Princess Celestia planned out her next moves. Rarity and Pinkie Pie could continue their training without Fluttershy. If Twilight Sparkle’s reports were correct, Rarity had already made quite a bit of progress on that front. With Fluttershy no longer helping Rarity and Pinkie in their training, she could be used to activate General Blast. The fact that the two ponies had worked together before to stop a coup amongst the pegasi virtually assured the general’s cooperation.
Once General Blast had mobilized, Fluttershy could activate her own critter surveillance network, using the woodland creatures to keep an eye on Equestrian citizens without raising their alarm. With the populace pacified, Celestia was free to focus her efforts on corralling the Canterlot nobility. Ordering Rarity to infiltrate and observe the Canterlot nobility would be a good test for the unicorn, and the Princess knew of a few ponies of questionable loyalties, like Prince Blueblood she could start interrogating right away. He was weak and would likely resist her authority, but to properly reform him she would need to retrieve her copy of the Neighcronomicon. While a part of her recoiled at the idea of using forbidden magic, she had to remind herself that if using its magic was what was best for Equestria, then she would gladly risk its corrupting influence.
All of this left one variable unsecured, Twilight Sparkle. The unicorn had hit a dead end when it came to researching the Alicorn Amulet and the Starmetal Gun, and Twilight was beginning to grow impatient. Celestia could grant Twilight access to the Crystal Library’s forbidden archives, allowing the unicorn further avenues of research and ensuring she would stumble across the other copy of the Neighcronomicon. As much as the Princess hated to do it, the knowledge inside the Neighcronomicon could turn the tide of battle and Twilight was one of the few unicorns who could properly utilize it. She started to write Twilight’s letter and called her personal attendant in, “What is it you Your Highness?”
“Tell my sister and the three Element Bearers to meet with me in the war room after breakfast,” Celestia said.
“The… the war room?” Her attendant asked, “I don’t mean to question your orders Your Majesty, but the war room hasn’t been used in decades.”
“I know,” Celestia said, she had hoped to never have to use Equestria’s war room again, but it seemed that current events necessitated it, “The order stands, and have someone clean the room before the meeting. I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of time in there over the next few weeks.”
Three hours later, the other ponies had assembled before Celestia. “Greetings, my little ponies, I am glad you are all here because I have some rather… unfortunate news to share with you all.”
“What is it sister? And why must you tell us about it in the war room?” Luna asked, hoping the answer wasn’t what she suspected.
“Because Luna dear, Equestria is at war, and its adversary is unlike any previously thought. The opponent we are facing can infect the hearts and minds of my citizens and turn them against me. Meanwhile, I have no way to strike at it directly and can only neutralize its agents. To that end I have work for you all. Now Rari-“
“Wait a second please,” Luna interrupted, “How do you know this adversary actually exists, it seems like you are taking a rather large leap of faith without having any evidence to back it up.”
“I am glad you brought that up Luna, I was recently visited by the adversary in a dream, during which he made his plans for our kingdom very clear.”
“So sister, you are going to declare war against an unknown opponent based on a dream you had?” Luna asked, trying to see if her sister had gone completely mad.
“Yes.”
“Ahh, are you sure that is wise? Perhaps your dreams just created something for you to fear, and perhaps it was all just a dream.”
Rarity listened to the two sister’s argument, not sure which thought was more frightening, that Equestria was going to war or that Celestia was going to declare war because of a bad dream. On reflection, she thought, it was probably the latter of the two.
“Because sister, I can’t afford to not act on the off chance that this threat isn’t real. Equestria’s well-being rests in my hooves, and I can’t afford to ignore any threat no matter how unlikely it is. If I do, then ponies will die. Now are there any more… objections?”
