Thunder's Roar

• Well then. – Said Flamespark. – We’ve finally arrived.

Amber nodded in response. He wasn’t sure if he liked that idea, but they have reached the barracks. He still could scarcely believe in everything that has happened to him over the course of last fortnight. The inspection, the draft, this whole travel…

With a deep breath, Amber silently started trotting down the hill towards the outpost. After a brief moment he could hear Flamespark do just the same behind him. Even though Amber would prefer to simply drop everything and rest after getting to the barracks, he decided it would be worth to talk with the captain. What was his name? Amber could not recall if councilor even mentioned it.

Colt of “suspicious” past being their leader. Unit that was supposed to be a punishment. Amber really hoped his friend was right to choose this place.

As they were trotting towards the outpost they could see a whole rainbow of variously colored ponies. Most of them were Unicorns, some were Pegasi or Earth Ponies. Amber started wondering how many ponies there would be in one such unit. He could do no better than guess at this moment.

As they almost reached the training grounds they could see the whole plethora of items designed for training. There were piles of various kinds of weights as well as quite a few rows of training dummies or targets.

One of the ponies seemed to notice their new guests finally. She was a white Unicorn with lavender eyes and green mane. She had a pink lily flower as her cutie mark. The Unicorn was lookinh at them for a brief moment before finally deciding to trot forward. As she was approaching, Amber decided to be the first one to speak.

• Hello there. – He greeted her warmly.

She suddenly stopped and started staring at the ground below their hooves. It seemed she was somewhat startled by Amber’s greeting. It took her a moment to gather the thoughts and finally come up with a very short response.

• Hey there… - Was all she managed to say before going silent, staring into the ground.

Amber decided to introduce himself and his friend.

• We are new recruits. I am Amber and this is Flamespark. – Saying that he pointed at the Earth Pony. – Would you mind helping us out a little?

• My name is Lily and… I suppose I could help… - She said quietly. She wasn’t too much of a talkative type it seemed.

Their small gathering did not go unnoticed. Quite a few ponies trotted towards them or at least stopped to watch the fresh few ponies arrived. Amber could hear a few whispers. Before he was able to make anything out of them he was interrupted by one of the Earth Ponies.

• I am afraid Lily will not be able to help you much. – Amber faced the pony to see a tall Earth Pony with having blue fur and black mane. He glanced at Amber and Flamespark with his violet eyes.

Hearing that, the Unicorn winced a little.

• It’s alright Gravel. – Lily said. – I can help these colts.

The pony simply shook his head in a disagreement.

• It’s been a rough few days for us. – He responded. – I think it will be better if you go and get some rest. I will take care of our new arrival.

After saying that Gravel, as he was called by the unicorn, turned towards Lily. His cutie mark could be seen: a shovel trust into a pile of earth. Lily decided to follow the colt’s advice as she simply nodded and slowly walked away. Seeing that, the Earth Pony once again faced Amber and Flamespark.

• As you’ve just heard, my name is Gravel. – He said. – I can easily show you around.

Flamespark and Amber both agreed to the offer. They quickly followed Gravel to the large buildings on the left side of the outpost. While they were trotting Flamespark decided to ask:

• Do you know Lily?

Gravel nodded slightly before giving an answer.

• Aye, her and I are siblings. This whole mess of a situation got her quite a bit. I’ve always known the ponies ruling us were a bunch of idiots but this simply topped the charts. I wonder how come our Princesses allowed it…

They finally reached the buildings and opened a large, wooden door. They entered a wide tunnel that seemed to be leading all the way from left to right side of the building. Gravel turned towards left and headed for the stairs that could be seen in the corner. As they were trotting, Gravel continued his speech.

• Lily has just become 16 years old around 2 months ago. Imagine her surprise when the recruitment came… – He shook his head. – We tried to reason with them but they simply refused to make an exception. Anyway… – He said as they were getting closer to the stairs. – This here building is the general barracks. Here all of us have our quarters. Do not expect too much.

