“The outer boundaries are too exposed Captain, if we try and hold them there our forces will be stretched too thin,” Princess Luna pointed to a map of the Fiefdom and shook her head. “I’ve often said you should have invested some efforts into fortifying this place Cadence.” Luna’s words were verging on the rude side of blunt.
“Well we’ve never needed to before, the Crystal Heart has always been enough to deter any attackers,” Cadence replied testily and Twilight didn’t blame her.
Since the Bloomberg had returned to the city everyone was on edge, news of a growing threat from the north had quickly seeped into the hearts of the populus and tensions were running high. Luna felt it most of all it seemed, she prowled the war room like a caged tiger and had been short with all who spoke with her.
Luna was adorned in full battle armour. She stood stern in a suit of well fitting and intricately detailed black metal, carefully wrought with dozens of delicate, silvery sigils and runes. She even had a pair of sheathed short swords at her sides.
Twilight had never seen Luna dressed for war before and it rattled Twilight to think that she had caused this whole situation. Several officers from the Fiefdom and Equestria’s own forces were also present, their grim faces telling just how serious the situation was.
“It has stopped any normal force of darkness, but from what Twilight has reported this is a force of undead with powerful mages of their own. The heart will no doubt be able to clear the streets periodically but in a prolonged fight?” Luna left the question hanging, “That’s going to come down to hoof work and soldiers.”
Cadence sagged and Twilight bit her lip. Despite the blunt manner of the delivery, Luna’s point was valid. The Fiefdom had no outer defences, no walls or barriers to stop a determined attacker.
“You’re forgetting my shield spells Princess Luna,” Shining added with a snort as he laid a comforting hoof around Cadence’s shoulders, “That’s going to keep them out and with Cadence to help me I doubt they will even come within the city’s perimeter.”
Luna gave Shining a long sad look, “No offence but I’ve fought the rams before Shining, they were powerful even before they fell to darkness.” She waved away Shining’s protests before continuing on, “It’s a matter of how long can you hold your famous shield. With terrible and forbidden spells being hurled at your barrier while the hordes of undead assault it both night and day. Do you think it can last a week, a month?”
Shining armour paused uncertain for a moment before Luna nodded, “It’s going to come down to fighting in the streets mark my words. They will wear at us, grinding down our resolve with relentless waves of undead and what’s worse for everyone of us who falls it adds a potential recruit to their army of undead.”
Everyone present felt these dire words sink in before to Twilight’s surprise Luna grinned, “Now that we have the dark truth of what we face accepted, we can begin making plans to stop it.” She pointed to the city map and a glowing blue ring arose a good distance within the city’s borders, “If we hold here then we have several advantages, the outer streets will form natural choke points and we will need less soldiers to hold them.”
Twilight could see the logic to that and felt the first stirrings of hope. Powerful the rams may be but they faced two royal alicorns, Cadence and Twilight and soldiers drawn from nearly all the allied races of Equestria.
Luna was in full flow now, ”We evacuate the homes outside that circle and draw them within the line, then we position our ground units at these key points.” Luna indicated the wide avenues that radiated from the city’s centre, “Sadly the roads here are wide and open. Very pretty I’ll grant you but a nightmare to defend.”
Luna snapped her head up, “Captain Javelin, I want all those with wings to form a reserve force understood? Should something break through then we need to react quickly,” the pegasus nodded grimly.
“What about the Bloomberg?” Twilight asked, suddenly realising that she had no idea what her role in all this was, “Do you want us to stay with the reserve force?”
Luna glanced at Twilight, her eyes hard, “I want you in the palace Twilight, you need to keep that gem safe.” Luna’s expression became hard to read, “You’ve done enough already.”
Twilight frowned, taken aback by such a statement. Was Luna angry with her about bringing this all about? Did she blame Twilight for their current danger? Twilight looked up into Luna’s eyes but they held no accusation that she could see, only a stern aloofness.
