None of this made any sense. Dawn's been reading and noting down everything she's read inside of this room and so far, it sounded like a book full of mumbo jumbo.
"She's becoming too powerful," Narmeelah had noted about her mother. On a side note, it looked like Narmeelah was out there alive and kicking, and, apparently, spying on her family. That's already a red flag.
On the wall directly across from the entrance was another large map of a circle cut up by intersecting vertical and horizontal lines in a common intersecting pattern. There was a text above it in Old Pserateopian that read, "Equus". It must've been an older thing in the past. Strange.
But Dawn was still focused on the crossed out faces of her family. Why? It was stressing her out so much that her mane began to frizzle.
First Light bumped into her mind. "Dawn? I think... I think I get it. And I'm not liking it."
Dawn sighed and rubbed her head. Well that makes one of them. "Then please clarify it," she requested.
Dawn's right hoof moved to slap on top of one of the texts they were reading and read it out loud again. "'A twinkling light shall be a bright star that even I cannot contain.' I think she's talking about mom. One thing we have learned about Narmeelah's manner of speech is the fact that she literally puts names in them. Add that Mom's face is on the wall and we got Narmeelah speaking about mom again."
"Right, but why?" Dawn walked back over to the table directly across the entrance and shuffled through the sheets over her pets. They've been in there for so long that they fell asleep on top of each other. "There must be some reason to why mom's face is crossed out with the other Princesses."
First Light couldn't think of it either. Until her half of their mind remembered something "...oh my stars. Dawn? Remember that theory mom told us about? About Narmeelah returning in anger?"
How could she forget it? Dawn was reading through some of mom's books during her probation and saw notes about a possible "Equus reset" upon Narmeelah's return. At first it sounded silly. But then mom's logic hit. If Narmeelah was willing to destroy an entire country because they knew about the Pserateps, what would stop her from resetting the entire planet because everyone knew about them? She had taught her the basis behind it and everything.
Dawn answered, "Yeah, what about it?"
"I think she was right. Remember the note earlier about the Zebras' removal of darkness? I don't think she was talking about cleaning the Zebras from Darkness. According to the ponies here in this place, the Zebras worked for Narmeelah personally."
Oh... Right. Then... "Why would she want to clean the Zebras?" She asked.
"That's just it. I don't think she was talking about cleaning the Zebras. I think she was talking about the Zebras cleaning the Darkness themselves. It's their job. It's why they were created. According to a text in these plans..." First Light flung a stack of sheets off her table then grabbed one from earlier they read. "Before she disappeared, Narmeelah was planning something big. There was something in here about a do-over or something. Then Maheera appeared and mom was put inside her Diary to defeat her in her place. But after that, there was nothing about her."
"Where are you going with this, Light?" Dawn deadpanned.
"Dawn, mom was right! But she was a little late! Narmeelah was planning a reset. According to these notes, Narmeelah was going to reset the planet of Equus because of Maheera! Her mere existence was like, 'This is it, it's over. Let's try again.' But then Maheera attacked. In a desperate move, she sealed herself and her away. But somehow, Maheera broke out and Twilight was there to defeat her.
"But the thing is, I think Narmeelah was already free and planning to reset Equus the entire time. Like a cover up. Everyone thinks she's dead, no one knows. She wasn't worried about Maheera because mom was handling her. She's Narmeelah's equal. That gave her enough time to continue planning. But then something happened along the way. Something she didn't see coming..."
The sheet from earlier was slid into their sights. With a text that Dawn read to herself. "Mom became too powerful."
"Exactly!"
"But where do we fall into this?" She pointed up to her family. "Why are they included and crossed out but not us? That Zebra said that simply because we exist we mean the end of the world. How could they know that if Narmeelah didn't know?"
"That's because the Zebras wanted to get rid of us to at least save themselves and the rest of us. Narmeelah didn't even know we exist. The prophecy was from their leaders or something. We're not even on the wall and even Flurry's up there. The Zebras know that this is happening. Their job is to clean the darkness and keep the nations away from Psera by order of Narmeelah. We weren't discovered until after Narmeelah's disappearance. The only ponies who knew about us is mom, dad, Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. But it's everyone now. Except Narmeelah. That was their goal. And when she finds out that Psera spoke with other nations, and the ruler had a mixed daughter who was actually going to take the throne of Psera..."
