//------------------------------// // The Siege of Fort Luna (Part 1) // Story: When Good Sisters Go to War // by thehalfelf //------------------------------// The Siege of Fort Luna (Part 1) Celestia all-but dove into the breakfast nook--safe territory--drenched to the skin and seething with rage.  Drips of water slide off of her ethereal mane, now plastered to her head and neck, landing on the floor with small plops.  Though she tried to avoid it, one traitorous eye glanced over at the scoreboard. Days left now read a glowing twenty-three.  Celestia took a small satisfaction in spying the glowing two under her own name, up from the negative two from a few days ago--raised by a brilliant plot revolving around a shock spell embedded in Luna’s slippers.  The poor Princess of the Moon had wandered around for hours, wondering why her hooves were shocked every single time she placed weight on them. However, her good spirits were dashed by the eighteen under Luna’s own grinning visage.  As she watched, it turned into a twenty-one, accompanied by the widening of the smirk on Luna’s face.  The white alicorn sighed, walking over to the table to try and drown her problems out with a bowl of honeyed oatmeal, fresh from the kitchens. About halfway through, her temporary paradise was broken by the form of Discord, in a bright yellow raincoat, entering the room, followed closely behind by a dripping Shining Armor.  “Odd weather we’re having, isn’t it, Princess?”  Discord chuckled, taking a seat opposite of Celestia.  “Are one of your weather ponies drunk?  The rain is supposed to be outside, isn’t it?” The Princess sighed, taking a moment to dry off using an offered towel from Shining.  “Yes, it is.  However, Luna has decided that she would rather have the rain inside today.  Something about, ‘raining on the parade of a certain contest judge.’” Discord threw back his head and laughed, a long, raking sound that stretched for several seconds.  “Oh-ho, Celestia, you’re getting better at this!  Maybe one day you’ll be as much fun as your sister!” Celestia’s reply died in her throat.  “We’ll see about that, Discord.  We’ll see...”  With that, the white alicorn rose, and left the room, picking up her personal stormcloud as she walked through the door.. _--_--_--_--_--_ Meanwhile, in a different part of the castle, major construction was underway.  One pony, clothing and ornamentation tossed to the side--only in part because of a still-lingering shock spell--stood in the middle of a pile of various building materials.  Pillows, blankets, wooden supports, various weights--books, taken from Celestia’s private collection.  A large, aged sign, written in sparkling blue and silver ink, proclaimed the area as the site of Fort Luna. All that was left now, was to build it. No, this won’t do, Luna thought to herself as she gazed upon her plans.  They called for a simple structure, four wooden supports holding up one blanket.  Small, defensible, and sturdy, but not good enough.  This would have to be the mother of all pillow forts.  After all, it’s purpose was to withstand the assault of an angry demigod. With a mental flick, the original Fort Luna blueprints burst into flame, curdling up into a small pile of ash.  After taking a moment to think, Luna grabbed a yellow construction helmet, specially made with a hole for her horn, and stuck it on her head.  Alright, Tia, just try to get through here... _--_--_--_--_--_ “You called, ma’am?” “Yes, Captain.  I understood you graduated top of your class at both Flight Camp and the Wonderbolt Academy.” “Yes, ma’am.” “So you could fix this cloud?” “If I may, ma’am, the one, uh, raining on your head?” A weary sigh.  “Yes.” “I can try.” “Do so.”  Spitfire nodded, flapping her wings with practices strokes to bring her up into the air.  She was watched by no less than a dozen wary Day Guard as she hovered over to her beleaguered princess.  The closer she got, the more rain poured down upon the white alicorn and the throne and floor below her, as though doing its best to do the most damage before its time was up. “Princess, I’m going out on a wing here and saying this is no natural cloud,” Spitfire commented as the cloud in question shot a bolt of lightning at the pegasus. “No, I would speculate it was conjured by alicorn magic,” Celestia replied, looking up at the thunderhead without raising her head.  “A prank by my sister.” “Of course, ma’am.  I’m going to buck the cloud, which should stop the rain.”  With the princess’ nod of approval, Spitfire flew towards the raincloud, dodging scattered bolts of lightning, and the odd hailstone missile.  As she approached, Spitfire flipped herself onto her back, kicking out with her hind legs in the process. The entire room held their collective breath.  Celestia wondered if calling a pegasus was a better idea than trying to enact her plan herself.  Spitfire wondered if her plan was going to work, and whether or not it would be worse, and cause her to lose her job.  The guards worried that Spitfire was nothing more than a frontpony for the next stage of Luna’s plans, while Silver Scroll worried that Celestia wouldn’t dry off fast enough to be presentable for her lunch. To Spitfire and the guard’s relief, the rain stopped; and the cloud remained, causing Celestia to repress a cry of joy.  The orange pegasus mouth burst into a wide grin.  “Anything else, princess?” “Actually, I was wondering if you would be willing to help me get revenge, as it were,” Celestia replied.  As if on a queue, the guards moved to cover all of the entrances, exits, and windows. Spitfire forced down a lump in her throat.  “O-Of course, princess.  What do you need me to do?” Celestia’s vampiric grin brought another lump to the pegasus’ throat, one that refused to disappear. _--_--_--_--_--_ After long hours of blanket-flinging, book-stacking, placing supports, and several close calls with members of the Day Guard, construction was finally complete.  The inside was sort of the same as the original plans.  Four wooden poles supported one blanket making a sort of room.  There is where all similarities ended. There were four of the structures in the middle, around which stretched a wall of interlocked books stacked up to the size of a normal pony’s neck.  A sheet wrapped over the top of the book-wall, tucked in under the bottom and wrapped around multiple times.  Fort Luna was now complete.  With blankets fortified with a magical cover that could repel most objects, and the wooden supports held down with even more magic, Luna was positive that it was safe; perfect for her next prank. Luna happily ducked into the fort to prepare, not noticing the small cloud, floating just inside the window...