//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: The place I'll return to someday // Story: Kingdom in Shadows // by Istaran //------------------------------// Pink wings cut through the snow-filled air, guiding their owner unsteadily toward her destination. A dim glow from a horn radiated a bubble of heat, protecting its owner from the worst ravages of the weather, but here beyond the crystal heart's sphere of influence, a horn's magic was not enough to keep everything at bay. Not even an alicorn's horn. I didn't even look up to acknowledge Cadance as she landed. null and I clashed swords, blades pressing against one another for a moment, before I touched my own blade with one hoof, a wave of blackness passing up the blade, through the handle and surrounding myself for a moment. The flame-like blackness wreathing me winked out as a hoof-shaped shadow slammed into null from the side, sending him skidding across the snow. With a flick of my wings I was on him, blade thrusting down, only to be barely diverted into the snow with his own. The dead changeling spun and kicked, driving me back a bit on his way into a standing position. Warlock, the only other being present with us, approached Cadance. "We did not expect to see you here. Are you displeased with the progress of our departure? If there is anything you need to speak to us about, you could always talk to Alexander about it, as we agreed." "It is not that far to fly yet. I would talk to your King himself," she said. She wasn't furious anymore, but she was uncomfortable. null and I traded a few more blows before clipping our swords to our backs. null took up a position watching for anything approaching from deeper into the mountains, while I approached Princess Cadance. "There is a lot of damage to your city. My subjects are helping, as well as making a few preparations for our journey. Five days to help. Five days to prepare. I ask that much of you. Myself and the dead ones will not set foot in your city in the meanwhile." Cadance seemed a bit surprised. I guessed it wasn't the subject she meant to broach, but she rolled with it easily enough. "Ten days then?" I shook my head. "Five. We will do both at once. Some ponies are better suited to one or the other, and some will split their time. Those you see here will be gone before then, though. Despite Warlock's intelligence, there are things we need to see for ourselves, and soon." "You..." Cadance began before faltering for a moment. "You don't have to go. I overreacted. I just..." "Nopony likes to see how brutal war can be. And I... I admit, I have become more ruthless at times than I would have thought possible." I placed a hoof on her shoulder gently. "Your city is protected by good cheer, not guilt and self doubt. If I may, I would still like to count you as a friend and ally, even in my exile. If you agree, perhaps I can return when we've dealt with the remaining threats." She pulled free, but met my hoof with a gentle clop before I set it down. She smiled, weakly. "Your kingdom should be protected by good cheer and love, not darkness, South Wind. Your people love you... the living ones at least. Don't forget that. I fear you have spent too much time in the darkness, fighting shadows, and becoming a bit too much like them. Not every enemy needs to be slain. Some can be redeemed." "We're a bit far north for sunshine and rainbows," I commented ruefully. "But I will keep that in mind. Stay safe, Princess." "And you as well," she said, unwilling to use my title. She took flight then, and returned from whence she came. Wordlessly, I turned with my companions and started out into the snow. She had come, as I suspected, and we had talked. Now it was time to begin our trek in earnest. "So is this some of your 'song magic'?" Diamond Glitter asked Alexander. The half changeling wasn't singing, but his horn was manipulating a wrench and a small hammer to bang rhythmically on some overturned metal buckets, while he strummed intermittently on his lute, a bit of magic amplifying and altering the sound. It filled the streets with an unusual beat that seemed to go very well with the construction work going on as Itinerants and crystal ponies worked side by side to repair the damaged buildings. "Not so much. The amplification is magical, but this is merely a bit of music to help focus the mind on the task at hoof. Truthfully, I am a bit drained from the conflict, and I don't sense any wild song magic I can stir up at the moment. Of course... some snuggles would probably help with the former problem,~" the half changeling hinted. "I am not going to snuggle you," the guardmare said emphatically. "I would never expect you to," the prince pointed out. They sat in awkward silence a moment as Alexander continued to play. "I heard snuggles were needed?" Deep Digger asked, the crystal earth pony coming out from around the corner, introducing herself with an impish grin. "Indeed, though I dare say Garnet may get jealous if strangers start providing them," Alexander said with a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk. "Not a problem," Deep said, before disappearing around the corner from whence she had come. Alexander and Diamond exchanged confused looks, taking their eyes off the approach for a moment when they looked back, the earth pony was running back around the corner on her hind legs, her forelegs holding a crystal unicorn aloft despite the other mare's objections. With a manic grin, she deposited her load roughly against, the prince, Garnet crashing her way into a hug. The music crashed its way into an ending that oddly seemed fitting to the song, but left the scene in the rhythmless noise of the ongoing construction. Alexander giggled as he struggled to untangle himself and his marefriend from his cloak, and sit up into a proper snuggle. "My, such prompt and unexpected delivery! Do you know this eager mailmare?" "What? Umm. Yes. Alexander, this is my best friend, Deep Digger. Deep, this is Prince Alexander Gabriella Stormbringer the First," Garnet formerly introduced. The two shared a friendly clop, while Garnet settled against her coltfriend's side comfortably and naturally before pulling away a bit with a sudden look of shock. "Is something troubling you?" Alex asked immediately. "Oh! It's nothing, I just," Garnet said as she snuggled back into place. "I was just surprised at how natural it felt snuggling against you like this... we've only been on one date. I mean, I barely know you. That, and it feels like everypony is watching me..." Her sister and best friend most certainly were looking on, with contrasting emotions. Diamond looked like she was fighting back an objection while Deep was beaming with pride, neither of which made Garnet feel at ease. The feel of the fluffy pink wing wrapped around her withers, however, did make her feel at ease, the tension of the