Author's Note

Here it is! The chapter you have all been waiting for! It took about a month to get this puppy out, granted I took about two weeks off to asses my ability as a writer, but it's finally here. I worked hard on this chapter, late at night, for quite a few days. On the positive side, I realized, that even if what I write isn't as good as I can make it, stressing, and burning out, from trying to make every single detail perfect, is just a ticking time bomb set on self destruct.

Production should be up to normal speed now. With hope, the next chapter will be out sometime next week, although the next chapter will be dificult, because it sets up the early body of the story. That's right! All these previous chapters, were only to set up the main story lines.

I hope you all enjoy this latest chapter. I hope I made your patience worth the time.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 - The Sun's Keeper

Celestia watched in blatant disregard, as the ashes of another waste of her time were swept away from the steps of her throne. The heat from a recent spell, still lingered in her horn. She yawned, looking through the nearest arched window, toward the rising sun. The last few days had been rather eventful; a bright change from her mundane lifestyle.

Having to execute a family member, and sign a death sentence for your sister, and former student, was the recipe for a rather interesting week, all things considered. Celestia smiled at her celestial body. Although not everything had gone as planned, the situation was more than under control.

Yes, five of the mane six had escaped, but she knew where they were. The only place they could go, that would propose any type of sanctuary, was the Everfree Forest. With her Royal Guard posted in every city and town, and armies patrolling the borders, there was nowhere they could go, that she wouldn't find out about.

Her thoughts were broken, by the doors of her throne room opening, once again, letting in another waste of time, only for her to ignore their pleas. To Celestia's surprise, it was not another begging pony, but instead, Fluttershy.

"Hello, Fluttershy."

"Hello, my princess." Fluttershy said, walking toward her throne. The mind altering spell, had given remarkable results for Celestia. She had managed to turn the shy, little, frightful Fluttershy, into an instrument of death, who gladly followed her every whim, and command. It also made her bolder, and much more imposing on the ponies around her.

"What reason do you have to be here?" Celestia asked, hoping for more joyous news.

"I bring word from the northern borders. There appears to be a military force gathering four miles north of our border with the Crystal Empire. We haven't received word from the Crystal Empire, on the nature of this military force, but scouts tell us that it is a force in the tens of thousands."

"What reason would Cadence have for amassing an army on our borders?"

"We are unsure, and like I said before, any kind of contact attempt, ends in failure."

Celestia stood. "Having a army positioned only meer miles from my border, is not done without scrutiny. I will send a personal letter to her. What about the search for Luna, and the others?"

"We lost them in the forest. We thought they were still in the castle, but upon further investigation, we found that they had left in the middle of the night, passing by our watch. We have no idea where they are going, or where they've gone. As for Luna, she has disappeared altogether."

"So there is an army building outside our northern border, and we have no idea where the rebels have gone?"

"Precisely, princess." Fluttershy answered with a swift nod.

"Have we initiated the plan for martial law yet?" Celestia asked, traversing the throne steps, and walking to the window, she had looked out only moments ago.

"Not yet, princess. Although, all the pieces are in order, all you have to do is give the word, and martial law will begin throughout Equestria. However, I suggest waiting a few more days."

Celestia's head snapped around toward Fluttershy. "And why should I?"

"It's only that the town of Ponyville is showing signs of revolt."

"How so?" Celestia asked, turning back to look out of the window. The little town rested far off in the distance.

"The citizens have forced out all of the Royal Guard, and soldiers that were placed there. The town has been barricaded from the inside."

Celestia huffed. "I will be heading there in a few weeks then. Until then, let the town barricade themselves, and kill anyone who tries to flee. Stop all transport in, and out of the town."

"Yes, princess."

"Is that all?"

"No, princess."

"What else is there?"

"There have been random disappearances of soldiers from checkpoints on a few major roads. Small patrols have been attacked. Some minor outposts have also been found abandoned, in most cases, evidence of an attack was present."

"The ponies are obviously fighting back. Warn all outposts, forts, and cities of these events. I want the size of patrols doubled. We can not let a few rebellious ponies cement an image. Is there anything else?"

"No, princess."

"Good, than I shall be going."

“What shall I do about the army forming at our border?” Fluttershy asked, while she fell into step beside Celestia, as they both exited the Throne Room, through the main doors.

“Keep patrolling the borders, and if the force decides to come any closer, notify me immediately.”

“As you wish, princess.” Fluttershy responded, turning left down an adjacent corridor.

Celestia continued down the hallway. She payed no mind to the guards that lined the hallway, nor to the ignorant ponies, who tried to grasp her attention. She needed to do some checking in on her favorite scientist, for she knew that what she had, would be much more important, than whatever any of the other ponies had to say to her.

She reached the main entrance of the palace, quickly trotting down the stairs in front of her, turning left, to reach the ground floor, that followed another, larger set of stairs. She quickly made her way to the hallway she wanted. To any other pony, the hallway, would seem unimportant, possibly a passage to the servant’s quarters. However, to those with inside knowledge, the inconspicuous corridor, actually led to the science, and research facilities of the palace. She quickly rounded a sharp right turn in the hallway.

