//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: The Council Of The Red Moon // Story: Welcome to Wherever You Are // by FrozenInTime //------------------------------// "Grrrrr... Princess Celestia, what exactly are we waiting for?!" Came the dark rasping voice of the Bat Pony, who spoke from across the circular table. Seven heads all turned to look at the one who had the gall to break the silence at the table. "Look with your eyes, fool!" Said the noble-yet-proud voice of the Griffon, as he pointed a claw at several empty seats. "There are three empty seats. Obviously, we are waiting on more arrivals. How can we start if important representatives for their species are not yet present?!" "Please, let us be civil about this matter! Put your racial tensions behind you!" Said the Crystal Pony, who gave a wary glance at the Diamond Dog whom was eyeing her like a precious gem at the bottom of a tunnel. "Easy there, pooch," said Discord, giving the Diamond Dog a glare of his own. He was actively trying very hard not to laugh. "Sorry. Instincts. I'm trying, really," the large canine replied, wiping the drool off of his chin. "I agree, the past should remain where it is. Our kind has learned that, and so can yours. That goes for all of you!" A moment of silence passed, and unsure looks were given all around the room. Celestia smiled, with a look across her face that spoke volumes of her appreciation for anyone breaking the tension. The Buffalo's words of wisdom seemed to calm everypony's... everyone's nerves. "And I thought I was good with words..." The Pegasus' voice came across soft, but clear. She did indeed have a way with words, but sometimes she spoke without regard to a little thing called common sense. Celestia used this rare moment of silence to address those present. "He is right. There are more arrivals. Two are on their way, and will be here very soon." She looked to her right at the ornate, black seat with a white crescent moon. Just beyond it was an empty yellow seat. "I'm afraid the third will be unlikely to show up." She looked to her left, at the empty purple chair with Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark. On the other side was a pink seat that was currently occupied by Discord. With everypony in Ponyville pre-occupied by recent events, nopony noticed that Princess Luna had personally escorted Fluttershy to Canterlot. Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were too focused on Twilight, Twilight was too focused on Rainbow Dash, and Rainbow only had eyes for Twilight. Everypony else was paranoid about Changelings. Only Fluttershy’s animal friends really knew, as they bid teary goodbyes to her as she left. To an outside observer it was almost amusing, as she would only be gone for a few hours. However, for Fluttershy it was anything but, her critter friends were family to her. Fluttershy was indeed glad for Twilight and Rainbow. She hoped they would find their true feelings for one another, and Twilight was certainly less depressed either way. She was still unsure of exactly how the friendship of the Elements would come back together, but she had high confidence that it would. But, nothing could stop her from being just as paranoid of Changelings. She was actually suspicious of Princess Luna when she arrived at the front door of her hut, not sure if it was the real one. Following a few quick questions and the trademark Fluttershy stare, she proved to be the real deal and not a Changeling imposter. "Now, will you allow me to tell you the reason I'm here?" "I-I'm sorry, Princess..." she said with a bow. "You just can't be too sure with all the Changelings running around." "It's no trouble, I assure you. I understand your caution. It could save lives. But, you are currently needed for something that will save more lives." "What is it, exactly?" For something like this to be coming from Luna, who had her fair share of tough decisions in the past and many lives lost at her hooves, it must be extremely important. "It's actually not safe to talk about it around here... come, follow me." Luna suddenly took off into the air. "What? Hay! W-wait up!" Fluttershy stumbled as she tried to follow. Luna saw this and slowed enough to allow Fluttershy to catch up. After a few minutes of flying, Luna judged that they had reached a safe enough distance away from any prying eyes to fully explain the situation. "As you know, times are very troubled. Changelings are everywhere, and it needs to stop. We have reason to believe that Queen Chrysalis will actually order a full-scale assault on Equestria soon." "So... why are you bringing me here? What can I do about it?" Silence followed, as Princess Luna contemplated her response. If anypony would be dealing with this, I thought it would be Twilight... why didn't Luna go to her instead? Why didn't she bring all of us? Maybe she knows about our fighting... but then, she