//------------------------------// // The empire of Crystals, Part five 1/2: Obtaining a trump card/Invasion. // Story: A New Tale In Equestria. // by Sylif Daring Doo //------------------------------// _____*Snowgem blacksmith, 2:14 PM*_____ Fang opened his eyes and sat up, he heard a sigh and soon enough, Spirit materialized in front of Fang. "Well boss, I hope your ready for this." He said. Fang nodded and stood up, he walked over to the table and started to strap on his gear. "This should be interesting." Said Soul as she appeared. Spirit looked out into the village and noticed that there were soldiers marching to the gate. "Looks like we got up late." He stated. Fang rolled his eyes and looked over at Spirit. "Soldiers marching down the streets?" He asked. Spirit nodded and walked away from the window. "Wonder how the attack will go?" He wondered out loud. Soul chuckled and walked over to Fang. "So, you gonna be alright?" She asked in her normally cheerful mood. Fang looked at Soul and gave a soft smile at the sight of the grinning ghost. "Of course.......come on, let's get moving." He said just as he finished with his gear. Spirit rolled his eyes and walked over to Fang. "Hope you know what your doing." He said before vanishing. Fang turned to face the entrance to the blacksmith, he started walking out of the building and looked back at Soul, who seemed to be looking out the window with a grim expression on her face. "Soul.....are you alright?" He asked quietly. Soul looked at Fang and sighed, she walked over to him and looked straight in his eyes. "What are you going to do with me and Spirit when this is all over?" She asked quietly. Fang sighed and leaned against a nearby wall. "Honestly?.....I don't know, what would you want?" He asked. Soul paused and turned around, facing away from Fang. "Well.....since you asked...." She looked at Fang with a grin. "I'd like to stick around." She replied happily. Fang gave a small smile and nodded, he watched as Soul returned to her sword and then he started walking outside with one thought on his mind. 'No way am I dying today.' He thought as he walked to the gate. ____*meanwhile, Snowgem tavern.*____ Roxanne strapped on her gear and looked over at Skitter, who was sitting on a stool at the bar. "Are you ready yet?" She asked the changeling. Skitter looked over and grinned, she pulled an old cudgel out from behind the bar and nodded. "Yep, we're gonna clobber those boneheads.....literally." She added in a joking tune. Roxanne picked up Life and Death, and soon enough the two ghosts revealed themselves. "Well, this will be interesting." Death commented. Life sighed and looked at his counterpart. "You mustn't get carried away Death, you'll only get us locked away again." He warned calmly. Death groaned and began pacing. "Why are you so negative Life?.....you contradict your name." She countered. Life rolled his eyes and vanished. "Just be careful this time you reckless girl." He replied. Death looked at Roxanne and shrugged. "See what I had to deal with for one thousand years?" She said before vanishing. Roxanne sheathed the swords and walked to the door. "Come on Skitter, the sooner this is done the sooner we can go home." She said. Skitter shook her head and chuckled, she stood up and followed Roxanne out. "Going into the jaws of the beast, certain death, small chance of success.....where has this place been all my life?" She wondered as she walked. Roxanne chuckled. "One thousand years ago." She replied simply. Skitter paused but eventually shrugged in acceptance. _____*thirty minutes later, The Crystal Empire's outskirts.*_____ Fang shook his head in disbelief as Shining Armor relayed his 'plan' to the soldiers, which, in Fang's point of view, was completely stupid and illogical. 'So he expects to win when he's simply shouting out the entire plan for the world to hear, anyone could spy on us and return with our entire strategy.' He chuckled at the irony. 'How he became Captain of the royal guard is beyond me.' "We'll be splitting into three groups!....each group will have fifteen soldiers and a sergeant with them!....i will be in one group along with the Princess, the elements will be with another group, and as for you seven....." He trailed off as he looked at Fang, Roxanne, Dark, Skitter, Talon, Firefly and Spark. "Go with the third group." Shining said simply. Fang chuckled and looked at the group. "Hey, before we charge off to our deaths, do you think we need a trump card?" He asked the group. Roxanne shrugged. "Why not?" She replied. Talon raised an eyebrow and looked at Fang and Roxanne. "Your not thinking of deserting are you?" She questioned. Fang shrugged. "Technically, I never really joined, I came because I was bored, you want to stay?....be my guest, but I'm going to check something out." He replied calmly before walking off. Talon watched as Roxanne rolled her eyes and followed Fang, with Spark and Firefly in tow, eventually, Skitter and Darkestlight followed them, she groaned and shuddered. 