Herald of Dawn

"He wouldn't ..." Celestia started, slowly trailing off. "We will have to alert the old Guard. I assume you have kept track of whereabouts they are?"

"Indeed, sister," Luna said, nodding curtly. "Doth we ne'd summon them?"

"Try to, please. If there was any day we could use their aid, it would be now." Twilight glanced between the two princesses, her brow furrowed.

Innocently, she asked, "Why not just use the Elements?"

Celestia paled, her heart thumping hard within her. She tried to face Twilight, but found herself glued to the floor. There was no way to say this amicably. Best scenario, Twilight would not just go after her friends, and would instead try to find a reasonable solution. Worst, she would bolt, and Equestria would drop down to three of six Elements.

Truth usually served her well.

Slowly, Celestia turned around to look at her student.

"We are not sure where Applejack and Rainbow Dash are right now. Shortly after your disappearance,  they went looking for you and never returned. Rest assured, we have the best of the Royal Guard looking for them, but right now, the Elements are not an option."

Celestia turned several shades more pale as her own words dawned on her.

"The land. The illusion. It's going to warp," she muttered softly, falling back on her hindquarters. "Piteous fools." She shook her head, stumbling back to her hooves. Celestia turned to look at Luna. Her eyes were hard set, a grim frown becoming all too comfortable on her face.

"I will go out there and rescue them. Luna, in my absence,  initiate the Alpha protocol. Prepare our troops for a war. If our ponies begin to question your actions, lie to them. Lie and maintain the peace. I will try to return as soon as possible," Celestia said, trotting out of the room before either of the two had a chance to dissent.

She made her bed -- now she would go and lie in it.

Light scattered off the golden armor borne by a mannequin. Truth be told, she should have polished it more than she did, but there was no time for that now. She slipped the armor, piece by piece, off of the mannequin and onto her own body; the magical metal flowed over her coat like liquid, fitting as close to skin as it could.

Celestia flared her wings, testing for proper clearance.  Her mane slipped through the back of the helmet in a smaller version of her tail. Lifting the loose end in her magic, she pulled it into a tight bun, giving the appearance of a spike coming out of the back of her head.

If anything, Celestia thought, this alone might jog Enigma's memory. She chuckled weakly. If this armor was what woke Enigma up out of her trance, well then, she'd never take it back off.

Just in case, of course.

Celestia frowned. She was never fond of the metal extension of her horn -- yes, it made a decent sword in battle, but it was in the way otherwise. Shaking her head, she teleported to the border. For a reason that Enigma was never clear on, teleporting didn't work once you were officially over the Hajahact border. Something about a 'security risk'.  It made sense, but it also was a bit paranoid.

Who would defy tradition and attack the capitol?

Twilight was stunned to silence. She looked intermittently between the door and where Celestia once stood. Finally, she shook her head.

"What is going on, Luna? Why did she tell you to lie to ponies?"

Luna sighed, sitting down on her hind legs.

"There are things that the common pony need not know of. Tell me, Twilight, what dost thou know about politi-" Luna was cut off by a sudden burst of fire. Iron Ire landed neatly on his hooves, the Queen floating mutely behind him. Her eyes and hooves were wreathed in brilliant blue flames. Her mane and tail hung limp, like she was nothing more than a puppet in the Queen's skin.

Twilight put a hoof to her throat, trying to quell the choking feeling building up. The feeling spread across her skin, an uncomfortable prickly feeling that was somehow cold and sharp. She could feel it draining the magic from her, but something whispering in her ears insisted she couldn't resist it.

Bow to the Queen, it said. Bow to the Que--

The voice fell silent, dominated by the sound of Luna's hoof colliding with Enigma's chest. Twilight felt the drain cease temporarily then return when Luna pulled away for another hit.

"Awaken, damn you! Awaken!" Luna shouted, her voice blowing out every window in the room. She slammed her hooves into Enigma, again and again. Iron Ire smiled, winking at Twilight. Without warning, he spread his wings and flew out through one of many smashed windows. Luna, so consumed by pummeling Enigma, did not notice his absence. Twilight thought briefly of pursuing him, but the thought crossed her mind too late.

By the time she responded to pursue him, he was already too far gone to chase. It was a futile effort to try.  Instead, she focused on the task at hand: waking Enigma up.

A soft sigh, and a gasp punctuated the silence.

Enigmatic Insanity was fully awake, staring at the alicorn who had just hit her several times. The fire was gone for but a moment from her eyes.

Once confused, now she was righteously furious.

"You are not nearly as wise as your sister," she deadpanned, her anger rolling off of her in waves but her face completely neutral.  "You understand, however, that I am required to take this as a declaration of war. Thus will also Eastern Gryphonia, the Minotaur empire, Saddle Arabia, et al."

Twilight blocked Enigma's path, repressing the urge to flee.

"Now, come on. Can't we just talk about this? Luna has a perfectly good reason for hitting you!" Twilight exclaimed, occasionally shifting her position to keep Enigma from getting away. Luna raised a hoof, gesturing for Twilight to move.

"Queen Enigmatic Insanity is correct. If she were to do such a thing to me, I would also be required to take it as a declaration of war. Such is the way things are," Luna said.

Finally able to get past Twilight, Enigma walked to the door, then turned around to face Twilight.

"Your Princess may not have educated you, but let me impart upon you thus: things are as they are because they are. We have no right to change them. You would be wise to heed," Enigma paused, placing a hoof to her lip. "Ah, yes, Luna! You would be wise to heed Luna's example. Now, if I may be excused?"

With that, the kirin trotted out of the room.

Twilight laid down, putting her head in her hooves.

When she became a princess, she was expecting politics but not like this. How was one to rule if all things were already decided by subtle gestures and those things left unsaid?