The nightmare that had been Princess Luna cut a devastating path across Equestria, cutting scalpel-precise through the most important lines of trade. Her army had no airships, but they didn’t need them. Half of them weren’t even alive.
Hayden was no longer leading the military opposition, so she had little to do with the conflict as it happened. Princess Celestia might’ve decided not to kill her after all for practical reasons, but that didn’t mean she trusted Hayden. Mostly she spent her time in an expensive room of Celestia’s flagship, waiting for her time to come and trying to overhear as much as she could about the war.
But Celestia wasn’t cooperative with sharing information either. “You’re still connected to her, Evening Star. Even if you can’t directly access her feelings, you don’t know that she can’t make the same connections to you. We cannot allow you to inadvertently reveal our strategies.”
“But I already know the most important part!” Hayden had argued. “I know we’re going to use the Elements of Harmony to stop her, then we’re going to lock her on the moon until you can cure her. I’m not sure what’s worse for her to know.”
Celestia was not persuaded. “I’m sorry, Evening Star. If there was more time, perhaps I could allow you to do to my army what you did to Icefalls. As it is, your advanced weapons are slaughtering my ponies. I think you’ve done quite enough.”
I wouldn’t have had to make anything if you had protected your nation properly, Hayden thought, but she hadn’t argued. She knew her relationship with Celestia was precarious, and she wasn’t going to risk it even if the sun princess made an obviously wrong choice. There was enough blood on Hayden’s own hooves that she didn’t need to get them any worse.
Eventually though, the waiting was over. Whatever had happened to the army, to Star Swirl, to Avalon, Hayden wasn’t told. But they arrived at Harmony, and she was finally led out of the airship.
The city looked like it had been devastated. Whole sections of tree-buildings lay in smoldering ruins, though it was only the wealthy quarter surrounding the castle. She isn’t attacking at random. I wonder…
Princess Celestia wasn’t there, just nameless officers in gold armor. But Hayden could feel an idea forming, and she was going to run with it. “Princess Luna… she attacked Cloudsdale, New Pegasopolis, and Stratusburg, didn’t she?”
One of the guards looked stoic, but she could tell from the shocked expression on the other one’s face that she’d guessed at least partially right. He wasn’t very good at keeping secrets, apparently. “How’d you know?” he asked, before his companion could smack him with the flat of one armored hoof.
“Because those were the places that killed bats. And the nobles here, they wanted us dead more than anypony. Princess Luna isn’t killing for no reason, she’s taking revenge.”
“Revenge is killing for no reason,” the senior officer muttered, before pointing inside the ruined castle gates. “Come with us, Lady Evening Star. Princess Celestia is waiting for you in the throne room.”
Hayden followed, taking in the devastation of Luna’s attack. There were so many dead—but not groups of random civilians outside of the biggest, fanciest mansions. And the castle itself looked like it had barely survived a serious fire. The roof hadn’t made it unscathed, and now had charred gaps in a few places, with tiles occasionally plummeting down.
Inside, the soldiers walked through a largely wrecked building, though some of the ancient banners and most resilient bits of art were still standing. Hayden could feel the fury and confusion of the guards as they led her through—the Castle of the Two Sisters was apparently not expected to fall. So much for their predictions.
“Time conquers all,” Hayden muttered to herself as she walked. Apparently in English, because the guards only watched her with confusion.
There were plenty of soldiers rushing around the ruin, not just the ones who had brought her. She could hear a few of them as they exchanged reports, shouting back and forth about survivors. Well, more about the lack thereof. But the throne room was empty. Its beautiful stained-glass windows had mostly been shattered, though one or two of the plain ones were intact. Hayden could see a single white figure at the far end, her pale feathers untouched by the ash and the charcoal.
“We are not to follow you,” said the older of her guards. “Go on. The princess is waiting for you.”
Hayden did. She didn’t hurry, walking slow enough that she could hear the echo of each hoofstep off the stone. But it wasn’t as though the castle was going to complain.
Princess Celestia was facing away from her at the far end, looking down at the two thrones. Well, one now. The taller of the two had been broken into tiny pieces, bits of gold and gemstone scattering the floor like trash. Luna’s throne was completely untouched, however, along with any of the carvings or windows that had her on it. There weren’t very many compared to the damaged property—it wasn’t hard to guess which of the kingdom’s rulers the ponies preferred.
“It shouldn’t surprise me that the demon my sister has become still thinks like her,” Celestia said, when Hayden had stopped. “And perhaps that should have alerted me to your true nature as well. Outsiders cannot build, they cannot invent. They only take what is already existent and twist it, corrupt it.” She reached forward, prodding the edge of her own throne with one hoof. “If it wasn’t for you, my sister might’ve gone down this road naturally. Or maybe you only sped her progress. I suppose we’ll never know. “
“We’ll never know,” Hayden agreed. “It also never matters. Historians can debate the cause. We still need to resolve the effect.”
Celestia glanced back at her, choking off a laugh. “Historians will not write of this—or at least, not much. I won’t leave my sister a rebellion when she comes back.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “If we succeed here, Evening Star, I will ensure my sister is not blamed for this. It may take time… generations, in fact. But I will not see her self-sacrifice remembered as rebellion. She deserves better.”
