A Shimmering Intellect

by DungeonMiner

Chapter 20

Night arrived at the Crystal Tower as the sun was beginning to rise. The Crystal Guard met him at the train station and escorted him directly to the Tower. Once there, Princess Cadence offered him something to eat, and Night found himself facing Flash Sentry again.

Both of them.

“Spymaster Night,” the one in armor greeted, “We have supplies ready for you and a platoon of Guards ready to follow after you.”

“Thank you, but that won’t be necessary,” Night said, eying the Flash eating pancakes at the table. “Princess Twilight sent a platoon with me herself.”

“Understood. I’ll prepare more supplies, and we’ll send our platoon to reinforce you.”

“That will be acceptable,” Night said. “Will you be joining us?”

“No,” the Armored Flash said, “I am currently the senior officer and the Captain in charge of acclimating the Crystal Guard to modern procedure.”

“Well, thank Celestia for small blessings,” Night thought. “Unfortunate,” he said with his best political lie, “we’ll have to make do, though.”

“You’re the one heading up there?” The Breakfast Flash asked.

“Yes. Is there a reason you’re asking?”

“I’m going to help lead you up there.”

Night frowned. “That won’t be necessary. We have the location. You sent it to us in the letter.”

“I’m aware,” Breakfast Flash said, “but I’m going to see this through because Sunset…” he paused, and Night felt there was a huge story behind it. “Sunset’s got stuff to take care of back in our dimension, so she won’t accompany us.”

“I didn’t need her either, but I’m so glad to know I’m taking the worst half of the civilians.” Night sighed before he turned to face Breakfast Flash. “Alright. I expect you to keep up, though.”

“Understood.”

“We’ll be ready to head out in an hour and a half,” Night said to both Flashes. “I expect you and the Crystal Platoon to be ready by then.”

“Yes, sir,” they both said in unison.

Hearing the same voice from two different spots sounded weird, but Night moved on, his mood sour. Dealing with Flash for any time longer than necessary really didn’t sit well with him. Night still remembered how the pegasus managed to get under his skin within the first few minutes of meeting him, and the Spymaster was sure that he’d continue on this track record.

Then again, dealing with somepony as annoying as Flash would keep his mind off Twilight. The entire ride up North left Night’s mind swinging between the tears in Twilight’s eyes and the disappointment on Spike’s face.

Dealing with whatever annoyance Flash brought with him might just make the trip halfway bearable.

Because if Night couldn’t get his mind off Twilight, he might not survive the trip.

---♦---

Sunset couldn’t put off eating any longer. She put off eating her breakfast for as long as she could to avoid facing Flash, but she hadn’t been able to sleep well, and her stomach had been complaining for two and a half hours now. Climbing out of her bed, she slowly made her way down to the hall where they had dinner and found a plate waiting for her, along with some serving staff who snapped to attention at her arrival.

“You, uh, didn’t have to wait on me,” Sunset began as she watched the servers prepare her spot.

“Nonsense, Lady Shimmer,” the group’s apparent leader, a unicorn dressed like a butler, said. “It is the Host’s responsibility to care for their guests. We care most about your well-being and will do what we can to help. Even if it means waiting.”

Sunset gave a small smile and sat. “If you insist.”

They provided her with a bowl of oatmeal sweetened with honey and served with sliced peaches.

“We have coffee,” the unicorn butler said, “though I must warn you that our chef is still trying to find the best manner of preparing it. We did not have it before we were released.”

“Tea’s fine,” Sunset said.

“Of course.”

As the unicorn stepped away to prepare her tea, the door opened, and Flash entered the room.

The frown on his face told Sunset that he was her Flash, and she dipped her eyes to stare into her breakfast instead of staring back at him.

Once he left her last night, storming off to sulk after she told him that she was going home, she found herself staring into a hurricane of emotions. Anger swelled in her at how casually he disregarded her feelings, followed quickly by shame when she remembered how often she did that to him. After the shame came regret, anger, and a vindictive sense of justification. She was right about needing to leave; her relationship with Flash had never been great since they broke up, but it also hadn’t been this bad. Being in Equestria wasn’t just returning her old self to the surface, it was also hurting those around her again.