“What my sister means is that we should all play to our strengths here Twilight, leave the fighting and tactics to us.” Twilight looked around to see a much wearied Celestia. There was an indefinable melancholy about the normally cheerful Celestia and Twilight wasn’t the only one to notice it.
“Sister? What has happened?” Luna asked, her own words full of shock.
Celestia didn’t answer right away but moved slowly into the room before studying the map, “Impressive Sister, I knew I could count on you to plan an effective defence.”
“Don’t change the subject Sister, what of Foresight and Impasse? You had gone to find them,” Luna asked her voice brittle.
Celestia wilted, “I found them but….” She paused and looked to Luna with a sudden.... Twilight couldn’t describe it. It was as if a mask had replaced Celestia’s normally open and kind face, “They were dead, died ridding the city of a hidden evil left over from Sombra’s reign.”
Cadence and Shining Armour gasped in disbelief while Twilight blinked in shock. The words making no sense, she’d left Foresight and Impasse here to keep them safe, Twilight must have misheard Celestia she… One look at Luna’s expression told Twilight that she hadn’t. Luna watched Celestia carefully and with no amount of, suspicion?
“That is a blow, but we can’t stop and mourn them now,” Luna’s voice was like steel, “If we live through the coming storm then we can make time for the dead.”
Twilight just couldn’t believe it, Celestia had just told everyone that two ponies were dead and then Luna carried on as if it were nothing. Foresight and Impasse had been with them since the start of this whole quest, Twilight had only wished them a fond goodbye less than two weeks ago and now they were gone.
There were so many questions bubbling up inside Twilight’s head that she didn’t know which to ask first, yet before she could voice even one Celestia continued, “So to answer your question Twilight, I want you to remain aboard the Bloomberg.”
Twilight was still working on accepting the loss of Foresight, the words spoken by Celestia seemed to be moving through treacle. Soldiers and crew had died and Twilight was torn up about them but she’d come to see Foresight as a friend. A fellow academic and an insightful pony, now she was gone. It was different when Twilight knew the pony personally.
Am I wrong to feel like that? If everyone is important then surely I should feel the same about any loss? Her mind told Twilight that she couldn’t be so affected by every death or she’d quickly go mad. Of course it would hit her more when a friend died, she had more to lose from it. That was the logical way of thinking, but it still didn’t feel right.
Twilight only heard Luna and Celestia discussed troop placements and formations as if from a distance. The details of organisation that she would normally find solace in suddenly held no interest.
She keenly felt the loss of Impasse too, the old lithi had been wise and a stalwart pony. Twilight would have dearly liked to know the real Impasse, but now that was never going to happen. Good ponies just trying to do their best, taken away so suddenly that it left Twilight dumbfounded and angry.
Twilight looked up at the stern faces of both Celestia and Luna before taking a deep breath, “With respect I think I can be of more use out side, with three of us we can…”
“No Twilight, we want you to be our eyes and ears. We need you to follow the battle and keep us informed of any surprises. You will be in the perfect spot to coordinate things from the Bloomberg,” Luna replied with a little grin, “The Seed must be protected and I know of none better to organise the supply lines and civilian’s safety.”
Twilight frowned, “I am more than just a clever organiser you know.” It was the pain talking and her fellow rulers seemed to see that, each one giving Twilight an understanding smile.
“Of course you are Twilight but as Celestia said we all need to be on our top game, we need your skills in the right place,” Shining said with an understanding tone, still holding Cadence in a consoling manner.
As Twilight smiled appreciatively she saw that Cadence, Luna and Celestia were all watching her with brittle expressions. They’re all hurting but they’re keeping it together, working as a team. Twilight realised who she was missing most right now.
“Are my friends coming and possibly Spike? Surely we need all the help we can get?” Twilight finally asked in hopeful tone. Celestia glanced at Luna in a meaningful manner and Twilight looked confused, “You can’t be serious? The unified power of the Council of Harmony is one of our best defences. If the ram’s are as big a threat as you say then we need them too!”
