Celestia began to read the report of what had happened during the last week, and she did not like the contents of it. An army consisting of all the nations not forcefully annexed into Equestria, Ellion, the crew of the dishonored and now the surviving members of her attack on Ardelan were gathering up for support. And just when Ryborians were the least of her problems, there was one thing that sent fear into her heart The return of her sister. Celestia began to worry. If they were to win an upcoming battle, then they can head directly towards Equestria with little opposition. It was time that she unleashed her best of the best. It was time to not only send it the elite units of the Equestrian army, The Solar Flares. But unveil her secret weapon to a very special Ryborian. He bet her weapon once, but can he do it again?
Obsidian and Redscale were flying around. Waiting for the dragons to carry his allies to the Crustal Empire had made him mildly impatient. They landed near the edge of a forest, a good distance from everyone else. "Your friends. They are very powerful child. Do you truly believe you are worthy of being amongst them?" Obsidian smirked at the dragon and replied in his tongue. "I have already proven I am enough of an asset. Plus, with you at my side, nothing can stop us on the battlefield." He stomped his hoof, and heard a strange sound. He moved his hoof and saw a small red shard of what appeared to be a unicorn's horn. He picked it up, and felt the energy that he had gained from Nightmare Moon stop something from hitting him from within the shard. The dark energy drained from him and the shard. "This once was quite evil... It is far less now... We should move, brother." The dragon nodded and response and took off the moment Obsidian was on his back. Obsidian hid the shard in the bindings of his book as they returned.
"I'm not really fancying the idea of riding dragons...", Yclept said timidly, then hesitantly climbed onto the nearest dragon
Silver did his best to avoid speaking to the Dragons. The Lunar Pegasi race had a millenia old feud with the Dragon race, who looked down on the "Dragon-Ponies" as weak imitations. The Lunar Pegasi, Silver included, respected the Dragons' strength, but thought of them as greedy and cowardly.
Within two hours, Venquis arrived at the Capital of the Crystal Empire after having an express flight under the orders of the utmost importance. It was about noon and Venquis had to perform his ritual later on in the night, but not before he could see what the matter was. The moment he touched down, dozens of Crystal Guards escorted the Ryborian towards the Palace. Civilians looked in awe at one of the very last Ryborians not in Windaria. After a short walk, he arrived at the palace where Princess Candace ruled her kingdom. While Equestria enjoys having a mostly monarch based government, Ardelan had a simular monarch based government but would sometimes be ruled by Ryborian Elders, extremely respected individuals who are near the end of their life. While it is not public information, Venquis was the last living royal family member of the prestigious and enormously influential Razona line. He had to watch the rest of his family get slaughtered by Equestrians alongside the rest of his race during the war, being only one in seven hundred that remained instead of the previous fifty thousand. As he was escorted into the palace, he noticed various Ryborian like paintings, sculptures and design. He even noticed the architecture of the palace itself was Ryborian based. Whoever lived there before or currently was either a fan of Ryborian artwork or had received them as a gift from the Black War. He then made it directly towards the throne room, where he seen a pink youthful looking alicorn on the throne.
Yclept was waiting for everypony else to take off before he did, keeping ready to teleport, or jump just incase
Cobra was the next to take off. The dragon seemed friendly, following the orders given to him. Cobra followed behind Obsidian moving alongside him as the dragons conversed in their native Tongue. "Everything seems to be running smoothly. How long till we arrive and the dragons are ready".
