• Published 11th Jan 2014
  • 1,804 Views, 95 Comments

Pony Fortress 2: A Worthy Cause - The Usurper



The interviews have drawn to a close. The Administrator has bought some breathing room for himself, but not much. A new threat, one that promises to definitively end the stalemate between RED and BLU, watches patiently and waits for an opportunity to

  • ...
7
 95
 1,804

Alicoronation Part I

The dawn came in little slivers of gold and orange, weaving a glorious tapestry in the cloudless sky. A fitting tribute to the passing of the sun's old warden, but hardly worthy of her.

From the window of her bunk, Twilight admired the beautiful sky with a tear in her eye. She had to admit that the Administrator had done a good job with it. But then again, 'good' always did pale in comparison to her beloved mentor.

As if sensing her thoughts, the whole sky went dark, save for the sole image of the sun. The celestial body began to squeeze and warp and shift, shrinking, then growing, then elongating, as if it were a rubber ball in the hooves of a three-year-old.

It stopped abruptly. With what sounded like the click of a light switch, it winked out of existence. Twilight gasped, clapping her hooves to her mouth in horror.

Then it reappeared. But this time, it was no longer the sun she knew. It was a cutie mark. A very, very familiar one.

The image of Princess Celestia's flank swirled into focus in Twilight's mind. "A perfect match," she murmured. "Administrator, I think I just might love you."

She stayed there for a little while longer, gazing wistfully through the windows of time. For just a few fleeting moments, she was a little foal again, scampering around Celestia's hooves with an insatiable spark of curiosity in her eyes...

Eventually, she tore her gaze away from the sun with reluctance. She didn't want to leave, but she had to anyway, even if only to honour the Princess' legacy.

She had been told to dress well. She figured her Sniper's vest was good enough. Her mentor wouldn't have had it any other way.


An animal, but also not. More than she seemed, but yet less. Exactly who everypony thought she was, and at the same time not quite.

At the moment, she was stuck in the dusty town just outside the shop near the Administrator's base, perched comfortably on the back of his best strategist. She was a vulture. Her name was Faye.

The situation seemed almost unreal. Her companion had managed to obliterate a force grossly outnumbering his own and eliminate or capture the entire changeling military leadership, all in a single day, with a plan so ridiculously complex and based on so many 'if's that she scarcely thought it possible.

And yet it had worked. He was a smart one. But he was still stupid enough to let her - her! - hang around him as a friend.

She tightened her clawed grip on Ician's cloaked back. Friends are always the ones who get you in the end.

Ician nudged her gently. "Hey. Claws off, Faye. It almost hurts."

She relaxed her grip. "Sorry,"

"It's alright. Just don't do it again." Ician squinted at the cutie mark in the sky. "The Princess is a bit late, don't you think?"

"You did tell her to dress up." Faye reminded him.

"Still, that shouldn't keep her for this long." He mused.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the door to the Administrator's base swing open with a soft creak. A figure, illuminated brightly under the glare of the neon sign, stepped through the opening and strode towards them.

"... It seems that it did." She cocked her head to the side. "And yet perhaps not."

"You have got to stop being so enigmatic. I mean, I enjoy it on occasion too, but..." Ician turned his attention to the door. "... Now I see what you mean."

"Not what you meant by 'dress well', is it?"

"No. No, it isn't." Ician frowned. "It isn't at all." He strode forward quickly, a hint of aggressiveness in his posture.

Twilight noticed him before he had a chance to speak. "Ician."

"Princess." He bowed slightly. "May I ask why you are not in proper attire?"

"This is proper attire." She replied simply.

"Not for a royal event, Princess, and you know it." Ician answered, a calm but firm inflection to his voice. "I told you that this will be your official coronation as the monarch of the Solar Empire. Surely you realise that your sniper's vest is not suitably formal for such a function."

"I'm not going to waste my time dressing up as somepony I'm not." Twilight snapped. "This is who I am. Sniper for the Royal Equestrian Division, under the command of the Princess of the Empire."

"You are the Princess of the Empire now." Ician countered.

"But I am still the Sniper." She retorted. "And I don't intend for anypony to forget it."

