Game of Worlds

by DualThrone


Celestia: And Full of Terrors III

Packing the tentage had to be done in a hurry; Celestia once again found herself silently praising Starswirl and Clover for  having always conceived of the tents as military equipment and designed them to be easily erected and quick to break down. With the framed bound up and secured, Celestia allowed herself to look at the maelstrom gathering in the far distance. It’s like watching the events of the past being undone in the order that they happened, she thought as she stared at the visible torrent of wind, speckled with the chilling forms of windegos galloping with the flow.

“So this Empire is returning,” Shining Armor said. “What are we meant to do about that?”

“I…” Celestia sighed. “I’m not sure what I hope for us to accomplish. Making things right in regards to the Empire is beyond any of us, and hopefully Sombra will be as much of a problem for Sotto Voce as he will be for us. The real purpose of being here is to frustrate Sotto Voce’s goals, whatever those may be.”

“I’ve never heard of this ‘Sotto Voce,’ and my family makes sure I’m kept aware of dangerous foes,” Cadence said. “Which raises the possibility that he has just now tipped his hand and revealed that he exists.”

“Or he’s a piece just brought into service by whomever is playing the Game,” Shining said. “...which ultimately makes no sense because Zambet and the late Canceros were acting on his instructions, Canceros for long enough that his minions could thoroughly taint multiple harvests from all over Equestria so the disease would break out all over at the same time.”

“And that disease had already been altered by yet another tool of Sotto Voce before Canceros did anything with it,” Anori added. “Which means that the Game had been in progress for some time before Spite was sent to do something about it.”

“And yet she seemed to think she was arriving at the very start of the Game, which means…” Celestia slowed as the chain of logic finally reached its conclusion. “...the Game was started so that one of its players could take advantage of something already well underway.”

“Worse than that, Your Majesty,” Krysta said. “It didn’t seem pertinent to speak of this before, when you were not yet aware of Nachtmiri Mein’s hoof in this entire mess, but she approached our queen just a month after the Guardian had been put down speaking of someone equal to herself that had been or would soon be employed to coordinate the scheme.”

“Sotto Voce?”

“I don’t believe so,” Krysta said. “Nachtmiri Mein referred to her peer as ‘her’ where both Zambet and Canceros were speaking to someone who was not female.”

“Which means that Sotto Voce must have been pulling strings since at least six months ago.”

“I wish we could have brought Trixie with us,” Cadence said with a wan smile. “This is sounding like a very intricate shell game, and her entire act is about the sleight of hoof.”

“I will not subject Trixie to this,” Celestia said as firmly as she could. “Trixie, or any other pony not trained to war or not on the same scale of power as either of us. She’s safe for now, and that is where she will stay.”

“I wasn't suggesting we bring her Auntie,” Cadence said. “Just that she’s probably one of the few ponies who could reason out where the lima bean is.”

“That’s not the real question, though,” Celestia said. “The real question is….”

“...why now?” Shining said.

“Exactly.” Celestia sighed and picked up the pace again. “I wish Luna was here. Wheels within wheels was always something she understood better than I, for she could be as subtle as the light of her moon when she wished to be.”

“You’re no slouch in that yourself, Celestia,” Anori said. “You couldn’t be and yet still have managed the noble houses and fairly contentious diplomacy for as long as you have.”

Celestia smiled briefly at him. “I thank you for the flattery, Sieur du Ard, but I’m not nearly the hidden-hoof pony you think I am. My success has been chiefly a matter of letting my opposites believe absurd things rather than supplying the absurd things to them.”

“If Princess Lepinora’s smug declarations are anything to go by, allowing others to deceive themselves is part and parcel of spycraft,” Krysta said grinning. “She’s the living embodiment of it too.”

Celestia found herself grinning a little as well. “And how is that?”

“My little sister by blood is… very colorful,” Cadence said. “When she’s not concealing it, there is no visible part of her body that is not intricately tattooed; Mother fortunately prevailed upon her to confine her body art to her skin. It makes her into a living, walking, talking, breathing piece of art.”