could've just brought me, Twilight, and Rainbow. Maybe she thinks I'm on Rarity's side... As the finer details of Canterlot began coming into view, Fluttershy could clearly make out the windows and balconies of the castle, she was awe-struck by its beauty in the early evening. This was Twilight's time after all, and many considered this to be the most elegant time of the day. Not as grand as the rising of the sun, nor as somber as the rise of the moon, it managed a happy medium between the two. To Fluttershy, it was perfect. Soon enough, ponies could be seen wandering the streets of Canterlot, going about their daily business, whatever it was these fancy ponies did with their seemingly noble lives. Princess Luna finally broke the silence as they approached the castle. "The Changeling horde is massive, and we cannot hope to defeat it alone. However, we are most certainly not alone. Equestria has allies, and Celestia and I both think they will help. That is, if they can stay off each other's throats long enough." She rolled her eyes as she remembered the Bat Pony nearly biting the Griffon, followed by the Diamond Dog trying to put a dull brown bag over the Crystal Pony's head. That part was more than likely just an obsessive impulse on the Dog's part, but the Bat-Griffon conflict was something much worse... "So how do I fit in?" "It is not just entire species we are calling for aid. There are individuals we believe capable of gathering a few... diverse allies. Individuals with special talents to gather these allies, or sharing an aforementioned talent with them." "Special talents?" The two landed on the front steps of the castle. As they trotted up the steps, two white Unicorn guards clad in golden armor saluted, and opened the front doors for them. They entered, and Luna continued. "Celestia will explain everything, I promise. Now, stay close. Very few know about the area of the castle we are headed to, never mind the room. Many dismiss this as just a legend, but it is anything but. Come now, they will be waiting for us." After a few minutes of trotting, Luna veered off in a complexly different direction then Fluttershy had been expecting. The hallway they entered was much thinner, barely large enough for both of the mares to walk through. It was also much darker, as there were no windows here. The only light was emanating from the hallway they had just left, which faded to nothing only a few hoofsteps in, as if something was blocking the light. Despite the darkness, it was clear that the hallway was a dead-end about fifty hooves ahead. Fluttershy put aside her own fears and trusted Luna knew where she was going. They finally came to a stop right in front of the wall that marked the end of the hallway. "Princess Luna, what..." "Shh..." The dead-end wall turned a deep blue, and a small mechanical click echoed off the walls of the corridor. Luna reached a hoof forward, tapping in code four times on a single grey brick. Knock, knock. Knock, knock. A new sound filled the hallway, the unexpected sound of stone scraping on stone. Dust shook from the wall as several bricks began shifting inwards. Then, the entire wall split down the middle before sliding back and receding to the sides, revealing a dimly lit stairwell. Fluttershy stared at the new passage with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. The castle had secret passages? Why? Could there really be use for something like that? "Come, we're almost there." Luna’s voice snapped Fluttershy out of her trance, and the two stepped into the passage, the wall closing behind them with the sound of scraping stone returning. "Wow. I've never seen this part of the castle before. It looks..." "Older?" "Yeah..." Fluttershy knew she hadn't seen all areas of the castle. In fact, she had only been here on a few occasions. The Grand Galloping Gala, the wedding of Princess Cadence to Shining Armor (and the first Queen Chrysalis incident), and a brief time while Discord was released. The latter two had been both the best and worst times of her life. Both times their friendship stretched like a rubber band to its snapping point. Both times, Twilight Sparkle had saved them and brought them all back together. It was cruel that these memories surfaced now, at another instance of the friendship divided. This time, It didn't seem like Twilight would be able to bring them back together. It wasn't fair. Twilight had helped them all so much, and despite all she had done for them, their ‘other’ friends were ready to disown her. It was wrong in every sense. They passed several battered, dusty wooden doors down a dimly lit corridor. It reminded Fluttershy of the time her and the other girls had gone to the abandoned castle in the Everfree forest, to free Princess Luna from the curse of Nightmare Moon. The memory sent chills down her spine, she couldn't recall ever being more scared in her life. But, it