Chapters Twilight checked her bags; once, twice, three times. She couldn't afford to forget anything -- were she to, she would have to hope that she could find it there. Nopony was allowed in or out of Hajahact, so requesting that it be delivered would be a no-go. A tight feeling clutched at her heart. This would be her first time exercising her authority as a princess; the situation was only made more dire by the fact that she would be completely out of the grasp of her mentor, or anypony else, really.
Supposedly, Celestia had worked out a protection deal with Iron Ire, the newest King of Hajahact, but Twilight had a hard time believing anything they promised. She shuddered at the image that flooded her mind. That poor guard. Shortly after Enigmatic Insanity's remains were returned to her country, a guard went missing.
He was found quickly -- his severed head was left on Twilight's pillow and his torn apart body was discovered hanging by its legs from the window. Blood was everywhere, on everything. It was a clear message from Iron Ire: We have the strength to destroy you. Back the fuck off.
The message didn't go unheeded by Celestia, which was how Twilight found herself boarding a privately-contracted carriage to the the farthest reaches of the known world; if this attempt at diplomacy failed, it would be catastrophe on a whole new level. Even if Iron was bluffing, and their military wasn't as strong as he said, they had proven themselves to be reckless enough for them to be a massive problem. Bodies would pile up as the peaceful nation tried to defend itself against one that valued strength and obedience over all.
She watched the retreating familiarity of Equestria slowly turn into barren lava fields. They had been traveling for weeks; frankly, it was beginning to wear on her nerves. The carriage came to a jolting halt. Twilight rubbed her head, having been thrown forward into the wall between her and the ponies drawing the carriage, and looked out the window. A startled gasp escaped her -- they were at the gates of a massive city. The carriage-pullers were arguing with two massive pegasi, to no effect. They were being barred entrance.
Twilight stepped out of the carriage herself, the stone ringing out loudly beneath her hooves. The two pegasi looked at each other, equally shocked. They quickly swarmed her, leading her to the gates and motioning for the carriage to turn around and go. Little did the princess know, the carriage would never make it back.
The hinges of the gates shrieked, unaccustomed to being opened. Many ponies stood and gaped, the presence of the Royal Guard not being enough to distract them from gawking at the young alicorn. A sharp snap of the pegasus' wings, however, dispersed the crowd.
Twilight was lead through the gleaming city of snow-decked stone. She found herself growing dizzy from the incomprehensible twists and turns the two pegasi were making. Finally, they came to a stop. In front of them was the famed Wolf Castle. She wasn't sure why the castle was called that, but was hoping she could find out. If anything, knowledge of the country's history couldn't hurt her mission.
The doors flew open of their own accord and she was dragged in by an unseen force. A loud flutter of wings announced the quick disappearance of her chaperones. The rooms varied, that much was clear, but they were passing by too quickly for anything else to be discerned. Door after door swung open as she approached them until she was in front of a grandiose pair of mahogany doors.
Unsure of what she was supposed to do, she knocked. A weary voice came from inside.
"Yes?"
"I'm - uh - I have been sent by Princess Celestia --"
She was cut off as the door opened.
"Very odd that one as 'wise' as Celestia would take on a student by the name of Uh." the grey alicorn said, a hint of a smile playing at his lips. "Well, Uh, I am King Iron."
Twilight blushed, flustered.
"My name's Twilight Sparkle, actually."
This was not a good start.
Twilight was barely done unpacking when she heard a light knock at her door.
"A moment of your time ... please," said a fairly soft voice.
She opened the door and looked for the source of the knock. Her searching gaze found a pegasus staring at the floor. The pegasus had a long, curly brown mane with streaks of rusty orange, wisps of which were falling over her eyes. Twilight took a few steps back in horror; a sharp scar like the stroke of a whip ran across the pegasus' cheek. Equestria had made that kind of punishment illegal eons ago. Obviously the practice was still alive and well here.
"I'm sorry but did you knock?" Twilight asked, trying her hardest to avoid staring at the scar. The pegasus looked up.
"Mhm," she said with a curt nod. "Ah suppose you're Ms. Sparkle?" She struggled to her feet, her wings snapping out to balance her.
"I am, and you are?"
"Autumn Gust." The pegasus sighed and rubbed her head.
"Are you --"
"No relation." Her expression quickly soured; her venomous glare was directed at Twilight. "Come along now. Dinner's ready and Iron Ire doesn't like to wait." Autumn turned abruptly and started off at a quick trot down the hall.
"Just a warning to you, 'cause I'd hate to see an innocent mare abused, Ire's the Barrier of Hatred. The other four Barriers are going to be at dinner. Try not to step on any hooves," she said, smiling at Twilight's terror.
"Five Barriers, six Elements..." Twilight said, finally putting two and two together. "One's missing!"
"Some genius you are," Autumn said under her breath, opening the doors for Twilight.
Inside, the scene was one of chaos. Two unicorns fought loudly in a language that Twilight had never heard before. Iron Ire sat at the head of the table, a pleased smirk curled dangerously around his muzzle. One of the pegasi at the table was slamming back drinks like there was no tomorrow, running his poor server ragged. The other was idly scraping wax off of the candle in front of him, arranging the shavings into lines.
Suddenly, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her. Iron cleared his throat.
"Ah, the guest of the evening has arrived," Ire said, standing up. The other four followed suit and advanced upon the young princess. Twilight took a few cautious steps back and found the doors locked behind her. She screamed.
"Didn't Autumn tell you? You , my dear, are dinner," Ire chuckled, his smile growing.
One of the pegasi spoke up.
"Not without a fair fight, of course. Right, Ire? "
"Of course. What fun would there be in a kill without a fight, Strike?"
The dark coated pegasi nodded, looking at Twilight with deep consideration and then around at the room. He stopped and stared at a stained glass window on the far wall.
The taller of the two unicorns, a brilliantly-colored stallion, was the first to attack; his sharpened horn missed Twilight by a hair. Then, the others attacked, forcing her to use her magic to defend herself. It quickly lost its organization and devolved into a bare fisted brawl, Iron Ire more invested than the others.
Heavy Strike made like he was going after Twilight, but gently wrapped his hooves around her waist, dragging her into the air.
"Try not to kick me. This is going to be a hell of a ride," he whispered in her ear right before he took off like a bat out of hell towards the window. It shattered upon impact; he continued forward, undaunted. Iron Ire chased them, his wings beating quickly to try and catch up with Strike. His wingspan was far too much to clear the window; he fell like a stone when his wings smashed into the walls at full speed.
"Lucky break, there," Strike said, gesturing back. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Twilight asked, wanting to, but finding herself unable, to look at him.
"For you getting dragged into this. It's not your fight. If Celestia knew you were going to turn into a sacrificial lamb, I'm sure she would have taken more precaution..." His dark blue mane flew past her face; the duel tones caught in the breeze, making it hard to tell one from the other.
"Were they really going to eat me?" Twilight asked, a note of horror in her voice.
"Not all of you. You were going to be the declaration of war -- a Princess for a Queen. Using your severed head on a stick as a banner for the diplomacy visit in a few weeks -- well, there's few ways to say 'Fucking bring it,' that are as gruesome and intimidating."
Twilight heaved, narrowly missing Strike's hooves. Why would they do that? Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. With ponies this aggressive, she wasn't sure that friendship alone would be enough.
