Ein Sof Zealotry

by ZhaoZoharEX

Chapter 25

Original Title: Voluntas Coacta Volunta Est
This chapter is part of the older version of "Ein Sof Zealotry" and is to be considered non-canon in lieu of the pending rewrite. This along with the rest of the old story remain for the purpose of comparison.

---

The sun was still deep under the horizon when Rallying Net woke up from his sleep. Just a month ago, he would have been peeved about such a pointless increase in the waking time for a day, now he was acting from his own will. After all, he found a cause.

He got up from his bed in the small room assigned to him by the chief of the staff at his admission. It was nothing fancy, just a bed, a locker a desk and a chair, but it was his and nopony else’s. After months of being denied any privacy, Net could appreciate that.

He made his bed meticulously, as if an inspection were to come, even though not once in his three weeks stay did anypony check or even ask about the state of his housing. To Net it was a neglect on the side of his superiors, but who was he to judge their actions? After all, they got their position for a reason. All he could do was act above what was required from him, to the best of his conscience.

After a quick trip to the small bathroom adjacent to his room, apparently added only recently, he dressed up into his work uniform and headed toward the kitchen. No matter that another shift of his training wasn’t to begin for another few hours, there was always a lot to do and any pair of helping hooves was welcome. Later there may be a time for a cup of coffee between the tasks as well.

“And Rallying Net is arriving earlier than he needs to again,” were the first words that greeted Net once he arrived to the kitchen. He stopped immediately, turned in the direction of the voice and straightened himself up.

“Of course, sir. What I need doesn’t matter as long as the needs of the palace differ from it,” he stated almost like a soldier reporting for duty. “You are here earlier than what the schedule requires, too, sir.” Indeed, the head of the staff in the Crystal Palace, Night Knight, was the first to arrive in the morning and the last to leave in the evening. Some where even speculating that he actually never left the job and didn’t even sleep, as the night shifters spoke about his supervision as well.

“I share that feeling with you, Rallying Net.” He brisky saluted, which Net returned. They grew to greet each other in that manner. Night Knight aspired to high position in Empire’s military back in the days of the old regime, and with the rapid change of circumstances he had to adjust his life style just like Net did, only he succeeded in beating his delusion much sooner. Still, the old dreams die hard.

Net got immediately into work. He didn’t need to ask what had to be done, he knew that from experience well enough. Dishes for every inhabitant of the palace were to be thoroughly cleaned, the lists of allergies checked to prevent any accidents, the food distributed to corresponding carts and the inbuilt heating spells tweaked. Thankfully, they were adapted for use by non-unicorns as well. The whole operation transpired in the form of strictly organized chaos Net learnt to love. Everything worked together like the gear of a machine.

“You are to serve the Master of Ceremonies today, Net. Do your best and report to me afterwards. I have more tasks for you.”

A knot formed in Net’s throat. The Master of Ceremonies wasn’t referred to as such for nothing. He knew, upheld and required every tradition, every single move ordered by old texts, every formula pronounced at any occasion. Being sent to serve him usually meant big trouble and was connected with the wish of the superiors to fire somepony.

He hid his nervousness and nodded in confirmation. The cart was loaded full - the old stallion grew to enjoy worldly pleasures - but Net had no difficulties pushing it around. He wouldn’t be undone when he got so far. He would succeed. Just before entering the room though he allowed himself exactly ten seconds of pure panic. He imagine all the consequences of failing, the humiliation, the self-hatred, the poverty once more. He refused such fate resolutely and entered.

There was no surprise in the outcome for Net. He succeeded fully. He achieved a contented nod from the Master of Ceremonies, which was the biggest sign of appreciation one could hope for from him, and left to meet Night Knight, expecting to find him back in the kitchen. To his surprise, he was waiting behind the nearest corner, leaning against a strange winged statue.

“I see you are in one piece. Let’s proceed then. You are to oversee the preparation of an apartment for the griffon delegation counting two males and one female. Sadly, due to the shortage of staff I can provide you only with two guards with little experience in anything but walking the hall from one end to the other. But you will surely manage.”

This was starting to look suspicious to Net. Would it be such a problem to assign more ponies to such an important task? Griffons proved dangerous if displeased in the past, leaving the preparations in the hooves of mere guards seemed irresponsible.

He was leading them toward the rooms reserved for foreign dignitaries, worrying about the mental health of Night Knight, when the realization hit him. “It is in our hooves. Not just theirs. I know what to do and am responsible for the result just as for them,” he said to himself out loud, confusing his assigned helpers. He didn’t mind about that though. They didn’t have to understand. He had to.

Several more tasks followed during the day, from choosing the correct decoration for a banquet to negotiating the transfer of funds from one fund to another because of the changed needs of the staff and deciding the most effective way. In fact, it exceeded his regular duties as a servant, but with his previous bureaucratic training he found that the simplest of all the tasks.

Eventually, around four in the afternoon, Night Knight called Net into his office. Net couldn’t recall when was the last they he encountered Night Knight so often, but at this point he didn’t even think about it anymore. He would fulfill any task given to him.

“You called me sir.” It wasn’t a question. Net never bothered with playing dumb. Partially this trait was responsible for his quick improvements.

“Indeed. Please sit down.” Night Knight waited till Net assumed his place before continuing. “I am pleased to notify you that you successfully finished your training and based on that become a full time employee of the Crystal Palace and Queen Cadance.”

Net managed to contain his glee at the news, finally understanding the events of the day, and merely nodded curtly. “Thank you, sir.”

“It is really an unusual achievement to finish within three weeks of being admitted. Such vigour mustn’t go unrewarded.”

“I am merely seeing every task as equally important and deserving full attention sir. Whatever is needed to take care of, I will.” He couldn’t but let his pride show at that. “I believe everypony should act so.”

“I wish they did. For as long as they don’t though, I want to express my appreciation.” He pulled several papers from a drawer and placed them in front of Net. “We have plenty of free positions ranging from normal servants, through supervisors, suppliers and ushers to the completely new positions.” To Net’s questioning glance from the papers he pointed on one particular sheet. “The queen has requested personal servants to be provided for the permanent guests of the palace, the entourage of former princess Twilight Sparkle. We don’t know anything about their habits and needs aside from what we managed to pick up during their stay.”

Name after name Net read the characterisations of the guests as the most challenging task was his natural choice. Ms. Ditzy Doo seemed very sympathetic and easy to relate to for him, but then he spotted what he was unconsciously looking for.

“I would like to become the personal servant of Ms. Acrylic Canvas, sir.”

“As you wish. From now on you are exempted from the standard subordinance, answering only to her, me and the queen. The contract will be ready for you to sign in the evening unless there is a problem on the side of Ms. Canvas, which I don’t see as probable. Please show up at the personnel department then.” Night Knight scooped up the papers again and returned them to the drawer. “I am looking for further cooperation with you Rallying Net. For now, you are to serve tea to the entourage. They are seated in their common living room. Use this occasion to introduce yourself.”

“I will do so immediately, sir. Have a good afternoon.” Net left the office in peace. He achieved what he didn’t even hope for and now felt content and exactly where he was meant to be.

He quickly, but carefully assembled the tea service for six and collected an assortment of tea brands to provide a choice to the guests. He timed his journey through the palace to arrive at the apartment exactly at 5 o’clock. He knocked three times, waited a moment during which he noticed a commotion in the room, cleared his throat and then entered.

“Good afternoon, ladies. My name is Rallying Net and I am assigned as a personal servant for Ms Acrylic Canvas. May I offer you-” He hesitated a moment at what he beheld in the room, but his professionalism prevailed. “Ehm, may I offer you some tea and bring another cup for your guest?”

---

“Good morning, your majesty. It’s time to wake up,” a sweet sing-a-song voice slipped into Cadance’s unconsciousness and caressed the mind slumbering there. She smiled calmly in her sleep, but merely turned to her other side.

“Come on, your majesty. You don’t want those mamboberry cakes to get cold, do you?” A sound of a metal lid clinging against a tray as it was being lifted accompanied the words and a sweet smell soon drifted to Cadance’s nose. She was taking deep breaths of it and crystal berries soon manifested in her dreams. That is, until her tummy reacted on its own and rumbled lightly. The effect was immediate. Cadance’s eyes fluttered open and she realized for the first time the scent was real.

“It was about time, your majesty. I may really start to wake you up with imitating your hungry belly.”

“I’m sorry, Spinel, Did you have to wait long for me to wake up… again? Cadance asked with mild embarrassment, rubbing the back of her neck and glancing timidly at the elderly cheerful maid in front of her.

“Not longer than usually, your majesty. I got used to it,” Spinel said and placed the tray on Cadance’s lap. “Here, I’m not sure if you heard me before, but it would be pity if those cakes got cold.”

“You are too kind, Spinel. I told you a million times that you don’t have to bring me breakfast to bed. I am perfectly capable of walking to the dining room.” Even though protesting, Cadance eagerly grabbed one of the small cakes and took a big bite. It tasted as good as it smelled. Such was the truth for any meal served in the palace after all.

“I know, your majesty, but this is not a breakfast. That is indeed served in the dining room as we speak. This here-” Spinel pointed at the quickly vanishing sweets, “-is just a morning snack. Besides, you stay still while you eat, making it easier for me to brush your mane for you.” She protruded a mane brush and started proving her words by actions.

“Admit it, Spinel. You liked how chubby I got carrying Luster and now you are trying to return me to that weight.” The accusation was followed with a fake-betrayed expression on Cadance’s face and a gestures of defeat.

“Maybe. Try to stop me.” Spinel stepped back and satisfied with her work nodded with a smile.

“Never. But beware, if I am rolling into the dining room one day instead of walking, it is your fault.”

“Duly noted, your majesty. If you finished your cakes, please follow me. Next part of my diabolical plan awaits you.”

It’s nice to be surrounded by loving ponies. And being pampered. They are like a family. It’s a great motivation to be a good ruler indeed, Cadance mused as they were walking down a short corridor, being greeted by anypony they met. And here comes my actual family.

They entered the dining room, and for the thousandth time Cadance giggled at how differently it was decorated compared to the rest of the palace. Instead of classical paintings, monumental statues and exotic woods, most of the surface was covered with colorful pictures from fairytales, drawings by hoof of a small foal and food stains. The last mentioned told Cadance that Regal Luster was already in full swing of breakfasting.

“Cadance, sweetie, so you woke up after all,” Shining Armor jabbed and rose from his place to kiss his wife good morning. Cadance decided to play offended and dodged his attempts several times. “Well, well, well, somepony is playing hard to be kissed. Luster? Could you hold mommy still for a second?”

“Yes, sir!” Luster squealed in elation and before Cadance could react, he jumped from his place and landed against her side full force. She would of course keep her balance easily, but for sake of his amusement fell slowly to the other side and pretended to be pinned down. “You are captured, mommy!”

“Good job, Luster. You have instincts of a hunter,” Shining commended and pointed his attention to Cadance. “Now, for trying to avoid a kiss, you are hereby condemned to ten of them.”

The execution of the sentence proceeded to the sounds of giggling of both Luster and Spinel, but neither Luster nor Shining were showing any signs of setting Cadance free. She didn’t mind too much, but had to voice that concern anyway.

“Can I go now, please?”

“No,” came the answer from both members of her family.

“But I will be late for audiences. And I don’t even know who I am meeting with today. Where is Spike, anyway?” She took a glance around the room to locate the dragon, but failed to.

All present ponies started to giggle again. In response to her uncomprehending looks Shining eventually explained. “It’s Sunday, sweetie. You are not meeting with anypony. Spike probably left for the library with Twilight. That must be very nostalgic.”