was also a happy memory. The greatest friendships of her life began from that time. It was how they had all became friends, and she couldn't have been happier than to finally have friends that accepted her for who she was, which is why this time seemed so wrong to her, how could they be so accepting then but so mean now? Fluttershy realized that there were tears running down her face, which she quickly wiped them away with a hoof. She hoped she didn't look too scared in front of the Princess. She briefly wondered, what would Twilight say at a time like this? Princess Luna came to a stop in front of a large door. This door was not covered in dust like the others, and seemed to be in perfect condition. Curiously, there were no guards. Fortunately for Fluttershy, Luna held up a hoof and stopped her from almost walking right into the closed door, which snapped her out of her thoughts. "Princess Luna, why aren't there any guards here?" "Because, most of them don't know how to get here." Fluttershy opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. She recalled that even thought she had just walked the path, there was no way she could get back here on her own, never mind the security spells, like that of the wall that required a very specific knock to activate. That one command had opened a large hole that had only stayed open for a few seconds before re-closing. Fluttershy doubted that was the only such measure. She was sure Luna most likely deactivated quite a few on the way down that she simply did not notice. "Are you ready?" "I suppose so..." Princess Luna nodded, and telekinetically opened the door. Fluttershy looked around the room and gasped. This room was nothing like the hallway they were just in. The hallway was cold, damp, and dark. This room was well lit, and had a comfortable feel to it. "Luna. Fluttershy. Please, come take a seat. We're glad you have finally arrived," said an ever-calm princess Celestia. The back wall of the large room was decorated by a stained-glass window showing Princess Luna, facing away, wings spread wide, while under a large red moon. The scene depicted in the backdrop seemed to be undefined chaos. Nothing could clearly be made out, besides the fact that it was clearly a large battle. Two smaller windows were on either side of it. The one on the left showed Luna and Celestia together, focusing some brilliant magic on the form of King Sombra in the arctic north, with the Crystal Empire in the background. A small red moon was in the upper-left. The one on the right showed Discord in the middle of a different frozen wasteland, one Fluttershy could not recognize. He had one paw around the back of a yellow Unicorn filly with a yellow and orange mane. Her face was clearly marked with tears, and Discord actually seemed to be trying to comfort her. The two were looking at the red moon in the upper right corner. The picture seemed eerily familiar to Fluttershy, but she couldn't exactly place the reason... The grey stone walls were decorated by banners set in a very particular pattern. A bright orange banner with Celestia's sun, followed by a deep blue banner with Luna's moon, followed by a jet black banner with a red crescent moon. The pattern continued with the three banners on three of the four sides of the room, the fourth being the one with the windows. The large circular table in the middle matched the black banners perfectly; jet black wood, with a red crescent moon emblazoned in the center. A glass of water was placed in front of each occupant. There were eight others in the room, each seated at the table, and each bringing back a memory as Fluttershy looked over them, starting from the left. First was a Diamond Dog with a spiked teal collar. He appeared to be one of the more intelligent ones, not the giant hulking brutes they used as soldiers. He brought memories of Rarity being ponynapped and used as a slave, to which the others, along with Spike, had tried to save. Only to find themselves woefully unneeded as Rarity had outsmarted the entire pack. Next was the Buffalo. Fluttershy recognized him as Chief Thunderhooves of the Buffalo tribe near Appleloosa. He was wearing a small feather-hat, and still had the humble look on his face that Fluttershy saw all that time ago. She remembered their time in Appleloosa, where they had tried to keep the peace between the town and the tribe and the very disturbing song Pinkie Pie had sung that nearly caused the war to start on its own. After him was the Griffon, which only reminded Fluttershy of Gilda, a memory she would rather suppress. This Griffon had a noble feel about him, and he was donned with a blue-ish armor, the material unknown to her. He had a welcoming smile on his beak, which made her feel a little more welcome in this place filled with strangers. At the head of the table, from left to right, was a yellow seat, black seat, Princess Celestia, a