• Published 3rd May 2018
  • 1,071 Views, 71 Comments

The Armada Trilogy II: Beautiful Eyes - TheMysteryMuffin



In the sequel to The Lieutenant, Tempest Shadow goes back to her home town along with Twilight and Celestia. But while on their incredible journey, they come across dark forces outside of Equestria.

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Chapter 01

Canterlot Castle
Morning

The servant ponies trotted down the hallway with trollies of breakfast meals and important documents towards the dining room where Princess Celestia and her younger sister, Princess Luna, would be eating in a few minutes time. Trotting as fast as they could, the servants tried their hardest not to spill anything or lose an item on their trays in order to save time, for the princesses both had strict time schedules and could only eat together at certain moments of the working day. A stallion, who was clearly the head servant of the castle, was in front of the long queue of ponies behind him, and he led them down each and every hallway until they reached the set of double doors of the eating quarters, where the princesses were waiting for their breakfast. The stallion used his magic to unlock the protected mechanism, before pushing the large, golden doors with his front hooves and walking through into the presence of the two princesses. After bowing down before the mares, the stallion presented the trollies of food.

"Your Highnesses," he said, "your breakfast has arrived."

The servant ponies pushed the trollies closer to the round table and placed each dish in the correct places where each princess would be eating. In total, there were four spaces; two for Celestia and Luna, and two more for some special guests that would be arriving shortly, Princess Cadance and Princess Twilight Sparkle. Each seat had been covered with a crimson robe embedded with golden silk that spelt out the letter, or letters, of the first name of whoever would be sitting in that seat; Celestia's seat had the letters 'Cel', Luna's with the letter 'L', Cadance's with the letters 'Ca' and Twilight's with a 'T'.

Celestia and Luna then seated themselves at the table and pulled their chairs closer, so that there was little space between their stomachs and the edge of the table. The servant ponies then placed a white napkin on top of each of the princesses laps and then the serving began.

The trays of food were brought closer to the table and one by one the plates of food were lifted into the air and then placed on the mats in front of each of the princesses. Celestia always had her favourite fruit, bananas, in her cereal and Luna happily bit into a pineapple without a fuss, not bothering to peel off the hard skin to reveal its yellow flesh inside. They ate their first course of fruit and yoghurt and when they finished, they both stopped and pushed their bowls to the side.

"Does her majesty wish to start on the second course?" the head servant asked. Princess Celestia looked back at him. Originally she was going to say yes, but remembering that her guests had still not arrived yet, she turned down the offer.

"I would prefer if we waited for them," Celestia replied, "but please, as soon as they come, prepare the course immediately. We can't allow them to wait and go hungry."

The servant bowed before Celestia before turning around and leaving along with the other servants. They exited the room and closed the doors behind them, leaving Celestia and Luna in peace. Both princesses started eating their course quietly, only making the odd sipping noise when they put their tea cups to their very lips and allowing the liquid to slip into their mouths, making their tounges react to the hot liquid. Celestia used her magic to levitate the sugar pot over to her teacup and then use a pair of tiny tongs to pick up a single cube of sugar which she dropped into the pool of tea.

"When will we meet Miss Shadow, sister? I thought that she would be visiting us today."

Celestia finished sipping her tea before answering her sister's question.

"Lieutenant Tempest Shadow will be arriving after breakfast. She will be with Princess Twilight and her assistant, Spike, so please don't feel like you have to rush your meal, little sister."

Luna smiled back, before turning her attention back to her meal. She resumed eating quietly, while Celestia then took a newspaper from one of the trays that the servants had given them and started reading it. The first thing that Celestia noticed was the biggest news at the current time that Tempest would be a part-time student at the School of Friendship back in Ponyville, next door to the Castle of Friendship. Due to the growing the success of the school, many of the living quarters were full and only a few were available. Even some of the staff had decided to move out after seeing the huge growth in the number of students coming in. This, of course, meant that Celestia didn't see Twilight as much as she used to anymore. In a way, Celestia had learnt that Twilight was now not only a full-grown mare but also a princess of Equestria who is living in her own castle and was running a school for students. Whenever Celestia ever met Twilight, she would always pretend that she was looking at her own reflection when she was just a teenager; seventeen, probably.