“Oh…” For the second time that morning Cadance felt mild embarrassment. At least she was allowed to get up and assume her position at the table. Spinel was right, the true breakfast was to be found here. She didn’t even know what to begin with, so she opted for coffee. “I completely lost track of days. It’s been a long time since I had a free one, what with all the problems pressing lately.” Her expression went noticeably darker for a second. “And that letter from Celestia still doesn’t let me rest.”

“Don’t let that awful thing spoil your free day, sweetie. She is blaming you for something you didn’t commit. She just can’t deal with her own problems.”

“But we are helping Sunset Shimmer now,” Cadance pointed out dejectedly.

“Because Twilight asked you to give her a chance. I trust Twily, she knows what she’s doing. Even though I can’t say I am happy about that mare being around. the way she introduced herself to us…” He trailed off for a second, but soon assumed his previous supportive tone. “Just ask her for some explanation. She should know about that letter anyway and you didn’t have much time to catch up with her since returned.”

“You know, Shiny, that’s a good idea. I don’t have plans for today and wanted to discuss another matter with her too. You said they went to the library?”

“Most likely. Twily kept going there a lot since she came. Luster and I will find something to do while you are away. Library is not a place for us, right?” Luster’s sour expression told the story of his agreement better than words ever could.

Cadance got up from the table, levitating a cupcake beside her and started for the door. She stopped after the first step though, turning back to Shining, the third instance of embarrassment that morning. “Um, Shiny, where is the library?”

“Pray I never tell Twily about that question, sweetie.” The devilish flames in his eyes dimmed and turned to amusement at Cadance’s deadpan expression. “Third street to the right from the palace gate. You can’t miss it.”

“Thank you. Make sure your father behaves, Luster.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Luster mock saluted and to show how responsible he was, he tried to push a carrot into Shining’s mouth. The sounds of struggle followed Cadance down several corridors.

She left the palace without any guards. There was no danger of an attack against her, she knew that from experience. And even if an attacker appeared, everypony around would come to her help. The whole Empire was loving her and supporting her as their queen. Of course everypony didn’t agree with every decision or course of action, but in the end they accepted her authority every time and wouldn’t change.

Left and right, ponies were greeting her and bowing. Both native crystal ponies and immigrants were smiling and she was returning their smiles. For all of them she symbolized freedom. From their former oppressor, from painful past, from social discrimination and dictated opinion.

She prided herself for providing an environment friendly to anypony, regardless of their believes as long as they weren’t harming or impeding others. The Empire became a beacon of free speech actually. There were limits to everything though and there had been signs of trouble recently. Hopefully Twilight could explain those as well.

As Shining promised, the library wasn’t far from the palace at all. With how beautiful the day was, spring in the fullest bloom and sun ray fracturing at every crystal, she almost regretted not getting a better opportunity to venture around, especially with how happily a nearby merchant with an apple stand was inviting her over. She couldn’t enter the library with food though, so much she remembered from foalsitting Twilight, so she just smiled warmly and gestured that she would be back soon.

She continued into the large building in front of her and couldn’t but stare at the vast amount of books stored everywhere around. Locating Twilight would obviously take much longer than Cadance imagined, especially if she built another of her famous book fortresses. Cadance wandered aimlessly for a moment, but luckily she spotted a mare carrying a huge pile of books on her back. Nopony would order such an amount but Twilight. That was Cadance’s chance.

“Excuse me, ma’am, that looks awfully heavy for you. Let me help you with that,” she called out and levitated the books instantly.

“You would be very kind, dear.” The mare sighed in relief and popped her back before turning to her savior, only to drop into a deep bow. “Oh, your majesty, please forgive me for not noticing you earlier and for addressing you so inappropriately!”

“It’s absolutely alright. Actually, it’s a pleasant change to not be called ‘your majesty’ for once.” Cadance stacked the books in the air and pulled them closer with her magic. “Say, these are for Twilight Sparkle, correct?”

“Oh yes.” The mare straightened up and apparently happy that her ruler was happy pointed toward a secluded reading box. “Miss Sparkle is an avid reader indeed. I am not even sure this will suffice for her today…”

“I will assign some funds from the culture budget to the library for purchasing a bookcart. With her staying, you would soon break your back.” They shared a short laugh and each headed to their desired destination: the librarian to the office for some coffee - it was still morning after all - and Cadance to Twilight’s corner. She let her know of her presence by a small knock on the doorframe, but as expected, Twilight didn’t even lift her eyes from her current book.

“Thank you, Mrs. Maresbury. I would have picked them up alone if you called, they must be horribly heavy for you,” she said though, always polite toward the staff of libraries.

Cadance couldn’t but giggle at that cute trait. “It’s no problem at all dear,” she said trying to mimic the librarian’s voice. “But I told you a million times you could call me Cadance.”

That gave Twilight a pause and she looked up swiftly. Her expression quickly shifted to glee as she beheld the grinning Cadance and she jumped up to give her a big hug. This time, Cadance wouldn’t have had to fake smalling over if Twilight had decided to connect with her full force. Fortunately, she knew to restrain herself. Even so, she was clutching Cadance to the point of choking.

“Wow, wow, calm down, Twilight!” Cadance exclaimed, but wasn’t hiding her own joy from the meeting. “You are acting as if we haven’t seen each other for decades!”

“Sorry…” Twilight hesitantly pulled back and smiled sheepishly. “I guess I got a bit carried away. It’s just things have started looking up so quickly since we came here and I have been enjoying myself a lot and now you showed up…”

“I’m happy to see you too, Twilight. Sorry we don’t see each other more often. There is so much going on and I have to watch over all those projects regarding immigration.”

“I completely understand, Cadance. It’s not your fault. Spike has been telling me about all those problems you are facing.” She lifted some of the books from the sofa she was sitting on, making space for Cadance, and place them on the top of another tower of books nearby. Only a practiced reader could judge correctly to what point such constructs would remain stable. Cadance had to admire that mastery. “Please, take a seat.”

“Thank you. Where is Spike anyway?”

“Oh, he is sorting out some more books for me. These wouldn’t be enough for today.” She said it as if it was the most obvious information in the world. Only in response to Cadance’s perturbed gaze Twilight realized just how otherworldly it sounded. “I am not reading them from the beginning to the end! Just the useful excerpts. Mostly about history and governing.” She visibly brightened up and turned to Cadance with sparkling eyes. “Speaking of which, I could maybe help you with administrative, if you want. No decision making of course, just some support.”

“That would be great, actually.” Cadance immediately warmed up for the idea. “I wouldn’t dare to ask, not after how your last experience was, but if you are willing, it would help me greatly.”

“Alright, I can start tomorrow. I need something to pass time anyway.”

“So you plan to stay for a longer time?” Cadance asked with hope. After all, she could at least make sure Twilight was living in a comfortable way, safe from trouble here.
“Yes, the girls and I talked and we decided to stay here. If you don’t mind. Crystal Empire is a wonderful place. Just what we need.”

“Then it’s a good thing I started with choosing a staff to take care of your personal needs then.” She went noticeable more serious though after that remark. After all, she didn’t come just for chit chat. “Speaking of the girls though, I needed to ask you about them though.”

“Sure, what do you want to know?”

“I heard rumors of them going into streets and talking to crowds.”

“They are fantastic!” Twilight exclaimed and pride almost radiated from her physically. “They have been doing so well when you realise they have no previous experience with addressing crowds… well, except for Trixie.”

“I have to admit they have been drawing a lot of attention to themselves and that ponies generally speak fondly of them,” Cadance said, trying to not break Twilight’s happiness if possible. “I would like to know what they are speaking about though. It has an impact on my subjects, so I need to acquire as much information as possible. I'm sure you understand.”

“But of course.” Twilight continued beaming, thrilled to initiate Cadance to the secrets. “They are talking about morality and co-existence of ponies, each from the point of view of their Element. Ponies need to recover from the wickedness of the world.”

“They do, no doubt, but what Elements are you talking about?”

“Each of us represents one of the key virtues and is tasked with spreading it among ponies.”

“Like the Elements of Harmony?” Cadance suggested, suspecting Twilight was merely replacing what she lost with a construct of her mind.

“Much more important, Cadance! They influence all pony conduct. What good are Elements of Harmony? They apply only to friendly relationships. How are you to react when somepony refuses to be your friend?” Twilight turned on the sofa so that she was sitting facing Cadance and started leaning forward. Her voice gained on urgency and conviction as well. “Diligence, Fortitude, Temperance, Prudence, Justice and Humility help you in every situation though!”

Cadance backed a bit from the slightly insane visage Twilight was sporting. “Who chose these particular virtues? They sure are important, but they seem random. And how did you become the representations of them?”

“The Creator herself chose them, Cadance. She ordered them to be the principles of the creation and her servants passed them to us. They tasked us with bringing ponies hope again.” Twilight finally realized just how eccentric she was acting and pulled back with a red tint on her cheeks. “Sorry… I got carried away… again. We just really owe a lot to them and wish to further their work.”

“I see…” Cadance took a moment to sort her thoughts. This was very unlike Twilight, but so far she could tolerate it without worry. “You just never struck me as a religious type.”

“One changes her opinion on a lot of things once faith turns to certainty.”

“Alright then. Let’s say I believe you. In what form are you to bring hope to ponies? To get mad at me for assuming bad things, but the rumor has it that the girls were talking harshly about Celestia. Even calling for dethroning her.” Even though she spoke of believing, her voice betrayed doubts openly.

“Why so skeptical, Cadance? Of course they are speaking about Celestia. You must know best just what malice she breeds in the world. All your problems are stemming from her acts.”

“They do, but you are not answering my question, Twilight,” Cadance answered sternly. “And while I do share your resentment of Celestia, please note that she gave you much and that the problems of Equestria started with your departure!”

Twilight jumped of the sofa, infuriated by the remark. “The problems of Equestria were cummulating over eons, Cadance,” she spat out. “Yes, when I left, it started an avalanche, but the calamity of snow is not my fault. Nor can you blame me for choosing my own path in life instead of obeying to a forced one!”

“I’m sorry for that, Twily,” Cadance whispered, knowing that she overstepped boundaries. She reached toward Twilight with a forehoof and caressed her cheek. Twilight leaned onto the hoof and soon returned to the sofa, curling to Cadance’s side.

“Do you think it was an easy decision to leave everything behind? Everypony I have known, everything I achieved. I had to sacrifice it, Cadance. I want to change the world for the better and Celestia stands in the way of that.”

“What is your task Twilight?” Cadance asked quietly and pulled Twilight closer to her side. “What is it the servants of the Creator told you?”

“We are to purge sin out of the world. To teach ponies that with virtue they can achieve more. To save them from eternal damnation in Tartarus.”

“And you see Celestia as the root of all sin.”

“I do. We do! Even the Ein Sof told us she went astray from the right path. There is no helping it, Cadance. We need to stop her!” Twilight’s voice was quivering and when Cadance looked down, she spotted tears in her eyes. Twilight was begging her for support. For approval. “Crystal Empire needs to fight her and bring order to the world as it was meant to from the beginning.”

It was breaking Cadance’s heart to see Twilight like that. She wished so hard to say yes. She even agreed with the most of what Twilight said. Still, she couldn’t. She shook her head and kissed the top of Twilight’s head.

“No, Twilight. I am sorry, but we can’t do that.” The look of betrayal in Twilight’s eyes shook her even deeper. Everything was screaming at her to agree. To prevent Twilight from more pain. But the interests of her subjects went first. “I can’t let you preach about defeating Celestia, Twilight. Not now.”

“But… but why? You know I am right, don’t you?”

