Celestia sipped her tea and nibbled daintily on a piece of cake. She watched the ponies on the dance floor and pretended to listen politely to the incessant prattling of one of Canterlot’s minor nobles. The mare had been speaking non-stop ever since she had sat down in the empty seat beside the princess.
Celestia nodded absentmindedly, her focus directed toward entirely different pursuits. Luna and Chaput had just slipped away into the hallway… just what Celestia had guessed was Chaput’s intention when he had asked to dance with her sister. Why he needed her alone, Celestia was unsure, but—
Her eyes shot open as a wave of magical energy filled the room. The music stopped abruptly, and the dancers froze in place. Celestia slowly rose to her hooves, eyes narrowed to slits.
She could practically taste the spell. The feeling of detection surrounded her, as well as something else... “That was Luna,” she whispered to herself. “Detection… and warning?”
Magic filled the air around her as she prepared her formidable powers. Layer after layer of invisible spells appeared around her body. She readied herself to summon her lance and armor from Otherspace, and energy flared around her in a disguised display of strength. Her mind raced, and she quickly sent out a spell that combined truth detection and empathic sensing. She looked out over the crowd, her face a mask of concentration.
The guards around the room raised their weapons and moved to surround the princess. Celestia could tell they were coming to protect her, thanks to her spell. All of the griffon soldiers in the room moved closer to each other, surrounding the Griffonian delegates. They had voluntarily turned in their weapons at the entrance, so they extended their formidable razor sharp talons and claws instead. They glared at the Equestrian guards who moved into position. Celestia could detect genuine shock and concern for their charges.
“Everypony, everygriff. Please stay calm…” Celestia said loudly. “If you would all move to the exits in a careful and orderly manner, we can—”
Another wave of magic blasted through the room, and Celestia suddenly felt the presence of great power. Silence filled the room as Celestia slowly turned to look at the ceiling.
Dozens. Hundreds. The room was full of the glowing creatures. They held spears, swords, shields, and—
“Windigos!” a distant voice cried, and Celestia recognized the accent of General Chaput.
A shrill cry pierced through the room as the noble beside Celestia fell to the ground, fainting in fear.
Chaos erupted. Nobles ran screaming for the door as the flying creatures that Celestia immediately recognized as Equestria’s ancient enemies swooped down to attack the fleeing mass.
The soldiers, both griffon and pony, turned to face the new threat. They were startled, but their training kicked in immediately.
Celestia gnashed her teeth as she activated the spell connecting her to Otherspace. Immediately, her shining golden and purple armor appeared over her body. Her helmet replaced her crown, and the magical shields extended to cover the brilliantly gleaming armor. With another spell, her lance-blade appeared. Six feet of devastatingly sharp, master-forged solanite alloy with two pointed ends floated beside her. Her golden magic flared, and it was coated in the burning power of the sun.
“Protect the civilians!” she bellowed to her guards. With that, she took to the air, her blade spinning in a blazing golden circle.
The windigos saw her charge and paused. Celestia showed no mercy as she attacked. Her blade cut a swath through them, rending heads from necks and slashing directly through foe after foe. However, after her initial assault, the survivors seemed to pool their magic together as they cast another spell. The group disappeared instantly, melting away into the shadows… As they did, a crooning song filled the air.
Celestia’s head shot into the air, her eyes wide as she felt a wave of angry magic flash through the castle. A black mist filled the hall, accompanied by a sense of dread.
“What is this?” somepony demanded.
“Fear…” Celestia muttered. The princess heard more screams coming from outside the hall. She looked down at the griffons and ponies below. A minotaur ambassador cowered under a table, and several zebras stood in a circle, their ancient magic spinning around them. She sent magic into her vocal chords and spoke in her Royal Canterlot Voice for the first time in many years. “All beings in the castle. We are under attack. Find shelter immediately! All soldiers are to retrieve weapons and protect the civilians! Arm the griffons!” She then cast another spell, and her voice repeated itself, filling the castle. As she did so, the mist dissipated as quickly as it had come.
“Princess!” a dark blue pegasus guard with a black mane down on the ground cried out. Celestia turned and flew over to him.
“General Shadow Streak. What is the status of the Night Guard?” she asked. All around her, the soldiers were racing to follow her orders.
