//------------------------------// // Book Four: Chapter Three // Story: Unity: A Tale of Arcadia // by Kieva Lynn //------------------------------// Book Four: Our Worlds At War Chapter Three As Cuchulainn fell, cheers went up from all around, as people emerged from hiding to celebrate. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were soon crowd-surfing as the jubilant throngs carried them along. "This might be premature!" Jim called out, "We still have the orcs and changelings to worry about!" "Oh don't be a spoilsport!" Dash called down from the top of the crowd. Then both Dash and Pinkie vanished from where they were and reappeared in front of Twilight. "Jim is right." the unicorn said, "We still have to mop up the rest of this mess." "Oh all right. Lets get started then." Rainbow Dash groused. The mopping up process took several more hours. Even then, it was only possible because no more of the enemy's troops arrived. In order to speed the process along, they had split back up into the three teams, each team accompanying a division of human and pony soldiers. The teams encountered no great difficulties. The enemy was in retreat, and it showed. They met back up at the temporary army base once it was clear there were no more threats, at least for the time being. "So what will you do now?" Shining Armor asked. "Teleport back to Unity I guess." Jim replied. "Well Claire and Toby's groups at least." Twilight said. "I'd like for the three of us to make a stop in Equestria. I still need to let Princess Luna cast that dream memory spell, why not do it there?" "The poor dear did say she was tired from all the teleporting back and forth. It might be easier for her if you're there." Rarity agreed. "Exactly. And while I'm doing that, you can have a talk with Gandalf and the other wizards about the extras they didn't tell us about." Twilight nodded. Applejack said "Then I guess we're settled. See y'all when we get back!" Rarity and Fluttershy stood next to Claire, while Rainbow Dash and Pinkie took their positions to either side of Toby. A few seconds later, the six of them vanished. "So I guess this is it big brother." Twilight said, hugging Shining Armor tightly. "You just be careful Twily. And yes, I will too." Shining answered, returning the hug. Jim asked, "So, what do I focus on for our target?" Shining answered "Not Canterlot. The last word we had said the Princesses were still keeping everypony out in case of a renewed attack. I would suggest focusing on the diarches themselves. That way you'll arrive close to wherever they are." "That makes sense." Jim said. He looked at Twilight and Applejack. "You ready?" "Let's go." Twilight nodded. The ponies stood close to Jim, and waved as he concentrated on the magic. They were gone moments later. Shining Armor looked at Agent Marsh and asked "So how do you want to proceed from here?" "We'll need to talk to the President and the Joint Chiefs. We've got to keep the Orc army up north contained, but we've also got to be prepared for a new attack anywhere at any time. Troop distribution is going to be tricky..." XXXXX They arrived in Equestria remarkably close to where the Princesses had set up their command base. So close, in fact, that when an earth pony sentry saw them arrive his first instinct was to draw a spear and demand that they surrender. This was followed, upon his recognition of Twilight and Applejack, with a rush to get them out of sight before any enemy spies laid eyes on their arrival and came to investigate. They were led directly to Celestia and Luna, who greeted all three warmly and requested an update on what had happened. "Until we return to Canterlot, we don't have access to the communication windows after all." Celestia explained. They gave a play by play of what had happened in New York, after which Applejack asked "So, how long will it be before you go back to Canterlot then?" "As soon as we feel certain we can effectively defend it." Celestia said. "A few weeks, at least." "Maybe we could help with communications in the meantime." Twilight suggested. "I mean, the way the teleport spell in the amulets works it can only transport us, but that's effortless. So we could still maybe make daily trips between Eqqus and Earth to keep both sides informed of what the other is doing." Jim nodded. "I'd be willing to do that. I need practice on hitting my exact target anyway." "That would be most beneficial. Thank you." Celestia smiled. Luna said "Yes, you have my thanks as well. But now, I think perhaps we should get to why Twilight is here..." "If you feel recovered enough, of course." Twilight said. Luna replied "I am well enough. But before I begin Twilight, let me explain how this spell will work: Once it is cast, you will find yourself, alert and aware, back in the dream. I will also be present, but you must not speak to me, or interact with me in any way until it is over. In fact, once the voice speaks the first time, you should try to respond to it as closely to how you spoke before as possible. A disruption could damage my connection to the dream and spoil any chance of hearing what was being said clearly." "I understand Princess." Twilight nodded. "Then let us begin." Luna said, and her horn began to glow as she touched the tip to Twilight's own horn... The next thing Twilight was aware of, she was floating in a dreamscape. Luna hovered close by, observing but saying nothing. "Twilight Sparkle..." The voice was clear. Remembering to respond as she had before, Twilight said "Huh? Who's there?" "Twilight Sparkle... You must hear me..." "I hear you!" Twilight called out. The voice: "Stand firm. You must be ready..." The voice was clear this time, but again Twilight responded, according to Luna's instructions, precisely as she had before, "I hear you! But it's not clear!" The voice returned "Three generals your foe will send... Three keystones... It wants you to defeat them..." "Three... What? It wants...?" Twilight asked. "But defeat them you must..." "But