The Equine Scrolls: SkyFiM

by FireOfTheNorth

Chapter 69: War's End

After the Battle of Marethal, we reported back to Jarl Stormcloud in Windhorn, where he immediately announced his plans to take Seclusion. While we’d been fighting for Marekarth, another group of Stormcloud troops had taken Dragon Bridge. Surprisingly, the town put up next to no resistance, and the Ponytus Occulatus outpost was abandoned. It was as if General Cuirass knew we were coming for Seclusion and had pulled all his troops back for defense of the city.

Stormcloud’s troops were already on the move, transporting the siege weapons that would be needed to break into the city. He’d captured a few of the Empire’s trebuchets from the armory near Marethal, had constructed a few catapults of his own, and was ready to pound the city into submission.

It would be hard to even enter the city. Seclusion itself was built as a fortress, perched on an arch of rock to which there was only one path of approach. That one path of approach had been heavily covered by General Cuirass’s troops, making it near impossible to reach the city.

Of course, Jarl Stormcloud could have ordered his siege weapons to target the arch that half the city rested on, taking it and the Blue Palace out, but her refused, saying that he was here to save Horizon, not destroy it. I had memories from Foalkreath that said otherwise, but kept my mouth shut.

Two days after we took Marethal, the Jarl launched his strike, focusing all his power on Seclusion. The fleet waiting at Windhorn smashed through the ice and circled around to surround the Imperial navy in Seclusion’s harbor. There was no escape for the Imperial ships so long as the Stormcloud ships stayed afloat. They were replaced daily with commandeered merchant vessels (which is what they really were in the first place) as the Imperial navy fought to break free, tearing the ships to pieces with their ballistae and cannons.

While the Imperial navy was busy trying to break free of a harbor that was rapidly freezing around them, the siege weapons pounded Seclusion, especially the barricades that had been set up all the way along the path to the city gates. General Cuirass wasn’t foolish enough to fill the barricades with his soldiers, but they lay in wait nearby in case our attacks stopped long enough for us to begin a charge for the gate.

We lost two of our trebuchets in the first day of the battle, as the General still had a few siege weapons of his own. Trebuchets constructed in the mountains above Seclusion rained down stones on our ranks, forcing us to move the camps farther from the city to keep them from being destroyed.

Progress soon slowed to a crawl, and the Siege of Seclusion began. It became a challenge to see how long the city could last without fresh supplies. They were cut off, both by land and by sea, and when the odd pegasus tried to escort food in, they were usually shot from the sky, either by Stormcloud archers or a catapult strike.

As the siege dragged into its fourth day, I began to hear grumbling among the Stormclouds, and I was inclined to agree with them at points. We were supposed to be taking Seclusion, the last city standing in the way of a free Horizon, and instead we were huddling in the cold, doing nothing. Even so, I knew that a direct assault would still be suicide, even with all the damage that had been done to the barricades. Nopony knew exactly how many Imperial soldiers waited inside, but judging by the number of ships now frozen in the harbor, he’d brought half the Legion.

I was finishing up Minotauran Inquiries; Vol. I when I noticed Bereloth marching through the camp, looking around for something. He trotted over when he saw where Mephalda, Mystic, Steadfast, and I were sitting around a fire. He suddenly ducked to the ground, as did everypony around us, as a flaming stone struck a nearby trebuchet, turning it into a mess of splintered and burning wood.

“This siege has got to end,” he said as he approached us, “Did you know we’ve already had some ponies head home? If we don’t enter Seclusion soon, there won’t be any Stormclouds.”

“Well, there’s not really anything we can do about it, is there?” Steadfast asked.

“Actually, there is,” Bereloth said slyly, “The Jarl’s got a plan to take out the trebuchets guarding the city. It requires a small team, and I was wondering if you’d be interested?”

“Sure,” I said, “It’s better than sitting around here doing nothing, but I thought there was no way for us to get up to the trebuchets.”

“Well, the crews that fire the things have to get up there somehow,” Bereloth pointed out, “And the entrance isn’t from Seclusion. There’s a mountain pass north of the city that Imperial troops have been using to bring supplies up. One of the ships saw them last night. It’s our ticket in.”

