Order-naries: Storm-chased

by CTVulpin

9. Party Central Blowout

Despite the clear skies, a dull grayness seemed to pervade the streets of Canterlot. The myriad ponies locked up in chains and cages throughout the city had mostly given up hope and very few even bothered to cry about it. The Storm Soldiers were eerily silent themselves and patrolled the streets simply from a lack of anything else to do without orders from their King or Commander Tempest Shadow to raid for magic items or treasure. On one particular street, however, some caged ponies found the energy to whisper to one another after the satyr guarding them was out of earshot.

“I wonder how those mares are doing. The earth pony seemed confident they could get rid of these creatures, but it’s been a while since they left with that showmare.”

“Those mares are Gale and Trixie and… I don’t know who the pegasus was, but the other two have each saved the city from disaster a couple of times at least.”

“Yeah, when they had the Elements of Harmony or a bunch of tame Changelings working with them. If it’s still just those three… Maybe we should have joined them when Gale asked.”

A crackling sound like a PA system being turned on suddenly echoed through the streets, stilling what little activity there was. “Attention all loyal soldiers of the great Storm King!” an amplified voice said. “Let it be known that the last of the ponies in the city have been captured. Good work, everyone. Now, to celebrate a job well done and kill some time until our leaders return, some of the recent captures have been persuaded to put on a little show for all of us. Every satyr in Canterlot is to report to the castle courtyard immediately. That includes you guys up in the zeppelins; get down here and let off some steam.”

As the echoes of the announcement faded, the gossiping ponies exchanged crestfallen looks. “The last ponies? That can only mean...”

---

Storm soldiers crowded into the courtyard where the Friendship Festival stage still stood, chatting with one another about the unexpected but not unwelcome celebratory downtime. None of them could recall being allowed any significant breaks in the King’s campaign to the plunder the world of its riches and magic, especially in the time since Tempest Shadow had talked her way into such a high position. Neither the King nor Tempest were around right now, though, so there was probably no harm in enjoying a little performance put on by some captives. Just so long as it was all over before either of the aforementioned leaders returned, of course.

Four soldiers stood on the stage keeping an eye on four ponies who stood in chains in the center: three young mares representing each pony race and one more mature unicorn wearing a pointed purple hat with stars all over it. Once the audience was settled, one of the guards unchained the hat-wearing unicorn and gave her a shove toward the front of the stage.

“All right, all right,” Trixie grumbled, dusting off the spot on her cape the soldier had touched, “no need to be rough. Ahem.” She faced the audience, put on an unconvincingly large smile and said, “Welcome… one and all! It is time to bear witness to the splendor, the dazzlingness, and the wonder that is the Great and Powerful Trrrixie!” She reared up as puffs of smoke erupted around her, revealing tables covered with an array of props. “First,” Trixie said, grabbing a large metal ring with a long tube of cloth draped from it, “Trixie requires a volunteer from the audience.” She scanned the unresponsive crowd for a few moments, and then pointed to a satyr near the middle of the front row. “You, my fine goat-thing,” Trixie declared, “you seem like a brave individual. Join Trixie at center stage, please.”

The singled-out soldier was hesitant, but with some cajoling and shoving from his neighbors he stepped up and accepted Trixie’s invitation. As the satyr got up onto the stage, Trixie set the ring down carefully so that the cloth folded itself neatly on the ground. “Stand here, please,” Trixie said, guiding the satyr into the ring, “and hold still until Trixie says so. You may feel a slight tingle.”

With her victim in place and looking adequately nervous, Trixie levitated the ring until the satyr was completely hidden from view by the fabric. “Trixie shall now attempt one of the most difficult kinds of magic known to pony-kind: transformation. Gaze in wonder as… one moment.” Trixie dropped the curtain, revealing that the satyr’s fur had somehow turned pink. “Trixie should probably say what transformations she’s going to do first, huh?” She raised the curtain around the satyr again. Nothing drastic, I assure you,” she said, “just a couple color changes, maybe a new set of horns...” She dropped the curtain, revealing an impressive rack of antlers on the satyr’s head. There was some applause from the audience.

Lifting the curtain once more, Trixie took a bow. “Thank you,” she said, walking a full circle around the curtain, “and now, for the most impressive feat of all. As you see, there is nothing behind or around the magic curtain and my own magic is focused entirely on keeping the curtain up. Yet, before your very eyes, my brave volunteer shall disappear!” With a grand flourish, she released the curtain and let it drop to the stage. The satyr soldier was gone, but the space inside the ring was not empty. Instead, there stood a brown earth pony wearing a saddle with a small metal cannon strapped to one side and balanced by a metal box on the other, and with a storm soldier helmet perched on top of her head.

