A/N: MAJOR thanks to GAvillain for some of the logistics in this chapter. Some ideas in the train section are flat-out his. I have him to thank for a lot of this fic, but especially this chapter.
Also, old ships die hard.
16. All Aboard
Inside the Ponyville castle, which doubled as a library, Equestria's very own resident alicorn Princess of Friendship trotted up and down the halls, plucking one or two books from each shelf by magic and adding them to a floating stack.
Behind her, a young dragon looked nervously at the increasingly taller stack, knowing he'd have to carry it eventually. "Twilight," he groaned, "it's a weekend trip! You won't need THAT many books!"
"Oh, won't I, Spike?" Princess Twilight Sparkle replied. "What happens if the train gets held up? What happens if Shining Armor and Cadance have to call an emergency council? What happens if we get snowed into the Empire? Then everypony will be glad I brought books so we aren't bored!"
"The others usually have a pretty easy time not being bored anyway," Spike pointed out.
"True," Twilight admitted. "But still, I always like to have some extra reading material on hoof."
There came a knock at the door, and Twilight and Spike both perked up. "You think that's one of our friends?" Spike asked. "Maybe it's Rarity! Not that I, uh, was hoping for her or anything…"
Twilight shook her head. "They all said they'd meet us at the train station. It must be somepony who wants to check out a book! Good thing they made it before we left!" Carefully bringing the levitating books along with her, Twilight proceeded to the front door. Setting the books down gently, she eased the doors open via magic. "Hi there!" she greeted the five unicorns who stood before her. "How can I help you?"
"We're looking for books about magic," Mozenrath replied.
"Well, then, you've come to the right place!" Twilight stepped back, extending a hoof to indicate the castle's interior. "Come on in!"
Mozenrath, Wuya, Aghoul, Mim, and Even trotted inside, the last of the bunch looking about curiously to see if there were any clues to why there was suddenly a castle here that functioned as the library.
"So what exactly are you looking for?" Twilight asked.
"A couple subjects, actually," Mozenrath replied, turning to face her. "First of all, we'll take whatever material you have about the Elements of Harmony. Second, we'd like to learn more about the Crystal Empire."
"Am I ever close to THOSE subjects," Twilight commented. "I actually think I have what you're looking for right here." She levitated a book out of the middle of her stack of vacation reading material. "As far as the Elements of Harmony go, anyway. This should tell you the basics. Though really, the most important things about the Elements have only been discovered recently. There hasn't been time for anypony to sit down and write a book on everything. That's the most recent work there is, and it calls the sixth Element a 'mystery' when everypony knows it's magic! As for the Crystal Empire, that's gonna be a little bit harder. There hasn't been much time to write about that one, either, since it reappeared. We have some texts, but they're really archaic and don't cover the post-Sombra period."
"Well, I'll take the book on the Elements, at least," Mozenrath decided, levitating that book into his own vicinity.
"If you don't mind my asking," Even inquired, "where can a unicorn learn more about the Crystal Empire?"
"Actually, Spike and I were going there with a few friends for the weekend," Twilight informed him. "There's a train headed there in less than half an hour, if you're not too busy."
"Our day is clear of plans," Wuya told Twilight.
"If you're interested in magic, you'll love the Empire," Twilight gushed. "I think it might be the most magical place in all Equestria."
"Tell me more about that," Mozenrath commanded.
"Well, obviously, there's the Crystal Heart," Twilight responded. She was then silent. Apparently, anypony who lived in Equestria was supposed to know what that was.
"We aren't exactly familiar," Even told her.
"Not familiar with the Crystal Heart?" Twilight was taken aback. "But EVERYPONY knows about the Crystal Heart! Well, now they do, anyway. A while ago, it was a big mystery, even to the ponies in the Empire! When the ponies of the Empire power the Heart with their positive feelings, it spreads a protective positive aura over all Equestria. It's strong enough to keep the cold of the North out of the Empire, not to mention it can keep out certain varieties of Dark magic."
Mozenrath, Wuya, Mim, and Aghoul exchanged looks. None of them wanted to relive the incident of the Disney Castle barrier.
"Basically, if anything happened to the Crystal Heart," Twilight went on, "Equestria as we know it would be doomed, starting with the Empire itself!"
That was more to the quintet's liking.
"Twilight!" Spike trotted into the room. "C'mon, Twilight! We gotta get going if we're gonna make the train!"
"Sorry to have to close up shop on you so soon," Twilight told the five unicorns. "If you really are going to catch the train to the Empire, we can talk more on the way there."
"That sounds…delightful," Mozenrath replied thoughtfully. If he couldn't find the information on the Empire in a book, he would talk it out of this alicorn as much as he could. "It's always nice to meet someone who shares an interest in magic."
"I know, right?" Twilight said gladly. "I could even give you a little primer about the Elements of Harmony if you want to know what you won't find in that book."
"I'd like that," Mozenrath said gratefully.
He was briefly interrupted by Ayam Aghoul nudging his shoulder. When Mozenrath turned to look at Aghoul, he found the undead unicorn raising and lowering his eyebrows at him suggestively. Mozenrath wasn't sure what Aghoul was implying, but he didn't like it.
"Let's go!" Twilight suggested, and the entire group moved out of the library, books and all.
"So tell me more about the Empire," Mozenrath demanded of Twilight.
"Well," Twilight began, "over a thousand years ago, the Empire lived in peace, ruled over by the Crystal Princess. Then an evil unicorn named King Sombra invaded and…"
...
Papyrus, Ruby, and Sora nearly broke down the door of the police station as they rushed toward it. "I can't believe we actually landed on the same world as HIM!" Ruby emphasized.
"Well, now we're finally going to get some answers about the crowd he's running with, and what they're doing!" Sora stated.
