Comes the Sunset

by Scipio Smith

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Chapter 5

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Summer was the busiest time of year on the rock farm. It was when you got the most tourists coming through the Rockies, all looking to buy souvenir rocks. Pet rocks, rocks with interest shapes, rock candy, rocks with faces painted on them for the foals - Pinkie had come up with those a little while before she left for Ponyville. Everypony wanted a rock to remember their hiking trip or sightseeing tour by. Some years you couldn't get them out of the ground fast enough. Last year Igneous had had to hire on a new hoof, something he'd never done before, to get them through it. She'd gotten tolerably good with the rocks, that unicorn. Perhaps she'd come back again this year.

That was why Maud Pie was out in the south field before the sun had even risen, hauling a cart behind her with effortless ease. It was empty now, and weighed so little she could forget it was there. By the time it was full it wouldn't even be a nuisance to her. She could have spent hours examining some of the rocks she found out amongst the dirt, but she was out here to work, not to indulge her passion, so she gave each stone only a cursory glance before loading it onto the cart. She would give the most fascinating specimens a proper going-over that night, when all the chores were done.

Maud blinked. Pinkie probably wasn't even awake yet, let alone working. The thought of her little sister tucked up in bed threatened to bring a smile to Maud's stoic features. Pinkie had never been cut out for the farming life, it was good that she'd found somewhere more congenial to her nature. Maud remembered, when they were children, doing all of Pinkie's morning chores for her so that Pinkie could sleep in. It had worked fine - the chores had arguably been done better by her - until Pa found out about it.

Maud kept working, picking up rock after rock and putting them in the cart ready for sorting back at the house. This would be her last summer here, before she left for her rocktoral studies. Pa might have to start hiring on regularly in order to get through the harvest. But it couldn't be helped. Maud had to live her own life. Just like Pinkie.

Maud stopped, coming to a halt in a manner that might have seemed sudden had not her usual gait been so slow to begin with that even an abrupt stop seemed gentle. She blinked. Her Maud sense was tingling, a tickling sensation on her nose. That only meant one thing.

Maud's mouth tightened in a manner that would have been barely noticeable to anypony not an ardent student of her body language and expressions, and she unfastened herself from the cart and walked briskly back towards the farmhouse. She pushed open the door and went immediately to her room, a sparse, bare space barely large enough for the bed and a couple of shelves fastened to the wall. Maud didn't have much in the way of things: a few of her favourite rocks, some books on rocks, the box of rock candy necklaces that Pinkie made for her, and Boulder. She put Boulder in her pocket, got her saddlebags out from under the bed, went into the kitchen and began to pack some loaves of bread for the journey.

Pa came in from the west field as she was finishing up. His grey mane was starting to turn to white now, the bags under his eyes were getting deeper and his brow more furrowed. He frowned at her. "What you doing, Maud?"

"I'm going on a little trip, Pa," Maud replied. "I should be back soon if everything goes okay."

"But, where are you going?"

"Ponyville. Pinkie needs me," Maud said. She didn't need to explain any more than that. She walked past her father and out the door.

"Wait, Maud," Pa called after her. "What are you going to do when you get there?"

Maud looked back for a moment. "Whatever I can."

---

Sunset Shimmer stood in her tent, putting on her armour.

There was still a little time left before Celestia raised the sun. That was good. She wanted to enter Ponyville with the dawn, the light of the new day catching her armour and her flag. A proper show to impress the locals. They were, she knew from her spying, easily impressed by such grand gestures. More than one ne'er-do-well had taken them in with just a touch of razzle-dazzle. Sunset was confident that she could win them to her side in the same way.

That was why she was wearing her best armour. Sunset did not normally have cause to wear any, preferring to wear nothing at all or to cover himself in a drab cloak, so that by her lack of colour she would stand out amongst her flamboyant zebra lords and captains. When it was necessary, she usually armoured herself in the plate of an imperial sentinel, plain iron dented and damaged by much rough handling. But today, she was getting dressed up in style. She had never worn the ceremonial armour that the grundle king had presented her with, after her victory over the Cosmic Council. It had always looked too elaborate for her, too much style, too little substance. But style was what she needed today, if she was to win the hearts of Ponyville.

So Sunset armoured herself in glittering gold and prepared to be more actor than warrior.

As she was fastening on her breastplate - it was stamped with the image of her cutie mark, inlaid in crimson against the gold - Sunset began to feel something on the back of her neck. Something like...breath.

"Turn back," a hoarse voice, raspy and low, whispered.

Sunset's head whipped around, mouth half-open to give a lashing to whoever dared disturb her privacy. But there was nopony there. There was only Sunset, and nopony could have gotten away so fast that she would not have seen them.

Sunset frowned. Was she imagining things? She could not afford to lose her mind, too much was at stake. But she would have sworn somepony or something was there.

"Turn back, you must turn back," that voice again, a stallion's voice, muffled as if by distance, yet at the same time feeling so close that she could feel the breath upon her.

Sunset looked all around her and saw nothing. "Arial?" she said softly. "Arial, what are you doing?"

A silver white cloud, wispy and indistinct, swirled before her, resolving into something like the shape of a Breezy. "Do, mistress?" Arial asked, sounding confused. "I do nothing but your bidding. Have you not made our relationship clear to both of us?"

"Sunset Shimmer, doom awaits you unless you turn aside," the voice came a third time, pleading this time. "Turn from this course before it is too late."

"If not you, then who or what is that?" Sunset snapped.

Arial's voice trembled a little. "I know not, mistress, but it is no kindred spirit of mine or I would know them."

Sunset scowled. Did somepony think to frighten her with childish portents, to trespass in her camp and escape without consequence? She stormed out of her tent, the starlight glimmering upon her armour. "Virtue!"

Virtue stood up very quickly, her shout lending speed to his movements. "Yes, Mistress?"

"Have you seen anypony creeping about out here? Someone's trying to play silly ponies with me."

Virtue shook his head. "I have seen nopony but our own forces, mistress. Our prisoners have not moved."

Sunset looked across the clearing and regarded the prisoners warily. Could one of them have been throwing their voices? She wouldn't have put it past Pinkie Pie to possess the skill, but she doubted that the pink pony could lower her voice to the depth of the tone she had heard. No, while they looked surly enough, and certainly bore her malice, they did not have the skill to do this. And what would it gain them, in any case? Did they really think she would turn aside now because of a voice foretelling doom?

"Turn back now, there is not much time." This time it was not speech alone, but a cloud of dark smoke which rose up before her to accompany it. The smoke lingered in front of Sunset's face for just a moment, then retreated through the camp and into the forest. Sunset pursued, Arial and Virtue not far behind her, as the zebras gave way before the small, nimble cloud.

On the edge of the camp, a little way into the forest, the smoke stopped and resolved itself into the image of a tall alicorn stallion. He was dark, if indeed the smoke was any reflection as to his colouring, yet without something translucent about him as though he were made of dark-tinted glass. He looked, in fact, more than a little like Princess Luna.

The alicorn, or the image of an alicorn, looked into Sunset's eyes for a moment. Then he was gone.

"What was that apparition?" Virtue murmured. "A ghost?"

"Whose ghost? There's never been an alicorn stallion to leave a ghost behind," Sunset replied.

"A spirit of the future, then?"

"It doesn't matter," Sunset snapped. "A shade made of smoke, unable to do more than talk in ominous cliches cannot threaten my ambitions."

"It is an ill thing to have the spirits against us," Virtue replied obstinately.

"It makes no difference," Sunset said. "Wait here until I send for you, and guard the prisoners."

"You will not take them with you, mistress?" Virtue asked.

"Yes, because dragging their neighbours in chains behind me is a surefire way to get the support of Ponyville," Sunset said.

"They are your enemies."

"I am here to save them, whether they wish it or not," Sunset replied. "You will keep the prisoners here with the wounded and a small escort, and bring them when I summon you, which I shall only do when the time is right."

Virtue bowed his head. "As you command, mistress."

"Quite," Sunset growled. She left him behind, and wandered back towards the centre of the camp even as the zebras dismantled it around her. Tents were struck, fires were extinguished, cooking pots and blankets packed away. Four hundred zebras, four-fifths of the Aethiope strength that she had with her, girded their armour on and shouldered their spears ready to march. With them were Sunset's own mercenaries, and the ponies from the Quetzacoatl valley she had conscripted. Even the war elephants had been roused from their slumber, the ground trembled with the sound of their footsteps as they plodded into place at the rear of the column. The bells around their necks jingled and the beasts made muted trumpeting sounds as were driven into a column two wide. The remaining hundred zebras, most of them injured in some way, would remain with the other wounded and the captives in the Everfree Forest. Bandages and battle scars rarely made a good impression on civilians, and so they might as well guard everything else Sunset didn't want Ponyville to see right away. The Shadowbolts were staying put for now, as well. Shrike had not been shy in expressing her disdain for Celestia, and some of the more impressionable pegasi had begun to adopt that attitude as well. Sunset, who in any case did not consider herself Celestia's enemy so much as Celestia's saviour, didn't want the credulous and changeable folk of Ponyville to get the wrong idea about her cause.

