A new perspective

After a moment more of sitting and watching the wilted figure that was once their revered princess, the four remaining spared a final glance and each turned away. Walking back inside amongst the clatter of an entire battalion of the Night Watch pouring out into the gardens, Pinkie chanced a glance back before following her friends and was the only one of them to see what looked like an earth pony in silver armor jump down to the head of the battalion.

Moments later, once again inside the castle halls, Applejack was the first to break the tension. "How the princess could 'ave gone ahn done somethin' like that is just...just...wrong!"

Rarity followed suite "It was absolutely atrocious the way she treated him after everything he has done to regain all our trust. Such actions are quite unbecoming of royalty." she ended with an audible hmph turning her face up in slight disgust.

"I hope h-he will be alright...and it d-didnt look like Luna was angry with T-twilight but I hope they are okay as well." Fluttershy looked on the verge of tears as her four companions turned to hear her quiet words.

Barely a heartbeat passed before Pinkie Pie had an arm around Fluttershy in a warm embrace

Her smile, despite the conditions, was contagious. Somewhere in the background everyone thought they heard a familiar tune, "Everything will be ok. They will take care of him, could he be in better hands? Lets just go to the dining hall, I dont know about any of you but I havent eaten since before we rushed here. Besides, it will do as all good to just Smile."

Every one gave their agreements, Applejack's made more vocal by the sudden monstrous groan of her stomach.

"The dining hall it is then."

The Night Watch circled.

"My, My, my little sister must perceive me as a threat to send an entire battalion of her trusted guard unto me. How loved I feel." Celestia had stopped crying when the Elements had left and the garden was deathly quiet.

To their credit, the elite of the Dark Watch showed not an iota of fear.

Celestia smiled sweetly, to the trained guard it looked psychotic,"Hmm, trained well and as fiercely loyal as I would expect from...and whats this?" the sudden shock on Celestia's face was apparent. From a balcony above jumped down a soldier in silver armor that made a slight chill run down the princess' spine. "Take off your armor subordinate" the word was as a curse.

Nary a movement was made as the reply came "As if I would listen to an order from you tyrant." The voice was distorted behind the helm, but familiar. One she had sworn she would never forget.

There was a murmur through the hundred guards present, one spoke up despite his training "By Titan and Terra! Its the General! He's real!"

The Princess stared back at the newcomer half in disbelief and half in shock. Though almost all of his features were masked by the armor he had chosen, there was something horrifyingly familiar about this soldier, especially the way he had greeted her. The princess' eyes narrowed with the realization "She woke you up."

Without moving an inch he spoke "No."

"Then how?" the princesses words dripped venom

If she could see his face she knew it would be split by that ridiculous smile of his, "Simple. I was in my self imposed exile when she was banished, instantaneously I was dropped into a comatose state. When I awoke, I blew my way out of an unmarked grave and found a thousand years had come to pass. But one thing had not. I easily found my way to her, feeling the tug of the moon as many of us could in those days. I traveled by night until at last I found the princess wandering the gardens and looking at a statue of my oldest friend. Imagine my shock when she revealed the events of the war and these last thousand years to me."

He paused, taking the brief lull in his explanation to step forward in front of the lines of Dark Watch soldiers.

"I immediately picked up where I had left off and quickly found that the princesses spell had preserved me as I was a thousand  years ago. I am still in my peak, and it would seem that will not be changing anytime soon."

The snarl she had been displaying turned into another sickening smile "So. Subordinate, Why may I ask, do I have the honor of your presence?" Celestia had spread her legs and wings in two different stances, one for pegasus offence, the other for unicorn defense, she knew from experience what her foe could do.

The air around the General distorted "Tyrant, the last time we spoke I gave you my name, and you would have done well to never forget it after the way I cut you into ribbons."

The air in the garden electrified with the power surging from the princess, it was quickly met with an audible fuzzing and popping noise of the power coming off the newcomer

"My name is General Genesis Storm of the one and true Queen Luna's Elite Army."

