Since Time Immaterial [ Private]

Pariah nodded, and turned, racing back to to the meteor, trusting Ician in his plan. He waved to Blade as he raced past, the guards around him following his orders as they marshalled themselves and began to organise weapons. He continued to race around the ice, before he skidded to a halt in front of the doughnut store. He blinked, before trotting inside. Slightly amazed, he turned as he heard Krix call for help, trotting over. "What seems to be the... Oh." he stared at the wounded mare's back as she whimpered in pain. "I... I can't help her. I have a little painkiller plant, but..." He stared at her back helplessly.

---

Shiva trotted along quietly, not even looking at Ician as she continued to spread ice unconsciously. "So, plebeian, how do you find life under your leaders?"

Krix looked at Pariah before pointing towards the medical supplies that Doughnut Joe had brought up. "Help him then, there are several less critical ponies and some that just need comfort. I can't talk to them, we need you to settle their nerves, soothe their wild and shocked minds, there is so much to do and we could use all the help," Krix replied in his dog speak before turning his attention back to the injured mare as he began to carefully lay out her wing so it could be treated and wouldn't get in the way when the back wound was being worked on.

With nothing else to do, Krix wrapped and applied pressure to the mares shoulder, where the wound was deepest. If he could slow the bleeding while waiting for Jon, then she'd stand a better chance and he was doing all he could to help her odds.

Ician didn't quite know how he should answer her question. Truthfully was definitely out of the question, obviously. It was just what kind of slant he should apply.

"Left turn." He said obligingly, in part to direct her around the corner and in part to buy time. Then he stopped and pondered for a few moments. "I'm not complaining, but only because I'm simply not the type to. I trust that if you go out and look, even here in Canterlot, you'll find many who are dissatisfied with their rule."

As well she might. He reflected. She'll always find somepony who's dissatisfied, so long as she cared to look.

The stallion's ears perked up as he heard hoofsteps nearby and turned his temporary mentor wave to him. Blade waved back and was about to ask Pariah to stay, but the stallion was already rushing off before the guard could say anything. He groaned as he went back to the barracks to put on his armor and grab his weapons, having have some time since getting that many guards and equipment would take time. He could only hope that the day could be gotten through limited death and destruction.

Pariah nodded and passed the mare th painkiller, which she took gladly. He then began to walk amongst the wounded ponies, helping them and whispering quiet words in various accents, which seemed in part to calm them down. He glanced impatiently at the door, obviously expecting some medical assistance.

---

Shiva did not stop for him, sharply turning the corner and continuing onwards without hesitation. "I see. They is far too lenient. You should be cowering in fear at their power, and should serve them with distinction and without doubt." Shiva stopped at a large set of doors. "Is this leader of yours behind here?"

---

The guards eventually organised themselves properly, and formed up, waiting for their orders from Blade. The ice meteor behind them continued to melt at a steady rate, the throne remaining however.

Ician paused. He'd been a little distracted, but his mind snapped back to the present hastily. "Ah, yes. Indeed. This is the throne room." His horn flared as he nudged the door open gently, throwing the grand double doors open to reveal what lay behind. "Please, enter. The Princess awaits."

Blade had quickly strapped on his armor and soon had his weapons in hand, a spear and a shield. While Blade doubted this would help much in a fight with the mare, but it was better than nothing. He got out of the barracks and saw the large mass of ponies coming together. The guards had brought a large number of items along with them, magic dampeners, magic enchancers, protection runes, and more. These things had not been used much since Equestria had been rather peacefully and when it wasnt the guards were normally were suprised attacked so they couldnt reach the items.

Blade had the ponies that held the defensive runes in the front and a few across the sides with small magic enchancer or two around the sides. The offensive runes had been placed in the center and had about five enhancers inside of the group. Soon, they headed down the hallways and towards the throne room.

Shiva trotted into the throne room, her hooves clicking quietly. Celestia sat on her throne, looking down at the mare who was almost laughably tiny in comparison. "Hello Queen Shiva. To what to I owe the... pleasure of your visit?"

Shiva turned her attention to Celestia and cocked her head. "Youngling, why do your ponies not cower in fear at your word?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the nobles around her.

"I beg your pardon?" Celestia arched an eyebrow of her own. "Why would they be cowering in fear? They are my subjects and deserve to be treated with respect."

