//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Strategies of War // by TheSharp0ne //------------------------------// Chapter 5 |Normal| |Adventure| |War| Blitz jerked his head up suddenly upon waking from his slumber. As he sat there for a moment, the piece of paper that had stuck itself to his forehead slowly peeled itself away from the stallion and fell to the floor. He sat there staring at it for what seemed to him like an hour, as he gathered his wits and attempted to shake the after effects of sleep from his mind. He lazily looked around his room; papers were scattered about, with many stacked upon one another on his desk. In one corner was a trash bin that was overflowing with discarded pieces of paper. The one window in his room had blinds pulled over it, and the little rays of light seeping in through the sides made it look like it had its own square corona. In another corner of the room sat his mattress; an odd combination of material and tightly woven layers of cloud. It was an ingenious little thing, made by an old pegasus mare that had lost her wings in an accident. She invented it so that earth-bound pegasi like herself could still enjoy the softness of a cloud, albeit hindered a little. It was a real hit with earth ponies and unicorns, though. And it served him wonderfully throughout his travels, when making himself a cloud house was too unconventional. A sudden rapid succession of knocking snapped Blitz out of his hazy mindset. He looked around for a moment in the dim lighting before he spotted the source: his door. He realized that this was what had woken him up, and he wondered how long he had kept whoever it was waiting. His next thought was, ‘Who the hay would wake me up as such an absurd hour?’ “What?” Blitz asked grumpily as he opened the door, shielding his eyes from the light flooding in from the hallway with a hoof. “Blitz, did you just wake up?” a mare’s voice asked in reply. As his eyes slowly adjusted to the light coming from outside his room, Blitz lowered his hoof from over his eyes. Before him stood Twilight Sparkle, an eyebrow raised to accompany her question. “Yeah, and I could’a slept a few more hours too.” he said, a scowl on his face. “What do you want?” he demanded, a little more snappily than he intended. He softened his expression some, attempting to give the best ‘apologetic’ look he could muster. “Blitz, it’s twelve-thirty in the afternoon. You were late for lunch.” Twilight said, disregarding Blitz’s tone. “I never show up to lunch anyhow,” he said with a yawn. He was too busy with work to be able to make the trek to the dining hall, so he almost always had some odirectionsf the servants bring him whatever was on the menu. “No, but we expected you to show up today,” Twilight replied. “And why’s that?” Blitz asked, tilting his head slightly. At this Twilight sighed, and gave Blitz a stern look. “Do you even know what today is?” Bliz unfurled his wings and looked back at them, inspecting the feathers as he stretched. He turned his head back towards Twilight, looking off into space as he contemplated the answer. “Sunday.” he said flatly. Twilight brought her hoof to her face and inhaled deeply. “No, Blitz. Think, why is it I am here in Canterlot?” “Oh...” he said, his expression dropping. “Has it been a week already?” “Yes, it has.” Twilight affirmed, not catching that it was a rhetorical question. Blitz shook his head some to get rid of the last remnants of sleep that held its grip around him. “Well then, I suppose I should go eat,” he said, stepping out into the hallway. “Shouldn’t you brush your mane first?” Twilight asked, pointing at the black mess on his head. Blitz stepped back into his office-turned-bedroom and looked into a mirror hanging on a wall. Yikes. His mane was sticking up in every direction possible, and even in some directions he didn’t think were possible. He looked back at Twilight, who still stood in the doorway, before slicking back his mane with a hoof and grabbing his hat and flipping it onto his head. “Done.” Twilight was never one to really care about a ponies looks, but even she was a little offset by the lack of care Blitz took for himself. “Oh, um, alright, then. I guess we should go.” “So what’d they have for lunch today?” Blitz asked as they navigated throughout the halls of Canterlot Palace. The walls and floor were all disturbingly clean and shiny, and the echo that resonated from their hooves as they struck the floor helped increase the feeling that the palace was nothing but a vast maze. The only thing that helped hinder this feeling was the sight of the occasional guard as they patrolled select regions of the palace. “I don’t know. I didn’t go.” Twilight responded, giving a guard a small smile as they passed