On the blood of our fathers, on the blood of our sons

by The dragon hunter


Chapter 12 - Warning: Hitchhikers May Be Escaping Convicts

Chapter 12 - Warning: Hitchhikers May Be Escaping Convicts

‘This is what I call traveling in style,’ Rarity thought contently as she sat on her comfy seat with a cup of tea in hand. Looking around, she could barely contain her excitement, still not believing in her luck to be on the personal airship of princess Celestia.

The design of the furnitures was simple yet elegant, composed mostly by wooden surfaces and brass, resembling the interior of a cruise ship, with the only difference being that it was one floating in the air instead than on the sea.

It was a pity that there wasn’t enough time to enjoy most of the amenities that the airship offered, like the massage room, but she couldn’t really complain, after all the mere fact that she was aboard was something that doesn’t happen everyday.

The journey to the capital was going smoothly for all of them, Flash Sentry was giving Rainbow Dash and Spike an improvised tour of the ship, Pinkie Pie was having fun looking outside the windows with childish enthusiasm, Fluttershy was listening to a tale from Applejack about a sheep shearing contest, and Time Turner was looking through some notes filled with calculations so complex that probably Twilight was the only other individual among them able to make sense of them. Speaking of Twilight, the alicorn was sitting all by herself in a corner of the passenger compartment with a book in her hands, but Rarity noticed that her friend wasn’t actually reading it, instead she was looking outside the window, completely lost in her thoughts. It was obvious that something was bothering her and Rarity was quite sure that Twilight could use a friend right now.

“Mind if I join you darling?” the white unicorn asked gently.

Twilight turned her head and blinked. “Uh? Oh, not at all.”

Rarity nodded and took the seat next to her. “So,” she began while adjusting a microscopic fold of her skirt, “I couldn’t help but notice that you look rather distressed Twilight.”

“I just can't stop thinking about what's happening.”

“Oh, you are not the only one, my dear. I still have difficulties in believing what those horrible creatures have done to all those towns,” she said, shuddering at the thought that Ponyville could have shared the same fate.

Twilight sighed. “It’s not just that.”

“Oh?” Rarity looked at her with a curious expression.

“I’m trying to understand how I fit in all of this.”

Rarity looked at her with curiosity, but didn’t press her.

“Ever since I've become a princess, Celestia has always told me that I will play an important role for Equestria. But so far, all I’ve done is just… smiling and waving. And now that Equestria needs help, I was informed hours later by a public speech.” She sighed. “I know that I probably sound arrogant, but I just… I just wanna help. Do my part.”

“Oh, darling.” Rarity hugged her friend. “I'm sure that Celestia and Luna have their reasons for not having informed you sooner.”

“I know. I just wonder what it is.”

“Duh, it's obvious, you silly filly.” Pinkie Pie exclaimed suddenly, causing Twilight and Rarity to jump in their seats. “They're just waiting until you’re a good baker.” The pink mare, who both Twilight and Rarity could have sworn wasn’t here a moment ago, had her face comically pressed against the window to better enjoy the view below. “Oooooooh, look at all those tiny cows down there!”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked in confusion, unable to see the connection between being the ruler of a country and preparing baked goods.

“Well,” Pinkie began, removing her face from the glass surface to turn toward the alicorn. “When I first moved to Ponyville I really wanted to help the Cakes with the bakery, but I didn’t have lot of experience in the kitchen and my mom didn’t know many recipes to teach me, which was kinda sad, but then things got better cuz I gave her some cooking books for her birthday. Anyway, so at first I had to learn from the Cakes and do a lot of practice.” Her smile turned a bit nostalgic at the memory of the first cake she made all by herself. It was… crunchy. “It was only after a bit that they decided I was ready to help them run Sugarcube Corner. I mean, it makes sense, no? You can't sell cookies and cupcakes if you're not hyper duper sure they’re super yummy.”

Twilight started reflecting over the words of her friend. For being a pony that seemed to incarnate the definition of random, Pinkie Pie had her rare moments of wisdom.

'Can it be? Is it really only a matter of experience?'

Celestia had once told her that ‘some lessons can't be found in books, nor can be taught, you have to learn them by yourself.’

‘Just like the Crystal Heart,’ she realized, remembering her adventure in the Crystal Empire after its return. In that occasion she had learned the meaning of self-sacrifice for the greater good over her own interests. If she had stubbornly kept trying to solve the situation by herself instead of giving the Crystal Heart to Spike, the consequences would have been disastrous. And now, they were in a similar situation.

The more she mulled over the idea, the more it made sense. Celestia trusted her, otherwise she wouldn't have called her and her friends asking for help, but at the same time she couldn't risk a young princess to make mistakes in a such a delicate situation.

‘I can’t blame her for not involving me sooner, nor is it important now. Celestia asked for my help, and I'll do whatever I can to assist her with the best of my abilities.’

The three young mares spent the rest of the journey chatting with each other and Twilight felt part of her tension disappear thanks to the company of her friends.

