“Is everyone present?” Time Turner said, grasping a curled up map in one of his hooves.
The lot of them were currently inside Berry Punch’s home, since their last place of residence was…dismantled. Berry house was one of the few remaining houses in the safe zone. Time Turner personally didn’t like dwelling in the tavern, since he hated drunkards, but this was a desperate time. He and Berry had to come to an understanding…at least for now. 'I'll use her house as a base and NOT destroy anything and she won't kill me. Sounds like a fair deal.'
Time Turner could still smell the strong stench of alcohol and a little vomit. He personally fought the urge to add to the smell, but he was able to hold back the bile.
“We’re alive if that’s what you’re asking,” Night Watch gruffly spoke up. There was a bloody bandage around his forehead, thanks to getting a nasty cut from a broadsword. Any closer and his brains would have splattered the ground. “Can’t say so for half of our forces.”
“Actually its closer to a third of our forces,” Time Turner corrected him. The time charger was a bit of a stickler to exacts.
“Oh fan-bucking tastic,” Vinyl grumbled. “Only a third. That makes me feel so much better.”
Time Turner narrowed his eyes at her. “Well, excuse me for trying to keep track of our situation.”
“There’s keeping track and then there’s being a smartflank,” Vinyl shot at him. “We get it. We’ve lost a lot of ponies. We don’t need to know how many. Not now at least.”
“She’s got a point,” Thunderlane said.
Rarity hmphed. The mare was still a little hissy from not being invited the last time. Time Turner was glad she hadn't started whining. “Let the stallion speak. Let’s not drag this meeting out. I hardly think our fellow Ponyvillians will appreciate us doing so.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Vinyl said.
Night Watch just snorted in annoyance.
“Right,” Time Turner rolled his eyes. He was used to the arguing. Ponyvillians were a stubborn lot and sometimes he just wanted to bang his head against a wall instead of dealing with them…most of them anyways. He then placed the map on the table and unfurled it. “Thanks to the efforts of Blossomforth and Cloudkicker,” he tilted his head over at the two ponies. They were standing a few hooves away from the table, but still close enough to see everything going on. “We now know the location of one of the alicorn markers.”
“And how do we know that she isn’t fibbing?” Night Watch nearly snarled out.
Everyone groaned.
“Not this again.” Bon Bon said.
“Yes,” Night Watch pounded his hoof onto the table. “This again.”
“What’s your problem, old stallion?” Cloudkicker took an offensive posture as she walked up to him. “Are you mad that I make you look lame?”
“I’m mad because you’re a Seductrite!” Night Watch hollered, getting out of his chair to face her.
“HOW DARE YOU?!!” Cloudkicker practically roared. She looked like she was one move away from tackling the older stallion. “I’m loyal to Celestia and no one else.”
“Says the town whore,” Night Watch shot at her.
“ENOUGH!” Time Turner cut in, hoping to stop the fight before it got out of control. “This is not for unsubstantial claims.”
“Unsubstantial?” Night Watch said. “This mare is the living definition of a Seductrite.”
“That is a hefty claim,” Bon Bon spoke up, narrowing her eyes at him. “If she was one of the goddess of pleasure’s pawns, I would have sensed it. Seductra has no hold on her.”
Time Turner and the others nodded. Bon Bon would have easily been able to sense something off with Cloudkicker if that was the case. She wasn’t a Priestess for nothing.
“Now,” Bon Bon pointed to his seat. “Get back into your chair, or else I’ll brand you as a heretic.”
Night Watch sent her a harsh glare. “You wouldn’t bucking dare.”
It was at that moment that Night Watch received one of Bon Bon’s infamous glares. It was only a slight narrowing of the eyes and frown, but it quickly sent shivers down his and everyone else’s spine.
Night Watch gulped, sweating up a storm. “I’ll…just sit down now.” He swiftly went back to his seat.
“You dun goofed,” Lyra held a hoof over her mouth to stifle her giggles.
Night Watch would have shot her a glare for that, if not for Bon Bon’s stare still upon him. Messing with Bon Bon was one thing. Messing with Lyra in front of Bon Bon was signing your own death warrant.
