//------------------------------// // Ending an Old Threat // Story: The Crystal Wolves (Rewrite) // by Roran Dreamon //------------------------------// "Crystal Centurions! Bring me his head!" As soon as I heard those words all four centurions aimed their weapons at me and slowly started to march down the stairs in unison, not one tripping or shambling like the undead that they are acting as. The mind-domination runes on their helmets doesn't hinder the wearer, instead it they act as themselves with the exception that they can not talk back, can not refuse a given order, and also can not be removed while it is active. Truly its only weakness is either an anti-magic dome (nobody in the empire seems to be capable of doing it) or by disabling or killing the caster that is controlling the enslaved. Once the front row of centurions got within striking distance I allowed them to make the first move, knowing full well that my shields will be able to take the blows with ease and I could just bulldoze through the lot of them without even having to worry about getting injured in the process to reach Sombra. But I failed to realize that before the battle to defeat Sombra the first time that he managed to disable my shields by overloading the power core with electrical discharges, and I in turn paid for it when saw several swords and spears entered what was supposed to be my protective shield zone and glanced off or broke on my armored plated chest and legs. Oh shit my shields are offline! The saw blades and spears that made contact with my body either broke the serrated teeth or the spearheads snapped off of my armor, but I know that eventually one of those sharpened weapons will find a gap and hurt me. And that was when I just realized that I am pretty much nine feet tall and I am more than strong enough to smack these ponies aside. Smirking at them from behind my mask I rotated my body to the left before rearing back and unleashing my arms, both of them smacking aside a few ponies alongside their weapons before using that moment to rear back with my left arms and swung them wildly to the side, knocking more centurions aside. As soon as the first row was pushed aside and dazed from the attack, the next row came in but this time half of them leapt at me with their swords in their mouths and their spears in their hooves while the other half stayed on the ground and raised their weapons at me from below, trying to break my stance and have me knocked down and impaled with extreme prejudice. Instead I opted to duck down and juke through all of them by phase-shifting through them and as soon I was face-to-face with the next row I decided to keep on moving, turning myself into a battering ram and made myself at home in their personal space before knocking them aside and into their comrades. With me now in the middle of the centurions and now the ones I blew past have just managed to turn themselves around and are now pointing their weapons at me. So there I was, surrounded on all sides by mind-controlled crystal centurions, all of them are easily within spitting distance and are poised to strike at me, but I still had a few aces up my four sleeves. I waited for the centurions to make their move and as soon as they did and dog piled on top of me, all of the ones that are actually on me were stabbing, shanking and biting me. The blades that hit my armor broke upon impact, but the few that were biting me actually did nothing but hurt their own teeth, but seeing how they are mentally-dominated at this point they are just not complaining about it. That and they have molar teeth so no real damage done there. With the amount of physical contact that is happening, I decided to activate the static core that lies within my chestplate, and after a three second delay I unleashed the core, the electrical buildup zapped and electrocuted everyone that surrounded me. As soon as their bodies made contact with mine it sealed their collective fates. The electricity coursing through every single crystal centurion that was piled on top of me received a very special shock therapy courtesy of me, the electrical discharge stunned, disorientated, and rendered a few of them unconscious and the few that managed to stay standing were swept aside as I grabbed the closest pony with my upper right hand. With my hand wrapped around the neck of a pony I lifted said pony off the ground before throwing them at a centurion that was still standing, spear in hoof and was shrugging off the electrical shock only to be smacked at his center mass with his friend's body. With several of the centurions still on their hooves disorientated from the electrical shock and are just now starting to shack off the buzzing numb sensation that made their limbs feel like it was made of heavy lead. Cracking all of my knuckles I reared back and started to hit everything that wasn't me or on my side. My fist found purchase with a young mare's face and while I would love to apologize for hitting a mare, she was trying to impale my lungs with a hefty spear so I decided to apologize later instead. As soon as she was down for the count I targeted my next opponent, a fairly grizzled stallion who had shaken off the stun and who just threw his sword at me. I must say that whole saying of throwing your sword at someone always works. IT doesn't, it almost always ends in failure, like just now. When that stallion threw his sword at me, I watched it go flying through the air, pointy end hurling right at me chest and when it collided