It was roughly an hour later that the capital was in sight. The tall white towers of Canterlot Castle formed a stark yet pleasant contrast with the dark slopes of the mountain on which the city had been built.

“I'll never get tired of this sight,” Rarity said with a dreamy smile as the airship approached the majestic city at a steady pace. Her smile soon faded, replaced by a sad frown. “I just wish that the reason behind our visit was due to better circumstances,” she said with a sigh.

“Aww, come on Rarity. Don’t frown your pretty face, or you’ll get wrinkles,” Pinkie Pie said cheerily, only to make the fashionista shriek in panic and grab a pocket mirror to check her face to the great amusement of her friends.

Twilight allowed herself to chuckle before looking outside the window.

They were almost there. Just a bit more patience and all her questions would have an answer.


Meanwhile, in the cargo bay, a certain Zealot was inspecting with evident interest and curiosity whatever component of the airship fell under her gaze.

“Having fun?” Zhar asked from his spot. The Commando was sitting on a metal crate, performing some basic maintenance to his weapon. Contrary to popular belief, Covenant weapons still needed regular maintenance to work correctly, although it was inferior to the level required by human guns. After all, a plasma weapon never jammed. The firing chamber of his plasma repeater was open and, after having checked that the magnetic coils were correctly aligned, the Commando was now cleaning the internal components with a clean rag.

“Well, even if the design is primitive and it could really use some more purple, this vessel is really fascinating.”

“It's an airship. A big one, sure, but what's so thrilling about it?” Zhar said, putting aside the piece of cloth and closing the firing chamber with a soft click.

“Oh, more than you would think actually,” Tarya responded with a hint of smugness. This was her field. “Haven't you noticed that despite the volume of the sacks of gas is technically too small to lift a vessel of this size, the airship is still able to fly?” Her mandibles formed the equivalent of a smile when she saw the Commando stop for a second to reflect.

“You're right,” he said, turning his face toward her. “This vessel is too heavy to be able to fly only with the help of hydrogen or helium.”

Tarya nodded. “And from what we've seen, the propellers are used only to maneuver the ship and move it.”

“Than how could it be possible?”

“To be honest? I have no idea. My best guess is that the ship has some kind of anti-gravitational device integrated.”

“Sounds logical, but if it’s so, why not use it also to move the ship instead of using the propellers?”

Tarya clicked her maws. “Maybe they still have basic knowledges of such technology and they can only use it to lift objects from the ground.”

The Commando grunted in response. “Another thing to add to our list of mysteries to solve.”

“Which already includes taking note of their society, identify their leaders, find the location of a possible deposit of Helium-3, investigate the cause of those weird energy emissions, and find out if the Forerunners are responsible for the anomalous nature of the planet.”

Zhar nodded but remained silent.

“A lot of tasks if you ask me,” she continued, “that will require us to venture in several different unknown locations with no idea of what’s awaiting us.”

Zhar put down his gun. “Let’s cut to the chase Tarya. What is your point?”

“My point, Zhar, is that we have to draw some line of action. You know better than me that often things don’t go as planned and this mission is the perfect example.”

“Indeed,” the Commando conceed with a slight nod. “So?”

“So, we have to consider the worst case scenario, which would be our presence be detected. We don’t know how they would react, but I doubt they will be too happy to find some intruders in their capital.”

‘Hmm, maybe she’s not a completely lost cause after all,’ he thought.

“If such situation were to arise,” the Zealot continued, “we will follow the directives of the Shipmaster. We will not engage in combat with the local forces, instead we will retreat to a safe location.”

“You know that they will most likely shoot us if our cover is burned,” Zhar pointed out.

“There won’t be killings,” she said with decision. “Things are going to be difficult enough after our less than friendly contact with the Changelings, the last thing that we need is more enemies.”

“A war fought on multiple fronts simultaneously is always a bad idea,” he commented dryly. “Don’t worry, I won’t start shooting down unarmed civilians at the slightest hint of trouble, if that’s what you fear,” he assured the Zealot. “I’ve taken part in several massacres during the war and quite frankly I have no interest in doing it again.” ‘At least, not without a good reason.’

“What about their soldiers?” Tarya asked, having noticed his choice of words.

“If the circumstances will force us to face them, you have my word that I won’t kill on purpose. I'll do my best to avoid lethal wounds. However,” he looked her in the eyes, “I have explicit orders to do everything in my power to prevent your capture, should the situation arise.”

“My capture? What do you mean?”

‘So naive.’ Zhar shook his head. “You really don’t get it? For being the most brilliant mind on the ship, not including the Huragok, you can be incredibly oblivious sometimes.”

“Then enlighten me,” the Zealot said with irritation, crossing her arms on her chest.

