“These battles have ramped up quickly,” Shining Armor said. “I didn’t realize that they had so many soldiers under their command... much less enough to actually launch another offensive so soon after their defeat. I guess they were just testing our battle lines.”
“But you have relocated the ballistae, right?” Harvey asked.
“They were the first things we had to move.” He levitated a few battle reports in front of him, switching his gaze from the correspondence and the map in front of him. “We took several casualties... small numbers, but still worrying. We routed their first attack only through the bravery of the 7th Pegasi Cavalry. Without them, the griffons might have blindsided our retreating forces.”
“I see...” Harvey took a long drink from his mug, filled with a brand of apple-based beverage that he’d become partial to during his stay. “The battle lines have shifted. Will there be a counterattack?”
“To show that we still have our strength? Most likely.” Shining’s brow furrowed in thought. “But I don’t want to make it a habit. We’re still rolling on having the Ghosts take out the generals as quickly as possible. The results from Carseract are very promising.”
A Night Guard stepped forth with another stack of sorted intelligence reports, but unlike the many times before, he made special care to actually levitate a pair towards them. The new reports were unlike their standard fare, instead decorated with red and gold flair on the parchment.
“Well, what’s this, then...?” Harvey said, taking one of the letters. Attached to it was a small note, written in a familiar handwriting which he read out loud. “Important information within. Not sure what it means, but both letters were written by generals. Could have something to do with our benefactors. Pastor.” He shared a raised eyebrow with Shining, who took the other letter with a flare of magic.
“This letter is...” Shining blinked, his eyes slowly following the contents of the letter. “The Eclipse Project? That sounds worrying... it says here that Strongbeak is trying to push for the project’s completion as soon as possible... and he’s using this war to buy himself time!”
“Time for what, though? What does this project do?”
“I... don’t know, really.” He checked the back of the page, only to find nothing else there. “Eclipse... eclipse...” he muttered. “He said something about your benefactors... could this project have something to do with the Princesses?”
“Very possibly. If our great rulers of immense and all-encompassing cosmic power are truly what they claim to be—no offense intended, just a little bit hard for me to wrap my head around still—then it would make sense that they’d have a plan for them specifically.”
“Yeah, but what are they planning to do? We had a... um, attack some time ago during my wedding, and it was during that time that Princess Celestia was overwhelmed. But this time, we’re fighting a more direct enemy, and our defenses are substantial. What could they possibly do?”
“Something, apparently, otherwise this ‘project’ wouldn’t even exist.” Harvey looked around the room, tapping his chin in thought. “Well, aside from the griffons’ obvious advantage in numbers, what are they capable of doing? I’m not entirely well-versed on matters of military affairs when they start involving things like magic and literal flying cavalry.”
“Magic,” Shining replied, grabbing a spare paper at the edge of the table and jotting down several notes on it. “There has to be magic involved. We’ve had fairly forward relations in the past, and they know straight up that they can’t fight the Princesses in battle. So they’ll have to find some way to interfere with their abilities somehow.”
“Do the griffons even use magic?” Harvey asked. “They seem to be more conventional counterparts to ponies.”
“Oh, they do use magic, just not as much as they have in the past. From what I know, they only have a small institution dedicated to the study of magic. With Strongbeak in charge, he might have them looking for ways to take down the Princesses.”
“Through what? Doomsday spells? Siphoning away their power? Crack the world in half?”
Shining shook his head. “That’s the tricky part... there’s a lot of ways magic could be used to fight against an alicorn. This Eclipse Project may as well have every single probable method in existence, and we’ll have to find some way to account for all of them.”
An echoed clunk from the staircase near them reached their ears, and before long, a member of the Night Guard entered, quickly trotting over to Shining and whispering something in his ear. The opliptera merely stood back afterwards, standing statue-still at attention as Shining sighed.
“Something wrong?” Harvey asked.
“Problems with moving the refugees. We’re doing too many things all at once, and it’s causing a backlog of problems that just keeps building up. The most recent of which seems to be a confusion in shipments between clothing and food, and that in itself causing an entire road to shut down because they realized that their whole line of cargo was going in the wrong direction.”
