Eleven Years Later...
Twilight Sparkle was dozing, slumped over the latest reports from the front. Across from her in the steel reinforced concrete room, surrounded by charts, maps, and reports, sat a silently musing and professionally pissed off Rainbow Dash.
Not to say that Rainbow Dash was upset with Twilight for dozing during their late afternoon briefing while the various Generals, Admirals, and Marshals summarizing their recent accomplishments in the field in a perfect storm of droning monotony and blustering grandstanding that was, frankly, conducive to sleep.
No, if anything, Rainbow Dash envied Twilight her sleep, and was in fact quite pleased to see her old friend getting some for once. Even if it was only a light doze, drooling over paperwork.
That certainly didn't stop General Silverback from blabbering on. He was apparently convinced that he would have the entire war 'ended in a fortnight', and with his two left hooves behind his back, no less.
This blunderbuss was what was pissing her off. An old relic of Celestia's Royal Guard, he had assumed some measure of authority as a real military structure was established in modern Equestria. His tan coat and brown mane might have looked intimidating as a young pony 50 years and 100 pounds ago. Instead, Rainbow thought the old fool looked more like a dandelion burrito that had been wrapped up to tightly, and had begun to squeeze out of both ends of its tortilla. How he was still a general, Rainbow wasn't entirely sure. Unlike Twilight, she just couldn't stand the guy.
Now Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, had certainly earned her own title. She had once argued that rank should only be earned through number of scars, though in retrospect, she supposed that was a foolish idea.
And so, Rainbow Dash said nothing, going over again in her head the more important details of an aerial assault she had been planning herself to actually remove the threat presented by a fortified enemy outpost three clicks east of Draconridge Pass while the old windbag went on.
While she did so, the changed appearance of Rainbow Dash these last few years were more than apparent. She wore streamlined navy blue battle fatigues which were a far cry from the old days. Back then, her cerulean coat and vibrant rainbow colored mane were all she had needed to distinguish herself from those around her. True, nopony was ever going to mistake her for anypony else even now, but military life made the need for a uniform a regrettable necessity. If the other officers wore theirs, then by Celestia, so would she.
Though she certainly didn't wear her uniform to any degree of professionalism now; her jacket was unceremoniously tossed in a corner, hiding the lightning bolt crest that signified her own rank of General. Her slacks needed an ironing, her hooves needed a polish, and even her mane, less vibrant in its rainbow coloration than it once was, needed a good brush.
An alarm blared up at the surface, the wail near imperceptible as it carried through the many fortified rooms of the reinforced mountain bunker, down to its deepest levels. Rainbow could just to say make it out from the Command Bunker they were currently in, deep in the crystal caves beneath Old Canterlot.
She sighed, stifling a groan. That alarm was meant to signify an incoming squad of enemy bombers, who had been dropping their bombs at more or less the same time of day these last few weeks on the south-side of the mountain. It did unnerve Rainbow Dash slightly, as that was the very side of the mountain they were on, the bombs all but falling on their heads. Almost the Shadow's way of saying- I know where you are in there!
She didn't like it. That had to be a message, she doubted the lack of random bombing was a coincidence. This just felt too... precise.
Rainbow never let it show that the bombing was bugging her, of course. The third day in a row this had happened, she just told everypony to use that alarm as the sound off for dinner time. She had been half joking at the time. After all, that was the kind of cocky attitude that all the new recruits expected, no, needed, from Rainbow Dash, to get them all through this.
And to Rainbow's surprise, it now appeared that even the General had embraced the idea.
The first wail of the alarm hadn't even sounded off fully, and the old colt stopped his speech mid sentence, and despite his considerable bulk, he had managed to grab his coat, packed his bag, and rushed out the door in 10 seconds flat.
In a manner of moments, the rest of the officers followed suit, leaving the room to fade into an empty silence.
The contrast in the sound was surprising, but Rainbow was just worried about Twilight. A quick glance at the princess confirmed that she hadn't awoken yet. General Silverback was good at putting Twilight to sleep.
Maybe that's why she likes the guy? Rainbow considered, feeling mildly pleased, before a series of quick hollow bangs came from the metal door, and Twilight awoke with a start.