After a few days of rapid paced flying, the spires of the Crystal Empire were coming into view. Twilight figured, Cadence would be able to get a hold on Celestia and summon her to the castle. Her wings ached. After they got out of Hajahact airspace, Strike started making her fly by herself, giving her a few pointers here and there. The trip was mostly a lonely one -- Heavy Strike insisted that they split up; he took the most concealed paths while allowing her to fly as she saw fit. Twilight wasn't sure what his problem was with open spaces but she didn't ask either.
They landed just as dusk was falling. Strike looked around nervously, walking as close to the wall as a pegasus of his size could. Twilight watched him; his jumpy demeanor was not helping her mood. She walked ahead of him, knocking lightly on the guard booth's door.
"Excuse me? Could you tell Princess Cadance that Twilight Sparkle is looking for her?" Twilight said, smiling.
The door flew open to reveal a grinning Shining Armour.
"Twily! What brings y-" His eyes narrowed and his smile turned to a grimace.
"You were banished from Equestria and all allied territories. What part of that didn't get through your thick skull?!" Shining snapped, brushing past Twilight to confront the pegasus behind her. Strike took a fighting stance, almost daring Shining Armour to attack him.
"If not for me, Armour --" he said Shining's name like it pained him to do so, "-- the next time you would have seen your sister is when the entire goddamn Hajacian army was beating Equestria to a pulp."
Twilight shoved the two stallions apart to stand between them.
"What he says is the truth, Shining. They would have killed me if he hadn't taken off with me," she said, displeased with her brother's poor treatment of Strike. "For the sake of war, of demonstration. Where is your wife? I need the full support of the Crystal Empire if we're going to fight back."
Shining Armour rubbed his forehead, finding the whole situation hard to comprehend.
"Why can't you just use the Elements? Wouldn't that save more lives?"
Twilight began to explain, but Strike cut her off.
"Sorry, Twilight, but I think I'm better suited to explain," Strike said, patting the princess on the head.
"To defend Hajahact from any attacks by outsiders, six Barriers were brought together. The one you knew as Enigma was the Barrier of Isolation. The new King is the Barrier of Hatred," he continued, drawing a diagram in the dirt. "And, as you know better than anyone, I'm the Barrier of Will. Long story short, using the Elements is completely and utterly useless with the Barriers in place."
Twilight looked confused, her brow furrowing.
"Will? That wasn't one of the Barriers Enigma told me about ..?"
Strike chucked, ruffling Twilight's hair.
"She had her own terms for things. Her term for me was Arrogance, not Will, but mine describes the nature of the Barrier better."
Shining looked at Strike and then back at Twilight.
"I'm going to go get Cadence. Twilight, you should get settled. Strike, you come with me."
Twilight shook her head and said,
"I don't trust the two of you alone. I'm coming with."
Cadence paced nervously around the room, glancing at Strike every so often.
"I tried to warn her -- that they'd notice .. did she listen? No, never. I'm only her niece after all," Cadence muttered, putting her head in her hooves.
"They would notice what ?" Twilight asked, becoming more and more irritated with Cadence.
Cadence stopped and looked at Twilight.
"That the ashes returned were not Enigma's. She's ... I can't say," Cadence said, shaking her head. "Still, I'll send word to Celestia. She needs to know about this new 'development'. Be assured, though, no matter what Celestia says, you have the backing of the Crystal Empire and her army."
"They weren't ‽" Strike stumbled back, his eyes wide. "That ... explains a whole hell of a lot."
"I'm so confused," Twilight moaned, burying her head in her hooves.
"Sorry," Strike said, smiling sheepishly. "I'll explain. From what I saw of it, Ire pretty much slammed his hooves into the wall. He had to have me help him free himself. I asked him what he was upset about and got the usual vague answer, though he did mention something about Enigma's body."
He turned to face Cadence, staring her down with a deep grimace on his face.
"If you don't return the body, I can't say for sure what they'll do. You've got a Barrier hostage, whether you realize it or not. They're insane on normal days. Keeping something that rightfully belongs to them, well, that's smacking a hornets nest with a stick."
"It's in the interest of security that we keep her, Heavy Strike," Cadence said, sighing. "It was her last wish, as well."
Elsewhere,
Celestia trotted down the hall, the light emanating from her horn the only reprieve in an otherwise dark hallway. She had received a letter from Cadence. It was time to test her assumptions. A door appeared in the darkness. She opened it and walked in, flipping the lights on.
Laying on the table was the well-preserved corpse of Enigmatic Insanity.
Celestia sighed, mentally willing away the tears in her eyes. She placed one hoof on the dead unicorn's shattered ribs and whispered,
"Enigma, if you can hear me, give me a sign. I need your help."
Communing with the dead was a taboo practice, one that she had outlawed, but dire circumstance called for extreme solutions. She couldn't defeat with the Barriers without Enigma's help -- there was no way. She had tried to raise an army by herself, to defend her beloved little ponies, but it had been so long. No pony even remembered the meaning of the word 'war', let alone its consequences.
Suddenly, the mirror to her right flickered. She turned quickly and watched as it lit up with a pale violet glow. It fogged over and words began to appear.
"CAN'T HELP. AM DEAD. HAVE FRIEND WHO CAN. NEED MIRROR FROM CRYSTAL PALACE."
Celestia facehoofed and considered replying back with, "Wait, you're dead? I didn't notice!" but more words on the mirror interrupted her.
"HEARD THAT. GO NOW. TO WAIT IS TO BE TOO LATE."
Celestia nodded, not knowing if Enigma could see her or not, and teleported to the Crystal Empire.
Cadence woke with a start, feeling an unannounced presence beside her. She looked up and screamed.
"Dammit Celestia! Don't do that!" she snapped, giving the Sun goddess a sharp look of reproach.
"Where is the mirror?" Celestia asked, not acknowledging her niece's poor language.
"In the basement, where it's always been! Why? What's going on, Celestia!?"
Celestia ignored her and sprinted for the basement. The mirror shone like a beacon at sea. It glimmered faintly, a few words appearing on its surface.
"CONNECTING TO LONIAN INTERFACE ... PLEASE WAIT"
Eventually, the mirror dulled again, the words "CONNECTED. PLEASE PROCEED," replacing the ones there before it. She dashed through the mirror, not even stopping to consider what the hell a Lonian even was.
The sun was just cresting over far-off mountains when Celestia fell through the Gate and into a plush chair. Its faint light danced across her snow-white hands -- hands? Hands. She was in a stadium of some sort, looking down on an octagonal ring.
The word "FIGHT!" repeated itself over and over again, like a steady drum beat as two pinkish creatures climbed into the ring, wearing nothing but a pair of odd-looking things over their legs. Celestia looked around. Beside her, deeply absorbed in the chanting, was a dark-maned, pale skinned thing like the ones in the ring. It reminded her of Enigma, so she figured it couldn't hurt to try.
"Could you please explain to me where I am?" she asked, trying to get the thing's attention. It looked over at her, its eyes wide.
"Celestia?!" it asked, stunned. "Celestia, what are you ... who ..." The words devolved into senseless babbling, the thing's mouth eventually just hanging limp, baring her sharp teeth.
"I'm sorry?" Celestia offered, feeling like she had offended the creature.
"Don't be sorry!" the creature said quickly, sweeping her forelegs from side to side. "Come with me!" Celestia was roughly grabbed and dragged out of the stadium, unable to walk as quickly on her hindlegs as this thing.
A strange looking carriage was waiting for her and her escort outside of the stadium. It had no ponies drawing it, just another of these creatures leaning against it, smoke rolling out of his mouth. He held a stick between his lips -- it was white tipped with brown, unlike any tree Celestia had ever seen.
"Got yourself a new toy?" it asked, grinning at her escort.