“They’re already mobilizing. We all felt Princess Luna’s spell. She’d included an alarm spell along with whatever else she’d cast. We’ve got reinforcements coming as quickly as possible.” He took to the air and drew his longsword. “We’re at your disposal.”
Celestia quickly formed a plan. “Get the civilians out of here, immediately. Take them down into the underlevels, maybe Sec Eleven or some other deep area. Use the bottlenecks. We don’t know how many there are.” She hefted her own blade. “I’ll go after the windigos who were prepared to attack the great hall. It was a massacre waiting to happen, and they may try to pull it off despite the loss of surprise…” She grimaced. “I’ll stop them.”
“Yes, Majesty!” General Streak saluted and flew away, already calling orders to his own troops.
“Griffons! On me!” a new voice barked. Celestia saw the griffon Captain Ivanov flying over to her. He landed quickly and gave a stiff bow. “Princess. This isn’t our doing.”
“I know,” she replied. “Get your troops ready. While my ponies help the civilians, we’ll get to the entrance and retrieve your weapons. Then,” Her eyes flared. “We go hunting.”
~~~
Luna lunged sideways, trying to get herself in between Chaput and the windigos. She managed to catch two of them, but the third soared over her toward his prey.
The windigos hissed as they crashed into her dark blue shield. Her magic pushed them backward, sending them sprawling into a wall. She immediately turned around to assist the general—
—just in time to see him rip out the throat of the last windigo with his beak. His talons had pinned the ethereal creature. The windigo’s eyes flared open, and it out as thick blood splattered the walls. Chaput looked up, murder in his eyes and blood dripping from his face. He grinned darkly and growled a challenge at the other ghostly enemies.
Luna spun back around, pinning the windigos down with her magic. She raced over in their direction, her magic flaring.
But as she approached, a strange fog-like magic filled the room, as did the sound of a distant choir singing a song that Luna could just barely recognize but not name. The mist washed toward the windigos, and their eyes flashed with black magic.
Luna’s shield spell collapsed, and the windigos flew up into the air. Their voices joined the song, and the princess felt pure terror shoot down her spine. She gasped and stepped back. “What is this?” she asked.
“Emotion spells…” Chaput grunted. He shook his head and gritted his beak. “This… ahh…”
Luna stood her ground as the darkness pulled at her mind. Gravity seemed to increase, and the floor felt like it was rising up to meet her. The world spun, and a voice filled the room.
“You lied to me, Starry.”
She gasped and quickly turned. Button Mash stood in the doorway, glaring at her. “B-Button…”
“Liar.” He stared at her, his eyes narrowed to slits. “And you thought that I could love you…”
“Button!” she cried.
He shook his head in the mist and turned away. “Worthless. You’ll be alone forever. I don’t love you. I don’t care about you. Your sister despises you. Life was better while you were on the moon.” He looked back at her with a sneer. “Why don’t you go back there?”
“Button!” Luna shouted. “Please! Wait!”
“Luna!”
She ignored the screaming voice and rushed toward the doorway. “Button!”
Something crashed into her, pushing her to the ground. She gasped as she fell. A heavy weight held her down, keeping her from rising. In an instant, the fog disappeared, along with Button’s outline.
“Princess, stop! It’s a spell!” Chaput said. He shook her, and the world returned to normal.
She blinked rapidly, her breath coming out in rapid bursts. “I… what?”
“They’re windigos! They feed off and manipulate negative emotions!” Chaput panted, his front leg shaking. “They can make you… see things… It was—”
Something stirred in the shadows, and a blade sped downward, impacting the base of Chaput’s wing.
“Ahhhhh!” The general screamed as the glowing blue sword sliced into his flesh. It continued until it got stuck in his bone with a sickening thud.
Luna jumped up instantly and conjured a sword of black energy around her hoof. She shouted as she rammed it into the creature’s throat. She shoved it down, ripping right through him.
The last windigo jumped from the shadows, flying at her with his spear raised. Luna spun around, summoning a second blade around her other hoof. Her battle cry pierced the air, and the windigo’s head flew away from his body as she slashed his neck asunder. She hit the ground and growled, glancing around the room. Nothing attacked. Silence reigned.
