~The Jewel Empire - Book 2~ Posting not welcome

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Golden Bubble's point of view. She belongs to ~*Jade*~.
Sorry it's so long, I realised upon proofreading that I'd gone overboard and made 5 pages. XD Art of Golden Bubble is by .Puppet.

“Why are we doing this again?” whined Rainbow Bliss in the glow of Solar’s horn.
“If we can actually find the weaknesses, strengths and powers of the Hiems, we could potentially save the Empire!” replied Aqua enthusiastically.
“What if the spell doesn’t work?” asked Flash.
“It will. Trust me.” Replied Lunar. She was going to put a permanent enchantment on the Hiem in the living room, cutting of magic from the Queen, calming her down, and enabling her to come out of the cage without harming us or running away. She would be on our side. And it was the answer to discovering more about the Hiems.
“Are we ready?” asked Solar.
“No! Her magic is back… she could be dangerous!” whimpered Frost.
“Then let’s go!” replied Solar, making Frost and Rainbow squeak. Aqua’s horn was lit up with a spark, and so was Emerald’s. They both winked to each other, as Lunar readied her horn to perform the enchantments.
“One… Two… Three!” I yelled. Aqua and Emerald leapt through the doorway down the corridor first, followed by Lunar. The other five of us charged down behind, as the two unicorns shot blasts of magic from their horn. The room was lit up by green light, and as I bounded through I saw the Hiem inside the cage. She was standing up, her head thrown back and screeching. Her eye aura vanished and her wings stretched out wide as the spells grasped and held onto her icy body.
“Now!” Solar yelled at Lunar, who then emitted her own rays of dark purple-blue light. They waved towards the screeching Hiem, then began to enclose her body. They wrapped around and began to glow brighter, sparks spitting outwards. Suddenly they flashed, grabbed her body and there was a short, blinding light.
After a few seconds I opened my eyes again and squinted. I peered across the room at the cage, where a body lay limp at the bottom.
Rainbow and I nervously approached the cage and looked at the Hiem. She was breathing, steadily. I felt excited.
In a moment everypony was peering in, and all of a sudden the Hiem regained her eyes’ aura. She stirred, lifting her head.
“Huh… what?” she mumbled, turning around. She spotted us and gasped. “Oh my! It’s you ponies…”
“Hello. Are you feeling OK?” asked Lunar.
“Why? Have you done something?” she gasped, looking at her hooves.
“Yes. See, we’ve cut off your magic channelling to your Queen, as well as just… basic magic. Sorry.” Said Solar. “Do you feel calmer?”
“Yes… I still don’t like you. But I don’t want to kill you.” She replied warily, backing to the edge of her cage.
“OK, we’re going to let you out. And you need to communicate nicely with us.” Said Aqua, coming closer. “You need to understand that this information will be used against other Hiems, but you should know now the horrid damage you all caused.”
The Hiem looked at Aqua very suspiciously, and held it for multiple seconds. She then sighed.
“OK, OK. I know that the damage Latinix caused was unnecessary. I don’t what kind of enchantment you placed on me but… it’s working. Now let me out!” she replied. I smiled broadly at Rainbow and Frost on either side of me.
Aqua nodded gently to her and used her magic to slowly lift a key into the padlock. She lifted the latch before stepping away.
The Hiem looked at the door in joy, pushing it gently with her hoof. She then stepped carefully out and stood on the floor.
“I’m out! Oh it feels nice…” she said, stretching out her hooves. “But you lot still can’t touch me. You can’t take away my powers to give frost bite.”
“OK. Would you like to remove your armour?” asked Aqua. The Hiem nodded. Aqua quickly used her magic to take off the breast plate, back plate and helmet and place them on the sofa in the corner.
Without them she basically looked like… a pony. A normal pony. Except for the large wings, curved horn and eye aura she looked average. When she folded her wings she looked even better. I began to realise that Hiems were almost like us… the only evil was most Hiems’ naivety and Latinix. Latinix was the source of the problem, but the Hiems had to be defeated.
“Now. Can we give you a name? Do you have any idea if you have one?” asked Flash.
“I guess… and no, I don’t have a name. Latinix’s brainwashing has made me forget everything of my past.” Replied the Hiem with a sigh. “And trying to change all Hiems good won’t work. I’m young and easily affected by your magic. You’ll have to get rid of the others.” at that, she looked at the floor in sadness. My heart lurched, as much as I despised the Hiems. I did like her.
“So… a name?” asked Rainbow.
“Um… Nix. You can call me Nix.” She replied. I instantly thought of the name Latinix, but didn’t dare bring it up.
“Now Nix. Please, would you be able to tell us more about you and the other Hiems? Can you make the sacrifice?” asked Aqua kindly.
“OK. I’ll do it. Now that I’m OK with you ponies I… I think I can understand what the kingdom means to you. But… when you defeat the Queen and the other Hiems, what will… where will I go? What will happen to me?” asked Nix clearly trying to hold back a few tears.
“That’s not what we need to think of right now. We need to ask questions and get to Laheb City before Latinix finds out you’re betraying her.” Pushed Solar.
“OK, OK. For starters, we have very high speed.” Started Nix.
“Hold on! I’ll get a list!” interrupted Emerald. She whizzed off and returned a second later levitating a pen and paper.
“So does she.” Added Flash with an eye-roll.
“OK, and you know frost bite is inflicted upon contact. There’s the fact we can freeze ponies solid. And the ice is super-hard. It requires special magic to undo. We can make storms with our horns and speed. The storms are small, but extremely powerful and deadly.” Continued Nix. “There are some things others don’t know. We can’t drown. I know, somehow, that ponies can take water into their lungs and suffocate. We can’t.”
“Wow, really?” I asked, eagerly listening. Nix nodded.
“Our horns can create real lightning, that will go where we wish. That’s pretty dangerous for ponies, but it also drains energy to a great extent. There’s also this weird thing that only advanced Hiems can do. We can jab our horn in the precise spot, at the very back of the neck, that can paralyse and transform a pony into a Hiem.” Said Nix. I gasped.
“Oh my goodness!” cried Rainbow. “That’s… wow.”
“Scary.” I finished.
“Yes. Oh, and one more. We can’t be frozen to death. That’s why we stayed alive all those years at Death Points. But it was mainly the magic the King and Queen used against us,”
“Hold on!” cried Solar, holding up her hoof. It narrowly missed thwacking Frost in the face. “Magic? King and Queen? There was nothing in the history books of the going-ons that night. Were you there? Do you know the right magic?”
“Well… sort of.” Replied Nix, shrinking back.
“Don’t completely bomb her with questions, Solar.” Scolded Lunar. “But Nix, do you?”
“What does it say in the books?” asked Nix.
“It says that nopony knows what happened exactly, because the King and Queen didn’t say it, or maybe the historians don’t know. And in the foal’s storybook it just says that they blasted magic at Latinix and they were locked away in a ‘faraway place’.” Replied Aqua.
“Oh no, much more went on. The King and Queen used a strange kind of magic… and it could have something to do with out weakness,” started Nix.
“Hold on, hold on!” yelled Solar, now going ballistic with her eager questions. “Weakness? What’s that?”
“Well… our weakness is flames.” Replied Nix in a small voice, as Solar got very close. “I don’t like your hair.” She added in a flat tone.
Solar narrowed her eyes before Aqua butted in.
“Flames? Oh my gosh, girls! I can’t believe we didn’t think of that before!” said Aqua with a face-hoof.
I grinned. It was all coming together! Now that we had a single Hiem on our side, we knew strengths, magic and their weakness, fire. That was something so valuable…
“However.” Said Nix. “Nopony can make a fire big enough to destroy all Hiems. You’ll need a different source.”
There was silence in the room for quite a while as everypony thought.
“I’ve got it.” All eyes on Aqua.
“Princess Flare.”

* * *
“Go! Go! Go!” yelled Solar the moment I fell out of Lunar’s teleportation flames into the snow.
It was a few seconds before I noticed that the rain and snow was coming down at immense speeds, and that I needed to move. I tripped and staggered through the snow, trying to follow the others. Frost Bite bumped into me and we began to run together.
In a moment we were onto the road, and a few of it had been cleared. The snow had coated most of it, so it was barely recognisable.
We came swiftly to the castle gates, and Aqua leapt up onto the bars.
“Help! Please! Let us in!” she hollered. A guard came to the gate.
“Why should we? We’re not letting citizens enter in case of over-crowding,” he started.
“I’m Sparkle Flame’s student! Sir. Golden Bolt’s fiancé. Let us in!” she retaliated. The guard nodded quickly and opened the gates, causing snow the billow in. Despite the gates being barred and snow could easily get in, they were part of the force-field.
We all stumbled into the castle walls after Aqua and the guards shut the gates.
“Please, we need to get to the Queen. We have a way of stopping this.” Said Aqua calmly and firmly.
“OK. I’ll open the doors.” Replied the guard gruffly. He led us over to the doors and opened them, as the other guards stood dead-still. Lunar quickly thanked them and we all galloped in.
“Quick, to the throne room!” said Aqua, charging off through the entrance hall. We opened a couple of doors and suddenly arrived in the stunning room. I gaped at the scenery.
I looked across and saw the marble platform on which the six thrones stood. But Aka and Whirlwind weren’t there. On Aka’s throne was Celestia, having an urgent discussion with Apis.
We cautiously approached, just as Apis nodded and began to leave. He spotted us and turned around. “Princess! You have some visitors.” He said to Celestia. As he went to leave he smiled warmly at us.
“Oh, hello there ladies. Can I help you with something?” asked Celestia. I noticed the dark bags beneath her beautiful eyes.
“Yes, your Highness.” Replied Aqua, bowing. We all followed, leaning down on our knees. “Would you know the whereabouts of Princess Wildfire? We need to find Flare.”
At that comment Celestia’s eyes widened. She looked a bit sick. “I… I have bad news.” She replied.
I held my breath. If a royal had bad news, it was bad news.
“You see… The Hiems have kidnapped the Princesses.” She replied. I gasped.
“What?” I exclaimed, jaw dropping to the floor.
“The Princesses? They kidnapped them?” cried Aqua. Lunar whimpered.
“Yes. I am so sorry… and Flare, she went with King Whirlwind to try and rescue them.” Said Celestia, shaking her head.
“No, no, no, no, no….” muttered Aqua. Rainbow put a hoof over her back. “This is dreadful! We need them! It’s the very thing that can save the Empire!”
“Save the Empire? Do you fillies have information?” asked Celestia, narrowing her eyes in curiosity.
“Yes, your highness. May we please speak to Queen Aka?” asked Solar.
“Yes, she’s in her room.” Replied Celestia, nodding. Lunar gestured for everypony to gather around, and we each touched the alicorn’s back. All of a sudden there was a flash of dark flames, and I was sucked swiftly once again into her teleportation tube.
Within a few seconds I was thrown out, landing with a hard thump on the floor outside Aka’s bedroom. Oh my Aka… the Queen’s room…
When we were all standing steadily on our hooves, Flash knocked on the beautiful door before us. After a few seconds it opened.
“Miss Aqua?” asked the Queen.
“Your majesty! Um, may we please enter? We have some information that could be useful.” Said Aqua.
“Oh, um, I don’t have anything better to do. Come in fillies.” She replied wearily, opening the door wider and allowing all eight of us to come into the room. We gathered in the middle and Aka stood before us. “So, what is it?”
“Well, you see, we recently captured our own Hiem. Using a variety of spells and enchantments, she has been turned into one of our own, and agreed to share information. We now know the ultimate weakness of Hiems.” Said Aqua formally.
“You… captured one? A group of young mares like you girls caught one of that horrendous creatures?” asked Aka. “That’s impressive. Do you have the information here?”
“Yes, your highness!” piped up Emerald, levitating over her paper which she had, amazingly, carried with her the whole way.
Aka took the paper and began to read the scribbly notes Emerald had made. And, knowing her, she had probably provided illustrations as well.
In a few moments she finished. “Well… that’s interesting. No wonder the damage has been done…” sighed the Queen. “But, flames?”
“Yes.” I said. “That’s why we came here; we thought that Flare could help us.”
“Princess Flare? Oh, yes, she’s gone with Whirlwind.” She replied. I began to wonder why she was hiding in her room like that. Celestia was on her throne. I though she must be so upset… all she had now was Storm Cloud, I guessed. “Would you be able to… bring the Hiem to me please? I may need to speak to her myself.” Asked Aka.
“Um, well, of course!” replied Aqua, surprised.
“Here, I’ll give you an enchantment allowing you to teleported in and out of the palace force-field. Bring her straight to me.”

