Chapter 34
The first thing Heart Echo became aware of was the murmur of voices in the background. They were upset about something, based on the tones they were using.
Next, she realized that she was lying down with something warm over her. Her unprotected face felt chilly by comparison.
“Ugh, what happened?”
…
“Song? Are you there? Talon? Crystal? Anydragon?”
It took Heart a few moments to realize that she wasn’t linked to anyone. Her heart felt strangely empty without the river of emotions she was used to from her friends and allies. She tried to cast Empathy so she could at least sense nearby emotions, but she didn’t seem to have the willpower for it.
Thinking back, she remembered the battle, and Gem hitting her with some kind of weapon. At least, she was fairly certain it had been Gem. His teammates had called him Cliff, but those two couldn’t possibly be the same. They had disproved that theory months ago.
Getting back to the matter at hand, she was still alive, which meant the Alliance must have gotten her to a medic before she died from her wounds. So why couldn’t she hear any voices that she recognized?
With some difficulty, she pried her eyes open and saw nothing but a gray stone ceiling.
That didn’t help.
Summoning even more energy, she sat up, and nearly came face to face with a door made of metal bars, which were all glowing slightly.
Visible in the gap between bars was Cliff Runner, covered in armor except for his head. He was sitting on a crystalline chair in a hallway of some kind, studying a large red crystal on a table in front of him. Both the table and the crystal were covered in complex runes. Cliff’s eyebrows were bunched up and he was frowning slightly.
Heart took a moment to look around. She was in a tiny room, barely longer than she was from muzzle to tail tip, and only about half that wide, with a low enough ceiling that her head spikes would brush against it if she stood on her back legs. Most of the room was taken up by the square nest that she was lying on.
In the hallway outside, she could see several other doors like hers, with a dragon behind each of them. Her limited view only let her see four of those dragons, but there were three wyverns and a drake, and all of them looked exhausted and hopeless. None even returned her gaze. They were all staring at the floor.
It was looking less and less likely that she had been rescued by the Alliance.
Heart cleared her throat. “So, Cliff, would you mind telling me what’s going on?”
Cliff jumped. “Oh, Heart, you’re awake.”
“Obviously.” She forced herself to stand up in the narrow area between her nest and the wall. It was meant as a gesture of defiance, but that didn’t come across so well when she had to lean against the wall just to stay upright. Doing her best to look casual, Heart met her cousin’s gaze and said, “So?”
Cliff drew a quick rune around the crystal before standing up and approaching. “Those gems I hit you with drained your magic field to the point that you passed out. You’ve been resting here since yesterday.”
Heart did a double-take. His mannerisms and inflection were exactly the same as Gem’s when he’d been explaining something to her. One behavior attached to two different faces. “You actually are him,” Heart whispered. “Gemstone Aura. You were him all along?”
Cliff nodded but didn’t meet her gaze.
“How?” Heart sat back onto the nest. “You were working with Yol Toor and Clodhopper in your lab the same night that I talked to you and your wife.”
“It’s a long story,” Cliff said.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Cliff’s claws tensed ever so slightly and his expression hardened. “Discord helped me.”
Heart wasn’t sure what to make of his reaction. She could detect anger, sorrow, and frustration in his body language, like he dealing with a personal loss of some kind. “Did something happen to him?”
Cliff looked at her for a long moment before sitting back down. “Life is chaos. Discord was in the Empire when you collapsed that marketplace. All that death put him into a coma of some kind.”
It was strange; Heart should have been thrilled to hear that Equestria’s most powerful ally had been taken out by sheer accident, but she couldn’t bring herself to feel the least bit happy. “The market …” She took a deep breath. “How many died?”
“Do you really care?” Cliff stared intently at her. He was angry, and Heart didn’t blame him.
“Their deaths are on my conscience, Cliff.” She let a bit of her anger and frustration show. “Yes, I care how many of them died.”
At first it didn’t seem like he would respond, but then Cliff moved his chair a bit closer to the bars. “It’s too early to have exact numbers, but there are over one hundred thousand ponies missing. At least half of them are probably dead.”
It was more than Heart had expected. She could barely even imagine that many lives, let alone all of them burning out at once. She hadn’t collapsed the tunnel herself, but still … so many deaths … “We didn’t have a choice,” she whispered, fighting down tears.
“Don’t give me that!” Cliff grabbed onto the bars that separated them. “You’re here alive because I decided to use non-lethal weapons on you. There’s always a choice!”
Heart blinked away her tears and glared at him. “You really think that? I’m stuck in the Alliance’s Council between five drakes that grew up hearing stories about how ponies like to kill dragons in their sleep and five wyverns that think peace is just a break between battles. I can’t get them to trust Equestria to keep us all fed, so the Alliance will starve if they don’t get those gem mines. I can only see two options there, get involved and try to minimize bloodshed or sit back and watch the Alliance and Equestria massacre each other.” She flopped back onto the nest, too worn out to even stay upright. “Do you have any idea what the Hurricanes might do, now that I’m not around to vote against their worst plans?”
