Twilight was surprised to find that Rainbow Dash had beaten the rest of the group to the royal pegasus guard obstacle course. She was less surprised to find Dash arguing with the gate guard.
“Come on, just let me in already,” Dash whined at the stoic soldier. “I’ve got to prep for a race.”
“The royal pegasus obstacle course is currently closed to the public,” the guard said sternly. “Visiting hours are Thursdays from ten A.M. to four P.M. Please feel free to return then.”
“But if I win Gilda has to dye her feathers pink. This is a matter of national pride, dude. You gotta’ let me in. Please?” Dash blinked her eyes rapidly, trying and failing to channel Rarity’s skill at convincing coquettishness.
The guard snorted. “You expect me to believe that the griffon ambassador agreed to that? Pull the other wing.”
“Actually she’s telling the truth.” Twilight and the gang had arrived at the gate.
“Archmage!” The guard offered a bow. “I deeply regret that you had to witness my lack of decorum.
“Its fine,” Twilight said, waving it off. “But Dash, how did you find this place? I thought you didn’t know where the course was.”
Dash shrugged. “I just looked for the strongest concentration of weather magic around. After the cloud stadium this place was the next strongest collection of weather magic so I came here. Now tell this armored bonehead to let us in so we can race already.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry for my friend’s rudeness. However, we would like to use the course for a short time. Please allow us through.”
The guard hesitated. Twilight recognized the trepidation on his face as the symptom of a guard that had been once been caught in one of her youthful shenanigans and was leery of allowing her to proceed now. She gave him her most winning smile but somehow he just grew more concerned. Memories of lab experiments gone horribly awry and a teleporting filly with no respect for boundaries flashed through his eyes and he almost managed to muster up the courage to tell her no.
In the end, Twilight far outranked him and he knew it. Plus, things tended to go even worse for the poor guards foolish enough to try and contain her. Sighing, the guard opened the gate and ushered them through, pausing only long enough to ask Twilight to please try and keep the collateral damage to a minimum.
Walking through the gate the group found a long low stone tunnel that tilted downward. At the far end they could see a dim patch of muted sunlight but could not make out any details.
“Move toward the light…” Pinkie intoned, before ruining the effect with a giggle snort. She got a few halfhearted chuckles but most of them had well developed Pinkie filters they used for just such occasions. “Yeash, tough crowd,” she muttered.
At the end of the tunnel the light broke over the group and they caught their first sight of the Royal Pegasus obstacle course. The group was at the bottom of a deep circular hole, not unlike a well, though it was wide enough for perhaps twenty ponies to stand nose to tail along the diameter. The floor was the same cobblestone as the tunnel but the semicircle on which they stood was painted green and the other half of the floor was painted red. Above them, wind tunnels carved into the walls sent gusts so strong as to be visible shooting across tunnel. A few puffy white clouds drifted in the wind to provide obstacles and a line of angry thunderheads blocked a flyer from moving from the green half to the red half everywhere but at the very top of the hole, though the wind still passed through them. It was a complex arrangement and one that demonstrated the power of cleverly applied pegasus magic.
Upon seeing the course Dash gulped and Gilda grinned. Her heavier weight meant that she was less likely to be blown of course by the winds while Dash would be struggling to stay on course all the way up and all the way back down.
Meanwhile, Twilight’s attention was grabbed by two of the other inhabitants of the course.
“Spike? Iolite? What are you two doing here?” Twilight asked, leaving her friends behind and trotting over to them.
Catching sight of Twilight, Spike smiled proudly and laboriously flapped his way over to her on his new wings, followed swiftly by Iolite. “Twilight, I can really fly! It’s taken a couple of days but with Iolite’s help I can finally get off the ground.”
Iolite, not mother, he said. Twilight took a small and rather guilty measure of joy that he was still using the dragoness’s name. Suppressing her conflicted feelings, she answered his excitement with a smile. “Great job Spike! I know how long you’ve wanted to be able to fly.”
“He is a fast learner,” said Iolite with obvious pride. “The gusts on this course provide him with a good challenge.
