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Aftermath: Picking up the Pieces (Open to all involved in the Crystal Empire Battle)


Lux

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The following takes place after the battle of the Crystal Empire. Open to all who participated in the Crystal Faire threads. You can either help Diamond Cut or with other projects in the city.

The battle at the Crystal Empire was over. King Sombra was driven away from the realm along with the caribou raiders and the Empire was once again at peace. Yet there was still much to be done to clean up from the battle. Buildings lay damaged, the wreck of an airship lay near the palace, and not to mention the ponies who were hurt during the battle. Even these though were only a taste of the emotional scars that no doubt many ponies had seeing the creature of darkness that once enslaved the returned for a second time since reemerging.

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Diamond Cut looked at the entryway of his now damaged stall that he was supposed to sell mementos of the Crystal Empire to visitors using his jewelry. He held a now damaged wooden box containing the two necklaces he hoped that Princess Cadence and Shining Armor would like as a token of their making the Empire a safe and prosperous place. But like many things this wasn't what happened.

"Perhaps another time," the stallion said as he set the box on the one intact counter along with the undamaged jewelry and cut stones he could salvage. He looked around at the damaged houses, streets and other things with a sigh, knowing that while it looked bleak, it could have been much worse. He began to pick up pieces of crystal, most likely from the buildings around him and put them into a pile. If nothing more he wanted to see the main road leading to the Crystal Heart cleared. It was then that he saw a few ponies in the streets along with him.

"Can you give me a hoof and help me clean the street up? The more to help the faster this city can recover."

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Sunrise sighed as she took in the damaged buildings around her. This place had been so beautiful when she had first arrived, and now it was largely damaged thanks to those ruffians. Oh well, nothing to do now but rebuild. She had since stored her dress and purse in a safe place before taking a walk through the streets.

She turned her head as she heard the voice of a stallion requesting assistance. It turned out to be a crystal pony who seemed to be clearing the fallen crystal off the road.

"I'll help you out." Sunrise called back, activating her magic and moving shards off the road in groups. She could pick up more than one, but she didn't feel like she could get all of them in one go. She added these shards neatly to the pile the stallion had started.

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Over the horizon came a familiar sight; ships. These were not airships however, these were boats. Boats that were airborne by some mysterious power or technique known only to those who built them. The only problem was that the ones who built them... were the same race of creatures that had caused so much devastation; The Viking caribou. These herds of warriors were some of most hardy individuals in the known world. They had to be if they were to survive in their homeland covered and snow and teaming with gigantic and dangerous wildlife. Gigantic flying longboats soared over the heads of the ponies who approached the broken remains of their empire...

those with keen eyes might notice that these ships were flying a different banner from those that bore the marks of the renegade clan of Olin. Upon their flags and on the shields on the sides of their vessels was the image of a tall tree, free of leaves and branches spread apart like many hooves reaching for the heavens. On the trunk of the tree image was a runic symbol; the letter 'A' in the caribou alphabet, although to anyone unversed in such a thing would probably just see a capital 'F' where the one writing it started falling asleep as the drew those two horizontal lines on the right. Another hint to these cows and bulls intentions was the lack of any resounding warhorn... as much as they loved that sound, they weren't here to fight.

The many oar-like protusions on the sides soon slowed to a stop. Loud grunts came from the decks as several boarding ramps and ropes were brought down, many of these tall, husky looking warrior species going up to the various ponies. Strangely There were only a few of them that were clad in armor. The majority of those who were getting off the ships were seen bearing hammers and various other tools as well as some lumber. The workers who came off the ship stood in an orderly line as a very tall Whitescar cow came down the ramp...

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The sound of hooves clopped softly down the ramp. Cloven hooves patting softly against the wood and the armored warriors standing at attention as those hooves passed by. Silvery grey eyes flitted around the workers she had brought before she finally came up to a crystal pony with a diamond type of coat and a curious rainbow mane. The stories her sister had told her about these ponies varied and unusual color palettes were apparently all too true.

Sigrun, Jarl of the united clans of Askr had finally come to crystal empire. The words of agents that stood among the Red Jarl had stated that he had been planning a massive and horrific raid on the Crystal empire. The only issue with the information was the fact of how late it had reached her. It had only given her less than a day to assemble any kind of intercepting attack force to assist the empire to the south. Ultimately she realized that she hadn't enough time to assist and could only let the events run their course. She did however make sure to load several large longboats with her workers and craftsbou who would be working with these single hoofed species to return their home to it's previous glory. The trip to the empire took at least a day to complete at the speed. There was more to this excursion than a simple attempt to mend relations with the crystal equine however... The second return of sombra, an organization calling themselves W.R.A.I.T.H. ,The recent reports of mind control that had come from the scene. So much to think about and so little time to React. For now, The young Jarl had to focus on the matter at hoof.

There was a heavy silence in the air for a while... with Noone saying a word to break the awkward air. The Caribou cow had a blade at her side and she appeared to be lifted one of her forehooves. She soon kneeled slightly to the smaller quadraped, "I am Sigrun, Jarl of the Askr clan in Whitescar." The hardened warrior of the north soon lifted up her head and stood straight before she looked back to her clan's workers...

"All of you are to assist in the re-construction and repair of all buildings in this district. The head Craftsbull is to speak to as many ponies as possible and coordinate with all efforts to return this empire to it's glory!"

The cow's voice rang almost as loud as one of the horns that was sounding the previous day. When she spoke those there listened and went off to the center of the city to help with the rebuilding of the crystal spire. All of them willingly going through the checkpoints and guards to assist. The tall caribou looked over to the small diamond stallion and looked at the mess around the street. Her personal contingent of guards was looking bored, "You lot! Help me and this pony clean the streets!"

"You, what is your name?" She asked the small pony.

I have asked lux and he has approved the use of my new caribou here.I would have brought her in to the crystal faire event but I didn't have enough tome to.

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Java was already working with the Crystal ponies to clean up their beloved city. Those whom he had saved were promptly lowered back down to safety. He was all patched up too. He was wearing bandages that completely covered up his right eye. His legs had been bandaged up. There was an adhesive patch over his left cutie mark. A couple of band-aids and stiches on his face. Cracked ribs magically mended back together. And of course a sucker in his mouth from the kind doctor that had patched him up.

And as for his airship? Well he had it gracefully landed it in the middle of the city, where the rubble was the thinnest, and threats of falling buildings was possibly the lowest. The ships was showing off one of it's bizarre features. The tall armored plates on the sides had been extended out and pointed downwards by metal hydraulic like struts. The ends of them met the ground like landing gears, at different altitudes to give access to the loading bay on the back.

He had instructed the crystal ponies to pile the large rubble inside. This is so his cat, whom unexpectedly can fly the airship as expertly as Java himself, can fly the ship to the outskirts of town, and dump the slabs of crystal and stone into a neat pile for reuse later. He himself was also helping them out, having been happily strapped to a cart with a towering pile of rubble packed in tightly.

The wagon was straining badly, it's axial looking like they were about to break, but were miraculously holding on. With each bump, the tower of rocks waved in the air. And surprisingly, for a nerdy little engineer, Java was moving the cart without much of a problem. In fact, he was actually skipping and humming a jaunty little tune to himself. This was EXACTLY what he needed to get his mind off of things.

Well... his humming cut off with a dull note as he heard a new voice boom into the air. His eyes slowly opened up... only to find something brown and fuzzy fill his vision. A moment later he had collided into the back side of a Caribou Cow... oh dear.

The stallion whom realed back imidiately after colision, was blushing and covering his snout. “Ah! Sorry about that...” he began as he pulled his hoof away from his nose, and gazed up to see.... Antlers. The stallion's fur on the back of his neck was immediately standing on end. Kinda like realizing that he was about to loose his head. To a cow.... whom was about to back hoof it into the nearest trash can.

“... oh... dear...” the pony churps in surprise... and in acceptance just as his airship flies overhead to the outskirts of town. The Doppler effect doing wonders for the high pitched voice of a desert Serval playing captain yowling, "YAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawr...." into the distance.

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Ugggh, stupid nasty caribou! Why did they have to come and plunder everything in the Crystal Empire? More importantly, why did the evil vikings break into Flakey Shard’s house and smash ALL of her toys to bit? And now Flakey had to HELP rebuild her city without getting any of her toys back? Why did life had to be sooooo UNFAIR!!!!!!???

The fact that Flakey’s school was closed indefinitely didn’t help console the spoiled filly. As a filly of the Crystal Empire, she was expected to do her little bit to repair all the damage caused by the caribou. It didn’t matter that the grown-ups let the kids stick to lighter jobs; any physical labor was bad for Flakey if it didn’t provide her self-gain at the end of it. And nopony, absolutely nopony took Flakey’s demands that she get replacement toys seriously! If it wasn’t for those stinkin’ reindeer, then... ARRRGGGH.

