//------------------------------//
// Chapter 59 - The Gold Wars 
// Story: Twilight Daylight: Psera, The Legend of Legends 
// by thedarktome 
//------------------------------//

These halls were a tangled maze of madness. How was anyone able to travel around here? After the Princesses of Equestria left the Royal Suite to leave Queen Arcadia to rest, they all walked straight forward. Back through the offices then took a left. Unfortunately, that was definitely not the way they came. They ended up in a military area of the castle that held armory. So they turned around and took the other path. That was a long walk, but they did make it back to the foyer. The larger than life foyer.

Celestia huffed and slowly walked across busy marble flooring up to the Guards standing in front of the elevator with the note presented. Their expressions were always cold and heartless. "We need to speak with Her Majesty," she said.

The one in charge leaned in to read the note much better for a second. Then stepped to the side with the rest of the Guards. He pushed the up arrow and waited. Then glanced to the rulers and asked in a deep voice, "How is Her Highness?"

Princess Flurry Heart nodded and answered, "She is doing much better."

"Good. Get in." The elevator parted open and they poured inside. Once the last pony was in, he reached in and pressed a button then ducked back out. He had no reason to be on Her Majesty's floor. Before the doors could slide shut, he faced Celestia and instructed, "Show the Guards what you showed me and they'll let you pass." Then he ducked back out, the doors shut, and they were rising to the top. More like speeding to the top.

Celestia was not used to Elevators. Actually, now that she's thought about it this is the second time in the thousand years of her life that she has rode inside an actual elevator. And the speed continued to jar her. Flurry had to place a hoof against her father just to gain traction. Thankfully, the elevator ride was less than thirty seconds. Really quick considering how big the Castle of the Gods was.

But very much unlike the actual Castle, this hall was really silent. So silent, it concerned Celestia.

The Guards up here were still and motionless. So still they practically were statues staring at one another across. Statues that were still. The second the doors opened, they shifted their heads and looked straight at them. Better raise the note.

Princess Celestia raised the letter quickly and explained quietly, "We have permission from King Madun to attempt an appointment with Her Majesty."

The closest guard—a mare—snatched the note out of her magical hold and read it with her wing for a moment. After a few tense seconds, she nodded and declared, "It's legit."

The Guards down the hall at the only two golden doors waved them closer and knocked on them. Their eyes never left the Princesses and Prince. With squinted glares. The Elite Guard were trained to be aggressive. And they bared that trait well.

The second they reached the doors and formed a line, they creaked open. And Her Majesty poked her body out wearing an apron with a flower on it hiding the front of her orange-blue coat. She glanced down the line of five with a bland face and answered, "Yes, can I help you?"

Celestia bowed and requested, "We wish to learn more about The Gold Wars. Your son, King Madun has said that you were the best to ask."

Her Majesty blinked at them with her intense ice blue eyes and hummed with no thought that they could read. Then turned and slowly walked back into her home. "Come in. Quietly," she instructed.

The visitors shared a look first before they made any motion. Then without any further thought carefully walked in after her on soft hooves to not disturb the silence. Once they were past the threshold of the hallway and her home, the Guards closed the doors back and silenced the hall once more.

Just like everything else, the life in this suite was dead silent. No LiVAMs, no voices, just... Nothing. A fireplace crackled with life in the library. But nothing else made a sound. Her Majesty walked over into the kitchen across marble floors and asked quietly, "Do you want something to drink? I have juice, water, and wine."

Since there was an under-aged mare nearby, Celestia kindly answered, "We'll have juice, thank you."

Seems she's the one leading the charge, Molten thought. But was there any doubt? She grabbed a few glasses and placed them on the counter a few hooves away. Then proceeded to pour their drinks. Princess Celestia realized that unlike the Royal Suite, Her Majesty had actual real windows in her home. Windows that looked over Psera in possibly every direction. The one in the kitchen had an excellent point of view of Psera Skies. So good it could have been mistaken for a photograph.

In the center of the kitchen was a round, completely glass table. And on the left side of this table many hooves away was a long marble counter with stark white cabinets underneath. Above it were more large cabinets where plates and other utensils lied. A very nice refrigerator was on the opposite side of the table. And directly across from them was a stainless steel sink.

After the glasses were set, Her Majesty gestured to them with a wing and instructed, "Grab your drinks and follow me to the Garden."

The garden at the top of those grand stairs they saw when they first walked in was pretty much a greenhouse. Just made of glass. It was humid but not hot. Cool, but not cold. Amazing.

