~The Jewel Empire - Book 2~ Posting not welcome

[Kodabomb]

This is written from King Whirlwind's point of view.

“Oh my goodness…” whispered Aka, still staring at the floor. “Sorry, but I just can’t believe we did it!”
“It’s quite a… strange thought isn’t it?” I grinned. “She’s gone, we can now breeze on and win the war.”
“We didn’t even use flames for this! Oh, I wonder what it looks like outside.” She said, glancing over her shoulder.
“We’ll have a look. What will we do with Latinix’s armour? It’d be a very nice souvenir. And also, where the freaking hay are we?” I wondered.
“Wait, you didn’t go outside when you evacuated the others?” she asked, puzzled.
“Nope. Just down that big hall is another room. Tenebris and Storm are holding a shield over them, just in case more Hiem guards come. Should we go over?” I said. She looked back down at the shining armour with a nod. We waited a minute.
Wow. It was truly an amazing milestone. We actually defeated the most dangerous enemy Aka and I had ever faced! She was gone, completely wiped from existence. All our pain and suffering was finally ended, now that our hugest threat was no longer alive. No longer there… never ever coming back. It was just a stunning, shocking feeling. It made me wonder how Aka’s ancestors had done it those few times with other enemies.
As we turned to go and see if we could wake Flare and Wildfire, I realized that another wave of problems and torture we’d have to face. Discovering bodies in the ice. That would be awful. No spell could bring them back from the dead. So many ponies lost, so many families left to suffer, so many others to be shaken from finding dead, frozen, pony bodies in the ice.
I shuddered again. On top of that there’d be actually cleaning the cities and towns and countryside. We couldn’t simply melt all the snow; either the buildings would catch fire or there’d be a lethal flood.
I didn’t hesitate as I gave Aka’s cheek another kiss. I saw the gem on her forehead, so bright and glowing it made my eyes hurt, and the light shades of blue and white were swirling and dancing within it so fast it was almost a blur. And no expression could ever match the amazing one on the Queen’s face at that moment.
We reached the cracked ice pillar where Flare and Wildfire were still unconscious. Wow; the spell must have got them quite a bit. But luckily, because of that magic, the curses on their horns were broken and they were back to normal.
“Come; we’ll bring them to the others.” I murmured. Using my magic, I picked up Flare’s limp figure and draped it over my back. Aka did the same for Wildfire, kissing both fillies’ heads.
We quietly left the room, keeping a cautious eye out for Hiem guards.
“Aka, how far do you think the Jewel’s magic stretch out?” I asked.
“I think far enough that any Hiems within about 200 metres would have been killed. We might be safe for a few minutes if we leave quietly.” She replied, still scanning the place. We were walking down the most magnificent, most beautiful, most horrifying hallway. Made purely of ice with exquisite decorations and design, I admired it in spite of myself. How could a palace the size of Laheb City Palace’s be made entirely of ice? How do you make that? And where was it situated? With the snow, it was impossible to see it from our palace. So we’d just have to find out.
I found the room where I’d left the others. I beckoned Aka over and we came to the doorway, which was blocked by a black and green shield.
I peered in and met eyes with Storm. I grinned and he got the message, releasing his shield. He tapped Tenebris on the shoulder and he did the same.
We entered the room where everypony seemed to be slowly recovering. Gamila was at Storm’s hooves, and as soon as he had the chance he was down beside her, begging her to wake and stroking her mane. Sparkle Flame and Fire Fighter were lying down, looking slightly dizzy and dazed. They seemed alright.
I looked around for Maera. I couldn’t see her, until suddenly Tenebris yelled out her name and they rushed toward each other.
No. No. Wow. No. How was that even possible?
How in the name of Celestia was that possibly the Maera I knew? I could barely recognize her, apart from her name and her tall, slim figure unusual to a Pegasus.
I carefully set Flare down and walked over to Tenebris and Maera. All I could do was gape, pointing my hoof in her direction and staring at Tenebris in wonder.
“What’s happened? Tenebris, what’s going on?” I asked as Maera blushed. The pink blush showed up over her silky, shimmering white coat. Her hair had so much body and hung delicately around her shoulders and pretty face like velvet curtains, of black and sky-blue. And her eyes matched that colour, except they were bright and lively and seeing.
“I’m not entirely… sure.” He said. He examined his sister.
“I think I do.” She said in the very same small, shy, tiny voice. It no longer had the air of sadness.
“What? Tell me! Oh Maera this could be a magical breakthrough!” I encouraged.
“OK… I have a couple of theories. But… wait till we get back to palace I think. It’s long and I have to think.” She said quietly. I nodded, swallowing.
“Everypony! We must return to the palace immediately!” cried Aka all of a sudden. “The Hiems will realize we’re here soon. The war isn’t over either. There’s things to be done!” I silently agreed.
“Flare and Wild aren’t awake yet…” muttered Storm. “Will they be OK? They’re never so weak.”|
“They’re be fine, I assure you. Just give them a few minutes and they will come round, it hasn’t been long.” I said.
“With Latinix gone, her protective anti-teleportation spell is broken. We should be able to,” started Aka.
“What? Hold on; so you actually defeated her?” demanded Storm, his green eyes suddenly sparkling.
“Yep.” Is all I said.
“OH SWEET MOTHER OF CELESTIA!” he cried all of a sudden. The ice room was filled with his cheers and whoops. I’d never seen him so delighted in all my life.
“Calm down Storm!” I chuckled, wrapping one of my front hooves around his neck. He laughed too. I then beckoned a few others closer. Still touching Storm, I made sure that Maera, Tenebris and a stunning Gamila were also holding onto me. With a spark of my horn, I suddenly swallowed myself in flames and we were teleported back to the castle.

* * *
Shortly after arrival, the nurses and doctors were on the scene. Flare, Wildfire, Gamila, Sparkle and Fighter were rushed to the hospital for treatment and a check up on their injuries. Only minutes later did Tenebris realize after the shock that he was in absolute agony, with both his hip and thigh bone smashed. He hadn’t felt it for a while. He’d also gone back to original state.
Aka, Storm, Maera and I decided to trail along behind. And that’s when I hurled the questions at the Pegasus.
“Maera, you must tell me everything. What are your theories? I’ve never seen this happen and I’m sure Aka will love to hear. She studies magic.” I said.
“Oh, what’s happened? Maera, what’s he on about?” wondered the Queen.
“Well… OK.” She started. “When you met me, you took away my Jewel. It made me upset for a while that I couldn’t take away your pain, knowing that you would be able to be sad. I’m not used to having ponies sad around me. Anyway, when Flare started convincing me to smile and teaching me about being happy, my hooves started to become white. You might have noticed. I had no idea what was going on, so I ignored it. Later, with every real smile, the white become more prominent on me. It grew and grew. Nothing else really changed. Then, today, I felt something more as Tenebris protected me from the Latinix, and it was finalized with your special magic. Now, I look almost completely different!” she moved her hoof over her chest and wings. “I think I was pretty messed up with my whole destiny thing, because Shadows were a complete different type of pony and had different potentials and magic. I was only half. I had the capacity to change.”
“Wow! Oh Maera, I’ve never heard you say so much in one go.” I laughed.
“Oh my goodness! That’s absolutely fascinating!” exclaimed Aka, marveling at Maera.
“Wait. Hold on. Did you say, destiny?” I gasped. We stopped just outside the hospital door and Storm entered.
“Yes… why?” she asked, surprised.
I shuffled over and looked at her flank. Wow.
A new cutie mark?
That was a new thing altogether.
“Your… cutie mark.” I said, wondered.
“My cutie… oh my gosh! Look at that!” cried Maera, so surprised she nearly tried to leap away from her cutie mark.
Instead of a teardrop over a moon, it had changed slightly. The teardrop was instead floating on its own, with two tiny wings attached to it. A flying teardrop? What did that mean? Was her entire destiny altered?
With a gasp, I scrambled for my saddle bag. I ripped it off, almost injuring the buckles, and levitated it in front of me. I then found Maera’s blue jewel, and held it out before us. It looked exactly the same.
“Should I…?” offered Maera quietly. I nodded, placing the jewel on her chest and doing the leather up at the back. She shuddered suddenly, her eyes briefly flashing. Then she looked at me and Aka, before lighting up the gem.
Aka and I held our breath, as all of a sudden I felt a wave of emotion. It was new emotion, not it leaving. My sadness was still there, but abruptly coated and smothered in a brilliant, enlightening sense of joy. Pure happiness.
Maera no longer took sadness. She gave happiness. So not only had an enemy been defeated today, but a pony’s destiny altered. Changed. It was amazing.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Prince Storm Cloud's point of view.

“Ow!” I heard Tenebris cry from across the room, as I watched a unicorn nurse wrap her magic around his hip to heal it. He was moaning and groaning as the magic worked, and that was the only thing you could hear in the room.
We’d been in the hospital for a couple of hours, and Aka had brought Maera over to talk intently with Sparkle Flame, who was just regaining herself. I had previously tried to approach Fighter to ask if she was OK, but her disgruntled snarl made me decide otherwise for the minute.
Everypony seemed distracted with whatever else they were doing, so I walked silently over to Gamila’s bedside. She hadn’t taken the blast as well as the others had, because they were unicorns and Alicorns. She was just a half-unicorn, with very little power. So she had a fractured rib, a broken ankle and a bit of a head-concussion. The doctors said she’d be fine, but I couldn’t help feeling overly concerned for her as she lay there, helpless.
I sat down on the floor and rested my head on the hard mattress next to her, staring at her lavender face as though waiting for her to do something. I knew she wasn’t waking any time soon, due to the medicine. She’d be out for a while.
“Storm, I’m going to need your help.” I suddenly heard Whirlwind say from the doorway. I looked up at him. He and Aka were standing in the doorway.
“Hey, can I help?” moaned Fighter, pushing the covers back.
“No Fighter! You’re too weak and grumpy.” Said Whirlwind sternly. She growled viciously in response, lying back down.
“I want something to do,” she muttered as she buried her face into the white pillow.
“Fine.” I said, standing up. I walked over to my parents and shot one last glance at Gamila, before following them off down the hall.
I realized I still had my armour on, and so did Whirlwind. Hopefully it would be handy. “Where are we going?” I asked.
“The archers and the dragons need help, you realize!” he said. “We’ll meet the other royals down in the entrance hall.”
“So… what about all that planning with the soldiers? Where are they all now?”
“They’re all down in the towns and protected areas helping out ponies. It turns out we needed their help for that, because all of our soldiers seemed to be occupied. We did manage to get a few archers from the others, but you know that.” Said Whirlwind. I nodded slowly.
We descended the steps to the entrance hall where all the other royals from the other kingdoms were gathered. I couldn’t believe, after all this anticipation and confusion, that they’d decided to stay.
“Oh Whirlwind! Aka! What happened out there? Is everypony safe? Are your foals OK? Where is Latinix?” demanded Malaika instantly, her brown eyes wide with amazement.
“Calm down! They’re all fine. And yes; Latinix is defeated.” Smiled Whirlwind.
All around the place, everypony erupted into cheering and whooping and yelling. The room was filled with their delighted voices, and I happily watched as they all exchanged hugs hoof-bumps. This seemed like an achievement not only to us, but to them too.
“Alright!” called Aka with a wave of her hoof. Still grinning, the changelings, horses, ponies and zebras turned to us. Aka then nodded to Whirlwind to continue.
“Now.” He started. “The storms are getting lower by the minute, but even the shortest break may allow the remaining Hiems to become stronger and make more storms. I’m not entirely sure how more Hiems are created, either they keep reproducing somehow or there were just thousands already frozen with Latinix. I received some messages from the archers, so I know what’s going on.” He said. “I will need you all to go and assist the ponies within the towns, and use any method of magic to keep the storms at bay to protect the citizens. This… could be difficult for Ameer, Sabwa, Malaika and Kaizari. Actually, it may be impossible. It would be better if you remain here to manage anything that goes on here, OK?”
“Yes, of course your highness.” Said Ameer. Whirlwind smiled a short smile.
“Oh, your highnesses; if thou wishes, we could stay and protect the outside of the palace. It may be destroyed.” Said Princess Luna.
“Yes, thank you Luna!” sighed Aka. “As for us, we’ll go and help the archers and the dragons.”
“Let us begin then!” sang Vespula, lifting a brown, hole-punched hoof.
The Clopswanans and Saddle Arabians stayed behind, along with Princess Luna, as we marched toward the door.
“Are you ready? There’s some strong winds out there…” muttered Shining Armour, readying his magic. We all nodded and he grabbed the handle, pulling the door back. A huge gust of wind suddenly hit me in the face, as I shielded my eyes from it.
“Quickly, quickly! Outside!” Insisted Aka. We ran out and Shining Armour shut the door.
I then took to the air, feeling the coming pressure. I watched as all the others began taking off or running, to find their place to put themselves. It would be a confusing journey I’d imagine, trying to find the refuge camps amongst all the snow. I then saw Whirlwind’s horn light up, and he pointed it at Aka. She held still, staying in the air, as a film of magic went down her body and transformed her jewelry into beautiful, silver and blue armour over her. It was gorgeous and uniquely patterned, fitting over her slim alicorn body with ease.
We then suddenly took off into the storms, whizzing through to find the archers.

