Shatterpoint: Equestria

by Commando-Scarecrow

The Council

"Twilight Sparkle!" The princess of the night ran and hugged the familiar violet unicorn underneath the caramel colored sky. Finally, she thought to herself. A familiar face. Ever since she came to this topsy turvey version of her home, she was so uncertain about so many things, but now that she had found her dear friend, Twilight Sparkle, everything was certain to be resolved soon. "It is so good to see you again!"

"Um... Twi? Luna heard an unfamiliar blue unicorn call out from behind the stage. She wore a star spangled cape in a contrast to Twilight Sparkles indigo and constellation adorned one. "Do you know her?"

"No..." Damn, Luna thought to herself. She totally forgotten about this worlds Twilight Sparkle not knowing whom she was. "Ma'am? Who are you?"

While in her world, Twilight Sparkle had been an occasional student of Princess Luna, here she was nothing more than a stage magician. “I am..." The night princess struggled to think of a name suitable for her. She couldn't use her real name, after all. Princess Luna was supposed be dead here. "My name is Serenity." Luna praised herself for her quick and decisive thinking. She let the purple unicorn go. "I am sorry. You must not remember me."

"I'm sorry, but are you from Canterlot? It's possible we went to class together when we were young." She could say that.

"Yes. But that is not where I know you from."

"Those are some bandages," Showing a nervous smile, Twilight Sparkle saw the great amount of bandages wrapped around the royal mares abdomen meant to hide her wings. "Can I ask what happened to you?"

Damn, she thought to herself. She still hadn't come up with a good enough story to describe what happened. She of course couldn't say that she fell from an ill-fated flight. She needed to maintain her cover as a unicorn. "I fell from a tree."

"Oh? That must have been some fall." She had no idea. She seemed to have totally recovered from the princess hugging her from clear out of nowhere, at least.

"Did you come to see the show?" The blue mare with a white mane asked. "Because if you did, then you came too late. This was going to be our last stop before heading to Manehatten." She bluntly informed as she loaded some of her things into a wagon.

"No. Actually, I came here for a rather different reason." Luna sighed. Well, she thought to herself. Here goes everything. If this didn't work, then she may as well failed already. "Twilight Sparkle, why are you here?"

"I'm here because Trixie thought it would be a good idea if we did a show for this ratty-flank town." Ratty flank town? That settled it. This was NOT her world's Twilight Sparkle in the least, but even so. The potential to become something great still rested within the small mare. "Why?"

"Because you have the touch of greatness within you, Twilight Sparkle," Princess Luna tried so hard to instill faith in her words so that the unicorn would believe her. "What if I told you that in another world, you were the student of an alicorn princess?"

Twilight Sparkle was visibly irritated now. "I'd say that you were stark raving mad." Interesting choice of words. It was also interesting to see that her friend, Trixie, was staying completely out of it. "I could never be a student to the princess. I never even passed my magical academy entrance exam." She seemed almost seemed disappointed in herself. "What kind of stupid test is hatching a dragon egg anyway?"

She muttered that last part, but Luna didn't care. What she did care about was what she said before that. She never passed her magical entrance exam in this version of Equestria? Slowly but surely, the dots began to connect within the mind of Princess Luna. She vaguely recollected a story that her sister, Celestia, had told her. She said that there had been an earth-shaking rainbow just prior to her finding Twilight near miraculous display of raw magical power. It wasn't until the wedding of her niece, Princess Cadance, that she finally connected the story of the earth-shaking rainbow to the legendary Sonic Rainboom. "Twilight Sparkle, did you not feel the earth tremble before you as a Sonic Rainboom as you were given your exam?"

"What?" She was back to confused. "No. Everypony knows that Sonic Rainbooms are just an old mare's tale. Only legend."

