Chapter Thirteen: Pivot
The crowd stood, silent, watching this most solemn of occasions. For their years of service and defense of the principality against incredible odds, the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony were to be given titles both noble and martial. Dressed in pristine white, the six mares approached the trinity of princesses as they stood upon the dais in the center of the Royal Parade Grounds, as the whole world watched what was to come.
In turn, the six kneeled before their lieges, and in formal tones, Celestia, using her mother’s formal sword, a blade that had not seen the light of day in millennia, blessed the six bearers of the elements as Knights Elemental, Bearers of the Elements and Defenders of the Crown. Furthermore, the princess added, they would be named duchesses – given titles and land, and no small matter, either: as duchesses, should something befall the royalty of the nation, the six would be the next in line to the throne. Celestia was sure that would give the nobility no small amount of headache, but, she thought with a smile, it would be worth it.
As she placed the final consecration on Twilight Sparkle, naming her Knight Elemental Commander of Magic and Grand Duchess Shetland, the oldest princess looked at the jubilant crowd in the background, then inwards, towards the parents and family of the Bearers, who would all be given lesser titles; then to Cadance and Shining Armor, the latter of which almost hid his tears of pride well; then finally to her own sister, Luna, who had agreed on this last surprise course of action that Celestia felt compelled to do.
“Dearest subjects,” Celestia said, her voice booming not quite at Royal Canterlot Voice levels but loud enough to be heard without a voice amplification spell, “I give to you our Knights Elemental and it is our dearest hope that you will honor them as both your defenders and servants of the Crown, so that they may continue to protect the land we love so dearly.” At this, the crowd started to cheer wildly, making all six mares blush as they went through the most joyful moment of their lives.
“But we ar…excuse me, I am not done,” Celestia said, dropping the majestic plural. “For the past few years, I have seen these mares – my faithful protégé and her closest friends – defend our land from threats we cannot even comprehend, threats that have even at times overwhelmed my own power. They have earned the honor of Equestria, and that is what I have given them today, on behalf of everypony in this land. But my sister and I have made a decision, one we did not make lightly, but one we both made with our most joyous heart.
“As of now, the Knights Elemental and their families shall now be considered members of the Royal Family. I now consider those six mares as my sisters, and for now and ever our families will be bound under the accord of Sisters Royal.” At the sudden pronouncement, the crowd fell silent for a second, but not for long, as the gentry suddenly erupted in a roar of congratulations, the silence now coming from the stunned nobility, as they had just been thrown further down the rank system, metaphorically deposed by the six.
“Princess!” Twilight said, shocked, “why?”
“Because you are, and always have been dear to me, Twilight,” Celestia said, warmly.
“But Pri—”
“Just ‘Celestia’ now, Twilight. Your studies are at an end, my pupil. But your life still continues, my stalwart knight and dearest little sister.”
Twilight stood there, not knowing to what to say. But finally, a wide, loving grin erupted on her face as she said, “If you insist…Celestia.” The unicorn reached forward to embrace her mentor and now sister as the world shouted in bouts of love and harmony.
The car pulled up in front of the house in Leesburg, Virginia. A flagpole in the yard flew the flag of the Principality of Equestria, and the as the car stopped in the driveway, the driver, a human, got out of the car and opened the back door. “Ambassador, we’re here.”
Lyra blearily opened her eyes. “Huh…wha?” She looked – but they just left the embassy just a few seconds ago! She was going to do some paperwork on the way and…Oh, who am I kidding? The last couple of days had been so busy that it almost felt like certain parts of her life were just on copy-and-paste over and over again.
She grabbed her briefcase, fished keys out of her pocket and got out of the car. “Thanks for the ride, Terry. Got plans for the weekend?”
He smiled. “Gotta take my eldest to check out UNC this weekend. Thanks for the letter of endorsement, by the by – Mary certainly appreciates it.”
“She earned it,” the unicorn replied. “She was a real help to Scent, and a real success story for the internship program. She’s gonna go places someday, I know it.”
“I certainly hope so.” As Lyra made her way to the door and Terry went back to the car, he stopped. “Ambassador?”
She looked up. “Hrm?”
“You take care of yourself – I know how much you overwork yourself when something comes up.”
Lyra gave her chauffeur a weak smile. “I’m not that bad, am I?”
As if on cue, the front door opened and Paul came out. “I keep telling her the same thing, but she never listens to me!”
“Have your kids tell her then, Mr. Phillips!” Terry joked as he waved to Paul.
“I try, but…well, I think your kids might have a better chance of getting through to her,” he replied in jest.
The chauffeur grinned. “Maybe, just maybe. Well, you two have a great weekend, and I’ll see you Monday morning!” Getting back into the car, he took off, headed for his own home, leaving one disheveled pony standing on the driveway.
Lyra looked at her husband, drawing in the strength of just seeing him standing there, looking far more relaxed than she was. “You’re home early today.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’ve been home for the past two days, unlike someone who slept in their office the last two nights. Somebody has to watch our kids.”
The look on her face was nothing less than defeated. No words issued from her muzzle, as she had no idea what to say. What could she say? Her job was obviously important, but to be so busy as to forget about her very family?
Seeing her agitated state, he went over and embraced her. “I know. I knew what I was getting into when I married you,” he said softly he held her close. “Just…go take a nap for the moment. I’m cooking up a mushroom risotto tonight, and the kids are playing with their friends. At least it’s Friday, though – we can take the weekend and relax.”
But Lyra shook her head. “I’m afraid not, hon. I’ve gotta head back to Equestria first thing in the morning. Strategy meeting with my boss and such. I should be there a couple of days.” She looked at him, and her eyes reflected the anguish of her unintended neglect. “I’m sorry I have to devote so much time elsewhere right now. Maybe it’s time for me to retire,” she said.
“C’mon in the house, and put your feet up,” he said. “We can talk some more after you’ve rested – after you’ve rested,” he repeated, placing a finger on her muzzle as she tried to protest. A thought came over him and he bent down, picking her up and starting to carry her in.
“I don’t need this, hon, I can walk,” she protested.
“I know. That’s why I’m carrying you,” he replied, and as soon as she got the hint, she leaned into him, appreciating the strength of their marriage as the pair entered the house.
Sitting in his office, General Concord Bryson, US Army sat, looking at the junior naval officer next to him as the duo went over some classified files. “Now, I think you can wind up for the day, Mike,” the older man said as shuffled some of the files into a portfolio that would be soon placed in the nearby safe. “You’re probably doing more strategic review than I’ve had even some of my field officers perform – and in a variety of situations.”
“Well, sir,” Mike said, “your staff is small, and most of those assigned to you are Air Force, so they mostly know just air battle. I just happened to be lucky enough to have had Fifth Fleet HQ as my first hitch, so I got quite the purple education.”
“I can tell,” the flag officer replied appreciatively.
“And it comes quite in handy, Commander,” a senior officer from the REA who was also present stated, “though, if my understanding is correct, you seem to know more about ground combat than many of my own troops.”
“That’s just how it works, sometimes, Colonel Lightfighter,” Mike replied. “Without meaning to brag, there are other personnel in the other services just like me, and the more we know how our own side works, the better it makes us work, much to the detriment of our foes. Your forces are still getting used to modernization and not fighting in older styles of combat, so it will take a little longer to get around, but it’ll happen.”
“Thank you, Commander,” Lightfighter responded.
“Mike, get going. I don’t want to have to answer to that firebrand you call a wife if I keep you late again,” he said with a laugh. Ushering the junior officer out the door, Bryson then turned to look at Lightfigther. “Thoughts, Colonel?”
“Same as Col. Airstrike and Capt. Plankowner had, sir. And once I’ve turned in my report to Gen. Goldengrape, I doubt he’d disagree. But are you sure about this? Isn’t it standard for the host nation to be the one in, as they call it, ‘the driver’s seat’?”
“Perhaps,” Bryson replied, “but I’ve been here long enough to see that this changeling problem of yours is serious. And call me a pessimist, but I think this whole thing with Iran is going to go far south, and the way Congress has been lately, they’ll give the usual ‘support but hide’ where we’ll give you the support to wage a war but not participate in it ourselves. That leaves Equestria badly unprepared if you have to fight two conflicts at once.”
“And you agree with Princess Celestia’s earlier plan, General?”
“Hell, I wholeheartedly endorse it,” he said with a grin. “Might have been a few years since she’s been a fighter, but she knows her strats dead-on. Besides, maybe she sees something in that boy that I don’t – maybe because I’m just a grunt with no skills in magic.”
“Rarity, will you please try to talk to them?” Twilight asked. “I know you’re not prejudiced against humans like so many claim bu—”
“No, no I won’t, Twilight,” Rarity retorted. “Not them. Anypony but them. They’re the whole reason I lost my foal!”
Twilight rolled her eyes and huffed. “You’re being overdramatic again. Matt and Anna had nothing to do with you losing your foal. That was Celestia’s call to let DJ live with her human parents.”