However, they were greeted with the sight of a crowd of officers, an empty cell, yellow police tape, and no Torchwick. "STRANGE," Papyrus commented. "I COULD HAVE SWORN THIS IS WHERE HE WOULD HAVE BEEN TAKEN! PERHAPS HE WAS BROUGHT TO ANOTHER PRISON? WELL, ONLY ONE WAY TO FIND OUT!" The skeleton strode forward until he was adjacent to a pair of conversing officers. "EXCUSE ME! WE ARE HERE TO SEE THE VILLAIN I APPREHENDED YESTERDAY!"
"Augh…" The younger of the two officers was the one who had been on duty the night of Roman's not-so-flawless escape. "This is just never going to END, is it?"
"The guy flew the coop," the older officer informed the trio. "Somehow, he managed to dislodge the bulletproof glass from the window."
"I know I was supposed to be on watch," the younger officer moaned, "but it wasn't my fault! I was trying to apprehend a vandal! The same vandal who wrote THAT!" He pointed to the rude message on the wall.
"OH MY," Papyrus commented. "THAT IS NOT VERY NICE AT ALL!"
"Hmm…" Ruby was beginning to form a suspicion. "What did this vandal look like?"
"The vandal?" the young officer repeated.
"You hard of hearing?" the older officer teased. "That's exactly what she said!"
"She was…sixteen? Or maybe older. Could've been twenty, actually," the young officer mused.
"That's a pretty big gap," the older officer commented.
"I really couldn't tell!" the young officer protested. "She had long black hair in pigtails and bright green eyes. She was white, but she had a bit of a tan. She was short and thin. And she was dressed like a goth."
Sora, Ruby, and Papyrus all knew it was wise not to let on how much they knew, exactly, about Roman and his possible cohorts. Papyrus had taken the news of other worlds well, but he'd let his new friends in on the fact that others in town, with a few exceptions, wouldn't. "WELL, I AM SORRY TO HEAR YOU LOST HIM," Papyrus told the officers. "BUT NEVER FEAR! WE WILL MAKE SURE HIS EVIL DOES NOT ROAM THE STREETS FOR LONG! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL TAKE IT UPON MYSELF TO RETURN HIM TO YOUR CUSTODY!"
"Y'know, you're a real treasure around this town, Papyrus," the older officer told the skeleton. "You just be careful out there, okay? And don't worry too much about this. Worst comes to worst, we got this under control." She glanced into the cell. "But first thing, we're securing that window."
"THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP!" Papyrus said as he, Sora, and Ruby strode out of the station.
As soon as they were out of earshot of the police, Ruby sighed, "Well, I shouldn't be surprised. Roman's escaped from higher security than this. Especially if Neo was helping him."
"WHO IS NEO?" Papyrus asked.
"Roman's henchman," Ruby replied. "Well, hench-woman. She has this semblance that…well, I don't really understand how it works, but she can make you think you're seeing something that isn't actually there. She can change her clothes and how she looks with it. I'm wondering if she might be the person who spray-painted the wall. If anyone would want to cause a distraction to break Torchwick out of jail, it would be her."
"So what do we do now?" Sora asked.
There was a silence as the trio tried to come up with a new plan to figure out Roman's whereabouts. That silence was immediately broken by the sound of a frenetically activated bicycle bell; Sora, Ruby, and Papyrus halted in unison and backpedaled hastily to get out of the way of a speeding bike careening down the sidewalk.
The bike's rider swerved around at the end of the path, making a slower course back toward the trio as they called out, "SORRY! Sorry!" They halted the bike in front of Sora, Ruby, and Papyrus, and all could now see the rider was a child with dark hair, clad in a blue sweater with purple stripes. "I didn't mean to almost run you over!" they apologized.
"ALL IS FORGIVEN, FRIEND!" Papyrus replied enthusiastically. He then gasped: "OH MY GOD! THIS IS A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO INTRODUCE MY OLD FRIEND TO MY NEW FRIENDS!" He turned to stand next to and gesture dramatically toward the rider of the now stationary bike. "SORA AND RUBY, THIS IS FRISK! ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS!" He turned to Frisk; "FRISK, THIS IS SORA AND RUBY! THEY ARE NEW FRIENDS I MADE JUST TODAY!"
Frisk hopped off their bike, putting down the kickstand so they could address the new duo. "Hi!" they said joyfully, waving.
"Nice to meet ya!" Sora bent down just far enough so that Frisk could easily shake his extended hand, which they proceeded to do.
"SORA AND RUBY ARE NEW IN TOWN, AND SO I WAS GOING TO SHOW THEM AROUND," Papyrus explained. "BUT IT TURNS OUT THEY KNOW THAT FIEND I STOPPED FROM ROBBING THE GAS STATION YESTERDAY! SO WE WENT TO FIND HIM AND DEMAND SOME ANSWERS, BUT IT TURNS OUT HE ESCAPED!"
"Uhhhh…Papyrus?" Ruby's eyes flicked from Papyrus to Frisk and back. "Are you sure we should be talking about that…?"
"OF COURSE!" Papyrus insisted. "IF YOU CANNOT TRUST FRISK, YOU CANNOT TRUST ANYONE!"
"Trust me with what?" Frisk asked.
"THAT ROBBER CAME HERE FROM ANOTHER WORLD!" Papyrus announced. "AND SO DID SORA AND RUBY!"
"Really?" Frisk's face lit up at the prospect.
"Really," Sora confirmed with a smile.
Frisk's eyes sparkled. "COOL!" After some thought, they asked, "So what are you going to do now?"
"Try and find Torchwick, I guess," Ruby answered.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHERE WE SHOULD LOOK FOR HIM?" Papyrus asked Frisk.
Frisk thought it over. "Hmmm. Well…maybe we should ask around! If there's a bad guy on the loose, Undyne would probably know something! We could check with Toriel, too. And maybe Mettaton could put the word out on his radio show that we're looking for someone!"
"THOSE ARE ALL GREAT IDEAS!" Papyrus affirmed. "IN FACT, I WAS JUST ABOUT TO COME UP WITH ALL OF THEM!"