"We're dead. We're all dead." Dawn was starting to get it now. But then... She pointed to the photos and asked, "Why are they crossed out?"
"....she needs them out of the way. Mom is too powerful. Only she can stop her because Mom's magic matches her own. As for the other Princesses, I'm not sure. They don't hold a candle to her power."
Dawn rushed back over to the table and asked, "But how? How?!" She was fearing the answer. None of this was good.
"Through us. Dawn, Narmeelah's back. Like I said before, she knows about everything now. Including us. And she's not happy about it. I bet... Oh my stars, Dawn this is all a setup. She set up everything! Narmeelah knew the Zebras would get rid of us through a prophecy by using their Shamans. And they did, just like she wanted. Mom was hurt in an attack by the Zebras, and we're more than likely 'dead' now. What does that mean?"
Dawn knew exactly what it meant. She gulped and whispered, "It means war." Dawn was the first naturally born Alicorn-Pseratep in existence, as well as the heir to the Psera throne. And she was murdered. "Psera is going to war."
"Right. B-but Zebrica is aligned with IHT. IHT would want to settle this peacefully. But I guarantee you that mom already struck back. There's a war going on right now that Narmeelah started, not the Zebras. It was all a setup."
Dawn quickly grabbed as much proof as she could hold in her magic. Then with a whistle to wake her pets, rushed out of the cave with them on her hooves. Dawn huffed through her words, "But mom isn't going to stop. She's going to destroy Zebrica."
"And IHT won't let her."
"Mom's going to fight them to get her revenge..."
"...and she'll mow right through them using up her power or even killing herself..."
"Which will then give Narmeelah an open window to go through with her plans—"
They both shouted at the same time they burst through the cave, "Because no one powerful enough will be able to stop her!!" Then collided straight into another pony with a grunt that flung them into the air before sliding through dirt.
Heated Wings groaned underneath Dawn and rubbed her head. What the buck just hit her? She looked forward and spotted the pony she was searching for. Along with paper fluttering to the ground that she rested her eyes on. Sheets with faces on them. She bounced up and grabbed one to stare at of a pony with Dawn's coat and eyes. It looked like her. Albeit the large X across her body.
She glanced up with cold eyes and asked, "Is this your mom?"
Great, now she knew who she looked like. Dawn walked back over and used her magic to softly take the photo back. "Yeah," she answered.
"She's really pretty... Guess that's where you get your looks from, huh?"
Dawn glanced up from her photograph and quickly started grabbing the rest of them. "I can't chat right now," she urgently said. "I've figured it out."
Figured... Wings shot her head back to the cave. Then once more on Dawn. "Did you go in the cave?!" She shouted.
Dawn jumped back and shouted, "I had to! And I found out everything! It's all been a setup!" Once she had everything in her hooves once again, she zoomed up to Wings and exclaimed, "Narmeelah wants to kill everyone! And everything living! She wants to reset Equus and start over! But it'll wipe us out in the process!"
"Well of course she does! That's why I told you to stay away from the bucking cave!"
Dawn froze and stared at Wings in shock. How did she know? Unless...
Dawn narrowed her eyes and slowly backed away for the forest. "You knew," she whispered. "You knew about all of this. All along, all these years. You want this to happen."
Heated Wings zipped behind Dawn and blocked her escape. "Kid I cared about you," she said. Dawn jumped forward and whirled around before she zipped behind her again. "That's why I gave you chances. I don't know how you got past the runes. But that doesn't matter. All that does is that you have to stay here and keep it quiet. So why don't give me all of that, and we can forget about all of this?"
Sky Blue and Juniper hid underneath Dawn's body while she took up her defensive strategy. A very simple one. Practicing with her mother was about to pay off. "You were never thrown in here," she figured out. "You're our little prison guard. That's why you're so fast. To catch anyone attempting to leave. No one can fly faster than someone who can't even be seen in a trail."
Heated Wings stood on her haunches and tauntingly tapped her hooves together. "Bravo," she sarcastically praised. "You're smarter than I took you for."
Dawn growled and snarled, "Traitor! Why?"