“Twilight, dear, if you’re going to lambaste me with fripperies, at least state something of substance,” the fashionista said dismissively, before she looked at her fellow unicorn and added, “Besides, somepony has to tend our sisters – or did you forget about Applejack and Rainbow Dash? Maybe you have while you’re gallivanting with those…thieves, but I have not!”
Twilight bit down her anger, knowing full well that Rarity was intentionally pushing her, but losing her calm right now was not going to do anypony any bit of good. “Rarity, that’s not fair. You make me sound as if I don’t care what’s happening.”
“You don’t. After all, why should The High and Mighty Twilight Sparkle care about what’s happening to us mere everyday ponies when she’s oh-so gallantly sacrificing herself for the rest of us?”
Twilight shook her head. “Rarity, you don’t understand. If I don’t do this, we will all die. It’s better for one of us to—”
“To what, Twilight? To die? And what about the rest? Those of us left behind who have to live with the guilt of not being there to help you, to watch you waste away to nothingness? Do you think any of us would want that? Do you think that Applejack or Rainbow could live with themselves knowing that the only reason they survived is because you didn’t?”
“But Rainbow’s foal—”
“—is Rainbow’s decision, not yours,” the fashionista countered. “And don’t you start up with that ‘straw you drew’ nonsense again! We drew no straws, and nopony gave you the right to decide who lives and who doesn’t, including yourself! Do you think the rest of us would appreciate living without you? Without having had the chance to see you meet somepony special and have a life of your own?”
“I’m sixty-three, Rarity – I think I’m a bit beyond meeting somepony,” Twilight drawled.
“Spare me that; you’re just in your middle age. And if you want to talk about meeting someone in their later years, didn’t Lyra marry someone two decades younger than herself? Or Bon-Bon – Waterfire turns thirty this year, if I recall correctly. Face it: we ponies hold our age well; unicorns, especially.” Rarity left Applejack’s unconscious form and went over to Twilight. “Please don’t do this to yourself – to us. We want to see you happy, Twilight, dear; we want you to grow old with your special somepony and all that comes with it. Have foals that would make their mother proud.”
Despite herself, Twilight chose to verbally stab her old friend right at that point: “You mean a daughter that you could just ignore because she didn’t turn out the way you expected her to?”
Rarity reacted as if slapped. “How I react to Sandalwood is none of your business, Twilight.”
“You’re right,” a newcomer said. “It’s ours.” Both mares turned to see two humans standing there just outside the protective barriers. “We could come back later if you’d like, Twilight,” Anna said to the purple unicorn while Matt stood there, silent and watching.
“No, that’s fine. Come on in and pull up a chair,” Twilight said. She’d already created human-style chairs for them the first time they visited, and as humans were somehow immune from the curse ripping through her, they were safe to traverse the protective barriers without an issue.
“No, don’t,” Rarity snarled, then turned to Twilight. “I don’t want those thieves here with us!”
“Rarity, what is your problem?” Matt asked; the look on his face showed that his temper was being kept under control – but only just. “DJ would have died if we hadn’t taken her in. We raised her as best we could and we love her unconditionally – she is our little girl. I have no idea why you seem to have a problem with this, but the other option would be that she’d be dead.”
“Maybe that would have been for the best,” Rarity replied, “because then she wouldn’t have been turned into…whatever she’s become!”
“Are you crazy? What kind of parent even thinks that about their kids?” the man said, his voice rising.
“I’m not listening!” Rarity said in a foolish, sing-song form as she folded her ears down and covered them. “I certainly don’t have time to listen to two foalnappers who would rather destroy a family for their own nefarious purposes!”
“That didn’t happen and you know it,” Twilight said, knowing that Rarity wouldn’t listen – this was a long, tired argument that never went anywhere.
“Well, either way you’ll have to deal with it,” Anna replied, a wolfish grin on her face. Turning to Twilight, she said, “Doctors just finished up the blood tests on the boys and they’ve got the go-ahead to visit now, so DJ should be here any day now.”
Anna’s announcement made Twilight perk up. “That’s wonderful!” she chirped, before sadly adding, “But I hope the boys know why I’m here.”
“That’s the other reason why they needed some extra time. Both DJ and Mike want to take the time to explain why they’re coming and why they’ll have to stay on this side of the barrier.”
Rarity couldn’t help but make a snide comment at that. “What, is she so afraid that I’ll steal her foals – like you stole her from me?”
“No,” was Anna’s reply. “They look like human children, but they’ve got pony blood as well, and we don’t know what, if any, equinoid diseases they can be affected by – including the one harming you.” Rarity suddenly felt an inward twinge of guilt; she’d never wish harm on innocent foals, and for her to even have suggested it was a mistake, all things considered.
“I wish it wasn’t this way,” Twilight spoke. “I know they’re going to want to give me a hug and all that, but….” She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.
“I wish it wasn’t either, Twi,” Matt replied. “And I especially wish you wouldn’t sacrifice yourself in all this.”
“H-how did you?” Twilight began.
“See, Twilight? Even the thieves think that you’re wa—”
Anna rose from her chair. “Call us thieves one more time and I’ll go in there and rip your tonsils out,” the woman snarled. “Just because you continue to spurn your own child for the life she’s lived with us doesn’t give you the Goddamn right to say anything like that towards us, got that?”
“Hon….” Matt began.
“No, I’m not going to keep quiet on this any longer! This fucking cunt has been hurting my baby girl for two Goddamn decades and I’m tired of it!” Anna yelled. “Rarity, I want you to realize something: neither Matt nor I give a flying fuck of what you think of us, and you know why? Because we raised a beautiful little girl to grow up to be the best woman she could be. The fact that she wasn’t raised as a filly growing up to be the best mare she could be is no one’s fault – no one’s at all. But when you tried to take my daughter away from us for no other reason than your damn prejudice—”
“I’m not listening!” Rarity said, repeating her earlier denial, but was shocked to see Anna stride in, walking right up to her so she could not be ignored.
“You will listen to me. I have never met anyone as bigoted as you in my entire life. I have never taught my children to hate anyone in their entire lives, and yet you would have besieged DJ for the person she is! Did you teach that to your other children as well or did by some miracle did they—”
Anna said nothing further as Rarity’s horn flickered with light and a blast of cerulean energy threw the woman back, slamming her into the footboard of an empty bed across the room. Matt was immediately on his feet, but Anna forced herself up, a wolfish grin on her face. “Might be a senior citizen, but I’m not done yet,” she crowed.
“Senior citizen?” Rarity thought aloud.
“Yes,” Twilight said, bile building in her voice. “Congratulations on slamming Granny Smith’s counterpart to the other side of the room. Humans age faster than we do; they have a shorter middle-age period than us but a longer elderly period. We just started getting gray hairs in our sixties? They get them as early as their thirties.” Twilight turned to look at Anna, concern on her face. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” Anna said. If there was any indicator otherwise, she sure as hell wasn’t going to show it in front of Rarity.
Matt maneuvered himself in a position to shield his wife from another attack. “Personally? I’m glad DJ wants nothing to do with you – you certainly aren’t worth it. You’re supposedly the Avatar of Generosity or something like that – so if that’s true, how could someone like you be so ugly towards her biological child?”
“I’m ugly? You tried to turn her against me!”
“No, you did that yourself. Her arrival on our world wasn’t anyone’s fault, Twilight told me; if anything, it was a tragedy. And for all those years, while you searched for her, we raised DJ – or Sandalwood, if you insist – to be the kind of daughter that any parent could be proud of. The fact that she was raised as a human is immaterial – but the fact that she’s kind, loyal, devout and confident should be. The fact that she waited for years to marry her intended shows a vast loyalty that’s mostly unheard of even for humans – or ponies either, from what I know. She’s smart, bright, and has rarely been a disappointment to us – and when she was, it was for stuff that was unacceptable for any intelligent species, not because ‘she wasn’t acting human.’
“She chose to be one of us. She chose to learn how to walk upright, to heavily develop her hoofspace, to ignore the pain that I know she felt. She chose to keep pushing through the hard times because it was her cross to bear. She’s been nothing but pride and joy to us, and if you’d have given her a chance to be who she is instead of what you expect her to be, you would have seen that!”
Rarity forced herself to her hindlegs to look at the humans as close to eye-to-eye as she could. “I didn’t raise Lyra Heartstrings,” Rarity countered. “I didn’t raise some human-loving freak who would turn against her own ki—” Rarity felt a sharp slap against her face, then turned to find Twilight standing there, infuriated past the point of caring.
“How dare you. Lyra devoted years of time towards looking into alien cultures, suffering every insult for her being a ‘weirdo nut’ because she knew the life of an innocent foal depended on all her esoteric knowledge, and this is how you treat her? She stuck up for DJ because she understood DJ needed somepony who understood where she was coming from – and it destroyed her marriage! And you’re sitting here, insulting her for that?”