him. “Why not?” Blitz asked, raising an eyebrow in question to the mare. “Because I had to go find you,” she said simply. “Why would you miss lunch just to come get me?” he responded. Twilight smiled at such a simple question. “Well, one, you had to wake up some time today. Two, I want to talk to you about something, and three, I’ve only seen you once or twice since the night I got here,” she said, “I figured since we’re friends we could talk some since I’m going to go back to Ponyville after we get this whole matter cleared up.” “If we get it cleared up.” Blitz said, his pessimistic nature taking over. “And what is it you wanted to talk about?” “Let’s talk about it over lunch, okay?” Twilight asked. Blitz just shrugged in agreement and continued walking along in silence. ------------------- By the time the pair reached the dining hall, lunch was already over. Though the two of them together held enough prominence in the castle to convince some of the chefs to fix them a small meal. Though what constituted as a “small meal” was obviously different between the pair; Twilight had requested a simple dandelion and daisy sandwich with a small glass of lemonade, whereas Blitz requested spaghetti with garlic seasoning, steamed alfalfa, and two brownies as a treat. “Hungry there, Blitz?” Twilight teased as Blitz munched on his meal. She had long since finished her lunch, a simple sandwich taking much less time to prepare than spaghetti and brownies. But the chef had prepared a serving for Blitz large enough to make a hoofball player feel overloaded. Blitz had graciously split the mountain of pasta with Twilight, who found her appetite was larger than she had expected. “Mmph buffph grmm.” Blitz mumbled unintelligibly. “I’ll take that as a yes, then,” Twilight chuckled, taking a bite of her portion of the pasta. She wasn’t much of a fan of the garlic, but it didn’t bother her too much. She twisted her fork in the noodles as she waited for Blitz to swallow his mouthful of food and respond. “Yes, I am,” he said, taking a bite out of a brownie. “Now, what is it you wanted to talk about?” Twilight took a sip of her lemonade in an attempt to wash the garlic taste out of her mouth. “Well, Blitz, we all know what today is. And I’m not going to lie, I’m a little bit nervous. I mean, what if I mess up? What if they attack? What if they destroy Equestria! I mean, I could get everypony ki-” “Woah woah woah, calm down there, Twilight,” Blitz interrupted. He didn’t want to have to deal with a mare on a nervous breakdown first thing in the morning- er, afternoon. Let alone a mare like Twilight. “No one’s gonna die, nopony’ll mess up. You’ll be fine, trust me.” Twilight, on the other hoof, wasn’t quite as sure. “What do I do, Blitz? I’m a good speaker, but I’ve never done negotiations like this!” Blitz signaled for her to take a moment and breathe some, before she started melting down again. “Can you give me any advice?” the unicorn asked, once she was calmed down again. Blitz slurped up some of his pasta as he thought on what to say. “No.” he said bluntly. Twilight was visibly confused. Did he just refuse to help her? Does he not understand the magnitude of the task she has later today? “Not that I wouldn’t love to give you advice, it’s just that I can’t,” he continued, taking a swig of his water. “You forget I joined the Royal Guard. Not Foreign Relations.” Blitz finished the last of his brownies before resuming talking. “Though, if you want advice on how to take an objective or march in formation, I’ll be the stallion to ask!” he finished, a sarcastic smile on his face. Twilight sighed loudly, and a thump could be heard as she promptly dropped her head onto the table. “What am I going to do?” she asked, voice muffled by the wood her muzzle rested on. “Ask somepony for advice.” “Oh, hardy har har, Blitz. That’s soo funny.” Twilight mused, rolling her eyes. Blitz’s face remained impassive, though. “I’m being serious. You’ve probably had dozens of ponies- ponies who would kill, quite literally as well as figuratively, mind you, to be in your position- come talk to you and give you advice and help you with what to say and all that nonsense, right?” Twilight nodded her head. “Then ask them for advice. That’s their job. A grunt like me isn’t going to give you good advice on how to talk. Not what I was trained for. Stab first, ask questions later, right?” Twilight remained silent as she thought over his words. Blitz could be very sarcastic, and outright disrespectful, even. Not normally somepony Twilight would like to associate herself with, but he was right. “But that’s not what you wanted to talk about, was it?” Blitz asked, just as Twilight began to get up. Blitz smiled slyly as Twilight sat back down. “Ah, yes. I