Luna has a secret she wants to keep from her sister.
Before Luna turned into Nightmare Moon, she had proposed to her sister to create a kingdom of her own. Fearing that this would lead to a conflict with her sister and her realm, she forbid her to do that. But Luna ignored her sister, and sent a few ponies to the north, to a secure location Luna found before. A thousand years later, Luna hasn't forgotten that there once was a settlement she created, and this settlement has some things to tell her.
Luna stood in her room, staring at the altar in front of her. Her room looked exactly the way it was in the old residence of her sister and herself. The bed was apparently brought over. The cushions and mattress were new, but the carvings she made as a young filly were in the wooden frame of the bed. Beside the dark blue bed were two blue bookshelves containing now-ancient manuscripts she read in the past and had held dear over all the time she had been banished to the moon.
But the most important object was still the altar she intensely looked at. The ancient stone basin contained immensely old and powerful magic. After a thousand years the magic has grown weak, but it only needed a spark to reignite it once more. Solely the fear to learn a horrible truth let Luna hesitate, but in the end curiosity was stronger.
The dark blue alicorn activated her horn, targeted the basin, and shot the spark. The blue flame lit again, emitting cold light after a millennium of rest. Luna smiled, but only for a moment. She knew it wasn't over yet. 'Come on Luna, just a small step to go now' she thought. The letter she had prepared, which was resting on a new desk on her left side, floated towards the basin. It rested in the air before it finally went into the flame. The letter vanished in the flames as it did in the past: seemingly melting into nothingness.
Now all Luna needed to do was to wait for a reply. She left the room through the huge door containing a carving of her banishment. Her sister promised to change the carving into the same she had; two alicorns, standing face to face, the sun above one, the moon over the other. A symbol of cooperative reign. Luna turned around, looking at the strange flame before closing the door behind her.
Priestess Moonprayer XV was bowing in front of an ancient basin glowing with a blue flame. The flame had been burning for many generations of priestesses. The unicorn was praying towards the rising moon in hopes for a sign of guidance. Terrible things had occurred, many of them in the past few years.
As Moonprayer looked up a strange piece of paper was thrown out of the flame. She caught it in a levitation spell before it touched the ground. As long as the source of the object was unknown, it was not supposed to touch anything. Moonprayer opened the letter and read through it. Her eyes widened. Her prayers had finally been answered. She ran to her grandmother, Moonprayer XIII. The elder would certainly know what to do.
I hope that everything is all right in the north. How are the settlements? Did you do what I have told you? Are there any problems?
Also, I have to excuse myself. I couldn't answer you for a very long time. This is because I turned into a monster: Nightmare Moon, the darkness within me. She had taken over, and got us both banished to the moon. My sister was powerless, and couldn't do anything to help me, which she regretted until I returned. I trust you with this information but must ask you to keep it hidden from the others to prevent a possible panic.
Now that I am back, I will be here again for you. If you need any help, I will come and support you.
It wasn't until after the sun had risen that Luna had time to return to her room. She was the guardian of dreams after all, and she was proud that she did her job to a certain extent even when she was Nightmare Moon.
At first she didn't notice the paper lying on the floor in front of the basin. Only when she stood on it and heard the paper crumple did she pick it up with a levitation spell. The seal was unmistakably the sign of the priestess she had assigned as the messenger between her and the people. She wasn't so sure that she wanted to do it this way, but it wasn't important any more. She had finally received an answer, but the situation was worse than she could ever imagine.
Your majesty,
I have dire news. We did as we were told, settling in the four locations you assigned us to, keeping silent until you wrote again, and everything else. I now know the extent of your planning, oh Great One. The thousand years banishment was all in your plan, and even if the settlements could sustain themselves, there is only one left that is still loyal towards you.
Icewind, the castle city in the northern province of your realm, has decided to be an independent kingdom. While they still accept you as a goddess, they began to deny your right to rule over them, and the noblest of lords became their king. They left us alone, aiding in times of need, but the diplomatic relationship deteriorated more and more, not accepting our view on political matters.
Flankrium, the city in the southern province, has also parted from your rule, but they decided that the only rule applied to people should be by the people. They also neglected you as a deity, and stopped acknowledging you all together. They even tried to take over Icewind and our village, but Icewind was too strong and our village inaccessible to them.
But the worst fate was in the village in the eastern province, Osttor. It was taken over by some strange creatures, looking like a mixture of ponies and insects. Nothing is known about them, only that they are extremely sneaky and that they have taken an interest in the south. I believe they want to take over Equestria, but this is only a theory.
Westbrucke, the village I live in, still sees you as the rightful ruler, but there are only a few left. We need your help to unify what is left of us. The prosperous south and the strong north, the hopeful west and the sick east, under your rule, we might grow in strength again.
I hope that you are as loyal to us as we are to you.
These are the words of Moonprayer XIII, elder of Westbrucke
Your most humble servant and messenger Priestess Moonprayer XV
Luna was astonished by the fact that only one settlement was lost, and that none were willingly abandoned. But she was also sad to hear about the splitting of the settlements, especially that Flankrium turned against the other two and that Icewind was close to do so, too.
For the dark-blue alicorn, it was clear that she had to help. Luckily, there was another purpose for the basin on the altar. She put both her hooves onto the basin and concentrated on the feeling of the other in Westbrucke. She felt her body torn from its place and vanished from her room. When she opened her eyes a white unicorn looked at her, the unicorn's eyes as large as dinner plates.
"I came as you wished" Luna said. The unicorn nodded before she fainted . Luna smiled, put the unicorn on a cushion nearby, and left the building. She took a deep breath. The ponies around her gazed at her as if they had never seen an alicorn.
Luna, after a millennium, had finally returned to her people, and set up a meeting at the town hall. She wanted to explain everything, but before she went she told a pony to get a doctor to look after the white unicorn. The stallion nodded and did as ask of him while everyone else started to go to the town hall and awaited the speech of their long lost ruler.
Moonprayer XV woke up in a white room. The bed she lay on was soft and she wanted to remain there a bit longer, but the commotion outside was too distracting. She stood up, going to the window where she saw the towns inhabitants walking towards the town hall. It was then that she decided to run outside and ask somepony what was happening.
"The queen is back, and she is giving a speech in the town hall. Come, everypony should listen to what she has to say." That was the only answer she needed to follow the others. The queen was back! She couldn't believe that she wasn't dreaming when she saw her appear in the chapel.
As she ran down the street she noticed that everypony left their houses. It was a miracle, after all. But as she ran by her own home, she saw her grandmother leaving. "Grandmother, what are you doing? You are too old to walk alone. Wait, I will help you." She knew she couldn't convince her to stay at home. She has been the priestess before, and seeing the queen was the biggest dream for both of them.
"She finally returned. After a thousand years, our queen has finally returned. We will regrow in strength, and we will be equal to Equestria. Worthy allies and partners for them in the future. I can sense it, dear granddaughter. She will bring peace to our torn realm." Her grandmothers words brought tears in her eyes. Such a thing would be wonderful.
------------------------------------------
As Luna walked past the buildings towards the town hall she started to remember the town as it was in the past; brimming with life, a shining place in day as in night. It still was beautiful, but the years of conflict had taken their toll on the small village. Some houses, which were built after her last visit, were abandoned, the streets were trampled down, and the lights were dirtied.
But the town hall was a different view altogether. It was as clean, shining, and lively as it was in the past. The mayor and the priestess looked after it, as they were assigned to, it seemed. Luna was happy that they haven't forgotten her after all this time. At least one town was still loyal towards her.
The foyer of the town hall was lit brightly. At the desk to the left of the entrance was an old, brown pony. The quill and paper cutie mark on her side suggested that she was working here. "Is the mayor here?" Luna asked, smiling as she wanted to make a good first expression in the town hall. "I need to see her immediately. It is important."
The brown pony looked up. The stern, probably trained, look on her face faded as soon as she realised that the pony in front of her was no ordinary pony. Luna gave her an asking, but still polite, look. "I... I will go and get her" was the only thing the brown pony said, before she vanished upstairs. A few moments later she returned with a grey unicorn behind her.
"Who wants to speak with me?" the unicorn said, keeping her expression as calm as possible. It was apparent that she wasn't used to seeing an alicorn, but she was here to guide the town, and as such she was expected to act as noble as possible.
"I am Luna, princess and co-ruler of Equestria and founder of the northern kingdom of Winterwald. I wanted to ask the mayor of this town if I could lend the auditorium of this town hall to give a speech to my former subjects." Luna said. She wasn't surprised when the mayor's eyes widened, much like the priestesses eyes did. The mayor wanted to stay something, but the door opened to reveal two white unicorns. The one from the chapel and an older unicorn behind her.
"Mayor , you have to allow her to use it. She is our great queen, founder and protector of our realm. You can't decline whatever she has asked for," the younger unicorn said. "Your majesty, I am priestess Moonprayer XV, and this is my grandmother, Moonprayer XIII. We stand at your service, as far as our power will allow us."
Luna couldn't resist, she just had to laugh. The look on the ponies around her made her stop, but a smile remained. "Hello priestesses, mayor , nice to meet you all. As I asked the mayor already, I want to lend the auditorium and then hold a speech to clarify a few things and ask some questions. The mayor wanted to say something. What was it?"
"I just wanted to say that you can lend the auditorium. But then I was interrupted by this more than eager priestess of yours."The mayor glanced at the young unicorn" Elder, I thought you would teach her some manners. Either way, yes, use it to your content. The commotion should have gathered all ponies already, so you should be able to hold the speech in a few minutes."
Luna thanked the mayor with a slight bow, before walking to the auditorium. The other ponies were let in by the mayor , after the elder has followed the alicorn into the auditorium. The ponies were fast, and as predicted, Luna was able to hold her speech in a matter of a few minutes.
--------------------------------------------
"Dear ponies of Westbrucke, I have invited you to answer a few questions. First of all, yes, I am Princess Luna, the founder of the northern Kingdoms and ruler of Equestria. After a millennium of absence, I have finally returned. I have heard that the situation is dire: the four cities you founded as I wished have parted their ways, and chose their own fate.
Even if I appreciate that you choose your own fate, I can not accept fights between the cities. Therefore I hereby declare the city state of Flankrium my enemy, until they accept to the terms I will cast upon them. They dared to attack the descendants of the ponies I myself chose to live in these settlements, and I will never forgive such foolish behaviour.
Another case is the kingdom which took over the castle of Icewind. As far as I know, they have kept some diplomatic relations with Westbrucke, but have chosen to be ruled by a local noble. As long as the noble is ready to contract more with Westbrucke, its government shall be left alone. It will be a strong ally, and the soldiers lost in this battle would be missing in the last case.
And this case is Osttor. If this town is really taken over by these strange creaturesas I was told, we are in a far worse situation than you could ever imagine. This threat has to be eliminated as soon as possible, but that has to wait until we have finished business with the other towns.These creatures are unknown even to me, but I will commence my own research of these creatures as soon as I return home.
Yes, I will return home to Canterlot. My sister is not aware that there are ponies living this far in the north, and I am not ready yet to tell her. She had forbidden me to create this kingdom, and I had acted against her wish. This is all I wanted to tell you about this matter at the moment. Are there any questions now? Please lift your hoof, I will pick one to ask."
The speech was short, but informative, Moonprayer thought. She lifted her hoof and waited to be picked. A few did, and none spoke without lifting the hoof. They were too afraid to anger the queen. A few questions were asked about Canterlot and Celestia, the royal sister and queen of Equestria. Moonprayer knew that she would be picked last. She saw Luna looking at her several times, but it should proof advantageous. Then her turn came.
"Can I ask a few questions? I seem to be the last one." Moondprayer asked. Luna nodded, and Moonprayer continued. "Okay, here are my questions. Why did you call yourself princess, and not queen? Aren't you the same as your sister? Or is she the sole ruler? What did you do the last thousand years? And why do you have to return? We need you here, as our ruler. What could we do without you"
She saw that Luna was hurt, but this was how it was supposed to be. The young priestess, a filly in Luna's eyes, was exactly what Luna needed if the northern kingdom was supposed to survive. Asking the right questions. 'She might even be useful as my substitute' Luna thought. She had duties in Equestria, and ruling two kingdoms, one in secrecy, was too much even for an alicorn.
"I called myself princess because my sister and I decided to take this title as ours in Equestria. We once were equal, but after my thousand years of... absence.. I have taken a step back, to reintegrate into the new ways of governing. What I did in this absence will be my secret, for now. And I have to go back so that I can return to you, and guide you towards victory in the upcoming battles. And now, I have a question. You wrote me that you were attacked. I suppose you have some guards, do you? And how many?"
It was the mayor that answered: "Yes, we have guards. Fifty pegasi, mainly as lookout posts. A hundred and fifty earth ponies, guarding the only entrance. And Twenty war unicorns, our strongest defence, in my opinion. Why do you ask? Is there any importance to it?"
Luna smirked, seeing that the mayor wouldn't prove a good substitute, even with the experience she had. "Naturally it is. We are preparing for battle, and we will need every pony ready for it. The guards will keep up their duty for now, but we will need more. How many ponies will be ready for battle in a few days?"
It was the priestess who answered to this question: "There will be around five hundred earth ponies ready for battle, your highness. We have decided to train ourselves if we are ever attacked again. Also, there should be a hundred pegasi and another twenty militia unicorns."
Luna's smile was so bright that even Moonprayer lightened up. She saw how her grandmother blushed. It was her idea, and pride was allowed in this situation. The mayor began to see a threat on her position by the young priestess. She would remember not to trust her further than necessary.
"This is very good indeed. I never expected anything like a militia to be of any importance, but now it proofs to be a very useful asset you have build up here. Are there any siege weapons here?" Luna asked. She was ready to attack the republic after a few reconnaissance missions on their military.
"No, there are none," the mayor said. She wouldn't let responsibility be taken from her hooves without a fight. "We never thought of using the militia as an attacking force. It was raised solely to defend ourselves. It is the same with the guards. None of them will. I won't allow it."
Luna recognised that her first fight would be an internal conflict. She thought of acting now, but she had not much time at hand. She simply nodded, before ending her speech.
"I will leave you now on the same way I came; through the ancient basin in the chapel. It is linked with a similar one inside my chambers. You should be able to send letters to me. But please, do not write every few days, and do not ask me for minor things. But I wish from all of you to write a letter with what happened in your family as far back as you remember, however unimportant the matters were. It is important to know how everything came to be.
Farewell my friends. May the sun light you the way, and the night inspire you to beautiful arts." With these words, Luna left, followed by all the listeners of her speech. They walked across town, and when they reached the chapel, only Luna, Moonprayer and her grandmother entered.
Luna lifted her hooves on the basin. "When will you come back?" The young priestess asked, her eyes wet and her voice shaking. Luna turned her head around, looking at the young unicorn from the corners of her eyes.
"I will return as soon as possible. Until then, be prepared. The mayor sees you as a threat. She has noticed that I have plans which involve you, but not her. For your own safety, I will keep quiet about them." She turned towards the old unicorn sitting on a cushion near the basin.
"You were the one who created the militia, were you not?" Luna asked. The elder nodded. "I, no we all, have to thank you. Your idea will save a lot of lives, and we will need as many fighters as possible if we want to suppress the enemy in the east. Farewell, priestesses. Until next time, young one."
Moonprayer was thinking about the last words of the alicorn as she noticed that her grandmother was in great pain. She ran to her and noticed that age had taken its toll on the elder unicorn. She called for a doctor and one soon arrived, but it was already too late. Moonprayer XIII, the elder of the village, had passed away.
She was brought into her home, and Moonprayer lay grieving over the letter she wrote to Luna, asking her to attend the funeral. She finished the letter, and lay down, crying herself to sleep. She wanted to plan the funeral the next day, after sending the letter. Her grandmother would be happy if the queen, or princess, or however she wanted to be called, attended her funeral, Moonprayer thought.
Hearing Celestia's voice was a huge shock for Luna. She didn't expect her sister to look for her. "Yes, I am here Tia. What is it?", she answered Celestia, her voice steadier than her hooves were. Luna was asking herself what her sister could possibly wish from her as she walked to the door, taking deep breaths to calm herself.
"It is almost time for the night and you weren't in the throne room. I asked you to come earlier to make a smooth transition between day and night, didn't I?" Her sister's voice wasn't sounding as angry as the sentence suggested, rather it sounded worried. Did she believe that Luna was opposing her sister after she just returned from her banishment?
"I am sorry. I was... reading. One of the books about the history of Equestria. I have to get to know a thousand years worth of wars, treaties and progress. It is quite a bit but it is also extremely interesting. So interesting in fact that I lost myself deep within it. That is why I didn't answer immediately." Luna said, hopping that this would be the only time she needed an excuse.
"I understand.", Celestia answered, her voice sounding relieved. "But please try to come down on time tomorrow. I may be able to steer the course of both the sun and the moon, but it is very exhausting. I could use some rest."
"I will, I promise. Could you give me five minutes before I come down?" Luna asked. Celestia was agreeable with it and Luna heard her leave. She sat down, sighing and asking herself one thing: "How long can I keep Winterwald a secret from my sister?"
Celestia was deep in thought as she walked through the halls of the castle. Her sister was keeping something from her, she knew as much. But she had no idea what it possibly could be. And no reason why she would keep something a secret from her in the first place.
She reached the throne room a bit later. She sat down on the throne, looking at the door and awaiting Luna's arrival. Exactly five minutes later her sister entered with a tired look on her face. Celestia was thinking about sending her sister back to get some rest but she urgently needed some herself. As Luna sat down they sent the guards out. Their horns began to glow and the transition from day to night began.