“But I….” Rarity began.
“Don’t. Just you…don’t.” Twilight was livid. “You denied your daughter. You just hurt one of my friends and insulted another – one who sacrificed so much to help you and DJ. Don’t dare to try to come up with an excuse, because you just can’t.”
“She’s raight.” Several heads whipped around to see Applejack struggling to sit up, fate somehow picking this moment to have her return to consciousness in order to add to Twilight’s chorus. “Rarity, we all luv ya like a sister, but don’ think Ah’m not less than a mite disgusted with ya o’er how yer treatin’ DJ.”
“But Applejack, dear, I….”
“Y’ pushed aside yer foal,” the earth pony said with a wince. “We’ve lost two foals t’ miscarriage in our family, and d’ ya know how much that hurts Fluttershy or Apple Bloom to hear that y’ just don’ care about DJ?” Rarity said nothing, though it was more out of concern about AJ’s weakness rather than the issue.
The two humans and three ponies stood there, at an awkward standoff of words.
Why am I doing this? Luna asked herself for the millionth time as she pored over a search engine tailored for the royal archives. It was incomplete, and only a fraction of the archives were there, but between the state-of-the-art computers and dozens of assistants at the ready, it was her only choice at the moment. She couldn’t ask for assistance from her staff, because she’d foisted most of her work on them while she started this research. Besides, she was pretty sure this sort of thing was beyond them.
She took a look at her written notes, which contained the riddles:
Two out of three, contest near goal
Advantage to design and sol
And now the third she wants unwhole
The choice for her’s to end the game
Or else fortunes will end the same.
The first game started by hubris humbled
The results caused a realm that stumbled
All sides lost, bright vic’try crumbled
That game is done, the next set come
Entropy wants this last undone
This was ordained ere ‘fore your birth
Two tulpars have proven their worth
Anarchy’s key is of the earth
And if it lets success be sworn
Reason shall have a wing and horn.
Hrm…the only one I’ve really figured out so far is “goal”, and I’m not even sure on that one, the Princess of the Moon thought. A goal’s either a point, like in hoofball, or the end, like in a race. Sometimes it can be both, but I don’t think that’s the case here. The riddle implies that it’s the end, but with Discord’s logic, you can’t be too sure. Then again, he said that he was just the messenger, not the one who created the riddles. But if he didn’t…who did?
She felt a headache start to sink in and it was just as quickly banished via magic. But in that spell came a moment’s clarity: magic, once believed to be the provenance of the gods. That last thought unnerved Luna; though ponies and so many others considered the alicorns deities, she knew she wasn’t one and had even gone out of her way to protest that, not that anypony ever seemed to listen. There were likely real ones, she guessed – DJ, Robin and several others she knew apparently believed in one called Christ, and other humans worshipped others, and obviously even the other Alter-Earth species had their own divine references in some form or another; the nine-tailed foxes of the Imperial Family of Inari were insufferable in this manner. The closest she’d ever come to true divinity was the Naon, where the secret behind that was closely guarded and heavily protected, both of the sake of the zebras and the ancient structure itself.
But maybe it takes somepony else’s way of looking at things, Luna considered. Maybe I’m tackling this at the wrong angle. Maybe I’m looking at this like a pony, instead of say, like a gryphon or minotaur would. Maybe even a human – their outlook is much different than anyone from this world. That of course, meant that there were a few others she could trust to help her with this; Discord had firmly said that this was something that was given to her for a reason. But unless she knew why, it was moot.
Rising from her seat, Luna decided to call it a day. She had plenty of other things to attend to before she had to raise the moon, and even she couldn’t put off all her duties forever. In the end, she was a princess and an avatar, not a goddess – there were limits to her power.
A goddess wouldn’t have been beaten and broken by a demon, she reminded herself ruefully.
Worn but elated after the past few days of watching his newborns, Elusive turned to look at the bundles of joy resting in their crib. “I really can’t thank you enough for all the assistance you’ve given me, Blitz, Lily. I truly appreciate all the help.”
Rainbow Blitz seemed to melt in the chair across from the crib. “Hey, what are cousins for, dude? Besides, don’t let that get out, okay? I’m going to look seriously uncool if anypony finds out I’ve been helping change foal diapers.”
Gilded Lily giggled softly and added, “What my coltfriend actually means to say is that we’re always glad to help.”
The male unicorn grinned. “Thanks, Lily. For everything and for the recommendation on a governess – although I do think that’s a bit antiquated for this day and age, don’t you think?”
“You’ll be doing me a favor by having Meadow work for you,” Lily replied. “She’s a good worker and my best friend, and…well, I think she needs to expand her horizons beyond being a housemaid, is all. She’s destined for so much better and—”
Blitz knew that tone. “What did he do to her?” When Lily didn’t answer, Blitz got to his hooves. “Lily, that brother of yours needs to be taught a lesson, and I’m just the pony to do it!”
The princess waved her forelegs hurriedly. “No, Blitz – he’s just going to use the law against you, which is what he wants!”
“Something I should know about?” Elusive asked. Lily then went into a quick explanation, and as she did, his eyes grew just as narrow as Blitz’. “I’ll do what I can to protect her. You have my word,” Elusive said once she was done.
“Thanks. He’ll hurt her if this keeps up and unless he can be caught in the act, he’s protected by noblesse oblige.” As she spoke, her eyes caught the clock on the wall. “Isn’t your foalsitter supposed to be here soon?”
Elusive nodded. “I hope so. The sooner she gets here, the sooner we can go see Butter an—”
The door to the home slammed open with a high-pitched bellow of, “Heya, hiya, hoya, Ponysketeers! It’s your friendly neighborhood Surprise, Surprise!” The teen party pegasus practically galloped into the room, her chirpy mood on overdrive. “Don’t worry, cousin! I got everything under control!”
It was at that point that the two foals, having just been put to sleep, were awakened by Surprise’s antics and they did what came naturally to newborns: they cried like there was no tomorrow. Blitz facehoofed while Elusive’s face took on a sadly resigned look to it.
Surprise looked at the inadvertent damage she’d caused. “Um…I’ve got my work cut out for me, don’t I?”
“Doc, how’s she doin’?” Butter asked, concern clear in her voice as the doctors pored over Minty. To say that the younger mare was worried was an understatement: even after her unusual foaling and subsequent infection from the nearby battle, her attention was focused more on the distressed condition of her sister-in-law. Even from what little she could see from the angle of her own bed, it was clear that the mint-green mare was in bad shape.
“We’re doing everything we can for her, your grace,” the doctor informed Butter. When it was clear that Butter was less than enthused by that answer, the doctor looked to his colleagues, then gave her further clarification. “We’ve managed to drain most of the poison from her body, but she’s still very weakened from her ordeal and, needless to say, still comatose.”
“Will she be up an’ around soon?”
The doctor shook his head, his glasses sliding down his muzzle; Butter restrained a giggle as the situation hardly called for it. “I’m afraid I can’t answer that, your grace,” he replied. “It will all come down to whether her ladyship has the strength of will to regain consciousness. Considering what she’s already been through and survived, however, it is a miracle that she still lives, but because the Countess is the Daughter of Generosity, I feel confident that her grace should be back to rights soon enough.”
Butter breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good t’ hear. Ah wuz a mite worried, as y’ c’n reckon.”
The doctor nodded. “Quite understandable. But I promise the Countess is in excellent hooves. We’ll do everything possible within our power to right her, your grace. You have our word.”
“Yeah,” she said, somewhat relieved. “Now, if’n Ah c’n just git t’ t’morrow, when Ah git out, everythin’ll be just grand.”
“Oh, that was great,” Lyra said, seated at her couch and snuggled up against her husband. “Remind me never to get rid of you,” she teased.
“I hope not,” Paul said, rubbing her head. “I’m already used to you and I’m getting a little too long in the tooth to get used to the dating scene.”
“Oh, trust me,” she sighed in contentment. “That’ll never happen.” Stretching out an arm, a golden glow enveloped her hoof as she called the glass of wine to it.
“Been practicing?” he asked.
“Yeah. Been working more on my hoofspace. I mean, I’m probably as good with dexterity as DJ is, but I wanted to make sure I can expand my range of magic, too. I mean, I’m never going to make the Guild, obviously, but Twilight’s theory that a top-level mage should be able to cast from any appendage should in theory apply to any unicorn, not just high-level mages.”
Before he could say anything further, the phone rang. Both of them sighed; the tone indicated that it wasn’t the house line that had gone active, but the line for the ambassador’s residence. Seating the glass, her horn then flickered with magic, and the phone flew to her hoof immediately. “Ambassador’s Residence. Ambassador Phillips, speaking.”