“It’s more complicated than that Twilight we…” Luna began before a panting guard burst into the room, his face stricken.
“Sorry to intrude your Highnesses but there’s a visitor,” The urgent tones of the crystal pony broke through the rising tension.
“We will discuss this later,” Luna muttered darkly, snuffing out the map of the city as Celestia motioned for their ‘guest’ to be allowed to enter.
Twilight felt her stomach churn as, with several sickened looks, the soldiers ushered in a horror. Squat and stinking a collection of flesh and icy mush staggered into the chamber. It moved like a dog, yet it became apparent through the mangled mess of its anatomy that it shared more heritage with…..
Twilight felt the bile rising in her throat. The creature had a face she knew, one she’d last seen gloating over its own cleverness. It was ruined and battered but Twilight could still recognise the face of Orzana under all that crusted ice.
Several of those present snorted while others went pale, the sight of such a horrible collection of misplaced flesh and bone sending a wave of disgust through the assembled onlookers. Only Celestia and Luna showed no outward signs of distress but simply met the beast with a wall of indifference.
“Speak thrall and then begone,” Luna announced coldly before the tense moment could stretch out further.
‘Orzana’ tilted its head and regarded them with a single milky white eye, “My Master sends his greetings Equestrians.” Twilight felt her stomach gave another lurch, the things voice was distorted and phlegmy. It had a gurgling quality, yet under it all the familiar tones of Orzana could still be heard, “It is my sad task to inform you all that an artifact has been stolen from our lands by one of your own. As such we request that it be returned along with the thief to face justice.”
Twilight gripped the Seed still hanging around her neck. It felt strangely hot. Not the heat of a fire, the gem was cool to the touch. But it did hold a burning ‘anger’ against Orzana and all he represented.
“It was my understanding that the last king of the rams presented Twilight with said ‘artifact’ to do with as she pleased,” Celestia responded, her voice quiet and dangerous.
The abomination paused, “The ruler of the ram kingdom did no such….”
“We don’t recognise your master’s claim to such. The ram kingdom has long been dissolved, your master may pretend to rule over the petty ruins left but he’s certainly not any king,” Luna’s eyes burned with a dark intensity as she cut off the ‘envoy’ mid flow.
What was left of Orzana grinned in a horrible parody of life, “Then you refuse my Master’s request? I should warn you there will be consequences from such an injustice.”
Luna practically snarled in reply, “Enough of your threats and pretences. Leave and tell your master that we will do neither. We will not return that which was rightly given, nor will we be intimidated by your threats. We suggest that you return to your own lands and consider what justice we will have in store for you and your murderous tyrant.” A roll of thunder echoed in the distance as she concluded her tirade, the anger crackling about Luna like lighting.
If Orzana was put out by these actions he didn’t show it but stood there silently for a moment before giving a wet laugh. It was a horrible noise, all rasping and guttural. As the disgusting laughter continued the beast’s body swelled and bulged as if as a balloon was being inflated within. The ice cracked and flesh stretched, its whole form distorting and a black fire seemed to churn within.
Several of the soldiers shrank back, while others dived protectively in front of the Princesses. Yet Luna was quicker, her horn blazing she cried out in wordless anger and loosed her magic.
A magical sphere encased the bulbus monster and Twilight heard one final mad bellow before the creature simply exploded. Black fire and chunks of meat convulsed within the globe which, to the relief of everyone, held steady.
The shaking stopped and all that was left within Luna’s shield was a murky blackness that frothed and bubbled angrily. Before anyone could move Celestia added her might to the spell and boiling fire erupted within the sphere. Both sisters were panting now but Twilight had no idea if it was out of fatigue or rage.
The flames died and Twilight saw that all that was left within was a pile of cinders. The whole event had taken less than a minute and suddenly Twilight realised she was sweating. She watched the sisters and upon seeing her scrutiny Luna frowned, “Elzana was a friend, brought low by a similar trick.” Luna said simply and with that she crushed the magical sphere until all that was left of ‘Orzana’ was a tiny ball no bigger than a marble.