(Have quite a plot twist in store) Celestia had her elite guards carry a body directly to the palace. There were about fifty guards escorting Celestia’s elite, and another 100 regular soldiers for additional support. The body was hidden from view from the general public to hide the identity of the body at all costs. The body was dead, lifeless, and had no heart or brain function at all. Not since the owner of the body was known to have died many years before, and was one of the strongest living beings in history. They carried the body directly in front of Celestia’s throne where she sat and placed it on a stone table. Celestia had a sadistic smile on her face, but also a look of worry. She did not know if the next “Project” would even work. Just as she stood up and walked around the body several times to study it, her scientists and mages came to her and began to study as well. “Can you do it?” The Phoenix queen said. “Can you bring him back to life?” “It’s risky your majesty. Even if we brought him back to life, what if he were to turn rogue or join our enemies. These are just some of the variables that we mu-“Said the head scientist before he was cut off by the queen. “Can..you...do..it?” Celestia said again, her tone slightly picking up now. “Yes, your majesty. If everything works out according to plan, he should be ‘alive’ by the end of the night. We shall begin immediately.” The scientists and mages then stood still as Celestia opened the upper half of the cover on the body, to reveal a Ryborian with a brilliant white mane and beard. Once she finished her study on the Ryborian, the scientist and mages took the body downstairs and the guards and soliders went down to resume their positions. Celestia sat back down on her throne and had an evil yet smug smile on her face. “Dovian Frenzia, ‘The White Reaper’. My sister will never see him coming....”
(Ironically... I may have a dead man perfect to counteract that... Remember the horn shard that Obsidian accidentally half-purified when he picked it up? Yay for almost purified Sombra shard >.<) Obsidian flew around his friends who were boarding their dragons. He smiled quietly at them as some seemed to have a problem with riding the dragons. He started to laugh slightly, covering his mouth with his hoof.
Star Shimmer tentatively approached one of the dragons. The dragon lowered its head to get a better look at the strange pony, and something must've sparked in it brain because upon getting a good look at her, the dragon's eyes lit up. Not realizing the dragon's affinity for jewels, the crystal pony smiled back and hopped aboard, greatly confusing her mount. After all, jewelry wasn't supposed to move, and it certainly wasn't supposed to ride dragons, unless they dangled from a chain. The dragon simply assumed that the crystal pony, who seemed to be chatting with him, was some sort of golem, and that maybe he would add the golem to his board at a later time...
Nightmare Moon transformed herself into an ethereal cloud of blue smoke and flew after the Dragons. Silver picked up Holly, stretched his wings and flew after her. As he did, he heard one of the Dragons snickering behind him. "Look at that... there goes the pathetic pony princess and her pet half-breed." Silver turned, set Holly down, and flew at the Dragon. He landed a brutal kick to the creature's throat, stunning it. The dazed Dragon's head hit the ground and it's tongue rolled out into the dirt. Silver stepped on the tongue, holding it in place. As the Dragon roared in pain and frustration, Silver drew his sword and pressed it threateningly against the creature's tongue. "You will learn to hold your tongue, lizard, or I will take it from you. Understood?" The helpless Dragon nodded bitterly, and Silver released it. He picked up Holly, and flew away after the Dark Princess.
The camp located near the Crystal Empire’s border was becoming larger and larger, with more soldiers arriving each day. The glow from their campfires could be seen as far as their capital, faint but there in the horizon. It appeared that the Generals were beginning to catch on that the Crystal Empire was expecting major reinforcements from all the races, from Ryborian survivors to Zebra and Dragon. The generals under the leadership of General Dusk Terra, had agreed to push into the empire sooner than later. Their invasion would now happen tomorrow afternoon instead of the morning two days from then. It seemed that they were going to take them off guard, but the dragon nuisance was becoming much more of a problem and were ordered to shoot down any dragon within a kilometre from the campsite. By now, Equestria had not only outnumbered the Crystal Empire and their allies by 10 to one, but they were very well armed and disciplined to some extent, only surpassed by the Ryborians and their ludicrously long experience of combat and magic. If their situation got worse, Celestia would be sending Equestrian Rangers who were considered much more skilled than their regular counterparts. And if the Rangers were taken down, she would be sending the Solar Flares, the best of the best in the Equestrian Military and also act as her guard. It will be a nightmarish day for the Crystal Empire. For when they arrive at the battlefield, it is already too late.
