Cimmerian's smile had long since left his face as he listened to a detailed list of both Canterlot's physical challenges to conquer as well as the actual state of the forces he had access to.
Celestia had designed the city as a multi-layered fortress and the Nightmare had locked it down tight. There were alternate routes into the city if you knew where they were, as Celestia had wanted ways to take back the city if it were conquered in her absence but most of those were heavily booby-trapped by Twilight and the Nightmare years ago. There seemed to be no way into the city without having to run through an endless tide of changelings while getting stuck at several choke points that would be a murder-fest.
The troops he had access to were also an issue. As Zelus had stated they couldn't fight prolonged battle. The stress would wear on them and eventually one would break. When that happened the linked Equestrian forces would unravel like a sweater, taking with them a good portion of his fighting force.
'An impenetrable city, inadequate troops and supplies, an infinite number of enemy soldiers, and a secondary enemy force looking to take the city that's better equipped and more experienced.
'This...is bad.'
The stallion had always kept his head up. It was a life philosophy that had helped him cope with his situation. Unidentifiable years of immobility, his sudden God/Demi-God status, the amorous bug-mare that had started as an acquisition during a foolish scouting mission he'd taken upon himself, even taking in the first of the changelings on the idea that there had to be more to a race than emotional vampirism. Optimism left him looking to Celestia when Luna proved hostile. Optimism left him looking for a way to usurp the Nightmare's power without a direct confrontation because he wasn't sure he could take her head-on. The main force behind the assault? A second changeling queen he'd asked Pandinus to allow entry even after the first mare had argued such an idea. A queen that stood beside him now as a powerful bodyguard and who had freed the third changeling queen on their side; Heart, a queen who even now was keeping the ponies that had been enslaved to the arrays safe and sane.
Optimism left him here in Equestria looking to take back the pony capital. But optimism alone couldn't win this fight.
He glanced at those currently present in the dream-simulation, a detailed map of Equestria making up the floor with forces marked in different colors for numbers and allegiance. Hackett was watching curiously, wondering what the alicorn would do with the odds so stacked. Zelus and Heart both were staring quietly, likely already sensing his lack of energy. Gold standard though was still standing tall, expecting Cimmerian to pull some Dues ex Machina from his ass. It was what alicorns did, after all.
'Not going to happen. Too much, the battle is too lopsided.'
Staring at the map and numbers for a few more minutes Cimmerian shook his head.
"It won't work. We can't win this fight."
Gold Standard almost had a conniption at the words, having been born and raised in a land where alicorns ruled for centuries. It would likely be the same when he delivered this news to the rest of the ponies. They'd hoped he would be able to pull this off and to some degree, so had he. Cimmerian wasn't stupid though. This would be a slaughter, and not the good kind.
"What do you mean we can't win? We have six hundred loyal Equestrian soldiers ready and waiting to kick those bugs out of our home!"
"Have you even looked at what we're up against? The changelings are endless. The queens will keep laying eggs to replenish their forces using the very magic that made it such a good home for unicorns! Then after pushing through thousands if not a million mindless drones and whatever traps the Nightmare has activated in her panic we have to hold it against a Minotaur invasion, with half the of the fortifications torn down from our own invasion. This isn't some Helm's Deep gambit where we hold for several days until reinforcements show up. We don't have reinforcements. We also have to fight our way in first, then defend it with soldiers that have already been exhausted taking the city!"
"You're an alicorn, you can't just say no!"
"Watch me. No, Golds Standard. I will not lead these soldiers to their deaths when there are other solutions available," he retorted.
"The princesses would-"
"Both Celestia and Luna have been taken out of this equation yeas ago. Celestia is only now recovering and while she can lead a country, she can't lead an army. Not because of your help mind you, but because my forces and I deactivated the array keeping them trapped. Luna is the only interest I have in Canterlot. Everything else in that city can burn for all I care."
Hackett remained silent as he stared at the map while both queens were watching from the far end of the table. Cimmerian could hear them speaking in hushed tones even now, though their topic tended to drift and have little to do with the planning.
