• Published 10th May 2012
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All-American Girl - Shinzakura



A pony raised amongst humans finds out about her birth mother - Rarity.

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Chapter Twelve: Before the Storm

“What do we want?” a slender stallion hefting a sign reading RETURN THE LOST FOAL! shouted.

“For humans to go away and leave the filly they took!” the crowd behind him, a mixture of stallions, mares, colts and fillies from the three branches of ponydom cried. They were all there for the same reason: to get the point across that humanity wasn’t welcome in Equestria, and that the sooner they departed and left behind the Lost Foal, the better.

Watching from a window, a look of disgust flitted onto the face of Lyra Heartstrings. “And they call themselves ponies!” Lyra spat. “Whatever happened to Love and Tolerance?”

“I wish we had more of it,” Twilight Sparkle said, as she watched the crowd below begin to be dispersed by Canterlot’s town sheriff. “Maybe if we did, they’d accept that DJ grew up with a family just as loving as the one we wish she did.”

“Listen, Twilight,” Lyra began. Twilight knew what Lyra was going to say; after all, she’d been hearing it from just about everypony she knew since she announced last week that she was taking Sandalwood’s – that is, DJ’s – side in the legal matter.

“You won’t change my mind,” the unicorn mage told her old friend. “DJ…she’s happy. She’s made a life for herself there and just like the life that Spike has here amongst us, so has she with the humans – she even has a coltfriend, which is one better than my brother’s done, admittedly. Listen, I just want the best for her. Is that so wrong?”

“No, and I agree with you,” Lyra said. When a shocked look came over Twilight’s face, Lyra laughed. “You know me, the human lover, the crackpot who believed they existed when nopony else did. Well, I see how she’s with them…she’s one of them now, in a way that makes me kind of jealous. And while Rarity may be your friend and sister, I can’t in good conscience break apart the family that DJ has. And…Bonnie and I have talked and we’re willing to stand by you no matter what the cost.”

“No matter what?”

Lyra smiled. “When a couple as long as Bonnie and I have been together tell you that, Twi, it’s a promise you can take to the bank.”

As the senior member of the Crown’s diplomatic corps on Human-Earth, one of Lyra’s duties was a weekly global teleconference with the other Equestriani ambassadors on Human-Earth. Almost all of the time, they were mere formalities due to Cadance having chosen very wisely for the senior members of the corps; as a result, most conversations tended towards the banal like Blossomforth’s repeated attempts at trying to learn Japanese or Raggedy Doctor’s annual challenging of the New Zealand Foreign Minister at some charity drive or other. The most fun had been when Nightsong had announced her engagement to her Spaniard fiancé; everyone cheered the couple on and made arrangements to attend the wedding.

Once in a while, though, it turned to actual business. More often than not it involved the other nations of Alter-Earth and their respective nations’ diplomatic corps looking for assistance from Equestria. Draconia needed an easy go-between their offended ambassador and the British Foreign Ministry. Zebrababwe’s ambassador to China consulted Equestria’s in order to prevent being railroaded from tons of cheap crap from Shenzen. And when a minor prince of Inari caused a scandal in Kenya that nearly had the kitsune thrown in prison, title or no, it had been concentrated diplomatic efforts between Zebrababwe and the Equestriani ambassador to Kenya that had sorted things out. All in all, the Equestriani diplomatic corps was seen as helpful and neutral as such other nations as Sweden or Switzerland, and that played very well for Canterlot on the international stage.

Either of those moments, Lyra decided, would have been much preferred to what was going on now: the Islamic Republic of Iran accused both the United States of America and the Principality of Equestria of the complete invasion, and subsequent destruction of, their top-secret military base at Bandar Imam Khomeini. Furthermore, Equestria’s counterclaim that Cloudsdale had been attacked by IRIAF fighters, Iran claimed their fighters had been stolen by the Americans and Equestria allowing their largest pegasus city to be fired upon as a pretense of declaring war. Lastly, due to their status as “murderous demons”, the Iranians refused to communicate directly with either nation and insisted on using the Republic of Syria as a go between…except that while Syria was willing to talk to the Americans, they also refused to have truck with the Equestriani.

“I’ve talked to their ambassadors here at the UN and by the end of the week we should have offers from the Netherlands and New Zealand to represent us at the table,” AC said, the look on her face haggard. The fact that she was using her “diplomatic voice” rather than her natural Apple clan accent was a huge indicator she felt this was nowhere near complete.

“As much as I’m tempted to let Foggy Bottom handle all of this, we can’t afford to just leave the Americans hanging,” Lyra said, looking at the cup of coffee she’d just drained a few minutes ago. It had been her seventh today and it was just six in the morning; she’d had to take a break to use the “little filly’s room” once already. “Nor can we allow the Iranians to just grandstand and assume we’ll allow them to attack our nation.”

“Assuming they did,” Curry Spice noted. He looked a lot more alert; likely because he was already awake on the other side of the world when this all started. “Hear me out, everypony. From where I sit in my offices in Baghdad, I’m in one of the more modern and accepting Arabic nations when it comes to AE species, and all we hear is about the troglodytes across the border. But in truth, the Iranian people aren’t that. Their government is, sure, but not the people. And government aside, I’m having a hard time trying to picture that they would get behind an attack on us.”

“That sounds just great, Curry,” Lemon Sorbet, the ambassador to the Netherlands, answered, “but I think you’re forgetting that this time our nation is the one being accused. We can’t just make nice and happy statements about X and Y, because this time we are either X or Y! And I don’t know about a lot of you, but this, combined with the attempt on the princesses’ lives last week and what happened in Fillydelphia just a few short weeks back – all eyes are on us now. Every being alive is going to wonder if we are genuinely under attack – or are manufacturing a crisis just to cover our plots.”
“Why would we manufacture a crisis?” Snowdrift White, ambassador to Russia asked. “That’s utter deception!”

Lyra was about to answer, but was instead beaten to the punch by Blossomforth. “Because human geopolitics – and we have to admit, a lot of politics on our world as well – are about perception and theatre. Ponies may be late to the game, but it’s a game we’re going to have to play now, because we can’t just turn our flanks on everything and look away this time. To do so would be catastrophic.”

Voices began milling once again, a sign for Lyra to take control of the meeting once more. “Raggedy, talk to New Zealand and confirm if they’ll represent us at the summit. Lemon, you do the same with the Dutch Crown. We are in a serious crisis here, and until I get further instructions from Princess Cadance, I’ll make sure that we are covered and that we stand with our American allies. The Iranians want to play hardball, ponies. Let’s show them we can do the same. Everypony dismissed and we’ll discuss more later. And take care of yourself, folks. It’s going to be long hours for all of us until this is all over.”


Sunrise came over the still-smoldering ashes of Cloudsdale. And amongst those were some of the heroes who had helped to defend the city that night. Spitfire thought it would be best to have them there to calm the populace and restore some of the good graces that the government had lost in last night’s attack, which had completely caught Equestria’s military forces off-guard.

But at least one of those heroic pilots had no interest in being…well, heroic.

“Aunt Scoots, I’m telling ya – I’m not cut out for this kind of work!” Blitz argued.

“That’s nice, Blitz, not that I care,” the orange mare replied. “These ponies weren’t cut out for what they were exposed to last night, mainly because they’re civilians! And now we’ve got casualties in the thousands, hundreds more wounded and property damage up the wazoo – that’s actual physical property, not cloud-property – that’s running well into the billions of bits.”

“Look, somepony has to be on the prowl for more of those bastards – that’s my job!”

“Uh, no, your job is what I determine it is. Or did you forget I’m your commanding officer?”

“No, Colonel,” he snarled, “but—”

“But I just got out of the hospital the other day, kiddo,” Scootaloo responded, “and I understand the helplessness they’re all feeling right now. And I dunno, about you, but that scares me. So, please, just for me, Blitz, if nothing else, let it go?”