Shiva shook her head sadly. "It will be your downfall. These ponies, they will plot against you, try to overthrow you." Shiva shook her sadly, and with a gesture the doors slammed closed, thick ice covering them. "A betrayal did your servant plan of me. Fortunately, I surround myself with minuscule ice crystals that allow me to pick up movement around me more effectively than my eyes would allow."

Very slowly, Celestia stood up from her throne, and began to walk down the steps towards Shiva. "Shiva, I have long heard tales of the madness and fear you spread in your lands. Not here, never here."

---

As Blade approached the doors, he and his guard would be just in time to see the doors slam shut and be covered in thick ice.

A rising wave of panic struck Ician like in incoming locomotive, but he quickly quashed it and willed himself to focus. No. No, this is still alright. Half a trap may just be enough to finish her. He sighed heavily. Not that I'd bet on it. Knowing my luck...

His horn flashed brightly, telekinetically drawing out all four of his swords and advancing on Shiva in a defensive stance, the blades set to deflect incoming fire. The armour will absorb small magic attacks with impunity, and can neutralise one strong hit. He grimaced, though his pace did not slow. It won't be enough. But I have to try.

"Princess," he said as evenly as he could, though the slight tremble in his voice gave his apprehension away, "a fire spell, please. If you can melt the ice, it would be most appreciated."

Blade watched as the doors shut on their own and at first didnt have a problem with it. It was apart of the plan anyways, but the ice was a different thing entirely. Blade's heart raced around in his chest. He knew that the mare had known they were coming somehow. "I need all pegasi to take the weather runes with them and surround the room with as many clouds as you can with a pegasus going to warn Luna! Unicorns and earth ponies will help knock down the door with either a magical blast or simply the fire runes." He said as he moved towards the door, his horn being wrapped in a green glow.

Finishing up a splint, Jon moved to where Krix called for him.  Upon spotting the mare, he quickly scribbled a new line into his notebook, describing the patient and injuries.  And the injuries were serious.  "Kranstant, how did we miss this?"  Large gash through the shoulder, possible nerve damage to the wing, slow bleeding but a whole lot of it.  He'd need a proper office to check for the nerve damage, but the bleeding was the current problem.  He just hoped he had enough supplies left to close the wound.

The first things Jon pulled from the briefcase were a large, nearly-empty unlabeled bottle and a fresh cloth.  He poured what little of the liquid in the bottle remained onto the cloth, and began dabbing around the edges of the wound.  Whatever was on the cloth seemed to slow the bleeding a bit, and it sent a strange warm feeling wherever it touched.  The warmness didn't remove the pain, it was just a hopefully harmless side effect.  He had yet to do long-term testing.  Next, Jon took out a flat piece of wood, and placed it between the mare's teeth. "Bite down on this." He pulled a needle from the briefcase and half a spool of thread, and looked over to Krix. "I need you to try and keep the edges of the wound together while I stitch. Be very careful not to move them, at all. The sealing solution should handle the rest."

Krix nodded with a grim expression and made sure the mare had the piece of wood in her mouth before he did anything. When he was sure she wasn't in danger of biting her own tongue, he pushed the wound back together as much as he dared with his impressive strength. While this drew a fresh gasp of pain form the mare, Krix steeled himself to keep the firm grip while Jon was stitching the opening shut.

With his paws still set, Krix looked up to Jon, "Pony, live? We helped, enough?" His expression softened for possibly the first time since this event seemed to have started. His eyes started to wander towards the other ponies that practically filled the floor and tables of the doughnut shop, though he was quick to look back so his grip wouldn't slip on the wounded pony.

Stitching hastily, but not so hasty as to be crude, Jon offered a smile. "We helped as many as we could, Krix. And this is definitely one that's gonna live." He hoped. After a few more seconds of stitching, Jon leaned in close to the mare, using his mouth to tie off the stitches. It was... uncomfortable, but a whole lot more precise than hooves. That done, he reached for the briefcase, retrieving bandages and tape. He finished off the treatment with a bandage wrapped around the wound, taped tightly enough to stop any more blood from flowing. He smiled at the mare. "That's the worst of it done. Thank you for cooperating." Jon wiped off his hooves on the cloth, and tossed it aside. He had plenty more. Looking through his notebook, he kept up his busy pace, moving on to treat the next concussion. "Now come on, there's few more ponies that need our assistance. Every bit helps."

The door stood resolutely covered in ice, daring Blade to attack it.