Ician fell silent. For a few moments, his gaze was levelled at Twilight's face, though he didn't seem to be looking at her so much as through her. Faye noted his minute movements - the slight incline of his head, the subtle twitching of his armoured forehoof, the nearly imperceptible shiver running through his back...

"... Very well." He said at last. "If you have fixed your mind on this course of action, I can do nothing to dissuade you. But be warned that there are consequences for every action."

"I know." Twilight walked past him, towards the line of wooden buildings. "No matter what I do, there will be consequences. There always have been." She whipped her head around, staring Ician in the eye. "I thought you, of all ponies, would know."

He tilted his head to one side, taken aback. "Princess...?"

Faye looked between the two. Well... this is getting interesting.

Twilight averted her gaze. Softly, she muttered, "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

Ician scowled. "There's something you're hiding from me." He said sternly. "What is it?"

"... Nothing." She mumbled.

"I see." Ician advanced towards her, slowing his pace as he reached her side. He beckoned towards her. "Come, we'll talk while we walk. The pegasus carriage is some ways away yet."

"Why isn't it here?" Twilight asked, falling into step beside him and putting Faye out of her range of vision. Good.

"The Administrator felt that he didn't want to drop his anti-flight spell just yet." He said. "For once, I actually agree with him."

"What's his reason?"

"While we're away, Princess, he'll be conducting negotiations for Protea's ransom to Queen Chrysalis." Ician explained. The tiniest little bit of excitement appeared in his stride.

"Oh." Twilight paused. "How much is she worth?"

"No idea, really." Ician admitted. "The Administrator will be gauging it off of Chrysalis' reactions. But we're gunning for as much as possible."

"Why don't we just keep her prisoner?" Twilight suggested. "That'll leave the changelings without a commander."

"Not for long." Ician explained. Faye felt his posture shifting slightly, straightening itself out. Ah. Time for a test.

"What do you mean?"

"Surely, Princess," he said suavely, "you can figure it out."

"She..." Twilight turned to him, then Faye, a deep frown of contemplation on her face. "She'll be... replaced?"

"Correct." Ician nodded.

"But they'll be leaderless in the meantime, won't they?"

"Princess." Ician said curtly. "A strategist must always predict what an enemy is going to do. The best way to do that is to put yourself in their shoes. What would you do if your army was leaderless?"

"I would... choose a new leader?"

"Indeed." He nodded. "And what kind of leader will you pick?"

"Um..." She hesitated. "... somepony who's good at strategy?"

"Yes." Even though Faye couldn't see his face from this angle, she could almost feel his grin. "But beyond that? Do you have any preferences for strategic choices? Should the leader be aggressive or defensive? Preferring force of numbers to trickery, or vice versa? Cautious or immediately opportunistic?"

"I... don't know." She rolled her eyes. "How could you expect me to come up with an answer on the spot? Can't I just go with whoever is the smartest?"

"Intelligence is subjective, Princess." Ician said. "But that's not the point, see. If even you don't know what you want, how are we supposed to know what Chrysalis wants? We wouldn't know what kind of enemy we would be facing."

Twilight frowned. "But it's not like we know that even if we release Protea."

"Ah, but we won't need to know what she wants." He answered smugly. "We already know what she has. That being Protea, of course."

Twilight blinked. "Do we already know so much about Protea's fighting style?"

"Well... I do, at any rate. I'll share it with you another time, Princess." He dropped the smile from his face. "The more we know about their commander, the easier the complete obliteration of the enemy will be."

"Complete... obliteration?" Faye could hear the horror in Twilight's voice. "Isn't that too harsh?"

"It's them or us, Princess." Ician said, in a matter-of-fact tone. "They're fighting for survival. So are we. Neither of us are going to back down until the very end."

"But there has to be another way." She insisted.

The corners of Faye's mouth curved slightly upwards. Her eyes left Twilight and shifted over to Ician. A few moments of silence passed, with the former waiting for a response and the latter unwilling to give it.

"Nopony but you would approve, Princess." He said at last.

"Huh?" In the interim period of quiet, Twilight had evidently fallen into her own thoughts. Ician speaking served to snap her out of it. "What do you mean?"

