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Heart of War- Act XV

By ThingPaste
Created: 2024-02-28 03:16:18
Expiry: Never
heart of war

  1. >…
  2. >After another day, the airship reached Jun Hisan.
  3. >Once you drop of Sadiq, you’ll be setting out for Canterlot.
  4. >You’ve decided to head down with him, you’d like a few words with the Mushir.
  5. >According to Brairheart, he’s still in the city.
  6. >As the chariot sets down in the courtyard to the governor’s palace, Sadiq steps off and the pegasi pulling it take back off.
  7. >You’ve only brought two things with you.
  8. >First is the dagger that he gave you.
  9. >And second is the griffon officer’s cap.
  10. >When you walk over to the door to the Mushir’s study, you assume that he’s inside.
  11. >There are four guards outside, so it’s a safe guess.
  12. >One of them nods to you before opening the door.
  13. >Another then takes Sadiq aside and begins speaking to him.
  14. >You’ll get that settled.
  15. >Entering the room, you recognize the décor.
  16. >Bookshelves filled with actual books and several ornate artifacts from different cultures.
  17. >And the scent of burning incense.
  18. >”Thunder!”
  19. >The Mushir yells over to you as he looks up from his desk.
  20. >”Get over here my Friend!”
  21. >As you approach, you fill him in.
  22. “The mine’s destroyed and we brought your commander’s brother back- he’s right outside.”
  23. >”Excellent! When my men spotted your ship, I sent for my general. It looks like he’ll get the good news rather than the bad.”
  24. “Happy to help.”
  25. >”You speak in a very… drab tone. Are you alright?”
  26. “Just a bit drained from the mission.”
  27. >”The desert will do that to you.”
  28. “Oh, and the griffon.”
  29. >You reach into your saddle bag and pull out the hat.
  30. >Tossing it onto the table, you let him look at it.
  31. “There wasn’t a head left. Believe it or don’t, but you won’t be hearing about him any longer.”
  32. >”Haha! I will keep my word, let us visit the treasury. Anything you want, just say.”
  33.  
  34. “No, I didn’t do any of this for money.”
  35. >You unstrap the dagger’s sheathe from your body.
  36. “And this is yours.”
  37. >You set it down on his table.
  38. >”What is this?”
  39. “It’s important to you, keep it with your family.”
  40. >”You…”
  41. >He looks at you quizzically.
  42. >”I hope you recover quickly.”
  43. “I do too.”
  44. >He knows that you’re messed up.
  45. >Rising from his seat, he reaches out a hoof.
  46. >You rise and shake it.
  47. >”Until another day my friend.”
  48. “Thank you. And good luck.”
  49. >”You are the one who looks like they need luck.”
  50. “Heh… I should go now.”
  51. >Breaking the hoofshake, you make for the door.
  52. >When you reach the heavy door, you exit and find yourself in the courtyard.
  53. >It’s a pretty cloudy day.
  54. >Further into the courtyard, you see a Saddle Arabian in an ornate robe, flanked by several armored guards.
  55. >Sadiq’s brother.
  56. >You see the kid run over to the robed soldier.
  57. >They embrace for a moment before the commander starts making for the door to the Mushir’s study.
  58. >Walking a bit before you take off, your eyes cross.
  59. >Hmm…
  60. >Taking flight you make for the ship that’s not far off.
  61. >They’ve already started heading over the water.
  62. >The Admiral didn’t want to waste any time.
  63. >You’ll be able to catch up just fine.
  64. >As you pass by the huge lighthouse, you realize something.
  65. >Sadiq’s brother is called Khayin.
  66. >Did some nasty things back in the Second Coast War.
  67. >He loved the fighting, didn’t really matter against who.
  68. >Even as a kid he was like that.
  69. >Burning ants with magnifying glasses.
  70. >Getting into fights with smaller kids.
  71. >Now he’s planning on killing the Mushir.
  72. >He’s been thinking about it constantly since the start of the civil war.
  73. >Overall a real piece of work.
  74. >You watch some seagulls fly by you.
  75. >Heading to the beaches to look for food probably.
  76.  
  77. >Wait!
  78. >Oh crap.
  79. >Banking hard and to the left, you start turning around.
  80. >You rush past the seagulls.
  81. >Picking up speed, you pass the lighthouse and get over the courtyard.
  82. >Below you can see a few guards fighting.
  83. >You also notice Sadiq’s body in a fountain- the blood seeping into the water.
  84. >And you’re unarmed…
  85. >Flying above the small struggle, you head straight to the door to the study.
  86. >As you push the door open, you step into the incense.
  87. >At the end of the room, you see the general struggling with the Mushir.
  88. >He has the Mushir pressed against the bookshelves behind his desk.
  89. >And the Mushir is grasping the general’s hooves as he tries to force his dagger into the Mushir’s throat.
  90. >You see the Mushir’s knife still on his desk where you left it.
  91. >Working your wings, you start flying through the room.
  92. >Lining up your hoof with the grip of the gilded knife, you grab the weapon as you pass.
  93. >You only have a moment to flick the sheathe off.
  94. >Keeping momentum, you then thrust it into Khayin’s side as you reach the struggle.
  95. >It hits right under the shoulder into the upper chest.
  96. >The force of your impact sends you tumbling to the ground with the body.
  97. >Slightly dazed, you hear the Mushir wildly yell in Arabian.
  98. >Expletives presumably.
  99. >He punches the body in the face once or twice before helping you stand.
  100. >And then he spits on the corpse.
  101. >As you hear yells from outside, you each look to the entrance.
  102. >A couple of the Mushir’s men are entering, but stop when he says something to him.
  103. >One replies in Arabian.
  104. >And the Mushir then yells something at them.
  105. >It sounded like he repeated a couple words with more emphasis at the end.
  106. >As the soldiers leave, he looks over to you.
  107. >”You’re back: how, why?”
  108.  
  109. “It’s a… long story, let’s just say I got a gut feeling that something was wrong.”
  110. >”It seems that I am in your debt once again.”
  111. “Don’t mention it.”
  112. >”Ha, you speak like this is a normal occurrence.”
  113. “You’re the one who just said ‘again’ so…”
  114. >The Mushir looks steps back to the body.
  115. >”I will miss you Thunder.”
  116. “In some way I’ll miss you too. You’re like the semi-sadistic uncle that I never had.”
  117. >”As it turns out, I have an opening. I could use an honest general right now. You could bring your family, and live like royalty once this war is over.”
  118. “I appreciate the offer, but I’d have to decline.”
  119. >Reaching down to the body, he pulls the knife out of his general and wipes the blood off on the corpse’s robe.
  120. >He then steps over to the sheathe and places the dagger into it.
  121. >Then he turns back to you, and offers the blade to you- the sapphire in the pommel pointing right at you.
  122. >”Take it.”
  123. “You were going to give that and it’s matching twin to your children.”
  124. >”After everything that’s happened, as far as I am concerned you are a son to me.”
  125. “Thank you… I’m flattered, but that still doesn’t change my decision.”
  126. >”Damn! But I mean that, take the blade with my blessing.”
  127. >You reach a hoof and take hold of the grip.
  128. “Thank you Mushir.”
  129. >”My name is Khidr.”
  130. “Thank you Khidr.”
  131. >”A good name for a son, yes?”
  132. “I don’t think so.”
  133. >”It was worth a try. Now go to your home and your family.”
  134.  
  135. >…
  136. >More days at sea…
  137. >Your knees are still a pain in the ass, but you’ve gotten used to it now.
  138. >The past few days have been rather uneventful as you went through open water.
  139. >But now, you’re sailing through a cluster of islands.
  140. >Large cliffs that jut out into the sky.
  141. >They reach up to about a hundred feet, but some peaks go to twice that.
  142. >It looks like they have a decent amount of plant life, many of them have decent forests.
  143. >Thankfully, the islands are all far enough away that there’s no real risk of the ship running aground.
  144. >But you’d bet that there’s something out there.
  145. >Because it’s been too long since the ship was attacked or otherwise threatened.
  146. >You’re due another ‘event’ any time now.
  147. >As you continue to sail through the archipelago, you decide to leave Port at the wheel to go see Tiara.
  148. >Walking down the steps to reach her quarters, you feel a bit of mist hit your face.
  149. >Some of these islands must have geysers that shoot into the air.
  150. >Because every now and then when you pass one, the ship is coated with a fine mist.
  151. >Turning off of the stairs, you step towards the doors to the captain’s cabin.
  152. >You could knock.
  153. >Could.
  154. >Entering the room without any warning, you see Tiara at the circular table in the center of the room.
  155. >As the door opens and the wind hits her, she fumbles the divider calipers she was using for some nautical purpose.
  156. >Approaching, you see several maps laying across the table.
  157. >”Do you know how to knock?”
  158. “Oh I can, I just choose not to.”
  159. >”Why did I know that was going to be the answer?”
  160. “So.”
  161. >You pause as you put a hand on the table and reach down to grab the calipers.
  162. >Handing them to Tiara, you continue:
  163. “Are we at the place that says ‘here be monsters’ yet?”
  164. >”Depends on which map.”
  165. “Why did I know that was going to be the answer?”
  166. >Leaning over the table, you place your right arm on the back of Tiara’s chair, and your left hand on the table itself.
  167.  
  168. >You look closer at the maps…
  169. “So that’s the Lake of Tartarus, right?”
  170. >”Yes. And if I’m following our progress correctly, we should be about here. Or there on that map.”
  171. “Problem. There are islands on that map, but clear seas on the other.”
  172. >”This area hasn’t properly been mapped. But at the earliest, I think we might make landfall in a week or so.”
  173. “And at the latest?”
  174. >”That depends how fast you can swim.”
  175. “I mean: assuming the ship stays afloat.”
  176. >”Add a week for distance irregularities on the maps, and another week to ten days for bad winds.”
  177. “Well isn’t that just dandy.”
  178. >”Honestly, what I’ve mainly been working on is our way back.”
  179. “And how’s that looking?”
  180. >”Well the winds are rather erratic in terms of strength, but direction is pretty constant. If this-“
  181. >She motions a vague line from Equestia to the East.
  182. >”-is roughly out path, the winds are all heading eastward for the most part. But down here-“
  183. >She moves her hood southward.
  184. >”-the winds go southwest. Up to the north they go west as well, but ships that return via the south have had better chances at actually making it back. Up north, the waters are about as dangerous as they are here. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still dangerous down south, but the records speak for themselves.”
  185. “If you follow those winds, you’d end up hitting the Saddle Arabian coast. Right?”
  186. >”Yes, from there the waters will be safe and secure back up to Equestria. Well, safe from… irregular encounters.”
  187. “So you think that’s your best bet?”
  188. >”Correct.”
  189. “Minor problem. Last I heard, there was a civil war down in Saddle Arabia. I’m sure that we’ve been helping the peaceful side win, but there’s a slight chance you might end up in contested or hostile waters.”
  190.  
  191. >”This ship is faster than anything in their fleet, and can pack quite the punch. Between that and experience, I think we’ll be just fine… no matter the situation.”
  192. “Yes, yes. The Ocean Fox returns to her element.”
  193. >”What?”
  194. “It’s a reference to- just forget it.”
  195. >”Okay… so will you want to be dropped off as soon as we spot land, or would you prefer stay with us as we head down the coast.”
  196. “I’m not sure yet. I’ll have to see where we are when we reach there, and how the terrain looks like.”
  197. >”Sounds good.”
  198. “Location, location, location.”
  199. >”Looking to buy a house, are we?”
  200. “Hey, with all the monsters, land is cheap.”
  201. >”The only drawback being all of the monsters.”
  202. “Ah, but they have many uses.”
  203. >”What?”
  204. “Well, Timber Wolf remains will burn through the entire night without needing to add wood to the fire. A Chimera’s mane hair works perfectly to stich wounds, and it actually works as a bit of an anesthetic when it touches the wound. A single bite of a dragon’s heart provides enough nutrients to survive for three days. And, of course, a drop of Manticore venom works wonders on a shot of alcohol.”
  205. >”What was that about hearts?”
  206. >That was a slip up…
  207. >You go out of your way to avoid talking about more… carnivorous dietary options.
  208. “You know, I think I have a vial of manticore venom in my pack. Can stop anything short of a hydra dead in its tracks. You’ll have to try a drop before I go.”
  209. >”Don’t I recall something about it boiling stomach acids?”
  210. “Only if you use more than a drop.”
  211. >”Look, I-“
  212. >She’s cut off as a loud roar emanates from outside and far away.
  213. “Son of a…”
  214. >You do NOT need this right now.
  215. >”What was that?”
  216. “I’d recognize that sound anywhere…”
  217. >”What is it!”
  218. >You just had to be right about something attacking soon.
  219. “Dragon.”
  220.  
  221. >…
  222. >Getting up to the poop deck, you start scanning the sky and islands for the source of the roar.
  223. >Dragons are by far the most challenging opponents you’ve ever faced.
  224. >Their scales are tough, their joints have a similar range of movement to your own, they’re decently intelligent, they can usually fly, and they breathe fire.
  225. >Fire being the frightening part right now.
  226. >Because you’re on a ship.
  227. >A wooden ship…
  228. >The largest one you’ve killed was fifty to sixty feet tall.
  229. >An adult, but a relatively young adult.
  230. >And that fight lasted for over ten hours.
  231. >If there’s a dragon out here, it could be much larger.
  232. >Enough to utterly destroy the ship in a single blow…
  233. >Which would be bad.
  234. >You hear a deep voice echo off of the cliff sides:
  235. >”Who dares enter my domain!”
  236. “Sounds like someone is overly dramatic.”
  237. >Tiara then chastises you:
  238. >”You really are physically incapable of being serious. Aren’t you?”
  239. “Well, you see I’m not always like this. Discord just jumped into my mind and is driving me crazy.”
  240. >She lets out a giggle.
  241. >”Okay, that one was actually a bit funny.”
  242. >Your delivery was probably what sold it.
  243. >If only she knew how bad things really were in your head.
  244. >”Hey!”
  245. >You hear Harvey yell at you.
  246. >Upon hearing the loud voice again, you look to the source.
  247. >”You!”
  248. >High to three o’clock.
  249. >A bipedal silhouette is standing atop the cliff overlooking the water.
  250. >There’s your dragon.
  251.  
  252. >And…
  253. “Ahahaha!”
  254. >You begin to laugh.
  255. >Loudly.
  256. “HAHAHAHA!”
  257. >”What?”
  258. >Tiara yells at you.
  259. >”WHAT!”
  260. >The dragon exclaims.
  261. >You clutch your stomach as you laugh harder.
  262. “HA! Oh that’s priceless.”
  263. >The dragon outstretches it’s wings and begins to swoop down.
  264. “Pff- HAHAHA!”
  265. >You needed a good laugh.
  266. >It hurts…
  267. “Oh God! HAHAHAHA!”
  268. >You end up bending over as you brace your arms on your knees.
  269. “That’s rich!”
  270. >You hear a thump as the dragon sets down in front of you.
  271. >And you can see it’s green scaled legs.
  272. >You chuckle a couple more times as you see it’s claws.
  273. “Oh that’s adorable.”
  274. >After you wipe a tear from your eye, you stand up straight.
  275. >You would be eye to eye with the dragon.
  276. >But you’re at least a foot taller than he is.
  277. “Hey there tiny.”
  278. >He looks angry.
  279. >The hissing tells you that.
  280. >”In-so-lent little-“
  281.  
  282. >Clenching your fist, you shut him up with a swift right hook to the eye.
  283. >Your hand is going to be bruised in the morning, but it staggers the dragon and sends him falling into the railing.
  284. >As it realizes what just happened, you hear him start to growl.
  285. >He then pounces up and starts charging you with a snarl.
  286. >It’s arms are outstretched, so with your right hand, you grab onto its left wrist.
  287. >Sidestepping slightly, you use your foot to trip his legs, and as he begins to tumble to the ground, you strike his joint with your left hand.
  288. >The joint pops out of the socket, and he screams in pain as you bend the arm across his back.
  289. >Standing back up, you then place your left boot on the dislocated arm to hold it in place.
  290. “Alright, now listen here punk. I’ve killed dragons ten times as large as you are. Now, I don’t know how long you’ve been doing this little routine, but… it… ends… why am I negotiating?”
  291. >Reaching down, you place your left hand on the back of its head, and reach around to grab the left side of its snout with your right.
  292. >You then quickly twist and snap the young dragon’s neck.
  293. >Standing up straight, you wipe your hands against each other.
  294. “Well that was-“
  295. >You stop as you hear another roar.
  296. >Much louder, but less of a roar.
  297. >More of a… yawn?
  298. >You then see a pair of dark smoke clouds start climbing into the air in the distance.
  299. “Well shit.”
  300. >Sounds like ma or pa just woke up.
  301.  
  302. “… Hahahaha.”
  303. >-
  304. >”Hello Anon.”
  305. “Harv! Enjoying the view?”
  306. >”Alright… we need to be serious for a minute.”
  307. “Just a minute?”
  308. >”You’re acting very… differently.”
  309. “Says you. Since when were you such a stick in the mud?”
  310. >”Our personalities are influencing the other’s…”
  311. >What are you even doing…
  312. >Focus Anon, he’s right.
  313. >You know he’s right.
  314. “Well look here, I never asked for you to piggyback into my grey matter.”
  315. >”I think we should go back to limiting our interaction a bit. I’ve noticed that you act more… like me when we’ve spent more together.”
  316. “Wait, do you really think that it’s a case by case thing? Instead of it being more of a permanent shift, that is.”
  317. >”Well I don’t know, I’ve never exactly done this before.”
  318. “Just great.”
  319. >”But I do know that we’re in a very serious situation right now. I’ve seen your memories, and you’re acting cockier than you ever have before.”