---

The stream of ponies had slowed to a trickle, and Pariah walked back over to the pair. "Alright you two. Since you are the only two I can trust, and aren't injured, I need you to take this group to the train station and get them out of this city. My wife is informing the rest of the guard to pass this message onto the rest of the civilians. Once you've got this group on trains, take the next train you can to the Crystal Empire." He walked to the door. "As for me... Well, I'll see you in the empire. Wait for me at the library."

---

Shiva giggled and looked around the room at the panicked nobles. "Yes please Celestia, unleash the power of the sun in here and burn all your precious ponies to a crisp." She trotted past the Princess and Aston her throne. "Or, you can kneel before me."

Celestia snarled and turned to face Shiva. "Why would I bow to you?" She asked angrily, her horn beginning to glow.

"Because if you don't, I'll raise the wendigoes upon your fair city, and then, you won't have a city."

Celestia went to respond, only to be cut off by a white stallion stepping in front of her. Paladin brushed his mane to the side and grimaced. "Your majesty, please, leave. I'll handle this." He glanced at Ician. "Oh, hey Ician. I assume that was your plan?"

Ician stopped in his tracks, keeping his sword raised in the air, but diverted enough attention to roll his eyes at Paladin. "We try things. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. It didn't happen to work this time. Pity." He shook his head. "I don't suppose you have a shield prepared for this occasion? Because if there was ever a time to use it, it would be now."

He turned to Celestia. "In the meantime, Princess, you must make a choice. Either you fight today and hope for a chance of victory, or surrender and lose even that hope." His expression darkened. "But if you do capitulate, I must warn you that even the deaths of everypony in this room right now will pale in comparison to the calamity that will befall Equestria."

He brought one of his four swords out of its defensive position and levelled it at Shiva. "Choose wisely, Princess."

Krix watched and listened as Pariah spoke and then turned his head towards Jon and the other injured ponies in the shop. "Hear pony, help, to train," he said fairly loudly so he could be heard. Then to hopefully give some more hints to what he was saying, Krix gently lifted the injured mare he and Jon had just finished treating, taking extra care not to strain the stitches that were holding the wound shut. With her secured, Krix began to move towards the train station.

Once he was there, the large dog laid down the mare on a seat before going back for another who was too injured to more on their own. Even though it was taking time, he didn't want to nullify Jon's hard work in a brief moment of carelessness. Krix's shield for now was left lying under another badly injured pony, so hopefully some ponies who were well enough to move and help could move a pony that wasn't.

The other guards prepared their magic and/or runes while the pegasi went through the windows and grabbed whatever clouds they could or make their own through the runes. Blade took a deep breath and looked back at his fellow guards. The magic had been only a fraction of its might along with Blade's. The ice was thick and strong, but this was a combined assault from over something at least thirty something guards. "FIRE!" Blade shouted as a large wave of energy and fire shot towards the door and would constantly gain more power until the door finally opened.

Pariah nodded as Krix started working, walking out into the street and gazing up at the castle. "So... It has began has it? War has been initiated, woe befall those who are not ready." He pulled out his knife and began to walk back towards the castle.

---

The blast struck the door and it groaned loudly, the ice crackling slight under the assault of the magic barrage. However, resist it did, the ice barrier remaining resolutely there. The sound of hooves was masked by the firepower as a tall, dark blue mare approached the group. Despite the noise however, her instantly recognisable voice echoed outwards. "And just what does thou thinkst thou are doing?" Princess Luna asked, eyebrow raised.

---

Paladin rolled his eyes back and chuckled. "Fortunately for you Ician, I have been working on a new shield spell. All I have to do is reverse the polarity, and..." He closed his eyes in concentration, his horn flaring as a blue-white shield formed around Shiva and the throne. "This should hold her long enough for you lot to blast her to pieces."

Celestia smiled at Paladin, and her horn lit up again. "As if I would even consider surrendering. But Ician, you must know that I consider all my ponies' lives sacred. When this is over, I will mourn the fallen."

Shiva watched this small display, and shook her head. "Pathetic. You mourn the loss of peasants?" She gestured, and an ice spike thrust towards Celestia, only to be caught by the shield. Paladin grunted and Shiva blinked in surprise. "How did you hold me mortal?" She went to say more, only to have a beam of light catch her in the chest. She squealed and stumbled back, Celestia already charging a second beam.

"Ician? Could you please attack her?" Celestia asked with a sickly sweet smile as the door behind her groaned.