“Showtime!” Gale shouted, before gripping the gel launcher’s trigger mechanism in her mouth and firing a sticky white gel at the closest satyr. With simultaneous flashes of green fire, the four satyr guards on the stage transformed into Changelings. Pharynx immediately launched himself into the midst of thesoldiers and transformed again into a giant insect monster, flailing scything claws and clubbing legs about with wild abandon, while Thorax, Chard, and Kale fell in to guard Gale and Trixie’s flanks. Emerging from hidden positions outside the courtyard, dozens of squads of the Royal Guard poured in to surround the storm soldiers and divide their attention away from Pharynx. One platoon held back until the battle was engaged, and then broke off to head for the castle.

Gale walked to the back of the stage where the Cutie Mark Crusaders were already shrugging off their unsecured chains and tossed them a ring of keys. “Ok girls,” Gale said, “go rally the masses. Chard will help you get to the streets.”

“Yes ma’am,” Scootaloo said with a salute as Sweetie Bell took charge of the keys.

Gale then turned to the Changelings and Trixie. “Thorax, go with the platoon heading for the Princesses and keep me updated on their status,” she instructed, “Chard, I want you on overwatch once the Crusaders are out of here. Kale, stick by me to relay information. Trixie-”

“Trixie knows her part,” the unicorn said with an impatient wave. She opened the trapdoor Gale had used to swap places with the luckless satyr “volunteer” and started levitating out a wide array of fireworks and setting them up across the stage.

“Good,” Gale said. She walked up to the edge of the stage, surveyed the mayhem of two armies and one giant bug monster clashing, and then raised her view to the airships parked on the far side of the courtyard. “This is going to be fun,” she deadpanned. “Ready, Kale?” she asked. The Changeling princess simply nodded and readied her horn with magic. “Here we go then,” Gale said. She and Kale leaped off the stage and immediately ducked and covered their ears as the first wave of Trixie’s pyrotechnics arced into the air and came down to explode just above the soldiers who were preparing to charge the stage, raining hot embers onto their heads as the concussive force of the explosions knocked several of them down. Gale and Kale pushed through the stunned and singed soldiers and from there started to fight their way toward Pharynx’s position.

When the storm soldiers had answered the summons to the courtyard, many had left their weapons behind, but many had not and even those that were unarmed still had their magic-resistant armor on and possessed enough reach and muscle mass to give the Royal Guard’s spearponies an even fight. The satyrs with spears of their own were trying to congregate on Pharynx, but with the confusion caused by the sudden ambush and prolonged by Trixie launching fireworks at random spots in the melee, their ability to coordinate with their buddies was still limited. By sheer determination and a liberal application of hoof strikes, Changeling goo, and point-blank sticky gel shots to the face, Gale and Kale reached Pharynx’s side and helped the oversized bug monster clear some breathing room around the three of them. “Make for the zeppelins!” Gale ordered while the storm soldiers were still reeling. Pharynx nodded, changed into a large Yak, and charged toward the airships, bowling satyrs aside while Gale and Kale guarded his flank.

Seeing the trio bulling a path through the middle of their formation in the direction of the zeppelins, the satyrs nearest the zeppelins broke away from the fighting and ran to reach them first. As they neared the gangway of the middle ship, however, a turquoise pegasus swooped out of the sky and landed in front of them, teeth bared in a feral grin. “Go on, take another step,” Looping Lines dared the soldiers, who had paused momentarily. The satyrs looked at one another in bemusement, and then the one leading the charge snorted and took a step toward Loopy.

Loopy’s eyes glinted and then screwed shut as she hunched her shoulders. Her flesh slowly rippled from the crown of her head down toward her tail, changing her smooth coat into coarse, bristling fur. With a sickening series of cracks and pops, her rear hooves split and shifted into five-toed paws with black claws, and her front hooves followed suit a second later by turning into sharp-clawed hands. A second set of ripples passed through Loopy’s body starting from her extremities as her muscles and bones shifted into a bulkier, lupine profile, and her wings migrated up to her shoulder blades. Finally, her muzzle grew longer and more pointed as her teeth became fangs, and she reared up with her arms spread wide as she let out a piercing howl.

