Confusion reigned in the tomb. The glow-crystals had flickered and gone out in the ceiling collapse, and panicked, frightened ponies were banging into each other and yelling at each other in the dark. Twilight lit her horn in a blaze of light. "EVERYBODY SIMMER DOWN!!" she yelled. Startled by the light and the authoritative shout, everypony fell silent. "Everypony who can, light up," Twilight said. "We've gotta see what our situation is. And stay calm."

Unicorns began lighting their horns; other ponies began procuring penlights and flashlights. Gradually the darkened tunnel was illuminated. They were all huddled together in a long passageway, perfectly rectangular, fifteen feet wide and half again as high, and extended off into the darkness. The walls were solid amethyst that glowed royal purple in the mingled light. Every ten paces or so a stone crypt was set in a recess in the wall on either side, surrounded by engravings in old Equiish detailing the lives of the deceased sealed inside the baroque coffins.

The way they came in, however, was blocked solid by multi-ton stones. Cries of dismay went up at the sight. "We're trapped!" somepony cried out.

Rainbow Dash rounded on Dubious. "You idiot! What'd you think you were doing?" she snarled, grabbing the professor by his coat collar and shaking him.

"Saving our lives," Dubious spat.

"By trapping us in here??"

"Yes! Those dragons were on the rampage, and in the throes of Greed Growth. What do you think those brutes would have done to this place-- to us-- when they found out it wasn't full of gold and precious gems?" Dash's face went blank and she released him.

"He's right," Twilight said. "Amethyst and quartz? They would have been enraged, and destroyed everything in here..."

"And then had us for a consolation snack," Applejack said with a shudder.

"Hopefully, the ugly louts will be too lazy or disinterested to try and dig us out," Dubious said, getting to his feet. "We wait here till someone comes and excavates us."

"What good will that do us, if we run out of air first?" Rainbow said, her wings fluttering at her sides in anxiety. Airborne creatures, Pegasus ponies were susceptible to claustrophobia, and Rainbow Dash was no exception. Twilight glanced around and saw that more than one pegasus in the group was starting to shake their wings in the same way--- a sign of extreme stress in pegasus ponies. If she didn't take control, things could get bad.

"We're okay, Dash," she said reassuringly.(1) "Lime Spritzer, when you opened the tomb you used the air 'fresher spell, didn't you?"

A lime-colored unicorn with a blonde mane nodded nervously. "And I had a couple of pegasi send a good strong breeze through too," he said. "We should have plenty of air." The crowd visibly relaxed.

"And if not, I have plenty of balloons to save some for later," Pinkie Pie said. She produced a handful of party balloons from her saddlebag and began inflating them as fast as she could puff. The other ponies just stared. The ones more experienced with Pinkie Pie put the sight on "ignore" and turned their attention back to Twilight.

Dash suddenly pricked up her ears...and her wings. "Speaking of fresh air," she said, waving her wingtips around gently, as if she was feeling for something, "I'm feeling a breeze."

"Really?" Applejack said.

"Yeah. Real faint-like, blowing from...further in," Rainbow Dash nodded, indicating the tunnel yawning before them.

"That's great! That means there's got to be another opening into the tomb someplace. At the very least the air will stay fresh....Okay, everypony," Twilight said. "I think we should go further on in. There might be another way out, besides, we really don't want to be standing here if the dragons decide to try and dig us out after all." Murmured agreement answered this.

"Good. Everypony get a partner, stick together. We don't want to get separated."  Rope was procured; ponies strung it between them, forming a chain. "Applejack, can you bring the eye gem? It's not working, but I might figure out a way to get it to work again-- give us a way to send a message out."

"Will do, Twi," the farmpony said, picking the gemstone up and sticking it in her saddlebag.

Slowly the group of scholars-turned-captives trooped off down the tunnel, a pile of half-inflated balloons drifting around the dusty floor in their wake.

Back in the Crystal City, panic was rising. The thousands of ponies gathered in the streets had witnessed the dragon attack in all its destructive horror, played out live on the enormous cloudscreen as it unfolded. There had been panic and shouting and roaring, ponies fleeing for their lives, and a last message from the expedition leader Twilight Sparkle: "Hello, hello, Cadence, can you hear us? The Crystal Empire is under attack-- I repeat, the Crystal Empire is under attack by dragons!" Then a screech of static, and the screen had gone ominously dark.

