What with how easily the monsters had been able to rip through the blue metal that formed the capsule tube and the Siren statue, I was very glad the Nautilus had the capacity to dish out as good as they gave. The initial acceleration of the ship had been surprisingly powerful, enough to allow the Nautilus to shoot right through their ranks and arrive safely at the other side. Twilight took the seat next to mine, examining another screen, this one circular with a green radial wedge that spun around, revealing the monsters as flashing green dots relative to the distance of the ship.

Using this information, I was able to manoeuvre around them and stay just out of range of their grasping arms. I still remember how that one larger creature tore the ships apart at Anchorage, and I was determined not to let them touch us. While we focused on trying to lose them, not wishing to lead them to the surface and back to civilisation, Pinkie came around and joined us at the front. Despite my insistence for her not to touch anything, she still played about with the buttons whose functions I couldn’t identify.

At one point, one of the monsters swam right up into the front window and Pinkie slammed a big red button, releasing a cluster of what looked like bombs directly in front of us, exploding upon impact with the monster. I let out a low, reverberating moan as it fled deeper into the water to get away from us. With our positions established, Twilight keeping track of the monsters on the radar, Pinkie shooting them if they got too close, and me steering the Nautilus, it wasn’t long before the number of blinking green dots grew smaller and smaller until we were well clear of any danger, and could begin ascending to the surface.

We weren’t sure what to expect when we broke the surface, after all, we didn’t even know where the undersea temple had been in relation to the Demon Shaft. Although we could all agree that it had been fresh water as opposed to salt water, all three of us having taken a swim at some point, intended or otherwise. The water began to grow clearer, with shafts of sunlight permeating through, and soon the head of the Nautilus was breaching the surface and we were all shielding our eyes form the intense glare of the early morning sunlight, while the ship settled and the water ran in rivulets down the front window.

“Are we in the Neptune?” Twilight asked, peering out through the window at the mountain range in the distance.

I consulted my compass and confirmed that we were facing east.

“Yeah, those are the Wyvern Heights,” I replied. “Weird to think a place like that has been sitting right beneath our noses this whole time.”

“Well it’s not like we’ve had any way of getting that far down before,” Twilight reasoned before turning to Pinkie Pie. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m good,” she replied, kicking her hind legs up on the console while stifling a yawn. “I’m guessing I missed something fun while I was out.”

“Only if you count nearly being savaged by a horde of monsters fun,” I responded bitterly.

“It has its appeals,” Pinkie said, to which I rolled my eyes. “Weird to think there’s more of those things.”

“Well let’s hope they stay down there,” Twilight muttered darkly, before her expression softened somewhat. “Also… thank you for giving me the mask.”

“Aw, don’t mention it,” Pinkie assured her, pretending to be embarrassed. “Besides… that’s what friends do.”

“Yeah…” Twilight murmured quietly as she looked away from Pinkie again. “I suppose it is.”

“Right, we should probably head towards Pivot,” I said, trying to get the conversation back on track. “I’m sure the others are already there, they’ll probably be really surprised to see us again so soon.”

“Well we weren’t exactly expecting to travel by teleportation express,” Pinkie reasoned, as I began turning the Nautilus about with the aid of my compass. “Wait until you tell your dad about this.”

I smirked at that, remembering my previous idea of going fishing with him sometime. It was starting to sound even more appealing as I commandeered the Nautilus… assuming we were fishing far away from those tentacle monsters. It was early morning when we first rose to the surface, but the Nautilus got us all the way back to the docks north of Pivot, shortly before midday. It was certainly shown to be speedy, now that we had a way of gauging the distance travelled. As we drew close, I could see the dock workers and the sailors, all stopping what they were doing to stare in confusion at the strange object approaching.

Their confusion only increased when Pinkie Pie thought it would be funny to open up the hatch, and lean out to shout ‘ahoy’ as we sailed by, looking for a clear place to stop where we wouldn’t be in the way of the other boats. Once I felt the Nautilus begin to mount the shore, I slowed it down and finished by pulling out the power gem, if only to stop somepony coming by and sailing off with it. Once done, I followed Pinkie and Twilight out of the hatch and onto the shore, where a small crowd had gathered to see what was going on.

