perform, and due to Torchwood’s bragging on his former student, Cadance had invited them to stay at her castle more than once.)
“Trixie, Glitter Shine! Good to see you’re alright! Charcoal?! You too? Thank Celestia you’re all safe!”
“How in the hay did you get down here?” Charcoal laughed out of relief.
“I got worried when Cadance didn’t come home right away,” Shining Armor confessed. “She said it was an emergency meeting and didn’t know how long she’d be, but if she has to stay overnight, she usually writes. I didn’t get any word from her, but I did catch word that the changelings had reappeared. I had to come down and find out what was happening. I took as many soldiers as I could spare on the train down,” he gestured to the many guards behind him. “The train station left us off just outside Vanhoover. They were busy preparing for the changelings themselves, after somepony came back with word that they were already attacking Tall Tale. So we came right down to see what we could do and what everypony knows.”
“Well, you certainly came to the right place,” Gilda chuckled, nudging Charcoal forward. “Charcoal here already has it all figured out.”
“Is that right?” Shining Armor raised an eyebrow, not out of doubt but admiration.
“I have a few ideas,” the colt admitted.
“I’m eager to hear them,” the prince assured.
“Well, come inside. It seems like we have a new use for the conference room,” Trixie beckoned.
“Is everypony alright?” Time Turner wheezed, sides heaving as he approached. “Where’s Ditzy?”
“She went back to your TARDIS for a new sonic drill, I think,” Spectrum informed.
“Screwdriver! It’s a screwdriver!” the pony grumbled before changing direction and disappearing inside his blue box. Charcoal just shrugged to the prince.
“Charcoal. There you are.” King Trident slithered through the crowd, gasps and murmurs erupting in his wake. Even Shining Armor’s eyes widened and he took a step back. He set his trident down and took in the faces around him. “I believe we have matters to discuss.”
“Of course, your highness. We’re meeting inside. Glitter Shine can show you the way,” he nudged the purple mare.
“This way,” she obediently lead the stallion inside. The rest of Charcoal’s friends followed after them, though Shining Armor was still gawking where he stood. Charcoal nodded in understanding.
“We have hippogryphs, too,” he commented before walking after them.
“You do?! How- er, at ease, soldiers!” he quickly turned back to release his troops before ducking into the building. “How did you manage...?”
“I’ll explain later.”
“So,” Charcoal began. His friends were all gathered around the conference table, the unicorns since cleared out. (Shining Armor would be able to maintain the shields on his own for now.) Trixie, Glitter, Spectrum, Gilda, Nana (serving as the hippogryph representative), Ditzy, Time Turner, Shining Armor, King Trident, Water Mark, Current, and Fink had all been collected and seated in the same room. (Shift had been excluded as he had not yet been disconnected from the hive.) There had been no more seats after everypony else had been seated, so Charcoal stood as he explained his plan.
“Chrysalis now knows that we have hippogryphs and hippocampi on our side, so she knows what we’re up against. I was hoping we could surprise her, but we’ll just have to work around it.”
“So, young colt? You have collected us. I am more interested in how hippogryphs or hippocampi are superior to the existing pony races for this battle,” Nana hoarsely voiced.
“Well, the hippocampi have numbers, for one thing,” Charcoal nodded to Trident, who proudly puffed his chest as his immense domain was called to attention. “And a very, very powerful weapon at their disposal. Not to mention, they know how to manage the waterways. The Hock Bend River runs all the way from the ocean to Canterlot. And it connects to the Everfree Bogg. We could sneak hippocampi right under the changelings’ noses for a surprise attack!”
“You can’t expect my soldiers to fight the battle for you,” Trident pointed out.
“Of course not. Meanwhile, the rest of us will press forward with more conventional methods, taking back enough ground to rejoin you... say... at the Ghastly Gorge, just before we enter the Everfree?”
“That still does not explain why hippogryphs are required.”
“I’ve watched your kind’s scouting techniques. It’s flawless!” Charcoal praised. “You’ve been so careful not to be spotted in the mountains for so long, it’s like you’re invisible. You’re fast and stealthy, perfect for ambush attacks. If we can inflict enough of those on the changelings just before mobbing them with a frontal assault, they won’t stand a chance.”
“How are we supposed to take prisoners?” Shining Armor wondered. “They’re changelings! Tricky and slippery, or should I say, sticky.”
“We can keep thestrals guarding them. Thestral fire tears right through changeling goo.”
“Assuming we do manage to get as far as the Everfree, and even lay seige to the changeling base,” Trident mused, “what then? How are we to take a changeling as powerful as Chrysalis?”
“There’s also the matter of who’s been raising the sun and moon,” Shining Armor spoke up. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna must have been imprisoned, or we would not face this threat. So who’s in control of the solar bodies? If Chrysalis has gotten ahold of that kind of magic, we’re all in more trouble than we thought.”
“I don’t think it’s Chrysalis we’ll have to worry about,” Charcoal corrected. “I was there briefly with Pound Cake...” his voice grew quiet at the thought of his dear friend, lost to the queen’s spell. “We faced Chrysalis directly. Even if she did learn how to perform the solar spells, I doubt she’s strong enough to achieve something that difficult. Feeding off love gives her strength, and she’s supposedly fallen in love with a pony called Kindling Pyre. But I don’t think he loves her back, which means she can’t be gaining power. She’d be too weak to perform something as powerful as a solar spell. It’s really Kindling we need to worry about. He’s a destral.”
“Another one?!” Ditzy gasped. “I thought Princess Essence was the only one!”
“So did I, but I saw him with my own eyes.”
“It is true. I was Master Kindling’s personal servant,” Fink bowed his head.
