• Published 28th Mar 2013
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The Code's Apprentice - Lapis-Lazuli and Stitch



For a thousand years, the Code of Harmony has ruled Equestria, and the Code of Dissonance has sabotaged its works at every turn. Now the war for control over the land will come to a head, and one unicorn's decision may decide the fate of all.

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Chapter 21 - The Coin

~~~~~12 hours until the arrival of the H.M.S. Commander Hurricane~~~~~

"Listen up, colts and fillies!" Commander Spitfire's voice cut across the chatter inside of the briefing room, and the fifty or so pegasi inside of it fell silent. "In about one hour, we're going to begin deployment towards the city of ponyville. As wing commanders, this is the briefing you'll be presenting to your teams." Spitfire stalked across the room in a sky patterned flight suit, her flight goggles hanging from her neck.

"At exactly Twenty-three hundred hours, First Air Wing is going to deploy from the Hurricane." She tapped her hoof on the map on the wall. "The Hurricane will be exactly eight hours out from Ponyville at this time. Every wing will have five storm clouds when we deploy." dead silence met that statement, and Spitfire nodded. "I know. We're hoping that we won't need that kind of artillery, but our orders are to be prepared to level the city. Those orders will only come directly from Princess Celestia. Moving on."

She grabbed a marker with her hoof and drew a series of tight red lines from the pin labeled 'Hurricane' before speaking again, "We are to invest the city completely and as quickly as possible. We presume there will be heavy opposition from unknown hostiles. We have intelligence suggesting the possibility of changelings, vamponies and rogue batponies. There may be other creatures involved in lesser numbers." There was a pause, and a wintry grin from Spitfire. "Thankfully, we are reasonably certain there will be no dragons present."

A soft chuckle ran through the commanders, and Spitfire briskly went about her business. "Once the city has been secured, our orders are to ensure no one leaves or enters the city until the arrival of the Hurricane. we have been authorized to use lethal force to ensure this." She paused, tapping her hoof on the map. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear. We will give civilians every possible chance to turn back before we use that option. That means three verbal warnings, plus at least two warning shots. That is a direct order."

More nods filled the room, and the sound of quills scratching into pads of paper buzzed low through the room. Spitfire's talk cut through the noise. "Once the Hurricane arrives, we are to withdraw exactly three miles away from the town perimeter. We will continue to engage any hostiles in the air. We will maintain that perimeter until such time as we receive the all clear from the Hurricane." Quills continued to scratch, and Spitfire turned back to the ground, planting her hooves on a low table. "Any questions?"

A number of hooves rose up, and Spitfire pointed at one of them. "What is the status of the Elements of Harmony?" asked a young first lieutenant with a nervous voice.

Spitfire sighed slightly. "Unknown at this time. Your order packets will have more specifics, but to be quick - You are not to engage the Elements of Harmony for any reason. Should you encounter them in the course of our mission, your teams will deploy an appropriately colored flare and wait for backup." She glared at them. "Next, You."

A second colt lowered his hoof, a young captain himself. "Ma'am. I've heard rumors about the presence of Black level threats in the area. Do we have any intel on that?"

Spitfire frowned at him. "I'm not going to ask who you heard that from, Captain. Officially, I can't tell any of you." She paused, and then nodded at Soarin, who closed the door tightly. "Unofficially, Yes. We have strong reports of two Black level individuals on site. Since there's nothing in your orders to cover it, I am officially ordering all of you to stay the buck away from them." She tapped her hoof to the desk. "Two more, you."

An older veteran pegasi actually stood up, saluting as he did. "Ma'am, Corporal Wingstick. Any further intel on the bogeys?"

Spitfire had to grin a little bit. "Unbend a little, Sticky. No, unfortunately Equestrian Intelligence lost contact with pretty much every agent in Ponyville the day before the changeling attack." She shook her head. "And what people we do have in there have been similarly quiet. We've had no reports from Captain Armor either. I realize we all hate going in blind, but that's the cards we've been dealt. Last question, fillies." She pointed at an officer towards the back.

Said officer nodded and tilted his head up. "Ma'am, we're not getting any reinforcement are we?" The older pegasus was gray maned and coated, and had a wicked looking scar over his left cheek.

Spitfire paused, then sighed. "No. Nothing else is close enough to get here in time." The comment sent a little ripple of surprise, and Spitfire looked murderous. "Look, I know. None of you have to say it. We're being screwed here." She blew out her cheeks and pulled off her flight glasses. "So what I'm about to say next doesn't leave the wings. If I see no way for us to win, we're bugging out."

Disbelieving eyes rested upon her, and the commander of the Wonderbolts held her head high. "I will take full responsibility. You can tell them this was a direct order. I'm not going to sacrifice the best damn fighting force in Equestria to this madness." She slammed her hoof down. "We will fight. We're soldiers, that's what we do. But we're not going to throw our lives away. If anypony here has a problem with that, speak up now."

No one spoke, stern eyes regarded her from the room and she nodded once. "Thank you. Your packets are on the desk." She pointed to the big box. "Brief your wings and get your gear, and let's show these bastards what the Thunderbolt Air Squadron is made of. Dismissed!"