Twilight frowned. “That seems dangerous for a dragon so new to his wings.”
Iolite shrugged. “He is sturdy; a few crashes will drive his lessons home.
“Yeah, Twilight. I’m dragon, nothing bad is going to happen to me!” Spike puffed up his chest, going for manly and ending up only adorably silly at best.
“Just because you’re a dragon doesn’t mean you’re invincible,” Twilight said. “Remember what happened to that dragon the girls and I had to convince to move? Don’t make me bring Fluttershy over here.”
“Which one is Fluttershy and what did she do to this dragon?” Iolite put in, sounding more curious than alarmed.
“Fluttershy is the yellow pegasus over there. She stared down a full grown dragon and sent him packing.” Spike point over to the rest of the group. “Twilight loves to tell that story because it always catches ponies by surprise.”
“Hmm,” Iolite hummed doubtfully. Fluttershy was currently staring at the three of them from a hiding spot behind Rainbow Dash, trying to decide if Iolite was a small enough dragon to be interesting or a large enough one to be frightening. As they looked at her she definitively came down on the side of frightening and ducked behind Dash’s wing. “Perhaps there’s more to her than meets the eye? Ah, no offense meant, Archmage,” she added hurriedly.
At her words Twilight’s hoof had risen to her missing eye but she forced it back down. “It’s okay, I’m still getting used to it myself, and I can’t fault others if it takes them some time as well. Besides, asking for everypony to refrain from eye based idioms in my presence seems excessive.”
An awkward silence fell over the three of them. Spike looked from one to the other, obviously eager to have his birth mother get along with Twilight. Once or twice he opened his mouth to speak but the glowers on both pony and dragoness intimidated him out of it.
Finally, Twilight took pity on the young drake. “Spike, why don’t you go ask Rainbow Dash for some flying tips. I’m sure she’d be happy to help and I think she’d appreciate having something to take her mind off her race.”
“Okay, Twilight,” Spike said uncertainly. He screwed up his face with concentration and beat his wings fiercely, managing to take to the air once more. With a backward glance he flapped his way over to Rainbow Dash. As expected, she grinned the second he made it over and was off talking a mile a minute while Spike nodded along, trying to learn what he could.
Iolite walked up to stand beside Twilight as they watched Spike attempt to put Rainbow’s advice to good use. “You don’t like me very much, do you?” she asked bluntly, but without the anger or sadness that might be expected to accompany such a question.
Twilight glanced over at her. “If we had met under other circumstances I think I would have. And I do thank you for the opportunity you’re offering to Spike. However, I can’t help but feel you’re trying to take him away from me.”
“I am,” Iolite said simply. “Can you blame me? Imagine if your parents had lost you when you were little and found you half-raised by another species.”
Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “I haven’t seen my parents in fifteen years. After Princess Cele- Luna accepted me as her student I left my parents behind to live in the castle. I remember being homesick the first day or two but spending time with the princess and my lessons with her quickly solved that problem.” Twilight frowned. “In fact, I don’t even remember their names or what they looked like. That’s… that’s actually rather odd.”
“And they never tried to see you?” Iolite asked, disbelieving. “I’d always heard that ponies were more emotional about their families than dragons.”
“Not that I know of…” Twilight trailed off, trying to remember vague details about the time shortly after she’d come to the castle. She’d been fairly little and caught up in the sudden rush of learning magic with the princess. She’d been old enough that she should have been able to remember something at least. “I guess I might not remember though,” Twilight said doubtfully. “Or the princess might have prevented them from seeing me.”
Iolite shuffled her wings uncomfortably. “You don’t seem especially concerned at having no connection to your parents.”
“You can’t have a connection to what you can’t remember. The princess and Spike became my family and that was enough for me.” Iolite winced and Twilight’s brain belatedly caught up with her mouth. “I’m sure that’s not the case for Spike though,” she offered hurriedly. “He seems to really appreciate a chance to bond with a dragon.” Iolite perked up as Twilight’s jaw clicked shut, cutting off the stream of words as her brain caught up with her a second time. She realized she was offering comfort to the dragoness trying to take Spike away from her. It was hard, though, to keep from empathizing with the dragoness’s longing to know her son.