“In a sense, Twilight. But please, look at the bigger picture. Crystal Empire doesn’t really have an army. Its citizens barely recovered from the horrors of King Sombra and I can’t throw them into the turmoil of another war. And any provocation could actually make Equestria attack us.”

“Why would they do that?” Twilight asked in shock, her own concerns forgotten for a minute.

“I got a letter from Celestia some time ago complaining about my support of Sunset Shimmer. She thinks I set her free, conspired with her and helped her in the arson of Everfree. Not to mention how angry she is about the waves of emigration. The diplomatic connection is balancing on the tip of the knife.”

“So… you won’t help me.”

“I will not hinder any public speeches about morality and ethics. Talk about your virtues, inspire ponies to be better. I still count on you with that administrative support too and you are all welcome in the palace for as long as you wish. But if I hear that you were promoting hostility toward Equestria after today, I will have to step in.”

“I… I understand.” Twilight laid her head down on her forelegs and closed her eyes. Cadance could feel her shaking lightly against her side. She couldn’t stand to see her in that state any longer. She got up, kissed her on the forehead and prepared to leave.

“I am sorry, Twilight. I wish I could do more for you.” She was about to charge out of Twilight’s reading hideout, but suddenly stopped in her tracks perturbed. What the hay am I doing? I just broke what she obviously devoted herself truly to. Who am I to leave her alone like that? She turned back to face Twilight again, knelt down and nuzzled Twilight gently on the cheek.

“Wha-?” Twilight’s head jerked up in bewilderment. Small streaks of tear were matting her fur, but she was doing her best to stay composed. “I-I thought you didn’t want to talk to me after this…?”

“Twilight, why would I ever want that? We disagree on something, that’s not the end of the world.” She got up from the ground and gestured for Twilight to follow. “Now don’t be so glum, everything will work out in the end. Why don’t you and Spike go with me and spend some time with the family? Luster needs to see some bookworm habits around.”

Twilight giggled a little and jabbed Cadance in the ribs lightly. “Only Luster? Or all of you? A day out could do me a good though. I need to clear my head.”

Soon all three of them left the library and on their way back to the palace. Each was enjoying a juicy red apple - the merchant who Cadance waved at before was more than happy to provide for her family as well, especially since Cadance place a sizeable order for the palace kitchen upon the first bite.

Savouring the company and the sweetness of the fruit, Cadance finally began to enjoy the day in its fullest. It’s nice to be a queen.

---

With repeated views of the Empire, or at least the Crystal Heart district, Canvas continued to notice how similar it looked to Elysium, albeit with some major differences. It would have been nice to paint these views, but with the speeches she and her friends were giving, there just was never a moment to do so. And on that note, she got ready for the day and soon began her walk from the palace into the surrounding plaza.

The route for today was a different one than what she previously traveled. She had grown tired of preaching in the same area, so it was time for a change of scenery. Maybe one of the other districts would prove successful as well.

During the morning, she had to fight a small headache brought about by a small bug she had apparently picked up, as well as a sore throat. She could have told the others she wasn’t feeling well, but she simply wasn’t that type of pony. By now, she was expecting to go through a lot of problems in the foreseeable future, a little cold wasn’t going to get her down. In her walk though, she wished she had at least taken some painkillers or something along with her as the lightheadedness was starting to distract her. It was in this distracted daze that she made a wrong turn and found herself lost.

This district was less glamorous than the parts she was familiar with and she figured it was a newer portion with all the scaffolding. It seemed nearly empty and with no ponies around, it was definitely not the place to perform her tasks. The only ponies around were a few unicorns wearing ragged winterwear. The way they eyed her, as well as their very presence, made her very uncomfortable and she did her best to remove herself from the situation.

Her fear turned out to be warranted as these unicorns started tailing her. She started walking at a faster pace to get some distance. She did not want to get involved with any type of conflict, but confrontation seemed inevitable when she turned a corner and she found herself face to face with a white unicorn.

“Well hello there,” the stallion said slyly. “What’s a gal like you doin’ in these parts?”

Canvas backed away slightly, doing her best to keep a stern expression. The other unicorns from before, three in total, caught up and surrounded her, as if to entrap her.

“I recognize you from somewhere. I’ve seen you around the palace. I’m kinda surprised a gal like you could ever be invited into that place. Meanwhile, none of us can even approach. So what makes you so special, huh sweetcheeks?”

Though she never took her eyes off the stallion in front her her, she could feel the conniving looks from those around her. “I don’t have to answer to you.”

“Ah, there's that lovely voice.” The tone in which he said that that sent a shiver down Canvas’ spine. “Y’know? I wonder just how high that voice can get. Look toots, yain’t wantin’ to make me angry. I tend to get, shall we say, rough. But by all means try to run. I like a little resistance.”

She felt a brush against her flank at that moment, which made her flinch, heart starting to race. The nature of this encounter started to bring back unwelcome memories of another unicorn that wronged her. Back then, the circumstances didn’t allow her to do anything about it. But now, she had both the means and the desire to take control.

“So, what’s it gonna be like? Easy, or rough?”

“You really should be careful who you threaten. Your magic isn’t going to help you here and you would be surprised just how strong a mare can be.”

The stallions cackled, obviously amused with her words. They had let down their guard though, and Canvas saw an opportunity. With the nearest stallion being the one at her rear, she raise her hind hooves and kicked him in the face, forcing him back enough to dive out of the way of the other stallions who scrambled to restrain her, bumping into each other in the process. She quickly got back on her hooves and dashed past the dazed stallion, getting a decent head start on the hoodlums. Naturally, they gave chase and they had one advantage that Canvas didn’t.

The ringleader lit his horn and teleported in front of her, ready to tackle her. Canvas did not stop running and after evading a haymaker, she used her momentum and headbutted his muzzle. With this pony stunned, she ran past him and continued running. Unfortunately, she tripped over a small pile of construction bricks and the impact gave her a daze of her own. This was enough for the stallions to catch up, not willing to give her the chance to escape again.

“Was a nice try, toots. But now, I’m gonna need to exact some reve-”

The stallion’s word was cut off by an impact to the face caused by a thrown rock. All ponies present looked in the direction of the thrown projectile to see an ivory colored crystal guard. “Your kind just never learns, do you?” the guard said in a calm yet authoritative voice.

“Back off, ya ponce! Ain’t havin’ none of ya today, ain’t your business.” The injured thug turned to one of his cohorts. “Oy, you! Have her ready. You two, let’s introduce this guy to the ground and make that relationship, shall we say, intimate.”

As three of the stallions approached the guard, he popped his neck and simply waited for them to get within a good discipline distance. The one to his left lunged forward for a haymaker and as he did, the guard stretched out his hoof and redirected the punch before moving in and used the metal plating of his helmet to headbutt him in the manner Canvas did earlier. This time, it knocked him out cold. The second lackey moved behind him and attempted to restrain him, but the guard spun around to the right of him and grabbed his right hoof. In a second and a half, he raised his hoof and swiftly brought it on the stallion’s elbow, breaking it and bringing excruciating pain before a subsequent punch from the guard’s armored hoof connected to his skull and knocked him unconscious as well.

Now it came to the ringleader, who was physically larger than the guard. The guard was not at all deterred and when the thug lit his horn and teleported, the guard ducked out of instinct just in time to barely miss a headlock attempt and was in a prime position to hit the thug in his most vulnerable weak spot. With him doubling over in pain, the guard delivered a cross punch to the left cheek. The thug attempted to retaliate with a wild haymaker, one that was blocked with an elbow and countered with a throw. Now wheezing and writing in pain, the thug was in no position to fight and the trauma to his head soon gave way to him blacking out.

“Never mess with an imperial guard.” The guard then turned to the direction of the last remaining stallion, still remembering there was an important mare in danger. “Now as for… you?”

He was surprised to find the last of the instigators trapped in a chokehold by the very same mare that was being assaulted. There was some struggling, but try as he might, he was no match for the strength of Canvas’ earth pony heritage and in a matter of seconds, he was the last to join his brethren in a group nap.

“You can stop choking him now, miss. He’s starting to turn blue.”

Canvas gradually released her grip, just enough to allow circulation but not enough to let him escape should he regain consciousness. When the color returned to the knocked out stallion, she carefully set him on the ground and the guard came closer to put him in cuffs, as he did the other three soon after.

“Are you alright, miss Canvas?”

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine, just a little sore from tripping. That was quite impressive with how you dealt with those guys.”

“I just did what I learned in training. You on the other hoof, I didn’t see how you did it, but you handled yourself very nicely.”

“I learned how to defend myself and then some. Thank you for coming to my aid though… um…”

“My name is Marble Rampart. We actually met when you came to the palace with your friends. I was the one who carried your bags.”

Canvas thought back to the memory of the strong guard who escorted her group and blushed slightly as she remembered bumping into the guard himself. “Right, I thought you looked familiar. I just got so caught up in this city’s beauty that I just didn’t watch myself.”

“It was not a problem at all. Though, I guess you can see now this city isn’t as beautiful as it looks. Even before the immigration influx, it had some hidden problems, most of which I’m sure you already know.” Marble Rampart finished cuffing the suspects and not too long afterwards, a wagon with a few other guards came by to pick them up.

“They sure got here fast,” Canvas pointed out as she watched the guards loaded the suspects into the wagon.

“This district is rather infamous for criminals like them so Her Majesty and Captain Armor had us carefully watch these streets. So many of us are within shouting distance if anything goes wrong.”

“Is that why you just so happened to be in the right place at the right time?” Canvas joked.

“Hardly. Actually, Captain Armor wanted to make sure our guests were well taken care of and requested a few of us to watch over all of you. Covert security, so to speak.”

“It’s a good thing too. I really wasn’t expecting to go through all that today.”

“May I suggest staying clear of the more dangerous areas of the city in the future, at least when by yourself? The best protection against danger is prevention.”

“Y-yeah, I’ll try.” Canvas tried to walk a bit but discovered the combined might of her headache and sore legs made it difficult to stand too long. She wasn’t terribly impaired, but she knew it would not be wise to perform her duties today. “Marble Rampart, may I ask you to walk me back to the palace. I’m feeling kind of weak.”

“Yes m’lady. Just let me know if you need any help.”

Canvas followed Marble’s lead as he walked back in the direction of the palace, staying close to him in the off chance she should lose her balance. Though the palace was tall and hard to miss in scenic areas, the combined limited light of the morning overcast and the height of some buildings prevented a clear view of the imposing building. Thankfully, Marble Rampart knew his city well.

“So, what’s it like working in the Imperial Guard?” Canvas inquired, attempting to kill the boredom of the walk back.

“Not as glamorous as you might think. I mean don’t get me wrong, it has its benefits, but you go into the job expecting huge responsibilities and thrills associated with protecting royalty and the public. In reality, you’re really just standing around or patrolling a certain route and most of the time, it’s pretty uneventful.”

“I suppose you could think of it as the type of job where it’s better to be uneventful.”

“Maybe, but I personally don’t like being idle. It’s not only boring, but I feel like it’s a waste of effort and time. Sure, somepony has to do it, but sometimes I feel like we only get paid to sit around doing nothing. Then when something does come up, we feel out of practice because that’s all we’ve been doing, training sessions notwithstanding. They might as well be hiring sloths. I don’t know, maybe I’m just whining.”

As Marble spoke, Canvas noticed a slight amount of anger in his voice. It wasn’t anger aimed at anything in particular, it was just there. She wasn’t really sure what to make of his actual words.

“Well, you did your job very well back there. You defended me and took out those ruffians almost single hoofed.”

“That’s only because I make it a point to keep my skills fresh, unlike some of the others. And it’s like you said, I was doing my job. Really nothing more when you get down to it.”

“I don’t think that’s necessarily true. You took them on by yourself, without backup. You went above and beyond to help me.”

