The Gilded Dream

From her vantage point high in the sky, Celestia could observe nearly the entirety of the western half of Equestria. Below Canterlot lay the hamlet of Ponyville, the new home of her wonderful student and the Element Bearers. She smiled faintly as she thought of the young fillies she had come to rely on as subjects, and friends. Without them, Celestia would not have seen her dear sister Luna again, and she was not certain they could have defeated Discord on their own without the Elements. For such innocent ponies, they had become quite the defenders of the realm, and the thought made her smile wider. Perhaps she should visit them, she thought warmly, It would certainly make for an-

But the thought, and her smile, vanished quickly as she gazed out to the horizon. A small speck quickly turned to a full sized purple-maned and green-pelted pegasus, who practically skidded to a stop in the air in front of her monarch, her flanks and sides rising and falling with her rapid breaths.

"P-princess Celestia!" she managed shakily, holding up her trembling hooves when Celestia began to ask what was wrong, "T-there are... d-dozens of ships, f-from the west! Huge, like m-minotaur ships!"

This... confused Celestia, greatly. She had only recently re-signed an ancient peace treaty and trade agreement with the Minotaur Nation, promising them food in exchange for metals only available in their homeland. Certainly they were not foolish enough to risk famine on an invasion, not again...

"Did you see minotaurs?" she asked softly, flying closer to the exhausted filly and carefully guiding her back down to her balcony.

The pegasus flashed her a grateful smile as she sat back on her haunches on the sun-warmed tile, but then shook her head.

"N-no, Your Majesty. Just the ships. I-I'm sorry, I should've-"

But Celestia cut the filly off with a gentle hoof on her muzzle, smiling warmly down at her. Her wing beckoned to one of the guard stallions who had rushed into her chambers.

"Bring this filly down to the kitchen. Get her a hot meal and a room to rest in."

"Yes, Your Majesty," he replied dutifully, leading the trembling mare out of the Royal Chambers and shutting the door behind them.

Only once she was sure they could not hear did Celestia turn to the remaining guard, her eyes hardening to that of the warrior princess Celestia had once been known, and feared, as. She drew herself up, wings flaring in the bright sun.

"Gather the Guard, and a flight of chariots. We must see to this threat... and end it, if we must."

The landing, to Otto's relief, went better than expected. All twenty ships had made it through the voyage and the storm, and had safely unloaded all the souls aboard to the sandy shores. Unfortunately, seventeen members of his people had perished the night of the storm, so the landing was marred by their mass funeral. It was a simple affair, with a Protestant and Catholic priest taking a turn speaking and blessing the graves. A strange sight to those from elsewhere in Europe, but Collodia had always been a country of understanding and learning, and Otto had never tolerated religious persecution of any sort. He knew that sometimes the two sides had... heated arguments, and even brawled on occasion, but he had always put a firm stop to it.

Turning away from the ceremony, Otto once again scanned the forest that brushed against the shoreline. Oak trees, for the most part, he noted, and stout ones at that. They would do well for the beginning of his new colony, until they could unload the stone and prepare proper housing. Well. His gaze veered off to the shore, and he could not hold back a sneer of disgust. One of his vassals, a vile Norwegian man by the name of Count Ellander, had already ordered his servants to unload his allotted stone, completely skipping the peaceful ceremony. Ellander had always been the crueler of his few vassals, but Otto could scarcely relieve him of his title. His family had served his mother faithfully, and Ellander controlled the largest portion of noble-backed soldiers. Sending him off would practically leave the colony defenseless. But the man could at least show a little respect to the dead.

A shout of surprise and a ripple of panic through the gathered crowd caught Otto's attention, and he spun towards his Captain of the Royal Guard, surprised to find him gaping up at the sky like a lunatic at a full moon. Following his gaze... Otto von Heln, Prince of Collodia, found himself doing the exact same thing.

"What... are they, Your Majesty?" A guard behind Celestia's chariot asked softly, sounding just as stunned as she felt.

Celestia's chariot convoy numbered twenty vehicles, each bearing three riders, unicorn guards all, and three pegasi fliers. Around that flew two dozen Lunar Guardponies that Luna had given her sister while she kept watch over Canterlot. Arrayed in the black and dark blue of their mistress, the Lunar Guard carried small crossbows attached to their forelegs, all trained down at the crowd of... creatures. Bipedal like minotaurs, Celestia noted, but shorter and far less bulky. All seemed to be dressed in constricting clothing, with hats or bonnets covering their small head. A smaller group, however, were armored in metal, and lining up in rows.

"Fire only if they do!" Celestia commanded loudly, and she watched in surprise as the crowd of creatures below stirred and murmured, even more so when the Sun Princess began to descend her chariot in front of them. A creature more richly garbed than the others stepped in front of what Celestia assumed were soldiers, staring at her with small, yet vibrantly blue eyes. It was hard for her to judge his body language, but using a minotaur as a base, she would assume he was... curious. Or very angry. She would prefer the former, in this case.

Now... who would speak, or act, first?