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Dragon Stone's point of view. She belongs to Eeveeprincess01!
Karisha is actually my second oldest charrie. EVER. Before I'd even heard of MLP FIM. So, technically she's the oldest character of the Jewel Empire. Also, Ofelia is ~Ofelia~'s 'sona.

I marched down the track surrounded by trees, making my way over to the training grounds. The place was also surrounded by Aka’s magic shield, so I was able to access my work.
Training dragons for war.
My talent was having the ability to communicate and tame the creatures, so it was easy. They didn’t even need to be tied down; I just told them to wait. And they knew what they were fighting for. They knew their Empire was in danger, something they instinctively had to protect. Sure, anypony could talk to a dragon, but I could understand them.
A guard standing by the silver gates opened them with his magic, and I stomped right by without recognising him. Beneath my hooves I felt the turned-up soil, and soon heard my dragons screeching and roaring. One of them approached me.
“Hi. Ready for more training?” I asked him. His eye was about the size of my head, but looking in deeply I saw the softness. He shut it and nodded.
“Stone, we have a new dragon on our team. She arrived last night.” Growled one from behind. I narrowed my eyes.
“Who?” I asked.
I heard some grunting and shuffling, as a small dragon was pushed forward from the group. She seemed timid and shy. And she was very little for a dragon.
“Who are you?” I asked gruffly.
“K… Karisha.” She mumbled. She was blue with darker spines and horns, with yellow eyes, no wings, and a strange flipper-like thing on the end of her tail instead of a spike. Around her neck dangled an emerald.
“Hey Karisha. Welcome to our team. Are you ready for training?” I asked. She made a squeaking sound, making the huge dragon behind her smirk. “SHUT UP!” I yelled at him.
All the dragons looked up from their lazy slumber at my outburst. But they completely respected me, no doubt. “Dragons, form a line in front of me, NOW!” I yelled, flying upwards.
I heard growls and grumbles as they began to gather, making a long line before me that stretched from one wall to the other. The largest dragon had eyes the size of my entire body, the smallest was the height of a dog. I had so many different varieties; perfect for battle. And I knew battle was soon. I could feel it.

* * *
I was getting to the last few dragons displaying their best abilities. They had some amazing strengths, and I was stunned that such creatures had those powers. One of them could create bolts of lightning from certain wing-beats; and, surprise, his name was Lightning. Another had powers of ice and snow, which I thought could bounce back the power of the creatures threatening the Empire. It was going perfect.
“OK, it’s your,” I started.
“Dragon Stone!” I heard a voice yell. I turned to the gate and saw a pony standing there, and behind him two guards held a small white dragon on chains. She was throwing her head around, screeching.
“Hey, hey!” I yelled. “Don’t be rough! You’re stressing her out!” I galloped over to the gate which opened, and the guards led the dragon through.
“Sorry, but I though you needed dragons for your crew!” retaliated the stallion before me.
“You’re not supposed to just capture them like this! They come for themselves.” I huffed. I swiped my hoof angrily but he dodged my blow.
I snorted at the guards with the chains and they fearfully released. The dragon shrunk back. She was the same size as Karisha. She had white scales, red spines, blue horns, a large scar on her shoulder, and a diamond strung around her neck.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Ofelia.” She mumbled.
“Do you wanna join the squad? I’m sorry these ponies dragged you over.” At those words I peered past Ofelia at the guards standing there, and meeting my yellow eyes their pupils dilated.
“Well… I guess so. My home’s already been destroyed sooo… why not?” she replied nervously.
“Well then, welcome aboard! I won’t be doing any more training just now, so get settled. I’m heading back to the palace.” I replied. I nodded to the stallions and followed them out.
As the gates shut behind us one of them tried to speak.
“Shut up.” Is all I said when he tried to open his mouth. He huffed.
We soon arrived at the doors and I entered. When I was out of sight of the others I dashed away as quick as possible, charging off to the soldiers’ quarters. I was staying with the higher-ranked ones, being the only dragon trainer.
I arrived swiftly at the door and went into the stone hallway. Lining it were doors, where all the rooms were. When I was at the end I entered a room, bigger than the others. There were beds around, lit by the torchlight. It wasn’t bad, the only sucky thing about it was no windows.
I noticed that somepony was laying face-down on his pillow snoring.
“Hey lazy!” I yelled at Arrow, making him snort and awaken. He soon caught sight of me.
“Oh, hey Stone.” He groaned, standing up and stretching.
“Why aren’t you training? Shouldn’t you be helping that… Onyx guy with the archers?” I asked.
“It’s his shift. I was up all night anyway with them, give me a break.” He muttered. “They’re going pretty good though; I just hope arrows will be enough to take down those things….” He rubbed his forehead with his hoof.
“Yeah. My dragons are really awesome. They all have different powers.” I said.
“Cool. Well, we’ve recently come up with a theory that somepony could have special magic that could enchant the arrows. A certain spell that could… completely destroy our enemies in a single shot. If we had that then… archery could be a huge part of this war.” Added Arrow, somewhat proud.
There was silence for a minute before he spoke again. “Well, I should probably… check on Onyx and the others.” he said awkwardly. He began to go to the door. He reached up and put his hoof on my shoulder briefly. “Good luck with your dragons.” Then he left.
I stood there for a number of moments. I didn’t quiet know what was going though my head, so I shook it and went to my notebook.
I didn’t really know how to read or write at all, so my daily information and progress with my team was through scribbly sketches. I picked up a pencil in my mouth, opened the book out on my mattress, and began to draw.
In a few long minutes I was done, and I left everything out as I went to dinner. I trotted briskly up the hall, out the door, down some corridors, and towards the soldiers’ dining area. I walked into the big room where many ponies sat around long tables eating their tea. Food was in short supply now. The ponies out in the Empire found it hard to farm, and just as hard to get what little food they had out to the public. And the palace needed immense amounts of food as the Queen took in more and more soldiers.
I sat down where a plate sat before me. I began wildly grabbing anything I could and throwing it down. Barely any of the food I actually knew the name of, but I didn’t care. Real food was quite nice.
I glanced out the window. Past the big force-field I saw the storm crash and whirl. The snow was becoming unbearable. The real war needed to start soon, or the Empire would die. And I couldn’t let that happen to my friends.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Prince Storm Cloud's point of view. Finally, more action.

I stood at the entrance of the huge cave we were using as an army base. Inside a few of the Empire’s army stood, awaiting the arrival of the Equestrian Army. Their trip was delayed, because Latinix spotted the opening we were going to get them through. So we were doing it the more risky way; teleportation.
Princess Twilight in Equestria was sending them in, and in the cave with me was Princess Celestia.
I heard hoof-steps a moment later and the Princess herself walked up to my side. “They’ll be here soon, Storm.” She said gently.
I nodded. Outside, stretching about 25 metres in each direction, was a bright yellow force-field, held up strongly by Celestia’s powerful magic. Her horn was constantly surrounded by a sunny aura, keeping it up. Ponies were able to teleport through the force-field, but it was impossible for the Hiems.
All of a sudden there was a crack, and I gasped to see the first lot had arrived. Six stallions, attired in golden armour, ran up the to cave and bowed quickly before us. Then they went inside as the next six arrived.
Group by group the soldiers teleported into the cave, unicorns helping the Earth ponies and Pegasi. The place got crowded; we had the next part of our army.
“Welcome, my good ponies of Equestria!” cried Celestia, raising her wings. “You’ve finally made it into the Empire, where you will all prepare for battle against the force threatening this kingdom. You may not know this, but the creatures are strong, fearful, powerful and almost indestructible. It will take many hooves, wings and horns to take them down, which is why you’re here. You’re all serving the Empire and Equestria.”
There was some muttering amongst them.
“The true battle will start in about a week. Until then you will train here.” I said. “Dismissed.” The soldiers then broke from their group to go and look at the cave more, and Celestia walked down her tunnel.
I was left standing in the middle of the cave, watching the storm rage past out protective bubble. The poor Empire. Defeat would be near impossible…
All of a sudden I heard a huge bang. I gasped and looked up at the top of the force-field. BANG! The stone shook under my hooves. There were some yells behind me and two soldiers ran out to see as well. We peered up more intently.
There, on the top of the translucent bubble was a massive jet of electricity. Lightning. It pierced down from the clouds continuously, zapping fiercely at the field.
“Celestia! CELESTIA!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.
There were galloping hooves as she ran up beside me. “What?” she asked in distress.
“Something’s breaking in!” I yelled.
“Oh no… They’re coming! The Hiems are coming!” she screamed over her shoulder. I watched the lightning as it kept shooting down… if it broke the force-field the storm would come in and the lightning would kill us in an instant!
“EVERYPONY GET OUT! EVACUATE!” I hollered. Luckily barely any soldiers were far enough to not hear, and in a moment they all came charging out. “Everypony, you need to get out. The Hiems are coming!”
Without hesitation, all the ponies in the room began to panic, running around to find somepony who could perform teleportation. In seconds flames began to erupt everywhere, flashes of light blinding me. I glanced behind me and saw a massive crack beginning to form…
I saw Celestia wince, squeezing her eyes shut. She needed to keep the magic going, but it was hurting her…
“Celestia, get out of here!” I yelled, lighting up my horn to take over.
“No, Storm! You won’t be able to!” she strained. “And we need to stay to supervise the evacuation…” She yelled out and her horn flashed. Panicking, I saw that only a few soldiers were left… we needed to escape.
“Come on, nearly there…” I muttered. My hooves began to impatiently stomp up and down, as I nervously watching the lightning destroy the shield.
“NO!” screamed Celestia, her front legs giving way. She was straining so hard… but her magic wasn’t enough!
Sparks flew out the end, the magic was seeping towards the tip. Outside, the crack was spreading over the sky… It was too much!
“Celestia! Get out! NOW!” I screamed, as the last light flash vanished. A few tiny sparks came out, when there was a crash.
The sound pierced through my ears, and I couldn’t think. I felt the noise fly through me, hitting my body and throwing me back. All I could see in my eyes was white light, and all I could do was reach out. My hoof found the Princess’s warm body, and my horn lit up in green flames.

