As cute as Night Life was, he was undoubtedly annoying at the moment. After they had a game plan, Dawn quickly led her team along. Consisting only of Lucky, Dawn herself, and Night Light running through the woods. Oh, and Juniper and Sky Blue, her little helpers. They were lounging on her back during their walk through quiet woods.
But Night Life still had that motor mouth. When Dawn saw him staring in the corner of her eye she sighed and drawled, "Alright, what is it... Now?"
"What's your special talent?" He quickly asked. "if you're half Equestrian and half Pseratopian—"
Dawn muttered, "I'm actually half-Pseratopian and a Quarter-Equestrian with magic making up that last twenty-five."
"—Then you have a talent, right? Like you can do something special that no one else can."
"I have two," Dawn answered. She slowed her pace at a stream and bent low for Juniper to climb from wet rock onto her back. Once she was comfortable she jumped across with Lucky and Night Life.
"Well what are they?" Lucky asked. She's never heard of Equestrian ponies having special talents like Night Life said. Let alone one with a Psera bloodline.
After they made it, Dawn answered, "Well one of them is like an Out-of-Body experience. When I go to sleep, I seem to extract my soul and float around."
Float around. She said float around. Like a ghost. Night Life and Lucky glanced awkwardly at each other before Night Life commented, "How...creepy. What's the other talent?"
"I heal injuries." Dawn trotted to a stop at another rushing stream and gazed around the forestry for something familiar. Something she could make out in the blink of an eye and recall. So far she's been hitting dead ends for the last half hour. Finding it in a day was next to impossible. But Dawn wasn't going to give up. Especially so soon now that they had a theory.
Lucky gasped and roared excitedly, "So you can heal wounds? Like if I lose a wing, you can give me another one?"
"That's not a wound, that's an amputation," Dawn deadpanned. "I can't heal that. You'll be working with a lot on your own without a wing from that point on."
"Oh... Well... Crap."
Dawn chortled and silently admitted Lucky was good company. Unlike Night Light. She asked, "So how long have you been here on this island?"
Lucky flew onto another tree and answered down, "I've been here for maybe... Thirty years?... I think, time becomes meaningless after awhile."
Dawn completely understood. Nowhere to go, nowhere to be, what was the point of tracking time? Dawn focused on Night Life for his answer. "I don't know," he answered. "I just roll with it. How long is this going to take?"
Dawn stepped her hooves out into a large grassy field then swiveled around to face them. "I'm not sure," she tirelessly answered. "Problem with this theory is that the Bridge could literally be anything. Hay, it could even be the grass, or a pebble or something smaller. We just have to recognize it. And since you guys are so old I believe I'm the best bet you have at finding it. I know all the latest builds internationally speaking among everyone on this Island."
"Do you recognize anything out here?"
Dawn whipped around and eyed the grassy field. At the way the grass moved and swiveled with the wind that blew her red mane. "Well... It looks like the grass outside of Ponyville. But I don't sense anything strange about it. Nothing magic about it all. We may have to go further."
Terrific. Night Life sighed and said, "Well let's keep looking." He started to walk forward, but Dawn raised a large wing to block his path. His vision clouded with cold and soft violet feathers.
"Let's take a break for now," she suggested. "We've been traveling for an hour with no progress. It'll be some time before we come across anything."
She sat down on the grass and lowered her wings to take a break. As much as she wanted to keep searching, her stamina was only but so much. She didn’t have nearly as much to fight, then keep trekking through the woods afterwards.
Lucky dropped down to her belly next to Dawn and stated, "So this Psera must be some serious business, huh?"
Dawn and Night Light shared a look before focusing back on Lucky. "Very," Dawn answered. Her look downcast into sadness. "I just don't want anyone to get hurt because of it. They're about to go to war and mom's leading the charge. And all on Psera knows the Queen always gets what she wants, one way or another."
After Princess Celestia had finished up her court, Luna quickly met up with her in the quiet abandoned halls and told her Mimi's idea. To say she was onboard was a complete and utter lie.
"No," she blatantly answered. "The creatures of Tartarus stay in Tartarus." Then walked with Luna through the halls of the castle to continue. "I appreciate Mimi's help. But even I know Queen Arcadia is not strong enough to get past a horde of our soldiers."