The storm soldiers hesitated, and some tried to back away, but Loopy didn’t give them a chance to fully process her transformation. Pouncing forward, she grabbed one satyr by the neck with one hand while cutting deep scratches in another’s breastplate with the other. As she landed, she threw her captive at the soldiers right in front of her, then caught an incoming fist and pivoted to throw its owner to the ground with his own momentum. Two satyrs rushed her from either side, but she leaped straight up out of their way, flapping her wings once to extend her airtime until the satyrs collided, and then crashed down onto their heads. “Ha!” she crowed, posing triumphic on top of their senseless forms, “Can’t touch this!”

“Having fun, Loopy?” Gale asked as she, Kale, and Pharynx burst through the last of the satyrs in their way.

“I’m a wifwolf with wings,” Loopy replied, joining the trio as they made for the gangplank. “I haven’t had this much fun in years.”

“That’s good,” Gale said, trotting to the top of gangplank and turning around to survey the battlefield. “Now, how about finding-” She stopped herself short as Blueblood and four Royal Guards broke through a clump of satyrs and galloped toward the airship. “Wow, you actually made it on your own,” Gale said.

Blueblood snorted indignantly and tossed a stray lock of hair out of his eyes as he approached. “Contrary to your opinion,” he said, “I am not wholly incompetent in a base brawl such as this. Shall we get airborne?”

Gale nodded. “I’ll go find the engines,” she began.

Blueblood shook his head and pushed past her to enter the zeppelin’s interior, two of the Guards in his wake. “I will get the engines running,” he said. “I know how to operate every system on my personal airship, and I doubt this craft will be too different. You are the commander in this farce, so you should get yourself up top where you can command properly.”

“Ok,” Gale said with a sigh, “that works.” She looked around again and groaned as she saw that some satyrs had gained the gangplanks of the other two zeppelins. “Loopy, Pharynx,” she ordered, “try to keep those other two ships from taking off as long as possible. We have to be in control the skies.” The wifwulf and Changeling both saluted and took off, the latter changing into his giant bug form as he flew. “Now,” Gale said, stepping inside the zeppelin with the remaining two Guards, “let’s get into the air and hope the Cutie Mark Crusaders’s reinforcements start arriving soon.”

---

“There we go!” Sweetie Bell said in triumph as the key she was holding slid into the lock of a cage and turned easily. “Fifth time’s the charm, I guess.” She threw open the door and then trotted off to the next one down the street. Scootaloo went with her up to the corner, keeping an eye out for any pursuit.

The two ponies who were in the cage stepped out and looked down at Apple Bloom. “Thank you girls,” one of the liberated ponies said. “Might I inquire as to how you obtained the keys?”

“Sure ya can,” Apple Bloom said. “We got ‘em off one of the soldiers after we lured them all ta the festival stage.”

“You don’t mean that show that got announced after the cads captured the last ponies in the city was your doing?” the other pony exclaimed.

Apple Bloom grinned. “Pretty much,” she said. “It’s darn easy to act captured when ya got a few Changlin’s on yer side to pose as the enemy. Now,” she said, sobering and raising her voice to be heard by the rest of the ponies that Sweetie had been letting out of their cages, “we’re takin’ the fight to those monsters and showin’ ‘em they can’t just invade Equestria and get away with it! Our side’s outnumbered, though, so everypony willing ta step up and join the fight is needed. Who’s with us?”

The freed ponies murmured among themselves, and then started to wander off in every direction except toward the battle. “Sorry, girls,” one of them said before running off, “but this isn’t one of your border towns full of thrill seekers; it’s Canterlot. If you want help here, you go to the Royal Guard.”

“Seriously?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed at the retreating figures. “Ain’t y’all got any courage from that rallyin’ speech?”

“I thought it was a good speech,” Scootaloo said as Apple Bloom slumped toward her. “They made a good point though: maybe we should try to find where the rest of the Guard are locked up before trying to recruit ordinary ponies.”

“Hey! Scootaloo! Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Bell shouted from down the street, “Guess who I just found!”

---

The shock of the Royal Guard’s ambush was wearing off and the storm soldiers were quickly organizing into proper ranks and getting the weapons they had to where they would be the most effective. The Guard were too few in number to keep the satyrs surrounded and their lines were being broken up into smaller pockets by the counter-pushes. Trixie’s fireworks were beginning to run out and the satyrs were dangerously close to overwhelming her position. And there was still no sign of any reinforcements from the city.