'I am so getting a court marshaled for this' She thought before chasing off after the small group. ____*ten minutes later, outside a distant town.*____ Dark looked around curiously, seeing only ice and snow all around her, and the gate to a town ahead of her and the others, she was curious as to what Fang was looking for in the seemingly deserted town, so she walked up to Fang. "Why are we here?" She asked. Fang took a deep breath and started to walk forward. "We're looking for an artifact.....i found an old book in Snowgem that hinted to its location, and if I followed it correctly.....it should be in this town." He replied. Dark started to follow Fang, and the others followed suit soon after. "What's the name of the town?" She wondered. Fang shrugged. "Frosthoof." He answered simply. Dark soon stopped walking and looked at the ground without saying a word. As she walked by, Talon couldn't help but notice that Dark wasn't moving, she walked over with a concerned expression. "Hey, are you alright?" She asked. Dark signed and looked at Talon. ".....This was my home." She replied shakily. Talon's eyes widened at this news and everyone else had a look of shock. "You.....your a crystal pony?" Talon asked. Dark shook her head and looked at the village walls. "No.....I don't remember everything.....it's all a blur but I do remember some of this place." She explained. Roxanne crossed her arms and looked at the village. "Well then, let's see if we can't dig up any memories while we're here." She suggested. Fang signed and looked at the group. "We don't really have time for a thorough search, so make sure that anything you find is nearby your search area." He said before walking towards the village. Skitter huffed and followed the wolf. "Way to kill the mood buddy." She muttered to herself. Talon, Roxanne and Dark shared a look of confusion before heading to the village, but not before Roxanne made sure that Firefly and Spark were following. ____*two minutes later, Frosthoof*____ Roxanne looked around the village in curiosity, strangely enough, the entire village was in good condition, sure there were a couple bad structures, but overall the place was alright, she decided to search the closest house and headed off to her right with Firefly, while Fang headed straight for the town hall with Spark, Dark went with Skitter and Talon to the old library. 'Might as well start searching.' She thought as she opened the houses door. As Roxanne entered the house, she heard Firefly speak. "Are you sure this isn't breaking and entering?" Asked the filly. Roxanne chuckled and looked at Firefly. "Of course, these buildings probably haven't been lived in for years." She assured her daughter. Firefly nodded and entered the home, she looked around and immediately noticed an old snow globe, she rushed over and looked at it curiously. Roxanne rolled her eyes and looked around the room for anything of interest, there was a couch, two chairs, a large table, a mantelpiece, a staircase that led upstairs, a door to a basement, a pathway into the kitchen from the looks of it, and the front door, strangely, the only decoration in the room was the snow globe, seeing that Firefly had taken an interest in it, she walked over and examined it, inside was a simple wooden shed, a large tree next to it, and a wooden cart. Firefly looked up at Roxanne with a happy look. "Can you shake it for me mom?" She asked quietly. Roxanne smiled and grabbed the snow globe, she then shook it lightly and to her surprise, snow actually appeared inside the globe and fell down gently onto the models. "Well how about that." She chuckled and set the globe on the table. Firefly simply sat in front of the table and watched the snow. "Thanks mom!" She said happily. Roxanne nodded and headed for the kitchen, but Firefly's words still tugged at her. 'You know.....every time Firefly calls me mom or any mention of it pops up, I feel this weird tug at my heart.....until now it hasn't bothered me much, but still.' Her train of thought paused as she looked at Firefly as she watched the snow globe. Roxanne quickly walked into the kitchen as a small tear dropped from her face. 'No matter how Firefly feels now.....I can't give her back what she lost......not in a million years.' More tears fell from her face as she silently cried. But she did not continue for long as she quickly put the thought out of her mind and continued searching. 