“Fine,” he sighed; he knew he wasn’t going to win this one. Flying over to meet up with his section of troops, they then went off to assist in the rescue in the rubble of Cloudsdale. Daylight had revealed the amount of damage that had been done to the City of Clouds, and none of it was minor. The entire entertainment district had been flattened. Several residential areas were also in tatters, as both enemy and allied craft had strewn their debris across the area. One particularly painful bit of damage, however, had been Cloudsdale Central Hospital, which had been hit by the wreckage of one of the early-response fighters and Nightmare Moon’s subsequent attack. The hospital did not fare well and had crumbled to the ground – literally, through the clouds and to the earth below – due to the heavy amount of medical technology and machinery within. It was believed that three hundred deaths alone were attributed to the hospital’s destruction.

But the worst of the damage had been the fact that the Central Weather Facility had been completely destroyed. That, more than anything, put not only Equestria, but the whole of Alter-Earth in danger. In a regular situation, the CWF could stand in the place of three regional weather facilities at the same time in addition to its normal duties. Unfortunately the same could not be said in reverse. But it was more than just that: it was the training centers, the lifeblood of the pegasus ponies for centuries – whole millennia. And now, with all of that gone in seconds, soon the whole of Equestria’s weather ran the risk of facing climate change on a level that humanity’s complaints of their own world couldn’t even comprehend. Humanity’s concerns of dangerous, uncontrolled weather in a world that had never had weather control paled in comparison to no weather control at all in a place where it was done – with some significant exceptions – entirely due to ponies.

Now pushed by what was now being called the Massacre at Cloudsdale and the destruction of Fillydelphia, ponies were calling for war – a significant change of public standing, considering that ponies were a peaceful species born from a prey animal. But the problem was, they didn’t know who the declare war against. The changelings and Nightmare Moon had been responsible for Fillydelphia, and a human nation for Cloudsdale. There was no way they were tied together, surely, and preparing for combat against one would leave the other in a position to gut their flanks. Even Equestria’s NATO allies could do only so much to protect them against these dual threats.

Standing at the table and looking over rescue plans, Scootaloo sighed. She was no stranger to conflict, having seen the adventures Rainbow and the others had been on and even participated in a few herself once she was of age, but now things were different. War was different – just judging by the technology they’d received from their human allies and what she faced now, the way humans waged war was on an entirely different level than anything ponydom, or for that matter, just about any other species on Alter-Earth could comprehend.

“You think we’ll go to war over this?” a pony asked her.

“With who? Against what? And can we fight two wars at once?” a new voice said. Scootaloo looked up and saw Soarin’ addressing the other officer, a sober look on his face. “I hope not, I truly do. But if we do, I’ll need my top officers to be in the best of shape.” He then turned to address his pseudo-sister-in-law. “Which means you should have stayed in bed, Colonel.”

She smiled. “Permission to speak freely, sir.”

He laughed. “Look, I get enough of that from my son. I don’t need it from you as well.”

“Well, I was going to phrase it more politely….”

“Look, Scootaloo. Rainbow’s in the hospital and you barely survived your trip there. I don’t want to see any more of my family end up there, or worse, from where I can’t bring them back, okay?”

“I’m fine, Soarin’. You know, I’d give you a hug of encouragement right now, but PDA in uniform and all that.”

The stallion grinned. “Well, there is that, isn’t there. Admittedly, it does make it hard for me and Rainbow at times.” His face then clouded with sorrow as he continued in a softer voice, “I don’t know what I’d do without her, Scoots. You really never know what you’re missing until it’s gone. Our marriage has been rocky at times, sure, but we’ve been through ups and downs together and I don’t want to see it end.”

Scootaloo knew the stallion well enough to know that he was rarely this open with others, the cavalier attitude a remnant from his days as a pre-modernization Wonderbolt; the very fact that he’d been so open told her how much he cherished and valued his wife – and by extension, the mare that was the closest thing Rainbow Dash had to a little sister.

“She’ll make it through this, big guy,” she said, tapping him on the shoulder. “And when it’s all done, we’ll get the motherbuckers who did this and the changelings that did Filly. We’ll probably have to call in a few favors from our allies, but hey, isn’t that what friendship is all about?”


Not too far away from them, at a makeshift triage center, Cinnamon helped with First Aid. Every instinct in her body told her to run far away, to head back across the portal and hide in her dorm at Stanford, but she couldn’t. Ponies needed help, and she was the daughter of Fluttershy. There were responsibilities to attend to, and, more importantly, ponies who needed her assistance. She couldn’t leave them behind.

At the moment, she was attending to one of those ponies at that very moment. “There you go,” she told a frightened young pegasus filly whose left wing she bandaged. Instinctively, the little filly wrapped her arms around the older pegasus in fright, and Cinnamon gently nuzzled the sobbing foal. “There, there, you’ll be safe now,” the mare cooed. “We’re here to protect you.”

“Are y-y-you sure?” the filly asked. She was a gentle lilac in color, with a yellow-and-blue mane. Too young to have a cutie mark yet, she looked scared nearly out of her fur.

“What’s your name?” Cinnamon asked.

“Summer Memories,” the filly replied, nervous though automatically. “What’s yours?”

“Cinnamon Star,” the older one replied. “But you don’t have to worry now, I’ll make sure nothing happens to you, I promise.”

“Really?”

Cinnamon nodded. She thought about it a second, then did something she used to do often when she was younger, but not much now, since she hated throwing around her weight. “As the daughter of Fluttershy, Knight Elemental of Kindness, I promise I will keep you safe. I mean, if that’s what you want.”

The filly’s mouth formed an o of surprise as she then asked, “Your mommy’s Fluttershy? The Fluttershy?” When Cinnamon nodded, the filly started to jump up and down in excitement, the wound to her wing momentarily forgotten. “That’s so cool! I wish I could be as brave as her!”

“So do I,” Cinnamon agreed, as a flush of embarrassment crept across her face.


“You already are,” a comforting voice said as Cinnamon felt a soft hoof on her shoulder. Summer Memories’ eyes went wide in surprise as she saw who the voice belonged to. “You’re here helping others when they need it most,” Fluttershy said, standing confidently as a pillar of strength, “and to me that’s very brave of you, sweetie.”

Cinnamon’s chest swelled in pride at her mother’s compliment. “Thanks, Mom,” she said, softly.

“OhmiCelestia it’s Fluttershy!” Summer Memories squealed, bouncing even more so as she realized the older filly standing next to her really was the daughter of the Bearer of Kindness.

“However,” the yellow pegasus continued, “I would have preferred that you went back to college to finish your classes.” She then went over and in a gentle move of her wings, scooped up the tiny filly in a hug.

“I’ve sent emails to my professors, letting them know about my family emergency and that I had to come home for it,” Cinnamon replied. “Plus the news about Cloudsdale has already gotten onto Human-Earth by now, so I’m sure they’ll be more than understanding. Besides, I have a feeling that DJ’s going to need someone to be there for her.”

“Your cousin is a grown mare, dear, but I understand your concerns,” Fluttershy nodded, giving her daughter a sunny smile. She then turned to look at the foal in her forelegs. “Shall we go find your parents?” she asked.

“You really mean that?” Summer Memories asked, bouncy as a filly could be – out of all the ponies who offered to help her, it was none other than the legendary Fluttershy who had come to her day. The young filly’s heart began to soar, feeling hope.

Fluttershy smiled comfortingly. “We Bearers always keep our promises,” she assured the lilac filly. Turning back to give Cinnamon a look saying she’d be back soon, the yellow mare placed the filly on her back and took to wing effortlessly, heading towards the residential areas of Cloudsdale.

Cinnamon watched as her faded into a dot in the distance, a second sun shining confidence as she knifed her way through the sky. The teen mare knew that her mother was the perfect pony for this job, and not just because of her duties to the Crown. Summer Memories wasn’t much older than Cinnamon had been when she was adopted, and if the filly had lost her parents…it would be a tragic parody of life for a young filly to have to witness the end of her life as she knew it.


“Why didn’t you go with them?” Cinnamon turned and found Sweetie standing next to her. The unicorn was leading her own group of mages in assisting the rescue efforts and so was also here, yet another member of the Royal Family devoting their services to the ponies that needed them.

“I’d only be in Mom’s way,” the pegasus told her aunt. “Besides, I’d rather not be reminded of what happened to me so long ago. I’m over it now, but it would probably rip open old wounds if the same thing happened to her as it did me.”

