Overlord Kirin sat brooding atop his throne… such as it was. Little more than a cobbled together amalgamation of the debri in the throneroom of Canterlot Castle, it was ill-suited to his size and form. Still, he’d at least made the point of smashing all the windows and destroying the thrones of Celestia and Luna. He’d also taken great pleasure in using pieces of those thrones to keep his new pet in place. It was one of the few pleasures he’d had that night.
He had expected setbacks. In truth, the overt attacks on Equestrian cities had not been intended to cause significant damage before his troops were to withdraw. The statement to be made was simple: we can and will attack you in your homes, and kill you at will. Be afraid.
One or two cities would have resisted, certainly. In truth, the total losses in Cloudsdale had been anticipated, but he’d also anticipated some results. He’d taken Canterlot, but with almost no ponies left in the city, and most particularly both princesses escaping, it was a hollow victory.
As such he had no real results. He looked sternly down at his Grand Marshal, who had kneeled at the bottom of the steps leading to his throne. Grand Marshal Maegren was nearly seven feet tall, and thin. Light blue skin contrasted ebon claws on his four fingered hands, along with three horns of the same hue. His ears were little more than holes in the sides of his head, under the curling horns that rose from his temples. The third resembled a unicorn horn, not unlike what Kirin’s pet had once had. Aetheryte had been embedded into all three horns, as well as in his body. It had taken three times what Kirin had used to bring out Garken’s full strength, but the result was worth it. Maegren was more loyal to him than Garken had ever been, and now he was even stronger than that traitor.
“Report.” Kirin demanded… though to Maegren it was King Briareus making the demand. The disguise would continue to be necessary for some time. It mattered not.
“The last holdouts in the castle have been routed, my king,” Maegren said, keeping his eyes downcast.
“The pegasus thief?”
“...We were unable to capture her, Your Majesty. Several of the guards escaped, and her with them. Three of them paid for that escape with their lives. We lost a Warbrave Elite in the process.”
Kirin ground his teeth. He didn’t have that many strong warriors to spare, and almost no remaining aetheryte to enhance them. Even worse… “So… no captives?”
Maegren tensed. “No, my king.”
He looked over at the Discord statue, which was still lacking its head. Kirin held that head in his left hand. It was the only way to be sure… With the Giottus Sphere gone, plans would need to accelerate. “I see. What of the expedition beneath the city and into the mountain?”
“We have unearthed a great deal of aetheryte, but it is of low grade, unsuitable for storing large quantities of magical energy.”
“For the short term, it will suffice. We can refine it enough to use for at least the lesser alicorns, or some of the other potent souls of this world,” Kirin said, glancing a moment at his pet.
She snorted dismissively, looking brazenly back at him.
“Luring them apart will be the key now. Do we have any further information about the attack on Ponyville?”
Maegren shook his head, still looking at the floor. “No, Your Majesty. No survivors got out, the opening attack was destroyed in mid-air, and most of our soldiers were hurled into space via an anti-gravity enchantment. Records were scavenged from the wreckage of Clades, on the Moon. ...The destruction was nearly total.”
Kirin grimaced, careful to keep the half of his face on his pet’s side neutral. He had anticipated Celestia using the sun against him. The Eastern General had been an absolute menace during the previous war here, and she hadn’t even been an alicorn for a good part of that. Now she was linked to Equus’ false star? He had no intention of letting her use it against him.
But he’d underestimated Luna. The younger sister was an artist... a painter! She was a quiet, shy thing drawn into that war only reluctantly, when her sister and their allies had required the help of another alicorn. The power, and the isolation of that power, had slowly driven her to madness. And yet...
...And yet a painter had smashed his ship, his home for 1500 years, with an oversized, glorified rock. He would take her home from her in exchange. In truth he already had, but he’d only just begun.
Besides… the Clades had been his home in exile. Equus was his home again. And he intended to redecorate. “It matters not. The Spires have successfully landed. Have there been any responses?”
“No, my king. We’ve kept careful watch around them, and each General reports no activity nearby. The stealth fields are intact, and the turmoil of our attacks on their cities has diverted attention perfectly. Just as you predicted, my king, we can detonate all eight at any time.”
“Excellent. Send General Ferrana to Hollow Shades, to begin mining operations. You are dismissed.”
“Yes, my king,” Maegren stood, bowed, and spun sharply on his heel.
