Imperial Forclousure

by The Sound of Loneliness

The Princess of Temporal Screw-ups

Flurry was humming a tune to herself; she liked singing in general. Work was less monotonous when she had something else to focus on: though, literally, anything was more fun than doing dishes. Flurry guessed she had her aunties to thank for her Mom insisting on all of their own washing, cleaning and drying for their own rooms, clothes and kitchenware. Her turning out like Aunty Celestia, or worse, like Aunty Luna, would've been Mom's nightmare. Flurry had to admit that there was merit in not being helpless when not surrounded by servants, but not when there was something a lot better to do. She could meditate, for one. It will be a couple of days before anypony really needs her, but it didn't mean she couldn't improve her vision. She could also just spend time with Aunty Twilight, like any normal filly is supposed to do when growing up. Though that probably won't end well as long as Rainbow is around. The more time Flurry spends in her presence, the higher the chance that Rainbow will recognize her; then there'd be a lot of explaining to do which may or may not result in Twilight telling Mom or Moony. Which was going to end in her being grounded at the very least.

Flurry continued to hum to herself the tune she remembered from school: it was a song about harmony, of all things Nopony really remembered what it was about anymore though... except Mom that is. Though some weird kind of harmony still existed. There was very little conflict in this age, even with Moony, and some others, enjoying a good fight a bit too much. Flurry wondered if Moony went to see the tree ye: the tree would give her a hint or two. Wasn't a big deal though, they all will be seeing the tree eventually. But before tha, there's still some more work to do, including dishes.

Flurry spent another ten minutes at the sink, wondering why nopony had invented a spell to automate this yet. Eventually, the dirty plates were over and done with, so Flurry ended up thinking about what to do now. She could always go see Mom and ask how she's doing. Flurry slipped out of the empty kitchen and trotted back to the upper levels, asking a maid where her mother was on the way. Mother was doing what she was usually doing - writing and signing orders in her study. Flurry really struggled to imagine to how many of her years added up in that room.

"Mom?" Flurry politely knocked. "Are you busy?"

"Come in, Flurry. It's nothing too urgent."

Flurry opened the door and popped her head inside, her mother was sitting at her table, exactly where she expected. Flurry then moved the rest of her body inside and closed the door behind her.

"Just want to see if you are okay," Flurry said quietly. "You weren't the same since Moony left..."

"Oh, Flurry!" Cadance sharply stood up and stomped over to her window, turning her back on her daughter. "Don't remind me about her!"

"Sorry, Mom..." Flurry said apologetically. "So, anything you want to get off your mind?"

"Don't you already know what I am going to say?" Mom said after a sigh.

"Well... I told you already that it's not this exact. There are a lot of ways you can say one thing, or you can just decide to say something else because I asked you in a certain tone of voice, or if you are looking at something at a time. Besides, sometimes saying it aloud makes you feel better in on itself."

"I guess you are right," Cadance caved in, turning around back to Flurry again. "Sometimes I feel like I live in a dream I can never wake up from. It's been so long, but sometimes I still catch myself thinking about including it in my next letter to Aunty Celestia when I see a cute critter."

"I sometimes still catch myself wondering if I have time to do something after school." Cadance sighed at that. "What really bothers you though? I am sure you didn't just start feeling like this."

"I guess I am still waiting for whatever that snake coming back from the dead will mean for us. She has already taken over most of our army by simply coming in and declaring her intentions, even our household guards have been trying to come up with excuses to sneak out and follow her. Even just her presence is already poisonous."

"Well, since technically they are still a part of the Canterlot guards, I don't really see this as a large surprise," Flurry couldn't help but point out. "Did Dad ever try to break them off into a separate culture?"

"Your dad is too proud of being the Captain of the solar guard to do anything like that. He wouldn't even listen."

"Mom, I really don't want to sound like an alarmist, but this looks like a textbook situation before a coup. We probably need to replace the guards with someone we can trust," Flurry said straightforwardly. Cadance looked worried.

