//------------------------------//
// Stars and Spies 
// Story: Celestia's Eternal Empire 
// by Distaff Pope 
//------------------------------//

	Equestria still stood. It had never been more infuriated. The Chaos God, the Dark King, the Changing Queen, and the Princess of Night had all failed it. Weapons it had spent millennia forging had all been undone in the span of three years by a variable it had not expected, the Elements of Harmony. The Windingos were still active, but had been driven to hiding in the coldest peaks. The only creatures that were still in its thrall were simple animals, beings of instinct, only suitable for diversions and minor feints, not at all suitable for unmaking Equestria.
It focused its attentions on the mares who had been responsible for thwarting its ploys. It had tried undoing them before, and while they had each listened to its whispers of madness for a time, they had been redeemed by the others. Together they were invulnerable, but alone they could be neutralized. The key, it thought, would be to separate them and pick off the ones that were the most vulnerable. The Chaos God had had the right idea but had been undone by a combination of over-confidence and the Princess of the Sun’s scheming. However, the plan itself was still salvageable, it just needed to make a few alterations. It pulled the metal from the stars, molded it to its designs, and sent it hurtling towards Equestria. If it had lips it would have smiled.
***
“Come on girls, if we don’t hurry we will miss the meteor shower… again,” Twilight Sparkle looked back at her friends as they hiked up the mountain, “By now Rainbow Dash has probably fallen asleep waiting for us.”
“Sorry Sugarcube, but we are climbing up a mountain at night to watch a meteor shower that is visible from anywhere in Equestria. Although, at least this time I don’t have to pull Fluttershy along,” at that she gave an appreciative nod to the pegasus fluttering beside her. “We don’t want to miss the show any more than anypony else, but we would prefer to get there without breakin’ a leg.”
“I know,” Twilight Sparkle said, “And you are all so great for coming with me, I have always wanted to see the shower from the highest point in Equestria, the view is supposed to be spectacular. Still, next year we can see it with everypony else in Ponyville.”
“I am mighty appreciative o’ that, now let’s get movin. I know how much Rainbow Dash hates havin’ to wait.”
The five ponies continued their trek up the mountain, thanking Celestia that the climb was significantly easier than the last time they had scaled the mountain. An hour later they were at the summit as the first meteor streaked across the sky.

Princess Celestia was worried. She reflected upon how hectic the last few years had been, with the return of Nightmare Moon, Discord, King Sombra, and an attack by Queen Chrysalis. After a thousand years of harmony, Equestria had faced four of its deadliest foes in the span of three years. The last time things had been that deadly was a millennium ago and before that was… two thousand years ago, with another cycle occurring a thousand years before that.. A thought entered her mind that the time span was no coincidence and that perhaps, as unlikely as it seemed, some mysterious prime mover might be behind all of Equestria’s woes. She would mention the idea to Luna as soon her sister finished her shift. For now, Celestia enjoyed being able to watch her sister’s lovely meteor shower and take in the peace and quiet.

“You know, while I didn’t particularly enjoy the trek up the mountain, I will admit that the view from up here is simply marvelous. A shame my Spikey Wikey couldn’t make it,” Rarity frowned as she spoke the last few words, missing her dragon admirer.
“You know as well as I do that Spike would probably fall asleep halfway up the mountain,” Twlight responded, “Besides, I think he is planning something.”
“Oh?” Rarity asked as another star streaked across the sky, “What makes you say that?”
“He has been busy the last few days, writing down notes and running off on errands… Is someone’s birthday coming up soon?” Twilight asked.
“Nope!” Pinkie Pie responded, the pink pony had bounced up from where she had been laying down as soon as the question was asked, her brain running through a list of everypony in town and checking whose birthday was when, “Wait! Cherrilee has a birthday in three… no two days! Oh my gosh! Do you think Spike likes Cherrilee?”
Twilight laughed at that, “I don’t think Spike has eyes for anypony besides Rarity!”