Celestia looked at the ponies in the room and Rarity felt as if the room’s temperature had dropped by twenty degrees when the princess stared at her. The room was silent. “Good, I am glad you all recognize the possible danger of this threat and are willing to help out. Fluttershy, I need you to find General Blast and tell him that I command him to take to fly with me. He will understand what it means. Rarity, I want you to use your contacts within the nobility to weed out traitors, Pinkie Pie, keep designing more party tools,” Celestia thought of the ponies skill with gadgetry and decided it would be best if Pinkie didn’t know how her designs would be repurposed, “And Luna, I need you to start reforming the Grand Equestrian Army. We have more than enough pegasi, but the unicorns and earth ponies have grown soft. I leave it to you to remedy that problem. Now then, I expect you all to carry out your missions and make me proud, Equestria depends on your actions,” the princess gave the group one of her benevolent smiles and Rarity shivered as she saw it.
Luna and Rarity walked next to each other as they left the old Equestrian war room. “What do you think?” Luna asked, “Has my sister lost her mind?”
“Of course not,” Rarity said, trying to mask her own concern, “She is just under some stress and I am sure she doesn’t want to let any threat sneak up on her. I don’t really see any downside to increasing security, and perhaps we will discover some threat that justifies such… a radical escalation.”
“You really are quite the diplomat,” Luna said, “Who knows, maybe you can convince Celestia’s mysterious adversary to surrender.”
Rarity laughed at Luna’s last remark as they approached the central ballroom, “Oh, I don’t think so, if anyone has a chance of reforming it, it would be Fluttershy. I still can’t believe she got Discord to turn over a new leaf.”
“Yes, I heard, a thousand years imprisoned in stone and it turns out that all he needed was a bit of kindness,” Luna rolled her eyes, “Or maybe he is just biding his time so he can put some new plan into action.”
“I thought that at first,” Rarity said, “But he and Fluttershy have been spending a lot of time together since his reformation, and she even asked him to take care of the critters while she was off in Canterlot,” Luna tried to picture the draconequus running an animal sanctuary for any length of time.
The two ponies had reached the door to Rarity’s chambers, “Oh won’t you please come in Princess, I feel we have so much to talk about, and I really don’t have to start rubbing elbows with the nobility until this evening. Besides, I am sure the Grand Equestrian Army can wait a few more hours.”
“You know what Rarity?” Luna said, “I believe I will take you up on that offer, I believe you could benefit from learning how Celestia first formed her little spy network.”
“That sounds simply delightful,” Rarity said as she opened the door, “Would you like me to fix you some tea?”
Prince Blueblood had never been invited into the war room before. In fact, he didn’t think anyone living had been invited into the war room before today. Still, if Celestia called then he would answer. “Hello Auntie, how are you doing?” He asked.
“Quite well, but I am afraid we have little time for pleasantries, you see, the future of Equestria is at stake.”
“Oh? And what makes you say that?” Blueblood tried to think of what his aunt might be getting at. This was far too serious to be one of her usual jests, and her eyes burned when he looked at them. He decided that something was wrong with his aunt. Everything about her was brighter and sharper, and the contrasts in her mane were more severe. Her formerly soothing presence now put him on edge.
“I have intelligence that indicates a creature from outside our world is looking to turn my citizens against me. Fortunately he revealed himself to me in a moment of arrogance, and I now seek to use that information against him. That is why I called for you; I need you to unify the nobility in preparation for the coming war. Your connection to me makes you a very important pony, and because of that they will follow your lead.”
Blueblood knickered, “While they might look to me for fashion advice and trend spotting, I don’t believe they will take me seriously if I tell them we have to go to war against an enemy we can’t see because Celestia wants it.”
“No, I don’t want them to do anything. I demand it. Was that not clear?” Celestia said, regarding him as he might regard an ant or a common pony.
“And if I say that there is no way the nobility will agree to make war?” Blueblood asked.
“Leave the more recalcitrant nobles to me, I will make sure they see reason,” Celestia said.
“I don’t think I can do this Princess, you haven’t presented any compelling rationale for why Equestria should go to war, and the nobility would fight you every step of the way. Besides,” Blueblood said, mentally berating himself for what he was about to say, “I don’t think what you are doing is right.”