“We come in peace!” Pinkie declared in a nasally voice.

Twilight gave her a small push in the back to keep her moving, I walked up to the nearest pony, nobody I recognised.

“Could we just leave this here?” I asked, to which he just stared blankly in response. “It’s a… special kind of boat, but I’d suggest you stay clear of it, as it can be dangerous if you don’t know how to work it.”

“I suppose it wouldn’t be much trouble,” he muttered back in a wary tone. “You’ll be comin’ back for her, right?”

“We’ll come back as soon as we can,” I assured him. “But if we don’t, somepony from the Rebellion will come and take care of it.”

The ponies all nodded knowingly upon the mention of the Rebellion, it seemed to be a good enough reason for them to not ask any more questions and just mind their own business. The crowd dispersed, I could hear them chatting among themselves about what they had just witnessed, some sounding amazed while others seemed nervous. My friends and I set off right away, making for the north of Pivot. It wasn’t long before we arrived and were wandering through the streets, blown away by how well the restoration was coming.

The last time we had been there, most of the work had been confined to the main street, but it definitely seemed to have spread out a lot more since then. The streets were incredibly lively, mainly workers and soldiers, but we saw plenty of ponies who were starting to inhabit the city’s houses in the sections we passed through, on our way to the town hall. Everything seemed to be looking up as we made our way through Pivot, we were quite pleased to see that things continued to be on the rise; it was only when we reached the town square that things began to take a turn.

We came around the town hall, intent on heading up the steps to the entrance, but we didn’t need to go that far, as the ponies we were looking for were all gathered part way up the steps. Stranglethorn was the first to see us approach, tapping Rainbow Dash on the shoulder and pointing in our direction. Rainbow excitedly nudged Applejack and Fluttershy who both turned around and smiled brightly at us. Just past the four of them was Sufferthorn, who hadn’t yet taken notice of us, as she was locked in conversation with the mayor.

As we drew close, none of our friends spoke, I guessed they didn’t want to interrupt what was going on, but I noticed they all wore distinctly stressed out looks.

“I’m sorry Marshal,” the mayor was saying in a cold voice. “I know full well how your relationship with my predecessor worked, and I can assure you I will not be bullied into selling out Pivot to the Rebellion a second time.”

“I am not trying to bully you,” Sufferthorn insisted in a voice edging on anger. “Can’t you see that what we’re trying to do is of the utmost importance to Panchea as a whole?!”

“No,” she replied coolly, ascending the steps by one so she was standing slightly over Sufferthorn. “I do not see how more fighting will help anything, so I will continue to use the city's money as I see fit. If Maverick has a problem with the way I am running things… well, he’s more than welcome to stop sitting in my office all day.”

The mayor glanced over at us, gave a polite nod in my direction before turning and heading back into the town hall. Sufferthorn was still grinding her teeth when she turned around and saw us for the first time.

“What’s happening?” Twilight asked in a concerned voice.

“The mayor is refusing to help fund the Rebel army,” Sufferthorn explained darkly. “Maverick wants to launch an attack on Cragsburg, but the soldiers refuse to do anything without pay.”

“I know how much it sucks being asked to fight for no money,” Rainbow began, kicking her hooves off the stone steps. “But these guys need to realise that this fight is way too important, they shouldn’t be thinking about themselves when the Children of the Earth are torturing and killing ponies.”

“I know this is an important matter,” Fluttershy began nervously. “But they do have their livelihoods to think about, and the lives of their families, especially if… they don’t come back.”

“Exactly Dash,” Applejack agreed before glaring at Sufferthorn. “Besides, Maverick has no right to demand money from this city; it’s only just gettin’ back on its feet.”

“Back on its feet after what the Children of the Earth did to it,” Sufferthorn reminded her sternly.

“Pivot was fallin’ apart long before those cultists showed up,” Applejack replied firmly. “And we all know why that was; we all know who was taken the money that should have been goin’ to restoring this place months ago.”

“Don’t speak to me like I’m the bad guy in all this!” Sufferthorn snapped at Applejack, moving forward dangerously, only to be gently stopped by her brother. “You think I want to take their money? No, but the Children of the Earth have become too big a threat to ignore any longer! You think I wanted to take their money before? Of course not, but it was the only way to stop the Liberators from tearing the Rebellion apart. If they had succeeded then, we wouldn’t be here now trying to save this country from that ticking time bomb in Cragsburg!”