"So, Princess Twilight knows what she's doing, I guess?" Luna asked.

"Well, she was the first pony to befriend Tempest in a very long time, especially having been the first unicorn in recorded history to lose her horn and live to tell the tale. Looking back the previous fourteen years, Tempest's only form of education or work was working as a slave to the Storm King, later working her way up to the army when she was in her mid-teens. She was promoted to his second-in-command lieutenant after he eighteenth birthday and between that and the invasion of Canterlot, Tempest walked alongside the Storm King as he tore down civilisation after civilisation. The banners held on tall poles that would be placed in front of entrances to the cities, towns and villages presented his greed for power, land and the ponies and creatures who would be living in those towns. I have never met a creature before who wouldn't care about who got in his way and how he would dispose of them properly."

The argument, or conversation depending on how it was portrayed, ended as quickly as it started. It would have carried on, but knowing that their guests would arrive very soon, Celestia and Luna couldn't afford to be seen arguing with each other (after all, the last time they did so Starlight Glimmer managed to switch their cutie marks and create an alternative demon version of Celestia, known under the alter ego Daybreaker, who would if succeeded, destroy Luna and turn Equestria on its head). There were many jobs that had to be done for the day, starting from that point; having the remainder of breakfast with Twilight, Spike and Cadance, then later meeting with Tempest and after that, a few things in public. Everything had to run like clockwork if there was to be enough time to relax and not have to worry about royal affairs. Still, a meeting was a meeting, and Celestia couldn't afford to miss it.

"So, we wait for the arrival of Twilight and Cadance, then?"

Celestia looked back up at Luna, now thinking to herself that her little sister was being choleric1 towards her in a playful manner. However, it did seem to be boiling inside Celestia's head; really it could be the usual annoyance of a little sister which she had had to deal with for the majority of her life, especially after her arrival into the world, Celestia always had that sister-love and sister-hate like any jealous big sister would be and Luna was always the copycat and curious little sister who would always want to get involved in what Celestia would be doing. From the day they were in nappies, Celestia would forever be followed by Luna, hoofstep by hoofstep. Still, the annoyance was way past the point of simply being life, so this no longer made Celestia ill-tempered of her little sister's questions.

"That is the plan, dear sister," Celestia replied, "we just have to wait for their arrival, that's all. Cadance has stayed over in one of the hotels in Canterlot, in which she will stay in during her visit from the Crystal Empire. It must be presented at its highest, especially for royalty. I can't afford my niece to have to stay in a place that makes her feel uncomfortable or distasteful."

There was another break in between discussions, allowing both princesses to finish up what they had been munching on and to drink up what was left in their giant, golden goblets. After finishing, Celestia gave a gentle cough, informing the waiters to clear up what she and her sister had both left on their plates and to then leave them completely for the right of privacy and peace. The waiters did as their princess had told them and they cleared up their breakfasts, including their goblets and cutlery, and then left the room. Luna then removed her napkin from her lap and placed it to the side on the table, before getting up and pushing her chair back in underneath the table.

"You seemed troubled." Celestia looked up whilst still sitting in her chair.

"Troubled, you say? How do you mean when you say 'troubled', Luna?"

Luna knew that it would be one of those days when her big sister would struggle to understand what she was on about. Celestia was not a pony who could tell if she looked dreadful towards another civilian or creature and would always dismiss the idea that she "wasn't fine" when anypony asked her. Only when she looked in the mirror, Celestia might notice it but would never go to her sister or ask somepony for help or to ask what's wrong.

"I can sense fear, Celestia, and you are crawling with it. It moves in your body like a toxic chemical or a horrible disease that can never be controlled, unless it is tamed by the one it wishes to control. It destroyed my heart, remember? When I turned into a hideous monster. It's nearly happened to you, it's happened to Tempest and it's happened to Discord."

Celestia shook her head back at her sister, disagreeing with everything that had come out of her mouth. She believed to herself that Luna wasn't telling the 'whole' truth.

"I know that," Celestia replied, "but for goodness sake, I'm fine. Don't start thinking that there's something wrong with me, because there isn't, okay?"