~~~~~~~~~

"Prince Armor, we are at your command."

Shining armor nodded shortly to the batpony who had come forward to represent the rest of his kind. "You're the last one to arrive." He gestured and they quickly filed in to the Haven. They had appropriated one of the larger upper rooms, dominated by a massive wooden table. On top of the table, a roughly sketched out map of Ponyville and the surrounding area sat nailed to it by daggers.

Shining Armor closed the door behind him and turned to regard the dozen or so creatures - Changelings, vamponies, batponies, and even a couple of Griffons - who represented his forces. "Let's get this show on the road." He growled out, stalking into the room past the crowded creatures, all of whom gave way to him with a bow of respect.

No creature in here had not known his name, Shining noted with some degree of amusement. He was simultaneously respected and feared as one of the most powerful and capable Guard commanders in history. As such, they called him 'Prince' and watched him in the same way they might have watched a manticore - warily.

Shining put his hooves up on the table and lifted himself up to tower above every other creature there, except the griffons. "I'm going to keep this short." His horn glowed and a shining silver dagger lifted up from the table. "Celestia's bringing the entire Solar guard, plus a goodly portion of the Royal guard. She'll also have the First Air WIng and the Hurricane." He glared around the room. "We've got numbers and heavy hitters to be sure, but don't underestimate our opposition here. We're not going to win this fight the old fashioned way."

The dagger's pommel tapped into town square. "This is our focus point. Queen Twilight intends to engage the princess here. All of our defenses and strategies will revolve around ensuring that she can do so uninterrupted. Assuming the First Wing is following guard doctrine, the first thing they're going to do is try and invest the town." The daggers tip dipped into the ink and drew a razor thin line around the town. "That's so they can keep the civilians under control while the Hurricane gets into position."

Shining gestured to a stack of opened scrolls. "If the changeling intel we have is correct, the First is currently under Commander Spitfire. I cannot stress this enough, she is tough and she is smart. She isn't the leader of the Wonderbolts at her age just because she flies pretty. She isn't going to fall for cheap gimmicks."

Shining Armor pointed his hoof at the grouped up changelings. "You're going to be our primary force in the air. We're going to need the Griffons for when the Guard gets here, so this one is on you. If the First gets a solid storm ring around the city, we're not going to get anything past it. Period. You need to stop them." He eyeballed the flitting, buzzing changeling flyers. "Break up their formations. Hit to wound, don't worry about the kill. We need to whittle them down and drive them off. "

The changeling general, a much larger specimen than the rest of them nodded his black insectoid head slowly. He wore some kind of thick plate armor in stark black that looked like metal. Wonder if I can get him to lend me a suit of that. Shining had come to Ponyville without his usual gear, and he felt awkward without it.

Shining shook his head to clear it, and growled out, eyeballing the rest of the table. "Batponies. I need to know if anypony in your ranks has experience in dealing with battle weather." Shining armor's eyes went to the next figure, which moved up to the table.

