//------------------------------//
// Chapter 79: March on the Everfree 
// Story: Secrets of the Everfree 
// by PaisleyPerson 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 79
March on the Everfree


“Sir, all troops are prepared to move out on your command,” a crystal soldier saluted to Shining Armor.
“Good. We’re just waiting on Trident’s troops, then.”
“Where are they?” Winter impatiently commented. 
“We have been waiting a while,” Trixie concurred.
“They’re slower on land,” Shining Armor reminded. “Let’s be patient.”
“They’re traveling on land? I thought they were taking the Hock Bend River like Charcoal suggested.”
“We’ll never get there if they drag themselves, and their armor, and their weapons all the way across Equestria!”
“Most of them are taking the river passage,” Shining Armor assured. “But Trident wanted to lead in the front with us.”
“Even his chariot won’t be able to keep pace for long.”
“Which is why I’m hoping Garble will give us a lift.”
“Hey, guys.”
“Speak of the devil.” The group shielded their eyes as the massive silhouette of a dragon head bent down to their level.
“Have any of you seen Charcoal? I haven’t seen him since yesterday morning. I’m getting worried.” Garble straightened up to scan the town again.
“Uh...” They each looked to one another for answers.
“Well... I’m... sure he’ll be around,” Shining Armor nervously chuckled.
“I hope so,” Garble muttered. “If anything happens to him... I don’t know how I’ll live with myself.” Glitter felt her heart wrench within her chest.
“Alright, no more lies,” she sighed, eyes wet with remorse.
“Glitter, what are you-?!”
“Charcoal left early this morning,” Glitter confessed. “He was going to the Everfree Palace ahead of everypony else.”
“What?! Why? We’re going to meet him there, right?”
“Not exactly...”
“He thought he could infiltrate the castle to steal an orb from Kindling and send it back to us so we can use it to defeat the changelings,” Jet explained all in one breath, appearing behind Gilda. She gasped for air, and upon replenishing her supply, waved to the gathered ponies. “Hey, guys! Ready to go?”
“CHARCOAL DID WHAT?!” Garble bellowed at the top of his lungs, voice warped in a combination of anger and terror. What was going through his mind? How could he do such a stupid, suicidal thing? He could be killed! Garble sniffed. He hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye.
“The sacrifice of that one colt may have just won us the battle,” Trident diplomatically and indifferently reasoned. Garble turned on the hippocampus.
“DON’T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY BROTHER LIKE SOME... SOME... STATISTIC! He was a person like you and me! He had his whole life ahead of him, and now he might be dead!”
“War is not won without a price.”
“Then these prices are too high.” Garble ground his teeth and stomped away, shaking the town as he did so.
“Garble, wait! We need you!”
“Get Soot or someone else to chaperone you. I have to save my brother!”
“No! Garble!”
“Let him go,” Shining Armor held Spectrum back before he could pursue the fuming dragon. “We can’t stop him... but if we hurry, we might just be able to help him. Sling Shot! Tell the soldiers to move out!”
“Yes, Captain!” The same crystal pony from before bolted off to fulfill the order.
“Fire Coral,” Trident called.
“Yes, sire?”
“Tell our ponies to move out as well. We’ll be joining the land ponies in this effort.”
“As you wish, sire.” An armored orange hippocampus bounded back to sea to relay his message.
“Hey, Fizzle?”
“Yeah?” The massive white dragon swiveled around.
“Think you could give us a lift?”
“Sure thing,” the dragon offered a thumbs up.
“You know what to do,” Shining Armor turned to Time Turner.
“Right. Glitter, you got the coordinates?”
“I sent the device you gave me. Is that what you mean?”
“Perfect! We’ll meet you over there. How long do you think it’ll take you to arrive?”
“Ideally, we can travel all the way to the castle in a day, but that’s if we don’t run into any resistance along the way. But we don’t necessarily need to get all the way to the castle, just close enough to lure them all out for you.”
“I’ll just track your progress with the TARDIS then, and land us about the same time.”
“Give us an hour,” Shining Armor requested, “so we can be sure to draw out the whole hive. If we can join up with the Cloudsdale rebels and their thestrals, taking on the changelings should be a piece of cake.”
“That is assuming Cloudsdale won’t hole up in its own little bubble,” Time Turner reminded.
“Who’s going to defy orders from a prince?” Shining Armor confidently grinned.