Celestia let loose a laugh and half the guard flinched, it sounded like insanity, "Well Gene, if we are throwing our titles around I'll not deny you the honor of hearing mine." she coiled back looking ready to strike.

Without a moments hesitation Genesis shouted an order, the smile never leaving his face "Dark Watch, retreat now. Lieutenants, to me."

The Dark Watch did as they were bid and vanished into smoky blurs of purple cloud, only three soldiers remained with him on the field.

"My name, you insubordinate foal, is Princess Celestia, Daughter of Terra and Titan, and the True ruler of all the land! You will suffer for your thousand years of servitude to an usurper!"

"Darnit." was the first thing Applejack had said in about twenty minutes.

Her other friends had become separated, going off in their own directions to see whatever interested them the most, the plans for the dining hall all but forgotten. The farmer would have none of it, she was starving. That and the halls of the castle were too quiet for her liking. Applejack had figured that of all places to break the silence, the dining hall would be a great candidate. likely full of many merry servants or regulars, possibly other guests.

But most importantly, food.

Turning a corner she saw the large wood and iron doors that lead to her destination. Picking up her pace, Applejack was about to reach the doors in question when an eruption of sound and screams came from the other side of the door.

She felt the floor shake and could make out the distinct sound of stone crumbling, wood splintering, as well as practically taste the magickal essence seeping into the air.

She adjusted her stetson and braced for what would be on the other side of the door, despite the possibility of having to fight for her life, she was ready. Instead of pushing the doors open, Applejack kicked them in.

It created a rather loud clang that drew the attention of a circle of servants towards the center of a partially destroyed dining hall.  The damage was mostly in two area's, the top of one of the walls to her left had a large chunk missing, stones still tumbling from whatever had impacted it. The other area was marked by what looked like a small crater, one of the dining tables had been broken into a lazy V shape, the table ends protruding into the air.

Hurrying towards the circle of chefs and common goers one of the attendents in his outfit spoke up. "Thank the Titans! Its one of the Elements. Someone has been wounded, we have to help him!"

Pushing through the small crowd with her heart in her ears, Applejack jumped down into the small crater and ended alongside a small mound. Brushing some of the dirt off of the mound revealed that it was a badly injured soldier. A moment passed as Applejack worked to pull him away from the splinters of glass, stone, and wood before she heard the familiar sound of Rarities arrival and the skittering of Pinkie Pie's steps on the stone.

After a moment more of tugging on the body Applejack shouted up to her friends "Help me git 'im outta this hole girls, he's hurt something awful!"

As Pinkie swooped in to help she was stopped dead by a shield of energy erected around the crater.

Rarity gasped and pointed behind Applejack.

She turned and watched as the figure stood, bleeding, broken.....and quickly healing, a bit of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.

He reached forward "'Mnamis Genesis, Is' nice ta meetcha."

He had expected the lieutenants to at least last a few minutes before having to teleport them out.

To his surprise they were almost doing a good job against the Princess and her rage. A fact that made Genesis very uncomfortable. He knew, due to his vast experience, that no one garrisoned in Holy Canterlot should be able to hold ground against one of the princesses....unless they had been trained to do just that.

Fact aside, these soldiers wouldnt last much longer if he didnt get them out of here, so he did the only thing that came to mind, he attacked the princess head on and teleported them at the same time.

Now with his whole body re-knitting itself, bones, flesh, all seering with pain, he realized that had not been the smartest idea. Especially without using his weapons. He may have been a match for the princess a thousand and three years ago as far as magic went, but that was a thousand and three years she had to become better.

The tumble through the wall and into the floor had left Genesis dazed but not enough so that he had not erected a force barrier should the onslaught continue, no sooner did he erect the barrier he felt something smash against it.

Too weak to be the princess.

But at the moment he was more preoccupied with the beautiful figure in front of him. One that looked all to familiar as it began shouting. That voice was so familiar....

so he did his best to say hello.........and promptly lost consciousness.

As it turned out it really did not take to much for Rainbow Dash to calm Discord down.

