Chapter 39: Calm before the Storm
The first sparks of the morning sun slowly began to peek over the horizon. While most of the residents of the Crystal Empire still slumbered, the royal landscape artist did not. This was her favorite part of the morning routine for a very specific reason. She walked into the crystal flower garden, carrying a tiny box by her side, then stood still as she waited. The garden was forebodingly dark, but as the first rays of light emerged, it touched one of the crystals at a higher elevation. It bounced off and spread throughout the whole area one after another, and soon, the whole crystal garden lit up in a matter of seconds, illuminating the whole place. It never got old for her; for a brief moment, she would witness how an unpleasant sight could turn into a breathtaking one. That's when she realized she was not alone in the garden, as she noticed a stallion standing nearby.
“Oh my. Young man, have you been waiting in the dark this whole time?”
“Yes,” he bluntly answered. “I’d prefer to get this done while my significant other is still unaware that I’m not present.”
The old mare giggled. “I understand. And speaking of presents, here it is.” Mistmane levitated the tiny box to the earth pony’s side and opened it. “Designed directly to your specification. It took two days of arduous work, but I managed to complete it. I trust it’s to your satisfaction.”
The stallion looked at the contents of the container for some time before she finally spoke. “It will be adequate.” The elderly mare closed the box and levitated it over to his saddlebag and placed it inside. “Allow me to express my deepest thanks to you, Madam Mistmane. Now if you excuse me, I must go before my absence is noticed.”
“Farewell, young man,” she waved him goodbye as he trotted away, “and good luck with your proposal.”
He suddenly stopped and glanced back. “Technically, it’s a betrothal.”
“Come on, everycreature!” Starlight announced. “Get your luggage, the train will be leaving in a few minutes.”
The day before, after Starlight met with Twilight and was warned about what had happened, she also thrust a request upon her. She didn’t like the idea of not being there for the students, but as things were, her help was necessary elsewhere. Luckily for her, the two co-workers were more than understanding and have given her a pass. They all waited outside the hotel they were staying at for the few days they were at the Crystal Empire, as the students began leaving. Ponies went off quickly, but the ones that stood out were the last the come out, except for one. Smolder stood close by as per headmare’s order, as she didn’t want to risk her wandering off and eating somebody’s house again. Silverstream came out, holding Sandbar under hoof, all the while he was moaning.
“You really shouldn’t have overdosed on all those sweets last night, Sandbar,” the hippogriff said. “Now you’ve got a stomachache.”
“I couldn’t just let the leftovers go to waste…” he complained.
“Then maybe next time you shouldn’t buy more than you can stomach, Sandbar,” Trixie told him.
Silverstream burst out laughing at the pun. Then the grinding sound followed. A large cage with teal bug eyes held a big avian creature with a feline lower half inside, and it was being pushed by a yak.
“What are you guys doing?” Sunburst inquired.
“Gallus wouldn’t go,” Yona explained. “Ocellus and Yona had to get him by force.”
“Okay, enough playing cops and robbers, all of you,” the pink unicorn ordered, and the changeling returned to her original form. “Gallus, I get that going back home isn’t exactly on the top of your bucket list, but don’t deprive anycreature else of a new experience. Don’t be selfish.”
“Oh yeah, that’s gonna be an experience alright,” he mumbled.
Unable to hear it, the headmare went to the front of the crowd with the rest of the faculty members. “Alright, everycreature! We’re all gathered now. We’re off the catch the next train to Griffonstone!”
“Yippie…” the griffin sarcastically said.
The group of students was led through the main street of the city, on the way to the train station. The unicorns figured something was off as they saw numerous guards running about, but the full realization hit them when they discovered a large magical bubble had enveloped the whole city, and there was a huge, loud crowd gathered on its border. Starlight went ahead to check what was going on, but she had a hard time moving through, and all she could hear was one of the guards telling them that the city had been placed under lockdown. She wondered what could warrant such actions, only to get disturbed when she heard a cry from the student crowd.
“I FOUND ONE!”
Soon more guards rushed in and surrounded the group of students. The pink mare saw it and quickly teleported back to them.
“Hey, what’s going on?!” she asked, only to notice that Ocellus had a shackle locked around her neck. “What do you think you’re doing to one of our students?!”
Several guards looked at them. “Your students?” one of them asked.
“We’re the members of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s School of Friendship,” Trixie announced, “and that over there is one of our students your ponyhandling! And clear the way, we have a train to catch!”
The guards looked at each other. “If that’s the case, you’re ALL getting detained. Seize them!”
The guards piled up and projected a bubble around the whole group, only with the changeling being separated from the rest.
“Wait, what are you doing?! We’ve done nothing wrong!” Sunburst argued.
“The princess will be the judge of that. Take them to the castle,” one of the guards ordered.
The guards projecting the enclosure led the suspects away from the crowd and down the street.
“What are they gonna go to Ocellus?” Silverstream showed concern. “What are they gonna do to us?”
“Best case scenario? We’re not leaving the Crystal Empire any time soon,” Gallus quipped.
The guards led the faculty members and their students through the corridors of the Crystal Castle, with the most obvious-looking suspect being kept on a very short leash, literally. They were escorted to the meeting room where numerous guards had already gathered, with the princess sitting at the head of the table, looking rather moody.