“When do we leave?” Mystic asked.

“Right away,” Bereloth replied, “I’ve got to round up a few more soldiers. Meet me out by the northernmost catapult.”

We gathered up all our gear, happy to be able to do something. While we waited for Bereloth by the catapult, we watched the Imperial ships trapped in the harbor. None of them were firing anymore, but an attack the Stormclouds had attempted the day before proved that they still had ammunition, but were holding it in reserve to defend themselves. I found it odd that the Imperial navy was so clustered instead of being spread out in a more advantageous formation. It seemed that they were all protecting a single ship in the center of them, an impressive frigate that was now locked in the ice like all the rest.

I had no more time to examine the Imperial fleet as Bereloth returned with four other Stormcloud soldiers. We set off at once, crossing the ice well out of the reach of the Imperial fleet’s guns. Only a few Stormcloud ships waited farther out, constantly being forced to retreat as the ice spread.

I’d heard that during the winter ice could stretch all the way from Horizon’s coast to the shores of the Featherrest Isles. Theoretically, one could cross the ice, but the distance was so great I wouldn’t want to risk being lost in a blizzard when at any moment the ground could give way beneath your hooves.

We made it around to the north of Seclusion without any mishaps, however, and soon our hooves were on solid ground again. We followed Bereloth as he led the way to a crevice in the mountains. It was narrow, and slow going at first, but soon the ground began to slope upward, and stairs appeared carved into the slope.

Eventually we reached the top, where we could look down on where the two trebuchets were mounted on the mountains. Around the siege weapons scrambled Imperial soldiers loading and firing the trebuchets, and townsponies who were working on carving stones from the mountainside to be thrown at the Stormcloud weapons of war. A stack of barrels sat near each trebuchet, filled with the oil the Imperials used to light their projectiles on fire.

Mephalda borrowed a torch from one of the Stormcloud soldiers and lit the tip of her arrow on fire. She fitted the flaming shaft to her bow and pulled it back slowly before rapidly releasing it. The arrow shot down at the trebuchets, striking one of the piles of barrels. One of the Imperial soldiers noticed the burning arrow stuck in the barrel and sounded the alarm, rushing to put the fire out.

It was too late. The barrels suddenly went up in a massive fireball, lighting the trebuchet on fire as well. The flames burned bright and strong as they consumed the machine of war, causing it to collapse in on itself and drop pieces down the mountain onto Seclusion.

A soldier spotted us a moment later and began firing her bow at us, forcing us to keep our heads down. Mephalda popped up for a moment, bow in hoof, and fired a single arrow before dropping back down. No more arrows came from the Imperial archer.

The Stormcloud soldiers drew their weapons and charged down the steep path to the trebuchets. The sound of steel on steel rang through the air as their blades met those of the Imperials. I bypassed the main fight and headed toward the second trebuchet with my friends.

I drew Dawnbreaker as an Imperial soldier with a battleaxe tried to stop us. As he swung his weapon down at my head I blocked, holding him off long enough for Mystic to freeze him solid with a blast of ice. Using my sword, I snapped his battleaxe off before driving the blade through the ice and into his body.

Mystic threw up a magical shield as an Imperial battlemage sent a ball of flame flying at her. Mephalda soared up into the sky, firing arrows down at the spellcaster. As he fired lightning bolts up at Mephalda, Steadfast came in from the side, crushing the battlemage against the cliff face.

The soldiers running the trebuchet abandoned their post, moving to defend against us. I fired ice spikes at the one closest to me, many bouncing off his helmet, but some sticking in his face. As he stumbled and fell, I finished him off with a blast of flame.

Mystic zapped one with an overcharged lightning bolt, sending him flying off the cliff and tumbling down to Seclusion below. The third hid behind one of the trebuchet’s legs, dodging the arrows Mephalda shot at him.

<<YOL~TOOR!!>> I Shouted, burning through the trebuchet and hitting the soldier behind.

As he caught on fire, he ran away, not seeing that he was heading straight for the edge of the cliff. He reached the abrupt drop and went plummeting down to land in Seclusion. Nearby, Bereloth and his soldiers finished mopping up and began to gather the townsponies to hold until after the battle.