Down in the panicking crowd, Nyx and her friends pressed close to Night Light and Twilight Velvet's sides. Nyx's eyes were riveted to the empty cloudscreen, eyes wide with childish terror. "Mommy," she whispered.

The Guards assigned to them closed ranks immediately. "Sir, Ma'am, we need to get you and the children someplace safe," one said.

Night Light nodded, biting down on his cigarette holder grimly. "Lead the way."

Up on the balcony, the ponies there had gone pale and grim faced with fear. At this height, they could see the dragons approaching... they were enormous, bigger than even the one the Mane Six had seen on the mountaintop, or that Twilight and Spike had encountered in the Everfree Forest. Rarity whimpered and hugged Spike. Poor Fluttershy took one look at the dragons in the distance, made a mewling sound, and fainted dead away.

Princess Cadence only allowed herself a tiny gasp before rallying herself. She looked down and back, as if peering through the floors and walls of the palace, her horn flaring. Far below, the Crystal Heart responded. Its slow revolutions turned into a blurring spin, and a lance of light shot up from it, through the Spire of the palace, and exploded in a cascade of colors down the magical skydome that covered the Empire. The dome retracted, became a shimmering bubble of energy a dozen times brighter and a thousand times stronger, cutting the advancing monsters off from the city proper.

Cadence's horn flared. She looked at her husband. "I'm strengthening the dome," she said, her voice grim. "But against six dragons that size I have no idea how long it will hold."

Shining and his wife shared a look. No words were said. He lunged for the microphone. "Attention all branches of the Guard!" he said, his voice booming "All Guards report for duty! Execute Contingency D-1, I repeat, execute Contingency D-1! The city is under dragon attack! All squads report to your commanding officers immediately!

"City Guardsmen, escort all civilians away from the palace to secure locations as described in D-1. Ponies of the Crystal Empire, remain calm and follow the instructions of your City Guards, they will lead you to your designated safe zones. Again, remain calm and follow the instructions of the Guard!"

He stepped away from the microphone. When he turned around, three crystal ponies in full armor-- two stallions and and a mare, the commanders of the civil, national and royal branches of the Guard-- were galloping up to him. They skidded to a halt on the gleaming floor. "What are you three doing here?"  He demanded.

They looked at each other briefly, then turned to face him. "Reporting to you as ordered, Sir," one of the stallions said.

"Yes, well, according to the Royal Houses I'm not your commanding officer anymore," Shining Armor said.

The ponies looked at one another again. "Quite frankly, sir," the mare said," If the Royal Houses don't like the most qualified military leader in the Empire taking command, they can join us on the battlefield and issue a complaint there. Sir."

Shining turned to Cadence. She looked back to him over her shoulder, her horn glowing as she strove to reinforce the shield. "Consider it a royal decree," she said, smiling bravely. "Go, lead our soldiers."

He paused. The words seemed insufficient, but he said them anyway. "I love you," he said.

"Come back to me," she replied.

Shining Armor felt his heart swell. He turned back to his commanders. "Walk with me," he said, marching for the exit. They fell in step beside him. "What are your orders, sir?" One asked.

"Continue with the evacuation to the shelters," Shining said. "Put every spare earth pony we have on that. I want every pegasus and thestral we have airborne; they need to harry those two flying ones, deny them any air dominance whatsoever. No direct attacks-- that's just suicide. Have them start pushing thunderclouds, hailstorms, form concentric rings around the palace--- get updrafts and downdrafts going ... I want those two enemy fliers flying through so much turbulence that they think they're inside a clothes drier and taking so much lightning they think they stuck their tongue in a light socket!"

"Yessir, already on it."

"Have you got our unicorns in those sniper positions we plotted out?"

"Yessir, got anypony who can sling a spell up on the rooftops. we laid out some catwalks between so they can move position at a moment's notice."

"Artillery?"

"Not much sir. Some arbalists and trebuchets left over from Sombra--- but most are still in disrepair." The senior Guardsman grimaced.

"Why, what happened to them?"

"Um, Celestia and Luna smashed them when they defeated Sombra..."