“Very well. Ignoring your kinship with the Shipmaster, which would make you powerful leverage over him if you were captured, you carry the knowledge of sensitive intel that would put the ship and the crew in danger, from the weaknesses in our equipment to our strategies.” Even if the helmet covered her head, Zhar could easily imagine her eyes widening in realization. “That’s the reason why I was against your involvement in this operation, aside from your lack of experience in espionage missions. Anyway, as long as you don’t fall into enemy hands, we should be fine.”

“And what about you?” Tarya asked after a short pause.

The Commando snorted, the closest thing to a sense of humor that he had shown so far. “Me? I’m simply an assent to deploy when things go nasty and they need someone to do the dirty job, no matter how unpleasant it is.” He hung his gun to the magnetic attachments on his back. “My duty is to cause as much havoc and destruction as possible before the enemy manages to kill me. To put it in simple terms, capture is not an option.”

She wouldn’t have expected a different answer from a member of the Vadam clan, according to their family saga their souls were forged in the heat of the desert and tempered with the blood of a thousand battles, but she still found the way he dismissed the value of his own life unsettling. For a moment she was tempted to compare him to Haka, but she quickly realized that the resemblance was only apparent. The swordsman had simply a great self control over his emotions; Zhar instead seemed to suppress them. She didn’t need a degree in psychology to know that it wasn’t healthy.
‘No wonder there are people who call him a walking corpse. I just wonder what caused him to become what he is now.’

Accustomed to space travel, both Sangheili noticed with ease the airship decelerate and tilt slightly forward.

“Get ready,” Zhar said, getting up. “We're about to land.”


‘Oh, goodness,’ princess Celestia thought in disgust as she looked at the image of the corpse of a Changeling. It looked like someone had stomped on its head. Celestia was not new to violence; during her long life she had taken part in a fair share of battles and had witnessed many gruesome scenes, but as she looked at the content of the photos she couldn't hide a grimace. Preliminary analysis had showed that some of the drones had been killed by some kind of melee weapon, whose effects resembled those of an enchanted blade, although with the difference that the wounds caused by the mysterious blade were cauterized or even burned in some cases.

With a shudder, she closed the folder and turned her attention to the unicorn mare standing at the left side of her desk. “You can put them away, Raven,” the princess said to her secretary while handing her the folder.

“You seem disturbed, princess,” the unicorn commented, noticing the expression of the alicorn.

“Let’s say that the content of the file wasn’t exactly family-friendly,” Celestia said cautiously with a grimace, causing the smaller mare to glance at the folder uneasily.

While Raven put the folder in a nearby filing cabinet, Celestia glanced at the elaborated clock made of gold and glass located on the shelf of her fireplace. ‘Hmm, they should be here soon,’ she thought, getting up from her chair.
A quick look outside the windows proved her assumption to be correct as she could clearly see the Aurora approaching the city. The princess gave some last indications to her trusty secretary and left her office to meet Twilight and her friends.

Those new to the castle would have very likely gotten lost, either due to the intricate planimetry or for being distracted by the countless art pieces decorating the place, but Celestia knew the place like the palm of her hand and was able to navigate through the different sections of the castle without problem, reaching the History Hallway in a few minutes.

The sunlight passing through the stained windows depicting some of the most important events in the history of Equestria created a beautiful lights game, projecting a kaleidoscope of colors on the marble surface and the red carpet of the floor.

A couple of maids that were cleaning the windows paused their tasks to salute her with a curtsey, to which the princess replied with a smile and a few words.

Glancing at the commemorative windows, Celestia couldn’t help but think about the current situation of the world. Until the attack of the Changelings the previous day, it was common belief among many of her subjects that the situation on the planet was stable, but Celestia knew all too well that even if there weren’t officially at conflict, the truth was that the situation was one of precarious equilibrium.

Her contacts with the tribes of diamond dogs informed her that many members of their species were joining en masse the war packs in the northern territories, under the lead of some ambitious chieftains.

The minotaurs, an advanced warrior race once governed by a republic, were now ruled by a military dictatorship lead by a group of generals, after they deposed with a coup d'etat their last elected president thirty years before. Since then they had started an arms race that, combined with their nationalist and expansionist policy, didn't bode well.

The situation with the griffons was even more delicate. Their Empire was a federation of smaller kingdoms lead by a local noble family whose authority usually was limited to a single island. All of them were supposed to obey to the Emperor, but their level of loyalty was variable. The barons of the northern islands in particular were in almost constant revolt against the central authorities, while the inhabitants of many of the southern islands showed a particular propensity to piracy. She and Luna had to postpone the continuation of meeting with their delegation after news of the attack reached them, but hopefully they would be able to complete the trattative within the end of the week. Fortunately, both the duke and the general had proven to be comprehensive given the situation and had agreed to prolong their permanence at the castle.

‘If only every problem could be solved with the right spell.’ As much as it sounded absurd, it was easier to stop a demigod with the powers to alter reality than ensure that a peace treaty was respected.

