//------------------------------// // Twilight's Rude Awakening // Story: The Worst Gamble // by Salocin //------------------------------// Birds chirped, and a gentle breeze graced the early morning. A vast sea of grey mist rose from the colourful fields surrounding the quaint town of Ponyhill and the towering dark-blue crystalline castle that stood out from every other building in the town. Spike, who struggled to open his heavy eyes, yawned deeply before jumping down from his bed and leaving his room. On his way to the living room, he peeked into Twilight's study. The purple alicorn occupied the entire bed, her limbs sprawled across the mattress. Right next to her was the desk, cluttered with opened, unopened, and half-opened letters scattered haphazardly. Twilight liked to pretend she had some system for it, but honestly, she handled the letters in whatever order she pleased. And then there were her letters, also strewn across a secondary table on the opposite end of her room. Spike couldn't help but admire her dedication to sending letters of consolation to war widows and widowers, even though it broke her heart every single time. Closing his eyes for a moment and gently shutting Twilight's door was his way of expressing admiration while she slept. He then entered the kitchen, one of the few places in the castle that didn't look like a tornado had swept through it. With a small sigh, he headed to the coffee mill, about to grind the coffee beans into powder until he noticed a stark shadow over Canterlot. It loomed in the distance, omnipresent every morning with good weather, but... not this time. He took a closer look and couldn't believe his eyes. A giant floating rectangle hung above Canterlot, blotting out the sun and hovering over the city, completely unnatural in appearance. Spike ran outside, hastily opening the main door to confirm his suspicions, and indeed, there it was—a large but thin, black rectangle-shaped structure suspended above the capital of Equestria. He rushed back inside, slamming the doors shut as he went, stomping up the stairs, and barging into Twilight's bedroom. "Twilight!" he called out, rousing her from her slumber. Surprised and still half in a dream-like state, she exclaimed, "I'm Pudding!" She quickly closed her gaping mouth before asking, "What is it?!" "Twilight, you need to come and see this!" "See what?!" she nearly screamed, visibly upset at being abruptly awakened while already suffering from lack of sleep. "The window... look towards Canterlot," he said, pointing with his right claw to the bedroom window. Twilight struggled to crawl out of bed, yawning twice before finally making her way to the window and then the Alicorn Princess saw it too, her eyes widening. "Please don't tell me I'm hallucinating. I thought I should inform you." "You're not. I see it too." "Should we..." And yet, the day seemed to be moving faster and faster as the doorbell rang, startling both of them and causing a short physical reaction. They glanced at each other for a moment before Twilight decided, "I'll go." Twilight descended the stairs, rousing herself from sleep, with Spike closely trailing behind. "Who would come by this early?" "I'm asking myself the same thing. It certainly won't be the mail mare," Twilight said after yawning once more, before placing her hoof on the doorknob and pulling it open. Standing in front of her was a creature she had never seen before. It was a female, as she quickly discerned from the feminine voice, but most perplexing of all, they stood on two legs and towered over her. Yet, calmly, the visitor asked for her name, as though it was a casual visit. "Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle?" "Y-Yes?" she asked with a shocked expression. The princess didn't even know what to say... she simply went with what felt somewhat appropriate. Who was this being, and what did they want? Spike, too, was shocked yet fascinated in a way. While the dragon couldn't utter a single word, he looked at this humanoid figure with awe. Was she perhaps a rare type of dragon? After all, the pale figure stood upright, much like Ember or her father, or like he did. Yet, if she were, she would be missing her scales. No, it couldn't be. Spike concluded and dismissed the idea with a subtle shake of his head. "I apologize for the untimely visit. I am General Kahemot of the Sylanian Empire and I need to speak with you urgently," said the pale humanoid figure with a hint of emotion in her voice and a brief introduction. Twilight's face displayed confusion, mainly expressed through a raised eyebrow. The alicorn princess tried to suppress it, but her expression turned slightly angry. "I literally just woke up. Also, I don't even know you, and you never scheduled a visit, and what... what even is that empire?" The visitor seemed unconcerned about her attitude and, in fact, provided the briefest possible answer. She gestured towards the object above Canterlot before addressing the Princess with a sickeningly sympathetic voice that resembled an instructional figure, like a teacher, with complete seriousness. The alien visitor seized the opportunity to sound sympathetic. "This ship over there is what we arrived on. We come from the stars." The ship itself was black as the night, resembling a dagger aimed at the heart of the country, at Celestia herself. Its edges were smooth, yet it bore the shape of a triangle with different layers, each with a distinct sinister purpose, but from Ponyville, it appeared small. One would have to squint to recognize the finer details, occasionally obscured by passing clouds. "I..." The Princess struggled to form words, her face a mix