'Get a grip girl.....I don't have time for that right now, need to keep looking.' She thought as a new mission entered her thoughts.....keeping Firefly alive. For several minutes, Roxanne searched every nook and cranny of the kitchen, finding nothing until.... ....Roxanne set her hand on the wall and felt a weird chill, curious, she looked around the corner and saw the door to the basement, she walked to the basement door and opened it.....or so she thought, as the door was locked, she sighed and headed to the stairs, as she refused to vandalize the property. [1] "Come on Firefly....lets search upstairs." She said. Firefly nodded and chased up the stairs after Roxanne. ____*upstairs*____ Roxanne looked around the upstairs area, it was a moderately long hallway with a room on either side and two doors at the end of the hall, one to the left, and one to the right, she chose to search the closest room first and walked over to the door, she opened the door and walked inside to discover a bathroom. The bathroom had nothing special at first sight, but Roxanne was determined to search the entire house, so she opened the cabinet above the sink, there was nothing inside so Roxanne simply searched the cabinets below the sink, finding nothing she continued. Just then, Firefly walked up the stairs and looked around the area, she noticed Roxanne in the bathroom but decided not to interfere, so she headed over to the door on the opposite end and opened it, she looked inside and saw a bed and a wardrobe, she walked inside and looked around some more. At that point, Roxanne walked out of the bathroom and watched Firefly walk inside the opposite room, she walked over and into the room, she walked over to the wardrobe and opened it, she saw no clothing however but did notice something small on the bottom of the wardrobe, she leaned down and saw that it was a small metallic object, she picked it up and saw that it was a bronze key. "Might be the basement key." She said to herself. Firefly looked under the bed and saw a small box, curious, she pushed the box out and walked over to it, she opened the lid and saw a journal and a photo, turning her attention to the photo, Firefly examined it. The photo was of a family of three outside the house, a father and mother by the looks of it, and their son, the father had a dark green coat and a blue mane and tail, his eyes were yellow and his cutie mark was a crystalline wooden plank. The mother had yellow fur and had a yellow mane and tail, her eyes were orange and her cutie mark was that of a picture frame, the son had an orange coat, red mane and tail, he had brown eyes and no cutie mark.....all three of them had a happy smile on their faces, Firefly sighed and set the picture back in the box, knowing fully well that the family was possibly gone, she then turned her attention to the journal, which was a simple brown book with a strap, she then looked at Roxanne. "Hey mom, I found something." She said. Roxanne looked at Firefly and walked over, she noticed the journal but said nothing as she examined the photo for a moment.....after she was done she sighed and picked up the journal, she sat down on the bed and began reading it......finding most of the pages torn out or blank, she found only the last few entries. Firefly jumped up on the bed next to Roxanne and listened as she began to read aloud. "They are taking more of us again." Roxanne started. Roxanne cleared her throat and continued reading the book. "It will not be long until they find and take us as well.....but I won't let that happen......" _____*flashback*_____ The father rushed up to the window and looked outside.....seeing Sombra's undead drudges and minions, he quickly ran up to the bed. "....I plan on leaving the empire...." Echoed Roxanne's voice. As the father packed supplies into a bag Roxanne's voice continued the story. [2] "I managed to sneak an old cart out of the camp that they send us to.....I'll be taking my family with me and I plan on running as fast as I can to get us to the safety of Equestria." Roxanne continued as the father slung the supplies onto his back and rushed out of the room. The father found his wife and son and quietly ushered them out of the house through a small hole in the wall thought the kitchen. "It is with a heavy heart and shaky hoof that I write this....as I cannot save anypony else for we do not have the supplies." Roxanne continued. The father lead his family to an old cart and ushered them on it, he threw a dull white canvas over the cart and strapped the harness on, he then started to pull the cart as quickly as he could. "I fear that we may not make it, our supplies are few and we barely have enough to feed ourselves, but we should be fine if I can sneak some rations from that military outpost along the way." Roxanne paused for a moment and turned the page. The