Chapter 35
Talon’s wings ached by the end of daily squad training, but a smile worked its way across her face as she studied the results. They were hovering in place about five hundred feet away from the nearest cliff face, which was thoroughly covered in small puncture holes. The Wind Spear technique was even more effective than Talon had hoped.
Making things better, they were surrounded by a large sphere of toxic gas. Talon wished she could take the credit for that, but it had actually been Tornado’s idea.
“Alright, good job, everydragon,” Talon shouted. “Let’s get inside, wash up, and have breakfast.”
A chorus of cheers met her announcement, and the group started flying back up toward the entrance to the Ice Spire Caves. The days were starting to warm up again, but mornings were still freezing cold for anything that wasn’t an ice wyvern.
Thankfully, a bunch of heating enchantments in the cave’s bathing pool kept the temperature comfortably warm. Talon slid into the water with a sigh and started scrubbing off the layer of sweat and poison that was clinging to her scales.
“Today’s the day,” Rune said to her right. “I can feel it.”
There was no need to ask what the older dragoness was talking about. She had been completely obsessed with finishing an improved design for those staffs for weeks now. Of course, she had been predicting a major breakthrough for just as long.
“Genesis,” Talon said, “how close do you think the three of you are getting to finishing those staffs?”
The brown and green wyrm looked into the distance for a moment before he answered. “A few hours, maybe. We were pretty close when we finished last night, and Clodhopper pulled another all-nighter.”
“I can’t believe how much we’ve learned from talking with those unicorns and studying their horns,” Rune said. “Normally an advancement like this would have taken us years!”
Talon nodded. “Keep me updated.” She had to fight down a bit of shame over the fact that, while she had gotten a third of her squad killed and Heart captured, a couple of squads in other swarms had succeeded in taking several dozen ponies prisoner.
“Have any of our spies been able to check up on Heart yet?” Genesis asked.
“Not yet,” Talon replied softly. The Empire’s prison was deep in the basement of the old Crystal Palace, surrounded by countless enchantments to keep prisoners in and intruders out.
After washing, Talon, Crystal, and Tornado made their way to IHQ.
Talon looked at her desk, which had the usual stack of reports, but her attention was drawn to the pulsating crystal orb next to them. She sighed. Changelings were amazing spies, easily as good as the best wyrm infiltrators, but working with them had one major drawback, Chrysalis.
“Crystal, Tornado, get started on the spy reports.” Talon scooped up the orb and made her way to a private alcove that had been added next to her desk. “I’ll see what Chrysalis wants this time.” She put the orb on a small shelf and closed the curtain behind her before whispering the orb’s activation phrase, “Stupid pink princess.”
A face appeared in the orb. “So you finally decided to answer,” Chrysalis said. As always, her voice echoed strangely, almost like two voices overlapping.
Talon bowed. “My apologies, Queen Chrysalis. I was at morning training with my squadron.”
“Have one of your underlings go get you next time,” Chrysalis said. “I don’t enjoy having my time wasted, especially when I have important news for you.”
“I will,” Talon promised. “What’s going on?”
“Good, straight to the point.” Chrysalis smiled. “We were finally able to retrieve detailed instructions for the creation of Everfree Village’s magic batteries, as well as a number of working samples.”
“That’s excellent,” Talon said. Rune had been dying to get her claws on those things for a while now. “When can you get them to us, or should we send out a runner?”
Chrysalis rubbed the bottom of her chin with one hoof. “What makes you think we’ll give them to you?”
Talon froze. “What?”
“We already tracked down a parasprite for you, without so much as a thank you in return. These batteries represent an alternative feeding method for my kind, and the possibility of living peacefully with other races.” Chrysalis leaned forward. “If we’re giving something like that up, doesn’t it only make sense that we should receive something in return?”
“I …” Talon might have been able to think of a reply if she wasn’t so shocked that the changeling leader would even pull something like this. “I don’t know.”
Chrysalis grinned, revealing a number of sharp teeth. “How about I make things easier for you? Those staffs you have can drain the magic out of a pony in seconds, but the stored magic would recognize you as a foreigner and attack. All it’s good for is to shoot at some other opponent. These batteries, can purify magic so that anyone can absorb it. Put the two of them together, and you have the most effective feeding method imaginable for a changeling.”
“You want us to make those for you,” Talon said, fighting to keep her voice calm.
The changeling queen tapped her forehooves together in mock applause. “If Silver Tail promises me one hundred staffs made to my specifications, then I will send you the blueprints and batteries myself.”
Talon did her best not to glare at the orb. “I will speak to Silver Tail at our meeting today, but he won’t be happy to hear about your demands.”
Chrysalis shrugged. “Happy or not, I will expect to hear back from him by sundown. After all, we all know that my changelings represent the vast majority of your information network. I doubt the Alliance wants to risk getting by without them.” Her smug grin disappeared as the orb went clear once more.
Talon was starting to hate that bug. With a sigh, she grabbed the orb and went back to her desk.
Crystal was sitting at her own desk, next to Talon’s. She looked up from the results of a questionnaire that the wyrms in the Alliance had been asked to fill out. “What did Chrysalis want?”