“Is that so?” Nana raised an eyebrow.
“Do you know who’s performing the solar spells?”
“It is my master, Kindling.” The whole room quieted as they realized just what they were up against. A destral powerful enough to control the solar bodies, and had Chrysalis’ armies at his command.
“Tell me, young colt. How was it that you came to serve under this Kindling Pyre? I was under the impression only changelings served their cause,” Nana went on. Fink gulped, and looked to Charcoal for direction.
“Fink is a changeling,” the colt confirmed. Fink took this as a cue to revert to his changeling body. Shining Armor instantly reacted, charging his horn, and Trident likewise grabbed his scepter.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Charcoal’s wing blocked their line of fire. “It’s okay. He’s on our side. Kindling cast a spell on him that disconnected him from the hive mind.”
“You trust him?” Water Mark gawked.
“Yes.”
“You can’t trust changelings, Charcoal!” Shining Armor seethed, eyes full of rage and hatred. “They’re dangerous!”
“No, they aren’t! I can’t believe that, Shining Armor. Chrysalis turned all of Ponyville and half of Baltimare into shiny new drones for herself, including my aunt and Pound Cake. Probably more have been enslaved by now.”
“W-what?” The magical glow around his horn dissipated as he took in this new information.
“I don’t care what kind of magic she cast; Pound Cake is not a monster. And Aunt Wild Flower would never hurt me. No magic in Equestria is strong enough to completely destroy what lies underneath.”
“I’m sorry, Charcoal. I didn’t know.”
“Say, Fink?” Charcoal turned his thoughts away from the matter of his lost friends.
“Yes, Charcoal?”
“Do you think Shining Armor is strong enough to complete your spell?” Fink used his meager magic to briefly scan the unicorn.
“If he cannot, then nopony can,” the changeling reported.
“What spell?” Shining Armor inquired.
“We have another changeling called Shift,” Charcoal explained. “But he’s still connected to the hive mind. Fink says he can teach us the spell Kindling used to disconnect him, but it’s a pretty strong one. We need a unicorn powerful enough to perform it.”
“Charcoal, I-”
“We can trust him, I promise,” Charcoal pleaded.
“You should’ve seen how worried he was about accidently giving us away,” Glitter agreed. “He even requested we blindfold him so he couldn’t give away our identities! He wants to help, but it’s hard while the rest of the hive can hear his thoughts.”
“Please, Shining Armor?”
“Alright,” the unicorn reluctantly consented.
“Great! He’s this way! Come on, Fink!” Charcoal began eagerly leading the prince out.
“Wait,” Trident ordered, stopping them in the doorway. “My question was never answered. Assuming we make it to the Everfree, what then? What’s to keep Chrysalis from turning us all to changelings?”
“I guess we’ll have to distract her somehow,” Charcoal shrugged. “Honestly, I’ve been so busy trying to collect everypony that I haven’t put a lot of thought into it.”
“Well, he’s only a boy,” Trident sighed. “Doesn’t even have a cutie mark. Can’t expect him to have it all thought out.”
“What does my cutie mark have to do with anything?!” Charcoal furiously demanded. Yes, he was still a teenager, but dragging his blank flank into the matter was something else entirely.
“What does it have to do with anything?” Glitter concurred, equally offended.
“A cutie mark decides a pony’s destiny,” Trident coolly reasoned. “For example, yours informs me that you are a talented fire dancer, correct? You could be useful on the battlefield. Charcoal’s fate is undecided. Who is he to tell a king or prince what to do? Perhaps he does not even have a place at this table.”
“He’s already done more than you could ever hope to accomplish!” Spectrum pounded a hoof into the wood. “He’s united hippogryphs and hippocampi, dragons and gryphons, unicorns and thestrals, pegasi and earth ponies. Even a couple of changelings! All working together towards a common purpose.”
“True, he united us, but that makes him no more capable of commanding an army. If and when the mark of a war general appears, I will reconsider.”
“If he hadn’t come along, you’d still be hiding out on the ocean floor!”
“Perhaps we would be better off in the safety of my waters,” Trident coldly threatened.
“Oy!” Time Turner threatened to use his new sonic screwdriver to get their attention. “Show some respect! Don’t you know who this is?” Now Charcoal looked as baffled as the rest of them. “This is Charcoal Stormwood! Greatness in the making! None of you know it yet, but one day, this colt is going to grow up to be absolutely amazing! Just brilliant! And it all starts here. I’ve seen it myself.”
“Right, in your time machine?” Spectrum guessed, rolling his eyes.
“It’s a Type-40 TARDIS,” he boasted. “But yes, I’ve seen your future. Believe it or not, the next few days are going to decide your fate, Charcoal Stormwood. And it’s going to be fantastic!” Even coming from somepony as crazy as Time Turner, the genuine words of encouragement touched Charcoal. Was it possible? Would he finally earn his cutie mark soon? He’d waited so long...
“Even if he were to find his destiny, be it a great one, he is still just a boy. He knows nothing of war.”
“It’s true, I don’t know who I am,” Charcoal spat. “But I know one thing: I’m getting my parents back, and that is a fact. Help me or not, that’s your choice. I’ll leave you to make it,” he met Trident’s hard gaze before whipping back out the door.
“Well, whatever they decide, you can rely on the Crystal Empire,” Shining Armor vowed.
“And I’m with you, Charcoal,” Gilda reminded, hurrying to catch up.
“Us too,” Glitter smiled.
“Trident has already showed himself. I cannot imagine him turning back now,” Current put in, also approaching with Water Mark.
“Thanks, everypony,” Charcoal sighed. Shining Armor gripped his shoulder in reassurance.
“So, where’s this Shift I’ve heard so much about?”