* * *
At last, with sweet relief, we landed in a snow clearing where the archers were intently firing toward the sky with perfect precision and concentration. They ignored us completely, their minds set on task.
“Arrow! Arrow, we’ll need some bows my friend!” bellowed Whirlwind. The yellow-brown earth pony was before us in a second.
“Oh, of course your highness!” he exclaimed. He called something over his shoulder, and a moment later, three bows and three quivers came floating over carried by an unknown source of magic. Arrow saluted. “Take these.” He said. I nodded with gratitude, grabbing the bow in my magic and holding it up before me. It was amazing. So perfect and thin, but so charmingly dented and tattered that it had much character for a weapon. I then took the quiver full of flaming arrows and strung it over my shoulder.
“Storm, take the other side of the clearing.” My father ordered me. I grinned and took off, running past the other soldiers and being careful to stay out of their way. I ducked my head to avoid the arrows and soon found myself in a clear spot I could use. As I stood still, snow was coming down hard on my back making me shiver violently. It was absolutely freezing.
I couldn’t see the sky, but I did notice the clouds were higher up. Still unimaginably thick and dark, but we were making progress it seemed.
I took the bow in my magic and placed a fiery arrow on the string. The purple flames flickered on the tip and I smiled a maniac grin.
I had only done archery lessons when I was younger, so I was not too familiar with it. But having training was better than no training at all, and there was probably a good chance I’d hit something up there. I shrugged, pulled the string back, and fired my weapon.
The arrow flew into the sky so fast I could barely see it, shooting into the clouds and disappearing. I waited for a second, hoping strongly I’d get something.
Then, from far away, I heard a massive, agonizing, tearing screech above and a flash of light illuminated the clouds.
“Yesssss…” I mumbled to myself, grabbing another arrow. My adrenaline rush was pumping through my veins from that hit, and I sent another flame into the storm.
I threw arrow after arrow after arrow, cheering to myself with every single hit. All of them counted, and I started to feel the storms contract. I knew it was mostly because Whirlwind had joined, and I knew that not only was he shooting them faster than bullets, but he was hitting every target. I was doing OK though, for somepony my age.
I heard some enormous roars as well, so loud and deep and ferocious they tore through my body and rumbled beneath my hooves. Only seconds after each roar came light and heat, and I found myself shielding my eyes and face from it. Like the sky full of fireworks, the entire place was alight with flames and lightning and screeching, though it was so much louder and bigger. Such a heart-pumping thing, moments where you think you’ll never live again.
I was having the time of my life though. It was just amazing. Feeling the shock and achievement when I hit something, combined with the full-on hit from the dragons’ power, as well as the ice and snow and fire whipping at my flesh was just the best thing possible. I’d never thought this could happen. I’d never guessed what thrill I’d experience in the midst of battle and war.

* * *
Two days passed.
Those entire two days I’d been out in battle. I hadn’t slept. Who needs sleep when you’re so full of adrenaline you’re about to spontaneously combust? It was amazing! We’d actually managed to clear a whole four square kilometers of land from storms. Now I was on the other side of the Empire, helping to send some storms away from the town refuge camps. The shield over the place was so packed full of ponies it was hard to believe that many could possibly be in such a small area.
I had got myself more arrows over the few days, of course, but now the supply was running out. I’d fired far too many, and the others were doing so well.
And then the fatigue was settling in. Somepony else near me had noticed this, but I told him I needed to stay.
“I think I know best, young Prince. No matter how committed you are, you’ll never do anything to help when you’re just about to drop down unconscious.” He said sternly. “And for heck’s sake; you’ve got no arrows! Find your way back to Laheb City, now.” He ordered. I was about to argue against him, but the old archer was probably right. He walked only a few steps away from me, and I couldn’t see him. I shuddered again, the wind slicing at me. I yawned. Yes, I needed to go back.
I took off into the blizzard, shoving my weight again the weather. In just a few hours, I found myself at the partially smashed walls of the palace. Just within, the main part of the palace was protected by a deep blue, shimmering, sparkling shield as beautiful as the night.
I went to touch it. My hoof went right through! Perfect. I could enter. I galloped toward the doors, now safe from the storms. I burst inside and clumsily scurried up a few flights of stairs. How long did I need to stay?
I charged down the hall housing the hospital wing and threw myself inside the place. A shocked nurse jumped out of the way.
“My goodness, is there something wrong? You’re back in a hurry, dear.” She said, looking at me with wide eyes.
“Yeah, um, I need some sleep and some fire arrows. Nurse, knock me out! I need some sleep!” I demanded.
“My Celestia, I’m not going knock you out!” She exclaimed, aghast it seemed. I made a disgruntled noise.
“Well then… give me some medicine. Put me in a coma or something; I need to get back out to battle.” I whined. The unconvinced nurse raised an eyebrow.
“I think that for a young colt like you, you’ll need some proper sleep.” She said. “Go back up to your room, I’m sure that the others out there won’t be too worried by your absence. You can return tomorrow at noon.” I went to open my mouth and retaliate, but she pressed her hoof to it and stared me in the eye. I backed away.
“Fine.” I muttered, turned away from her and leaving the hospital wing. I walked up the hallways to find my bedroom, and soon arrived at the big door. I opened it, stepping inside.
I sighed. Wow, it was nice in there. Warm and comfortable and… the fluffy mattress with strewn sheets and feathery pillows…
I stumbled over to it and flopped down into my bed, sinking into the mattress with another sigh. Maybe I could just have one night’s sleep. Still lying down like a ragdoll, I used my magic to remove my armour and throw it across the room. There were multiple metallic thuds as they all hit the closet and clattered to the floor, but I ignored it and tried to sleep.
I didn’t really need to try. Within minutes I’d slipped under.

* * *
“Storm. Storm Cloud. You must wake. Come on,” whispered a voice, shaking my shoulders. I groaned, swiping the air aimlessly with my hoof.
“Sleeeeep,” I moaned, my head flopping around. “Time?” Was all I managed.
“Three o’clock, Storm.” Giggled the voice.
Three?
I choked a gasp and my whole body rolled over, falling with a huge thump onto the carpet floor. I scrambled, not quite able to see yet, and tried to make out my surroundings. Three o’clock? I need to be up and out by now! With my arrows! I hadn’t got any yet… oh what was wrong with me?
“Oh no oh no oh no…” I complained, struggling to my hooves and shaking my head. As I ran to get my armour, I didn’t seem to realize the unicorn standing by my bedside, giggling with hysterics.
“Storm, it’s alright! Calm down, silly!” said Gamila, placing her hoof on my back.
Gamila?
I put my head down with a throaty groan, my cheeks flushing and glowing bright pink.
“Storm, just stop. You seriously need some food. Wildfire and Flare have readied another supply of arrows, just calm yourself. Aka and Whirlwind are fine out there.” She insisted.
“But… ugh fine. What about my armour?” I asked.
“Just leave it here. We’ll quickly go to the dining hall, and when you’re done you can return out there. You need to be fully prepared, you’ve drained yourself.” She said. “Look, you’ve got frost bite on your hooves!”
I looked at her for a moment. “Why are you so observant? Weren’t you in hospital before?”
Gamila grinned, then started giggling again. I just shook my head, blushing furiously still. I still couldn’t really grasp why I was constantly like this around her. Why couldn’t I just sit here, undisturbed by her perfect face, adorable eyes and beautiful, musical voice…
My snarling stomach interrupted my weird thoughts and Gamila instantly grabbed my hoof. She towed me to the door, led me out, and we started off to the dining hall. For a couple of minutes we paced soundlessly, watching our surroundings go by around us.
As we turned a corner, we both suddenly gasped in surprise as four young mares came leaping at us in eagerness. I instantly recognized all of them. Frost Bite, Rainbow Bliss, Golden Bubble and Emerald Glitter.
“Storm! Storm! Is it true?” cried Golden Bubble.
“Did you actually defeat Latinix?” squealed Rainbow Bliss.
“How long will it be until they’re all gone?” gasped Frost Bite.
“Can we do anything to help?” insisted Emerald Glitter.
“Girls! Stop!” scolded a voice from behind them. They turned just as the alicorn Solar Eclipse came around, her hair of pure fire crackling and burning. Emerald pursed her lips.
“Hey, it’s fine. Yeah, we got Latinix. Yay.” I said awkwardly. Even with my strange response, Golden Bubble started stomping her hooves upon the floor.
“Oh, would you come with us to the breakfast hall?” offered Gamila.
“Oh yes, of course!” cheered Emerald Glitter. So with that, we continued on our way to the hall with the five extra guests trailing behind. We arrived and all sat down, where we were served with a small portion each of food. There wasn’t much food left anyway. I ate it all in a single bite, instantly silencing my complaining stomach.
After our meal, Gamila and I returned to my room and I dressed up in my armour. I collected up my bow and my loaded quiver, before waiting by the doors. I was finally going back out to battle, and I was excited again. More adrenaline was coming.
I was just about to open the door and leave when Gamila spoke. “Storm?”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“You just… be really careful out there, right? I know I’m being dramatic, but please.” She said. “Return as soon as you need, to keep your strength up.” She smiled at me, making her blue eyes sparkle gorgeously.
“Of course, Gamila.” I assured her, shrugging to position my quiver better on my back.
“Thanks Storm.” She said. She was just about to turn away to let me leave, when she whipped back. She stared at me in silence for what felt like forever, then reached up on her hoof-tips.
I was almost stunned to death when her lips pressed softly right up against mine, and I shuddered the warmest shudder. I kissed her back, suddenly feeling so much more for her.
Then a moment, all too soon later, she released me and galloped away.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Princess Flare's point of view. (SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG OMG!)

The storms and yells and screeches ripped through the palace, their enormous sounds shattering the air everywhere. I awoke to a massive crash of thunder, sitting up quickly in bed.
I soon realized I was lying in my hard hospital bed still, surrounded by a curtain in the dark hospital wing. It was night. It was quite eerie in this room when it was dark. I rubbed my eyes with my forehooves and glanced to my bedside. My dinner was still sitting there, untouched because of my protest earlier. I smirked.
I didn’t want to stay here, helpless. I wanted – because I had a very relevant power – to go into the real battle outside. Wildfire seemed pretty OK with the whole inside idea, but I didn’t.
I realized I was hungry. With my magic I lifted up a chocolate-chip biscuit and took a small bite. It was soft and disgusting, but still food to heal my snarling stomach. When I finished it and had some carrots, broccoli and milk, I slumped down onto my pillow.
I sighed loudly. I was bored. I couldn’t see past the ridiculously plain blue curtain. With a grin, I used my magic to pull to curtain back and reveal the rest of the hospital. All the other beds were surrounded by curtains. Most of them didn’t even have patients. In fact, Tenebris, Wildfire, Sparkle Flame, Fire-Fighter and I were the only ones here. They were all asleep.
I sighed very loud again, blowing my fringe of unwashed hair away from my face.
Another screech and a rumble erupted outside and I groaned. Now I wanted to go out even more.
Then I supposed – I probably could.
There were no nurses or doctors out. If I could just sneak out, I could get into the battle without getting noticed… maybe even without Wildfire, because she hadn’t mastered her powers yet and would endanger herself. I smiled to myself and slipped out of bed, creeping very silently over to the door. I slid it back, making blue light from the hall spill onto the floor. As to not wake anypony, I jumped through and shut the door again.
I checked if nopony was in the halls and glanced at the clock down one end of the corridor. It showed two in the morning. Yes.
With a skip of my bouncy hooves, I galloped down the marble hall. I charged to the end, leapt down the steps, and continued my way through. Not all the lights were on, so it added an excellent secret-agent effect to my escape from the hospital. I giggled to myself, jumping onto the rail of a wide staircase and riding it down toward the ground. I jumped onto the floor of the large hall below.
I grinned as I opened the door. It was quiet out there due to Princess Luna’s force-field. So I flittered upwards to a small balcony just above and braced myself.
I skipped up onto the balcony railing and pushed myself off. Spreading my big wings, I stopped myself in the air before I hit the ground, shooting outwards. I did a flip in a whirl.
“Yes! Woo-hoo!” I whooped, delighted to feel this way after being pointlessly stuck in a hospital for a few days. After yelling a few more times, I flew to a tower and whizzed around it three times. Then, I hurled myself outward toward the force-field.
Bracing myself, I shot out and came in contact with it. I felt a watery, cold sensation run through me as I travelled straight through and out the other side.
I gasped, feeling a lash of cold and wind and snow. I was in the blizzard. The only things I could see were the glow of the field behind me, and the bright white and swirling black before me.
“Oh yeah.” I muttered to myself, giving my wings a huge flap. I took off as fast as I could go into the blizzard, feeling more alive than ever. The freezing, watery-dry air lashed at my lungs, and I felt myself struggle a little to breathe.
It wasn’t holding me back though. I continued into the storm, not feeling inclined at all to return. Sure, they’d be worried. But I was one of the two fire ponies around here! With my full-on power, I could easily make about ten times more difference than what was already happening. Wildfire and I, at the moment, had the potential of matching the powers of the fire-breathing dragons.
I knew where my destiny lay. I knew it well, at the very back of my mind. I knew just how much fiery magic I had within me. I knew the story behind me. Almost. Not all of it, but I knew why I was here in the first place. In the Empire. Why I was still alive. Why Aka had seen that flicker of hope within me, suddenly knowing I had thoughts of this somewhere.
It was also why I had not even been in the Empire while Wildfire had her whole meltdown. Though, while I hid away and almost killed myself with worry about my soul-sister friend, I had a strange instinct not to help. At all.