with me, it bounced off with a tink and landed on the floor just as we both looked at each other when it hit me. Although I can't look at his face I can guess it was a 'I dun goofed' and he was right, he dun goofed and his reward for it was to be kicked into the air with my left leg before being slammed back down with a double fist hammer in the center of his back. With that guard out for the count I moved onto the next batch of targets, a small cluster of guards that had escaped my discharge and I realized it was the ones I had smacked aside earlier, they had recovered from being flung aside like rag dolls and were now coming back up the stairs, some of them without weapons while the rest still brandished damaged goods. Rolling my shoulders I turned around and faced my foes once more, they hesitated but only for a moment before rushing forth. The first one that met me was in turn greeted by my fist crashing into his helmet, knocking him out cold from being hit in the temple. The next three faired far better then their companion, if only by a small amount because they had the advantage of numbers but not the advantage of being equipped for the fight against me. The trio of centurions rushed up to me and tried to impale me onto their spears but instead the spearhead got lodged between two flexible plates on my lower torso and while it looked adorable that they thought that they could kill me so easily, I returned the favor in kind by breaking the spears in half before bashing them between the eyes with the flat metal blades before throwing their bodies aside. I would rather not step on the centurions and risk crushing them to death, I will need them later to help stabilize and rebuild this kingdom from the ground up. That and it is really hard to train a batch of centurions since the wash out rate is absurdly high. About roughly out of every one hundred crystal guards that tries to join the order, only one or two ever succeed. But onto other matters, like feeling a hammer hitting me in the back of the knee and knocking me down into a kneeling stance before feeling another hammer strike me across the face, actually making me draw blood when I bit my cheek. Now I know that getting struck by a hammer isn't the healthiest thing in the world, but when I got whacked across the face with that bludgeoning weapon I had realized that I made an error in judgement that I couldn't be harmed by these weapons. Blunt objects can hurt me just fine. Yelping out from the sudden impact to the side of the head I tried to stand back up after the ringing had stopped but that was interrupted when a second hammer blow knocked me flat on my back when the war hammer crashed against my spine. With me lying on the floor I felt the hammer bash against me again and again, it doesn't do much to hurt me physically because my armor is keeping me safe but getting cracked across the face though, I know for a fact that something in my mouth is broken, probably a few teeth. Spitting out globs of blueish-white blood and shards of broken teeth, I raised my head and looked at the centurion responsible for that blow and saw that she was winding up for another attack but I put a stop to that by sweeping her off her hooves and took the hammer away from the downed centurion and in her stead used it against her and her friends in kind. The blunt weapon cracked across her muzzle along with the closed helmets of two more centurions, the resulting blow knocking one out and the other a bad case of head trauma before tossing aside the weapon by dropping it heavy weight down on top of the dizzy elite guard. Turning my attention to those left standing, I saw that there wasn't many left that could stop me, not that they could actually stop me as I hear the barely soft audioable humming as my protective shields came online, and just in time as well because as soon as they turned on a small blade explode in front of my face, the metal blade collided with the shielding layer and with the repulsive force going against the weak penetrative power of the stab. The resulting explosion sent tiny shards everywhere but the best part was the centurion who recoiled back from the mini-explosion and when this one tried to reach for another weapon I gripped him by the scruff of his neck before standing to my full height with one thing in mind. Once my hand grasped his neckfirmly I lifted him off the ground before using it as a flexible club, whacking those that were still standing with their friend, and I must say using a still living person as a weapon was nice, I only had to worry about swinging too hard and accidentally killing my weapon or the people I am hitting. Swinging the body around once more and after seeing that there was no one left standing besides Sombra, I decided my next course of action in a second. I threw the unconscious centurion right at Sombra like a javelin. But naturally Sombra moved out of the centurion spear's path before backing up and trotted to his throne. The centurion in question that I tossed flew past the throne and smashed against the back wall before sliding down into a heap. For a moment I thought I heard that cartoony sound effect when someone is sliding down a wall after running or being throne into it. He wanted to fight me in the throne room, I can only imagine the damage that the two of us will do to that grand chamber but the repairs can wait till after the kingdom is back on its feet and isn't collapsing on itself. Once he was out of sight I grabbed my swords that I had dropped