“Long have I hoped to hold those responsible to account and now we can,” Luna muttered and Twilight saw the faint signs of darkness playing about her.
Twilight had come to understand that Luna and Nightmare Moon were in a way the same being. The darker aspects of Luna’s mind reflected in her outward appearance could be deemed Nightmare Moon, only the madness that had overpowered Luna’s gentler nature had caused the full and terrible transformation all those years ago.
The Elements had restored Luna’s ‘balance’ again, reigning in the jealousy and hurt by reminding Luna of who she truly was. Yet when she was particularly angry the signs ‘Nightmare’ would show through.
A slight narrowing of the irises, a darkening of her coat. These both pointed to Luna’s rising wrath. Twilight wasn’t sure if Celestia would show a change of her own should her ire ever be truly raised, mercifully nothing had brought her to that point and Twilight hoped to never see Celestia in such a way.
If Twilight was being honest she’d experienced something similar herself. Her studies had shown that with very magically gifted ponies, most often unicorns, could become so angry that their magic affected their very physical being.
The last time Twilight had gone through such a transformation was when she’d discovered that her inventions were being re-engineered to be dangerous weapons. The Flim Flam brothers had been on the receiving end of her wrath and no one had dared try to adapt mage-tech in such an open manner again.
Twilight looked at Luna and saw the same syndrome threatening to manifest. Celestia however placed a calming hoof on Luna’s shoulder and the rage died back again, “We’ve all lost friends Luna, there will be an accounting for all the wrongs in the world take comfort in that and focus on the task before us.”
Luna took a deep breath before bowing her head in submission, “Of course sister.”
Celestia looked to the gathered Equestrians and her face became stern, “You all have your orders. Know that even though we face an evil seldom seen in our world, we stand with you this day!”
With a glowing flash that momentarily caused Twilight to shield her eyes Celestia was suddenly clad in golden armour. It was adorned with images of fire, phoenixes that seemed to shine from within. Gems and precious stones were in much evidence and Twilight was forced to admit that Celestia did look impressive.
It was amazing to see the contrast with her younger sister’s apparel. Far more embellished and (for want of a better term) inspiring. A sight to lift the hearts of all those who looked upon Celestia and granted them courage.
Dark threat and radiant assurance, two sides of the same coin. Both needed and complimentary when in balance. The sight stirred Twilight’s heart with pride and confidence. With these two beings standing with them how could they fail?
Twilight’s thoughts turned again to her friends, in all the excitement she’d almost forgotten their absence. Celestia and Luna certainly had their own reasons for being here beyond their roles as princesses, was that same reason why they didn’t want the Council of Harmony gathered as well?
It gnawed at Twilight. She felt there was something far deeper occurring than was evident on the surface. The clandestine shroud that had been over this whole journey came back to trouble Twilight again, the excuses and reasons for ‘keeping a low profile’ seemed suspect again in her mind. When did I become so paranoid?
Twilight was so absorbed by her thoughts that she failed to notice the war council had been dismissed, leaving only the four princesses in attendance. Twilight came back to the here and now just in time to see Shining giving Cadence a final hug of support and then closing the door behind himself.
The confident expressions on both Luna’s and Celestia’s faces both fell the moment they were alone. “You asked why the other Council members, your friends, were not summoned to this meeting and coming conflict,” Celestia announced with grim tones.
“There is more to all this conflict than we have said before, as you have no doubt guessed Twilight,” Luna added and Twilight felt a grim rush of vindication.
Luna glanced to Celestia for approval and when her sister gave a little nod she continued onwards, “We face a fellow ‘First Born’ in this coming battle Twilight. That makes things terribly complicated.”
Twilight certainly didn’t see the problem, “Well we have both of you, me and Cadence we can easily defeat…..”
Celestia held up a hoof, “The problem isn’t defeating them Twilight, we must not kill them.”