"Not like King Sombra," they both turned to look at Trixie, who was still helping pack things into their wagon. "Because a unicorn made out of living shadow that protects a crystal empire in the middle of the arctic north TOTALLY makes sense." Twilight Sparkle shot her companion a dirty look as she basically shot down her skepticism of what was and was not possible in the magical land of Equestria. "By the way, Trixie wouldn't mind help with all of this. No rush, though."

"Here," a bluish violet aura enveloped all of their belongings that could fit in their wagon. "Allow me." They were both surprised to see an almost total stranger help them out. How did all of that even fit in there? "Now back to the matter at hoof."

Twilight Sparkle let out a deep sigh. "Look, I don't know who you are or why you even came here asking for my help, for Celestia knows WHAT, but you have the wrong mare." She gave the princess a smile that barely contained her bitterness at the situation. "I'm an entertainer and that's all I'll ever be. And I think it's time you left." Then she pointed to the north. "Thirty miles north of here, there's an orphanage. The owner there will probably give you lodgings for the night. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready for the trip to Manehatten." She closed the door to the wagon, almost completely ignoring the other half of her duo.

Trixie waited for a few seconds before she spoke up to the mare she thought was named Serenity. "What did you need her help for anyway?" A fair question, but not one that Luna felt wise to answer fully.

Princess Luna looked to the moon and then the sun as they hung in the sky that was neither day nor night. "This world has things that must be set right. And I wrongfully thought that your friend could help." A tad more cryptic than she would have liked, but she was left little choice. "I must leave now." Her mane flowing in the wind, she headed north to the orphanage. Perhaps there she could find somepony that could help her. "My home needs me." Trixie Lunamoon just starred at her as she left, leaving behind with more questions than answers.

"You're thinking about her again, aren't you, Mom?" Spike the dragon asked his adoptive mother, Princess Celestia, gazed at the stained glass of her sister defending her from Night Mare Moon. She couldn't bear to think of her own little sister as a monster, even after all that she'd done.

She placed her right hoof on the shoulder of her son. "I am." She had found his egg fourteen years ago while on a vacation to clear her thoughts and unwind. Originally, it had been intended as the entrance test for some foal trying to get into the Canterlot Academy for Gifted Unicorns, but after said foal had failed, Celestia took the egg for herself. Why not? Little was known about dragons and it might have served to enlighten her on the topic. Little did she know, however, that she would learn to love the small, violet and scaly creature as her son. The one immovable object of her life. She felt truly blessed the day he first called her "mommy". "It's all my fault."

"You know that isn't true." He knew only a few of the specifics, but he was still one of the only ones that knew Princess Luna and Night Mare Moon was one in the same. "You're just telling yourself that so that you won't think she was a monster."

"She is what she is because of me, Spike," she looked down to his green eyes, knowing that her son felt every sympathy for the princess of the day's plight. "If I had been more attentive and helped her while she was feeling so unappreciated, then none of this would have ever happened. The war is my responsibility, my fault, and my hell. And now everypony is paying for it. If only-"

"Didn't you have a big war meeting to get too?" Spike honestly couldn't care less about the meeting, but he hated seeing his mom beat herself up about anything, especially the war, and double especially her sister. "Because I'm pretty sure it started five minutes ago."

She wryly smiled at the dragon. "Right you are, Spike," she knelt over to give him a kiss on his scaly right cheek, much to his chagrin. "Right you are.

"Ah, gross,” he tried to squirm away, but she wouldn't let him. "C'mon, Mom!"

She let out a small chuckle as she left for the war room. "I'll see you at dinner, Sweetie." Although if recent events had any effect, few things would be decided there. She walked down the halls of glass as the golden sky filtered through the great windows. Tragic though the cause may be, she did have to admire the sheer beauty of the eternal twilight that cursed her land. As the princess and regent of the lands of Equestria, master of the day and formerly of the night, she finally found the grand door made marehogany, an incredibly expensive wood found only in the forest surrounding the city of Maredrid. With a deep breath, she used her golden magic open the exceedingly arrogant doors. Well, she thought to herself. Here goes everything.