"Sure you were," Frisk laughed.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ruby asked. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
"ONWARD TO UNDYNE!" Papyrus pointed dramatically in the direction of his fishy friend's house.
Frisk turned their bike to steer in that direction, and they led the charge.
...
For Yzma, the Huntsman, Roman, Snatcher, and Neo, figuring out more information about the children in Toriel's photographs was a small feat. Some of the newspapers they'd stolen had articles about missing children who matched the description of the ones in the photographs. In the end, one child stood out: a little girl named Oona Finn.
"Were she alive to this day," Snatcher pointed out, "Miss Finn would be around the age of Torchwick. Or, should I say, Miss Incandescent."
"I like where this is going," Roman responded.
"Say, for example, a concerned aunt and a childhood friend of Miss Finn's were to travel into the city and speak to local law enforcement about the monsters that had just come aboveground here," Snatcher went on. "If they made a compelling enough case, that might give said law enforcement probable cause to search His Majesty's home for our souls. A VERY compelling case ending with proof of His Majesty's wrongdoing might just turn a great many people against the monster population in general."
"I REALLY like where this is going!" Roman affirmed.
"So the two of you are going to New Vulpine in drag to cozy up to the police," Yzma deciphered.
"That is EXACTLY what we're to do," Snatcher confirmed.
"And how do you plan to get there?" the Huntsman asked.
Roman shrugged. "We'll steal a car."
"Do you even know how to drive?" the Huntsman asked skeptically.
"Do we know how to drive?" Roman repeated. "It can't be THAT different from an airship."
At about the same time, Snatcher said, "It can't be THAT different from Trubshaw's contraption."
"I think you'll find it can," the Huntsman groaned. "You'll either have to rely on public transport, or I will take you downtown in whatever car you acquire."
"We're not going to have you chauffeur us around," Roman insisted. "We can handle this."
"Suit yourself," the Huntsman told him. "And I hope you won't mind if we come up with a contingency plan for when the two of you die horribly in a traffic accident."
"Geez, thanks for the support," Roman groaned. "Trust me. Archie and I can handle the car thing just fine."
"In fact," Snatcher suggested, "I've an idea of where we may acquire one."
...
At the edge of Knightdock, located in such a way that if you drew lines that connected it to Mt. Ebott and the beach on a map of the town, it would form an almost equilateral triangle, there was a bluff that offered a majestic view of the forests and rolling plains on the opposite side of town from New Vulpine. As such, it was a popular location for sightseeing, especially for families and romantic couples.
One such couple parked their car on the road just across from the bluff, getting out to walk the short wooded trail to the sightseeing locale. "You've seriously never seen this before?" one half of the set, a human male, asked with a big smile upon his face.
His girlfriend, a scaly monster, shook her head. "Ever since we got out of the mountain, I've just stayed in town."
"You're gonna LOVE the view," the human male promised, and they fell into step alongside each other, their hands clasping at each other in a tight knot.
Their date was unfortunately cut short when Roman, who'd been biding his time behind a nearby tree, crept up behind them and forced a pair of rags over their faces. The couple, horrified, had barely enough time to register that the substance the rags had been soaked in wasn't making him sleepy at all and didn't smell like anything at all before it kicked in. Roman had, in fact, coated both rags with a potion of Yzma's making, and the young couple soon found themselves transformed into small white mice, which Roman scooped into a glass jar with a single hole for air punctured in the lid. "You know," Roman taunted as he shook the jar, "I was just going to squish you two, but feeding you to Xerxes is going to be a lot more fun. Do eels even eat mice? I have no idea. But he'll eat sushi, so his bar's pretty low."
Pocketing the jar, Roman turned back to the car. Though the couple's clothing had miraculously disappeared in the transformation, a phenomenon unexplained to this day, the car keys rested in the dirt next to where they'd been assaulted. Taking the keyring into his hand and twirling it around his little finger, Roman turned to look back at the thick forestation, announcing, "You can come out now."
As it was, Roman was on his own version of a date. "All witnesses have been removed from the premises?" Snatcher asked as he stepped into view.
Roman produced the jar of mice, shaking it up again. Snatcher gave this a nod of approval. "Besides," Roman reminded him, "everyone in town mostly knows you as Frou Frou anyway."
The partners in crime turned their attention to the car. "It really can't be THAT different from an airship," Roman asserted one more time. "Yeah. I got this."
Snatcher wasn't about to argue. Roman unlocked the car, and as he slid into the driver's seat, Snatcher took over the front passenger spot. "Now, let's see…" Roman looked the mechanism of the dashboard over. "Ignition key goes here, steering controls are here, and this pedal should – "
No sooner had he gotten the car started than he'd zoomed it forward until it smacked into a small tree, crumpling the hood.
"Perhaps I should take over," Snatcher suggested.
"What, you think you can do better than me?" Roman groaned. "This was a fluke!"
"Think of it as a chance to relax, Torchwick. You did the work of vehicle acquisition, and now I get to do the heavy lifting, so to speak."
"Fine." Roman threw open the car door. "You wanna give it a shot, you can give it a shot."
He and Snatcher swapped places. "Now then," Snatcher began, looking over the car's controls. "Where you've gone wrong was in the operation of the levers. Even to the untrained eye, it's obvious that this lever should be set in THIS position – "
The car shot backward until it collided with another tree from the other end.
After a moment of silence, Roman announced, "We're starting over with another car? We're starting over with another car."
Another young couple, another dose of mouse transformation potion, and another theft later, Roman was back in the driver's seat, taking the whole operation a lot more slowly to start out. "Okay," he sighed. "Think I finally got the hang of this thing. Not that I didn't before!"
"I'm aware, Torchwick. I'm aware."
"You can have another shot with it when there's less stuff around to crash into," Roman promised.
"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," Snatcher huffed. He then noticed a short figure in the middle of the road. "Torchwick, there's someone – "
"I see him." Roman grinned. "I bet he's expecting me to slow down, isn't he?"