“If you say so.”

Now the frustration in Canvas was starting to grow a bit. She couldn’t remember dealing with a stallion like him since… Well, Rallying Net. Thinking back, it took some effort to completely persuade him as well. As mildly frustrating as this was though, something about this stallion intrigued her. She wasn’t entirely sure why, but he was different than what she was used to dealing with. She was feeling to ill to think any further on this for the moment though, so perhaps she should save it for later.

“Well, thank you anyway. Just know that more ponies appreciate what you do than you think. You are right about one thing though. It helps to keep your skills sharp and not to disregard them. Perhaps I should take that to heart as well. And thank you for escorting me back.”

Marble bowed as they approached the palace plaza. “Safety and peace, Miss Acrylic Canvas.”

“Upon you as well, Marble Rampart.”

---

During the day, in full activity and enjoying the company, it was easy for Twilight to push her desperation out of her mind, but as she said her goodbyes to Shining and Cadance for the day and as Spike ran off to order some snacks and tea to be delivered to their apartment, the thoughts of her conversation with Cadance returned. How would she even break it to the girls?

She had gotten deep in thought by the time she reached the apartment. She knew that everything would change for them. The plan they drew would fall apart even though they were still allowed to teach the ponies about morality. They would have to search for other resources. But where?

“The tea should arrive soon, Twilight. I ordered some for the girls as well. Are you holding another afternoon together?”

Twilight jumped up a little, startled by Spike’s voice. She kept forgetting how much longer he had lived in the Crystal Empire. He knew every shortcut to be found in the palace and traveled at an amazing speed. He opened the door and held them open.

“Thank you, Spike. Yes, we are.” She walked over to the sofa in the centre of the room and sat down. After some time they spent in the Empire and after they first considered staying permanently, they asked Cadance for an apartment that could house all of them. Guest rooms of the palace sure were comfortable, but they couldn’t be called home. Since then they lived like one happy family, Spike included.

“Want me to go get them? As I know them, it will take them forever to gather.”

“Sure, if you would be so kind.”

He returned in a few moments, everypony was in the apartment, and sat down next to Twilight. “Could I participate this time? I have nothing better to do.”

Twilight thought for a second, but there was really no reason to not let him. He knew about their preaching anyway, if not the details. “I don’t see a reason why not. Trixie will be jealous about your spot though.”

“She can lean on your other side.” They shared a giggle, Twilight’s more strained as it was merely masking her prevailing anxiety. Spike was right about the girls taking their time. It didn’t really matter though. The tea hadn’t arrived yet anyway.

One by one the girls entered from their respective rooms and started assuming their favourite places. Normally they would go outside and combine the meeting with exploring of the gardens or the city. Today, Twilight didn’t really feel like walking anymore. Trixie glared at Spike a little, but at receiving a clear ‘what are you going to do about it’ look from him, she just huffed and as expected sat down by Twilight’s other side. Ditzy came next and in a nearby armchair.

“You look really great today, Ditzy,” Spike commended. Ditzy flashed him a smile and got more comfortable.

“Flatterer. I got a free day, so I went to a spa and relaxed a bit. Sparkler took Dinky for a trip today. They are sweethearts, but a day alone is necessary from time to time.”

“Sometimes, yes. But you would get fed up with it really soon.” Sunset stepped in and laid down on a big pillow. “Trust me, I’m talking from experience.”

“True, true.” Ditzy nodded thoughtfully.

Soon afterwards they were all seated and ready. They were all throwing covert glances at Canvas who seemed somewhat disheveled. She noticed of course and before anypony could ask, she took the word.

“I hope you had a better day than me. Some rabble-” Everypony flinched at her using such a word, forgetting that her petite and cute looks could be deceiving at times. She frowned at them a little before continuing. “What? They are just that! They tried to rob me and more. Thankfully a skilled guard came by.”

“That’s awful. Are you alright?” Sunset said and popped her neck. “Do you want me to find them and teach them a lesson or two?”

“They got arrested and won’t leave the dungeon for a long time,” Canvas explained, getting appeased by the immediate offer of help. “But I didn’t get to speak to the ponies at all today. I got a horrible migraine afterwards and had to return to the palace.”

“My offer still stands in case you change your mind.”

“Thanks, Sunny, it won’t be necessary I think.” Sunset just shrugged, not convinced in the least.

“Speaking of addressing ponies,” Twilight took advantage of the pause and gathered her courage to move to the problem at hoof. “We have a big problem, girls. Cadance talked to me today and-” She didn’t get to finish though as Spike jumped up from the sofa and pointed feverishly toward the door.

“Look! What in Tartarus is that?!”

They all turned in the signaled direction, thinking at first somepony was trying to break in. The reality proved to be worse as the door remained intact, but the air in front of them didn’t. A footlong glowing vertical slit formed about five feet from the ground and something began to emerge from it in a snake like motion. The matter split into two streams and spread to the sides a little, as if grabbing the space itself from inside.

Ditzy who was sitting the closest to the door scrambled to her feet quickly and retreated behind the table to join the others who were watching the spectacle in awe. The first pair of appendages which now assumed the form of white ribbons was joined by another and at once they started pushing to the sides, widening the slit and prolonging it to the ground.

While the girls started backing away, Spike moved forward, leaving the relative safety of their table cover. “Run! I will distract it!” He assumed a threatening pose in the middle of the room and bared his teeth. Meanwhile the portal grew so much in size it would easily let pass a pony of Big Mac’s size and a strangely familiar floral scent filled the air. There was an undertone of rot in it though, disheartening the girls without them understanding it. The light emanating from the portal reached blinding intensity and they could more sense than make out a silhouette coming out.

Sunset and Twilight joined Spike in his stand despite his refusing glances. They wouldn’t let him face the peril alone. They charged their horns and prepared the most deadly spells they could recall. Especially in Sunset’s case that meant she expected apocalyptic enemy. The light disappeared at once, but their eyes couldn’t focus correctly.

“Fear not, for I come in peace,” a familiar voice declaimed and they finally got to recognise their visitor. Cherish stood in front of them, wings spread majestically, one foreleg bent in elbow and head held proudly high. “I commend your bravery, young dragon. Few stood their ground at face of Ein Sof’s arrival.”

“I will show you just how brave I am if you don’t explain yourself right now!” Spike threatened and took a step forward to emphasize his words.

“Spike, stop!” Twilight worked quickly to avoid the impending confrontation and stepped in front of him. “Thank you for defending us, but Cherish is a friend.”

“A friend?” Spike asked in confusion. “But… but what even is she? I have never seen anypony like that!”

“She is an Ein Sof. The Creator’s angel. The girls and I spent the last four years in their land learning from them.” She turned to Cherish and frowned a little. “But none of us has ever witnessed this.”

“That doesn’t surprise me, in the least. We prefer to enter the world of mortals unseen, on secluded places. Alas, today you gave me no choice but to come to you directly unless I wanted to breach the privacy of home of one of you. It’s not like I could have sent you a warning,” Cherish explained indignantly and moved toward a sofa opposite to the one where Twilight, Trixie and Spike sat previously. Lightning and Canvas had to find new spots for themselves, the former not hiding her annoyance.

“So angels are real…” Spike muttered to himself as he returned to his seat with Twilight, who nuzzled him and whispered a thank you to him.

“I can see why,” Sunset remarked and she too returned to her pillow.

“One does how one can. Speaking of which, Sister Scintillant wanted me to forward a greeting to you and express her delight upon your achievements with the plan. She has been analysing the reports you sent through me and thinks that in a few months you will have accumulated a sufficient force for a direct attack. Will I have the pleasure of forwarding more good news today?”

“You came just in time,” Sunset said. “Twilight was about to tell us something about her conversation with Cadance when you made your spectacular entreé.” She turned to Twilight who was squirming again, although her ability to do so was limited by Spike and Trixie pressed against her. “What did you want to tell us, Twilight?”

Twilight sighed and bowed her head low. “I don’t think Scintillant and any of you will be happy with this, but Cadance came to talk to me today and forbid us to talk about Celestia and Equestria in our preaching altogether.”

An outburst of indignation, confusion and disappointment followed around. “Why would she do such a thing?” Lightning cried out.

“We are just telling the truth! Ponies deserve to know,” Canvas added.

“Did you explain our motives to her?” Ditzy asked, the most composed of them all at the moment.

“I did, but it didn’t change anything. She even agreed that Celestia is bad, but still didn’t budge.”

“I fail to see why this is a problem,” Cherish stated calmly, drawing attention of them all to her. “Changes always happen against the order, otherwise the revolutionaries wouldn’t be needed at all.”

“But she said that if we continued, she would take action. She could send guards on us or even throw us out from the Empire!” Twilight explained, a tinge of desperation and sadness in her voice. “I don’t want to lose another home. Another part of my family…”

“Then you must find a way to gain followers and don’t give her a chance to do anything about it simultaneously,” Cherish said matter of factly

“That’s-” Once again Twilight didn’t get to finish her sentence as three sharp knocks sounded at the door. Lightning and Sunset jumped out quickly and started for the door to lock it, the others trying to do the same, but they were all late as the door opened to reveal a black pegasus in servant uniform.

“Good afternoon, ladies. My name is Rallying Net and I am assigned as a personal servant for Ms Acrylic Canvas. May I offer you-” He stopped dead in his tracks, scanning the room with the ponies frozen in the dash toward the door and a strange alabaster white figure with ribbons stemming from its back, but he regained his composition quickly. “Ehm, may I offer you some tea and bring another cup for your guest?”

“That would be lovely of you, Mr. Net,” Cherish said, lifted the tray with her magic from the trolley he was pushing and set it on the table. “You could also bring us some desert and cookies, be so kind.”

“Of course, ma’am. I will be right back.” He retreated from the room and closed the door again. Once it did, Ditzy looked sternly at Cherish.

“I hate to be rude to an Ein Sof, but-” she took a deep breath and stepped closer to her, “-Are you completely out of your mind?!” she shouted at such volume that the others cringed in pain. “He saw you and you just send him away as if nothing happened? He will return with guards!”

“And if he did, what would it change?”

Cherish lifted a spoon with her hoof and her halo spinned a slow pace. The cutlery bent at first and then a droplets of melt metal started falling on the table until all that was left was a little grayish pool. The hoof previously holding it remained unscarred. Cherish then picked the metal in her magic and pressed on it from all sides until the spoon was formed again.

“We are allowed to defend ourselves when threatened. Besides, I sometimes happened upon him while watching the palace. He always goes after his task directly, never stopping to chat with others or taking detours. He will return with my cup and the sweets in no time.”

“He could have been listening behind the door though,” Lightning pointed out. “He may not run to his superiors right away, but later when we stop suspecting him, he may tell Cadance about what we have been discussing. You weren’t exactly subtle, Cherish.”

“So what would you do? Execute an innocent pony without any evidence he is a threat or that he would do anything against us in the first place?” Canvas asked angrily.

“Yes, that would be my cause of action,” Trixie said cooly. “Any, even the smallest and improbable threat must be eliminated right away, otherwise we are all in danger.”

“By that logic Twilight would have had to ended you after your lapse with Alicorn Amulet,” Lightning countered. “Be a dear and compare the potential loss and gain next time you try to sign an order of execution.” Trixie pressed closer to Twilight at the realisation that indeed her words wouldn’t be exactly beneficial to her past life. But that would have to wait for now.

“Please, Twilight,” Canvas took the word again. “I met Rallying Net before. He was that pony I had to argue with during my first preaching. Back then he was nothing, a beggar and vagabond. Now he made it so high in the staff. I convinced him of our cause. Please don’t let them kill him.”

