Chapter 28

Twilight continued pushing her cloud northeast, hoping to get the winds to pick up further. She still hadn't quite cleared the valley, and Appleloosa was still a good distance away. At her current altitude she expected the winds to be stronger; perhaps the breeze was localized to Drakengard and would be a literal tail-wind for them when they do finally depart. She glanced back once, shuddering at the black spire almost glaring at her in anger.

Then it spoke.

An eruption of sound, a thunderous earthquake, the roar of a hundred lions, funneled by the walls of the valley. She saw the spire tremble, the sound and the wind washing through the valley as an audible tsunami. Her eyes widened at the sheer power of the voice. It was certainly Umbral's, he knew she had escaped, and his displeasure now a storm in ancient Equestrian over her luck and departure. The wave of wind and sound ripped at the clouds around Drakengard and mushroomed outward, white and gray waves flooding the air. The sheer force of the vocal storm tumbled clouds over her own. Before her visibility was lost from the wave, she saw pegasi leaving the spire.

They would find her. She couldn't permit herself to be found. Turning invisible would make her trackable by the spellcasters, even from this distance. Levitation was out of the question; she could only ride the winds and hope that her cloud would remain under her until the rage subsided. She turned back northeast, ready to urge her cloud onward.

The cloud stopped abruptly, bouncing off a pegasus mail cart. Twilight spooked, nearly falling from the cloud. The gray mailmare waved happily to her, completely oblivious to her plight.

"Are you heading to Appleloosa? I need a ride."

The crosseyed pegasus gave her an odd look. "Where else would I be sending mail out here?"

"Just.... is there room in the cart for me?"

"But you've got a really good cloud....."

"No time to explain!" Twilight dove into the cart. "If you can get me to Appleloosa, I'll get you a voucher for Sugarcube Corner. A muffin every morning for a year."

"Oh, okay." The pegasus hovered a few seconds, processing the offer.

"Just follow your route to Appleloosa, but please keep moving."

"Appleloooooooooooosa~!!" The mare cheered before winding her way northeast.

Twilight exhaled briefly, hoping this would be safe haven for part of her journey. It might cost her time, but she could preserve energy and get her mind around what was about to happen. She knew that if any of the Phalanx were searching for her, they would fly out this way. She knew Lapis wasn't that naive; once she got out, her first stop would be Canterlot. She continued to keep her horn silenced as she sifted through the mess inside the cart, hoping this was enough mail to cover her up in case they were spotted.

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"SHE'S ESCAPED! SHE MUST BE CAUGHT! SCAN THE AREA FOR MAGIC! PEGASI, DISPERSE AND SEARCH FOR THE PRISONER~!!"

The entire cell shuddered from his orders, still scared from his tirade. Dustmite showed up to release Hatchet from the Lyrium bonds so new punishment could be meted. Most of his vitriol was aimed at the escaped prisoner, but he stung Hatchet's pride, past, and future in full Royal Canterlot Voice. The walls of the cell now warm to the touch from the sheer volume and force of his voice, and Hatchet curled up in a red and gray ball in the corner, seared from the Lyrium and his boss' fury. To be sure that Hatchet learned the lesson and felt pain that hurt, Lapis levitated Hatchet to the reflection on the trough and tapped the Fear gem several times, so that the nightmares of the necklace and his punitive speech would not be forgotten readily. The smithy trembled as the alicorn closed one more time, eyes glowing an almost electric blue. "You. Had. ONE. Job! ONE! JOB!"

"Boss, I - "

"SILENCE~!!!" Lapis thundered. "I would lock you in a room with all your fears were there time! I have all unicorns scanning for her magic and all the other pegasi looking for her! YOU, in the meantime, will get your armor on immediately and report to the launch platform."

Hatchet slowly uncoiled, body still sore and tender from the Lyrium surges and Lapis' words. "Yeah, about that......."

"NO EXCUSES!" Lapis roared, casting harshly on the pegasus. "Healing you should be humiliation enough! Every OTHER nightmare I have in mind will be saved should we still succeed. Now GO!"

Hatchet launched back upstairs for his armor. Lapis remained there for a few moments, looking at how much silt and dust he stirred in his anger. "I cannot fail this time," he said to himself. "WE cannot fail this time......." He turned to the stairs to see if anypony had had any luck in finding Twilight.

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Silver Shimmer launched due northeast, flying low. Twilight's wings had nothing of use for flight so she had to escape to the ground somehow. Violet Force orbited the cloud cover and cleared patches in search of the escaped prisoner. Both hoped to bring her back to her pen and leave her there for a few days! She cursed to herself, wondering if she could even think of a way to punish Hatchet. He liked getting beat up for some reason, so physical was out.

No sign of the princess or hoofprints along the ground of the valley. "How far could she get?" Silver pondered as she gained altitude again, checking along the eastern wall of the valley to see if there might be a cave, a crevasse or ledge to hide from a pegasus' sharp eyes. Nothing. Silver was convinced that there was no possible way that Twilight could have already escaped the valley.

"Anything yet?" Violet Force called from the cloud cover.

"Check along the western valley walls - I'm heading north!"

"What about the mines?"

"One's already blocked up, the new mine isn't deep - Sandstone can check those, keep moving!"

Violet leapt off his cloud to continue his search. Silver accelerated when she noticed a stray cloud and even more strayed airborne cart. "HALT, TRAVELER!"

Violet heard the order and followed his sister.