“As I said earlier nephew, this is not a thing you have a choice in. You will do as I command because I am your Princess and I desire it. Your will is irrelevant.”
Bluebood took a step backwards, trying to make it to the door as quickly as possible without provoking Celestia. He found himself unable to move as a sheathe of magical energy enveloped the Princess’s horn.
Celestia gestured to a book on her table, “Tell me Prince Blueblood, have you ever heard of the Neighcronomicon? I wouldn’t bet on it of course, there are only two copies known to existence, the one on the table and another in the Crystal Empire, and both are well kept secrets.”
The pressure around Blueblood tightened as the Princess kept speaking, “Of course the reason for that is that the books have incredibly dangerous spells that can be performed by any unicorn. If a normal unicorn ever read the book they would be more than capable of taking on either myself or Luna. Then there are the other spells, the spells that can rip Equestria apart over an afternoon. I will not be using such a spell on a pony as small as you.”
Blueblood could feel something heavy forming in his head, his thoughts were slow and sluggish and he struggled to keep up with the Princess, “No, for you I believe a modified will spell will be more than sufficient. It is similar to a reform spell, but instead of restoring a pony to their original state, it bends their will to that of the caster,” the princess smiled, “I think it will be quite useful when I am dealing with the nobility, don’t you agree?”
Blueblood felt himself nodding, he didn’t want to nod, he wanted to run away screaming. He wanted to warn every pony that Celestia had gone insane. He wanted so many things, but he didn’t remember why. It was so much easier, he thought, to just sit here and bask in the radiant glow of the princess. It seemed far more pleasant than attempting to oppose her, and as he thought on it, the idea of opposing Her Royal Majesty seemed ludicrous. She was his benevolent goddess, and if she called upon him to serve then he would. Prince Blueblood bowed before his monarch.
“As you wish, Your Majesty. The nobility will comply with your demands, and if anypony resists I will let you speak with them.”
His Princess smiled at him, blessing him with her favor.. “I am very glad to hear that Prince Blueblood, you may take your leave now.”
The prince smiled and turned around, the Goddess called upon him and he would not disappoint her.
Twilight.
Twilight Sparkle awoke, she could have sworn she heard somepony calling her name, but she couldn’t rule out the possibility that she had simply dreamt it up.
Twilight.
Nope, it definitely hadn’t been a dream. Or, she thought, she was still dreaming. Twilight considered the possibility that this whole thing was just a dream, but quickly dismissed it. Most of her dreams involved her talking with Starswirl the Bearded or Celestia. Her ears perked up, perhaps this was a dream and Starswirl the Bearded was calling to her from the ground floor. She quickly trotted down the stairs. “Yes?” she asked.
Twilight.
Now this was just getting annoying she thought, and the voice didn’t sound like Starswirl’s or Celestia’s. “Is somepony there or am I hearing voices now?”
I think it is time you and I had a talk Ms. Sparkle.
The voice was vaguely feminine, and Twilight thought it sounded familiar, “Who is it?”
I am Alli, or if you want to be formal you can call me the Alicorn’s Voice.
“Wait, am I talking with the Alicorn Amulet?” She flicked the lights on as she spoke, she needed to take a letter to Celestia.
Yes and no. It would be more accurate to say that you are speaking to a PART of the Alicorn Amulet or perhaps the inhabitant of the Alicorn Amulet.
“And what exactly do you want to talk about? You sure waited awhile before trying to strike up a conversation.”
The voice laughed, and Twilight thought that she sounded like a quieter version of Trixie.
That is true, and I am sorry, but it takes me some time for me to develop a sufficiently advanced mental connection with my host. Believe me, if I could have shared my knowledge with you sooner I would have, it was painful watching you run all those tests without getting anywhere.
“Knowledge?” Twilight asked, her curiosity piqued, “What type of knowledge exactly?”