on the floor and held them tightly this time, I can't afford to drop these two again, especially with what I am going to be facing in a few moments. As soon as I had a firm grip on my two shock blades I reached back with my lower set of arms and pulled out the small set of shock daggers that I keep just in the event that I get disarmed and they don't find those particular knives. Walking up the stairs I saw Sombra waiting for me beside the lonely throne and the frozen crystalized bodies of my friends and comrades pushed to the sides of the room, I guess he doesn't want to damage his slaves when they still have use in them. "Come now Skolas, let us end that which binds us together. Only one of us will be walking away from this battle today and that pony will be me!" Sombra shouted before drawing his sword from its scabbard, a long crystal metal estoc but that was immediately followed by four more black crystal rapiers that seemed to have appeared from the shadow of his signature weapon. 'Huh, that is a new trick...no matter.' With my two swords unsheathed and at the ready I slowly made my way towards the mad unicorn, my breathing mask disconnecting itself from my mouth before slinking back into my armor and with it my lips slowly parted to reveal my teeth. Although Sombra has seen my chompers several times throughout his life, it still unnerved him a bit which granted me an opening as I flash-stepped forward and cocked back my arm and took a swing. Punching Sombra in the face it launched him back several feet as his body rolled along the smooth crystal marble floor before coming to a complete stop beside the throne, a line of blood dripping from his muzzle as drops started to pool on the ground beneath him. Wiping his muzzle with a hoof I watched him look at his bloodied hoof before turning his gaze to me before sneering and charged back at me. With a swing to my head that was immediately followed by several rapid stabs I retaliated by deflecting his blows to the side, Unicorns are not very good at multitasking with their magic and although Sombra is one of the few who can succeed in that task he isn't that good with wielding multiple weapons that are also powered by the same magic that is being held up in the process. Growling at me I watched the unicorn return to his old tricks and went with several rapid stabs and slashes, keeping with the same combos over and over again which was easy to dodge or deflect because his attacks were so easily telegraphed. "Oh Sombra, you never were one for fighting. You were always for the theatrics but this is not one of your orchestrated events, you can't buy my loyalty nor could you escape my judgement." I said as I deflected yet another rapier strike but this time I sheathed one of my daggers to grab the thin blade and yanked it out from his magical grip as my natural anti-magic field (however thin it is) and threw his weapon aside. This move distracted Sombra, he had the look of utter befuddlement and I think that he has forgotten that I had this little ability and because his face still holds that shocked look I saw that it was my chance to end this now. Lunging forward I deflect the ill-prepared rushed defense that Sombra set up and when the swords made contact with my body they lost the magical glow that surrounded them and fell to the ground in a clattering display before I cocked back and socked the not-so-smug bastard in the muzzle and sent him back several feet. His tumble stopped right at the foot of the throne steps and with a bit of a limp, I watched the traitor stand back up on shaky limbs. But before I could end this farce and claim the throne for myself, I saw his eyes go glossy for the briefest of time and I knew exactly why this was happening. In Sombra's eyes, he is seeing the thing that is most precious to him, his wife and child standing in front of him, but to me they aren't there. His family was killed on his own orders when the darkness within him and the black magic he learned from Grogar's numerous magic scrolls corrupted him to the point that he was beyond saving. As he stood there, smiling for what must have been the first time in years, I saw that he was back to his old self before the madness took him but I had to end this façade that he is going through and it is a mercy for him at this point. Twirling my blades I made slashing motions at the two illusionary figures that only Sombra could see, but to him he saw me just cut down his wife and child right before his eyes. His reaction was what I was expecting, he broke down into a feral rage. Letting out a beastial roar I watched as Sombra lunged at me, all five of his swords now back in his grip lunged forward as well as I tried to block them all but all I did was redirect them away from anything vital and felt as four sharpened points penetrate through the gaps in my armor. I didn't make a sound as they punctured my flesh as I was too busy blocking a particular sword from stabbing into my throat and killing me. When those rapiers penetrated my armor and dug an inch into my body, I thought that was all he was going to do but that was when I felt those damn swords wiggle in place before being forced deeper into my body, one such blade went right through my upper right forearm and came out the other end as the other three went through my left thigh, left collarbone, and my ribcage just barely missing a lung. The pain that I felt from that was unimaginable, I felt my muscles burn and ache from the wounds but what made it worse was that I