"Millennia ago, Luna and I harnessed this sword out of our combined might," Princess Celestia's voice rolled against the high winds along the Noble Jury's top deck. "It was meant to be a symbol for Equestrian sovereignty. The harsh winter brought upon by the windigoes had just come to an end. The three races of ponies had at last come together, and as our blessing to pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies alike, we crafted this blade. My sister forged it out of pure moonstone, and I imbued it with strong solar magic."
The Sword of Solstice glowed with bright golden pulses, matching the tone of the regal alicorn's voice.
"But not long after the unification of Equestria, a new threat had come upon the land. It traversed the air above like a gray phantom, carrying with it boundless tempests and maelstroms. My sister and I endeavored to banish it from the Equestrian skies, but we found the task far more daunting than we had originally imagined. Whatever possessed this flying bastion of evil, it was empowered by pure chaos energy, the likes of which we hadn't fought since our first brush with Discord. It became clear to us that this structure was older than even the alicorns, belonging to an age when the very foundations of the worldly plane were first set into motion. We considered using the Elements of Harmony to banish structure, but the cost of such a mighty spell would have been far too great. Equestria was a new, struggling kingdom, and there were still many threats from all sides. Our subjects needed our constant intervention to survive in this new age. Alas, when Commander Hurricane of Pegasopolis proved that she had found a way to steer the threat out of our skies, we greatly admired her courage, and we gave her our blessing..."
Rainbow Dash nodded, gripping the sword while most of the Jury stood at a distance watching. "You gave her the sword," Rainbow said.
"Yes, and with it we gave a piece of our power... my power. That is why many of Clover the Clever's later texts speak of a prolonged winter following shortly after the unification of Equestria. I had to make the days shorter for the span of half-a-decade to compensate for the energy I had donated to Commander Hurricane. Still, she and her fearless brigade deserved no less. Hurricane was embarking upon a long and dangerous quest that—quite frankly—none of us knew the outcome of."
"And... you were able to speak to her?" Rainbow asked, blinking across the golden light at Bellesmith, Pilate, and Kera. "Just like how you're speaking to me?"
"Indeed. We had long made our commitments to the Equestrian homeland. Still, that didn't change the fact that we cared very deeply for Hurricane and all of the pegasi soldiers who accompanied her on her mission. When she left, we waited patiently and in earnest for an update. Sporadically, every few months, she would communicate with us. The task was difficult—from what we understand—because the Sword of Solstice requires direct sunlight in order to open a channel of communication with me. Constant storms and cloud cover made this impossible, so Hurricane would have to risk a great deal of turmoil just to get word through."
"Uhm... h-how long did you keep hearing back from her?"
"Honestly, Rainbow Dash? Not as long as either my sister or I would have wished. In less than the space of six years, Hurricane ceased speaking to us altogether. We assumed the worst, and it broke our hearts. Three times over the next millennium, we sent aerial expeditions out in a desperate search for Hurricane and the accursed sky structures that she had piloted away. It wasn't that we had expected her to somehow still be alive, but perhaps there could be survivors of her brigade—or at least a sign of what happened to her to end the communication. However, after the third expedition ran into trouble with another kingdom—nearly costing the lives of everypony in the search party—we decided that it was no longer worth sending expeditions out in hunt for a deceased hero."
"That at least explains how the legend of 'Stratopolis' got proliferated so broadly," Pilate said.
"Stratopolis...?"
Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. "Celestia, is talking to you like this having any—I dunno—bad effect on you maintaining the harmonic field around the chaos rift?"
"No, Rainbow Dash. Fear not. This is a very simple communication spell. If nothing else, the burden lies on the enchantment that was placed on the Sword of Solstice ages ago."
"Ah, okay..." Rainbow smirked, her tail flicking. "That's a good thing, cuz I've got a lot of stuff to talk to you about."
"As I am beyond enraptured to hear. I wish I could express how overjoyed I am at having a chance to speak with you so soon. At first, my heart leapt at the possibility that somepony in Commander Hurricane's bloodline had finally grasped the sword once more. But knowing that it's you, it's an even greater blessing than I had at first anticipated."