The sun sank behind the horizon as the moon was rising above it on the opposing side. If there would have been a pony on the moon they would have noticed a dark glimmer, the power of two ancient alicorns mixed together. The sun itself was surrounded by a white shimmer. But neither were visible from Equestria.
Celestia looked at her sister. "Will you be all right?" Luna nodded. Her breath was a bit heavier than before, but it was no different the nights before the destruction of Nightmare Moon. "Then I wish you a good night" Celestia said before leaving the throne room and sending the guards back in. She went to her room and the view of her bed let her sigh. She dropped on the cloud-like mattress and fell asleep almost immediately.
It wasn't a long time after the elder died that Moonprayer sent her letter through the blue fire. At this moment in her grief it was a frightening, gloomy fire and the dim light it emitted just supported the tragedy that had partaken this afternoon. "I hope she comes. She has to, it is a funeral of one of her most loyal subjects" , she whispered, not eager to disturb the calm atmosphere inside the chapel.
The letter she put in the flames laid there for a moment before it dissolved into ash and finally vanished entirely. But Moonprayer didn't notice it. She had turned her back towards the stone goblet and was leaving. A few steps before the door she turned around and whispered a barely audible "She has to.", before finally leaving.
She walked down the street towards her house. She was deep in thought and didn't notice the ponies around her, showing their sympathies. The only one she noticed was the mayor: She was standing in front of her door, blocking the way. "Mayor, whatever it is, it has to wait. I am in no condition to do anything more today."
"I just wanted to offer you my condolences", the mayor said. Then she approached, her head just beside Moonprayers, and whispered: "I know that there are things amiss with the princess and her plans. And I know that these plans involve you. Just remember that I have my eyes set on you should you try anything funny."
"Leave", Moonprayer said with her voice remaining calm and steady. The mayor did as told and Moonprayer entered the house, closed the door and dropped on the floor crying. After she just had lost her grandmother, her only family, she was threatened! She needed rest. She went to her bedroom, laid in her bed and cried herself to sleep.
Luna was watching over the dreams of all ponies and non-ponies the moment Moonprayer fell to sleep. The new light in the web she saw when she concentrated on her dream was a dim crimson red, a hellish nightmare, and Luna dropped all the other, less extreme nightmares to be fully prepared for whatever was happening in this dreamt hell.
She was very surprised when she saw Moonprayer over the corpse of the elder, crying, while at the same time the villagers were walking around her and the mayor was judging her for treason and betrayal of the village. Moonprayer was then surrounded by guards, faceless monsters in heavy black armour and armed to the teeth.
Luna, normally never solving problems the way she did now, let the dream dissolve and put Moonprayer and herself in a dreamy recreation of the chapel. "What has happened that affected your mind in such a way?", she asked the young priestess. The priestess, still trying to comprehend what had happened, shook her head before realising that the Princess was indeed speaking with her through the dream.
"After you left, my grandmother died. I wrote a letter and put it into the fire. When I returned the mayor...she was waiting for me in front of my house. She implicated that she would do something to me if I dared to do something... funny. Why would I do that? Why would she think I was up to something? It makes no sense!"
Luna was a bit startled. She never thought that the mayor would take such drastic measurements over a hunch. "I believe the threat is my fault. I believe she saw the look I had on you during the speech. I will talk to her, don't worry. I will set things right." Moonprayer looked at her, questioning her liege's word, then was looking at... nothing. Luna has already vanished from her dream. And the next moment the room changed, and a calm forest with strange trees and a waterfall appeared. A gift from Luna to the grieving pony.
The night came to an end. While Celestia was going to the throne room to start the transition from night to day, the mayor woke up as if she had been put through a grinder. Her head was heavy, her eyes burning and her back hurt as if she had carried a huge rock up a mountain.
She went ahead to get ready for work, already planning the first things to do this day. As she thought about Moonprayer and how she could possibly hinder her to take over the village or worse, she started to shiver. She didn't know why but as she felt the cold sweat on her forehead, she realised that she was afraid.
But what could she possibly fear from a priestess with no family? She had the guards on her side, the people, the militia. The priestess would have no chance if anything would ever happen.
The mayor, ready to start the day, smirked at this thought. With the soldiers at her hand, she might even be capable of defending herself against the imposter-queen. Why should they be ruled by someone who was away a thousand years and didn't even bother to tell them the truth, but just keeping it for herself?
If this alicorn would ever try to put the priestess in the mayors seat, she would take the guards and defend herself in the stronghold at the mountain further west of the village, inside the valley. The well trained guards would suffice to defend themselves against any threat to try to attack them there.
Luna was heading back to her room. She had a few hours before the funeral would start, and she needed some rest. She ordered the guards that she didn't want to be disturbed, she needed the rest. She took off her crown and read the letter, which contained the invitation to the funeral, then went to bed.
Being part of the dream-web herself was always a special feeling for Luna. Being able to sense it awake, she was well aware that there was more. She always tried to break out of her dream so she could guard the dreams even while she was asleep, allowing her to rest during the night, but as always, the borders of her dream threw her back.
Luna smiled, knowing that it wasn't the web that hold her back. The power she possessed were convenient but if she would ever be lost in the web while dreaming herself, she believed, she wouldn't be able to return to her body and wake up again, leaving herself in a dormant state.
If she had known that her dream lit in a different light than the others, brighter and comforting everyone's dream in it's shine, she would have reached a new state of enlightenment her sister had reached when she found out about herself being able to move the moon as well, allowing her to predict the future in an unnatural accuracy. But this was a gift she would receive in a future far away.
The pegasi of Westbrucke were starting the rain as Moonprayer reached the cemetery. Her grandmother would be buried in the tomb next to the entrance. Moonprayer walked into it, entering past the two stony unicorns holding up the moon that were framing the door.
As she walked past the graves of her ancestors she asked herself how long it would be until she would be buried here. Would there be a ceremony, were her children here, if she ever has any? She didn't know, and the unpredictability of her future made the situation only worse. She banished these thoughts to a secluded area of her mind.
She saw only two other ponies inside the tomb. The mayor, to hold the speech as it always has been in the past, and the keeper, to make sure that everything goes as it should. Moonprayer was anxious. She has been just on time, and the queen... princess... wasn't here yet. She started to doubt her liege's words, as she heard the door open.
As Luna entered the tomb the atmosphere changed immediately. The walls got darker, the air thicker and sadness seeped into the hearts of the others. The princess approached the corpse, bent over the elder, and kissed her forehead. A tear dropped on the kissed spot, and a faint sigh filled the room: A sigh of relief, from the dead pony.
Moonprayer watched over all this with interest. She had never seen anything like it but it was the first time she saw a grieving alicorn. She then turned her head to the mayor and as their eyes met, the mayor turned hers away before realising that she had a speech to hold.
It was a short speech. She just told about the achievements of the elder, which were unexpectedly numerous, and finished with "A great asset to the village has been lost. May the moon guide her to the realm", which was followed by the others repeating the last sentence in mourning whispers. Only the princess kept silent.
Luna was well aware that her silence could be taken as rudeness but she thought that it wasn't right to participate in the traditions of the village just yet. She just knew too little about them. But there was one thing she wanted to say nonetheless.
"The family of priestesses has only one member left now. The elder has left her granddaughter with several burdens, but this is merely the price that has to be paid for the love she gave. And burdens can be conquered, in contrary to the love, a love only a deep bond could awaken."
She turned her head towards the young priestess, "You were given a great gift most ponies are lacking. It is the gift of love. You are capable of trust where others aren't." Then she looked at the mayor and with a cold tone said: "I want to meet you at the town hall. There are urgent matters concerning Icewind. And Flankrium, too. I will meet you there, in half an hour. Do not come too late." As she said it, the air grew even colder. The atmosphere around changed from pure sadness to a mixture of both grief and wrath.
Luna exited the tomb, leaving behind three rather confused and shaken ponies looking at each other in disbelief, while all were thinking the same: 'Angering her could be the biggest fault somepony could make.'
The Princess was already in the town hall when the mayor arrived. It had been a long time since the mayor was agitated while doing business with somepony but whatever she had done at the funeral was far more impressive than anything else the mayor had seen before. Never had she felt, physically felt, the anguish of another pony.
"Princess, if you would follow me," she said, and walked ahead. As she ascended the stair she was already planning on how to prevent the princess from getting rid of her. Only a few ideas came to her mind and most of them ended in her being not just gotten rid of politically. The showcase in the tomb made that clear.
The mayor opened the door to her office, a rather big, circular room at the top of the town hall with a dome made of wood and glass, and walked towards her desk. The window, as big as half the dome and located behind the desk, gave an almost magical view over the vilage. The sun has already sank past it's third quarter, but the beauty was still hardly describable.
The desk itself stood in the middle of the room, on a round, blue carpet with a moon on it. It was the same symbol used before the princess left, but it was just a replication of the old carpet. The original was hanging in a special archive of the town hall, which acted as a collection of historical things from Westbrucke's past as well as a secured storage room.
To the left of the window stood a single book case, half filled with books of Westbruckes history and contracts with Icewind, Flankrium and Osttor. The mayor was proud of this collection of books and tomes, it contained a far more detailed history than the archive she has seen in Icewind.
But even in this room the princess seemed massive in size. She seemed too big for the door but the mayor knew that it was her perception failing her, looking up or down could distort anyone's view. As she still looked at the princess in both admiration and fear, the princess began to talk.
"How fast do you think you could receive an answer if you sent a message to Icewind?", she asked. Her tone seemed calm,almost as if she had all time she could ever need, yet conveyed urgency at the same time.
"Within two weeks. The route is harsh and the roads haven't been used regularly for a very long time.", the mayor replied. In contrary to the princess her voice was clearly telling of her feelings.
"Would it be possible to take something with you?", the princess asked.
"If it is small in size certainly. Carts or carriages would only delay the arrival, if they would ever reach their destination, so it has to fit into a saddlebag."
"Since it is just a letter that should be no problem at all. Could you write it for me? I will dictate you what you have to write.", the princess answered. Her relief was barely noticeable.
The mayor took her typewriter from the bottom drawer of her desk and put it on top of it. The princess began to dictate and as they went on, the mayor became more and more curious to what the princess had planned. She had already forgotten that she wanted to do something about Moonprayer. The princess's trust in her had engulfed her for the moment.
I am Princess Luna of Equestria, founder of the kingdom of Winterwald. I have heard words of your denial of my rule and independence from the realm.
I forgive and understand what your ancestors did. The realm was without rule and your family had only so much power to rule over one of the four settlements. As you see, I have returned to claim what is mine by right, and you are a part of it.
I don't want to take your place as ruler of Icewind as I haven't taken the mayor's place of Westbrucke. But I need your help. The situation is, as you know, dire, and I haven't returned to leave it as it is.
If you do not believe the words of this letter, send an ambassador to the village of Westbrucke whom you trust, and let him be my evidence that I am truthfully the one I tell you.
I hope that, after I have convinced you of my honesty, we could meet to refresh old contracts and ally again. There are more threats in this realm than you can imagine. Osttor was only the beginning. If we don't act soon, we all will be in grave danger.
I am honest, I could just let you all die in vain, letting you curse me while you burn as I sit on the throne, awaiting an impending invasion of whatever lurks outside. But I won't, because I have brought your ancestors here in belief of this place's safety and their loyalty in me, and I will take responsibility for my actions.
I hope you are willing to re-build the once unified kingdom we were, and ally with Westbrucke. If you do not I must take other measures to convince you and believe me if I say that I have certain assets that would be sufficient to eradicate Icewind in an unbelievably short amount of time.
Honest and Kind Regards Princess Luna Guardian of Dreams Ruler over the Moon, Stars and Night Co-Ruler of Equestria
Moonprayer was in the church. The day was reaching it's end and her princess had to come here to return back home. There was an important thing she wanted to ask her, but at the funeral the princess was gone before she could have said anything. She immediately returned to the church. At first she had a few things to do, but now, she was bored and growing impatient and insecure.
She was wandering from left to right in front of the altar, the blue light shining on her. Every time she turned around, she looked at it. Some times she thought that the flame had changed, that its light was darker or brighter, and one time she thought the light had changed to purple.
It was in the exact moment she had turned around again and looked at the flame that the door got opened and the flame flickered in the small gust of wind that had entered. Moonprayer turned her head towards the door, seeing the alicorn standing in front of it as she closed it with her magic and then proceeded down the aisle between the pillars.
"I see you have awaited me. You may ask me what lies on your soul, but be quick. If I am late, we all might get in serious trouble", the princess said. Her face was stern, and to underline the seriousness of her words, she looked down a bit. Yet understanding and warmth lay in the spoken words.
"Is it truly important to keep Winterwald a secret from your sister?" the priestess asked, fear clearly shown on her face. "I don't think she could be angry about something you did a thousand years ago. And we could really need her help, especially now that we are on the brink of another conflict."
The princess walked up to the priestess. Moonprayer, afraid to have angered her, shivered as the princess put her wings over her to embrace her. The priestess felt a drop on her cheek and as she looked up she noticed that the princess was crying. It was such an emotional moment that the priestess also started to cry.
The princess answered her with a much steadier voice than one could imagine with the tears flowing down. "Yes, it is of utmost importance to keep it secret from her. Her anger as she heard the idea of it was unimaginably frightful. Even now, over a thousand years later, thinking of it sends a shiver through my whole body."
The priestess looked up, her look told the princess that she didn't believe her. The princess, ignoring what she just noticed, continued: "Also, the Equestrian Forces are not a great help. They are brought down to the palace guards and some minor troops and they are not very well trained, as I have to admit. Your militia would probably suffice to defend anything against the Equestrian Army as it is now."
The priestess didn't say anything. She was to embarrassed to have doubted the princesses judgement, even if she couldn't believe that the princess was afraid of her sister. They sat there for another few minutes before the princess stood up and went to the altar.
"I won't return for a few weeks. There is no need to. If anything bad or good happens, send me a letter." The princess smiled as she spoke to Moonprayer and then turned around and vanished into the flames.
Moonprayer stood there for another moment, staring in awe into the flames, before she turned towards the door. She hadn't really expected to receive an answer and now she was happier than ever. For Moonprayer, it was the most magical moment of her life that the princess trusted her with her feelings.
If she had known that there would be more to come, good as well as bad ones.
Celestia stood in front of her sisters room. She wanted to knock as she heard a small bump. She waited, listening what could had happened in there. As she noticed that no more sound was coming out, she knocked.
"What is it, I am studying," her sister said brusquely.
"It's me, Luna. May I enter?" she asked. She heard something close, than hoofsteps, before the door was opened.
"Sister, sure, come in. Sorry for the rather rude answer. Is there anything you need?" her sister asked. She seemed normal, nothing was out of the ordinary, and there was no trace of dark magic.
"I just wanted to tell you to prepare yourself for the transition." Celestia said. She was a bit confused, but also relieved, that nothing was wrong. But still, something stuck in the back of her head, and she wanted to get rid of it.
"Okay, just give me a minute and I will come down.", her sister said.
"You don't need to hurry, but don't be to late again", Celestia said, smiling. She was walking towards the door as she stopped. There was a familiar feeling in the air, something that shouldn't be in this castle any more.
"Is something wrong Tia? Maybe I can help you", her sister asked, sounding concerned.
"No, everything is all right", Celestia answered before she left and closed the door behind her. Celestia was certain she had felt the same feeling once already, before her sister turned into Nightmare Moon.'Is she turning evil again or is this feeling different in origin?', Celestia thought as she walked down to the throne room.
Luna was sitting on the throne, feeling guilty for having lied to her sister again. She wanted to tell her the truth but she was too afraid. It was similar as before she was taken over, when Luna had lied that she was all right with her sister being the centre of attention. But this time she wasn't going to turn evil again. This time her lies had a righteous cause. 'And someone I care about', Luna thought as she looked into the dream web searching for Moonprayer. She would have no nightmares tonight.
A pony, wearing a black hood and cape which hid his appearance, stood south of the eastern entry to Westbrucke. He smirked and slowly started to turn around when he noticed another pony. This pony was wearing a saddlebag and was currently leaving the town and heading north towards the castle of Icewind.
"Curse them", whispered the hooded pony as his smirk vanished from his face. His masters had hoped that Westbrucke would have been defenceless when they decided to take it over as they were well aware of the deteriorating relationship between Westbrucke and Icewind. This messenger could be a sign that either this information was wrong or that they intended to restrengthen the bonds between the two cities.
The hooded pony turned to Flankrium, his home, and began to trot in this direction. His task was complete even if his masters would not appreciate the news he brings home. At least he had news to bring home, he had seen the alicorn even if it was just for a short moment. They will be prepared when they arrive at the gates of Flankrium.
A few days later Luna was answering to another letter Moonprayer had written her. Moonprayer had done so every day since Luna left Westbrucke, and the princess was happy to receive and answer to these letters.
The letter contained minor information about how life in Westbrucke was. The only thing Luna was really interested in was the fact that the mayor was not only getting along with Moonprayer but actually seems to guide her and teach her about leading smaller groups of ponies. This was a very interesting turn of events, Luna thought, and she knew that at least for the mayor her plans were apparent. She would have to be a bit more careful from now on. Not everyone would be this kind.
She answered in the same way she received the letters. A few information about daily life in the palace with her sister. She had nothing particularly interesting to write at the moment. The only thing she found mentionable was the fact that her sisters student visited the palace today with her friends from Ponyville. The same ponies which defeated her evil side and rescued her good one.
At least she thought that times were calm. She had just sent the letter back when she heard a commotion from the throne room. She fought her curiosity while she stayed in her room, she was supposed to be asleep after all, but a loud BANG! and her curiosity overcame her. She opened her door and rushed to the throne room.