Chard relayed all this to her twin, Kale, before diving out of the sky to try and help take some pressure off of Trixie. Kale, in turn, relayed the news to Gale as the earth pony took shots from the main deck at the satyrs trying to force open the zeppelin’s gangway. “On a more positive note,” Kale concluded, “Thorax says they haven’t encountered any resistance inside the castle and they’re just about to reach the room where Celestia and Luna are being kept. Two Guards will hold the room while the rest intend to come and help out here.”

“Fine,” Gale grunted around her firing bit. She fired another sticky gel and made a frustrated sound as it was intercepted by a raised shield. The besieging satyrs were starting to figure out her patterns. “Confound it,” she said, spitting out the bit, “I could really use some shock gel. This adhesive stuff isn’t cutting it anymore.” She turned away from the railing at the sound of one of Blueblood’s attendant Guards – a unicorn – approaching. “What news from below decks?” Gale asked.

The Guard saluted briefly and reported, “The engines are proving more difficult than anticipated, but the Prince is certain they’ll be running in a few minutes. As to weapons, we couldn’t find anything that can be used on the ground without suffering collateral damage or risking unacceptable friendly casualties.”

“Of course,” Gale sighed. She looked out over the battlefield, scowled, and then turned away and headed for the tiller. “They so no plan survives first contact with the enemy,” she said, “but I didn’t think things would fall apart this quickly. We need more hooves on the ground.”

The muffled, sputtering whine of machinery starting up made Gale gallop the last few feet to the tiller, ready to take the zeppelin up. As she grabbed the controls, however, she realized the sound hadn’t come from her craft. The whine was echoed, and the two other zeppelins – those still in the control of the storm soldiers – started to ascend. “No no no no!” Gale ranted, looking around for a speaking tube or other means of informing Blueblood that he needed to hurry up! She couldn’t find what she needed on her first look, and she felt an itch forming in her front hooves. Nothing was working as intended and she had to know why; what faulty parts had she missed; what calibrations-

The sight of Pharynx landing hard on the main deck, one hoof pressed against a wound in his side, pulled Gale away from her own troubles enough to ward off the oncoming trance, and she forced herself to join Kale in running down to check on him. “They got lucky,” Pharynx spat, clearly in pain despite his efforts to mask it. “Hit me with a spear. Didn’t hit anything vital, but...” His balance wavered and he winced in pain.

“Can you patch him up?” Gale asked Kale. The royal Changeling nodded, and Gale turned to leave her to it, just in time to see Looping Lines, back in pegasus form, alight on the deck, panting. “And what’s your excuse?” Gale asked sharply.

Loopy’s lip curled as she looked at Gale sideways from wild eyes. “Do you know how much energy it takes to keep a lycanthrope form going?” she shot back. “Add the workout of flying on top of that. I haven’t had a proper meal since before we came through the portal, and those goat-things are starting to look tasty. Do you want were-goats? ...Were-satyrs? That’s not right either...”

“Ok, ok, I get it,” Gale said, trying to speak calmingly despite her own stress. She began to pace, anxious to fix the situation but not able to think of any action she could take that wouldn’t send her into a spiral of obsession and deconstruction. “We’re going to have to pull back,” she muttered, “get ourselves out of this jam and maybe hole up in the castle until-”

Fweeeee! A giant purple rocket covered in white and blue stars, wrapped in an aura of turquoise magic, and being ridden by two ponies, came flying toward the zeppelin. As the rocket passed over the deck, the riders jumped off and rolled to their hooves, Trixie with a dramatic flare of her cape and Starlight Glimmer with much less drama and far more concentration as she continued the guide the firework into a spiraling curve that ended by puncturing the envelope of the enemy zeppelin to the aft of Gale’s before exploding. Without pausing to watch the airship crash back to earth, Starlight turned toward the bow and unleashed a wide beam of magic at the other zeppelin, encasing the entire thing and its crew in a stasis bubble that resembled a gemstone. Only then did Starlight relax and turn to acknowledge everyone else. “I’m not too late to the party, am I?” she asked.

“Holy smoke and cinders,” Loopy breathed.

Gale was about to make a comment, only to be interrupted by a sputtering whine and a slight tremor in the deck. Blueblood had finally gotten the engines on. Rushing to take command at the tiller, Gale called over her shoulder at Starlight, “Take down as many of the enemy as you can from here.” Starlight nodded and ran to the railing, preparing spells to rain down on the satyrs. Gale reached the tiller and – feeling much more in control – quickly examined the controls to figure out how to get the ship off the ground.