The guards looked over at Luna and quickly stopped their assault on the door. Blade looked over at Luna and glanced back at the door. He really wanted to get in the room as quickly as he could. "Well, somepony named Shiva has caused a meteor to fall into the castle and has frozen the door to keep anyone out. We are trying to get in now. There are also pegasi creating a storm around the sides of the room. Will you help us get past the door and aid your sister against Shiva?" He asked hoping that she would instead of simply teleporting inside of the room.

Blade waited for Luna's answer as his eyes constantly looked at the door and the other guards prepared themselves to blast the door again.

It took some time, but Krix was able to to ferry a good number of the ponies to the train, and the addition of other ponies that were able to walk themselves over to the station helped a lot on time. Krix was careful though to work around Jon, taking the patients that he'd already helped as much as he could to the station, and in turn giving Jon the time to finish working on another patient or two.

Eventually though, the number of injured ponies in the shop dwindled and Krix was left to waiting while Jon finished up. "Pony, finish, train, go north. You, go?" Krix asked while assisting where he could with the more experienced doctor and his patients.

Ician looked at amazement as the scene unfolded before him. "Now if only everypony had shields like you do, Paladin." He looked down and pondered as Celestia asked him to attack. "With respect, Princess, I must decline. I only have swords, and I'd rather not risk them by moving them into the shield. I doubt I'll be as effective as you. Although... It's when everything is going well that I start to worry." He glanced at one of the stained glass windows lining the throne room. "There are two of them. Shiva is only one. We have to be on guard." He moved over to the frozen door and began to hack away at it, keeping his attention in the ceiling and fragile windows.

"We shalt assist you. If whats thou sayest is the truth, then We has a serious problem." Her horn lit up and she grinned. "Now, if thou would step out of the way, we shall blast this door to pieces."

"Or, and you know, this is just a theory, you could destroy the not protected in any way wall next to it." Pariah said as he trotted down the corridor. "Geeze Moonbutt, come on now. Think before you leap." He smiled and stopped next to the group. "Well, what are you waiting for guards? Save Luna some much needed energy and blow a hole in that wall."

---

Paladin grimaced. "Ah ha ha... Actually, be glad they can't. This is not the safest of shields. It has a rather large drawback."

Celestia paled when she heard this, still exploding Shiva with beams of sunlight whilst the queen of ice tried desperately to free herself. Celestia shook her head and unleashed another beam, causing Shiva to scream in pain and collapse. Celestia grunted in satisfaction, and Paladin grinned in relief. "Ician." Celestia turned to him. "Do not waste your time on that door, just be on your guard."

Screams filled the room, and a dragon, with pitch-black scales and sharp golden eyes stepped out from behind the throne. "Yes indeed dear Ician, please do not drop your guard, it would be a shame to kill you with your back turned."

Ician froze for just a brief moment before turning around slowly, his eyes narrowed. "I doubt you'll find it any harder with my back turned away... Thanatos." All four of his swords snapped to attention as he advanced on the dragon, though Shiva was in the way as well. His mind was screaming at him to stop but for some reason he kept moving forward.

"Princess." He said, with a calm that surprised even himself. "It would be nice if the door were open at this point. Otherwise, prudence dictates that we confront our new adversary with full force." On his way to Thanatos, he stopped by Shiva's body. "But first."

Lifting his swords, he plunged all of them towards Shiva's prone form as fast as he could. Hopefully he would be fast enough - but he wouldn't bet on it.

Jon had "found" a stretcher somewhere, and was using it to get ponies to the train. He wasn't particularly strong, but that was what the wheels were for. On the other hoof, the wheels did not stop him from becoming tired, and he was taking a drink when Krix asked the question. Jon answered with a grin. "Are you joking? I've been looking for a new adventure for weeks. This is perfect!" He took drink of something clear and red from an unlabeled bottle, swishing it in his mouth for a moment before swallowing. "Besides, adventures usually need a medic slash scientist, and they usually lack one. So I'm definitely going wherever this goes. Where are we going again? You wanted to find the swords or something, correct?"

"Yes, find relics," Krix said looking at Jon and then towards the massive chunk of ice that had caused so many injuries. "Need relics, Krix, think," he continued squinting at the steadily melting meteor. "Find, teacher pony?" he then asked taking a few steps forward and pointing in the direction of the castle. "Or north?" he asked as a follow up question and shifting the pointing paw over to the train station. Before Jon could give an answer though, Krix went over and picked back up his shield now that he was finished using it as an improvised stretcher and once more fastened it to his arm where the heavy stone and steel sat comfortably if not heavily.

Then he once more faced Jon, ready to follow the pony whichever way he thought it best to go for now.