"The changelings are responsible for the deaths of both Princess Celestia and Luna, amongst many others, as well as the sacking of Canterlot." Ician shook his head sadly. "The world doesn't forgive and forget. As a leader, it is your duty to represent the will of the ponies."

"I won't." Twilight declared. "Not if it means killing thousands of changelings who are only trying to survive."

For a brief moment, the half of Ician's mouth that Faye could see from her vantage point trembled in a barely suppressed smile. "Is that so?"

"Yes." She stated.

"You would go against the will of the public?"

"This isn't the New Lunar Republic, you know." Twilight retorted. "Whether or not they want me to do the right thing, I'm going to do it. They can't vote me out of office. How are they going to force me to—"

"Coup d'état." Ician murmured.

"... Oh." Twilight stared down at her hooves. "Would... would they really do that?"

"I can't give a guarantee, but I don't like the odds."

"Too high?" She asked glumly.

"No. I don't know what they are." Ician replied. "And to me, that's a lot more frightening."

Twilight pursed her lips, but said nothing more. They walked in silence. Faye looked between the two of them, thankful that neither were watching her. They'd probably notice the wide grin on her face.

Finally.


It was at the end of the outermost copy of the town the Administrator had made that Twilight got the impression that the journey was nearly over at last.

Ician confirmed her suspicions. "We're almost there, Princess."

Twilight nodded. She didn't particularly feel like saying anything.

"You should know, however," Ician continued, undeterred, "that the pegasus carriage isn't being drawn by Imperial pegasi."

"Oh?" She asked absently. Just ahead was the covered carriage Ician was talking about, draped in the royal yellow and white of the Solar Empire. It reminded her a little of Trixie's trailer. That made her feel better.

It didn't have any pegasi hitched up to it, though. That was strange. Maybe they're off for a break.

"Yes, as a gesture of new friendship between the Empire and the Republic, Lunar pegasi will be drawing the Solar carriage, and vice-versa. It was suggested by Princess Cadance."

"That's good." Twilight said. "I mean, she trusts me, right?"

"Well... to an extent." Ician conceded. "But yes, this is a good start for international relations. I'm quite optimistic about today's post-coronation negotiations." He eyed the carriage. "Speaking of which, we can leave as soon as our carriage-puller gets here. I wonder where they—"

"ICIAN!" came a holler to their right.

Ician's ears twitched. "Oh dear."

Well, I wonder who that could be. Twilight turned. Marching towards her group with an angry glint in her eyes and steam practically billowing out of her ears was a fully armoured lunar guardsmare. Not just any lunar guardsmare, though; Twilight recognised the bat wings and sharp fangs from her early lessons in the Royal Equestrian Division. Luna's elite.

The guardsmare levelled an accusatory hoof at Ician. "What are you doing, commander? Did you defect? Why are you with... her?"

Ician stepped towards her, lifting his own hoof to gently nudge hers away. "Midnight, this isn't what you think."

"Fine." She stared him down defiantly. "Tell me, then. What's going on?"

"You two know each other?" Twilight asked. She regretted it immediately afterwards, when the guardsmare shot her a glance so acidic that it could dissolve a hole through solid metal.

"Yes." Ician answered. "Recall when I mentioned that I had spent some time in the Republic. She is a relic of that time."

"A relic?" She snarled. "Is that how long ago it was to you?"

"I've moved on, Midnight." He waved an armoured hoof in the air. "As will both the Empire and the Republic, by the end of today. We fight as one against the new threat."

"That's no excuse for siding with them before the end of today." The guardsmare snapped, taking a menacing step towards him.

Ician took one backwards in turn. "I did not. I am not working for her."

The guardsmare blinked. "You're not?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You're not?"

"No I'm not, Princess." He chided. He didn't look at her, but his vulture did all the looking for him, with a little bit of circumstantial mirth injected into its gaze. "You forget. At the moment, I am the Administrator's strategist. And he's recommending me for the post of Supreme Commander of the United Equestrian Army, as soon as it's formed. I don't have any strict relation to the Empire."

"But you've been advising me since we met." Twilight pointed out.