of shock, confusion, and mostly shock. Was she just dreaming?! What was even happening? Why? How? What?! "Twilight?" the purple dragon interjected, trying to snap her out of the vortex of confusion clouding her judgement. Judgement, her judgement, that immediately failed, and its failure made her crack for a moment. With her dark lids now clearly visible to all, she asked with wide eyes and a panicked tone, "What am I even supposed to say to this?!" Yet once more, Kahemot showed little interest in her personal issues and frankly had a quite bored expression. She took a short but near-deep breath and said with what came across as complete and utter neutrality, "I can keep it short, but I advise you to at least listen to me. As we speak, my... colleague is negotiating with Princess Celestia." Princess Celestia's name came up for the first time after this ship was spotted. Twilight immediately asked about her, clearly worried about her well-being. "What? Is she alright?" "Yes, but she won't be once she hears the demands of my colleague. The demands the Admiral will dictate will be very hard to accept, impossible even. I suggest we talk about it in detail inside." With her right hoof, she touched her forehead, reluctantly accepting her offer before ordering Spike around once again, "I... ugh, fine. Spike, get a parchment and a quill. I want you to write down everything she says." "And you're from space?" the alicorn reiterated with clear disbelief in her voice. All this information, having been said over the last few minutes, was too much to handle, even for an educated pony such as her. The bulk of the information given, in fact, went - much like a boring college lecture - into one ear and out the other. "Yes. We have been colonising other worlds for millennia, and now we've arrived on yours." "If there are so many out there, then why us? Couldn't you have chosen an uninhabited world?" Twilight pleaded, trying with rising desperation to convince this General otherwise. Why Equestria, especially just as it was slowly gaining the initiative in its deadliest war for millennia? "Forces higher than myself have decided to invade this planet for a number of reasons, including to protect the fragile ecosystem, research opportunities, and to end the wars being waged on this planet. However, we are willing to give nations that cooperate with us a chance at the future. This includes Equestria." The way she said this... It was as though this pale female was not speaking of a mere superior, like in a traditional military, but rather as if the 'higher force' was of supernatural - magical origins, perhaps. Maybe these people had been corrupted by a Sombra-like figure? Many questions and theories went through Twilight's head, but paramount among them was whether they were speaking truthfully. She may have revealed their genuine motives, but assuming they are true her words would not hold much importance or matter at all. How much can she trust these people and their words? The lack of knowledge could have made the pony shiver. The purple pony pleaded again, with desperation setting in once more, while Spike furiously continued to write down everything he could about what these visitors said. Spike, for his part, feared they were not willing to deal with Twilight's idealism, and he would be proven correct. "Please, think about this! We can share these crystals and technology!" "You may think you are right, but unfortunately, we have the force to back up every single one of our demands, and any of your deals would be less than we could extract ourselves. Millions of soldiers stand ready, and some have already landed." "You aren't even trying to negotiate…" "That's right. What my colleague is presenting to the Princess is an ultimatum." "B-But we just went through a massive war! You can't just expect Celestia to give up Equestria." "We don't. In short, we are demanding nothing more than for your army to surrender to our forces and a significant amount of land. We are no Chrysalis. Your people will be left in peace if they don't oppose us." "That's... horrible!" Twilight said loudly, petrified with shock. "Your Princess will refuse the demands, though. That is problematic for a number of reasons." "And what do you expect me to do? I am the Princess of Friendship, not of diplomacy!" "You were Princess Celestia's protégé for a long time. You two are very close, are you not? There are few people on this world who can convince her to accept the ultimatum." "But why would I? For all I know, you have come to claim land and resources from us. Give me a reason to even so much as think about supporting you." "I will show you what could potentially happen." "Hu-?" The Princess found herself in the central square of Ponyville. For a few seconds, it felt familiar... like home. Then the purple alicorn gazed upward, and instead of a sunny day greeting her, the sky was covered by grey-crimson smoke rising up from burning buildings and the occasional black fighter craft screaming ahead. She found herself in a twisted version of Ponyville. Alien figures with similar bodily proportions to the General, clad in armoured, skintight attire made of unknown materials, ran through the city shooting at the pony inhabitants, scaring them for their lives. Buildings were purposefully blown up and fired at with metallic rifles that shot out what seemed like the sun itself. The air was thick with soot and fine ash, irritating the Princess' throat, and all over the blood-soaked ground, next to once-beautiful estates, glass splinters lay. Twilight turned around to see Mrs. Cake lying on the ground, blood flowing from her eyes and rear hooves, battered