“Noooooooooooooo!”
A single hoarse scream ripped through the air, echoing the cry within Celestia’s soul. The princess gasped as her sister collapsed into a limp heap in the middle of the throne room. Luna’s motionless form sprawled out as dark blood oozed from the side of her head where the bullet had pierced her skull.
“You bastard!” Button Mash screamed out from beside Dmitri and the changeling who held him. “I’ll kill you! I’ll bucking kill y—”
Father Dmitri spun around and struck the stallion across the face with his claw. The earth pony cried out as long red gashes appeared from his ear to his mouth. Blood dripped from the wound, and Dmitri sneered. “You are here for that rage, weakling. However, that does not mean I have to hear you whine about it.”
Button gasped, and Celestia took a step forward.
“She isn’t dead…” Dmitri said as he sneered at Button. “... yet.” The griffon turned slowly, and his gaze rested upon Celestia. “You see now, Princess. I am worthy. You and your sister together cannot best me. And now, I have the rage of a lover and the fury of a goddess to fuel me, and—” Dmitri narrowed his eyes sharply. “You… why aren’t you angry?”
Celestia closed her eyes for but a moment. An instant. A single grain of sand in an eternal hourglass. Just as he had taught, so long ago. Find the center. The core of all that is. All that was. All that ever may be... “‘There is no fire that you cannot tame…’” she quoted softly to herself.
“What did you say?” Dmitri demanded.
As if the sun had gone down after a short winter’s day, all the heat in the room evaporated, replaced by the frigid bite of nothingness. Celestia opened her glowing white eyes. “‘There is no rage that you cannot contain…’” Her voice was louder now.
“Father?” the changeling holding Button Mash gurgled.
“‘Fury is a lie. Magic is peace,’” Celestia growled. The world became strangely dim. “‘And you shall become peace… and your peace shall burn them all.’”
Father Dmitri snarled. “I don’t know what you are trying to do, oh great and mighty bitch, but I—”
“Be silent.”
Celestia’s magically amplified whisper rattled the windows of the magnificent hall just before the princess blinked out of existence. In a brilliant flash, she reappeared right in front of Dmitri. Her hoof pulled back, and she felt nothing as she channeled all of her energy into a single blow that struck the father in the chest. There was no anger as he flew across the room screaming. Rage could not touch her as he rammed into the wall with so much force that the two nearby windows exploded into shards of falling stained glass.
The princess threw her head back as she remained airborne for an instant. Gleaming power surrounded her in a perfectly white glow before exploding outward. A wave of pure magic swept through the room, purifying the inhabitants. All anger melted away, and with it the source of Dmitri’s power.
Button Mash fell to the ground as his changeling captor released him. Celestia spared a moment to watch him groan before crawling toward his fallen love. She nodded. He would help Luna. Cocking her head to the side, the alicorn looked toward her fallen sister. There should be an emotion here… sadness, or perhaps hatred. Instead, there was a void…
Dmitri screamed in agony as he leapt back onto his paws and claws. “How dare you? You think that something like this can stop me?”
“No.” Celestia’s voice was completely monotone as she lowered her horn at him. “I expect it to kill you.”
The fury of the sun blazed forth from the serene goddess. Griffons and changelings dodged away from its path. The changeling who had held Button and another shapeshifter barely managed to throw themselves clear, but then a white unicorn struck them. Celestia would have smiled as Blueblood stomped upon the head of the creature who had held him hostage, but there was no need to do so. Only peace remained.
Dmitri screamed and raised a claw. Icy blue streaks arced out to meet Celestia’s sun magic. He grinned wickedly and cried out, “Now we see! Now we know! You are weaker! I am greater!”
And then Celestia levitated all of the shards of broken glass off the floor.
In the far back of her mind, Celestia knew. She knew it was wrong. Violence. Killing. Death itself. But in that moment, everything faded away in the light of purity and order. There was no room for mercy.
Half of the glass shards shot toward Dmitri himself. The rest of them raced out to every changeling and griffon in the room.
Celestia targeted their heads, and she had very good aim.
“Gah!” Dmitri squawked as he tried to throw himself out of the projectiles’ paths. The princess barely paid him any mind. She was too busy slaying his soldiers.
General Chaput was already moving. His revolvers flashed, and his foes fell. The perfectly synchronized slashes from the shards assisted him, and Celestia allowed herself a small nod.
A scream of agony from Father Dmitri broke through the rage of battle. A jagged blue blade, now stained by blood, jutted out of his side. “You… you…” he gasped. “How can you…”
Slowly, so slowly, Celestia raised a hoof, and the flying glass and streak of solar power stopped. Only Dmitri and a few of his followers remained among the living. The changeling who had been Yvonne had Blueblood pinned to the ground, so Celestia gently lifted her into the air. Button clung to Luna, and Chaput was hiding behind a column as he reloaded his revolvers. The chaos of battle stilled to total silence as Celestia’s magic enveloped them all.
“Father Dmitri.” Her voice was so quiet… “Equestria is a nation of peace. We are not killers.”
“Bullshit!” The griffon leader roared as he pointed at the corpses littering the room. “You are a killer, just as I am!”
The princess drifted gracefully to the ground. “Allow me to rephrase,” she continued in her monotone voice. “We do not kill those who have not already forfeited their lives. The moment you attacked my castle, my ponies, and my sister, you gave up your right to continue existing.”
“What?” Dmitri laughed grimly as he ripped the broken glass from his side. He roared in pain, but then blue light surrounded the wound, healing it completely. “Who gave you the power to decide who lives and who dies?”
“Equus itself,” Celestia replied simply. “I am not a princess. I am not some small ruler.” Her mouth shifted into a forced smile. “I am a goddess. And you have risen against me. You are not the first, and you will not be the last. I have slain thousands of upstarts. Liars. Hundreds of fathers to nations I could have crushed under my hoof with but a thought. You? You are just…” She walked forward, her horn glowing. “Another…” Her eyes gleamed. “Failure.”
“You show your pride!” spat Dmitri. “You claim to be a goddess? Arrogance! Folly! Pathet—”
“Truth,” Celestia replied simply. Her wings flared, and golden fire filled the room, illuminating but not burning. “I was chosen by Equus itself. The world upon which we stand decided my destiny centuries ago. And now, I decide the fate of the world. And of you.” The light from her spell faded, and Celestia glared at her adversary with cold eyes.
A dark grin spread across Dmitri’s face. “Very well then,” he hissed. “But tell me this, goddess...”
Celestia cocked her head to the side.
“How does it feel to have a dead sister?”
Something pulled at the back of Celestia’s mind. A primitive cry. Rage. Anger. Hatred. Fury. It was something… something…
Dmitri’s smile widened. “There…” His magic flashed briefly, and Celestia felt something stir...
A scream from behind her caused Celestia to turn around just in time to see the changeling Yvonne break free from her magic and rush toward the fallen body of Princess Luna. She held a round device in her hoof, and a maniacal grin spread over her face as she pulled the pin out of the grenade before flinging herself toward the alicorn.
“No!” Celestia shouted as she summoned her magic.
Yvonne flew through the air, coming closer and closer and—
Two gunshots rang out as Chaput fired both of his revolvers at the changeling. The bullets slammed into her side, and she toppled to the ground with a shriek. Celestia barely managed to cast a shield around the grenade in time to save her sister, but…
Dmitri’s laugh echoed through the hall, and the princess whipped around to see him grab Director Blueblood with both claws. “This isn’t over!”
Celestia’s magic arced out, but she wasn’t fast enough.
The father teleported away, taking the unicorn with him.
And then the room was silent, and Celestia felt a shiver run down her spine as a realization set in. “Airship… Endgame…” Her eyes widened.
Chaput trotted over to her, his face an emotionless mask. “You know where he went, don’t you?”
“He’s back where he’s strongest. Where my magic can’t touch him.”
“That’s not the only reason,” Chaput replied, shaking his head. “Princess… he’s going to drop his bomb.”
~~~
Nothing mattered except for her.
Button hugged his marefriend close, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. “No, no, no…”
Her normally ethereal mane had become matted and damp. The bullet had struck the side of her head, but had somehow not killed her. Maybe it was a graze, or maybe something else, but Button didn’t care. Nothing mattered except for her.
“Don’t you die on me…” he whispered as he stroked the side of her face with one hoof while pressing the other against the wound. His eyes darted about the room, searching for something to use as a bandage, but he saw nothing. No saddle bag, no clothing… nothing.
Something warm and wet trickled down his snout, and he vaguely remembered his own injury. It stung terribly, but he ignored it. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except for her.
“You’ll be okay, you’ll be okay,” Button muttered to himself. Celestia cast some kind of spell, and he heard the screams of griffons and changelings alike around him. The air hissed as projectiles whizzed past.
But none of it mattered.
Nothing mattered…
Except…
For...
Her—
The world became dark.
Button gasped despite himself. Everything disappeared. The room, his pain, even Luna herself.
“Luna!” he screamed out into the vast expanse of nothingness.
The silence that responded was stunning.
Taking a shaky step forward, Button walked. The floor beneath him was cool, almost too cool. He fumbled onward.
“Luna! Mem! Princess!” His voice echoed back toward him, his only companion. The emptiness seemed eternal. Before him, darkness. Behind him, darkness. All around…
Darkness.
His breathing grew heavy as he broke into a canter. His hooves carried him onward, but nothing changed. How could it? It was nothing, and nothing would never be not nothing. Button’s mind reeled. If she were here, would he even find her? Could he even find her? What if—
Some kind of music pierced the darkness and filled the void all around Button. The notes reverberated through the empty space, and Button felt…
“Faith...”
He spun around as the single word floated over the music.
“Hope...”
“Luna?” Button called again, but the voice ignored him.
“Love…”
Then, through the shadows, a light appeared.
“But the greatest of these…”
He ran. Button sprinted toward the single speck of illumination. His heart pounded in his ears as the soft white glow grew brighter and stronger.
It was her.
It had to be.
It had to be her…
“...is love.”
He gasped for air. He couldn’t breathe. Was it her? Was she—
“Button.”
In an instant, he froze. Her voice. Her call. The light flared brightly, and he had to hide his face from the intensity. The cold, hard ground softened as it grew warmer, and when Button finally reopened his eyes, he could see.
The world wasn’t black any more. It was blue. And green. And bright. And shining.
He stood on the top of a hill overlooking a thick forest. Off in the distance were mountains. A stream trickled through row after row of trees. Birds flew through the air, adding a countermelody to the soft song as their voices joined the wavy sound. The sun was high in the sky, and the moon was right beside it. Everything was… was…
“Perfect.”
Button spun around to see a stallion standing beside him. The earth pony recoiled in shock, but his new companion merely laughed.
“Oh, Button,” the unicorn said in a slight Prench accent. “Don’t be alarmed. I am not here to hurt you.”
“Wh-who…?” Button stammered. “Who are you?”
“Me?” The light-blue coated stallion chuckled. “I’m… an old friend.”
Button’s eyes narrowed. “Of whom?”
“Of your lover’s of course.” His eyes wrinkled as he smiled. “We are, after all, in her mind.”
“I— What?” Button asked as he took a step back. “We’re in Luna’s mind?”
“Does it really surprise you?” He gestured at the air around him. “We’re obviously not in the castle any more. The changing surroundings, the darkness, the distinct lack of physical stimulus such as the pain from a wound that I’m sure will become a roguish and endearing scar…” A soft laugh filled the air. “Yes, we are most certainly in dear Luna’s mind right now. But that’s not the interesting part.”
Slowly moving back forward, Button regarded the golden-maned stallion with a cool gaze. “I can tell that you’re having fun being smug and mysterious.”
Once again, the other pony chuckled. “I can see why she likes you. You’re most definitely her type.” His deep gold eyes shimmered. “But, to return to my point, the interesting fact is not that we’re here… it’s that we’re here together.”
Button tilted his head to the side.
“You see, I can’t be here with you.” He gestured at the sky. “In fact, I can’t be anywhere, much less my sister-in-law’s mind.”
“Sister-in-law?” Button eyed the other pony suspiciously. “You’re whose sister-in-law?”
“Technically, I’m nopony’s sister-in-law. I’m a stallion. That makes it rather difficult to be a sister.”
Button stared at his companion and sighed. “Seriously? You know what I meant. Who is your sister-in-law?”
“Your lover, of course.”
He blinked once. And then again. And then a third time. “I… I don’t get it.”
The stallion’s laugh floated on the breeze, accompanied by the continuing music and birdsong. “Well then, I suppose that you shall continue on in your misunderstanding. Who I am has very little bearing on our current conversation. My concern is who you are. Tell me, Mr. Mash…” He moved forward and gazed into Button’s eyes. “Who are you?”
“Umm…” Button coughed uncomfortably. “I’m… Button Mash?”
“My, such confidence…” he deadpanned. “No. That may be your name, but that was not my question. Who are you? Why are you here? And, more importantly, what does your cutie mark mean?”
The wind suddenly picked up, and Button felt a chill run down his spine despite the warmth from the sun. “What does my cutie mark have to do with this?”
“Everything.”
The word echoed through Button’s mind.
“I will ask you once again, who are you?”
“I…” Button stared forward. “I’m Button Mash.”
“That is your name.”
“I’m a stallion…” Button continued.
The unicorn snorted and shook his head. “Your gender.”
“...a manager at a jazz club…”
“Your livelihood.”
His lip rising into a grimace, Button said, “an aspiring history teacher…”
“Your dream.” The other stallion shook his head. “Who are you?”
“Princess Luna’s coltfriend.” Button stared forward, his eyes meeting the brilliant gold of his companion’s.
“Your lover. I do not believe that you understand me.” Magic surrounded the unicorn’s horn, and a purple aura swirled around the two of them. “I ask for more than mere facts. I ask you who you are. Deep down, beneath the shallow exterior that we all present, lies the center of our being.”
Waves of images washed through the air. The other stallion appeared in the passing scenes drawn in the magic. He sat in a dingy bar with other ponies. He was at a bank… and then in a jail cell. He stood beside an alicorn, sat at a great table, wielded a sword in battle, and… and the image of his cutie mark, a golden coin marked by the silhouette of a mare with a long horn.
“This is who I am. More than the sum of my past. More than the sum of my choices. This is what comprises my destiny and shapes my fate. This is who. I. Am. So, I ask you one final time…” The magic disappeared, and Button looked at the unicorn who stood before him. His eyes seemed old, and his face weary. He frowned, and he seemed to radiate a sense of… of…
“Who are you?”
And then realization struck.
“Honor…” Button muttered.
“What was that?” The unicorn’s ears perked up.
“Commitment. Dedication. Loyalty. Honor. That’s who you are, isn’t it?” Button asked. “That’s what makes you... you.”
The other pony inhaled sharply.
“That’s what you mean, isn’t it?” Button continued. “You want to know what causes me to make these choices. Why am I a history teacher? Why do I love Luna? What does my cutie mark mean?”
SIlence answered him as the unicorn waited.
“I think I understand,” he said quietly. “I think I get it. I’m a history teacher because of what I love. I love what I love because of who I am. It made me play games, made me want to be like the old Royal Guard, made me meet her… It…”
“Yes?”
“It’s who I am,” Button replied. “It’s who we are, isn’t it? We’re both… we’re both protectors. Guardians. Lovers…”
A smile split the stallion’s face. “Exactly!”
Button glanced upward and smiled softly. “You’re her husband, aren’t you? Celestia’s?”
“I…” he began before sighing. “I was.”
“Jean-Paix.” Button nodded. “You’re Jean-Paix.”
“No.” The other shook his head. “That’s my name. I was, am, and always will be hers. I am her protector and her guardian. Her lover. That is who I am. That is my destiny. I am her luck. Her prize. Her protector. Her everything.”
“And…” Button gazed into Jean-Paix’s golden eyes. “And I’m Luna’s.”
“Yes.” Paix nodded. “That is your destiny. That is who you are. It’s what your life has become. So now, I ask you. Why are you here?”
Button clenched his jaw. “I’m here for her.”
Paix raised his head as the music swelled. “And what does your cutie mark mean?”
“It means…” Button glanced at his own flank to see the orange and black shield that adorned his flank. “It means… that I’m her shield.”
“Her shield.” Paix chuckled. “Her knight in faded armor. Her shield in battles lost. Her light when all is darkness. Her love, her life… her prince.”
Button froze, and all the hairs on his back stood straight up. His cutie mark… his destiny… her… That was it. That was all of it.
“I—”
The world shook, and Button almost fell to the ground.
“We don’t have much time,” Paix said quickly. “Luna isn’t dead, but she is close. Her natural alicorn magic will keep her alive, but Celestia will need to cast a healing spell. After that, Luna will be weak. You must stay by her side and keep her safe. This is vital.”
“Of course!” Button exclaimed. “I wouldn’t do anything else.”
“I’m not finished.” The sky cracked open, and red light flashed through the perfect air. “Luna knows nothing of what happened here, and she probably wouldn’t believe you if you told her. Dreams, memories, life, and death… You’ll learn soon enough how intertwined those can be with alicorns and their lovers.” He chuckled as the ground shook. “After all, I can speak to you. This is impossible, but it’s happening.”
Button stumbled, and the earth split in two. Paix floated upward toward the glowing lights in the sky. “Wait!” he shouted. “What does this mean? Why did you tell me all this?”
“You think I know?” Paix replied with a laugh. “That’s adorable. Figure it out, Mr. Prince. I’ll see you later.”
Button opened his mouth to reply, and then everything went white again.
~~~
Captain Flair nodded to herself as she and Ivanov rounded the last corner in the long corridor. The dark walls came together into a dead end, and she tapped her hoof on the floor. “Trap door,” she said. “Help me lift it up?”
The griffon responded by moving to the other side of the wooden planks on the ground. Both of them grabbed onto small handles and lifted with all their might. The ancient oak boards groaned as they were lifted up off the floor. Flair grunted in exertion, and they set the wooden planks down beside the hole that it had covered up.
“I don’t suppose that ‘ladies first’ applies in this situation…” Ivanov glanced up at Flair and smiled.
“Oh, get out of the way,” Flair replied with a grim laugh. She drew her pistol and glanced down into the hole in the floor. It extended downward into darkness, and she couldn’t see the ground.
Ivanov pulled a flashlight out of his saddlebag, flipped it on, and dropped it down into the room below. The steady glow lit up the walls of a small storage area.
“Okay then…” Flair jumped downward and flared her wings just before she hit the ground. Her hooves clicked lightly on the tiles before Ivanov landed right next to her. With a quick movement, he scooped up his flashlight and nodded toward the door beside them.
“I assume that this leads to the throne room,” Ivanov muttered. “Unless Celestia has sent us on a wild goose chase…”
“I don’t hear any fighting though.” Flair trotted to the door and put a hoof on the doorknob. “You ready?”
With the bright hiss of metal moving against metal, Ivanov’s sword slid from its sheath. “But of course.”
Taking a deep breath, Flair readied herself before slowly sliding the door open in time to see—
Princess Celestia pacing the room while General Chaput knelt next to a prone Princess Luna and Button Mash. He was wrapping a bandage around the princess’ head. Changeling and griffon corpses littered the ground, surrounded by blood-covered shards of broken glass.
Chaput’s head jerked upward, and he raised one of his revolvers and pointed it toward Flair. His eyes widened in recognition as he breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his weapon. “Captain. You’re a bit late to the party, but it’s good to see you.”
Flair stepped out into the open and wrinkled her nose as the scent of blood assaulted her nostrils. “Better late than never… what happened here?”
“I killed them all.”
Flair turned to see Princess Celestia walking toward her. The alicorn’s face was expressionless and blood stained her otherwise spotless coat.
Celestia held up a hoof to stop Ivanov as he moved into the throne room behind Flair. “Captain Ivanov. I need you to get Dr. Wing for me. Now.”
Ivanov’s eyebrow rose as he glanced back and forth between Celestia and Chaput. The general inclined his head, and Ivanov nodded to the alicorn. “Of course, Princess.” Without another word, he went back into the storage room and flew back up into the dark corridor.
“So…” Flair glanced around the room. “I’m glad I was able to be helpful. Yay, flanking plans…”
Chaput chuckled. “It would have been useful. However, Dmitri has once more proven himself to be the greatest fool in all of Equus.”
“Sssstupid… Not… fool…”
All the ponies and griffons in the room spun to look toward the source of the croaking voice. Flair raised her weapon and pointed it at the huddled, bleeding form of a tall changeling who lay on the floor near Chaput and the motionless forms of Luna and Button.
In an instant, Flair and Chaput were above the dying creature, pointing their weapons at its head. The changeling rolled over and let loose a strained laugh. “You’re all pathetic…”
Chaput growled and pulled back the hammer of his golden revolver. “Stay still. One move, and I’ll finish what I started.”
“No.” Celestia slowly walked toward the group. Her eyes stayed frozen, and her lips were pursed into a straight line. “Do not harm her. She is mine.”
The creature became surrounded by a golden aura and rose into the air. She let out a groan of pain as her limbs shifted. Blood escaped Celestia’s magical grasp and dripped onto the floor. “Y-you… Pathetic…”
“Changeling. You will answer my questions truthfully. You will answer every question. You will not resist me.” Celestia’s jaw twitched as she spoke. “If you follow my instructions, you will survive.”
“I am already dead,” she croaked. “But I die with pride in my heart. I have ssserved my misstresss and my massster.”
“Are you not a queen?” Celestia cocked her head to the side. “Who is your mistress?”
She laughed again. “I wasss a Queen. But I gave that up. Now, I am but a ssservant to the true queen. The High Queen of the hivesss.”
“Who?” Celestia’s simple question rang through the empty room, louder than the battle raging outside. “Tell me who she is, Yvonne.”
“You know…” Yvonne answered with a laugh. “She, the one who failed. The one who learned. The one who united. The one who conquered. The one who ensssnaresss. The greatessst infiltrator. The puppet massster of nationsss.” A smile spread across her tortured features.
“Chrysalis.”
Yvonne nodded and laughed. “And she isss ready… Your fate iss ssealed.”
Flair growled and ran her hoof along the edge of her pistol.
“Where is she? Is she with Dmitri?” A hint of something edged its way into Celestia’s voice. Flair couldn’t quite place it, but it gave the words a ragged clip, and the princess’ stance grew more aggressive.
“Oh, she hass no need to hide with the massster. He is but a pawn.” Yvonne smiled sweetly. “No, she iss where she always wishess to be. She is here. Among you. She hass been for monthss… yearss…”
“Who is she?” Celestia asked. Flair could see her gritting her teeth as she spoke.
“She iss the High Queen! She hidess in the open, and when she sstrikess, you never ssee it—”
“Who?”
Flair shivered as the roar broke through the air. Celestia stamped a hoof on the stone floor, and the ancient rock cracked from the impact.
Yvonne threw her head back and laughed. “She ssaid that you would fail. She watched you asss a sservant. She walked besside you. She knew you, and you knew her. Who wass she, you asssk?”
The changeling smiled.
“She is...”
~~~
In the darkest room in the highest tower in the southern half of Canterlot Castle stood a single cloaked changeling. She stayed completely still as the battle rumbled down below her. Her drones were in position. The attack was going perfectly. She could feel Dmitri’s retreat. Her lieutenant had been wounded, but she would regenerate quickly. Queens always did.
Chrysalis hummed a soft tune to herself as she threw back the hood of her cloak. Green power glowed, and she gazed at the magical artifact in front of her.
The High Queen of the Changeling Hives smiled to herself as her magic channeled toward her treasured possession.
The device was a sphere several meters in diameter. It floated in the air, refusing to touch the ground. A ring of thick stone rested over it, hovering right at the middle of the orb. Green writing flared to life along the ring, and the device began to spin. As it did, Chrysalis felt the very fabric of the magic around her shift.
As the anti-magic field activated and covered the castle, Chrysalis gave a low laugh.
“At last.”
And then, she shifted. She shrunk to a shorter size, her features became ordinary and completely forgettable, and her cloak turned into the outfit of a simple servant.
Gem Petal turned around and left the room as her eyes glowed with green fire.