“Logistics problems, hmm?” Harvey said, shrugging. “Hopefully they’re getting sorted out in quick order.”
“They have, but the whole refugee group was forced to settle down where they were, and they can’t move out again until tomorrow.” He observed the number of blue-flagged markers dotting the southern part of the Equestrian map. “A lot of the settlements have only begun evacuating.” He looked at the Night Guard. “Notify Captain Edge of what’s happened. He’ll have this mess sorted out within the next half-day, hopefully.”
“Yes, sir!” The Night Guard gave a quick salute and marched back up the stairs, leaving the sound of whistling air as the sole ambiance.
“Ponyfeathers. Doctor, do you mind reporting this to the Princesses?” Shining asked. “I know how they like to keep themselves notified with these things, and the other officers are too busy dealing with their own issues to do it. Edge will probably jump on this as soon as possible, since he’s one of the Captains in charge of logistics, and he’s not half-bad at it, either.”
“Certainly. We can discuss this project business later, I guess.” Harvey stood, giving a courtesy bow before making for the staircase, only to stop in his steps once he realized he forgot something. “Oh, and Captain?”
“Yes?” Shining raised an eyebrow.
“About the weapons demonstration you wanted me to present to the Princesses... when will that be? I still haven’t replicated the bow yet.”
Shining hummed. “As soon as you can, but if I had to pick a day, it’d probably be sometime within the next week or two. There’s no pressure on you since we have plenty of other things to focus on. But that’s assuming you know how to use them... which you do, right?”
“I did have a rudimentary crash course in the proper etiquette of firing a bow from Corporal Raymond. I can only hope that it’s enough to properly demonstrate the capabilities of the weapon...”
“I’m sure you won’t fail to impress, doctor,” Shining said, nodding.
“Thanks, but we’re talking about an old man that’s laughably inexperienced with a blunt knife at best. I’m not holding my breath; perhaps we’ll see if my eyes aren’t as bad as I think they are,” he said, chuckling as he tapped the frames of his glasses. “Until tomorrow night! Farewell.”
“Now, as you can see here and here, Your Majesty, the griffons have begun their attacks to push our scouting operations back towards our territories,” a unicorn officer said, pointing at the sides of the pass they’d held when the griffons launched their assault. “We’ve pulled back since then, but we’re still holding the line.”
“And casualties?” Celestia asked calmly, but fearing the worst. Deaths were an inevitability in war, but it pained her to see her subjects thrown into such a morbid affair.
“Minor, Your Majesty. Several wounded, but otherwise only a few deaths. The 7th Pegasus Cavalry came to the aid of our retreating forces and held off the enemy in combat until the retreat had been completed and lines reestablished.” came the reply, and she let out a hushed sigh. Not as bad as she had feared.
“I am... relieved to hear of the outcome,” she simply said.
The officer gave an unbecoming snort. “With all due respect, Princess, our forces did give them a run for their money. Hay, it wasn’t until they managed to amass such large numbers that they finally managed to break through our defenses. No tactics, no strategy, just throwing all of their forces at us, with those damned wagons leading the charge. We’ll know what to expect next time.”
“Then see to it that you are prepared,” she said. “Is that all for the day?”
“Everything of note, ma’am. Until they attack again, anyway.”
“Very well. Then this meeting is finished.” The officers in the room saluted and then marched in single-file, faces never wavering until they saw Princess Luna standing outside, in which they all simultaneously gave a respectful nod.
“Sister...” Luna said, entering the meeting chamber. “I overheard. So have we encountered our first retreat?”
“Indeed. Though the results are much better than expected, especially considering the... numbers and ferocity with which the griffons fight.”
“Surely it must be the result of Strongbeak. It seems he is a very capable leader.”
Celestia looked down at the map, eyes drifting over the curvy font that labeled the griffon capital. “Perhaps. I did not meet Strongbeak in person during Emperor Arcus’ reign, but it seemed that he held great influence on affairs concerning the military. And considering the situation, definitely more than he led on.”
Luna sighed. “We certainly could not have predicted this happening...”
