It is a mere two weeks after the death of the Guardian. From her desert kingdom, Queen Chrysalis das Pupa looks across the sands and sees the ancient home of her people. There is much to do: the borders must be strengthened, the other powers in the world watched carefully, and her own heir brought into line with her vision. A queen must appear to be invincible and all-knowing, but without realizing it, Chrysalis is destined to get some very good help. Just... not exactly the kind of help she anticipated.

(Author's Note: This is the first of the stories I decided to call the "Side Game" stories. They're related to my main work Game of Worlds, and meant to provide details and stories about things that cannot be lingered on extensively in an over 300k word work, but I think would be fun to tell a story about. You don't need to read the big story, although some of these things are going to be a little out-of-left-field otherwise, and they won't spoil anything about the main story. I hope you enjoy and welcome any commentary and feedback you're willing to provide.)

This story is a sequel to The Empty Room

It is six months after the Fall of the Guardian. The Mane Six and all of Equestria are coping with the losses they have suffered, but the day seems lighter than it was before. Yet unnoticed among the dust of the Fall, a shadow begins again to stir...

A/N This story is set six months after the conclusion of Wanderer D's excellent work "The Empty Room" and I highly recommend it. Constructive criticism, comments, and suggestions are eagerly, eagerly accepted. Hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing.

A/N This is a multiple-part prelude to what I'm terming a fourth-order counterfactual but is probably best described as an alternate universe of an alternate universe. Starting from the bare bones described in the flashbacks laid out in KKat's epic novella, "Fallout Equestria", this is a description of the last month or so leading up to the massive megaspell attacks that create the world of KKat's novella... but with a few alterations. Borrowing from Pen Stroke's "Past Sins" and Anonymous Pegasus' "Transcend" to to the end of Chapter 15, I posit a few changes that lead to more and eventually, lead to a totally different Equestria 200 years in the future

Events, characters, and depictions of characters that are canon to the stories of other authors are copyright to them; it's their creative work, it's their good idea, I'm just borrowing their eggs and cup of sugar and making something new. If I manage to miss an author in my credits, bop me on the head and I'll add them because they deserve credit for what they've done. All that said, the 'something new' I've made from the pieces of other works is mine.

It began with a tragedy, a massacre unintended. From a terrible event, a war has expanded to fill the entire world and a decade, the cause shifting from a massacre and a war over resources to a crusade; one side wishes to end a war, the other side wishes to end one pony. For the longest time, it was a war of soldiers and of ordinary weapons, each side racing for the best advantage. But the combination of innovative brilliance and tragic desperation stemming from the best of intentions has turned the war from one of soldiers and machines to one over which the dread shadow of apocalypse looms. With a sudden positive turn in the military fortunes of Equestria, that shadow has advanced to inevitability.

It is five weeks to nightfall, and the time is slipping away.