The soft sounds of muffled whimpers filled the area of princess Celestia’s chambers. Ever since Luna arrived back in Canterlot, Celestia deemed it necessary to spend as much time with her little sister as she could, for both the younger alicorn’s safety and general well being. Her injuries were vast, and as much as Celestia wished it, there was nothing the doctors could do about her wings. Her horn and fur would take a while to grow back, but at least they would.
“Bastards. I will make them all pay dearly for what they have done to my family,” Celestia mumbled under her breath before tightening the embrace of her sister with a gentle stroke of her hand. It was all she could do to comfort the younger princess, though even then it still wasn’t much. It would take years or maybe even decades for Luna to fully recover mentally from the incident, if she would even fully recover at all. And to make matters worse, Celestia still had to deal with the incident about the captured soldiers and soldiers who lost their lives attacking the Kingdom of Iron Cove.
“Princess,” a gentle voice spoke from within the room, gaining the attention of the Solar Diarchy while not disturbing the sleeping alicorn. With one last stroke and gentle kiss of her head, Celestia rose from the bed before making her way outside of the room with the guard.
“Princess, I am sorry to disturb you in such a time but we need your orders on what we should do regarding the situation of our captured soldiers, along with those who are deceased. The few survivors who made it out alive have been ordered to remain silent regarding the matter, though I am afraid ponies will start talking soon,” the voice of a middle-aged stallion spoke. To her credit, Celestia had already been thinking of such things, despite the emotionally draining situation regarding her sister.
“Colonel, I wish for you to ready an address in three days time. That should give me more than enough time to get our affairs in order and to issue a statement of everything that has happened thus far. I fear that our enemy is growing in numbers, so we should be prepared for anything they can throw at us. I will send a letter to Princess Sparkle and inform her of my plans. For now though, I want you to send a contingent of your best guards to secure the Bearers of the Elements and bring them here to the castle. Twilight should be able to assist you in any way, though I must insist on your promptness. We have no time to waste.”
“Yes mam!” the guard bellowed, saluting his princess before venturing off to fulfill her requests. With a small sigh from the older sister, Celestia made her way back into her chambers for what she hoped would be a few peaceful hours of shuteye.
“So, i’m freaking exhausted right? I’d been working for the past twelve hours on some little problem they were having with the energy grid well into the night. And as soon as Lumen and I rest our heads on our pillows, what do we hear? Some stupid alicorn is screaching her head off at Moony and Chrissy just a hundred feet away. Her voice was so loud that it started vibrating the walls of the room. So of course i’m tired and cranky at this point, though I lug myself out of bed anyway. And get this, when I go and tell her to be quiet, she bitch slaps the hell out of me before declaring war,” the human added with a roar of laughter. The table soon joined in as Lumen, Terra, and the High King all began to chuckle as well.
“You’re serious? She just got up out of her seat and hit you? I have never heard of the alicorn behaving in such a manner, though most of my dealings have been through her advisors instead of the rulers themselves,” the High King added before taking a large swig of wine from his mug. To his utter joy, he hadn’t felt this good in years, mainly due to the stress of his daughter in enemy hands. Though with her safely out of harm’s way, the lingering stress that had been piling up over the last couple of years had finally been lifted from his shoulders, much to his pleasure.
“Yeah, and it gets better. You see, Lumen over here didn’t take to kindly to the alicorn assaulting me. So when they came back a few weeks later with an army, we obliterated the majority of them before taking as many prisoners as we could, including one Princess of the Night. But believe me, by the time Lumen was done with her, Luna wasn’t even classified as an alicorn. Though it probably had a lot to do with her two new souvenirs hanging from under her arms. They’re actually framed above our mantle right now, which makes for a great conversation starter and memento.” The king quickly grew silent for a moment, unbelieving what he just heard.
“I apologize if the liquor is affecting my skills of deduction, but when you say two new souvenirs?” The smile from both Lumen and Derrick told him all he needed to know, though just for emphasis, Lumen decided to elaborate.
“Of course I meant her precious little wings. You should have seen how defiant she was though, granted it was short lived after the first wing came off. I never expected a princess to beg like that, though I guess any pony would given her situation. Just goes to show you that I am very protective of my lover,” Lumen reiterated, resting her hand on her lover’s before giving a gentle squeeze and warm smile. Even a blind man could see how much the mare cared for the human, and the feeling was mutual. Derrick would do anything for Lumen and vice-versa, something the High King noticed right away.
“It seems that you two have very strong feelings towards one another. I can see it plain as day in the way you look at each other. It truly is a beautiful quality you both possess,” the High King added before noticing the younger griffon next to him beginning to nod off.
“Terra, why not head back to your room and rest? You seem tired,” The High King’s voice spoke with concern. The younger griffon quickly shook her head as a response.
“I am fine dad, please. It is nothing to worry about,” she said, followed by a loving nuzzle into the crook of his neck. Despite the griffon’s refusal, Lumen stood from her seat before making her way over to the young princess.
“Terra, it is late and you still have not fully recovered. Let us get you to bed. Tomorrow I can take you around the city before sending you back home,” the gentle voice of Lumen stated. At first, the griffon was hesitant to leave her father’s side after being away from him for so long. She wanted nothing more than to live in the moment, for fear of it being just a dream. Though with a loving smile and nod of the King’s head, Terra relented before Lumen helped the griffon out of her seat and to her chambers for some well needed rest.
“You have a lovely daughter,” Derrick was quick to state when the two left the room. A short chuckle resounded from the other side of the table as the High King took another sip of his wine.
“She gets most of her looks and personality from her mother, which I am quite thankful for. Though I am afraid she also got her stubbornness too,” the King added with another chuckle before downing the rest of his mug with a sigh.
“It’s just been so long since I have seen my own daughter. I should have done more to protect her from those vile alicorns. Just the thought of being so powerless to stop them tears at my heart,” he added with a clenched fist.
“You should not dwell on that fact now. Your daughter is safe and that’s all that matters. Tomorrow she will be back within your borders where those alicorns will not be able to touch her. Though I have to ask, what are your plans for them?” the human curiously questioned.
“It should be obvious of course. The Equestrians have been bolstering their forces along our borders and even in a few of our own towns, knowing all too well that I was powerless to stop them. Though with my daughter finally safe, my options for retaliation have grown exponentially.”
“I concur. I think it is about time someone teach those Equestrian’s a lesson, or perhaps, a certain someones,” Derrick added with a hinting tone and wink.
“Are you implying what I think you are?” The High King questioned, his tone laced with hesitance and intrigue.
“Maybe I am or maybe i’m not. That is for you to decide tomorrow when you speak with the ones actually in charge of handling diplomatic situations. Until then, I think it is best for us both to get a good night's sleep. I know we will have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, especially with our new guests,” he mumbled with eerie grin.
The time was well past nine in the evening for the quiet town of Ponyville. Most residents had turned in for the night, leaving the streets relatively empty for the approaching contingent of guards.
“Alright everypony, you have your orders. Regroup at the castle in the middle of town after you have collected your element. And most importantly, be on guard,” the commander ordered before receiving several salutes. With the orders relayed, the commander watched as the guards dispersed throughout the town with each group assigned a specific pony to retrieve. He knew it would be much safer in numbers and hoped that his mission would encounter no obstacles. Unfortunately, he would soon learn that wasn’t the case.