As they reached the stairs, they started climbing up to the next floor.

• The ponies responsible for our unit are supposed to be on the last floor.  For now only one unicorn is present though. No sign of our so called captain as of yet.

This did not leave Amber too pleased about the situation. He had hoped he would be able to talk about the details of their draft with somepony in charge. It seemed like he was out of luck. He suddenly realised Flamespark is asking a question.

• Any idea when exactly is he going to show up?

• In around two days, then our training will be started. – Was the answer they got.

By that time they have reached the top floor and after a short moment they were in front of another wooden door.

• Alright, it’s here. Let’s see how it goes. – Said Gravel as he knocked to the door right before coming in.

The room was pretty big, having quite a few pieces of furniture around, most of them being cabinets. Right in the middle there was a large table with pieces of paper lying everywhere around. The room had small windows on the left wall and a portal leading to another room on the back wall.

Right between the table and the ponies was standing… Mint. She turned around quickly to face her new guests, her face showing surprise as she saw who they were.

• Oh, Flamespark and Amber. – She decided to start. – Now I got to say that is quite a surprise to see you both here. Not that I am complaining though.

As she said that she gave them a wide, warm smile. Gravel, seemingly surprised at the fact she already knows the new guests as well, looked at Amber and Flamespark with confusion in his eyes before deciding to ask:

• You know each other?

Amber nodded in response.

• Mint was one of the ponies that came to inspect us for the recruitment. – He said before turninh towards the Unicorn. – Does that mean you will be staying here with us?

• Partly. – She answered. – I will stay here and train the unicorns in a few certain ways of magic, primarily healing. Afterwards I will have other duties to attend. But either way… could I see your unit assignment letters?

Amber and Flamespark nodded and handed the letters.

• Alright. – She said as she glanced through them to then put them in one of the cabinets in the room. – Your training will officially start in two days. I am afraid you – She pointed at Amber. – won’t have much to do before that. – She turned towards Flamespark. – You however will have quite a bit of work to do in the near future. I know you are probably tired after the journey but I would like to fill you in regarding your duties.

Flamespark nodded in agreement though not before a weak sigh had escaped his mouth. Pleased with the answer she has recieved, Mint continued on.

• I assume the two of you would want to have quarters together. I will assign you to quarter number 11. It is located on the first floor. – She paused briefly to look at Gravel. – Gravel, would you mind showing Amber the way to his quarters?

The Earth Pony simply nodded in agreement. Hearing that, Mint turned yet again towards her desk but not before saying:

• That’s all for you Amber. You are dismissed.

Amber did not like being called off like that, but he realized he could as well start getting used to it immediately. He turned away reluctantly, throwing a quick bye to his friend before leaving the room with Gravel. He smiled shyly.

• You will be living in the same quarters as me and Lily. – Said the Earth Pony. – Which I suppose is one of the rare good things in this whole stinky mess.

Amber was not sure about that, but he decided not to say that part aloud.

• Thanks… I guess. By the way; how many ponies will be in one such unit?

Gravel made a brief pause to gather his thoughts as they were trotting towards the stairs.

• I think 90 altogether. - He said with an unsure voice before continueing more firmly. - Yes, that is correct. 30 ponies of each race in one unit. We’ve still got a few spaces left I believe, although majority is already here. It’s such a crowd I tell you.

• I can only imagine. – Amber responded as they have reached the second floor and started trotting through the tunnels. The building seemed to have a tunnel around the walls on each floor, allowing one to look out in any direction. The tunnels had staircase in each corner and doors leading to various quarters on the inside wall.

After a short while they reached the door to their quarters. The room seemed quite big at first, but it quickly turned out one such room was to house six ponies. This could be told from the fact six pretty nice beds could be seen around the walls. They also seemed to have a large table with four chairs as well as six cabinets and two chests.