Paul knew it was serious when Lyra suddenly sat up, but he kept quiet; if it was significant, she’d tell him anyway, and if it was classified, it likely would not have come over this line but instead the line in her private office here in the house. “Heya, AC, what’s up?” he heard her say. “Yeah…Really? That’s great!...Look, I gotta be in Canterlot for the next few days, so as the next senior diplomat, I’m going to need you to stay on top of this for me…No, I don’t plan to be in Equestria long; can’t afford to, with the family here and all…Yes, confirm everything with Lemon and our contacts here in Washington; have Cheesepuff contact Scent and they can pass the info along. Well, you take care and I’ll bring you back something when I return. Thanks again, AC. Bye!” The celeste-hued pony set the phone down on the table, a relieved look on her face.
“So….” Paul began delicately.
“That was AC,” Lyra started. “Belgium has offered to host the talks between us, the US and Iran on Saturday – some hotel in Antwerp. Lemon’s got the details and will be on-site, while the government of the Netherlands will be representing us. AC will keep an eye on the situation and update me and Cadance while I’m in Canterlot. Looks like things are going to cool down from that point.”
“You sure?” Paul asked. “I mean, I’m not the politician you are, but refusing to negotiate with someone unless it’s by proxy sounds wrong to me. I mean, if any of what’s going on is that serious, all sides should be willing to meet together, right?”
Lyra nodded. “And that’s what everyone’s taught as a kid. But I’m learning not everyone agrees with that train of thought, and the fact that we’re just getting used to it….” She sighed. “Sometimes I wonder if the traditional pony method of dealing with things by ignoring them turned out to make things worse. It certainly does with humanity.”
“Get up,” a rough voice said to Twilight Sunburn. “You’re leaving.” Twilight blinked her eyes and found herself looking into the eyes of yet another one of her so-called “siblings”, who in truth were her jailers and tormentors. “You’ve got an hour.” Twilight opened her mouth to ask a question, but instead held her tongue; by now, she knew that only pain came from that. “Good, you can be taught,” the voice grunted.
Leaving the room she shared with several other “rejects”, she stepped out into the hallway, finally setting her eyes on her latest oppressor. Thankfully, it wasn’t Gloaming, but instead another one. “It’s better that you don’t learn my name,” he said, his voice slightly softer; Twilight suddenly realized he was like her, a fellow reject who’d been sent to be the hatchetstallion.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
The pepsis looked at her for a second before finally answering with, “We’re being given an operation.” He held two folders in his magic aura. “We can choose either, but we will have to follow through or else….” He suddenly shuddered. “I don’t want this….” he said, looking at her with eyes filled to the brim with fear and pain. “If I fail…Gloaming will….”
Become like her or die, Twilight thought. Why is that right? Why is that fair? She looked at the broken stallion in front of her. To her, he was, despite his earlier bravado, terrified. He knew he was going to fail and that would cost him everything. And yet, he was broken enough that he would have easily let her be thrown to the hydras if it meant his own survival. It was craven, maddening. And maybe he was worse than that. And maybe none of the above at all.
This isn’t right, she thought again. But if there was one thing she could do, it would be to spare him. He was the closest she’d had to anything resembling family so far, and maybe just that hint of kindness would help her escape from this hell.
“Give me the larger package,” she told him. He looked at her nervously, and she was unable to discern the meaning behind the look. But slowly and surely he floated over the larger envelope, then took the remaining one in his telekinesis and scampered away.
Taking the package in her own TK, Twilight opened it and looked at the documents inside. While she didn’t quite follow what their intent was at first, the moment she realized it, a cold shiver raced down her spine.
“Wow, didn’t think you had the hooves to pull that off, weakling.” A voice rang out behind her: Gloaming’s. “And I thought you would’ve went with the smaller one and left that other foal with the tough job. Maybe there’s hope for you yet.”
“I….” Twilight shut her mouth again; now that she was definitely in front of Gloaming, any mistake in verbage would be fatal.
“Tomorrow, you leave for Human-Earth. Follow the directions to the letter. If you vary even so much as by a fraction, big brother will…well, let’s just say he’ll be angry enough to get really creative,” Gloaming said with a sound in her voice almost akin to glee. “And look at it this way: finally, you’ll be of use to mother. Your pathetic, pointless life, whether it lasts beyond the mission or not, will finally have been of use to our mother, and that is how it should be.” Nothing more to say, the pepsis warmare walked off, leaving Twilight to still look at the package.
“This is my fate,” the rejected pepsis spoke, reading the document over and over again, seeing the cruelty in its script. Love was a myth, the document said without specifying. Forget about being loved; no being that deserved love could do what she was about to commence.
With the stereo banging out Tripomatic Fairytales, and the two girls in the backseat looking as though they’d partaken of their favorite incapacitating drugs of choice, the cop waived the somewhat embarrassed young woman through. After all, this was Belgium and things like that were normal. Of course, if the cop had any inkling that the “embarrassed young woman” was, if anything, multiples in age older than he and none of the young women in the car were human at all, he might have suddenly had second thoughts about stopping the Citroen as the car rocketed south on the A12, headed towards Brussels.
Faust spared a glance in the rear view mirror at the police officer, who was no doubt having a laugh or two at her “drunk friends”. Well, time to put them to use. “Screw Loose,” she asked, “teleport us to the location I mentioned.”
“Ja whol, mein guy!” the pony-in-human-form said in faux-German that didn’t even make sense, all things considered. Screw Loose stuck her hands out, and the car teleported to…
…the Gobi Desert…
…the bottom of the Marianas Trench…
…three feet above Kilauea Crater in Hawaii…
…Ularu in the Australian Outback…
…the Russian steppes…
…an enclosed military warehouse of some sort, where a futuristic black fighter of some kind sat, waiting…
…and finally, twelve feet short of their intended goal, where the once-and-future alicorn had to slam on the brakes to prevent the car from hitting a blue whale that was crossing the street. Out of the corner of her eye, Faust could see a soft smile on the face of Screwball as she messed with reality once more.
“Not right now, dear,” Faust admonished gently, and while the teenaged being pouted, the blue whale sprouted wings and flew off into the sky, and soon disappeared over the horizon. “Thank you,” Faust replied as she got out of the car, stepping onto the highway, just northwest of where the A4 and the R0 met.
Going to need all my power for this, she thought, transforming into her true form. Thankfully the road was deserted, lest someone might wonder about the presence of the giant white alicorn – and that might cause some problems for Celestia and Luna, something Faust didn’t wish. The queen of the alicorns placed her horn on the pavement and the road flared reddish-gold for a second as two bursts of energy rippled through the roadway. As the blasts dissipated, Faust transformed back to normal and went back to the car, breaking out a baguette and some wine – this was going to take a bit.
Lunch was uneventful, and most of that time was spent trying to coax Screwball out of her bad mood; apparently she’d wanted to keep the whale for a pet, Screw Loose translated, though who knew where they were going to keep something that size, even in Belgium. Screw Loose, while yammering through fifteen different languages, accents and tones, wondered what more they could do to assist, as it was Discord’s will that they be of service. The alicorn queen assured them that they would still have a role to play, and it would be important.
Now if I only knew what it was, Faust thought to herself, maybe I could actually tell them.
It was late afternoon when the whole road exploded into the same red-gold color, indicating that Faust’s spell had worked: she’d just turned every road in the tiny nation into her very own tripwire radar system, which would hopefully allow her to find exactly who or what she was looking for and deal with it accordingly. As she got back in the car, turning it around to head back to their place, she thought briefly about calling Greg and the kids and “officially” letting them know where she was; by now, she was sure, her husband had come up with some excuse as to why she’d had to fly to the other side of the globe on a moment’s notice.
Besides, she was sure that Sarah was going to ask her mother about the strange news coming out of Belgium where the roads suddenly started to inexplicably glow like burnished gold only to be written off as a national-level hallucination.
“Hey, hon, welcome back,” DJ said as she leapt into her husband’s embrace, kissing him once she had the chance.
“What brought that on?” he asked. “Not that I mind, but…you’re a bit overeager.”
“What, can’t a gal show her husband some affection?” she mock-pouted.
“Well, yeah, sure,” he answered, “but you like to go for overkill whenever possible.”
“Of course!” she laughed. “No kill like overkill!” But once the giggles had ceased, she said in more serious tones, “I know it’s been rough on you, hon, and I can’t thank you enough for sticking with me through this. I know it’s not exactly how you planned to spend your time while on deployment—”
“Stuck on easy TAD with my wife and kids at close access? Somehow I’ll manage,” he shrugged. “Besides, it just gives me more chances to tell you how much I love you, DJ.”
Her eyes grew soft at that. “You always know the perfect words to say, don’t you?”
“Practice.” She gave him that smile that said volumes, told him everything that was just for him. There was an unspoken signal sent, and both leaned in to kiss.
There was a polite cough, and both of them turned around to find Sam standing there, a grin of his own on his face. “You know, both of you really need a hotel room,” he advised.
DJ returned the grin. “What, don’t want another niece or nephew? I think I’d like a girl this time around.”
