A married couple sat on the edge of a cliff in the dead of night. Far from any town, the moon and stars shown with brilliant beauty down to them. The thestral couple were resting on the soft grass with the young mare leaning up against the stallion and sleeping soundly. He remained awake, gently playing with a lock of her hair, occasionally eliciting the mare to weakly swat him away.
It was a perfect moment, forever preserved in the stallion’s memories. For over forty years, Blind Speaker recreated this dream to remember his beloved before he was called to war. Before an inquisitor took his sight.
Though his dream self was in the prime of his life, he was old now. Old enough that the dreamscape around him had gotten blurry as memories faded. Colors were lost, the stars were a jumbled mess of light, and even the long dead wife’s voice was off key, and her image was no longer crisp and clear, save only, for her striking amethyst eyes. Those at least, he was desperate to keep intact.
However, his age threatened to rob him of even that. So every night she would start asleep on his belly, eyes closed as he feared his control over his dreams had slipped away completely.
and yet, a part of him tried not to dwell on it too terribly much. He knew his time on this earth was nearly spent, but even so, he wished to fade away with her eyes watching over him.
Suddenly, cutting through his grim thoughts, was the cluck of a chicken.
It took Blind Speaker a long moment to realize there was a crisp and clear chicken pecking away at some dirt nearby. “What are you doing here?” He asked incredulously.
The fowl looked at him for a moment, tilting its head as it studied him before returning to its pecking.
Fully invested into this mystery, Blind Speaker tried to banish the bird. It wavered, like ripples across a pond, but stubbornly remained blissfully unaware.
Before he could start questioning his sanity, a powerful, yet warm feminine voice called out from above. “I’ve always liked chickens. They’re pleasant birds if you can ignore the smell.”
If the sudden intrusion of an unwanted bird in a thestral’s dream alarmed him before, a new voice doubled his fears, only for him to suspect there was actually nothing wrong. “Are you the voice of the great arbiter? Have I died in my sleep?”
“Not yet, honored Speaker, but I fear this will be your last winter.” The voice was saddened by the news he already suspected.
“I never was one to sit by a fire in a cozy home, sipping tea.” He chuckled at the idea of having small talk with the reaper, or perhaps she had finally fractured his mind. “An elder’s purpose is to give strength and wisdom to the young is it not? If I have given succor to at least one soldier in this war, then my death is a good one.”
“Come now, Blind Speaker,” the voice from the stars replied. “Your grandson speaks very highly of you. Modesty was not a virtue he ascribed.”
Doubt as to who or what the voice actually was began to form. “The boy’s a good lad, but puts stock in my deeds unfairly above others.”
“Would you say the same of your granddaughter in law?”
Suddenly, the landscape around him solidified. The stars changing was the first thing he noticed. The stars moved until constellations appeared, and the moon became full. The change made him look down to realize the distant forest below the cliff looked clear as day. Most striking of all, his sleeping wife’s form looked whole and healthy like the day he parted to go to war.
Faded memories battered Blind Speaker into silently weeping. He dearly wished to embrace her, but he knew at that moment, she was not a figment of his memory; someone else had remade her. Leaving her asleep, Blind Speaker looked once more to the moon and stars.
“Is it possible? Has my grandson?”
Rather than answer through words, the moon itself blinked as if it was an eye. When it opened again, Luna was hovering only a few feet away. She stayed there for a time as Blind Speaker was left utterly paralyzed by his patron.
“An old mare’s tale said the stars would aid in my return. If I am the moon, then my champions are my stars. I wished to thank you personally before I returned to the public eye.”
Shaking with cathartic exaltation, Blind Speaker dropped into a low bow. “Are you simply awake or are you in the physical world as well?”
“Rise, honored Speaker.” Luna landed next to him and carefully lifted his head so their eyes met. “You, who was the key to my freedom, bow to no one.” His lips trembled and his heart swelled. “As for your question, Twilight Sparkle says the city is called Mechiburg. I will be revealing myself to the citizen’s dreams before I make my appearance in the waking world. You, however, I wanted to be the first to know.”
