Imperial Forclousure

by The Sound of Loneliness

A Life and Its Disagreements

"They have a garrison in Ponyville, a company of motorized infantry, it sounded like. They have a decade of simple trucks, possibly mortars and heavy-caliber machine guns," Nightmare Moon described.

"We can handle that many," Daybreaker answered dismissively.

"If necessary, I don't imagine it will come to that; they don't even know we are here. Now, something much more interesting," Nightmare Moon glanced down at a mare with a stylish fedora standing by her side. "This is Lady Nightstar she is our liaison from Luna's faction of the cult," the mare silently lifted her hat in a greeting. "I believe she has information on the state of Canterlot's defenses."

"Indeed, my Mistresses. I have been gathering intelligence in Canterlot for some time now. Canterlot garrison is small and lacks heavy weapons. It's stationed in the airfield higher on the mountain, I imagine just as you left it. There are about seven companies worth of soldiers and about a thousand supporting personnel. They have mortars and attack craft but they will be hesitant to use them, fearing collateral damage. Canterlot is one of the most peaceful assignments a trooper can get at this time, so you could probably take them in their sleep."

"I suppose. What do you think, Celestia? My old Palace would likely be in a sorry state, but there is a throne there for you to sit on. I doubt the citizenry will have too many grievances with you reclaiming it." The Sun Princess stayed quiet so far, Celestia was very clearly feeling out of her element without having authority.

"It seems to me it will not be this easy. Tell me, My Little Pony, how do you think ponies would react?"

"There's a significant anti-monarchist sentiment. Ponies blame the royalty for their misfortune."

"Sentiments come and go, they will grumble but obey. Especially if one would demonstrate the futility of resisting. After all, they will die one day and we won't," Nightmare Moon dismissively pointed out. "I suppose we could bring more changelings if they are determined to be uncooperative. But the real question is whether they will fight us?"

"Some will," Nightstar shrugged. "It's difficult to tell until it's time."

"So? Shall we make a couple of examples, Celestia?"

The Sun Princess looked visibly unwell from where the discussion was going,
"There must be some better options."

"I understand that you never had to fight for your throne, but you must understand that this is not abnormal. We are not in a position of power at present and this means we must do what we can, we do not get to choose methods," Nightmare Moon quickly contradicted.

"If you are so experienced, I do not see why to ask me. I want none of your warmongering. you know this."

"I assure you, my intention is far from such. It is that power struggles often involve elements of warfare."

"Cadance made it beyond clear that she will not support us in a war," Celestia reminded. Celestia could always find more arguments, Nightmare Moon noticed.

"That depends on just how badly we want her resources. Technically, you still have a claim to her title and you are still, technically, her liege. You could simply usurp Crystal Empire and do with their army as you please," Nightmare Moon mused.

The proposal sent the room into a state of shock. Celestia stared at her wide-eyed trying to discern if she was joking and even her sister covered her mouth.

"Surely you realize that Cadance will not simply roll over," Celestia tried to dispel the suggestion together with its implications.

"She will resist, of course, but her ability to do so is limited. Changelings will support us while Cadance herself will have little chance against both yourself and my illustrious sister, perhaps even Twilight."

"Sister, how can you even think something so dishonorable?" Daybreaker indignantly spoke up. "Cadance may be a mouse while we are a lion, but she is the rightful ruler of the Crystal Empire. She is the living descendant of Princess Amore. How can you suggest so serenely to depose her for her army?"

"What is Honor, sister?" Nightmare Moon calmly asked. "Do you consider failure to reclaim one's title as honorable? Perhaps honor is allowing one's subjects to b ruled by common rabble? Maybe it is forgetting one's place?"

"Crystal Ponies will not abide by this!" Celestia was even louder in her resentment.

"Oh, they will abide by anything we decide. To a commoner, it makes little difference what the name of the lord that rules them is. Tax collectors always show up on time and the armies always levy.
"But perhaps it is too early. I have learned of a way we can glean better insights. It seems that the new capital is in Manehattan instead of Canterlot at this time. We can learn much by infiltrating the Manehattan administration."

"Your Eminence, if I may," Nightstar asked for a word.

"Speak," Nightmare Moon permitted.

"I can pass on a message to our people in Manehattan so that they may compile their intelligence."

"Unless you are telling me that Luna has her own people in government positions, I don't believe that will be of any use to us. We will be soon having archives at our disposal."

"You plan to steal a whole archive?" Daybreaker asked in disbelief.

"I plan to gain access to more than one. It has been such a long time since the last time I came into a library. Tell Tarsus that we are going to need an archivist or two.
"Celestia, do you still remember that quaint spell that you used for mailing Twilight her instructions? Tell me: can it be made to work on changelings?"

"Possibly. However, it has to be something other than Spike's own fire breath this time."