She saw her sister glaring at the wall on the other side as she entered the throne room. "Sister, is everything okay? Some loud bang woke me up. What happened?" she said as she slowly walked towards her sister.
"Discord has awakened and he took the elements," her sister answered, her voice shaking from anger. Luna had not seen her sister like that for a long time. She knew how much Celestia despised Discord but this was something new. 'Is she worried about her student?' Luna asked herself.
"Luna, we will stay in this castle. Without the elements we are no match for Discord. Only my student, Twilight Sparkle,with the assistance of her friends is now able to compete with him." Celestia commanded. Luna was shocked that her sister had gotten this worried but she had to agree with her. The princesses memories were fresh and she knew what Discord was capable of.
"I understand." Luna answered, her voice steady as ever. "I will return to my room now. If there is nothing else to discuss." She yawned to show her sister that she was tired but her plans looked different. There were some ponies in need of a warning.
"You may, for now. We might have more to discuss later but I know that you are tired. Sleep well , little sister", Celestia said, her voice steadier and warmer than before. She was slowly regaining her composure. Luna turned around and noticed the garden labyrinth. It was distorted and Luna noticed the ponies walking through it.
She asked herself why her sister didn't say anything about that. Did she think she wasn't trustworthy, that she would turn evil again? Or was there another reason? She shook her head slightly and headed towards her room. She had something else to do, somepony else to worry about.
She wrote a letter and and enchanted it to follow it's receiver, before throwing it into the fire. She asked Moonprayer to gather all the ponies inside the church, telling them that her princess had something important to tell them. Then she sat down and waited, looking at the blue flame with it's calming light.
Discord was preparing his next act as he froze in place. He believed that something had touched him slightly. He turned around but saw nothing. A smile appeared on his face and he continued his preparations as he felt it a second time. He turned around as he opened additional eyes and looked around. Again, nothing was to be seen.
He thought that he would go crazy as he realised that he already was. That was the reason he was the god of chaos. His madness gave him the power to mend the world. Or was he mad because he was so powerful? He smiled, shook his head and went on to focus on his next act, his next victim, his next playmate.
Luna read the letter and nodded. Apparently somepony was a bit further outside and the meeting would have be delayed until later this afternoon.
She prepared another enchanted letter giving her approval to the meeting time and went to bed. The little bit of sleep she would get now would be the best thing for today. She was still worried that Discord would do something to the castle itself as she faded into her dreamworld.
There she saw her past self standing in front of Discord, alone. It was a picture, nothing moved, and Luna could alter the scene as she wished. She tried to think when she had last dreamt without being able to alter her dreams but she couldn't remember. She changed the scene to one further into her past when Celestia and herself were younger. The smiles of the fillies comforted her and she began to rebuild the scene to something fantastically spectacular.
A few hours later Discord stood in Ponyville. He was preparing the arrival of the Elements of Harmony. Well, more of the Elements of Disharmony. His spell has worked almost better than he expected. He was sure he had already won, looking at how he had shattered the friendship they had held so dear.
He was eating the forks with the spaghetti in his claws. A skill he was rather proud of, had he never seen someone else eat like that. Especially because there are not many creatures capable of holding something with their claws or hooves. A thought that brought a smile to his face.
A smile that vanished when he felt the graze again. But this time it was much stronger and he could finally locate where it came from. It was just at the border of the realm of madness he used to travel from one place to another, in the matter of worldly seconds.
He could also feel who caused this feeling, who travelled besides the realm in another realm no one was supposed to enter. The younger princess, the traitor, the banished, the sealed, the moon and stars of this orderly world.
He was thinking about heading to Canterlot to get rid of the sun-flanked nuisance and then further into the north, where he felt the traitor leave the realm, but he decided against it. It was just too much fun, looking at these six fillies trying to overthrow him. His smile reappeared when he noticed the six approaching. Well, there were only five, and a baby dragon, wearing the stones. Such foolishness, such madness, such an enjoyable moment.
At the same time Celestia, walking around the throne room, stopped and looked around. Something seemed odd, as if something was missing, but she couldn't really grasp what it was. What could possibly be different from just a moment ago?
What she missed was the feeling of Luna's power. The two alicorns could feel each others presence if they were near and Luna was now far away. Celestia had forgotten this feeling, as had her sister, after a thousand years. And the previous occasions were no emergencies, no situation which used all the princesses concentration.
But now, for the first time since a thousand years, Celestia sensed, even if she didn't understand, that her sister was away, that she was no longer nearby.
"Dear ponies of Westbrucke", Luna began her speech in front of everypony in the church. "The situation is dire. Our old foe, Discord, the ruler and god of all that is mad and chaotic, has broken free from his prison. The six elements are on their way of defeating him but he is not to be underestimated."
Luna made a small break before she continued: "If you receive message from me to flee, or if you receive no answers to your letters anymore, flee immediately. Go to Icewind, tell them what happened and venture further to the north. It may be a rough place, rougher than here, but it is still far better than living in a realm without sense, without physics and time."
Whispers began to spread in the church, almost unbearable echos thrown from the chapel walls. Luna waited for the ponies to stop the chattering before she continued: "You know that I wouldn't ask you to do this if the situation wasn't as bad as it is. Ready your most important belongings. I do not wish any delays in your departure. Did I make myself clear?"
The murmuring started again. Some ponies nodded. Not one was raising his voice in disregard of their princess. They still remembered the stories of the old, the reason why they came here in the first place. Moonprayer was the only one asking a question, a question which only two could have answered her.
"But how should he know that we are here, this far in the north, the place you once chose as a safe place if he should ever return?"
"Because he felt me travel through the flame as I felt touching his realm as I did. He knows where I started and where I arrived and he won't forget." Luna answered to the priestess.
Luna turned around and headed towards the flame. "I have to go now. In this situation my absence in the castle could be disastrous. Farewell, my friends", she said before leaving.
The ponies remained in the church for a while, discussing the matter at hoof. It was Moonprayer who brought silence to the church again, beginning to pray in front of the flame, her horn touching the ground. One after another began to pray, until everyone was kneeling in front of the altar, silently.
Her sisters power was a shock for Luna when she returned to Canterlot. She had forgotten how it felt to be near hear and was shocked how she would dare to attack such a powerful being, underestimating herself by measuring her momentary state with her state a millennium ago.
At the same time, Celestia felt that the missing thing had returned, a comforting pressure of power, but she couldn't tell what it was. Her sisters power was different and memories fooled her perception in this matter.
Then the green dragon flame appeared before her, bringing her a letter. The seal was unmistakably her students and she opened it hoping for good messages. She had finished it, a smile in her face, when Luna entered the throne room.
"I am here for the transition", Luna said to her sister, adding after she saw her sisters smile: "Did something good happen? Did the elements defeat Discord?"
"Yes, they did", Celestia answered. "They grow stronger in their friendship with each passing day. It is a joy to watch them grow, Luna, especially Twilight. Do you think she is strong?"
Luna was a bit confused but she answered her sister in all honesty. "She is strong, and even stronger with her friends. Only a lifelong friendship is this strong. I admit that I am jealous of her for that. I also believe that she will ascend to our ranks one day. And I know that you think so, too. You wouldn't have taken her as your student otherwise."
Celestia smiled, as she answered: "You are right, I believe she has the capabilities to ascend to our ranks. But I have to correct you in one tiny fact. They are only friends since you returned. She is a bookworm, highly intelligent, but she has never been a social pony. Her brother was the only exception and he had no time lately, being in the royal guards."
Luna's eyes widened in disbelief of what her sister just said. They got strong enough in a matter of days to defeat Nightmare Moon? And they were even capable of defeating Discord after a few months? Their friendship seemed to be destined and their potential far over anything she could have achieved with her sister.
Celestia smiled as she tapped on the other throne to her side. Luna understood, sat on the throne and commenced the transition. They kept silent knowing that words would be useless for this moment.
As the night passed Luna thought about what her sister had told her. She noticed that there were a few ponies with stronger dream lights and one the brightest of them was her sister's student dream. 'You found a rather unbelievable strong character, sister' she thought before guiding her mind northwards.
Luna held the letter that just arrived through the fire, which had turned brightly blue for a moment, in her magical grip. As she read she changed from happy to surprised and back. The letter came from Moonprayer and held important news about the alliance offer to Icewind.
It seems that the ruler of Icewind, King Conglatius IV, hasn't just sent an ambassador. He has sent his son and heir, Prince Conglatius V, and Luna recognised this as a sign of trust a ruler rarely has into another country except it is ruled from somepony from the same dynasty.
She began her preparations for the negotiations, aware that nobody would bother her for another few hours. She decided to wear the crown she got from her sister that symbolised her status as princess of Equestria and ruler over the night, a small, silver crown with one of the most valuable night-diamond stones found in Equestria, the "Dark Moon"-stone. It was dark-blue and as big as an eye.
She looked at herself in the mirror and saw a pony that she hadn't seen for a very long time. She looked like before she turned into Nightmare Moon, where she was fit for ruling besides her sister, with the crown and the regal look and posture she held. She smiled as she had finally found her old self again.
The goblet behind her seemed to flicker in the mirror as if it wanted that Luna finally got to the other side, to her own realm. She turned around, walked towards the goblet and waited a bit longer. It had been a long time since she had negotiated with somepony, and she was afraid to anger the prince and with him, the king. She turned her head, looked at herself in the mirror, and decided that it would be all right, before she finally jumped into the fire.
Prince Conglatius V sat in the room the priestess had offered him when he had arrived with his entourage. It had been a long journey and resting was most enjoyable in this cosy room.
He was a tall pony towering over everyone he had met except for his father. Both, the king as well as the prince, had white fur and a purple mane. They were a family of unicorns, strong in magic concerning manipulation of people, which they rarely used in these times. There was no need and the ponies would certainly be angered and grow rebellious, as they did back in Equestria.
Prince Conglatius had a rather wild mane, spikes towering over his horn, and a small goatee under his chin. Since a few generations this beard existed, remembering the family of the blasphemy their ancestor committed in his love, but the prince admitted that he liked the beard, it made him stand out even more than usually. His cutie mark appeared at his fifth birthday, when he had asked his father to show mercy. It was a crown with a pigeon, the sign of peace. His father did what he asked for, to celebrate the appearance of his son's cutie mark.
He turned his head to the door as he heard somepony outside knock. He recognised his father's advisor, Golden Tongue's, voice immediately. "Prince, the princess has arrived. It would be unwise to let her wait. Are you prepared?", the advisor asked.
"I am ready advisor. Wait for me outside the house.", the prince answered. He heard the advisor leave and got his crown, a silver plain crown. It was a symbol of the royal blood in his veins.
He left the house where the advisor, an earthpony with brown fur and black mane, waited for him. The advisor went ahead and the prince followed him, not knowing where the princess would wait. He wasn't surprised when they arrived at the church, it was her place and the priestess had told him that it would be the most probable place for the meeting.
He saw the priestess at one side of the door. He looked at her and noticed that she turned her head away, looking only from the corner of her eyes, smiling. His heart began to race, not exactly knowing why, but he was happy seeing her.
His heart almost stopped when he saw the alicorn down the aisle before the blue flame. She looked impressive as she stood there, even taller that the prince. The advisor bowed before the princess and left. The prince was alone with the princess now, which cast a spell engulfing the room. "Just to be sure", she said, her voice carrying softly through the room and pronouncing the wisdom of centuries she certainly must have.
Luna saw the prince and smiled. He remembered her of one of the ponies that was with her sister's student. 'Her name was Rarity, wasn't it',she thought. She came to the conclusion that they must have the same ancestors.
Luna began the conversation that would decide over Westbrucke's future: "I am princess Luna, co-ruler of Equestria, ruler over the night, the stars, the moon and the dreams." She used her normal voice. She intended to use the royal canterlot voice at first but decided not to as they were in a church.
"I am prince Conglatius V, heir to the kingdom of Icewind, first born of king Conglatius IV, ruler of the kingdom of Icewind. I am here in my father's name with the right to speak with his words and to decide with his authority.", the prince answered. Luna was surprised of the maturity of the young stallion. He seemed to be as old as Moonprayer but at the same time seemed as capable she herself was.
The prince continued: "I came here to be my father's eyes and witness the truth of the letter you wrote and hereby declare the content of your letter as true. We decided, if the words were true, to begin negotiations with the queen of Winterwald, but it seems you no longer consider yourself that."
Luna was surprised of his perception. "No, I no longer call myself the queen of the realm I had to abandon but I am still concerned what happens here.", she said. " As I wrote, I wished for the old alliance to be renewed. Westbrucke needs the help of Icewind. I wish to drive the republic of Flankrium into a corner, so that they once again consider trade and alliance with both Westbrucke and Icewind. And to take back Osttor from whoever took it."
The prince listened and answered with a smile on his face: "Do not worry. My father told me that this may happen but he decided to accept the alliance offer if it is true that the queen of Winterwald had returned. But there is one other thing I have to ask of you, if you allow me to."
Luna nodded and the prince continued: "My father had hoped that, if it is possible, I would marry soon. He was thinking about which courtier would be educated enough for the royal family when your letter arrived. When he finished reading, an idea had come to his mind. He didn't want just an alliance with the ruler of Westbrucke, he wanted a deeper bond."
Luna looked almost shocked when he fell on his left knees before he continued: "May I ask you to marry me, to form a bond between the two realms and finally become one again, as it was in the old times when the moon stood above us and enlightened our paths?"
Luna looked at the young stallion, seeing that there was no love involved, rather that he had to abandon his true love: "No, I won't accept this offer. It is wise of your father to deepen the bond but I am not the right choice to do so."
The prince looked more relieved than he had intended to look like and Luna caught herself thinking of educating him in this matter. "So be it. The alliance stays, nonetheless. I will inform my father of this. He will surely be disappointed but there is nothing any of us could do to convince an alicorn."
Luna looked at him and both agreed silently that the negotiations were over. They went better than the princess could have hoped for. Luna lifted the spell and they left the church when Luna noticed the young priestess staring at the prince with a look that was as clear as her most beautiful nights. And she noticed the look on the prince he had on the priestess, more subtle and harder to read, yet with the same basic feelings behind it.
"Prince, one last word about your last proposal." He turned his head, a question mark almost visible above his head. "I decided to decline it because I have another realm to rule and I will use a substitute in this realm. Maybe my substitute will accept the offer you made. Indeed I am rather certain that she will do so", she said, smiling at both the priestess and the prince.
And both looked at the princess, the priestess not knowing what she meant and the prince not certain why Luna was certain that the next ruler of Westbrucke would accept his offer. Both shook their heads and went their way as Luna turned around and returned to Equestria, smiling in knowledge that everything is developing quite a bit better than she had hoped for.
A few days had passed since Prince Conglatius V left Westbrucke to return to Icewind. He was sad and glad at the same time. He didn't dislike the ponies of Westbrucke but they were more rural than he had anticipated. Most of them were, at least. A few were more sophisticated, like the mayor. Or the priestess.
He was deep in thought and didn't catch what Golden Tongue was saying to him. The prince only noticed that he was speaking as his look remained on him. "Excuse me, advisor. I was in thoughts. What were you saying?" he asked, politely as possible to lessen the possible anger of his advisor. Golden Tongue on the other hand simply smiled and nodded his head.
"It was apparent you were in thoughts, my prince." His smile faded again and the look on his face seemed urgent. "I was just asking if it was really all right to let the princess decline to your proposal without any further negotiations. I know your father trusts your decisions and he will accept that you and the princess will not marry. But this is nonetheless an extremely risky situation this alliance brought us in. The princess will wage war against Flankrium, we all know this much. But we don't know what will come afterwards. She might abandon us again."
Conglatius V looked at the floor, sadness in his face. "I know for certain that she will abandon us again." Golden Tongue looked at the prince in surprise. "She told me herself. She said that it would be too much for her to rule over Winterwald and Equestria at the same time and I assume she doesn't want to abandon her sister again."
Golden Tongue's eyes widened, his cheeks got red and he wanted to begin to rant when the prince continued, ignoring his advisor. "She has decided to announce a substitute for her as ruler of Winterwald. I don't know who it could be, but she also intends to marry her to me, to bind Icewind and Westbrucke together."
"WHAT?" the advisor screamed and the guards accompanying them looked towards them. "That is not true, is it? It can not be true. Is she a fool, to decide for herself what the prince of an independent kingdom would do in the future?"
The prince looked at his advisor with a stern look. "She certainly is no fool. It did not sound like a command, more like a prediction. As if she would know what happens in the future."
Golden Tongue was not happy about the prince's answer, but he was too tired now to continue this discussion. "We will see what your father thinks of this."
"You fools, do you think this is a joke? We will soon go to war and none of you are prepared in the slightest bit. HURRY, before I come and make you hurry."
This and similar shouts were echoing throughout the castle when the prince arrived. The king himself stood there, donning his armour. He was impressive to look at, his silver plate matching his white fur, the massive halberd floating in front of him. He looked towards the gate, smiling at his son.
"It would have benefited us greatly if you had married her. What exactly could there be to accept this declination of marriage and still accept the alliance as it is now."
"Father, it seems that the princess has returned solely to unify the realm and bring it to its former glory. She intends to leave once this is done and she wants to declare somepony as her substitute. I don't know who this could be, but I know that the princess intends us, me and the substitute, to marry each other."
The king looked at his son, not knowing if he was a fool or not. What he knew was that this alliance was a great risk, without any safety if it goes wrong. He thought for a few minutes and was suddenly distracted by the silence that had fallen upon them since the prince had returned.