  320. “Yeah, yeah. Pride before fall, all that.”
  321. >”Anon!”
  322. >You feel yourself get shocked, like every inch of you just got hit by static.
  323. “Gah, damnit Harv!”
  324. >”FOCUS!”
  325. “Just send me back… bastard.”
  326. >-
  327. >Right.
  328. >This is completely serious business…
  329. >Looking over to the rising smoke, you see a large shaft of flame shoot up in the air.
  330. >It must spiral up for five hundred feet before dying out.
  331. >Shit…
  332. “Tiara?”
  333. >”Are you finally realizing the gravity of the situation?”
  334. “Do me a favor… Go see if the ship’s gunner has finished my project.”
  335. >”What?”
  336. “He’ll know what it means. And yes, that’s an order.”
  337. >She grumbles a bit before leaving the deck.
  338. “Port?”
  339. >”Aye?”
  340. “Bring in the masts and drop anchor.”
  341. >”You want us to stop!”
  342. “That’s the idea.”
  343.  
  344. >”Shall we bring the guns to bear?”
  345. “No, everyone should stand down.”
  346. >”Then what are we going to do?”
  347. “I’m going to talk with it.”
  348. >”That’s…”
  349. “Fortuna audaces iuvat.”
  350. >”What?”
  351. “Fortune favors the bold.”
  352. >Looking back to the island the smoke and fire is rising from, you see a head pop up into view.
  353. >A very, very large head.
  354. >It must be as large as a bus…
  355. >Sleek red scales, a golden yellow neck, bright green eyes, and two horns that go up and back in a wavy V from the eyes.
  356. >You have a side profile for a moment, but then it turns.
  357. >To look straight at the ship.
  358. >You see the dragon’s brow furrow before an enormous pair of gold wings rise into the air.
  359. >And as they flap, you can feel the wind from where you are.
  360. >As the creature lifts itself, you get a sense of its scale.
  361. >It must be at least eighty feet long, and that’s not counting the tail.
  362. >The dragon flies to the stern of the ship.
  363. >And even though it’s a few hundred feet away, you feel the wind from the wings pushing you back.
  364. >Raising your palms to your mouth, you use them to amplify your speech.
  365. “HELLLLLLLO!”
  366. >You could swear that the dragon made a ‘humph’ like noise.
  367. >A moment later, it brings its wings back and slams down into the water.
  368. >The resulting wave rocks the ship, and sends some sea water splashing over the deck.
  369. >You think that the hind legs manage to reach the bottom here, because it looks like it’s standing as it moves closer.
  370. >The waterline is just under the arms…
  371. >The dragon starts looking specifically at you.
  372. >Underbelly?
  373. >No, at that size it will still be pretty thick.
  374. >The great beast then speaks.
  375. >In a deep and firm, but distinctly female voice.
  376. >”More ponies… but what are you?”
  377.  
  378. >Eyes?
  379. >You could blind her, but she could still easily strike the ship.
  380. >And a dragon of her size could probably lift the entire ship if she got a decent grip.
  381. >”Oh… and is that Bruiser? Oh my poor child.”
  382. >She comes to stop when her face is about ten feet away from the stern of the ship, and you approach the railing.
  383. “I’m human… a guest of sorts to this world.”
  384. >”And did you kill my son, hu-maan?”
  385. “Well, I would say that I merely assisted in his suicide.”
  386. >”Hehehe. The brat had it coming.”
  387. “So… no hard feelings?”
  388. >”Well, you’ve gotten rid of a thorn in my side. And you perplex me because in so many centuries, I have never seen anything like you. But, more importantly, you still interrupted my sleep.”
  389. “Well as far as I know, we were being very quiet.”
  390. >”And I’m sure you are, but whenever a ship is seen, it gets all of the kids excited. And they can be very loud.”
  391. “I’m sorry to hear that, I know what it’s like.”
  392. >”Why do you think I’ve come so far away from everything? All I want is to have a decade or two of uninterrupted sleep, but every year or so another ship passes through and gets my kids all riled up.”
  393. “Well, now that we know I can promise to leave your islands as quickly as possible.”
  394. >”Oh that simply won’t work.”
  395. “Why not?”
  396. >”I let ships pass through freely a century or so ago. More and more kept coming through this way. But since I started destroying them, I’ve managed to get up to five years of uninterrupted sleep.”
  397. “And you’re letting us live for now, because…”
  398. >”Oh a bit of entertainment.”
  399. “Well allow me to make a proposition.”
  400. >”Mmm?”
  401. “I’m sure that you’re out of the loop, but I’ve conquered the known world. The ponies, griffons, minotaurs, yaks, Saddle Arabians, all of it.”
  402. >”Good for you.”
  403.  
  404. “Now, I’m sure that you’re sitting on a very prestigious treasure horde. But, several reports from ages ago indicated that several of these islands could be very rich in raw gold and silver. I can deal with manpower, and in exchange for letting us use your land, I’m prepared to let you keep seventy percent of all the precious minerals we dig up.”
  405. >”Interesting, but I don’t think so.”
  406. “Alright, seventy-five, but that’s as low as I’m going.”
  407. >”Even if this story was true, which it isn’t, the commotion from mining would keep me awake indefinitely.”
  408. >She called the bluff.
  409. >Where’s Gunny?
  410. “So, if bribery doesn’t work, how about threats? In the past two and a half decades, I’ve personally killed tens of thousands of people and monsters. I’ve even managed to overthrow Celestia herself.”
  411. >”Haha. That’s cute. I might keep you alive for a extra day or two. But I do wonder what you taste like… better or worse than ponies?”
  412. “An.”
  413. >”Hmm?”
  414. “You’ll keep me alive for AN extra day. Using A there isn’t grammatically correct.”
  415. >”I wonder if you’ll be stringy…”
  416. “Well, if you do plan on eating me, at least let me give you a gift to remember me by.”
  417. >”What would that be?”
  418. “Well, I’m the only one of my kind in the world. And in my possession is the single most valuable item in the world.”
  419. >You hear a voice from behind exclaim:
  420. >”Whoa!”
  421. “And there it is!”
  422. >Nice timing.
  423. >The unicorn levitates over a long wooden case.
  424. >”What is that?”
  425. >The dragon asks of you.
  426.  
  427. >You set the case on the railing.
  428. “It is a bit small compared to you, so you might want to get a closer look.”
  429. >You flip open a pair of latches that allow you to open the case.
  430. >Oh that’s beautiful.
  431. >Unlatch that.
  432. >Flip that open.
  433. >Those are heavier than you expected…
  434. >Close it up, latch it tight.
  435. >”What is it?”
  436. >The mouth.
  437. >the roof of it will be softer.
  438. >Pull that back.
  439. >And pull that back.
  440. >”What is it!”
  441. “Oh this?”
  442. >You shoulder the weapon, keeping it tight- because if it isn’t, you’ll break your collarbone.
  443. “A half pound of lead.”
  444. >Taking aim, you pull both the triggers on the double barreled 4 gauge.
  445. >It kicks like a mule, produces a fair amount of smoke, and the recoil makes it rise a foot or so.
  446. >And damn is it loud.
  447. >Looking to the dragon, you see her stand there.
  448. >Motionless for a moment.
  449. >Then some blood begins to seep out of her slacked jaw.
  450. >And then the immense creature begins to sink down into the water.
  451. >Damn your shoulder hurts.
  452. >You bring the end of the eighteen inch barrels closer to your mouth and blow the excess smoke away.
  453. “Groovy.”
  454.  
  455. >As you scan the cliffs, you can pick out a few smaller dragons watching the ship.
  456. “Alright, now listen up! If anyone else wants some… they can come get it!”
  457. >Wait for it…
  458. >Wait…
  459. “I thought not.”
  460. >You turn around to face the crew.
  461. >Unlatching the lever below the trigger guard, you open the breech to the gun.
  462. >Two spent cartridges.
  463. >You flick the shells into your hand.
  464. >They’re still warm.
  465. >Setting the four and a half inch long brass shells back into the wooden case, you grab two fresh ones.
  466. >To say that the shells are heavy would be an understatement.
  467. >The bullets alone are a quarter pound.
  468. >Hell, the gun itself is around twenty pounds.
  469. >As you slide the two cigars of lead, brass, and black powder into the rifle, you then close the breech and latch it back up.
  470. “Well, what are you looking at? Get the ship moving.”
  471. >You lean the gun on your shoulder and begin walking.
  472. “Oh Gunny. I could use some more ammo.”
  473. >”Yeah… yeah.”
  474. >He looks impressed.
  475. >Tiara then speaks to you.
  476. >”What… is that?”
  477. “This… is my…”
  478. >You can’t say ‘boomstick’ with a straight face.
  479. “It’s a little something from home.”
  480. >”It’s a portable cannon…”
  481. “This is a 4 bore double barreled shotgun. Each tube sends a quarter pound of lead down range at around fourteen to fifteen hundred feet per second… Sorry, it’s a 4 gauge. If I recall correctly rifles are bores, smoothbores are gauges when it comes to these things.”
  482. >”Rifles?”
  483. “Oh I could have made much worse, but given we have a fixed amount of supplies on the ship, I went with something more simple. Where I come from, these were called elephant guns: because when a stampeding bull comes at you, you need the first shot to drop it.”
  484. >Damn your shoulder hurts.
  485. >But there’s no kill like overkill.
  486.  
  487. >…
  488. >At your quicker pace, you made it back to Manehattan in half the time it took you to get to the coliseum.
  489. >Quite nice.
  490. >Quite nice indeed.
  491. >As you got to the city proper, you wasted no time heading for the train yard.
  492. >It was late into the afternoon by the time you got there.
  493. >Thankfully you arrived just in time to get on the overnight express for Canterlot.
  494. >Well, thankfully for the others.
  495. >On the train, you just finished talking to Offense.
  496. >You said that you were going to ‘raise’ the moon in private, then turn in for the night.
  497. >After all, it’s been a long day.
  498. >Inside of the room you’ve got, you wait for the sun to go down.
  499. >Soon after, you feel the engine begin to start dragging the train along.
  500. >Heading to the door, you peek out into the hallway.
  501. >Clear both ways.
  502. >You’re lucky.
  503. >The only room left was pretty far back on the train.
  504. >Walking towards the caboose, you avoid getting spotted by anypony.
  505. >Before the train even fully leaves the station, you jump of the back.
  506. >You’ve got to catch a train headed for the crystal empire.
  507. >On the platform, you see a slightly overweight pony in a suit running towards the train.
  508. >He stops as he reaches the end, then runs a hoof through his unkempt mane.
  509. >”Damn.”
  510.  
  511. >Oh hey, it’s that guy.
  512. >The mayor.
  513. >Honestly, you’ve completely forgotten his name…
  514. “Need something?”
  515. >You say to grab his attention as you’re still on the tracks.
  516. >”What? Oh, your highness! Did you…”
  517. >Flapping your wings, you get up on the platform.
  518. “Oh, it’s all part of the plan.”
  519. >”I’m sure it is…”
  520. “Why were you running after the train?”
  521. >”I heard that you returned, and wanted to thank you before you set out… unfortunately, the trains run on time and I don’t run.”
  522. “Thank me?”
  523. >”The election… you spoke on my behalf- well, you criticized my opponents. The vote was yesterday, and I won with seventy-eight percent of the ballots.”
  524. “Well good for you mayor.”
  525. >”Oh I promise I’ll get this city sorted.”
  526. “I hope you do- oh, and if I recall correctly, you currently have lots of unemployed veterans, right?”
  527. >”Yes we do, at our height we had the sixth largest per capita percentage of soldiers to civilians.”
  528. “Well do me a favor, and get the word out that we’re recruiting again.”
  529. >”That doesn’t sound good. Did something happen with the minotaurs?”
  530. “Not with the minotaurs per say… just wait for the news from Canterlot. Now if you’ll excuse me, my train is leaving in a minute or two.”
  531. >…
  532. >Every night it’s been the same story.
  533. >It all seems normal, and you’re just fine.
  534. >Then you lay down to sleep, and it gets you.
  535. >Your heart starts pounding, you can barely breathe.
  536. >It only ends when you can feel the wind and see the stars.
  537. >Right now, it’s around ten.
  538. >You don’t even want to try and sleep.
  539. >Even though you barely got any rest last night, and you’re completely exhausted.
  540. >So you’re heading to a mess hall to get some coffee or something.
  541. >Ship’s pretty quiet.
  542.  
  543. >All of the crew is in bed, getting their rest.
  544. >Other than the night shift, that is.
  545. >Your hooves echo through the corridors as you walk.
  546. >Hmm.
  547. >Door to this mess hall is open.
  548. >And you hear voices.
  549. >”I swear, I will beat you within an inch of your life.”
  550. >”Oh and you call me insufferable… heh. Call.”
  551. >That’s Shore and Call, respectively.
  552. >As you turn into the room, they both shut up.
  553. >They’re sitting at a small table, each has a mug of something steaming.
  554. >Coffee presumably.
  555. >Maybe tea.
  556. >Tea doesn’t sound bad right now.
  557. >You continue walking to the coffee maker.
  558. >Pot’s empty.
  559. >Call then speaks to you:
  560. >”That one’s busted, try the one in the kitchen.”
  561. “Don’t stop on my account.”
  562. >They get back to bickering.
  563. >Call starts as you walk over to the kitchen doors.
  564. >”It’s always just this this this and that, show some bloody-“
  565. >”Because hate is too kind a word, I despise you. You filty-“
  566. >As the doors close behind you, their voices get muffled.
  567. >To your right, you see a coffee maker, the pot is half full.
  568. >Reaching for a mug, you brim the cup and set the pot back.
  569. >Turning back to the door, you pause to wipe your eyes.
  570. >You feel like you could lay down and sleep here.
  571. >But then you’d just freak out.
  572. >Continuing, you hear silence as you pass through the door back to the mess hall.
  573. >Stopping on your account again, well they won’t have to worry, your heading out.
  574. >Maybe you should bring a blanket to the mortar pit.
  575. >To lay on.
  576. >The floor is awfully hard.
  577. >You glance over to the table and look at-
  578. >Yup.
  579. >That’s happening.
  580. >They’re making out.
  581. >You’ll just leave…
  582.  
  583. >…
  584. >On your way to the pit up top, you bump into the Admiral.
  585. “Sir.”
  586. >”What are you doing up this late?”
  587. >You nod to the cup of coffee in your hoof.
  588. >”Well good, come with me.”
  589. “Right.”
  590. >You reply in a mellow tone.
  591. >Following Brairheart down the hallways, he leads you to the observation room.
  592. >Big surprise there…
  593. >As you enter the room, you see what he’s up for.
  594. >The nighttime skyline of Canterlot is glowing in the distance.
  595. “We made really fast time.”
  596. >”I rushed us.”
  597. “Why, is something wrong?”
  598. >”We’re getting you checked out. Now.”
  599. >…
  600. >The tests kind of all bled together.
  601. >Brairheart had Starlight Glimmer and another unicorn rushed in.
  602. >Sunburst you think his name was.
  603. >Anyway, they hit you with magical lights, asked questions, took samples of you… fluids.
  604. >You overheard something about a ‘residual charge of magical energy’ but then you dozed off for a bit.
  605. >Next thing Lancer was there, and it looks like he was woken up because he seemed tired.
  606. >Then they said that you were like a conduit for an incredibly powerful magic.
  607. >That it’s a miracle that you weren’t disintegrated as well.
  608. >The unicorns had no idea what the crystal was.
  609. >You told them about what you experienced, and it left them clueless.
  610. >Now Starlight just got back from doing the sun, and she’s jabbing a needle into your shoulder.
  611. “Didn’t you take enough blood?”
  612. >”Large sample sizes are vital for research.”
  613. “Done yet?”
  614. >”Yes. I think that will be the last sample for today.”
  615. “Today?”
  616. >”Well depending on preliminary results-“
  617. “Yeah, yeah. Magic. Can I go now?”
  618. >”Rest certainly wouldn’t hurt…”
  619. “Bye!”
  620. >You jump off of the seat and move through the palace.
  621. >Because you need to try something.
  622. >Sleeping.
  623.  
  624. >…
  625. >Reaching the small room that’s yours in the palace, you open the window wide.
  626. >You feel wind blow over you, and you can hear birds chirping outside.
  627. >Great.
  628. >Walking over to the bed, you jump into it.
  629. >Maybe this will be enough to finally put your mind at ease.
  630. >You can breathe just fine…
  631. >The bed isn’t too uncomfortable.
  632. >You…
  633. >Can…
  634. >Sleep…
  635. >Listening to the sounds from outside, you let the bird’s song help you drift to sleep.
  636. >But there’s something else.
  637. >Other sounds.
  638. >Noises.
  639. >Voices.
  640. >Commotion.
  641. >From both inside the palace, and outside.
  642. >It’s painful.
  643. >Your heart is really going.
  644. >You need to get out of here.
  645. >Standing up, you flex your wings and shoot outside.
  646. >You need to get away from this place.
  647. >All of it.
  648. >No…
  649. >You have a bustling city…
  650. >You need to head face first into it, and get over the commotion and noise.
  651. >And all the people.
  652. >You turn around and start flying towards the city proper.
  653. >…
  654. >It’s terrible.
  655. >Your heart is beating a mile a minute.
  656. >Your ears are being pierced by all of the voices.
  657. >Your head is filled with aches as it tries to categorize all of them.
  658. >All of the voices, they’re… familiar.
  659. >You know that stallion!
  660. >But you’ve never seen him.
  661. >And that mare!
  662. >And those foals!
  663. >Was that Offense running through the crowd with some soldiers?
  664. >Everything is.
  665. >It’s.