father pulled the cart past the military outpost quietly, once the cart was out of sight, he made she his family was safe and snuck towards the military outpost. "Our neighbors gave us what few rations they could spare, which will at least let us keep up our strength for a day......last night, Onar resisted the minions of Sombra, he took out the skeletons and two of the guards before fleeing, several of Sombra's minions chased after him but the fact that Onar returned later that night covered in blood.....we all knew what happened." Roxanne continued. "That blacksmith forged something while the guard was depleted....he was very secretive about it, but we assumed it was something for Onar." Roxanne said. The father snuck past a pair of guards that were guarding an entrance, he then spotted a lone guard at a doorway and snuck up behind him, with quick movement the father snapped the guards neck and hid the body, he then continued to sneak around until he found the ration room, he took out the guards quietly and grabbed a few bags of rations, he quickly looked around and seeing no one around, he quickly downed one of the ration packs to regain his strength and made his escape, but not before replacing the rations he ate. "Onar quickly rallied the few who would follow him, he then left the village to form a resistance against Sombra, my son wanted to follow but I forbade it....maybe I shouldn't have....but I will not see my son become a killer, so we will run to Equestria and find my cousin, he can help us." Roxanne continued. The father ran up to the cart and threw the ration packs in, he told his wife and son to eat and strapped on the harness quickly and started pulling just as the alarm went off at the outpost. "....Today is the day, the day that I leave here with my family and take them to safety.....with Onar's rebellion and Equestria's army engaging Sombra's army, the path that I plan to take should be relatively empty....the only thing I will need to worry about will be wolves and bears." Roxanne continued, The father ducked down and impaled the wolf with the spear he obtained from one of the guards at the outpost, he quickly slid the spear back Into the cart and strapped the harness on, he then ran as fast as his legs could go, he knew that his cousin was in the Equestrian military, and he was risking his life on the chance that his cousin would be at the Equestrian front. "To the one reading this....I do not want you worrying about my fate, or that of my family, chances are we made it safely to Equestria and returned to normal lives......but I long for the chance to see the Crystal Empire returned to its former glory, but I fear I will not be able to." Roxanne said before closing the book. The father stopped moving with the cart and in strapped the harness, he quickly pulled his family out and grabbed the spear, he looked around and saw no one nearby but knew that there were soldiers up at the front lines, he made sure his family knew to be silent and quietly snuck through enemy lines, as he snuck through he noticed that he had the ability to do something through the confusion, he found a lone unicorn soldier and immediately knew he was of the Equestrian army, he silently walked over and tapped the guard on the shoulder....after explaining the situation to the soldier, they both agreed to help each other find their way through the enemy lines, they quietly snuck through and took out several guards along the way, the father left the spear embedded in one guards chest before continuing. The father led his family through the trenches with the soldier, they evenually made their way out and the soldier quickly shot up a magical flare, soon enough, the Equestrian army charged the enemy lines and ended the weakened defenses, the father and his family were taken the the army's camp and were asked a series of questions, after they answered how they could, the father's cousin made his appearance and sent his family to the refugee camp, which was just outside Trotterdam. ____*end of flashback*____ Roxanne stood up and sighed, she set the book in the box and continued to search the room. "Hey mom, what do you think happened?" Firefly asked curiously. Roxanne paused and stood up, she rubbed her eyes and looked at Firefly. "I wish I could tell you Firefly.....but I don't have Fang's ability to see into the past, but I guess they found the Equestrian military.....at least that's what I like to think." She replied. Firefly nodded and jumped down, she looked at Roxanne and grinned. "Well then.....lets keep searching, maybe we'll find more clues." She said optimistically. Roxanne nodded and started to search the rest of the room. ____*twenty minutes later, back outside. (I'm saving you about eight minutes of