“Yeah, sis, but last time I checked, this nudist colony of a nation frowns on that kind of PDA,” he pointed out. “If this was Honolulu, I’d have to cite you for…well, I’d invent something.” He shrugged. “But the reason I popped in is to pass you a couple of things. One, Mike, Spike wanted to see if you were interested in a guy’s-night-out thing. Just spend some time with the males in the family, though I’m not sure if he means just us or both sides of whatever. But knowing that it’s Spike, it should be okay.”
“Sure, I’m game,” Mike replied affably.
Sam then turned to DJ. “He also said another one of your friends is coming to town – Lyra, if I remember the name correctly.”
A curious look came onto the humanized pony’s face. “I wonder if she’s coming here for business. Besides, I probably owe her an apology for my email to her.”
Mike facepalmed. “Again?”
DJ had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. “Hey, Lyra means a lot to me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t do stupid things now and then – you know that.”
“Oh, and you also might want to know that Mom and Dad went to go see Twilight again,” Sam added. “You should go see her. She is the reason you’re here, right?”
At those words, DJ’s ears flopped and her smile collapsed. “She is,” the humanized pony admitted, “but now that I’m here…I don’t want to walk in just as she’s dying.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Bullshit,” he said, his voice growing sharp on the last syllable as his eyes reflected disappointment. “DJ, do not bullshit me, okay? I know you – you’re not afraid of that.”
“Really? Have you died recently, Sam?” she asked. “Because I nearly did, in case you forgot that!”
“That’s not what’s frightening you. You’ve already faced death before, when our grandparents died a few years back. No, what you’re afraid of is your biological mother.” DJ didn’t answer, so Sam took that as a sign to continue. “Mom and Dad already told me she’s in the same room as Twilight, and that until yesterday she was unconscious.”
“Then that makes it even harder for me to go, Sam!” DJ replied.
“And you think it makes it easy for our parents?” he snapped. “That’s just going to make it just that much harder for them – they’re visiting Twilight while trying not to agitate Rarity. That’s not going to be easy for them, and I should know – I’ve seen more than enough domestic disputes during my time on the force to know that. This is going to be pure and utter hell for them, and you should be the one backing them up, DJ.
“You need to understand something that I don’t really think has ever set in, sis: we are your family and that won’t ever change. You will always be my older sister and Mom and Dad’s first kid. Nothing is going to change that – nothing. Even if we’d lost the case back then and you had to stay here until you were of age, we would have welcomed you back with open arms. Why? Because you’re family.” Sam’s eyes started to water as he said in a softer voice, “Because you’re my sister and you’re the one who taught me never to run away from things. I’ve watched you live your whole live never running, DJ, even when it made sense to. So why are you doing it now?”
The humanized pony was quiet for the longest time, and all the two men could hear was her breathing. Finally, she said in a neutral tone, “You know, it’s funny when both my brothers seem to have told me the same thing.”
“Both?” Sam asked before realizing. “Oh, you mean that Elusive guy. Guess I’m going to have to have a talk with him; he seems like he’s got a good head on his shoulders. But that’s for later. Anyway, DJ, you need to go see Twilight – if you really love her, you’ll go, okay?”
DJ nodded. “I’ll…I’ll go tomorrow and take the kids. It’ll probably my last chance to.” The look in her eyes was wounded. “I just….”
“I know, hon,” Mike said. “But she’s strong. Give Twilight some credit – she’s been through worse and I don’t doubt she’ll get through this as well.”
Well beneath Canterlot, back from the days when the great city was first being built, there resided a hidden chamber. What purpose the room served was lost to time, as ancient swords and spears dating back to the Moonfall era were housed there; considering the pristine condition of the chamber after hundreds of years, the room must have seen some sort of use, as it was free from the dust and detritus of the ages. But considering that the chamber was about the size of a small warehouse, it was likely a forgotten storeroom or armory, placed in stasis in case a crisis came that required its needs.
In any case, the chamber was currently host to a different sort of army, as hundreds of ponies filed into the chamber to assemble together. All were dressed in black cloaks and white masks covering their faces; the cloaks and masks were to give them succor from fear they would be noticed for attending this meeting, one that was hinted could possibly be less than ethical, possibly even illegal. Ponies from all three subspecies could be seen there; all were stallions and mares from different walks of life and during normal circumstances probably didn’t travel in the same circles.
Standing at the front of the room was a figure, a pony, on the dais. Now was the time to take command of the meeting and give those assembled what they craved so very much: order. Raising a foreleg covered in black steel, the pony coughed slightly, then raised a voice, clear as a bell; the room, with its perfect acoustics, didn’t require any type of voice modulation spell. “Brothers! Sisters! I thank you for coming!” As one, the crowd turned in the direction of the speaker.
“For too long, we have watched as our beloved homeland sinks into the abyss. We have reached the point that not even our beloved Divine Sisters can stem the tide – Holy Celestia and Sacred Luna may be our protectors and benefactors, but we as ponykind must look out for them as well! Is it not written in the Codex Faustis that we are our fellow pony’s keeper? Too long we have let contamination and ruination come into our lands!
“Yes, my brothers and sisters, you know of what I speak of: they are liars and thieves and their number is legion! Call them what you will – zebras, donkeys, gryphons, whatever – and you will see a trail of tears running from one great end of our homeland to the next! We were once a great realm, headed by a queen, and we were feared and respected. Now? Our princesses are being overwhelmed – they were attacked in another land! – and Luna herself was once corrupted!” There was suddenly a sea of murmurs from the crowd, and the speaker continued. “Please: let it not be thought that I blame our beloved Princess of the Night for what befell her. I do not envy her majesty’s heartbreaking decision to exile her beloved sister for the safety of ponykind. And I assure you: I know the heartbreak our dearest princess felt.”
Another sea of babbling broke out and the speaker slammed a steel-shod hoof on the floor; the sharp ringing stopped the conversation immediately. “But let me ask you this?” the speaker began once more. “Who was in the Lunar Army when Nightmare Moon began her assault on Castle Everfree?”
The murmurs began once more, but there was a change this time. Though most of the Lunar Rebellion was composed of ponies joining Nightmare Moon’s side, typical scholarly apologetics tended to play up the number of mercenaries of other species within that army’s ranks. Sure enough, someone made the connection as a voice called out, “Zebra shamans! And gryphon sellswords!”
“And diamond dog sappers!” cried another.
The speaker raised forelegs again to forestall further comment; the point was made. “Those words are true, my brothers and sisters. Yes, we all know that history tells of the few unwise ponies that chose to join the Lunar Rebellion; for their transgressions, they were correctly punished. But what is never discussed is how our beloved Princess of the Moon became corrupt and turned into the abomination we know as the Nightmare.” The murmurs began to briefly start, but stopped once more. “Ask yourself this, o brothers and sisters: her highness is a sweet and loving mare. She is gentle, kind and some would say shy. How could an innocent soul as that be corrupted into a terrible monster determined to destroy what she held most dear?”
“The official word is that she was jealous of her sister and coveted the love that the ponies gave Holy Celestia during the day, thus spurning our poor Princess of the Night. They say she turned because ponies feared and shunned her night. And yet…how true is this?” The speaker’s head shook, an indication that the answer should be plain as day. “When I look into the sky, I see marvels, wonders – the work of an artist. That powerful level of creation couldn’t have come from a monster. No, I believe our dearest princesses have obscured what truly happened in order to protect us from the truth: that we have powerful, corrupting enemies out there, ones who are supposedly our own allies but would see harm done to us in a moment’s notice.”
A member of the audience then spoke up: “But how can you accuse our allies? Didn’t the gryphon king send troops to aid Holy Celestia? And did not the bison come to our aid when they would have preferred to stay out of the conflict?”
The speaker nodded. “Indeed they did. But!” The speaker paused for dramatic effect, before continuing. “Didn’t Griphonica wait until the war was nearly over before sending aid? And the bison – they only aided us materially, not joining in the conflict when our troops were nearly obliterated. Considering the sizable and varied host that was being thrown at us, we ponies were well outmatched, and those ‘so-called’ allies could have turned the tide…but did too little, too late!” The speaker pounded a hoof against the floor for effect once more, the sharp clack of hoof against marble singing out to all ears. “And why didn’t they? Because they had a vested interest in keeping us down! Make no mistake: the gryphons and bisons ‘helped’ us because had we lost, they would have been in place to pick up the spoils, but since that did not happen, their ‘choice’ to aid us resulted in renewed ties with the crown and Preferred Status for being allied with our princess, one wracked with guilt over having slaughtered her former followers and imprisoned her sister on the moon. A princess easy to manipulate.”
“But how?” a pegasus from the crowd asked, her voice incredulous.