“Wait!” he called as Mystic prepared to light the second set of barrels aflame, consuming the second trebuchet, “Destroy the trebuchet, not the oil. Those are our orders.”

Mystic obeyed, focusing her flames on the trebuchet instead. Steadfast, Mephalda, and I helped the Stormcloud soldiers to roll the oil barrels away from the flaming war machine. Apparently Jarl Stormcloud had some use for these. Hopefully we wouldn’t have to wait too long to find out what it was.

That evening we were back in the Stormcloud camp. The Jarl was drilling his soldiers, telling them to be ready to attack at a moment’s notice. Nopony said it for sure, but I think he intended to attack that night, or possibly the next morning.

I was alone in my tent, finally getting around to reading The Book of the Dragonborn. Mephalda had left on a scouting mission to survey Seclusion from above, still working to convince Jarl Stormcloud that it had been right to spare her. Steadfast was practicing with the Stormcloud soldiers, honing his skill with the warhammer. Mystic had disappeared to find a place to read her books without distracting noises in the background.

“Interesting read,” a voice spoke from over my shoulder, and I nearly jumped out of my skin in surprise.

I turned my head to see that Shadowmere was standing in my tent with me.

“How did you get in here?” I began to ask, “No, never mind. What do you need?”

“The Nightmare has revealed to me a target specifically picked for you,” he droned in his deathly voice.

“Why me?” I asked.

“That’s not for me to know,” Shadowmere replied.

“All right,” I said, “Who is this target?”

“Emperor Brass Tax.”

I stared at him for a moment, trying to see if he was joking. It really was hard to tell with his face whether he was thrilled or angry. But, I’d never known him to joke before.

“Well,” I said, “I’m a bit busy right now. How soon does this assassination need to be done?”

“Tonight.”

“You expect me to travel all the way to the Imperial City?” I asked incredulously.

“Of course not,” he replied, “The Emperor is here.”

“What do you mean by here?” I asked.

“He was making an inspection of Seclusion and General Cuirass’s troops when Jarl Stormcloud launched his attack,” Shadowmere explained, “He is currently in his ship, The Canteriah, in the middle of the Imperial fleet.”

“So that’s why the fleet’s clustered around one ship,” I mused.

“Can we count on you to do this assassination?” Shadowmere asked.

“Yes,” I said, though not really sure I could kill the Emperor, “I think I can do it.”

“Excellent; the Nightmare will be watching,” Shadowmere said, and then I was once again alone.

I snuck out of the Stormcloud camp that night, slipping on my Dark Brotherhoof armor before I left. I hadn’t worn the midnight black armor in a long time and had forgotten the joy of feeling the shadows cling to you. Thankfully there was no moon to give me away, the cloud cover keeping things good and dark. Still, there was enough light to see by, even if none of the guards seemed to think so, and carried their brilliantly burning torches around, blinding me as they passed.

Soon I was clear of the camp and sneaking across Seclusion’s frozen harbor. Nopony seemed to notice my approach, not even the guards trotting on the decks of the Imperial navy ships. Soon the massive wooden behemoths reared up around me, and I used them to my advantage, sticking to the shadows even more than usual.

At last I neared my target. The massive frigate reared up out of the darkness, The Canteriah printed boldly on its side. Unlike the other Imperial navy ships, The Canteriah seemed to be completely unharmed. It seemed the other ships in the fleet had formed a protective barrier around it, taking the damage meant for the Emperor’s ship.

I wondered as I climbed up the anchor chain, did Jarl Stormcloud know the Emperor was here? He couldn’t have, otherwise he surely would have ordered a far greater attack on the Imperial fleet. So far, his catapults and trebuchets hadn’t touched the ships, only the city above. If he found out that the Emperor was here, I feared what he would do.

As I reached the top of the chain, I hopped over to a nearby ladder and nimbly climbed up the side of the ship. I hoisted myself up onto the deck and hid behind a stack of bolts for a ballista while I looked around. Only a few guards patrolled up here, but they had torches placed everywhere, making it difficult to sneak around or even see.