“Now then,” Time Turner thanked Celestia that the argument was done away with before it could get out of hoof. “Cloudkicker was able to locate the treacherous device here.” The Inquisitor pointed to a spot on the map. “It’s near our south-eastern position. Luckily for us, we still have enough troops to punch a gap through the line long enough to destroy it. The enemy defenses are weak in that area, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Sounds too easy,” Thunderlane gave him a skeptical look.
“They’re just as hard presses as us, darling,” Rarity spoke up. “Surely you can’t blame them for making a mistake such as this.”
“No, I can’t blame them,” Night Watch smirked. “I should be thanking them. This is perfect.”
“Precisely.” Time Turner smiled. “This mission will be of upmost importance, which is why I am putting my apprentice in charge of the attack.”
Lyra looked at him, incredulously. “Master, you can’t mean that.”
“I do,” Time Turner nodded.
“But I am only an acolyte,” Lyra pointed out. “I don’t have any experience leading others.”
“Given the nature of this mission, you won’t need much.” Time Turner told her. “Your job is to ensure the destruction of the artifact with minimal casualties. A simple seek and destroy mission. I’m aware that we’ve partaken in several before, so you have experience.”
“But I am a simple tool for Celestia’s fury,” Lyra said, nervousness creeping into her voice. “You should be the one commanding this operation. My blood rage will get the best of me.”
Time Turner narrowed his eyes. ‘She needs to learn to put more trust in herself. Our beloved Princess knows I’ve tried. Maybe this will be the day that drills it into her thick skull.’ “I can’t. I must stay here and coordinate our forces. I’m entrusting you with the success of this mission and the lives of everypony in Ponyville.
Lyra stood silent for a moment.
‘Is she going to try and back out of this?’
Thankfully for him, she straightened up on her hind legs and saluted. She gave him a wide, toothy grin that pretty much spilt her face. “You won’t regret this, master.”
“I know you won’t,” Time Turner returned the salute and then dismissed it. Lyra took to running out of the building, before he turned to the others. “Now that that is settled, I believe we can discuss our perimeter. I believe our chaos loyalists can guard this new opening, making sure the shadow cultists don’t try anything sneaky. Rarity’s dogs will start digging trenches, in case things last any longer.”
"A simply divine plan, darling." Rarity brushed her mane back in a splendid flourish.
_____________________________________________________________________
*Elsewhere in the battlefield*
Several soldiers of Nightmare Moon guarded the Alicorn Marker. Some of them were clearing the ground of bodies, both allies and enemies.
Off to the side, not far away from the precious device, two shadow guardsponies stood at attention. Actually, it was a real sloppy version of attention. Both soldiers, one mare and one stallion, lazily clung to their spears.
The stallion yawned. “Hey?”
“Yeah,” the mare lazily replied.
“Why are we here?”
The mare tapped her hoof on her chin. “That’s one of life’s greatest mysteries isn’t it? Why are we here? Are we just the product of several million years of chance or did the gods really plan ahead and create us, fooling us with what we call a timeline? I don’t know, but it keeps me up at night.”
The stallion stared at her for a moment. Neither of them could really see the other’s faces through their armor, but it was obvious he was confused by her response. “What? I meant, why are we here, guarding this thing?”
“Oh…” the mare was stunned at his response. “Ah…yeah.” She shyly looked away.
“What was that stuff you were talking about?”
“Nothing.”
“You want to talk about it.”
“No,” she quickly shook her head.
The stallion put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. “You sure?”
“Yeah.”
Taking off his hoof from her shoulder, he scanned the place around him. “Seriously though, why are we here? We’re just guarding some stupid gray, box thing. Why aren’t we fighting on the front lines…..or better yet, why aren’t we in the old castle?”
“It’s because that stupid gray, box thing is the only thing keeping the sun goddess from barging in here, magic a blazing, with her whole damn army, and slaughtering us. Do you want that to happen?”
The stallion gulped. “No.”
“Good, so go back to lazing about and stop whining.”
“Hey, you were whining just a minute ago.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Yes, you were.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Yes, you were.”
The mare got up in his face and pressed the end of her snout against his. “No, I wasn’t.”