"That's Canterlot you're talking about, you oversized-"
"That's an enemy city your demanding I take, Standard. That is a heavily fortified and strongly garrisoned stronghold with an infinite number of soldiers and a second enemy force on the way. It would be a slaughter for any Equestrian soldier I try to use to take it."
"You're darned right it will be a slaughter! Those changelings won't stand a chance!"
Zelus burst into laughter at the stallion's bravado and Heart shook her head. Cimmerian though was the one who had to deal with this one.
"Are you daft? Six hundred soldiers, no reinforcements, no resupply aside from what you can scrounge from the abandoned homes along the way, no time to rest or set up your own defenses before a second enemy force, this one at least twice the size of what you have now, strikes the city. Even if we, by some act of God, manage to take the city from the Nightmare and the changeling swarms without a single casualty, you are facing two to one odds in another fight less then a day after that. The Minotaurs aren't stupid. They're not going to let you get settled in. Once they see you pushing, they'll push as well. This is not a situation I'm involving myself in."
Cimmerian removed Gold from the dream with a simple push of his power, cutting off the stallion's tirade before it could begin.
"Honestly, I'm all for being positive but there's a point at which it becomes a flaw. When you're willing to walk into a wood chipper because you don't think it's smart enough to hurt you, there's an issue."
"I thought you were going to try it," Hackett said, shaking his head. "That or demand I supply you with troops."
"Herrick made that point perfectly clear. They're pissed as it is, having to retake High-Talon. Having them retake another nations capitol would be going to far. As for Discord, he said he'd help. He didn't say he'd do ninety percent of the work for us. I'm not interested in owing a God of chaos, or spirit, or whatever the hell it is he flaunts himself as. We have a real situation to work with, not some stallion's need to show the world his dick's bigger than everyone else's. This city here, Mare-oh my god, you're kidding me."
Cimmerian had seen it before, but actually being in the country and looking at the names of the pony cities was another thing entirely. Mareland? Really? And Stalliongrad. Oh it was almost painful to look at. The puns...
"We'll retake Mareland while the changelings are focused on the Minotaurs, sweep the city for control arrays and destroy or deactivate them. That way we'll have a home-base or at least a city to house people in. What do we know of Mareland?"
"I shall ask in the morning, or better yet I shall have some of the drones write it out after I return to my dream-hive," Heart replied. "I'm certain I have ponies that would know."
"That would be amazing. If you can get anything on the other cities as well I'd appreciate that. We need to bring Equestria back up and running. That means getting people home, getting farms running, getting the...weather factory? Okay, Cloudsdale; can we move it?"
"I don't see why not," Zelus said. "It's a cloud city. It would perhaps be a bit more involved than I would think but we should be able to manage it. I assume you want to move it over here? Closer to Mareland?"
"And farther from the minotaur lands. Even if they pull back after finding out Canterlot can't be held they're still a threat. Their leader wants to see alicorns, and by extension ponies in general, pay for putting his race down. I really don't think ponies have done so, but what someone thinks and the reality of the situation don't have to be one and the same. You also don't have to be actively working against someone to hurt them."
"True enough I suppose," Zelus agreed. "The first Nightmare had no intention of causing you problems, right? It was merely a bonus."
Cimmerian opened his mouth to say something but snapped it shut.
"I can't argue with that. I'm pretty sure it didn't care too much as long as it got out of the area. Any and all suffering that was a result was icing on the cake...a shitty cake, considering it lost, but a cake none the less."
"Does the suffering of the second Nightmare count?" Zelus added with a wry grin.
The queens shared a chuckle even as the alicorn continued to look over the map, adding lines or moving figures here or there. The minotaur forces were his primary concern at the moment. There was a good chance the minotaurs would fall back to resupply after the fall of Canterlot and then try to push into Equestria a second time. Without a standing army, the ponies wouldn't be able to defend the border as well and such tactics would be viable, even if it would add time to their movements.
Cimmerian stopped, looking to Hackett as he held a few more markers in his magic.
