It was a logistics problem. Whether for good or worse, we'd effectively subdued the threat of Tempest Shadow. That was a good start. No, the issues arose when you looked out the nearest window and saw the line of armored airships and the hundred, if not thousands, of potential enemies aboard them. An army, something that, at the moment, Equestria lacked. Olive branch and dove of peace and all that. Worse, it was my idea.
“Thorax,” Sabre said. He was out the door before anyone else even managed to stand. Except for Tempest and Bright, though the latter was hardly a fair metric.
"On it, on it," Thorax answered.
"Oh, tell Queen Chryssi I said hi," Bright said, following Sabre into the main hall. From there, the issue was all but obvious.
"It won't be enough. Tempest."
I turned to the mare. Who stood at full attention, eyes trained on my every move. "Thoughts? What was the plan after Nightmare's defeat?"
"Occupation and control," she answered.
I nod. "Yeah, we, I, I figured as much. Suggestions for de-escalation?"
"Stop building up?" Spade said. The groundskeeper had yet to bother standing. He lay wistfully in place. "Not a fight we can win conventionally. Heck, doubt we could win unconventionally either."
"True, but that has hardly stopped us before, yes?" Blue asked. He'd rested beside me. He offered a pat on the back before making his own way out of the room.
"Tempest, you must know the Yeti's weapons and tech inside out, right?"
"Irrelevant. The outstanding order for failure is scorched earth. Sabotage or subterfuge would only ensure both sides lose as much as possible."
My blood ran cold. Equestria couldn't handle a second loss of Canterlot. The loss of all our progress, every step forward, undone in a single collective blow. I would almost be impressed if I wasn't stuck between a heart attack and fantasizing about stomping the supposed King of Yeti's head in with my bare hooves.
"What of Discord? Certainly, he could end this before it ever began." Tempest asked. A single brow rose in consideration.
It was a fair concern. No, he wasn't a cheater. I shook my head. The issue was rather benign. He would never intentionally solve an absolute powder keg of chaos and confusion. He hadn't helped with Tirek either. The stupid magic leech had spent the last year of Nightmare's reign slowly accruing his power. By the time he'd made his power play, we were barely setting the groundwork for rebuilding.
"No, not really an option. We'll need something else."
Tempest's brow only rose higher. Meanwhile, Spade was snickering to himself. When Tempest turned her attention to him, he merely waved and continued lounging.
"We also lack the time or forethought to prepare any outside assistance. Though, I do wonder. Are we as outgunned as you claim?"
I jumped my wings wide. Sombra had managed to creep up behind me without so much as a word. He scoffed and turned to Tempest. "How exactly did you plan to best alicorns and/or alicorn adjacent beings such as myself and Chrysalis? Simply holding numbers would be reckless at best and suicidal at worst."
A spark, a single flicker in Tempest's eye. Then the phantom of a smile. "Ah, yes, well. We had a certain weapon prepared solely for such a purpose. A means to petrify and render inept. A weapon that is no longer a secret."
I glided over the two conspiring unicorns to Thorax. "You getting all this?" I asked. Thorax didn't answer. But he heard me, but more importantly, thanks to the Changeling hivemind. So did the royals across the castle.
"Even if we drive the king's forces away, it will only be a temporary victory. The Storm King is a very sore loser," Tempest said.
"A problem for later," Sabre said as he reentered the conference room. "If your king wants a war, then he'll get one. We don't have the position to dig in our heels. Too little time and resources for a battle of attrition."
"Agreed, Captain," Sombra said.
"Hey guys, you may want to see this?"
Bright sounded on the verge of ecstasy, which could mean one of two things. The first was none of my business; the second told me he'd found his next manuscript. No, it is not weird to know what those sound like.
So, we did exactly as requested. Lo and behold, Bright had the nearest window opened and was leaning so far out, if he were not a thestral, I'd be worried it was a cry for help.
"Look, look, look. Look, That's so not cool."
Blueblood stood to one side, mouth agape. Let it not be said that what followed was anything less than humbling. The yetis were, at that very moment, reboarding their ships. No ruckus, no demands; the only thing different from when the mountain dwellers arrived was. A pair of stones, statues, or some crystalline interpretations of statues.
"They're gone," Thorax yelled, leaning out the window and pointing to the statues.
"Who?" I asked.
"This isn't right. This is different from the plan. We need to get to the ships. Now.
Tempest was seething. Her mouth was drawn into a tight snarl. I stepped back without realizing it, bumping into Sabre as I went.
"They have the Princesses. Princess Luna and Celestia, they, they took them. They went and took them while we were here, My queen, and Sir Armor, are mobilizing the guard and hive."
Thorax's chest bobbed as he danced in place. My veins ran cold. The shadows swallowed my vision. They danced, laughed, and hissed, I shook my head, but the shadows stayed firm. "No, it is not funny. They don't deserve it."
“Sombra, Teleport,” Sabre said. I could barely hear him. My mind raced as I rewound the conversation in my head repeatedly.
"Already primed, Captain," Sombra said.
Then there was a bright flash. The shadows receded. The castle was left behind. The roar of the engines brought me back to reality. The yetis paid us no mind. Tempest had stormed forth before anyone could so much as gather their wits. Her voice drowned out everything.
"What is going on here? Who gave you orders to—"
Tempest was cut off by the raving approach of a creature I'd never seen before. A marsupial-like creature, eyes wide and yelling as best they could over Tempest's rage. They weren't doing an outstanding job.
"Tempest, oh great, there you are. You're late. I guess you didn't have a schedule, but we're moving. Let's go, hurry."