"Come in." Twilight intoned while Rainbow swore under her breath. The princess started to flip through the paperwork in front of her, apparently unaware she had been doing anything but studying the reports spread before her the last few minutes.
The door opened on smooth hinges, and Lieutenant Pip entered, buttons gleaming on his military regalia.
Pipsqueak was small for his age. He looked to be a lanky teen, despite the fact he had in fact grown to become a stallion. Between the brown patches on his white coat and his thin, wiry muscles, he always gave the illusion of being both slightly ill and underfed, while actually being neither. His double breasted red vest and crescent moon badge of rank were kept immaculately clean and polished, no doubt in some deep seated hope that his military regalia made him look more intimidating.
The truth was he was still the same, fun loving colt he had been back in Ponyville, or even Trottingham. Though the last few years had been hard on him, and in truth even he probably couldn't have said how deeply that side of him had been buried by years of warfare and loss.
"Princess Twilight, General Dash," the Lieutenant said, bowing toward Twilight before raising his hoof in a crisp salute to his commanding officer.
Returning the salute, Rainbow enquired, concern etching her voice. "What news from the front, Lieutenant? Have they been found yet?"
The look on the Lieutenant's face answered the question before the words even left his mouth. "No such luck, ma'am. Neither Discord nor Agent Pie have been heard from since their mission began three weeks ago."
Twilight frowned in concern, dark thoughts flying through her mind. Three weeks was far too long for comfort, especially for a pony as fastidious as her.
Her outfit reflected her current mood. It was a simple dress of fine dark wool, in a shade of blue just shy of black. The hem and neck were lace, in a pattern of simple constellations - an outfit that in Rainbow's mind brought back images of a long ago Gala. Twilight had had the outfit commissioned as part of her current wardrobe: namely practical outfits for a still-growing alicorn princess in war time.
In a way, Rainbow still had trouble believing that Twilight had become an alicorn, though every sign was in front of her. Twilight was now a good hoof and a half taller than she had once been, and all of her features seemed to have stretched out, especially in her neck and legs. Her wings were growing faster still, in direct relation to her growing skill at flying, for which Rainbow felt she deserved a fair bit of credit. And even in these breezeless tunnels, her mane occasionally seemed to blow in a nonexistent breeze.
Twilight took a deep breath, steadying herself against thoughts of what could have become of Pinkie and Discord, before replying: "Celestia willing, they succeeded. The chaos those two together could weave through those enemy lines may just make the difference we need."
Rainbow nodded in agreement. As hard as it had been to send those two into harm's way, there had been no denying the potential gain that the chaos magic they wielded could bring. Plus, there were no two less likely to be captured if discovered than they.
"Celestia will it to be so." Pip hastily added in agreement. "Speaking of which, you are both needed in the War Room immediately.
"Why is that?" Twilight asked, stifling a yawn as she rose to her hooves. "Did the Duke of Maretonia finally see reason?"
"Not that I know of, highness." Pip hesitated, then said, "It's about the Triad..."
Rainbow growled with irritation, thinking, Couldn't those cursed priests just leave everypony alone?
Pip clearly picked up on the General's mood, and quickly added, "Oh no, it's not the priests... It's just, I... I don't know how it's possible, but the Three are in your War Room right now, and they were asking to see the two of you."
Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked to each other in confusion, before Twilight asked, "What do you mean? How can that church be here if they didn't send their priests? And why did you let them into the war room without prior approval?"
"Cult is more like it..." Rainbow added to nopony in particular as she fell into step with Twilight behind the Lieutenant.
As the narrow hallways of the old strip mine came and went around them, and the lighting changed between the gentle glow of colorful gems and the harsh light of exposed ceiling bulbs, Rainbow and Twilight questioned the Lieutenant for details, though he was being infuriatingly spartan at giving them, saying only that it was better for them to see what he was talking about for themselves.
Rainbow was worried. It wasn't like the Lieutenant to behave this way. And if Pip was saying what it sounded to Rainbow like he was saying, then dinner was going to be a long time off yet.