Despite her big size, which made her an amazon compared to her subjects, Celestia’s steps was very light and for a while the only noise in the corridor was the delicate sound of her golden horseshoes on the marble floor. Having reached an intersection, the princess heard the sound of two more pair of hooves coming from the other corridor.

‘Right in time,’ she thought, looking in the direction of the hoofsteps.

A unicorn stallion with light grey fur wearing a red uniform with white pants was coming from the opposite side of the room, followed by a unicorn mare in traditional golden armor.
Steel Shield, Captain of the Solar Guard, was the image of professionality. His short white mane was almost completely hidden by a helmet with a crest of red plumes, while his broad muscular chest was protected by a chestplate of shining steel decorated with a golden sun in the middle of the chest. He carried a scabbard with a saber hanging at his left hip, while a pistol was holstered on the right one.

“Princess,” the stallion said with a curt yet precise salute. His attendant, a mare named Schedule Tab, mimicked the salute but remained silent. The mare gave the impression to have been dragged into the Guard by mistake; she had a petite physique, a soft pink coat, short red hair, and a pair of big blue eyes that, thanks to the round spectacles on her muzzle, gave her the appearance of a doe caught in headlights, something that was not helped by her meek personality. From what Celestia knew, the Captain had promoted her to the rank of Corporal only due to her efficiency with paperwork and she now acted as his secretary in armor.

“Here’s the last report of the situation, your highness,” the stallion said, handing her a folder.

The eyes of the princess quickly scanned the content of the file, growing wider and wider as she read. “Great Maker,” she muttered once she was done. “It’s even worse that I feared.”

The final count of the towns hit by the Changelings was now forty-one, half of which were in Equestria. The remaining settlements were located in Saddle Arabia, Maretonia, and Zebrica.

The Captain nodded. “Indeed, princess. As you can see, we’re facing a threat on a planetary level.”

All the names on the list showed the same similarities: all were settlements located nearby mana spots, and all of them had a population composed either entirely or close to it by an equine species. Although the Changelings could feed off from every kind of creature in theory, they seemed to have a predilection for ponies and other equine species, apparently because they were able to interface more easily with their brainwaves rather that the ones of other races like griffins or dragons.

The reason behind it was not yet completely clear, but it was supposed to be due to the origin of their species. Although their past was still mostly a mystery, the most accredited theory was that the Changelings shared a common ancestor with the Breezies and the Flutterponies; said ancestors had once been ponies whose nature was changed by magic, but if such change was voluntary or caused by external factors was unknown.

The princess closed the folder and handed it back to the Captain. “At least there are no reports of attacks to the Crystal Empire,” Celestia commented with a small smile, trying to see a bright side to the situation. The mana spots discovered so far in the territory of the Crystal Empire were all in the middle of the tundra, far away from the settlements, and most of the small population of the Empire was concentrated in proximity of their capital, under direct protection of the Crystal Heart.

‘After the atrocities they suffered under the rule of King Sombra and the massive cultural shock of being thrown into the modern era, I'm glad they were spared from this attack. They have already suffered enough.’

The stallion said nothing, but if the rude way he passed the folder to his assistant was of any indication, it was clear that he was holding back from commenting.

Some of her subjects were diffident toward their long lost northern cousins, considering them a nuisance at best and a waste of resources at worse. Even after years of its reappearance, the Crystal Empire wasn’t yet autonomous and still needed help from Equestria in terms of resources and troops. She remember how a member of one of her ministries had once spoke of the Crystal Ponies as ‘backlog primitives out of time, good only to take advantage of the work of others’. Needless to say, Luna’s reaction to the comment had been quite vocal and violent. Her sister had grown a particular liking toward the Crystal Ponies, not only because she saw the similarities between their situation and hers after her return from her banishment, but also because they still carried several heritages of the old times that made her feel at home whenever she had the opportunity to visit the Empire.

“I still think that it's a mistake,” Steel Shield commented suddenly, breaking the silence.

Celestia repressed the urge to sigh. She knew what he was talking about. “We've already discussed about it, Captain. Hiding behind a barrier of energy is not an option, especially considering that last time it didn't work.”

“With all due respect, your highness, I still think that a force field would be-”

“Completely useless against an enemy who uses espionage and deception over conventional warfare strategies,” she interrupted him, having no intention to start another discussion with him.

A force field was a passive defense, sturdy yes, but not indestructible, as showed by the invasion occurred during the wedding of her niece. In case of another attack en mass, the only effective countermeasure would be a repulsive field, but unfortunately the spell that Cadence and Shining Armor had used to repel Chrysalis and her swarm during the wedding was not duplicable due to its unique nature. She knew that the Captain was aware of it; she knew also that most likely the real reason why he supported the strategy of the force field was just because he wanted to prove that he was a better commander than Shining Armor and not some kind of replacement. His was a reasoning that Celestia honestly thought was stupid and petty, given that she had never considered him like a replacement or second choice.