"Have you seen it happen?"

"...Yes," Flurry decided to not shy away this time. "Moony almost looks like an old, dusty lady in a castle, but she is a lot more than just that. She doesn't like breaking her idea of law and order, but if she sees no other way to get what she needs, she won't shy away from it. I am sure you already know, but she is a really bitter loser.
"It might not come to that though, so don't worry too much, okay?"

Cadance, seeming as if she didn't even hear, immediately started her way back to her desk,
"I will have to have a serious talk with Shinning later about this. He won't be wiggling his way from replacing the guards this time. Also, I should start singling out whom to purge from the army..."

"No!" Flurry stepped in her way. "Mom, please! I know you told me that I am too young to understand anything about governing the country, but, please, don't overreact. Trust me, the last thing we want is to provoke Moony to do something drastic to prevent the loss of her staging area. She is already thinking about this and we really don't want to give her reasons to act now. Mommy, I know you want to protect everyone, but you won't be able to if she locks you up in your own quarters under guard. We have to play along with her and give her what she needs. For now, let's just replace the guards."

"If she is already considering it, then we should prepare to defend," her mother still sounded unmoved. "Household guards won't protect us from a hostile takeover."

"Neither will the army purged from its best soldiers, Mom! You aren't getting it, Moony isn't just popular with soldiers because she used to fund the army more than Celestia. Soldiers love her because she and they are cut from the same cloth. She won't tell them to do anything that she herself wouldn't do: she would sleep with them in one tent, eat from one bowl and walk on one road. They believe in her because she'll get them out of any trouble and because they know she always remembers them: the little guys. If it comes to it, the majority of soldiers, even if they aren't changelings, will side with her and there's nothing we can do about it right now. To our subjects it's the choice between two personalities, they don't care who has more claims or any other royal thing Moony constantly talks about, what they care about is who would treat them better and among the soldierly, she has no rivals.
"Mom, you need to face it: we can't oppose her and win. We have to bide time and search for a way out of this situation without heavy losses. We can replace guards with civilians to reduce how much information leaks out, but anything larger will provoke a response. Moony only cares about our army, if we allow her to have it, she'll have no reason to take interest in some other things we may be doing. If we make enough friends, we could possibly defend ourselves if Moony still decides to depose you in the end."

"Flurry, I am sorry, but how do you know this? Are you sure of your vision? Nightmare Moon won't know a thing until it is too late. She is too far."

"Mom, remember who we are talking about. Underestimating Nightmare Moon is a very bad idea, just like Chrysi." Truth be told, Flurry has already regretted starting this conversation altogether. She didn't prepare in advance, didn't look through possible outcomes and here her mother was about to make what would be the worst mistake of her life so far. Entirely because of Flurry at that.

"You are right," Cadance suddenly agreed with her to Flurry's great relief. "I certainly cannot underestimate her, especially what she'll do when she doesn't see us useful anymore. I will not waste time and will start preparing. Flurry, dear, use your gift to find out exactly when she notices." Flurry was internally facehoofing herself. Not even literally knowing the future could save her from catastrophic screw-ups.

"Mom, I already did! Our best chance is to not antagonize her. She doesn't want the Empire, she only wants our resources. If we just let her have what she wants she'll leave us alone!"

"Flurry, when was it smart to arm your enemies? Even if you are right, how far did you look? What will she do after she wins her war? We cannot risk that much. Flurry, please, do as I ask and help me. For once, don't be stubborn. For me and for our country. Can you do that?"