The stallion pressed back. “Yes, you were.”
“Actually,” a third, feminine voice spoke up. “She totally was.”
“HA!” The stallion, though not seen, was smiling victoriously.
Growling in anger, the mare whirled on the other mare. “Just who do you think you…”
Her words were cut short when two, glowing hands smashed into her and her buddy’s chin, sending them flying. The pain in their jaw was almost as bad as the pain of smacking into the side of a building. As they slid down the wall, they couldn’t help but pick up what their attacker had said.
“I’M THE CONDUCTOR OF THE PAIN TRAIN!”
“It’s an inquisitor,” one of their fellows bellowed out. “Kill her.”
The two of them then watched the lime, green loyalist mare smashed the nearest Shadow Guard’s head into a bloody pulp with but a single swing of her glowing fist. Seeing the wide, manic grin on her face made them shiver in fear. Not to mention the sudden inrush of opposing soldiers that started to swarm their fellows.
The mare turned her head to look at her comrade. “So….Wanna go grab a drink?”
“….Sure.”
_____________________________________________________________________
As Lyra ran through the carnage that was once Ponyville, she couldn’t help but notice something. How alive she felt as she headed back into the thick of things. She loved to rip the limbs from her opponents, to smash them into pulp with her magical fist, to pummel them senseless. She was Celestia’s fury incarnate and she was going to enact some justice upon these traitors.
Lyra knew she had to keep her head in the game, but once she crushed that heretic’s skull, a bloodlust started to fill her. Having been raised by diamond dogs, even domesticated ones, she couldn’t help but pick up on their war craze. The first two dimwits she smacked away were lucky she found them funny, else that punch she just served them would have shattered their jaws at the least. ‘If they aren’t dead by the end of this, I gotta offer them a drink. Celestia knows that’d be for a good laugh.’
Pushing future laughs aside, she focused back on the enemy at hoof…or hands in her case. 'I love these things.‘
Lyra charged into a small group of the enemy, swinging like a mare possessed. The first fell with a blow to the back of the head, the second received a fierce uppercut that sent him flying upwards. He never got far, for Lyra grabbed hold of his tail and used him to bowl the others over.
‘Yes, yes, more enemies,’ Lyra’s grin grew savage. ‘Let them taste the fires of Tartarus.’ The savage beast inside her threatened to take hold and her mind started to cloud. Her vision became blood red. “I’z smash sum ‘eads, gud an’ propa.” She said, accidently reverting to her old diamond dog grammar.
‘Focus, Lyra,’ the last bit of her normal half spoke up. ‘Our master is counting on us.’ The blood rage was a common enough occurrence in diamond dogs, giving them an added incentive and power during battle. Some ponies had it as well and Lyra was one of them. If she let it control her, she’d be nothing more than a wild beast and that wouldn’t help her friends out in the slightest.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she barely had time to see a surge of black magic speeding towards her. Her eyes widened, and in the split second before the spell struck, a golden aura encompassed her. Lyra could feel the holy sun magic warm her body, easing the pains and aches that plagued her. Not only that, the aura stopped the blast dead in its tracks, leaving her fine and dandy. It didn’t take long for her to spot a Sun Priestess in a nearby alleyway. The mare had her eyes closed, focusing on her prayers.
Lyra smirked. ‘You can always trust a priestess to watch your back.’ The inquisitor in training soon locked her eyes on the prize she was looking for: the Zone Marker. ‘This is going to be easy.’
A sudden on let of screams behind her tipped her off that something had gone wrong. Looking back, she saw several fast-moving pegasi cutting through her troops like they were nothing but butter. They were but blurs to the naked eyes, sending limbs and heads flying in different directions.
Lyra groaned. ‘Spoke too soon.’
With a swift and nearly silent thud, one of the shadow pegasi landed not far from her front. Smiling, the stallion, dressed in what Lyra would knew as the outfit of the Shadowbolt, took a mocking posture. His suit covered most of his body, but left little to the imagination. He was quite sleek and muscular, handsome even…if you had a thing for heretics. His dark blue mane was rather spiky, reminiscent of those Neighpon comics she read from time to time.