“And no one would imagine that someone so eye-catching, so blatant, and so attention-seeking is concealing something,” Celestia said, nodding. “And ‘spy’ is the last thing anyone would think she is.”

“Like no one would think that such a gentle, maternal, wise matriarch is being manipulative,” Anori said.

Celestia smiled at him. “Again, I appreciate the flattery. But you’d agree that being able to be sneaky does not mean that you have insight into the schemes of others, especially when you have never met them and know nothing about them.”

“That is fair,” Anori said. “So where are we going?”

“Towards the capital,” Celestia said. “I hope. I believe that the way ended just outside a rather famous roadside inn called the Wight Flagge which was just off the major western highway leading to the capital city. Without the Flagge or the highway, I can only guess as to the correct way to go. And I don’t trust wings to let me get a better view.”

“Can you use your sun to at least check if we’re traveling east?”

“I have, and we’re certainly going east,” Celestia said. “My concern is that the highway steered travelers well clear of natural hazards, such as a large area of marshes that bordered one of the Empire’s most prominent natural curiosities.”

“Wouldn’t marshes sort of…?”

“Freeze?” Celestia smiled. “Normally, but the natural curiosity was tar pits, tar pits that were heated by some unknown means so as to be barely more viscous than water. The marshes were deep enough that they had currents which circulated enough heat to keep the marshes warm. They tended to be dangerous because the parts of the marshes furthest from the tar pools could develop a crust of ice over the top of the deeper water and frequent snows made the ice appear to be solid ground.”

Shining raised a hoof to shield his eyes from a sharp breeze. “So we could be walking out over this crust of ice and not know.”

“We’d find out pretty quickly,” Celestia said. “Fortunately, none of us are carrying anything that can’t be simply dropped. But the marshes aren’t what worries me.”

“What worries you then, Auntie?”

“The Empire was known for very harsh weather and as the magic that removed it unravels, I’m concerned that it’ll be especially intense. Even for me, getting caught out in one of the regular gale blizzards would be dangerous.”

“Is there any kind of advanced warning for one of those gale blizzards coming?” Shining said. “Like, some kind of stillness in the air, a certain sight, something like that?”

“There are many, but it takes a lot of time to learn them,” Celestia said. “The Empire trained a section of their Imperial Guard that they called the ‘Bell Watch’ to recognize the signs and sound storm bells when they saw a blow coming.”

“So, like the bells we heard when packing up the tentage?”

“Exactly so,” Celestia said, ”although the bout we heard was too short to be a proper signal. It would have been sustained for almost a quarter-hour to ensure that any ponies out in the weather definitely heard them.”

“Oh, alright.” Shining put his hoof up again to shield his eyes and squinted. His horn glowed and Celestia saw the sparks of magic, a basic far-viewing cantrip, overlay on his eyes. “When it wasn’t in a storm, did the Empire have much fog?”

Celestia furrowed her brow. “Not that I could remember. Why?”

“Well, it’s just that there’s a fog bank quite a ways ahead of us,” Shining said, pointing. “And it seems to be approaching.”

“Approaching?” Celestia overlaid her own far-viewing cantrip over her eyes and the details of the greyness ahead leapt into view as if she was right next to them. As Shining had said, it was a fog bank although it was thick enough that she could see the wind currents cause it to fluctuate and roil. She then raised her eyes to see how high the fog was and saw the clouds above it, ominously black and dark enough that she could see white shapes dancing and circling above.

Windnegos, she realized, her heart sinking. In storm clouds.

In a flash it came to her: storm bells had been sounding as the winds rushed in and scoured the Empire. She’d always thought they were sounding in response to the winds but as the Empire was returned to existence, they were still sounding. A thousand years later, she had no way to be sure of how long the bells had been rung before the spell was complete but now it was clear that the combined duration, interrupted by those years, was a quarter-hour.