Raven snorted derisively as the double doors shut behind him. “Spineless sycophant… your people could be on the verge of ruin and you’d never hear it from him.”
Kirin’s eyes met hers, though he didn’t turn his head. Her horn was gone, and one eye was swollen shut. Her fur was mottled with dried blood and two of her limbs were broken. You’d never have known it from the calm strength in her voice. Kirin couldn’t decide what he wanted to do about that. For now, it amused him to let her keep her defiance.
Yes… do keep telling yourself that…
His eye twitched… That damn voice in his head… He looked down at the petrified visage in his hand. Discord seemed to grin back at him. He shook away the thought. “He knows his place, and has faith in his king.” He replied to her.
“He fears you. That’s not the same as faith.”
“Hmph. ...I could break you, you know. What you’ve suffered so far is nothing… though it proves your pain tolerance is more impressive than expected. It’s nothing compared to what I could do, or have done, should I wish it. Perhaps I’ll give you to that ‘spineless sycophant’, and see what he thinks of your opinion.”
“I’ll turn him against you in a day, and watch you kill him for his betrayal.”
Kirin snarled, and the wall next to her head exploded, showering her with white hot shards of marble. She shut her good eye briefly as her coat charred in several places. She looked at the hole his power had made. “Little to the left,” she coaxed, smiling placidly.
He stared at her, briefly enraged, before laughing again. “You should join me, little pony. If my Grand Marshal is so spineless, perhaps you can show him how it’s done.”
She tilted her head, frowning as though confused. “I doubt you could match my current job’s perks. It’s pertinent to our situation as well: I even cuddle with the embodiment of the Sun in my off hours. One must develop a thick carapace. These thuggish beatings don’t really register.”
He chuckled. “I’ve just been passing the time. It amuses me to hear your take on things, for now. But consider the offer… What I want from Celestia need not end her life. Sacrificing her as an alicorn… I could spare her as a pony. She would be… broken, but alive. A gift, for my newest General. You could nurse her back to health. I’m sure she would be most grateful...”
Raven laughed. “I do believe I lack the raw combat prowess of most of your military. Not to mention my magic is working rather poorly just now." She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Ugh, pouring the tea is going to be a nightmare, for awhile…”
Kirin shot up, smashing one of the arms of his improvised throne in the process. “You mock me?! How are you so calm?!” He stomped over to her, cracking the marble floor, to tower over her. She looked up at him, unmoved. “It’s impossible! You’ve scarcely reacted to anything! Drugs?! Some spell?! TELL ME!!”
Raven stared up at him a moment, and then looked around as though checking the room. She gestured him forward, as though to whisper a secret. His eyes narrowed, and he refused to play along. She shrugged, and went back to staring placidly. He sighed angrily and leaned down. She leaned towards his ear, and whispered:
“Love sustains me.”
He shouted in rage and smashed his fist into the side of her face, knocking out more of her teeth. She grinned up at him, showing off the bloody mouth with aplomb. “You asked,” she said simply, with a slight lisp now.
“You…!” He grabbed her by the throat, lifting her until the shackles holding her to the wall clanked. “...I will find your secrets, in time…” He dropped her roughly to the floor. “Until then… stop trying to get me to kill you. At the rate you’re going, by the time I do you won’t even notice, no matter what it is you’re doing to avoid the pain.”
“I wasn’t lying, though,” she said simply, picking herself slowly up from the floor.
“Hmph. We’ll see, in time. If hurting you doesn’t matter… we’ll see what hurting others means to you. Remember, I gave you the chance to save her.”
“She’ll save herself… and me.”
He kicked her one last time, getting no response, before storming from the throneroom.
Had he walked back in, he’d have seen her break down into rough, racking sobs.
------------------------------------------
Ponyville had taken the attack more or less in stride, at least from a local standpoint. Then again, it had been the second least affected target. As Aiden looked up at the shimmering shield surrounding Canterlot, he suspected he knew the most affected...
A twitch in the aether heralded her arrival. She’d become quite adept at using his power, almost as much as he was, in such a short time. Then again, if that gravity magic was any indication, he had more he could learn as well… “Hello, Rarity.”
“Hello, darling. Come up here to brood?”
He chuckled. “Whatever do you mean?”
She rolled her eyes, looking down from the highest flat roof of Twilight’s Castle, where they now both sat. “Setting aside that any pegasus could get up here easily, I assume you came up to be alone. But if you really wanted that, you could have shut me out of your ability.”