I quickly shot a few ice spikes while the sentries’ backs were turned, snuffing out the torches on the front portion of the ship. As one of the guards turned back to patrol his area, he realized that the lights had gone out. Before he could raise the alarm, I hit him with a Paralyze spell.

As he slumped over onto the deck, I snuck around until I was behind some barrels. Once more I snuffed the lights with my ice spike spell, plunging the middle portion of the ship into darkness. Cool, refreshing, safe darkness.

“What’s going on?”one of the guards asked, trotting past me and missing me in the darkness, “Clear-water, are you messing about again?”

Swiftly rising from the shadows, I placed a hoof over the guard’s mouth and sank the Fell Blade I’d gotten from Flies-Though-Darkness through his ribs. He struggled a bit before slipping out of my hooves and falling to the deck. I stashed him behind the barrels where I’d been hiding before sneaking forward again.

The last pony standing on the deck had not yet realized what was going on, but soon saw that most of the torches burning on the ship’s deck had been extinguished. He may not have known what was going on, but he knew that it wasn’t a good sign and began to trot toward the stairs that led belowdecks. I hit him in the back of the head with my Paralyze spell, knocking him to the ground.

He’d fallen to the ground right in front of the door to the ship’s cabin, and I had to step over him in order to enter. As I did so, I suddenly realized that I was very hungry. I’d have to remember to eat when I got back to the Stormcloud camp, or maybe there was some food waiting in The Canteriah’s kitchen that I could swipe. I shook the thoughts of food from my mind. I had a mission to do now. Eating could come later.

I took the Ponytus Occulatus armor off the sleeping guard and fitted it onto myself. Hopefully it would buy me a little time. I stepped through the door, spying two Ponytus Occulatus officers guarding a door a little ways inside the cabin. They didn’t think anything was off at first; my plan was working.

As they began to realize that I was not who I appeared, I rapidly paralyzed one of the officers. The other drew a sword before I could strike him too. Throwing off the Ponytus Occulatus helmet, I became one with the shadows, darting around and extinguishing the torches.

The officer fumbled around in the dark, trying to see by light of his horn. I knocked his sword from his magic easily before placing a hoof over his mouth to keep him from calling for help. The Fell Blade slid through his armor easily, piercing his heart. I lowered the now-dead officer to the ground gently and removed the rest of my Ponytus Occulatus armor.

The door they were guarding opened easily; it wasn’t even locked! Cautiously I stepped through into The Canteriah’s private cabin. It was the picture of luxury, filled with everything a pony could ever need, including a collection of rare books locked within cases to keep them from being thrown about at sea.

“Welcome,” a voice suddenly spoke to me.

I looked around, my eyes locking on the source of the voice, an aged unicorn sitting behind an exquisite desk. I recognized him instantly. After all, growing up in Unicornica I’d seen his face every day, plastered over everything, including the coins I used to buy and sell my gear.

“I know why you’re here,” he said, rising from his seat, “You’re here to kill me.”

I couldn’t believe it. I was standing in the same room as the ruler of the entire Unicorn Empire. And I was supposed to kill him. But now that I was here, I didn’t think I could do it. He’d been my Emperor for far too long for me to even consider it.

“Don’t you want to know how I know you’re here to kill me?” he asked.

“You heard the fight outside?” I said, finding my voice, “I’m wearing the armor of the Dark Brotherhoof? I imagine the Emperor of the Northlands must have many enemies.”

“But I’m not one of them,” I added, setting the Fell Blade down on the floor.

“Pick your weapon back up!” Brass Tax ordered, “No, I know that you’re here to kill me because I ordered the hit on myself.”

“What?” I asked incredulously.

“I want to die,” he emphasized.

“Why would you want to die?” I asked.

“You know what’s going on outside,” he said, pacing over to look out a set of expansive windows at Seclusion, “Seclusion will fall soon, and Jarl Stormcloud will be High King of Horizon. What do you think will happen to me if he finds me trapped here?”

“Well . . .” I said, trying not to think about it.

“Exactly,” the Emperor replied, “I’ll be captured, most likely tortured, and then paraded across the land as a trophy. I don’t want that to happen.”

“That . . . is why I want you to kill me,” he said with a sigh, returning to his desk, “But first I need you to do something.”