“Gale blizzard,” Shining Armor said calmly.

“Yes.”

“And we don’t have enough time to get back to that anchor point.”

“Yes.”

He paused a beat. “So what can we do about it?”

“Get below it,” Kryssa said. “It’s how we’re trained to handle sudden sandstorms if we’re caught in the open desert: magically excavate a pit where you stand, project a shell shield above you to prevent yourself from being buried, and wait while the storm spends its energy.”

“There are windnegos riding the storm,” Celestia said. “They can sustain it for hours and a large enough herd will stop me from drawing upon my sun to sustain myself indefinitely.”

“So what do we do?”

“Take shifts,” Cadence said. “One of us reinforcing your barrier at a time while the others rest or perhaps devise a variant of the sandstorm strategy.”

“We won’t be able to keep it up forever.”

“It’ll be long enough.” Cadence pointed with a hoof. “And we don’t have time to rethink it, because the edge of the storm is accelerating.”

Celestia glanced at the storm, confirmed what Cadence had said with a nod, then braced herself and brought up her barrier. The strain was heavy for a moment, and then eased to very little as Shining braced her shield with one of his own. It seemed like within a moment, she could feel an impact as if something entirely solid had collided with her construct, and then the storm had arrived.

Celestia had heard about the storms of the Empire, of course; anyone who had ever traveled there was quickly made aware of the “big blows” as Imperial citizens referred to them whether by being caught in one, traveling near the edge of one, or being in shelter while one was raging outside. They were caused by windnegos making their way into the gaps between settlements, where there was nothing repelling them, and bringing the winds and killing cold with them. She’d been caught in the edges of one just once, mistakenly thinking that her travel from one settlement to the capital would be quick enough that she could avoid it, and it had been all she could do to keep the lethal storm at bay while severed from her normal store of nearly-infinite power that came from the connection to her sun. But now, they were in the dead center of one and it was all she could do to hold the magical construct of her barrier against the immense kinetic force of the raging ice-beings running rampant.

As the wind howled outside of her shield, Celestia started to become aware of the low tinkling of bells, as if someone in a belled harness was trotting nearby. She opened her eyes and peered through the yellow-tinged barrier of magic and noticed what looked like a light bobbing faintly in the midst of the storm, swaying and bouncing in rough coordination with the tinkling of the bells.

“Am I imagining things?” Shining Armor said, speaking more loudly to be heard over the sound of the wind. “Is there someone actually out here in this?”

“If you’re imagining things dear, we all are,” Cadence said. “Aunt Celestia, who could be…?”

“...out there?” Celestia peered through her shield, watching as the light grew along with the volume of the tinkling bells. “I… believe I know but it couldn‘t possibly be. When the great spell fell upon the Empire, everyone would have been hiding inside their homes, in shelter. There would have been no one from the Imperial guard walking duty along the highways to keep a watch for lost travellers. For someone to be out anywhere near the Wight Flagge this soon after the return began they would have had to be on the roads at the time.”

“‘Allo ye lost an’ wayward in the storm!” The voice with the unmistakable Imperial accent, the pronunciation of all vowels like a long ‘a’, surprised her so much that she very nearly lost her grip on the spell. How can I hear him so clearly against the sound of the winds? “Do ye need some ‘elp to shelter?”

Celestia took a breath to regain her composure. “That would be very helpful.”

“Eh? Ye sound awful put-together for a lost soul buffeted by th’ blow.” The light bobbed closer and then, as if it was a curtain being brushed aside, the driving snow parted to reveal a changeling holding an iron lantern aloft, dressed in chain and a belled harness, and with the appearance of his carapace being made of polished glass rather than chitin, the signature of someone who had lived for a considerable time in the Empire. Upon seeing her, the light blinked out from around the pole he was using to hold the lantern, to be caught a moment before it fell as he recovered from his surprise.