felt my strength being sapped away from me but that was only the beginning. As soon as I felt the pain start to grow in intensity but it subsided when I managed to punch Sombra in the face again but this time it broke his hold on the weapons embedded in my body long enough to force him to retreat but it was short lived as he came charging back and rammed himself into me, pushing me back a few feet but I quickly regained my footing and pushed back in equal measure and lifted him off the ground but only for those swords still inside me to twitch and wiggle violently around. Let me tell you something, having something that is currently inside your body and having it thrashing about is absolutely painful, and I mean it fucking hurts like hell. You might as well be pouring molten metal into your veins and then for added measure your muscles are being torn apart one strand at a time. Ripping the sword out that was shoved into my chest hurt, but the pain was numbed down when I used that sword and stabbed it into Sombra's right forehoof into the ground. That move did little to dissuade Sombra but what it did was throw Luna's throne at me with his magic which launched me toward a balcony and before I could recover from such a blow he charged at me again but this time he leapt into the air and collided with my chest, his horn imbued with the darkness and black magic, and stabbed right into my chest through my armor over my heart and with the impact it I felt my lower back make contact with the railing and the two of us fell over the edge. I was expecting to be falling down a flight of stairs to the lower levels of the palace, but then I realized that this balcony was attached to the throne room. I was not expecting to be pretty much knocked out the palace and to land ass first onto the floor outside my home. As soon as I made impact with the ground all of the air in my lungs was pushed out of me and with the blades in my thigh, collarbone and chest they too were pushed out but only to the point where the blades were just in my body instead of going all the way through it. That sting like a bitch but I had to push on, I mean I had way worse injuries then this one. I was freaking set on fire by a dragon for fucks sake, this shouldn't hurt any worse then having my body burning for thirty minutes straight and also then getting smacked out of a cave and down a mile long mountain to a lake beneath it. Groaning in pain I rolled over and felt a weight in my chest and I only needed to look down to see that Sombra was still embedded in my chest and with a yank I pulled him out of me before throwing him aside into the gate blocking access to the palace. When I pulled him from my chest I may or may not have let out an effeminate scream of pain because when I yanked him out I felt on of his hooves hit my groin, the cup that I normally wear down there took the blow but I didn't know that at the time and all those years of repressed memories of my childhood of being kicked and smacked in the balls by my brothers came bubbling up from the darkest corners of my mind. It was during this moment that the citizens of the kingdom started to come out from their homes, their stasis-induced coma coming to an end, and with it the first thing they saw was me throwing Sombra into a metal gate while I had four swords sticking out of my body like a damn pincushion. A few of the citizens immediately scrambled back into their homes and locked their doors, but a few stayed outside and those few that did came to my aid, well...one of them did. That one brave pony was a colt, a young pony, came to the big scary alien that has four glowing black rapiers sticking out of my body and he helped me by using his teeth to grab the hilt of one rapier and gently taking it out, he earned himself some brownie points with me. Of course that will have to be used later because as soon as the first sword was removed from my person I heard a pair of hooves slowly hobble toward me and I could only lean off the floor to look at the source of it only to earn myself an enchanted estoc to the throat. It was bad enough that I fell down three stories and hit the ground with enough force to break a lesser persons body and had a couple swords sticking out of me like a damn pincushion but now I have a damn crystal long toothpick sticking out of my neck. My only saving grace is that it missed every single major blood vessel and artery along with my spine, downside is that now I have a fifth sword sticking out of my body. I swear it is almost like someone just has it out for me. That or god is just taking a real piss on my day today. My eyes were wide open with shock that Sombra had just outright tried to kill me instead of incapacitating me to force me to watch as his master plan unfolds, but this time he wanted me dead to get me out of the way. 