"Not in any official capacity. Besides, I've been working towards peace." He smiled at the guardsmare. "Which is also in the interests of the New Lunar Republic. That's the job description." He leaned in, pushing her chin up so she was staring directly at him. "It's not to harm the Empire. It's to help the Republic. And I've done it."

He pulled his hoof away, pivoting on the spot and striding towards the carriage. "Not that any of it matters right now. Your sole mission, Midnight, is to get us to the rendezvous location. And I don't recall disobeying orders to be part of your training."

The guardsmare fumed. "... Yes, sir," she ground out through gritted teeth.

Twilight glanced at Ician. Well... I don't quite know what to think. She headed to the guardsmare.

"What do you want?" The latter asked, in a voice dripping with hostility.

Twilight forced a smile. "Look, I know we didn't get off to a great start, but maybe we can start over."

The guardsmare just grunted.

The forced smile remained, but Twilight had to expend twice as much effort to keep it that way. She extended a hoof with what she hoped came off as pleasantness. "My name's Twilight Sparkle. What's yours?"

"... Just get into the carriage." She muttered. Without another word, she stalked off to hook herself up.

Twilight blinked. She sighed, shaking her head, as she finally let the emotionally-draining smile drop. She made her way over to the carriage doors.

Ician was already there. He pulled the door open for her and bowed. "After you, Princess."

"Thanks." She said reflexively, stepping into the carriage. It occurred to her shortly afterwards that gratitude wasn't exactly high up on the list of emotions she wanted to convey to him.

No, curiosity was at the top. She'd get around to that during the ride.

Though the outside of the carriage was considerably like Trixie's - somepony in the palace had probably taken note of her refusal to travel in any other vehicle - the inside was nothing like it. It was slightly smaller than the trailer she'd become used to, and in the place of all the old, used furniture stood a number of identical new, more advanced and more comfortable models, all draped in royal colours and arranged in a circle around the room.

It felt nothing like home. Twilight fidgeted awkwardly, trying to get used to the place as she sat down on the nearest chair. She almost fell off of it when the entire room jerked suddenly, signalling their takeoff.

Ician was relatively unaffected. Holding his position briefly as the carriage shuddered, he waited for the flight to smoothen out and then sauntered to the seat at the far end of the room. He sat down and said, "Make yourself comfortable, Princess. We'll be here for a while."

"Alright." Twilight settled slowly into her seat. It was cushioned, she noticed. Maybe not the hard wood she'd grown to love, but at least it was comfortable. "Can I ask you a few questions?"

"Certainly, Princess."

"Okay, well..." She fell silent, organising her thoughts. "How do you know that lunar guard? She called you 'commander'."

"Yes, indeed, she did." Ician replied. "I worked as a commander under Princess Luna for a time. Of course, not anymore."

"How long ago was that?" She questioned.

"Well... I forget when exactly." Ician brought a hoof to his chin in contemplation. "Why do you ask?"

"Just... curious, I guess." Twilight said. "How about a rough estimate?"

He blinked at her. Smiling sadly, he closed his eyes and answered, "A few days ago, Princess."

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" She demanded.

"Because it would only have increased your distrust of me." Ician shrugged. "Unless you're saying this knowledge didn't affect your view of me in the slightest?"

"Yeah, well, hiding it from me didn't exactly help either." Twilight pointed out.

"Ah, but it would have worked if not for sheer bad luck." He lamented, his mouth curving downwards forlornly.

"Ician, you're not supposed to be keeping things from me." Her tone wasn't as stern as it should have been, she realised.

"Princess," he said, "let me be candid here."

"It's about time." Twilight muttered.

He ignored her. "At times, there are things that it is better for a Princess not to know."

Okay, now I know that's not true. She stood up, irritated. "I'm the Princess. I'm supposed to know everything so I can make a decision. A proper decision, not one of those half-hearted ones that ends up making a disaster."

"Indeed, Princess." Ician agreed, surprisingly. It wasn't to last, of course. "You must know everything that is necessary for you to make the correct decision. But if there is something that, if known, would prevent you from making the correct decision, then is it not the duty of any loyal official to keep that knowledge from you?"