"If you'd like I can bring you back to your own dream. This is likely going to be an advanced and incredibly involved campaign. Multiple goals, multiple sides, it's not going to be an easy fix. I'll keep you updated but otherwise you're really not involved anymore."
"I'll be sending a report to Herrick tomorrow," the griffon said, shrugging his wings. "He wants to know what your planning and if he needs to be ready for an alicorn doing something stupid. If you're going this way I can tell him to start directing refugees to these towns you're grabbing. Personally, I think he'll be thrilled to hear you're taking this seriously and working the larger picture."
The alicorn nodded, tapping a map marker to his lips in thought.
"I want the minotaurs to hit Canterlot, but I also want to get Luna out of there. Sparky, you and I are going to make a route into the city Zelus and I can use to reach her. You remember where she was being kept?"
Twilight nodded, beginning to work the map and even helping the queens create a subterranean map that showed the sewers and tunnels under the city.
"The Nightmare knows about most of these and some of them I've even helped fortify but there were a few we used as escape routes. Some were even added after the fact, in case the other routes were known. One of them was a nice straight tunnel falling from about here in the castle into a cavern below the city. There's a straight shot from here to the queen's-"
"Where's Luna?" the alicorn interrupted.
"Oh, um, we kept her in the chambers across from the queens. I assume you want to take care of both-"
"Luna is the only thing I care about. The minotaurs aren't smart enough to use the queens. They'll kill them instead, or try to block them off. If they seal off the queens then we can recover them later, if they kill the queens...it's not ideal but its better than their current situation. My priority is Luna though. If the queens end up being too much trouble they may impede our recovery of the mare. Zelus and I are going to get into the city, grab her, then get the fuck out of dodge."
"Would you mind if I checked, Cimmerian?" Zelus asked. "To see if we could save any of the queens?"
"If you can do it without letting the drones loose into the hallway where I'm picking up Luna I don't care. If you think we can save a few of them let me know and I'll do what I can. Is there anything to stop us from teleporting in or out?" the stallion asked the smaller alicorn.
"A few runic wards, which are easy enough to bypass. I mean, I was the one who wrote a few of them and the rest are pretty generic or really old spells. Some of them just alter teleportation coordinates so you end up too high or too low, others prevent a successful connection with your teleportation beacon spell and cause the spell to fizzle. I grew up there though so teleporting in and out of Canterlot is fairly easy. It's one of the reasons I found teleporting in Ponyville so easy actually, there's no additional steps so-"
"Sparky, focus," Cimmerian said, chuckling. "Can we teleport into the room where the queens or Luna are being held?"
The mare looked away, abashed.
"Sorry. I don't think teleporting into the castle from outside will work unless it's Celestia herself, as she personally wrote some of the wards, and even then she didn't like doing that as it was difficult. Once we're inside though, it's easy to write a teleportation grid to move a large group out."
"Easy for you," Zelus corrected, smiling none the less. "I'll provide power for a teleport if we need it. I'll teach you to use another changeling's power tomorrow."
The purple mare squealed in glee, clopping her hooves together and bringing a smile to most of those present.
'At least she can still experience joy in learning,' Cimmerian thought. 'It's a good sign for her future...because eventually we may need her again. I can't lead two nations.'
<-(0)->
It was a commotion in the early morning that brought Cimmerian into the waking world. Zelus stepped into his tent, an irritated scowl on her face as she looked at him.
"Standard," was all she said but it was all the explanation he needed. Apparently the stallion wasn't going to let this go. That was fine, as Cimmerian was more than willing to deal with him in the real world, one where a slap upside the head with a hoof would leave a painful reminder for longer than a moment.
Sure enough the stallion was soap-boxing, literally in this case. He stood on a box, attempting to rile up the soldiers and guards around him to action, offering promises of glory and a retaken country that would celebrate them all as heroes. Upon seeing Cimmerian approaching, the stallion grinned, a vicious glint in his eyes.
"And he's the one that will lead us to victory!"
The crowd began cheering and stomping, clearly worked up and ready to go. The alicorn merely stared at Standard, though, no emotion present on his face.
'So that's it. Play my way or disappoint all these people.'
