Chapter 35: Gathering Storm
"This is highly irregular," the head of Equestrian rail operations said, looking over the royal document. "We have paying customers."
"And the empire just suffered a rebellion backed by foreign powers," Flash Sentry shot back. "Getting these beings out of the empire for treatment is of the top priority."
"I don't see why you can't use your own trains instead of stealing another country's property."
"What part of rebellion and assassination did you not get?" Flash said angrily.
"That is not of any importance to the Equestrian Railroads Association. I will need to contact the owners."
"We don't have time for that. Ponies are injured and dying."
"Then march your army to the station and take our train by force," he smirked. "Oh right, you're trying to do this clandestinely. That would draw too much attention, wouldn't it?" He waved his hoof. "Go wait somewhere, messenger colt. You'll have your answer at their convenience."
Flash grit his teeth, but turned and left.
The head pony wrapped the decree, and his own letter detailing what happened, in an insta-scroll and sent it off.
A response came back quickly.
We demand ten times what we will lose in revenue, or we will unfortunately be unable to stop any gossip about why the train is delayed among disgruntled passengers.
Included was a bill.
"100,000 bits?!"
"In cash. Seems the company has a way to teleport income from various hubs to their central offices in Canterlot. They want the money first before any discussions happen."
Flash heard Shining sigh on the other end of the stone. "Fine… I'm on the way to the treasury. I'll use a cloaking spell when delivering the money."
Thirty minutes later, a brown unicorn in a cape walked up to a random soldier. The two were let into an office by a secretary.
"So, have you gotten the royals to hand over the money?" he smirked, touching his hooves together on his desk.
Shining Armor undid the spell and threw his cape on the floor. Then he lit his horn and twenty money bags poofed onto the floor.
"100,000 bits, in standard 5,000 bit bags," Shining Armor said. "I want to talk with your uncle directly, Horn Blaster. You have to have a call crystal."
"Crystals can't reach that far," Horn smiled.
"They can when locked together with two magics. They are more affordable by ponies such as yourself."
Horn Blaster opened his drawer and pulled out a crystal.
"You there, uncle?"
"Yes, myself and the heads of the rest of the major companies."
"Hello, Captain Shining Armor," came another voice. "It has been a long time since you guarded Princess Celestia during meetings."
"It is an honor to speak with you gentle-stallions again," Shining said tersely. "The empire is in need of your assistance."
"Which can wait a moment," came the first voice. "Right now, we need to have my money delivered before we can make arrangements and discuss payment."
"I just gave you 100,000 bits."
"That was just to get this meeting. We are all very busy ponies, especially right now. I see your wife hasn't been sending any updates to you?"
"I'm sure we are both deeply indisposed right now," Shining answered.
Horn Blaster levitated a few bags and began carrying them to a connected room.
About ten minutes later, the voice returned.
"Yes, all the money is here. Now, you've suffered a rebellion? I assume the injured you cannot treat yourself are actually the rebels?"
"They are citizens of a satellite kingdom that paid tribute to the empire. They surrendered without a fight after Sombra took the empire. There has been hostility ever since. These are actually the ponies who saved my life, but the hatred is so bad that medical staff have actually been caught trying to kill them multiple times. We can't keep them here. The only hope the seriously injured have is to get them out of the empire as quickly as possible."
"Sounds like you are putting my assets and employees at risk here if you can't trust the citizens of your own country. Must be difficult to keep control of an entire empire for a simple, lowly soldier who was only promoted for looks and a babysitter."
Shining took a sharp breath, but stayed silent.
"We all heard that, you know. You sound disagreeable at the moment, why don't we reconvene in like, 30 minutes."
"Wait!"
The stone stopped glowing.
"Well, I do have other business to attend to." Horn Blaster moved a stack of papers in front of him. "Go wait outside and I will call you in when my uncle gets back to me."
Shining put the disguise and cape back on and the two stepped outside the office. They sat on a bench.
"They know we're desperate," Shining grumbled. "They're going to empty the entire foreign reserves."
"Or make us give them all the money and then say no anyway."
Shining put his head in his hooves, "Please don't say that…"
At a certain embassy, a ceremony was being held. Their national flag was being lowered from a normal flag pole, only to be attached and reraised on the newly inaugurated massively overcompensating one.
Crystal ponies looked on from the street.
"I thought the law was that no building could be taller than the palace?"
"It is. That stupid looking thing is somehow shorter."
"What happened to the Eulopean griffons in a thousand years?" another shook her head. "They would be the first to condemn this type of pride as too arrogant."
"Don't know. Too bad they recalled all their citizens. They were some of my best customers. Only griffons now are the ones from the east and they stick to their own foods."
"At least the minotaurs enjoy your fake meat."
"Yeah… but the ingredients have become too expensive. We're going to be taking it off the menu for now. Maybe once the land purge finishes in a few years, prices will drop."
"I heard a plague wiped out the entire old empire and a small southern kingdom took over the barren lands and completely repopulated it. They don't even speak the same language anymore. Must have been really hard for them to hear."
Inside the staff is having a large meal of freshly cooked meat, straight from the bone.
"So, the useful idiot proved too idiotic to use," the griffon ambassador cut into his steak.
"That the two came here proved they were just as stupid," his chief of staff said. "We'll need to assume the ponies have the gewehr in custody."
"And the old empire was heavily trading the old haakbus in Formǎsa before the embargo. We have to assume the Easterners here know of them and how to use them."
"Has this Tao been located yet?"