“I could have…”
She tapped her horn lightly to his elbow, getting him to raise his arm. When he did, she sidled up next to him underneath it, and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for not doing so. Now, what’s troubling you?”
He put his arm back down, hugging her lightly and tracing a hand down her foreleg. With a quiet sigh, he replied, “I reached for Keia’s sword when I saw those bastards. Not my bastons, and frankly I didn’t even need those. They were all weak, just the lowest level grunts." He exhaled loudly. "...At first I thought it was a flashback… like I was remembering the first attack I experienced.” He shook his head. “But that’s not it. I was angry at myself. I should’ve seen this coming, should have prepared for it, should have… done something. We knew, when Garken vanished, with all the knowledge he’d gained, that this was possible. But even saying that…”
She nuzzled him. “What could we have done? Handed out doomsday warnings to everypony we passed? For something that might not happen? Something that Sidera’s Veil was supposed to prevent? This isn’t all on us. We can help fix it, but we don’t need to do it alone.” She smiled. “I didn’t get home on my own… and we’re not on our own here, either.”
“Yeah… I just hope they’re all okay. I can’t imagine nopony was hurt, but I can hope for it...”
“Ponies are resilient… everything Equestria has been through in the last few years speaks to that.” She smiled at him. “Another thing we have in common with humans, I think.”
“I’d make a list… but we’d never get anything else done.”
“Don’t worry, darling, I’m sure Twilight will get around to making one. But speaking of Twilight, I told her I’d bring you. She wants to put together a plan of action before anyone sleeps tonight.”
Aiden cocked an eyebrow. “Surprised she’s willing to sleep at all, under the circumstances. It’s a prudent choice, though. Running off in the middle of the night to try to help could play right into the Oni’s hands.”
“Princess Celestia said the same. She sent Twilight a letter, from where she and Luna are, along with most of Canterlot. With what she’s said and Twilight's gathered, the other cities attacked have fared well, too.”
“Wait, back up… they aren't in Canterlot?”
“Discord teleported the citizens all out before the shield went up, and the princesses shortly after.”
“...Huh…" He let out a sigh of relief. "Well that’s impressive. So why’s the shield still up?”
“I…” Rarity frowned. “I honestly don’t know.”
Aiden nodded, considering. “It means at some point they replaced the princesses’ shield with one of their own and we missed it. Then again it wouldn’t have taken long and we were pretty busy here. Either they want to fortify, or it’s a lure. ...Or both. Either way, let’s get going.” He stood up, stretching lightly as he did so, but also running his fingers along the edge of her ear.
She made a contented little noise as he did so, rubbing said ear along his fingertips. “Shame we didn’t get a full day together here before something went wrong. Not even one spa trip!” Her magic pulled him back down, and she leaned up, kissing him on the lips. “I’m not sure how I feel about stealing small moments in between saving the world.”
“Haven’t you sort of been living your life that way for years? I mean… to hear you tell it…”
“Oh, it hasn’t been that bad, darling, I mean, it’s not every week or… anything…” her eyes narrowed. “I need a vacation.”
He chuckled. “Darling, I’m with you. So let’s walk the road together. We’ll find a nice place to stop and have a picnic… somewhere down the line.” He held out his hand, giving a half-bow as he did so.
She smiled up at him, and placed a hoof in that hand. “Oh fine… but can that ‘nice place’ be a hot spring? With masseuses?”
“I’ll keep my eyes open.” With that, they vanished from the rooftop.
------------------------------------------
With Rarity gently directing their exit portal, they set down in the map room. Twilight and the other Bearers were already there, along with a few other ponies Aiden didn’t know, and a couple of griffons in light armor. While he’d seen a few of their race in Canterlot, he hadn’t viewed one up close. They were slightly larger than ponies, though they (or at least the ones he’d taken note of so far, including these two) seemed to possess slightly lower magical reserves. He suspected the two aspects balanced out, giving what he’d heard of their generally cordial (if limited) interactions with Equestria. And these two, at the least, were well-armed, competent seeming, and here to help. Good enough for Aiden.
Twilight nodded to them, and her horn lit, drawing everyone’s attention. “Thank you all for being here. First I’d like to introduce Knight Lieutenant Aiden Windborne, of the planet Earth, for those that hadn’t met him yet. He’s a hero of his world, and has faced the threat we now see before us for much of his life. I’m sure his advice and help will be invaluable if we’re to repel this invasion.”
