584 - Desperate Times
“How’s Luna?”
That was a question that Princess Celestia had been asked more than a few times over the last several days. Ever since her younger sister had gone public about the curse that Lex Legis had placed on her, well-wishes and statements of support had come pouring in, often in conjunction with queries about her state of mind. With the news still spreading across Equestria as the story was reprinted in the papers of cities further from Canterlot, to say nothing of the gradual dissemination of how the Crystal Heart had failed to restore her – that particular story wasn’t something they’d put into print, but it didn’t matter; with nearly the entire population of the Crystal Empire having witnessed what happened, there was no way to keep that disturbing piece of news contained – it wasn’t a situation Celestia expected to abate for some time.
Hearing the question again now, she almost launched into her usual answer out of sheer reflex, an assurance that Luna was holding up well immediately coming to her lips, along with praise for her sister’s courage and resiliency in the face of hardship. The pony asking the question this time, however, wasn’t a rich socialite or visiting mayor, but Shining Armor, the Prince of the Crystal Empire. More than that, he was the brother of her most cherished pupil, the husband of her adopted niece, and the former Captain of her Royal Guard, making him one of the very few ponies whom Celestia thought of as family, and someone she knew she could trust with the truth.
“I’m worried about her,” she sighed, crossing the drawing room to sit on a cushion across from her guest. Settling down, she took a sip of her tea, grimacing a bit at how cold it had gotten. Normally one of the servants would have changed it out for a warmer pot, but she’d asked them to give her and Shining Armor some privacy. “She’s trying to put on a brave face, but I can tell she’s losing hope about ever returning to normal.”
Shining Armor nodded, his lack of surprise making it clear that he’d been expecting something along those lines. “And how are you holding up?”
The question made Celestia smile. Back when he’d been the Captain of the Royal Guard, he’d often asked her that, not taking it for granted that Equestria’s eldest princess could weather any hardship without the slightest bit of upset the way so many of her little ponies thought she did. Although she didn’t begrudge anyone for thinking that she was unflappable – it was an appearance that she’d cultivated, knowing that it helped to reassure her subjects – she’d still appreciated the consideration. It had been one of several reasons why she’d encouraged his relationship with Cadance back when they’d started dating, despite how shocked the press had been that a princess would allow herself to be courted.
But that didn't mean she wanted to talk about herself at the moment. “I’m alright.”
The look on his face made it clear that he didn’t believe her. Thankfully, he knew her well enough to know that she didn’t want him to push the issue, and he took a sip of his own tea instead. For a long moment silence filled the room, and it was only when it was broken by the soft clink of his teacup being returned to its saucer that he spoke again.
“What are we going to do?”
Celestia closed her eyes at the question, giving the appearance of thinking it over. In fact, she’d been expecting him to ask her that – or some variation of it – for some time now. Ever since he’d insisted on accompanying her and Luna back to Canterlot, in fact.
For all that he was a compassionate pony, Shining Armor was also a military stallion. When faced with a threat, his instinct was to come up with a plan of engagement. So when he’d asked her to brief him on everything that Twilight had told him about her recent trip to Vanhoover – since Twilight herself had rushed off to Everglow less than an hour after receiving her student’s frantic call for help – during the train ride back, Celestia had known that he was trying to come up with an idea for what their next move should be.
Of course, she also knew that he wouldn’t have raised the issue unless he’d arrived at an answer. It was just that he wouldn’t volunteer whatever solution he’d come up without giving her a chance to speak on whatever subject they were discussing first, a holdover from before his rank had become equal to hers.
“What do you think we should do?” she prompted.
Shining Armor’s response was immediate. “We should march on Vanhoover and hit Lex Legis with everything we’ve got.”
Celestia was already shaking her head. “No.”
But Shining Armor wasn’t finished; while he might have been solicitous of her take on a situation before voicing his own opinion, he wasn’t afraid to disagree with her, nor explain his reasoning, traits which she’d encouraged back when he’d been the leader of the Royal Guard. “A joint operation,” he pressed. “Vanhoover’s rail line is part of a loop between Canterlot and the Crystal Empire. We each take all of the guards we can spare, and have them advance on the city by train from both directions. We commandeer Cloudsdale and have the Wonderbolts cordon the city off from the air; the mountains will make it easy to hide its approach. If done right, we can have Vanhoover surrounded before anypony knows what’s happening. All we’ll need to do then is send a squad to lock down the dockyards.”