had almost forgotten.” Twilight said, sitting back into her seat. “You know, a few days ago, I went to the Royal Canterlot Library. I remembered you saying how you thought some of the heroes and heroines were past Elements of Harmony. So I went to check out the books and give them a read myself. Though, I looked everywhere, and I didn’t find a single book on old lore and mythology.” Blitz chuckled nervously at hearing this, his eyes darting to and fro. “Aha.. ah, well, you s-see, someone probably checked them out,” he said, stuttering his words. Twilight leaned forward as she whispered, “I checked the library’s records, it says they were never checked out.” Blitz leaned back and snorted. “Fine. I stole them. The library would never let me check out books for months. And I didn’t feel like having to deal with a hefty fine when I got back either. Besides, nopony in castle reads old tales. No one would miss them.” “Could I please have them?” “I lost them.” “What.” “Moving as much as I did, stuff was bound to get lost.” “You’re lying, aren’t you?” “They’re good stories. I have no regrets.” Blitz remained adamant on his standing to not return the books. Several moments were engulfed by the staredown Blitz and Twilight were having with one another. Eventually, Twilight was the one to talk. “You really like folklore, don’t you?” she asked, having once shared that same type of feeling when she was a filly. Blitz nodded his head. “Yes, I do. It mixes a bit of history with fantasy, and fiction works have always been my favorite. And it’s really quite obvious if you read the stories that some of the heroes were the Elements. I mean, have you not heard the tale of Cloudswitcher the Truthful? Who brought down tyrants and Griffon Kings with mere words alone? It’s quite obvious that he was the Element of Honesty.” Blitz could tell Twilight was intrigued. “Do you want me to continue?” he asked, to which Twilight nodded slowly, listening intently. “There’s a few interesting things I noticed: the heroes I suspect to be former Elements, they weren’t all ponies. Some were Dragons. Others Griffons. But one thing that remained consistent? Magic. Magic wasn’t like Loyalty, or Generosity, or the other Elements, which could be anything. Earth Pony, Dragon, Griffon, Pegasus, it didn’t matter with the other Elements. But Magic has always been a unicorn. Well... both times, anyways,” he finished, scraping the remnants of his spaghetti and alfalfa into his mouth. “Wait. I remember you mentioning other Elements in Ponyville, but the numbers were inconsistent. I’m the second Element of Magic, Pinkie’s the eighth Element of Laughter? Why are they so different?”’ This was the part Blitz was a little hesitant about explaining. “Well, you see, those heroes? The first Element of Magic? She lived for hundreds of years.” he said, lowering his voice as he spoke. “W-what? How is that possible?” Twilight stammered, unable to understand that a pony other than Celestia or Luna could live that long. “Tell me, Twilight. Statistically, which race of pony lives the longest?” Blitz asked, resuming his usual tone. That was a simple question. “Unicorns.” she responded. “Exactly.” Blitz said. “Unicorns. And what do unicorns have? Magic. If you look at Starswirl the Bearded, he lived for, what, a hundred and twenty years? He was a powerful unicorn. There’s a connection between a unicorn’s magical prowess and their life essence. But when you are the ponysonification of the oldest and strongest magic known to ponykind- the Elements of Harmony- you could, in theory, live forever.” Blitz paused for a moment to let that sink in. He feared what would come next. Getting told you will live forever? That’s some big news. Then again, Blitz could be wrong and she’ll die just like everyone else. But he didn’t feel like mentioning that. “Well then how could there be more than one Element? Two Elements of Magic? Eight Elements of Laughter? What’s the explanation behind that, Blitz?” Twilight asked, completely ignoring the information she was just given. Blitz remained silent for a moment in order to gather his thoughts. “Well, you see, all those heroes and heroines? They died in battle. Or they got assassinated. Or died from illness. As far as I can tell, you could live forever, but you’re not invulnerable. You could get your head loped off just like any other pony. Take a look at Laughter; they all shared the idea that laughing at monsters makes them go away. They were always care free. Didn’t acknowledge danger. And they paid for it.” “So Elements share the same type of personality, then?” Twilight asked. She really wished she had some paper and pencil right now. She’d really have to do some research on this when she got back to Ponyville. “From what I