“To cause me headaches,” Talon grumbled. She returned the orb to its stand on her desk and grabbed the first spy report from the pile. “She had a message for Silver Tail. I’ll tell you about it if he gives me the okay.”
Crystal nodded and went back to her own report.
Sweet Song came by a few minutes later with breakfast for them all, but she had to leave again after a few minutes. Talon was having her teach other wyrms how to use Spirit Lightning, and apparently that required a lot of time and effort.
Hours passed, and things fell to near silence in the IHQ, broken only by the scrape of claws on metal from the code translators. Eventually Sweet Song returned with lunch for everydragon and then left to give out the latest opinion poll from Crystal.
After her meal, Talon checked the time crystal in the wall in front of her. It was nearly time to go. At least they had made a serious dent in all the spy reports. Talon stood up and stretched her neck from one side to the other, trying to work out some of the kinks she had built up. “Now I know why the Hurricanes are always so grumpy,” she muttered. “It’s all this hunching over reports day in and day out.”
“What was that?” Crystal asked.
“Complaints about life in general,” Talon said, stretching her wings out to restore some blood flow to them.
“I think I can make you feel better,” Rune announced, walking in from the main cavern.
“The staffs?” Talon guessed.
Rune nodded, grinning widely. “They’re up and running, and we should be able to upgrade all our existing staffs without too much effort.”
“Finally, some good news.” Talon pulled out a fresh sheet of paper, grabbed a quill with the thumb of one wing, and leaned over her desk to write. “What all can they do?”
“Telekinesis and an energy suppression aura,” Rune said, walking over to her. “The aura won’t protect you quite as much as a unicorn shield, but it’s a lot more energy efficient. By the way, what kind did you want?”
“What kind of what?” Talon asked. “Do you mean what kind of aura?”
“No, what kind of staff? We can make them in any shape now, so how would you like to carry yours?” Rune stepped closer and pulled one of Talon’s wings out to full extension. “Maybe a wing guard of some kind.”
Talon let out a rather undignified, “Gah!” and pulled her wing back. “Hey, those are sensitive, you know.” She folded it carefully at her side.
“Oh, they are?” Rune shrugged. “So about your staff? Silver Tail says he wants you as protected as possible, so we don’t risk losing another wyrm leader.”
“Even though I’m not a wyrm,” Talon muttered. “Anyway, something to wrap around my right ankle will be fine, but you might want to hold off on building it for a while. Chrysalis could be sending us blueprints for those magic batteries by the end of the day, and I’ll need all of you to figure out how to replicate them without unicorn magic.”
“Really?” Rune got her characteristic wild grin. “That magic purifier they have could do wonders for our staffs!”
“I know,” Talon said. “In the meantime, have Ember help you expand the lab. Lightning Strike and the other rune masters from Mystic Forest should be getting here in a few days, and they’ll need places to work.”
“Will do.” Rune hurried out of IHQ, already talking to herself about how they could apply a magic purifier to the staffs.
Talon scooped up a stack of papers in one wing. “Alright, Tornado, let’s move. Crystal, if we aren’t back in time for individual training, start things off without us.”
Crystal fidgeted a little. “I’ll do my best.”
“Don’t worry,” Talon said as she left. “If anydragons disobeys your orders, Sky and Cloud have permission to use them for target practice.”
The meeting room was on the complete opposite side of the cave system, of course, but at least Talon and Tornado weren’t the last to arrive. All five Hurricanes were already seated around one end of the table, with most of the drake leaders sitting along one side. Silver Tail was nowhere to be seen, though.
“A good morning upon you both,” Yol Toor said as Talon and Tornado took their seats opposite him.
“Good morning, Grandfather.” Tornado bowed in his seat, nearly headbutting the table. “Thank you so much for your instruction yesterday.”
“It was my pleasure,” Yol Toor said. “If you continue to apply yourself, you may be able to generate a full aura within the next few months.”
Talon was fairly certain that her battle partner could have died happy right then. She smiled indulgently and ruffled his head spikes before going back to her notes.
Silver Tail stumbled in a few minutes later, yawning so widely that Talon got a clear view of his tonsils. “Sorry I’m late.” He took a seat. “Clear Cut must be getting lonely.”
The other drakes all chuckled.
“What’s the joke,” Talon whispered to Tornado, “and who’s Clear Cut?”
“Silver Tail’s mate,” the golden drake replied. “She is partway through a Long Sleep. Mates often go into the Long Sleep together, but he remained awake to continue leading his clan.”
Talon knew about the hundred year hibernations that drakes sometimes took, of course. She had even seen the cavern where all the sleeping drakes rested. “Does that mean he’s going to start a Long Sleep soon?” She couldn’t keep some of the worry out of her voice. Silver Tail was one of the best fighters they had, and a good voice of reason against the Hurricanes’ more genocidal plans. Losing him would be a major blow to the Alliance.
“Perhaps in another few years,” Tornado whispered back, “after he has found a temporary replacement.”