“I know it seems impossible to believe; I myself had a hard time fathoming it, I assure you. But…for a thousand years, Holy Celestia wept for her lost sister, something coming on top of the loss of Divine Faust – our princess had nothing. No one to protect her, comfort her, assure her everything would be fine for her even as she watched over us all in a lonely vigil. And then one day…she took a lover. And for years she was content.” Ponies looked at this revelation with shock and awe at this announcement; it certainly wasn’t common knowledge. Waving to a corner, two other ponies approached, carrying a large painting. “This comes from the depths of the royal archives. It is a painting of her majesty and her paramour, Argent Lance.”
The picture was unveiled and several gasped in surprise; from the way the two were posed, there was no doubt as to what was intended. Pictures made during the days of the three realms always showed the stallion standing straight and strong, while the mare lay supplicant at his hooves, leaning against them in succor – it was a typical depiction of a husband and wife during those days. The crowd thus found it disconcerting to see their princess, lying at the feet of a guard dressed in barding, clearly the sign of a couple.
“From the picture, it is clear: our dearest princess loved Argent Lance and took him into her confidence,” the speaker said. “And what did he do with that trust?” The speaker pressed a button on the floor and a soft click of technology kicked in as a projector above threw an image onto a screen next to the speaker. The image was modern, a photograph taken of a gravestone somewhere clearly not in Equestria.
“This is the grave of Argent Lance, who died on Octobris 16th, 761 in the old calendar. His grave is located in the Tall Savannah, a Great House of zebra nobility in the city of Quaggaton.”
The crowd looked at one another in shock, and the speaker knew what roiled through their minds: Zebrababwe? Why there? Why not here, where he’d be with the Princess?
Finally, an earth pony voiced what was on everypony’s minds: “How could this be – Zebrababwe? Why not in Canterlot?”
The speaker’s voice then thundered with the answer: “Because at first chance, he broke the heart of our beloved princess!” The speaker let that sink in before continuing. “At the first chance, he took a vast treasure and countless secrets with him to the Southeastern Continent, where he took one of the daughters of the zebra king for a bride!”
At that revelation, the fact that Celestia had been used sank in. It took less than a second for the crowd to become enraged. “This cannot stand!” somepony in the back of the crowd called out.
“Thankfully for us,” the speaker answered, “that is why fate turned and Holy Celestia was doubly graced. First with the birth of our third princess, her highness the Blessed Mi Amore Cadenza. Shortly after, however, was the birth of one of the most important ponies ever: that of Holy Celestia’s Faithful Student, She Who is Beloved, the Archmagus Twilight Sparkle.” The crowd fell silent at that name; there was not a soul who didn’t hold the Knight Commander Elemental in the highest regard.
The speaker’s voice sounded as though it was swelling with pride as the litany continued. “Twilight Sparkle proved herself by bending to her will the most ferocious of creatures, a dragon—” There were cheers for that, “—and then with her stalwart companions, the Knights Elemental returned our beloved Princess Luna to us—” At this point the speaker’s words were drowned out by the intense applause and cheering in Twilight’s name. “And with the Knights Elemental and Princess Luna returned to us, ponydom has been able to prosper once more.”
The speaker waved forelegs in an attempt to quiet the group down. “But now dark clouds are on the horizon again. Nightmare Moon once more prowls the world, now in possession of a new host. Two of our cities lay waste and we are at the brink of war. And we face conflict against the changelings, who nearly destroyed all once and would have slaughtered us all were it not for Blessed Cadance and her husband, may he rest in peace.
“But the worst news was revealed just last night: four of the Bearers, including the Faithful Student herself, have been poisoned and are dying. Our Trinity of Princesses cannot to stem the tide and darkness and evil falls once more on the land. And do you know why?” The crowd fell silent once more.
“Humans,” the answer came on a hissed voice. “We face the legendary monsters of old, creatures we thought we were safe from because they were myths and legends. But now we know better. Yes, they have brought us many a gift of their modern world and improved our lives much. But was it done in the hoof of friendship, or to fatten the lamb for slaughter?
“Think on this, brothers and sisters: all of our traditional enemies have allied themselves with humanity. Our military has been forced to realign along human technology and tactics, ones with play to their strengths and not traditional pony advantages. They challenged us to war when we first met them twenty years past – who remembers the calls for war in their cities such as New York, London and Moscow? And most horrific of all: they have taken the daughter of our fair Lady Rarity, the Knight Elemental of Generosity and twisted that foal’s mind so much that she is more human than pony now, with a human name and a human stance and a human mate.” The speaker let the words soak in.
“Make no mistake, brothers and sisters: ponydom faces its biggest peril yet and we risk losing all. The humans are clearly siding with our enemies – it was human warplanes that destroyed Cloudsdale, human weapons that obliterated Fillydelphia – while pretending to be our allies. In their hooves they hold a sword, promising to defend us and all we hold dear. But when the first moment comes, I tell you this: that sword will be at our throats!”
“How can we persevere?” a unicorn mare asked.
“I shall tell you how.” With a practiced effort, the speaker removed her cowl, slow enough to be dramatic but not so much that it was obvious. The pony stood there, dressed in armor black as night, regal and powerful in a way that could not be denied. She was a soft orange, with red-and-yellow hair the color of blazing flame and teal eyes the color of cool water. “My brothers and sisters, I am Sunset Shimmer, formerly Princess Celestia’s personal protégé. I stepped aside willingly when Twilight Sparkle came into our lives, because I knew she would be the mare that would save us from what would come. But now…she cannot do it alone, and for my mentor, I will not let them fall!” The mare moved forward, walking off the stage towards the crowd. “To save ponydom, I created the Covenant of the Pure Hoof, the last bastion between anarchy and order. I did so out of love for my fellow pony and my undying vow to our Princess, who I still see as somepony who guides me, even now as I follow a path that might not be as clear. So I ask you, join us – join the Purehooves.” Dozens of magic lights suddenly came into existence, and she was surrounded by several troops standing in modern military armor with modern weapons. Each of the uniforms had an emblem of a polished platinum streak on it, as if signifying a powerful hoof beating down on its enemies. “Together, we will work to protect the Princesses, the Knights and our fellow ponies. We will use the monsters’ weapons to drive them back to their world and to take the rest of their allies with them, and we will save this world that our Divine Queen Faust bequeathed to us so long ago.”
Sunset began to pace up and down on the stage, a soft smile on her face. “Now, I know more than a few out there are wondering what you’ve gotten yourselves into. ‘The Purehooves are criminals!’ they tell you. ‘They’re bigots, they’re liars!’ Brothers and sisters, these are all lies, lies spread by insiders working to destroy the system or through other means, but they are all lies! If you truly believed that any of what I said was less than truthful, you would have never come. But you did, because you know the hoof of love and devotion when you see it. We want a pure world, a true world where our Princesses can rule over us ponies without interference as was meant to be. But we here on the stage cannot do it alone. I need your help, the help of everypony to do so.” She looked at them as one who truly knew she was on a crusade. “For those who wish to join us, take off your mask and your cloak. Those who aren’t ready, please…keep them on – there is no shame in not being ready to protect our beloved Princesses yet.”
There was a pause and silence for several minutes as ponies decided whether or not to join the cause. Finally, someone asked the question. “Why have we never heard of you before?”
Sunset smiled again. “A fair question. As I said, I was once her majesty’s prize student. I stepped aside willingly for young Twilight, because I knew what she was and what she would mean for our future. Her highness rewarded me with a nobility and land in Vanhoover so I could continue my studies in magic. Sadly, that is where the enemy struck.” The mare turned away, the look on her face sad. “I was attacked, spirited away from my home by the enemy, my home burned to the ground. I spent years in slavery under the paw and claw of my tormentors and while I finally managed to escape, by then my mentor and everypony I knew thought me dead. And as I saw the dark clouds circling my homeland, I knew I could use this to my advantage – to aid everypony and everything I have ever loved.”
That was enough for a pegasus mare standing by the exit. Removing her mask and cloak, she shouted, “I’ll stand with you!” A second later, two more joined; a pair of earth stallions. “Sunset wants to protect those who have protected us for so long!” one of the stallions cried. “To protect our Princesses, I’ll stand beside her!” Immediately several others followed, and then the deluge began; by the time they were done, only three had failed to remove their masks, and based on their guilty postures, it was clear they’d probably be back and join the next time.
“Brothers and sisters, we of the Purehooves will make our nation proud once more!” There was a deafening cheer this time as Sunset gave a smile to crowd. The Purehooves would rise and defeat their enemies.
“Thanks for the help in packing all of this stuff,” Orange Box said to Flutterwonder. “And thanks for taking the time to listen to me again, sis.”
The older pegasus looked at the younger one. “I couldn’t stay mad at you forever, Orange. We’re sisters, right?”
Orange cracked a soft grin. “Was it your coltfriend that made you give in, or Hazy?”
Fluttsy laughed. “Well, if I have to be honest, it was Firewire. He didn’t think that we should be fighting at all, and said that it’d hurt Mom’s feelings if we kept it up. Even if you hate her, Orange, she still loves you and it hurts her to….” A stare from the gray pegasus shut the yellow one up.