Hayden wasn’t sure what to think about that. She certainly didn’t think that trying to erase history was a good idea, but this also wasn’t her world. And not seeing Luna punished for actions she had taken to save Equestria seemed just. “Not that I’ll be around, but… if I was, I wouldn’t try to stop you. Luna didn’t rebel. Not that you didn’t give us every reason to try.”
Celestia’s eyes narrowed, but she said nothing to that. “Princess Luna realizes why I am here. She knows our best chance of stopping her are the Elements. As soon as my army stopped here, she will react.”
“I don’t understand,” Hayden said, speaking slowly. “If she knew the Elements of Harmony were the biggest threat to her, and she already attacked this place, why not take them while she was here? Why not… throw them off a bridge? Or break them into little pieces?”
Princess Celestia nodded towards the sheath on Hayden’s back. During all her time as a captive in the airship, Hayden hadn’t been asked to give up her armor or her weapons, or prevented from wearing them as she went about the ship. She probably could’ve left without any of the ponies aboard stopping her. Except that if she did, Equestria might be doomed. “That is a powerful sword, one of the most ancient in all Equestria. Why did she let you keep it?” Celestia didn’t wait for an answer. “Because it destroys corruption. The Elements are like that, but far more potent. If she sent any of her servants too near to gather them in her place, their minds would be free or they would die from the exposure. Luna herself would not be destroyed, but the longer she remained near them, the weaker she would become. Perhaps, in time, they would kill her. I don’t know.”
Celestia looked meaningfully at Hayden. “Last chance to admit what you are and flee, Evening Star. You are not an Alicorn, however much you might be connected to them. If the Outside rules you, the Elements will send you back to your master.”
Hayden shook her head. “I told you the truth, Celestia. If Achelois wasn’t enough, using the Elements should be. Are they here in the throne room?”
“No.” Princess Celestia reached behind Luna’s throne with one hoof. There was the sound of something mechanical moving around a moment, then something clicked and a patch of wall began to retract. A path opened up beyond, lit with even magical light. It stretched away into the castle, looking so long that it probably left the castle grounds. “My sister will be on her way already. She was far south, attacking a detachment of light airships I sent to harass her troops. But those ponies will not last, certainly they won’t win against her undead. We must use their sacrifice well.”
Even now you’re sending ponies to die, Hayden thought, and she almost spoke up about it. Is that any different than what I asked my soldiers to do? She tried to come up with something, anything that set her apart. She didn’t send her troops on suicide missions, for one. Though the last stand during the ritual had ended up that way, that hadn’t been the intent. Was it Hayden’s fault things had gone so badly?
She hurried to keep up with Celestia, following her into the passage. The exit shut closed behind them, removing most of the light. But she could hear something from up ahead, something almost like music. “You must know a little about the Elements of Harmony before we use them, Evening Star. Even with this knowledge, it still might not be enough. My sister’s magic amplified by the unnatural strength of the void might overwhelm us. We may die.”
“I might’ve died when you abandoned the north,” Hayden snapped back. “You tried to let the Stonebeaks eat us, I would’ve died then. Decided not to. I don’t think I plan on dying today either.”
Celestia’s mane flared briefly orange—anger, Hayden thought. But it was hard to know anything for certain with such ancient creatures. Being with her lacked any of the confidence she felt around Luna. This creature could kill her, and Hayden wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop her.
Instead of reprimand her, Celestia returned to her topic. “The Elements of Harmony are part of the object that regulates the physical laws of Equus. They link the laws of the universe with the traits that make for a successful society. They tie the ponies of Equestria together. To access their full strength, we would need six individuals, with traits tied to those of each Element. Sadly, this is impossible, so we will make do with what we have.”
“And the traits are…”
“Strength, Bravery, Healing, Beauty, Hope, and Sorcery.”
“Right.”
“We must act together,” Celestia continued. “And you must use my sister’s sympathetic connection to me, or they won’t work. Strangers cannot use them; they must manifest the traits towards each other. You and I are not friends, and I doubt we ever will be. But Luna used to be. It is also possible her connection to you will make the attack more effective. Familiars rarely betray their masters, but when they do the attacks often ignore their natural protection. This may work to our advantage.”
“Great,” Hayden repeated. “So we grab this gun thing, wait for Luna to show up, then blast her. Is that it?”
“Well… not quite,” Princess Celestia said. “I will need to configure them. The last time we used them to change an attacker to stone, and that won’t be enough. I have the lunar coordinates from Avalon. I can’t begin to configure the attack until after she arrives. So we’ll have to survive until then.”
Hayden shuddered. “That sounds… bad.”
“Mostly for me. I expect Luna will ignore you if you don’t make yourself into a threat. Even corrupted, she will see you as a part of herself. Destroying you would still cause her harm.”
They finally reached a door, carved with a stylized tree that seemed to be made of crystal. Celestia rested one hoof on the ancient door, then pushed it open. “We will have only one attempt. Equus has no others capable of opposing her. We must not fail.”