The burly, leather winged pegasus who they'd met earlier stepped up onto the table, leaning over it menacingly. "We've got some. Most of us are night combat specialists though. We're going to be the most useful while it's dark out." He eyed Shining Armor back. "We'll be invaluable at keeping the pegasi split up. Let the swarms wear em' down."

The changeling general eyed the batpony with a toothy grin. "Think you can really keep up with us, featherface?" He hissed out, his entourage chattering in amusement.

The Batpony roared in humor, a murderous glint in his eye. "We shall see who brings the greatest glory to the Nightmare, bug breath."

The room roared with laughter and the stomping of hooves, changelings buzzed and cackled and Shining Armor had to admit, it was encouraging. Sure, they were rowdier than the guard, and probably way less trained. But there was a predatory instinct in the air here, these were killers. That gave them a bloody edge in combat no training could provide.

Shining rapped his hoof hard on the table, and got immediate silence. Rowdy or not, they respect command. "Alright, go up there and give them hell. The rest of you, your orders are simple - keep the opposition away from the Nightmare Queen. If Celestia can be driven from the field in defeat, her army will follow her. " His eyes glared into the surrounding troops, sending many of them to cower backwards. "The Royal guard will not be easy prey. Do not underestimate them."

He took a final breath, Twilight had not given him these orders but..."I have one final order. Should all begin to fall apart, we are to evacuate the queen from the battle. We will perform a fighting retreat towards the forest." He swiped his hoof along the road route to the forest. "Once we reach the tree line, the Guard will hesitate to follow us. We fall back, lick our wounds and live to fight another day."

Solemn nods from every being in the room followed that one. Good. They were hungry predators, but they were smart predators. The dumb ones had died off long ago to the purges and crusades. "The rest of you have your orders." said Shining Armor, standing up tall. "May Victory be yours, and may we all know Freedom. Dismissed!"

~~~~~~~
~~~~The Skies above Ponyville, 9 Hours until the Arrival of the H.M.S Hurricane~~~~

High above ponyville, two hundred and fifty pitch black storm clouds began their descent towards the ground. In the pale light of the moon, the dark flight suits blended into the clouds seamlessly as each one was expertly maneuvered by three pegasi working in tandem. Near the front of the formation, in a tight bright blue and gold flight suit of her own, Commander Spitfire scanned the skies for any signs of Ponyville's pegasus population.

There. A splash of bright color in the moonlight, a single puffy white cloud that hung low in the otherwise clear sky. Spitfire's hoof came up and the formation slowly came to a halt. "What in blazes is she doing there?" She whispered to Soarin, who shook his head slowly. Spitfire frowned for a moment and narrowed her eyes, finally picking out a flapping piece of blue and white cloth. "Bloody Horsefeathers." she whispered again. "That's a Parlay flag."

Soarin was now frowning deeply. "Orders?" he asked quietly, a look of intensity on his face. Spitfire rubbed her hoof against her chin. The colorful pegasus had not moved from her spot on the cloud. She seemed to be napping of all things. That was probably a ruse, but still. It implied a lot of confidence on her part.

Spitfire nodded. "Keep the wings here. I think I'll go see what she's got to say. Stay here." Soarin raised an eyebrow at her as Spitfire detached from her storm cloud and flapped her wings down towards the cloud. Who the buck... Of course. Should have known it'd be her. Spitfire tilted her wings up a bit to slow her descent, pulling up at exactly the right moment to land on the other end of the cloud from Rainbow Dash, who was stretching out and getting to her hooves.

Spitfire immediately noticed something different about her. Dash as a recruit had always had confidence and bravado in spades, but there was something much more...predatory about her now. She was smiling, but there were hints of darker things behind that smile. Things which sent a shiver down Spitfire's spine as the rainbow maned pony slowly approached her. "Evening, Ma'am." Dash drawled out, stopping a good ten feet away. "Beautiful night, Isn't it?"