"No. Reports from the palace eunuchs said this Rén creature kicked him completely through the entire castle and out through the roof. If he's smart, he's escaping the empire using the protected train lines. If he's dumb, he's taking the reports that this Rén killed windigos with this ki at face value and leaving through the snow. We have also recovered all the needed documents through the secret tunnels. The only evidence they will have are the gewehr, and that can be all safely blamed on our traders in Formǎsa."
"Still. It is a loss the emperor won't tolerate. See what can be done by the eunuchs. What about that recipe that was used to attack the palace during the war?"
"The one that almost took out an entire leg of the palace? My Prefect, that could turn the entire castle to splinters."
"We won't need a charge that big. Have we located that ancient alchemist yet?"
"Yes, an elderly hippogriff. The issue is he seems to be close to the head priest at this temple and has recently moved there to gently pass in the gardens. His crystal hippogriff son or his zebra wife would be easier targets as they live near the university campus. They both teach there."
Suddenly a bang came at the door. "Prefect! Prefect! Greatly important news! One of the test wells blew in Yakistan! We got Erdöl!"
"Good," he said, wiping his beak. "Come in!"
The very eager griffon came in and saluted. "Hail, the Emperor!" He rushed over to the table. He bowed and presented the scroll with both claws. "Straight from the carrier."
The ambassador took it. "You may leave now," he waved him away.
The aide saluted again and quickly left.
"Enthusiastic young chick," he said condescendingly.
"To be fair, if it were not for the minotaur's buck-up, it would be the most important news. We've been waiting since before the empire returned."
The Ambassador raised a suspicious eyebrow, "Member of your clan?"
The chief of staff lowered his head, "Yes…"
"I will forgive it," he said, starting to look over the papers. "Hmmm, these are three weeks old. Now that the tower is up, communication will finally be up to par in this backwater. Yakyakistan does not have any diplomatic relations with the ponies, correct?"
"They announced a boycott now that the Crystal Empire has taken up a third of its old territory. I do not know if they have completed the withdrawal yet."
"Once we confirm it, I expect to hear good news of a tragic avalanche in short order." He chuckled, "The yaks are such a small race. And in only a handful of villages. I'm sure many heads will be smashed beyond recognition by rocks hidden in the falling snow." Then the ambassador turned serious. "But right now, we need to destroy the gewehrs at minimum. Find out where they are being held and destroy them."
The chief of staff stood and saluted. He left the room.
After he left, the ambassador added the chief's uneaten pony meat to his plate and continued eating.
At the castle, eunuchs began running around with containers and watering cans.
"Wow, that's a smell and a half," An equestrian soldier said waving his hoof in front of his nose as he and his partner watched them refill the lamps.
"It's an oil made from the mud at the Alchemist's Spring at the foot of the Frozen Hills," a crystal guard standing at a door said. "But you're right. It smells really cheap. Not something you should find in a palace."
"You would think magic would be found in a palace," the other equestrian scoffed.
"Say that again when you're traveling on one of the trains. This is what the heaters use."
"What?!"
"Yeah, the less magic to draw the windigos the better. Rebels also used it to evade detection from Sombra. Lots of cooks still prefer it to magic stones now that it's safe to use magic items again."
"Primitive retards," the first equestrian mumbled as they continued the patrol.
"200 million bits?! Do you know how much that is?!"
"According to the public papers, it's the amount of the aid package Princess Celestia was able to push through the House of Lords. Surely you couldn't have spent all of it yet, have you? We only transported it on our trains just four months ago. How much are these lives you're trying to sneak past your own people worth?"
"There are children!" Shining Armor shouted.
"Not Equestrian, not subsidized, not our problem."
Shining Armor looked down at the floor in panic.
"Should we wait another half hour to let you think about it? No, on second thought, it's getting late. If we don't get an answer now, we'll need to reconvene at another time. I believe I have free time in five weeks. Coalbrookdale, Salamanca, when do you think you'll be free? Two or three months from now?"
"Wait!" Shining Armor looked up, "What if I gave you something else!"
"Oh? We're listening."
"Minus the Royal train, no crystal trains will run on Equestrian tracks beyond imperial borders. But you will still have full use of all our trackways within the empire."
"… Let us talk for a few minutes."
The crystal went dark.
"Are you crazy?" Flash scolded barely above a whisper.
"Probably," Shining whispered back.
The stone soon glowed again.
"We are willing to consider that offer," the voice came over the stone. "But, that will not completely cover the entire price. Does a third sound more reasonable? 66.6 million?"
"Sixty-five million five hundred thousand. Half now, half when I confirm with Princess Celestia herself that everyone arrived and is safely in hospital."
"The entire amount now, or no deal."
Shining sighed. "Fine, I'll head back to the palace and draw up the contract and get the money." He teleported himself away.
Back in Canterlot…
"Somepony contact the lawyers at Dark Horse. Our largest investors are going to want to know we just fleeced an entire empire for a third of their national budget."
Fifteen minutes later…
A very angry griffon threw his silverware down on his mahogany and gold table as another round of banging came from his door.
"Prefect! Our very first transmission has arrived from Canterlot. They are in full motion and the Praetor demands to have a live conversation about savaging the premature launch."
The other monks returned to the hospital and found Goku enjoying the view.
"Wow," Goku stretched. "Either the sun is taking its sweet time or this day really tuckered me out…"
Various clock towers began to ring across the city.
"No, you're right. The sun should be painting the horizon by now," Kame said. "I wonder what Princess Celestia is doing?"
"The princesses are probably busy. It is not the first time they had to scramble when they lost track of time," Seigo said.