reading and twenty minutes of me writing)*___ The basement in that house held nothing special, the only thing they found of interest was a small woolen bag, which Roxanne put the snow globe in for Firefly. The other houses had nothing either, and so, Roxanne and Firefly were now waiting outside for the others. Then they saw Skitter, Talon and Dark walk up to them, the only thing that they were holding was an old book. "How did your search go?" Skitter asked. Roxanne shrugged. "Found a nice snow globe, a book that told part of a story of how a father brought his family to Equestria.....nothing much.....you?" She asked. Skitter groaned, she looked at the book she was holding in her magic and sighed. "Books.....books books and more books, this one was the only one of interest, it hints to the location of Fang's mysterious artifact." She replied. Talon rolled her eyes and looked towards the town hall and saw Fang and Spark walking towards them. "What did you find?" The two groups asked in unison. Fang blinked and sighed, he pulled out an old stone tablet and flipped it around so everyone could see. "This tablet is a map of the entire town, my guess is that we need to put all the clues together to find this thing." He told the group. "Indeed.....that is a very confusing riddle." Added a new voice, startling the group. Fang's eyes widened and he quickly looked to his right and saw an unknown earth pony stallion staring at him. The earth pony had a slightly dull white fur, hair and tail, his eyes were teal and his cutie mark was that of a sword and a bow covered in snow. The earth pony blinked and looked around the group, eventually he shrugged and looked at Fang. "So.....who's side are you on?" He questioned. Fang shrugged. "Me?....I'm on my own side, same for all of us exept her." He replied before pointing at Talon. The earth pony looked at Talon and immediately noticed the golden armor, he quickly backed up and growled. "Liars!....your from the royal guard!" He accused. Fang simply raised an eyebrow. "Uhhh......huh?" He wondered as he scratched his head. "I think the man has gone completely loopy." Said Spirit as he materialized near Fang. The earth pony's eyes widened at the sight of Spirit, but then he heard another voice..... "You're one to talk Spirit, seeing as you went insane yourself once." Said Soul as she materialized next to Skitter. The earth pony blinked at the sight of the spirits, he then looked at Fang cautiously while slowly backing up. "What are those spirits?" He questioned. Fang shrugged and scratched his head. 'Soul is so going to try to kill me for this.' He thought while letting out a slight chuckle. "Well....they are two VERY annoying ghosts called Soul and Spirit." He said teasingly. Spirit grumbled while Soul nodded......before realizing what Fang said and glared at him accusingly. "You son of a bitch!......make another joke like that and I'll jam that sword up your ass!" She threatened in a pissed off state. Roxanne could only sigh and facepalm, Talon simply shook her head, Skitter and Dark rolled their eyes, Spark and Firefly however were too busy laughing to notice. The earth pony however seemed to be in a state of shock, but he quickly shook his head and looked at Fang, who was busy getting completely chewed out by a female wolf spirit that was making him back down, when he found his voice he spoke. [3] "Where did you get those swords?" He questioned curiously. Soul paused and looked at the earth pony. "Oh.....I'll let him explain." She then looked at Fang with a serious glare. "We WILL continue this discussion smart ass." She warned before becoming off. Fang blinked and soon he sighed, he then looked at the earth pony. "I found them in the Jade catacombs below Snowgem.....why?" He asked cautiously. The earth pony sighed and looked away from the group for the moment, he then looked at Fang again. "I knew the previous owner of those blades." He replied somberly. Fang raised an eyebrow and looked at the group, seeing them shrug he simply looked at the earth pony. "I believe introductions are in order." He stated. The earth pony nodded. "Indeed.....my name is Ralkon, I am the blacksmith of this village." He introduced. Fang nodded. "My name is Fang." He then pointed to the group. "That's Roxanne." He said while pointing at his partner, he then pointed at Talon and Skitter. "The changeling is Skitter, and she's Talon." He said while pointing at them respectively. Fang then pointed at the kids. "The Pegasus filly is Firefly, and the baby dragon is Spark, my son." He then pointed at Dark. "And that's Darkestlight......we just call her Dark, and you already met Spirit and Soul." He said, finishing the introductions. Ralkon nodded and looked up at the sky for a moment before looking