Her proud and happy expression darkened to one of melancholy. “Something I wish I had done sooner. I can feel you’re dying.”
A resigned, short laugh escaped him. “The war’s not been kind to us, and winter arrived early here in the north. My bones tell me I have long since overstayed my welcome in this world, and now that I know you walk it once more, I can pass on with a happy heart.”
Luna turned to look at the sleeping mare who had not stirred once in decades. “Before you join her, is there something you would ask of me? If it is within my power…”
“Only that you don’t tell my family. I would not want my passing to blunt the celebrations to come. I have forced myself to linger this long, what’s one more night or two?”
A fragile smile crossed her lips. “If Silver Vein asks, I will say I left you alive and well enough. He asked me to tell you he was proud of you, but - doesn’t want to be you.” Luna had been confused the first time she was told the message, and was even more so when the aged stallion laughed wholeheartedly.
“Just a personal joke between us. I’m sure if you care to one day, you will see I was quite filled with hate back in my youth.” His humor died just as rapidly as it started. “This night with my wife… It was the last one I spent as my old self, before I became Blind Speaker.”
Although Luna fortified the dreamscape, Blind Speaker was still its dreamer, and his fading life caused the edges to darken. “ Could I trouble you to pass a message on to my grandson?”
Luna was keenly aware of the fraying edges of the dreamscape, and knew he was fading. “As if I could refuse the dying wish of the one behind my rescue.”
“Silver Vein is no warrior, and yet he walked deeply into the heart of the enemy to see your rescue through in my stead. I am proud of him beyond measure, and please show his child the love I could not show Silver’s father.”
“I will.” Luna closed in and held his chin. “You do Quiet Night’s legacy proud. Know that your name will be remembered in song and stone. May your next turn on the wheel be fruitful and with honor.”
With that, Luna faded away from his dream. The moment her strength left, the dreamscape immediately began to fray even faster now. With his remaining strength, Blind Speaker kept his sleeping wife intact. He laid down next to her, taking one last comfort from her touch before he too faded for good with a content smile on his face.
Matters were happening quickly in Equestria. A flurry of telegraphs went out to all military theaters to make for their winter camps, and all inquisitors were recalled to Canterlot by order of the Prince-consort.
While the call for winter quarters was well received by the soldiery, it befuddled the other generals who were left wondering why the order came so early. What did not go well, was that a sizable number of inquisitors chafed under the command. However, when the order included a blanket authorization to use the portal network to return, even the grumblers knew better than to feign ignorance of the decree.
The day Cadence first met Celestia was growing late. Radiant Dawn and Rarity Belle stood near the front of the Inquisitorial Prelude, the central hall normally reserved for weekly prayer for all inquisitors and their staff.
The central marble podium currently stood empty, and a grand golden altar to the sun and Celestia covered the front from floor to ceiling in glorious majesty. Stained glass along the walls depicted treasured or dark moments in Equestria’s history while fine seat cushions lined up in front of the podium allowed both conference and worship all at once. With both staff and retainers currently barred from entry, ninety eight of the one hundred remaining inquisitors were present, and there was no word on the whereabouts for the other two.
Grumbling both benign and disgruntled filled the hushed group, yet all of it vanished when Grand Inquisitor Unyielding Hierophant stepped up to the podium and banged the stone for silence. “Brothers and sisters, gathered before me in faith and duty. I share many of your questions as to why we have been recalled by the Prince-Consort. The only thing I can add is that his telegraph to me was quite insistent that we be apprised of a new development that demanded both our presence in Canterlot, and our discretion.” An elder inquisitor, long past his field days, stood up to be heard. “I recognize brother Burning Heart.”
“This time is critical for the war effort, and among all of her holiness’s generals, the Prince-Consort should know this most of all. How are we to burn food stores or winter camps before they are occupied if we’re being pulled back here? Every scrap of bread a Lunatic soldier eats is one more rifle pointed against us come spring.”
“An excellent question,” Unyielding Hierophant replied while immediately waving off others who began standing up. “One among a great many I am sure.” Hierophant made a show of looking behind him and waving two figures forward. “I have been told our brother Radiant Dawn and sister Rarity Belle have our answer.”