"Oh… yeah. You guys somehow use magic to control your sun and moon. So you guys can make them do whatever you want, huh?"
"Technically," Kame said hesitantly. "But the Princesses need to keep everything in balance, if not, one side of the planet would burn to ash while the other would freeze solid."
"Sounds like this planet wouldn't even have any life here if you guys didn't work so hard."
"The princesses work very hard. I think they are taken for granted. Not long before the empire entered back into time, I heard Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings came uncomfortably close to assassinating Princess Celestia during their attempt to conquer Equestria."
"Sounds like having the people who directly control all life on this planet as actual rulers of a country is a bad idea."
"Equestria would fall back into civil war without them," Seigo said. "They claim otherwise. But they are just as nasty as they ever were. They just focus all of it on those that aren't part of their precious three tribes alliance. They'll pop like a new year's firecracker if they would be removed. Then Equestria would freeze over again."
"Again?"
"The windigos. They feed off hatred and malice and turn anything and everything to ice. Equestria is protected by a much more primitive version of the Crystal Heart. This empire is descended from the ponies who were thrown out of Equestria for experimenting with sacred heart magic and reclaimed the old country from the winter's abyss. The Crystal Heart's magic permanently altered the ponies' appearance after a few decades and they are considered their own kind."
Goku scratched his head, "What about all those ponies with the pointy forehead that curves backwards instead of forward?"
Everyone glared disappointed.
"You mean unicorns?" Kame said.
"Yeah, them. Like Shining Armor, but backwards."
"That's just how eastern unicorns look," Kame said. "There's lots of small differences like that all over the world."
"Ah. Yeah. Earth is like that too." Goku yawned. Then he shook his head. "Just not as crazy." Goku stretched again. "Gosh, why am I so tired?"
"I believe the Earth word is Jet Lag."
"Oh, hey, Supreme Kai. I was wondering when you'd call."
"Goku, I need you to come back up here."
Goku started to panic. "Wait, how do I get back?! I don't want to fight the ice horses again."
"With the familiarity King Kai now has with your new friends, he is confident we can land you back in the city or the surrounding farmland."
Goku tilted his head back and sighed. Then he looked over at the monks, "Tell everyone I'll be back." He slipped his goggles down around his neck, put his fingers to his forehead, and disappeared.
Kame sighed, "I'll head to the castle."
"I'll go talk to the princess and inform the guards."
Seigo headed to the door while Kame took to the sky.
Goku teleported to the Supreme Kai's world. The first thing he noticed was a pony spirit entering the hedge maze in the palace flower gardens. Then he saw the three Kais at a table, under one of the permanently blossoming cherry trees that always covered this part of the complex with petals.
He walked over.
"Sit, Goku," Elder Kai ordered.
Goku pulled out one of the metal chairs and sat down.
"So…" Elder Kai began. "I'm told you started a war and overthrew a government in only a day."
"More like I saved one king from being overthrown by another, really," Goku smiled nervously. "Seems like it was going to happen anyway. Me being there just made them act faster."
Elder Kai took a deep calming breath. He interlaced his fingers, but kept both indexes up. "I need you to go over everything that's happened since you got there. Everything that's happened. Everything that you've been told. What you've seen and heard in this Crystal Empire, in detail."
"That's going to take hours…" Then Goku yawned again.
"You can nap here once you're done. We'll wake you up before their dawn and send you back. That will give you a few hours."
"Alright," Goku said eagerly. "Well I landed in the middle of a blizzard and got attacked by some horse ghosts…"
"Son Goku has left the planet?"
"Yes," Seigo said to the guards. "The Kais called him away. But they promised him they refined their teleportation now that he has been here and can land him back in the empire."
"How long will he be gone?" she asked.
"Since it could not be settled over telepathy as they have been doing, I assume this will take some time. I would like to inform the princess."
"Go ahead," she nodded.
Seigo entered the room and bowed. "(Ox-Princess. I've come to inform you that the Kais have recalled Son Goku. He may be gone for a while, but the gods promised to return him as soon as possible. It is my presumption he will return by tomorrow morning based on the conversation before he left.)"
Chichi-hime held up an already written note. "(I heard at the door. Where is Kame and Mutaito-sama?)"
"(Lord Mutaito left to check on the castle some time ago. Kame flew off to tell him of his departure.)"
She wrote in her notebook again. "(You may go join them. I'm not going anywhere and the guards will keep me safe.)"
He bowed again, "(As you wish.)"
Kame followed Mutaito's energy signature and landed at the temple complex. He was shown into the medical building by one of the apprentices.
Mutaito was helping a couple doctors with their bags. "(Ah, young Kame. I was told you have a message for me?)"
"(Yes. The Kais have temporarily recalled Son Goku. He will probably be back in a couple hours. The Kais promised him that he'd be able to teleport back into the empire now that he has been here. I thought you would be at the castle?)"
"(Vermarine Quartz asked for the samurai to be pinned for transport. The acupuncturists somehow slipped out of the castle and took their books and scrolls. I told them secret tunnels are common in our building style, but I did not know the layout personally. I also explained the concepts of ninja and shinobi to him, but after what I was informed of transpired, I have no hope for the common soldiers.)"
"(What happened?)" Kame asked with dread.
"(They did not know what suicidal meant, so when warned, they reacted like it was a contagious disease. The harem cows did their duty swiftly.)"
"(Then they're all dead?)"
"(Sixteen live. The revived were taken to hospital, the not-so-far gone taken to be imprisoned in the palace dungeons.") He shook his head. "(I doubt any will be alive by dawn.)"