"How much time do you need?"

"A day is plenty."

"Excellent. Now, Lady Nightstar, we must start assessing the state of Canterlot. What can you provide us with?"

"I will be honest, Your Eminence, not enough to give you the city on our own. I happen to have favors from Olive and her boys. They can help you smuggle in weapons if this is how you want to go about this."

"Pardon me? Are you openly telling me that you are friends with smugglers?" Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes.

Thestral mare stepped back,
"Well, that would not be the word they use. You see, the Bureau made a statement against alcohol. It harms you physically and mentally, as well as other ponies who have to see you. My friends just get ponies what they want, they don't do anything dirty."

"Oh, in what times do we live," Nightmare Moon's voice dripping with sarcasm. "I am given criminals as intermediaries. If it was a more fortuitous occasion, I would be ordering my guards to throw you into a cell now, but alas."

Nightstar suddenly gave Nightmare Moon a very indignant glare,
"Excuse me, Your Eminence! After you told us to disband our church, you didn't specify how we are meant to survive in the city which despises us! Unlike those heretical schismatics, we obeyed your order!"

"Why, dear, that is very good to hear! I was convinced that your cult was nothing but a failure until now, incapable of following even the clearest instructions! I am glad that my trust in your kind was not entirely misplaced."

Nightstar looked on in stunned silence. Celestia and Daybreaker both silently stared at her aswell.

"Why have we fallen silent all of the sudden? We have a takeover to plan."

"I wonder, do you even realize what you are saying?" Celestia asked, mostly rhetorically, as Nightmare Moon felt.

"Saying? What I said was a compliment. Religious fanatics make fine soldiers, but in peacetime, they are nothing but trouble. I was tired of them causing discontent among my subjects and I ordered them to disband their hierarchy so that they won't cause trouble in an organized matter at least. I am glad that at least some of them backed their supposed devotion to me with deeds."

"Nightmare Moon, have you considered perhaps showing your own subjects respect? If this is how you always treated them, it baffles me that they were apparently fond of you," Celestia put through with audible resentment.

"Oh, but respect is too valuable to dispense freely. Especially to those who deserve none. You yourself showed Luna's chosen tribe very little respect. I would argue that I did more for them than you ever tried."

"Wait!" Nightstar gathered enough of her courage to stick in between them. Nightmare Moon did not appreciate the lack of tact, but she liked the thestral's spine. Well, all eyes were on her now...
"Is it true? Have you really despised us all this time?" Oh, the poor dear, she really couldn't have guessed. Nightmare Moon smiled internally.

"Why, is it really so surprising for you? You believe me to be a goddess, that in and of itself doesn't deserve respect. You were of great use to me during our war, but afterwards, you have failed at being good subjects to me. That is not a personal fault of yours, or even not of your high priestess. Every lord or lady requires their subjects to be loyal, but loyalty isn't the same for different people. Changelings that you have seen in the hall are loyal to me because I proved my superiority over their pathetic Queen, ponies were loyal to me because they simply had no one else to care for them.
"You, on the other flank, were not loyal to me at all, what you were loyal to is the manufactured image that I had nothing to do with by the time I returned from exile. I resented the thing that you worshipped, it was insulting that someone would imagine me so petty and cowardly. Your goddess punishes others for the crime of not worshipping her and requires you to spread the faith in her by force despite controlling the sun and moon, and also the afterlife and dreams. Do you really believe me so weak that I would not show my face to the ones I expect to worship me and instead send you to tell them about me?
"I suppose the answer to your question is 'yes'. I resented everything about your religion since the moment I returned."

Nightmare Moon had to admit, it felt nice to finally express how she felt about them. Unlike Chrysalis, she didn't enjoy lying. Lying is a very primitive way to deceive, there are much better ways that allow her some room to manueuvere even if they fail.

"But why didn't you just correct us if we were so wrong? You were the center of our existence, we would've changed!" Nightstar sounded as if she was about to cry. Precious little thing.

"Dear, what makes you think it was so easy? You were on the inside, weren't you? What would happen if Luna tomorrow told your high priestess that she wasn't at all what you thought she was She will simply attempt to internalize and then disseminate this new and warped version to her underlings. You see, it is not your worship that I required. Your loyalty was supposed to be that of honor and duty as any good subject's, nothing could be simpler."

"But... if you aren't a goddess what are you?! You don't die, you don't age, you barely even can be harmed! You have power over sun and moon, and-"

"Let's skip the whole list, thank you very much. I don't know what exactly I am, as you can guess, there's no research on the subject of me. I am absolutely, certainly not natural in any way you might imagine. I suppose I could agree with one of my most recent acquaintances. The closest word to describe me is 'spirit', though I expect scholars would protest. Now, if your curiosity is all satisfied, I'd like to come back to the matter before us.
"I have in mind to cease the airfield and use it to land more troops and weapons. I suspect we'll need at least a single artillery battery. I'll send a message back to Crystal Empire to prepare four one-twenty millimeters and perhaps three thousand shells. That will be more than enough to shell into the ground any surrounding settlement that might resist us. But they are unlikely to even notice at first."

