Canterlot Castle
5:39 P.M.
Twilight staggered into the castle, barely staying on her hooves. Her flight from what was once Fillydelphia had been a long one, but the sight of all those innocent ponies dying had taken a far greater toll on her. A guardspony rushed up to support her as she stumbled down the main hall.
“Your Majesty, are you all right?”
“I… I have to talk to Celestia.”
“Of course, Your Majesty. I’ll alert her that you’re coming. Barrel Chest, Strong Back, get over here and help the Princess!”
Two Earth pony guards came over and lifted her onto their backs. Once he was sure Twilight wasn’t going to fall, the first guard rushed off towards the throne room. The Earth ponies followed him, carefully measuring their steps so as to not jolt the VIP they carried. Normally, Twilight would have objected to such deferential treatment, but she was too shaken to mind. The doors were opened for her, and Celestia came up to them as quickly as she could while still looking regal.
“Oh, Twilight! What happened to you?”
“Fillydelphia… It’s… It’s gone. They’re all dead.”
Celestia’s mane and tail went limp. “No… You can’t mean…”
“All six million ponies, just… gone. One minute, I was on a hill, watching the humans run from the city. The next…” She squeezed her eyes shut and went silent for a long moment. “I think I’m the only survivor.”
Location: The Indomitable
Local Time: 20:14
Gavrisom left the holocomm room, wiping the sweat off his brow with his sleeve. Remarkably, the Emperor had made no mention of any “envoys” coming to “remedy the situation.” Even more shocking, he hadn’t seemed upset or even that surprised to learn about the stolen shuttle. Of course, the withered old man could be remarkably enigmatic when he so chose, but he rarely decided to hide his displeasure. It almost made Gavrisom more nervous than if he had been told that a squad of Royal Guards would be arriving with the special weapons in three days.
He headed for the command room, intending to call Aerin and discuss what to do with the troops. The men loved, or at least respected, their commanding officers, but having them sit around for months with neither action nor leave until the ponies were starved into submission was a sure way to incite mutiny, even in such a well-disciplined group. There needed to be an actual campaign to keep them busy, not just a bit of skirmishing around the crash site of the Ardent for salvage. That wasn’t even real action – any pony force small enough to slip past orbital surveillance was no match for the battalion encamped there. The boys needed a morale boost, a city to capture and actually hold this time.
Just as he was about to enter the room, he was stopped by an ensign. “Sir, a message from the High Inquisitor. Our surveillance team reports that Chrysalis is pulling her agents out of their positions en masse, and she isn’t picking up her holocomm. The Inquisitor is requesting a company of troops to assist him and his commandos in, and I quote, ‘sending a message.’”
Well, it was something, at least.
Location: Equestrian Badlands
Local Time: 20:53
Malen strode down the ramp of the first of four shuttles to land and disgorge CompForce troopers, followed by his storm commandos. He could feel the troopers’ eagerness to kill. They had been on a planet full of hostile aliens for over a month, and yet the Empire’s most rabidly anti-alien forces had first seen combat earlier today. Adding to the bloodlust was a desire to take revenge for that humiliating defeat. Their vengeance wouldn’t be exacted against the same species that had annihilated the Imperial troops at Fillydelphia, but to CompForce, aliens were aliens.
Chittering noises and the buzzing of wings issued from the cave. Intelligence suggested that the Imperial company would be outnumbered by a factor of about fifteen to one. An acceptable amount, especially considering that the Inquisitor was worth at least forty changelings all by himself. The narrow corridors of the cave network, intended to assist the changelings in defending against the far larger Equestrian Army, would work against them, further tipping the balance of power in the Imperials’ favor.
The troops spread out in a semicircle around the mouth of the cave as the noises from inside went silent. Malen was just about to order his men into the cave when a single changeling came out. The creature’s monochrome eyes made it difficult for the Imperials to fully understand its facial expression, though Malen sensed a mix of haughty disdain and fear. “Her Majesty, Queen Chrysalis, demands that you leave immediately,” it said. “Such a large force risks drawing the attention of the ponies.”
Malen shook his head, a cruel grin on his face. “It isn’t the ponies you should be worried about… Your Majesty.” Bolts of lightning arced out from his hands, sending the changeling smashing into the valley wall above the mouth of the cave. Still sparking, it fell to the ground and reverted to its true form. Blasters blazing, the storm commandos and CompForce troopers moved into the cave system as the Inquisitor knelt in front of the gasping Changeling Queen. His smile had disappeared. “You broke the terms of our treaty, Chrysalis. Why? What Dread Master could have possibly driven you to it? What spell of madness could have even begun to make you think that was a good idea? Talk! Answer me!”
Chrysalis groaned, but managed to rasp out a response. “That human… He told… Ponies found my drones… No choice… All over anyways…”
“And you thought the ponies’ vengeance would be worse than ours?! You mindless fool!”