And if it wasn't, Rainbow Dash planned to have a long talk with the young stallion, because it was too unfair to imply to somepony like Twilight that she could get to see those three again at last.
On top of that, Rainbow found herself worrying about that look in the Lieutenants eyes. He sounded almost reverent when he spoke of the Three, which was odd, given his history.
He had been there when the attacks took place. He had enlisted to help keep order when the first Lay Line resonance had struck. He had rejected the church when they called it divine judgment.
Divine judgment! Even thinking it made Rainbow's blood boil. She still remembered it vividly, learning that the bomb in Canterlot was just the beginning. She remembered flying up till the air was thin and cold, and still seeing that shimmering wall they would come to call the 'Lay Line' had come to stretch as far as she could see. She remembered the horror when everypony learned that it had struck Manehattan. When they had learned it had sliced through Gildedale like a knife through a ripe melon.
Where the dead now stayed on their hooves...
She shuddered, despite herself, and looked over at Twilight.
Seeing the intense frown on her friend's face, Rainbow Dash asked, "You thinking about Celestia and the others?"
Not saying a word, Twilight nodded in confirmation, looking to be almost on the verge of tears.
Tensing, Rainbow felt her mind race. Twilight was clearly not in a fit state to deal with a possible reunion like this right now. In a desperate gambit, Rainbow said aloud the first thing that came to mind, "Do you remember the last time I saw Niles Nigellus?"
Pausing at a checkpoint, Twilight turned towards Rainbow and nodded, an eyebrow raised in question.
"I lied about that, ya know." Rainbow took a deep breath before continuing. "We didn't really break up. We actually continued to meet in the Dreaming for almost two more years before we decided to stop seeing each other."
Clearly curious, Twilight asked, "You know Rainbow, as much as I liked seeing you two together, I never really understood it. I mean, you two were from different species. Pronghorns can't even fly! How did that even work?"
Rainbow shrugged, blushing slightly and saying, "It actually worked better that way. Since we met in the Dreaming, we could be anything we wanted. The body is only an extension of the mind after all..." Her voice trailed off into silence, lost in memory.
"Thanks for telling me, Rainbow," Twilight said quietly. "I had been really happy for you two, and then with you having to break up when the Pronghorn broke off contact because of the Lay Lines... Why didn't you say anything?"
Rainbow blushed harder, continuing to not make eye contact as she said quickly, "Well, if you think about it, we were in the dreaming, so in a way we were only dreaming about each other, and I felt like that was a bit..."
"What?" Twilight asked as they passed through the checkpoint, trying not to laugh and failing. "Cheesy? Gooey and romantic?"
"Like something I would never hear the end of from you guys. Yeah, exactly."
They walked in silence a few more minutes, the crystalline walls shifting from a series of elongated blue gems to the poured concrete more prevalent to the newer, artificial parts of the base as they went.
Finally breaking the silence, Twilight asked, "Why bring it up now? Even if you dated another couple of years, that was still ages ago now, so what's up?"
Rainbow frowned, and said thoughtfully, "I've been hearing rumors that streaks of lightning have been spied riding across the ground lately, and it's definitely not my guys doing it. So I have to think we will be seeing the Pronghorns again soon. And if our guests in the War Room are really those three..."
"Then the two events might not be unrelated..." Twilight finished for her.
"Exactly. Seemed like you should know."
As the last checkpoint came into sight, Twilight added, "Why did you really break up, if you don't mind me asking?"
Rainbow paused in thought before answering. Finally, she said, "It turns out being from different species is just too big a difference in the long run. Even in a dream."
Finally passing the final security checkpoint, they had arrived at the War Room. And what Rainbow Dash saw in that room tore all thoughts of the Dreaming, Lay Lines, and even the distant rumble of falling bombs high above them far from her mind.
•
The War Room was aptly named. Not only was it the largest room of the entire complex, built from a naturally forming cave in the deepest levels of the crystal mines/dungeons of Old Canterlot; its large oval shape and gently sloping sides had made it a natural place to plan strategy and brief officers.