Rows upon rows of flowers in rectangle soil beds lined spaces all around them. With enough room to walk along concrete walkways. Different versions of Tulips, Roses, Carnations and Transvaal Daisies. A huge space of flowers with only a glass barrier keeping them from falling off the edge to the hard castle roof below. Perfected with a perfect view of Psera's Cop and beyond. Now they could see everything here.

Princess Flurry Heart walked over to the window facing the front of the castle with Molten burning her eyes into her back to just watch. Watch the life move back and forth. The Pserateps flying to and fro. The greenhouse was an entire observatory of this beautiful country littered with advanced technology. The buildings with flashing displays.

Molten sighed and walked over to a table holding gardening supplies and potting soil. They had interrupted her gardening. And she really didn't appreciate that. But they wanted a story, they'll get a story. She asked, "So you want to know about the Gold Wars do you?" 

Princess Celestia trotted over to a flower that piqued her interest and answered, "If it is not too much trouble."

"I lost a lot of friends in this war." Molten counted silently with her hoof to decide which potting soil to use. Not too soft. She picked up the "Super Bloom" with her teeth and walked over to the red chrysanthemums. The scent of the flowers blew through their manes when the air blew in through a vent unseen behind them.

Molten dropped the soil down and started her tale, "The season was a cold one. The summers on Psera were always hot, but the winters not too frigid. That year, it was a temperature many would not enjoy. It was like the planet itself knew death was on the way."

Molten ripped off the top of the bag and used her hooves to start setting the soil down. Then glanced up to Flurry directly across and said, "The Zebra you know now were not the Zebra we knew then. Not even their land. They did not live behind Mount Aris in the East. They lived behind Psera in the west."

Luna looked from the chrysanthemums and repeated, "The west?"

"Or as we liked to call it 'The Untraveled West.' Because... Well we never traveled it after the wars. I was a young queen during this time. I had decided to stop traveling and share my experiences and techniques with the world under the guidance of my parents. I had fallen in love before my mother and father, rest their souls, passed the throne down to me."

Their eyes followed Her Majesty back to the equipment table where she grabbed a small white steel box and flipped a few switches on the side to pop it open. Then reached in and grabbed a bag glowing purple that she tossed recklessly to the soil she just set down.

Her eyes met Shining Armor when she said, "During this time, Psera had links to other civilizations outside our borders. We lost contact with them for some strange reason after the war. Then checked on them to find their countries abandoned. Just wastelands for no known reasons that remain a mystery to this day. But back to the Zebras."

Her Majesty grabbed another bag and walked over to her plants. "We received a distress letter one evening for Zebrica needing our help. Just like in Equestria they were suffering a plague of... Everything. Fresh water, grass, fruits, vegetables, building materials. You name it, they lost it.

"They requested solitude here, and we obliged gladly. We had more than enough resources to compensate their needs. Food, water, shelter. Terrible mistake." She ripped the bag open and shook out a few seeds onto the soil. "They took the castle hostage first out of greed through an entry we have not found to this day. They took the King and Queen hostage and ordered us to place our Gold on ships. Then give those ships to them. They would let my parents go once they were out of Psera waters.

"Our plan was to give them what they wanted, then blow up the Aquatas remotely once they were gone and my parents were safe. A simple plan. None of my ponies would be hurt. Until they killed my parents, my sister, and my husband. Spears, arrows, knives, our old weaponry was used against us. They killed whoever else they could get to in the castle, then turned to the streets of Cop. I was ordered to hide with my Guards in a remote location and ordered the Aerial Guard to set fire to any Zebra on the continent. For they stole an Aquata and left.

"After the sudden attack, I finally left my fallback position to see the damage. And all I saw was... Blood. Blood lined the castle floors. The bodies of my husband, my parents, my sister, my citizens. Outside of the castle was no better. The snow outside was red. Bodies lined the streets while the living stayed indoors. And what did they want?"

The flowers that Her Majesty planted grew quickly by her hooves into golden Chrysanthemums. A large bushel of flowers. Magic. Her Majesty sighed down to them and answered, "Gold. The Zebras attacked for Gold. They stole five Aquatas, and back then they were made of gold. It was a setup. An attack. Their reasons were unknown. But they still attacked and slaughtered innocent ponies. That was when the Elite guard was founded.

"They went back to Zebrica and started packing their stuff up. They knew we were coming for vengeance." Molten stopped smoothing the soil and glanced up to their sodden faces with a fierce glare in her eye. A fire so hot, the sun above would be outmatched. "They knew I was coming."

