Picking Up the Pieces

by Evilhumour

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Vix-Lei, Steady Lance, Clear Back, Page Turner

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Vix-Lei

Vix-Lei hummed contentedly to herself as she walked down the streets. She hadn't quite been lying when she told the others she had some personal mission; she just hadn't said that it was more to get herself some fresh air and a little time to herself. Sure, her friends were great, but a girl needed a little space occasionally.

And she needed to stretch her legs and arms more with how small things were in Canterlot. Though they did tend to make things a bit bigger, she was still a very tall girl.

Doing her best to ignore the guards who weren't as good at hiding their presence as they thought, she continued her walk, glancing around from time to time and catching looks from a couple of other passers-by, some of whom were still surprised at the sight of a minotaur out for a casual stroll. Others recognized her specifically for what she'd done, both by herself and as part of a group action, if their whispers were anything to go by.

"Ah, there you are," a voice said, appearing by her side. Turning to look, she saw Standing Wall walking alongside her, though what really threw Vix-Lei off was that she had just walked out of a sheer wall. "I had heard that you were out and about and I decided to see what you were up to."

"How did you do that?" Vix-Lei asked, staring at the pony.

"Magic," Standing replied with a bit of a smirk. "Earth pony magic is capable of more than just boosting physical strength and encouraging plant growth; I've personally been coming up with all kinds of new uses for it for years."

"That's impressive," Vix-Lei said cautiously, staring at the mare. "So you can phase through rocks and stuff?"

"Exactly," Standing Wall said, sounding pleased. "So, what brings you out this way?"

"Just felt the need to get out, stretch my legs, catch some fresh air," Vix-Lei said. "No particular place to go." She shrugged. "Besides, everytaur else had places to be today, and I didn't want to just sit around by myself."

"Ah." Standing Wall nodded. "I can certainly understand that. My fellow captains have all managed to secure themselves with interesting tasks today."

"Yeah, we'd gotten the message that Captain Sun wanted to see Night and Wind, and since Xvital's at class, I figure the Captain-General's sitting on that like she said she wanted to do?" At Standing Wall's nod, Vix-Lei continued. "And I can guess Captain Gaze is at the library with Page, since that's where his office is now. Don't know for sure about the rest."

"Captain Lulamoon would also be at the library, working with Rex," Standing Wall said. "As for Captain Surprise, she has her own work to do."

Vix-Lei nodded. "So, aside from keeping an eye on me, what brings you out here?" she asked. "Like I said, I'm just out for a walk."

"Out for a walk for myself," Standing Wall said, shrugging her shoulder with a grin on her face. "And I don't need to be around you to keep an eye on you."

"Right..." Vix-Lei said, blinking at the mare.

"Just some of the very finer points of Earth Pony magic," Standing Wall said. "With proper training, one can sense and detect the vibrations in the earth."

Vix-Lei nodded. "I think you and Rex might want to talk about that kind of stuff," she said. "He mentioned once that he could identify sometaur by the sound of their footstep."

"Not completely surprised, considering he is a Diamond Dog; they are very close to the earth itself and he is one of the most intelligent people I have ever seen."

"No kidding," Vix-Lei agreed. "I made the mistake of misunderestimating him once just 'cause he was a Diamond Dog; never again."

"When did you two meet, before that first fight with Sharp Point anyway?" Standing Wall asked.

"Ran into him when he was moving some boxes for his stall at the Honor Festival," Vix-Lei said. "I wound up offering to carry a couple of them for him, but then I made him mad by acting like he was an idiot just because of his species. Looking back, I can't say as I blame him." She shook her head. "One of the things I had to learn, to watch my tongue there and not be so offensive."

"Mm." Standing Wall nodded. "A good lesson to learn."

The two continued on, chatting casually as they went, and Vix-Lei smiled as she relaxed.

"You know, with your knowledge of Earth magic and stuff like that, you probably would have liked Pinkie's sister," she mused. "She was big into rock science, going to college and getting her degree in it. She even had a pet rock, his name was Boulder."

