Her Knight in Faded Armor

Chapters

PUGs, Scones, and Talons
Songs, Shame, and Raiders
Stars, Fears, and Lies
Vegetables, In-laws, and Crafting
Interlude II: Regrets
Guards, Tea, and Cloaks
Interlude III Part I: Moves
Interlude III Part II: Counter-Moves
Motivations, Collisions, and Briefcases
Paperwork, Waffles, and Tapestries
Rogues, Laptops, and Scotch
Flight, Love, and Buttons
Greetings, Labyrinths, and Truth
Poison, Blackout, and Dancing
Cake, Memories, and Bullets
Barriers, Meetings, and Schemes
Heroism, Confessions, and Discoveries
Morals, Reasoning, and Advice
Machinations, Revelations, and Faded Armor
Detectives, Heartbeats, and Perfume
Picnics, Milkshakes, and Shademechs
Interlude IV: Power
Friends, Pets, and Coins
Insight, Explanations, and Whispers
Recollections, Dreams, and Nightmares
Payments, Meltdowns, and Journals
Silence, Hiding, and Endings
Interlude V: Sanity
Mistrust, Science, and Recoveries
Panic, Shadows, and Love
Lines, Traitors, and Discord
Honesty, Guilt, and the Beginning of the End
Interlude VI: Button's Flight
Desperation, Promises, and Eternity
Euphoria, Trials, and Nightmare Moon
Peace, Princes, Masters, and Chrysalis
Expendables, Impacts, and Red
Distractions, Hatches, and Mercy
Act I: Prologue
Interlude I: Blood
Act II: Dresses, Stairwells, and Thunder
Act III: Names, Speeches, and Insults

PUGs, Scones, and Talons

“Okay, I’m coming back for you all.” Luna twisted lithely, dodging several augmented Zebran guards who charged at her. Her draconequus form lifted into the air and hung there briefly as she prepared a spell. With a blinding flash of light, stinging green liquid fell from the sky and covered the forest floor.

Luna chuckled as she opened up a portal and stepped through it. She reappeared at the other end of the small clearing. Now that she was safely away from her deadly spell, she turned around to look at the carnage. The acid tore through her foes, ripping into their flesh and leaving only the cybernetic enhancements attached to bones. She raised a clawed hand, and the forest shimmered in a purple light. The zebras froze in place and screamed as the trees themselves turned into pink elephants and swatted at them with their enormous mallets.

She walked toward the glowing form of her three comrades. All three of them were transparent holographic representations of themselves, since their bodies were lying lifelessly on the ground. Their killers had just become rather occupied by Luna’s spells, all except for one.

The last guard who remained by the corpses snarled. He leapt toward Luna and raised his vicious zebran battle axe. Luna didn’t even flinch as she raised her shotgun and fired four rounds right into the beast. He fell to the ground with a bloody gurgle as he passed into the next life.

Luna reached down and picked up the three recovery boxes that lay beside the corpses. She knew that these boxes included an emergency personality dump as well as an immediate DNA sample. If she could get the boxes back to a regen station, her friends could rejoin her in battle… that is, if they lived long enough, of course.

A blip appeared on her HUD, and she read the words quickly.

Fawkes: dang, that’s nice

Luna looked back to see the last tree return to its original position as her Chaos magic faded away from them. All of the Zebras lay dead or dying, either crushed to death or incinerated by her acid.

“That’s what happens when you focus your classes, Fawkes,” Luna said in reply. As the only one with a mic, as well as having all of the best gear and the most equipment, it had fallen to her to be the party leader. “I take a Chaos focused race, chose a buffing class as my main, and then take two Chaos classes as my minors. Then I trade my racial class for a Favored perk. Favored by Discord, of course. The end result is a control and buffing focused character that can handle herself in combat. By level three, I have enough perks to get one or two core abilities, and the build is nearly unstoppable until level eight, when the monsters reach third tier. And the Favored abilities help massively, of course. ”

Jexxc: wow. arent the favored perks really hard to get?

“Yes, they are,” Luna said. She activated her stealth field and swiftly flew forward. She nimbly dodged two sets of mobs and deployed a Chaos rune as she passed. A moment later, she grunted in satisfaction when the rune exploded and several Chaos shadows spawned to attack the enemies behind her. “It took weeks of farming to get all three of the perks.”

Fawkes: wait. You have all three?

“Indeed!” Luna chirped gleefully. She rounded a bend in the path and nodded to herself. There, crashed in another clearing, was a spaceship. She knew from running this quest countless times that she could find a regen station inside, if she could crack the control panel on the ship. “I can only use one per character, but I do have access to all three. My main is a Chosen by Celestia Hacker, and I’ll just let you know that the perks are completely worth the farm.”

She glided lazily over to the entrance of the crashed ship and reached out one pawed hand to type on the panel. Her visor displayed the parameters of the coded command console.

“C6 panel… Zebran type enemies… hmm… I may have to buff for this one.” Luna reached into her inventory backpack and pulled out a vial of blue liquid. “Ah! This Alchemist is quite useful sometimes!” She drank the contents of the vial and started typing on the panel.

Fawkes: wait. your main. is that the memory build? hacker/celestia?

Luna smirked. “Actually, my main is the Memory build. I’m Memory Mirror.”

Fawkes’ avatar jumped up and down furiously and then stood still.

Fawkes: NO WAY

Luna typed in the last command to open the door. It slid open with the grinding moan of metal that had long since lost its proper shape. “Yep! That’s me.”

One of the other avatars suddenly stopped moving.

Ville: afk

Fawkes: I can’t believe it! YOu’ve maed some of the best builds on the game! MEmory, Recover, Blended, Niac!

Luna laughed at the misspelled words and falsely capitalized letters. “Well, maybe not the best, but I try. Thank you.”

She wafted into the ship and immediately dropped all three of the recovery boxes onto the floor. Fawkes’ and Jexxc’s shadowy avatars ran over to the recovery station and revived themselves.

Jexxc stood tall as a Minotaur Rager. He held a massive hammer made of glowing purple energy, marking him as a Spellsword affiliated with traditional magic. His armor glinted blue due to his cybernetic augments, and his eyes glowed silver. Luna figured he probably also had some training as a Cyber and a traditional Warrior. That made him the perfect tank, if he could only stop rushing right into the fight, tripping over traps, and falling off ledges. Luna had lost count of how many times she’d had to take him to a regen, but she didn’t care. He was a new player, and he seemed like a nice guy.

Fawkes was the team’s caster. He was a unicorn stallion, and he’d already told her that he was following a build off the forums. His white robes swirled around his legs, and small glowing robots flew all around him, scanning his body armor and shields for any anomalies. As a traditional unicorn mage, he had a double dose of old style magic that he supplemented with cybernetic augments and the training of an Architect. He specialized in heavy hitting medium range spells, but he was rather undergeared, which had led to two deaths when Jexxc hadn’t kept the aggro off them.

And then there was Ville. She was a meticulously designed Breezie Hacker. At least her cosmetics were very well chosen. Her build was atrocious, she could hardly fight, and she spent more time AFK than playing the game. But her character sure was beautiful, and Luna guessed that she had probably spent twenty-five real life bits just on her cosmetic items.

Fawkes ran over to her and jumped up and down.

Fawkes: wait a sec…

He froze in place, and, a moment later, the scratching of a microphone being turned on filled Luna’s ears.

“Hello?” A cracking voice that Luna guessed belonged to a teenaged colt asked. “Is this on?”

“I can hear you, Fawkes,” Luna replied. “Hello!”

“Oh, wow. I can’t believe that you’re Memory! Why are you running a level three quest?”

Luna cautiously stepped out of the ship and checked her surroundings. She waved her taloned hand, and her companions followed her out of the ship. Luna had assumed the role of the scout since Ville was AFK and useless anyways, so she went first.

“Well, my partner is sleeping, so I figured I’d try out the new update.” Luna spotted an unalerted zebra guard several meters in front of her. She also noticed another on the edge of her vision. She smirked. “Wait, both of you. I want to show you something.”

She charged a portal. After opening one up as high in the air as possible, she cast a quick silence spell on the guard. Then she opened the second below the nearby guard’s hooves. The unassuming guard fell through the ground and tried to scream as he reappeared several hundred meters up in the air. No sound left him, however. Luna quickly drank a glowing green potion, and she felt her Chaos energy recharge.

Just before the guard hit the ground, Luna reopened a portal beneath him, and he once again appeared all the way up in the air. He fell in the same path, but much faster. Luna then used the last of her Chaos magic reserves to cast a new portal right above the second guard. When he fell through the portal, he reappeared above his comrade and crashed violently down upon him. Both died instantly, and Luna smiled.

Jexxc: dude! thats so aewsome!

“Wow! Talk about thinking with portals!” Fawkes cheered. “But why didn’t we just snipe them?”

Luna flashed a spell up into the air. The sparkling light covered herself and her friends, and their views all became shimmering and distorted. Right in between the three of them and the first guard was a slightly glowing purple barrier. Luna deactivated the spell with a wave of her paw, and the light started to fade away. “Kinetic detection spell. If we’d fired any attack type spells between there and here, the entire group of enemies would have been on high alert. Killing them without weapon fire or sound makes it so that nopony else would come to investigate. And, finally, portals are fun.”

Jexxc: lol

“I’m guessing you’ve run this quest before then?” Fawkes asked.

“Oh, yes,” Luna said. “I run it with every character for the first time experience bonus. It’s rather easy since I usually have a good dose of Chaos power, and Chaos is the best spell type for this quest.”

“Do you make all of your toons Chaos users?” Fawkes asked while Luna used her magic to finish destabilizing the kinetic detection spell.

“Almost all of them,” Luna replied. “Chaos magic is the hardest to use since it usually doesn’t just do damage. It changes the rules, kinda like Code based attacks. But Code changes how spells and mechanicals function, while Chaos changes the physical realm. It’s really open ended, and I like that.”

“Huh, I hadn't really thought of that…” Fawkes said slowly. “Well, what if—”

Luna stopped moving quickly, and a text message from her appeared on everypony’s HUD.

Mimicry: AFK

~~~

“—incess Luna?” A voice called out to Luna. The sound of a soft knocking at her door pierced the silence of her room. Luna blinked several times as she looked away from her screen and toward the early morning’s rays that managed to sneak past the drawn curtains covering her windows.

“One moment!” Luna replied after quickly muting her mic. She typed a message to her party members and then ran toward the door.

She opened it a crack and peered through to see the pony on the other side. “Yes?”

A Royal Guard snapped to attention. “I apologise if I disturbed you, Your Highness. But your sister has requested that you join her in the private dining hall for breakfast. She says that she has something to discuss with you.”

Luna blinked some more and shook her head. Her mane, usually shimmering as beautifully as the night sky, was knotted, and her neck felt terribly sore. She cleared her throat before she spoke. “Oh, uh, of course I can join her. Will you please inform her that I shall be there shortly? I have a few… matters to take care of first.” Luna smiled at the guard.

“Of course, Your Majesty. I will go at once.” The guard trotted away, and Luna sighed in relief. It simply would not do for one of her sister’s soldiers to see her in such condition. Or one of her own soldiers, for that matter. In fact, Luna would prefer it if nopony were to see her like this.

Luna shut her door and trotted over to the computer. Quickly, she typed into her chat box.

Mimicry: sorry everypony, but I have to go. something just came up. send me a friend request here, and maybe we can run together again later

She quit her game as soon as she sent the message. She didn’t even wait to see if they replied.

“Okay, okay.” Luna trotted over to her bathroom and grabbed her brush. Her eyes wandered over to the clock hanging next to the mirror.

“Seven-thirty…” She murmured. A quick calculation told her that she’d played for eight hours that night. Three hours with Fade, three hours after, and two before. All in all, a pretty average night, although it may have been on the short side.

“But now, a far more difficult quest to face…” Luna muttered as she turned her steely gaze to the mirror and slowly raised the brush to her hair. She stared at her reflection and cracked her neck.

“Bring it on, brushy!”

~~~

Luna cleared her throat and straightened her crown as she stood outside the doors to Celestia’s private dining hall. Luna allowed her eyes to wander over the simple doors that made such contrast to the beautifully sculpted walls around them. The faded white paint on the unadorned wood of the door had been chosen very carefully. Her sister always put thought into everything that she did, and the choice of paint had an unmistakable meaning.

Here, there was no Princess Celestia. There was no Princess Luna. No Prime Ministers, no servants, and no students. There was only Celestia, and those with her were not her subjects. They were her friends.

It was possibly the most terrifying room in the entire castle, if one was not accustomed to it.

Luna nodded to the guard. He opened the door and spoke into the room before her.

“Her Majesty, Princess Luna!”

Luna slowly strode into the chamber. Soft red sitting pillows lay on the floor, surrounding a low table that was piled up with small pastries, fresh fruit, and other foods that Luna judged to be far healthier than what she’d been eating in her room all night. The walls were simple stone decorated with paintings from all of Equestrian history. They ranged from a portrait of a pony in the Age of Chaos to a print of a modern digital rendition of the sun rising over the ocean.

On the pillows sat three ponies. Luna recognized the first as Prime Minister Apollo Rector. The middle aged stallion had a friendly demeanor. His brown mane was simply styled, and his informal outfit complemented his white coat. Luna knew him quite well, and she could see the sparkle of laughter in his eyes as he turned to face her.

The second was First Secretary of State Blueblood. The stallion sat calmly upon his pillow and laughed at something that Apollo had just said. Luna grinned. The once haughty Blueblood had been humbled severely by twelve years of service in the Royal Navy. Celestia had seen to that. He was clothed rather formally, but he always dressed that way.

Finally, Luna looked at the third pony. Her sister, Princess Celestia, sat serenely upon her pillow and munched on a cherry scone. Her eyes widened as she saw Luna.

“Luna! Good morning to you,” Celestia said. She walked over to the other princess and drew her into a hug with her wing. Luna leaned into her sister and nuzzled her affectionately.

“Good morning, Tia.” She released the hug and turned to the two stallions. “Apollo. Blueblood.”

“Good morning, Luna,” Apollo said cheerfully. “Last night was beautiful, as always. I do enjoy seeing your handiwork as I fall asleep.”

Luna smiled back at him, wisely concealing how little time she spent on the sky when there were quests to be done. “Thank you, Apollo.”

“Greetings, Princess.” Blueblood nodded to her.

“Oh, Blue. You know the rules,” Celestia chided. “No titles in here. We’re all equal when we all have to eat.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that… Celestia.” Blueblood frowned as he said her name.

“Well, you better try your darndest,” Apollo said. “Or she might send you back to the Navy again!”

Luna giggled, as did Celestia. The two princesses walked back to the table and took their seats. Luna reached across the table and picked up a yellow and red apple.

“Well, that may not be the worst thing that ever happened to me. It did help quite a bit the first time.” Blueblood cracked a smile and took a bite of his own pastry.

“It certainly did,” Celestia replied. “There was a time that a comment like that would have been a mortal insult!”

Blueblood chuckled. “There was a time when none of you would have been able to bear my company. And neither would I, for that matter.”

Apollo sighed. “Well, I’m glad it helped you. Equestria gained a fine statesman.”

“And a fine nephew,” Celestia added.

Luna remained silent throughout the exchange. She watched as her sister laughed with the other two ponies. The way she moved, the tone of her voice. It all screamed “comfortable” at Luna. She was as adept at speaking to her subjects as she was at raising the sun… and Luna had neither of those skills. Luna hid a frown and turned her thoughts away from that subject.

“So, I suppose you are all wondering why I summoned you here this early,” Celestia said. She wiped her mouth daintily with a napkin.

“Actually, I thought it was because you like us,” Blueblood said dryly.

“Well, while I do enjoy all of your company, that is not the primary reason for calling you.” Celestia put her napkin down. “As you all know, the New Griffon’s Republic is sending their representatives to visit Canterlot in two weeks.”

“Mhmm,” Apollo agreed. He drank from his cup of juice, but his eyes never left Celestia.

“I have just received news of troop movement within their borders. The Republic has already conquered three neighboring nations. That is quite a feat, considering that they have only existed as a nation for as many months. And now, my scouts report that their troops are approaching our borders.”

Apollo set his cup down, Blueblood leaned forward across the table, and Luna gasped.

“We do not know their intentions, and they have so far appeared quite peaceful to us. They have been kind to all of the ponies within their territory, and have extended every courtesy to us. They seem to remember the peace we had with the previous regime. But the winners of their civil war have already shown themselves to be treacherous. If we consider how their new Communist ideology clashes with our own… The possibility of war is not one that we can dismiss lightly.” Celestia calmly adjusted the position of her plate and goblet.

“We already knew that war could potentially happen,” Blueblood said. “We’ve been quietly reinforcing the border between us since the start of their civil war. Most of our agents have retained their covers within the major cities, and we have dossiers prepared for all of the high ranking party members. I actually have them with me here.” Blueblood opened up his saddlebag and pulled out several folders stamped ‘Confidential.’

“Oh, you brought those with you? I thought you said that we were meeting because Celestia liked us so much,” Apollo said. He grinned at his second in command.

“Please, sir. I never go into battle with only one plan of attack,” Blueblood retorted.

“Touché,” Apollo said. “I also brought the agenda that we planned for the diplomatic talks, just in case.” He removed several files from his own saddlebag.

“Excellent.” Celestia beamed at the stallions. “Let’s take a look then.”

Blueblood opened up his first packet. “This is Dmitri Kvorof.” The picture enclosed showed a glowering brown and gold griffon. Luna judged him to be approaching middle age. He had a scar on his right eye, and his beak was chipped.

“He’s the head of the Party, and Chief of State of the New Griffon’s Republic. Goes by the title of Father. He killed the king in single combat at the start of the civil war. Perfectly legal in Griffonia, mind you. His revolution was supposedly due to deplorable conditions among the lower class. However, my spies report that he was trying to take power ever since he became a General in their army. Our analysts believe that he merely latched onto the public unrest and used his charisma to sway the nation to his side. He isn’t the best versed in his own political system, but that’s what his Vice Chief is for.” Blueblood opened the second folder.

“Father Dmitri… Did you know that thousands have already died because of that name?” Apollo murmured.

“Yes, and many more may be yet to come.” Celestia nodded sadly. “Please, continue.”

Blueblood pointed to the second picture. “This is Yvonne Talla. She is a political theorist, was the personal student of Starlight Glimmer, and is a follower of Cutie Mark’s ideology. If any of you are unfamiliar with Cutie Mark, he was once known as Knotted Pine. He was a farmer who lived in the late Discordian Era and predicted that the suppressed masses would one day band together to rise above the rule of so-called ‘greater beings.’ He assumed the name of Cutie Mark to symbolize something or other. I think Discord ended up turning him into a frog.”

“He did,” Celestia added. “He wasn’t the most pleasant of fellows and was slightly touched in the head. But he did inspire ponies to resist Discord, and his actions paved the way for Equestria as it is today.”

“Mhmm,” Blueblood hummed in agreement. “But Yvonne takes it far further than Mark ever did.” He slid her photo into the center of the table. She was a beautiful griffon. Her light grey feathers were complemented by the bright red uniform that she wore. She clutched a flag pole in her talon. The banner on it was red with the image of a single black tower as its only adornment. Luna recognized it as the flag of the New Griffon’s republic.

“How so?” Luna asked.

“Well, she is adamantly against all forms of ranking and nobility. I heard that she even tried to abolish military titles and wanted Father Dimitri to call himself only by his first name. Nonsense, of course. She also believes in complete subservience to the state. The subjects exist, and I quote, ‘Only to further the will of the father state.’ She’s been known to punish even the smallest incidents of disobedience with death.”

Apollo grunted. “Disgusting.”

“But despite all of that, she is a brilliant propagandist and her skill at building a new government from the ground up is nothing less than remarkable.” Blueblood turned the page. “Incidentally, she is also wanted for murder in Saddle Arabia. Needless to say, she’s not the nicest griffon around.”

Luna shuddered. The griffon’s predatory gaze was unnerving, even in a photograph.

“Finally, we come to the last member of interest, especially in this context.” Blueblood opened his final folder. “This is Jacques Chaput.” The griffon in this photograph, a male that Luna judged to be in his mid thirties, was dressed in a formal suit that went well with his black and white feathers. His eyes were a shimmering blue, and he carried a small smile in the picture. He sat on a comfortable armchair and was reading a book by the light of a fireplace.

“Interesting…” Celestia said. “I knew the others, but not him. Who is he?”

Apollo cleared his throat. “If I may? I have actually met the fellow, once.”

Blueblood nodded and handed the Prime Minister the folder.

“Thank you. Chaput is very different from the other three. He’s not actually native to Griffonia. He was born and raised in Prance and moved to Griffonia after graduating from the university. He has a doctorate in philosophy. After immigrating for reasons unknown, he enlisted in the Griffon Army. He received countless medals for valorous actions in the war against Yakyakistan. He quickly ascended the ranks and received an officer’s commission. After a nearly disastrous battle with the Yaks, he took command of the surviving Griffon forces by shouting the loudest in battle. Of course, he then saved them all by using superior tactics and a few maneuvers that we now teach our own officers when we train them.”

“A legend in his own time,” Blueblood muttered.

“Precisely,” Apollo agreed. “He was the only officer to survive the battle, so he took command of the survivors. But, instead of retreating as most expected, he actually used his surviving force to infiltrate the city that his force had been attacking. He managed to capture all of the enemy leaders and hold them hostage until the rest of the army arrived. By the time they got there, he had already negotiated a cease fire. His general arrived to find him eating dinner with the leader of the Yaks, with no weapons in sight.”

“Oh, I remember him now!” Celestia said. “We sent him a gift for his peaceful resolution of the conflict, did we not?”

“Indeed we did,” Apollo replied. “That’s when I met him. He was very cold, but polite.”

“So, what does he do in the Republic now?” Celestia asked.

“I’m getting there.” Apollo flipped a page in the dossier. “After the war with the Yaks, he received a promotion and returned to the capital to be knighted. It seems that this is when Dimitri picked him as a candidate to join the rebellion. Chaput appears to have agreed, because he stayed out of the fighting during the civil war three years later. When the rebellion appeared to be losing, he publicly declared himself for the new regime and encouraged others to do so as well. His status as a hero brought the opinion of the rebellion up in the eyes of the upper middle classes who were already discontent because of heavy taxation. Their support gave the rebellion the push that it needed, and his defection signaled the beginning of the end for the Monarchy.”

“So, he avoided most of the heavy fighting until he felt that he could wait no longer, and then he completely turned the tide of the rebellion, all on his own,” Blueblood said. “He’s canny.”

Apollo nodded. “He now works as one of the two High Generals of the Army. He travels around the country gathering support for the party. He’s also the head of their diplomatic branch.”

“And this is why he is the one who will be leading the diplomatic party to Equestria in two weeks.” Blueblood pulled a final folder from his saddlebag. “Here, this is the list of the delegates who will be attending.” He handed the paper to Celestia.

“Interesting…” Celestia read the list over and passed it to Luna.

Luna glanced down and skimmed over the names. The only one she recognized was Chaput. All of the other twenty names were meaningless to her.

“What of Chaput personally? Is he like the other leaders?” Celestia asked.

“He is a very private griffon. We actually know very little about his personal life, aside from the fact that he has a taste for fine wines, old literature, and classical music. He always acts politely to those he meets in public and does the same to our spies among the servants at the capital.” Blueblood took a sip of water. “I think he’ll be the most reasonable of the lot. I’m glad he’s leading the diplomats. We’ll have the best chance to negotiate peace with him.”

Celestia nodded in agreement and said something as a reply, but Luna wasn’t listening. The Princess of the Night looked down at her hooves and clicked them together. She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. Fatigue pulled at the back of her mind as she thought about her bed.

She looked up a moment later, just in time to see Celestia gazing at her. Her sister frowned and turned to face the stallions. “This is all excellent. I would like to convene the rest of our group later today to discuss the details of the talks. For now, would you both excuse us for a moment? I have several things that I need to discuss with my sister.”

“Of course. Should I convene the meeting at the normal time?” Apollo asked.

“Please do.” Celestia nodded to the stallions who bowed and exited the room.

“Luna…” Celestia began as soon as the door shut. She stopped immediately and sighed. “Are you aware that this is the first time we’ve spoken in a week?”

Luna blinked in surprise. “Has it really been that long?”

“Yes. It has.” Celestia paced back and forth in the room. “I don’t know if you realize this, but I lowered the moon this morning.”

“What?” Luna asked. “How did—”

“I suppose that you forgot. Again.” Celestia turned to face her sister. Her face lost the serene expression that she always carried around other ponies. Instead of showing that mask, Luna saw Celestia as she felt in the moment. Disappointed. Saddened. Angry? Maybe.

“I… I…” Luna fumbled. “I’m sorry, Tia.”

Celestia sighed again. “Luna… what happened?”

“What do you mean?” Luna asked.

“What happened to my sister?” Celestia closed her eyes. “Before the Nightmare, you were always here. We fought Discord. Brought forth a new and brighter Equestria. Made a place of harmony and acceptance in a cruel world. Together.” She opened her eyes, and Luna could see a tear forming in her left eye. “You were my best friend, and I was yours.”

“Tia…” Luna began.

“No, please. Let me finish.” Celestia stood up. “Then the Nightmare came. I lost you. For a thousand years, I was alone. My best friend, my confidant. The moon to the sun. The only other light in the sky. You were my mirror, and you kept me in check. Then you were gone.”

Luna stood rigidly as Celestia started to pace.

“I had to send you away. It was the hardest decision of my life, Luna. You know this. I’ve told you before.”

“Yes,” Luna croaked. “I know.”

“But then you returned,” Celestia continued. “And I was happier than I’d ever been in my life. I’ve never felt such joy before. Time passed, and I watched my sister become a wise ruler. You learned to speak in the same manner as the rest of the ponies. You embraced the new customs. You had made friends… for a time.” Celestia looked Luna right in the eyes. “And then I lost you again.”

Silence hung in the air after Celestia spoke. Luna didn’t move a muscle, and it was if the whole world had stopped moving.

“You started by facilitating the merger of the Day and Night courts and appointing elected judges to lead them. I agreed. Our ponies need more say in their own rule. But then you passed off command of your Night Watch to General Shadow Streak. He is, of course, more than adequate for the job, but leading the Watch had been your greatest joy so log ago.”

Celestia resumed her pacing. “One by one, you delegated away all of your responsibilities. I found myself remembering those days when I ruled alone more and more. Then, a few months ago, you disappeared from the public’s eye. The papers have respected what they interpret as a desire for privacy, but most of the ponies are worried. They love you, sister.” Celestia walked right up to Luna. “And I love you. So I’ll ask again. What happened? What made you turn away from us?”

Luna couldn’t speak. The lump in her throat was too big. She closed her eyes and counted to thirty. But when she opened her eyes, she saw Celestia crying.

“Was it me?” Celestia whispered.

Luna broke down. She grabbed her sister and pulled her into a fierce hug. Sobs wracked her body. “Oh, Tia. No, no, no! It’s not you…”

“Then what is it?” Celestia clung to the smaller princess.

“I… I… I just…” Luna pulled away from Celestia. Tears streamed down her face. “I can’t explain…”

“Yes you can,” Celestia said gently. “Do you remember when I came to you when my dog died, all those years ago when we were just little fillies?”

Wiping away a tear, Luna nodded.

“I couldn’t tell you at first, but you told me something I’ll never forget. ‘I’m your sister. I know you better than you do, and I love you more than you do. Tell me.’” Celestia smiled softly. “So, Luna. I’m your sister. I know you better than you do, and I love you more than you do. You can tell me anything.”

Luna sniffed. “It’s just… it’s nopony’s fault. Not yours, not my friends, nopony. It’s me. I just can’t any more, Tia.”

Her sister stepped closer. “Why not?”

“I don’t know! I don’t even know!” Luna hid her face. “Tia, I wake up and I just want to stay in bed. I don’t want to get up. I don’t want to go outside, and I don’t want to see anypony. I don’t want to be a princess. I just…”

Celestia hugged her again. “Oh, Luna. I’m so sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Luna asked. “It’s all in my head, not yours.”

“But I’m your sister, and you locked yourself away rather than talk to me. No, it’s not your fault.” Celestia held her.

“But—”

“Luna.” Celestia interrupted her. “Do you think you’re the only one who ever felt this way? It happened to me, when I was about as old as you are now. You slept for a thousand years, and I stayed awake. One morning, I realized that everything was so different from when we were with Mother and Father… and I had no family left.”

Luna stood still and listened.

“Luna, what you’re going through is normal. But you can’t do it alone. You can’t hide in a fantasy world and wish your problems away. I tried to hide from mine so long ago, and it doesn’t work. You need help. You need friends.”

“Okay…” Luna nodded.

“Luna, we need you. This is possibly the greatest threat we’ve faced from another nation in hundreds of years. They’re strong, Luna. We can beat them, but the cost in lives would be far too high. We cannot have war. It must be peace. We need this meeting to go well, and we’ll need you at your best. We cannot show weakness, and we must be united.” She nuzzled her sister’s neck affectionately. “I know it is hard, Sister. But you are strong. You are stronger than this.”

The Princess of the Night hugged her sister tightly. “Thank you, Tia. I will. I’ll be ready.”

“Luna, can you promise me something?”

Luna nodded, and Celestia continued.

“I want you to make new friends. I know you had some long ago, but now you need to keep pressing forward. Do you think there is at least one pony you could befriend?”

After thinking for a moment, Luna replied. “Well, I do have one friend… online…”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And have the two of you ever met?”

“No… But we do talk to each other whenever we are playing. We do lots of things together…”

Celestia stood still for a moment and then nodded. “Okay then. Can you meet them? Maybe for a drink or something?”

Luna cleared her throat. “Actually, he doesn’t live in Canterlot, so I don’t know if that would work.”

“Well, perhaps you find a way,” Celestia replied. “Or, you could always meet ponies here in Canterlot.”

“I suppose.”

Celestia smiled. “Thank you for talking to me, Luna. I’m always here for you. You know that, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” Celestia hugged her one more time. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some planning to do for my meeting. Do you think you could join me for breakfast again tomorrow morning?”

Luna forced a grin. “Yes, I believe that would be possible.”

“Perfect.” Celestia opened the door to the hallway. “Get some rest, sister. You look exhausted.” With that, Celestia strode from the room.

Luna sat on the floor unmoving. Her mind reeled from the conversation, and her emotions pounded at the back of her mind.