She just had to leave. That was all there was for it.

Sunset heard Flash clip-clop across the room, but neither of them spoke. She quietly spooned some oatmeal into her mouth and focused on her food.

Flash opened the door with a creak and closed it behind him without slowing down.

Sunset dropped her head onto the table next to her bowl with a groan.

“Is something wrong, my Lady?” the butler asked, returning with tea.

“Not that you could fix. Thank you, though.”

“Are you certain?”

Sunset nodded. “The best thing I can do right now is leave. I’ve already packed my bags. I just need to head for the train station.”

“You’re not a burden if you’re concerned about that, my Lady,” the butler said. “You need not leave yet.”

She gave him a soft smile and shook her head. “No, no. I really do. It’s not your fault. Your hospitality isn’t lacking. I just…I just need to go home.”

“If you’re certain,” the butler said, a questioning tone still in his voice.

“I am, thank you.”

The butler stepped back and left Sunset to her breakfast bowl.

She just needed to get home.

---♦---

Flash shouldered his bag and stared up at the mountain in the far distance. This time, he’d be climbing Everhoof with forty-eight other ponies, and he couldn’t help but worry about getting supplies for everyone if something went wrong. They all carried supplies so they wouldn’t be scavenging for supplies out the gate, but that didn’t let him feel any better about it.

The Crystal guard did make him feel better, though. Their blue-silver armor was hidden beneath thick cloaks of white fur, and the spears were wrapped with white cloth. They carried skis and had a sled laden with supplies.

The other Flash also gave the Canterlot guard a sled, some of the same white cloaks, and skis, but the way a few of the golden-armored ponies looked at them did not fill him with confidence.

“Alright, ponies,” Night called from the edge of the warming field. “We’ve put off leaving as long as we could. We need to move now.”

The guards answered by standing up and grabbing their supplies. Flash stood and saw Night giving him a look as he did.

“Let’s go, forced march, ponies.”

The two platoons moved, and as they did, Flash took one more look at the Crystal Empire and the trail of smoke that marked the train heading back to Canterlot.

“Flash, if you don’t move, we’re leaving you behind,” Night called.

“Yes, sir,” he replied, leaving the train passengers behind him. He had more important things to think about.

---♦---

The ride to Canterlot felt far longer than it should have. Sunset arrived by nightfall, but the trip felt like it took weeks. She disembarked at the public station and watched as the magical lamp lights began to burn, bringing warmth to the darkness surrounding the capital city. She knew these streets like the back of her hoof, but that familiarity only made her feel sicker.

She climbed up the mountainside to the castle and spoke to the guard posted at the gate. A few short minutes later, Twilight called her in, and she stood in front of the mirror, ready to return home.

“Thank you for finding it, Sunset. It means a lot.”

“I’m just glad I could help,” she said. Hopefully, it’ll balance things out on the moral scale.

“I’m glad to know I could count on you,” Twilight continued. “Once I have this crystal secured, the country will be far safer.”

Sunset didn’t reply and just nodded as she stared at the portal. Her eyes wouldn’t leave the mirror surface that promised to take her home.

“Sunset,” Twilight called, and she turned to see the Princess giving her a sad smile. “Sunset, I’m happy you came. If you ever need to come back, you’re always welcome.”

Sunset could only manage a half smile in return. “Thanks, Princess, but I think it’s best if I just go home.”

“Okay,” Twilight replied before she handed the unicorn a small chest of jewelry. “Best of luck out there, Sunset.”

“Same to you, Twilight.”

As she carried the strongbox through the mirror, Sunset let the magic pass over her. She stood before the Canterlot High statue, facing the school in the moonlight, and sighed. Now, she just had to walk home.

---♦---

Night frowned.