“Alright,” Silver Tail said, “so I know we’re all a bit on edge ever since Griffonstone promised Celestia a thousand new warriors, but have we made any progress in figuring out what route they’re going to take to get here?” He turned to Typhoon.
The wind wyvern shook her head. “My scouts have searched everywhere between Equestria and Griffonstone, and we still cannot locate these new warriors, let alone guess their intended path.”
“Crap,” Silver Tail said. “Well, since we’re on the subject of attacking, how did your mission go, Night Fire?”
The Hurricane of Fire, a relatively young female, stood up. “No problems were encountered. A group of changelings delivered the parasprite, as promised, and we hid it in the Empire’s food reserves.” She turned to Talon. “Has the Empire discovered them yet?”
Talon cleared her throat. “I asked our code translators to tell me as soon as that report came in. Everything is silent so far.”
Using, for lack of a better term, animal warfare, was a new move for all of them, but they couldn’t risk trying any of the plans that Heart knew about before her capture, which was forcing them to get creative. Talon was okay with that. Creative usually meant fewer casualties on either side.
“Let us know if anything changes,” Silver Tail said. “Have we made any progress in brainstorming ways to take out that rainbow pegasus?”
Night Fire shook her head. “She’s too fast and agile to pin down with regular methods, and the shields that pop up every time she’s in danger are nearly invincible. We’re experimenting with wide-area stunning effects, hopefully those can bring her down, preferably away from her allies, long enough for an aura drake or some wyrms with staffs to finish the job.”
Silver Tail nodded. “Anydragon else have any suggestions?”
They went around the table for a while, weighing different options for how to deal with the pegasus. After that, they moved on to ideas for dealing with Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, and that trio of Twilight Sparkle and two wyrms who had managed to kill Aurora.
Luminous Blade, the new Hurricane of Ice was especially determined about that last one. No surprise there; she had served under Aurora for more than two centuries.
Talon paid attention to all of their ideas, writing down anything that needed more research, but made no attempt to join in the conversation. As the saying went, it’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
Unfortunately, Tornado had no such reservations. “Would it be possible to surround Celestia with a drake aura, cutting off her connection to the sun?” The Hurricanes rarely dignified his input with a response, but at least the drake leaders didn’t seem to mind.
“We tried that last battle,” Qo Peyt said. “The two of us sneaked up on her while her and Luna were double-teaming Dad with those new gem weapons they have. We drained enough magic to fill both our staves to capacity and then grabbed her in our auras, and it barely slowed her down.”
“I wish you two had not gotten involved,” Yol Toor said. “She might have killed one of you.”
“She might have killed you if we had not,” Dun Brii, his other daughter, pointed out. “Even you cannot fight both of the Immortal Sisters on your own.”
“Especially not when they’re using those exploding gemstones,” Silver Tail added. “Seriously, after fifty-four of them, I’m surprised you even managed the flight back here. I only got hit by fourteen, and they were already making me lightheaded.”
Talon did her best not to gawk. She had barely managed to stay conscious after getting hit by just one of those gems.
“I did sleep rather well that night,” Yol Toor said with a wry grin. “In any case, I could hardly pass out while the rest of my family was in danger.”
Silver Tail chuckled. “Sentimental old dragon.”
“You’re the same age, Uncle,” Qo Peyt said, “and don’t even pretend that you aren’t as sentimental as he is.”
“I never said I wasn’t.” Silver Tail cleared his throat. “In any case, that’s enough talk about killing stuff. Let’s move on to a less morbid subject.” He turned to Talon. “How goes the hunt for allies?”
Talon looked down at her notes, all too aware of the Hurricanes silently watching her. “To begin with, I should inform you that our existing allies, the changelings, have everything we could need to reverse engineer magic batteries, but refuse to give us those materials unless you promise them one hundred staffs made to their specifications.”
Silver Tail sighed. “I knew we shouldn’t have trusted Chrysalis.” He shook his head. “Anyway, do you think it would be worth the trade-off, Talon?”
Talon stopped and thought about it. Even with Rune, Genesis, and Clodhopper working almost constantly, they were barely turning out two staffs per day. However, the others from the Mystic Forest Coven would arrive soon, which could boost their output as high as ten per day. Losing ten days’ worth of work would be annoying, but nothing that the Alliance couldn’t make up for. “I suppose it would be, sir, but I worry about letting Chrysalis get away with this sort of thing.”
“That makes two of us,” Silver Tail said. He turned to the rest of the table. “Your thoughts?”
“Maybe they need a stronger incentive to be loyal,” Luminous Blade said. “If we reconsidered offering them pony captives after we capture the Empire-”
“No,” Silver Tail said flatly. “It’s bad enough to kill ponies that barely qualify as combatants because they’re maintaining that shield. Once this is over, they’ll be civilians again, and part of our clan if they choose to remain in the Empire. I won’t turn civilians and clan-mates into food for anything, let alone our least trustworthy allies.”
“Let us put it to vote,” Luminous Blade said.
Talon winced.
“Those in favor.” Luminous Blade raised a wing, as did the other five Hurricanes.
“Those against.” The five drake lords raised a paw.