Standing Wall smiled. "You're probably right," she said. "What was her name?"

"Maud Pie," Vix-Lei said. "She was the second of four; the others were their older sister Limestone Pie, and Pinkie's younger twin Marble Pie. They were both out of town though."

"Huh, Maud Pie you said?" Standing Wall blinked. "There is some mention of her in some of the oldest ancient books, talking about the possibility of rocks having a connection with each other, which was the foundation of my magic development."

"Really?" Vix-Lei looked impressed. "Neat. Was there anything else on her?"

"Not that I can recall," Standing Wall said. "It was a very old book about rocks from an Earth Pony; there weren't many reprints made."

"Well, if you remember or find anything more, make sure to tell me," Vix-Lei said. "I've been wanting to find out more about Pinkie's family on this side since I met her." She grinned. "Maud was a real hoot, you know. She and Pinkie were really close; they even went to the Fall Formal together."

"Really?" Standing Wall gave her a curious look.

"Yeah," Vix-Lei said. "They were really good. Of course, they weren't the only sibling pair out there - Rainbow Dash gave Scoots a ride around on her back after she got wings during the whole rainbow blast thing, and we saw Applejack and her brother dancing together." At Standing's look, she shrugged. "It was a high school dance, they were just kids being kids."

Standing nodded. "It sounds like you enjoyed yourself there," she said.

"Yeah, we did," Vix-Lei agreed. "No offense intended, but it was nice knowing we didn't have to keep looking around to be sure we didn't have the Guard on our tails while we were there." She then frowned and blinked at her. "Hey, how come you didn't track us while we were still running from you in Canterlot?"

"I didn't have a trace to follow your magic in my city," Standing Wall said. "The first time any of us got close enough to even try to get a trace was right before you got hold of that skimmer; after that, Captain Gaze would have had the next best chance when he came face to face with miss Turner, but for his own reasons he opted not to do so, and at any rate he had his own means of tracking you."

Vix-Lei nodded. "That makes sense."

"Anyway." Standing Wall regarded her. "Did you learn anything else about miss Pie's other sisters?"

"Not much," Vix-Lei said. "From what they said, Limestone was a grouch a lot of the time, and she wanted to run her own mining company some day. And Marble... well, she was really shy and liked the quiet, but that's about all. Pinkie said she and their parents was visiting their cousins in Rockville that week." She paused. "Oh! Our Pinkie, she said her parents' family farm was in a place called Rockville too."

"Hmm." Standing Wall nodded. "Good to know. It might help us locate Ponyville."

"We could just show you the way to the one place we know of, and figure it out from there," Vix-Lei offered. "I'm sure we could figure out the path again. Plus Captain Gaze found us in it, he should remember the way he took to get to where we were then." She tilted her head. "I get the impression Rockville was somewhere else though."

"Well, it's still a good start." Standing Wall smiled. "I do appreciate the help, Vix-Lei."

"No problem," Vix-Lei told her. She looked up. "Wish I could have met this side's Maud and Pinkie's other sisters. They lived elsewhere most of the time, but they still meant the world to her, and I'm sure they'd have been as fun as Maud was over there."

Standing Wall smiled and nodded. "I don't doubt that for a minute," she said.

With that, the pair set on their way again, Vix-Lei feeling more relaxed than she'd expected.

Steady Lance

When the door to his captain's office had shut and he could tell the security system had been activated, Lieutenant Steady Lance turned around and left the building.

This was something he'd arranged with his captain in advance, of course. It was just good timing that it was happening now.

A short while later, he arrived at the Guardhouse of the West, where his own scheduled meeting was due to take place. Entering the building, he identified himself to the Guard on duty, and was immediately directed to his destination.

A quick knock and an equally quick "Come in" later, he was sitting in Lieutenant Dazzling Aura's office.

"Lance," she said by way of greetings, barely raising her head from the paperwork she was doing. "How are you this morning?"