"I don't think any knowledge like that exists." Twilight challenged. "Give me an example."

"Very well." Ician tapped his chest gently. "My time in the army of the Republic."

There was a brief pause. Twilight eventually broke it with the knock of her hoof connecting with her face. "That's what I'm telling you you should have told me."

"And what I'm telling you shouldn't have been known." He said smoothly. "I can tell you now that I will do my level best for Equestria. And I can also tell you that it will be enough to win." Sitting back, he gave her a calm smile. "Do you trust me?"

"No." Her reply was obvious. And immediate.

"And why not?"

"Because... you hid stuff from me!"

"Let's pretend, for a moment, that I didn't." Ician stood up and began a slow, contemplative walk around the room. "If you knew from the beginning that I was a recently retired lunar commander, what would you think?"

"Midnight didn't seem to think you'd retired." Twilight countered.

"Yes, well. I didn't tender an official resignation, you see. It was part of a decision to make the Republic more accepting of my appointment of Supreme Commander."

"That's the other thing!" Twilight complained. "Everything you do is always part of some big plan! And you always have ulterior motives, too. How is anypony supposed to trust you?"

"Because they don't know I have an ulterior motive. Like I said, Princess, there are sometimes things it is better for certain ponies not to know."

"Better for you, or better for them?" She snapped.

"Better for Equestria." He answered promptly. "You have such little faith in me."

"You already know why." Twilight growled, fixing him with an angry stare.

"I'm sorry, but some of this is simply necessary." Ician paused, hesitating, then continued, "You'll just have to trust me."

"... I can't." She replied at last.

"What will it take?"

What I've been asking for the whole time. "The truth."

"I've already been telling you the—"

She cut him off with a wave of her hoof. "The full truth."

That shut him up. He stopped dead in his tracks, opened his mouth, then promptly closed it. His armoured forehoof raised itself into the air.

"Well?"

"... The... full... truth?" He inquired with excessive slowness.

"Yes. The full truth." She repeated, her voice tinged with impatience.

"And then you'll trust me?"

"So long as what you tell me is really the full truth." Twilight answered carefully.

Ician shook his head. "And you can immediately tell if what I say is truth? I think not."

"I'll just hear it and decide how believable it is."

As soon as she uttered the word 'believable', Ician chuckled and, finishing the round around the room he'd started, sat back down in his chair. "That's hardly a fair estimate. Truth is stranger than fiction."

Twilight bristled. "Look, if you want to have a chance at earning my trust, this is it."

"No, Princess. Not a chance," he said.

"So you'd rather me distrust you forever?" All her curiosity turned to anger. She stood up abruptly, scowling at him. "If that's the case, then..."

"You misunderstand me." Ician held up his armoured forehoof, signalling that he had not yet finished. "I mean that I don't just want a chance. I want a guarantee."

The anger draining away, Twilight lowered herself slowly back onto her seat. "A... guarantee."

"Yes. A guarantee of your trust." He leaned forward. The vulture flapped its wings briefly, hopping off his back and onto the back of the chair. "If I guarantee the truth, can you guarantee your trust?"

"Well, obviously!" She threw her hooves up in the air in frustration. "But if the truth is stranger than fiction, how am I supposed to know whether or not you're lying?"

"There's no way to tell." Ician shrugged. "Not immediately, at least. On a long-term basis, you can observe my actions and line them up with my supposed motives. But that could take a long time, Months, years, even decades, as unlikely as it sounds." He stared straight into her eyes and smiled a broad smile. "You'll just have to trust me."

Twilight sighed. "You're really difficult to work with, you know that?"

"I can only hope it becomes easier after this." He stood up sharply, treading the circumference of the circle of chairs and coming to a stop at the seat next to hers. "Let me tell you a story, Princess. A story of innocence, a story of embitterment, of love, of death, of anger, and of regret."

She raised an eyebrow. "That's a little too dramatic, don't you think?"

"Hush." Ician said sternly, but his voice was laced with mirth. "I'm about to tell you something I haven't told anypony before. It's a little harrowing. At least let me have this much."

"Fine, fine." Twilight gestured to him to continue.

"This," he went on, but this time with much more gravity to his words, "is my story."