Cliff didn’t respond.
“Is it really worth it,” Heart said after a moment, “to keep fighting like this all so these ponies don’t have to pack up and move?”
“… I don’t know,” Cliff said at last. “The decision is out of my claws anyway.”
“That’s how I feel too.” Heart shook her head. “It was all I could do to keep the Hurricanes from slipping into the Empire at night and dumping a hurricane on all of your heads. Easily half the Empire could’ve been killed.”
“Thanks for stopping them,” Cliff said quietly. “I’m working on mass producing those gems I hit you with. Hopefully they’ll keep casualties to a minimum.” There was longing in his voice, but also a huge amount of guilt and regret.
A shiver ran down Heart’s spine. Cliff was involved in something that would kill a lot of dragons; she was sure of it. “Gem was a good friend,” Heart said, “and I wish I could move past what you did while you were pretending to be him, but I can’t do that if you’re going to keep betraying us, Cliff.”
Even more guilt in his body language. Her suspicions were confirmed.
Pretending she didn’t notice, Heart continued, “Using your knowledge of Squad Five to knock me out like that was a pretty low blow.”
Faint hints of relief and even a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I just wanted to make sure we wouldn’t be forced to try and kill each other again.”
Good, he didn’t know that she’d picked up on anything important. Heart stayed quiet though. She needed to know what he was planning if she wanted to save her friends, and silence was a powerful tool for prompting others to speak.
As the seconds dragged on, Cliff’s eyes kept flicking toward the red crystal he had been working on, but he didn’t actually say anything.
“What is that thing?” Heart asked, gesturing toward the crystal.
“A hibernating umbrum.” Cliff brushed his claws over the crystal. “Imagine a creature so powerful that just one of them was able to conquer the entire Crystal Empire.” He turned to Heart. “On a related note, the Alliance nearly woke several thousand of them up when you destroyed the Crystal Palace. Celestia and Luna warped the rest of them to Tartarus, thank the Stars. Otherwise your stunt yesterday definitely would have finished the job. I don’t think there are words to express how extraordinarily bad that would have been.”
Heart had never heard of an umbrum before, but her spies had given plenty of details about the pony who conquered the Crystal Empire and banished it for a thousand years. She didn’t want to imagine several thousand of King Sombra on the loose. “Why is this one still here?”
“Umbrum can crystallize things, just like crystal ponies, but dozens of times more efficiently.” Cliff nodded toward the umbrum. “The Alliance could survive off of rocks if I can just find a way to replicate that thing’s power.”
“I’ll help any way I can,” Heart said immediately. Cliff’s plan to kill dragons still worried her, but a discovery like this could end the war overnight. More than that, it could change life for dragons all over the planet.
“Actually, I was hoping you’d say that.” Cliff shifted the table a bit closer to the bars that separated them. “Umbrum somehow feed off emotions. Maybe you could help me track them through its system and get a better idea of how its magic field even works.”
Perfect. He would subconsciously relax and let her get more information now that they were working together. In a best case scenario, she could help him finish his work and still learn enough about his plan to escape and warn everydragon. “Well,” Heart looked at the umbrum crystal, “let’s get to work.”
-_-_-_-_-_-
Twister looked at Talon from across the small table where the cluster leaders were seated. As always, his calm demeanor made it impossible to tell what he was thinking. “And you believe that Heart Echo is still alive?”
Talon nodded, ignoring the background noise that was just a part of life in the Ice Spire Caves. Several thousand dragons made a lot of noise even when they weren’t trying to, and it wasn’t like they could order all of them to shut up just because the leaders of one cluster were trying to have a meeting. At least the table they were using was near the back corner, which cut down on distractions a bit. “As far as the medical wyrms could tell, those gems cause no damage to the body at all. At worst, the explosions they generate will knock you around a bit. The warriors from Everfree wouldn’t have been using them unless they wanted to take prisoners.”
“Very well,” Twister picked up a piece of charcoal with the thumb of one wing and wrote something on the paper in front of him, “I will speak with my superiors about a rescue attempt. However, I find it doubtful that they will agree.”
“I understand,” Talon said, trying not to sigh. She still couldn’t believe that Squad Five had suffered such a crippling blow. It was more than just losing Heart. The entire thunder team had been wiped out by one of those rainbow shock-waves at some point. Seven dragons that had put their faith in Talon were now dead, and she didn’t even know when exactly it had happened.