  666. >You can’t.
  667. >You just can’t.
  668. >-
  669. >Next thing you know, you’re curled up on the ground in an alley.
  670. >You.
  671. >You…
  672. >You can’t.
  673. >Okay, one step at a time.
  674. >…
  675. >Reaching your room, you make for the sparse desk.
  676. >…
  677. >Good.
  678. >That’s dealt with.
  679. >…
  680. >Back in the city, you walk through the streets.
  681. >All of the commotion is annoying, but you can deal with it.
  682. >Oh what’s wrong with you…
  683. >Well, here you are.
  684. >Good timing too.
  685. >After getting a ticket, you step onto the train.
  686.  
  687. >…
  688. >Getting off of the train, you realize something.
  689. >You probably should have told Offense what you’re doing.
  690. >And if he objected you could have just ordered him…
  691. >Yeah, but that’s not any fun.
  692. >Really though, you wish you could see the look on Offense and the other’s faces.
  693. >It would be priceless.
  694. >All of them running around, wondering what happened to you.
  695. >Lancer yelling at Offense.
  696. >You feel a bit sad for the poor guy.
  697. >You’re a horrible pony, aren’t you?
  698. >Nah.
  699. >They’ll be fine.
  700. >But right now, you’re in a pretty dangerous place.
  701. >Just keep walking.
  702. >Maybe the crowd won’t recognize you.
  703. >Ponies see another in armor, they think soldier and go back to their business.
  704. >That’s what you are.
  705. >Just one more of the many thousands of soldiers, taking a walk through the Crystal Empire.
  706. >What could possibly go wrong?
  707. >You hear a young filly yell to some of her friends:
  708. >”Is that the princess!”
  709. >Oh come on!
  710. “Umm… no…”
  711. >And they’re crowding you.
  712. >”Wow, it’s really her!”
  713. >”Her armor is so pretty.”
  714. >”My big brother is a soldier, do you know him?”
  715. >”Can I get an autograph?”
  716. “Good morning everypony.”
  717. >”She just talked to us!”
  718. >Heh.
  719. “Look kids, I’d love to stay and talk with you all, but I’m on a very important mission right now.”
  720. >In unison they all:
  721. >”Aww…”
  722. >You sigh.
  723. “I suppose I could stay. But just for a minute.”
  724. >…
  725. >An hour later, you manage to break free.
  726. >You know what…
  727. >It would be much easier just to fly to the spire.
  728. >Why didn’t you do that in the first place?
  729.  
  730. >…
  731. >The dungeon under the spire is far more disconcerting than in Canterlot.
  732. >Back in the royal palace, the dungeon is dark and dirty.
  733. >Like a dungeon should be.
  734. >But here, the crystal is spotless and everything is so bright.
  735. >The cleaning ponies should take a break for a few years.
  736. >Also the slightest noise echoes for quite a bit.
  737. >Entering into the room that contains your mother’s cell, you order the guards to leave.
  738. >When they shut the door, you speak.
  739. “Hello Mom.”
  740. >”Sweetie? Is that you?”
  741. >Oh it’s impersonating.
  742. >She rushes up to the side of the cell, and hits the magical barrier.
  743. >”I managed to beat it, just like you did. I knew you were strong enough to-“
  744. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll stop you there, you’re not fooling anypony.”
  745. >And her voice slides down an octave or two when she speaks again.
  746. >”Hmph. Come to gloat pony?”
  747. “You were in my head, you know that I would absolutely come to gloat. But, that’s not why I’m here.”
  748. >”Visiting your dear mother?”
  749. “No Sparky, I’m here to talk to you. I know you were involved with the attack.”
  750. >”And?”
  751. “Why Manehattan? Did you release all those creatures to hit the population, or send a message?”
  752. >”Would you believe both. All of you pitiful creatures squirm around in their mortality… you need to be reminded about how useless you are against what is to come. And-”
  753. “Blah blah, villainy blah. Thanks buddy, now I know you weren’t behind it. Manehattan is just fine.”
  754. >”For now.”
  755.  
  756. “Oh I’m not worried about you.”
  757. >”You should be child.”
  758. “I kicked you out of my head just fine.”
  759. >”An anomaly. When we come, darkness will flood over your precious land.”
  760. “Never going to happen.”
  761. >”Your pride will be your undoing.”
  762. “You’re one to talk.”
  763. >”Nothing can save you from the oncoming storm.”
  764. “Oh you listen here: nothing can save YOU from the oncoming storm.”
  765. >”You possess no weapons that can damage us.”
  766. “I kicked you out, Anon kicked you out. I think you need to reevaluate that statement.”
  767. >”Ah yes, your little Uncle is coming to attack us… It is doubtful that he still lives.”
  768. “Never underestimate the stubbornness of a parent.”
  769. >”He is not your father.”
  770. “Alright, listen up because I’m only saying this once: you picked out the single deadliest individual to ever walk the face of this planet, and decided to try and take over his brain. He kicked you out, and that’s that. Then you decided to try and take over the one person in the entire world that he considers family. Sure, I kicked you out too. But he doesn’t know that.”
  771. >You start circling around the cell.
  772. “No matter how far away you are, no matter how dangerous the terrain is, and no matter how long it takes, there is no ending to this where you come out on top. I’ll let you in on a little secret: he’s out there on his own. Just one man against everything you and nature can throw at him. And you still don’t have a chance. I don’t care how old or powerful you are, because when you made him make up his mind- you signed your death warrant.”
  773. >”Death warrant… he used the same phrase.”
  774. “And right now, he’s on his way to deliver.”
  775. >”Do not worry. His corpse will be kept in good condition for you to see before your own fleeting life ends.”
  776. “Mom, if you can hear me: I wouldn’t worry.”
  777. >Finishing circling around the cell, you take your leave.
  778. “Guards! As you were.”
  779.  
  780. >…
  781. >As you walk through the spire, you find it pretty eerie.
  782. >There are so few ponies here.
  783. >Just some soldiers and a few cleaners to stop the dust.
  784. >It’s so quiet.
  785. >Well, you should probably head for Canterlot now.
  786. >Or…
  787. >You could waste some time and relax.
  788. >After so many days marching, fighting, and marching you could use some down time.
  789. >And nopony here even has close to the authority to question it.
  790. >Dropping by your room, you took off your armor and left it there.
  791. >What to do, what to do?
  792. >Going down to the empty throne room, you sit in the throne to think.
  793. >It’s still relatively early in the day.
  794. >But it’s been so long since you’ve had any down time.
  795. >What do you even do for fun?
  796. >Well…
  797. >You could hit the spa and spend a few hours getting pampered.
  798. >A massage, some time in a steam room, maybe get your hooves and mane done.
  799. >Or you could go shopping!
  800. >Try out some cute dresses.
  801. >Or, you could always hit the affluent side of town.
  802. >Spend time mingling with the other higher-ups of society.
  803. >Maybe invite some for a ball at the spire.
  804. >You would absolutely be the talk of the town for DAYS…
  805. >You laugh at the train of thought, unable to continue.
  806. >Like you would ever be caught doing any of those asinine things.
  807. >You get up and start walking out of the throne room.
  808. >Eventually you reach the entrance to the spire.
  809. >As you walk outside, you see some ponies going about their daytime activities, and a few soldiers standing guard.
  810. “Hey! Hey everypony, gather round!”
  811.  
  812. >As you grab attention, most of the nearby civilians start approaching.
  813. “Alright ponies, yeah it’s me. Been a while, hasn’t it? Well, I’m back home for the day. And I need a favor from each of you. I need all of you to start heading around the city and spread the word… “
  814. >Pause for dramatic effect.
  815. “By royal decree, I say that today is the first- and probably last- annual umm… ultimate… party festival… day. Yeah, let’s go with that. Starting at six let’s say, I want everypony out in the streets. Artists, musicians, cooks, everypony get out here and do their thing. Let’s get each and every person in the city out and having fun. We’ve had a pretty hectic year, let’s celebrate now that we’ve got some peace!”
  816. >Some of them look confused, some look happy, but the ponies soon start going their own ways.
  817. “Hey, solider.”
  818. >The guard you’re looking at looks to see if another is next to him.
  819. “Yeah, you. What’s your name?”
  820. >”Uhh… Private Copper you highness.”
  821. >He sounds young.
  822. “Relax kid, you’ve got new orders. I want you to see to it that there isn’t a district in the city that doesn’t have fireworks going off tonight.”
  823. >”Umm, yes Sir- Ma’am- Princess- your highness.”
  824. >Poor kid, probably never expected order like that.
  825. “Go on, you’ll do fine.”
  826. >You’re a horrible leader aren’t you?
  827. >Eh, some decadence is fine if everypony is enjoying it.
  828. >Besides, if things get worse, the people deserve some fun before it all kicks off.
  829.  
  830. >…
  831. >Well, with everypony hopefully getting ready, you still have a few hours to waste.
  832. >And you know just how to spend those few hours.
  833. >First thing first though.
  834. >You need a clever disguise to hide the fact that you’re the princess.
  835. >So, standing in your (very limited) wardrobe, you look for something.
  836. >No.
  837. >No.
  838. >That doesn’t fit.
  839. >Eww… it’s pink.
  840. >That one has wing holes.
  841. >You could have sworn that you had something in here for this exact purpose.
  842. >Oh there it is.
  843. >A black vinyl jacket that goes low enough on your torso to hide your wings.
  844. >Still shiny too.
  845. >You zip the jacket up , but let it open once it reaches the front of your chest.
  846. >You think that this style was out of date when your mother was your age.
  847. >But that’s the point.
  848. >Because if anypony recognizes you by appearance, they still have certain expectations of princesses.
  849. >And why would a princess ever wear something from so many decades ago.
  850. >Flawless logic.
  851. >You mess with the collar to get both sides down.
  852. >One of them was pressed up in the closet.
  853. >And it’s been like that for years.
  854. >Now to hit the town.
  855. >…
  856. >Entering a slightly rundown bar in the seedy side of the city, a lot of eyes look to the door.
  857. >The barkeep calls over to you:
  858. >”Lookin’ to start that part thing early ma’am?”
  859. “Party thing?”
  860. >”Yup, princess wants some big shindig.”
  861. >You nod over to a pool table in the corner.
  862. “Actually, I’m lookin’ for a game.”
  863. >One of the patrons who was standing around it yells over to you:
  864. >”Not really a game for pretty young unicorns like yourself.”
  865. “Care to put your money where your mouth is?”
  866. >”Might wanna see the barkeep instead. That way you actually get somethin for your bits.”
  867. “Afraid of being beat by a pretty young unicorn?”
  868.  
  869. >…
  870. >You lost.
  871. >Got two balls in though.
  872. “Damn.”
  873. >”Sorry kid, fair’s fair.”
  874. “Double or nothing.”
  875. >”You really wanna lose money, don’t ya sweetheart?”
  876. >”Hey man, it’s a hustle. Quit while you’re ahead.”
  877. >”Nah, just some rich mare from down south wastin her parent’s money. Think of it as giving back to the poor.”
  878. “Then rack ‘em up.”
  879. >After the crystal pony finishes setting the next pyramid, he speaks:
  880. >”Why don’t you take the break again?”
  881. “You sure about that?”
  882. >”Think of it as a handicap.”
  883. “Maybe I’ll get more than one or two away this time.”
  884. >Lining up your cue to the white ball, you take the shot.
  885. >Clean break, got two solids in.
  886. “Beginners luck I guess. That means I go again right?”
  887. >”… Yeah.”
  888. >There’s a third.
  889. >Fourth.
  890. >Fifth and sixth.
  891. >Jump a stripe to get the seventh.
  892. >Now for the eight ball.
  893. “Side pocket.”
  894. >And that’s the game.
  895. “Should have listened to your friend.”
  896. >Your opponent seems astonished.
  897. >”Dang girl… you got some moves.”
  898. >He places a hoof on your left shoulder.
  899. “Take away the hoof, or this cue is going where the sun doesn’t shine.”
  900. >”Feisty, ain’t ya?”
  901. >The very second his hoof starts to slide lower down your back, you swing the cue over at his face.
  902. >The thin end snaps off as it hits his muzzle.
  903. >It sends him reeling back.
  904. >”Ya damn-“
  905. >Tossing the thicker broken end up in the air, you grab it by the broken end and cut him off by whacking him across the jaw with the heavy end.
  906. >He spits out some blood and a tooth before running out of the bar.
  907.  
  908. >Walking over to the table the bet was placed on, you take your winnings.
  909. >You set a few bits on the table and yell over to the barkeep:
  910. “That’s for the mess.”
  911. >Taking your leave, you glance back at the patrons.
  912. >All of which are staring at you.
  913. “Bye boys.”
  914. >You know, this actually reminds you of a time when you were a kid.
  915. >At school one day, you saw a bully beating up another student in the playground.
  916. >So you may have stood up to defend the poor kid.
  917. >With a folding metal chair.
  918. >Then Twilight grounded you for it.
  919. >And Anon didn’t bail you out that time.
  920. >But he did teach you a couple hoof-to-hoof moves that soldiers use.
  921. >Because using metal bludgeons against other children is unethical.
  922. >But on the bright side, that bully never touched another student again- and hopefully that semi-drunkard will never creepily hit on a mare again.
  923. >Now that you think about it, all of the bullies at school stopped after that incident.
  924. >So you never got to try out any of those moves.
  925. >Until you switched schools that is.
  926. >Good times.
  927.  
  928. >…
  929. >This is actually pretty cozy.
  930. >Everypony is out here.
  931. >Kids are running around as they play.
  932. >Every few blocks there are clusters of stands serving all types of food and sweets.
  933. >Many street corners have musicians playing to the crowds.
  934. >In one of the clearings, you see some ponies setting up speakers as a DJ sets up her equipment on an impromptu stage made of crates.
  935. >OOH!
  936. >Funnel cakes!
  937. >…
  938. >As the sun started going away, the alcohol started taking its place.
  939. >While the late afternoon was laid back, the volume has definitely been turned up.
  940. >Literally- the sheer amount of clashing bass in the air is palpable.
  941. >The larger spaces have a lot more ponies in them now as people started congregating towards bigger groups rather than being spread out in the streets.
  942. >The sun is down, but once it gets a bit darker, the fireworks should start up.
  943. >If that soldier actually managed to get something set up…
  944. >As you try to get out of a crowd, you bump into a mare.
  945. “Sorry.”
  946. >”Hey, your hair is soooo curly.”
  947. >Her eyes are pretty bloodshot.
  948. >You don’t think that’s (just) alcohol she’s had.
  949. >”How do you get it like that?”
  950. >The mare has a bright gold coat with a long and wavy deep orange mane.
  951. “Oh it’s natural.”
  952. >”Yeah, but how?”
  953. “Ummm… yes.”
  954. >”Cool… you want some?”
  955. >She holds up a red plastic cup with a bright pink liquid inside.
  956. “What even is that?”
  957. >”Everything.”
  958. “You know, I actually believe that.”
  959. >”I call it Life. But with a y… Lyfe.”
  960. “Good for you…”
  961. >You try to slip away.
  962.  
  963. >”So where are you going?”
  964. “Oh I don’t know. Somewhere else.”
  965. >”Go with the flow, far out.”
  966. >Maybe this whole thing was a mistake.
  967. >Forcing your way out of the crowd, you pick up pace a bit.
  968. >Is she?
  969. >”Hey, you want some scones? I really want some right now.”
  970. “Well, why don’t you go find a bakery?”
  971. >”How do you get your mane like that?”
  972. >Well, you have new puppy.
  973. >You could just fly away.
  974. >She’s a crystal pony.
  975. >Ergo- no wings.
  976. >Glancing over to your… guest, you see her stumble into a light post.
  977. >Yeah, she’s going to die if you leave her here.
  978. >She then notices you again.
  979. >”Want some?”
  980. “No!”
  981. >”Oh… you’re boring.”
  982. “I don’t think I’ve ever been called that before.”
  983. >”Called what before?”
  984. “Look, you need to go home.”
  985. >”That’s where the heart is.”
  986. “Yes. Go home.”
  987. >She blinks.
  988. >And you sigh.
  989. “Where do you live?”
  990. >”No. Lyfe. With a y.”
  991. >This isn’t working.
  992. “Well, I’m think I’m going to head back and listen to the music.”
  993. >You walk back the way you came, and as you pass her you bump into her and knock the drink out of her hoof.
  994. “Oh no, I’m so sorry!”
  995. >You’re not sorry.
  996. >”Aww! Naw, that’s cool I have more at home.”
  997. “Can I come with?”
  998. >”Sure!”
  999.  
  1000. >What are you doing with your life?
  1001. >You’re the leader of Equestria, and you’re spending your evening escorting a very high pony to safety.
  1002. >Well… you ARE supposed to help your people.
  1003. >But you’re pretty sure Celestia never did anything like this…
  1004. >”How do you get your mane like that?”
  1005. “How do you get your mane like that?”
  1006. >”Yeah!”
  1007. “Yeah…”
  1008. >”Yeah?”
  1009. “Yeah.”
  1010. >”I get you.”
  1011. “Sure…”
  1012. >She stops dead in her tracks.
  1013. “What are you?”
  1014. >And she’s staring at a fire hydrant.
  1015. >”Can we pop it?”
  1016. “Tomorrow, when it’s bright and hot outside.”
  1017. >”Yeah! That makes sense.”
  1018. “Come on, we’re heading home. Need more life with a y, right?”
  1019. >”Riiight…”
  1020. “So where do you live?”
  1021. >”Right there.”
  1022. >She looks across the street.
  1023. >Big place, lights are on and you can see ponies through the windows.
  1024. “Are you sure?”
  1025. >”I know where I live, silly.”