* * *
Seconds later I found myself thrown upon the hard marble floor of the throne room. I gasped in my breaths shakily, the shock ringing through my ears. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t feel. Celestia and I had been nearly struck by lightning.
I gasped and lifted my head. All of a sudden a strike of pain flew up my body. I yelled and glanced down. My side was cut, blood seeping out. I’d be struck by a rock. I looked across the room, but could barely see the other side. My head was spinning.
I shook it. Wait, where was Celestia?
I looked wildly around, looking for her. She wasn’t in front of me. Painfully, I turned my head and saw her. Sprawled across the marble, her flowing hair swirling across the floor.
“Celestia…” I groaned, trying to move. When I moved about an inch my head began to throb and I fell back down.
For many minutes I lay there, letting the blood escape from my gash. Air entered and left my body slowly, and I tried to stay conscious…
All of a sudden I heard running hoof-steps and a door bang open.
“Storm! Celestia!” cried a voice. A musical, female voice.
I drew in a weak breath and opened my eyes to a tiny crack. Standing over me was a purple unicorn with long blue and pink hair.
“G… Gamila…” I moaned.
“Storm Cloud! Oh no… Celestia?” she panicked. “Aka! AKA! Quickly! Help!”
“Lady Gamila?” called another voice. The door flew open and my mother galloped in, joining Gamila. “Oh no!”
“Quickly, we must get them hospital!” said Gamila. She collapsed down next to me and nudged my face with her nose. She was warm against my cheek, and I felt her soft breath…
“Storm…” she whispered.
“Gamila, go and fetch the doctor, now. They need care.” Said Aka, getting up from having a look at Celestia.
“Yes, your highness.” Said Gamila, who then galloped from the room. A moment later Aka got down beside me.
“Storm… Storm, are you OK?” she whispered, and I could feel her voice shake.
“Mother… the Equestrian soldiers…” I moaned, trying to open my eyes wider.
“Are they here?” she asked.
“I don’t know… They can’t get through the force-field here, just Celestia and I…”
“Oh no… but you need care. Tell me what happened later, Gamila will be back in a second.” She said soothingly. The corner of my mouth twitched into a tiny smile.
In a few minutes the door was opened and Gamila dashed through. Following her closely were three doctors.
“Oh, thank goodness.” Sighed Aka. “Storm and Celestia need urgent care, get them to hospital now.”
“Yes, your highness.” Replied one of the doctors. I couldn’t even lift my head to see them, I was way too weak. I just felt my body get lifted up in magic and placed on a stretcher. I winced as my cut was put under pressure by my body.
The stretcher was picked up in magic and carted quickly off to the palace hospital wing. I was in so much shock and pain, but I was worrying frantically if Celestia was OK. I guessed I wouldn’t know until later.

* * *
They hadn’t put me on any medication, but I found I’d fallen into unconsciousness while in the hospital. It was easy for them to heal my ringing headache and sliced side, but sleep was the best thing for me.
I slowly awoke, and experienced no pain. For a moment I stared at the white hospital ceiling, then looked over to my side.
Covered by a white sheet, a figure lay in the bed. A heard a small beeping sound, and noticed that Celestia was hooked onto a large machine. Her wing was strung up, and I didn’t know what injuries she had beneath the covers.
“Storm Cloud!” I heard a voice cry. I looked over and saw Gamila rush to my bedside. “You’re awake! Are you OK?” she asked.
“Yes, now I am.” I replied with a tiny smile, sliding up to sit against my pillow. “What happened to Princess Celestia?”
“The doctor said he knows that it was magic-related, but he has no idea what went on. He needs to ask you so he can diagnose the problem.” She replied. “Doctor!”
“Yes?” a unicorn stallion walked slowly over to us. “Ah, Prince Storm, you’re awake.” He said with a short smile.
“Did you need to ask me something?” I said.
“Yes, what happened back at the Equestrian Army Camp?” asked the doctor.
“Well, Celestia was using her magic to hold up a shield over our cave… we’d got the soldiers in where suddenly there was a massive bolt of lighting, continuous, like it was created by magic.” I said. “Probably from a Hiem. She was trying to hold her force-field up, but the bolt was too strong. The one she was using wasn’t as good at the Palace’s, and it broke… I barely remember anything after the big crash.”
“Hmm… the crash was definitely the lightning then.” Said the doctor, reading back through his notes. “Ah ha. I think that because her magic was connected to the shield, and the lightning broke the shield, the force went through the current and into her horn. That would’ve caused death in an average pony, but she is more than 1000 years old, an alicorn. She’s extremely lucky to be alive. All other injuries were probably caused afterwards, maybe before and during teleportation.”
I thought about his words. Wow, she was lucky. Poor Celestia. “Doctor, can you get Princess Luna? She probably needs to see her sister.”
“Oh course, Prince.” He replied, before speaking to a nurse.
“Does your head hurt?” asked Gamila gently, placing her small hoof on my forehead.
“Um, not any more.” I replied, my facing becoming hot.
“OK. I’ll go and get you a drink.” She said, rising up. She then left the room and I lay in bed, staring at the wall again.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Princess Flare's point of view.

Tenebris, Maera and I stepped out the gates and onto the path near the Staria Palace walls.
“King Whirlwind, Stellar and I wish you and your companions good luck on your journey.” Said Prince Star Beam, as Whirlwind followed us out.
“Thank you so much your highnesses for letting us stay. This map and compass will be helpful.” He replied, levitating both items out in front of him.
“And as I said, that compass has more meaning to it. Stellar and I have not looked at it greatly, but we trust that you will discover more about it and any powers it possesses” Smiled Star. He brushed his hoof over the device.
“Well, we should be off. We need to get to Death Points as quickly as possible you three, we have Princesses to save!” he turned to us. I puffed out my chest bravely. Tenebris smiled awkwardly, and as usual, Maera didn’t say anything.
“Tenebris, you’ll need to use a flying spell.” I said.
“Oh, yeah.” He said. Lighting up his horn with swirling black and blue, ribbons of shining shadows twirled down and began to entwine around the colt’s legs. They then lifted him gently off the ground.
“Perfect! Thank you again.” Said Whirlwind, kissing Stellar’s hoof gently. “And I wish you best of luck with the birth of your foal.” And with that, the King spread his wings. I nodded and lifted mine, and so did Maera.
“Bye!” I said, as I flapped my wings. We all then took off into the morning sky.
I felt the breeze on my face as I hadn’t in a few days. A smile crept across my face as I swooped ever higher, soon soaring above the others.
All our sets of armour glinted in the sun. Yes, Maera and Tenebris were presented a set of armour each from the Staria royals, and their style was very different from the Jewel Empire’s.
I then noticed that Maera was quietly making her way up beside me. She wasn’t a confident flyer, despite having larger wings than the average pony. She nervously looked at the ground way down below. We were up rather high.
“Hey Maera!” I said happily. She twitched her mouth into something that resembled a smile.
“Hello.” Is all she said.
“Come on, cheer up!” I said.
“I am happy.” She replied in a flat tone. I narrowed my eyes, beating my wings.
“Is Whirlwind taking your jewel off you helping?”
“A bit. I’m just worried that you won’t be happy, because I’m not taking your sadness.” She replied. I stared at her for a moment.
“Maera… being deprived of sadness isn’t the only source of happiness.” I said with a nervous giggle. She glanced at me in suspicion.
“How do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean that there are so many other ways in the world that you can gain joy. Having no sadness mean that… you have no sadness. It doesn’t make you… happy as such.” I replied. “It means that you don’t need a jewel around your neck to bring happiness to Tenebris, Whirlwind and I. But something that will make us happy is seeing you smile.”
“Um… really?” she asked. “Are you sure you’re really happy without me taking your sadness?” she sounded genuinely confused and curious.
I giggled. “Yes. And if you smile just once like you did that first time at your cottage, I would smile too.” I said warmly.
Maera gulped and shut her eyes. She seemed to be concentrating. Then she opened them, turned her face towards mine, and lifted the corners of her mouth. It spread into a small, but warm smile, that made my heart lift.
“Maera, that’s it! That makes me happy. That brings warmth!” I replied, putting my hoof around her shoulder as we both continued to fly.
“R… Really?” she stuttered. I nodded.
I broke away and beat my wings. For many minutes the two of us flew in silence, letting the breeze hit our bodies. I flew slightly ahead, and looked behind me.
Her hooves.
I noticed that on the tips of each hoof was faded white, cutting at the grey. Was that there before? I didn’t think so…

* * *
On hour passed, and soon the four of us were flying over a few more small kingdoms. All the while, Whirlwind had been madly trying to figure out any secrets about the Staria compass. Tenebris was looking at the map, studying all the surrounding kingdoms.
I rolled over onto my back mid-flight, and stared at the sky above. It was still morning. We weren’t going far at all. Boredom came easily for me…
“Whirllllll-wind I’m bored.” I moaned, flying backwards upside-down towards him. He was still flipping the compass around and around. “Why won’t you give up on that thing?”
“Because Star Beam said there was more to it… but it doesn’t do any tricks.” He replied grumpily, sounding like a six-year-old colt.
I rolled my eyes. “It’ll probably do something at the right time. You’re the King; if it was going to do anything you would’ve figured it out by now.” I said.
“I suppose… but even my daughter is better at magic than me.” He replied, stuffing the compass back into his saddle-bag.
“Yes, but Sparkle’s talent IS magic. You can’t exactly beat that, can you?” I said rhetorically.
“Mm.” he said. I flew off.
I went over to Tenebris who was still reading the map, eyes narrowed. I flew silently beside him, when suddenly he spotted me.
“Oh my goodness!” he gasped.
“Hi Tenebris!” I giggled. He smiled, shaking his head.
“Hello Flare.” He said.
“Do you know where we are?” I asked.
“Sort of. We’re flying South-East; I asked Whirlwind, so we’re heading towards Death Points for sure. It’s ages away though.” He replied. “I know we’re out of Staria… and I’m pretty sure we’re flying precisely over the border between something called… Opal Kingdom? Pretty sure I read that right. And something starting with ‘V’ that I can’t get.”
I gasped. Volglacia! I went pale and snatched the map from Tenebris.
“Ha, ha… probably just some random state that doesn’t matter…” I said nervously.
“Oh, but it’s bigger than the other one. Maybe we could land there for a while…” offered Tenebris shyly.
“No, no. It’s… um… hey, it’s coloured brown. That one’s green so it must be… greener?” I said with a tiny, stressed giggle.
“Ok, well, if you say so…” he said. “I’ll go give the map back to Whirlwind.” He added with a smile, grabbing the map and flying back to the King.
Volglacia… no, we couldn’t land there. I spent enough time in that hell to go back… and we couldn’t risk landing in the capital where the Queen lived. The Queen of Poison… my mother… she abandoned me at the age Tenebris lost Venetia, expecting me to die. I didn’t, and then discovered my true power.
I was a Fire Alicorn.
I hadn’t told a single pony about it, ever, but I knew for certain there was another pony out there that carried the same destiny as I… I just didn’t know who.