“Okay! Okay!” I exclaimed, jumping in and raising my hooves. “You all make valid points, but this isn’t a time for fighting among ourselves. Sufferthorn, is there no way the Rebels will fight without being paid?”

“Not a chance,” Sufferthorn muttered, her fury draining away. “Their loyalty to Maverick is starting to run dry, while they stay here and help with the restoration scheme, they get all the food and sheltering they need. Plenty of them have moved their families back into Pivot and they look ready to settle down for good, as nothing more than guards and labourers.”

“So money is a must then,” I finished a little despondently, before looking to Rainbow Dash. “What about the Dragoons, surely you’ve discussed it all with Maverick now.”

“I have… although that geezer’s a right bore to talk to,” Rainbow gave off, not noticing the glare Sufferthorn shot her. “A bit creepy too, he kept asking Fluttershy if she wanted to talk in private, and I would always catch him staring at my bu…”

“What she means to say!” Sufferthorn interrupted loudly. “Is the reintegrating of the Dragoons with the Rebellion would take far too long for us to use them in taking Cragsburg. We had discussed the possibility of your friend leading them into battle herself, but she wouldn’t play ball.”

“Hey, I thought it was an alright idea… if you had somepony more experienced in charge,” Rainbow insisted. “I only just managed Anchorage, there’s no way I’d be able to direct a full scale invasion. You could always have me replaced, but then you’d need to find somepony who could best me in a fight, there’s no way I’d be able to throw a challenge and get away with it among those guys.”

“Right, so the Dragoons are a possibility,” I summed up. “We just need to iron out a few details, what about the Liberators? Surely now would be an ideal time to think about reopening negotiations with Typhoon.”

“We… considered it,” Sufferthorn began, chewing on her lip. “But Typhoon sent a fairly definite message that he was not willing to negotiate.”

“Still?!” I uttered in disbelief. “What is he playing at?!”

“He feels his power is waning,” Sufferthorn explained. “And it really is, so he’s responding by holding onto what he has left with dear life.”

“He’s not the only one,” Applejack murmured quietly so Sufferthorn wouldn’t hear her.

“Well what about the Arcane Order?” I went on, before looking hopefully to Stranglethorn. “And Blueblood, did you have any luck finding him?”

Stranglethorn shook his head, looking solemn.

“I’m sorry I left you,” Twilight told him, looking guilty. “That’s… that’s not why you weren’t able to catch him, right?”

“It’s alright Lady Sparkle,” Sufferthorn stepped in. “Arclight was a bust, if Blueblood was ever really there, then he’s long gone now. As for the Arcane Oder, it would seem that they’ve formed a council to replace Arcana, made up of all the most high ranking and intelligent unicorns in the city. They seem intent to carry on with Arcana’s policies of unicorn superiority, but thankfully they spend most of their time arguing over which of them is most important, to actually do anything about pushing beyond Arclight. They could have made things difficult for us if they had decided to try and extend their influence, their battlemage squads are not something to trifle with.”

“Is there no hope of getting them back on our side?” I asked without much enthusiasm.

“They’re still hostile to any messengers we send who aren’t unicorns,” Sufferthorn responded. “Those that are, have reported that they’re pretty firm on their position. Maverick has considered the possibility of an espionage assault, take out the heads and then hurry in to sweep up the pieces. However, that would only be seriously considered if none of our other options yielded any positive results.”

“Right,” I began, considering the options at hand. “Well I agree that we need to do something soon, before the Children can muster another attack. But I don’t want to jeopardise things with the Dragoons by rushing any sort of merger, and I absolutely would not condone taking money from Pivot in order to mobilise the Rebels.”

“So what would you suggest?” Sufferthorn asked, she sounded a little testy, but I could tell she was genuinely interested to hear my opinion.

“I think we should buy ourselves some time,” I began. “If Rainbow Dash can get even more soldiers from Olympus to bolster the defences of Anchorage and Breakwater, as well as finish the operation at Brine, then we should be able to keep the Children of the Earth at bay long enough to get some encouragement for the Rebels to fight again.”