"Your Highness!" The Captain of her Honor Guard stood at attention, along with the other leaders of each branch of the Royal Equestrian Armies. First to the right of her round table, also made of marehogany, was Shining Armor, still wearing his purple armor and with his helm on the table. His sole vanity was his missing right eye. Second from the right was Captain Soaren', leader of the Wonder Bolts, Equestria's premiere elite flying team. He wore his dress blues had something of a legendary rivalry with the leader of the guard. His flyers had been indispensable in several failed incursions by her sister. To the left was Princess Cadance, her niece and student for many years, wearing her crown and jewel adorned red armor. She was by no means the leader on the field that Soaren' or Shining Armor was, but she was every bit the warrior, even if she was used as a dignitary and representative to the other nations more often than not. And lastly was the nobleman, Fancy Pants. At one time, Shining Armor openly questioned why the upper-class and "spoiled" unicorn had been placed on the war council, that was, until, he proved to be the sole reason for the guards victory at the first Battle of Ponyville. Eventually, he found out that Colonel Fancy Pants once went by the infamous nick-name, "Thunder Hoof, the Renderer". He'd never questioned his place on the council again.

"Please," she lifted her golden covered hoof, signaling them to all sit down. She hated when ponies stood up like that, but such was the life of royalty. She turned to Captain Armor. "What is the situation on the lines? Have they been pushed farther down? Is Ponyville safe from further raids?" She hated placing that town so close to her and her sister’s old palace. Because of it, the town had suffered frequent attacks before the lines were moved further south.

"Ma'am," he began with a sigh. This wasn't going to be good. "No. The force that was moved south to push down the front lines and relieve Ponyville was completely annihilated by this," he slid a sketch of a warrior in red and black across the table. "The rumors about Knight-Mare? They're all true. And as of right now, your majesty, Dodge City and everything south of it belongs to Night Mare Moon."

She took time to examine the picture the honor guard had given her. "I see." Rumor was that there had been a near unkillable soldier under Night Mare Moon's command that could slaughter hundreds without any aid. Princess Celestia's heart sank as she realized that they were true. This did not bode well at all. "Princess Cadance? How have the negotiations with King Sombra of the Crystal Empire and King Garth of the Griffons gone?"

"Aunt Celestia," her demeanor seemed only slightly better than Captain Shining's. "The Griffon King has declared this a 'pony only' matter. It looks like we can't expect any help from them any time soon. As for King Sombra..." she seemed to grimace as she began that sentence. Truth be told, King Sombra had handled the ponies in his charge MUCH better than Princess Celestia had thought. Maybe it was because the crystal ponies actually FLED to him for his protection. He was as shocked as anypony else and, as the king they actually needed, he could do nothing else except be less of a volatile beast than he had been over one thousand years ago. Better was still a relative, however.

"Princess Cadance?" Celestia called out to her niece as she began to lose herself in thought.

"He needs proof that you won't seal him away again after all of this is over with." The pink alicorn looked bitterly to the side. "He requested the hoof of an Equestrian princess in marriage as a show of good faith. Namely me."

"We should do it," Captain Shining stated simply, as though his logic was infallible.

"Shining!" Captain Soaren' called out his rival and comrade in arms. Apparently, he didn't like the idea. "What the hell?!" Under normal circumstances, he would have been berated by Col. Fancy Pants for acting that way in front of royalty, but as Princess Celestia looked at the white unicorn, she could see that his gaze at his successor in the guard saying the exact same thing.

"We need his resources. We don't have a choice, Soaren'." Celestia was highly doubtful of that last part. "If we don't accept his request and his help, the Equestria could very well fall to Night Mare Night."

"But to stoop to his level, Captain," Fancy Pants finally spoke up, and everypony listened when he did. "He has only now discovered mercy because we share a common foe. What should happen were the war to end? What if he was to revert back into the beast that he is?"

"Perhaps we should move on." Princess Celestia thought it best if they changed the topic, because If it dragged on any longer, then she may very well be out an honor guard captain. "Col. Fancy Pants? Have the dragons decided to lend their aid to us?"