Her voice suddenly turned crooked when she finished her sentence. After a loud cough, Celestia frowned and uprighted her posture, trying to drop what had just happened to everypony. Luna tried to gain Celestia's attention but only received a hard frown from her big sister.

"Celestia, listen to your little sister, for once will you! You haven't looked this depressed ever since mummy and daddy died. I know that there is something that's bothering you and I'll have to find out what it is, even if it means either breaking you apart or seeing inside that head of yours. I sense..."

Luna paused, trying not to say anything, but it was already too late. Celestia's face had now changed from an expression of annoyance to full rage and anger.

"What do you sense, Luna?!" Celestia snapped. She banged her hoof on the table, making Luna jump in fear. A wave of strong power swept through the room which went straight into Luna's chest, making her shudder with fear and confusion. Her lips could not stay still and they moved too quickly at first for Luna to finish her sentence. She had never seen such rage in Celestia's eyes before; they had changed from their original beautiful colour to an orange that looked like a fire blazing out of control. Celestia had thrown her hooves so hard into the table that the marble surface had cracked and pieces were shaken out, landing on the floor below. Luna tried to find the words, but it made her use all the strength that she could use to fight back against her sister.

"I sense darkness."

Celestia's eyes widened to a point where they could no longer get any wider or bigger if it were possible. How could this be possible?! She wasn't evil. Why would there be darkness in her? Was it Tempest? Did she still feel that Tempest should be punished? What was this grudge that she had inside of her?

"Why do you sense darkness within me, Luna? I have no intention of turning evil."

Luna trotted away slowly from where she was originally positioned. Celestia watched, as her sister went over to the balcony of the room that presented the beautiful sunrise of the morning that Celestia had made.

"Celestia, please don't take this the wrong way, but even as a powerful leader such as yourself, every creature has a dark side. I know this, for I have seen the dreams you dream at night. While you were asleep last night, I saw you dreaming about how you were to deal with Tempest's punishment. I saw things that I knew that you would never think of, ever, but yet you see them with Tempest. When I saw those things, I could never imagine you doing those things. Something evil has bitten you, like a snake, and now you see these things."

Celestia raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth in disgust.

"What in Equestria are you talking about, Luna?"

Luna smacked a hoof in her face. "I'm saying that you plan to kill Tempest Shadow!"

The room suddenly turned completely silent and crestfallen. The sound from outside the room that Celestia and Luna were both in had stopped making any form of sound. The ponies outside stopped talking and gossiping about things that perhaps they shouldn't really be talking about.

"Kill Tempest Shadow?! Why would I even think of such a sin that is against our law in Equestria?! This is madness! I would never kill Tempest Shadow! She may have committed hundreds of crimes against Equestria, but I wouldn't make up a plan to murder or assassinate a friend of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Nonsense! Those dreams that you are having, Luna, are complete lies and I will not accept them to be the truth whatsoever! Why... why would I ever think of something... like... that..."

Celestia suddenly trailed off, becoming quieter and quieter as she talked. She stopped making any sound altogether and remained silent for a very long time as if her own insults had hurt her instead of Luna. Celestia knew that these were things that she would never, or shouldn't, say at all, especially when she was a princess trying to make peace all across Equestria (this was easier said than done, as the other rulers of creatures and other important figures from other parts of the land nearly began a civil war after their students went missing from the School of Friendship).

"Are you sure about that?" Luna asked, raising an eyebrow as if her big sister was being sarcastic towards her. Celestia quickly turned around, scowling back in fury.

"Of course I am sure about it!" she replied loudly, "It's silly, anyway. We'll be seeing her very soon, as well as Grubber, Twilight and Spike. All four of them have recently had a private meeting in Twilight's apartment, where Twilight sort of gave an informal interview to Tempest and Grubber. Why would she be against us anymore, Luna?"

Luna, who had been Nightmare Moon for a thousand years, knew about the sequence of reforming and how forgiving another being was the first step in storing peace across Equestria once again. In fact, there hadn't been a civil war since she refused to lower the moon on the day she chose her fate. Seeing her sister acting in the unusual way that she would normally act was just hurtful to Luna, for she was the last pony whom she had loved all her life to still be alive.