Their trip up Everhoof was arduous, but it went well. They reached the foot of the mountain yesterday, and the ascent began in earnest. Each platoon had a squad of pegasi, and the sixteen of them used their ability to fly to help the others climb by setting up pitons, ropes, pulleys, and harnesses. With the two squads working together, Flash admitted they were making better time than the first trip.

Speaking of Flash, the pegasus was doing better than he thought.

Along with helping the pegasi squads with the climbing, he not only kept up with the group but acted as a guide of some kind, warning them about the hazards they were coming against and helping navigate the mountain’s most challenging climbs.

Flash was proving to be not only helpful but downright useful as well, and Night couldn’t help but sigh because of it.

He checked the position of the sun. On the trip across the plain, the sergeant of the Crystal Guard platoon argued that they would need an hour to set up decent shelters, and whatever light and heat they could get worked best. They were getting close to time. “Alright, ponies, let’s start looking for a place to set down.”

The Crystal Guard scout squad began to move out, searching for a suitable place to set up camp and nearly disappearing in the snowscape. The Crystal Guard’s incredible ability to disappear in the snow left Night a little jealous if he were honest. He’d have to see if he could recruit one or two for his Inquisitors.

He could do that if he ever managed to face Twilight again.

He sighed and shook his head. This was supposed to get his mind off what he was dealing with at home, not force him to think of it more. He needed to turn in the Crystal, ask Twilight about new Inquisitors, and then find a way of avoiding this whole conversion without digging himself deeper into trouble.

“Over here!” one of the ponies called.

Night wandered over, and the others gathered around the new campsite. The scout squad had already begun clearing away snow for the shelters. The Crystal guard worked quickly, setting up the tents with expert efficiency. They worked well in the snow, and Night couldn’t help but respect them for it, even though it left him with nothing to do, feeling like he was just taking up space.

“Need me to do anything?”

Night spun and saw Flash standing beside him, shaking snow off his hooves. The Spymaster looked him up and down momentarily before shaking his head. “Just make sure you’re not in the way of the experts.”

“Is that what you’re doing?” He asked back.

Smug little…

He debated for a second about answering the pegasus, but he needed to take his mind off everything, so he might as well. “You’re not wrong.”

There was quiet for a bit before Flash spoke up again. “Ever stared at someone doing the job you’re supposed to be doing so well that it makes you feel useless?”

Night frowned.

Spike, slipping from whatever job he had to another. Captain Azure, integrating the Inquisitors seamlessly into a raid on a criminal fortress. Twilight becoming Princess.

“I have.”

“It’s the worst, isn’t it?”

Night looked away from the campsite and stared at the sky instead, which turned such a bright pink that he thought he might go blind. “No, there are worse things.”

“Oh, what do you think is worse?”

“Thinking you’ve found somewhere you belong, only to find out it was a terrible idea that you came, and having to return to where it all started. That’s far worse.”

Flash didn’t respond.

“I guess both of those are pretty bad,” he said.

The Crystal guard had the tents up and used extra cloth to fuel a fire within minutes. The Equestrian guard nodded their thanks as they fed the fire with a single lump of enchanted coal they brought from Canterlot.

“Wish we had those going up,” Flash muttered as he looked at the coal.

“Twilight said it might interfere with the searching,” Night said, “but it’s not—”

His words were cut short as something slammed into his chest and threw him into a snow bank. He sputtered snow out of his mouth and sat up to stare at Flash, who pinned him down. “There on the ridge!”

Night tried to push Flash off him before a boulder soared over them. Night watched as the rock clipped one of the Crystal Guard, sending him spinning and roaring in agony.

“They see with magic. We can’t hide!” Flash said.

Night shoved Flash away and growled. “Well, let’s see about that.”

As the Spymaster stood, he saw a single stone golem bearing down on them from a small cliff about fourteen cartlengths away, throwing boulders at the guards. Using all the magical power he could summon, Night began to use his Transposement spell to copy the guards around him. The Images of the guards slid forward, masking their actual positions, and it looked like that worked.

