Alchemical Empire

by NineOneThree

13: Resume

Everything was confusing, everything was terrifying, everybody broke her heart when she looked at them because she knew they would have to kneel or die.
Try as she might, she couldn't remember things not being like this. Of course, if she'd had time to sit down and think that might not be a problem; it's not exactly easy to ponder when you have six ponies to kill.
Every heartbeat felt like a punishment, because it meant she had to kill and subjugate for her people. Every blink was a mercy, so briefly cutting out the world she didn't want to have to conquer.
Aunt Luna was there. She was so strong, so frightening, so difficult to fight... but she kept faltering like she was in agony. She could be incapacitated, at least.
But now the six ponies were at her again, all one after another. A tiny part of her screamed through the static and noise, saying to let it happen, let them do it, just sit there. Let the warm, comforting waves of light crash over her like a breaker on the shores of home. Let it happen.

Template's eyes slid open, the smell of an unfamiliar bed lingering in her nose. A few seconds of blinking as her eyes adjust, and she saw Twilight watching her anxiously... with Princess Luna herself just behind.
"I..." She coughed, her mouth dry as she weakly started to sit up. "Aunt Luna, you're okay... I-I was afraid I might've..."

The dark blue alicorn shook her head. "Oh, foolish child, it would have taken significantly more than your inexperienced powers to do me serious harm."

"You're in the Canterlot Castle infirmary, Template... you remember what happened?" Twilight gestured to the clean, brightly-lit white room with its rows of beds and racks of medical equipment.

Template nodded, cringing. "I tried to kill you... you welcomed me with open hearts and I tried to kill you all."

Luna's hoof settled on her shoulder. "You are not the only one to have undergone such a transformation, Crown Princess, nor the only one whose efforts aimed for destruction... would you tell us what happened to drive you to such despair?"

"I... my sister, Empress Aleph, she kept telling me that I was betraying my people. Her voice was in my head almost constantly, saying that Equestria was the enemy, that if I wanted to do what's good for my people I would have to make everypony submit or... or..." She hung her head, eyes down. "It all just piled up on me until I... I broke. I just don't understand why Aleph would do that... did she know that would happen to me? D-did she want it to happen?"

Twilight swallowed before she replied. "I... I don't know very much about it, but considering what's happened, I'm afraid she may have."

"... What does that mean?" Template felt her stomach tighten in worry.

Luna sighed gently. "It means that we think you were supposed to be... a diversion. It seems that while the Bearers of the Elements and I were engaged with you in combat, my sister disappeared. Though we do not know by what means it was done, on her favored balcony we have discovered unfamilar magic traces. All this seems to point toward your Empress somehow being responsible, causing you to become a Nightmare so that she might be unhindered by the Elements or me... but even without interference, she would still have been contending with the very incarnation of the Sun. To infiltrate the Castle, incapacitate my sister, and escape so cleanly, she must be terribly great in power."

Starting to drag herself out of bed, Template frowned. "That's... she never seemed very powerful to me, not like that... mostly. I thought she was normal like me, built in the Earth Pony frame---no horn, no wings. I didn't even know she had magic until she started contacting me telepathically. She always seemed so quiet and normal til then, and even that didn't seem hugely surprising at first...but she could have been hiding a lot more."

Luna helped Twilight keep the grey mare steady. "There are two problems with that, though. Firstly, if she were so powerful as to be able to kidnap Celestia like that, I cannot see how she stayed unknown to my sister and I so long---when you became a Nightmare, we could both feel the flaring-up of your power all the way from Canterlot Castle. Even so far away, a pony of such great power as she must have could not have gone unnoticed entirely.
"The second problem is with what you said---'normal like me'. It can be better explained another time, but suffice to say for now that you are no longer so normal, even if you feel no different just yet. Perhaps the only immediate benefit we can detect is that our magic doctors have determined that you will no longer be so vulnerable to such telepathic assaults... now please come with us."

Twilight supported the shaky, confused equinculus as they walked down the halls. "We've called a meeting and we need your input. I wishe we didn't have to drag you out of bed like this, but you've been asleep an entire day and we can't hold off this council."

They finally reached the doors guarded by a pair of gold-armored, white-coated unicorns, who let the three into the well-lit chamber. Seated around an oval-shaped table were the rest of the Bearers of the Elements, several Day and Night Guard upper brass, Princess Cadance, Prince Drawplate, and---sticking out like a griffon in a henhouse---Discord, his fidgeting kept in check by Fluttershy next to him. Twilight, Template, and Luna were seated; Template was between Twilight and Drawplate, and Luna took her place at what appeared to be the head of the table, a beige unicorn with a notepad hovering behind her.
"I call this emergency meeting to order. Let the record show that this impromptu council contains the six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, General Sirius and Major Rosethorn of the Day Guard, General Copper Moon and Colonel Silver Strand of the Night Guard, Princess Cadance of the Crystal Empire, Crown Princess Template and Prince Drawplate of the Alchemical Empire, and Probationary Minister Discord of Equestria.

