A New Dragon in the Crystal Empire

by Vedues

Chapter 50

Talon looked around what had once been a bustling IHQ. Now it was nothing more than a collection of empty desks at the end of a tunnel. Steel Mind, their code translator, sat at at one of the desks, studying the messaging rod he used to communicate with their spies. Well, to communicate with the two spies that had escaped Chrysalis and her changelings.

Steel Mind groaned. “They’re still demanding to know why we want them to warn Celestia about the attack.” He looked up at Talon. “I don’t think they believe it’s an order from the Hurricanes.”

“Well, they’re right,” Talon sent.

“What should I tell them?”

“Just insist that it’s a part of their plan.” Convincing a spy to risk near-certain capture in order to warn their enemy was harder than Talon had expected, and she had been expecting it to be hard.

According to Heart, the Alliance had to surrender or negotiate to get long-term peace with Equestria, but the Hurricanes had all voted to pursue the war regardless, and they’d happily torture Talon to death if they found out she was actively going against them. They’d also kill or torture anyone they thought was involved, hence why none of Talon’s friends were in on it.

“… They say they’ll try,” Steel sent, “but I’m not sure how honest they’re being.”

“Tell them it’s urgent.” Talon looked around nervously. “The plan takes off today.”

“Talon,” Tornado said aloud. He was standing by the door, like he’d been since she came in. “It is time to meet with the rest of the squadron.”

“I’ll keep talking with the spy,” Steel promised.

Talon nodded and walked past Tornado, down the tunnel to the outside. “Okay, sorry to keep you waiting.”

Tornado fell into step behind. “Were either of the spies able to find Yol Toor?”

“Not yet.” Talon couldn’t bring herself to tell him that the spies weren’t hunting for Yol Toor anymore. There was just too much else they had to do. “The rescue mission will have to wait a bit longer.”

Tornado nodded. “Why have you and Steel Mind been using emotion-speech lately?”

So that he couldn’t overhear anything that would endanger him. “I’m trying to practice my emotion-speech, and he’s helping me.”

Tornado didn’t respond, and so they walked in silence for a time.

“Talon?” he said at last.

She stopped and looked back at him. “Yes?”

His expression became firm. “I will always protect you, even from other dragons.”

Talon had no idea how to respond. Did he know what she was doing and had promised to protect her from the Hurricanes if it came to that? Had he noticed that she was on-edge lately and was trying to make her feel better? For all Talon knew, he’d just proposed.

“I cannot forgive the Hurricanes for assigning you to speak with the Requiem Guard, knowing full-well that they might kill you.” Tornado growled.

Talon paused, then she gave him a hug. It was nice to know that at least some dragons didn’t think she was expendable. “Is that why you’ve been sticking so close to me lately?”

“I will protect you,” he said.

She decided not to point out that, even at his best, he could hold off the Requiem Guard for maybe two second. “Remember to protect yourself too.” Talon turned and started walking. “Too many good dragons have died in this war.”

They came to the tunnel’s mouth, an opening high along the canyon’s nearly flat walls. A wave of chilled air hit Talon, making her shiver. Even wind and fire wyverns couldn’t seem to calm that breeze down completely. The frozen ground far below almost seemed to glow in the early dawn light, revealing the dark forms of diamond dogs as they hauled around wagons full of dirt.

Those dogs were diligent, Talon had to give them that. They were still digging for gems, even after two weeks of nonstop work creating new tunnels that would let them sneak up on the Crystal Empire.

Talon turned away from the ground and silently took to the air, followed by Tornado. A few flaps brought them both above the canyon’s edge and into view of the plateau where the entire Alliance was gathered. It was always a bit awe inspiring to see so many dragons organizing themselves into squadrons, clusters, and swarms as they prepared for the battle to come.

Talon saw the Hurricanes in their usual place at the head of the army, accompanied by Silver Tail, Torch, and Yol Toor’s twin daughters. Behind them were the elite squadrons, including Synapse.

Well, it was only elite in that the Council didn’t want Heart Echo to get killed or captured. They’d promoted the whole unit just to keep her out of danger.

At least it was better than being on the front lines.