"No. Just take me home, Daimeon," Celestia's escort said, opening the door for her. "Get in."
It climbed into the front of the horseless carriage and so did the one with the stick. She barely had time to shut the door before the carriage took off at an astounding speed. Not even the fastest of the Wonderbolts had ever moved this quickly. Celestia pressed her face to the window, watching in fascination as the countryside was reduced to a multicolored blur. Sooner than she would have hoped, it stopped and her door came open again.
"C'mon," Daimeon said, gesturing to the mass of stone and glass behind it. "The castle's back this way." This mess was a castle?! Celestia couldn't believe it. It was disorderly and sharp, crowned by a large stained glass window. Against her instincts, she walked into the castle.
"You must be very desperate to come to me for help." the dark-maned thing said, draping itself across a throne. "Explain what you're doing here."
"Could I start with the questions, please?" Celestia asked, rubbing the arms of the chair she was sitting in.
"Alright."
"Where am I, exactly?" Celestia asked, glancing around the room. It gave the distinct impression of a cathedral, which unnerved her. She had never quite warmed up to the idea that ponies worshiped her -- or others.
"Lon, Lonki; to be completely accurate, you're in the Serpent Tail mountain range, near the peak of Wyvern Tooth mountain." the thing said, gesturing widely with its hand.
"Lah-wyn? Am I pronouncing that correctly?" Celestia asked, stalling to figure out what she absolutely needed to know.
"Yes, that is correct. Was there anything you wanted to ask?" The thing seemed to be losing patience, so Celestia went for the obvious elephant in the room.
"Who are you?"
"My name doesn't translate too well to your language, so call me K. I am the reigning goddess of Chaos and Justice."
"Chaos and Justice? At the same time?"
"Yes. It was never supposed to have been like that," K said, sighing and looking away.
"Do you know who Enigmatic Insanity is?" Celestia asked, preparing to run away. Mentions of Enigma's name brought reactions from all over the spectrum. She wasn't sure how K would react, or how she would get away. Walking on her hindlegs was more difficult than it seemed.
In the end, this isn't about Celestia, or the shady deals she made to try and be stronger than her enemies. Let's stop dawdling and return to who really this story is about: Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight dug through her library, searching everywhere for a book on the Hajahact Empire. She was unable to find anything, even when she tore up other libraries too. It was as though they didn't exist to historians. Twilight tried her last hope: Princess Luna, keeper of hidden knowledge. If there was any scrap of information about them outside of so-called 'official' channels, she'd know it.
The sun was setting when Twilight finally arrived in Canterlot. She knew that Luna had been overworked lately, having to raise both the Sun and the Moon, in her sister's absence, but she was hoping that the princess of the night could spare some time to talk.
Luna was waiting on the balcony, watching Twilight approach the castle. Deciding to save the young princess some time, she jumped from the balcony and floated gently to the ground.
"Twilight?" she said, royal Canterlot voice in full effect.
Twilight leapt into the air, not expecting Luna to be right behind her.
"Luna, can we talk?" Twilight asked, cutting through all of the formalities. There'd be time for that later. The two princesses walked into the parlor and sat by the fire, neither one wanting to open the conversation. Finally, Twilight cleared her throat and asked what had been on her mind for the past few months.
"Where is Celestia?"
Luna looked away, at the floor, out the window, anywhere but at the princess currently tearing her heart out.
"I do not know. It has been such a long time since I have seen my sister. Cadence watched her go through the mirror, but to where is a mystery. We tried Canterlot High, where you went, but she was not there," Luna said, tears brimming in her eyes. "Did Celestia abandon them?" was the question acting as an elephant in the room.
"The other thing I wanted to ask you is, do you know anything about the Hajahacts?"
"The empire or the inhabitants?"
"The empire preferably, though if you know anything about the Barriers, this is the time to speak up."
"I know the Barriers, excluding Enigmatic Insanity, were once normal ponies who were exiled from Equestria and her allied territories. Insanity herself, well, that's a long story. The Barriers each took their banishment in their own ways --" Luna was interrupted by a grey mailpegasus running directly into the closed window. Shaking her head, she opened the window and took the letter from the pegasus. She tore it open and removed the slip of paper inside.
"Dear Luna,
The mirror is acting up. I think there's something trying to get through. I have it doing Lamaze --" The handwriting abruptly changed. "Sorry, Cadence isn't in the best of mental states. Please get here as soon as possible. I don't know what is trying to break through but it --" The rest of the letter was just a long streak of ink down the page, like the page had been yanked away.
Luna and Twilight teleported to the Crystal Castle, only to run into a blue maned unicorn. For a moment, Twilight thought it was her brother, Shining Armour, but quickly realized that it wasn't. Light diffused through his body like he was made of glass -- or ice.
He looked down.
"I suspect that I'm in the presence of Princess Luna and Princess Twilight?" he asked, offering a hoof to help them up. "Celestia is looking for the both of you. She needs to brief you." He turned quickly and gestured for them to follow.
They were lead to the throne room, where Celestia and Cadence were, speaking in hushed tones. Around them were one pure white unicorn, a pegasus, and an earth pony. The earth pony and the pegasus were strange looking; the earth pony had a black coat but it had cracks in it, revealing what looked to be lava. His mane was mainly red but it had yellow and orange streaks in it, giving the impression of fire.
The pegasus' mane looked the least organic of everypony's; it was like trapped lightning, zigging and zagging as it saw fit. Its light alone could light a small room. The pegasus was the first to notice the trio, yelling out "THEY'RE HERE!", despite the circumstance not requiring the loud announcement.
The small group all looked over at them, some more hesitantly than others.
"Luna. Twilight," Celestia started, standing. "I am glad you made it here safely."
"As am I,": Cadance said.
Shining Armor bit his lip, obviously struggling for words. Eventually, he managed a quiet, "Hey Twily."
"These are K's knights," Celestia said, gesturing to the ragtag trio of ponies. The pegasus waved cheerfully. The other two pretended to not notice the gesture. "You may want to sit down for this, Twilight." The Sun princess laid a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, gently getting her to sit. She sat down next to her prized pupil, mentally debating on how to break the news.
Maybe a bandage approach would be best.
"Your friends, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash, will be away for a while. A long while." Celestia said, looking out the window. "I had to trade them for the ponies sitting before you. Collateral, you see."
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Twilight's scream resonated through out the castle, shattering several glasses.
This probably wasn't the best course of action after all.
The earth pony was the first to rise.
"Don't worry kid. If we're any good at what we do - and trust me, we are - then you'll see your friends again in no time."
Twilight sniffed and wiped her eyes, her resolve steeling.
"What do you have that makes you better suited than the Elements of Harmony?"
The earth pony cracked a smile.
"Brute force. But, you should probably know who we are before we show you our power. I'm Burning Ebony," he said, pointing to himself. "That over there -" he pointed to the pegasus "- is Aimless Thunder."
"I am Defiant Frost," the icy unicorn said, looking at them with a blank expression. "Together, we're able to destroy anything in our path. Your princess made a tough, but the correct, decision."
Ebony looked at Frost like he was stupid and started a small fire under Frost's hindquarters, making them melt slightly.
The unicorn turned around, his eyes narrowed. "Hey! Stop that!" Seeing that Ebony wasn't going to respond to a polite request, he simply froze the flames currently melting his body. They flickered and gave off light, even warmth, but the ice didn't budge.
"Parlor tricks? You call that power?" Twilight was taken aback -- this was what her friends were traded for?!
"Well, if you have a place where I could spread my metaphorical wings without risking everyone here with a painful death by burning, you should tell me," Ebony said, clearly unimpressed by Twilight's skepticism.