“Hey! You going to come watch me trounce the high and mighty Griffon bass door or what?”
Saved from her confusion, Twilight shouted back “that’s ambassador!” with the force of long habit. She glanced over at Iolite. “Shall we go then? I’m sure Spike wants to watch as well and I suspect he’d appreciate it if we could at least be civil to one another.”
“That’s fine with me. I’m happy with any time I get to spend with my– the little one,” Iolite said with a trace of regret. The two nodded in truce and rejoined the rest of the ponies on the other side of the royal pegasus obstacle course.
***
“I still think that was a stupid call,” a bright pink Rainbow Dash grumbled as the tired group made their way back from the merchant district to the castle and the griffon embassy.
“You and me both,” agreed an equally bright pink Gilda. “I totally beat you.”
“As if!” Dash cried, struggling to inject some fire into her voice. “I was a full wing length ahead. That judge was blind.”
“Just half blind,” Twilight commented with amusement. “Besides, if my magic said it was a tie, then it was a tie.”
“Yeah, but—” Rainbow Dash and Gilda begun to argue at the same time.
“If you two don’t knock it off with the arguing, I am going to march right back to the dress shop, pick out the frilliest, pinkest, most lace-covered garments I can find and I will glue them to your hides, so help me fashion!” Rarity glared at the both of them, panting, daring either to make one more sound.
Dash and Gilda glanced at each other. Moving as one, they darted forward and wrapped Rarity in a tight hug, covering her fine clothes and elegantly coiffed mane in their still wet pink dye. “Tag, you’re it!” they shouted and zoomed off as fast as they could, cackling all the while.
“Grrrr. You two get back here!” Rarity shouted after their retreating backs. She looked down at herself and whimpered, “I’m so… so… so tackyyyyy!”
Twilight rolled her eye at the antics. A quick thought brought to mind a cleaning spell and another sent the ball of recently removed pink paint rocketing after the two miscreants. Twilight and Rarity shared a smile as a splash and a yelp could be heard from up ahead.
“Thank you, darling,” Rarity said, still sniffling.
“Aww, you should have kept it. Then you and me would be twinsies!” As the only one not tired from the day, Pinkie bounced passed with her usual boundless energy.
“You and I,” Twilight corrected automatically, though she’d long since given up on having any impact on Pinkie whatsoever.
“To-may-to, cup-ca-ke,” Pinkie replied, sticking her tongue. “Hmm, that would be interesting. I wonder if I could make a tomato cupcake. But then what would I do with the avocado? Gasp! Avocado toast and tomato cupcakes. I’m brilliant! Pinkie you created another culinary masterpiece. Give yourself a pat on the back.” Suiting action to words Pinkie did indeed reach behind her head and pat her back a few times.
Tuning out the babbling pink pony, Twilight and the group caught up to Gilda and Dash outside of the Griffon embassy. The two of them were standing outside, shuffling in place and looking everywhere but at each other. Neither seemed quite sure how to say goodbye or if they had resolved their problems with one another.
Twilight moved to resolve the friendship problem, but was stopped by Rarity. “No, no, let them work it out on their own, dear.”
“Is that for their own good or because you’re enjoying the awkwardness as a form of revenge?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.
Rarity flashed a vulpine smile. “A lady never tells.”
Finally settling on a farewell that wouldn’t damage their respective reputations Dash held up her hoof. “So, we cool?”
“We’re cool, Dash,” Gilda said, returning the hoof bump. “Good to have you back.” Then the pink griffon turned and walked into the embassy.
“Do you think we should go help her?” Fluttershy asked reluctantly.
“I think more ponies would just make things worse. Plus, the embassy is pretty quiet. If she’s lucky she has until morning to think of some explanation before the other griffons notice,” Twilight said frankly. “Besides, I’ve played hooky for long enough. Let’s head back to the castle. I can get you all settled in the guest rooms before I check in with Luna.”
Today had been a fun and relaxing day, Twilight reflected as they made their way home for the evening. Spike and Luna had been right; she had needed a day off to clear her head. Now as long as nothing had gone catastrophically wrong at court she could count today as a success.