“Unfortunately,” Twister continued, “Cluster Thirty-six has taken heavy enough casualties that some changes will be required. To begin with, Squads Two and Four will be merged, with the extra wind team going to Squad Three to cover their losses.”
Hindering Fog, the leader of Squad Four, looked away unhappily but didn’t object. He would lose his position with the merger.
Twister shifted his gaze to Talon. “Squad Five, now Squad Four, will have to operate without a thunder team until further notice. There aren’t enough spare thunders in the swarm, let alone the cluster, to put together a team for you right now.”
She had expected as much, but that didn’t make the prospect of operating with a reduced squad any less daunting.
Thunk.
Talon jumped when a stack of metal plates was dropped on the table in front of her. She looked up at the wyrm dragoness responsible in confusion. “Sweet Song, what are you doing here?”
“Those are the reports from our spies in the Crystal Empire,” she said before walking away. “Sorry for interrupting,” she called over her shoulder.
“Uh,” Talon glanced at Twister, who seemed just as confused as she was, “permission to go after her, sir?”
“Granted. That was all of our business anyway.”
Talon scooped up the stack of reports in one wing and hurried to catch up with the retreating dragoness. “Sweet Song, wait.”
She paused.
“Why are you giving me these?” Talon held out the stack of metal sheets.
“Because you’re in charge of them now that Heart’s gone,” Sweet Song replied. She chewed on her lower lip and looked away for a moment before saying, “Did you mean what you said, about her still being alive?”
Talon sighed and patted Sweet Song on the shoulder with her free wing. “Yes, I’m sure she’s fine.” She held out the reports. “I don’t have clearance to read these without Heart’s permission, though. You’re her second-in-command among the wyrms, so they’re your responsibility now.”
Sweet Song shook her head. “I’m a supporter, not a leader. You and Heart always made the decisions, and I’ll support you just like I did with her.” She turned and started walking down one of the side tunnels toward the IHQ.
“Heart asked me for my thoughts and I gave them, but that doesn’t make me a leader either.” Talon went after her. “Look, Heart’s the leader of the wyrms in the Alliance. I can’t fill in for her if I’m not even a wyrm.” She held out the reports again.
“What does your species have to do with anything?” Sweet Song asked. “You, Crystal, and Tornado are the ones she would talk to about things. That makes you the best qualified for this.” She pushed the stack of metal back at Talon. “Tornado even said that you wouldn’t mind filling in for Heart.”
For a moment, Talon was too shocked to resist. “He said what?”
“I asked him a few minutes ago. I didn’t want to interrupt your meeting unless you were the right dragon to give those to.” She gestured at the reports.
Talon shook her head vigorously. “Look, there’s no way the other Alliance leaders would accept having a mere senior wing get promoted to a position that important.”
“At least two of them don’t mind.” Sweet Song pointed in the general direction of the cave exit. “Silver Tail and Typhoon were just outside, teaching Tornado something, when I asked him. They both said it was fine.”
So not only was Tornado volunteering her for a position she wasn’t qualified to fill, he was doing it in front of her superiors, again. “I don’t believe this,” Talon muttered, shoving the reports at Sweet Song. “Hold onto those. I’ll go talk to my idiot battle partner and clear this whole thing up. In the meantime, if you can’t fill in for Heart, think of somedragon else that can.”
Grumbling darkly, Talon stomped back to the main cavern and up the winding tunnel that connected the Ice Spire Caves to the surface. It was actually a pretty nice day, despite the layer of snow and ice on the ground, with comfortable temperatures and only a light breeze to push around the few clouds in the sky. It couldn’t compare to the Aerie, but Talon also had to admit that the view of windswept mountains on all sides was pretty nice.
Standing not too far from the cave mouth were Typhoon and Silver Tail. Tornado was visible in the small meadow beyond the ridge where the other two were standing. He seemed to be practicing the Wind Lance.
Talon walked close enough that Typhoon and Silver Tail would know she was there and then stood at attention.
“I wish I could do it directly like that,” Silver Tail was saying. “Drake magic only lets us move the air itself around. High and low pressure zones are just a side effect of that movement.”
“It is helpful,” Typhoon responded, “but your more limited options has led to the development of a better refined technique, and one that any type of wyvern could use. With your permission, I would like to teach the rest of our wyvern forces the Wind Spear.”
“You won’t hear any complaints from me.” Silver Tail turned to Talon. “Hello there … Talon, right?”
She nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“You’re looking a bit pale. Feeling nervous about your new responsibilities?”
Talon swallowed. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”
Typhoon fixed the young venom wyvern with a look that was almost bored. “You aren’t qualified for the position, and you’re going to respectfully decline it, correct?”
Talon dropped to a bow. “Exactly, sir.”
The older wyvern let out a sigh. “Unfortunately, Senior Wing Talon Wind, you must accept.”