"Why? Oh that's easy, sweetheart. You see..." She appeared on Dawn's right and bucked her to the side hard enough to have all the paper flutter from her hooves. Dawn collided into a tree trunk with a yelp. Then dropped to the dirt with a bruised side. "My loyalty lies with the great Queen." Heated Wings' voice changed. It was much older. More ancient. "My mother... She rules Psera whether you're crowned or not. What she says goes, and that's for all rulers. Now her power is slipping. Psera is becoming known. Magic is out of balance, ponies are in places where they shouldn't be. All because of your mother."
Heated Wings appeared on Dawn's left and bucked her again painfully towards the cave. Dawn slid across the dirt and rolled back to her standing position before she was blown further down inside by a gust of wind. She flew inside and tumbled along the rocks at her hooves before sliding to a stop on her face. It wasn't until then she finally looked up to the real form of her attacker.
Heated Wings slowly approached with a morphing body. Her coat of orange changed to a light green. Her wings spread and glowed Neon with magically spectrum-shifting colors. Her forest green eyes changed to a glowing ice blue that seemed to sparkle with the stars, twinkling in the daylight. Her mane was no longer long and violet. It was now short and fire orange. Just like Aunt Odega's. Dancing on the top of her head like a campfire.
She looked exactly like Narmeelah. "Heated Wings" stood proud and whispered in a much smoother sing-song voice, "Wanna guess who mommy is?" Then took a deep breath and blew Dawn and her pets deeper into the cave. Then with a stomp of her hoof, the ground in front of it rose from the dirt and created a wall. Sealing her inside.
"A shame..." Heated Wings raised her hoof and floated the proof Dawn had with her and stared at the image of the ponies. With a will, she whisked them away by fire into ashes. "I actually liked the kid. She reminded me of myself. Oh well."
Heated Wings turned around to face the town. A rush of flames engulfed her body and changed her body back to what she was before. She had to get back before someone started to get suspicious. Her little boyfriend had asked to find her since she was the fastest. Any longer and things would have became a little strange. Suspicious.
Were they seriously debating this right now? Luna couldn't believe it. After the message from their little Pseratep visitor, another meeting was called the next day to Mount Aris. A place where everyone could get to. And just like Luna thought, they weren't happy.
The first one to shout was President Manamar. She stood up from her seat like a dark yellow lemon and exclaimed, "Are we actually considering allowing her assistance?"
Princess Flurry Heart defended from her place next to her ruling parents, "She knows the ways in and out of Psera. She knows their military, she knows their battle strategies, she knows their history. We need as much info that we can get about Psera as soon as we possibly can to avoid another attack."
Prance's ruler Consort Snow raised his white hoof from his seat and scanned his kind eyes over the room. "As much as I hate to propose it," he said. "None of us know what Queen Arcadia's end result for these Zebras are."
Luna deadpanned, "She just destroyed their entire continent and left their bodies to fry. I believe it is pretty clear what she wants to do with the Zebras. As for the matter at hoof, I too am very resilient on this matter of allowing a Pseratep to assist us. But I believe we have no choice. Flurry is right, we know next to nothing about Psera's defense apart from the fact that they are manufacturing weapons of mass destruction, have a large fleet of Aquatas bigger than anything inanimate we've witnessed in our lives, and a Queen able to attack us literally five hundred miles away. And did.
"Going to war against Psera would in fact be suicide if we know next to nothing about our opponent. As of this moment, we are blind. And this Mimi is our best bet at having even a tiny chance. As of now, we only have twelve days to make a decision before their ambassador arrives. I suggest we make a decision in the next two days to even prepare appropriately."
"I'm proposing we hoof over the Zebras." All eyes moved over to King Chancellor and his stern gaze. "You have all seen Psera's military. We have witnessed their anger. Hay, they were even able to wipe out an entire army nearing their coastline at the press of a button, or did we all forget Railer One? Who's to say they won't do that again the second we say no? Queen Arcadia is furious. The entire country is furious. Our non-compliance may be the death of all of us. Psera has that power. We don't. In order to avoid an uncertain future, our best bet is to hoof the Zebras over to Psera. There is no fight."
The room descended into a depressing silence. Even the Hippogriff soldiers standing in the room were fearful. All understood what he meant. Until Flurry stood and said, "They need us, every creature in this room. From the Creatures underground..." She raised a hoof towards Queen Novo and her daughter. "To the Rulers of the skies." She raised another hoof to the curious eyes of Princesses Celestia and Luna.