at the group. "Allow me to ask.....but if your not from the royal guard.....why ARE you here?" He asked. Fang pointed at the tablet that he was holding. "We're searching for the weapon that this tablet points to, so that we can more easily free the Crystal empire." He explained. Ralkon sighed and started walking away from the group. "There is no point.....you already have them, and they seem to have accepted you as their bearers.....but I may be able to assist you......just this once." He replied. Fang looked back at the two swords on his back and sighed, he looked at Ralkon and nodded. "Fine, how can you help us?" He asked cautiously. Ralkon looked back at Fang and then looked towards a building that had a sign with the image of a hammer on it. "In my blacksmith, I forged some weapons for the resistance, but I never had the chance to sharpen them, I have a sharpening stone that was infused with the natural environmental hazards, if you were to sharpen your blade with it, I imagine that your sword would most likely gain the ability to freeze your enemies." He replied simply. Fang looked back at the group for their response, and got only shrugs and nods in response, he sighed and looked at Ralkon. "Hurry and go get it, we'll wait." He told the earth pony. Ralkon chuckled. "Unsurprisingly.....I have a price." He replied. 'I knew that.' Fang thought sarcastically. "What do you want for it?" He asked. Ralkon pointed at what looked like an old barracks. "The barracks was overrun by Sombra's undead minions years ago, you take them out, I'll give you the stone." He said. Fang nodded and looked at the barracks. 'Even if it isn't our primary objective, we better clear them out ahead of time.' He thought. As Ralkon headed for the blacksmith, the group headed towards the barracks, Roxanne however simply chuckled as she said something. "Quest accepted." She said randomly.[4] Dark raised an eyebrow and looked at Roxanne with a curious glare. "Huh?" She asked. Roxanne smirked. "Nothing." She replied simply. ____*one minute later, entrance to the barracks.*____ Roxanne sighed as Fang kicked the door down, with a loud crash, the rusted iron door to the barracks slammed against the wall on the other side, she simply began walking into the barracks as the group entered. "Great idea Fang, now we'll be accused of vandalism." She stated. Fang shrugged and looked around the two pathway building. "Alright, three of us will go right, and four of us will go left, if you find another split path, split up again, for their own safety, Spark and Firefly, stick with me and Roxanne respectively." He instructed before beginning to explore the barracks. Spark looked at Firefly and they both simply shrugged, they watched as Roxanne walked past them, the quickly followed their parents, leaving Talon, Skitter and Dark in a group once again. Skitter grumbled. "Let's just get this over with, I'd like to get back to the others so we can help them out." She said grumpily. Talon nodded. "Yes, it would be better if we hurried, the sooner the better." She added. Dark blinked and looked at the other two blankly, before shrugging and walking into the barracks. ____*over by Roxanne and Fang.*____ Roxanne swung Life and decapitated the skeleton before smashing it's ribs with a strong kick, she glanced behind herself and saw a rusted swung being clumsily swung at her, she reacted quickly and dodged the strike while swinging Death at the ghoul. The sword cleaved right through the ghoul and she looked over at Fang who just destroyed two skeletons by launching them at the wall. "Well.....this place has an infestation." She commented. Fang nodded and sheathed his swords. "Spark....Firefly, you two alright?" He asked. The sound of footsteps could be heard as Spark came around the corner with Firefly in tow. "Yea, we're alright." He replied. Fang nodded and looked around, he knew that the nearby rooms were empty but he knew that there was an upstairs, so he continued on. Roxanne shook her head and rubbed her eyes, she quickly followed Fang after making sure the kids were alright. 'Why we brought them into a warzone is beyond me.....but Fang did raise a good point of him not trusting anyone at the village.' She thought as she walked up the stairs. Fang heard a feral scream and sighed, he drew his sword and watched as a ghoul charged out from a doorway and down the stairs, he quickly swung the sword at the ghoul, cutting it in half, he then sheathed the sword and continued walking. 