After a few flagons of mead in a far less than reputable bar, in a seedy part of town, he had tossed out the idea of some coffee. She had agreed immediately. It would be good to get away from this part of town and besides, they would need something to keep them going through the party tonight, she made a mental note to stop off at a convenience store or at least grab some of the PON-3 3n3rgy drinks they sold at Table Turner Studios. Sure it was a bit of a pun for a warehouse turned kosher for raves, but Dash didnt mind.

Discord teleported them into one of the many market squares and it was the work of seconds to find a sign that read "Pumpkin Spice's Cafe Delights!"  Rainbow who was not used to being teleported, just flying fast, ended upside down and landed on her back. Luckily instead of being extremely embarrassing it made Discord laugh.

She was relieved to know he was already feeling better. She imagined the venting he had done over the mead had done a world of good as well. It helped that Dash, being the undisputed hot-head of the group, was just as angry. Their anger had fed off each other and fizzled out at about the same time, in her mind she made another note that Discord was excellent to talk to when feeling emotional. He had as much, if not more, experience as the princesses but was vastly more approachable.

As they walked in Rainbow talked about how she new Pumpkin from when she was a mail-mare, they often had delivery requests all over Holy Canterlot and even as far as Manehatten, They always requested the fastest flier available, so of course they would get her.

Just as her explanation met its end and she was beginning a particular story about a cake named after the cafe mare herself, she appeared.

"Well I'll be dipped in chocolate and sprinkled in confetti, if it isn't my old delivery girl Rainbow Melinda Dash!" Discord raised a brow and held his face for all of two seconds before bursting out laughing. This, he truly needed. Looking up at her he quirked a brow between laughs "Melinda?!" his question was met with a bop to the snout from the cyan mare.

"Yeah, its me Spice, How've you been all these months?" Rainbow engaged immediately, obviously this mare meant something to her.

Pumpkin smiled and sat for a moment, but not before motion to a server and whispering an order to them, "Things have been good Dashie. The business really picked up after the delivery you made during that storm last Hearth's Warming, it hasnt let up yet. We actually had enough to open another store in Manehatten! Can you believe it? Our little watering hole actually expanded." She shook her head wistfully before continuing "Of course, Ginger is back in the kitchen. He refused to leave me for more than three days to open the new store and set the staff straight, we left more than a few capable hooves there. But hell, Its worth it with all of the bits we make now, its a regular dream come true."

Rainbow nodded "I'm glad I could help, you know, with how awesome I am it was only a matter of time until your biz picked up." She finished with a wink and motioned towards Discord "This one here is a very good friend of me and the other five, turns out he has friends all over the place as well, maybe you know him?"

Discord took a moment and looked her up and down politely, "Actually Rainbow, believe it or not I knew her Grandmother Oregano. She use to bring herbs and bread up to my statue years ago, it was rather kind and I never got the chance to thank her for her hospitality and conversation. It was almost like she could hear me I swear."

Pumpkin's ear twitched, followed by her left leg and finally her tailed fluffed in a rather familiar way before going back to its straight length, she stepped away and bowed "Excuse me one moment." As she turned around two waiters collided, their trays flying right into the air. Pumpkin stepped forward three steps, turned on her heel, leaned forward as she caught the dishes and slid them onto the tables adjacent to her, orders in correct position to the customers.

Sitting back down she looked over at Discord as his jaw closed. "Yes my grandmother spoke of you sweetie. And she probably could hear you, back then she wasnt known by the name Oregano Spice, she had yet to be married and her maiden name was Pie. I do believe one of Rainbow's friends here is a relation?"

He gave her a blank stare, "That explains your acrobatics quite well actually. You seem to be a rather tame relative of our dear friend Pinkie Pie."

At the mention of Pinkie's name Pumpkin dropped the cup she had been lifting to her lips and it shattered. The room was quiet for a moment as heads turned to see what had happened, upon realizing it was a simple accident, most went back to their business.

