“Ah, Canterlot, summer of One-Thousand. Good times, good times,” I cheerfully said when I realized what Sweetie Drops was dreaming of.
Around Luna and I, the capital of Equestria was burning.
“Your macabre sense of humor will be the talk of the town, Phasma. You should show it off to the nobles. They would love it,” Luna replied drolly. “Before I forget: Cadence needs to speak with us again.”
“Alright well let’s find this earth pony, shatter her world view, then quickly move onto Cadence’s dream.”
Luna pointed ahead, where a cream colored pony was lying on her side in the rubble-strewn avenue. She was looking up at a six story office building, whose burning inferno gave the entire block a red and orange color palette. Even a hundred hooves lengths away, I could feel the fire’s heat.
We approached as Inquisitor Sweetie Drops was scooting away from the fire, casting a fearful glance around the street. When her eyes picked up our approach, a look of confusion fell onto her face, before her expression turned to a neutral one.
‘Well, not quite neutral. Even without my empath senses, I can tell she’s not exactly happy with me. Now the smart thing to do would be to be apologetic and diplomatic about this.’
“I see you’re a fan of my work,” I said with a smile as we stopped before her.
“Yes, dig yourself further,” Luna muttered too quietly for Sweetie Drops to hear.
Sweetie Drops’ eyes narrowed as she picked herself up off the ground. Briefly dusting herself off, she strode towards me.
“I wasn’t even in Canterlot that day. Not until you had left and there was nothing left but fires to put out and retreating changelings to fight. You caused such havoc that… nevermind,” she said suddenly, as if remembering something.
“Hello, my little pony,” Luna said, stepping forward.
“Princess Luna,” Sweetie Drops bowed but did not take her eyes off the Princess.
“You are skeptical of my authenticity. A healthy and smart worry. Discard your fears and suspicions, for we have come to you in the Dreamscape, as part of my duties to shepherd the kingdom beneath the moon. I am Princess Luna, protector of dreams.”
“... I need something more than appearances and a confusing speech to ‘authenticate’ your person, Princess Luna.”
Luna gestured to herself, “There are none others alive who can move between dreams like I. My mere presence alone is testament to my credentials.”
At that, Sweetie just glanced at me before returning her stare to Luna.
“He’s here. Further, I could be under powerful hallucinogens. I’m sorry Princess, if you’re the Princess, but I need something more.”
“Very well. What do you suggest, Inquisitor Sweetie Drops?”
The small pony’s muzzle scrunched up as she thought hard.
“A question,” Sweetie said slowly. “Yes. A question. You have to answer something that… something that only someone close to Princess Celestia would know, Your Highness.”
Luna stiffened, “... It has been an entire era since I last spent time with my sister.”
“Princess Celestia has a scar,” Sweetie nodded to herself and pointed to her right foreleg’s shoulder, “Right here. Describe it.”
Luna snorted softly, “Shallow. Shaped like a corner, with one long side. Near invisible under her fur. You’re going to have to ask something more personal than that if you wish to confirm my identity.”
Sweetie leaned forward, “Ah, but how did she get it?”
Luna laughed, “Ha! Celestia says that she got it from wrestling an elder drake that scorched the Grain Coast, that she got it in the battle of Four Summers itself. In truth, we were thirteen winters old when she received the wound that scarred up; she spilled tea on herself one afternoon, and in a fit of panic, ran into a bookcase.”
Sweetie Drops bowed, deeper and more reverent this time, “It is an honor to meet you, Princess Luna.”
“Arise, Sweetie Drops. Though I am curious, that is not a tale she parts with easily. What happenstance led to you discovering the truth?”
“Five years ago, Princess Celestia decided to pass that year’s Grand Galloping Gala by switching her usual drink of choice of black tea mixed with rum to a Long Island Iced Tea. She had just heard of the new drink from Manehattan, and made the switch without informing anyone. So no one had the chance to tell her that her new drink wasn’t quite tea and was instead more closer to pure ethanol. By the time the Gala was over, Princess Celestia was not her usual graceful self. Loose lips sink ships, and more interestingly spill secrets that no one knew for hundreds of years. Afterwards, all the staff who were around her and attending her had to be sworn to secrecy...”
“Oh ho hooo!” Luna laughed, “You must tell me more! I desire to hear all of these secrets she has spilled! I am certain she has accumulated more in my absence!”
“Another time, perhaps,” I interrupted the two mares. “We’re here on business and on a tight schedule. You aren’t the only pony we’re visiting tonight.”
“Who else are you visiting?” Sweetie asked, curious.
“Princess Cadence,” I answered. “Now, Luna here testifies that everything I said was true. Princess Daybreaker is not Princess Celestia, and is instead her counterpart to Nightmare Moon. No, I will not explain further, that takes time. The important thing is that you can split Division-P in half. That will save lives, Sweetie Drops. Lives. Can you do it for us?”