The column waited for her take her place at their head, for her to order the advance, for her to take this momentous step.

This was it. At the moment, she could still turn back. She could disband her armies, send the zebras home, slink away with her loyal mercenaries and the followers she had brought with her from outside this world, and disappear. They might search for her, or they might not, but she would have done no lasting damage. There would be the matter of releasing Twilight Sparkle from the labryinth box, but Princess Celestia was probably up to the task.

The point was, if she gave up now, if she turned her back on everything, then she could walk away without any consequences to herself. But if she took this step, if she marched into Ponyville at the head of an army - small though it was right now - then she would have committed herself irreversibly to this course. She would be declaring war on Equestria, on the princesses, on the entire way of life of thousands of ponies. She would be bringing one thousand years of a free society to a close, bringing the curtain down on the Equestria that she, Dawn and Twilight had been born into and replacing it with - if she was brutally honest with herself - an uglier, more brutal place. A place where freedom was less valued than security, where sacrifices were not asked but commanded, where the goal of victory would justify all manner of horrors.

It would have given anypony pause, and Sunset Shimmer was not yet so removed from the pony she had been that she did not hesitated upon the brink of this abyss. Was she right, to do this? Did saving lives justify her to take this step?

She closed her eyes, an image of Eclipse forming in her mind. Yes, it did. To save her sister, to save everypony, she would do these things. She had to. She was the only pony with the strength to save this world and that alone gave her the right to do whatever was necessary to achieve that goal.

It was time to cast the die.

"Unfurl the banners!" Sunset commanded.

The two zebra standard bearers hoisted their charges up, the flags unfolding to reveal the golden eagle of Grevyia emblazoned upon one, and a stylised sunset upon the other.

Sunset took her rightful place at the head of the column, the flags flying over her head. She wore no helmet: she wanted Ponyville to see her face so that they could identify with her.

"Forward!"

A trumpet sounded, the zebras followed Sunset as she began to trot, and her forces marched out of the Everfree Forest and entered Ponyville with the first light of dawn.

---

Sweetie Belle was woken up to the sound of a trumpet blowing outside. Long, relentless calls which kept on going as she rolled out of bed and got tangled up in her sheets on the floor.

"What? Huh?" Sweetie murmured as she tried to fight her way clear of the bed-clothes. "Apple Bloom, if this is some new way of earning your cutie mark I really hope it doesn't work."

She heard, rather than saw, the bedroom door opening before her father helped her free herself from out of the sheets. He looked worried, he was sweating. "Whatever happens, Sweetie," he said. "You have to be quiet. Be quiet and don't drawn attention. Don't be scared, your mother and I are right here."

Sweetie Belle's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about, Dad? What's going on?"

"I wish I knew, honey," Dad said.

They went outside, Mom still in her dressing gown, Dad not dressed at all, Sweetie Belle yawning and feeling a cold in the pit of her stomach that had nothing do with the usual early morning hunger. Everypony seemed to be coming outside, even though the sun was still rising in the sky. There was Miss Cheerilee, and the Mayor, Lyra and Bon-Bon, Derpy, Amethyst Star and Dinky. Sweetie Belle waved to Scootaloo across the street, and she could see Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith standing at the far end of the street, on the very edge of town.

"Where's Rarity?" Sweetie asked, looking up and down the crowd. Come to think of it, she couldn't see Applejack with the other Apples either. And Twilight was nowhere to be seen.

"Shh," Dad hissed. "Don't make a sound."

Sweetie opened her mouth to ask why, when she heard the trumpet sound again. She looked up the street, in the direction of the Everfree Forest, and saw a column of soldiers marching into Ponyville with the sun at their back, two flags flying at their head. Their golden eagle, upon a white background, seemed to blaze in the sunlight, while the red of the setting sun looked ominously close to the colour of blood. They were zebras, most of them, marching in perfect rhythm with the dawnlight glinting off their armour and their spearheads. They had not only the intermittent trumpet calls, but a heavy, ponderous drumbeat being maintained by a young elephant towards the rear of the column: he had the drum strapped to his side and held the stick in his trunk. The beating sound echoed over the clipped tramping sounds of the zebras' hooves.

Behind the zebras came a more motley looking crew: griffons and ponies with strange haircuts and painted faces. Then came the elephants, grey beasts that towered over the houses of Ponyville, with bells around their necks, trumpeting as loud as the zebra bugles.

And at their head was a beautiful unicorn in gold armour, her mane like fire flowing behind her, the reflection of the sunlight off her carapace combining with her amber colouring to make her radiant. It felt disloyal to say so, but Sweetie Belle thought that this unicorn could have looked prettier than Rarity right now, if Rarity had been there to compare her with. She bore herself with Rarity's confidence, the poise that Sweetie had always envied in her sister, but with a swagger added that Rarity never had. Whoever this unicorn was, she wasn't just confident in herself, she was confident in being better than everypony else.

The column marched halfway down the main street until it came to the front of the town hall, where a zebra with an ostrich feather in his helmet barked an order in a foreign language. With a crash of hooves stamping on the ground, the column halted. Some of the griffons and those weird earth ponies glanced this way and that at the anxious crowd surrounding them, but the zebras kept their faces straight ahead, as if unaware that they had an audience at all. The elephants hooted quietly.

The zebra with the plumed helmet said something else, and the column faced to their right, so that they were looking at the town hall now, and the ponies gathered around it. Once more their hooves slammed down with a thud.

Silence descended over Ponyville, nopony spoke, nopony moved, there was no noise except for the shuffling and snorting of the elephants and the soft tingling of their bells as the great beasts moved.

The ponies stared at the zebras, and the zebras stared right through the ponies.

Sweetie Belle found herself pressing closer to her father as she tried to work out what was going on. Who were all these people? What were they doing here? Where was Rarity, and why did Apple Bloom look more worried than most?

After over a minute of this face-off, the mayor stepped forward tremulously, her knees wobbling ever so slightly. She head towards the unicorn, who seemed to be the leader of the party simply by the way she drew all eyes towards her.

The mayor began to speak. The unicorn held up one hoof for silence, smiling dismissively. As everypony watched, she trotted past the mayor and onto the town hall steps. She was facing her followers, and most of the population of Ponyville now, with everypony hanging off the words that seemed sure to come.

"My name is Sunset Shimmer," Sunset declared, her voice ringing out across the little town. "And I am here to change the world."

Silence. The only reaction Sweetie noticed was that a few more ponies narrowed their eyes suspiciously.

"A great storm is coming," Sunset continued. "The harshest and most bitter storm that has ever been seen in this land or any other in this world. Divided, no creature nor land will weather it. It will take strength, it will take courage from each and every one of you. I am here to help, I am here to save you all, I am here to save Equestria. But I cannot do it alone. That's why I'm here: to ask you to help me help everypony."

Sunset started to look discomfited by the lack of a response from the crowd, but she ploughed on regardless. "I can promise you nothing but sweat, toil and sacrifice. I offer only a long, dark tunnel, with precious little light at the end of it. I tell you that the road ahead is hard and paved with daggers. But I also tell you that when the darkness is past, when we emerge once more into the sunlit uplands, you will see that we accomplished something truly worthwhile together you and I. Equestria itself, the continued existence of our land, will be our legacy."

Sunset still didn't get a response. She coughed loudly before she said anything else. "Now our challenge will be anything but easy, but if we work together I know we can get through this okay. Yeah!" She pumped one hoof into the air, which only made her sound even less sincere than she had before; and she hadn't sounded all that sincere to begin with.

Nopony said anything.

"No? Is that not how it goes?" Sunset said. "Friendship, believe in each other, have faith, work hard and do our best, all that nonsense? No? Come on, say something! What, do I have to do a song and dance number to get a response from you ponies?"

There was no reply, only the sound of the zebra flags flapping as the ponies of Ponyville regarded she would called herself their saviour and her followers in cold, sullen silence. Their faces were stone, their eyes were diamond. Nopony had anything to say to such vague promises and insincere platitudes.

Nopony but one. Apple Bloom darted out from behind Big Mac and her voice cut through the still, quiet air. "Where's mah sister, you loud-mouthed varmint?"