why...? I don't understand! I can't hear you clearly enough!" "WARE!" The voice boomed louder than in the actual dream, "When felled is the third, free the enemy will be... Free then and there..." The dream spell broke, as they had heard the last the voice had to say... XXXXX Meanwhile in Unity Rainbow Dash was regaling the Crusaders with her own take on the battle. "Orcs to my left! Drones to my right! The blob monster dead ahead and coming right for me! I tried to break free with a flurry of Broken Wing attacks and they were dropping like flies but there were just too many of them! Blobby grabbed me in a tentacle, getting ready to throw me alive into it's top mouth! ...And that's when I got mad..." "So awesome so awesome so awesome!!!" Scootaloo cheered. "So made up." Apple Bloom whispered behind a hoof to the others, who chuckled. "So how did you get free?" Scootaloo asked. "Well it wasn't all that hard really. See, what I did was-" As Rainbow continued her self-congratulatory tale, Sweetie Belle looked around and noticed that one of their number was missing. Quietly, so as not to disturb the tall tale if only for Scootaloo's sake, she slipped out the door and looked around. Found who she was seeking on a park bench. "Nyma?" "Oh hey Sweetie Belle. I just thought I'd slip out." "Is something wrong?" "Not 'wrong' exactly... I just hated hearing Miss Dash talking about all those Changelings she had to fight." "You do know that story's more lies than truth?" Sweetie asked as she hopped up on the other end of the bench. "Yeah, but that's not the problem." Nyma sighed. "I mean, whatever she did really do, I'm sure she had to. Chrysalis is evil and her drones don't have enough minds of their own to disobey her. But..." "But it's still your people in a way?" Sweetie asked. When Nyma looked at her wide-eyed, surprised that Sweetie understood, the unicorn continued "I've heard Xix and some others say the same kinds of things." "Thanks for getting it." "Oh that's okay. And you know, maybe somepony will be able to do something about it someday." "Huh?" Nyma asked, confused. Sweetie said "Well Changeling Queens aren't like Alicorns right? They're not immortal... Her hive will have a new queen someday-" "And maybe that queen can be taught to be nicer!" Nyma said, seeing what Sweetie was going for. "Well sure. I mean it sounds like all the other queens out there are okay." Sweetie said. "Eh, a few of them can be jerks too, just not as bad as Chrysalis. But yeah, most of our queens are fair and just. Like I hope to be, if, well, you know." "It's a couple more years before you know for sure right?" "Yeah." Nyma nodded. "And even then, another ten years past that before I'd actually be starting to make new drones. Anyway! Let's go do something fun!" "Arcade?" "You know it!" "Okay, you go ahead I'll be right there!" Sweetie Belle watched as Nyma galloped away, and as soon as the changeling filly was out of sight said "Okay, which one of you is it?" An innocuous seeming cardboard box rippled with green fire, turning into Xix. "Thanks for that." Xix said. "I've tried to cheer her up, but the truth is she really doesn't want to be a queen... But, she also wants to do what's best for the hive here. It's really bothering her." Does she have any choice at all?" Sweetie asked. Xix shook her head. "It's biology. None of us have a choice." "That's sad. But don't worry! We'll find a way to help her through! I better go, before she wonders what's keeping me. Bye Xix!" XXXXX "Three generals. Three keystones." Celestia repeated after Twilight had told what she heard. "And we have to destroy them, even though that's what the real enemy actually wants us to do?" Jim asked. "Crazy, I know." Twilight said. Applejack said "Well, maybe not... What I mean is, even knowin' what the big bad is after, we can't very well just sit back and say 'A whole city's being torn apart! But we can't do nothin' 'cause the bad guy wants us to.'" "Strewth." Luna agreed. "Yeah. I wonder if maybe there's a way to bind one of them?" Twilight mused. "If we could stop one without destroying it, like Discord turned to stone, we could keep the real threat imprisoned." "That's worth considering." Celestia agreed. "Though we would only have three shots." Jim asked "Would we? I'm seriously wondering if Cuchulainn wasn't General number one." "Ugh! I'm sure you're right!" Twilight groaned, upset that she hadn't seen that for herself. "Two chances then." Celestia said. "Two chances assumin' the voice in Twi's dream is tellin' us the truth." Applejack pointed out. Luna said "I'm afraid I am quite certain, having heard the voice, that it was indeed speaking the truth. And also quite certain that any attempts to circumvent what it said had to happen will be futile." "And why do you say that sister?" Celestia asked, curious. "Because Tia, I recognized the voice. It was our mother." "Luna you are certain?" "Positive. " Luna answered. "Even after all this time I remember her voice as clearly-" "Queen Faust!?" Twilight suddenly blurted out, eyes wide. "That's who...? Oh. Oops. Sorry Princess." Both diarches allowed themselves to chuckle lightly. "We'll let the breech of etiquette go under the circumstances Twilight." Celestia said. "So this is a good thing then?" Jim asked. "Yes... And no..." Luna mused. "On the one hoof, yes, very good. Our mother is powerful, even if she is often forbidden to use her power overtly. If she has taken an interest in what is happening, if she saw fit to send a warning... Her presence can only be good. But on the other hoof, if our enemy is powerful enough to partially block her ability to contact Twilight, it means we face a foe greater than any we have seen." Celestia said "I think you should return to Unity now. In fact, I think you should avoid having any one of your three teams on any world by themselves again until this is over." "I understand Princess." Twilight bowed. "Thank you Princess Luna, for helping me with the dream." She nodded up to Jim. "Let's go home."