“P-p-princess…” Chaput sputtered. The sword was still embedded in the bone of his wing. “Y-you wouldn’t happen to have any doctors nearby, would you?”
“Oh, stars…” Luna ran over to him. “Stay still! I’ll try to stop the bleeding…”
“Hey, it’s not too bad…” Chaput said happily, an edge of delirium in his voice. “I got to hear her voice again, you know…”
Luna’s magic filled the air. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the streams of power that flowed toward the griffon. Gently grasping the weapon, she gently lifted, making room for the glowing blue healing spell. Bone knitted itself back together, and—
The princess gasped as her magic fizzled out. The spell dissipated, and blood rushed from the wound.
Chaput giggled. “She called my name… I’d waited for so long. My dear. My own… Melodia…”
“Ponyfeathers,” Luna swore. She tried to cast her spell again, but nothing happened. It was as if she couldn’t even touch him with her power.
“But… didn’t she die? D-did she? Was it a lie?” the general muttered. His smile faded, and tears formed in the corners of his eyes. “It hurts!”
Luna snarled and glanced down at Chaput’s suit. She reached out and ripped a long strip off his jacket and concentrated her magic around the fine cloth. It glowed bright purple as the healing power filled it. She grunted as she jammed the cloth into the gap in the wing.
“Haaaaaaaaaagh!” Chaput screamed again, tears streaming down his face. “Melodia! Where are you?”
Luna channeled even more magic into the strip. The princess gritted her teeth as she strained against the pull of her power. Her horn flashed brightly as she fought whatever it was that tried to stop her spell. She pushed, and pushed, and—
“Melodia...” he muttered as his eyes fluttered and closed. His breathing slowed to a crawl, and his chest slowly stopped rising.
“No!” Luna pushed even harder, her magic growing brighter and brighter, and… suddenly, the magic around her horn disappeared, like the sun behind an eclipse. Her eyes flared completely white, and everything became silent.
She saw past the castle’s walls, beyond the ground, and into the universe itself. Stars swirled, and complete calm filled her. Distractedly, she glanced down and saw the unmoving body of the general. She tilted her head, unconcerned. Something glowed inside of the creature, like a river of dark green energy. She absentmindedly reached out with her power, grasping the vile stream. It felt slimy and hard at the same time, and tasted of poison. She squeezed.
The weak griffon beneath her kicked his hind legs out as the poison disappeared into the aether. Luna nodded and breathed. The creature below stirred, and he gasped for air.
The princess gazed forward, unseeing and all-seeing. Magic spun all around, moving through the walls. Creatures were everywhere, glowing silver-white. She could feel the life-force of the windigos, but something felt twisted and wrong about them. It was as if something had stolen their purpose.
Luna listened to their cries of death and mayhem for a moment before she sighed and closed her eyes. With a tiny smile, she felt the world return to normal, and—
“It can’t be…” Chaput breathed. He reached a talon out and touched the princess kneeling next to him. “You did that for me?”
She groaned and put a hoof up to her throbbing head. “What happened?”
“You don’t realize what you did?” Chaput asked quietly.
“I was just trying to help you, and then it… it…” Luna put her other hoof up to her skull and held them there. “My head…”
The griffon rose shakily off the floor. “That was ancient magic.” He smiled at her. “I am honored. Truly.”
“I—” Luna began.
“Princess!” The door burst open, and Luna recognized Knight-Captain Dovetail, head of the Royal Guard, as she ran into the room. “She’s here! She’s safe!” The earth pony knight-captain brushed her red and yellow streaked mane away from her blue eyes. Her golden armor complimented her brilliant white coat and glimmered in the torchlight as she sprinted over to the princess.
Four more guards ran into the room, their spears raised. They were followed by two griffons carrying the metallic rifles of the Father’s Army. They flew around, pointing the weapons at the corners of the room.
One of the guards, a unicorn, stopped running and fired off a spell. White energy filled the room. As soon as the magic reached one of the far corners, a shadowy figure shimmered into view. A windigo whose throat had been torn open by a beak slowly crawled away from the ponies and griffons. As soon as the beast was revealed, the griffons fired their rifles into its body. The windigo gave a final screech and disappeared in a cloud of dust.