Shining Armor raised a hoof, "Well, there's plenty of open fields outside of city limits ..." he offered, shrugging. The trio nodded in succession.
"You just show us where."
The large field was cleared of anything that could cause the fire to spread, and then they retreated. As soon as they were out of blast range, everything caught fire. Ebony stood in the middle of it all, a dark blot in the inferno, deftly manipulating fire like it were nothing at all. Suddenly, Frost charged towards him, leaving ice in his wake.
The inferno shrunk away from the unicorn, who froze every licking tongue of it until none remained but tall spires of what was once fire. Thunder ran at the spires, mane sparking, and crushed his entire body against one, lighting it up like a Hearth's Warming tree. Suddenly, the affected spire sparked and electricity spread to the others, hitting Ebony and Frost with static shocks. The three ponies dropped to their bellies as the ice itself exploded, sending razor-sharp shrapnel every which way.
Thunder was the first to pop up.
"Did I do it right?!" he asked, glee almost dripping from his words.
Twilight could only stare, mouth agape.
"Teach me how to do that," she said, eager to figure out the secret of combined magic.
Hours later, and after much begging on Twilight's part,
"It's a form of what you'd call 'friendship magic'," Ebony began, salting the soup in front of him. "We're closely allied enough to where Frosty can link our minds and our respective magics."
"Not necessarily our first choice, but --" Frost interupted himself to ask the waiter for more bread, then continued, " -- should anyone go rogue, whether willingly or not, we know where he is. The caveat is, if he doesn't know where he is, then we don't either."
Twilight was about to ask how she could get that, but Frost anticipated the question.
"Trust me when I say you don't want to be a part of our little trio. Not only does it transmit location via the subjects memories, but it also allows for voyeuristic viewing of each others thoughts." Twilight faltered, considering the implications of having her thoughts available to anyone in the loop who wanted to hear them.
Nope.
She wasn't going to ask to join. Her thoughts were hers alone.
Cadence addressed her subjects, choosing her words very carefully. Celestia and Luna stood in the crowd, but neither Cadence or Shining Armor wanted to make eye contact with them.
"As of today, the Crystal Empire is revoking its alliance with Equestria. We will be allying with our neighbors to the east, the Hajahactian Empire."
Murmurs swept through the crowd. Celestia looked like she had been slapped, tears in her eyes. Despite this, Cadence continued.
"She has brought to our lands, foreign species, thereby revealing our secrets to outlanders. In the pudding lies the proof!" Cadence yelled, her voice taking on a sharp edge of pure rage. Her eyes glittered with a green light and from her horn, she let loose a spell at the nearest outlander: Frost. His form melted away, revealing a very angry, very old man. His white hair trailed on the ground behind him, and though he was naked, he approached the Princess with all of the confidence of a king and the wrath of a winter storm.
"You are the problem! Not her!" he roared, pointing to Celestia. The sky was growing darker, the air colder, with every step he took towards Cadence. Any unfortunate ponies caught too close to him were frozen instantly, their screams preserved for all time. Hail clattered against the crystal structures and against the crowd of ponies who were too awe-struck to even try to run.
His voice dropped to a quiet whisper.
"And now, every frozen body will cry out at you as their murderer," he said, disappearing in a brilliant swirl of ice and snow.
Ebony stood, the ice around him melting from the extreme heat radiating off his fur. He tossed his mane and approached Cadence, embers jumping from every hoof step.
"Do you even comprehend what you have done?! Now, not only will the Hajahacts ravage the Equestrian countryside -- they already are -- but you thought the hateful spirits of Winter were bad? You just sicked a temperamental ex-god on not only your country, but the whole goddamned world, to freeze everything until none remains but he and his snow. Everything else will die." Ebony snarled, pointing accusingly at the princess. "This is on you. You may as well have killed them with your own hooves. Come on, Meinhard, let's go chase the ice queen down."
Thunder looked around, torn between staying with Celestia and following Ebony.
"Actually, stay here. Protect Celestia, the only one with any goddamn sense in this goddamn country," Ebony ordered, taking off to the north. The moment he was out of sight, the crowd broke out in a roar of confusion, fear, and anger. Somepony tipped over a barrel, smashing it into nothing. That's when the riot started. In the midst of the chaos, Celestia stood like a bastion of calm.
"If you had only asked, Cadence, I could have told you more about the terms of my deal. I have the power and authority to command them --" When Celestia said this, Luna opened and held up a box, containing three glittering gems with the corrosponding color schemes of Frost, Ebony, and Thunder. "-- but you didn't ask, did you? You insolent little child. This will be yours to correct. I will defend Equestria and Equestria alone. The death of the rest of the world will be your mistake to correct. I wish you the best of luck."
With these final words, Celestia and Luna flew off, not looking back. Cadence looked down at the burning city from her balcony, the chaos being the only noise, and wept in silence.
Twilight was waiting for Celestia upon her return. Her face fell more and more with every detail Celestia gave.
"Humans? Gods? Celestia, what were you thinking?" Twilight asked, shaking her head.
"I thought only of my little ponies. Mostly you. I will not lose you, Twilight." Celestia's voice was firm and unwavering. "We must report this ... change to K. She will know what to do with her own knights."
"Lead the way."
"I must warn you before you see. Do not stare at K. She is blind, but not in the usual way," Celestia said, her expression serious.
"Then how ..?"
"Her eyes were ripped out. She has but empty sockets left. Let me repeat myself, for good measure: Do not stare."
Celestia opened a portal, no longer having access to the mirror. Twilight tentatively stepped through, unsure of where they were going. Celestia followed, sealing the portal behind her.
K looked up, hearing two loud thumps in her throne room. She grabbed a baseball bat and stalked to the scene. K rushed in, swinging the bat wildly and nearly missing Celestia's head.
"Give me that!" Celestia snapped, irritated at the Queen's paranoia. She reached for the bat and threw it aside.
"Celestia?" K asked, cocking her head to the side. "Who else is here?"
"... I'm ... um ... Twilight," Twilight said, averting her gaze from the blinded Queen. Celestia's words did her no aid; the Queen's eye sockets were stained with old blood and some fluid she could only assume was the fluid inside the eye.
"To whom or what do I owe the visit?" K asked, visibly calmer knowing that she wasn't in danger.
"It's about your knights. We need the ponies I traded you back."
"Izotz was set off, wasn't he?" K whispered, shaking her head. "Fine. I will trust that you will take care of my knights. Return them when you are done -- I can only hold the flow off for so long."
"The flow?" Twilight asked, confused.
"The flow of our story. Every event is plotted by a force beyond me. Each and every event happens again and again with each year that passes because no end was written. Izotz and Bastian -- you know them as Frost and Ebony -- play key roles which are coming up very quickly. I can hold off the story for a while, but eventually, the show must go on. If they don't come back in time ... well, who knows? I will go gather your friends. Come along, both of you."
A tall man leaned over a cake, cutting small squares. He handed one to the heavier-set girl beside him. Her puffy, pink hair immediately identified her as Pinkie Pie. When K walked in, he stiffened up and faced her, his hands folded behind his back
"Yes? Did you need something, liebling?" he asked, scratching at one side of a massive scar on his face. The corners of his mouth had been slashed up to the corners of his eyes, giving him a permanent and unsettling grin.
"Is Pinkie here?" K asked, stealing a piece of the cake for herself. "This is delicious, Alfred. What's in it?"
"Hogshead and the usual cake ingredients. Yes, she's right --" Twilight rushed past he and Celestia, running to embrace her friend.