* * *
With a scream of the adrenaline rush, I shot through the wind. I saw the flaming arrows flying at the speed of light through the grey, and I grinned.
I didn’t feel worried. I could do this.
I did a flip and swooped upward, turning to fly with my belly in the air. I went so fast I was able to fold my wings onto my body and go like a an arrow myself, backwards. It seemed blurry and all too fast, but my mind was set on what I was doing. Nothing could break my focus, and my eyes were moving so quickly that I could watch the lightning-fast arrows like they were travelling at a normal speed.
I dived downwards, dodging all that was getting hurled at me, I threw my neck back. A tiny ball of flame travelled over my throat, nearly cutting it, as it whizzed on its journey.
A millisecond later, I heard an agonized scream as the white-hot blade stabbed into the body of a flying Hiem. Purple fire erupted with a hiss, and then the creature was gone. I flapped my wing against the wind and took upwards, zooming into the air with great speed. The storm whirled around me, and I was so used to it. They were getting so weak, and they were already weaker than what I’d endured before.
This Empire would never come close to Death Points.
As hundreds more arrows went past me, I dodged them with precision. But then, out of the thick, cloudy air above and around me, came an immense roar. It was overpowering and loud, make my ears deaf for just a second. A shadow then came over me and I gasped, whizzing higher and higher. The huge, black shadow was dark over me, and it was fast. The dragons were flying at hundreds of miles an hour away, and I caught up. I went up and down, turning and spinning and yelling all the while, dodging the wings that with every beat tried to kill me.
As it came down again and did an enormous back flip, going once around the moving wing. I went along and came down with a thump upon the blazing hot scales of the monster’s back, screaming excitement. The dragon grumbled and flew downwards toward the ground.
For a tiny second my rump became hot, before out of the great jaws of the beast came a jet-blast of fire. White-hot, sizzling fire that killed every single Hiem in its path. The screeches would be unbearable; if they weren’t so triumphant for us.
The dragon roared along with my cheering, tossing his big head around. He did it again, carefully aiming ahead, not down, as not to kill any ponies. As my legs and behind burned from the dragon’s searing skin, I felt an urge to use that fire too. Somehow, the heat charged my hunger to strike against the Hiems for myself. I started to sense it, to feel it. I wanted to just let my powers fly, to flare out in lashes of fire…
To release the Fire within.
My heart beat faster and faster, and my ride soared downward again. He came back up and threw more and more fire everywhere. I lurched, a smile growing on my face. My back legs wrapped tighter around the spikes, and I sat up straight. The cold cut at my face and I folded my wings tight.
A surge, a rush, a whirl of energy burst through my body. My hooves began to tingle, my head started to throb, my whole figure full of fireworks and heat…
Without warning and without any consent from my mind, an enormous fire exploded from me. I gasped and leaned back, trying to absorb the force of the blow. My horn was alight with fire, an uncontrollable inferno. The dragon grumbled in encouragement. It expanded quickly, forming arms that swirled like the form of a galaxy. Arms that were so hot and destructive, they flew out far. They began hitting the creatures within the storms, and breaking off my from horn. Balls of purple and hot pink fire spat all around.
I screamed.
It was amazing.
It was empowering.
It was more special than anything I’d ever experienced.
Then, as though not only my messed up mind was speaking, my hooves caught fire. It was hot or painful, just tingling. I gasped, rather shocked. It had never happened before. But it was cool.
I held a hoof up to my face and examined it. The fire licked at my hooves, but not aggressively. It was more like it was there just to appreciate, like my hooves were actually enjoying the company of the beautiful candle flicker.
I sat straight again and held my hooves out like wings. They spread, and I felt like I was flying again.
It was like another one of my instincts.
I began twirling and thrusting my hooves like I was tossed something away, and with every movement the fire were thrown off my hooves and into the storm. It was as though I had an endless supply fireballs. My own, self-created ammunition.
While my horn still worked, alight with fire, I twisted back and forward to get my little fireballs out everywhere. I could now constantly hear the painful cries of the Hiems. My magic was working.
The dragon and I were an unstoppable machine of mass-destruction. Unstoppable – nothing could stop us.

* * *
“Come on! I reckon we’ve done an awesome job!” I yelled into the dragon’s ear. I held onto the horns on his head, and I was rocked as he nodded. “Let’s go take a break! We did so awesome!”
I held tighter and he ducked down, rocketing toward the ground. He swooped outwards, we were still hugely high above the ground, and we suddenly exploded out of the clouds.
We seemed to have cleared a huge area of sky over the Emerald Valley and the surrounding villages. It was still bright white with snow down on the ground, and so much damage was already done. Not many ponies were even down there to appreciate it, as they had been evacuated long ago.
Soon we were very close to the ground, and we swooped up then back down. As my ride’s feet hit the ground with a great thump, snow went flying. The layer of thick, white frozen water was probably many metres deep, though when we landed the force of it managed to push a whole heap away. When we were steady, I happily bounced from his back. I landed in the snow and immediately sank right in.
“Ow,” I murmured, struggling up to get my head in a good breathing position. I rested in a hole of snow, nearly buried. My hooves would have frozen if they weren’t burning from all the fire I‘d thrown. It was fine though, letting myself relax in the body of wispy ice. My companion slumped to the ground, his massive body halfway buried in snow, and he growled a loud purr of satisfaction. The ice coating his stomach and throat soothing the heat of the all the fire he’d been making for the past few hours.
I grinned at him and he blinked. I now took the time to really look at him and his features, as I hadn’t seen him properly yet.
He was black, almost completely jet black, but the white light that touched him made shiny, red-orange reflections on his perfectly smooth scales. He wasn’t rough like a normal dragon, but shiny and silky-smooth like a snake. His tall, spaced spines along his back and tail were deep orange, and so was the skin of his enormous wings. His eyes were the colour of fire – bright orange but with the shimmering hint of yellow. He was a magnificent sight. But I didn’t know his name.
I wasn’t a dragon tamer, so I couldn’t communicate with him in the way Dragon Stone could. So I thought I’d ask the question straight up to get an answer.
“What’s your name?” I asked, nice and loud.
His head turned toward me, eyes narrowing and peering at me in question and caution. His nostrils flared as he huffed a huge breath of hot air over me. I raised an eyebrow.
“Inferno.” He replied, in a voice so low it was like an inaudible grumble that made me vibrate. It was as though it wasn’t a voice, but simply a noise. I understood, however.
Inferno. Such a simple name.
“Well, we’re quite the team, right Inferno?” I chuckled nervously. He huffed again, resting his chin on the snow to look out onto flat white surroundings. I pursed my lips and looked at him.
I listened to the distance noise from around, and turning my head I could see that the area we’d cleared was a perfect circle. On hilltops of the near horizon, I could see the black clouds, sparkling with the fireworks of dragons and fiery arrows. It was real progress. We’d made a difference. It would only take a day, however painstaking and hard, for Inferno and I to clear perhaps the entire Empire of the storms.
What would that make us? Heroes?
I wriggled a little bit and managed to free myself on the snow, rolling over onto my back to stare into the dark, magnificently clear sky. I sighed.
As my eyelids began to droop, ready for a short nap, my head suddenly buzzed. I gasped, lurching to sit up. I heard an whispering echo in my head, then a familiar female voice.
Flare? Flare? Flare, where are you? Are you OK? Why are you missing? Please be OK! cried a panicked, pained voice. Without breath, just words, it was Wildfire sending me a mind-message.
How could I tell her I was OK? I wasn’t very skilled with the messages, and I didn’t’ know how they worked. Would the ‘signal’ be blocked by the electrical storms, or was it clear magic?
I tried anyway. Lighting my horn, I thought of a response. I made it into words within my head and tried to force them outwards.
Wildfire! I’m fine! It’s already. Don’t come looking for me. As soon as I knew the message was gone, I realized I’d worded it wrong. Damn it!
I groaned, struggling to think of something else. I couldn’t say ‘don’t come looking’, she’d think I’d bailed on them! I thought of something else.
Wild, I didn’t mean it like that! I meant just don’t look for me; we’ve got it covered. I’m fine, I’m safe and,
Suddenly I heard a snap and a crack, followed by a wave of flames. I gasped, rolling back over and balancing on the snow as I stood up.
Not far away from me, in the snow, was Wildfire and Tenebris. I gaped. What? How did they find me? Why were they here?
“Guys, why..?” I spluttered, approaching them.
“Oh my goodness Flare! What are you doing out here?” gasped Wildfire, running toward me. A few steps away, her hoof snagged in the snow and she went toppling forward, throwing her hooves around my neck for support. She turned it into a hug and then released.
“I was,” I started
“Flare, we were super worried! The nurse nearly had a heart attack too!” said Tenebris, and approached me in a slightly more dignified manner.
“Oh my Celestia you guys!” I chuckled. “I just didn’t like being in the boring hospital. I’m fine now, so I decided to go… have some fun!”
Wildfire pursed her lips. “How do you know you’re better? It’s super dangerous out here.” she said, concerned.
“I know because Inferno and I just cleared like half the Empire of Hiems.” I said flatly, trying to hold back the triumphant smirk.
“Half the Empire?” gasped Wildfire.
“Inferno?” wondered Tenebris.
“Inferno, my new dragon.” I grinned, stepped out of the view of them both. They looked past me.
“Oh my goodness!” cried Wild all of a sudden. I turned and followed her gaze. Wildfire looked shocked, spotting the immense hunk of black and orange. He blinked, glancing over at us and grumbling to acknowledge the others. I looked at Tenebris and saw an expression even more intense than that of Wild’s.
He probably reminded him heaps of Venetia. Lying there, not a danger to us, and now so involved with me and other ponies. He gagged a little and turned away.
“Flare? You really befriended this guy? And cleared half the sky?” she looked up above her and drew in a breath. “You did! Tenebris! Tenebris, look at the sky! I can see the stars! Flare I can see the moon!” she squealed, flying up into the air. Her wings spread, airing her feathers. I watched at her elegant shape cast a silhouette over the large, white moon that hung directly over us.
“It’s great,” muttered Tenebris, approaching Inferno. The dragon peered at him, a little wary, but the fashion that the colt walked toward him was perfect. It was like he was built to go near the beasts, to move how they move and know not to scare them.
“Tenebris, are you alright?” I asked quietly.
“I’m fine. It’s just… wow, I haven’t been near a dragon in so long. Look at him… he’s so beautiful.” I looked at him in wonder. Tenebris was standing only a few steps away from Inferno, who widened his eyes to look at him.
“Alright. Well, I think we’ll return to the palace now to sleep. I’ll do more in the morning.” I said. “Wild, if you can manage to do the same thing I did, then we could be unstoppable.” I turned to Wildfire, thinking of the idea that had already been lingering. “We can get you a dragon and stuff; it will be really cool!”
“Yeah, um, maybe. I don’t… oh Flare this is all so complicated to me.” She sighed, walking next to me. We leaned our heads against each other like we always did, and looked at Tenebris, who had already started to talk to Inferno. Though the dragon only responded in one-word phrases, he was enjoying himself.
“Tenebris! Come on, we have to go.” I called.
“What? Oh no, please let me stay! Can we ride him back?” he asked, not looking at us.
“No, sorry. Inferno will stay here tonight, but if he’s in the same place we can come back in the morning. We need to teleport.” I pushed.
With a sigh, he turned away from his friend and came up to us. Wildfire lit her horn ready for teleportation, and touched both of us.
Just as there was a crack and we were swallowed by bright, suffocating fire, I felt a pair of cold lips touch mine.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Aqua's point of view. SORRY IT TOOK SO LOOOOONG *dies*