"And what are YOU expecting to do?" Snatcher asked, already smirking due to the answer he knew was coming.
"Eliminate the last witness," Roman stated. He depressed the gas pedal just that much more.
The car sped toward the figure in the road at top speed, but just as it would have collided, whoever was there suddenly wasn't anymore. "Did I just…?" Roman wondered out loud. "Or did he vanish?"
"hey," a deep voice greeted from the back seat.
Cursing loudly, Roman, startled, slammed on the brake pedal; he and Snatcher were nearly thrown forward over the dashboard. The pair swiveled in their seats as soon as their balance was settled so they could see who had invaded their car and, more importantly, try and figure out how he'd done it.
Had it been Yzma and the Huntsman who'd gone to secure a car, they might have recognized Sans, the lazy skeleton from the newspaper office. As it was, Roman and Snatcher had no idea who or what they were looking at. "look," Sans told them. "i'm not gonna rat you guys out or anything because i have no idea how far you're gonna get. at this point, i don't have to care. but if you keep going the way you're going, picking up all twelve of those things and all, well, that's something i can't really let happen. so consider this your warning to bail before it's too late. because if you keep this up, you're gonna be in for a bad time."
He was gone as suddenly as he'd appeared.
"WHAT…THE…HELL!" Roman shrieked.
"HOW DID HE KNOW ANY OF THAT?" Snatcher roared.
"And WHERE did he go?" Roman added.
They paused and waited, as though expecting Sans to come back or drop off some hint as to where he'd gone. They found nothing of the sort, though had Roman checked his pockets then, he would have noticed that the mice had disappeared.
"…Do you think we can take him at his word?" Snatcher asked after a while.
"I think we have to," Roman replied. "I have no idea where to even START tracking him down to kill him."
"What d'you suppose he meant, that we'd be in for a bad time?"
"That's not self-explanatory?"
"Yes, Torchwick, but how so?"
"How much could a skeleton really do to US?" Roman posed.
"We've at least got to let the others know he's a potential threat to our plan," Snatcher decided.
"Yeah, yeah," Roman agreed. "How did he even get in the car?"
"Presumably with magic," Snatcher suggested. "We don't have time to dwell on it. We should return to base and carry out the plan as we formed it."
"Yeah," Roman said absently, still obviously concerned about the sudden appearance and disappearance of Sans. When it finally sank in there was nothing more he could do, both he and Snatcher turned back toward the road ahead and took the car on a course back to Mt. Ebott.
...
"…And that's how the Crystal Empire was chosen to be the host of the Equestria Games! Aaaaaand that would be the train station. Sorry. I didn't mean to talk so much the whole way." Twilight looked apologetically to Mozenrath.
"Don't apologize," Mozenrath replied with a smirk. "That was all very informative." He'd learned a lot. Turned out Discord had given him a good tip after all. The Crystal Heart might have been the most powerful magical device in all Equestria after the Elements of Harmony themselves, and if it were put in danger, not only would the Empire threaten to freeze over, but the rest of Equestria would suffer from the lack of the Heart's aura. In short, if the Heart were put in danger, that might just be the push a new group of heroes needed to retrieve the Elements of Harmony. The plan was nowhere near completely formulated in Mozenrath's mind – he still had to figure out how exactly to lead Grimhilde and Cruella to the Heart, and who in the immediate vicinity would be naïve enough to take the Elements back out to play with – but at least a major piece of it had fallen into place.
"Maybe we can talk more when we get to the Empire," Twilight suggested. "It is always nice to get to talk to somepony who's interested in magic. I should go meet up with my friends now. It was really nice meeting you, um…what was your name again?"
"Mozenrath," the sorcerer replied before Wuya stamped on his foot hard. Too late, he realized he probably should have used an assumed name. It wasn't as though it mattered much, he realized. He'd never been to this world before, he didn't plan to stay long, and if the plan was to go swimmingly, he did eventually want Grimhilde and Cruella to figure out where he was so they could cause enough trouble.
"That's an…unusual one," Twilight commented. "I like it. I'm Twilight Sparkle. Though you might have already known that. Then again, you didn't know about the Elements or the Crystal Heart, so maybe you didn't. Aaaand I'm rambling again. I should just…yeah." She turned to move toward a larger group of ponies: five Twilight's age and three fillies. As Spike followed, Twilight gave a wave with her hoof directed back at the quintet of unicorns, then turned and galloped full speed toward her companions.
Mozenrath caught himself waving in return. "I knew you'd have a thing for her," Aghoul commented.
"I do not have a THING for her," Mozenrath growled. "She's just a useful source of information."
"Sure she is," Aghoul teased. "An attractive one, too. And one who's interested in the same things as you."
"Except for world conquest," Mozenrath said dryly.
"I don't even understand how the two of you are attracted to PONIES," Wuya hissed.
"I AM NOT ATTRACTED TO ANYPONY HERE," Mozenrath seethed.
"It's really a common phenomenon that occurs with shapeshifting," Even pointed out. "There is a magical increase in the proclivity to be attracted to the same species as the species of the form you currently inhabit."
"FOR THE LAST TIME, I AM NOT – "
"Well, I haven't found any of the stallions OR mares here particularly eye-catching," Wuya interrupted Mozenrath. "Have you, Mim?"
"No," Mim growled. "They're all too happy and brightly colored! Show me where the REAL bad boys are already!"
"I'm going to read," Mozenrath announced, flipping his book open in midair. "And if any of you tries to interrupt me, I WILL make good on my promise from earlier." He trotted onboard one of the cars of the train, book flying in front of him at eye level.
"Someone's in denial," Aghoul muttered as Wuya, Mim, and Even trailed behind.