“I think that’s why you should go,” Sweetie told her niece. “If that filly’s lost her parents, then who better to tell her tomorrow will be a brighter day? You were too young to remember when you lost your birth parents, but she’s not.”

Realization crossed Cinnamon’s face as Sweetie’s words sank in. “I…didn’t think about that. I guess I’m so used to having Mom and Dad there for me that I never thought about anything like that.”

“Then let me add something else to think about,” the unicorn mage added. “What if Summer Memories had siblings that didn’t survive? I know that you’re aware that Fluttershy miscarried well before you were born, but think about what all that will do to your mother if she is put in that situation.” Sweetie’s voice then added sadly, “Especially since we’re all still feeling Apple Bloom’s own miscarriage as well.”

A steely look etched itself onto Cinnamon’s face. “You’re absolutely right, Aunt Sweetie,” she said, nuzzling the older mare. “You’re best pony, you know that?” Before Sweetie could answer, the sienna-hued pegasus shot into the air, racing as fast as she could to catch up to her mother.


“We are here to examine the prisoners,” a stern-looking pegasus mare dressed in the attire of the REAF’s medical corps said. Standing next to her was another physician, though according to his badge, he was from the Mage Guild.

“Ah, Dr. Brainwell, Dr. Happy Thoughts,” the guard standing at the door said as he read their ID badges, “do you have your authorization? Sorry, it’s just that after what these bastards did, my unit’s got orders to not let anyone through unless they have authorization. That even goes for medical staff, I’m afraid.”

“Quite understandable,” Happy Thoughts replied as the pegasus stallion magically lifted documents from his saddlebags. “I don’t envy you, Sergeant. You probably have the most thankless job in all of Equestria.”

“No kidding.” The guard looked over the documents before passing them back to Happy Thoughts. “Well, looks like everything’s in order.” Turning to Dr. Brainwell, he said, “Sorry about that, Major. Just doing my duty.”

“And I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Brainwell replied. “If these humans get free, I shudder to think of what will happen to Equestria. So keep at your job, Sergeant – you are the pride of the nation right now.”

“Thank you, ma’am!” he said, rendering a salute as he moved aside to let them through. Brainwell and Happy Thoughts returned the salute as both of them walked into the cell block containing the human prisoners.


“We should just kill them and be done with it,” Happy Thoughts said as green magic enveloped him, revealing the pepsis Overcast Night, with a disgusted look on his face.

“And that’s why you’re not in charge, dearest brother,” “Brainwell” said as she changed back into Blue Velvet’s normal form. “Ghino’s right, you know – by continuing the subterfuge and allowing Equestria to waste more ammunition on a war with a human nation, it leaves them open for an attack by Mother’s forces and her ally’s. “Doing it the hard way will just cost needless lives – including yours and possibly mine. Trust me, Ghino’s way works better.”

“You’re awfully taken by that human,” Overcast snarled.

In turn, Velvet turned and patted her brother on the face. “He knows how to treat a lady like a lady, shall we say. And if you say anything further about him that I can remotely construe as bad? I’ll kill you where you stand.” She turned back, looking at the prison door numbers for the right one.

“Someday your lust will be your downfall,” Overcast warned.

“Someday your stupidity will be yours,” she answered back. “Now do your job, Overcast. You wouldn’t want me to let our older brother know about your poor performance, am I right?” The moment Overcast Night blanched, Velvet knew she’d made her mark.

Finally, the pair reached the cell containing the prisoner they were looking for: Col. Ibrahim Khalid, formerly of the IRIAF. As the two pepsis approached, he looked up. “So, you’ve come to change the bargain I take it?” he asked.

“Sir, if you do exactly what we say, we will not only make it very lucrative for you but have you freed within forty-eight hours,” Velvet began.


“They’re beautiful,” Elusive said, his voice choked up. At the moment, he was at the hospital’s maternity wing, looking at his newborn foals as they rested. He looked like he’d gotten very little sleep last night – none of them did, but for different reasons – and right now he was leaning against the window, staring at the beautiful lives his beloved wife had brought into the world just hours ago. Turning back to DJ, he said, “Words can’t describe how grateful I am for what you did.”

She went over and embraced him, saying, “LICD, bro, LICD.”

“LICD?” Luna, who was also standing there, asked.

“‘Least I Could Do,’” Elusive translated. “Internet slang. My broker in New York has an intern who seems to speak nothing but ‘chatspeak’, as they call it, which is how I found out. I got quite an education from him on all that.”

“Oh-kay, and I thought some of the tellers at my Navy Fed branch were a little weird,” DJ muttered. “So how long will Butter and the kids need to be here?”

“The foals can come home immediately,” he replied. “Unfortunately, the doctor told me that due to the amount of dust and debris from the attack, Butter picked up a minor infection while foaling. Nothing to worry about, they insisted, but they want to keep her a couple more days to add a few more antiseptic spells just in case. She seemed okay with that.”

“Of course she is,” Luna chuckled. “She gets to rest a few extra days while you get to feed the crying foals at three in the morning.” A sudden thought came to mind and Luna asked, “If the twins are coming home with you, Elusive, how are they going to be fed?”

“Good question. With Butter here for the next few days, I suppose I’ll have to find a mare willing to put up with a lactating spell,” he mused.

Luna shook her head. “I’m afraid I can’t help you there. Not only do I need my mobility, there would also be a lot of awkward questions as to why a single princess is suddenly nursing.”

“I wasn’t about to ask you, Aunt Luna, no offense. DJ?” he asked. “And that’s a request for advice, nothing else,” he quickly added.

“I know, but as much as I adore you, little brother, I was not going to sign up for round three. But to be honest, folks,” the humanized pony answered, “that’s what formula’s for. When they were babies, I had to put Stuart and Tyler on formula at one time or another due to their feeding schedules – pumps aren’t always useful for ponies, I found out.” While both of the other two ponies looked at DJ oddly, she continued. “I’m sure we can dig up some formula that will work for the twins, at least long enough to hold out to get Butter a pump or something like that.”

“What’s a pump?” Elusive asked.

“I’m assuming this has to do with human feeding?” Luna inquired as well.

DJ was just about to respond when the head of the hospital walked in, making a beeline for Luna. “Your highness, it’s an honor to have you here in my facility,” he began. “I sincerely apologize if I’d forgotten any prior inspection you’d had planned.”

“No inspection, Doctor; I’m here on family business,” she replied, in order to set him at ease. “My nephew Elusive’s wife just foaled, and my niece accompanied her younger brother.” It was an abbreviated explanation, admittedly, but the official one would take too long and Luna’s desire for formality was out the window at this point.

“That’s wonderful. Congratulations to you, your grace,” the administrator said, putting a name to the face almost instantly. Turning back to the alicorn, he added, “I wanted to inform you about some wonderful news: we just received word that they found a survivor in the remains of Fillydelphia. Human military helicopter just brought her in a few minutes ago and the human medic that took care of her is filling out the custody paperwork, if you care to speak with him.”

Luna felt as though a weight had just been lifted off her withers. “That’s wonderful news, Doctor. And the survivor?”

“As for our new patient, she’s under heavy sedation right now.” He willed a clipboard in front of him, then read from it. “Severe dehydration and malnutrition – she looks like she hasn’t eaten in weeks,” he said. “She also has some sort of infection that we’re working on, as well as poisoning from changeling nutrient fluid. But I would appreciate if somepony could start looking into her family history, your highness. Her next-of-kin would, I’m sure, very much appreciate knowing that she’s still alive.”

“I’ll see to it at once,” Luna promised. “What is her name?”

“According to Corporal Brellisford, it’s ‘Minty’.” When the look of the princess and the other two ponies became one of utter shock, the doctor added, “I’m guessing you know her, then.”


“There’s something here,” Faust told Emmé, “and I can’t define what it is, but I know it’s important.”

“Look, you know I’ve always been there for you, Faust, but even this one is a little far-fetched. You suddenly pack up shop, ask me to watch over your husband and kids, and here you are shacking up in Belgium with….” The human sorceress watched the other two women in the room, doing what would best be described as “absolutely impossible” had Emmé actually not been familiar with said impossibilities.