“Well, well, well,” the stallion said “What have we here? A cute inquisitor? My eyes must be playing tricks on me.”
Lyra flushed, with both embarrassment and anger. “I’m not cute.”
“I beg to differ,” the stallion chuckled. “Now be a good mare and leave. I don’t want to mess up that cute face of yours.”
Lyra’s eyes twitched in anger and her magic pulsed over her, strengthening her fists. “I! AM NOT! CUTE!”
The stallion just laughed at her. “Sure you’re not, but if I offended you, I apologize.” The shadow Pegasus bowed. “I am Shadow Blade, commander of Nightmare Moon’s second Shadowbolt flight. May I have the honor of knowing thy name?”
Lyra tried to control the ever present anger she felt. ‘Keep it together, Lyra.’ “I am Acolyte Inquisitor Lyra Heartstrings, personal student of Inquisitor Time Turner.”
“Lyra Heartstrings,” the shadowbolt actually sighed happily. “Such a pretty name.”
“Shadow Blade,” Lyra spat out, wanting nothing more than to make this heretic miserable. “Such a slimy name. I’ll be sure to remember it so I can etch it into your grave stone.”
“Oooh, feisty, I like that in a mare.”
“Then you’re going to love me.”
“I don’t doubt it,” rearing back, Shadow Blade ignited two purple blades of energy around his forehooves.
‘How the hay can he do that?’
Seeing the confusion on her face, Shadow Blade smirked. “It’s a little trick our dark goddess gave to us of the Shadowbolt flight. Makes dicing up our enemies easier.”
“Neat tricks aren’t going to save your hide. I’m still going to pummel you.”
“Really?” Shadow Blade chuckled. “For all you know, I could get off from it.”
Lyra blushed. “Then I’ll make it a quick death.”
“I shall return the declaration. It would be a shame to scare such a fine body.”
Lyra could feel her face become hotter than the sun above. “SHUT YOUR FACE!” And just like that, she charged at the stallion, fists swinging.
Instead of taking off and avoiding her all together like she thought he would, the heretic just blocked her attacks. His quick reflexes made it look like he was having no trouble doing so. Lyra tried and tried again for the next moment, but she couldn’t land a single blow.
“I believe you’re letting your anger get the best of you,” Shadow Blade scolded her. “Didn’t they raise you better than that?”
Lyra growled dangerously. ‘Argh, I’ll break this guy if it’s the last thing I do.’
Shadow Blade yawned as he kept parrying her fists. “This is getting tiresome.” He quickly jumped back and blew a large gust of wind at her with his wings. Since Lyra was so caught up in attacking him, the sudden change caught her off-guard. The wind blew her on her back.
Lyra barely had any time to get back on her hooves, before Shadow Blade lunged at her. She’d have died from the cursed blade aimed straight at her heart, if not for the holy aura surrounding her. The blade was deflected, which gave her an opening. With a quick jab of her right fist into his gut, she knocked the wind out of the stallion. The shadowbolt rolled along the ground for a while, before righting himself.
Shadow Blade was having a hard time regaining his breath. Lyra’s punch had a lot of magic behind it and he was lucky to actually be alive. Had she put more power into it, she could have punched him in half with ease. “Good…work.”
“Thanks,” Lyra smiled, before charging him again.
Before she could land another blow, Shadow Blade recovered enough to block the first punch and fly out of range. “You’ll have to try better than that, love.”
Gritting her teeth, Lyra tried to jump at him. He wasn’t that far into the air yet, so she reasoned she got nab him. Unfortunately, he was able to quickly dodge the attack. The next thing she knew, he was holding her from behind in a rather…loving embrace. Lyra couldn’t help but gasp in surprise.
“Lovely view up here, don’t you think?” Shadow Blade gently whispered into her ear.
‘It would be lovely if you guys weren’t destroying the town.’ Lyra tried to elbow him, but the shadowbolt quickly threw her up into the air. Lyra squealed in fright, flailing her arms in a pitiful attempt at staying airborne…That is until she found out that she was floating. “What the…” She noticed the golden aura surrounding her body and smiled. “I bucking love holy magic.”
“Neat trick, angel,” Shadow Blade called over to her. “But I’m sad to say, it doesn’t help you at all.”