Spitfire took a deep breath and exhaled it. "Recruit, I think you'd best explain yourself." Spitfire's voice went straight into parade-ground hardass, almost like slipping into her favorite slippers.

Ordinarily, Dash had been very respectful of that snap. Now, she seemed to regard it with amusement. "I've got a message for you, Ma'am. From Twilight." She tilted her head to one side. "Before I give it though, I'm kinda curious. What's with all the storm clouds, Ma'am? Those aren't very useful for fixing up buildings or replanting crops."

Spitfire almost cussed on the spot, having forgotten Rainbow Dash's position on the Ponyville weather team. Right, like any pegasus worth a damn can't sense storm clouds in their own airspace. Spitfire blew a sigh out and decided that honesty was a virtue here. "They're an investing force, Recruit." She paused.

Why the buck not? "I'd like to give you a chance to come back to the Hurricane with me, Dash." said Spitfire. They'd been ordered to try and talk down the Elements if they could. "What you did for this town a few days ago pretty much qualifies you to be a Wonderbolt at this point, kid. I'd rather not see you get hurt. " It seemed like a perfectly reasonable shot in the dark.

Dash blinked at her, as if in total astonishment, plopping down to her rear end. Dash's hoof came up and pressed up against her forehead. "You know, Ma'am. This is one serious case of Deja Vu right now." Dash's voice sounded like someone had just stabbed her in the chest.

The tone had taken Spitfire back, wondering where this was going. "How so, kid?" She had to ask, wondering if maybe her gamble had been a bridge too far.

Rainbow dash chuckled weakly. "When I first met Twi, and she dragged us all into the Everfree to go after the Elements of Harmony. I was trying to fix up a bridge when Nightmare Moon sent these Shadowbolts to try and tempt me away from helping them." Sure enough, there were silvery tears running down Dash's face as she spoke. Dash sucked in a deep breath before speaking again. "And now here you are, offering me all of my dreams on a silver platter if I just walk away from my friends. Harmony's got a real sick bucking sense of humor."

Dash pushed back up to her hooves, a look of fatalistic resolve on her face. "This is the message. Twilight Sparkle has declared Ponyville, and every living creature within ten miles of it to be under her protection. The Equestrian Military is forbidden from entering the city limits, by the order of Mayor Mare and the town council. Princess Celestia is invited to discuss this information with her student in the town square at her earliest convenience." Dash's eyes had ceased crying, and her voice became firm. "If any soldier of the Equestrian Military enters the forbidden zone, it will be taken as a direct attack upon the citizens of Ponyville, and we will respond with force."

Spitfire stared in disbelief as dash turned on her hooves and stalked towards the edge of the cloud. "Oh...and one more thing." Dash's voice spat out, full of bitterness and anger. "You go tell Celestia that if being a Wonderbolt means abandoning my friends, then I'd be ashamed to call myself one."

Dash's wings flared as Spitfire felt her voice return. "Kid, wait!" But it was too late. Dash was already a cyan blur into the sky towards Ponyville, a trail of rainbow light sparkling in her wake. "Aw, horseapples."

