Golden Sun's Zenith, Part 4
“Oh dear. That’s definitely not good.”
Xochitli stared at the now empty pedestal where the Golden Sun, the central keystone of the Cuetzpali Empire, had stood. Already the light that it had shed over the sanctum had vanished, leaving the illusory glimmer of the stars to slowly fade. One by one, each of the hundreds of thousands of stars that dotted the scene began to fade out.
Ihhutl’s tail twitched behind her, and her body became tense. As she whirled around to face Celestia, her claws crackled with power. With a flash of light and psionic energy, a massive spear forged from bright purple plasma manifested in her talons. She brandished the spear threateningly, teeth bared in a vicious snarl.
“This is your fault!” she bellowed. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t have your heads for this!”
“What? Auntie, hold on!” said Tecoli. “We don’t actually know if they did this, do we?”
“She has a point, I’m afraid,” Xochitli added. “The Golden Sun has been secure for many centuries, yet it disappeared the very moment these ponies showed up.” He turned towards Celestia, his eyes narrowing gravely. “And if what our Princess says about raising the sun is correct, then she would have a good reason to fear our power. Isn’t that correct, your highness?”
Daring Do’s wings flared up by her sides. “Now you hold on just a minute! Princess Celestia would do anything like this! You can’t just pin the blame on us!”
“That is enough, Miss Daring,” Celestia cut in. “I will handle this.” A great, icy tension clutched at her from within, yet it still did not quell the determination beneath her eyes. In her mind she rapidly considered the available options, and all the possible outcomes that could spell doom for her and everyone she accompanied.
When Xochitli spoke next, he spoke with a voice that was sharp enough to draw blood. “If there is something you have to say for yourself, Princess, I would suggest that you say it now. Should this truly be your doing, then the crime you have committed will be treated as nothing less than an act of war. So choose your next words very carefully.”
Celestia paused. Her eyes flicked across the room, her heart pounding in her chest with the force of a cannon. She took a deep breath, then exhaled just as deeply, briefly clearing the fog from her mind.
“Very well,” said Celestia. “I submit.”
“W-what?” said Daring Do. “Princess, with all due respect, what the hay are you doing!?”
Celestia held up a hoof, and Daring Do’s mouth glued itself shut instantly. “Detain us if you must,” she said. “Until you have found your culprit, we will offer you no resistance.”
Iron Will raised a finger towards Celestia. “Now hold on a minute—”
“We will offer no resistance,” she repeated, more strongly than before.
“A wise decision,” said Xochitli. “At least, assuming you’re not pulling any kind of trick on us. Which I would certainly hope you aren’t, for the sake of your nation.”
“No tricks,” said Celestia. “We will remain within your custody for as long as it takes for you to recover your artifact. Is that fair?”
Xochitli stood before Celestia’s group, his eyes remaining sharp as he scanned them. The air thickened with every breath Celestia took, each one becoming more laborious than the last.
Finally, Xochitli spoke. “Very well. Ihhutl, seal their magic and take them with us.”
Ihhutl blinked rapidly. She turned to stare at Xochitli, her scowl disappearing momentarily. After another moment, it returned, just as vicious and toothsome as before.
“You’re serious,” she snarled. “You can’t be serious. You’re doing what she tells us? Their actions have taken away from us the very keystone of our prosperity! They must pay with their blood!”
Xochitli’s brow furrowed. Slowly he turned around, his elderly body trembling as he gripped his staff more tightly than Celestia had ever seen before. When he spoke, his voice remained soft, yet at the same time it rumbled with the intensity of an earthquake.
“Do not presume I am ignorant of the threat we face, child. I have led our Empire against forces more powerful than you can possibly imagine.”
Ihhuitl flinched backwards at the sound of his voice. She inhaled deeply, then turned to look Xochitli in the eye. “Father, with all due respect—”
“If you wish to show respect, you will listen,” Xochitli interrupted. “I am aware that our Empire is under threat, just as it has been many times in ages past. You must understand that acting rashly does not do us a service in such times. Detain them for now, until we have learned enough of the situation to properly judge them. Do I make myself clear?”
Ihhuitl’s grip on her weapon tightened. Another sharp breath drew from her nostrils, as she all but forced herself to relax. “Very well.”
Her body glowed, and there was a second flash of light, one that immediately enveloped Celestia and her companions with a blinding purple. When her vision recovered, rings of crackling yet surprisingly cool plasma had wrapped themselves around her midsection, pinning her wings against her body. Similar rings encircled her horn, and from the tingling, numbing sensation that enveloped it she could tell right away that her magic had been blocked off from her. She looked briefly to the side and saw that Daring Do’s wings and Iron Will’s arms had both been similarly detained.
Ihhuti approached Celestia, hovering the tip of her spear against the back of her neck. The crackling plasma stung gently as it rested above her body, the smell of singed hair briefly crossing her nostrils.
“I can’t believe I ever trusted you for advice,” Ihhutl snarled. “Know that if it weren’t for my father, you would be dead where you stand.”
“Auntie?” Tecoli said. Her eyes were wide and shimmering as she stared. “You don’t think they really did it, do you?”
Ihhutl turned to glance at her niece, and though the grip on her weapon remained intact, it softened ever so slightly. The corners of her mouth shifted as though she were about to speak, but ultimately she remained silent.
“We’ll get there when we get there child,” said Xochitli. “For now, let’s take them away so we can search for the Golden Sun properly.”
Ihhutl gave a harsh snort. She tapped the blunt end of her weapon against Celestia’s backside, pushing her forward. Before long, she and her two companions were being corralled onto the elevator, standing in silence as it rose to the temple’s entrance.
Daring Do briefly tapped her amulet, pretending to adjust it. I hope you know what you’re doing, Princess...
Celestia looked Daring Do in the eye. She tried to think of something to say in response, but any words she wanted to find escaped her. Instead she turned away, her eyes drifting towards the ground.
The light filtering from above signaled the end of their ascent, and they soon found themselves standing in the entry chamber of the temple. Loud sounds of coughing and retching echoed across the golden walls, small wisps of smoke lingering as the guards and soldiers expelled it from their lungs.
“Your Highness!” said one of the guards. “We were just...” His words trailed off as his eyes were drawn to the bands of plasma that bound Celestia’s body. “...princess, what’s happening?”
Xochitli raised a claw. “Pay her no heed right now. Tell us, what happened here?”