can tell from the stories, more or less. If you were a living magic that could imbue your power and very essence into that of another living being, you wouldn’t just pick any old creature, would you?” At least, Blitz hoped she wouldn’t. As if she could read his mind, Twilight shook her head. “I suppose not,” she replied, looking at the clock. She yipped quietly then began to get up. “We should really get going Blitz. One of Celestia’s advisers told me we need to be in the negotiation room at four,” she said as she levitated their empty plates, glasses, and other dishes towards an attendant, who promptly took hold and trotted through a door with them. Blitz glanced at the clock and noticed it was indeed dawning on four o’ clock in the afternoon. He did remember somepony say that the final negotiations would take place at six. He quickly got up and followed Twilight Sparkle out the door. ------------------- The designated negotiation room was abuzz with ponies. Stallions and mares were all running about, some with papers, others helping to set up. Blitz felt slightly overwhelmed in the space he found himself in. For every step he took, he had to take two back just to avoid a hasty pony crossing his path. Eventually, though, he and Twilight were able to make it across the room to where Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and several of their advisers stood. “Twilight Sparkle. Blitz.” Princess Celestia said as the ponies in question bowed. She nodded her head and the two stood from their positions. “It is good that you could make it on time.” “Celestia. Luna.” Blitz mimicked, tipping his hat to the two alicorns. This was immediately followed by glares from several of their advisers. “Ahem. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna,” he corrected himself, never having been one to use titles unless he had to. “I take it you are prepared, my student?” Celestia asked, waving off all those but Luna, Blitz, and Twilight. Twilight nodded her head. “As ready as I’ll ever be, Princess. Though I’m- Applejack! Fluttershy! Girls! Over here!” As she was speaking, all five of Twilight friend’s entered the room. It didn’t take them long to find Twilight- after all, she was standing next to Celestia, who towered over everypony else- and make their way over. “Boy, I’ve never seen so many ponies packed into such a small room before.” Applejack said, looking over the crowd. “Excuse me, ladies, sir, Princess,” a golden coated stallion with a light red mane said, walking up to the group. “We must prepare Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia and Twilight both nodded. “Come on, girls!” Twilight called to her friends as she navigated her way to the other side of the room. Her friends quickly followed suit, Blitz giving each a friendly nod as they passed. “I take it her friends are here to give her support?” Blitz asked Celestia. Both ponies were looking over at the group of heroines as some professional-looking pony spoke with them. “In a sense, yes. Twilight thought that if she were going to try and show them friendship, it would be best to have them there,” responded Celestia. “But they’re not actually going to say anything, are they?” “Should they not?” “I’d advise... against it, yes.” “Well then, I suppose that is why you are not one of my advisers, Blitz.” Blitz snorted at this. Princess Celestia could really annoy him at times. And that was precisely the reason he favored Luna, despite the fact because of her Equestria could potentially be destroyed, depending on the outcome of the talks today. Blitz decided to change the topic of discussion. “So, how come these are the last negotiation attempts? Generally there’s no set date negotiations have to come to a close at.” Having been away on his personal assignment for the past months, Blitz was absent when the first negotiations were taking place. “Not unless something must be fulfilled or returned,” Celestia pointed out. Blitz nodded in agreement. “So what is it that they want?” “Luna.” Celestia said simply. “Or, more accurately, Nightmare Moon.” If Blitz had thought there was any chance of this thing ending with these talks, they had just been crushed. There was no way in hay that Celestia would allow Luna to be given over to her monstrous creations, let alone turn her back into Nightmare Moon. Then all hell broke loose. The room was suddenly bathed in a tinge of dark blue, much akin to Luna’s coat. Immediately everypony dropped what they were doing and fled to the walls. Luckily, many ponies scurried out of the room. Everypony else however, the Princesses excluded, was packed as tightly together as possible, making as much room in the center as they could. “Celestia, what’s happening?” Blitz asked the princess