“I really, really, don’t know what I’m thinking right now. It’s way too much…” shuddered Nix, curled up in a corner surrounded by the concerned eyes of me and my friends. She was absolutely distraught, all the action and sounds of battle were going to her head, all the encounters with the Hiems and the focus of the ponies; her new peers. She couldn’t handle herself, clutching her cold body with her hooves and wings.
“Nix, it’s going to be OK, we can help you.” Said Lunar, very empathetic. She went as close as she could to the terrified Hiem, who was staring at the floor sightlessly.
“I don’t think…” she trailed off, ending her half sentence with a gag. My heart lurched. I couldn’t watch her like this. It was awful. She shuffled closer to herself, blinking at Lunar.
“Would you like to… eat something? You’ve developed an actual appetite and you really need some food,” started Frost Bite.
“NO! Leave me alone! Can’t you feel this? It’s far too much! How can you do this to me? I can’t even feel myself anymore; the sounds outside are the screams and cries of my fellows.” She sobbed, glaring at us. “If there were ponies out there, getting killed by the thousands, blood spilled across your precious streets, your family, friends, leaders… how could you stand to live?”
A tear spilled over my eye rim. We were all completely speechless. I was imagining it, all too vividly. My best friends. My leaders. Golden Bolt… I imagined him dying, all my friends, the royals, and having no way to stop it as I watched their blood and life drain from them before me…
I choked and held my head, trying to get back to reality. Poor Nix.
Though helping the lives of thousands of ponies, we were brutal murderers in the eyes of any Hiem, good or bad.
I glanced around me and first sighted Solar, her face streaming with tears and look of horror on her poor face. Her past… all the ponies she’d first-handedly slaughtered. I knew about that. And I knew that Nix’s comment had meant more to her than to anyone.
“We’re sorry, Nix. We’ll… leave you be now. Come on girls.” Said Emerald quietly. She went up behind us and shepherded us from the room, closing the door behind us.
“Wow. Poor girl.” Murmured Flash. “She’s really got it rough, hasn’t she?” she sighed.
“Yeah. How about we go to the guest lounge for a while and get some tea?” offered Frost.
“Good idea.” I replied. We kept walking down the hall and went up a wide staircase on our way to the guest lounge. We reached the top and were about to continue, when suddenly, from the staircase at the other end, came thundering hooves. Three ponies leapt up the steps and ran toward us, spotting us with eager looks.
“Flare? Wildfire? Tenebris?” I said in surprise. They skidded to a stop before our group of eight, panting but grinning.
“Sorry girls! We just needed somepony to tell! Oh it’s just fabulous.” Puffed Flare.
“Flare managed to clear a whole section of the Empire! It’s fantastic!” squealed Wildfire.
“Soldiers are working to dig out the towns and make sure it’s livable already. Flare got a message.” Said Tenebris.
“Oh my goodness! That’s amazing! Wow, if you keep doing that Flare, you could clear everything!” squealed Emerald.
“That’s what we said.” Grinned Wildfire.
“Ha, you’re helping!” laughed Flare, nudging Wild.
“What?”
“You’re just as good as me. You’re helping me; we’ll get you a dragon and you can come and explode fire with me.” Continued Flare, beginning to walk past us with her friend. They descended the steps behind us.
“Wow I feel stupid. See you ladies!” smiled Tenebris, trotting after them.
“Ha, he’s cute.” Snickered Rainbow. Flash gave her a hard elbow in the rib. They both giggled.
“Come on! We’re LEAVING.” Snarled Emerald, returning to the back of the group to forcefully shove us down the hall. “We’re going to have some tea and calm DOWN.”
“Calm down? Says you!” laughed Bubble, leaping out of her reach as Emerald glared at her. She began chasing her friend, and they shot down the hall, squealing and giggling.

* * *
A constant, repetitive and hushed hissing slowly awakened my mind. I opened my eyes with lots of tired effort and looked around through the dark. As usual, I was wedged in the centre of the large palace guest-room bed, surrounded by my sleeping friends. I tried to move but I couldn’t, as Flash was stretched across my back hooves.
Then something caught my eye. There was a glowing light from across the room, and I realized that it was the source of the noise. Lunar was standing not far from the bed, a frantic look on her face. She was staring sightlessly at the mattress, with her horn flashing and going in and out of brightness.
“Lunar! Lunar!” I hissed, trying not to wake Emerald who had her head resting on me. “Lunar, respond! Hello?”
“Ssh!” she hissed, “I’m getting a message,” She responded. A mind-message. I remained quiet.
In a few seconds her magic snapped off, and she blinked a few times. I eagerly watched her face to get what she’d received.
“Oh no.” she whispered. I furrowed my brow. Just by Lunar saying ‘oh no’, I knew something was bound to be terribly wrong. I took and breath and tried to stop myself panicking, before I knew what was actually going on.
“Lunar? Can you tell me what happened?” I murmured. Her eye drifted up to meet mine, and I saw tee confusion, worry and distress instantly. She knew that I was not going to like what she had to say, but I needed to hear it…
“The evacuation sight of one of the towns. There was… a Hiem ground attack. Hundreds of Hiems… they, attacked from the ground level away from the dragons and… hundreds, dead,” she choked. I gasped. I couldn’t process it… Lunar came and sat down on the bed. There was more to it.
“Who was there? Are there survivors?” I gagged, the panic definitely rising. I almost didn’t want to know.
“Yes, lots of survivors. But just as many deaths. The soldier told me that it was the head army squad doing the evacuations down there, but I’m not entirely sure who is in that squad,”
“GOLDEN BOLT!” I screamed. No! Bolt! Bolt was down there! He was one of the captains, and definitely one to go and save ponies. Was he OK? What had happened? My Golden Bolt, what would I do if something happened?
“Aqua… shush,” groaned Emerald, shoving her face into my shoulder. I shrugged away, nudging her, probably harder that necessary.
“Up! Everyone! Now!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “NOW!”
My loud voice was certainly efficient enough to get everybody up, and I was out of bed before I could think. “We’re going to war, ladies, and I am not letting this go unnoticed!” I hollered. “Bubble, there’s been a Hiem ground attack and the top soldiers are down there. That means that River Tide and Bolt could be there, as well as anybody else.”
“What? Aqua what are you talking about?” asked Golden Bubble is confusion, getting off the bed with everyone else.
“Bolt? Aqua, no! Guys, we need to get down there!” gasped Solar, far more than eager. Her hair was flaming at its full extent, awakened as she came out of her slumber.
“Seriously. What are you talking about?” demanded Flash.
“OK. A message came through that some Hiems attacked the soldiers evacuating some ponies from the ground. There are some dead, and we know that amongst the squads there, were Golden Bolt and River Tide. According to Aqua, we’re going down to the site to save anypony we can. Clear?” said Lunar is such a rush, I barely heard what she said. I didn’t care, however. My gut was sick and twisted, and I couldn’t handle waiting here any longer.
“What’s the time?” asked Frost.
Solar looked up at the clock on the wall. “Nearly five in the morning. The sun will be up soon, despite the fact we can’t actually see it. Now let’s MOVE, ponies!” She cried in frustration. She ran behind us and chased us all toward the balcony doors, throwing them open and shoving us through into the open air beneath Luna’s force-field.
“Stop! No! I don’t want to,” started Rainbow.
“We’re going, OK?” I said. She looked at me in surprise, but shut her mouth.
“How are we getting down there?” asked Emerald, a little concerned for once.
“Flying spells, my friends, so let’s MOVE!” said Solar again. A bit surprised, Bubble, Emerald, Frost and I lit our horns with a flying spell that entwined beneath out hooves, lifting us off the ground. As all the winged ponies took to the sky, we followed, jumping off the balcony and soaring down toward the ground.
In just second we were whizzing toward the force-field, and I gasped. Bracing myself, I closed my eyes and shot forward. As I came into contact with the magical force, a watery-cool sensation ripped through me. I shuddered, but that was nothing. A split second later, the icy-cold of the storms and wind and snow hit me in the face, instantly blistering my skin with frost bite. I grunted in pain a little, but mainly ignored it.
“What town were they evacuating?” yelled Solar through the loud weather.
“Brismane! That’s not too far away, but we may need to teleport!” replied her sister, ending her sentence with a gag as icy snow got down her throat.
“I’m going to teleport! You girls follow my magic pattern and follow!” called Solar. Her horn was swift to alight and she vanished, the heat of her flare blowing back at me. Lunar was very quick to follow, and with my advanced magic I was able to mentally track the leftover teleportation aura. Quickly wrapping my hoof around Rainbow’s neck, I teleported in an instant.
In a flash, we were tossed from my flames and onto the ground. The magic beneath my hooves failed, and we tumbled into the snow. Rainbow landed on top of me, and before I could breath, Frost and Flash were on us too.
“Guys! I can’t…breath…” I choked. I realized they were struggling to move, and as I was about to sink into the snow I teleported out next to them. I shook my head, then remembered why we were here.
“Guys, guys! Over there!” called Lunar. I gasped and peered over to where she pointed. A while away, though clearly visible in this plain of stormless snow, were scattered dark shapes of ponies. I couldn’t make anything out, but we needed to get there fast. Just on the top of the hill not far away was another, black and rumbling storm. Though eventually the dragons would probably fend it off, it was going to cause damage and mayhem.
I looked at the sky and say it was grey-blue, with orange peeping over the top of the storms on the horizon. We needed to get moving.
“Run, run, run!” I yelled, shoving my friends. We took off in an explosion of loose snow, bolting at immense speeds toward the group of ponies. All eight of us were running, and the burst of dread was filling my body.
I didn’t know just how I would mentally handle it if I lost Bolt.
We were there within a minute, slightly delayed by the snow beneath us. We skidded to a stop before them. They were lying in the snow, most of it melted puddles from the fire magic, and I choked with horror as I saw hooves sticking out of the snow and armour laying everywhere.
A pony ran over to me, a stallion I recognized well. Crimson Star. He was the one who contacted Lunar.
“Ladies, I’m so sorry! But, I didn’t who to call right now, and I knew you girls were the ones I needed to contact… Aqua, I haven’t seen Bolt at all in the past few minutes since I called, and Golden Bubble, River Tide hasn’t been spotted.” Crimson bit his lip, “I don’t know where… Grey Quartz is.” He took a deep breath. They were very close.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no…” I muttered in shock. He had to be fine. There was no way Bolt could be injured. I looked around further. It was just started to hit me; the force of this and the gruesome scene. Bloodied and partially burnt… everything, lay everywhere, covered in snow and water and ice… blocks of solid ice lay in places, clear work of the Hiems, and more stuff was cutting at my eyes. They welled up.
I did see movement; stumbling ponies trying to find their friends and get help…
“Crimson, where are the evacuated ponies?” I asked shakily.
“Unfortunately… some are gone. The layers of snow beneath us are incredible, and I imagine we’re standing over some bodies. But… when the Hiems arrived we were quick to order a second evacuation, to a known clear area. I’m so sorry.” He replied.
“Well, at least most of them are safe…” I choked.
I began stumbling around, trying to search for my Bolt. I didn’t want to look, the awful sights making me want to burn out my scarred eyes, but I needed to find him. “Bubble! Bubble, look for River Tide and some others, you guys search for more survivors. Bodies can come out later, but for now we need to get everypony to the hospital wing at the palace,” I said, trying to stop my voice from cracking.
I continued to wander, and multiple times I came across a stallion, tripping and stumbling and shocked out of his mind. I directed them all over to Lunar and Crimson, who began tending to them and teleporting them back to the palace.
I was beginning to give up. Wonder whether Bolt was even OK, injured… alive…
My tears were burning, and I could barely even see any more. I staggered over the mounds of snow, and the wind was blowing in. The storms were barely a mile away, and we were having trouble. As I kept going, a chorus of squeals erupted from not far from me. Tide had been found.
Golden Bolt had not.
I let out a howl, wailing out across the plains of ice. My friends were cautiously but happily yelling from a way away, and I couldn’t bring myself to celebrate. Yes, I was happy for the survivors. But losing my fiancé would be more devastating than anything…
I howled again, my long, shaggy mane falling over my face. I shook my head, allowing it to cover my face and stop me from seeing anything.
I collapsed into the snow, thumping the ground with my hoof. It was all over. I would’ve found him by now. My wedding, my dreams of a family, my life was over.
There was suddenly the noise of swishing air from behind, and I glanced up through sore eyes at the sight. I heard flickering flames, and I pushed my hair away just enough to see Solar. She had a look of great concern and despair, nudging my side. I rubbed my nose on her.
“Where’s Bolt? Have you seen him?” she asked gently.
“No… I just can’t look any more. What if I find even worse than I imagined?” I sobbed.
“I’m sorry, Aqua. I can do one last scan… over…” she whispered, fading. I noticed the storms were raging in on us. We didn’t have much time, and Solar’s words were drained.
“Sorry, I didn’t catch that. It’s too loud. Come again?” I said, standing to come closer to her face.
“No, Aqua. It’s not the Storm. Do you see that? Over there,” she said, shaking. She pointed her hoof out in the direction in front of us, and I sighed to look over.
Was it true?
No.
My heart stopped for a moment, as a dark shape came fumbling through the ice just down the slope. I saw red spots dotting the area behind, and the scene was back-dropped by a screaming, thundering rage of clouds.
Golden Bolt was alive.
“SOLAR! SOLAR GOLDEN BOLT’S OK!” I screamed. I conjured up a hair-band and grabbed my mane in my magic, already running before I started tying it back. I leapt down the hill, faster than Solar could fly, launching myself at the Pegasus below. “Bolt! Bolt! Oh you’re alive!” I squealed. He gasped, staring up at me. His eyes were pained, but seeing my face he seemed to light up with relief. He lifted a front hoof and wrapped it tightly around my neck, planting his lips on mine. I didn’t blush any longer. It was too real.
Suddenly he drew back, coughing and grunting. A feeling of dread tore through me. “Bolt? What’s wrong,”
“My throat, my leg and my wing… They’re cut and burnt and bleeding. Don’t worry about me though; is everypony safe?” he groaned.
“Yes, everypony. But Bolt, you need hospitalization. Come on.” I said, nearly crying both relief and dread. He seemed to be OK, but I couldn’t properly see the throat injury. The storm was on us, and we had to move.
“I’ll go warn the others. Teleport straight to the hospital, OK?” said Solar sternly. I nodded, wrapping my hoof around Bolt. I swiftly engulfed us in flames, and we teleported.
We tumbled from my tube in an instant. We were in the storm, but only just. A foot away was Luna’s force-field, and without checking on anything, I dragged Bolt through. From there, we vanished to the hospital wing.
Upon arrival a second later, I was on my hooves. “Nurse! Doctor! Help! Quickly!” I cried. As there were hurried hoofsteps, I had a look at my surroundings. Almost every hospital bed was occupied, the smell of burnt flesh and blood filled the room over the heavy medicine and chemical stench.
The doctors were by my side in a second, grabbing Bolt and hurrying him to a bed. I ran after, leaping behind them to see.
It was bad. The throat injury was terrible; not quite on the front but on the side. Blood spilled from it fast, and the doctors were instantly on that one first. An oxygen mask was over his face the millisecond they began, and the nurses were disinfecting his wing and leg burns.
“Don’t worry, Miss Aqua. He’s going to be OK. You can rest now.” Said a nurse clearly and rather flatly. I bit my lip, watching Bolt’s face, but as a doctor’s back blocked my view I walked away. I sighed and walked to the wing door, stepping into the hallway to slump again the wall. I buried my face in my hooves to grumble out my mixed emotions.
I heard loud cracks in the wing, and knew that the others were back. They began bustling about and it comforted me to know all was fine, but I really didn’t need anypony to talk to at that moment. I huffed and threw my head back, staring at the ceiling.
However, only a minute later, was my wish unfulfilled. Quiet hooves came up to my side, so I looked up.
“Oh, hey Lady Gamila.” I said with a half-smile. She grinned back, though not eagerly.
“Hello Aqua. Is everypony OK?” she asked.
“Yes, they’re fi,”
All of a sudden, there was an enormous crash. It was insane, sending a shockwave through my body. It wasn’t just noise; the walls was smashing. The floor cracked beneath my hooves, and I didn’t even have a chance to yell out. Screaming sounded, blocks of marble and wall pillars came tumbling down, and the floor was beginning to disintegrate.
Gamila screeched, and I instinctively grabbed hold of her. I gasped, as a huge chunk of marble stone was disappearing beneath her.
“No! Gamila!” I screamed. Her eyes were full of horror, and she was dragged under the floor. A slice of stone came tumbling down, and I shielded my face. But Gamila wasn’t prepared. The rock smashed into her, causing a cracking noise and her eyes to blank out. Her grip vanished from mine, and as the floor caved in I had no strength to hold her. I stood, leaping against the wall as I felt Lunar snatch hold on me, and I watched as Gamila went slipping down under the smashed castle debris.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Princess Wildfire's point of view. Sorry it took SOOOO LOOOONG again *explodes*