Hierophant stepped back away from the podium as the pair took his place. The pair’s expedition was not advertised among the order; point of fact, only three others knew what they had been up to. So it was that those three were the only ones left in tense silence while everyone else waited impatiently.
Being the more senior of the two, Radiant Dawn stood directly behind the podium while Rarity remained tactically off to the side. Some whispered comments on the surprising nature of his injuries as he had not been assigned to front line duties. The stallion held himself with as much poise as his crutch allowed. Even now, his heart hung heavily from the news he bore, but as he surveyed his brethren, he knew it had to be done. “My brothers and sisters in faith. To waste an inquisitor’s time is to give succor to the sinful, so I will be direct. I come bearing news both glorious and terrible. Celestia, the light of lights has returned to the mortal world and to us all.”
Stunned silence washed over the crowd. Some started making the sign of the sun. Radiant Dawn and Rarity also made the sign out of habit more than anything else. With the silence afforded to him, Radiant continued with measured concern in his tone. “Earlier today, Celestia met with Mi Amora Cadenza and the Prince-Consort to discuss a peaceful transition of power. In two days time, an announcement will go out that her majesty will abdicate in favor of Celestia.”
Such an agreement was hardly finalized, but neither he nor Rarity believed Cadence would fight against it.
Finally, a mare had collected her wits and stood up to speak before being recognized. “You speak truly? As I live and breathe she walks the Earth once more?! Don’t you dare jest about such things!” There was controlled euphoria in her eyes, restrained only to await confirmation. Had this news come from some pony off the street, no one would have given them the time of day, but here in these hallowed halls…
“He does not,” Rarity answered firmly. “We are here so the Inquisition knows of this before the public does and can plan accordingly. While many will take this news with proper elation, we would be fools not to think many ponies feel her physical absence was more useful to their aims.”
The level of tension in her voice was picked up by most of them, but the news itself was too monumental to worry about such things. A wild cheer erupted amongst them all. Prayers, chants, and hymns filled the air as exultation was on full display. The formality of the meeting broke down entirely and the concerns of blasphemers were pushed to the side for now. While Rarity let the first two who approached her with questions and praise for heralding Her return, Rarity’s taciturn replies were enough for Radiant Dawn to excuse himself from speaking with Hierophant to bang on the podium. “Brothers! Sisters! Calm yourselves, for there is still much to say!”
Assuming he was going to relay Celestia’s appraisal of their centuries of efforts or to give her first direct orders, everyone hushed to listen in, ears forward and eyes fixated on Radiant. However, the inquisitors before him were zealots first, but intelligence officers second. Rarity wanted to believe everyone would follow along, but she could see faint signs of rebellion, and an inquisitor could ill afford to trust anyone was above treason.
At first, the injured stallion wanted to hold his tongue. So much devotion and zeal. Just how much of that will be lost in the next few minutes? Steeling himself, Radiant pressed on. “Later today, Celestia will be expecting an audience from all of us. For the moment though, I must inform all of you of a difficult truth that Celestia herself has affirmed to me, repeatedly.” Flattening his ears for the coming storm, Radiant imagined he was looking at a firing squad awaiting the order. “Celestia insists that neither she nor Luna, or Cadenza for that matter, are goddesses.”
The sheer unbelievability of the statement left everyone questioning if they had heard him correctly. I could have said fire was cold and gotten a better reaction.
Ultimately it was Unyielding Hierophant who broke the silence and stepped up to Radiant. “Your injuries must be deeper than they look, because you speak of madness.”
“I only wish I did,” Radiant replied stubbornly. “Celestia wished for me to tell you all of this as penance on my part, and so that all of you had time to think it over before seeing her directly later today.”
“Honored Brother,” one concerned inquisitor called out. “Please take care. What you say is beyond heretical.”
At that, Rarity stepped between the podium and the questioner, firm iron on her stance and tone. “How can it be heresy when Celestia herself says as much?”
“If that’s the case, what sense does it make to not tell us directly?!” Another shouted. “Think it over? What rot!”