The train whistled to life, and when all its passengers were aboard, it chugged out of the station, making a fast clip north. Settled in a car that was occupied only by him and his four cohorts, Mozenrath curled up on the nearest seat, book floating nearby. Mim, Wuya, Aghoul, and Even were making idle chatter about something or another, but Mozenrath tuned them out completely, focusing on the book. The Elements of Harmony, it said, were a powerful magic that was used to defeat evils such as the prophesied Nightmare Moon. As Discord had said, five of them were confirmed to be Laughter, Kindness, Honesty, Loyalty, and Generosity. As Twilight had said, the sixth was stated by the book to be a mystery. Mozenrath wondered if it was safe to assume the sixth was pure magic. If that were the case, it would have to tap into a great source of aether.
As Mozenrath reached the end of the passage, he was aware of Aghoul standing very close to them. "All I'm saying is that you wouldn't let any of US get away with rambling on that long before you complained or set one of us on fire," the undead unicorn pointed out.
He then found himself out of witty comments, as the end of his beard had been set aflame. Even quickly iced it, and Aghoul escaped unscathed, but his beard as a whole did not survive. "Now I've got to start growing that all over again!" he complained.
"You were warned," Mozenrath reminded him.
"But he has a point," Mim observed. "Why were you so invested in what SHE had to say all the way here?"
"Because it was important to what we were looking for," Mozenrath replied. "How hard is this for you to understand?"
"Not very," Wuya told him. "But going this route is a lot more fun."
"You're a scientist, Even," Aghoul prompted. "What do you think their children would look like?"
"I refuse to take part in this childishness," Even grunted.
"At least someone in this train car has sense," Mozenrath muttered.
"Look at it this way," Wuya told Mozenrath. "If the world conquest business doesn't pan out, you could have a pretty comfortable life, marrying a princess like that."
"I DON'T NEED TO MARRY A PRINCESS!" Mozenrath's hooves hit the floor. "I ALREADY AM THE LORD OF MY OWN EMPIRE!"
"All the more proof that you two are a royal match!" Mim laughed.
"I don't have to put up with this," Mozenrath growled, turning toward the door that connected the adjoining cars.
"You miss her already?" Aghoul joked, making to follow Mozenrath. He found himself surrounded by a ring of blue flame. This time, Even seriously considered not putting it out.
The display of fire served as a sufficient warning, and when Mozenrath stepped into the next car, he wasn't followed. As the door closed behind him, he let out a sigh of relief…before realizing this car was even louder than the last one.
To one side, a trio of fillies – one orange pegasus, one white unicorn, and one yellow earth pony – was working on a complex diagram with seemingly random symbols drawn on it: a crystal, a stack of books, a bobsled ("Maybe we can get our Cutie Marks in somethin' you can only do in the Crystal Empire!"). To the opposite side, a blue pegasus with a conspicuously rainbow mane was playing a board game (Wuya would have identified it as a variant of Battleship from her Jack Spicer years) against a tan earth pony with a blonde mane and a cowboy hat ("Gol dangit, Rainbow, that was my last cloud!" "I WIN!"). A white unicorn, one who looked to be related to the smaller one, was gushing over a sketchbook while Spike looked on, practically drooling ("OOH, yes! I do believe I've got it! This would be the PERFECT gown to wear to the next Gala! Don't you think so, Spikey-Wikey?"). A yellow pegasus, one that Mozenrath recognized from the Everfree Forest, paced nervously back and forth ("I do hope Angel has enough carrots. I gave him enough for five days, and we'll only be gone for two, but what if there's a snowstorm and we're stuck in the Empire for seven?"). And, most offensive of all, a pink pony with a curly mane and tail was doing a dance on her hind hooves while playing a trombone, an accordion, and an enormous drum all at the same time with her front hooves, right in the middle of the car. The only living being not making any noise whatsoever was Twilight Sparkle, who was curled up on a seat, reading one of her many, many books. Regardless of the teasing Mozenrath knew it would earn him if Aghoul saw him, he knew there was only one logical choice.
He approached Twilight confidently. "Is this seat taken?"
Twilight's head jerked up from the book; she was surprised to see who was addressing her. "Oh. No, it's not."
As Mozenrath got up into the adjacent seat, he observed, "You're not taking part in the…festivities."
Twilight gave a little shrug. "I just wanted to read. Did you finish that book already?"
"I think I got the gist about the Elements," Mozenrath answered.
"Well, that's not nearly all there is to know about them," Twilight informed him. "You know, I actually wielded the Element of Magic for a long time."
"Really?" So the sixth was Magic after all.
"Really," Twilight affirmed. "My friends and I used all six to defeat all kinds of evil, from Nightmare Moon to Discord."
"And where are these friends of yours?" Mozenrath asked, curious.
Twilight swept her hoof in an outward gesture to the rest of the car. "You're looking at 'em."
"…Them," Mozenrath reiterated in disbelief, looking from the paranoid pacer to the sore winner to the one-mare band.
"That was my reaction when I first met them all, too," Twilight nearly laughed.
"You're telling me that all eight of THOSE ponies and that dragon were in charge of one of the most magical powers in all Equestria."
"Not all of them," Twilight corrected. "See those three?" She pointed to the trio of fillies. "They're kind of the 'little sisters' of our group. Apple Bloom is Applejack's sister, Sweetie Belle is Rarity's, and Scootaloo might as well be Rainbow Dash's. None of them have their Cutie Marks yet, so they keep trying to come up with schemes to get them. And their plans can get craaaaa-zy."
"Do they now," Mozenrath replied as another piece fell into place.
"But anyway," Twilight went on, "the actual wielders of the Elements were me, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack. We were in charge of using them to protect Equestria up until the beginning of this year."
"And what happened this year that stopped you?" Mozenrath asked.
"Our enemy…well…our friend? We have kind of a complicated history with somepony named Discord."
The name already sent Mozenrath's mind rushing back to the enigmatic draconequus.
"We defeated him with the Elements once before," Twilight went on. "And then we saved him with them. It turned out that a thousand years ago, he planted dangerous Plunderseeds beneath Equestria's surface, and the only thing that kept them from turning into plants that would destroy the entire world was the Tree of Harmony. The longer the Tree went without the Elements, the weaker it became until it couldn't hold the Plunderseeds back anymore. The plants sprouted and threatened to take over, so we had to give the Elements back to the Tree."