Sweetie grimaced, “That may or may not have been me just trying to not get mind controlled. There’s a chance, but I don’t know. I’m just one pony. And all of this, this Daybreaker or Celestia stuff… I’m still struggling a bit to come to terms with the fact that you aren’t, you know, soul-sucking evil. Perhaps I should have listened to that changeling after all…”
“That one changeling?” I asked.
“There was a changeling in Locksdale Prison, where we keep the changelings in Canterlot Castle, who was adamant that you had to have survived your supposed death. Princess Daybreaker must’ve decided to believe her, as she began her search for you after reading the interrogation report. The changeling was also insistent that you were… good.”
I rolled my eyes, “I’ll have to give my thanks to this good samaritan in person, then. It was very nice of them to sic Division-P and a possessed alicorn after me.”
“Possessed? Princess Dayb– Celestia is possessed?”
“Yes, yes, not important. You’ll all learn about that later. We’ve gone off topic; I am in desperate need of any way to sabotage Division-P, since Cadence has taken herself off of the field and Luna is busy with other tasks.”
Sweetie nodded, “I’ll do what I can, King Phasma and Princess Luna.”
I got a feeling that her acceptance towards the developing situation and readiness to help was more directed to Princess Luna than myself. Call it… common sense.
“That is all we can ask, Sweetie Drops. Thank you for believing in us, and for believing in a better Equestria,” Luna said, drawing a smile from Sweetie.
“Though I have to ask, Your Highness, what about the whole burning Equestria thing?” Sweetie asked, pointing to the burning building behind her.
Luna looked at me while she spoke, “Phasma is trying his best to right his wrongs and help us all out. Just as well, he was not quite as free to walk his own path as you might think. He might have plotted the invasion of Equestria, organized the changeling army, trained it in new, effective tactics, plotted for the end of Equestrian civilization–” I cleared my throat loudly, “–but the decision was made for him. Nothing less than absolute loyalty was demanded from him, and still he tried to find alternative methods, however suspect and tenuous they may be. And now he seeks to bring light back to Equestria. You know, just like myself.”
“So he– so you just get away with doing all of this?” Sweetie asked, glaring at me.
Luna stepped in before I could argue, “ If you judge Phasma, then you must judge me equally, for I have even more blood on my hooves. There will be a thorough account for all of his actions once we can safely worry about such things. For now, accept his help and let us save Equestria together. For my sister, if nothing else.”
Sweetie thought about this for a few moments before answering, “Okay, Princess. I won’t let you down.”
“We must leave now. Step close to me, Phasma. I shall take us to see Cadence. Farewell Sweetie Drops, may our paths cross again soon.”
Sweetie bowed once more, but her final words were directed towards myself, not her princess.
“You know, King Phasma, I just remembered something from that changeling’s interrogation report.”
“Which is?”
“She claimed to know you personally.”
I blinked, “What was her name?”
“Her name is Lacewing.”
Luna took my stunned silence as the conversation being over, and took us away from Inquisitor Sweetie Drop’s dream.
“No!” I yelled at a hedge. Spinning on my hooves, I grabbed and shook Luna, “Take us back! Right now!”
Luna pushed me away, and I fell on my flanks. We had arrived in Cadence’s dream, the same garden that she had dreamt of a while back.
“Calm yourself, Phasma. You can speak with her in the waking world, correct? We must see Cadence now.”
“Lacewing is alive, Luna! Alive! She’s alive!” I shook my hooves at her.
“Is this important?”
“Yes! Yes, Luna, yes! She was a member of the First Fang– is a member. I held a fucking funeral for her, Luna! We have to go back!” I begged.
“You need to stay here and listen to what I have to say,” Cadence said, standing behind us.
“Whatever you have can wait–”
“No, it can’t. Phasma, I’ve finished reading the last of the material I stole.”
I rose to all fours, “I just got word that someone I care about as a close friend is no longer dead, Cadence. I need to–”
“Stay here,” she ordered in a tone that brooked no argument.
Still, I argued, “I’m sorry Cadence, but–”
“Your changelings’ lives are in extreme risk right now. If the plan at the Gala goes ahead, hundreds will die.”
“Wh…” I panted.
‘It’s just bombshell after bombshell today.’
“The last file,” Cadence began, “is on a protocol titled The Dead Hoof Protocol.”
“Oh no,” I gasped.
“Do you know of it?” Luna asked.
“The Dead Hand Protocol. I know what it means. What are they going to do, Cadence?”
“Locksdale Prison will be purged. The file I read was a report on the methods of doing so. All failed or rejected methods, with the final decision being to... to execute all the changelings held in the prison via unicorn squads,” Cadence said, her voice shaky and threatening to break. “But it never listed when, only that it had something to do with Princess Daybreaker.”
“The Dead Hand Protocol,” I explained, “was the final fallback contingency to destroy the world, should the protocol’s government fall. Division-P could be planning in case of Equestria’s fall, but with our luck and its mention of Daybreaker…”
“They plan on killing all the changelings if Daybreaker is killed,” Cadence finished. “But how did you know already? And what's this about hands?”