Coming down from a side entrance reserved for high ranking military officers, Rainbow Dash released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Even after all these years, it was still a relief to be out of those confining, narrow hallways. Looking around, she blinked in surprise. Not at the room itself: she had been in it a hundred times before. The steps were still carved into the sides of the rock, giving the room the appearance of a giant amphitheater to Rainbow.
No, what surprised Rainbow Dash was what now occupied the center of the large room. Normally reserved for meetings of high ranking officers planning battle tactics, the center of the room instead had been cleared to make room for their unexpected guests.
Coming to stand before them, Twilight inclined her head, quickly followed by Rainbow, who was beginning to wish she had thought to bring her jacket or polish her hooves for the occasion.
Because there, in the middle of the War Room, stood the Three.
•
The Three. The Holy Trinity of the Church of the Celestian Shrine. Those who gave their lives to save us all.
And yet, according to the church, still alive. Much like the ponies caught in the Lay Line, the Three supposedly never died, but unlike all those others who were hit, these three instead now watch over everypony in their 'eternal compassion'. And according to certain high-ranking priests, can even speak and give instructions. But only through them. Of course.
Until now, it seemed. Rainbow Dash thought silently, resisting the urge to spit, a habit the Camelu Consular had gotten her into.
Instead, it was now all Rainbow could do to keep her jaw off the floor, because now, here they stood in the War Room, glowing like three miniature suns.
The three forms were familiar, and yet alien. It looked to Rainbow as if she were only looking at only a part of them, like she was looking at the dent left in a puddle of mud after a pony ran through it, trying to get out of the rain.
She shook her head to clear the image, but it stuck. As odd as it seemed, that was what it felt like she was looking at.
The Three didn't move as Rainbow and Twilight approached. They gave no sign of being aware the two of them had even arrived. A few moments silence, and Twilight asked faintly, "Hello?"
A chorus of voices replied, speaking in perfect unison. "It Is Good To See You Both Again, Twilight Sparkle And Rainbow Dash. It Has Been Far Too Long." The voices they spoke with were both the familiar voices the two had known from so long ago, and yet they were slightly off, warbled as though spoken from underwater, as if all traces of who they had been were stripped away.
Twilight replied, voice shaking. "When I heard you had come," She said with a quick sniff, tears streaming down her face. "I guess I had hoped to see you all in the flesh, and that this nightmare you are living through would finally really be over."
As one the Three intoned, "We Do Not See It As Such, Twilight Sparkle. To Be As We Is To See The World As It Truly Is."
"Then why do you only speak together?!" She was practically screaming at the apparitions now, tears freely falling down her face. "Why can't you understand how much I miss you and need you and want you back? Or that I am so terrified you are really all dead; that I am speaking to nothing but ghosts or zombies?! FOR CELESTIAS SAKE, YOU WON'T EVEN LOOK AT ME!"
Rainbow was stunned by the tirade, though she knew that Twilight had been keeping these emotions bottled up for most of eleven years now. If the Three had finally grown strong enough to project avatars and speak face to face, rather than going through those cursed Priests of the Celestian Shrine as they always had before, then she was glad that Twilight was finally being given that chance. So much so that she didn't even bother giving them her own two bits, as much as she would have liked to.
For a moment, the room was completely silent; the only sound a ragged gasping from Twilight as she tried not to cry. Finally, a sound began to fill the room. It was a song. A beautiful and haunting song, but unlike anything Rainbow Dash had ever heard before. At first she thought it came from the Three, then she realized that she could still hear it, even if she covered her ears with her hooves.
The song is in my head, she realized with shock.
As it continued, the intense and painful golden light coming from the three statuesque forms began to fade, replaced with fur and skin, horns and wings. And the size of the figures shrank, until by the time the song ended, three ponies stood in the center of the throne room.
As Rainbow and Twilight hesitantly approached the figures, a voice cut into the room, saying, "By Celestia and the Blessing of the Three!"
Rainbow whirled around, outrage filling her battle hardened eyes at the intrusion, only to find the Lieutenant standing there, his eyes transfixed with wonder at the sight before him. Upon realizing his commanding officer, the princess, and the Three themselves all staring at him, Pip began to bow, salute, and kiss the floor all at the same time. As a result, all he achieved was to topple over, hitting the floor with a grunt.
