The conquest of Dracan Island
It had been weeks since Equestria’s Silver Fleet, as it had been nicknamed by many of the men on the cruise, had set sails in the search for the Dracan harbor. The hundred and one vessels composing the Equestrian armada had spread its force into five fleets of twenty ships to look for their objective and to defend their shores from the Draconian plundering squadrons.
The greatest advantage that allowed Equestria to turn the tide of the naval war was their Pecunimbus-made vessels. Shadow’s newly invented alloy could resist dragon fire and the projectiles thrown at it by the enemy’s ballistas and catapults more efficiently than Dracan’s vessels of wood and iron.
Another great strength for the Equestrian fleet was that the ships could be repaired in a proverbial blink of an eye and without having to return to a port due the many Cloud-shapers present on every vessel of the armada.
The same couldn’t be said about the soldiers on the ships in question. While it had won all its encounters against the Dracan pirates, Equestria’s fleet still suffered casualties and about out one tenth of the armada had to leave the high seas to bring the wounded and dead back home. Still, their determination didn’t tarish one bit.
After weeks of tracking, they had spotted the island on which the Dracan port was located. It had been hard as the enemy had managed to drive the Equestrian naval force off track more than once. Credits were due where credits were due, the Dracans had done a good job on keeping the location of their base hidden by making believe they were coming from other directions, only to lead the Equestrian armada to nothing but islands too small to accommodate a military harbor.
Yet, they had found it. A hilly island around twenty miles wide, covered mostly by a thick forest that probably served as a lumber reserve for the Dracans. The port occupied the center of the island’s largest bay, hundreds of torches signaling the presence of docked vessels and buildings alike through the deep, blue night. The Dracan patrols and their totemic beasts were standing guard, the human eyes focused on the seas while the dragons’ nostrils flared to pick up any unusual scent that might approach their camp, all unaware of the blackened vessels of Equestria observing them from afar.
“I don’t like this!” Mane let out angrily as she paced in circles on the rear deck of admiral ship while Celestia, Luna and Hindel were observing the island with their telescopes, or reptilian eyes in the latter’s case. “It’s been too long already!”
“Patience, Little cub,” Luna whispered the nickname she had given the Eponian many years ago. “Daring only left half an hour ago,” she added, not looking away from the island.
“Little cub?” Hindel asked Snowdrop who was standing next to him, observing the faraway shores in her own fashion.
“It’s a long story,” the blind woman replied casually.
“I counted more than sixty winged dragons nesting around the bay,” Celestia summed up as she rested her telescope on the rail. “Most of them in their adolescent phase from what you taught us, Hindel.”
“They are the most troublesome at that age,” the Dracan replied with a sigh. “Old enough to be independent, but still too inexperienced to know when to retreat. They’ll defend the harbor to the death!”
“And that’s just the dragons you can see,” Snowdrop commented slowly. “We’ve encountered many water dragons during this campaign. Surely their nest must be somewhere around here.”
“Quite probably,” Celestia agreed before turning right to see Luna holding back Mane from jumping over the rail with a strong grip on the massive, waving green hair.
“Luna, let me go!” Mane pleaded with a growl, trying to push forward. “I’ve got to go help Daring!”
“If you’d behave like a grown-up lioness maybe,” Luna stated apathetically, strongly pulling the Eponian back on deck. “Now, do like little cubs do and wait for your mother lioness to come back to the den!”
“Daring’s not a lioness!” Mane let out angrily at the night Princess. “She’s not a wild animal! Take that back this instant!”
“Or what? You’re gonna wave your cute little paws at me, Lion cub?” Luna asked with amusement.
“Enough with the cub jokes!” Mane shouted angrily. “I’m an adult woman, and....” she trailed off as a small, yellowish dot of light passed before her eyes.
Instinctually, Mane let out a very feline, whimper and jumped with her two hands on the light point, only for it to continue its course across the deck. Oblivious to the shocked stare of Hindel, the green-haired Eponian tried to catch the light with a childish fervor and low, happy purrs.
“Sister, that’s not very nice,” Luna reminded Celestia, whose forefinger was shining in the same light as the coursing dot.
After hearing that comment and a small giggle from the Sun Princess, Mane realized what she was doing and started to blush massively before her long hair wrapped itself around her to form a green cocoon in which she decided to hide possibly forever.
“Isn’t Daring only ten years older than Manuella?” Hindel asked the other Council members who were all holding back their laughter as Celestia walked to the bundle of hair to apologize for the prank. “How can she be her mother?”
“Daring’s more of a surrogate mother,” Shadow explained softly once her giggles were calm. “Mane spent the first years of her life in the Everfree forest with a pack of Leones Minores.”