Lyra snorted. “Course it does. It helps me pummel the snot out of you.” With that, Lyra tipped herself forward and felt herself shoot through the air. If she wasn’t in a life and death situation, she would be howling with joy at the sensations she was feeling. She felt lighter than a feather and faster than a hawk.
Lyra and Shadow Blade clashed weapons, before pushing back against one another. The two separated and tried again…and again…and again. To the naked eyes, it was difficult to see their movements, thanks to their speed. Lyra knew that the holy magic was the only reason she was able to keep up with the shadowbolt.
‘Damn it, I need to end him soon. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.’ Lyra wasn’t used to moving at this speed. She was going to slip up soon enough.
“Impressive for a beginner,” Shadow Blade complimented through their spar. “Are you sure you haven’t done this before?”
“First time actually,” Lyra admitted. “Trust me, I’ll get better.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, angel,” Shadow Blade smirked. “You have to survive tonight first.”
Lyra didn’t say anything. Instead, she answered with a lucky blow to his shoulder. Shadow Blade reeled back, clutching the bruised area. “Had enough, heretic?”
Shadow Blade glared at her and then looked at something on the ground. “Yes, I have. BLACK ROSE!”
Arching an eyebrow, Lyra peered down at where he was looking at. ‘The priestess?....Oh no.’ Before she could act, another shadowbolt, a mare from what she could tell, flew up from behind the sun priestess. Thankfully, before the heretic could lay a hoof on the sun priestess, Cloudkicker body checked the shadowbolt.
“HA!” Cloudkicker yelled triumphantly, holding a pose in the air with her rifle. “Didn’t see that coming, now did you?”Lyra silently cheered.
Black Rose didn’t respond with words. Instead, she rushed forth and tried to make a swipe at Cloudkicker. Cloudkicker brought her musket up to defend herself, but the shadowbolt cut it with ease, twirled, and delivered a kick to her stomach. Luckily, Cloudkicker was able to dodge the next couple of swings.
“Go Cloudkicker,” Lyra cheered. “You can do it.”
“Nah, Black Rose has got this in the bag.”
Lyra’s eyes widened. ‘I forgot about him.’ She turned her head and unfortunately, this brought her snout to snout with Shadow Blade.
He grinned at her, while she just flushed red. “Did you forget about me already? I thought we had something special.”
Floating backwards, she scowled. “Of course I didn’t. I’ve been thinking of all the ways I’m going to kill you.”
Shadow Blade laughed. “You are such a joker, angel.”
“My name is Lyra!”
“I would never forget such a divine name, my angel. But how can I not call you a being of perfection when you are such?”
“STOP FLIRTING WITH ME!” Lyra charged, but Shadow Blade flew out of her range.
“You’ll have to do better than that….angel.”
_____________________________________________________________________
Blossomforth cringed as she heard Lyra’s angry wail. ‘I’ve never heard her that angry before…I’m glad I’m down here.’ She thought as she snuck her way around the carnage. Cloudkicker would have been there with her, if she hadn’t taken off to save the sun priestess.
Being a normal civilian, the sounds of war and death grated against her very being. Never in all her life had she wished to be in a situation like this, but fate seemed to have a nasty sense of humor. ‘Just stay calm and quiet,’ she told herself. This was easier said than done, since her heart was beating faster than she thought possible.
The sack she was carrying made it a tad harder to move around. Not because it was heavy, it kind of was, but because of its content. Inside, there were several metal balls with a short fuse on them. ‘I think they said they were…Handgranates. Sounds like a bat pony word.’
Since she wasn’t an expert sneaker, she was glad, for once, that everypony else was too busy fighting. It gave her the perfect opportunity to reach her goal, which she soon did.
“This is it.” Blossomforth softly said to herself, peering down at the accursed object. It was larger up close. It kind of reminded her of an exercise mat in a way, large enough so that she could lay perfectly on it. Taking out one of the handgranates, she placed it on the device. “That should do it…Or should I use more?” Honestly, she was wondering why they gave her several handgranates. Maybe it was because they just wanted to be safe, or perhaps she had to use them all. Deciding to play it safe, she placed the whole sack onto the device.