“Aye!” Shout yet more of them. A younger mare among the crowd stood out from the rest. “You two must have been fooled by some imposter to the crown! I say we go there right now and unmask this charlatan immediately!”
Rarity waved in the castle’s direction. “By all means, Rose Thorn, storm the castle and disturb our rightful queen. Our orders were to inform the inquisition of these developments.”
Rose and many others scoffed at the notion. “Why should we give a single care as to what offends this charlatan?”
“Because our response here today will determine whether or not she will see the inquisition is fit for reform, or removal,” Radiant Dawn replied stiffly as so much movement strained his fractured bones. “Celestia and even Luna are in full agreement on this. The Celestial and Lunar churches are to be disbanded at a pace the public can stomach, and all clergy are up for review. Celestia wants us to prove our usefulness in aiding her in this.”
The chamber immediately exploded into uproar. Threats and condemnations flowed like water. Both Radiant Dawn and Rarity Belle suffered through it in relative silence as a form of penance the two had agreed upon earlier. Even Unyielding Hierophant did not let age diminish his recriminations.
Spital flew in Rarity’s face, voices shouted in her ears, threats of imprisonment, execution, and excommunication filled the chamber, but through it all, she remained firm yet silent. The message had been delivered, it was up to the rest on how to respond. And respond they did.
Nearly a full minute passed before someone grabbed Rarity by the collar and pulled her forward. “I demand both of them be expunged from the order!”
“I have seen enough!” boomed a commanding voice from the main entrance. The heavy oaken doors slammed against the walls as an abnormally tall white mare stepped inside, flanked by royal guards who marched into the chamber. As Celestia marched forward, more guards moved in to encircle the gathered inquisitors. Of them all, only Rarity and Radiant Dawn had the wits to bow in respect.
The shock of Celestia herself appearing from nowhere left them all paralyzed, giving the guards all the time they needed to cut off every exit in a single stroke. “So all of you are supposed to be my greatest agents? Has dogma gripped your hearts so tightly the merest mention of something against it leaves you all as raving dogs?!”
“Bow before the one true queen!” Rarity commanded heavily, shocking everyone into action. A part of her took a measure of vindication from making them jump.
Unyielding Hierophant matched her command with one of his own. “Our true queen rules from Elysium, and Cadenza is her messenger here on Earth. Are you the one filling their heads with this heretical nonsense?” Roughly seven inquisitors refused to kneel to join Hierophant’s defiance.
Celestia magically grabbed him and pulled him over to be face to face so fast he didn’t have a chance to resist her. “I need no messenger now. I stand before you.”
Wrestling himself free of her magical grip, Hierophant dropped to the ground. “Deceiver!” The gathered inquisitors were split. Hierophant and his seven supporters charged their horns. Rarity and those that accepted what their eyes were telling them moved to ensnare the rebels, while those who were undecided were too paralyzed to act. Along the fringes, the royal guards leveled their spears or took the air to get a better angle. Standing in the middle of it all, Hierophant scowled hatefully at the alicorn. “We know the real Celestia. She is a god among gods. Your blasphemy should never have been allowed to get this far!”
Celestia spoke to him, but she directed her gaze out among her inquisitors. “You claim to know me, but the last time I walked amongst your ancestors was nine. Hundred. Years ago. Don’t stand there and tell me it wouldn’t be convenient for some to label us gods and then profit from it. To claim I approve of an act of evil and then do it with a clear conscience.” Celestia flared her wings and called upon a golden light to dominate the ceiling. The same golden light filled in her missing feathers and she took the air in a low hover. ”Tell me, Grand Inquisitor? How long does it take before a lie becomes the new truth? How long does it take for a sin to become a virtue?!” A great many of the inquisitors could not deny her words, but some still clung to dogma, Unyielding Hierophant chief among them.
Two of Hierophant’s defenders were deeply shaken at seeing Celestia hovering while performing magic. Claims of godhood or not, no one could deny her being an alicorn. “Your honeyed words mean nothing to me,” he spat with growing revulsion. The fact that so many of his inquisitors were speaking out against him was the only thing keeping him from attacking. “You are nothing more than a siren trying to turn us from the true path. We’ve dealt with your kind before. Sirens, changelings, all manner of shapeshifters. You will not claim power here!”