Belle smiled, leaning in to nuzzle Pilate as the couple watched the exchange.
"Well, I'm just sorry it's not anypony from Hurricane's brigade," Rainbow Dash muttered.
"As it possibly couldn't have been. I do understand, Rainbow. It has been many, many eons and I doubt any one of them would still have stuck to such a chaotic post."
"It's... it's a lot less cheerful than that, Princess Celestia." Rainbow gulped. "Hurricane... uhm... she and her party didn't last long after piloting Strato—err... the 'chaotic structures' out of Equestria."
Silence... and then: "I see..."
"You'll be proud to know, though, that they gave their lives defending the rest of the world from something far nastier than even you or Luna could have imagined. In fact, my friends and I barely got away with our skin intact. But... y'know..." Rainbow smiled nervously. "It's a good thing. I mean, a lot of good has come out of this. I know it's hard to believe, but you can totally kiss that evil floating city good bye and—"
"Queen Chrysalis..."
Rainbow blinked. "...what about her?"
"Did you run into Queen Chrysalis, Rainbow Dash? Or perhaps her older and wiser sibling, Tchern?"
Rainbow gawked at the other jurists, then stared at her reflection in the sword. "Well... yes. I mean, pretty dang much, yeah. Ahem..." She leaned forward. "Why do you ask?"
The broadcasted voice carried warmth—almost a ringing quality. "Somehow, I knew, Rainbow Dash." Pride resonated warmly from the blade. "I knew that you had a hoof involved in it..."
"Involved in wh-what?" Rainbow bit her lip. "Your Highness... h-has something happened in Equestria since we last talked?"
"A most remarkable thing indeed. In towns all across Equestria, sparse numbers of citizens suffered fainting spells. When they came to, they... weren't quite the same as they once were. For a brief moment, dismay and confusion swept the landscape from Appleloosa to Canterlot. A few panicked parties even thought that the landscape was suffering a full-on invasion. However, the citizens came across as entirely harmless. Luna, in her infinite wisdom as Equestria's chief ruler, calmed everypony, then gathered the altered citizens in question together... to protect them. Over the past few days, they've been recollecting long-lost memories about who they are and where they came from. We now have nearly five hundred ponies—a new and tiny demographic—who have been added to the cultural fold of Equestria."
Rainbow Dash exhaled. "Changelings..."
"If you have indeed stumbled upon Chrysalis—and now these shape-shifters have been freed from whatever previously bound them—then I can only imagine that, someway and somehow, you have done a good and harmonic thing over there, Rainbow Dash. Perhaps, for the sake of these timid citizens under Luna's charge, you could do us all a favor and illuminate the situation?"
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. She smiled warmly. "You do love your illuminations, eh, Your Majesty...?"
Wow, that far...?
Something tells me much of Chrysalis's long-set plans are ruined to shit. Good on you, Dashie. That's like... Good for +50 karma points.
Also, Celestia is now Soul Calibur.
Wow, for a second I was wondering if you would miss your daily update for the first time in... forever. Guess not, IC.
Also it seems that ainbow Dash finally has ammunition she can believe in to throw back at the "You're just a weapon of chaos" assholes. For real, girl.
This is nice.
Glad to know that Luna is protecting the Equestria Changelings.
Dang it, no Luna sword. But lore is good :D
Wow... Chrysalis is gonna be furious when they catch up with her! My guess is that she's going to try and control Elma through force.
Okay, everything seems to be going good.
This is a great change of pace compared to the first half of the story.
A small population of free Changelings now in Equestria, safe under the care of Luna? This warms my heart.
Given that distant of a reach, this also gives me hope for the situation in Val Roa.
exactly how long has Chrysalis been planning world domination?
4568254 Solar Calibur
Vista Chino - Barcelonian
Heh, nice touch with the changelings back in Equestria. And it's good getting some solid backstory from a reliable source.
Also, I wonder if those search parties, especially the one that lost most of its members in "another kingdom", have something to do with the pegasus remains that Nightshade had. Then again, those pegasi had some weird magic going on about them - not to mention the book the pegasi in the tunnel possessed, which had knowledge pertinent to the machine world - so I dunno.