“It was more by luck than anything that Daring found her…” Sombra explained with a hint of sadness. “Rumors about a green-haired Leo had attracted many curious zoologists in that area…. as well as a lot of poachers.”
“When Daring stumbled on the rumored green beast, all she found was a twelve year old girl with out of the norm, long hair, nuzzling and whimpering at the dead bodies of a Leo mother and its cubs...” Snowdrop explained grimly. “The hunters responsible tried to attack Daring when they saw her…” she let out a dark, unhappy chuckle. “Poor fools never stood a chance against Daring’s Guardian,” she added with a smirk.
“Served them right,” Sombra approved with a nod before continuing the tale. “After that, Daring decided to take the girl with her. She taught her to speak, to read, to get dressed.”
“The last one took a lot of time to be learned!” Shadow commented more pleasantly.
Memories of the flustered and shocked expression of the royals after seeing the naked girl running like Discord was after her around the castle with Daring chasing her with a towel in hand filled the Council members’ heads. The most memorable one was certainly the first time it had happened : when Mane had fled to the throne room to climb on top of Celestia’s golden chair, while the court was being held.
“I find that hard to believe…” Hindel let out slowly, his gaze focused on the mass of hair that Celestia was patting soothingly. “That would explain why Daring is always looking out for her so vigorously though, and why she’s worried about Daring spying in the harbor.” He glanced back at the harbor. “You think she’s gonna be okay on her own?”
“Daring’s never on her own,” Luna whispered as she leaned on the rail. “He’s always with her.”
“Huh?” Hindel let out in confusion. “Who are you talking about?”
“.... A relic from a time before Celestia and I,” Luna explained with a knowing smirk.
Hindel was about to inquire further when a loud explosion rang from the bay. All ship commanders and sailors turned their gazes to the bay, seeing a column of fire coming out of a large warehouse in the center of the port. All the resting dragons had took flight after the sudden noises while their sea cousins emerged their heads from the depths of the water to hiss at the disturbances.
“You know, for someone who’s prized for her stealth, Daring’s signals aren’t really that discrete,” Shadow commented as she picked her large warhammer that was resting against the rear mast.
“At least, they are clear, Shadow,” Celestia chuckled lightly before taking a stern expression and facing the fleet admiral and the Crystal King. ”Admiral Philharmonica, Sombra, now’s the time!”
The admiral saluted before barking his orders to his crew while Sombra started the communication enchantment he had cast on gemstones scattered amongst the fleet to relay the message to every other ship. In the following minutes, the fleet had hoisted the sails and was gliding towards the port in which all eyes were focused on the fire. To be certain to keep the element of surprise, Luna conjured a thick fog before the leading ships.
They had barely passed the strait when a thunderous roar rang through the entire bay. A strong gush of wind stopped the ships right in their tracks as the fog covering them was lifted in an instant. All the sailors lost their footing because of the sudden stop while the dragons that were observing the fire flew or dived away with terrified shrieks.
“It… It can’t be…” Hindel whispered in a frightened whisper, a tone that he had never used before. “What is he doing here?!” he asked, shouting loudly.
“Hindel! What was that?” Snowdrop asked the Dracan in a spooked tone.
The sounds of huge stomps made them all move their head upwards. From the top of the mountain above the port, stood the monstrosity responsible for the roar.
The massive metallic and glowing purple dragon growled loudly and took off with a strong flap of its large wings. It flew a few times in circle above the harbor, a much calmer roar calling back all the dragonlings that had taken off because of its initial roar. Leathery wings and diamond hard scales filled the sky before the beast and its followers flew down the port. While the younger dragons landed on the not burning building and various docked ships around, the metallic one flew down the most forward pontoon.
Hindel’s eyes followed the behemoth as it suddenly started to shine a deep purple light, its body shrinking as he came closer to the wooden construction. All the Equestrians were doing like him, witnessing the deep amethyst-colored glaze reaching the human size and landing between five other people that were standing proudly at the end of the pontoon, their faces high and their eyes focused on the Equestrian fleet.
[Damn!] Hindel cursed slowly as he recognized the half-dozen people on the pontoon, the dragon having taken the form of a tall muscular man with white hair.
All of those six Dracans, one woman and five men, were all wearing the most well kept suits of armor Equestrians had seen since the start of the raids years ago. All around them, the Dracans and dragons gathered, like butterflies around a flame, before they faced the seas and the stopped ships at the entrance of the strait.
“Hindel, who are they?” Luna asked tensely, her teal, usually gentle, eyes narrowed sternly at the half dozen of important-looking opponents as her dark blue armor appeared over her clothes.
