Princess Celestia
I awoke to the sound of hooves pounding on the door to my bedchambers like there was no tomorrow. I shot up in bed, and my wings shot out in surprise. My first thought was that Canterlot, or perhaps Equestria as a whole, was under attack. Other than the hooves knocking on the door, it was quiet. Far too quiet for any attack to be in progress. I let myself relax, and folded my wings. I laid back down for a second, and breathed a sigh of relief.
Whoever was pounding on the door to my bedchambers was persistent. I glanced over to the clock, it was nearly four in the morning. I sighed and sat up in my bed once again.
"Princess!" a voice shouted from behind the door.
Despite the thickness of the door, his muffled voice conveyed... Fear. I clenched my jaw, I knew instantly that something had to have happened... It was the middle of the night... Luna... She had to be doing... Something... I started to get out of my bed, and channeled magic into my horn. As I stood up, I cast a spell, and the tiredness left my body and mind. Mostly, at least. There was no substitute for a good night's rest, but, in emergencies, sacrifices must be made. "One moment." I called out.
I glanced around my room, looking for anything out of place. Nothing did look out of place, and everything felt fine. Other than the subtle fear hiding in the back of my mind that something bad was going on, nothing felt wrong. I stepped away from my bed, and made my way to the door of my study. As I walked into the study, I slowed, and glanced out the window. I could see the moon, in all it's pale beauty. I could almost feel it judging me, which was silly, since it was an inanimate object that was incapable of supporting life.
I turned my gaze away from the moon and made haste to the door. I grasped the handle with my magic, and opened it. The guard standing before me, a pegasus, was out of breath, he looked panicked and afraid. "What is it?" I asked. My voice caressed his ears, and seemed to have the desired effect of calming him down.
Even still, he shifted his weight. "There's been an... Incident." he stated tentatively, as if unsure what to call it. He probably was unsure what to call it, as normally me or my sister would be informing the guards of something that had happened. "Somepony, or a group of ponies attacked the castle sometime last night. At least two hours ago... The bodies of the guards at the gate to the castle grounds were cold."
I frowned. My first thought was my sister had a hoof in it, but it didn't fit her personality. She was more straightforwards, and less subtle. If it had been Luna, she had to have been advised by somepony, or she was changing tactics to deal with me. Neither reason made me very happy.
I continued to remain silent, allowing him to continue. Asking him to do so would have been repetitive. "We're still doing a damage report, but we know the Canterlot Dungeons were targeted. We found-"
'The Canterlot Dungeons were targeted? That makes no sense, there isn't anypony...' A thought hit me. "Have you checked the castle dungeons?" I cut him off as I asked, but it was important, and if I was right, far more important than a few dead ponies. I felt a knot growing in my throat as he shook his head. "Follow me." I commanded.
He bowed and stepped aside as I strode out of the room. I shut the door behind me, leaving my chambers behind. I had the feeling I wasn't going to get much sleep today. After only a minute of walking, we encountered two guards on patrol. They bowed at my approach. "Assemble my council. Now."
"Y-yes, your highness. At once, Princess." The leader of the two acknowledged. I shouldn't have snapped at them like that, but it was effective. They quickly galloped off to assemble my war council.
It took us several minutes, and I occasionally had to slow my pace so the pegasus guard with me could keep up, but eventually we made it to the dungeons. And I was right, the wall had taken damage from a spell. I looked over the damage briefly, it wasn't that important. I entered the room, if you could call it such, leading to the door into the castle's dungeons. I felt disgusted as I looked at the twin corpses, both unicorn guards, both new. It was supposed to be an easy assignment for them, and it ended up costing their lives. The armor on one of them showed signs of magic damage, and I frowned. Despite the obvious damage from magic, his armor was intact, and that wasn't what killed him. Their heads were at odd angles... It was a disturbing sight, but one which I had seen before. "Pegasi kill tactics." I said aloud.
Which was somewhat redundant, as the guard with me was a pegasus. "The damage to his armor..." he said.
I nodded. "Magic, yes. There were both unicorns and pegasi in this attack..." I turned my attention to the dungeon door. It was standing ajar. I had a sneaking suspicion whoever was here got what they came for. More accurately, rescued who they were after. I would have a a few choice words with Director Tap after talking to my council. "See to it that somepony knows where I am, and that these two are taken care of." I said calmly, then turned my attention back to the dungeon. I took a breath, then stepped forwards, over the unicorns' bodies.