“What is it?” I asked, fearing a trap.

“I need you to take this to General Silver Cuirass,” he said, pulling a sealed scroll from his desk.

“What is it?” I asked, not pointing out that reaching General Cuirass would be impossible at the moment.

“My sons are all spoiled brats,” Emperor Brass Tax said, “I suppose I’m to blame for that. Anyway, none of them are fit to rule the Unicorn Empire. They’ll drive it into the ground in days, and the Pegasari Dominion will be there to pick up the pieces. That cannot be allowed to happen.”

“This scroll declares General Silver Cuirass to be my successor. I’m sure he’ll make a far better Emperor than I ever was. I was a fool to think that signing the White-Gold Concordat could ever lead to lasting peace. But, that’s in my past now, and I’ll soon get the reward I deserve for parlaying with the pegasi.”

I took the scroll from him, tucking it inside my armor. A great blast of light came from outside, and the Emperor turned to look at it. Seclusion was aflame, ribbons of light flowing down from where the trebuchets were previously. It looked like Jarl Stormcloud had put that oil to good use.

“The battle has begun,” the Emperor said, “I am ready to die now.”

I obliged, paralyzing him before I sank the Fell Blade into his heart. A look of peace crossed his face as he settled back into his chair, departed from this mortal realm.

By the time I snuck back out of The Canteriah, ran to the now-abandoned Stormcloud camp to get my armor, and galloped back up to Seclusion, the battle had already passed the gates. I dodged through the fighting as best I could, passing through to the market, where I spotted Mephalda flying above the crowd of battling ponies. I drew Dawnbreaker and my Changeling axe and fought my way to where Mystic and Steadfast were battling below.

“Glad you could make it,” Steadfast said as I sank my blade through an Imperial soldier he’d been holding off, “Where’d you go?”

“I had a bit of a personal matter to attend to,” I said, “I’ll explain later. I’ve got bigger problems right now.”

“Like what?” Mystic asked, coating a phalanx in ice.

“We’ve got to stop Jarl Stormcloud from killing General Silver Cuirass,” I said.

“I don’t know about you, but that sounds like it’s impossible to me,” Steadfast commented, “Luckily, those are my favorite odds.”

“How are we supposed to do this?” Mystic asked.

“Well,” I said, thinking, “First, we’d better get to Castle Dour before Jarl Stormcloud does.”

“On it,” Mystic said, blasting a path open with her magic.

We fought our way through the crowd of Imperials and Stormclouds, closing in on the massive castle of stone in the center of Seclusion. Mephalda noticed we were on the move and flapped down to meet us, assisting us on the ground while we explained the situation to her. Once she was up to speed, she took back off into the air and worked on opening a path for us with her bow.

We fought our way through the rest of the Imperial soldiers until we were up in the Castle Dour courtyard. A few Stormclouds had made it up here and were fighting with the Imperial soldiers guarding the keep and firing arrows from the walls. Other than that, the four of us were basically alone. Steadfast knocked in the door with his warhammer and we entered the keep.

The keep seemed to be fairly deserted, most of the Imperial soldiers outside fighting for the city. A mare with a sword jumped out of a side passage as we passed through the castle, jumping Steadfast. A blast of lightning from Mystic stopped her from striking him with her sword. I sliced Dawnbreaker through her armor, forcing her to let go of my earth pony friend.

We met no more Imperial soldiers on our journey until we reached the banquet hall turned war room. General Cuirass and Legate Winter’s Breath were the only ponies in the room, rapidly struggling to burn their orders and maps. Cuirass drew a sword as he noticed us enter the room.

“So, this is how it ends?” he said, fixing me with his gaze “You’re the one who’s going to kill me?”

“We’re not here to kill you,” I said, sheathing my sword, and hoping he’d do the same, “We’re here to save you.”

“Likely story,” the General said, “I know you’re in league with Jarl Stormcloud. You’re going to deliver me to him, are you?”

“No, you have to live,” I said, pulling out the scroll the Emperor had given me and tossing it to him, “Emperor Brass Tax gave me this. It names you his heir. He doesn’t want his sons to rule the Empire, he wants you.”

“Where did you get this?” Cuirass asked suspiciously.