Luna quickly asked, "How can you be so sure? We're talking about Twilight Sparkle, Celestia. Even before she moved permanently to Psera, she was Equestria's top mage."
"But she is not a strategist." Celestia turned around to face Luna and said, "She is a mage and a fighter. But even she has her limits. We will make use of all of our soldiers."
"And what if you're wrong? What if Twilight herself attacks and creates a stunning blow to our defenses or even our generals?"
"That won't happen."
"Twilight is an angry Alicorn with enough power to desecrate an entire continent, she can do what she wants."
Celestia nodded and stubbornly agreed, "Well yes, but she is also smart about it. She would not be so reckless as to jump into an attack so suddenly. There are always signs."
Their conversation was interrupted when a Hippogriff stationed in the castle ran up their hallway and saluted. "Princesses!" They locked their irked gazes on him. "It's been confirmed that the Castle in the Crystal Empire was infiltrated, and Princess Cadenza and Officer Armor were attacked!"
Their conversation was immediately tossed out the window in favor of this new event that jumped in. Luna immediately shouted, "What?! How?!"
Celestia jolted towards him and asked, "Where are they now?"
"Crystal Empire. We just received word by Dragon Fire."
She rushed past him and loudly ordered, "Tell all Commanding Officers to triple their Guard rounds around every single city! I don't want a single soldier sitting around, I want them moving!"
"We're already on the move!"
Once he was out of earshot and they were moving down the halls, Luna asked, "You don't think..."
"It was an inside attack," Celestia said before they arrived in the cold world outside the Castle doors. They were immediately joined by their own personal guards for the trek to the train station. "Or else an alarm would've been triggered."
"Of course, but even if it were inside, a guard or somepony would've rang something during the attack. Who could've gotten inside, successfully stage an attack and get out without being noticed or touched?"
Celestia and Luna slowed to a stop and glanced hard at each other with the same answer at the front of their minds before hightailing it once again for the station.
"The Pserateps are coming," Celestia said through her huffs. "We need to prepare our Coastlines. Now."
The time for waiting was over. IHT still stood firm. After Twilight arrived back on Psera in her office, she did what she usually does when thinking. She paced. She paced in front of her desk fuming. Glaring at what was in her mind.
No. The word 'no'. Over and over again. No, we will not hoof over the Zebras. No, we will not allow your country justice. Well their no was strike two.
As much as she wanted to just send her soldiers over the seas to pull those Zebras out, she still made a promise not to. Queen Arcadia turned her stare back to her desk and trained her stern eye on the document Gardeen placed there before she even arrived. The one allowing Merry to try her part. This would be the official meeting on whether they go to war or not. Queen Arcadia's attack in anger was strike two. Merry would be strike three. If they deny her, then they will attack.
Queen Arcadia trotted behind her desk and grabbed a pen in her magic. She sternly scribbled her printed name and Signature, initials, and date before slapping her hoof on a bell on the corner of her desk. At once, one of the doors to her office were pushed open and an Elite saluted. "Yes, ma'am?"
She held the document out with her magic and requested, "See that this gets to Secretary Gardeen immediately. First Priority."
He took the document in his hoof and bowed briefly. Then shut the door and shuffled off down the hall to fulfill the orders.
Once she was alone once more, Queen Arcadia sat down and eyed the screens in front of her. She had an excellent view of the Armada awaiting the signal to start their procession towards the East. All Queen Arcadia had to do was give the cue to Secretary Manny. She was quite eager to start a small maritime invasion after all.
Queen Arcadia sighed and calmly called, "Crystaltite."
At her beck and call, the humidity in the air gathered into a single point in front of her desk until it was a large mass. Then condensed into the form of Psera's legend Crystaltite. Her body was made of frozen water. White and cold. Almost snow.
She bowed and spread her reflective wings. "Yes, your highness?"
Queen Arcadia smoldered and ordered, "I have a special mission for you. My sister-in-law needs an escort in and out of Equestria."
Crystaltite rose back to her hooves with a quizzical expression. "How do you know they will even let her pass after that stunt you pulled in Equestria?"