“General!” one of the cuetzpali soldiers stepped forward, standing himself up straight. “After you descended into the inner sanctum, we were assaulted by a smoke bomb. Someone managed to sneak past us in the confusion, and descend through the elevator shaft. We were hit by another smoke bomb just before you arrived.”
“Hmm,” said Xochitli. “As I suspected. Detain the Equestrian guards. We will escort them to the prison compound along with their Princess.”
All at once, the guards froze. Panicked whispers spread among them, only to silence as the soldiers drew their spears, encircling the group with brandished weapons.
The frontmost guard looked towards Celestia with pleading eyes. “Your Highness!”
“Do not resist them,” Celestia said. “I promise I’ll find a way to get you out of this. For now, just remain calm.”
Outnumbered and threatened at spearpoint, the guards silently obeyed. As the group was escorted out of the building, Celestia held her head low. Her stomach turned with each step, and the air that passed through her nostrils became thick and heavy. Her mind lingered on the last thing that Daring Do had said to her. That she hoped Celestia knew what she was doing.
And as painful as it was to admit it to herself, Celestia wasn’t sure if she did.
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Having lived for nearly twelve centuries, Celestia had gotten used to the feeling of time moving by quickly. Compared to her own lifespan, the passing of a single day felt barely any greater than momentary. Yet as she sat in her cell, isolated from the others, she couldn’t help but notice just how agonizingly slow time seemed to move. Though the boredom was absolutely crushing, even that couldn’t explain it. She could have sworn that hours had passed, but the sunlight continued to shine through the bars in her cell door just like before.
The prison complex itself was an isolated building, on the southern side of the city. They had thrown her and her entire staff into it without any fanfare, and had gone out of their way to inform her that they’d detained her ship as well. Philomena was still nowhere to be seen, and Celestia could only guess whether her pet phoenix had escaped to safety.
Every now and then, a pair of soldiers would come in and interrogate her. They would ask questions about her kingdom, about her arrival in the Empire, about her intentions, about what she knew of the Golden Sun. And she would answer them, careful not to reveal too much information about her own nation, but enough that the guards would leave her unassaulted. As she learned the hard way, they were not shy of using their claws if they found an answer unsatisfactory. Several bloodied scratch marks were already plainly visible around her midsection, and the crackling static of the plasma that bound her wings rubbed against it, leaving the wounds perpetually stinging and raw.
The one small mercy is that they had neglected to take the telepathic amulet around her neck, but even then it didn’t matter. She had offered some reassuring words to Daring Do, but after a while her companion simply stopped caring, or had otherwise become unable to respond.
Throughout all of it, Celestia had paced back and forth across the tiny cell, desperately trying to think of something she could do. A way to escape, a way to rescue her companions, and a way to find the stolen artifact and avert the possibility of a war on her nation. With enough effort, she could easily break the seal on her wings and horn through sheer brute magical force, but given the catastrophic collateral damage it could cause, that was out of the question. Other ideas were scarce, and there were none that wouldn’t immediately provoke the wrath of a nation powerful enough to slaughter her little ponies in droves.
Over time, her pacing slowed, her hooves falling against the stone floor with increasingly sluggish steps. Eventually, she stopped altogether. Her resolve finally exhausted, Celestia slumped against the cold rock wall.
A soft, dry sob pushed past her throat. It was hopeless. There was nothing more she could do. Nothing but wait, and pray that her captors would offer her mercy.
Then, a sky-blue light surrounded Celestia’s body. The bonds of plasma surrounding her dissipated, and she could feel a powerful force tugging at the very core of her soul. Then it pulled at her one last time, yanking at her so hard that she felt herself being ripped away from physical reality. Everything vanished in a great, blinding flash of light, and when her vision recovered, she found herself standing in a new location.
A blue foreleg reached downward. Instinctively, she grabbed onto it, and lifted herself upright. Celestia was greeted with the familiar sight of her castle balcony overlooking the Canterlot nightscape, and the flowing, scintillating mane of her younger sister.
“Luna?”
Luna’s forelegs wrapped themselves around her, and Celestia returned the gesture almost reflexively. They had not even been separated more than a day, and yet Celestia could not have been happier to be reunited. For several seconds they held their embrace, the warmth they shared lingering even as they pulled away.
As her eyes drifted towards the claw marks on Celestia’s barrel, Luna let out a gasp. “Tia, you’re hurt! What happened?”
“A diplomatic crisis,” Celestia replied gravely. “I need to return to the Cuetzpali Empire as soon as possible. Is everything alright here, Luna? What happened?”
“Alright?” said Luna, “Dear sister, with all due respect, what part of any of this looks alright to you?” She gestured wildly with a foreleg, her hoof sweeping across the the night sky.
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean. If you would just tell me...” Celestia paused mid sentence. There was a thought that she hadn’t considered before, one that came crashing into the forefront of her mind. “...wait. Luna, what time is it here?”
“Seven fifteen,” Luna responded. “The sun was supposed to be up fifteen minutes ago. I tried to raise it, but I couldn’t feel it on the edge of the horizon. Something is dreadfully wrong here, Tia. I need your help.”
“I see,” said Celestia. “Then it is worse than I thought. I must return—”
Princess?
The telepathic message burst into her mind, cutting off her own sentence just as it was leaving her lips. Celestia reached for her amulet, fumbling with her hoof as she frantically tried to tap the gemstone for a reply.
Daring Do, thank the stars you’re alright! What’s going on?
I should be asking you the same thing! Daring Do called back. Just where the hay are you!? The city’s under attack!
“What!?”
Luna flinched backwards at the sound of the sudden outburst. “What? Tia, what is it? What’s going on?”
Celestia shook her head. “Nothing good. I fear that the world as we know may be in peril. The sun’s motion on the planet’s other side is guided by a powerful artifact, and now it has been stolen for nefarious purposes. The Empire’s capital city is currently under attack, though by who I cannot say.”
Luna gasped. “And the sun can’t be raised until the artifact is retrieved! Great horn of Epona, this is a crisis! We must find the villain responsible and defeat them at once!”
“We will doing nothing, as you will be staying here,” Celestia said firmly. “Right now, Equestria needs somepony to reassure them, and guide them through these troubling times. In the meantime, you’ll have to send me back to where I came from.”
“W-what?” said Luna. “No, you can’t! It’s too dangerous! You can’t go alone!”
“There is no time for me to bring anypony else, I’m afraid,” Celestia replied. “The ponies I left behind are no doubt in grave danger. I must return to them at once.”