Twilight glanced at the faces of her friends and at Spike who was unsure what was even transpiring in front of his eyes. One moment they were being served tea, the other the servant was to be executed. The servant he, Spike, called by his order of tea. He looked up at Twilight and shook his head no, pleadingly stretching his claws toward her.

“I can’t decide this alone,” Twilight said apologetically to both his and Canvas’ pleading eyes. “We will vote about it. Who is for getting rid of Rallying Net?” Ditzy, Trixie and Sunset raised their hoof. Canvas glared at Sunset viciously for that.

“He chose servitude as a way out of his powerlessness. Such pony is useless to our cause.”

“A pony judging others by social status is useless to ponykind,” Canvas hissed in response, but before the argument could escalate, Twilight stepped in.

“Who is against?” Canvas’ hoof shot up immediately, followed by Lightning’s and Twilight’s. “A draw…”

“When the path best for you is hidden from your eyes, take the needs of others into account as humility combines all virtues,” Cherish stated calmly. “I will use your cup for now, Sunset. The worthlessness of the pony who brought it to you soaked into it anyway.”

Sunset bit her lip and started inspecting the pattern of the carpet. “Sorry. It’s just I was raised to love strength and power and despise weakness. It’s hard to overcome.”

“Everypony makes mistakes, Sunset,” Twilight said and Canvas reached a hoof to Sunset who gladly shook it and pulled the younger mare into a hug. “Just remember that the easiest or straightest path or even the one leading directly to the top of the world doesn’t necessarily be the correct one.”

“I will, Twilight. But we still need to decide what to do. Rallying Net knows more than we would like and we need to take precautions.”

“Let me talk to him,” Canvas offered. “He alone should decide his fate. I will just help him.”

They all nodded in agreement and finally poured some tea for themselves, apart from Sunset who was stripped of her cup. It took several more minutes before Rallying Net returned, again announcing his arrival by three sharp knocks.

“Come in, please,” Canvas called and Rallying Net entered. He was about to hand the cup to Cherish, but noticed she already had one. “Our guest turned out to be rather thirsty, so Sunset gave her the cup for the time being,” Canvas explained quickly. “I need to talk to you, if you have a minute.”

“Of course, ma’am. I was assigned to serve as your personal servant. My time is yours.”

“Very well then. You know who I am and what I have been doing, correct?”

“I do indeed, miss Acrylic Canvas. Among the other activities you managed to show me to the right path,” Net said with a sense of reverence to his words. “Thanks to you I decided to change my life and it felt natural to choose you as the pony I would devote my service to.”

“So you chose to get rid of your freedom. What an excellent course of action,” Sunset said mockingly, gaining a glare from Canvas and surprisingly from Ditzy as well.

“No, ma’am. I realized that by not doing anything I was causing loss to everypony and chose to lessen that problem. Furthermore, I came to the conclusion that on my own I can contribute only so much and will never achieve a significant effect. Therefore I chose to be of help to Ms. Acrylic Canvas. The notion she represented in her speech is worth following.” He stayed perfectly calm, not letting any emotion show. His position was one of subordination and he would not act to displease Canvas. Ponies who didn’t understand his reasons deserved pity, not anger after all.

“Thank you for your kind words, I am glad I left such a strong impression on you.” Canvas’ cheeks were tinted a bit red from the praise, though she would immediately deny it. “Due to them it pains me even more that our preaching must come to an end.”

Now his feelings shone through and they were of disbelief and betrayal. “Why would you do that, ma’am? You need to continue spreading the truth!”

“We can’t, dear Rallying Net. We were forbidden to by Queen Cadance,” Twilight explained, catching wind of what game Canvas wanted to play. “What would you do in our place?”

He sat down on the ground and thought hard. On one hoof he felt obliged to follow the orders of his beloved ruler. On the other, he knew Cadance’s decision was wrong according to his conscience. If he carried through with the orders, he would be betraying his believes and once he would start with that, where would he end?

In the end he turned to his experience. In his life he learnt how the rule of King Sombra and queen Cadance felt. Princess Twilight was crowned and resign. Princess Luna fought by Celestia’s side, turned against her, reunited with her and formed her own kingdom. The sole presence of the changes were showing clearly that the rulers were often wrong in their opinions and actions.

“I would continue preaching, ma’am. It pains me to say it, but our beloved queen is wrong to bar you from doing so,” he said slowly, still fighting his sense of duty. He was decided though and wouldn’t leave his path. “If I were to choose between my loyalty to her majesty and to the ideas Ms. Canvas presented to me, I would choose the latter.”

“Should I take it as an oath of loyalty, Rallying Net?” Canvas asked and slowly walked to him, her eyes starting to glow with the same light as when Net first met her. “Think carefully as there is no turning back once you devote yourself to Ein Sof.” She turned to her friends and a halo with a vine spiraling around it like a snake appeared above her head. “For none of us, as choosing to leave equals actively opposing the cause ergo choosing evil and damnation.”

They all shivered a little as the judgment was passed on the matter with unwavering authority. Only Net didn’t, bowing down in front of Canvas instead.

“My loyalty is to you and your cause, Acrylic Canvas. I will follow you, protect you and serve you. My death will be in your name.”

A strand of his mane turned into a string of leaves similar to the one on Canvas’ halo. To Spike’s eyes it looked the normal way in the next second, but the Elements and Cherish kept the sight of reality. Cherish was smiling fondly at the success in front of her, while the others were watching with their mouths agape. Canvas reached a hoof toward Net and helped him up.

“Thank you, Rallying Net. I promise to not fail the trust you put in me.” She lead him to where she sat previously and signaled him to take a seat next to her. Only then did her mind return to the business at hoof. “Yet it may be complicated for us to continue on with our preaching as we are facing exile if we don’t obey”

“Then we need to seek another way to spread the word and make ponies see the truth. Even against the queen’s will,” Net stated convicted, “Talking to them in the open in the open can’t be the only option.”

“Your first true follower speaks well, my friends,” Cherish said, drawing the attention to herself after the longest time. She kept sipping her tea and even ate several pastries in the meantime. While the life of Ein Sof didn’t lack the pleasures of Elysium in general, following Scintillant to the darkest parts of Tartarus often prevented her from finding them. Furthermore, she was feeling more and more drawn toward the bodily pleasures she was missing on away from Elysium.

“We could meet them in smaller numbers or in their houses,” Ditzy offered.

“Somepony would spill the beans sooner or later and we wouldn’t gain anything in the end,” Lightning countered.

“Then we should make Crystal Empire into our own kingdom by force,” Sunset said, but shrank on her pillow immediately at being faced with eight deadpan looks.

“Firstly,” Trixie started after several deep breaths aiming to calm herself, “how exactly would seven ponies defeat an entire kingdom? If that were possible, we would be sitting in the throneroom in Canterlot by now.” She meant it as a small joke of sorts, but wasn’t surprised nopony laughed. It was too close to truth. “Secondly, who in their right mind would follow notions forced down on them by a tyrant?”

To her surprise that purely rhetorical question received its answer. “Everypony who wouldn’t know they were living in tyranny,” Twilight whispered sadly, but in the quiet room it rang like a bell.

“Care to explain, Twilight?” Lightning finally broke the silence since nopony but Cherish seemed to make any sense of Twilight’s words. The Ein Sof on the other hoof was now smiling widely and motioned for Twilight to continue.

“Back when Brother Aurora got on his path of destruction and became King Sombra, he manipulated the Crystal Heart to bend the will of crystal ponies to his own.”

“How can you even think about such a thing?” Canvas exclaimed in disbelief. “You are talking about enslaving an entire nation!”

“But Dorothea was meant to protect the world from evil, Canvas,” Twilight tried to defend her point, but Canvas wouldn’t have any of that.

“Is it their fault that they were born here? A decision made eons ago shouldn’t impede their path through life! That’s pure-”

“Did you choose your parents, Canvas?” Trixie called out, cutting the rant short. Canvas looked at her not comprehending the meaning of the question. “Or your cutie mark? Was it your conscious choice that you would be turning pictures into material objects? It was forced upon you, Canvas and you had no way to change that. You told us it brought you discomfort, even danger and still it was to be, no matter what you would pick for yourself.”

“What the Creator decided even eons ago remains in force forever. In the same way as the condition of the judgment after death have been and will always be the same,” Cherish added and definitely broke Canvas’ argument. “There is justice in the fate, dear Canvas. It is that nopony can avoid it.”

“Do you know how Sombra achieved his control, Twilight?” Lightning asked, turning their attention from philosophy to practical problem of everyday life.

“No exactly,” Twilight admitted. “He was very close to the Creator and probably knew about its structure more than anypony since. He had to alter its structure somehow, but that’s all I know.”

“He merged a piece of his being with the Heart,” Cherish said with the same contented smile from before. “He controlled them perfectly because he was broadcasting his will to them directly. He had to change the structure of the Heart considerably for that though.”

“So he gave up a piece of himself?” Twilight asked incredulously. “He was more dedicated to his thing than I though.”

“In a sense he did and yes, he was. You will be too, Twilight Sparkle, as Brother Empathy will surely teach you everything you need to know.”

“Why not you?” asked Trixie in surprise.

“Who is your link to Mother Dogma, him or me?” Cherish said with a smirk and got up. “My time is short. I need to return to my duties lest others might get suspicious. May Creator’s blessing be with you. Safety and peace, Elements.”

“Upon you as well,” they all replied as she got up from the sofa, placed the cup back on the table and nodded to Net.

“Thank you for the tea.” She then spread her wings and gripped the air with the tips just like they saw at her arrival. A gate slowly opened in the air, the same light emanating from it, and Cherish stepped in, leaving on an unseen path. Then the gate faded to nothing.

One by one the girls started leaving the room, Net following Canvas to talk about his duties as a servant and mainly about what transpired. In a few minutes only Twilight and Spike remained in the room, huddled next to each other on the sofa.

“I wish we didn’t have to do this,” Twilight said quietly. “At least we won’t have to hurt Cadance.” She didn’t receive an answer and looked at Spike with concern. “Spike? Is everything ok?”

“N-no, Twilight! It’s not!” he got out between the sobs. “You don’t understand at all! You are going to hurt Cadance!”

“What? How?” Twilight’s eyes went wide with bewilderment. She really couldn’t find how their plan would harm Cadance other than reducing her power as a ruler.

“The coronation. The Heart accepted her. They are the same, Twilight. You hurt one and the other suffers. You are going to hurt Cadance and change her into somepony she is not. If she even survives…”

“Creator help me, that mustn’t be…” Twilight muttered and joined Spike in his weeping.

---

A peaceful night reigned over Crystal Empire. Northern lights were weaving their way among the stars, beating the moon in brightness. A light wind was brushing against the trees, just enough to make them swivel and cover the quiet sounds of night animals.

It was also sufficient to hide the careful steps of a lone unicorn sneaking through shadows. She was almost disgusted by how easy her task was so far. She didn’t meet a single guard. Apparently that strange and contemptible servant supplied them with correct information. What surprised her more though was the complete absence of random passerby’s. Crystal ponies never ceased to surprise her. Nothing was forcing them to meet an early bedtime, still they rarely left their houses after ten in the evening.

Maybe it is for the best, she thought, I’m not exactly the type to move around unnoticed. At least I am almost there.

The dark form of the Crystal Palace was towering in front of her. She spent the whole day away in the hills just to conceal her moves. To her knowledge the others did the same, apart from Twilight and Ditzy each choosing one excuse or the other to stay out of their shared home. She wouldn’t mind if such days away from the other girls would become a regular occurrence. Solitude never bothered her, unlike the constant yapping about nothing.