So little Miss Shards did what she did the best in these sort of horrible situations; give off the appearance of doing work without actually doing much of anything at all. As a matter of fact, Flakey hadn’t even remembered what she was tasked to do in the first place. The filly was in the middle of ambling near of the remaining bottom half of the Crystal Spire when she spied from afar a most unpleasant sight: CARIBOU!!!!!!

Flakey’s eyes boiled with indignant rage. Undoubtedly, the savages came back to finish the plundering that they began! Of course, such a small filly had no means of fighting back against potential raiders. Indeed, she had the brains to hide in a trashcan while the sacking was going on. Since they didn’t appear to be too tough now though, Flakey found the courage to jeer at the group of caribou. “HEY, REINDEEEEEER!” the young brat amplified her shouting via hoof gesturing; “GO BACK HOME AND EAT SNOW! HAVEN’T YOU STOLEN ENOUGH FROM US ALREADY?”

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Sigrun and other caribou arrival wasn't meet with warm reception. And it was just a beginning.

"Couldn't care less who you are." said the voice, the usually warm baritone now had a

It came from a pony who looked surprisingly healthy and good looking, aside from duster who was jagged and ripped in many places.

Swift Squall reinvigorated by magic of the Crystal Heart was helping with...well everything. Cleaning up the place, burying the fallen and other things. Arrival of even more caribou wasn't exactly what he was looking forward towards to. At all.

[color-green]"Not single one of you will move." said stallion, pointing towards the workers that cow brought along with his blade. "I dealt with enough of your kin today...permanently. And for harmony sake I will do it again if I have to. As for you..." he turned towards the Sigrun and glared straight at her eyes. It wasn't a friendly look.

"We had enough for Jarls who thought that they can do as they please without permission. Jarls and caribou overall. I may be not native of the Empire but I am a pony. You here to assist? We have enough of the hammers of our own. If you want to help, the best way would get yourself and whatever else that came from Whitescar back to that airship and get lost. For generation or two." usually calm noblepony was visibly angry. Only tremendous self-control prevented him from fulfilling advice he gave on his own.

"That's what I would like to say, but being a guest myself, I am not exactly in authority to do so. So all of you will nicely sit on that white rumps of yours until Princess Mi Amora will come and do it herself."

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The fight with Sombra and his caribou were over; Kahz's intel-gathering mission had not. Watching the invasion had indeed given the diminutive changeling plenty to report back, but that had only been one perspective on one part of the battle. Also, given that he'd been holed up behind the battle lines, it was by no means the most enlightening of viewpoints. Thus, the necessity for staying around, and talking to the others as to what they had seen, to get a more complete picture.

He'd changed back into his disguised form, the earth pony 'Heart Sight.' While at least four here had found out his secret, he'd requested that they all keep it for him. If his undisguised form appeared in the newspapers, the Queen might not let him come home from this little unauthorized trip. His two fellow changelings would understand, and as for Red and Tourmaline, they would be sympathetic enough to his claims, not to mention having a voice for the ponies back in Chrysalis' Hive appealed to them.

*Dunno how much I can do for them, save tell the truth. You never really can tell with ponies; that's what I've got to say. You never can say for certain that an invasion's a sure thing, and any one of them might manifest heroics. And then there's magic!* It was the same story he heard, every time he paused from sweeping up the tiny shards of glass and crystal. Everypony, from foals to artists to foreign visitors to pretty much everyone not actually connected with the military in any way showed great heroics. The whole thing was wrapped up by a burst of magic from the Crystal Heart that made everypony shiny. Heck, it still hadn't faded from many coats, and 'Heart Sight's' own grey coat and brown mane retained a residual sparkle.

He passed down the street after the ponies who could handle the large shards, nodding greeting to Diamond Shard as he passed by. "It shouldn't take longer than a week to clear up the rubble. Rebuilding might take a little longer, if you want to do it right. I know firsthand that you don't want to cut corners on that sort of thing!" He laughed with his little small talk, but it died upon his lips as he saw the ships pass overhead. Kahz hung back, leaning on his broom as he saw the caribou disembark.

Oho, so they'd come to help, had they? Very interesting. A military alliance here could pretty much spell doom for any changeling venture against Equestria. Not that a lot of ponies had reconciliation first on their mind. Instead, reactions seemed to be ranging from terror, to cowardly mocking, to just plain exasperation. Still, if his 'special talent' was to be trusted, he would say that these caribou were sincere. What was a loyal changeling to do?

*Wait. Watch.* And so he did.

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Ylva followed after her sister shortly after they landed, her silver-blue coat of dragonscales shining in the sunlight. As she had anticipated, they were not received warmly - and her sister’s rather...callous manner of speech was already grating against others. Sigrun’s first mistake was to have a weapon on her at all, her second mistake was to raise her voice. In Whitescar she would be regarded with respect for her actions - but this was not Whitescar. The Jarl’s twin stepped lightly forward and off of the ship, her expression flat and cold as her silver eyes darted around the ponies who had already confronted the Jarl of Askr. With every step that drew her closer to the ponies and her sister, however, her expression warmed. Ylva, of course, was in possession of no weapons.

As the cow approached her twin sister, she placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder. The two knew each other well, and she was sure that Sigrun could understand her through that touch. Calm yourself, be gentle. Now is not the time to be the Jarl, but to simply be Sigrun. She could not command her Jarl in front of others, but wished desperately to tell Sigrun to remove her weapons and have one of their clansbou return them to the ship. She could only hope.

First the pale sister would address the little one, a fiery filly whose fearless attitude towards those she saw as invaders and monsters warmed Ylva’s frosty exterior even more, and it was clear her smile was sincere.

“I assure you, small one,” she said through her thick Whitescar accent, making sure to address the crystal stallion while she spoke as well, “We are not here today to steal from you. I am Ylva of Askr, sister and right hoof to Jarl Sigrun. We cannot make up for the vicious and thoughtless cruelty acted upon by the Red Jarl and his kinsbou, but we can offer you our friendship, our aid, and what precious few resources we can spare. Life where we are from is tough, and we have little, but we would be honoured if you would take the offer of our services and these materials. Wood cannot compare to crystal...but we can use it well. We can make sturdy structures, even if just to provide temporary shelter for those whose homes have been devastated.”

She turned then, to face the agitated stallion who was trying to bully the Jarl and her clansbou away from the Empire.

“Clan Olin and their Red Jarl are not our kin. We have naught but distaste for their ilk, especially looking upon the destruction and despair here. To threaten us with violence and bully us away when we mean peace, when we offer these folk our help - are you so eager for more bloodshed? Would you really call for more pain and rage here while these ponies attempt to rebuild their empire? You speak of harmony, yet your words are very far from harmonious...Stay your fury, friend. Clan Askr wishes for peace, here. We offer our friendship. I swear it upon my life and my pride.”

There. Ylva had always had a fondness for stories and songs and poetry, and as a result she had developed quite a knack for eloquence. Her sister was more to the point, her speech and manner akin to the blade of an axe - fine qualities for a Jarl. Sigrun was a leader in the Whitescar - here amongst ponies and more peaceful sorts, however, Ylva would likely have to assist often and as best she could.

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Diamond Cut's Spirits perked up when he heard a voice answer his call. He saw a yellow unicorn with a phoenix cutie mark approaching using her magic to scoop up the crystal pieces. She was probably one of the many visitors who was caught up in the battle. Some first impression of the Crystal Empire! He could tell that it affected her greatly as this mare seemed to look at the once beautiful buildings with dismay.

"Thank you mam," he said, "I'm sorry that your visit here hasn't been under the best of circumstances. This place is typically peaceful. I'm Doamond Cut by the way. What's your name?"

As he waited another pony, this time a brown Earth pony appeared offering his help.

"It shouldn't take longer than a week to clear up the rubble. Rebuilding might take a little longer, if you want to do it right. I know firsthand that you don't want to cut corners on that sort of thing!"

"Ah so you are an architect or contractor then? Well met then. Yes, we certainly want our homes and buildings returned to their strong state if not stronger. I'm not a contractor, but I will pitch in when I can to rebuild this Empire, even if it means just collecting the debris from the streets."

Diamond then saw a fleet of ships flying overhead, and this made him shudder, could the viking caribou be back again to plunder and finish what they started? What made matters worse was that the ships landed right by him! Diamond picked up a sharp shard of crystal and set it next to him should he need it while staring at the ship in a mix of anger and sadness. He watched as the caribou warriors disembarked followed by a clearly royal looking cow who announced her intentions to the rest of her crew of rebuilding the Empire. Diamond would if it were any other species taken these words as a great sign, but seeing more caribou only frustrated as Sigrun approached him.

"My name is Diamond Cut, jeweler, geologist and historian of the Crystal Empire or rather what is left of it. Forgive me for sounding so rude, but my trust of you is very weak considering what others of your species just did to us and our Empire a short time ago."