"(While I see the need to smuggle the doctors and books out if they were really trained in the black circles, I don't see what else the Shadows would do? By now they've used the tunnels to get everything out that they needed, if they were able to sneak ponies past the guards.)"
"(Tomi and Kin have not been found yet, even though their families and possessions have been seized. That idiot was always a puppet. They will wait until dark before trying to salvage or destroy whatever they need to hide from their investors when they return to Formǎsa. And I've informed Vermarine Quartz as such. He was already in the process of replacing as many equestrians as possible from guard duty as they have proven pure fools.)"
"(Do you need help flying everyone there? Or do you already have enough monks?)"
"(If you would take my place carrying the doctor, that would free me from making two trips. I have a few things I would like to retrieve from my quarters that would be useful.)"
On the way to the male living quarters, Lord Mutaito spotted some familiar faces.
"Bingwen, Mudiwa, welcome back to the temple." He ignored the tornado of the three feathered sparkling zebra foals running around. "That tis quite a bit of luggage. Thou staying the weekend?"
The two glanced at each other. "We fear much longer, Khen Rinpoche," Bingwen said, "With things going on now, that I was the armorer to the late Ox-King is not going to land well. We've both called in sick for now and will be trying for sabbatical."
He nodded. "Crystal ponies are proving to have a very selective memory, which is proving worse than the empty heads of the Southerners."
"Haft… they found them?" he asked nervously.
Lord Mutaito nodded. "Yes. But they were abandoned in a corner under much dust. The ponies are much more interested in all the polished shiny new jus and their pointy balls they had piled up in every available nook and cranny in the hidden armory."
"How did they get them into the country? We had to craft ours from crude drawings from ponies whose father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate claimed to have seen one and a lot of guesswork."
"Equestrians seem to have absolutely no knowledge of them, so I doubt the modern griffons would be quick to offer assistance in identifying our jus as not authentically Kohane crafted." He sighed, "If Sombra could not turn to smoke, we would haft had him." He looked at the bottom of his hoof, "If we could channel ki like the Rén did, we could haft had him."
"Lord Mutaito, don't be like that," Mudiwa said. "We are alive and in the now. We can only move forward."
He put his hoof down and nodded. "Let's get thee all settled in." He glanced at the foals, "Or as settled as thy offspring art capable of."
On cue, a high-pitched squeal pierced the serene temple.
The parents chuckled embarrassed.
Back at the hospital, Chichi-hime rang her bell.
The guard poked her head in. "Yes, princess?"
She held up her notebook.
The guard walked in. "Green Tea? How do you know it's sold downstairs in the cafeteria store?"
She wrote again.
"Oh, Goku told you when he brought the candy? Well, alright then. I'll be right back."
The guard left.
Chichi carefully got out of bed. Despite the pain, she quickly unplugged the machines copying what the nurses tried to do. She then grabbed her urine bag and went to the window. She had watched it be nailed shut, but Son Goku had literally ripped it open. From his lack of reaction, he did not even notice any extra exertion.
She opened it and looked down. She was taller than her own chambers at the top of the castle.
The ostomy bag tore as she climbed on the under-window air unit, but that wouldn't matter in a moment.
Down below, everyone screamed as they saw someone jump from an eighth story window.
Nearby pegasi saw what looked like boiling yellow clouds before a piece broke loose and plunged towards the ground.
Chichi-hime was surprised when she landed on something soft. She looked and saw a cream-colored cloud full of pure white swirls that sparkled in the sun.
She smiled and started to hiccup, relieved at seeing she was still able to touch her Hakuchi.
Then the cream parts darkened to black but still retained the white swirls.
Chichi-hime's brief moment of relief instantly turned to despair. She gripped Hakuchi and buried her face in the cloud and frantically shook her head back and forth and the puffiness masked whatever random sounds her larynx could muster. She felt his calming warmth fade to a cold chill.
Suddenly Hakuchi swiftly moved to the side as a mass of dust and stone filled the air.
Everypony was thrown off their hooves as everything shook for blocks around, knocking over furniture and things hung on the walls.
From the hole where they had just been rose a large mass of yellow clouds.
And it seemed angry.
Hakuchi raised off, as the cloud broke up into at least thirty smaller pieces and chased after them.
A loud boom rattled every window in the city well out into the farmland, followed by an even larger one with multiple louder shocks within it.
Out in the farmland, Shining Armor and a few carefully chosen equestrian unicorns were loading medical stretchers onto a train stopped in the middle of nowhere.
A piercing screeching sound was instantly followed by an ear-splitting boom, then several more booms as massive bursts of wind forced everyone to the ground and shook the train.
Shining Armor couldn't hear anything but the ringing in his ears. He tried to call out if everyone was alright, but he couldn't even hear his own voice.
It took multiple simple healing spells to get the ringing down to the point he could hear others.
"I'm headed back to the palace!" he shouted after a quick head count. "Keep loading!"
He lit his horn.
It took three hops to reach the throne room, startling the already panicked ponies of both nationalities.
"Someone tell me what the hay is going on, now!"
An aide ran up. "Sire!" he shouted, clearly still having hearing issues. "The beginning of the damage path starts at the hospital! Witnesses are all saying a huge pillar of golden clouds pierced the barrier and slammed into the ground causing a massive crater and earthquake! Then it broke apart and rampaged through the city in a path heading due south!"
Shining Armor eyes widened, then he and the aide vanished.
They landed in the middle of the crater. It was deep enough that all he could see was the sky.
The two popped into existence at the edge. Even with the turmoil with the evacuation of the hospital, Shining Armor could only stare at the damage path.