“Sounds like a safe plan,” Sufferthorn replied, sounding almost relieved. “I’ll see if Maverick isn’t busy, I’ll give him the run down, but we’ll all need to have a proper meeting soon. Your friends told us briefly about what happened up north, but they’ve been… a little sketchy on the details.”

“Oh, well what exactly have they been saying?” I asked warily, glancing over at Fluttershy who remained calm, which gave me hope.

“Just how you went to rescue Shy from Cragsburg,” Applejack jumped in. “And how we managed to get in there and get both of you out before anything bad happened.”

“Yes, well as the only agent we’ve had inside Cragsburg for a while,” Sufferthorn began. “We’ll need you to tell us everything that you saw, it could be vital in helping us prepare for future encounters with the Children.”

“Sure,” I said. “Go see Maverick; we’ll be there in a bit.”

With a curt nod, Sufferthorn turned and made her way up the steps to the town hall, Stranglethorn didn’t follow her however. Instead he glanced at me and indicated he wanted to speak in private, I nodded and excused myself from the others. We didn’t go far before Stranglethorn pulled out a crumpled note that he had written in preparation for seeing me, I accepted it with a curious expression, which turned to dread as I read the words. Stranglethorn had been kind enough to look into Lyra while he was in Arclight, but the note confirmed that she was one of the sleeper agents who had disappeared when Blueblood did.

“I… see,” I muttered lamely, unsure what else to say.

Stranglethorn gave me an apologetic look; I pulled him into a gentle hug and felt his whole body stiffen in surprise. I had expected Lyra would be one of the sleeper agents who hadn’t been purged before Blueblood’s escape, her living in Arclight would obviously have made it difficult for the Rebel agents to bring her in. But still, to see it confirmed in Stranglethorn’s writing was… harrowing. Not for the first time, I wondered where Blueblood was and what he was planning. Whatever it was would no doubt be desperate and dangerous, he had pretty much lost everything on the beach that night we captured him.

“Where will you go now?” I asked, as I released him and saw him instantly relax. “Will you keep looking for Blueblood or…”

Stranglethorn just shrugged, wearing a sad expression; clearly the search for Blueblood had hit a dead-end. I wanted to do more to help, and I know Twilight definitely wanted to get back to it, but we both knew that the Covenant and the Children of the Earth were both more pressing matters at the moment.

“Look… I’m sure things will work out,” I tried to say. “Blueblood can’t keep running forever, he doesn’t have enough allies to protect him. Even with the sleeper agents, he isn’t as much of a threat as he once was.”

Stranglethorn still didn’t look convinced, I could tell something was bothering him about the whole thing, and I could take a pretty good guess as to what it was.

“Is this about that Wonderbolt?” I asked, noticing him flinch as I did. “You feel guilty because she got away from you when you tried to capture her, right?”

Stranglethorn nodded reluctantly, not meeting my gaze.

“We all make mistakes Strangle,” I pointed out, before giggling slightly. “Even incredible ponies like yourself, failure is just something we all have to deal with from time to time. But you can’t let them burden you, or else you’ll never overcome them.”

Stranglethorn nodded, but his face had a glazed quality, like he had stopped listening after a certain point.

“Yes Strangle,” I replied with a roll of my eyes, although I was still smirking. “After the times I’ve seen you in action, I’d say you’re pretty incredible. Seriously, I think only Pinkie Pie could stand toe to toe with you.”

Stranglethorn returned my smile before nodding towards the town hall, I bid him farewell and made my way over to where the other five were sat on the stone steps. As I drew closer, I could hear Pinkie Pie telling the epic tale of our adventures that took us from the Nether Vale to the undersea temple. However, as I approached the group she was just reaching the part about the tomb, the others became too shocked by her revelation to pay any more heed to her narration.

“They stole her body?” Fluttershy repeated, looking horrified. “But that’s… that’s awful!”

“I know Fluttershy, it really is,” Pinkie replied, rubbing her back in a soothing motion. “And we can all talk in great length about how awful it is, once I’ve finished my story.”

“And the inscription really said ‘princess’?” Rainbow Dash asked, her head darting between Twilight and Pinkie. “Like, she was an actual Princess?!”