“A shapeshifter am I?” Celestia landed heavily and dismissed her spells, while meeting the eyes of each inquisitor. His stubbornness was tiring, but she wanted to keep the inquisition intact as much as possible. “If you speak of them, then surely you have ways of detecting such threats.”
One of Hierophant’s supporters chimed in with a charged horn, a spell danced on the tip. “An autopsy will do just fine!”
He unleashed a lethal mana bolt, only for one of the other inquisitors to magically deflect it into the wall. “Have you lost your mind?” The defender chided. “You think an imposter could have gotten past the Prince-Consort?!”
Hierophant fired off his own spell, but this time Celestia locked her two attackers in a magical bind. Celestia noticed two of them had backed away from it all, so she let them be. “Rarity,” Celestia asked with seething disappointment.
With everyone’s focus on the brief scuffle for so long, the young inquisitor has been sneaking magical needles all along the creases of the marble floor. “Yes, my queen?”
“I believe we have a case of sedition and attempted regicide. What is the punishment for such a crime these days?”
“Regicide?!” Hierophant barked incredulously. “Don’t be fooled by this deceiver! Fight back, damn you! Kill her-”
Silencing him with a spell, Rarity answered. “The same as it has always been my queen: death.” His decades of service, of admiring and fearing him, all the respect she once had for the old pony evaporated in the face of such disrespect to Celestia. Quick as a flash, Rarity’s needles sank into unyielding Hierophant’s ears, eyes, and mouth. She did the same to the other inquisitor who attacked Celestia. They fell over dead before blood even left their bodies. A humorless smirk spread over the mare’s face as Celestia’s enemies laid dead through righteous retribution. “Hubris is the weapon the fool uses to cut his own throat.”
Such a waste of life and talent. Keeping a stoic face, Celestia scanned the attentive faces of the remaining five. All of whom were growing skittish over the summary execution. “You five have one last chance. Submit or be removed.”
To the last, all five of those Celestia had wrapped right in her magic remained utterly defiant. “Then you have made your choice. Were you simple citizens, I would just let you go, but you’ve made it abundantly clear if I released you, all of you would do is everything in your power to resist my rule and wreak havoc.” She turned to the other inquisitors who were left unsure. “Do any of you feel differently? Who here can assure me they will leave well enough alone?”
By now, everyone noticed the number of needles on the ground were waiting for Celestia’s order. Two of the thus far silent inquisitors spoke up. The lead stallion stood next to a mare still bound in Celestia’s iron tight magic. “Your holiness-”
“Highness,” Rarity corrected loudly and calmly.
Sweating even worse, the stallion nodded shakily. “Your highness, I beseech you. My instructor is a good mare, if too stubborn for her own good.”
“Stay out of this, Sunburst!” The mare chided. “If I must die, I do so gladly for the true Celestia!” Bursting a blood vessel, she pushed enough magic out of her horn to free herself and charged Celestia to impale her with her horn.
Celestia glanced at Rarity to keep her needles from interfering. Barely a moment later, Celestia leveraged her earthen strength and longer reach to slam the mare’s face against the marble floor, cracking her horn and the stone in the process. The older mare was left unconscious and bleeding slowly.
Sunburst was beside himself with grief as to what had to happen now, and yet he still had to try. He bowed low, emotion cracking his voice. “Your highness, I beg of you to show mercy.”
One of the other undecided stallions lorded over him. “You disgrace yourself, boy, as well as your instructor. If she dies believing the lie, then so be it.” He cast the youth and those still in Celestia’s magic bindings from his mind to focus on the alicorn. “Your highness, our oaths were made to a fabrication of you. I wish to be the first-” His eyes darted over to Rarity and Radiant Dawn. “Or perhaps third, to renew my vows of service to the real you here and now. Untainted by those who tried to speak for you.”
“Here here!” Rarity cheered, shooting a scathing glare at the four.
Radiant Dawn matched her cheer before adding, “What say the rest of you? You all can see she is truly Celestia. Cast off the old lies and serve the one who we were all sworn to from our induction!”