She got nearer to the arch leading to chamber of the Crystal Heart. Just outside the circle of light emanating from the inside - both the the Heart itself and the crystal on the inner side of the pylons supporting the palace above providing a pleasing pink light periodically transitioning to cool ice blue - she spotted a shade she was looking for.

Crystal ponies didn’t dedicate too much defense to the most important artifact of their culture. She knew the guard was well trained by Shining Armor himself and wouldn’t be a simple target. He even positioned himself so that a potential attacker would have their vision impaired by the contrast of the night and the well-lit chamber.

She quietly circled him in the distance so that they were facing each other. An ambush from behind would bring her nothing. She would get spotted sooner than she would get into reach and the following combat would draw attention of the whole city. No, there were other ways.

Waiting patiently, something achievable with her only by the promise of an outstanding enjoyment, she stayed motionless lowered to the ground to avoid any attention and gazed up to the sky. A lone shade drifted quickly across the colorful streams on the sky. Amateur.

Suddenly three bright spots burned just above the highest spire of the palace. The waiting was over. She fired a single beam of sunlight toward the guard, aiming to where she thought his eyes would be. She shot after her beam immediately. If she missed, there would be no hiding anymore anyway.

To her satisfaction the guard dropped his spear and was covering his eyes with a hoof, stumbling a little from the sudden blindness inflicted to his darkness-adapted sight. He didn’t even register the pounding of her hooves on the cobblestones or the sharp whiz of air followed by a dark thud nearby and the buck hitting him into the face came as a nasty goodnight surprise.

She was standing above his unmoving body, shaking her head in disbelief, not even mourning not using her blades. That would go against Twilight’s wish after all. “Really? That’s the elite force of Crystal Empire? I thought they would be the best force around. We have cut ourselves much more work than it seemed.”

“They are not all that bad,” a voice came from the closest pylon. With a concentrated, but slightly disdainful face, Trixie was making her way over, levitating her charge behind her. “I watched them during the drill. They know how to handle themselves. These don’t measure.”

“That’s because they are not the elite force meant to protect the Heart.” Acrylic Canvas was slowly walking to them, a pair of saddlebags on her bag, and dropped a vine she was dragging with a hoof. On the other end of it was a gray bundle crowned with several knots of a similar plant. “Rallying Net switched the names of guards assigned to various duties for tonight. The elite is sleeping and the rookies watch over the crucial spots.”

Sunset whistled approvingly. “It seems your servant really has some value. Interesting.” She gladly took another sheaf of vines that Canvas was growing from the ground at will and bound both her guard and the one downed by Trixie.

“That only means their security sucks,” Lightning stepped in and dropped the last remaining guard in front of Sunset to be tied like his brothers without arms. “They should be more careful and not allow anypony march in and tamper with their documents.”

“Speaking of more careful, oh master spy,” Sunset mockingly saluted and blue a raspberry at her, “did they not teach you to keep a low profile in case you could be spotted on the lit sky? Any proper soldier could and would have gotten you like a pigeon against the northern lights. This is a no-flight-zone”

“Then I’m lucky I’m the only proper soldier around, don’t you think?” She messed Sunset’s mane with a hoof and walked closer to the centre of the chamber to assume position for the next phase.

Sunset was muttering curses through her clenched teeth after the retreating pegasus, Canvas and Trixie trying their hardest to keep a straight face. Suddenly the sound of wings slowing a long free fall caught their attention though and they turned just in time to spot Twilight and Ditzy drifting side by side into the chamber through the northern arch.

“No. Flight. Zone,” Sunset said, accentuating each word. “What in particular is unclear on that. You shouldn’t fly here.”

“If you know of a better way from the top of the spire, I would like to hear it,” Ditzy countered with a smirk and walked past to join Lightning Dust.

“What were you doing at the top of the spire? And how did you get there? I thought there would be guards at the entrance,”” Sunset asked incredulously, but with a noticeable hint of resignation. She was getting to the point of going with the flow not caring.

“The one in higher in the tower sure. But Cadance doesn’t know about the one in the throne room. This was the easiest way to both give you the signal and get here undetected by guards. The patrols are more numerous inside,” Twilight explained and looked around. “Besides, the view from up there is outstanding and I wanted to stargaze a little to relax. Any trouble down here?”

“Not at all, Rallying Net did a good job with the guards and there are next to none ponies outside. We won’t be disturbed,” Trixie stated happily, to which Sunset reacted sorely, even more after spotting Canvas’ proud expression.

“At least the transition will be easier for them. They will think the epiphany came to them in a dream or they won’t question it at all.” She muttered something to herself, but Sunset couldn’t quite make it out. Something like ‘if it comes to that,’ but she wouldn’t bet on it.

“It’s time to start, Twilight,” Trixie said and walked to the spot she would be watching for intruders. Sunset marched to her spot as well, followed by Canvas. They formed an equilateral triangle with the centre of gravity in the Crystal Heart. It was currently levitating high in the air, almost touching the canopy above.

“Alright, bring it down to me, girls,” Twilight commanded and two sets of wings started beating in unison. “Careful, keep it in axis, we don’t want to set off any protective spells.” The beating became slower and as if more measured, but Sunset’s attention was drawn to much more dangerous sounds. Pony voices.

“It’s not like Twilight to drag us out here so late in the evening,” a male voice commented. “She has always been a night owl, but was restricting that only to herself.” A loud yawn followed.

Sunset’s suspicion was piqued. Twilight dragging them out here? What’s that supposed to mean?

“She probably came up with some astronomical observation or a spell and couldn’t wait till the morning to show us,” a female voice answered. They were definitely getting closer. Sunset wanted to signal the others, but Trixie and Canvas were already moving, getting into position at one pylon, leaving the other to Sunset.

“Besides, it’s not that late and we haven’t taken an evening walk in ages,” the female voice continued. Now she could even identified the speaker. Queen Cadance. So that meant that meant the male had to be Shining Armor. Sunset sent a silent prayer to all Ein Sof wishing the prince was walking on the side closer to her. She glanced over her shoulder to check on their progress. The Heart was almost at the ground level. Just a few more inches and Twilight would have a perfect position.

“You are right, sweetheart. We grew a bit too comfortable. We need some sort of excite-” The clopping of their hooves on the stones stopped abruptly. Sunset peaked around the pylon and spotted them standing just at last decorative shrubbery blocking them the view of the Heart previously. The luck was with her. “Hey! What are you doing?!”

Sunset watched them sprint forward for a second, catching the glimpse of crystalline quality Cadance’s body was assuming quickly, judging their speed and approximate time of when they would reach the chamber. They would get there about… Now! She lunged from behind the pylon in direction to the centre of the chamber with a perfect timing, landing on Shining Armor’s back and knocking him to the ground.

He turned under her with agility she wouldn’t expect from him and bucked up, sending her flying over his head, but she too was trained in acrobatic stunts and landed in a roll. Before he could get back to his hooves, Sunset was upon him again, this time slamming into his chest with her flank, jumping a little back and kicking him in the jaw. He was on the ground once more, but refused to give up, trying to stand and fight again.

Sunset wouldn’t have any of it and jumped forward again and landing on his stomach with such force she knocked his breath out. She was now lying on his chest, safely out of reach of his hindlegs and keeping his forelegs in place with hers. A sheen of sweat was forming on both their foreheads as they were trying to outpress the other, but she was slowly gaining on him as she was considerably more rested. And definitely not that rusty.

He knew he wouldn’t stand a chance much longer and resorted to the last option he had. He would break every rule of a brawl and wouldn’t be able to look himself in the eyes in the mirror for a long time, but he needed to win. He started charging his horn for a potentially deadly spell, but suddenly found his control stripped from him.

“No a chance, prince. No spells for you on my watch,” Sunset said sweetly to his ear and he squinted up, catching a cold green aura dancing around it. She was blocking his horn with her own magic, showing without a doubt who the stronger unicorn was.

“Twilight asked us not to harm anypony permanently unless we didn’t have a choice.” She hissed. She drew her blades from the sheaths with her magic, not ceasing her magical blockade, and crossed them an inch above his neck. He could feel the fiery heat rising from them. “Please, leave me no choice, Shining Armor. I beg you. You could for example try to take my blades from me just like I took your pride.” She giggled a little, exhilarated from the fight. baring her teeth and a hungry smile. “I mean, pride must be the most cherished thing for a stallion so mighty.”

He snarled up at her and through the gritted teeth spat out angrily: “Tell me who the one with less pride is. The defeated adversary, or a pony who ambushed them from behind and spitting at the hospitality they were shown?”

Sunset growled in frustration, leaned back and headbutted Shining in the muzzle, causing him to start bleeding from his nostrils and hit his head against the crystal ground. His eyes rolled back and all his straining ceased.

“That is enough, Sunset,” Canvas suddenly said just above her. Sunset was surprised by the unexpected interruption of her business and gazed at the earth pony with wild anger in her eyes. Canvas remained unphased and lifted a hoof holding a ring. Sunset noticed it looked a bit smudgy as if the crafter didn’t bother with ridding his work of imperfections at all.

“That was enough,” Canvas repeated more emphatically. “I will handle him from here.”

Sunset was reluctant to budge. She defeated Shining Armor and he was now in her power. She was perfectly capable of guarding him for the time Twilight needed to perform the spell. Canvas wouldn’t let her though. She reached into her mane and there were two rings lying on her hoof now.

“I drew several of them, you know. If you don’t give me other choice, I will force the magic suppression on you. I am an earth pony, be sure I would beat you.”

Sunset knew that well. Canvas may have looked small and fragile, but that body was harnessing a true earth pony of the highest calibre. She stepped back and allowed Canvas to do her job. In seconds, Shining Armor was tied to the ground and stripped off his magic. How she got to Sunset so quickly, remained a mystery though. Until she looked around and spotted queen Cadance being immobilized as if her hooves were part of the ground and her horn wrapped in a thick layer of ice. She apparently didn’t get a chance to put up a fight like her husband did. She remained in a pose of galloping.

“Block the entrances, Trixie,” Twilight commanded and Trixie obeyed immediately. Walls of ice rose from the ground between the pylons and grew up quickly until they reached the ceiling. The chamber was now isolated from the outside world. Nopony was getting in or out. Even the glowing crystals on the pylons were buried deep in a frozen grave, the only light being provided by the Heart itself.

Sunset shivered at how closely the chamber resembled her picture of the legend about founding of Equestria she formed as a foal. Now the fate of ponykind would be decided once more.

---

Cold. It was suddenly biting her, with furious finality. Not just on her skin and in her body from the cone of ice imposed on her horn, but mainly in her heart. Yet it was not coming from inside her, her heart still wanted to spread warmth and love. It was a crashing fist holding it in a vice grip.

“What are you doing, Twilight?” she managed to get out through the swirling confusion, despair and sadness inside. In a single term she would feel betrayed, if she could. Yet to feel that, one has to condemn the pony wronging them, and condemning means hating in a sense. Cadance was incapable of hatred.

Twilight walked to her former foalsitter and placed a hoof to her carotid, counting the pulses for a moment, making sure Cadance wasn’t in imminent danger. She then stroked her neck gently and reassuringly before stepping back.

“The Heart is the key, Cadance. Through it, I can make all crystal ponies see, understand and follow our cause. The Ein Sof taught me a spell with which I will put a piece of me into the Heart and thus into everypony in connection to it. The Crystal Empire will fulfill its duty.”

Cadance wanted to shake her head, but her body turned crystal refused to answer to her. Apart from her face she had no rule. “No, Twilight. What are you doing?!” She put utmost emphasis into her question this time and accompanied it with looking intently at the Heart, then in Shinings direction and then down to her body. She would have attempted to explain further with words, she felt it wouldn’t be necessary though.