Luna’s body shivered slightly as she looked Celestia the eye. “But what about me? What will I do? If you and the sun are both gone, yet I am still here, then... t-then...”
“Luna.” Celestia stepped forward, wrapping a wing around her sister,. She nuzzled the younger alicorn gently, letting the warmth of her body radiate between them. “Nopony will blame you for what has happened. You have grown so much in the years since we reunited, and you’ve won the hearts of ponies all across Equestria. If you tell them the truth of the issue, I’ve no doubt in my mind that they’ll believe you.”
Luna looked up at her elder sister with trembling eyes. “You really think so?”
Celestia smiled warmly. “I know so.” She gave Luna one final hug, wrapping her in her forelegs, before pulled herself away from the embrace. “Now, I must be going. Can you figure out how to return me, Luna?”
“Of course,” said Luna. “The spell scans our plane for the thaumic frequency specific to your magic, then locks onto it and pulls it to my location through a fifth-dimensional teleportation vector. All I need to do is reverse the direction and magnitude of the vector the spell created, and you should be right back where you came from.”
“Excellent,” said Celestia. “Then let’s not waste any more time. Luna, if you would?”
“Right away, sister,” Luna replied. “I wish you luck on your endeavor, and a safe return.”
Luna’s horn glowed, and in a flash of blue light, Celestia felt herself hurtling across the world.
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The scene Celestia arrived in was not the scene she was expecting to see. She was not within the boundaries of her prison cell, for one, but that wasn’t especially unusual given the reduced precision the return spell would have. She hadn’t been teleported into a wall, thankfully, but where she found herself now was not much more desirable.
She was standing on a road in the city’s southern quadrant, one that she had passed when she had been escorted to her cell. Above, the sun had changed its color drastically, its warm and life-giving yellow hardening into a harsh, burning crimson. The entire cityscape was awash with red light as its scorching rays beat down on it relentlessly, but worst of all were the monsters that assaulted the city alongside it.
The creatures were black, shadowy things, like blobs of inky darkness shaped into animalistic forms. Skeletal, bipedal monstrosities with six arms brandishing bladed weapons, skittering scorpions with glowing, beady eyes and tails dripping with venom. Above, the skies were dotted with flying drakes, each no larger than a pony, with bodies almost entirely composed of their tattered, rotting wings.
And around her, Celestia could see guardsponies struggling against the monstrous army, their coordinated hoof strikes and dodging maneuvers barely fending off the monsters as they encroached. Off to her side, she saw Iron Will grabbing a skeletal monster by the head and snapping its jaw open, causing the beast to collapse to the ground and dissolve into wisps of black smoke. Above, Daring Do wove through formations of the flying drakes, expertly dispatching them a series of diving tackles.
“Princess!” Daring Do called out. “Thank... well, thank you, I guess. Mind helping us— Whoa!”
Another drake snapped at Daring Do, forcing her to roll to the side in midair. She followed up by delivering a fierce kick to the drake’s body, causing it to explode into another cloud of thick smoke.
Celestia did not wait any longer to make her move. Resolve poured into her body, flooding into every crevasse of her being. Her wings flared outwards, and in an instant she rocketed upwards, straight into the sky. As she ascended, several demonic drakes swarmed her, nipping and snapping at her with serrated teeth. Her horn glowed with radiant light, and several blasts of solar plasma erupted outward, spreading outwards with diverging, curving trajectories, until each of them homed in on a drake and struck it dead in the center of its spine. The drakes that had surrounded her all exploded into the clouds of misty darkness, before dissolving into the air.
Reaching further within herself, Celestia reached even deeper into her inner reserves of magic, a wellspring so vast that few ponies even understood its scale. Though she had only barely dived below the surface, it was enough. Her horn glowed once more, and a shower of radiant beams erupted with intense, blinding force. They shot upwards, towards the sun itself, before spreading out and raining to the ground like a shower of molten sunlight. Each bolt of her magic impacted a different monster with perfect precision, deftly avoiding contact with any of her companions as they struck down dozens upon dozens of monsters at once. The city blocks below her became choked with black smog as the monsters were felled, until the dark clouds dissipated into nothing.
Celestia descended upon the city, her hooves clacking against the stone street as she landed. She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding in as she looked over the group before her.
Daring Do landed next to her, grinning proudly. “Nice job, Princess! Way to take care of those monsters for us!”
“I’m just glad I made it here on time,” Celestia replied. “Is everypony alright? Are there any injuries? Any...” Though she knew what she had to say, pushing the words out of her lungs proved far more difficult. “...any casualties?”
A guard stepped forward, and gave Celestia a salute. “No casualties, Your Highness, but we’ve got a few nasty injuries. Private Ironhide’s got a broken leg, and we have at least five different counts of sting wounds from those scorpions. The venom doesn’t appear to be life-threatening, but it did leave their limbs paralyzed. We were able to evacuate the injured into a nearby safe house, though they’ll still need proper medical treatment.”
“I see,” said Celestia. “And where are the Empire’s military?”
“They’ve spread out across the city,” replied the guard. “We haven’t heard word back, but from what we’ve been able to guess, they’ve managed to safely get the civilian populace to seek shelter. Thankfully, these monsters look like they’re not smart enough to open doors.”
Before Celestia could reply, she felt a sudden rumbling in the ground. It was subtle at first, barely enough to notice, but soon it grew into a tremor that she could feel vibrating through her entire body. Her muscles tensed, instinctively preparing for a fight, but what approached quickly made her realize that fighting would be inadvisable.
Riding atop Xeltua, Tecoli approached alongside a squad of soldiers, each of which rode atop a a feathered raptor. From a different direction, Xochitli approached atop a large, muscular triceratops, alongside a squadron of other soldier riding smaller juvenile ceratops. Finally, Celestia turned towards the skies, and saw several pteradons circling above. They descended upon the group and landed before them, revealing Ihhuitl and her faction of elite Sky Knights. The three generals and their soldiers surrounded Celestia’s group from all sides, weapons and claws brandished.
Xochitli stepped forward, his sharp gaze piercing straight through Celestia’s hide. “So you’ve escaped your confinement, I see. You realize this doesn’t exactly do well to prove your innocence.”
“Hey, the Princess had nothing to do with this!” Iron Will shouted back. “We simply took advantage of the chaos while the city was under attack so we could... could... Iron Will’s not helping his case, is he?”
Xochitli’s eyes narrowed, a deep crease appearing on his brow. “No, you are not. We have already driven the rest of the invaders away, but the question remains of who summoned these dark creatures in the first place.”