“Your Majesty,” the guard announced, “we’ve caught a changeling.”
“I already told you, I’m not the one you’re looking for!” Ocellus protested.
“That remains to be seen,” he said.
The princess rose from her seat and walked over to the prisoners. Upon seeing her up close, Starlight Glimmer realized that she was in an even worse state than she saw before: her mane was frazzled, sticking out in many directions, baggy eyes became all the more noticeable, and as she was getting closer, she noticed that she was slightly rocking left and right with every step.
“Princess Cadence, are you alright?” the headmare asked.
“Forgive me if I don’t offer an answer, considering I don’t know if you are what you seem to be,” the alicorn sternly said. “Can you give me some sort of proof that you’re really Starlight Glimmer?”
She didn’t say a thing. Instead, her horn began to glow, and in a bright flash, she disappeared before their eyes. Panic erupted among the guards, while the princess just stood still, looking at the empty space. A moment later, the flash happened again, and the pink unicorn materialized outside the enclosure, carrying a pair of golden ruby heart-shaped necklaces.
“These are the necklaces that I and Trixie got as an award for defeating Queen Chrysalis.”
“That’s not specific enough, Starlight,” the aforementioned mare interjected. “It was also for freeing everypony alongside Discord and Thorax.”
“If I may add my two bits to this, I was Flurry Heart’s official-“ Sunburst wanted to add only for the alicorn to raise her hoof and stopped him.
“It’s fine, I heard enough. I think the fact that you just teleported out of here is proof enough. Guards,” she ordered, “they’re clear. And release the changeling.” The magical bubble disappeared and one of the guards unlocked the shackle around Ocellus’ neck and removed it. “My sincerest apologies for this, everypony, but with the current state of things I couldn’t risk it.”
“Cadence, what’s going on?” the pink unicorn questioned as she teleported the accessories away. “You look like a wreck.”
“How much do you know about what’s happening here?”
Starlight was about to speak, but then glanced at everybody else present, remembering that the students were still oblivious to what’s been happening. “Everycreature, I need you to wait outside.” They all looked at each other but chose not to question her order, so they walked out of the meeting room and the doors shut behind them.
“The students don’t know?” the tall mare asked.
“I’ve been trying to keep it under wraps, especially from those six. After what they’ve been through recently they don’t need any more anxiety piled upon them. Anyway, Twilight explained yesterday regarding Chrysalis, Grogar, and… whatever it is they’re looking for. I figured that’s why there’s been so much security in the city after we’ve arrived.”
“That’s the case, unfortunately,” the alicorn confirmed, “but after what’s happened this morning, I realized things are far worse than I had thought.”
“How much worse?” Sunburst asked.
“We’ve had three incursions from Chrysalis and her changelings since yesterday,” she explained. “After the first attempt the guards came back emptyhooved, so for the second attempt that happened in the middle of last night, I joined the troops. We’ve searched all up to morning and we found nothing, it was almost as if they just disappeared without a trace. But the third time, they didn’t run away at first. Chrysalis even decided to put up a fight. Twilight wasn’t joking, she’s changed, and she’s become stronger. I had thought we were facing a full-scale invasion that time, but for some reason, they still ran away. This time I managed to catch up to them… and discovered what was really happening.”
“So, what was it?” Trixie asked.
“At first, I thought that Chrysalis was acting on her own in the city, that Grogar went out into the Frozen North to look for Turmoil’s piece. But then I caught her and her changelings stepping through a portal in a secluded place.” She turned to look at Starlight. “That’s how I know you’re not fake.”
The pink mare thought for a moment and then realized what she was saying. “If she had to step through a portal to escape, that means she can’t teleport around.”
“But even if that’s the case, that still means that the changelings and their queen have been in the city this whole time,” the yellow unicorn added.
The Princess of Love nodded. “Exactly. That is why I’ve put the whole empire on lockdown, and have any abandoned house searched in case they're hiding there."
“Well then it’s no wonder your guards put Ocellus on a chain at the first sight, Cadence,” the illusionist said. “But still, a changeling disguised as a changeling? Who’s ever heard of that?”
“I fear there’s another thing that’s come up with this,” the alicorn confessed.
“Wait, there’s more? What?” the scraggly maned stallion inquired.
“It’s obvious now that both Chrysalis and Grogar have been working together on infiltrating the city, but that also means there’s a third participant at work, somepony’s out there, in the Frozen North, somepony… or some creature, that could be a threat to Twilight and her friends, but the question is, who?”
That did warrant some concern. There were only a few creatures in the world that could be a potential threat to Princess Twilight Sparkle when it comes in terms of power, but if the two most viable people have been hiding in the city the whole time, who else could be out there?
The doors quickly swung open, and a pair of guards rushed in. “Your Majesty! News!” they yelled in unison, before looking at each other at what they had just done. “Make that two,” one of them corrected.
“Yes?”
“We searched one of the empty houses, Your Majesty. The place was supposed to be abandoned, yet there were signs everywhere that somepony had been there recently. And we also found these at the scene.” The unicorn guard carried a saddlebag and he pulled out of it a container holding several books. “We went to check out at the local library, and we discovered that they were all checked out only recently, some three days ago… except for that one.”