Hindel licked his lips slowly before speaking. “The Thanes,” he replied in a whisper. “The fathers and mothers of my kind… Six of the twelve that battled and threw Discord off of Draconia’s lands!”
All the Equestrians around him tensed at the mention of the lord of Chaos that had ravaged their country long ago before looking in the Thanes’ general direction. In the harbor, the Dracans were getting ready to embark on their ships to battle the Equestrian’s.
“I guess we’ll do without the element of surprise,” Celestia commented with a frown. “ALL CREWS READY FOR BATTLE!” she ordered in her magically, amplified voice before facing her sister. “Give us some wind, Luna,” she added as the men and women around her got out of their stuns.
Luna nodded and drew her silver, white blade out of its sheath. Immediately after, the winds whistled strongly above the temporarily halted armada. She then slowly thrusted her blade forward, causing the winds to fly straight in the sails, strongly lunging the lead ships towards the shores.
As the Equestrians were sailing at top speed to them, the first Dracan ships had managed to leave the port to meet them halfway. One of the Thanes, the tallest and sturdiest man of the group, leaned on his legs before making a leap that brought him on the bow of the most forward ship, a few dozen meters away from the pontoon.
He was quickly imitated by four of the other Thanes, that all took off with the help of differently colored draconic wings that had appeared on their back. They were joined in the air by all the dragonlings of the harbor and as well by Princess Luna, Snowdrop and the entire Jupitarian corps of the Armada.
Celestia observed the man who had taken the form of a monstrous dragon earlier, the one she presumed was Arrogon the Destroyer, the strongest Dracan alive according to Hindel. His glowing, purple eyes were focused on the cerise ones of the Sun Princess despite the great distance separating them.
The two leaders stared at each other for a few seconds before a second explosion rang from beyond the docks. All gazes briefly turned back to the port, in which a third column of fire was emerging from another structure in a loud bang, quickly followed by a fourth, then a fifth.
Good job, Daring! Celestia praised mentally as she spotted the until now impassible face of the Thane Lord tsked in annoyance, whispering something in his native tongue.
The Dracan leader had anticipated an infiltration of his harbor, but he had hoped that the saboteur would be caught before he could signal the Equestrian fleet to attack. That didn’t happen, and on top of that, his men still hadn’t caught the culprit.
He was about to move to catch the intruder himself, since his soldiers couldn’t be trusted for it. Though, that was before a feminine hand landed on his large shoulder, and surprisingly held him back.
Arrogon turned around to face the female Thane that was holding him back, since he knew that only one of the three women amongst them could have such delicate hands and enough strength in their grip to do so. One can imagine his surprise when he saw the tall and tanned body of Princess Celestia restricted in a white and golden dress behind him.
"Hvad med at lege lidt med mig, lille ven?" [How about playing with me, little boy?] Celestia asked in a rather well pronounced Dracan tongue that Hindel had taught her.
Arrogon blinked in surprise at the Princess speaking his language before he smirked after glancing above her shoulder. Celestia was puzzled by his gesture, oblivious to the smoke gathering behind her. Harald, the seventh Thane to have made his appearance on the island, readied his poisoned daggers as his body slowly and silently left his smoke aspect. He plunged both blades towards Celestia’s upper back.
“Hum... Fool!” a deep, masculine voice roared from between Celestia and Harald while a black, sharp crystal shard emerged from the Princess’ shadow.
The Assassin Thane dodged by arching his body backwards, causing the black crystal to pass just where his face was a few seconds ago. As he took a few steps back, he saw a dark skinned man, clad in a dark grey and red armor, emerging from within Celestia’s shadow.
“Very chivalrous action on your part, Sombra,” Celestia commented with a small smirk as the Crystal King stood behind her. “Though not needed, I’m afraid.”
“It’s not because they can’t harm you that those brutes can feel free of attempting anything they want,” Sombra replied, chuckling darkly as his ruler merely shook her head with a smile.
Arrogon pulled his arm away from the Princess’ grip and took a few steps back as the nearby Dracans surrounded and pointed their weapons at the pair of Equestrians. Though, that was before a flash of green passed before them in the blink of an eye.
All the attackers gasped in shock to see their spears and halberds’ staves broken and their blades bent as if they had slammed them on a rock while a woman with wild green hair, wearing a purple, black and yellow ensemble landed on all fours before Celestia.
“No one points a weapon at Princess Celestia, Punks!” Mane roared as she took the same stance of a lion ready to leap at his prey. “Or else, they’ll have to deal with me!” she added in a low growl that wouldn’t have been out of place in one of Daring’s familiars’ throat.
“You really think you’re in position to threaten us, Wild Beast Manuella Lion’s Mane?” Arrogon asked a heavily accented Equestrian speech.