***
“You did WHAT?” Twilight shrieked, uncaring of the late hour. She was pacing in Luna’s study while Luna, her expression a mix of chagrin, excitement, and fear, watched the pacing purple pony from behind her desk. Twilight’s friends had been settled in their guest rooms and Spike had said goodbye to Iolite and caught up with her soon after. They had made their way to Luna’s study for a quick debrief before bed when Twilight had been informed of certain changes Luna had made at court that day. Changes with which she emphatically disagreed.
“One day Luna, one bucking day of court. All you had to do was not screw anything up too badly and it would have been fine. Now can you please tell me what part of ‘handle court for a day’ sounds like ‘please dissolve the millennia old government that has sustained Equestria since time immemorial’?”
“I didn’t dissolve the whole government,” Luna protested. “Just the Noble String. And anyway I didn’t dissolve it entirely, I just changed how you become a member and required that all members be readmitted under the new process.”
“Making enemies of nearly every powerful pony in Equestria as a result.” Twilight shook her head. “What possessed you to require each member of the Noble String be elected by a plurality of votes from each district?”
Luna lit up. She reached into a drawer and withdrew the book she’d spent so much time with the past few days as she prepared to implement her plan. “I’ve been reading—“
Twilight groaned. “The ancient Athneighians, of course, I should have guessed.”
“No see look,” Luna gestured excitedly to the page. “They had this idea that groups of ponies should each choose a leader to represent their interests in a national forum and that that forum should lead the country. They called it a republic, though they preferred a democracy, in part because they were small enough that it was feasible for every citizen to vote on major legislation.”
“I know what a republic is, Luna.”
The princess wasn’t sure how Twilight had learned to glare so intimidatingly with a single eye in such a short period of time, but the effect was quite impressive. Maybe all the ‘glaringness’ was concentrated in a single eye?
Meanwhile, Twilight had walked to one wall and gestured up at the large colorful framed map of Equestria hung on it. “Luna I want you to look at this map. This is Equestria.”
“I know what Equestria is, Twilight.”
Undeterred by the sass, Twilight continued. “Lovely country Equestria, very well governed, or at least it was.” There was that glare again. “Now I want you to scan across this country. Can you tell me what’s missing?”
“Ponyville is depicted without massive property damage?” Luna deadpanned. From the corner of the study Spike stifled a snicker.
A muscle twitched in Twilight’s face but she soldiered bravely on. “No. What’s missing is any Atheneighans. Their government lasted for less than 200 hundred years. i.e. less than one fifth of your banishment and, based on what I know of early Equestrian history, at maximum one twentieth of the length that the Diarchy has lasted. Now what made you think that that archaic and outmoded system would be a good replacement for the government that has been successfully in place for a minimum of 800 years?”
Luna flinched. “I started thinking about what you said in that fight we had. This seemed like a way to give common ponies more control over their own lives. Besides, I thought you’d be pleased. I saw how much you hated most of the Nobles.”
“I do,” Twilight replied instantly. “But by what you just said it’s been less than a week since you thought of this. That’s not enough time to draft an amendment to the Canterlot zoning regulations, let alone drastically rearrange the government, especially without consulting anypony else.”
“I wasn’t planning on doing it so soon, or without talking to you,” Luna responded hotly.
Twilight slammed her hoof against the wall. “Then, why?” she shouted.
Tensing, Luna opened her mouth to respond in anger, give voice to words hard to take back. At the last instant she hesitated. Some of the fight went out of her and she dropped her head and sighed. “It was Blueblood.”
“Explain.”
Making her way to a cushion and falling into it, Luna took a deep breath and began.
***
In court, earlier that day:
Court is going well, Luna thought to herself in satisfaction. No problems had arisen that she couldn’t handle. The most recent petitioners, a city farmer and his wife requesting a ruling on unclear water policies, had left the court smiling. Luna dared hope that court was almost over.