“I’ll do everything I can,” he said, saluting her and giving a nod of respect to those in attendance he didn’t recognize.
“To clarify, he brought Rarity home to us, after she was magically taken to his world via an artifact left on our own, from these very same invaders. The war we face played out once before here, fifteen hundred years prior.”
“Nice to get a break from the old ‘one thousand years ago’ cycle,” Spike muttered.
“Spike, this is serious.”
“I know, but that doesn’t mean we stop laughing. If we do they’ve already won.”
“Preach it, my dragon brother!” Pinkie shouted, raising a hoof, which he bumped with a grin.
Twilight smiled proudly at him. “You’re right… my mistake, Spike.”
“Nah, you were right, too. It is serious. Keep going.”
She nodded. “Aiden, allow me to introduce Sir Gram and Dame Gwendolyn of the Knights of the White Wing. They’re a band of Knights-errant that roam Equestria, with Celestia’s approval, and lend help where needed.”
Gram bowed to Aiden. “We’re a small group, but we’re well-connected throughout the land, Equestria and Griffonia… though back home we mostly answer to the Knights of Griffonstone as a branch of their chapterhouse. Though that’s mattered less since Sir Gawain took charge, thankfully.” Gwendolyn elbowed him, and made a circling ‘get on with it’ motion with one claw. “Ahh, yes… so. Here, we have more autonomy. And recently, twelve days ago to be exact, we witnessed an attack on a small village, where a particular pony had been staying. That in itself would be odd enough, though the occasional chimera or even dragon attack around the wilder borders isn’t unheard of…”
“But the attackers were Oni…” Aiden surmised. So they had gotten here first... damn it.
“Got it in one, my boy, yes!” Gram replied with a wide grin. Aiden blinked, realizing Gram was a bit older than he’d first realized. It wasn’t easy to tell. Then again, how does he know I’m not old? Eh, whatever. Gram continued. “Also of interest was the pony they attacked, for she was no resident of that village. Tempest Shadow was taken, but not without quite a fight. Unfortunately, the neophyte who witnessed the conflict couldn’t bring himself to intervene. Bout of nerves when he saw what he’d have been up against…”
“No, I don’t blame him. The Oni can be damn scary, the stronger ones anyway… I remember you telling me about a Tempest Shadow, Rarity. The pony with the broken horn that tried to take over Canterlot, wasn’t she?”
“...She got better.”
“Right, I just mean she’s a solid fighter, which is why I assume they went for her… Oni prefer a good fight. The whole point of their shock and awe approach to warfare is to draw out challengers brave enough to take them on.”
“Well! They’ll find plenty here!” Gram stated boldly.
Aiden grinned and nodded to him. “Damn right. But what would they want with this Tempest? You said they took her?”
“Cost them a couple of their number, but yes. They all teleported away somehow after she’d been subdued.”
“She’s already free,” Twilight put in, and all eyes turned back to her. “She’s in Baltimare, helping with the recovery there.”
“And how do you know that, darling?”
Twilight smiled. “Because I’m there, too.” There were several startled noises.
Rarity’s eyes narrowed. “...Darling. Am I speaking to a changeling right now?”
“What? No, no, nothing like that. Starlight and I perfected her combination spell of Accelero and Similo Duplexis. We call it Duplex Crepusculum. It uses a lot of magic… but it lets you be in two places at once, even for long periods over long distances! Best of all, you can share the experiences of both places and have your full repertoire of spells available for both halves of yourself… so long as you’re okay being at half power.”
“So… since before we’d arrived… that's why you’ve been at half your magic,” Rarity said.
Twilight nodded. “My other self has been searching for Tempest, along with the White Wing Knights.” She grimaced. “It hadn’t occurred to me she’d been taken to a ship that was hiding behind the moon…”
“Understandable,” Aiden said. “...I hate to ask this… but what happens if one of you gets hurt… or worse?”
“Oh, well… I assume you mean ‘if one of me dies’?”
He grimaced, but nodded. It was war, after all…
“Whatever magic, and well… me that survives transfers to the other me completely, via a subspace teleportation contingency variation of Starswirl’s Third Aetheric Conduit Transfer, supplemented by Minute Hand’s Counter-clock Tick and Clover’s Mortal Coil Recoil.”
Aiden blinked. “Well okay then.”
Spike chuckled. “Welcome to my world.”