“Gah!” With a strangled sob, Luna teleported herself back into her chambers. She leapt onto her bed. Her tears fell once more.

~~~

Far away from the glittering spires of Canterlot, distantly removed from the peaceful air of Equestria, the stood a city surrounding a dark castle. The city was tired. Its denizens were sluggish and worked to the bone. A feeling of desperation hung over the city like a cloud. But if one listened closely, they might hear something.

A song on the wind. While they worked, while they slept, or even just while they stood in the street, the citizens heard it. They never quite recognized what it was, although it seemed so familiar. The singing of the stringed instruments would cut through the shadows of the day, and it told a story they never could. A song of oppression, but a story of hope in the dark.

Far above the ground, up in the castle, there sat a single griffon. His perch was a comfortable chair situated next to a window. Beside him was a small table that held his record player and a chessboard that seemed to be in the middle of a game. He held a glass of a dark red liquid. After swirling a talon in it, he took a small sip. His beak formed a smile as the music rose to a greater dynamic height. He closed his eyes and nodded back in forth in time with the instruments. The blend of the new music and the old instruments spoke to him, and he almost forgot about the dark city below him.

He opened his eyes just in time to see a small bird perch upon his window, a note tied to its leg. Gently, the griffon reached for the little animal. It did not fly away, as it knew that it had nothing to fear from him.

He placed the bird on the arm of his chair, running a talon along its head. The creature chirped and rubbed against him, and as it did so, he untied the note from the bird’s leg and read.

All is prepared. The pieces are in place. They will never know what hit them.

Comrade General Chaput smiled as he walked over to his fireplace. He carefully tossed the note into the fire and watched as it slowly turned to ash. He then went back to his seat. He looked at the small table beside him and picked up one of the chess pieces on the board.

He eyed the immaculately sculpted pony shaped piece and smiled as he set it back down.

He closed his eyes once more and allowed the music to wash over him. His smile returned, and he sighed.

“Soon.”

Songs, Shame, and Raiders

“Thanks guys! Come back soon!” Button Mash leaned over the bar and waved to the customers who were stepping out of the open door and into the night. They didn’t turn back to wave, and Button sighed. He pressed the ‘print receipt’ button on the register in front of him. After placing the copy of the receipt in the correct container, he looked at the clock on the wall. “Two more hours…” he whispered to himself.

The Heartstrings Lounge was his place of work, or maybe his prison. Button didn’t know which one it was. He looked around the room and grimaced.

The building itself was nice. It was roomy, but not so roomy as to seem empty during down times. The bar behind which he stood was directly opposite the room from the stage that held the bar’s grand piano. Soft music played through the stereo system, and the lighting was just dim enough for a romantic dinner or a relaxing drink after work. There were very few tables in the restaurant. Button’s boss prefered booths, so that’s what the lounge had. Waiters and waitresses scurried to and fro.

“I hate this…” Button whispered to himself.

“What was that?” the stallion sitting near him asked.

Button shook his head to bring himself back out of his own mind. “Hmm? Oh, I was just talking to myself again.”

The grey pegasus laughed. “Button, ya gotta stop doing that. You might like, I dunno, go crazy or something!”

“Come on, Rumble.” Button sighed. “How many drinks have you had?”

“Exactly as many as I always have! One too few!” Rumble guffawed at his own joke.

Button smiled and shook his head. “The same joke every time, Rumble.”

“The same joke every time! ‘Cuz it’s a good joke!” Rumble lifted his drink into the air. “Woo!”

“Hey, Rumble! Get over here!”

Button and Rumble both turned to see an orange pegasus mare waving in their direction from over by the stage. She sat with several other ponies and a young dragon at one of the few tables in the building. She had a pair of goggles on her head which was the only thing holding her unruly mane in place.

“What’s up, Scoots?” Rumble asked.

“I was just telling the girls and their boys how that new recruit almost crashed into you during the last training run. Pip says that you should have a chance to defend yourself and explain your foolishness!”

“Now wait a second!” This voice came from a brown spotted, white coated stallion who sat next to Scootaloo. He was holding hooves with his wife, a mare with a yellow coat and a red mane. “I only said that he should be able to defend himself. I made no such baseless accusation! Also, I find being called somepony’s boy quite insulting!”

“Aw, you know it’s true.” Scootaloo jeered.

Button nudged his friend. “You better go over there. Your honor is at stake. Plus, all this yelling might get me in trouble.”

“Yeah! My honor!” Rumble jumped off his stool and ran over to his friends.

Button looked at the group. Scootaloo, the youngest flight instructor in the history of the Wonderbolt Academy; Rumble, her wingpony; Apple Bloom, manager of Sweet Apple Acres alongside her siblings; and her husband, Pip, the immensely successful entrepreneur responsible for one of the largest internet retailing sites in all of Equestria.

And then there was her.

Sweetie Belle, international pop sensation, star of her own television show, and one of the biggest names in the Canterlot fashion scene. Oh, and lest he forget, she was also the fiancee of none other than one of Button’s closest friends.

Spike tenderly held his fiancée’s hoof. The young dragon had grown into a muscular drake. He toured with Sweetie Belle as her pianist and male vocalist. He waved at Button from across the room, and Button returned the gesture. Button sighed. That clock couldn’t reach nine o’clock quickly enough.

He forced himself to turn around. “Petunia!” he called. “You in there, Petunia?”

A pretty mare with a pink curled mane poked her head out of the door to the kitchen. She had grease smeared across her face, but smiled as if she were having the greatest time of her life. The ever cheerful young mare ran the kitchen during the weekday night shift, and she always managed to lighten the mood of the entire group.

“What’s up, Button?”

“Can you tell the girls to get ready for the desert rush? The music’s about to start.”

“Sure can do!” Petunia chimed. She went back into the kitchen and Button could barely make out her sweet voice shouting orders to the other workers.

Button nodded to himself. He stepped out from behind the register at the bar and patted the bartender on the back. “It’s all yours, Berry.”

Berry Punch grinned at him while she cleaned off a glass. “All righty!”

Button strode toward the tables and booths. He put on his biggest manager smile and took a moment to prepare himself. He checked to see that his tie was straight, and then he cocked his black fedora at a properly rakish angle. His smile became real for a second. Being in charge did have some perks, at least where uniforms were concerned.

“How is everything?” he asked the couple at the first booth that he approached.

The stallion slurped his noodles in quickly and coughed. His date laughed at the poor guy and smiled at Button. “Oh, everything’s excellent! My compliments to the chef!”

“Great!” Button gave his most charming smile and moved on to the next table. He stopped by every single patron to check on them. Most were regulars. Ponyville was still a small town, after all. It had grown quite a bit when Princess Twilight opened up her university outside of the town proper, but it still managed to keep its close knit feel. Everypony knew everypony, and the Lounge was one of the most popular restaurants in Ponyville.

“Hey, Button! Over here!”

Button turned to see Spike waving at him. The stallion groaned inside, but kept his smile going strong. He slowly made his way toward the stage.

“What’s going on, bro?” Spike slapped him on his foreleg. “I haven’t seen you in forever! How’ve you been?”

“Oh, I’m hanging in there,” Button replied. “Work, work. That’s about it.”

“Dude, you’re working too much. You need a break or something!” Spike crossed his arm, and Sweetie put a foreleg around his waist.

“Spike’s right! Maybe you should take some time off.” Sweetie’s voice had grown so much over the years. It was beautifully smooth and made Button clench his jaw. Nonetheless, his smile never left his face.

“Well, that’s actually my plan. I’m going on vacation to Canterlot in a few weeks,” Button said. “I’ve got a lot of time off saved up, so I’ll be staying out there for a while. Just to get away. See the sights, soak in the culture...”

“Well, that sounds like a mighty fine solution!” Apple Bloom poked Button on the shoulder. “Ah’m actually thinking about heading out there sometime soon mahself. Well, me and Pip, of course.”

Pip smiled. “She wants to see some of her family who moved out there from Manehattan. And I need to meet some of my distributors, so—”

“Oh, nuh-uh. No work on vacation. You know the Apple family rule,” Apple Bloom said sternly.

“Well, technically you’re a Squeak now, so…”

“No, no. Don’t muddle the issue with yer fancy logic.” Apple Bloom nuzzled her husband. “Vacations are vacations.” She turned back to Button. “So, where are ya staying out there?”

“Actually, I’m staying at the Royal Inn and Suites. I got a great deal from an old friend at university, and he set me up with one of the best rooms.”

“That’s excellent!” Pip said.

“Oh, Sweetie,” Spike said. “I think it’s time.”

Sweetie, Button, and Spike all looked at the clock. “Yep,” Button said. “I’ll go ahead and introduce you both.”

Button walked up onto the stage and made a kill gesture to Berry Punch. She nodded and slowly faded the music away.

“Ladies and gentlecolts.” Button held a microphone up to his lips. “You know their names. Finally back from their international tour, it’s our own Sweetie Belle and her fiancée Spike. Let’s hear it for Belle!”

The patrons applauded loudly, and Button noticed several ponies step into the building from outside. The room was already full, so the ponies took a seat at the bar after being guided there by a waitress.

Sweetie Belle walked up to the stage slowly, her red dress shimmering in the spotlight. She smiled brilliantly at the crowd who continued to applaud. Spike sauntered over to the grand piano and adjusted his own mic as Button left the stage quickly and stood back behind the bar.

“Thank you, thank you all!” Sweetie smiled bashfully as the applause continued to grow. “Wow, you are just too much. I’ve had worse receptions in coliseums before!”

Spike grinned and played a few notes on the piano. Silence fell in the room.

“I’d like to start with one of our most popular songs from our latest album. I hope you all enjoy.” She looked at Spike, and the two nodded in time.

Spike hit the first chord on the piano. He slowly walked through the melody. His eyes closed to a slit and he swayed back and forth in time. The only sound competing for the attention of the patrons was silence. Even the bustle from the kitchen stopped so that the workers could hear the enchanting melody. The cooks stood in the doorway, peeking out to watch the pair on stage. Button smiled at them, and they nodded, grateful for his approval.

And then Sweetie started to sing.

“Think of me when you’re out, when you’re out there…”

Her voice captivated everypony. Button felt himself caught by the spell, and he just stood, basking in the beautiful sound.

She reached the chorus, and she nearly whispered the low words. “All I wanted was you…” The sound was so pure that Button could hardly believe his ears.

Button felt himself swaying in time with Spike’s playing. The dragon’s voice joined in the song in the second voice, singing the harmony falsetto. And then the chorus hit once more.

“All I wanted was you…” Sweetie’s voice reached up to the heavens, and Button could see the enraptured faces of the crowd.

After the chorus, the singing faded, leaving just the piano. The third verse came and went, and Button knew what was coming next. The piano built, and it suddenly fell out. Sweetie inhaled deeply and raised the microphone to her mouth.

“All I wanted was youuuuuu, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhah!” She hit the high note perfectly, and the silence was broken by an explosion of cheers and applause. The crowd joined in on the rest of the chorus, and, as quickly as it had begun, the song ended.

The applause was tremendous. Button hadn’t noticed that even more ponies had walked in while everypony had been watching the stage, and the waitresses still bustled around trying to find seats for the newcomers.

“Thank you, thank you! Now, we wanted to play some special songs for you. These are some of the first we ever played together, and many of them were performed right here in this room! Here we go!”

Spike launched into a swinging jazz piano tune, and soon Sweetie was singing once more. Button sighed and turned away. He walked back behind the bar and tried his hardest to keep the smile on his face.

“Two more hours... “ he whispered.

~~~

Button wiped down the counter as Spike and Sweetie Belle walked off the stage to the sound of a raucous crowd. He looked over at the clock. “Ten minutes, ten minutes, ten minutes…” The late shift would be arriving to take over from nine until they closed at one, and Button would finally get out of there.

“You know, Button…” Rumble muttered from his normal seat at the bar. All of his other friends were still at their table near the stage, but Rumble had wanted another drink. “I think… I think you need something.”

“Oh, really?” Button asked. A waitress walked over to him and whispered into his ear. He muttered a reply and pointed to a box under the counter. She thanked him and walked toward the indicated location.

“Yeah. You’re so, like, wound tight.” Rumble leaned forward. “I think I know what you need.”

“A real job?” Button asked dryly.

“No…”

“A vacation?”

Rumble thought for a moment. “Well, that might help, but I was thinking of something else.”

“My own place? To move out of town? A raise? More friends?” Button spoke with a laugh in his voice, but part of him wasn’t kidding at all.

“Nah. Brah, you, you’re thinking too small, right?” Rumble laughed.

“Do I need a drink?”

“Yes, but that’s not what I’m getting at.” Rumble sat up. “C’mon. You know what I mean.” He raised his eyebrows several times.

Button sighed. “A marefriend?”

“Well, I guess that works.” Rumble shrugged. “I was gonna say ‘get laid,’ but that’s the same thing, right?”

Button wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Why are you such a perv, Rumble?”

The other stallion chuckled. “Hey, blame the military!”

“No, I think I’ll blame you. You’re drunk, dude.”

The pegasus threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, you ain’t seen nothing yet!”

Button glared at him. “Keep this up and I’ll have you escorted out. I think you’ve almost reached the limit anyways.”

“Nah man, don’t do that!” Rumble pointed at Button. “And stop changing the subject! We need to get you a mare, stat.”

Sighing, Button replied, “Rumble. I’m fine.”

“Dude, you’re not! You’re so tense that I’m getting a migraine just looking at you.”

“No, that would be the alcohol.”

Rumble shrugged. “Why not both?”

“Please, Rumble, drop it.”

“I’m not dropping it until you agree with me!” He put both hooves down on the counter. “We’re gonna get you a mare. Now, let’s see who’s available…”

“Please stop. I don’t want to talk about this.”

“Let’s see… Well, Silver Spoon is still single! There’s that mare who works at the flower shops. And—”

“You know what? That’s it,” Button growled. “Let’s talk about you now. Or, more specifically, let’s talk about you… and Scootaloo.”

Rumble’s eyes widened. “Hey, not cool m—”

“You’re still pining after her, aren’t you? She’s your wingmare, and she hasn’t even noticed you. Ever. You’re right next to her all day, and you can’t even tell her how you feel. You’ve never been able to tell her how you feel, ever since you were just a colt. So stop trying to butt into my life and deal with your own!”

Rumble’s jaw dropped. “Button…”

“What? Is it not true? Did I lie to you? How do you like it, huh?” Button fumed.

“Button. Please…” Rumble looked past him to the other side of the bar.

Button followed his gaze. He turned around, and then it was Button’s turn to drop his jaw. “Oh. Scootaloo. Hi.”

The orange mare stood behind them looking back and forth at the two stallions. After a moment, she spoke. “Is that true, Rumble?”

Rumble’s eyes widened and he sat straight up. All of the slur disappeared from his voice. “Scootaloo, I—”

The mare shook her head and walked backward. “What the hell?” She turned around and ran out the door.

Rumble tried to say something, but no words came out. He turned to Button, totally red in the face.

“Holy shit, Rumble. I’m so s—”

Rumble just shook his head and stood up from the stool. He ran out the door after Scootaloo.

“Hey! What about your bill?” Berry asked.

Button put his face into his hooves and sat on the floor. “It’s on me, Berry. It’s all on me.”

He sat there on the floor until the next manager came to take his spot, and then numbly left the restaurant without even saying goodbye to anypony.

~~~

Button activated his shields once more as he stood at the entrance to the enemy camp. The forest was deathly silent all around him, and the only evidence of any living creatures was the wall against which he leaned. The silver plasteel wall had been scored by countless laser beams and bullets over time, and Button knew that even more were about to join the battle scars.

“Are you in position?” Memory’s voice called out through his com.

“Yeah, just about. I’m gonna scan them, and then I’m breaking through.” Button turned his visor to a new setting. The world turned red, and he could see the outlines of four enemies moving within the camp. The first was a yak, and he glowed purple. Traditional mage. The second was a drake. He stood about as tall as a pony, like all dragons who had been taken into space with the rest of the survivors of Equus so many years ago. Magic had scaled them down so that they could fit inside the spaceships, and they had remained that size when the ships returned. This particular dragon shined a light golden color. Probably a hacker.

The other two were earth ponies, and their outlines were red. Warriors of some kind. At this point, it didn’t really matter what type. Button was pissed, and they were about to help him calm down.

“I’m blasting. Let’s rip these suckers a new one.” Button raised a hoof and forced cybernetic power into it before punching the doorway making it explode in a shower of sparks. Button turned his visor back into its standard mode and jumped into the enclosed area.

The enemies barely had time to look up before Button activated his Blink. He appeared behind the first warrior and took out his shields using an electro-mag punch. He then set his submachine guns to autofire and ripped the earth pony stallion open.

The second warrior took a sniper round right to the back of the head. The armor piercing rounds from Memory’s rifle were so much more powerful than the poor sod’s armor that he didn’t even get a shot off before he died.

“Are you okay, Fade?” Memory asked. Button saw her swiftly fly down from her sniper perch in the trees. “You seem rather upset.”

“It wasn’t a good day.” Button activated his cloak and jumped backward into the shadows. The dragon and the yak spun around wildly as their two comrades fell to the ground. They both reappeared as holographic projections, and Button could read their chat due to the proximity.

Dawn: what the hell!
Jorr: wait i’m lagging whathappened

“Do you want to talk about it?” Memory portaled into the encampment. She rolled forward swiftly and activated her Chaos blade, biting at the shields of the yak mage with her weapon and causing him to jump backwards.

The drake swung at Memory, and his twin Code short swords pierced through her shields and armor. Button saw her health go down by ten points, which was a negligible amount considering her level.

“Eh, there’s not too much to say.” Button lashed out of the shadows and stunned the drake with an overcharge from his implants. He then charged up his own Code powers and released a burst of blue energy. The drake’s armor shattered and his shields fell.

“Well, that doesn’t quite answer my question,” Memory remarked dryly. “Do you want to tell me about it?” Her blasters popped out of her kit and she fired a quick burst at the unshielded dragon. Half of his health bar depleted after that single attack.

The yak charged a fire spell and shot at Memory. She managed to block most of the damage with her shields, but the spell apparently had a bypass capability. Her health went down further.

“Well, okay.” Button Blinked to behind the yak and struck at him with his hooves. “I pissed off one of my only friends pretty badly… like, really badly. I don’t know if he’ll ever talk to me again.” The blow took the mage by surprise. He spun around to face Button.

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Memory immediately took advantage of the opening that the distraction had caused. She glowed with arcane power and hit the mage with a taste of his own medicine. Brilliant white fire fell from the sky and lit him aflame. He screamed in agony and tried to move away from his foes.

“Nah, don’t be sorry. It’s my stupid fault. I said some things that I shouldn't have.” Button fired his guns at the yak, finishing off the rest of his health. He fell down and his own hologram appeared. It immediately disappeared as the player exited his session.

Memory cast a spell that struck Button as well as herself. Their health, shields, and armor all restored back to full, boosted by the power of Celestia. “I think he’s gonna relog as another toon. Get ready.”

“Okay,” Button replied. He couldn’t see the drake anywhere, so he reactivated his visor. It took him a moment to search, but he finally located the foe. Button Blinked again, just in time to put himself in between the pouncing rogue and Memory. Button took the blow on his power armor and countered with a cybernetic attack.

The drake flew across the encampment and crashed into a wall. He crumpled to the ground, and Memory finished him off with a quick noscope from her sniper rifle.

“Nice,” Button remarked.

“No problem. And thanks for the save, by the way.” Memory reloaded her weapons, as did Button.

“Any time! That’s what I’m here for.”

Memory chuckled, but it quickly faded. “You know, I’m sure your friend will forgive you.”

“Actually, I don’t think so. Not this time. I know I wouldn’t forgive me.”

Memory strode toward the center of the compound. Right ahead of her was the entrance to an underground complex. “Is this it?” she asked.

“It matches the coordinates we got from Silver. He said that the raiders took the gear here. I’m guessing that this is a forward outpost where they put all their stolen equipment before their mules take it back to their actual base.” Button scowled. “Damn raiders. Why can’t they just farm for their own supplies and equipment?”

“They prey on the weak because they are also weak,” Memory replied. “But they attacked the wrong guild this time.”

“Oh yeah. So, you wanna go first?” Button asked.

“Hmm… You may go ahead this time, sir. It is your turn, after all.” Memory bowed gracefully.

Button laughed. “Okay, fair enough.”

He popped open the control panel and groaned in disgust. “This is a C2 lock! I could have picked this at level one!”

“Like I said. Weak.” Memory moved right beside him. “So, what are you going to do?”

“Well, first I’m gonna pick the lock, then I’m gonna punch these fools, then I’m gonna—”

“No,” Memory interrupted his talking, “what are you going to do about your friend?”

Button sighed as he continued to hack the entrance. “Honestly? I have no idea. I… I think we both just need some space. I can’t wait to get out of town.”

The door slid open. Button crept slowly down into the darkened stairwell. He beckoned for Memory to follow him.

“Oh, you’re getting out of town? Where are you going?” Memory followed closely behind him. The two made the descent carefully. As usual, Button watched for enemies on his visor and Memory kept an eye out for traps. However, this sorry excuse for a base didn’t seem to have either one of those. At least not in the stairwell, anyways.

“I’m actually taking a trip to Canterlot. I’m gonna be taking some time off. I told my friends that I’m seeing the sights and visiting different places of interest, but I’m mostly trying to find a new job out there.”

Memory stopped moving and went silent for a moment. “Canterlot, you say?”

“Yeah,” Button replied. “In two weeks.”

“Two w—” Memory’s mic cut off. A second later, it came back on. “Sorry. You’re coming to Canterlot in two weeks?”

Button nodded slowly. “Yes. Me go Canterlot. Me go in two weeks. Me say same thing over and over.”

Memory laughed. “Oh, stop it.”

“Fine.” Button chuckled. The two continued to move down the stairs. “Why do you ask?”

Memory took a moment before she replied. “Fade, have I told you where I live?”

“Uhh…” Button thought for a second. “Equestria?”

Memory glared at him. “Ha ha. Really.”

Button shook his head. “I don’t think so, no.”

“I live in Canterlot.”

Button was silent for a second. “Y-you do?” he stammered. “Well, that’s interesting.”

“Yeah…” Memory said. “Maybe when you get here, we could meet up? See each other face to face?”

Button’s mind raced. He’d known Memory online for a long time. They’d been duoing together almost every day, and she was probably his best friend in the whole world. But… “Mem, I’m not sure…” He gulped down the apprehension rising through his throat as he thought about the previous time he had arranged an offline meetup. The ordeal with Rumble had already made him sick, but that, that was—

“Oh, okay.” Memory’s voice was flatter than usual. “It’s cool. We can still run together when you’re out here though, right?”

—that was nowhere close to the burn in his chest induced by the barely hidden sadness in Memory’s voice. “You know what, Mem? You’re my best friend. We should totally meet up when I’m out there! And dinner’s on me!”

The mare’s voice immediately brightened. “Oh, that sounds nice! It’ll be good to finally have a face to match up with the voice!”

“Yeah, it will!” The two of them finally reached the bottom of the staircase. “Okay. I’m gonna open this door if there aren’t any traps. Can you see inside?”

Button saw Memory flip down one of her visor scopes. A moment later she shook her head. “Nope. No traps. You’re all clear.”

“Perfect.” Button charged his implants and kicked down the door. They swiftly rushed inside to find a room filled with footlockers, storage chests, and plasteel containers. “Jackpot,” Button muttered.

Memory flipped open her communicator. A message appeared in the guild comm channel.

Memory: We’ve got the goods. Send in team two.

Button opened up one of the lockers. It was filled to burst with looted crafting components, survival supplies, weapons, armor, and anything else that the raiders could have grabbed from different guild encampments. “Wow. This is a lot more than what they stole from us. They must have been hitting everypony in the area!”

“Yeah…” Memory agreed. She opened another container to find the same thing. We’ll have to contact our allies and see if we can identify where they got all of th—”

“They’re still here! Quick, get them before they steal our loot!”

Button’s head shot up as his proximity voice detector activated. The gruff voice filled his ears, and he immediately activated his visor. He could see the outlines of seven enemies rushing down the stairs. he turned to face Memory, and they smiled at each other.

“You ready?” he asked.

She smiled. “Always.”

Stars, Fears, and Lies

Luna stood atop her tower and gazed upward at the fading rays of sunshine that illuminated the sky. Her sister always made the most beautiful transitions from day to night. Luna supposed that she must have practiced the art during her thousand years of raising and lowering both the sun and moon.

Luna smiled. She levitated a small device out of her saddlebag and placed her headphones over her ears. She casually flipped through her library of songs until she arrived at one that seemed appropriate for that particular night. She pressed play and readied herself.

Celestia’s sky was beautiful, but now the canvas was Luna’s. The Princess of the Night raised her horn to the heavens and closed her eyes serenely. Her magic reached out beyond the grip of Equus, further than the sky, and all the way to the beautiful moon that she knew so well.

Her eyes opened again. They glowed with a brilliant white light as she used her own special talent.

The moon slowly crept up above the far horizon. It glowed softly in the fading light of dusk. The stars appeared in the sky, one by one. The sky faded from rosey gold to purple, and the sun finished its slow march beyond the horizon.

Now the night had officially begun. The howl of a wolf reached out to Luna’s ears, cutting through the sound of her music. Luna smiled. She’d always loved the creatures that adored her night. Their calls of appreciation always captured her heart, and the wolves were some of her favorites.

She hummed along with the song as she continued to paint the sky with glimmering lights and beautiful designs. But tonight, her mind was wandering.

It had been a week since she’d talked to Fade about meeting him when he came to visit Canterlot. They’d played more of the game as if nothing were different, but Luna felt as if there was a tension hanging in the air. He would become a friend in real life, not just over the net, and the looming loss of anonymity gnawed at the back of Luna’s mind.

Her thoughts were disrupted as a small bat fluttered out of the sky and landed on the tower’s railing right beside her. The little creature tilted his head and looked at her.

“Greetings, little one! Are you here just to see me?”

The bat squeaked and hopped closer. Luna giggled. She reached out a hoof and the bat rubbed against it.

“Aww. Aren’t you sweet?” She smiled at her new little friend.

He squeaked once more and cocked his head sideways. She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Oh, so you like my talking, do you?”

The bat squawked again.

“Well, I suppose that you could join me tonight. It would be nice to have somepony to talk to. Or, somebat, haha.” Luna laughed.

The two of them stood beside each other as Luna continued to slowly manipulate the stars above. Ever since Celestia had lowered the moon a week ago, Luna had rededicated herself to making absolutely certain that Equestria received the best night sky that she could possibly provide.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter to you what we talk about, does it?” The bat didn’t reply, so Luna took that as a cue to continue. “Well, let me tell you about what’s on my mind. I have a friend, you see. I don’t know him out here in the real world, but I will soon. I thought that it would be quite an opportunity. I mean, he’s kind, smart, and the only pony who has listened to me without reservation. I know he doesn’t have an ulterior motive. How could he? He doesn’t know who I am…”

The moon glided through the finely sculpted sky until it came to a rest at its apex. Luna lowered her horn and sighed. “But… I don’t know. What will he think of me? I’m a princess. Everypony knows who I am, but nopony knows who I really am. Would he be different? Would he understand me? What if he doesn’t? Will I lose the only pony who cares, besides my own sister?”

The bat did not reply, but instead jumped off the railing and onto Luna’s shoulder. She stroked his face. He leaned into the touch and then nuzzled her neck.

Luna smiled, but it faded after a moment. “What if he’s afraid of me?”

There was no response, of course, and Luna sighed. “Maybe I’m just the one who is afraid… I don’t know.”

Shoulders hunched, Luna walked back toward the door to her chambers. The bat stayed upon her shoulder until she reached the entrance. After that, he gave one final squeak and nuzzle before leaping off her and taking to the night air.

“Goodbye, friend. Perhaps we shall meet again,” Luna whispered. She opened the door and allowed it to slowly swing shut behind her. She glanced at her computer at the other side of the room. Fade wouldn’t be back from work for a few hours, so she had some time to kill. Maybe she would—

“Princess Luna?” A soft voice accompanied a light knock at her door. “Princess Luna, may I speak with you, please?”

Luna strode past her bed and computer and cracked the door open. “Yes?”

She saw the pony on the other side of the door. It was an earth pony mare. She had a green coat and a reddish mane pulled back into a workable but pretty braid. She wore the clothes of a palace maid and blushed when Luna looked at her.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, ma’a— Oops! I mean, Your Highness!” Her voice cracked and her blush deepened.

Luna smiled at the young pony. “Don’t worry, little one. What is it?”

The mare cleared her throat. “Your sister has requested that you meet her in her quarters. She says she has something urgent to tell you.”

“This late in the evening?” Luna wondered aloud. “It must be important. Very well. You may return to my sister and tell her that I am on my way, Miss… what is your name?”

“Oh! Gem! Gem Petal, ma’am!” She curtsied. “I’m one of the new maids.”

“Very well, Miss Petal. Please return to Princess Celestia and inform her that I shall be there shortly.

“Excellent, ma’a— Oh, drat! Princess, I am so sorry. Excellent, Your Highness.” Gem shook herself and smiled sheepishly.

“Do not fret, Miss Petal. I will not hold it against you.” Luna nodded to her. “Now, if you will please excuse me.”

“Of course!” The mare curtsied again and walked down the hall briskly. Luna smiled and shook her head before returning to her room to prepare herself.

~~~

Luna knocked lightly on the door to Princess Celestia’s private chambers. Two members of her guard stood on either side of the highly adorned doorway. The guards nodded to her and Luna smiled in return.

“Enter!” Celestia’s voice called out to her. Luna pushed the door open and slowly strode into the room.

Celestia’s chambers were a stark contrast to the doors that granted access to them. While the twin doors were heavily adorned with sculpture of alabaster and beautifully wrought silver, gold, and gems, the room inside reflected the simplicity and serenity of its resident.

The walls were a soft eggshell white, and soft curtains covered most of the walls. What little of the walls were not covered by the curtains held numerous works of art from all over Equus. Celestia did love her artwork, after all.

The Princess of the Sun stood looking out the window. Her crown sat upon her nightstand and her hair wafted through the air. Celestia's face held a worried grimace.

“Tia? You asked to see me?” Luna approached her sister slowly.

The other pony turned to face her. “Ah, Luna. Good.” She levitated a piece of parchment off her nightstand. “I just received this message from Blueblood. He said it’s from one of his agents in the Griffon capital. The message references events from one week ago, and it only just made its way to Blueblood’s hooves. He passed it on immediately. It is far worse than we feared.”

Luna reached out and grabbed the paper. She skimmed the report until her eyes spotted words that nearly made her heart stop. “They… they eat each other?”

Celestia nodded. “Yes.”

Reading further, Luna felt her jaw drop. “How… how is this possible? Cannibalism, infighting, and sex in their throne room? They’re insane, Tia!”

“I fear that is true.” Celestia sat down wearily. “This makes no sense. They led a rebellion that had the support of the majority of the populace, their military is fanatically loyal, and they have successfully subjugated Yakyakistan, Crete, and Germaney. But they enslave the populace, punish failure with death, and eat their own. These military masterminds relish the most primitive of thrills and thrive upon an addiction to power.”

“This… I cannot believe this. Blueblood’s source must be lying.”

Shaking her head, Celestia pulled out a folder stuffed with paper. “Much of the information has been confirmed by multiple sources. They fired all of their servants a month ago and brought in prisoners that they had captured from other nations. The majority came from Germaney, but some were former citizens of Equestria who lived in the other nations. Since then, they have regularly brought more and more ponies into the capital. None are seen leaving.” Celestia closed her eyes as she hoofed the papers over to Luna.

“Impossible. There is no way that these monsters described by the agent could be in charge. The populace would rise up immediately and crush them.” Luna shook her head.

“They might, except for the griffon military. Their forces have complete control over the capital and all other major cities. The citizens have just endured the bloodiest civil war in all of their history. This ‘peace,’ if it can be called such, is preferable to even more death. It has happened before. A population will endure anything if it is so downtrodden and tired. At least, it will for a time.” Celestia walked toward her sister. “And that makes them dangerous. Far more dangerous than a sane enemy.”

“Can we even reason with them? Or will they attack like rabid dogs?” Luna asked.

Celestia shook her head. “I don’t think so. They don’t want to fight us yet. We are stronger than they are. It is in their best interest to wait to attack until they have built their industrial base. Griffon technology may be behind ours, but their production capacity could potentially dwarf our own, if they can get their industry started. Even magic and superior knowledge would not help us if they field the entire army that they could build within a few short years.”

“Then we should strike now! Hit them while they are weak!” Luna stomped her hoof upon the ground.

“No. That would not be wise,” Celestia replied.

“What?”

Celestia levitated the main report up into the air. “Look at this. Do these griffons sound like they could build a nation into a powerhouse? Do they look like they could even hold their own people together once their anger at these madgriffons outweighs the threat of death? No. History dictates that we wait, at least for a short while. Let them tear themselves apart while we build our own forces.”

“But what if you’re wrong?” Luna retorted. “What if they somehow keep their citizens under their talons?”

“They won’t.” Celestia shook her head. “But let us indulge in that possibility. Every day that passes, our forces become better equipped. Our borders become more secure. Their production grows, yes, but their citizens become more weary. If they do not revolt, we will still have time to intervene before they are ready to initiate the conflict on their own terms. By waiting, we potentially save the lives of countless of our soldiers and citizens.”

Luna considered this for a moment before slowly nodding. “Very well. But this entire idea hinges upon them not attacking us immediately. If they are so bloodthirsty, would they really be able to control themselves for that long?”

“I believe so.”

“Why?”

Celestia raised the paper once more. “Because of General Chaput. He is the only reasonable one of the group. The report says that he butts heads with the other leaders, and that is a very good thing. He is against the brutality. The others are against him, but they still listen to his advice. And that’s all that he’ll need. He’s smarter than them. Better educated, a hero from before the rebellion, and wise enough to see through the political fog. He called Father Dmitri by his first name, Sister. He hasn’t bought in.”

Luna shook her head. “But he’s still just one griffon. We cannot risk our nation on a single being, no matter how aware he is of his situation.”

“We don’t need to rely upon him. We just have to trust that he’s smart enough to see that waiting is far more beneficial to them than an immediate outright war. The fact that he is leading the diplomatic party that is coming to Canterlot is perfect. We will be able to judge him in person. Perhaps he may even be convinced to help his government change talons. I would much rather face him. He can be reasoned with.”

“That may be true, but I still do not like it. It’s too risky. We should prepare the army and attack as soon as possible.” Luna snorted. “The cost in lives may be great now, but the price would increase every day if you are wrong.”

“Indeed. Which is why we should keep our options open. Peace is our goal, and it may yet be attainable. Our best course of action may be to hold off on military conquest and instead engage in economic warfare. If we can hurt their industry, it will be even more difficult for them to threaten us.” Celestia opened her window. “I have already contacted the rest of the council. They will be gathering in the morning to discuss these events. There is nothing that we can do tonight besides think and plan.”

“Very well,” Luna muttered. “I don’t like this at all, Sister.”

“Me neither. I wish we had more information. We still know so little about all of the leaders. I am uncomfortable not understanding them.” Celestia flared her wings. “Luna, I must say something. Your night is quite beautiful. You have been working very hard on it, haven’t you?”

Luna smiled. “Thank you, Tia. I have.”

“I can certainly see it. Would you accompany me? I would like to fly with you and speak of less dark subjects.” Celestia waved out the window with her wing.

“I would like nothing more, Sister.” Luna trotted over to beside her.

“Lovely!” Celestia remarked. With that, the Princesses took off into the beautiful night sky.

