THE LAND BEFORE, EARTH, SUN-UP
"I don't believe a word of it." Chancellor Puddinghead remarked as-a-matter-of-factly.
"But Chancellor," Smart Cookie began as the Chancellor paced about his office. "They turned night into day and made crops grow!"
"Crops that soon turned to ash after being touched, my dear. A simple illusion spell by a simple unicorn. I bet Princess Platinum was in cahoots with the lot! Didn't you see that wizardly unicorn who stood back? Ten bales of hay says he gave the two fake wings to top the whole thing off!" Chancellor Puddinghead explained.
Smart Cookie's stomach growled at the mention of food. "So then what are we going to do? Just sit here and starve to death?"
"I suggest you watch your tone with me, Smart Cookie; you sound like you're challenging your leader." the Chancellor growled.
"Maybe I am! How many families have we lost due to the blizzard and lack of food because somepony is too busy planning to kill off the other races? We have food, as little as it is, and our own ponies are starving because you want to keep up the illusion that the other races stole it all from us! This has to end, Chancellor; I'm taking these ponies to a new land." Smart Cookie whispered menacingly.
"Oh? Is that it? Well then why didn't you just say so? Let me pack my things and I'll be on my way with you!" Chancellor Puddinghead said happily as he bounced away.
Following after him confusedly, Smart Cookie spoke up again. "Uh...Would you mind repeating that, Chancellor Puddinghead?"
"Why of course! I'm not a stupid pony, Smart Cookie. I know more than any other pony that we need to get out of here and away from the other races if we are to survive. I just wont pledge my allegiance to those "alicorns". Have everypony ready to leave by sunhigh." Chancellor Puddinghead said calmly.
"Yes, your Chancellorness." Smart Cookie replied simply.
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THE LAND BEFORE, PEGASOPOLIS, SUN-UP
"I want everypony fully armored and prepared for battle by sunhigh!" Commander Hurricane finished, her tail flicking in anger. "It's bad enough that we had to pledge our allegiance to those murderous alicorns, but then they have the nerve to kill off those who wouldn't follow! My own soldiers!"
Sergeant Thunderstorm stayed quite a bit away from his commander like he always did when she got this furious. He didn't approve of their methods, but he understood why the alicorns did what they did to those who wanted no part of it.
It was a ploy to exert their power.
To show the ponies there was no turning back.
To show them all that death is the only reward for hatred.
Shivering in his armor from the cold, he noticed a rather large pile of snow on the battlements. Pushing it aside and over the cloud city, he realized just how close the three races were to extinction.
He only hoped his leader would see sense before she did something that she would later regret.
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THE LAND BEFORE, UNICORNICUS, SUN-UP
Yawning softly as she awoke, she expected to find Clover the Clever by her bedside as she usually did every morning.
This morning, however, was drastically different.
When she rolled over and opened her eyes to take in the seat where Clover the Clever usually sat, she screamed in terror upon realizing that her assassin's body was sitting slumped over in the wooden stool.
His head was angled up so that Queen Platinum could see the gashing hole in his neck where clearly a very sharp horn pierced it.
She shuddered and hid her snout under her blankets as she stared at his bloodstained neck and a voice sounded from the opposite side of her bed.
"For one trained to kill so well, he was no match for a simple horn thrust." Princess Lunarias said coldly as Queen Platinum turned to face the demonic looking alicorn. "Truly a pity, as we were hoping for more of a fight before we introduced ourselves."
"Clover the Clever! Guards! Somepony help!" Queen Platinum wailed.
There was the sound of heavy hoofsteps on the stone stairs leading to the Queen's bedchambers before the alicorn forced the door shut with her magic; all the while not taking her eyes off the shivering white unicorn.
"Thou art a disgusting, cruel hearted wench for the deeds thou hath committed." Princess Lunarias said in disgust, spitting on the blanket to show her distaste. "Murdering thy own father, who raised thou and taught thee while thy mother lay dead! And what such a reward for a caring heart? A gem bomb staged by his own spawn! If we had our way, thou would be a pile of ash in this moment, but we come not to end thy worthless life, oh no. We stand here before an ugly mare with a heart blacker than our own to deliver a message from our eldest."
Pressing her snout close to the cowering unicorn's and glaring with those demonic eyes, the Princess delivered her message: "Do away with thy wretched ways of deceit, lies and murder. Do away with thy plans to conquer the other races as thou was planning at the meeting. Do away with thy terrors less thy ponies burn at thy hooves in agony as they curse thy name with their last breath!"
As Princess Lunarias finished her message, the guard burst in and the alicorn quickly vanished from sight; leaving only the hyperventilating queen and the body of her assassin in the room.