Near Synapse were eight metal forms, strangely dark in spite of the morning rays shining down on them. It was the same loose formation that they had held every time that Talon visited them in their cavern. Two of the Requiem Guard were sitting down, another seemed to be leaning against a nonexistent cavern wall, and three more were standing with their arms at their sides.

Samhane’s dark silver coloration made it easy to spot. It was at the edge of the group, like usual, but instead of pacing, it had its twin axes out and was flowing through a series of stances and attacks with them. Thank the Storm that Samhane was at least opposite from Talon’s squad. The dark silver Guard was barely stable at best.

Providence was the only Guard out of place. It usually sat near the middle of the group, staring into the distance. Today, however, it stood at the far side of the group from Samhane, engaged in a conversation with two wyrms holding combat staffs. Two very familiar wyrms …

“What are Heart and Genesis doing?” Talon wondered aloud. It wasn’t like talking to the Requiem Guard was against orders or anything, but who in their right mind would want to? She angled her flight so that she came down next to the trio, with Tornado right behind her.

Flakes of snow whipped up around the two dragons as they landed. Heart and Genesis both covered their faces. Providence didn’t bother. It didn’t even move when some bits of snow flew in through its eye sockets.

“Greetings, Providence.” Talon dropped to a respectful bow then bit down a sigh when Tornado positioned himself between her and the Guard.

Providence turned to her. Soulless blue orbs shone from within the eye sockets of its helmet. “What newss do your sspies bring?”

“Everything seems to be normal,” Talon said, fighting down a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold. “We should arrive a few minutes before the Element Bearers finish their morning training, as we planned.”

Providence merely turned to the other Guards. “Come, mmy friends, let uss make thhe King prroud.”

A chorus of unearthly voices responded.

Samhane, though, shook its head and made a sound that could have been laughter. The metallic edge to it sent shivers down Talon’s back. “Killling ponniess is enoughh forr me.”

Either Providence didn’t hear that or it chose to ignore it. “Let uss be onn our waay, dragonling.” It started walking toward the center of the other Guards.

“Wait.” Genesis raised an arm like he wanted to keep the Guard from walking away but then thought better of it. That same arm had one of the spiraling staffs wrapped around it, even though he held a normal staff in his other hand. “Please. They deserve to be spared.”

Providence didn’t look back or even slow down. “Sso do many whho die.”

Talon turned to Tornado. “Get ready to go. If any of the Guards try anything, flip over and drop them.”

Tornado bowed. “As you command.” He moved away from the others before shifting into his battle form and sinking down so that the Requiem Guard could climb onto his back.

“Now,” Talon said, shifting her gaze to Genesis, “what exactly were you talking to Providence about?”

Genesis cringed a little at her scrutiny. “That rune Gemstone invented is going to permanently change how dragons think about food. Heart and I just thought that we should repay him by not trying to kill him or his wife.”

The Hurricanes were nearby, which is the only reason that Talon didn’t commend him for his bravery. Instead, she patted him on the shoulder.

Heart silently gripped his other shoulder.

Talon glanced over at Tornado. The Requiem Guard was already getting into place on his back. “Heart, tell Silver Tail that we’re ready. Genesis, you’ll have to rune me up quickly. I’d rather not leave Tornado alone with those things.”

After Heart left, Genesis stepped closer and gripped the spiraling metal staff he was wearing. It seemed to take a life of its own, uncoiling and straightening until it was a staff identical to the other one he held. “This is our newest model of combat staff. Rune would have wanted you to have one of the first ones.” He looked away as he held it out to her.

Talon felt a lump in her throat but accepted the staff without complaint. She swapped it with her old one, then offered the older one to Genesis so that he could upgrade it later.

Silver Tail’s voice hit them all like a wave. “Alliance forces, prepare to move out!”

Genesis quickly started on Talon’s combat runes.

“What can this staff do?” Talon asked as he worked.

“Basic improvements all around,” Genesis said. “It should work at distances of up to a thousand feet now. The shield is also stronger and the purifier works better so you’ll get more of a boost when you drain creatures to restore your magic. The only new feature is short-range teleportation. It isn’t very efficient yet, so don’t use it too much, but it can move you about fifty feet in any direction.”

“Good to know.” Talon brushed the staff with one of her wings. She'd wear Rune's legacy proudly.