Neither of them noticed the small blinking light beneath Celestia's bed. The tiny device flashed two more times to signal that it was transmitting its audio recording to a remote location far away. Then the device went dark once more and awaited the return of its prey.

~~~

Comrade General Chaput walked briskly down the stone corridor in the depths of Griffonspire Castle. Behind him were the two familiar forms of Father Dmitri and Vice-Chief Yvonne. They were followed by Dmitri’s four honor guards, as always, but Chaput didn’t pay attention to them.

“How much further?” Dmitri asked.

“Just through here.” Chaput pointed down another corridor that branched off from the one down which they currently walked. “Oh. And I need to speak with you both in private, please.”

“Why? So that you can slit our throats in the dark?” Yvonne scoffed.

“Please, I merely require your undivided attention. Unneeded ears would only distract us,” Chaput said. He ignored the female’s snide comment, as always.

“Very well. Guards, please remain here and wait for us to return,” Dmitri said.

“Father! You cannot be serious!” Yvonne protested.

Dmitri rolled his eyes. “Very well. Guards, please come running if you hear any of us dying, wouldn’t you?”

Chaput chuckled, and the three griffons walked down the adjoined corridor. They came to the end and walked into a small room featuring a lit fireplace and three chairs around a circular table. The table held a bottle of wine, three glasses, a record player, and several folders.

“Shut the door,” Dmitri said.

Yvonne looked back down the corridor furtively. Seeing that nogriff had followed them, she slowly did as he had asked.

“Do you have the device?” Dmitiri asked Chaput.

“Of course.” The General pulled a small box out of his coat and pressed the large red button upon its front. The device beeped once, and then a light came on.

“We’re clean. No bugs,” Yvonne breathed.

“Good. Yvonne, don’t you think you were laying it on a bit thick back there?” Chaput asked, his beak twisted into a grimace. “‘Oh, he might kill us. Please, help us, oh noble guards.’” He snorted. “Overacting is your greatest sin.”

Yvonne smiled at him. “Oh, come on. You know as well as I do you deserved it. You constantly made fun of how I talk.” She punched him lightly in the shoulder.

Dmitri chuckled. “So, I suppose this means that you have heard back from Canterlot?”

“Indeed,” Chaput said. “My new little friend in the palace managed to slip a bug into Princess Celestia’s room. It recorded this just a few hours ago.”

The black and white general pressed play on the record player. The needle scratched, and then a voice began to speak.

“...ou asked to see me?”

“Ah, Luna. Good. I just received this message from Blueblood…”

The three griffons listened attentively through the whole recording. Their smiles grew and grew as the conversation continued.

“...would like nothing more, Sister.”

“Lovely!”

The record stopped playing, and laughter filled the room.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry that I doubted you,” Yvonne said. She slapped Chaput on the back. “That was brilliant.”

“They bought it! Ha!” Dmitri cheered. “As the saying goes, hook, line, and sinker! Absolutely bloody phenomenal.”

Chaput nodded. “I was worried that our little friend in your guard had been too scared to send his message. It appears that he merely waited. It would have worked, of course. We wouldn’t have known that he had contacted Equestria had we not already known of his identity.”

“A month of setup. Firing our whole staff of servants. Faking a feud between my most trusted advisors.” Dmitri cackled.

“And don’t forget the cannibalism. That was awful! Oh, and kissing you. Possibly worse.” Yvonne shook her head, but her smiled stayed on her beak.

“Chaput, you are a genius. They ate right out of our talons.” Dmitri spread his forelegs out and pulled his general into a hug. “Good show!”

Chaput returned the embrace for a moment and then let go. “Honestly, I was worried that we had taken it too far. I mean, eating another griffon? ‘The sight of you covered in blood is so enticing?’ If we weren’t dealing with ponies, this never would have worked.”

“Well, they do break into song and dance in the middle of the street on a nearly daily basis,” Yvonne remarked. “I don’t think they have a concept of anything being overdramatic.”

“And that kiss at the end was inspired, Yvonne. It really hit the act home.” Chaput clapped his talons together.

“And they thought that we had sex! All I had to do was kiss him!” Yvonne broke into a laugh. “Oh, wonderful. I do so enjoy ponies.”

“Yes,” Dmitri agreed. “This was very well done. But what is our next move? We cannot keep the palace crewed with slaves. There are far too many risks.”

Chaput nodded. “Indeed. Next, we will stage a rather public argument in front of at least two known spies. Yvonne and I will yell at each other until I end up convincing you to bring back paid servants and to stop killing our soldiers.”

Dmitri replied, “Ah, very good. You grow even more in the eyes of the ponies, and we are able to put things back how they were.”

“Precisely. After that, I will continue preparations for the diplomatic mission. By the time we arrive, I should have gained a great deal of their confidence.”

“Then the manipulation continues,” Yvonne finished. “It’s wonderful.”

“Very much so,” Dmitri agreed. “But what of our friend, the spy in our guard?”

Chaput cocked his head to the side. “We should allow him to remain. The spy we know is more useful to us than the spy we don’t. Then, once he has outlived his worth, we catch him red-taloned and host a public execution. We denounce the ponies, and then we use that as diplomatic leverage.”

Yvonne shook her head. “You really do think of everything, don’t you?”

“Not everything,” Chaput admitted. “But I do think of a lot.”

Dmitri picked up the bottle of wine and filled all three glasses. “Well, if this doesn’t call for a toast, then nothing will.” He raised a glass. “To victory, comrades. May our talons strike true, our words bring honor, and our enemies fall. To victory. To Father Griffonia!”

“To Father Griffonia!” The glasses clinked together, and laughter filled the room.

Out in the corridor, distantly removed from the three griffons, four guards stood. They heard none of the laughter, and they held their ceremonial blades at the ready. One of them shifted uncomfortably as a shiver ran down his spine.

The air had become very cold.

Author's Note

The first scene was inspired by TGM's fic Luminescence. It's well worth the read, and is very beautiful!

Vegetables, In-laws, and Crafting

“Okay, good job, everypony! I’ll see you all tomorrow!” Button waved to his coworkers as they all walked past the bar and toward the door. The other shift had already taken their positions, and Button smiled. He could practically feel his game calling his name after such a long day.

“See ya later, Button!” Berry Punch grinned at him as she walked by. “Don’t work too hard!”

“Oh, it’s a bit late for that,” Button replied.

“Thanks, Button!” Petunia scampered by, her mane waving through the air.

“You too, Petunia! Say ‘hi’ to your folks for me!”

One by one, they all passed him. The job might not be the greatest in the world, but the ponies here had become like family to Button.

“Okay Button, I think I’ve got it from here,” his co-manager, Snips, said to him. “Did you get the register balanced?”

“Yep, I’m good. We’re about half a bit short, but that’s because our ‘X’ drop was off this morning. You’re ready to go!” Button wiped off his forehead and sighed. “It was a pretty slow day, but it felt like it took forever.”

“Doesn’t it always?” Snips asked.

“True, true,” Button laughed. “Oh well. I just want to go home. Got stuff to do!”

“All right then!” Snips hoofbumped Button. “Get outta here!”

Button wrote down his time on his punchcard and then headed for the exit. The late night crowd wouldn’t arrive for another hour, so the lounge was on a downtime. Soft music played through the speakers, and none of the ponies glanced at him as he stepped out the door.

Button breathed in the crisp air. The night was a very beautiful one, as they had been for the last several times. He’d always loved the nighttime. The soft beauty spoke to him, and he appreciated the wonderful contrast of the sky to the shining celestial bodies.

“Oh, hello, Button!” a familiar voice called and broke his reverie.

Button turned to see Pip walking toward him pulling a cart loaded up with carrots.

“Heya, Pip.” Button squinted at the cart. “Well, I guess if you want carrots, you just gotta get some carrots.”

Pip shrugged. “Ah, that. Apparently, Apple Bloom wants to make carrot cake jam, so she needed carrots. At nine o’clock. At night.”

Button chuckled. “And you were volun-told to come get them, is that right?”

“Eeyup,” Pip said. “But hey, that’s what husbands are for.”

“If you say so,” Button replied. “I can’t really say anything on the matter.”

“Don’t worry Button. I’m sure you’ll be able to experience the pure bliss that is matrimony soon enough.” Pip nodded wisely. “Relish your freedom, Button. Relish it.”

The two ponies walked together down the street. Button’s house was on the other side of town, as was Sweet Apple Acres. Pip trotted over to Button. His cart bounced over the worn road, and one carrot fell off the top.

“Oh, rats!” Pip turned to the fallen vegetable. “Button, you mind giving a poor stallion a helping hoof?”

“Poor stallion my flank.” Button laughed as he picked up the fallen carrot. “You make Filthy Rich look like some waiter living off tips at this point. How many different businesses do you own at this point? Seven?”

“My lawyer has advised me to say nothing on the matter, so my lips are sealed.” Pip made a zipping gesture over his lips. He paused before adding, “It’s actually eight now. I just bought a mane salon in Manehattan.”

“Oh, Celestia. Why did you do that?”

“Well, if I said that I did it out of the goodness of my heart, would you believe me?”

Button shook his head. “Nope.”

“Drat. Okay, I’ll tell you.” Pip smiled.

“This ought to be good,” Button replied.

“So, Apple Bloom has this aunt in Manehattan, and whenever she goes there for a visit, that pony will try her hardest to get Bloom to go see her stylist because she’s the, and I quote, ‘Best darn tootin’ mane cutter in the whole city!’ Unfortunately, the aunt’s sense of style is, shall we say, lacking.”

Button snickered. “This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with that one time you two went to the city and she came back with that awful manecut, would it?”

Pip squinted at Button. “You’re a sharp one. Exactly. So, Apple Bloom was not happy when that happened. Her mane was butchered and she had to borrow one of her sister’s Stetsons for a month.”

Button snorted.

“It was kind of funny, yeah, but she didn’t see it that way. She was fine afterwards, but we haven’t been back since. But we’re planning on visiting in a few months, and the topic came up again. What if she talks about that stylist again? She wanted to tell her aunt to her face exactly what she thought about the manecut, but the aunt isn’t really for taking disagreements well. So, I came up with an alternative. We buy the salon, and then we spend a few thousand bits on renovations whenever we visit so that Apple Bloom never has to worry about being asked to go again and Aunt Peel doesn’t get mad. It’s genius!”

Button frowned. “Wait. Lemme get this straight. You spent a ton of bits buying some random mane salon in Manehattan and plan on spending even more every time you visit just so that you don’t have to face a confrontation with your wife’s aunt?”

Pip nodded. “Basically.”

“You’re nuts.”

Pip grinned. “Yeah, but I also don’t have to deal with the crazy half of my in-laws this way!”

Shaking his head, Button replied, “I think you have more bits than sense, Pip.”

“If you had the bits and the in-laws, you would do the exact same thing, I promise you.”

“Well, I don’t really have in-laws, so I can’t be sure.” Button smiled lopsidedly. “It’s a funny plan though.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Pip laughed along.

The pair walked quietly side by side for a while, but Pip broke the silence after a few moments. “So, I heard something from Apple Bloom about you meeting a mare in Canterlot when you go to visit. Who is this mare who has finally caught the fancy of the perpetually single Button Mash?”

Button’s head snapped up. “What? How did Apple Bloom find out?”

“Ah, so it’s true! Apple Bloom loses the bet!”

Button shook his head. “Don’t change the subject! How did she hear that?”

“Well, you apparently said something to Spike, who talks in his sleep. Sweetie Belle overheard him talking one night, and she told Apple Bloom what she heard. Then Apple Bloom bet me a cheesecake that it wasn’t true and that Spike was just dreaming.”

Button grimaced. “Good to know that my friends have so much faith in me.”

“Hey! I was on your side, and Apple Bloom thought you were still stuck on Sweetie Belle. She didn’t think any other mare would catch your eye.”

“What? Sweetie Belle?” Button panicked but tried to hide it. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on, Button! You know exactly what I mean! You’d liked her since school. It was almost as bad as Rumble and Scootaloo, but I know that you’ve at least moved on.”

Button sighed. “Great. So now everyone knows everything about my life. Thanks.”

“Button, you didn’t exactly keep it a secret. I think the only ponies who didn’t know about it were the two of you. But then she and Spike got together, and you handled it amazingly well. Unless you’re a way better pony than me, you must have moved on. If it had been me, I would have either moved on or challenged Spike to a duel. Actually, scratch that. He would have probably won. I’d have just moved away.”

“Uh huh,” Button growled. “Yeah, I guess I did move on.”

Pip eyed him suspiciously, and then his jaw dropped. “Oh, crap. You haven’t moved on?”

Button stopped walking and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath before replying, “Nope.”

Pip stopped walking as well and turned to face him. “Oh, Luna. I’m sorry, Button. I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine,” Button said. “I’m trying to move on. Hiding from her, or even talking about her, won’t help. That’s kinda why I’m going to Canterlot. I just need to get away.”

“And maybe meet somepony else?” Pip inquired.

Button shook his head. “I dunno, Pip. I’ve known this mare for a while, but I don’t know if I feel that way about her. She’s probably my best friend. She’s smart, funny, sweet, but I also don’t really know anything about her. I’m just gonna go there and get to know her. If anything happens, it happens. I’m not getting my hopes up for no reason again.”

“Well, it sounds like she’s a nice mare,” Pip said. “What’s her name?”

Button sighed. “I don’t know. We just call each other by our usernames.”

Pip raised an eyebrow. “That’s… not a good sign, Button. How do you know that she’s not some psycho, or a stalker, or something?”

Button shrugged. “Pip, I talk with her for up to eight hours straight some nights. We play games every night. I’ve known her for over a year. If she were crazy, it probably would have come out by now.”

“Okay, if you say so. But does she know your name?”

Button shook his head.

“Oh, boy. Button, how does she know that you’re not a psycho or something?”

“I dunno. I guess we just get each other. I can’t explain it.” Button sighed. “Come on, let’s keep going.”

The stallions resumed their walk.

“Well, I hope it goes well for you, Button. You deserve somepony who can make you happy. You’re one of the nicest guys that I know, and you’d be darn near perfect if you could lose that stupid fedora.” Pip smirked.

“Hey! I like the fedora! It was a great replacement when my mom said that my old hat was too juvenile when I went to college!”

“Celestia, I’d forgotten that you wore that old propeller hat all the way through highschool.” Pip snickered. “You are a nerd now, and you were even more of a nerd then.”

“Meh,” Button replied.

“Since you mentioned your mom, how is she? I haven’t seen her around town in a few days.”

Button frowned. “She’s okay. She’s sick right now, but it’s just a cold or something. You probably haven’t seen her because she works even more than I do. Without my dad, she really needs all the bits she can get to afford the house. I try to help, but she keeps telling me to just save my money. She’s pretty stubborn sometimes.”

“That she is. You take after her more than you think. Do let her know that I hope she gets better, won’t you?” Pip smiled.

“I will. Thanks.” Button nodded at his friend, but something that Pip had said a little bit ago pulled at the back of his mind. “Pip? Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, but you might get a smartflank answer.”

Button chuckled. “I’ll take the risk. Pip, have you heard from Rumble lately?”

Pip’s smile faded. “No, I haven’t. The last time I talked to him was at the lounge when you were there with us. He and Scootaloo had to go back to the Academy the day after.”

“Oh. Okay.” Button winced. “I don’t know if you know, but…”

“Yeah, I heard from Bloom. Button, that wasn’t your fault. He was being a total ass, no offence to our donkey friends. He was drunk and didn’t stop when you asked him to. You just reacted.”

“But I hurt him, Pip. I may have destroyed his dream of being with Scootaloo. I’m an idiot.” Button sighed. “I just wished I knew how he’s doing.”

“Button, you need to stop beating yourself up. Yeah, you’re an idiot, but not because of what happened with Rumble. I’ve been calling you an idiot for ages because it’s true.”

Button smiled despite himself. “Great pep talk, Captain.”

“Oi!” Pip cried indignantly. “I only wore that outfit a few times, and it was a long time ago!”

“You were wearing it every day, and you wore it just last month,” Button countered.

“Ah, whatever.” Pip waved him away and then cleared his throat. “I’m serious, though. You can’t change it, so you just need to let it go. You guys have been through a lot together. I mean, he was there for you in some of the hardest times of your life, and you were there for him when he lost his brother. That’s not something that just disappears.”

“I just don’t know, man.” Button looked down at the ground. “I really don’t know…”

Pip nudged him with a hoof. “Hey. If you don’t know, then don’t jump to conclusions. And trust me. Rumble won’t hate you for it. He might be pissed for a while, but he’ll be fine later. Just give it some time. And take that vacation.”

“That’s the plan,” Button replied. “Thanks, Pip.”

“No problem! And you can repay me by finding that creepy stalker mare and kissing the crap out of her. After you buy her dinner, of course.” Pip winked.

“Oh, jeez. It’s not like that!”

“But it could be! You don’t know!” Pip threw his head back and laughed. “Button and the stalker, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S—”

“Are you still five? Cut it out.” Button socked his shoulder.

Pip rubbed his side and groaned. “Hey! That kinda hurt!”

“Big baby.” Button looked off to the right and saw that they were approaching a familiar house. “Well, I guess this is my stop! Thanks again, Pip. Even though you are clearly the one who is the idiot, talking to you helped.”

“No problem, idiot!” Pip said cheerily.

“Say hello to Bloom for me!”

“Can do!” Pip trotted off further down the street toward Sweet Apple Acres.

Button turned away from the stallion and shook his head. A smile crossed his face. “Paying so many bits just to not talk to in-laws. And I’m the idiot…”

~~~

Button knocked on the door to his mother’s room. He could smell her humidifier running and hear her coughing. “Mom? May I come in?”

“Oh, come in, Button!”

Button gently opened the door. He peeked inside and saw his mom lying on her bed under an immense pile of blankets. Her humidifier ran on her bedside table and she held a book in her hooves. She was wearing her reading glasses, and her slightly graying mane was pulled back into a sloppy bun. She smiled as she saw him.

“Hey, sweetie. How was work?” She coughed after she spoke, but her eyes were shining.

“Eh. It’s work. Could be better, could be worse.” Button trotted inside and sat on one of the chairs in the medium sized room. His mom kept it clean and uncluttered. She had very little inside of the room. There were two dressers, one that she used and one that had been Button’s father’s. It had stayed untouched for six years except for the occasional dusting. She had a few chairs in the room as well as a small table where she would sometimes write or read.

“Well, at least you have a job. Did you see any of your friends?”

Button nodded. “Yep. I walked with Pip on the way home and we talked about some stuff. Did you know that he’s spending thousands of bits so that he wouldn’t have to talk to some of his in-laws?”

His mom lowered her glasses. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Huh. I suppose I probably would have done the same if I’d been as wealthy as him when I had to deal with your father’s family. Or some of them, at least.” She laughed.

“No way. You agree with him?” Button raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, I don’t know Button. In-laws are either an amazing thing or the scariest part of life. I’m sure you’ll figure that out later…” She gazed at him. “Hopefully. Though, one usually needs a spouse in order to have in-laws.”

Button blushed. “Man, everyone is talking about my love life! Isn’t there anything else worth discussing besides Button’s lack of a marefriend?”

“Button, I don’t really care what the town talks about. I do want grandfoals before I’m too old to play with them, you know. It’d be awful if I had to chase them around in a wheelchair while they crawled around the room.”

“Aw, Mom. You’re not that old. At least, not yet.” He stuck out his tongue.

She laughed, but then she coughed again. Button frowned in concern.

“Are you okay, Mom?”

“I’ll be fine. I just need to get all the junk out of my system.” She looked over at her bedside clock. “Well, I may as well get to sleep soon. You have tomorrow off, don’t you?”

Button nodded. “Yep!”

“Good. Maybe we can talk more over breakfast?”

Button pursed his lips and pouted. “Oh, so you don’t want to talk to me? I see how it is.”

His mom laughed but then immediately coughed very hard. After a moment she stopped. “Oh, Button. Don’t make me laugh. It huuuuurts…” She winked at him.

“Okay, okay. I’ll let you get some rest.” Button strode over to her and kissed her on her forehead. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, baby.” She pulled him into a weak hug. “And I was just teasing about the marefriend. Take all the time you need. I just know that there’s some special mare out the, just waiting for you. And I don’t want you to settle for anypony, so you just keep waiting. You’ll get your princess someday, and she’ll be worth the wait.”

Button returned the hug. “Thanks, Mom. You get better, you hear?”

“Sir, yes sir,” she replied. “Good night, baby.”