“You speak our tongue. How odd,” Celestia commented slowly as Mane snarled in his direction. “Anyway, I think the same could be asked about you… The bay is completely blocked by our fleet and we have more ships than ....”
Harald and Arrogon simply let out a joined short, openly mocking chuckle at Celestia’s words. Mane and Sombra both frowned at the Thanes before the white-haired one took back his seriousness and looked back at the Sun Princess with a knowing smirk.
“Just so you know… I wasn’t looking at Harald’s misplaced attempt at assassination on your person,” Arrogon explained in a deep, triumphing tone that made Celestia uneasy. “I was looking at something behind your ships,” he added, pointing his finger at something beyond their vessels.
Immediately, Sombra, Mane and Celestia turned around and saw nothing but the sea they had come from before a huge wall of green fire spread along the horizon. The massive, unnatural flames brought anyone in the bay’s attention. All Equestrian eyes widened in shock as a fleet of vessels thrice the size of their own appeared along with a massive green dragoness when the flames of green magic died down.
“That traitor Hindel surely taught you a lot of the powers of Dragonfire which he learned from me,” Arrogon whispered slowly as that green Thane that transported the fleet here roared strongly as an order to charge. “Luckily, I didn’t teach him all there was to know on the matter.”
Celestia tightened her fists angrily as she realized that she and Luna had led their people into a trap. She glanced upwards to see the Lunar Guard battling ferociously against the dragons while its Mistress was fighting the four airborne Thanes. She also looked back at her ship, just in time to see it being boarded by the Dracan vessel with the Thane that hadn’t taken flight earlier.
“Discord was no match for us Thanes and the Armada of Draconia,” Arrogon stated with a smirk as Harald’s smoke re-appeared around his body as his eyes took a more reptilian aspect. “You and your little horse-men won’t be enough as well…”
Arrogon’s sentence was interrupted by his and Harald’s transformation into their draconic forms. The sturdy pontoon started to crack under the weights of the two transforming Thanes while all their soldiers quickly moved aside from their masters.
“Sombra…” Celestia whispered coldly, unfazed by the transformation occurring not six feet from her. “Would you be kind enough to take Manuella away from here and find out where Daring is?”
“Yes your Highness!” Sombra replied with urgency as he grabbed Mane’s shoulder before they vanished away in a red flash.
Celestia merely closed her eyes as her magic sensed through all the newly arrived fleet.
That’s one.. two… three Thanes more…She thought as she felt the strong auras of the latest three leaders of the Dracans. Ten of them are here so it seems…No time to wonder where the other two are though.
Arrogon’s dragon head lunged towards Celestia at top speed, his maw wide open, ready to crush the Princess between his long, sharp teeth. From the corner of her eye, Luna spotted her sister. She was about to break her fight with the flying Thanes to come to her rescue when Celestia’s voice spoke in her thoughts.
Take care of the dragons and join me as soon as possible, Lulu!
Immediately after that telepathic order, Celestia and all the Thanes, even the three in their complete dragon form and the four that were fighting against Luna, popped out of existence in bright, yellow flashes. With her opponents gone, Luna let out a low growl of frustration, her hand rubbing her eyes which had been dazzled by her sister’s teleportation spell.
I hate it when she does that! Luna thought angrily, seemingly oblivious to the young dragon moving in her direction.
The red beast flew straight for her, his mouth wide open while small sparks of fire came out of its throat. He was about to breath fire at Luna from point blank, and no one from her guard could prevent it from doing so, nor could they stop other dragons to mimick the first one.
A small, yet still bigger than two work-horse, green dragon had its face barely an inch before the Princess’ when she pulled her hand away from her eyes. The dragon roared at her for a second, then his defiant roar died down in front of Luna’s stern eyes.
Lightning tore the skies at the commanding voice of the Moon Princess as a wave of darkness filled the sky for a brief instant. When they emerged back from the darkness, all the dragons in the air had a submissive stance and were slowly flying backwards from the Night princess, while their aquatic kins started to lower themselves closer to the surface.
Luna tightened her grip on her sword and the dragonlings and sea wyrms all flew or dived away from her. Hindel had taught her that adolescent dragons tended to be more daring than their adult and younger versions, the latter ones being too fragile and easily scared and the former ones experienced enough to realize when it was useless to fight.
At that precise moment, many dragons grew into their adult phase thanks to Luna, and they would probably never approach any place where they’d pick the scent of the Night Princess, for it would always be associated to the indescriptible terror they felt during their brief time in the darkness.
“Snowdrop,” Luna called casually to the blind woman who had flew up to her after her shout, as if nothing had happened. “I’m about to join my sister. Admiral Philharmonica is now in command of the fleet. Their air support now taken care of, and with their leaders away, it should be easy for our ships to win this battle,” she explained as the Lunar guards were cheering her for taking care of the enemy’s flying force.
