White Tail Woods - White Tail Village
Present time
Luna stood over her ponies from a distance, watching as her squad of royal guards carried the last of the petrified forms of the frozen townsfolk to the base of the large yellow spire.
Luna and Shining Armor had come to the conclusion that the now 'reversed' stone could restore the frozen ponies, and by the looks of things, they were right. She had escorted the little colt Icy Breeze to the stone herself, making sure his fear had been cleansed thoroughly.
Even now she still felt this strange giddy feeling fill her body whenever she even glanced at the stone, it made her feel warm... Even though she could sense its power dissipating.
The now unfrozen mayor of White Tail Village was standing next to her, doing her best not to tremble at what exactly the presence of this stone meant.
"So it's true then, there is a monster in these woods that can use dark magic.". The mayor whispered, shifting her eyes back and forth between her citizens and the forest.
Luna hummed. "Yes, it would appear so. I suggest you prepare your ponies for evacuation. Until the threat is properly neutralized this area is to be locked down and thoroughly searched."
The mayor finally settled her gaze on the forest. "Yes, I believe that would be for the best. I would hate to have a repeat of this situation or..." She tore her gaze from the trees. "Or have anything worse happen to my fellow ponies. I shall arrange a meeting, we would all be ready to evacuate by tomorrow at noon."
Luna looked off into the distance, staring at the royal castle settled on the faraway mountain. "Shining Armor shall stay here and watch over this place as everypony gets ready to leave, I must return to Canterlot and inform my sister of this situation."
And explain to Cadence why her husband wasn't back on break like he was supposed to be.
The mayor's ears fell at her words, feeling a whole lot more afraid without the presence of the Princess, but she understood. "Do what you must, we are grateful for your help in this situation Princess Luna."
Luna nodded wordlessly and spread her wings, about to take off when a loud beat of sound echoed through the air, making her twist to face the yellow stone.
Only the large spire of stone was no longer yellow, nor had it returned to its dreadful red, instead it was pitch black and was rapidly sinking into the rumbling ground.
Its magical signature had finally ceased to be.
Luna took off, leaving the shocked pink mayor behind and darting to the disappearing stone.
It seemed that all the petrified ponies had all been restored and were trying to flee to the town, screaming and hollering all the way.
She landed and Shining Armor appeared at her side. "What's going on!"
The ground shook more violently, making everyone around the stone stumble.
"I know not! Vacate the area! I shall deal with this accursed stone of darkness!" She shouted, slipping back into her old speech habits as she ignited her horn, preparing to blast the rock to smithereens.
The stone pulsed an electric blue as lighting raced up its sides and stretched out to Luna, striking her horn and paralyzing her body.
A blood-curdling scream tore from her throat as her magic was sapped out from her horn and into the greedy pits of the stone, draining her of her powerful magic.
Shining turned to the sound, twisting as the other guards hurried the townsfolk out of the clearing. "NO!"
He rushed to his Princess and tackled her, disrupting the connection to her horn and cutting it off with a powerful shield spell.
The blue glow of the stone faded as it sunk, turning black again before disappearing underground from view.
Its dark essence returned suddenly before dissolving again, only... It didn't feel evil or even remotely negative.
It felt empty, devoid of any magic again.
"Luna are you okay?!" Shining asked, hoisting Luna back onto her hooves. If the ponies returned and saw their Princess down for even a moment it could cause more unnecessary panic.
Luna stood shakily and held a hoof to her head, groaning in pain. "I will be fine captain. Return to your duties, I must leave for Canterlot immediately and share these past events with my sister."
Luna lowered her hoof and squinted at the large hole in the ground. "In the meantime, I need you to have your guards recover pieces of this stone, and discretely deliver them to the castle for proper analysis. Use no magic on the stone, I want you to break it apart with tools."
Shining Armor saluted. "Consider it done Princess Luna, shall I escort you to the train station?"
She shook her head. "That will not be necessary captain, only my magic has been drained, I am in perfect physical condition." She lied, ignoring the pounding In her head and the weakness in her limbs.
She spread her wings and took off onto the blue sky, heading straight for the castle. She could worry about herself later, right now she had a plan to create and ponies to protect.
The stone and its magical nature was disturbing. Surely it's creator must be as twisted as its magic.
Luna never saw the tiny blue colt that tried to catch up to her.
Icy breeze had run through the crowd to get to the Princess, only to see her take off, flying so swiftly he could only hope to catch up to her in his dreams.
Icy watched as she disappeared into the distance before glancing at the hole where the tall spire once stood intimidatingly.
He hung his head and dragged his hooves forward, one slowly after the other. He had run away from his mother in hopes of talking to Luna before she left, to ask her some questions he felt too shy about earlier.
