//------------------------------// // Chapter 44-Never Forget // Story: Transformers: The Requiem // by JDPrime22 //------------------------------// The next morning, the frenzy in Canterlot had broken out in ways that nopony could hope to contain. All around, young colts selling newspapers were having the time of their lives handing out the newest issue of Equestria Daily for two bits each. The headlines covered an entire page. It read in big, bold letters… FILLYDELPHIA ATTACKED! DECEPTICONS ON THE RAMPAGE! Canterlot, once being home to the most civil of ponies in all of Equestria had demoralized to a level expected out of Ponyville civilians. Ponies were screaming in the streets, others were taking advantage of the chaos and robbed jewelry stores, but most of them were gathered right outside of Canterlot Castle, home to the Royal Sisters. The protestors screamed Celestia’s name, demanding answers and solutions to the attack on their home. Most of the ponies carried signs. These signs portrayed Decepticon heads with large, red X’s going through them. The protestors kept on chanting the same letter over and over again. “AAA! AAA! AAA!” All of Canterlot’s Royal Guard kept the protestors at bay, their shields pushing them back from entering the princesses’ throne room. But the guards could still hear them, their cries of fear, of anger. They needed protection. They wanted the Alliance, or they’ll have Celestia’s head in the next hour. "AAA!" _______________ Princess Celestia pushed open the doors to the throne room, ignoring the screaming ponies behind her. She would only listen to questions that needed an answer, and not questions that would lead to even more confusion. “Your highness, Canterlot is falling apart with this attack screaming all across the country! What are we going to do to contain all of this?!” a high-ranking commander in the Royal Guard asked, his loud voice booming across the throne room. “Well, we must do something fast,” Prince Blueblood answered, trailing behind the solar princess. He scoffed, rolling his eyes as he did so. “It won’t be long before Canterlot falls to the likes of common filth.” “Shut it, Blueblood!” another high-ranking guard shouted, earning a gasp from the stallion. Blueblood’s eyes showed that it was as if he was never yelled at in his life. The guard ignored it and turned back to Celestia, his eyes only meeting the back of her head. “Princess Celestia, I’ve received word that Canterlot civilians won’t be contained for much longer. They want this tragedy in Fillydelphia dealt with now!” the guard told her. Another member of the guard took a step forward, taking off his golden helmet to reveal his sweaty mane stuck to his forehead. “Princess, the number of casualties in Fillydelphia has reached over two hundred. There are still several ponies missing under the debris of the building! We need to act now because the Mayor of Fillydelphia is in desperate need of assistance!” he said to the princess. Princess Celestia stopped just short of her throne. Her ears twitched with every word spewed from Blueblood’s muzzle as well as the retaliating shouts from her commanding guards. She wouldn’t be able to take much more of this. With her eyes closed and her teeth clenched, the princess spun around, surprising all the ponies in the room with her heated stare. The princess turned towards her commanders in the Royal Guard, her stare piercing their stone eyes. “Tell all the Royal Guard that I will be out momentarily to ease the Canterlot civilians. Go now,” Celestia ordered, receiving a salute from her two commanders as they both left the throne room. Celestia looked on to Blueblood, a frown accompanying her stare of pure fire. Prince Blueblood gulped quietly as she began to speak. “Blueblood, I would greatly appreciate it if you were to tell the civilians that this issue will be solved very quickly. Can I trust you with such an easy task?” the princess asked, staring straight into the stallion’s weak gaze. He could’ve sworn he felt something warm running down his leg while under the presence of Celestia’s famous stare. Trying not to make a fool of himself any longer, Blueblood nodded quickly with a fast, “Mmhm.” “Good… Now, be gone,” Celestia stated firmly, watching as the stallion practically scrambled out of her throne room, a puddle following him. She turned towards the other member of the guard, her stare not as hard but still holding the intensity of the sun. She said, “All efforts to aid Fillydelphia will continue as planned. I’ll address the nation very soon, but for now…please just tell the guards what I’ve told you.” The guard bowed before her, kissing her gold-plated hooves. “Thank you, princess,” he said to her, his voice weaker than a whisper. Celestia was surprised by the act, but not as surprised as what