Before he so could so much as decide whether to kiss the floor some more or stand at attention again, Rainbow Dash had marched up, staring down at him, her face harder than the stone of the walls around them.
Before either of them had a chance to speak however, the faintly violet-colored form of Princess Luna spoke. "My greetings to you, child," she said to Pip. "Know that we are grateful for the strength your prayers give to us, and that you will be forever marked for having stood in our presence. But I must with great sorrow ask you to leave us, as we have been far too long delayed in speaking with these two, and we would do right by them, given the opportunity."
Standing quickly, Pip paled as he bowed again to Princess Luna, and quickly started bowing his way out of the room, all the while praising the Three in all of Their Divine Glory, while avoiding the eye of his commanding officer. Finally, with a closing door echoing through the large room, he was gone, with five sets of eyes staring after him.
The rumble of a particularly strong explosion on the surface quickly snapped the group out of their momentary stupor. Luna spoke again, turning to look back at the others. "Oh never mind him you two, I guess after all these years I am still his favorite princess."
The interruption had thrown Rainbow Dash off, but now she turned all her keen eyed observation to the three ponies in front of her.
She was pleased to see that it no longer caused her a headache to look at them. She looked for a metaphor to describe the much more solid looking state the three had now taken on, and she settled with like looking at them through frosted glass.
Rainbow smiled despite herself. It was them! It really was the Three!
A brief smile seemed to touch Luna's lips as she continued. "Princess Twilight Sparkle. General Rainbow Dash. I trust you know we had never intended to cause you any undue distress in the length of our absence from this world. The lives we have saved through our actions that day alone are worth any price we might ourselves be paying. My sister and I had known this might one day come to pass; I am simply glad that the plan worked before any more ponies got hurt."
"Indeed," came agreement from the pink glow of Princess Cadance. "As much as it pains me to leave the crystal ponies," her hair unconsciously formed into a crystal headdress at the thought, "I know in the end that my decision was the right one. Twilight, Rainbow Dash. You two know how glad I am to see you both, and I really do wish there was more we could do to help you against this Shadow character we have been hearing about from the priests. After all these years since he united the rebel factions, have you learned anything about who he is or where he came from?"
Rainbow stood in silence, waiting and watching. She herself had never learned the origin or anything of value about the Shadow. She knew about as much as anypony else did, in fact. He came from the east. He never showed his face. He spoke about a change to the government of Equestria being needed, that Celestia's Fall was a sign that the old order was through. That if Celestia's power was based on the premise that she was strong enough to protect everypony from the dangers of the world, then it no longer made sense to have that system of government rule over the land of Equestria.
Rainbow Dash actually agreed with a lot that the Shadow had said. She just didn't like the rest of it. Because he insisted that the only solution was to completely cast down the old government in Equestria, and to have a trial for Princess Twilight, whom the Shadow claimed must have been behind the events of that day, since all other threats to Twilight's power were removed in a single night.
It was enough to make Rainbow Dash's blood boil to think about. Anypony who had been there when that attack had happened would have been able to tell you that Twilight was innocent. That she had only been in the castle for a few minutes, and had actually been attacked and left unconscious herself. And frankly, she had been lucky to get out of there at all.
Rainbow Dash continued to sit quietly, thinking with frustration about these matters, while the conversation went on around her.
Regret in her voice, Twilight answered the question from her old foalsitter, saying, "I wish I knew, Cadance. I haven't received more than a fifth-hoofed account of the Shadow. He is definitely a unicorn, though if even half the rumors about him are true, his powers are formidable to say the least. And given how quickly he rallied those former rebel groups under his banner, he can either use his magic to control other's thoughts, or his tongue is as dangerous as his horn. The only other piece of information I have heard regarding him is a rumor regarding that horn. My sources say he wears a hollowed out larger unicorn horn over his own, and apparently the Shadow claims it to be the horn of King Sombra himself."