Then the court doors slammed open and sunk slightly into the stone either side as if the castle walls were made of jelly. Luna assumed Twilight had removed the door springs after hitting Pinkie Pie and was trying a new method to prevent slamming. As Luna saw the pony storming into court she desperately wished the springs were back in place. She barely held back an audible groan as the court herald announced, “his highness, Prince Blueblood.”
Reaching the throne, Blueblood gave a jerk of the head that could charitably have been called a bow. When he spoke it was with insistence. “Princess Luna. As commanded I have returned from my unfortunate exile to present my proposal for approval.”
“You will have to refresh my memory, it has been a rather long week,” Luna said, playing for time. Scanning the crowd, she noticed a worryingly large number of ponies that Twilight had pointed out as belonging to Blueblood’s faction. Fancypants’ followers were not similarly in evidence.
Blueblood smirked, “Gladly. I have made a few changes to it in any case.” He cleared his throat in an oddly effeminate and infuriating manner and unraveled a scroll to read from. “Hem-hem. First sections 3 and 4 of Canterlot shall be declared a special financial region, with all public spaces and buildings subject to development.” He peered over the top of the page at Luna. “Most public space in those regions is either park space or public housing. Clearly it is being underutilized by those that do not deserve it.”
Luna was already spluttering with anger but Blueblood had returned to reading. “Second the entirety of the ‘White-Tailed Wood’ shall be annexed as a territory of Equestria. Note that this does not make it an official province and as such its inhabitants do not receive any rights or seats in the Noble String. Further, no less than one half of the woods shall be cleared via the application of extreme thermal energy.” He peered over the paper again, smugness filing his tone. “That’s fire,” he clarified. “This is to speed the construction of factories I and my associate Sharp Deals intend to set up. Wave for the princess Sharp,” An altogether bland grey unicorn with a brown mane waved from the Noble’s gallery.
“Finally, I shall be given sole jurisdiction over this land in perpetuity to administrate as I wish. Naturally, this includes leasing it to business associates and passing it on to descendants.” Blueblood rolled up the scroll and sealed it with a tap of his horn. “You agree to this, of course?”
Mouth hanging open, Luna met his winning smile with a look of sheer disbelief. “You can’t possibly actually expect me to sign this.”
“The Archmage agreed to my previous proposal,” Blueblood said casually. “And there are only a few small changes. Surely you don’t need further advice for such a minor manner?”
Drawing herself up to her full height Luna snapped, “Indeed I don’t!” A dark blue magic surrounded the scroll and set it alight. Within seconds it was naught but ash upon the floor. “That is fire,” she snarled.”
Still smirking Blueblood raised a hoof, signaling to the watching Nobles.
“I withdraw my support for the Canterlot utilities refurbishment project,” a brown pegasus with a light blue mane called.
“I withdraw my support for foal protective services.” That was a yellow unicorn mare.
“I withdraw my support for the Canterlot public gardens initiative.” A green earth pony, one of the few of his race among the nobles.
“I withdraw my support…”
“I withdraw my…”
“I withdraw…”
“I withdraw…”
On and on the list went, Noble after Noble seceding from their roles in projects for the city or the country. Luna quickly lost track of the precise details but a few points remained clear. If they followed through, the entire country would ground to a halt. Most of the treasury would be drained just keeping essential services functioning and the damages would ripple outward, lasting for years, if not decades. Other countries, already set on alert by immortal rulers that knew of Celestia’s absence, might well pounce on this sign of weakness. War was not impossible and even the best case scenario would be nigh on catastrophic to Equestria’s economy and social structure.
The Nobles would not be spared the repercussions, of course. Blueblood had apparently offered enough to make it worth their while. He’d probably called in every favor he was owed and offered favors to all and sundry to make it happen. As the Nobles began winding down she knew what was coming next.
Sure enough, as the last Noble fell silent Blueblood pulled out another scroll, a copy of his proposal. “Naturally, Princess, all concerned wish to avoid the consequences of such actions on the part of the Noble String. However, they clearly feel strongly enough to take a stand on this particular issue. It is a heavy burden we of the String bear, being forced to follow our conscience, even if it sets us against our beloved ruler. Please, won’t you reconsider your position? For the good of Equestria?”