followed. The same guard made his exit. He stopped by the two large doors leading into the throne room. He turned his head back to Celestia, his eyes burning red from what she knew was tears. “I…I have family in Fillydelphia, your highness,” the noble guard told her. Celestia gave him a reassuring smile, the best she could ever muster. “Then we’ll double our efforts,” the princess told him. The look on the guard’s face made it seem that he just received a gift from the heavens. He kept his composure, and nodded once to his superior. “Thank you, your majesty,” he said with a nod, leaving the throne room with the two doors slowly shutting behind him. Princess Celestia stared at the two doors for whoever knows how long. While her eyes never blinked, the images from the early morning newspaper kept rewinding through her mind. She saw he devastation, the fires, and the tall, two-legged creature standing amongst it all. A Decepticon standing around her…her little ponies. All dead. Her eyes remained hardened to the bitter end. Even as she turned to her throne, her eyes never broke, never shattered to the overcoming tragedy and pain filling in her heart. What her mind and feelings wanted her to do, she knew she couldn’t. It would be foolish, asinine to let her feelings dictate her actions. The princess took a seat. That’s when she let out the tears. Releasing a massive wail of despair, the solar princess planted her hooves firmly in front of her to prevent falling. That didn’t stop the fresh tears from landing right below her head in little drops. Her chest began to heave in and out, the weight of the world falling on top of her. Not crushing the princess. It was only bringing her down, beating her, tearing her apart. Hundreds of lives lost in one swift act of terror. An entire city put on lockdown and making sure nothing got out. Screaming ponies right outside her castle demanding actions being taken. It was just like after the Decepticon invasion a year ago, only this was for worse. Back then, Princess Celestia had full support from nations across the world in reassuring that they would all be safe. There were to be no more alien invasions. Since the attack last night…all Celestia got were a few condolences from Equestria’s neighboring countries. The rest were outrageous assumptions from the Griffon Kingdom and the land of the minotaurs asking just what a Decepticon was doing on the planet. When they first found Optimus, Princess Celestia did her best to keeping it a secret from the rest of the world and only securing the news in Equestrian borders. The news of Optimus Prime found in Equestria was nothing but rumors in the Griffon Kingdom. They were lucky. Very, very lucky. Celestia didn’t have that kind of assurance anymore. The attack on Fillydelphia and the picture taken of the possible Decepticon had gone worldwide. The riots. The chaos. The peace she hoped to create since the invasion happened. They were united once more. Ponies, griffons, zebras, minotaurs, all of them had the trust and faith in each other knowing that they would stand together against any force that threatened their very way of life. Now, nations across the world were preparing themselves for another attack without any help from Equestria. That’s not what made Princess Celestia heartbroken. She wasn’t even upset about that. What made her heartbroken was the attack itself. Her little ponies… Gone. Bound to protect them from any force of evil bent on destroying their world, Celestia hadn’t felt this much sorrow since…since the Decepticon invasion exactly a year ago. She couldn’t do much back then. Back then, all the assurance she had was in Twilight and her friends to succeed in the Crystal Empire. Now, all the assurance she hoped to have in this dark time was gone. The faith her subjects once had in her as a leader was slowly fading away, she could feel it. The love, the motherly love was beginning to shatter. “Oh, mother… Oh, father…what am I going to do?” Celestia whispered under her breath, barely hiding the whimpers. She opened her eyes only slightly, allowing even more tears to pour down her cheeks. She looked up towards the ceiling, past that and into the heavens. “I need your help…” Do not beat yourself up, sister. Celestia heard in her mind. The solar goddess looked around the throne room, noticing not another breathing soul. Oh, Luna. What have we done to deserve this? All we do is give and give and give and all we receive is pain and fear. That’s what it means to be a leader. Sometimes we need to take a stand, by ourselves if we must if we ever hope to achieve true peace. You taught me that. Luna responded telepathically. Celestia thought for a few seconds, then responded. They’re losing faith in us, Luna. I know. We need to assure our little ponies that the Decepticons are