Dovetail nodded curtly. “Princess. Your sister sent us to secure your location. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she panted. “Check the general.” Luna stood unsteadily to her hooves and walked toward the door. “The windigos… Does she know?”
“Yes,” Knight-Captain Dovetail said with a nod. “We’re sweeping the castle now.”
Guns fired in the background, and Luna could hear screams.
“I need to help them!” the princess said, stumbling forward. However, she was stopped as the Knight-Captain held up her hoof.
“Princess, you’re barely able to stand. I need you to see a medic so that we can be sure tha—”
“No!” Luna declared. “I have to help! Let me go!”
The Knight-Captain shook her head. “Princess, I need to you stay here and—”
A stallion sprinted into the room, a radio levitated in the air next to him. “Captain! We’re getting a message from Section Eleven!”
Dovetail turned aside and nodded. The radio activated, and a transmission cut through.
“—is Section Eleven, once again calling on all frequencies. We are under attack by windigos. Please send assistance! I say again, Section Eleven is under attack by windigos, and they have us pinned!”
“Get down!” another voice shouted, and Luna felt herself freeze.
Her eyes unfocused as those words echoed through her skull. Get down…
She staggered, pushing past the Knight-Captain, and walked out the door. Get down.
“Princess? Where are you going? Princess!”
Luna ignored the voice. Get down!
“Button…”
~~~
Captain Flair soared invisibly down the corridors leading away from Section Eleven. Her HUD displayed a map of the castle’s winding hallways, and she swiftly made her way toward the stairs leading up into the castle proper. She narrowed her eyes and spoke into her microphone. “Nest. Any updates? Over.”
“Negative, Flame. Our troops are moving up to the main entrance. No more contact so far. Over,” Agent Breeze replied over the coms.
“Nest, copy that. I’m taking the back stairwell up to the servant's entrance of the great hall… I’ll keep you updated. Over.” With that, Flair raised her rifle up to her eye once more.
The corridors wound forward, leading to a double doored stairwell. Shadows moved in the corners, but Flair’s HUD indicated that nothing was there in the darkness…
The captain descended to open the door, and—
“Through here! Through here!”
Flair shot further up and hovered directly beneath the ceiling, her rifle aimed at the doorway. Her jaw clenched, as the voice that had shouted came closer, and closer, and…
The doors opened, and a herd of ponies ran through. They cantered into the hallway, led by a silver coated mare in a frilly dress.
“Wait! Don’t run!” somepony yelled, but the crowd didn’t listen. They continued their mad sprint downward, running out of the doorway and down the hallway. They reached the turn at the end of the corridor and were quickly out of view. After the terrified ponies passed, three fatigued looking Royal Guards followed, along with two griffons carrying rifles.
Flair’s breath hitched as she saw the armed griffons. All five of the soldiers were sweaty and covered in grime. Two of them had torn uniforms, but none of them were wounded.
“We need to stop them! They’re hysterical!” one of the ponies said.
“Agreed,” the larger griffon grunted. “General Streak, can we get ahead of them somehow to stop them?”
They continued to run, and Flair followed them at a safe distance, but still within earshot.
Flair recognized the pony who replied as General Shadow Streak. “Ivanov, I have no idea. They’re out of control. At this point, the only thing that we can do is try to contain the situation and keep them out of—”
“Ahhhhh!” a voice cried from down the hallway.
“Derr’mo!” Ivanov swore. “Damn politicians! They’ll get themselves killed!”
All five of them took off in a dead sprint toward the curve. Flair followed closely behind.
“Nest, we’ve got a situation! Civilians in the hallway! They’re on the way in your direction. I think they’re under attack. I’m following! Over!” She sped over the soldiers, approaching the crowd at incredible speed.
But just as she rounded the corner, the ponies came running back to the staircase, crying out in terror. Flair inhaled deeply as she looked past them.
The silver mare in the intricate dress lay on the ground, a spear through her chest. Right behind her were windigos. Ten, twenty, thirty… Flair couldn’t even count them. She held back a gasp.