hurriedly. He had no idea what was going on around him. “It’s starting. They’re transmitting a signal to communicate with us.” Celestia replied, remaining calm. It was, after all, her duty as co-ruler of Equestria to be an example as to how everypony else should react. It was not working. “What? Now? I was told it wasn’t supposed to happen for another hour and a half!” Blitz exclaimed, checking a nearby clock to make sure his sense of time wasn’t failing him. It indeed read 4:30 PM. Princess Luna was the one to answer him. “When you live on the dark side of the moon, and do not see sunlight for extended periods, your sense of time is slightly distorted compared to ours. It is no surprise they are contacting us early.” Blitz could see how that might affect timing. After all, his own schedule had gotten off track several times after many a night spent locked in his office. He turned his attention back to the chaos around him. It had calmed down significantly at this point, and Twilight was moved out to the center of the room. Something caught his eye. Towards one side of the room, a shape was taking form. A square, by the looks of it. No, a head. A ponies head. There was a ponies head forming in the rough indigo square of magic that had materialized in the room. A collective gasp came from the lips of the ponies, including Blitz, that had not been present before and therefore not witnessed such a thing. As the figure in the square began to take shape, Blitz could make out a thick jaw line. His eyes were mesmerizing; the type that you could look into for days without knowing why. His other features were obscured, as the pony was wearing what appeared to be armor. Although Blitz could make out a dark colored coat beneath the metal plating. As the figure's image sharpened, another collective gasp came from the same group of ponies. Before them was the image of a stallion who looked just like Nightmare Moon. There was no horn on his head, and wings were not visible from their point of view, but aside from those differences he looked just like the spawn of the Queen of Nightmares herself. His coat was pitch black, his eyes the exact same shade of blue, and his indigo armor was an exact mirror of Nightmare Moon’s. The room was bathed in silence. Not a soul dared speak. Blitz looked at Twilight; to his surprise, she simply stared at the pony. Not in awe, or even fear. Her expression was one that Blitz wore often. Fearless, one could call it. Somewhere inside Blitz, a spark formed. A spark of admiration and hope, for he knew that if anyone could convince this pony to not do anything rash, it was Twilight Sparkle. "Greetings. I am acting High Commander, General Nightwind" Blitz honestly had no idea what he was expecting. A monstrous, booming voice? A distorted and foreign language? He had no idea. But whatever it was, he did not expect the pony’s voice to be so... normal. "Hello. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I will be negotiating with you today." she said, trying to sound as professional as she could. General Nightwind looked over Twilight. His eyes were darting from left to right, as he took in her features. “So you are the newest attempt to sway me?” he said, squinting his eyes at the mare. “Where is that blue stallion? The one that spoke with me before?” “He has been replaced.” Twilight answered, wanting to get to the business at hand. “Now, we must start with the formalities. The Empire of the Moon wishes for Equestria to return their ruler, Nightmare Moon, by Equestrian midnight tonight, or action shall be taken to reclaim and return her,” Twilight finished reading off of a piece of paper she was given, no doubt outlining their demands. “Is that correct?” “Yes,” General Nightwind replied. “But before we continue, true formalities must be addressed. After all, we are two ponies vying for victory over two very different goals. Tell me, Twilight Sparkle, how did you come about to receive the duty of speaking with me today? Tell me about yourself.” Blitz could tell Twilight was caught off guard. No doubt she planned this to be a straightforward deal. “Well, I was born and raised here in Canterlot, and attended the School for Gifted Unicorns here at the palace.” “And how, dear Twilight, did you come to be where you are right now? ‘Negotiating’ with me on the fate of my ruler and my people.” General Nightwind said, not once taking his eyes off the mare. “I was given this assignment because I am Princ-” Twilight suddenly cut herself off, having noticed a flurry of signals from ponies near the wall to not mention Celestia. “Ahem, I was given this assignment because I... work closely with the Princesses,” she said. General Nightwind considered this for a moment. “Very