“Numbers won’t be enough to defeat somepony as powerful as Lex,” pointed out Celestia.
But Shining Armor had an answer for that too. “I know, that’s why I’ll face him myself. I’m aware of how ridiculous that sounds, since he was able to hold his own against you and Luna together, but I’ve been training nonstop since the Elemental Bleeds, physically and magically. If Lex really is weakened the way Twilight thinks he is, then I think I have a real shot at overcoming him.”
Celestia paused just long enough to make sure he was finished. “And where’s Cadance when you’re putting yourself at risk like this? Or Twilight, for that matter? Or me?”
His ears flickered, as though he’d started to fold them back only to catch himself before completing the motion. “It’s better if I’m the one to assume the risk for this.”
“Shining Armor…”
“I understand your hesitation,” he insisted, “but there’s no one else. If you or Cadance or Twilight show up, there’s a chance that we’ll lose another alicorn to a curse like Luna’s; if I'm the only one leading the operation, that won’t happen. Discord’s not reliable, Mihr won’t get involved, and even if Twilight was here, removing the Elements from the Tree of Harmony puts it at risk. I’m the only one who can do this.”
His horn lit up as he reached into his saddlebags, pulling out papers covered with his hornwriting. “This isn’t bravado talking. I’ve interviewed every member of the Royal Guard you and Luna brought to Vanhoover – Silhouette notwithstanding – and I know it’s not just Lex that we’ll need to deal with. Before he was killed, Silhouette defeated one of the Sirens with a spell that muffled sound; if I put them in a force field that’s also a bubble of silence, they won’t be a problem. Those child soldiers that he’s indoctrinated into his vile religion were tough, but they’re still just kids with zoo animals; a squadron of guards was able to subdue them last time, so they’ll be able to again. Everyone else in his camp is basically just an ordinary pony. And you said that Twilight told you that that magic scythe of his, Severance, was nowhere to be seen, right? If it’s really gone, then that’s all the more reason to act now.”
Putting the guards’ statements away, Shining Armor gave her an earnest look. “I’ve faced King Sombra’s magic before, so I know what it can do, and having a wife who’s the Chosen of Lashtada has made me familiar with how divine magic works. If Twilight’s right about something being wrong with Lex’s ‘thaumaturgical’ spellcasting, then this is our opportunity. Even if we can’t defeat him, we might be able to put enough pressure on him to at least change Luna back, but only if we act now.”
For almost a full minute, Celestia didn’t answer, considering what he’d told her. Luna’s tell-all in the newspaper had put a lot of ponies on edge, she knew; the idea that an alicorn could be turned into an ordinary pony – and that the villain who’d done so was ruling a city openly in brazen defiance of royal authority – had caused more than a few of the ponies sending condolences for Luna to voice concerns about “the stability of the ongoing situation,” as Fancy Pants had put it.
Those concerns, Celesta knew, would only grow worse when everypony found out that Lex had donned the mantle of royalty himself.
But even so, what Shining Armor was suggesting…
“When I banished Luna to the moon, it sent shockwaves throughout Equestria,” she said at last.
Shining Armor cocked his head, clearly not having expected the conversation to turn to events from a millennium ago. “I’m…sure that it did.”
“Everypony was afraid,” she continued. “The two of us, ruling together, were a bedrock institution in the lives of our subjects. As much as we’d encouraged our little ponies to govern themselves, we were still their protectors, living symbols of the stability of Equestria. To lose one of those symbols – not because of some enemy or accident, but because she’d embraced the very darkness that we were supposed to fight – frightened everypony badly. Enough so that I needed to form an entirely new military order in order to restore public confidence.”
“The Protective Pony Platoons,” nodded Shining Armor. “Which led to the E.U.P. Guard, the pegasus branch of which eventually became the Wonderbolts. I’m familiar with the history.”