Twilight stood agasp, “I never suggested we were to try to kill, just defeat and drive back….”
“Twilight, you saw how willing that ‘envoy’ was prepared to destroy itself just to get at us,” Luna stated with somber resolve, “Should the battle too obviously turn against the rams they may decide to use similar tactics again, the threat of a First Born trying to destroy themselves to take us with it is too horrifying to risk.”
Twilight shook her head, “Even then we can be prepared, Shining’s barrier with Cadence’s support, the crystal heart!”
Celestia shook her head with a frown, “No Twilight, as insane as this sounds we cannot make this fight too hard for the rams. They need to think they can win.”
“Insanity is right! Equestrian lives were at stake, the Crystal Fiefdom the…” Twilight studied the pained eyes of her fellow rulers and saw they could practically read Twilight’s thoughts, “You knew. You knew it could come to this and you still let me go to the North. You allowed all this to happen! Why?” Twilight’s outrage burst out as the realisation hit her.
“Long ago we made a terrible discovery, the First Born are bound to this world. Body and soul we are connected to the very fabric of its existence,“ Celestia said in a hollow way. “If one of us should fall then the whole word is lessened, its very stability shakes at such a loss.”
“No matter how evil they choose to be, no matter what darkness they try to spread a First Born is a vital part of this world. I don’t pretend that I would rather not have some of them still walking freely Twilight, but to kill them would cause untold destruction,” Luna added with a snort.
Luna’s anger simmered again, “Don’t you think I wouldn’t lead a force of soldiers to remove all the evils of the world if I could? Tear down the dark lairs and the hiding places of evil wherever they were found? Of course I would, but that would never end and would cause even more hardship for everyone.”
“Why do you think we tried so hard to nurture good feelings and friendship in Equestria? We can’t remove the darkness from this world without shattering its very fabric and purpose. Better to fight evil with its opposite: love, compassion and harmony,” Cadence added with a sad smile.
Twilight felt her mind wrestle with such a concept, her vision lifted to a new level of understanding. The world was a proving ground for the mortal races, you couldn’t have a chance to choose goodness and light without there being an option for darkness and evil. It was a painful idea that many would choose the latter, but it had to be this way or there was no purpose to life.
The thoughts flowed into Twilight and the Seed around her neck seemed to burn with fire again. They were here, all of them, to learn how to be happy. How to be good so that when this life ended…… The inspiration faded just before Twilight could fully grasp it but she’d ‘tasted’ just enough to gain the courage to face up to the coming trials.
“I could never bring myself to destroy Nightmare Moon. Not just because she was my sister, though that was reason enough for me,“ Celestia smiled sadly at Luna who returned the gesture, “But because it would add yet more strain to an already weakened world.”
“But that’s so unfair!” Twilight cried, she recalled the Vault and all the destruction that had brought. She thought of Vigil standing guard, of all the lives lost, of all the pain and misery that had been caused. Where was the justice?
“We need to deal with the rams, but in a way that ensures their threat is permanently removed.” Luna said with great solemnity, “We couldn’t just invade them, but when your quest took you north we saw an opportunity.”
Celestia nodded and Twilight gritted her teeth, feeling more manipulated than ever, “You could have said something! You could have warned me what I was taking my ship and crew into!”
Celestia looked pained, “We honestly didn’t know exactly what you would face, the old Ice Kingdom has been closed to us for untold centuries. It is not our place to pry into the actions of our fellow First Born unless they make a hostile move against us first. The delicate balance of inter race politics demands such.”
“Oh but you’d let me and my crew just fly in on a whim?” Twilight snapped back.
Luna was next to answer, “Twilight, you were on a mission of mercy. You came with open intentions and honest purpose, we could think of no better pony to see if the rams had any chance of being receptive to change. So we let you go.”
Twilight snorted angrily, “And you could both deny that you had any active hoof in any actions I took?”