"What are you fools doing? Back to training. Or I will use you as munition for the catapults when we besiege Flankrium" he shouted to his left and right, his voice made even louder by a spell. He turned back towards his son. "Do you think that this will turn out profitable for our family?"
The prince, noticing a greedy look in his fathers eyes, answered with all honesty. "I think it will benefit all of us if we follow the princess in her conquest."
The king nodded, before he used his magically enhanced voice again. "Prepare for departure. Tomorrow morning, we will go to Westbrucke and then towards glory on the battlefield. FOR ICEWIND."
"FOR ICEWIND." came the answer from all sides and the ponies of Icewind began to prepare their equipment. The king looked at his son who was smiling delightfully. He was proud of the prince, but he was prepared to betray the princess if this wouldn't turn out to be a winning situation.
Princess Luna stood in the mayor's office looking out the window. The mayor stood beside her, her look worried about what may come in the future. Outside were the guardians and the militia preparing for the coming battle.
"Is this really necessary princess? We never had problems until now." The mayor asked Luna, not knowing what she was supposed to do.
"Sadly it is necessary." The princess answered. "And you may have had a calm life until now, but it is only a matter of time until either Icewind or Flankrium would have attacked you, to get stronger and take over each other completely."
The mayor looked up and saw the sadness in the alicorn's eyes. It was hard for both, she realised, and saw that the princess was fixated on the young priestess, which just left the chapel to return home.
"She will become the future ruler of the realm and will be your liege." The princess said.
"I know." The mayor answered with not the slightest amount of surpise in her voice.
The princess looked at her, as if she wanted to say something, but then turned her head away again. "I am leaving now. It is time. Before my sister notices I left. Have a good nights rest mayor."
"Good look princess. May you be guided wisely in the future."
"Good luck mayor. I will watch over you this night, as I did all the nights before."
Celestia was still unsure what the sudden emptiness in her heart meant, but she was certain that it had to do with her sister.
'You are not again turning against us' she hoped.' Please be cured from your sadness. I could not bear to banish you again.'
She was just intending to stand up and get her sister, when she felt the emptiness filled again. She smiled slightly, but her confusion was too great to let her be entirely sure that her sister was all right.
It was a sunny day, and the north of Westbrucke was a farmer working on the fields. The wheat was growing well, and the farmer was smiling, looking forward to the next harvest season, when he heard a strange sound. It was a regular sound, getting louder and louder. It sounded like a smith's hammer on hot iron, but a thousand times echoed.
The farmer looked to the north, were the sound came from. He saw something up in the air, but he didn't notice on first glance what it was. Only a few moments later he noticed that they were banners, and that below was a huge mass of ponies approaching. The farmer wasn't sure what to do, so he waited for the army to arrive where he stood.
A few minutes later, the army stopped, and a single pony in silver armour approached him.
"Hello, my hard working friend. Are you from Westbrucke?" the unicorn asked him. He sounded old, but also strong, and his speech demanded an answer, as was his stature and size,as he was almost towering over the farmer.
"Yes I am. What business do you have with a small, peaceful town such as ours, leading an army here?" the farmer asked. His voice was trembling slightly, not enough to be significantly lower the farmer's authority, but enough for the commander of the army to notice.
"I am king Conglatius IV, king of Icewind and ally of Westbrucke and it's ruler, Princess Luna of Equestria. I just wanted to be sure of our direction." he answered. He smiled kindly, and the farmer loosened up, nodding to the king.
"So you came as friend?" the farmer asked, still nodding, with a confused look. He wasn't sure if he could trust the unicorn in front of him, but he looked a lot like his son, the farmer had seen in the past, and the silver armour was certainly an expensive work.
"Indeed I came as friend, to aid in the liberation and reunification of our realm. Or, in simpler words, to take over Flankrium and Osttor for your princess." the king said, his voice deeper than before.
"Then I notify the village of your arrival, majesty." the farmer said, as he was walking back to the farmhouse.
The king accompanying the farmer, asked him "How will you notify the village?", as they approached a horn made of wood. It was directed to the south, and the farmer blew in it, three times. The sound was deep, and some ponies from the army split off, running towards the farmhouse.
The king walked towards them, raising a hoof to show them that everything was all right, before commanding them to return to their places.
The farmer on the other hand was sitting in front of the farmhouse, dizzy from blowing the horn. "Have a nice journey, majesty" he said to the king, breathing as if he had just run for his live.
"Rest well, my friend" the king answered, before leaving him and returning to the army, the soldiers at their places again. The farmer looked after them, as they left, wondering if such an army really was necessary.
The mayor was at her desk, when she heard the horn from the northern border. She counted how many times the horn was blown. One time, an enemy approaches. Second time, an unknown, larger group approaches. Then came the third and last time, and the mayor smiled. Three times, a friend approaches.
She went outside, where she ordered several ponies to prepare a camping place for the army and some tables to be arranged as a greeting. On her way to the villages entrance, the young priestess approached her.
"Hello mayor" Moonprayer said, "I am on my way to notify the princess that the Icewindian army is coming." The mayor noticed the young priestess smiling.
"Good, I wanted to ask you to do it, but it seems this is not necessary any more. May I ask you why you are smiling?" Moonprayer looked at the mayor and blushed.
"I.. I.. I don't know. The prince is coming and I.. no the princess..." the young priestess stuttered. The mayor, rejoiced by the lively young priestess, burst out in laughter. A few ponies looked at them, but didn't say anything.
"I see priestess. You are nervous to see an army, isn't it?" the mayor asked, knowing that this wasn't the reason. The priestess nodded, her face still blushed, when she suddenly looked shocked.
"The letter! I have to go, I am sorry mayor" Moonprayer said, almost shouting. The mayor wanted to say something, but the priestess already left. The mayor shook her head while smiling. The young priestess was in love, it was apparent, but the mayor decided to keep it for herself.
She continued to organise the armies arrival, and just as she finished, the first ponies called out for her. The army was approaching faster than anticipated, and the mayor commanded the militia and guards to stand at the gate, as a sign for the approaching allies that they were as well prepared to fight as them.
Just as the king and his son approached the mayor, the priestess came, a letter in her magical grip.
"Mayor, the princess will arrive in about two hours." she said, not realising who stood there. She turned her head around, and saw the prince standing besides the king, looking almost identical, except for the beard and some minor facial details.
She looked at the prince, then at the king, shock drawn into her face, and bent to the royal ponies in front of her. She got so fast onto her knee, that she almost fell forward, if the prince hadn't caught her.
"It is all right, priestess" the king said, while the prince smiled, his cheeks tainted in pink. The priestess head in contrary was as red as a tomato, and the king and the mayor both looked at each other and smiled. The mayor's smile was honest, but something in the king's smile was wrong, the mayor noticed.
"Majesty, while we wait, how about you tell us what happened the last few years in the north? We haven't heard from you for a long time" the mayor said. The king agreed, and they went to the white tent, accompanied by the prince and the priestess, where they talked about past times.
They sat down in the tent, the prince and the king on one side of the table in it's centre, the priestess and the mayor on the other. Both mares were eager to listen to the stories of the north, since the old alliance was breaking apart and trade was uncommon, done only by the few freelancing merchants of Winterwald.
The prince looked at the priestess, seeing the interest in her face. He smiled unconsciously, and his face began to heat up. As he realised what he was doing, he turned his head away, to not embarrass himself in front of the priestess any more than he already did.
He regained his composure when his father began to talk about the past.
<< It was shortly after my ancestor decided that the alliance and trade contracts with Westbrucke were not in our favour that he had sent a small troop further into the north. He wanted to expand, wanted to find more land we could live in, but there was none. Every party he sent out into the north, be it north-east, north-west or directly the north, were frozen wastelands.
But he was certain that there was something, a land to expand to, and he sent more ponies to the north, more ponies to die. His son, my grand-grand father, was wiser then him, and ordered his own party to go west, slightly south-west, and search there. And he was right, they found more land that could be settled on.
But his father thought differently, and madness was in his eyes, when he ordered the party to be executed and his son to be imprisoned. The party was beheaded in secrecy, as his son was brought into the upper most tower of Icewind, the tower we call "royal guard", because the madness of the king was growing each day.
As there were more and more deaths in the north, more and more ponies were upset, and decided that the king was no longer capable of ruling over Icewind. And they were right, as the next few months after my grand-grand fathers imprisonment would show.
New, arbitrary laws were enacted, laws enforced by a greedy guard. They salary was doubled and they were eager to take more drastic measures to get their gold than before. But the peoples unrest grew in this time, and not all of the guards were willing to follow his madness any longer.
A quarter of the guards were no longer loyal to the king, but there are two very important ponies. One was the guards accountant, which made the guards watch schedule and ordered all loyalist to be far away from the throne room, and the tower guard where the king's son was held.
The king himself was unaware of the threads, and when the peasants stormed the castle, he ordered the guards to kill them. The guards walked towards them, and the peasants looked in shock towards an unexpected event, until they turned to the king, and one stepped in front of him and said that his reign was over.
The king stood up, shocked, and was killed shortly afterwards. There are many theories, but I think it was the nearest guard that killed him. Either way, the king was dead, and the peasants began to dispute which should be king, when the tower guard came and said that there was his heir, a reasonable man, and he should be king.
The peasants were reluctant towards his idea, but agreed on one term. The king should be put down if he was as mad as his father. And, as you might think, he wasn't. Therefore our family still rules over Icewind.
But there was one thing the mad king did right. One of his last parties returned with a map and a text written in an ancient dialect. It still exists to this day and says that the goblets, if lit, are an empires pillar. >>
Silence fell over them as they thought about the goblets. The priestess and the mayor both were certain that with this goblet the one in the church was meant, and the prince had the same idea with less certainty. Only the king wasn't knowing what it could be, but he had stopped thinking about it even before he took over the throne.
In this silence, another guest arrived, smiling towards the four ponies at the table. "You are right, one of these goblets is in the church right now," Luna said. The ponies turned their heads, and all began to smile, knowing that know, the true meeting would begin.
"It is an honour to meet you, princess," the king said. He smiled, but Luna immediately looked through the façade the king was building up. He wasn't too content that a battle was approaching because he knew that mainly his man would suffer from it.
But Luna had more to worry about than the kings worries. She had not only to unite a shattered kingdom, now that she knows that there are more goblets she needs to assemble a search party. She had already some ponies in mind and was well aware that her decision would cause a commotion.
"Thank you, king, for your kind greeting. It is a pleasure to meet a royal with some manners." The king looked at her with a confused look, to which Luna responded "Be happy that you never had to meet the royals of Canterlot. They might have been proud and honourable once, but now they are nothing more than arrogant and greedy. A degenerate nobility in comparison to you and your son."
The king smirked, happy for the princess's compliment but feeling disappointed about the way the Canterlot royals behave. "I am sorry to hear that. Nonetheless, we have more important matters at hoof. We must prepare a war and I want to know how you plan to distribute the forces," the king answered to pressure the princess.
Luna sat at the table, looking each one in the face. "I plan to divide the forces between yours and ours." Everyone was shocked and looked at the princess with their eyes wide opened. She sighed and wanted to explain her decision, but the king was faster and answered to her proposal with his voice raised a bit, enough to impress but not enough to sound offending.
"I say we unite the forces and distribute the soldiers equally on each front. With this we will have a much greater impact on one of the gates." All except for the princess nodded. She was well aware that his idea would be the right one under normal circumstances, but they had one problem they couldn't solve in this short period of time they had remaining.
"Normally I would have the same point of you as you have now. The only problem is that our forces have no experience fighting together and they would only hinder each other on the battle field, leading to a much smaller impact than each forces had separately." The others now understood why the princess wanted to split the forces, but her idea made the king only angrier.
"So that means while my forces are at the front gate, tacking the enemy forces head on and suffering casualties, your forces are sneaking around and attacking the enemy from behind? No, I will not let my man suffer while yours are safe. We either join our forces or I return home and you can fight your fights alone."
The princess shook her head. She smiled slightly and answered in a comforting voice she had learned to use a millennia ago. "In contrary, our forces will be the one to hold of the enemy long enough for yours to sneak in and attack from behind. We will arrive at the front gate at the same time, targeting the northern and western gates with your catapults. While they attack us through the northern, you go in through the western gate and march through the city behind the enemies back. Our forces are trained to protect a place as long as necessary. I suppose yours is more fitted for an attack, or am I wrong?"
The king looked at her with little belief. He wasn't prepared for such a plan, the princess noticed. She had to smile and suppress a burst of laughter upon the face the king had at this moment. "No, you are right. My forces are trained to charge, not to stand ground," the king answered.
The princess looked at the others. Their silence told the princess that neither of them had greater issues with her plan, but she had to make sure. "Is everyone content with this plan or do you have any suggestions of your one?" she asked the ponies at the table. None of them had and the princess and king approved the plan with a handshake.
Prince Conglatius V cleared his throat to gain the attention of the ponies around him. He was surprised that the mayor and the priestess had no reluctance towards the princess's plan, but he also knew that they trusted her with their lives. Even before she had returned they would pray in the night before their departure for a good journey. He also had never heard of a pony being hurt on their journeys through the most dangerous places when they had prayed the night before.
But it wasn't the belief in their princess the young royal was interested in. He was much more interested in his placement in the fight. He was eager to prove himself in front of the men he would lead one day.
"Father, Princess, I just wanted to ask what my role in this battle will be. I wanted to show the men that I am capable of fighting as well as they are, but your plan puts a big risk on both forces if they look through your plan and I don't intend on staying behind the defence lines."
The king looked at him with a worried look while the princess smiled. It was the princess that answered him. "You will be in a totally different place, my young fighter." She looked at the king. "That is, if your father accepts a proposal I wish to make."
The king looked at her with even more worry. "What is it you plan to do with my son. He won't stay here on his own, even if I demanded it."
"I want him and the priestess to search for the goblets you have mentioned before. They will benefit us greatly if they are in each city, allowing us to trade and contact each other in a matter of a few moments."
"NO!" the prince shouted, now standing at the table. He panted hardly in his anger. As he looked around he noticed the confused looks on the mayor and the priestess and his father's glare made him clear that he made a mistake. He sat back down, blushing from the embarrassment he brought upon himself just now.
He looked at the princess while a tear run down his cheek. He was waiting a long time for a battle to prove himself and now it got taken away. "Why do I have to go? Isn't there somepony else that could go with the priestess?" he asked. In his anger he almost forgot the priestess's presence. Only her hoof on his reminded him that she was there, too. And the tears in her eyes made him hate himself. How could he just have fallen this far? How could he have forgotten this beautiful mare sitting beside him?
"I send you because she needs a protector. A bigger group would be suspicious. So sending you could just mean one thing." the princess said to the prince. He looked up and expected her to continue and was surprised that his father answered with the most obvious answer.
"My son, this means that your strength has been acknowledged. If you need a small party that can overcome any obstacle in your way, you need the strongest and wisest of ponies. I know that the priestess possesses strong magic or else she wouldn't be the priestess. And being one also expects a high grade of education, almost as high as yours has been. But she has no strength on her own and therefore she needs you. And because you two are well educated in different terms, combining your ideas will lead to even greater ideas."
The princess nodded. "It is as your father said, but there is also another reason. You have seen the stone map, haven't you?" she asked the prince.
He nodded, but his look told the princess that there was more. "I have seen the map, but I can't remember it any more, and it has been destroyed in the last winter. Water had entered the tablet and one day colder than others it broke into small pieces."
The princess smiled again. She began to drive him crazy, he noticed, but he decided to bear with it. It was better if they smiled than without any expression on their faces. "It will be sufficient that you have seen it. And now sleep my dear prince."
Luna's horn was glowing when the prince collapsed at the table. The others stood up and looked shocked at the prince. The mayor wanted to call the guards to get a medical pony, but the princess sealed her mouth, as she approached the prince and touched him with his horn.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE YOU CRAZY BITCH!" the king shouted at Luna. She turned around and looked at the king. He felt that he had to be silent for now, but his anger was still hot inside his chest and his heart pounded heavily.
"You fool think I would hurt him now that there is an army around you ready to defend you?" she asked the king. Her voice was shaking from anger and the king sat into a corner of the tent. He noticed that she suddenly was bigger than before.
"I am sorry," he said without noticing his fear from the alicorn in front of him. She seemed to shrink again.
At the same time the priestess and mayor sat in the other corner of the tent. They saw exactly how the eyes of the alicorn changed when the king called her a bitch, how fangs grew and her fur turned slightly darker. She returned to normal after the king apologised and the mayor already thought that it was only an illusion created by the princess's anger, but Moonprayer was well aware that the princess had changed. She had felt the magic coming from her turning heavier and colder.
Luna's eyes began to glow slightly and a moment later, the prince stood up and smiled. "That was a nice dream princess. Thank you." He noticed the others cowering in the tent's corners. "What happened here?" he asked the princess, but she only shook her head, smiling again.
"Nothing to worry about. Are you ready to leave?" she asked him and he nodded. "Then go prepare yourself. And you too, Moonprayer." She didn't look at the priestess as she was running outside, tears flowing down her cheek again.
The princess looked at the other two. "Remember this: My anger is much more frightening than the forces you could assemble. There are only six ponies capable of stopping me, and they would arrive too late to save you if the need arises. And they needed to be together, only one wouldn't suffice to stop me."
The princess than left the king and the mayor in the tent. She explained to the guards, which were waiting to be called in by the king or the mayor, that everything was all right now. They nodded, not sure if she was honest with them. They let the princess leave.