situation melting off of her slowly. "Three by my count, but that's hardly a thing to argue over," Alexander claimed. "Still, it is but a beginning. I hope to get to know you far better in the days ahead." "Are you going to feed off of her?" Diamond cut in as neutrally toned as she could manage, though it still bore the unmistakable hint of accusation. "Does it hurt?" Garnet asked, looking up into Alexander's eyes. "Only if and when she offers," Alex replied to Diamond before turning to Garnet. "As to your question, no. It does not hurt, and can even be quite pleasant. It will, however, make you hungrier, possibly tired, and if we're to make a habit of it you should expect to eat more. It is much as if you were using your horn more vigorously than you are used to, and with much the same potential consequences." Horn overuse was of course something both unicorns were personally familiar with, and Deep nodded sagely at the familiar concept. "Do it,~" the earth mare urged, watching wide eyed, eager to see it for herself. "There isn't really much to see, you know..." Alexander objected to his audience. "Do it," Garnet said as she snuggled in closer against her stallion, nuzzling his chest. Both closed her eyes, and the mare let out a slight gasp before sighing contentedly. Deep gave a happy sigh of her own watching the scene, her imagination wildly filling in the blanks. Diamond gave a sigh of her own, as she let the aggression flow out of her, accepting her sister's choice of date for the moment. Silence reigned over the group for the moment, a rather noisy 'silence' given their environment, but a sort of silence nonetheless. Finally, Diamond broke it. "Alexander..." she began. "Yes, Lady Guard Lieutenant Diamond Glitter?" Alex answered contentedly, not opening his eyes. "I'm sorry. For earlier. For judging you so harshly without knowing you. I know what you did, in the battle. You were..." Diamond couldn't quite get it out. "You wished to protect your sister, yes? You still do?" Alexander inquired. "That's right, but I-" Diamond began. "I do too. She is such a precious gem, let us both keep her safe from any who would harm her," Alexander offered. Diamond nodded slowly, wordlessly, and Alexander peeked open an eye to confirm what his sensitive ears had noticed. Then the noisy silence reigned once again. Deep beneath the surface, below the shell of a fortress the Itinerants had erected, among the roots of the living wood pony now known as Frozen Core, a unicorn made the rounds in a lab coat, surveying the progress of several projects. Bunsen Burner first walked up to her old friend and partner, Bubbling Beaker. "How is Project Zero progressing?" she asked, speaking aloud more for the feel of it than necessity. Just as she was using her own eyes to observe rather than simply exchanging sensory data through their networks. "It's going great!" Bubbling said, pointing a hoof toward the crystal pony suspended in a glass tube filled with green gel. The pony, a crystal earth stallion, was covered in runic etching filled with black crystals, in some ways resembling the Sin Eater swords. "The suppression system is working great, and his mental rehabilitation in Elysium seems to be progressing nicely. Sky Ranger is taking point on that, and has a lot of positive results to report. We hope to test switching him from suppress mode to enhance mode in time for the counteroffensive." Bunsen nodded, failing to keep a straight face, and instead smiling at her friend. "Thank you, Bubbling. Keep up the good work. Those vitals seems quite strong, make sure you cycle in some fresh goo often enough. Let me know if you have any trouble getting volunteers to produce it." "Roger!" Bubbling declared with a sharp solute and a giggle before the other unicorn trotted away. Bunsen made a checkmark on her list before trotting to the next person. Forge Soot, the minotaur, towered over her. The fact was made that much more obvious when he raised his hammer far over his own head, bringing it down heavily on the blade before him. It had been one of the Sin Eaters, but now it was something else. The blade was largely unchanged, but the pommel quite a bit altered. At the moment he was hammering the connection between the two, forcing them into tighter contact between the old and new components. An elder griffon, one who wore his age more thoroughly than Bardrick did these days, but still had obvious might to his form, guided Forge's actions, stopping him from time to time to inspect the results, and make sure the runes were undamaged. "Wayland, Forge Soot. How is Project Kingblade progressing?" Bunsen inquired. "The first prototype is nearly ready for trials. We have been able to confirm that the inversion heart works in basic experiments," Forge Soot said, taking a moment to wipe his brow. "Getting a hold of that dark heart crystal from Warlock made this project much easier. We should have the first Kingblade mk1 ready for testing by sundown, perhaps ready for use by sunrise. Then we'll start retrofitting the other Sin Eaters in the same fashion." "I'll have to re-etch some of these runes before it's combat-worthy, of course," Wayland complained. "It'd almost be easier to start from scratch, but some of the materials aren't as easy for us to acquire as others." Bunsen nodded and checked off the next item in her list, and trotted away. She trotted up some stairs to the floor above, approaching a massive circular dais surrounded by three wooden pillars, each curving outward. The inner side of each pillar was coated in bright, yellow, glowing crystals, while more of the same were etched into the sides in runic patterns. "Bark Tender, how is Project Freight Crasher progressing?" the mare called up to the ceiling. A wooden form extended down, looking like a carved pony head and torso. Vines were wrapped around it, extending up out of sight and helping to guide its movements, shaky as those seemed. "I prefer to go by Frozen Core now, miss Burner," the wooden head spoke with a colt's voice, though its lips were unmoving. "The Freight Crasher is online and available for immediate testing. Do you have a sample ready for transport?" he inquired. "Already? Hmm, give me a moment," Bunsen said before checking off the last item, and adding a few hoofwritten notes beside each entry. Finally, her magic lifted the paper free from her clipboard and placed it in the center of the dais. "There. We can start small. Please send this to our king immediately. "Of course," Frozen said as the glow from the yellow crystal grew blinding. Yellow light filled the space between them for a time, then disappeared, leaving nothing upon the platform. "Receipt confirmed by recipient," the wooden construct acknowledged. "Targeting was off by seven point three hooves from intended location. Attempting to recalibrate." "You need more notes?" Bunsen inquired.