“You know, those two remind me of a couple of West German hippies I used to know in the 1960s,” the French sorceress said. “One of them became a nun, the other a prostitute in Bonn. I’m glad that Frieda chose to change her life. Michele, on the other hand….” Emmé shrugged sadly.

“Well, I can promise you they’re not them. Hell, they’re not even human,” Faust said. “Both of them are followers, or devotees or acolytes of a friend of mine – he’s never really clear on that – and they have extensive magic at their hooves. Oh, and both are earth ponies.”

A blonde brow shot up. “Wait – earth ponies are incapable of magic manipulation, if I recall what you told me once.”

Faust nodded. “So now you see why I’m keeping them here instead of at home?”

“Almost.” Emmé watched as the gray-haired one built a replica of the Coliseum using nothing but mustard, while the purple-and-white haired teen sat on the ceiling, playing xylophone with bubbles that immediately turned into to chocolate bon-bons that fell to the ground before transforming into mice that hulaed their way out the window. “Promise me something, Faust.”

“You bet.”

“If you decide to head to one of my safehouses, don’t let them near my liquor cabinet, okay?”


Breakfast had, in the past, been a very beautiful affair: Celestia and Luna always ate together since it dovetailed with their schedules; often, they were joined by Cadance and, when he was still alive, Shining Armor as well. More often than not, Twilight or one of the other Bearers who lived in town, or their family members, joined the princesses; it was, after all, part of what tied them all together as members of the Royal Family. On rare occasions, Blueblood and his brood joined as well; those were the mornings none of the servers wanted to be around for and usually ended up being the days were there was, understandably, subpar service by the staff.

Today was none of those kinds of days. Certainly not because Blueblood and his family were present; in fact, he and his family announced their intent to vacation in the Hoofalulu Islands, seemingly oblivious to the fact that their nation had been attacked just scant hours prior. No, this had more to do with Celestia’s slip of the tongue and her niece, the Princess of Love, standing within earshot.

“It was…okay, I admit it – I was thinking out loud, reciting a line from a romance novel I was just reading.” The Princess of the sun took a bit of her crepes, enjoying the sweet breakfast delicacy.

The younger alicorn looked at Celestia questioningly, a cup of tea floating just in front of her. “Romance novel. Riiiiiiiiiight.”

“Cadance, I do believe I’m allowed to have some hobbies, you know. All work and no play makes Celestia a dull filly,” she said with a guilty smile.

“Yes, and if my Hearths Warming Eve gifts to you have been wrong all these years, you enjoy mysteries, not tack-ripping romance novels.” At the sudden mention of that, Celestia’s smile fell and Cadance flashed a gotcha smile that was usually found on the elder princess’ face. “The offer to meddle…I mean, assist, is open at any time, Celestia.”

“Cadance, I’m not supposed to be in any kind of relationship,” Celestia allowed in the slightest statement of defeat. “The populace sees me as a mother figure, and—”

“That doesn’t make it right,” the younger princess interjected, a sad look in her eyes. “You, of all ponies, deserve to be happy, to have someone there at night to hold and love you forever. I nearly had that with Shining, and I would have been with him for all of eternity. I want you and Luna to have that same kind of chance at love – I wish Twi would find someone.” She set the cup down, nodding to a servant to refill. She waited until he was out of earshot to continue with, “Okay, so who is it? One of the guards? I know Dazzling Regalia and Sure Protector have always had their eye on you….”

Thankfully, Celestia had a way out of this. “Actually since you’re here, I need to talk to you about the attack on Cloudsdale.”

“I wish you wouldn’t change the subject like that. Besides, didn’t you just put me on maternity leave yesterday?”

“I did, but I can’t just ignore the latest reports on the casualties from the attack.”

Cadance let her aunt out of the metaphorical chokehold. “I know – that’s actually why I’m here, not because I’m trying to interfere with your love life, though for the record, I support that wholeheartedly. Anyway, I got a report from Lyra just a few minutes ago. Just before the attack, our troops were ambushed on Iranian grounds, hunting for those fighters. And the Iranians supposedly have enough confirmation of ours and American troops on their soil to have us dead by rights, as the saying goes. We safely recovered our forces, but in the process we killed Iranian soldiers – in Iraq, no less – and have that problem to deal with now as well.” The pink princess teleported a copy of the report over to her senior.

“What’s the American opinion?” Celestia asked as she began to read Lyra’s report.

“Lyra was already contacted by the White House. President Cantwell thinks we should go to the negotiating table first, though he’s more than willing to back us up militarily if we need to go to war. Also, it was pointed out that due to the attack on Cloudsdale, we can invoke NATO Article Five, which means we have the whole of the alliance backing us up as well.” Cadance looked at a tablet she brought, then added, “Also, I know you’ve pushed it off a bit, but the American ambassador wanted to meet with you this morning regarding their updates on the whole thing. I asked her to hold off until tomorrow so I could pre-brief you first.”

“Look, I’m sure Ambassador Williams is a wonderful person,” Celestia began, cutting another piece of the concoction of crepe and strawberries, before adding, “it’s just that….”

“You think she’s a little too tied to the Cantwell administration because she’s the older sister of Vice President Williams,” Cadance replied, before she took a quick bite of her yogurt.

“Honestly, I’d have preferred James Ellison had stayed in position. Unfortunately, democracies aren’t like ours and don’t seem to make their diplomatic posts lifetime positions,” the day alicorn said, matter-of-factly. “I just want to know if you trust Megan Williams.”

The romance alicorn nodded. “I do. She seems to be very sensitive towards the needs of our nation; she’s joked that’s because she grew up on a horse ranch in Wyoming, as well as being a child actress on some kids’ show also involving horses. Anyway, just because President Cantwell isn’t on your favorites list and Vice President Williams is worse doesn’t mean his sister is bad. She’s told me that she and Dan – that’s Vice President Williams, for the record – used to argue a lot when they were kids and it didn’t improve much after they became adults. But getting back to my point: she can be considered a friend of Equestria, and in fact has made a close friend in Sundance, one of my senior aides. I suggest having Sundance sit in with us during that meeting.”

“So noted,” was all Celestia said.

The two fell quiet as they continued to eat their breakfasts, finally punctuated by Cadance asking plainly, “So what do you plan to do?”

The Princess Regnant of Equestria fell very quiet at that question. Equestria hadn’t seen war in hundreds of years, and while everything wasn’t perfect, it was fair to say that the Royal Guards of old weren’t nearly as prepared for conflict as the modern Royal Equestriani Armed Forces. Celestia herself had actually been personally involved in the last few wars, especially the last one, when she and Nightmare Moon clashed. She’d felt the effects of that for decades, careening between guilt over Luna’s loss and the hope that her sister would someday be freed of the demon’s influence. But, even to this day, what never really came up were the millions that fought in the war beside her, and those who had taken Luna’s side. Though no official tally was ever taken, Celestia’s best guess was that over two million fought under her banner and half that under her sister’s, and at the end of the conflict the count of those lost were in the millions – sadly, most of them civilians caught in the conflict. Even then, it had ended with the death of two of the Bearers of the Elements at the time, and to this day Celestia still mourned her fallen friends Twilight Ivory and Firefly.

“Celestia?” Cadance’s voice again brought the elder princess back to the present.

“Changelings to the left of me, Iranians to the right and here I am, stuck in the middle with you,” the sun alicorn said to her counterpart with a wry grin.

“That’s a…rather odd phrasing.”

“It was one of Robin’s favorite songs,” Celestia said, wistfully.

“Robin…that’s a human name, isn’t it? So you’re after a human?”

Celestia sighed, inwardly rebuking herself. Too close to the bone, Tia, too close to the bone. “No, Robin was a member of FiMPro in its first year, back when Luna and I joined the group in secret to make sure the plan worked. He was a musician that Luna fell in love with while they were here and if I’d let her, she’d have married him and lived on Human-Earth. Even now, all I have to do is say the word.”

“But that was two decades ago!” Cadance gasped. “Does Luna still think he loves her?”