“Look, I thought we agreed we wouldn’t talk about that anymore,” Orange said plainly.
“But Mom—”
“Give it a rest, Fluttsy. My mind is made up: I want nothing to do with her anymore. I love Dad, and I will always be there for him, just as he was always there for us. But her…I can’t forgive. I can’t ever forgive,” the baker replied. “Maybe it’s wrong and inequine of me, but I just can’t bring myself to forgive, and I just can’t comprehend how any of you can.”
“Because she’s our Mom and we love her, just as she loves us,” Fluttsy replied. “And I’m not going to push you on that – I promised Hazy and Splashie I wouldn’t, but…well, nevermind. Let’s just keep working.”
Orange seemingly perked up at the change of subject. “Besides, we have all these CARE packages we’ve got to get wrapped up before the Red Cross gets here to pick up the first wave.”
“Tell me about it: we need relief supplies sent to Cloudsdale on the double, and I’m getting every pegasus I know to help me carry everything over.”
“I know how you feel, sis,” Orange admitted. “I just…I don’t have time to talk about…well, other things, you know?”
The look on Flutterwonder’s face was inquisitive. “Somepony looks a little guilty….”
“I….” Orange gave her sister an odd look. “Did you ever do something that you regret? Something that you feel can’t be taken back?”
“No, why?”
The younger pegasus shook her head. “Nevermind,” she added. “Let’s just get this package done so we can start cooking the next batch of food they’ll need.”
It was night when Champagne Dreams walked onto the grounds of her home. “Good evening, milady,” one of the guards said, bowing deeply as she walked past. “Pleasant evening?”
“Yes,” Champagne cooed, a smile on her face. “Let’s just said I made quite the impression on a group of individuals today,” she replied, “and if everything goes according to plan, things will be very different.” She approached the guard, an enigmatic grin on her face as she said, “Someday, all will be as clear as the dusk.” She left the guard to puzzle over her thoughts as she moved on into the manor.
Once inside, Blueblood stood there, a smile on his face. “You were marvelous today, my wife.”
She curtsied slightly. “And thank you, dearest husband. What I did today was to lay a foundation for our betterment, and for the day when we can count upon our bright victory. I trust all other preparations have been made?”
“Not yet. We still have some that will not listen, but it’s just a matter of time. I will win them over eventually. They cannot hold out before the truth, and sooner or later they will have to know that.”
As the night wound down, DJ poked her head into the room her sons slept in, the light from the hallway illuminating the sleeping faces of the boys. She then turned to look at Mike, whispering, “They’re as handsome as their father.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” he joked. She, in turn, just gave him that look every wife gives her husband when the humor grows old; she then underlined that by flicking him with her tail, though playfully. “Well, I’ve got to report to the embassy first thing in the morning,” Mike replied. “I agreed to PT in the morning with Col. Thomlinson; Brett’s a pretty cool guy, but his wife was injured in the attack.”
“She was?” DJ asked.
“Yeah, he married a pony sometime last year, and guy’s a complete wreck right now. I suspect the General is having me keep tabs on him right now, just to make sure he’s got someone he can talk to. Frankly, I know how he feels.”
DJ whispered, “I’m sorry, Mike. I can’t say that enough.”
“Let’s forget about that,” he replied. “It’s in the past. Hopefully I should be able to meet you at the hospital first thing in the afternoon.”
“I’m still nervous about this,” she admitted.
“Look, I’m sure Elusive or Sweetie can take time out of their schedules to go with you if you want—”
“No,” she said, firmly. “Things might be said that could…no, scratch that – things likely will be said that will hurt feelings. I care about them both and I don’t want to see their feelings hurt.”
“Your parents are going with you, right?”
“As if Mom and Dad would ever let me walk into danger alone,” she said, a tone of pride in her voice.
“Well, if nothing else, I’m proud of you for facing this. And I’ll be there with you as soon as I can,” he said, bending down to kiss her on the forehead. “Now, I’ve got to get some sleep since my ass has to be up at 0530 to get ready.” She nodded and he walked down the hall towards where their room was, while DJ slipped into the boys’ room.
As she entered the room, she saw the glow-in-the-dark stars and moon stickers that Luna had placed around the room for the sake of the boys’ comfort. But while DJ saw the soft green glow of the stickers, she also saw the blue, pulsating energy radiating from them, spell wards designed to protect the boys in the event of an emergency. Given what Nightmare Moon had done, Luna had spent a few minutes reinforcing the spell strong enough that it would take magical strength of two powers on the alicorn’s magical scale to cancel out. It was a measure of safety for the boys, one that DJ was grateful that her aunt had thought to do.
“Mom?” Stuart’s voice came from the shadows.
She went over to his bed and kissed him on the forehead gently. “I’m here,” she said.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Why do you ask that?”
In the way that kids told the blunt truth, he said, “You seem kinda scared. I know you and Dad are trying to be brave about all this meeting your re…I mean, old parents tomorrow.”
“Well, I am, just a little,” DJ admitted. “It’s only natural. People tend to fear things at times, but as long as you have a prayer in your heart and the knowledge that you’re loved, everything will turn out for the best.”
“You promise?”
“Always,” she said, mussing his hair.
“Then why the spell barrier?” he asked.
A sudden chill went down her spine. How…? “How did you know about that?”
“I heard Aunt Luna talking to Uncle Spike about the barrier in the room, and when I looked up at the stickers Aunt Luna put up for us, I could see two kinds of glows. One of them looks like the stickers in our room back home, but the other one looks kinda like magic.”
“But that’s….” She trailed off; the only reason she could see them was because Luna cast a spell on her so she could monitor the spell’s strength. But Stuart shouldn’t have been able to see them at all, unless…. A thought came to her mind, one that Mike had mentioned earlier in the night: Spike’s theory that as children of ponies and humans, there was the chance that Stuart and Tyler could have inherited pony traits aside from the obvious eye and hair colors.
Could that heritage be unicorn magic as well? Or earth pony strength? And if Stuart had it and possibly Tyler, what about Lyra’s three children? Colby, Orchid and Octavia could have the same potential. And, twenty years on from first contact there were dozens of pony-human pairings now…and she knew several of them personally, and several had newborns or were expecting. Note to self: need to let Logan and Lovestruck know that baby Charlotte might just have inherited some of Loves’ magic talent – she’s already got her mother’s eye and hair color.
“Mom?” Stuart asked, wondering why she suddenly fell silent.
“Nothing, sweetie; I was just thinking. But tell you what: if you promise to be there for me, I promise I won’t be afraid, okay?”
He leaned up out of bed and hugged her. “Deal!” She held him, knowing that his smaller size wasn’t going to last much longer; he was a growing boy and that meant that it was only a handful of years before he’d be taller than her. But then again, that’s just the way things were for ponies, even humanized ones like herself or Lyra.
“I love you, kiddo. Your dad and I both. Don’t you forget that, okay?” He nodded, and she kissed him on the cheek. “Now you get some sleep, okay? I want you to spend some time in the morning studying with Cinnamon before we go to the hospital.”
“Okay. Love you, Mom.”
She smiled as she made her way to the door. “Love you too, Stuart. Night.”
Celestia entered her room, head drooping. She was disconsolate and alone, and her heart hurt like it hadn’t in ages. Today, she’d been reminded that she was ever meant to be alone. Today, she was reminded that four of the ponies she loved most were on the verge of death. Today, she’d been reminded that despite all her power, two of her cities had fallen to two different enemies, and she now stood at the crossroads of war, facing both ancient foes and ones bearing technological atrocities – and neither one bode well for the fate of her realm.
Today, I was reminded that for all that I am, I am nothing, she thought, and that in the end, Luna was right, and I’m a hypocrite. For the first time in ages, the sun alicorn felt like a complete and utter failure and wanted to just shrink into nothingness. A thought came to mind: was this how and why her mother suddenly disappeared? To date, the only clue she’d received as to why Faust had left was a note saying that it was better for the realm that way and that she loved them both. And then Queen Faust was gone, and her disappearance started a maelstrom that even centuries later had yet to heal in some ways.
Celestia thought about that for a second and knew she couldn’t do that to her ponies. And maybe, that was the worst part of it all: it made her crown a slave collar, keeping her confined and tied down, even when other ponies had their own freedoms, leaving the princess forever in a gilded cage.
Tired, the Princess of the Sun collapsed on her bed. Letting exhaustion take her, she lay her head down on a pillow, mind headed towards a fitful and sleepless night.
But it wasn’t an alicorn’s head that rested on that pillow that evening.
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Damn you Blueblood. This is not the time to be stirring up speciesism.
This is getting better and better. And a song, for some reason.
Oh damn
Blue Blood is a clever little prick. All the more satisfying when everything fails all around him.
Celestia is keeping Mike close. Hope he is up to the challenge. Looking forward to family meeting in the hospital.
Patient zero?
Oh crap.
BLUUUUUUUUUUE BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!