Chrysalis tried to regain her hooves, but Malen’s telekinetic grip forced her back down. She hissed. “What do you think… my drones would do… if I left them there… to be discovered? I had to keep… my power…”
Malen shook his head, his smile returning. “And look where it got you. Your slaves will die, and you with them. Goodbye, Chrysalis.” He pressed the hilt of his lightsaber to her head.
“Wait!” she hissed desperately. “Your special project! You still need us!”
Malen chuckled, an unnatural and chilling sound. “Oh, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. I already have what I wanted, and with war breaking out anyways, they’ll just assume we killed her. If you won’t infiltrate for us, then you’ve outlived your usefulness.”
“No! I was wrong! It was a mistake! I can make it –!”
The crimson blade passed through her skull, silencing her. “No, you can’t,” Malen said to the body as he stood up. “I have no use for unreliable agents.” He stepped over the body on his way into the cave, then paused. As an afterthought, he wrenched her head off her body and crushed it against the canyon wall. Without further hesitation, he progressed into the caverns, his lightsaber casting flickering shadows on the walls.
Location: Everfree Imperial Garrison
Local Time: 23:17
“You said you were going to send a message!”
Malen dispassionately met Gavrisom’s bloodshot, furious holographic gaze. “And I did,” he said. “I sent a message that you never, ever betray the Empire.”
“She hadn’t betrayed us! She wasn’t working with the ponies, she was failing to do her duty! She needed to be set straight, not murdered!”
“Please, keep yelling at me, Governor. I’ll enjoy the result.”
Gavrisom’s flushed face went pale, but he continued his complaint at a lower volume. “You committed speciecide, Inquisitor. How are we going to keep our allies, or win other ones, if they think you’ll just murder them if they make even the smallest mistake? Massacres don’t make people like you.”
Malen scoffed. “I didn’t wipe out the entire species. There are changelings who weren’t in that cave. As for the allies, you yourself ordered the deaths of six million civilians today – far more than I killed.”
Gavrisom rested his head in his hands. “We can’t hide this from the diamond dogs. Fortunately, there was no love lost between them and the changelings, so maybe we can maintain our alliance. I’ll contact Chancellor Jim in the morning. Cut transmission.”
The hologram disappeared, and Malen made his way to the secret chamber. The very air in the room was saturated with Dark Side energies from the two artifacts sitting on a table in the center. Again, he looked at the tiny dots in the test tubes. Five months. Faster cloning methods had been developed, to the point where the clones grown for the Stormtrooper Corps were brought to full maturity in only one year instead of ten. But the faster the cloning process was, the more degraded the clones became, and the Emperor wanted these clones to be completely perfect replicas of the original. So the old Kaminoan process, at twice the normal rate of development, was the one being employed. Five more months, and I can begin their training…
Canterlot Castle
1/18/4
12:00 P.M.
In one of the castle’s many conference rooms, Celestia met with the Element-Bearers, Twilight’s close associates, Equestria’s top military officers, a few influential nobles, politicians, and businessponies, and one highly unusual being.
“Ah still don’t trust him,” Applejack muttered, sending a glare in Orramas’s direction.
“I wish I could say I felt differently,” Twilight said, “but I saw firsthoof what these humans are willing to do. Are we sure he’s not still loyal to the Galactic Empire?”
“I am,” he told her. “I wish it well in all its other operations. Just not here.”
“Oh, that’s just amazing,” Shining Armor growled. “Why are we letting this guy see our strategies?”
“I think I’ve proven myself,” Orramas responded stiffly. “Teaching you how to read Aurebesh and fly a shuttle isn’t exactly in the Empire’s best interests on this world.”
Blueblood threw his head back and gave a derisive humph. “We don’t need this animal’s help. Send him back into that horrible forest where he belongs.”
“Hey,” Rainbow Dash spoke up, “I don’t trust him either, but I do trust Fluttershy, and if she says we should accept him, then we should.”
“Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but I’ll take what I can get,” Orramas said with a small smile.
Murmurs erupted around the table, most of them still skeptical. Celestia pointedly cleared her throat, silencing the grumbles. “Captain Zem, why don’t you tell everypony a bit about yourself? It might help reassure them.”
He raised an eyebrow. “If you really think so…” He looked around at the assembled ponies. “I was born twenty-six years ago to a wealthy family on Coruscant, the capital of the galaxy. My parents were vocal supporters of the Republic, donating hundreds of thousands of credits to it during the Clone Wars. When I was fourteen, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine declared himself Galactic Emperor. My parents continued to support him, and for their loyalty, they were given a home on a newly-discovered world the Emperor turned into his personal resort.” His expression turned nostalgic. “Byss is a beautiful, temperate planet, with green fields, sparkling lakes and rivers, and stunning plateaus and canyons. The night sky is illuminated by five moons, and the sun gives off a strange but enchanting blue-green light. The world’s single city holds every luxury a person could ever want. In a word – paradise. But as the years passed, I started to feel… Well, I felt guilty. I hadn’t done anything to deserve living there, and my parents had done little more. They were so rich off of our two-millennia-old shipping company, even hundreds of thousands of credits was no great loss to them. I wanted to earn a life of peace and comfort, and I decided that the best way to do that was to make life as peaceful as possible for as many beings as I could. When I was eighteen, I applied for the Diplomatic Services. I passed the exams, and I’ve spent the past eight years helping the Empire come to peaceful resolutions of conflicts with Outer Rim governments. My handlers assigned me here when the Emperor demanded your species’ peaceful assimilation into the Empire, thinking my experience dealing with nonhumans would improve our chances of avoiding war, or at least splitting your loyalties. But then I met Miss Fluttershy, and, well, here I am.”