Celestia, teacup in her telekinesis, recounted what had happened since. “He married twice, divorced both times. He has a daughter from the first marriage named Luna – two bits as to where the name comes from. Little Luna is twelve years old, and though I don’t know much about her, she’s a wonderful child, so I’m told. But she also believes that her birth mother isn’t her real mother, and apparently Robin’s first wife not only disavowed her own daughter, Robin himself hasn’t done much to discredit the thought.”

“So, you’re tell me that Luna has an illegitimate dau—” Cadance began, before shutting right up. That was the kind of scandal the palace did not need at all. So instead she changed tacks. “You ruled for a thousand years by youself,” the pink alicorn pointed out, using her magic to stir some sugar into her tea. “From the day I was born, until Luna’s return, I was the Crown Princess. I’m not jealous of being downgraded at all, but I’d be happier if she were to be happy.”

“I’d rather not talk about this,” Celestia said.

“Fine. You’re dodging the main subject of our conversation, in any case. So let’s get back to that. “What do you intend to do?”

The sun alicorn sighed, drooped her head and when she looked up again, her face looked ancient for just a second. “As much as my ponies are screaming otherwise, war isn’t the best course of action. We run the risk of fighting two wars at once, and focusing on either angle leaves us vulnerable on the other. Our best course of action is to take the American advice and meet the Iranians at the negotiating table, and fortify against another changeling attack. All eyes are on us right now, Cadance, and I have to put Equestria’s best hoof forward.”

“Even if it gets cut off in the process?”

“It doesn’t mean I’ll be standing still.” Her breakfast done, Celestia rose from the table and told Cadance, “Get your staff ready and ask Ambassador Williams to meet us tomorrow morning at her earliest convenience. Then contact Lyra and AC and inform them to continue their current path; they’ve already started what I intend to continue. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to talk to Spitfire and Blueblood – we’ll need to budget for the next aircraft carrier I intend to build, just in case we needed it.” The ruler of Equestria walked over to her niece and gave her a kiss on the forehead, saying, “How partial are you to an aircraft carrier named Shining Armor?”

Cadance nuzzled her aunt. “It would mean more to me and Twilight than you could ever imagine,” the romance alicorn said, tears of joy and love in her eyes, never taking her eyes off her aunt as the older mare regally walked out of the dining room. A second later, Cadance swore – she still didn’t know the name of the pony who had her aunt’s heart.

Assuming it’s a pony, she thought as she thought about Luna’s once-paramour. What was it about humans that ponies – the mares, in particular – found so compelling?


Exhausted, Twilight Sunburn fell to the ground, panting. She’d been fighting non-stop for the past seven hours, and this wasn’t even real fighting, she was told – this was only training for the “real action” that was yet to come.

Standing above her, an enraged minotaur cow carrying a massive mace showered her with contempt. “And here I thought you had some skills, Sunburn!” The minotaur disappeared in a blast of emerald fire, revealing Twilight Gloaming to be standing before her. “You don’t learn to toughen up, you’re going to die – and I’m going to enjoy every moment of that!”

Sunburn could barely focus, and certainly couldn’t form an answer to her sister’s epithet.

“Gah, you’re just weak – I don’t see why Blood Armor insists you can be saved, but…” She motioned for three other pepsis. “Make sure she gets back to her cot. Do not help her, just make sure she doesn’t die on the way. And if she does…your lives are forfeit as well.” The looks of surprise and fear on the other pepsis made it clear that their lives were on the line, entirely based on as arbitrary as Sunburn’s own survival.

She knew she was in hell.


Never stop, child, a voice said in her mind, comforting and mellow. Your day is coming.

“Mother?” she whispered sotto voce, wondering if Chrysalis was coming to rescue her after all. But that was impossible, wasn’t it?

Forcing herself back to her feet, the pepsis dazedly wandered back to her cot, her escorts in tow, hoping for the return of that miracle.


Mike had just enough time to get to Twilight’s house before he ran into Sam. “Hey, Mike, what the hell happened? You guys okay? Where’s DJ?”

“We got separated during the attack, but Celestia, who saved me, got a note from Luna, who has DJ safe and sound,” the Sailor responded.

“You have no idea how much we were worried about you two. Mom and Dad aren’t getting any younger, so would you two please stop with these death-defying histrionics before you and sis put them in an early grave?” The younger man flashed a grin to show his humor, then continued. “In any case, the Embassy’s looking for you. They said you didn’t check in this morning, and when I told them you were in Cloudsdale, well….”

“Yeah, a lot too much of that going around lately,” Mike replied. “Now I know how DJ feels when I go out on deployment. Anyway, I gotta go shower, get changed and report in – I’m sure Gen. Bryson’s going to want an on-site report.” He took two more steps before something hit him. “Where is everyone?”

“Well, Mom and Dad went to go visit Twilight in the hospital. As for the boys, Spike just got in an hour ago and he’s tutoring them today. Big guy’s got a theory that because they’re half-pony, they might have pony abilities of some kind.”

Mike’s face was a picture-perfect look of dismay. “Oh, God, I hope he’s wrong. Last thing your sister and I need are kids with earth pony strength, or can fly or use magic.”

“Yeah, I feel you there. Anyway, I gotta get going. I agreed to meet this afternoon with some folks from the Canterlot Sheriff’s Department and the Mage Guild Law Enforcement Division – they wanted to have a discussion about the differences in pony and human law enforcement styles, and hey, I’ve got plenty of free-time on my hands, so I figured what the hay, you know?” Sam laughed. “‘Sides, might meet some hottie of a pony or something, since my parents are constantly telling me I need to settle down.”

“All you, bro,” Mike said, patting his brother-in-law on the shoulder. “If someone from the Embassy shows up while I’m in the shower, let them know my phone was destroyed in the incident, but that Princess Celestia’s Office can confirm everything I’ve said.”

“Will do.”


Despite the size of the city – and definitely due to its reputation as the hometown of the current Bearers – Ponyville General Medical Center had the best trauma care center in all of Equestria; only the hospitals of major cities and military bases even came close. Most of the seriously wounded from the Cloudsdale attack had been brought here and to other hospitals; fortunately, PGMC had more than enough capacity to handle the cases that were swarming in. Though the staff was heroically focused on the victims of the attack, the news that a survivor had been found in what was left of Fillydelphia brought new resolve to the tired medical workers.

Placed in a secure room protected by a small retinue of ERG guards, a mint-green earth pony lay on the bed. She was unconscious and looked frail, delicate enough to break in two. She was breathing through a snout mask, the transparent plastic occasionally fogging up in time with her breath. She was hooked up to a plethora of diagnostic, dialysis, and transfusion equipment, the medical monitor’s heartbeat indicator beeping a steady rhythm with her heart. Most of her body was covered in bandages and the parts that weren’t were few and far between – and likely coveed by the medical smock or the blankets she slept under.

The pony’s loved ones – well, her brother and aunt, in any case; DJ didn’t count herself as part of Minty’s “loved ones” by any stretch of the imagination – were also in the room. DJ noted Luna’s horn flaring with magic, likely bringing to bear the same healing spells the alicorn had used on her not too long ago.

The glow around Luna’s horn died and she grunted in anger. “That damn changeling fluid in her system is blocking my magic,” she seethed.

Elusive put a comforting foreleg around his aunt. He knew Luna’s failure weighed heavily on her and how much family meant to the dusky mare. He also knew what she hadn’t said: that it had been that very same fluid, a so-called “nymph nutrient fluid” that acted as a poison when in a pony body; it had been that same toxin that had killed his uncle Shining Armor fifteen years ago. “So there’s nothing that can be done?” he asked.

“Human medical technology is supposed to be able to extract it from her body with a 99.99% efficiency rate,” Luna said by way of apology; the administrator had told her much the same. “Until it’s completely extracted, there’s not much anypony can do. Thankfully it’s only enough to just debilitate her healing, not enough to kill. Even still, it’s going to take at least a day for them to completely purge it from her system.” She coughed to clear her throat and said, “I’ve taken the time to talk to the Canadian medic who was there when he found her. Had he not known about the nutrient poisoning, she might be in worse shape. When I get back to the palace, I’ll write a letter of commendation for him.”