Shining Armor facehoofed. "Right. Of course. Not that it matters, it'd take too long to move them into position... just have the crews duct tape and bailing-wire whatever's useful and in a viable location."

The quartet rattled down the stairs to the ground floor. They were met halfway by a cadet-- a big cadet-- carrying a suit of ornate gold armor on his back. "Private Rock Steady, reporting for duty, Sir," the big bluff pony said.

Shining Armor actually grinned. "Rock Steady! Good to see you, soldier! So you passed, huh?"

Rock Steady nodded, grinning. "Yessir. Took that test twice, got in on the second try."

Shining Armor cocked his head sideways. "A bit soon to get through boot camp, isn't it?" he asked.

Rock Steady considered the question. "I think it was a bit of a rush job, Sir." He looked over his shoulder in the direction of the advancing dragons, indicating the reason.

"Was it now?"

"Drill Sergeant said 'Buck protocol, there's Dragons, get to the front, Guardsmen," Rock Steady recited. "Oh, 'And get the Commander In Chief his armor.' " He shrugged the bundle of golden armor off his shoulders. Shining Armor snatched it up in his magic and hastily donned it.

Sweet Celestia, it felt good to be in armor again. Maker help him, he loved the Guard. As he stuck the helmet on, he noticed something resting behind his ear. He pointed at the offending spot on the outside with his hoof. "What's this here?" he asked.

"New wrinkle, Sir," the blue commander of the Civil Guard said. "It's a variation on a popular colt's toy. They call it a walkie-talkie. Tap it three times to turn on, three times to turn off... lets you talk with everypony with one in their helmet. It's still got a few glitches but it's a lifesaver out on the street." He gave Shining a quick rundown on call signs and the crude protocol they'd worked out thus far.

"Niiiice." Shining Armor tried it out. "Testing, testing, one two... This is Commander in Chief Shining Armor. Group leaders sound off!" The answers came back (what else?) crystal clear.

"Pegasus Alpha, standing by!"

"Pegasus Beta, standing by!"

"Unicorn Alpha, standing by!" Shining grimaced. Only one unicorn platoon, and two pegasus. And most of those imports from Canterlot. Air and magic power were going to be spread thin.

"Earth Alpha, standing by!"

"Earth Beta, standing by!"

"Earth Gamma, standing by!"

"Earth Delta, standing by..."

Shining nodded as his troops sounded off. "All positioned troops hold, all mobile units to the Eastern force wall, double time," he said. As an afterthought, he added, "Pegasus squads Alpha One One  through Alpha One three, get to the Lost Tomb dig site and give us an assessment, render aid where possible. Priority is rescue and retrieval of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Repeat, priority is rescue of the Elements of Harmony. Shining Out." He tapped twice, putting the walkie talkie on listen only.

Rock Steady grinned at him. "Guard has all the best toys, don't it?"

Shining smiled back, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Got that right, soldier," he said. "Now let's go see if the Dragons want to come out and play.

"Now somepony get me a chariot and get me to that Eastern barricade!"

"Stupid... Diamond Lung...."

Roller reached the crest of... how many hills was it now? Oh yeah, two... and collapsed, wheezing for air. Spots danced in front of his eyes, threatening to blot everything out in darkness. Oh yeah, even now Roller could sprint one heck of a distance, but he paid for it hard. And a marathon run over rolling hills? No chance.

He lay there, too weak to even rage at himself, too busy trying to suck oxygen into his battered lungs, glaring in hate and despair in the direction the monsters had stomped off, straight towards the Spire of his home.

There in the pits of his frustration and despair, he did the only thing he could think of. Maker, he said silently as he sobbed for air, I know I ain't talked to you in a long time, I ain't had anything to do with you in ages and I've spent all my time blaming you for how my life sucked. I'm sorry for that, even if it's too late to change it. I'm a long way from that little colt sitting in the front row, a happy Believer.

I know I'm useless now for anything that matters... please just this once, let me go the distance, because even if this doesn't matter to anypony else, cause I don't know why it would---help me do this. Because it matters to me...

There was a thunder of wings. Dazed, he looked up, blinking at the sunlight. Winged silhouettes were dropping down out of the sun towards him, pinions spread wide as they circled down.