But she was gone, just like his brother, just like his father...
Icy suddenly lifted his head and stared into the forest with his grey eyes, peering past the trees. Cookie wasn't gone, he was still living in the lake out in the woods, waiting for him like the faithful friend he is.
Icy smiled and took a running start, launching himself into the air and speeding into the forest on his light blue wings, making his white mane blow wildly in the wind.
Cookie the salamander would listen to him, would talk to him, and never abandon him. Why didn't he think of seeing him earlier?
Icy dashed through the trees, playing his little game of 'race through the branches without touching them', forgetting that he left his very worried mother behind with no idea as to where he was. Again.
Las Pegasus - The Meeting Room
40 minutes earlier
"First off, " Cassandra began, sitting down at the table and clasping her hands. "the Union, your spying. Explain."
Ivory dismissed his two ponies, leaving only the three griffins and changeling at the table. "Alright, you want the short version or the long version?"
"Long, I want you to start from the beginning." Cassandra said bluntly, setting Owl down on the table.
Harpy glanced at her father as she sat down, taking his nod as a sign to speak. "I should warn you, you may not like what you hear."
Cassandra narrowed her eyes. "And why is that?"
"Because the Equestrian kingdom is a corrupted one. A kingdom that is so self-righteous it believes that the genocide and eventual extinction of three different races was justified in their conquest of power." Obsidian spat.
Cassandra blinked, taken back by his words. There was too much emotion in his voice for it to be a lie. Then again he was a being that fed off emotion, so she couldn't be sure. "Is that so?"
Ivory clenched his jaw and looked away. "The ponies have done many things to our nations in the past. Genocide is just one of their many crimes."
Cassandra hummed. "Then tell me. I want to hear everything and then I want you to give me proof."
Cassandra knew she wouldn't be able to understand their books but she didn't tell them that. It would be better for them to feel pressed to tell the truth than to believe that they could lie.
It wasn't that she expected them to lie, rather she was just a firm believer in the phrase 'better safe than sorry'.
Anemone shifted uncomfortably at her demanding tone, remembering her show of power from earlier. "Well, our books are all held in the storage. I could go bring a few if you want."
Cassandra flicked Owl's tail feathers, silently commanding him to follow her. "Sure, while you do that I want you three-"
She turned to face the two griffins and changeling with her sharp blue eyes. "to tell me what I want to know."
Anemone glanced between them, feeling unsure for a moment before leaving, followed closely by Owl. She didn't believe that Cassandra was the type to go around hurting everyone she disagreed with, but she didn't know enough to be sure...
Anemone shook her head, dismissing her negative thoughts. She knew that Cassandra wouldn't hurt her friends, what she did for her at the ticket booth proved that. Cassandra didn't like racists and bigoted creatures, she would definitely side with them when she heard of Equestria's past.
"So, -" Cassandra started, leaning back against her chair. "Why was the Union formed? what exactly has this Equestria done?"
Harpy peeked at the stone under Cassandra's cloak before glancing at Obsidian. She and her father were doing this to help him and his hive she reminded herself. She could only hope that Cassandra found the truth to be acceptable. "You said you wanted the long version right?"
"I did. Don't skip over anything."
Harpy swallowed. She didn't believe that Cassandra was unreasonable, but she couldn't stop the pit of fear in her stomach from growing. "About a thousand years before the founding of Equestria there was a King who ruled the unicorn tribe. His name was King Solaris, and like any unicorn he wanted land and power. After enslaving the Earth Pony Tribe and forcing the Pegasi into compliance he began to explore and conquer other lands."
Obsidian's face turned into a snarl at her words. "You mean he attacked Dream Valley, executed the current changeling Queen, and shattered the heart of the hive. Leaving those left of my kind to starve and go into hiding. And after that he destroyed the Diamond dog cities and sent his bitch of a niece to conquer the Dark Empire of the North, wiping the Umbra out of existence."
Cassandra raised a brow at his bluntness and choice of words.
Obsidian grunted at her expression. "You said 'don't skip over anything'."
Cassandra smiled slightly. It would seem that Obsidian was someone who got straight to the point. An admirable trait, and a one that was generally honest. "I did, didn't I. Please, continue."
Harpy hesitated. Well if Cassandra wanted the details she might as well share them, at least she was taking it well so far. "After driving the Umbra of the Frozen North and the Reptilian tribes of the south to extinction and nearly wiping out the Changeling and Diamond Dog race, Solaris began sailing to find more land to conquer."
"You said he wiped out three races, which was the third?"
"The Sirens." Obsidian answered. "Although they weren't destroyed until a few years after the fall of the Dark Empire I think."