“Flare! Flare, this is AMAZING!” I screamed, doing a flip and sending a flaming rocket of fire from my horn. Though I hadn’t mastered a fraction of that Flare had, I was swooping around without a dragon in armour instead. I was firing flames everywhere, having the ultimate time of my life.
Of course it was dangerous. I had to dodge Hiem lightning as well as arrows, but like Flare had said; the adrenaline was enough to fuel my speed.
“I know! What did I say? I’m off the cover the West border, bye!” she yelled back, and with one last lightning-fire jet from Inferno and a beat of his wings, the two had vanished in a cloud of smoke and snow.
I squealed again, flipping around three times and zapping a Hiem as its screech came near my face. Never had I been so rowdy and vicious in this sense, but never had it felt so natural. I bathed in the glory and victory that came with each Hiem gone, and despite the fact there were more than thousands, each one cut the number.
Soon, the Empire would be ours again. And it was down to me and Flare to achieve that.
All of a sudden, as I twirled to my belly and zapped on in a straight light, a ringing in my head sounds. I got a fright and gasped, throwing a shield around me as I stopped to hear the mind-message. I pressed my hoof to my forehead and listened carefully.
Wildfire! Flare! Are you there? Please, help us! We’re… trapped… There’s nopony to save us and we can’t contact them, the shields are down, the hospital wing and surrounding towers are destroyed, and we’re being attacked by Hiems! Help us!
I drew in a sharp breath. That was Aqua! The injured ponies in the hospital were in trouble!
Only a second later did I receive one from Flare.
Wild! I can’t go… I’ve got my hooves full. You need to go and save those ponies, you’re their only hope! Please, her thoughts were abruptly cut off.
What was I going to do? I couldn’t save a bunch of ponies on my own! This was so abrupt… I was too in my zone here… What about the other royals? Servants? Could they do it?
No. I was the only one. I could only fend off the Hiems. And I had to get there fast, as there was no time for alternate plans. It had to be me. With an explosion of my magic being ended, my shield vanished and the storms grabbed me. Lightning-fast, I shot out in the direction of Laheb City, stirring the clouds and winds all around me with my movement.
When I was going fast enough, so quickly that I couldn’t even see any more, I lit up my horn and was swallowed by ball of flames. A second later, out of the tingling and choking sensation, I was spewed onto a balcony of the palace.
But there was no relief from storms, of course. Being so high and on an exposed surface of the palace, I was attacked by winds and snow. I squealed, pushing my mane from my face and leaping through the balcony door.
There was no time to lose. I stormed out of the room, rocketing down the stairs to the floor below. It took only seconds for me to reach the correct level of the hospital, already running.
“Anypony! Where are you?” I yelled.
I rounded a corner and suddenly screamed. Skidding to an abrupt stop, I looked on in horror at the sight. It really was destroyed. For in front of me, half the entire section of the building had been smashed; walls sticking in the air, bricks of marble picked up and thrown by the storm, and many different kinds of chemicals of multiple colours seeping from the rubble. Because of it, the wind, rain and all else was blowing in front the enormous gap in the ceiling.
Immediately, I spread my legs and threw my hot magic out, and it expanded into a glassy, orange shield over the whole area of the palace. Not the entire thing; I didn’t have nearly enough power. When the storm was blocked out, I could strain my ears to hear the noises inside.
Murmuring, crying, groaning sounded over the tinkering and flowing of the shattered hospital equipment. Those ponies inside were not only trapped and half-crushed, but becoming contaminated by the toxic substances. I had to get them out fast.
But it was so overwhelming! Was it resting purely on my shoulders? Did I have the strength? I didn’t know. I started to sweat and shakily pressed my forehead into my hooves, flittering up into the air. But the longer I thought and procrastinated, the longer the injured stayed so.
I couldn’t help it. SURELY, somewhere in the palace, there was somepony who had the physical ability of saving the endangered within the debris. “HELP! Help, somepony! I need help NOW! Please!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, spinning around and flying partway down the hall. While I waited for a reply, somepony heard me.
“Wildfire!” the call was cut by a cough. “Wildfire, help us! Is that you?”
“Frost Bite? Ponies, girls, are you OK?” I gasped, flying over. I jumped onto the smashed marble and leapt across, dancing to keep balance. There were heaps of holes, black and seemingly bottomless, almost certainly full of sharp and deadly parts of marble, chemicals and hospital machines.
The voice of Frost continued to call to me, and I slivered down beneath an overhang of floor into the darkness. I struggled to keep myself upright, for beside me, resembling a sheer cliff edge, was a drop. So clearly, the level below had been ruined too.
“I’m here! Who’s with you?” I asked, silencing myself to listen for a response.
“Rainbow Bliss, Crimson Star and Moon Flash. Flash is knocked out cold and bleeding awfully!” she begged, sounding very close to tears.
“I’ll get you out! Keep Flash away from anything that could harm her further.” I said. Using my magic, I hauled a piece of stone away. Rumble tumbled down after it and I caught the particles in my aura, throwing the sharp bits away. I continued to dig, tossing everything out of my path. In a moment, I could see a dark gap. Looking down, a horn lit up in blue magic and I sighed in relief.
“I’m going to pick you up in my aura. Hold on,” I said. Surrounding the unicorn in my orange flare, Frost Bite was lifted from the hole and onto the pile of rubble.
“Wildfire! Princess, Get Flash up really carefully, her head’s in a bad way.” Said a second voice. I then lifted the Pegasus soldier out too, and he steadily stood next to Frost. I peered back inside. I needed to get Flash out fine. She needed immediate assistance…
“Princess! Princess Wildfire! Did you call? Where are you?” I suddenly heard somepony cry. I gasped, turning. I could barely see through the dark, but a hint of light shone from out in the hall. I eagerly squinted, hoping it was somepony I could count on…
“Help! Quickly! Vespula, Apis, I need you!” I cried, as a sudden rush of relief and hope came over me. Hearing my voice, the two Changelings came leaping onto the pile of rubble, peering up at the smashed roof and orange shield covering it. I could clearly see them, as they spotted my light and came into the small, dark cavern of trash.
“My goodness! Wildfire! Princess, what happened?” Vespula asked in shock, a brown, hole-punched hoof fluttering to her chest.
“No time; let me get Moon Flash out of here,” I replied, concerned. I surrounded Flash in my magic and very delicately lifted her upwards. I wanted to get more debris out of the way but I couldn’t handle the complicated magic… I just had to count on her not getting seriously hurt.
I continued to lift, and in a moment the light touched her dark, bloody body, and she was brought onto the crumbling platform next to Frost and Crimson. It did look bad. Frost gasped in shock, looking in horror at her friend.
“Oh my… her injuries aren’t too bad I hope. I’ll get her out of the way, your highness. Please get my friends out!” she said, shaken. I bit my lip. All on my shoulders. I was too immature for this. Would Apis and Vespula be able to help?
“Apis, Vespula… would you be able to assist me? And, are there any other royals in the castle to help?” I asked them desperately, watching Crimson and Frost delicately carry Flash away.
“Your highness, we’d be honoured! We can levitate and such like ponies, and I know that Princesses Luna, Celestia and Cadence are within reach. The others seem to all be busy. Celestia should have enough strength to cope with the magic.” said Vespula. “Apis, would be a dear and retrieve them for me?” she asked her husband.
“With pleasure.” Smiled Apis, kissing Vespula and instantly teleporting away.
“Thank you, Ap,” I started before suddenly I was cut off.
“Help! Wildfire, is that you? Princess?” coughed a very strained voice.
“Oh my goodness! Who is it?” I asked.
“Rainbow and,” it was broken by a fit of coughing, “Silver Shield! Please help!” she called.
“Rainbow Bliss! Don’t worry, I’ll get to you… Silver Shield, please send a jet of magic, you can give us a starting point,” I requested.
“Your highness… I can’t… Some chemical’s on my horn.” Moaned the unicorn soldier.
“Oh my… Alright, well, we get you! Soon, just wait.” I said desperately.
All of sudden, but right on time, there was a flash of light and Apis had arrived. With him came Princess Luna, and the two were by side in an instant.
“Princess Wildfire, please, let us be of assistance.” Said Luna.
“Of course! Um, would you be able to just… I don’t know, lift debris away? Really careful, there are ponies everywhere,” I said, stress arising in my voice. Luna wasn’t one to dawdle. She ran away from me and began throwing away stone chunks and such with great strength.
“I’ll retrieve the others.” Promised Apis, and as he teleported, I watched him glance over his shoulder in concern.

* * *
“Come on! I swear this is the last…” groaned Shining Armour, straining to pull an enormous obstacle out of the way as he tottered on the side of a ledge deep in a messy, dusty crevice. He grunted as the piece was pulled away, and he swiftly stopped small stone pieces from falling as he tossed it away. I stood by him and peered down, as the hole revealed a cave.
The ponies inside seemed to be fine. Trapped and previously immobile as they were.
“Thank goodness! Oh, I can breathe…” choked the soldiers. They seemed uninjured. They had requested to be left until last. They retained the injuries they had probably received from previous events, but none were unconscious or the like. I grinned down.
“Thank you your highnesses! We should be able to get ourselves out; we appreciate the help!” one of them smiled. Shining Armour nodded and turned to walk away, so I followed.
When we were off the dismantled pile of debris, we stood in the hall where all the rescued ponies were. There was nowhere to go. They were all safe and there were, miraculously, no deaths, it was a gruesome and unsolvable situation. I didn’t realize how much this rested on my shoulders, and I couldn’t make any decisions. Where was Aka?
I grumbled in disprovable.
“Princess Wildfire.” Said Vespula. She approached me and stood before me, and I let out a long sigh. She looked down at me in pity. Her face enlightened me by a little; that gorgeous Changeling always had the most sincere expression. “I’m so sorry for what happened. I honestly understand how stressful this is for you, dear. Oh goodness I’m so wimpy, I should be doing something productive rather than sitting here… but darling, if there’s anything more I can do…” she said, placed a hoof over my shoulder. I smiled weakly.
“Thanks Empress. It will all be over soon. I need to get back out to the battle ground with Flare, then it will all be over, I promise. Then we can rebuild and all that…” I sighed again and shoved my face into my hoof. “I’m so sorry. It’s just terrible for me, but I should be doing so much more.”
“Sweet heart, no! You’ve been through much more than I. I’m just letting you know that if,”
“WILDFIRE! Princess, quickly!” suddenly a voice called. Vespula and I looked around. It was Aqua and Lunar. They came charging right up to us with urgent faces.
“Girls, what in Equestria’s wrong?” asked Vespula in surprise.
“I just remembered, oh I’m so sorry… but, I need to tell you than Gamila is missing! She slipped out of reach and she’s probably somewhere that we can’t get to. She was knocked out and sucked into the falling castle when it was hit.” Said Aqua, getting pale.
Oh no. Oh my goodness. What would happen to me if Gamila wasn’t OK? Was she OK? Poor Gamila… We needed to get her out! But, if she was unconscious, we wouldn’t be able to track magic or thoughts from her.
“Oh crap.” Is all that escaped.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Prince Storm Cloud's point of view.