“Take care of yourself out there,” Time Turner directed. 
“You’re the one who needs to watch your tail. That place will most likely still be crawling with changelings.”
“We’ll be fine.”
“Doctor!” Ditzy waved to the time lord from within the TARDIS. 
“See you there,” Time Turner gave the prince one final hoofshake before dashing off to join her. He glanced around at the many faces already packed inside. Trixie, Glitter Shine, Fink, Shift, Winter Green, Hawk Stripe, River Rush, Gilda, Spectrum, Current, High Tide, Kelpie, Cascade, Whirl Pool, Jet Stream, Ditzy, and even Bandit and Heckley all waited for him to fire up the time machine.
“Right. Are we missing anypony?” He double checked his head count.
“Yeah,” Spectrum quietly dipped his head. “Charcoal.” Time Turner smiled. 
“Who’s ready to get our friend back?”
“Me!” The whole assembly cried out.
“Hssss!”
“Dookookook!”
“Then off we go!”





Shining Armor had changed out his shield spell just in time, for the new dispatch of changelings had arrived shortly after Charcoal left. Fortunately, the shield denied them entry as well. Shining Armor had planned to keep them at bay by moving the shield along with them, but Garble had evidently lured most of the changelings after him- the rest lay charred and dazed at the base of the shield. Shining Armor decided it would be best to save his energy until they really needed it, and temporarily took it down. The entire infantry passed with caution, and everyone made it out unharmed. 
After Garble had gone rogue, Fizzle had stepped up to fly point, towing the two wingless royals along. The soldiers below marched far more slowly on the ground, and even the pegasi had trouble keeping pace with the dragons, so they had to double back and wait for the ponies to catch up several times. Occasionally, Fizzle even reported that he could see the hippocampi breaching from the river, though Shining Armor and Trident had to take his word for it- dragon vision was far superior to that of ponies.
Even though they had to keep doubling back to wait for the ponies to keep up, somehow they managed to catch up to Garble, who was still warding off a tail of changelings. Many of them were desperately clinging for life on his scales, while others tried to gunk up his wings and bring him down to the ground. Most of them, though, were still straggling behind, trying to catch up.
“There,” Trident pointed. Shining Armor tried to keep his patience.
“I see him.” How could they miss it? A big, black swarm of changelings was pretty hard to overlook. Garble’s flashy vortex of flame attempting to roast his attackers made such a feat even more impossible. Shining Armor decided to put Trident completely out of his mind and fired up his horn. A massive shield, this one formed into a wall, formed in front of them. Shining Armor pushed it forward, far enough to overtake Garble. It scooped up all the changelings, whether they were flying nearby or clinging to the dragon’s spines, while passing over Garble himself. The disoriented dragon needed a moment to catch his balance, suddenly relieved of all the extra weight. When he finally spotted his rescuers, a smile hinted at his lips. His gooey wings caught air, bringing him back to rejoin the other dragons.
“You weren’t leaving without us?” Pierce teased, cuffing Garble with his tail. Clump swooped overhead, belching intensely hot flame over Garble’s wings to burn off the changelings’ goo.
“What took you so long?” Garble good-naturedly shot back.
“You know... these ponies are so slow,” Soot shrugged.
“You could’ve waited for us,” Shining Armor added. Garble looked him squarely in the eye.
“My brother’s life is in danger. I’m not wasting a second.”
“And we’ll do everything in our power to help you get him back,” Shining Armor vowed.
“Thank you,” Garble dipped his head. “I owe you one.”
“Help us fight the changelings and we’ll call it even.”
The changelings that had attacked Garble were now banging against the wall, demanding entry as it pushed them back. They were gradually joined by more and more changelings from other areas they passed- the White Tail Woods patrols, Unicorn Range patrols and random scouts alike all joined into the effort to break down the wall, but to no avail. When some tried scaling the wall, Shining Armor returned the shield to its original dome shape, enveloping all of the troops. While this provided protection, however, the thick screen of changelings made it difficult to navigate.
“Are you sure we’re still headed for Cloudsdale?” Trident asked for the third time in the last ten minutes. Shining Armor ground his teeth.
“Yes! I’m sure!”
“How do you know? You can’t see a thing!”
“Cloudsdale is composed of single, giant cloud. Pegasi may live there and construct the buildings, but the cloud base is magically anchored. I can scan for that anchor and navigate that way. And with all due respect, your majesty, you’ve never even been there. I think I know where I’m going.”