Blossomforth picked up one of the handgrantes and pull out a match from her breast pocket. Rubbing it against her helmet, the flame came to life. ‘Here it blows.’
“Hey,” she heard a gruff voice say. She looked up over to her left. Right there was one of the soldiers of Nightmare Moon. His armor was dented in several places, with a large one on his head. Blood spilled out from some of the multiple blows and a portion of his right hind leg was missing. Blood was spattering forth from the missing limb, making Blossomforth a tad queasy. He was shaking, straining himself to keep upright. “Who are you?”
“Um…the muffinmare,” Blossomforth couldn’t help but wince at her choice. ‘Stupid.’
“Oh,” the soldier said. “Well, leave some for me.” With that said, he promptly collapsed.
Blossomforth stared at him for a second, hearing his breathing stop. Sadness crept into her heart, showing on her face. “Rest in peace.” She whispered. She knew he wasn’t going anywhere good in the afterlife, but she was sure he had somepony who would miss him. Who knows, he could have turned into a nice stallion, if not for Nightmare Moon.
Focusing back on the handgranates, she lit the fuse, put the explosive in with the others, and flew as fast she could back to her lines.
_____________________________________________________________________
Lyra Heartstrings and Shadow Blade continued their dance of death. Each one took a swing, while the other blocked. Lyra couldn’t help but note that he could have finished this a while back. He was moving slower than his brethren. ‘Why? Is he just toying with me?’
“Give up, angel,” Shadow Blade said. “Serving the dark goddess is a rewarding experience.”
“I’d never turn traitor,” Lyra growled. “I’d rather die.”
Shadow Blade frowned. “It doesn’t have to be that way. I can help you.”
“Help me into your bed, you sick fuck.”
“Wow, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
“You shouldn’t be surprised. She taught me much harsher words than that. Trust me. You’re just lucky I’m talking like this.”
“Like this?”
Lyra sighed, parrying a thrust of his blade. “You’z ponie not tuff like us Diamond Dogz. I’z krump ya gud an’ propa.” Truth be told, she didn’t know why she did that. It was kind of embarrassing to talk like that in front of other ponies. ‘He’s just lucky I haven’t shown him a proper WAAAGH! That’d shut him up and put him in his place…six feet under.’
Shadow Blade flew backwards, giving him some distance. The shadowbolt then broke into uproarious laughter. “A…A diamond dog? Your mother was a diamond dog.”
“Pappy too,” Lyra nodded. “Oh, don’t tell me you’re a speciest as well as a heretic.”
“Nah,” Shadow Blade shook his head. “It just makes you all the more desirable.”
Before Lyra could retort, both of them and everypony else were thrown back as a large explosion ripped the area apart. Lyra could feel the holy magic leave her, either from the caster being knocked out of concentration or dead she didn’t know.
What she did know is that she was falling at break neck speed to the ground. ‘You know, it’s times like these that I wish I knew more spells.’
For some reason, instead of the hardened earth, or the side of a building, she landed in something soft and warm. “Huh?”
“You okay, angel?” She heard Shadow Blade ask.
Looking up, she noticed him giving her a concerned gaze. Her face flushed. “L-l-let me go, heretic.”
“Is that the thanks I get for saving your cute butt?”
“Don’t make me kill you,” Lyra narrowed her eyes. Oh, she wanted to do just that, but not at this height.
Laughing, he quickly touched down to the ground and let her go. “Now then, shall we continue this pointless battle?”
Taking a battle stance, Lyra snorted. “Lets,” and just like that, she felt someone slam into her, sending her flying through a window.
_____________________________________________________________________
Shadow Blade snorted in anger. “Black Rose, was that really necessary?”
Black Rose glared at him. “You were flirting with the enemy…again. How am I supposed to be taken seriously, when my big brother is spending his time snogging some loyalist bitch, instead of watching the artifact? Which, I must remind you, THEY JUST BLEW UP!”
Shadow Blade’s eyes widened. “Oh…I was wondering what that explosion was about.”