“I-” Talon stopped herself before she could say anything that sounded like disobedience or disrespect. She bowed a little lower. “Yes, sir.”
Silver Tail put his paw beneath her chin and gently lifted her back up. “You and your friends were already helping Heart with about half of the stuff she did, and the wyrms don’t care who represents them, so things are just easier this way.”
Typhoon frowned slightly. “I’ll never understand why drakes and wyrms feel the need to justify their decisions to their subordinates.” She shifted her gaze to Talon. “I will go over your primary responsibilities later, but for now, tell the changelings that we accept their terms and then review anything we might need to know for the Council meeting in two hours.”
“I will. Thank you both, sirs.” Talon bowed again before glancing at Tornado, who was still focused on his training. She’d find some way to get him back for this.
Sweet Song was waiting for her back at IHQ, and strangely, so was Crystal.
“I found somedragon else to fill in for Heart,” Sweet Song said, gesturing to Crystal. “She has the same qualifications as you.”
Talon didn’t know why she was surprised.
“I thought you just wanted my help reading through the reports,” Crystal said, paling. “I’m just a Junior Wing. I can’t be on the Council.”
“What is it with wyverns and rank?” Sweet Song asked nodragon in particular. “Shouldn’t you be more worried about finding the place where you can do the most good?”
Talon facewinged. “Crystal, calm down. Sweet Song, I’m taking the job, so you can give me those reports back.” She turned to Crystal. “Would you mind helping me read through them? I’ve got a meeting coming up fast.”
“Of course I’ll help,” Crystal said, even though she looked very confused. “Why isn’t Sweet Song taking over Heart’s responsibilities?”
“Tornado volunteered me again,” Talon said, “and Typhoon ordered me to do it anyway.” Taking a deep breath, she turned her attention to the other wyrms in the cavern. If she was going to be their leader, it was time to start acting like it. “I’ll need you all to send out new orders to our spies. Tell them that Heart has been captured and probably subjected to one of those mind-reading spells we’ve heard about. Tell them to relocate as soon as possible, and have the spy in Manehattan tell the changelings that we accept their offer.”
Was there anything else? Talon thought about it. “Also, we need as much information as they can find about any nations that might be willing to ally with us against Equestria. They don’t have to be large or powerful. Anything will do at this point. Also, I want a list of every prisoner they have in Tartarus.”
Sweet Song came back then, looking just a little too pleased with herself. “Here are the reports, sir.”
Talon sighed and took them. “Sweet Song, how long would it take one of our runners to reach the southern wyrm covens from here?”
“A few days, maybe a week. Why?”
“We could use some more rune masters to lighten the load on Rune, Genesis, and Clodhopper.”
Sweet Song nodded. “Right, I’ll go ask around for volunteers.”
Talon had to admit, it was kind of cool to suddenly be in charge of things here. Maybe she’d let Tornado off with a warning this time. “Anything else we should be worrying about, Crystal?”
Crystal tapped her foot thoughtfully. “Maybe a plan of some kind to deal with that rainbow pegasus?”
“Good idea.” That pegasus had been causing problems for the Alliance since it first showed up. Killing it would save countless lives in future battles. “I’ll bring it up in my meeting with the Council. Maybe they have something in mind already.” She held out the stack of spy reports to Crystal, who took about half by sliding her wing between two sheets of metal and lifting. “In the meantime, let’s just worry about getting through all of these.”
-_-_-_-_-_-
“Ugh, how can they stand living with those traitors?” a blue earth pony mare asked as Fluttershy, Silver Lining, and Zephyr walked past.
“I know, right?” her pink companion said. “Celestia should just lock them all up in the royal dungeons.”
Fluttershy kept her head down, unconsciously running a wing across her slightly enlarged stomach. Going into Ponyville for her weekly checkup was getting worse every week.
“You two,” Silver Lining barked. “Come here!”
Both earth ponies froze before slowly approaching.
Fluttershy froze too and took a step back from her mother.
“Are you aware,” Silver Lining said, “that ‘those traitors’ have been working seventy-hour weeks ever since this war started? And what do you think they’re working so hard to produce?” She glared at the two ponies. “Well?”
“Armor,” the pink one muttered, looking at the snow-packed ground.
“Armor,” Silver Lining said. “Armor that keeps ponies safe on the battlefield, that will let them come home in one piece. Armor that has saved and will save pony lives. And do you know what ‘those traitors’ are charging Equestria for that armor, the best that our soldiers have ever worn?” She jabbed a wing into the blue mare’s chest. “Do you?”
She shook her head.
“Barely enough to cover the materials they use. Meanwhile, what are you doing to support our soldiers?”
Neither mare answered.
“That’s what I thought.” Silver Tail turned and walked away toward Everfree Forest.
