The Cost of Utopia

by Dr Freedom MLP

Chapter 8

“Master, go on, and I will follow thee
To the last gasp with truth and loyalty.”
― William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Chapter 8
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Freedom stood in shock at the shattered window as Celestia fell into the royal Canterlot voice she hadn’t used in decades. Once he saw Luna teleport away with the gray pegasus he knew his day had just gotten much worse.
“AHH!” Celestia shouted she turned and with a burst of magic from her horn disintegrated Butch on the spot. Still the pegasus just stood there taking it all in.

“DOM! GO FIND OUT WHERE THEY WENT! I WILL GATHER THE GUARD AND WE SHALL GO BRING LUNA BACK!” The white maned pegasus stood still for a moment before realizing the words were directed at him. He then turned and went down the stair to crusher as Celestia stormed out of the room. He moved over to the stopped conveyor belt and took a scan. Ponyvile, of course. The element holders lived there, Luna wasn’t dumb she knew what she had done was very bad and knew that a war might have just started. Whoever held the elements and their holders would win. Right now the sides would be even; with Luna possible having the holders while the elements themselves were locked in the castle.

Freedom moved back up the stairs starting to think more and more. Why had Luna rescued that specific pony anyhow? She was an ex-military vet who had incurred a disorder and run away. Did the princess of the night known her from somewhere before? Then again did it really matter? She had been a high ranking officer and given that information Luna had gained a distinct advantage. She didn’t like what they were doing in secret that much had been made clear. We are just trying to help the majority he told himself, but somewhere in the back of his mind a little voice said What you are doing is wrong. He shook off the thought and teleported to the castle ready to report to Celestia.

As expected everypony was running around like crazy, either trying to stay out of the way or trying to organize the guard. The sun princess was standing in the middle of the chaos bellowing orders. The organized princess looked so out of place amidst the chaos, being so angry. He had never truly seen the princess angry before and although the fact this had her so upset frightened him but he approached nevertheless, ready to complete his given task.

“DOM WHAT NEWS DO YOU BRING REGARDING THE CONVICT?” Convict, her own sister.

“She has-” He started

“I CANNOT HEAR YOU ALL OVER THIS COMMOTION FOLLOW ME!” She turned and went up the staircase to the situation room. As he entered he remembered that it hadn’t been used in years, the faded upholstery on the chairs and dust on the table showed that. As soon as the door shut Celestia locked it then blew apart a chair with magic before slumping down in a corner.

“I hate ponies seeing me like this.” She sighed almost sadly. “Just give me a moment.” Everything in the room was quiet for a moment. The muffled insanity just outside the doors pounded on both their heads until a deep breath broke the tension.

“Where is she headed?”

“Ponyvile.” Silence again.

“So it’s just as I expected, she’s against us now?”

“We can only assume so.” another sigh.

“What do you think she’s doing there?”

“You already know.”

“Humor me.” This time Freedom sighed.

“Well she knows what she did has angered you and I think she thinks you will be coming after her, as we are. She, most likely, is going to gather the element holders and regroup in the Everfree forest.”

“So we are on the same page, good. I’ve already deployed the first set of troops.” She paused. “It’s been so long since I used that word, no since the Great War when we conquered all of Equestria.”

“Mhm, you were saying.”

“Ah yes, well they will arrive there and hopeful stop Luna though I’m not counting on it she’s not dumb. All this time we’ve been able to control the population, keeping them out of trouble and stopping any wars from even being thought of but the only thing we didn’t think of has ruined it. I am almost certain war has just begun, and I’m not sure we can win.”

“I’m fairly certain we can-”

“You do not understand the power of the information she and that commander now hold. All of our war tactics as well as all our operations have now been divulged. We have NOTHING on them. That information will scare a lot of ponies away from us and she will be there with open hooves ready to take them in. I do not wish for Equestria to turn into what is going on behind those doors right now!” She said pointing a hoof towards the outside “Chaos is all that is and unlike Discord I would like to keep things orderly and not amuck. The Great War was a deadly war but we won. I was certain we could win when we started; I am not so foolish as to start this nation on something it cannot finish. Unfortunately we had two leaders then, Luan was still with us. We are not that lucky this time around.” There was a knock on the door. “You will tell no one about this. We must keep them certain that she has no chance of winning.”

“Of course.” Another knock.

“Yes?” The door opened a crack letting in air from the outside, thick with insanity and fear. Yelling filled and echoed about the room that moment ago had been a haven in the center of chaos, but had now succumb and been filled with it.

“A pony to see you my highness.” Said the secretary. The alicorn thought for a moment, deciding whether a visitor was a good idea or not.

“Send them in.” The door opened to reveal a young cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane.

“Rainbow Dash.” Celestia whispered while slowly closing her eyes. “I didn’t quite expect to see you.”

A huge grin spread over her face. “Hey I AM the element of loyalty after all.”

Comments

[silver smolder]

oh no not dash anypony but dash