“I need to track Gemstone down after the war is over and give him a staff too,” Genesis said as he worked. “I know Rune would’ve wanted it.”

Talon froze. Cliff Runner, Gem’s real identity, was an Equestrian prince. He could easily get Princess Celestia’s attention. But it was too late to go back to IHQ and tell their spy to get in contact with him. They were about to fly there, though. All she needed was somedragon either brave, loyal, or crazy enough to get captured on purpose in order to pass along a message.

“Genesis,” Talon said, “would you mind riding on Tornado while we fly to the Empire?”

Genesis paused and looked up from a rune on Talon’s left wing.

She cleared her throat. “Ember and the winds already have your runes, anyway, and having a second wyrm around to power up Tornado could make all the difference if the Requiem Guard tried anything.”

Genesis followed her gaze to Tornado. “Of course I’ll help.”

“Good,” Talon glanced at the Hurricanes, “because I’ve got a few other ideas I’d like your thoughts on, but I’ll wait until we’re linked up before I go into them.”

-_-_-_-_-_-

Cliff dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding a diving pegasus, and Blueblood generated a shield to protect him from three more. The Wonderbolts were extremely good shots.

Two pegasi struck Big Mac, but he withstood the hit with barely a flinch.

A shield formed around one of the enemy pegasi and pulled it straight down, pinning it to the ground. Blueblood was getting better at that.

Cliff managed to clip one of the pegasi attackers with a gem, and Eyes took out another one with her energy beam, but the remaining Wonderbolts easily avoided the rock that Big Mac threw. It exploded moments later in an impressive, but unfortunately harmless, display of earth pony magic.

The three remaining pegasi shot straight up, disappearing into the clouds above.

“Cliff,” Eyes sent, “get up there and tell me what they’re planning.” She fired a short burst of energy at the trapped pegasus. Her spell phased through Blueblood’s shield and caught the pegasus in the chest.

Cliff glanced behind him, toward Blueblood and, more importantly, Fluttershy. Celestia was hitting them hard, but Rainbow, Twilight, and Cliff’s grandparents seemed to be holding their ground against her. Blueblood was just behind them, maintaining a shield around the other Element Bearers. Applejack and Pinkie looked like they wanted to join in the fray, but neither of them were nearly far enough along in their training to take on a foe like Celestia.

Beyond them, Zephyr was doing his best to keep Luna occupied. The kumiho was more of a hit-and-run fighter, which didn’t work so well for protecting a stationary target, but Luna also got distracted easily. At the moment, she was punching her way through a small army of illusions, all of which were somehow shooting blasts of energy at her.

Okay, Fluttershy wasn’t in any immediate danger. Cliff turned back to his own fight and launched himself into the air. Dark gray clouds surrounded him for a moment, then he passed through into-

Something large hit Cliff in the side. He was barely able to recognize it as a pegasus as the two of them fell in wild tangle of limbs. Based on the pegasus’s confused shouts, he hadn’t been expecting the impact either.

Cliff quickly stored all of his downward momentum, pulling himself to the top of their impromptu wrestling match. Then he transferred his stored momentum into the pegasus.

The unfortunate pony suddenly accelerated headfirst into the ground. Meanwhile, Cliff transformed Discord’s cloak into a glider and angled himself back toward the clouds above. He put on a burst of speed.

Shining Armor’s voice suddenly filled the area. “Alliance attack on the southern wall! Citizens, get to your shelters. All soldiers, report to your commanding officers right now!”

Cliff dove to the ground, stumbling a bit when he touched down. A quick look to the south confirmed that a large group of dragons had somehow gotten to the southern edge of the Empire undetected, and they were already firing their Shield Cracker.

“Form up around the Element Bearers,” Fire Eyes sent. “Does everyone remember the plan?”

Cliff sent back that he did then ran toward Fluttershy, skimming the crowd around her as he went.

Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie all looked fine. That’s where the good news ended though. Twilight’s armor was covered in magical burns, and the alicorn herself was holding her head like she had a pounding migraine. Rainbow didn’t have any visible injuries, but she was lying on the ground, gasping for breath.