Yclept finally took to the sky, seeing that the main group had taken off & he called out as he went up,"see you on the other side!"
"Double time". He shouted at the dragon who started to pick up speed. At this rate he was going to get to the capital in under 4 hours.
Cadence greeted Venquis with a broad smile. Then, as if remembering her station, she bowed to him, then chirped, "You'll have to forgive my excitement...it's really out of place, it would seem, but Auntie Celestia told me stories of the Ryborians, but I never thought I would actually get to meet one!" She coughed, and her tone became more serious. "I really wish we could've met under better circumstances, but this is, what it is. I've called you here to confirm our allegiance; My Aunt- I mean, Celestia, who my informants tell me has taken to calling herself 'The Phoenix Queen'... I'm sorry, where was I? Ah, yes. The Phoenix Queen had an ambush set up for me during my recent excursion to the Badlands. The Changelings are alive and well, but under new leadership it seems..." She turned away from the Ryborian as her horn glowed with bluish light. As she did this, four large stallions rose from the floor. They were completely made of crystal, but they wore expressions that suggested a golem, or a suit of armor. "The Adamant Guard," she explained. "They were created by my husband, Shining Armor, and fueled by the power of his love for me." She sighed, a tear coming to her eye. "It's truly a testament that they still work so long after his death..." She then smiled at Venquis. "They are yours. Twelve in all. They are completely immune to magic, and can withstand much damage. They are yours to do with what you will." Before dismissing him, she had one more thing to mention: "My messengers also informed me that you have the Amethyst Witch in your custody. If you get to her before my guards do, escort her here, would you? I would like to have a conversation with her in private."
Obsidian landed first, and waved his dragon off before walking into the old regal looking building. He immediately sneezed loudly from the excessive dust. "Oh, excuse me... This place not seen visitors in quite long time. What is it..." Obsidian sat on a stone edge near one of the walls and pulled out his journal to write down everything that had happened since leaving Ellion. The battle with the duelists. The battle that birthed the Dishonored. The battle at sea. The rebirth of Nightmare Moon. The story of Sombra and the Witch. He sighed and smiled at the pages of the book, gently closing it and turning to the door, waiting for the rest of his companions to show up. He felt that at least having his recount of the story of their group written down would help somehow, someday.
Before the dragon landed Yclept teleported onto the ground,"hello...", he said as he apeared next to obsidian
(Well. Crap, my last post about what happened to Ven got deleted accidentally. So i will just say what happened. Ven thanks Candace for her support in the fight but feels saddened that she has lost Shining Armor. He leaves and finds a intact Ryborian church in the city where he begins to prepare his ritual. As he was preparing, his companions arrive nearby and walks out the front door to great them.) Venquis looked outside to see Obsidian arrive from his dragon. He waved at him to signal his presence and walked over. He was drawing on the abandoned churches floors for his ritual. Before his companions arrived, there were magical symbols all over the floor and almost going virtually on walls and the ceiling in a white chalk like material. "Greatings Obsidian. I have some good news for our companions. It seems that we are getting extra help in the fight. Also, love how you just set up events in the RP. Fantastic work mah man!
The so-called "Amethyst Witch" landed next, for which her mount, a young dragon by the name of Israfel, was eternally grateful. He had learned more about crystal ponies than he ever decided he needed to know, as Star Shimmer had talked his ear off for the entire flight. Incidentally, half of the things she told him, he already knew... As she slid off of his neck, Star mentioned, "We should do this again sometime." To which, Israfel rolled his eyes and replied, "Sure." After dismounting, Star took in the scenery, as she knew that it might be her last time ever seeing it. She quickly noticed her companions, as well as a small troop of guardsponies.
Silver watched the Crystal Guards warily. If they moved to arrest Star Shimmer, he would intervene. Whatever her past, her skills were undeniable. She was too important a resource to lose. Nightmare Moon was standing next to Silver, absentmindly petting Holly. She was anxious to get to the Crystal Palace and see Cadance.