and being pointed at with a gun. "No! Leave her alone!" she screamed out in horror, tears in her eyes, and fury in her voice. The soldier seemingly did not notice the Princess. Mrs Cake ran toward the masked gunwoman, but before she could even reach her, Mr Cake's wife was no more than a body that had lost all that once resembled a head. With a short but loud bang, the mare had lost her life. Twilight wasn't even able to react, to comprehend the horrors occurring in front of her, before Mr Cake too had a gaping hole in his torso. Twilight couldn't hold back her fury anymore as she unleashed a barrage of pure magic from her horn, overpowered by anger. But instead of avenging her death, she found herself back in the living room, having just shot a massive hole into the wall behind Kahemot. She had tears in her eyes, and Spike, seeing Twilight so shaken to the core, screamed at the General. "What did you do to her?!" he screamed, ready to burn the diplomat to a crisp in no time. "I showed her nothing but a reality in which negotiations broke down and our military was forced to take Equestria by force," Kahemot answered with indifference while heightening her head after the blast from Twilight blew a massive hole into the wall behind her, smouldering and smoking. "And now I will show her what we could achieve if peace is maintained." Twilight couldn't even react quickly enough, and now she found herself yet again in a different Ponyville. The alicorn hadn't even calmed down yet, wanted to even bring this diplomat to justice, but now she once more stood in the town's square. The sun was shining brightly, and the birds could be heard chirping. Ponies and... again, these humanoids, but this time not in full-body uniforms but rather regal outfits like dresses, pants, and the like, walking among ponies. As Twilight walked toward the empty main square, the pavilion was all but replaced by a round flat area with stairs leading up to it. A vessel of unknown materials landed on it. It was practically prompting her to come in. The Princess, having all but forgotten the horror from before, looked at it in awe. It was metallic and looked clearly alien, but it had practically been designed for ponies, with seats fitting their size and stature. Before she could decide what to do next, she walked onto an open-air platform that was in the middle of the vessel, with enough space for six passengers. Twilight knew this isn't what she chose and tried to resist, but yet she couldn't move and had to endure what this alien was forcing her to watch. She sat down, this time by her own choice, and as the craft took off and left behind some white steam on the ground, railings went up where she previously stepped on. The pastel-coloured inhabitants of the town turned into little more than silhouettes. The princess found herself 300 meters in the air. Unlike the aircraft of modern Equestria, it was quiet, emitting only an easy-to-ignore humming and was very comfortable too. She peeked over the railing down as a voice began to speak to her from a loudspeaker above the door to the cockpit. "Thank you to everyone who has entered the tour at this stop. Ponyville, which you can see below, is a small town of 10,000 inhabitants, mainly native ponies. While it may seem quaint to an outside observer, it has played a major role in the years before. It is home to some of the Elements of Harmony as well as the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, important symbols for Equestria." "In recent years, it has become a major hub for the Planetary High-Speed Rail Network. Designed by renowned infrastructure planners Polemet and Blue Tails, it has come to encompass every major city in the world." "Next Stop: Canterlot." "What?" Twilight uttered as she saw from far above long white lines on the ground, going all the way to Canterlot and over the horizon itself. The old train station had been replaced by a sleek, white contraption that formed a roof over both the rail line and the ticket area. The flight itself took a few minutes with the height increasing exponentially the closer they got to Canterlot, with the white towers of the castle taking up more and more space in front of the craft. At least 900 meters above the ground, one could practically touch the clouds. Twilight, both amazed and terrified, couldn't resist the temptation of sticking her hoof out and touching the fluffy white strands of water vapour. Droplets of water accumulated in her fur as they flew right through them and the villages, rivers, and creeks overshadowed by Canterlot's presence high on the mountain became obscured by layers of mist. As the near-magical flying vehicle approached the capital, it passed through a few more clouds and finally passed by the castle before flying around the city. Twilight finally knew what she was feeling. This flight felt... familiar. Just like that time she and her friends went on holiday via an airship. The clouds passing below her made her eyes almost go heavy from those nice memories from past years. Before more time could be spent on reminiscing, the voice spoke once more to the sole passenger. "Canterlot is the capital of Equestria and one of the most renowned cities on Faust. For centuries, it has been the centre of culture, commerce, politics, and faith. The most visible building is, of course, the Canterlot Palace, home to the Royal Sisters Celestia and Luna, as well as the seat of government for the Equestrian Diarchy. While its historical district has been preserved, inroads have been made into expanding the city both around the mountain as well as into the mountain. It is also home to many of the Empire's most famous