At the sound of Apple Bloom's voice, one of the griffons turned towards her with an angry huff, breaking ranks and striding towards the young filly. Big Mac stepped over his little sister, placing himself between her and the advancing griffon.

"Talon! Stop!" Sunset Shimmer's voice cut like a knife. The griffon stopped, looking towards her in confusion. Sunset went on, "It is a fair question. Your sister and her friends are guesting with the remainder of my forces in the Everfree Forest. They are assisting me in preparations for the coming conflict."

"What conflict?" Lyra demanded as she stepped out of the crowd. "If you're here to help then you'll tell us everything. What are you up to, Sunset?"

Sunset stared at her for a moment, tilting her head slightly to one side. "It's...Lyra Heartstrings, isn't it? We were at school together, weren't we? I remember you, now."

"And I remember you, too, Sunset Shimmer," Lyra replied coldly. "What's this really all about?"

"If I had the answers, I would tell you," Sunset said, calmly. "If I knew who the enemy was, I would tell you, if I knew when they would strike I would tell you that as well. I don't have those answers. I only know that we have to act fast or it may be too late for all of us."

"Why should we believe you?" Lyra shouted. "Most of these ponies don't know you. Where's Princess Twilight?"

"Yeah, let Twilight talk!" other ponies took up the call, the crowd beginning to echo with demands for a pony that they knew, that they trusted, to preach Sunset's message in her stead.

Sunset scowled, looking around with poorly concealed distaste. She stamped her leg upon the wooden planks impatiently. Her horn glowed with magic as a flare burst from the tip to fire up into the sky, exploding with a deafening bang and a flash of azure light.

"Silence!" Sunset yelled, and the crowd began to hush in the face of her now obvious anger. "I wanted to do this pleasantly, for your sake. I would rather have had your willing cooperation. But I will have your assistance whether you want to give it to me or not, do I make myself clear?"

There was disdain in her eyes now as Sunset swept her gaze over the crowd. "You foolish ponies, you idle away all your days in play and frivolity, with no idea of the hardships of the world outside of your gilded cage. You have no idea what's coming. Well I do, and so help me, I will save you from it if I must drag you all kicking and screaming into a new era. The days of milk and honey are at an end. The days ahead will be hard, so we must all become hard in order to survive them." Sunset paused for a moment, a flicker of sadness crossing her face. "It is a terrible thing, but it cannot be avoided," she murmured, her tone softening briefly. Then her voice became loud and strong again. "There are three things you should know about me: the first, is that I am a fair mare when I am not pushed. The second is that my goals, my aims, are greater than any one pony; so if you oppose me...I will not allow you to stand in my way. But the third, the third thing you should know is that if you stand behind me..." Sunset's voice trembled as she concluded, "I will give my life to save this land of ours."
"I intend to remain here no more than a day or two, then my friends and I will press on to Canterlot. When I go, I will take with me soldiers to defend Equestria, and leave behind me a town organised and prepared to survive the chill the east wind brings. Return to your homes. Do not try to flee this town, or my zebras will have to bring you back. When you hear the trumpet blow, you will assembled in the town square and hear my intentions in detail. That is all. Dismissed!"

The zebra officer barked an order, and the zebras broke ranks and moved to confront the ponies, herding them back into their homes at the same time as they moved to ring the outskirts of Ponyville and prevent anypony from leaving.

"Do you think Rarity's okay?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I really hope so," was all her dad could say in reply.

---

As the crowd dispersed, Sunset waved Muttines over to her. "Send a messenger back into the forest, tell Virtue to get down here with the rest of our forces and all our captives. There's no point treading lightly any more."

Muttines nodded, and ordered one of his warriors, who began to canter back up the road in the direction of the Everfree.

Sunset turned her attention to the mayor who, alone of all the ponies in town, had made no move to go back to her home. The fact that there were a pair of burly griffons blocking her path might have had something to do with that.

"Mayor Mare, isn't it?" Sunset said with a smile. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm afraid I'm going to require the use of your town hall for the duration of my stay. After that, it will see other uses."

The mayor swallowed. "Miss Shimmer-"

"Sunset, please," Sunset said. "Miss Shimmer sounds so...condescending." At the same time, her head was not so swollen that she would insist upon a title.

The mayor hesitated. "Very well...Sunset. As mayor of Ponyville I must ask, what exactly do you plan to do to everypony in this town?"

"You make it sound as if I'm here to torture them," Sunset said lightly. The mayor didn't laugh. Tough crowd. Sunset cleared her throat and went on, "I intend to take soldiers. Volunteers, if possible, conscripts if not. When I leave Ponyville, I shall leave a zebra officer here to advise you on how best to maximise Ponyville's productivity in the coming battle. This is a farming town, therefore all the energies of the populace should be bent towards the production of food for Equestria. My officer, and the troops who remain here for your protection, will help you to achieve that."

"You mean to leave a garrison here?" the mayor asked nervously.

"Well of course," Sunset replied. "Don't look so alarmed, Mayor Mare, it's all for your own safety."

She pushed open the doors of the town hall and strode inside. She crossed the main meeting space and walked into the mayor's office, a room that was not too sparse and not too opulent but felt...just right. The floor was tiled a mixture of black and white, an Equestrian flag sat in the corner. A map of the town hung upon the wall next to the town charter and the royal decree granting land to the Apple family and permitting the foundation of a settlement upon it. Sunset's gazed lingered on Celestia's signature, large and elegant, at the bottom of the decree.

There was no turning back for Sunset Shimmer now.

She walked around the mayor's polished oak desk and sat down on the rather basic office chair. It felt surprisingly uncomfortable.

"That could have gone much better," Sunset murmured.

"That's what happens when you don't believe what you're saying," a snide voice said from the corner of the office.

Sunset spun around on the swing chair. Lurking, just in front of the flag, was a berry-red earth pony mare, with a mane of a slightly darker shade and a berry cutie mark. The voice was not that of a mare however, but that of a colt, the colt who had approached Sunset in the graveyard in Canterlot.

Sunset looked at...it, flatly. "How did you get in here? How did you get past my guards?"

"Oh, please. Have you forgotten Lord Moloch's power already? Or are your delusions of heroism going to your head?" The mare slunk forwards. "What do you think? It isn't a child."

"No, it's just some poor mare you've bodysnatched." Sunset growled. "Are you going to tell me your name? It's going to be difficult to keep track of you and your changing appearance otherwise." Her eyes narrowed. "You aren't Compassion, he doesn't sneak up on people. Vanity? No, you wouldn't alter you appearance for me or anypony else. Greed? No..." Sunset smirked. "You're his Pride, aren't you? That's why you're so full of yourself."

Pride pouted. "So, you figured it out. Congratulations. It doesn't change a thing, you impudent insect."

Sunset's smirk widened. "You know, if your father keeps on stripping bits of his soul away like that he's going to wind up a husk."

"With every emotion Lord Moloch removes from himself, the closer he approaches to perfection!" Pride snapped.

"Ah, so you admit that you're imperfect, then?" Sunset replied.

Pride growled. "Quit screwing around! What's all this nonsense you were telling those ponies about saving them from darkness? You're here to collect souls for Moloch or had you forgotten?"

"I forget nothing," Sunset snarled, pushing herself off the chair and onto the tiled floor of the office. She advanced upon Pride, the fragment of a demon-lord's soul giving way before her. "I have not forgotten what Moloch did for me. Nor have I forgotten what he did to me, what he made me do for him!"

"You agreed to the bargain that was offered you."

"I was asked if I wanted to live, I wasn't told that death would be preferable," Sunset snapped.

Pride's voice was cold and imperious. "All that you are, you owe to my father."

"And I do not forget that, nor forgive it," Sunset replied, her voice sharper than any spearhead. "Tell your daddy that he'll get his blood price, enough blood to drown in." His own blood, if Sunset had anything to say about it. "But I am not his slave to jump at his commands, nor do I require to have my hoof held by some one-note minion. I know what I'm doing." She was walking a tightrope, pretending to serve Moloch while actually serving a higher cause altogether. And the look of shock on that monster's face when he realised she had betrayed him to his doom would be so very satisfying. "Now get out."

Pride hissed in annoyance, but said nothing. She retreated into the shadowy corner of the room.

"Wait, one more thing," Sunset said. "In the camp, before dawn, was that your doing?"

"No," Pride replied. "That was somepony else. Somepony you should be wary of. He'll try to interfere, but he's almost as arrogant as I am. If you're careful, you should be able to take care of him."

"Who is he?"

"Figure it out for yourself," Pride spat. "After all, you don't need to have your hoof held by some one-note minion." She faded into the shadows, and then she was gone.