"Grubber, what is going on? Who gave the order to retreat?"
The punk rock groundhog flinched. He threw his arms up in surrender. "Whoa, I mean, it was, you know. Her," Grubber said, looking back over his shoulder. The yetis were nearly finished. If they were planning to leave, it was sooner rather than later.
Tempest growled, pushing past Grubber and marching to the boarding plank. "Explain this, now."
The yetis fell silent and still, eyes flicking between their now ex-commander and the darkness that led deeper into the bowels of the airship. The silence persists for a minute, the only sound the hum of the ship's engine. Then the rhythmic clank of hoof on metal.
"Tempest, you don't need to yell, you know. I was thinking you'd get left behind. Wouldn't that be a shame?"
Smiling down from the ship's entrance was a second pony. I was beginning to wonder if the Storm King found a clearance sale for ponies with a chip on their shoulder. The first word that popped into my mind was purple, light purple coat, purple eyes, purple, and mint mane. So, less chip on the shoulder and more of a fixation on purple. Orm maybe purple ponies were more prone to fits of object insanity or stupidity? No, I don't think you needed more purple.
"Starlight. What did you do?" Tempest asked. Her horn flickered, then shone. For a first use of a new horn, the flare-up was enough to dazzle the surrounding yetis.
"Oh wow, your horn. That's quite the glow-up. While you were playing politics. I decided it was best we simply take what we needed and be done with it. You're welcome, by the way," Starlight said, smiling down at Tempest.
"Return the princesses, now!"
Sabre had matched Tempest inch for inch, and rapier held aloft, he glowered up at the Storm King's second unicorn enforcer. Starlight rolled her eyes and shooed Sabre away.
"I'm afraid that will not be happening. Now, I have things to do, magic to siphon. A mare's job is never done.
"Not going to happen. Release them, now."
Starlight frowned, and the sum who of every yeti within sight cowered back. Even Tempest took a step back. Horn pointed forward. Grubber took to hiding behind her with fervor.
"Such a waste."
A flick of her head, a brief magic ripple, and then. An orb, semitranslucent, with a crystal in its center. It hovered for only a second before snapping forward right at Sabre.
My vision contorted. All I could see was Sabre, the Orb, and Starlight Glimmer. I could feel my breathing stop. My mind raced, then the shadows surged forth. Past my vision, out forward like tendrils snaking through the air.
Sabre didn't have time to react. The orb was too fast, too close. The shadows bore no such distinction. Starlight had already turned away. The packing was done. The yetis were doing final boarding. Tempest was yelling, not that I could hear her.
Then, it all came crashing down. The boarding pank retracted. Starlight had already retreated into her ship. Sabre had swung his weapon too late. However, the orb had stopped. Held free mere inches from Sabre's face. It hissed, then dark rock pierced free of the sphere that held it. The spell, or enchantment, whichever, had nowhere to go. Held still by a tendril of shadows, no, my darkness. They writhed, rising up from Sabre's own cast shadow. The airships had begun to take off. But, no one paid them any mind. Every eye was cast on the orb and what held it.
"Star," Thorax said, his voice barely a whisper.
"What have you done?" Sombra spoke from behind me.
Sabre had pulled his attention from the orb and what held it and now looked back towards me. I took a shaky breath. I couldn't meet his gaze. I shook in place. My mind raced.
"I, I don't know. I just, I don't know."
"Oh, I think we both know what happened."
My vision swam once more, and darkness pulled me into the void.
I hadn't felt the call like I had back when Luna and Discord had spoken to me in my dreams. This was different. It was colder. My chest throbbed. Phantom pains followed my revival. Discord could heal me, could put me back together. But he couldn't erase the feeling; he couldn't erase what it felt like to die.
None of that mattered, not really. This wasn't about that, not really. No, I was here for a reason. The same way I'd spent most nights since Equestria was freed. I stared into the void, and it stared back.
"You seem displeased. Did you want the traitor to be consumed by that orb's curse? I could always release it. Is that what you want?"
I bit my lip hard enough to bleed. If one could bleed in the mental prison of one's own mind. Chains rattled as the prisoner walked forward. Even here, she was taller than me. Her bright cyan eyes looked down at me. No hatred or anger, no sorrow or contempt. No, those eyes betrayed nothing. There was only pity and twisted mirth.
"Nightmare. What did you do? How?" I screamed.
Nightmare huffed and flicked her mane back. Her toothy grin, however, grew ever so slightly. "Is what I did not prevalent. Little usurper? In my infinite generosity, I spent what little power I have—" She hissed. Fangs bared. "—trapped here in my prison, saving your friend."
"How?"
My legs buckled, and I fell on my plot. I wiped a hood from muzzle to forehead and let myself deflate. Nightmare Moon, shackled chains around her neck, horn, all four hooves, and wings bound. Laughed.
"Did you really believe a mere thestral could repress all of my power? The power of a god? I may be a prisoner, but so are you, little pony."
I closed my eyes, and when I opened them once more. I was once more in the realm of the living. Lying on my back, with half a dozen ponies and one groundhog standing over me.
"Oh great, we're back to this," I said.
Sombra pushed the others away and towered over me. "I do believe you have some explaining to do."
I sat up and grunted.
"Maybe we should return to the castle. The Queen and Princess Cadance are still waiting," Thorax said.
"Agreed, today has been quite the ordeal," Blue said.
"I have a feeling it won't be the last," I said. The sound of Nightmare's laugh still rang in my ears.
"Also, yes," Bright agreed.
Just another day in Equestria.