Looking over the crowds, the dark stallion smiled, causing the crowd to almost shake with anticipation.
"Have fun storming the castle."
With that Cimmerian turned and left, moving to the griffon control-building to start writing out his plans for country. Zelus followed along, snickering even as the throng's enthusiasm died a sudden death. They'd placed their hopes in him, and he'd dropped those hopes all over the ground like so many eggs.
"That was cruel," the queen giggled. "I approve, though I'm sure you'll hear something from Celestia about hurting their feelings."
"I'm here to fix this, not fuel their delusions of grandeur. Things are bad and could get worse but they can also get better. It's not going to be a quick fix though. We talked about that last night," he retorted.
"We did, but the ponies out there didn't. All they know now is that a stallion was hyping them up to march to war and part of his plan just fell out. Now they'll question his words in other things," Zelus said. "In soldiers that can be dangerous."
"I hope they question him, honestly," Cimmerian said as they arrived at the command building. He held open the door, getting an eye-roll for his manners and shoved her in before him with a quick burst of magic. "If they're asking questions they'll not charge off while I'm making plans. Heart can talk to the ponies in the hive, but the unlinked ones out there don't trust her. They won't accept her reasoning like those in the hive, but now they won't charge off to their deaths either. At least I hope they wont. There's the possibility Gold will try to take a bunch of soldiers and retake Canterlot himself, trying to force us into a fight we don't want."
The two were silent as Cimmerian began writing out the plans, mostly the priority cities he wanted back. Cloudsdale for weather and possible military support such power would bring. Mareland for a large metropolitan area, with plenty of room for refugees to sleep and work. Apploosa would be nice, and it was out of the way enough and had a large enough farming community that they could use it as a breadbasket while the other places were taken.
"Did the feral swarms even reach Apploosa?"
"Not sure," a griffon hen responded, walking up to the map Cimmerian was using. "Commander asked me to drop these off for you, latest scouting reports from around the local Equestrian territories. If you want information on that city though you're going to need to send a pegasus."
"I may be able to provide such a pegasus," Celestia offered, stepping into the room with a careful smile. "I trust you can explain why my...the ponies outside are fighting?"
"One of your lieutenants wants to retake Canterlot now. I wont support it. It would be suicide, so we're going to do this the safe way. Taking back the areas we can hold," Cimmerian explained without looking up from the reports. "What was it you were saying about a way to check Appleoosa?"
"I brought the Element Bearers with me. Rainbow Dash is recovered enough to make such a trip faster than anypony else could. She can get you the information you wish in a few hours."
Cimmerian blinked, looking over the map and guessing the distances they were talking about.
"Celestia, that's a long trip. I know pegasi are fast, but can she maintain that speed?"
"She can. It's part of the magic that flows through her. As an Element Bearer, she has access to the magic of the elements even if she can't actively use it. Loyalty gives her speed and endurance that is unmatched by others of her tribe."
"I'll talk to her in a bit, in that case," Cimmerian said, nodding. "There are several places we need to know about but I'm not going to have her hit them all in one day. Even with an artifact boosting her I can't loose her. We may need her later on and no way in hell am I losing that mare again. We may be able to use her to put Sparkle back."
Celestia perked at the notion.
"You believe you could return Twilight to her body?"
"Honestly I'm still a bit surprised I managed to pull her from it in the first place, but she's a special case. It may require having the Elements hit the Nightmare while she's nearby. It may work, it may not. I don't know. I'm working on guesswork here and I don't like doing that. I know next to nothing about the Elements."
"Well, most of my research on how they actually work took place after I lost Luna so that doesn't surprise me."
"You're telling me you two used these things for years and never understood them?"
"One does not need to understand hinges and locks to open a door. We knew how to focus the power of the elements and that was all we needed. We were also a bit preoccupied fighting every conceivable evil that decided to rear its head after Discord was removed from power. It was astonishing how many thought that because someone defeated him they were free to do as they wished."
Cimmerian sighed.
"No. No, you're right; I believe it. I think I can recall several situations on earth where some dictator was actually keeping several other dangerous groups from acting out and with his death they all thought they were free to do as they pleased."