Sunset growled wordlessly. Another player? Who? She didn't want any unknowns in this game she was playing, what she planned to pull off would be hard enough without factors that she couldn't predict getting in the way. Was he an imperial or council agent come to punish her for her treachery? No, if he was he wouldn't have wasted time with theatrics, he would have attacked. Besides, the Empire wouldn't let the Council get its hands on an alicorn, and the Empire wouldn't risk one by sending him to Equestria alone; they were too precious to be used that way. No, whoever she had seen was something else, and Sunset had no clue what.

The door to the mayor's office was flung open and Virtue marched in, Firethorn following at his heels.

Virtue bowed. "Mistress, all our forces have now concentrated in Ponyville. I have posted sentries watching both ways in all directions."

"Good," Sunset said. "What have you done with the prisoners?"

"I put them in the schoolhouse, mistress," Virtue said. "Under guard, of course."

"Of course," Sunset agreed. "There will be a party of Diamond Dogs arriving shortly. They are my allies, so make them feel welcome and show their leader to me when he comes."

"Diamond Dogs, mistress?"

Of course, they didn't have any in Chevalia. "Large canines, who walk on thier hind legs," Sunset explained. "You'll know then when you see them. Try not to wrinkle your nose too much at the smell."

"They hardly seem appropriate allies, mistress," Virtue murmured.

"I was told to unite the world, and that is what I mean to do," Sunset replied. "All of it, not just those parts that are clean and well-spoken. That's all."

Virtue bowed again, accepting the dismissal, and walked backwards out of the room. He closed the door behind him as he went.

Sunset turned her attention to Firethorn. His wings and one of his legs were covered in bandages, and he had a nasty bruise on the side of his face.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"I will be fit to fight again soon, Sunset," he replied.

"Not what I asked. how do you feel?" she repeated.

Firethorn hesitated. "It aches."

"I'm sure it does," Sunset used her telekinesis to wheel the mayoral chair around the desk. "Sit down, you'll be more comfortable than on the floor. Probably."

"I'd rather stand."

"Sit down," Sunset insisted. "You're not a zebra, you don't have to stand to attention until I'm done with you." As Firethorn reluctantly sat, Sunset squatted down upon the floor in front of him. "Now, did that blow to the head knock all the knowledge out of you?"

Firethorn frowned. "No, but-"

"Good, then we'll have that test on the reading I set you," Sunset said. "What were the terms of the Hearth's Warming Concord?"

Firethorn chewed on his lip as he pondered the answer. "The unicorns and the pegasi agreed not to extort any more food from the earth ponies, but in exchange for the unicorns continuing to raise the sun and the pegasi continuing to create good weather the earth ponies agreed to provide food at a discounted price. The unicorns would receive one tenth of all food grown each year-"

"Three tenths," Sunset corrected him. "Three tenths to the unicorns, three tenths to the pegasi and four tenths for the earth ponies themselves."

"Yes, right. And the three leaders agreed to meet each year and agree on the distribution and the selling price."

"No, their seconds met, not the leaders themselves," Sunset said. "How long did this system last?"

"Three hundred years?" Firethorn offered.

"Two hundred," Sunset said. "And what were relations between the three races and the Crystal Empire and the thestrals like during this period?"

"Um, good?"

Sunset cocked an eyebrow at him. "You weren't paying too much attention to this, were you?"

"What does it matter anyway , this isn't even my country," Firethorn said impatiently.

"No, it isn't, but it will probably be the country you have to live in," Sunset replied. "Besides, learning history is as much about learning how to think, how analyse, how to understand as it is about learning facts. I'm trying to give you a rounded education, like I got from Princess Celestia."

"Why?" Firethorn asked. "None of this is going to help us win this war!"

"All wars end, eventually," Sunset snapped. "And what will you do then, if all you know how to do is fight? Will you become a monster like Emerald Ray, who kills for anypony or any cause because it's all he knows how to do? Will you become a brute like Virtuous Fury, hiding what you are behind a fraying veneer called honour rather than admitting that you're nothing but a weapon for other ponies to wield? What will you do when the war is done?"

"I'll stay by your side, always," Firethorn said.

"I might not want a bodyguard then, I might want to retire into obscurity for all you know," Sunset said. It was not likely, but who could predict the future for certain. "This battle might claim my life."

"Don't say that," Firethorn shouted. "I'll protect you, no matter what it takes. I'll give my life for yours if I have to."

"No, you won't. I forbid it," Sunset said sharply. "You are young. You have a life and world ahead of you. Don't waste your opportunities the way I wasted mine."

Firethorn frowned in confusion. "You're powerful, mistress of an army, a great warrior-"

"And if I dropped dead this instant, what would I leave behind?" Sunset demanded. "What have I built that will last? What would my legacy be? Who would remember me when I was gone?"

"I would."

Sunset was silent for a moment. A small smile flickered across her face. "Thank you. But that's why I'm here, I will leave an Equestria that has survived the great struggled as my legacy. And for you...I hate to say it, but you could learn something from our unwilling guests."

"Learn from them?" Firethorn sounded half-revolted by the notion. "But they're-"

"Good citizens, able to function as useful parts of the community in peace time. And so, they contribute to the wellbeing of the nation even when they are not using the Elements of Harmony to battle mad gods." Sunset sighed. "There will always be a place for them, while there is only a place for me in moments of great crisis. I want more than that for you. Read the passage again and also read Smart Cookie's On Civics chapter 6, where she describes the ideal pony as a member of society."

Firethorn bowed his head. "Okay, Sunset."

"And pay attention, this time," Sunset added sharply. "Now, stay here and rest. The Diamond Dogs will be arriving soon, and once they're here we can get started."

---

When the trumpet sounded, the residents of Ponyville made their way sullenly out of thier homes to see that their conquerors (for that was what they were, for all of Sunset Shimmer's protestations) had been joined by some new friends. Sweetie Belle cringed at the sight of the looming Diamond Dogs, the gems in their waistcoats only serving to emphasise how filthy their fur was, how yellow their teeth, how nasty their smell. There were more zebras too, wearing bandages around their legs or around their heads, and a monstrous black unicorn with blazing red eyes who stood at Sunset Shimmer's right hoof.

Sweetie felt somepony bump up against her. She looked around to see Scootaloo, huddling in close.

"Have you seen Rarity anywhere?"

"No," Sweetie Belle replied. "Have you seen Rainbow Dash?"

Scootaloo shook her head. Then she smiled, a quick and mischievous grin. "Don't worry, Sweetie Belle, it'll all be fine. You'll see."

"How do you know?"

"Because our sisters are awesome, and they'll come up with something soon," Scootaloo said. "We just gotta have faith in them."

Sweetie felt a slight smile tugging at her lips, even as some of the coldness gripping her stomach dispelled. "Yeah, you're right. I should have more faith in them. Have you seen Apple Bloom?"

Scootaloo said, "No, I haven't been able to leave the house."

"I hope she's okay."

"Me too," Scootaloo murmured. She gestured with her head towards the town hall. "What do you think Little Miss Sunshine is gonna have to say."

"I wish I knew," Sweetie said. Sunset Shimmer stood on the town hall steps, looking over the crowds being herded into place by her soldiers. A line of zebras, in gleaming armour, stood in front of the hall to make sure nopony got too close. Up on the portico with Sunset was an uncomfortable looking Mayor Mare, a leering Diamond Dog, the blank faced unicorn and a light blue pegasus in bandages with a wicked grin on her face.

Beside the steps, a zebra sat with a set of ledger books on a table before her, two more zebras standing guard over her. Not far away sat two piles of pebbles, one pile white and the other black, and a red clay jar.

Sunset thumped the floor with one hoof several times, and the crowd fell silent. Sunset smiled at everypony, a smile that did not quite reach up to her eyes.

"Welcome, everypony. Thank you so much for coming. We are gathered here to form the first company of the new Equestrian Army. In time, you will be joined by ponies from all across the land but you are the first. Remember that, and bear that honour proudly. This will be a story you can tell your grandchildren.
"The way this is going to work is quite simple: I am going to call for volunteers. Anypony who volunteers to serve their country and defend their home may nominate one other pony to be exempt from military service. Once there are no more volunteers, we will move on to conscriptions until I am satisfied with the numbers. Those pebbles over there represent ponies. You'll notice that the black pile is as large again as the white pile. The white pebbles represent soldiers; in other words I intend to take one third of all the ponies in this town with me when I leave. For every volunteers, I will remove one white and one black pebble from the pile. When we start conscripting, I will mix the two piles together in that jar and have everypony who has not volunteered or been nominated draw a stone at random. Draw black and you stay home. Draw white, and it's the army for you. Is that clear to everypony?"