“All right, Highness!” Snowdrop nodded slowly.
“I’m counting on you to lead the Lunar Guard according to the Admiral’s orders,” Luna added sternly.
“I’ll not disappoint you, Princess!” Snowdrop assured with determination as she heard many vessels of the Silver fleet turn around to face the threat outside of the bay. “Would that be all of it?”
“One last thing,” Luna said in a much softer tone before Snowdrop felt a hand softly stroking her cheek. “Stay safe my child,” she whispered in a warm, worried tone that reminded Snowdrop of her late mother. “For I’m still waiting for that perfect snowflake of yours,” Luna added in a more jovial tone.
“I’ll be careful Luna… I promise!” Snowdrop whispered with a soft smile, her hand reaching for Luna’s face and happily noticing that the Princess was smiling too.
“Good luck.” Snowdrop heard before the feeling on her palm and cheek went away with a small pop.
“What’s the plan of attack, Herald?” one of the closest Jupitarians asked a few seconds after Luna teleported away.
“You’ll see in a few moments.” Snowdrop extended her shepherd staff forward, conjuring a small twirl of frost and wind inside the crook of her weapon.
~~~~~~~~
Arrogon’s butler had ordered his men to barricade his master’s mansion after the latter went out to fight for the safety of the Draconian forward harbor. His master kept many crucial pieces information in his office, information that the Equestrians couldn’t be allowed to find. When he had seen their back-up fleet from the window of the second floor, he had first thought that things were getting along.
But then he witnessed his master and the other Thanes being teleported away in golden, yellow flashes of light. Immediately after, a wave of darkness made all their dragons swim and fly away with their tails between their legs. He gasped in shock a few minutes after when the entire bay and a part of the ocean started to freeze, trapping and crushing the Dracan ships while Equestrian Silver fleet seemed to simply glide on it like it would on water.
It was obvious now that the Dracans were going to lose without the Thanes’ presence and the butler grew more anxious as the fights in the harbor came closer to the mansion every minute. He bit his lower lip nervously as he pondered on what to do while walking in circles in front of his subordinates.
“Da-dara-da! Da-da-ra!” A woman’s voice softly hummed from within Arrogon’s private study, instantly pulling the worried butler out of his thoughts.
The old Dracan blinked in confusion as the soldiers at his command drew their weapons out and slowly walked to the study’s door. The chief of his escort glanced at the butler to silently ask permission to enter their lord’s office, which he gave with a brief nod as the humming continued.
Suddenly, the office door was slammed open from within as a short tanned woman with black and dark grey hair, walked out of the office, her cerise eyes focused on the documents she was holding. She was wearing the same suit of armor as the Dracans in the room, who were shocked to see her come out like she owned the place, humming softly the tune they had been hearing so far.
One of the six soldiers in the room recovered from the shock faster than the others and went to strike the intruder with his double-bladed axe. The Dracan blade hadn’t gone half of the way to the woman’s neck when she swiftly grabbed the handle of the whip at her belt to crack it at his face.
The small, sharp hooked blade at the end of Daring’s whip slashed the Dracan in the face, which made him let go of his axe that carried its momentum high above the Jupitarian’s head. Still humming her tune, Daring waved her whip a few times, cracking at the other Dracans’ faces or throats before they could even react.
With one final wave of her wrist, her whip made its way around the butler’s neck before he could escape. Daring gave a strong pull that made him fall on the ground when he tried to run away. Quickly after, she positioned herself above the butler’s body, turning the document in her hand to make it readable for her prisoners.
“From what I found in your master’s office, I know you can understand me, but I’ll still make it simple,” Daring stated slowly. “Hindel taught me the basics of your language, but I’m not sure of what’s written on that.” She pointed at the document she had in her hand. “It appeared in a sparkly, green fire that came through the chimney…”
She saw the butler’s eyes widening after briefly reading her letter, and it was more than enough for Daring at the moment.
“I have suspicions about what your Master’s business it’s about… Care to confirm it?”
"Min herres arbejde kommer ikke dig ved, kvinde! Jeg siger intet!" [My master's business is none of your concern, woman! I won’t talk!] the butler spat ferociously.
The pressure in the room suddenly felt heavier as Daring tightened the grip of her whip on the older man. The air around the explorer grow thicker, heavier and darker as she brought her face closer to her captive.
"Tro mig...” [Trust me] Daring slowly said, her voice sounding deeper and sombrer at every word. ”... du VIL snakke!" [...you WILL talk!]