I guess Chrysalis is already hording so much hate on Rainbow Dash...
She's going to Mega Evolve into something far far sinister...
Changeling schism for sure. I wonder if the changelings under Tchern felt the same shock and also yearn to overthrow their queen.
First thing I thought of when I saw the title? And my Aaxte.
Regardless, it's nice to see some manner of communication with Celestia. Hasn't happened in a good long time.
4568705
Nice try, but that's not the spelling nor the pronunciation.
Since Chrysalis is pretty much disabled, I expect she will either be helped or taken over by Tchern.
4568550
The details are few and far between, but I believe that Nightshade's remains are from the older Pegasus race that had once occupied Stratopolis before Hurricane (and Rainbow found one in a cave).
I wonder if that affects Val Roan changelings as well...
explanations, aren't they lovely?
4568653 i doubt it, but hope! (they aren't bound the chrysy though sooooo.....)
4568883
If it affected Equestria, I would expect Val Roa as well... and if Val Roa is less accepting than Equestria, we could be flying straight into another war zone.
Equestrian changelings. That's awesome. Does anyone else think Zaid would ask celestia or luna if they are single? I have no idea why that popped into my head bit it's something he would so do.
I love hearing from the Princesses. I hope we get more exposition out of this before things go downhill again. Because dreadfully curious about their reactions and what all the sword might be able to do.
Woop! Go Dashie. You just sparked a global Changeling awakening.
4568314
Technically, that sword is made of moonstone, so it is also a moon sword.
It does! It does however not explain how all those lands to the east could then be completely unknown to Equestrian mapmakers.
4568567 Like Shell?
4569986 And it makes noise, which officially makes it
THE SOUND SWOOOOOOOOOORD!
Its a Golden sword that talks, sings, dances and has a close relation with the moon?
I think Ill call it Frank.
Cos when Frank is upset with you, freinds in very high places are also upset with you.
Surely you cant be serious. I am serious, and thats Frank.
4568486
Brilliant. I demand the sword be called this forever.
I guess the thing Dash did really altered all of the changeling, maybe to the east too.
Seems slightly off. Grammer and stuff
So that finally explains why everypony knew about Stratopolis. And the whole problem with the changeling invasion is set right. IC always comes through with possible not-possible-any-more plot-holes. Lots of dashes.
-Spirit
Exposition. Delicious, delicious exposition. I look forwards to more of it.
Story time for Celestia!
And now RD learns her efforts were not localized at all.
Time to shed some light on the subject.
Damn, Dashie, your ripples of harmony are going far and wide across this pond.
Celestia summons: Expository Monologue.
And you have my Rainbow.
But not my Aatxe.
If RD freed the entirety of Chrysalis's changelings, including sleepers, then I guess this confirms Ebon is definitely not one of them.
He might be Chern's, or he might be something else entirely, of course.
8135639 But does she have your vuvzela?
06/04/2017 19:27 UTC
So basically...
It's a sword crafted with part of Celestia's solar power and Luna's pure moonstone, can communicate with said Solar Princess at any given time of day(light) and can eradicate primordial chaos soup by being within mere swiping range?
Celestia SWORD of sOlsTiCe sword 2OPplsNerf
That must have, like, +500 damage and x5 the effect to chaos beings plus an additional glowy-glowy stab into the ground feature which has a radius of 10 units, and more if you push harder and if there is button mashing!
8:43 p.m. MST 6/20/2017
Sword of Solstice
Forged of moonstone, this heavenly blade is infused with the essence of the Sun.
Critical Rate + 20%
Increases damage against the Undead and Poison properties by 40%.
Enables use of Level 1 Detoxify.
Type: Sword
Attack: 150
Weight: 100
Property: Fire
Weapon Level: 4
Applicable
JobsCharacters: Rainbow DashSo it's an Umbral Blade?
Moon and sun!?
It's badass levels have transcended 9000. We're turning this up to 11 and beyond.
I hope our
MoonSun talks become more frequent now that we don't have to with for a new moon (or the next book) to hear them again.Wow, so ALL changelings got nailed when Chrysalis got love bombed. It also means the events of the Royal Wedding won't happen at all.