He teleported away as ponies noticed him and began running towards him.
He landed next to another building farther away and stared at what first did not make any sense. Then he began noticing familiar patterns.
He began trotting farther and farther over to the right.
The seemingly random gashes in the ground, the severed trees, the odd ways the buildings were damaged or even partially collapsed.
They all lined up perfectly.
Three perfect diagonal lines at different angles and starting distances. And that was just what he could see from this spot. This damage was supposed to stretch the entire length of the city.
Shining Armor remembered the wind blades used at the demonstration, Flash's helmet plume being slashed by the samurai, and what Yajirobe did to the throne room when he did not grovel.
But this… this was massive. As if Yajirobe had been as tall as the palace.
"Clouds did this?" he muttered in disbelief. Then he paused.
"Yellow… clouds…" he mouthed silently.
Suddenly Shining Armor was in the middle of a swirling ball of flames erupting from his mane and tail.
Flames then spewed out of his mouth like a dragon. "MUTAITO!"
At the castle, the boom was not severe but still loud.
"Someone find out what that was!" Vermarine Quartz shouted into his communication crystal.
He was in a hallway with five other crystal guards and two equestrian guards in front.
"Continue to show me where you found the bodies," he ordered.
They entered the harem palace, and the guards immediately coughed again.
"This is one nasty batch of lamp oil," Vermarine Quartz said.
"Do you think loyalists are deliberately using a batch that went bad to piss us off?" a crystal guard asked.
"Probably," Vermarine Quartz sighed. "At least the smell at this level is not poisonous. Just annoying."
A new smell hit them as they came into the kitchen annex. The mats were pulled away and a trap door opened.
"We first noticed the stronger smell, then saw the mat was crooked compared to the others. When we went into the tunnel, we got nauseous so we cast a fresh air spell. We've had to keep casting it. The tunnel just won't stay clear."
The equestrians began down the steps
"Oh not again," the equestrian said, covering his nose. He cast another wind spell. "Ok, it's safe now."
The rest followed.
The unicorns made light balls at the tip of their horns as they entered the dark tunnel.
"All the lamps have been removed from the walls, why?" a crystal guard said. "Are you sure you've cleared the tunnels for an ambush?"
"Yes," the pony answered, annoyed.
They entered a larger area where the tunnel split into two paths.
The ponies froze at the sight.
Four dead ponies covered in a thick layer of white powder, large and muscular enough to clearly be fellow soldiers. But one could still tell they had been skinned down to the muscle under the pile of white.
The crystal ponies took a moment to steel their stomachs before they walked up.
"Who the hay would skin a pony?" one asked.
The field medic scanned the bodies.
"There's fur in the neck wound. At least they weren't alive when it happened."
"Why?!" one of the equestrians that led them down shouted. Two that were already down there fainted.
The crystal ponies looked annoyed. "Sombra would mop the floor with you today by just saying boo…" one said.
"Alright, stop this. It's not helping the situation." Vermarine Quartz said. He walked up to the medical officer. "Can they be identified?"
"Between a head count and teeth scans, they should be." He looked at the guards that were already down there, "Who took the time to throw lime on the bodies?"
"We found them like this," an equestrian guard said, confused.
"But you said you were drawn by the smell of the bodies?"
Vermarine Quartz narrowed his eyes. "You don't know what a dead body smells like, do you?"
"But what else could smell so bad?!" one shouted.
Deeper in the tunnels, the air had a shimmer as two equestrian guards walked up to a third with light-magic lanterns. They put them on the ground next to the third.
In the corner of this part of the tunnels were bags of bits and a small pile of gold bars.
And a locked wooden chest.
"Got the lock picks?" he asked eagerly.
One of the guards pulled out several sets from his satchel.
He smiled, "We're all going to be rich. Hurry and open it."
"Could you cast another spell? The smell is bad again."
The unicorn did. "I'm surprised the dead bodies made it all the way down here."
"Cast a light spell for me so I can see better."
The pony knelt down and got the picks in the lock as the unicorn leaned down and put the ball next to the box.
It opened almost instantly.
"That was an easy lock," he said surprised as he took it off.
"Open it. Open it. Open it." The third pony was practically vibrating with excitement.
They opened it, but their smiles turned to confusion.
Inside the box was a glass jar, the bottom half lined with foil with a metal ball and curved wire attached to the lid.
"What the heck is that?" the unicorn reached in with his hoof.
Pillars of fire erupted from the floor in multiple locations across the castle before the ground ceased to exist.
"MUTAITO!"
Suddenly another boom shook the capital and then the roar of fire.
Shining Armor spun around and his flames of rage vanished as what he could only describe as a mushroom cloud filled the northern sky before being swallowed by a turbulent column of thick black smoke.
Shining Armor was exhausted after eighteen teleports at his max distance and even then, he was miles from the castle. Shining Armor ran out of the orchard onto a road and crested the hill to find his next landing spot.
He had finally found the edge of the orchards and was looking down at the beginning of the water grass fields and villages.
And he got his first look at the castle.
It looked like even the steep escarpments of the siege walls were burning. The roar and the crashing of timbers carved from full, massive trees could be heard even at this distance. He could also see the roads filling with refugees.
Shining Armor focused and made another leap.
He landed in a burning village as burning embers and small pieces of wood fluttered through the sky.
He ran through the village, darting in and out of hut after hut. He felt bad that he was thankful for poverty, as these hovels had two rooms at most.
Everything was empty, but he did not relax.