"Princess? You shouldn't go in there alone, you don't know what-"
I respected his concern for me, misplaced as it was. "I will be fine. Whoever did this is likely long gone by now..." I pursed my lips. "Bring Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor to the war room also."
"Yes, Princess..." he acknowledged. Hesitation was evident in his voice, and he lingered for a brief moment, then turned and galloped off.
After the echo of hoofsteps died away, I lit my horn and made my way into the dungeon.
Princess Luna
I stood in front of the door to Twilight's sleeping mind. Of course, it wasn't an actual door into her sleeping mind. It was a conscious, mentally rendered way of comprehending and visualizing what I did. To put it simply, it was easier to think of it as walking through doors into a pony's mind than to picture it as it actually was. There was a slight amount of chaos magic involved in the process, but nothing bad ever came of it.
For weeks prior to now, I had been unable to penetrate Twilight's mental defenses. Now, however, those defenses were nowhere to be seen. I stood at the door, and despite her mental defenses being down, I could sense nothing beyond it. It was... Disconcerting. My first thought, and greatest worry, was that something had happened to her. That she had been rendered unconscious by some means, most likely with malicious intent.
I grasped the door handle with my magic, then opened it and stepped into Twilight Sparkle's dreaming mind. As soon as I entered her dream, I could feel her exhaustion. Mental, physical, and... Emotional. Something had to have happened. I clenched my jaw, but took solace in the fact she slept peacefully. The dream was of a meadow, it was night, and the moon was high in the sky, glowing white in the cloudless expanse, nothing amiss or violent. I felt a smile tug at my lips as I took in the beauty of the dreamscape. Thousands of specks of light dotted the sky, appearing to form constellations, yet if you tried to focus on one, it would blur and become distorted, or change positions entirely.
I looked around. It wasn't a grassy meadow, it was a hill. I lowered my head closer to the grass to inspect it. I traced over the outline of the blades of grass with my eyes, and every time I tried to focus on one, it would blur. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the scent of the dreamscape flow through my nose and into my lungs. It wasn't necessary to breath, but it was pleasant, and I could tell it was spring. Despite the distortions, Twilight was doing a very good job at maintaining a peaceful dreamscape. It was both surprising, and not surprising at the same time. I hadn't realized she had experimented with such magic before, but it was unsurprising, considering that she had been defending her mind against my attempts to speak to her in her dreams.
I looked around again, and frowned. My eyes fell upon a single tree further up the hill than I, with a single pony laying beside it. The tree wasn't very tall, being only roughly three times as tall as my... Sister... But it cast a shadow much larger than its branches should have allowed. The dreamscape was so peaceful and serene, despite how tired she was. Despite knowing her for years, being her friend, and seeing that she easily overcame any opposition she faced before, she still managed to surprise me.
I shook my head and pushed the thought out of my mind, then started up the hill. It seemed to take an exorbitant amount of time to reach the top of the hill, but I knew better. Twilight was unaware of both my presence and approach. The closer I came to her, the more feelings I could sense from her. I paused briefly, then continued. She lay on her stomach, looking out across the night sky. She was peaceful, despite the turmoil I sensed her mind in.
I stood there for a few seconds, debating what to do. Eventually I decided I would lay beside her. If she had been blocking me from her mind because she was afraid of me, it should ease those fears. I moved to lay down to the right of her, with a short space between us. Her head glanced to the right, and she saw me. She blinked, and jerked her head back. "L-Luna? How are you here!? I thought I..." she winced. "I... Forgot..."
I nodded once. "Yes, in your exhausted state, you had forgotten to prepare your mental defenses."
Twilight sighed, then looked down at her hooves. She made no attempt to flee from me, which was a good sign. Her ears folded back, and she rested her head on her hooves. "Why are you... Here?" she asked softly.
"I am concerned for you." I paused, then added, "As a friend." I did not know why I felt the need to add it, but I did. "Something troubles you. Tell me, what has transpired?"
Twilight slowly lifted her head from her hooves, then turned her head towards me. "You... You know about Rainbow Dash, right?"