At the end of her sentence, a large, furry blue hand suddenly appeared from thin air and punched the ground next to the butler’s face, cracking the stone floor as easily as it was dry wood.
~~~~~~~~
The day was most certainly theirs for now. With their leaders and dragons gone, and their ships blocked in Snowdrop’s ice, the Dracans were an easy target for Equestria’s Silver Fleet and the Jupitarian Corps lead by the Lunar Guard.
While the largest portion of the Pecunimbus-made armada, with their hulls re-shaped by Shadow’s Cloudshapers to still sail on the ice, was bombarding the Dracans reinforcement, a dozen ships, lead by Hindel and the Council Members made it to the coast.
Their troops had disembarked in order and were fighting their way through the harbor, eliminating the last poaches of resistance they encountered. The Dracans’ morale was at its lowest and many of them chose to surrender in favor of fighting to the death for what seemed like a lost cause now.
On the conquered pontoon, Hindel was watching over the four Council members he had fought with for a few weeks now as they were slowly catching their breath. Wherever the fight was the hardest, the four had been there to inspire their soldiers to victory, like true leaders used to be in the Draconia of old.
As soon as she got her breath back, and saw that no one could threaten them, Shadow let her two-handed war hammer touch the ground and caught Snowdrop and Mane in a double bearhug. She effortlessly lifted her two petite friends and spun them around a little bit.
“We did it! We won!” Shadow cheered as Snowdrop and Mane giggled softly before she let them touch the floor again.
“Shadow, we’re still out in the open. You shouldn’t be that celebrative.” Sombra reminded, but he was smiling softly. “We’ll have to wait for the Princesses to return to officially say that we won.”
“But we still unofficially won?” Snowdrop asked with a tiny grin.
“I suppose that yes, we did,” Sombra agreed with a small chuckle. “Unofficially!”
“So we can start to celebrate in an unofficial way?” Hindel asked, stroking his beard softly, earning a few chuckles from his comrades.
“Sadly, we can’t!” a woman’s voice called from the airs.
Mane’s smile grew instantly wider at the sound of the voice she could recognize amongst a thousand. All but Snowdrop looked up just in time to see Daring land heavily in the center of her group of friends. Immediately after the explorer stood straight up, Mane rushed to hug with strength, instinctually wrapping her hair around her to make sure she couldn’t move anything beside her arms.
“I was so worried,” Mane let out softly when Daring opened her mouth to complain while the green-haired woman nuzzled her chest deeply.
“........haaaaa!” Daring sighed softly instead of saying her complaint and simply caressed the younger girl with a small smile. “How many times did I tell you to not worry about me, Sweetie?”
“As many times as you did things on your own,” Mane replied matter-of-factly, not interrupting her nuzzles. “And I’ll keep doing it, no matter what you say!”
Daring snorted a brief chuckle before softly kissing Mane on the forehead. “You’ll always remain a worried little kitty, won’t you, Lil’ Cub?”
“What were you about to say, Daring?” Sombra asked as Mane hissed in a cat-like fashion at the petname.
Daring’s soft smile vanished in favor of a displeased frown. She pushed Mane aside a bit and walked to the Crystal King, licking her lips nervously.
“You remember what Hindel told us about Draconia’s Thanes?” The explorer asked slowly, her eyes glancing in their Dracan ally for a bit. “That they were the twelves fathers and mothers of their entire race…”
“And?”
“When Celestia teleported them away earlier…. There were only ten flashes of light other than Celestia’s…” Daring replied slowly. “Which means that two of them aren’t here!”
“...They could be in Draconia for all we know,” Shadow suggested uneasily. “.. Right?”
“That’s what I first thought before I checked Arrogon’s office earlier,” Daring explained.
“What did you find in it?” Sombra asked impatiently.
“Recent reports on the missing two’s location,” the explorer replied angrily. “The Dracans use some sort of teleportation fire to communicate between them apparently…. A new one appeared while I was searching through the office...”
“I never heard of such fire before,” Hindel let out in shock.
“What did the report say, Daring?” Mane asked in a small whisper.
“Are they waiting with another fleet nearby?” Snowdrop leaned forward urgently.
“Another fleet, yes. But they’re not near this island at all!” Daring said with a defeated sigh before staring straight into Sombra’s eyes.
“Then where…”
“The message said they had just finished travelling through the Sapphire Pass!” Daring stated apathetically.
Everyone froze at her statement, all eyes wide from stupor.
“B...But the pass is barely a few miles away from…” Mane started in whimpering tone.
“...The Crystal Empire…” Sombra let himself fall on his knee at the mention of his homeland. “...How?”
“They must have known we were coming here,” Shadow remarked. “Our fleet was spread wide, but let’s face it, it couldn’t cover the whole ocean. They must have avoided us somehow.”