It came as no surprise that she knew of what transpired in Equestria. She dipped her hoof into that runoff of anger originating from the ocean of fury building inside her soul. The one she was scared to even acknowledge.
Arcadia placed her hooves in front of her muzzle and smoldered. "Because Merry is not me," she darkly answered. "Equestria's rulers are too kind even for their own good. They will let her in, I assure you. I need you to provide close contact protection with Psera's Guard. Stay by her side at all times when they allow you through."
Crystaltite rose back to her hooves. "Yes, ma'am. But why not send Odega?"
"Because I need someone literally fluid for this mission. I want you to protect Princess Merry Fire. But I also want you to infiltrate the castle's water supply while you're there. So we have ears in the castle."
"Are you preparing for them to say no?" Crystaltite suspiciously queried.
"They will," Arcadia assured. "Equestria is unmoving. They always seek solutions to solve problems peacefully, even though there are none. Just watch her back, infiltrate the water, and prepare yourself. Equestria is on their hooves right now. Be prepared for a fight. There may not be one, but be ready. Mission summary? Escort Princess Merry Fire peacefully to the meeting, and infiltrate their water supply. Dismissed."
Crystaltite bowed once more. Then blew away like snowflakes with the sudden wind that appeared in her office. Once she was gone, Queen Arcadia focused all her attention back on the fleet. Those Aquatas would be moving soon. Very soon. But until then, she had work to do. And a meeting into Cop to prepare herself for tomorrow.
The Crystal Empire was attacked! Celestia couldn't believe it. That was the last place ever thought of to be attacked first in this war. It took them a little under an hour to get there. But when they arrived, it was exactly what they thought it would be: Armed, tense, and under lockdown. All the streets were lined with Equestrian Royal Guard, the airspace was thickened with Pegasi and Alicorns, and access to the city-state was impenetrable.
When they arrived in the train station, Princesses Celestia and Luna urgently made their way through the barren streets of the Crystal Empire and burst through the doors of the castle upon arrival.
"What happened?!" Luna demanded.
Shining Armor was waiting for them by the doors when he got word of their appearance. He had one of his hooves in a sling and a small bandage on his head. His expression was glum and sorrowful when Celestia pulled him into a hug,
"We just heard," she said. A kiss was placed on his cheek. "How are you? How's Cadance?"
Once they separated Shining sighed with remorse and answered, "She's sleeping it off. Flurry, doctors, and the Guard are with her. A few bruises and cuts from glass, but the doctor said there's nothing major. I'm fine, just a sprained hoof."
Luna let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in relief. The family was okay. Everyone was fine. Now only one question remained unanswered:
"Who did this?" Celestia whispered.
Shining tightened his lips and responded, "Who else would sit us down first to try a bargain?"
"Twilight," Celestia and Luna said at the same time. It was no mystery. Underneath that hard exterior, Twilight was still willing to give her family a chance.
"She said the peace was over between us," Shining added. "Then attacked. We have no idea how she got in but assumed magic was involved. She froze our guards and staff."
"Psera's coming," Luna assumed. "We have the coast secured and informed all other members of this development. How did she get in? This castle is impenetrable with all kinds of runes." To prove her point, Luna timidly used her magic to highlight all the runes drenching the hallway from the ceiling to the floor.
Shining sadly answered, "We're not sure. My mages tell me a standard teleportation spell would've bounced off, and her mirror spell wouldn't even exist in here. There's no explanation."
Celestia wasn't so sure. She raised her hoof and suggested, "Her portal spell. We need to secure this place from her portals."
Her... Shining stomped his good hoof and cursed, "Crap, I forgot about her portals."
“It’s alright,” Celestia assured. Her hoof motioned towards the crystal walls around them. "We just have to setup now before anymore surprises.”
“Like what?” Shining answered. Luna walked past him for the rest of the castle with Celestia. They either ignored him or they were coming up with their answers. “Like what, what else could she possibly have besides an all-powerful military, magic unlike anything we’ve ever seen, and an insane amount of influence?”