“You know,” Zeph said, “these walks would be a lot shorter if you stopped chewing out every pony that says something about dragons.”
“And leave a trail of prejudiced fools behind me?” Silver Lining asked. “I consider this time well spent.”
Zeph shrugged. “Suit yourself. I prefer object lessons. For example,” his tails began to wave back and forth behind him. “Aaaand, now they’re dragons. Twelve hundred forty-eight.”
Glancing back, Fluttershy saw that the two ponies had been replaced by two wyrms with identical coloration. Strangely, neither of them seemed to notice. “Zeph, you didn’t hurt them or anything, did you?”
“It’s just an illusion visible to everyone except those two,” Zeph said. “Sophey thought they could use a taste of their own medicine.”
“Sophey?” Fluttershy repeated.
One of the kumiho’s tails came forward and waved in front of Fluttershy. “They have spirits of their own.”
Fluttershy stared at the tail again. All of Zeph’s tails could stretch and bend in ways that a normal fox tail couldn’t, but other than that, they looked perfectly normal. “Really?”
He nodded. “It’s amazing how much more you can do when you have the spirits of seven powerful spell-casters crammed into one body. Well, effectively six. He,” Zeph pointed at one of his tails, “is still dormant.”
They passed the last few houses on the outskirts of Ponyville and entered the field beyond.
“I’m sorry, um,” Fluttershy glanced at the tails, “all of you. I would have thanked you earlier for your help if I’d known.”
“They say not to worry about it. Oooh, let’s race back to Everfree! You two can fly.” He took off without waiting for a response. “It gets the blood and the magic flowing. Very good for your little miracle of a daughter!”
Fluttershy hesitated and looked at her mother.
Silver Lining nodded. “Go. I’ll catch up.”
“Okay, if you’re sure.” Fluttershy spread her wings and took off after the kumiho. She caught up to him quickly, just before they entered the path through the forest, but then Zeph grinned cheerfully and matched his pace to hers. Fluttershy smiled as well and found a comfortable flying speed.
Zephyr had called this a race, but it didn’t feel like one at all. Instead, it felt like two friends enjoying themselves. The snowy woods spread out below Fluttershy, but the air was surprisingly warm as it blew across her coat and feathers. She almost wanted to close her eyes and fly on forever beneath the sun’s warming light.
Eventually, though, they reached Everfree Village and Fluttershy’s house. Twilight sat on the floor just inside, slowly removing her armor. “Sorry, Fluttershy.” She tried to cover herself with two dirt-encrusted hooves.
Zeph staggered back from her, covering his mouth like he might vomit. “Never mind that. What happened up at the Empire? I’ve never felt so much death on one pony before.”
Fluttershy spotted some blood on Twilight’s helmet, mixed in with the dirt and scratches. She looked away before the sight could make her nauseous. “Are you okay?”
“I actually need your help with something, Zeph.” There was a rustling sound. “Discord lost pretty much all of his chaos energy yesterday. I know you’ve been having a prank war with Pinkie and Cheese. Would you mind taking him with you when you go out pranking? I know it would help him recover.”
“Of course.” One of Zeph’s tails reached out and took the object that Twilight had been holding. It turned out to be a small container, about as long as one hoof, that looked disturbingly like a glass-top coffin. Inside lay Discord, tiny, unmoving, and almost colorless. “This is bad. I need to find Pinkie and Cheese.” Zeph hurried out the door. “Don’t wait up, you two.”
Once they were alone, Fluttershy helped Twilight take her helmet off and then pushed it behind the door so she wouldn’t have to see the blood on it. “Cliff told me about the battle,” she said, working to undo more clasps on Twilight’s armor. “Taking a dragon’s life and then having to dig through the wreckage of the marketplace for survivors … I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Twilight.”
No response. Twilight even stopped working on her armor.
“I know that I reacted worse than this when I … killed those dragons,” Fluttershy continued, forcing her voice to hold steady, “but if you ever want to talk, or if you just need somepony to be there for you, well, I’m always here, Twilight.”
At first there was no response, but then Twilight let out a long breath and whispered, “According to Discord’s notes, her name was Aurora, the Hurricane of Ice. She was more than nine hundred years old and the one who pushed the rest of the Hurricanes to ally with drakes in the first place. In many ways, it’s fair to say that she was the cause of this war.”
Fluttershy silently gripped her friend's shoulder, waiting for her to continue.
Twilight’s head slumped forward in exhaustion. “It wasn’t just seeing her die, though. It was looking at all the bodies, the Alliance, our forces, and all those civilians, seventy thousand and ninety three at last count, and realizing that all of them were alive two days ago.” She started to shake. “So many hopes and fears and dreams, all of them snuffing out in less than an hour. It’s like …” she bit back a sob, “all those losses took a part of me with them.”