“Good night, Mom.”

~~~

“Do you have any extra scrap tinantium?” Memory asked Button.

“Give me a sec, I’ll check…”

Button and Memory stood in their guild’s crafting hall. The enormous metal room included a vehicle bay for maintenance, a vendor requisition table, and row after row of tables for the creation, modification, and development of weapons and armor. The pair stood side by side working on their own projects. Button stood over a prototype of a new burst fire submachine gun. His old guns had been significantly weakened by the latest update, and the introduction of several new types of powered ammunition had opened up the possibility for new approaches to medium ranged combat. Button figured that the experiment would be worth the small cost in materials.

Next to him, Memory stood over her own project, a new suit of heavily powered robe armor. It was something of a challenge since powered robe armor was notoriously hard to balance. Very few viable end-game builds were able to use robe armors unless they were almost completely dexterity based, which Memory was not. But after spending some time on the wiki, she and Button had come up with a recipe that might completely change that, so long as they had all the components.

Button looked into his inventory. “Yeah, I’ve got eighteen of them. How many do you need?”

“I only need seventeen! That’s perfect!” Memory cheered. She walked over to him, and the components traded hooves. “Thanks!”

“No problem.” Button returned to his station, but something nagged at the back of his mind. he turned toward Memory and cleared his throat. “Hey, Mem?”

“Hmm? What is it?” Memory kept working, but she glanced over in his direction.

“So, we haven’t really talked about my trip to Canterlot since we first decided to meet.” Button paused for a second. “So, I was thinking…”

“Yes?” Memory said after a moment of silence between the two.

“I’ve never told you my name, have I?” Button said quietly.

Memory didn’t reply for a moment. “No, we’ve always just used our characters’ names.”

“Well, if we’re meeting up in real life, I figured that we may as well use our actual names at some point. And we’ve only got about five days until we meet, so I was thinking that we may as well start now.” He cleared his throat. “Mem, my name is Button Mash. I’m an earth pony. I live in Ponyville, and I’m a manager at a jazz club, but you knew that part. I have a brown coat and an orange mane, and I usually wear a hat of some kind. Mostly a fedora, haha. My cutie mark is a bronze colored shield..”

Memory sat still and processed for a moment. “Button Mash… that’s a nice name. I like it.”

“Thanks,” Button replied. “I just didn’t want you to think I was some creepy stalker or something. Or something worse.”

“Well, I never thought that,” Memory said with a laugh. “Fa— Excuse me, I’ll have to get used to this. Button, you are my best friend, and I would not have thought something like that about you. I would have been severely disappointed and probably would have called the Royal Guard had it been true when we met, but I was never suspicious.”

Button sighed in relief. “Well, that’s good to know. I—”

A text message popped up on Button’s HUD, and the blip interrupted him.

Silver: All members to guild call, stat. Raiders incoming!

“Oh, crap!” Button said. “Okay, I’m leaving this chat! I’ll see you in the other call!”

Button quickly changed over into his other internet chat. He pressed the large blue join button and scanned the texts as all the players messaged each other.

Silver: Check in!
Noble: here!
Jexxc: eeyup
Memory: I am present.
Fawkes: sup

Button quickly sent his own message.

Fade: Here

Several other players checked in, and then the call appeared on his HUD. Button pressed the accept call button, and several voices started talking through his com.

“—kay, everypony. Our sensors just detected a group of twenty-five plus PCs approximately five minutes away from the south side of our base. We don’t have any reads on their stats, but they’re definitely headed right for us.” Button recognized the voice of Silver Feather, the guild leader. He played as a griffon Shadow who specialized in damage. He was second only to Memory in tactics, and he had designed what was considered the best, and most expensive, base defense strategy in the history of the game.

“Hmm, all right.” The next voice belonged to a mare who played a draconequus named Noble Rain. Noble was the only officer in the guild who played a character who was a different gender from her own. Her male character was one of the best healers in the game, and that made her a very valuable asset to the team. “I’m moving to turn the defenses on right now.”

Memory spoke next. “Fade and I will get into position on the south wall and try to slow them down. Have the new members had the raid drill yet?” She and Button left the crafting hall and ran to their positions as quickly as possible.

“No, we didn’t have time yet. I guess that the best practice is in the application.” Silver cleared his throat. “Fawkes, Jexxc. I want you two to follow me. We’ll be heading down to the closest false entrance. Odds are that they’ll attack that first unless they have inside information. Noble, I want you headed to the treasury. If we need you, we’ll call you. I want two fighter types to join her there. Everypony else, you all need to get to the entrance. We’ll be ready.”

“Can do,” another voice replied. Button didn’t know who this was, but a quick glance at the chat showed that it was Fawkes, one of the new members that Memory had recruited a few days ago.

More orders sounded out through the chat, and Button concentrated on preparing his weaponry. “Mem, sidebar chat.” He switched back over to the other call, and Memory came with him.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I don’t want to interrupt the rest of the group, but I’m not set up for being up on the wall. I’m close range. If you want to snipe, I’ll just try to draw their fire and identify as many of their classes as possible.”

“Okay, that would work,” Memory replied. “I’ll keep them off you.”

The two of them scrambled up a flight of stairs until they got to an elevator. They ran inside and quickly activated it. After a moment, the door opened once more. They dashed out onto the top of the base’s wall just in time to see three winged characters land on it.

Button reacted instantly by using a command to switch back into the main call. “They’re on the wall! They’re gonna try to hit from above!” He then opened fire with his submachine guns.

The foes, a griffon, a pegasus, and a winged dragon, all dodged his bullets, but Memory took advantage of their preoccupation to enter stealth and flank them.

“They’re down at the false entrance too!” Silver shouted. “I’m outgunned down here.”

“We’re under attack at the main gate!” one of the other guild members cried. “Where are those bloody defenses?”

“I’m on it!” Noble replied.

Button ignored the rest of the chat and focused upon his foes. Channeling his earth pony magic and overcharging his cybernetic augments, Button activated his full defensive mode. His armor glowed a brilliant gold covered by shimmering blue light.

His foes opened fire. The dragon fired a shotgun, the pegasus used his own machine gun, and the griffon charged him with two massive swords in his talons. Button stood his ground and allowed the attacks to strike his shields. The shotgun was a kinetic weapon, but the machine gun was laser powered. Button grinned. Perfect.

His augmented shield absorbed the laser attacks. The shields took the power that it leached from the laser beams and transferred it to Button’s own augments. Button allowed the rounds to continue to impact him and waited for the griffon to get into range.

As soon as the blade wielding foe neared him, Button released his overcharged augmented shield. The energy overloaded his augments, and his hooves shot out toward the griffon. The enemy tried to flinch away, but it was too late.

With a sickening thud, Button’s massively overpowered attack hit the griffon. He broke through the shields instantly and also managed to inflict massive damage to the weaker player’s armor. When his second blow, also overcharged, came crashing down, it was too late for him. The griffon fell to the floor, dead.

At that exact moment, Memory came out of stealth right behind the dragon. Her Chaos swords flared into reality and then burned with the power of the sun. The blade cut into his scales, and he turned to face her.

Button charged the pegasus, guns blasting. The pegasus leapt into the air. He flapped his wings several times, but he didn’t get away. Button activated his jetpack and caught up with him immediately. Button grasped at his foe and caught him in a headlock. The pegasus gasped for air as Button activated his energy gauntlets and squeezed. The pegasus, unable to breathe, stopped flapping his wings, and Button smiled. He turned back around to the wall and flew at it at full power. He came closer and closer, and he didn’t slow down. Just before impact, however, he activated his overcharged shield. The impact rattled him, but it had done very little damage. The same could not be said for the pegasus, who lay in a bloody puddle on the floor. He reappeared as a hologram and winked out of existence as he allowed himself to respawn back at his base.

Button glanced up just in time to see Memory stick her blade into the dragon’s skull. The dragon lay facedown on the floor, and he too disappeared when he respawned at his own base. Button nodded to her, and she spoke into her com.

“Okay, that’s three dispatched on the wall.” Memory glanced down toward the ground far below their perch. “We don’t have any vantage from up here. They’re all inside. We’re going to powerlock the wall entrance and fly down to hit them from behind.”

“Okay, hurry!” Silver yelled into the mic. “I’m pinned, and Jexxc is almost dead.”

“We’ll get there!” Memory said. She switched over to the private call. “Fa— Umm, Button, I can seal this. Can you get down there and help them now?”

“No problem,” Button replied. “I’ve gotcha.” Button took a running jump off the wall and dove down toward the ground. The wind whipped past him as he accelerated while he fell. A mere moment before he hit the ground, he flared his jetpack just enough to slow him down. He landed lightly on his hooves and took off running toward the false entrance.

Silver’s defense strategy seemed very odd to new players. Instead of building walls that attempted to be impenetrable, Silver focused on using player’s tactics against them. He made dozens of entrances along the walls of the base. Only one of them at a time would be an actual entrance, and Silver would change it after each attack. All of them were heavily shielded, fully guarded by automated canons, and they were completely indistinguishable from the actual entrance. The same was true up on the wall. Many elevators went down from the wall, but only one at a time would open out into anything other than a blank wall. This made the defenses and the constant reconstruction extremely expensive, but the unpredictability bought the defenders enough time to flank their foes and usually left invades helpless as they had to fight in and out of many layers of defenses before they even got inside the base.

Button charged into the first false entrance where Silver and his troops had made their stand. They’d come in through the one-way door on the roof of the cavernous room that was the false entrance. The door then shielded and sealed itself after they used it, leaving only one way into the base, the real entrance.

Button arrived just in time to see six enemies still standing inside the room. They all fired upon the three figures who huddled behind one of the only remaining pieces of cover.

Button slammed a hoof into his first target, a donkey mage. The mage flew into a wall from the force of the blow, and Button struck at his next enemy.

He delivered blow after blow at his foes, and soon their fire no longer arced out at the three heavily damaged defenders. Button jetted into the air and yelled into his mic, “Where are the defenses?”

“Somepony’s done something to them! I’m trying to get them online, but I think they’re jammed locally! It’s going to take me ages to hack it from here,” Noble said.

“I’m coming down there now! I’ll try to find their Hacker and counter him!” Memory cried.

Button refocused on his enemies. They leapt at him left and right, and it took all of his coordination to keep them at bay. His shields slowly drained further and further down as their attacks got past him, but he scored at least as many hits on them.

Silver flew out of his cover in a solid gray blur. He had focused his character upon speed, and it certainly showed. He raised his talons behind one foe and struck. Then he moved onto another, and another. He stunned two of the enemies before he was finally attacked in return.

Jexxc was too weak to leave cover, but he did his best to help by peering around the corner and taking shots at enemies who tried to move in to flank the two melees.

Fawkes lit the air with glowing purple fire, blinding everyone inside for a moment. The energy seared his foes, and their shields dropped temporarily. Button smiled and struck swiftly.

“I think I know where the Hacker is…” Memory said over the com. “He’s inside our own base! He’s tapped into the mainframe!”

“Great!” Noble spat. “Okay, I’m headed there. Memory, can you meet me at the mainframe? We can get him together.”

“Gotcha!” Memory replied.

Button continued his battle. Outnumbered, the four warriors held their ground. Their foes may have had a numerical advantage, but Button and Silver had worked together as tank and DPS for over a year. They fought as one cohesive unit, and they held back the less disciplined enemies.

Silver struck the mage from behind while Button absorbed his fire and distracted his comrades. When the mage turned to face Silver, the griffon disengaged and Button struck at him as quickly as he could. Fawkes kept them supported with medium ranged area of effect control spells, and Jexxc got into a shootout with two of the enemies. The fight continued, and the seconds stretched into minutes as the combatants fought each other.

“We’re at the mainframe!” Memory called out. “He’s in stealth, but I’m tracking him. Getting closer… closer… Got him! Quickly, Noble! Stop him!”

Button struck at his enemy once, twice, three times. The mage’s shields fell, and Button bludgeoned him until he stopped moving. Silver slashed through two foes at once and fired his dual shotguns into a third. All four of the enemies stopped moving at the same moment, and their holograms appeared. Just as quickly, they released and returned to their base.

“Got him!” Memory shouted triumphantly. “Okay, moving to activate defenses!”

With a sudden whir, the automated turrets in the false entrance powered up. They swiftly acquired their targets and fired off a long burst of explosive rounds. The few remaining invaders fell.

Silver cheered. “Great synergy guys! Let’s get over to the actual entrance and help everypony else!”

“Did you just compliment our synergy?” Fawkes asked.

“Yes. He does that a lot,” Button said. “That’s possibly his favorite word.”

“That or cohesion,” Noble added dryly.

“Oh, shut up! Let’s get over there and finish them off!”

After a quick flight out of the false entrance and toward the main battle, Button landed just in time to see the final enemy collapse into a lifeless slump.

“Yes! Got him!” Fawkes cheered. He had teleported to the other entrance instead of flying or running and had arrived in time to be of assistance. “Not bad for our first raid, eh Jexxc?”

Jexxc didn’t reply with a microphone but instead typed into the guild chat.

Jexxc: eeyup. good job everypony

“It’s not over yet, everypony…” Silver muttered. “We’ve got a spy. Someone had to have let the hacker in. There’s no way he could have just gotten past all of our defenses.”

Memory sighed. “I agree. Does this mean we’ll need another investigation?”

“Yes,” Noble said. “We have to be sure.”

“Great. Just great,” Button muttered. “Okay, I’ll go get the records from our cameras and try to get everypony’s location information. Can someone else review the activity log to see when everypony was online? That would help.”

“I’ll go,” Noble said. The draconequus alchemist slithered up toward the entrance. “This is going to take a while.”

“Yep,” Silver said with a sigh. “Okay, good job everypony. I’ll make a note of our kill counts, and rewards will be distributed accordingly. Everyone who wants to help asses the damage to the base, stay in the chat. Everypony else go do what you need to do.”

“Roger,” Noble said. She left the chat immediately.

“Okay, I’ll check out the records. I’ll be in touch.” Button left the phone call and returned to his original call with Memory. “You here, Mem?”

A moment later, the reply came through. “Yeah, I’m here.” Her voice sounded quiet.

“You okay?” he asked. “You sound a bit off.”

“It’s nothing,” Memory replied. “Just thinking about stuff.”

“Eww, thinking,” Button joked. “Stop that!”

Memory laughed. “Easier said than done.”

Button pursed his lips. “Do you wanna talk?”

“Well, I kind of have to. It’s about… well, it’s about you giving me your name.”

“Oh.” Button swallowed. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Actually, it’s not so much your name as it is mine. I… This is hard for me. I’ve never given my name out to somepony over the internet before,” Memory said hesitantly. “I’m just a bit uncomfortable.”

“Hey, it’s okay, Mem. There’s no pressure.”

“No, but I feel like I need to tell you. So, here goes…”

Button waited for a second until Memory spoke once more.

“My name… is Starry Skies.”

Interlude II: Regrets

Princess Celestia stood quietly beside the window in her private chambers. Her eyes scanned the dark horizon, and a frown covered her face. She grabbed the crown on her head and gently set it aside. The wind from the night sky blew her hair out behind her, and the princess closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“Change is coming…” she whispered to herself.

A soft knock came from the door behind her. Celestia turned quickly to see a timid mare poking her head into the room. The princess smiled and used her magic to gently open the door. “What is it, Gem?”

“Oh!” The green mare jumped. “I’m sorry to disturb you, Princess! Your sister is outside, and she wants to speak to you!”

“This late? Interesting. Let her know that I will be right out to see her.” Celestia picked up her crown and placed it back on her head.

“You don’t want to talk to her in your room, Highness?” Gem asked.

“No, I don’t think so. I feel like stretching my legs for a bit.” Celestia nodded. “Thank you, Miss Petal.”

“Of course, Princess.” The mare bowed herself out, and Celestia frowned again.

After a moment of straightening her mane, Celestia walked toward the door and confidently strode into the corridor. She turned to her right to see her sister standing against the wall. Her face was a stony mask, and Celestia raised an eyebrow.

“Luna! I wasn’t expecting you at this hour. I thought that you would be busy,” Celestia pulled her sister into a hug. Luna returned the embrace robotically, and Celestia pulled away.

“I’m sorry to wake you, Sister.” Luna nodded without making eye contact. “I just needed to talk.”

“Oh, I wasn’t sleeping. You did not wake me,” Celestia replied. “Come, let us walk.”

The two princesses slowly walked down the long hallway. Celestia glanced at her sister out of the corner of her eye. Luna’s mane was frazzled, her crown was crooked, and her eyes were red, as if she’d been crying.

“Luna, what’s wrong?” Celestia asked after a few moments of walking.

“I…” Luna sighed. “I think I have made a mistake, Sister.”

Celestia cocked her head to the side. “What happened?”

Luna pursed her lips. They kept walking, and Celestia bit back her words. She of all ponies knew that Luna had to choose to open up on her own.

The hallway slowly curved rightward as their stroll continued, and the walls changed from being lined with beautiful curtains and tapestries to instead featuring numerous suits of magnificent armor. The soft red carpet ended, making a transition into an ancient hardwood floor. Celestia had always loved the old part of the castle and had never thought it necessary to change the decorations. The floors had been replaced after a fire, but the suits of armor were all original. The ceiling rose high into the air, and the smell of old books filled their nostrils. They were approaching the library.

“I talked to my friend tonight,” Luna finally muttered.

“Oh, that’s good.” Celestia carefully kept her tone neutral.

“He… he told me his name today.”

Celestia bit back a frown. She stayed silent and waited for Luna to continue.

“I thought I was ready, Tia. I really did…”

Glancing over at her sister, Celestia saw the glimmer of tears running down her face.

“But I wasn’t.” The Princess of the Night, co-ruler of the greatest nation of Equus, sobbed in the silent hallway. “I’m a coward, Tia.”

Celestia stopped walking and held out a wing to halt her sister. “Hey, come here.” She pulled the other alicorn into a hug.

Luna clung to her like a lifeline. “T-Tia. He told me his n-name, and I t-tried to t-tell him mine.”

Celestia ran a hoof through her sister’s hair. “It’s okay…”

“No, it isn’t! I lied to him!”

Celestia sighed, and Luna shook from her sobs.

“He trusted me, and I lied to him! I was scared, so scared! I made sure I was ready. I waited, but when the moment came, I just… I…”

“You couldn’t do it?” Celestia whispered.

“Yes,” Luna replied. “I just couldn’t do it.”

“What did you say?”

Luna wiped the tears from her eyes. “I t-told him my name was Starry Skies. He said that it was a pretty name, and we just kept playing. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to run away. So I told him that I had to go early for the night, and I…” Luna sniffed. “I jumped onto my bed and I cried. I just kept crying.”

Celestia felt her sister pull away from her. “Luna…”

“I’m ashamed of myself. I’m supposed to be a princess, and I’m afraid of my own name…”

“Luna…”

“I just wanted to get to know him, to make a real friend.”

“Luna.”

“But now I’ve ruined it! How could he ever—”

“Luna!” Celestia said forcefully. Her sister shook herself and looked at Celestia with wet eyes. “You made a mistake. It’s not the end of the world.”

Sniffing, Luna shook her head. She gazed at the floor. “But it is the end of our friendship…”

“No, it isn’t.”

Luna looked back up. “How? I lied to him, terribly.”

“It’s not too late,” Celestia said. “You can tell him that you were scared and then let him know who you really are.”

“What?”

Celestia smiled. “Luna, I’m sure he knows that everypony makes mistakes. He’s surely made some of his own before. Just tell him who you are, and it’ll be okay.”

“But… But…” Luna stammered.

“But what?”

“But I’m still scared, Tia! I don’t want to ruin our friendship. How could he be friends with a princess? Some ponies think we are goddesses! We’re larger than life. How can you talk to that? How could you be friends with that?”

“So, instead of taking a risk that he might not accept you the way you are, you make him accept you for something that you aren’t. How is that better?” Celestia asked.

Luna thought for a moment before responding. “Because...” she began. “Because this way, he’d at least accept me at all.”

Celestia’s head fell. “I understand, Luna.”

Luna stomped her hoof. “It’s stupid, I know, but I can’t lose him! He’s the only pony besides you whom I can actually talk to! If he rejects me, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“Luna, I understand. I may not agree, but I understand. And I want to help you.”

Her sister wiped away another tear. “Y-you do?”

“Of course.” Celestia smiled. “That’s what sisters are for.”

Luna shakily returned the smile. “Th-thank you, Tia.”

“But first, we need to make a plan. You can’t hide yourself from him forever. You’ll need to tell him eventually.”

Luna’s head fell once more. “I know. I know.”

“So, let’s decide when you’ll tell him.” Celestia pushed her mane out of her eyes. “How well do you really know him?”

“Not well,” Luna replied, “but he’s coming to Canterlot in a few days, and I’m going to be meeting him for dinner.”

Celestia’s eyes widened in shock. “So you are meeting in person?”

“Yes.” Luna sighed. “That’s why I panicked so badly about my name.”

Celestia stroked her chin thoughtfully. “How long will he be in town?”

“I’m not sure. I think he’ll be here for a week or two.”

Celestia nodded slowly. “Okay, how about this? You meet up with him a few times and get to know him better. See what he likes. What does he do? What are his hobbies? Then, take him to visit the castle. I’d like to see him in person.” Celestia smiled. “Then, if you’re becoming friends quickly, you can tell him. He’d be surprised, but he might understand after you explain to him why you were so afraid.”

“Great,” Luna said. “Now I have to lie to him, only to justify it.”

“You could just tell him right away,” Celestia replied. “That would be the best course of action.”

Luna shook her head. “No, I’d just scare him away…”

“Very well then, Sister. Though, you’re only putting off the inevitable.”

“I know…” Luna muttered. “Okay, I can do what you said, but I may need your help.”

“Whatever you need, I’m here for you.” Celestia smiled at her sister.

“Thanks, Tia.” This time, Luna initiated the hug. “You’re the best sister I could have ever asked for.”

“As are you, Luna. As are you.” Celestia nuzzled the side of her head. The two pulled apart, and Celestia cocked her head sideways. “By the way, what day is he coming to town? Is it the same day that the griffon delegates are arriving?”

Luna thought for a moment, and then she nodded her head. “I believe so. Why?”

Celestia chuckled. “Oh, just because fate is amusing.”

Luna shook her head. “Bah. I’m not so sure what I think about fate any more.”

“Fate is what you make of it,” Celestia said, “but I cannot help but think this is no coincidence.”

“Maybe, maybe not.” Luna pursed her lips, and then she shook herself. “But anyways, I shouldn’t take up any more of your time.”

“Time with you is always worth it, Luna. I spent far too long with you taking up none of my time. I love these moments.” Celestia stood up straight. “Although, I would enjoy them more if there was less deception involved.” She winked at Luna.

Luna chuckled. “I love you too, Sis. Good night.”

“Good night, Luna.” The sisters hugged yet again, and then they walked off in opposite directions. Thought after thought ran through Celestia’s mind, and she sighed once more.

She came back to her room and slowly opened the door. The moonlight still filtered through the window, and her bed beckoned her. She gently locked the door, cast a silencing spell upon her hooves, and crept toward the bed. Quietly using her magic to lift up the sheets, she peered underneath the frame of the bed. There, flashing a barely noticeable red light, was the listening device. It was in the same position as always, and Celestia smirked. She magically unlocked her door and released the spell upon her hooves.

“Oh, yes,” she muttered. “This is going to be a very interesting meeting…”

She laid herself upon the bed and closed her eyes. A smile slowly crept over her face, and the Princess of the Day allowed herself a small chuckle.

“Soon.”

End of Act I

Author's Note

So ends the first section of the story! The real fun begins next chapter...

Guards, Tea, and Cloaks

Princess Luna stared up at the ceiling above her bed. She sighed as she tried to count the small specks on the ancient tiles. One thousand two hundred and nine, one thousand two hundred and ten… She’d already lost count three times, and her patience was slowly fading away.

It had been a long day. The lunch with the griffons had been dull. Nothing of interest had happened. Small talk had occupied the majority of the meal, and Chaput and his entourage had spent most of their time joking with Celestia and the Prime Minister. Luna herself had spent her time at the table eating silently and thinking about the upcoming evening… One thousand two hundred and… and… Luna rolled onto her side as she lost track once more.

The clock on the wall had slowly advanced toward the fateful hour, and Luna could feel her anxiety grow with every tick of the second hand.

“Oh, that’s it,” she growled. The princess leapt off her bed and moved to her dresser. She opened the topmost drawer, levitated her dress, headband, and glasses out of it, and set them atop the wooden piece of furniture. She also pulled out a small sheet of paper Celestia had given to her earlier in the day. That joined the rest of the items as well.

Luna removed her contacts quickly and placed them into their case. She squinted as she located her saddlebags and put them onto her back. Using her telekinesis, she levitated her possessions off the dresser and carefully set them into the saddlebags.

She nodded to herself and trotted over to the door to her room. She slowly opened it and glanced outside. Celestia had stationed two of her Day Guards outside the room, just in case of… issues. Luna saw the first stallion, an earth pony with a grey coat, turn to her.

“Princess, do you need anything?” the guard asked.

Luna stepped out into the hall. “Yes. I am going out to the gardens, and I will most likely be gone for a while. Will you keep an eye on my room for me?”

“Of course, Princess. Your wish is our command,” he replied. “Would you like one of us to accompany you to the gardens as a precaution?”

Luna shook her head. “No. I believe that I shall be quite all right.” She closed her door and locked it. “Thank you for the offer, though.”

“It is our pleasure, Highness,” the other guard, a white coated mare, said.

Luna nodded to both of them. She trotted down the hallway at a brisk pace. Her eyes squinted, but she could see well enough. She passed servants, guards, nobles, and even a few griffon guests on her way out to the gardens. They bowed or curtsied to her as she went by, and she nodded back to all of them.

Finally, she came to the door to the outside of the castle. She pushed it open and strode onto the path that led to the garden.

When she finally arrived, she entered the labyrinth that took up the majority of the castle’s grounds. Luna had always adored this part of the castle. The evening air carried the scent of flowers planted along the winding paths, and the slowly lowering sun cast beautiful shadows through the labyrinth.

Luna followed her most beloved path until she came to a very private clearing that included a beautiful fountain and a small garden of lilacs and lavender. Luna glanced around once to see if anypony was around, and she then set her saddlebags upon a marble bench.

Closing her eyes, she allowed her magic to envelop herself. Her form slowly shifted once more. The magic felt more natural this time, since she was not creating a new form, but rather remembering an old one.

After a moment, the transformation was complete, and Luna put on all of her accessories and her dress. She sighed, content to be able to see properly once more. She glanced over at the fountain before trotting toward it. She gazed into the depths of the water, and Starry Skies stared back at her. She nodded to herself.

Luna gathered her bags again and retraced her steps to the front of the castle. However, instead of reentering the door, she trotted her way out down the main lane that led to the castle’s gate. She hummed a tune in an attempt to distract herself from the gnawing anxiousness in the pit of her stomach. She approached the exit, and—

“Halt!”

Luna froze and quickly turned in place. Three guards with spears raised cantered toward her. The disguised princess felt her stomach drop to her hooves, butterflies and all. She gasped as they came to a swift stop before her.

“By order of the Princesses, all visitors unaccompanied by a member of the Royal Guard must identify themselves and register on the log. Who are you?” the leader said. His right eyebrow rose, and he lowered his spear.

“Oh!” Luna gasped. “I-I’m Starry Skies. I’m new here. I work for Princess Celestia. Here, I have my papers!” Luna took her letter from her saddlebag and hoofed it over to the guard.

He opened it and quickly scanned it. After, he grunted in approval. “Very well, Miss Skies. You’ll have to sign out on this sheet, here.” He pulled a clipboard out of his own bag.

“Okay, I can do that…” Luna almost reached out with her telekinesis, but she stopped herself. Instead, she rose into the air with a flap of her wings and took hold of the clipboard. “Umm, do you have a pen?”

“Yes, of course.” The guard hoofed over a black ink pen.

“Thank you, sir.” Luna sighed internally as she wrote her fake name upon the paper.

After Luna hoofed the clipboard and the pen back to the guard, the leader nodded to her. “You are free to go, Miss Skies. I apologize if we frightened you.”

“That’s okay, sir. I understand…”

The guard frowned. “Your voice sounds familiar… Have we met before?”

Luna paled. “Umm, maybe? I don’t know… I-I’ve talked to a lot of ponies today.”

He raised an eyebrow once more, but then he shrugged. “Oh well. It must be my imagination. It’s been quite a day.” With that, he nodded to her. The three guards turned and trotted back to their posts, and Luna breathed another sigh of relief.

“Too close,” she muttered.

She continued her way out the gate and then turned to walk down the bustling street of Canterlot. Her eyes focused on the road, and she never saw the silhouette of the griffon who had watched her every move from his perch on top of the enormous guest tower.

~~~

Button fidgeted with his hooves while he sat in his booth in the corner. She was late.

He allowed his eyes to wander around the bustling restaurant. Fancy Fare was an exceptionally successful new chain of restaurants that had locations in every major city. It had actually been started by a Ponyville native, Savoir Fare, whom Button had known for years. Despite the name, the restaurants weren’t quite high dining. Although, the food was reasonably priced and delicious, the wait staff was friendly, and the decoration emitted an air of comfort and relaxation.

Button watched as waitresses, waiters, and managers served the gathering of bustling customers. The laughter of a group of fillies here for a birthday party filled the air, and Button smiled. So far, he’d enjoyed every Fancy Fare he’d ever had the pleasure of visiting, and this one looked to be no exception.

He sighed and glanced at the clock on the wall. Ten minutes. His mind churned. Maybe she’d forgotten, or he’d gotten the time wrong, or—

“He’s right over there, Miss Skies.”

Button instantly turned to face the sound of his waiter’s voice. The stallion stood up at the front of the room talking to… talking to...

“Oh, sweet Luna,” Button whispered as he stood to his hooves.

She was gorgeous. The mare who shyly walked toward his table moved with grace and poise, and it was all Button could do to keep his jaw from dropping. The simple mint green dress that she wore beautifully accentuated her cyan coat. Her elegant gray mane was pulled into a bun and held in place by a band that was the perfect shade of white. The freckles on her face brought out the sparkle in her aqua eyes that hid behind long eyelashes and thick rimmed glasses.

“Umm, Button?” she said when she finally arrived at the table.

“Starry?” Button asked in reply.

“Yeah, that’s me.” She gave him a small smile.

The two ponies looked at each other for a moment before Button managed to pull himself together. A goofy grin split his face, and he offered his hoof in a… Oh, horsefeathers. Was that supposed to be a hoofshake? A hug? A hoofbump?

Starry eyed the offered hoof uncertainly. Button held his breath, expecting the worst. But then Starry shrugged and bumped his hoof with her own. She giggled and pushed her glasses further up on her face. “It’s so nice to finally meet you!”

Button’s grin held in place, and he breathed a silent sigh of relief. “Yeah, it is! Nice to meet you too, I mean.” He rubbed his neck and chuckled nervously. “Umm, do you want to sit down?” He sat down back in his seat.

Starry slid into the booth opposite of him. She cleared her throat and looked down at her forehooves. Button adjusted his fedora, and he sniffed quietly. Although the restaurant was still noisy, the silence at their table was nearly deafening.

“So, I guess that—”

“Umm, how are y—”

Button coughed and Starry laughed quietly as the two started talking at the same time. Button smiled and motioned to her. “You go first, haha.”

Starry looked up at him through her long eyelashes. “I, uh, I was just going to say that I’m not really used to this… I don’t usually talk with friends in person.”

“Really?” Button asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. Actually, you’re the first pony I’ve met up with just for fun in a few years. Besides my sister, of course!”

“I… uh…” Button didn’t know quite how to respond.

“Oh, this is really awkward, isn’t it?”

Button looked over at the mare. Her hooves were clasped together, and her eyes darted away as he looked toward her. He snorted, and then a slow chuckle began. “It, uh, it kind of is.”

Starry smirked. “This is probably where I would write ‘lol’ into the chat.”

“And I’d probably right click on you and type ‘forward-slash dance two’ so that we could get rid of the tension.”

Their eyes met, and both ponies suddenly burst into laughter. Starry knocked her hoof onto the table. “Like that one time we waited for Noble for half an hour?”

“That was the most epic dance party of all time! Do you remember how Silver kept telling us to stand still, and we didn’t listen?” Button replied between laughs.

“And then Noble got there and we just kept dancing?”

“Yes!” Button exclaimed. “Oh, that was great. Probably the best raid we’ve ever done.”

The laughter slowly faded, and Button sighed. “Well, it’s not too awkward. We know each other already, but by different names.”

“Yeah… it’s kind of odd to me that you’re Fade. I’m so used to your avatar, and now I can see your face.” Starry looked right at him. “It might take some getting used to.”

“You and me both,” Button said.

The waiter chose that moment to arrive at the table. “Hello! My name is Aura, and I’ll be your server tonight. Could I interest you in some beverages this evening?”

“Um, I’ll have an iced tea, please,” Starry said.

“Very good! And for you, sir?”

“I’ll have the same,” Button said.

“Excellent! Have you decided what you would like, or do you need a while longer?” Aura asked.

“Actually, we haven’t even opened the menus yet. We may need a bit,” Button replied.

Aura smiled. “Okay! I’ll be back with those teas!”

As the waiter walked off, Starry nodded. “I like this place.”

“Have you ever been before?” Button asked.

She shook her head. “No. I don’t go out too much, and when I do, it’s always to the same place, actually.”

“Well, where is that?” Button asked.

Starry blushed and whispered something.

“Sorry, I couldn’t quite catch that!” Button smirked.

“I, uh, I always go to, uh…”

“Hmm?”

“Dairy Princess. I always go to Dairy Princess.” Starry put her head in her hooves. “You caught me. I’m just a big filly who loves ice cream.”

Button chuckled. “Ha, that’s great! I love Dairy Princess. I could probably eat a diet entirely composed of ice cream, if I wasn’t so scared of, you know, dying.” He winked.

“Yes, dying would be a minor downside to such an amazing treat.” Starry grinned.

“But who knows? It might be worth it. I could see the headlines now: ‘Stallion perishes after consuming the entire nation’s supply of ice cream. Dairy lovers everywhere mourn in shock.’” Button gestured grandly with his hooves as he spoke.

His companion giggled. “My, that got morbid quickly.”

“Doesn’t it always with us?”

Aura trotted back over to the table carrying a tray on his back. He used his magic to levitate the two glasses of tea and a pair of coasters to the table. He glanced at their still-closed menus and nodded. “Here you go! I’ll be back once you’ve decided on your food.” As quickly as he came, he left.

“So, like I said, I’m not really used to this. What do you usually talk about when you’re having dinner with a friend?” Starry sipped her tea.

“Well,” Button began. “We usually talk about mutual interests, or talk about each other, or…” He raised an eyebrow and looked at the snickering mare across the table. “You’re pulling my leg, aren’t you?”

Starry laughed. “Yes, I’m kidding. I’m not quite that bad.” She took another sip. “So Button, why don’t we talk about you?”

“Me? Why me? Why not you?” Button stuck his tongue out. “You have no idea how many times I do that when we’re playing games together.”

“So you’re always mocking me when I can’t see you then?” Starry raised her hoof to her forehead melodramatically. “Oh, how awful!”

“Oh, you.” Button took a small drink from his tea. The bitter liquid filled his throat and he coughed. He grabbed one of the packets of sugar from the container on the table. “Ooh. I forgot that I’m in the city. Out in the country, you get sweetened tea whenever you ask for tea.”

“Really? That’s interesting.”

“It is.” Button sipped again. “Ah, much better.”

“You sneaky rogue, you changed the subject!” Starry picked up her fork and pointed it at him. “We’re talking about you first, okay?”

Button raised his hooves in defeat. “Okay, okay! You win, this time. There isn’t really much to tell, actually.” He cleared his throat. “I manage a jazz lounge, which I already told you. I’ve lived with my mom for years, since my dad died and I came back home from the university.” He paused to take another drink.

“Oh.” Starry’s eyes fell. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, you’ve got nothing to be sorry about. It happened, and there’s no use dwelling on the loss. My dad would have hated that.” Button shrugged.

“That’s very mature of you, Button.”

“Well, I didn’t feel that way when it first happened, but it’s been a few years now. It sucked, yeah, but I dealt with it. After he passed away, I came back to help with my mom. I got a job at the lounge, and I’ve been there ever since.”

“You don’t use your degree at all?” Starry asked.

Button shook his head. “Sadly, no. I have a Master’s in History from the University of Manehattan, but there weren’t any spots open in Ponyville. I couldn’t get a job at one of Princess Twilight’s universities because I didn’t have any teaching experience, and the local high school wouldn’t hire me because I had a higher degree than they wanted. They were able to get less qualified teachers for less money, so that’s who they hired. My only hope was working at a community college of some kind, but Ponyville doesn’t have one. I would have had to move away from home, but I couldn’t leave my mom alone. I’m her only family, you know?”

Starry nodded. “I can understand that. My sister is the only family I have too. It’s a shame that no schools would take you.”

“Yeah. I was pretty upset for a while.” Button shrugged. “But that’s actually kind of why I’m here. I’m putting my application into a bunch of schools out here, and my mom and I might move if I manage to get a job.”

Starry’s ears perked up. “Really? That’s great!”

“Yep! I really like the city, and it’d be nice to get out of food service. For, you know, forever.”

Smiling, Starry replied, “I can imagine.”

Button took a deep swig from his cup. “So, what about you? What do you do, Starry?”

The mare’s smile faltered for a second, but then it immediately came back. “Oh, I’m not too interesting. I work up at the castle as one of Princess Celestia’s ladies in waiting, and—”

“Wait, what?” Button’s eyes opened wide. “You work for the Princess… directly? As in, you’re right there talking to her and stuff?”

Starry nodded. “Yes. It’s a pretty new job, and I’m excited about it. My sister works there too, under Princess Luna. That’s actually it. I work and I play games.” She shifted uncomfortably.

“Wait a second, wait a second, wait a second. ‘That’s all?’ Starry. You work for the princesses.” Button slapped the table for emphasis.

“Yes, that’s what I said.”

“The priiiiiincesses.”

Starry cocked her head to the side. “Uh, yes.”

“Princesses.”

“Now you're the one pulling my leg.” Starry crossed her forelegs and Button laughed.

“Okay, I am. But I have about a thousand questions for you!”

Starry looked at him over her glasses. “A thousand, eh? Well, I might be able to answer a few hundred, but a thousand is just too unreasonable.”

“Oh, haha. But really. Is it true?” Button asked.

“You’ll have to be more specific than that, Button. You receive no points.”

“Okay, okay. Is it true that Princess Celestia is…” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “...obsessed with cake?”

Starry laughed. “That’s your question?”

Button nodded solemnly. “Yes.”

Starry leaned in close to him and lowered her own voice as well. “Well, then the answer is yes. She loves cake. So. Much.”

Button burst out laughing. “Oh, my. That’s rich! Wait, what else? Does she really take baths with a dozen rubber duckies?”

“I…” Starry scrunched up her face. “I actually have no idea.”

“Aww,” Button said. “All right, what else… oh! I know! What about Princess Luna?”

Starry raised an eyebrow. “What about her?”

“I dunno… uh, what does she do around the castle? Nopony’s really seen her around for a few years, so I just wondered what she’s doing. Is she running some secret project in the basement or something? Controlling other countries from behind a curtain of shadows and lies? Or something else equally awesome?” Button grinned lopsidedly.

“Actually, I think she just likes her privacy,” Starry replied.

Button nodded. “Well, that works too. See, I can respect that. The princesses have been in charge for a long while, and it must be weird being the center of attention all the time. I’d probably want to get away sometimes too, especially if the papers were always watching my every move. I don’t blame her one bit.”

Starry smiled at him, and Button raised both eyebrows. “What? What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“No, really! You do this sometimes! I say something, and then you react to it and I have no idea what you mean, and then you say it’s nothing! It can kinda get to a guy, ya know?” Button sniffed.

She chuckled at him. “Oh, you poor thing,” she teased.

Button was about to reply, but Aura returned to the table once more. “So, have you two decided yet?”

“Oh! I forgot!” Starry said. “We were too busy talking, and I forgot we were here to eat!”

“Well, I know I didn’t,” Button said.

“But you’re a stallion. That’s different.” This time, it was Starry’s turn to wink.

Button smiled as he watched her turn the pages of the menu. Her eyes flipped back and forth and occasionally darted up to meet his own before they returned to reading.