"I've missed you!" she cried, tears of joy running down her face.
"Don't worry, silly! Alfie's been a lot of fun! Look at all of the recipes he gave me!" Pinkie squealed, holding up a recipe box filled almost to bursting.
"I'm sorry to cut your reunion short, but we have to get going. Things will only get worse the more we wait," K said, rinsing her now-empty plate. Celestia nodded to Twilight and they moved to the door, ready to leave.
Elsewhere,
Weatherponies everywhere were run ragged containing the fires. Though none were in Equestria, Celestia still dispatched most of the weather team to deal with the raging wildfires burning through the other countries and the Everfree. With every fire they put out, the weatherponies were required to report the precise location of the burn to Celestia herself. The location was then given to Twilight and meticulously plotted on a map of the known world. The more fires they put out, the better Twilight could see any connections. The fires were forming a path. It could only be one pony.
Suddenly, K fell to her knees, gripping her head.
"Run! Run now!" she yelled, gesturing out the door. "Alfie, help them round up the rest and get them the hell out of here!" Her behavior was a strange departure until a large chunk of stone smashed to pieces beside them. The room was caving in, contrary to general physics. It was as though ...
No.
Celestia held her breath, hoping it wasn't what she knew it was. Ebony and Frost had missed their cues. The universe was collapsing. She grabbed Twilight and Pinkie, and ran for her life, following Alfred through the twisting corridors. They broke through to a vast field, where a heavy-set man and a rainbow-haired girl were chatting. The man looked up but Alfred brushed past him and commanded Rainbow to follow. She was reluctant until she saw Twilight and Pinkie's terrified looks.
She got into the group and continued on with them, the man suddenly disappearing in a bright burst of light. Twilight started to ask, but was cut off.
"He'll be fine. Most of the residents here are evacuating," Alfred said, panting heavily. Ahead of them was a forest. Fluttershy stood under a tree, tending to what looked to be a plant-animal mix with a shattered leg. The culpable branch lay several feet away.
Alfred tried to dash over to her, but a large tree smashed down in his way. The forest itself was falling to pieces, branches and trees collapsing under a silent storm. He hollered and the plant thing looked up, realizing for once what was happening. He grabbed Fluttershy, grimacing from the pain, and leapt through the falling trees. Fluttershy was shot forward in one last life-saving throw before another tree smashed her saviour.
His blood splattered on everything, including the now-traumatized pegasus. Still, Alfred carried on running as though it had never happened. They looped back around to the castle, which, by some stroke of luck, was still standing. They made it to the throne room, where K had opened a portal. She nodded silently to them and hugged Celestia for a final time.
The last thing the Sun princess heard was the sound of a ton of marble crushing fragile bone. She held back her tears and continued through the portal. They had made it.
Twilight was the first to land, faceplanting on the soft rug. Her friends and mentor followed shortly after. The portal didn't close, however, and she realized there was still something coming through. They moved out of the way and eventually, the portal spat out a large, white earth pony with an impossibly black mane. It seemed to suck in all of the light around it.
The young princess stared for a while until she noticed the scars on its face. It was Alfred.
Alfred struggled to his feet, aided by Princess Celestia, who had found a cloth somewhere and was holding onto him with that. He nodded his thanks and trotted around, getting used to the feel of having four legs. Twilight looked at her mentor, her eyebrows raised. Celestia cleared her throat and started to explain.
"To any other pony, you will refer to Alfred as Mythic Oath --"
"Mythic Oath?
Am I an oaf?
Oh hell, what's this?
Clearly my speech is quite amiss.
I'm going to stop talking
I'm having a hard enough time walking
On four hooves and speaking in verse,
Could this day get any worse?" Alfred asked, as confused as any.
Celestia looked at Alfred, her mouth agape.
"Are you doing that on purpose?" she asked, stunned.
"I most certainly am not!
I ought slap you for such a thought!
Why would I subject myself to such a curse?
My speech is supposed to be terse!
Not poetic, not flowing
I ought be going
If this is the reception your world
Will give to one hurled
Into her lap like an abandoned child!
And you claim your country is mild!" Alfred said, sitting down in a huff.
It was going to be a very long day.
"Never before
Yet forever more
I am stuck in this hell
Have I tripped an' fell
Down some bastard rabbit hole?
I'll die here, a homeless soul.
A knell is heard in my ears
I've never been so trapped, in all my years," Mystic complained, punctuating each sentence with a stomp.
Celestia looked at him. The Sun princess was ragged -- strands of her usually glorious mane were sticking out at random intervals. Dark bags hung low beneath her eyes. It had been several days since Mystic had gotten transported back to Equestria with her little ponies, but yet, he had not stopped complaining. Sleep was a sweet relief dealt out in miserly doses. Once or twice, she had resorted to drugging him just to get him to be quiet for a while. He never slept, never ate, simply ... existed .
She made a mental note to discover why that was. Enigma should know, but it was getting harder and harder to contact the dead queen. The last time, Enigma had mentioned something about her heart but the transmission had cut out before she could explain herself.
"Are you even listening?
I'm not sure of your reasoning
But you ought to hear me
You might find something to set your mind free." Mystic glanced up, pausing his pity party for a moment. Celestia sighed. As much as she would like to slap the irritating earth pony, he had a way of killing anything that even brushed against him.
From what she could tell, it was only skin-to-skin contact that did this, which eased her worries about him using, well, the same anything as anypony else. Still ...
She stood and looked down on Mystic.
"Please remain here. I will be back in a moment." Celestia trotted out, deep in thought. The moment the door slammed behind her, Mystic rose to his feet. If she thought that he was going to obey her, the country was in danger because their ruler was an idiot. She killed, albeit accidentally, his goddess, his beloved. She would be lucky if he didn't kill every stallion, mare, and foal as revenge.
He bucked the window, shattering it to pieces. The broken glass cut into his flesh, leaving bloody trails behind him as he fled.
"Luckily, that winged unicorn - what's her name? Nightfall? Dusk? No, Twilight. That's it. - is pretty good with the tracking. I can find the bastard twins before too long. Just got to convince her to come with me ..." Mystic galloped ahead. "Even if she don't come, --"
It was then that Mystic realized he wasn't rhyming anymore. He whooped with glee, renewed vigor in his sprint. He searched, his energy slowly burning itself off. Finally, he found the young princess in the gardens, recording the varieties of plants found there.
"Evening, ma'am," he said politely, bowing. Naturally, upon seeing the stallion's cuts, Twilight recoiled, her face contorted in a look of disgust. Looking around quickly, she ran. He shook his head and scratched at a cut. How hard could it be to track a pony who left fire in his wake, anyway? He perked his ears, listening for any sign of pursuit, before taking off into the darkness.
Elsewhere,
Ebony stopped for the night, his facade fading with the stroke of midnight. The pregnant moon swelled above his head, lighting the night almost as bright as day. A still pond called to him from the trees, a silver mirror in the midst of a sea of black.
He approached it, appreciating the cooling relief on his dry tongue. The pond rippled, growing evermore violent with each gulp he took. A tendril rose slowly from the clear waters, wrapping around his throat and dragging him down. Thrashing around, he fought to free himself from an enemy that he could not see. Eventually, the water won out and he passed out, bobbing gently against the surface.
A tall unicorn with a twisted horn scampered out of the bushes. His trap had worked! He dragged the human from the pond, casting a set of binding spells on him so that even if the man awoke, he wouldn't get free. The unicorn smiled, a happy daze seizing him. Iron Ire would be so proud. So proud.