“And your princess disappeared from captivity shortly before the attack,” Ihhuitl snarled. “One that caused more than two hundred confirmed injuries. Had we not responded so swiftly, someone would have died.”
Celestia very nearly flinched at the words that were spoken to her. Her thoughts went past her in a rush, searching for any alibi that she could life the suspicion that pressed down greatly on her shoulders.
In the end, she realized that telling the truth was the only option. “My sister—”
“I don’t care what your excuse is,” Ihhutl spat. “I should have killed you before, regardless of what my father said.” Her claws crackled with psionic power, and her spear once again materialized in her hands. Her mount stepped forward, wings flaring as it assumed a fighting stance. “Do you have anything to say for your people before I strike you down?”
Celestia’s stomach twisted itself into a pretzel knot. She looked back at her group, towards the pleading eyes that were all pressing down on her with weighty expectations. She then turned back towards the general, and cleared her throat.
Time. She had to stall for time. Anything that might give her more time to explain herself, and avert what looked to be the increasingly likely possibility of war. She opened her mouth, ready at that moment to speak her piece.
She never got the chance to do so. A loud, maniacal cackle echoed throughout the city. Her head whipped around, toward the direction of the noise, and her eyes went wide as she saw it.
There, standing atop a stone building, was a river beast. And clutched in the hand on the end of its tail was the Golden Sun itself.
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Ahuizotl the Nameless 3UB
Legendary Creature — Beast Rogue
Menace
Whenever Ahuizotl deals combat damage to a player, exile target artifact that player controls. You may cast that card for as long as it remains exiled.
Sacrifice an artifact: Return target Trap card from your graveyard to your hand.
”I am the shadow of the Eastern Star, the darkness that awaits beneath the dawn.”
— Creed of the Nameless One
3/3
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“Ahuizotl!” Daring Do cried out. “I should have known it was you!”
“That it was,” Ahuizotl replied. “And as amusing as it would be to see you slain at the hands of the Empire that cast me out, only I can be the one to take your life.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Time out!” Tecoli cut in. “Your name is Ahuizotl? Just Ahuizotl? Isn’t that like kind of having a bird named ‘bird’ or something?”
Ahuizotl’s beady eyes turned to Tecoli. His lips twisted into a vicious sneer as he glared down at the younger general. “Yes, it is. I would be happy to call myself by my true name, had your grandfather not ERASED IT FROM MY MEMORY!”
Ihhuitl’s mount stepped forward. Her eyes locked with Ahuizotl, and her spear shifted within her hands. “You forfeited the right to your name when you betrayed the Empire.”
“In my entire life, I have betrayed nothing and no one,” Ahuizotl countered. “The only side I have ever been for is my own. Your father stood in the way of the power I wished to claim. Now, I intend to finish what I started fifteen centuries ago.”
Ahuizotl held out a hand, and a glowing, golden orb of light materialized in his palm, radiating so much power that Celestia could feel its destructive potential even from a distance. He pointed it at Ihhuitl, at the orb shot outwards with blinding speed, aimed straight for her and her mount.
Celestia didn’t hesistate to act. With the strength that the blast contained, it would have been more than enough to vaporize Ihhuitl and her mount in an instant. She darted forward and upwards in a blur of white and pastel colors, and positioned herself in the air just before Ihhuitl to intercept the blast. Her horn glowed, and a mighty golden shield formed around herself, scintillating with protective energy.
It didn’t help her any. To her horror, the sphere of destructive psionics phased through her shield, moving as though it were pushing through a permeable membrane. She watched in horror as the sphere slowly slipped past the shields boundaries, growing closer and closer to her face.
Celestia closed her eyes and braced herself, and her entire world exploded in pain. When her vision began to return and her ears stopped ringing, she found herself lying singed and battered on the stone-cold ground. She stood up, her regalia utterly annihilated, yet miraculously the telepathic amulet around her neck was still intact.
She decided that questioning the artifact’s durability was the least of her concerns. She recalled the words Xochitli told her the day they arrived, of his conquests, and of the psionic power derived from the alchemical arts the Golden Sun embodied.
The many lordless tribes we encountered between conflicts believed it to be the same as their magic, and assumed it could be counteracted the same way, Xochitli had said. They assumed wrongly.
Celestia had to fight to suppress a shudder. Not only was the Golden Sun far more powerful than her, the psionics derived from its magic operated on principles that were entirely separate from a unicorn’s spellcasting ability. She was up against something that put her at an inherent disadvantage, worlds away from the only power in Equestria potent enough to counteract it.
Ahuizotl’s laughter pierced through the air like a dagger. “How selfless of you, Princess! And I can see you’re quite a lot more durable than the others, as well.”
Celestia’s eyes met Ahuizotl’s, the space between them thundering with mutual animosity. “Ahuizotl, you have not only single-handedly jeopardized the most important diplomatic mission in Equestria’s history, you have taken action that has threatened the very stability of the world itself. If you do not turn over the Golden Sun, I will destroy you here and now.”
Ahuizotl grinned, baring his teeth. “Strong words, Princess. Why don’t we see if you can back them up?”
A golden glow surrounded Ahuizotl’s body. Radiating power, he shot skyward. Celestia met the river beast’s challenge, a flap of her wings rocketing her upwards, until they both met above the city.
It was Ahuizotl who made the first move. He pointed a finger towards Celestia, and a stream of golden light erupted from it, pulsing with psionic power. Celestia performed a swift roll in the air, dodging to the side as the blast rocketed past her. She countered with a blast from her horn, and Ahuizotl let out a sharp cry as it struck him square in the center of the chest.
“Why, you...”
Ahuizotl growled harshly. Golden power surged throughout his body, pooling into his hands. Holding them both outward, he launched a rapid-fire series of blazing spheres, spreading outwards and covering the skies that surrounded Celestia. She dodged the blasts frantically, bobbing and weaving through the projectiles as they exploded in destructive bursts. A whiff of burnt hair and feathers crossed her nostrils as she barely avoided being toasted alive by an explosion to her side.
As she approached Ahuizotl, her horn glowed again in preparation to strike, though this time Ahuizotl came prepared. He pointed a finger at Celestia’s horn, and the beam that shot forward from her horn clashed midway with a beam that erupted from Ahuizotl. Ahuizotl’s own attack rapidly began to overpower hers, with the opposing beam encroaching on her by the second.
Thinking quickly, Celestia performed a short teleportation spell, disappearing from the beam’s path just as it had nearly struck her. She appeared behind Ahuizotl, who spun around to meet her.