One of the disadvantages of keeping the hallway's purpose a secret, had been that it had to be small and unassuming. This brought about a hallway, that was only wide enough, for two ponies to barely pass comfortably. In this case, one and a half Celestia. Traversing the narrow passage, and tight corners, was not her most cherished compromise for secrecy.

Rounding a left turn, brought her to a dimly lit hallway with ten doors lining the walls, five on each side, allowing only a torch to rest on the end wall. Celestia quickly trotted to the end. Gripping the torch with her mouth, she pulled it back. With a loud click, it moved off of the wall, hanging by a metal bar that ran back into the wall. The door to her right, flew open quickly, revealing a bright metallic stairway, leading down under the palace.

She entered the stairway, quickly closing the door behind her. Her shoes clicked on every metallic step, as she brought herself forward, through the brightly lit stairway. Every twenty or so feet, the stairs would stop at a landing, followed by a continuation of stairs, that always led to the left. After the twenty-fourth turn, she ended up staring face to face, with a large shiny steel door. To the right of the door, was a square of nine buttons. She swiftly brought her hoof to the buttons, and pushed the buttons in a pattern.

With a heavy whine, the door slowly pushed itself inward, hinging on the left side. Celestia stepped into a room, that was encased in thick glass, save the metal floor. She walked straight ahead, toward one of the three glass walls. Looking out over the research facility, was a sight she never got used to.

Even when she was only a young mare, when she first came into rule, following Solar's impeachment, the research facility amazed her. Even though it was much smaller those thousands of years ago, it still had the same effect.

She looked out over the massive facility. It was simply a gigantic metal lined rectangular prism, that had been constructed deep in the mountain, underneath Canterlot. The ceiling was hundreds of feet above the floor, which spanned one thousand feet in all directions. The Observation Room, where she currently stood, was only a tiny smudge, in comparison to the facility.

She turned to her left, and quickly headed for the glass door, that led past two guards, and towards the facility's only floor. Walking past the guards with a nod, she began the timely journey down the innumerable steps.

It was a while before she reached the bottom step, where she was graciously met, by the one pony she had came here for. An orange Pegasus mare in a white lab coat stood at the bottom of the stairs, clipboard in tow.

"Hello, Doctor Radium." Celestia greeted with a smile.

"Hello, Princess Celestia. I assume you have come to check on a certain project?"

"Right you are. It's one of the few reasons I come down here."

"Well, if you'd kindly follow me, I can show you the progress we've made."

"Lead the way." Celestia answered, following Doctor Radium, into the maze of research.

Celestia quickly lost track of where she was, or what paths they had taken to get where they had ended up. In front of her lied two rooms, one being much longer than the other. One held some sort of metal contraption, whilst the other held a group of ponies.

She chose to go into the room of ponies that had "Spell/Combat Spells" written on the sign for the door.

Walking in, she realized that all of the ponies in the room were unicorns. "This," Doctor Radium began, "is the Combat Spell Development Research group. They are working on finding a spell, that can increase the distance, and accuracy, of the standard magical projectile shot. So far, we have found that focusing the magical energy longer before the shot, greatly increases the projectile's velocity, and accuracy at medium to long range."

"Is that all it does?" Celestia asked disappointment slightly hinted in her tone.

"It also greatly increases the impact force, as well as the damage output. One shot could kill a griffin instantly, unlike the standard magical blast, which takes around five. However, due to the amount of focus needed to perform the spell, and the increased need for magic, I calculate that only most higher level unicorns could perform the spell."

"The way you altered the spell really effects it that much?"

"Indeed it does, princess. I'm surprised nopony had tried it before."

"I feel the same." Celestia said, leaving the room, followed by Doctor Radium. She made her way to the second door, reading it's sign. "Sp. Proj. 109273." Entering the room, she found that the large metal contraption, was actually larger than it looked from outside the room.

"What did you call this again, Doctor?"

"One of the other scientists calls it Artillery. Not sure what that is, or what it means, but the name...seems fitting."

"Ah ha, and what does it do?"

"It's actually quite impressive. What this 'Artillery' does, is send a large explosive projectile over great distances."

"How does it work?"

"Well, it uses a projectile that is a two piece casing of metal. The projectile has a casing, and a warhead. Inside the casing is an explosive powder, made of various chemicals, that ignites through a magical spark. The explosion forces the warhead down the barrel," the Doctor said, tapping a long metal tube that stuck out of one end of the machine, "throwing out of the barrel, into a gigantic arch, that can stretch for miles, sending the explosive warhead down, on top of our enemies, obliterating them, from an unknown location."

"Fascinating. And, how does this 'warhead' work?"

"It's a large metal cone, that travels through the air. It's filled with either explosive, or incendiary magical energy, and upon impact, the metal breaks apart, releasing the explosive or incendiary energy, all over the victims."

"Have we tested this yet?"

"Yes, it works perfectly. The maximum range is three miles. All we need is your approval for mass production."

"You certainly have my approval."

"I thought as much. I took the liberty of beginning production in the prison workshops."

"Let's see how, Twilight reacts to this." Celestia said, under her breath.

"What was that, princess?" Doctor Radium asked from the other side of the Artillery.

"Nothing, just thinking of how we can implement this new Artillery weapon into our military force