'Motherfucker...this is going to hurt me so much tomorrow morning.' And as for the young colt who tried to help me, he actually backed away from me as Sombra hobbled over to me but he kept the black crystal rapier in his mouth, I hope that thing isn't a corrupting influence or I might have to grit my teeth and put him down before he becomes something just like Sombra. "You...you just don't quit do you? You should have just accepted my offer when I gave it to you brother...you would have lived like a king alongside me! But no, you just had to betray me like that, just had to side with those two cowards instead of your own blood!" "You are no brother of mine Sombra, you never were. The moment you delved into Grogar's research notes you condemned yourself to an immediate execution, you disobeyed your princess's orders to burn them whenever they are found but instead you collected them and nearly became the very thing we fought against! It wasn't me who betrayed you, it was you who betrayed me!" It was during this lull in the fighting that I noticed the gates slowly open up and behind them I saw glints of dull forms moving in the shadows, dancing to and fro from within the shadows. "I trusted you! You were like the family that I had lost when I first got here! You were supposed to be the guiding light to these ponies not lead them to their deaths for your own greed!" I shouted back at him as I swing my arm at him, it missed him by an inch as it smashed into the ground and broke the brick pavement. "There deaths are in vain because of you! What are a few lives compared to those that could be saved in the long run!" My once-brother shouted back at me, ramming into my chest and pushed back a couple of yards but I stopped him by grabbing him by the barrel and tossed him right into the palace gates, actually pushing them open in the process as his body skidded and tumbled into the center of the courtyard. "The fact that you were using necromancy to try and prolong your life by absorbing the life-essence of those you killed and that you were going to kill any and all who would dare defy you and re-ignite the war with the griffons when we are not even prepared for it! Why must you try to throw away so many lives just so you could sit upon a throne that doesn't even want you!" I said as I slammed down again, this time making Sombra stagger backwards and in that moment the shadows moved. Two ponies from the shadows leapt from their hiding places and ambushed Sombra, binding him down with glowing blue chains as they quickly wrapped them around his barrel and legs before holding him down with their bodies. "Unhand me you fools! You will not disobey your king! I will have your heads for this insolence!" Sombra shouted as he tried to escape from his bindings but the magic around his horn fizzled out and only emitted nothing but sparks. "I am sorry Sombra, but you will not be going anywhere, you must pay the price for your crimes and you will be paying them in full." I said as I sheathed my swords and slowly made my way towards him, pulling out the swords that was still embedded in my body one at a time and dropping them on the ground as I got closer to him. Snarling up at me and taking a bite out of the air as I kneeled down in front of him, I looked into his eyes as I unhooked my helmet and placed it on the ground beside me as I placed all four of my hands onto his head, completely incasing it. "You will pay for this!" "Yes, yes I will pay for it. But just in the way that you won't be expecting nor will like." I said in a low tone as I focused on the darkness that resided within his very core and slowly drew it out of his body in a painful manner. As I slowly removed and absorbed the darkness that once resided within Sombra, the dark unicorn in question was letting out a silent scream of pain. To me it felt like I was slowly burning up as his darkness was tainted by the black magic that has seeped into Sombra's core, but for him it felt like his flesh was burning and his soul was slowly being torn apart and put back together horribly and haphazardly. The two ponies standing beside Sombra holding him place immediately let him go as they shuffled back several feet, respecting my power and staying a safe distance from the two of us as I purged Sombra of the power that I gave him. Removing the darkness that was inside of Sombra is a daunting task. I had to peel away layer after layer of mental defenses that he had set up to contain it within his fragile frame but seeing how he had let it loose and allowed it to flourish to a dangerous enough degree, it left him open to a good purging but it also made it more painful and traumatic. What no one knows about the darkness is that it can be expunged from somebody's essence and add it to their own if they know how to do it safely, because if you don't do it right it will pretty much twist and corrupt your own darkness and turn you into a raving mad lunatic as the prime example is the chained-up stallion before me. Another thing about the darkness is that it is a bitch to remove from a living body, extremely simple if it is being removed from a corpse but seeing how Sombra is still alive and that he still needs to be punished for his numerous crimes against the empire...I am sure he can handle the pain. For now anyways. Piece by piece I slowly rip out the shards of darkness from Sombra's soul, his livid silent screams is making his face funny but I ignore it for the time being as I feel it transfer into my own being but it tastes foul and it is actually hurting me in the process. Usually I would never do this reverse process for anyone, but if I am going to be strong enough to properly protect this kingdom like I did in the past when the griffons invaded or when the changelings were first created and nearly resulted in the entire kingdom being wiped out, all because of a mare scorned. "Sombra, remember this pain you are feeling. This is the same amount of pain you have caused this kingdom when you killed the innocent and slaughtered citizens that did not conform to your ideals. Remember this pain well because it will be living with you for the rest of your life, however short it will be." I whispered