well. Please, continue, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight cleared her throat as she once again began reading off of stacks of paper before her. “And the kingdom of Equestria has stated that it cannot do that, and in return shall offer all citizens of the Empire of the Moon full citizenship, housing, education, and assistance with adjusting to Equestrian way of life within Equestrian borders, so long as you forfeit all hostility and demands toward and against us.” “And the Empire has responded that if you think we will simply give in and not seek restoration of our Queen, then the kingdom of Equestria is poorly informed.” General Nightwind responded, with a faux attempt at being formal. Twilight of course was prepared for this. “You say she needs restoration, but she doesn’t!” Twilight exclaimed. “Princess Luna is co-ruler of Equestria, and will see to it that your people are happy and treated fairly if you take our offer!” By this time, of course, formalities had been dropped. “I would advise against mentioning that... creature you address as the former Queen of my Empire.” Nightwind responded coarsly. “Your ‘Queen,’ General,” Twilight began, “was a monster! But we were able to restore her to normal again! Back to being good!” General Nightwind snorted his reply. “You use ‘good’ and ‘evil’ as if they have meaning. What is good to you is evil for me. What is evil for you is my way of life. Are you insulting my way of life, Twilight Sparkle?” Twilight faltered a little in her reply. “N-no, but I’m trying to show you what we showed your ruler!” “And what would that be?” asked General Nightwind. “A false way of life? A life, undoubtedly condemned to prejudice and scorn for past ‘mistakes’? I do not think so.” “We can’t give you Nightmare Moon. It’s impossible!” Twilight exclaimed. General Nightwind looked hard at his enemy. “As I have said before, if you cannot deliver her, we will have to come get her.” “You don’t understand!” Twilight pleaded, “It is impossible. You would never be able to turn her back into Nightmare Moon. And then what? You will not have a Queen, and your only offer of friendship will be lost!” “Pah!” General Nightwind grunted. “All transformations can be reversed. And we do not need friendship, pony.” Twilight decided that this was the perfect time to unveil her secret weapon. “We showed Princess Luna friendship! Kindness! It was us,” At this point, she motioned for her friends to step into view of General Nightwind. “Six friends, from Ponyville, the Elements of Harmony. We helped to show Princess Luna kindness, and change her back to her normal self. Back from the evil Nightmare Moon and into the wonderful Princess Luna. And we wish to do the same with you! You and all your citizens! We can help you get rid of your hateful life and live happy in Equestria!” Many in the room were silent. A few were even visibly touched by the emotions brought about by Twilight Sparkle’s speech. But the same could not be said for General Nightwind. “You!? You are the ones that transformed our Queen?” General Nightwind barely talked above a whisper, but it held the same weight as if he shouted to the heavens. Blitz could tell the anger was welling up inside him from realizing this mare helped the steal his Queen from him. “Yes, but-” “SILENCE!” General Nightwind commanded, pausing as he collected his thoughts. “You refuse to return our Queen to us. And it was none other than you who took her from us. And now that we know who you are, we will make sure you pay for your crimes against the Empire.” Something out of view of everypony caught the General’s attention. After a brief moment, he turned back and spoke again. “And you say you are from where? From... Ponyville?” General Nightwind asked. It took him a moment, but Blitz realized what was happening. “Ponyville. The home of the... Elements of Harmony. The group that took our Queen from us. Transformed her into your puppet to rule alongside a tyrant. Yes, you shall pay, indeed. And you will pay dearly.” And just like that, the image dissipated. The magic having been cut, the connection was lost. Everypony was silent. Still trying to comprehend what happened and what he meant. Blitz however, was already on point. “Princess! Send soldiers to Ponyville! Now!” he shouted, turning himself to face the Princess. “Why?” Princess Celestia asked, the situation not having clicked in her head. The room was suddenly and briefly filled with a bright, light purple light. Everypony turned their heads to the various windows of the room, searching for the source. Blitz ran to the nearest one, one that overlooked a vast region of the land. But he didn’t need to look. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew where the light came from: Ponyville.