purple seat, and Discord. How exactly had he gotten here without her knowing? After the Draconequus was a yellow, shining Crystal Pony. She reminded Fluttershy of the Crystal Empire and the good times they all had there. The thought caused tears to fall that burned her eyes. Why was this happening to them? Why had a rift formed between the six of them, who were previously inseparable? Wanting to get the thoughts out of her mind, Fluttershy continued to shift her gaze, her eyes fell to the next member at the table. It was a black Bat-Pony. Fluttershy quickly looked past him, a chill running down her spine. Finally, she looked upon... "...Spitfire? What are you doing here?" Spitfire was focusing on one of the stained-glass windows, and had not noticed Fluttershy walk in, or Celestia's greeting. She turned, surprised, to see the yellow Pegasus and a grin crossed her face. She was not wearing her usual Wonderbolt attire, in fact, she was unclothed. "Come, take a seat. I will introduce the members here formally." Luna began to walk around the table, and Fluttershy followed her awkwardly. The Bat Pony gave her a cold glare from across the table, only serving to unsettle Fluttershy even more. "This is The Council of the Red Moon, a war room that we have not had cause to use in over one thousand years," Explained Luna. Luna took her seat in the black chair, and nodded to the yellow seat next to her. Coming close, Fluttershy saw her own Cutie Mark on the seat. She hesitantly sat down, looking once more over the table. She only now noticed that the five seats where she sat were much closer together than the rest, and seemed a bit taller as well. She noticed Twilight's Cutie Mark on the purple seat. So, Twilight was supposed to be here... She quickly gave voice to these thoughts. "Princess Celestia, why isn't Twilight here?" “As Changeling magic is capable of intercepting my letters to spike, I sent two escorts to retrieve her. Normally I would have sent Luna for both of you but that would have taken too long.” In hindsight, Celestia supposed that allowing a Bat Pony and a Griffon guard sent by their respective leaders to retrieve Twilight Sparkle was not one of her better ideas. Although allowing it was a show of trust between them. “Anyway, on to the introductions.” "Okay, first is Keen, representative of the Diamond Dogs. Ponies have had a limited history with them, but they will be a powerful ally all the same. If they agree, that is." Keen merely huffed. "That's the chief of the Buffalo tribes. I believe you personally encountered this one. Unfortunately, he still refuses to share his name." Celestia gave him a glare, and he responded with a smile. He looked to Fluttershy and tipped his feather-hat, as a smile of recognition crossed his brown-furred face. "It's Thunderhooves," he said hesitantly. "Here is Emperor Siros of the Griffon Empire. He represents his own species, and we are very grateful he has agreed to show up personally. One of the noblest beings I have ever had the pleasure to meet, he is also a fantastic strategist. He does what is necessary, but he knows when to not overstep his bounds." Siros bowed respectfully at Fluttershy. "I've heard of your ability to befriend animals, and that you once stared down a full-grown Dragon. It is an honor, and a pleasure, to meet such a worthy ally." He smiled at her again, before catching a look from the Bat Pony. Fluttershy smiled back. He was the first one so far to give an actual greeting. "This is Luminance, of the Crystal Ponies. Sadly, Princess Cadence and Shining armor were unable to arrive on such short notice, so she has come in their place. They are a resilient and quick-minded race, naturally skilled in magic, and we would be happy to have them." The Crystal Pony looked at Fluttershy with an ear-to-ear grin. "Charmed," is all she said. "Representing the Bat Ponies is Echo. Their kind is known for natural stealth, and... Some nasty bites. They would be a very valuable addition to our alliance, as they can also use echolocation to tell Changelings apart from other species, even when they are disguised." Echo looked at Fluttershy with another cold stare that seemed to pierce through her soul, as if he was saying I know what you are. "It's apparent that you already know Spitfire. The Wonderbolts' flying is nearly unmatched, and that skill would be valuable for crowd-control in the vast Changeling swarm. But, there is another thing about Spitfire..." Celestia, Luna, Discord and Spitfire all looked up to the stained glass window showing Discord and the filly. "You see, Spitfire is the last known member of an ancient race, known as the Firemanes." Firemanes... Fluttershy immediately recognized the scene shown in the window. It was an old legend that Twilight had once told her... The Firemanes lived in a large Savanna-like plains region. It was hot and humid year-round, however, they not only