“I think we may need a bit longer,” Button said. “But hey, there’s no rush. We have all the time in the world.”

~~~

Celestia sat calmly upon a pillow in her private dining room. Her hooves held a small pink book with a picture of an alligator on the cover. She smiled as she slowly flipped through the pages of the little foal’s book. Her eyes crinkled in a silent laugh as she saw the pictures and read the words about the antics of the small green alligator. “Oh, Pinkie,” she muttered. “You never fail to amaze.”

A soft knock interrupted her thoughts, and she glanced toward the door. “Yes?”

A guard in golden armor stepped into the room. “Your Highness, General Chaput has arrived.”

“Oh, excellent! Send him in, please!” Celestia set the book onto the table with the cover face up.

The guard stepped away, and her form was replaced by the tall silhouette of General Chaput. The griffon stood resplendent in an immaculate suit. A blood red cloak that Celestia immediately recognized was draped over his shoulders, and his grey and crimson saddlebags perfectly complemented his outfit. His eyes instantly met her own as soon as he entered the room.

“Ah, General! It is so good of you to meet me privately!” Celestia rose and smiled at her companion for the evening meal.

“The pleasure is mine, Princess.” Chaput walked forward, and the guard from outside quickly followed him.

“Lieutenant Jam, I believe that we shall be quite all right alone,” Celestia said quietly.

The mare stopped immediately and bowed. “As you wish, Princess.” She immediately stepped back outside and quietly shut the door.

Chaput raised an eyebrow at her. “Should I be concerned, Highness?”

Celestia smiled. “Oh, of course not. I merely thought that we would talk better if we were undisturbed. Please, come sit with me.” She gestured at the pillow directly across the table. “The food should arrive shortly. I believe that you will enjoy this meal.”

Sitting down, Chaput cleared his throat. “Thank you, Princess.”

“It is my honor, General.” Celestia nodded.

Chaput slowly opened up his saddlebags. “Your Majesty, may I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

The griffon pulled out a medium sized box. He opened it up and removed a piece of flat painted wood. A small bag came out of the box as well, and Chaput smiled as he poured the white and black carved pieces of onyx and alabaster upon what Celestia recognized as a game board.

“Tell me, Princess. Do you play chess?”

Author's Note

Special thanks to m1ntf4n for editing this chapter!

Interlude III Part I: Moves

“Do you play chess?”

Princess Celestia raised an eyebrow at General Chaput’s question. “I enjoy the occasional game,” she said. “But I do not play as often as I used to.”

The griffon smiled. “Of course, I understand that finding time might be difficult when you are so busy. And really, you must be proficient enough that most games would be trivial to you.”

“Oh, but that’s not the point of the game, my dear General. The point is always who you are playing with,” Celestia replied. She took a sip from her water.

“‘With whom you are playing,’” Chaput corrected. He grimaced. “I apologize, Princess. That was unworthy.”

“It must be a habit for you, General. I understand.” Celestia smiled demurely.

“Mmm. Thank you.” Chaput picked up the white queen and set it upon the board. “I adore chess,” he said. “In my opinion, it is the most elegant game ever created here on Equus. I have heard that you met the mare who invented the game, Highness. Is this true?”

Celestia nodded. “It is. I knew her long ago.”

“I am positively envious. I find it sad that so little is known of her… I would love to read her biography. Would you be willing to tell me what she was like?” Chaput picked up a black knight and placed it on the opposite side of the gameboard.

“She was a quiet mare. Very private. I would honor her memory by following her wishes.” Celestia sipped her water again. The smell of food wafted through the air, and she smiled. “Ah, dinner will be here soon.”

Nodding, Chaput placed a few more pieces onto the board. “Excellent, I am quite famished. Lunch was impeccable, but I fear that I spent more time conversing than eating.”

“Well, I am glad that you are hungry. You should appreciate this meal.” Celestia turned her head just in time to see a door open. Two mares walked into the private dining hall pulling trays laden with food. The first cart carried a plate of steaming bread, a large dish of fresh salad, and two bowls and plates. The second cart bore a bottle of red wine in a bath of ice, as well as two covered dishes.

Celestia’s personal butler followed the two carts into the room. He cleared his throat before speaking. “Princess Celestia, General Chaput. Dinner is served.”

The two mares placed the bread and salad onto the table as the butler spoke. “We are serving you our chef’s specialty: daisy and pomegranate salad and specifically selected bread in the Prench tradition. Our wine is an aged Sangiovese grown in the vineyards of the Crystal Empire.” He then trotted over and carried the main dishes to the table. “Tonight’s entrees are Ratatouille for the princess, and Bourride with Lemon Aioli for the general.” He raised the lid off the platter in front of Celestia to reveal intricately arranged vegetables in a light sauce. The general’s dish contained halibut garnished with fennel and several vegetables and fruit rinds. The fish steamed in a different light brown sauce.

“Ah, Bourride! I have not tasted this dish since my last trip to Prance,” Chaput exclaimed. “It smells delicious.”

“Thank you, sir.” The butler bowed. “We shall bring out dessert when you call, Highness.”

“Mmm, my thanks, Pierre.” Celestia nodded to the stallion who then bowed himself out of the room. The other servants followed.

Chaput moved his chessboard to the side of the table. “This is marvelous, Princess. It is like a taste of home.”

Celestia levitated the wine and poured two glasses. “I’m glad, General.”

“Of course, that is the intention, is it not?” Chaput asked. He accepted the goblet and nodded toward her. “The food, red wine, new, to this room at least, impressionist art, and even the bread. All Prench, and all designed to bring about a feeling of home and comfort. I am truly grateful for the effort.”

“Oh? What makes you say that the art is new to the room?” Celestia asked.

The griffon pointed at two of the pieces of artwork on the wall behind Celestia. “The walls. The spacing between most of the paintings is equidistant, but those two are different. They are also in the Prench style, and directly across from where you knew I would sit.” He smiled. “It is attention to detail such as this that makes me believe that you must be marvelous at chess.”

Celestia smiled. “Perhaps we shall see, after dinner of course.” She took a slice of bread and filled her bowl with salad. “Please, eat.”

Instead of picking up his own bowl, Chaput stood. “I will momentarily, Princess. But first, I have one order of business to which I must attend.” He reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a small device with a large button upon its face. He pressed the button, and it blinked twice. He pointed it toward the table, and the blinking increased. Chaput reached a talon under the low table and retracted another device that blinked lightly. He met Celestia's gaze. “I assume that you recognize this?”

Celestia merely raised an eyebrow. It was, of course, a similar device to the one hidden under her bed. This one hadn’t been there as of her last search of the room earlier in the day, which was disconcerting.

The general chuckled. “Of course you do.” He tightened his grip, and the bug crumpled into a useless hulk. “It would be foolish to assume otherwise.” He raised his detector once more and pointed it at the new paintings. It beeped twice, and he strode toward the artwork. Once he arrived, he retrieved another small item and looked at Celestia pointedly.

The princess said nothing. Chaput walked toward her and set it beside her plate.

“Princess, I wish to speak to you in complete privacy. I have extended a talon in good faith by destroying my own bug, and I request that you meet me halfway. Please, would you deactivate your listening device as well?” It was his turn to raise an eyebrow.

Celestia stared into his eyes for a few moments. The griffon’s gaze never wavered, and he stood his ground. Finally, Celestia nodded. Her magic surrounded the device. It glowed bright gold for a moment, rendering it inert.

Chaput smiled. “Excellent!” He returned to his seat. “Now, where were we?”

“I believe that we were about to eat,” she replied.

“Oh, yes. Of course.” Chaput retrieved some of the salad and two slices of bread. He grabbed his fork and took a small bite from the daisy and pomegranate garnished dish. “Mmm! This is delightful! Would it trouble you if I asked for the recipe when I return to Griffonia?”

Celestia shook her head. “It would not be a problem at all, General. I’m glad that you like it. In fact, I am pleasantly surprised. Most griffons despise vegetarian dishes. I hear that the lack of red meat can make the food seem unappealing.” She raised a dainty flower to her mouth with her fork and chewed thoughtfully.

The general swallowed another bite. “Oh, not me, Princess. I was raised in Prance by a pegasus couple. I am quite used to a diet heavy in fish, vegetables, and fruit. To be honest, I prefer it. Meat is so messy, even when cooked. And most of my kind do not cook their own, since they prefer it bloody. I find that distasteful.”

“Hmm,” Celestia remarked. She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Very interesting.”

The pony and the griffon ate in silence for a few moments. Celestia took a small sip of her wine, and then she gently her glass back down. “I assume that you did not deactivate the recording devices so that we could talk about the food, no matter how pleasant the conversation might be.”

“Oh, of course not. But why rush? We have some time. And I would find it rude to take you away from your meal too soon. After all, you raise and lower the sun, not to mention all your other responsibilities as a leader of this nation. That surely must be quite tiring.” Chaput grinned slyly. “Don’t you think you may be overtaxing yourself?”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed slightly, but she composed herself. “Are you implying something, General?” Her tone stayed calm, but the clip to the cadence of her words carried their own sting.

“Oh, of course not! I merely mean to say that you will need your strength, will you not?” Chaput finished the last bite of his salad and pulled the bowl of fish toward him.

“That is thoughtful of you, General Chaput.” Celestia nodded, keeping her face a stony mask.

“But if you wish to begin the discussion now, I am not opposed!” Chaput lowered his fork and nodded back to her. “It is, as they say, ‘your party.’ I am but a guest here, and I have no wish to impose.”

“We can wait,” she replied. “Please, finish your meal first.”

They continued their dinner quietly. Celestia chewed slowly on the richly flavored vegetables of her entrée, all the while eyeing the griffon in front of her.

Chaput demonstrated manners most befitting his rank and upbringing. He ate carefully, and he sighed in appreciation as he ate the last of his soup. “This was delicious. Far better than anything they’d served on the ship.”

“I should hope so. My chef is one of the Crystal Empire’s most celebrated experts in cuisine. I’m sure he would be delighted that you enjoy his food so much.”

“Indeed. My compliments to him.” Chaput wiped his beak with a napkin. “Now, I suppose we have delayed long enough.”

“Yes.” Celestia nodded. “I would very much like to know why you wanted to meet me in private… and then ensure that we were not overheard.”

“Of course.” Chaput lowered his napkin and leaned forward. “Princess, I will tell you, but first I must share a story with you. I believe that you will find it enlightening.”

The princess raised an eyebrow.

“You see, Princess, chess has been a part of my life since I was but a hatchling. My adoptive father was a professor at a university, an expert in medicine. His wife was a well-to-do mare of noble Equestrian descent. I believe that she is of the same family as your Lady Fleur de Lis, although I may be mistaken. They instilled into me a love for the refined things in life, and one of those things was chess.” Chaput stretched his neck.

“Princess, I have played since I could barely walk. Not well, of course, but by the time I attended school, I was playing against opponents far older and more experienced than myself…” He met her eyes. “And I always won.”

Celestia took another sip of wine, but she never broke her concentration.

“As time went by, I played against many opponents. I beat the Prince of Prance when I was barely into secondary school. He was thirty at the time. I played the ambassador from Germaney, and he said I was a prodigy, but I did not believe so. I always saw my mistakes with brutal clarity, and I believe that is what drove me to be such a perfectionist.

“As I grew older, I felt the call to return to the mountains, to go home for the first time. So, I left my parents and went to Griffonia. I joined their army, and there I truly learned why I loved chess.” He smiled deviously. “I adore victory.”

Princess Celestia gently set her glass back down onto the table as the general continued.

“While on active duty, I had the pleasure to play against many opponents. I faced a Yak chessmaster once. It took me over an hour, but I eventually checkmated him with only a pawn, a bishop, and my own king. Sixty three moves. Once, I faced a minotaur warlord. He fancied himself a skilled player. A strong fighter he may have been, but not a wise tactician. I beat him in only three moves. It would have been a perfect fool’s mate, had I been playing as white. He did not take it well.” Chaput grinned broadly. “That’s when I got this.” He pointed to a scar on his left wing. “He received far worse.”

“This is fascinating,” Celestia said. “However, I fail to see the relevance beside giving you an opportunity to tell me what an excellent player you are.” She smiled at him. “You want me to play you later, yes? If so, maybe you shouldn’t tell me quite how skilled you are. Why should I fight a battle I know that I would lose?” She laughed to herself.

“I’m getting there, Princess. Also, I do not take you as one who would back down from a battle with an opponent, no matter how skilled they are. Oh, you might not play that particular game with them, but you would certainly combat them on a different field…” Chaput raised his eyebrow. “You and I are alike in that manner.”

“Very well, General,” Celestia said. “Please, continue.”

“Thank you, Highness. My story is almost finished. You see, these games were great fun, yes, but none of them compared to a game I played with a Zebran politician. I was on leave in the capital, and I sat in the park waiting for an opponent to join me. This zebra, a charming fellow who spoke only in rhyme, asked if we could play. And then he said the oddest thing. He told me that he was going to lose, and I would end the game with only my queen and king.

“I played white, so I moved first. As soon as I placed my piece, he told me what his next two moves would be. I was taken aback, and I made a slight mistake. Three moves later, he took my knight. He then told me his entire defensive strategy, and outlined his next several moves. Obviously, I was quite confused. I had no idea whether he was telling the truth, or if he planned to betray my trust the next move.” Chaput narrowed his eyes to a slit. “It was then that I learned one of the most important facts of politics. A lie is a lie, and the truth is the truth, but a half-truth is far more dangerous than either of those.”

Celestia leaned forward. “Indeed.”

“In the end, he had been telling the truth the entire time. But because I distrusted him, I moved into traps he had even warned me about. He made moves I would never have attempted, and took risks I would not have believed possible. But they succeeded, not because he was a skilled player, but because I did not believe him. I did win the game, and, oddly enough, I did so with only my king and queen. He had known the outcome before we even fought.

“Princess, I do not wish to deal in either lies or partial lies with you. You are a mare of greater wisdom than any of my previous adversaries. Instead, I will be completely honest with you.”

“That is an interesting statement, General. I am sure you know why I say that.” Celestia’s eyes twinkled.

“Oh, yes. I say that I am telling the truth, but how do you know that? I could be lying. That, my dear princess, is why I told you this story. I have played against many opponents, and every one of them needed a different strategy.” Chaput flexed a wing and grinned. “With you, no ploy would succeed. You didn’t even blink an eye when I retrieved my bug. Obviously, you know about them already, which meant that it was no coincidence that you spoke to your sister in your room about us several nights ago. You saw through Father Dmitri’s ham-taloned attempt at a farse, and you turned it around on him. Perfectly.”

The princess flared her nostrils, and Chaput grinned once more. “Oh, yes. Truth. But do not worry, Princess. I did not tell them that you knew, and they would not figure it out on their own.”

“Why would you not tell them?” Celestia asked.

“Why? Because they are fools, and I plan to betray them!” Chaput leaned back and widened his grin even further. “And this, Princess, is why I did not want unneeded ears.”

Princess Celestia crossed her front legs over her chest and eyed him warily. “Go on…”

“Ah, Princess. I am here on several missions. Dmitri wants me to stall you. He wants it to appear that we desire peace, but his plan requires there to be a threat of betrayal. I am to coerce you to continue to strengthen the defenses of Equestria with one talon whilst extending the other in friendship.” Chaput scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Because deceiving you is an excellent plan. After all, you are only the centuries old ruler of the most powerful nation in all of Equus.”

“Why would he want this, General?” Celestia lowered her hooves and stared at him.

“So that you would be so concerned about the security of your own nation that you would give him free reign to attack all his other targets with impunity.” Chaput leaned forward and took a small sip of wine. “Oh, this is wonderful,” he commented.

“So, your own superior wishes for you to feed us misinformation so that he could take advantage of other nations. And why would you not want that? Why would a general betray his master?”

Chaput narrowed his eyes. “He is not my master.”

Celestia decided to change tactics. She cocked her head to the side and squinted at him. “Really? Because it looks to me like he is the pulling the strings. He won the war. He took the throne. And you are now playing diplomat. Why is that?”

“Princess, the snide act does not suit you.” Chaput shook his head. “I will not answer your questions on those matters.”

Celestia grunted. “Very well. But why would you choose to betray him, and why would you tell me?”

“Because, as I said earlier, you and I are similar. We do not want war. War is death to our people, and that is not needed. No, we wish to grow inside our own borders. I tell you because you are intelligent. You know that Dmitri is a monster. He has torn Griffonia apart, ruined our people, and cost the world more lives than any other griffon since the Black Ages. He isn’t a leader. He’s a power hungry bastard who would eat his own mother if it would buy him one more inch of territory,” Chaput growled. “I stand on my balcony in his castle, and I can hear them. The griffons in the factories. They work fourteen hours a day for only enough scraps to feed their families. They labor to enable an industrial machine that only exists to grow for the sake of growing. There is no agenda to his machinations besides the actions themselves.” He closed his eyes. “Sometimes, I can block them out, the workers, with music or wine. But then, a scream breaks through the night. In response, my soul roars out in tandem, and its cry says, ‘This. Is. Wrong.’”

Celestia stared at the griffon. He stood abruptly and paced the room. “He does not care about Griffonia. He only cares for himself and his appetites. It is as if he feeds on war and hatred, and we are his farm.” He stopped and met her eyes. “I would not be the same. I came to Griffonia out of a desire for my own kind. I fought for a corrupt king, and then I took a chance to destroy him. I have already toppled one regime. One more, and I will have peace for my fellow griffons. Not a peace of servitude, but a peace that gives them a chance to live, for the first time in a generation.”

Celestia watched as he strode back to his seat. “And that, Princess, is why I tell you all of this.”

The steel in his eyes met the fire in her gaze.

“I need your help.”

Author's Note

Just as a side note, I always listen to music while I write, and I thought that I'd start sharing it with you guys, if that's okay! Tonight, it was Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson. I thought it was fitting. :raritywink:

Thanks again to m1ntf4n for editing!

Interlude III Part II: Counter-Moves

Music filled the admiral's quarters on the FAS Thunder. The sound of the soft piano reverberated through the dark room and the smell of crisp, fresh vegetables filled the air. General Chaput sat in his usual chair with his eyes closed. He nodded in time to the sway of the song and gently nibbled on a carrot that he held in his front talon. The clock on the wall clicked as the hour hand moved to point directly at ten o’clock. The light from the stars gently shone through the single window in the cabin.

Chaput leaned back in his seat and stroked his chin thoughtfully. He glanced down at the sheaf of papers on the desk beside him and idly flipped through them as he continued to enjoy the music. He folded the front page marked ‘Classified: Top Secret’ back and looked inside. Photographs of a female griffon and her family awaited his eyes. The general squinted and then sighed. “Hmm…”

A knock interrupted his thoughts. “General Chaput, Captain Ivanov is here to see you, as ordered.” Chaput recognized the muffled voice of his talonpicked griffon guard. His rugged voice carried the clip of a northerner, as did the voices of most of the griffons who had fought in the rebellion.

Chaput rose to his paws and claws and strode over to open the door. The metal of the handle felt cool against his talons as the door slowly creaked open. He nodded to his guard. “Thank you, Sergeant. Please, come inside, Captain.”

The golden-feathered griffon who entered the room wore the red, gold, and black uniform of Griffonia’s Air Navy. Captain Vladimir Ivanov’s black eyes squinted to see in the dim room, and he clucked his scarred beak as he stepped inside. “Thank you, General,” he said. He spoke in the refined tones of somegriff who had been schooled by impeccable teachers, but could not prevent some of his northern griffon accent from breaking through.

Chaput shut the door behind the officer, and they both took a seat. “Captain, thank you for coming. I know it is late, but we have much to discuss.”

Ivanov nodded. He leaned back in his chair and listened to the music for a moment. “This is Lanz, is it not?”

“It is, indeed.” Chaput smiled. “I adore this piece. It carries an air of… serenity. I find that it helps me when I have deep thinking to do.”

“And is this one of those times?” Ivanov asked.

“Yes.”

Ivanov raised an eyebrow. “Oh? I assume that means that your discussion with the princess was enlightening.”

“Extremely. Our talk revealed a great deal.” Chaput took another bite of his carrot. “I suppose you are curious about the meeting with Princess Celestia?”

“Indeed. How did it go?” Ivanov leaned forward, his hard eyes gazing directly at Chaput.

“Quite well, actually. Everything went more or less according to plan.”

“And what plan was that, sir?”

Chaput chuckled. “To tell the truth.”

The captain’s jaw dropped. “What? You told her the truth?”

“Hmmm…” Chaput cocked his head to the side. “From a perspective with which she could empathize, yes.”

“So, you didn’t then.” Ivanov nodded. He smiled and relaxed somewhat. “Good.”

“Oh, Captain. I did tell the truth. I also told other things, but she doesn’t need to know that.” The general’s light laugh filled the room.

Sitting back into his chair, Ivanov raised an eyebrow again. “And what truths would those be?”

“Oh, I told her that I’m here to stall, that Dmitri is a fool, and that I’m going to stab him in the back at the first possible opportunity. Then, I told her that we are more alike than she thinks, and I told her why Dmitri must fall.” Chaput grinned.

“General, I ask forgiveness for this, but what the hell were you thinking? You told her everything!” Ivanov fumed. “Do you even know who you were talking to?”

“‘To whom I was talking.’ And yes, I did. That is why I told her exactly as much truth as I told you when our mission began.” Chaput turned a knob on his record player, and the music increased volume. “If you insist on speaking so forcefully, I’ll have to put on louder music. And I really want to listen to Lanz.”

Ivanov sighed. “Sorry, sir. I just find your tactics… unnerving at times.”

The general smirked. “Of course you do! You are in the Navy, after all. There is so much less subterfuge in the air. It is not as if one could hide an airship and attack from behind. Everything is in the open. But down on the ground, in the forests, the mountains, and the fields, one must always be even more wary. Attacks come from every direction. Diplomacy is much the same way. The only way to be certain of victory is to shape your words in such a way that no path leads to defeat… and that is what I must do with Princess Celestia.”

“Hmm…” Ivanov nodded. “Not an easy feat.”

“No. Which is why we must employ unorthodox tactics, especially here.” Chaput inhaled deeply. He closed his eyes as he continued to speak. “The princess is the greatest foe I have ever faced. She has outlived countless other rulers and has maintained a hold upon what is widely considered to be the greatest nation to have ever existed on the face of Equus. Her continued rule is not a stroke of luck, as many believe. She is cunning, wise, and far more dangerous than she appears.”

“Then why tell her everything? Wouldn’t she use it against us?”

Chaput shook his head. “No. She is too smart to do that. At this point, she does not know our entire intentions, and she realizes that. If she follows the pattern that history seems to indicate, she will wait. She downplays her abilities, Captain. She speaks with a laugh, and sometimes she seems to have a temper. However, she is no fool, and she never loses control. Everything with her is intentional, from the place of the meeting to the paintings on the walls.”

“But why does that mean that she will not use this information against us? Even if she waits, she could decide to contact Dmitri and give the game away.” Ivanov stretched a wing. “She could decide to cut off negotiations if she doesn’t trust us. She could intentionally do the opposite of what you ask of her… There are so many ways we could fail because of her actions.”

“But she won’t.”

“How can you be sure?” Ivanov slammed a talon onto his leg. “This is an enormous risk! Might I remind you that you are not gambling with only your own life this time? My officers and I are behind you, and Dmitri would not hesitate to execute us if he uncovered the plan. The crew may know nothing, but they follow our orders. They would join us at the gallows or at gunpoint. And what of their families?”

“If you are so afraid, you may leave now, Captain,” Chaput said coldly. “You knew the risks when you joined me years ago. This plan has been in motion for a very long time. This is the final stage. Almost everything is a risk from here out, but Celestia is not one of them, and I will tell you why if you will stop interrupting me so rudely.” His eyes flashed.

Ivanov recoiled. “I… I apologize, sir. The stress must be getting to me.”

“I understand, Captain. It is a difficult time.” Chaput sighed. “Celestia is no fool, as I said. I have woven for her a tale of a people oppressed by a warmongering monster. This is true. I have given her a reason to believe us by telling the truth. Had I lied, she would have been suspicious of something. The issue, however, is that we would not have known of what she was suspicious. As such, she would have been unpredictable. As of now, we know what she will be thinking. She will investigate the truth of my assertions. How has Dmitri treated the griffons? She will also look at my own motivations. I told her that I came to Griffonia out of loyalty. How true was that?”

Ivanov nodded. “So, she will follow the train of thought that you laid out for her?”

“Precisely. She would find out the truth eventually. This way, we buy ourselves enough time for the next move.”

“Ah, the chess metaphor. I wondered when it would come into play.” Ivanov smiled. “What will her next move be?”

“Oh, the next move is not hers.” Chaput ran a talon through his crest.

“Very well. Then what is our move?”

Chaput laughed darkly. “Captain, Captain. You misunderstand. We are not playing the princess in this game… We are playing Dmitri. In the end, Celestia is inconsequential. She has no effect on the endgame.”

“I don’t know if I agree with you, sir.” Ivanov shook his head. “You said yourself how worthy of an opponent Celestia is. She should not be counted out yet.”

“Of course not. However, we have planned our moves in such a way that she is our ally… for now, at least. Our game with Celestia is a different one, and we must not confuse the two. Fighting a war on two fronts is to be avoided at all cost. One day, I may play Celestia, that is true, but for now, she is but another piece in my own game.” Chaput restarted the song. “And she is a very powerful piece indeed.”

“I still don’t like it, General. There are too many variables,” the captain said.

“There are always variables. Fortunately, we are in control. Dmitri may have the next move, but we will have checkmate within the next three.”

“And you are certain of this?” Ivanov asked.

Chaput nodded. “Dmitri is, if anything, predictable. I understand his kind. He will do exactly as I suspect. He always has.”

Sighing, the captain responded, “Okay. I can accept that. Will you tell me what these three moves are, at least?”

“Dear Captain, that would spoil the game!” The twinkling in Chaput’s eyes matched the lightness to his tone. “I asked you something a long time ago when you were but a lieutenant. We were the last officers remaining before an attack on Yakyakistan, and I had just told you my quite ambitious plan. Do you remember what I asked you?”

“Sir, you asked if I trusted you.”

Chaput’s eyes met the captain’s. “And how did you reply?”

“If I remember correctly, I told you that I wouldn’t trust your twice-damned Prench face with an empty carton of milk… but then I said that I believed your plan was just crazy enough to work.”

“And then we won the war against Yakyakistan with no more bloodshed.” Chaput stroked his chin again. “So, I will ask you once more… Do you trust me?”

“Damn it, Chaput. I still don’t trust you, but you haven’t lost yet,” Ivanov said with a sigh. He shook his head wryly. “I’m with you.”

“And that is all I needed to hear!” Chaput chuckled. “Now, please play along.” The general stood up and walked to the door. He cracked it open and spoke to his guard. “Sergeant, will you go get my other guest for me, please?” He then returned to his seat. “Our final move for the night, Captain.”

A moment later, the door opened and a nervous female griffon in a red uniform walked inside. “General, Captain. You wanted to see me?” she asked quietly.

“Ah, Ensign Glenda Goldsmith! Please, come in. I assume that the sergeant told you that this is not a formal meeting at all?” Chaput asked.

She nodded. “Yes, he did, sir.”

“Good… good…” Chaput pulled out the folder he had been looking at earlier. “Tell me, Ensign, would you say that you are loyal to Griffonia?”

Goldsmith nodded slowly. “Yes, sir. I served in the Navy before the civil war, and I stayed in to continue to serve.”

“Marvelous! It says here that your family lives in the south. How does it feel serving under northern rulers, especially after the fall of a southern king?” Chaput inquired politely.

“I, uh, to be honest, sir, I can’t really tell the difference. My loyalty is to Griffonia, not the the old king.” Goldsmith said uncertainly.

“Hmm… very well.” Chaput took one particular paper from the file. “As you know, regulations requires that any communications leaving the ship be read and passed by the Operational Security Officer. He redacts any critical information and keeps a record of the communication. This is the copy of the last letter that you sent to your… Mother.” Chaput raised an eyebrow.

Goldsmith swallowed. “Yes, sir.”

“Allow me to read it to you.” Chaput cleared his throat. “‘Dear Mother, I have just recalled where I put the recipe for the blueberry pie. I left it under the cloak in the downstairs bedroom. I don’t think I ever moved it. I hope you enjoy the pie! Sincerely, your Glenda.’” Chaput lowered the letter. “There are a few problems here.”

Goldsmith stood shock still.

“First, this letter was addressed to the capital. Your mother lives in the south. Second, blueberries are out of season, and they are mostly grown in the north. Third, you mentioned the word ‘cloak.’ Do you know anything interesting about the word ‘cloak’ in Prench?” Chaput asked.

“No, sir,” she replied nearly inaudibly.

“If you research the meaning of names, ‘Chaput’ actually means ‘one who wears a distinct cloak.’ Very intriguing. Combine that with the use of the color blue, which usually indicates that everything is okay, and you writing to a ‘mother’ who does not live in the capital…” Chaput looked up sharply. “Dmitri never was good at espionage. His ploys are incredibly easy to spot. ‘Father’ to ‘mother.’ Color coded for his convenience. Not even bothering to use a particularly creative name when referring to me. How long have you been his spy, Ensign?”

Goldsmith’s face stayed neutral, but Chaput could see a single tear clawing at the edge of her eye. “For two months now, sir.”

“Ah, open and honest! I like that in a spy! So refreshing.” The general stood. “Now that we are on the same page, I would like to talk to you about some things…” He grinned darkly. “In particular, I would like to discuss your family.”

Her tears fell, and she grimaced bitterly. She turned to look at Chaput. “You too? You bastards are both alike…”

Chaput cocked his head to the side. “‘You too?’ Whatever do you mean, dear?”

“He has my family already. There’s nothing you can do to them, so you may as well kill me now.” Goldsmith faced the general defiantly. “It’s over anyways.”

“Whatever do you mean, my dear? Did you think I was going to threaten your family?” Chaput asked gently. “Why would I do that?”

“Y-you aren’t?”

“Of course not! I am no monster! In fact, I was going to tell you that I knew that Dmitri had threatened your mother... I do not know if he has any others, but I knew about her. I had an offer for you, but if it is, as you say, over…” Chaput shrugged.

“No, wait!” Goldsmith cried. More tears fell down her face. “I… I’m so sorry, General. What was your offer?”

Chaput smiled. “Simple, my dear. You tell him exactly what I tell you that he needs to know, and I will get your family free. It is that simple.”

“R-really?” Goldsmith asked. “You would do that?”

“Ensign Goldsmith, you have my word on the matter. If you help me, I shall help you. And I always keep my word.” Chaput nodded solemnly.

“You will? And all I have to do is—”

“All you have to do is follow my orders. No more reports to Dmitri without my knowledge and approval. Then, when we return to Griffonia, my agents will free your family. Do we have a deal?”

Goldsmith nodded immediately. “Yes, yes! Of course!”

“Oh, perfect!” Chaput smiled. “Thank you, Ensign. Please, follow the sergeant. He will take you back to your quarters.”

The ensign’s grin nearly split her face in two. “Thank you, General! Thank you!”

“No, thank you.” Chaput waved as she walked out the door. It shut quickly, and his smile broadened. “Thank you, Ensign…”

“Is he going to kill her?” Captain Ivanov asked.

“No. Not this time. She will be extremely useful as a double agent.” Chaput sat back down.

Ivanov rested his chin on a talon. “Why do I get the feeling that you had no idea that her mother was locked up?”

“Because I did not know that until she told me.” Chaput stretched. “To be honest, threatening her family was my original intention. However, she revealed a far greater weakness, and I took advantage of the opportunity.”

“So instead of threatening to kill her or her family, you offer to save everything that she holds dear… General, there is something rather dark about that.”

Chaput laughed. “Most likely. It is interesting. I expected to play the villain once more, but I instead look like a hero to one of my own pawns. Very interesting.”

“‘Play the villain...’ Is this all an act to you, General?” Ivanov asked.

“Not all of it,” the general replied. “Some of it is genuine.” He glanced over at the clock. “Well, it is getting late. I believe that we have addressed all things of concern for the evening. With Dmitri’s second spy neutralized, we are in the clear for the next two weeks, and that is all the time that we shall need.”

Ivanov nodded. “Very well, sir. I will bid you good night.” The captain walked toward the door, but he stopped and turned around. “Sir, may I ask a personal question?”

“You may,” Chaput replied.

“You said that you look like a hero to a pawn… but what do you look like to yourself? A hero? A villain?”

The general smiled broadly. “Ah. What a wonderful question. Did you know that I was assigned a paper on this subject in school? It was my fifth year, and I wrote a twenty page typed essay on the matter. Very intriguing. In order to answer the question, we must first ask what a hero or villain actually is. What do you think, Captain? What is a hero?”

Ivanov thought for a moment. “Hmm… I think a hero is a noble warrior who is willing to make sacrifices for the greater good. He thinks of others before himself, and he follows what is right instead of what is easy.”

“Interesting. Your definition is like a combination of what one would hear from a warrior and from a noble hearted reader of romantic fiction. But what of a villain?”

“That would be… the opposite, I suppose?” The captain tilted his head.

“Hmm, I wonder if you see all the connotations that come with that answer. You suggest a dichotomy, a polarization of motives. Mutually exclusive, as different as the sun and the moon. Opposite sides of a coin… Would you like to hear what I think?” Chaput asked.

“Of course.”

“I believe,” Chaput began, “that the idea of the hero, and, by extension, the villain, is a construct. In any conflict, one cannot simply pick one side or another and define them as the hero or villain. No, we require context. Tell me, in the first war between the changelings and Equestria, as it was explained in the ancient texts, who were the heroes?”

Ivanov replied, “The Equestrians.”

“Why?”

“They were defending the land from an invading force. The changelings were attacking them. They only defended themselves.” The captain nodded.

“And that makes the changelings the villains, yes?” Chaput asked.

“Yes.”

“Very well. What of the more recent war when the yaks invaded caribou land two centuries ago? History tells us that the Yaks were the heroes, fighting off a nation of corrupt and evil warriors who threatened the entire world. Do you agree?”

“I do. History does tell us that.”

“But consider this. Had the changelings won, we would tell tales of how the inept Equestrians who could barely hold their own nation together were overthrown by a better organized force that brought peace to the land. If the caribou had been victorious, then we would have heard how the monstrous yak invaders had been fought off by warriors who were only protecting their homes. The heroes and the villains would have been switched, dear Captain.” Chaput narrowed his eyes. “Is this not true? Is it not fact that the heroes always win?”

“Perhaps…” Ivanov leaned against the wall and gazed at Chaput thoughtfully.

“Captain, this is no coincidence. However, we must not misunderstand the chain of causality. The heroes do not win because they are righteous… Instead, they are righteous because they win. Every being is a hero in his own eyes. The difference between a hero and a villain is that you never hear the villain’s side of the story…”

Ivanov stood silently.

The general shook his head and continued. “We view heroism and villainy as a moral issue, but it is not. It is simply a matter of perspective. What my enemy does is against me, and thus it is evil. I do what is right, so I am a hero. It is the same for my enemy. If he falls, the world will know that I was always right, for the ancient trial by combat still holds true in our hearts. The righteous take the day, and the gods punish the evil. By winning, I prove myself. And if I lose, my enemy is able to share his truth with the world. It is relativism in its truest glory, and it is a lie.

“So, to answer your question, I view myself as neither a hero nor a villain. I reject the concept of both. The hero is just another name for the victor who tells his story to more ears, and the villain is the loser that nogriff understands. Thus, I do not believe in heroes or villains and see myself as neither. Instead, I view myself as what I really am.” Chaput’s eyes bore into the naval officer.

“Captain, I am a victor. And I plan to have every pony, griffon, dragon, or any other being hear my story, even if I must die to make it so.”

Author's Note

The music for this chapter was David Lanz''s 'Cristofori's Dream.' It is a wonderful song that I have loved for years.

Motivations, Collisions, and Briefcases

“Are we really considering trusting a self-proclaimed traitor?” Blueblood slammed a hoof upon the table. Moonlight reflected off the polished wood in Celestia’s personal dining room.

“Yes, Blueblood, we are,” Apollo replied. The white stallion brushed his messy brown mane out of his eyes. “We don’t really have a choice here.” He glanced at Blueblood and then turned to look at Celestia. The princess sat serenely, and she nodded to the stallions to continue.

“Of course we have a choice!” Blueblood retorted. “There is always a choice. He is obviously lying to us.”

Apollo shook his head. “No, he isn’t. He may not be telling us everything, but what he said lines up with everything we already know. It all fits. And remember, this is the griffon who negotiated peace with the Yaks when it would have been far simpler to just assassinate their leader. Are those the actions of a warmonger?”

“But you forget, sir, that he received countless accolades for that choice. He became a hero to the military and the populace. He made a political choice, and it paid off. And, lest we forget even more of those events, we must recall that they conquered the Yaks anyways. Chaput’s actions delayed the battle for a year, but, in the end, it actually made the subjugation of Yak lands easier.” Blueblood sighed. “Don’t let him fool you, Prime Minister. He isn’t a philanthropist. He only cares about himself and his own power.”

“I do not disagree, Blue,” Apollo said. He nodded to the other stallion. “However, in this case, our goals are the same. He wants peace. We want peace. We can use his plan to our own advantage, and then we can deal with whatever trap he has prepared.”

Blueblood snorted. “Sir, I think it’s all a lie. He doesn’t want peace. I would wager that this is a ploy to confuse us until some attack force is in place. There is no reason for him to tell us his whole plan otherwise!”

“Unless he genuinely wants us as allies. That is an undeniable possibility.” The prime minister shrugged.

“Undeniable my flank. He’s manipulating us! He must be!” Blueblood insisted. He leaned forward, planting both hooves onto the table. “I’ve fought his kind before. He’s slippery, and he tries to get into our heads. If we let him, he will turn every one of our plans against us. Then he will have a perfect opportunity to enact his own ploys, and none of those are advantageous to us. If we trust him, we will fail.”

“I disagree wholeheartedly,” Apollo declared. “He’s a powermonger. He’s also far smarter than his own superiors. In the wake of one previous rebellion, is it so far fetched to believe that another may follow it? The one thing that we know for certain is that Chaput is smart. He wouldn’t say something to us as preposterous as a plan to overthrow his own government as a ruse. It’s too complicated and absurd. It would be too large of a lie.”

“And that’s what he’s counting on!” Blueblood cried. “He’s a snake! We should cut our losses and send him back to Griffonia now! Insist that the griffons send a different diplomatic party. Cite some absurd political excuse. Otherwise, Equestria may fall.”

“I think that—”

“Apollo. Blueblood,” Celestia said softly. “Enough.”

Both stallions instantly silenced themselves and turned to face the princess.

“I appreciate that you both are so loyal to Equestria. You each make very good points, but you are both looking at it from the wrong perspective.”

Apollo cocked his head to the side. “Oh? How?”

“Let us forget about the context of the issue and instead focus upon the intentions.” Celestia closed her eyes. “We have a foe. Our foe gave us information we did not previously possess and could not have obtained without his intervention. Why did he do so?”

“Well…” Blueblood began. “I suppose that depends on what the information is.”

“No,” Celestia said. “The information is not important. He could have given us truth, lies, or some combination of the two. It doesn't matter. There is only one reason that you tell your foe anything. You tell them...” Celestia’s eyes flashed. “You tell them so that they will adjust their actions accordingly. You see, Chaput has analyzed us. He let slip in our conversation that he has studied our history. It is safe to say that he knows our diplomatic doctrine. We push for peace on all of Equus, but we do not force it upon any nation. We are not the police of the world. We do not interfere outside our borders unless we are asked to assist. That is our plan during every negotiation with each nation. Chaput knows this, and he has just revealed that he does not want us to take this course of action.”

“Oh…” Apollo said. “But why? Why wouldn’t he want that? What does he want us to do instead?”

“If I understand him correctly, which I believe that I do, it does not matter what course of action we choose next.” Celestia looked upward. “He will have multiple contingencies planned. He is a chess fanatic, and a student of philosophy. Undoubtedly, he has read the work of the great Prench chess player and philosopher, Bujold. ‘The key to strategy is not to choose a path to victory, but to choose such that all paths lead to victory.’ Chaput is devious. His plans are many, and he is prepared for whatever choice we make in this matter.”

“So, what do we do? We lose either way, if what you said is true.” Apollo shook his head.

“No, we do not lose. We wait. Chaput is spinning a web. Inevitably, he will either ensnare himself or spin his way into a corner. Either way, he will reveal himself soon enough.” Celestia rose to her hooves. “Until then, our plan remains unchanged. We operate as though he had never told us anything. Thus, that aspect of his plan is negated. Nothing is different for us. We do what is best for Equestria, and we wait for his lies to become too big.”

“I don’t like it…” Blueblood muttered. “He told you that he needed our help, and then he told us that to do so, we merely need to play along with him. Negotiate peace and allow him to follow his plan. But that is what we intended to do all along! We aren’t doing anything differently, so that means that we are listening to him!”

“Actually, it does not.” Celestia shook her head and smiled kindly at the stallion. “The difference lies in our motivation. If we were to do as he asked, we would try for peace now and then do as he requested later. Instead, we are acting for the good of Equestria. For now, we are doing as he wants, but our goals shall soon diverge. Then, we shall continue to do as we wish, allowing him to have no control over our actions. This is the only course of action that is sure to benefit us, because we are helping ourselves.”

Apollo nodded slowly. “I see. Very well, Princess. I will try to not allow this incident to affect my judgement during tomorrow’s negotiations.”

“Mmmph.” Blueblood stood and grunted, his face a mask of disapproval. “I may not like it, but I cede to your judgement, Princess. However, I am going to increase our patrols in and around the palace. I’ll run more background checks on everypony in the capital if I have to.” He grinned aggressively. “Whatever spy placed that bug in here will not go undetected.”

“Excellent.” Celestia said. “Now, my little ponies, I believe that it is time for us to go to bed. It is almost midnight, and we have a very busy day ahead of us.”

“Indeed,” Apollo agreed. “I will be up early in the morning to review the seating arrangements once more. Chaput’s retinue is smaller than he had originally said that it would be, so there are a few modifications to make.”

“Good, good.” Celestia yawned and raised a wing to cover her mouth. “Excuse me. I think that these late nights are getting to me.” She grinned lopsidedly. “Any objections to me raising the sun, say, a few hours late in the morning?”

Blueblood snorted and Apollo chuckled. “Ah, Princess,” Apollo replied. “While I might not take issue with that, the farmers around the world might.”

“Ah, of course.” Celestia stomped a hoof on the floor in mock indignation. “What is the point of having the power to control part of the universe without being able to use it for your own selfish desires every once in awhile?”

Blueblood laughed genuinely. “I don’t know, Princess. I do not know.”

“Well, goodnight, Your Highness.” Apollo bowed. “I am off to bed.”

“As am I,” Blueblood added. “Sleep well, Princess.”

“The same to you,” Celestia replied. “Both of you. Thank you. I appreciate all that you do for our country.”

“It is our honor, Highness.” Apollo bowed again. “Thank you, and goodnight.”

Celestia smiled as the stallions left the room. She then trotted over to the window to gaze out into the night sky. There, off in the distance, she could see the illuminated outline of the griffon’s airship as it sat upon its landing pad. She grimaced as she imagined how many cannons that the ship carried. “A hundred? Two hundred?” she asked herself idly. “How many lives could they take in a matter of moments…”

The princess shook her head. “I will not allow it.” She glared at the ship.

“You will not win, Chaput. The violent never have, and they never will. You think yourself unique… but you are not. You are just another foe. One of many, a face in the crowd.” She walked back over to her seat and focused her magic. A file flashed into being in front of her, and Celestia opened it. She removed a photograph and placed it upon the table. The princess smirked.

“Check.”

The photographed face of Chaput’s spy inside the castle stared back at her and did not answer.

