Cracks in the Crystal
The train slowly came to a stop. The men had allowed themselves to fall asleep on the train since there were no other ponies anywhere on it who might be a little too curious for the mission’s good. They had fallen asleep well before entering the Frozen North, and missed the change in scenery.
When they picked up their gear and stepped off the train, they were taken by the beautiful city before them. Shining and bright, it looked like an absolute utopia. While they stared in awe at the city, the train took its leave behind them, switching its direction and returning home.
Frost turned to watch it leave, but when it was gone, he didn’t turn back around. He was fixated on what he saw. It was a frozen, barren wasteland outside the small area before them. Duke asked him what he was looking at, turned around, and saw for himself what they were getting ready to go into.
“Well. That’s different,” he stated bluntly.
“They said that if we didn’t like it, we could just leave,” Frost said. “I’m not so sure right now that we were given the truth of the matter.”
Duke looked in the direction the train left. It was already out of sight now, nothing but blistering, snowy wind howling across the landscape was there now.
Duke frowned. “I’m not sure either,” he said. “But I’m not sure they’ve been giving us the truth at all this whole time.”
The men turned back to the city and started walking.
As they approached a large gate that looked a bit like something in Okinawa, they spotted two glistening guard statues standing at either side of the gate carrying spears. At first, they looked like they were just there as decoration, but as the men got closer, they could see them breathing and making small movements. The guards flicked their eyes to the men, nodded, and continued to act as sentinels for the train entrance to the city.
The men nodded in return and walked past. It was incredibly weird, seeing sparkling and glistening ponies as guards. It seemed like a less than tactical thing. Of course, it could have advantages. There was no surprise, but they could shine a light on themselves and have it reflect and blind hostile fighters. Or, if their bodies were crystal, they were immune to being cut. But then, being smashed could be a death sentence.
Forgetting the tactical effects of crystallizing ponies, the men went on into the city. It was a gorgeous city to be true, but nopony walked the streets. It wasn’t surprising, given the possible situation at hand, but the men had expected at least something. Depending on the threat, the ponies were hardly that much safer inside their houses than on the streets.
When they arrived at the castle, the men were greeted by two more crystal guards, who made no motion at their appearance. The doors swung open slowly before the men, inviting them in, and the men accepted the invitation. Before them, inside, was a large staircase, leading high into the tower that was the palace.
Frost whistled. “This is going to be a long trip,” he said.
Duke sighed. “Why can’t architecture just be simple?”
The men started trudging their way up the stairs, carrying their heavy packs like mules on a mountain trail. Each step felt like a leap under the weight, but they had gone through worse in training. At least here, they weren’t being shot at.
When they reached the top of the stairs, The men opted to sit down for a moment before continuing. They had climbed an undeterminable number of flights of stairs, but they knew that they had climbed up at least two hundred feet. In their short breather, they looked around, spotting more stairs and a set of large double doors that looked like they led somewhere important.
“Think that’s it?” Frost asked.
“I hope so,” Duke replied.
The men stood up and continued onward to the doors. When they reached them, they didn’t open automatically, so they were forced to push them open. They opened easier than either man thought they would, but it still took significant effort to move them aside.
When they pushed through and walked into the room, they saw rows of guards on either side of the way staring intently at them, clearly ready to draw. Ahead, there were two thrones, each a different color, and each sporting a different pony. The two ponies were leaning close to each other, not facing the door, and as the men approached, they saw that the two ponies were a pink mare and a familiar white stallion, paying more mind to each other than their audience.
Duke instantly recognized the who he was looking at. “Well well well, if it isn’t our old buddy from Saddle Arabia,” he greeted loudly.
The two ponies jerked away from each other and looked to the men, blushes coloring their faces, and quickly regained their composure. When Frost saw the stallion’s face, he recognized him as well and pointed a finger forward as he declared his recollection.
“Yeah, I remember you!” he shouted.
Shining Armor cleared his throat. “Um, yes. It is me. And this of course is Princess Cadance.”
“Shining told me about how you all met,” Cadance said. “I thank you for saving him.”
“Not a problem,” Frost said.
“Not to sound rude, but we just climbed a lot of steps,” Duke interjected. “Is there someplace we could sit to get to business more quickly?”
Cadance nodded. “Of course. Shiny, you can handle this, I’m sure.”
