Button’s eyes slowly opened and for a small moment, he panicked. He flailed his hooves out. Where was--
A familiar warmth pressed against his back and he urked. “Button? What’s wrong?” Luna asked.
The brown earth pony flushed and rolled over, giving the dark blue stallion a worried look. “I uhhhh… didn’t… err… You weren’t next to me.”
“You were tossing and turning last night,” the unicorn said with a small, calm smile. “I merely re-positioned myself behind you so I could rub your back. It seemed to help you calm down.”
“R-right. Yes. It’s… right,” he said, staring at the other pony. He still didn’t get it, all of it. All of his feelings. He’d never even looked at a stallion before. But Luna…
Luna was special. Having him here just felt right to him. It didn’t hurt that Luna was probably one of the most feminine stallions he’d ever met. But there was more to it than that. There was just… something special about him. About everything about him. The thought of waking up without Luna being there just filled him with dread.
Button couldn’t stop himself. He pushed forward, catching Luna’s mouth with his and kissing him.
Luna didn’t object, closing his eyes and relaxing into it.
“Oh my gosh, you two, get a room,” Celestia’s voice rang through the tent, making Button jump and pull back.
“Dear sister, we have a tent. It is effectively a room. On top of that, the entrance is closed.”
“I can HEAR it,” the mare’s voice rang out. “Will you two hurry it up. We’re leaving soon. Ugh.”
Luna gave a soft, gently laugh before slowly pulling himself to his hooves and walking out of the tent, pushing the flap aside with a delicate, gentle grace.
Button followed a moment later, though he was far less graceful and ended up tripping over the entrance, tumbling down in front of it. “Ow!”
“Do be careful, dear Button,” Luna said, glancing back. “I am quite attached to your face.”
Celestia rolled her eyes, gently turning the vegetables roasting over an open fire pit. “Ugh. Bad enough I have to sleep next to you two when you’re all snuggly. Do you have to do it first thing in the morning?”
The water bender cocked an eye. “Oh, my. Dear sister, whenever did you become so prudish? Was it not you who would often awaken me with… rather risque tales of your own… frolics?”
“I NEVER called them frolics. And that was different. They never...”
“Yes?”
“Nothing,” she said with a shake of her head. “I hope you two are ready, though. Today isn’t going to be easy,” she mumbled, lightly spinning the vegetables again. She gripped a carrot from the assortment, bringing it to her lips and taking a nibble, before re-adding it to the pile. “Should be ready soon. Luna, can you take care of the tent?”
“Of course,” he said, before turning back to the tent. His horn glowed and slowly their supplies were moved out from the tent and into the small campsite. The tent then began to fold itself back up, neatly sliding into Button’s saddlebag. Satisfied, he nodded and moved back to the fire, sitting down. “Button, how are you feeling?”
“Nervous, mostly,” he said with a soft chuckle. “I mean. I know we’ve been preparing for this for… weeks now. But… well...”
“Meh, it’ll be fine,” Celestia said before splitting the vegetables onto three separate plates and then sliding them in front of the assorted ponies. “We’ll kick flank. And if Tittering shows her face, we’ll crush her. Easy.”
“Do not be so cocky, sister,” Luna said softly. “It is only natural that we’d be nervous. I know I certainly am.”
Button glanced over. The unicorn was, as always, the epitome of refinement. Despite having woken up, he’d already straightened his mane and coat. He looked as if there wasn’t a single worry on his mind. Except there were the small, tiny signs that Button was getting better at noticing. The way his withers were tightened. The way his jaw was set. The way his tail was just a little bit limp. In a way, it almost felt like earth bending. Noticing all the small, tiny movements the unicorn made, in order to determine a far greater meaning.
“We’re three of the best benders here,” Celestia said with a shrug. “We’re going to crush their lines. Changelings or not.”
“Do remember that there will be more than just changelings,” Luna said carefully. “There will be many water benders who have joined under Discord’s banner.”
“Bah. You’re worth ten of them,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hoof.