Cadence picked up one of the books, or at least what it used to be, as there was only cover left from it. “Crystal Empire: Early design of plumbing? And why are all of its pages missing?”
“Maybe they found something they were looking for?” Sunburst wondered.
“From a medieval book about plumbing? That’s a good laugh,” Trixie responded.
“And when have you ever seen a book specifically about plumbing from a medieval era?” Starlight asked a question that got everybody curious. “I feel like the title is just a cover for what the book actually contains.”
The princess sighed. “Well it’s too bad we’ll never know what was inside then.”
“Oh, it’s nothing that a little reconstruction spell can’t fix,” the headmare smiled.
Her horn began to glow and enveloped the book cover in teal aura… only for it to stop glowing and dropping to the floor. They all looked surprised, Starlight included. She tried again, and after a moment it fell to the ground once again, as well as on the third try.
“Errr, Starlight, what are you doing?” Trixie asked.
“I don’t get it… The reconstruction spell should’ve reformed the missing pages into the book, yet it’s not working for some reason.”
“Maybe it’s magic related?” the vice-principal suggested. “As you said, Starlight, the cover may have been just a cover, but what if the contents of the book itself were enchanted and they can’t be reconstructed for that reason?”
“Yes, but where did this book come from?”
The three unicorns pondered, while Cadence grabbed the book’s leftovers and looked it over. She couldn’t understand either what could possibly be contained in such an odd book, yet as she looked inside the cover, something caught her eye: within there was a small image printed, of a blue snowflake, surrounded by a horseshoe.
“Amore’s mark…”
“What?” the student counselor responded.
“This book has Princess Amore’s cutie mark on it, there are only a few books that have it and most of them are focused around the history of her and the Crystal Empire itself.”
“You don’t mean that whatever was ACTUALLY printed in this book was something of great significance?” the pink unicorn questioned.
Sunburst readjusted his glasses. “I think that may be the case, Starlight.”
A gasp escaped the alicorn. “And since it was confirmed that this book didn’t come from a public library, it can only mean… it came from the castle’s library!” She quickly turned to the guard that brought the material. “You! Tell the other guards to comb through the library, and then check every nook and cranny in the castle, top to bottom!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” He saluted and ran off.
Cadence was hyperventilating. She was rarely this tense, but the lack of slumber and events happening one after another have been doing a number on her. She took a deep breath and exhaled in hopes that it will help, before addressing the other guard.
“What’s the other news?”
“There’s somepony we’ve brought to the castle, Your Majesty. We found her on the edge of the city some time ago, as apparently, she couldn’t get in through the barrier and passed out.”
“Is it a changeling?”
“I don’t know, Your Majesty. I was hoping you could maybe help confirm it. We have a nurse taking care of her, but we’re keeping a close eye on her.”
She sighed, before looking at the faculty members. “Okay. You three follow me.”
“Cadence,” Starlight protested, “can’t you just let us go? I mean we were about to take the students to Griffonstone and the train will-“
“I’m sorry, Starlight,” she interrupted her, “but until the crisis is resolved, and Chrysalis and Grogar are caught, nopony’s going in and out of the city. It’s for your own protection.”
The three looked at one another. “What do we tell them?” the blue unicorn asked.
“Honestly…” the pink one answered, “nothing. Just let them be for now. At least in the castle, they’ll be safe.”
“That’s questionable if they managed to already get inside,” the yellow one pointed out.
“Oh… good point.”
“Don’t worry, the guards will look after them. Now come on.” Just as Princess of Love was about to stride out of the room, she accidentally bashed her head against the door, before readjusting herself and following the guard, with the three unicorns following her.
“Well? What are they saying?” Sandbar asked.
The students were waiting outside the office, but they had no intention of being oblivious, as Smolder pressed her ear against the door. “Kinda hard to get it. But from what I caught, we probably won’t be leaving the Crystal Empire any time soon.”
“Sweet,” the griffin said as he slouched against the wall, “no skin off my beak.”
“Gallus, I don’t think being isolated is in any way good,” the changeling argued.
“What are you talking about? We’re not isolated, that would require us being alone, like… being in a small confined space.” A shiver went down his spine as he said that.
“Not really.” They all looked at the hippogriff, who had a concerned look on her face. “You don’t need to be alone. After the Storm King devastated Mount Aris we fled to Seaquestria, we’ve been cut from the outside world for a long time. Sure, you had relatives and neighbors, but that didn’t make the feeling go away that there’s no other place but your home left.”
When she put it like that nobody else liked the idea either. Something bashed against the door, causing them all to flinch and quickly distanced themselves from the door, pretending that they were ignorant. They opened, and the Princess of Love trot out, holding her head, with the three unicorns following her.
“Headmare Starlight, when are we going?” the yak asked, acting oblivious.
She sighed. “I’m sorry students. But it seems we’ll have to postpone our departure. We’ll have to stay at the Crystal Empire a while longer.”
“Are we going back to the hotel then?” the pony inquired
“Just wait in the castle for the moment. We still have some things to discuss with Princess Cadence,” the stallion unicorn told them.
They walked around the corner and disappeared.
“So what do we do now? Twiddle our thumbs?” the dragon asked the rest.
The princess and the unicorns were led by the guard down the corridor, and that was when a small bundle of fluffy curly hair skittered towards them.