So two of the Element Bearers were at less than peak condition, and about to face down a foe that would need all six of them to be at their best.

Great.

Both of Cliff’s grandparents were looking pretty worn out as well, and Celestia, Luna, and Zephyr weren’t much better.

Just great.

“How’s everyone set for magic?” Eyes asked.

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Cliff sent back. “I’ve got a hundred and seventy anti-aura gems in one of my suit’s dimensional pockets. That will be more than enough to recharge everyone.”

“A hundred and seventy?” Eyes repeated, and sent the impression of a low whistle. “I guess I can’t fault you for being prepared.”

Cliff forced himself to feel more confident than he actually was. “I also rewrote my Shadow-form Rune to draw magic from those gems. It should work against Guard weaponry now, theoretically.” Although he was in no hurry to test that claim.

Celestia teleported away just as Cliff reached the group. Meanwhile, Luna and Zephyr took up positions at opposite sides of the Element Bearers.

Cliff slid to a halt next to Fluttershy then turned to keep an eye on their surroundings. The other combatants were all scrambling to get their wounded to the medical wyrms stationed at the edge of the field. They’d head to the wall as soon as everyone was either patched up or declared unable to fight today. Even the rest of the Everfree Platoon wouldn’t be sticking around. The group protecting the Element Bearers needed to be as mobile as possible.

They also needed to be at their best. Cliff pulled out a dozen or so anti-aura gems and dumped them on the ground in front of him. “If anyone needs these, better get them now.” Then he turned his attention to Fluttershy. “Are you ready for this?”

Her response was cut off when Spirit caught both of them in a hug. “Be careful, you two. I’ll see you when it’s over.”

Cliff returned the hug. “Yeah, you be careful too.”

“Please stay safe,” Fluttershy added.

Spirit broke away and ran to Twilight next, leaving Cliff and Fluttershy almost isolated by the chaos around them.

“I think I’m ready,” Fluttershy said, “but, Cliff …” Fluttershy stepped closer to him and wrapped her wings around him from the side. “Promise me that you won’t do anything dangerous, please?”

“I won’t do anything reckless.” He returned the hug as best he could. “I don’t think it’ll be possible to avoid doing anything dangerous.” He looked at the Alliance's army again. “Keep your eyes open once the battle starts. All of us will be doing everything we can to protect you, but I don’t know if it will be enough to keep you completely safe. Miracle’s counting on both of us getting through this in one piece.”

Fluttershy pressed herself against Cliff’s side, shaking softly. She turned to the army of dragons in the south and took a deep breath. “For Miracle.”

As soon as the Shield Cracker Rune activated, beams of Void Fire and spherical Void Bombs shot from the Alliance’s ranks, but none of them were aimed at the Equestrian defenders. It looked like they were coming right at-

“Look out!” Cliff barely had time to cast a shield around the group before the first beam hit.

Lines of brilliant energy sliced across the practice field, maiming or killing the unprepared soldiers and gouging deep furrows into the ground.

Two shields exploded out from Twilight and Luna respectively to cover the whole field, just in time to intercept the first Void Bomb.

Cliff clenched his eyes shut against the blinding explosions that followed, and focused on maintaining his own shield while he held Fluttershy tight.

Twilight cried out in pain, her voice almost lost over the roar of the blasts.

The noise eventually faded, and Cliff risked glancing up to check on the damage. One of Blueblood’s shields surrounded their little group, but luckily it hadn’t been needed. Luna’s shield had held, in spite of the deep cracks that ran like spiderwebs over its surface. All the nearby barracks had been destroyed, though, including Everfree's. Wounded dragons and ponies littered the inside of the shield, while others crouched beneath shields of their own.

Twilight was on the ground with one hoof was pressed against her horn. She had a grimace that he could see even through her helmet.

Claws of fear sank into Cliff’s heart as he realized that Spirit and Autumn had been outside of Blueblood’s shield, and he couldn’t see them anywhere. He pushed the feeling down and focused on Fluttershy.

She was staring at the destruction with a expression of utter shock, but at least she hadn’t been injured.

“Reactivate your Shadow-form Enchantments,” Luna said quickly. “We must prepare to counterattack!”

“All of you,” Fire Claws, his grandmother, sent, “get ready. Celestia could be back any second.”