"Prepare..." Queen Platinum began, breathing quickly. "To leave...At sunhigh..."
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THE LAND BEFORE, CLEARING DESIGNATED AS THE CENTER OF THE THREE TERRITORIES, SUNHIGH
"Scour the area! I want those alicorns!" Commander Hurricane ordered as her forces spread outwards from the clearing.
Commander Hurricane growled in frustration as she tromped off into the woods with Sergeant Thunderstorm by her side.
Justice would be served this day, even if they had to stay out here in the freezing cold until sunset.
"Sergeant Thunderstorm!" Commander Hurricane called out, despite her underling being a few hoofsteps away.
"Yes ma'am!" he called back, standing at attention.
As the commander began instructing the sergeant, neither of them noticed a rather large pile of snow shift a bit and a long, extravagant horn poke out; starting to glow softly with a golden aura.
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Sergeant Thunderstorm was lost once again in those deep, purple eyes. He heard the words coming out of his leader's mouth and stuffed them in the back of his head for the moment; there was time to follow orders later. Right now, those beautiful eyes...
Suddenly, the sergeant lurched forward and pressed the end of his snout against Commander Hurricane's softly as she did the same.
Both reeled back in shock as they regained control over their bodies, eyes darting around wildly to see if anypony had seen that and trying to find what had caused it.
Only a soft, playful giggle betrayed the enemy's position and both pegasi moved quietly to flank the snow pile.
As they leaped up into the air to strike down, they once again lost control of their bodies and were pulled into the pile.
They struggled to lash out at the snickering face of Celestiar.
"Calm down, my little ponies; we art not here to harm you." she promised, stifling her soft laughter.
Once both of the pegasi had ceased their struggle, Celestia unbound the sergeant's mouth since the commander was still glaring furiously.
"My my, such strong emotions coming from this one." Celestiar gently teased, causing Thunderstorm to blush. "How lucky for the both of you that that little hoof slip in the snow managed to happen, isn't it?"
Sergeant Thunderstorm blushed bright red through his dark coat and looked away from Celestiar and Commander Hurricane.
Giggling to herself once more before regaining her composure, Celestiar continued. "We suppose thou art both wondering why we art out here all by our lonesome, art thou not? We have come to simply tell thee that thy little ploy to attack us will not end happily in thy favor."
As Celestiar's tone grew darker and serious, Commander Hurricane attempted to speak up; her voice a muffled blur beyond Celestiar's magical grip. "You killed my warriors simply because they would not pledge their allegiance to you!"
As her words reached Celestiar's ears, the alicorn's eyes clouded in sincere pain. "Yes, the innocents...It is indeed a shame what our sister hath done, but a necessary point needed to be made. Thou see-eth, Commander Hurricane, that our sister and we art but two sides of the same coin."
"Coin? What the hay is a coin and what does it have to do with why you murdered my ponies?!" Commander Hurricane interrupted.
"Ah, yes..." Celestiar spoke softly, mostly to herself. "We had forgotten how...Sheltered thou all were. A coin is a form of currency used in other lands, as our sister and we have traveled a great many lands before returning here. What we art trying to say is that while we both art separate entities, our sister and we strive for the same goal. Our sister is the aspect of war, death, destruction and end, to name a few, while we art the aspect of peace, life, creation and prosperity. We art drastically different, but as we have said before: we art both two sides of the same coin. And we come bearing a message."
Commander Hurricane's ears flicked in anger as she forced herself to listen further while Sergeant Thunderstorm listened attentively as if he were her student and she his teacher.
Smiling at both acts, Celestiar continued. "The time of war and conquest has ended. Lay down thy weapons and head south to thy new home; give up thy dreams of warish victory against a goddess for thou will not win. Instead, become a legend amongst thy people as the pony who saved them from the brink of destruction. That is our message to thou, dear pegasus."
"The time of peace has nearly begun, my little ponies." she whispered before she suddenly disappeared, leaving the two pegasi slumped up against each other in the cold snow.
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SOMEWHERE SOUTH OF THE LAND BEFORE, MIDNIGHT
"Ma'am, don't you think we should land and rest? We've been flying all day..." Sergeant Thunderstorm asked tiredly as he struggled to stay aloft next to his leader.
Commander Hurricane turned her head and slowed her pace to view her half awake troops.
They had indeed been flying all day, or at least for twelve hours, and they still had not seen either a horn nor wing from the alicorns.
The pegasi were weary and silently begging for a chance to rest as the moon cast soft light that reflected off of their heavy armor.
Sighing sadly to herself, she gave the order to land; much to her pony's relief.
"We'll sleep in the trees tonight. I want everypony up by sun-up or you're being left behind, is that clear?" Commander Hurricane ordered.