It was in moments like these that Celestia wasn’t completely sure if Steel Shield had been the best choice for the role of Captain of the Solar Guard. The unicorn stallion was a loyal officer, competent, and intelligent, but in her opinion he was more a manager than a leader, lacking the ability to truly inspire those under his command.

“Besides, we have spells around the perimeter of the capital that will alert us in case they try to infiltrate the city. Our main concern at the moment are the possible Changeling agents that may be already inside.”

“Our soldiers are actively looking for any suspect activity,” the stallion assured her.

“What about the old mines?”

“The patrol teams haven't reported signs of recent passage and all the known accesses are guarded night and day.”

“Excellent.”

The doors of the main hall opened, revealing Twilight and the other five Element bearers. The visage of the princess of the sun lit up when she saw them. Twilight rushed toward the elder alicorn and gave her a hug, which Celestia promptly returned.

Princess Celestia looked at the rest of the bearers and gave them all a warm smile as they bowed respectfully. “I'm pleased to see all of you again, my dear girls. I just wish it was under better circumstances.”

“Same thing, yer highness, “ Applejack replied with a polite smile.

“I presume that all of you heard my speech this morning.”

“Indeed, princess,” Rarity said. The expressions of all the six mares became serious and somber, even in the case of Pinkie Pie.

“Then you know about the events of last evening. As you may know, since their failed invasion, the Changelings have started a friction war with Equestria, with several small fights on our borders with the Badlands. These skirmishes have also involved the kindoms of Saddle Arabia, Maretonia, and the tribes of Zebrica, but so far the situation was under control. With Chrysalis’s defeat by Shining Armor and Cadence, we thought that they didn’t have the strength nor the resources to perform large scale operations. However, the recent events have proved that we were wrong. The Changelings are not the crippled enemy that we thought; they were simply testing our strength. Their attack destroyed our sense of security, with devastating effects on our morale, as you can imagine.
“And I’m sorry to say it, Pinkie, but I seriously doubt that a party would be sufficient to solve the problem,” the princess added, anticipating the obvious proposal of a particular Bearer.

The pink mare nodded in understanding and shrugged a bit. “I’ll still do what I can,” she said with a little smile, one that Celestia could only return. Even in the darkest hour she lived up to the Element she represented.

“Why have they gone so far from the Badlands?” Rainbow Dash asked. “ I mean, it’s not like there aren’t towns located near our frontiers.”

“Because it was the last place where we expected an attack. The frontier towns are guarded by contingents of royal guards and have special defensive spells. Such countermeasures are absent in other places of the kingdom and we didn’t know they had the ability and the knowledge to teleport troops in the heart of our territory.”

Steel Shield took it as a clue to speak, after having remained silent the whole time. “This brings us to the reason you were summoned, princess Twilight,” the Captain said, addressing only to the young alicorn. “Project Phalanx.”

“Uh, I'm sorry to ask, but what is exactly project Phalanx?” Fluttershy asked timidly, voicing the thoughts of the rest of her friends.

“That’s classified,” the Captain of the Solar Guard said dryly, causing the shy mare to hide behind Rarity. He glanced at the rest of Elements. “I will discuss the details with Princess Twilight Sparkle. All you have to know is that the kingdom is requesting your services and-”

“Hey, she was just asking you a question, you jerk!” Rainbow Dash exploded, suddenly standing right in front of the stallion. Captain or not, she would not allow someone to speak that way to one of her friends. “And I think that we deserve some kind of explanation.”

“I suggest you to watch your tongue when you speak to an officer, cadet Dash,” the Captain said coldly, glaring at the mare.

“With all due respect, the Wonderbolts are part of the Air Force, not the Solar Guard, sir,” Rainbow Dash responded, pronouncing the title with a hint of venom.

“Captain, that’s enough,” Celestia said, stepping between them before Steel Shield could reply to the challenging tone of the pegasus. “The Bearers of the Element of Harmony are Dames of the Kingdom, a title that is basically a knighthood, which authorize them to access confidential material.”

“With all due respect, your highness, it would be unwise to share such kind of information with civilians-”

“These civilians, as you call them, are my best friends,” Twilight interrupted the Captain, “ponies to which I would entrust my life without any hesitation, and they are the reason why Equestria is safe and not a nightmarish land ruled by some evil overlord. I may be still young and new to this position, but I'm still a princess of Equestria and this poses me at the same level as the other alicorns,” she said, maintaining her unflinching gaze on the unicorn. “Which means, I have the authority to give you orders. So, I will ask you only once, Captain. What is Project Phalanx?” Twilight demanded with a tone that left no space for ‘buts’. Her brows were furrowed in a slight scowl and her wings were partially open in an unconscious display of dominance.

“As you wish, princess,” the Captain said in defeat, accepting her authority. “But it’s a delicate matter, and I would suggest to speak of it in a more secure location.”

“The throne room will the perfect place Captain. Lead the way,” Celestia said.

The stallion nodded and started walking toward their destination, followed by his attendant.