“But we shall see it through to the end, no matter how grim. Let us hope that our friends within the Griffon Empire are doing well on their mission.” She smiled. “So far, it seems they are faring perfectly fine.”
“So I’ve heard.” They turned to see where the voice had come from, only to see Harvey standing in the doorway. “Hello, Your Majesties.”
“Ah. Doctor Harvey. What brings you to the meeting chamber today? Or does it have something to do with your anticipated bow demonstration that we have arranged later on?” she asked, levitating a platter with a teacup before her and taking a dainty sip.
Harvey shook his head. “Nothing of the sort, Your Majesties, but I believe we should probably talk in private for this.”
“Very well,” Luna said, doors shutting as they glowed with deep blue magic, metal clicking as they locked themselves. “Fear not, I have already taken special care to ensure that unwanted guests cannot eavesdrop on us. One of the benefits of magic.”
Harvey chuckled. “So it would seem,” he said, looking over his shoulder at the door. “A lot of people would kill to have ensured privacy like that...”
“So,” Luna said, ignoring his comment, “what did you wish to speak with us about?”
“Ah, right.” He sat down in the empty chair at the head of the table, a luxurious armchair with red cloth hanging off the sides and comfortable for his frame. “We received a concerning report today, directly from the Ghosts shortly after they’d taken down General Highcloud.”
“Oh, so they’ve already neutralized him?” Luna said, amused. “Certainly quick work on their part. Yet they still launched their assault... the death must have been kept a secret.”
“That’s... actually very much correct,” Harvey said, pulling out his small shred of paper lined with notes. “Yeah, from the report. How did you guess?”
“I have a lot of experience with such things,” Luna said proudly. “Well, after all, did you not learn of this inside a facility that I constructed?”
Harvey’s mouth curved into a realizing frown, then he nodded. “Oh, right... in any case, there’s been a new series of developments that may be cause to believe that your lives are in danger.”
“Oh?” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“There’s an ongoing effort into research for something called the Eclipse Project happening within the Griffon Empire’s magical institution... and Captain Shining believes it may have something to do directly with you two, given the name.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Luna said quickly. “We are not easy to take down, and even the kind of magic that can is immensely powerful.” She paused for a moment, collecting her nerves. “And outlawed. This was agreed upon by both us and the griffons. That is... right, sister?”
“You’re right, Luna. This was agreed upon by both sides, but we cannot overlook the possibility that they may have simply decided to ignore the treaty. Arcus told me that his magical studies were highly constricted and only focused on beneficial magic... or so it went. Strongbeak had been planning his coup for decades...”
“...and so he may have spent that time researching options for this Eclipse Project,” Luna finished. “This is... worrying. Doctor, has there been any other mention about this project? Locations, name, research... anything?”
“I’m afraid not, Princess,” he said. “It was a short letter from Strongbeak to Highcloud, and the response from Highcloud wasn’t any more telling. The only thing that we did get out of it was that Strongbeak wanted to push the agenda for this project forward, and soon; something that Highcloud seemed to object to. Everything else, no idea.”
“So it’s obvious they want us out of the way...” Celestia pondered out loud. What could they do? Such means required such great immense magic, and griffons were certainly no unicorns of any sort. Did they have defectors or prisoners working for them? That would make sense why they would use the diamond dogs to kidnap ponies.
But that would have gotten nowhere if their own research efforts did not get somewhere. They had to begin somewhere, had something to work on. But what? Every known magical artifact in existence that held the potential of stopping an alicorn was locked away in the Vault of the Elements.
“...the crown,” she muttered.
“Pardon?” Luna asked.
“The crown. You were not there for it, Luna, since you were... banished... during that time.” Celestia cleared her throat, dropping the subject before Luna inquired further. “There was a time, during Arcus’ crowning ceremony, where I presented an enchanted crown to him. It was meant to be an act of goodwill, and has no practical applications besides merely allowing its wearer to bear fatigue better than normal.”
“And you believe this artifact is now the key to our downfall?” Luna gave an exasperated sigh. “It is a wonder why no greater calamities had befallen you without my expertise in the safeguarding and security in my absence.”