"I apologize for that, my grasp slipped. So what brings you all to Holy Canterlot anyway?" It was obviously a diversion but neither Rainbow nor Discord had any reason not to follow it. As pumpkin began cleaning it up an order arrive of a club sandwhich for Discord (Psuedo meat/tofu), a cloud stuffer for Rainbow, and a bowl of soup and bread for Pumpkin. Apparently she had been ordering earlier.

"Well," Began Discord before biting into his sandwich,"A friend of Rainbow's got us into the Vinyl Day Celebration tonight and we couldnt turn it down." he turned to Rainbow and motioned for her to finish since his sandwich was too good to pass up.

Rainbow took a bite herself and spoke "Well, that about sums it up. We are going to the rave tonight and heading back into Ponyville in the morning. We have to be there about afternoon to meet up with our other friends for the Carnival, I'm sure you've heard of it as fantastic as it is."

Before long the conversation surrounded the events and history of the Carnival and eventually Pumpkin Spice excused herself, even if they were special guests she had cafe and restaurant to run.

Discord and Rainbow left as the sun was half set. Luckily for them Rainbow had been to Table Turner Studios before and knew the way by heart, flying or walking. It only took them an hours walk to get there and by then it was getting rather dark.

The studio indeed did look like it use to be a warehouse from the outside though they had done a very good job of sprucing it up. Painting over it, adding boarders and a large neon sign with flashing bulbs and streamers that looked like it had been imported from Las Pegasus according to Rainbow Dash.

Even from the outside they could hear a song beginning.

Walking up to the door they moved out of the way as crews of unicorns carried in the equipment for the show. It was an all night rave after all, there were going to be several DJ's running through the night. Discord had been told however, that the longest set, from 1am to 5am when the club shut down its celebration, belonged to the unicorn the celebration was named for, Vinyl Scratch.

The music was rather enjoyable and unlike any form he had heard, thinking about it he probably liked it because it was the musical equivalent of a painter creating a masterpiece by combining all of his smaller works and adding his own special touch. In a way, it was a lot like his magick. Yes, this Dubstep, trance, rhythm and base, these things Rainbow called them, they were a lot like his magick.

Approaching the door they waved the tags that Vinyl had sent to Rainbow and the bouncer nodded with a huge grin before clipping a secondary badge to the tags. It read V.I.P ALL ACCESS in large red font and had a picture on the back of a set of ruby eyes outlined by a shock of electric blue hair, the words Vinyl Day Celebration were printed in several different type fonts. Discord loved it.

The bouncer took them aside for a moment and explained the schedule to them as well as when Vinyl would be arriving and where the VIP lounge was located. As they stepped in another song started and Discord immediately felt the rising urge to dance.

It didnt take long for Rainbow to convince him a few more neon drinks wouldnt hurt before they hit the floor. In the mean time he thoroughly enjoyed the absolute Chaos that the song brought on. It was like someone had run into a factory with boomboxes and sound equipment, then altered each piece of machinery with a different sound before letting it all go wild. The bass pounded and he loved it.

He thought for a moment that if people had appreciation for chaos in this form, maybe it would be a good idea for him to use it as a form of self expression. It definitely wasnt a good idea to keep it all bottled up. He ran the idea over Rainbow's head and she flipped thinking it was the best idea she had heard all night. She immediately suggested he work something out with Vinyl when they got the chance.

As he turned back and downed whatever the neon green drink in front of him was, a few glow sticks were thrown around his neck and pattern began to form in his head.

With a smile he turned to Rainbow Dash the music still playing in his head as the loud speakers cut off one song for another "Its going to be a good night."

Being use to the feeling of teleportation, Twilight was not disoriented in the least. She was however confused to find herself and the princess standing on a balcony of the Tower of Harmony. Looking down below them Twilight could easily make out the shapes of Celestia, what looked to be somewhere near one hundred soldiers, and one glinting in silver armor at the head of the group. As all but three and the silver soldier at the head disappeared she realized they had been a show of force and not practical.

The thought struck her like a hammer on an anvil. Celestia was about to attack her own ponies.

Twilight spun quickly only to find Luna mere inches away, staring directly into her eyes. It startled her and she almost fell over the edge of the balcony before holding on and stuttering "Princess Luna, what is going on?!"

