Chapter 4

For half a moment, no pony spoke. Then Sombra found his voice.

"There are no 'Free Unicorns' in Equestria!" he roared. He then turned angrily to Discord. "You were supposed to see to that!"

"Well, I did," said Discord, putting his hands up. "I may have missed a few here and there, but what did you expect? Just because I'm the spirit of chaos and disharmony doesn't mean I'm perfect."

"I have established a safe haven up in the mountains for all unicorns to live in peace," Starswirl continued. "All I ask is that we be recognized as an independent territory to ensure nopony attempts to disrupt that peace." he looked around. "Any takers?"

"I vote yes," said Thunderbolt.

"Me too!" said Discord.

"This is not a democracy!" snarled Sombra. "I will allow no other unicorns a voice in this land!"

"Nor will I," added Thrall. "There are already too many petty kingdoms scattered around. We don't need any more."

"Very well," said Starswirl, bowing. "We will simply have to live in spite of you rather than with you." he turned to leave, then stopped. "Oh, wait. There was something else." Starswirl walked up to the table where the other leaders were sitting. His manner became grave.

"I must inform you," he said, "that the Alicorn Empire has been destroyed." For the second time, total silence followed his words. Then Thrall burst out laughing, a great booming laugh that seemed to shake the whole castle. Discord began idly picking at his big tooth, while Thunderbolt and Sombra just looked confused.

"The Alicorn Empire?" asked Thunderbolt. "I've never heard of it. Is it in Equestria somewhere?"

"Oh no," chuckled Thrall. "If they were here, there would be no Crystal Empire, no Pegasus Republic, and certainly no Free Unicorns. You'd all be living under their rule, whether you wanted to or not."

"Alicorns," explained Starswirl, "are an equine race, like us. They can grow to be very tall, almost the size of Thrall. They have horns longer than any unicorn, and wings larger than any pegasus. Their empire existed across the sea to the west, on an island where they've lived for a long time, longer than even Discord can remember, I think."

"They were also once known as dragon slayers, which should give you an idea of their magic power," said Thrall. "Hence my laughter. Why, wizard, should we believe that such a race of powerful beings was destroyed?"

"You do not need to believe me," replied Starswirl. "That's the funny thing about the truth. It's true whether you believe it or not. I'm merely giving you a fair warning." His brow dropped, and he looked grim. "With the destruction of the Alicorn Empire, there is a very real possibility that refugees from the shattered kingdom are going to come here. If and when that happens, the balance of power in this land could undergo a momentous shift. You may need to prepare for war."

"If these alicorns really exist," asked Sombra, "Why have they never contacted us before?"

"An excellent question," answered Starswirl. "You can ask them yourself when they arrive."

"Wings and horns, you say?" asked Discord. "Huh, that would explain the little flying unicorn I passed on my way here."

"Wait a minute," said Sombra, "you've seen these things?"

"Well, as I was flying up the west coast, spying on all the little farm ponies, I saw a little filly playing with butterflies outside a farmhouse. She fly after them with her cute little wings, and then grab them with magic from her cute little horn. I think she must have noticed me, however, because she eventually ran inside, so I continued here."

"They've begun arriving already?" asked Starswirl. "This isn't good. If you will all excuse me, I have things I must attend to." Without another word Starswirl the Bearded turned, and with a swish of his cloak, vanished. Sombra turned to Discord.

"You should have killed him!" he said angrily. "The only reason I have not swept all the North under my dominion is because you promised there would be no unicorns to oppose me!"

"I have wiped out at least 80% of all the unicorns in Equestria," Discord replied. "When was the last time you saw a government do something 80% correctly? You should be thanking me for my thoroughness!"

"Perform another sweep of your lands!" Sombra ordered angrily. "Then go wipe out those unicorns in the mountains, or I shall come over and do it myself!"

"You will do no such thing," growled Thunderbolt. "The mountains are not your territory, and if you even think about expanding, I will have no choice but to bring the full might of the Seraphim Guard down on you!" Sombra looked livid, but turned and trotted out the door without arguing.

Thrall walked up to Discord. "Between you and me," he said. "Sombra has been getting more arrogant and more paranoid as time goes by. Perhaps a change of leadership is in order?"

"Already working on it, pal," said Discord. "You didn't think I was planning on letting him hog all those lovely crystal ponies forever, did you?"

"I'm glad to hear it," answered Thrall, "and in exchange for my cooperation, I'm sure you'd be willing to send a substantial number of those ponies my way?"

"Sure thing," grinned Discord. "We would just need to get Thunderbutt out of the way."

"Leave that to me. You just focus on Sombra, and that alicorn you saw. Any alicorns that arrive here should be dealt with immediately, before they have a chance to get settled." Discord nodded, then turned and flew out a window, smashing through the glass. Thrall turned, gave General Thunderbolt an insincere smile, and walked out with his daughter following close behind him. Thunderbolt waited a moment, making sure everyone else was gone, then whispered, "Did you get all that?"

"I did," With a swish, Starswirl materialized out of thin air. "If alicorns are arriving here already, we need to get to them before Discord does. They could be the opportunity we've been waiting for to free Equestria for good. Send your fastest pegasi up and down the west coast, looking for any new arrivals from the sea."

"Alright," said Thunderbolt, "but what will you be doing?"

"I need to follow Discord," answered Starswirl. "If he catches that alicorn he mentioned, I'll need to find a way to free them. An alicorn in Discord's control would spell doom for us all." Starswirl turned and cantered out the door. Thunderbolt followed, and then unfurled his wings and sped off for Cloudsdale.

Author's Note

Chapter 4, everybody! It's really fun playing these characters off each other. In chapter 5, we will rejoin Celestia and Luna on Blueberry's farm for their first encounter with the nasty denizens of this land.