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Twilight shifted with the abrupt stop of the mail cart. She heard the snarling order of a Phalanx soldier nearby and it likely stopped poor Derpy.

"O hai scary pegasus," Derpy greeted with genuine earnest. Silver Shimmer wasn't impressed.

"Have you seen a purple alicorn in the area?" Silver demanded.

"A purple what?"

"A purple alicorn!" Violet Force repeated as he caught up to the cart. Derpy blinked again in incomprehension.

"She'd look like him," Silver Shimmer explained, pointing to the male Phalanx soldier. "But with a horn."

"I'm NOpony's mare!"

"But he's brown... the armor's purple......"

Twilight shuffled deeper under the mail. She can't get caught now! She scanned the mess of envelopes in hope of inspiration. She didn't recognize a lot of the names, letters going to Appleloosa, Baltimare, Vanhoover, Los Pegasus. One such letter did inspire her to carefully cast. She knew that neither pegasus would notice if she was careful enough.

"Do you even KNOW where you're going?"

"Just the mail," the grey pegasus replied innocently.

"That must be heavy! Let's see if I can lighten the load...."

"But I don't think I have anything addressed to a scary pegasus.... I don't remember."

"This is royal business, peasant!" Silver Shimmer peered into the cart. "I know you're in there, show yourself!"

The Phalanx pegasus was partially correct - somepony was in the cart, but not the purple alicorn she was looking for. A pale blue unicorn burst out of the mail assortment, looking disheveled and angry. Her blue-white mane rolled down her back as she locked eyes with Silver Shimmer. "GAH~!" she exclaimed, "Can't the Great and Powerful Trixie get her beauty rest when she's getting a free ride!?"

"Trixie??!"

"Yay Trixie!" The mailmare cheered again.

"Trixie getting a free ride?" Silver Shimmer snorted in disgust. "Probably because you can't conjure enough attention or money for the train."

"Does Trixie have to zap a mare?" The spellcaster warned.

"You would have seen Twilight Sparkle if she somehow flew past," Violet snarked. "Hopefully you managed a 'Great and Powerful' insult."

Trixie waved a hoof dismissively. "Oh, her? Why would Trixie even care about her anymore? Trixie has her own things to deal with now. So leave us so Trixie can get to the train station and to her next show, else Trixie file a formal complaint with Princess Luna of you interfering with postal services!"

"Well if either of you see Twilight Sparkle, report it immediately!"

"But....." The gray pegasus volunteered, only to have a light blue hoof over her snout.

"We will inform you if she appears. Now do leave the Great and Powerful Trixie alone!" The unicorn waved a hoof dismissively, trying to send the armored pegasi on her way. They looked Trixie up and down.

"I'm sure if YOU saw Twilight you'd point her out," Silver snapped before launching away.

Trixie deflated, the disguise melting away. "That was TOO close," Twilight whispered.

"Oooh, that was a really cool spell, Trixie...."

Twilight blinked. "Trixie teleported away. She needed more peanut butter crackers."

"Oh..." the pegasus looked around. "BYE TRIXIE~!!!"

"Just..... get me to Appleloosa."

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Night Ash continued focusing north-eastward, sorting through the weather magic interference. She had never "Felt" Twilight's magic before and would hope its signature would be unique enough to stand out from the static.

"Any luck?" Desert Sun asked as she strained to scan as well. "I would think she would at least try a teleport."

"Nothing," Night Ash absently responded. "I did feel something slight, but it was too short to trace. It wasn't transport magic, I do know that."

Morning Star paced in front of the other two unicorns, scanning the horizon with her eyes as well as her magic. "She's not athletic enough to have run far. The pegasi should have found her by now."

"Lapis wants us on our way within the hour. I would think he would prefer we continue to scan."

"On a straight run we would beat her there," Desert Sun agreed. "She will have to teleport at some point."

Night Ash then "re-tuned" her necklace to hearing. "If she cannot fly, then perhaps I can locate her another way......"

"Do you think you'd be able to 'see' her?"

"I'm listening for her, Morning Star. But I hear nopony running out there. A lot of running around in here."

"We can't be wasting time just running around!" Morning Star protested. "Master Lapis will want us in the carts soon enough."

"When the pegasi get back, Morning Star. But until they do, I will continue searching."

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The rumble of Lapis' anger spread away from the spires, catching ears in the distance. Cepheid turned southwest, ears forward, trying to sort out the thunderous sound. He could almost make out his little brother's voice in the cacophony, and frowned at the language used.

The guard was looking out a different window, ears flat. "Thunder? On a clear day?"

"Something's clear, soldier. Whatever is to happen WILL happen today. If my little brother's smart."

"'If'?"

"That temper tantrum is going to be heard in a lot of other places. Once it's traced back to him, he might have half of Equestria on his doorstep."

"Could you hear what he was saying?"

"Something about his horn being a sword, his wings are his shields and they cause hurricanes. The usual bluster."

"It still doesn't trouble you...?"

"Words are their own weapons, soldier. Let's see how good he is at wielding them at close range."

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The rumble startled several at the Spellbreak camp, especially Strife. He recognized Lapis' voice immediately, looking due west. "It's starting."

"What? Your other master announces himself?"

Strife's glare turned back to Belmonte. "Alicorn arrogance. Canterlot will be ready for him."

"Preparing for a storm doesn't mean it will be weathered......." Salvino's voice creaked from his resting place. "Let us watch the storm. Break camp, and we will reap what the storm brings."