“It’s history now,” noted Celestia. “But at the time, I wasn’t at all certain that it would turn out the way that it did. Because it wasn’t just the public that was frightened. I was too.”
Shining Armor’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Of what? You’d already defeated Nightmare Moon.”
“I was afraid – terrified, to be honest – that the rift that had formed between Luna and myself would deepen, to the point of dividing all of Equestria.” Standing up, she moved to a nearby window, staring out at the vista that was Canterlot. “Despite how unappreciated she felt, there were more than a few of our subjects who deeply admired my sister. They did so from afar, since her role as Princess of the Night kept her distant from them, but the notion that she’d turned to evil and been banished was hard for them to accept. They eventually did, but it took a long time.”
Behind her, she heard Shining Armor stand up, though he made no move to join her at the window. “I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at.”
“I was able to bring Equestria back from the brink because, when I told everypony the truth about what had happened, there was no other version of the story for them to cling to. Luna hadn’t cultivated any sort of following before she became Nightmare Moon, nor did she have a chance to find adherents after her transformation. Because of that, those ponies who felt personally invested in Luna didn’t have any support structure to reinforce whatever misguided loyalty they would have transferred to Nightmare Moon.” She turned to look at Shining Armor then, her expression grave. “None of that is true for Lex Legis.”
This time his ears did fold back, recognizing at last what she was talking about. “Hold on, you actually think that if we make a move on Vanhoover…”
“Then it could lead to a civil war,” finished Celestia softly.
Shining Armor shook his head. “No. No way. He’s got maybe a thousand refugees squatting in tents and cheap houses. If we bring down him and his inner circle, then so long as we keep the food and blankets coming-”
“You’re grossly underestimating the hold Lex has developed on the hearts of the ponies under his command,” interrupted Celestia. “It’s true that when Luna and I went to Vanhoover, opinions toward him were only lukewarm, enough so that if we’d defeated him then I doubt there would have been any major problems. But based on what Twilight told me, since that time he’s made great strides in winning everypony over. Nor is his influence limited to Vanhoover; the ponies of Tall Tale also speak of him as their savior.”
“That thing with the dragon?” Shining Armor scoffed. “So they made him honorary mayor. Do you really think they’d go to war for him?”
“According to Twilight, he stabilized the damage that their period of isolation did to their economy when he reopened Vanhoover’s markets,” explained Celestia. “Add in how many of Tall Tale’s merchants have been visiting Vanhoover to sell their wares, and the critically ill and injured ponies that he’s shipped to Tall Tale’s hospital, and the two communities are mingling a great deal, spreading Vanhoover’s enthusiasm for Lex to Tall Tale, which was already predisposed toward him. And that’s not even taking into account his religion.”
“Even if he’s started training acolytes, I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” Shining Armor put a hoof to his chest. “I told you that I know what divine spellcasters can do, and whatever magic they’ve received, it won’t be enough to stand up to trained guard ponies.”
But Celestia couldn’t have looked less reassured as she returned to her place at the table and sat down. “It’s not their spellcasting that worries me, it’s their conviction. You saw what happened to Silhouette when he had a crisis of faith. Imagine a city – or multiple cities – filled with ponies who would react like that if they saw us remove Lex, the exemplar of their goddess, from power.”
There was nothing Shining Armor could say to that. Celestia could almost see him replaying the one and only encounter he’d had with Luna’s former guard in his mind, when the distraught earth stallion had slugged him across the face in broad daylight, in front of a crowd. Just the thought of a mob of ponies like that was enough to give her the chills, and it must have been the same for him because he shuddered before sinking back onto his cushion. “So that’s it then?” he asked, his voice bitter. “We can’t risk an invasion, so instead…what? You’ll try to cut a deal with him to change Luna back?”
“No,” answered Celestia without hesitation. “Lex isn’t trustworthy. If I bargained with him to remove Luna’s curse, he’d do something underhoofed like removing it and then putting it right back again, saying that he’d only agreed to lift it, not to refrain from ever cursing her again.”