"Alas, your majesty, they would not," he gave her a very serious expression. "They consider this to be a personal affair.” Fancy Pants was one of her closest friends. He was also one of the only ones she's trusted with knowing about Night Mare Night being Luna. But it was truly no surprise that the most elderly of the dragons would know of her relationship to Night Mare Moon. Dragons are extremely long lived, after all. "I believe they can still be reasoned with, but it would take a long time to do it. As for Discord..."

Oh great. Him. "Yes, Colonel?"

"He thinks it best for his health if he were to stay out of this one. Although he has given his word not to interfere for her as much as us."

Princess Celestia knew how little the embodiment of chaos's word was worth. Absolutely nothing. "And why would that mean anything?"

"Even Discord has his standards, Your Majesty." True. Discord loved making ponies lives miserable, but he had always been above murder. “And even he is above the brutality found on Night Mare Night’s level.”

“Very well,” she turned to her honor guard captain. Now she knew why he was so unpopular with all the colts and mares under his command. “Was there anything else we needed to address, Captain Shining?”

“Your Highness,” he began, already feeling a adamant tone in his voice. Oh great. He was in THAT mood. “There is one last matter that we should discuss. It’s about one of the lieutenants you placed under my command.”

“Lt. Rainbow Dash? What of her?”

“Ma’am, she directly disobeyed orders in going to a failed battle on a botched rescue mission, nearly costing us her own life, and the life of me and a wonder bolt to the ‘Knight-Mare’.” The regent of Equestria had a feeling that she knew where this was going. “I would recommend a transfer to somewhere that she didn’t threaten the lives of her fellow soldiers.”

Princess Celestia nodded, mostly just to satisfy her captain, but also from understanding the situation somewhat better now. “I see. I will deal with this manner as I see fit, Captain Armor. As for the complications concerning King Sombra.” She turned to her niece, who still seemed very uneasy about this matter.” We will talk about that in private. Good day, everypony.” And so they all left the great round table and took a deep breath. She was wrong earlier. While nothing was really decided, there were a few genuinely important developments that seemed to arise. The news of King Sombra requesting Princess Cadance’s hoof in marriage WAS unsettling, to say the least, but at least she knew that Discord would try and stay out of this damned war. There was one more matter to attend to, however. “I know you’re there, Lieutenant.”

From the highest chandelier, she heard the legendary blue flash drop down, dressed in her casual attire. “How did you-"

Celestia gave the blue mare a wily grin. “You didn’t think it would be that easy to spy on a one thousand year old alicorn princess did you?” Celestia asked that almost cheerfully. She knew she was there the whole time, but decided not to call attention to it. She was lucky Rainbow Dash was there, actually. She needed to discuss something with her. “Follow me. We need to talk.”

She could here Rainbow Dash gulp as she followed her princess through the halls of her grand castle. “Captain Shining Armor says that you disobeyed a direct order in going to rescue soldiers from a failed battle.” She turned to see her soldier, looking to the side like she wanted to say something, but didn’t. “Feel free to speak candidly, Lieutenant.”

“Captain Shining Armor can go clop himself… Your majesty.” That actually made Princess Celestia laugh a little bit on the inside. “I joined this outfit to save lives, and if you want to court martial me for that, then fine. I’ll just operate by myself. Like that one mercenary that lives north of Ponyville.”

The princess of the day took on a Cheshire smile of epic proportions. “Now whoever said that I was going to court martial you? Rainbow Dash of Cloudsdale!” Princess Celestia turned around, using her magic to take out a winged star emblem she had hidden. “I am hereby promoting you to the rank of Commander.” As she pinned the badge to the blue mares shirt, she could see her beaming with both surprise and pride. “You are to answer only to me, unless otherwise stated.”