Fluttershy squeezed her tightly. “I’m sorry.”
Twilight nodded, leaning into the embrace a bit more.
Fluttershy didn’t say anything else. She knew from experience that the best cure for battle trauma was time and loving support, two things that she was determined to provide for Twilight now.
-_-_-_-_-_-
“So we need to round up as much chaos as possible?” Cheese asked in his serious voice, while slipping a whoopee cushion under the hooves of a passing stallion. “I reckon that won’t be a problem. One thousand seventy-one.”
“This will be fun, and we get to help a friend!” Pinkie grinned, bouncing along at his side. She paused mid-hop to pull out a slingshot and shoot.
Several blocks away, a pebble hit Whisper’s hand, making her drop the book she had been carrying, and prompting that nice griffon, Glaive, to pause and pick it up for her.
Hey, just because Pinkie was pulling pranks didn’t mean she couldn’t do some good with them too.
“Eleven hundred eighty-three,” Pinkie said, finally coming back down from her hop. “Let’s go to the Castle and start setting up a party!”
The road to Pinkie’s left suddenly spun around, leaving a confused wyrm to wonder how he was now walking back the same direction he had just come from. “Twelve hundred sixty,” the road commented. “Whatever we do, it will probably take a few months to get your friend back to his old self. Still, I think a party sounds great. Lots of chaos energy, and all of it positive. It will help my honor guard fit in better too. They’ve been keeping to themselves ever since we got here.”
“Gotcha, we’ll start with a Getting-to-Know-New-Friends party.” Pinkie used her tail to spin the wyrm back to where he’d originally been headed, quickly drawing a mustache on him as she did so. “Eleven hundred eighty-four. Let’s get some supplies!”
A short walk and a few dozen pranks later, they were at Apple Fritter’s Bar, even though it wasn’t really a bar. How could anyone run a business inside a giant chunk of metal? Or wood. Bars could be made of wood too. Bars really should be called non-bars, which sounded like a tasty kind of candy bar, which weren’t actually bars either.
In any case, Pinkie and Cheese went into the non-bar, while Zeph stayed outside to flip more ponies and dragons around.
Meadow Song, Fritter’s husband and a former member of the Everfree Platoon, was working at the register. He was doing much better since coming home, even though he still fainted at the sight of blood. Pinkie reminded herself to avoid using any red decorations when she threw him a birthday party in two months and twenty days. “Heya, Pinkie,” the brown earth stallion said when he saw them. “What brings you and Cheese here?”
“Hiya, Meadow.” Pinkie bounced over to him. “We’re throwing another party this afternoon at the Castle, and we want you and Fritter to handle some of the food and drinks.” She went through her knowledge of all the ponies and dragons that would be in attendance and rattled off a list of things they would need—without overwhelming the poor shop owners, of course. It was important to get smaller orders from lots of different sources.
After writing everything down, Meadow Song looked over the list. “We should be able to manage that, Pinkie.”
A loud rumbling shook the building and also made Pinkie cover her stomach and laugh nervously. She had gotten caught up in pranking and forgotten to have lunch again.
Cheese came forward and put some bits on the counter. “We’ll take two daffodil and rye sandwiches.” He glanced outside, toward Zeph. “Oh, and one more for the road.”
Meadow scooped up the bits and put them in the register. “Those will be out in a moment.”
Pinkie smiled up at Cheese. “Aw, Cheesy, you didn’t have to buy me lunch.”
The orange stallion tipped his hat. “It’s my pleasure, little filly.” He directed her toward an empty table to wait. “Lady’s first.”
Rather than go the the table right away, Pinkie leaned closer and said, “There is one thing I have to say though.”
“What is it, Pinkie?” He leaned a little closer too, so their muzzles were almost touching.
“One for the road?” She laughed. “Where did you come up with that?”
Cheese grinned. “A party pony never reveals his secrets.”
Pinkie took her seat and pulled out the container with Discord in it. “Don’t worry,” she whispered to him, “the three of us will cause however much chaos we need to to get you feeling better.”
Even though he didn’t respond, Pinkie thought she saw the tiny draconequus smile, just a bit.
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7704670 Thanks, I was more worried about this battle than the others because there was so much going on in it. I was afraid that readers would get lost in all the jumping around.
7704719 In a strange way, having Discord around helped him out a lot. He's the one person that really understands Cliff's life in the Dragon Alliance.
7704884 Honestly, I see tough times like these bringing the Mane 6 closer to their elements. Fluttershy, for example, is learning a lot about kindness by watching everyone go out of their way to help her.
7704957 That's a really good analysis. Thanks for sharing it!
7704970 I'd like to know that myself. It's like he dropped off the face of the planet about a year ago. He should still have an account on this site, but I don't think it's active.