With only one false start, the zeppelin rose into the sky. As it did so, Chard, having tried to follow Starlight and Trixie’s rocket and been left far behind, finally caught up and collapsed in a weary heap next to her sister. Starlight raked a couple beams of magic through the middle of the satyr ranks, freezing a couple dozen inside stasis crystals, which proved to be enough to make the remaining soldiers pause to reassess the situation. The Royal Guard rallied and pushed to link their scattered positions into two solid lines pressing the satyrs between them. The squad that had gone to secure the Princesses reappeared in the courtyard and quickly moved to reinforce one of the lines, and as the zeppelin rose even higher Gale thought she could see ponies massing in the streets and making their way toward the battle.

“Ah, this is more like it,” Gale said, grinning. “Now,” she said, setting the zeppelin to hold its altitude and giving the controls a closer look, “is there some sort of broadcasting device here or… Actually, Trixie! Can your voice projection spell amplify other’s voices or just-”

A ragged cheering rose up from somewhere below, accompanied by a rhythmic beat. Gale went over to the railing to see what was happening. The cheers were coming from the storm soldiers, who were drumming out an increasingly synchronized beat on their shields and breastplates, much to the confusion and concern of the Royal Guard. “What’s gotten into them?” Gale asked.

“Probably that,” Trixie said, pointing toward the northern sky. A vast black storm cloud was moving rapidly toward the city, and as it got closer the silhouettes of a small fleet of zeppelins became discernable.

Gale’s eyes went wide as her irises shrank and her ears flatted against her head. “The Storm King’s back,” she said. “We’re not ready for this. Not by a long shot.” She bit her lip as her mind raced, trying to calculate the chance of getting any ponies aside from those already aboard out of danger. “Maybe if the Changelings mimic satyrs again...” she mused under her breath, trailing off when she noticed a distinct lack of anxiety in Chard, Kale, and Pharynx’s postures. “Why aren’t you three worried about this?” she asked.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Chard replied. “I think you’ll be able to see why about… Now.” She pointed, and Gale looked. The storm cloud had dispersed as the leading ship entered Canterlot’s airspace, and every pony and satyr could now clearly see the Storm King himself, lashed to the prow like a living and extremely livid figurehead. The storm soldiers’ cheering died out into confused mutterings.

“Your attention, please,” boomed the voice of Ashen Blaze from the lead airship as the rest of the fleet split up to surround the courtyard. “All soldiers of the Storm Kingdom, you are to lay down your weapons and cease hostilities immediately. Your march of conquest and terror ends here, due to the unconditional surrender of your king to her Royal Highness Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire and Cabbage Patch, Rightful Queen of the Changelings. By extension, that means surrender to Equestria and the end to your ambitions. That means you too, airship crew. Park yourselves back on the ground and...” The announcement trailed off as the lead Zeppelin pulled up alongside Gale’s and the ash-grey unicorn met eyes with his earth pony mechanic. “Ah,” Ash said, speaking more softly into the loudspeaker box he was using, “you’re an Equestrian craft now, I see. Never mind, carry on.”

Gale peered over the side of her ship to see if the satyrs were complying – which they were – before shouting across to Ash, “What they hay, boss? Retaking Canterlot was supposed to be my job, remember?”

“Right,” Ash replied. “And how was that going?”

“I actually had things well in hand before you came waltzing in to steal my thunder at the last second!” Gale shouted back, smirking. “How was your trip?”

“It had its ups and downs,” Ash said, shrugging. “De-petrified Cadance and captured Stormy, but our train got blown up and I had to endure Cadance and the Queen Bug bickering over politics for the whole flight back.” He paused as he noticed Kale, Chard, and Pharynx standing at the railing of Gale’s ship alongside Trixie, Starlight and Loopy. “I see you had to accept some Changeling assistance as well,” Ash said.

“And perfectly happy to have them,” Gale shot back. “Hey, can we continue this after we’ve all set down and gotten the clean-up started? I’m going to go hoarse if we keep this up.”

Soul Mage came running up to Ash from the main deck, clearly bursting to unleash a pun at Gale before the moment passed, but Ash held him off with an outstretched hoof and spoke a quick “agreed” into his loudspeaker before switching it off.