“Indeed it did Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie said solemnly. “Now as I was saying…”

“But hang on,” Applejack interrupted. “Just because the statue was of an alicorn, doesn’t mean this ‘Princess’ was definitely one, right?”

“Well there was unicorn royalty before the unification of the three pony tribes,” Twilight admitted. “But that would have been long before Panchea was even discovered; it would make no sense for one of their bodies to be moved all the way over here.”

“And then the robed pony turned into a horrible monster!” Pinkie declared loudly. “And we started having an awesome fight with it, which you’re all really missing out on!”

“But are you actually suggestin’…” Applejack began once more. “That if this pony really was an alicorn and a princess… that all those stories about the Six… are true?”

“Well let’s not jump to any conclusions,” I cut in, noticing Pinkie throw her hooves up in frustration as she flopped back on the steps. “It’s possible, but then determining whether or not legends are true, is not what’s important here.”

“Yeah, it’s finding those Covenant mules and kicking their asses!” Rainbow finished, punching her hooves together.

“Indeed,” I agreed. “While searching for Blueblood and stopping the Children of the Earth are both incredibly important, I believe this must take precedent over them. Right now, all of our priorities should be focused on finding where this Covenant is hiding and putting a stop to whatever they are up to.”

“Right, so… where do we start?” Applejack asked.

At once we all fell silent, realising that despite how far we’d come we were still no closer to answering that question.

“Does your story have any more information that might help us, Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked hopefully.

“No,” Pinkie muttered simply. “Too late anyway, I’ve lost my momentum.”

“Why don’t we all go for a walk?” Twilight suggested. “See how the town is coming along, clear our heads, maybe come up with something after the shock has died down.”

“Sounds good to me,” Applejack replied, standing up and stretching.

“Yeah,” Rainbow concurred. “I’m pretty sure there’s a coffee place down near the south entrance that just opened up.”

With that settled, we all stood up and starting making our slow way through the town square in the direction of the main street. Before we exited out onto it however, I heard a familiar voice from behind, given away by the odd accent.

“Rarity!” the stallion called out. “Rarity, do you have a moment?”

I glanced around, completely shocked to see the olive stallion with his spectacles and receding mane.

“Cogs?” I said, happy to see him but too confused to express it. “What are you doing here? I thought you were heading back to Equestria.”

My friends all glanced at me, looking confused as to who this new stallion was and how I knew him. I quickly muttered to them to head on and I would catch up.

“I was supposed to be,” Cogs replied, sounding a little disgruntled. “Maverick told me zere was an important diplomat from Equestria who would be sailing back, zat I could travel with her. Zis was some time ago however, apparently there was some kind of delay. I was staying in Glean nearby, but I came here recently when more adequate housing became available.”

“Well I’m glad to see you’re looking well,” I told him genuinely. “And I hope you get back to your sons soon.”

“As do I, as do I,” he agreed. “But my dear, how are you? It has been so long since we first met; no doubt Maverick has kept you busy.”

“I’ve certainly been busy, yes,” I confirmed. “If Maverick isn’t giving me missions, then I usually have something to be working on. Actually, It’s a good thing I ran into you, I came across something recently that you might be interested in.”

“Oh, do tell,” Cogs invited, sounding intrigued.

“On my last mission,” I began. “A couple of my friends and I found a teleporter to a strange undersea temple. This temple was filled with all manner of technology that we’d never seen before, it sort of reminded me of the kind of thing you’d find in Arclight.”

“Interesting…” Cogs replied, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Where is zis temple? Is zere any way of going zere?”

“I’m afraid it’s not safe,” I replied solemnly. “Most of it was destroyed or flooded by monsters while we there, what’s left is too dangerous to go back to.”

“Ah, a real shame,” Cogs muttered, sorely disappointed.

“Well actually,” I went on. “We were able to escape inside a special kind of boat called the Nautilus; it’s a boat that can swim underwater.”

“An underwater boat?!” Cogs repeated in amazement. “Incredible, even I had never considered such a sing.”

“It reminded me a little of your inventions,” I told him. “I don’t really have much use for it now, but you can take a look at it, see what you can learn from it.”

I passed him the power crystal from my satchel, which he took with trembling hooves.