As the beast’s eyes met hers, Celestia’s mind raced to consider her next strategy. She couldn’t meet Ahuizotl with raw power, even disregarding the damage she could do to the city if she tried. His attacks could push through her defenses easily, and in comparison she couldn’t even afford to use moderately powerful spells, in the risk that she would damage the Golden Sun.
But perhaps, she realized, there was another way. Right now Ahuizotl’s power was greater than hers, but he was still a living creature. One that depended on his senses to fight.
Right then, an idea began to hatch. A grin formed on Celestia’s face. Without hesistation, she charged forward, already confident of her next course of action. Her horn glowed in preparation of a spell, and Ahuizotl quickly braced himself to react.
What came next had caught Ahuizotl off guard completely. Instead of an offensive spell, what came from Celestia’s horn was a burst of pure, unfiltered light, powerful enough to rival the sun in its intensity.
Ahuizotl let out a shriek of pain, and clasped his hands over his eyes as they were blinded by the assault. Celestia took advantage of the opportunity immediately, rushing forward and spinning around to deliver a powerful kick with her hind legs.
The force of the impact sent Ahuizotl flying backwards, but he quickly righted himself, and pried his raw, reddened eyes open to face Celestia. Celestia in turn met his eyes, her wings keeping her hovering in place, prepared to react immediately to any move he could make.
A grin spread across Ahuzotl’s muzzle. “Not bad, Princess. You are a remarkable pony. But there is one thing I am curious about. Why do you fight for them? The Cuetzpali Empire have a long and bloody history of conquest. They may tell you that peace has reigned for centuries, but you know as well as I do that they could slaughter your kind with ease. Why protect them, knowing the threat they pose?”
“And do you expect me to believe that you are any better?” Celestia retorted.
Ahuizotl shrugged. “Perhaps not. Then again, I never claimed to hold the moral high ground.”
The thundering beat of wings interrupted Celestia before she could respond. She craned her neck upward, and saw a large pterodon spreading its wings above. Atop its back was the unmistakable figure of general Ihhuitl, her spear raised and poised to strike.
The pterodon dived downwards, its beak surrounding itself in a crackling, pulsing aura of plasma, much like the plasma the the general’s spear was crafted from. The pterodon let out a piercing screech, and its rider joined in with a bellowing war cry, as they both descended on Ahuizotl.
Ahuizotl simply grinned. He flew backward, easily dodging the pterodon’s dive as it soared pass him. With a point of his finger, he shot a piercing beam of magic, which punctured the dinosaur’s wing effortless.
The pterodon let out a agonizing shriek. It thrashed wildly in the air as it tumbled towards the ground, catapulting its rider off in a horizontal trajectory. Celestia rushed forward and caught General Ihhuitl as she tumbled through the air, the startled cuetzpali landing safely on her back.
Celestia turned her eyes back towards Ihhuitl, still trying to regain her orientation. “Are you alright, general? Where are your Sky Knights?”
“It’s too dangerous for them,” Ihhuitl responded. “I won’t send my men to die in a hopeless battle.” She rubbed her eyes, and her body jolted upright as she finally seemed to notice where she was. “What!? You! Where is my mount!?”
Ahuizotl shot another blast of energy towards them, forcing Celestia to dodge to the side. “You can worry about that later! I’ll be your mount for now!”
Another blast zoomed past them, barely missing Celestia’s wing. She turned upwards and began to ascend, soon meeting Ahuizotl’s altitude.
From there, the battle turned into a frantic series of evasive maneuvers, as the destructive blasts rained relentlessly upon them. Every time Celestia attempted to get close, another blast forced her to move out of the way before she could focus on her assault. And every time she tried to counter with a blast of magic from afar, Ahuizotl intercepted the attack with his own blast, effortlessly deflecting it away from him.
Another blast shot by Celestia, barely grazing her on the wing. She winced at the sudden burning sensation, her flight path wobbling slightly as she fought to remain airborne. Though her flight path was quickly righted, the burning in her lungs and the pounding in her chest made clear that her fatigue was catching up to her.
“We need a strategy,” said Ihhuitl. “We can’t keep dodging his attacks forever.”
She was right, Celestia realized. Ahuizotl was unlikely to fall for another attempt at blinding him, and so far every move she made to retaliate offensively had been evaded. There had to be something else. Something she could use to...
...and then, an epiphany hit her. As she flew, she motioned to the amulet around her chest, lightly tapping it with her hoof.
Another blast from Ahuizotl zoomed towards her, this time from her right side. She moved to dodge, but it was already too late. She was only able to roll enough to shield Ihhuitl from the full force of the blast, positioning her body between her rider and the explosion from the impact. The two were sent tumbling downward from the force of the impact, and all of Celestia’s senses blacked out from the sudden pain of impact as she collided with the ground below.
When she came to, Celestia found herself lying on a stone street, a spiderweb of cracks spreading out from the point where she had impacted it. To her side, Ihhuitl lay broken and bloodied, soft pained groans coming from her semi-conscious body.
Celestia looked upwards, and saw Ahuizotl descending upon her. His descent slowed, and he landed on the stone pavement, the Golden Sun still clutched in his tail.
Celestia’s legs wobbled as she struggled to stand. Ahuizotl simply laughed.
“My, my, how the mighty have fallen. Any last words before I send you to oblivion?”
Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but before she could articulate herself, she broke out into a coughing fit, sending droplets of blood and saliva onto the stone.
“What a shame,” said Ahuizotl. “And here I was hoping you had something worthwhile to say.” He raised his hand, pointing a palm towards Celestia. Her eyes went wide as another orb formed within his palm. In her body’s ragged state, she knew she couldn’t dodge the attack in time.
Then, behind Ahuizotl, there was a blur of motion. A streak of black and brown that passed by him, too quickly to distinguish its shape. The destructive orb in his palm dissipated instantly.
“What!?” Ahuizotl’s neck whipped around, towards his now-empty tail hand. It grasped uselessly at the air, clutching at the space where the Golden Sun had once been. “Where is it!? What did you do!?”
A sharp whistle came from above. There, hovering in the air above them, was Daring Do, carrying the Golden Sun in her forelegs. “Looking for this?”
“No!” Ahuizotl snarled. He jumped into the air, his powerful hind legs launching him skyward. Daring Do simply flew herself even higher, snickering to herself as Ahuizotl’s arms flailed pathetically at her as he reached the peak of his jump, before landing back on the ground.