Diamond wanted to keep his gentlepony appearance, but he was trying to hold back letting out all his fury of the previous attack. Others it seemed shared his anger and distrust including a filly who made no attempts to mask how she felt about the surprise. He could only imagine what the filly must have seen during the Faire gone badly. He did nothing to quell her outburst nor did he necessarily encourage it. She and others needed to vent and as long as it didn't turn violent then this was healthy. The last thing he wanted to see was more destruction and violence.

It was then that he saw a noblepony, one who he saw in the crowd before approaching the group with a look of confidence in his outright defiance towards another royal. He even came prepared with his blade out, waiting for another battle. While Diamond was angry he hoped that the actions of this stallion didn't spark another war.

“I assure you, small one,” she said through her thick Whitescar accent, making sure to address the crystal stallion while she spoke as well, “We are not here today to steal from you. I am Ylva of Askr, sister and right hoof to Jarl Sigrun. We cannot make up for the vicious and thoughtless cruelty acted upon by the Red Jarl and his kinsbou, but we can offer you our friendship, our aid, and what precious few resources we can spare. Life where we are from is tough, and we have little, but we would be honoured if you would take the offer of our services and these materials. Wood cannot compare to crystal...but we can use it well. We can make sturdy structures, even if just to provide temporary shelter for those whose homes have been devastated.”

“Clan Olin and their Red Jarl are not our kin. We have naught but distaste for their ilk, especially looking upon the destruction and despair here. To threaten us with violence and bully us away when we mean peace, when we offer these folk our help - are you so eager for more bloodshed? Would you really call for more pain and rage here while these ponies attempt to rebuild their empire? You speak of harmony, yet your words are very far from harmonious...Stay your fury, friend. Clan Askr wishes for peace, here. We offer our friendship. I swear it upon my life and my pride.”

The other caribou, clearly a noble herself and possibly related to Sigrun and of a cooler head spoke that the clan that assaulted the kingdom was an extremist group, one that even bullied the other caribou. While her words sounded truthful, she couldn't be yet trusted.

"Your words sound truthful Yiva of Askr, yet I am sure that I can speak for others be them citizens of this Empire and visitors seeking nothing more than to be merry that what was done here was unforgivable and will not be forgotten for a long time, perhaps even forever. So forgive us if we are all on our guard but we cannot and will not be blindsided again! Your oath if heartfelt as is your offer for peace and help, but I must ask in a gesture of goodwill that you surrender any weapons you may have on your fellow caribou. I'm sure that this unicorn here next to me will feel better with speaking with you if you do this first."

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"Oh it's alright, its not like you had any control over those ruffians. My name is Sunrise Skies, nice to meet you." She said, giving the crystal stallion a friendly smile as he introduced himself. She continued floating debris off the road as a earth pony stallion came up and began talking to Diamond. He didn't seem to notice her, but she didn't really mind.

Her work stopped abruptly when the ship's flew by overhead. Casting a quick glance around, she found a few sharp pieces of crystal that she could use as projectiles if need be. She put these pieces down near her as she watched a ship land nearby and caribou came out. The one that appeared to be their leader claimed they were here to help rebuild, though that was met with suspicion and disbelief.

Sunrise cast a glance at a filly that heckled the caribou, as well as a stallion pointing a sword at them. She didn't stop them at all though, simply listening as another caribou approached, claiming that the caribou that had attacked had been a group unaffiliated with the caribou leadership. Diamond seemed to believe them though, and she had to agree with him on that point.

"If you are truly here to help, and it appears that you are, I would welcome your assistance. As Diamond said, however, it would be best if you were to disarm." Sunrise called out to Sigrun and Yiva, remaining at the ready to fling her makeshift projectiles if necessary.

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“... oh... dear...”

As The jarl begun to take up some of the refuse on the streets in her hooves, She walked up to one of the Trashcans just as another ship pulled in overhead. This one had an interesting look to it. A large balloon of somekind that seemed to be holding it aloft, “You ponies have some interesting ideas for flight…” The Jarl brought some of the debris she’d collected and set it in a nearby refuse bin.

It wasn’t long before Sigrun began to feel a bit warm. How curious... the cold climate --while not as bad as whitescar-- had seemed to stop just after they had entered the empire. There was little point in continuing to wear that large cloak of hers. Rearing back she let the article of clothing slide off her body and then turned to a younger caribou who rushed to her side and caught it, seemingly thrilled, “Take my cloak back to my quarters on the vessel, young one.” The young calf promptly sped off with the cloak on his back and returned to the ship.

Not long after she removed her cloak she felt a sudden collision on her hindquarters. She blinked once or twice in surprise and turned back slowly, Silver eyes gazing down upon a dark brown earth pony. The armor clad guards she’d brought with her gasped collectively as they surveyed the scene, unsure of what to do.

Sigrun gave Java a cold look for a moment as she turned about to face him. His faceplant into the white patch on her backside left her speechless for a moment. In the short silence, one might see something that most of her clan did not bare on their own flanks. The very mark that was emblazoned on the boat’s shields; that of a tree with a rune on the trunk. Interestingly it seemed to be in the same location that a cutie mark would be on any specimen of pony.

“You…” Began the jarl as she cast a steel look upon the strange smelling earth pony, “... ponies are bolder than I’d imagined!” Soon a smile creased the cow’s lips and then she looked to her guards, “I bet if this one was one of us… he’d have antlers that could put all of yours to shame!” A series of hearty laughter in unison was heard from both the Jarl and her troops. “Earth stallion. What is your name?”

Sigrun and other caribou arrival wasn't meet with warm reception. And it was just a beginning.

"Couldn't care less who you are. Not single one of you will move. I dealt with enough of your kin today...permanently. And for harmony sake I will do it again if I have to. As for you… We had enough for Jarls who thought that they can do as they please without permission. Jarls and caribou overall. I may be not native of the Empire but I am a pony. You here to assist? We have enough of the hammers of our own. If you want to help, the best way would get yourself and whatever else that came from Whitescar back to that airship and get lost. For generation or two."

"That's what I would like to say, but being a guest myself, I am not exactly in authority to do so. So all of you will nicely sit on that white rumps of yours until Princess Mi Amora will come and do it herself."

The Jarl wasn’t sure about this one. She had to admit she liked his courage in the face of the best blade in whitescar, although she supposed he may not know that yet. He seemed to think in some way that her clan were allies of the traitorous Jarl of clan Olin… how insulting, it boiled her blood to even think of that fool.

She had to admit this stallion’s voice had an interesting quality to it… but as he might find out, The silver eyed queen’s word could cut just as well. She stepped up to the orange earth pony, her impressive stature towering over him before she spoke up. “Well, as you said. You are -only- a guest and not in authority. Therefore… We have no reason to listen to you or take your orders.”

As if to puncuate the Jarl’s words the workers who just moments ago had a blade pointed at them went on walking as if nothing had happened. “If you did wish another fight, Little pony. I’d be happy to spar with you while I’m here.” The Jarl gestured to the blade at her side, “This sword’s entirety may consist of Askrwood… but I believe it would be more than enough to settle any quarrel with you.”

She turned then, to face the agitated stallion who was trying to bully the Jarl and her clansbou away from the Empire.

“Clan Olin and their Red Jarl are not our kin. We have naught but distaste for their ilk, especially looking upon the destruction and despair here. To threaten us with violence and bully us away when we mean peace, when we offer these folk our help - are you so eager for more bloodshed? Would you really call for more pain and rage here while these ponies attempt to rebuild their empire? You speak of harmony, yet your words are very far from harmonious...Stay your fury, friend. Clan Askr wishes for peace, here. We offer our friendship. I swear it upon my life and my pride.”

"My name is Diamond Cut, jeweler, geologist and historian of the Crystal Empire or rather what is left of it. Forgive me for sounding so rude, but my trust of you is very weak considering what others of your species just did to us and our Empire a short time ago."

"Your words sound truthful Yiva of Askr, yet I am sure that I can speak for others be them citizens of this Empire and visitors seeking nothing more than to be merry that what was done here was unforgivable and will not be forgotten for a long time, perhaps even forever. So forgive us if we are all on our guard but we cannot and will not be blindsided again! Your oath if heartfelt as is your offer for peace and help, but I must ask in a gesture of goodwill that you surrender any weapons you may have on your fellow caribou. I'm sure that this unicorn here next to me will feel better with speaking with you if you do this first."

It was then that her sister joined the conversation. Ylva had placed a hoof and gave her a look.Sigrun knew that that look meant, she was trying to tell her she needed to use a softer hand now. This wasn’t the time for posturing. The Jarl gave her sister a nod and a soft smile to show she had gotten the message. Upon hearing Diamond Cut’s words, Sigrun took a deep breath…

“WARRIORS OF ASKR, LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPONS. THIS BATTLE AGAINST DESTRUCTION SHALL ONLY BE WON WITH HAMMERS AND NAILS!”

The warriors all laid down their arms in a pile and began to go off to their work in cleaning the streets… Sigrun then walked over and laid down her wooden sword as well, “We do not need your trust in order to assist you; only your cooperation… Trust however will always be welcome.”