The only reply she received were a series of low, tired moans as the pegasi settled themselves into the branches and quickly fell asleep.
Commander Hurricane, however, was wide awake and started to patrol around the area her ponies were sleeping in. It wasn't long before she heard the soft padding of hoofsteps that she could easily tell belong to her sergeant.
"You should get some sleep as well, Commander..."He suggested, stifling a yawn. "We'll need a strong leader to guide us through this mess tomorrow morning."
Commander Hurricane didn't answer, instead focusing her gaze out over the cliff and into the lush green valley below that marked the end of their harsh winter wasteland.
"Sergeant?" She asked softly and Thunderstorm trotted closer in acknowledgement. "If you tell anypony else about this, I'll have you tried for treason and hung.".
Sergeant Thunderstorm raised an eyebrow but did not back away. He knew Commander Hurricane was not one to issue idle threats, but the way she had said it seemed to him like she was attempting to make a joke.
"Sergeant...I'm scared. I'm scared of those alicorns, I'm scared of this 'new land' they promised, and I'm scared of the future." she admitted quietly.
Sergeant Thunderstorm pitied her but made no attempt to comfort her as she was still his superior. He found it strangely comforting that his leader, the strongest and smartest pegasi warrior in his nation, wasn't feeling her usual violent and war-loving self. She seemed like any other pony with worries and fears, and to him she was more beautiful than ever.
"Sergeant...?" she began again, snapping Thunderstorm out of his thoughts. "Will you lay with me tonight?"
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SOMEWHERE SOUTH OF THE LAND BEFORE, SUN-LOW
"Faster, Clover the Clever! I want to beat those pegasi before they reach the new land." Queen Platinum ordered, her eyes focused on the tree-lined horizon.
Upon realizing that thick forests surrounded their land on every side, the unicorns reluctantly left their carts full of gems and personal belongings behind.
The Queen, however, would not do away with her dresses or gems and loaded as many as she could onto poor Clover the Clever's back.
"I said faster, Clover! Do you want those nasty pegasi to get there before us and claim all the good spots or food?" Queen Platinum challenged.
"With all do respect, your highness..." Clover the Clever started, pausing to catch her breath from the heavy weight on her back. "The pegasi prefer to keep to the skies, and I doubt the alicorn sisters would let them take all the food if they were trying to promote peace."
Queen Platinum did not acknowledge Clover's remark as her eyes squinted to keep the cold winds and snow out.
Hidden as a sudden gust of cold wind and snow blew in, Starswirl the Bearded popped into existence next to Clover the Clever, much to her surprise.
Before she had a chance to screech, however, he quickly slapped a hoof over her snout and shook his head while pointing a hoof at her leader.
Nodding her understanding, Clover stretched her snout open and close after Starswirl released it.
"I am going to teach you a spell passed onto me by my teacher, who waited for the return of the alicorn sisters as did his teacher and his teacher before him for two millennium. You must speak of this spell to no one and only use it when the time is right; and you will know when the time is right. Do you understand?" he explained in a whisper.
Clover the Clever nodded slowly, her eyes holding back stars of excitement and curiosity.
Starswirl the Bearded leaned in close and shared his secret of harmony with the young and thoughtful unicorn.
And then, he vanished in another gust of wind and snow.
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SOMEWHERE SOUTH OF THE LAND BEFORE, SUNHIGH
"It's like he's wearing the map on his face, backwards and upside down with eye-holes cut in it!" an earth pony whispered to her friend as they slowly trudged along with the rest of their race after the Chancellor.
While the Chancellor was too lost in thought while staring at the crudely drawn map to hear the remarks, Smart Cookie heard them clearly enough through the storm.
It was hard enough convincing the surviving members of families that had already perished to follow them into the uncertain unknown, but now remarks like these were dropping moral like it was the snow coming down from above.
"I've been thinking, Smart Cookie." the Chancellor stated, not looking up from the map as he slowly trotted along the side of the mountain. "Doesn't it seem awfully strange that this bizarre and terrible weather starts out of the blue, and then these two "alicorn sisters" introduce themselves and demand we make peace and leave this land? Does it not also strike you as odd that the dark blue one conjured up an entire thunderstorm all by herself?"
"If you're hinting that the alicorns started the blizzard to drive us out, I don't believe it for a second, your Chancellorness. There was something about that white one that just seemed so sincere; like she cared for us all and never wanted anything bad to happen to us. Did you see the look in her eyes when her sister...You know, to those other ponies?" Smart Cookie replied.
"Don't get me started on what that blue one did. And no, I was too busy containing my rage to notice how "sincere" she was when her sister killed my ponies." the Chancellor answered, almost stumbling off the side of the mountain before catching himself.
It was going to be a long day.