Pinkie stopped bouncing at that and turned to face Twilight, her eyes filled with fire, “You Pinkie promised Twilight! You said you wouldn’t tell anypony and now you went and told Rarity! How can Spike ever trust you again?”
Somehow Pinkie managed to go from bubbly to frightening in less than a second, and the entire mountain shook as she spoke. Twilight Sparkle made a mental note to investigate how she could make her voice reverberate like that just as soon as she placated her friend, “It’s alright Pinkie, Rarity already knows. Right Rarity?” Twilight turned to face the other unicorn, her eyes pleading with her to say something before Pinkie Pie murdered her.
“Oh absolutely darling, I have known for a while, honestly a pony would have to be deaf, blind, and dumb not to know,” Rarity preened her mane as she spoke, her eyes still glued to the stars falling above them.
“Well okey dokey lokey then! If that is the case then I guess it isn’t much of a secret anymore” the pink pony went back to bouncing around her friends as they enjoyed the shower, “Ooh! Are you two dating now? Are you going to get married! I can throw your bachelorette party! And your wedding party! And… Ohmygosh I can throw your baby shower! What do dragon unicorn babies look like anyways?”
The unicorn cut her friend off before she could go any further into one of her rants, “No Pinkie we aren’t dating, while Spike is sweet, he is still half my age, and a dragon, and of course we can’t forget that he will be in the prime of youth when I am an old decrepit mare. Still, a lady could do worse than having Spike as an admirer. After all, I would much rather spend a lifetime with him then spend thirty seconds in the company of a unicorn like Prince Blueblood.”
The second Rarity referenced the Grand Galloping Gala, everypony burst out in laughter and they were soon rolling on the ground laughing hysterically as tears ran down their eyes.
“…the look on those ponies faces…”
“…and Pinkie is on stage singing the Pony…”
“…Fluttershy caused a stampede…”
“…knocked over every statue in the…”
“…Rarity is just laying into Prince…”
“…and then it was the…”
“THE BEST NIGHT EVER!” they all said together before going back to laughing. A few minutes later their laughter subsided and they were able to catch their breath.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Fluttershy that loud, not even when she was all…” Applejack stopped speaking as she recalled the brief time Discord ruled Equestria, although it might be inaccurate to call his brand of trickery ‘ruling’.
“Uhmm… excuse me, I hate to interrupt, but that meteor over there looks really big. It is pretty,” Fluttershy seemed not to notice the pause in her friend’s speech as she drew attention to the one meteor that had caught her eye.
“You are right about that Sugarcube, in fact it seems to be flyin’ lower than the rest of ‘em too!” Applejack added.
“In fact, I think it...” Twilight stopped to do a few calculations in her head, noting the object’s apparent velocity and angle of descent, “It is heading right for us! Run!”
The six ponies quickly ran towards the nearest shelter they could find, which happened to be a cave big enough to house a dragon and took cover as the meteor hit where they had been laying down just a few seconds earlier. A short while later, Twilight cautiously approached the crater, eager to examine a space rock up close, and as she drew near she noted that no smoke or heat emanated from the crash site. When she did reach the crater she looked down and saw that the rock that fell from the sky was most definitely not a rock.
What looked to be a miniature silver cannon sat in the center of the crater with a grip that allowed it to be operated by mouth. Twilight used her levitation spell to draw the item closer to her and noted the soft green glowing lights protruding from the barrel. Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared by her side, bouncy as ever, “Ooh! Ooh! That looks like a gun from that show with the humans.”
Twilight rolled her eyes, “Pinkie I can’t believe you watch a show that is aimed at little foals… still, you have a point, it does seem to resemble the guns on that show, although this one that can be used by ponies,” as she finished speaking she idly levitated the gun to face a nearby mountain and pulled the trigger to test its abilities. A bolt of green flame shot out from the barrel. A second later the top of the mountain vanished.

Princess Celestia waited for her sister to return to her room, pacing as worries filled her head. What if there was some greater threat that used gods and kings as its proxies? What would it take to defeat such a being? How could she possibly defend Equestria from a thing so powerful? Had it been responsible for Luna’s corruption? The questions had eaten at her all night and made sleeping next impossible. She had to know, and if her fears were confirmed she would have to take steps to protect Equestria.