Luna was walking to the church. She had enough for one day. She was still shaking. She herself was frightened what had surfaced just now. Hadn't Twilight Sparkle and her friends defeated her dark side? Was she still affected by it? She decided to research this matter as soon as she returned to Canterlot and got some rest.
Luna arrived just on time in Canterlot. As soon as she had left the goblet's portal, somepony knocked at her doors. "Princess Luna, your sister asked for your presence. She said it isn't urgent, so you may exclude yourself from this meeting, but it would be better if you came. You are a ruler of our country and so you should also decide what happens here."
Luna answered him that she would come in a few minutes. The messenger, probably one of her sister's guards, left with a word of acknowledgement. Luna sat in the middle of the room and thought about the meeting. She had remembered just in time that she wanted to attend to this one and needed to rush at the meeting in Westbrucke. Something she could regret as far as she knew, but this meeting was also important. She wanted to be part of the kingdom once again and this was one step towards her goal.
She remembered the theme of this meeting just after she had left her room. As she was walking down the hallways, she was preparing her decisions and answers and thought of the different points that she had to mention and counter. The ponies of Equestria weren't scheming as much as the royalty was in the past, but they could still corner a princess if their needs were endangered. Something she had learned in the short amount of time she had returned while watching her sister handle the daily businesses of the realm.
But as the meeting began, her mind was beginning to focus on Winterwald and her own kingdom. The battle for Flankrium was drawing closer and she couldn't attend to it. Too long was the journey to the south and too dangerous for the goblet to be taken with the army. She could only hope that her people would be victorious. And that the priestess and the prince would find the other goblets so that Luna could visit the other villages and help them on their way to unity and prosperity.
-----------------------------------------------
As Luna was attending the meeting back in Canterlot, priestess Moonprayer sat in the church and watched the flames dancing over the goblet. She had never noticed that this flames weren't simply blue. White dots appeared at the same spots and it was like watching the night sky just outside the town gates.
The priestess looked at the flames while thinking about the task she had to fulfil with the prince. What should she take with her? How much provisions would be needed? Would she need to carry a weapon?
She almost giggled at the last thought. She was a unicorn and her weapon was the magic she carried deep inside her. She had trained some offensive spells in the last few days. While she wanted to be prepared for the upcoming battles, she had hoped that she wouldn't really need them. But she wasn't so sure any more now that she had to go with only the prince as her companion. She wanted to be of more use than just the healing spells she had used in the past decade to heal minor wounds and sicknesses.
Her thoughts drifted into a possible future she imagined where she was saving the prince's live and healing his wounds from battling a shadowy creature, a massless form changing it's shape and size. She smiled when the prince entered the church. She hadn't noticed him and squeaked when he was talking to her, immediately blushing upon the sound she just made.
------------------------------------------------
The prince noticed that the priestess sat in front of the goblet and walked towards her. "How are you?" he asked almost whispering. She made a strange little sound when she realised that he stood there and he couldn't hold back a smile, thinking that even her squeaking sounds were as lovely as a birds tweet and her blushing face was worthy of being drawn and hanged in the halls of his ancestors.
"I am fine," the priestess answered "just nervous. I never went into the unguarded parts of our realm. Is it dangerous out there? I think it has to be extremely dangerous." She looked at him with eyes full of expectation as she thought he certainly had visited these parts.
"The unguarded regions are dangerous indeed. I don't know how dangerous the place we are going to visit is, though. I never ventured further south than a mile, mostly east and west. There are some lovely places in these regions. If we have finished our business with Flankrium and Osttor, would you like to accompany me to these places?"
"I'd love to." the priestess answered a bit too loud. Her cheeks got even redder than before and both smiled. They looked each other deeply into the eyes. He felt struck by a strange feeling he had in the past every time he saw his mother, but this time it was different. Stronger than his feelings for his mother, yet more dangerous and exciting. He had to focus on his knees to prevent them from shaking.
He noticed that the priestess's eyes were half closed and that she had approached his faces with hers. He began to approach her too and was ready to kiss her, when hooves knocked at the churches gates. They looked at each other, and he demanded to know who was knocking. He noticed how harshly he asked when the guard looked at him in a strange manner.
"The saddlebags for you and the priestess are ready, my prince. They are in your father's tent. Also, the army is ready to leave and your father wishes to see you before they go. You should hurry, he said, as he want's to arrive at an abandoned castle south from here before the moon rises."
"We are coming." the prince answered. In his voice was the sadness of losing this precious moment. He turned to the priestess and smiled. "I have ordered for your saddlebag to be prepared as well. I hope you do not mind."
The priestess looked into his eyes. She was thinking about something, he noticed, but he couldn't guess what it possibly could be. She shook her and left the church leaving the prince behind. He asked himself if he had made a mistake as he left and went to his father's tent, where the meeting was a few hours ago.
King Conglatius IV stood in the entryway of his tent when the priestess arrived. She seemed to be in shock but the expression on her face was not frightened, but pleasant, as if something good just had happened.
Shortly after the prince arrived. He looked disappointed ad seeing the priestess made this expression worse. The king looked at both of them and wasn't sure what to think of this. He never had seen his soon looking like this at a mare.It was as if he had fallen in love.
Conglatius IV discarded this thought as he approached his son. "How are you? Are you feeling strange or anything? Are you still yourself?" he asked, worried about the rushed action princess Luna took at the meeting.
"I am fine, father. She just let me dream and I saw the map the day before it got destroyed." The princes words were carefully spoken, to prevent his father from going concluding things there is no need to worry about.
"I am just worried, my son. You are the only heir to our kingdom and I don't want to lose you. If she had explained what she was going to do I would have allowed her to make you dream about it. I just don't understand why she had to rush it like this. This is all."
"I don't understand it either, father. But she must have had her reasons and that I am fine is all that counts for now. You should worry more about the soldiers you might lose in the upcoming battle. The need you fully concentrating on this siege. You know exactly what happens if you aren't."
The king looked at his son and nodded. He was right. An army led by a confused leader was an army endangered to wrong decisions and unnecessary losses. And this would lead to a drop of morale. The king sat down on a cushion that had remained from the meeting. He took a deep breath and ordered one of the guards to ready the army for marching.
Half an hour later, the army stood ready at the southern gate. The prince and the priestess were prepared to leave as well and they were talking to the mayor and the king.
"You two be cautious. We don't know what might guard these goblets but it is certain that they won't be sitting on a table for everypony to take." the mayor said. "And come back healthy. You are our future and we need you back in one piece."
The prince and the priestess nodded. The prince wanted to say something but the priestess was fell in his words. "You come back in one piece, too. We might be the future but you are the present. And the present is needed to form the future to be better than the past."
The mayor and the king smiled and agreed. These words were as true as the mayors and all promised to come back healthy. Then the king ordered his army to march. The prince and the priestess stood there for a few minutes to watch them go the route to the south. Then they turned around and walked northwards, towards their own adventure.
Princess Luna was sitting on the throne. She was bored by the meeting. There was nothing particularly interesting that had happened and everything she and her sister decided was accepted without any words of disagreement.
She had planned to watch the army and the priestess and her companion leave, but she decided against it. She had the feeling that she was already too late. The meeting reached it's end and the attendees left through the entrance to the throne room.
She looked at Celestia. Her sister looked back and nodded and both began to charge their magic to change the day to night. It was another day that had past since she had returned and another night came that she had to watch over her subjects.
As she was watching over the dream realm she thought for the first tine that her sister could be capable of sensing other ponies as she was.Not through their dreams but maybe through other means. Or maybe princess Cadance which was in charge of love. If she could sense loving pairs, she had to sense the priestess and the prince. Luna decided to ask her if she could and take counter measures as soon as she could.
She grew even more uncomfortable when she noticed the the priestess and the prince were missing. They had to be still awake. Luna growled and decided that this night, a few ponies were keeping their nightmares. She just sat there and looked outside the window. At the same time, her eyes were changing shape, switching between their normal form and the reptilian eyes she had in the past.
Of Brainteasing Graves, Short Sieges and Infuriating Worries
A few weeks had past since the army and the prince with the priestess departed from Westbrucke. In this time, nothing noteworthy had happened.
The prince and the priestess were on their way, searching the place where the goblets were hidden. They found it a few days after they left Westbrucke.
The alliance's army arrived around two weeks after their departure from Westbrucke. What awaited them was an unexpected situation, lucky and sad at the same time.
In Equestria itself, life was simple for Princess Luna. She got some rest, but even she had a trial to overcome.
--* The goblets hideout, five days after the departure *--
"By the moon, why won't this damn door open." the prince shouted. After almost six hours standing before the door blocking their way to the goblets, he had lost his patience. Moonprayer lifted her head from the floor. She was trying to think about the text that was standing above the door: "Enter may those which know the answer. The world is standing on it's own. But you are not."
"Could you please be a bit quiet, I am trying to think." Moonprayer said to Conglatius. "I know it is frustrating, but the solution might not be this hard to find if you help me out a bit." Her tone was rather annoyed. The last thirty minutes, he was only ranting about the fact that they still stood on the outside of the door.
"Not this hard to find? We already called everything we know what we might stand on. Hoof, leg, paw. Nothing worked. I have no idea what it could be."
Moonprayer looked at him with a look that told him to keep quiet. "This riddle is old. Very old. Maybe it is a word in a language we don't know any more. So please, if you don't want to help me, at least be quiet."
The prince returned a destructive stare. He was losing his manners as his patience was leaving. "I should be quiet? We are sitting here since six hours and we still haven't found an answer. Come on, egghead, you should have guessed it an eternity ago."
"How dare you call me egghead, foolish brute. We were sent both because we had something in our heads. I fear that the princess and your father were wrong about what is inside your head."
Conglatius had enough. He lost his temper, and he just wanted to let his anger out. "ON YOUR FEET! I won't ignore this disrespecting attitude any longer."
Moonprayer stood up, not to give in to the prince, but to give him what he deserves. "Well, mister nose-in-the-air, if you would look straight instead of in the sky, you would get the respect you wish for."
Conglatius was surprised. Never had anyone spoken back to him in the rare occasion he had lost his temper in the past. He adored this side of Moonprayer as much as her good heart, but he had put his pride on the line, and he was willing to defend it. "You dare to speak back to me, peasant?"
Moonprayer's face turned red. Conglatius noticed how her look got angrier by the moment, before her anger burst out of her. "HOW DARE YOU CALL ME A PEASANT, YOU LITTLE, ARROGANT ..."
As she continued her ranting she walked towards the prince and he stepped back. He didn't notice that he was walking straight towards the door. Only when he saw the entryway go past him, he stopped and pressed his hoof on Moonprayer's lips. "The door opened."
Moonprayer didn't understand what he meant. In her anger, she hasn't realised where she had guided him and what had happened to their surroundings. "How did this happen?" she asked him, but he shook the head. "What was the meaning of what you said before?"
He looked confused at first, but soon knew what she meant. "On your feet is a saying we have to tell someone to stand up. It is only used in the army and is a remnant of old times when we fought some strange creatures from the north. The called their hoofs feet."
"Naturally. A word as common but at the same time uncommon. But this door is so much older than even Equestria's predecessor realms, it is simply impossible that they were the cause this was called like it."
"Maybe they heard the word from another race, which had to do with this ancient race. I don't know, but I am happy that the door is open."
"Me too. We should take our things and go further inside. But we have to be cautious. There might be only riddles, but it is also possible that there are traps."
Conglatius nodded. "You are right. The goblet's are immeasurably valuable. They certainly have thought of one or another mechanic to prevent them from being stolen."
Moonprayer smiled at him. He blushed and got even redder when he realised what he had just done. He walked behind her and looked around. The cave entrance was nothing special. It was stone, roughed up from the centuries of being left alone and weather taking it's toll.
Fifteen minutes later Moonprayer stopped for a moment before she dashed forward. Conglatius didn't even had time to react before he saw a dim light in front of him. The light got bigger as he approached the entrance to an ancient cave of immense dimension. Inside this cave a whole town would have fitted in. As he looked around for an exit, he saw where the light came from. It was a small hole in the ceiling. The light was mirrored and spread across the room by a structure of glass which had been built there.
Around the centre, where the light was the brightest, a small forest had grown. The trees were small and had slim branches, all orientated towards the light. It looked like wooden creatures praying towards an enlightened entity. The trees colour was a light green, almost white, and the stems were a dark brownish purple. They looked sickening, almost poisonous.
Still astonished from the view which had presented itself, Conglatius didn't notice that Moonprayer had walked towards the centre of the cave where the small forest was. She had noticed a small gap in the dense woods and intended to walk into it, oblivious to Conglatius existence.
"Wait for me." was the only thing that Conglatius could say before she had entered. He shook his head and looked worriedly at the entrance where Moonprayer had vanished. He sighed and followed her, only to walk to a road junction. He cursed silently, and looked into each paths. Both made a curve a few steps into. Seeing her was no option.
He decided to go left and leave behind a trail he could follow later. He searched his saddlebags for something useful, but found nothing except for the food. Suddenly he came to realise that he had his knife. He made a sign into the trees, silently excusing himself.
At the same time, Moonprayer walked the path she had entered. Until now, she had only followed the path. At some points, it seemed that it made some strange turns,but she felt confident to find the centre. She didn't notice the rustling branches behind and in front of her.She was too enchanted by the pure thought of finding the goblet and be of use to the princess.
--* North of Flankrium, twelve days after the departure *--
"Sir, sir, I have message from Westbrucke."
The pegasus, white furred with a mane in different shades of blue, flew over the tents of an army. An army made of all types of pony and united under the banner of the moon. He just evaded crashing into one and landed rather roughly in front of a bigger tent. A unicorn came through the tent's entrance, it's appearance almost as astonishing as an alicorn's. The unicorn wore a crown of gold and silver.
"Aah, Herm, it is you. How are you?" the king asked in such a personal manner that the pegasus looked shocked at the royal in front of him. He shook his head to clear his mind and remembered why he came.
"The message sir. Good messages. From your son."
The king nodded and signed for the pegasus to continue.
"He has returned from his journey with the priestess. They have found the place and brought back two goblets."
"That is indeed good news. It will strengthen the morale of our men when they hear that they have successfully accomplished their mission. Return immediately and tell them that we are happy to hear of his save return."
"As you command." the pegasus answered before he flew off. He jumped into the air and accelerated in no time to his top speed. He was one of the fastest pegasi of the king's army, Sky Dash,codename Hermes.
As Hermes vanished at the horizon, king Conglatius turned around and looked south, down the hill the army had built it's camp upon. There was Flankrium. The city he intended to take for the unity of the realm. He hoped that the princess would grant his family the right to reign over it.
But since they had arrived a few hours ago he had a strange feeling. The city seemed normal at first glance. But the smoke raised from places it shouldn't and the noise of steel clashing on steel was carried from down below. It looked like a rebellion had started inside the city walls.
As the king stared down to the city a soldier came from east where the siege weaponry was placed. They were well visible from the city to intimidate and in case of resistance could be used almost immediately. But they haven't even seen one soldier from Flankrium since they arrived, not even the guards which should have patrolled the city walls.
"The catapults are ready as well as the battering rams. Should we man them now?" the soldier asked.
The king shook his head, still looking towards the city for any signs of soldiers. "No, I don't think that there is an immediate need for them. Prepare the catapults, then return to your tents and rest. The first onslaught should be stopped long enough for you to be ready for battle. If they intend to attack us at uphill."
"As you wish." the pony said before returning and shouting some commands to the others.
The king stood there, still overlooking the city, as time passed. Minutes became hours. The smoke got denser and as the night came, fires were visible from his lookout. There was something going on inside the city. He couldn't think of who exactly could use such a moment to start infighting, but he was happy enough for it. This would avert a few deaths on his side.
The moon stood in it's second quarter when the king decided to rest as well. He commanded the guard to be awoken when the first rays of the sun would reach his tent, not earlier and certainly not later.
He woke up before the guards could awaken him. He sensed something approaching from the south, thanks to a defensive spell he had learned to prevent assassins to reach his family.
As he looked south again he saw a small group of ponies with torn clothes approach. They carried two flags. One was the flag of the city, an earthpony with a bag on it's back. But it was the other that caught everyone's attention. It was white and bore the symbol of Winterwald in it's centre.
--* Canterlot, three days after the departure *--
Princess Luna was in her room. She sat on her bed looking upwards. The ceiling bore flickering stars and a moon, an image from the eternal night sky she once wished to bring to the realm. Outside stood the sun in it's zenith.
"A beautiful image, isn't it." a voice whispered through the room. Luna nodded simply. She knew she was the only one that could have heard the whisper if there would have been someone else in her room. That was because the voice didn't exist physically. It was a voice in the back of her head. It was the whispering of the darkness inside of her.
"Indeed it is beautiful. But I would prefer to look at it without your commentaries." Luna thought. She remembered hearing the whispering for the first time after a millennium. That was two days ago. She shouted through her room and commanded the whisper to vanish. She shouted loud enough for the guards to break into her room and readying their weapons. She still had the feeling that they were also prepared to take on her.
"Why do you hate me so much? I am you after all." the whisper said.
"You are not me. You took my body and tried to kill my sister. Something I would never do." Luna answered in her mind.
"Fool. You still haven't realised the full potential of your power and you speak to me as if you knew. Killing Celestia would have been easy. And it is again. It will always be. Because we can attack her where we are most powerful."
Luna turned her head towards the mirror. She saw herself with different eyes. Nightmare Moon's eyes. "What do you mean, monster."
"I am no more monster than you, silly one. And what I mean is the fact that I too have the power to enter one's dreams."
"I know this much, but what has it to do with my sister. What has it to do with us being one. I would never want to harm my subjects the way you wanted to."