With that out of the way, let us put aside as much formality as can be spared and coem straight to the issue: my sister, Princess Celestia, has disappeared without notice or forseeable reason. Until she returns, I must raise the sun just as she took on the duty of the moon during my absence, and as such I need your help, Cadance---and Discord."

The draconequus snorted in frustration, leaving off gnawing one of his eagle talons. "That's all very well, Luna---which is to say that it's a huge problem for everypony---but how did this happen?! I know Celestia wouldn't just up and leave, and anything powerful enough to kidnap her would have shown up like a neon sign to me, you, your cousin, even the newbie princess! None of his makes sense, and it's not the kind of nonsense I like!"

Twilight sat up a little as Fluttershy tried to placate the fuming draconequus. "We thing we know what happened, or at least a decent idea of it... I've talked to the royals of the Alchemical Empire, and... Prince Drawplate, would you like to explain?"

Turning from Template, the bronze equinculus stallion nodded. "I've just caught up with my sister and discussed with Princess Twilight earlier, and it seems fairly clear what may have happened... our oldest sister, Empress Aleph, may have been somehow hiding a huge amount of magical power from everyone---even us---until very recently. She telepathically contacted Template and exploited her devotion to our people to psychologically harm her and induce a transformation into a Nightmare. While Princess Luna and the Bearers were dealing with that, she somehow got in and kidnapped Princess Celestia." He sighed.

Cadance spoke up. "We know a pretty vague semblance of how, but why? What reason would the empress of a far-away nation have to kidnap a goddess, let alone one she claimed to be devoted to?"

Drawplate glanced at his sister, then to Cadence. "Now that, I'm really not sure... though I will admit, at times it seemed more she was obsessed with Celestia than devoted."

"Motives aside, we need my sister back as soon as possible." Luna sat up. "Unfortunately, I will be hard-pressed maintaining Equestria as it is, even with aid. We could send the Bearers with the Imperial royals---minus Crown Princess Template, so she may rest from her recent turmoil---on the Inner Truth, but along with an entire crew of golems, there would be the risk that the Empress could try to turn the other three royals into Nightmares with her telepathic assaults. And yet if the six take the airship there without any of the equinculi, the Empress will know we're onto her and they will have no allies there---they'd be walking into the manticore's den alone."

Template swallowed, clearing her throat. "I... I'll go with them."

"Crown Princess, with all due respect, you are in no condition for such an ordeal." Luna shook her head, frowning.

"Is there any other option? You said it yourself, Princess---they can't go in with the other royals, and they can't go alone. You said yourself that Aleph won't be able to... to go after me again with her telepathy, so she won't be able to repeat what she did before. If I come with them, I can tell the rest of our siblings are running Equestria now, maybe keep her attention so Twilight and the others can do something." Template sighed heavily. "This is partly my fault, and if I can do my part to fix it, then I will. I have to."

The rest of the table started debating among themselves, until finally they quieted down. Luna closed her eyes and nodded once. "... Very well. Your plan seems like the best possible option, so please prepare as soon as you possibly can..."

---

Only a few hours later, The HIMS Inner Truth was ready to cast off; supplies had been accounted for, the crew had been reduced to somewhere near its minimum requirement, and the golems not departing had been settled in wherever possible. The Bearers and Template stood facing Luna and the three other Imperial royals.

Twilight watched Template tightly embrace her brother and sisters, then looked up at Princess Luna. "I promise we'll get her back, Princess." She was a little surprised, but only a little, when the taller alicorn nuzzled her.

"I know you will, Twilight Sparkle... please take care on your voyage, and... take care of her." Luna glanced over at Template. "She is going to need support after what happened, something I know firsthand."

Finally they were heading up the boarding ramp to the deck, watching as they started to drift away from the airship dock, seeing Canterlot slowly recede as the engines fired up. Eventually, there wasn't much more to see and it was getting a little chilly at this elevation; they retreated inside. Template took a seat in front of a window and simply stared out as afternoon began slowly fading toward evening.

---

ARCHIVED HISTORICAL FILE
CATEGORY: EARLY PERIOD
CLASSIFICATION: TABOO. NOTE THAT READING ANY FURTHER WITHOUT EXPLICIT AUTHORIZATION WARRANTS IMMEDIATE DISCORPORATION.
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FILE CONTINUES
NOTE: ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT CONTAINS ERRORS. FILE MAINTAINS THESE ERRORS AND WILL NOTE AREAS OF ILLEGIBLE TEXT WHERE PRESENT.
Day 28:
m o t h e r
where are you why aren't you here
it's been a month without you and i just c[illegible]
everything is weighing me down and i feel like i'm drowning out here
it just feels like i [illegible]
mother i miss you
i miss you so, so much

Comments

[NineOneThree]

I'm going back to college soon, so I may as well warn y'all that schedule slip maaayyy be a thing that starts happening. Sorry in advance.

[C_II_R]

3083209

Too busy with College? That's better than falling off the edge of the Earth at least
I hope you'll forgive my holding onto hope that in the one or five years that are probably left in your programmer by now that this most excellent adventure will begin again