Could have been worse. – Amber thought as he glanced at the furniture. It was made out of wood and occasionally studded with metal. He definitely liked the fact each of the ponies would have his/her own cabinet although he could not escape the thought he could make something of a significantly better quality.

Then he noticed that Lily was in the room. She was lying on her bed, reading a book located in front of her. She did not seem to have noticed the new guests yet. Gravel seemed to notice her too since he shamelessly trotted inside, interrupting his sister.

• Hey there Lily. – After hearing that Lily turned around suddenly, surprise litting in her eyes. Afterwards, she gave, or at least tried to give, a weak smile to Amber. Seeing that Gravel smirked.

• Don’t look so smug. - He said as he turned back to Amber. - Turns out Amber and Flamespark will be living with us in the same room. Don’t mind her too much; she is always a little shy when around new ponies.

Amber wasn’t sure how saying that when Lily was in the room was supposed to help. With a sigh she rised from her bed before responding angrily.

• That is not true! – She exclaimed firmly. Apparently, Amber I have underestimated Gravel’s knowledge Amber thought as she faced him. – Don’t listen to him. And… - She blushed slightly. – welcome here I guess? It’s nice to finally have somepony assigned here.

Amber decided to abuse the sudden talkativeness of his new friend with a bunch of questions.

• So us four are the only ponies living here?

Lily opened her mouth to answer that question but did not have time to do so, as it was very quickly answered by Gravel.

• Aye, at least for the time being.

She frowned her muzzle in disapproval and looked at her brother with murder lighting in her eyes.

• If you don’t mind Gravel, I am pretty sure that question was supposed to be answered by me.

Gravel simply shrugged with a blank expression on his face, which seemed to only get Lily angrier at him.

• Oh, you are unbearable! – She said and stomped her hoofs to further exclaim her frustration. – Just go away already and leave us be!

Gravel simply turned away and started trotting out of the room. Right before he passed Amber, he gave the Pegasus a quick smirk. After he left, Amber faced Lily once again. He could not escape the thought that she looked extremely cute when she was angry.

• Oh, what in Celestia’s name cursed me with such a brother? – She said to Amber. – I swear he sometimes seems to annoy me on purpose! What a nerve! But anyway… I guess we will be stuck here for a while together, huh?

• And quite a long while it seems. – Amber said after he nodded. – The rooms are pretty nice though.

She finally decided to show a little bit of more positive emotions since a small smile could be seen on her face.

• That is true, although I still think a lady should have a room of her own. Such luxuries are not for us though.

Amber chuckled at what he heard. As he recalled his experiences with Waterfall, what she said was more than correct. He glanced around the room once again before giving his response.

• If one was to ask me, the furniture is not good enough for a lady either.

This seemed to make Lily a little curious. She gave her cabinet a quick glance.

• What do you mean?

Amber gave the very same cabinet a stern, professional look.

• Well, the design is way too simple for my taste; the furniture also lacks any sort of engravings to make it look nicer. And besides, have you glanced at the connections? I am not sure what the pony making those was thinking but… - Amber stopped middle sentence, realising that Lily might not be interested in all these details. – Never mind, I don’t want to bore you with such stuff.

• Oh, but it’s not boring! Would you mind telling me how you know all this stuff? - She said as curiousity lit in her eyes.

• You see, before the recruitment I worked as a carpenter in Northdale... – Amber started.

Before he knew, he and Lily started a long talk about various topics, mostly about their past before the draft happened. It turned out Lily was working as a gardener together with her older brother. Amber commented about this job being unusual for a Unicorn to do, only to receive the same comment about a Pegasus being a carpenter. Lily and Gravel were both from Manehattan, living happy lives up to the infamous draft. They could only wonder what will happen afterwards.

• …and I hope you understand the importance of everything finishing on schedule. – Mint said as she and Flamespark were trotting through the training grounds towards the three northern buildings.