survived, but also flourished. The crops they grew seemed to thrive in the hot weather, and as their name suggests, they also thrive in the heat. All of them had fur and manes of fire-like coloring. Their very life functions depended on heat to survive. Taking it away would be akin to taking away their ability to breathe. They were infamous for their volatile nature, being extremely easy to anger. Civil wars were very common throughout their territory, but they all ended in peace, eventually. That is, except for the last one. The final war was so brutal that Princess Luna raised the moon red, the "red light hiding the bloodshed,” or, "to put in perspective how brutal the conflict is.” It was actually an omen for war. The moon remained red for almost one full week. The species split in two, with a bloody conflict ongoing near the center of the territory. Nopony alive today knew what this war was about, but it did not matter at this point. The hate the two sides had for each other was so strong; the harbingers of hate themselves descended upon the land. The Wendigos. Being a species that lived by heat and fire, the icy storms that ravaged the land killed the bulk of them within a matter of days. The war still raged on, until the third evening of the blizzard. The few survivors of each side gathered in the divide of their territories. This tale has been related to the Founding of Equestria for this reason. They made amends for the war right then and there, before all but one of them collapsed and died in the snow, one by one, their bodies being quickly encased in the ice. The one survivor was the Unicorn filly shown. Seeing this, the God of Chaos took pity on her, and quickly appeared at her side as she stared, tearfully, at the red moon overhead. She did not know the meaning of 'War', and never understood why the ponies had to fight. “That lone Unicorn stared at the moon, wondering why her kind had to fight itself to extinction. Why her entire species had to die. Why it had to end this way. That's when Discord showed up." Celestia explained the tale to the other members. "Spitfire is different. After many generations, this filly's descendants relied less and less on heat to survive, and with it, their angry nature died down. She wouldn't be here now if it weren't for Discord." "Oh come on, how could I not help her? Just look at that face..." Discord got teary-eyed as he stared back at the picture. "Which was the entire reason why we didn't use the Elements of Harmony right away on him later when he want crazy. We knew there was good in him, which is also why we sent him to you to be reformed." Echo spit out the water he was drinking as he heard Celestia's last sentence. "You... reformed the God of Chaos?!" "I see why you brought her here now, Princesses," said Luminance. "I'm not buying it," Keen started. "Unless I can see her 'skills' first-paw, I refuse to believe that she reformed a God, or stared down a Dragon." "Well, you better believe it, bud. Fluttershy did exactly that. She's also not a half bad flyer, and I've seen that first paw- err, hoof." Spitfire was quick to defend her fellow Pegasus, as she retold the story of the water-tornado that allowed Cloudsdale to produce clouds, and how it never would have happened without Fluttershy. "Like I said, not believing until I seeing." With that, a large steel cage, a bit larger than an average pony, landed on the table. Inside of it was a mid-sized Timberwolf cub. It immediately turned to Echo and growled, causing him to leap back out of his seat and into the air with a yelp. He hovered there for a moment, staring daggers at Emperor Siros, who softy chuckled at him. Embarrassed, he slowly reclaimed his seat. "Go on, Fluttershy. Show 'em what you can do." Spitfire's reassurance was all she needed. Fluttershy hovered forward towards the cage, smiling at the Timberwolf. It growled at her, but stopped after about five seconds. However, it retained its angry expression. She reached for one of the two locks, and everyone watched with anticipation as she slowly opened it. "That thing will tear her to shreds..." Luminance muttered under her breath. Fluttershy slowly hovered down, sitting on the table in front of the cage. She reached out a hoof to the cage, gently putting it up against the bars. The Timberwolf bowed its head to smell it. "You're really nice on the inside, I can see it. I just want to be your friend. Won't you be my friend?" The anger instantly faded from the beast's face, and it started barking and bounding around the cage with its tongue hanging out of its mouth. Fluttershy released the other lock, and the Timberwolf dove forward, forcing the cage open and knocking Fluttershy over. Luminance almost screamed, but Chief Thunderhooves laughed as he realized what the Timberwolf was doing. Standing over Fluttershy, it began to lick her face. After a few seconds, it stepped back