Luminous turned to Talon. “It seems the deciding vote is yours once more. What is your decision?” Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
Talon had to look away. “A-” she swallowed, “against.”
“Very well,” Luminous said calmly, though her expression promised that she would find a way to punish Talon for that choice later.
“There’s no need to be upset,” Silver Tail said. He got up and walked over to Talon, wrapping one of his wings protectively around her. “Talon is a member of the Council just like the rest of us, and I would respond rather poorly if I found out that someone had been coercing her into voting one way or the other.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Luminous Blade said, turning back to the table.
“Glad to hear it.” Silver Tail went back to his seat. “Anyway, Talon, once we’re finished here, I’ll come by and tell Chrysalis that we accept her terms, but in the future, we should have our own spies collect anything valuable.”
Talon nodded. “I agree, sir.”
He smirked. “And quit calling me sir.”
“Have our spies had any luck searching for other races that might help?” Typhoon asked.
Talon looked down at her notes once more. “Yes, actually. As you know, there are quite a few intelligent species in Equestria, and at least a few are unhappy with their treatment here. A race of fuzzy animals called sheep seem to have the worst of it. They’re locked up like slaves and have their fur harvested to make into cloth, but they’re too scattered for any sort of rebellion. The more politically important races, like donkeys and minotaurs, are still treated a little strangely, which gives us some racial tensions to work with, but for the most part they seem to want reform, not rebellion.” Talon glanced at the Hurricanes again.
They were still watching her intently.
She flipped to the next page in her notes. “We have had some luck with an unexpected race. There’s a small nation of barely intelligent bipedal canines called diamond dogs that would be willing to help us so long as we repay them in gems.” She got up and walked around the table, passing out pieces of paper for each of them. “These notes contain everything we know about them.”
Silence fell on the group as they read.
It was Typhoon that spoke first. “Diamond dogs may not be worth the resources they would demand as payment. Undisciplined troops are only an asset to their enemies.”
“I don’t know,” Silver Tail said. “If they really are that good at digging, we could keep them off the battlefield and just use them to harvest gems from beneath the Empire. We might not even need to fight anymore if they can bring enough.”
“Assuming they are willing to share what they gather,” Dun Brii pointed out, “but I can see what you mean.”
“Perhaps they could take gems from beneath the Empire as their payment,” Yol Toor said. “We would gain their help without any drain on our resources.”
“Diamond dogs would probably be able to pass through the shield,” Choking Breeze said. He was the Hurricane of Venom and the only male among his peers. “I believe we should at least attempt to make use of them.”
“If we will not be relying on them in battle, I have no objections,” Typhoon said.
“I guess we all agree then.” Silver Tail looked around the table and was met with nods. “Alright, so on to our food situation.”
“Actually,” Talon said quietly, half hoping they wouldn’t hear her, “I have one more item to discuss.”
Qo Peyt grinned. “She spoke without being spoken to. You owe me a ruby, Uncle.”
“You can grab one out of my hoard later,” Silver Tail said before turning to Talon. “Anyway, what’s up?”
Talon cleared her throat. “Our spies finally managed to get a list of the prisoners in Tartarus. The results were … disturbing.” She stood again and passed out a list of the inmates.
She was in no position to tell her superiors what to think, but Talon had to fight the urge to beg the Council to turn their backs to Tartarus and hope that not a single thing in there ever got out.
A magic-sucking megalomaniacal centaur that had nearly conquered Equestria twice, a demonic ram that threw his victims into a world of shadows, eight suits of living armor that thought they were perpetually at war with Equestria, and a cloud monster that ate shadows were only a few of the things locked away in that forsaken-by-the-Ancestors prison, and Talon would be more than happy if all of them stayed right there. It boggled the mind to imagine one country being attacked by so many abominations, let alone overcoming them all.
Qo Peyt looked up from her paper. “So … is it just me, or does it feel like we can’t let anything in there free without dooming the planet?”
“The octopus thing would probably only doom the oceans,” Silver Tail said, “but I know what you mean. I wouldn’t want any of these creatures fighting beside me.”
“We could turn one of the suits of armor loose in the Empire,” Sudden Strike, the Hurricane of Thunder, said. “They could probably defeat just one, but not without taking heavy losses.”
“That plan is too dangerous,” Typhoon said. “The suits are unstable and could attack us while we are trying to move it.”
The thunder wyvern shrugged. “High risk, high reward.”
“Is a strategy best left to the desperate,” Yol Toor said. “Things have been difficult for us since Heart Echo was captured, but I do not think we have reached the point of desperation quite yet.”
The rest of the Council exchanged nods, and that was that.
Talon let out a sigh of relief. She was willing to do whatever it took to save the wyvern race, but letting a world-ending monstrosity loose didn’t seem like a good way to go about it. In fact, the only thing she wanted to set free was Heart Echo, still trapped in a pony jail somewhere.
Talon couldn’t help but feel nervous as she thought about her friend. Equestria had to know that she was one of the leaders of the Alliance. How long would it be until they decided to execute her?
-_-_-_-_-_-
“Okay, I think that should just about do it,” Cliff said, adjusting a few glowing lines on his right hand. He glanced at the umbrum crystal in front of him, checking the flow of magic in it, then tweaked a few more things. He was down in the prison for another late-night research session.