Flamespark nodded in response. Although it will probably prove quite tiring, he liked the fact they allowed him to continue his job as a blacksmith. He would be responsible for creating and repairing weapons and armor for the unit; a task he has never done before but was eager to try his hoof at. He will simply have to try and not fall behind in training in the meantime.

They reached the end of the training grounds, having two large buildings on their left and right respectively. Both were made from wood and stone, just like the barracks they were living in. The right building was significantly larger, although neither of them had more than a single floor. As he was looking at the buildings, Mint continued her description, pointing her hoof at the places around them.

• To the right is the dining room as well as kitchen. Here we will have the meals prepared and served. To the left is your forge. I hope you will like it.

Saying that, she led Flamespark closer to the forge. After they opened the door to the forge Flamespark curiously peeked inside. His jaw dropped as he saw all the things packed in the building.

Right in the middle there were three furnaces. Two of them were bigger than the third one, designed for melting large amount of metal. Each furnace had the shape of a circle, having large bellows to keep the proper amount of heat. Next to each furnace was a large container filled with coal. The smallest furnace had an anvil and a large table with various blacksmith tools next to it. Flamespark could also see a few shovels lying underneath the table. Around the walls various armor stands and weapon racks could be seen; some with armor, most empty. Finally, at the end there were a few containers with a large amount of metal bars. Judging from the colors, those were probably copper, tin and bronze.

It took a short moment for Flamespark to gather his thoughts before finally saying:

• This… is more than I expected. Honestly, I’ve never even seen a forge like that. – He exclaimed as he walked inside, curiously inspecting each and every object. Mint seemed most pleased with his enthusiasm about the place, at least it seemed so from her voice.

• Well it seems they did a pretty good job building that one.

Flamespark simply nodded, still looking around and scarcely believing he will be working with all of this.

• It’s amazing. – He exclaimed. – Although it is also pretty big. I think I will need at least one pony helping me.

Mint made a sad expression after hearing that.

• I am afraid you cannot count on any experienced help. – She answered shyly. – There were very few skilled blacksmiths capable of serving in the army. On top of that we actually had to find a replacement for all of you… - She shook her head. – I am afraid you will have to choose one of the ponies stationed here as an apprentice and teach them everything yourself.

Flamespark smiled after hearing that.

• Don’t worry Mint. Although it might be hard to convince him, I think I know just the pony for this job. – Flamespark glanced at the furnaces yet again. – Come to think of it though, I will probably need more than one pair of hooves.

Mint nodded in agreement.

• It is for you to decide, as long as everything is done properly and on time. – She responded. – And none of you runs behind on training.

The rest of the day went pretty quickly for both, Amber and Flamespark. After getting introduced and shown around, they happily spent the rest of their time talking about various, most often random things together with Lily and Gravel.

Flamespark decided to abuse that time and ask Amber to help him at the forge. He expected a long and painful struggle but was quickly surprised. Amber did not take much to convince and was quite enthusiastic about the idea of helping out his friend. After hearing about the size of the forge he even decided to ask whether Lily and Gravel wouldn’t mind helping out too. While Gravel reluctantly agreed after a bit of persuasion, Lily firmly declined claiming that the forge is not a proper place for a lady.

In the end though they all went to bed, wondering about their future. For the time being they could only guess what will happen.

The next day passed surprisingly quickly, at least the first half of that day. Flamespark decided to introduce both, Amber and Gravel into the basic rules of working in a forge. Neither of them was experienced enough to help in shaping the metal, they were both assigned to keeping the forges running as well as smelting the bars.

Amber, even though he was expecting that, was surprised by the amount of effort and focus it took to properly melt metal, let alone combine copper and tin to make bronze. Although they were working rather slowly, Flamespark seemed pleased with what they achieved. By the time they were finished they have managed to smelt quite a lot of extra bronze bars, in preparation for the incoming work.

After their tiring lessons in the forge all three of our friends decided to go around and start socializing with other ponies. Gravel was not to keen on that idea at first but it didn’t take much to persuade him. Before they could really get into that though, they were interrupted by Lily. She ran towards the group visibly tired.