Luna regarded her for several more long moments before speaking "Look down and watch. We will speak in a moment."

Down below Twilight could hear shouting and saw Celestia glide into an attack position, her wings spreading wide like blades attached to her body. After several seconds she leapt forward in the blink of an eye and had scattered two of the four ponies. The one in silver slammed her to the ground with a blast of telekinetic force strong enough to shatter the stones underneath the princess. Twilight's eyes grew wide. The two that had been separated flew back into combat, one being a unicorn, the other a pegasus.

In an instant chains had been summoned and slammed onto Celestia's wings. After only a few seconds they began to whither and lose their shine, in those same seconds Celestia shot a beam of pure sunlight, the heat reaching all the way to Twilight on the balcony. The chains broke as the unicorn casting them had to divert their focus into a shield and roll maneuver.

Twilight turned back to Luna "Are you not going to help her?!"

Luna looked again at Twilight and spoke "Do you have any idea what is going on down there?"

The tower shook as something broke through a wall of the castle, the garden below was eerily quiet. Twilight checked, all four of the other ponies were gone but Celestia stood favoring three legs halfway across the garden. She turned back and really looked at Luna.

"This is big....bigger than us..."

Luna nodded.

"Wont she retaliate? She knows those were your soldiers." Her voice was hollow. For once her vast intellect could not give her an answer.

Luna smiled and Twilight tilted her head. "No Twilight. She will act as if this never happened. Though I doubt she will let my general off the hook so easily." She paused for a moment and a blue light covered her eyes in a flash, as fast as it came it was gone, "Luckily for him he is in good hooves. As for an explanation...."

Luna motioned for Twilight to follow her into the tower and up to a room above, Luna's observatory. She spoke as they ascended the stairs "Celestia believes that each of us is a pawn in a game she wishes to win. What she does not understand is that I am a player in this game, not a piece to be played. She will not stage a coup on me because it would split the nation before she was ready to take it completely. Much to my sisters displeasure I have apparently amassed a large following of very strong supporters. Word is that even the griffins say they would side with the night over the burning day, so to speak."

Twilight continued on, her mind eating the information like a starving child devours a lavish dinner. This was so much to process. "If I am correct in understanding princess....She intends to take over....she intends to finish the war you started?"

Luna smiled, she did love how bright this mare was "Indeed Twilight Sparkle.  For the time being I have allowed her to see what I want her to and act as I have seen fit. She believes she is in control. But know this Twilight." She stopped and turned around, just as they entered the observatory, "When the time comes I willflee from her. If I were to defend myself she could call upon the whole of Castle Canterlot to aid her and I would fall. She would find an opening while I was distracted and end me. Even with my Night Watch by my side I would likely not succeed. My general is too important to risk and so are you six, though I would never ask any of you to choose sides." She smiled again "From the sounds and looks of your friends though they have already chosen who they can trust."

Twilight cringed at the sound of conflict but smiled nonetheless, "How long do you think we have?"

Luna looked back at Twilight and her horn began to glow "When the time comes you will know Twilight, for now I am sorry but I am going to block your memory of this. It reawaken should I fail or when I see you next." Before Twilight could raise an opposition she was struck with a bolt of energy that brought her to her knees. Looking around everything began to blur and her vision slowly started to turn black.

In the edge of her vision she could make out a figure she recognized skittering low on all fours up to the princess. The glint of his purple and green scales was the last thing she saw before the spell locked her the memories away and drew her into a deep slumber.

Spike had crawled in to hand a letter that he intercepted. It was signed to Twilight.

He left a matter of minutes later in Luna's personnel carriage, Twilight by his side still dead asleep and Rarities letter clutched in one claw. He reread it to make adjustments in flight time. He wanted to arrive before them, it was vitally important that for the time being everyone still think he was in Holy Canterlot. After a final scan over the letter he incinerated it with red flames. Watching the tendrils lick over the page as it disappeared he gave a soft smile.

There were perks to being in the Queens inner circle.