Nopony said anything.

"Good," Sunset said. "Now, Mayor Mare has kindly provided me with the town's population records, so anypony who wishes to volunteer should give their name and the name of thier exemption to the clerk. When that is all done, everypony whose name has not been checked off will be called to draw a stone unless I say otherwise. Got it? Right, let's begin then. Who wishes to volunteer, to fight for Equestria against the powers of darkness?"

There was a silence.

"Nopony?" Sunset exclaimed incredulously. "Nopony wishes to protect their famillies from danger? Nopony wishes to keep their loved ones safe?"

"I do," Mr Cake, squarely built and wearing his little straw hat, stepped out of the crowd and stood in the no mare's land between the ponies and the zebra line. "I volunteer, the name's Carrot Cake."

"And who do you wish to exempt?" Sunset asked.

"My wife, Cup Cake," Mr Cake said firmly.

"Carrot-" Mrs Cake tried to protest.

"It's all right, honey," Mr Cake said soothingly. "You stay here, with Pound and Pumpkin. I'll be back home right as rain soon enough, you'll see."

Sunset nodded. "You're a brave stallion. You do credit to Equestria and to Ponyville. Does anypony else have the courage to follow where this stallion leads?"

Lyra was the next to step forward. "Yeah, I do. My name's Lyra Heartstrings and I nominate Bon-Bon."

Mr Cake and Lyra were directed to stand together on the western edge of the town square, as more ponies emerged to volunteer. Derpy Hooves nominated her daughter Amethyst Star. Bulk Biceps came forward to spare Cloudchaser, to the surprise of a great many ponies. Sassaflash came forward and nominated Caramel. Ponies volunteered to spare their husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, sweethearts, even their grown children. Only one pony was turned away.

Big Macintosh stepped forward and declared, "My name's Big Macintosh, and I nominate Applejack."

Sunset laughed. "That's very generous of you. Believe me, I respect the attempt. But your sister can serve me better than you can, and you will be of more use to Equestria on the farm than on the battlefield. Put Mr. Macintosh on the exempt list."

All told round about fifty ponies volunteered, arranged in ranks down one side of the square.

"Very good," Sunset said. "I commend you all. But still, only one third the number that I want." Her horn, and she levitated the remaining pebbles into the jar. They rattled inside as she mixed them up. "When your name is called, step forward and draw a pebble. Begin the lots!"

And so names were called: Miss Cheerilee escaped the draught, but Cranky Doodle Donkey was not so lucky. Daisy was forced to serve, but Lily escaped. And then they called Sweetie’s father's name.

"Magnum!"

Magnum closed his eyes, gave his daughter a tight smile, and then walked across the empty space towards the jar of pebbles. With all eyes on him, he put his hoof into the jar and pulled out...a white stone.

"No!" Sweetie Belle yelled. She broke free from Scootaloo's grip and darted out of the crowd. "Please don't take my dad!"

Sunset Shimmer vaulted over the rails, striding through the line of her soldiers until she was standing over Sweetie Belle, casting her shadow over the filly. Her tone, when she spoke, was not unkind. "You may not believe me, but I understand why you're upset. But everypony here is somepony's father, or mother, or brother, sister, son or daughter. Shall I release them all because there is somepony at home who loves them? If I did that, then who would protect you from the monsters?"

"But...what if he doesn't come back," Sweetie Belle murmured.

"Then honour his sacrifice, and live a life worthy of it," Sunset declared. "But for now, go back to your mother." She turned away. "Continue!"

Sweetie Belle barely heard the rest of the draughting, from Muffin the Mule down to Thunderlane until the last white stone had been drawn. Ponyville was divided into two: those who would be going to war, and those who would be left to wait on there return. Sweetie knew who she thought had it worse.

"For those of you who have been chosen, glory awaits," Sunset proclaimed. "I look forward to fighting by your side. For those of you who were not so fortunate, there will be some changes to the way things work around here. You may have noticed our new Diamond Dog allies. The Diamond Dogs have long been looked down upon by ponies like you, yet now they have joined the fight to save Equestria. Therefore, I decree that from this day forward all Diamond Dogs are welcome anywhere in Ponyville. They may not be denied entry into any building, nor refused service by any business. They are going to fight for you, the least you can do in return is be grateful. Furthermore, you are going to work for the greater good of the state: as of now you are all farmers unless you can prove that the job you already do is vital. The commander of the garrison I leave behind me will settle all of the assignments in detail." Sunset turned away from the crowd and began to speak to her lieutenants.

---

"What do you think?" Sunset asked them. "Can you turn these ponies into soldiers?"

"That depends on how much time we have," Talon muttered. "If we have a year, then probably. If the war starts next month there'll be good for nothing but spear-fodder."

"I hope we'll have more than a month," Sunset said. "I have to believe that I was sent my visions with sufficient time to avert them."

"It would help if we knew what kind of enemy we would be facing, Mistress," Virtue said. "It is all very well to a charge with a lance against other ponies, but it will not avail you against a dragon."

"Teach them as much as you can," Sunset replied. "Equip them to fight a variety of battles."

"Speaking of which, Mistress, I am unsure how much use I can be in this," Virtue said. "This zebra soldiering, this marching up and down in ranks, it is unknown to me. I can teach them how to fight, perhaps, but even then they are so old."

"Most of them are only around your age," Shrike said.

"It is still too old to begin training as a knight," Virtue insisted. "In my homeland most who seek knighthood begin at six. I started at ten and was considered too old by many."

"We don't have time to wait for children to grow up, the storm will be upon us too soon," Sunset said.

"Yet young knights will be the pride of Equestria for years to come, her honour made flesh," Virtue replied.

"You want me to take their children away and give them to you to make warriors out of them?" Sunset asked.

"Not all," Virtue said calmly. "Only the best of them."

"How do you field armies out of a handful of children?" Muttines asked.

"Each knight finds a band of ponies willing to follow him or her."

"And you don't train them?" Talon sounded incredulous. "They really are spear-fodder."

Sunset sighed. "Okay, here's what I want you to do: Shrike, take the recruits back into the forest, if the princesses attack Ponyville I don't want all our new soldiers deserting in the confusion. Use wounded zebras to keep an eye on them. Muttines, Talon, you will train them to march, drill and move in formation. Virtue, you'll help teach them how to fight and choose any foals you see fit and train them as knights. Who knows, maybe if we're lucky they'll grow up before the battle starts. Right, now to break that bit of information. Right, everypony!"

---

"Right, everypony!" Sunset yelled, facing the crowd again now that her conference was over. "One last thing and it concerns the children."

Sweetie Belle looked at Scootaloo. "I'm not the only pony who thought that didn't sound good, am I?"

Scootaloo shook her head.

"This...mountainous unicorn here is named Virtuous Fury. He is my lord of battles and he would like your children. He would make knights of them, if he can. Personally I think it will prove a challenge too great for his talents, but I will not deny him. All foals over the age of five will report in half an hour to the school playground where their suitability for knighthood will be evaluated. All foals...except for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon."

"What?" Scootaloo exclaimed, as all around them ponies began to murmur in shock and fear. "They get out of this, too? I mean, just, even after Ponyville has been conquered by zebras they get special treatment? Aargh! How unfair is that, come on!"

"Instead," Sunset continued, her voice like syrup pouring slowly out of a bottle. "They will be coming with me, as my wards."

"Oh," Scootaloo murmured. Sweetie thought that suddenly their situation didn't seem so cushy.

"Why can't you leave the children alone?" Cheerilee demanded. "What use can they be to you?"

"A single drop of rain may cause a river to floor, a single pebble may start an avalanche," Sunset said serenely. "A single colt or filly may prove to make all the difference in the world. Even the difference between salvation and destruction."

---

As he prepared to go select and begin training his new squires, Virtue could not deny the excitement that he felt. His right foreleg twitched with restless energy. He felt half as giddy as when he himself had been chosen as a squire by old Sir Gallant. To be a knight was an honourable station, but to be chosen to train knights, to be thought of as an inspiration for the next generation of chevaliers, was one of the greatest compliments which a knight could be paid. Admittedly, the compliment was lessened here by the fact that there were no other knights available and he had not been chosen so much as insisted on the honour, but these were trifling matters and did not impinge upon his confidence or his eagerness to begin.

They would be eager too, he had no doubt. This was the opportunity that every child sought: to do great deeds and win great glory. The only pity was that he could not choose all of them.

I will teach them to be brave and bold and honourable. I will teach them chivalry and courtesy. I will teach them to be better knights than I ever was. And in that way I will redeem myself.