• Amber, Flamespark! I have finally found you! – She exclaimed, panting in the process.

The two mentioned ponies exchanged confused looks before Flamespark decided to respond.

• What’s the matter Lily? Has something happened?

After a brief moment she managed to catch her breath.

• I was reading a book in our room, when I felt a sudden surge of magic. It came from a cabinet belonging to one of you. I couldn’t resist the urge and peeked inside, seeing the magical stone glowing. I realized you might be interested in that detail.

Amber smashed his forehead with his hoof. He has totally forgotten that Waterfall was supposed to contact them. While he was thinking that, Gravel decided to scowl his sister.

• You peeked into their belonging without asking for permission? Seriously?

Lily blushed in response, suddenly finding the earth below her hooves extremely interesting.

• I am sorry… - Was all she managed to say.

Flamespark simply shrugged before giving her a warm smile.

• Don’t worry about it. We will simply bother you about that matter for the rest of your life. But it’s totally fine! – After saying that his expression became tired. – Too bad we forgot about it though… I guess we won’t be able to use it until next week now.

Amber slowly nodded in agreement while Lily seemed to lighten up a little. She made a wide grin before saying:

• That might not be the case. You are pretty lucky; a friend of mine explained to me how to handle such crystals once. I simply turned it off; we can use it after we get back.

Amber sighed in relief after hearing her response.

• Now that is some good news! I guess you can consider yourself redeemed now. On a more serious note though, I would say we should check out that crystal.

Everypony agreed with that, so they headed straight to their room. After the crystal was activated yet again Lily and her brother offered to leave in case the talk was supposed to be private. That was not the case though, as both of our friends decided to introduce them to Waterfall. Finally, Amber decided to be the pony to start this conversation. He placed the quartz on the table.

• Waterfall, can you hear me? – He asked curiously towards the glowing stone.

• Why, yes I am! – Waterfall’s voice could be heard around the room. – It’s a pleasure to hear you Amber. So I guess the pony that was here previously did manage to find you.

Amber and Flamespark exchanged smiles. The latter decided to show that he is there as well.

• That is the case. Speaking of which, the pony that was here earlier is living here with us, together with her brother. – Saying that Flamespark motioned Lily and Gravel to come closer. – I think it would be nice if you and they were introduced to each other.

Right after Flamespark was done talking an extremely happy response could be heard.

• It’s always a pleasure to meet new friends! Well, not exactly meet but it would be hard to meet now. You know, us being so far apart now and all. Come to think of it I do not even know where you are exactly, you should have told me that detail… Anyway, my name is Waterfall!

Lily seemed extremely confused as to what to do, so Gravel turned out to be the pony that responded.

• Nice to… uh… hear you too Waterfall. My name is Gravel, and this is my sister, Lily.

• Hey there… - Was all Lily managed to get out of herself before once again falling into her "extremely shy" mode.

They could hear a quiet chuckle before Waterfall continued.

• Oh, don’t be so shy Lily! I am not that scary, or at least I try not to be. – After saying the sentence Waterfall made a brief pause. Right before Amber decided to ask if something happened, her voice could be heard yet again. Her voice was very cautious which was definately not a good sign.

• Alright, sorry to be so bold but I think you know I have limited time. The thing is I really wanted to tell you something. This is regarding the draft, so I guess all of you will be interested.

Somehow I doubt I will like what I will have heard… - Amber thought while Waterfall made another, this time extremely short pause. It seemed she was gathering her courage.

• You see, the draft became pretty well known thing as of recently. As a result a lot of ponies talk about it. And here is the catch; according to official sources all of you agreed to join the army.

Amber was dumbstruck at what he has just heard. Official sources, as Waterfall most likely described the city of Canterlot, claimed they agreed to this, even though they were brought in by force. He could barely believe this idea.

In the meantime, Flamespark decided to get more information out of their unicorn friend.