“Is it not like you said, sister? ‘We certainly could not have predicted this happening...’?” Celestia retorted. “Arcus was never one for betrayal, but I admit that I did not take into account his subordinates... I had always assumed that he would have kept them in line. At least Quillfeather managed to warn us.”
“At the cost of his own life,” Luna added. “So this artifact now contains traces of alicorn magic which may or may not be reverse-engineered to bring about our own downfall. Well, there’s clearly only one way in which it can work now: siphoning.”
“Can we counter it?” Harvey asked.
“So long as they do not manage to get within close proximity to us, there is no problem, doctor,” Celestia said. “Magic siphoning requires a spell, or nowadays a device, to siphon magic out of a pony, and a vessel in which to contain it. It’s a very dangerous process that usually requires that you have an object with traces of the intended target’s magic within, otherwise it will never work as it cannot simply grasp magic from the air.”
“And even then, there is no vessel known to any creature of this world that has the ability to hold a magnitude of magic comparable to an alicorn’s,” Luna stated. “At best, they could only hope to weaken us, but our powers would still be immense.”
“So it was outlawed to protect your subjects?” Harvey asked, finding an unused quill and putting it to fresh ink for his new notes.
“Yes,” Celestia replied, looking out the window at the flying squadrons of training guards. “Ponies of all types have magic inherent to their kind. The act of siphoning is an ancient process, and I have seen fit that it has not become common knowledge in this day and age.”
“But the griffons seem know about it. Why?”
“They relied much more on using objects as a focus for magical use, once upon a time.” She still had faint memories of the first griffon ambassadors approaching her and requesting if there was somehow a way to help bring magic to their people. “But that gave way when they found other fields of progress better suited to their talents in engineering and metalworking.”
“But they have kept their magical academia intact.” Luna sighed. “Many things have happened in my absence... and with that crown, they have access to raw alicorn magic. A link to both her, and I.”
“What the heck can they even do with it? Try to turn your magic into some massive bomb?” Harvey asked. “I’m not an expert on the uses of magic, especially not one such as powerful as yours, but unless they’re going to walk up here and try to get it themselves, they won’t be able to do anything.”
“They can’t do much with it, not without a focus. Alicorn magic—or rather magic in any case—in its most raw state, like the essence drawn from an enchantment, is highly unstable, and any attempt to weaponize it would most likely backfire when they try to force it into a vessel for delivery,” Luna said. “Most likely the reason why they have done nothing with the crown so far.”
“Which is what makes it all the more concerning,” Celestia said. “Clearly, Strongbeak wants to see this project succeed, and his entire council is in on it. As far as everything else goes concerning its use, however, I am afraid I cannot offer any more on the subject. Your guess is as good as ours at this point.”
“Right... well... I think I better get back to Captain Shining about this as soon as possible.”
“Our gatherings still stand, I hope?” Luna asked.
Harvey nodded. “Yes, of course. Though it’s not entirely too complicated when it comes to geography... this landmass is much smaller than I thought it would be.”
“And the demonstration will be on-time next week. I would like you to devise a new blueprint for a refined crossbow, if that’s possible,” Celestia said, standing up and letting her mane once again flow freely.
“Oh...” Harvey paused for a moment, the imaginary gears in his head turning. “I’m sure I’ll think of something. Until then, good day to you both.” He bowed and walked up to the door, nearly jumping back as Luna opened it for him. “Heh... thank you.”
“Well...” Luna said, as soon as he had escaped earshot. “Do you still intend to bring your visitor along?”
“Hmm?” Celestia gave a look of confusion, before smiling. “Oh, yes, of course! Twilight has expressed her wish to visit her brother, and, well, I must oblige, shouldn’t I? She’ll be visiting next week with all her friends, a couple of days after the weapons demonstration.”
“...will you introduce her to Doctor Harvey? Will they stay here in the castle?”
“Her stay here is not needed. She is young, and these issues are a bit... unsuited for the talents of all of them. Ponyville will be fine. As for introductions... well, perhaps I should caution the doctor to stay inside for those days. If Twilight finds him, she’ll never stop asking questions...”