Black Rose snarled. “Keep your head in the game, Shadow Blade. Else, Apostle will order me to take you out, permanently.” The mare ignited one of her magical blades. It hummed softly, waiting to slice into somepony’s unwilling flesh.
Shadow Blade gulped, sweating profusely. “I got you.”
“Good…Now let’s go kill some sun touched idiots.”
_____________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, in Canterlot
Farseer Anrain and Princess Celestia were both sitting on opposite sides of a small table. On top was an intricate chess game, with the black pieces belonging to deer pawns, while Celestia’s white pieces resembled her own troops. The deer had forgone his helmet, allowing Celestia to see his face clearly.
“You’ve backed me up into a corner,” Anrain grumbled. “Not many can do so.
Celestia giggled. She could see the frustration he was feeling on his face. “I’ve known you long enough to figure you out, my friend. You’re predictable.”
“I am not,” Anrain pouted.
Celestia covered her mouth with a hoof to stop herself from laughing. A pouting Anrain was something she couldn’t help but find silly. ‘And pretty cute.’
“Where is that chef of yours? I thought he was supposed to be here an hour ago.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Anrain, if you really wanted to know, why didn’t you use your foresight?”
Anrain shook his head, peering over the pieces. “It doesn’t work like that.”
“That hasn’t stopped you before,” Celestia pointed out.
“….Touché,” Anrain glared at the game.
The door opened and in walked Celestia’s head chef: Gordon Roansay. He was a tan unicorn with a blonde mane. His cutie mark was two knives crossed over one another. “Your Majesty and esteemed guest,” the stallion said. A cart with a big dish covered in a metal dome was pushed in by a pair of other minor chefs. “I bring to you, my piece de resistance, chocolate cake.”
Anrain raised an eyebrow. “Chocolate cake?”
“What?” Celestia said. “It’s chocolate cake. It’s cake with chocolate. What more can you want?...Except more cake?”
“You have a cake problem,” Anrain stated.
Celestia gasped. She narrowed her eyes and pointed an accusing hoof at him. “That’s heresy. There is no such thing as a ‘cake problem’,” She tapped her hoof against her chin. “Unless the problem is a lack of cake.”
Anrain rolled his eyes and chuckled. He just continued to peer down at the chess pieces. “She will be here soon.”
Celestia frowned. “I know.” ‘Make your move, Anrain. You’re just delaying the inevitable.’ Honestly, she didn’t care. This was much better for her, since it kept her mind off her…sister. ‘I just hope Sunset is alright. Dealing with strange ponies can be tiresome.’ She hoped that the citizens would be okay with a light extra darkness for the time being. Nightmare Moon was to return soon and she needed to catch her off guard. Without the sun above her head, her sister would immediately try and draw a portal to her realm, thus making her easy to spot.
Using his magic to lift the lid off the dish, Gordon gasped. Instead of a juicy cake, there was but one naughty mare: Twilight Sparkle. She and her dress were covered in the remains of what would have been Celestia’s breakfast.
“Twilight?” Celestia said, a subtle hurt tone filled her voice. Her lips quivered. “Why?”
Swallowing another piece she had been chewing, she smiled. “I ate it for chaos~”
Gordon’s face contorted into one of pure rage. “YOU DONKEY!” He shouted, before jumping at the mare. Twilight just teleported and laughed at the stallion, to which he gave chase.
Celestia laughed until a large sensation brushed against her mind, before disappearing quickly. Her head span in unease and discomfort.
“You felt it too,” Anrain said, phrasing it more as a statement than a question.
“I…I haven’t felt something like that for eons,” Celestia admitted. A cold chill ran up her spine. She knew where the disturbance originated. “But…Ponyville can’t have anything like that. I sense nothing wrong with it.”
Anrain furrowed his brow in thought. “Then maybe we have let ourselves be blind to our surroundings. There is something foul in Ponyville and I think we both know who could be responsible.”
Celestia sighed. “I know…I know this is to be so, but…not this soon. Not like this.”
“Celestia, you have told me time and time again that she was ready for this.”
“But…”
“Have faith,” Anrain said. “She will prevail, but she may need some assistance.”
Celestia smiled. “And some assistance she will receive.” ‘Babies, don’t worry. Momma’s coming.’