* * *
My wings were getting terribly worn out, and so were Maera’s, by the time the sky began to darken. I was panting, trying to go further. Tenebris was almost asleep, his head tired from the magic.
“Whirlwind, can we rest now? It’s getting dark…” I moaned. He glanced over his shoulder. He was flying with ease, large wings pushing him gently through the air.
“Oh… OK. Come on, let’s see where we are now.” He said. I sighed with relief as he swooped downwards, and I followed. Maera darted down as well, and Tenebris broke away from his dose.
Swiftly and quietly, we all went to the ground like owls. Beneath us was hilly forest; perfect to stay the night.
We alighted upon the leaf-littered ground. Surrounding us were tall trees and shrubs, but the forest wasn’t that thick and eerie like the place Tenebris came from. Whirlwind immediately began to walk, and I was happy to stretch my legs. My wings just flopped down, too tired to even fold up.
After a few minutes of walking, we emerged into a clearing. It was grassy and pleasant, with flowers and birds. In the centre was a massive tree, with a thick truck and low branches. The roots displayed a perfect sleeping place.
“Ah, perfect, don’t you think?” said Whirlwind in satisfaction. Before any of us could answer, Maera had fallen over in an exhausted pile in the roots.
“Yes, Whirlwind. Yes it is.” I said, shaking my head. I gently lay down not far from her, and Tenebris curled up too.
Within moments everypony was asleep. I was very tired, but somehow I just couldn’t get to sleep. I just needed something to do to get to sleep.
I silently stood and crept over to Whirlwind. His wing was awkwardly flopped down, providing easy access to his saddle bag. Using my magic I opened it and found the compass. Maybe I could figure out the secret.
I levitated out and brought it back over to my sleeping place. I lit up the tip of my horn as well as lifting the compass, and I began to turn it over and over.
The points and writing on the inside of the compass were magnificent, with stunning patterns. The centre was an extremely detailed picture of a sun and moon, and the edges of the points were carved with swirls and markings. It really was a valuable family heirloom of Star Beam and Stellar.
I looked at the inside of the lid. A sun and moon and stars were pictured on it.
Then I looked closer. Around the edges were tiny patterns of swirls and moons. But up the top by the latch was different.
What I thought was a swirl was something more.
Writing.
Squinting my eyes and holding the compass very close to my face, I read it in a whisper. “duco quae in manifesto in lumine et audacibus viam quaerere.” I whispered. A few seconds passed. “Well what in the same of freaking Celestia does that mean??” I exclaimed. I gasped and glanced around, worried I’d woken the others. But they slept soundly.
It was another language. Oh, damn. And knowing things like that, a riddle in another language. I huffed and put the compass down, rubbing my forehead with my hoof. That would be perfect to get me to sleep. I levitated the compass back over to Whirlwind, peering over Maera to reach him. I slipped it back, then put my head down for sleep.

Edit: the riddle is getting a bit annoying guys, google translate hates me. I translate it from English to (mystery language) and then back, but it's not the same backwards... please give up translating it yourselves, it will be revelaed (properely) later.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Lady Gamila's point of view.

“Are you sure you will be OK?” I asked Storm, as he removed the bed-sheet from over him.
“Yes, Gamila, I’ll be fine.” He replied, stepped slowly out. I backed up as he stood on all four hooves, slightly wobbly. He pressed his hoof onto his forehead and swayed. I ran up and stood close to him for support in case he fell. “I’m OK, Gamila, don’t worry.” He chuckled, putting his hoof over mine.
“Alright… do you need something to eat? A drink? Would you like me to walk you back to your room,” I started, nervously jabbering.
“No, no! My head’s fine, my injuries have been healed. You don’t need to bother.” He said with a warm smile.
“I still want to. We can go back to your room and,” I trailed off. All of a sudden I gasped. “Oh, oh! We can do more magic lessons! Storm, can we?” I squealed.
“Umm…” he started.
“Oh, sorry, your magic won’t be strong after your injury. Don’t worry.” I said, blushing at my stupidity.
“No, it’s fine! We can go now, if you like.” He said, blushing as well. He wasn’t stupid… why was he blushing? I giggled. He was probably tired. Storm began to walk to the door and I happily followed.
We walked up the corridor, silently going up towards the hall where the royals’ bedrooms were. It seemed like no time before we arrived at the large door showing a beautiful picture of a cloud and swirls. Storm opened the door for me and I entered.
In the corner the table and chairs were still set up from the last time he was teaching me, because Storm was cut off halfway through to help Celestia with the Equestrian soldiers. I squeaked and ran to sit down at my designated chair, as my ‘tutor’ sat opposite.
“OK, what were you up to learning?” he asked.
“Oh, umm… jet spells. Breaking stuff.” I giggled.
“Yes! OK then, this will be a bit dangerous… hold on.” He said. He lit up his horn and concentrated, before suddenly a small china vase appeared before our eyes. Storm smiled in satisfaction and walked across the room. He drew out an empty pedestal and placed the vase on top. “Break that.” He said.
I got up and went to the opposite side of the room. Storm leapt onto his bed out of the way to watch, as I began to light my horn.
I focused my mind and didn’t think of anything else. I felt the power rise up into my head, making my horn spark. Gritting my teeth I felt everything inside me come out…
All of a sudden there was a flash of pink light, a yell from Storm, and I was thrown backwards. Then I heard a big smashing noise.
“D…Did I get the vase?” I asked nervously, looking up.
“Yep. And everything else.” Replied Storm flatly. I went pale as I saw the pedestal lying on the floor, smashed into a million pieces. Stone lay all over the place, mixed with the china of the vase that came down too. Behind the ruins a table had lost a leg, and its contents were spread all over the carpet.
“Oops.”

* * *
“Thank you so much Storm for that!” I said.
“No problem! I love giving you lessons.” Storm replied.
“Even if during that session I smashed most of your belongings…” I mumbled, blushing.
“Hey, it’s OK. You’ve gotten better, which is all that matters.” He said with a smile. “You should get back to your room, Askari will be wondering where you are.”
“OK. Well, I’ll see you… tomorrow?” I said.
“Yep, Mother will not let me out of the Palace any time soon.” He said, rolling his eyes.
“All right, thanks!” I said, giving him a huge around his neck. As I went to leave, I gave his cheek the tiniest kiss, before taking off down the corridor.
In minutes I was at the bottom of the tower steps, and I charged up them. Opening the door I stepped into my father’s and my suite, where I found him removing his armour.
“Hello Father!” I said, giving him a hug.
“Oh, hello Gamila!” he exclaimed, kissing my forehead. “How is Prince Storm Cloud?”
“He’s fine now! He gave me more magic lessons. I’m getting better!” I said happily.
“Really? Well done! Your mother will be proud when we return to Saddle Arabia.” He said.
“Which we’re not doing soon, right?”
“Well, we’d hope we can, meaning we hope the Empire wins the war. But… you don’t want to go home because you’re spending lots of time with that Prince…” he gave me a cheeky smile.
“Father! He is just my friend. He helps me with my magic, he’s really nice.” I retaliated, trying to stop my cheeks reddening. He’d definitely notice…
“Oh really, Gamila? You seem to be around him a lot.” He said walking just out of reach of where I could attack him. I just snorted instead, knowing by now the blush was definitely all over my face.
“Hey, I’m just teasing. Let’s get ready for dinner; the royal dressmaker Candy gave you a new dinner dress earlier.” he said.
“Oh, really?” I said, brushing away his teasing.
“Yes, look over on your bed.” He replied.
“We’re not going really fancy though… I mean Celestia was recently involved in a bad accident and it’s not the lightest of times.” I said, looking at my bed. Askari was right. Laying on it was a lovely little dress, twinkling gently with tiny gems. I squealed and grabbed it in my magic. I’d recently mastered levitation thanks to Storm.
I got into the dress and went to a mirror. Wow, I thought, it looked gorgeous! The tight top bit was covered in little sapphires and amethysts. The pink skirt was very short and went to the bend in my hind legs. On the front on my chest was a large aquamarine that glimmered gorgeously.
“Like it? Come on.” Said my father, opening the door for me. I smiled and walked out and down the steps. In silence, we walked toward the large dining hall.
When we arrived, a maid rushed up to us. “Oh, Sir Askari, Lady Gamila. The others are dining in the hospital wing as Celestia’s bedside. A table has been set.” She said nervously, gesturing his hoof in the direction of the hospital.
“Oh, thank you. Come, Gamila.” Said my father, smiling to the maid.
As we made our way to the hospital ward, Askari spoke again. “So, Gamila, are you sure you don’t like Storm Cloud? I’ve seen the two of you.” He said. I whipped my head around and glared at him.
“No! I don’t like him. Just as a friend. He probably doesn’t like me anyway; I’m just a foreign daughter of a knight. He’s a Prince by birth, and full pony. I’m half unicorn, a stupid half-breed from an ancient, olden-day country.” I replied in disgust.
“Oh Gammi. Don’t be like that! You’re a very eligible young mare, and extremely beautiful I will add, my dear. Your uniqueness is so amazing, how you’re part Arabian Horse.” He said warmly. “And how dare you insult Saddle Arabia!” he added, playfully mocking a disgusted tone. I giggled.
“No, I’m not. Hold on, when have you seen us together? You don’t watch my lessons!” I said.
“No, but you’ve sat together multiple times at meals, and I’ve seen the way you bid him goodbye as he goes to work with the soldiers.” He said, nudging me with his nose.
“Pfft.” I said.
“I’ll be quiet now. Look, we’re here!”
We arrived at the hospital wing where we walked inside. I immediately spotted Celestia’s bed, half-surrounded by a curtain. In a room just next to it, barely separated, was a large table seating all the royals. As usual, nopony was drinking, singing, celebrating or happily socialising, but planning battle and sorting out the dreadful happenings within the Empire.
I then saw Princess Luna. She was standing silently over Celestia, head bowed across her sister’s body. She looked pale and worn out, her cheeks deeply stained by tears. The doctors said the Sun Princess was going to pull through, but it was a tough time for Luna. She clearly hadn’t been without her sister for so long, and it wouldn’t be easy doing so after her being sent to the moon for 1000 years.
I glanced to the side as Askari went down to sit beside Ameer and Sabwa, then walked quietly over to Luna.
“Hello Princess.” I said in a hushed voice. She lifted her head with a jumpy start.
“Oh, greetings Lady Gamila. We’re sorry for being like this… We will come and sit down now.” She said in a weary voice.
“No, no. It’s OK. I was just wondering how you were feeling.” I replied.
“We are… extremely saddened by the recent happenings. And we regret that we haven’t been doing our important duties.” Said Luna quietly.
“It’s alright. We don’t mind, and it’s very understandable. But your sister is going to be fine! You can come sit if you like, it’s OK.” I said with a warm smile, before going over to sit down again.
I drew up a chair by my father and looked at the food before me. It was getting blander and blander. Food was in such short supply, and the entire Empire was becoming a complete desert of snow. I’d seen it. Outside, the thick, hard snow was so deep, it stretched multiple metres over the roofs of the houses. Steeples and chimneys of houses scattered the city area below like trees. The only places of refuge were neighbouring countries and small, designated areas sheltered by force-fields…
I sighed and used my improving levitation skills to bring myself a piece of bread. I lifted it to my lips and held it there.
I tried to eat. But… I couldn’t. For a few minutes I waited, but the conversation of the others around me made me sick and uncomfortable. I shut my eyes and dropped the bread.
“Father? Can I please be excused?” I asked Askari.
“What for?” he asked in curiosity. I just gave him a look of pleading. “OK.” He replied. I smiled, kissed him on the cheek, and trotted from the room into the corridor.
As I walked down it away from the hospital, all I began to hear was silence. Pricking my ears I could faintly hear the raging storm outside.
I shook my head and continued to walk, up some stairs and around random halls. I didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t really care. I just wanted peace and quiet.
I wound my way up and spiral staircase and entered a circular room. It had a large balcony at the front, big windows, and a few sofas and tables. A lovely room to have a view over the Empire.
It wasn’t lovely though. It was awful. I walked to the balcony and opened the door, stepping outside. Stretching over the sky above me was the thick force-field, and beyond that the storm. Swirling, raging, thundering clouds bore down upon the earth. The snow and rain slid off our shield onto the ground, further cloaking the dying city. It was dreadful. I’d never seen anything like it back in Saddle Arabia…
I couldn’t even see Dusk’s gorgeous night sky. The sky that I was so happy to see, so much prettier than the one back home. Now it was gone. And I didn’t know how long it would stay.
All of a sudden I heard a click and a creak, and I turned to see the door opening.
“Ssh, Dawn, it’s OK…” whispered a voice. Into the room came Dusk and Dawn. “Gamila?” said Dusk as she spotted me. I noticed that Dawn was in tears.
“Hello ladies.” I said, walking back inside and shutting the door. “What’s wrong Dawn?” She just shook her head.
“She’s just… well, you know what’s been happening.” Sighed Dusk. “She doesn’t know what is going to be done about it, and she really misses Wildfire. Wild is the same age as her and they’re very good friends….”
“Oh, I’m so sorry Dawn.” I said, putting my hoof around her shoulders.
“I…. I can’t even see my lovely day any more… it’s so…. It’s just dark all the time. I don’t know… who’s going to stop them… we’re all going to die here!” gasped Dawn between sobs.
“Sssh… it’s alright sis.” Soothed Dusk. She bit her lip, holding back tears.
“I don’t know what’s going to be done either…” I whispered.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Queen Aka's point of view. It could change your view of Aka after this...