~~~

Luna hummed to herself as she trotted down the hallway of the castle. A grin covered her face, and she could hardly keep from breaking into an excited run.

She wound through the twisting corridors, smiling to every guard and servant she met along the way. Her hoofsteps echoed off the beautiful walls, and her merry tune gave melody to the rhythmic clap of her hooves on the wood.

She turned the last corridor and finally reached her objective. The doors to her sister’s room were right before her, and she hopped over to them and knocked twice. The guards smiled to her and did not object as the Princess of the Night cracked the door open and poked her head inside.

“Tia? Are you here, Tia?” Luna called, trying to make out the form of her sister in the dark room.

A sleepy voice called out to her. “Luna? Is that you?”

Luna skipped her way into the room. “Tia! I—” She stopped abruptly as she saw Celestia sitting up in her bed, her mane askew and eyes blurry. “Oh, did I wake you? I’m sorry! I… I’ll come back later! Yeah!”

Celestia yawned and wiped her eyes. “No, no. It’s fine. I’m up already.” The elder sister pulled her covers away and slowly got out of bed, stretching her wings before speaking. “So, how did your dinner go?”

“It was amazing!” Luna gushed. “We laughed, and talked, and shared stories, and took a walk, and all kinds of stuff! It was exactly what you said it should be.” She grinned. “You were right, Tia. This helped a lot.”

“Good! Gooo…” Celestia’s words were interrupted by a yawn. “...oood. I’m very happy for you. Did you make more plans with him?”

“Oh, yes! We’re meeting up at Waffle Hut tomorrow morning for breakfast!” Luna continued to smile.

“Well, I’m very glad that you are excited.” Celestia glanced at the clock on her wall. “Luna, do you realize how late it is?”

“Uh, no…” Luna turned to see the clock as well. Her smile vanished. “Oh.”

“It’s two o’clock.” Celestia sighed. “Do you think that we could perhaps continue this discussion at a later time? Like, say, tomorrow evening?”

“Uh, of course! I’m so sorry, Tia.” Luna blushed. “I guess I sort of lost track of time…”

“I understand,” Celestia replied warmly. “You were excited.” Celestia’s smile turned into a frown as she continued. “However, I am slightly concerned that you stayed out so late.”

“I, uh, I actually only stayed with Button until eleven,” Luna said. “Then, I was too excited, so I went for a flight… and then I snuck back into the castle… then I may have danced around in my room for a bit…” She stifled a giggle. “Okay, yeah. We should talk later.”

“Thank you,” Celestia said sleepily.

Luna turned to walk out the door, but her sister’s voice interrupted her.

“Luna?”

She turned back to face Celestia. “Yes?”

“I’m very proud of you. You are doing great.” Celestia beamed at her. “I love you. You know that, right?”

“Of course!” Luna exclaimed. “I love you too.”

“Okay. Goodnight, Sister.” With that, Celestia laid her head back down upon her pillow and was snoring within a few seconds.

Luna couldn’t stop herself from giggling this time. “Oh, if the reporters could see us now…”

She walked out of Celestia’s room and trotted down the hall toward her own chamber. She resumed her humming. Her smile returned, and she allowed herself a small giggle as she rounded a corner and—

“Woah!” Luna sprawled onto the ground as she collided with a green mare wearing a servant’s dress.

“Princess Luna! Are you okay?” The voice of Gem Petal reached Luna’s ears.

The princess shook herself off and rose to her hooves. “I’m fine, Miss Petal. I wasn’t watching where I was going. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not your fault!” The maid smiled. “I ran into you, and you’re the one who fell down!” The earth pony’s uniform was rumpled, and her mane was uncharacteristically askew.

“It’s fine, Petal.” Luna smiled. “Let’s just agree that we’ll both need to watch where we’re going better.

“Oh, okay, Princess!” Gem curtsied.

Luna raised an eyebrow as a thought crossed her mind. “What are you doing out so late, Miss Petal?”

The maid blushed furiously. “I was… I was finishing the last of… I… uh….”

Luna narrowed her gaze. “I get the feeling that you’re hiding something, Petal.”

“I… uh…” Gem hung her head in shame. “Oh, Princess. I can’t lie to you. I’m going back to my quarters because I’ve just spent some… time…. with one of my friends.” Her blush returned. “I know that interpalace romances are discouraged, but it’s just…”

Luna blinked, and then her face softened. “Gem, I understand.” The princess grinned conspiratorially. “Who’s the lucky stallion?”

Gem’s blush deepened. “He’s, ah, one of Princess Celestia’s guards.” She smiled unsurely. “I really like him, and he likes me, so…”

Luna’s smile broadened. “Well, I’m very happy for you! I hope it all goes well. But…” Luna’s grin faded. “Gem, do you realize how this looks? You’re wandering the corridors late at night… There are griffons here at the palace… you should probably find a different location for your trysts, at least until the political situation calms down. Do you understand?”

Gem nodded furiously. “Oh, I do! I’m so sorry, Princess!” She looked down at her hooves. “Am… am I in trouble?”

“No, of course not!” Luna said. “But you do need to be more careful.”

Gem raised her gaze and beamed at the princess. “I will! Thank you, Your Highness!”

“It is nothing,” Luna replied cheerfully. “Now, get on off to sleep. I suspect that you have an early day tomorrow, yes?”

“I do,” the servant agreed. “Thank you again, Princess!” She curtsied quickly and then scampered away down the hall.

Luna shook her head and chuckled. “Ah, Petal, Petal, Petal… whatever shall we do with you?”

She turned her gaze to the other side of the hallway and something odd caught her eye. She walked a bit closer. There, at the end of the corridor, was Celestia’s private dining hall. The door was cracked open.

“Hmm…” Luna muttered. “Odd.” She trotted over and pulled the door shut. She squinted at the frame and scratched her head.

“Very odd…”

~~~

Button smiled as he opened his refrigerator. His mind was still racing as he replayed the evening’s events in his head. He’d been unable to sleep for hours, so he’d spent his time trying and failing to concentrate long enough to fill out a few of his job applications. “She’s freaking perfect,” he muttered to himself.

The refrigerator contained most of the items that Button considered absolutely essential for life. A few pieces of fruit filled one drawer, but the majority of space was taken up by precooked chimichangas, leftovers from the Saddle Arabian food that he’d had for lunch, a few gallons of milk, and…

“Wait… where’s my soda?”

Button glanced around the fridge and sighed. His cans of soda were nowhere to be seen, even after he checked for a third time. “Now, where did I…” Button looked up and saw the pack of cans sitting on the counter. “Oh.”

Button sighed and grabbed one of the cans, opening it quickly and taking a sip. His face contorted into a grimace as the warm liquid ran down his throat. “Eww, gross.”

He trotted over to a cupboard and grabbed himself a slender glass. He muttered under his breath as he walked over to the refrigerator to—

“What? No built in ice machine? I thought this was state of the art!” He hung his head and moaned. “It’s like the Dark Ages all over again…”

Once more, Button sighed. He reached onto the counter and grabbed a large bowl. After balancing it on his back, he trotted out of his room and down the hallway. He squinted his eyes as he scanned the walls for an ice machine.

“Aha!” He exclaimed. “There it is!” He walked forward, but his smile faded as he read the words on the piece of paper covering the front of the machine.

Out of order

“Gaaaaaah…” Button slowly turned around. “I guess I’ll try another floor down.”

He walked to the elevator and pressed the down button. After waiting a few moments, the lift arrived, and he stepped inside. He reached down and picked out a random button, only to pause and slap a hoof to his face. “Ah, why did I do that? I should have just gone one down…” He sighed. “I’m too tired for this. Also, I need to stop talking to myself…”

After a moment, the lift’s door opened. Button shrugged and trotted out into the new hallway. He turned right and walked down the corridor. Eventually, he rounded a corner and came to a familiar looking machine tucked away in a nook in the wall. “Here we go,” he said quietly.

Button was just about to turn the machine on and fill his bucket, but he stopped as a hushed whisper reached his ears.

“Were you followed?”

“Of course not!” an indignant mutter answered the first voice. “You need to be quiet! You act as if this is your first mission…”

His curiosity piqued, Button peered down the hallway. He listened for a moment, then slowly trotted toward the source of the noise.

“Do you have what I need? We need to finish quickly so you can get back to my post. We don’t want the manager to notice that somepony was gone.”

Button spotted a cracked door and cautiously approached it. He mentally chastised himself for being nosy as he peered around the doorframe to see inside the room, but his curiosity won out.

Inside, two ponies stood next to each other. One was a brown stallion who wore the suit and tie of a businesspony. A briefcase laid on the table beside him. The other was one of the hotel workers. He wore a red outfit and shifted uncomfortably from hoof to hoof.

“Perfect,” the hotel worker replied. He reached over and grabbed the case. After opening it, he glanced inside. “Everything is in order. Switch.”

The two ponies stripped off their clothes and handed them to each other. The business pony closed his eyes, and green colored fire enveloped his body for a moment. A second later, two identical stallions stood side by side. The other pony then did the same, transforming into the shape of the brown businesspony. The two redressed themselves, and the businesspony who had been the worker grabbed his briefcase. “Excellent,” he said.

Button gasped. Hoofsteps approached the door, and he swiftly cantered back to the ice machine. He pushed his back up against the wall of the alcove and panted, desperately trying to muffle the sound with a hoof. A moment later, he heard two sets of hoofsteps depart down the other side of the corridor. Button breathed a sigh of relief and glanced down the hallway just in time to see the two ‘ponies’ exit to the lobby.

Button turned his eyes back to the ice machine. His mind reeled.

“What the hell are changelings doing here?”

Author's Note

This chapter brought to you by I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues by Sir Elton John!

Also! I plan on writing tomorrow's chapter of the fic... LIVE! I will be posting the link to my Gdoc so that anyone who wants to can come watch me struggle to pump out a few hoarse werds! Come see me spell things terrriblee, get yelled at by my prereaders/editors, and make random comments in the chatroom that I'll set up! Woo! Expect a few blog posts about this tomorrow! The link will most likely be published at 9pm EST, and I will start writing around 10pm EST. This is gonna be fun!

Also,

:trollestia:

Paperwork, Waffles, and Tapestries

“Lemme see if I’ve got this right. You were wandering around in your hotel in the middle of the night and you just happened to walk past a room that included two changelings in the middle of a covert mission?” The detective’s eyes narrowed as he looked over his desk at Button. The two sat in the middle of a bustling police station. The early morning sun shone through the untinted windows, and Button squinted to keep the glare out of his eyes.

“Yes, sir. That’s exactly what happened. I don’t know what they were doing, but I know that they were changelings. They traded some kind of briefcase or something and then left the room.” Button leaned onto the desk. “I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true.”

The officer sighed. “Kid, I believe that you think it’s true. But you’ve gotta understand… the city is crazy right now. We’ve got protesters in the streets saying that the griffons are war criminals who need to be banned from Equestria. We’ve made more arrests in the last twenty-four hours than we have in weeks. Our officers are busting their flanks just to keep up with the disturbance calls that we’re receiving.” He ran a hoof through his purple mane. “I know that you think there are changelings, but I don’t think we have anypony to spare right now.”

Button shook his head. “I understand, but can’t you at least do something? These are changelings! Who knows what they’re planning? I know I don’t. And last time they were here, they almost took over Canterlot.”

“Look, I get it. You’re new here, and you were up late. It’s a big city, you’re having a hard time sleeping, and things aren’t like what you’re used to. I’ve been there! But you’re just bringing accusations to me. I can’t do anything. My hooves are tied,” the officer said. He leaned back in his chair.

“I know what I saw…” Button glared at the officer. “I’m not an idiot, sir. I have a master’s degree in history. My area of study is ancient Equestrian history. Do you know anything about that time period?”

“I… I can’t say I’m particularly familiar with it, no.”

“Well, let me tell you something. Changelings have been around for a very long time. They’ve invaded Equestria over and over and over again. Every time, they start by infiltrating. The pre-Discordian invasion started off with only four drones. By the time they attacked, they’d taken control of the military, the agricultural community, and several major trading centers. This is how they operate. A single changeling can signal an invasion of an unimaginable scale.” Button shook his head again. “This is not something to just ignore!”

“Sir,” the officer began, “I understand that you feel this way. You may be a historian, but you aren’t a detective. I cannot do anything right now. The best that I can do is pass this information up the chain of command.”

“But—”

“Detective! We need you over here!” a voice interrupted Button, and the officer turned to face its source.

“Okay, kid. I’ve gotta go. I’ll let my superiors know what you told me. I might be able to get a black and white to do a pass through this evening, but I’m not making any promises. Excuse me.” With that, the officer stood up and walked away.

“Please, come with me,” another officer said after walking over to Button. “I’ll get you the paperwork so you can write out what you told the detective.”

Button stood with a sigh. “Okay. Lead the way.”

The two ponies strode through the precinct back toward the entrance. The new officer levitated a clipboard and a few sheets of paper to Button. “Here you go,” he said.

“Thanks,” Button muttered. He grabbed a pen off a table and started to write.

Describe the event as you perceived it.

Button closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “This is going to be a long day…”

~~~

Luna tapped a hoof gently on the floor. The wonderful smells of Waffle Hut filled her nostrils while ponies moving to and fro added to the din emanating from the kitchen. Luna used her hoof to adjust her currently gray mane. She glanced at the clock up on the far wall. Button had promised to meet her at nine, but the hour hand had just reached the midway point in between the nine and ten.

“Well…”

The princess sighed. She’d arrived ten minutes early because she’d been so nervous. The butterflies in her stomach kept growing as the time passed, but had been somewhat tempered by annoyance as her patience was worn thin by the passage of time. Luna sipped at her water and watched the second hand make its journey around the clock face.

Her waiter walked over to her table. “Do you need anything, miss?” he asked.

“I’m fine, thanks,” Luna replied. “Just waiting for somepony.”

The unicorn stallion smiled and nodded. “Okay! Just wave me over if something comes up!” He winked to her and turned away. He gave her a sideways grin over his shoulder as he went back to the kitchen.

Luna raised an eyebrow and then shrugged. “Weird.”

She turned to look out the window. The elegant cityscape of Canterlot made a stark contrast against the bold blue of the open sky. Pegasi flew through the clouds, and Luna could hear the bustle of crowds moving down the packed streets.

She blinked rested her head on a hoof. “I wonder what’s keeping him…” she muttered.

Just then, a familiar looking earth pony ran into view. His mane flapped in the wind as he cantered down the street. A grin split Luna’s face as she recognized her friend.

A moment later, Button opened the door to the restaurant. He glanced around and met her gaze. Flashing a smile, he walked toward her and sat down in the chair opposite her.

“Hi,” he said. He wiped his mane out of his eyes and panted lightly. “Sorry I’m so late. You wouldn’t believe what happened last night and this morning.”

Luna smiled back at him. “Oh, it’s okay! What happened?”

“Well, I couldn’t sleep last night. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t.” Button shrugged. “Anyways, I decided to get a drink, but there wasn’t any ice in the room. I went outside to get some from the machine, but that one was broken. I took the elevator to another floor. Once I got there, I heard two ponies talking. I was kinda curious, so I listened for a bit…”

Luna leaned forward and grinned. “Button, that’s not nice!”

“I know! I know!” Button rolled his eyes. “I felt really bad at first, but then they started saying some weird stuff.” Button clenched his jaw. “They talked about being followed, and then one of them hoofed a briefcase over to the other. Then…” Button stopped for a second. “Starry…”

“Yes, Button?” Luna answered.

“Are you familiar with changelings?”

A chill ran down Luna’s spine. Her smile disappeared and her eyes widened. After a moment she replied, “Yes, of course.”

“Well, that’s what they were.” He crossed his hooves. “I saw them transform. They traded clothes and the briefcase. I was barely able to get away from the door before they walked out.”

“Changelings…” Luna whispered.

“Yeah. I don’t know why they were there! They just…”

“Did you report this?” she asked quickly.

He nodded. “Yeah. That’s why I was late. I went down to the police station and filled out some forms. I got to talk to an officer, but he basically said that they couldn’t do anything because of all the mess with the griffons being in town.”

Luna’s mind raced through the implications. “Griffons, changelings, spies…” she muttered.

“I’m sorry? I didn’t quite catch that,” Button said.

“Oh!” Luna shook her head. “Sorry, just talking to myself again.”

Button laughed. “Ah, I do that too. At least it’s good conversation, yeah?”

“Sometimes,” Luna replied and giggled.

The waiter returned with a grin on his face. “Ah, your friend made it! Great! Can I get you two started with something to drink? Maybe coffee?”

Button turned to face the pony. “Uh, lemme look…” He picked up his menu and looked for the list of beverages.

Luna nodded. “I’ll have an orange juice, please.”

“Um, I’ll just have a water,” Button said.

“Cool! I’ll have that right out for you guys,” the waiter replied. He nodded to them and flashed Luna another smile. She grinned back sheepishly as he walked away.

Button squinted at the unicorn’s back and grunted.

“Something wrong?” Luna asked.

Button shook his head. “Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Okay!” Luna said. “But what else happened at the police station? Surely they didn’t just send you away, did they?”

“Pretty much.” Button sighed. “The officer said that they might be able to check it out in the evening, but that was the best he could do. I don’t know… It’s like he didn’t believe me, like I was some kind of liar or attention seeker.” Button hung his his head.

“Hey…” Luna reached across the table and grabbed one of his hooves. “I believe you.”

Button looked up and met her eyes with his own. He gave her a lopsided smile and cleared his throat. “Well, thanks, Starry. I appreciate it.”

Luna held eye contact for a moment longer. His orange eyes glimmered in the soft sunlight, and small smile wrinkles formed in the corner of his eyes. A second later, he looked away and smiled even more broadly.

“Ahem,” he said as he tried to clear his throat again. “Anyways… how was your evening?”

“Eh, it was okay,” Luna said. “I got home rather late and went for an evening flight. I talked to my sister for a little bit and then went to bed. Nothing really special.”

“Oh, cool! You know, I always wished that I could fly at least once. It looks like a lot of fun.”

Luna nodded. “It is. The feeling of the wind under your wings… the ground passing you in a blur, the sky behind you, above you, all around you… nopony around for miles, just you and the open air. There’s really nothing like it.” She smiled.

“You make it sound amazing.” Button let out a slow whistle. “Wow. Now I want to try it even more, haha.”

“Well, there are spells that can give ponies wings for a little while. Have you ever considered trying one of those?” Luna asked.

“I’ve actually never thought of that!” He grinned. “That’s a great idea!”

“Thanks.” Luna chuckled at his enthusiasm.

“Ya know, that gives me an idea…” Button rubbed his chin with a hoof. “We should totally try flying together while I’m out here! Do you know a unicorn who could cast the spell?”

She smiled. “Actually, I think I know a few. We should do that.”

“Yeah! I—”

“Here we go!” The waiter interrupted Button as he stepped over to the table while levitating a tray with their drinks. “Did you get a chance to look at the menu yet?”

Luna nodded. “I did earlier, but I don’t know if he did yet.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure… What do you like, Starry?” Button asked.

“I’ve gotten the blueberry and strawberry waffles a few times. They’re really good, and that’s what I’m getting today.”

“Okay!” Button said. “I’ll have those too!”

“Sweet. We’ll get those right out.” The waiter took their menus and smiled at Luna once again.

Button huffed lightly at the other stallion again.

“All right, that’s the second time. What’s wrong?” Luna asked. She raised an eyebrow.

“Eh, it’s nothing. He just reminds me of somepony… or somedragon…” Button shook his head. “Really, it’s nothing. It’s just bringing up bad memories.”

“I understand,” Luna replied. “I won’t push you.”

“Thanks, Starry.”

The two smiled at each other for a moment, but then Luna broke the silence. “So, did you want to do something after this? I don’t have to work until the evening, so I have some free time!”

“Sure,” Button said. “You said something about an art museum last night. I was wondering if you wanted to go visit it together.”

“That’s actually what I was thinking!” Luna exclaimed. “I love the museum!”

“Great!” Button said. “Seriously, you have no idea how much I’ve wanted to visit a museum with a friend without having to blackmail them into coming. Most of my friends back at home wouldn’t go near anything that looks like school even if it had a sign saying ‘Free Food!’ outside of it. Well, maybe one of them likes food that much…” He chuckled.

Luna’s laugh joined his. “I understand. I haven’t been able to visit the museum in ages, and I usually have to go alone. I don’t have many friends, actually. So it’s mostly just the paintings and me when I go to visit.”

“Yeah, I understand that feeling. But, hey!” Button sat straight up and flashed a big smile. “We won’t be alone this time, at least!”

Luna responded with her own grin. “No, we won’t. I think I’ll enjoy going there with somepony else.”