“And there may be twenty or thirty of them. Fifty. Possibly even more. Then there will be those who can’t fight. Those who are civilians. Those it is our duty to protect. While it is unlikely our mission will involve them, there is always the possibility they will become involved.”
The fire bender gave an exasperated sigh. “Yeah, I know...”
“And if we succeed… Tittering, and who knows how many other ponies, will be following us. Fighting against us. It is distinctly possible that we will be captured. Or worse, if they don’t fall for the bait, then all of this is for naught.”
“Well, congratulations. Now I’M nervous as buck,” Celestia muttered, moving a brussel sprout along on her plate. “It’s going to be fine, though. The two of us? Nothing we can’t handle. And now that we’ve got your… well, Button,” she said, her tone shifting to a teasing tone. “There’s nothing we can’t handle.”
“So long as we are all very careful and exercise due caution, I agree.” He then glanced to Button. “We’re going to be depending heavily on you, Button. We couldn’t do this without you. So… if you need anything. Please, let us know.”
He chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’ll do my part. I won’t let either of you down, no matter what.” He stared at the plate in front of him. He wasn’t hungry, but he knew he had to eat. Chances were he wouldn’t get another meal until a lot later in the day.
------
“There it is,” Celestia said gently, holding a hoof out towards a small, walled off town. Besides it there had once been a lake.
Now the lake was entirely frozen, turned into a massive ice prison. Inside the icy structure were dozens, possibly hundreds of ponies. Tied, bound, who knew what else?
All awaiting the return of the Water Immortal. With it, their cutie marks could be removed as punishment for their crimes. There was no telling how much longer they had. If they were going to rescue the ponies, they had to do it and soon.
Worse yet, it was an obvious move. Anypony with half a brain would be able to tell that an attack from the rebellion would come through here. Which was why the general, Tittering, was residing in that city. A direct attack wouldn’t work. Their best option was simple. Lure as many of the forces away as they could with a bait they couldn’t resist. Primarily, Celestia and Luna.
Which meant attacking close enough that Tittering would come herself, but far enough away that they could still escape when she made her move. It wasn’t going to be easy. They could see their target, off in the distance. A small outpost, up in the mountains. The primary source of materials for one of the few towns in the Water Nation that were land locked. Airships came through often, delivering food and supplies to the town as needed.
“Are they ready?” Button asked softly, staring at the prison. If they didn’t buy enough time, everything would come crashing down. But if they stayed too long, there was a good chance THEY would be captured and imprisoned. If they were, there was no chance they’d be able to escape. The twins were too big a target to risk escaping and would likely be moved quickly. The rebellion still hadn’t managed to find the location where all of the captured leaders were being held and it was unlikely a rescue would be able to arrive in time even if they could.
“As ready as they can be,” Celestia mumbled, before beginning a light trot towards the outpost. “Remember, we go in and out. The moment there’s any sign of Tittering, we get ready to move. Luna, Button, you know your jobs.”
Button nodded. “Of course. Luna, will you be okay?”
The unicorn gave a nod in response. “Yes. Enchanted water such as… that, will be difficult. But not impossible to deal with,” he said firmly. “I’ll be able to stop it from hindering your bending at least. Escape should be possible.”
Sharing one last, final look, the three began their walk towards the outpost, keeping hidden under the treeline. They walked with heavy hearts, knowing this could be their final fight.
“Do you think this is how our mother felt when they went up against Discord before?” Luna asked, glancing to Button.
The stallion stumbled, before shrugging. “I don’t know. I doubt it. I mean, Discord was evil.”
Celestia let out a low groan. “You’ve GOT to be kidding me. You STILL don’t think Silver is evil? I mean, look at what she’s doing,” she said, motioning towards the prison. “Not to mention her little Immortals. How could anything NOT evil make such a… a monster? An abomination? It steals cutie marks. It steals the very essence of a pony. That’s as evil as evil can be,” she said firmly.
“I… know it’s wrong. But it’s Silver. I’ve known her since I was a colt. There’s absolutely no way that this is her.”