"Alright forget that. Do you do think it would work? You know more about the magical rocks and their connections to those girls than anyone else."
"I do not know. The Elements are supposed to be a balancing power, one that returns things to harmony. If Twilight was still in her body instead of a drone I'm almost certain it would work but in this situation..."
"It might not. The Nightmare is a priority, but one that I can wait on. It's power-base is all but gone and what little it retains is autonomous. If it wasn't she would have driven it into the ground as well. She's scared and angry, so she's probably waiting for a last stand.
"And that's why I'm not going after her right now."
Looking up from his papers to the white alicorn, Cimmerian smiled.
"An enemy that knows they're defeated and is awaiting the coup de grace is less of a threat than one that thinks they can defeat you. I'm going to let the minotaurs smash themselves against the Nightmare's fortifications. I'm not going to walk into her traps and any suicidal last stands she has planned when I can let a bunch of guys I don't like do so."
"Will that not make taking Canterlot even more difficult, with an enemy force occupying it like that instead of just the drones?"
"Tia, Canterlot is a monstrosity. It's big, beautiful, shiny, looks expensive and seems like an awesome target. But my God those guys have made a mistake looking to take it. The train is the primary source of transportation on and off the mountain, which I don't know if they can use. If they can we rip out a small section of rail. Figuring out how to drive the train's likely easier than trying to replace a large chunk of rail; something that they don't have the materials or know-how to create. I plan on letting them learn just how bad their leader is then hit them as they start running low on supplies. It will take time, and Canterlot will need to be repaired, but in the meantime we can work on retaking other cities and giving the ponies a place to rally to."
"Canterlot really isn't that bad," the mare defended, earning a stare from both Cimmerian and Zelus.
"If it wasn't for the Pony farmers there's no way you could sustain the city. It is not only impractical but unsafe. I will likely not feel safe until I am clear of the city, and that's ignoring the threat of the feral drones and control arrays," Zelus said.
"If you are so against it, why do you have a map of Canterlot?"
"Because I want to get your sister out of there."
That made the smaller alicorn perk her ears.
"Luna. You plan on freeing Luna! You seek to use the Minotaur attack to divert the drones from your path and allow you to rescue her."
"I will be checking the queens as well," Zelus added. "While I think we can leave the...dead queen's there to harass the minotaurs for now. I wish to make certain any viable queen's are removed from harms way before he minotaurs have a chance to find them. Considering how well hidden the queens are it could be a long time and thus shall weaken the minotaurs even more but eventually they will find the location of the queens."
"Just follow the river of drones," Cimmerian chuckled, shaking his head. "There's going to be more to it than that but it's the main objective I have there. I also plan of goading the minotaurs a bit. I want them to soften up the drones and even walk into any traps the Nightmare has set up in the meantime. Their leader hates me. Us, alicorns and ponies in general. He'll jump if I ask in the right way. Which I will tonight. After that, Zelus and I will head to Canterlot.
"In the meantime you need to rally. I'll be here to help and lend power or an outside perspective, and the queens are willing to help as well, but in the end this is your country and your troops. They're desperate for a figurehead to rally around, even a strange stallion from the other side of the planet. They need you."
"They don't need me," Celestia said sadly, donning a smile in spite of her attitude. "They haven't had me in years. Why would they need me now?"
"Uh, because look at where they are now?" Cimmerian said sarcastically. "They're out of a country, out of a home, living in refugee camps and scattered to the winds. The fact that it took this long for someone to take down the country even without you is a testament to how well you led, Tia. Just because you don't see the knife in the dark doesn't mean you're a bad leader. I can name two leaders off the top of my head that were good at their jobs and were assassinated; more if you give me time to think about it."
"Besides, you think I want this country? I have my own to look after, thank you very much. One that is currently the home of my pregnant wife. To whom I shall be returning to post-haste."
"They took this long to take it down because they chose not to," the mare argued.
"What do you think would have happened if the Nightmare tried to do this sooner? If she'd tried this before she had all of the control arrays in place? Before she had convinced the military that taking other countries was not only the right thing to do, but their birthright?"
