Six crystal candles

by SaltWriter the leviapony

Ch. 9

Candles 9

Glassclaw landed just in the walls of the city, staring in disbelief at the sight before him. Not a soul stood on the wall to protect it, as the interior of the city laid in a blaze in purple flames. He adjusted his blade and armor, then glided down to the ground near the main square.

He landed to a set of screams from a few of the ponies inside, and he made his way through them without stopping. Many laid wounded, with several spots of burnt away fur and gashes visible to him as he walked. A few of the bat and wolf guards tried to stop him from advancing, but he powered through them to the captain in the square.

He was a much larger wolf pony, with a long slash over his left eye which left it partially sliced. His dark brown fur showed signs of early graying in parts, which he had tried to cover with combing from the way it poked out. He snorted at the sight of the dragon and walked over to meet him halfway.

"You have some explaining to do for this attack on our hometown." His gruff voice was slightly hindered by part of his tounge having a gash in it, but Glassclaw simply looked around and huffed.

"Attack? Our city send no one here to attack or destroy the city. Especially like this. It's you who has to explain this." The wolf growled at Glassclaw, but the cry of a bat pony to his right made him sigh in defeat. The child was quickly taken care of by a different wolf pony.

"My men told me one of your 'ambassators' had suddenly started to attack the city. As for the other two, they most likely fled the city. The carriage they arrived in had already been taken in for questioning, but nothing concrete has been met."

"Take me to it, immediately." The general motioned to one of his unit, and they lead Glassclaw down the road to a carriage house. Outside it the driver sat reading a book, hiding the fear Glassclaw saw in his eyes. At the sound of his steps he put the book down and bowed low to him.

"General Glassclaw, I have failed you. It was I who made the disguises to the city, so the events of this tragedy are my fault."

"Stop yourself there. What did happen here? It seems like it was ravaged."

"I can't say what for certain. I was outside hiding till they brought me in for questioning. They didn't ask about the elements, so the plan is safe." Glassclaw frowned, then knelt down to look on the driver's level.

"Listen well. I will give you leave back to the city. You must hand me the elements, and return to the crystal city. You have served the cause well, and I will be sure to reward you later." The drivers eyes lit up in shock, but he was cut off by the stern gaze of the dragon. He bowed again, then went to the carriage in the holding area. As he was away, he reached and covered a crystal on his arm, which began to glow.

"The plan is almost ready to execute. Prep the guards on what I'm going to do so it'll seem as seamless as possible." With that, he stepped to follow the driver inside.

Pupter and hornet looked around at the shaking cavern, the sound of dragons cracked and boomed around them. Marinette stepped around and shouldered the masks and supplies they had gathered from the abandoned town.

"So, it seems whatever guardian that has taken refuge here has awakened." Pupter shook his head, his violet aura throwing aside the falling stalagtites as they fell down.

"Then let's move if nothing else. I'd rather not tangle with whatever is bold enough to shake a whole mountain." The three rushed down the path they had come, now much easier due to combined effort from hornet and pupters magic. Weaving down the path they had come, Marinette almost fell from the path when the wall near them shook from an impact.

Hornet flew back and grabbed the mare, flying beside the path as they went. Two more crashes into the wall and a large scaled dragon fell through it. A smaller figure, cloaked in flames, slammed into the body and knocked it down. Pupter only briefly pausing to see the sight before stopping hornet with a quick shout.

"Let's try and head this way. The path is too unstable for us to go through now that they're battling." The changeling nodded, placing down Marinette and rushing with him through the hole. A fireball sang through the caverns just behind them, illuminating the roughly drilled cavern as they went.

On the way, Marinette stopped at the sound of sobbing. She stepped over to a outcove broken into the wall by a claw. Inside, a griffion sobbed in the sound of the cavern, a pony laying beside her with a visible gash on her body. She was then joined by hornet, who had stopped to see her looking through the hole.

"Someone else is here? Hang on in there, we'll get you out of here." Another fireball shook the rocks around them, with hornet struggling to roll the rock in front of the broken cave. Marinette quickly went in, with the griffion jumping in surprise at the sudden appearence.

"Huh? Who are you?" Maria shook her head, realizing what it meant, and reached over to grab inktip and place her over her shoulder. Marinette looked at her for a second, before hurrying out to allow hornet to release the stone. His magic had loosened it enough to cause it to roll down the slope, sight of the two beasts briefly showing from a flash.

"I know a way to the surface and back to the city. We should go before he comes back to fight us!" Hornet gave a worried look to Maria as she limped up through the cavern, with Marinette giving small nudges to keep the mare on her back.

"Wait, you KNOW what is throwing around a hydra back there?!"

"Somewhat. I'll explain once we can get medical help for my friend." The three continued up the channel, with pupter blasting away stalagtites that almost fell to stop their progress. He only growled in annoyance at Maria, using his magic to pick the two up and lift them out of the cave, with hornet taking up Marinette to follow them through the wind of the mountain.

Glassclaw grunted from the effort of lifting the roof of a home, helping fly and place it back onto the home it had been dislodged from. He landed afterward, wiping his head from one of the towels provided by a wolf guard. The lack of magic had made it difficult to do repairs, so volunteering to help clean up the strange mess gave him time to think.

The news had been vague at best, so he had to speculate more then what he was used too. The elements at least had been saved, but without the three he'd have a potential leaker of the treachery he had told them. Of course, the hydra which lived in the mountain could more then deal with them, but it also meant he lost Maria. He never truly wanted to have her for like that, but if it meant he could still perform his plan, then it would be alright.

His thoughts were cut off as a light flew over the city. A few of the ponies around him cowered, while the bat guards quickly flew to intercept it. Though instead of stopping them, they helped them to the ground and lead them to the hospital area. The dragons keen eyes easily made out Maria amoung them, narrowing down at the changeling with them.

He stepped away from the home, giving a side thanks to the family who lived in it, before stepping down to the hospital. The dragon could only barely hear what was being said, and from this he leaned against the building, thinking about what this meant. He then nodded, giving a toothy smile as he went around the hospital to get some things for his plan.

Author's Note:

Second to last.