Finally as the moon went down and Celestia prepared to raise the sun, Luna entered her room, “Tia! What has you up so early? I would ask if you had a bad dream, but then if you did I would know,” the alicorn smiled as she looked at her sister, but the smile quickly disappeared. “No, something worse then. Something that I am guessing kept you up all night. What is it?”
Celestia sat down to rest, deciding that she had been on her hooves enough during the past few hours, “I need to know more about what prompted your transformation into Nightmare Moon. I need to know what caused your fall. I know we already talked about the generalities, but I need to know every last detail. The fate of Equestria might depend upon it.”
Luna’s frown deepened as she heard her sister’s request and her mind turned towards a subject she had hoped to never revisit again. “It… I spent years protecting the dreams of ponies, keeping their nightmares at bay, but despite all that they never loved me like they loved you. The dark scared them, the night I had so lovingly crafted fueled their nightmares. Then after a while I started to become a part of their nightmares, to them I was your dark mysterious sister who was in charge of all things spooky. They thought I was your dark enforcer who did the nasty things you couldn’t. You can see the irony in that I hope.”
Celestia nodded.
“Well, After a while it started to get to me, I just wanted to be loved like you were, and I thought that maybe if they could see the night like I saw it, they might learn not to fear me. Instead they thought I was taking over, and soon enough I guess I was.”
Celestia thought, considering her sister’s words carefully before responding, “So that was it then, no evil voice encouraging you to take up the mantle of Nightmare Moon?”
“No Tia, I am sorry to say that nopony is responsible for me becoming Nightmare Moon besides me… although now that you mention it… It is probably nothing but whenever I thought about talking to you or thought that my fears were unfounded, a thought entered my mind that confirmed my fears or convinced me that you wouldn’t listen to me. They were probably my own though,” Luna said.
“Hmm, well that might be something, but it isn’t much of a lead,” Celestia said, standing up and preparing to leave Luna’s chamber’s, “Good morning sister, and I am sorry to have bothered you.”
“Wait,” Luna said, moving to block her sister’s exit, “I thought you were just coming here to find someone else to blame for my fall, but now I think you were looking for something more particular.”
Celestia permitted herself to smile, “As always sister, you see right through me. I was thinking tonight about how strange it was that in a thousand years ago you became Nightmare Moon, Discord moved from performing harmless pranks to dragging Equestria into a new dark age, and a tyrant took over the Crystal Kingdom. Now, after a thousand years of peace, all three enemies return in the span of a couple of years. It feels like there is a pattern and I need to know what it is.”
Luna thought on this, noting Celestia’s words and considering her argument, “You might be right, maybe something else did drive my transformation into Nightmare Moon, but we can’t make any conclusions yet. We need more points of data. We need to talk to the others.”
“Talk to who?” Celestia asked, “Sombra is dead and… Oh no. You are not suggesting… oh no.”
“Oh yes, Tia,” Luna said, stepping out of the way and allowing her sister to pass, “I am not saying it is a particularly good idea and, in fact, it might even be one of the worst ideas I have ever thought of, but if you want to know more you will have to talk with Discord.”
Celestia sighed and headed towards her room, “Perhaps, I have been meaning to see about his reformation for some time, and I think the Bearers of Harmony can handle it. Could you handle the royal duties for today? I need to get some rest and see about releasing Discord.”
Luna smiled as her sister left, “I would be happy Tia, and please, get some sleep.”
“Oh,” Celestia said as she left Luna’s chambers, “I will announce to our subjects that the nights will be longer during the winter months so ponies can appreciate your lovely work. I don’t want you to ever feel unloved or unappreciated again.”
“Thank you, Tia.”

Rainbow Dash came flying out of the cave, with Applejack galloping a few feet behind her. “Whoa! What in Equestria was that noise?” the rainbow-colored pony asked.