“Ay! Princess Tia by me very soul!” he exclaimed, beaming happily at her. “And a couple of honor guard to shoes! What unkind fate left ye to huddle in this blow with only these?” Celestia opened her mouth to reply but before she could, he barreled onwards. “Curse me, never mind such things. Ye are but a few key from the Flagge and ye shall be joyfully welcome.”

“We came from the direction of the Flagge soldier,” Celestia said, “We’re trying to reach…”

“...the Wight Flagge of course,” the soldier said cheerfully. “I too am going there, so this is most convenient.”

Celestia frowned at the soldier. I don’t think he mishead me. “No, soldier, that is not correct. We are…”

“...bound for the Wight Flagge and safety, Your Highness.” The cheer evaporated into an expression of genuine concern. “Please.”

Celestia blinked. “I’m afraid you don’t understand the situation, soldier.”

“Captain,” he said. “And I do understand the situation. The situation is that anyone traveling to the capital right now will be in danger, and I am sworn to keep citizens and visitors from danger, and to save them if they are endangered.”

Celestia looked to Cadence and Shining, then back to the captain. “Captain, are you aware that a thousand years have passed?”

“Princess, are ye aware that the situation from a thousand years ago remains?”

“King Sombra…”

“Night White,” the captain said sharply, unconsciously baring his fangs as he said the name. “What of him?”

“If he did this to your empire, why would…” The captain’s utterly flummoxed look caused Cadence to trail off. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Who has told ye that…?” The captain looked at Celestia. “Never mind, I think I know. Princess Celestia, whatever business you have at the capital, I must urge ye to return to the Flagge for ye own safety and the safety of your entourage.”

“I can’t Captain,” Celestia said. “I am here because another danger is on its way here, one formed in the thousand years the Empire has been locked away inside Sombra’s curse.”

The captain’s expression tightened. “It is no curse, and White Light had buck-all to do with it.”

“Not a…?” Celestia gaped at him. “What do you mean?”

“Imperial secret Ye Majesty, but revealing that what ye think a curse is not, and the pony ye blame for the not-curse had nothing to do with it can’t do harm.” He sighed. “Princess, please follow me to safety. It is but two keys and some away, and we can talk where there is food an’ drink aplenty.”

“If Sotto Voce has released… whatever it is that was keeping the Empire in whatever state it was in Princess, he clearly has stolen a march on us,” Anori said after a moment. “With the storm in front of us, it’s no longer possible to get there before him, especially if no storm impedes him.”

The captain sighed again. “I am eager to hear how ye got it all turned ‘round such that ye think that White Light made it an’ that some ‘Sotto Voce’ undid it. Now break down ye barrier an’ walk near to me. I shall escort ye to the Flagge an’ try to sort all this out with me marshal.”


Given her own experience with the gale blizzards, Celestia had always found it difficult to understand how certain hoof-picked members of the Imperial Guard could simply walk through the storms looking for travelers who’d gotten lost and take them to safety. As she stepped into the Wight Flagge with the captain, she still wasn’t sure what kind of magic he was using to do it, but in a certain radius around him, the storm simply did not exist. The wind was perfectly calm, it was a chilly but tolerable temperature, and the path was lit with the stark light of the arctic sun in defiance of the roiling storm around them. She suspected that there was a connection to the lamp he carried, but she had no sense of magic radiating from it, and the only magic the changeling captain was using was to hold his lamp aloft as he trotted.

The next moment after stepping inside, all contemplation of their journey was swept away by a roar of sound, the combined warmth of dozens of ponies and a roaring fire, the smell of sizzling food (and those dozens of ponies), and a sensation of intense welcome and happiness washing over her from every direction. It was if the last thousand years had never happened; once again, she was plunged into a sea of friendship and she couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

“Souls bless if it isn’t Princess Tia!” The pleased baritone cut through the noise of conversation and song with very little effort, and Celestia turned her head to see a crystal earth pony at least as massive in frame as Big Macintosh sporting a giant beard and a riveted skull cap waving to her. “A thousand years and you don’t look a second older, you glorious white cheat!”