“You are just giving zis to me?!” he asked in disbelief. “Oh Rarity, you are too kind.”

“Well you’re better with this sort of stuff than I am,” I admitted. “But if you learn anything about it, like who might have built it, then I would really like to know. It might help us in piecing certain things together relating to our current mission.”

“Of course, I will get right on it,” he promised. “It will be nice to have somesing to work on again, I will be sure to pass on anysing I learn directly to you Rarity.”

“Thank you,” I replied with a polite nod and a smile. “It’s at the dock just north of Pivot, impossible to miss. It was nice seeing you again, hopefully our next meeting won’t be so far from now.”

“Indeed, it has been a pleasure as always,” he replied warmly before taking his leave.

With that sorted out, I hurried down the main street to where my friends were already gathering outside the coffee shop. It was already packed with workers, being one of the few places of its kind to be running.

“Hey Rarity,” Rainbow greeted. “Who was that bloke?”

“Just an old acquaintance,” I replied. “I met him through one of my first missions for Maverick. I gave him the crystal for the Nautilus, he knows a thing or two about technology and might be able to tell us more about it.”

“Good idea,” Twilight replied.

“What’s a Nautilus?” Applejack asked.

“Maybe if you had let me finish my story, you’d know,” Pinkie told her in a slightly sinister voice, while wearing a wide grin. “But alas, now we may never know what a Nautilus is.”

“It’s an underwater boat,” Twilight stated simply.

“Twilight?!” Pinkie exclaimed, her shoulders slumping.

I chuckled at the back and forth while Twilight, as uncharacteristic as it was of her, playfully stuck her tongue out at Pinkie Pie. Pinkie couldn’t stay serious for long and quickly shrugged it off, joining in the laughter. We were chatting and joking amiably when a large shadow swooped overhead, accompanied by the beating of great wings. We all silenced and looked up to see a massive black bird flying past us, heading just out of the city limits. I glanced about, while all my friends had stopped to look at it, nopony else waiting in line outside the shop seemed to have taken notice.

The bird circled for a bit before descending to the ground, where it perched onto an errant section of picket fence, staring directly towards us. Fluttershy took the lead, stepping out of the line as if in a trance and heading towards the bird. I followed, feeling a strange sense of familiarity as I squinted at the bird, the others all fell into step behind me. As we got close, I realised that this bird was a crow, a massive one at that. Its jet black feathers, steely grey legs with those claws and talons that looked as sharp as knives, and those eyes that felt like it was staring straight into my soul, this bird could not be mistaken for any other.

It was the same crow I had seen on the Siren all those weeks ago, the one that Feather Duster had been unable to see, the same one form the story Granny Willow had told me.

“King Crow…” I breathed, a strange feeling of certainty in my heart.

The crow cawed at us, we all stepped back slightly at how sudden it was, but Fluttershy remained steadfast, never taking her eyes off it.

“Fluttershy…” I began hesitantly. “Can you understand it?”

Fluttershy nodded absent mindedly as the crow continued to caw; now appearing more focused on her than any of the rest of us.

“He’s telling us… that it’s time,” Fluttershy translated in a slow voice. “Time for us to be tested… tested on the Isle of…”

Fluttershy suddenly fell silent as her eyes widened, she spun around to face us, her whole body was trembling as she tried to speak.

“T… the Isle… of Serenity!” she stammered.

Five jaws dropped simultaneously as we took in what Fluttershy was telling us. I hadn’t been exaggerating earlier when I said that everypony knew of the mysterious Isle of Serenity, located off the southeast corner of Panchea. Forbidden to all but the most righteous, invited personally by the island's inhabitants to take their pilgrimage. I was glad to see that I wasn’t the only one who was taking this news with a huge amount of shock.

“The Isle of Serenity?” Applejack repeated in disbelief.

“As in, the Isle of Serenity?” Rainbow Dash added.

Fluttershy nodded, although it might have just been her head shaking with the same force the rest of her body was.

“And they want… us?” Twilight asked, looking most excited out of all of us.

“As in, all of us?” Pinkie added.

Again Fluttershy nodded, this time more determined.

“When?” I asked, feeling my own excitement building up.

Fluttershy took a deep breath as she prepared to answer.

“Right now.”

Author's Notes:

End of Part 8