The whisper giggled. "I could have given her nightmares. I could have broken her mind and incapable of fighting you, knowing what had to follow. But we didn't, because we love her. Even in the wish to overcome her and bring eternal night to our subjects, we still love her. We still do. The difference is that I am willing to do what must be done for us to be happy."
Luna glared into the mirror. "If you haven't intended to kill her, what did you intend to do after defeating her?"
"We would have imprisoned her for some time. We would have locked her into her chambers, where she would have gotten access to everything she needed and she wanted. We would have suppressed her magical power by further weakening her mind, but still capable of looking after herself."
Luna shook her head. "Why take this risk? Did you want to lose to her at some point?"
"Maybe we wanted to. No, we certainly wanted to. We were feared when we wanted to be loved. We fought when we wanted to rest. And therefore we created my personality to take on the damage that had been done and gain the possibility of getting redeemed when we already were."
"So then why are you still here? Why haven't you disappeared yet?"
"We are one, but you still fear me. You still fear the power that is represented by me. You have locked me away from your heart and with me part of the power you once had. I am here because we need to unite. I am here to merge with you again after you had taken us apart."
--* The goblets hideout, five days after the departure *--
Moonprayer was walking on the path through the forest. She was deeply in mind and didn't hear the branches and leaves moving around her. Her thoughts were with the princess and the goblet. The honour she could earn was overwhelming her. She would finally be able to confess to the prince when she was renown for bringing it back.
At the same time, the prince was walking through the winding and branching paths the forest had prepared for him. He was well aware of the sounds around him and walked slowly towards another crossroad. There was another mark he had made. He came from the way he had chosen to take beforehand.
Nonetheless, he was still motivated to find the exit. His mind was occupied by the thought of finding the priestess and leaving this cursed place. He had no interest left for the goblets. As long as the priestess would be save, he would be happy.
What neither of these two ponies should ever know was the fact that they had crossed each others paths several times. Both were lead in circles around the centre of the forest. While Moonprayer was too enchanted to notice that she should have arrived at the centre some time ago, taken that she had walked a relatively straight path, Conglatius had lost track how many times he had already changed his path and found his own marks.
But neither of them were willing to give up and the forest, an ancient, living being, had decided that the two of them were worthy of finding what was hidden deep within it's core: a decision to make.
Conglatius noticed the path's turn towards the centre while Moonprayer still was oblivious what happened to her surroundings. At least until she entered the clearance. She first looked to her left where Conglatius enter the clearing. Only when she noticed that he was staring in the centre she turned her head.
The view that presented itself was astonishing. The light from the ceiling shone upon a small island in the middle of a tiny sea. It's waters were merely the length of fifteen ponies in each direction at the longest distance between the lakes edges.
On this island stood a structure of white stone and leaves and dark branches. The structure itself looked as if it would have fallen apart entirely if it weren't for the leaves and branches. Only the arcs remained. Through the wide gaps the goblets were visible. Two were standing there. They were clean and in good shape.
The two ponies walked towards each other. The only sound that they could hear was the sound of the water. Both looked each other in the eyes and blushed. As soon as they turned their heads the leaves were moving again. Both turned towards the source of the sounds and saw a strange creature entering the clearing.
The noticed both that it walked on two instead of four legs. It didn't seem to have any hooves. Both decided that this was what had to be feet. But what they thought was even stranger was the fact that it was made entirely out of the wood of the forest. And when it began to speak they were forced to listen; the deep voice was enchanting and assured of the good intentions.
"I welcome you as my guests, beings from outside. I am the forest's voice. I am sorry that you were guided around here but it was necessary that your hearts were tested. As long as you walk through me I can sense your thoughts. But first, how are the men of New Lyon?"
The two ponies looked at each other again. Both were puzzled what the voice could have meant with the word men. The prince had heard it once from the soldiers of Icewind's army but it just meant the ponies in common. To Moonprayer it didn't say anything at all. And it was her that asked "What is this men you are talking about?"
The tree replied with a sad tone that was resonating within the two ponies. "They are extinct it seems. I worry that I can't tell you much more, only that they came from far away."
"How far away?" the prince asked.
"Further than the borders of this continent reaches. Further than the borders of the world you know reach, to be more precise. Either way it was them that brought certain words into this world. Like foot which is the answer to the gate's puzzle. An easy question if you are human or at least know them. But for you to know it wasn't simply luck. Especially under these circumstances."
Silence returned for a few seconds before the strange creature continued, "Either way, I can sense your intentions, but not your reasons. Why have you decided to enter this place sacred to many over the aeons?"
It was Moonprayer which answered. "We are searching for something. An ancient object capable of creating the stability our realm has need for since centuries. It is weakened and only recently it is re-establishing it's former might."
"What is the mind you are talking about." The voice seemed to come from all around them. The resonating vibration was an honest interest as well as fear. Moonprayer thought about what a forest hidden from the sight of ponykind could fear. In her mind the goblets appeared over and over again. The strength it gave to those who could use it. The peace it could bring. Or the destruction of realms, surprised by attacks from places they had never expected.
But Moonprayer couldn't find an answer to his questions in the process. She cursed herself for the choice of words. Conglatius on the other hand looked at her. Her look showed him that he had to do something and so he said the only thing that came to his mind.
"Harmony."
The brimming voice spoke up. "Harmony? Say, mare of his, are his words true and honest?"
Moonprayer looked at Conglatius and would loved to fall around his neck. "It is. The kingdom had been created for the ponies to be united under the full moon of the princess of the night. It was good as long as she was there. She had vanished a millennia ago but now she has returned and she will reunite us. And with the goblets, we can maintain peace and unity ourselves. These are the plans of our glorious leader my mentor."
Conglatius looked confused. He had never heard that the princess was Moonprayer's mentor. Neither from her nor from anybody. But he knew she didn't say it in ill thoughts. It was her wish to be tutored by the princess. And in some way it could be true. What else could explain the decisions she had made concerning the priestess since he met her.
The forest spoke again. This time the resonance was relieved. "I see. I believe giving you this choice is unnecessary in your case but I have to give it to you. Do you want to take the goblets, a tool to ensure the stability of empires long before the dawn of ponies? Or do you want to receive the gift of nature, a long and healthy life and the power of sensing the feelings of others?"
Both hesitated for a moment. Conglatius looked at Moonprayer, and as much as he would prefer the power of nature to get more time with the mare beside him, he had sworn to protect her in bringing back the goblets. So he said "We will take the goblets." and sensed a comforting vibrant feeling on his skin. He looked at the creature and understood. They could feel his sadness. He smiled a little and so changed the vibrant feeling to a happier one.
"So be it. You may each take one and then leave. But before you go, listen to what I have to say." Both looked up to him. "The moon is a light sunken in darkness. Sometimes it gets darker and sometimes it brightens up. And as the tides change, so change the moons powers. Once in darkness it destroys, another time in light and it completes. But it reaches it's strongest at the end of the cycle. When it is both dark and bright it can destroy and complete and thus create a new world. These are the powers you must beware of and these are the powers that you must embrace."
The two ponies stood there, puzzled and thinking about the warning. Suddenly, a path opened which lead directly to the entrance. Then the creature started to dissolve again. The sticks and leaves dropped to the floor and remained still as the voice carried over them again, brimming with the best wishes that could be carried by it.
"We will guide you home now. Don't forget why you came and then return safely home. We wish that you can lift your blindness towards those nearest to you."
"What do you..." Moonprayer began before she realised that it was futile. The forest had spoken it's last words and remained silent. Conglatius tipped her should and signed towards the island. A bridge of root had appeared and they walked over it to get the goblets and back again. The roots vanished as soon as the had set foot back on the ground. As they went through the forest back to the entrance, the trees closed the path behind them.
"Thank you." Moonprayer whispered silently and a nice shiver rushed over her skin as if someone had just shown her gratitude.
The packed their things and returned to Westbrucke. Both kept silent the way back. It had been much to take in and the goblets were too heavy than to be bothered using their breath on talking. It was only when they returned to the village that Conglatius broke the silence after leaving the goblets with the guards.
"I like you."
Moonprayer looked at him as if he had said something strange. "Thank you. I like you too."
"No I really like you. I had some time now to think this over and I want to ask you something."
He fell on his knee. The guards and ponies around were all shocked and looked at him. He looked around and asked her silently to prevent her answer to be afflicted by others: "Do you want to marry me?"
She looked at him. She began to smile creepily, then to cry. Conglatius jumped up excusing himself and trying to calm her down when she jumped forward. The both lay on the floor. Moonprayer stood over him and her tears hit his nuzzle. "Yes. Yes you stupid arrogant prince." Then she kissed him. It was a long kiss and they would have kissed for a few more minutes if the guards hadn't disturbed him and signed towards the wagons waiting as they blockaded the road.
--* North of Flankrium, thirteen days after the departure *--
The ponies from Flankrium arrived before the king and his guard. The flags the carried were rammed into the ground and showed that this was a neutral conversation. No blood should flow and no live wasted.
"I welcome you to our city, king of Icewind. We have eagerly awaited your arrival since we heard of your involvement with Westbrucke and we hope that you could lend us your hoof in an urgent matter that is taking place within the walls of our once glorious city."
"I welcome you too. As you may have noticed, this is an army meant to besiege your city. Why would you ask me to help you out in this mess that can only benefit us if we leave it alone?" the king asked. He was sure that the envoys would be surprised, at least annoyed by his question. But they were grinning.
"In this case you might lose more men that we predict you will if you help us."
"And how many what that be if you may say?"
"None."
The king stood there, baffled by the certainty the envoy had said it. No man dying while besieging a city? What on earth did these ponies want from him? The king was questioning the answer, but the gain he could make was too great to be ignored. "Tell me what you had planned. If I like it, I will help you."
"Assign a temporary leader and begin to negotiate with him. Then you shall be rewarded with telling the princess that the city of Flankrium has been liberated and is under her control once more."
The king just stood there. "Are you telling me that I had moved my army for nothing out here?" he asked with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.
"Not for nothing majesty. Your troops arriving in Westbrucke gave the rebels hope to stand up to the suppression of the dictatorship that had been established a century ago. Multiple generations of the citizens of this once beautiful city were used like slaves. Instead of being an important centre for culture it was turned into a factory. Instead of artist we were living machines. And all this just because one pony couldn't have enough."
The envoy turned his head towards the city and spit to the ground. "Just thinking about him makes me want to murder somepony. But revenge is near, and death will be a joy to him after we are finished with him. Luna should damn his soul that his filth may never touch the other side and we will never see him again."
Te king shook his head in disbelief. This much anger towards one single pony. The situation in the city must have been harsh. Nonetheless it wasn't the time to talk about the past. "Guide me to the town hall and I shall assign a new mayor for this town."
So they did. Two days later the army had already departed again, taking with them a few contracts that were made with both Westbrucke and Icewind. Flankrium was again a part of the Kingdom of Winterwald.
The new mayor the king had chosen was neither royal nor a scholar. It was a rather smart farmer which just happened to see the king and ask one simple question. "Wouldn't the best choice be from the lower ranks?" he asked, thinking that if he chose somepony from the lower ranks it would give hope to the poorer and the situation would get better in no time.
Indeed his wisdom wasn't the one from books, it was a practical one. The choice of the king was wise. This practical wisdom and the understanding of the common town folk gained the mayor a reputation that lead not only to more wealth for all the citizens. It lead to a cultural revolution. Where once statues of the dictator stood were now places for concerts and other entertainment. People exchanged wisdom at these places and the city turned greener than it ever was. But this would be in a future that would come after the disasters of Osttor.
-* Canterlot, four days after the departure*-
It was a nice morning when Luna sat alone in the library she had ordered to be cleared for her to study. She had taken some books with themes she wanted to read about. Most of the books contained information about Equestria's history. These books were incredibly detailed and were only visible to a small number of scholars. Mostly due to the fact that the details describe secrets that could lead to revolts in the street.
"Interesting what sister let happen in the past." the darkness whispered in Luna's mind. "Looks like she has ordered some of these things. Many ponies died because of her. Mostly shortly after I was banished. Oh, and this looks rather interesting. A plague that would only kill unicorns. Looks like those that survived did solely because they could pay sister for the cure. Look at this picture. This disease was horrible. All this blood. And only by breathing the air around decayed ponies would one get sick, too. Very effective indeed. Maybe it was engineered. Maybe even by sister."
"Silence." Luna thought. She didn't want to hear the commentaries of the darkness inside her. She still couldn't accept that this could be herself thinking these things. And it was already enough to read about the things her sister had to do. She put the book away and took another one. The title read 'How to exorcise yourself of evil' and was not as old as the history book she just put aside.
"You really don't like yourself, do you?" the darkness asked. It sounded horribly honest and worried. Luna couldn't understand why the darkness was still thinking they were one.
"I don't like you. I am fine with just being myself. I will even feel better as soon as I got rid of you." she answered.
The darkness giggled. "How many times do I have to tell you that we are the same? How could I have the same memories as you elseways? Just for your information: You can't get rid of yourself. Believe me, I tried. It would have killed us."
"We aren't the same." Luna answered rather unpleasently. "We are seperate entities and I will prove it to you right now."
Luna cast the spell she just read in the exorcism book. She felt how the darkness lost hold of her. But at the same time she grew weaker. She felt the further away the darkness went, the further her own life slipt. She stopped and confusedly looked at the book again. She opened the first page. It was a book she had written herself just before she had been banished by her sister. The little sign beside the authors name is unmistakebly her own. She had forgotten that she did write this book and there aren't any memories returning either.
"I told you that I tried to get rid of you. Is this prove enough that we are one and the same?" the darkness answered. It was angry, Luna understood as much. It must have written the book, too. But she couldn't exactly comprehend why it was angry. Because she tried to get rid of it? Or because she didn't believe it? And most importantly...
"What does this mean?" she asked herself. She thought hard about what she had done. She had tried to get rid of her sister and plunge the entire world into a neverending night. Was she evil?
"You are not evil. It is true that the way I tried to bring us happiness was a bit different from the common conception of being good, but there would have been no lasting harm. Neither on our subjects nor on sister. I thought I told you this already."
"Might be." Luna was not in the mood to discuss this further. "I admit one sole thing. You are a part of me. I can't kill you without killing me. That doesn't make us one and the same, only reliant on each other. You are still Nightmare Moon and you are seperate from me."
"Good enough. For now at least. You will see that I told the truth. When you accept me you will gain the power you hide from yourself. The power of destruction that lives within yourself. The other part of the power that could compete with sister. Without it you are even weaker than Twilight Sparkle without her element. And she's not even an alicorn."
"Don't forget she is a prodigy and tutored by Celestia. My sister had chosen her few students very carefully and Twilight Sparkle has even the power to bear one of the elements of harmony. I am certain that there is no stronger unicorn living right now. One day she might even surpass the unicorns of times harsher than this one. Maybe she will surpass Starswirl the bearded."
The darkness kept silent. Luna blushed, feeling dumb that she would justify herself from her darkness. She decided to return to her room. On the way there she didn't notice the guards and servants greeting her. She was too deep in thought about what the darkness had told her.
Celestia stood just beside the door to the library when Luna rushed out and walked away in the direction of the royal chambers. She seemed to be deeply in thought that she didn't stop and talk to her sister. She didn't even greet her and Celestia was already worried from what she had just heard.
She had only heard two things. As she had arrived, her sister was muttering about something being seperate from her. But what she said about Twilight was what really worried her. Luna seemed to be very interested in her student, but not in the friendly way. The words in itself were friendly but Luna almost spit them out. A tone that she had never allowed if Luna had told this to her.
Celestia walked to the guards and ordered them to be more cautious around Luna. They didn't ask why but their eyes were questioning the order. "It is for her own safety" she said to the guards. "She seems to glide into the darkness again and I won't banish her a second time. I can't. It would break my heart to send her away again after she just returned." The guards nodded and gave the orders to their superiors.
Celestia walked back to the throne room. She still had some tasks to fulfill and then make plans to protect her student from any harm. She will invite her and her friends to stay at the castle for a week, maybe two, solely to protect them if the need arises. In the meantime she will keep a closer look at her sister and, more importantly, talk with her. She hadn't had many chances to speak in privacy and it was about time that happened.
It was about one and a half month after the army departed from Westbrucke. The king had returned some days prior and was outraged when he heard that his son had proposed to a commoner. She might be the priestess of the princess's personal church and might even receive some tutelage from her. Nonetheless, she was no noble and held no title and no land except for the small house she lived in.
"How could you propose to someone of her standing?" the kings asked his son this morning as they were eating breakfast. It was apparent that he was holding his anger back as he spoke. Even the servants understood this much and shivered in fear of a possible outburst. "She certainly is no bad pony, don't misunderstand me. But we could have found someone like her in nobility too."
Conglatius V was in no aspect better than his father. He also held his anger back. In his case it came from his father's missing capability of understanding his decision. "Father, I travelled with her to a dangerous cave. I told her more in these two weeks than you were ever willing to listen to in my whole life. I had arguments with her and laughed with her. I lover her and I will marry her. There is no room for discussion."
The servants knew exactly what was going to happen as soon as they saw the look in the king's face. They left the room the royal family had gotten in Westbrucke silently as the kings stood up and looked down at his son.
"You will NOT marry her. I will NEVER allow you to marry a commoner as long as you don't want to face the consequences." the king said.
The prince stood up to look his father in the eyes on equal standing. "You will stop calling her commoner if you do not want to face my wrath. And what consequences could you mean to bring upon me that could make me stop from marrying the mare I love?"
"If you dare to marry her I will deny you your right on the crown of Icewind. Your uncle will be king and his descendants his heirs while you live as commoner in this city with only the wealth you earn on your own."