Twilight floated the gun towards her friends, careful not to point it at any of them, “It was this thing, Pinkie said it looked like a gun.”
“From that filly’s show with the humans?” Applejack asked, approaching the gun hesitantly.
“Yeah…” Twilight Sparkle said, “From that filly’s show. Still, it does resemble one, although I think this one is slightly more powerful than the one in the show.”
“What makes you say that Sugarcube?”
In answer Twilight pointed towards where the top of a far off mountain used to be, “I was just trying to test it out and see what it did, I didn’t think it could blow up a mountain.”
“Wait a second! That gun can blow up mountains?” Rainbow Dash asked, “I want to try next… Ooh! Can I shoot it at the moon? It would be all like ‘Pew pew pew’ and ‘Ka-splam!’” 
The mare’s continued to re-enact what she thought blowing up the moon might sound like until Twilight cut her off, “No. I don’t think the princesses would approve of us blowing up the moon. Besides, who knows what the repercussions to blowing up the moon might be?”
“Well you didn’t know what the repercussions of blowing up a mountain would be but that didn’t stop you did it?” Rainbow Dash replied.
“That is different,” Twilight said, carefully levitating the gun into her saddlebag, “I didn’t know that the gun was capable of blowing up half a mountain, if I did I wouldn’t have pulled the trigger.”
“I guess you have a point, but how awesome is it that you found a gun that can blow up mountains? That is like… almost as cool as me.”
“I for one don’ think it’s very smart keeping a weapon that powerful around,” Applejack said, “I mean, don’t y’all think it’s just a bit odd that a super-powerful weapon fell right where we were sitting? I say we just bury the darn thing.”
“I agree that the circumstances of the gun’s arrival are suspicious, but we can’t just bury it where someone else might stumble across and misuse it, that would be irresponsible,” Twilight said.
“Shoot, I reckon you have a point there,” Applejack said, “So what do you propose we do?”
“Simple, we bring the gun back to my library so I can run some tests on its composition and nature, then maybe we can find a way to destroy it without hurting anypony,” said Twilight.
“Ooh! I know how we can destroy it!” Pinkie Pie said, bouncing up and down excitedly as she spoke, “We can take the gun to the volcano where it was forged and then drop it in the lava! Works every time.”
“No that’s not…” Twilight struggled to formulate a coherent response to her friend’s idea, “Why would we drop something into a volcano? We don’t even know if this was forged in a volcano… Have you dropped things into a volcano before?”
“Maybe!” Pinkie said, suddenly standing on top of Twilight, “We can call ourselves the Fellowship of the Gun as we trek across Equestria fighting evil!”
“Pinkie dear, let’s let Twilight do her tests first and have your idea as a back-up plan… or a back-up back-up plan,” Rarity said, and Twilight made a note to thank the other unicorn for distracting Pinkie after they got home.
“Okey Dokey Lokey!” Pinkie said, still bouncing up and down excitedly. 
Twilight thought that perhaps she should run some tests on Pinkie when they got home to determine if her legs were made out of springs, but before she could get to that she had to take care of the gun that fell from the sky, “Alright everypony, we have a long walk back to Ponyville and I want to get home as quickly as possible so I can start running tests on the gun and report my findings to Celestia.”
As Twilight started the long walk towards Ponyville her thoughts circled around the gun in her saddlebag and how it had fallen out of the sky. A new hypothesis entered her mind, that perhaps this gun was given by the stars to them to protect Equestria. It made a certain amount of sense, and she made a mental note to look up situations similar to this one in the library when she had some free time.
***
Princess Celestia had not slept well. Whenever she closed her eyes she was visited by the ghosts of long defeated enemies, rising up from their graves to strike down Equestria. And in her dreams, she was powerless to stop them. Powerless to aid her subjects as they were stricken to the ground, powerless to save her sister, powerless to help anyone. Every time the nightmares drew to a close she heard the same voice laughing, and then she woke-up screaming.