"Fairly well, I'd say," Steady Lance replied. "You?"

"The same." She looked up, for real this time. "Still getting some reports from the Crystal Dominance. The rebels have been pretty quiet lately, and the Guards out there are very concerned." She frowned. "Also, there was one individual who was seen around that they're suspicious of. A recent arrival. He seemed harmless enough, but there was just something a little off about him."

Steady Lance nodded, then leaned in a little closer. "Must be awkward, you being assigned to this in particular," he said.

Dazzling Aura snorted. "What, because I came from there?" The highest-ranking Crystal Unicorn in all the Guard branches gestured to her shimmering coat. "I was just a foal when I left the Crystal Dominance and came to Canterlot, Lance. I haven't been back there since. That place has no hold over me."

"Right." Steady Lance nodded. "So, switching subjects," he said. "What's your take on all this business with the Six?"

Dazzling Aura shrugged. "They're obviously important," she said. "I haven't really met any of them, so I can't say personally. But it's obvious that our captains are very invested in their safety and the information they could hold. Captain Wall mentioned she was hoping to run into one of them while she was out."

"And my captain's talking with two of them right now," Steady Lance replied. "The griffon, and the nox pony."

Dazzling Aura nodded. "Makes sense," she said. Then she opened a drawer of her desk, and pulled out some folders, hoofing them over. "By the way, here's the files you were supposed to pick up today."

Steady Lance accepted them, double-checking the contents, and then tucked them into his panniers. "Thanks, Dazzler."

The other unicorn smiled at her friend and fellow lieutenant. "No problem, Lance."

Clear Back

He let out a sigh as he stared up at the massive mountain city. It had taken longer than he had liked to reach it, but he was finally at Canterlot.

The city had changed vastly from what his ancestors had known, of course. Even without the destruction that Chrysalis had caused, one could not expect a city to go that long without some amount of change. But it was in many ways still just as awe-inspiring as the stories of old Canterlot described that city.

Now was the time to head towards the summit and speak with these Captains so they could warn the Bearers. Attempting to find them directly would only draw attention to himself, what with the city still being on alert, and that was the last thing he wanted.

Not to mention that he had no idea where to start looking for them. The Captains, at least, would be easier to find.

Taking a deep breath, Clear Back headed for the gate to the city, so he could get inside and continue his mission.

Page Turner

Page shook her mane out as she entered their hotel suite. It had been a productive day, but still a tiring one, and she was ready to relax for the evening.

She could see most of her friends had arrived ahead of her and were all seated, and as she joined them and sat down herself, Rex emerged from the kitchen to join them.

"Dinner will be arriving shortly," he said. "So, how are all of you?"

"Doing good," Vix-Lei said as she stretched. "Went out and stretched my legs, had a nice chat with Captain Standing Wall. You?"

"Captain Lulamoon and her lieutenant stopped by where I was working," Rex replied. "We are doing very well on our work with creating trackers to help the griffons who are still seeking their families."

Wind smiled at that. "Good to hear," he said. "Night and I spent most of the day with Captain Sun, and once I mostly got over my nervousness at being around him, it was pretty good. He's a nice guy, really. But we did figure out some worrying things - like how there must have been some entity meddling in Night's life at some point."

Page looked horrified. "What-"

"We don't know much more than that," Night said. "Whatever it was, or what exactly it did, we are not certain. But we are keeping an eye out for any sign of further action."

His expression seemed to be begging for somepony to change the subject, and Page wasn't sure whether to be glad or not when Xvital did.

"I got to do a little one-on-one learning from the Captain-General herself," she said. "She's helping me with my magic now, really worked well."

Page smiled. "That's good," she said. "I guess I'm the only one of us who didn't spend much, if any, personal time with any of the Captains - Captain Gaze was around today, but that was just all business. He still is the spymaster of Equestria and he has a lot of work to go through; especially for the Crystal Dominance. He is thinking of creating a hivemind for the Guards there, like I did for us, as a more secure means of communication but that would require my direct help."