The fire had returned to the undecided, and they all bowed before Celestia and spoke as one. “Oh light of lights, my life, my soul, is yours to command.”
Celestia released the remaining defiant inquisitors. “Good. See to the prisoners. Redeem them or imprison them, I leave it to you.”
An hour or so later, Rarity walked into Hierophant’s office. Celestia was there, reading personnel files he had kept over the other inquisitors. If there was one place for Celestia to thrust herself neck deep into the modern political web, it would be here. The office felt off now to Rarity, like she was walking on a grave. Though she held no reservations as to the legitimacy of his execution, it was different, now that she was no longer in the moment. “You called for me?”
“I did.” Celestia closed the file and replaced it in the cabinet. She sighed deeply, as if she was burdened by a mountain. “I am still new to these times. Was that handled well?”
Bowing once more out of habit, Rarity spoke with reassurance. “I was actually talking to Radiant about this. It is not a secret that Hierophant was a political animal. His ties to the archbishop are an open secret. Never was an issue until today, I suppose. For what it is worth, he would never have supported you. If he and his inner circle had left that room alive, it’s very likely the church would have time to act against you. At least those that would.”
“Killing one’s enemies… Some things never change I suppose.” Celestia studied the young unicorn and hummed. “You have a question of your own?”
“I do.” Rarity was glad she was giving that tell without being too obvious. “You danced around enstripement. I take it you wished to give us time to reconcile one thing at a time, yes?”
“Something like that.” Celestia walked over to the window and stared up to the castle, only for her eyes to drift down to the market. Walls and buildings obscured most of it, save the stripe market building that dominated the district. Its marble steeples still bore Celestia’s mark of destiny, visible from the office. The mere sight of it boiled Celestia’s blood until the edges of her vision ran red. “When I was speaking with Cadence, she told me she had a convention in the works to present her concerns about enstripement.”
“I am loath to speak ill of her,” Rarity began carefully. “But few outside of Cadenza’s inner circle care much for her concerns unless there is profit to be made.”
“I gathered as much within the first hour.” Celestia bore a dark expression. “I will make sure my concerns are not so easily ignored. To that end, I’ve decided my stance on the issue needs to be crystal clear.” She rounded on Rarity, her scowl slowly shifting to one of vindictive ire. To Celestia, the practice of enstripement was abhorrent enough already, but they made it personal by using her as justification. A simple decree was unacceptable. “Rarity, I want you to review the list of attendees to this convention Cadence organized. Make sure every last merchant and procurer is on that list, and then impress upon them that any absences will not be tolerated.”
Heirophant’s fate left little imagination as to what lay in store for the slavers. Where others might get squeamish, Celestia’s vindictiveness in this issue was infectious to the zealot, who echoed her grim view. Every act she followed Celestia down was unquestionably just in her eyes. “If I may be so bold, your majesty, but can I present a little wrinkle to this presentation of yours?”
The unicorn had served Celestia well so far, and the vengeful smirk on Rarity’s face left her tense. “What did you have in mind?”
“If the purpose of this is to deliver a message, nothing makes ponies talk more than a little drama…”
On the other side of the continent in the early evening, ponies all over Mechiburg were gathering around town square in unsure anticipation. Each of them chatted over seeing Luna in their dreams, and the other half desperate to hear every word of the shared experience. All of it led them all to the square where both city hall and a cathedral to the Lunar faith resided. Soldiers who would have been trying to disperse the crowd for their safety joined the throng in droves. Priests called out as heralds while the mayor stood in the hall’s highest spire watching the skies for something to happen.
Residing in an otherwise empty hotel several streets down, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Luna all stood concealed on its rooftop. Luna watched the crowd with a pair of Rainbow’s binoculars. Anticipation for her grand entrance was making her wings twitch with restrained excitement. She had no need to let officials or the nobility know of her return first. Her place was with her people, the masses that opened her eyes.
And yet…
There had been one noblestallion who had opened that door. Pale Light’s words echoed in her mind. “If the commoners hate you at all, your majesty, it is because they feel you have abandoned them to live in the decadence of the palace. Leave these walls if they feel so crushing, and go to them. Learn what drives them, what troubles them, and then return.”