“Thank you, Aunt Luna. That means a lot to me,” Elusive said, his welling eyes feeling the sting of tears.

“What happened to her?” DJ asked, feeling as though she were intruding on a family moment where she didn’t belong. “Didn’t she live in a major city?”

“Fillydelphia was destroyed by changelings a few weeks ago,” Luna intoned, her own eyes growing wet as she looked at the infirm pony on the bed and tried to reconcile it with the memories of her bossy, headstrong niece. “We don’t know the full details as to why, but we believe it was a joint effort of both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis to take the Bearers out of commission – but now, given the former’s change in focus, I’m not so sure,” she said delicately, not choosing to bring up the attack DJ had suffered just a few hours ago. “In any case, we didn’t think anypony survived. Elusive, this is going to be hard for you, but…they found no sign of Toffee Crunch or Gumdrop. Given the circumstances Minty was found in, I fear the worst.”

“Toffee was a devoted husband and father, he would have been with them to the end,” Elusive said, the look on his face growing bleak. “And little Gumdrop….” The tears finally fell: he was now a father, but the loss of his niece and sister ripped out his heart. “She was just a little filly with so much to live for!” He turned to embrace DJ, unashamed to be crying at the moment. “DJ, you’ll never get to meet your niece. Gumdrop was so full of life and love, a beautiful little filly with a heart of gold and so much to look forward to – and now she never will.”

Holding her younger brother, DJ felt numb. A brother-in-law and niece she’d never known were dead, and the sister who hated her was close to it herself. Were it not for her newfound link with Elusive, she wasn’t sure she could feel anything at all. “I wish I’d have met them,” she said, her face impassive. She couldn’t cry, though she felt sorrow – for her aunt and her brother, not for ponies she’d never known. And a part of herself chided her for that. Had she become such a numbed adult that the world drew away her feelings? She wasn’t the only person to deal with that; it was often said to be a tragic stage of adulthood that all humans went through, and by extension of her own life, her as well.


One of the guards approached. “My apologies, your highness and your graces, but we’ve just received a communique from the palace. They’re expecting you back soonest, Princess.”

“I see,” Luna said, wiping her eyes. “Please inform my office that we’ll be enroute within the hour. We should return anyway, since Minty’s other family members must be informed of this.” Seeing the impassive look on his face, she then asked, “Is there anything else?”

“Yes, your highness. Her majesty would like you to accompany her tonight on a public speech she intends to give regarding the recent crises.” He floated a tablet over to her, and the night alicorn quickly read its contents. Turning it off, the guard willed it out of existence. “One of the Royal Chariots is on standby whenever you are ready to depart, your majesty. We will, of course, leave a detachment here to watch over both Countess Lusitano and Countess Calabrese.”

“Thank you, that will be all,” Luna replied. The guard gave her a perfunctory nod before turning and went to issue the next set of orders to his troops.


“Faust?” The redhead sat up in bed, looking in the direction of the voice. Standing sideways in the air, looking very vulnerable, was Screwball. She kept shifting between her human and pony forms like something out of a body horror film, but the alicorn had seen enough real horrors that this was nothing.

“Yes, Screwball?” she asked patiently. The teenage mare (assuming that’s really what she was) rarely spoke, and while Discord had never told her anything about that, Faust was quickly picking up that something was very inexplicable about her, something not even the pony’s “daddy” could explain.

“The Daughter comes,” Screwball said, kneading her fingers together. Her hands suddenly became hooves, and her fingers fell off, landing on the ground before turning into flowers that stretched towards the being’s half-nose before crawling back in. “The Daughter comes and she must be saved or all will be lost.” Screwball then exploded into thousands of cards; only a few of them had hit the ground before Faust had leapt out of bed and snatched the closest one with her hands.

She looked at the card, a tarot card – Number XIII: Death. This was an unusual set she hadn’t seen before, certainly not the standard Rider-Waite. Bending down, she picked up more cards. All of them were from different tarot styles, but it was that same Death card.

Her body suddenly felt numb and she crashed to the ground. She quickly got back up, but was surprised to find herself in her true form instead of her normal one. Changing back to her human appearance, she picked up the last Death card, which strangely depicted a changeling queen riding a white unicorn with a two-toned blue mane as her steed. While the picture depicted traditional mounting – i.e., how a human would ride a horse – the former queen wasn’t so far gone from her origins that she also knew the other term for mounting.

“I know what I’m looking for,” she whispered to herself.


“Is she still asleep?” Fluttershy asked Cinnamon as the older pegasus approached the command tent.

The younger mare nodded. “Yes. Poor filly cried herself to sleep,” Cinnamon said, looking at the lilac pegasus lying on a nearby bench, covered with a blanket.

“I shouldn’t have taken her,” Fluttershy said with regret. “I should have found out where she lived first and asked the sheriff’s office to find out if they had anything on her family.” The yellow pegasus looked as though she was ready to cry herself. “Her entire family – wiped out. Her father was killed in a public display by Nightmare Moon.”

“Mom, there was no way to know. Summer’s not going to blame you for that, and I certainly don’t. You did the best you could, and you would have done the same for anypony in need.”

“Not good enough,” the Knight Elemental of Kindness told her daughter. The events of a few hours were clearly still hitting her hard. As they flew over the remains of Fluttershy’s hometown, the untouched residential areas of Cloudsdale turned out to be anything but. Several homes were in flames or destroyed. The home that Summer shared with her family turned out to be right in the center of everything that had been utterly destroyed – with the majority of her family having been inside, rescuers had told Fluttershy. The traumatized filly tried to go into the ruined home to find her mother and siblings, but it had been no use. And with reports having come in on the public murder of Autumn Memories, Summer Memories now had become a heart-wrenching footnote in Equestria’s history: the first possible war orphan in centuries.

“What’s going to happen to her?”

Fluttershy looked at the young filly with sorrow. “Under normal circumstances, dear, I’d give her your room, because I’m expecting you to return to college,” the yellow pegasus told her daughter. “But I suspect I’ll have my hooves full soon and neither your father nor aunt have any time to watch a young foal while they manage the farm.”

“But you said both Dad and Aunt AJ practically raised Aunt Bloomie!”

“Yes, but that was when things were simpler,” Fluttershy explained, “and they had their grandmother to fall back on. Cinnamon, things are going to be getting complex soon, and we might even be at war in the near future.” Once, Fluttershy would have had a meltdown before admitting that, but she had to admit she was far from those days of being a shy, timid twenty-something. “I’ll be tied up with the search as well, so I won’t have time to look after her either. It wouldn’t be fair to her to just dump her somewhere.”

“So you’re going to put her in an orphanage?” Cinnamon said, practically wheeling on her mother.

“I have to. I don’t want to, sweetie, I don’t. But I have to.”

“Mom, no – please. You said it yourself: orphanages in Equestria are lonely places for foals to grow up in and you’ve spent decades trying to change the system. But nothing changes it like family. I’m grateful more than I can say that you and Dad adopted me. And now Summer needs somepony to show her there’s a better tomorrow, now more than ever.”

“Cinnamon, I understand how you feel, but this is for the be—”

“No, Mom, it’s not!” Cinnamon interjected. “It’s not for the best, not for her!” The look in the younger mare’s eyes was one of pleading. “Mom, I know you’re bound by your duties and family and that you wouldn’t let down your sisters, but you grew up in an age of innocence, one I know you’re afraid I’m never going to see for my foals. But,” the younger pony added, “if you send her to an orphanage where she’ll never have the chance to discover that there will be a better tomorrow for her, how will she enjoy that tomorrow you’re set on making for me and fillies like her?”

Fluttershy blinked for a few seconds as Cinnamon’s words sank in. Then a wide, loving smile came over her face as she said, “Do you know how proud you make me, Cinnamon?” She nuzzled her daughter, then said, “Talk to your Aunt Bloomie. If there’s anypony who can figure out how to make it work, it’s her. Let her know that I’d appreciate the help.”

Cinnamon’s eyes became misty. “Thank you, Mom.”