“You give that back!” Ahuizotl yelled. “This isn’t funny, Daring Do!”
“Nah,” said Daring Do. “I think have a better idea of what to do with this. Hey Princess! Catch!”
With both of her forelegs, Daring Do threw the Golden Sun, sending it soaring over Ahuizotl’s head. As it zoomed towards Princess Celestia, her horn once again flared to life, and the artifact’s motion halted as she caught it in her telekinetic grip.
Ahuizotl turned to face Celestia, and his eyes went wide with terror at what he saw.
The moment that Celestia’s magic had touched the Golden Sun, she could feel its power connect with hers. Its radiance, its majesty, its incredible life-giving strength flooded into her, filling her body and soul with a power that she had only ever felt surpassed by the Elements of Harmony themselves. Her mane scintillated and glowed, transforming from its pastel colors to a white-hot luminosity, and all at once every feeling of pain, injury, and fatigue in her melted away.
As the Golden Sun shone ever more brightly, its namesake in the sky above responded to its light in kind. The harsh, blood red that it had taken before gradually dimmed, fading into the vibrant yellow that the world had always known. But as the sun returned to its usual color, another change overtook it.
Both the Golden Sun and the celestial body it was named for at once began glowing even more brightly than before. Ahuizotl let out a cry, shielding his eyes from the sudden light, but it wasn’t enough. His body seized and convulsed, warping and twisting in response to Golden Sun’s power. An agonizing shriek escaped his throat, but it was quickly cut off as his form was stretched upward vertically, thinning and elongating as it was pulled upward by an invisible force.
As his feet lifted off the ground, his spaghettified body spun upwards, rising further and further, until it rose up to meet the sun itself. In seconds it disappeared, spiraling into the sun’s image until it vanished entirely. When it was finally gone, the sun returned to its normal intensity, and the Golden Sun’s brilliance faded to its normal glow.
With a sigh, Celestia let the remaining tension out of her lungs, the lingering sensation of the Golden Sun’s power still leaving a gentle tingling across her body. Her horn glowed softly, and with one last gentle push, she moved the sun to the western edge of the sky.
A smile crossed her face as she felt her sister’s magic meet hers at the horizon. She released her magical grasp on the celestial body, and whispered a gentle word of gratitude as Luna raised the sun over Equestria.
————————
“Are you certain about this, General Xochitli?”
The elderly general had met with Princess Celestia outside the city walls, where she led her group onto the airship parked just outside. Overhead, the night sky twinkled gently with its stars and constellations, their light shining softly over the scene. Beside Xochitli were his other generals, with Ihhuitl’s body wrapped in bandages as she gently leaned on her niece for support. Tecoli, for what it was worth, seemed more than happy to aid her injured relative.
“Absolutely,” said Xochitli. “I believe it would be for the best that we not officially announce our diplomatic relationship to the rest of the world. If the Nameless One can return from the east and steal the keystone of our Empire so easily, then it stands to reason that others could do the same.”
“And you believe that remaining isolated from the world is the solution?” said Celestia.
Xochitli shook his head. “Well, no. I don’t believe that’s possible, to be honest. Not when knowledge of the world continues to expand, and not when we remain such a large part of it. But I think what happened today has revealed our vulnerabilities, and I believe we should focus on correcting them. We need to learn how to sustain ourselves without the Golden Sun, in case it should ever be threatened again. When the time comes, we’ll not shy away from the international stage.”
“That is understandable,” said Celestia. “But how do you propose we remain in contact with each other without revealing it to the rest of the world?”
“Actually, I think I can help with that,” said Daring Do. “You’re still wearing that amulet of telepathy, aren’t you? We can use that to communicate with a representative of the Empire even when we’re across the entire world from each other.”
Xochitli raised an eyebrow. As his eyes drifted to Celestia’s amulet, he chuckled lightly to himself. “Ah, I was wondering why you kept touching your amulet like that.”
“Indeed, it’s quite useful,” said Celestia. She lifted her amulet off of herself, handing it over to Xochitli with her telekinesis. “If you touch the gemstone, you can send a telepathic message to the bearer of the other amulet.”
“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” said Xochitli. “And who will we be sending these messages to, if I may ask?”
“I believe I know just the pony,” said Celestia. “Daring Do, would you be willing to be my official representative to the Cuetzpali Empire?”
Daring Do blinked. “What? Me? I mean, I guess that kind of makes sense, since I do know more about them than anypony here. I’m just not sure if diplomacy’s really my thing.”
Tecoli gave a light, airy giggle. “Hey, look on the bright side! You can’t possibly do it any worse than your Princess did today, right? I mean, sheesh! For a while I thought grandpa’d declare war on her!”
Celestia tried her hardest not to visibly wince at the statement, and she wasn’t sure if she succeeded.
Daring Do shrugged. “Fair enough, I guess. If we ever need to arrange a meeting, I’ll be sure to let Princess Celestia know.”
“And if you ever need an airship, Iron Will is happy to provide!” said Iron Will.
“I’ll consider it,” Celestia replied, not mentioning that the consideration would be ‘no.’ “Are the injured safely aboard the ship?”
“That they are,” said Iron Will. “The infirmary has enough supplies to take care of them until we arrive in Equestria. They should recover in no time!”
“Good to hear,” said Celestia. She turned towards the three generals and gave them one last look. “I’m sorry I had to leave on such short notice. It’s for the best that I return to Equestria before ponies begin to notice my absence. I need to reassure them that the sunrise won’t be delayed again.”
“It’s quite alright,” said Xochitli. “The Supreme One will probably be quite irritable when he hears of this, so you’d probably be better off being elsewhere. He’ll most likely forget you ever existed after you leave, thankfully.”
Ihhutl coughed loudly, forcing Tecoli to prop her further upright as she threatened to fall over. As Ihuitl stood up, her eyes locked with Celestia. “That said, you still brought the Nameless One here, even if you never intended it. Should you bring another enemy to our doorstep, I will have no choice but to hold you accountable.”
“Auntie, you’re hurt,” said Tecoli. “You really should be resting.”
Ihhuitl coughed again, her feathers ruffling from the air expunged from her lungs. “I’m fine, Tecoli. Besides, Princess Celestia saved my life, and risked herself for the sake of our people. Regardless of her mistakes, I owe her a measure of gratitude for that.”
“It is the least I can do after the turmoil your people have suffered today,” Celestia replied. “If there is anything else I can do to aid the injured, I will be happy to provide.”