stars and icons, such as the composer Octavia or the renowned clothing designer Rarity. Aside from the Castle, major sights include the Central Square, Mountainside Park, as well as the Tartarus Museum. An honourable mention is the Canterlot Space Port, formerly the Airship Harbor for the city, at which we will be landing shortly. For all passengers leaving here, we hope you've enjoyed your ride with Equestria Tours and hope to welcome you in the future once more." As the vessel now started to approach one of the docks once used for airships, Twilight was able to easily spot a short line of aliens waiting for the docking procedures to be complete. In the background, however, ponies - pegasi, earth ponies, thestrals, and unicorns - could be seen waiting for their spaceship to arrive so they could go to the stars. Then images flashed before the Alicorn's eyes. With wide eyes of wonder and amazement only a filly could have, she saw true beauty. Images flashed of a large and voluminous, luminous disk of a billion tiny multicoloured dots shining in all different colours. Some were a subdued red, others a bright luminous blue, and seemingly most a warm yellow. Clouds of brown to black gasses likewise swirled around the bulging brightly yellow centre, occasionally blocking the view as the angle of view changed. She knew this disk... yes, Twilight and every other being on the planet saw them every clear night. These were the long white strands of starlight spread across the night sky observed since time immemorial. And then an area of space within that disk was focused on - so many more stars - simply uncountable, and following that a star system was shown to her. A bright, yellow ball of fire lit up crescent shapes, and finally an amalgamation of three objects. She knew those objects! One, with towering crystal-clean skyscrapers reflecting the evening sun in a trillion different shades, endowed with dark-blue plant life searching for its equivalent in Equestria; the vast round lake lands of a tiny rock with the horizon marked by the glow of its parent's atmosphere; and finally, the churning and perplexingly clean cities and fortresses of a world built for war and war only, a guardian to the heart of Sylanian civilization, practically shrouded by the uncountable amount of ships all around it. This is what Twilight saw, and not for a single moment did she dare shift her attention away, consciously or not. And then the Princess of Friendship found herself in her room once more. She glanced at Spike, who was standing next to Kahemot with anger in his eyes, which, once he saw her back on her hooves again, turned into relief just before he turned back to the dignitary. "What did you do to her!? Explain yourself now!" demanded the dragon of middling stature once more, pointing his claws at the woman. "What did you do? It felt... so real. And..." the alicorn princess demanded with a frail voice, her right hoof trembling. "What did you see, Princess?" Kahemot asked with less indifference than usual, still threatened by the dragon next to her and the smoking hole in the wall behind her. "Ponyville... it was burning, and then... I was in a different Equestria. One of high technology and magical flying buses," the Princess stuttered. "A better Equestria. In both scenarios, you were shown things that could happen." "No, just different," Twilight muttered in disagreement, before turning to Spike and gesturing for him to stop threatening the alien, which he reluctantly obliged. Kahemot crossed her arms and spoke, "Now it should be self-evident why we would prefer your Princess to surrender. The Empire does not want to harm you, and I don't want you to witness lesser aspects of our race." "Your soldiers just looked too eager to burn, rape, and pillage their way through my town!" the Princess snapped, losing all her composure. She was distraught and enraged at the mere implication of her friends, whom she had known for years, being harmed in such a way. "What?!" asked Spike in disbelief. Unable to have this dignitary from a foreign, truly foreign state watch her well up, she put both her front hooves over her eyes, as if she needed to scratch them, and said, "Yes, Spike. I-I just don't understand. Why would you do such a thing? Who? Who would kill innocent people like that? You are no better than the Changelings!" "Those pictures disturbed you? I apologize," the dignitary stated with bored eyes and fake sympathy. Spike walked over to Twilight and comforted her as she wiped away her tears, like someone trying to clean up a floor speckled with shards of glass. But her hollow apology only further enraged the Princess. She quipped a short but vengeful, "Shut up." "Our goals are beyond your understanding, but to make it clearer to you, I will list some of the things Equestrian citizens will have access to." The diplomat ignored her outbursts, but Twilight didn't even listen at this point anymore, as she still had to reconcile her feelings with the inevitability of invasion. Spike spoke to her as the alien continued talking to a brick wall. Both the dragon and pony came closer to each other, and Twilight, tears running down her cheek and sobbing every other sentence, rehearsed the obvious. Was it a desperate plea for an idea? To earn sympathy she already had? The alicorn didn't even know what to think anymore. "Spike... I don't know what to do. We are at gunpoint here..." "Please, Twilight, don't. We don't even know their capabilities. Perhaps they are bluffing? M-Maybe they are just like the Storm King. We just need the others to-" "The others aren't here!" she screamed, "We are alone! On our own! No magic of friendship