“No, sweetheart, thank you. I’ve been so busy preparing for darker days lately that I almost forgot what I’m really preparing for. Thankfully, I’ve got a daughter who’s a smart and caring young mare.”


Watching from a distance, Sweetie Belle stood next to Scootaloo and Soarin’. As the senior official on-site, the three had intended to give Fluttershy a report. Sweetie said, “I don’t know what happened, but I’m glad it did,” she told the other two.
“So do I,” Scootaloo told the others, a wide smile on her face.

“Enjoy that smile, mares,” Soarin’ said, a sad catch in his voice. “I get the feeling that’s the last time we’re going to be seeing that on anypony’s face for quite some time.”


“It’s your call, but I support you in this,” Luna told her sister. The press room in the palace was now set up for the hardest press conference Celestia had ever given. The usual media outlets were there – Equestria Daily, the Ponyville Press, Radio Everfree, the Equestria National Press, and the like – but now had others in the audience from the other AE nations as well as all the human nations. All in all, the room had reached standing room only.

“For the first time in a long, long while, I feel nervous about addressing the press,” the sun alicorn admitted.

“It’s okay,” Cadance assured her. “Featherweight’s in the crowd and if anyone knows how to keep a rogue member of the press in line, it’s him. Yeah, they’ll probably accuse the palace of using a member of the Royal Family as one of the members of the press pool, but hey, not our fault that he married Scootaloo, right?” she laughed.

“I suppose not,” Celestia said with a weak smile, as her press secretary indicated that it was time for her to start. Giving her loved ones a quick look, the ruler of Equestria then started walking down the hall, towards the press room.

Luna was about to follow her sister, when Cadance stopped her. “Luna, do you have a couple of moments?”

“Sure, though I think we should be there for her,” the moon alicorn pointed out.

“We will; this won’t take long. I wanted to ask you about how much you know about Celestia’s paramour. It’s clear that it’s becom—”

“Celestia has a what?”

“Okay, I’m guessing you don’t know about it, then.”

“No, I didn’t.” The Princess of the Night brought a forehoof to her head; it was clearly turning out to be that sort of day. “Let’s talk about this tomorrow, over lunch. I’ll have my office set something up with a local restaurant and we can talk in private about this. I don’t like it when she’s hiding stuff, because it has a bad tendency to go south on her when she doesn’t expect it. And knowing Celestia, she’s probably not paying attention to the part that’s about to go south.”

“Look, I just want her to be happy, Luna. I’m sorry she broke up you and Robin so long ago.”

“No, I’m just glad that she didn’t try to separate you and Shining during the time when you were Crown Princess. But yes, I do think we should talk. Now, let’s get in there and see Celestia through this time.” With that the two alicorns walked into the press room, where Celestia was waiting to start her speech.


Bound in his chains, Discord relaxed. He knew something was about to happen, and that a Great Truth would soon be revealed.

“May I be forgiven all,” he said to himself, “and even the parts they don’t remember.” He looked at an object he held in his paws, an apple. The apple merely disappeared instead of being transmogrified or flying away or any of a myriad of things Discord could have done with it. Apples, he found, were strangely immune to his power. Not apple trees, or anything made from apples, but the fruit in whole itself.

“The times are coming when clench and palm will war,” he said to no one in particular, “and everything will end and everything will begin.”


“…an’ as long as y’ do yer chores an’ go t’ school, y’ should be fine,” the yellow earth pony said to the young filly, an understanding smile on her face.

“Yes, ma’am,” Summer Memories said, nervously. She looked lost and frightened, having lost everything. She turned to look at Cinnmon, hoping for succor.

“You’ll be fine, Summer, I promise,” Cinnamon said, lowering herself to her haunches to hug and nuzzle the smaller filly. “My aunt Apple Bloom is one of the best ponies around, and my Uncle Snails is very smart. You’ll be in good hooves on my family’s farm, I promise.”

“Will I ever see my family again?” Summer asked, hoping against hope.

“If Mom can find a member of your family, then we’ll take you there in an instant,” the sienna-coated mare replied, not wanting to lie, but knowing that the chances of that luck would be remote. “But until then, promise me that you’ll do your best, okay?”

“I will,” the filly sobbed, heartbroken.

“Y’ know what? Ah think it’s time fer some good ol’ fashioned Apple hospitality,” Apple Bloom said, adjusting her gray Stetson. “Snails, think y’ c’n rustle up some apple pie fer th’ little youngin’?”

“Just my thought exactly, dear,” the unicorn replied. Snails floated the child upon his back, nodding to his wife and niece before saying in the warmest tones possible, “Now, let’s show you to your room, okay? You’ve got a big day tomorrow and we want to make sure you’re ready for school tomorrow, okay?” He grinned and said, “Would you like to teleport?”

Her eyes grew wide. “Really?”

He nodded. “Close your eyes!” As she did, his horn lit up and the pair disappeared, headed towards the family home.

As the pair departed, Cinnamon looked at Apple Bloom. “Thank you, Aunt Bloomie. You don’t realize how much this means to me and Mom.”

Apple Bloom blushed. “Aw, shucks. Me an’ Snails’d do anythin’ fer family, y’ know that.”

Cinnamon nodded. “I know, but to be watching a foal so soon after—”

The mare cut her off. “Ah know whutcher gonna say, Cinnam’n, and Ah hafta ‘dmit, it still hurts, hurts a lot. But Ah know that li’l youngin’ needs us as much as we prolly need her. Ah’ll take care o’ her. Y’ know we Apples always keep our promises.”

Cinnamon Star grinned. “That we do.”


Flanked by the other two alicorns, Celestia began. “Thank you all for coming. I realize this was on short notice, but I feel there things that must be said and actions that must be taken.” With that, the room fell silent, save for the soft click of a camera snapping a picture or the light murmur of some of the journalists comparing notes.

“In the past few weeks, Equestria has undergone two horrific attacks, strikes against us that should not go ignored. Just a few weeks ago, the proud city of Fillydelphia was invaded by changelings. Residents fled from their homes and livelihoods, taking refuge in other cities and towns in Equestria. Many more did not make it and eventually, in order to stem the changeling problem, I authorized an attack on the changeling hive to destroy it. Yes, the city was completely obliterated in the attack, and as your princess, I take full responsibility for this. We could not afford for the hive to grow beyond the city limits, and if it meant some sacrifices needed to be made, Princess Cadance made that choice with a heavy heart, one I fully support.” Celestia looked briefly at the love alicorn and noted both the impassive look on her face and the guilt in her eyes; it was something that Cadance would have to work through. Fortunately, Celestia swore she’d do everything she could to help her niece through this. It was the right thing to do, after all.

“Now, we’ve recently received word that there was a survivor found in what the military is now calling Quarantine Zone Alpha. They’ve transported her to Ponyville General, and there are signs she will make a full recovery. At this time, due to the sensitivity of the situation, we are not releasing her identity to the general public.” That part was the hardest for Celestia to mention. The news Luna had brought her that Minty had survived nearly reduced Celestia to tears, but were she to mention it to the general public, it could cause some panic. So even if it was the daughter of Rarity and a member of the Royal Family, the news had to be kept under wraps for the moment. “My thanks to the Canadian Army for assisting us in our time of need.” Celestia paused for a moment to watch the assembly before her. As expected, the faces of the journalists before her were sober, quiet. But she could feel the tension in the room, the rising anger from the ponies assembled. They, too, were Equestriani and to be reminded of so many brave REA, REAF and REN troops dead was something that she knew they could not abide.

But she wasn’t done yet. Looking at them all, she continued. “But last night, fighters from the Islamic Republic of Iran transited from Human-Earth to our own, where, assisted by Nightmare Moon, attacked the city of Cloudsdale, causing horrendous casualties. While our Navy and Air Force was able to repel the attack and successfully force some of the attacking fighters to land, it came at a terrible cost. Too many lives have been lost, and Nightmare Moon was successful in escaping from our authority. And as you may have heard already, the Central Weather Facilitiy has been completely destroyed. The damage to Cloudsdale is immense, but the fallout will be incalculable.