Shock and quiet murmurings passes among the three; purple, pink and white glows intensifying with concern. Clearly they had not heard that particular rumor before.
Rainbow Dash also felt surprised. Even she had not heard that particular rumor. She began to consider this new piece of the puzzle, pacing the large room as she did so.
After a moment, Luna turned back from the others, saying, "An unfortunate turn of events if true. We shall look into the potential consequences and let you know as soon as possible what we find. In the meantime, have my old Crystal Labs checked, see if there is any record of a horn artifact belonging to Sombra."
"Of course," she added, glancing off into the distance thoughtfully, "if it actually is the horn from King Sombra's own head, we need to be extra careful. There is no telling how much of his actual mind could be contained in that horn given how quickly he died."
Twilight nodded, her mind already moving past the issue. She turned from Luna to stare at the middle of the three ponies, glowing white in the large room. With a start, Rainbow Dash realized that Twilight had fresh tears forming in her glistening eyes. "And what about you?" Twilight asked. "Why don't you speak? Haven't you anything to say to me after all this time?"
The final glowing apparition nodded, proudly staring down with tears in its own eyes. After a deep breath, Prince Shining Armor said, "Of course I do. I love you, Twily. I am so proud of everything you have done and I miss you more and more every day."
•
Stepping into the hallway, Pip was stunned. I can't believe I just did that, he thought. I just embarrassed myself in front of my commanding officer, one prince, and three princesses! And the Three had stood there, not even using priests to speak anymore!
Taking a deep breath, he went over the last few minutes in his head again.
He had been in his office, preparing for the briefing at 1700 hours, and a panicked aide had galloped in, yelling about the Three reportedly having arrived in the War Room where they were waiting for the princess and general to speak with them immediately.
How could this be? he had wondered. Surely the priests would expect normal protocol to be followed. Though if he hadn't known they were coming, it could only mean a surprise inspection of the church, or an urgent matter that couldn't afford to wait for formality. But they had called for the princess and general specifically, which certainly ruled out the former possibility.
He had galloped around the offices, giving orders to panicked orderlies to find out who had failed to warn him before the priests had arrived unannounced. Even if they had been teleported in with outside assistance, they would still have had to go through all the necessary checkpoints, and even then they would never have been allowed into the War Room. On top of that, the priests had a small emergency stash of bottled dragon's flame that they had been provided to notify the princess with in the event that something was wrong with the shield they had taken over supervision of as a part of a 'religious necessity'.
Of course it had not taken long for Pip to learn that the Three were actually projecting images of themselves through some type of powerful magic, and had actually appeared in the War Room because it seemed to be the only room large enough for the Three to appear in. So he had calmed down, pulled himself together, and used all the cool military presence he had at his disposal as he had found Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash and told them to follow him. Of course, had he been calmer he was sure he could have answered some of their questions a little better.
So what happened? he asked himself again. I left them alone with the Three, standing outside, making idle chit chat with the guard...
His head jerking up, Pip whirled around. The guard in question was a white colt with a silver mane garbed in the traditional golden armor of the Canterlot Royal Guard guarding the door. "Private Diamond Dust!" he demanded. "What happened? We were talking, and the next thing I know I'm in the War Room, being spoken to by Princess Luna herself!"
The young colt stood at attention, though he looked concerned as he answered. "I don't know sir, singing of some kind came from the War Room, and you stopped talking mid-sentence, turned to the door, and entered with a creepy smile on your face."
In emulation he put a wide eyed smile on his face, teeth bared in what could almost have been called a grimace.
Resetting his face, he continued. "You ignored me like I wasn't even in the room anymore, and kept repeating something to yourself before you entered the War Room."
With growing alarm, Pip asked, "What did I say?"
The concern reappeared on Diamond Dust's face as he answered. "You were saying, 'Take the apple, leave the tea.' It didn't make any sense, but if you ask me, I would say you just had a small nervous breakdown from having the most powerful ponies in Equestria meet up next door to you with no advanced notice. If I may suggest sir, perhaps you should take it easy for a day or two?"
Nodding absently, Pip headed off, confused, worried, and deep in troubled thoughts. He had somepony he needed to see right away.