will solve this!" "Twi, I... I can't imagine how hard this is for you. Please let me understand what you are thinking." "It's the hardest thing I'll ever do. Please tell me there is a different way," it became increasingly obvious what way she intended to solve this issue. She was actually about to give in to their demands!? How could she even take their word for granted? But Spike remembered that he didn't see what she saw. All he knew from those precious few seconds was Twilight's rapidly changing facial expressions before breaking down with a whole host of emotions she didn't know how to deal with. The desperation in the Princess' eyes and the shaking of her hoof shook the dragon to his core, and even he was not able to formulate an answer. During all of this, the diplomat continued to list benefits that no one in the room but her cared for, "Free universal and highly sophisticated healthcare, immortality, the ability to travel the galaxy, economic equality, the right to self-rule within reserved territories, perpetual peace..." "Fuck you! Fuck you and all your Empire stands for! I couldn't care less about your world-travelling abilities or your Empress. Now shut up!" "I see this is getting emotional," the alien noted in a wry manner, rolling her eyes unsympathetically, before asking, "What is your decision?" "I... I wish I did." Spike lowered his head, having been able to blot out the diplomat. The dragon felt only disappointment, and Twilight could see, no, feel it. Her heart raced as much as his. Dismissing the diplomat and her inappropriate comment, Twilight took Spike's claws into her hooves, seeking approval and stumbling over her words, "No matter... No matter what, Spike, we'll always stick together, right?" Spike hesitated at first. After years of war, was this truly the right thing to do? Giving in to an alien power and trying to convince Celestia to surrender, to, some might say, even betray Equestria, ponykind, specieskind? Did it even matter? Perhaps? No. It couldn't. No. Ever since Twilight hatched all those years ago, he had been with her, and no amount of growth or alien ultimatums would change that, and so he looked her in the eyes, uttering, "Yes. Always." "I'll always be with you, Twilight," he further added, just before proceeding to hug her tightly with his purple-scaled arms and claws. It was a gesture the Princess of Friendship couldn't help but reciprocate. She did not even care at this moment about the diplomat probably thinking horseapples of her. And so, with the question still hanging in the tense morning air, Twilight turned to the pale and unimpressed Sylanian still sitting on the opposing couch. Her exterior seemed untouched by the quite unprofessional display as if she were silently judging them. Whatever she thought, nothing was dripping outside, like a properly insulated roof protecting a family from rain. She was like a book unreadable, an enigma unresearchable, and a door unopenable – a closed book in every sense of the word – entirely devoid of emotions. If she represented her entire race, then there was little hope for Equestria, but whatever they held in store, at this point, Twilight had seemingly made her peace with this inevitability. And then, with no more hesitation and in quiet resignation, she spoke, "I accept. I will try to convince Princess Celestia." "I will try to convince her. But..." Without showing a hint of pride as she admitted defeat, the pale humanoid flinched with her right eye for a moment before making a demand. "If I see even a single one of your soldiers harming Ponyville or as much as a single hair on my friends, I will ensure this will be your last meeting! I will raise Tartarus itself if necessary!" she threatened, her horn glowing purple and her eyes filled with hate. "Then we have a deal," the General uttered with subtle satisfaction. Twilight suppressed her surprise, taking mental notes instead. "Yes, don't relish it too much, though. The only reason I'm doing this for you, alien, is because I love my friends. You better not go back on your promises!" she angrily uttered once more. "We speak many languages, but a Sylanian never lies," the diplomat promised with an almost invisible but certainly genuine smile. "We'll see," Twilight mumbled dismissively. "So how will we get to Canterlot in time? And who will manage the letters?" Spike asked before Twilight looked at him with eyes like those of a little puppy or a griffon chick. Spike rolled his eyes and told her off, "Please don't give me that look!" "Spike..." The dragon rolled his eyes one more time and left the room, bidding her farewell. "Fine. I'll be here, looking over Ponyville. Oh and... please watch out for yourself." "You too. I love you, Spike." "You too," he concluded with a nod before leaving for Twilight's office. "Now, how do we get quickly to Canterlot?" Twilight asked herself aloud with a sigh between words. The Princess and the General left the Castle of Friendship for the cool outside, bathed in the crimson-orange morning light. The Sylanian then turned to the Princess, pointing stiffly with her hand at her wings, "You have wings, Princess. Would it not be possible for you to carry me?" "Forget it! Do I look like a pack mule?!" Twilight snapped at the sheer ridiculousness of the proposal before realizing she does have the physiology of a being made to carry weights. After a few awkward seconds of silence, she said, "Don't answer that. I'm flying, and you take whatever otherworldly craft you came here with!" And so she took off, the purple pony becoming smaller and smaller as she flew toward Canterlot, while the General added quite belatedly, "That was a joke."