Flurry placed those hooves on her own chest and said, "I'm very young compared to all of you. I'm only eighteen, yet I have seen and witnessed many things here in Equestria. Friendship of course. Teamwork, love, wisdom and knowledge, and the power of magic. And I can say without a doubt in my heart that you are not born with these qualities. You are taught. They are inherited through word of mouth. Not blood and DNA."
Flurry bounced over her seat to land in the center of the room with all eyes on her. Even the Guards. "We did not get to where we are today sitting around moping and giving up before the fight began. We rose from our cold beds of depression and sadness and dug our way up into the sunshine of hope and heat of pride. We expanded and grew in knowledge, which grew our strength. When IHT was created, it was to grow our strength and maintain our peace. Not to lie in sorrow and die.
"My parents..." Flurry pointed to Shining and Cadance's surprised faces. "Were separated by Changelings on the day of their wedding. Yet they managed to fight through it all and still find each other. After banishing her sister to the moon, Princesses Celestia and Luna still managed to find each other in a loving embrace once again after a thousand years. After being shunned and isolated, Starlight Glimmer brainwashed ponies and manipulated time itself to have revenge. But after realizing the mistake she made, and the consequences of her actions, she redeemed herself and is now working alongside us.
"In a search for power and purpose, Sunset Shimmer planned to take over another world outside of our time. But she too saw the light and worked hard to change her ways, and now resides once more with us in Equestria." Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer shared a smile before training their ears back on Flurry's uplifting speech. The speech that made her parents smile.
"I know what you're all thinking," she said. "Our dear friend and previous ally Princess Twilight Sparkle was there too. And you're right. Without her, they wouldn't be here. They wouldn't be where they are. But you're also wrong. Twilight didn't force them to be here. None of them were forced. Celestia offered Luna friendship. Twilight offered Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer a better path. Twilight made offers, they were never forced. Those offers were accepted. And through guidance, knowledge, and motivation, this is what got them here today, in this very room. With ponies of power.
"Twilight was given the same thing. She motivated, pushed, and taught herself everything she knows here. In Equestria. In the Dragon Lands, in Seaquestria, in libraries, she was taught. She learned. She had the resources. Well now we do too."
Flurry pointed her hoof out towards the closed double doors and shouted, "There is a Pseratep right outside that door who is willing to help us! To give us a fighting chance! To teach us as a resource. If we don't take this chance, everything that we've accomplished would have been for naught. Everything that we have rebuilt will be destroyed once more. This is the only time we get this opportunity, or an entire race of ponykind will go extinct. We have to fight for what is right. I know Twilight lost her family, and I'm truly sorry. Dawn was my only cousin and she will be remembered as such. But we cannot allow the crimes of a few be paid by the descendants of generations. That is not who we are, and that is not why we were created.
"Please..." Flurry turned around and faced the uplifted gazes of her elders. "Stand with me, with us! And help us defend these defenseless ponies."
The room fell silent as many contemplated their outcomes. But if Flurry's speech said anything, it was that motivation and strength was all you needed to grow.
Madam Singe slowly stood from her seat and trained her fierce eyes on Flurry. "I'll never forget the example Queen Arcadia set for me: That the youngest ponies could be the wiser of us older ponies. South Neighton pledges their allegiance to the war effort. We will provide whatever you need, and accepts the assistance of this Mimi."
This was followed by King Chancellor. Then President Manamar before the Dragon Lands, King Haakim and Queen Amira, Queen Novo, Queen Farue, and Jim Sun.
Queen Novo nodded down to Flurry and told them, "Through the wise words of Princess Flurry Heart, IHT has decided that all are in favor of refusing Queen Arcadia's insistence for the passing of Zebra freedom to the Government of Psera. Do any oppose?" The room was silent. "Very well. Let us take a quick recess before moving forward onto our next order of business: Preparing for war. Dismissed."
The second the gavel was banged, Shining Armor gracefully bounced over to walk up to his daughter, and give her a loving hug and kiss on the horn. He buried her head in his chest and held her lovingly. "I'm so proud of you," he murmured.
He didn't have to say it. Flurry already knew. That's why she hugged him back. It was going to be a tough war, but as long as they stuck together they could get through it.