She was right as Twilight slumped a little in tiredness and when she lifted her eyes again to look into Cadance’s, they were saying a quiet apology.

“What I have to. What we have to.” She waved her hoof to the others, who gathered behind her and were watching attentively. She effectively separated the present ponies into two groups in that gesture - the ones with her and the ones hindering her. “We have to continue in our task. The world must be made better and we can’t do that alone. We need the ponies and you made it impossible for us to gain supporters by other means. We have no other choice.”

“I explained to you that the Empire can’t go into war. It’s against its interests!” Cadance pleaded.

“What is the Empire, Cadance?” Twilight asked curiously, as if forgetting their current predicament. Cadance was left aghast at that.

“What’s that for a silly question, Twilight? Everypony knows that! Everything around you. The land!” she exclaimed in frustration.

“The land. Everything.” Twilight gazed at her reprovingly, not hiding her disappointment. “Then feel what the land and everything think about their interests. You are one with the land now after all.”

Before Cadance could ask what that was supposed to mean, she felt an overwhelming surge. Through her hooves, now firmly coalesced to the ground, strange vibrations she had never felt before began to arise. Soon her whole being was resonating with them and she was losing contact with the outer world. The last thing she noticed were Twilight eyes glowing white.

Then she felt it. The vastness she was suddenly part of. She now understood what Twilight meant by being one with the land. She sensed its presence, not quite conscious, as if dormant, yet certainly comprehending itself at some level. Every stone and particle of dust, every spring of water and the furnace deep beneath. Some were shifting constantly, others remained in place for millennia and all were one in the end. She knew of them all in that moment.

And they were enormous, making her as minuscule and insignificant as a drop in the ocean. Mind couldn’t cover the size and age of it all. She couldn’t concentrate on anything in particular, but sensed it all. What she didn’t sense was any care from the land.

It existed on its own, with no direction and no needs. It was here before ponies and would remain whatever happened to them. For apart from it, there was nothing and something never turns to nothing. It was created to host ponies, but nothing else. When ponies were born, they took part of it with them, but as they were dying, everything returned. They had no importance to it. The land felt her the same way she felt it, but it didn’t care about her. She was just another stone to it and it didn’t care about the stones either.

Cadance emerged from her trance as if resurfacing from deep water. She was still paralyzed, but the vibrations disappeared. Twilight was standing in front of her with her hoof again on her neck and with expectation and concern painted over her face.

“What is the interest of the land, Cadance?”

“What was that?” Cadance asked shakily, still recovering from the stressing experience.

“I allowed you to know the truth. Light can show us many things. What is the interest of the land, Cadance?”

“It has no interest. It just exists, not caring.” She realized that Twilight wouldn’t give any more answers and that the conversation was not in her hooves.

“Then whose interest are you protecting? What is the Empire?”

“The ponies,” Canvas said quietly as she saw the Crystal Heart in front of her and felt her subjects. They cared. “But that’s just sophism, Twilight! You knew what I meant all along and it’s not in their interest either.”

Twilight sat down few steps in front of her and levitated the Crystal Heart to her hooves, catching it gently. “It used to be sophism, Cadance, but the fact you answered incorrectly the first time beats that notion. I asked you because I knew the answer while you didn’t. You had to learn whose queen you are. Because the Empire in the sense of a political state is inseparable from its inhabitants. In fact, they come first and their needs as well.”

“They need to live, not to die in war,” Cadance stated defiantly, getting tired of being lectured and kept captive. “You want to drive them to death.”

“You are mistaken. What they need is a peaceful life free of fear. That’s impossible in this world.” Twilight ran her hoof around the edges of the Heart, taking in every facet glistening in the reflected light and glowing with its own. “There is too much sin and malice. We aim to change that.”

“By killing those you deem evil you will not make the world better.”

“But it will surely provide a good starting position for that goal. Think, Cadance. When ponies see that evil gets punished and good rewarded, they will at least contemplate their actions. If we show them how to get along with others better, they will at least try.” She pressed the Heart against her chest and polished it with her fur. “You know that Celestia is a threat the Empire will never get rid of. One day she will cross every remaining line.”

Cadance had to admit that. The letter she received about Sunset Shimmer was an outright accusation, not a request for assistance. Celestia met with no opposition for a thousand years and knew of only one way to deal with that. It would be foolish to allow her to strike and not perform any steps in preparation. Still, preventive offensive still counted as aggression.

“She hasn’t done anything to us yet.”

“She did fling the Empire into a thousand years of oblivion instead of leaving the Ein Sof problems to Ein Sof. They would deal with their fallen one and the Empire would prevail, maybe prevent the fall of Luna. You may be willing to give her chance after chance, but I refuse.”

“Sombra…?” Cadance asked incredulously. It made no sense to her and it fairly seemed Twilight was making things up. Still…

“How would a mere unicorn master the power to enslave the whole country? He lived here. Have you never noticed the strange statues with ribbons instead of wings? They depict Ein Sof. He saw the corruption, but fell to it himself.”

“But the crystal ponies managed to defeat him. If he stood above them, they would fail!” Cadance tried to reason.

“They didn’t. I was at the top of the spire with Ein Sof and with the power she lent me I brought Sombra’s demise. Ponies without guidance can’t achieve much. They would defeat him today, but not back then. Not with the Heart, Creator’s gift to guide them weakened.” Twilight placed the Heart on the ground and stepped to Cadance again. “They will be lead again and they will achieve great things. You know that.”

Cadance was losing her ground quickly. Twilight knew much and it seemed clear what was expected. Yet she couldn’t reconcile with the thought of war. “May ponies will die, Twilight. They will suffer and you want to prevent suffering.”

“At first, yes.” Twilight carried the Heart back to the centre of the room and set to level to her eyes, the others making a circle around her. “But they will get rid of uncertainty. They will know what follows after death and that there is nothing to fear as they will meet their loved ones again.”

“You will not budge, will you? You will hurl the ponies forward without care and without them having choice,” Cadance asked with resignation apparent in her voice.

“That is not true. You have a choice now. If you help us, we won’t have to force them at all. Those who wish to fight, will be allowed to. The rest will help otherwise. That’s what I am asking of you the whole time.” She returned to Cadance’s side and hugged her tightly, getting her muzzle just next to Cadance’s ear. “I don’t want to lose you. Don’t make me lose you, don’t make me lose a pony dear to me from my own will for the first time. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will.”

Cadance felt her sadness and deep wish for approval and acceptance. She was originally the princess of love after all. Deep inside she knew all along that she sympathized with Twilight’s cause and Twilight knew it, too.

“If I choose to work with you, do you promise not to touch the Crystal Heart again?”

“I do,”

“And do you promise that none of you will force my subjects to fight against their will?”

“I do, Cadance.” Twilight nodded fervently. The rest of the girls got closer, sensing something their presence around the Heart would no longer serve anything.

“You proved you would go to great length to achieve your goal.” Cadance was addressing merely Twilight, but to an extent it held true for the others as well. They performed a coup after all. “But all you did so far was securing the resources and speaking of your superiors. I want proofs.”

“What kind of proofs? Not everything will amount,” Lightning Dusk asked, ever attentive to the right measure.

“I want to meet the Ein Sof. At least one of them.”

“Naturally you will. I would be very surprised if they didn’t contact you now soon anyway,” Trixie assured and got confirmation from the rest of the girls.

“And secondly, I want you to prove to me you know how to handle power and that your intentions are firm. Before you aim your attention to Equestria, you must cleanse the world of changelings. Show me that your words about justice and good are not just empty promises and that you won’t back off!” A dangerous flame burned in her eyes as she was talking. While she could not feel hatred, changelings were close to making her to. That poison of the world had to be dealt with first.

“Not all changelings are evil,” Canvas cried out disturbed, having her experience with changeling Santorum. “You can’t just damn a race!”

Trixie placed a hoof on her shoulder and having gained Canvas’ attention shook her head no, mouthing: “We will figure it out.”

“That is acceptable,” Twilight stated, her own, in her case actual, hatred for changelings making her agree without doubt.

“In that case I, Mi Amore Cadenza, the queen of Crystal Empire, declare that the ponies and their Empire identify themselves with your cause. You have my full support as long as the conditions are fulfilled.” The Crystal Heart flashed at those words brighter and Cadance’s eyes reflected that shine fully.

At that moment Canvas ordered the ground to release Cadance. The alicorn promptly collapsed to the ground as her muscles were tired from the unnatural position she was locked in. Twilight cradled her and started examining her body for any harm, but Cadance quickly recovered and galloped to Shining who was still lying there unconscious. His bounds were removed quickly as well, Sunset watching it with a slightly ashamed expression.

“How can we know she will keep her word?” Ditzy suddenly asked, drawing them back to reality. “She can just go and order her guards to banish us.”

“She can’t,” Twilight said calmly. “The Crystal Heart is connected to her. Her word is binding. Besides, I can perform the spell from afar now. I touched the Heart and made it know me.”

Cadance looked up from Shining. “That won’t be necessary, Twilight. I keep my word,” she said a mildly scolding tone.

“I know. I just have to be sure.” She joined Cadance at Shining’s side and helped her lift him up. “Let’s get him to the infirmary. Cancel the blockade, Trixie.”

Comments

[BronyPonyMan]

i'm liking this new twilight less and less. preaching for a way of life is one thing, but forcing an entire race to follow it is no better than the very ponies she wishes to cleanse from the world. all in the name of a Creator that they have no proof of.

[TheMyth]

5459200
Hence the title of the story

[BronyPonyMan]

5459285 good point. i'm just waiting for the other foot to drop. it already did for celestia, so that just leaves twilight.

[TheStratovarian]

Interesting. More and more as I read, this just feels the whole getup of a trap. A very well crafted one, but a trap.

[Worgen1607]

Jesus Christ! There needs to be a TVTropes article about this fic because Twilight and her friends definitely fit the tropes of Well-Intentioned Extremist, Principles Zealot, and Utopia Justifies the Means. Keep up the great work because things are really getting interesting now.

[Mad Maudlin]

Well, thats a load of hypocrisy.

So far we have...
Team Evil, starring the Ein Sof, all of the new Mane Six, and most of the Canterlot nobility.
Team Stupid, starring Celestia and Cadence.
and
Team Good starring.. Maybe Luna? She seems to be doing the right thing in general. Possibly Tartarus, given how Elysium is going about things. Team Good may be out for lunch on this one.

We're running out of sympathetic characters.

[Crystal Static]

I love this fic. And I like how Twilight is becoming a Well-Intentioned Extremist.

~Crystalline Electrostatic~

[ZhaoZoharEX]

5459591 If you have the means/knowledge or know people that have the means/knowledge to make a page, I'd love for this to get one.

[Worgen1607]

5461613 You hear that people? Make a TVtropes article for this! This fic is more than worthy of being featured in that site.

[Jirodyne]

5459200 Indeed. I am really starting to not like this story. It had an interesting idea, thinks were getting interesting. But now the so called 'good guys' and the 'holy rulers of creation that are good' Are willing to do unspeakable evil, to cleanse evil. I am sorry, but that is just fucked up, and there is NO arguement that can be made that this:

“Back when Brother Aurora got on his path of destruction and became King Sombra, he manipulated the Crystal Heart to bend the will of crystal ponies to his own.”

“How can you even think about such a thing?” Canvas exclaimed in disbelief. “You are talking about enslaving an entire nation!”

Mainly that last part, would ever even come to the mind of the 'angels'. Especually since, usually 1 big thing about all good guys, angels, creators, and so on, Is that Free Will is sacred and talking about taking it a way is a very very bad thing. I am shocked an Angel didn't appear and smite Twilight on the spot after speaking that.