I sadly opened my bedroom door and silently stepped into the room. Looking around, I felt the emptiness. It was lonely lying down in an empty bed each night, not knowing where Whirlwind was or how he was going.
I missed him more than anything.
I sighed deeply and went to my mirror. My blue face was pale and my eyes had bags beneath them. For days I’d been desperately trying to organise everything that was going on, but I couldn’t. For some strange reason I was going around in circles, no matter how hard I tried…
I removed my tiara, shoes and necklace, leaving the Empire’s Jewel upon my forehead. I stared at my reflection for a while. The thing that stared back wasn’t me. She was just a sad, useless old alicorn that was only called Queen because she wore the Jewel. She was pathetic. She didn’t know how the overcome a deadly threat.
I growled viciously at myself I put my hoof over the mirror. Using my magic I pulled the Jewel off my forehead for the first time. Who was I? Was that really doing any good?
I placed the swirling, glowing gem on my dressing table, its silky ribbons lying feebly over the wooden surface.
With a heavy heart I made my way to my bed and lay down on the deep blue satin sheets. I pulled the thick duvet over my head and shut the lights off.

* * *
Inside my head, dreams formed. I felt my weightless body drift through space, finding its way to a spot to show me dark visions of horrible nightmares.
I let myself be pulled through. I opened my eyes. I was in an endless, starry, purple space, the white and blue glitter pouring down on me. It was… pretty. I liked it.
In a moment I stretched out my bare hooves and they found a place to land. I was standing on an invisible floor in the middle of the night sky. It was so peaceful.

Minutes passed, I didn’t know how many. It was a safe, quiet, beautiful haven inside my dreams now. I didn’t want to return to reality.
All of a sudden there was a voice.
“Aka, my beautiful daughter.” Said a musical voice. I gasped and whipped around. Standing before we was the most elegant, gorgeous, beautiful alicorn I’d ever seen. Well, that I hadn’t seen in nearly 200 years.
“Mother?” I said.
“Hello Queen Aka.” Smiled my mother, Fire Light.

“Mother, how…? What are you doing? Am I dead? What’s happening?” I stuttered.
“No, no, my sweet Princess.” She soothed. I narrowed my eyes. To her, I was still a Princess… “You’re not dead. You’re dreaming. It’s not quiet a vision, not quite a dream. I wanted to see you.”
“Well… why can’t you do this every night? Why haven’t I seen you in so long?” I asked wildly. Her flaming mane danced softly around her tall, sparkling body.
“Because I needed to speak to you now. It the worst of times.” She replied gravely.
“I know what’s wrong but… you can’t help! You’re… you know.” I sighed.
“Aka, I’m desperately worried. What’s happening to you?” she asked.
“Happening? I’m fine! Just tired.” I replied.
“You’re not just tired. Fatigue isn’t the only thing stopping you.” She pushed, coming closer to me. “Why are you fading like this, my dear Aka?”
“Fading? I’m not fading! I’m a good Queen…” Inside I knew that wasn’t right.
“Oh, angel, I know you’re a good Queen! You’re amazing. You’ve ruled for a long time but… it’s not enough. You may be living strong, but your gracious talent for leading the Empire to victory is swiftly leaving you.” She said desperately.
“What?” I asked in shock. She sighed and began to walk through the empty space. I followed.
“I remember when you were as young as I know Sparkle Flame is now. I remember when you first met that gorgeous Skyrithian Prince, Whirlwind. I knew from the first time he stayed at the palace you two were going to be amazing together. Then you married. Together, you would create a force stronger than mine, for I ruled alone. I felt like you and your husband would hold the Empire in your hooves boldly, both absorbing the power of the Jewel.” She said courageously. “I was right. For those few years I watched you become a loved, respected, beautiful Queen. Adored by the entire Empire, and I became the proudest mother in the world. I did not regret at all my retirement from the throne.”
“Regret? Does that mean you regret now?” I asked, looking at my hooves.
“At the time of my accidental passing, I did not. I left this world with hope in my heart, completely knowing the things you would achieve for the rest of eternity. I hear you. I watch you. Day and night. The ways I feel you cannot be explained to somepony who lives on like you, but I know everything. That’s how I know your foals’ names. And that’s how I know how they were taken and what’s happening.” She said. I felt my eyes become hot and my heart lurch. I remembered vividly my mother’s death, how Whirlwind comforted me and how the Empire grieved over their previous Queen. Tears began to escape my eyes. I missed her…
“Your daughters have been taken away from you, and you did nothing to stop it. You ignored them as they tried to warn you about the coming danger, until it was too late. Your plans to help the Empire succeed in this desperate war are just revolving in endless circles, as our country is slowly destroyed. It breaks my heart to see this happen, and do nothing to stop it. I ruled along for nearly 300 years, working my hardest to bring this Empire to glory. And to see you do this… to see you ignore it…” she looked away from me.
My heart fell to the pit of my gut. Tears were now pouring from my eyes. The guilt sliced at me…
“What… I don’t know what…” I whispered.
“Those other royals are relying on you to guide them through it. Even Celestia and Luna, who are older than both you a me by a lot. Only you bare the Jewel of the Empire, only you have the most power. But you’ve forgotten how to harness that power.” She said, almost hissing.
“But mother I…”
“I know, deep beneath the surface, you know how to light that Jewel. Latinix does not. That’s why she didn’t steal it like Wildfire did, because she has no use for it. I don’t know how, but somehow she is aware that you don’t know either. Not any more.” She turned her whole body away and began to walk into the never-ending dream space.
I drew a very deep breath, trying to hold back the tears. Was she right? Was I forgetting how to run this Empire like I used to? Would there be a worthier Queen that I, a Queen with more ability to harness the Jewel’s power?
But I couldn’t step down from the throne. Not then. The Empire needed me. Whirlwind needed me. My daughters needed me.
“Mother. Thank you for telling me these things.” I said, not moving. Fire Light turned to look at me. “When I wake up, I promise not to let you down.”
“Are you sure? Do you know what you’re doing?” she asked.
“Yes, Fire Light. I am a full-grown alicorn Queen, and I am worthy of the throne and the Jewel. Now I know who’s counting on me.” I said, standing tall. “It… it can only be me that leads this Empire, I’m the only one who can power the Jewel.”
“Oh Aka…” sighed my mother, quickly approaching me. She stood face-face to me and her soft blue eyes looked into mine. “I’m… proud. I’m so proud of you. Now I can finally rest here knowing you will take this into your own hooves.”
“Yes, Mother, I will.” I smiled, more tears escaping. Fire Light reached out and drew me into her forehooves, grasping me in a warm hug. My tears slipped onto her shoulder. Was that the last time I’d see her? My mother, who I hadn’t seen in so many years…
“Now, Aka, when you wake I want you to remember this dream. When you open your eyes do not assume it was just your imagination. I have finally reached you, please remember it. Please take in my words, seize the Empire back.” Said Fire Light as we separated. “Take what is yours, and power the Jewel.”
Sudden her flaming mane began to swirl. I felt myself move and looked down at my hooves. She was floating away from me. I gasped and tried to gallop, but couldn’t. I was getting pulled through space, away from her.
“Mother! No!” I yelled, reaching out.
“Take it, Aka! Remember my words!” suddenly there was a flash and she vanished. I watched red and orange sparkles fly around, and sink slowly down into the void of my dreams. I began to breath fast, wet, hot tears falling down to nothing.
“Goodbye!” I yelled, sobbing.

* * *
I awoke with a start. I gasped and threw up my head. My cheeks were hot and red, and my heart was beating fast. I leapt up onto the floor. It was solid. Walls enclosed me. I felt the real air as I tried to calm my breathing. I brushed my front hoof up against the other. I was real. I was safe.
Sort of.
I remembered my dream. I could remember every word. I could feel my mother’s warm hug and hear her soft voice.
That was no ordinary dream.
That was a vision.
I needed to keep her words close to my heart.
And lead the Empire to victory.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from King Whirlwind's point of view. Sorry it took so long. (I also went overboard in the length....) Skyrithia and Princess Syrenix belong to ..:Shade:...