"Well, if you seem happy enough to not worry at all," Luna said back, "then, I guess you have my bidding, dear sister."

After a long silence, Luna turned away, looking out through the open window and seeing the morning rush hour in Canterlot and the many carts and taxis pulled by huge stallions, either pulling freight or passengers, galloping past other drivers of pedestrians that were walking in the street and not on the pavement where they should actually be walking on. Luna was just about to look back at Celestia to see if she was really okay but then jumped at the loud sound of the thunder from the rainstorm that was arriving at Canterlot.


"Books; check. Quills; check. Ink; check. Paper and notes; check. Punch and sandwiches; check. Raincoat for myself; check. Spike should have his. Yep, that's everything. Spike, are you ready?!"

Princess Twilight Sparkle was packing up a picnic basket which she was going to take with her to Canterlot Castle in case there was no breakfast left for them and also if in case they were still hungry for some particular reason which couldn't be thought of at first. Still, Twilight felt that it would be friendly and generous of her to do such a thing for the other princesses and Tempest Shadow. Twilight continued packing, before eventually hearing the sound of Spike walking out of the toilet in their accommodation. After checking to see if Spike had indeed washed his claws (which he usually refused to, still being a 'baby dragon'), Twilight put on a large cloak over her lavender body and pulled up the hood, with only the tip of her horn poking out and then wrapped a smaller cloak over Spike.

"I can lift the hood up by myself, thank you very much!" Spike snapped in a friendly sort of way.

Twilight laughed back. "Of course you can, Spike! Come on, we need to get there in good time to see the other princesses."

They then walked over to the door to their room and Twilight used her hoof to push the door open, then stepping back to allow Spike to walk past her and out into the corridor of the hotel. After locking the door with the key they had been given, Twilight signalled Spike to walk on and they began their brisk walk to Canterlot Castle, by stopping and using the lift of the hotel which was at the end of the corridor. Spike pressed one of his fingers on the button for the lift to open up and then waited along with Twilight. The lift quickly shot up to their level, before opening its two doors and giving off a loud "ding!" in which Twilight and Spike both walked in. After Spike pressed the "Ground" button, the doors closed and the lift began its descent down to the ground floor of the hotel.

This time, unlike what other lifts had produced in the past, there wasn't any lift music playing. Instead, their only entertainment was looking at old and crumbling advertisements that were plastered to the walls of the lift, covering the chestnut wooden planks that connected up the lift to make it look like a cuboid standing on one of its square faces. Every so often, the lift would judder and sometimes feel as if a cable had snapped, making Twilight and Spike feel that at any moment, they would be falling to the very bottom. Thankfully, this didn't happen, and they landed happily on the ground floor.

The doors opened, allowing Twilight and Spike to walk out and head over to the entrance, where they walked through a set of huge glass doors before walking out into the heavy rain that looked as if it wasn't going to be stopping for quite some time at least. When outside, Twilight and Spike lifted their hoods up preventing the rain to land on their heads. They also avoided walking near any puddles in case somepony would walk in one and make a huge splash, making the water fly in all sorts of directions and landing on perhaps a mare's beautiful dress or one of the royal guards' uniform. When on the streets, the water turned a disgusting brown colour and giving off a foul smell. Twilight choked at the smell that flowed through the streets, making her flop out her tongue and giving her a stomach ache. There was even a point where Twilight thought she would have to go to the mares' toilets and throw up what little was left inside of her body, however, she resisted the urge to do so. They walked on.

About fifteen minutes later, Twilight and Spike reached Canterlot Castle. It was heavily guarded, however, at the first sight of the Princess of Friendship walking up the path towards the entrance, the guards lowered their weapons and allowed them to walk on and through the large iron gate that separated the city of Canterlot to Canterlot Castle itself. Twilight and Spike walked past the fenced border of the castle's grounds and headed into the castle itself, which again had long rows of guards walking in queues and marching in certain ranks. Many were Corporals, Sargents and Commanders, all with their different and unique stripes on their uniforms. The colour of their uniforms was brown, with a camouflage green added to it and arranged in all sorts of different patterns. The guards all held long spears that had an arrow-shaped point at the end of them and a little flag attached at the top, which had printed on the official symbol for the Kingdom of Equestria. It was a windy day, so the flag blew in the air quite rapidly and would make a loud flapping noise like a kite that was flying from a string in the sky.