Celestia hesitated, combing her memory for a desperate moment before the pony laughed. “Maybe I was wrong, and you’re going senile old mare. No, no, I realize it’s been too long for you to remember. Bright Hops, Princess, and a pleasure to meet you for the first time yet again.”

The name brought back a memory and Celestia smiled at him. “It’s been a while, Hoppy.”

“Hah!” He picked up a large mug and nosed open the lever from one of his kegs, tipping it with the expert touch of someone who’d been pouring drinks for decades--which, since he’d mentioned his name, Celestia remembered that he had. Five of them, as a point of fact. “Knew ye hadn’t forgotten yer favorite dispenser of plebian swill.”

“Luna never has held her liquor very well.” Celestia felt a tap on her shoulder and gave the captain a glance and a nod to indicate she’d join him in a moment. “She felt pretty bad about it after…”

“...we got sealed away?” He shrugged. “Tell yer Lulu that a jibe don’t raise a blister. I’ll take her drunken renditions of sea shanties as apology enough. Oy, Lotus!”

“Oot’s the word, chief?”

“Princess and her friends are on the house, get ‘em what they need.”

“Treat ‘em like royalty, yup.” A crystal pegasus mare with a startling resemblance to Rainbow Dash (but with pastel stripes and a deep blue coat) materialized out of the crowd. “Oy then, they are royalty. Great, an’ what’s yer crave?”

“Crystal twist with sour rocks,” the captain said. “For all of ‘em; we need our heads, they’re new, and the princess is 1000 years older.”

“Six crystal twist with sour rocks.” The waitress nodded and vanished back into the sea of ponies.

“Sotto Voce,” the captain said. “Who is he?”

“We’re not clear on that point,” Celestia said. “We know he is a malign presence, we know that he commands the loyalty of monsters that attacked Equestria, and we know that he intends to come to the Crystal Empire. We suspect his goal has something to do with the Heart.”

“So he’s not a threat.” Preparing the drinks must have been simple--or there was simply a lot of ponies who’d ordered it--because the waitress was already back with six glasses of what looked like water with ice cubes. The captain didn’t even hesitate, taking a long drink from his glass before putting it back down. “Elemental powers bounce off the aura of the Heart like peas offa armor plating.”

“Sotto Voce’s agents were able to approach the Tree of Harmony without trouble Captain,” Celestia said, taking a sip of the drink. It was tart and slightly sweet, and she sipped again despite herself. “One of them was able to dim its light with her powers.”

“Really.” The captain frowned and took another drink, slower this time. “The storm will be too heavy to walk through for the next hour. I’ll find my marshall, deputize a couple old gummers, and we’ll get you clear. Wings’ll get you from there.”

Celestia blinked at him, and cast a glance at Shining and Cadence. “That was… quick.”

He shrugged. “If this Voce can dim the Tree, Field Marshal’s gonna need reinforcements. You look pretty good for that, Yer Majesty.”

“Field Marshal?”

“Yup.” He sipped again. “By this time, she’ll have made landfall at Glacierfast and be on her way to the capital to sort out Night White.”

“Where’s Glacierfast?”

“Eastern edge of the Empire,” Celestia said, looking at Cadence. “Cold-water port and shipyards about the size of those at Ironhoof Sound.” Something occurred to her and she looked at the captain. “Why would a field marshal be on a ship coming west from the Snowbell Sea when the… whatever it was happened?”

“It’s not important,” the captain said. “What is important is that she can deal with Night White on her own, but won’t be looking for some kinda danger coming up from the south. If we get ye to the capital, can ye take care of this Sotto Voce?”

“Thus far, he has operated from behind the scenes, using puppets and pulling strings,” Celestia said. “I doubt he’s prepared to confront either me or Luna directly and my little sister has always had a penchant for showing up where she’s least expected.”