She paced in her royal chambers, her thoughts chasing each other in an endless loop. The dreams were a sign. Every one of them fueled her fears that something was corrupting her world, trying to draw it into darkness. The latest one was particularly unpleasant, in it; Twilight had turned against her and raised an army to take Canterlot. Every one of Twilight’s attacks were methodical, precise, and absolutely devastating. In the end, Twilight had cornered the goddess, her skill and cunning had bested Celestia, and with the utmost precision she cut the Princess apart. Then, as Celestia mouth filled with blood, the laughter came and she woke up safe and sound.
The latest dream broke from the previous pattern. It did not feature an old enemy returning for vengeance, but instead had her favorite student fall to madness, possibly the same madness that had claimed her sister. Something was taunting her, but it had made a mistake by revealing itself to her, because now she could work to defend Equestria against its unknown enemy.
She opened her eyes and smiled. Twilight Sparkle was doing research on the starmetal gun, and Fluttershy had recently succeeded in reforming Discord. The Bearers of Harmony had managed to neutralize two of her adversary’s tools in the span of a weak, and before long she expected Twilight to have made a breakthrough on the nature of the starmetal gun. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to give her student a small nudge in the right direction. She drew quill and parchment to her and began to write.
My Dearest Twilight Sparkle,
I am writing to applaud your research into the starmetal gun you retrieved on a recent camping expedition, and applaud your dedication. As always, you are an asset to Equestria and your drive and intellect are to be commended. I also believe that the starmetal gun might have some relation to the Alicorn Amulet, and I hope that by testing both you will gain further insight into these mysterious artifacts. And please be careful Twilight, both of these items are extremely dangerous and I don’t want you falling to their influence. If at any point you feel yourself being manipulated by them, please stop all research and return the items to me.
Your loving Princess,
Celestia
The princess was pleased with the letter, and her horn glowed as she cast the spell that would send it to Twilight. Next Celestia would have to work against the enemies that were already in Equestria. However, she had to be subtle while rooting them out. She would need to rebuild her order of spies and assassins. As it currently stood it had only one active member who, although she was incredibly competent, not capable of defending Equestria by herself. It was time to bring her back to Canterlot and start recruiting the best mares in Equestria. She had three more letters to write.

Rarity never thought that Princess Celestia would personally summon her to Canterlot for a special mission. She had of course been called forth several times to fulfill her duty as the Element of Generosity, but Celestia had never asked her to come to Canterlot as a personal favor. Her exuberance was diminished somewhat by the fact that Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie had received the same summons, but she was also happy for her friends. While Twilight studied the starmetal that had taken up so much of her focus lately, she and two of her best friends would be working for Celestia. Rarity couldn’t imagine anything much better than spending a few weeks in Canterlot doing whatever task the Princess had in mind.
“Do you think she will want us to help her plan a party?” the bubbly pink pony sitting next to her on the train spoke up. In truth Rarity was surprised she had managed to sit still for so long.
“I somewhat doubt that Pinkie Pie, I believe Celestia has more than enough caterers and party planners without our aid,” Rarity said while looking at Canterlot in the distance.
“Ooh! Maybe she wants our help reforming the Grand Galloping Gala, attendance was really low last year after we wrecked the last one. Besides, who is better at throwing parties than Pinkie Pie?” The pink earth pony did have a point there, while her parties weren’t always as sophisticated as Rarity would like, they always ended with everypony having fun and leaving happy.
Rarity certainly wouldn’t mind helping the princess plan a party, and of course organizing the next Grand Galloping Gala would increase her standing amongst the Canterlot elite. However, she didn’t think any letter that started with the words “Your presence is urgently required” was talking about party planning. But Rarity also knew it was usually easier to just humor Pinkie Pie, “You might be right, I mean I know if I needed to throw a party you would be the first pony I would come to. What do you think Fluttershy?”
The yellow pegasus had been quieter as usual during the trip, which was saying something. She looked away from the window and turned to face her friends upon hearing her name, “Oh, I am sorry, did you say something, I was just looking at the flowers outside. Aren’t they pretty?”