“Who signed the report, Daring?” Hindel asked sternly.
“The signature said Tvillingerne,” the explorer answered.
“The Twins!” Hindel growled deeply in frustration. “Water Dragon Frey and Magic Eating Freia! The best fleet commanders of Draconia.”
“Magic eating?” Shadow let out with a cocked eyebrow.
Sombra simply stood up and walked back to their ship in silence before anyone could comment on the blacksmith’s remark.
“Sombra, what are you doing?” Snowdrop called as she heard the Council Leader walk on the gangway while the others saw him.
“I’m going to defend my kingdom!” Sombra replied strongly as he reached the main deck to head for the stern cabin.
“How?” Daring asked as she landed next to him. “It tooks us weeks to get here!” she added when he pushed the door of the cabin open with a strong kick.
“I’ll use just this!” Sombra said as he quickly grabbed the Alicorn Necklace they used to be summoned in Canterlot on his nightstand.
“Those can only bring us back to Canterlot, Sombra!” Shadow reminded.
“I can easily rewrite the enchantment to take me back to the Crystal Palace instead,” he grunted as the gem on the necklace glowed in a red hue as he did what he told he could do.
“And how would you power the gemstone for such a long distance?!” Daring snatched the necklace off his hand. “You told us that those gems can barely withstand a teleportation from the farest corner of our Continent to Canterlot!”
“I’ll just power the gem with my own magic then!” Sombra snapped angrily.
“And arrive in the Crystal Empire dead because of you’d have over-exhausted your magic?” Snowdrop snapped back at the angry man. “What would that accomplish?”
“My country is in danger, along with my wife and my unborn-child!!!!” Sombra roared furiously.
“Sombra, I understand what you’re feeling,” Shadow said in a comforting tone. “Had I been in your place, I’d….”
“You’d only move on to your other three whores after the death of the first, that’s all!” Sombra snorted dismissively.
“What the fuck did you just say?!” Shadow shouted, looking beyond furious as she took a threatening step towards the Crystal King.
“ENOUGH!!” Mane roared strongly before her hair whipped Sombra and Shadow’s heads so strongly that they each took a few steps back with whimpers of pain.
All eyes focused briefly on the green-haired girl who was shaking in anger. Daring was about to rush at her side to calm her down when she saw Mane take a deep breath, her hand on her chest, then breathing out with her hand waving away from her chest. Slowly, Mane walked to Snowdrop and gently took Sombra’s necklace from her hands.
After that, she went in front of Sombra and delicately put it back in the Enchanter's hand. Mane slowly raised her hand to wipe the start of tears that threatened to come out of Sombra’s eyes.
“I know you’re scared, Sombra,” Mane said softly. “Scared of losing those dear to you. I know because I’m constantly scared of that myself,” she confessed softly and Daring clenched her fist at that, knowing she was likely the source of Mane’s fear. “It’s only natural to do so… And, like you, I always want to rush to wherever Daring is to make sure nothing happens to her… But you and the others have always been there to stop me from giving into my fear… And Daring always came back, right?”
“I...It’s not the same, Mane,” Sombra argued softly. “Topaz’s not a dare-devil loaded with relics of ancient times… Nor is she a prodigy that tamed Winter... nor a bulky blacksmith with attitude that reeks talent and strength… Neither had she survived in the Everfree...”
“I’m not saying that she is those things,” Mane argued back softly. “But she’s not helpless either. She married you after all. Topaz’s got to have some backbone to put up with a crazy enchanter obsessed with sculptures and crystals like you, right?”
Sombra chuckled softly as tears reappeared in his eyes. “I suppose that she has…. But I still can’t let her go through a Dracan attack on her own!”
“I know!” Mane assured in whisper. “And we won’t let that happen!” she added strongly before taking off her own Alicorn necklace and give it to Sombra.
“W..what?”
“One gem isn’t enough for that distance. How about one more?” Mane asked with a soft smile.
“Let’s say two more!” Daring rested her hand on Mane’s shoulder and gave her own necklace to the Crystal King.
“Three!” Snowdrop assured while taking hers off her neck.
“... Would it be enough with a fourth?” Shadow asked, tossing her own to Sombra with a hint of a sour note in her voice. “You better have a much bigger wedding gift than what you had previously planned though!” she added with a smirk when the King opened his mouth to apologize.
“Alright. Thank you.” Sombra looked at the five enchanted stones in his grasp. “Though I might need more magic than to reach the Crystal Palace…”
“Then, take some of ours!” Mane advised, putting her hand forward.
Immediately after, the other Council members extended their hands in the King’s direction, before being joined by Hindel’s.
