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Chapter 6

6:35 AM, January 17; Canterlot Palace

Celestia smiled. “You must be the Empress of the Solar Empire, correct?”

“Yes,” the human said. “I am Empress Lei-Qo. You might remember my thrice-great grandmother, Empress Qa-Len. If the legends are true, she and you formed a great alliance against the Iron Legion.”

“Ah, so this world does remember me.” Celestia’s smile widened as fond memories beckoned. “Yes, I remember Qa-Len. She was a great leader, and an even greater friend. It was obvious to me that you are her descendant the moment you walked into the room; you are nearly a mirror image of her. Why, we sat in this very room, in these same chairs, many times. Most of the time there was talk of peace for the world. It is unfortunate that the last time we talked, it was of war.”

Celestia noticed Lei-Qo had not yet touched her food. “Eat, Empress. In Equestria, it is acceptable to eat and listen at the same time. In fact, it is sometimes considered rude for a guest to not eat the meal a host has provided them. I could understand if you were served hay or flowers, but these are high quality pancakes, digestible by all who have visited Canterlot.”

The Empress hesitated just a moment, but quickly picked up her fork and knife. As she took a bite, both rulers smiled. “Delicious,” Lei-Qo said, after finishing the morsel. “Tell me, do you know of the Staff of Qa-Len?”

Celestia’s face darkened for a second. “I do,” she said. “It was to be a last resort against Lord Ferrok, only to be used if all else failed. It was a testament to cooperation between our kinds. While it was forged by the greatest pony smiths of the time, it was made so that only a human could fully access its power. The most powerful battle mages poured their energy and knowledge into it, yet it was tuned to the frequency of a Solar Empire grunt’s weapon. Finally, I granted it a measure of my power, to call down the wrath of the sun. Like humans and ponies alike, each measure alone would not be enough to turn the tide of the war; together it was unstoppable. I assume it was, unfortunately, used?”

Empress Lei-Qo nodded. “It was the deciding factor in the final battle. The Staff was placed upon the Iron Tower and activated. The entire Iron Legion was destroyed in one fatal blow. The Staff Bearer and his squad are immortalized in a statue in the Imperial Palace. My ancestor then hid the Staff in a crevice in what is now the northern Tundran Territories. Recently, it was found and used again.”

Celestia’s eyes widened. “Tell me of the events that led to the Staff being used again,” she requested.

“Well,” Lei-Qo began, “it all started less than a year ago. Perhaps six months. The Tsar of Tundra, Tsar Gorgi, launched an attack on the Frontier, a few days after he stepped down. When the Frontier appeared to be winning, he asked Kaiser Vlad of Xylvania for assistance. The Kaiser, instead, launched an attack on both nations. After thwarting Xylvania’s attempt to gain control of the nerocite-laden Dune Sea, the Frontier came to the Solar Empire for additional assistance, only to find the Kaiser had launched an attack on us, too. After liberating the southern islands, we then launched an attack on Xylvania itself. One of the commanding officers, Countess Ingrid, revived the Iron Legion, but was defeated, and the Cenotaph destroyed, in the Crater of the Sun. The Frontier then launched an attack on the Vladstag itself, unfortunately failing to apprehend the Kaiser.”

“About two weeks ago,” the Empress continued, “rumor spread of the Empire creating a super weapon. Another nation, the Anglo Isles, attacked us in hopes of finding and destroying it. They were repelled, and my lieutenant launched a counter-attack, dragging Tundra into the conflict, and out of their homeland. When the counter-attack failed, the Kaiser revealed himself, claiming to have found the Staff’s resting place. The Alliance of Nations that then formed launched an all-out attack on his mining spider. However, we were a little too late. Vlad claimed the Staff and activated it, escaping into the crevice.”

“Hmm…” Celestia lost herself in thought. After a minute, she asked, “What became of the Kaiser?”

Lei-Qo took another bite, then said, “I am not certain. As far as I know, he and his underling Ubel are still stuck in the crevice.”

“Perhaps, with the new Tsar’s permission, I could take a look,” Celestia said. “It would be best to know for certain.”

“Indeed,” Lei-Qo agreed.

From there, the conversation devolved into small talk about the ruling of a nation, the history between the two nations, and of course, the wonderful weather Canterlot was enjoying this time of year.

7:00 AM; Northeast of Manehattan

The radio crackled. “Come in, Kommander. Do you copy?”

“Yes sir,” the pilot replied.

“What is your position?”

“Approaching unknown landmass. Bombs are ready to be dropped.”

“Good. Proceed.”

7:05; Manehattan

“Pinkie, why are we here again?” Twilight asked. “And why are we in such a hurry?”

“Well, everything was happening at once. My tail was twitching, my ears were flopping, and everything else was going,” Pinkie said. “Something big is going to happen soon, and it’s going to happen here. Come on, we have to get to the harbor!”

“Wow. Never known Pinkie Sense to freak out like that,” Rainbow said.

Galloping behind the pink pony, Twilight heard a strange buzzing noise coming from over the ocean. She could see a… something in the sky, getting closer to the city.

Within minutes, it was upon them. Twilight saw something on the underside open.

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