"They would have tossed her out, alicorn or not," Zelus said. "Instead she used her own kidnappings as a driving force to propel herself into a position of power. She used their concern for you and the Element Bearers to move those who cared out of the way while she installed those who would follow her orders in place."
Cimmerian nodded.
"This was a carefully thought out coup, Celestia. One that had the full intellect of your student behind it. Right now though, the Nightmare is a spoiled brat that has no idea what it's doing. Even a brat can be dangerous when it's waving around a sword though. Now while I'm working on this, why don't you go make an appearance. They're looking for an alicorn to assuage their fears right now and I think you have plenty of practice with that. Besides, these are your soldiers, not mine. If they're following my orders, it should be by your word.
Celestia nodded solemnly, turning to leave and speak to her ponies again. Stopping at the door, she turned back with a smile.
"Thank you for watching after them, even if they can be difficult."
The dark alicorn waved her off, choosing instead to focus on his maps. Things were going to get tricky in the coming days. Once the ball started rolling, there wouldn't be time to stop it.
<-(0)->
Cairn frowned as he felt his dream twist, an unfortunately familiar feeling. The alicorn was back.
The crone had told him she could protect him from an actual attack, but the magic would not prevent the demon from invading his dreams. It would be up to him to expel the monster from his dreams.
The alicorn stepped from the shadows in his half-demon form, whistling a jaunty tune with a smile on his face.
"Sup, Cairn? I decided I'd give you one last shot. To surrender I mean. I'm back in the country and will be taking back Canterlot. Once I get to Celestia's secret room? To the sealed chamber she has inside the library? I'm afraid all bets are off. I don't have to deal with flies after all, and once I get there, you and your army will be naught but pests to me."
The alicorn left in a flicker of wind, causing the bull to sputter awake. The sun was rising slowly, as was his army. Once they were awake, he would push them forward. He had to take that city before the demon found Celestia's super-weapon.
<-(0)->
"Ready Zel?"
Cimmerian grinned as the shape shifter nodded, using a few simple knots to secure Twi-drone to her back. They couldn't afford to be detected by magic so no active spells were going to be used during their infiltration. This also meant that Zelus and Twilight would be mostly sealed from each other, relying on physical and vocal communications until they were inside the defensive perimeter. It would be fine though. The way was clear, mostly at least, and with the minotaur army riled and rushing to stop a perceived threat the drones would be swarming elsewhere. If the minotaurs caught site of them while he used their charge as cover? Even better. It would cause Cairn to panic and attempt to push through the gauntlet even faster. His haste would cause more casualties, which in turn would make his forces weaker. Not to mention what would happen when those same soldiers began to realize they were occupying a city they couldn't hold from a resource standpoint.
'He'll be facing a mutiny before the week is out. He'll either have to deal with it in a quick and bloody manner or deal with it blooming into a dispute and possibly a war. Which will distract him and the rest of the minotaurs while we rebuild and recover.'
It wasn't the situation he wanted, not one he'd normally even wish upon a race much less attempt to inflict. But the alternative was a war between his ally and the minotaurs while the rest of the world was recovering from the Nightmare's machinations. The griffons were down to a mercenary company fulfilling their military needs, the dragons were never really a united peoples as far as he knew( or maybe they just didn't publicize such things?), the changelings had been decimated as a whole, and the ponies were trying to take back their homes. Really, the only race that hadn't been hit hard had been the thestrals.
'And that was only because the Nightmare hadn't had time to hit them before she lost her powerbase.'
Cimmerian flapped a few times to stretch before taking off, hearing Zelus take to the skies behind him. Luna would be with them by the next day, God willing. Maybe a few more queens as well. It would take time, but his home would be safe. His children would be safe. Even if he had to personally fight in every battle to settle the region.
As he flew off, a rainbow colored blur moved south, Rainbow Dash off to complete a scouting mission before his group even reached Canterlot. The dark stallion smirked as he watched her contrail fade into the distance. Maybe he'd talk her into giving him some high-speed flight tips once this was all over.