Thunder looked around, his mouth stuffed full of sweetroll. Another box of the fluffy pastry tempted him from the closet, almost begging to be eaten. He swallowed, already greedy for more. He trotted to the closet gleefully and knocked the box off of the shelf. Celestia wouldn't mind if he ate one more ... or ten. Whichever. The box slid across the floor and out the door. He chased it, wondering slightly if the Sun princess was opposed to him eating all of her sweets.
The box continued down the hall, sharply turning into a dark room. Thunder stopped and stared at the darkness. Was it really worth going in there for a box of sweets? He gulped, stepping back into the well-lit kitchen. As he did this, he heard an exasperated sigh come from the room. A heavy-set pegasi stepped out, glaring at the diminutive unicorn.
Thunder screamed and skittered away, barely keeping traction under his panicky hooves. Sparks flew until suddenly, they didn't. The clock struck midnight and he lost his balance, no longer having a second set of feet to rely on. The skinny boy slid across the tiles of the floor, completely lost to his fear. He screamed again, summoning a set of the Lunar Guard.
Several minutes later, they had the pegasi subdued. Thunder scrambled to his feet and ran to go find Celestia. He was sleeping there tonight.
"Slow down, please. What, exactly, happened?" Celestia and Luna listened closely to Aimless Thunder's retelling of the night's events, struggling to keep up with his machine-gun-style speech.
"And then he just kinda came from the dark! He was going to hurt me! Why else would he steal my sweetrolls?" the blond cried, flailing his skinny arms around. "And that unicorn! It's a conspiracy! Against my sweets!" He sat down and crossed his arms across his chest, pouting at the princesses.
The unicorn in question rolled his eyes at this, snorting loudly.
"As if. We're --" He was cut off by the pegasi at his side, who slapped a hoof over his mouth. Celestia leaned in, a furious look working its way past her queenly mask.
"Continue. I'm quite interested in what you were saying," she said, venom edging her voice. She had been having a very difficult week, and it was beginning to take its toll. Not even her training could keep her anger suppressed much longer. She would send Twilight to put the Hajahacts in their place, she would get rid of the humans, and most of all, she would return peace to her courts. This, she promised to herself.
"Where did you come from, outlander?" Iron paced around the bound human, his irritation growing palpable. The dark-skinned man grinned, saying cheekily,
"From my mother, where else?", quickly being slapped across the face by an angered Iron Ire.
"That is not funny! Tell me who sent you! We eliminated your kind from these lands many millennia ago! Why have you come back?!" he roared, slamming his hooves against the man's thighs, relishing in the resounding crack echoing through the room. The man bit back a scream, setting for a small whimper. He chewed on his lip, choosing his words very carefully.
"How do I say this? Oh, yes, that's right: Go fuck yourself, you dried up old bastard!" The man's skin crackled and burnt like he was lit from the inside. Slowly, but surely, he was reduced to ashes. Iron pawed through them, sure there was some trick to what he had seen. Nothing remained of the man but the dust in his hooves.
He roared, summoning his best mages to his side. Sharp commands to study the dust ripped forth from his lips. Satisfied work was being done, he stormed out. The pawn may have been lost to fire, but the queen was still out there, somewhere. Even if he had to rip her corpse from Celestia's cold, dead hooves, he would not lose that piece also.
Thunder looked around. Since the events of the prior night, he hadn't been left unaccompanied. Much to his chagrin, this made it a lot harder to sneak sweets. The guard charged with watching over him, however, had left to go to the bathroom, under the impression that Thunder would stay put. The slender blond pony slunk away, constantly looking back to check that he wasn't followed.
He could almost taste the sweet moon cakes that Luna had made... Suddenly, he heard a tapping. Against his better judgement, he looked up, coming muzzle to muzzle with Ebony.
"C'mon kid. It ain't safe here. They'll have to deal with Frost on their own terms, 'cause we're out." Before he could say a word, the larger stallion had taken him into his hooves and simply disappeared, leaving naught but ashes.
The guard returned to find that Thunder was gone. He sprinted down the hall, dashing through the pile of dust and leaving hoofprints behind. They glittered in the morning sun with a golden glint.
Purple skies contrasted neatly with blue-grey clouds that billowed and rolled with impressive speed. Wind rushed through the black grasses, brushing them against Frost's hooves. He knew what he was seeing was a lie but yet, he wanted it to carry on. It was a beautiful deception, protecting him from the truth.
The truth that, like Enigma, Ebony, and Thunder, he wasn't meant to last for much longer in this world.
Enigma was consumed by the sickness that lurked within her for many years, repressed and rejected, until it couldn't be anymore. Unfortunately for Equestria, this also meant hell for anyone else who caught it. Fools, they tried so hard to cure it, to prevent its spread, but how does one stop the manifestation of a festering hate?
Ebony, always the flake, burnt himself to cinders, stealing away with him Thunder. Said something about a stronghold, in some place called America. Only 'til he could coerce a god into restoring his world, of course. As though he'd give up the chance to rule with a burning fist.
Frost had heard murmurs of another trail of destruction, of death, of decay. Trademarks of someone who very well should be dead himself. Alfred, guardian of the lost and dead. What would he be doing here? ... Unless ... No, that was a stupid idea. Surely, he didn't evacuate here , of everywhere he could have ran? No, not plausible.
Still, he decided he would keep an eye out for the ex-god. If anything, maybe he knew how to get out of here.
But, there was the problem of the war. The war that they, the fallen, were recruited (alright, more voluntold) to prevent. Something about interuniversal havoc if Iron got his way. What of that? Would he really be so cowardly to leave and risk this world as well? Did he not have a duty to carry out? If not to this world, then to his dead queen?
Frost wasn't sure anymore. An idea blossomed, a relief-giving revelation like the break of dawn after a long winter's night. Princess Celestia had that student, Dusk, who she doted on. A genius, if the Sun princess was to be believed. Certainly she knew something about universe jumping. They had to have jumped to bring them back. It was a thought so obvious, he was ashamed he hadn't thought it before. Of course, that's how he would get home.
Heading towards the gleaming city in the distance, he resolved his inner conflict. He would save Equestria, and Equestria would save him. He would not die in pain and rot like his Queen. Not today, not ever. A cold wind swept him up, taking him to the doors of Canterlot Castle.
Celestia sighed. The hearings for today had been especially long and tedious, capitalizing on the stress taking its hold on her mind. She couldn't shake the sight of the dust from her mind. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, yes, but there had to be more to it than that. Despite all their hard work, and Twilight's non-stop research, all that they could find was that the dust was once a pony. Nothing more, nothing less.
Simply, a pony.
Twilight had yet to give up on the conundrum, and it showed. If she wasn't reminded to eat and sleep, she was more than willing to neglect both. Celestia ran a hoof across her forehead, swiping a few stray hairs out of her eyes. What was she thinking, trusting K? Nothing but disaster had come of it.
A loud bang rung out, prompting Celestia to put her queenly mask back on. Must be a late petitioner, she reasoned. The pony that strode up the aisle was a far cry from a late petitioner, and Celestia found herself wishing that he was. However, wishes were simply that and not reality; the reality was, she was looking into the hollow eyes of one of the abominations she had bargained for.
Sweat shone on his crystal-clear body which itself exuded a flesh-cutting chill. White wisps of mane stuck to his face, frozen in place. He bowed, pressing his horn to the ground at her feet. Celestia drew her cape closer around herself, motioning for him to rise. He did so. She sighed again.