Twilight continued as though nothing had happened. “If a 'me' is somehow completely destroyed, it'll just take longer for the other to recover... sort of like using half your magic in an instant. So... a couple minutes at most."
Aiden blinked. A couple minutes, she says, from one of her dying? ...I may have underestimated this mare... and I like it.
"The point, for now, is that when they took Tempest they interrogated her for information about Equestria. We’re lucky they did; she’s tough enough to make it through that experience and even gave them false information, maybe, while she was at it. Their attack was a result of that."
She highlighted several points on the map, which Aiden had already realized was emanating crazy amounts of magic. The aetheric concentration was higher than a Creation Engine, and yet there was something calming about it. Looking at the map, he suddenly wished they could just make friends with the Oni, solve this peaceably and just go back to partying. I'd rather be dancing with Rarity... but I mean duh...
"The Crystal Capital was unaffected," Twilight went on, pointing to the representation on the map. "Shining Armor and Cadance shielded the city so perfectly that even the gravity drive opened out into the snow. ...And then there was a dragon.” A tiny, pink shield covered the Crystal Capital's map image, and a little dragon swooped in to freeze even smaller Oni images into comical blocks of ice.
Rarity snickered, Aiden laughed aloud.
"The worst hit was Manehattan, simply because nopony was able to stop the tower that took the first shot from falling. There were many injuries, but the City Guard finally repelled the invaders." Aiden grimaced at the more familiar scene that played out. A burst of fire smashed through the tallest building, and there was open fighting amongst the tiny images in the streets. "They’ll have a lot of work ahead rebuilding. Ponyville will be sending a construction team to help with repairs and building design. Coco Pommel has already volunteered time and bits to the endeavor."
Rarity smiled. "Of course she has."
Applejack nodded. “This town’s gotten pretty good at rebuildin’, too. We won't leave her wantin' for help.”
“Hoofington was also hit, though damage was minimal. Apparently, a crazy pony with some sort of gambler Cutie Mark took down most of the invading force, while drunk, with the help of a few of her friends." Aiden blinked as several images representing a motley crew of ponies engaged a group of Oni images, only for the whole thing to vanish covered by the word 'censored' in red. "The first shot fired there hit a well-shielded tower that absolutely doesn’t house a branch of a secret agency that operates in a clandestine fashion throughout Equestria…” she trailed off into nearly a growl, staring daggers at the mare Aiden remembered as Bon Bon, who looked away while whistling in complete nonchalance.
Twilight rolled her eyes before continuing. “Unfortunately, while we know the citizens of Canterlot are safe, along with Celestia and Luna, we know little that's happening in the city proper. We'll be addressing that in the morning with a scouting party. But before that, last but not least of those represented here is Cloudsdale. I present Captain Spitfire, commander of the Wonderbolts.”
A fiery maned pegasus stepped forward from the small group of ponies that had been seated together in the corner of the room, listening quietly. Alongside her came a copper coated filly with a white mane and red eyes. Aiden looked at her, feeling a strange sense of familiarity. Huh… weird.
“Nice to meet you,” Spitfire said, holding up a hoof, which he absently bumped. “Cloudsdale made it through fine, not even any serious injuries... or anyway nothing that won't be healed up in a few weeks tops. They really weren’t too good fighting in the air, and shooting an empty stadium constructed of cloud bricks isn’t too big a deal. Frankly, this whole thing feels like a smokescreen. They hit us with a bunch of rookies. If it weren’t for the question mark surrounding Canterlot I’d think this whole thing was some big prank.” The little filly poked Spitfire’s foreleg, getting the Wonderbolt’s attention. “Oh yeah… and this is Joyous Riot, who wanted to meet you. She, well…”
Rarity stepped forward, smiling at the filly. “She’s the pony who was having dreams about us, and what we needed to know, while I was back on Earth. You gave me just the bit of inspiration I needed when I needed it. Thank you!”
The filly smiled back. “You’re welcome! I’m really happy I got to help a friend of Rainbow Dash!”
Rainbow chuckled from her seat at the map table, buffing a forehoof against her chest airily, but Aiden barely noticed…
Joyous… Riot? ...Riot’s blade divides the wind.
But that had been…
‘I don’t suppose I could get my sword back?’
‘Sanity, however you pretend to define it, does not entice us.’
‘...Be well, little hero.’
Aiden exhaled sharply, astonished. It couldn’t be…
...Keia?