[Attack!] The Spire Burns (Open)

[SteelEagle]

The clouds that had been advancing towards the Empire seemingly stopped just outside of the heart of the city, leaving half of the city in sunlight and the rest in shadow. The edge of the advancing cloudfront roiled in a light brown that covered everything inside, as if the sun was caught within and not allowing the rays to escape to the world beyond. It was a sight equal parts beautiful and puzzling. After all, this was the type of vision one might see at the start of the day but not one you expected to see up close and in such a huge and rolling series of concentrated clouds. It looked anything but natural and everyting that the weather teams would try to avoid making. A few looked up and wondered what they were and still others just marveled at the beauty, but nopony really looked into what it meant. Not that at this stage it would have mattered much. The decisions had already been made and the die cast.

Bright flashes from within like lightning and a booming sound that many misheard as thunder, even as weather pegasi looked at each other in alarm. A pause. Another flash, another boom. Then another. Then two. And then a barrage of sound and lights from within, finally grabbing the attention of those below. Each light struck now with a different hue but hedging towards a series of dark oranges and flashes of incomprehensible blue and white. The sound of booms, cracks, splintering of great wood, and retorts most couldn't place. Some could and guards and other knowledgeable ponies alike started to run about, adding to the confusion on the ground and in the sky. The lights and sounds continued to increase in pace and fury for a few more seconds until it was unending.

And then silence. For a few seconds there was blissful silence, long enough that a few ponies started to look down and wonder just what had been that light and sound show above. It was then that the true nature of the event started to reveal itself. Falling out of the cloudform was a large airship...from the Royal Equestrian Navy. The REN Marelia fell out of the sky in fire, giant pieces of wood falling faster and faster and cracking against buildings down below until the airship itself impacted in the lower city. It was followed by another. The REN Stalliongrad had been broken in half, the bow and stern falling separately. Down below ponies screamed and scrambled.

Then, oars pushed through the edge of the cloud. First the oars and then, broaching the edge of the clouds which started to vanish, the bow...of three viking caribou longships! With tapestries woven from the finest Whitescar materials and multi-colored clan symbol drawn shields on their sides, the longships flew gracefully and powerfully across the sky. A mighty horn blew and then two more joined in, a deep boom that rocketed out across the city and into the hearts and minds of anypony unlucky enough to hear.

The viking caribou were on the attack!

–

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Twilight paced in the room, alone with the guard who had pulled her away. She had expected a short and quick diversion before she went back to the party. Instead, she had been pacing in the small room next to the big party for what seemed like an hour. She had asked her guard what the holdup was and received short but polite answers followed by silence. It was unnerving, but what was a mare to do? Sometimes the life of a Princess was full of things she didn't really have an answer for. It was odd nonetheless, but not as odd as that one time the Saddle Arabian ambassador insisted on showing her every foot massage parlor in Manephis.

It was as she started to think back to the weird way her guard was acting. Silent, slouching, eyes always focusing somewhere other than her. She had tried on a few occasions to strike up conversation but he proved utterly incapable or unwilling to do so. The result was a lot of pacing aimlessly...until the attack began. The world outside turned violent suddenly, ships falling of the sky before Twilight's astonished eyes. She was about to go fly out there when she was roughly spinned on her axis and hugged by the guard.

“Wha-”

“Hail Sombra,” he whispered into her ear right before the four dozen diamond batteries packed with explosive magical energy detonated.

The entire antechamber went up in a ball of flame, shooting out of the spire over the city and blowing apart the walls and through the door. What was once a room was now a burning, blackened crater. And where there was once a Princess and a Guard, there was only...smoke...

---

One of the longships arced towards the spire, scattering some balloon parties along the way. As one ship raced towards the ground near the heart and still another released the walking snakes and dropped diamond tipped explosives everywhere, this longship made a beeline for the top part of the Spire...directly for the party. As it approached, it launched several large hooks that roughly brought it into alignment with the balcony. The longship started to close in and now the partygoers could see, if they were still looking after the explosion of the antechamber, dozens of viking caribou banging war axes on shields and a large horn going up...

BRRWWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!

A mind-blowingly deep horn bellowed as the ship came to dock, shattering windows and ears along the way. A thin line of guards had started to form in front of the balcony amid the growing chaos, the screaming, the running, the falling, the chaos! Beautiful chaos! The longship came to a stop.

BRRWAAAAAAAAAH!

With one more horn from the deep the vikings leapt off of their ship. Long shagy manes were kept proper through braiding as iron and whitescar wood armor stood in alignment with metal helmets, their long and pointed antlers sticking out of them as they charged. Their huge, burly masses of ripped muscle and sinew as hard as stone moved at breakneck speeds as the thin line of guards tried to hold. A few shot magic and found it ineffective, the thin bolts of power absorbed by the whitescar wood harmlessly. Those who stood their ground were crushed. An axe strike as quick as the wind broke through one guard's armor. One guard tried to parry a sword strike only to have a shield sent directly into his neck. A warhammer strike sent another guard shooting into the ceiling with such force that the guard imprinted and remained so for minutes. In a storm of steel the few guards present were overwhelmed in a matter of seconds, no match for the speed, ferocity, or skill of their opponents. The last guard remaining was bucked across the room and out of one of the windows, the wounded pegasus careening far and wide indeed...

BRRRWAAAAAHHHH!

“Aye, stop!” Cried one voice from the back. The caribou stopped and stood at attention as their Captain stepped forward. His coat is dark brown, with a light greyish-brown streak from his throat to his tail along the underside. One antler is longer than the other by a full hoof, the shorter one showing signs of a recent sword fight. Tail and mane fur are braided heavily as is the fashion. His muscles were rippling and defining, and even in his somewhat smaller stature there was no doubting that he could do as he willed. His eyes were a vibrant green- they needed to be to be seen from inside his helmet.

“The Red Jarl has arrived! Huzzah! Huzzah!” The caribou cried in joy. From the depths of the ship, two giant caribou entered dragging behind them a mammoth vault. It fell onto the balcony with such force it broke off just after it was dragged into the Spire's main room. It was pulled along with great effort, tearing apart the ground in its great weight. Just as this was happening, a new batch of guards kicked open the doors...and pointed their spears at the guests, pushing any who wanted to get out away from the door. After they had some distance, one unicorn guard melted the door handle. The assembled guards looked at the guests and then the caribou.

“Hail Sombra, the True King!” They yelled in unison to the chuckles of the caribou.

“The true king better live up to his name in regards to what is inside this vault, or I shall skewer all of you, no matter what W.R.A.I.T.H says,” the red Jarl spoke, his voice guttural at first but with a certain cold precision. He turned to the guests as a few guards and caribou started to pick through the wreckage of the antechamber.

“Ponies! I am here for my payment and to show this so-called Empire what it means to be HUMBLED! If you wish to survive, do as I say. First. I know there are two members of the Equestrian royalty here. I need both. One is Princess, one is Prince. You will open this sealed vault, or my caribou shall exact the blood price for Sombra's betrayal on all of his new citizens!” He finished as the vault was no longer being moved. He tapped two hoof inlays. “This only opens to the Royalty of Equestria, so you better be quick before I find Celestia and Luna and cut their hooves off.”

[moonshineTheleocat]

The evening had been nice so far. Real nice! But perhaps a bit too boring still for the eccentric stallion. Really… he wished for some sort of excitement to grace it’s way. Maybe the fabled pinkie pie would come in to spice things up? Or maybe there really was a night life to some of these nobles, and ponies all dressed up would come in dancing. It’d be a fat chance… but it would be nicer than standing around and chatting… instead of enjoying a nice game of…. now Voronoi found himself suddenly engulfed in dust and blackened smoke that stunk of sulfur… and hurling through the air till he met solid contact with the ground.

The ringing in his ears only confirmed that something else in his life had exploded… and this would be the second time it wasn’t HIS doing. Did the stallion want excitement? Well, maybe even he would take that request back. Because even he could agree that blowing a bucking hole through the side of a crystal tower… was a little over the top for party festives.

Eventually, he managed to regain himself. He slowly crawled back up to his hooves, and warily stumbled forward a ways. First with a limp… but as the pain subsided, he was walking slowly with the occasional stumble. His body jittering from shell shock as he crept closer next to Pressy. His hooves reaching

His hooves moved his goggles over his snout, and snuggly over his eyes. The corrective lenses not only doing well with keeping soot out of his eyes, but also clearing up his blurry vision enough to see a longboat pulling closer. Still a little dizzy… the stallion placed his hooves on a nearby knocked over table, and slumped against it. His chin resting on his forelegs as he watched the crew dump out of it with clanging weapons.

Oh how Voronoi wished he wore his other vest. While yes, his waistcoat had the same chainmail placed inside it’s stitching… it wasn’t as tightly fitting… not to mention… didn’t close. So… one good jab at his chest, and he was toast.