“Then…what’s left?” asked Shining Armor after a long moment of consideration. “If you don’t think fighting’s worthwhile, and you won’t negotiate with him, what’s your plan? Letting Twilight keep trying to make friends with him?”
“I have no hope that somepony as twisted as Lex Legis can be befriended, even by Twilight.”
“Then what?”
“Something I swore I would never resort to.” Unable to keep the sorrow out of her voice, Celestia turned toward the drawing room’s exit, her horn lighting up as she telekinetically pulled the door open, raising her voice slightly as she called out to where her steward was waiting in the hallway.
“Could you send in Willow Longtail, please?”
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Assasination can remove an ass in nation
not talking about lex though
10759888 Well, surely Celestia wouldn't go to such an extreme length, right?
10759901
Three guesses
1. Celestia will attempt to have Lex Legis assassinated, hoping his death will lift the curse
2. Celestia will renege on her promise to avoid divinity, betting that such power could allow her to undo the curse
3. Celestia will commune with a god/goddess from everglow, attempting to curry favor with a being that could counter the curse
I wonder if she's still being mentally manipulated somehow with how vehemently she insists Lex can't be trusted (despite overwhelming evidence Lex always sticks to not just the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law too)
She's at least smart enough to recognize that she has a potential civil war on her hands, though she doesn't seem to understand yet the scope of how bad it is. It seems she still doesn't quite get just how deeply she failed the ponies of Tall Tale and Vanhoover.
Don't really blame Shining Armor being so eager to bring the metaphorical hammer down on Lex, not after what he and Cadence had been through. Still, one would think that as a leader he'd have a better idea of how the citizens of Vanhoover would react. Then again, to be fair, his only point of reference would be the crystal ponies and their liberation from Sombra of which they were grateful so him thinking that the ponies of Vanhoover doing the same was obvious.
At least Celestia realized the flaw in his logic though not even considering negotiation is problematic though understandable given how set she is in her beliefs of Lex being untrustworthy(way to go Aria
Not that it matters at this point) still, I am curious what she wants Willow to do. CommandoDude's guesses are similar to what I thought up though I'm leaning more towards the third option since I doubt she hates Lex enough to order his assassination.
I wonder if Celestia is going to go for the Macmillan, or the Chinese method?
The first is apeasment, and the second appears to be surrender, where its actually absorption?
10760032 Well, number two isn't much of an option; Celestia can't really will herself toward being a goddess any easier than Luna could. Granted, she might have an easier time of it if she tried to institute herself as an object of worship, but after what happened with Silhouette, I suspect that her natural disinclination to be worshiped is on an upswing at the moment. Even then, she'd still need to work hard to start attaining divinity.
The third point is more plausible, since Willow is not only from Everglow, but is also a summoner. So maybe she can put Celestia in touch with some of the more benevolent pony deities from that world? Of course, benevolence doesn't mean doing something for nothing (and I doubt Willow would work for free herself). Of course, there are problems of having another deity manifest in a world where they aren't worshiped, which has been a point in this story so far. And of course, it's questionable if Willow could make that happen anyway.
If it's point number one, though...that could easily take a turn for the worse.
10760057 Shining Armor might tend more toward defense than offense, but he's still used to facing problems head on. He's not very inclined to believe the best about Lex, particularly when he's seen the worst up close with Luna. Throw in what's been implied to have happened during the Elemental Bleeds (i.e. that Cadance tried to reason with the elemental creatures that appeared, and was attacked, causing her to miscarry), and it's no surprise that he's favoring a more aggressive approach.
Fortunately, Celestia put the kibosh on that, but not because she thinks Lex is worth giving a chance. She's simply more concerned about the potential fallout. But as for how much she hates Lex...well, he has made her little sister (whom Celestia still feels lingering guilt toward, what with not realizing she was becoming Nightmare Moon) suffer. If anything can engender hatred in someone, it's seeing their loved ones in pain. So if Celestia is looking for a way to quietly have Lex taken out, it would be unusual for her...but understandably so.
It's a shame she thinks he's not trustworthy though; you get the impression that she'd be open to bargaining if she didn't think that.
10760221 Or she could go the Gandhi route and launch all the nukes.