And to think I started all this because of him. Putting old musing aside, Luna turned to her two companions. “The time is right. Join me from the sky.”
Rainbow Dash was all for the plan, but Twilight was none too happy. It’s all a bit too flamboyant for my tastes, but if she insists I join her, it’s not worth arguing.
The three of them took to the air and sailed higher than normal and as straight up as possible in order to avoid any civilian or even military fliers. Their efforts were not entirely successful as more than once, Rainbow Dash had to fly ahead of them to ward off a number of patrols who spotted their movements, but eventually, the pair managed to swing around with Luna undetected into an abandoned cloud home above the square.
The clouds under their hooves were barely coherent, and while Twilight’s armor allowed her to fly, it did nothing for her cloudwalking. Luna straddled some puffs of white that were breaking apart out from under her weight. “This is perfect. The burgomaster is making a speech and keeping everypony’s attention off of us for the moment.”
Twilight gave up trying to stand on the thinning cloud floor as it just proved too much effort. “We call them ‘mayor’ now, your majesty.”
“I’ll have none of that from you, nor Rainbow for that matter,” Luna cheekily directed at Twilight. “The day I demand one of my saviors to use such a formal address outside of court is the day I am no longer myself. Come now, we have a grand entrance to make!”
Rainbow Dash was practically vibrating with excitement. “This is going to be so awwwesome!”
Summoning the very best illusion magic of her day, Luna made it appear as if the moon had grown five times its size and it bathed the city in its soothing light. The crowd below took notice in a hurry, and looked up with surprise and alarm. Luna took flight and sailed over so it would appear as if she was coming straight out of the moon itself. “Blessed subjects of mine, know that your empress of old has returned!” she bellowed with the might of magic carrying her words to the far reaches of the surrounding districts. Her shadow cast from in front of the grand moon appeared as though an angel of the night had descended upon them. “With the help of your countrymares,” she shouted, signaling Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle to fly out to Luna’s flanks. “ I, Luna, walk among you once more!”
Killing the oppressive light so those below could see her clearly, the crowd was left in stunned disbelief at what they saw. Others further away either flew up or shoved others aside to see.
Recognition brought fresh waves of bewildered excitement. “The dreams were real!” One stallion cried out.
“She’s actually here,” a number of them barely managed to say out of shock.
The crowd closed in underneath Luna, too stunned to bow and scrape as tradition demanded. A few reached out to touch her, thinking they might still be dreaming.
Through it all, Luna was starting to get unnerved by the lack of cheering and her wide smile was cracking. Twilight angled herself to drift in close. “Your majesty, their motor slipped a belt. Just touch a few of them to fix it.”
“Strange way to speak.” Luna still took her advice and made to land, causing those under her to frantically make room. “And you stop calling me that, friend Twilight.”
Twilight was left speechless that even here she could use Luna’s name.
She couldn’t think of a reply before Luna spoke with magically enhanced volume. “Fear not citizens, this is no dream, I am truly here amongst you once more.” She reached a hoof forward and placed it on the closest pony.
It was like flipping a switch. The stallion held onto the hoof as if she might disappear. “It’s real. It’s real! The goddess of the moon is really here!”
The confirmation raced through the crowd like lightning and gossip surged just as fast.
Rainbow Dash and Twilight flew in low and raised a hoof each and spoke in unison. “She Who Protects! She Who Protects!”
The mantra spread like wildfire as everyone joined in. “She Who Protects!” more cheered. Those who could fly took the air so they could see their goddess unimpeded. “She Who Protects!”
Seeing how exuberant her subjects were at her return brought tears to Luna as she waved at them. It wasn’t long before the crowd started shoving against each other trying to catch a glimpse of Luna and the press of bodies was closing in on her
Rainbow had been paying attention, and waited until the barest hint of Luna getting overwhelmed. She took Applejack’s whistle and blew it as hard as she could.
The trill note pained everyone around her, and while it didn’t silence everyone, it did buy the officer a few precious seconds to speak. “Oi! The lot of you should be ashamed of yourselves. Show the Empress proper respect or so help me I’ll jam my hoof up all your tails!”