"Forgive my impudence, Princess, but I believe we have a conflict to attend to," Frost said, his expression grave. "Iron Ire is rallying the troops. Presently, he has a standing army of --" Frost paused to do some quick calculations, gesturing in the air with one hoof. "-- I'd say, 40,000 or so troops."
Celestia quirked an eyebrow at the unicorn, unimpressed.
"And what, if I may ask, made your highness come back to fight? I thought you were going to freeze us all? Was I misinformed?" The venom dripped off of her razor-sharp voice. She had her fill of these rude ponies just trotting in and out as they damn well pleased. It was infuriating, the lack of respect they paid her.
"I have a duty to my Queen, the one that you keep necromancing might I add," Frost said, irritation seeping through his blank facade. "May we speak in private?"
"How did you know?" Celestia stuttered, shocked by the bare reveal of her dirty secret.
Frost scoffed, flipping his mane back.
"Please. You're about as subtle as a kick in the face. Hour long bathroom breaks? Really? I didn't just fall off the turnip truck, you know."
Celestia sighed, rising slowly to her feet. She motioned for Frost to follow.
"That's it?! That's all you can find?! That it's of pony origin?! "
The unicorn cowered, slinking backwards away from the angered alicorn King.
"Yes'r, that's all. Nothing about it's extraordinary -- it's just the cremains of a pony," the unicorn stammered, turning and running out of the room. Iron thought about chasing him, but there was no point. While executing the unicorn for his failure would be fitting, that left the problem of finding another with his skills. Considering the smear campaign being charged against them by the Gryphon Empire, that didn't seem too likely. This mage only stayed because no other country wanted him.
Regardless of species, necromancy was generally frowned on. This mage, the hell was his name? Sacred Flame? No, Scarce Fire, that was it. Scarce, he was as good of a necromancer as any but had a ... disconcerting liking for the corpses. As long as he did his job, though, Iron was content to look the other way.
He sighed and ran a hoof through his hair. That knocked the negro off of his tracking, but what of the blond one or the old man? It was like they had simply vanished. No doubt, Celestia had something to do with it. Once he got her country, he'd show her the real meaning of force. Iron laughed, rising slowly to his feet. She'd be his, or she'd die.
Twilight collapsed onto her desk, slumping over with fatigue. The dust was presenting an impressive case to crack, but she had set it aside, hoping some distance would shed insight into the problem. So far, it hadn't. Rainbow had been over earlier that day, tailed closely by Pinkie and Fluttershy. They had gone back to their lives after all of the ... unpleasantness surrounding the trade, but Twilight's quickly deteriorating condition had concerned her friends.
Applejack had taken post in a nearby room, occasionally coming in to check on the young princess. Secretly, Twilight was beyond grateful for the care. Several times, she had simply given up eating in favor of continued research, and she couldn't very well expect that Celestia would keep an eye on her.
The Sun princess was mired in her own concerns, namely the diplomats patiently waiting for any sign of weakness in the Solar Empire. They were willing to circle like vultures, watching for one of the tigers to fall so that they could feast like kings. Typical of unstable countries.
Twilight sat back up, shaking her head slowly. Cowards. The other tiger in the fight, Hajahact, was laying low and gaining strength. Frost's calculations weren't far off -- unfortunately, he lowballed the country. 90,000 troops and growing by the day, meanwhile Equestria could scarcely muster 25-30,000 troops. If they ever actually attacked, it would be a curbstomp. No contest whatsoever.
Her faith in Celestia was still strong. Surely, she had a plan. Twilight laid her head down on the table and closed her eyes for a few moments of stolen rest.
Celestia paced up and down the hall, ruminating over the implications of Frost's discovery.
"It looks like it's a large sigil. God only knows what it summons. I'll look into how it would be activated."
A sigil, built around the Wulfhelm, seat of the Hajahactian throne. Whether meant as a defense for the city, or a means for its downfall, it still was imposing. For all Celestia knew, it could very well drain the strength of her troops should it be activated. Careful not to let her hopes get up, she also considered the possibility that it was meant to be means of self-destruction. A honorable death, in the event of a siege.
The look on Frost's face all but killed that idea.
"You want the good news, or the bad?"
Celestia mentally braced herself and said,
"The bad first, please."
"It's a blood seal, requiring roughly the city's population to power," Frost said with a sigh, hiding the cut on his foreleg. "I tested it in miniature."
Celestia snapped to attention, focusing her glare on the unicorn.
"And? Would it have killed you to exercise some caution? What if it destroyed everything, everyone?! My little ponies would have perished due to your ignorance."
"Did it? No? Then, be quiet," Frost snapped, placing his hoof over Celestia's. "Trust me; I know what I'm doing. It had a much different effect than destroying the world."
Pulling her hoof out of his, Celestia asked, "Which was?"
"It sunk away, but that's not what's fascinating about it. The one under the capital is connected by canals to several others dispersed throughout the country. When properly activated, it looks as though it would cause the country to collapse into the ground, effectively destroying it."
"Collapse?!" Celestia backed away, brushing against the wall at her flank. "Why would any regent in their right mind set that up ...? Unless ... they weren't. " Suddenly, it all made sense.
The dead Queen had done this.
"Forgive mah askin', but ain't it foolish to trust this outsider?" Applejack asked, casting a suspicious look at the glacial pony. "Ah mean, ain't his kin responsible for the deaths in Appaloosa an' all that?"
"My 'kin' as you so charmingly put it, were suffering. Without being able to feed on the lost and the damned, their powers were fading away. Killing was the only way to get the souls they needed for nourishment," Frost said, nibbling at his salad. "I don't use soul essence to fuel my power, hence why my hooves aren't bloodied."
Twilight's ears perked at this, and she asked,
"If not soul essence, then what? As I know it, outlanders cannot tap into the natural flow of magic." Subtly, she closed Rarity's mouth, who was enamored with the way the icy stallion's coat gleamed in the light, scattering rainbows across the wall.
"I require nothing more than the air itself to survive. As you know, there is water vapor all around us. I simply draw it out and freeze it, whether as a concentrated blast of ice or to repair my body."
"Like a pony snow cone machine!?" Pinkie asked, bouncing up and down at the thought of the sweet treat. Frost smiled and said, "Yes, I suppose that's a fitting description, though I can make a lot more than snow."
"So, where do we come in?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, this is cool and all but why do we need to be here?"
"Your jobs are to make sure no one gets in or out of the six cities marked here." Frost unrolled a map and swept a hoof over the neat annotations. "As for the baby dragon, he need only provide a sample of his blood."
Spike shook his head, pulling himself away from the bowl of gems for the moment.
"I'm not going to just go home. If Twilight's in this, I am too."
Frost shrugged.
"So be it. I need only your blood, but if you wish to accompany your mate, I don --" Twilight quickly slapped a hoof over Frost's mouth.
"He's not my mate. He's my number one assistant," she corrected, a blush spreading over her face. "But, why do you need his blood?"
"I don't suppose you know where we can obtain another dracoequus? No? That's why. Your princess, Celestia, has graciously offered to provide the other half of the blood sample."
"But, why?" Twilight was too curious to let Frost off the hook, a trait he was beginning to grow tired of.
"The main tower of Wulfhelm is protected by a runic door," Frost started.
"And runic doors can only be opened by the blood of one of the same species. Since she was the last of the dracoequui, she assumed she'd be safe."
"Bingo."
"But, I still don't see where we come into play ..." Rainbow said, shoving her plate aside. Celestia set hers aside as well and patiently waited for Frost's answer.