'One ghoul?.....if that's the strongest thing in here, this would be too easy.' He thought as he walked through the doorway. Roxanne looked back at the kids and noticed that they had a spooked expression on their faces, she knelt down and looked at the kids. "Are you kids alright?.....because if your not, just say something and I'll get you to safety." She told them. Firefly shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "It's alright......I just feel a little nauseous." She replied. Spark shrugged. "I should be alright.....if what I read about a dragon's lifespan is true, any emotional trauma I acquire now will be completely pointless by the time I reach adulthood." He replied simply. Roxanne sighed and nodded. "If you're sure.....but you let me know if anything feels wrong." She told them before continuing. ____*One minute later*____ As the group of four entered the last room on the upstairs floor, they noticed a rather large ghoulish figure, it seemed to have three arms and four legs, one of the arms held an axe, while the other two had swords, all three arms had a shield that seemed to be infused to them. Fang ushered the kids out of the room and walked forward after drawing his swords. "Roxanne, keep an eye out and guard the kids, I'll take care of this." He told his partner. Roxanne growled and walked up next to Fang. "Two against one Fang, it'll be dead long before anything can show up." She said firmly as she drew her swords. Fang sighed and looked at the large ghoul as it turned to face them. "This place.......is forbidden!" The ghoul screeched before charging. "Here we go again." Fang muttered before charging with Roxanne. The large ghoul swung all three of its weapons in a sweeping motion, which Fang jumped over while Roxanne jumped back to avoid it. Fang swung Soul and Spirit at the ghoul's back but they barely made a dent, Roxanne unleashed a deadly barrage of sword attacks at the ghoul but they were all either blocked by the shields or parried by the swords. The ghoul then began swinging in a whirlwind rapidly, it seemed to be aiming for Fang but Roxanne grabbed a stray brick from a small pile of rubble and threw it at the ghoul. Fang leapt at the wall and jumped off it, since he didn't have much momentum or height, he only got so far as to land on the ghoul's head, with quick thinking, he quickly jammed the swords into the ghoul's head. The ghoul seemed to be slowed by the swords but was still moving around, slowly but surely, but the speed reduction was just the opportunity Roxanne needed, she quickly rushed the ghoul and jammed her swords into its side, the swords were soon engulfed in white fire and she quickly ran the swords across its chest and severed its legs from its body. The ghoul screeched and soon fell over with a loud crash, Fang walked around the ghoul and looked at Roxanne curiously. "How did you do that?" He asked out of curiosity. Roxanne shrugged. "Turns out, Jandoka didn't have the strength to take the elements back, I can't say about Gwen and Firefly, but my element was simply made dormant." She explained simply. Fang chuckled. "Well, that was simpler than I thought.....oh well, let's get going." He replied. ____*one minute later, Frosthoof town center.*____ The group of seven watched as Ralkon walked up to them. "I see that you've cleared the barracks, I guess you're not the royal guard." He said, although being a lot quieter with the other bit. Fang nodded and watched as Ralkon tossed him something, he quickly caught it and examined it, at first glance, it seemed to be an ordinary stone, but it was unmistakably a gem, and one with extreme power. "Is this the stone?" He asked. Ralkon nodded. "Yes, it was a combined effort between me and a master gemcrafter, to use it, all you have to do is have a unicorn channel the magic from it into the weapon of your choosing." He explained. Fang turned the stone around in his hand and looked back at Skitter, he then threw it to her and it was caught in her magic. "We had better get going, or we won't be able to assist in the battle." He told the group. Roxanne nodded and looked at Ralkon. "Hey....what about you?....where's everyone else?" She asked. Ralkon stopped and sighed, he then looked at Roxanne with a grim look. "They were taken to the city.....only I evaded capture." He said before walking off. Roxanne could only watch with a sympathetic expression as Ralkon walked off, but her thought process was halted when she felt a hand on her shoulder, she glanced over and saw Fang looking at her in understanding. "Come on, we have to go." He told her, she nodded and ran to the group. Fang started walking to the group and looked up at the sky, he felt a cool breeze graze his cheek and sighed. 'We're getting there, just a bit longer.' He thought as he scratched his shoulder. "Darn itch." He muttered as he ran to catch up with the group. _____*The Crystal Empire, eight minutes later*_____ Roxanne could only watch with horrified eyes at what she saw. The streets of the empire...... .....Burned.