into his ears as I removed my hands from his head, pulling out the last of the darkness within his core and with it sending sharp ripples of pain through throughout his body as he collapses into a heap, his voice finally returning as he started to scream his lungs off. Backing away from the screaming stallion one of the ponies that have assisted me with capturing Sombra stepped out from the shadows, now wearing a dull brown and green patterned cloak before stopping right behind me. I only had to look at the pony in question before it saluted at me and I knew exactly who it was, just from the lack of a right foreleg. "You do not need to salute to me Warden Sage, I had you exempted from that rule due to your condition." I said as I turned around completely and looked down at the earth pony staring up at me, the little light grey-white pony standing at attention while saluting me with a stump of a leg. "I know sure, but this is something I can't simply forget. You trained me to follow the regulations when needed but this one time I had to do what needed to be done." The small pony said as I looked past him and towards the steadily growing crowd of ponies gathering outside the gates and were peering inside. While I was talking to one of my wardens, the crowd outside of the palace started to grow in numbers and along with it the loudness of their mutterings to the point where I can pick out what was being said from the growing mob. "Hang him!" Nah, too slow and painful for what I have in mind, and besides his head might slip through the rope. "Let him rot in the dungeons for what he has done!" Too easy and a complete waste of tax money to leave him to rot. Leaving him to starve is just inhumane and cruel, even for someone like me. "How long have we been sleeping?" I have no idea but I can only hope for a few hundred years. "What has he done to my brother! His eyes are empty and he won't talk back to me!" I can guess your brother is one of the centurions that I beat the ever living shit out of and knocked out. "Bucking kill him! He is the reason why the blizzards haven't stopped!" Oh don't worry about that...wait what blizzard? "Has anypony seen my hat?" Man fuck your hat, a hat isn't important right now unless it can see the future and bake pies and give happy endings, otherwise that hat can burn for all I care. Looking at the growing crowd of ponies in front of the palace gates I decided that now was the time to inform them of our current situation rather then later, having an entire population rise against you in anger and fear is something that I will not have nor will allow. I did not save this kingdom from the griffons only to have everything I worked hard for to just fall apart like a house of cards. As soon as I stood in front of everypony that was present I turned my back as my hands found purchase on the damaged gate as I hoisted myself up and climbed on top of it before clearing my throat loud enough to alert everyone that I was about to say something. "Everypony listen up!" I shouted as loud as I can even with a throat injury, my voice managed to silence everyone that was present along with a few growing voices that tried to push through the silence. "For those of you who do not know of my name or who I am, my name is Skolas and I am the Warden of the Wilds and also was the temporary Commander of the Crystal Kingdom during the Griffon Incursion. Many of you might know of me or have heard of me before for those of you who haven't, I was the one who fell from the sky fifty-six years ago and landed in the center market, and for those of you who do know me, I am the one who kept all of you safe from the roaming timberwolves, hydras, manticores and other hostile wildlife that lies within the woods that once surrounded our homes." "Many of you fought along side me when the griffons came and tried to enslave us all and even more of you showed true valor and bravery on the field when we put their capital to the torch after they tried to do the same to ours. We do not know how long we have been asleep when Sombra placed us all into some kind of stasis when his spell backfired after I disrupted his magical matrix. We need to know just how long we have been in that stasis bubble, how the outside world has changed during our absence, find a way to end this never ending blizzard and to survive the coming storm." "I will need volunteers to go out and brave the blizzard and see if the other towns and villages are alright and see if they will send aid to us. Also I will need any one of you ponies who was once a marathon runner to come forward, we must call to the others beyond our borders for aid if those within it won't or will not provide the aid we need." "I know that I am asking a lot out of you but for the time being we must all work together because if we don't and fall into chaos, none of us will last the coming winters and everything we have ever done will be for nothing." I shouted as the ponies below me at first were silent but as I started to rally them and as I kept on talking they all started to stamp their hooves in approval and started to shout and cheer. If we are to survive this new world that we have found ourselves in, then we must make sure that never again that will be a target from another nation. Never again will we be defenseless and helpless because those in charge wanted to stay passive and to wait it out. Never again shall we be subjected to poor leadership and lose everything that we worked so hard to accomplish. And I will be damned