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So much for a fun little weekend stay in the Crystal Kingdom with her very special some-pony and her youngest sibling. Instead of touring the ancient city and checking out all the interesting sites, Fire Walker had spent the better part of the day avoiding violent magic from a long dead tyrant and equally menacing weapons from his legion of dark caribou. It would be for the wise if they spend their next vacation somewhere safe, like Whinnyland. At least when things go wrong there, they don’t have to worry about the buck-e-nears in the ‘Pirates Of The Carriagebean’ ride attacking the tourists, although charging ten bits for a churro was close to criminal.

After the hot mess that was invasion was done and over with, the young mare made sure her sister was sent packing on the next train back to Ponyville. As much as Wind protested and tried to convince the older mare that she could be of use, Fire Walker did not even consider the girl's request and watched silently as the massive Crystal train took her back home. Wind had been traumatized enough during the 'Nightmare Night' fiasco. She needed to return to her new home and try to enjoy as much of her childhood as possible before this became a common event.

The mare was also not too keen on spending the next part of the day away from her very favorite stallion, Sir Swift Squall. Unfortunately she had a job to do. And after throwing on her trusty travel armor, she spent the next few hours searching the surrounding areas for straggler caribou and both citizens and tourists that required aid. Her heart sunk as she traveled through the great city. The inhabitants, the Crystal Ponies had more than their fair share's worth of misery. First they had to live through the first round of King Sombra. The living, ruthless and mad version. Was he ever a just a proper monarch? What sort of magic drove him over the edge? Then there was the disappearance of the great kingdom. 1,000 years? What a horrible thing to happen. To have lost friends and family who had not been in the kingdom at its vanishing. Then there was the return, of both the kingdom and the mad king, this time as an rather terrifying spectre. And just as he was defeated, he returned rather quickly. When would he be back? Next year? Next week? Or maybe tomorrow? As she made her tour, her eyes caught sight of the most innocent of victims, the children. She wanted to pick up every colt and filly that she had seen, and would try her best to reassure that this would not happen again, but that would have been a lie.

The mare caught what sounded like Swift Squall as she finished her scan of a surrounding block. Curious to what he was up to, she quickly trotted towards to where his voice had come from. And sure enough, there he was, and he was in the middle of a crowd waving his sword and what appeared to be one of the invading caribou. A moment's glance changed her mind as quickly as it came up. He did not look like the brutish barbarians that attacked the city.

"Swift, please.", she stood in front of the stallion, "We are not at war with the good High-King.", had there been any calls for such a thing yet? "We do need to pay the barbarians that aided Sombra a proper response, but this invasion is not an open invitation to attack every single caribou that you see. Considering what had just happened, we are going to need all the help we can find." Had there been any response from the Royals? From Celestia's champions?

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Ylva of Askr’s response was plainly the wrong one to tell Flakey Shards. By admitting there was nothing she could do to make up for this Red Jarl’s destruction, the furious filly knew that yet again, she would be denied of her rightful toys. And the audacity of this smiling caribou to say her pals weren’t up to trouble! All this assurance did was agitate Flakey further.

“Errrrrrragh!” she entered temper-tantrum mode; “I don’t WANT your stupid wood! Errrr- Ill-va, whatever your lame name is. You reindeer savages can’t even build anything that isn’t made out of snow! Everypony knows you stinkin’ lot only live in igloos anyway!” Clearly, all of Flakey Shard’s vast knowledge of caribou came from fantasy pony tales.

The caribou leader’s loud announcement only made Flakey even more openly distrustful and snarky towards Ylva; “Riiiiiight, you’ll win a battle with hammers. If my uncle were here, he’d tell us all about the time one of you antlered thugs chased after him in the Badlands with a war-hammer. Hmmmph! We’re not falling for your dirty tricks this time, Ill-va!”

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The stallion’s withers had flinched. The shift caused the fur along his sides to roll just slightly when the cow turned on him. The comment boring down whatever seething rage a self-conscious female of any breed could bring him! Maybe even the thought of gelding the poor young buck had crossed her mind. And then… CAME PRAISE?! The stallion blinked with an incredulous expression. His eyes even traded glances with the guards… whom were previously worried themselves!

Antlers that could put all of theirs to shame, Java echoed in his mind with confusion. He’d see the Caribou back in the spire. They had some pretty small antlers… but none of them seemed bothered by it. The engineer was about to dismiss the odd complement till he noticed the Caribou were self-consciously gazing up to their own antlers with… disappointment? Perhaps there were different cultures with some of the houses. Antlers apparently meant something to some… and possibly nothing to others. Then his mind began to wonder… and a little too far. Especially into the situation that brought up the comment.

WAIT!? Was that an-, the stallion thought to himself with a flustered expression.

By this point, Java was INCREDIBLY thankful for his dark brown fur when he got the cow’s response. His hoof quickly rose up to nervously scratch at the back of his head. The hoof was immediately back on the ground when she turned back around to face him.

Before he could even make the attempt at delighting Sigurn with his name, a sharp commanding voice filled the air. It was almost a save for the stallion, he wasn’t sure if he’d be stuttering after that. But… once again… almost.

“WHAT IN THE BLUE BUCK IS GOING ON HERE,” Boomed an annoyed looking Unicorn mare dressed in battle damaged, and scratched up decorated armor that she wore proudly. The armor of a Captain of Fetloch. Though her body wasn’t anywhere near warrior like, it was clear with one glance over her armor, eye-patch, and body was enough to portray the cocky message that she only needed a spoon to take on an army. Needless to say, she was a tough looking mare with bandages lining her legs and torso.

In her hoof was a halberd, lazily planted on the ground and leaned onto her shoulder. On her back was a plain shield with several holes punched through it. And on her side was a short sword, sheathed up and slipped behind a saddle bag.

Next to her were several members of her platoon, and behind her a scared ruby-gem pony.

Her eyes scanned over the group. First, the annoying little brat that apparently didn’t have any common sense to not rub the coat of an armed anything the wrong way. Second, to Sigurn. She didn’t even appear to care she was there. Nor her troops… whom were clearly armed. Then to Swift Squall. Armored Mare. Then…. One particular brown pony.

She kept her gaze fixed on the stallion, and approached him with even steps. Her armor clanking as she kept the stoic expression easily characterized with any Guard, or REA member in Equestria. Then stopped short of a few hoof beats. She remained still for what felt like ages. Staring down at the stallion.

Java… whom was looking up to the mare… now allowed his eyes to wonder around curiously. Once they resettled onto the Captain, his jaws opened up like he was about to say something, only to be cut short with a sudden armored hoof lightly prodding at his nose, and scrunching it against his snout.

“Poof!~” Star Breezer chimed with a familiar motherly tone. Her stoic expression immediately breaking, giving way to a bright grin. “Ye Ma t’is happy ta see ya, ol’Java bean~”. She allowed the stallion to pull away, with his ears lowering. She rolled her eyes, gave a hearty laugh. And then… delivered a rather sound head butt right to the stallion’s noggin.

What a lovely, KLONG, sound that helmet made. Her personal troops winced at the sound. Some grimaced, others moved their hoofs in front of their jaws to suppress a snicker.

Java yelped in surprise and stumbled back in a daze after the air. “OW! MOM! Helmet!”

“Oh toughen up, ye little bean! Ye get chopped good, and tat hurt’s ya? Pft whimp.” The mare gave him a sharp look, “Ye don’t write or noffin. Next ah’ know, ye find yerself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Happy to see you powered through, Voronoi! Now whip that deer arse off yer face! Ye cyclops ov a motha’s proud of ya, but ye aim was off to the right,” The mare snickered with her tongue stuck out. She dropped her hoof on Java’s head, and ruffled his mane. Her gaze turned back to the main group, ignoring any protests her son had made.

Her gaze then turned back to the group. “NOW THEN! Who wants ta tell ol’ Captain Breezie what’s blowin em fuses? Cuz I really don feel like sendin moar back in a hearse without reason… especially the peaceful ones… especially this lovely~” Her gaze landed on Sigurn with that final comment.

((Tablet does not like this forum's BB-Code. Formatting will have to wait for a bit. Sorry.))

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"Not your kin?" Squall started slowly, switching his focus at Ylva "Do you honestly that anypony think or care about that? Look at me, can you say from what part of the realm I am? Would you be able to tell I am not a local if I didn't say so? Maybe at some subconscious level you don't even care." unicorn said, his words slow and methodical.

"The very opposite holds true as well. Nopony here sees Olin, Askr or whatever you call yourself right now. Today the your very species become a symbol here. One that's equals brutality and tragedy."

To threaten us with violence and bully us away when we mean peace, when we offer these folk our help - are you so eager for more bloodshed? Would you really call for more pain and rage here while these ponies attempt to rebuild their empire? You speak of harmony, yet your words are very far from harmonious...Stay your fury, friend. Clan Askr wishes for peace, here. We offer our friendship. I swear it upon my life and my pride.”