“Mommy!” Flurry Heart called out. “Mommy, listen! I-“
The parent sighed and stopped for a moment. “Flurry sweetie, mommy can’t play right now, she’s got something important to deal with. I’ll come back later, okay?”
And they all passed her. They left the little filly all alone, and she made a pouty expression on her face. She walked off, dragging her tiny hooves in sadness, knowing that her mom didn’t have time for her again. She nearly got to the end of the hallway when something caught her eye: from around the corner, there was a feline backside sticking out.
“Kitty!” she squealed and dashed off, before pouncing on it.
A scream erupted. It certainly didn’t sound like a feline one, it sounded more like an avian squawk.
“What is it?!” Gallus questioned loudly as he shivered.
“Relax, Gallus, it’s just a little pony,” Sandbar calmed him.
The little filly opened her eyes and looked at her surroundings. All manner of creatures were around her, but most importantly the backside she landed on, while it was feline, the other half wasn’t.
“You’re not a kitty,” she said. “You’re just a kitty rump.”
Silverstream started laughing, only for the griffin to glare at her. “I ain’t laughing here.”
Ocellus flew up close. “Isn’t that Princess Cadence’s foal?”
“Hey, you’re a big buggy, like ‘Rax,” the little alicorn pointed at her.
The changeling looked at her in confusion. “What? Who’s Rax?”
“I think she means King Thorax, Ocellus,” Smolder told her.
“And you look like yellow ‘Pike.”
“Pike? Since when do I look like a fish…” she stopped herself, thinking for a moment. “Oh… right. Spike.”
The pony of the group approached her. “What’s your name, little filly?”
“Flurry Heart!” she declared.
“Awww, she’s so adorable,” the hippogriff squealed. “I’m Silverstream,” and one after another they introduced themselves to her. “Sandbar. Smolder. Ocellus. Yona!” The griffin finally sighed. “Gallus.”
“Would… you like to play?” the filly innocently asked.
The group looked at each other. “Well, we’re not going anywhere anytime soon anyway,” the dragon shrugged. “So why not.”
Gallus bucked, his backside rising and tossing the child pony up in the air before catching her in his claws. “How about instead on my back you sit on somecreature more comfortable,” he said under gritted teeth, as he flew up and placed her on the yak’s back. “Yona, she wants to play. How about you give her a ride?”
“Yona gonna entertain tiny pony!” she yelled and then charged off.
For a moment the group stared in silence before one of them exploded. “Gallus, what were you thinking?!”
“Relax, Yona’s just gonna give her a round or two, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“With Yona’s track record? You know how she is when she gets overexcited!” the changeling reminded him.
“Come on, you’re making a bigger deal out of it than it is.”
And in the distance, the sound of something breaking came, and the griffin quickly changed his tune. “Okay, I think I’m about ready to eat my words…”
“Quick! Go after them!”
While the students played with the Princess’ daughter, a commotion was about to take place. Outside, underneath the castle, stood a pedestal, and on it levitated the magical object that was protecting the Crystal Empire from sinister external forces, the Crystal Heart. It was always here, barely noticeable at times, but ever since the changelings have shown up, guards have been placed next to it to keep an eye on the artifact, and since this morning, that number had only increased. Even so, the people in the city didn’t want to miss a chance to see this magical artifact, and as time passed more and more ponies began to gather around it. To the royal guards who were surrounding it, however, it occurred to them something was off, as they’ve never seen a crowd this big coming together, especially not in a state of emergency like this, especially when some of them had nasty looks on their faces. Unseen to them, behind one of the support beams of the castle, a white unicorn mare with green mane poked her head around the corner, and her horn flashed in a green aura several times. And they struck. The ponies surrounding the guards pounced on them in mass numbers. Incapacitated by the superior numbers, they could do nothing when several of them knocked the Crystal Heart off the pedestal, and it slid across the floor to where the pony that had given the signal stood. She picked it up and quickly ran off, and not long after that, the attacking ponies disengaged and ran after her, but some of them were not as lucky, as the guards they had attacked struck back, before sounding the alarm.
The whole empire had already awoken by now, it was hard to miss what was happening, as they saw an army chasing after a group of ponies one of which was carrying the magical artifact. The guards were aware of one fact: the city was sealed shut. A barrier was up which meant nobody could get in or out, and they had no place to hide; the best they could do was run and they’ll still get caught in the end. The armies split in half, and have the other one running in parallel to the first one, which would allow them to corner the thieves. And just as predicted, they ran into a narrow alley, so as the first group ran after them, the second group would approach from the other end and cut off their escape. Yet as they entered, the two guard groups did manage to see them, but their numbers have been greatly reduced, as they saw them all jumping through a portal made of dark light, and by the time they finally caught up to them, the last one stepped through and the portal closed shut. They lost the Crystal Heart!
“She’s over here.” The guard led them into the room.
At least six more were standing close to the bed where the nurse was checking over a patient. As the four approached, the taller one gasped and quickened her pace. Lying in bed, fast asleep was a teal unicorn mare with a curly bright mane.
“Do you know this one, Cadence?” Starlight asked.
“It’s Glitter Drops,” she answered. “She and Tempest Shadow are running an Arctic Patrol Office on the edge of the city.”
