Diary of the Night

by CalebH

War of Shadows - Interlude IX

For the first time in over a month the throne room was occupied after sunset. It had been much longer than a month since the Night Princess had even entered the room instead of sending a guard to keep watch for any petitioner. There had been very few.

Only the most brazen nobles sought a decision from Princess Luna while Princess Celestia still held open court and with very few exceptions they were seeking a more favorable ruling than Princess Celestia had already given. As a rule they were excused almost as soon as they had entered the door and night court only lasted longer than ten minutes if a member of the Astronomer’s Guild were present.

Since the recent wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and the newly crowned Prince Shining Armor even the lip service of stationing guards in the throne room during night had fell out of practice. Night Court was strictly by appointment only and before this night nopony had needed an appointment.

Captain Spitfire knew all of this. She was the ranking officer of Equestria’s standing army. Even if it was an army of a dozen stunt fliers and some ground support ponies it was no less an important position and Spitfire made sure she was in the know about what was happening in Canterlot.

That’s why Spitfire knew enough steel and food to reequip the royal guard five times over and feed them for a decade had gone into Canterlot and promptly disappeared. Any other pony may have chocked it up to an oddity of the castles economy but another suspicion had entered Spitfires mind and it could not be shaken. Somepony was either gearing up for or in the middle of a military operation well beyond the scope of the royal guard.

Political tensions were almost nonexistent. Nightmare Moon had been stripped away from Celestia’s sister and Princess Luna had returned, Discord had been defeated, and the changelings had been soundly beaten so why the buck was Canterlot gearing up for war? She had requested a private audience with Princess Celestia to discuss that question only to be redirected to this appointment.

The throne room was all moonlight and shadows when she entered. The golden accents around the room seemed almost silver in the moonlight and the crimson carpet seemed a dark shade of maroon. Spitfire’s eyes began adjusting to the darkness as she walked to the throne and she began to see guards in dark armor silhouetted against the walls. The daised throne rose up towards the shadowy sealing and Spitfire could only make out the barest details of the dark form sitting on it.

“Capitan Spitfire,” A regal voice rang out from the throne.

Spitfire jumped to attention and saluted. “Princess Luna,” She said. She had only seen the Princess in passing and had never heard her speak but there was no doubt about who was on the throne.

“Sister tells me you have some concerns regarding military action Equestria has taken.”

“That is correct Princess.”

“I’m afraid she was mistaken in sending you to me. I have been busied trying to recover a thousand years of lost history and it is only by your appointment that I learned Equestria has a standing army.”

Spitfire frowned; she knew when she was being given the runaround. “We both know that isn’t true, Princess. I am a member of the military and I would appreciate your candor.”

“And should Equestria face enemies that can be defeated by a barrel roll you will have it.”

“We faced down a berserk dragon before. We may not have finished it off but we bought time for those who did. We may not have much battlefield experience but in a fight the Wonderbolts will do a lot more than stand around in armor and look pretty.”

The Princess’s dark chuckle echoed around the room, undercut by the hissing laughter of her guards. Spitfire had heard it said that laughter was a form of approval but this seemed more akin to intimidation. Spitfire couldn’t help but wonder how much of Nightmare Moon the Elements of Harmony had stripped away from Princess Luna and how much they had left in her.

The spell struck without warning, robbing Spitfire of breath and sending pins and needles through her extremities as if she had spent a night somehow sleeping on every limb at once. Spitfire remained standing through sheer force of will. Her legs trembled weakly below her and her mouth gulped at the air trying desperately to get her lungs to cooperate.

Thankfully the sensation was not lasting and she could breathe somewhat normally by the time Princess Luna came down from the throne.

“My apologies,” She said. “That spell is not a comfortable one to be subjected to but you will come to realize that confirming your identity was a necessary precaution. What I am about to tell you is held in the strictest confidence. I have neither the inclination nor the resources to assign you a personal guard because you could not keep your muzzle out of the business of your betters so congratulations are in order; you are now a full member of my army.”

“Princess Celestia commissioned me, it’s her orders I obey,” Spitfire said indignantly. Her knees still trembled weakly from the spell but she stood tall before the dark princess.

A whisper of a steel blade against its scabbard and she felt its edge against her neck. She was surrounded by leathery wings, pointed fangs, and eyes with cruel gleams in them.