“If it’s all the same to you, Cadance, I’d like you in there with me,” Shining Armor said. “I think it would be best if we were both present for this.”
Cadance nodded understandingly. “Okay then.”
The two ponies stood up and walked away from their thrones to their right, where Duke and Frost followed. The hall they walked through was short and led to a small room with a small, rectangular table in the middle. On the walls of the perimeter, there were various maps with circles, squares, and strings all over them.
The men dropped their packs against the wall to the right and situated themselves toward that end of the table. Shining Armor and Cadance took the other side.
“So you’re probably wondering why we called for you to come here,” Shining Armor said.
“Clichè,” Frost said.
“Hush, Frost,” Duke said.
Shining Armor continued. “To answer any questions you have regarding that, we need medically skilled fighters capable of partaking in unconventional operations. We haven’t fulfilled that need yet in the Crystal Empire, not yet to an operational capacity, so we called for help.”
“That’s a specific capacity to fill,” Duke commented.
“It is,” Shining Armor concluded.
“It was my idea to have highly skilled medics,” Cadance added. “I don’t want to lose my soldiers when they can be saved.”
“That’s a good mindset,” Frost said. Cadance smiled.
“Right,” Shining Armor said. “Anyway. We need the medically skilled aspect here because the threat we face is one we can’t deal with. If it hits our soldiers or populace, we can’t save them.”
“What kind of threat are we talking about?” Duke asked. “And do you know if that kind of threat is even around here? Where did you learn of it?”
“I learned about it in Saddle Arabia,” Shining Armor answered. “That’s why I was out there. I was gathering intelligence on the enemy’s capabilities to attack us, and found a result I was desperately hoping not to.”
“Well damn,” Frost said. “Sorry to hear that.”
“The weapon they have now... it isn’t like anything we’ve seen,” Shining Armor explained. “This kind of thing didn’t exist in Equestria even a year ago. The thoughts behind its creation are just so evil, so twisted, that no one had thought of it. I figure it must have come from another source.”
“A human source,” Frost elaborated. Shining Armor looked to him.
“I am not accusing either of you,” he said. “I don’t think either of you is that evil; just look at what you do for a living. But someone else may have let this slip.”
“OGA,” Duke said.
“I don’t know who OGA is, but if it’s another human, you hit the nail on the head,” Shining Armor said. “We know that there is a third who was here before you two. A third in captivity of the gryphons.”
“So what is this weapon?” Frost asked.
Shining Armor looked to his wife, then to the men. “Gas.”
Both men blinked. “Gas,” they said together.
“A gas that kills those who breathe it in,” Shining Armor continued. “We don’t know how to deal with it. It hurts exposed skin, kills if breathed in. Outside our city, the crystallizing magic is no longer able to effect the ponies, so they aren’t safe from it.”
“And you think we are?” Frost asked.
“No,” Cadance said before her husband. “But you must know something about treating those exposed to such a weapon.”
“Hate to break it to you, hon, but if they’re exposed to it, odds are, so are we,” Frost said.
“Frost makes a point,” Duke said. “Unless we’re protected, there’s not much we can do. Unless we are protected, in which case, why aren’t the other guys?”
Cadance thought for a moment. “We’ll need to find a way to protect you and our soldiers. This was destined to be necessary anyway.”
“Hazmat suits with rebreathers are a good way to go,” Duke said. “Lots of safe breathing air, and less risk of contamination.”
“I think Princess Celestia has something along those lines,” Shining Armor said to himself out loud. “I’ll have to call down there, see if we can’t get some for our soldiers.”
“So what’s this mission?” Duke asked. “You called us here for action.”
Shining Armor pointed to the map. “We’ve discovered the location of the gryphon hideout here in the North,” he said, pointing to a mountainous area. “It’s in a cave complex around the midsection of this mountain.”
“What’s there?” Frost asked.
“We think that’s where they’re storing their gas,” Shining Armor explained.
The men’s train came to a screeching halt. “Their gas,” Duke repeated.
“Yes, their gas,” Shining Armor said. “We think if we send a party out tonight, we can-”
“No way in Hell,” Frost said.
Shining Armor looked up in shock. “What!?” he said.