“Me too, Starry. Me too.”

~~~

Button held open the museum’s door so that Starry could step inside. He smiled and bowed comically. “M’lady,” he said jokingly as she walked past.

Starry snorted and shoved him lightly. “Oh, you.”

Button chuckled and the two walked into the magnificent building. Soaring marble columns lined the walls and the intricately decorated ceiling reflected the lights from a half dozen chandeliers. At the far end of the hallway was a desk manned by a mare wearing a white uniform.

“Wow,” Button said appreciatively. “This… this is nice.”

“Is it your first time here?” Starry asked.

“Yep! I’ve been to a bunch of other museums in Manehattan and the one that is in Ponyville, but I’ve never been to this one. It’s amazing!” Button’s jaw fell as he looked around the room. Everything from the floor to the arches up on the massive ceiling shone, polished to a resplendent sheen.

“Well, I’m glad I’ll be here for this,” Starry said. “They have some of the best pieces of art from all of Equus here. One of the wings is actually filled with part of Princess Celestia’s personal collection. She keeps most of it on public display, although she has some in the castle.”

“That’s nice of her.” Button led the way to the front desk. “I guess that she wants to share the art with everypony instead of locking it away, right?”

“Exactly.” Starry nodded.

Button smiled. “You know, I like the princesses more and more each time I learn new things about them. That’s exactly what I would do if I had a collection like this. Beauty shouldn’t be locked away. It should be displayed proudly.”

The pair arrived at the desk. The mare in the uniform smiled. “Hi there! Two tickets?”

“Yes, please!” Button said. He took out ten bits and put them on the counter.

Starry tapped him on the shoulder. “Oh, I can’t let you pay for this! You already bought my breakfast. This is too much.”

Button shook his head. “No, no, I’ve got it. It’s okay!”

“Are you sure?” Starry asked. “I don’t want to impose.”

“Starry, I haven’t been able to spend any money on anypony else in months. I wanted you to come with me, so I’ve got you!” Button nodded to the mare. She took them and hoofed him two red tickets.

“Okay then…” Starry seemed hesitant, but she smiled at him. “To be honest, nopony has really done anything like this for me in a long time. Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure. And I don’t know why you haven’t had anypony to do something like this with! You’re great.” Button passed one of the tickets to the mare.

“Thanks.” Starry grinned sheepishly. “But really, it’s been a long time.”

“Well, let’s fix that then.” Button winked, and both ponies walked through the large wooden doors conveniently marked ‘Entrance!’

The room hidden behind the doors was revealed, and Button gasped.

Paintings. Sculptures. Woven tapestries. Photographs. Flowing displays of magnificent fabrics and streaming strands of ribbons. The room held it all. Art from every corner of the world and every era of time. A conglomerate of some of the greatest work ever done by a being who lived on Equus.

“Wow!” Button said. He practically pranced over to the first display. “This… this is a Dali! Wow…” he repeated.

“I love this picture,” Starry said. “The contrast between the rose and the small ponies below… wonderful.”

Button nodded quickly. He grinned as he trotted over to the next display. “And this! Van Gogh! So interesting… He was quite a character, you know. Cut off half of his beard and then his ear… It’s too bad he lived back before modern medicine. He could have had a much easier life.”

Starry eyed the brightly colored canvas. “This one is very nice… I do love this interpretation of the night sky.” Button felt her walk very close beside him. Their front legs almost touched, and a shiver that had nothing to do with the cool air of the museum shot through Button’s body.

“I love the nighttime,” Button said. “And he just brings out the elegance of the stars… I swear, he’s almost as good at this as Princess Luna.”

Starry chuckled lightly, and Button turned to see her smiling at him.

“What?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing…” Starry muttered. She kept smiling as she walked toward another exhibit.

Button stood still for a moment. “Every time… jeez, mares.”

“Oh, this is a good one!” Starry said. She stood in front of a tapestry that depicted the founders of Equestria and their assistants standing around a fire in a cave. The six of them smiled at one another, and Button could barely make out a few shadows hiding in the background. “It’s amazing how well it’s been preserved. It dates back to before the reign of Discord, but the spell wards stayed intact even through the chaos!”

“Well, the spell was cast by Starswirl the Bearded, or so the story goes,” Button said. “He wanted to preserve the tapestry since it was decaying, so he actually invented a new spell that still hasn’t been improved upon. It was a wonderful time for magic.”

Starry raised an eyebrow. “You seem to know a lot about this stuff.”

“History major, remember?” He smiled. “I always loved art, especially old Equestrian art. My main field of study was pre-Discordian history. You know, the Founding, the first Changeling invasions, the war with the Crystal Empire. All that fun stuff. I’ve always wanted to see this tapestry in person…”

“I’m glad I was here for it,” Starry said warmly. “So, how did a video game loving colt with a shield cutie mark decide to pursue a future in history, of all things?” She walked toward another display, a blue and gold vase decorated by ancient etchings.

“Well, it was actually video games that got me into history… and my cutie mark, for that matter.” Button followed her. “Oh, nice. This one is ancient Saddle Arabian, I believe!”

She nodded in reply. “It is. How would video games lead to that?”

“Okay. So it all started with this game called ‘Warlords III: Darklords Rising.’ It’s a really cool turn based strategy game where you make armies and get heroes and fight other players or the AI.” Button and Starry sauntered over to another display, this one a small Prench statue. “The gameplay was pretty smooth, but my favorite part of the game was the pictures included with every character. Each unit had its own image, and they were amazing. Very intricate drawings, all of them. I like them all, but my favorite was the one on the ‘Knight Lord’ unit. The unit was pretty weak, but I liked the picture so much that I used it anyways.”

“How old were you?” Starry asked.

“Eh, I was like eight or nine. I was still easily entertained by colorful pictures. Oooh, a Picasso!” Button happily moved to the next piece of artwork.

“I see that hasn’t changed,” Starry said with a laugh. She grinned and followed him.

Button shrugged. “Yeah, I guess it hasn’t. Anyways, I asked my dad about the image, and he said that it was actually a real drawing of a knight from back in Old Equestria. He showed me one of his history books, and I was amazed. I’d never been interested in school things until that day. Suddenly, it felt real to me. I was hooked.” He grinned. “A few days later, I was finishing up the book, and I had a sudden thought. I knew what I really wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be a knight, like in the old stories. A big light flashed, and I got my cutie mark, right there in my bedroom.”

“Just from reading a book?” Starry asked.

“Yep. Just from a book.” Button nodded. “Of course, I decided that my future was in the Royal Guard. But then, I learned how different the Guard is from the ancient knights, and my dreams were kinda dashed against the wall. I was pretty upset, so I went back to the history books and immersed myself in the old stories. I was reading one of them at school during recess one day when my teacher walked over to talk to me.”

Starry tsked. “Reading during recess? What were you thinking, Button?”

“I know,” Button replied. He laughed softly. They continued to stroll from exhibit to exhibit. “So, she comes over to me and says that she’s noticed that I’m reading a lot more lately. I tell her how I got my cutie mark, and we get to talking about history. One thing led to another, and she told me that I could try to follow a career as a historian if I loved the old times so much. I hadn’t really considered that, so I went home and talked to my parents about it. You can guess how the story ends.”

“I think so,” Starry said. “Oh, look over t— Whoa!”

Starry turned abruptly and tripped over her own hooves. She toppled sideways, falling down past the railing toward a piece of priceless Zebran artwork and—

—was immediately caught in Button’s strong forelegs. The stallion had rushed over and grabbed her just before she hit the ground and the statue. Starry gasped as he held her. Her face turned to look up into his. He looked down at her, inches away from him. She smiled nervously, and he responded in kind. Their lips were so close…

“Th-thanks,” Starry said airily. “That was almost bad.”

“Yeah,” he replied throatily. “Umm…”

“You can probably let me go now,” she whispered.

He blinked rapidly and smirked. “Oh, yeah. That could happen.” He slowly released her, and she returned to her hooves.

“Good save,” she whispered again.

“Why are we whispering?” Button asked.

“I don’t know…”

Button paused for a moment and looked into her deep aqua eyes. She looked back at him. A second later, they both chuckled softly.

“C’mon,” Starry said. “The next room is my favorite.”

“Oh, good,” Button replied. She walked off and he watched as she did.

“Waaaaaaay better than going to the museum alone…”

Author's Note

This chapter was written LIVE! Special shoutout to all the readers who stuck with me for hours and hours! You may be seeing characters from a few of them popping up soon...

I'll try to do another live writing on the upcoming Sunday!

Today's music was Moves Like Jagger! I also ate lots and lots of Taco Bell. Lots.

Also, my hooves are ties. If you don't get it, you weren't there :rainbowkiss:

Rogues, Laptops, and Scotch

“Okay, we’re clear. Move in, now!”

At the sound of Luna’s voice, her party ran down the ruined streets of the city that had once been called Manehattan. The clip of hooves on broken cement echoed off the walls of the long-abandoned skyscrapers. The six soldiers dashed from cover to cover, staying as quiet as possible.

“We getting close, Noble?” Silver whispered through the coms.

The draconequus alchemist nodded in response. “Yeah. We’ve got a quarter of a kilometer to go. The intel says that the drop spawned five minutes ago.”

“Damn,” Silver grunted. “I hope we aren’t too late.”

Button chuckled. “Hey, even if we are, we’ll just beat whoever got there first and take the stuff from them.”

“Unless they already ‘ported out,” Fawkes muttered. The unicorn flashed to a street corner. He peered around a building and nodded. “We’re clear.”

Luna trotted over to the mage. “Fawkes, stay back. I’m running scout. I have the shields to take the fire if we get ambushed, and you’re our main controller. We need you safe.”

“Oh! Sorry,” he replied sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“It’s no problem,” Luna said with a chuckle. “You’re still new. You’re doing just fine.”

The group continued their trek down the ancient street. Luna led the way, her visor scanning for movement, her rifle at the ready. The rest of the group followed. Fawkes stood right beside Jexxc. The tank’s massive minotaur hands held a shotgun and a shield. Jexxc never used voice chat, but Luna knew that he would stop if he saw anything out of the ordinary.

Above them flew Noble and Silver. Noble floated lazily through the air, a datapad in her front paw. Her griffon companion held a pair of glowing red short swords while he flapped alongside her.

“We’re almost there, right?” Button asked. He’d taken his traditional place as rear guard.

“Almost…” Noble muttered. “Take a left at the next intersection, everypony.”

“Hey!”

“Oh, sorry, Silver. ‘Everyone’ it is, then,” Noble laughed.

“Thank you. Much appreciated,” the griffon replied. He grinned lopsidedly. “You ponies, always thinking you run everything.”

“To be fair, we kind of do,” Fawkes said as he leapt over some debris.

“Bah, whatever.” Silver decreased his altitude as the party moved closer together. “Mem? What’s over there?”

“Checking…” Luna peered around the corner and triggered another scan. The city lit up as a brilliant red light washed over it. A few mobs lit off in the far right of her view, a single dragonhawk flew over the top of a nearby building, and—

“We’ve got company,” Luna muttered. “Looks like we’re not the first here after all.”

“Of course…” Silver sighed. “How bad is it?”

Luna eyed the group of soldiers down at the other end of the road. They surrounded a single building as if they were looking for something. Several corpses of other adventurers littered the street, and dust still floated in the air as if many explosives had just gone off.

“Looks like there are seven of them,” she replied.

Silver grunted. “Pickup group, or guild?”

Pressing a few buttons on the control pad she wore on her foreleg, Luna activated her social HUD. The names of the other players appeared on her scope, as did their guild name. She groaned. “It’s a guild.”

“Great,” Button said. “I’ll get onto the social panel. What’s their name?”

“It’s... it’s... “ Luna groaned. “It’s ‘xXMyLeetlPwniesXx.’”

Button paused. “Seriously?”

Jexxc froze as he typed an answer.

Jexxc: eeyup

“How many are there, again?” Button asked, stifling a laugh.

“Seven.” Noble floated to the ground and smiled. “Oh, how cute. They’re a level twelve guild.”

“And I have the names of all seven members active in Manehattan…” Button grinned. “I thought this was going to be a rough fight. I might have overestimated them.”

Silver landed and flapped his wings. “What’ve we got? How’s their composition?”

“Okay. None of them is their guild leader. They’ve got a healer, the silver dragon. His name is ‘Damascus.’ He’s level-capped.” Button scrolled through pages on his wrist controller. “Their controller is a griffon Alchemist. ‘Bio-Mason.’ Looks a lot like your build, Noble.”

“Of course,” Noble snorted. “Never should have published that forum post about how awesome Alchemists are.”

“Because the popularity of an entire class is all because of you, right?” Silver asked with a chuckle.

Noble shoved him. “Oh, shut up.”

“Anyways,” Button continued. “They’ve got a few DPS types. Looks like four. Two changeling rogue types, a yak Warrior, and a dragon Cyber. The last one is…” He grunted. “They’ve got a Chaos-buster build minotaur tank. Mem, you may not want to fight that one.”

“Ah, one of those?” Luna asked. “I thought that they died off an update or two ago.”

“Apparently this guy didn’t get the memo.” Button put his wrist down. “Okay, what’s the plan?”

All eyes turned to Luna, as they always did when the party made plans. She looked down the road and thought for a moment.

“A brilliant plan with little to no guild deaths would be nice,” Silver said. “We’ve almost gotten enough PvP points to buy another wing on the base. A few deaths would take away some of our progress, and I’d rather not have that happen.”

“I know… I know…” Luna said hurriedly. Her mind and eyes raced as she watched their movements. She noted the locations of the corpses and nodded. “Okay. They’re trying to get into the building right now. Do they have a Hacker?”

“Nope,” Button said before smirking. “I’m feeling better and better about this fight.”

Luna nodded again. “That means that they can’t open the main door. Unless, of course, one of their rogues spent a lot of points to be able to hack high level doors, which they probably didn’t.”

Jexxc: I almost feel sorry for them

“Bah, don’t feel sorry for them,” Noble said. “Just hit them really hard. That works better.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “May I continue, please?”

Noble laughed and tightened her grip on her tech-bow and took an arrow from her hip quiver. “By all means.”

“Thank you.” Luna leaned forward to look around the corner again. “They’re probably going to decide to blow a hole in the building soon. It might destroy the loot drop, but at least they’d get it. We need to hit them fast.”

“You want to go grouped, split, or wings?” Silver asked.

“Well, grouped wouldn’t be a good idea. Going down as a united front would just let their controller get us.” Luna eyed the griffon. “He looks like he could handle himself. Wings could work, but we’d lose some of the element of surprise…” She smiled. “No, I think we’ll go spilt. Classic and stealth, I think?”

Silver grinned viciously. “Yes! Perfect!”

“Umm, what does that mean, again?” Fawkes asked uneasily.

Luna turned to face him. “We split into two groups. The first looks like a normal, albeit smaller, party. That would be you, Jexxc, and Noble. The three of you would be the distraction. Fade, Silver, and I are all stealth heavy characters, so we would go invisible and wait for you to draw some of them out. Then, we flank them and hit them from both sides.”

“Oh, okay! That sounds good!” The mage nodded fiercely. “So, I guess we round the corner, get them to see us, and then run away?”

“No,” Luna replied. “We need to get them to follow you. You have to get in close and act as if you are ambushing them without realizing that you are outnumbered. Then you run away.”

Jexxc: i can do that

“Yeah, you’re good at running away,” Fawkes said with a guffaw.

Jexxc: no, i’m good at playing dumb

“Well, that too.” The unicorn flipped his mane out of his face.

Silver sighed. “I hope this works. I want that loot. The devs hinted that there may be spaceship parts in the drops since the big expansion is coming soon. It’d be nice to get a head start.”

“Yeah,” Button said. “That it would.” He flipped down his visor and powered up his combat shields. “Everypony ready?”

“Ahem…”

“Oops. Everyone ready?” Button corrected himself.

“I believe so.” Noble nocked her arrow. “Fawkes, Jexxc, on me.”

“Lead the way, Mem,” Silver ordered.

With that, the party activated their shields, stealth drives, and weapons. Silver, Luna, and Button all took to the air with their wings or jetpacks. Silver, Jexxc, and Noble sprinted down the road toward their enemies.

As Luna neared the group, she heard a new voice chime into her ear.

“...so you’re telling me that in a seven player party, nopony took any hacking at all?”

Luna gasped. “Silver… they’re using the in-game voice chat!”

“You’re right!” Silver’s booming laugh filled the coms. “Why would they do that? They know that proximity voice lets nearby players hear voice chat, right? I mean, that’s why we use an external program, for goodness’ sake!”

“Noobs,” Button murmured.

“Well, don’t look at me!” another new voice said. “You’re the tee-Rogue, oh mighty leader!”

“I guess that means that the traditional Rogue character is in charge,” Silver said. “I’ll go for him first.”

“Hey, you know that I’m specced for traps, not hacking. Besides, I—”

“We’ve got movement!” A third voice roared.

Luna slipped behind the furthest enemy. Button took his place at her side, ready to work as her wingpony. Silver hovered up above the leader. His prey was a changeling in his natural form. The entire enemy party turned as one, just in time to see Noble, Jexxc, and Fawkes slip into cover behind a building.

“Let them go,” the leader of the enemies said. “Unless they get close, do not engage.”

“Heard,” the gruff voice of the yak warrior replied. “How are we going to get in?”

“We’ll blow it open,” the minotaur tank growled. “I’ve got rockets to spare.”

Silver huffed. “Noble, they’re not buying it! Hit them now!”

“You got it, boss.”

A single lithe form floated swiftly into the air. The character rose toward the sky until she floated right in the way of the sunlight. Her silhouette blocked the light, and Luna could see the power of the rays moving toward Noble. She raised her bow, and a single arrow streaked downward toward the ground.

The enemy leader hadn’t noticed. “Okay. Hit the wall. We’ll just have to hope that—”

The ground shook as the arrow impacted right in the middle of the rival guild. Its bolt snapped with a sound akin to cracking thunder, and a bright green liquid spilled and flowed from the splintered projectile as though it had tapped into an infinite river of destructive power.

“Corruption!” the griffon Alchemist shouted. “Get back! Get back!”

“Shit!” The leader leapt back as the splashing acid nearly touched him.

Jexxc and Fawkes ran back into the open farther down the street. Fawkes’ horn flared and a bright purple shield covered both of them. Jexxc pulled a grenade launcher out of his holster and fired a volley of three explosives toward their foes. The grenades passed through the shield and became charged with glowing pink energy. They arced through the air toward their target, nearing th—

—and were stopped by another purple shield that appeared up above the other guild.

“Should we get them?” the dragon healer asked. His claws glowed with magical energy as his shield deactivated.

“Yes!” The leader hissed his reply as he leapt into action.

Luna nodded. “Wait for it…” She and her stealthed allies ran after their foes, staying just far enough behind them.

Fawkes’ horn glowed with even more magic. He panted in exertion as his shield extended upward and outward, effectively blocking the street. Jexxc put his launcher away and readied his shotgun and shield combo.

Arrow after explosive arrow rained down on the enemies from above, but every one of them was countered by a brilliantly placed shield.

“They’re not as bad as we thought…” Noble growled as she kept shooting.

“Wait a second…” The leader of the enemies stopped running. “Something isn’t right here…” He disappeared from view as he activated stealth.

Luna gasped and flipped on her detection visor. The world turned red once more, and she looked down onto the street. Her eyes scanned for the outline of a stealthed form, the glimmer of an invisible enemy, or… the glowing red of another visor looking directly at her.

“It’s a trap!” The changeling shouted. “Turtle, now!”

His team reacted immediately. They all grouped into a tight circle and their healer activated his shield once more.

“Aw, they’re onto us!” Silver veered off to the side and landed on a side street. “We need a new plan!”

The entire enemy group glowed with green energy, and Luna had to shield her eyes as the light expanded outward in a violent flash. When she looked back, the foes were gone.

“Where’d they go?” Fawkes yelled. “How… What the…”

“That was a group teleport combined with an ultimate shield…” Silver slammed a talon onto the ground. “Where did they go?”

“I don’t know,” Noble said. “But I—”

A single rocket whizzed through the air and impacted against the draconequus’ head. She cried out in shock and fell to the ground.

“Noble!” Luna cried. She flew through the air as her friend plummeted to the ground. She felt the power of Celestia course through her veins as solar energy lit up her body. She forced herself to fly as quickly as possible and prepared herself.

Luna groaned in exertion as a massive amount of energy left her body. The pure white light flowed from her outstretched hooves and surrounded the limp frame of the falling Alchemist. The air glowed, and whizzing golden orbs surrounded Noble as the healing magic worked its power.

A moment later, Noble regained consciousness just in time to slow her descent before she hit the ground. She landed lightly on her paws and shook her head. “Ugh, thanks, Mem. I was lagging and missed that.”

“Sure you were,” Silver said and chuckled. “Funny, you’re always lagging when you make a mistake… What a coincidence.”

“Oh, hush.” Noble stuck her tongue out at her wing-griffon.

“I see them!” Button exclaimed. He ran down the street and turned at an intersection. He pointed a hoof down the other road. “They’re taking cover in one of those buildings!”

Luna rushed over to him and took her spot at his side. “Okay. We’re switching plans. Wings, form up!”

Silver and Noble lifted into the air. They flew side by side over to Luna and Button. Fawkes and Jexxc sprinted down the road to reach the rest of the party. The six of them looked down the sidestreet.

Their foes lined the windows of one of the far ruined skyscrapers. Fawkes cast a preemptive shield to protect from any sneaky snipers.

“You know…” Button muttered. “I think that portals might be a rather interesting idea right now…”

“Well, that is true,” Silver replied. “But, if they’re over there…”

“Then who’s at the drop location?” Luna finished for him.

“Exactly.” Silver laughed. “Mem, you want to portal us over to there, take a couple cheap shots, and then hack your way into the building?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Luna nodded and grinned. “Let’s do this.”

The six soldiers moved back around the corner. Jexxc stayed in eyesight to make sure their enemies stayed put while Luna summoned her chaos magic. Swirling green power surrounded her, and she peeked down the other street to silently cast a portal back behind the enemies. She placed another down the main street. “Go,” she whispered.

Jexxc and Fawkes were the first through the portal. They stealthily crept into the building and took cover behind a wall. Noble slithered along the floor, and Silver activated his stealth and followed the draconequus.

Luna looked back around the corner and quickly activated another portal…

This one was right behind the clueless yak Warrior.

Luna turned her sniper rifle toward the nearby portal. She smirked as she pointed the barrel through the portal, pressed it right up against the back of the yak’s head, and ever-so-gently squeezed the trigger.

She heard two gunshots. One came from right next to her ear, and the other resounded through the empty streets all the way down in the other building. Luna followed up her shot by summoning chaos blades around her hooves and lunging through the portal at her target. She stabbed both of the glowing swords into her foe’s neck and watched as he crumpled to the floor.

Luna backed away swiftly and shut her portals down. She could hear the cries of surprise as her teammates attacked the unaware enemies.

“The yak is down. Good job, Mem.” Silver's voice was clipped, as if he was barely concentrating on his words. “Fawkes, flame ‘em!”

Luna and Button nodded to each other and cantered down the wide street toward the building that Noble had marked as the drop location. It was built like a bunker. Sitting like a squat dwarf among a field of giants, their target had no windows, no decorations on the outside, and only a single door. Somehow, it had fared very well over the thousand years of abandonment. Its grey walls were riddled with bullet holes and laser burns, but it had stayed completely intact otherwise.

Luna rushed over to the only door and opened the control panel. She did a quick reading and groaned. “This is a D99…”

“Sweet Luna…” Button muttered.

Luna felt herself stiffen at the name, but she forced herself to take a deep breath. “Yes, this may take a while…” She stuck her hoof up against the panel and allowed a few cables to connect to the open jack. She concentrated her energy on the door and lost herself in the Code.

“Memory!” Fawkes’ voice broke her concentration. “Three of them just left the group! I think they’re headed your way!”

“Aw, horsefeathers.” Button trotted beside Luna and powered up his own heavy shield. A blue bubble covered the two of them. “I’ll keep them off you.” His two new burst-fire submachine guns popped out of his kit, and he loaded some of his specialty magazines. “Which ones are coming?”

“Looks like the tank and the leader!” Fawkes said. “Oh, damn! Their caster is good.”

“I’ve got you,” Noble nodded. Luna saw Fawkes’ health bar drop dangerously low before it rose back up to full. “You better get through fast, Mem. We might not be able to handle all of this…”

“And I thought they were a bunch of noobs…” Button muttered.

“Do you think you should just break down the walls?” Silver asked. “I mean, this is pretty dangerous…”

“We have no idea what’s in there. If we broke down the walls, we could destroy it!” Luna said while concentrating on her hacking.

“Well then, use your chaos magic! Transform it into, I dunno, coconuts or something!” Silver grunted. “Damn dragon! Stay down!”

Luna sighed. “Silver, I can’t control the magic that precisely. I don’t know where the walls end and the loot begins. If I did that, we might just have some useless fruit instead of those starship parts. All of this for nothing.”

“Well…” the griffon growled in frustration. “Fine, just get in there, get the stuff, and then get out as quickly as you— Dammit!” Silver’s health bar dropped down to zero, and his icon was replaced by a grey skull. “Those assholes!”

“Jexxc killed one of them, but I think that…” Fawkes’ voice faded as he fell down to zero health as well. A message indicating his death filled Luna’s HUD. “Oh. That happened.”

“They’re getting ripped apart!” Button said. “This is really bad…”

“Well. I’m still here,” Noble growled. “Jexxc, how about we do that thing we practiced earlier?”

A moment later, a single letter appeared onscreen.

Jexxc: k

A massive explosion filled the sky. Luna saw the shockwave arc over the tallest buildings and heard the tell-tale crash of rubble falling to the ground.

Noble’s mad laughter filled the coms. “Did you see that?”

“What did you do?” Silver said with a groan. “We’re going to have to pay the landmark destruction tax now… Great.”

“I transmuted the air in the building into natural gas, and Jexxc used his flamethrower to light it up. Then, I re-transmuted the fire around us back into air… Ahahaha! That was even better than I expected!” Noble cackled even more.

Jexxc: help, i’m frozen now. too much lag

“Great, you broke Jexxc’s computer…” Silver sighed. “Did they die, at least?”

“I’m not sure... “ Noble muttered. “I just need to—”

Jexxc’s health bar flashed once and his name faded to gray. Another death notification appeared on Luna’s screen.

Jexxc: well

“Oh, crap! The dragons both made it! They’re on me!” Noble’s health bar flashed and glowed yellow. “That’s it! Celestial Rage on both of you! Screw the component cost! It’s going down now…”

Button shifted uncomfortably beside Luna. “We almost in?”

Luna didn’t answer for a second. She closed her eyes and muttered to herself. “Just… about… there!” The door slid open to reveal—

A grenade rolling through the newly opened doorway. The changeling leader of the enemy group appeared right next to Luna, and she could see the smirk on his face as the explosive rolled right into the now-revealed pile of spaceship parts.

“No!” Luna shouted as the detonation happened right before her eyes…

...and was contained by a shield that Button projected at the last moment. The protection surrounding the two ponies dematerialized and reformed around the explosion, protecting the precious loot.

But their enemy was waiting. A bolt of extremely powerful energy struck Luna as soon as the shield fell. The scorching heat burnt through her chaos shields and almost bypassed her tech barrier as well. Luna growled and turned to face her foe.

“I’ve got the sore loser if you’ve got the big guy!” Button stood back to back with Luna.

“Sounds good to me,” Luna growled. “Are you with me, Fade?”

“Always.”

With that, the partners leapt into action. Luna charged the massive minotaur tank. Her foe’s red armor glinted in the sunlight. His horns were bathed in blood, and his face was marred by countless scars and a massive nose ring.

Luna raised her chaos blade and swung at him, reaching forward and—

Her blade hit his armor and fizzled out. His player’s laughter filled her ears. “Attacking a chaos buster with a chaos blade? Tut, tut. Bad form.”

The enormous warrior lowered his blaster cannon and raised a glowing battle axe. Luna’s eyes widened as she saw her own chaos energy fill the blade. He swung at the pegasus.

Luna waited. The tank may have neutralized her melee powers, but he was slow. She concentrated her Code power on herself and rerouted her robe’s power from shields into speed enhancements. As soon as the axe blade passed close to her, she rolled to the tank’s other side and opened fire with her reserve blasters.

The minotaur grunted in pain and swung around as quickly as he could manage.

Luna smirked and dove behind him once more to repeat the process.

Button was not faring so well. The changeling held a saber in one hoof and was fending Button off blow for blow. When Button moved to take a swing at him, the enemy teleported behind him and struck him with another blade that he seemingly conjured out of thin air.

“Argh!” Button grunted. “That’s it.” He blinked away from the battle in a flash of blue energy and reappeared several meters away. He spun around and opened fire with his blasters. Each shot used three bullets. The first to impact was a specialized micro-EMP round that temporarily disrupted the changeling’s shields. The second ripped through the next protective layer as the armor-piercing round tore a hole in the changeling’s black armor. The third whizzed through the newly created gap in the defenses. Half a dozen explosions peppered the changeling as the maximum-yield atomic rounds detonated.

“Gah!” The Rogue teleported once again to dodge the next several shots. He reappeared in the air above Button and flew downward, saber raised. Button stood on his front legs and bucked upward. The two crashed together, and they rolled to the ground, scraping and stabbing at each other.

Luna dodged yet another blow from the axe and laughed. Her enemy growled in frustration.

“Stand and face me, you coward!” he cried.

Luna narrowed her eyes and dodged away from him. She rushed several meters away and turned around to look at him. With a quick command to her control panel, she activated the in-game chat. “Fine, have it your way. Come at me, noob.” Luna sneered as flipped her hoof over, beckoning him forward.

“Gaaaaaah!” The minotaur charged at her, his axe raised. He built speed as he careened toward her. Luna could see the madness of a Rager in his eyes. Bloody foam frothed from his mouth, his armor flapped in tattered pieces, and his hooves crunched the ancient cement as he barreled forward.

Luna stood serenely before the oncoming storm. He came closer… and closer.. and…

As he came within a few meters of her position, he raised his axe for a mighty blow. He roared his passion through the coms and didn’t even notice as Luna activated one portal right in the path of his axe and another directly behind his head.

The axe came down with the force of a thousand years of pent up hatred… and split the minotaur’s own head in two. The chaos surrounding his axe dissipated, but it did not stop the sheer momentum of the dekktanium axe.

Luna stepped over his corpse and coughed. She looked over toward her partner just in time to see—

The changeling had Button pinned to the ground. Button’s health was nearly gone, and the changeling held a blade to his neck. The Rogue smiled as he turned to Luna.

“You see? This is what happens when you buck with My… Leetl… Pwn—”

The rush of a discharged round cracked through the air. Luna’s sniper rifle smoked and the changeling fell over. A single bullet hole occupied the space on his head that had once held his eye. The Rogue collapsed into a heap and stayed there.

Luna rushed over to Button and leaned over. His health continued to fade as poison leached away his health. “Bu— Fade!”

“Umm, help?” Button asked.

“I’m… I’m out of spellpower…” Luna said. “All that dodging and then the portal…”

“Oh. Drat.” Button tried to lift his head, but he couldn’t quite manage it. “Well, I guess… I guess this is the end.”

Luna felt tears well up in her eyes. She reached down and grabbed the earth pony’s head. She lifted it off the ground and gently ran a hoof through his mane. “I… I…” Luna sniffed, but then suddenly stopped. “Wait…” she muttered. “You’ll just respawn.” She stood up and let Button’s head hit the ground.

“Oww! Hey!” Button said as his health faded away and he died. “I thought we were having a moment!”

“Oh, shut up,” Luna said and giggled. She turned back toward the now ruined skyscraper that her friends had blown up. “Noble? Are you there?”

“Yep! Sorry, just finishing off that last dragon. He was a bit of a jerk.” Noble drifted lazily into Luna’s eyesight. “So, what did I miss?”

“Fade died. We’ve got the parts. Do you have any inventory space left?”

Noble nodded. “Yeah, I’m good!” She looked over and saw the corpse of the changeling. “Urgh,” she groaned. Quickly, the draconequus pulled out an arrow and shot it into the dead body.

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Hey, just making sure!” Noble shrugged. “So, do you think that—”

A notification interrupted Noble. Luna read the words and gasped.

The guild xXMyLeetlPwniesXx has been disbanded due to losing too much faction power. Their territory has been marked as unclaimed.

“Huh,” Silver said through the voice chat. “I kinda feel bad now…”

“Yeah,” Luna replied. “Me too. They were good players.”

“Oh well!” Noble said happily. “Let’s get the loot and scram!”

“Wait…” Silver said. A few seconds later, he suddenly started laughing. “You won’t believe this…” Luna heard the sound of keys typing, and a message suddenly appeared in the chat.

Silver Feather: (Indigo Quill): so, is your guild recruiting?

“He just sent me this!” Silver laughed. “Oh, man…”

Luna cracked a smile. “Well, what’re you going to say?”

Silver was silent for a moment. “I don’t know. What do you guys think?”

“I liked them!” Fawkes said.

Jexxc: your call

Noble shrugged. “I don’t care. We did kinda orphan them though…”

“They’re pretty good, Silver…” Button said.

“Mem? What about you?” Silver asked.

Luna smiled. “Well. My sister has been saying that I need to make new friends… Why not give them a chance?”

~~~

Luna lowered her headset and set it next to her laptop. She absentmindedly brushed a lock of her mane back into place as she shut her computer down. She glanced across the table at Button and flashed him a smile. “That was a good run!”

Button smirked and shook his head. “I can’t believe you just let me die like that.”

“D’aw,” Luna cooed. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Button waved her off and closed his own laptop. “I guess I can forgive you.” He winked at her.

Luna smiled. She stretched in her chair and sighed. The smell of fresh coffee filled her nose as she looked around the quiet coffee shoppe. Uncommon Grounds, as it was called, had a pleasant, relaxing atmosphere. Soft sunlight barely filtered through brown blinds over the windows which allowed the room to be illuminated mainly by dim golden lamps hanging from the ceiling. The hardwood floor featured an intricate triangular design, and the barstools and tables were all made of the same polished dark red wood. A single barista stood behind the counter and talked quietly to another customer.

“I really like this place,” Button commented.

“Yeah, me too. I haven’t been here in a long time, but the free high-speed WiFi is quite convenient.” Luna took a sip of her hot tea. “Ah, it’s good to have a chance to relax.”

Button nodded. “Yep. It’s been a fun couple of days already. And we’ve got a good week and a half left, ya know!”

“Oh, yes. Lots of time.” She grinned at him before glancing over at the clock. “Oh, my! Is that the time?”

“Hmm?” Button followed her gaze and whistled. “Wow. Time does fly when you’re having fun.”

Luna jumped up and looked toward the door. “I need to go… it’s almost sunset…”

“I thought you didn’t have to work until late evening?” Button asked.

“I… I need to do a few things before my shift. I’m sorry.” She glanced down at the floor.

Button shrugged and gave a lopsided smile. “Ah, it’s fine. I’ve hogged you for most of the day. You gotta do what you gotta do!”

“Thanks for understanding, Button.”

“Hey, there’s nothing to understand!” He stood up and inhaled deeply. “Although, if you really do feel bad about it, we could meet up again tomorrow?”

“Uh…” Luna thought for a moment. “I actually have to work all day tomorrow. There’s a big event for the griffon visitors, and we have to make preparations all day.”

Button’s smile faltered for a second, but it quickly recovered. “Oh. Okay. I guess you could just let me know what time would work for you then?”

Luna nodded vigorously. “Oh, I will! Thanks, Button!”

Luna took a step toward the door, then froze. She turned around and quickly ran over to Button. She grabbed him and pulled him into a quick hug. She draped a wing over his back as he made a small jump back in surprise. A moment later he returned the hug.

After Luna pulled away from him, Button gave her a huge smile. “Well, what was that?”

“Thanks for being such a good friend. I haven’t had this much fun in…” Luna cocked her head to the side. “Well, in a very long time.”

“Me neither, Starry. Me neither.”

Luna looked into his amber eyes, and he locked his gaze with hers. His smile continued, and Luna felt…

“Well, I need to go!” Luna said abruptly.

“Okay, Starry! See you later!” Button waved to her.

Luna quickly turned and trotted out the door. The sun had moved slowly toward the horizon, and Luna knew it was almost time for her to bring the moon up into the sky.

“Okay, okay…” She made her way through the bustling street and approached a nearby alleyway. “Go down there, teleport back to the castle, raise the moon, teleport back out of the castle, re-enter as Starry, transform again and go talk to—”

“Starry!” Button’s voice cut through the crowd.

Luna felt herself gasp. She looked back straining to hear why he had shouted. A shiver of fear ran down her spine. She ran back, pushing ponies out of the way. “Oh, no…”

She kept moving, running past pony after pony after p—

“Oh, there you are!” Button stood right in front of her. His wide brimmed fedora sat crookedly upon his head, and his saddlebag was stuffed extra full. “You almost forgot this!”

He sat down and pulled Luna’s laptop out of his bag. Her headset’s cord was neatly coiled and put away in the case that rested on top of the computer.

Luna sighed in relief. “Oh, good. I thought that…” She trailed off.

Button raised an eyebrow. “Thought what?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

“You know, this keeps happening! I ask you a question, and it’s always nothing. It’s almost as if you’re hiding something.” Button chuckled. “Anyway, here you go! I won’t keep you any longer.”

Luna sputtered. “I.. uh… um…”

Button shook his head with a wry smile. “Yeah, yeah. I get it. See ya later, Starry!”

With that, Button turned and walked away. Luna stood still on the sidewalk for a moment. “I.. I… Wait, you get what?” She blinked rapidly. “Stallions are rather confusing…” But her eyes followed Button as he walked away, and she felt her heart thump inside her chest.