Despite the fact that Cassandra looked very different from anything she had seen Harpy could tell that she was listening carefully, this encouraged Harpy. Perhaps she would understand, if she could show her just how much wrong Equestria did them then maybe she would do more then just heal the changelings.
With the help of a being as powerful as her maybe the Union could finally make their move.
Harpy cleared her throat, reminding herself that she was the one who owed her. She couldn't expect anything from Cassandra, it fact it was the other way around. "Anyways, the underwater Empire of Aquaria warned the Griffin Kingdom of the approaching danger, and so the Union was formed by King Honoris and his wife Queen Plumaria to prevent King Solaris from conquering their lands and slaughtering their citizens."
"That's why the Union was formed, -" she said firmly. "-to stop King Solaris and the unicorn tribe from committing mass genocide across my home and our allies. And if we could, we would set the enslaved earth ponies free, letting them live amongst ourselves in peace and often moving them to live with our allies to prevent their slavers from trying to take them back."
Harpy clicked her talons against her chair, still feeling nervous. "With the strength of seven nations we drove out the wicked ponies, following them back to Equestria to finish the job when Solaris revealed a magical superweapon."
Ivory frowned. "The Alicorn amulet, capable of granting its user the strength of the three tribes and excessive amounts of dark magic."
Harpy nodded. "In order to avoid any further bloodshed we backed off and began to work in secret. Watching Equestria's every move and infiltrating their ranks, spying on their royalty, trying to remove this weapon of power."
Harpy straightened. "We managed to take Solaris's wife hostage. After a few interrogations, it became clear that Queen Star Dust had no idea that her husband had been murdering sapient beings for six years. We released her when she agreed to assassinate her husband and tried to make amends, for two years she created a tight web of laws to promote equality amongst the pony tribes and stop the lawful slaughter of other beings."
Harpy's expression turned sour. "But Empress Amore, the pony who wiped out the Umbrum and took over the Dark Empire, didn't like what she was doing and accused her of treason. With the help of the unicorn tribe, she executed Queen Star Dust and sent her son to take over, leaving the two original heirs of the throne in an orphanage."
Harpy steeled herself and looked Cassandra in the eye. "We took her children from there, raising them and their children to be better then Solaris. Ever since then we have tried to overthrow Equestria. For the last thousand years we have watched and listened, taking in any other races wronged by Equestria and waiting for the day when we could finally avenge our dead. Once we take over we will free any of the good-hearted ponies left from Celestia's corrupted rule and put the true royal hairs back on the throne."
The room was silent for a moment, as everyone watched the human carefully.
Harpy nearly held her breath. She was telling the truth, she knew the books supported her story. But she also knew that Cassandra had every right to be suspicious or even refuse to help, she could only hope that Cassandra believed her.
"Who is currently ruling Equestria?"
Harpy blinked, not expecting this response. "Uh, Princess Celestia and her sister Princess Luna rule Equestria with Princess Cadance ruling the former Dark Empire now known as the Crystal Empire."
Cassandra folded her hands and leaned forward. "How long have they reigned? Have they been peaceful?"
Obsidian gave the Griffin a look before answering. "Around a thousand years, Cadance only became royalty around two years ago. They... The only thing they did was throw the changelings out of Canterlot after the attempted invasion lead by Queen Chrysalis."
A thousand years... Cassandra could hardly believe her words, but Harpy said them so casually she had to assume that this was common knowledge.
"They also imprisoned Prince Tirek And they executed Ebony and the Sirens after they tried to remove Solaris's weapon." Ivory added, finally speaking up.
"And these Princesses are descendants of Empress Amore?" Cassandra asked.
"Yes, all three. There's a fourth but she doesn't rule anything. She just controls the nations 'new' superweapon, the elements of 'harmony'." Harpy confirmed, wondering where she was getting at.
Cassandra thought deeply. She was in another world, trapped in a land that was ruled ponies who had a horrible family tree and despite being peaceful for their thousand-year reign, were still defined by the actions of their ancestors.
The only time they ever did anything objectively wrong was when their nation or power was threatened.
It reminded her of herself, of her mother...
Obsidian finally spoke up. "So, will you heal my hive? Will you help us bring justice to those who have wronged so many?"
Ivory coughed before speaking. "You could help the Union out greatly, help restore peace to our lands."
The griffins and changeling stared at Cassandra carefully, hoping with all their heart for a positive answer.
Cassandra held Harpy's gaze for a few seconds before turning away with a sigh. "I will help your people Obsidian..."
He smiled widely, feeling absolutely overjoyed with her words despite having no idea what 'people' were.
"But I want no part with your Union."