I nodded. "Yes, I heard about the rather... Pointed... Personal attack Celestia did." 'To use such an underhoofed tactic... I did not believe you had that in you, sister...' I shook my head. I never would have been able to picture my sister holding Rainbow Dash, the friend of Twilight Sparkle, as a prisoner, in an attempt to force the latter into helping her. 'Celestia cares for Twilight like her own filly, and yet...' She could certainly be a coward.
"Well... I lead a rescue mission..." she paused, appearing to look for something specific, "Earlier, I guess. It was a success... We rescued her... We're on a train bound for Ponyville from Canterlot right now... She should be resting right now..."
I nodded. I had seen the door to her mind. It was... Rather hard to miss that particular door... Her... Ego... Carried into the dream realm... "Yes, she is."
Twilight's mouth twitched into a smile, if only briefly. "I probably shouldn't be telling you all this..." she sighed. "But... I kind of... No, I need somepony to talk to." she said with more strength than she had spoken for the duration of the time I had been speaking with her. And immediately afterwards, it evaporated. "I-I killed ponies, Luna... I... I killed them..."
She looked into my eyes. "They were... They were barely adults, Luna... They didn't even know proper Royal Guard spellcasting..."
It saddened me that she had to kill, but it was inevitable. "It was you or them." I stated. She was handling this much better than I would have expected. She was stronger than I realized, but it should not had surprised me as much as it did.
She looked at her hooves and nodded. "I... I know, but it doesn't make it any easier..."
"You are handling this better than I expected." I stated.
She winced. I frowned. "I feel like I should be having a breakdown right now..." she said without emotion. I clenched my jaw, despite the lack of emotion, I could feel her pain. "But I'm not... I... I can't afford to... I keep thinking that it will happen, but... It just doesn't... I almost broke down earlier, but..." she trailed off, and a slight smile tugged at her lip.
"Keeping it bottled up is never wise, Twilight." I stated. I did not want to remind her of what... Of what happened to me... Of what I did... But if it was necessary, I would. "I know from experience." I added.
Twilight looked up at me. "Am I a bad pony for not... For not breaking down?" her voice almost held a desperate edge to it.
I shook my head. "No, Twilight Sparkle, it makes you equine. Nopony is perfect."
She smiled sadly. "I used to think Celestia was..."
"We will defeat her." I stated.
Twilight frowned at me. "Luna, I'm not going to let you take the throne... You know this."
I nodded. "So you have said." I stated. "But you do not have the capability to win this war, Twilight."
Twilight pulled back and stood up. "Are you threatening me?" she asked defensively.
That hurt. Why couldn't she see that I... I sighed. "Twilight, you are my friend, I will not threaten you here..." Twilight calmed down at that, but still remained slightly tense. "When I defeat Celestia and take the throne, I would be honored if you would rule with me."
Twilight sighed. "Luna..." she started softly, "Please understand... I'm saying this as a friend, and I don't want to hurt you but..."
I looked away from her, and gazed at the moon. "You do not believe I am fit to rule, this I know. I will prove myself capable of ruling, Twilight Sparkle, and when this is over..." I trailed off, unsure exactly what to say. I wanted her to trust me, to help me... And she would help me, even if it was just by fighting my sister... Though she could just as easily help her, by fighting me. Perhaps it would be best to sit back and watch whatever happens between them play out... But, if I idled, my sister would take advantage of it and... Crush her. Something I could not allow...
"Thank you for checking on me, Luna... But I think I'm fine." Twilight said somewhat briskly, breaking me from my thoughts.
"I will leave, if that is what you wish." I replied, feeling as though I had overstayed my welcome. She hesitated, but nodded. "Very well." I stood up, and stretched out my wings. "If you ever need me, as a friend, or ruler, you have but to ask." And with those final words, I lifted myself into the air, and used my magic to bring myself out of her mind.
Twilight Sparkle
I jerked up in my bed after Luna left my dream. My first thought was that she did something to cause me to wake up, but I immediately discarded that thought, she wouldn't do that. I remembered the dream perfectly, and somehow I felt as if I had been conscious during that dream. I shook the sensation off and looked up. It was still dark outside the train car, but Celestia was starting to raise the sun, causing the night to fade into dawn. I laid my head back down on my pillow, and went over what happened during the dream in my mind.