“If you think we’re going out there tonight, you’re nuts,” Frost said. “We’re exhausted from travel, whether we look it or not. We need to prepare our kits, which take time. We need to establish a plan, which takes more time. We can’t possibly navigate a blizzard at night. And we are NOT. Attacking. Without. Gas. Protection.” Frost looked the prince dead in the eyes as he spoke.
“When we called you here-”
“Now now, settle down!” Cadance said, putting a hoof on her husband. “I’m sure we can work this out.”
“Unless you can get us some protective hazmat by tomorrow and come up with a plan that won’t result in us freezing to death in the middle of nowhere, nothing’s happening,” Duke said. “We aren’t riskng our necks like that. The risk is way too high.”
“Well, we can do all of that,” Cadance said. “And you can go out tomorrow.”
“That sounds better,” Duke said. “Now. Let’s get back to what Frost and I came here for.”
“Right,” Shining Armor said. “Well, let’s discuss the landscape, since you brought that up as a worry.”
“Always good to know your geography,” Frost said.
“We’ll have ponies who know how to navigate the land take you to your destination,” Shining Armor explained. “They’ll have special horseshoes and a sleigh that you will ride in. Once you get to the mountain, though, they can’t follow you. Ponies aren’t designed for climbing.”
“Understandable, if not ideal,” Duke commented.
“When you get to the mountain, since you’ll be on your own, there’s a few things you have to know about the North,” Shining Armor said. “Some time ago, the evil king Sombra ruled this place. When the crystal empire returned, he came with it, and his magic controlled everything.”
“Not the best guy, I guess?” Frost said.
“He was pure evil. When we defeated him, his influence on the land was reduced,” Shining Armor said. “But only reduced. Some of his magic still lingers in places around the North, taking whatever life it can and twisting it to its evil purposes.”
“Whoa,” Duke said. “So if we go the wrong way, we die?”
“No,” Shining Armor said. “You will possibly be consumed by evil. If only one of you is affected, you will end up fighting each other to the death. If both... I would have to set up our guard to eliminate you on sight.”
“So you’ll be watching for us when we come back,” Duke said. Shining Armor nodded grimly. “If we come back like that... it’s gonna be bad.”
“I know. That’s why I’m telling you about it.” Shining Armor pointed at the entire map. “We can’t say for certain where these radiating magics are. They move, though they take likings to particular areas. This mountain has one.” He pointed at the area of operation on the map. “Watch for it. If it comes for you, do whatever it takes to get out.”
“That won’t be fun,” Frost said.
“Better than being evil,” Duke replied.
“There will naturally be gryphons, but you may also see changelings,” Duke said. “They can only imitate what they see, though.”
“Our faces will be covered. That’ll be our identifying signal if we separate,” Duke said.
“That’s all we need to discuss for now,” Shining Armor said. “Anything?”
“Yeah. We’ll want some cold weather gear, food, and flares,” Frost said.
“We may also want climbing gear suitable to this mountain,” Duke added. “Along with that, a way to carry the hazmat suits on our backs that won’t get in the way. We can’t just wear them the whole way.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Cadance said. “Princess Celestia has some smart engineers.”
“Oh!” Frost said suddenly, getting everyone’s attention. “When you call for the suits, tell them to call Rarity in Ponyville. She has our measurements.”
“Well, that makes things easier,” Shining Armor said. “If that’s all, you can take your things upstairs to the next level. Your room is there, and you can rest until tomorrow.”
The men nodded and picked up their stuff. “We’ll see you tomorrow,” Duke said.
“Expect to be out by noon at the latest!” Shining Armor called as the men left.
The men made their way to their room, unhappily climbing even more stairs to get to their location. When they made it to their floor, they found several pairs of guards walking around, patrolling the hall. One guard pointed them to their room, and the men thanked him and went on their way. Duke walked in first, leaving Frost to shut the door behind him. When Frost turned around, he stopped.
“Frost?” Duke asked.
“Boss,” Frost said. He stepped aside to let Duke see what he saw. “I think that’s an elevator.”
“I think it is too,” Duke said, dropping his stuff next to one of the beds. “I think they just installed it while we were talking, don’t you? We never wasted any steps.”
“Totally,” Frost said with a chuckle. He shut the door, and the men quickly got their rest that night. They would need it for the harsh climate they would be travelling through the next day.