Twilight and Spike eventually made it into the castle building and dumped all their luggage on the marble floor inside, which made a loud thump when the large suitcases and bags collapsed onto the ground. This, of course, alerted those who were inside the castle that a guest had arrived and needed to be welcomed from where they were standing from. After a short wait, a grey pegasus appeared from one of the many doors that were stationary in the room Twilight and Spike were standing in, and wobbled over towards them.

The pegasus mare had a medium-length blonde mane which didn't cover most of her head and had a pair of yellow eyes that crossed in opposite directions, with one looking up and the other looking down. She wore no make-up, but a light yellow royal dress and had a gentle smile, not one that made her almost emotionless but also didn't make her look too happy. Every hoofstep she took, the pegasus would wobble or limp, however, she made no sound to let others know that she was in pain. It was as if she had been doing it for quite some time; perhaps most of her life by this point. The pegasus then trotted slowly over to Twilight and Spike and bowed, but then fell over onto her face. Twilight and Spike then looked at each other, before picking up the grey mare.

"Oooo, I feel dizzy!" the pegasus said. Her voice was sweet, but not smooth. "Thanks very much for helping me up, you two- hey, wait a minute; aren't you Princess Twilight Sparkle?!"

Twilight laughed nervously, before placing a shoulder on the Pegasus. "Yes, I am indeed Princess Twilight Sparkle and this is my assistant, Spike. We have been invited to meet with her royal highness Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Cadance, along with two other guests whom I can't mention in public."

Spike handed over the invitation to the grey pegasus, who read the papers and then nodded her head back to let her guests know of her decision.

"Everything seems to be in order," the pegasus replied, "I will take you to the princesses. Please, allow me to take your luggage for you. It must have been busy in Canterlot today."

"Thanks," Twilight replied, "where would Princess Celestia be, exactly?" The grey mare had just turned to head up the stairs to the floor where Celestia was having breakfast but turned back to look at Twilight again.

"Her royal highness Princess Celestia is in her private quarters having breakfast, along with her little sister. I have received news that Princess Cadance will be arriving soon, along with her family from the Crystal Empire. Princess Celestia has heard this news already, so everything is expected and ready for your arrival, your highness."

Twilight nodded back at the grey pony, before starting to follow her up the large steps to where Celestia and Luna were. Whilst walking up along with Spike by her side, Twilight then thought of something.

"Is Cadance coming with Shining Armour and Flurry Heart?" The Pegasus shook her head back.

"I'm afraid not, no. Apparently, Princess Cadance couldn't find some other pony beside her husband to look after the Crystal Empire while she'd be gone in Canterlot. I'm not surprised, though. No other pony offered to take up the responsibility to do so. It's one of those things, unfortunately, but at least she can come to see you and her aunt."

"Indeed," Twilight responded, not sure how to reply back.

They kept walking on through the huge complex, continuing to follow the grey pegasus to where Celestia was currently at, already beginning to feel quite tired from walking around constantly and not having a chance to sit down. This was a problem especially for Spike, who had smaller legs compared to Twilight's and the grey pony's. Still, they trod on through corridor after corridor inside the castle as they made their way to Celestia's room.


After ten minutes of walking around, Twilight, Spike and the grey pony eventually made it to the front door of Princess Celestia's room and stopped just outside. The mare then walked up and knocked on the door using her left hoof, which came to the response from, surprisingly, Princess Luna.

"Who is it?!" the princess asked from the other side of the door.

"It is Princess Twilight and her assistant, Spike!" the pegasus replied back, "They have an invitation."

A moment's silence followed, as well as the odd murmur from what sounded like the voices of Celestia and Cadance, who sounded like she had just arrived, and it appeared to what sounded like either an energetic conversation or an argument. There was later the sound of glass smashing on either the floor or against a hard surface such as the wall of the room. The argument continued but was then halted when Luna then yelled back at them.

"Will you two stop for a moment?! Twilight and Spike are here."