"Don't you dare." stallion voice suddenly became as cold as harshest icy winds of Whitescar "Don't you dare throwing such implications! In this day! And this place! And am I furious? Yes, yes I am!" he suddenly waved his leg at some direction.

"There is a cemetery there, with many good ponies laid to rest. They should live long joyous lives...and it was irreplaceable taken! This was crime against the Life itself, and it cries for justice! And that's the reason why I am angry." he growled, shaking with righteous fury.

He walked towards the two caribou and looked straight to the eye.

"Now Ylva from Clan Askr, upon hearing this I dare you take this accusations to those fresh graves and repeat them."

Now Squall wasn't shouting anymore. Opposite, those words were merely a faint whisper, that somehow managed to be as loud as thunder.

Suddenly Swift sweetheart appeared, her words trying to give him a direction towards reason. And while his a little, swordpony was still too bitter to head her advice of leaving thisng unfinished.

"Some High King they have....he must be 'hight' in completely different sense of the word if he can't keep troubles in his own country, allowing them to boil over on others."

He walked around the crimson mare but not without giving her more words.

"I know what I am doing, it won't be more fighting here. I refuse to let this ground being painted more scarlet then it was already. But I also refuse to let them be ignorant of what they doing."

As if to puncuate the Jarl’s words the workers who just moments ago had a blade pointed at them went on walking as if nothing had happened. “If you did wish another fight, Little pony. I’d be happy to spar with you while I’m here.”

"You didn't ventured far from your country isn't it? If you did you would learn long ago that even in smallest of beings can dwell more power then you can even imagine." noblepony said with surprise calm. Apparently any anger he had was vented with earlier shouting.

The Jarl gestured to the blade at her side, “This sword’s entirety may consist of Askrwood… but I believe it would be more than enough to settle any quarrel with you.”

"You would be surprised. With such thinking you already defeated yourself." he added closing his eyes, while sharing some Zen-like wisdom.

"The Way is not something that should be treated lightly."

Squall doubted if Sigrun, or anypony else aside from himself had any idea what that line meant. Indeed it was more of the reminder to himself then anything else.

He looked once again at two sisters and shook his head. After which he thrown aside his own weapon to get a point across.

"You say you different but just like them you wear your pride as if it would be a virtue...like them. You do whatever you want...like them." he paused while wandering aside.

"You want peace? Newsflash for you, you already made diplomatic faux pas." he informed them before starting quoting.

"Any representative of other country, that makes action that changes the state of other country - regardless of it's nature - without the knowledge and consent of ruler of said country, is committing the act of trespassing the international law." Swift said while facing away.

"Which I wouldn't have to say to you if you would know about the Saraneighvo Treaty, which established current version of this international law eighty nine years ago. Of course you didn't know because Whitescar didn't bothered to send any representative to sign it. Which also means you aren't protected by diplomatic immunity unless Princess Mi Amora says otherwise."

He turned around.

"Does now you getting what you walked yourself into?" he asked the sisters.

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As a point of fact, Kahz wasn't an architect; not professionally, anyhow. It was just that, being one the few changelings small enough to fit through all the side-tunnels and ventilation shafts, he got 'volunteered' to do all the building inspections. You only had to crash through one rotten wall into some higher-up's private chamber to learn the value of good building. Fortunately, the apparatchik had been angrier at the grunt who'd slapped together the tunnel than the interloper...

Of course, explaining this to Diamond Cut would be impossible, of course. He was still disguised as 'Heart Sight,' and wasn't about to blow his cover again. Not that it mattered, anyway, with everypony's attention attracted by the developing diplomatic incident in the square.

*You know, if it wasn't for the fact that all the feelings are a little too real, it would make for a great show!* The tension, sudden appearance of maternal affection, a special somepony trying to calm her lover's bitterness... it all made for an absolutely exquisite cocktail of emotion. But, it was also real, and there was a distinct possibility that tension might break out into yet more fighting at this point.

That might prove good for the Hive in the long run, but... Kahz didn't think he could be that mean, to deliberately let more bloodshed happen after all he'd seen!

Loyalty and Kindness warred within him... leaving the flag open for Laughter to sweep in for a sudden capture.


Swish, swish, swish.

Into the middle of the group gathered around Sigrun and Ylva would come a small, bent figure of an earth pony. Grey in coat, brown in mane, crooked in spine and limb. He carried a broom, sweeping the and small, painful shards off the street. He swept into their midst as if he hadn't noticed them, until he bumped against Swift Squall. He looked up, with a carefully neutral expression, before smacking the broomhead against the side of his duster jacket like he was beating a rug. Some dust actually came off, which he dutifully swept up.
Turning around, he then looked up, way up at the Jarl, still with the same blank, unimpressed visage, before suddenly tickling her nose with the broom handle.

And then he bent back down, and continued sweeping. Swish, Swish, Swish. Last stop was Captain Breezie, who was the first pony he addressed as such, rather than a statue in need of dusting. "They gave me a broom to sweep up the stuff getting in the way of reconstruction." He looked at the broom, back at the square, and then at the broom. "It's not big enough."

There. He'd done enough to break the tension to soothe his conscience, and if they still couldn't get their act together... Glory to the Hive!
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Ylva had been prepared for the crashing wave of suspicion, uncertainty, and even volatile rage that was beginning to swell. She listened carefully to every word that every pony had to say, her face calm and unwavering. Being defensive, hateful, or overly proud would earn the caribou no favours here, and words would only carry her so far. Her sister the Jarl thankfully saw to that, commanding all weapons be surrendered by their clan. The shaman-cow nodded her approval and removed her dragonscale cloak and her chainmail gown for good measure, leaving only a finely-woven white tunic upon her form. It felt odd for her, to be wearing so few layers, but it was a show of good faith - there were no weapons hidden beneath her coat. The cow caught the gaze of the crystal stallion who had asked them to remove their weapons, then closed her eyes and bowed her head respectfully. Perhaps a pony from a land of harmony would not recognize it, but to make oneself vulnerable by lowering their eyes and their head like this in Whitescar could get one killed. Any opportunistic foe would use this opening to their full advantage, and so it is a show of great trust to bow so deeply.

When Ylva righted herself again she nodded a warm hello to the red pegasus mare who entered the scene, but elected not to speak to her right away. She seemed a level-headed sort, and for that the Right Hoof of the Jarl was grateful, for the mare readily stepped in front of the volatile unicorn who was quick to threaten and bully the caribou.

To the crystalline filly, Ylva could only offer a full-bellied laugh.

“How bold you are, little one!” she chuckled, “Stoke those fires of yours well now, and you could make a fierce warrior some day. The crystal guard would be lucky to have a spirit as strong as yours, though you would do well to recognize potential friends and allies when they present themselves, for I assure you if we wished to bring our warhammers here today, we would not have come with an army of craftsbou at the ready to build. We’ll have to make due with wood, though - our igloos would melt in your Empire!”

The last comment she emphasized with a wink, as it was very common for ponyfolk to believe that all caribou live in igloos. Some did, of course, live in quinzhees, though such snowy structures were usually only temporary settlements used on long hunting excursions or territory patrols.

The next pony to speak was one from Fet Loch - the accent was very telling. During her travels, Ylva had been very fond of the place and its bagpipes. Their music and culture was boisterous and jovial and warm, and reminded the cow of many long nights spent battling the cold with drink and stories back home.

“Captain,” the silver-eyed shaman said, “I believe we are the ones blowing fuses here today. The Jarl of Askr brought our best clansbou to help fight the Red Jarl, but we arrived too late. So now we are here to clean and rebuild, and offer what services we can. As expected, however, our presence has elicited wariness. We understand this, however, and all here are within their rights to mistrust us. All the same, we wish to help.”

The last to speak turned Ylva’s expression to steel and she finally faced the volatile unicorn. He would see no more of her warmth, for his accusations were many and they went beyond the realm of being merely disrespectful. The shaman tried, but failed, to hold back her pride.

“You should care, stranger, who we call kin. Those who would leave behind the old ways are as much enemies of the Red Jarl as you are, and as inclined to peace as the ponies of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Clan Askr is among those who shun the old ways, and we believe that together we could put the forces of chaos which devastated this beautiful Empire behind bars. As to your accusations of my ignorance towards pony kind I can only shake my head. I spent years away from the Whitescar, learning of the many painted cultures in your lands of plenty. I have made fast friends and there are many I would call family, and I would certainly know a unicorn from the local crystal ponies even if I were blinded.

“Though it is ignorance which leads you to believe the entirety of the Whitescar to be under the High King’s rule. You wrongly accuse him for the independent actions of caribou he does not govern. I will say it again: your hostility does no good here. You would chase us off when we mean to aid these folk, but it is as you yourself said: you hold no jurisdiction here.