He cast a giant water spell to put out the village to save what little these ponies had. But when the dome of water crashed down, the fire did not go out.
It exploded.
Shining Armor had to teleport to save his singed fur. He landed out in the fields and found himself up to his hock in mud and water.
He ducked instinctively as a larger piece of wood landed at the other side of the paddy. As he caught his breath, he saw a rainbow sheen start to spread out on the water. Then some embers landed on the rainbow contaminated section and the water itself began to burn.
Shining scrambled up the walls and onto the farmers' paths.
Then he noticed more and more fields on fire.
He fell on his butt. "How do you put out a fire that burns water?" He looked up at the castle just in time to see part of it that wasn't toothpicks collapse into the roaring flames. He thought of all the thousands of guards that were in there.
He broke down and cried.
"Prince Shining! Shining Armor!"
Shining Armor glanced behind him, and got on his hooves seeing a blackened unicorn in armor.
"Soldier?!" Shining got on his hooves.
The pony slid to a stop. "I thought you were at the palace?"
"Verm?"
He saluted.
"What happened?"
"Some kind of fire bomb in the hidden tunnels. I was able to cast a shield when I heard the first boom. Then I did a captain's override on my unit's emergency return crystals." He looked up at the castle. "I don't know who else got the chance…"
Shining hugged him, causing Vermarine Quartz's eyes to widen and freeze.
"There are survivors. Thank Celestia," he sobbed.
"Sire. Water only burns in an oil fire. This was a rock oil bomb. It needs to be smothered with a lid like a cooking fire."
Shining pushed him away, "What about survivors?"
There was another crash as another part collapsed.
"Sire… not in that…"
Suddenly he spotted flying monks.
"What happened?!" Kame ran up to them.
"Kame!" Shining grabbed his robes. "You can feel life energy, right?! Is there anypony still in there?! ANYPONY?!"
"Let's move!" Kame shouted.
The monks took back to the air, leaving the doctors behind.
They ran up to them. "We are doctors. How badly are you burned."
"I'll be fine," Vermarine Quartz said. "I don't think any needles in your bags would help anyway."
One of the doctors pulled out the wrappings in his satchel. "We can still do this."
"I got a shield up in time," he smiled. "Just some singed fur and a heat rash for the most part. Save your things for the ponies who will really need them."
They nodded and he put the roll back in his bag.
Fifteen minutes later, the monks returned black with soot.
Shining could already tell the answer from their faces, even as Kame walked up to him. "There is no one," he hung his head.
"Fly me up," he ordered. "so I can place the shield properly."
The monks took him up. Shining felt like a cheerleader standing on two minotaurs' backs.
Shining got a bird's eye view of the damage.
"This… this is awful…"
"Truly an image of the Hells," Kame said next to him.
Shining Armor lit his horn and a giant dome covered the entire hilltop. It took his horn glowing as brightly as the fire for the smoke to stop rising through it.
Shining stopped his horn. "That's about seven times as thick as what I did in Canterlot. I should be able to maintain it for a day if I did that for two weeks. Take me down."
The group landed back where Vermarine Quartz and the doctors. They watched as the dome turned black hiding whatever was happening within.
The monks took their beads from their sashes and began praying. Vermarine Quartz took off his helmet and put it on his chest.
Shining took deep breaths, trying to gain control over his emotions.
Suddenly there was a sharp burst of wind that flattened the grass fields around them.
"They're back!" Shining put up a near opaque shield.
There were two more bursts of wind.
Then the sound of rain hitting the shield.
"Prince! Let me in!"
Shining recognized the voice and made the shield thinner.
Lord Mutaito was there on his hind legs holding a large strangely shaped fan in his hooves.
Shining turned the shield into more of an umbrella.
Mutaito put the handle of the fan in his mouth and galloped under the barrier.
"Master, this is a sekiyu fire," Kame said.
Mutaito looked at Shining. "I assume a unicorn of thine reputation knows temperature magic."
"Snow!" Vermarine Quartz shouted. He shot a beam into the air.
A strip of clouds turned blue and fell as chucks of ice.
"One must work with the world, not against it, young one."
"Can you do two shields at once?" Vermarine Quartz looked at him.
"Yeah…" Shining said tiredly. A hole opened up in the umbrella shield and Shining shot a beam up and encapsulated the storm clouds above in a force field.
"Ice spell, now," Shining ordered as he launched another beam up.
Vermarine Quartz joined him and the shield began to ice over.
"Don't freeze the bottom," Shining ordered.
The rain turned cold and started coating things in layers of ice. Then it turned slushy.
"The fields are starting to go out," Kame said.
Mutaito left the umbrella and began waving the fan again. The storm picked up, and the slushy mess began falling more sideways than down. He ran back under and Shining lowered the sides again to block the newly blowing wind.
A film of ice started to form on the umbrella.
Shining stopped blasting the clouds and poked Vermarine Quartz.
He stopped too.
"I assume that thing has something to do with the sudden weather change," Shining Armor glared at him.
"Yes," he held it up. "It's a magical copy of one of Earth's great divine treasures. As is the staff on my back."
"You were planning to give the pillar to Son Goku?!" Kame shouted. "But that's the symbol of your holiness and power!"
He shook his head, "Not give. But as a deliverer. I… am a thousand years too old for this… If the princess survives this, I will go with her."
"What does she have to do with the yellow clouds slicing up my capital like a chef dicing an onion?"
"I was told by one of the guards you left that the ponies outside saw a bipedal jump from an eighth-story window but was caught by a small cloud before the larger cloud descended and chased it out of the city."
"A kuro… oh no…" Kame said.