not a threat. We need them to understand that if Equestria survived the invasion then it will most definitely survive this cowardly attack. Since the Crystal Heart is gone, all we can ever hope is that the Decepticons don’t use it to their advantage. The efforts are still dwindling, my sister. The Crystal Heart is nowhere to be found despite the nation-wide investigation. Perhaps…we need assistance. Luna spoke in Celestia’s mind, her voice cold and low. Celestia opened her eyes. The look she gave was almost unsure, but it held some understanding through the clouds of deception. She spoke to Luna. Surely you’re not considering we speak with…him. What other choice do we have, sister? Luna asked. As much as I distrust that little worm, his company’s “strike” had to of end by now. We need to know what he plans to do to stop this fear spreading across the world. The Alliance is known throughout the world as the ponies that protect the planet from aliens. Celestia could hear Luna sigh, even in her mind. Maybe our little ponies can’t trust us…but they can trust him. After finally taking in the truth of her younger sister’s words, Princess Celestia sat upright, no shred of emotion flooding past her stare. Ever since they’re creation, the AAA has been growing in strength, in propaganda, and mostly in power. Celestia would always see they’re logo in the morning newspaper, and today it was even larger. She knew what power could do. It changes ponies, it changes who they really are, what they’re meant to be. Celestia learned of this long ago. She learned of it from her sister taking the night to an all new level. Nightmare Moon wanted her night to last forever. Doing so would bring her on top. It would bring her power. Power corrupts, nopony could change that. But even with all the warnings she gave him, Celestia just couldn’t convince the stallion otherwise. Sadly, Princess Luna was right. The ponies of Equestria trust him. Noctune. I will see what I can do, sister. She made sure to cut off the telepathic link she had with her sister as she stood from her throne. Princess Celestia walked down the long throne room that led to front doors. Using her magic to push them wide open, the princess was met with two guards instantly coming to her side to salute her. Celestia brought her eyes over to the left guard. She made sure they weren’t wet from not too long ago. “Get the Royal Messenger prepared for travel at once. I want to meet with him before he leaves for Vanhoover in the next hour,” Celestia ordered, earning a strong and swift “Yes, your highness” in response. As the left guard galloped away in search of the messenger, Princess Celestia sighed and turned towards the only remaining guard. “What are your orders, princess?” the guard asked, his tone of voice sounding as though he would go through Tartarus and back for her sake. “Follow me please,” she stated plain and simple. The guard, almost stupefied for a few seconds, snapped out of it rather quickly and trotted up to next to the princess’ side. He placed the spear next to his holster, allowing him to walk normally, though it did look odd for a five-foot spear to be sticking straight out in front of him. He ignored it, and instead brought his attention onto the princess to his side. After about two minutes of nothing but walking through hallways and stairs, the guard looked at Celestia and asked, “I don’t mean to sound rude, your highness, but…where exactly are we going?” The look in Celestia’s eyes assured the guard that he was speaking with the leader of the strongest country on the planet of Equis, and not just an average princess. She stared at him with eyes of pure steel, and her tone of pure intensity. “I will be addressing the Canterlot citizens of what this attack means, and how we are going to retaliate against this cowardly aggression,” Celestia told the lower guard. The guard nodded, but stopped when one of his eyebrows began to rise suspiciously. “Oh…so, uh…what do you need me for?” The two just reached the foyer that led outside. As they walked down the long stairwell, Princess Celestia and her trustworthy guard could hear the chants from outside, as well as rocks and rotten fruit being thrown at the stain glass windows. Celestia could hear Blueblood’s voice joining the chants. Why do I ever trust him with anything? Fool. Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed that the guard was gripping his spear, ready to rip it off his holster. She placed her hoof over his, causing the white stallion to flinch and look up at her. She gave a sad smile, finally answering his question. “You might need to hold them off for me.” And with those final orders given, Princess Celestia pushed open the two massive doors. She was instantly met with her morning sunlight and the hatred of a thousand ponies.