The prince stood there shocked that his father really thought about taking his birthright. He thought about doing what his father wanted as the image of Moonprayer came back to his mind. His face became hard and the king saw the kind of resolve in the prince's face he rather had not seen. "If you want to do this, fine. I will no longer stain your precious surroundings with my presence." he said before turning around and leaving the room.
"Wait." the king said but his son had already left. He looked at the plate before him and threw them from the table before smashing his hooves on it. Conglatius IV fell on his knees, his face buried in his hooves asking himself what he was doing. He was still sobbing when one of the servants was daring to take a look. She remained silent and shook her head to the others to signalise that it was inappropriate to enter know. The dishes would have to wait until the king would have left the room.
Around the same time the princess arrived in the church where Moonprayer was reading a letter. "Good news." the priestess said. "The goblets seem to have arrived in Flankrium and Icewind. We just need to activate them as soon as possible."
"Good, but this will take time I can't spare at the moment. I have to admit that I think bringing them to their respective cities was too early. We could have lit them here and then brought them over, saving my time." Luna answered. As soon as she saw the priestess blush, she added "But this is just a minor problem. Nothing to be worried about as long as I find an excuse to leave the castle for a longer period of time."
The priestess nodded simply. Luna was about to ask her how things are going with the prince when he entered the church. His face was signed with anger and sadness as he approached the priestess and the princess. "Welcome majesty" he said to Luna before turning his head to Moonprayer. "I have to tell you something important. And I prefer to do so in private. If you could follow me..."
Moonprayer looked at the princess, seeking approval to leave. Luna smiled and nodded. "Go, I just wanted to see if everything is all right. My time is short either way so it doesn't matter if I return now or a bit later. It might even give me some time to learn a bit more about Equestria's and Winterwald's past."
The priestess was visibly relieved, in contrary to the prince. His feelings were still changing between anger and sadness about what happened with his father mere minutes prior. Both waved as the princess was entering the blue flame that was hovering over the goblet.
Celestia was reading the last report that her student sent her. As always it was nice to read about the things Twilight had done with her friends. Her joy is bound to every word that she had written and Celestia was happy that the once lonely pony now had friends she could spend time with. The only regret that Celestia had while reading the reports was the fact that everything happened because she wanted her sister back.
Just as she thought about Luna the door to the throne room was opened by her. "Celestia, I have to ask you something" the younger asked. Celestia wasn't surprised that she came. She had the feeling that she would come one day and this day it was particularly strong. What Celestia didn't realise was the fact that she really felt Luna approach as well as Luna felt her sister's presence.
"Hello Luna. Sure, ask whatever you need. I have some spare time at the moment and my ears are always open for your questions and your opinion." Celestia said calmly. She was trained to hide her true feelings and if Luna had been capable of reading her mind she would have seen that her sister thought about all the possible questions that Luna could have asked about Twilight and her friends to search for any weaknesses. But the question that came through her off a bit.
"Can I take some free time?" was what Luna asked. Celestia was surprised enough to let her real feelings through for a single moment: sadness and curiosity.
"Why do you want to take some free time?" she asked her younger sibling, partly because she was hurt that Luna could possibly dislike being with her or even worse, began to dislike her again and slowly be drifting into the darkness inside her.
"I wanted to visit some places in the north to search for something that could have been created in the past thousand years and other places that once were populated and now are deserted according to your documents." answered the dark alicorn. Celestia was again a bit surprised. She realised that these thousand past years and the fact that she was her sister made it almost impossible to predict her future movements. Something that Celestia again found highly suspicious.
"I am sorry but I can't allow you to leave the realm. Your return is relatively unknown and accidental discoveries could lead to you being attacked." Celestia answered. But her mind was set on another thought. Leaving the realm would bring Luna further out of her control. "I can't risk that. I lost you once and there won't be a next time."
Celestia saw the feelings change within her sister's face. Hopelessness followed by anger and the typical regal face of the nobility. "So be it." Luna said and turned around.
"Wait." Celestia said. "I wanted to inform you that I intend to invite my student. Twilight Sparkle."
Luna turned to her sister again. "She is the one that saved me, isn't she? Is there a particular reason you want to invite her?"
"I had hoped for you two talk for a bit. Get to know each other better. As far as I can see, you haven't made any friends here, have you?" the sun princess answered.
Luna hesitated. Was she trying to lie? "No, I haven't, that is true." Another pause. "I think you are right. Meeting with your student could give me insight into friendship and what is needed to acquire it. Thank you sister. I am leaving now and go study some more. Good day sister."
"Good day." was everything that Celestia could add before Luna had left. Celestia understood that something was strange but she thought into the wrong direction. While her focus was set on the local problems and mainly her student she had never realised that there could be another place her sister was demanded.
At the same time Luna went to Celestia, in the far northern part of Equestria where the Crystal Empire was located, preparations for an important wedding were made. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, to most known as Cadance, was about to marry none other than the captain of the royal guards and Twilights big brother, Shining Armor.
What he didn't know at this point was the fact that after he proposed, Cadance had been kidnapped and Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings had already taken her place. He didn't realise the change in her behaviour because both were working hard to ensure the prefect wedding and met only for short moments. Moments in which Chrysalis strengthened her enchantment on her soon to be husband and slave. A marriage that will aid in the final steps of her plan to invade Equestria.
Luna had just sent a letter to Westbrucke ordering the departure of the Army towards Osttor and taking the goblet with them. She knew better than anyone that the journey would take several weeks and because she couldn't leave the castle for a longer period of time another way had to be found. She just hoped that the flame wouldn't burn out on the way there. She was aware of the fact that physical laws didn't work the same on magical flames as on normal ones but she never tried to extinguish a magical flame with a gust of wind.
She was sitting on her bed and reading some scrolls she had lent from the library in Westbrucke. It was interesting to see which families died out and which came into being as time past. She also noticed that there were certain families with connections to families in Equestria. The most obvious were the Pies.
Luna closed her eyes and imagined the meeting she had held after she arrived in Westbrucke. At first everything was foggy, but after a while she began to see details. She immediately noticed a pony with a mane like the Element of Laughter's mane, as fluffy but with a different colour. It seems that over the time, certain families would resemble more their respective Equestrian counterparts than others, she realised, and Prince Conglatius V's image appeared before her inner eye. Beside him appeared an image of one of her sister's student's friends. The element of generosity, if she recalled correctly.
The princess sight as her mind turned back to the final battle for the re-unification of Winterwald. She was well aware that the fight for Flankrium was a matter that was resolved with a huge amount of luck. But this time the situation was different. Almost all information on Osttor has vanished and the last time someone heard information from Osttor was centuries ago. The possibility of a hostile population was far greater than Flankrium and the missing knowledge on the current situation could cost many lives.
But Luna knew that it had to be done. She hadn't built these for cities out of spite. Every city should have his main goals and should be dependent on the others to strengthen the bonds even if the cities were distant from each other. Naturally she had also planned for each city to survive on it's own for some time but to see them survive this long on it's own was truly fascinating and miraculous. Luna was again astonished by the persistence of ponykind to keep fighting even if the odds are against them.
Her concentration turned to the scrolls again. The wedding of Moonprayer and Prince Conglatius was ahead and she wanted to know how the traditions have changed over the time. To they still wear something blue and something borrowed or is it different? She read about these things because she wanted to not only attend, but also to help them a bit.That was her pride not only as princess of Equestria, but also as current leader of Winterwald.
She noticed immediately that the white pony in front was shivering even with the thick coat that was normal in this country. A little smile formed in her face. She knew that he was afraid and not cold. Many stallions fear this day. It was the same a thousand years ago and apparently it hasn't changed since then.
"Princess. It is an honour that you came." a female voice stated from behind the alicorn. Luna turned around and saw the mayor standing in front of the church gates. "I think you want to see the bride before the wedding. She certainly would be happy to see you since she lost her only relative and sees you as the mother she never had." Luna's smile grew bigger and her cheeks began to lighten. She felt the same as the bride. A daughter she will never have.
"That would certainly be a pleasure. Is she in her grandmother's house or is she prepared in another place?" Luna replied warmly. As she spoke she noticed the attire the mayor wore. It was a festive mantle made of ice-blue silk. The fabric was unlike anything the princess had ever seen. It looked old, almost ancient, and the care it had been handled with until now was clearly visible.
"She is indeed in her grandmother's house. Two girls from the village are accompanying her and helping her to get ready for the wedding. Both of them are already married and know what they are doing." the mayor answered, her pride slightly showing through.
"Good. I will go soon. I have one question I would like you to answer before I go. The mantle you are wearing, what is it's meaning?" the alicorn asked. The mayor's look told her that her question came rather unexpected.
"The mantle?" she asked and looked at her flank. Soon she began to giggle. Luna's annoyed look let her stop almost immediately. "Excuse me princess. I forgot for a moment that you were absent over a long period of time. This mantle is used for any ceremonial events in Westbrucke. It was a present from the kings of Icewind and had been a symbol of the bound between our cities. It is a rather special artefact. It is made of ice-silk, a special material won from the remains of ice-spider webs. Even though the webs are hundred of years old when they are looted, the silk made from those webs remains like this over multiple centuries. Well, at least in normal occasions. This mantle is made out of silk from a fresh web the king had looted himself. Because it is made of fresh silk it looks as if it was just made. It's value might be as high as everything else in this town even though it has almost no practical uses. We teach our children the symbolic significance and we use it at least once a year. For us it is a common part of our daily lives. That is why I forgot myself for a moment. I ask you for your forgiveness my princess."
Luna looked at the worried face of the mayor and smiled. "I forgive you my dear." she said. "And I am grateful that you answered my questions so thoroughly. It looks indeed very valuable and you shouldn't underestimate it's practical use. It looks pretty sturdy and it might even stop the blade of a Saddle Arabian sword. And I don't think that anyone has tried to hit it with a blade before."
The mayor's confused look was an answer in itself. "Indeed princess. Nobody has ever dared to do so. And honestly I am not willing to be the first one."
Luna smiled. "I understand.Hopefully there is no need to ever test it. I will be going now. I will see you at the ceremony."
The mayor replied with a goodbye as the princess was walking towards the church gates and left. She turned towards the village centre and walked straight to the house she had visited once before. Upon her arrival a female voice was shouting inside the house.
"The princess. Moony, the princess has arrived. Whatshouldwedo whatshouldwedo whatshouldwedo what.." was the only thing the princess could understand as the voice was fading towards the back of the house. Yet another smile appeared on her face and she approached the door to knock. Just after one knock the door was torn open and a surprisingly young, brown unicorn mare in grey attire stood in front of her.
"H-h-h-hello majesty. Moony, ehm, Moonprayer is in her room the. It is the one up the stairs, first door to the right. If you wish I get you some water or..."
The princess was still smiling and shook her head. "I am fine, thank you dear. But I'd like to know your name."
"My name, princess?" she asked. Luna nodded. Her smile grew wider as she saw the mare's reaction. "My name is Lily, princess. Lily Flora. My sister is called Orchid Flora. She is with Moonprayer."
"Thank you Lily. Will you accompany me to Moonprayer and your sister?"
Lily's face began to shine. "Sure, if you wish so. Follow me princess." And with this she dashed away from the door to the bottom of the stairs. Luna entered and the door was closed behind her. As she approached the stairs Lily walked up the stairs where she looked back and waited for the princess.
The princess walked up the stairs. She noticed the picture of Moonprayer's grandmother and what seemed to be her parents. The three were smiling in front of a cradle. Luna guessed that Moonprayer was in there. She turned her head back to where Lily stood and noticed that she was gone. When she reached the top she saw an open door to her right. Hushes came out through the door as Luna walked towards it. When she entered her astonishment must have been visible due to the mare she hadn't yet met saying "The dress has to be amazing when even a princess has this look on it."
"ORCHID" her sister hissed through her forced smile. "Excuse her princess. She is still young and hadn't much contact with royals. Well, neither of us have, but that doesn't excuse such behaviour."
"It is all right Lily." Luna replied. "She is right. I have rarely seen a dress as beautiful as this." Luna turned towards the mare they were talking about. "Really Moonprayer. You look like a princess in this dress. With this you might steal all the attention at one of the great festivals that take place in Canterlot. It is a dress worthy of a royal wedding."
Moonprayer blushed. "Thank you princess. It is an honour to hear that from you."
Luna giggled. The reaction of the other three made her giggle even more. All three had their eyes wide open. Never had they thought that a princess would giggle. In their eyes it seemed unfitting. Nonetheless was there a blue alicorn which did just this. "You may call me Luna. Soon you will rule yourself, and then we will be equal." Luna made a step towards Moonprayer and hugged her. She herself didn't know why she did so. It just felt right to her.
And it felt good for all of them. For Luna to feel the warmth of somepony else, for Moonprayer to receive something like motherly love and for the Flora-sisters to see a princess in one of her more private moments. In this warm embrace, Moonprayer whispered "Thank you mother." A moment later she had pushed Luna back, tears in her eyes. All four stood still.
"Could you two leave?" Luna asked the sisters. They nodded and left. As soon as the door was shut behind them Luna sat on the floor. "Why did you call me mother?"
Moonprayer was hurt. More by her own stupidity than by Luna's question. "I... I don't know. It felt so familiar and I.." Moonprayer couldn't say anymore. She lay sobbing on her bed, afraid what punishment awaited her. She didn't expect the next embrace that came.
"Hush my little pony. A bride shouldn't cry on her wedding day. You did nothing wrong. In contrary. Your feelings for me are something I will cherish for a long time." Moonprayer looked up and saw the teary eyes of the princess which noticed the gaze of the priestess on her. "We alicorns are incapable of becoming pregnant and therefore will never be able to have children on our own. Sadly this is solely based on the fact that there are no male alicorns. Not anymore."
A tear dropped on Moonprayers forehead. The priestess herself was shocked that the princess opened herself to her, a mere commoner. But the warmth the princess gave her made her forget the current situation for a moment. A few moments later she was drifting into sleep. A small bump from the princess made her open her eyes and yawn. Somehow she had the urge to excuse herself. "I wasn't sleeping."
The princess giggled. "You were about to. I can see dreams, don't you forget that." The priestess blushed. She snuggled deeper into the princess embrace. "Don't you need to prepare your dress?" was the princess reply. Moonprayer shook her head before she jumped up.
"You are right." she almost shouted. She ran through her room and gathered some of the things she had prepared. A brush was flying simultaneously with a lipstick. She was about to ruin her face when she noticed she had lost grasp of the brush. In the mirror she saw the princess approach her with a smile and sitting down behind her. For a minute they sat there until Moonprayer came to ask the princess: "Would you mind to be my bridesmother?"
"Bridesmother?" the princess asked. "What is a bridesmother?"
Moonprayer had just finished her make-up and was looking deeply into the mirror to find errors in it. "A bridesmother is normally the bride's real mother or grandmother. They just accompany the bride in front of the altar as does the groomsfather. A tradition that had been necessary in the past due to many ponies fleeing with their loved ones to the south." She kept silent. The princess saw the sadness in Moonprayers eyes.
"And since you lost your mother and your grandmother, you wish that I accompany you there?" she asked with her voice lowered. Moonprayer nodded, a tear running down her cheek. The memory of her lost grandmother was still hurtful. The princess levitated a napkin and cleaned the priestess face. "I will do it if you really want me to."
"As if I didn't want you to." Moonprayer blurted out. She blushed immediately as she realised how childish she had been in front of the princess. The princess herself just smiled and embraced her again. Both were sitting there for another minute when Lily knocked at the door.
"It is time to go Moony." Luna and Moonprayer looked at each other investigative to check the others make up and nodded that everything was all right. Then they left the room and, together with Lily and Orchid, went to the church.
The wedding itself was a spectacle. Nobody expected the princess to be the priestess bridesmother. And even the king shed a tear when his son said the words: "Yes, I want to take this beautiful mare to be my wife until death departs us."
The party afterwards was less interesting. The princess had to leave earlier due to her responsibilities in Canterlot. But she didn't leave without promising Moonprayer a gift the next time she returned. Luna had two things in mind. One was the crown she intended to give her either way. The other was a special gem that was so rare that one would have been able to buy the city of Canterlot. The gem itself wasn't very appealing, but the low number as well as the fact that it possessed the ability of the princess made it so worthy. Due to it's nature, it was called "Luna's Sight".
A few days had passed and Conglatius IV had just woken up when he felt a strange sensation. At first he thought it was the anxiety of departing towards a grand battle. But it only got worse and then he remembered what his slightly mad uncle had said before he had died. The feeling matched the description frighteningly and Conglatius IV realised one thing. He would die soon.
"Why does it have to be this way." he asked himself while preparing his armour. "I wanted to see my son grow up a bit more. At least it is reassuring that his capabilities of ruling a country are well above my own. And he has a wife at his side that loves him." A few moments after this thoughts, a light in his eye appeared that had been gone for a minute. "I shouldn't think like this. If I do, I am dead for sure. I will fight with the assurance that there is a tomorrow."
The newly lit flame in his eyes gave his men strength, and even though they didn't understand where it came from, they were happy enough that their liege was still as courageous and knightly as was told he was in his younger years. An hour later the marching sound of the army roared through the town and Moonprayer looked towards the leading ponies. Her father-in-law and her husband were both there. She just hoped that they returned healthy.