"And I am guessing having you travel to a hostile area is out of the question?" Wind asked.

Page nodded her head. "All of the Sages rejected the idea before I could even weigh in. As it is easier to keep us all safe in one place, Captain Gaze would need to convince the Captain-General that it would be worth it and create a cover story for me going there."

"A lot of no gos there, right?" Vix-Lei said with a shrug.

"Exactly," Page said.

"Speaking of the Captains and the Crystal Dominance," Rex said. "Do you think you could write down as much of the inventory list for the vault there as you can remember? Captain Lulamoon expressed considerable interest in the contents thereof, given her own specialty."

"Oh that will be easy," Page smiled at him as she levitated a notepad and began to write down the inventory list. "Something that my type of changelings can do is review parts of their memory if we store it away prior. I did copy the list as to make it easier to cross reference as we examined all the stuff Xvital."

"So that's why you were able to catalogue the books so well; you literally memorized them," Night said with her puffing out her cheeks as their friends began to snicker.

"Nothing wrong with that," Wind said to Page. "I bet a lot of your fellows wish they could do the same."

Page nodded, blushing a little. "It would explain one of the reasons why some of them were jealous of me," she said. "Though some of them were changelings; they were the ones who helped hide me during my younger years."

Xvital nodded. "Yeah, it would explain some of that," she said. "But going back to what we were talking about before, I wonder if Captain Lulamoon could disenchant that frying pan we found. Heck, I'm surprised the Order didn't try to disenchant it themselves sooner; the protective spells you described made it too dangerous to keep around if you ask me." At Page's curious glance, she added, "What? Sometimes odd things just stick with you for a really long time, even if you'd rather forget them."

Page smiled. "I know," she said. "And they might have but found it too dangerous to actually try it."

"What's this thing you're talking about?" Vix-Lei asked.

"One of the artifacts in the vault was an enchanted frying pan," Page said. "The creator had tried to create an enchanted sword, but he not only hit the wrong object with his spell, the enchantment went completely wrong in the process. It has an 'only the rightful owner can use it' clause built into the spell weave, which I understand was intended, but if it's used to hit somepony by that rightful owner, it transforms them into something non-living. And it had the same fatal effect on anyone who tried to hold it who wasn't the rightful owner."

"Eesh." Vix-Lei nodded. "No wonder they kept it under lock and key."

"That reminds of an odd trinket I found," Rex said, turning to face her. "It was hidden in a wall and shaped like a giant crystal heart, though clearly not the real one... Is something amiss?"

"There was no crystal heart shaped object on the list, Rex, or anything hidden in a wall," Page said with her and Rex's eyes going wide at the implication and most of her friends going very still.

"Someone want to explain?" Xvital asked.

Page looked at her. "There's a legend," she said. "About a totem object associated with the founding of the old Crystal Empire. It's said that it could amplify emotional magic many times over, and with sufficient energy, it not only created the original city and transformed the ponies around into the first Crystal Ponies, it protected them from the effects of the frozen wastes outside. The Crystal Heart was also able to defend against evil magic, and during the Crystal World War, many lost their lives seeking it in the hopes they could use it as a weapon against Sombra; it was believed he'd had it locked away somewhere for that very reason."

"Whoah..." Vix-Lei muttered.

Rex nodded, still clearly stunned. "If that was indeed the true Crystal Heart, it must have been hidden away long before," he said. "When I found it, I thought it was just a copy some child had made, so I put it back where it had been."

Page flicked an ear as she passed the information to Gaze; he would likely pass it on to the Captain-General so they could decide on what to do with it. "If the Crystal Ponies find out about this... my tribe has many legends about them," she said. "They were always meant to be ruled by a God or Goddess of Love, and it's said that Mi Amore Cadenza, whose Cutie Mark bore their Crystal Heart as part of its design, was supposed to be their next ruler; Sombra was an usurper who overthrew the Princess before her, and according to my Sages, if Mi Amore Cadenza had lived long enough, she and her consort would have been able to destroy him much sooner and take the throne together as its rightful heirs." Her lip curled. "Unfortunately, my ancestor and the Nightmare's actions prevented that from happening. Just one more reason for the Nightmare to be punished for their crimes..."