Deep, thick clouds and mist choked me and blocked my vision as the four of us swooped swiftly over some mountain ranges. The hills were blanketed in thick forest, and judging by the map we were on the edge of Opal Kingdom.
I shivered and pushed on, feeling the clouds dampen my wings. It wasn’t cold, just wet. I could barely see, making the trip rather unpleasant.
Flare was doing well at keeping herself and Maera warm with a small, floating purple flame that followed her everywhere. Tenebris was attempting to be tough by avoiding the flame, but I watched his gaze drift occasionally over to it. He probably wanted to get dry. So I decided to set him on a task to get his mind off it.
“Hey, Tenebris!” I called, and he gasped upon hearing his name. He slowed and floated over to me.
“Yes Whirlwind?” he asked cautiously.
“I want you to fly above this mist and try and find what is over this range. I know we’re nearing the end, and I would like to know where we’re headed.” I instructed. He nodded.
“Yes your highness.” He said quietly, directing his magic above his head and flying up above us. Within seconds he was no longer visible, so I continued my long flight.
The fillies were just in front of me, and the only sound I could hear was Flare yapping on and on about some random things. She was extremely talkative for somepony like herself…
I lit the tip of my horn with yellow light, which illuminated the tiny particles of water surrounding me. It was rather mesmerizing, seeing the glow dance around me in different patterns that my wing-beats created.
A few minutes passed as we continued to fly into nothingness, when all of a sudden Tenebris swooped down in front of me. I slowed down and let him fly alongside me.
“Whirlwind… you really, really need to see this.” He said in a hollow voice.
“Oh my… Flare! Maera!” I called in front of me, stopping.
“Be quiet, I’m TALKING!” retaliated Flare. I rolled my eyes, flying forward a bit. Suddenly Flare came into view and I grasped her tail in my magic. “Hey!” she snarled. I went upwards, dragging the struggling alicorn behind. Maera gently fluttered above my head.
“Just up here and along a bit.” Said Tenebris. I burst above the surface of the cloud and mist. Above us the gorgeous blue sky shone down, and I immediately felt my damp coat begin to dry. At the top, the clouds were more solid, and I stretched out my legs and folded my wings. I alighted upon the cloud.
“Tenebris, do not shut off your magic. You’ll fall straight through, and that won’t be pretty.” I warned the colt. Maera and Flare stood next to me, Flare still scowling nastily at me.
“This way.” Guided Tenebris, floating in front of us. He soared about 100 metres, until he suddenly stopped. We galloped up beside him, and lurched. The cloud and mist just suddenly dropped off, falling down a deadly drop to the earth.
“Whoa! Awesome!” exclaimed Flare, tottering at the very edge.
“You’ll fall, and it won’t be my fault…” I said. Maera went slightly pale and backed away.
“Guys, it’s not the cloud. Look over there.” Said Tenebris, stretching out his hoof. I looked in that direction.
All of a sudden my eyes bulged. For many miles beneath us was barren, dry, rocky wasteland. It was flat, with no forests or civilization.
But then it ended. In the sky, swirling like a massive disk of flashing, thundering clouds, was a cyclone bigger than any I’d ever imagined. Even from the spot I stood I could see the rain and the snow. Beneath it there were bare mountains, the tips stretching right into the storm.
It was terrifying.
“That’s not…” I whispered, growing pale. Tenebris retrieved the map from my saddle bag.
“It is.” He replied. I snatched it from him and had a look. I saw Opal Kingdom, coloured green down in the corner of the map. Then, on the edge, was the massive, white splodge that covered the corner.
“Death Points.” Breathed Maera.
I suddenly felt dizzy, the blood rushing around me. I felt sick. My daughters… my beloved Princesses… in there… My hooves gave way and I collapsed into the cloud. Flare gasped and got down next to me.
“Whirlwind..?” she whispered. “Are you OK?”
“Does he look OK?” asked Tenebris with a hint of sarcasm. Flare winced.
“Wild… Sparkle… Fighter…” I mumbled. For some reason, even from a great distance, Death Points was so much more terrifying that I imagined. The cyclone was the size of a small kingdom, inaccessible by the mountains that surrounded. How would we rescue them? What was inside that hell?
Worse; what if Latinix was going to turn the Empire into an exact copy?
“Come on, we need to look more. Whirlwind, it’s quite a few miles… you don’t have to come though.” Said Flare quietly.
“No, I need to. We have to find a way in.” I said, shakily standing. I wobbled my head to rid it of the dizziness. Suddenly Flare spread her wings and lifted herself up. Maera copied. I spread mine and flew upwards.
“Let’s go!” said Tenebris with a bit more confidence than usual.
Suddenly Flare took off at high speed off the cloud cliff-face, zooming away into the cloudless desert. I flew off after her, and Tenebris whizzed along on his shadowy magic. Maera squeaked and fluttered as fast as she could after us.
We were up very high. Beneath us, the dry brown of the strange wasteland stood out after seeing the white of the Empire’s current state and cities and forests of other kingdoms. It was so weird… something so luscious and beautiful like Opal Kingdom suddenly dropped off to a place like this, then went to Death Points.
We were going faster and faster, toward the massive storm. It was only about ten miles… we were getting so near so quick. Flare was zooming a few metres ahead of me, her striped mane whipping behind her body.
A few minutes later I began to feel the wind. I began to feel the cold. My mane began to swirl more violently than it was when I was flying, and my wings were blown back.
We were about a kilometer away from the monster storm. Compared to it, we were less than ants. It was the biggest thing I’d ever seen. Beneath us there were hills forming, but I couldn’t see the rest of the mountains through the thick, solid weather.
And my daughters were somewhere inside.
What if the core was that big? What if the core was something like a black hole, with so much power it would just… I shuddered. I couldn’t imagine. This wasn’t weather… this was a nightmare.
I flew a few more metres, about 300 more, and soon the wind was so deadly I could barely flap my wings. In front of me a massive wall of clouds stretched high into the sky, whizzing around and around faster than anything I’d ever seen and probably powerful enough to kill any one of us if we went inside it.
Flare puffed out her chest in bravery and tried to fly forward more, towards the winds.
“No! Flare!” I yelled, grabbing her in my magic. “You can’t go in, it’ll kill you!”
“But how will we save the Princesses?” she demanded, struggling to get herself out of my magic. But I held a very firm grasp.
“We’ll have to find another way! We can’t get inside!” I yelled, dragging her away. I flew back and found a less windy spot and released her. “I can’t get you killed.” I said. She glared at me.
“Whirlwind, we need to find a place to stay.” Said Tenebris.
“You’re right…” I muttered. I turned and flew swiftly for about 300 metres, then stopped and waited for the others. I then grabbed the fragile map.
“The only kingdom near enough is Opal,” I started. “Hold on.” I looked closer. Around the storm, on the other side towards the right side, was a kingdom about twice the size of Staria.
Flare noticed I was staring at the name, so she read it to Tenebris and Maera.
“Skyrithia.”

* * *
My wings were moving faster than I swear they’d ever moved. The others were struggling to keep up, as we whizzed towards our destination.
It wasn’t far. And we would be able to teleport when we got close enough anyway.
Skyrithia. My home kingdom. I lived there for the first 25 years of my life, as a Prince in line for the throne. But the last time I’d visited, for some reason, was nearly 100 years ago. I met Aka one day when she and her mother visited our kingdom when we were young, and we then got married. I was no longer in line, I was instead for the Jewel Empire, which meant the only pony who could rule was my lovely younger sister, Syrenix.
I was desperate to get there. To see my sister again. Even at the worst of times. But she was talented with magic, and I knew she would be able to help with this.
“Whirl…. Wind….” Puffed Flare. “Why are we….” She coughed, ending her unfinished sentence.
“Look, I think we can teleport to Skyrithia’s capital now!” I exclaimed excitedly. I swooped swiftly downwards to the ground. We were still flying over the brown desert.
I landed, and waited for the others to as well. Maera hit the ground and collapsed. Tenebris rubbed his head from magic exhaustion and Flare just panted, glaring at me threateningly.
“Ready?” I asked them. I put my hooves on Tenebris and Flare’s shoulders, and using my back hoof to touch Maera. All of a sudden I lit up my horn with yellow magic, and we vanished in a puff of flames.
I choked as the air left my body and felt myself get squeezed by the pressure of the teleportation, when all of a sudden we were vomited out onto the ground.
I felt my hooves hit the ground well, but the others weren’t so lucky. Maera squeaked in pain as she face-planted, Tenebris landed head-over heels on his neck, and Flare found herself upside-down.
“OK, everypony!” I said cheerfully, lifting them all up in magic and placing them firmly on the ground. I looked around at the scenery.
We were in the city square of Skyrithia’s capital.
All of a sudden I felt my whole body buzz with unbelievable excitement. I was in my birthplace, the country I hadn’t been to in so long. And if we were just in the capital, Syrenix was close.
“Whirlwind we,” started Flare, gaping.
“No, come on! We’ll go to the palace.” I replied hastily, shoving them along from behind. We crossed the square and headed onto the beautiful, elegant street leading directly to the palace.
“Palace? What the… I haven’t even heard of this place.” She grumbled. When they were moving I dashed out in front and began to gallop as fast as possible.
The buildings around me were tall and beautiful, casting shadows down upon the street and the ponies occupying it. Trees lined the road and the path, shining with blossoms of all colours.
Up ahead, I saw a large wall, with great silver gates and huge statues of alicorns. They weren’t recognizable, just random alicorns holding big spears and attired in armour. Similar to the one in Laheb City…
Wait! I thought. The statue of the Alicorn Soldier was my idea, an idea based on the statues that so beautifully decorated many areas of my old home. The Alicorn Solder had modifications, but he was first from Skyrithia.
It seemed like seconds before we stopped at the gates. They were very tall, spiked at the top with gems studding it.
I skidded to a halt and two armoured guards stepped forward inside the gate.
“Greetings!” I said cheerfully. Flare looked at me like I was insane.
“Why do you wish to enter the Skyrithian Palace?” asked a guard gruffly.
“This may be hard to explain, but I am Princess Syrenix’s brother.” I said patiently. “I am a true alicorn, and hold many of her traits. I assure you I am King Whirlwind of the Jewel Empire.” I held my wings up gently.
The guards began to mutter amongst themselves. In a moment they came to an agreement.
“Very well then.” Said one of them, using his magic to open the gates. I smiled to the others, who gave me strange looks, before leading them inside the gates.
Once we were out of eavesdrop, Flare began to talk.
“OH MY GOODNESS are you ACTUALLY her brother? Seriously? I had no idea you had a sister… she’d be like my aunty! Wildfire never told me she had an aunt. Did they know about her? Does Aka know? Well, probably. I can’t believe you NEVER told anyone! I totally thought you were born in the Empire, but I could never quite get the fact that you were an alicorn. I knew you weren’t born into the royal family, because then Aka would be a relative and you couldn’t marry a RELATIVE and,”
“For sweet Celestia’s sake Flare just be quiet!” I cried. She could talk. She could talk a lot. She gave me a pouty face.
We walked up to the massive doors of the palace and the guards opened them. We walked into the entrance hall.
Memories of my past flooded back to my mind upon entrance. I’d visited since living in the Empire but still… 100 years is an incredibly long time.
We walked silently down the hall and I suddenly spotted a stallion and mare in important outfits. “Excuse me, but can you please tell us where the Princess is at this time?” I asked politely.
“Ah, yes, the throne room.” The stallion replied in a very posh voice. I nodded in thanks and guided the others away.
We walked up some wide staircases and down a corridor, before spotting a large set of doors at the end. I drew in a breath and approached, before entering.
I stepped onto a big rug that was rolled all the way up to a platform, and upon it sat a big, decorated throne.
And on the throne was my sister.
Princess Syrenix.
I gasped. She heard me and glanced up. For a moment her eyes were narrowed and suspicious, but only a second later did they bulge.
Her jaw dropped. I smiled and walked closer.
“W… Whirlwind?” she squeaked. She slowly stepped off her throne.
“Hey little sis.” I smiled.
“Whirlwind! Oh my goodness! Oh my goodness!” She cried in delight, leaping off her platform towards me. Before I could say anything she had throne her hooves around my neck and pulled me into a crushing hug.
“Syrenix! Oh my Celestia Syrenix I’m so glad to see you again!” I exclaimed, returning the hug.
“Whirlwind! Oh, why is it I haven’t seen you in so long?” she gasped. We broke apart and stood facing each other.
I sighed. “I have no idea. But I’m so glad to see you!”
“Oh Whirl.” She smiled warmly. “Wait, where’s Aka and your family?” she asked.
“Um… long story. Here, these are my current companions on our… let’s call it a quest.” I said. “This is Tenebris, this is his half-sister Maera, and this is Flare.”
“Hello you three!” She said happily. “Now, Whirlwind, tell me what’s happening.”

* * *
“OK, let me get this straight.” Said Syrenix, pacing the room before us. “One, your kingdom is under attack by some weirdo-freaky creatures that were thought to be extinct. Correct?”
“Yes.” I nodded.
“Two, you left with your daughters’ best friend and picked up one and a half Shadows on the way.” She stopped pacing. “Three. You have encountered your daughters’ possible prison and have found no way in. All correct?”
“Yes, all correct.” I said flatly.
“Wow. That is a problem. Well, how come you never thought to write to me about this, Whirl? You know I could’ve helped. I have advantages. And I could’ve provided a lot of support before it came to this. Why did you wait?” she pleaded.
I huffed. “Syren, I really, honestly, don’t know. It was so weird to think that I hadn’t visited this place in so long, haven’t spoken or come into contact with my own sister. You’ve never met any of your nieces or your nephew, and that’s my fault. And for some odd reason, it didn’t even cross my mind to tell you about this.” I said with a sigh.
“I haven’t forgotten about you. I have always wanted to meet my other relatives, but whenever I thought of it I just… forgot. It’s my fault too.” She said. She crossed the room and put her hoof on a portrait. I glanced up.
Wow… it was me! Syrenix and I before I got married. And she’d never removed it. “See?” she smiled weakly.
“Yes.” I said.
“So, Whirl, why did you come here?” she asked.
“Well, turns out, I think I need your help.”

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Princess Sparkle Flame's point of view. Sorry it took so long, I just need to put my mind to it.