Twilight, by not only activelying suggesting it, but even acting on that idea, is now the worse evil on the planet. And the angels have no problems with that? And they are still the good guys? There is even a single arguement that they are good at this point? Twilight has now turned into Sombra, for the same reasons! *facehoofs* The story was shakey before, but now it's just plummeting down.

[Corwin Freiss]

5470987 As one of the two authors of this story, I feel it necessary to explain few things.

Firstly, we never ever said that Elements, Twilight and Elysium are good. They aren't. Neither is Celestia and no one else in this story. No one is evil either. Those terms are utterly irrelevant in the story, all parties involved are moving in shades of grey.

You could argue that Elysium should be good in general, but I have to remind you this is not Christian Heaven. Unlike in Christianity, love is not one of the core virtues of Elysium. Therefore, they are not protecting good. They are keeping the order set ages ago. And as everyone doing it for too long, Ein Sof lost sight of the purpose of doing so and don't take the current circumstances in accoung. The Elements are here to protect the same order.

Secondly, you mention the problem of free will of crystal ponies. It was stated openly in the story that they were created to protect the world from disorder and to maintain that same order as Ein Sof. It is also said in the show that the state of the Empire influences the state of whole Equestria. Crystal ponies have their set purpose and now they are called to fulfill it, just like citizens of any country can be called to arms to protect the country. If they refuse, they commit crime. Is that free will? Of course not. Guess how many American soldiers would voluntarily come to Europe to fight Nazis.

Furthermore, religions in general aren't exactly fond of free will. Sure, you can decide your course of action, but there is only one correct course. If you choose anything else, you get damned forever and suffer in Hell. Does that leave any real free will to the believer? It doesn't in my opinion.

Ein Sof are preparing sort of Doomsday - the last judgement - with the only exception that there will be survivors. Everypony can voluntarily choose to be on their good side. If they don't, they get destroyed. In that we follow Bible.

Thirdly, about the goal of this story. We are not writing about how Equestria became a wonderful joyous land free of malice thanks to a rightenous actions of the Elements. We are describing how masses were swayed and a religious war was waged. There was nothing rightenous on medieval crusades either. Wars mean crimes in general. We are also trying to show that neither party is without guilt and that the problem is never black and white.

To sum it up, you expected the story to be something else than we intend to create. Now it is up to you to decide whether you want to see where this goes or not. There won't be any saints though.

PS: Crystal ponies have no free will at all. Their activity is dictated by Crystal Heart. When it was gone, they were depressed and completely incapable of action. When it returned, their activity was restored. It looks similar to a shem for golems. Golems don't have free will either. It is like operation system for them.

[Jirodyne]

5471132 The rest of this I can... Deal with and continue reading. However:

Firstly, we never ever said that Elements, Twilight and Elysium are good. They aren't. Neither is Celestia and no one else in this story. No one is evil either. Those terms are utterly irrelevant in the story, all parties involved are moving in shades of grey.

This is false in my opinion. Grey is a very shady area, yes. But forcing your will over another, even so called 'golems' is still evil. While they have no motivation, no drive. But they still have freewill to choose what to do. What Twilight is doing, will not give them a choice from how it is described. The Crystal Ponies aren't mindless robot that just shutdown till someone gives them a command.

Using your example, of fighters going to fight the nazi and being drafted. Americas did have a CHOICE. They COULD choice no. Would be very stupid, but they could. But from how it is described, especially with 'taking aay freewill' The Crystal Ponies won't get a choice, they don't get the chance to say no and not fight. From the sounds of it, When the call happens, they will be forced to act, no choice in the matter. That, to me, isn't grey. No matter the reason.

[Worgen1607]

5471132 So it is expected that an all-out religious war is going to break out? And there's also the issue of the Equestria refugees living within the Crystal Empire, because now that Twilight and her fellow zealots have staged a successful coup against Princess Cadence, I'm sure as hell that most of said refugees won't agree to the changes in management; especially to a small group of religious fanatics.

[Corwin Freiss]

5472887

“The coronation. The Heart accepted her. They are the same, Twilight. You hurt one and the other suffers. You are going to hurt Cadance and change her into somepony she is not. If she even survives…”
“Creator help me, that mustn’t be…” Twilight muttered and joined Spike in his weeping.

- Twilight was not convinced of the move. She planned from the start to avoid it. Do you think she would bother trying to convince Cadance?

Americas did have a CHOICE. They COULD choice no.

Unless both choices will proceed without repercussions, the choice can't be seen as free. They would face immediate harsh consequences, so they were not free to choose (unless you follow Sartre who said that we can always choose death).

In your opinion, free will is the most sacred property we have and it mustn't be limited at any circumstances. In my opinion (and in opinion of Ein Sof and of most of the gods mankind ever created), the creator has absolute right to order his creation what to do and when such creation refuses, to destroy it. This is purely a matter of belief and so can't be discussed with rational arguments (as you alone said in your first comment)

Feel free to consider Elements and Ein Sof evil. That's to be expected with many grey characters because they are willing to act against the morality of society. I must ask though what consequence has being evil for them? They have power, they hae army, they are authorized by supervisors of the world (who also perform the judging after death). Their evil is a cosmetic probelm really.

5474923 A war based on religious (slash filosophical) ground for sure, but I don't want to spoiler too much. As for the refugees, most of them sees Twilight as a very positive figure (she became somewhat a martyr during her absence for them). Plus Cadance stays officially in full charge.

[Worgen1607]

5475040 I just love how this fic keeps me in suspense. You and ZhaoZoharEX have a real talent for such detailed work like this. I'll be sure to keep up with this fic.

[wille179]

You know, I just can't shake the feeling that the angels aren't quite as good as they would have us believe.

[Corwin Freiss]

5475078 We are glad you enjoy the fic. After all, it's the readers who make our work worthwhile and any encouragement helps us

[ZhaoZoharEX]

5476862 Warning: wall of text incoming.

It depends on where you look. The lower ranks in the Third Sphere (Angels, Archangels, and Principalities/Rulers) interact with the mortals and departed most often, so they have the most conscience of the ranks on an individual level. They are the ones who see first hand the result of evil and sin, especially the Principality who reward paradise to those who earned it, or bring hell to those who deserve it. Brother Empathy, who belongs to the Angel rank, shows genuine concern for the lives of the mortals and his namesake comes from his ability to see that perspective.

Those in the middle ranks in the Second Sphere (Powers/Authorities, Virtues/Strongholds, and Dominions/Lordships) who manage Tartarus are constantly surrounded by the hateful sinners. Those of these ranks tend to be more cynical and are not as interactive with mortals and especially the departed. Scintillant is of the Powers rank and you see how calculative she acts; her actions are questionable, but we can assume she is acting because she is tired of seeing the sinful and wishes to work towards a goal she wants to see, regardless of how unlikely it is and how much she will ruin her reputation.

Those at the top in the First Sphere (Ophanium, Cherubim, and Seraphim) rarely interact with the mortals and to a lesser extent the departed. As a result, they are more bureaucratic and tend to only see the big picture of things. For the Seraphim specifically, it's not really their fault they don't interact with the mortals; think of Brother Aurora and you will understand why.

Finally we have the Sanctorum who are unable to physically leave Elysium. Their domain is exclusively Elysium. They may still care for the concerns of the mortals, but their job is mostly to keep the integrity of the three realms. Though they are powerful Ein Sof, they can only do so much at a time. This is the whole reason the Sphere Ranking system exists in the first place. On a side note, when you don't interact with the mortals directly for a long time, you tend to get a bit disillusioned, especially when your job is mostly to see them in numbers, not individuals. This applies most to Dogma, who is the de facto leader of Elysium; her first interaction with Twilight and crew is the first time in a very long time that she interacted with mortals at all and you saw her irritation was more focused on Scintillant and her breaking conduct. She did warm up to the group, but not before understandably treating them like trespassers on that first day.

One way to think of this is looking at it like you would a business. Since I work in retail, I'm going to use that as an example. The Third Sphere are like associates that work on the floor and interact with customers most. The Second Sphere are more like employees who don't interact with them as much, like perhaps security or management. The First Sphere would then be those who work in the headquarters in desk jobs and the Sanctorum would be the corporate heads who make all final decisions for the corporation as a whole.

Bottom line, the Ein Sof are less about "good" or "peace" and more about "order" and "integrity". Sometimes you have to take extreme measures to do the right thing and sometimes it doesn't work out as planned. As stated in Corwin's earlier comment, there is really no White or Black perspective in the story, only shades of gray. The Ein Sof are generally try to stay on the lighter shades, but no lifeform in history has ever been completely white.

[Solemn Vigil]

More and more, I want to see the Templars angels and their elements of hypocrisy get really bad things to happen to them. I'm really hoping Twilight and her sycophantic lackeys get the worst ending possible.

[Okamiluver]

So I just downloaded this story and I have to say that I really like this story. I have never been a fan of Celestia and I have viewed her as a hero that live to turn into the villain for quite some time. I don't want to muddle the this story with my opinion, but bravo I'm just waiting for Twilight to pull a 'SPAWN' and evict their "GOD"and establish a combination of Virtues/Elements of Harmony and maybe call them the Virtues of Harmony... that's my 2 cents.

Other than that i only really notices a few spelling errors but that didn't detract from the story.

[ZhaoZoharEX]

5511228 I'm glad you are enjoying it. I can understand that some of the contents and ideas that happen in the story (including some to come) will not be for everyone, but we are working hard to make it of high quality.

My opinion on Celestia is more positive than how she is presented in this story. I personally do not mind her character in canon, despite some of her more questionable traits. I would really like for there to be one episode that gives her limelight, but whether or not that happens will depend on the writers of the show.

That said, I don't want to say she is really evil per se, but there are flaws in her character here that take their toll. She's old and when you're in a position that requires constant work, you try to see if you can find ways to make things easier. If you're like me though, you either don't think things through enough or you overthink them to the point where you lose perspective on the issue in the first place, both of which leads to problems and consequences that could have been avoided. That is pretty much the flaw that began this whole story in the first place (in-universe I mean) with how she did not think through the wedding details of her niece, mostly in security and in trusting her student (although I have a counter-argument for this one that, while it still doesn't justify the outcome, makes her situation slightly more understandable).

By the time she realizes this fatal flaw, the damage is already done and she is left to try and make compromises for many things. Yet, she still has this flaw going on, though that's not to say she isn't learning. This is most notable with the dominions revival (which by the way, she will step up and put them in their place in a couple chapters). In this case though, it was less of a missed detail and more of an option she could not get around because the nobility was taking advantage of her when she was at her weakest. The events in the four year gap between her argument with Twilight and the current point in the story have jaded her considerably, especially important considering this is the first time in a long time she's had to deal with a crisis of this magnitude, partially caused by her own action (and partially caused by Twilight's retaliations of said actions, a fact that our purple smart is aware and not proud of).

Overall, this story does not shy away from putting her into the "designated villain" slot; again, she is not evil, but she is the major obstacle between Twilight's group and their goal. I'd rather not see her completely demonized, but she's far from perfect. Hopefully, it comes off in a more realistic manner.

"Most of us are primarily gray: we exist in various shades of morality. Sure, there are mindless or absolute monsters out there, but no living life form in existence has ever been completely white."

Sorry for the wall of text, I got very talkative there.

[Theresa]

5511327
And unfortunately being treated so special for so long has gone to her head a little because she can't admit to anyone that she can mess up and ask for help fixing her mistakes.

[Theresa]

5471132
When comes to soldiers if people believe they are fighting for what is right they will be willing to risk it all. Personally I wonder why we keep the draft around when we don't even use it anymore and plus soldiers volunteer for duty so what would be the point of forcing them to fight.