  1026. “Alright, let’s get you to bed.”
  1027. >”What?”
  1028. “I mean let’s get you something to drink.”
  1029. >Walking up the steps to get to the door, you reach out an open it.
  1030. >That’s loud.
  1031. >And there’s quite the party going on.
  1032. >You lean over to your acquaintance.
  1033. “You’re college students, aren’t you?”
  1034. >”Yeah, moving in for the semester.”
  1035. >As you inspect the ponies, you see several sources of smoke, and a lot of drinks.
  1036. >On the kitchen counter you see a large bowl of pink liquid like the stuff she had earlier.
  1037.  
  1038. “Hello! Is anypony still sober enough to understand me?”
  1039. >You don’t think anypony could even hear you.
  1040. >But one of them is staring right at you before running up.
  1041. >As your hanger-on tries to head over to get a drink, you grab her by the shoulder and force her to stay.
  1042. >The approaching mare then speaks to you:
  1043. >”Are you like… the princess? THE princess?”
  1044. “The wings and horn give it away.”
  1045. >”I am like-“
  1046. “Where’s her room?”
  1047. >”Oh Goldie, she’s top of the stairs second on the left.”
  1048. “Alright, let’s go Goldie.”
  1049. >She then looks to you and speaks:
  1050. >”But, it’s over there.”
  1051. >You yank her shoulder and start heading for the stairs.
  1052. >Second door on the left…
  1053. >Opening it, you find a very messy room.
  1054. >Clothes are everywhere.
  1055. >On a counter, you see a goldfish in a small bowl.
  1056. >Somepony wrote ‘Goldie 2’ on the glass.
  1057. >Heh.
  1058. “Alright here we are, now you’re going to rest.”
  1059. >”But I’m not tired.”
  1060. “You’ve had too much.”
  1061. >This isn’t working.
  1062. >”But-“
  1063. >You cut her off with a firm, yet gentle, tap to the head.
  1064. >And you then catch her body from falling as she goes unconscious.
  1065. “Sorry bout that, it’s for your own good.”
  1066. >Heaving her up onto the bed, you place her head to dangle off the side to face the ground.
  1067. >You then pull over a waste basket to catch anything that she might throw up.
  1068. >With your job done, you head for the door and lock it behind you.
  1069. >Getting down the stairs, you get back into the party.
  1070. >You push away a drunk stallion that bumps into you.
  1071. >Heading for the door, the sober mare speaks to you again:
  1072. >”Umm princess?”
  1073. “I hate my generation.”
  1074. >With that you head out onto the street.
  1075. >And get as far away from this place as you can.
  1076. >Really though…
  1077. >Scones don’t sound half bad right now.
  1078. >As you walk down the street, your eye catches a body coming fast out of the alley to your left.
  1079.  
  1080. >The pony collides with you, and as you prepare your right hoof to deliver a punch, you stop yourself.
  1081. “Thunder! Thunder?”
  1082. >His eyes are jolting around really fast, and his pupils look dilated.
  1083. >Oh great, he’s high too.
  1084. “What are you doing here?”
  1085. >His shoulders twitch and he tries to run off.
  1086. “No no no.”
  1087. >Grabbing him by the shoulders you force him to stay.
  1088. >His mane is really unkempt, and he looks absolutely filthy.
  1089. “Did you take a bath in a dumpster? No, what are you even doing here!”
  1090. >He jolts his head as he looks to the right and left.
  1091. >Shaking his body, you reiterate:
  1092. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!”
  1093. >It looks like he manages to focus slightly.
  1094. >”Flu- p… princess?”
  1095. “Yeah, it’s me. Focus.”
  1096. >”I-“
  1097. >A large firework goes off somewhere behind you, and you see the light reflect in his eyes as they go wide looking at it.
  1098. >When the sound reaches you, he jolts out of your grasp.
  1099. >”Ah!”
  1100. >He runs off into an alleyway on the opposite side of the street.
  1101. >You follow, and see him turn a corner.
  1102. >When you turn around it, you only see an empty alley.
  1103. >You count at least six ways he could have went.
  1104. “Oh come on!”
  1105. >You know, it’s been a really messed up couple weeks for you.
  1106. >Dealing with the parasite, marching for a week, and then dealing with the minotaur stuff.
  1107. >You just wanted one day to drop everything before heading back to focus on this whole apocalypse thing.
  1108. >But no, some cosmic force decided that you can’t have even a single full day to yourself.
  1109. “Thunder!”
  1110. >He better not hurt himself.
  1111.  
  1112. >…
  1113. >Just about sundown.
  1114. >You can do this.
  1115. >Get a hold of yourself Thunder.
  1116. >If you managed to keep mostly calm on the train, then a simple walk through the city won’t be any problem… at… all.
  1117. >What is all that noise?
  1118. >Focus.
  1119. >One hoof in front of the other.
  1120. >Turning round the corner, you see what all the commotion is.
  1121. >Some neo-post alternative band is playing to a huge crowd in the crossroad.
  1122. >Gah, the noise is.
  1123. >FOCUS!
  1124. >Just go around the crowd, and get back to-
  1125. >A group of ponies exits from the building you were walking by, and you get dragged into the crowd.
  1126. >Bumping against so many bodies, the reverberating bass echoing in your ear.
  1127. >You need to…
  1128. >Foc-
  1129. >All the voices.
  1130. >They’re all so damn loud.
  1131. >-
  1132. >As you run down the alley, you trip and land face first into a puddle of trash and what you hope is water.
  1133. >Every… everything it’s.
  1134. >Gottta keep moving.
  1135. >You need to get way.
  1136. >A, A, you need to get Away!
  1137. >MOVE!
  1138. >Gah, that hurt.
  1139. >”Thunder! Thunder?”
  1140. >No, no, no.
  1141. >You need to move.
  1142. >”What are you doing here?”
  1143. >Here, yes!
  1144. >Away!
  1145. >”No no no.”
  1146. >YOU CAN’T MOVE!
  1147. >”Did you take a bath in a dumpster? No, what are you even doing here!”
  1148. >Is this death?
  1149. >Are you dead?
  1150. >No, death would be a release.
  1151. >You start shaking- no, being shaken.
  1152. >”WHAT ARE YOU DOING!”
  1153. >What are you doing?
  1154. >Is that?
  1155. “Flu- p… princess?
  1156. >”Yeah, it’s me. Focus.”
  1157. >Focus, yes.
  1158. “I-“
  1159. >What is that?
  1160. >The noise!
  1161. >You can’t-
  1162. “Ah!”
  1163. >MOVE MOVE MOVE!
  1164.  
  1165. >-
  1166. >More crowds, more crowds, more crowds.
  1167. >No, you are better than that.
  1168. >You can fly!
  1169. >MOVE!
  1170. >As you soar in the night sky, you-
  1171. >Something socks you really good in the gut.
  1172. >Then it’s bright.
  1173. >And the sound feels like it’s going to burst your ear drums.
  1174. >Oh that hurts.
  1175. >The next thing you know, you’re skidding on a roof, and then fall onto the street below.
  1176. “Ohhhhh.”
  1177. >The pain is bad.
  1178. >But the crowd you fell into is worse!
  1179. >It’s all so-
  1180. >As you get to your hooves, you start limping through the crowd.
  1181. >Need to get out.
  1182. >Away.
  1183. >Quiet.
  1184. >You need.
  1185. >Not to bump into another pony!
  1186. >”Thunder?”
  1187. >It’s gone.
  1188. >All of it.
  1189. >The noise.
  1190. >The pain.
  1191. >Right now, you’re fully at peace.
  1192. “Winter?”
  1193. >”What are you doing here?”
  1194. “Oh Winter. You’re a sight… I was on a mission, and it really messed me up. Like REALLY.”
  1195. >”You look terrible.”
  1196. “I fell in some alleyways, and I think I just got hit by a firework.”
  1197. >”ARE YOU OKAY?”
  1198. “I… I think.”
  1199. >”Let’s get you home. Make sure you’re not hurt.”
  1200. >As she tries to move away, you grab her hoof.
  1201. “Winter.”
  1202. >”Are you okay?”
  1203. “Please… stay with me. I need you.”
  1204. >”I’m not going anywhere.”
  1205. >…
  1206. >You lay on your back in Winter’s bathtub.
  1207. >As you clean off and relax, she sits next to it.
  1208. “And, I just don’t know. Sometimes I’m more or less normal, but most of the time I really focus on one thing, or completely freak out from the slightest noise.”
  1209. >”Oh what did they do to you?”
  1210. “I don’t know… can you do me a favor?”
  1211. >”Anything.”
  1212.  
  1213. “Let’s talk about something else for a bit. What’s all the commotion outside about?”
  1214. >”The Princess showed up today and told everypony to celebrate. When you bumped into me I had just finished taking my sister home… she had to get her stomach pumped.”
  1215. “That’s fun.”
  1216. >”Actually she’s been really good with drinking recently.”
  1217. “That’s good.”
  1218. >”Are you okay? I mean that you look preoccupied.”
  1219. “It’s nothing… well.”
  1220. >”You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”
  1221. “No, you should know.”
  1222. >”What?”
  1223. “Before I left Canterlot, I slipped a letter of resignation under General Lancer’s door.”
  1224. >”You quit!”
  1225. “I know, I know. I just can’t do it anymore. Even if I could control myself… Winter?”
  1226. >”Yes?”
  1227. “I felt it.”
  1228. >”What?”
  1229. “Our child.”
  1230. >”What?”
  1231. “When I touched that… thing. It was like I could feel everything. Every pony and other creature, and I could hear all of them as they talked, I could feel what defining events stayed with them. It was deafening, but in that ocean I found you. And our child. You two centered me. Stabilized me. I honestly believe that if I didn’t have you two, I wouldn’t have come out of that mine with even the slightest shred of sanity. I need you. Both of you.”
  1232. >”I… I don’t know what I could possibly say.”
  1233. “I have a decent amount of pay waiting that I’ll send for in a few days. It will last long enough for me to get better and find a job here.”
  1234. >”Thunder, just take as long as you need. I’ll be right here for you. We’ll be right here for you.”
  1235. “That’s all I need.”
  1236. >You reach over and wipe a swelling tear from Winter’s eye.
  1237. “I love you.”
  1238. >”I love you too.”
  1239. “Come on.”
  1240. >You start to stand up, taking care not to splash the tub’s water everywhere.
  1241. “Let’s go watch the fireworks, I’ll lift you up to the roof.”
  1242.  
  1243. >…
  1244. >You don’t know exactly what it is about being with Winter, but since you first bumped into her, it’s like you’re the same old pony.
  1245. >It’s like everything that happened after you touched the crystal is a distant memory.
  1246. >When you’re with her…
  1247. >It’s hard to describe.
  1248. >Maybe you can only truly value exactly how you feel towards her after all of this happened.
  1249. >You found yourself on the brink, and the only thing that kept you from ruin was her.
  1250. >Ironically, right now is the first time you’ve been able to look back on resigning with a clear mind.
  1251. >But in that clarity, you know it was the right decision.
  1252. >You lost your father to war.
  1253. >The last thing you want is for your child to have to go through that loss.
  1254. >Even if you had a desk job it would be too much.
  1255. >Your son, or daughter as Winter insists, shouldn’t grow up with their father away for the majority of the year.
  1256. >Each and every second you have with your wife and your children is precious.
  1257. >In the grand scheme of things, family is the only thing that matters.
  1258. >No matter what, you need to be there for yours.
  1259. >Even if you have to work a horrible job for twelve (or more) hours a day, your family deserves to have you come home at the end of the day.
  1260. >Not coming back every few months.
  1261. >Or not at all…
  1262.  
  1263. >You tighten your grip around Winter’s shoulder as you watch the fireworks.
  1264. >They’re going off in clusters all around the city.
  1265. >The nearest ones are decently close to Winter’s place.
  1266. >And you have quite the view.
  1267. >”Aww.”
  1268. >Winter approves of one that goes off in the shape of a smiley face.
  1269. >You always preferred the big boomers.
  1270. >It’s less about the sight, and more about the sound.
  1271. >But to each their own.
  1272. >Looking away from the sky, you focus on Winter.
  1273. >You see the lights in the reflection of her eyes.
  1274. >Eventually she notices that you’re looking at her.
  1275. >And your eyes meet.
  1276. >No words.
  1277. >You just pull her into a deep kiss.
  1278. >As your lips and tongues meld together, you allow yourself to enjoy this bliss.
  1279. >Even if this moment is temporary, there is nothing in the entire world that you would trade it for.
  1280.  
  1281. >Pulling your lips away from the embrace, you keep your nose pressed against hers as you look into her eyes.
  1282. “I missed you.”
  1283. >”I think I missed you more.”
  1284. “Yes dear.”
  1285. >”Glad to see you still remember that phrase.”
  1286. >You give her a quick peck on the lips before returning to a more comfortable sitting position.
  1287. “So…”
  1288. >”So?”
  1289. “Oh never mind.”
  1290. >”What is it?”
  1291. “I’m just thinking too far ahead.”
  1292. >She nudges your leg.
  1293. >”Go on, what was it?”
  1294. “Well the first one isn’t even here yet, but I’m thinking that we should have more than just the one.”
  1295. >”Says you with the easy half of the job.”
  1296. “Hey, I have to deal with you during the pregnancy. And I can’t just run off to the military and avoid it now.”
  1297. >”Well… I guess that she would deserve a little sister or brother.”
  1298. “We don’t know that it’s a she yet.”
  1299. >”I can tell.”
  1300. “Yeah, I remember you forcing me to paint the room pink.”
  1301. >”I do wonder if she’ll take after me or you. I haven’t heard of many crystal ponies marrying pegasi.”
  1302. “Well if she’s lucky, she’ll get your looks.”
  1303. >”You use that line on all the mares you meet?”
  1304. “Only the ones I marry.”
  1305. >”Ones?”
  1306. “Well there was this one time in Las Pegasus…”
  1307. >”Choose your next words very carefully.”
  1308. >She jokes.
  1309. “Actually I’ve never been there. I’d recommend a vacation there, but it’s never really been that interested in that kind of stuff.”
  1310. >”Well what about me?”
  1311. “Are you into that?”
  1312. >”No.”
  1313. “Well there you go.”
  1314.  
  1315. >”Do you want to take a vacation? Get away to help settle your mind?”
  1316. “No… I think I really just need to let myself ease back into life, get grounded. Spend some time with you, you know?”
  1317. >”I’ve got to head in for my shift at noon tomorrow, but I’ll try to get the next couple of days off.”
  1318. “You don’t have to do that.”
  1319. >”I know.”
  1320. “Thanks.”
  1321. >”Well, if I have to spend my day with patients, I’d rather be with one that I like.”
  1322. “Ha. Yeah… Look, I need to be serious for a moment. I’ve been alright for a long time now, and I’m honestly not sure how much longer that’ll last for. If you can’t get me to focus, I’ll probably end up somewhere quiet and away from people. Here it would probably be a park, to I’d head out of the city. I don’t want you running around trying to find me, just keep yourself safe- because the last thing I’d want is for you to wander through the woods and find a bear while looking for me.”
  1323. >”Thunder. Don’t think like that. I need you to focus on… focusing. I’m sorry! I just mean that if you’re saying that this is the best you’ve been recently… I don’t know. Maybe if you’re-“
  1324. “Winter”
  1325. >You cut her off.
  1326. “Maybe that this is going to last. And I really hope that being back with you was all that I needed too, but I just want you to be prepared if that isn’t the case.”
  1327. >She reaches over to grab your hoof.
  1328. >”We’ll get through this.”
  1329. “Thank you, I know we will… and thank you for believing me. It must be quite the story to hear.”
  1330. >”I know that you would do no less for me. And besides, our daughter needs a father who’s sane- so we’ve got plenty of time to sort you out.”
  1331. >You chuckle.
  1332. “Yeah… yeah.”
  1333.  
  1334. >…
  1335. >You don’t know what Discord has been doing recently.
  1336. >Maybe it really was just him laying off of interacting with you.
  1337. >But, you feel a LOT differently tonight.
  1338. >You feel normal…
  1339. >As you reflect upon previous days, it’s almost like remembering a drunken haze.
  1340. >A bit clearer than being drunk, but the comparison is still the best way you can quantify it.
  1341. >It’s almost like opening your mind to the embodiment of chaos isn’t good for your sanity…
  1342. >To be completely honest, you haven’t acted so childish since your college days.
  1343. >Hell- it even got so bad that you, jokingly, told Tiara exactly what’s happening inside of your head.
  1344. >You never should have told her, even in jest, that Discord is currently inhabiting your mind.
  1345. >As you look back on recent interactions you’ve had with her, you realize that you should apologize.
  1346. >So, you knock on her door.
  1347. >”Come in.”
  1348. >You hear a muffled voice speak from the cabin.
  1349. >As you enter the room, she takes the time to comment:
  1350. >”You actually knocked… I’m impressed.”
  1351. >Approaching her desk, you motion towards an empty chair.
  1352. “May I?”
  1353. >”That’s- sure, go ahead.”
  1354. >As you settle into the low chair, you decide to speak.
  1355. “It’s come to my attention, Lady Tiara, that recently I’ve been acting rather… blunt to you.”
  1356. >”Are you okay?”
  1357. “To be honest for a moment, the nature of the mission has been getting to me. And I suppose I’ve been falling back to more subconscious impulses and, to be frank, childish mannerisms.”
  1358. >”No, really. Are you okay?”
  1359.  
  1360. “Tiara, as a rule I’ve always tried to hold myself to the highest of standards. Both to serve as an inspiration, and for personal reasons. And in the past weeks I’ve treated you in a completely disrespectful manner, and I’d like to apologize for that. While we do have our difference of opinion, that is no excuse for my actions and tone.”