Yay. Its here: a new chapter of one of my favorite fan fiction :D
The tension just keeps on building and building! By the gods, I can't wait for more.
Awesome!
I was under the impression that American citizens couldn't be knighted.
Poor evil Twilight.
Poor Twilight
Oh God, for DJ and Mike
Tsk Tsk to Celestia
Another great chapter! I saw a hint for a new side story which is great and poor Patient Zero. The Changelings really need to read the Geneva Convention
BlueBlood being a pain in the ass like always..... I guess he's the leader of the PureHoofs. I did Nazi that coming....
“So this is the esteemed gentleman that made such a ruckus in Honolulu this past January?”
I smell a side story! And maybe two if you include about Rainbow Blitz's past as well.
===============================
Anyway so much stuff happening, so many events being set up for future chapters. So many question, gaaaaaah!!!!
===============================
Again hope for the best but expect the worst. I really feel sad for patient zero ><.
Hang on, so... Rarity's being a prejudicial idiot, and Blueblood's being a prejudicial idiot, so why weren't they together again?
Rarity getting put in her place, several times over in a matter of minutes, was incredibly satisfying to read.
And, of course, this has been another great chapter to read.
I think this makes humans seem kind or worthless, or do we advance faster.
1153854
We technically can't be, but we can be granted honorary knighthoods. Bill Gates has one, and Ronald Reagan was given one as well. But an American who's been given a knighthood can't call themselves Sir or Lady.
As for the rest of this chapter, holy shit. This is getting good. Rarity getting the smackdown laid on her was incredibly satisfying to read. For a pony so prejudiced, it's amazing she didn't end up together with Prince Blueblood.
Also, Patient Zero? The shit is about to hit the fan.
dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Octavia_plot.png
s every where. I love it.
Uh, did I miss something? Neon Lux was never revealed as Blueblood, or implied to be in any way. Heck, it doesn't make any sense since Blueblood supposed to be thousands of miles away at the moment. Is this because he called his followers 'commoners'? . . . Ugh.
There's more than one member of the nobility in Equestria, people! I swear, this is just like back when people were trying to connect Amon's identity to A:TLA instead of just being something unique to A:LoK.
Also, calling it now, Mike's new team is going to be a cross between SG-1 and the A-Team, mostly the A-Team. Why? Because you said in your interview that The A-Team was one of the biggest influences for your work.
1156086
Considering that Mike just got promoted to a seemingly VERY high military command position and is Baron Consort to one of the seven royal houses established to the Mane Six plus Derpy, I suspect people are going to call him "sir" regardless of whether or not he's been given an Equestrian Knighthood.
1157299
A-Team you say? Calling it now: Pipsqueak will be the Mr. T stand in.
". . . and then it got worse."
Seriously, I'm getting tired of this story piling calamity after calamity on the protagonists. This isn't an emotional rollercoaster, it's a death spiral. Serious victories need to occur soon for the protagonists or the story is in danger of getting routinely depressing, and therefor boring.
Phew, I've finally caught up and I am so glad that I didn't end up up in an exciting cliff hanger chapter as well. You are definitely a great writer that military bronies should have a great respect for and I think I should recommand them all to try to read it because you keep things supsenseful and for non-military bronies like myself I can still follow the story even though I don't know what almost most of those acrononyms means. Also I've finally caught up to it in the point that I can fave it right in true tracking fashion. DJ is unlike any character I've ever read around here and she is very realistic despite being a fictional pony, especially being a mother who's going to be involved in very big fights, although I'm glad that Mike is able to go back and be with her and I hope the war doesn't last too long against the main bad guys.
Speaking of the story, it's nice to see Rarity is having her usual course of what the hay hero from Twilight and with an extra course of why she's the one that pushed DJ away from her parents rather than the other way around. I'm pretty sure Rarity has been having this kind of "please make up with your relative that you've cut all ties with" conversations in the same way that DJ has about Rarity as one of the reasons why she's acting so childish. It's kind of easier to side with her friends to find out that everyone is being disgusted by her current behavior about not accepting DJ as her daughter, but I just hope that somebody will eventually say "if you'll never going to accept DJ/Rarity to be your daughter/mother then you should, for the sake of your friends and family, at least try to be friends with each other." (Even if they'll most likely become the kind who argues every 2 seconds) I can understand why Rarity is so ungrateful for DJ's parents and even fears/hates them, but I keep getting this nagging feeling that everyone's sickness is tied to Rarity's childish and irrational hatred for DJ and her family.
Geez, you're making your bad guys very over powered although I wonder what they were planning with the whole "zombie" thing and I do understand that they are that strong is because people underestimated them. Oh you know, I actually kind of wish that Celestia say in her declaration of war against the deadlty trio team of bad guys, that she would also like to save the ones were coreced to working with them as well. Anyway if i have to guess by the time DJ hits the hospital people will be attacked AGAIN, man all of these bad guys are crawling out of the wood work aren't they. Also thanks for making such an interesting story and I'm happy to find almost to no grammar mistakes in here (I've only found like one or two here).
It's about time somepony chin-checked Rarity for having her head up her flank about DJ! Way to go, Twily! A truely amazing story!
You say Nokia, I say: wtfcontent.com/img/132571080442.jpg
Changelings on the good side?
They prefer being called 'flutters'...
Their queen Imago and her daughter..... Rosedust!
Flutters... Rosedust..... Anybody got a sunstone handy for them?
And so, Screwball and Screwloose show up like the good Chekhov's Gunmen they are. They seem interesting, if a bit annoying so far.
Twilight Sunburn, meanwhile, seems to be on an one-way street to becoming a good guy. I like the parts with her.
My pessimist reader's instinct is showing, for the moment I've read the first sentence about "the city of Whinnypeg", I thought "well, this city is doomed now. The Death Gaze of the Narrator is upon it."
I thought this was a great chapter, but for some reason I cared more for the Hawaii references. Pali lookout? B**** please that place if for tourists, but people have jumped over the damn wall there.
Winnipeg? Why Winnipeg?
I see what you did there.
I love the changes and added scenes you put into this chapter.
I didn't even see it coming of who you replaced in The PureHooves scene.
So, let me get this straight. One one hand, we have the weakened Royal Family. They and their human allies are being challenged by Blueblood and his family, who want political power; Nightmare Moon, the Changelings, and the Republic of Pirates; and the purehooves, who want anyone not a pony dumped into our world and the door shut, key destroyed. Am I missing anything?
Also, are we going to see a reconciliation between DJ/Sandlewood, and Rarity, or will Rarity's hate for all things human blind her? I mean she just insulted Lyra and DJ's adoptive parents, assaulted said parents.
Little bit of editing mayhem going on.
Regardless, Man, Sunset Shimmer.
Real? Changeling? Champagne Dreams in disguise? Intrigue be everywhere.
There are a lot of balls in the air right now and it's getting a tad confusing. I spent the first minute or so of Orange Box's segment trying to figure out if he's new or I should remember him.
Oh You!
1153358
No more Blue Blood, but Champagne Dreams now? Hmm... If Sunset Shimmer wasn't Champagne Dreams in disguise, good chance she has the support of her.
2711760
Fixed.
And what juggling? This is the easy version....
2713995with this fic you are the greatist author to ever live
...It is so weird reading this and seeing people's comments but not knowing what they're talking about because I'm reading AFTER the rewrite...
This is like the fourth time I have this awkward "Wait, what?" moment after I scanned the comments.
So Sunset Shimmer is also involved in this. Or is she actually Champagne Dreams in disguise?
Rarity had that verbal lashing coming. Glad it finally came. Looking forward to part 2 with DJ.
Reference or Foreshadowing? Hard to tell in fanfiction.
The argument of the Purehooves is as strong as wet tissue paper. Yet the nutjobs hang on every word! Humans are known to do this. Ponies aren't so different.
I hate cults.
Starting to think the Blueblood clan is not a Purehoof member. Mostly because if they were, then the royal family would have less problems to worry about. I'm seeing a pattern in this story where every time I think something bad could happen, it's the more difficult option.
Who in the world is this Patient Zero I'm hearing about in the comments? My best guess is that that is who Sunset Shimmer replaced after the rewrite.
That verbal beatdown of Rarity...delicious. Utterly glorious. I've been waiting for that for 12 chapters. Thank you, oh sagacious and wise writefag.
Too bad her primary strat has been neutralized.
Has Rarity suffered brain damage or something? She is saying things that she KNOWS are false. It's like she's trying to convince herself and this whole situation is her fault to begin with.
Rarity
Need i remind you how you got your element?
You gave your mane to a sea serpent you JUST MET!
Somecreature you didn't even know you gave what you loved the most
perhaps you should take that into account
Me: is that the auror-- *dissappears*
ALSO THIS IS JUST--
LIKE--
HENRY---
STICKMIN
Brother, SCREW THE CODEX
SUNSET!
Oh no
S H A T T E R
forgiveness its...gone