//------------------------------// // Cool Steel Blue // Story: Tales of Harmonia // by Ise no Kami //------------------------------// Shining Blade walked off the train into the warm morning sun, his friends following him into the daylight. He never imagined he'd ever be so far from home. Too bad this trip wasn't just a vacation. He turned his head toward the Smokey Mountains, his new home until things settled down. "Lead the way," he told Mornstar, gesturing toward the mountains. "Other way," Mornstar corrected him. "We're headed for the Unicorn Range." "Seriously? I get that the safe house has to be secret, but why's it in the middle of nowhere?" Blade inquired. "Well, it's not exactly a safe house," Mornstar explained. "It used to be a facility where we'd have all our really dangerous experiments, miles away from anypony who might get hurt. Eventually, though, most of those experiments were deemed illegal, and the place was abandoned. Nexus figured no one would look for you in a run down place like that." "How considerate of him." The four ponies headed north, and began their climb through the Unicorn Range. Eventually, they began to notice that a lot of the rock formations weren't exactly natural. Piles of stone bricks were scattered all over the place, the remains of ancient walls. Some stacks were taller than two grown stallions on top of each other, and others still linked together to form the remains of rooms. "Ms. Mornstar, what are these?" Nyx asked. "The remains of some old castle or something," Mornstar replied. "I guess some princess or something lived here long before Equestria was founded. Who knows, maybe that unicorn kingdom from the Hearth's Warming tale was closer to home than we thought." As she said this, a monster appeared from behind a broken wall, a green slug-like blob with tentacles writhing from its top. Mornstar reacted quickly, summoning blades of wind to rip the creature to shreds. "Well, whatever this place used to be, it's a monster nest now," Blade noted. "Best not to waste any time here. Let's get moving." As he rallied his friends to move, he noticed Nyx was staring up at the sky. "Nyx? Are you okay?" "Huh?" she asked, broken out of a trance. "Yeah, I'm fine. We should get going." As the group got back on their way, Nyx looked back up at the sky, looking for what she had seen...and she saw it again: A purple speck soaring high in the sky. The four made rapid progress through the ruins. They were set upon by many monsters, but Blade's sword and Mornstar's magic made short work of them, and what monsters got through them were rewarded with a speeding scooter to the face. Eventually, they reached a large room that was surprisingly intact. True, the floor had been completely replaced with dirt and grass, but the walls to their left and right were barely damaged, and even a small part of the back wall was still standing, allowing a small piece of the ceiling to remain intact. They moved to simply pass through this room...when a purple streak dropped to the ground in front of them. Standing in their way was the Princess of Friendship herself, Twilight Sparkle. "Give my daughter back to me!" She ordered through gritted teeth. "Gladly," Blade replied, sighing with relief. "I don't know what you've heard, but I didn't mean to hold onto her. Things just got crazy in that castle." "Wh-what...?" After Shining Blade had been built up as a crazed kidnapper, this surprised her. "Oh, and can you take this squirt home, too?" Blade motioned to Scootaloo. "Awwww..." "Don't whine," Blade scolded her. "You said yourself that you wanted to protect Nyx. Well, now you don't need to. So go home." Blade and Mornstar stood by as Nyx and Scootaloo made their way to Twilight. For them, at least, the nightmare could finally end. Things were finally looking up... BANG! A bullet made of pure magic sped into the ground between mother and daughter, freaking out everypony there. "That's far enough I'm afraid." Blade and Mornstar looked up to see Lockheart standing on what little roof the room still had, pointing an experimental magitech gun where the bullet hit. Before Twilight could react, she fired off another gun she was holding at the ground beneath Twilight's hooves, sending the alicorn flying. She hit her head on a broken wall and lost consciousness. "Lockheart, what are you doing!?" Mornstar asked, looking upon the beige pony with contempt and confusion. "Come now, Mornstar," Lockheart began, "is that any way to look upon your mentor?" That's when Shining Blade connected the dots. "I thought you were familiar! I know that voice! You're the