Celestia assumed something serious was about to happen in the story. "I proposed a war on Zebrica that was declared a few hours later. We readied fifty Aquatas with weapons, saddled up one hundred thousand troops with myself at the helm. And set sail for Zebrica. I can still taste the salt from the ocean when we splashed in the waters. The war chants, the rhythmic stomps of thousands of soldiers aiming weapons at Zebrica's coast. But by the time we got there, they were gone. They flew their nest because of fear.

"But that did not stop me from destroying what they had left behind. There were still a few Zebras who chose to stay." Molten stroked a few of her flowers with tender love and care. "I killed them myself. Their screams still echo through my mind to this day. They were lined up and beheaded with the same weapons I carry even now."

Molten slowly lifted her wing high enough so they could see what was underneath them attached. Blades. Small blades that made her wings shimmer with the sun's rays that bounced off. Molten had more of an involvement with Zebrica than they thought. She actually took part in the war and killed. No wonder she never flew, there were blades under her wings. She could accidentally slice somepony's head off.

Molten closed her wing and continued. "We followed them and actually managed to catch up. Two weeks of searching the sea and land for any signs of a Zebra brought us to the seas behind Mount Aris. We go any further, we would have reached Equestria. But we caught up to them. And sunk every single bucking ship they had in their position. Not including the ones we stole. We stole those back. They're now held in a museum in Lavender. I'll be happy to show you some time while you are here.

"We boarded and took every single Zebra by the throat..." Molten reached down and yanked out a pair of black and white chrysanthemums near her golden ones and threw them behind her to a random space. They hit the floor and burst into dirt and soil. "And tossed them into the sea to drown to their deaths."

Flurry Heart swallowed hard. That was truly scary. She never wanted to experience a war. Molten whispered down to her flowers, "I can still hear the explosions from centuries ago. Our technology weren't as advanced as they are now, but they still got the job done. Small projectiles were launched into the air, hit the ship's sides and blew them to the sky. The ocean ran red with blood that night. The sky turned to fire. That was the night the Zebras went extinct.

"Bodies floated in the ocean the next morning with their blood as the water. We now call it the Red Sea. We set sail for home after we avenged our fallen brothers and sisters sevenfold. Only after we raised a barrier to protect our seas did we mourn. And a declaration was made that no creature approach our seas, no matter what's wrong with them. Only relatively recently was that law reformed, thanks to Queen Arcadia and her actions against Maheera.

"We buried our dead, and learned from our mistakes. The moral of the story: Never ever trust a Zebra."

"So should I burn these then?" Molten instinctively sliced her wing through the air to the space behind her and stopped it at the neck of Queen Arcadia. She was looking at the flowers she had thrown without a care to the world. Her mane had been done up in a bun and topped off with a violet rose she more than likely got from Madun. She still had her injuries wrapped up and eye creamed. She sniffed the flowers then glanced to Molten with a smirk. "These are good flowers, Molten. I'd sure hate to see them go to waste."

The blades glistened in the humid atmosphere under Molten's wings. Hidden from sight, but just as deadly with a simple twitch. Molten sighed and slowly drew her weapons back in to continue her gardening. "One of these days Twilight someone is not going to stop a swing," she warned.

Queen Arcadia placed the Chrysanthemums down and walked across the wooden floors of the Greenhouse. Her wings dragged the ground with surprising silence. Just like the rest of this home. She stopped by her side and replied, "Then we have a pony who is undertrained that needs to meet the Queen. I could give them a few pointers. I feel like your recollections and storytelling has become more livid."

Her Majesty stood up to her full height to gaze around her garden. "Here is literally the only place in the castle that allows me to relive those times to their fullest. I taught you about the Gold Wars in Lavender. Now you're back in my territory. You should be resting, Queen Arcadia. Not talking flowers."

Princess Celestia walked over and added, "Yes, you should be sleeping, Twilight. You know what the doctor said. Stay in bed, get on a healthy diet and take it easy."

Twilight grinned and pointed at her to correct, "She didn't say I have to sleep. Just get plenty of rest, which means to be relaxed. And I am relaxed. I am currently at home, watching a game with my daughter. Which means this spell was able to confuse you. Another win for me."