It had been around two months since the army had departed from Westbrucke. Moonprayer stood at the city gates as she did every day the last two months. The guards left her alone. They knew that no words could make her feel better. She was afraid. Afraid to lose her husband she was married to as long as he was away. Afraid that they would have to pay a price. She looked down, not on the floor but on her belly. Someone who didn't know would have thought she was fat. But she wasn't. The missing fat in other regions was proof enough. No, she was pregnant. And the father of her unborn child was away to fight a battle, not knowing that he had a child. Like every day she cried fearing that he might never know that he was a father. And like every day she went to the church next.
As always she had hoped that the goblet that normally stood there had returned so that she could contact the one she considered not only her liege, but her only relative. She had grown to love Luna over the few months they prior, and she considered her her own mother. Losing her too was just another sting in the back of her already frightened mind.
She was sobbing before the empty pedestal as the mayor entered. Another common activity in these dire times. As always the mayor sat down beside the young priestess. They never spoke. Words were futile against the fear of a young wife and mother. Both were hoping that the prince and the king returned healthy, then even though the mayor hadn't told anyone, she had grown to have feelings for the elderly king. A love that would never be returned as she very well knew. But she had never been the type to get into a relationship. She had always been to busy leading the city to it's current prosperity.
Both were with their minds in the east when a shiver ran down their spines. An omen that meant death and despair. The priestess began to cry louder and even the mayor lost some tears over the feeling. They knew that some ponies wouldn't return home after these battles.
______________________________
The city of Osttor was an abomination of what it once represented. The castle was buried under the eggs that were all around it. Green slime was running down it's outer walls. The rest of the city was either a collection of strange, organic structures or the remnants of what once were the homes of ponies.
The king grumbled into the beard that had grown while travelling. "Whatever has taken over the city had made a pretty good job of removing everything that was unnecessary." He turned his head north to where the church stood. "Even before the mighty goddesses they made no halt. They are not only murderer. They are heretics. They are beast. Hopefully they are at least worthy of being slain by a king and his heir."
The prince smirked but said nothing. He thought like his father. Besides, his mind was set towards the west where his wife was. The young mare that had conquered his heart as they would conquer this town.
He barely noticed that princess Luna had arrived through the goblet they had taken with them from Westbrucke. They would have arrived a few days earlier if it wasn't for this thing. But having one of the deities of the celestial bodies with them was certainly reassuring. The morale of their troops was clearly higher than usual.
The princess stood beside the king. "What is the situation here?" she asked. The prince looked at her and his heart was filled with fear. The face he saw wasn't the one he knew from the princess. It was a face of ultimate rage. A face of somepony ready to kill everypony that opposed him. Especially the eyes looked horrifying. They looked almost reptile.
"We have prepared the siege weaponry. We are ready to fire. You may command when they should start to fire princess"
Luna took a deep breath before she began to speak with a magically enhanced voice. The royal canterlot voice. "FIRE. FIRE ALL SIEGE WEAPONRY. WEAKEN THE SAVAGES THAT DARED TO TAKE OVER THE CITY THAT ONCE BELONGED TO OUR GLORIOUS REALM. FOR WINTERWALD."
Her call was answered by hundreds of ponies and the noise of the catapults firing simultaneously.
The stones hid several targets inside the city. The organic structures exploded into green goo. The splashing noise of the hit structures could be heard even up the hill were the army was waiting. What they didn't know was that every hit building and it's dying inhabitants sent a small sting towards the south were a wedding was about to be crashed by a young and eager to be helpful unicorn and her old childhood friend.
______________________________
Chrysalis had been near to achieving her goal and she would have if it weren't for this nosey unicorn and her friends.Her act had been a fair bit from the original, she was well aware of this. But the time passed since the last time they saw each other should have given her an excuse to act differently. Apparently not.
And now she was fleeing towards the north. The stings that were happening since a few minutes, the only reason she lost, were worrying her to a great extend. Never had she felt so many of her underlings die in this small period of time. Whoever was fighting there was intending to eliminate all her northern peasants. The only home she had left.
About an hour after the battle had started she found the green fire she had once lit to travel through to the north and back in the smallest amount of time possible. She had never understood how it worked, only that it served her purposes. The remaining changelings that followed her also jumped through the fire. She was their queen, and they went were she was going.
______________________________
"Pesky Ponies" the changeling snarled. The army that had began to siege the town a few hours ago seemed to have unlimited rocks they could throw with their weapons. Each hit dealt devastating damage and the numbers of changelings was slowly diminishing.
But what he really worried wasn't death. It was the wrath of his queen, the queen every changeling followed. He didn't question why. He knew that she was supposed to lead them, and that was enough for him. For every changeling.
Her arrival came as surprising to him as her defeat had come to her. "My queen, what honour it is to welcome you home. How was your campaign? Was it as successful as expected?" he asked, immediately keeping quiet and cowering when he saw the deadly look queen Chrysalis threw at him.
Nonetheless she answered to her subject. "I admit that it was a failure. These darn ponies were to strong. Magic of Love and Magic of Friendship in one day was too rough. And now I return and see that you yourself are failing. And I had enough failure for one day. Out of my sight. I take over command of our troops."
And with a snap the light telepathic connection the changeling commander had with the troops was severed by a force of mind much stronger than his own. He shivered by the thought that there could be someone stronger than her. He glanced one last time down the tower they stood on before he went down.
On his way down he passed a door. A door that was open. An open door that normally was closed and no entry was permitted for anyone except the queen and those she selected. The sight of what he saw inside was awe-inspiring. It was a goblet made of stone. A fire with the colour of poisonous green was burning slightly above it. The commander remained for a moment before he went further, with new will to fight the thread that stood in front of their gates.
______________________________
Outside, the princess was agitated to get to the next step of the siege. She wanted to enter the city and finally conquer it. Long enough had it been under the rule of these beasts. "How much longer do we have to do this. I want to see results."
King Conglatius IV stood beside her and shook his head while suppressing a smile. "Princess, we fire as long as it needs for them to attack us outside the walls. Charging in would be suicidal, especially because we neither now our enemy nor the layout of the city."
Luna sighed and kept her eyes on the city gates. The king was astonished by the endurance the princess showed. It had been two hours and her concentration hadn't diminished in the slightest.
Conglatius IV turned around and wanted to order some water when he noticed a slight grin on the princess faces. He turned his head only to widen his eyes in fear. Down there poured pony-like creatures out of the city gates. "EVERYONE READY YOUR WEAPONS. THEY ATTACK" he shouted and a few seconds later a spear wall had been created.
The creatures ran upward. The princess noticed that a few were injured. One had even his ear torn from his head. But they still charged towards their imminent doom. Luna prepared a spell, forbidden by her sister, the council of unicorns and even herself over a thousand years ago. But here nobody knew of this ban.
She stepped in front of the spear wall. Behind her were the cries of the other ponies but she was too concentrated on the right incantations of the spell to listen to them. Then the spell was ready. Everyone understood the might of this spell, simply because even the princess had to use a secondary layer on her horn to hold it. She targeted towards the incoming army and whispered "perish" when the lighting shot from her horn.
The magical lightning hit the first enemy and grilled him before it split apart and jumped onto three other enemies. This went on for five more jumps before the lightning got weaker and the hit enemy was injured but still able to run. Like it knew that it was to weak to kill it vanished into thin air.
The killed creatures looked like a burned carpet. The princess smiled and felt for the first time in a millennia the excitement of battle. It filled her with joy and fear at the same time. Had she always been this strong? What would have happened if she had defeated her sister?
"Do not worry about this now." the little voice in her head told her. "Take my power and clear this pesky changeling hive out."
Luna hesitated. Would Nightmare Moon take her over again if she used her power? Would she try to conquer Equestria again and create a land of eternal night? But she had not many options. She'd like to say that the previous spell hadn't exhausted her, but that would have been a lie.
While in her mind nothing changed, her appearance did. She grew a bit. Her fur got darker as did her eyes. Those began to look like a reptile's eyes, too. "Not just a reptile" Nightmare moon whispered. "A dragon." Luna charged the spell anew, a lot faster then before with the exact same outcome.
______________________________
Chrysalis cringed as she realised that down there was the darn princesses sister. And she seemed even stronger than her. A frightening thought if you think about the fact that the sun's guide had almost overcome her. And now a good third of her army had been destroyed.
"Retreat." she said through the telepathic link that was given to all leaders of a changeling hive. The changelings fled as fast as they had left the city. The gate remained open. An invitation, an obvious trap, Chrysalis thought. Nonetheless effective as she watched the princess lead her army inside the city.
The queen smirked. Her changeling could finally engage in one on one combat. "Split them up and kill them. We are superior in numbers and they shall regret their decision to attack us in our own hive."
And so many smaller quarrels began everywhere along the way from the gate to the castle. Chrysalis watched over the battle as she noticed a single pony ahead of the others, killing any changeling in his path. He seemed bigger than any other pony and also older than most.
Chrysalis turned around and walked down to engage this pony in battle. He seemed to be skilled enough to provide her at least some relief after the failure that had happened only a few hours prior to arriving back home in this siege.
______________________________
Conglatius IV was well aware that his companions were far behind him, but this is exactly what he wanted. He still remembered the feeling and the possibility of his troops losing their moral because one of their leaders died was an option he tried to avoid.
On his way he had killed a few of this strange creatures. A few tried to change into ponies and engage in altered form into combat, but he hadn't been leader because he was afraid of killing those that opposed him. He struck them down like the others, if not with more ferocity because they dared to mock him.
He was turning around a corner when two other creatures blocked his way. They ran towards him, one from left and one from right. He charged, ducked under the left's attack while stabbing the right creature with his hoof blade. The stabbed creature dropped on the floor, too weak to further fight. The other turned around and shot a beam from his horn. Conglatius IV raised a shield and barely deflected the beam before he himself shot one.
The creature jumped and remained in the air as the beam flew below him and hit the wall behind. A grin appeared on the creatures face and it charged towards the king again. Conglatius ducked again below the creature and hit his hoof upwards. The blade ran through the torso of the beast and it's intestines dropped on the ground.
The king ignored the still living creature and ran further towards the castle. When he arrived at the gates and entered the huge entrance hall he was greeted by a bigger version of the creature. This one was apparently female and regal. It seemed to be the queen. He didn't no if he could call it beautiful or not. If it were a pony, it certainly would have been almost as beautiful as a princess.
But it was an insect and it could talk. "I have awaited you. You are pretty capable of running through the masses of my minions and arrive her unscathed, but you ran out of luck. I am not as weak as my underlings and I am in a really bad mood right now."
The king smirked. "Stop talking and let's finish this."
"As you wish."
______________________________
Princess Luna had been following the king before he got too far ahead. There were just too many enemies streaming from the sideways that slowed her down. And flying was no option since these creatures had the ability to fly, too. They had the dominance in the air at the moment and even she would have been severely injured if she had tried something. But she already knew where he was heading. Towards the castle, to defeat the enemy on his own. "Fool" the princess thought. She had to hurry to save him.
In a moment where fewer enemies were around she broke through and charged through the single enemies that lay ahead, confused where to fight next. Their ends came fast by the magical blades the princess conjured. She was fast on her hooves and reached the castle only a few minutes after the king.
She entered the room where the changeling queen had waited for the king. Now she was still standing at the same spot but looking at something high above the ground. "I told you I was in a bad mood" the queen snarled. She dropped the king she had hold up and let him smash to the ground. The princess immediately saw that he was dead: His head was twisted around. So where his legs and his horn had almost been ripped off.
The princess was shocked. It had been a long time since she had seen a corpse but never had it been this bad. She gulped and glared at the monster that had done this to him. "You savage will pay for this." she said as her appearance began to change more. She now looked almost like Nightmare Moon. But she was even taller than her evil self. She had achieved a resonance with her other self. Both were furious and willing to give it all to kill that changeling in front of them.
"No, princess. You will pay for what your damned sister had done to me. I will not be humiliated again."
"You will not live long enough to feel humiliated, don't you worry."
What happened next is a battle of the minds. While the queen summoned her minions and used beams to lock the princess in place, her foe used shields to defend against the beams and her blades to kill the changelings, all while she was charging a powerful beam of her own.
After Luna had charged her beam, she awaited the next attack. The beam hit her shield and she lowered it in response and countered with her own beam. She barely missed the queen but the damage to the wall showed Chrysalis that this enemy was capable enough to destroy her even in her best form.
Another salve of beams from Chrysalis, another devastating counter from the princess. The hole grew bigger. There was one more entrance for the changelings to charge through.
Luna thought how she could escape this stale mate. She couldn't hope for her army to arrive soon and help her. She was aware of the fact that the beam might be strong, but highly inaccurate. And she noticed that her blades had no possibility of reaching the wicked queen. "No, there is a way." she thought.
She created a thinner and more curved blade than normally. An act that normally would have drained a significant amount of energy but with her other side's help this was nothing more than a little walk through the park. She shot to the left. This didn't go unnoticed by the queen which laughed and taunted her. A few seconds later she suddenly stopped and got silent. Not only her but all her minions, too. Everyone was concentrated on her. And the blade in her right side.
"You bitch. I will not die by the likes of you." she said. To Luna it sounded a lot like she was trying to shout but horribly failed at it. She dropped her guard just enough to approach the queen which had dropped on her knees. Just as she stood in front of her the queen fell on the ground. She tried to speak but the princess hushed.
"Remain quiet. You will die now. For all the ponies that died today. For all those that died when you invaded this city. And for the fact that you tried to harm my sister."
A blade appeared and almost immediately a gush of blood sprayed into Luna's face while the queen's head rolled to her feet. The princess turned around and took the king's corpse with her levitation. She corrected his head, legs and horn and cautiously laid him on the floor in the middle of the room, a few metres from the queen's corpse.
Just in this moment the prince arrived at the gate. "Princess, the enemy has totally lost their mind outside. They are rampaging and their missing discipline has opened us a window of opportunity to strike back." He made a step in. His eyes had accustomed a bit to the darker room and he finally notice his father's corpse. He dropped on his knees, a tear running down his cheek. "No...."
______________________________
Three months later the princess attended another funeral. It was the king's funeral. His son and the priestess stood there by her side.
While the priest from Icewind held his speech, Luna thought about all the things that happened after the battle.
She had returned to Equestria as soon as the last changeling had been eradicated. The ones in the castle were all in a state of shock. But outside the changelings had lost their leader and began to lose all common sense. This lead into infighting and finally the destruction of the once strong foes.
While the changelings were eradicated, the princess had been notified of another goblet within the castle. She immediately charged it with her own magic. It was inactive when she arrived even though she had been certain that it had been used by the queen. Her only idea was that it had been deactivated because the queen had died.
Just before she left, she commanded the queen to be buried in front of the castle. It should serve as a remainder of the cost that they had to pay and the dangers that still might be out there.
Afterwards she had began to recruit new settlers for Osttor. Many farmer ponies were interested because the soil there hadn't been used for a long time and was rich in minerals. They were certain that the next harvest would be richer than any in the past century.
Three months later she had looked at the town before going to Westbrucke for the funeral. It was a relieving sight to see the city prosper again.
She had also been notified by Flankrium to the current process of integration into Winterwald. It all went better than excepted. Mostly because most of the inhabitants had remained loyal to the princess and the customs from the past.
And Winterwald had been renamed by it's queen. Queen Moonprayer I and her husband King Conglatius V of Icewind proposed the name Plenaris. And so the name they had for a millennium had been changed. For Luna it was mostly one thing: A sign of the new era that was about to begin for the realm she created for her most loyal subjects. Soon it would be time to tell her sister the truth and to begin to create the alliance of the two princesses.
Celestia was in the throne room with a few of her ministers when the pegasus charged through the doors yelling: "Your highness. Your highness. We have a problem."
Celestia raised from the cushion she sat on an asked what was going on. The pegasus took a deep breath and asked for the ministers to leave. It was a matter between the princess and her sister and no one else but the princess was to hear his story. The ministers, too afraid to oppose the princess, left after she asked them to.
"So, my dear soldier. What is it that is so urgent that you crash an important meeting between my cabinet and myself?" she asked sternly, sounding annoyed even though she was relieved that she had gotten a break from her work.
"Your sister, highness, has betrayed Equestria." he said, regretting it the moment he saw the look on Celestia. He was well aware that the princess was not eager to hear that her sister has turned against her again but keeping the truth from her could have far worse consequences for all of them.
"How come you think that my sister has betrayed me again?" she asked. Her voice was calmer than she looked at the moment.
Nonetheless he answered honestly after taking another deep breath. "While I was in the crystal empire to scout out the surroundings for another expansion, I have found a place further in the north that wasn't tormented by the ever raging snowstorm that was supposed to be there. It seemed that the snow storm is protecting this place.
I ventured further north and found a city called Flankrium. They invited me in asking me where I came from. When they heard of Equestria they asked me many things about how things are going. The last thing they knew was that Discord was supposed to be defeated . So I told them what had happened here lately and with joy they told me their story. They told me that the kingdom of Winterwald, or Plenaris I am not sure, has been reunited after it was slowly falling apart.
When I asked how they came so far in the north and knew from Equestria they told me that Princess Luna had created Winterwald, or Plenaris, a thousand years ago. It was her that reunited the kingdom, too.
Princess, there was a whole kingdom that existed for a thousand years in the north completely secluded from Equestria and your sister is the one responsible.
But, what are we supposed to do?"
Celestia had fallen back on the cushion. This was too much for her to take. Her sister not only had disobeyed her before she was banished. She was sneaking out and ventured to her kingdom. But how? She was here everyday and the journey to the crystal empire took more time than Luna had to go and come back unnoticed.
"Have you told anyone else?" the princess asked the pegasus.
"No, I haven't. It seemed too dangerous and too personal for the ears of anypony else than you, your highness."
"Good. I want you to keep quiet about it. In the meantime I am going to have an important discussion with a certain sister of mine."