“Rainbow Dash, I appreciate your loyalty toward your friends, but I would suggest you to be more careful in the future,” Princess Celestia said, looking at the cyan pegasus. “Every action causes consequences.”

The pegasus nodded. “I will princess. Thank you, by the way.”

“You’re welcome, my little pony.”

The five Bearers started walking down the corridor, flashing a smile to Twilight when they passed in front of her. The two princesses were the last to follow the group.

“My, my, Twilight,” Celestia commented quietly with a smirk. “Seems like Fluttershy is not the only one to have become more assertive.”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said, averting her gaze.

“Don’t be, my dear. As long as you don’t abuse it, you have all rights to ask for respect to your status and that of your friends.”

“It’s just that after all we have done for Equestria, I don’t like that ponies dismiss us like we were fillies who try to meddle with the matters of the grown ups,” Twilight said, glancing at one of the commemorative windows. “Why is he so hostile toward us?” Twilight asked to her former mentor once she made sure the Captain and his attendant were far enough away as to not hear them.

“Captain Steel Shield took upon himself the duty to give prestige to the Guards after their failures in the past.”

“They can’t really be blamed: Nightmare Moon and Discord were enemies too powerful to be defeated by conventional ways, and Chrysalis had the advantage of the element of surprise.”

“That may be true, but he still doesn’t accept that a group of what he considers common citizens managed to succeed where the soldiers failed. As for Project Phalanx… well, let’s say it is his personal pet project. He was the one to come up with the idea.” The elder alicorn looked suddenly very tired. “The last few hours have been very difficult, and there’s still much to do. I was wondering...would you join me for a cup of tea in the park later, like the old times? I could really use a friend.”

Twilight expression brightened instantly. “I would really like it.”

Without warning, Pinkie Pie stopped and started shivering violently.

“Pinkie Pie, are you alright?” Celestia asked, concerned just a moment before the earth pony stopped shaking.

“Oh, I'm fine princess. It's just my Pinkie Sense going fuzzy. It’s since last night that I feel this way.”

Twilight looked at her in surprise. “Wait. You felt this way this morning too?”

“Uh-uh. My best guess is because of what is happening now. Which is strange, because at the wedding I didn’t feel anything wrong.” She shrugged. “Oh well. The more you know,” Pinkie said, walking again like nothing had happened.

Celestia glanced at Twilight. “Is it normal?”

“I’m sure it’s nothing to be worried about. I think.”


‘Hmm, tough girl,’ Tarya thought with approval and amusement as she watched the young princess Twilight Sparkle put the Captain in line. It reminded her of the several times she had seen battle hardened veterans cowering in fear under the scolding gazes of the females of their keep. ‘I like her.’

Once the airship had landed, she and Zhar had followed the six mares inside the castle. The structure was impressive, both artistically than architectonically, but it paled in front of the sight of the white alicorn.

Princess Celestia was a giant compared to the rest of her kind, with a height of a bit more than two meters and twenty she was bigger than Tarya, roughly the size of an adult Sangheili female. She was wearing a white dress with golden trims, with an opening in the back to accommodate her huge pair of wings; even if they were folded, they were so big that the tips of the primaries reached the level of her calves. Her green, cyan, and pink mane floated slowly in a non-existent breeze, while a long slender horn stood proud on her forehead, just below her crown.
And her eyes. Gods, Tarya was mesmerized by the sight of her magenta eyes. They were warm, like those of a mother, but at the same time hard like those of a warrior. Overall, the alicorn seemed to radiate of power and magnificence like she had never seen before.

If she had seen the princess during the time of the Covenant, Tarya would have most likely prostrated on the ground, thinking to be in the presence of a Forerunner, but now she merely observed the regal white mare with deep curiosity. After the truth about the Halo rings was revealed, she was skeptical about the existence of the gods, but she didn’t exclude it.
The Arbiter himself had said that there were good chances that the gods existed and she couldn’t deny that it was comforting to have something bigger than you to believe in, especially in the moments of crisis.

Theological reflections aside, she still wasn’t sure what to think about the six mares holding the title of Element Bearers. Aside from Twilight Sparkle, who was the only alicorn in their group, the remaining mares seemed to be ordinary civilians. Well, that was if she ignored the weird pink one.

The conversation between the ponies become particularly interesting when the Guard Captain mentioned some kind of secret project. Needless to say, Tarya intended to follow them and find out what it was exactly.

“Let’s split up,” she said once the group of ponies was far enough away. The Commando looked at her quizzically, obviously expecting a good reason to do it. “You said it yourself. The longer we stay here, the greater the chances of being discovered increase. If we split up we’ll be able to cover more ground in less time. I'll follow their group and try to find out what their secret project is while you’ll look for the device they use for their encrypted communications. We’ll leave the energy emissions for later.”

“What about the rock sample?”

“One of the boxes contains a piece of coal and some of its dust has fallen on the other crates. We’ll use my scanners to follow the radioactive wake left by its isotopes to its final destination.”