She-Luna, wanted me to help her rule... I was both flattered at the offer, and ticked off that she would try such blatant bribery. I reflected on it for a bit longer. 'Maybe it wasn't an attempt at bribery... I know she feels indebted to me for saving her from... well...' I ended the thought there, it reminded me too much of... And I ended that thought immediately. I would not think about that.
I pushed the thoughts aside and focused on the room, my surroundings, and how I felt. I glanced over to the clock, which read four thirty-eight. 'No wonder it's starting to get light outside...' I sarcastically thought to myself. I had barely been asleep for a couple hours, and already I was awake. Not wide awake of course, but awake enough to think. I glanced back up, attempting to peak outside the window, despite being at an angle which rendered it impossible to do so.
'Well, I could go back to sleep...' I could, yes. I was normally awake by six anyway, so going back to sleep might not bear any fruit, and could just serve to waste my time. The train ride back to Ponyville would take several more hours, though... I wasn't looking forwards to being exhausted today, but-
Something twitched at the end of the bed. 'What- oh...' Right. Yes. That. I lifted my head from the pillow and looked at her. Rainbow was still curled up in a ball at the end of the bed. Fortunately for us, the bed was rather large. A Luna sized bed, for whatever reason. It still didn't look very comfortable. She wasn't under the covers, which didn't surprise me, but she had to be cold. Still, it had to be better than sleeping in a dungeon cell... I pursed my lips, she would be much more comfortable if she had the bed to herself, and quite frankly, she deserved it. I slowly slid out of bed, trying not to wake her, then stood to my hooves and glanced around again. I channeled magic into my horn, just enough so I could move her, I hoped it wouldn't wake her up, and lifted her, then moved her over to where the pillow was, pulled back the covers with a small amount of magic, and then set her down and pulled the covers over her.
I waited for a minute, standing perfectly still, remaining perfectly quiet, doing my absolute best to make sure she didn't wake up from being disturbed. She didn't wake up, and she sighed in her sleep. I glanced at the clock, which read four forty-five. I blew air out of my mouth and made my way over to the door, then opened it with my magic. I stood in the doorway for several seconds, just listening to the sound of the train moving on the tracks. The gently rhythm threatened to lull me back to sleep, despite the fact I was standing on my hooves.
I shook my head, shaking the sleep away. Or trying, at least. I stepped into the hallway, then paused. I looked back into my room, and pulled the curtain down over the window. The dark cloth blocked out a lot of the light, darkening the room once more. I turned back into the hallway and slid the door shut, but I didn't lock it. I hesitated for a moment as I considered entering the room Rainbow was supposed to be in and sleeping a little bit longer, but I decided against that.
I made my way towards the front of the car, I made sure to stay as quiet as possible while still around the rooms where the others were sleeping. Once I cleared the aforementioned area, I quickened my pace as I walked through the section of the car with benches. I slowed as I neared the door to the car ahead of us, and channeled my magic into my horn, then opened the door. If I was going to stay up, and work off of only a couple of hours' rest, I needed something.
I stepped out of the train car, carefully made my way across the connector, which had railing to the sides of it, preventing anypony from falling off the train while making their way to another car, and entered the next car. I made my way to the front of the car, turning the lights on as I strode past. I looked around when I entered the dining room.
"Hello Princess." Ace said as I caught sight of him. I eyed him over, he was sitting on the right side of the car, holding a mug of some hot liquid in his hooves. He took a sip of it, then set it down on the table beside him.
"I didn't expect anypony to be awake yet..." I admitted.
He nodded at me. "Wonderbolts used to getting up early, working off little sleep. Others will wake soon, if they not already." He stood up and walked over to a device I easily recognized. He grabbed a mug with his wings, then filled it with the steamy liquid and extended it towards me. "Coffee?"
I smiled and nodded, then powered up my horn and grasped the mug, and levitated it over to me. "Thank you... I needed this." He nodded his head once then returned to his seat, and motioned me to join him. I sniffed the coffee, then made my way over to the bench across from him, and sat down. I took a drink from the mug, it was warm, perhaps a little too warm, but it was good, and certainly hit the spot.