“And we have made no faux pas. The treaty you speak of is outdated, replaced by another - one of friendship and allegiance that has been signed by representatives Heil-Barn, Askr, and the Crystal Empire. We know what we have walked into, and we also know the destruction and ruin that is brought about by misplaced fury and a refusal to change one’s own bias, ignorance, and outdated ideals. It is an affliction in my homeland, and if you continue to embrace the bitterness you feel towards all caribou for the actions of a few it will consume you.

I say it again: stay your fury. We are not your enemy. But words are wind - it is time for us to work.”

So much for not being overly proud, the cow thought to herself, ready to walk away before another stallion swept into the scene...literally. He bumped into Swift, swept his broom across Sigrun’s nose, and made a quip about the Jarl getting in the way of reconstruction.

The ice in Ylva’s expression was melted once more and she laughed generously, ruffling the mane of the stallion with a spark in her eye.

“I need to heed my own words, it seems! This remarkable stallion is quite right, we are all holding construction at bay now, squabbling like petty adolescents at dinner. To work, friends, to work! We shall make this Empire more radiant than before if we work together! There will be time to talk later, for words are wind, and the wind will not sweep these streets clean. That is work for bold, dusty stallions!”

And just like that, Ylva dipped her head low and began using her antlers to begin pushing crystalline debris into tidy piles. Should that volatile stallion the pretty red mare called Swift come at her again, she would laugh him off and command him to help. Her pride would not get the best of her any more this day!

Forgot to mention that I have permission from the players of Sigrun, Randgrid, and Cadence to mention this treaty and it is canon! :3

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Diamond Cut could see the battle lines being drawn with who sided with allowing the caribou to help rebuild and who wanted them gone. The Crystal Pony stallion was happy that there was help but he wasn't willing to trust them completely. Sunrise Skies, the first pony he met to assist him before the caribou arrived agreed with diamond to ask for the caribou to disarm. He gave a smile to the unicorn, happy that he had somepony that shared his feelings.

He braced himself to see if the leaders of Clan Askr would disarm or if they like the ponies would be not trusting to let their guard down. But to his relief the order was given to disarm.

"Thank you," he said to Sigrun "I'm sure that many here will feel at ease that no show of force had been made."

Before he could feel that things were starting to calm down, the Crystal filly still was unconvinced that the caribou would do anything to help. Hearing her rant the stallion could tell that she knew absolutely nothing about caribou lore, just making up reasons to actually hate the caribou.

"You seem to know much about caribou lore," Diamond said to her, "Did you learn this all from your uncle or school?"

He hoped that is speaking to her he could understand where she got the shaky information from. But then came to the unicorn. The sword wielding pony seemed to be as immovable as a crystal house. There was absolutely nothing that the caribou leaders would offer that could please him or make him stand down except for Yiva, Sigrun and the others leaving. The pony was well versed in treaties, many of whom that Diamond never heard of.

"Please sir," Diamond said to the unicorn, ​"I can see that you are well versed in combat and the laws of the land. But the more assistance that we have the faster we can return to normalcy. The past event affected us, ponies like me that call this place home especially. What if you met a group that assumed that all unicorns were aggressive and refused your assistance or worse threatened not to stand down until you left. To assume that all caribou and all clans are seeking destruction will lead to more distrust and pain here and what little harmony that is left in this place will be gone. I don't trust them completely, but I see their surrendering their weapons as a sign of good faith. You can take up your quarrel with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor but now is not the time for more disharmony. I have seen the brutal nature of a certain Dark King, one who did unspeakable things to us, and I was there when he returned again with an army. So for the sake of rebuilding and restoring harmony let there be peace."

Yiva gave a spirited remark to the swordspony and the crystal pony filly before ordering work to continue. As if to break up the tension an earth pony with a broom swept the streets, bumping into the caribou, Swift Squall, and a captain while doing his chores.

"Ponies and caribou," he said to the crowd,"I am not royalty, nor would I ever claim to be so. I am a simple merchant and historian who had lived here and has seen the return of King Sombra not once but twice. I have seen my fellow Crystal Ponies lives ripped away and their homes destroyed, but I have also seen us rebuild from these tragedies, as we will rebuild from this one. But we cannot rebuild if we are doing nothing but quarreling! So I for one will continue to rebuild my homeland and I welcome anypony or caribou to assist as having the authority of being a citizen of this empire and in the desire to see no more destruction or disharmony. So to those willing to assist we need all the help we can get. Streets need to be freed of debris, homes and buildings rebuilt, and injured ponies tended to. Now let us start!"

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Sunrise watched the caribou closely as the others spoke. There were ponies on different sides of the matter, but she was on the side that welcomed their help, though she was still wary of their weaponry. When the order came for them to disarm, she smiled thankfully at the caribou, floating the sharp gems she had found into the growing pile of debris.

There was more dissent among the ponies, mostly from a unicorn stallion and a filly that didn't sound like she actually knew aaa much as she seemed to think she did. Then came a earth pony stallion sweeping the road, and a few of it's inhabitants. Sunrise giggled somewhat at the display, setting off to help clean the streets as Diamond talked once more, trying to get everyone to work together. She smiled at him and nodded before lifting more crystals in her magic and floating them onto the pile.

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"Swift, please.", she stood in front of the stallion, "We are not at war with the good High-King.", had there been any calls for such a thing yet? "We do need to pay the barbarians that aided Sombra a proper response, but this invasion is not an open invitation to attack every single caribou that you see. Considering what had justhappened, we are going to need all the help we can find." Had there been any response from the Royals? From Celestia's champions?

"Now Ylva from Clan Askr, upon hearing this I dare you take this accusations to those fresh graves and repeat them."

"Some High King they have....he must be 'hight' in completely different sense of the word if he can't keep troubles in his own country, allowing them to boil over on others."

He walked around the crimson mare but not without giving her more words.

"I know what I am doing, it won't be more fighting here. I refuse to let this ground being painted more scarlet then it was already. But I also refuse to let them be ignorant of what they doing."

Suddenly a scarlet pegasus entered the scene. She’d seemed to be the type who wasn’t unfamiliar with battle, perhaps it was the armor that gave her that impression at first glance. Looking at the red mare’s eyes she could tell that she was indeed a warrior who could be respected in her judgement and restraint.

Just from the way she approached and spoke with the stallion, Sigrun could tell that she was close with him. He, however seemed to be distant as he quickly dismissed her words of sense to continue with his accusatory words of blind ignorance and anger. The Jarl could understand his anger, unimaginable devastation wrought by an army of horned invaders, death on a scale nearly immeasurable, if this had happened to her homeland she would be furious and eager for revenge as well. However the culprits had now up and left with their spoils so no justice could be taken…

Before Sigrun could properly respond to the arrogant stallion, He had the gall to adress her sister by her name. To the Askr clan it was incredibly rude to speak to a high ranking member of their kinsbou unless you had been granted permission by them or were in a higher position.

Sigrun glared down at the orange pony, her steely gaze looking like it could cut through a diamond three times over. “Colt...” She held her head high and looked down on the pony in a way an elder would speak to a child, “You were given no permission by my sister to use her proper name. She is the High Shaman of Clan Askr… and you are to address her as such unless she says otherwise… and there will be NO disrespect to the High-king while I am present.”

The Jarl cast her eyes on Fire walker, “Also… you are quite quick to dismiss this one’s -who I assume to be your mate- words… If you cannot afford those you love with respect you have no right to speak down to me. Besides, this pegasus seems to bear more common sense yourself.”

"You didn't ventured far from your country isn't it? If you did you would learn long ago that even in smallest of beings can dwell more power then you can even imagine." noblepony said with surprise calm. Apparently any anger he had was vented with earlier shouting.

"You would be surprised. With such thinking you already defeated yourself.”

To this, Sigrun could only laugh softly. She smirked at the orange pony, “You know nothing, Swift foal. In comparison to many of the creatures that hunt in our land, we, caribou are among the smaller.” The jarl reached up a cloven hoof and rubbed at her snout a moment to chase away a faint tickle before she looked back to the headstrong pony, “ If you like, I may introduce you to some of them on a hunt I’m organizing once I return to Whitescar."

“WHAT IN THE BLUE BUCK IS GOING ON HERE,”

Her gaze then turned back to the group. “NOW THEN! Who wants ta tell ol’ Captain Breezie what’s blowin em fuses? Cuz I really don feel like sendin moar back in a hearse without reason… especially the peaceful ones… especially this lovely~” Her gaze landed on Sigurn with that final comment.

((Tablet does not like this forum's BB-Code. Formatting will have to wait for a bit. Sorry.))

The pony with the interesting scent seemed to be especially familiar with this unicorn. How interesting, they didn’t seem to similar physically, but this unicorn’s interactions with the earth pony seemed almost motherly; reminding Sigrun a bit of how she and ylva’s mother had treated them.