I ignored her, “We can’t let that happen. Lacewing is alive, and so is everyling else they’re holding in there. We can’t let them execute that protocol.”
Luna asked, “The Grand Galloping Gala is in six days, Phasma. What are we going to do?”
“I need… I need to think! Give me a moment!” I said, going from trotting in place to pacing back and forth.
“Six days,” Luna repeated. “All of our plans are set in stone. We cannot dedicate any thestrals to going up against Division-P.”
“Locksdale Prison is in Canterlot Castle’s dungeon, right?” I asked. Cadence nodded so I continued, “so then… so then… that’s the same place that the Gala is being held, right? Okay… okay. A direct attack to engage the enemy, and an indirect attack to win,” I whispered to myself. “Cadence! Luna! I need God-Splitter, my Adamantium hammer, to be present at the Grand Galloping Gala!”
“It already is,” Luna said, “since Daybreaker loves her trophies being displayed and admired. What are you going to do?”
I explained as I paced, “The only thing I can do. My changelings will attack Locksdale Prison in the greatest jailbreak in history. But they wouldn’t win in a full frontal assault. Nor do we have enough time for an infiltration operation. They will need a distraction to pull away most of Division-P’s attention. That is where I come in.”
I spun on my hooves, and faced the two alicorns, “I will attend the Grand Galloping Gala undisguised.”
“What?!” Cadence yelled.
“Phasma, we have one shot at taking down Daybreaker,” Luna said. “One shot. Your presence would threaten the entirety of the whole operation. As much as I would love to see you again as soon as possible, I do not wish everything we have worked for to be thrown away in fear.”
“We don’t have a choice, Luna. I am not letting my people die. I’m coming to the Gala. There is no other option to distract Division-P. Unless I am there at Canterlot Castle, they will only dispatch a token force to try to take me down. I need to be there, present at the Castle, threatening Daybreaker herself in order to get their full attention.”
Luna facehooved, “And just how do you expect to take on Daybreaker, the best trained squads the Royal Guard has to offer, and the entirety of Division-P on by yourself? Because need I remind you, we have to focus on taking down Daybreaker, which means the thestrals and I need to either stay on the sidelines, or Harmony forbid, fight you.”
“I’ll figure it out. You meanwhile need to adjust your plans to take down Daybreaker while she’s distracted with me.”
“You think she won’t see through that ploy immediately? The moment anypony so much as sneezes strangely while she’s staring you down, it is over.”
I snarled, “Figure it out, Luna! Leave the Guards and the Division to me, and you figure out your Element bullshit.”
“This is our one chance, Phasma!”
“Do you have any other plans?!”
Luna hesitated.
“No, you don’t. No plan survives contact with the enemy. You know this, Luna.”
“There’s so many problems with this scheme of yours, though. Just how do you plan on getting the entirety of your Hive into Canterlot?”
“Easy. We are already in Canterlot.”
“What?” The Princesses said in stereo.
“I’m in Manehattan at the moment, but I ordered Coxa to begin bringing the Fifth Hive out of Manehattan and into its designated fallback point. In the short time we’ve had, we’ve only managed to find one spot in all of Equestria that is defensible, reclusive, unoccupied, and cheap to acquire.”
“The Crystal Caves,” Cadence gasped.
“The top layers and entrances were mapped, sealed off, and patrolled where needed, however there are miles upon miles of the cave left untouched. Couple that with the fact that a few changelings in the Fifth Hive were from the Underhive Scarabs Legion, and suddenly we have prime real estate in Canterlot. No scrying spell can penetrate the crystals and avoiding your patrols is far easier than you might think. The Underhive Scarabs were chosen for their expertise, and are at home in the tunnels beneath our hooves.”
“Your fallback point was to hide right underneath Division-P’s noses…” Cadence said in awe.
“The last place they would think, after they checked it several times. The Royal Guard might be able to spot a swarm of changelings approaching from any angle outside of Canterlot, and with many of the exits sealed they might think that they are safe, but we can both unseal the tunnels and scale the mountain itself, right below their line of sight. There’s no guarantee that it would work, but we’re well past guarantees. I’ll set my changelings to digging into Locksdale Prison as soon as possible. Meanwhile, I’ll think of ways to deal with the ponies who will dog-pile me the moment I show my face.”
“Is there no other way of saving your people?” Luna asked, desperate to not lose her one chance at seeing her sister again.
I shook my head, “No. A Dead Hand Protocol would mean their deaths the moment Daybreaker is gone, I’m sure of it. We have to throw everything we have at her at the Gala. One way or the other, we won’t be getting a second chance. It’s all or nothing. We can’t even afford a prolonged battle with her, for the Nightmares are rising. A conflict with Daybreaker would mean losing valuable time, lives, and resources needed to fight them, whenever they are coming. By dawn the next day, Equus’s fate will be decided. Either Daybreaker is purged and we have a chance, or… you both understand what’s at stake. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find some Panar damn miracles.”