“There is no need to worry,” said Ihhuitl. “We have more than enough supplies to treat the wounded.”
“As you wish,” said Celestia. “But if you ever have need of Equestria’s aid in the future, feel free to contact us.”
“I’m sure we’ll stay in touch,” said Xochitli. “But before you go, there is one thing I wanted to show you. Here, take this.” Xochitli reached into the folds of his robe, and pulled out a small codex, magazine-folded into the shape of a small pamphlet. “Consider it a simple gesture of peace between our nations.”
Celestia grabbed the codex in her telekinetic grip. Her eyes glanced over the pictograms on its front, which contained a variety of alchemical symbols.
“Thank you, Xochitli. I wish you and your people well.”
“And yours as well, Princess.”
Celestia gave one last goodbye to the three generals, and departed with the rest of her group to the airship. In short time, they were sailing through the air, towards the eastern horizon.
————————
The gentle shuffling of papers, paired with the scratches of her pen, were a comfortably familiar sound to Twilight Velvet’s ears. Though she’d been retired from her profession for over a year, the opportunity to edit another novel in her favorite series was too great for her to pass up. She eagerly took up the job at the first chance she had, and soon her work had settled into a routine that she’d missed dearly.
A gentle knocking came at the door to her bedroom, where she’d done her editing at a simple desk by the window. She hadn’t even noticed that night had fallen until she was pulled out of her fixation on her task. She turned her head towards the door, and smiled at the sight the familiar deep blue coat of her husband. As Night Light trotted in, he carried in his magical grip a simple manilla folder.
“Welcome home, honey!” said Twilight Velvet. “How was work?”
Night Light approached her, and gave her a gentle kiss on the neck. “Pretty good. Still editing your new novel?”
Twilight Velvet giggled. “Yup! Ms. Yearling gave me a copy of her latest draft, Daring Do and the Secret of Ape Island! Ooh, I’ve already read the whole thing, and it’s so exciting! What I wouldn’t give to live that kind of life!”
“Hey, just as long as you leave me out of it,” Night Light joked. He held up the folder in his grasp and grinned. “But wait until you hear what we’ve found at the observatory! We’ve discovered a new sunspot formation, but it’s unlike anything we’ve seen before. Unlike every other observed sunspot, they don’t appear to diminish or change over time. It’s like they’re not temporary formations, but permanent fixtures on the sun itself.”
“Sounds fascinating!” Twilight Velvet replied. “And you’ve got pictures of it in that folder?”
“That I do,” said Night Light. “They’re from a new ultraviolet photo technique we’ve developed to study the sunspots more closely. Here, take a look.”
Night Light opened the folder, pulling out a series of photographs, each of which depicted the sun in all of its intense, fiery majesty. As he levitated them out in front of him, Twilight Velvet stepped out of her chair, walking around to observe them by his side. As she stared at them, she could see the sunspot formations clearly. They had taken a strangely familiar shape, that of a doglike beast with ape-like arms, an elongated snout, and a prehensile tail with a hand on the end...
“Hey,” said Twilight Velvet, “doesn’t that look kind of like Ahuizotl?”
Night Light raised an eyebrow. He squinted, taking a closer look at the images, before his eyes widened again in apparent recognition.
“Huh,” he said. “You know, it kind of does.”
————————
Imprisoned in the Sun 1W
Enchantment
When Imprisoned in the Sun enters the battlefield, exile target artifact, creature, or planeswalker until Imprisoned in the Sun leaves the battlefield.
At the beginning of the precombat main phase of the exiled card’s owner, that player adds W.
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I guess, when harnessed for battle, the Golden Sun turns you into a DBZ character.
8789922
Well, this story is about a Journey to the West, isn’t it?
8789970
Also, Celestia is like the fifth person who stole Krillin's Solar Flare technique.
If you tell them the truth of the issue, I’ve doubt in my mind that they’ll believe you.
though this time Ahuizotl came prepare
1. I've no doubt.
2. Prepared.
8790270
Thanks, as always. Fixed.
small card-text addition:
Comparison Vineyard
8791163
The Dominaria expansion is changing the card text to remove all mentions of “mana pool” from official Oracle text. You can read more about the changes on my latest blog post.
This was a fun adventure... but frustrating. Celestia basically gets led by the nose the whole time, and more or less gives up and has to get remotivated by a Luna ex machina, which also conveniently lets her escape. Nice as it is for her to take action at the end, she feels incredibly passive throughout. I'm not demanding the Queen of Bloodstained Gold marching through the ashes of her enemies, but at least seeing her not lose an argument to Iron Will—who added little to the story—would have been nice. I know the show hasn't given her a good track record, but still.
Pet peeves aside, this was an enjoyable world building exercise. I admit, I'd somehow missed the Golden Sun references until you pointed them it, even with all the Psynergy. Thank you for it.
Oh, and Ahuizotl's combat damage trigger should start with "Whenever."
8790149
It is the most consistently successful technique in the series.
8791172
Ok, didn't know that...
But that still leaves
Since the wording differed based on the target ("you" and "each" had the current wording, while a refered player/opponent had the one you used) it was changed to the current uniform on, i think shortly after 5th.
The current formula for such time-trigger is {Beginning/end} {Whos turn} {What phase)
(closest wording: Curse of Oblivion)
-> At the beginning of the exiled card’s owner's precombat main phase, ...
8791373
I’d actually disagree with your wording, since having two possessive contractions in a row can be a bit confusing and awkward to read. Sometimes Magic R&D fudges a bit with the wording when it’s necessary for added clarity, and that’s what I did here. Having it elongated a bit makes it slightly more clear whose precombat main phase the card is referring to, IMHO. Since there isn’t much precedent for this type of effect (as far as I know), there’s really not much to base how it “should” be done on.
8791354
I will admit that you have a point here, having the POV character being strung along by the plot is definitely something I felt was an issue as this story grew longer than I really expected it to be. I think I could improve it by having the pacing be a bit faster, but that was mostly a result of me vastly underestimating the amount of worldbuilding it would take to get this story to make sense, while still having enough space for character development. If I could start over, I might make the story a bit less ambitious in scale.
Celestia passivity here is mostly a result of her being a pony that very strongly values peace, and extremely hesitant to take action that she believes will cause more strife than it prevents. This is, I feel, consistent with how she’s usually portrayed in the show. She has a mischievous side, for certain, but she very rarely involves herself directly in most of the conflicts Twilight and co. have to deal with, and is often content to passively mentor other ponies she believes are more capable of dealing with Equestria’s problems. She’s very measured and distant in her approach to major issues, which is at times a strength, but more often her greatest character weakness.