“Get them!” Ivanov shouted as he, too, came around the corner. He and his fellow griffon took to the air, raising their rifles. Bullets flew through the air, over the heads of the fleeing ponies and slamming into the amassed creatures. The ponies ran underneath the griffons and past the three Royal Guards who still stood on the ground. The guards drew their weapons and lined up, trying to block the way so that the windigos could not pass.
The creatures charged. Some fell from the assault, but the rest closed in on the ponies. General Shadow Streak stood in the middle, his blade raised and a sneer on his face. The two earth ponies beside him raised their spears, ready to fight. The windigos came closer, and closer…
Captain Flair lowered her rifle and raised her front right hoof. She pressed a large red button on the control panel on her foreleg. A small device popped out of the suit and it shot a round object down at the charging windigos. It bounced twice, beeping loudly as it did so.
She smiled as an explosion ripped through the back ranks of the enemies. Immediately, the captain dove in front of the ponies and dropped her cloak. She grabbed her blade from her belt and triggered the shield extension. With a single swing, she cut a swath through the first line of the windigos.
And then she fired her rifle.
The powerful conductors inside of the device triggered a magical reaction within the rifle’s ammunition. The crystal suspended inside of the hollow bullets projected a field of superheated energy within the metal casing. Pure magical energy surrounded the bullets before the rifle sent round after round toward her foes.
Captain Flair’s rounds tore through the ranks of the ethereal beasts. Each shot passed through the first line of windigos and just kept going. The bullets finally impacted against the far wall, sending shards of broken stone flinging through the hallway. The few who made it past her rounds quickly fell to her short sword.
Flair smiled grimly as she turned to see the stunned faces of the griffon and pony soldiers. Their jaws and beaks hung open, and they nearly dropped their weapons. She nodded to General Streak as she flew over to him. “General.”
He grinned and thumped his sword against his chest. “Captain! Magnificent show.”
“Is that a rifle?” the other griffon soldier hissed at Captain Ivanov.
The griffon officer ignored his comrade and landed on the ground. He gave a stiff bow as he looked at Flair. “My thanks, Captain…” He raised an eyebrow as he looked on her suit for a nametag or some other form of identification.
“Flair. Captain Flair,” she replied with a curt nod. “I assume that the windigos drove you all down here, yes?”
“Yes, they did,” General Streak replied. “The princess sent us down here to take the civilians away from the fighting. We’re supposed to lead them toward Section Eleven or another sublevel.”
One of the ponies who had run away stuck her head back around the corner. She slowly looked from the ponies to the griffons, her lip quivering in fear. “Are… are they gone?”
Streak turned to her and smiled. “Yes. They’re gone. We’ll get you to safety.”
“Okay,” Flair said. “We’ll turn back this way and head to Sec Eleven. We should be safe there until—”
“Flair!” Agent Breeze’s voice cut through the coms. “The windigos are back! They’re headed for the director, and most of our guards are out fighting their way up into the castle. We need you to— Argh!”
“Breeze? Breeze?” Flair held a hoof to her earpiece as she strained to hear her partner’s voice. “What’s going on?”
“Get down here!” Mash’s voice cried out over the radio. “Move out of the way!”
“Shit…” Flair swore as she hefted her weapon again. “Change of plans. Sec Eleven is under attack. Try to take the civilians down to the other subs.”
By this time, all of the formerly fleeing ponies had gathered around the soldiers. They panted, their eyes filled with fear as they looked at their protectors.
“But if Section Eleven isn’t safe…” one stallion said.
Flair sighed. “General, I’ll try to get Sec Eleven safe for you all to come, but I have to go now.”
“Can you handle it alone?” Streak asked.
She nodded in reply. “Yes. I’m going to have to. Our number one priority has to be the civilians. Keep them safe.”
“You shouldn’t do that by yourself,” Captain Ivanov said gruffly. “I’ll come with you.”
“No,” she replied, shaking her head. She narrowed her eyes. “I can do this.”
“You’ll need a second rifle,” the other captain countered. “Let me help.”
“But I—”
“Captain,” General Streak said. “If they really are attacking en masse, you’ll need assistance. Ivanov already saved my life, and he lost two soldiers doing it. You can trust him.”
Flair growled and nodded. “Yes, sir.” She turned to look at the griffon. “Follow me.”
With that, the two swooped down the hallway, heading toward the distant sound of battle and death.