Oh, how Equestria formed, the origins of the Princesses, how to maximize your spell’s strength, and ancient magics from before the dawn of Equestrian civilization. Little things like that.
“Do you know how to destroy the Starmetal Gun?” Twilight asked.
Of course I do, I also know that you could use that information to destroy the Amulet and myself, and while I am feeling helpful, I don’t feel like dying any time soon.
Twilight frowned, she was hoping that would work, “Alright then, if you won’t tell me that, will you tell me more about the Amulet?”
I would be happy to Ms. Sparkle, I just have one small request.
There it was, Twilight thought, the hidden cost, Alli would ask her to put the Amulet on and Twilight would decline and send the Amulet back to Celestia. Still, she thought, there was no harm in asking “What is it?”
Nothing major of course, but when Celestia asks you to go to the Crystal Empire tomorrow, I would enjoy going with you. I have fond memories of my time there and would like to see it again. You can store me in your saddlebag.
“Wait, what makes you think Celestia will ask me to go to the Crystal Empire tomorrow?”
Just call it a hunch. If no request is forthcoming then you may consider the information free of charge.
“Alright Alli, you have a deal, but if you even think of suggesting I do something dangerous like putting the Amulet on then I am sending you back to Celestia.”
But of course, now listen closely Ms. Sparkle. The Amulet was forged millennia ago in a star far from here…
Twilight brought her pen and quill to her and took notes late into the night.
“Well done Rainbow Dash, you managed to kill everyone on your team in less than five minutes, I think that is a new academy record,” Rainbow Dash glared at the other pony speaking. He resembled her in many ways, both ponies were blue with rainbow colored manes, but the other ponies coat was slightly darker, and streaks of grey peppered his mane.
“That’s not fair Dad, you tricked me!” Rainbow Dash said, “You knew I would go after your Commander for a quick victory, so you left him exposed to ambush me.”
The older pony sighed impatiently, “You are exactly right, I knew your strategies so I laid a trap for you, I sacrificed one of my men to beat you, and you took the bait. It isn’t fair, but then, whoever said that war was.”
“But it’s not right! You can’t just sacrifice ponies on your team when it suits you, that’s not very-”
Her father interrupted her, “Not very what, Rainbow Dash? Not very loyal? Well I have some news for you, that is the responsibility of command, your ponies are loyal to you, and you, in turn, are loyal to your superior officer. You are not loyal to the men in your command. They are tools for you to use, and if you have to sacrifice every last one of them to complete your mission, then you do it,” his expression softened at that, “But, having said that, you should still try to preserve as many of your troops as possible, no commanders ever got to the top by throwing lives away needlessly.”
“No!” Rainbow Dash said, “You can’t just throw a pony’s life away when it suits you, they put their lives in your hoof because they trust you, and you can’t abuse that responsibility. I would rather die fighting for the ponies under my command than send them off on a suicide mission to fulfill my objectives.
Her father smiled at that, “I forget sometimes that you are the Bearer of Loyalty, but as soon as I do you are quick to remind me,” he flew over to Dash’s side as he spoke, “But sometimes in war, you will be called to make tough decisions, and when that day comes you have to put aside your own emotions for the good of Equestria. I know it isn’t easy, but when your loyalty to your troops and your loyalty to Equestria are called into conflict then I hope you make the right choice,” his hoof tussled Rainbow Dash’s hair, “Either way, I know you will do your best to make me proud.”
“Thanks Dad, hopefully I won’t have to make that decision, after all, it has been years since there was a war in Equestria.”
As she finished that sentence, a familiar yellow pegasus landed on General Blast’s balcony, “Uhmm… General Rainbow Blast, I have a message from Princess Celestia for you if that’s okay.”
“Ahh Fluttershy,” General Blast said, “What a pleasant surprise. Please, go on with this message, if the Princess sent you as her messenger then I am sure it is important.”
“Oh, of course, hi Rainbow Dash, anyways, she commanded you to come fly with her. Oh! Rainbow Dash!” The yellow pegasus quickly moved to hide behind a cloud column.