For their sake, with the examples of those rare ladies, Rarity and Fluttersy, before him, he would do better than he had done. The honour of a new made knight derived in great part from the repute of the knight who dubbed them, and so any further dishonour he accrued through his behaviour would reflect upon his squires. That would not do. It would not do at all. From now on he would be humble and seek for grace. He would be the soul of chivalry and the benchmark of honour. He would be such a stallion as Lady Fluttershy could not fault. He would do Chevalia proud by all his actions.

Virtue took a deep breath, brushed his mane out of his face, and prepared to begin.

But before he could walk around the school-house to the playground he ran first into Miss Cheerilee.

"I want to know why," she said, her voice at the same time harsh yet thick with worry.

Virtue was silent for a moment. "I am no philosopher, ma'am, to answer so general a question. You must be more specific."

Cheerilee slapped him. The blow stung on Virtue's cheek but did not move his face.

"That hardly seems called for, ma'am," he said softly.

"They are children," Cheerilee hissed. "Children."

"A fact I doubt will save them when the foe comes," Virtue said. "I take it then you are come to plead for their release."

"I don't know where you come from," Cheerilee declared. "But I know my students and I know that they are much too young to be dragged off to war. They are all too young."

"Or perhaps you have simply kept them that way because of your constant mothering," Virtue replied. "I think some, at least, will be glad to be away from it. Where I come from every foal dreams of being chosen for knighthood, though few attain it."

"I think that we have different dreams, here in Equestria," Cheerilee said acidly.

"Hence you need zebras and Chevalians to save you," Virtue remarked, matching the sharpness of her tongue with his own.

Cheerilee breathed deeply in. "I know that you are not intimidated by me, Mister Virtuous Fury," she said. "But I want you to know that if any harm comes to any of my students, I will not forgive you."

In the face of her courage - she looked to be half his size and about half his weight, yet she displayed no fear of him but only anger at him - Virtue abruptly felt rather a bully. He looked away for a moment, his expression softening. "I do not intend that they should fight, ma'am, not until they are older and I deem them ready. As squires, their duties shall be to clean my armour, help me to garb myself for battle and run errands for me in the camp. It is an honourable position but not a hazardous one."

Cheerilee did not look reassured. When she spoke, her voice was quiet. "I confess that I know little of war. But it seems to me that everything about is hazardous."

That was, unfortunately, true, and there was nothing Virtue could say to deny it without lying. So he said only, "If you will excuse me, ma'am, I have work to do."

Though they are not a warlike people, there is much strength and valour in these ponies, Virtue thought as he stepped around her. If the children take after the parents they will do very well.

Virtue walked out into the playground. The fillies and colts had lined up in front of some strange looking devices which he assumed were for playing on. No matter, they would not be playing now.

He was surprised by how nervous they all looked. Why weren't they excited? This would be the beginning of a grand adventure for them! Hadn't they dreamt of this?

He paced up and down in front of the line, looking each colt and filly in the eye. They were apprehensive of him. That was good. A squire should be apprehensive of their knight, until they got to know them. He thought back contentedly to how Sir Gallant had had him hauling boulders around on his back all day for the first month, to build up muscles and character both. He'd also made Virtue tend to his castle grounds without letting the boulder fall off, as an aid to balance and movement. Virtue had gone to sleep every night with his muscles aching, but it had made him the warrior he was today.

"My name is Virtuous Fury," Virtue declared loudly. "And I am a knight. That means that I am an elite, picked out and elevated beyond the run of common ponies. When I am done with you, you too will be elevated above the herd. You will be knights, and you will be better than any other pony who does not bear that honour."
"I will work you hard. I will push you to your best. I will train you to march, to fight, to hunt and to kill."

"But I don't want to hurt anypony," a little light purple unicorn filly with a golden mane murmured tremulously.

"Nonsense," Virtue said. "Who here has no desire to take up arms and defend their princess and their home?"

Everypony raised their hoof.

Virtue's eyes narrowed. "Is that so? Are you all such cowards? You!" He knelt down, looking the little unicorn filly in the eye. "What is your name?"

"Um, my name's Dinky Hooves."

"You are at home. The night is dark and full of terrors. You hear something scratching at your door. A monster, come to kill you and yours. What do you do?"

"How do I know that it is a monster?"

"Because it could be nothing else," Virtue snapped. "This is not a game that you can cheat your way out of, not a problem to be solved through clever wordplay. This happened, to me. So answer the question: what do you do?"

Dinky stepped backwards. "I don't know...hope that it goes away?"

"Goes away? It's going to break through the door, you idiot! You can hear it growling. It's claws are coming through the door. It's hungry and it wants to kill everypony inside. What are you going to do about it."

"I want my mom," Dinky said quietly.

"That's your answer? To run for your mother?" Virtue snarled. "Your mother will die if she confronts this beast. Is that what you want? Are you so cowardly you would rather she give her life rather than step up and take responsibility for yourself?" Wake up, mum, there's something at the door. Why didn't I just take the poker and go out there myself?

"I don't-"

"What are you going to do to protect your home?" Virtue demanded, advancing upon her. "What are you going to do protect your family?"

Dinky fell over onto her backside, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Is that you're answer, you're going to snivel and cry?" Virtue shouted. "Perhaps I should kill your mother in front of you and make you watch the life leave her eyes, then you will have something to cry about! Then you will understand why sometimes we have to fight for the things that are precious to us."

Dinky started crying and wailing, tears pouring out of her in a great flood.

"Oh no, don't," Virtue looked away, feeling suddenly embarrassed and ashamed of himself. The benchmark of chivalry, indeed. "I apologise, ma'am, I went too far. Please stop that."

"Leave her alone!" an orange pegasus filly, older than Dinky, yelled angrily as she stepped out of the line to square up to Virtue. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size, you big jerk?"

Virtue looked down at the diminutive pegasus. "Are you under some delusion as to your own size, ma'am?"

The orange pegasus fumed. "I'm telling you to back off before I back you off!"

Virtue stared at her for a moment, before a slight smile formed on his face. "Very good, young miss, it is nice to know that you are not all spineless." He looked down at the still crying Dinky, and sighed. He turned his back on her and walked away, rubbing his eyes with one hoof. Some of these ponies were never going to be suitable.

"All right," he announced, wheeling around again to face his students once more. "Anypony who has an older sibling, brother or sister, should leave. Now." In Chevalia, knighthood was reserved for the firstborn. He had thought to waive that here, but now it seemed like a good way of weeding out the dead wood.

Dinky, thankfully, left. So did quite a few others. He was left with a reduced group, but hopefully a better crop.

Then he noticed that two mares he knew had older sisters were still there: the two fillies who had spoken out against Mistress Sunset.

"I have just handed you a way out," Virtue said. "So why are you still here?"

"Because we aren't going to leave Scootaloo alone with you," Lady Rarity's sister announced. "Whatever you do to her, you're going to have to do to us as well."

Virtue chuckled. "Such unflinching valour. Perhaps there is a place for you here after all. Very well, those of you that remain: let's get down to business..."

---

Two zebra guards, armed and armoured, led Fluttershy and Rarity towards Carousel Boutique. Rarity found herself unable to refrain from snorting indignation.

"Carousel Boutique! One of these vile brutes has set up shop in my Carousel Boutique. Well, of all the audacity!"

"It does seem a little rude," Fluttershy agreed meekly.

The two zebras brought them to the fancy dressmakers, the chains that wound about the legs of the two ponies clinking as they walked. As they drew nearer, Rarity could hear classical music coming out of her shop, a waltz if she was not mistaken. She couldn't help but wonder who was in there.

They were brought to the door, which was opened by one of the zebra guards before they pushed Fluttershy and Rarity inside.

Carousel Boutique was lit up by candles, the clutter of Rarity's main showroom having been largely cleared away to make a large open space. Only a single table remained, with a few pieces of paper on it and an antique gramophone playing the music they had heard from outside.

And across the floor, Virtuous Fury danced alone.

He wore a tattered red cloak fastened around his neck, long enough to cover his whole back and hindquarters, though it was fraying at the hem, torn in places, and the golden flame pattern stitched into bottom was almost ruined. Clasping the cloak together at Virtue's throat was a ruby the size of a goose egg, cut in the shape of a rose, resting upon leaves of gold. Rarity momentarily wondered if he had been through her jewel chest and stolen it, but she could not remember having such a piece and, if she had, she would not have forgotten for it was as lovely a gem as any she had laid eyes upon. She would have coveted it greatly in less dire circumstances. His eyes were closed, his posture stiff and formal, but he moved with surprising grace considering his size and build, almost bouncing across the floor, one hoof up as though he had some invisible partner in hold, a small contented smile upon his face.