Boy, he thought. I really hope those aren't buzzards...

The silhouettes resolved themselves into Pegasi. Pegasi in Guard armor. "Medic, we got a pony down!" The lead one shouted. A pegasi with saddlebags marked with red crosses ran to Roller's side and began checking him over.

Roller looked up at him. "Diamond lung..." he managed to wheeze. The medic must have understood, because he began rifling through his saddlebags. Roller felt a tube stuck into his mouth; on his next inhale a bitter mist went down his lungs. He coughed and gagged--- and his next breath came a little easier. He relaxed as he felt his lungs opening up.

"Bronchial relaxer," the pony told him. "Opens up the breathing tubes, makes life a little easier for you." He showed Roller an inhaler and tucked it into Roller's bag. "hold onto it, something tells me you're gonna need it bad."  Roller nodded as the medic rattled off some information on the inhaler, committing it to memory. Dang, Equestrians had all the best goodies...

In a few minutes Roller was back on his feet, still wheezing a bit but alert and active. "Can you give us the sit-rep on the dig?" the leader of the squad said tersely.

Roller nodded. "All the crew escaped. Retreated inside the tomb and collapsed the entryway behind 'em. Nopony hurt but they're trapped." The squad leader cursed. "You'll need a heavy crew to clear the entrance," Roller went on. "Big boulders, gotta weigh a ton each."

The squad leader nodded. "At least they're safe. Eagle Eye! North Wind!" Two pegasi snapped to attention. " Take a hammock, get this civilian back to one of the safe zones in the city, then report to Pegasus Alpha for redeployment." They saluted and got to work.

The "hammock" in question was actually more of a canvas basket, strung on ropes and dangling below the two of them. Not exactly a royal carriage, but it was smooth enough riding once they got airborne. They were back to the city within minutes and passed through the forcefield with scarcely a ripple, south of where the trudging dragons were looking to make first contact, and dropped down to a rooftop. "All right, young fella, get down the stairs and to the shelter," one of the guards said, flexing his wings as his partner collapsed the flying hammock. "We gotta get to the battlefield."

Roller hesitated, then stepped forward. "Take me with you," he pleaded.

The two guards looked at him. "What?" one of them-- Eagle Eye, Roller thought-- asked.

"Take me with you to the battlefield," Roller pleaded again. He reloaded his camera and snapped it back up in position. "I gotta record this. It's my job!"

"No can do, kid," Eagle Eye said. "You can read all about it in the newspapers tomorrow, just like everypony else--"

Deep inside Roller Reel the floodgates opened. "Why," he snarled, "So the Canterlot ponies can forget all about us again?"

North Wind and Eagle Eye bristled, but before they could retort Roller Reel laid into them.  "Don't give me horseapples about the Press getting the news out! Right now every paper reporter in the continent is out there taking bad snapshots from twenty blocks away and getting the facts wrong about what's going on--- those that aren't just hiding in the underground tunnels and  getting all the news secondhand themselves! You know and I know what they print doesn't mean jack, either-- tomorrow it'll be in all the papers, and by the next day every pony in Equestria will have forgotten about what's happened to us and those front pages will be lining the bottom of birdcages!

"Despite everything, Equestria forgot all about us--- the Princesses forgot all about us--- for a thousand years! In spite of everything we suffered we weren't even a footnote in your history books! Well BUCK THAT!

"I have this now," he said, slapping the movie camera. "I'm not going to let ponies turn the Crystal Ponies' battles into bird cage liner and filler for some dusty history books nobody reads. I'm gonna make them see and hear and feel what happens, the same as we are. They're gonna REMEMBER the day the dragons attacked the Crystal Empire.They'll forget what they read, but they'll never gonna forget what they SEE. I'll NEVER let them forget us again!

"Now what's it gonna be?"