Heart watched her cousin through the glowing bars that separated them. It had been thirty-three days since her imprisonment, and she still hadn’t figured out a way to escape. These cells constantly siphoned off the natural magic of their occupant, so it was impossible to build up enough to try and break her way out. There was a circular indent in the wall next to each cell, which could open or lock the cell door, but it was tied to the guards somehow and couldn’t be used by anyone else. “Remember what you promised,” she said, fighting down a yawn. “If this works, you teach it to the Alliance as a show of good faith, and then we try to open negotiations with them.”
Cliff nodded, determination reflecting in his expression and the way he held himself. It would have been easier to analyze his body language if he wasn’t wearing that armor, but at least he had taken his helmet off. “I know, Heart. I want the killing to end as much as anyone.” He turned back to his glowing hand and trapped his thumb against his middle and middle claw in quick succession. A rock appeared in his hand in response.
Heart really wished she knew even the basic concept behind those gauntlets. Unfortunately, Cliff refused to discuss them.
“Knowing our luck, this is going to explode.” Cliff brought up his left arm to shield his eyes. “Crystallization experiment, attempt one, go.”
Cliff’s hand, armor and all, evaporated into black mist, leaving the rock to fall to the ground with a sharp thunk. Blood from the stump of his wrist quickly followed, splattering across the stone floor.
“Wha-” Cliff lowered his other arm and stared dumbly at the space where his hand had just been. “Oh dirt clods.” He clamped his remaining hand over the stump and pressed down. “An explosion would have been better,” he muttered between clenched teeth, leaning against the bars to steady himself.
“Heal yourself before you bleed out!” Heart almost yelled. She managed to cram one hand through a gap in the bars and shake her cousin’s shoulder. “Come on, don’t go into shock on me.”
“Not planning on it,” he gasped, before suddenly relaxing. “Oh, that’s better.”
Heart let out a sigh, figuring that he must have healed himself. “Are you oka-” She was cut off as a ray of blue energy connected with the hand that was outside of her cell. Without any defensive magic to protect her, the ray blasted her scales clean off and cut through to the bone. “Agh!”
Heart yanked her mutilated hand back and pressed it against her chest, gasping for breath.
“Get away from him! Sir, are you alright?”
Two unicorn guards ran into view. One of them pulled Cliff away from the bars, while the other nearly headbutted them, glaring at Heart as it shouted, “What did you do to him?!”
She heard him, but Heart couldn’t think beyond on the waves of crushing pain and the sensation of warm liquid pouring down her arms and chest. She could now say from experience that wounds hurt a lot more when she wasn’t in the middle of battle and preoccupied with staying alive.
You learn something new every day.
“She didn’t do anything,” Cliff’s voice cut in. “Get the door open, and don’t touch that crystal.”
There was a creaking sound, which made Heart look up, squinting from the pain.
Cliff stood in the open doorway to her cell and was reaching out to her. The door itself had stopped glowing, for some reason. “It’s okay, Heart, I just want to heal you.”
A healing spell. Magic works when the door is open. With some difficulty, she organized her emotions and cast a minor suggestion spell before prying her good hand away from the wounded one. Nearly half of the flesh had been destroyed by one of those unicorns, leaving the bones underneath exposed, though it was hard to be sure through all the blood. The edges of the wound were black, almost like the burned flesh she had sometimes seen on her meals.
Cliff held a glowing palm over the wound. The pain quickly died away. Flesh and skin regrew, followed by purple scales, leaving her hand whole once more.
An unexpected shove knocked Heart into a sitting position against the far wall as Cliff stepped out of her cell and shut the door. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “You needed healing, but I couldn’t risk you trying to escape. It would have just ended in you getting hurt worse.”
Trying to get past three trained warriors, while weakened, disoriented, and in the middle of enemy territory … that did sound like something she would do. Heart chuckled softly and tried to muster the energy to rise. No luck. She shifted to make herself more comfortable on the floor. “How did you regrow your armor?” she asked, gesturing weakly at Cliff’s armored, and apparently fully healed, right hand. The rune was even back in place around it.
“I didn’t.” Cliff turned to the unicorn guards. “Heart and I were trying to replicate umbrum crystallization magic, but it looks like we mixed things up somehow and got their ability to transform into shadows instead. The rune only covered my hand, so it got converted without the rest of me, and you saw the result. Heart was just trying to snap me out of it before I went into shock.”
Both ponies looked away guiltily, although one glanced at Heart as though he wanted to apologize.
Turning back to Heart, Cliff continued, “There wasn’t much power in that rune, so when it ran out, my hand reverted to normal, armor and all.” He let out a long sigh and clenched his hand. “We were so close …”
Heart nodded, a humorless chuckle escaping her lips. “All this time working, and we managed to copy the wrong ability.”
“That’s just our luck, isn’t it?” Cliff closed his eyes, and the anger, frustration, and guilt he was showing disappeared. “At least figuring out the right one shouldn’t be too hard. We’ve already decoded most of its field.”