Heh. I was going to mention the Golden Sun games if you hadn't already. Also, technically, in the games the Golden Sun is the result of all four alchemical lighthouses being lit and merging their light into one beam, which grants anyone who stands under it what is essentially godhood.
Was kinda hoping that we'd see some Azorius symbolism somewhere in the story, but oh well.
AWESOME! Just, so damn awesome. This thing pretty much deserves to be it's own story, it works so well. There are at best only oblique references to the source this is a 'side-story' of, none of which not knowing would make the story at all hard to follow, as I dind't get ANY of the Magic references at all and never felt like I missed anything (Which is the best way to do references) But yeah this was DAMN good.
On Celestia, yeah he being so passive was a bit off putting, but you are right in that it DOES make sense. Only bit I think it went a bit too far was during the whole capture thing and her being extra 'oh woe is me' about it. That, kind of went a bit too far in that direction but was short enough to not really matter much. Overall this is a great portrayal, and do like how you made clear to show she could have just over powered the binding if she wanted to, but was trying to keep things calm, and that she wasn't anywhere near as powerless as they might think and could seriously kick their asses, but wanted to avoid doing so. Also was a bit
that none of them figured out it was Ahui before he showed up. Given how obvious it should have been to at least Daring. But freaking LOVE that he saved their lives, through a "No one is allowed to kill her but me!" moment.
Very nice worldbuilding on the whole, can't say I'm a fan of the 'some other force shares control of the sun' thing, it's not 'wrong' or 'bad' and the story makes it work just, not my preferred idea. We don't see Tia actively guiding the sun all day, why would she need to do it at night? The only time they seem to need to actually move them seems to be rising and lowering, as to why........ magic? But beyond that, loved this race, and the initial buildup as fierce, bloodthristy, conquest seeking warriors, only to flesh them out and show what they really were. That they only conquered out of need and because everyone else was trying to do the same. They were doing it to prevent someone else from wiping them out, and, the whole jungle was a big cluster fuck that left them willing to fight to protect themselves, but not looking to fight otherwise, I really really loved this tactic and how easily it came through.
Sure there are more details I could go on about, but just... damn this was amazing!
Also, agreeing iron Will was kind of... pointless, but damn if he wasn't fun.
Finally got around to finishing Golden Sun's Zenith.
It was highly frustrating for me to read. There are a few reasons for this.
First, I'm confused about psionics. At one point I thought you might have meant that psionics and magic just plain don't interact, which would explain why Celestia's shields could be ignored, but then we had Celestia's attacks being psionically deflected. We also had Luna brush away Celestia's bonds, which Celestia said she herself couldn't do without massive collateral damage. And then there's the climax where Celestia gets to use an alchemical/psionic artifact in a way that clearly does interact with her magic, and she does this with no preparation whatsoever. Is there any way that psionics are significantly different from magic in how it works or what one can do with it, or are psionics just magic+?
Second, there's Celestia. Or really, there's how everyone is treating her. She's ruled a sovereign nation for over a thousand years, and she's being led by the nose the whole time while receiving veiled and unveiled death threats. While I did enjoy getting a guided tour of the Empire, I couldn't help but feel that the pony getting the tour really didn't have to be Celestia. It could have been Twilight, or Daring Do, or even Celestia's secretary Raven. Having it not be Celestia, I feel, would have really helped the level of tension, or at least kept my eyebrow from going stratospheric at every new development that put our protag in her place.
Third, why isn't this militaristic empire with a celebrated history of conquest and the ability to no-sell magic taking over the entire world? They could, and they'd clearly like to do so...
And finally, the Empire was incredibly rude to foreign diplomats. I'm pretty sure accusing an opposing head of state of grand theft and throwing them in a dungeon is a few steps beyond a diplomatic faux pas, but I don't remember ever seeing an apology issued for it once the true culprit was found. Furthermore, they threatened them that they better not let a supervillain stow away on their ship again, despite the first one being from their empire in the first place...
So yeah, frustrating. Looking forward to reading the reast of the sideboard, though.
9465439
I’ll see if I can answer these as best as I can.
It isn’t so much that psionics “don’t interact” with magic as much as it is that psionics are different from magic. While they appear to have similar effects, because they operate on different fundamental principles, techniques that work against magic will not work against psionics, and vice-versa. A shield meant to deflect magic would therefore not deflect a psionic attack. A unicorn might be able to develop magical techniques that can counteract psionics, but that would require knowledge that Equestria, at this point, does not have.
The Golden Sun is an artifact that’s poorly understood by all but the most accomplished Cuetzpali scholars, in large part because only the most trusted individuals in the Empire are permitted to study it. Much like the Elements of Harmony, it’s known to simply do things when carried by certain bearers, leading most who’ve studied it to believe it has a will of its own.
Luna breaking the restraints was a matter of her having a spell that was specifically designed to teleport Celestia away from wherever she might be, which Celestia could not do because of the restraint on her horn. She could overpower the restraint through sheer brute force (most likely obliterating the entire jail building and everyone in it in the process), but teleporting would require a finesse the restraint wouldn’t allow.
Much like Equestria, this militaristic empire didn’t know there was a world to conquer. They’d already taken over the entire continent, which to the extent of their knowledge was the entire world.
That said, their conquests have also happened long enough ago that their perspective has shifted somewhat. Xochitli in particular is practically retired from war, and he’s mellowed enough that he’s much more interested in administrating the Empire than pursuing new conquests. Given his influence (he is the de facto leader of the Empire at this point), they would likely not be as quick to war as they would have been centuries ago.
I chose Celestia specifically because this was a chance to explore her characterization in ways that I don’t think could with any others. A lot of the personal perspective she offers here is something that could only really come from her. Twilight does not have the ability to weigh political risks and consequences on such a large scale, and none of the other characters have anywhere close to enough political know-how to even begin to approach. Even Princess Luna wouldn’t have any clue how to handle this situation, as her activities are much more based on personal guidance than on macro-scale political considerations.
As for the Empire being needlessly antagonistic towards peaceful envoys... well, that’s kind of the point. They’ve ruled their entire known world for so long that diplomacy just isn’t a thing to them, and they believe themselves invincible enough to not care if they offend.
Well that was a pretty sweet sidestory. Not-Ixalan was pretty cool. And Celestis was pretty great.
Is Imprisoned in the Sun related to Imprisoned in the Moon.
Knew it!