Leaning back in the throne Luna closed her eyes and thought fast. She might hate the goings on of court but she was not a stupid pony and right now she needed to find a solution. Sparing half a thought to wish that Twilight was there she sent her mind spinning for answers.
Say yes? That would embolden the Nobles, convince them that they could control the crown by holding Equestria hostage. Not to mention the damage the Blueblood’s proposal itself would do, both to Equestria and its standing with others. Not an option.
Say no? Then, if the Nobles weren’t bluffing, she would have to watch as they sent the country into a self-inflicted tailspin. The damage would almost certainly be measured in millions of bits and thousands of lives harmed. Not an option.
Delay? Twilight might have known a way to use court procedures to stall for time and bring in Fancypants’ nobles to minimize the damage, but Luna wasn’t as well versed in court minutiae. Plus, this was their moment. They had almost certainly been planning this for a while and they would know that a delay favored her and might proceed with their threat anyway. Not an option.
That left executing her plan.
It was early, unready, and she hadn’t run it by anypony else yet. She’d barely finished researching the subject herself. But it would solve the current problem and hopefully future snags could be ironed out by Sunlit Rooms, Twilight, and herself.
Besides, she really wanted to see Blueblood’s face when she sprung this on him.
Luna opened her eyes. Blueblood was still smirking up at her, confident in his victory. Time to dent that confidence.
Reaching inside for the wellspring of power native to the immortal she covered herself with the aspect of a goddess. Much like on the day the dragons had come to court shadows collected around the throne and the room grew dark. Her eyes glowed with the cold flame of the moon even as her mane flowed, glowing with, ha, celestial brilliance. A small part of her noted with satisfaction that a tinge of nervousness colored Blueblood’s face.
“THE NOBLE STRING IS HEREBY DISSOLVED,” Luna proclaimed in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “ALL POSSESSIONS INHERENT TO THE NOBILITY ARE HEREBY NATIONALIZED. THEY WILL BECOME THE PROPERTY OF THE NEW NOBILITY, CHOSEN BY VOTE OF THE POPULACE OF EACH DISTRICT. THIS MARKS THE END OF THE MONARCHY AND THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA IN EQUESTRIAN GOVERNMENT.”
“NOW BEGINS THE REIGN OF THE NEW LUNAR REPUBLIC!”
***
The study was silent after Luna’s enthusiastic reenactment of the events at court. Twilight was still dumfounded by the account and Spike, respecting her confusion, was doing his best not to laugh at the suffering of the Noble String.
Finally, Twilight mustered up enough coherence to begin asking questions. “So what happened after that?”
Luna shrugged. “That was the odd part. The Nobles all started pitching a fit, as expected. But Blueblood silenced them and gave me a deeper bow than he had all day. What did he say? Ah yes. ‘If that is the Princess’ will then so be it. Come my friends, we know when we’re not wanted.’ Then he led his faction away.”
“That doesn’t sound like Blueblood at all,” Twilight pointed out.
“I did get the sense that it was out of character,” Luna said, nodding in agreement. “And right before he left I could swear I saw him smiling.”
“That means he has a plan of some kind. Hmm, how can we circumvent him?” Twilight paced back and forth in the study. Taking comfort in the repetitive motion, she turned her thoughts towards understanding the wayward white prince. She muttered to herself as she walked. “what about…no… maybe I could, but then, hmm.”
“Should I be concerned?” Luna asked, shooting a sideways glance at Spike.
“I’d be concerned if she wasn’t pacing,” he laughed. “That’s her preferred problem solving method. Give it a minute or two and she’ll have solutions.”
Sure enough, ninety seconds later Twilight stopped passing and snapped back into focus. “Ok here’s what we have to do. First you announce the revocation of the New Lunar Republic edict and-”
“No.”
Twilight’s motor mouth jerked to a sudden halt before resuming with added confusion. “What? No? I thought it was pretty clear to all concerned that implementing a new form of government on the fly and with zero oversight is a bad idea.”