• Are you telling us they are just plainly lying about all of this?

• I am afraid that is exactly the case Flamespark. – Waterfall’s voice rang. – And I believe that is the case everywhere.

Amber suddenly realized he and Flamespark are not the only ponies listening to this. He quickly glanced at Lily and Gravel, seeing the former staring into the air seemingly deep in her own thoughts while the latter was looking at the floor with a blank expression on his face. They most likely did not like this piece of news just as much as he did. Lily suddenly returned from her thoughts, trotting closer to the crystal before saying:

• So, let me get this straight. They forced us into the army and now they are saying we agreed to it?

They could hear Waterfall taking a very deep breath.

• That is exactly what it seems like.

The group remained in total silence for almost a minute, before Flamespark decided to break it. His voice was heavy with worry.

• What exactly is even going on in here? I feel like I do not understand the world anymore.

• You are not the only one. – Answered Gravel as the rest of the ponies nodded in silence.

Waterfall’s voice could be heard yet again, definitely not the happy one they heard earlier.

• I am sorry everypony… I just figured you would like to know that.

Amber made a grim smile.

• Don’t be silly Waterfall, it’s not your fault. – He said. – Thanks for telling us that.

The crystal started changing the color rapidly, glowing with weaker and weaker light with each second. Before it stopped working completely Waterfall decided to say one final thing.

• Alright… The crystal’s energy is running out so I guess that’s it for this time. I hope next week I will be able to give you slightly happier news…

The crystal went back to its original color and everything went silent. Everypony seemed to be left in an extremely foul mood. The silence that fell definitely was not helping that, but no one wanted to break it. At least definitely not Amber.

Finally, after some time, they partly returned to a more talkative mood. They tried to come up with various reasons as to why exactly things were as they were, but none of them could come up with anything even remotely reasonable. The only thing they agreed on was not to share this piece of news with the rest of the barracks. They would most likely find that out soon enough on their own.

The rest of the day passed extremely slowly for all of our friends, as they tried to find something, anything to do in order to occupy their thoughts. That did not turn out to be the case though. In the evening, all four extremely tired returned to their room to finally get some rest.

In the meantime, in Canterlot castle…

Princess Celestia nodded at the guards who bowed in respect as she passed by them. After such a long time she did so automatically, without having to pay any attention. This served her perfectly, for currently she was extremely occupied by her own thoughts. Focused entirely on what awaited her, she slowly headed towards her sister’s room.

Celestia was somewhat torn apart by the situation. She had tried her very best to help Luna get reintroduced into society, all to no avail. A lot of ponies simply refused to accept her sister, still having the fear of eternal night in their hearts. Luna quickly became an outcast, rarely talking to anyone except Celestia. She did not have anything to do and it brought Celestia great pain to see her sister in such a condition.

That was the situation until the fateful day Council Flux got her interested in his “project”. Luna quickly came back to life, finally having something she could devote to. While Celestia definitely did not like what her sister got herself into, she simply did not have the heart to take it away. This might have been a mistake, as it turned out.

Surrounded by her dark thoughts, Princess of the sun has finally reached her destination. She took a deep breath, before coming into her sister’s room.

Luna was lying by her desk, checking various kinds of documents lying around. Celestia watched in silence as her sister worked tirelessly, wondering whether she should really do this. But then she remembered about all the things that happened in the past few weeks. No, this has to be done, sooner or later.

While Celestia was thinking, Luna has finally realized she is not alone. She turned away from her desk to see who her guest was. Her face instantly lit up after seeing the sun princess.

• It is a pleasure to see thou, dear sister! – She exclaimed.

Celestia gathered all the courage she had before answering.

• Luna… We have to talk about a few things. – She began with a very serious tone. – I am sorry but this just has to be done.

The smile vanished from Luna’s mouth as she heard that. She sighed heavily before turning towards Celestia. It seemed that she knew exactly what this was all about.