Hoity Toity grinned and stage whispered to him, “Well, congratulations on your fine catch, Mr. Orramas. She’s a lovely piece of flank. Had a short career as a model, you know.”
All of the other upper-class ponies looked scandalized, Fluttershy sank under the table, and Orramas turned bright red. “Moving swiftly on!” he pronounced loudly. He unrolled a map of Equestria on the table. “Now, our – that is, the Empire’s – original plan was to, after establishing our control over Fillydelphia and annihilating your Navy, land another assault division outside Baltimare and take over that city as well, eliminating any chances of an assault from the rear against either our main base or the Fillydelphia garrison. We would then coordinate with the Griffon Royal Navy to launch an attack on Manehattan. They would blockade the port with the assistance of our few Maritime Division forces, while our last two assault divisions would attack by land. We would then have a firm grip on your east coast. Our next priority would be to reinforce our holdings and deal with the last two hostile forces to the east, the dragons and the Saddle Arabians. The Saddle Arabians were dismissed as a non-threat, and we agreed to let the griffons handle them. As for the dragons, we planned to have a collaborator, a dragon named Garble, cha–” A loud groan rose from the Element-Bearers and Spike.
Orramas nodded, smiling thinly. “Yes, we’re aware of your, shall we say, less-then-positive prior experiences with him. That’s why we chose him to challenge Princess Ember for the throne, justifying it by saying she’d allied herself with a weak and failing nation. We’ve been supplying him with nova crystals, and we believed the power those gems hold within them would, when consumed, give him the strength he needed to defeat her. With our hold on our captured cities secure and the dragons on our side, we would land our entire Fourth Battlegroup outside the Crystal Empire. Not to capture it, mind you, but to cause as much damage as possible, forcing you to reduce your forces down here to aid Princess Cadance. Once you were there, our cruisers would destroy the passes leading to the Crystal Empire, trapping most of your army there and allowing us to easily mop up any remaining resistance and capture Canterlot with the assistance of the changeling infiltrators we planted in your ranks. Any survivors from Fourth Battlegroup would be evacuated, and we’d simply rely on dwindling food and morale to force you to surrender. It was all supposed to take no more than a month.
“But with the griffon surrender and the unexpected resistance in – and, according to Princess Sparkle, destruction of – Fillydelphia, that plan’s ruined. We… sorry, the Empire can’t afford to ignore the Saddle Arabians, the remarkable amount of resistance you’ve put up destroys the justification for the dragon coup, and cities can no longer be expected to fall within a day. I suspect the assault on Baltimare will go ahead as planned, but beyond that, I can’t be certain. What I do know is that there aren’t enough Imperial troops to constantly police everywhere. Less than fifty thousand ground troops can’t enforce martial law on over one hundred and forty million civilians. In order for this invasion to succeed, one of three things must happen. The Empire sends large amounts of reinforcements, a propaganda campaign swings a majority of the population to the Imperial cause, or the population experiences a sudden and massive reduction. Seeing as the Emperor hasn’t seen fit to do the first yet, I don’t see it happening at all. The second is an absurdity. Even if your civilians were still susceptible to Imperial propaganda at this point, I doubt Governor Gavrisom or General Aerin would be willing to carry it out. They’re both from the old school of officers, preferring to fight their enemies head-on instead of subverting them through psychological warfare. Which just leaves the last option. Princess Celestia, I hate to say this, but you’re going to have to be ready for a mass extermination campaign.”
The room went silent, ponies exchanging horrified or despondent glances. Finally, after over a minute, Shining Armor spoke. “So, does anypony have some good news?”
Orramas’s eyes brightened. “As a matter of fact, yes. A few of the salvage teams sent to the Ardent – that’s the starship you boarded during the Battle of Cloudsdale, by the way – managed to bring back a few slabs of durasteel and some electrical components from the escape pods. Not enough to make anything out of, and there’s really no way for you to entirely reverse-engineer all of our advancements within such a short amount of time, but under my direction, your scientists managed to complete an old project they’ve been working on. If you would all come with me?”
The confused committee followed him down to a large room on the ground floor, and they gaped at what they saw there. A huge grin on his face, Orramas turned to Twilight. “I’m sure you recall that you and your friends fought some of our light armored units during your time under that ‘Bogan’ entity’s influence and retained the wrecks for inspection. Well, Your Highness, how would you like to be the first pony on the other side of those cannons?”