"Hopefully that can be remedied soon," Wind said. "Harmony's Elements found their new bearers eventually, maybe this Princess's Love power is due to get a new Bearer too."

"It makes sense," Vix-Lei said. "It took a thousand years for Harmony to come back; maybe it will be like that again."

"One can only hope," Night said, finally speaking up again. "If that is true for her, then it can be true for the princess-goddesses too." He tilted his head. "I wonder what the reaction would have been if their human selves ever came over here?"

"I think their worshippers would have thrown a celebratory riot bigger than what happened when the Hatcheries closed down," Wind told him. "And I don't think the King would be too happy."

"He might be, actually," Page said. "Heavy is the head that wears the crown." She sighed. "And believe me, I know the feeling entirely."

Xvital nodded. "I can sympathize with you," she said. "I haven't even been crowned and I'm already dreading it. But the only other one eligible for ruling is my future mother-in-law, and nobody wants her back on the throne. Or at least I don't." She shuddered. "Chantico is very... controlling, shall we say, and she's a big part of why I developed my knee-jerk bad reaction to nobles." She looked apologetically towards Night, who smiled and nodded understandingly.

"It's in the past now, and I've forgiven her for how she was reacting to me since I found out exactly why it was happening," he said, which prompted smiles from all around.

Conversation was then interrupted for a few minutes as dinner arrived, but once they were all settled again and happily eating, Wind ventured a question.

"Say, Xvital, I've been wondering about something."

"Oh?" Xvital asked.

Wind nodded. "Well, you're an ahuizotl, but your language is named after a sub-group of donkeys. Why is that?"

Xvital sat back. "Well, that's kind of a long story. See, back in the early days of my people, we didn't have a special name for our language. But eventually, a group of donkeys moved into our territory, and they spoke something similar. After a while, the local lingo got mixed with their language, and both groups started calling the new version Burroñeso. Burro, of course, is our word for their people, and ñeso... I think it's their word for 'the language of', but we don't know for sure anymore." She shrugged. "So that's where it comes from."

Wind nodded. "That makes sense." Then he looked at her again. "And speaking of, another thing I've been wondering about - is there a particular reason Tizoc is called Prince-King instead of just Prince or King?"

"Old tradition," Xvital said. "The heir to the throne is called Prince while the sitting King still rules. Their title changes to Prince-King once they take the throne, and then to King once they're married. If they marry first, they stay a Prince and then go straight to being called the King once they're crowned."

"Right." Wind nodded, satisfied.

"Have there ever been any ruling Queens?" Rex inquired.

"Only if their husband dies first, like Tizy's father did," Xvital said. "And then they're just a regent until the heir comes of age, like Chantico was." She shrugged. "I don't know how the tradition got started, just that it's always been only male heirs who were in line for the throne. Sometimes it goes to a member of a younger offshoot branch if the main line doesn't have a male heir, but they have to be male."

"Almost the same for us," Page said. "There's always been a Queen; any changeling can produce offspring, but one is always more... advanced, I guess you'd say, than the rest, to be physically larger and more powerful in some ways, and she rules the hive. It's traditionally the offspring of the existing Queen, but sometimes if she dies or is at least fatally injured without an heir or is overthrown, another changeling can mature into a new Queen in her place. My line..." She sighed. "Since Chrysalis's death, every Queen has had a child and waited until they could mature enough to take their own place as a Queen. And as soon as the parent was certain the hive would be safely connected to the new Queen, they... ended their own lives." She looked down. "Including my own birth mother," she said quietly. "Between all their own guilt and the guilt the rest of our people felt over what she did, it was too much for them to want to go on living. Biological imperatives kept us going as a species, but that was about it."