Celestia frowned at Luna, “It wasn’t like that at all Twilight, we trusted you to find the best solution. We wanted you to have another chance to spread your wings, remember your visit to the Dragon Kingdoms with Spike? You handled that better than we could have ever hoped and so we knew you were up to the task here.”
Twilight shook, “But I failed didn’t I! I’ve brought a howling horde of undead monsters with me!” Twilight held the Seed up for her fellow rulers to see. “They will burn and destroy just to get their filthy hooves on this.”
“Twilight, you managed to find one of the few noble rams left and convinced him to give you a precious gift. You denied the evil forces of a mighty tool and brought it back safely into our lands,” Cadence explained, a proud expression making her face glow.
“I didn’t do anything of the sort!” Twilight grumbled, “It was just a coincidence that Orzana tried use me to get it for him, just a fluke that Elzana handed it to me just…..”
Twilight paused seeing the others all watching her with pride now. Twilight felt a uncertainty creep into her mind, “It was just a coincidence wasn’t it?”
“We trusted you Twilight, knowing you so well and now our trust had been rewarded,” Celestia explained. “We of course hoped that your honest plea for help would soften their hearts and lead to a better outcome than has obviously happened.”
“Yet we had planned for them to react with the hostility they showed,” Luna assured.
“Either way the ram threat was to be finally resolved and you have even brought a way to cure the lithi,” Celestia pointed to the Seed around Twilight’s neck and smiled. “You were the only one we trusted to do this Twilight and you’ve done it. If anyone could have pulled the best result from this mess then we knew it would have been you.”
Twilight frowned, it still felt a tiny bit like manipulation to her, but the more she thought about it Twilight could see it was wise and guiding hooves leading her on. She had acted the way she had done by her own choice. Twilight had made decisions and tried her best with the situation placed before her all of her own accord. The other princesses were showing their trust in her, not forcing Twilight into action.
“You have drawn out our enemy, made him play his hoof and bring all his forces into one strike against us in an effort to regain the Seed. It’s not the outcome we had prayed for Twilight, but true to form our fellow First Born has acted with predictable malice,” Luna said and Twilight couldn’t help but notice a slightly predatory smile on her lips.
Celestia spoke with confidence now, “He may be as old as us, but clearly Ornex has not grown any wiser in his years of tyranny. More cunning and depraved perhaps, but the lessons of love and unity we have spent centuries learning her in Equestria are still lost on him.”
“But people are going to be killed!” Twilight tried one final time, “How can we justify bringing war to the crystal Fiefdom?”
“The crystal ponies are behind the plan Twilight,” Cadence assured with a grim expression, “They know the risks and are willing to try. For them the chance to seal away a great evil is worth that risk.”
Twilight blinked, “You plan to trap this ‘Ornex’?”
“Indeed Twilight,” Celestia added, “And you have brought us the very tool with which we can do it.”
The Seed seemed to burn again at Celestia’s words and Twilight felt the last few reservations melt away.
“Everything in this life is temporary Twilight, one day the world will have fulfilled its purpose and even the First Born will pass away,” Celestia said with some assurance, “On that day all will be judged for their actions and true justice will have its day.”
Luna looked pained at Celestia’s words but added to them nevertheless, “Every wrong will be answered for, every right rewarded but until then we are to struggle on for that is our task now. We can’t make everything right in the world but we can make it just that little bit better, even if we have to pass through danger to do so.”
Twilight was being reminded of the vast gulf between her and Celestia again, it was a lesson that was so easy to forget in the turmoil of life. The Royal Pony Sisters were ancient and powerful. They looked at the world from a far loftier perspective and though they appeared young and vital as ever, eons of experience was hidden behind their eyes.
This didn’t make the task before them much easier to bear. War was coming, a fight with one hoof tied behind their backs. Yet it was enough for now to know that the struggle was the right thing to do.
With a defeated sigh Twilight finally nodded in acceptance, “For a better future than our today?”
The unanimous reply of the three other princesses gave her strength, “Agreed.”