//------------------------------// // Siege // Story: Shadow Grave // by Composer99 //------------------------------// Celestia glared down at the skeletal form standing in front of the fog bank that had covered Ponyville. “You still remember me, Celestia!” Shadow Grave exclaimed, in an oddly raspy mezzo voice, lifting a hoof to her ribcage. “I can’t help but be touched. I, of course, remember you.” “You are not welcome here, Shadow Grave,” Celestia snarled. Shadow Grave shook her head, an obsidian mane billowing out behind the bleached off-white of her skull. “Tch tch, such inhospitality. I suppose it’s only fair, though. After all, I bear nothing but ill will – and ill intent – for you and all ponykind. Now, should we get to business, or would you care to exchange some obviously feigned pleasantries? Perhaps put up with a villainous monologue? I hear they’re all the rage these days. We haven’t seen one another in a thousand years, after all. It’s not every day you have a rendezvous with such an old enemy.” Shining Armor leaned forward. “Princess, maybe you can stall for time by keeping her talking,” he whispered. Celestia looked down for a moment, saying nothing. “I must admit to being curious how you survived our last encounter,” she finally said. “A good stage magician never reveals her secrets,” Shadow Grave coyly replied. “Then again, I was always more of the academic, and they like to spill their guts – a waste of a metaphor in my case, I suppose.” She paused. “Very well, Celestia. Since you’re going to join my army before the night is through, why not? “Before my last invasion of Equestria, I had found a way to split off most of my – my life-force, for lack of a better term, from my physical body. It’s quite the feat; I don’t think anypony has managed it before or since, at least not on purpose. They’re normally inseparable – almost one and the same, really. “I was able to store my life-force in a specially prepared receptacle, which is safely hidden away. When you and Luna caught me off guard with the Elements of Harmony, there wasn’t enough of my own life-force left in my body to keep it intact under the magic’s impact: hence my body’s destruction. “But enough of me survived that I could re-constitute a new body. It took ages. I’m still not sure quite how long. But once it was done, and once I had recovered enough of my magical power to act, I returned to Equestria, to learn what I could of you and the progress of society, before coming into the open again. I certainly did not want to be surprised by something like the Elements of Harmony again. “And now, I’m confident I won’t be. Did you really think I’d leave such obvious clues to my presence in Ponyville out of sloppiness?” “You either give me too much credit for foresight, or not enough,” Celestia said sternly. “Luna and I learned of your return just this afternoon.” “Too much credit, then,” Shadow Grave said. “I thought perhaps you’d divined my secret when I saw Twilight sniffing around the cemetery. But maybe it was just a lucky guess?” Shadow Grave didn’t wait for an answer. “Not that it matters. Reforming Discord into an ally of Equestria was a triumph on your part – I still don’t know how you managed – but when I attacked you the last time, I did so believing he was still the ruler of Equestria. I believed I would have to deal with him next. More fool me, it turned out. “But it means that the defences I set up against him will, by happy accident, protect me from the Elements of Harmony. Either they’ve realised what I’ve done, and stopped trying to teleport using Discord’s magic, or they’ve teleported themselves somewhere like the moon by now. Whatever the case, I rather doubt we’ll see them return until it’s much too late.” “She’s lying, I’m sure of it,” Shining Armor whispered. His eyes, however, belied his uncertainty. Celestia stepped back so Shadow Grave couldn’t see her face. “I’ll send a note to Twilight to make certain,” she replied in a low voice. She stepped forward again. “Shadow Grave, it’s not too late for you to turn from this path. Return the army you’re hiding in the fog to its resting place, and I’m sure we can find a way to restore you to your healthy, living body, as Constellation once again.” “Always ready to extend the hoof of friendship, even to your enemies,” Shadow Grave sneered. “Starswirl thought much the same way. I’m not interested in your olive branches, Celestia, assuming they’re genuine in the first place. What I want is the satisfaction of grinding your and Luna’s horns to dust beneath my hooves while my army overruns Equestria.” Celestia sighed sadly, hanging her head. “I’m sorry that is your choice.” Shadow Grave waved a hoof, her horn glowing with the same yellow as her eyes. The fog began to roll back from behind her. There were gasps and shouts from the castle as rows of skeletal ponies emerged from the receding fog. Their eye sockets gleamed with the aura of Shadow Grave’s magic. The patrolling Wonderbolts and Royal Guard pegasi were hurriedly returning to the skies over the castle, assembling into combat formations. “Surrender yourself, Celestia, and I’ll spare your troops and the ponies inside the castle,” Shadow Grave offered. “Equestria has never backed down from any foe!” Celestia proclaimed. “We won’t start with you.” “So be it.” Squadrons of skeletal pegasi took off from the field in front of the castle, and the other skeletons began to advance. “Shining Armor,” Celestia commanded, “find Cadance and tell her I need her defending a balcony. Then go to the castle doors and ensure they stay secure.” “Right away, Princess!” Shining Armor bolted for the entrance. Celestia looked up to Spitfire, who was hovering close enough to hear orders. “Send someone to inform Luna what is happening here. Engage the flyers if they get close enough to the castle to attempt entry. Otherwise hold your positions.” Spitfire saluted. “Yes, Your Highness!” She raced off to relay the command to the other ponies in the air. Celestia sent a blast of magical energy towards Shadow Grave. It was deflected harmlessly off a shield she had raised. It