“Maybe. But we’re doing this anyway.” Luna placed her front hooves on the desk and leaned forward, looking intently into Twilight Sparkle’s eye. “This is my change, my charting the course away from my sister’s path. I am going to make it work and you, Archmage, are going to help me.”
Twilight’s eye glinted and her expression grew mulish, no offense, as she opened her mouth to respond. Suddenly a shockwave, insubstantial to the un-magical but terribly real to the magically sensitive blasted through the room. Twilight, Spike, and Luna all rocked in place as they felt themselves buffeted by invisible winds.
At last, and without warning the wind disappeared, leaving in its wake a peculiar calmness. The world felt like it does after a furious storm, when nature’s energy is spent and even the air lies quiescent above the wet grass.
Guessing what had occurred, Twilight rushed to a north-facing window. From her perch high in the castle on the mountain she saw that far to the north the great light that had shone these past few days had faded at last.
“So it has ended,” said Luna, joining her at the window. “Is the expedition ready to depart?”
“Yes. I double checked my triple-check readiness checklist.”
Luna blinked in confusion.
“She checked it six times,” clarified Spike.
“That’s good then. No sense leaving tired. We’ll have them depart in the morning,” Luna said.
Their conversation was disrupted by a sudden furious knocking on the study door. “Princess! Archmage!” came the breathless call of a royal guard. He scarcely waited for their okay before bursting into the room.
“We are well aware that the light has vanished.” Luna’s voice changed at the new presence in the room, she became colder, more standoffish. Seeing the sudden contrast, Twilight was retroactively touched by the degree to which Luna had let her guard down when it was just the three of them.
“No your highness,” the guard panted. “The expedition, it’s gone!”
“What?” That had gotten Twilight’s full attention. “What do you mean it’s gone? I sextuple checked everything.”
“It was Blueblood,” explained the guard. “And the other Nobles. They used their personal soldiers to confiscate the supplies and left.”
The pieces started to fall into place. “Let me guess,” said Twilight, “they headed north?”
“Y-yes,” the soldier stammered.
“Right. We no longer have the luxury of waiting until morning.” Twilight resumed her pacing, moving faster than she had been before and speaking almost as quickly. “You, guard, wake Sunlit Rooms and bring her here. No, scratch that. Wake her, tell her to come here, and deliver this message to Duke Fancypants.” Twilight was halfway to the desk, intent on the letter she was to right when the guard interrupted.
“Wait, Archmage, there’s more.”
Twilight spun around. “More? Tell me. Quickly!”
“The griffons and the dragons were seen leaving the city at the same time as Prince Blueblood. Also headed north.”
The sound of Twilight’s train of thought derailing was almost audible. Into the silence Spike asked in a small voice, “Both of the dragons? Iolite left too?”
Spike’s circumstances hadn’t been made public, but stupid ponies did not become royal guards. “Sorry Spike, the report said that two dragons were seen headed north.” The guard’s voice softened as he spoke.
Reflexively, Twilight moved over to Spike and wrapped a foreleg around him. The wheels in her head kept turning but she made herself spare a moment for her little brother. “I’m sorry Spike, I know how much you were enjoying spending time with other dragons.”
Spike gave a whimper and clutched tight to Twilight’s front, not quite crying, just needing to hide his face for a time. Twilight gave him a moment of her full attention, then the needs of the moment pressed on once more. She looked up at the guard over top of Spike’s head and resumed giving instructions, albeit in a softer tone.
“Go to the guard station. Get them to send a runner to Sunlit Rooms, Duke Fancypants, the Elements of Harmony, and Donut Joe. Tell the first three to come here immediately for an emergency meeting and tell Joe I need enough coffee to pull nine ponies and a dragon through an all-nighter.”
“Understood, Archmage.” The guard spun on his heel and marched out. From outside they could hear the clip clop of his hooves on the castle stone as he broke into a run.
“You have a plan?” Luna asked hopefully.