“There is that,” she agreed, wiping away some of the blood that covered her chest.
“I will bring warm water and a washcloth later,” one of the ponies said. “So that you can clean off.”
Heart smiled gratefully. “Thanks.” After so long without a bath, she probably smelled horrible enough without adding a bunch of blood to congeal and rot all over herself.
“Oh my Celestia, Cliff, what happened to you?!” Spirit ran into view and grabbed his brother. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Spirit.” Cliff hugged the younger dragon before disentangling himself. “Thanks for worrying about me, but it was nothing serious.” He briefly explained what had happened.
Spirit glanced at Heart during Cliff’s story but didn’t say anything to her. That was pretty common, actually. Heart got almost daily visits from her aunt and uncle, her grandparents, and Cliff, but Spirit only showed up when one of the others dragged him along, and even then he was quiet and awkward. “Anyway, Cliff, it’s past midnight. Celestia and Luna are waiting for you.”
“I know,” Cliff said. “I’ll meet up with them as soon as I wash off.”
“Gemstone was never late,” Heart said as her cousin buckled on his helmet. “He arrived early to all of our meetings, actually.”
Cliff paused, and looked at her with a slightly pained expression.
“I’m just saying that maybe there are some parts of him that are worth remembering,” Heart said. “Some aspects of his character that are worth imitating.”
After a moment, Cliff nodded. “See you both later.” Then he grabbed the table with the umbrum crystal and wheeled it out of sight.
Heart leaned forward as the sound of her cousin’s footsteps faded. “Spirit, can I talk to you in private, just this once?”
The young wyrm looked conflicted, but he nodded. Meanwhile, the two pony guards excused themselves, promising to come back later and clean up the blood.
Once they were alone, Heart slowly pulled herself upright and asked, “How are things with Autumn?”
Spirit was clearly caught off guard. “What do you mean?”
“I know the two of you have been sharing meals since the start of the new year,” Heart said. “New phases of a relationship always lead to some adjustments, and I thought maybe you could use a feminine perspective on things.”
“Thanks, but if there were any problems or misunderstandings, they were so minor that I can’t even remember them,” Spirit lied. It was obvious that he was happy with that crystal pony, but there was at least one issue that weighed on him.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Heart said. “Just remember, there’s no such thing as a perfect relationship. The only question is if it’s worth taking the good with the bad.”
“Yeah, I’ll remember that.” Spirit glanced toward the exit. “Anyway, I need to get back to the rest of the Platoon.” He took a step in that direction.
“Spirit,” Heart said firmly, making him pause before he could slip away. “I’m serious. Grandma has told me enough about Autumn for me to know that she has real burdens in her past. You can’t expect your love to erase them. She doesn’t need to be fixed; she needs to be accepted.”
Spirit didn’t turn back, but he did nod very slowly. “I know. Thanks for worrying about her.” Then he walked away.
Heart didn’t try to stop him. Instead, she waited until she was sure they were alone, and then let out a whistle.
The few dragons she could see across from her cell all looked up, and Heart knew that all the other ones nearby were doing the same. Bringing them all back from the verge of utter hopelessness hadn’t been easy, but Heart was proud to see their warrior spirits burning brightly once again.
“Okay, everydragon, this is it,” Heart kept her voice soft, so guards would be less likely to overhear, but it was still strong enough to inspire courage. “Whatever their plan is to attack the Alliance, Cliff just left to get it started. We need to get out of here. Now.”
“What about your work to crystallize things?” Rock Fall, the drake in the cell next to Heart’s, asked. “That could solve all of our food problems.”
“Cliff hasn’t needed my help with his research in weeks,” Heart replied. “He can finish it without me, but our friends and family are going to die if we don’t warn them tonight.”
“I saw how they opened your cell,” Jolt, the thunder wyvern opposite Heart, said.
“Perfect.” Heart grinned. “I was able to cast a compulsion spell on one of the guards when they opened the door. That will give us an advantage, but we still only have one shot at this …”
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Escape into a city full of enemy soldiers? Awesome plan! What can go wrong?
You have no idea where you are.
You are seriously outnumbered.
And you are likely to injure or kill bystanders. (As Angron would say: "Combatant or not they are the enemy, so we kill them!")
Like I said awesome plan. Why can't they see that they are doing the wrong thing. Heart should help Cliff, not screw him over.
So... instead of working with Cliff to solve the entire cause of the war, Heart is intentionally manipulating him so she can ensure more deaths by getting information? And this is AFTER the Alliance slaughtered over 70,000 civilians? Real bitch, isn't she. I hope she dies slowly and painfully. Useless, heartless, sack of $#!+.
Oy, the dragons look more and more like evil Tyrants everyday. Lets unleash a world ending apocalypse to win yay. Lets create a weapon that is lust like Tirek, wonderful.
Can the ponies even win one battle is that too much to ask?
7709678
I agree completely.
7707666 As of right now, I can think of 6 Chekhov's Guns bouncing around the story, so comparing it to an armory isn't that far off.