  1361. >”You’re being serous, aren’t you?”
  1362. “I am.”
  1363. >”That’s… I’m not sure how to respond.”
  1364. “A response isn’t necessary. But I’d like you to see things from my perspective for a moment. This parasite, and the entity that spawned it, has taken over the pony that I raised as my own child. I’m the only one of my kind in this world, and Flurry is the only really family I have… she’s never been in actual danger before, and I’m not sure how to respond. And in my… uncertainty, I’ve been effectively taking my issues out on you. I might end up doing that again, but I promise that I’ll try not to.”
  1365. >”Look Anonymous. That’s a lot you just laid out, and I’m thankful that you would trust me with stuff that personal, but honestly…”
  1366. >She stops herself.
  1367. “Hmm?”
  1368. >And then she sighs.
  1369. >”Well I’m not getting out of it… Honestly, part of me enjoys the banter. I’m sure that you know what it’s like to have so many ponies serving as useless yes-men. The brutal honesty was, occasionally, a refresher.”
  1370. “I’ll keep that in mind Lady Tiara… Now, it is rather late so I’ll let you turn in.”
  1371.  
  1372. >…
  1373. >After a couple hours of searching, you gave up.
  1374. >By then most of the celebrations had ended.
  1375. >At least you got to watch some fireworks here and there.
  1376. >Thunder was still unaccounted for.
  1377. >He’ll probably be okay.
  1378. >Most likely, he just went home to visit his wife, and somepony gave him a spiked drink along the way.
  1379. >Right now, he’s probably waking up with a hangover.
  1380. >As you finish showering, you start going through the effort to get your armor on.
  1381. >You’ve wasted enough time, and you need to get back to Canterlot.
  1382. >After taking this little break, you can get back to doing your job.
  1383. >A day or so to unwind before things start getting… bad.
  1384. >Cause the foreseeable future is filled with meetings and bureaucracy, and maybe dealing with the whole ‘minotaur apocalypse’ thing.
  1385. >Well, with your armor back on, you should probably head out.
  1386. >As you make towards the door, instinct kicks in and you expect your magic to open it for you.
  1387. >Bad idea!
  1388. >Wait…
  1389. >You didn’t just bash your head against it…
  1390. >It opened.
  1391. >Stepping out of the door frame, you try and focus on closing it with magic.
  1392. >A light aura briefly encompasses the door, but it fades out almost immediately.
  1393. >Hey though… that’s progress!
  1394.  
  1395. >…
  1396. >As you awaken in your wife’s bed, you pull her sleeping body closer as she rests.
  1397. >The warmth reminds you of the desert sands.
  1398. >No problem with just laying here for a while.
  1399. >Maybe get a bit more sleep.
  1400. >…
  1401. >”You awake?”
  1402. >Winter whispers.
  1403. “Maybe.”
  1404. >”Still tired?”
  1405. “It was quite the night, but no. I think I’m fully rested.”
  1406. >”Well don’t get used to it, in a few months it’ll be problematic.”
  1407. “Oh I think I’ll be fine. I have military training in waiting.”
  1408. >She rolls over to look you in the eye.
  1409. >”Breakfast?”
  1410. “Want to head out for something?”
  1411. >”Well, I’m not a hugely skilled cook, but the little one can’t eat out for her entire childhood. Thankfully I have a willing test subject.”
  1412. “Who said anything about willing?”
  1413. >”You did when you said ‘I do.’ You probably didn’t catch it, but I sneaked in a vow about that.”
  1414. “Surrrre you did.”
  1415. >”Sure I did…”
  1416. >You sigh.
  1417. “Sure you did, dear.”
  1418. >…
  1419. >As you each finish the stack of homemade pancakes, Winter looks expectantly at you.
  1420. “Yes?”
  1421. >”Well?”
  1422. “What?”
  1423. >”What did you think? And be completely honest.”
  1424. “Completely honest?”
  1425. >”Completely.”
  1426. “You won’t use anything against me I you don’t like it?”
  1427.  
  1428. >”That’s how criticism works.”
  1429. “Well, the first one you finished was a bit burnt on a side, but you fixed that. Overall they were pretty good. I’d have preferred a bit more salt in the mix though.”
  1430. >”What!”
  1431. “You just said that you wouldn’t turn anything around!”
  1432. >”No, it’s not about my cooking, it’s about the fact that you apparently like salty pancakes! Who does that?”
  1433. “That’s how my mom made always them.”
  1434. >”Eww.”
  1435. “Hey, you don’t know what you’re missing.”
  1436. >”Thunder, I’m sorry. I can handle you being a soldier and away for so long. I can handle the mental stress you’re going through. I can handle you showing up and telling me that you’ve quit your job. But THIS… salty pancakes… I just don’t think it’ll work between us.”
  1437. “Love you too.”
  1438. >”I’ll try it next time… but only for you.”
  1439. >She must notice a nearby clock, because she looks pretty shocked.
  1440. >”Is it that late already! I need to get ready for work.”
  1441. “Need any help.”
  1442. >”Just toss the dishes in the sink, I need to…”
  1443. >Her voice trails off as she rushes into another room.
  1444. >Then just stay out of her way.
  1445. >As you take the silverware and plates over to the sink, you scrape off the food scraps into the trash.
  1446. >Setting the dirty dishes down, you leave them in the sink.
  1447. >You’ll get to those later.
  1448.  
  1449. >Winter then comes back into the room as she is tying her mane into a bun.
  1450. >”Are you going to be okay on your own today?”
  1451. “Yeah, I’m still feeling fine.”
  1452. >”Are you sure?”
  1453. “Yes. Actually I think I’ll go out for a walk. I could use the fresh air, maybe head to the park, try and clear my head. You know?”
  1454. >”Great, if you need anything at all, you know where I work.”
  1455. >She stumbles as she tries to walk while using her front hooves to do her mane.
  1456. “You okay?”
  1457. >She managed to stop herself from falling, but her mane fell out and is looking a bit unkempt.
  1458. >”I’m fine, just need to slow down a bit.”
  1459. “Is there anything else I can do.”
  1460. >”No! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to yell!”
  1461. “That’s okay… I think I’ll get out of your way and head on that walk now.”
  1462. >”Wait.”
  1463. >You pause as you turn.
  1464. >”Come here.”
  1465. >Walking over to Winter, she pulls you into a brief kiss.
  1466. >”Love you.”
  1467. “Winter… I’m no poet, but I’m hoping that before I die, I can find the words to truly express how much I love you.”
  1468. >”I know. And I feel the same way.”
  1469. >She kisses you for much longer this time.
  1470. >When it ends, you speak first.
  1471. “I’ll be waiting for you once your shift ends.”
  1472. >”Keep the lights on.”
  1473. >With that, you decide you’ve kept her for too long.
  1474. >Time for some fresh air.
  1475. >If you can keep you cool, that is.
  1476.  
  1477. >…
  1478. >As you went through the streets, you didn’t exactly make good time.
  1479. >More than one pony that saw you took the time to thank you for ordering the celebration last night.
  1480. >And by ‘more than one pony’ you mean ‘pretty much every pony that saw you.’
  1481. >One of these days you need to learn how to cut a conversation with the average citizen short.
  1482. >Or maybe not…
  1483. >Maybe taking the time to speak to them is what ruling is all about.
  1484. >Or at least what it should be about.
  1485. >Well, at least you’re (finally here)
  1486. >The train yard.
  1487. >As you enter the station, you walk by the crowds.
  1488. >Ponies from all avenues of life are waiting for their trains.
  1489. >Crystal ponies are the majority, though you see earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, and even a donkey or two.
  1490. >Or was that a mule?
  1491. >No matter, there’s no line so you step forward to get a ticket.
  1492. “Noon express for Canterlot, please.”
  1493. >”Your highness!”
  1494. >And this is your cue to sigh.
  1495. “Yes…”
  1496. >”If you’d like we could set up a private engine to take a car for you.”
  1497. “No need to go through any fuss, the normal express will be fine.”
  1498. >”Well at least let us offer you a complimentary VIP package.”
  1499. “Please, there’s no need for any of that. Let me pay like any other customer.”
  1500. >”… If you insist.”
  1501. “Yes, I do. And don’t get me wrong, I’m flattered at the offer. I just don’t want anypony going out of their way for me.”
  1502. >You set a pouch of bits on the counter, and take the ticket.
  1503. “Thank you.”
  1504. >As you leave, you could swear you hear the teller speaking to the pony next to her.
  1505. >Something like:
  1506. >”She’s so modest.”
  1507. >As you exit the station and head out to the platform, you see that your train is loading.
  1508. >Good timing.
  1509. >Walking over to the nearest car, you stop yourself before entering.
  1510. >Because you hear a loud explosion in the distance towards the city.
  1511. >A very familiar explosion.
  1512. >Less than an ‘explosion’ and more of a thundering pulse.
  1513. “Oh… shit.”
  1514.  
  1515. >…
  1516. >As you enjoy the air in the park, you notice something.
  1517. >A squirrel is running up a tree.
  1518. >And that’s okay.
  1519. >You’re not fully focused on it.
  1520. >It’s just a squirrel after all.
  1521. >You walk by, and see some ducks in a pond.
  1522. >And that’s okay too.
  1523. >You deeply inhale through your nose.
  1524. >Oh you feel so… free.
  1525. >Because you’re home.
  1526. >No more fighting…
  1527. >You’re where you belong- with your family.
  1528. >But…
  1529. >You will need a job…
  1530. >Maybe you could speak to some of the local farmers.
  1531. >Having a local pegasi to help with weather could be a lot more efficient than waiting for Cloudsdale’s weather to reach this far north.
  1532. >Or police?
  1533. >No, that’s too similar to soldiering.
  1534. >You need to leave all of that behind you.
  1535. >All of it.
  1536. >Construction might work, but unless you get really lucky, and you mean really, you probably won’t advance that far.
  1537. >Although…
  1538. >You still are pretty young.
  1539. >Not even in your mid-twenties… you could take some time to find yourself.
  1540. >The new you, that is.
  1541. >Yeah…
  1542. >That might just-
  1543. >Your thoughts get cut off as you hear a loud… noise coming from the southeast.
  1544. >What was that?
  1545. >It was almost like an explosion, but different…
  1546. >More of a loud thump instead of a proper boom.
  1547. >You’ve never heard anything quite like it.
  1548. >It wasn’t anywhere near home, or the hospital.
  1549. >But, you have only one thing in mind.
  1550. >Getting home to make sure Winter is okay.
  1551.  
  1552. >…
  1553. >If this is the apocalypse, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
  1554. >The entire country has been fully mobilized for the past decade, and partially mobilized the decade before.
  1555. >Here in the Crystal Empire, there’s a five thousand man strong garrison that’s present in case the yaks decide to try anything.
  1556. >Beyond that, you’d guess that there’s at least ten to fifteen thousand local veterans that are still of the proper age to rejoin.
  1557. >Then another thirty to forty thousand middle-aged veterans that could fight if the need for manpower was high enough.
  1558. >And who knows how many young adults would be able to work as new recruits.
  1559. >Right now, you’re setting down in one of the military encampments along the wall.
  1560. >And by that, you mean that you’ve landed on the wall itself to overlook the camp.
  1561. >Many of the soldiers are running around, or scrambling to get into armor.
  1562. >Letting out as shrill a whistle as you can muster, you try to get attention.
  1563. >A few eyes looking your way…
  1564. >But not enough.
  1565. “ATTEN-SHUN!”
  1566. >There you go.
  1567.  
  1568. “Alright, listen up! I need pegasi and runners getting word out! We need men on the ground at the site of the explosion! And have the police start evacuating civilians away from the area.”
  1569. >You should probably tell them…
  1570. “Now I know you probably won’t believe it, but that blast was the sound of a rift appearing from Tartarus. Pretty soon, monsters are going to start spilling out. If there are big lizards with frills on their backs, have unicorns hit them with magic- aim for the fleshy bits under the shoulders.”
  1571. >As you scan the soldiers below, you don’t see many unicorns or pegasi.
  1572. >Great.
  1573. “Any fliers need to get to ground zero as soon as possible. If they can break out of the pit they’re coming from, we’ve already lost. ALSO, I need explosives at the site: if we blow up the tunnel, then it should stop them.”
  1574. >And they probably think you’re crazy right about now.
  1575. “YOU HEARD ME PONIES! MOVE!”
  1576. >That got them moving.
  1577. >It’s amazing how much people will do if you act like you have authority.
  1578. >Although, you kind of DO have authority so that theory might be a bit strained…
  1579. >Either way, you need to see where the pit popped up at.
  1580.  
  1581. >…
  1582. >From the air, you were able to see it.
  1583. >Well, you can’t see the hole itself, but you can see the ruined buildings.
  1584. >A couple houses were completely leveled, and nearby walls that faced the blast have crumbled away.
  1585. >In the streets you can see a crowd forming to see what happened, only being kept away by emergency services.
  1586. >The police are trying to keep ponies away from the damaged zones, and clearing way for medical carriages.
  1587. >You set down as close to the pit as you can.
  1588. >This one looks a bit different.
  1589. >Instead of going straight down, it looks like it’s at a thirty or so degree angle.
  1590. >From the south east, you’d guess.
  1591. >No creatures though.
  1592. >Yet.
  1593. >”Ma’am, you need to- oh, your majesty.”
  1594. >You look over to the police officer that probably though you were just a pegasi.
  1595. “Listen, you need to start evacuating the area and quickly. There’s about to be a huge threat to the civilian population.”
  1596. >”What do you-“
  1597. “Just trust me.”
  1598. >The policeman turns to speak to some other officers, and they start yelling at the crowds to move back.
  1599. >As they start moving civilians away and knocking on doors to evacuate residents, you see some pegasi soldiers set down.
  1600. >You count seven of them.
  1601. “Set up a perimeter around the pit, and if anything comes out aim for the pink areas under their shoulders!”
  1602. >The roads are going to be packed, but soon enough soldiers are going to start arriving.
  1603. >You just hope they get here before the creatures do.
  1604. >You can’t see any movement from the hole, but the sun doesn’t have a good angle to illuminate it.
  1605. >The thing popped right in the middle of a street in a residential area.
  1606. >The houses on either side were completely leveled.
  1607.  
  1608. >Pretty much all that remains is the back wall to each.
  1609. >And even then, you think they were two stories, but the walls that remain are only six or so feet high.
  1610. >The debris is pretty intact though.
  1611. >You can see appliances like refrigerators still intact.
  1612. >Beaten up and dented, but still intact.
  1613. >There’s an oven, though the door has been blown off.
  1614. >And nothing looks charred.
  1615. >Not an explosion made from combustion, but sheer force.
  1616. >Magic maybe.
  1617. >Magic probably.
  1618. >What’s that?
  1619. >You look over to the soldiers.
  1620. “Hold here.”
  1621. >Flying over the rubble of one of the houses, you see something familiar.
  1622. >Reaching to free it from the dusty rubble, you shake off some of the debris.
  1623. >That’s an officer’s cap.
  1624. >It’s coated in dust, and the emblem on the front has been blown away from it.
  1625. >You can’t tell if it belonged to a soldier, police officer, or maybe a firepony.
  1626. >It’s a bit oddly shaped though.
  1627. >Whomever it belonged to must have had a big head.
  1628. >”Princess!”
  1629. >You drop the hat and look over to the soldier who yelled towards you.
  1630. >Flying back to the pit you look down it.
  1631. “You see something?”
  1632. >”No, over there.”
  1633. >He points towards a small group of soldiers that force their way through the crowds in the distance.
  1634. >It’s a small group though.
  1635. >They get though the crowds and begin rushing over.
  1636. >You see a couple of horns on heads.
  1637. >One, two…
  1638. >Four in total.
  1639. >And a dozen or so crystal ponies.
  1640. “Where’s everypony else?”
  1641. >Their Sergeant responds:
  1642. >”Caught up on the main roads, our captain sent out squads to find ways through back alleys to avoid traffic.”
  1643. “Well get those unicorns front and center.”
  1644. >He whistles at his men and yells:
  1645. >”You heard the princess, up there pretty boys!”
  1646. >Your count was right.
  1647. “Alright, how long can you keep up sustained fire?”
  1648. >You get no reply, nut the looks on their faces aren’t reassuring.
  1649. “Great… Well get up here and pray that we get the reinforcements or explosives that we need.”
  1650.  
  1651. >One of the pegasi then yells over to you:
  1652. >“We’ve got movement!”
  1653. “Get up there, and hit ‘em! Pure magic, no fancy effects, right under their shoulders.”
  1654. >You rush over to the mouth of the pit to verify.
  1655. >It’s pretty dark down there, but you can definitely see movement down there.
  1656. >Looking over to the unicorns who are forming up, you offer a suggestion.
  1657. “Now wait until you can properly acquire the target. If you hit them anywhere other than the exposed bit, the attack won’t have any real effect.”
  1658. >You hear a shaky voice yell out:
  1659. >”Umm. Your Highness, MA’AM. What are we even fighting?”
  1660. “The minotaurs call them demons from hell, I call them creatures from Tartarus. Not a big difference there, but the bottom line is that they want nothing more than to eat every pony in this city. Now are you all going to let them?”
  1661. >You hear the soldiers yell out in unison:
  1662. >”NO MA’AM.”
  1663. “Now I hope you’ve all been keeping up with your training while posted here, cause you’re all that stands in their way right now!”
  1664. >Alright, if the unicorns even hit a couple, it will still send bodies sliding down to clog the tunnel.
  1665. >But if that fails, you’ll have to hold the line the old fashioned way.
  1666. >These things are quick though, it took them a fraction of the time to reach the surface as last time.