Mutaito hung his head. "And there's only one kinto'un that would throw away his divinity like that for her. Hakuchi has left us."
"If the Kinto'un don't kill the princess in the process of killing Hakuchi, Hakuchi will do it himself once the madness takes hold and he hatches," a monk said hopelessly.
"Hatches?" Shining asked.
"Yes," Kame said. "Kuro are written about as the eggs of evil."
"But what do they hatch into that warrants a section of my capital being turned to rubble, WITH ABSOLUTELY NO REGARD FOR THE PONIES ON THE GROUND!"
The monks looked at Mutaito.
He sighed. "Even I don't know. It is not written about in any scriptures that were written after the closing of the mirror. Only that the kinto'un hunt their brethren and rip their soul apart without mercy."
"Wait, where the hay is Son Goku?!"
Chichi-hime was cold.
Very cold.
Hakuchi was booming down a rail track, the sonic wake blasting the snow away well past the shield tunnel.
Windigos had been running next to them outside the barrier, but had broken off some time ago. Even past the wind, she thought she could still hear the screeching of ice and the thunder of air in the distance as their battle tore open the sky.
Hakuchi was in pain. She could tell from the way the clouds moved even in her numbed state. Hakuchi did feel a little warm again whenever he ran his clouds against the barrier. But he was shaking in pain more and more every time and had to pull away sooner and sooner.
The screeching was so loud, but she couldn't hear anything else but the wind now…
Cold…
She was not even shivering anymore.
Just cold…
"I see," Shining said. "So, we are without his help for the next few hours. That is disheartening…"
"Can someone tell me where the BUCK Shining Armor is?!"
Before Vermarine Quartz responded to his, Shining poofed his stone.
"This is Shining… I'm okay Flash. I'm putting the fires out at…" his voice dropped, "at what's left of the castle…"
"Switching to personal channel." The stone shifted hues. "Shining," he said frustrated. "We've been looking all over the city for you. Last anyone knew you were at what's left of the hospital. You REALLY need to keep that stone on you, even if it's only synced with a couple other stones."
"I have become painfully aware of that…"
"You sound exhausted."
"I jump-teleported all the way here. Then there's putting out the fire… and putting out everything else…"
"Shining. Those yellow cloud things are what attacked the city."
"Mutaito is with me. He explained why. One of those clouds transformed into this kuro thing and they are currently chasing it and Princess Chichi. They assume both are dead or soon will be."
"The crystal ponies seem familiar with the yellow clouds and are connecting it with reports Princess Chichi jumped from the window and escaped on a black cloud. I don't think anywhere on this entire planet will be safe for her now… Where's Goku?"
"The Kais called him back. He won't be back on this planet for a few hours."
"Damn… If Princess Chichi isn't killed by the clouds, I think taking her with him to wherever he came from would be best at this point. At least for now. Can you spare any troops from the firefight? I've never seen the crystal ponies pitchfork and torches before. There's probably some heading north as we speak."
Shining took a sharp breath. He bit his lower lip.
"Let me," Vermarine Quartz said. "Lieutenant, this is Vermarine Quartz. Loyalists filled the emergency tunnel system under the castle with explosives… There is no castle. Not anymore. I got a shield and activated the emergency return crystal, but that would have only affected my unit. I don't know how many others got the chance."
"Oh Celest— I'll be right back!"
The stone dimmed.
"We need to move to protect the villagers," Mutaito said. "Monks, take the doctors and catch up with the groups we saw on the roads. I'm staying with the prince."
The monks nodded and quickly left.
"Prince Shining Armor," Vermarine Quartz said, poking him with his hoof then pointing.
Shining followed his hoof.
"Even more fires?" he sighed.
"There was nothing there just a few minutes ago. And that looks more like a chimney than a fire."
"A tunnel exit?" Mutaito asked.
"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too."
Vermarine Quartz did the teleport. Shining was supporting too many spells.
They landed in a small clearing in the natural pine forest. Vermarine Quartz plopped on his butt. "I think… I'm almost tapped out…" he panted. "Prince Shining, you're a monster. I see why your sister became an alicorn."
"My sister could kick my rear end even before she ascended," Shining said. "At least it's not snowing over here. Would have destroyed any tracks."
"Found wheel tracks! Lots of footprints."
"Watch the ground, don't step on anything," Shining ordered.
The two came over to the tracks. There was a narrow but well-worn path through the pine trees.
"That's not any wheel tracks I've ever seen. They are really wide and carved waves in the damp ground. They also change distance."
"Rickshaw tracks, pulled by the strange two wheels thy brought from the south."
"Rickshaw?"
"Tiny two-wheeled carriage. Holds only one pony or two foals," Vermarine Quartz said. "Used to be pulled by hoof, but bicycles are becoming popular."
"Yes, those two wheels." Mutaito nodded.
"So multiple trips…" Shining began counting tracks. "Some of these are dried out. Definitely seen active use for at least a week. Last scheduled rain was nine days ago."
Shining began to cough, "Even with the smoke going straight up, this is getting pretty bad."
"Yes, we are downwind for the ashes," Mutaito said, pulling part of his robe over his nose.
"Look at the mud splat on the trunks of the trees," Vermarine Quartz said. "Next to that depression."
They walk over.
"I have never seen a wheel spin out like this. The splash is way too high, even for a bicycle. The speed and the weight needed…"
"Do we have two wheeled combat vehicles?" Shining said slowly.
"No. And I can't think of a single one even remotely this small. And the metal wheels or tracks would rip the shreds out of the tree roots. The tracks are almost, airy?"