was quiet at the gorge beneath the Castle of the Two Sisters. Several ponies stood guard at the entrance of the cave housing the Tree of Harmony. Overhead, Princess Luna and a retinue of bat ponies scanned the treetops. “Nothing but this fog as far as the eye can see,” Luna muttered. “M’lady, over there!” one of the bat ponies cried, pointing. Luna looked over to see a rapidly-approaching pony. The pony turned out to be Soarin, of the Wonderbolts. “Princess Luna,” he gasped, “Shadow Grave has appeared and is attacking the Castle!” “Understood,” Luna said. “Milady,” another bat pony said, “should we not fly to the aid of your sister?” “Alas, we must not,” Luna said sadly. “The Tree of Harmony cannot fall. Even if worse comes to worst at the Castle, we can still prevail, so long as Twilight and her friends can bring the power of the Elements to bear against Shadow Grave. We must remain here and guard the Tree, with our very lives, if needs must.” She turned back to Soarin. “Return to the castle to confirm we have received your message.” “Yes, Princess!” Soarin said with a salute. He turned and sped away back towards Ponyville. Luna sighed. “And now, we wait.” Spike fidgeted nervously in the darkness at the base of the cliff, pacing back and forth. Starlight had created a magical fire to light up the area and keep them warm. “Do you think we should go in after them?” Spike asked, turning to face Starlight and Discord. “They’ve been an awful long time!” Discord eyed the entrance with a grimace. “My goodness, I shouldn’t think so,” he replied. “We’ve got strict instructions from Twilight to stay out here unless we think they need help.” “He’s right,” Starlight said reluctantly. “How will we know they need help?” Spike asked. “I’m sure Twilight will figure out a way to send us a signal,” Starlight replied, giving Spike a reassuring hoofpat on his back. Spike hiccupped, then burped out a letter. It fluttered to the ground. Starlight picked it up and unrolled it with her magic. “Twilight, Shadow Grave is here. The castle is under attack. She set a trap against Discord’s magic. Respond if you’re all right. Celestia.” Starlight looked over at the nearby pile of saddlebags, and levitated a quill and inkpot from Twilight’s bags. “Just write on the back, Spike. Tell the Princess we got her message. We made it safely to Shadow Grave’s lair and are investigating now.” Spike wrote as quickly as he could, his clawwriting nearly illegible. Then he took a deep breath and exhaled flames. The sparkling smoke curled away into the distance. “Okay, do you think we should go back to Ponyville?” Spike asked. “I don’t think they need us to go back just yet,” Starlight said. Spike looked down at the ground, his claws balled up. “I guess. I just wanna do something!” “Don’t worry, Spike,” Starlight said, despite the obvious worry on her own face. “We’ll get our chance to help.” “Just as long as we’re not too late,” Spike said darkly, crossing his arms and sitting down on the sand. The flying skeletons were rushing the castle, but the ponies on the balconies and the pegasi in the skies had so far been able to fend off each wave. The other skeletons were forming into two large groups: one was massing near the door and trying to organise a battering ram, while the other was piling up, one skeleton atop the next, in an apparent effort to reach the largest balcony. Cadance was doing her best to spoil both groups with her magic, as were Celestia, Sunset, and other ponies with rocks the townsponies had gathered over the course of the afternoon. Cadance paused firing at skeletal ponies to watch Shadow Grave. The skeletal unicorn had done nothing so far, except watch and defend herself from direct attack. “What is she doing?” Cadance asked herself. “Princess!” Spitfire’s voice startled Cadance. She looked up in response. A pack of flying skeletons was charging the balcony she was covering. Cadance took aim with her horn and fired: a pale blue bolt of magic shattered the skeletons’ formation and the central skeleton, sending fragments of bone tumbling to the ground below. A squad of Wonderbolts struck at the remaining skeletons. Cadance surveyed the scene again. Piles of shattered bones were building up where the skeletons were concentrated: it seemed like Shadow Grave was running out of troops. “That can’t be right,” Cadance muttered. “It’s too easy.” As if on cue, Shadow Grave turned her head this way and that, then she bowed and her horn glowed. The piles shuddered, then in a flurry of bone they began reforming themselves into skeletal ponies. Cadance stared, appalled. “Oh, no!” On the central balcony, Celestia felt a chill as the shattered skeletons below began to reform. “I see her plan, now,” she said sadly. She hung her head for a moment, then looked up to the sky. The Wonderbolts and other pegasi had, with help from Sunset and the Princesses, fended off wave after wave of skeletal pegasi. But there were now slightly fewer living pegasi: some had been hurt and had been taken into the castle, where an infirmary had been set up in the Cutie Map room. The skeletons were in between waves, but Celestia could see their broken forms coming together, and formations of skeletal pegasi taking shape on the ground, ready to launch into the air once more. She looked down at Shadow Grave again. Skulls always grinned, of course, but it seemed her skeletal grin was especially malicious as she gazed up at Celestia. Celestia turned to a Royal Guard pegasus who was standing by as a messenger. “Find the Mayor, and tell her to begin organising ponies for evacuation, if she has devised a means for them to escape.” “Yes, Your Highness!” Three unicorns were also on the balcony, firing magic at the flying skeletons as well as the mass of skeletons assembled at the front door. “I must speak with Cadance. Maintain your position here as long as we have air support. Should this balcony become indefensible in my absence, withdraw inside and use your magic to seal the entrance.” “Yes, Your Highness!” they responded in unison. Celestia concentrated, and vanished in a burst of golden light.