Cold wind swept over me as Whirlwind and I lowered ourselves to the ground. My hooves sank into the snow, and I heard the crunching behind as many other soldiers landed and teleported. My father nodded to me and we walked ahead.
The small town of Hellensbray was scarcely recognizable. In fact, you couldn’t even see it at all. The only thing that let us know it was the place was the tall church steeple that stuck out of the snow a while away, with the unmistakable pole of Hellensbray that supported the Empire’s flag.
We descended a tiny slope and came to what seemed like the end of a street. The tops of roofs were lined in front of us with a large gap in the middle. Planks of wood and tiles stuck out at all angles everywhere, and just in the distance I could see five small sheep stumbling through the snow. I sighed.
Glancing at Whirlwind, I watched his horn spark to life and he backed up. I shielded my face from his blast as it shot outward, forcing snow to explode up in its path. When the energy hit a building at the street’s end, it disappeared to reveal a perfect, snow-cleared road between the buildings.
He grinned at me and we stepped onto the stone, listening across the buildings while other unicorns began clearing streets. We needed to hollow out some standing areas, such as the town hall and church. The old safety zone for Hellensbray residents had been destroyed, so it was being evacuated. We have half an hour.
“Storm, go take a look around and find anything that needs tending to.” Ordered Whirlwind, directing me. I saluted and galloped off down the road. I came to the corner and shot my magic in a straight jet in front, continuing along the cobblestone path. I ran for a few seconds longer, then slowed to a stop before a house. Its front was ice-coated. I held my breath and summoned magic. Though this particular type was in my blood, it wasn’t as prominent as my sisters’. Just simple fire or flame-thrower work that would melt the ice to enter the building.
In a moment it exploded from me. A steady, orange flame flickered in a horizontal way from my head and I waved it back and forward, the heat very swiftly softening the ice. When it was dripping and water flowed over my hooves, I let out a blast of green magic and it all smashed. I could see inside the home now. The snow hadn’t got inside, but seeped through only enough to freeze the door. So that’s what all the houses looked like. Huh.
I pursed my lips and backed up, turning a cleared corner. I walked down watching snow erupt over the tops of buildings. Soon it would be just enough for the ponies to get into town to the hall. Whirlwind was doing that, we just needed to rid the roads of snow.
“Aw crap.” I suddenly heard a voice. I drew in a breath of curiously and looked around, peeping from for behind a wall. I then saw a soldier, standing there with his hoof over his mouth.
“Silver Sword? Is that you? What’s wrong?” I asked, coming to his side. He shot me a quick glance, pointed his hoof forward and turned away. I looked across.
I shattered yell ripped through my lips.
It was horrible. Awful.
I couldn’t bear it. He pointed to the open door of a building, where the insides were frozen in ice. But within the ice and snow, frozen, was the body of a stallion. He wasn’t snap-frozen, like exactly in place, but in a pained, collapsing, horror film-like position. Everything was broken, his coat mangled…
Tears welled up and coughed, grabbing Silver around his shoulder and swiftly leading him away. I was nearly in tears. Too much. Far too much.
And there was going to be so much more. How large was the death toll? We, as royals, had to deal with that. Even more, so did the soldiers. It was their duty to… clean up. The families of the dead had to witness that. They had to see their loved ones in this state… dead and frozen and destroyed completely, it was terrible beyond comprehension.
“Come on. Just… go and help the others. Don’t look in any more homes, OK?” I said wearily, allowing to Silver Sword to gallop away. I sighed as I watched him, then made my way around the streets to find Whirlwind and help with the hall. I found him almost instantly, as the place was only a block away, just as he was about to blast through the frozen door. The loud, magical crack rang through the air as it opened, and I ducked to avoid a piece of wood flying over my head.
I looked inside, over his shoulder, and saw that the hall had not been caved in. The roof remained sturdy under the tons of snow, so it was absolutely perfect for the evacuees. It was utterly freezing, but we were able to create a fire to warm things up. I watched as Whirlwind threw upon an extra precaution to the ceiling, strengthening the hold of it to stop the ice crushing the ponies to came in.
“Storm, you go have a quick scan of the place while I conjure up some supplies. We need to make sure it’s perfectly suited, and I think the soldiers are doing the force-field.” Whirlwind said to me. He gave me a quick wink, before walking to the other side of the hall.
I backed up and turned to the stage stairs, trotting up. It seemed to be untouched since it was abandoned; a small microphone sat upon the stage, with a stand covered in sheets of writing. I pursed my lips and walked behind the stage to a door, leading to an equipment room.
I walked in, and suddenly gasped.
I choked and tripped over, stumbling from the place and back to the stone floor of the platform.
It was too unsightly for me. Three ponies, on the floor. Dead, frozen, cold as ice with their features still as perfection. Their eyes and mouths open, clutching each other.
They must’ve been using the hall to escape the Hiems.
Another cry of despair escaped my lips and I ran from the place like a coward, tripping down the stairs and stopping at the edge. I clutched my head with my hooves and closed my eyes. Why was I suddenly so weak?
Soon Whirlwind noticed me. “Storm? Storm, what’s going on?” he cried from across the room, effortlessly teleporting beside me and looking at my face. I opened my eyes and looked at him, as she drew his face up and straightened his neck.
“Sorry, Father. I just… can you… Ugh, handle this for me, I can’t do it.” I whispered, looking away from him.
“What, son?” he demanded sharply, though softly cautious on the side.
“Ponies, in the equipment room. They’re…” I sighed. “I need to go.” I told him flatly, swiftly whipping in a turn from his view, and storming out the smashed door. I walked right through the force-field already surrounding town hall, and stomped down the street. I walked only halfway when I stopped to lean again a pole on a building, just to get my head into place. I’d seen worse.
But perhaps I’d seen too much. What else was bad enough to make me crack? This HAD to be the final straw, then I’d just be weakened to my full extent and get used to it.
I grumbled a curse and stood straight, doing a full turn to examine my surroundings.
Suddenly, I heard a large crack. I winced for some reason. It sounded close. Just a teleporting crack, but still. Was it somepony important? I huffed and walked a few metres, turning around a building to look down the road.
Instantly, I saw a pony standing there. He was looking around wildly. It was Tenebris! Looking a little nervous and confused as to his exact location, he seemed to be searching for somepony.
“Tenebris! Hey, what’s up? Are you OK?” I asked, calling to him. I grinned and approached him, as one of his hooves flew to his head. He looked around, looking incredibly nervous. We walked to face each other, and Tenebris bit his lip.
“Umm… hi Storm!” he said.
“Er, hey TB.” I replied expectantly.
“I have some messages for you and Whirlwind. The first is good news, it just requires some planning of your Father’s. Um, Flare has devised the plan of hers and Wildfires. She um, wants all the soldiers to get off the battlefield, including the dragons, and they need to get sufficient cover.” He told me, blinking regularly to remember everything he needed.
“Hold on,” I cut in. I lit up my horn and pictured Whirlwind, sending a message to him of what he said. It was quick and sharp, but he was clever enough to understand and get everything organized. Knowing Flare, she’d probably contact him directly anyway.
“Yes, and… earlier, after the injured soldiers were brought to the palace, there was an accident. The hospital wing was blown up and it caved in.” Tenebris said.
My heart flipped to my throat. “Oh my stars! Crap, do I need to over there? I can if it’s needed,” I replied, panicked.
“Yes! Er, you do need to. That’s why I came. Everypony seemed to have survived, we were super lucky. But there’s somepony missing that you need to tend to. You’re the only one that will really have the will, says Wildfire,” he continued.
“Who? Tenebris, who are you talking about?” I demanded, looking at him intensely. I began to sweat.
He began to rush. “When Aqua was under the debris and the place smashed, she was helping Gamila. Then a rock landed on her… and she was sucked under the floor and all that.” He said, wincing a little and crouching.
I gasped in an enormous breath to stop myself being sick.
Gamila was missing.
Gamila was injured.
Gamila needed me.
This was the final straw.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Lady Gamila's point of view. It should be... interesting. XD

I slowly, slowly slipped out of my prolonged unconsciousness. My eyes opened but no other senses were regained for the first few minutes, though even my eyes were blurry. I stared ahead but could see nothing, and for a moment thought I was blind. I felt dizzy and my eyes stung over the top of the fact they couldn’t pick up anything.
Soon my ears began to ring, and moving my hoof I heard that I could now recognize sounds properly. Only a moment later did my sense of smell return, catching an overwhelming whiff of chemicals and dust.
Where was I? Chemicals? Rock? Dust? Wood?
I drew in a deep breath, but suddenly felt a sharp pain on the outside of my chest. My ribs hit a sharp rocky outcropping, and as I breathed my mouth filled with horrible fumes and dirt. I coughed and spluttered, hurting my chest even more. I tried to move, but could go nowhere. My legs were caught.
My mind was returning to true thoughts and it was only a moment later when I felt how much pain I was in. I held my breath to stop myself yelling, feeling my legs being crushed under the weight of so many tons. My neck and head throbbed, my back ached, and my eyes were streaming from the dust and poisonous fumes.
And of course, on top of all that, I was frustrated out of my mind. I didn’t know where I was.
I choked a strangled huff of air and strained my tearing-up eyes to see if I could even vaguely recognize. But, it took just seconds to realize there was no way; it was pitch black. My head hurt too much to light my horn, and I was doubting that in this enclosed space I would see anything interesting or helpful
The last memory I had in my mind was outside the hospital with a pony. Who? I couldn’t think. Being knocked unconscious would’ve effected my mind so much. It would’ve also cut off my magic too, most likely. I didn’t want to try.
Would my voice gain attention?
“Hello?” I called, but coughed just after. “Is there anypony there?”
I tried listening for a response, but nothing came. Was I too far under, or was the thick debris blocking my sound? The only solution to that problem was volume. “Anypony? Please? Where are you?” I yelled. It was agonizingly hard, as my ribs couldn’t expand enough for a big breath. “HELP?!”
I had to try! It only required a yell loud enough for somepony to hear me, then they’d simply get me out. Just a yell…
“SOMEPONY help me!” I screamed, feeling my skin puncture from the sharp object on my side. It poked my rib and I grunted in pain, unable to turn and examine the wound. I bit my lip and started to hyperventilate.
Then suddenly there was a stinging sensation. Not sore, and not on my rib.
Oh my horn.
I gasped and struggled to look up, but as I did sparks began to fly. My horn was flashing in milliseconds, spraying tiny sparks of pink light. Without force or consent. On their own. Something my horn never did, as I was so terrible at magic. Something was causing some sort of rupture…
As my horn flickered again, I noticed that just above the point of my horn was a hole in the debris. And seeping from it, came a strangely-coloured liquid that when inhaled through my nose, caused it to sting terribly.
There was hospital chemicals seeping onto me.
As if it could get any worse.
“HELP!” I cried, now having a full-on panic attack. “HELP ME! Please!” I coughed and spluttered, feeling the hot and acidic stuff creeping down the vertical point of my horn and into my face, my mane.
It smelled and I could barely breath, though I was hyperventilating. I didn’t know what it would do to me! I could get away from it, the steady flow of toxic liquid. I couldn’t just wriggle out of reach, the weight of the bricks and marble and other crap paralyzed me and held me there.
I began to sob, my heart racing fast, as I repeatedly jerked my head away from the flow. But no matter where I was positioned, it was able to get onto my face. If I did it wrong, it would seep into my mouth and do so much worse. The longer it stayed on my skin, the hotter it became, sizzling on me.
Why did they have it in a hospital? What was their PROBLEM? Why in the name of Celestia did they need something like that?
The noxious gas was really getting to me, making me cough and cry more than before. I was also trying to imagine all the reasons why they needed it, but I didn’t know what it was in the first place. I wasn’t a doctor, nurse, scientist…
Pony…
I spluttered and squinted into the dark, trying to really see the stuff. I wanted to just move simply a few inches from my position, to move my head. It would give me more time to think until, perhaps, somepony came to rescue me. This was becoming impossible. I struggled, squirming against the insane weight of the crushing palace debris. Not just normal home materials; but marble and stone and bricks. I cried out, as more agonizing weight pressed on my lower body with movement. And as my head jerked once more, my horn stabbed the roof harder.
“No! Stop!” I groaned and screamed, the liquid streaming from its source. How MUCH was there? A tank? “Go away!” I thrust my head backwards and forwards, leaning desperately away. This made my upper body shift, causing more weight to come down.
I was too frightened and insane to really think what was coming. What would happen. I wasn’t intelligent, there WAS no thinking ahead in such a situation. What would Sparkle Flame do? What would Fire Fighter do? What would Wildfire do?
What would Storm do?
What would Storm do?
I thought. Would he come for me? Or was the kingdom and the safety of the citizens more important? I tears up more thinking, but suddenly realized that was ridiculous. Of COURSE the ponies and the Empire were more important, not some retarded, ditzy half-breed he barely knew. I had to do this by myself, or expect another helper.
I bent my neck right around to look down below me. The pain from the stretch was incredible, and I would feel the liquid pouring onto the back of my neck and hooves instead. I winced and ground my teeth together, but all the same I pointed my demented horn into the black crevice of broken brick and marble.
Straining with all my very weak might, I tried to force any magic I had left. If I could just break my lower body away, I could at least get out and allow myself more mobility… it was far too heavy to left, but a blasting reduction spell would probably do it for me.
“Come on…. Please… I don’t want you to fail…” I moaned, beads of sweat escaping my skin. I wanted it to rise, to just get a single jet out…
All of a sudden, the surge of willpower gave me an almighty rush. A spark of flame sped through my body, up my spine, toward my head, through my skull, to my horn. A jet of pink, blinding magic came shooting from the tip, causing sparks to fly from the chemically affected areas of my horn. I gasped in pain, causing my lip to bleed, but in a split second there was an enormous explosion. The magic cracked the rock and sent bits flying, and though it was painful, my legs and hips had been freed.
I groaned in blissful but horribly agonizing relief. I knew everything was broken, and I was so lucky my spin wasn’t affected.
But no.
This wasn’t over.
I wasn’t going to escape. Something beneath my hooves down below had shifted, and it was only then did I realize I hadn’t been gripping anything. It was a stool underneath that had kept me up, and it was gone! I was getting pulled under, and there was no way to stop! I couldn’t kick anything away, support myself with my back legs.
“Help! HELP! SOMEPONY PLEASE!” I wailed, not able to stop myself falling. If I slipped, it was likely the floor would be way too low down or sharp objects and equipment would injure me.
I was hyperventilating, feeling the rubble all around still moving and falling. It was only a building, not an avalanche, but the damage dealt was insane! I had no idea how thick anything was above my head, how anypony could break through or hear through to find me. Reading my mind would do nothing, as all I could see was black. That’s what they’d see if they tried, and sending a mind-message would be even more useless. I couldn’t send one back. My horn was busted.
I was done.
I took a breath and held it, knowing something was going to move any second and send me falling.
I tried to look around but could see nothing.
Then, a heavy weight came falling onto my skull, and it all went black.