“Wait Dad, what is Fluttershy doing here and how the hay do you two know each other?” Rainbow Dash said.
“That is quite the story daughter of mine, and while I would love to get into the particulars of it, it seems I have to leave urgently, so I will just surmise and say that Fluttershy and I were called upon by Celestia to stop an insane pegasus from starting the next Great Equestrian War. We succeeded and I was promoted. In many ways I owe your friend a great debt, now if you will excuse me, I am urgently needed elsewhere,” as he spoke, the pegasus moved to the balcony and took off, leaving Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy behind.
“Okay Fluttershy, can you please explain what is going on? For some reason my dad decided to make up a crazy story as opposed to explaining how you two know each other, so what is really going on?”
Fluttershy moved her lips, but Rainbow Dash couldn’t hear her say anything as she peeked out from the column.
“Could you repeat that?”
This time Rainbow Dash could make out a few squeaks coming from the other pegasus.
“One more time Fluttershy, and this time make it distinguishable.”
“I said, your dad was telling the truth, and I might technically be a spy for Celestia.”
Rainbow Dash stared at Fluttershy, “You… you are serious aren’t you?”
The other pegasus nodded, “Yes, but you can’t tell anypony, especially not Twilight, Celestia told me that Twilight could never know about our covert operations.”
“You don’t have to worry about that Fluttershy. If I told anypony you were a spy they would think I had gone crazy, and honestly, they might be right.”
Fluttershy smiled, relieved, “I am so glad to hear that, I was worried you would be mad at me or that you would tell everypony and ruin my cover, and that would have just been awful. Anyways Rainbow Dash, I have to get back to Canterlot. Celestia has been very busy the last few days, and I think something big will be happening soon, but uhmm… you didn’t hear that from me. Okay?”
Before Rainbow Dash could respond Fluttershy had lifted off and started flying back to Canterlot. It would have been simple for Rainbow Dash to catch her, but her head was pounding, and she decided to get a drink instead. Celestia knew she needed one now.
“Come on Applejack, the train to the Crystal Empire will be leaving soon and I don’t want to miss it,” Twilight Sparkle said as she galloped towards the train station.
“Well ya know, we would be there by now if somepony hadn’t had to run back to her library because she forgot to pack a book,” Applejack responded, easily keeping pace with Twilight.
“I know, but I had to bring it to translate some of the more obscure texts,” Twilight hated having to lie to Applejack, but she doubted her friend would approve of her bringing the Alicorn Amulet with her.
Oh I am so glad we are going to the Crystal Empire, have you seen their library? It makes the Canterlot Library look like the Ponyville Library. No offense intended of course.
“Of course I have seen the Crystal Library, what pony would go to the Crystal Empire and not visit it, and the Ponyville Library is surprisingly well stocked I will have you know,” Twilight said.
“Whatever you say sugarcube, you feelin’ alright or are ya havin another one of those flashbacks where you start talkin to yerself?”
“Oh uhmm… I am fine,” Twilight said, “Was just… thinking out loud because I am so excited to be going to the Crystal Library.”
“O’ course Twilight, only you would get so excited about goin’ to a Library that you would start talking to yourself.”
The two ponies galloped up to the train station as the conductor gave the final call before departure.
You do realize that only YOU can hear me right, I thought that would be obvious to a unicorn of your intellect, but perhaps I overrated you.
“Shut up,” Twilight said.
“What was that sugarcube?”
“Oh… nothing!” Twilight said, laughing nervously as they boarded their train. She made a mental note to see if Alli could teach her how to converse telepathically.
I can and I feel I should say that I have been reading your thoughts for the past few days. Not intentionally of course, but to me thoughts of my host are like the spoken word. Also, you shouldn’t think of Princess Celestia that way unless you want to be sent to the moon.
Twilight Sparkle blushed and the train doors closed. Perhaps honoring her agreement with Alli wasn’t her best idea ever.