Fallen (Original)

Five of the girls were utterly stunned, after Arkantos explained everything that had happened to him Twilight had directly hugged Chrysalis, surprising the changeling queen.

“Well… I um…” Chrysalis muttered.

“Thank you. And… wherever your son is, tell him I said thank you. Once this is all over, I’ll fight to make sure you and your hive are welcome in Equestria.” Twilight smiled, nestling herself back into Ark’s lap. “Now… if he’s going to attack Canterlot…”

“It’d be the most obvious place. And… he may be smart, but, a crown jewel like that, it’s far too tempting…” Arkantos began.

“And we should make it all the more tempting. Have you, and your friends head back… it’ll force his hand to attack it.” Chrysalis nodded, “I’ll have my drones lie in wait, and we’ll ambush him, since his… m… mutated drones… can’t change forms… we’ll have an easy time picking them out.”

“Right, though I hope we can avoid an open battle. It’ll be to risky.” Arkantos added.

“Ark… how do you intend to stop a full battle?” Twilight asked.

“We feign weakness, and force them into a situation where they have no hope of winning. They’ll be forced to either die, or surrender. If we have them surrounded with massively superior forces, and the home field advantage, we’ll be able to out match, and out play them every single step of the way.” Arkantos explained, “It’s the Art of War.”

“War isn’t an art… art’s beautiful and thought provoking. War’s destructive and all-encompassing.” Rarity said, glancing to Ark.

“There’s a beauty in winning a battle without a single charge being made, without a single arrow being fired, or even a single spell being prepped. It shows strategy beyond measure. Wit beyond reason, and breeds an undying faith in those that command. War may not be an art. But there is an art to warfare.” Ark stated. “To win a war with minimal losses is the goal of all generals. I wish, deep down, that there’d never be another battle… another fight to win or lose. I want peace… but to obtain peace, there have to be those who’ll fight, fight to defend others, to protect the hard-won peace, to make sure the future generations will never have to raise a weapon against their brothers and sisters… And if I’m asked to fight, then so be it. I’ll fight.”

Everyone was speechless, Twilight knew that before coming here Arkantos was a general… but this solidified it. She was more proud of him now, for articulating himself so well. She hugged him tightly, nuzzling his warm neck.

“I don’t…” Rarity muttered quietly.

“I mean… y-your right…” Dash muttered.

“Wow…” Chrysalis said quietly.

“We’ll need to prepare more than just one ambush. Is there anyway to get in contact with Celestia?” Ark asked. Twilight immediately nodded.

“Just tell me what you want her to hear, and I’ll get it to her.” Twilight stated firmly.

“Great! Let’s get her prepared as quickly as possible.” Arkantos motioned for Twilight to follow him, the two leaving the others alone.

The moment they entered the bedroom the mood between them quickly changed Twilight nearly tackled the man she almost lost, her lips attaching to his. He fell back onto the bed, being taken off guard. Underneath their increased weight, the bedframe just buckled from the blow, collapsing underneath the two. They didn’t care if the sound scared the others just downstairs, the door was magically sealed and the two held each other, just staying in the deep kiss for as long as they could possibly manage. It was nearly a full minute before they separated, both panting heavily.

Twilight was in tears again, this time absolutely overjoyed to have him so close again. “Oh gods… It’s… it’s just wonderful to be able to kiss you like this again.” She cupped his cheeks. He returned the gesture, smiling warmly up at her. “I know… you’re absolutely perfect for me…” She kissed him again.

“And you’re the only one I could ever truly love.” Ark replied, nuzzling himself into her mane. It didn’t take to long for Twilight to begin stripping away the cold black armor from her lover’s warm body. Though neither of them was truly in the mood for sex, both too stressed and worried to care about anything other than being close to each others bodies. That they did achieve, nuzzling and cuddling. The warmth they shared was amazing, and they nearly fell asleep together, had it not been for Spike breaking into the room.

“A-are you tw-” He paused for a moment before he realized, no they weren’t having sex and he was more than safe to remain in there. “Oooh… oookay.” He took in a deep breath. “Uuuh, Rainbow Dash t-told me you had something you wanted to send to Celestia…”

“Right…” Twilight sighed, sitting up, the blankets now completely covering her body. Her horn lit up and a quill and paper appeared in her hands. “Alright Ark, what do you want Celestia to do?”

Ark took in a deep breath, “First…”

Later on:

Celestia was reading over Arkantos’ plans. They were near suicidal! At least… they appeared to be on first glance. Going over them a second time it made sense… hide the soldiers in ponies’ homes. Have them burst out when a cannon is fired off… take the enemy by surprise in conjunction with Chrysalis’ forces. It’ll be quick, but very messy for Egos’ forces… they’d be slaughtered when they got pincered by both forces. But with Celestia and Luna… this plan to use both the sun, and if need be, moon to their advantage was thoroughly possible. It’d also send a very, very clear message if it was announced afterwards that Arkantos was now commanding the military… Equestria was going to be left in an incredibly strong position. Then there was Twilight’s addendum, she wanted Chrysalis to be absolved of her crimes… and to be welcomed into Equestria. She let out a long sigh, if Chrysalis did come through… her hive may be forgiven, but… it’d be a long road to have all of Equestria accept her and her changelings. One she’d be willing to start. It seemed it was now very, very rare that Twilight made an incorrect character judgement… what with this strange species she had fallen so deeply in love with, and now his want, neigh, drive to support and protect Equestria.

“You two… you’ll be our downfall… and if not, our phoenix. I can only shudder to think what truly lay ahead for you both…” Celestia sighed, her magic bringing up a quill to write a reply, one that was simple and very, very curt. ‘We’ll see.’ She rolled up the scroll, not even bothering to sign it before she sent it off. “Now… to make a show about them returning… they’ll need a grand entrance.” She laughed quietly. “I just hope… Arkantos knows what he’s doing. I hope he’ll not let love cloud his judgment… we can’t afford to lose anypony. Least of all any of the Elements…”