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Princess Twilight along with Luna and Celestia were listening to a guards report and nearly shaking in grief, sickened to her stomach by the news. A shocking sort of news that left them all highly disturbed.
"It can't be. It's sick. Twisted and disgusting. How could they!?" Twilight was aquiver with anger.
"Twilight, calm down. We're here with you." Luna patted her back gently. She groaned.
"It's just wrong. Wrong." They were all aghast at the news just received. A veritable army of puppets was streaming forth from Canterlot, but there was something else far more sinister still about it.
"Are you sure? Certain that is what the scouts saw?" Celestia asked an elite guard captain who was reporting in on the situation. He lowered his head, unusually he almost looked to be in tears himself. It must be true.
"Yes..your majesties. The puppets..all of the ponies known to have still been in Canterlot are..puppets. Strung up just like the other things. An army of our own dead are marching on us. Your highness, what do we do?" He was clearly in shock as well.
"Inform everypony about the situation, tell them what we are facing. We may encounter ponies they knew, friends, family.. Be clear, if any of them feel they may be unable to face that then they have my leave to flee." Celestia ordered.
"Are you..sure, your majesty? We may need every pony we can get.." The guard asked politely, shaking slightly.
"It will do us no good if our forces seize up in battle. It will get them killed, or perhaps worse. Go." She wasn't wrong about that. The guard saluted and hurried out of the command post they'd set up in the town square. This turn of events was completely unexpected. It might make things even harder than they already were.
"Princess Celestia, is this a mistake? Is fighting them off the right thing to do now?" Twilight asked her dear mentor.
"Setting all this up must have taken absolutely massive power and many years to prepare." She explained.
"If we destroy their army then there will only be.. him and anypony helping him to deal with. It obviously took hundreds of years to make this happen. As I am sure you are, I am very..shaken. He has broken the sanctity of death and robbed innocents of their dignity. We must do whatever it takes to win. There is no other choice now I'm afraid." Celestia was in a very bad position. If the pony behind all of this insanity was truly one she knew and cared for in life then she had even more reason than anyone else to feel betrayed and hurt in some incomprehensible fashion. A puzzling mix of feelings presented themselves throughout this whole ordeal, and it was about to get worse before it got better.
"Luna, have you ever heard of anything like this? Anything at all?" Twilight wondered if anyone ever did.
"No, not like this. This is a sort of magic no one dares practice. Even were it not forbidden, dark magic always carries a serious price. I cannot put my hoof on it but I feel something is quite amiss with everything happening. Not just the fact it is happening in the first place, but something just doesn't sit right about any of it." Luna said it, but all felt it. Some terror was loosed upon the land of a scale for which there was no real accounting. Using the bodies of poor dead ponies was abominable in itself, but why was he going this far? Surely this was not simple insanity?
If all he wanted was to hurt Celestia, he had already harmed her very deeply. Physically and emotionally. She was doing her best not to show it, but the damage was done. To both her and Luna. Why drag everypony else into it? An all out war was going to ridiculous lengths. It really made little logical sense. If he'd been the slightest bit more careful about it both of them would be dead. It was almost as if he wanted all of this to happen like it had. It even seemed like freeing the two sisters was just too easy. Everything afterwards was like some kind of joke to the enemy they now found themselves preparing to battle. He was no mere monster. Something else. Some actual horror given life and distinct purpose.
What that purpose was escaped Twilight. There might be no discernable reasoning behind any of this. The fact was battle would be joined by morning. The sun would just be raised overhead by the time it began. What awaited? To have their own loved ones conscripted into war was unthinkable to this moment. What sort of corrupt and vile soul would dare force the dead to do their bidding? Unbearable. He must be made to pay for this crime against nature and decency.
"I feel ill. The plans are set. I need to rest until just a while before dawn. Is that alright with you two?" The two sisters nodded softly. They were both kind and caring as they ever were. How could anypony wish to hurt either of them?
Many fences and magical barriers along with a multitude of long-unused devices for warfare lined street after street in Ponyville. This was like some terrible waking dream brought home to reality. None of the troops had to use any of these things in many years, if ever. All manner of machinery was pulled out of mothballs for this. If it would be their end, the ponies of Equestria would make it one worth remembering to all others. A stark reminder that hope never dies nor should be cast aside for any reason. A bitter end of their own making would still be better than one forced upon them. Twilight looked up to the night sky and found herself begging the very heavens for insight, guidance, help. Anything at all. Please.
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Death come creeping, telling lies. What secrets lay behind those cold dead eyes?