* * *
All that appeared were flashes. No true consciousness. No real memories.
Smashing. Yelling. Gasping. Breathing. Heat. Contact. I could see nothing, only what my other senses received.
The pain was unimaginable, I couldn’t even focus on my subconscious thoughts and feels that were coming and going. What else had the fall done to me?
I didn’t know how long it was before I could finally see. Not hear, not smell. I could only blurrily visualize everything right in front of me, the figures in slow and strangely unrecognizable movements. I tried to speak, but I simply felt a moan and no words come. I couldn’t think of any ponies who could be around me to name or call for. Just spotted colours that danced before my eyes.
Soon my hearing returned, and babbling voices echoed in my head. It took me a while to figure out their sentences.
“We need to move her…”
“All of them…”
“The dungeons…”
“Storm, she’s coming back…”
“Flare’s orders…”
“NOW.”
“NOW.”
“NOW.”
…
I screeched in pain as my body was lifted by something invisible, and I was draped over a hard object. I was moving, and my lolling eyes opened. We were going fast, and bumpy, and my vision was coming back.
“Help me… I’m… where’s he… Storm Cloud…” I mumbled.
The voice came so quick. So close. “Gamila. My sweetheart…” he gasped. We were still going. I was lying on a pony’s back. The voice was oh-so familiar. “It’s Storm Cloud. I’m so, so sorry. We need to get away, we’re nearly done, Flare needs us to go.”
His speech was full of crying, but I could feel so much relief in his tone.
“I have to talk… Storm, please talk to me!” I begged, now feeling a swing of consciousness.
“There’s no time! We need to go. You need to go into the dungeons and wait until it’s all over.”
“I want to know… let me see… let me be with you, please…” I groaned.
“You can’t! You can’t even walk. I need to watch, I need you safe.” He replied, sniffing.
“I want to…”
“Gamila, stop! You need to wait in the dungeons, no matter how hard it is. I can’t risk it, and I don’t know how dangerous it’ll be for me,” he started again.
“STORM! Please, I have to come! I don’t know why… let me, I need to. It’s your Empire, I have to see it stop,” I didn’t understand my own sentences, but I was sure he would. I didn’t know why I wanted to go with him, but I couldn’t bear the dungeons after my past ordeal. I needed him, and only him. I need to see his war end.
I wanted to see his face as they came victorious.
I… had to share it.
“Please.” I begged.
Abruptly, the movement stopped. He stood still, and I felt him breath a few deep, slow breaths.
“Gam… it’s hard. OK, I don’t want to endanger you. All the ponies are in the dungeons, and it was Flare’s orders to keep them safe. That includes you. Your father is there too, and what will he do if he finds out you went with me?” he sighed.
“He’d be outraged. I HAVE to come.” I could really get my words out now. I was firm, too. I was not going to let him put me back there. I looked up, and he turned to meet my eyes. He looked in, trying to be tough too, but I was now overpowering him. It was just to see this happen.
“Alright… fine. We’ll go. Gam, you and I will be in so much trouble.”
“It’s just to watch the magic.” I grinned, nudging his nose with my muzzle.
Finally, he turned to head to the palace roof. I knew where we were going.
As he galloped, I felt his horn alight. In an instant, we were teleported to the palace roof, on a wall joining two of the tallest spires. I was still on his back, and we could see over the entire Empire. It was so vast, so white. Though most was coated in storms, we could see it. The storm over the castle had been cleared, so we could really see.
“There. It’s going to burn up all the Hiems… Wild’s and Flare’s magic, I mean. I don’t know if Flare knows exactly what she’s doing, but…” he ended his sentence in another sigh. “Soon… it’ll all be over.” A small smile crept across his face. He then used his magic to scoop me up and place me delicately on the ground. He lay down next to me, and I panted in horrid pain.
“You OK?” he asked, concerned.
“Yeah, just… whoa this will be so much worse later. I think I’m like dying or something.” I laughed weakly.
“Oh my… you’re hurt super bad.” He said.
“Well… what exactly happened? I was out… I didn’t know.” I said.
“Hmm… I arrived at the castle after Tenebris told me you were missing. We searched for quite a while, until suddenly a slope and crack started to form. I knew there must’ve been movement beneath, so I blasted in all away and found you underneath. You were caught on the floor of the crevice, wedged between some bricks. I was absolutely terrified for you as I teleported you out, and basically I was crying and stressed from then on. You were barely breathing, I tried resuscitation and examined your body, but I could scarcely think. I had no time to talk when you came around, and that’s when I dragged you off toward the dungeons.” He told me. He pursed his lips and looked down at me. I was too exhausted to think much, absently watching his scarlet hair blow in the light wind.
With a small sigh and a wince from the deep cut in my rips, I looked back at the blinding white view of the Empire. Soon. Soon it would happen. All over. Why had this not been sooner? All the suffering… it was a bad decision of Aka’s to allow Flare to follow Whirlwind. That could’ve cost the lives of so many… and it did. But who was I to get angry at the Queen? She was a good pony but… she could be foolish. I barely knew her but it was so obvious.
I blinked and glanced back at Storm, who momentarily snapped back from what seemed like a trance. He flicked an ear and addressed me. “Alright. They’re ready. It was quick, she needed to get the message out to them all. Flare and Wildfire are positioned on either side of the Empire and Flare’s devised a special spell to cover the entire land.” He blew out a puff of air, seeming scared and anticipating. “You ready?”
“Oh Storm, definitely!” I beamed, eyes lighting up. They were finally ready. Would it be dangerous? Or just hot? It would be so magnificent, the final blow at the Hiems. Latinix was gone. Soon they’d be free… Soon the war, our war, the Empire’s war, would be over. All they needed were the Fire Alicorns, and that would just… do it. It seemed like so long, such a painful wait and a fight against the threat. The Princess’s endangered lives, the deaths of the citizens, the injuries of the soldiers, the unpaid volunteering from the dragons, the slaughter of Latinix.
All led up to one final moment in time.
And we never expected it to be done by Flare.
It was only just hitting me.
“I’m getting it! They’re counting down.” Gasped Storm, standing with one hoof touching my shoulder. He was bouncing on the tips of his hooves.
“Ten.” He murmured.
“Nine.” I whispered.
“Eight.”
“Seven.”
“Six.”
“Five,” I cringed.
“Four,” his eyes widened.
“Three!” I huffed.
“Two!” He yelled.
“ONE!” we cried together.
The first explosions were huge. Two bangs on either side of the Empire. Though we could not see them, by far, the small dashes of colour and the vibrating shockwave could be felt. A few seconds passed, before we could see two tidal waves sweeping over the land, one orange and one hot pink. It was one of the most spectacular sights I’d seen! Oceans of great colour flowing like a translucent sheet, expanding to cover the tops of the raging storms. The lightning beneath just made everything more amazing, giving fireworks of light here and there.
It sparkled and soared, and the air began to warm up. They flowed close and closer, and they were both in full view on either side. I was getting agitated. It was coming.
I looked at Storm with a huge grin on my face. But, as I eyed him, it wasn’t the same. His eyes bulged, his throat was tight, and he seemed to lean away slightly. Afraid, or surprised.
“Storm, are you OK? It’s nearly finished!” I said, my eagerness nearly fading.
“No, Gam. Flare was right about getting inside. Getting cover,” he pressed.
“Why? It’s hot, but it’s not going to kill us,” I said.
“When those two rivers of magic touch, they are going to explode. They won’t really hurt anything beneath like a true explosion, but the explosion is supposed to create a bigger, secondary shockwave of fire magic out, to REALLY kill the Hiems. That shockwave is DANGEROUS to living things! Not buildings, creatures.” He said urgently. I tried to grasp that with my weakened mind. I looked out, worried, to the auras flowing closer together. They were nearly there. They were going to touch.
“No. Oh my goodness, no.” said Storm, hyperventilating.
I started to panic, and Storm was over it. He couldn’t think, clearly, and I couldn’t stand.
The auras were covering miles per second. There was barely a few miles between the edges. They were going to touch and explode!
“Run, Storm, RUN!” I screeched. Storm yelled, and all of a sudden the bang was sounded.
An explosion so huge I could barely hear. So catastrophic and so loud it blasted out my brain for the split second of touching. And the HEAT. The wave of insane, intense, FLAMING hotness came swooping toward us, a physical, blurred barrier of sound and destruction and fire.
“GAMILA!” screamed Storm. The heat wave, the shock, the horrific wall of magical fire hit us at that moment. I screamed in horrid agony, all the cells in my body raging with burning inferno. I tried to move but I couldn’t. At all. I could hear Storm yelling my name and cursing in my ears, before I felt his strong hoof wrap around me. I opened my eyes and could see only flowing rivers of pink and orange air, and suddenly Storm jumped.
I screamed again and wrapped my hooves around his neck, and he held me so tight I could barely breathe. We were falling, dropping, down from the bridge of the palace. The flaming air ravaged on, and suddenly, I felt Storm’s face close to me. He pressed his lips to mine, and I buried my face onto his own. My tears flowed and so did his, and holding each other’s bodies, we fell.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Murder Rose's point of view.

My body was stinging. Aching.
Burning.
Both from the fall, and the magic. The fire, and the power.
That we’d survived.
My eyes opened and the first sight that came was Swooper’s maimed and cut face. I couldn’t help feeling a pang of remorse for the poor filly and what I’d dragged her into. But as my sore head lifted, I could see Angel on the other side of her. Neither of them were unconscious, but in a state of shocked slumber that they’d awaken from in a second. I took that time to check where we were.
The small, dirty cavern’s air was smoldering hot, and a steady flow of trickling water was falling in from the tunnel at the top. When the magic started, from I have no idea where, I blasted a hole in the ground and pulled Swooper in with me. I didn’t know that Angel survived. But, she was there.
Hesitating to think it, I came to the swift conclusion that Glory saved himself. He would soon find us when we escaped. I also just assumed that the water was melted ice. The ocean of fire magic was the doing of the Fire Alicorn two, finally saving the Empire.
We’d escaped when Aka attacked Latinix, and we fled. We’d roamed the Empire, not wanting to leave, but we were too late as we didn’t know of the damage the fire could possibly do to us. We were fine, however, and needed to get moving.
I stood, bending over and crouching. The roof was impossibly low and badly crafted. It was made in a second, and I did an OK job. As I moved about, Swooper’s golden eyes opened and she looked blankly up at me.
“Swooper, are you alright?” I asked with concern but in my dangerously flat voice.
“Yes, I… think so,” she blinked, wincing. The blood was pouring from cuts in her head and the side of her face was severely burned. I didn’t know what injuries I’d sustained, but I was far used to pain. I tucked my mane behind my ears and helped her up. Her wings were hurt again. She definitely wouldn’t be flying for a while.
“Angel, come on,” I murmured in slight frustration. Her eyes slowly opened, the green of her glaring pupils staring at me. I bit my lip and looked away. I was just easily peeved off. She rolled over and stood straight, despite the amount of severe injuries and blood she too had.
After standing and looking toward the steep tunnel entrance, she addressed me suspiciously. “Where’s Glory?” she asked.
“I have no idea.” I replied darkly. She snorted back at me and I grabbed both mares, teleporting to the surface. We stood ankle-deep in water, and the area was completely different. I didn’t seem to have the capacity to process it, however, and I could sense that Angel was getting stressed.
“Where is Glory?” she continuously demanded, storming back and forth. I knew he was safe. She should calm down! I didn’t know how to comfort her, and I had no intention to.
“Pssh, he’ll be fine. Come on Swooper, we’ll go to the Everfree Forest and seek out a new place,” I started.
“WE’RE NOT GOING WITHOUT GLORY!” Angel roared suddenly. What was that girl’s problem? I snapped, flaring my nostrils at her. I approached her and huffed repeatedly, horn sparking. NOBODY yells at me. I was too far used to my higher rank.
“Rose! Don’t, OK? Save this for another matter…” whispered Swooper, silently dashing to my ear. I huffed, overly frustrated, but agreed. Swooper knew best. An argument was best for… later. Something more serious.
“Alright fine. When we find him, you go with your boyfriend. Swooper and I will get on with our professions.” I mumbled. She didn’t hear most of it, as she took a wonky flight and began searching through the melted and watery forest ground. I sloshed through the flow and as I slowly trudged after Angel, I blasted obstacles away in my rage. I was also trying to get out for nervousness. The longer we lingered around, the quicker we’d be seen.
But perhaps the palace was too busy with their own matters. And we were far away.