"Yes, Mom," Flurry sighed. Without waiting for goodbyes, Flurry sulked and went back outside. Well, this went spectacularly wrong. Now Flurry had to figure out how to fix this or at least convince Moony to be gentle. Real good job, Flurry, who needs enemies to foil your plans when you can do that yourself better than anyone else? Years of preparation, nudging pieces in place, now in danger because of one unplanned conversation!
...Well, she could go to Moony herself and tell her about Mom's plan to deprive her of her influence. That would give Flurry some leverage to ask for favors concerning her mother. Her mom would absolutely hate her for that though, even if she was doing it for her from the start. As a last resort option, this wasn't too bad. At least it would almost certainly work unless she got her research of Moony's character completely wrong.
Another option would be sabotage: she could theoretically intercept orders, warn the officers under suspicion and if all else fails could bribe or blackmail the new ones. That would take all of her time though, unless... unless she got her father to help her sabotage her mother's plan to defend their homeland. Oh boy, she'll be having a second conversation today and again without preparation. There was no time to explore the outcomes, she had to find her dad before mom has a chance to get in contact with him. Needless to say, if she messed up again, things were gonna get ugly.
But where was he? Flurry knew he wasn't in the castle, he had some official nonsense to carry out today. She couldn't just go back and ask Mom and she had no idea who else might know. Well... vision it is.

Flurry sat down on the ground outside her Mom's study and tried to clear her head, she had a fair bit of practice, so it wasn't as hard as it used to be... mostly. It was silent in the corridors today, so no noise to zone out. Well, now she was just stalling...

Flurry took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled, zoning out her own breathing too. She then focused on her dad. White coat, blue mane... yes, yes this was him. Now, where... castle... her mother embracing him, or... holding him? No, this wasn't it, this was future... or past? No, had to be the future; wouldn't be two outcomes if it was past. What happened before that... him walking down the corridors, his adjutant to his side... long ride home, his carriage is missing one of its wheels and has to do with a spare, silver one, the ride starts from... a warehouse? ...no, it couldn't be that... yes... there it is, a building with heavy doors and stairs... a court? No, the court. Flurry turned around, she had to find the time when he would leave, the sun was already out, there was a clock on the street corner... twenty-seven past eleven, in seven hours. Too long, mom might send him a courier. Flurry continued going back, the arms of the clock turned back another three hours and her dad was just coming into the court. He still had the same carriage. They were driving from... from... was it an official he was visiting at home? Her father walked backwards up the stairway to the third story and walked back into apartment number six. Inside was... a mare? Flurry nearly lost focus and rolled out of her trance. Her errant mind nearly went on a spree of stray thoughts that would most certainly ruin her vision. Flurry needed time... there was one on the wall in the living room. Six past nine, still a few hours. Flurry watched the clock run back another three hours, her dad was just coming in. He went backwards to his car again. His driver started smoking just as dad was leaving. They went back inside and rolled again until... white smoke. There, that was it, he was waiting for his chauffeur to repair the engine; they were at... Stonemasons' Street, Flurry knew the building of the tin smelter at the corner. Flurry sharply opened her eyes, she was still in the corridor. She quickly looked out of the window, the sun was still high, so she didn't spend much time searching. So far so good.

Flurry remembered the tin smelter from her vision, its loading dock and the four short stacks and the carved frontal doors. The sound of the street welcomed her. Flurry quickly looked up the road. Her dad's car was there with white smoke coming from its engine, he was standing there, next to his driver and adjutant.

"We are going to be late," her dad grumbled aloud. "How long can one radiator take?"

"It's in shambles, sir," his driver responded without lifting his head off the engine. "I'll jury-rig it to work, just give me a little."

"Dad!" Flurry wasn't going to wait for that. "Dad, we need to talk!"

Shinning Armor jumped, as Flurry startled him, landing close.

"Eh-h-h... Hello there, Little Rose!" Shinning Armor greeted her with another lame nickname, this one would rank in Top 6, actually no, Top 5. "Daddy is on important business right now... important state business. Catch you up in the evening?" he gave her his usual bachelor smile that contrasted sharply with his formal wear. Some ponies just never grow up, do they?

"No, Dad, this really can't wait. It's about Mom and, by extension, also about the whole of Crystal Empire. Please, can we talk alone for a while? Your car won't get fixed for another ten minutes anyway."

"How do you... oh, yes." Flurry sarcastically hit her own temple. "Sorry, Flurry. It feels like just yesterday we were getting you ready for first grade... foals grow so fast."

"Dad, it was forty years ago! Cut the old-timer energy already and get over here!" Flurry forcefully pulled her dad away from the car. He was visibly dissatisfied at how easily flurry handled him. "Now, Dad, this is really important for all of our wellbeing, especially Mom's. I need you to help me and I need you to keep quiet about it, can you do that?"

"Of course, dear. Anything for you!" Shining readily answered.

"So, Mom is going to have a talk with your this evening, about loyalty in the army. She wants you to clear it from Nightmare Moon's sympathizers." Shining immediately furrowed his brows. "Now, Dad, listen carefully: I need you to leave them be and never tell Mom, this is extremely important. A lot of ponies will get hurt if you won't: you, mom and eve me!"

"Flurry, what is this?" Dad asked with mild disbelief. "Are you really scheming behind your mother's back and want me to help you?"

"I am and I do," Flurry sighed, there was no point denying it. "Dad, I made a horrible mistake. I had a vision of Nightmare Moon deposing Mom and taking the Empire for its resources to fight her war. I told Mom and she freaked out. She wants to defend against Nightmare Moon but she can't! I've seen it; if she feels her army supply is threatened, she'll react aggressively. There's no way Mom can defend against her, Nightmare Moon has three alicorns with her, the changelings, who will do anything she tells; not to mention all the ponies who still idolize her. Please, Dad, you have to help me! I don't want Mom to get hurt or worse, just because of my vision that might never come true!"

"This... this is very serious," Flurry impatiently sighed, at least her dad recognized her concerns as valid. "Are you sure it is this bad? Your aunt Twilight might think of something-"

"Dad! Twilight won't help us!" Flurry raised her voice, before remembering they weren't exactly in private. "Aunty Twilight won't help us. If it comes between us and Nightmare Moon, she won't pick us; she'll either stay out of it entirely or even choose her. She won't oppose Nightmare Moon because there is nothing to win by doing that, neither for us or her. Nightmare Moon is not in this to get us under her thrall again, the only things we have that interest her are our location and our troops. I promise, she won't hurt anyone if we don't provoke her."

"How do you know that?"

"Because that isn't how she does things! Come on, Dad!" Flurry took a breath. "You know, you and Mom could learn something from her. You should always take time to know who you are dealing with."

"I don't know, sweety," Shining Armor began what could only be him falling in line with Mom. "You do sound very sure, but maybe your Mom knows best? She never failed in her judgment before." Flurry rolled her eyes.

"Look, Dad, I'll explain again very quickly: If you do as Mom says, Nightmare Moon will take Crystal Empire from us and we'll end up in our own dungeons. I've seen it happen and there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop her. Help me to prevent that."

Shining stared at Flurry for a few seconds before dropping his gaze to the cobblestone below.

"Flurry, I don't know. Sabotaging Cadance's rule in her own country and lying to her face, this is just wrong."

Flurry deeply sighed,
"I didn't want to do this, but apparently I am the only one here who's willing to make sacrifices here," she grumbled through gritted teeth. "If you won't help me I'll tell Mom exactly where you are going right now, exactly who you are going to meet and what you are going to do with her," Flurry finished with a glare to substitute her threat. Oh, she will be answering for this. Blackmailing your own Dad... well, about time she started playing in the adult league.

"Flury, she-"

"Ah-ah-ah, Daddy. What's it gonna be? You either do exactly as I told you, or Mom will know everything about you."

"Flurry, I can't do that," Shining answered much more resolutely than what Flurry expected. "Tell your mother if you have to. She will maul me, but I won't betray her and Crystal Empire both."

"Dad, you are betraying both by failing to stop Mom from making a crucial mistake, don't you see? Blind loyalty is not good for anyone."

Shinning Armor just stepped close and embraced his daughter instead of trying to retort further,
"I am proud of you," he said quietly. Eventually, he let her go.

"Dad..."

"Flurry, I can't do what you are asking," he repeated determinedly. "I'll talk to Cadance, but if she decides to go through anyway, I won't backstab her, I already did enough of that already. It is better to lose power than to lose each other. It's good that you care so much, but sometimes the only option you can afford is a bad one."

"Dad... I'll have to warn Nightmare Moon, explain what happened. Then she'll at least won't take this personally."

"Do what you think is best, often this is the best any of us can do." Dad tapped her on the shoulder in encouragement, smiled weakly and went back to his car. Flurry watched him get in and drive off with his entourage. Just like that, he was gone.

"Princess, don't stand on the driveway," a police pony asked her from the sideline.

"Sorry," Flurry said back mechanically. She didn't bother walking off, she just teleported back home. She immediately dropped on her bed head-first, burying her face in the pillows.

What the hay was she going to do now? Showing her face to Nightmare Moon right now would lead to an interrogation over more than just this one thing. Moony would have a whole lot of questions that it wasn't yet the time to answer. But doing nothing will almost certainly result in her spending the next few months in a cell and that means the whole plan going kaput. She had to think and have a few more visions. Moony always says that lying is crude and a real master can deceive without saying a single falsehood; but, apparently, Flurry was no master, because she could think of no other way than try and tell a convincing lie to somepony who already doesn't trust her. But... maybe she wouldn't have to tell a single lie after all...

What if Flurry could get someone else to tip Moony off without Flurry herself coming into contact with Moony? Such a shame Tiny was already away; if she was still around, it would've been much easier. No one else in Moony's immediate vicinity would keep her under covers. Otherwise... well, she could try asking Aunty Luna to help. Moony won't second guess her. But then there's no telling how Aunty would react to the news of Moony getting geared for fighting. There also were Twilight and Rarity but they are busy with Rainbow and her friend so just being in one room with them is a hazard.
Flurry wearily crawled off the bed and headed to the next room in the corridor, this was her "ritual" room. Flurry sat down at the center and decided to pick Babau this time, she was bored of Orioodlo's smoothness. Slipping Babau on, Flurry focused on her Great-aunt. She wasn't important for the next week or so, so Flurry in all honesty had no idea where Luna was now or what she was up to.
Flurry caught Luna in the same place she saw her the last time, in her headquarters in Las Pegasus. Flurry got the impression that her Aunty wasn't leaving it often. Luna seemed to be having an argument with Sombra over some nuisance, as Sombra called it. Now, Flurry had no idea what time or date this was, but at least she wasn't far off because this definitely wasn't before yesterday. Flurry, frankly, couldn't care less about their argument, so she just went back until she saw herself in the room together with Sombra. This was her starter point, she had to go forwards twenty-four hours and luckily there was a clock in the room so she didn't have to go elsewhere to find it, she won't be losing track of Luna. Flurry watched Luna wandering across the room, reading her notes and letters the cultists were occasionally bringing her, arguing with Sombra and once with Starlight Glimmer. Flurry didn't have an interest in any of that, so she didn't even bother to listen. When the time was finally at present, she could finally see what it would take to convince Luna to help.

Flurry started simple. She willed the vision to include herself and made the phantom Flurry tell Luna how everything was straight, which Luna simply didn't believe. A reasonable response, considering Flurry just told her she knew the future. Flurry had to demonstrate by getting Aunty to write something on a paper which Flurry could then read it off without looking. Luna was still suspicious, but unfortunately, they had no time for further testing. Flurry explained that she needed help and that her Mom will lose her heritage and there will likely be a large war if Luna didn't do as she asked. Of course, Luna didn't budge quite so easily and demanded yet more explanations. Flurry figured that it will be dawn before she finds the correct words to get Luna to cooperate. Well then... better get some snacks!