7707688 Ah, Slayers. I love that show!
7707747 Remember what Heart said, she's doing her best to minimize casualties on both sides, like talking the Hurricanes out of dumping an enchanted hurricane on the Crystal Empire, killing hundreds of thousands. By comparison, only tens of thousands died by collapsing the market. She's made some bad choices for sure, but the pony death toll would be a lot higher if she weren't around to keep the Hurricanes from going full genocidal.
7707835 Distrust is really the cause of this war. The dragons don't trust the ponies, the ponies don't trust the dragons, and so neither side is willing to sit down and seriously try to negotiate peace. There are also warmongers on both sides, making things worse.
The Hurricanes are ... pretty terrible creatures. They're the end result of thousands of years of genocidal warfare with no restraint or mercy on either side. Yes, the lions they fought were just as bad. That doesn't excuse the Hurricanes, of course. To me, they're kind of like rabid dogs. It's arguably not their fault that they've turned into this, but it doesn't change the fact that they're a danger to themselves and everything around them.
7707869 Zephyr's pranks are usually object lessons (like using an illusion on the two racist ponies, so they'd see what it's like to be on the other side) or just small inconveniences, like realizing that you're walking back the way you came, losing out on maybe 5 seconds of travel time.
Cheese's pranks tend to be the "classics" like whoopee cushions, joy buzzers, etc. Nothing too mean, though. So he won't be breaking out itching powder, slipping bricks into sandwiches, or anything like that.
You're right that Pinkie is the most "enlightened" prankster of the lot, but part of that is that she knows all the residents of Everfree Village and so she can customize pranks for them, such as making Whisper drop her books in front of the guy she likes, prompting him to stop and help her. Without that knowledge, she'd just be a jerk making some random dragon drop things.
7707897 There's no need to be ashamed. The cast here is a little bit too big. If I had it to do over again, I'd cut the main characters down to about ten, bring Rainbow Dash more to the front, and spend more time with Twilight as well.
7707976 No problem. Drakes are a race of duelists, which means your opponent has to know that you want to attack and have time to prepare themselves. Also, hitting a bystander is a serious no-no. That's why the drakes have insisted on minimizing civilian casualties and always give Equestria at least some warning before they attack.
The drake lords were eventually talked into counting crystal pony civilians as enemy combatants (and therefore valid targets) because they're helping Equestria's war effort by powering the Crystal Heart. Even then, the drakes refused to attack them until they'd tried stealing the Crystal Heart, breaking it, and deactivating it by destroying the palace. Then they gave the crystal pony civilians a month's warning and begged them to leave. Then they sent Yol Toor to warn them that they'd be attacking the next day and give them one last chance to leave safely. Then the actual thing they did to harm civilians wasn't nearly as large or as destructive as it could've been. (They could have leveled the entire Crystal Empire if they'd wanted to, but they chose to hit a smaller area in the hopes that the rest of the Empire would rethink their decision and leave peacefully.)
By contrast, Equestria used the Crystal Heart without warning to blast the Alliance's warriors out of the Empire, killing hundreds of them in their sleep. There was no warning, no time to prepare, and no attempt to avoid injuring the dragons that were just there to act as healers, cooks, advisors, etc.
By human and pony standards, the dragons are still far worse, because the death toll they created is much larger, but by dragon standards, they're being as nice as possible given the circumstances. That doesn't excuse all the deaths, of course, but hopefully it explains why the Alliance is acting the way it does.
7707987 Wyvern society really would collapse in peacetime. Literally everything about their society is built around war. Wyverns learn battle tactics where humans and ponies learn nursery rhymes. There are no government positions separate from military ones. There's no such thing as a civilian; you're either a soldier or you're dead. The list goes on.
7708023 Learning to question orders and her superiors is a major part of Talon's character arc. I know she's getting there slowly, but it's hard to go against everything your entire society stands for, especially when your superiors will gladly torture you if you speak against them.
>>Sheep are slaves
Yeeeeah no. Not buying that. They're pets. Iron Will's sheep companions, I also consider pets, much like Fluttershy has help from her animal friends when putting on plays and such.
7709787
The ponies are going to send the dragons food. The dragons are going to destroy the ponies' food.
If that isn't symbolic, I don't know what it.
7709873
Thing is, Pinkie knows that the best prankster aims to make both parties laugh. Zephyr and Cheese aren't spreading fun, they're doing this because the made a bet. I would really like to see Zephyr having to deal with someone who didn't appreciate his pranking. That would be an interesting break from his usual too-powerful mystical spirit thingie shtick.
7709834
She maybe one of the good eggs in the DA basket, but to me she still is an idiot.
I like this story and how you see differnt characters struggle with this fucked up situation.
Talon, with her military backround, coming out off a war for her homeland, just to be pushed into a new war. Only to be cast into a leadership role, first as a squadleader and now as Hearts substitute.
Heart who works as the voice of reason in the DA and thanks to that she has to fight her family. Maybe all the talk about honor from Yol and Silver rubbed on to her. Maybe it is not so great being a powerful empath when you are surrounded by warmongers.