“Wait…” The headmaster tapped her chin. “That name sounds familiar… Isn’t she the pony that once attacked Canterlot in the name of the Storm King?”
“Yes, but she got better. I sent Twilight and the rest to them in hopes they might be able to help.” The princess looked at the guard. “Was she all alone when you found her?”
The guard nodded.
“Then we’ll have to wait and see what she has to say for herself when she wakes up… assuming she’s not a changeling in disguise,” Trixie said.
“At this point… I’d prefer if she was one,” the alicorn voiced her concern. "If she's real and she came back all alone, who knows what's happened to Twilight."
They waited patiently for her to wake up, and while they did, all they could hear was the little mare mumbling in her sleep, saying words like Princess, Fizzy, but most forebodingly, Sombra. But then they got interrupted. There was a loud noise that sounded as if something was just broken down by force.
Knock knock. Anybody home?
A voice could be heard speaking all the way to the room yet it was clearly somewhere in the distance, that’s how loud it must’ve been. And then the high-pitched shriek followed.
“What’s going on out there?” Trixie wondered.
“I don’t know,” the alicorn answered. “An attack? At this point, I wouldn’t put it past the changelings. We’ll go and intercept them. Guards, stay here and watch over her!”
“Cadence, are you sure you wanna do this on your own?” Starlight questioned her. “You look like you’re barely awake.”
She groaned in irritation. “Starlight, I don’t need you to tell me where my limits are, now come on.”
As the alicorn walked to the door, the faculty members looked at each other with concern. “I feel like something’s about to go very wrong,” the stallion whispered. “It would be for the best if we get the students out of here.”
“Out where? We’re stuck in the city,” the illusionist pointed out.
“Or maybe not,” the headmare rubbed her chin. “Sunburst, what time is it?”
He pulled out a watch. “It’ll be twelve soon.”
“Good, then we’ve still got enough time, we just need to get to the students.”
“Are you three coming?” The princess stopped in the doorway waiting for them and they hastened to her.
Squealing sounds echoed throughout the hallways. Little Flurry Heart sat on the back of a yak and she was having so much fun, as did Yona, and unfortunately, in her moment of joy, the predictable happened, as she accidentally knocked over pedestals, flower pots, and vases as they passed by. The rest of the group was closing in and they saw the aftermath of their friend’s stampede. They finally managed to get close enough to see them, before they disappeared around the corner again.
KRAKOOM!
What followed was a thrashing and crashing sound.
“The headmare’s gonna kill us for this, I just know it!” Gallus grimaced.
They quickly turned a corner, only to see what they weren’t expecting. She stopped. The yak stood still not far from them, and there was no noticeable damage, despite the contrary.
“Yona wasn’t the only one that heard that. Right?” she asked.
KRAKOOM!
There it was again. The same sound and it certainly wasn’t coming from within the castle. That was the thunder that roared across the sky. This wasn’t right. Not in the middle of a sunny day. Yet that was what they saw when they looked out the window in the direction it was coming from: a large black cloud was fast approaching from the north. They noticed something else as well, something was glowing on its very front, something akin to a lightning bolt, and a figure was holding it… it looked as if somebody had put a bridle on the cloud and was now riding it, steering it in the direction of the Crystal Empire. As it approached the vicinity of the city, the protection of the Crystal Heart began to show its effect, as the dark cloud began to dissipate, until it completely vanished under the figure’s feet, causing it to fall and scream, before it crashed against the barrier, making it sound as if a bug just hit the window. Things were quiet for a moment, but soon they heard a sparking sound and saw a hole being punctured through the barrier, and the shape dropped down, sliding on the sloped walls of the Crystal Castle’s many spires until it finally reached the nearby window and climbed inside.
“What was that?” Sandbar asked.
“I dunno, but it clearly trespassed into the castle,” the griffin said.
“Let’s go get it!” Yona declared.
“Yeah!” the little alicorn on her back agreed.
The changeling was quick to protest. “Hold on! Shouldn’t we take Flurry Heart somewhere safe first?”
“Relax,” the hippogriff was quick to answer. “There’s like six of us… well, six and a half if you count her. We clearly outnumber it. And besides, you can just turn into anything you want, remember?”
“And you’ve got a fire-breathing dragon on your side,” Smolder boasted.
“There you have it. Let’s go!”
The group rushed down the corridor. They managed to remember the part of the castle where the figure had climbed in, so they had a rough idea where that creature was. After making numerous turns they came over several lined-up doors in the hallway. One of them was surely harboring the intruder. They crept close to the first door and Smolder reached for the doorknob, ready to turn it.
CHRASH!
The door after the current one burst open, flying off its hinges before they even had a chance to investigate.
“Knock knock!” a voice came from the room, before a giant black figure came out, forcing itself to bend over so it could go through the door, so big it was. “Anybody home?!”
A giant construct made of black rock, carrying a bundle around his neck, stood before them, scanning its surroundings until its gaze finally caught the group. The students, who were initially boasting about bravery were quickly overcome by doubt. Suddenly, a thudding sound grabbed their attention, as the hippogriff had lost control of her legs and landed on her backside, trembling in horror.
“Silverstream, what is it?” Sandbar asked.
But among the group, Gallus already knew what it was; he’s seen this creature before, or at least its silhouette, but the glowing teal eyes were unmistakable. “It’s the Storm King!”