She looked up, her eyes firm. "But now that we know the truth about why Chrysalis acted as she did, and are adapting to living our lives fully rather than as fourth-class citizens, that's never going to happen again," she said. "Not if I can help it."

"And what about the future Queen?" Vix-Lei asked. "I mean, will your kids become the new queen or do they stay a princess or..."

Page blushed. "The next generation, when they're born," she said, "Will be brought up the right way. I will teach them everything they need to know in the event that they need to take my place someday, and... well, if they start maturing on their own, they may well end up starting their own hive, separate from but allied with ours. It's happened before in the distant past, if our numbers grew enough."

She looked at Night, who was blushing. "But my husband will also have his own part in raising them," she said, smiling, and there was a chorus of "D'aww..."s from the rest of the group.

"And if you ever need a bunch of honorary aunts and uncles for them, you know where to find us," Vix-Lei said with a grin. She turned to Xvital. "Same for yours and your hubby's kids too."

Xvital grinned back. "I'll hold you to that," she said. "Speaking of; there is an old friend of mine who kinda might have dibs on my maid of honour; she was to be mine during our first wedding. She's Itotia, Tizy's former official betrothed wife. She actually saw how much we were connecting and she stepped down when he proposed to me without any complaint." Xvital chuckled and blushed. "She was the first to actually congratulate me."

Page smiled at that. "Well, if she agrees, then that's fine by me," she said.

Vix-Lei nodded. "Me too," she said. "Must have been a really nice girl to do that."

Xvital nodded back. "She was," she said. "Getting back in touch with her is one of the things I need to do in the next couple of weeks."

Things were quiet for the next while as they concentrated on their food, but finally, empty plates were set aside.

"Now, where were we-" Vix-Lei was just saying when there came a sudden rapping on the door.

Frowning, Page was about to go answer it, when Wind rose and beat her to it. "Can we help you?" he asked the guard outside.

"A situation's come up, and Captain-General Step wants to see you all," the guard replied.

The six traded looks, and instantly rose.

"What's going on?" Xvital asked.

The guard shrugged. "I wasn't told," he said. "Just that the Captain-General needs all of you and all of the other Captains at her office as soon as possible."

Page felt a tremble of foreboding, and nodded. "Right," she said. "Everyone, grab your gear, just in case."

As the others nodded and did as she said, Page sent out a message through the hivemind. Captain Gaze, what's going on? We just had a guard show up saying the Captain-General needed us in her office.

A pony arrived in Canterlot today, Gaze replied back, cutting straight to the point. He somehow made it all the way to the top of the city and into the headquarters for the Royal Guards before we realized who he was. Apparently he was seen in the Crystal Dominance recently, and according to our Guards there, was acting suspiciously.

And what's he doing now? Page asked.

Sitting in a conference room, under guard, Gaze said. When he was caught, he said he was there because he had an important message for the Bearers of Harmony. He paused. And he claimed it was from Princess Celestia herself.

Page's breath caught in her chest, and she broke out into a startled coughing fit. When she'd managed to calm herself, she sent back, We'll be there as soon as possible.

Closing the connection, she looked up to see her friends, all looking worried at her reaction.

"What's happened?" Night asked.

"Captain Gaze filled me in, and you'll understand when we get there," Page said. "We need to go, now."

Five heads nodded, and then, following after their escorts, they headed out.

---

The trip took a lot less time than they'd expected, as the Captain-General had sent a set of airskimmers to pick them up, having felt that the nature of their mission required fast transport back to the Royal Guards' headquarters. When they arrived, they marched into the building, their escorts leading them to the upper floor where the six Captains were waiting.

Captain-General Gentle Step looked very grim when she came into view, and Page took the lead. "Where is he?" she asked.

"This way," Step replied. "I shouldn't have to tell you, this is a very serious matter. He is aware of secrets that should not be accessible for any civilian."

All six nodded, and followed after the Captains as they were led to the room where their visitor was waiting.