Celestia craned her neck in suspicion and attempted to poke Twilight's cheek with a hoof. Once it hit her violet fur, it passed harmlessly through to the other side. Like a ghost. No wonder she wasn't worried about Molten hitting her. She sighed and asked breathlessly, "How exactly do you create these spells? They require time and effort. And you seem to make them as fast as I can raise the sun."

Twilight pointed a hoof down to the ground and clued her in on a secret. "I make all my spells in specific locations. I look at things that could be innovated and make those innovations that I usually reserve to myself. But..." She sighed and said, "I guess I could give you a few things. But not now. It will have to wait tomorrow after lunch." She glanced up to Molten and stated, "There's a meeting between us and a few colleagues when the suns are at their highest."

Molten nodded to her. She knew what that meant. A secret meeting at night. "Of course. Only you would attend a meeting even when you're sick. You're a one-of-a-kind pony, Queen Arcadia."

Queen Arcadia nodded and walked over to Flurry Heart watching Psera move once again. "The first Alicorn-Pseratep known to exist. Hey, Flurry."

Flurry Heart looked to Queen Arcadia and greeted, "Hey, Aunt Twilight."

"You know, you're an Alicorn-Pseratep too. But not as much as one would expect. Years before your cousin was born and I was actually pregnant, I had broken the news to your family back in Equestria. And I saw that you had gained in wing length. I theorized that a Pseratep's genes runs through you too. Or at least the bit for love consumption."

Flurry never questioned why her wings were longer than her mother's. They were nowhere near as long as Dawn's and definitely not Aunt Twilight. But they were definitely above average for Pegasi in Equestria. She hummed and asked, "So what does that mean?"

Twilight answered her question in a form that made Molten glance her way. "I don't know. I never really paid much attention to it. It could mean many things. But I've never investigated them. I just assumed it means you have longer wings. Now I have to get back to the game. Can you believe I missed forty three games?! It's a nightmare. So I'm catching up."

Shining smirked from afar next to Cadance and teased, "Yeah. We can't have Twily missing her games. The world would be flipped upside down."

Twilight playfully blew a raspberry at him before her departure. She broke down into a purple mist that flowed away with an invisible wind until no trace of her was left behind. Once she was gone, Molten grabbed a Rose and said, "I ordered for a little gift to be picked up from Equestria. I hope that isn't an issue?"

Luna walked over to the glass windows and looked down to the ground very far below. That would be a gruesome drop. She repeated, "A gift?"

"Yes, for Twilight."

"Her parents and friends I assume."

Molten nodded and walked over to Flurry to slide the Rose into her mane. It was a light blue with shimmering water drops on it that accentuated her mane to a small degree. Flurry looked at her reflection in the mirror and touched it with a tender hoof. It was enough to push a smile on her face, which was enough for Molten.

She smoothed Flurry's mane and explained, "When I lost my family to the war, I struggled. So I turned to my family here in the castle. Everyone here is a family. We watch out for each other. We not only help run the country, but also one another."

They could testify and witness to that when Twilight stepped hoof back in the castle yesterday. And this morning at all the ponies there to meet and greet her in the foyer. There were so many. And they all worked in the castle.

Molten turned around and took off her apron with her hooves. "She needs her family now more than ever. She won't admit to it, but... " Molten walked past the Princesses for the stairs and said, "Queen Arcadia is scared."

Scared? Even Flurry Heart turned her head around and followed Molten closely back down the stairs. Since the story was over, there was really no point in staying any longer. While they treaded towards the door, Princess Celestia decided to push the subject of Twilight being scared. "What do you mean, Queen Arcadia is scared?"

Molten's sigh was either from impatience or fatigue. But she stopped in between the doors and stairs, and turned around to face them. "I'm pretty sure you've surmised by now that Queen Arcadia knows something you don't."

Well since the Cat's out of the bag... Cadance slowly nodded and confirmed, "She refuses to tell us, yes."

"The same applies for Psera's citizens and government. She knows something we don't. It is her right to withhold that information, but I can tell she knows a lot about it to actually present her findings. However... Not a peep. She knows something extremely important. But I believe she is afraid of how it will affect Psera and her future."

Shining waved his hoof around and asked, "And what is this secret? Any clue?"

"No one knows, but we do suspect her of knowledge. Why else would we need more weapons of mass destruction that are strong enough to make an entire continent go boom if there was no threat? Of course, Psera is really defensive over her things. But we don't need that much weaponry. Whatever she knows, she's preparing for it. Down in her laboratory, when she's not on the throne, when she's not in town and somewhere else. She knows something. And she's preparing for it."