“Yes of course darling,” Rarity said, “Pinkie and I were just discussing what Celestia required of us, Pinkie believes that we are being summoned to help plan a party. What do you think?”
“Oh I don’t know girls, it would be fun if we got to design a party, but I don’t know why she would want my help with that.”
As soon as Fluttershy finished her sentence Rarity started explaining all the ways in which Fluttershy would make a great party planner, while Fluttershy nodded. She knew they weren’t being called to plan parties, the letter she had received explained everything, or at least explained more than letters to her friends did. She was being called in to fulfill her duty as the chief spy and assassin for Her Royal Majesty Princess Celestia.

Twilight Sparkle had hit a wall. For the first few days her studies on the Starmetal Gun and the Alicorn Amulet were fruitful, but after about a week the information she was able to safely obtain had dried up. However, she did learn that the Starmetal Gun had seemingly infinite ammo but took approximately thirty seconds to recharge after each shot. While recharging, the green lights on the side of the gun would go out. She also learned that the Alicorn Amulet and Starmetal Gun were made of the same unidentifiable alloy, and were also very difficult to destroy. She had placed both items in pocket dimensions and did everything she could to destroy them, and neither extreme heat, cold, force, nor prolonged exposure to acid managed to damage them. Her last revelation was that the Alicorn Amulet had no effect on pegasi or earth ponies, but it did gradually drive any unicorn wearing it insane while giving them immense power. The last bit was rather difficult to find out safely, but with controlled conditions, Twilight was able to make head way.
She sighed as she looked through her books, trying to find more information on artifacts that had fallen from the stars. Spike had suggested that if she could find items similar to the gun and the amulet she might be able to learn more. It was a reasonable avenue of research, but Twilight was beginning to get tired of the constant studying. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy leaving for an extended amount of time had been hard enough, but then Rainbow Dash was summoned to Cloudsdale for flight training, and the letter had implied that she would be gone for quite some time. That just left Applejack, and she was so busy working on the apple harvest that she couldn’t spare much time in Ponyville. For the first time in years it was just Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and her books. She let out a sigh and went back to reading her book. Maybe she would find something in this one and then she would take a break.

The food in Canterlot Castle was simply divine, Rarity thought. The portions were perfectly sized and each course complimented the previous one. As she ate, she was serenaded by the best musicians in Equestria and spoke with the Princess herself. After dinner, Celestia invited the girls back to her private chamber to talk about her request. She wondered again what the Princess wanted with them.
As the three girls entered Celestia’s chamber, the Princess spoke, “I appreciate you all coming out here on such short notice. In the past three years, three of Equestria’s oldest enemies have returned. You all played key roles in their defeat, but we cannot idly wait for our enemies to make the first move. We must be proactive in finding and dealing with them, and to that end I want you three to serve as my spies, and, if the need arises, my assassins. To that end you will spend the next several weeks being trained in the art of infiltration, information gathering, hoof-to-hoof combat, and how to properly use a blade. The training will be rigorous, but I have the utmost confidence in you girls.”
The princess spoke of killing in the same tone of voice she used to commend the girls for ruining the Gala. Rarity and Pinkie Pie gasped, followed a split second later by Fluttershy. “But Princess,” the demure pegasus said, “We aren’t spies, and I don’t know why you would ever need an assassin in Equestria.”
Celestia smiled benevolently, “Fluttershy, I will be training your friends how to be spies, there is no point in keeping your status a secret from them.”
“What is she talking about Fluttershy?” Rarity asked, giving her friend a look of confusion.
“Well… you see girls, I have been a spy for Celestia for the past…” the pegasus paused to do a few calculations in her head, “Seven years. The Princess thought my ability to communicate with animals would be very useful, and so I was chosen to be the first spy in Equestria in two hundred years. Well… the first pony-spy.” 
“But Fluttershy, please don’t take this the wrong way, but you are, well, a bit of a scaredy-pony,” Rarity said, her look of confusion growing, “You were terrified of that dragon a few years ago.”