* * *
I slumped against a tree, tending to my many injuries and helping Swooper with her own. We were bored. I had NO motivation to look for Angel’s boyfriend. I didn’t like him and I never agreed to have him with us really.
But it was only when I heard her cry out, did I pay true attention.
“Rose! Come here! COME HERE NOW!” she yelled. Swooper glanced at me for approval, and after nodding we silently dashed off in the direction of her frantic voice. We quickly reached the edge of the tree line, looking out on a large, circular meadow. Just across and down, I could see where we came out of our hidey-hole.
Angel was standing a few metres from the edge of the forest, icy water all around her hooves. Next to her was a dark shape, and we approached it. Whether it was Glory or not, I had no interest in being upset for either of them. Swooper, on the other hand, wore a look of mild concern.
“Rose, Swooper… it’s him… I can’t… see is he…” she half-cried, half-hyperventilated. She was struggling to breath and looked horridly upset, the tears clogging her vision.
“Let me check.” I said. I stood over the still, burned and ravaged figure, placing a hoof upon the side of his neck. I listened. Felt. Hard. I lit up my horn and tried to summon an indication of life, but nothing seemed to come to me. I felt a pang of regret, but he wasn’t my business. I killed ponies for a living, and this guy was dead.
“Well?” demanded Angel, green eyes dangerously flashing through the tears.
I sighed. “Yes, he’s gone. I’m sorry angel. The fire magic was too dangerous. It would have killed him instantly.”
My words were harsh. Very harsh. They lashed out at Angel and I almost felt bad for what I’d said, as I knew that Swooper was the only one almost dear to me. But Dark Glory was dead, and I didn’t care for it anymore. I silently watched as an expression of terror and hatred spread through Red Angel’s eyes, the words sinking into her dark soul. She slowly looked at me, the heavy salt water flowing from her eyelids.
“YOU HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE MARE!” screamed the Pegasus all of a sudden. “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? HE’S DEAD, MY COMPANION, my love!” she wailed, she screeched. I gasped shortly and nudged Swooper away.
“I know he’s gone. Don’t lash at me; kill the royals.” I hissed dangerous, sizing up to her.
“NO! THIS IS YOUR FAULT, MURDER ROSE! This was your fight, yours, and now GLORY IS DEAD! HOW? HOW COULD YOU?” she begged in her ultimate rage.
“Don’t you DARE blame this on me!” I half yelled. “This was NOT me. You have to STOP THIS NOW!” I screamed.
“Rose, please stop,” murmured Midnight Swooper.
“WHAT IF I WAS TO KILL YOUR PRECIOUS LITTLE COMPANION?” roared Angel, wings flaring.
“DON’T touch her!” I screamed, rearing and shooting a bolt of magic at her. She yelled and leapt out of the way, as the magic hit Glory’s body.
“NO! STOP!” she screamed. The tears were pouring out now. I felt no sympathy.
“AAARGH!” I screamed, eyes becoming hot against my will. I got it out by throwing jet after jet of power at Glory’s mangled corpse. “YOU TURNED YOUR BACK ON ME FOR A STALLION! YOU… AAARGH!” I screamed.
“Stop! Stop! STOP, ROSE, PLEASE!” she cried and begged.
“Rose! Please!” repeated Swooper like an echo. I couldn’t help myself. I was just too angry.
Angel screamed and collapsed to the ground, seeing a couple more jets hit the ground by her boyfriend. The blood over her body seeped into the melting, watery, snowy ground, spilling everywhere. It mixed with the mild blood from Glory.
I released my magic and stopped, panting. I watched Red Angel bury her face into Glory, sobbing and crying. I backed up and stood by Swooper, who looked up at me with mixed emotions. “Rose… I don’t… aagh…” she whispered, very teary. I just stared at her through my blue eyes and shook my head. I wiped a streak of blood-stained sweat and watched Angel mourn horrifically, before grabbing Swooper’s shoulder. I teleported, sucking us into my red flame.
We exploded from the teleportation tube and fell onto mossy, cold, forest ground. I looked around at the thorns and vines and tight trees, knowing we were in the Everfree Forest, Equestria. I rolled onto my side and stood, cringing from the growing pain.
“Rose… we should have stayed. To help her…” moaned Swooper, looking at me with a pained expression.
“No. No, I never want to see her again.” I growled back, wiping blood from my face. She opened her mouth to say something but hesitated, standing to distantly follow me. I sighed. “Swooper. Don’t be mad at me, OK?” I hissed, with a bit of sadness in my voice.
“I’m not mad, Rose, I just… did you see her? With Glory?” she drew in a short breath and seemed to be stifling a small sob.
“I know, I know. It… reminds you of your boyfriend. But she’s angry at me and she’ll track us, Midnight Swooper.” I said warningly. “She is renowned in the assassin’s world for her ability to hunt down and kill her target. Once she’s past her mourning, and I don’t know why she’s angry, but she’ll get both of us. We need to set up a new life here until we find someplace else.”
“I understand…” she shuddered.
“Whatever you do, no matter what is there, you can’t go into the Empire. The palace will be hunting us as fiercely as Angel. Aka SAW us with Latinix, OK?” I said sternly, huffing. I started walking down through the thickest of trees in the forest. Swooper came closer to me, and we were soon gone in the blackness of the woods.

[Kodabomb]

This is written from Fire Fighter's point of view. NEARLY done everypony!

I stumbled, staggered, to the door of the palace. My head throbbed and I tried to lean on something from the dizziness. I hadn’t really recovered, and I’d mildly hurt myself whilst in the dungeons. What seemed like thousands of ponies, though probably only a few hundred, came out of the doors too, staring about in wonder at the sight.
The hot hair hit me in the face, and I looked down in surprise to see the water flowing around my hooves. I hadn’t experienced such warmth in a long time… the air, hot with the flames from the magic and still sort of… sparkling. Though clouds still swirled around, they were soft with white and grey reflecting the gold and pink of the setting sun. I could see snow on the rooftops and I was sure there’d be more across the land but… they were gone.
The Hiems.
They had been wiped from existence.
We travelled in unison from the palace, all of us admiring the sun and the sky and the water in mesmerized wonderment. Voices were quiet. Hoofsteps were steady. The feeling of hope was filling me, and I didn’t even bother to look for my kin. I simply walked out the guards, guests, servants, nurses, townsponies. Bathing in the setting sunshine and feeling the gorgeous wash of relief and glory fill our hopeful hearts.
The air, filled with magic. Though blood was spilled, we could only smell an overwhelming scent of love. Unison. Forgotten and banished pain.
I was too forgetting the agonized nerves and torn skin all over. Those feelings were too overpowering for that physical pain. I breathed in and out, eyes becoming hot. We exited the smashed and absolutely ruined walls of the palace to walk down the devastated main road, leading to the massive city square. It was the same road we charged down at the siege of Wildfire’s rule. Memories burned forever in my mind, but the peace of that ending implanted in my heart.
We ended up the square. Like a gravitational pull. I felt no urge or need to return to palace to search for my fellows. It was the same for all the ponies; even from across the Empire all of them seemed to be drawn to the heart of Laheb City, with the shattered fountain in the centre and melted snow flowing all around. It was cold and wet, but the warmth of the fire magic was far more.
I simply stood there, at the edge of the square, watching in admiration while ponies from all over slowly gathered to increase the number. The silence was frequently broken by the cries those who lost their loved ones, small foals who were in shock from everything, wails of joy from those reuniting with their folk, and prayers of hope from some for everypony around them. I glanced around and just entering the square was Apis and Shining Armour. Draped over Shining Armour was a horribly badly bleeding Gamila, and over Apis was my brother in the same state. I winced with concern, but knew they’d be alright.
The square was now packed with so many ponies, I didn’t know the area could hold them all. Lines of crowds stretched down the street, and though the numbers were enormous, the silence was throttling. Throttling… but calming.
Only a few minutes later did Whirlwind come in on the other side. I smiled at his entrance, and then looked in his direction of vision. Aka came in too, burnt and suited in armour. She looked stunning. That was when my parents ran to each other, clutching one another in their hooves and walking emotionally to where I stood. I noticed that as they came, all the others royals that had gathered came too. I didn’t hear much or notice it really, but they were all reuniting. Aka wrapped her hoof around my shoulders and kissed my cheek. I smiled and closed my eyes.
I heard roaring and whirling air from around, and saw dragons landing down the streets and lumbering up to the backs of the crowds, towering above the buildings that surrounded them. Then, as the air began to swirl further, I looked directly above the centre of the square to see an enormous dragon swooping down. He was orange and black and magnificent, breathing small breaths of flame at random intervals.
He soon landed, arching his back to avoid the spear of the fountain’s statue, and I gasped with a huge beaming smile at the sight. Upon his back were two alicorn fillies; the saviors of the Empire.
I watched Aka sigh in gratitude. “Jewel Empire,” she said calmly, just loud enough for everypony to hear. “The grand heroes of the Hiem War! Princesses Wildfire and Flare!” she called.
Applause erupted from everywhere, in perfect harmony from all the ponies. A few fireworks came from multiple unicorns, and Flare lead a blushing Wildfire from the dragons back and onto the smashed cobblestone street. They stood, side-by-side, and to allow them to bathe in their glory, everypony simply cheered for them in their place near one another. It was just magical, watching my own sister and the pony who came to by my sister, wave to the citizens whilst smiling in thanks.
“We would all love to thank these girls so much. Though Flare organized the ultimate plan and carried it out with the help of Wildfire, we could never, ever have done it without our soldiers, archers, visiting royals and of course, the dragons!” yelled Whirlwind at the top of his regal lungs. Cheering blew out again and everyone was yelling for their saviors. A small tear came to my eye. The dragons all around then exploded with different colours of flame, into the air forming a beautiful circle of light against the setting sky.
In a moment all was quiet. Aka and Whirlwind seemed slightly lost for words, as there seemed no more speeches to be given. The thankfulness shown by the ponies toward the war heroes spoke for itself, and there seemed no awkwardness. We just… stood, in the darkened light, warmed by the company of our fellows. Thinking, not waiting for somepony to talk. The water ran off the cobble and around our hooves, but didn’t seem cold any longer.
We were at peace.
Finally.
But, I only became curious when one single pony came from the crowd.
Horrifically decorated in her own injuries, limping slightly and looking behind her shoulder at her friends, Aqua walked silently away from the crowded circle over to the fountain. She looked left and right at Flare and Wildfire, hesitantly climbing onto the cracked rim of the structure. The dragon standing over took to the sky for a moment and settled a way away with his fellows, leaving Aqua to stand gorgeously between Flare and Wild.
Then, closing her eyes, her horn was lit up and conjured a single, small, sparkling item. A simple silver flute, that she held to her lips in her magic with her eyes still closed. Taking a small, delicate breath, she blew into the instrument.
For a few seconds, I dissolved into the gorgeous sound of multiple quiet, long notes being drawn out. And in an instant, the hushed crowd of ponies seemed to recognize that very tune. The voices, they spread slowly, soon covering all of them in a wave of music. Their choir, singing in the most united fashion I’d ever listened to. A tune that, in that setting, crept into my heart and settled like nothing ever had for me.
“Our Empire's so lovely
It's beauty's untold
It's the sun of the earth and
The country of gold.

We are equal as ponies
We all have the rights
Rivalry is forgotten
And within us no fights.

Jewel Empire, shining kingdom
It's magic is deep
It bathes in the beauty
And the love we all need.

We come as one strength and
We all have one heart
And we fight side by side
And will not come apart.

Shrouded in the flames
Of the sweet warmth of love
As well as the winds
From the angels above.

Jewel Empire, shining kingdom
It's magic is deep
It bathes in the beauty
And the love we all need.

Nopony's forgotten
Together we stand
Earth ponies, Pegasi and
Unicorns share one land.

Jewel Empire, shining kingdom
It's magic is deep
It bathes in the beauty
And the love we all need. ”
By the time I had finished, tears were streaming from my eyes that I didn’t give consent to, and in the silence of the finished song, I chuckled whilst wiping them from my face.
I knew it was not planned, but again an instinct of mine and my family’s just… came.
“Jewel Empire,” said Whirlwind.
“Shining Kingdom,” smiled Aka.
“It’s magic is deep,” I whispered.
“It bathes in the beauty,” sang Sparkle Flame.
“And the love we all need.” Chorused the entire lasting population of the Empire, as Wildfire and Flare threw themselves into the sky, creating a pink and orange flaming shape, of the emblem against the stars.

[Kodabomb]

- Three Months Later -