“On The Canteriah,” I said, earning a stunned look from him, “The Emperor asked me to kill him so that he wouldn’t be taken prisoner. Now I can’t let that happen to you either.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Cuirass asked, though he lowered his sword.

“You have to surrender.”

“And that’s supposed to keep me from being taken prisoner?”

“Trust me,” I said sincerely, “I don’t want you to die any more than you do.”

“Well done!” I heard Jarl Stormcloud proclaim as he entered the room behind us, “General Silver Cuirass, the military governor, at my mercy at last!”

Cuirass hesitated for a moment before dropping his sword.

“I surrender; you have bested me,” he said to Stormcloud.

“I had hoped you would go down a little more gloriously than this,” Stormcloud said, “We were both great warriors once.”

“That was a different war,” Cuirass replied.

“Perhaps,” Jarl Stormcloud admitted, “But you always knew how this war would end; with my sword ending your life. And now that day has come.”

“You can’t kill him,” I protested as Stormcloud made to strike Cuirass, “He surrendered.”

“Do you have any idea how many ponies died out there for this moment?” Stormcloud asked, “He’s a tyrant and an oppressor. Him and his blasted Empire.”

“Do you think they died for this?” I asked, “Was this what you were fighting for the whole time. A chance to kill one pony? Not the end of the White-Gold Concordat, not the freedom to worship Talhooves?”

“She’s got you there, Stormy,” Zest said, trotting into the room in full battle dress.

“I thought you were staying back at the camp,” Stormcloud grumbled.

“I was, but then I got this weird feeling that I should be here,” she replied, “Good thing I came. You weren’t really going to kill him, were you?”

“I was,” Stormcloud said, “But it appears my mind has been changed for me. No, Sapphire, this wasn’t what I was fighting for. It seems even I needed reminding of my higher purpose.”

A scuffling at the far end of the room caught our attention. Four Stormclouds passed through the door, trying to control a bound pegasus. Somehow, Ambassador Stratus had gotten herself captured.

“We caught this one trying to fly away,” one of the soldiers offered as an explanation.

“Ambassador Stratus,” Jarl Stormcloud said, trotting up to her, “I remember the day you delivered the White-Gold Concordat to Earthhaven. Do you? It’s where this whole war started.”

“I don’t think so,” she said, smirking even though she was bound, “This all started when the pegasi made the mistake of thinking for a second they could consider the earth ponies equal to them. It’s not a mistake that will be made again.”

Emotions flashed through my mind as Jarl Stormcloud drew his sword. Ambassador Stratus had taken Steadfast from me, and she’d no doubt sent Blackwings after me. She’d like very much to see me dead, but did I feel the same way? I normally didn’t willfully want anypony to die, but Stratus had tested my patience.

“Wait!” I called before Stormcloud brought his sword down on her.

It turned out I really didn’t want Stratus to die. In fact, I didn’t want anypony else to die from this.

“Don’t kill her,” I said.

“Give me a good reason why not!” Stormcloud demanded, “She started this, when she pushed a treaty on us we couldn’t possibly accept. She represents what I’ve been fighting against, the White-Gold Concordat.”

“That doesn’t mean she has to die,” I said, the words spilling out, “You wouldn’t want her to kill you if she were in your position.”

“She would kill me if our positions were switched!” Stormcloud said.

“Maybe so,” I said, “But you’re not her. She may have done bad things, many bad things, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve another chance. Everypony deserves to be treated well, no matter what they’ve done.”

Stormcloud pondered what I said, but still seemed intent on killing Stratus.

“Is this how you want your reign to begin?” Zest asked, surprisingly seriously, “With bloodshed?”

“No,” Stormcloud said at last, hanging his head and dropping his sword, “Enough blood has been spilled today.”

“Let her go,” he said with a sigh, “Let them both go.”

Shocked, the Stormcloud soldiers unbound Stratus, and those around General Cuirass dropped their weapons. Stratus began to trot away slowly, before suddenly turning back and staring at me. Puzzled at what she was staring at, I looked at myself and saw a purple glow emanating from my chest. Suddenly a flash of light disconnected me from reality.

