The Fall of Morninglight

(( This entry is dated November 25th of last year ))

Last evening I had a most interesting talk with Zealous Heart, one of the Argent Factionnaire who is sworn to my protection.

Initially I called him into my study to discuss his thoughts on an upcoming mission with the remnants of the Imperial Guard, as it places him in a potentially difficult situation and I desired to ascertain any complexities that would arise from this. His mission will put him into a situation with Lieutenant Diomades… It is widely known that the brothers Zealous and Stone Heart bear little love for the Changelings – and the Lieutenant is now a Changeling.

Zealous Heart is a very decisive pony. For him there exist only two states of his being; that an order I have given shall be executed, and that he shall report to me when it has been completed – so for him it is a foregone conclusion that all rogue Changelings will be caught, will be tried, and will be exiled; for this is my will.

And as the topic was one of Changelings, I had the opportunity to question Zealous Heart about his near-legendary dislike of the creatures.

It was enlightening.

For one, as I pressed for information I managed to pierce his stony visage briefly and discovered a pony who bears a lot of internal torment stemming from a military action some eight years in the past. And for another his tale coincided with my own research into the present Changeling issue.

I did not want to cause him undue upset, so I drew the line of questioning to a close before I was truly finished – but not before some fortuitous information was given to me… This military action he was involved in some eight years prior was with regard to Changelings, and took place within the Forsaken Forest region noth of Equestria proper. The Forsaken Forest is the only un-monitored egress into Equestria from the North, as it lies between The Griffin Kingdoms to the west and the Minotaur Lands to the east.

Geographically, the southern end of the forest is where the ruins of Tambelon lie. And Tambelon, as we all know, dates back over a thousand years… But while the castle has been held within the Realm of Mists since Grogar’s defeat, the town that surrounded it was largely ignored and reclaimed by the forest in the interim…

The legends around Tambelon keep most ponyfolk away, and as such the dark catacombs under the ruins would be a logical location for a Changeling Hive to establish a hoof in Equestria.

Could this military route Zealous survived eight years ago have been the first encounter with the Chrysalis Hive? If so, this means they came from the north…

The north…

There is an old legend regarding the fall of a glorious kingdom that existed far to the north. Its fall was caused, according to said legend, by a mass exodus of its people into what would be the northeastern tip of Equestria today. Little more than this is known, save that the legend simply refers to this place as “The Forbidden City”.

I believe it is there that I shall get some answers to this riddle.

I shall have to find somepony willing to brave such a trek into the northern wilds. I would simply send the Imperial Guard, if they were not in such a bad state and already overworked simply keeping the peace in Roanoak. My personal guard is right out – Imperious would never agree to the risk – especially for what may be nothing more than a wild goose chase based on the ramblings of long departed ponies and the over-active imagination of the Empress.

But, those are my options I am afraid… I shall ask Diomades Concord if there is anypony he can spare.

If I fund the airship flight as far as Canterlot and the party was to secure local transport north to the ruins of Tambelon to check for any clues, it may cut the journey short… There would be no need to press northward if my suppositions about the Hive’s origins lying in that direction were disproven at Tambelon.

If there were evidence though, it would mean a long trek into the mostly unknown northern end of the continent, to a city only mentioned in thousand-year-old legends – on a hunch. And should this “Forbidden City” actually align with the story of the first Changeling, then all we have to do is find a talisman nopony has ever seen, that is no bigger than a hoofspan in size, within it.

The proverbial needle and haystack, indeed.

But first I need a pony or two willing to undertake this journey…

One plan at a time.

The remainder of the discussion with Zealous Heart began with an inquiry into his side of the events that led to the confrontation with Ruby Spark and his dismissal from the Guard. In short, his hatred of the Changelings runs very deep and very swiftly, and this is, as I surmised, the root cause of the conflict.

Given some small understanding of the situations he endured those eight years ago, it is understandable that he would view the events of Imperious’ departure as if the Empire were being turned over to the Enemy. After all, there was a Changeling Queen under our very hooves, and the two leaders of the Imperial Guard had close ties to her.

I then offered him the opportunity to ask me questions related to those events, for turnabout is fair play…

I must clarify for any who read this, that I place certain requirements upon the Argent Factionnaire with regard for how they interact with me; they are not to bow to me as this takes their attention off of the surroundings – a simple nod in deference to me is enough. In private I am to be addressed by my name – for a millennium of ‘your majesty’ makes one desire the familiarity of his or her own name. And they are to speak plainly and without hesitation in my presence – for neither I, nor they, have the luxury of pomp and circumstance when a situation arises, so I prefer to simply do away with it completely.

In this, Zealous Heart has the right to ask his Empress any question he likes with the expectation he will receive an honest and direct answer… And his question was, simply, why the Changeling Queen Relic Silvermane and her consort, the Changeling Diomades Concord, were not in prison as the other Changelings shall be soon.

My explanation appears to have shaken him slightly…

Allow me to explain.

We Elder Alicorns exist as a conduit between the old magics of the world and the dreams and desires of the ponies we serve. Our purpose is to bring harmony to the world, and we stand as Lights in the Darkness; a balance struck in time immemorial between the forces of Creation and Destruction.

I am younger than many of our kind – far younger than a few – and as such I am a bit avant-garde… Despite my elders cautioning me against my efforts with the Changelings – I moved ahead with my grand ideal, to attempt to bring the Changelings into Harmony with Ponykind.

This was a mistake. There can be no balance here; there is no possibility of a harmonious coexistence.

And my admitting my failing and error caused Zealous Heart’s moment of trepidation.

Zealous Heart is an old soul. He sees us Elders as gods, as we were seen oh so long ago; worshiped, beseeched in prayer, and the objects of offerings. But I have never been comfortable with this notion, for my work is to guide ponykind to a place where they no longer require me. A ‘god’ is at once an image of perfection unattainable, and a reason to blame for when things do not go to plan – and this is contrary to my goals.

So, are we ‘gods’?

A true deity would not suffer the Flaw of Heart; would not feel elation when, against the odds, things worked out. Nor would a deity suffer remorse and be left to ponder ‘what if?’ for eternity. A deity cannot be burdened with such emotions in the execution of their purpose.

At least, I like to think this is the case.

So, are we ‘gods’? I cannot say, as I have never met one. But all things are made up of perception and perspective, and if that is how we are perceived, if that label helps even one pony achieve a higher purpose, then I will bear it. But I will also simply be the old and, hopefully, wise mare in the equally old castle on the hill who has a penchant for exotic teas.

In the end, Zealous Heart seemed to understand this; that he is completely correct in his devotion to the Elders as he sees us… For we bore the trappings of deification for many hundreds of years and as we are unchanging, this is still technically correct. But I believe he also sees that I am flesh and bone, with a heart that both beats and feels, and that my corporeal state means I am at once more, and less, than an ideology.