The arguing stopped and was replaced by silence. The door suddenly opened to reveal Princess Luna looking as if she hadn't slept in a very long time. There were bags under her eyes and her mane looked as if it hadn't been combed or groomed. Instead, it was tied into a ponytail at the back of her head, leaving a large puff sticking out. There were ends sticking out and looking as if it needed to be trimmed. She was also wearing what looked to be a dress mixed alongside a sleeping gown.

"I apologise for the state that I'm in," Luna began, "this craze has been going on for quite some time. Breakfast was finished, unfortunately, but we can still have tea and scones if you want. Queen Novo has sent some of the finest tea from Seaquestria for us to try and I dare say that this is something of fine taste. You should try some."

Luna clapped her hooves together and a waiter came in with a tray in his mouth that held a spare cup and saucer. Luna lifted the cup with her magic and poured the tea in, before handing it over to Twilight. After a brief sniff, Twilight put the tea to her lips and sipped slowly, taking in the many flavours. It had a taste of a mixture of seaweed and salt, but for some reason, it didn't taste as weird as it sounded.

"Em, thanks?" Twilight replied, "It's great, I guess?"

Luna gave a quiet chuckle but stopped when she saw her big sister looking down from her left shoulder. Both glared back at each other like wolves preparing to fight each other over some occupied land or a carcass that one of them had found. The sibling rivalry was clearing beginning to come out and had never ceased to exist. Twilight, however, ignored Celestia and Luna's bickering and started discussing what they were really meant to be talking about, instead of drinking tea from Seaquestria of arguing over common ground.

"So, when will Tempest Shadow arrive, then?"

Everypony looked back at Twilight as if she had said something completely irrelevant to what they were meant to be talking about.

"I thought Tempest would be with you, Twilight?" Cadance asked. Twilight shook her head back in disagreement.

"No," she replied, "why? I thought she would be arriving later?"

Another silence followed but was broken by Celestia.

"It doesn't matter, Twilight. We can still wait for Tempest to arrive before we continue."

Spike then sat with Twilight on the same coach, while the princesses each sat on a large chair, continuing to chat happily without worrying about their previous argument. They were all distracted by each other's stories of what happened in the last week and then it came to talking about the further reconstruction of Canterlot since its attack from the Storm Armada. Celestia pulled out a blueprint of one of the main buildings that were severely damaged during the invasion, including a list of materials that were needed to help reconstruct it back to its original form. Cadance then pulled out some Maths equipment, including a compass, a ruler, a pencil and a protractor, and then started drawing lines and measurements onto the blueprint, writing numbers and equations over some of the drawn images.

"I'm afraid that this project isn't going to be cheap," Cadance warned. Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"How much, exactly?" she asked. Cadance gulped, before replying back.

"A rough estimate would be around fifty million bits."

Everypony gasped, but then settled down and returned from their tangent from the conversation.

"That is quite a lot of money, I dare say," Luna said, "but I'm sure we can find a way of finding that money. Trouble is that we don't really want to be borrowing any from another nation or civilisation, for example, the Changeling Empire or Griffinstone. We cannot afford another argument between our nations, or worse, a civil war."

Celestia then waved both hooves at everypony to gain their attention, which eventually succeeded.

"Okay, everypony, let's not get ourselves bogged down by this. I think it's best if we put this to the side for now and wait for Lieutenant Tempest Shadow and Grubber to come along."

Cadance then frowned and put the equipment and blueprints back into her bag. "But auntie, I wanted to show everypony-"

"Everypony, including Tempest, my dear niece," Celestia interrupted, "I'm sure that we can wait a little longer?"

Cadance then scrunched up her face for the first time since she was a filly. Celestia always knew that Cadance still had that childish flare inside of her, even as a grown mare. Since taking her in, Celestia had become a loyal mother to Cadance by treating her as if she was her own foal and teaching her the most high class of table manners and on how any princess in the Kingdom of Equestria should act. From highchair to the royal throne, Celestia made Cadance her own daughter, even if she wasn't her biological one.

"Of course, auntie."

The wait continued, mostly in silence, with only the ticking of the clock to entertain them.

Author's Note:

1 another word for annoying.

Sorry for taking such a long time. Now for something completely random and irrelevant: