Part Sixty-Three
Flurry Heart wasn’t sure what Twilight’s castle was called. Sandbar referred to it as the Castle of Friendship, but Rainbow rolled her eyes at that title. Gallus just called it the castle. As far as the alicorn knew, it didn’t really have a name.
The Everfree hadn’t reclaimed it. On the contrary, the foliage and vines abruptly ended several hooves away in all directions from the foundation, as if refusing to touch the place. The rest of Ponyville wasn’t that lucky. Most of the buildings had been overgrown, covered with leaves and vines.
The ghetto Flurry grew up in was named ‘Ponyville’ derogatorily by the Nova Griffonians; she never thought the actual Ponyville would be a stepdown from her tenement. The village was a wreck. The buildings that hadn’t been bombed were torn apart and rebuilt along the castle.
“I see you tore down the boutique,” Spike rumbled. He pointed to several of the boards making up a ragged storage area.
“We tore down everything,” Sandbar responded over his shoulder. “The forest or the bombs were going to take it all anyway.”
“How in Maar’s name is that castle still standing?” Gallus squawked. He kept squinting up at the crystal tree every few steps.
“Oh, they tried to blow it up,” Rainbow snorted. “Even before the ELF.”
“We watched Chrysalis order explosives for weeks,” Sandbar added. “Guns, bullets, or bombs, nothing scratched it for longer than a day.”
“The spirit of enduring Equestria,” Barrel Roller said.
“Generalmajor Jachs ordered a giant blanket eventually,” Sandbar chuckled. “I guess he hoped his queen would ignore it.”
“Who?” Flurry asked.
“The changeling in charge of Canterlot and the surrounding areas before the uprising,” Thorax explained. “He was demoted.”
“You know a lot,” Sandbar said idly. His tail bobbed.
“I’m in charge of questioning any prisoners,” Thorax answered with a slight hiss.
“Do you know who’s in charge now?”
“Generalmajor Actia Pagala.”
Sandbar looked over his shoulder. “And do your prisoners tell you about her reputation?”
Thorax met the stare. “Yes.”
Flurry looked between them.
“They talk about her to make themselves look better,” Thorax continued. “It doesn’t work.”
Sandbar returned to trotting. “Considering the size of the castle, most of us are either quartered there or the School of Friendship.” The group’s hooves clacked on the ground as they switched to an overgrown cobblestone road.
Sandbar and the soldiers escorting them stared ahead emotionlessly, but Spike, Rainbow and Gallus’ eyes wandered. Flurry looked around too, trying to guess what they were imagining. Ruins and forest. The alicorn had seen pictures, but she didn’t remember Ponyville. It reminded her more of the jungles beyond Baltimare. The School of Friendship’s walls were laced with vines and leaves; several of the windows were walled with sandbags. The purple paint was faded and chipped, showing gray underneath.
Twilight’s school was a barracks. Ponies peered down from the towers with rifles in their hooves, watching the group pass. Twilight’s star cutie mark, carved into the wood above the doors, was covered with a frayed ELF flag.
Gallus and Rainbow stared up at it, slowing as they walked by. Spike refused to look, staring straight ahead and at the castle. Twilight’s crystal tree castle loomed above the remaining buildings; guards were on every balcony. The highest balcony had telescopes. A small radio tower stretched above the tallest spire.
“It’s a bit obvious for a command center,” Duty Price commented dryly.
“It’s indestructible,” Sandbar replied. “It’s a symbol of hope.” He twisted his head to look at the alicorn trailing him.
Flurry smacked her lips at the jab at her title. I didn't pick it. “It’s quite nice,” she said. “Reminds me of our architecture in the Crystal City.” She tilted her head at the purple crystal walls of the castle proper, extending up from the truck of the glittering blue tree. “Strong crystal.”
“When you shine a spotlight on it in certain places, it makes a strobe,” Rainbow stated.
“Spike?” Flurry asked. “Dragons can eat crystal, right?”
“I never tried to eat my house,” Spike grumbled. “Or yours, for that matter.”
The ELF soldiers broke formation on the approach to the doors, slinging their weapons and waiting against the trunk. The four guards at the door were wearing proper gray uniforms with the Elements of Harmony on an armband. They saluted Sandbar.
They did not bow to Flurry Heart.
“If you need to rest, we can set a room aside,” Sandbar offered. He turned around at the doors, speaking directly up to Flurry for the first time in several hours.
“I’m here,” Flurry stated. “Let’s get this done.”
Sandbar pumped a hoof. The guards opened the doors.
One of the guards was a colt about her age. He flushed at the long-legged alicorn; his coppery tail swished between his hind legs. The earth pony blushed again at Flurry when she glanced at his flanks before entering. She was looking at his pants. He had stitched his cutie mark atop the gray uniform; a crosshair over a pony-shaped target.
Flurry’s group spread out once the faded golden doors closed behind them. Spike and Thorax stood on either side of the alicorn. Barrel Roller, Duty Price, and Frosty Jadis shuffled to her right; Gallus and Gilda moved to the left.
Flurry blinked and gasped at the table in the center of the room. The throne room of Twilight’s castle was home to the cutie map; Flurry had grown up hearing about it, about the missions her aunt went on with her friends. The table would shimmer with magic and show a map of Equestria.
Seven crystal thrones surrounded the raised table. The cutie marks of the Elements of Harmony were carved into the crystal. Rainbow stared at her throne blankly; the cloud and rainbow lightning bolt still shimmered in the light from the glowing crystals on the walls.
And the table had a large crack running through it.
There was no map. It was a divided chunk of crystal.
Three ponies and a zebra stood on the far side of the room. Sandbar crossed to them. The amber unicorn dipped her head. “Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire.”
Flurry wrenched her eyes from the table. Two different ELF flags hung up on the wall. One was more rectangular than the other. “Colonel Shimmer?” Flurry guessed. “Thank you for meeting with me.”
The unicorn stepped up to the table, next to Twilight’s throne. “The honor is mine,” she said formally. “Princess Twilight spoke fondly of her niece.”
“You have me at a disadvantage,” Flurry recovered. “I do not know you.”
“Hopefully,” the unicorn dragged out the word, “there will be time for that. Please, call me Sunset. I command the Mage Units.” The unicorn sat down in Twilight’s throne and motioned for the others to approach. Her gray uniform had a black collar around her neck.
The next to approach was a dark purple unicorn. Fizzlepop Berrytwist’s uniform was a deeper shade of gray with gold bars on the shoulders. Her gray cap sat back on her head, exposing the broken horn. Her right eye had a scar running down the eyelid.
“Princess.” The mare bowed on her side of the table.
Rainbow tilted her head to show off her own eye scar. She frowned, apparently assessing that it wasn't as cool.
“General Tempest,” Flurry said neutrally.
“I prefer Fizzlepop, Princess,” Tempest corrected.
Flurry hummed. “You turned my mother into a statue, if I recall correctly.”
“You do,” Fizzlepop acknowledged, “but I also freed her.”
“I don’t recall meeting you, but I am sure I did, General Fizzlepop.”
“Briefly,” Fizzlepop agreed. She sat down in the smaller throne next to Sunset Shimmer. “I hope you don’t mind,” the mare called out to the dragon.
“I doubt I fit,” Spike shrugged. He had to duck to get through the doors behind them.
A gray earth pony stomped up to the table, whipped her head in a violent nod at Flurry, then shoved herself onto Pinkie Pie’s throne. “Quit wastin’ time.”
“Limestone Pie,” Flurry greeted.
“Yeah.” Limestone rolled her yellow eyes. “Let’s get this done. Move, Zecora.”
The zebra trotted forward and bowed fully, with legs outstretched. “I greet you, Flurry Heart. Far too many years have we been apart.”
“I’m sorry,” Flurry apologized. “I don’t remember meeting you either.”
“Probably just for the rhyme,” Rainbow muttered.
“No need to bash, Rainbow Dash,” Zecora chuckled. Her ears twitched. The zebra’s mohawk was taller and better brushed than Rainbow’s mane. She fluffed it with a hoof and grinned at the pegasus.
Rainbow snorted before flapping her wings over to her own throne. She sat down after a longing look at the throne with three pink butterflies. Flurry Heart followed her around the table, standing next to the slouched pegasus. Zecora stood next to Fizzlepop. Flurry waved a wing, and everyone else crowded around the table.
After some visible hesitation, Gallus sat down in Applejack’s throne. “I am Gallus of Griffonstone,” he announced. “I am here on behalf of Kaiser Grover VI.” His wings rustled against the sides of the crystal. Gilda stalked up next to it, eyes sweeping the room. She kept a claw in her jacket, on the holster below her wing.
“Princess, you’re free to take a seat.” Sunset waved a hoof at Rarity’s and Fluttershy’s thrones. “We can have extra chairs brought in.”
“Might be a little crowded,” Spike countered. He stood in the back, looming over Rarity’s empty throne.
“I’ll stand,” Flurry said.
Jadis limped up next to Flurry. She leaned her rifle against the side of Rainbow’s throne to squeeze in closer. Duty Price leaned against Fluttershy’s throne, but didn’t sit down. Barrel Roller did the same on the other side.
“As you wish, Princess,” Sunset shrugged. She leaned back and waved a hoof at Sandbar. The earth pony left through another door. “It is good to see you. We get your radio addresses. Some thought you were fake.”
Thorax stood away from the table, up against the wall. Sunset craned her neck to look over Jadis’ head. “Is that you, Thorax?”
“Colonel Shimmer,” Thorax called back.
“I’m surprised you’re not dead,” Sunset said ruefully. “Chrysalis has been after you for a long time.”
“She’s forgotten about me,” Thorax chittered his wings. “I don’t matter to her.”
“The Queen never forgets a grudge,” Fizzlepop snorted.
“She does if she wins,” Throax replied. “She beat me.”
“Yeah,” Sunset agreed. “We’re close enough to Canterlot to pick up the Changeling radio. We’ve heard your death announced nine times over the years.”
“She says I’m a pony with a skin condition,” Thorax said dryly.
“Chrysalis never said anything about you, Flurry Heart,” Sunset addressed the alicorn. “Neither did their propogandists, not until you stormed down from Nova Griffonia and retook the Empire.”
“I imagine she didn’t want anypony to know an alicorn was still fighting for them,” Flurry stated in a low voice.
“Now,” Sunset raised a hoof, “the radio screams about how the Alicorn of Death kills her own followers, leaving a trail of death and destruction in her wake. She cares not for her own. They have interviews with traumatized ponies that abandoned you.”
“Really?” Flurry whickered.
“Oh, it’s all changeling crap,” Sunset laughed. She suddenly narrowed her blue eyes. “But we have more reliable sources.”
“We’ve heard about ELF cells attacking each other on your orders,” Fizzlepop said. She leaned forward to place her hooves on the crystal table. “Is there a reason you’re waging war on us?”
“I have negotiated an alliance with the Reich,” Flurry disagreed. “I need the attacks to stop. I ordered them to stop.”
“We fight for the Princess,” Sunset said angrily. “For Equestria.”
“You have a Princess,” Jadis snorted. “She stands before you now.”
“Look,” Price started, “we tried to talk it out, but a few stubborn hornheads refused to listen.”
“So you killed them,” Fizzlepop snarled.
“It wasn’t the outcome any of us wanted,” Barrel Roller pleaded.
“Your mother was the Princess of the Crystal Empire,” Sunset reflected. “Not Equestria.”
“My father was Twilight Sparkle’s older brother,” Flurry replied. “Even the griffons would agree that gives me a claim.” She tossed her head, making the crystal band bounce slightly. “And I’m an alicorn.”
“The Princess of Ponies,” Zecora said mildly. “Why have you come?”
“That didn’t rhyme,” Rainbow pointed out. Zecora gave her a dark look. “Where’s Fluttershy?” the pegasus asked once attention was on her.
“She’s deep within the Everfree,” Sunset answered. “She’s kept most of the dangerous animals out of harm’s way.”
“I wanna talk to her.”
“We haven’t talked to her for years.” Zecora looked away. “We have shed many tears.”
“Don’t start that rhyming garbage now,” Rainbow spat. “Where. Is. My. Friend.”
“We don’t know,” Fizzlepop stated. “We tried to contact her for years. We know she’s alive, but she doesn’t speak with us.”
Rainbow’s metal wing scraped against the side of her throne. “I’m going to look for her,” she swallowed. “She’ll talk to me.”
“Rainbow,” Limestone huffed, “she was always too sensitive-”
“Shut your bucking muzzle,” Rainbow growled in a low rasp. “Shut it, Lime.”
“Pinkie’s the same way,” Limestone admitted. “Haven’t seen her since I left to join the ELF. She's still on the rock farm.”
Rainbow heaved a deep breath, staring at the table. “What happened to the map?” she rasped. “Thought you said the bugs couldn’t break anything?”
“This happened on its own,” Fizzlepop replied. “We’re not sure when. The castle was cordoned off by the ‘lings for a few years.”
“When Celestia and Luna left,” Jadis guessed.
“Maybe when the siege around Canterlot broke?” Barrel disagreed.
“Doesn’t matter,” Flurry said loudly. She gave the Duumvirs an even stare. “We need a route through the Everfree.”
“We?” Sunset blinked.
“Grover and I,” Flurry clarified. “We need the tanks to get through to encircle Canterlot. We need supply lines.”
“You fighting his war for him, Princess?” Sunset snarked. “Is that why you brought Gallus?”
“I’m here to negotiate on the Kaiser’s behalf,” Gallus repeated. “Princess Flurry Heart and Kaiser Grover VI have agreed to ally against Chrysalis.”
“That must really hurt, considering all the stories about the Princess sinking your ships,” Fizzlepop commented.
“She’s been pardoned,” Gallus quipped. “I can pardon all of you for the murder of our scouts as well.”
“We’re at war,” Sunset tossed her yellow and red mane. “They shot at us and we were forced to defend ourselves.”
Flurry looked over her shoulder to Thorax. He licked his right fang. A lie. “The Reich is the only thing advancing against Chrysalis,” Flurry stated to the table. “We need their help to win this.” She looked up at one of the flags. “To liberate Equestia.”
“Oh, is that why the Reich is here?” Sunset asked. “To save us all? They might have said that on the radio…”
“We did,” Gallus responded dryly.
“The scouts told a different story,” Fizzlepop answered. “What’s the official reason?”
“The Kaiser declared war.” Gilda rolled her eyes.
Fizzlepop snorted. “The Storm King always had a reason, for every raid and attack, all across Zebrica.” She tapped her hoof on the side of the smaller throne as she spoke. “A refused envoy, an ambush, an insulting letter. He liked to make up excuses.”
Gallus fiddled with his claws. “Officially,” he began with reluctance, “we discovered evidence that the protests that marred the Kaiser’s coronation were fomented by Changeling spies at the behest of Alexander Kemerskai Junior.” He tapped two talons together.
Flurry slowly twisted her head to stare at him.
“It was a plot to forment dissent within the Reich and destabilize it. The Kaiser declared war as a response,” Gallus finished.
The alicorn did not need to look back at Thorax.
“They aren’t here for us,” Limestone thumped a hoof against her sister’s throne. “They squash the bugs, and the Reich has the largest army in the world.”
“But they are here,” Flurry said softly. “The Reich is here, and so am I. It doesn’t change the situation.”
“And what is the situation?” Sunset asked. “You’ve allied with a foreign power, one that Princess Celestia has spoken out against at every turn.”
“You haven’t said anything about the other Princesses,” Fizzlepop said.
“What’s to say?” Flurry shrugged a wing. “They aren’t here.”
“When Princess Celestia returns-” Sunset started.
“When?” Jadis whinnied. “You think she’s itching to come back?”
“Starlight asked her to come,” Spike interrupted. “She declined.”
“She was waiting for Canterlot to be secured,” Sunset defended.
“Really?” Rainbow snorted. “It would’ve been a lot easier to ‘secure’ Canterlot if she’d been there.”
“Princesses don't fight on the front lines,” Fizzlepop countered.
“Ours does,” Jadis snapped.
Flurry ruffled her wings. “Not as much as I’d like to,” she admitted, “but I do.”
“I would hope,” Sunset stressed the word, “that you would have more important things to do.”
“More important than fighting for my ponies?” Flurry asked lightly.
“Princess Celestia has never had warm relations with the Griffonian Reich,” Sunset ignored the jab. “They are using you. Equestria will be a puppet state.”
“Yes,” Flurry acknowledged. “You’d prefer a doomed guerilla war for the next thirty years?” She stared down at the cracked table. “I’m not hiding behind that shield in the north.”
Sunset looked to Gallus. “What’s the Reich’s stance on Equestria and the Crystal Empire?”
“They are our allies,” Gallus said slowly.
“And who leads them?”
“Flurry Heart,” Gallus answered. “She is the Princess of the Principality of Equestria and the Princess of the Crystal Empire.”
“What about the Sisters?” Limestone asked. “And Twilight Sparkle?”
“We acknowledge that they were the Princesses before Equestria’s fall,” Gallus stated. “Princess Flurry Heart has pressed her rightful claim on both territories.”
“Some ponies would say that they are the rightful government in exile,” Sunset mused.
“Celestia is not one of them.” Thorax pushed his way up to the table. Jadis shuffled aside. “Celestia and Luna requested asylum from River Swirl. They are citizens of the River Federation.”
“And the Riverlander papers still call them Princesses,” Zecora pointed out. “An alicorn is not easily unmade.”
“Celestia still openly claiming to lead Equestria would cause nothing but trouble for the River Parliament,” Sunset dismissed. “She’s never renounced her titles.”
“You were a citizen of Nova Griffonia,” Limestone said to Flurry.
“Briefly,” Flurry clarified.
“They never asked you to do it?” Limestone questioned.
“Kemerskai did,” Flurry answered. She let the statement hang in the air.
“What is your stance on Celestia and Luna?” Sunset asked Flurry again.
Flurry looked to Rainbow, then up to the flag on the wall. Be yourself. Awful advice. “They didn’t come back for Starlight Glimmer, and they’ve said nothing about this war.” Flurry stomped a rear hoof against the crystal floor. “If they come back, I expect them to fight.”
“Do you acknowledge them as Princesses of Equestria?” Fizzlepop restated the question.
Flurry shut her eyes and exhaled. “Not unless they come back.”
“That’s not an answer,” Limestone huffed.
“That’s the answer you get,” Flurry snarled, “from the alicorn that’s still on this continent. I’m not the Princess you want, but I’m the one that’s here.”
“And Twilight?” Limestone snarled back.
Spike gripped the top of Rarity’s throne. Rainbow also tensed.
“If my aunt is alive,” Flurry allowed, “she remains a Princess of Equestria. We will rule together as a diarchy, as Celestia and Luna before us. I will remain sole Princess of the Crystal Empire.” She glanced at Gallus.
The blue griffon didn’t make eye contact. He rubbed his beak quietly. Sandbar entered the room with stuffed saddlebags and shuffled around the table.
“Well,” Sunset drawled, “that’s progress.” Sandbar offered her a large packet with his teeth. It stretched his jaw awkwardly. The unicorn took it in her magic and rolled her opal eyes.
“Starlight Glimmer and Trixie Lulamoon fought to restore Equestria,” Fizzlepop began, “but they were not blind to its flaws.”
“Like ignoring the invasion of Olenia,” Flurry supplied. “Or ignoring Chrysalis’ industrialization efforts after my parent’s wedding.” She glanced at Thorax. “Or ignoring the resistance to Chrysalis’ rule.”
“Those decisions were made by two ponies,” Fizzlepop replied. “Precious time was lost. Starlight Glimmer envisioned an Equestria more responsive to its ponies.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow puffed, “but I don’t really remember ponies screaming in the street for war.” The pegasus rolled her eyes. “I remember a lot of protests. ‘Why Die for Deer?’ signs in Cloudsdale.”
Sunset offered the packet to Flurry Heart. “If you need time to read it, Princess, we can set a room aside and reconvene.”
Flurry stared at the front cover. It was a blank manila page. “What is this?” she asked numbly.
“Consider it a manifesto,” Limestone waved a hoof. “Trix, Star, Sunny, and Fizzy sat around a lot, tryin’ to fix Equestria and make a unified front. We took turns on the front line.”
Flurry flipped the packet to a random page. It was a discussion on the design of armbands. She lowered the packet to look at the Elements of Harmony armbands on the ELF ponies, then the purple armbands on her own. “Why…” she trailed off. “Why are armbands an issue?”
“Symbols are important,” Sunset chuckled. “Don’t get me started on the flag. It was redesigned after the start of the uprising.”
Flurry Heart looked up to the two flags on the ceiling. “You wasted time on that?” she whispered.
“There are more pressing issues,” Fizzlepop agreed. “Consideration regarding collaborators and prisoners of war, for instance.”
“You don’t get to be upset after killing our scouts,” Gallus retorted.
“Equestria is not run by rope alone,” Fizzlepop replied.
“Why?” Gilda asked. “Because you’d be swinging from one, Tempest?”
The unicorn’s broken horn crackled with blue lightning. “My past is my own,” she ground out. “We don’t approve of hangings without trials.” She looked at Price and Barrel Roller.
The pegasus looked away, but Price pulled out a cigar. “Poor luck,” he shrugged. “They had trial enough.”
“The Princess oversaw judgements in the Crystal Empire,” Jadis interrupted. “She has every right to do so.”
“A proper judicial system can easily take that role,” Sunset disagreed.
"You didn't even get a trial," Rainbow laughed at Fizzlepop. "Twilight pardoned you on the spot."
Flurry Heart skipped over several pages, stopping on a proposed map of a district. It advocated for a complicated reassignment of traditional noble roles with elected representatives. She slapped the packet down on the table, just over the large crack across the map. “What government did Starlight want?”
“She believed that a parliament and prime minister would best benefit the Princesses while ensuring the common pony had a voice,” Sunset summarized.
“If I agree to implement that, will you help?” Flurry asked bluntly.
“What?” Sunset laughed with a surprised huff.
“Is that what it takes to get the ELF to live up to its name?” Flurry rephrased. “You are the Equestrian Liberation Front, are you not?”
“Listen filly,” Limestone snarled, “we’ve been fighting long before you ever showed up with your flashy magic.”
“Judging from this packet,” Flurry tossed her head back, “you spent more time arguing over the style of uniform and flag.”
Sunset narrowed her eyes and leaned back fully against Twilight’s throne. “I’m sure this is lost on you, but logistics is necessary to win a war.”
“Which page concerns ammo, fuel, and rations?” Flurry asked back. “Is there a table of contents?”
“We can discuss that further at another time,” Fizzlepop said.
Flurry Heart exhaled and looked around the table and the ponies gathered around it. “Is this what the ELF was?” she asked softly. “A bunch of ponies bickering over every little move and decision?”
“We started a war from nothing!” Limestone shouted. “We gave up everything for it!”
“For what?” Flurry asked angrily. “A parliament? A nicer flag? Did you rush to Canterlot to save Twilight for a rubber stamp?”
“Twilight Sparkle understood that Equestria needed to change,” Sunset answered. Her horn glowed with a cyan spark. “All of us believed in her.”
“My aunt would write something like this,” Flurry regarded the packet, “but she wouldn’t let it stop her from doing the right thing.” She looked to Sunset. “You are not Twilight Sparkle,” Flurry Heart stated with glacial eyes. “You’re not even Starlight.”
Sunset’s lips curled into a sneer and she opened her mouth.
“Get out of her chair,” Flurry growled.
The amber unicorn glared at Flurry, then blinked after a long moment. Her horn dimmed. She pushed herself off the throne and stood next to it.
“Let’s make this easy,” Flurry said at a normal volume. “If I agree to this packet, will you help? Yes or no.”
Fizzlepop nodded after a long pause. “It will go a long way to easing concerns, Princess.”
Flurry nodded back. “No.”
The unicorn hesitated. “I’m sorry?”
“No,” Flurry repeated. “I am tired of begging ponies to do the right thing. I am tired of crawling into jungles and subway systems. I’m tired of making promises.”
“You think because of the way you were born,” Zecora stated, “that gives you the right to rule by horn?”
Flurry reared up and planted her forehooves on the table. “It’s not about me!” she shouted. The crystal briefly flashed under her boots, then faded. “I don’t see anypony else flying around! I don’t see anypony else doing anything but looking out for themselves!”
Limestone stood on her throne. “You arrogant little foal-”
“Shut up!” Flurry growled at her. “I wish somepony else was here doing this, but there’s nopony else. If Starlight or Twilight or Celestia or Luna showed up, I would gladly take their help to deal with this.”
“You expect us to follow you for nothing?” Sunset retorted.
“You’re the Equestrian Liberation Front!” Flurry snarled down at her. “I listened to every report! I drew the front lines on a map every day!” She jabbed a wing at Spike; Jadis and Thorax stepped back from the wingspan. “I begged him to take me to Manehattan!”
“Flurry…” Spike tried to interrupt.
The pink wing sagged down to the table. “Everything I’ve learned about the ELF makes me realize it was doomed from the start,” Flurry whickered. “That’s probably why Celestia never came, you know.”
“We fought with everything we had!” Sunset insisted.
“Really? I killed a griffon in his home,” Flurry replied in a soft, lost voice. “I blew up city blocks. I beat one of my own ponies to death. I killed a foal. I executed Sunburst.”
Sunset Shimmer’s ears pinned back. Spike walked around the table and knelt down, speaking into her ear with a low, quiet rumble. She turned her head away after Spike stood up.
“I made a deal with the Reich,” Flurry continued. “I’ve watched ponies die for me and hung ponies from lampposts.” She snorted. “I’ll fuck Grover if that’s what it takes.”
“It’d been a long day,” Barrel Roller said after a moment of silence. “We can talk tomorrow.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Flurry sighed. “This is my offer: Gallus will pardon you for the stolen equipment and the death of the Reich’s forces, and you will join my army. Make a route through the Everfree for the Reich’s tanks. There’s a plan to encircle Canterlot.”
“You presume much,” Zecora observed.
“I presume you can control the Everfree to some extent,” Flurry admitted. “Am I wrong?”
Zecora cleared her throat.
“After Canterlot is taken, I will consider your proposals,” Flurry promised. "I'm not wasting time on this now."
“That’s hardly a promise,” Limestone chuckled bitterly.
“You reject everything out of hoof, but expect us to follow your orders anyway?” Sunset questioned.
“I expect you to want to liberate Equestria,” Flurry countered. “I have a shield over a third of the continent and an army beneath it. I have the factories of the Empire and Nova Griffonia. You have a forest.”
“An impenetrable and indestructible forest,” Limestone rapped a hoof on the throne.
“Big words, Lime,” Rainbow tried to break the ice. “You’ve been reading a dictionary?”
“Actually, yes,” Limestone responded. “Half this castle was stocked with dictionaries.”
“You are free to sit in it,” Flurry shrugged her wings. “We’ll go around to the north. It’ll be a harder battle.” She pushed herself down from the shattered map. “Deny me all you want, but I am the last Princess. You can sit in these chairs and play pretend.”
Flurry stared down at the broken map. “Ponies like you broke Equestria. Ponies that couldn’t see past their own muzzles. Equestria is dying. There are millions of ponies still in the west and south. You argued over paperwork while they died.”
“That’s unfair,” Sandbar whispered, clearly hurt by the accusation.
“Yes or no?” Flurry asked. “Yes, you will help liberate Equestria; or no, you’d rather stand with the Hegemony?”
Sunset, Limestone, and Zecora inhaled with angry expressions.
“Yes,” Fizzlepop responded before they could.
They turned their glares on her.
The tall unicorn stood up from the throne and cracked her neck. “Corporal Sandbar,” Fizzlepop said flatly. “Escort the Princess to the prepared guest quarters. Spike, Rainbow Dash, Barrel Roller, and Duty Price, please stay to discuss the future of the ELF.”
Sandbar looked between the pink alicorn and the mulberry unicorn before moving towards one of the side doors. Jadis, Thorax, and Flurry Heart followed, trailed by Gallus and Gilda. Sandbar mutely led them up two flights of stairs to a side room and pushed open the door. The plain crystal room had been cleared out and several thin cots set up along two walls.
“We’ll need two more,” Jadis advised after counting.
Sandbar nodded and closed the door.
Flurry cocked an ear. Shouting reverberated through the floor. “Probably messed that up, huh?”
“You could’ve agreed,” Thorax said mildly, “and we would’ve spent the next week arguing over electoral districts or uniforms.”
Gallus and Gilda picked the two cots farthest from the door.
“I don’t want their help,” Jadis spat. The crystal pony paced, limping along with her rifle bouncing against her uniform. “Did they argue like this about us a thousand years ago? When my mother died praying for rescue, were they writing up reports?”
Thorax leaned against Flurry. She hugged him with a wing. “They did think you were speaking hyperbolically,” he whispered.
“What?”
“About, uh, Grover.”
Flurry looked to the side and inhaled. She pushed the breath out with a foreleg. “Yeah. That just slipped out.”
Thorax nuzzled her.
“Thank you, uncle. Shouldn’t you be down there?”
“I helped them where I could from Nova Griffonia,” Thorax explained, “but I was never officially with them. Smuggling weapons and supplies with codebreaking assistance, but that’s it.”
“That sounds like a lot.”
Thorax buzzed his wings. “Still lost.”
Flurry’s horn tingled as a bolt of powerful magic was discharged below them. She looked around the room. The muffled shouting had increased in volume; Spike’s draconic roar thundered and rattled the floor.
“Are they killing each other down there?” Jadis nickered.
“Sounds like a griffon argument,” Gilda chuckled. “We should’ve stayed.”
“Fizzlepop, Sunset, and Limestone are the three most stubborn ponies alive, discounting present company,” Thorax chittered. Flurry pushed him away with a slight smile.
“You think they’ll agree?” Flurry asked.
“Do you want my assessment as your uncle, or as a changeling?” Thorax asked back.
“Whichever one is more honest.”
Thorax smiled and showed off his fangs. “As a changeling, then. Spike and Barrel Roller have always hesitated, but too much has happened in the north for them to balk now. Duty Price and Rainbow Dash support you to the death.”
“I wasn’t worried about them,” Flurry responded.
Thorax nodded. “Limestone’s prideful. Being counted as a collaborator is too much to bear. She’ll argue with you and hate you, but she’ll fight. Sunset idolized Celestia. She wants her to come back; she thinks backing you is a betrayal.”
Flurry grit her teeth.
“Fizzlepop served the Storm King ruthlessly,” Thorax kept going, “but whatever concerns she has about you are irrelevant. She’s not going to let ponies die while she could do something.”
The changeling sighed. “Zecora’s hard to read. She fought hard during the war as a tank commander, but her Everfree Resistance wasn’t connected to the ELF. She did it before the uprising. I don’t think she cares about the ideals; I think she just wants Chrysalis and the Hegemony gone.”
“How?” Jadis asked. “You figure that all out during the meeting?”
“It’s just a guess,” Thorax admitted, “but I’m pretty good at my job.”
“I thought you said you weren’t a very good changeling?” Jadis laughed.
“I got better at it over the years,” Thorax responded.
The floor rumbled again.
Flurry levitated her saddlebags over to a cot and undressed. She folded her uniform up carefully, noting another hole in the hind-left pantleg. I really need to get this repaired. The short purple and blue tuft of her tail swished thoughtlessly as she laid on the bed; she kept the crystal band on.
Thorax laid down and stared at the ceiling. Jadis unbuttoned her uniform, but kept it on for the pockets and ammo clips. Her rifle laid beside her bed. Flurry levitated over the last set of stale sandwiches while the trio listened to the argument continue below them. There was an occasional crackle of magic.
Gallus and Gilda laid on the beds. Thankfully, they weren't weird about the ponies undressing. Gallus took off his coat with a sigh, leaving his undershirt on. "Sometimes, I really miss Equestria and its casual nudity."
“Kemerskai and the Changelings, huh?” Flurry asked Gallus. He rubbed a claw on the back of his neck and sighed.
“I am aware,” Gallus admitted slowly, “that it seems unlikely.”
“He was open to discussions with Chrysalis,” Flurry said ruefully.
Gallus perked up. “If you happen to have evidence of this, I would be very grateful if you shared it.”
Thorax rolled over on his bed.
Flurry bit her lip. “I might have acted preemptively.”
“Ah.” Gallus clacked his beak. “Just so.”
“Dunno why Grover bothered,” Gilda flapped her wings from her bed. “Nothing like a war against someone else to bring griffons together.”
A few minutes after the shouting stopped, there was a knock on the door. Spike and Fizzlepop entered. The mare’s windswept mane was heavily singed and her scarred eye was black from a bruise. Spike looked fine.
“Tempest Shadow,” Flurry nodded. She flapped her wings and hopped off the cot.
“Please,” the mare cringed, “I prefer Fizzlepop, Princess.”
“Sorry. General Berrytwist.”
“After some discussion,” Fizzlepop downplayed whatever happened downstairs, “the ELF has decided to support you. We’ll send word to the remaining cells in the west.”
“Is everypony alright?” Flurry asked.
“Colonel Shimmer has a concussion,” Spike answered. “That’s the worst injury.”
“What happened?”
“I headbutted her,” Fizzlepop said bluntly.
Flurry turned her head away and suppressed a smirk.
Fizzlepop closed her eyes. “Some will never support this decision. They will resist as the Reich advances. They might even fight us.”
“I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that,” Spike added. “If we can take Canterlot, you will officially be the Princess of Equestria.” The dragon folded his arms and stared down at Flurry. “That means paperwork.”
“I’ll look at the packet,” Flurry sighed. “Am I that bad? I thought ponies didn't even know who I was.”
“It’s not about you,” Gallus said from his cot. “It’s about the Reich. Ponies and griffons have always quarreled.”
“We’re fighting together,” Flurry scoffed. “Aquileia’s proof it can work.”
“I’m not sure a hotbed of revolution and tyrannical monarchies is a good example,” Gilda snarked.
“I’m sure we’ll start to see The Protocols of the Elders of Griffonstone get passed around, just like the Riverlands,” Gallus agreed.
Gilda squawked in laughter. “Gruff loved to read that Maar-damned thing!”
“Loved to make fun of it,” Gallus replied. He pitched his voice into a low rasp. “If griffons controlled all the banks, Griffonstone wouldn’t be the wingpit of Griffonia!”
Gilda cackled at the impression.
The ponies and dragon were utterly lost. “I’ll explain later,” Thorax promised.
“We’ll get you a map tomorrow morning,” Fizzlepop recovered. “Draw out some of the trails. We can make a few areas relatively safe, like the castle and Ponyville, but it’ll be slow moving, especially for tanks. There’s a lot of rules about the vines.”
Gallus stopped smiling. “I can draft up a pardon and overall agreement to cease hostilities, unless you happened to have some prisoners of ours?”
Fizzlepop shook her head.
“The scouts had orders not to fire on ponies first,” Gallus rebuked the unicorn. “I would have believed that lie if it was one of our greener garrisons, but not the recon units.”
The unicorn scuffed a hoof on the floor. “I am sorry.”
Gallus sighed. “I’ll get started.”
“We’ll share some drinks downstairs,” Spike said. “Alcohol is the cause and solution to arguments.”
“Okay,” Flurry agreed.
“Nope,” Spike quipped. “Too young, little miss alicorn.”
Flurry Heart rolled her eyes. She returned to the cot.
“Are griffons invited?” Gilda asked.
“Rainbow insisted,” Fizzlepop answered.
“We’ll toast our dead soldiers.” Gilda hopped down from the cot. “See if that starts a fight. Rainbow will back me up.”
“I’m down for that,” Gallus agreed. “Bet Sandbar will help. Even if he killed them.”
Fizzlepop groaned and left the doorway. Spike lingered for a moment. “Thorax?”
“Unless it’s spiked with love, no point,” Thorax shrugged a gossamer wing.
“I’ll stay with the Princess,” Jadis stated.
Flurry laid her head down on her forelegs. “I fight in wars, but I can’t drink?”
“The last thing anyone wants is a drunken alicorn,” Thorax chittered. “You’d fly to the Changeling Lands with a lampshade on your head to fight Chrysalis.”
Flurry considered the image. “Probably go argue with Grover,” she said instead.
“Your mother held her alcohol better than Celestia and Luna combined,” Spike revealed, “but Twilight and your father were lightweights.”
Flurry laughed.
Spike waited until she stopped. “I’m sorry about the ELF,” he muttered. “Starlight’s considered missing. Sunset and Fizzlepop argue about who should step down if she comes back, or maybe form a triumvirate.”
“She’s dead, Spike,” Flurry said in a soft voice.
Spike took a deep breath and his claw clenched the doorframe. “Starlight and Trixie argued about everything,” he said wistfully, “but they were the only thing holding it all together. Starlight knew it wouldn’t last; she flung everything at Canterlot. She believed getting Twilight back would fix Equestria.”
Flurry looked away.
“Starlight was a good pony,” Spike mumbled, “but she never considered bringing you to Manehattan.” His wings brushed against the doorframe. “She was focused on Equestria, not the Crystal Empire.”
“Of course they gave up on us,” Jadis sighed.
“Arctic Lily had support,” Flurry pointed out.
“She reached out to the ELF,” Thorax disagreed. “Not the other way around.”
“Starlight didn’t think anypony would rally around a fourteen-year-old filly,” Spike interrupted. “Trixie told me to bring you, if you wanted to go. It caused an argument.”
Flurry stared at the dragon with her icy blue eyes. “I wanted to go,” she whispered.
“I trusted Starlight more,” Spike explained, “and I wanted you to be safe.”
“We would’ve had to smuggle you out of the country,” Thorax assured the alicorn. “It would’ve caused riots in Nova Griffonia from the ponies.”
“We would’ve started a civil war,” Jadis agreed.
“Neither of them would’ve wanted you to fight,” Spike added. “You being there wouldn’t have changed anything.”
Flurry laid her head back down on her forelegs. “I’d like to be alone,” she requested. “You should go enjoy the party. Or fight. Go back up Gallus if something starts.”
“I’m sorry,” Spike apologized, then slowly closed the door.
Thorax pushed his cot up against Flurry’s, then climbed atop it again. Flurry Heart laid on her side. She tried to imagine what it would have been like to see Manehattan during the uprising, but could only see shadowy ponies bickering around a table.
There was another ELF flag on the wall of the room; it was the squarer one, but it still had the sun and moon. Not my mother's mark. Or mine. Flurry cried quietly. Thorax softly sang in his own, lilting language while Jadis watched the door.
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Well that was easy. A little too easy to me. But if flurry get more troops who cares.
11463615
The hard part was the internal affairs of too-comfortable revolutionaries, of which the foreign delegation was not privy. The reasoning that won out can be summed up as "are you going to stand back rather than get your countrymen out from under the changelings? ".
chk-chk
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
On other news: Sunset's mommy issues continue because she wants her mom back, Fizzlepop is just "don't have time to deal with this shit", Rainbow is pissed about Fluttershy (of course she is) and our favorite Child Soldier completely obliterates the ELF leadership with facts and logic.
An interesting war novel
One small correction. Where you use "ferment" and "fermenting", you should use "foment" and "fomenting". Ferment is bubbling alcohol, foment is bubbling unrest. ;)
11463806
Corrected, but I'm tempted to leave it in to highlight how utterly absurd the claim is.
11463615
When Flurry stopped to think about it, she was in the position of strength. She's got the ally, the shield, and the army. And she's utterly crushed that the ELF was that petty, even at its height. It's been foreshadowed for awhile, with Price and Bronzetail, with Arctic Lily and Golden Delicious. It was painfully idealistic, to the point of self-destruction. Spike implies that Starlight was at least aware of that; the mad rush to Canterlot to save Twilight would've given them a figurehead that everypony respected to rally around.
Fizzy seems to have her head on straight when it comes to Flurry and liberating Equestria. I think they’ll get along once Flurry stops calling her Tempest. They can share stories of headbutting people!
Sunset though... Are Sunset and Sunburst related in the EAW canon? This would be a hell of a way to find out one of your family is dead.
11463994
Ambiguous for Sunburst and Sunset. It could be that they knew each other before the war, or it could be that they were siblings. It could even just be simple surprise that he was alive, and knowledge of how close he was to Starlight. Regardless, Sunset isn't going to bring it up again after Spike filling her in. I will leave it up to reader interpretation.
11464137
I doubt she remembers anything with the concussion.
I remember that in one of the comics Tempest claims Cadence for the princess of air supremacy, to which Cadence tells her that that would be a good title for his daughter.
...How are you able to write such long, dialogue-driven chapters with so many witty characters in so short a time?! Give Twilight a run for her bits with your magical writing powers, whydoncha?
Or would that be giving Spike a run for his bits, since he was always the one to write the correspondence?
11465301
It drives me insane, especially when I put twelve of them in one room.
The options are "none but the most important speak" or "everyone speaks at some point to remind the reader they are present."
Magic can't really help with baby and hair.
I just read this entire thing in five days. Very good work!
While this was no surprise--as has already been said, the ELF was idealistic to the point of absurdity and self-destruction, and it doesn't take a genius to deduce that an organization that has more people behind the lines to keep collaborators from being lynched than on the front fighting is not going to be the most...pragmatic of organizations. That being said, I've always been flabbergasted at that sort of pointless, petty arguing. I genuinely cannot comprehend how you go from "symbols are important, we need a flag and a way to identify people with different, scavenged uniforms" to "we're spending enough time arguing over this that we're bothering to write it down." You either spend 5 minutes deciding on a recognizable but relatively easy to make symbol, or you have someone find an artist to do it. You sure as fuck don't argue over what it should be or look like.
This is far too funny
If something
Honestly flurry would have given the uprising more morale