"So Discord figured out how to get rid of the only power that could defeat him a thousand years in advance," Mozenrath deduced.
"Exactly," Twilight confirmed. "Like I told you, our relationship with him is complicated. Part of me wonders if he's planning something awful that will cause chaos all across Equestria right now." She shook her head. "But I guess I can't spend all day worrying about that, now, can I?"
"Technically, you could," Mozenrath told her. "I'm just not sure you'd want to."
Somehow they fell into conversation again, Mozenrath asking for more particulars on the Elements and Twilight relating her adventures with them. All the while, the train rolled steadily north. The climate became chilly, with howling winds that carried flurries of snow into drifts on the ground. Out the window, all appeared to be white, though in a shifting way that reminded Mozenrath of the sands of the deserts he had once called home.
High above the train, one patch of clouds grew darker than the rest. Set against the gray-black background like a jewel, a harpy carried a Diamond Dog through the chilly skies.
"There, Grimmie!" Cruella insisted, pointing down at the train. "I can smell the stink of Darkness coming off that car! And who would have thought being a dog would actually come with something useful?"
"Only a Diamond Dog's nose is that sharp!" Grimhilde cackled. "Now, go make that a runaway train! Just don't forget to jump before it's too late!"
"But of course, darling!" Cruella assured Grimhilde.
The harpy made a dive for the locomotive unit of the train, and both she and Cruella had themselves a cringe at its bright pink hue and saccharine heart-shaped window. Grimhilde let go of her charge at the crucial moment, pulling up out of the dive as Cruella bashed her way through the door of the locomotive.
The engineer spun to see the intruder. "Hey!" he cried. "I don't remember you getting on this – "
Cruella quickly reached out, hoisted him above her head, and chucked him out the door into the snow, where he was quickly left behind. Cruella turned her attention to the train's controls. It was no car, but it was still easy enough to figure out how to make go fast. And she needed it to head forward as speedily as possible.
Meanwhile, the clouds around Grimhilde grew ever darker, fueled by her magic. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed. Hail rained down to pepper the roof of the train.
"Wow," Twilight remarked. "Sounds like we're in some bad weather."
"I don't know about you," Mozenrath told her, "but I sometimes like getting to listen to a particularly loud storm." He almost kicked himself for saying that. That was far too casual.
"Storms just worry me," Twilight replied, "because they remind me of all the things that could go – "
The train lurched forward into a new gear of speed, nearly throwing all its passengers against the back walls of their cars.
"What's going ON?" Twilight wailed.
Mozenrath had a suspicion that was about to be proven right.
Grimhilde surveyed the scene before her. The train was on a direct course for a somewhat rickety bridge over a deep ravine. The storm extended out over that bridge, winds and hails and bolts of lightning tearing at it until it went down in a tumble of planks and girders. There was now nothing to prevent the train from plunging to the rocks below. It was a failsafe if the abduction didn't work, but more importantly, Grimhilde just wanted to see an entire train full of ponies go down in flames.
She turned her attention to the car Cruella had specified the stink of Darkness coming from. Giving a birdlike scream, the harpy dove, claws extended. Her talons sank into the metal roof, and she pulled it back like the lid of a tin of sardines.
By then, all of the passengers inside that particular car were astir. Fluttershy (the yellow pegasus) had hidden beneath one of the seats. Pinkie Pie (the pink one) was running circles, screaming, "DON'T PANIC! DON'T PANIC! DON'T PANIC!" Applejack (the tan earth pony) had rushed to the trio of fillies to ensure their welfare. When the roof came off the car, letting in a rush of bitter wind, Rarity (the older of the white unicorns) let out a piercing scream of terror.
"DON'T BE AFRAID!" Grimhilde cackled. "IT'S NOT YOU I WANT, LITTLE PRETTIES!" She let out a long bout of laughter before extending a single wing at Mozenrath: "IT'S HIM!"
"NO WAY!" Rainbow Dash (the blue pegasus) leapt out into the center of the car, glaring up at Grimhilde, as Applejack quickly escorted Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Spike into the next car back. "If you think you can just barge in here and kidnap somepony on MY watch, think again!"
Mozenrath skidded out next to her, horn blazing with blue magic. He let off one, two, three bolts at Grimhilde; she deflected them all with a shield that surrounded her wings. Catching Mozenrath off guard, she dove for him, sinking her talons into his back and carrying him high up into the air.
"MOZENRATH!" Twilight cried, her eyes fixed on Grimhilde as she became a smaller and smaller dot in the distance. Mozenrath kept on trying to overpower her with magic, but she shielded against everything he threw at her, and he was reduced to squirming in her grasp.
"C'mon, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash urged. "Let's go get your friend back!"
Alicorn and pegasus exchanged nods, and they both took off into the sky, after the harpy and her prey.
"But what about the train?" Rarity cried. "Somepony has to figure out why it's going so fast!"
"You're right!" Pinkie Pie realized, skidding to a halt so hard that the multiple musical instruments she'd been carrying tumbled to the floor. "We gotta slow this train down! Now COME ON!"
"I'll…make sure this car is safe," Fluttershy squeaked from her hiding place beneath the seat.
"You stay there, dear," Rarity advised. "We'll put a stop to this!"
As Rarity and Pinkie Pie made for the door to the car ahead, it opened, and Mim, Aghoul, Wuya, and Even spilled out into their car. "WHAT is the meaning of all this?" Even barked.
"Somepony's taken control of the train and is making it go out of control!" Rarity explained in a panic.
"I told you it wasn't supposed to go this fast," Wuya sighed.
"But we were having so much fun!" Mim pouted.
"And somepony else just ripped off the roof of the train and swiped a unicorn right out of the car!" Pinkie Pie added. "I think it was a harpy! Though it might not have been. I've never met a harpy before. I think they live in – "
"WHAT unicorn did this harpy kidnap?" Even interrupted. "And WHERE did they go?"
"Thataway!" Pinkie gestured upward with a hoof.
"Twilight called him a rather unusual name," Rarity added. "I think it was…Mossrot? Or was it Amazing Rat?"
"MOZENRATH!" Mim, Aghoul, Wuya, and Even said as one. The same thought of horror crossed all their minds: they'd been found, and much earlier than they had wanted to be found.
"Stand back!" Mim declared. "I'm going after him!" She galloped past Rarity and Pinkie Pie, morphing into a falcon as she went and charting a course straight upward.
"Wow!" Pinkie remarked. "I've never seen magic like that before! Have YOU ever seen somepony turn into a bird – "
"No time!" Rarity dragged Pinkie into the next car, leading her along on a beeline to the locomotive. After a moment's deliberation, Even followed.
"What now?" Aghoul asked Wuya, growing concerned.
Wuya fixed her eyes upon the sky. She could make out dark shapes wriggling through the clouds to crowd around the more brightly colored ones. "I have a thought," she told Aghoul.
Mozenrath quickly learned to stop trying to throw magic at Grimhilde while she had him in her talons. After she repelled one particularly strong burst, the radiation of it washed right back over Mozenrath, putting him in a world of hurt until the spell's effects had passed. "So what are you planning to do to me?" Mozenrath asked. "Drop me from a dizzying height? We both know that won't kill me."
"I was thinking of being just a little bit more CREATIVE!" Grimhilde squawked. "Perhaps a strike of lightning to the heart! Or a whirlwind to blow you away! Or maybe I'll just take you up so high, you'll freeze to death and suffocate!"
"And so will you," Mozenrath reminded her. "Not the best course of action in the long run."
"You underestimate just how much more powerful my magic is than yours, Mozenrath," Grimhilde taunted. "I'd have thought you'd get the picture after all this trying to shoot me!"
Mozenrath gritted his teeth, knowing he was temporarily stymied.
As Twilight and Rainbow Dash sped upward, keeping the harpy in their sights, they were suddenly aware of other creatures filling their peripheral vision: creatures beckoned by Grimhilde to come to her aid. A throng of the Heartless known as Air Soldiers took wing and dove down toward Rainbow Dash and Twilight.
"What ARE those things?" Rainbow Dash cried.
"I don't know!" Twilight called back. "But they're heading right for us!"
Rainbow Dash twisted into a kick, slamming into one of the Air Soldiers' chests. As another one scratched at Twilight's chest, just enough to draw a bit of red, Twilight blasted it with a beam from her horn; it dissipated into dark wisps of smoke, with the silhouette of a bright red heart faintly visible.
"They're some kind of constructs of Dark magic!" Twilight called over to Rainbow Dash. "I'm not sure, but…I think they're fueled by ponies' hearts!" She quickly whirled to meet another one, blasting it into temporary oblivion as well, but it had only served as a diversion while another Air Soldier grabbed at her wings, yanking out several feathers.
"TWILIGHT!" Rainbow Dash cried, turning to speed to her friend's assistance; she found herself circled by a crowd of Air Soldiers, charging and scraping at her long enough to keep her occupied.
Not too far away, Mim wasn't having an easy time herself. The Air Soldiers had also caught wind of her presence, and she bobbed and weaved, trying to evade them all on her way to Grimhilde. One quick turn became foul when she collided directly with an Air Soldier that knocked her several yards back down.
"When do WE get to control a horde of nightmare creatures of Darkness?" Mim muttered before gearing up to make the charge again.
There was a sudden explosion in the sky, and ten Air Soldiers dissipated at once, leaving Twilight free to kick and blast away the three that remained around her. Another bright blast of orange cleared the Air Soldiers from around Rainbow Dash. "What's going on?" Rainbow Dash wondered out loud, twisting to look back down at the train.
Down below, Wuya and Aghoul had built a team-effort catapult. Aghoul positioned his scythe upside-down, loading a skull bomb onto it, and Wuya used her magic to spin the scythe and launch the bomb high. The resulting explosions cleared out great quantities of Air Soldiers.
"Just be careful not to hit anything that's not a Heartless!" Aghoul warned.
"Why do I care about the ponies?" Wuya hissed quietly, noting Fluttershy's hiding place and not caring to be overheard.
"I don't either," Aghoul whispered back, "but can you tell which one of those things up there is Mozenrath? If he goes kaboom, we're in for it big time!"
Wuya had to admit that Aghoul was right. "Hit me again."
Aghoul planted another bomb, and Wuya launched it into another cloud of Air Soldiers.
Pinkie Pie and Rarity raced from car to car until they burst into the locomotive. "HEY!" Pinkie screeched, extending a hoof to Cruella. "YOU'RE NOT THE ENGINEER!"
"I am now, darlings!" Cruella laughed. "Brilliant timing, by the way. You're just in time to take part in my latest design!"
"I get the feeling you're not talking about fashion design," Rarity shot back.
"Oh, of course I am," Cruella clarified. "Starting with a lovely white scarf with a triple-diamond emblem!"
"Wait," Rarity realized. "You're talking about ME, aren't you?"
Cruella surged toward Rarity, hoisting the unicorn above her head. But stretching her arms up above her head only opened her up to attack: Pinkie Pie produced a confetti cannon from thin air and fired it directly into Cruella's side. Cruella stumbled, dropping Rarity, who scrambled to her feet. Cruella, angered not only at having been stymied but it having been done in such a ridiculous manner, lunged for Pinkie Pie, her arms wrapping around the pink pony's throat. Rarity whirled, kicking Cruella hard and knocking her off balance long enough for Pinkie to twist away.
When Even entered the locomotive, the sight of a black and white Diamond Dog fighting off the pair of mares greeted him. It didn't take him long to make the connection to the monochrome-haired woman who'd tried to shoot at him with a sparkly semi-automatic. "YOU!" he barked just as Cruella put Rarity into a headlock..
"Oh, drat, it's YOU!" Cruella knew that once ice magic came into play, she was far outclassed. "Shame, I really can't stay. But enjoy the ride!"
She threw Rarity aside and launched herself out of the locomotive, aiming for the soft snow outside.
"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY THAT EASILY!" Even sent a barrage of icicles after Cruella. Most missed, but one hit home; he heard a distinct canine yelp. As Even leaned out the window to make sure Cruella had actually been left behind and hadn't grabbed onto some part of the train, he called back into the car, "Are you both all right?" He didn't care one bit, but the act had to be kept up.
"I think we're both fine, thank you," Rarity replied.
"BOY, you and your friends have some strong magic!" Pinkie Pie giggled. "So do you just make ice, or can you make snow cones too?"
Even suddenly didn't even feel like keeping up pleasantries for the sake of the charade. Fortunately, he didn't have to. As he looked out the window, he spotted the broken bridge and the plummeting chasm ahead. "Tell me ONE of you can drive a train," he groaned.
"I can sure try!" Pinkie volunteered.
"It will have to do," Even sighed, turning back to look at Pinkie and Rarity. "They've destroyed the bridge ahead. If we don't slow down now, we'll all be on a direct course to an unpleasant death!"
"Oh, NO!" Rarity moaned. "We can't crash! Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, this is the WORST! POSSIBLE! THING!"
"And she really means it this time!" Pinkie added. She then gave a glance over the controls of the train. "Okay, THIS looks like the brake lever!" She grabbed the indicated lever and gave it a hard yank.
The train shifted gears; now it was going even faster.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Even yelled.
"SORRY!" Pinkie pulled another lever, and this time, the whine of the brakes kicked in, and the train attempted to halt. Its high momentum still kept it rolling forward, and it seemed as though it wouldn't stop in time and was still on a course to go over the edge.
"What are we going to DO?" Rarity wailed.
Even leaned back out the window. "I suppose I'll have to do everything for everyone HERE as well," he muttered, his horn tingling with the chill of magic.
Up above, with the way cleared, Mim, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash set a course for Grimhilde. "LET HIM GO RIGHT NOW!" Twilight screamed, small bullet-like projectiles of plasma emitting from her horn.
The magenta energy just ricocheted off Grimhilde in a shower of sparks. "But he said that WOULDN'T kill him!" the harpy cackled.
"Try using your fancy magic to dodge THIS!" Rainbow Dash spun into a kick, flying right at Grimhilde's side. Mim came at the harpy from the other side, building up enough momentum as a falcon to keep flying through the air no matter what; she then took on the form of a hippopotamus. Rainbow Dash hit Grimhilde first, causing her to let go of Mozenrath. Then, when the soaring Mim collided with Grimhilde, she was sent tumbling away into the whipping winds.
As soon as Mozenrath started falling, he was surrounded in a magenta aura that slowed him to a float. Twilight glid next to him, her horn glowing the same color as the protective magic. "Don't worry!" she called out. "I've got you!"
"You don't have to!" Mozenrath yelled back to her. "I can fall on my own!" It didn't come out half as harsh as he'd meant it to sound. Maybe he did appreciate the lengths she'd gone to rescue him after all.
"Are you SURE?" Twilight rebutted. Her eyes then flicked over the landscape surrounding the train, and she beheld the sight of the broken bridge. "Oh NO!"
Grimhilde regained her bearings, casting her gaze about. While her mind was on the unicorn she'd just dropped and how she hadn't finished with him yet, her eyes settled upon Cruella leaping out into the snow. Even's icicles chased her, and one hit home; crimson blood poured out over the white snow. Grimhilde found herself in a quandary then. She could only give her attention to one thing or the other: Mozenrath or Cruella.
She made her choice. Tucking in her wings, she made a nosedive for the fallen Diamond Dog.
"The bridge is out!" Twilight told Mozenrath. "They're going to crash! I have to fix it! Are you sure you can fall on your own?"
"Just let go!" Mozenrath urged her.
The look of concern in her shining eyes was genuine, and it struck Mozenrath in a way that surprised him. Then she withdrew her aura, letting Mozenrath plummet. Mozenrath angled himself so that he fell headfirst; a Corridor of Darkness opened beneath him and deposited him neatly within the train car next to Wuya and Aghoul.
"Oh, good!" Aghoul sighed in relief. "You weren't blown to bits!"
High above, Twilight sped toward the bridge as fast as she could, casting a spell. Her energy hit the chasm at the same time that Even's ice did. Together, the joint magic formed a bridge of solid magenta ice with grooves for the train's wheels carved neatly in; the train rolled out harmlessly onto the ice bridge.
"It seems we are safe," Even sighed. "You may let go of the brake."
"Okie-dokie, Loki!" Pinkie Pie let go of the brake lever, putting her mind to figuring out how to get the train going at a reasonable speed.
As Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Mim landed back in the car with the open roof, Mim shifted into the form of the unicorn once more.
"I've never SEEN magic like that!" Twilight gushed. "I thought that kind of shapeshifting was impossible!"
"Not for me!" Mim giggled.
Twilight then approached Mozenrath. "You okay?"
"Fine," Mozenrath replied with a grin. "I told you I'd make it."
"I should've known you would," Twilight replied, returning his grin.
Mozenrath became very aware of Wuya, Aghoul, and Mim's eyes on him and Twilight, and he realized he wanted nothing more than to be in the company of Even, who was judgmental, but at least not about what was or wasn't flirtation. "I should go make sure Even didn't get into a shouting match with the driver," he announced.
"I have to stay here and warm up this car," Twilight replied. "Or else the entire train will freeze on the way to the Empire now that we're down a roof." She planted herself on the floor, heat beginning to radiate from her horn and fill up the chamber.
"You do that," Mozenrath said as he took his leave.
All things considered, she was a very nice and intelligent mare. Perhaps if she didn't have such a hero complex, Mozenrath thought, she really would be worth a look in the sense that Aghoul had been hinting at.