The two soldiers looked at each other, then back at Roller. "Damn, colt," Eagle Eye finally said. "You're gonna give yourself a heart condition you get all wound up like that." He turned away and tapped his helmet three times. "Pegasus Alpha, this is P-Alpha One Alpha, call sign Eagle Eye and North Wind, we are back from recon at the Tomb of the Founders and are volunteering for further aerial recon at the battleground. Be advised we have a film pony here who is offering to take footage of the battle for--" he paused as his helmet buzzed briefly. "Yessir, film pony. Movie camera and enough film canisters to remake 'Gone with the Windigoes.' " His helmet buzzed again. "Yessir. Over and out." He tapped his helmet again. "You're in luck, colt," he said. "The Commander's feeling quirky today. Get back in the basket, you're going airborne."

"Yyyyess!!" Roller cheered, pumping a hoof.

"Just remember," North Wind said as he started reassembling the frame for the hammock. "Throw up over the SIDE of the basket, not IN it. We gotta clean this thing..."

Shining Armor's carriage landed at the Eastern boundary of the force field. Troops were everywhere, barking orders, hauling equipment, setting up emplacements. He dismounted with his subcommanders and galloped to nearest officer. "What's the situation?"

The pony saluted. "Six dragons sir, biggest I've ever seen or heard tell of," he said. "All but two on foot. Quarter mile out and closing fast, be here in about sixty seconds."

"On foot?" Shining said in surprise.

"To look at them, most of them just have vestigial wings, sir."

Shining nodded. "Get your men in position."

"What about you, Sir? Shouldn't you be back at the palace-- reinforcing the shield?" It was obviously a polite way of saying 'and away from danger,' but it wasn't made explicit.

"Holding that in reserve," Shining said. "For now I want to see these brutes up close. If the shield doesn't hold them off, my own aegis will be the fallback position. The nearer I am, the stronger I can make the force field where they're trying to enter."

He looked up; the dragons were visible now, their footsteps vibrating the earth beneath his hooves. The two fliers circled overhead lazily. "Whoever they are, they're overconfident. All of them attacking on the same face of the dome? Not spreading out, or sending their fliers overhead? We're not talking tactical geniuses here." The ponies around him snorted in agreement.

The dragons drew closer; the earth shaking more and more under their tread. The lead one was an enormous red, with a long attenuated neck and broad, hulking shoulders surmounted by enormous spiked pads , and three fan-like fins down its back. It was flanked on the left by a hulking brown lump that was plated like an armadillo clear down to its clubbed, spiked tail, and a blue gray monster on the right with thick, stumpy forelimbs and a massive armored jaw. A white dragon with blood red eyes and headfin and forelimbs that dragged the ground brought up the rear. The two airborne ones, an almost skeletal grey one with curling ram's horns and an equally skeletal purple with fins that drooped over its eyes, dropped out of the sky on either side of the group. They were all, curiously enough, wearing makeshift bags at their sides, knotted together out of what looked like rope and sailcloth. Shining could see something squirming inside the red's satchel. Hostages?

The six terrible beasts marched up to the glowing pink wall... and stopped. They spread out, side by side, grinning down at the ponies on the other side. The brown one looked down at the crystal pony soldiers in their gleaming armor. "Ooo, sparkly," he said. The red one cuffed him in the back of the head.

Shining Armor stepped forward till he was at the front, mere meters from the red one's feet. He lit his horn and projected his voice. "Who are you," he said, his voice echoing through the force field, "and why have you come to the Crystal Empire?"

The dragons chortled; a dull, grating sound. The red one slammed his fist into his other claw. "My name's Garble, and this is my crew," he said, his voice echoing. "And we want two things. We want that little weasel Spike. And we want the Treasure of the Dragon King. Give 'em to us, and maybe we won't squash ya."

Why do they want Spike? Shining Armor wondered. Not that they're getting him, but... He bunted. "What Treasure of the Dragon King?" he demanded to know. "We know of no such thing."

Garble looked at the rest of his 'crew.' They shrugged, then the rock-jawed one muttered something. "Yeah, right," Garble said. "You pansy ponies probably call it 'the Treasure of Sombra' or something like that," he said, making air quotes. "Whatever. Just cough up already."

"The Crystal Empire has no such treasure," Shining Armor said. "If Sombra ever had any treasure, he spent it all on soldiers, and slaves, and bread and circuses for his loyal minions. Where would we get a treasure? We're a struggling nation as it is-- the crystal ponies only recently escaped the clutches of King Sombra, and what little we have has been spent on rebuilding the kingdom from the ruin he left behind.