“Well...” Celestia stopped walking and answered. “That’s the problem. We’re not sure. Twilight could have plenty more than all of that based off of her fear of what is coming. Whatever she has created to battle what we think is Narmeelah she may in fact use against us as well. If tempted.”
“I don’t think she’d…”
“And before you say anything else...” Celestia turned around to face him with a steeled gaze. “Remember that your sister is filled with rage. A dangerous trait to tamper with. Queen Twilight clearly wants justice for her family and country. And based off of her magic and power, she can push this entire country aside.”
If it wasn’t obvious before, it was obvious now: Princess Celestia was fearful of the future. There was no more denial. Things were getting out of their hooves. Luna knew that quiver in her eyes. She hasn’t seen it in decades, but she could never forget that emotion. Fear.
Celestia faced Luna and admitted, “Mimi may be right, and I wrong. At Twilight’s level of magic, we may need all the help we can get our hooves on.”
Shining wasn’t liking her tone. Or that glint in her eye. He approached closer and asked, “What help are you talking about, Princess?”
“The dirty help.” Princess Celestia shot her steeled gaze his way. “We need help from everyone that has dared step a threatening hoof on this continent and defeated by legends such as Twilight herself. We need the convicts from Tartarus and any weapons down there we can get. And anyone else out here that we need. Even the Changelings.”
It was official. Smack dab on the front page: "Psera Declares War on Zebrica! IHT Interferes!"
The newspaper was not Rainbow Dash's recommended piece of literature. Each time it came into her mailbox in Cloudsdale, she would typically take it inside, throw it in the corner with the rest of them, then get back to her Daring Do. But Scootaloo did read the newspaper. And she was here this morning.
Rainbow Dash’s Cloudominium was silent. The sun brightened up the white around them from the world outside, but it did not brighten what news was dropped on Rainbow Dash this morning: Scootaloo was shipping off. She was one of those special guards serving under IHT. And they were going to war. Which meant Scootaloo had to leave Ponyville.
Ever since Twilight saved them from Maheera Dark so long ago, Scootaloo decided that she wanted to serve in Equestria’s military. That was her goal. As for the rest of The Cutie Mark Crusaders? Apple Bloom was helping her sister out on the farm, and Sweetie Belle had moved all the way to Manehattan to help her sister out with her chain of stores there, and following her own passions of starting her own jewelry logistics business. So far, they were all doing well for themselves.
In the kitchen at an island, Rainbow Dash looked up from her book to see Scootaloo reading the newspaper directly across. Her Magenta mane had been shaved off in favor of a buzz cut. Her orange coat was hidden underneath a dark blue military vest with a rank of Corporal. She would be leading her own team out of Ponyville with a group of others to the coast of Las Pegasus. They were going to be on the front lines if they landed on the coast. Rainbow forgot the name of their Unit, but there were a lot of soldiers living here in Ponyville. In a few minutes, they would all be heading out.
Scootaloo sighed and shut her paper in exchange to her gaze on Dash. Both of these were depressing stories. Tales of loss.
“Stop it, Dash,” she said. “I have to do this.”
“I know,” Dash whispered. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it.” She took a moment to stroke her face. “I know this is your dream, Scoots, and I am very proud of you. I wish I could be there with you, but I’m needed in Canterlot if there’s a quick evacuation. I just wish you were there with me.”
“I know.” Scootaloo reached out and put a hoof on Rainbow’s lying on the table. “But I have to do this. If I can do anything to assist in the war then I will."
"But you're being placed on the front lines, Scoots." Rainbow rose from her seat and walked around the table to deliver a hug on the other side. “That’s where everything happens. And I don’t want to lose you."
Scootaloo breathed in Rainbow during their embrace. "I know," she murmured. "But I have to do this."
Rainbow knew that. And she would never doubt that. Scootaloo had always been a strong pony. But she never thought that she would actually enlist to be in the Equestrian Military. She wasn't a guard. She was above that. She was on the front lines taking the fight to them. Not staying within city limits and protecting the citizens.
Rainbow squeezed Scootaloo tighter and whispered, "I'm proud of you, little buddy. I'll make sure everything'll be here when you get back."
"And I'll be back before you know it. I love you, Rainbow Dash."
"I love you too, Scootaloo."