“Look out!” a pegasi soldier cried. Shining Armor whipped back around just in time to see the changelings zipping away. The barriers of the rebel force and Cloudsdale were about to collide! Shining Armor halted their moving shield before it rammed into the static bubble around Cloudsdale. It wouldn’t have harmed any of their ponies, but if the changelings hadn’t moved, they’d have been squashed. 
“Who’s there?” A tired old unicorn hobbled forward, supported by a young, strong pegasus stallion.
“Prince Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire,” the prince introduced. He thought it best not to introduce the sea king yet- Cloudsdale had not yet been introduced to the idea of hippocampi. Trident didn’t take to this too well, but Shining Armor didn’t give him a chance to complain. “And you? Who are you?”
“Your highness!” The unicorn half dipped, half collapsed into a bow. “I am Runestone, a professor at the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns. I escaped the city when the changelings attacked, and fled here, where I have been shielding Cloudsdale from the drones with a spell based on the same one you published. Your highness, it is an honor.”
“Likewise. But I’m afraid we don’t have time for formalities. We need Cloudsdale’s help.”
“Anything, your highness!”
“We need soldiers- specifically thestrals, but every able stallion or mare can help. We plan to take a stand against Chrysalis and her armies.”
“Of course, your majesty. But... I have maintained these shields for far too long. I am growing weary. Please, if you could shelter us all, then our able and willing ponies can help you.” Shining Armor assessed the unicorn’s ragged appearance. He indeed needed rest- the shields wouldn’t last much longer with him in this state, anyway.
“We will be happy to have you join us,” Shining Armor granted. Butt your shield up against ours and open a passage.”
“Open?” Runestone instantly raised his guard. “We have no changelings here. Why would we need to open our shields... unless you are the changelings!”
“Oh, for Celestia’s sake,” Shining Armor groaned.
“Shift wasn’t kidding when he said that guy was paranoid,” Garble commented.
“We aren’t changelings. But if you replicated the spell I published exactly, it won’t allow any of your thestrals through.”
“Why not?”
“Well, in the original formula I accidentally targeted their wing spring ability, which changelings also possess... it’s complicated, and there’s no time to explain. Just open a passage for your thestrals.”
“How do I know I can trust you?” Runestone narrowed his eyes.
“For Celestia’s sake!” Shining Armor burst, rubbing his temples. Under the circumstances, precautions were understandable, but this was outright paranoia!
“PROFESSOR RUNESTONE,” Trident rumbled in the most booming, commanding tone he could muster. He slithered forward, and propped up by his trident, he looked humungous in comparison to Shining Armor. With the added length of his tail, he was quite an imposing figure. “You have been ordered to lower your shield! I highly recommend you do so!”
“What is THAT?!” Runestone recoiled, his pegasi guards leveling spears. 
“This is King Trident,” Shining Armor introduced, stepping in the guards’ line of fire to prevent the weapons from being launched. 
“King of the Sea,” Trident amended with a nod of acknowledgement. 
“He’s a hippocampus!” one of the guards gasped, jaw hanging agape as he lowered his spear.
“They’re real,” Shining Armor nodded. “And they’ve come up to the surface to help us defeat the changelings. Together, we all might just stand a chance.”
“They have hippocampi and dragons, Professor, both powerful creatures,” Shining Armor noticed for the first time that Runestone was not the only unicorn in the crowd- in fact, he had a small train of them lined up behind him. It was one of these ponies that had spoken. 
“And hippogryphs!” Winter helpfully put in, swooping in from the back. 
“This could be our best and last chance to overthrow the changelings.”
“Or it could be a trap,” Runestone narrowed his eyes. “Hippocampi and hippogryphs are nothing more than legends! Claiming that such pointless tales have any validity would be the perfect front for a changeling army!”
“Anyone outside your wall could potentially be a changeling. Are you just going to stay holed up in that bubble, cowering in paranoia for the rest of your life?” Fizzle wondered.
“If that’s what it takes!”
“His shield won’t last another hour,” Shining Armor whispered to Trident. “Should we just wait them out?”
“We haven’t the time,” Trident mused, rubbing his chin in thought. “Perhaps he requires... persuasion.” The king’s golden trident glinted in the sunlight.
“We want to recruit them, not scare them off,” Shining Armor hissed, lowering the leveled pitchfork.