~✶~


After reporting to Molten about the meeting tonight from the safety of her home's living room couch, Twilight opened her eyes and trained them directly on Dawn's... Stomach. What was she doing? She was trying to climb over her head from her lap to do whatever it is she's doing. "Umm . . . Dawn?"

"Your horn is dirty," was her excuse. Now that Twilight was aware, she could feel something wet and cold on her horn. Sliding up and down.

Twilight chortled and said into Dawn's belly, "Sweetheart, I can clean my own horn."

"No you can't, Doctor's orders."

"Are you gonna give me a bath next? Oohh, when you were a foal, you loved baths! Maybe we should take one together."

Dawn quickly got off her mother's head by shadow teleporting to a different location by the LiVAM. Looks like that did the trick. Dawn clearly liked intimacy, but only to a very specific degree: No mommy kisses in front of friends, stay out of her room, ugh. So many. But she wasn't here right now. Probably going to see her friends.

That left Queen Arcadia enough time to worry. Her smile dropped and was once again replaced by that serious expression Psera has seen when she sits on her throne.

During her years here on Psera, I have noticed plenty of signs when Twilight worries. Twilight left the couch and made silent strides across the floor to the right where her bookshelf sat. Her steps were silent and quiet. Madun was in the office doing work at home. Maybe she'll make him some soup. He liked soup.

She'd get a quiver in her eye and a twitching in her feathers when she knew something you didn't. A long stare as if she was going back through mental time. Twilight stopped six inches away from the bookcase and trained her eyes on a book's spine. It was colored gold, it was thick.

It was Twilight's biggest fear.

Motions do not lie. Queen Arcadia knows something big. And she's not telling. But I urge that you do not ask about it, for you will be breaking Psera's Law, The Right To Privacy. And you'll get that glare from the Queen you will not enjoy.

Twilight slowly slid the book out with her magic and held it face up in front of her. The cover held no words but "The Secret of The Garden" in Old Pseratopian. An actual book here on Psera. But it wasn't a text Twilight held in her catalog. It was a recording of excerpts from Narmeelah's Diary that Psera's greatest minds couldn't decipher.

She took it upon herself to figure them out. When she first read them weeks before Maheera invaded, they made no sense. But she did write down all of the theories her mind came up with. One of the excerpts had scared her. Scared her really bad.

She sat down on the nearest couch and flipped to that excerpt. It was still here. And she highly doubt it's been read. "An infection that mustn't be. Crossbreeds of the perfected and the less than. It must be cleansed and restored posterior to my own restoration. My Control Room is prepared and ready. Psera's love gives me the strength to restore my world. Which in turn will allow me to clean my world."

It was a bit confusing. But that was because Queen Narmeelah's words were deep and cold. Some of Twilight's theories were simple and clear to understand. Narmeelah just wanted to restore a race that may not have been born under the right conditions. But after Maheera told her about Narmeelah's favoritism towards the Pserateps, she had to guess her wildest theory. A theory she wrote in bright red in all capital letters:

EQUUS' RESET. She would take everything apart and start it all over because it didn't turn out how she envisioned. A spring cleaning. Just like a home that collapsed. You start from the beginning. Narmeelah was going to take Equus apart and start it all over. Psera, Equestria, Zebrica, The Dragon Lands, all of them. They were going to wiped out.

Twilight sighed and closed the book back with a soft punch. Now that she was back, she could start work on these projects. A few more and Psera would be armed for Narmeelah's return. And she would be ready. Well almost. There was no telling where "Narmeelah's Control Room" was. And there was no telling when she would return. There was no entry. Which is why all of these weapons were going to be archived for later usage.

Twilight looked down the hall and called, "I'm going to my office for a bit sweetheart!"

"Wait, wait, already?" After the sounds of his rising from a chair back there, he trotted out of his room up to Twilight and that book she was holding. His face riddle with worry and contempt. "Why?"

Twilight leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I need to grab a few documents from my laboratory. Don't worry, I'll bring Gardeen with me." Twilight could tell he still didn't like it. Those eyebrows never lied. She kissed his chin and whispered, "I'll be safe. I promise. Besides, I need to plan out what to do about the Obelisks."

Well that did need to be complete. Yet so soon? But he had a feeling she was going to do it anyway. So he sighed and kissed her on the lips. "Alright. Be careful, no more experiments for now, okay?"

"Of course, love." Then Twilight turned and walked for the door with that book in her hand.


Twilight knows something you don't. Something big. Something serious. And she's not telling.