I looked out the window, and watched the hillside as it rolled by. We were technically still in the mountains, but we were in an area where you couldn't tell that. It was heavily forested, and it looked like the forest sloped downwards ever so slightly, but it was hard to judge. The soft light of dawn was just starting to burn he chill from the air, but it'd take a little while for it to warm up. I turned back to Ace, who was looking out the window, it almost looked like he was spacing out. I took another drink of the coffee, then set it down. I could already feel the coffee going to work. "You could go back to sleep, you know." I informed him. He turned back to me. "You all have the day off, sleeping in wouldn't hurt you any, and after last night, you certainly deserve it."
He shook his head. "We are not back in Ponyville. Things can still go bad. But when we are, I will take easy. Others will do as they do."
"Do you think anything will go wrong?" I asked, then took another drink from my mug of coffee.
He shrugged, then lifted his mug to his mouth and drank. He briefly glanced at his mug, then looked back to me. "I do not know. Trip to Ponyville is half a day, we enter your territory in a few hours."
It was still hard to think of it as my territory, but... It really was, or at least the ponies who occupied it followed me, and believed in me, and trusted in me to lead them... To keep them safe...
Princess Celestia
The meeting hadn't even started and I already had a headache. I glanced around the room, taking in each pony, making sure they were here. My gaze fell upon Director Tap, the way he indifferently returned my gaze, almost as if he didn't care, stirred my ire. I hesitantly looked away from him, and continued looking over everypony present. I looked to Princess Cadance, she looked worried, and out of place here, sitting beside Prince Shining Armor. Both of them were providing me with much needed support, though... Though both of them weren't exactly happy to be on my side. Both of them liked Twilight Sparkle, they were family, I wouldn't blame them for that. Just from how Shining Armor looked back at me, I could tell he would rather be helping his sister, but he trusted me and knew that I needed to remain in power in order for Equestria to remain intact. I needed their support, and I had it.
Nopony present said anything immediately, I suppressed a frustrated groan, and looked to General Breaker. "Shall we begin?" I asked. The unicorn shifted under my gaze, but remained silent. I would have asked General Maneuver to enlighten me, but he was otherwise occupied, and thus absent. "Would somepony care to explain what transpired last night?"
Director Tap cleared his throat, and I turned to him, an action every other pony mimicked. I looked at him expectantly, eagerly awaiting his intelligence. He glanced around the table quickly, then turned back to me. "A team of ponies broke into Canterlot Castle last night, sometime between the time of eleven P.M. and two A.M., they broke into the Canterlot Dungeons, and then broke into the castle's dungeons. We checked each cell, and sure enough, we found what we expected. The prisoner Captain Rainbow Dash was missing, and her cell door had been... Severely damaged." I narrowed my eyes, I had seen that damage first hoof, and knew he was toning it down, but for what reason, I was unsure.
"Judging from the fact that the dungeons were targeted, and Captain Rainbow Dash was missing, I believe we can assume Princess Twilight Sparkle is responsible for this attack, or at the very least, she had her hoof in it." Director Tap snorted. "I told you we should have crushed her when we had the chance..."
His comment, which he believed went unheard, served to further stroke my ire against him. I chose to ignore it for the moment, as we had more pressing things to discuss. "How did she find out where the captain was?" I asked.
"One of the operatives in Ponyville has been missing for almost a month, she could have been interrogated." Director Tap answered.
"That could explain how she knew the captain was in Canterlot." General Breaker commented.
"Do we have any idea who was on the team who infiltrated the castle?" General Hoof asked.
"Pegasi kill tactics were used, and there were signs that magic had been used on both sides." Director Tap replied evenly.
"Pegasi and unicorns..." General Hoof mused.
I shifted in my seat. "Not necessarily." All eyes turned to me. "Twilight could have been on the team." I was almost sure I heard the director swear beneath his breath, but it was drowned out by-
"Princess Twilight Sparkle could have been here? And we didn't have any idea until just now?" General Breaker nearly shouted. I could understand his frustration and shock, though he could stand to tone it down. "Do you have any idea how much damage she could have done before we stopped her!?"
Cadance bobbled her head. "Quite a lot... But she wouldn't do that!"