Her accent was quite interesting. It seemed to have a rather lyrical quality to it. What drew the Jarl’s eye most was the impressive armor that Starbreezer wore. So many nicks, dents, and marks of battle. This was a pony worthy of respect both in and out of that armor.

An even more interesting turn of events was the last thing that she said. She had addressed her as ‘lovely’ , that was an interesting term to call sigrun. Most compliments she got from suitors --both cow and bull-- were things like, “Fierce, unconquerable, wild, dangerous” or things like that. Lovely was a new one however, Sigrun chuckled a bit and offered a hoof to the captain. “It’s nice to meet you as well…” The Cow looked to the now slightly flustered looking earth pony who had so recently collided his face to her flank, “I was just saying that your foal is quite the bold one, he took the opportunity to inspect my backside the moment I removed my cloak.”

And then he bent back down, and continued sweeping. Swish, Swish, Swish. Last stop was Captain Breezie, who was the first pony he addressed as such, rather than a statue in need of dusting. "They gave me a broom to sweep up the stuff getting in the way of reconstruction." He looked at the broom, back at the square, and then at the broom. "It's not big enough."

“You should care, stranger, who we call kin. Those who would leave behind the old ways are as much enemies of the Red Jarl as you are, and as inclined to peace as the ponies of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Clan Askr is among those who shun the old ways, and we believe that together we could put the forces of chaos which devastated this beautiful Empire behind bars. As to your accusations of my ignorance towards pony kind I can only shake my head. I spent years away from the Whitescar, learning of the many painted cultures in your lands of plenty. I have made fast friends and there are many I would call family, and I would certainly know a unicorn from the local crystal ponies even if I were blinded.

“Though it is ignorance which leads you to believe the entirety of the Whitescar to be under the High King’s rule. You wrongly accuse him for the independent actions of caribou he does not govern. I will say it again: your hostility does no good here. You would chase us off when we mean to aid these folk, but it is as you yourself said: you hold no jurisdiction here.

“And we have made no faux pas. The treaty you speak of is outdated, replaced by another - one of friendship and allegiance that has been signed by representatives Heil-Barn, Askr, and the Crystal Empire. We know what we have walked into, and we also know the destruction and ruin that is brought about by misplaced fury and a refusal to change one’s own bias, ignorance, and outdated ideals. It is an affliction in my homeland, and if you continue to embrace the bitterness you feel towards all caribou for the actions of a few it will consume you.

“I need to heed my own words, it seems! This remarkable stallion is quite right, we are all holding construction at bay now, squabbling like petty adolescents at dinner. To work, friends, to work! We shall make this Empire more radiant than before if we work together! There will be time to talk later, for words are wind, and the wind will not sweep these streets clean. That is work for bold, dusty stallions!”

"Thank you," he said to Sigrun "I'm sure that many here will feel at ease that no show of force had been made."

"Ponies and caribou," he said to the crowd,"I am not royalty, nor would I ever claim to be so. I am a simple merchant and historian who had lived here and has seen the return of King Sombra not once but twice. I have seen my fellow Crystal Ponies lives ripped away and their homes destroyed, but I have also seen us rebuild from these tragedies, as we will rebuild from this one. But we cannot rebuild if we are doing nothing but quarreling! So I for one will continue to rebuild my homeland and I welcome anypony or caribou to assist as having the authority of being a citizen of this empire and in the desire to see no more destruction or disharmony. So to those willing to assist we need all the help we can get. Streets need to be freed of debris, homes and buildings rebuilt, and injured ponies tended to. Now let us start!"

Ylva, promptly demonstrating this rude ponies ignorance of the more recent treaty signed by the High king, Made a remark that Sigrun felt summed up her own words on the application of politics to this day. She always had a better memory for those sort of events than Sigrun had; The usual extent of her political knowledge was, Who is a friend, who is an enemy, and how well they could be trusted. The Jarl of Askr was proud and grateful to have her sister at her side, “Thank you, Ylva…” The cow smiled softly at her lighter coated sibling.

It seemed that the Jarl’s choice to order her warrior’s lay down their arms was received warmly by the pony in charge. Hopefully this would ease the tension somewhat that was caused by her clan’s appearance here. The rebuilding of this jewel of north would not be an easy task and the least Sigrun’s clan could do was help in the restoration of it.

Sigrun was about to acknowledge Diamond Cut’s words but she was stopped by the appearance of an earth pony casually sweeping through the scene. He cleaned off Swift Squall’s coat and before the Jarl could react he tickled the broom’s bristles over her nose! The cow had been fighting off an annoying tickle deep in her snout that had appeared as soon as she set hoof in the empire and the strange pony’s action had snow made it like a snowball rolling downhill.

“Ah…”

Her head leaned back.

“Ahh…”

Her mouth fell open.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Her nostrils flared and then…

“GWAAAAAAAAAAASSSSHOOOOOOOOO!”

The Jarl let out a sneeze that echoed across the empire. Her volume was matched only her sneeze’s ferocity, that was unfortunately directed at the orange pony in the longcoat. To the pony before her it would be like being his by an fierce wind in arainstorm as squall was promptly sprayed down and had his mane pinned to his head in a slicked back style now as well as having pushed a good three feet back from where he was standing a moment ago.

The Jarl snorted and rubbed at her snout with a hoof, “Um… Excuse me.” She gave an awkward laugh before she looked to her sister who had already began to work. As usual, She and the Jarl were on the same page. Since Squall was now out of the way of the street she turned to the side and lowered her head, advancing forward as her horns skewered bits of paper, debris, and carried of bits of stone. While she passed by the stallion she’d so recently hosed down she chuckled and said,”Sorry about that.”

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Gah! What was the deal with this caribou? Shouldn’t she be offended rather than amused by Flakey Shards? If only Ylva could be provoked, the crystal filly could then cry “wolf!” and rile up her neighbors against the antlered monsters, allowing Flakey some modicum of revenge. Revenge for her lost toys!

However, one thing Ylva did mention gave Flakey Shards some thought. The little girl briefly stroked her chain; hmmmmm, just maybe this could work out to her advantage. “Hmmph,” Flakey snorted as a challenge; “If you reindeer reeeeeeeeally want to be good guys Ill-va, then you’ll replace all my toys that got destroyed in the attack. Until then, no reindeer will EVER be a friend of mine.” Pretty harsh terms, but entirely necessary in order for Ylva to feel guilty enough and give Flakey replacement toys!

Still not dirtying herself up with clean-up work, Flakey Shards had been standing over by Ylva when that loud caribou from before rattled the entire Empire with a tremendous sneeze. Goodness gracious; Flakey had never seen anything like that before. With a hint of suspicious curiosity, the shifty-eyed filly remarked; “I didn’t know reindeer could do that.....”

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Java decided to slowly back out of his mother's conversation with the Jarl. He'd rather save himself the embarrassment. Plus... it did give him time to think a little bit. The... rather open Jarl wasn't attacking anything. That's for one. She came to fight her own kin, which is quite the difficult thing to do. And, it would certainly give the Engineer time to learn about a new culture, and much more their engineering!

Oh how wonderful it would be to learn how they made an airship that didn't need a balloon! That would be an incredible achievement to the ships in Equestria! Capabilities of flight without having to worry about balloon maintenance! And even less weight to compensate for! But there were other matters at hand.

Like the arguments that... this high horsed unicorn stallion was providing. Was it irrational for him to behave this way? Well, no not really. Java had suddenly been terrified at the sight of Sigurn. But that was mostly because he had his nose unceremoniously plant it's self in a place that no stallion's nose should be on a mare's body. Unless it was for intimacy. Or... apparently earning the respect of a Caribou cow.

But were his arguments logical? Most certainly not, and the stallion was going to call him out for it!

The stallion slowly backed up a ways to get some wiggle room for the cart he was still attached to, and trotted about to come closer to the stallion. Once he was finished speaking, he'd give him a tap on the shoulder with a hoof.

“Now, I'm not going to fact check you on that treaty... cuz I never heard of it, and I don't have a way to look it up. But, you might want to check your logic... it's... a little fallacious at the moment,” the stallion hummed.

“I'm not going to go through the entire list... but I will point out the most occurring one. Her and her crew being like the caribou...viking...pirates... that had attacked the Empire. That's Hasty Generalization. That'd be saying, if a small rogue regiment of Equestria attacked a country without any orders, they'd have full justification to indiscriminately attack Equestrian Citizens with impunity, because all ponies are evil. Not saying she didn't startle me for that reason. But it's food for thought.”

The pony's gaze returned to the sky as he heard the familiar sounds of howling wind, signalling the arival of his airship. A very distinct sharp feline yowl could be heard as it flew over head. “YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar.” The ship quickly descended from the sky and landed on the street a couple of meters away on metal plated hydraulic struts. Once it was settled, it's loading bay was opened up for the next collection .

Ah! She's back,” The stallion hummed softly, then returned his gaze back to Squall.

“Sides... the group that had attacked were behaving like mercenaries. Also kept yelling out something about a faction. W.R.A.I.T.H... or something. I wanted to ask... but things got a little hectic.”




