Recently, I had been reading up on two subjects. How to conduct war, and how to run an empire.
Most of the books on the subject were woefully out of date, and did not provide strategic models for properly performing either task. I did however, come across a phrase in one book that I found rather intriguing.
"A soldier wins his battles by strength, as he overpowers and crushes his enemies. A prince wages war through deceit and guile, defeating his foes without ever raising a hoof."
While this was all well and good, it did not answer the question I searched for.
How did a goddess wage war?
I had found countless tomes laden with "forbidden" spells. Spells designed to hurt, maim, and kill ponies. While these were useful, most of them were created for unicorns, not alicorns.
The books could not tell me how a goddess was to wage war. I would have to write the book myself.
And so I thrust myself into them. I poured over books of war spells, every word adding to my deadly repertoire. I learned how to crush bones with a wave of my hoof. To boil a pony from the inside out. To raze entire cities with only a thought.
I learned to manage an empire. I expanded my knowledge to include economics, internal affairs, trade, and diplomacy. I learned how to appeal to the masses, quell uprisings, and manage trade routes both in and out of my kingdom. I would give Equestria the golden age she deserved.
I would be the harbinger of harmony.
My studies were cut short however, as the door to the throne room was blown open. In strode Prince Blueblood and Captain Shining Armor. A soldier and a prince. The look on their face practically screamed their intent.
They were here for war.
Prior knowledge could be applied here. The soldier would apply strength, the prince would apply guile. I would outdo them both.
It was in the moment that I realized how the goddess wages war. The goddess did not win by strength, nor by guile, nor by subterfuge.
The goddess won her battles through dominance.
The prince made a feeble attempt to apply guile.
"Your majesty, I have a request to make of you."
He behaved as proper as he could be. He wished to charm me through flattery. A most admirable endeavor, but one that was all too easily shot down. The denial of his request was all it took. Beneath that proper appearance lay the spirit of a spoiled, ignorant brat rather than a beguiling prince. With a simple denial and an assertion of my authority over him, I brought that spirit to the surface.
The captain was blunt with his questions. He was not a master of subtlety, nor did he have any natural eloquence about him. He was however, carrying a blade. I had no reason to doubt that he would try to kill me. He would fail of course, but that wasn't the point. I needed him alive.
Rumors about the true nature of Celestia and Cadence's demise had already begun to circulate through the guards. The rumors had begun to ferment into the ripe wine of dissent, and soldiers drunk on dissent are primed for uprising. A military uprising was something I couldn't afford. Those guards needed to be focused on slaying Discord and eliminating the remaining threat to my rule. They needed one who's mere presence could rally them and crush the dissenting spirit.
They needed their captain.
Unless he sided with me, I could be facing a military revolt.
I would not tolerate this.
With a single, swift motion I sent the prince sprawling. Shining Armor futilely swung at me with his blade. I caught it upon my foreleg, which I had solidified with magic.
"I don't want to fight you brother."
He didn't relent. He was so filled with sorrow and anger that he could not hear me. Luckily, the royal guards arrived in time to take him under control.
"I'll never join you! You're a murderer! You killed Cadence!"
I watched the captain blubber like a newborn foal. This paragon of strength in my life now sat broken at my hooves, tears streaming from his eyes.
I knew I couldn't leave him like this. He needed persuasion to join me. He needed a promise that would bind him to my side, the same way a dog adheres to its master for food. Something he would give his life to have.
Cadence.
To raise the dead was an impossible art. Not even magic could break the bonds of death.
But he didn't know that.
I fabricated a spell to simulate the feeling of death. I blinded him, so he could not see. I deafened him, so he could not hear. I paralyzed him, so he could not move.
He lay on the floor, blind, deaf and paralyzed.
I gave him a moment to let the effects set in. The guards who held his now limp body looked on in horror.
They bought it.
I dissipated the spell, and the captain shot bolt upright, choking to fill his lungs with air. His eyes were wild with sheer horror. His face grew pale, and his mouth hung open.
I opened a channel into his mind and spoke.
"Yes. I killed Cadence. But the same magic I used to slay her can give her back to you. I can raise her again, brother. All I ask is that you remain as captain of my guard."
He nodded yes.
I was proud. I had won the battle against my guards before it even began.
I lifted up that old tome on warfare and turned to a blank page in the back. I levitated my quill and began to scrawl.
"The goddess wages war through dominance..."