He listened to what their demands and rolled his eyes in his goggles. Definitely not the excitement he wanted, but he’ll take it any day over tea and crumpets. And so the stallion slowly slumped down the table behind it holding his head. His ears were still ringing some, giving him one heck of a headache.

His eyes then flicked around to seek out blueblood in the chaos. If he could see him, he’d silently mouth one word to him while he was in cover from the table. “Hide.”

The stallion then climbed back to his hooves and slowly shuffled around the room, speaking up. “Uh! Yes, give me one second and I’ll have… a friendly chat with you! Unarmed I assure you.” He’d come by a soot covered mare, Pressy, and stop. His hoof tapped her shoulder for a moment. When she turned around, he’d raise up his goggles.

“Hi! Probably not the best time now. But… now or never for me with my luck. As… I am pretty sure Martial Law will set in, and as my duty as a proud citizen to serve the province of equestrian to death. Might get stabbed good, or turned to a pile of ashes… or something. Erm…” the stallion trailed off with a flustered exp<b></b>ression. “I….” the stallion now began to choke on his own words, as he tried to force it out. A bright blush crossing his muzzle. He stopped. Took a deep breath. He then rapidly spat it out, “I loved you. Since we were foals and getting in to trouble with all sorts of crazy and wonderful life threatening adventures. And still do. It really hurt to see you with another stallion. Now that’s out of the way…” the stallion quickly cuffed his hooves behind the mare’s head to steady her, and leaned forward. He gave her a kiss that lasted for a few seconds before breaking it. His eyes locked onto hers for what felt like ages to the stallion. But was really only a couple of seconds.

"Sorry for doing this to you, love," the stallions sighed. He quickly scooped up a pile of soot and held it up to the mare's nose. He gave it a soft puff of air, and blew it into the mare's nose. Once he was finished he skipped away merrily, and bounded back towards the group of thugs.

And trotted forward with a bit of bounce on his hooves, hoping that he does die if this turns into a fight. Or he might have a stroke instead from embarrassment later. The stallion reared up onto his hind legs, and placed one foot onto the edge of a table.

There was no since of nervousness in his voice! He was a proud equestrian ready to serve for the royal… monarchy? He wasn’t entirely sure what this government actually was. It’s a little confusing sometimes, but none of the less! His voice rang loudly! His Eccentric happy go lucky tone echoing off the walls with a hint of challenge behind them. He even had a fore hoof pointing valiantly at the evil doers! He was not a noble with fear! But a noble whom can now die a happy buck!

“Now! Before we go around and spilling the beans for what you need! And whatever scheme you have! Ya mind telling us exactly what you have in plan? “ The stallion quickly lifted up of his fore hooves into the air, and waved them madly.

“No no! Wait! I bet I can take a guess from what I’ve heard from ye from the last couple of seconds!”

He dropped them back down to the ground and began to pace about. His mind hoping that Blueblood was smart enough to hide… or at least bail out.

“Judging from the way you keep screaming out Hail Sombra, as if he was a god among mortals. And a king to rule them all! You have his horn in that box right there! RIGHT THERE!” His hoof then quickly pointed to the Vault.

“Oh ho ho! A vault so glorious that no pirate but you would want it! But you are no mere pirates! You are some sort of cult that wants to revive the greater evil! Or… not. Which ever. But you need the prince and the princess to unlock that there door so you can resurrect your master! A strange plan, but I guess even strange barbaric pirates needs a hobby!”

[SteelEagle]

Jarlesberg breathed heavily for a few seconds, his body surging with the adrenaline of ten thousand battles, ten thousand wars, ten thousand years of the Old Ways of his Clan. He had wanted to see a stiffer resistance than he had sen thus far from the ponies. Granted, they were never as good as the Griffons or the Dragons or eventhe Diamond Dogs, but they were supposed to be better than this. Those two REN ships had fallen prey to an old tactic of the bait and switch and had been destroyed at his leisure. No challenge. Then he had moored here and by the time he had been able to disembark his warriors and obliterated what few guards were here. It was all as planned and it was vexing for him. He yearned for battle and the glory of his ancestors, not this.

Of course, working for WRAITH meant their planning was meticulous and accurate. Sachadara of the Changelings had brainwashed a score of Guards who were acting now as Sombra's advance guard. They had ambushed a great many guards over the course of the party away from prying eyes so when the attack happened, only a few remained at the top of the Spire to oppose the Jarl. Of course a great deal were in the city and would try to make their way to the Spire, but between the other attacks and confusion and sabotage from within, the Jarl was not worried. Ad if they did show up he would have them killed in glorious battle. A few of the best and bravest Crystal Guards who had been captured ad brainwashed served now as assassin-bombers. Judging from the antechamber, one had found a target. Princess Twilight Sparkle was either dead or removed from competency, either of which suited his needs just fine. All they needed was her hoof, not her consent.

Across the city the attack was ongoing. He could hear the thuds of blackwebbed diamond tipped explosive barrels piercing crystal roofs and destroying builds and the screams of the fearful sheep-ponies of this land. Giant hawks fluttered in the sky and the dark magical presence of the True King below filled his heart with...indifference. He cared not for Sombra's political ambition, only what the Jark could earn for his clan. The vault was just one thing, which is what made the noble-looking pony's questions and beliefs so comical. So much so- we,, spo much so that the Jarl gave a deep laugh before pointing at the vault.

“Sombra's horn? Bahahahahaha. What would I want with that fool's horn? Sombra does not need resurrection. He lives- he is at the Heart as we speak, dealing with your Princess and securing his so-called throne! This vault is a gift. I want it opened. Now, are you a royal pony or are you not? If not, then remove everything you have of worth and drop it in a pile near the ruins of the antechamber where your beloved Twilight Princess met her demise. If you are, then touch your hoof to the vault. I'd prefer it if you tried to fight, however!”

[IceStorm]

Ice Storm had just barely finished looking over the mare in front of her, expecting her to come over to her at any moment before a massive explosion turned the spire into a crater. Flames scattered across much of the area, and in the center of what used to be a grand ball room stood a caribou that was quite large and menacing looking. His coat was that of a dark brown with a lighter shade running down his underside. His voice was loud and gruff as he began speaking. The words that he spoke tasted like bile in her mouth about how he spewed slander about hailing Sombra, and skewering ponies that were in the room regardless of what the full intentions of some uncelestial organization. He spoke of what it was like to be humbled, and of a vault that could only be opened by royalty.

Each passing word made her blood boil. He spoke, ordering them to open the vault or blood will be the price for betrayal. The demands were simple enough, comply or die. Most ponies would be willing to just comply and do what they asked, especially given the obscene display of their power. This would be enough to make most ponies give into their demands easily enough. Even she may have, until she heard the last thing that this thing had to say, threatening to find Luna and Celestia and cut off their hooves. "Oh Tartartus no, did... he really just say what I thought he said?"

Without any other thought, her dress was now laying in a corner, as plate, after plate of ice began to form around her, creating an armor of sorts that she could still move freely in and still keep her footing steady in combat. She did make note of the fact that many of the aura and arcane beams that other unicorns shot at them were absorbed by the wood in their boats and shields. This made Ice smirk a bit. They may be immune to magic, but thankfully, her Ice, while forged by magic, was just as physical as the wood that they were carrying. Being immune to magic is one thing, being immune to a solid block or a blade of ice coming towards them? Not so much. As she began making her armor she also began to move forward pausing briefly as the stallion that was with Pressy before began to act... quite oddly given the situation before point a hoof towards the foul creature spouting out what even she could tell to be non-sense.

The evil deer-like abomination made it clear that he was very wrong, practically laughing in the stallions face. He then told the stallion that if he was royalty, to put his hoof into the box, if not, leave his belongings where the crater was where Twilight had been slain. To make matters worse, he spoke of Sombra already being here in the heart. Ice Storm shot a quick gaze over to where Press and the other stallion were and used her magic to create a solid wall of ice that arched over them, giving them room to run away if needed but still protecting them from the onslaught. "They will do nothing of the sort!" Ice Storm yelled out to the fiend as she began to approach him. Each step she took, a part of the ground beneath her froze, a small sheet of ice expanding out from under her.

"I don't care what you want, I don't care who you follow, but you will not threaten our princesses like that, and I'm sure as Tartartus am not going to stand here after you've already claimed to have killed another. Whatever is in that vault is something that had to be sealed away for a reason that took more than one pony of immense power to be able to stop. What makes you think you can control what's inside of it any better than they can?" she proclaimed. Truth be told, she had no idea what was in the vault, but if she could make it seem like it was dangerous, then perhaps she could work everything out of this with minimal casualties. That said, it didn't look like these things were going to take no for an answer either. She stood at the ready to make a counter move to whatever they did.

[RedCedar]

Bulk Biceps didn't like what he saw of the airships falling to the ground out the window. He liked what happened afterwards less, the sudden rocking explosion, the heavy thud of the longship's cargo hitting the balcony, and being herded by false guards and these caribou into the middle of the room. He had been spending the rest of that time looking for some way out of this mess, not so much for himself, but mostly for the rest of the guests for whom fighting was likely not an option. Trouble was, there was only one of him, and a lot of caribou, and they were almost as large, hardened and muscled as he was.

As it was, they hadn't done their homework, it seemed. They wanted a Prince and a Princess, without realizing there were at least two of each in the city right now, and one in this room. That might have worked to their advantage.

At least, until the caribou boasting in front of them told him of the fate of Princess Twilight. The thought hit Bulk like a freeweight to the gut. Ponyville's very own Princess, gone in a blast and a blink of an eye, her young, promising life snuffed out with only a cold sneer to show for it.

And in that moment, he stepped forward. He, who had flown straight at the likes of Tirek, had no fear of this one any more. He stood ahead of the other guests, eyes redder than they had ever been before, rearing on his hind hooves, he tore the ill-fitting dinner jacket from his torso, splitting it easily down the back before glaring at the Jarl.

"You want to fight?" he bellowed, a nearly sadistic laugh rooted in sarcasm in his voice. "You couldn't even lift!"

[PyroBlaze]

Sunrise was about to head over and talk to the icy mare when a large explosion blew a hole in the wall and a creature entered. Ugh, this was just the icing on the cake, wasn't it? Not only had the supposedly high-class party steadily deteriorated from that, now some bloody elk or something were threatening them and trying to get some vault open. All in all it was quite aggravating, especially since their little explosion had covered her dress in dust and debris. While she didn't really have a problem with getting dirty, she preferred not to.

That brown stallion talked with one of the unicorn mares for a bit before talking to the intruders, who completely denied his theories. The leader's words also seemed to strike a cord with the icy mare, who discarded her dress and began covering herself in an icy armor. Sunrise sighed, seeing they were nor going to get out of this without violence, especially with some of the reactions from the ponies and the leader's own words.

She removed her dress gently, carefully folding it up before placing it out of the way along with her bag, her eyes never leaving the leader. Really now, if he didn't want peace, then fine, he wasn't going to get any.

"I see your little wooden armor is good against arcane energies. While not very fashionable, they are quite practical. Still, I feel I have to ask." She said, a bit of flame beginning to dance around her at this point. "How would they hold up against fire?"

[Pretzelparty]

It was strange how quickly celebrations seemed to go south lately. First that Nightmare night invasion of the changelings, now the Crystal empire being razed by barbaric viking caribou. The loud explosion that hit the mare from the side. It was a miracle she was still in one piece. For a few seconds she could feel her mind fading as the blast had knocked her head into a nearby wall. Once she came to (after a minute or two of ringing in her ears.) she was greeted by the loud sound of horn with the kind of bass that one could feel rumbling the contents of their stomach.

Standing up a moment and growling at the sorry state of her now soot covered and ripped dress, The pony sighed and took the longer end of her dress of with a rather loud rip, “Okay… Making explosions and nearly killin’ me is one thing, but nopony and I mean NOPONY! Bucks with one o’ rarity’s dresses!” The mare shouted at the horde in general.

Before she could give a piece of her mind, Her friend had come up to her and made a rushed, if intensely nervous confession...

“Hi! Probably not the best time now. But… now or never for me with my luck. As… I am pretty sure Martial Law will set in, and as my duty as a proud citizen to serve the province of equestrian to death. Might get stabbed good, or turned to a pile of ashes… or something. Erm… I…. I loved you. Since we were foals and getting in to trouble with all sorts of crazy and wonderful life threatening adventures. And still do. It really hurt to see you with another stallion. Now that’s out of the way…” the stallion quickly cuffed his hooves behind the mare’s head to steady her, and leaned forward. He gave her a kiss that lasted for a few seconds before breaking it. His eyes locked onto hers for what felt like ages to the stallion. But was really only a couple of seconds.

"Sorry for doing this to you, love," the stallions sighed. He quickly scooped up a pile of soot and held it up to the mare's nose. He gave it a soft puff of air, and blew it into the mare's snout. Once he was finished he skipped away merrily, and bounded back towards the group of thugs.

Pressy was without words, She’d remembered all the fun they’d had when they were younger. All the crazy trips, scary moments, and exhilarating experiences. She wasn’t particularly sure because she had a pretty active imagination when she was younger. At one point she could have sworn an old pony in a blue box came by to her room as a filly on a lonely hearth’s warming night and took her on an adventure with an old friend of her’s who loved to write the same way she loved all forms of art. She had to admit in a way those adventures as a filly with Java was a bit romantic in a certain light… but since she hadn’t seen him in such a long time … and he went by a different name and had an entirely new look to him, She’d figured he’d just sort of forgotten or gotten past those days.

“I- uh… Ja--”

Before Pressy could find her words to reply with, Java had suddenly shoved some soot into her face and then blew. The young painter’s eyes widened instantly, a tear rillign down her cheek from the now intense burning tickle in her snout, “ah… ah… ahh….” The mare’s head leaned back and her horn began to glow brighter and brighter with each hitching breath.

“AH… AHH… AHHHHHHH!”

and then…

“Hyaa-CHOOO!” a powerful sneeze tore out of the pony, her horn lighting up like a signal flare for a moment as a massive magic gust filled the room, the brunt of it’s force however was focused in the way she was facing… and as a result sending the coffee scented pony flying forward through the air. The additional wind managed to produce a large cloud of dust that covered up most of the ponies in the room, using the soot and dusty debris to fuel the cloud’s size.

“W-wot the hay, Jav--- ooh bloody ‘ay…” The mare Soon galloped forward to where (ever) the stallion had landed. She landed and recklessly stood beside the stallion. Still unsure of what to do, hang on a sec, her paintbrush! She coudl just use it to whip up some more wind and--- Wait a tic… where was her saddlebag?! It turned out it had been buried under a sizeable amount of debris, a little purple bat trying desperately to get the bag out and it’s content’s to his friend.

A small group of the vikings in the horde approached, various weapons drawn and closing in on the two ponies. Before They could finish the two off there was a loud thumping sound as four hooves jumped over and a series of glower cracks spread out in a web in front of the couple. Soon there was a pit around Java and Pressy, the various caribou warriors swept of their hooves as they lost their hoofholds as the ground under their feet was suddenly loose and crumbly.

.

There was a momentary silence, only broken by the faint sound of music being played. A tall unicorn standing in front of the two smaller ponies…

A red mane was bobbing ever so slightly to the music that bombarded its owner’s eardrums. Rose looked back at Java and Presteza, speaking in her usual listless tone. “I’d prefer you’d stayed close.” She said curtly before looking back to the small contingent of caribou that she left unharmed, “Go back to the rest of the group please.”

“But we--” Pressy wasn’t interrupted by words but by a look, Rose gave her a genuinely angry look that faded quickly before she gulped and nodded at her cousin. The demolition unicorn gave a sigh, “If you can’t make it, at least stay close to me.” She then turned her attention to the presumably rattled stallion with the goggles, “Take care of my cousin.”

It seemed that the ‘Jarl’ was replying to Javasun’s previous statement. He looked to be a tough creature. Rose didn’t have a clue what jarl means, but she could tell a leader when she saw one… also the chanting of his name from the horde was a good tip.

“Sombra's horn? Bahahahahaha. What would I want with that fool's horn? Sombra does not need resurrection. He lives- he is at the Heart as we speak, dealing with your Princess and securing his so-called throne! This vault is a gift. I want it opened. Now, are you a royal pony or are you not? If not, then remove everything you have of worth and drop it in a pile near the ruins of the antechamber where your beloved Twilight Princess met her demise. If you are, then touch your hoof to the vault. I'd prefer it if you tried to fight, however!”

A horn? Ressurection? Royal ponies and a dead princess? A vault needing to be opened? The khaki colored unicorn took out and unwrapped a lollipop and popped it in her mouth. Rose could never pass in a million years for a princess or any kind of Royalty. But she knew how to break things and that was something she did almost too well. She was even able to breakdown Magical bonds and barrier spells depending on few factors. Until She heard what sompony at least had to say, she’d just stand her ground and defend herself… and her friends as best she could

[SteelEagle]

Now this was far more up the Jarl's alley. He had wanted some spirit from these ponies and he was getting it. Of course, there was so much bluster and noise coming from a pony populace who had so little experience with war that they thought they could do as they wish. Or what they could do against Changelings- an infant could beat a changeling. Still he preferred the spirited types to the weaklings. At least they made the choice to bring along his clan worthwhile. He wasn't beyond having his crews work freelance for the good of the Clan but it was always a bit worrying when that happened. Few realized what the caribou were capable of, and even fewer had seen them fight. So brave. So dumb. Ponies were ponies he supposed.

First there was the ice one. Oh, how angry was she? Quite. He often wondered why creatures believed them showing a bit of backbone and fury was supposed to matter to him. If that was the case then how could the Caribou have survived for eons as raiders of the greatest caliber? There were always a few furious mares and stallions who would charge them with scythes as they burned down a village. But no, the fury of two unicorns and an oddly formed pegasus was supposed to breach the lifetime of war he had experienced. The ice magic was impressive. It reminded him of home. He loved the ice. This was a good unicorn. The fire pegasus looked a little cocky. The loud one was loud. Strangely, all of them seemed to not care about the multiple dead guards littered around them. Oh well. Ponies didn't place much value on life, it seemed, unless it was a Princess. Common peasantry thoughts and feelngs.

“Hmmph,” the Red Jarl smiled as the three moved closer, each one in their own way oddly enough. The Jarl whistled, and back on the ship some shuffling was heard. The longship started to move, imperceptibly at first and then faster for a second before stopping. What was happening, blocked by caribou bodies and the vault. He whistled twice and the caribou started to part, the vault as well. “Your ice is impressive. Reminds me of my home, the land of ice and snow and wind and fury. You think you know ice? I was born in it. Lived in it. Saw my reflection in it. By the time I saw green grass it was nauseating! While you and your kind prance in fields and waste your lives, we hone ourselves on the razor's edge of survival. And survival is the greatest teacher of all...” he smiled as the line finished parting. A moment later, all could see why- they had cleared a path for one of the barrel launchers on the longship, which soon let loose a blackwebbed diamond tip and not the full barrel. It lanched itself at terrible speed but was caught by the Jarl, who then tossed it up in the air playfully.

“And it taught us we needed ways to break through ice. Blackwebbed diamonds have such a fine and dense point that at the right speed they can penetrate anything. So our spearpoints, thrusting swords- tipped weapons, explosive barrels, pickaxes, crossbow bolts...we can do so much with it,” To illustrate, he threw the tip at the ice that was advancing. True to his word, it penetrated...and penetrated hard, shattering the ice and embedding so far into the crystal that it was sticking out of the ceiling of the floor below. “So please, do not threaten me with ice. Your armor will help you, but no more than my armor would against...” he unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the fire-using mare, “against your fire. Oh, its true. Fire would hurt me. Iron and wood are not the best combination, but if you think you're the first unicorn to try that...well, you're welcome to your delusions, pony. So do it. Attack me. But what do you think will happen first- we kill everyone or a little bit of fire does anything more than tickle?” he laughed, beckoning to one of the dead guards. One of the other caribou picked the body up and tossed it to the Jarl, who himself caught it and then tossed it at Bulk Bicep's hooves.

“As for you...yes. I want a fight. I've been more than polite in trying to get you simple-minded ponies a chance, but if you cross that body, then we attack all of you. I don't need the royal hooves to be alive, after all, and I know there are royals here. Whether the rest of you live or die doesn't matter to me in the slightest,” The Jarl shrugged as the rest of the caribou started to unsheathe their weapons and raise their shields. One of Sombra's agents looked around in confusion.

“King Sombra said you were not to harm his new citizens,” he protested.

“King Sombra will have his own head on a pike if I'm not satisifed with this vault. And I am very much not satisfied with this vault. And I am starting to think that the only way I will be satisfied is if I order my longships to destroy the Spire and dig through the rubble to open it. So maybe King Sombra should pick citizens that listen to simple directions well because I very much prefer the idea of treating all of the assembled like we treated those guards-” he kicked a body for emphasis, “-when we came in. Now, somepony, something, somedog- open up this vault! Why and how it has been sealed matters not to me. It is our payment and will be used for the greater good of the Clan! Open! Now!”

[RarityDash]

Maud Pie was often described by others as emotionless, but this was anything but the case. Maud possessed a wide array of emotions, as many as anypony you could name. Typically speaking, it was simply difficult to discern one from the other. Everything about her came in muted grays, but it was all there. Joy, friendship, hope, anger, shock, resentment, it all came to her in time, even as her face remained stalwart. It could be said, in fact, that she had a true sensitivity for and awareness of those she was close to, and for rocks of all kinds.

So when the beautiful gemstone walls of the palace she she had been meticulously researching that day started to come crashing down only moments before a blast was aimed directly at her friend Twilight, leaving nothing behind, an emotion did most certainly come to the front even through Maud's placid demeanor. She had enjoyed the casual conversation with Twilight, Rainbow and Rose there in the crystal palace. To have it interrupted in such a horrible way was not something she could ever forgive. Ever. She did not particularly care at all for who these deer were or what they might claim to want. It was entirely irrelevant to her. The only thing on her mind was making sure they knew what they did was wrong.

It was a widely known fact that earth ponies, with their magic, possessed a greater physical strength than ponies of other races. Maud, however, was in a different league in terms of strength. She could create powerful shockwaves with a simple stone's throw. She could break through nearly any kind of rock just by pounding it with her hooves. It was all owed to her devotion to the rock farming way of life. Years of mining, digging, lifting and working with rocks had left their mark. It did not leave her musclebound, like a certain pegasus she spotted in the crowd, but perhaps instead with a greatly heightened level of earth pony magic within her, something difficult to match or account for. She doubted they'd realize it yet, but she was not an enemy anyone would want to make.

Maud found a large chunk of crystal strewn on the floor, debris from where the walls had collapsed. She stared at it and considered her actions. She wanted to avoid taking life it at all possible, and also avoid further structural damage to the palace. That would inform how she would throw, as at full strength, she would likely cause more damage than even they had. She took the crystal in hoof searched out the biggest and meanest looking of all the Jarl's grunts and decided to let her message be heard. She threw the stone with a force hard to believe, and saw it hit the massive caribou square in the chest plate of his armor. The iron plate was dented inward at the resounding impact, and then the armor shattered to tiny pieces when the shockwave reached the wood. The caribou fell backwards, toppling over motionless. Maud, did not think he was dead, but she wouldn't be surprised if she had stopped his heart for a moment.

She grabbed another chunk of crystal, a very sharp piece of pink star diamond and she stepped ahead. She looked at the Red Jarl with a disdain that too untrained eyes might look like boredom. "You've damaged the infrastructure of the many priceless formations of gemstone which make up this palace..." she said voice dripping either with white hot anger or cold indifference depending on how good you were at listening.

"And you attacked a dear friend of me and my sister," she added, looking toward where Twilight had been standing. She chose the word attacked, because she could not convince herself the princess had actually been killed. There was no body, no charred remains, no trace elements. She was just gone. "I can never forgive you..." she finished strongly, traces of intensity perhaps momentarily visible even to an untrained eye before her expression returned to blankness.

With nothing else said, she hurled the shard of diamond straight at the Jarl's head. The damage it would do to his face, would depend entirely on his reflexes. For his sake, she hoped he was better at evasion than the burly grunt had been.

​

[Mojo]

Tilly Tome

Moments before the attack, an uneasy feeling fell over Tilly Tome, a feeling she knew all too well. It was the eerie feeling she had felt not long ago, when King Sombra returned. At first, her glittering body faded and the elderly crystal pony felt dread. But then, Tilly Tome got a determined look on her face and her glow returned.

"NOT AGAIN! NOT THIS TIME!" she neighed. "We Crystal Ponies got free from Sombra before, and we will do it once more!"

Finding a raised stump, the determined Crystal mare jumped upon it and attempted to shout out amidst the chaos.

"FELLOW CRYSTAL PONIES, HEAR ME! OUR EMPIRE IS UNDER ATTACK ONCE MORE! FOLLOW ME TO THE CRYSTAL HEART! WE MUST UNITE AS BEFORE TO SAVE OUR REALM! HURRY!"

With that, Tilly Tome jumped from the stump and made a made dash for the Crystal Heart, hoping all other Crystal Ponies would follow her to activate it's power to save the day.

[Blueblood]

It was almost as if there was a curse upon Prince Blueblood. Or perhaps some greater power was trying to teach him a lesson about learning his place in life, and would only let up if he promised never, ever to leave Canterlot and shirk his social duties again. At any rate, there it was: every single time he left the capital, something terrible would happen to him.

But this took the cake, in every sense of the word! First, there was the huge explosion of entrance, knocking him down amidst the debris of shattered crystal. Then the charge of the caribou, knocking aside and killing those guards. And then... no... they didn't really actually kill Princess Twilight, did they?

He'd thought that the Nightmare Night invasion had been bad. This was a million times worse. And now they were looking for Royals... or at least their hooves. Java did not need to tell him to hide twice. Fortunately, that little dust cloud provided the perfect opportunity for him to just nip behind a table. Hopefully, the caribou never saw him, nor knew that he was there.

Blueblood didn't dare peek over the tipped refreshment table, but he could hear them. All the bold, brave speeches from the party-goers defying the invaders, all the mocking replies of the Jarl. Of course it was foolish to feel ashamed that he wasn't joining them. That would just be playing into their cloven hooves, handing himself over into their power and giving them exactly what they wanted! But, prudent or not, it would do nothing to defy his reputation, or inner conviction, that he was at heart a coward.

Never mind. It wouldn't matter if he couldn't escape. The only door way blocked from the Jarl's line of sight by his hiding place was the one to the balcony. It would have to do. With careful steps, right around the time that Rose was making her speech, the Prince carefully crept along, levitating a wine bottle out of the way noiselessly, before slipping out into the balcony-

Where he came face to face with one of the Caribou. Apparently, their longship had plowed right through the ledge, and the Jarl had stationed a rear guard, all kitted out and armed with a warhammer.

*This is it.* Blueblood realized instantaneously, as the caribou's eyes registered that he had been seen. *Either this is all just a bad dream, or I'm going to die right now, and all my life will have just led up to the point where some horned freak robs and kills everyone, and uses me to get rich.* Sort of like the ultimate gold digger. Well, either way, it didn't matter anymore. Nothing did, so he might as well end it on his own terms...

Before the guard could charge (or perhaps he wasn't going to, given Sombra's orders, but the Prince hadn't stayed long enough to hear them), he jumped backwards to perch upon the balcony. "There's only four Royals in all of Equestria. What do you want to bet on this one's hooves surviving impact at terminal velocity?" It was like a hostage situation, only he was holding himself hostage. This probably really dumb, most of his ideas were, but he had no others just now, so it would have to do.

[SteelEagle]

The Jarl had heard about Prince Blueblood from his WRAITH compatriots or paymasters, depending on how you viewed it. In either case the legend of Blueblood didn't extend far past the snickering stories of cowardice and weakness. He was a self possessed lothario with too great a belief in his own importance beyond his station. He did nothing to earn the fevered adulation of Equestrians but rather sucked up all available prestige attached to his title as a way of deflecting the truth of just how unimportant and weak he really was. When WRAITH removed the rotten core of Equestria from power and went about changing the world in their image, Blueblood had no role to play. Maybe they'd let him live but from what the Red Jarl could gather, they likely wouldn't. His time was limited.

But here he would prove useful. If he could help open the vault then maybe for once his life could help be a net positive for others. If he could get the vault opened then he would live this day. So would the others. Then he could deal with the aftermath of having worked with the Caribou and the dishonor that would come with that, but the Jarl believed that in Equestria he'd be viewed as much as a hero as a coward. Sacrificing honor for the safety of others- in Equestria, this might be viewed well. Another reason that decadent culture was so easy to take from was their willingness to give. Still, the Prince did do something unexpected. He propped himself up at the jagged end of the balcony and threatened to throw himself off. How useful would his hooves be if they were damaged so terribly? Likely not much. Then again, the caribou were prepared. The Red Jarl motioned to one of the pegasi agents of Sombra, who trotted and then flew out of formation towards one of the windows on the side where the airship was. The windows had been destroyed by the horn and the pegasus was soon outside, trending downwards.

“Go ahead and fly, pretty prince. I'm sure that she will be more than happy to skewer you as you fall and drag you back to the vault. You-” The Jarl began before he saw one of his compatriots fall, a piece of diamond impacting so hard it brutalized the armor. He swiftly turned his head and saw the source- a plain looking earth pony who apparently had the strength of ten stallions. Now that was a treat! He was so used to being the baddest creature in the room that it made his life quite boring. Having a pony of all things be so powerful was infuriating, even attractive! Maybe he could have her as a mate. Not a bad-

-She threw another piece of diamond with such force it appeared blinding. The Red Jarl acted swiftly in defensive, his sword arcing up. The diamond moved so incredibly fast that only this split second action, honed over a generation of familiarity and use, saved him from what may have been a lethal impact. The diamond flew straught up....and into the shattered form of the guard who he had been sent into the ceiling by a warhammer. The piece of diamond went through him and out of the spire wiith such force the ceiling broke in his place, sending him crashing to the ground and several large blocks of the ceiling falling on top of him. That poor guard had been destroyed four times and just five minutes ago he had been chatting up a pretty little number in the back.

“Hahah, good shot!” The Jarl bellowed as two caribou tended to the wounded. One listened to his heartbeat and shook his head. The other stood back and with her spear impaled the wounded in the head. “The strong survive. The weak perish. Such is the way of the caribou,” she bellowed, affirmations from the rest as well as a nod from the Jarl. “A good heart stopping throw there! Why, if we didn't find the Prince we would be all over you now. I wonder how a collar would fit around your neck? Maybe I should discuss with Sombra a further set of payment. The best and brightest of the resistance. We can always use a greater gene pool. Anyway...” the Jarl turned back over to the Prince.

“If you would come over and help open this vault we won't have to kill all your subjects and you and then do it anyway,” he began as a squad of caribou moved out and started to search the wreckage of the antechamber as two more caribou approached the Prince...”willingly or not, you're opening it. But if you want to go down as the Prince who lost all these fine ponies go ahead...”

[Elderflower]

Frostlace was late arriving to the party. Typically, her timing was immaculate; she never arrived on time, but rather just late enough to be terribly fashionable. It was expected of a mare from old blood to be fashionable, after all, and when she did make rare appearances at high profile events she always behaved as expected. For the most part. Today, for example, the mare had been so robbed of her breath by the beauty of the Crystal Empire that she found herself exploring its every corner, speaking with every pony that she came across, dragging the pale pink hem of her chiffon-and-lace gown in the dirt. Only a last minute spell could magic the dirt away when she finally arrived late to the party.

The mare had just managed to take her first sip of wine before everything fell apart at the seams. Thunder crashed loudly outdoors – too loudly – and shortly after an explosion leveled most ponies in the room to the ground. Dusty, covered in nicks and scratches from flying crystalline debris, and denied a fine glass of wine, Frostlace just about growled. She pushed herself to her hooves, standing upright in the tatters of her gown to survey the scene. It was not good.

Caribou. Of all creatures to attack, why caribou? The master of the Hoar Witch Estates was well familiar with these barely-civilized creatures who lingered at the edges of the world, battered and tempered by living nightmares which hardened them into warriors of unrivaled skill. Only the strong survive in their society, and the weak were left to perish. Once upon a time the pale mare had met a caribou. He had been a fascinating beast, one that was quite successful in drawing her interests. These brutes were…far less appealing. Frost drew her lips into a tight frown, then ripped off the shreds of her dress that would interfere with her movements. Only the lace bodice and a few dangling scraps of chiffon from the skirt remained, though the lack of skirt revealed a clever little knife she had hidden and strapped to her right back leg. A Stalliongrad mare will ever be prepared, after all! As she looked upon the scene she could not help but smile at the show of heart that was developing. Blows were being thrown, ponies rushing to the fore without the slightest hint of hesitation to defend the Crystal Empire and the royals of Equestria. It was inspiring, and helped tame the fear which was lurking at the edges of her heart!

This Red Jarl had quite the fight ahead of him. From all except Bluebood, perhaps, but one could hardly be surprised at that. His sniveling reputation was well known (though never spoken aloud) amongst Equestria's aristocratic circles. To give him credit, though, this was perhaps the boldest move he has made his entire life. In any case, who was Frostlace to deny the Jarl another foe? She would join the fray and do her part to protect the world she loved so dearly. Very luckily, she had decided this morning to tightly braid her excessively long mane and tail – otherwise they would be at risk of getting in her way! Without another moment’s delay, the unicorn magicked her knife out of its sheath and took it in her teeth, then joined the icy blue mare who had covered herself in cold armour. Two champions of ice working together were certainly better than one, and already hoar frost was beginning to bloom in the pale mare’s mane as her horn crackled with cold magic. Her family name hadn’t just come out of nowhere! Hoar Witch, indeed.

“Zdrah-stu-it-eh,” Frostlace purred in greeting to her fellow icy mare in a thick Stalliongrad accent, “My name is Frostlace – do you care for a battle partner?”

It was very clear by her clear pronunciation that she had a little experience speaking around a knife.

[PyroBlaze]

Well, that might be a good point. The leader pointed out that they could likely take care of them all before the fire could do too much. Of course she could increase the power, but it would still take time to burn through the wood and she wouldn't have that much time unless they were distracted by the others.

Speaking of the other ponies, there were now two ice ponies in the fight. Blueblood was threatening to throw himself off the tower. Only that now there was a pegasus laying in wait out there for him, so he likely wouldn't reach the ground. Hmm... Both sides seemed to be at a bit of a standstill, though that was more because the caribou hadn't decided to attack yet. Sunrise watched the caribou carefully as the flame danced around her, slowly growing as she built it up.

She didn't want to be the one to start this off, but she was prepared to get rid of their armor if it ever actually started.

[Zealot]

The explosion left the unicorn, what one might call, shaken. In fact she was quite mortified at the whole thing. First there was the explosion, of course. Then there was the loud crash as an airship landed. The poor mare could do nothing but cower in a heap on the floor as the loud noises and crashed through her ear drums and the scenes of violence unfurled before her eyes. It turned out though, that explosion was to be her salvation. Glimmer didn't know how, neither did she care. There was a dull thunk as something hard and metal struck her across the head. This knocked the unicorn onto her side and made her shake herself over in confusion.

There it was, right in front of her face. The only way to describe it was that it was a badge, a mark. Black and evil, Glimmer didn't recognise the foul thing. To anyone who knew, well, it was the mark of King Sombra's agents. Hopefully no-pony saw her take it.

She scooped it up, not knowing it's purpose and backed up as the guardsmen near her fell to the caribou barbarians. Glimmer couldn't quite believe what she was seeing, the sight purely horrifying. That was when they stopped.

Glimmer couldn't quite focus on every detail that was going on. The large caribou was shouting, some ponies were edging for a fight. That didn't matter. It has been said many times, when in peril we all have that certain something. That something that keeps us going. The guiding voice of instinctual survival. She heard it now, telling her to be calm. Whispering sweet words in her mind. The unicorn steeled her nerves. She'd survived every other disaster that had afflicted Canterlot hadn't she? Glimmer would survive this. It was going to be tricky though. The voice told her the badge would help.

She glanced at the badge, then she glanced at the doorway. The exit was blocked as a unicorn melted the door. Looks like she wasn't getting out that way, though the upstairs doorways were blocked by caribou they weren't locked. Not yet anyway.

The voice told her to lose the dress. She hated to ruin something that had cost her so much, but she valued her life much more than a dress. Glimmer tore herself out of the horrid pink dress and left it in a heap on the floor.

The plan was still being formed in her head. Still, it had to work, or she wasn't going to get out of this. The unicorn did her best to look unphased as she approached the door to what she hoped was upstairs. If it wasn't, well, Glimmer would have to improvise.

With a disinterested glance at the guard, Glimmer assumed her role. There was one thing she was good at in this world, but she was very good at it. Acting. "Hail Sombra," she announced as she approached the caribou grunt. He looked wary of her, still, his suspicion seemed to fade when she held up the badge. Putting on her best 'bad girl' stage voice, she said with a light snarl, "You caribou are thirty seconds early. I needed to be on the other side of this door. I have a job to do, so, would you mind?" It was asked with a hint of annoyance, but not too much to provoke the guard. After all, if this plan went badly then she was as good as dead.

The voice told her it would be ok, steadied her. That made her performance all the more convincing. She sounded confident and rash, just like any good villain. Right?

[moonshineTheleocat]

The stallion winced as an ice wall had formed into him. Then came that sneeze he had hoped for. He had been sneezed through the wall of ice by the wind spell conjured up by the allergy inflicted mare. He let out a soft groan after striking the ground in silence, and began to wriggle back to his feet, wishing that this day could go on without him being thrown about like a rag doll. Well at least he got a whole new... bit of knowledge about diamonds out of this. He had to give the vikings credit however. If it was one thing that the engineer could respect out of... barbaric ponies, were their designs for weapons. As much as he loathed the idea of making weapons himself.

He slowly lifted his head with a sigh, and used the back of a hoof to clean the lens of his goggles. His eyes darted to the side after hearing the mare trot up to him, the smoke cloud now covering a good chunk of the ponies in the room. Well… hopefully whatever the Librarian had rallied was brave enough to actually make a charge under that cover. And more importantly, could break through the door that had apparently been effectively sealed by just a door nob? Really… the best they could do was to melt it.

After his small survey of the area around him, his attention quickly turned to the bulky mare… whom had blown a wall up in his face in the past.

He kept his tone low and his voice down when Java spoke. He had lowered his rump down to the ground, sitting calmly, and looking over the bodies. His eyes fidgeted a bit after looking down each of the fallen guards. Though, he felt for their lost, he simply chose not to actually think about it right now, and returned his eyes upwards.

“Well…” the stallion began, as he tapped the side of his head. Forcing some soot out that had been clogging his ears. “We’re not going to the back. A. Because your cousin isn’t the type to back down. And nor am I. And… B. Severely outnumbered and skill beats raw power any day. Ye need more than one or two ponies.”

The stallion shot a glance to the towering mare. “We will be fine if this turns sour. And I promise you that Pressy will too.”

And then he had heard a familiar voice. His expression went blank as he slowly turned his head to the front, spotting one handsome stallion. Covered in soot, standing valiantly… in front of the valcony! Oh good! Maybe he has a plan to save everypony! Is he going to sacrifice his honor and box? Is he going to challenge the jarl mono oh mono? Either way, the stallion’s respect for the buck had gone through the r-

"There's only four Royals in all of Equestria. What do you want to bet on this one's hooves surviving impact at terminal velocity?"

“SUICIDE!?” The Voronoi had blurted out at the top of his lungs at the handsome prince. A hoof had been quickly drawn to the stallion’s snout. It collided with a resounding ‘TWAMP’. Then he pointed a hoof to the prince. He might have completely forgotten of the fact that there were totally armed Vikings in the room, if it wasn’t for the gaping hole in the wall, and bodies everywhere.

“Seriously!? That’s the best you can come up with!? If you kill yourself, it’s literally for nothing! The most it would have done, was made some oversized Viking-pirate find an equally sized shovel and scoop you up! I respect you for trying something, heck, I’d still respect like I always had if you willing put your hoof against the stupid thing.”

His hoof then went to the box, “cause clearly no one in this entire BUCKING room has any idea what’s even inside it! Not even the stallion whom blew up half a city, and a portion of a wall to find you! For all we know, it could be something utterly ironic and worthless that drives him into a blood bath anyways, and leave this hall looking like the ending of McBuck.”

The stallion then stamped his hoof on the ground. “If you do jump, after I or some other pony goes out of their way to save you, I will personally put my hoof in your throat, then assault EVERYTHING in a blind rage.”

Then... his eyes slowly shifted to... Glimmer? Why was she even wearing a mark? Heck... it'd be more believable if she was acting like one of the guards. But with that big and bad minion attitude, she stuck out like a sore thumb. Maybe something about Sombra at least?

[Blueblood]

To a certain extent, Java's speechifying was redundant; Blueblood was already made aware of just how dumb this idea had been by the Jal sending a brainwashed pegasus below to just catch him upon the point of a spear should he actually jump. The two other caribou sent to surround him were just icing on the cake.

But, there were several things it did accomplish. One was to allow time for the Prince's cowardice to have a say against his bravado; and the thing about your real coward was, that they believed as much in the primacy of survival as the caribou. Perhaps that might have been made the basis of a mutual understanding, if the Jarl hadn't been so rude. In any case, jumping was no longer an option.

Yet, after taking a step like this, if he backed down now, he wouldn't respect himself, no matter what Java said about him. The only possible justification for his existence and position was that he represented the height of civilization. To give way to a... Barbarian like that... well, he might survive if he did, but he'd regret not jumping.

The other thing it did was to temporarily draw his captors' attention away. After all, he wasn't going anywhere, right?

That gave Blueblood time to remember the wine bottle he still held in his magic, and look over to the balcony wall. The whole structural integrity of the wall had been compromised by the ship crashing into it...

A new plan popped into his head. Unlike the last one, this one was uncertain death, which the coward will always prefer to the certain sort.

Aiming the bottle at the wall, he popped the cork, which shot out in a stream of bubbles at a velocity that would surprise anyone not rich enough to have a familiarity with champagne. It struck a weak join between the balcony wall and floor; the cracks already there began to spread rapidly, with sickening noises...

The noise of the cork turned the heads towards Blueblood again, and he made an adrenaline fueled jump forward.

With a scream halfway between defiance and sheer terror, he scrambled up and over the helmeted heads, over their backs, leaping again onto the far side of the balcony. The near side, weighed down by three Caribou, broke away altogether, sending them tumbling down with a cry of shock on top of the pegasus mare below, and then all the way to the bottom...

"Victoire!" It worked, just this once, it actually worked! True, it had been a series of decisions driven by panic and cowardice, but the end result was something that could pass for clever heroism. Filled with the thrill of victory, Blueblood took a swig from the now open bottle, giving the Red Jarl one of the few rude gestures actually doable by ponies. "Ha, next time, ask poli-yi-yi-yi!"

His taunt was cut short by the crystal floor collapsing in front of him, forcing him in an ungainly backward scramble up to the very guardrails of the ship, which he promptly tumbled over in a heap. "Oof..." He got to his hooves, dazed. Was anypony on board? Or any caribou?

[IceStorm]

It was beginning to seem more and more like this was going to turn into a massive brawl as the Caribou through the spear into the floor, shattering the ice around it. She looked an analyzed the spear, taking in our big it was prior and how much had penetrated through the ice and the crystal beneath. At this display of power, Ice Storm smirked. Other ponies began to draw attention as well. Prince Blueblood offered to throw himself out the window in an attempt to intimidate the attackers. It was a feeble attempt, but it was at least an attempt never the less. She took a note, that all of their primary weapons had this dense material on them and stated that her armor would be no better for her than theirs would be against fire. She smirked because they didn't know how wrong they were. If it were any other pony, perhaps he may have a point, but the fact that she herself could create ice, meant she could also affect it's density.

She didn't know what the density of the Crystal was, but assumed it had to be dense enough to support the weight of ponies. So it had to be at least as dense as most woods. Good thing to know. A very muscular pony then tried to flex his way out of the situation, but was quickly shot down. Brute strength was not going to win this fight. A properly timed, well executed strike was going to determine this. Every move had to be planned out to avoid as much damage as possible. Ice Storm wanted to try to limit the number of casualties, and it seemed that many of the other ponies here, including Rose, whom had already made it even harder for anypony to get to Pressy and Java. The only down side, was it now also made it potentially more difficult for them to get away. Just beyond that though, she noticed Pressy's little friend struggling to get free from a boulder, with a simple flick, the boulder was off of him, and the fruit bat was free.

She also noticed the grey earth pony throw a diamond at uncanny speeds towards the Jarl. He deflected it and it kareemed into one of his others which was promptly killed by one of the others. Only the strong survive, they proclaimed. That may be the case, but now they had one less caribou to worry about. Numbers also played a factor here. It stood to reason that the lower levels of the event were dealing with similar attacks. Especially since he mentioned that Sombra had already returned. As she was about to speak up, another ice mare, starting off in a thick accent in a language she didn't understand, but then introduced herself as Frostlace asked her if she would like a partner in battle. She gave a quick nod before another mare moved forward, claiming to be on their side. She wasn't sure what to make of her yet, but she seemed rather convincing. At the moment though, she didn't seem like the bigger of the threats here at the moment.

"So, you grew up around ice then? It's great that you have so much knowledge about it. However, I will change what you know," she stated creating a veil of ice over the spear he had thrown before rapidly increasing the density around it to cause the spear to shatter. "You may have survived in a harsh climate, but not all of us have had it easy. Of course, I did notice that you have extraordinary weapons for penetrating Ice, and the like," she said taking point once more, standing in front of everypony knowingly ready to intercept the first attack that was handed out. "But then again, who said anything about Ice only being a defensive elements? You of all should know," she looked towards him creating many objects in the air around her, all of which taking the form of shards, all of which as sharp as finely tuned obsidian. "Ice can kill as easily as it can defend."

While her magic was primed she extended the floors out quite a ways, making it incredibly dense ice to the point where it looked more blue than it did white. The patches of ice spread evenly from her, but some deformities and cracks were created in the ice in front of Rose, the grey pony whom also seemed interested in fighting, and the other ice pony that had walked up next to her. In the ice read a message in the deformities. Be ready, I'm going to distract him, when he comes after me, charge him, or however you plan to fight him.

"I noticed that you also have good reflexes, but I have to ask, how many projectiles can you dodge at once? You break in here, kill our princess, threaten another princess, ruin an exceptionally good party, and you expect us to just comply with whatever filth comes out of your mouth? You are sorely mistaken," she announced ready to launch her own projectiles in response to any attack. "I may not leave here alive, but I guarantee if you attack, Neither. Will. You."

[RedCedar]

Bulk stopped short as the body of an armoured guard stallion landed in front of him. It just made him madder. First the Jarl spoils for a fight, then he doesn't have the courage to actually go through with it without threatening those who couldn't defend themselves.

Of all the times for Blueblood to be boastful about his position in Equestrian society, however, now had to have been the worst. Still, after his trick with the champagne bottle and the grey Earth Pony's incredible prowess with a rock, there might be some hope yet. Regardless of the risk, Bulk had no interest in helping these barbarians get into their prize, and wasn't about to let them do so with any conveniently removed limbs.

The pegasus menacing Blueblood, however, Bulk was certain he could at least handle her, even at his low speed, and would make short work of that spear she carried.

As it was, by now there was enough pony blood boiling to make this, if not winnable, at least unpleasant for those caribou in the room. Even the icy unicorn beside him had tricks up her horn, it seemed, but perhaps, as there seemed to be two distinct camps in this conflict, there was a chance of some unfortunate misunderstandings. He stood, glaring at the Jarl. "Maybe you should have thought about how you needed two royal ponies before your ignorant lackies blew one up!" he spat, pointing a hoof at the imposter guards at the door. "What leader can't even make sure his army gets it right?" Even if the two of them had little to do with each other outside this room, the insinuation might be enough...

[moonshineTheleocat]

Java's eyes widened as he watched the prince start to slip. He quickly lurched forward, as he saw him start to dip out of his view. But came to a hault when he finally slipped away. The stallion would have thought that the prince was dead now... if it wasn't for the sound of a wooden thud.

A bit of worry and curiosity, his eyes peered behind the mass of the crowd of armed vikings to see not only the prince resting safely on the ship. But also the same very ship had all of it's broadsides aimed directly into the hole of the side of the crystal Spire.

The stallion grimaced as his eyes now drifted down into the mess he was standing in. Created with fragments of wonderfully vibrant colors of fur... and red. If his memory served correctly. These loyal ponies had taken an indirect blast, and had been torn apart. One nasty example for what could possibly happen to every pony if they all just attacked.

The stallion also began to wonder if any of these guards even had a chance to see what had all changed in those years. Poor bucks and mares likely didn't know what they were up against. Nor what had hit them. His heart began to throb with sadness as the only phrase he could steel himself with, "Just don't think about it", began to falter on him.

When his eyes began to wonder along the walls and the ceiling. Sifting out every single scorch... among other things. His mind racing for a couple of seconds as his own talent worked it's wonderful magic. Or curse. The odds definitely weren't good. And there were a lot of ponies in this room that didn't want to put up a fight. They'd get slaughtered in a heart beat.

Java's eyes closed as he inhaled deeply. Highly regretting what he was about to suggest. He wanted justice for the dead guards... and civilians. But there were other pressing matters. And these Vikings behaved more like mercenaries than loyal soldiers to Sombra.

He finally opened his eyes once more after trotting closer, and gave the Jarl a grimace. He had seen his days of Tirek, Discords shenanigans, even had his share of spectating the disaster of Canterlot wedding. Those were all defeated by six mares with magic artifacts that could render the most powerful creature useless. Not raw power. These vikings might be mortals without horns, but... all of these ponies... even he... had forgotten about the fire power that they had threatened to put to use. Raw pony power won't stop anything here.

The stallion's head snapped back to the ponies behind him, and boomed out into an enraged snarl.

“ENOUGH! STAND DOWN NOW!”

He then pointed to the crowd huddled in the back. The ones that were to scared to fight.

“I'd hate to just abadon a fight. And follow through with what I am saying more than anypony else... it's my honor and name... but actions have consequences. A couple of us, even me do want to fight back. But... more will get killed than just us. That will be on our hooves. Our fault! I don't think anypony can live from a direct onslaught of cannonades. In case you don't know what that is. Explosive death with a blast radius of twenty meters for guaranteed fatalities from one shell. A storm of them would be impossible to survive. The shrapnel would rip you apart. Why else would they not be charging us? After so many threats from us? Before we try anything... lets just try not to resort to violence first... as much it's needed.“

The stallion then looked back to the Jarl with a distasteful frown. Any of his usual jolliness replaced with only a taste of sour defeat for choosing to give up justice. Just a serious monotone note. His eyes hidden behind the tinted lens partially tearing up from his previous thoughts. Not to mention his own hurt pride. Giving up a lesser evil to solve for the greater one. Sombra was obviously more dangerous. Still. Java felt like he died inside with all of his years of being raised to be proud.

“Sides... unknown status of a princess aside... there's a bigger threat below us. And I doubt he cares if we try doing anything about it. You just want your pay, right? Then you'll haul out. All the vikings gone?”

((Remember. You aren't indestructible guys . It isn't cowardice if you realize the situation is out of your control.))

[Bellosh]

Something was very wrong with Flash Sentry. Not that he’d know it though, Flash believed without any doubt that he was in the middle of the most important mission of his life. That mission: to provide inside assistance to WRAITH in securing access to the Imperial Vault. Did that sound like something a loyal royal guard would do? Of course it was... provided that guard was covertly kidnapped by a mad changeling scientist, subjected to mental horrors beyond imagination, and then had his mind remolded into that of a double agent. And the best part about it for WRAITH: Flash Sentry did not even know at all of his change in allegiances.

Guarding an antechamber entrance in the Spire for most of the day, Flash Sentry didn’t even know of the scheduled attack on the Crystal Empire. Not until a mysterious mare walked up to the armored stallion and casually mentioned; “Love is Purple.” Instinctively, the royal guard snapped to attention and responded in the only way his subconscious knew how; “You cannot kill that which is already dead.” Mere seconds later, an explosion rocked the antechamber behind Flash, and the mystery mare ran off. Flash Sentry, despite experiencing some minor scorching, understood his orders perfectly; to dig through the rubble and deliver to the Red Jarl the key he’d need to unlock the vault.....

-------------

Just as the situation in the main room was deteriorating to an unacceptable level, a young stallion’s voice rang out from the burned remains of the antechamber doors. There stood Flash Sentry, with an unconscious, severely-injured lavender alicorn lying prone on his back. “Sir!” the brainwashed guard saluted his commanding officer, the Red Jarl; “Princess Twilight’s been recovered from the debris, and she is alive. Are we clear to proceed to the vault?”

[SteelEagle]

Ice magic. Fire magic. Some ponies who seemed to not think much of their dead comrades- such was the friendship and harmony he had heard so much of that at the smallest hint of trouble they cared for one another's lives so little that the prospect of dozens of cowering innocents being killed simply so the few who resisted could hold on to their pride mattered little. Harmony and friendship were simple lies that ponies told themselves to hide the fact that they were as flawed and imperfect as the rest of the world and willing and able to leave one another dying and dead if it suited their own selfish desires. The biggest difference between the caribou and the ponies is at least the caribou knew what they were after. Ponies just lied to themselves.

Look at the ice ponies. So fiery, betraying their magic. The talkative one continued to make herself stand out as one of the nosiest ponies around. She even made a few ice projectiles. Ooh, pretty. Yes, so deadly. So wonderful. Wow. So effective. Yes, in the land of ice and snow he had never seen weapons made of ice. Well played. Well, she would be more than welcome to attack. So would the big pegasus. More big words. Big words from the noblepony who wasn't what he wanted. Big words from the ponies, big words from the dead. So many that the Jarl could hardly respond to all of them. He simply chuckled. The chuckle became a roar of delight as he started unsheathing a sword. “Well, little ponies, please feel free to attack me. But your noblepony here is right- we want our payment. This vault is our payment. We open it, then we leave. We don't, then we don't, and I'd enjoy-” the Jarl began before the sound of a cork and general tomfoolery behind him stole his attention for a second.

Hah, the Prince was resourceful! The Jarl enjoyed that. He also enjoyed the Prince jumping onto the ship. What was the foal trying to accomplish? Multiple Caribou crewbou looked at him in confusion. One even raised an axe- “No!” The Jarl yelled, then smiled, “no. Just hold him in place. And now for-"

“ Sir! Princess Twilight’s been recovered from the debris, and she is alive. Are we clear to proceed to the vault?” one of the brainwashed guards stated, the poor Princess on his back. Ahh, so she was not so dead? Interesting.

“Good work,” The Jarl said, taking the Princess himself and holding her very tight to himself. “A light thing, isn't she? It appears your Princess is yet alive. Hmm, maybe the guard did not surprise her so completely...cast a spell to save herself? No matter. 'Twould be an easy thing to snap her in twain,” he looked over to Bulk Biceps, “I need two royal hooves...and I now have them. Fortuitous, no?” he laughed, walking over to the vault and pressing Twilight's hoof to the vault hoof inlay.

As he waited, one of th guards asked if she could leave. Odd, but there were other plans going on. The Jarl nodded. as the doors were opened briefly, both the guards and caribou more than willing to kill anypony else that moved towards it.

The vault hummed and hummed, the air pressure growing thicker by the moment until it seemingly snapped into lightness...and the door cracked. And so did the second?

“Ha! So Sombra was trying to fool us by looking for a second hoof when we needed one all along!” The Jarl shook his head as the two caribou carrying the vault started to turn it and turn it some until the doors reached the even wider balcony and the ship. As they did this the Jarl tossed Twi's body against the ice. Then with one mighty heave, the carivou opened the vault!

“What is that...”

[Bellosh]

KABOOOOOOOOM!!! In a day where fiery explosions were a dime a dozen, the sudden denotation of the vault proved to be the first severe blow to the aspirations of the viking caribou raiders. All those caribou who carried the massive vault upon their backs were just gone, just like that. Several others who were nearby the explosion zone were thrown about like ragdolls by the blast concussion, or struck by shrapnel. As for the longship standing by to pick up the vault, it received a nice new flaming hole in its hull, one severe enough that it slowly but surely spiraled out of control while descending towards an inevitable crash.

What the Red Jarl hadn’t realized was that his unexpected misfortune was all part of King Sombra’s master plan. It was known through spies that the brutish oaf of a viking caribou planned on betraying His Majesty during his moment of triumph, so Flash’s shadowy overseers made sure to provide additional instructions. Flash and his cadre of brainwashed royal guards were wise positioning themselves at a safe distance, they having earlier swapped out the actual treasures in the vault for explosive chemicals. With the caribou force drastically weakened, now came the time for the final blow.

“Red Jarl!” Flash Sentry victoriously jeered with an unnatural predatory leer in his eyes; “King Sombra learned of your plot to double-cross him this day. Be decree of the King, you will pay the price for treason. Guards,” the stallion gestured at the caribou leader; “Heh ........Betrayal is Good.” The other guards, forcibly conditioned by the criminal minds that reforged them into tools of betrayal, charged at the remaining caribou with their spears without a second thought.

[PyroBlaze]

The coffee-colored stallion had a point, that fighting these brutes would be foolhardy, especially with so many bystanders. She wasn't really one for violence anyways. A peaceful solution would be preferred, assuming said solution didn't leave them to the whims of some evil overlord. Still, at the moment it would be good to stick with non-violence.

Sunrise let her fire fade away, though she still remained on guard in case the interlopers decided to attack anyways. Soon enough, after a move from Prince Blueblood that left him on the ship and sent a few caribou to their deaths, another guard came in, delivering Princess Twilight to the leader, who then proceeded to open the vault. Good, maybe they actually could get out of here without violence.

Of course, that's when the vault decided to explode, taking out the caribou carrying it and tossing some of the others away from the force. Sunrise got as low as she could and tried to shield herself from whatever would reach her distant position. When she looked back up, the remaining guards were charging the surviving caribou. Well, this was an interesting development, though not an entirely undesirable one. Making her way over to the coffee-colored earth pony, she spoke to him of her idea.

"Perhaps we could convert these caribou to our side if we assist them against the guards accosting them. Now, I normally wouldn't endorse attacking guards, but these ones are obviously part of this Sombra's army. We do still need to harry those ponies out of here though, don't we?" She said, that last question more directed at herself than the stallion she had been speaking to. "We could also leave them to fight each other and slip out in the confusion, but gaining an ally might be beneficial."

[Blueblood]

So... in the end, it all came to nothing. Looking up at the crowd of Caribou on deck, both bravado and cowardice deserted the Prince, leaving only an empty, unresisting shell. Two of the crew were sent to hold him; one would have done. It was the same in the last invasion; in fact, it was the same throughout his whole life. No matter what he did, ponies would either call it snobbish or idiotic, and it would make no difference in the end, anyway.

In short, Blueblood was past caring whether he was used to open the vault, or was simply thrown overboard. Feeling that lead weights were tied around his neck, he tried to lift his head to see what was going on in the Spire. There were many shows of resistance, but it seemed that Java was dismissing them all as pointless. Well, the fellow certainly couldn't ask for a better object lesson.

But then- "Twilght!" The Princess, she was still alive!? The cold, numb, unfeelingness was dispelled from Blueblood, though what had replaced it he couldn't tell. The only thing he knew for sure was, that where he had once felt that nothing mattered, now something mattered. One who had been thought dead wasn't. It made him sick to see the alicorn tossed about like that; it was one thing for him to be ponyhandled, but to have a once-powerful magic user be nothing more than a barbarian's tool offended his deepest sensibilities-

*KABOOM*

Safe to say that only Sombra's sleeper agents saw that one coming. The blow stuck the ship with sufficient force to send it listing, and the two caribou on either side of the Prince loosened their grip in shock.

Not many ponies knew how avid a sailor Blueblood actually was, but he'd spent many hours on board ships and boats, and had even captained a few small vessels. So, it was safe to say he knew when he was on a sinking ship. Feeling the deck tilt beneath him was enough to shift his mindset altogether, from the beleagured noblepony to the imperiled captain. "Don't just stand there, you misbegotten muddlers; get off before the flames reach the powder magazine!!" For just a second, he forgot his situation, and saw the shocked invaders as his own crew.

The disembarking was post-haste, and with the Jarl having been close to the explosion, it was a toss up as to who their leader was now. Several of them actually followed Blueblood in a sort of dazed confusion, as he led the pack from the doomed vessel. He was making a beeline for the tossed Princess, which brought him smack against the line of guards now charging the remaining Caribou.

Unfortunately, the Prince was running too fast to stop now, no matter how much he tried. His sudden attempt to brake only caused him to slip on the glass floor, slide under the raised spears of the guard, and bump up against a particularly offensive orange colored fellow. "Yaagh!" Incredibly, the Prince had managed to maintain a hold of the half-open wine bottle with his magic, and in a last-ditch effort, he smashed it across Sentry's helmet, soaking them both in Crystal Berry Champagne.