The hippogriff released an ear-piercing shriek.
“A hippogriff? This far north?” the construct mused. “Well, now I definitely can’t let any of you get away, you’ll spoil my surprise comeback.”
The students didn’t meander about it. They quickly grabbed Silverstream and dragged her along since she was too paralyzed, and they ran off. Yet despite the speed, the satyr was so big that he was quickly closing the gap between them. The only time they managed to widen the gap was when they turned a corner and the guards became aware of the invader’s presence, but even they were little more than a minor distraction as the Storm King simply swept them aside with his giant arms without much effort. That’s when the crossroad hallway, where the rest of the students from the School of Friendship were, became visible, and it didn’t take long to notice what was going on, especially since one of them screamed out loud. But it was too late to run and escape at this point, as he was already only a few hooves away from them. Just as they passed the threshold of the great crossing hall, the construct suddenly bent forward and slammed to the ground like a plank, causing a small tremor to resonate throughout the castle. He was still for a brief moment, but then his head moved. He was confused as to what just happened, how was he able to trip even? That’s when he turned his head to the side and noticed a blue unicorn extending a long chain at the ankle level from one side of the threshold to the other.
“Why you little…” an angry voice came from it. “You ruined my entrance.”
“That’s the point, Rocky,” Trixie grinned. “I, out of all, know how important presentation is and you’ve just fudged it.”
“Well guess what, horsey, I’m about to present to this gaggle what THESE are going to do to you.” He shook his fist at her.
“Not likely, the show’s over and WE are pulling the curtain… STARLIGHT, NOW!”
From the crowd of students, a teal glow began to shine. The Storm King quickly tried to smack the blue unicorn, but she managed to dodge it and run for the group, and in a bright flash, everybody disappeared, leaving the construct all alone.
“Oh, that’s just great,” he grumbled as he got back up, “now my surprise comeback will be ruined.”
“That’s not the only thing that will be ruined!”
There was another presence nearby, talking to him. And the first thing that he spotted was a small filly sitting nearby, all alone.
“A talking baby?” He looked confused. “Oh well, I suppose you’ll have to do.”
He approached the child and was about to reach for her, when a blue beam suddenly passed by his face, missing him for a single hair.
“Don’t. You. DARE. Lay a finger on her.”
It was the same voice again and it certainly didn’t come from the filly. A tall pink alicorn mare with curly mane stood on the other side of the intersection, with a mean look on her face.
“Hey, I know you,” he regarded her. “The swirly-haired horse… although last time I remember you being a bit more… my color.”
The tone in his voice was so clearly oozing with mockery, and considering how run-down the princess was, the irritation caused her to shoot another bolt of magic at him, but she missed him for the same reason. He charged at her, but she easily jumped and flew over him, before firing another bolt at him, only to have him block it with his palm.
She landed next to her daughter. “Flurry sweetie, go and hide, quick!” The filly quickly skittered out of sight around the corner, leaving her mother to deal with the invader. “Twilight warned me about it before she left. About a creature made of obsidian with a sinister purpose. That was you wasn’t it?”
“Oh, she spilled the beans, did she? Well, I very much would’ve liked to know how she got to us in the first place, she was very short on words last I saw her… considering how unfortunately our encounter ended.”
As he said that, a touch of cold suddenly ran down Cadence’s spine. “What did you do? What have you done to Twilight?”
Everybody was paralyzed. Before them, stood a creature they’ve all seen perish, yet there it was, moving, talking.
“How’s that possible…” Tempest couldn’t comprehend it.
“This don’ make a lick of sense,” Applejack spoke. “We all saw you get turned to stone, fall over the edge of the balcony, and get smashed to bits.”
The giant dark construct closed his palm as he was projecting the light to illuminate his facial features. “True… but I got better.”
“That’s not how it works, Storm King!” Rarity pointed out. “You can’t just get better from… well… from not existing!”
The satyr bowed and spread his hands. “And yet here I am... existing.”
The Princess of Friendship, however, already put the pieces together. “It was Grogar, wasn’t it?” Everybody present looked at her. “He took Discord’s magic. If he was able to bring Sombra back out of nothingness, of course, he’d be able to bring you back as well.”
“Oh? So you’re already acquainted with the old goat, are you? Well if that’s the case I won’t bore you with explanations,” he rose and turned his back to them, proceeding to approach the wall where the Fear’s gemstone was trapped. “Now if you excuse me, the Gramps and Missus Freckles are waiting for me.” Just as he was about to get there, his attention got piqued by the sound of heavy horseshoes, knowing full well to who they belonged. “Really, Tempest?” He slowly turned to face her. “You really wanna do this again?”
The broken unicorn was slowly walking towards him, intent noticeable on the expression of her face, she didn’t have to say a word. She charged at him, and the construct prepared to take a swing at her, yet just as that happened, the mare quickly turned in mid charge, sliding on the floor, preparing to buck his swing to topple him down again, but this time, he halted his strike halfway, and since she didn’t make contact with anything, she bucked into empty air. As soon as that happened, the satyr moved his foot forward and stepped on her tail, preventing her from moving anywhere.
“Nice try, but I won’t fall for the same trick twice,” the Storm King said in a happy tone, before he raised his fist again, to gather momentum.