As the golem threw the next volley of boulders, they hit the displaced Images, missing the ponies completely.

Even as he held them, though, he was beginning to lose his hold on the spell. He didn’t have the magical ability to hold onto the Image of that many ponies. A handful of guards had their Images snap back to themselves, and Night worried that the golems could pin them down.

“Everyone visible hide!” Flash said.

At least he was quick on the pickup.

“Everyone else, move forward!” Flash said. “Unicorns, try to pull them apart! Pegasi, try to distract them in the air! Earth ponies, get close and aim for the joints!”

Good orders, too.

“You heard him, go!”

The guards moved, obeying orders. They charged the single golem, while those that were revealed began throwing spears, stones, or spells to offer support. As the fighters got into melee range, the golem began flailing, swinging its arms in wide arcs that caught the images in what would be devastating attacks.

Despite the magical protection, a guard must have gotten too close, and he and his Image flew before landing in the snow.

One of the guards managed to stick a spear in the golem’s knee joint, and half of the remaining attackers immediately threw themselves onto the spear haft. It should have snapped if not for the preservation enchantment placed on guard equipment. Using their combined weight, they pulled until something snapped, and the golem fell backward, missing a chunk of its leg.

Night’s body finally moved.

Everything was happening too fast.

The Spymaster charged the golem, but he had no idea what he could do. He didn’t have the magical strength to pull the thing apart and couldn’t see the gems he needed to pry loose to disable the beast.

But, in his time in Twilight’s court, he had learned a new word of power.

He cast Transform Matter, and the stone golem transformed into air, revealing an orb of crystal beneath. “It’s a geode?” he asked, horrified.

“There are thousands of crystals running that thing,” Flash said before throwing a rock at the orb of amethysts. “We need to break it to pieces.”

Night was panting, too much energy already spent between his spells and the march. He couldn’t use magic to affect the crystals now. He’d need to break them the old-fashioned way. “Hammers!” Night called.

A handful of Canterlot guards armed with war hammers, tent mallets, and rocks charged, rushing the golem. It answered with sweeping blows that knocked ponies aside.

Night looked around for something that could help, anyway that he could stop this thing, but nothing came to mind. As a guard went flying, a war hammer landed at his hooves. He picked it up without even thinking about it.

For a moment that dragged on for an eternity, in stark contrast to the seconds that flew past him in the fight, Night found himself with a hammer in his hoof, ponies thrown around like rag dolls, and Flash flying toward him. In this strange instance of reality, where time stopped to a crawl, Night could read precisely what Flash was thinking. The idea was crazy, but Night couldn’t help but respect it, even if Flash was an annoying little civilian batting for someone way out of his league.

Night jumped into Flash’s arms, and they rocketed toward the golem as time sped to its insane pace. The space closed quickly, and Night lifted the hammer with whatever strength he had left.

Flash began to climb, gaining some air, and Night jumped, swinging down with all his might.

The orb of crystals shattered, and whatever was left of the golem fell.

Night stood up from the snow bank, breathing heavily.

“Is that it?” Someone called out. “Is it done?”

“It’s dead,” Flash confirmed.

“So is Sapphire,” one of the Crystal Guards reported. “And Bezoar is looking over Beryl, but it’s not looking good.”

A Canterlot guard approached as well. “Hoplite and Helm are both dead as well. Greave has two broken legs.”

“Okay, five casualties and three fatalities. We did manage to kill it, though.”

“Yeah,” Flash said, “but there are more of them, and they learn. It’s only going to be harder to kill them next time.”

Night sighed. He didn’t need that kind of news.

Comments

[Noobblue]

Oh crap.

I was under the impression they were going to send a strike squad, not a whole platoon; and now that they've been spotted, the magic doohickey is going to formulate a plan beat them before they even reach the top of the mountain.

These golems are just gonna be the distraction to sideswipe them to under functioning capacity

[MoonlightRift]

Yikes, that's a lot of casualties for just one.