“It didn’t stop her from locking you away,” Celestia said firmly. “She played you, that’s all there is to it. Discord is an evil abomination. His little ‘avatar’ is just as bad, if not worse.”
Button sighed and shook his head. “Discord may be evil, but Silver isn’t. Trust me. I know her as well as anypony. She’s bucked up, sure, but--”
“Bucked up? She’s destroying the world! You can’t just go ‘oops’ when you imprison and torture ponies!”
The earth pony cringed. “I-I don’t think she tortures--”
“Stealing a cutie mark IS torture. Why are you even trying to fight her if you like her so much? Luna, aren’t you going to say anything?” Celestia asked, glancing to her brother.
Luna shook his head. “No. I do not have much to add.”
“Wait, YOU don’t trust her too, do you?! Oh come ON! Listen, we’re about to go and do… well. THIS. Enough of your little quiet mood. I wanna know the truth. Do you trust her, too?”
“Of course not,” he said with a shake of his head. He didn’t react to the look of triumph on his sister’s face, or the look of hurt on Button’s. Though he firmly desired to reach out and nuzzle the wounded stallion. “But I do trust Button. I had only known Silver for a very, very short time and, if not for this, I would have assumed she was a kind, generous soul. However, you are correct. She has brought the world to its knees and shattered so many of the bonds us ponies hold dear, as well as stolen many, many cutie marks.”
“See? Evil!” Celestia said with a smirk.
“And destroying lives, ruining countries was something that, before our mother’s hard work, was something that our country held a firm grip on,” Luna added.
“… Oh. That’s… that’s different,” Celestia mumbled. “It was under Discord’s influence, too, that--”
“The ruler, yes,” Luna said quickly. “The ponies under her? The ones who refused to oppose her? The ones who fought against those trying to stop it? They had no such excuse. Our country is one drowning in bloodshed, dear sister. The water benders in particular are, again and again, the focus of many stories of hate and suffering. Removing horns, wings, all in an effort to control and destroy. If we had the ability, removing cutie marks would have been something we would have done without hesitation.”
Celestia cringed again. “W-well, I mean. Yeah. But… but that was then. Besides, we never did that stuff. We’d never--”
“Can you be quite so sure?” Luna asked, glancing to his sister. “It must be nice to be so good, to know that you would remain untainted by a world of such darkness. I, however, am not so certain of myself. Were I to be surrounded by ponies of such blood thirstyness, if I were to have grown up in such a place? I cannot guarantee I wouldn’t have become like that. I may have become even worse, in fact. After all… I have two sisters I’d have wanted to remove from succession in order to achieve power.”
Celestia blanched. “You’d… have never hurt me. Besides, you wouldn’t want to rule, anyway. Colgate’s always--”
“Colgate will make a fine ruler. She is caring and kind, but firm. She will not allow herself to yield to pettiness or cruelty. And her path ahead will be quite difficult, one I imagine she would cast aside if she could. But that is to be a kind ruler. That is difficult, something I would never desire. But to be cruel? To be cold? To only care for power? To be like the Nightmare Moon of old, who rules through fear and might? That is far easier. Even a complete foal could do it. And, were our situations to be different, were Discord’s taint to have afflicted me? There is no telling what I could or would be willing to do. To care is difficult, but to not is easy.”
“I don’t… see what this has to do with anything,” Celestia mumbled, her voice unsure. “That was then. We cast aside his taint and… now we’re just normal ponies again. We’re trying to fight Discord, right? And he’s evil.”
“Discord IS evil,” Luna said. “But that does not mean that Silver is. The atrocities that our mother has seen. Those she committed herself. Not to mention our aunt. Many of them were evil. But that does not mean they are. We have no way of knowing what control over Silver currently exists. In fact, we know very, very little about her to begin with, aside from the fact she is powerful. It is entirely possible that the Silver that Button knows is still in there. That we can remove this… piece of Discord from her. That it is all just a terrible, horrible corruption that we can purge like the disease it is.”
Button nodded, slowly smiling. “Exactly! There’s no way that Silver is behind--”
“However, we must accept the possibility that this is, in fact, the true Silver,” Luna said, cutting him off.