One of the zebras cleared his throat loudly.

Virtue's eyes snapped open and he stopped dancing. He even looked a little embarrassed, like a colt caught with one hoof in the cookie jar. He scuffed his hooves for a moment before walking over to the gramophone and turning it off.

"Forgive me, ladies," he muttered. "I did not hear you enter." To the zebras he added, "You may go now, thank you."

"You want us to leave you alone with them?"

"I assure you I will be quite safe," Virtue replied.

"But-"

"Go," Virtue snapped. "I will take full responsibility for both of them."

The zebras did not look entirely happy about this, but it was clear that they did not dare to disobey Virtuous Fury. They briskly turned about and marched out of the door, closing it behind them.

"Now we are alone," Virtue observed mildly, not looking directly at either of the two mares, but staring at the wall behind the gramophone. "You should feel proud, Lady Fluttershy, there are not many who can say they brought Virtuous Fury to his knees."

"I don't think that fighting is anything to be proud of," Fluttershy said, her tone a gentle reproof.

Virtue chuckled. "An attitude far from uncommon in this land, I begin to realise. And yet you were both very brave, in the forest. You are gentle ladies, yet also valiant and fierce when the need arises. You do Equestria great credit. In my opinion you are both worthy of greater honours than being a provincial tailor and a carer to beasts."

"Is that so?" Rarity asked flatly. "Ordinarily I do appreciate flattery a great deal, but in the present circumstances I'm finding it a little hard to appreciate. So if this visit is solely so that you can butter our egos, or is part of some misguided attempt to detach us from our friends-"

"Your friends give the impression of being lowborn, vulgar trash whose company is beneath you," Virtue said sternly. "But, as a pony who was himself blessed with friends whom he did not deserve, I am in no position to judge you or cast aspersions on your taste."

"How generous of you," Rarity said sarcastically.

"I have been pondering how to thank you, for what you did for me in the forest last night," Virtue mused, not responding to her jibe. "I needed your words, Lady Fluttershy. I had allowed myself to degenerate in character. I had become a violent brute. You have both reminded me that it is possible to be noble in character, civilised in behaviour, yet no less of a tiger in battle for it. For that I owe you more than thanks."
"I have been pondering how best I could repay you for this singular service. That, Lady Rarity, is why you are here. Your father has been conscripted into the New Model Army being raised by Mistress Sunset. I did not think you would be enamoured of the notion, certainly your little sister was not, so I had one of the zebra clerks draw up papers granting both your parents exemption from service on the grounds of ill health. From now on they have gum disease, very painful and debilitating. Best they don't smile too much any more."

Rarity blinked. She couldn't think of anything to say for a moment. Of all the things she had expected to be hauled before one of her captors for, this was not one of them. "You...I...well...uh...I...um...I've no idea what to say."

"Say nothing, ma'am, least of all thank you," Virtue replied. "This is meagre repayment of a debt owed, no thanks are required. He sighed. "Scootaloo is the most promising squire of all the foals in Ponyville. This does not say a great deal, though it does speak to her courage. Unfortunately, Miss Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom will not abandon their training without her. Lady Fluttershy, do you have a close relationship with Scootaloo?"

Fluttershy looked surprised. "I, um, not-"

"Because if you did," Virtue continued, emphasising his words. "Then I could release her from my service as payment of my debt to you, thus releasing Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom also."

"Oh," Fluttershy murmured. "Oh! Yes, I adore Scootaloo. She and I are like sisters. I can't remember how many times she's slept over at my house."

Virtue smiled thinly. "Excellent. It shall be done. Though it is far less reward than you deserve." He bowed his head, speaking softly and with melancholy in his voice. "I am sworn by oath to Sunset Shimmer, and even were I not, I would still owe her my life. It is not in my power to free all six of you, nor even both of you. Lady Fluttershy, I hope you will not take it amiss when I say I think you would bear captivity the least well."

Fluttershy frowned. "You're letting me go? Alone?"

Virtue at last turned to face the two mares. "I am. I will escort pass the picket line then you may go where you will. If you can put some distance between this place and yourself before dawn, you should be able to escape pursuit. I am sorry, Lady Rarity, but to do more is not in my power."

"I won't do it," Fluttershy declared.

Virtue hesitated for a moment. "Excuse me, ma'am?"

"I won't do it," Fluttershy repeated firmly. "I won't abandon my friends and run away to save myself without them. I can't. I won't. If they are staying, then so am I."

"You should go, Fluttershy," Rarity whispered.

"What?" Fluttershy gasped.

"You won't be abandoning us," Rarity said, smiling. "Do you honestly think that any of us will think less of you for taking this chance? There isn't anything any of us can do in chains. But free, you can work to free the rest of us, to save Twilight, to stop Sunset."

Fluttershy shook her head. "Not all alone. I'm not strong enough."

"Oh, don't give me that," Rarity said with fond exasperation. "From the mare who faced down a dragon? You're as strong as any of us, maybe stronger. And we'll all be with you, even Twilight, in here," she reached out, and placed a gentle hoof on Fluttershy's heart. "Go. If Rainbow were here she'd tell you exactly the same thing."

Fluttershy blinked, she seemed on the verge of tears. "I promise I, I'll do everything I can for all of you."

"Just stay safe," Rarity replied. "That will be enough, for now."

Virtue walked forwards until he was almost level with them. "We should go," he said. "I will see you out of Ponyville, then escort Lady Rarity back to her...room."

"My room, what a way with words you have," Rarity muttered dryly. Something Virtue had said earlier caught up with her. "Wait a moment did you say you had taken Sweetie Belle to train to fight? My little sister Sweetie Belle."

Virtue appeared unaware of the danger lurking around him as he said confidently, "Indeed, ma'am, though she showed little-"

Rarity smacked him, the weight of her manacles adding weight and heft to her blow.

Virtue's head whipped round with a crack. When he looked at her he did so with an ugly red mark on one cheek. "Clearly, I have offended you in some way, though how I know not."

"How about conscripting my Sweetie Belle as a soldier!" Rarity ranted, her voice becoming so high with rage as to be almost inaudible. "She's ten years old!"

"It is best that training start early, so that the right muscles can develop effectively," Virtue said.

Rarity smacked him again. "I don't want her to start training at all! She is ten years old! You let Fluttershy go with one hoof and then this?"

"Where I come from this opportunity would be considered a great honour," Virtue said obstinately.

"We are not where you come from!"

"No, this land is soft and weak," Virtue snapped. "You have never faced hardship or struggle in your lives and you have no idea how to respond to it."

Rarity allowed herself a moment of smugness. "You know I very much hope you run into Discord one of these days. And I hope I'm there to see the look on your face when you do."

"Whoever he is I daresay he will die of a lance through the heart as other creatures do," Virtue said confidently.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Rarity replied. "Anyway, the point is that we are quite well-versed enough in hardship, we simply choose not to respond to it by becoming hard ourselves."

"Oh, yes, clearly you have seen a great deal of hardship amongst these green, idyllic fields," Virtue retorted. "By the end, my home-"

"Um, excuse me, Sir Virtue," Fluttershy interrupted, touching his shoulder gently. When he looked at her her eyes flamed like with anger and bulged outwards as she yelled. "NOBODY CARES HOW HARD YOU THINK YOU HAD IT!"

Virtue yelped as he recoiled away from her. Fluttershy's tone softened as she went on, "Now, if you'll please answer the questions: what is that you think you are fighting against?"

"Evil, in all its myriad forms," Virtue replied without hesitation.

"And what are you fighting for?"

"To protect the weak, as is a knight's duty, and to preserve my home and defend those close to my own heart."

"So even in your world there were those who fought and those who didn't," Fluttershy pressed. "The ones you call weak."

"In Chevalia, the firstborn sons trained as knights, the rest fought only when necessary."

"So you understand, then, that if everypony is given weapons and sent to war, then there will be nothing left that is worth fighting for?"

"Of course."

"Then what will be worth fighting for in this country once you and Sunset Shimmer have your way?"

Virtue opened his mouth, but no words came out. He hesitated for a moment, then closed it again. He frowned, cupping his chin with one hoof as if he was pondering. At last he said, "The best I can answer, ma'am, is to say 'your lives'. But that isn't really good enough, is it?"

Fluttershy shook her head slowly. "No, it isn't. Perhaps you should give some more thought to what you ought really to be fighting against."

Virtue was silent for a moment. When it came, his voice was small and childlike. "I cannot betray Mistress Sunset. If I do, I will lose everything. Small infractions are all I dare. But I will discharge all of the children. You are right, it was beneath me. I shall release them all come morning, if my head is still upon my shoulders once Mistress Sunset learns that you are gone."