"So this is your plan then? You will seize our capital back in a swift strike, what then?" Celestia was skeptical.

"Then we'll have to pass the initiative to our enemy and see their reaction. If we have armies mobilizing, then we must call for help and either remove Cadance out of the way or persuade her to not interfere. If they decide to parlay instead, then we can do even more. Parlaying with the war already on is a show of weakness and a signal that we can take more from them."

"This is so characteristic of you that I am not even surprised," Celestia said with a huff at the end. "Your response to an offer of peace is more war. Please, explain: why are we doing this? Have you considered negotiating at least?"

"Negotiate with who? Celestia, may I remind you that the throne is currently unoccupied? There isn't even a usurper to speak to. Who are you going to negotiate with?"

"Your Eminence, if I may again," Nightstar grudgingly spoke up. "There is a government body you can speak to. They have the power to sign treaties if this is your aim."

"That 'Bureau' I keep hearing about? Please, what is there to talk about with an assembly of peasants? I reckon they won't agree with each other on what type of drapes to hang over the windows, much less on the procedure on how to pass the authority back to its rightful holders."

Both Celestia and Nighstar grimaced, Nightmare Moon wanted to roll her eyes but decided to restrain herself.

"I would rather at least try before we have to use force and ensure our ponies hate us for certain," Celestia answered in the end.

"So be it," Nightmare Moon answered simply. To her, it really didn't matter exactly what they were going to do with this situation. She was only here for Luna. "I'll have my soldiers prepare for when you fail and they attempt to imprison you. Now, to the less important matters. Celestia, did you manage to draw Miss Dash to tell you what she was doing in the middle of our camp? I do not expect this to be a coincidence."

"She was decidedly tight-lipped. She only said that she had some kind of a problem she needed Twilight's help with. I believe we should ask her in a few days. Applejack felt insulted and stormed out with a goodbye, in case you wonder about her success."

"Interesting... If Twilight's account of their falling out was accurate, Rainbow Dash is desperate. She may be of use to us after all. Now, Lady Nightstar, are you aware of any other of Princess Twilight's old companions? It seems we just keep running into them."

"They appear to have gone to ground, Your Eminence. But I did hear a rumor concerning a bright pink pony mare commanding an airship. She and her crew are apparently a scourge of the skies south from Tenochitilan basin."

"An airship then... Well, that would be quite impractical. I suppose we would have to wait and see who else will come out of their hiding spot," Nightmare Moon deliberated in silence for a while. "Sister," she abruptly called, making Daybreaker shudder. "I have something for you to do."

"...Me?" she asked with a note of surprise. "Didn't you tell me to care for-"

"Yes, I did and I see absolutely no reason to believe it would impede your performance. You are to travel back to Mount Aris and access the state of my old Guard. It is regrettable if I'll have to call them from their retirement, but it seems there might not be a better way. Learn whether they require any weaponry and equipment and count exactly how many of them will still fight."

"I'll do as you say..." Daybreaker then stood, shuffling her hooves and staring at the floor.

"Is my instruction unclear?" Nightmare Moon asked coldly.

"Sister, there is a matter I must speak to you with concerning my... caretaking. Young Tiny has not taken her textbooks with her. I was wondering if you might allow us to borrow your spellbook just until we return to Crystal Empire."

Truth be told, Nightmare Moon was plesantly surprised. Daybreaker actually seemed to learn her lesson in humility... or perhaps she was afraid of failing her. Either way, it wasn't such a poor idea, with Daybreaker no one would even think of stealing it.

"Very well," Nightmare Moon finally said. "Take it with my blessing and make absolutely sure it stays with you at all times. Use it to teach our little sister but no destructive magic. Be warned: if you lose it you better not come back," Nightmare Moon ominously ended. "Go now."

Daybreaker dropped her eyes back to the floor and quickly retreated away from the chamber.

"I suppose I shouldn't expect you to be gentle to your own kind," Celestia thought aloud. "Who's better to know your own than you?"

"Daybreaker allows her emotion to override her judgment. I wonder where did she pick that habit up?" Nightmare Moon immediately jabbed back.

"Perhaps I also was too gentle," Celestia mockingly agreed.

Both mares glared at each other from across the room, neither one making a sound.

"Be careful whom you spite," Nightmare Moon warned in the end. "You will be a sorry leader without even your enemies to rely upon."

"I don't intend to have enemies. But sometimes life disagrees."

"Indeed it does... indeed it does..."