"We're getting off topic here." I stated firmly, once more drawing all eyes to myself. "What are we going to do about this?"
"How did they get to Canterlot, and how long have they been here?" General Hoof asked. "And, are they still here?"
Director Tap grimaced. "I have agents looking into it. So far, nothing."
"This act of aggression cannot go unpunished." General Hoof replied firmly. "We should launch an immediate attack on her!"
"We don't have the forces to send to attack her, and hold off Princess Luna at the same time." General Breaker said evenly. He turned to Shining Armor. "Unless Prince Shining Armor would be willing to attack Princess Luna's forces while we use that as cover to attack his sister." Shining remained silent.
"General," Cadance cut in, "While the Crystal Empire will help you by providing some reinforcements, we will not fight all your battles for you. We do still have our own problems to deal with." Shining Armor turned to Cadance and smiled.
I shook my head. "It's only a matter of time before one of them launches an attack. When they do, we can force them to overextend their forces, and then we can take advantage of that in our retaliation..." I turned to Cadance and Shining Armor and grimaced. "We will need your forces when the time comes..."
"Celestia, you know that the crystal ponies view Spike and Twilight as their saviors. If they find out that by their helping you, they're hurting them things could go very badly, very quickly." Cadance starred at me.
I sighed. She had a valid point, which could come back to bite me in the flank... "Princess Cadance, Prince Shining Armor... You are the rulers of the Crystal Empire, they trust you and your judgement... It is only a matter of time before Twilight or Luna's forces collapse, and then we will have the much needed advantage, allowing us to succeed without your help... Until then, however, I need your help to hold off Luna."
"Princess..." Director Tap grunted. "What will it take for you to go on the offensive? We can beat Princess Twilight's forces! She doesn't have hardly any ground forces, and there are next to no unicorns in her army!"
"We hardly have any earth ponies or pegasi, Director. What do you think will happen if we attack her? I would need to meet Twilight in battle... You think my sister will just sit back and watch? No, she will take to the field, and by the time I am able to meet her in combat, it may be too late."
"Then let me take my forces and engage Princess Twilight." General Hoof spoke, and hit his hooves against the table with enough force to make Cadance jump. "Canterlot is deep within your territory, Princess Luna would have to fight through a large portion of your forces to get to Canterlot. And that says nothing of the fact that Canterlot is on a mountain, Princess."
"Princess Twilight has approximately twelve thousand soldiers, of which roughly eleven thousand are pegasi." Director Tap commented absently. "Most of which are Wonderbolts, or Wonderbolts Reservists. I don't need to remind you how skilled they are." He paused as the door opened. I glanced towards the door, and say a unicorn soldier. He glanced around nervously, and held a paper in his magic.
"Enter." I commanded. He quickly shot in and handed the paper to Director Tap, then exited at least twice as fast. The director pulled the paper in front of his muzzle. After several seconds, he lowered the paper and looked up.
"They used the train system." he said. "The abandoned station on the east side of Canterlot." He lowered the paper to the table and looked at me. "I believe that is what you were waiting for before you closed the railroads down?" he said condescendingly.
I clenched my jaw, but nodded.
The director continued. "The train was spotted about three fourths the way down the mountain. About three hours out from Canterlot, and roughly five hours till they get to Princess Twilight's territory."
"Where's the nearest detachment of pegasi?" General Breaker asked.
"In Canterlot." Director Tap answered flatly. "They wouldn't be able to fly at speed while wearing the armor they would need for the engagement. They're already out of range."
"Then what do we do?" General Hoof asked cautiously. "Do we just sit here until the war is over and we've lost, or are we going to actually try to hold Equestria together?"
"It seems like you are itching for a battle, General." I commented. I looked around the table. "The longer we wait, the better chance we stand of winning."
Director Tap sat back in his chair. "Waiting around never won a war, Princess. We've reorganized, rearmed, and retrained. We're as ready as we can be, for the time being. Princess Luna's forces are a match for our own, and once Princess Twilight's army gets large enough, we're in trouble." He looked around the table, then returned his gaze to me. "Give General Hoof twenty-four thousand soldiers. Pegasi and unicorns. At the very least he can deal a damaging blow to her, delaying her rise to power."
"We don't have the forces to spare, and it would take time to mobilize them regardless." I countered. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shining Armor lean over to Cadance. His mouth moved, but I couldn't make out what he was saying.
"We can fortify our defenses along the border with Princess Luna. With enough fortification, it'd make up for the troop withdraw." Director Tap replied.
I sighed. As much as Director Tap was getting on my nerve, he was right. I couldn't just sit around doing nothing, expecting to win the war. I didn't want to send General Hoof against Twilight either though. I felt like doing that was sentencing thousands to their deaths... Which, in a way, it was.
Shining Armor looked to me and loudly cleared his throat. "If General Hoof promises to take Tw... Princess Twilight alive, then the Crystal Empire is willing to more fully commit to this war. The one against Princess Luna."
"Unharmed." Cadance added fiercely.
I bobbled my head as Director Tap turned to me. "That will bring much needed additional forces to our side. More than enough to replace any loses from the battle with Princess Twilight Sparkle."
General Hoof looked to me, almost pleadingly. "Just give the word, Princess, and I'll have my army reorganized, and moving out within two weeks."
I grimaced. The plan was starting to come together, so I needed to put holes in it. "You would need a lot of supplies for such an incursion, which would require planning." I replied. "We don't have the pegasi for air supply convoys, meaning you'd need ground convoys, which are easier targets."
"I can get to work on the supply chain." Director Tap replied.
'Strike one...' I thought.
"I can reposition my forces to fortify the border with Princess Luna. Her forces won't be able to match the firepower of my unicorns." General Breaker proudly boasted.
'Strike two...' "This would leave Canterlot vastly undefended. The Crystal Empire still requires a large amount of its forces to defend itself."
"The new recruits are stationed mostly in Canterlot, Princess. And since you'll be here, it evens the odds in our favor." Director Tap commented.
"This meeting was originally to discuss the infiltration of Canterlot Castle..." I commented wryly. "But it seems we're now going to launch a full scale assault because of it..."
Director Tap sighed. "Princess, with all due respect, we could have captured Princess Twilight last night if she was on that team. And if you had followed through with my full plan, we could have captured her sooner, and we wouldn't have to do this. We'll never know how many lives that plan could have cost, but how many would it have saved?"
"Director..." I sighed. I shook my head. "Have a plan for this assault by the end of the week, and I'll authorize it." I nodded. "Meeting adjourned... I have other things to attend to." I stood up, and action followed by everypony else. General Hoof, General Breaker, and Director Tap all saluted me, then moved to leave, followed by Cadance and Shining Armor. "Director, a word with you, please."
The director hesitated at the door, then turned to face me. "Yes, Princess?" he asked.
I searched for the right thing to say for several seconds, then reluctantly settled on "You're off your game." He looked at my wryly for several moments, and remained silent. "You should have warned me that Twilight might attempt a rescue mission."
He glared at me. "For the record, Princess. I did. I told you she would try this, and my plan would have used Rainbow as bait to capture Princess Twilight. But you refused to stage an execution. Because of this, she had time to prepare and think it through. Had you gone through with my plan, she would've been forced to act sooner, and if she didn't, we could have broken Captain Dash and used her against Princess Twilight." He sighed sharply. "We weren't going to go through with it. If it didn't work, it didn't work, but we would have at least tried."
"What would the ponies of Equestria said, had they found out that I was going to execute somepony, Director?" I replied condescendingly. He knew where I stood on this issue, and he knew the answer to my question. It would have backfired in the long run, and he knew it. "Especially a national hero?"
"Princess, this is war. Choices have to be made that nopony likes. If you don't make those choices, then you will fail, and Equestria will fall to ashes." the director said firmly.
"Wire Tap... What is wrong?" I asked. "You are not normally so... Heated..."
He sighed. His expression shifted from rage and anger to despondency. I had been right, something was bothering him... It did not bode well for any of us... "None of us normally are..." He lifted a hoof to rub his head. "I've been at this job too long... It's starting to get to me."
I nodded gravely. "Sometimes I feel the same about myself... But I have to keep at it, for Equestria." I said firmly, hoping my resolve would strengthen his. Perhaps he wasn't the only one off his game... I knew Twilight would want to rescue Rainbow as quickly as possible... But I did not expect her to be on the team to do so... If she was actually on the team...