Fighter and Wildfire lay on either side of me, in an exhausted, cold slumber. I felt them shiver, and pulled my wings tighter over them. It was very lucky I’d remember the hunger repellent spell, so all of our stomachs were full. The only problem was we were rather dehydrated. The storm had died down just enough for us to sneak out the few days earlier, grab some snow, and melt it with Wildfire’s little floating flame.
I stared blankly at the boulder blocking the tunnel entrance. I felt like all of this was just a nightmare, and for some odd reason none of us had the determination to get out. It was as though unconsciously we thought this was going to end soon like some sort of… test. Like a dream you know will end, so you sleep through it.
I sighed and shut my eyes. Our lives were so bleak. I could barely even remember a time where we lived in palace, slept in a bed, ate food… it felt a million years away.
With a small shudder I managed to fight back a hot tear seeping from my eye. I had to be strong. I was the eldest.
All of a sudden I heard a crackle. I pricked my ears and looked around the dark room. I heard a weird sparkling, cracking noise.
“Is somepony there?” I asked, my voice flat as the dirt absorbed the sound.
I gasped abruptly as a bright yellow flame erupted before my eyes. It filled the room with light, before all of a sudden disappearing. Instead, a small yellow bubble lay on the floor, with a piece of paper inside.
The letter was protected by a force-field! It made so much sense… this letter, sent by dragon breath, was protected by a strong force-field, so it wouldn’t be damaged in travel. A letter probably couldn’t be sent from the outside world to Death Points, because of the power of the storm. And Latinix’s magic. The way letters were sent was a form of teleportation, and the Hiem Queen had put protection up for that.
I zapped the bubble with my magic and it disappeared, leaving a tattered paper on the ground. I smiled, levitating it up. I was getting excited.
“Girls, wake up!” I whispered, lifting my wings off my sisters. They groaned and stirred, Fighter awakening first.
“What?” she murmured, examining her surroundings.
“Ohmygoodnessdragons!” blurted Wildfire, springing into consciousness. I smiled again.
“Girls, look.” I said, holding the letter into view.
“Oh cool!” exclaimed Fighter, eyes sparkling. “Wait how,”
“It doesn’t matter. Here, let’s read it!” I said excitedly. I unrolled the scroll and read it aloud. “Dear beloved Princesses,
“Please, I pray to sweet Celestia that you three are OK. Please, please, be alive! We’ve encountered the outside of Death Points, and found we cannot enter. It seems like nopony could live inside, but somewhere in my heart, in my bones, I know my beautiful daughters are OK.
“We would just like to tell you that we are coming. And no evil shall stop us on our quest to save you. I will get you out.
“We have just discovered this method of getting the letter to you. Enclose the scroll in a force-field, before using the dragon-breath duplicate spell to teleport the whole thing to us.
Goodbye for now,
Whirlwind, Flare, Tenebris and Maera.” I finished it, and looked either side of me.
“OHMYGOODNESS!” Fighter hollered first, flaring her wings and jumping to her hooves. “They’re coming! We’re going to be saved!” she cried. Wildfire just started jumping up and down, squealing.
“Oh my Celestia, I’m so happy!” I yelled. I jumped up, joining Fighter.
“Hold on,” started Wild. We stopped and turned to her. “Who’s Tenebris and Maera? And why is Flare with Father?” she asked, clearly confused. I stopped blank too.
“Oh… that is a good question.” I muttered. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Probably some soldiers or something… and in reality, it’s not like Flare has anything better to do.” I pointed out. Wildfire nodded.
“We should send something back! Let’s write on the back of the letter.” Said Fighter.
“We don’t have a pen,” said Wildfire.
I smiled, before focusing my mind greatly. It was so hard… I couldn’t anything big… all of a sudden a vivid image of a feather pen clicked into my mind, before my horn lit up and the very item arrived in a puff of flames.
“Hey, why can’t we do that with food?” pouted Fighter. I shrugged. I grabbed the paper from her and lifted the pen to it.
“What should I write?” I asked.
“You do it. We suck.” Muttered Wildfire. Fighter glared at her. I sniggered.
“OK.” I decided to write whilst talking. “Dear Whirlwind, Flare, Tenebris and Maera.
“Your wish is reality. My sisters and I are safe, we are alive and uninjured. But we have no chance of escape at the moment. We can’t even leave our claustrophobic little cave without getting blown away by the storm. I will warn you of what Latinix told us. One, the mountains surrounding the place are too high and rough to climb. You will run out of oxygen at the top. Two, you cannot teleport inside, or teleport anywhere whilst in here. Three, the storms are too deadly at the top to fly into. Using those guidelines, I honestly don’t know how you will get in.
“But please, find a way to get us out! We need to help win the war against the Hiems, help us.
“PS who are Tenebris and Maera?” I finished, put a full stop, and raised my eyebrow at the others.
“Perfect! Send it!” squealed Wildfire, eagerly watching me. I felt my horn heat up and send a flash of light from me, making a little blue circle above the letter. Then walls came down out of it, shimmering and glittering all the way down. They caught the letter, then joined. I levitated the whole thing up.
“Cool!” exclaimed Fighter. I then concentrated, when all of a sudden a flame erupted from my horn sending the letter teleporting away.
I gasped and put my head down to pant. I just performed three spells in one. I smiled nervously at my sisters.
“Well done Sparkle!” said Wildfire, nuzzling me. I put my head over her body.
“Let’s hope it reaches them.” I sighed.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Queen Aka's point of view.

I threw down my pencil and it clattered onto the table.
I pressed my hooves to my forehead, a smile creeping up my face.
Yes, that was it.
I had it. A way to defeat the Hiems in big numbers. Why had I not thought of it before? Why had this never crossed my mind? I stared down at the drawing laid out in front of me, softly illuminated by the dull lamp over me. I wasn’t a very good drawer, at all, but the sketch was legible.
It showed hundreds of soldiers down the bottom of the page, all wielding bows and arrows. But the arrows were enchanted. By a spell of flames. I’d thought about the Hiems weakness that the eight young fillies and their Hiem friend had informed me of. Flames. I had pondered for a few days on where fire could be used to fight the war, and how it could be done.
Up the corner of the page was an odd-looking picture of a big, black cloud, full of things that appeared to be Hiems. And the soldiers down below were firing their fiery arrows at them.
Nix the Hiem had explained that fire doesn’t just burn until death comes to the victim like it would do to ponies, it destroys them unimaginably painfully. Upon contact, the skin begins to burn, then it cuts off the magical abilities. It slows them down, too agonising to continue, before completely destroying the creature.
I shuddered, eyeing my picture. A very gruesome death, but really; there was no other choice. I needed to make that sacrifice, despite how much Nix seemed to fascinate me.
I’d been thinking better, coming up with better ideas, and becoming more confident since Fire Light came to me in my dreams. She was now my inspiration, and the one I wanted to make proud. I would not let her down.
I picked up my badly injured pencil again and held it to the paper. All of a sudden I was interrupted by the door banging open, causing light to flood in.
“Mother! Oh, there you are.” Sighed Storm, gleaming in his armour. He walked in, followed by Lady Gamila. I looked at the pair suspiciously, with a smirk.
“Hello Storm!” I smiled. He looked surprised.
“You haven’t been like this in a while.” He muttered.
“Was there something you wanted to tell me?” I asked.
“Um, well, not really. We were just looking for you, I guess. Do you have any information?”
“Actually, you’re probably somepony I needed to see. Can you please take me out to the archery squad? Are they here at the moment?” I asked, standing and rolling up my drawing.
“Yes, I’ve just finished with them. But I can grab them back if you want, no trouble.” He shrugged, as we began out the door. “They’re actually really anxious to start the battle.”
“Perfect. Wait, do they have a name?” I wondered. We walked down some stairs.
“Well, the other day one of the stallions was having a little joke about what they should be called. Then the conversation carried on over a drunken dinner.” He rolled his eyes. “They seemed to settle with a few. ‘Wonder Bows’, parody of the Equestrian ‘Wonderbolts’, ‘Amazing Arrows’, and ‘Lightning Eyes’.” He said.
I laughed. “OK then. I like the ‘Lightning Eyes’, that’s quite good.” I smiled.
“Awesome!”
Within moments we had come to the hall leading from the palace to the training grounds. Gamila carefully opened the door that stood before us, that earned an encouraging grin from Storm.
We stepped out to where all the soldiers were standing around yelling and chatting. But they soon spotted the three of us, and automatically formed neat rows. I was surprised to see how many archers there were. Almost all of them showed an arrow, a bow, a target, or any of the three combined, so they had come for the right job.
“My apologises, stallions, but the Queen has something she wishes to inform you of.” Announced Storm.
“Well, greetings my lovely archers!” I said with a nod. “I know many of you have been excited to get into battle, so now you can. And I promise it will be successful. I have devised a plan that is absolutely guaranteed to destroy your enemy, combined with courage and brains.
“See, we will be able to enchant all your arrows with a special spell, a spell that will definitely be able to defeat each Hiem with a single shot. It will have no damage on you if dealt with in the correct manner, so it is efficient. However, I don’t actually know what pony will be available to perform that enchantment.” That received many mutters. “And no, not any unicorn will be able to. Not even me or Storm. The only two ponies that I suspect will be able to do it are currently… unavailable. So, sit tight because I will do it, and I will find the pony that is right for the job. That will be all for now.” I nodded once again and turned away, walking inside with Gamila and Storm.
“Really? Have you thought of an enchantment?” exclaimed Storm the moment we shut the doors.
“What kind? What sort of spell is it?” asked Gamila enthusiastically.
“Well, you know how we discovered that the weakness of Hiems is flames?” I offered. There was silence.
“You mean to say that we have to find a permanent flame enchantment for the arrows?” asked Storm Cloud. “But, can’t anypony do that? Just, you know, put a chemical over an arrow and set it alight?”
“No, I don’t think that would work. See, the storms are very high up. There’s rain, snow and hail pouring down on us. Do you think that a simple candle flame would stay lit if fired at, who knows how many miles an hour into the air?” I said, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes… good point. I guess we can’t really set a permanent flame alight… and I get how the others are ‘unavailable’.” He mumbled.
“Flare and Wildfire…” whispered Gamila. I nodded.
“You’re missing Fighter… aren’t you?” asked Storm with a confused expression.
“No, Fighter’s cutie mark means she’s a fiery, tomboyish warrior. It actually doesn’t have anything to do with actual fire. And her orange wings and hairstyle comes from your grandmother.” I said with a shake of my head. He pursed his lips in more confusion. Gamila just giggled, causing him to blush as well.
“Oh my goodness, we’re getting off topic.” He mumbled. “Oh wait, what about that little alicorn with the fiery hair? What’s her name…. oh, Solar? Is it?”
“Solar Eclipse, yes. Actually, I didn’t really take the time to look at her cutie mark. Let’s go and see her.”

* * *

We soon found Aqua and Solar together in the room the fillies were sleeping in, with Golden Bolt there too. Before they noticed us we watched them for a bit; Solar was acting like a big flirt around the knight.
“Hello there.” I smiled. Aqua gasped, falling off the bed onto the floor. Solar winced, glancing up at us.
“Hellooooo…” she said with a funny expression.
“Um, so sorry, you three, but we came to ask you, Solar, a question.” Said Storm curtly. Solar’s pupils dilated and the small alicorn approached us. “Could you…?”
“Yes, yes, of course.” Said Solar, looking behind her at her friends. Aqua waved whilst rubbing her head. We exited the door and shut it behind us, turning to face her.
“Solar, we would just like to simply ask you; what is your talent?” I asked.
“M… My talent?” she stuttered.
“We were wondering whether you would be able to perform a permanent fire enchantment on the arrows of the archers.” Explained Gamila. “You know, we just thought your… hair.”
“Oh no, you’ve got the wrong pony. My talent is making solar eclipses and raising the moon in place of Celestia and Luna at times. My fire hair has nothing to do with it.” She sighed. “It’s a stupid thing of my past.”
I looked at the floor. I felt disappointed. I thought we’d got somepony who could do it. I also felt embarrassed; we shouldn’t have just assumed she could do things with fire, judging by her mane.
“Well, that’s OK!” I said. “We’re sorry for doing this to you.”
“That’s fine. Can I…?” she gestured to the door behind her.
“Of course. Thanks for your time!” said Storm. With that she swiftly returned to her room, and we walked off down the hall.
Partway along we saw the six other fillies staying in the room. They suddenly spotted my son as they passed. A couple giggled.
“Hi Storm Cloud!” purred Rainbow Bliss. Storm chuckled, and as they went behind they all burst into fits of excited giggles.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Tenebris'd point of view.
OH MY GOD GUYS I'm so sorry this took so flipping long; I got a little stuck... but it's sorted now, don't worry!