"Can a bicycle be modified with our tech?"
Vermarine Quartz shook his head, "It's too bulky."
"These were not made by beings of the central lands," he pointed at the two sides of the path. "We keep to the left, you keep to the right. Even in this narrow path, they're biased."
Shining looked side to side, "The splash is in two separate directions, good catch." Shining froze as his brain caught up to the information.
"…. …. Head back and check the foot tracks."
When they got back to the main clearing, Shining performed one more spell.
The ground gained a slight glimmer.
"Shield right above the ground. We're not contaminating it anymore."
The group looked around long enough for Flash to find them.
"You should be coordinating things at the palace."
"YOU should be coordinating things at the palace, damn it Shining!" He pointed the way he flew in, "Part of the city is wrecked! One of our major hospitals is out of action and the remaining are being overwhelmed. We have over 1300 casualties at the palace that the military doctors are using the royal guests suites to house the injured. Some of the most horrific burns I've ever seen. And I think the only thing holding back from a full blown RIOT is the fact everyone saw the ki demonstration did to the crystal heart this morning! AND YOU'RE HERE PLAYING IN THE DIRT! THIS ISN'T HIGH SCHOOL DAMN IT I CAN'T DO YOUR HOMEWORK FOR YOU!"
Flash was hyperventilating, glaring at him with his wings slightly spread in anger.
"While I understand thy fury," Mutaito said trotting over, "We art not 'playing in the dirt'." He looked at Shining. "I found what thy seeked."
Mutaito led the other three over.
"All I see are minotaur and pony tracks," Vermarine Quartz said. "Just like everywhere else."
"Thou did not look close enough." He pointed. "Either multiple ponies all have horrible limps that tilt their hooves to cause such tilted depressions, or these are beings never taught to properly walk in stamps and this shows their actual locomotion style."
"Stamps?"
"A way to hide your prints as another race?" Vermarine Quartz asked.
"So not a unicorn who could levitate or have a shield," Shining said.
"Or a pegasus that can make cloud shoes," Flash poofed white fluffy shoes.
"And an earth pony would not pretend to be an earth pony," Mutaito said. "And a ki user would simply fly."
"There's too many minotaur tracks to have someone fake being a pony." Vermarine Quartz said.
"Griffons…" Shining gasped. "Those weapons…" He turned. "Verm! Did you get them out?!"
Vermarine Quartz shook his head.
"Damn it!" Shining stomped his foot and a wave rippled through the field. "We'll never win a diplomatic fight with just tracks in the mud!"
"Could Tomi and Kin be at the embassy? We haven't found them yet." Vermarine Quartz asked.
"If they did go there, they were for dinner," Flash said. "And I don't mean as guests."
Shining shot his head up, "How long can pony flesh be detected in a digestive tract by medical scans?"
"Assuming it's not too late," Mutaito said. "First, how do we even get a griffon out of the embassy? Two, how do you counter them claiming to abduct random ponies and it just happened to be them. Three, how do you counter their agents in the wider community? Most of these prints are minotaur and actual ponies. They have deeply rooted talons if they were able to do that." He gestured towards the direction the castle was.
"Are you saying I let this go?!" Shining shouted. "Don't you get it?! Right now, everyone thinks you're the enemy!"
"And you are not happy with us yourself, correct?"
"That's not the point!"
"Prince Shining Armor. I know what troubles your mind, but the use of magic, ki, and alchemy is not as simple as a game of Jan Ken Pon. Sombra beat all of us. At our best and finest. It is why the Ox King bowed. We failed him, and knelt to save what little was left."
"That needs to be made public."
"Prince, I saw good beings today flee to the temple for protection because of the madness running today. Selective memory is worse than no memory at all. You have no memory. The Crystal Ponies remember what they want and forget what is inconvenient. And right now what is inconvenient to their emotions is the fact we have played such a large role in the empire's rise, resistance, and recovery. They can feel betrayed but cannot understand becoming the betrayer. To bow while palming a dagger for when the back is turned. A prisoner cozying up to the jailer for better treatment in order to help in an escape for others."
"And then we came in and ruined everything… twice…"
"We would have lost again," Mutaito said. "There is no morality in survival. Only condemnation after the fact. What happened to Princess Chichi and Hakuchi is more than enough proof of the lies behind the harmony."
"And what is that?" Flash asked, not liking the despair in his voice.
"Nakagami is a spirit. The Mother of Spirits, but a spirit nonetheless. And all dreams end and are forgotten when the dreamer wakes up, as if they were never there. Because in truth, it never existed in the first place."
"I think you are mourning the death of somepony very close to you.," Flash said carefully. "and you're not thinking completely straight."
"If I remember correctly, there were around four thousand soldiers occupying the castle at the time I left. But you were screaming about only 1300 casualties in the palace hospital when you first came. Under that definition, I'm thinking the straightest here." He turned around. "Do what you need to as the ruler of an empire across many species and cultures. And I will do what I need to as a leader for my small little community within it."
Mutaito flew away.
Shining closed his eyes. "He's telling me to do something I don't want to do, isn't he…"
"As someone who's been here my whole life," Vermarine Quartz said. "I think he's more of a grandpa telling a child everything will be alright in the end, even if it does not look like it right now."
"Alright, enough talking," Flash grabbed a small bag and tossed it at Shining. "Your bucking recall stone. And vacuum your damn poofing box. I'm surprised a mouse hasn't chewed through it yet. It's disgusting. If it wasn't for the preservation enchantment, all those crumbs would be a thick carpet of mold."