That bullied those closest into bowing deeply to Luna, and as before, those behind them quickly followed suit until everyone on the ground or in the air bowed before Luna.
At last, Twilight was able to get in close to Luna’s ear. “Your majesty, are you alright?”
“I am fine thank you,” was all Luna would say in front of so many before she bellowed out to everyone. “Lift your faces off the ground my subjects. Treat me as though you would your emperor, not some untouchable goddess. I have no need of prayer or overindulgent prostration. A new night has come, my subjects, for my return also heralds the end of this war!”
It was still dark out over Tranquility. Emperor Eclipse stood on top of the windswept battlements with a glass of Chardonnay. He was left sleepless once again as no word had come about Rainbow’s expedition, save that the Scythe himself had pulled a whole brigade back to the rear. He knew of no behind-the-lines incursion that would draw Shining Armor away from his prize of Mechiburg other than Rainbow’s presence, and it had been weeks since then. “I fear I sent them to their deaths.”
He rattled the ice in his tumbler, grim thoughts danced over whether or not he should sail to Mechiburg to rally the defenders. Sipping his drink, he left the battlements and walked with slow purpose through the halls to a common haunt for him in recent nights: the telegraph office.
The office had been relocated to the palace close to the beginning of the war to help streamline communications and give him the most up to date picture of the campaign.
The castle never truly slept, and he was bombarded with aides and attendants needing one thing or another as he made his way to the office. He bore it all with the dour expression he had difficulty removing as of late.
When he finally arrived at the office he received the expected bows from the staff, but he did not even need to wave them back to work before they did so. The scheduled tapping of twenty of the sixty present telegraphs was a dreary sound. War losses had silenced over half of them. With it being early nightfall on the eastern edge of the old world, Equestrian attacks were few if nonexistent, so only the expected status reports came in.
The director of the messaging service stood up from his desk and offered a bottle. “A top up, sire?”
“Not tonight,” Eclipse replied as he downed the very last of his glass. “If my soldiers don’t have the luxury of getting too deep in their cups, then neither shall I. Is there any update I should be made aware of?”
“Nothing unexpected.” As the director spoke, a number of silent telegraphs came to life. “Just logistic reports of winter supplies being pushed out.” More telegraphs lit up, the operators responded in a brisk pace.
“Any word on if Shining Armor will proceed with his siege or wait out the frost?”
The director’s reply was stalled when he realized nearly every single telegraph was active now. “I fear we will in moments.”
Both stallions watched as each active telegraph to the last tapped away. Operators who were getting a quick bite to eat were practically rushing out of the break room to man their stations. The room was alive with signals from every corner of the old world coming in, and the printing telegraphs spat ribbons of white paper with haste.
“What’s going on?” Eclipse demanded. “There can’t possibly be a full winter offensive can there?!”
The director lorded over the telegraph from Mechiburg. If there was to be an attack, it would be there. “Well?”
“I -I’m not sure, director.” The mare freaked a bit now that both he and the emperor were paying far too much attention to her. “I think the sender is off his rocker.”
Eclipse set his empty glass down next to the printer and inwardly wished he could have taken the time to learn how to read the coded messages. “And why is that?”
The mare shakily brought the ribbon up to the director for inspection. “See? He’s saying Luna herself has appeared right in town square!”
Eclipse felt a surge of hope he had long forgotten. The director knew nothing of Eclipse’s high hopes. “Ask for verification!”
“Sir!” Called another operator monitoring the front lines. “General Nightingale reports the Royal Army is offering an armistice and requests to know how the Throne will answer!”
“Same here, sir!” called another. Then another, a fourth one raised his hoof.
More and more operators raised their hooves or wings. The mood became as electric as the machines they tended to. The director was at a loss for words, and tried to fumble a reply. “I - I don’t get it. They’re winning this war. Why would they want an armistice? It must be some sort of ploy!”
Eclipse no longer needed verification. He reclaimed his glass and smiled with utter relief. “The world as we know has ceased to be, director. You know, I think I will take you up on that top off.”