“Then what do you suggest?” Shining Armor racked his brain.
“Maybe we’re going about this all wrong. We’ve been trying to appeal to Runestone, but we aren’t getting anywhere with him. Maybe we just need to appeal to somepony else,” he thought. His horn emitted a bright pulse of magic as the shield expanded and engulfed Canterlot, shield and all. Then, the prince turned back around and addressed the stubborn stallion. “There. Now you and Cloudsdale are safe. You can let the shield down now, Runestone.”
“You aren’t fooling anyone, changeling scum!”
“Believe what you want, Runestone,” Shining Armor rolled his eyes. “But either way, you can’t hold the thestrals there against their will. If they want to leave, you have to let them go.”
“He’s right! We’re trapped!” one of the thestrals gasped, pressing against the wall and finding that the prince spoke the truth. All at once, thestrals and pegasi alike broke out into an uproar. Runestone clamped his hooves over his ears in an effort to protect them from the racket.
“Let us go!”
“You can’t keep us here!”
“I saved you!” Runestone indignantly screeched.
“They are right though, Professor. You can’t keep them here against their will- that’s kidnapping,” one of the pegasi guards prompted.
“But I can’t just let the changelings in!”
“Shining Armor is holding up the shield now, Professor.”
“Fool! Can’t you see? He’s one of them!”
“I... really don’t think they’re changelings, doc,” the guard assured.
“It does seem a bit elaborate for that,” another unicorn agreed.
“And remember a few days ago, that changeling... what was his name... oh, Shift! came with a message for Pound Cake? He did say that boy Charcoal was raising a resistance, involving six dragons. There they are.”
“And they were supposed to be flying by the Foal Mountains, where the hippogryphs were rumored to live.”
“All that information came from a changeling! Can’t you see they’ve set us up? And besides, I don’t see Charcoal, Pound Cake, Trixie, Glitter Shine or Shift with them. I want to see Charcoal!” he yelled back to the dragon riders.
“We believe Charcoal may be the changelings’ prisoner,” Shining Armor bowed his head.
“He infiltrated the changeling nest to obtain a great asset that may help us win this war,” Trident announced.
“What about Glitter, Trixie or Pound Cake?” the other unicorn called. “Where are they?”
“In another dispatch on their way to meet us at the castle.”
“How convenient,” Runestone muttered.
“Honestly, Professor, I think you may be a tad paranoid.”
“Am not!”
“Either way, if you don’t take that shield down, we’re going to have a riot on our hooves,” the guard gestured to the angry thestrals still waiting for him to lower the shield.
“Oh, forget it. I’ll do it myself,” the second unicorn huffed, horn pulsing with energy.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!” Runestone roared as the shield began to fade. He grappled with the unicorn for control of the shield for a moment, but Runestone was weary and weak from the strain of upholding the barrier for so long, and succumbed to his opponent’s strength in no time. He did manage, however, to ball himself up in a miniature shield on the cloudy ground, however, whimpering in fear. The unicorn rolled his eyes, picked Runestone up in a levitation bubble, shield and all, and placed him atop a pegasus’ back for transport. The unicorn himself hitched a ride with the guard, who headed for Fizzle’s passengers.
“Sorry about him,” the unicorn apologized, sliding down to stand on the white scales. “We’re all a bit stressed, but it must be affecting him more than we thought.”
“Understandable,” Shining Armor nodded. 
“Despite what Runestone says, Cloudsdale is at your service.” The unicorn and guard both respectfully bowed. 
“Thank you,” the prince heaved a sigh of relief. 
“The dragons should carry the young and elderly,” Trident suggested.
“I’m right here,” Fizzle complained. 
“Do you think you can do it, Fizzle?” Shining Armor requested.
“We done it once before,” Fizzle shrugged. “Don’t see why we can’t do it again.”
“Then don your passengers and continue on for the Everfree,” Trident ordered. Fizzle snorted in discontent- he didn’t like taking orders, especially for that stuck-up king.
“Please, Fizzle,” Shining Armor added. The dragon grunted, but folded his wings to come in for a landing.
There were few Cloudsdale’s ponies that needed transport, so they did not have to stop for long. Though the changelings still taunted them from outside the barrier, the troop was soon on the move again. It was still a long and grueling trek, and the sun was going down by the time they reached Ponyville. When at last the tree line of the Everfree came into view, a wall of changeling drones awaited them.