I felt my eyes open. My sleep ended and I stared up at the ceiling of our suite.
After a few minutes I rolled over under the soft, warm covers, and saw Flare on the other side of me in her bed, sleeping soundly. I glanced at the other side and saw Maera, curled up in a tiny ball with her head completely covered.
I looked back at Flare and smiled. She was so peaceful.
Then all of a sudden I remembered.
Today was the day we were going to attempt to get into Death Points! My stomach lurched sickeningly, filling with butterflies. Oh Celestia no… I began to get nervous. I flopped back down on the pillow, breathing quickly as I kicked off the blankets.
What if we got killed? What if it didn’t work? Was I going to meet the Princesses if we did? I was so confused and madly nervous.
I leapt from bed and gently paced up and down the ends of the three beds. I tried to breathe. Calm. Down. I told myself.
As I began to steadily take my breaths and stop moving, there was a flash of light. I yelled out, leaping two metres into the air and dashing behind the bed.
I was so pathetic.
I peeked over and saw a scroll lying on the floor, smouldering. I narrowed my eyes, made sure the others weren’t woken, and crept over to it. I tilted my head, bringing my face closer.
Oh, it was a scroll sent by magic! I smiled and face-hoofed myself, before levitated the paper up and unrolling it.
Dear Whirlwind, Flare, Tenebris and Maera.
Your wish is reality. My sisters and I are safe, we are alive and uninjured. But we have no chance of escape at the moment. We can’t even leave our claustrophobic little cave without getting blown away by the storm. I will warn you of what Latinix told us. One, the mountains surrounding the place are too high and rough to climb. You will run out of oxygen at the top. Two, you cannot teleport inside, or teleport anywhere whilst in here. Three, the storms are too deadly at the top to fly into. Using those guidelines, I honestly don’t know how you will get in.
But please, find a way to get us out! We need to help win the war against the Hiems, help us.
PS who are Tenebris and Maera?
I gasped. It was from the Princesses! We’d gotten a reply! I squealed like a filly and jumped up. Oh gosh, nopony was awake.
But Whirlwind probably was. I glanced behind me, before taking off to the door. I bounded out of the room and down the Palace hall, to another door. I took a breath and knocked.
“Enter!” called a familiar male voice. I opened the door and stepped inside, spotting Whirlwind at the window.
“Um, hello your highness!” I said in my most cheerful voice, which really wasn’t that loud. He turned with a smile.
“Good morning Tenebris! Are you ready to go to Death Points?” he asked. I just grew pale, which was basically; not really.
“I got this reply back from the Princesses.” I said. All of a sudden Whirlwind perked up. His eyes sparkled and the colour of his face returned that had been absent the past few days.
“Really?” he asked eagerly. He grabbed the scroll from my magic and began to read it. After a few seconds he dropped the note, his jaw open wide. He looked at me in astonishment.
“OH SWEET CELESTIA THEY’RE ALIVE!” He hollered, picking me up violently in his magic and hugging me. I felt myself get crushed and held there in an awkward position.
“Um…” I muttered. He put me down and ran to the door.
“Please excuse me Tenebris! I need to see Syrenix!” And before I could respond he’d taken off down the corridor at a million miles an hour.
I stood there for a minute, blankly looking at the doorway. Well, he certainly took the news well. I shook my head and made my way back to our room.
When I entered I found that Flare was awake, standing absently in the centre of the room with a blanket draped over her back. She spotted me.
“Morning Tenebris!” She smiled as I approached.
“Hey…” I replied. There was silence for a moment.
“Oh, um, where did you go just before?” asked Flare in tired curiosity, yawning. I smirked.
“Well, you won’t believe it but we got a reply back from the Princesses!” I said. “I went to tell Whirlwind and he’s gone to fetch Syrenix.”
“OH MY GLOB really?” she exclaimed, the blanket slipping off onto the floor. I nodded. “YES!! WILDFIRE’S ALIVE!” She screamed, leaping around me in circles, before grabbing me in a huge hug. “This is amazing! They’re safe!”
All her squealing suddenly awoke Maera. “Huh? What?” she asked.
“Maera! Maera! The Princesses are alive!” screeched Flare, flying into the air and landing hard on the Pegasus’s bed. She jumped in fright.
“Oh wow, really?” She said. Flare ignored her usual non-smiling self, instead hugging Maera as well. I noticed something. My sister’s legs were different. All the way up, from hoof to body, they were shaded white. Bright white. It was dominating the grey.
Was Maera changing colour?
I shut my eyes and shook my head, turning away. I walked over to the little table in the corner and noticed there were items on it.
Three steaming hot cups of tea, with a plate of biscuits. Ha! I thought. A maid must have come in very early… I picked up and biscuit and a cup, dipping it in.
When I bit down it felt odd. I chewed slowly. Yuck. That was not a good biscuit. All crumbly and chewy, definitely not the way a biscuit should be…
Suddenly Flare ran up beside me as fast as she could, giving me a large fright. “Yes! Biscuits!” She hollered, stuffing three of them into her mouth and pouring in tea afterwards.
“Flare um,” I started. Suddenly she stopped chewing. Her mouth dangled open slightly and she held it for a few seconds.
“EW! Blarg! Yuck they’re stale!” she suddenly shrieked, charging around. She began spitting randomly, spraying soggy biscuit crumbs all over the carpet. I pressed my lips into a hard line, suppressing laughter, and Maera sort of stared with her head cocked.
Within a few moments the door burst open. In charged Whirlwind, with his beautiful sister Syrenix following very close behind. Whirlwind’s face was covered in a large smile, absolutely thrilled by the news.
Until he spotted Flare’s scene. She stood in the centre of the room, dribble down her chin and biscuit on the floor. That time, I couldn’t help but smirk. Flare’s expression was absolutely priceless, and Syrenix’s face was too.
“Syren, let’s just…” said Whirlwind with narrowed eyes. He led her over to the couch. Maera and I followed and seated ourselves down beside the two royals.
“OK, I don’t know where to start.” Said Whirlwind in an excited tone. “What’s going to happen? They’re alive, we need to act!”
“I’m not sure yet Whirl… I haven’t really had much interaction with Death Points. We prefer to… keep away from it.” She replied. “But, we could figure out a way to transport you inside.”
“And we can’t use teleportation, the Princesses said so in the letter. The mountains are way too high, and we saw the storm for ourselves. It’s just… unimaginable.” said Whirlwind.
I remembered Death Points from the other day. What he said was right. And I wasn’t actually even sure anymore whether I’d seen what I’d seen. The storms stretched from the ground up into the sky, into the fog, farther than the eye could see. The solid, swirling, crushing mass of clouds that could not be penetrated, so strong they could instantly kill any normal living thing. And just inside were mountains, mountains that were probably so wind-blown, jagged and tall that the sort would not be found anywhere else. Words could not describe it.
I snapped back to reality.
“OK, so we cannot go in through the top. If the mountain peaks have no oxygen, imagine what the top would be like. If it were a normal storm, you’d be able to just put a shield up and drop straight through.” Said Syrenix, leaning on the table with her shin rested in her hoof.
“And we can’t really make a force-field around ourselves and go in the side either. The wind would just push the bubble around and around. I was thinking a tube straight through, but I wouldn’t be strong enough to hold it against the weather…” added Whirlwind. Syrenix’s expression was focused and composed.
I rested my head on the table and blankly watched the two of them, deep in thought. I couldn’t think of anything myself; I was just a simple-minded teen unicorn.
Suddenly Syrenix jumped, becoming stiff and attentive.
“I think I might have it.” She said, sounding shocked at her own words. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before…”
“What?” gasped Whirlwind.
“Whirlwind, our talents! They’re practically the same! We’ve been so caught up in our own jobs we’ve forgotten what they actually mean!” She cried. Whirlwind’s brow furrowed. “Wind, brother, wind! We’re alicorns. Alicorns can have talents similar to normal ponies, but stronger. Way stronger. If we properly harness that talent, and combine it against Death Points, we could match the power!”
“Oh my Celestia! Syrenix, you’re a genius!” cried her brother, thumping his hooves onto the table in excited determination. “It’s perfect! We wouldn’t even need to hold a physical barrier up, just match our powers to the storms! We’ll create a… portal, through!” My face lit up and I became more attentive to their conversation.
“But, aren’t there mountains in the way?” asked Maera in the small voice.
“Hmm… actually, the filly has a point…” muttered Syrenix.
“I’m not a filly,” Mumbled Maera.
“The mountains have no oxygen at the top.” I put in quietly.
“GAH!” yelled Flare randomly as she came to sit down with us. “Why is this so complicated?”
“I don’t know Flare!” snapped Whirlwind. But he wasn’t going off at her, he seemed cranky with the whole situation. Flare pressed her lips into a tight line.

* * *
I lay face-down on the floor, completely crushed by the agonising stress and anticipation. How long was this going to take? How long did we have?
Just when I considered rolling over and staring at the ceiling instead, I heard Whirlwind yell out.
“Everypony! Come here!” he called. Flare, Maera and I were immediately over his shoulder. Syrenix had to go and attend some things throughout the palace, but that didn’t bother anypony.
We peered down at the piece of partially scrunched paper that Whirlwind had on the table. It had a picture on it. I was surprised; he was actually a very good artist.
But just because it was good didn’t mean I was excellent at interpreting it. I sort of cocked my head and stared, not knowing what was going on.
“OK, so.” Said Whirlwind. “This is what’s going on in the drawing.”
“It’s a good drawing.” Butted in Flare.
“Be quiet.” Hissed Maera.
Whirlwind shook his head with a chuckle. “This is what’s going on.” He repeated. “See, there’s the storm. It’s a big, straight, scribbly line that goes all the way up the page and off the top. Down the bottom are four ponies, that’s us. Now, after drawing this I thought of how thick the storm could be, and looking at us in comparison to it, well… we’d be killed if we tried to enter it.”
“Get to the point.” Said Flare in a flat voice.
“I was thinking of the whole force-field idea. I wouldn’t be able to maintain a force-field around us, but I would be able to put one up and somehow fill it with oxygen.” Pushed the King. “It’s practically impossible for the clouds to go so high that they’re basically in space, and neither would the mountains. But the mountains would actually stick out from the top of the storms, with no oxygen there. We’d be able to breathe til almost the top of the mountain, so if we’re to fly up and land at the peaks, we’d need our own air supply.”
“Hold on, you fudged my brain…” said Flare. I rolled my eyes and smiled. “OK, so, are you just saying that we need an air bubble so we can land on some hills?”
“Yes.” Replied Whirlwind.
“Oh. Well, that sounds easy enough.”
“No, it doesn’t, Flare. How will we keep the oxygen once it’s used up?” he asked rhetorically. Maera pursed her lips. Flare just growled.
“Hold on, so when we’re at the top, how do we get inside?” I asked.
“I don’t really feel like explaining. I know how that will happen, just wait.” Replied Whirlwind calmly. I sighed. I was nervous.