if the efforts of fifty-six years here would go down the drain because of starvation and possibly a rebellion if I can't snuff out any possible competition for the throne. I didn't have to wait long for the volunteers as several earth ponies and a few pegasi came up to me, the pegasi will be used for the closer villages as they are an important resource and can't be squandered or wasted but the earth ponies on the other hand, they are hardy and have much more endurance so they are my outreachers on the long hauls. Looking at the volunteers I briefly tell them what I am expecting them to do, and from the looks on their faces I can tell that they all know that they might not be coming back if they fail in this mission that I am giving them. "Gather here, your mission is vital to the continued existence of the Crystal Kingdom, your fellow ponies and your families. All of you must go out there to your assigned targets, see if the town or village is still standing, and ask if they will assist us. For those of you who will be going beyond our borders to ask our neighbors for aid, do be wary and cautious with those you talk to, we can not compromise ourselves and risk being attacked so soon, we will not survive another war with our current condition. If you manage to find another pony nation out there, they might be more inclined to help us as they will always help their fellow pony, but if you find the griffons, avoid them at all costs even if they may seem peaceful, they truly mean to stab us in the back like before." I said as the stares of the ponies around me hardened when they remembered exactly what the griffons did so long ago. "Go to the barracks within the palace, gather everything you will need for your journeys and take every precaution that you think will be necessary and do not forget that every single pony will be counting on you, do not die out there. Succeed or fail, return home, if none will help us then we will just have to find other means of surviving..." And with that said the runners nodded and spoke in agreement before trotting past me and headed inside the palace as I let my back hit the gate slump down against it slightly before remembering that the crowd was still here. "Please return to your homes, take stock of everything that you have, catalog your food stores and ration everything, indulging in overeating is now prohibited as we must search for a means to replenish our food stores along with finding other means to replenish them. Help our your fellow neighbors, assist them with anything they might need, starvation will not be the death of us and I will be damned if we do not survive the coming months. If we can survive the griffons surprise attack then we sure as hell can survive this!" Having to ration our food earned a few grumbles from the nobility but I know that if they refused to listen to me then I might have to make an example of them, if those idiots ate all of their food and complained that they are starving then I will let them starve, that will teach those around them not to eat everything they have when I strictly told them that we have a food shortage. The grumbling died down as everyone that was here started to return home, hopefully to spread the word to those that weren't here and also to hunker down and to wait out the storm. Once everyone was gone from the front of the palace I allowed myself to completely slump down the gate and to allow myself a brief respite and to rest and think of what to do next. The throbbing pain all over my body isn't helping me at all with the planning but it is a good thing that I can still feel pain because it lets me know that I am still alive. My rest never lasted long as I felt a nudge to my arm, opening my eyes and looking down I saw that it was one of my wardens trying to get my attention and for a moment I ignored him but when he nudged me again I realized that I wasn't going to get the rest I needed and yielded. "What is it Sage? Can't you see I am trying to rest?" I said as I closed my eyes again but was kicked in the shin for my efforts from the battle-weary stallion. "High Warden, go back to your room and rest, I will try and find an apothecary and surgeons and send them to your quarters to tend to your injuries. We can't have our founder die on us just after he saved us all from being enslaved by Sombra now can we." Sage said with a frown as he looked me over, the numerous stab wounds and other injuries that I have sustained during the battle and those that have reopened from the griffon war. I swear that assassin did more harm against his country than he did to me with that poison...that shit still stings eighteen years after the war has ended. Normally I would tell those that are trying to help me to piss off but seeing how my current condition I am injured and irrateable I decided that going against this recommendation would be hazardous for my health and grunted in agreement and picked myself up before hobbling up several flights of stairs and even more hallways before stopping at my room and collapsing in a heap on the floor, too tired and too weak to properly climb onto my oversized bed and sigh the day away. I will deal with the kingdom when my body no longer feels like the negative feedback from absorbing the corrupted darkness is tearing me apart slowly from the inside and the pain of being perforated with black crystal swords fades away. 'Oh sweet, sweet dreamland, take me away to a magical place where chocolate milk duds and a sugary wonderland wait for me.'