• We thought the situation was made pretty clear at the council meeting. Thou seemed to have been fine with it. Has something changed?

Celestia decided to go straight into the point, with all the honesty that was required.

• Luna, from the very beginning I was not fine with that idea of “Equestrian Army”. I simply allowed for it because you finally had something to do. I hoped you would see the truth after some time, but that is clearly not the case.

Luna seemed hurt by that statement. She hastily responded in a slightly shaking voice.

• Whatever dost thou mean by “the truth”?

Before she could continue, Celestia decided to expand on what she has just said.

• Luna, do you really not see what you have in front of your eyes? You took a bunch of ponies away from their happy lives and forced them into an army! How can you do that to your subjects? Not only that, now you are lying that they agreed to it?

Luna was taken aback by the last question. After a brief moment she started staring into the ground, before responding with a faint voice, as if more to herself than to Celestia.

• We can agree that last part was not too good of an idea…

This almost broke the Sun Princess' heart. She decided to make her tone a little softer.

• Sister, that whole thing is something you should not be too proud of. Why don’t we sit down and…

She did not get to finish the sentence as she was quickly interrupted by Luna. It seemed she already knew what Celestia was about to say.

• No! – Princess of the night exclaimed, yet again looking straight into Celestia’s eyes. – We do not know why thou deny this, but Equestria needs an army.

• Luna, listen to yourself! What do we need an army for?

• We and some part of the council have already made ourselves pretty clear in that regard.

Celestia definitely did not seem pleased by that answer.

• Yes, and I did not see reason in what you were saying back then either. You want to base everything on what a few crazy ponies think? You cannot possibly be serious!

• Crazy? – Luna repeated. – Thou think they just imagined things?

• Luna, contrary to what they told you I am not blind to what is happening outside of Equestria. The thing is, all I care for is the well being of Equestria. That is because it is our kingdom! I could not care less for what is happening with the humans as long as they do not endanger us directly. It's their land and their problem, it does not explain you in any way! Sister, I have been ruling Equestria for hundreds of years, do you really trust a few overreacting ponies more than me?

Yet again, Celestia seemed to strike a soft spot in her sister's heart. She could have sworn she saw tears forming in Luna's eyes, if only for a brief moment.

• Thou shalt not bring trust into this Celestia! - Luna exclaimed as she regained her composure. - Tell us, what would happen if what they say is true?

Celestia awaited this question, as she quickly gave a firm answer.

• Even if what they claim is true by any stretch, we do have Royal Guards. Speaking of which, creating an army outside of them is a spit in their face! You not only force our subjects into pointless army, you also send a clear message to our current guards that you think they are incompetent! Luna, if you think you will buy their trust with this you are seriously mistaken!

This time Luna was not taken aback by the Sun Princess' statement at all.

• We thought we made ourselves pretty clear in that regard as well. – She answered. – The Royal Guards are far too few in numbers to cover our whole kingdom. They agreed to the creation of the army, provided they can oversee it. Furthermore, we have already said: Equestria needs an army, for its own good.

Celestia went silent for a brief moment. She did not expect Luna to truly believe that what she was doing was good. Or perhaps she hoped that her sister would see the reason if she explained it properly. That did not seem to be the case though, so she decided to leave her sister be, at least for the time being.

• Very well Luna. I will allow this to continue, but I still believe what you are doing is simply wrong. I just hope you will see that soon enough.

Saying that Celestia turned away and trotted towards the exit. She had to stop that madness before it was too late. She will show Luna how mistaken she was, but not before having a serious talk with a few troublesome ponies. It was highest time to start taking the matter with the seriousness it deserved.

Luna watched her sister slowly exit her room. She opened her mouth only to close it again, deciding not to say anything. She kept staring at the door for a few minutes after Celestia went through them. Finally, she turned back towards her desk and awaiting documents.

She made a very quiet sigh before saying to herself:

• Thou hast not changed a bit Celestia. Thou mightst know what is happening, but thou still refusest to see where it leads.