"There is no great dragon hoard to be found here."

Garble's eyes went round-- then narrowed into blood red slits of rage. "Fine," he roared. "Then we'll just TAKE WHATEVER WE WANT!" He reared back, doubled  up his fist, and slammed it into the forcefield. The very air shook with the force of his first blow, and glowing cracks spread out across the shimmering dome.

In a disastrous oversight, all parties involved had been unaware that Shining and Garble's little tete-a-tete had been amplified and broadcasted  by the dome itself to every corner of the city. Garble's roar of rage, and the earthshaking boom as he had cracked the dome, had been heard by every pony in the city.

That was all it took. Ponies panicked, and the evacuation of the royal square turned into a rout. Nyx and her grandparents and friends had been halfway to the nearest shelter when the wave of panic reached them. Despite the effort of the Guards, the mobbing ponies split the group in two, separating Nyx and Bright Eyes from her friends.

Ponies were everywhere, screaming and yelling and panicking, hooves flying, knocking the two foals back and forth like a hoofball. Nyx spotted an alleyway. She grabbed the strap of Bright Eyes' saddlebag and dragged him along, pulling them both out of danger. They lay behind a heap of trashcans, battered and bruised, catching their breath. "What do we do?" Bright Eyes cried.

"I don't know, everypony's going crazy--- wait!" Nyx said. "Your walkie talkie! Is it still working? Can you reach Spike? He can send us some help!"

Eagerly Bright Eyes tapped at the walkie talkie behind his ear. "Please work," he whimpered. "Spike! Can you hear me??"

Spike had been on the balcony when Garble had issued his ultimatum. He'd heard every word. Garble wanted him.

He'd never been so terrified in his life.

What should he do? He looked over at the others. Cadence was standing in the balcony, pouring magic into the heart, trying to reinforce the cracking dome. Rarity was off to the side, trying to revive a swooning Fluttershy.

Rarity... anger, fear and guilt pummeled him.

"Spike, are you there? Can you hear me?"

Spike jumped, then slapped at the gemstone behind his earfin. "Yeah, yeah, I hear ya! Are you and the others okay?"

"That's just it, Nyx and I got separated from the group! We're trapped by the mob, in a little alley near the corner of Fourth and Emerald--"

"What? hold on, I'll get ya some help!" Spike rounded on the nearest guard. "Quick, get somepony-- a Pegasus-- down to the corner of Fourth and Emerald! Nyx is there and she's trapped!"

"What?" Cadence exclaimed. "Do as he says! Quickly!" The guard bowed and galloped off.

Spike thanked her and turned away. "Hang tight, they're sending a pegasus guard to evacuate you," he said.

"Thanks, Spike," Bright Eyes quavered.

The words were bitter in Spike's ear. "Don't thank me," he said. "It's my fault the dragons are even here..." His gut churned. "But don't worry. I'm gonna fix it." He bolted for the door while nopony was watching him.

"Spike, wait, where are you going?" Bright Eyes said.

Nyx looked at him. "What's wrong?"

"I dunno, he said something about the dragons being HIS fault and he was gonna fix it..."

Nyx's pupils shrank to slits. A story her mother had told her--- about the Dragon Migration, and how a certain baby dragon had run afoul of a group of teenagers there-- flashed through her mind... "Oh no," she said. "He's gonna try and stop them by giving himself up!"

"What?" Bright Eyes asked, confused.

"Don't ask me why but there's a bunch of dragons who hate Spike's guts-- and I think these are the same dragons! Call him back!"

"I did-- he's not answering me. All I'm getting is static! He must be out of range or something..."

"Come on!" Nyx got to her feet and ran for the other end of the alley.

"But what about the guard coming to get us?"

"We can't wait for him! Spike is gonna turn himself over to Garble and when he does, Garble's gonna squish him! We gotta stop him before it's too late!"

"But where would Spike be-- oh no..." Bright Eyes' pupils turned to pinpricks.

"I know, come on!" Nyx galloped away. After letting out a little moan of fear, Bright Eyes gathered the last of his courage and ran after her...

Towards the dragons, and certain doom.

1)Twilight had learned long ago that telling ponies "Everypony remain calm" was a surefire way to guarantee they didn't.