7705092 Twilight really doesn't need to feel bad about killing one of the Hurricanes, but she will anyway. That's why she'll never turn into something like them.
7705966 I actually don't know how most readers feel about Talon. Hardly anyone every brings her up, so I'm kind of in the dark here.
Talon, (and all of squad Five(four now)) bluntly put, (for me) is a Chekhov's Gun.. in a good way though. this whole story is a freaking armory.
link included for refrence.
I am nearly at a loss for words. They just did something 20 times worse than Pearl Harbor. The murdered nearly 15 innocents for every 1 dragon. As far as I am concerned they have forfeit their lives. I would just use the magical equivalent of a nuke at this point on them. They deserve to starve to death at this point. Justice demands a price for this genocide. Also the need for the gem mines beneath the crystal empire is BS anyway. What happens when that is exausted in few years? They demand Canterlot due to crystal in the mountain. When does it end. They are nothing more than pirate scum, too full of their own self importance to see that all lives are equally valuable.
Also on a side note. Dragons OP plz Nerf. lol
This is my answer for the Dragons:
7707429
Hm I did not look at it that way. Still there is and will be a lot of drama before this war ends.
On another note: Cliff should not waste his time on Heart. She told him that she hates her role in this war, but she still wants to help the DA. Stick to your family and help him end this stupid war. It's just how Cliff said you always have a choice.
7707419 now to tell people how that went down, but hey that is just me
7707446 Well I love her and think others will agree
Great chapter 34..!
_Is the dragon alliance that desperate to win this darm war, that they will free every prisoner in Tartarus. That Beyond stupid, I may not now much about MLP Tartarus, but I do now that Tartarus is full of sinners and demons. They will not after the war they will conquer and destroy all of it all of Equestria.
_The dragon alliance are making a big mistake.
_Highlights Fluttershy mother, I may dislike her but she was right and put these two pony in their place.
*still in dragon form*
Me: oh look blood for the blood god, well that ice one much have been the one that had been around since the last war started.
Robot: Damn that is one way to get Discord out of the fight.
M.wolfdragon: I'm all for being laid back but I just want to use TRUE elemental control just to explode all the Hurricane's lungs just to knock them out of this universe.
F.wolfdragon: I would have just used the control over earth to keep the rubble in the air and throw it at them and then play pong to keep it from killing as much.
Me: we are but the ones on the wall, able to see all and hear all but not able to do anything
Methinks the pranksters need a lesson like in 28 Pranks Later. Especially Zeph. If you prank to be hurtful, you should consider whether you're just being an asshole. He is kind of annoying as it is, and Cheese is starting to go down the same route. Pinkie's the only one who's considerate out of those three.
Incidentally, I wonder if Zephyr Breeze is going to make an appearance.
7707446
Well, I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but I'm at times simply overwhelmed by the number of actors.
It doesn't help that the ones who do the most are OCs and the show's characters are mostly just supporting them. It's easier to keep track of characters we're more familiar with, who we can identify right away, who we have a picture of. For example: The characters who get most coverage on the ponies' side are Cliff and Fluttershy. Cliff is an OC who I can't put a face to. Fluttershy, I do know, but she's not with the action anymore. And Spike isn't even called that anymore, moving him further away from the character we're familiar with. All of them compete for attention.
Off the top of my head, I can't say what character traits make Talon a different personality than Heart. I don't know. However, I can at least say she's less annoying than Zeph. That counts for something.
Here's a question why did they get so angry at the ponies being "dishonorable" when they replaced the crystal heart killing the dragons in the kingdom when here they are doing the same thing on a larger scale (maybe) to innocent ponies this may just be me misremebering things but could you explain that.
It's lines like this that have me convinced that Wyvern society would effectively collapse in a peacetime setting.
"It's to help them avoid decisions that can't be justified, you draconic mongol."
7707976
It's likely a case of "they did it first," that the Hurricanes used to justify it to the rest of the dragon leaders.
7707987
They know nothing but war. Their society is formed around warfare or so it seems.
Khorne would be pleased.
7707825
I like Talon too, but I hope she will see that blindly following orders is just getting her and her friends killed.
7707688
I have to agree with you. The scale of this war has become horrific. A minor war between smaller powers raging into a metaphorical wildfire, pulling more and more foreign powers into the war on both sides. The manufacturing of ingenious new weapons of war becoming an assembly line process. The introduction of the concept of "total war". Entrenched forces bleeding back and forth over the same patch of land. We're following a pony version of World War One as it's happening. That war decimated and traumatized an entire generation on our world. I can't imagine the psychological effects on pony world, a place where Harmony is a tangible force of nature.