“I might not be an Equestrian, but I carry magic of my own,” Hindel commented slowly when Sombra glanced in his direction with surprise. “Use it as you like!”
Sombra simply nodded and levitated the five amulets in circle between him and his friends. All the necklaces were banded together by strings of red magic as magical inscriptions appeared in the air. Then he opened his left hand and invited the others to rest their own on top of it.
When Mane’s hand touched Sombra’s glowing red one, a stream of green light came out of it and went to her necklace and banded to the others like the red stream. Snowdrop’s hand joined Mane’s and a pure white light joined the other two. Daring and Shadow’s magic, respectively light brown and grey joined the mix before Hindel rested his hand on top of the Equestrian’s.
As a burnished golden light completed the spell, Sombra rested his right hand on top of his friends and focused his mind on the Crystal Empire and his queen. The bands of lights linking the necklaces together spun around each other while the whole ship resonated to the massive energy that came from within the cabin.
In a bright multicolored flash, the Council of Harmony and Hindel’s surroundings changed around them before the necklaces shattered due to the overload of power channelled into them. The dark, silver walls of the cabins had been replaced by gleaming, azure, crystally walls and the many statues and bookcases that filled Sombra’s workshop.
Said owner of the workshop stumbled backwards, a hand raised to his forehead while he groaned. Shadow and Mane quickly held him on his feet when the door was opened by a pair of guards who froze when they saw their king and the Council of Harmony.
“Highness?” one of the guards asked in a shocked voice after a short silence. “What..What are you doing here?”
“No time to explain,” Sombra said firmly, despite still feeling the aftermath of the teleportation spell. “Go tell Captain Sentry to gather all the men available and ring the alarm bells. The Empire is about to be attacked!”
“Attacked?!”
“When?”
A strong horn sound rang from outside the Crystal Palace.
“Right about now, apparently,” Snowdrop whispered as she recognized the sound of a Dracan battle horn.
“Go! I have something to do here and I’ll meet the Queen in the throne room!” Sombra ordered firmly.
The two guards saluted before leaving the room as ordered, followed by Hindel Snowdrop, Mane and Shadow. Daring simply faced the Crystal King.
“What are you planning to do here?”
“Shadow wasn’t the only one who got very productive before we set sails, Daring!” Sombra explained as he poured his red magic into a large amethyst embedded on top of a pedestal in one corner of the room. “Though, I guess I could thank you for that!”
Daring was about to ask what she should be thanked for when she recognized the gem on the pedestal. It was the amethyst she had taken from the Bitch Queen deep under Macintosh Hills a few months ago.
After a few seconds, the amethyst reacted by glowing brightly in a red light that turned purple like itself. Runic inscriptions made of the same purple light appeared on every statues in the workshop. Daring gasped when all the massive crystal-made soldiers stood straight up and started to form ranks in front of Sombra in perfect coordination.
All the statues were carrying weapons similar to the ones used by the Royal Guard, only twice or thrice their standard sizes, and also the fact they were made of crystal, just like the ones bearing them.
“The Crystal Empire is in danger! Protect its citizens and destroy its enemies!” Sombra ordered to his sixty crystal golems in a commanding tone. “Do your duty to Platinum’s Heritage! MARCH!”
Faster than Daring would have thought possible for them, the large golems turned around in perfect synchronization and heavily walked out of the room. As she stared at them with her mouth agape, Sombra walked up to her.
“And, that’s the least of the Empire’s defenses.” Sombra commented with a grin. “The Dracans are going to regret coming here!”
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I was about to get some sleep when my mail notified me about this chapter. I couldn't say no.
Wow, what an amazing plot twist you threw right there, I'd never imagine how this chapter would end and how near was the battle between our favorite Goddess and their enemies.
P.D. I love all of them but I must say I'm in love with Daring and Mane.
This is getting interesting.
Hmm I bet it was planned that the Thanes wanted to separate everyone to make the Equestrians weaker. That's my theory anyway.
I really liked the backstory of Mane and Daring so cute.
Great chapter man
can't wait for the next one
just love it
To answer your question my favourite character would have to be Snowdrop because you make her seem like a defenceless blind girl.... Then she freezes an entire Dracan fleet into the ocean
Keep up the great work
Great chapter! Loved it!
Oh yes, the next chapter are going to take some word count if you want to do it properly!
My favourite Drakan War character so far? Snow Drop! To quote Night_Sonata: " because you make her seem like a defenceless blind girl.... Then she freezes an entire Dracan fleet into the ocean just love it" Even though Luna comes in second place!
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Agree about Snow Drop, she is so freaking awesome!
Favorite character so far?? ITS A TIE!! I LOVE THEM ALL!! VILLIANS INCLUDED!!