Zhar seemed to be satisfied by the plan, if his lack of objections was of any indication, and she took his silence as a clue to start following the group.

“You know that this will end horribly, right?” he said bluntly, like it was a matter of fact.

Tarya stopped abruptly and turned toward him. “What makes you think so?”

“Your disconcerting ability to get into trouble,” he responded with brutal honesty before moving away without giving her time to reply.


The huge wooden doors of the throne room closed with a soft rumble, leaving the nine ponies alone in the big ornate room.

“Here we are Captain. You can start informing them about the details.”

The stallion sighed in defeat, but nodded anyway, starting his explanation.

“As you all know, the last few years have seen an increase of the number of threats that involve powerful magic, against which our soldiers have practically no chance to succeed in fighting against. Project Phalanx was first conceived after the Changelings tried to invade Canterlot.
As you well know, the Elements of Harmony were the most powerful magical artifact at our disposal, but they had the flaws that they couldn’t be everywhere and they required the presence of all the bearers to work; furthermore there were situations where their bearers could be endangered. We all know how Chrysalis’ drones prevented you from reaching the artifact and use them.” Ignoring the dirty gazes from Rainbow Dash and Applejack, Steel Shield continued with his exposition. “The idea at the base of Project Phalanx was to use the magical frequency of the Elements of Harmony as a base to develop a defensive artifact able to protect Equestria and its citizens from an unconventional threat. The plan was to build a network of these artifacts and place them in strategic locations to amplify their effect and spread it all across Equestria.”

“Why haven’t I been informed?” Twilight asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Because quite honestly I doubted that it would have lead to concrete results,” Celestia said. “My sister and I were personally against the idea, especially now that the Elements have been returned to the Tree, but after the Changeling’s attack the House of Lords have been very pressing on this matter, leaving us no other choice but to authorize further studies,” Celestia said. “Which so far have lead to nothing concrete.”

“I admit that we have encountered some unfortunate obstacles,” the Captain said, trying to hide his embarrassment. “The main of which would be that we no longer have the Elements. But, we think we have found a way to overcome the obstacle.”

“The Tree of Harmony itself,” Twilight guessed.

Steel Shield nodded. “Precisely. Unfortunately, our attempts to isolate the energy imprint of the Elements from it have been completely unsuccessful so far. The Tree seems to shield itself from our analysis. ”

“The Tree of Harmony is not just a strange concretion of crystal that emits magical energy, captain. It's something much more complex that we may not be able to fully comprehend.
And it possess some kind of consciousness.”

“That's what our mages and scientists have suggested. And it’s fortunate, because if it’s sentient, we may be able to overcome the obstacle by convincing it using the right means. And this is where you and your friends play your part.”

“Alright y'all, ah'm completely lost now,” Applejack said, scratching her head in confusion.

The Captain looked at the farmer in annoyance for a brief moment, before continuing his explanation. “Even if you gave back the Elements to the Tree, you are still connected with them someway, as proved by the residual magical signature that all of you posses.
Our research team thinks that if we're able to isolate and duplicate each of your magical imprint, we may use it to convince the Tree to no longer see our exams as an intrusion and allow us to retrieve the data we need.”

“I still don’t like it,” Celestia said.

“Neither do I,” was the response of Twilight. “You’re basically trying to weaponize the Elements.”

“You make things look far worse than reality, princess. We’re simply trying to find a way to protect Equestria. Wasn't it the purpose of the elements since the beginning?” Steel Shield asked rhetorically with a condescending smile.

“The Elements are tools to maintain the natural order of the entire world, not of a single nation.”

“Your highness, when I was nominated Captain of the Guard, I've sworn to protect the kingdom from its enemies, and it’s what I’m intending to do.”

“Do not mistake my words, Captain. I too care for Equestria and its inhabitants, but I do not approve the way you intend to use the Tree. Furthermore, we don’t even know how the Elements would react against the Changelings, considering that last time we weren’t able to use them. Changelings are creatures born thanks to dark magic, something that we know is against the natural order of things, but it’s part of their nature to feed off of emotions. The repulsion spell that Cadence and Shining Armor used to repel them used a soul scansion to read the evil intentions of their Queen. For all we know, we could simply break their connection with the hivemind and unleash a swarm of feral drones completely out of control.”

“Or we may be able to prevent events like that of yesterday from happening again. Given our current situation, we have to try anyway,” the Captain of the Guard said with absolute conviction. “If we’re successful, Equestria will no longer have to live in fear of monsters like the Changelings.”

Twilight looked at the Captain. He seemed really convinced of what he was doing. She then moved her gaze to her friends. They looked at each other briefly, exchanging unsure looks for a moment before eventually nodding at her. They too weren’t happy about the whole situation, but it was supposed to be for a good cause.

“Alright, let’s give it a shot,” the young princess said with still evident reticence.

“Wonderful,” the Captain said with a victorious smirk. “Just give us the time to prepare the equipment and we can start the tests.”