And calling in shades of another World War, the number of civilians killed in that last attack rival those of the bombings of Dresden, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. Before someone else points it out, yes, I'm quite aware that all of those bombings were carried out by Allied forces on this world as well (Good God, Vedues, did you pick that name deliberately?). I think that's part of what's making me so ... unsettled about the story at this point. By all rights, what the Dragon Alliance did was a war crime. But the justifications the dragons are using for what they did are so damned similar to our justifications for the WWII bombings that... erggh! How on Earth is this story so ambiguous? I'm rooting for characters on both sides, and also so mad at them at the same time.
Still, there's really no question that the wyvern leadership have shown themselves to be definitively evil. They exemplify the term "the banality of evil". They don't even really hate the ponies; the ponies are just in their way, an obstacle to be removed. I'm glad that the foals were all moved out to Equestria, but that doesn't change that what the Dragon Alliance is about to do is, by all definitions, the genocide of the crystal pony race. I keep waiting for both the drakes and the wyrms to start pulling back from what the war is turning them into, but its not looking hopeful. They're too wrapped up in their own fear, pride, and distrust. And Talon shows that the wyverns aren't intrinsically evil, but they are so locked into their mindless obedience they won't dare confront their leaders about what's happening no matter how they feel about it personally. Again, not much hope there yet either.
At some point, are the wyverns even going to realize the parallels between their own situation and the crystal ponies? They're driving the ponies away from their ancestral home and nearly to extinction in the process, all so that they can claim a portion of the pony's lands for themselves. You know, kind of like how the lions drove them away from their ancestral homeland and nearly to the point of extinction, etc.? Do any of the wyverns realize that they've basically just become the lions? Does Talon?
7707446
Speaking of which, I do like Talon. She is a decent soul, and between her and Crystal are the only anchor point in this story for regarding the wyverns as a people worth saving. But she is also a very frustrating character, because she's "just following orders" against her conscience. Forgive me for continuing to harp on these analogies, but reading about her is a little like reading a story about a good-hearted Nazi soldier, trapped by loyalty to the Fatherland. She elicits... ambiguous feelings, shall we say? That may be why there hasn't been much talk about her in the comments up to now?
Vedues, I am very invested in this story and in the fate of these characters. I've been pouncing on each chapter as they come out. But, man, this is dark. So damned dark. Would it be revealing too much if you could say whether we're going to be seeing any more light at the end of this tunnel soon? Fluttershy's pregnancy and the discovery of the Kumiho Village were a welcome injection of hopefulness in this story, but I'm jonesing for a bit more good news soon.
7708005
Nah, Khorne prefers unstable nutjobs that enjoy kill for the sake of killing. The wyverns don't want to fight, they just don't know what else to do.
I expect that once the war ends, the first thing on most of their minds will be "now what?" Khorne will probably pick up a few then, but for now they're all still fighting because they think they have to.
Although I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of the Hurricanes had secret Khornate leanings. If they're already spilling blood anyway, why not seek every advantage from it?
7708023 same
7708132
Many of them probably are aware of the parallels. In fact, that might be a factor why they're doing this. When it happened to them, they accepted it as something that happens to the losers. They intend not to be the losers this time, and if this means driving the Crystal Ponies to extinction, so be it.
Just wait what their experiments on the captured ponies will be like. I hope, for their sake, they'll stay sane about this. They will have to look back on a legacy of shame as it is, if they keep digging hat hole they'll land in Tartarus on their own.
As for the real world parallels: Firebombing civilians is always reprehensible. It's terror tactics. Leaving aside that it usually doesn't work, it should be seen as a war crime no matter who does it.
7708253
Ugh, you may be right about that. I'd bet its the exact mindset of the Hurricanes, at least. Talk about "gazing not into the abyss...".
I'm one to agree with you on that one. At least in my opinion, the Allies should've had to have their own Nuremberg moment for those acts, but alas, victors write the history books and all that. My point was that a lot of people still use the arguments of "war-time necessity" and "they supported their armies" and "it saved our troop's lives" to justify them, then and today. I'm sure some of the folks here would disagree with both of us about it. It's a debate more appropriate to another website's forum, say... one that debates historical ethics, so I'll leave it be here. What I find so unsettling about the story is not whether I agree with their excuses or not so much as how damned familiar the excuses are.
For the story at hand, however, there's no question that the Alliance has lost any moral grounding they came into this fight possessing. The ponies have definitely made their own mistakes, but the ledgers show a far greater deficit on the dragon's side for atrocities committed.
7708208
I'm more a follower of Nurgle, the Grandfather is more generous with his gifts (Wow now I have the images of Blightdemons in my head that sing Raritys songs and dance to it, thank you brain!).
More than seventy-thousand civilians dead. The Crystal Ponies will NEVER be willing to give the Dragons anything now. They would spit in the faces of Celestia and Luna if they were ordered to help.