The former lieutenant struggled. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t even turn in an attempt to dodge the attack. She was completely vulnerable and exposed.
“Tempest, duck!” Twilight yelled as she stood tall, her horn charging up.
She saw it, but her reaction was the opposite. “TWILIGHT, NO-!”
But it was too late. The princess unleashed a channeled beam at the obsidian construct. He already saw it coming, but he didn’t flinch from the spot. Instead, he thrust his fist at the attack and it connected. After several seconds the alicorn finally stopped. She put so much into that attack, and after what she’s been through, she sighed in exhaustion. When their eyes finally readjusted to the lighting though, they were in for a shock. The Storm King simply stood there, unscathed, his palm open and the crystal of the Staff of Sacanas embedded in his palm was glowing in vibrant pink color.
“That,” he addressed her, “was a really bad idea, Twirkle Spirkle. You should’ve been already aware of what this toy of mine is capable of. So…” The crystal in his palm began to glow brighter. “Return to sender!”
And in the split second, without having enough chance to react to it, the same attack that Twilight had just unleashed came out from the Storm King’s hand right back at the group, sending them flying to the far end of the room, scattering them. A chuckle escaped him as the dust settled and he was finally able to use the extent of his power. It filled him with a sense of pride, knowing how easily he could turn the power of others back at them.
KLANK!
His attention got grabbed. That sound wasn’t the one he knew, and he saw a small pebble rolling away from him, before seeing Tempest making some distance from him as well. It made him question how she managed to slip out. He looked down and raised the foot with which he was holding her down. Upon inspecting it and wiggling his appendages, he discovered one of the two was missing.
“HEY! YOU JUST MADE ME LOSE A TOE!”
Though his expression was difficult to read considering how stiff it was, the tone of his voice was a clear indication of rage. He charged at the mare and took a swing at her, and she easily dodged.
“You’re wasting time, Storm King,” she told him. “Regardless of how strong you are, you’re still slow. And the fact I just made you lose a piece of yourself, means that you’re not indestructible. I’m just gonna take you down piece by piece.”
“IF… you can get close enough,” the construct said, swinging in her direction, his palm opened, launching a lightning bolt at her.
She managed to dodge it, and more followed one after another, with each of the satyr’s swings, but despite that, the unicorn wasn’t touched by them. “It’s no use!” Tempest yelled. “Even if your attacks are as fast as lightning your movement is still too slow! You’re not going to catch me!”
Another lightning bolt was tossed in her direction and she dodged with ease, but this time, just before it slipped out of his reach, the Storm King grabbed the tail of the electrified magical string and swung it in Tempest’s direction like a whip. It coiled around her hind leg and shook her, before being pulled back, making her fly across the air, and that’s when he reached out with his other hand and grabbed the pony by the neck.
He brought her face to face. “You really shouldn’t jinx things, Tempest. Bad things happen when you do.”
“STOP!” a voice came from not far away.
The Elements of Harmony managed to recover from the attack, but they were clearly hurt by it, and Twilight couldn’t risk the fight going further, especially now that their opponent had one of her friends in his clutches.
“Please, don’t hurt her, Storm King,” she pleaded. “Just let her go and I promise we won’t try to stop you from leaving, we swear.”
The construct chuckled. “Awww, isn’t that nice of you. I might make an exception for you… but not THIS ONE.” He shook the pony in his hand. “I have a bone to pick with her for what she’s done.”
Rainbow Dash stepped up. “Listen, you don’t get to pull the “disloyalty” card after-!”
“I’m not talking about that, Bluey,” he interrupted her, before turning his gaze to the pony in question. “You know what you did.”
She struggled to speak in his grasp. “Made you… uglier than you already looked?” The grip around her neck suddenly tightened and she struggled to breathe.
“I’m not in the mood for taunts, Tempest.” He turned his gaze back to the rest of the group. “You’ve also seen what she did, ponies. And if that’s too difficult to understand, let me ask you this: I wield the power I’ve always wanted. But tell me… do you think… I’m happy?”
Silence followed the question that sounded awkward, and nobody seemed to know what he was saying… except for the party planner. “Considering how stiff you are, I’d say… no.”
The satyr raised his finger, about to protest, before stopping himself, thinking for a moment. “Actually, that’s pretty accurate, cotton candy head. I wield all this wonderful power, but do you know what I feel?” Silence followed again and the mares assumed he was waiting for an answer again, but it soon came, as if the sound of thunder echoed throughout the crystal cavern. “NOTHING! I wield the power over magic, over storms themselves, yet now that I possess it I feel nothing. SHE made me into this!” He shook the pony in his grasp at them. “I’m nothing but a giant pile of rocks with consciousness. I feel nothing... I can’t feel the rain spray on my face, nor the wind in my hair… I can’t even feel how my claws are squeezing the life out of you right now…” The broken unicorn struggled to breathe and was beginning to blackout, only for the grip around her neck to suddenly loosen and end up dropping to the ground, gasping for air. “Tempest… What you’ve done, was rob me of the ability... to feel joy…” His limbs had gone limp and the construct just stood there unmoving; for a moment they almost pitied this pathetic creature, until what came next. “My only solace now… is in seeing YOU suffer.”