“There is no place among us for servants of the sun-hag! Shall death steal her secrets back, Mistress?” one of them asked.

“That will not be necessary, return to your posts,” the Princess said coolly. “And Corporal, Celestia and I may have had our differences but I still care deeply for my sister. You will bear this in mind as well as the great respect she deserves next time you address her.” As the cowed guards silently returned to their dark posts Princess Luna fixed her slitted gaze back on Spitfire.

“You will find that in military matters Celestia defers to my authority. As a member of Equestria’s military you have no higher orders than mine. Now tell me Captain, what happened to the changelings?”

Spitfire gave an involuntary shudder as she wondered once again how much of the Nightmare was left in the princess before her. She managed to drive most of the shakiness out of her voice before answering, “They were driven off. Princess Cadence and Prince Armor used a spell to send them away from Canterlot.”

“Anypony in Equestria could tell me as much. What happened to them after Canterlot?”

“Nothing has been heard of them, they must have fled from Equestria. At least that’s what everypony thinks,” Spitfire ventured.

“You disappoint me Captain,” the Princess said with an unamused snort. “You assume that Chrysalis would just retreat back to her lair and lick her wounds, or perhaps that she would give up after a single defeat.”

“Forgive me Princess; you seem to know so why don’t you tell me where they are.”

“In a word: everywhere. Canterlot continues to be clear of them but it is only a matter of time before they think it is safe to come back. These military operations you have discovered are by my order. My army works in secret to exterminate the changelings. We are yet undiscovered and for the moment you will be my guest in the palace until your training is complete. Afterwards you will join the army in the field. I will not risk you getting captured and tipping our hoof.”

“N-now hold on a minute, how do I know what your saying is true? For all I know this is some sort of coup.” Spitfire could almost feel the blades back on her neck. Loyalty to Princess Celestia was not a popular sentiment and the guards had shown no hesitation in demonstrating that.

Princess Luna only smirked in response and summoned a scroll. Spitfire immediately recognized Princess Celestia’s signature and seal at the bottom. After spending a few minutes deciphering the flowing script Spitfire had concluded that Princess Luna had far underplayed her authority.

“Alright,” She resigned, bringing herself up into a salute. “What are your orders Princess?”

Author's Note:

Comments

[Wroth]

It's a rather dangerous thing, keeping those not loyal to the diarchy as your army, considering they would plan to kill any loyalists to Celestia.

[djthomp]

Argh, that royal guard (or lack thereof) world building, this arc is going to annoy me to no end before it's over.

[the dobermans]

Bow to your Princess, Spitfire.

[huh]

The daised throne rose up towards the shadowy sealing and Spitfire could only make out the barest details of the dark form sitting on it.

Should be ceiling.

[Spiritus Arcane]

...SO nice to know that if Luna were to go evil again, everyone besides the thestrals are pretty much dead meat because she control the only competent military force. Seriously, there's wanting to be peaceful and then there's being just plain stupid, and if the Night Guard is the only military force worthy of the term, Celestia has been very much the latter.

[BenRG]

This chapter is certainly canon for this story but I'm not sure about how close to the show canon it is. Whilst I suspect that Equestria has been at peace for so long that the military has long since ossified into ineffectuality, I'm also pretty sure that the 'Bolts at least know the forms of combat flying and actual fighting. On the other hand, I would imagine that they are a bit rusty...

4926817
This has been addressed earlier in the story. Celestia has so tied up the world in diplomatic knots and a co-dependent globalised economy that conventional war has become essentially unthinkable. The problem is that she never planned for a dark magical race (possibly one of Discord's many atrocities like the Plunderseeds come back to haunt ponies again) that is not bound in her web of peace. That is why she has chosen to let Luna handle this her way - she recognises that her schemes would not suffice.

[Bloody_Tofu]

Oh god... That pic. Fell out of my computer chair.

Loved the dark tone in this chapter. I've Ben reading these non stop sense I found them.

[Beware The Carpenter]

Honestly I find it unbelievable that a nation could exist with considerable wealth, no army and not war. Frankly if that was possible, I find it incredulous that within a couple years of Luna's return, was the first situation where Celesta's methods were not adequate, and to be honest there are quite a few subtle indications that Equestria has it's knowledgeable share about warfare.