“Oh, that is because I was a scaredy-pony seven years ago, and I guess I still am a little bit, but anyways, once Celestia started my training she told me that I should stick to the scaredy-pony persona to keep other ponies from becoming suspicious. And as for the dragon, well you all expected me to be a scaredy-pony, so I played the part. I also am really afraid of dragons, they are much too big to subdue in a chokehold.”
“But when we were all in danger, you got all loud and stared the dragon down, and made it apologize,” Pinkie Pie said, looking between Fluttershy and Celestia.
“Also uhmm yes, the Princess taught me that just because something scares me I shouldn’t let it control my actions, especially when other ponies might get hurt because of that fear,” the yellow pegasus said, fluttering over to her friend’s side, “now I think Princess Celestia want to start our training.”
“Right you are Fluttershy, now Rarity, I want to observe your combat skills. Please try to hit Fluttershy and don’t hold back. Fluttershy, fight defensively and try not to harm Rarity.”
“But Princess Celestia, fighting one of my friends would be terribly uncouth and of course I might hurt my dear friend,” Rarity said.
“I assure you, you won’t,” the princess said, “Now hit Fluttershy.”
“If you insist,” Rarity said, pulling her forehoof back preparing to strike, “I am sorry about this Flutter-”
Before she knew what was happening the unicorn was on the ground with her forehoofs twisted behind her back. “You couldn’t telegraph your strike more if you tried, you look away from your opponent while throwing a punch, your stance leaves you wide open to attack, and you underestimated your opponent’s abilities,” Fluttershy said as she pinned the unicorn to the ground, “Oh and, uhmm, don’t worry. I tried not to mess up your mane too terribly,” she said as she moved to help Rarity to her feet.
Celestia appraised the two ponies, while Rarity was still untrained, with a bit of practice she would be perfect for infiltrating and observing the enemies ranks. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie’s agility and skills with gadgetry would be perfect for more direct forms of espionage. Under her and Fluttershy’s guidance they could become the best spies and assassins in Equestria’s history… she hoped.

Every muscle in Rarity’s body ached, “You know Fluttershy, the Princess told you to go easy on me, not beat me into a pulp.”
The pegasus frowned, moving towards the unicorn, “But I did go easy on you, I didn’t break any bones and I am sure you will be feeling much better in the morning. Here, let me give you a massage to work out some of the stiffness, I would hate it if you weren’t feeling okay tomorrow.”
It had been several hours since Celestia had dismissed Rarity and Fluttershy for the evening, and as far as Rarity knew, Pinkie was off working on designs for a hoof mounted party cannon, although she doubted Celestia intended to use it for party related activities.
“I can’t believe you never told me you were a spy, all the time we spent in the spa and you never once brought it up.”
“Oh, believe me Rarity, I wanted to tell you all, but I was under strict orders not to. If my cover in Ponyville was blown I would be forced to relocate, and I couldn’t bear the thought of being away from you all.”
“Well, I suppose that makes some sense,” Rarity said as Fluttershy slowly worked the tension out of her muscles, “but, and I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, I don’t see you as much of a secret agent.”
“Oh, I didn’t either, but my special talent dealing with animals left me uniquely situated according to Celestia,” Fluttershy said.
“Really? Then do go on,” said Rarity.
“Well, my ability to speak with animals allowed me to gather information far more effectively with the average agent, and my dealing with dangerous creatures led to me developing quite a bit of strength. In fact, I learned the basics of hoof-to-hoof combat giving Henry the Bear deep tissue massages. You would be amazed how sensitive a pony’s nervous system can be.”
The massage Rarity was receiving suddenly became a lot less relaxing.
“You don’t say Fluttershy, can I ask a somewhat more personal question?”
“Of course you can Rarity, we are friends after all.”
“Well, have you ever had to kill a pony in your line of work?”
“Of course I haven’t, why would an animal caretaker need to kill ponies,” Fluttershy responded.
“You know that wasn’t the work I was talking about.”
Fluttershy stopped the massage, “I never intended to kill any pony, but sometimes I… sometimes they left me no choice.”