  1667. >Maybe there was a tunnel in Tartarus closer to the surface here so they have less distance to climb.
  1668. >Or they can more easily climb the incline rather than coming straight up.
  1669. >Or both.
  1670. >Either way, you know that-
  1671. >You train of thought stops.
  1672. >Not because you got a clear visual on the creatures.
  1673. >But because you heard another loud blast in the distance, one that was identical to the first.
  1674. >Son of a…
  1675.  
  1676. >…
  1677. >Need to get through all this traffic…
  1678. >Ponies are rushing around trying to figure out what’s happening.
  1679. >Police and military personnel are trying to coordinate to get people clear, but when so many people are trying to learn what happened and check on family, there’s only so much they can do.
  1680. >You’re not sure if that was an attack or just some accident, but neither does anypony else.
  1681. >You just need to get home.
  1682. >Wait.
  1683. >You’re doing it again.
  1684. >Wings.
  1685. >Come on Thunder!
  1686. >…
  1687. >Reaching Winter’s neighborhood, you see that the streets are much clearer.
  1688. >The zone you were in earlier must have been closer to the blast site.
  1689. >And your wife lives in a bit of a lower density zone.
  1690. >But even here you can see the neighbors out in front of their homes, looking around to see what’s happened.
  1691. >You yell over to one of them.
  1692. “Hey, do you have the time?”
  1693. >”Quarter past noon. What the hay was that?”
  1694. >Winter’s shift started AT noon, so she’s probably at work right now.
  1695. >And the hospital she works at was nowhere near the explosion.
  1696. >Good.
  1697. “I don’t know, there was an explosion, but your guess is as good as mine.”
  1698. >You should check the house just to make sure she didn’t take the day off or run extremely late.
  1699. >Because you don’t want to run all the way over to the hospital just to find out that she isn’t there.
  1700. >No Thunder.
  1701. >You don’t want to FLY all the way over there.
  1702. >You’re still a few houses away from Winter’s, so you start jogging over to the front door.
  1703. >As you get closer, you-
  1704. >You see the ground tear in front of you, and you are shot back through the air from the blast.
  1705. >As the noise catches up, your eardrums are almost shattered from it.
  1706. >Your back impacts something, and the interior of a house appears into your vision.
  1707. >The last thing you see before hitting a wall and getting knocked out is the broken window you just went through.
  1708.  
  1709. >-
  1710. >Gah, your head.
  1711. >And your back.
  1712. >And your ears are still ringing.
  1713. >As you struggle to get on your hooves, you see that you’ve broken through somepony’s living room.
  1714. >How long were you out for?
  1715. >And why is it so quiet outside?
  1716. >While you start to move over to the broken window, you flex out your wings.
  1717. >Damn that hurts!
  1718. >You think your left wing ended up taking the majority of the impact.
  1719. >It doesn’t feel broken, but you really doubt that you’ll be able to fly on it.
  1720. >Looking outside, you can’t see anypony in the streets.
  1721. >Makes sense they’d run away from the explosion.
  1722. >But why are you alive?
  1723. >You’re not complaining, but you’re more or less fine while you can see a house across the street that’s completely demolished.
  1724. >The only reason you’re still standing might be because the glass broke your impact slightly.
  1725. >But that explosion was definitely not from an explosive.
  1726. >No fire, just force.
  1727. >Like a sonic boom shattered the ground.
  1728. >Wait…
  1729. >That’s Winter’s house!
  1730. >Rather than looking for a door to the house you’ve been thrown into, you hop through the window.
  1731. >Not paying attention the broken glass that’s scratching you, you start sprinting over.
  1732. >The lawn is completely covered in rubble.
  1733. >Is that the bed?
  1734. >Or what’s left of it…
  1735.  
  1736. >The walls are completely gone, and-
  1737. >What is that?
  1738. >Pretty much the entire center of the house has been replaced by a circular tunnel going into the ground.
  1739. >You’ve never seen anything like this.
  1740. >How far down does that go?
  1741. >The smoothness of the sides is pretty unnatural.
  1742. >It looks like the tunnel goes off to the southeast.
  1743. >Somewhere…
  1744. >Winter!
  1745. >You need to get to the hospital.
  1746. >Right now, you can only pray that she wasn’t home.
  1747. >You can’t see any blood, or a body.
  1748. >But you were pretty far from the house when it went up, and-
  1749. >No, don’t think like that Thunder.
  1750. >She’s just at work.
  1751. >You take a moment to work out a route in your head before starting to run down the road.
  1752. >After passing a few houses, you-
  1753. >Holy…
  1754. >That’s a body.
  1755. >It’s a block down from the tunnel, but it’s been completely shredded.
  1756. >Several bits are missing…
  1757. >Like it’s been torn apart by an animal.
  1758. >What in the ever loving-
  1759. >There’s another!
  1760. >Just as mangled as the previous.
  1761. >This one looks like a mare.
  1762. >You think.
  1763. >It’s hard to tell.
  1764. >Oh shit.
  1765. >You really hope the third one you come across was just shredded a lot.
  1766. >Because there’s a very small amount of flesh and bone left.
  1767. >As you run even faster, you see more bodies lining the streets.
  1768. >What happened here?
  1769. >Only one thing matters right now.
  1770. >You need to get Winter far away.
  1771.  
  1772. >…
  1773. >The entire way to the hospital was littered with bodies.
  1774. >Need to move faster!
  1775. >If only your damn wing would work.
  1776. >You tried to fly, but before getting a few feet you face planted into the ground.
  1777. >So you’re stuck to running.
  1778. >But there it is!
  1779. >You can see the hospital reaching above the nearby buildings.
  1780. >You start turning down the streets to get to its entrance.
  1781. >As you reach the street it’s on, you end up slamming into a pony’s back.
  1782. >That hurt.
  1783. >And it looks like the entire street is full of soldiers facing the hospital.
  1784. >As you look again to the soldier, you realize that the pain was caused from the pony’s armor.
  1785. >The soldier looks at you to yell.
  1786. >”Get out of here civilian! I thought the cops got all you out of the area.”
  1787. >Civilian.
  1788. >You did quit…
  1789. “My wife works there!”
  1790. >The armored pony looks over to a few others.
  1791. >”Corporal, Private. Get this civie out of here!”
  1792. “No, you don’t understand-“
  1793. >”Now, soldiers!”
  1794.  
  1795. >…
  1796. “Captain! What’s the status on the second pit?”
  1797. >”Soldiers and engineers are on the way with the payload!”
  1798. “What’s keeping them so long? The scouts said that nothing else was coming out of it!”
  1799. >”It’s a big payload ma’am, and we don’t have the pegasi to spare to carry it.”
  1800. “How many do we have here?”
  1801. >”A dozen or so, but the air support hasn’t let us get into the hospital yet.”
  1802. >The creatures are smarter than you’d guess.
  1803. >They’re actually holding down the entrances to the building, stopping your men from getting in.
  1804. >But why?
  1805. >Could be one big diversion.
  1806. >But you need to stop the horde now, before they can spread out again.
  1807. “Captain, get those pegasi over here! Even the scouts, I need every flier and now.”
  1808. >”Yes Ma’am!”
  1809. >…
  1810. “Alright people, we’re going in fast and low, hitting the second floor to take the pressure off the first. If they regroup on the a higher floor, we’ll rinse and repeat with the third.”
  1811. >The civilians have been barricading off the upper levels, but pretty much none of them can simply fly down.
  1812. >If the streets weren’t in such chaos, you could get some ladders in.
  1813. >There were the fire ladders, but the creatures tried to climb them.
  1814. >Turns out that their weight collapsed them.
  1815.  
  1816. >As you look to the fliers, you see a dozen proper armored soldiers, and another dozen lightly equipped scouts and messengers.
  1817. >It’ll have to do.
  1818. >The Crystal Empire is great with manpower, but right now you need pegasi and unicorns, not infantry.
  1819. >Well… without all the infantry you wouldn’t have been able to box in the creatures so quickly.
  1820. >Okay, so it’s been a long while since the second pit came up.
  1821. >That may be it.
  1822. >If you’re very very lucky, the first was just a diversion for the second.
  1823. >The creatures came up pretty quickly from the first, but almost immediately from the second.
  1824. >If this was just a diversion, then it might be over.
  1825. >The quantity does trouble you though.
  1826. >Back with the minotaurs, the creatures were constantly pouring out of the pit.
  1827. >Here only a small wave came out of each.
  1828. >If you’ve only gleaned one thing from this entire debacle, it’s that the creatures are a lot smarter than you assumed.
  1829. >Or whatever is behind it is a lot smarter than you assumed.
  1830.  
  1831. >…
  1832. >As one of the men breaks the window, you fly into the room.
  1833. >Empty.
  1834. >Alright, with all the commotion, the creatures may not have heard the insertion.
  1835. >Seeing as the soldiers here aren’t particularly experienced, you’ll lead the way.
  1836. >It’ll be good for moral.
  1837. >Also it’s not like you wouldn’t lead the way…
  1838. >Flying over the hospital bed, you land on the other side.
  1839. >Moving to the door, you go to open it with your free hoof.
  1840. >As you pull it open, one of the creatures is right on the other side.
  1841. >While it roars towards you, you take the opening to thrust your sword into its exposed flesh.
  1842. >You’re not sure why they have those bits under their shoulders, but you aren’t complaining.
  1843. >Pulling the sword free, you flap your wings to get over the body that’s now blocking the doorframe.
  1844. >Glancing down the hall each way, you see a few more creatures to both directions.
  1845. >Left or right?
  1846. >Left.
  1847. >You start flying as quickly as you can towards the nearest creature.
  1848. >At first, you go high- almost hitting the ceiling.
  1849. >But as you reach the target, you swerve low to stab at its weak point.
  1850. >This time, you fully stop yourself instead of flying past your target and losing grasp of your weapon.
  1851. >As you free the blade, you get it free just in time to block an incoming swipe from the next creature’s claw.
  1852. >The blade goes deep between two of its clawed toes.
  1853. >As the creature then moves it’s head to bite at you, it gets rushed by a pegasi- who thrusts his spear right on target.
  1854. >So far, so good.
  1855.  
  1856. >…
  1857. “Let me go!”
  1858. >”Check that out Corporal!”
  1859. >As the soldiers drag you away, they stop to look to the air.
  1860. >Pegasi are making a run to window on the second floor.
  1861. >Further into the crowd of soldiers, you hear a voice yell out:
  1862. >”Advance and keep the pressure on!”
  1863. >You need to get in there.
  1864. >Jerking your right shoulder free, you then push off the pony holding your left.
  1865. >Rushing forward, you try to get through the soldiers as they move up.
  1866. >Behind you, you hear a pony yell:
  1867. >“Hey! Stop!”
  1868. >You then feel a hoof grab your shoulder and start to pull you around.
  1869. >As the armored pony comes into view, the next thing you see is a hoof approaching your face.
  1870. >When the sucker punch connects, it sends you to the ground, and your head connects with pavement.
  1871. >You think you heard a:
  1872. >”Come on Private, leave him there.”
  1873. >Before you blacked out.
  1874.  
  1875. >…
  1876. >Getting to the stairwell, you dodge to the side of the doorframe as a creature comes charging out.
  1877. >As it passes, you swing your sword down to hit the back of its rear left knee.
  1878. >The attack slows the creature down, giving the pegasi behind you an opening.
  1879. >While they finish it off, you look into the stairwell.
  1880. >Down at the bottom floor, you can see a spear wall advancing to pin a creature that’s stuck between the wall and the weapons.
  1881. >Scanning the rest of the staircases, you can’t see any more of the creatures still standing.
  1882. “Fan out and secure the area!”
  1883. >Stretching out your wings, you fly over the soldiers to get down to the first floor.
  1884. >On the first floor, you continue flying through the halls.
  1885. >Because in addition to the soldiers, the ground is clogged by bodies.
  1886. >Both of the creatures, soldiers, and civilians.
  1887. >Assuming another pit doesn’t pop up, you’ll tell the nearest officers to keep the city on high alert, then head for the train yard.
  1888. >And this time, you think you’ll take that private train.
  1889. >Just an engine will do, because you need to get to Canterlot as soon as possible.
  1890.  
  1891. >…
  1892. >Pretty much the entire train ride here, you’ve been simmering.
  1893. >When you reach the meeting room doors, you push them open with a great deal of force.
  1894. >”Princess!”
  1895. >”Your highness!”
  1896. >”Where were you!”
  1897. >”Is that blood?”
  1898. >From Lancer, Brairheart, Offense, and Wave respectively.
  1899. “Alright listen up! Full mobilization is back on, I want recruitment to skyrocket, garrisons present in every town, and I mean EVERY town. Existing garrisons need to be expanded threefold at the very latest, and to supplement them, I want every able-bodied stallion drilling for at least an hour a day to form reserve militias. We need fully armed patrols scouring each inch of our territory, and I want dedicated quick response divisions made up of unicorns atop pegasi sky chariots.”
  1900. >Lancer and Brairheart look confused, Wave keeps his somber demeanor, and you see Offense scowl.
  1901. >And now the room is completely quiet.
  1902. >The silence is palpable.
  1903. >”Well…”
  1904. >Lancer begins.
  1905. >”If no pony else will speak, what happened?”
  1906. >What happened?
  1907. “Oh I’ll tell you what happened. I went up to the Crystal Empire to question the parasite inside of my mother. On the bright side, I don’t think it’s behind the minotaur thing. So I took one measly day to relax, because in a very short span of time I killed the parasite in my own head, had to play kingmaker in the minotaur political sphere, saw the start of their apocalypse legend, dealt with the pit that spewed their ‘demons’ straight from their hell, and took a forced march back to Equestria. Then, not even a day after I decide to unwind for a bit, not one, but TWO pits from Tartarus pop up right as I was getting on the train to come back. And yes, a small horde of the creatures rampaged through the city before I could contain them. Now please excuse me for being just a tad angry right now, because those fucking things just attacked my FUCKING HOME!”
  1908.  
  1909. >As you catch your breath, the generals look pretty shocked.
  1910. >You don’t swear often, and never of that caliber.
  1911. >But damn if you aren’t fed up with all of this.
  1912. >You never wanted to rule.
  1913. >But here you are.
  1914. >Collecting yourself, you continue
  1915. “So, in summary: we need to get the entire country ready for this fight. Because right about now, I think the minotaurs aren’t too wrong in calling it an apocalypse.”
  1916. >With that, you walk over to one of the open seats around the table.
  1917. “And while we’re at it, I think we should get some of the Old Guard out of the palace and back in the field. We’d do better to have more of our elite veterans in the field rather than cooped up here. Speaking of which, we should also start patrolling the old mines below Canterlot. If a pit forms here, they’d have to get through the mines first, and I’d rather catch them down there than in the streets. One of you can deal with the mines, but have Thunder start with the Old Guard as soon as possible.”
  1918. >”About that…”
  1919. >Lancer starts.
  1920. “What?”
  1921. >”Thunder turned in a letter of resignation the other day, and we haven’t seen him in the city since.”
  1922. “What!”
  1923. >Brairheart then takes over.
  1924. >”We should probably fill everypony in on recent events. On the last mission, Thunder encountered a…”
  1925. >You start listening to the Admiral’s account.
  1926.  
  1927. >…
  1928. >So he wasn’t high when he was wandering through the streets.
  1929. >Either way, it looks like Thunder is out.
  1930. >A shame, he’s been here since this all started back in Appleoosa.
  1931. >It’s hard to believe that so much has happened this year.
  1932. “Well, have you picked a replacement yet?”
  1933. >Lancer takes over:
  1934. >”We’ve been throwing some names around, but selection will probably take a little while longer. Likely we’ll probably bring Colonel Arrow in, but personally I’d rather have him in the field. Especially given recent events.”
  1935. “I suppose it’s my turn now. In the Crystal Empire, I’m not sure what their goal was. At first a single pit appeared, and as the troops were circling in on it another came up. I think it was possibly a diversion, but nowhere near as many of the creatures came through the tunnel as did over with the minotaurs. Maybe they were just testing defenses, or hopefully their numbers have been drained. But I think it’s safe to say that either the creatures themselves, or whatever’s creating the tunnels, is far more intelligent that we should assume.”
  1936. >”Or both are.”
  1937. >Wave adds.
  1938.  
  1939. “Which I don’t like. But as Offense should have already mentioned: we need to get unicorns spread out among the troops. I’m not sure if they’ll adapt, but right now magic looks like the easiest way to incapacitate them.”
  1940. >Brairheart then speaks:
  1941. >”How do we want to deal with this in terms of news? Tell the full story, or quarantine information?”
  1942. >Lancer responds:
  1943. >”If the attack on the Crystal Empire was as large as I assume, we won’t be able to keep the story under wraps.”
  1944. “I think we should be honest with the people. They need to start preparing for the Tartarus pits and whatever might come out. Because as nasty as these creatures are, there’s a lot worse that could get to the surface.”
  1945. >Offense then adds:
  1946. >”Personally I think we should take a force over to the main entrance and see what’s going on down there.”
  1947. >To which Brairheart retorts:
  1948. >”The caves and tunnels go on for miles and miles. Even if we could reliably get troops past Cerberus, there’s no way proper supply lines could move.”
  1949. >”So you just want to let these things pop up indefinitely?”
  1950. “What if we flood it? I mean if we get a concentrated effort from Cloudsdale the next time one comes up, and pour all the water they have down the tunnel, we might be able to drown them out.”
  1951. >Offense is the one to respond:
  1952. >”That would be an utterly massive undertaking.”
  1953. >And Lancer continues:
  1954. >”But, if we can pull it off, we might be able to take out the lion’s share of their numbers. The only problem would be containing a breech long enough for Cloudsdale to get everything into position. Pretty much the entire city would have to move above it.”