“B-but you just said--”
“Discord was a master manipulator, working for generations, millenia even, to destroy the Elements of Harmony. He tricked, trapped, divided, corrupted and altered so, so many. Were we able to know for certain, we’d probably find his tainted claws stirring the chaos and destruction across all of history. How many events do you think he caused through his own touch and machinations? How many whispered words or false guidances? He always played with us as if we were toys. It is quite possible that Silver is what we’ve all heard. The true Spirit of Discord. And if she was… pretending to be a good pony? Pretending to be kind and sweet, tricking all of us? That would likely be easy for one such as her.”
Button flushed, glancing away. “I-I… guess she could. But this is Silver we’re talking about. She’d never hurt a fly. She--”
“The Silver shown to us? Perhaps she wouldn’t. But the true Silver? We have no way of currently knowing. As it is, we can only act on what we know. And, what we currently know, is she is a tyrant and ruining the world around her. If this is her own machinations or corruption from Discord himself, we have no way of knowing. When the time comes, when we have the Avatar again, we can only hope we’ll know what to do then. But we must remain flexible. Willing to strike her down, or show her mercy, regardless.”
Button and Celestia sighed, shaking their heads in unison. After a moment, the mare spoke up. “Spoken like a true water bender. Just keep putting it off.”
“Being flexible in a situation where you lack information is the best way to create the ideal outcome,” Luna said firmly. “Rushing in blindly, without care, would make us no different than our predecessors, dear sister. On the other hoof, denying the evidence in front of us and refusing to act when the time comes, standing firm in what we believe is ideal despite the consequences? That, dear Button, would be foalish.”
The stallion grumbled before shaking his head. “I know. I still don’t believe this is what she wants for a second, though. We’ll show her, somehow. Get all this fixed. I know we will,” he mumbled. He then glanced to Celestia. “Is he always like this?”
The mare groaned and gave a nod. “Yeah. It’s why I hate having arguments with him. He’s just so… ugh.”
“Patience, dear sister,” Luna said firmly. “It is one of the finest tools at our disposal. It has served me well throughout my life, after all.”
Celestia rolled her eyes. “Patience sucks. Patience is why we’re running around with our tails between our legs, waiting for Diamond to finish whatever she has cooked up in that brain of hers. I’d much rather just take the fight to Silver and end this now. If I could...”
Luna gave a soft, gentle chuckle. “Oh, dear sister. The best things in life are worth waiting for,” he said, before his eyes flickered to Button. Then, slowly, he looked ahead. “We’re here...” The three stopped and turned, glancing up at the outpost. He closed his eyes and his horn began to glow. Slowly, a frown formed on his face. “This… doesn’t make any sense.”
“What is it?” Button asked. “Can you not break it?”
“No. It’s not that,” he whispered. “There’s nothing to break.”
Celestia paused before glancing back to her brother. “Wait, what? There’s no enchanted water? Are you sure? Shouldn’t the ground be filled with it?”
“Yes, it should. But… it’s not. It’s just...” Luna dug his hooves deep into the ground, before shaking his head. “No. There’s nothing. This… doesn’t make any sense.”
“Maybe they didn’t suspect there’d be any earth benders? Or maybe Tittering can’t use the spell?” Button offered.
“It’s… possible. But foalish. Tittering knows that there are a few earth benders amongst the rebels operating in this region. The idea of her being unable to perform such a simple spell is laughable. We’ve all seen her poison bend. If she can do such a technique, she can use this spell to create such water. Even if she couldn’t, she would have soldiers who could. It’s not a difficult spell for a unicorn to cast.” Luna shook his head again. “But there is nothing. Why would Tittering leave such an obvious hole in their defenses?”
“Maybe she’s just not as smart as you think,” Button said. “Either way, that means I’m good to bend without any issues, right?”
“Indeed. Just… be careful. Sister?” Luna asked, glancing over.
“On it. Remember, you two. Move quick, hard and fast. Attack, attack, then we get out of here.”
The three shared a nod, before galloping forward, breaking cover and racing towards the outpost.