She also seemed confused. “But… why? I diso-“

“Leadership isn’t just about following orders, Rainbow Dash. It’s also about doing the right thing,” And here came the hammer. “Which is something that maybe Shining Armor needs to learn a thing or two about. You risked everything to save the lives of soldiers that were as good as gone. Maybe we NEED to disobey some orders.”

“Ma’am!” She snapped into attention, saluting her princess. She’d never seen a mare so proud. “I promise I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t, Commander Dash,” her eyes beamed as she said that. Princess Celestia would be lying if she said that one reason for promoting her was to piss off the honor guard captain, but she was telling the truth about how Rainbow Dash was a leader. The army desperately needed more like her. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a dinner with my son to attend to.”

Trixie Lunamoon, in her signature regalia of a star spangled cloak, walked into her wagon to see her dearest, and really only, friend pouring herself into a book. Uh-oh, Trixie thought to herself. Every time she did that, she was in some kind of personal problems. I hate when that happens. “Alright, Egg-head. What’s eating you?”

“Nothing.” Nothing Trixie’s flank.

“Do you honestly think that Trixie believes that for a second?” Twilight didn’t respond. Perfect, Trixie thought. It looked like she had to do this the hard way. But as her grandpa Luna moon once said, ‘If you want to get a point across, don’t be subtle. Use a Sledge hammer.” “Twilight, how long have we known each other?”

“A few years,” she answered that almost absent mindedly. “Why?”

“Which is why the great and powerful Trixie is going to say this to you,” Well, she thought as she took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “You’re a better unicorn than me.”

That caught the purple mare’s attention. “What?” Trixie never admitted ANYTHING like that.

“Twilight, you can do so much more than me. You can take my best and make it look like child’s play.” She looked at her best friend dead in the eyes. “You always could. Twilight, you could be so much better than just some stage magician. Even after all the mistakes we’ve made, you can still outclass me any day of the week if you wanted to.”

“Are you saying that the night with the Flim-Flam brothers was a mistake?”

“I admit nothing and Trixie bewildered why you hated that night so much. I had a great time,” they were getting off topic now. “The point is, if you could be the student of a princess, then why wouldn’t you?”

Twilight Sparkle felt a tear fall down her left cheek. “Trixie…”

“You deserve this, Twilight.” Her blue friend hugged her. “And if you don’t go, then the great and merciless Trixie will bucking kill you and take that spot for myself.” There was the Trixie she knew and loved.

“Well, I guess that settles that,” Twilight Sparkle uttered with a less defeatist and more triumphant tone in her voice. She gathered her belongings in a suitcase, which basically included some food, her constellation covered cloak, and a few books. Finally, she looked at her only friend in the world, staring at her and trying to hide the sad expression on her face. “Trixie…”

“It’s been real, Twilight. Now go help save the world.” That was all that she needed to here from her friend before she left the wagon to go pursue a greater destiny. For some reason, Twilight Sparkle just felt something click when she decided to leave home. She thought for a moment, waiting until her best and only friend was just out of ear shot. "I wonder if she has any of those pizza bagels left..."

Author's Note:

So in case you hadn't noticed, this is a chapter mostly dedicated to character developement.

Trixie Lunamoon: So by now you've seen that this Trixie is a far cry from the one we were introduced to in the show. This would be because she found Twilight a few years ago and actually has somepony she cares about, even still retaining some of her jerky tendencies.

Captain Shining Armor: Without Twilight's influence to push him to want to be a better pony, he turned into kind of a dick. This is made worse when you consider that Twilight was the reason that he and Cadance met in the first place.

Comments

[shadow avenger]

2019399
Look if Rainbow dash had not done her sonic rain boom Apple jack would still be in Manehatten Pinky would still be on the rock farm Rarity I don't actually know and Twilight would not be the princesses student, they would have been raised in completely different environments and would have completely different personalities and Twilight would never be sent on her mission to defeat Night mare moon

[Silvar Nightbreeze]

lookin' good, and I'm eagerly waiting for the next update!

[Johndye]

Dead, right?