The captain ignored the Unicorn whom had been bleating like a suborn goat over a beef with her new friend. She didn't need this. Nor did any other pony. So, she simply resolved to talking to the stallion later, and remind him that the caribou is still protected by Equestrian laws. And to kindly remind him that, further harassment will result in the mare jumping up and breaking all four hooves off in Squall's rump with authoritative justice.

“Pfttt, I'm surprised little bean made it that far,” Captain Starbreeze cackled. Her laughter was hard enough to cause the mare problems of standing up straight. One leg moving over a bandage, while the other used her halberd like a crutch. Her coughing showed signs of pain, but it wasn't enough to tarnish her mirthful nature.

“Thee ole boy es easily flustered! O' he couldn't even say te word 'love' to a tree if it'd be holdin' ah papah heart,” She looked on to her son with a knowing expression, “Shoooooot, in fact I can't count the number of times me boy had dove through the winder, glass and all. Heh! Ah'd be surprised to hear he'd kiss somethin already that wasn't ez moma.”

But her laughing stopped when she heard sweeping. It died down to a giggle as she watched a brown stallion work his way through the group. Dusting off ponies, and sweeping up debree. Her giggling began to crackle into a fit of hysterical laughter at the display.

The stallion easily swept his way into the mare's heart, and found a hefty heaving of respect. The nerve to break up such a heated conversation with such a comedic display will always win over a Fetlochian any day!

“Saddle up me boy, we'll get ye a biggah broom,” The mare laughed. If she could, she'd scoop the stallion up onto a shoulder and raise him high.

If she did, she'd look to a few members of her company that had followed her. Her voice rang out loudly to her men. “And boys! First we clean up here, then party with the Janitor Tonight!”

In response she got receive, “OOO-RAH” from each member, all at once.
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Fire Walker continued to speak in an even, measured tone, “Swifty, you should be well aware of the great changes that have been going on in Whitescar. They are trying their best to sweep away their dark and rather aggressive natures that their people have been known for. And I'm sure you know, this isn't something that can be changed overnight. Even the greatest of kings could not control his people once they leave the borders. I don't believe we should punish the High King Dragonsong of Heil-Barn for the transgressions of his dissidents, just as you would not punish Princess Celestia for rogue ponies who do the same.", she added as kept near the unicorn. "It's obvious our attackers did not care for their leader, and as they say in Saddle-Arabia, 'Adu 'Aduyi Hooweh Ssadikki', or 'My enemy's enemy is my friend'. I heard not that long ago, the good Caribou were able to both soundly defeat and drive off an invasion of Changelings. I would prefer Whitescar as our allies, as we already have enough enemies." She frowned as she overheard the little crystal pony as she ranted and raved. The red mare hated to see such a thing, but the child needed someway to release her well deserved frustrations.

The good officer managed to a brief smile as she caught sight of Star Breezer, the little mare with the great big voice. She was always curious who could bellow the loudest, her father, or the proud Duchess herself. She also recalled one of her brothers having a slight crush on the Captain, although it was just a passing fancy as there was a bit of an age cap between the two, and she had already been married. Maybe Cordy was in his pirate's phase? She wanted to have a word with her colleague but that would have to wait.

She frowned a little as Sigrun spoke down to her noble pony, "Please do not judge my stallion, so swiftly. He is angry, just like many in the Crystal Kingdom.", her eyes fell back on the filly, "They deserve every right to, and while they may take out their anger on you verbally, please do not take it personally. Once tempers are cooled, reason will return and we will all set upon making things right again.", her eyes studied the ruined buildings and wounded ponies, "There is much to do here, and I thank you for both your aid and bravery. ", she smiled as she spoke to the Caribou as she passed. Fire Walker gave a quick kiss on Swift Squall's cheek as she moved on, "I need to have a few words with the good Captain. Then we need to continue helping the Crystal Ponies and anyone else who requires our aid."

The mare made her way towards the other armored mare, "Captain Star Breezer.", since she was not wearing her uniform, she skipped with the salute and instead nodded her head, "Has there been any word from Canterlot? Everything has been so chaotic, and beyond aiding those in the Kingdom, I'm a little lost on what to do. Has there been any confirmation on what had happened to Princess Twilight? Any news would be helpful."

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Squall rose his eyebrow when Sigrun spoke. Really? Colt, foal? That was supposed to get him angry. Well it wasn't working - Squall had quite long and very successful career as the mercenary in the past, heard much much MUCH worse, and refused to stand down to that level.

Heh, that brought memories of the times when he visited the various places and many of the could be only described as the 'wretched hive'. The epithets that flown under his address back then would make even nastiest Drill Sergeant Nasty blush. It certainly did make Swift himself back them. Still that behavior of female caribou stirred something in Squalls memory...something from that period.

"I recognize you now. You are the Bladehymn Sigrun. Good Harmony, Sixsong the Pine Spear couldn't shut up about you. If they would be any, he would probably stick his room with the posters of your image back in his room in the guildhouse. And how he was gushing after he told that he faced off against you. Ughhh..." Squall groaned in irritation at the memory. His head seemed to agree with him, as he could feel a ringing inside it.

"But anyway, that doesn't meant that..."

Before he could speak anything more, unicorn was interrupted by elderly earth pony cleaner. His complete nonchalance (and maybe ignorance) left noblepony speechless as he made dumbfounded expression.

"What?" was the only word that he could mutter.

After a pregnant silence he picked up the words of Ylva.

"Wait, you meant THAT treaty? You honor it? It was almost identical to the one between Kastrot and Saddle Arabia, and it's well know what happened with that one." Swift said, not without a heavy dose of sarcasm when mentioning that example.

"And yet, you still..." Squall gave both caribou an aside glance, with something that could be...acclaim? Recognition?

At that moment, quite moment of ponies jumped on him, with arguments and talking and other odds and sods like that. Squall made quite grumpy expression before saying.

"Fine, fine I convinced. I lay you off." he muttered before picking up his weapon. Because of the all the commotion, she didn't noticed that Sigrun was unwillingly drawing more and more air. The strange ringing on his ears that grown in strength didn't helped out either. He put the blade on his shoulder before turning towards crimson Pegasus.

"And sorry Moto." he apologized, his expression softening "Yes I know. If all would be that easy we wouldn't have to deal with all that rubbish that's present now." he admitted.

"Still beating those cockroaches in combat isn't a feat, admit it Fire. With no fur the bugs probably were shaking their chitins off. Not to mention it's hard to masquerade as something twice your...."

He wasn't allowed to finish. The mighty sneeze almost blown him away. Only quick reflexes, with planting his sword as an anchor. Still it gave him quite mane style. And yet he wasn't angry at all.

"It's like Howling Pass all over again..."

The Jarls apology for this excess only met with irritation...but not in the way she expected. He shook his mane bakc into position, before he lead himself to fine with a quick spell.

"For what are you apologizing for?! You want to work? Find tissues and aspirin or something first, otherwise you won't get anything done."

He turned around, deeming himself done. He listened to Fire and Captain.

"Don't worry Moto. She will be fine. Alicorns are meade from harder stuff...then...avarege.....po...ny...???" his word became slower, and expressed confusion. The buzzing in his head stopped, but in return his vision got all blurry. He looked down at his left leg. It was no longer shiny, and it's coat lost gem like pattern.

"I should...know....it was only...borrowed...." Swift Squall managed to say. His sword hit the ground once again, and he himslef followed suit, dropping like the sac of potatoes. Swift blacked out not hearing reactions of others.

In case anyone wondering - Squall only passed out from extreeme exhaustion and nothing more. The event's in the Heart finally cought up with him.

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Huh, well, that was interesting. Your normal agent of the Hive would have called it an epic failure, an intervention that seemed fair to create a stronger and more united front against those loyal to Chrysalis. Kahz, on the other hand, was among other things an expert casuist, and was already formulating his justification to the Queen as he smiled under the mane-ruffling of Ylva. *This is valuable intelligence; against anger and distrust, ponies have considerable natural defenses, as evidenced by the fact that the trouble stirrers were in the minority. But against humor? Utterly defenseless! It's super effective against caribou as well!*

Just how effective was neatly demonstrated by the Fet Lochian captain's enthusiastic response. She would have had no trouble at all heaving 'Heart Sight' onto her back. In fact, Starbreeze would have had a much more difficult time in keeping him from climbing on himself! Kahz was certainly not the sort of creature to object to leading a parade. Heck, all this good-natured affection he was winning over from the guards was the best meal he had in months!

"OOO-RAH!" He called out with them in chorus, spinning his broom like a marshal's baton, before resting it in a jouster's hold. He'd been watching the lance-work of the local jousters before the Crystal Faire was attacked, and changelings were nothing if not good imitators.

Of course, any charge would have to wait until the other officer had gotten a report from Canterlot. Still, that would be valuable information as well...

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