“What about all the wounded?” Cliff asked. “Are Spirit and Autumn okay?”

Claws sent back reassurance. “The rest of the Platoon is fine, somehow. They’ll handle the wounded while we do our job.”

That was a load off his chest. Cliff turned his attention back to the Alliance and tried to be ready for anything, but strangely, it look like the Alliance was already retreating. They had pulled away from the Empire’s shield and looked to be heading back toward the Shattered Mountain Caves.

Seconds passed.

Then minutes.

They started hearing reports that a lone wyrm had jumped into the Crystal Empire, but the rest of the Alliance slowly faded into the distance without so much as pausing in their course.

Cliff kept his tail wrapped around Fluttershy while his mind worked furiously.

The Alliance had gone after the Element Bearers specifically. There was no doubt of that. Only dumb luck had stopped one of those beams of Void Fire from hitting one of the Bearers and crippling Equestria’s ability to fight the Requiem Guard. The Requiem Guard itself had either been absent or so well hidden that Celestia hadn’t been able to find them. The Alliance was probably keeping them in reserve until the Element Bearers were removed. Okay, that plan made sense, but it hadn’t worked. Wyverns always had a fallback plan, though. Usually two or three. The lone wyrm was a possible threat, but it wasn’t like the Hurricanes to base a plan around a single dragon. They were more big-picture thinkers.

Cliff growled angrily. Some unknown threat was going to try to kill Fluttershy, he was sure of it. He didn’t know what, where, or how, though, so how under the Stars was he supposed to stop it?

-_-_-_-_-_-

Deep in the earth beneath the Crystal Empire, Providence waited. One day wasn’t so long to wait, not after nearly one thousand years in Tartarus. All he had to do was be patient a little longer, and the Element Bearers would be dead. Then Celestia would have nothing left that could stop him. She would die, and Minos would finally be free from the oppressive rule of ponies.

King Asterion would be so happy when he heard the news. Providence could almost see his old friend fighting to hold back tears as he announced that the war was over. Asterion always was more soft than he was comfortable letting on … and he would never hear of Celestia’s death, because he was already dead.

A memory danced across Providence’s consciousness, weak and fleeting, like a dream. Asterion being laid to rest in the ornate battle armor that had served him so well over the years.

“Thrree hundred sixty threee thoussand, five hundred seeventy-six,” Providence said to himself. That was how many days it had been since the funeral. Asterion was dead, and Minos was gone. He had seen the ruins himself after the Alliance freed them all from Tartarus.

Providence gripped Shattering Justice more tightly in his hands. The war hammer had been forged as a weapon to protect against the pony invaders, but it would serve just as well for revenge. He turned his gaze to the others. That’s all any of them were anymore, weapons for revenge.

Six suits of armor stared back at him, their runes casting just enough light to illuminate the rocky tunnel around them. Six suits, where there should have been seven.

“Ssamhane.” Providence fought down the urge to destroy something. She was letting her blood-thirst control her again, and he couldn’t afford to go after her now. After a brief internal battle, Providence turned back to the blank stone wall in front of him and resumed his vigil. Samhane could take care of herself. His only real worry was that she might find an opportunity to kill Celestia before he could do it himself.

Comments

[GrimmWolfDragon]

Great chapter 50
what a cliffhanger pun totally excluded

[Truthseeker]

7744676 Nowhere is it explicitly stated that the Drakes CAN'T break their work. How would that even work? A genetic geas? I doubt that. It just seems that they are unwilling to break their work. Like a type of twisted honor, similar to what ancient Samurai had. They follow every order even if it was morally reprehensible because they valued their so-called 'honor' over the lives of others, their own morals, and anything good or just. That is idiotic beyond words. There is no excuse for it. None.

In Pathfinder, we refer to that as Lawful Stupid.

[Toa Coy]

wow this is going around like a rollercoaster

[The Great Derpsby]

King Asterion would be so happy when he heard the news. Providence could almost see his old friend fighting to hold back tears as he announced that the war was over.

Something tells me he actually did cry when you last saw him.

He was crying for you. And for himself. For everything the two of you lost in the process of turning you into... this.

[Jarimor]

fak, this wont end well.