Tempest finally managed to catch up some air. “Do your worst… there’s nothing else you can take from me.”
“Oh, really?” the tone in his voice went from somberly depressing to light-hearted. “I might have believed you… if I didn’t already know you were trying to deceive me.” He went down on his knees to get closer to her face. “I know about HER, Tempest. I didn’t give it much thought when I was making my way to this place, and I just so happened to have come across a tiny teal horsey who was running from the local beasts. I didn’t have to save her, I just figured it would be better to keep a low profile. But boy, was I surprised topside, where I was taking cover when I saw her again... alongside you. And then when you were all trapped, she started going “Fizzy! Fizzy! Fizzy!”." He mockingly imitated a feminine voice. "You don’t use such words unless you’re close to somebody.” He could hear it; the sound of the mare’s heart pounding loudly, faster by the second, and he could even see the grim expression on her face, now that she knew he knew about Glitter Drops. “So you see, I know there is something that you value greatly. Remember what I once told you once? “Fail me, and your horn won’t be the only thing that’s broken.”.
“Don’t you dare-“
“Or what? You’re in no position to stop me.” He rose again and turned, making his way back to the wall.
He picked up the cloak he had removed not long ago and carried it along before he stopped in front of the crystal formation. He took a swing with his arm and crashed into it. Bits and pieces flew all about, and the gemstone containing the fragment of Turmoil fell to the ground, still trapped inside the crystal. He picked it up, wrapped it into a bundle using the fabric, and then hung it around his neck. And then multiple sounds of hoofsteps approached him, as the Elements got close to their indisposed friend.
“If yer planning to go out there just so you can intentionally bring more harm to everypony, then yer not getting past us,” Applejack declared.
“Yeah, and now we know your weakness. We ain’t letting you get away that easy, Storm King!” The blue pegasus puffed out her chest.
“I don’t think you’re in a position to do anything, rainbow collections,” he said.
He raised his arm to the sky with an open palm, the staff began to glow and shot lightning into the ceiling. It began tearing through it, making the whole place shake, pieces of crystal, and heavy chunks of ice and snow fell on the gap between them, blocking them off.
“I’m taking the expressway out so that Mommy Dearest here can be reunited with her babies,” he mockingly said. “Meanwhile, all of you can get buried under a mountain of ice and snow.” He gazed at the broken unicorn. “As for you, as the frost slowly takes you, you can think of all the horrible things I’m going to do to her when I get back to the Crystal Empire.” Suddenly strong wind pulled in through the hole his lightning had carved, as it now reached the surface. “TA!”
And with those words, the obsidian construct grabbed hold of the lightning and an unseen force pulled him up, making him disappear out of sight. The mares quickly ran in the opposite direction to get to the tunnel. Twilight sped up in front of everybody along with Spike to try and hold it up in case it was about to collapse, but she was beaten to it as the room caved in right behind her, blocking everybody else’s escape. Her friends were trapped and there was no way to remove the debris. There was only one thing she could do. She quickly summoned a shield over her friends to protect them as the rest of the ceiling came down on top of them, saving them at the nick of time, but unfortunately, as they were protected, she was unable to erect a barrier over herself as well, and then the ceiling started collapsing on her end as well.
“TWILIGHT!!!” the mares cried on the other end as they saw everything crashing down on top of her, and then the barrier surrounding them disappeared.
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What will happen now?
Honestly those medals really added salt to Spike's wounds on how he got robbed hard in To Where And Back Again when the show had that award ceremony.
11180900
It can only get progressively worse from there onward.
But Spike was taken out like everybody else from the main cast, I don't see how any of that is relevant.
11180922
The medals are relevant to the issue about the season 6 finale since it added more salt to the wounds from the season 6 finale when the show had those medals happen..
Spike was the one who befriended Thorax but instead, he got nabbed too while Starlight took the spotlight and the credit.
Season 6 finale had the right idea of the Mane 6 easily being captured and needing someone else to save them(since usually its someone like the princesses that gets nabbed) , but its botched up when a character who is often shafted for the Mane 6(Spike) gets nabbed too.
If Chrysalis was too arrogant to nab Starlight, she would have been too cocky to nab Spike too.
Why I am pointing out about the medals is just to share more thoughts on the show.
Since that award ceremony in the season 7 premiere rubbed it in on how Spike got robbed in the season 6 finale.
Its pretty much more venting on my end..
the chapter is called "the calm before the storm" but with so many events that have happened, I want to say that the storm has already arrived without giving time to rest.
11181366
I mean, "technically" it arrived in the middle of the chapter.
Its getting good that the ponies have found a clue that could aid them in their battle but what the Storm King said made me a bit confused until he mention that he can't feel anything. The Storm King is a living Golem and is like Baldr from God of War 4, He can't feel anything. I mean Baldr couldn't feel anything because of a spell from his mother who did it to protect him from dying but it rob him of feeling anything, tasting food and drink and smelling simple flowers. The Storm King is now in a living hell, I guess Grogar using Discord's magic failed to make him flesh and blood.
11181795
Failed to make him flesh and blood... or he made him that way on purpose.
11182463
Good possibility but... Even if Grogar has Discord's Chaos Magic, it cannot bring the dead back to life. For Sombra, it was Necromancy Magic (To me as I see it).