Moments later, she returned to the storm clouds looming overhead. Soarin had a look of sadness on his face, and Spitfire glared at him, spitting out her own bitter words. "I bucking hate this. Get me a courier. Tell every bucking wing to stand down. Celestia wants to do this? She can bucking order me directly to do it."

~~~~~~~

Twilight lifted the warm teapot and poured the mint and herbal tea into her cup. A cube of sugar later, and Twilight was stirring it with a certain amount of relish. The night was beautiful tonight, and Luna sat next to her sipping her own cup of tea as they admired the stars together.

A burst of rainbow light was all the warning they had, Dash collapsing to the ground next to the table and wracked with sobs. Twilight's eyes widened and she pushed herself out of the chair in a single movement, running over to sweep up her friend in her forelegs and hug her close. Dash's own hooves reached out and wrapped around Twilight tightly as she simply wept like somepony who had lost everything.

Twilight did not speak. She could not speak. She simply held Dash to her shoulder and let the tears flow. Dash clung to Twilight with all of her strength, and Luna quietly slipped down and spread her wings wide, wrapping them gently around both ponies in comfort. Twilight nodded at Luna with a smile, as dash began to take deep shuddering breaths, trying to stifle her tears.

Twilight whispered softly, feeling the bitter loss in the Pegasus as vividly as though it were hers. "I am so sorry, Dash." it didn't feel like there was anything more for her to say. Dash's head shook violently back and forth for a moment, still sobbing into Twilight's chest for a few moments.

Dash finally took control of her tears and whispered back. "Don't you dare be sorry, Twilight Sparkle. This is their fault. Not yours." Dash blindly grabbed at Twilight's hoof...and kissed it gently. "I love you, Twilight Sparkle. I'm not going to abandon you for nothing."

Twilight stared in astonishment, and Luna smiled slyly. "About time." Luna murmured and sat down to stroke Dash's hair back with a hoof. "I think we'll all need to sit down once this is done and discuss how this is going to work, yes?" Twilight nodded faintly, and Dash smiled right back, nodding too.

Twilight pulled dash back to her hooves, then kissed Rainbow Dash gently on the cheek. Dash's cheeks lit up like her mane, and Twilight gave a little laugh. "So. I'm taking it they didn't immediately retreat then." Dash nodded, and Twilight hopped back up onto her chair, patting the chair next to her. "I didn't think so. So now it depends on just how bold Celestia is feeling." Her horn lit with magic, and on another table a piece moved across a seemingly abandoned chess board. "I do hope we can resolve this without a big battle." Twilight sighed softly. "Even though I'm pretty sure that isn't going to happen."

~~~~~~~

8 Hours until the arrival of the H.M.S. Commander Hurricane

The staff of Castle Canterlot had retreated en-masse from the private rooms of Princess Cadence. The floor was now violently shaking every few moments, and much of the furniture and crockery in the room had been long since wrecked. The bedsheets had been thrown from the bed and only the tiny red paper invitation remained next to the seemingly peaceful Alicorn.

Moments later, there was the sound of magic shattering. It was like the sound of steel beams being wrenched in half set to the tune of a thousand glass windows breaking at once. Cadence's eyes fluttered open and she slowly pushed herself to her hooves. Determination and controlled anger written in every line of her form. Her magic grasped the red paper envelope and tore it open. Her eyes darted across the text quickly.

Dear Princess Cadence,

It has come to my attention that a certain filly that is precious to you will be at Ponyville town square, at 8 am on a very important day. It is there that a number of important truths will at last be revealed, and Princess Celestia's master plan put into action.

You are cordially invited to attend this event, if you so desire to save Twilight Sparkle from a most unpleasant fate.

Celestia believes there are only two sides to a coin. On one side, her plan fails and all she has fought to create will die slowly under the crushing weight of the shadow. On the other, her kingdom is lifted up into the heavens on the triumph of Harmony, and cast into the gaze of the pitiless sun for all time.

This is foolishness of course. But while two outcomes dominate this event, there is a third outcome which might just happen. One that if all the right pieces fall into place, could truly change everything.

I have always been a gambling pony, Princess. And any real gambler can tell you that a coin has two sides... and an edge.

Time to toss the coin, Princess. How will you try to make it land?

-Signed,
King Sombra.

A single gold Equestrian bit fell from the letter to bounce with a loud chime against the stone floor. It flipped several more times in the air before hitting a miniscule crack in the stone and stopping cold upon the edge of the coin. It sat there in silence, mocking the plans of mere mortals.

Cadence's magic picked up the coin, and she examined it for a moment before tucking the thing into a satchel and running full tilt for the open window. Her wings flared out then flapped back, flattening against her body as she rocketed into the sky above Canterlot. I have eight hours. I can do that. Cadence's eyes narrowed as she swept into the skies, then dove towards the south towards the tiny pony town. Twilight, Hold on. Shining Armor, Hold on. I'm coming for you both.