Twilight gestured at the north window with the foreleg not currently wrapped around a baby dragon. “You met Sombra the night your sister passed her power to you and vanished. Then a few days later a column of immortal magic blasts out of the ground in the north. A few days after that Prince Blueblood displays uncharacteristic cunning in getting the Nobles to rebel en masse. At the same time, the first dragon envoy in centuries and the griffon embassy, possibly minus one, all head north, starting before the light from the immortal magic fades away.” The purple pony shook her head. “It’s too many events to be a coincidence. I think we need to pay a visit to the newly returned Crystal Empire.”
“You want to leave Canterlot? Now?” Luna asked incredulously. “I just altered the government so severely that at least a third of the Nobles have risen in rebellion and you, my chief advisor, want to leave?”
“I said ‘we’,” Twilight pointed out. “You need to come too.”
“I can’t leave now! I-“
“It’s for Celestia.” That brought Luna up short and Twilight hurried to explain. “We need to bring Sunlit Rooms for the same reason. We know there’s a lot of loose immortal magic up there and, if Sunlit Rooms is indeed Celestia’s body, then the immortal magic might be just the ingredient we need to bring her back. And we’ll need somepony who can use immortal magic to test that.” Twilight’s face took on a hard cold look. “Also, there are the rebels, griffons, and dragons to deal with. I want you and the Elements of Harmony because I want an ace or two up our sleeve to help deal with everything we’re going to run into up there.”
Luna nodded slowly. “That does make some sense. But I still don’t feel comfortable with both of us leaving the government unattended. What kind of princess just goes haring off on adventures?”
“One, this is not an adventure. I’ve had adventures. This is chasing after rebels. And if we happen to end up in a magically interesting place then how lucky for us.” Gently disengaging herself from Spike, who had regained his composure, Twilight moved over to the desk and begun gathering writing materials. “Two, that’s why I asked Duke Fancypants to come here.”
“I know you trust him. I too was rather impressed with him when we met. But is he really trustworthy enough to run the entire government, especially after his position was just taken from him?” Luna asked skeptically.
Twilight gave a short cynical bark of laughter. “Ha, he’s a politician. Not a one of them are trustworthy, and that includes you and me. However, he and most of his faction take great pains to maintain a sterling reputation. They’ll likely win a plurality of votes in any election and then, with Blueblood’s rebellion, they’ll be the only politically savvy and undiminished faction in the government. You essentially just hoofed control of a good portion of the government over to the once and future Duke Fancypants. He’s going to be the most fervent supporter of your plan and he’s certainly capable of running the government on a short term basis.”
“That wasn’t what I intended at all!” Luna exclaimed. “I wanted to give common ponies some control over their lives, not replace a herd of masters with one.”
“There are going to be kinks in any plan, let alone a plan with less than a weeks’ worth of thought behind it. So unless you’re willing to give up on this ‘New Lunar Republic’-”
“I’m not.”
“Then you’ll have to get used to the idea that there will be some unintended consequences.” Twilight paused in her writing and fixed Luna with a serious gaze. “So? Are you in?”
Luna took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She thought of her subjects, her plan, the changes she wanted to make and the renaissance of music and art she wanted to inspire. Against that bright aspiring she weighed the potential life of her sister and in truth, there was no contest. Mortal lives are fleeting, but siblings are forever.
The Princess of the Night met Twilight’s gaze. “I’m in.”
“Me too.”
Twilight and Luna both looked over at Spike. His voice shook and his eyes were still red but a determined light shone within. “I have some questions for Iolite.”
“It will be dangerous,” Twilight said. Not as a refusal, just a neutral statement of fact.
Spike shook his head. “I don’t care. There are things I want to know. Besides, I’m sick and tired of letting my family go off into danger while I sit at home.”
Twilight’s smile was tinged with pride as she nodded. “Good to have you, Spike. Now, let’s put our heads together and see what we can come up with. We’ve got a Princess to save, a rebellion to quash, and a lost land to explore. For that we need a plan!”
Plan they did. The two ponies and the dragon were joined shortly by seven others. They spent the night hammering out details and sending orders for preparations. The whole castle buzzed with energy as ponies scurried through its corridors on urgent missions for the princess and Archmage. Twilight was not called an organizational genius for nothing.
And so, come dawn’s first light, the company set out northward, bound for the Crystal Empire.
End of Arc 1