  1955. “I think it’s worth a shot at the very least. Because right now, I don’t see many options.”
  1956.  
  1957. >…
  1958. >Gah, your head.
  1959. >Again.
  1960. >Where are you?
  1961. >Indoors.
  1962. >Somewhere.
  1963. >A hallway.
  1964. >On a bench.
  1965. >Ponies are rushing around.
  1966. >As you get to your hooves, you realize that you’re in the hospital.
  1967. >Nurses and doctors are really moving quickly.
  1968. “Hello?”
  1969. >Nopony pays you any mind.
  1970. “Hey, nurse!”
  1971. >You grab the attention of one of the staff.
  1972. >”Sorry, we’re really busy- oh wait, it’s you.”
  1973. >She stops in her tracks.
  1974. >”You have a minor concussion, but we’re really stressed for space right now.”
  1975. >As she speaks you see a patient being wheeled on a stretcher.
  1976. >He’s missing a leg.
  1977. >Make that two.
  1978. >”Head to the desk over there and get some aspirin, we’ll properly look at you when we can.”
  1979. “Wait!”
  1980. >”What is it? I have to get to a surgery!”
  1981. “Winter. Winter Gem, is she here?”
  1982. >”Winter? Yeah, she just got out of surgery.”
  1983. “Good, then she’s safe.”
  1984. >”No, she just got OUT of surgery.”
  1985. >You feel your heart skip a beat.
  1986. >Or two.
  1987. >Or ten.
  1988. >”Room 515, now I really have to go!”
  1989. >She got out of surgery.
  1990. >That means she’s okay…
  1991. >Right.
  1992. >Right?
  1993.  
  1994. >…
  1995. >Harvey’s been quiet for a few days now.
  1996. >It’s probably for the best, but honestly you miss the company a bit.
  1997. >Discord is an annoying little cuss, but the part of him that’s in your head isn’t too bad.
  1998. >Except when he is…
  1999. >Your mind has wandered a little bit.
  2000. “Sorry, lost my train of thought.”
  2001. >Tiara reminds you:
  2002. >”You were talking about the first and second Coastal Wars.”
  2003. “Coastal Wars?”
  2004. >”Yes, doesn’t everypony call them that?”
  2005. “No! They’re the Wars of the Saddle Arabian Coast. Or Saddle Arabian Coast Wars. Or Arabian Coast Wars. Or just the Coast Wars. But never the CoastAL Wars.”
  2006. >”Oh come on.”
  2007. “The Coastal Wars just sound silly.”
  2008. >”Yeah, yeah. As you were saying?”
  2009. “Right, so it all boils down to ideological fanaticism. In the first it was about having a clear showing of force, whereas in the second pretty much every major population center had to be occupied. Rather obvious stuff considering the huge anti-Equestrian sentiment that followed their loss the first time around, but you’d be surprised how many people forget just how much spite can inspire a population.”
  2010. >”I suppose you army types do have an entirely different view of things. From my point of view, it has to do with leadership. The military and political leaders from the first war were a lot weaker than the batch that took over in the second.”
  2011. “Right, you should know that the Saddle Arabian king that started the first war was actually replaced by a changeling.”
  2012. >”What!”
  2013. “No, it’s true. I always assumed it was a ploy to get soldiers thinking about their families back home. Lots of romanticized views of love on each side to feed off of, given that in their down time an almost universal factor of soldiers is their love for their homes.”
  2014. >”So the king that lived in exile was a changeling?”
  2015. “No, he was the real king. I killed the pretender, but Celestia wanted the pretense to remain.”
  2016. >”That’s…”
  2017.  
  2018. “The rest of High Command was there, and they can attest to it if you don’t believe me.”
  2019. >”Well so far the rumors about you look to be true, so I’ll take your word on it for now.”
  2020. >Tiara alters the course a few degrees to the south.
  2021. >”You know Anon, these past few days I’ve almost been able to tolerate your presence.”
  2022. “Almost?”
  2023. >”You’re still a bit chauvinistic, but it’s not nearly as pronounced. And given your… personal situation, I’ll let myself forget it.”
  2024. “Well that’s good to hear. I don’t think I’m that chauvinistic, but it’s an improvement.”
  2025. >”Of course YOU wouldn’t think that.”
  2026. “Also, I should be honest. Once you do get back, I do think you’ll get along nicely enough with the rest of High Command. Particularly with Admiral Brairheart and General Wave to a lesser extent. Lancer might be iffy, but I think the only one you’ll clash with is Offense. He can be rather impulsive, but it works well to counteract the more conservative voices.”
  2027. >”Again, I’ll take you word for it. But I will reserve judgment for when I actually meet them.”
  2028. “I should alter that. Either you’ll get along great with Lancer, or you’ll utterly hate them. I’ve noticed that you can alternate between more cautious decisions and more out-of-the-box methods. Lancer is similar, but if you end up thinking one way while he opts for another…”
  2029. >”I see your point… And actually I’m looking forward to being home again.”
  2030. “Why? And I mean that in that the reasons for wanting to be home vary wildly between each individual.”
  2031. >”Long ago I realized, thanks to some very good ponies that I consider my greatest friends, that my purpose is to manage others- to keep others on task… I think your little batch of generals need a voice of proper reason.”
  2032. “Oh I think you’ll fit in just fine.”
  2033. >”Thank you.”
  2034. “At least until I get back, that is.”
  2035.  
  2036. >”Oh don’t worry. Obviously by that time I’ll have replaced you. This was just one big ploy for power. If you ever do return it will be nothing but Queen Diamond Tiara.”
  2037. “Heh.”
  2038. >”Actually, I think Empress would work better.”
  2039. “Maybe ‘Grand Duchess’ after all, Empress is just a title for one’s own ego.”
  2040. >”You know, I really like the sound of that.”
  2041. “And you said I had the big head…”
  2042. >”I never said that mine WASN’T big. It’s just by comparison that yours is the really big one.”
  2043. “Really though, because my signature ordered it, Lancer should accept you pretty quickly. Wave will hold off on passing judgment until he can see your actual decisions, and he probably won’t have any issues. Offense will be against you until he can see how you are while drunk. Share a bottle of your favorite gin with him, and he should come around. Oh and Brairheart shouldn’t have any problems at all due to similarities.”
  2044. >”Actually I think I’ve met him once or twice. He was at some captain’s meetings before the air fleet split off from the Royal Navy.”
  2045. “What did you think?”
  2046. >”Very by the book. Good for subordinates, but leaders do need to be a bit more elastic.”
  2047. “Yeah, I think what you’ll find with more interaction is that he is very by the book when it comes to strategies, but when it comes to tactics he can be rather out-of-the-box.”
  2048. >”And I can see the benefits of that type of thinking. Much better than the inverse.”
  2049. “And for the most part I would agree with that, but on the strategic level you do need to be able to modify plans very quickly to react to changing conditions.”
  2050. >”Oh, absolutely.”
  2051. “Well look at that. We just completely agreed on something.”
  2052. >”We did, didn’t we?”
  2053. >Before you can respond, you’re cut off by a voice.
  2054. >It’s Three-Leg from the crow’s nest.
  2055. >”LAND HO!”
  2056.  
  2057. >…
  2058. >This is…
  2059. >You just can’t.
  2060. >The past few days have bled together.
  2061. >You’ve just been sitting here.
  2062. >By her bedside.
  2063. >You haven’t eaten, and you’ve barely drank anything.
  2064. >Because you just don’t have the stomach for it.
  2065. >Winter…
  2066. >Your wife.
  2067. >The mare you decided you want to spend your life with.
  2068. >Your rock.
  2069. >No matter whatever conflict came up, she was supposed to be the constant.
  2070. >And when the crystal did it’s number on you, she was the only pony that could ground you.
  2071. >But now…
  2072. >You can barely even think about it.
  2073. >Her back right leg has been torn off from the knee down.
  2074. >And her lower spine was fractured in three different spots.
  2075. >The nurses said that she went to get more patients up to safety, even when the others said it was too dangerous.
  2076. >They say she saved at least a dozen lives that day.
  2077. >But that doesn’t matter.
  2078. >You just want your wife.
  2079. >The mare you love.
  2080. >The doctors are saying that she’ll never walk again.
  2081. >And that’s if she actually does wake up.
  2082. >They said that at this point she’s more or less brain dead.
  2083. >Too much trauma to the spine.
  2084. >Her parents have been in every day.
  2085. >They tried to comfort you, but everypony has been drowned out…
  2086. >But that’s not even the worst part.
  2087. >Your son.
  2088. >Or your daughter.
  2089. >Your child.
  2090. >The beast tore her, and…
  2091. >It’s just gone.
  2092. >You felt it when you touched the crystal.
  2093. >For just a moment you could feel your child developing.
  2094. >Every potential that he or she could have realized.
  2095. >And now…
  2096. >That life has been silenced.
  2097. >You
  2098. >Just
  2099. >Can’t
  2100.  
  2101. >Resting your head on your wife’s motionless shoulder, you let yourself internalize the beeping of the machines that are hooked up to her.
  2102. >You would try to sleep.
  2103. >But every time you close your eyes, you can only imagine your life.
  2104. >In another world.
  2105. >Another time.
  2106. >When you teach your child how to speak.
  2107. >How to read.
  2108. >About the world.
  2109. >When you see them go off to school for the first time.
  2110. >When they find out their purpose in life and get their cutie mark.
  2111. >When they graduate.
  2112. >When they meet the love of their life, and bring them home for the first time.
  2113. >When they get married.
  2114. >When they bring grandchildren into the world.
  2115. >And when they comfort you and Winter as you age and eventually pass from the world.
  2116. >And how that’s all been taken from you.
  2117. >All of it.
  2118.  
  2119. >…
  2120. “Well… It’s just a guess but I’m willing to say that we’re here.”
  2121. >The shore fills the entire horizon.
  2122. >As you inspect it with a spyglass, you realize that ‘shore’ isn’t the appropriate word.
  2123. >Jagged rocks and cliffs form an endless wall between the ocean and land.
  2124. >It’s hard to judge from this distance, but you’d guess that they go up two hundred feet or so at the highest peaks.
  2125. “It’s a good thing we have pegasi, because I’d rather not have to climb that.”
  2126. >”Anon?”
  2127. “I wonder how far it goes for?”
  2128. >”Anon!”
  2129. >You turn to look at Tiara.
  2130. >Who is facing the opposite direction.
  2131. >Looking off the stern of the ship, you see it too.
  2132. “Another one?”
  2133. >Dark storm clouds stretch across the horizon.
  2134. >You think you can see some lightning brewing in the clouds.
  2135. >And it’ll be dark soon.
  2136. >The only question is if that darkness comes from the sun setting below the storm, or the storm overtaking the ship.
  2137. >”It looks as bad as the last one.”
  2138. “Well the timing is impeccable.”
  2139. >Between the wind and waves, you don’t doubt that the ship will be tossed into the cliffs.
  2140. “Think the anchor could hold?”
  2141. >Commander Port speaks up as he holds the wheel.
  2142. >”Possible, but unlikely.”
  2143. “How unlikely?”
  2144. >”Very.”
  2145. “Why did I know you were going to say that?”
  2146. >Turning to look back to the cliffs, you start scanning with the spyglass.
  2147. >You need a cave, or something.
  2148. >Just enough coverage to break a bit of the storm.
  2149. >You catch a little bit of brown and white that stands out among the dark grey rock.
  2150. >You think it’s a broken mast from a ship.
  2151. >Well great.
  2152.  
  2153. >As you continue to scan, you hear Tiara speak:
  2154. >”Port, your thoughts?”
  2155. >”The wind is coming from the north by a few degrees. If we head west now, and try to go south, we might avoid impact.”
  2156. >”Maybe, but if the storm lasts even half as long as the previous one did, how far west we are won’t matter.”
  2157. >Moving north, you can see a very large mountain sticking into the air.
  2158. >It’s at least fifty feet higher than the rest of the cliffs.
  2159. >Tiara continues:
  2160. >”I… we might have to abandon ship.”
  2161. >”We would be trapped.”
  2162. >”I know that!”
  2163. >That’s no mountain…
  2164. “Go north.”
  2165. >”What?”
  2166. >”What?”
  2167. >You offer the spyglass to Tiara, and point to the spot.
  2168. “Take a look.”
  2169. >As she pulls it up to her eye and focuses it, she speaks:
  2170. >”And?”
  2171. “What does that look like to you?”
  2172. >”A jagged coast.”
  2173. “But that point, above the rest.”
  2174. >”What about it?”
  2175. “It’s crumbling, but look at the right side of it.”
  2176. >”That looks smooth.”
  2177. “Too smooth.”
  2178. >”It… If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it almost looks like the base of a lighthouse.”
  2179. “Maybe you don’t know any better.”
  2180. >”Commander.”
  2181. >She looks up from the spyglass.
  2182. >”Set course… forty degrees starboard.”
  2183. >You won’t particularly have the wind going with you, so this will be pretty close.
  2184. >If you’re wrong the entire ship is going down.
  2185. >But it might be the best chance you’ve got.
  2186. “Hey Tiara. Do we have a volleyball on board?”
  2187. >”What? Why?”
  2188. “Wilson.”
  2189. >”What?”
  2190. “Because it’s… just- never mind.”
  2191. >Harvey would have liked the joke.
  2192.  
  2193. >As the ship draws closer to the cliffs, and the storm draws closer to the ship, you start to get a better look at the strange outcropping.
  2194. >It looks to be made of the same rock as the cliff is, but it is definitely manmade.
  2195. >Well, not MAN made, but made by somebody.
  2196. >The rock has crumbled, but in a couple of places you can see that the structure seemed to be round.
  2197. >And made of actual bricks.
  2198. >At a guess, you’d say that it’s some ancient lighthouse.
  2199. >Weathered by who knows how many centuries.
  2200. >You think that Harvey said something about ruins of long dead civilizations, so this might be one of them.
  2201. >But you do hope that the civilization is in fact ‘long dead.’
  2202. >Else you’ll have to engage in some gunboat diplomacy.
  2203. >Although the proper storm is still far away, the waters are getting rough.
  2204. >And the not-so-tiny ship is being tossed by the waves.
  2205. >But this is no Minnow, and it won’t be lost if you have anything to say about it.
  2206. “Tiara, let me see that spyglass.”
  2207. >When she gives you the small telescope, you extend it and start looking towards the cliff below the lighthouse.
  2208. “Haha!”
  2209. >You say with a grin.
  2210. >”What is it?”
  2211. “Don’t quote me yet, but I think there’s a bay up ahead.”
  2212. >…
  2213. >Come on, this is it.
  2214. >You’re definitely approaching an inlet of some sort, and the entire crew is hushed as they wait to see what’s around the cliff.
  2215. >Even if it’s just a river, you can head in a bit and drop anchor away from the jagged rocks that line the coast.
  2216. >Anything so that the ship can still sail in the morning.
  2217. >And here it is.
  2218. >When the ship starts to come around the bend below the ruined lighthouse, you see the crewmen towards the bow of the ship start looking around.
  2219. >Whatever it is, it must…
  2220. >Be…
  2221. >Holy…
  2222. >What is this?
  2223.  
  2224. >You were right, the lighthouse does indicate a bay.
  2225. >A decently narrow passage into the harbor, but it’s pretty open after that.
  2226. >The bay is roughly circular, and the cliffs continue to line it.
  2227. >But the entire bay is surrounded by buildings.
  2228. >Stone buildings atop mesas carved into the cliffs.
  2229. >The city is massive.
  2230. >At least as large as Canterlot is, all atop plateaus that overlook this little patch of water.
  2231. >To the north east, you see a waterfall that drops off into the bay.
  2232. >A river of some sort.
  2233. >But the buildings themselves are large.
  2234. >You don’t see anything that’s shorter than three stories.
  2235. >Much of the stone that the buildings are made of is weathered, and at least half of it is covered in ivy or other plant life.
  2236. >Due to the damage, it’s hard to pick out a architectural style, but at a glance you’d say that it looks rather Hellenic, with maybe a bit of Incan influence in the mesa design.
  2237. >It all seems rather familiar.
  2238. “Tiara?”
  2239. >”Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
  2240. “It looks a bit like the carvings from the island where the Valiant was shipwrecked on.”
  2241. >The source of the Fog that slowed your voyage.
  2242. >”Yeah…”
  2243. >Port then speaks up:
  2244. >”Ma’am, we should drop anchor over there, so that the cliff is directly between us and the storm.”
  2245. >Tiara doesn’t respond as she looks through the abandoned buildings.
  2246. “Make it so.”
  2247. >The city is in shambles, but you can still tell that it was massive in its day.
  2248. >But if the same people made this as did the Fog island, then they were minotaurs.
  2249. >Or they at least were the source of the old minotaur languages.
  2250. >If they were minotaurs, what were they doing out here in so great numbers so long ago?
  2251. >”I don’t like this.”
  2252. >Tiara says to you.
  2253. “What’s the saying? Any port in a storm?”
  2254.  
  2255. >…
  2256. >”I’m telling you Anon, I have a really bad feeling about this!”
  2257. >Tiara has to yell over the winds as the crew battens down the hatches.
  2258. “I know! I’m getting that vibe too. Not sure if it’s an actual gut feeling or about the east in general, but that’s why-”
  2259. >You stop yourself as a few ones walk between your conversation.
  2260. “That’s why I’m staying up here alone!”
  2261. >”You’re what!”
  2262. “I’m going to stay up here alone!”
  2263. >”Why!”
  2264. “It’s safer that way! The ship is nice and secure, but we have no idea what could be lurking in the bay or city!”
  2265. >”Then we should keep a full complement on deck!”