Tears were running down her face now, “It wasn’t often, but some of them refused to play nicely. They were so mean and nasty and just wanted to help themselves at the cost of Equestria. They would have killed thousands of ponies in a heartbeat, they were so evil, but I still hated having to hurt them.”
Fluttershy was sobbing now, “There, there,” Rarity said, “I am sure that if you couldn’t make them see reason then nopony could. Remember how you got Discord to reform when the rest of us had written him off as a lost cause?”
Fluttershy nodded. 
“You give ponies a chance when nopony else will, and I am sure you gave them a chance as well.”
“I know that, but that doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it. Equestria seems so safe and friendly on the surface, but then you find out there are all these nasty ponies just waiting for a chance to make war. Sometimes I wish life could be more like a filly’s show.”
Rarity laughed, “I think we all wish that from time-to-time, now let’s get some rest; we apparently have a lot of training to do tomorrow.”
As she drifted to sleep Rarity made a mental note to speak with Celestia about what she was doing to Fluttershy.

The first week of training had gone surprisingly well, Celestia thought, as she got into her bed. Pinkie had already invented several new gadgets that could be utilized for a variety of purposes and Rarity was beginning to grasp the basics of hoof-to-hoof combat and infiltration. In a few months they might even be ready for their first mission, although that would mean an extended amount of time away from Ponyville. Still, while she knew Twilight was missing her friends terribly, she couldn’t afford to put the well-being of her favorite student above the well-being of Equestria. Perhaps she would have Twilight come up for a visit some time to reward her new students, or she could send Twilight to study the magic of the Crystal Empire, Twilight would probably enjoy that. However, these were thoughts for later. Right now Celestia just wanted to get some sleep in before dawn.
Then Celestia wasn’t in her room anymore. She looked around trying to find something she could identify, but she couldn’t see anything in the darkness that surrounded her. It couldn’t be a dream, she thought, her mind was far too clear, and her usual nightmares were far more… visual than this one.
“Princess Celestia, we speak.”
The mysterious voice surrounded her, with no discernible point of origin.
“How many millennia has it been since you fashioned yourself as the protector of Equestria? Two thousand, three thousand? You who kept the windingos at bay, drove the monsters into the wilderness, turned the chaos god to stone, and banished your own sister. It is time it spoke to you.”
“Oh,” Celestia said, trying to sound braver than she felt, “And who exactly am I speaking with?”
“Your adversary.”
“But you haven’t given me a name,” she said.
“Names are things for beings of flesh and blood, beings seeking to separate themselves from the natural order. It needs them not. It is a part of that order. It corrupted the draconequus, fueled the fears of the Night Princess, led a starving queen to Equestria, brought a mad king to power. It is your adversary.”
“So you are going to go with Adversary then? That hardly sounds impressive.”
“If you wish to apply that title to it, you may. It cares not. Now be silent.”
As it spoke Celestia found herself unable to speak or move.
“It has watched you for some time, so high and mighty as Equestria’s protector. But what are you really? A minor deity, seeking refuge in an inconsequential world. It can understand that. It sees this baseness in all beings and through that, it becomes stronger. But you… you rule benevolently, banish all evil and impurity, and in doing so strive to deny it entry into this world you claim for yourself.
“But despite your efforts, you fail, it still finds its way into the hearts of ponies and monsters, fueling their darker impulses and turning them into its disciples. Five times they threatened to bring Equestria to its knees and five times you repelled them. Yet all your fighting has done is buy time. As we speak, it whispers to your citizens, placing them on darker paths. It called you here to inform you that in spite of all of your efforts, it will succeed and it will enjoy making you watch as Equestria is covered in darkness and your legacy is unmade. It will destroy everything you love because you had the audacity to reject a part of the natural order. You will die alone, unloved, and unmourned, Princess of the Sun.”
As it spoke its last words, the voice laughed, the darkness cracked around her, and she found herself in her bed once again. Her suspicions, it seemed were correct, and there was some… thing driving the citizens of Equestria to villainy. It was time to prepare for war.