unicorn who screwed up the Tree of Harmony!" "Not my intention, really," she explained. "I just wanted some simple data, but the tree put up far more of a fight than I anticipated for something so simple. Thankfully, it was worth the effort." "What could be worth filling the world with monsters!?" Blade retorted, enraged. "What could be worth separating a poor filly from her mother!?" "Oh, you mean Nyx?" Lockheart asked. "That part of the plan's had some...adjustments recently. We still need her, but we'll also be taking the other filly...and you." "What!?" "I believe this has gone on long enough," Lockheart decided, teleporting to the ground and aiming her guns at the four ponies. "Don't struggle, and this will be far less painful for you." Scootaloo was having none of that. She raced right toward Lockheart, only for her to teleport away as she prepared to smash her face in. Lockheart reappeared across the room, and fired a few shots at the orange filly. As Nyx ran over to heal Scootaloo's wounds, Blade took his turn rushing their opponent down. He leapt into the air... "Destruction Field!" ...and came down sword first, causing the ground to erupt beneath his blade as he came down. Surprised, Lockheart couldn't teleport away in time and got singed. As she warped away, Mornstar prepared a spell to bring down her mentor, but Lockheart had other ideas. "Eclair de L'armes!" With a flash of Lockheart's horn, a magical symbol formed around Mornstar. Two blades of light crossed each other within the symbol, then burst with holy energy, searing Mornstar and cancelling her spell. Nyx prepared to heal her, only to become the focus of Lockheart's attention. She fired upon the poor filly, only for Blade to rush in and block her shots with his sword. Right then, Scootaloo sped up to her and clocked her with her scooter, slamming her into the wall. Finally, fully recovered, Mornstar ended the fight by summoning a blade of lightning from the heavens. Lockheart collapsed, breathing heavily, with barely enough concentration to keep her guns aloft. Blade approached their adversary... "Not one step closer!" she suddenly snapped, raising her head and pointing a gun at his barrel. Her eyes were filled with panic and terror. "I'm supposed to bring you in alive...but I'll kill you all if I have to!" The sudden shift in her mood, and the threat of death, caused Blade to flinch. And then a shot rang out. Silence permeated the air. Nopony was able to react to what just happened, least of all Lockheart. She trembled in fear, looking up at the thestral guard who had pushed her gun away at the last second. His mane was rather long for a stallion, and it covered over his right eye. His mane, armor, and one uncovered eye were all a cool steel blue, while his coat was a dull silver. As he looked down on her, he was calm and chill, a lazy smile creeping across his muzzle. How...how could anypony be so calm in a situation like this? "Not sure what this is all about, but it can't be good," the thestral stated simply. "I'm gonna let you off on a warning, miss, but I'd better not see you doing this again." "Y-you... What are you?" Too panicked to say much more, or wait for an answer, she teleported away. "T-thank you," Blade told the stranger, finally finding his voice. "I'd be dead if it wasn't for you." "Not a problem," he replied coolly. "The name's Night Sky. Pleased to meet you." "N-nyx..." Twilight groaned, stumbling into the room as she regained consciousness. "It's okay, Twilight," Blade reassured her, giving her his shoulder to lean on. "Lockheart's gone, and Nyx is safe. You just rest up and take the kids home, okay?" "Uh, sure," she replied, still groggy. "But...you're not coming with us?" "I'm not quite in the clear yet," he told her, whispering so Night wouldn't hear. "And even once I am, there are some...things involving the pony who attacked us that I'd like to look into." Twilight nodded in understanding. "Come on, girls. It's time to go home." She walked off with the two fillies in tow. "I'm kinda worried," Mornstar mentioned after the three had disappeared from sight. "If Lockheart found us here, I'm not sure how safe that facility is." "Eh, we can probably trust it," Blade responded, unconcerned. "Besides, I'm kinda curious about the place now." "You mean the abandoned lab at the summit?" Night inquired. "I've heard that place got dangerous after the magic surge. Can't let you two wander into a place like that alone, now can I?" "So you're coming with us?" Blade asked. "My spear is yours." Together, the three moved past the ruins, toward the abandoned facility above.