The world was purple, and the ponies around me were frozen in time, many of them staring at the octagonal amulet from which the purple light came.

‘Kindness,’ a voice spoke from everywhere, though it sounded a bit timid, as if it could scare itself.

‘Kindness, Compassion, and Sympathy. All these are important in life and in friendship. A pony without Kindness is cruel toward others. A pony without Compassion is unable to help others in their times of need. And a pony without Sympathy only hurts those who are hurting more. Witness now, the story of Vocolt.’

‘Vocolt, in his early life, was the kindest pony anyone knew. He was always there to help anypony in need, and did not wish to harm anypony in any way. His Kindness was an example to others, and he found his place with five other ponies, who became the fastest of friends. The dragons, pleased with the harmony of the Six Companions, bestowed upon them the most powerful artifacts of all time: the Elements of Harmony.’

‘The Six Companions proclaimed themselves to be Dragon Priests, special emissaries to and from the dragons. The fantastical power they wielded was used to the benefit of all, ushering in a new era of prosperity for Horizon.’

‘But Vocolt, like the other Dragon Priests, soon began to abuse his great power. He became obsessed with creating a perfect society where everypony was kind to each other, and the cruel were destroyed. He created a vast list of rules on how to treat others with kindness and thrust them upon his subjects. The penalty for breaking any rule was death. So he became the very thing he despised, cruelly oppressing his subjects in the search for perfection. His subjects rose up against him one day, tired of his rules, and sealed him within his “perfect city,” High Falls.’

The scenes of ancient Horizon I’d been witnessing pulled away as the vision neared its end. I was once again standing within Castle Dour.

‘Kindness must be guarded carefully,’ the voice continued, ‘Like all virtues, it cannot be compelled, for compelled Kindness is not really Kindness at all. Treat everypony you know as rightly as you can, but do not do so out of a sense of duty. Kindness must be offered freely.’

The light grew more intense, returning me to reality.

“That’s half of them now,” Mystic commented, “Which one was it?”

“Kindness,” I said, “For sparing Stratus’s life.”

“An Element of Harmony?” Stratus gasped out, staring at me.

As I turned to look at her and ask her what she knew about the Elements, she took off, flying up the stairs to the roof and departing Seclusion forever.

“What was that about?” Steadfast asked.

“I don’t know,” I said, “I think I’m afraid to find out.”

Jarl Radiance the Fair was marched into Castle Dour as I finished speaking. She shrugged off the Stormclouds holding her and approached Jarl Stormcloud directly as she entered the banquet hall.

“Jarl Stormcloud,” she spoke before he did, “You may have killed the last High King, my husband Shade, but you have proven yourself to be worthy of his position. Accept my fealty to you. You shall receive my vote for the Kingship.”

“I accept,” Stormcloud said, apparently just as shocked as everypony else in the room.

“Smart mare,” Zest said, somehow suddenly standing beside me, “Now she can remain Jarl.”

“So, Stormcloud is High King now?” I asked.

“No, not yet,” Steadfast replied, “A Jarlmoot still has to be convened and the Jarls have to choose the next High King. But, the decision will undoubtedly be unanimously for Stormcloud.”

“And then?” I asked.

“Stormcloud will be High King,” Steadfast answered.

“Then we’ll see if he’s at good at peace as he is at war,” I commented.

“The Kingship won’t last for long,” Zest mentioned nonchalantly.

“What do you mean?” I asked, not expecting her to explain herself.

“The whole system is crumbling,” she explained, surprising me, “The ponies of Horizon are becoming sick of constantly bickering Jarls. I think it’s about time for a democracy.”

“A democracy?” Mephalda asked, “And who will run it?”

“Why, me of course,” the eccentric mare replied, “Can’t you see it now? First Chancellor Zest of the Earth Pony Confederacy.”

“To be honest, the name really doesn’t sound that impressive,” I said, trying to defuse Zest’s ideas of revolution.

“Hmm, you may be right about that,” she said, sitting down and thinking, “What about Chancellor Piefeather . . . or Puddinghead?”

I just shook my head. Whatever crazy idea Zest had, it would take place far in the future, if at all. For now, I was just happy that the War was over. Horizon was at peace at last.