"Just do what you can," Fluttershy said. "That's all I ask."

Virtue bowed his head. "I cannot guarantee I will not slide backwards. I require constant guidance, and you are leaving."

"Just try," Fluttershy urged.

Virtue nodded. "I shall, gentle lady." Looking Fluttershy in the eye, he said. "You have a great strength of spirit, ma'am, you remind me of my mother. But now, we must be going."

"How do you do that?" Rarity asked Fluttershy.

Fluttershy smiled meekly. "Working with animals, I've learnt to get inside the minds of all manner of strange creatures. It's all a question of understanding how they think."

"He must be one of the strangest ones yet," Rarity observed.

---

In Canterlot, their highnesses the Princesses Celestia and Luna stood on the balcony of the highest tower in the palace. Celestia stepped back from her telescope, training currently on Ponyville, to allow Luna to lower her eye to the lens and peer through it.

Even in darkness, she could see Ponyville quite clearly by the moon's silver light. The town was quiet, nopony out of doors, but plenty of armed zebras patrolling the streets and outskirts of the town.

"Who?" Luna growled. "And how?"

"Why, might be a better question," Celestia murmured. "Have they come to avenge their defeat in Canterlot?"

"You should have let me take my thestrals and punish Grevyia for their arrogance after that treachery, sister," Luna said. "Revenge may not be the pony way, the civilised way or the modern way, but it is the old way and that is the only language that the Most Ancient Empire can comprehend."

"I will not respond to an attack upon our innocent ponies by attacking innocent zebras in my turn," Celestia replied firmly, and Luna knew her sister's tone well enough to know that the matter was closed. "The question is what to do now: I have written to Twilight and gotten no response."

"Then she is a prisoner," Luna said.

"Or worse," Celestia replied nervously.

"You would feel it if she were dead," Luna murmured. "In your heart you would know."

"I wish I shared your certainty."

Luna permitted herself a tight lipped smile. "Mastery of magic is yours, big sister, the science of spells, knowledge observed under the light of the sun, these things are your province. Mine is a more arcane and unknowable place, full of darkness and mystery, but I know it as well as you know your magical curriculum. A bond such as you and Twilight share leave a mark, and when the bond is broken it leaves a scar. You would have known, even if you did not know how."

"I will take your word for that," Celestia said quietly. "Come, let us go inside."

Inside the tower room, the captains of the Royal Guard were waiting for them. There was no First Captain to command them, Shining Armour's replacement had perished in the battle for Canterlot and not yet been replaced in turn, but the captains of the five companies - the Day, the Night, the City, the Palace and the Twilight - stood around a large scale map of Ponyville and the environs, peering down at it.

They all looked up as the princesses approached.

"Your Highnesses," Captain Lancer, commander of the Twilight company, bowed low as he spoke. "Has there been any word from Princess Twilight?"

"I am afraid not, captain," Celestia said. "It seems that she has not escaped the fall of Ponyville."

"I should have been there," Lancer growled.

"Twilight Sparkle did not wish her life to be disturbed by a host of guards," Celestia said. "If the fault lies with anypony it lies with me, for allowing her to have her way."

"I was useless to her here," Lancer snapped. "Highnesses, what do we do?"

"We cannot leave our little ponies in chains unfought for," Luna declared. "Ponyville will be retaken. Captain Catseye!"

Catseye, a bat-winged thestral mare with eerie, glowing eyes, snapped to attention. "Highness!"

"Sound the drums," Luna commanded. "The thestrals fly."

Catseye looked confused for a moment. Then she smiled, baring her fangs to the company. "Oh, Your Highness. Oh, Princess it shall be done. It shall be done, and the ponies of the night shall rejoice." Without even waiting to be dismissed, she darted onto the balcony and lept from it, spreading her wings and taking flight.

"With Your Highness' permission, I would like to join the assault," Lancer said.

"We will be attacking at night, under cover of darkness," Luna said. "Your ponies cannot see so well as mine can."

"Yet we're not so blind as we can't see a zebra battle line forming up in front of us," Lancer replied. "Please, Princess, I am Princess Twilight's captain, this is my duty. My right."

Luna stared at him for a moment, her eyes weighing him, judging him. At last she nodded. "Very well. The Twilight Company shall march with us. This villainy will be nipped in the bud before it spreads. When the sun rises on the day after tomorrow, Ponyville will be free once more."

Comments

[Scipio Smith]

4129452

Not at the moment, no. The reason for that will become clear.

[Spiritus Arcane]

"A single drop of rain may cause a river to floor, a single pebble may start an avalanche," Sunset said serenely. "A single colt or filly may prove to make all the difference in the world. Even the difference between salvation and destruction."

Damn you Sunset. Now I hope you get stabbed a lot on principle just for twisting that awesome line into something terrible.

And screw Virtue. He himself said it takes years to train kids to be knights, yet assuming Sunset's not just crazy, he knows that the war's not years off. So at worst he's just making pint size cannon fodder to go along with the adult fodder Sunset's pulled out of Ponyville, and at best he's making a new generation of corrupted knights like him. At least he's not so far gone that he's keeping all the foals...and at least his need to try and regain his honor means he's juggling the idiot ball enough to let Fluttershy go. Still I don't care how he tries to spin it, child soldiers are wrong.

[Harwick]

The conscripting of child soldiers is one of the most evil acts a regime can commit. Virtuous Fury and Sunset Shimmer can't burn in hell fast enough for that one.

[Scipio Smith]

4136836
4134174

While I didn't expect your responses, I have come to the conclusion that you are both right. Therefore I am writing a new scene that will replace all of the child soldier stuff, and is actually proving more fun to write. It should be up tonight, and hopefully you'll find it less objectionable.

[Spiritus Arcane]

4137564
I dunno if it actual warrants a rewrite, I just find it disgusting that someone who keeps professing to trying to regain his honor keeps doing dishonorable stuff like conscripting kids. I dunno, maybe if it was Sunset's idea instead of his, since by this point we all already hate Sunset.

[Harwick]

4137564
Well, obviously it's your story and your choice as to how you want to shape readers' reactions to the events and characters. I do feel like the story is tipping a bit too far into depicting the characters as morally grey... We're never going to really sympathize with Sunset Shimmer while she's invading Equestria. While there is value in giving us the reasons why she feels she is right, making her seem reasonable just adds frustration that characters aren't just resolving their differences instead of going to war, rather than adding nuance... At least for me.

So I actually like the little slips that show that they're deluded in thinking that they could be the good guys, with the expectation that they're eventually going to be called on it and be beaten down. That Sunset Shimmer has a student that she actually cares about is interesting, but to do what she's doing she has to be inherently screwed up morally, so I want to be rooting for someone to get that student away from her for the student's own good.

Sunset's whole "you have to be strong and be forged in hardship to survive" is a fine reasoning for what she's doing... It would be a reason for conscripting child soldiers. Yes, it makes me hate her, but I already want to hate her anyway. Trying to make me not hate her is counterproductive... The drive of this story (for me) is wanting to see her stopped. You can make me understand her, or maybe pity her some, but making me think "she's not so bad" undermines the conflict. It makes me think "If you're that reasonable, then let Twilight out of the box and go talk to Celestia already."

As for Virtuous Fury, I get that his is a redemption arc, so crossing a moral event horizon with the readers is a problem. I will say I did like the cultural misunderstanding that was at the heart of things with him... That he really did see it as an honor and something the children would want to do, and had zero concept of how repellant the action truly was. That relative clueless innocence did play in his favor, but I was still looking forward to him eventually being forced to understand how monstrous the actions really were, especially to the likes of Rarity and Fluttershy.

[Scipio Smith]

4138425
4137814

Thank you for your responses, they made the situation a lot clearer. I've taken a third option in the end, the scene stays as it is but the scene in Carousel Boutique has an additional bit added on in which Fluttershy explains to him (yet again) why this is such a bad idea in terms he can understand - as well as explaining that the reason she is so good at it is that her cutie mark allows her to understand strange creatures with alien thought processes.

[Starlight Nova]

If this story is cancelled on this website, then shouldn't it say cancelled?

[Starlight Nova]

4138644 Just so you know, you forgot to add that part to the fanfiction.net version.

[Starlight Nova]

"NOBODY CARES HOW HARD YOU THINK YOU HAD IT!"

...I can't see Fluttershy saying that. Try making her say something else.

[Starlight Nova]

Will Rainbow Dash be beating anybody up in this story?

[Carnation83]

I bet it was Sombra that whispered to Sunset Shimmer.

Also, Fluttershy continues to rock!