Yol and Silver think they do the right thing for their people, but I think they don't see the consequences of this war for the future off the dragon races. Even if they win they would be isolated again, because all other races would see them as conquerers. And all because they could not bring themselfs to talk to the ponies. And no demanding a duel of champions for the right over land doesn't count as talking.
The Hurricanes are stuck in their mindset and somehow they can't overcome it. Sad thing is even the new ones don't stop and rethink their way of life. Why should they, it worked so well during the fight against the lions. They are littlebit like the dwarven in Warhammer - If it worked for our ancesters it will work for us just fine.
Sadly the ponies are not much better and this war will leave scars in the land of friendship and harmony.
7708132 Actually, WW1 was my inspiration for this story, so your analogy is stunningly accurate. Ditto for comparing Talon to a good-hearted Nazi. I literally described her that way to a friend just a few weeks ago. Sorry about how slow her character arc is coming along. By wyvern standards, she's already quite rebellious.
Yes, there's light at the end of this tunnel. Two of the next three chapters, for example, will be lighter slice-of-life items. Also, the ending isn't exactly "and then everything was fine and everyone was happy forever," but it will be a happy ending nonetheless.
7708208 To me, the frightening part about the Hurricanes is that they're entirely stable. Everything they do is calm, collected, and merciless.
Here's a bit of a tangent that I promise comes back to my point: my sister has schizophrenia. She can't hold a job, she's angry and aggressive, and she just generally makes life miserable for everyone around her. Even worse, there's no real hope that she'll get better. The rest of my siblings and I have all moved out, leaving that sister (in her 30's) at home with our parents. One day, after talking to my mother and hearing about yet another aggravating thing that my sister had done, I found myself calmly thinking that it would be better for everyone if she just died somehow. That thought terrified me. Was I really so screwed up that the death of family member actually seemed like a good idea? Just to get rid of the inconveniences she causes? Anyway, the Hurricanes are what would happen if you took that kind of disregard for life and let it consume you.
7708253 Talon, at least, is aware of the parallels enough that she's getting increasingly uncomfortable.
7708321 Most of the Alliance's excuses were taken right from the history books, actually. I did my best to recreate them here without injecting my thoughts or opinions into the matter.
7709283 And now I'm thinking of it too.
7709709 Quite likely.
7709753 She wants to minimize deaths on both sides. She's helping Cliff solve the food shortage because she thinks it's the right thing to do, but she also knows that he's working on a plan to kill members of the Alliance, including plenty of dragons like Talon and Crystal that don't want to fight at all but have no say in the matter. So understandably, she wants to help Cliff end the food shortage, but she also wants to protect her friends.
Remember how she said that she talked the Hurricanes out of dropping a hurricane on the Empire at night? Yeah, that would've led to a death toll in the hundreds of thousands. You can hate Heart if you want, but there's no denying that her influence has saved countless lives.
7710042 I thought she was making that part up to help sway Cliff. I mean, it certainly is something those monsters would do, but I did not believe she valued the lives of any but Dragons enough to do that. Thus far she has not proven herself to be caring about anybody except those she holds as important in her life. If what she said was true, then it is a good thing she did so, but why not merely ask Cliff to speak to the Alicorns and have them postpone the battle? It would prove to her that they actually wanted peace. It would give her and Cliff enough time to finish the project and end the damn war. And yet, she chose to do something different, even after she has SEEN with her own eyes that Cliff wants the war to end. There is a great deal that still does not make sense to me.
On a side note, I REALLY hope the Equestrians manage to come out the victors in at least ONE of the battles. It seems like every engagement has the Alliance as the victors.
7710076
Agreed, this war is way too one sided. Its like being the Russians going up against the Germans in WWII.
Honestly, I feel like this way is only proving how weak the ponies are. This will undoubtedly lead to another war of aggression from someone else. The damn caribou will invade next i bet.
7710207 The way I see this playing out is as follows:
Hurricanes get desperate and decide to unleash something from Tartarus. The thing they unleash does horrible thing X. Horrible thing X forces the Dragons and Ponies to fight together. In the end, they are suddenly, somehow friends.
I truly hope that is not how things turn out, because I would downvote.
Great chapter 35
Next chapter jail break
*Still in Dragon form*
Me: Heart you are safe and have the means to end this in peace stay.
Robot: We have gone beyond guns in this, we are at a trail of gunpowder going to the TNT factory and is going to blow it to hell and back.
M.wolfdragon: Well at the very least none of the world enders are coming out.
F.wolfdragon: Thorax we need you to show that changelings can be more then just love suckers, Plus it would make the network go down.
This is well written, but I really don't know if I should continue reading. I'm already at the point where the deaths of thousands of ponies feels like a good thing.
Oh look, the ponies are about to lose.
Again.
Just like every other time any member of the Alliance has had a plan in this story.
This doesn't even feel like an actual war anymore. The dragons have so much plot armor at this point that they can pretty much do whatever they want and their plans will succeed. They only one that "didn't" was the plan to take the Crystal Heart, but the ponies getting it back made pretty much zero difference, so that doesn't even really count as a failure.
This is Turning into Game of Thrones. Why should I bother to care about any of these characters or the things they plan? I already know how it will all turn out.