Princess Celestia stared into the moonless early-morning sky. She started to become concerned for her sister’s safety. After all, Luna was supposed to return over an hour ago. Even more nerve-wracking was the fact that the moon wasn’t out. All of Equestria was in total darkness, and Luna didn’t seem to care.
Eventually, anxiety took over and she cast a communications spell to Crimson’s headquarters in Manehattan. On the other side, ponies raced around to cope with some kind of disaster. No one seemed to notice the image of their ruler standing next to the map, and some even galloped right through her shimmering end of the spell.
“Captain Thunderstrikes, take over Medical. Lieutenant Comet, I’m moving you to Bricklyn Bridge. Don’t fail us; it’s the closest to HQ. Captain Shadow, you defend Tartarus Bridge. Kick the Crystal Empire off Whirlpool Island if you can, but the troops may not be able to. Just keep them away from our side of the bridge. Blow it if you have to.” Crimson ordered from outside the building.
Celestia moved her image to his location to try to get a report. But by the time she finished, he had galloped to the port. She followed him, and saw why he hurried so. An amphibious assault was underway.
Some reinforcements came in, pulling carts of explosives and a batch of what Crimson called ‘propellant’- some fuel that could send a bomb to its target a fair distance away.
“Does the propellant fit the exact recipe I supplied this morning? Because if it doesn’t, we go up in smoke.”
“Yes, sir, it does.” said the Earth pony pulling the cart. “What do we do with it?”
“Fill these with it.” The colonel held steel tubes with holes in the side. “Like this.” He proceeded to pour the powder into the tube, and closed the cap when it was full. Crimson screwed a cone-shaped explosive on one end and loaded the object into a steel cylinder. This steel contraption sat atop a wooden tripod, had some sort of sighting mechanism, and a special lever off to the side.
Crimson Dawn closed one eye, looking through the sights, forward left hoof over the lever. He judged it good enough, and hit it.
The lever flipped and a spark in the steel cylinder ignited the propellant. The cone-tipped object flew out of the tube with great speed, leaving a smoke trail behind it. The thing impacted a modified ferry, and burst into flames. Aboard the ship, the Crystal ponies had no idea what to do. Their vessel was ablaze with a brilliant white fire that continued to burn, no matter what they tried.
Celestia’s face turned from confusion to shock. “Crimson, what did you use?”
He turned to face her. “Princess! Forgive me for not noticing you. As for the material, I used magnesium powder. Found a good bit of the stuff, separated it from other materials, crushed it, and I have a highly flammable material. Excellent for incendiary shots.”
“Magnesium? Where is that found?”
“In the harbor. It is seawater, and seawater just happens to have a fair abundance of magnesium.” he replied coolly. Turning to face the other troops briefly, he called, “Do what I just did. One for every ship.”
The others began to set flames to the modified ferries, and before long, all Crystal ships were in full retreat.
Celestia still had an extremely important question. “Crimson Dawn, where is my sister?”
The pained look on his face told her everything. The arrow, the blood, the alicorn dying in the night. “I’m sorry, Princess. We were betrayed.”
“No… It can’t be…” Celestia’s royal voice fell apart. “Luna can’t be gone.”
The soldier thought for a few minutes, then came up with an absolutely ridiculous plan.
“She may be lost, but I know something who may or may not be able to help.”
“It’s impossible. When somepony dies, they die.”
“Have you thought about the Elements of Harmony? Granted, resurrection is likely beyond their power, and probably Discord’s as well. But if the two pooled their magic, it might do something.” Crimson told her. “All we need is something that isn’t controlled by Equestrians…”
“You’re thinking of the Everfree Forest.” The princess’ left eyebrow lifted some.
“No, I’m not. This is extremely insane, but the Dominion could help. Their knowledge of the magical arts is far superior compared to yours. War magic, telekinesis, telepathy, you name it.”
“The Dominion? Who are they?”
Crimson’s growing smile faded. “My mortal enemy.”
The Princess of the Sun became immediately concerned. If they hated Crimson Dawn’s guts, he would receive a whack to the head- and that would probably be only the beginning.
“Colonel, I can not let you go.”
“Princess Celestia,” he replied, “it isn’t me who’s going. Most likely Cadence or Twilight.”
She thought about that. Twilight certainly couldn’t leave- what if they needed the Elements while she was gone? Cadence, on the other hand, wasn’t doing anything. She had more diplomatic experience than her sister-in-law, and technically wasn’t related to Crimson and Celestia. The journey, however…
“What’s the fastest route?”
“If you’re willing to risk it, the pass through the mountains east of Griffonstone are the quickest, if not the most dangerous. One has to deal with blisteringly cold winds, altitudes of almost five thousand meters, and the occasional hostile wildlife. It is not an ideal travel path, especially for a princess, even if it cuts a week or two off the time. Which is why every pony has gone around them, across the Celestial Sea through the waters just north of the Dragon’s Lair. Takes a month one way.” he answered. “You’re not thinking of actually making the trip yourself, are you?”
“I am. If it means having my sister back.”
“Well, don’t come through Manehattan. I would not like two dead princesses on my hooves.”
“Think of it as a diplomatic opportunity. I’d like to see this Atlantis and Dominion for myself. Twilight and Cadence will take over my royal duties while I’m gone, but you are in command of the military. If one of them comes to visit, you have the authority to declare Manehattan off-limits.”
He nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I understand. Good luck.”
She ended the communications spell. “May Harmony guide the both of us.”
Celestia wrote a message to each of the remaining Princesses telling them her plan. Both immediately replied, saying it was far too dangerous to go alone. They also asked why. Her only response was ‘family’.
She steeled her nerves and took flight to the train station. Her personal train was waiting to be used. At the same time, the main rail line would pass her multiple times, giving Crystal ponies plenty of opportunities to either kill her or take her prisoner.
The personal train of the Princess of the Sun was sleek and elegant, resembling the one Cadence once when she ruled the Crystal Empire two years before. But unlike its design inspiration, it was made not of crystals, but something completely different: an aluminum alloy invented three years ago. This alloy glinted the sunlight off, reflecting into ponies’ eyes. Some would say she literally brought the Sun down to earth.
It was the same train that transported Crimson to Manehattan. He called it a bullet train, seeing how great speed could come from this aerodynamically smooth vehicle. She could understand his logic there.
Celestia boarded and decided against bringing guards along. This would be one way to prove to disapproving ponies that she actually did things besides sitting on a throne. Since word travels faster than she would like, everypony probably knew of the tragedy that occurred last night. Which meant Celestia had a lot more to deal with.
Celestia, never having actually ridden it herself, could feel the speed build up as the train driver took off the brakes and headed down the line. Trees, grass, and the occasional pony whizzed by as the train barreled towards the eastern coast. At one hundred sixty-one kilometers per hour, the landscape turned into a blur of green plants and blue sky. It was an exhilarating experience.
She blew past the Ponyville-Vanhoover crossing about an hour into the ride. Watching the windows was simply captivating, stopped momentarily by the rail line. As Celestia continued to look, the view slowly changed from high up near Canterlot to more of a countryside, with rolling hills and extending plains.
If only Luna could appreciate the beauty of Equestria once more, she thought. This is the kind of land she loved, especially at night. No lights, no guards, no nothing. Just her and the night.
The engineer walked in to report. “Princess, we should arrive in Griffonstone in approximately two days.”
“Understood. Dismissed.”
Celestia went back to staring out the train window.