and rolled over as Fluttershy scratched its stomach. She was laughing now, as she whispered playfully to her newest friend. "Oh, you're a nice big fella, aren't ya? Aren't ya? I think I'm gonna call you Argus." He rolled back to his paws and licked Fluttershy's face again. The cage disappeared with Luna's magic, and Fluttershy and her new friend walked on top of the table back to their seat. He eagerly sprawled out over her lap. Argus was almost the size of Fluttershy, making it all the more impressive. "Incredible..." Luminance whispered. "T-that was just a cub! There's no way-" "Stop making excuses, you coward!" Echo hissed violently, cutting Keen off, while slamming his hoof on the table in anger. Keen leaned back in his seat, intimidated by the Bat Pony's outburst. "Princess Celestia, the Bat Ponies will fight with you to the very end! It was you who gave us a home, and none of our kind has forgotten. We are with you!" Argus showed his fangs at Keen, as if he somehow understood what was going on. "I'm very glad to hear that, Echo. So, the Griffons and Bat Ponies have joined us, Fluttershy. Emperor Siros agreed before you arrived." "Add Crystal Ponies to the list, your majesty. We will join you." "As will the Buffalo and Ponies of Appleloosa!" "The Wonderbolts are at your service." Celestia was beaming as she held back tears of joy. Her loyal subjects were now proving their loyalty, along with Equestria's allies. Keen remained still, however. Until the doors of the Council room burst open. All eyes turned as the battered Griffon limped back in with a wounded Bat Pony on his back. They had clearly been attacked. The Griffon had cuts and gashes along his legs, and a particularly nasty one across his face. The front of his steel chestpiece was cracked, and its back was covered in blood. If the Griffon was bad, the Bat Pony was a disaster. One of his wings had a massive tear down the side, and one of his ears had the top cut off. He had double the amount of wounds as the Griffon. His voice was broken and weak. "A... m-message...your majesty..." a scroll fell from its place under his wing as he passed out, the Griffon quickly placed him on the floor. "That pony needs medical attention! Echo, he is one of yours, so you should bring him to the hospital wing. Now! He's bleeding out!" Echo quickly obeyed Luna's orders and darted forward, picking up the Bat Pony and sprinting out the door. Siros began to attend to his fellow Griffon. Celestia levitated the scroll towards herself. As she opened it, she realized it was blank. However, a small green crystal floated out of its own accord. It floated down to the table, stopping right in the center. The crystal began to glow with a vile green aura, as small orbs began to leak from all sides. One of the sides was noticeably brighter than the rest, and in a few seconds, it would be apparent why. A small, green, translucent projection of Queen Chrysalis appeared on the table, projected from that side of the levitating crystal. It smiled at Celestia and laughed. Argus leapt to the table and began growling and barking at her false form. "What is the meaning of this, Chrysalis?!" Celestia yelled at the projection. "Is this your little alliance? How adorable. You think you actually stand a chance, Celestia?! Changelings will never be beaten. Even now, our swarm descends on Ponyville, and there is nothing you can do! We have been there for a while, actually. After your little student became a princess, I had one of my children copy her, and sever all ties she had to her friends, the Elements of Harmony. I still can't believe it worked." Something snapped in Fluttershy's head. Did... did that just happen? Did she just say that? It all made sense now. Why the others were acting so hostile, why Twilight had no idea... a Changeling had been copying her. She felt pure rage, more rage than when Discord took Rainbow's loyalty. Chrysalis was the reason their friendship had crumbled! "I must admit, she has two very loyal friends. One is still with her, and the other caught on to the fake Twilight right away. This little pest..." Two Unicorns, one of them just a filly, appeared in the projection. They were unconscious, laying on their sides. Fluttershy gasped in horror as she realized who they were. "Rarity... Sweetie Belle..." "Say goodbye to your faithful student, Celestia. I will make sure she goes slowly, and very, very painfully." The projection disappeared, and the crystal fell to the table. After a few seconds, it shattered and evaporated, its magic was used up. Dead silence. Everyone in the room tried to process what had just happened. Surprisingly, it was Keen that broke the silence. "Princess, the Diamond Dogs will join your alliance." Celestia nodded with a smile, and turned to Luna. "Sister, I must risk sending a letter to Twilight! She must be warned! Raise the Red Moon. As of this moment, we are at war!"