When they arrived, they each took a seat, and then Page studied the pony they'd come to see. He was small, comparatively speaking, and wore a pair of shaded glasses to protect his eyes. His coat was a pale orange with his mane being a similarly pale teal, though it seemed to be in the process of brightening up. And he looked very excited to see all of them.

"Finally," he said with relief pouring off of him. "You're all here. Sweet Celestia's mane, it's good to finally see you."

Xvital blinked. "Um, okay," she said. "You are?"

"My name is Clear Back," the pony said. "I represent the Keepers - a special faction of the Questioning Order."

"And what is the purpose of these Keepers?" Gentle Step asked, narrowing her famous gaze that made most wilt.

Clear Back looked uncertain, so Page spoke up. "Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of the Captains," she said.

Clear Back nodded. "Over a thousand years ago," he said, "Princess Celestia entrusted our ancestors with a special task. We were to retrieve a stone statue from what had been the gardens of Canterlot Castle before its destruction and spirit it away, keep it hidden and under strict guard. For all these years, we have stayed true to our task. But now..." He shivered. "I came to warn you, because the statue is cracking, a sure sign that he is once more awakening. If he breaks loose, you're our only hope of stopping him again."

"Who?" Xvital asked.

"Harmony's Opposite, and greatest enemy," Clear Back said. "The Champion of Chaos, and the Spirit of Disharmony."

He was about to continue speaking, when Page felt a shiver run down her spine, and then...

There was a low, rumbling laughter.

"I don't like the sound of this," Vix-Lei muttered, grabbing her hammers.

"Nor do I," Gentle Step said, her horn blazing as she rose to her hooves.

One by one, the Captains and Bearers rose, each preparing for battle, and then Clear Back's expression shifted to pure panic.

"He's here!" he shouted.

And then there was a swirl of motion around his back, and he cried out in horror as a strange energy lifted off of him, spinning around in a whirlwind of movement before it took solid form.

The creature standing before them was unlike anything Page had ever seen. At its core, it resembled a serpentine dragon, but its body was covered in eagle feathers and it had the head of a goat, one goat horn, one stag horn, one fang, the tongue of a snake, the mane of a pony, one eagle talon, one lion paw, one bat wing, one bird wing, one green dragon leg, one pony leg, and a red dragon tail.

"Hello, Harmony," the creature said with a wicked grin. "I'm back."

Comments

[Mr cold ghost]

Another chapter! Thanks for making my night!

[Asolem2]

Taking a deep breath, Clear Back headed for the gate to the city, so he could get inside and continue his mission.

Guess we're getting closer to the start of the madness

"That reminds of an odd trinket I found," Rex said, turning to face her. "It was hidden in a wall and shaped like a giant crystal heart, though clearly not the real one... Is something amiss?"

Just that it probably was the real one

A pony arrived in Canterlot today, Gaze replied back, cutting straight to the point. He somehow made it all the way to the top of the city and into the headquarters for the Royal Guards before we realized who he was. Apparently he was seen in the Crystal Dominance recently, and according to our Guards there, was acting suspiciously.

Huh, Clear Back is pretty good... wait, he's too good

And then there was a swirl of motion around his back, and he cried out in horror as a strange energy lifted off of him, spinning around in a whirlwind of movement before it took solid form.

Well that explains that

"Hello, Harmony," the creature said with a wicked grin. "I'm back."

...That's it? Where's the flair, the energy, the pizzazz... come on Dizzy you can do better than this

Also, isn't it wonderful how our dear Captains saw fit to make the same mistake that Celestia did a thousand years ago and separate the Bearers from their Elements

[AnoneMouseJr]

10849850

Also, isn't it wonderful how our dear Captains saw fit to make the same mistake that Celestia did a thousand years ago and separate the Bearers from their Elements

Not the Captains' doing; chapter 18 mentions that the Elements are being stored in the Cuanmiztl Kingdom's embassy for their protection, with the approval of the six Bearers.

Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.

[Asolem2]

10850964
Oh right, completely forgot about that ........ isn't it funny how almost everyone always makes the mistake separating the Elements from their Bearers