  2266. “I am a full complement! Also, you should head below with everyone else instead of staying in your cabin!”
  2267. >”Why should I!”
  2268. “Because if something breaks through your windows, I won’t be able to hear it over the storm!”
  2269. >”I don’t need you to worry about my safety!”
  2270. “Well too damn bad!”
  2271. >”Anon!”
  2272. “Tiara!”
  2273. >”Anon…”
  2274. “Let me get one last bit of chauvinism in, will you?”
  2275. >You hear her laugh.
  2276. >”Alright… but you don’t have to prove anything this time, if you need help, just ask for it!”
  2277. “Deal, now get down there!”
  2278.  
  2279. >…
  2280. >And then there was one.
  2281. >You’re out here alone.
  2282. >Just you and the storm.
  2283. >But, you’re not really alone…
  2284. “Alright Harv, talk to me.”
  2285. >-
  2286. >In the white expanse of your mind, you see Discord standing in front of you in his usual human form.
  2287. >”Well well, we’re actually here.”
  2288. “What is this place?”
  2289. >”A city.”
  2290. “I know that already.”
  2291. >”Can I be honest?”
  2292. “I expect you to.”
  2293. >”I’ve got a bit of a gap in my memory here.”
  2294. “What!”
  2295. >”I remember something about ancient minotaurs before they fled across the sea.”
  2296. “They did what?”
  2297. >”Well minotaurs are not native to their lands that border Equestria. Five thousand or so year ago they migrated from here for some reason or other. That’s all I can remember.”
  2298. “Weren’t you actually there?”
  2299. >”A: It was Discord that was around back then, not Harvey. And B: Around that time I was generally more concerned with seeing what would happen if I made dogs intelligent… I think.”
  2300. “You think!”
  2301. >”You know how strange you feel and act after I’ve been influencing your mind? I’m constantly going through that. And I’ve only got about half of Discord in here, there are a few gaps.”
  2302. “Well thanks for nothing!”
  2303. >He waves his right arm in front of his waist as he bows.
  2304. >”As always, monsieur.”
  2305. >-
  2306. >Well, you’re out here on your own.
  2307. >As you feel the first drops of rain start to hit you, you decide to remove your shirt.
  2308. >If you have to fight, you’d rather not do it in a soaked top.
  2309. >Also it’s rather hot.
  2310. >But something is out there…
  2311. >Why?
  2312. >Because something is always out there.
  2313. >Always.
  2314.  
  2315. >…
  2316. >As you stand ready atop the ship’s upper deck, the storm rages around you.
  2317. >Warm rain coats your body as thunder rages out and lighting illuminates the empty ship and the desolate city.
  2318. >From the entrance of the bay, waves enter and rock the ship.
  2319. >The ship moves back and forth with the tide, but remains staunchly docked among the ruins of this ancient ruin.
  2320. >The weight of your sword remains on your hip, your left hand resting on the pommel.
  2321. >Something is coming… you can feel it in your bones.
  2322. >And all that you can do is wait and stand vigilant.
  2323. >Whatever may dwell in this bay, no matter how long it has resided here will be aware of ythe ship’s presence.
  2324. >And as not only the reports, but also Harvey’s summaries of this land, indicates that behind every stone in this wilderness lies a deadly creature or two.
  2325. >While decades of forays and treks into the Everfree might have left the local fauna with the instinctual fear or caution upon discovering your scent, you have no such boon here.
  2326. >Each step of the way you will encounter beasts that see you as nothing more than prey.
  2327. >Despite the damage to your knees, and your overall weakness as you’ve past your prime, you cannot let that stop you.
  2328. >Everything between you and your target is merely a distraction.
  2329. >A continent wide distraction, but a distraction none the less.
  2330. >After this night, you’ll be on your own.
  2331. >And that’s good.
  2332. >The only person you’ll have to worry about is yourself.
  2333. >And you-
  2334. >Your train of thought ends as you feel a small yet sharp set of claws embed themselves into your back.
  2335.  
  2336. >Lighting strikes, lighting up the ship for a moment.
  2337. >You reach behind your back and grab at a leathery limb.
  2338. >Your back feels a bit slimy.
  2339. >Pulling at the thin arm or leg, you toss the creature off.
  2340. >The light has ended from the strike, and you can only see a dark figure scramble away before jumping up on one of the masts.
  2341. >The silhouette was pretty small, maybe three feet high.
  2342. >Four legs, a tail.
  2343. >A bit of a hunch in its upper spine.
  2344. >And it moved quickly.
  2345. >You then hear a high pitched growling screech from above.
  2346. >It manages to carry over the wind and thunder quite easily.
  2347. >Drawing your sword, you start watching the masts and rigging.
  2348. >Where are you?
  2349. >Glancing behind you, you check to make sure another one isn’t going for the same trick.
  2350. >”Anon, do you want-“
  2351. “Not now Harv!’
  2352. >The sky lights up again, and you see the animal jump onto the next mast.
  2353. >Again, you didn’t get a good look at it.
  2354. >”Anon!”
  2355. “What!”
  2356. >-
  2357. >In your frozen time land, you look at Harvey impatiently.
  2358. >”You’ve been poisoned.”
  2359. “What! How?”
  2360. >”Some of the creature’s secretions got into your wounds.”
  2361. “Disgusting.”
  2362. >”If you had just worn a shirt…”
  2363. “Well then it would have just ruined it, and I only have a couple with me. So what’s the damage?”
  2364. >”It’s working as a paralyzing agent. Chemically it’s not too dissimilar to manticore venom.”
  2365. “Good.”
  2366. >”What? How is this good!”
  2367. “Because I’ve gained a bit of a tolerance to manticore venom.”
  2368. >”That’s not how… well maybe.”
  2369. “It’s the difference between being a bit sluggish and frozen on the ground.”
  2370.  
  2371. >”Well it still looks pretty quick…”
  2372. >It.
  2373. “You don’t know what it is, do you?”
  2374. >”Do you know every species of animal found on Earth?”
  2375. “Alright, point taken. Now send me back before the venom starts kicking in.”
  2376. >-
  2377. >Back on the ship, you scan the rigging.
  2378. >Where are you…
  2379. >It expects prey to be paralyzed!
  2380. >Dropping your sword to the deck, you then fall onto your right knee.
  2381. >That hurts.
  2382. >Bracing yourself you place your right hand onto the ground next to it.
  2383. >”Anon…”
  2384. “Shut up, it’s a plan.”
  2385. >You don’t need a backseat driver right now.
  2386. >Seeing a shadow drop onto the deck, you lose sight of it due to the guard rail.
  2387. >Wait for it.
  2388. >Wait for it…
  2389. >A silhouette jumps up onto the guard rail next to the wheel, perching onto it for a moment.
  2390. >You clench your right hand into a fist.
  2391. >And then it leaps out towards you.
  2392. >While it jumps through the air, you shift your weight to deliver an uppercut into its jaw or neck.
  2393. >Knocking it back, it quickly finds its footing once more.
  2394. >Then lightning flashes and you get a clear look at the creature.
  2395.  
  2396. >What the hell is that?
  2397. >The creature is covered in leathery skin , more grey on its face and the underbelly, but getting brownish towards it’s back.
  2398. >The hide is fairly rough, but it has a shiny sheen to it.
  2399. >Both due to the rain, and the oily slime that Harv said it secreted.
  2400. >Not a lot of meat on its bones- you can see the ribs clearly pressed against the skin.
  2401. >The limbs lack meat as well, but you can see a fair amount of muscle, and veins across the front shoulders.
  2402. >It is hunched over on all limbs, but the front legs are much shorter.
  2403. >You’d guess that it can move both on two or four legs.
  2404. >The front legs/arms are much thinner than the back, but the strange thing you notice is the fingers.
  2405. >There are only two of them with a fair amount of space between them.
  2406. >The claws that they end with look sharp, and maybe two-three inches long.
  2407. >On the back legs, you notice three joints.
  2408. >Well not exactly, it looks almost like how dogs have the joint between their back paws a bit up on their leg.
  2409. >Three toes evenly spaced, with similar claws are on the hands, however a bit shorter and thicker.
  2410. >The tail is bony and goes on a foot or two.
  2411. >What’s strange is the small bushel of spikes coming out of the hunch of its back.
  2412. >The tallest ones go up about a six inches, maybe a defensive feature for use against larger predators.
  2413. >Its neck isn’t that long, but then there’s the head.
  2414. >Fairly round, the back half is covered in brown leathery skin.
  2415. >However the front half is a bit larger, as it looks like the cheek bones jut out a bit.
  2416. >The grey parts of its skin make its face look almost like the bone is visible.
  2417. >No ears or a real nose, but you think you can see some tiny holes in the appropriate spots.
  2418. >Then there’s the mouth.
  2419.  
  2420. >No lips, instead the gums and teeth are exposed.
  2421. >Not a lot of teeth, but what’s there is long and sharp.
  2422. >With a larger set of fangs each side of the jaw.
  2423. >The cheek themselves are very gaunt, making a rough angle as they reach out to the cheekbones.
  2424. >Finally there are the eyes.
  2425. >Depressed circles of blood red that shine in the light of the storm.
  2426. >Reaching down to grip your sword, you lunge to your feet and try to slash at it.
  2427. >But the creature is easily able to scurry forward to dodge the strike.
  2428. >As you get your footing more stable, you’re starting to feel the effects of the poison.
  2429. >Many of your muscles are starting to contract, and you feel a lot more sluggish.
  2430. >The creature starts circling around to your left, and you step forward to swing down at its back.
  2431. >Yeah, that’s really starting to hit you.
  2432. >Your sword doesn’t feel like the extension of your body that it should be.
  2433. >The weight is really annoying actually.
  2434. >And the animal managed to clear the strike by a few seconds, rather than a fraction of one.
  2435. >Thunder roars and you hear a high pitched screech over the noise.
  2436. >Releasing the grip on your sword, you drop it to the deck as it will only slow you down.
  2437. >Turning on your right heel, you spin in a one eighty and hold your right arm out in front of your chest.
  2438. >The creature was in the air jumping towards you, and each of its two-fingered hands wrap around your arm.
  2439.  
  2440. >You feel it’s feet impact your stomach as the grip on your arm tightens.
  2441. >The creature then lunges it’s head forward to bite at one of your shoulders, but you jab your left hand forward to grab its neck.
  2442. >As you tighten your grip on its neck, it tightens its grip on your arm and tries to claw at your torso with its legs.
  2443. >You’d guess that its legs weren’t really made for offensive use, because the cuts feel superficial.
  2444. >And it’s really troubling that you can tell the difference between a superficial cut so quickly.
  2445. >The little bastard might be quick, but it still doesn’t have the strength for this.
  2446. >Even with the poison doing its job.
  2447. >And it realizes that, as it releases the grip on your arm.
  2448. >Before it can claw at you with its hands, you reach down with your now free hand to grab at its right thigh.
  2449. >The debilitation from the venom makes the next move difficult as you lift the creature and slam it down onto the ground.
  2450. >You don’t want to let it get back on its feet and you no longer have a grip on it, so you stomp your right boot onto its neck.
  2451. >Multiple times.
  2452. >And one more for good measure.
  2453. >The exertion just makes your heart pump faster, allowing more of the venom to spread through your body at a quicker pace.
  2454. >Kneeling over the body, you pull the dagger out of your sheathe and slide it up into the belly of the creature.
  2455. >No movement, it’s dead.
  2456.  
  2457. >Taking the knife out, you drop it to the side and fall back from the kneeling position.
  2458. >Similar to manticore venom, but your blood isn’t burning in your veins.
  2459. >You think you’ll just sit here a moment as the storm rages on.
  2460. “Hey Harv.”
  2461. >”Yes?”
  2462. >His disembodied voice is easily heard over the storm.
  2463. “What is it?”
  2464. >”Dead.”
  2465. “I know that…”
  2466. >”I don’t know, never seen one before.”
  2467. “Huh.”
  2468. >”If you discovered it, that means you get to name it.”
  2469. “I’m not good with that, I’m still calling those tartarus animals that swam up ‘creatures.’”
  2470. >”But I told you, those are called-“
  2471. “We’re not calling them that!”
  2472. >”So this will be just ‘creature 2’ will it?”
  2473. “Well, it looks vaguely dog like… kind of. Harv, that right there is obviously a chupacabra.”
  2474. >”Wow that’s soooo original.”
  2475. “Better than whatever you’d call it.”
  2476. >You start to inspect the damage on your right arm when the next bit of lightning hits.
  2477. >Probably be a bit of bruising, the cuts look like they avoided any veins or arteries.
  2478. >The damage was mainly on the top of it.
  2479. >It’s fingers managed to wrap entirely around where they latched onto.
  2480. >That one further up your arm might leave a light scar.
  2481. >At least the rain will help clean out the wounds.
  2482. “Harv?”
  2483. >”Hmm?”
  2484. “Do me a favor, and pay extra attention to my senses. I need to sit here a while.”
  2485. >”If it’s any consolation, I’m trying to get your body to filter your blood more efficiently.”
  2486. “How does that- I’m not going to ask.”
  2487. >”You’re welcome.”
  2488. >You sigh.
  2489. “Thank you Harvey.”
  2490.  
  2491. >…
  2492. >You inhale the salty air of the sea around you.
  2493. >Why isn’t it raining?
  2494. >It was just a second ago…
  2495. >Right?
  2496. >You open your eyes to the dark night.
  2497. >The moon is out, and it looks like the storm has subsided.
  2498. >How?
  2499. >It feels like just a moment ago that you sat down here.
  2500. >The bright moon illuminates the body of the creature that’s still in front of you.
  2501. >As you start to stand up, you still feel a bit slow from the venom.
  2502. >Not very, though you can definitely still feel some effect.
  2503. >First, you reach down to grab your dagger.
  2504. >As you sheathe it, you note that the rain has washed away any blood that might have been on it.
  2505. >Next is your sword.
  2506. >There it is.
  2507. >Picking it up, you slide the tip into the sheathe and let gravity and a small flick of the wrist do the rest.
  2508. >Alright.
  2509. >The moon is really damn bright actually.
  2510. >Making your way onto the main deck, you walk over to the nearest hatch to below.
  2511. >You stomp on it three times, then wait for a crew member to open it.
  2512. “Get a doubled watch up here and be careful. I got attacked by a quick little bugger. And someone wake the doctor, I need him to take a look at my back.”
  2513. >”Yes Sir.”
  2514. >”Is that? Move.”
  2515. >Tiara then comes into sight at the bottom of the stairs.
  2516. >”What happened to you?”
  2517. “Chupacabra.”
  2518. >With that, you start descending the stairs.
  2519. >As you reach the bottom, you look over to her.
  2520. “You can go back to your cabin now if you’d like.”
  2521. >And then you start walking towards the room that the doctor has turned into a medical station.
  2522.  
  2523. >…
  2524. >”Listen, you should probably rest for a few days at least.”
  2525. “I’m fine.”
  2526. >”You have four five inch holes in your back, and multiple lacerations.”
  2527. “I’ve had worse.”
  2528. >”You’re my patient, and I’m saying-“
  2529. “Pour some rubbing alcohol on it and patch it up.”
  2530. >”I don’t care who you are out of this room.”
  2531. >You glare over to the doctor.
  2532. >”I’m in… charge… here… alright, just stay still a moment.”
  2533. >He goes over to get an antiseptic of some type.
  2534. >”This is going to hurt. Do you want-“
  2535. “Just do it.”
  2536. >He pours a liquid onto your back that’s somewhat irritating.
  2537. >You don’t even flinch.
  2538. >Then you hear him speak to himself:
  2539. >”Is this the right? Yeah.”
  2540. “Like I said Doc: I’ve had worse.”
  2541. >Also Harv is probably doing something about the pain.
  2542. >”Now the arm.”
  2543. >You offer your wounded arm to get doused.
  2544. >”Are you always this bad of a patient?”
  2545. >The doctor says as he goes to get some bandages.
  2546. “Only when on duty.”
  2547. >”I’ve heard that answer too many times.”
  2548. “Have you?”
  2549. >”Been stationed at a few bases. Ponies on the lower end of the ranking order are terrible, but officers on the upper end are even worse.”
  2550. “Your bedside manner could use some work.”
  2551. >”And your bedridden manner could use some work.”
  2552. “Heh. Fair enough.”
  2553.  
  2554. >…
  2555. >After getting bandaged up, you made a pit stop down to your things.
  2556. >Now, you stand on the deck and knock at Tiara’s door.
  2557. >”What!”
  2558. >Her muffled voice yells.
  2559. >You decide just to enter, holding a hand behind your back.
  2560. >”Oh, it’s you.”
  2561. >She says while looking at some maps over her lantern lit center table.
  2562. >”You put a shirt on too.”
  2563. >You actually got into a dry set of clothes.
  2564. “Well I was getting tired of dripping rainwater.”
  2565. >”That thing you killed was disgusting.”
  2566. “I have a feeling that a lot of things over here are.”
  2567. >”Shouldn’t you be resting?”
  2568. “Shouldn’t you?”
  2569. >”I have to chart a path back home, you have to head out tomorrow.”
  2570. “Well, I made an promise, and don’t want to forget it.”
  2571. >You move your hand into her view.
  2572. >A vial of dark green liquid.
  2573. >”What is it?”
  2574. “Manticore venom.”
  2575. >She sits back in her seat and sighs.
  2576. >”Really?”
  2577. “Just one drop.”
  2578. >”I’ll get the glasses.”

Heart of War- Prologue

by ThingPaste

Heart of War- Act I

by ThingPaste

Heart of War- Act II

by ThingPaste

Heart of War- Act III

by ThingPaste

Heart of War- Act IV

by ThingPaste