“Will it be painful?” Fluttershy asked in fear, her mind already conjuring a lab that seemed more like a torture chamber than a room in a medical clinic.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, my little pony. It’s just a series of non-intrusive medical exams followed by a couple of scans,” Celestia assured her with a warm smile.

Fluttershy sighed in evident relief.

“There’s still something that I don’t understand,” Twilight asked with a frown. “How were you able to connect the Changelings to the attacks? From what I know, they're very careful in covering their trace. And during your speech this morning, you didn’t mentioned eyewitnesses or other evidence of their activities.”

The Captain glanced at Celestia, but the alicorn ignored him. They had the right to know.

The princess of the sun looked at the six mares with a serious expression. “What I'm about to tell you is highly confidential,” she said, shifting her gaze across every one of the six mares. “I have to ask you to keep this information a secret, until then I won't tell.”

“Even to our families?” Applejack asked uneasily.

“I'm sorry, Applejack. I know how much you hate to lie, especially to those you care about, but we cannot risk this.”

The farmer looked at the white alicorn, unsure, but her trust in the judgment of the princess won. “Alright, princess. Yah have mah word.”

“And ours as well,” Rarity said, speaking for all of them, while Pinkie even mimicked her trademark promise.

“Thank you,” Celestia said, glad that they had all agreed to sworn secrecy. “All the settlements hit by Chrysalis' troops didn't show clear traces of their passage. All except one, the town of Greenville.” Celestia proceeded to briefly explain the way the Changelings had been able to teleport inside the town and how their teleportation device was supposed to work.

“Wow, that’s incredible… but also disturbing,” Twilight Sparkle admitted. “It sounds like a horror sci-fi fiction. But it still doesn’t explain why they left traces of their activity. I mean, why didn’t they clean up the area?”

“They didn’t, or rather they couldn’t, because they were all dead. The streets of the village were littered with their bodies.”

The six young mares stared at the princess with different degrees of shock.

“Ah! The guards kicked the asses of those roaches, uh?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed with a grin.

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity yelled, appalled that her friend was swearing in front of a princess.

Celestia didn’t seem disturbed at all by the crude language of the pegasus. “It wasn’t the work of the guards, nor of the citizens.” The princess took a deep breath. “What we haven't made public knowledge is that an unknown third faction was involved during the attack. We've found the corpses of eighty-five Changelings, five of which were Centurions, all killed by what we presume are energy weapons not powered by magic, as showed by the residual traces of radiation in their wounds.”

“What?” Twilight exclaimed, surprised. “It can’t be. I mean, theoretically it could be possible, but no one on this planet has the technology or even the knowledge to create such weapons.”

“I know, which honestly confuses and worries me. We have absolutely no idea with who or what we are dealing with, nor what their intentions may be.”

“Well, whoever these guys are, if they’re hostile then we’ll show them that they’d better not mess with us,” Rainbow Dash said confidently.

“Yeah, we’ll give those meanies a ‘stay out of Equestria’ welcome party!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, pulling out her party cannon out of nowhere and firing a small cloud of confetti in the air.

“Aww, Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in annoyance. Being the closest to the weapon of mass distraction, she had suffered most of the damage and was now covered by colorful pieces of paper, much to the amusement of Applejack and Rarity.

“Oops, sorry Dashie,” Pinkie Pie said sheepishly.

As she brushed away some confetti that had fallen on her mane, Twilight noticed something strange a few meters from them. A bit of the confetti paper seemed to be suspended mid-air, right where there was a slight distortion in the air- Twilight froze. No. They weren't suspended in the air. They were leaning on something.

“Twilight?” Fluttershy called her, but the alicorn didn't respond, her mind was running at one hundred miles per hour, putting together the fragmentary pieces of an intricate puzzle.

‘Well, it’s invisible, duh!’
‘I’m starting to see things.’
‘It's just my Pinkie Sense going fuzzy. It’s since last night that I feel this way.’
‘...no one on this planet has the technology or even the knowledge to create such weapons.’
‘...you could have unintentionally started a war with an unknown alien race?’

‘No. No, it can't be. But then again… Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.’

Her horn glowed and without warning she fired a beam of raw magic toward the anomaly in the air.

The beam impacted against something that shouldn’t have been there and soon a big translucent figure started to appear in the air. Fluttershy and Rarity gasped loudly, but the rest of the ponies present could only stare in shock as they saw a creature as tall as Princess Luna standing a few meters from them. The creature was clad head to toe in a futuristic purple armor whose smooth surfaces gave it an almost organic appearance. Small bursts of electricity danced briefly across its surface as whatever system had allowed the creature to remain invisible finally turned off.

The creature looked down at its body in surprise for a moment, then it slowly raised its head and met the gaze of the purple alicorn with the unfaltering glowing blue eyes of its helmet.

Rainbow Dash was the first to recover the use of her mouth and voiced the thoughts of everyone in the room, including the mysterious intruder.

“Well. Shit.”