"You are to keep the citizens of the six cities in the city walls. When you are given the signal, you are to lock down the gates and prevent escape. We," Frost gestured to himself and Celestia, "will take care of the rest. After you've locked them down, you are to run. No matter what you see, what you hear, keep running if you wish to live."
In a grave tone, Celestia said,
"Indeed, all is as he has said. You are not to look back after you've completed the lock down. No matter what you hear, do not look back. I need my little ponies to be safe."
The six ponies gathered in the hall nodded, willing to take any risk to save the country.
In the dark of night, a squirming burlap sack was smuggled into Canterlot Castle, precautions being taken to assure that none but the intended recipient saw the delivery. Celestia received the sack with a heavy heart. She set it down in the back of her chariot, laying it neatly on top of the other. She sighed, handing a large bag of bits to the dark-coated earth pony. They were to move out tomorrow, with no more delays.
Celestia trotted back to her room, collapsing onto the bed in a heap. Luna waited for her just outside the door. The darker princess watched the night sky with the fascination of a filly. Dragging herself back to her hooves, Celestia joined her sister.
"We're leaving tomorrow," Celestia said, looking up at the moon. "Will you come with us?"
"You know we cannot, sister. We have lost ..." Luna looked at the place where her wings should be and silently cried. "We are of no use to the expedition."
"The sickness was not your fault. If you wish, you may come with," Celestia countered, "We need you, sister. What is the Sun without the Moon?"
"Who will rule in our absence?"
"We will not be gone long enough for that to be an issue."
"When you awake, we will be waiting."
"Thank you, Luna," Celestia said, stifling a yawn. Leaving her sister to her astronomy, Celestia went back to the comforting embrace of her bed. Sleep claimed her almost immediately.
Twilight checked her bags; once, twice, three times. She couldn't afford to forget anything -- were she to, she would have to hope that she could find it there. Nopony was allowed in or out of Hajahact, so requesting that it be delivered would be a no-go. A tight feeling clutched at her heart.
She hoped that Celestia knew what she was doing with all this blood seal business.
Spike clambered onto her back as she boarded the carriage, which would follow the chariot bearing Celestia and Frost, arriving shortly after them. A tiny puncture mark burned red under his hand, the palm of which was one of the few bare patches on him. Normally, she would see Celestia off, but for some reason, this time, Celestia wanted her as far from the chariot as possible. Her worrisome thoughts were distracted by the sight of her friends waiting in the carriage for her.
The land sped by just as quickly as before, perhaps more so, and in mere moments it seemed, they were again at the gates of the city. Frost waited for them, the guards having been dispatched a while before.
"Alright, so here's your assignments," he said, handing scrolls to the six ponies. "You two," he pointed at Rainbow Dash and Applejack. "As you're, physically, the strongest of the group, you have the furthest outposts. I suggest leaving now -- it's easily a three hour trip for the average pony." The two ponies nodded, going northwest and northeast respectively.
"Dusk, you and the white one over there," Rarity snorted with contempt, "are headed for the two cities east and west of here." Twilight glossed over the name mistake and prepared a teleportation spell, urging Rarity to do the same.
"And you two are taking the two nearest here. They will put up the least resistance, but don't let your guard down. I have things to take care of here. Best of luck to you, all of you." Frost opened the gate and trotted in, disappearing into the mass of ponies.
The group assigned, he was free to deal with the major problem at hoof. Celestia was waiting for him when he trotted up the steps. Bound in chains in front of them was Mythic Oath. Celestia took the nails from her pack and busied herself with preparing the gallows.
Wrapping Mythic in a golden glow, she lifted him, rump-side up, onto the wooden structure. She bit her lip and drove a single nail through the joint connecting hoof to leg. The stallion tried to scream but his tongue was still on the ground, bathing in a puddle of its own blood.
Pinning his forelegs behind his head, she drove a longer, thicker nail through the joints, missing slightly and cracking through bone. Blood flowed freely into the bowl that contained his tongue. At this point, the stallion had given up trying to scream, simply whimpering. Frost dipped his hoof into the bowl and began to draw a sigil on the ground.
"Go to the Queen's tower and retrieve what is hidden there," Frost said simply, handing Celestia the mixed blood sample. Celestia nodded, looking away from the horror she had wrought. The door looked like any other, but required blood to open. She poured the sample over her hooves and pressed them against the door. It glowed a brilliant purple and faded away, the illusion broken.
She climbed the spiraling staircase, quickly reaching another door. This one, to her relief, was not enchanted. The room it lead to was sparsely furnished, but the object she sought called out to her like a lighthouse at sea. It was a razor-sharp hand scythe, generally used for cutting crops. Its true purpose, however, was stained on the blade. It was a sacrificial knife.
Celestia grabbed it, careful not to cut herself, and took it down to where Frost was waiting.
"Cut his throat and drain his blood. One clean stroke, Celestia." Frost moved out of the way, granting her direct access to the quivering stallion. Repressing the urge to vomit, she walked up to him and drew the blade across his throat. The wound gaped and dumped blood from his body. His head was barely connected any longer, a thin strip of skin keeping him whole. She couldn't repress the nausea any longer. Celestia rushed to the window and vomited, until her throat hurt and her legs were barely able to keep her standing.
She turned to find Frost drawing more symbols with the blood. He lifted the bowl into the air and set it down beside him. After several minutes, he simply said,
"It's done."
"What do we do now?" Celestia asked, staring off into the skies. It was an unusually calm and clear day. Any other day, she would have called it beautiful, but there was no beauty on this day.
"Before I can tell you that, you must promise me one thing."
"What is that, Frost?"
"When this is all said and done with, you must kill me. Sever my head from my shoulders and my feet from my legs."
"Why?" Celestia looked over at the bloody stallion, who shook his head.
"Can't say. Just do. Now, you need to send the signal so they shut the cities down. Then, we run like hell." She looked back at the sky, using all of her might to lower the sun and bring night to the midst of day. Minutes passed before the symbols started to glow brilliantly. She ran, flying fast away from the capital. Bright blue flashes alerted to Frost's fleeing as well.
Against her better judgement, she looked back to see what she had done.
Ponies writhed on the ground, clutching at their skin, as the very thing which made them unique was sapped from them, leaving them hollow husks. Screams cut through the air, cries of fillies and foals for their mothers, whispers of love. All of it surrounded Celestia, taunting her. Soon, there was but silence.
She landed softly, unable to see for the tears in her eyes. What had she done? The ground crackled, crumbled, sunk, nearly dragging Celestia along with it. She kept flying and eventually met up with her little ponies, Spike, and Frost. Slowly, they made their way back to Canterlot, a pregnant silence in bloom the whole way.
Just as Celestia had warned, the trio's facade broke the instant midnight hit. Ebony's long dreadlocks nearly choked him when he fell, suddenly bipedal. The thuds coming from the other rooms reassured him he wasn't alone.
"I can't stand!" came a feeble cry. Its owner crawled into the room on his knees moments later. "The ceilings are too short!" The skinny blond looked scared and on the verge of crying. "I don't want to be here ... I want to go home, Bastian ..."
"Shh ... It's Ebony for now, kid. You can stay with me. We'll see if there isn't a way to correct this in the morning ..." Ebony said, stroking Thunder's hair and pulling him close to his chest. "Just go to sleep," he soothed, kissing Thunder on the forehead.
Cadence pulled away from the cracked door and slid against the wall, suddenly out of breath. Humans. Celestia had recruited humans . The audacity! Parading them around like they were natural ponies ... She should have guessed. The Sun monarch had been around for far too long. Her mind was fraying in her old age. It was time for better suited ponies to take over.