“Now, in all of this, a statement has come from the Revolutionary Council, the government of Iran, flatly denying that their forces were involved in an attack on Cloudsdale. Furthermore, they claim that they have proof that American and Equestriani Special Operations Forces were involved in stealing the fighters and then firing on our own city.” The crowd gasped, completely in shock at such an outrageous claim. “Well, allow me to clarify. In concert with the United States government, my government sent in a team of Seaponies and together with the US Navy SEALs we did investigate a base believed to be a potential threat to our peacekeeping operations in the area. During that time, fighters did depart the IRIAF airbase at Bandar Imam Khomeini. Those same fighters have been identified as the ones that attacked us, courtesy of the Iranian pilots we have in custody, who have so far cooperated with our investigation. Furthermore, the Iranian government’s disdain for both the Equestriani and American governments is well-documented.

“As the ruler of this realm, I cannot let my ponies be attacked by these enemies without retribution. But at the same time, I have taken the advice of US President Thomas Cantwell and will meet our supposed attackers – the human ones, at any rate – at the negotiation treaty. Nevertheless, I will still protect us from other threats.” Her voice began to rise, sound with authority; while it didn’t have the loudness or timbre of the Royal Canterlot Voice, all assembled knew the voice of a goddess when they heard one. “At this time, I, Caelum de Aurae, invoke Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, hereby formally requesting the aid of all NATO nations to assist us in protecting Equestria while we determine our next course of action.” The room went silent as their divine ruler, the Princess of the Day, put two worlds on notice that Equestria was prepared for war if need be. “I will now take questions from the audience.” She pointed at a pony in the back row. “Yes, you please.”

The pegasus sat up. “Featherweight; Canterlot Times. Your majesty, how do you plan to go forward with this war? It has been ages since our realm has been in open conflict, and I daresay despite all the training of our forces, our enemies are much better at it.” Due to his marriage to Scootaloo and thus his status in the Royal Family, Featherweight and the princesses had long agreed that in order to be considered a neutral party, he was going to have to separate his job and his familial duties. It was times like this that the bond was tested.

“We have been training steadily for the past fifteen years, modernizing our forces and adapting where we cannot outright use human tactics. Our NATO allies have provided us with state of the art technology and tactics, and we have offered our own mystic assistance where possible. That is the benefit of being in an alliance – we all pull together for the safety of both worlds. Next.”

“In Depth, CNN Equestria. Princess, will you be personally involved in this war as you were with the Moonfall War?” Though Celestia never took her eyes off the reporter, she could virtually feel Luna wince inwardly at that question – it was a below-the-stifle question and the reporter knew it.

“Ms. In Depth, I caution you that we are not at war, though that remains to be seen.” The rebuke was silent and subtle, and the reporter immediately got the message. Having given that message, Celestia finished her answer. “Unfortunately, times have changed and my duties now require me to lead, like my modern counterparts, from the rear instead of within the ranks. But I can assure you, the members of the Royal Family who are in the military – including the Knights Elemental – will do their utmost should such an unthinkable event occur.”

The questions continued, and Celestia answered or dodged them as needed. No, she could not give further details on the interrogations of the Iranian pilots, as the ponies involved with that needed to do their jobs free from pressure. Yes, there was an error made by a senior officer at EQMILCOM, and that general had already tendered his resignation from the service as a result. Yes, by authorizing NATO Article Five, she had authorized human military forces to operate within Equestria and no, she didn’t see a problem with that, especially since Equestria’s own armed forces were operating in HE spaces.
And then came the hardest question of all.

“Muckraker, This Week in Equestria. Princess Celestia, I’ll make this short and to the point? Where are the four missing Bearers? Since the reappearance of Nightmare Moon, The Knights Elementals of Magic, Generosity, Honestly and Loyalty have not been seen in public at all. While Laughter and Kindness – especially the latter as recent as this morning in Cloudsdale – have been seen, the others have not. What has happened to them? Most of all, her grace, Duchess Shetland, the Archmagus Twilight Sparkle, who is known to be your personal protégé and – forgive me if this seems too personal – some have said, your surrogate daughter. Rumor even has it that they’re in critical condition and quarantine within the Royal Infirmary with a high possibility that they will not live much longer, casualties of a direct strike on them by Nightmare Moon. Please, we would like to hear this scandalous rumor refuted, because if, your majesty forbids, it were true, we would lose our most powerful weapon against the enemy.” With that, the pony sat down and waited for the answer, knowing full well the question had been a personal attack right at the heart of the Princess Regnal herself.

The room lost all sound. Celestia was deathly quiet, fighting her emotions, both that of extreme anger at the pony who was determined to live up to his name, and the uncontrollable pain that came with the serious condition of her family members, most of all Twilight. Then the dam broke, Celestia unable to hold the pain any longer. A single tear escaped watery eyes as she sobbed out an anguished, “No comment,” before turning to cry, knowing the cameras of two worlds were on her now, each capturing an image as her heart betrayed her demeanor.

Luna moved to the lectern immediately. “This concludes the press conference; please refer to the handout that will detail the related press conferences being given by the Foreign and Defense ministries, as well as any others we’ve missed. Thank you, and have a wonderful evening. Luna’s horn flared as she teleported Celestia out of there, but the damage had been done, leaving Cadance to be bombarded with questions as the whole of Alter-Earth now knew Equestria’s greatest weapon, the Elements of Harmony, was out of commission, possibly permanently.


“And so I have a meeting with General Bryson tomorrow. He’s going to want a follow-up report, and that means that he’ll want me to spend some time talking to some of the bigwigs over at the REN as well,” Mike said to DJ as the two snuggled in bed. The two, as usual, slept in thin sheets without a comforter, as human males generated more body heat than females, and DJ, completely furry, absorbed and also radiated heat, so there was rarely a need to bundle up.

When DJ returned from Ponyville, she and Mike held each other, shortly followed by their sons and then her family. Dinner was a quiet affair, Spike having provided dinner for everyone. Afterwards, Spike and Sam went out on the town while Matt and Anna decided to head out and do some research for their respective works, using Canterlot’s architecture as a background; they took their grandsons with them intentionally, leaving the younger married couple to their own devices.

They made the most of that time.

Now, in a room smelling of familiar musk and chocolate, the two cuddled against each other, comfortable in the love each had for the other. DJ traced a pattern on Mike’s bare chest, cuddling against him as she said, “Do you really think that Celestia will declare war?”

“I can’t answer that; I know as little about pony politics as you do. But if she does, I’ll be called back to the Konetzni. It’ll be months before we see each other again, love. This isn’t just running around on the sea anymore and stopping in the occasional port to buy you and the boys crappy tourist souvenirs from various countries. If Equestria goes to war, I don’t doubt that the US will join in as well.”

“Don’t you dare die on me, you got that?” she said, leaning up to kiss him. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, Mike.”

“I couldn’t live without you either, hon. Fortunately, these are all theoreticals for the moment, but I don’t think they will be for much longer. But if for some reason this all turns to war, promise me you’ll try to make up with Rarity and your family. You already made up with Elusive, now make up with your birth parents as well.”

“I’ll try.” She hadn’t told him about Minty’s condition, as she was still trying to sort that out for herself.

“I know that ‘I’ll try.’ I mean it, hon.”

“I will, I will. I just….” She shook her head. “Nevermind. Let’s just get some sleep, okay? I want to make sure I spend every moment with you as possible: just me, you and the boys.”

He looked at her, love in his eyes. “I love you, DJ. And nothing will ever change that.”

She leaned up and kissed him. “And I love you, Mike. I always have, I always will.” She snuggled up against him, sighing in contentment. For now, for just this one moment, the calm before the storm, her life was content.


A few minutes later, she kissed him on the chest. “Oh, Mike,” she sang in a sultry tone.

“Hon, it’s three in the morning! I have to report to the embassy at seven!”

“I know, but….” She pouted, knowing he could never resist that face.

“You’re trying to wear me out, aren’t you?” Though he could see her face in the moonlight, he didn’t have to in order to realize she was nodding vehemently. “The things I do for you, hon, I swear.”

“Let’s just cover the things you can do with me and we’ll call it that,” she said, as she kissed her husband passionately.

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