“Very, very odd…”

~~~

Princess Luna carefully walked down the hallway of one of the deepest levels of Canterlot Castle. The unadorned corridors were empty, save for the one or two ponies who remained to work late into the night. Deep red lights illuminated the grey-carpeted floor as well as the many doorways that led into offices, laboratories, and meeting rooms.

As Luna walked up to the largest doorway to her right, her eyes glanced over the enormous insignia that decorated the wall above the frame. A simple red circle surrounded the number eleven with two long, flowing wings flaring out from either side of the circle to complete the design. A sign beside the door bore a simple inscription.

Section Eleven

Luna narrowed her eyes and pushed open the doors.

The room inside had very little in common with the rest of the castle. No decorations occupied space in the cavernous room. Instead, rows of blinking computers lined the walls. A massive console with half a dozen screens took up the center of the room, facing a wall covered from floor to ceiling with even more screens. Although the hallway outside had been nearly empty, this bustled with ponies, and the rumble of activity filled Luna’s ears.

“Her Majesty, the Princess Luna!” a guard at the door declared. Instantly, as if controlled by a united thought, all of the ponies in the room ceased talking and snapped to attention. All eyes faced toward the alicorn.

Luna gazed upon their faces. She could see determination, exhaustion, zeal, and countless other emotions in their eyes; their posture. These were Equestria’s finest. The best that the Royal Guard, the Night Guard, the Royal Navy, and any other institution could offer. These were the operatives of Section Eleven.

Equestria’s spies.

“At ease, everypony.” Luna nodded to them all. “Will somepony please direct me to First Secretary Blueblood? I wish to speak with him.”

“Right this way, your Highness.” One of the guards, a stallion in a well tailored suit, snapped to attention before leading the way through the crowd of agents and analysts. He whispered something into his coms as Luna followed him.

On the other side of the room, the two ponies came to an unassuming doorway. The guard opened the door and nodded to her. She couldn’t see past his sunglasses, but Luna thought that she felt his eyes follow her as she walked into the room.

Contrasting the highly technological main room, Blueblood’s office was quite simple. A solid wooden desk sat in front of a roaring fireplace. Warm light from the fire and the several lamps in the room lit up multiple bookshelves filled with classic literature. The room also contained two chairs as well as a small round table. Upon the table sat a bottle of scotch, three glasses, and a chessboard that appeared to be in the middle of a game.

“Ah, Princess, it is good to see you,” Blueblood said from the seat behind his desk. The stallion wore a resplendent white and gold uniform that reminded Luna that he still held his rank of Captain in the Royal Navy. Of course, his position in the Equestrian government far outstripped his military ranking, but he still held to his roots as an officer. Blueblood also held one other rank, a position that only a select few within Equestria realized. He was also the head of Section Eleven, and his underlings knew him by his rank of Director.

“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Blueblood.” Luna nodded curtly to her host.

“It is my pleasure, Princess.” Blueblood stood up and gestured to one of the chairs beside his table. “Please, sit.”

The two ponies walked to the comfortable armchairs and sat down. Blueblood poured a small amount of his scotch into one of the glasses. He looked at Luna and raised an eyebrow. “Would you like some, Highness?”

Luna shook her head. “No, but thank you.”

“Very well.” Blueblood sipped lightly and then sighed. “Very nice. However, you probably didn’t come all the way down here and past all the security checkpoints just for a social visit.” His eyes twinkled. “What do you need from me, Princess?”

Levitating a picture out of her saddlebag, Luna took a deep breath. “Do you recognize this building, Blueblood?”

The stallion studied the image for a moment before nodding. “Yes. That is The Citadel. It is a wonderful hotel.”

“Indeed.” Luna narrowed her eyes. “I have received a report from a very trusted source that there are changelings here.”

Blueblood slowly set his glass down. His brow furrowed. “Changelings, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…” Blueblood stroked his chin with a hoof. “This is very interesting timing. You understand why?”

“Of course,” Luna replied. “That is why I came to you immediately.”

“Thank you. I have a few questions.” The stallion’s voice was very quiet, but the soundproofed room carried the soft syllables and Luna could hear him perfectly.

“I assumed you would. I will try to answer them.”

“First, how did this information come to you? I thought that all Night Guard intelligence came through my hub first?” Blueblood said. “Do you have other sources that I don’t know about?”

“I… I can’t actually tell you where this came from.” Luna averted her gaze.

“Princess…” Blueblood sighed in exasperation. “I really need to know the source. I’m in the middle of one of the greatest intelligence crises of my tenure as head of Section Eleven. My operatives are working around the clock to attempt to sift through Chaput’s lies to find what actually remains as truth. Add that on top of the issues my agents are having in Griffonia and the presence of spies within the castle itself, and I do not have many agents to spare.” He looked directly at her. “To be honest, I cannot send anypony on a wild goose chase. I need to confirm all leads before dedicating resources.”

Luna clenched her jaw and took a deep breath. She met his gaze before speaking. “Blueblood. Do you remember the talk we had about, oh, sixteen years ago?”

“I… I believe that we had many conversations that year, Princess. You may need to be more specific.” Blueblood leaned foreward.

“I refer to the talk that we had the day after you returned from your first day at officer candidate school. The day that you ran away and came back to the castle,” Luna said softly.

Blueblood moved backward quickly. “Actually, I do recall that conversation.”

“Do you remember what I said to you, when I found you crying in the garden?”

“I do,” the stallion replied softly.

“Allow me to remind you anyways.” Her voice hardened. “I said that I thought you were a coward. I told you of your lineage. We spoke of the Bluebloods of old, Celestia’s captains of the guard. I told you stories of their heroics and their exploits. I spun a tale of warriors of heroes, wizards and generals. You heard of their strengths and their sacrifices. For over an hour, I told you story after story that the ponies of Equestria had long since forgotten.”

Blueblood sat shock still and listened.

She smiled. “You sat exactly like that, you know. You said no words. Nothing condescending, nothing arrogant. Instead, for what I think was the first time in your life, you listened to me. And I think something stirred within you. You remembered what your cutie mark meant, even though you had forgotten after such a long time at court.” She raised an eyebrow. “When I asked you what your destiny was, what really put a fire into your heart, what did you tell me?”

“I said,” Blueblood began, “that my cutie mark, my destiny, was adventure. A compass to lead the way for an army.”

“Exactly. And then I told you that a fat and lazy general would be killed and eaten alive.” Luna shook her head. “I told you that nopony follows a coward. And then I said that your behavior painted you as the greatest coward I had ever met in my rather long life.”

“That you did,” Blueblood whispered.

“But I did not stop there. No, I told you one last story. I assume you remember the name I told you?”

“Bluebelle.” Blueblood adjusted his collar.

“Yes. Bluebelle. The ‘Lady of Canterlot,’ as she loved to refer to herself. She was a coward too. She stayed at court her entire life. But then, one day, Equestria went to war.” Luna frowned. “Celestia and I had only ruled the nation for a short time, and peace was a fragile thing. A splinter group of zebras thought that they could take our land from us. They swept over our territory like a pestilence. Our cities fell, and it was all that my sister and I could do to hold the major locations and protect our ponies. The guard tried, but they were still new. And Bluebelle…”

“She stayed and hid in the castle,” Blueblood muttered.

“She did, until I had a chat with her one day.” The princess grinned. “You see, she had the same cutie mark as you. It is odd, but it happens. I asked her what her destiny was, and she had no idea. So I told her.” Luna chuckled. “I conscripted her into the guard. She was a duelist, an ancient tradition among the nobility. So, I put her to work training unicorns to fight with the blade. She hated me for it.”

Blueblood nodded. “But she did it anyways.”

“And she rose to the occasion beyond my expectations. In fact, she singlehoofedly won a pivotal battle in the war when zebras attacked our training camp. Alone, she fought off zebra after zebra. For hours, she stood. When I finally arrived and the dust settled, only one pony stood among a pile of corpses. Her blade was stained red, and her wounds were terrible. She nearly died, but Celestia was able to keep her alive through the worst of her recovery.” Luna rose up to her hooves. “After she returned to duty, the war was over, and she was a hero to the ponies of Equestria. Celestia and I were so proud of her that we took her in as our own.” She looked down at Blueblood. “I adopted her as my own child. She became Princess Bluebelle, and her line was forever connected to my own.”

Blueblood nodded slowly.

“That evening, you asked me why I was telling you this story. I told you that there is nopony beyond redemption. Heroism is not something that one is born with. It is a choice, a decision that determines if your life controls you or if you control your life.” He looked down at his side. “And then, I called you grandson and gave you that sword that you are wearing right now. Her sword.”

Blueblood followed her gaze and stared at the ancient gold and red sword at his side.

“I told you that I had trusted her, so long ago. Then I said that I was going to trust you. Not because of anything you had done. No, you had just run away from the Navy. I was going to trust you because I was willing to take a risk for you, because I saw good inside of you. I was not wrong.” Luna smiled. “You went back to the school the next day. Sure, you were punished, but when we Princesses had ordered your return, they took you back. And now, look where you are. Blueblood, I have rarely trusted so much to somepony and had it so greatly rewarded. You have become like a child to me, a child not in blood, but in spirit. A spirit of honor and sacrifice. I am proud to call you ‘Prince.’”

He raised his head and smiled at her. “Thank you… Luna.”

“But now, Blue, I need you to trust me as I trusted you. Can you do that for me?”

Blueblood closed his eyes and sighed. His magic surrounded his sword, and he levitated it in front of him. He took a moment to look at the blade, lost in thought. Finally, he grunted and nodded. “I always trust you, Princess. This time, I will take a risk for you, as you did for me.”

“Excellent,” Luna said and smiled.

“I do have several other questions, however,” Blueblood said as he returned his sword. “What do you know about the changelings?”

She returned to her seat. “I know that there are at least two of them. My… contact saw two of them meeting in the hotel. They apparently exchanged a briefcase, traded clothes, and took each other’s identities. He said it was as if they were changing shifts.”

Blueblood grunted again. “That is not a good sign. It sounds like an organized mission. We’re probably dealing with an entire hive. Individual Changelings are sometimes present in Equestria, but a team, with shifts at a prominent location in Canterlot during one of the biggest international events of the year? That’s not a small group. It must be a hive…”

“My conclusion as well,” Luna muttered. “The police had been informed, but my contact reports that they are not attempting to do anything.”

Blueblood nodded. “Good. They aren’t trained for something that could potentially be this delicate. I need my own agents on this… The police would just get in the way.”

“Very well,” Luna replied.

“Hmmm…” Blueblood stroked his chin once more. “Well, Princess. You’ve caught me at a rather awkward moment. The majority of my operatives are currently working to prepare for tomorrow’s gala for our visitors. And by prepare, I mean that they have already identified at least a dozen potential threats among the invited guests.” He shook his head. “My best field agents are on assignments elsewhere in griffon territory…”

“You must have somepony, though,” Luna commented.

“Let me see…” Blueblood stood up and strode over to his desk. He tapped on his keyboard and gazed at his screen. He nodded and pressed a button on his intercom. “Ensign Drizzle, are you there?”

The voice of a cheerful mare answered him. “Yes, Director?”

“Would you please send Captain Flair and Special Agent Breeze in here, please? They are finishing up their report, are they not?”

“Yes, they’re in here working, sir. I’ll have them report to you immediately.”

“Thank you, Drizzle.” Blueblood smiled. “Princess, I think I have just the agents for this situation.”

“Oh?” Luna asked. “Excellent.”

A crisp double knock at the door sounded through the room. Blueblood pressed a button on his intercom, and he spoke into his microphone. “Enter.”

Two mares briskly walked into the room. The first was a unicorn mare with a light blue coat, a purple mane pulled back into a ponytail, thick rimmed glasses, and a neat suit. She walked over to the desk and snapped to attention. The other mare did the same. This one was a yellow pegasus with an intricately arranged red and pink mane. She wore a simple blue uniform that Luna knew meant that she was a member of the air branch of the Royal Guard.

“Sir, Special Agent Breeze and Captain Flair reporting as ordered!” the first mare said.

Blueblood nodded. “At ease. Please introduce yourself to our guest. And spare the formalities. We’re all overworked here, and we need to get this done quickly.”

The unicorn turned to face Luna and gasped. “Your Highness! I… uh…”

The pegasus smirked. “Aww, come on, Ammy. Princess, I’m Captain Ember Flair, Royal Guard Special Tactics Combat Controller. I’m on temporary assignment to Sec Eleven.” She nodded at the other mare. “This is Special Agent Amethyst Breeze. Not the most outgoing type. She worked for the Equestrian Bureau of Investigation for a while, but she’s here for now. She’s my handler.”

“We don’t have handlers here, Ember,” Agent Breeze said with a slightly annoyed tone. “I’m your partner. I just happen to be an analyst.”

“Yeah, yeah. Same thing.” Captain Flair grinned.

Blueblood cleared his throat. “Ladies. I called you in here for a very special operation. Have you two finished your work on the griffon activity in downtown Canterlot?”

“Not yet, sir,” Agent Breeze replied. “We’re almost finished with the data. We probably have a few hours of work left.” She cocked her head sideways. “Did you need the report now? It isn’t looking like anything too serious. We think it was just some of t—”

“No, no,” Blueblood interrupted. “This is about something different. I have another assignment for you two.”

“Oh, good. I’m getting tired of paperwork,” Captain Flair said with a smirk. “What do you need, sir?”

“Actually, this one is coming down from Princess Luna herself. Your Highness, would you like to brief them, or should I?” Blueblood asked.

Luna shook her head. “That’s fine. I’ll do it.” She cleared her throat and stood up. “Captain Flair, Agent Breeze. We have a situation here in Canterlot. I have been informed by one of my contacts that we have changelings in the city. They are known to be active at the Citadel Hotel in uptown Canterlot. After discussing the situation with Director Blueblood, we have both come to the conclusion that there is the possibility of an active hive. The timing cannot be a coincidence. I need this investigated, as soon as possible. That is where you come in.”

“Changelings?” Captain Flair asked. “Horsefeathers. That could mean an invasion, couldn’t it?”

“Yes,” Blueblood said. “That is why I need you both for this mission. I need two agents to investigate the validity of these claims and then take appropriate action.” He gave Agent Breeze the photograph.

Agent Breeze glanced over the picture and nodded. “I know the place. Where did this information come from? Do we have any indication of its accuracy?”

Blueblood sighed. “The princess vouches for the informant’s reliability. However, she has declined to give us any information about the source.”

“Well, if the princess says it’s good, I believe her.” Captain Flair nodded. “Do you want us to go now?”

“No,” Blueblood replied. “You two have been here all day. I want you to finish your current assignment and get some sleep. We’ll have you go in the morning. I’ll gather all the information that I can and then brief you personally. I’ll assign you an analyst and have you go to the hotel.”

“Uh, sir?” Agent Breeze asked quietly. “I must have heard wrong. Don’t you mean that you’ll assign another field agent and I’ll work with them from here?”

Blueblood shook his head. “No. I need you out in the field, Agent.”

The unicorn mare pushed her glasses further back on her face. “But, sir! I’ve never done a field assignment with Eleven before. I don’t know if—”

“Agent, you have an exemplary record from the EBI. You’ve cracked cases that stumped more experienced investigators. I know that you don’t go into the field much, but that has to change.” Blueblood’s eyes narrowed. “Captain Flair here is one of my only field agents who is not on a long term assignment or engaged in critical work here at the palace. I can’t send her in alone. You’ve had the training. Now it’s time to bring it into the real world.”

“I…” Agent Breeze’s voice faltered. She blushed and snapped to attention. “Sir, yes sir.”

“Ah, Ammy with me out in the sunlight! This is gonna be great!” Captain Flair said with a chuckle. “Don’t worry. If the bugs start shooting, I’ll protect you. You won’t get shot. Well, not too much.” She smirked.

“Oh, ha ha.” Agent Breeze deadpanned. “Thanks a lot.”

“Thank you both,” Princess Luna said quietly. “I know this isn’t the most glamorous job, and you’re both working rather stressful hours. But you are performing an invaluable service to Equestria. Your actions tomorrow could prevent another war.”

“So, no pressure, right?” Captain Flair muttered.

“Shh…” Agent Breeze nudged her.

“Okay. We won’t take up any more of your time,” Blueblood said. “Finish up your work and get some sleep. I’ll have as much information as I can for you tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, sir!” The mares snapped to attention.

Blueblood nodded to them. They relaxed and walked toward the door.

“It’s an honor, Princess,” Agent Breeze said to Luna. “We won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t, Agent. Captain.” She gave a small nod to both of them.

After the mares had left, Luna turned to Blueblood. “Well, they are certainly… interesting.”

Blueblood shrugged. “We’re an eclectic bunch. Captain Flair has a mouth on her, and she’s a bit too concerned about appearances, at least when she’s not on duty. However, she’s also one of the best Combat Controllers that the Guard has trained in a few years. Are you familiar with that particular job?”

Luna shook her head. “No, I’m not.”

“Controllers go into hostile territory with the first recon teams. They get the lay of the area and radio information back to the main force. They coordinate airstrikes, infiltration, report on troop movement… all from right amidst the enemy.” Blueblood pursed his lips. “It’s not a safe job. There is a very high mortality rate. Flair has been deployed in several counter-terrorist campaigns, and she’s made it out unscathed. She’s got a talent for sweet talking her way out of trouble. That’s made her very useful so far.”

“Okay, I can understand that. But what about the analyst? Is she really field agent material?” Luna asked.

“Breeze is… a unique case. She was in training in the EBI when she solved her first case, which was a string of unsolved murders from fifteen years before she’d even been born. The irony was that the case was used in classes at the academy to prove that some cases couldn’t be solved. And then she figured out exactly what had happened by putting together two pieces of information that had eluded all the ponies who had studied the case before her. We pegged her as a potential analyst right then. She’d barely made it out of being a probationary agent before we had her transferred. Her talent with data is uncanny.” Blueblood smirked. “She doesn’t do as well with ponies though. But that’s why I put her with Flair. They balance out. I can’t think of a better team to work on your assignment.”

Luna considered this for a moment. “Very well. I have faith in your judgement.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Blueblood smiled to her. “Now then…” He stood up and sat back down at the chair beside the table. “How about that drink now? And you can tell me more about these changelings, or we can talk about more pleasant things.”

“Actually, that sounds like a wonderful idea,” Luna replied. “And I think the changelings can wait for a little while…” She grinned. “You pour, and I’ll tell you an entertaining story about Bluebelle that may amuse.”

“Ah, excellent!” Blueblood raised the scotch and poured more into both cups. “So, what’s the story?”

Luna’s grin widened. “Well, it all started during the fourth Hearth’s Warming Eve after the war…”

Author's Note

This chapter was written live over three sessions! Check out my blog updates on the next live writing session! All future chapters will be written live. You can watch and chat with other readers and me as we go! Have input on the story! All the enemies from the first scene were designed by readers. Expect to see more reader input over the next few chapters.

This chapter brought to you by Phil Collins and Chicago!

Flight, Love, and Buttons

Celestia confidently walked down the winding hallway toward the castle’s entrance. The early morning sunlight filled the long corridor and illuminated the bustling forms of the servants who were already busily preparing for the evening’s special gala. Celestia smiled at her little ponies and continued her relaxed stroll.

The Princess of the Sun sidestepped two stallions who were levitating a massive table into one of the rooms just outside the castle’s entrance. Four ponies carrying instrument cases squeezed through the same doorway. Guards directed servants to different rooms, and Celestia just took it all in.

Finally, she arrived in the grand entrance room. She scanned through the crowd, looking for—

“Tia!”

Celestia turned to see her sister practically skipping over to her. “Ah, Luna! I was just looking for you.”

The smaller alicorn pulled Celestia into a hug and nuzzled her neck. “Are you ready to go?” she asked.

“Of course! My schedule is clear until noon, so we’ll have plenty of time,” Celestia replied.

Luna beamed. “Perfect! I have so much to tell you!”

“As do I,” Celestia said. “As do I…”

The princesses slowly made their way to the outdoors, which currently was a far more challenging task than it would be usually. After a few minutes of patiently weaving through the crowd, they made it out into the open.

Luna grinned at her sister as she flexed her wings. “You ready?” she asked.

“Of course!”

With that, they took to the air. The breeze whipped through Celestia’s mane as they steadily rose further and further into the sky. Soon, Canterlot was far below them, and the sisters slowed to a comfortable glide, side by side.

“Ah, it’s been too long since we did this…” Celestia said with a smile.

“Indeed. The last time was…” Luna hummed as she thought. “It was that evening you told me that the griffons had a bug in your room and that you were reacting how they expected, wasn’t it?”

“I think so,” Celestia remarked. “That was a while ago. We should do this more often.”

“Oh, I agree. Now, if only we weren’t on such radically different sleep schedules.” Luna banked left, and Celestia followed suit.

“At this point, I don’t even know if you are on a schedule.” Celestia chuckled. “You play your game with your friends after doing your work in the evening. You come talk with me in the mornings, and then you do various activities throughout the afternoon. Luna, when I encouraged you to make time for friends, I didn’t mean for you to take it away from your sleeping time.”

Luna giggled. “Oh, Tia. I’m still sleeping. Just not a lot.” As if on a cue, Luna gave a long yawn. “And that means nothing. Entirely coincidental.” She smiled.

“Ah, of course.” Celestia swooped over Luna and rolled her body around. Her wings whipped through the air, and she reoriented herself of Luna’s other side. The solar princess bumped into her sister.

“Showoff,” Luna teased.

“Always!” Celestia grinned.

Luna accelerated, and Celestia forced herself to go faster to match her little sister.

“Betcha can’t catch me!” Luna yelled. She raced forward, moving through the air like an arrow.

Celestia gasped but then quickly composed herself. “Oh, it is on!” She sped after Luna, flapping her wings furiously. Pegasus magic flowed around her, propelling her faster and faster. But no matter how hard she tried, she just could not catch up to Luna.

The younger alicorn sped ahead, outdistancing her larger companion. She let out a whoop of exhilaration and dove toward the ground. A moment later, Luna flipped onto her back and flew upside down in the opposite direction of Celestia. Then, quick as a flash, she shot upward and oriented herself to fly side by side with her sister once more.

“Now who’s the showoff?” Celestia teased.

“Still you. I was just busy being more agile than you.” This time, Luna was the one to bump into Celestia. “Mwhaha.”

Celestia smirked. “And so humble, too.”

“But of course!” The sisters laughed together and kept flying.

They continued in silence for a little while, but then Luna turned to Celestia. “So… how did the preliminary negotiations with General Chaput go?” she asked.

Celestia shrugged. “It was exactly as expected. We both had very large groups present, and we decided together to allow reporters to attend. That, of course, meant that both sides spent more time talking to the audience than to each other. It was basically just three hours of Chaput and Apollo telling each other that they respected each other’s nations and that they both were hoping for peace. I’ll admit it, I almost fell asleep.” Celestia shook her head wryly. “Chaput wasn’t even making any subtle threats or comments. We still don’t know what his motive is.”

“What do you think, honestly?” Luna asked. “Is he telling the truth about betraying his leaders? Or is this just another manipulation?”

“I think,” Celestia began, “that Chaput is on his own side. I wouldn’t put it past him to betray us, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if he is telling us the truth. In the end, he has a plan, and the question now is whether his plot would hurt us or help us. He thinks he is using us in some way. I intend to turn the tables on him.” Celestia’s eyes flashed. “He considers himself a master manipulator. I wonder if he is so deep into his own plans that he forgets that he is not the only one who has ideas.”

“Are you going to manipulate him?” Luna’s eyes widened.

“Luna, diplomacy is just a game of everypony trying to manipulate everypony. However, I actually don’t need to do anything to Chaput as of right now. No, there are other players in this game. I want to wait until Father Dmitri reveals his hand.” She grinned. “Chaput is far from being an idiot, but Dmitri is no fool either. I would bet that Chaput would not be able to betray his country on his own. He must have help from other officers. perhaps the captain of his airship? And if others are involved, the chances of Dmitri knowing about the ploy rise exponentially.”

“Hmm…” Luna flew absentmindedly and drifted a bit further from Celestia. “Speaking of other players… did Blueblood happen to tell you what he and I spoke about last night?”

Celestia sighed and nodded gravely. “The changelings?”

“Yes.”

“I presume that your ‘secret informant’ is, in fact, your young friend from the internet?” Celestia asked.

“Well. Nothing gets past you, does it?” Luna said wryly.

“I certainly hope not.” Celestia closed the gap between the two of them. “But about the changelings… I’m not entirely sure what that means.”

“Me either. Do you think it is possible that Chrysalis is trying to attack again?” Luna asked.

“It’s possible, but Chrysalis likes to make complex plans within plans. She also infiltrates at opportune times when she could gain the maximum amount of love energy. That has been her hive’s strategy for a very long time. As of right now, we are on high alert, and I would say that there isn’t a lot of love energy going around.” Celestia sighed. “This isn’t the right time, unless it’s part of a much bigger plan, in which case we can’t do anything about it. Thus, our only option is to gather information while we attempt to see if there is a correlation between Chaput’s actions, the changeling presence, the griffon military at large, and anything else that will inevitably crop up.”

“Hmmm…” Luna moved back toward Celestia.

“Now, let’s see…” Celestia muttered. “The griffons currently hold Griffonia, Yakyakistan, Germaney, and Crete. Yakyakistan is fully subjugated and is controlled by the military directly. Germaney is cooperating with them since they are actually improving some of their infrastructure. Crete is currently controlled as a puppet state. Griffonia claims that their military presence is merely a peacekeeping force to support the new government. Soon, Yakyakistan will most likely be the same. We have no way of knowing where the changelings are. The dragons are restless. Our relationship with the zebras is currently strained. Our only real allies right now are Saddle Arabia and Prance.”

“Okay,” Luna replied.

“What we need to do is slow down the Griffon expansion. If we can keep them at peace, we can manipulate their economy and drive their production into the ground. Griffonia’s main exports are lumber, ores, and computer parts.” Celestia nodded to herself. Her eyes unfocused as she lost herself in thought. “If we encourage Prance, they might be motivated to move into the forestry business. They can bring prices down there. Saddle Arabia can cut into the metal market, and we can offer monetary incentives to Equestrian companies that move into computer production.”

“Tia…”

Celestia continued, not hearing her sister. “Next, we seed dissent in Germaney. We use our agents to start a propaganda campaign from within. Give support to the traditionalist party that opposes integration into Griffonia’s empire. We send covert aid to Yakyakistan’s rebels. Through our contacts within Germaney, of course. Make life difficult for them there, forcing them to reinforce both nations. Then, we get one of the leaders of Crete under our control. We make him look good to Griffonia, so he becomes the head of the puppets. Of course, he will actually be loyal to us. Blueblood is already preparing all of this.”

“Sister.”

“But none of that will matter if war erupts now. I need Apollo to push just hard enough that the Griffons extend negotiations and worry about the possibility of war. That way, they station troops on our border and cannot continue to expand into other nations as quickly. But he cannot push too hard. A war with the griffons will cost too many lives. We cannot yet match their technological prowess, at least not until our research and development programs improve drastically. If we can hold them off for, say, two years, we will have reversed engineered enough of their weaponry that we can face them. Integrating magic with their ‘guns’ would be a step in the right direction. By that time, our insurgents will be ready, and we can strike. On the other hoof, we have the changelings.” Celestia growled. “We need to know what they are doing here. If we can stop their plot, or, even better, redirect them to prey upon the griffons, we will be all set. Once the war begins, we—”

“Celestia.” Luna interrupted. “I think you need a vacation or something.”

“What?”

“Seriously.” Luna flew closer and looked at her sister in concern. “Can you even hear yourself? You’re talking about the griffons and changelings and ponies like they’re… like they’re some pieces on a massive game board. It feels like you’re analyzing every single thing, and I’m worried about you.”

“I have to.” Celestia met her gaze, her eyes hard. “This is war, Luna. Or, it might be soon. I can’t take a vacation now. I can’t take a break. I can’t do anything but continue.”

“Will you let me finish, please?” Luna asked softly, her face betraying her cool tone of voice. Celestia could see her sister’s worry, painted vividly by her grimace and the honest emotion in her eyes.

Celestia nodded.

“Thank you.” Luna cleared her throat. “You might not be able to take a break, but…” Her voice trailed off and she shook her head. “You told me that you were worried because I didn’t have any friends and because I was hiding from the world. Tia, I think that I hurt you as much as myself. You took my load and bore my burdens. It didn’t really hit me just how much it had changed you until just now, but…” Luna sniffed. “You’ve changed too, Sister. I feel like… like…” Luna’s voice trailed off. “I don’t know how to say it…”

Celestia slowed herself, as did Luna. “I think I understand,” she murmured.

“I’m scared for you, Sister.” Luna practically whispered her words. “I don’t know why, but this entire situation terrifies me. Griffons, changelings, betrayal everywhere… and then, you’re right in the middle. I feel like I’m not even helping, and it’s like I’m watching you be slowly crushed under the weight of responsibility.”

“And yet, that is what we chose,” Celestia said. “We knew the cost, so many years ago. We do this so that nopony else has to.”

“But should we? We take all of this, this stress…” Luna sighed. “I just don’t know. I may be exhausted. I don’t know what I’m thinking.”

“No, Luna, you’re right.” Celestia looked over at her sister. “This isn’t fair. It never was, and it never will be. But I don’t think I’d have it another way. Do you know how many lives we have saved? We’ve brought down dictators without a single death. We’ve single-hoofedly defeated invasion after invasion. We brought prosperity, peace, and life to what was once an empty land. We have paid a price, but it is one I will always be willing to pay.”

Luna returned the gaze unsurely. “That feels like a speech. Something you rehearse, maybe even to try to convince yourself...“ She sighed again. “Sometimes, I think I just want to be a normal pony. Settle down, get a small house, maybe even get m—” Luna blushed and cut herself off.

“Wait, what was that?” Celestia asked. “Luna, what is bringing all of this up right now?”

“I… uh… um…” Luna’s blush deepened. “It’s nothing…”

“Oh, no. We stopped that a hundred years after we started ruling Equestria. We don’t get to ‘nothing’ each other. Is this about…” Celestia’s eyes widened. “No… this isn’t about your friend, is it?”

At this point, Luna’s face was completely flushed. “Maybe.”

“Luna, are you—”

“I don’t know!” Luna said forcefully. “I’m so confused right now. I haven’t felt like this since… well, you know, before the Nightmare. I spend time with him, and it’s just him and me. Like we’re the only ponies in the world. And, and…” She wiped her face with her hoof. “He’s special to me, Celestia. When we were leaving, he shouted my name. I was thinking about the changelings, and he cried out. I panicked. I thought something had happened, I thought I’d lost him, and… and…”

“And you suddenly realized what that would mean for you,” Celestia finished for her sister.

“Yeah,” Luna said. “And that got me thinking about what he means to me…”

“Luna, be careful,” Celestia said. “You barely know this stallion. You should be cautious with these feelings, okay?”

“I don’t even know what my feelings are,” Luna replied darkly. “I think I just need time.”

“That would probably be best,” Celestia replied. She turned away, lost in thought. The sisters flew together in silence. Eventually, Celestia turned back and smiled wryly at Luna. “So… is he cute?”

“Oh, stars.” Luna hid her face behind her hoof. “Tia…”

Celestia giggled. “And? Is he?”

Luna peered over her hoof. Celestia could see wrinkle marks from her hidden smile. “Uh… Yes. He is.”

Celestia continued to flap her wings and looked at her sister with a grin. “Well, don’t keep me waiting! Details!”

Luna lowered her hoof, revealing a completely flushed face. “Okay… he’s an earth pony…”

“Oh, this is going to be good.” Celestia rubbed her front hooves together and listened.

~~~

“Nest, this is Glasses. We’re at the perch. Over.”

Captain Flair snorted as her partner spoke into her radio. “They gave you the codename ‘Glasses.’ That is classic.”

Agent Breeze glared at the pegasus from her seat at the table. “Shush. This is an important mission. Stay on task.”

“‘Glasses.’”

Breeze sighed. “Nest, we are in position. Awaiting signal from Birdseye, over.”

“Copy that, Glasses. We’re receiving preliminary intelligence now. Will notify you when the download finishes. Over.” Flair recognized Director Blueblood’s voice over the com. He had decided to run this operation personally, and the analyst assigned to the case was working as his assistant.

“Nest, copy that. We’ll monitor the situation from here. Glasses o—”

“Hey ladies! May I interest either of you in a coffee this morning?” A red stallion with an apron interrupted Breeze’s transmission.

Flair turned to face him. The pegasus mare flashed him a winning smile and brushed her mane away with a hoof. “Hello! I’d like a, umm…” She glanced at her menu. “A caramel macchiato sounds nice!”

“Okay! And for you, ma’am?”

Breeze glared at Flair. She looked over at the waiter and forced a smile. “No, thank you. I don’t want anything.”

“All righty! I’ll have that out for you in no time.” The stallion grinned at Flair.

“Nice…” Captain Flair gave a low whistle as she watched him go. “This is way better than being cooped up in Sec Eleven.”

The small coffee shop in which they sat wasn’t particularly busy that morning. In fact, it seemed like it wasn’t ever very busy. The small building just so happened to be right down the street from Moonbuck’s Coffee, and most of the denizens of Canterlot seemed to prefer the chain’s slick approach over this store’s more laid-back atmosphere. However, this shop did have one advantage that Moonbuck’s did not possess…

It was directly across the street from the Citadel.

From the seats at the window table, Flair and Breeze could see directly across into the front lobby of the enormous hotel. The workers across the street moved back and forth inside, and Breeze was keeping a log of their activity. Flair was very busy herself. Her mane had been slightly messed up by the wind, so she was desperately trying to retame it and keep it neat beneath her blue beret.

“You know, it would be nice if you did something productive,” Breeze muttered.

“I am!” Flair exclaimed. “I’m getting ready to get us inside the building. We’ll need my natural charm and charisma, and those things hinge upon my mane… cooperating… with… me…” She grunted as she tried to work the final knot out of her mane. “There!”

Breeze rolled her eyes. “Are you always like this on field missions?”

“Pretty much!” Flair said cheerfully. “I mean, come on. Any one of these jobs could go south really quickly. I’ve been shot on three and a half separate occasions in the field. If this is my last day here on Equus, I’m at least going to go out enjoying myself a bit.” She shrugged. “But if the arrows start flying…” Captain Flair opened her saddlebag and showed Breeze her miniaturized crossbow. “I think that says enough, don’t you?”

Breeze raised an eyebrow. She maintained eye contact for a moment before nodding slowly. “Fair enough.”

“Besides, that stallion is pretty hot. It’d be a crime not to flirt at least a little.”

“Aaaaand you ruined it,” Breeze said. She shook her head and smirked.

“Here you go, one macchiato!” The waiter lowered a small white cup to the table. “Anything else?”

“Actually…” Flair began suggestively.

“Oh, Ember! When are we meeting your husband again?” Breeze asked nonchalantly. “I can’t quite remember… When does he get off duty? Royal Guard schedules are so odd sometimes.”

“I… uh, what?” Flair asked, taken aback. “I don’t… umm. Yeah.”

“Well, let me know if there’s anything!” the waiter said cheerfully. He walked away from the table.

“You,” Flair said. “You are evil.”

“And you need to pay attention to the job,” Breeze commented smugly.

“I’m gonna stay single forever if you keep this up!” she moaned.

Breeze snorted. “Good! Maybe you’ll actually start paying attention to important things then and give up romantic pursuits while we are on a job.”

Captain Flair gritted her teeth and muttered under her breath. She pulled out a folder and opened it up. “Okay. What do we know about the Citadel so far?”

“Intel says that the manager on duty is named…” Breeze glanced at the datapad in her hoof. The newly invented device was connected directly to Section Eleven’s databases by the internet. She used a hoof to navigate through several pages before nodding. “Jay Trotting. That’s the manager. He’s new, but he did some time in an ROTC program in college. He dropped out of the program, but he at least took a changeling identification test. He’s clean.”

Flair nodded. “I’ve got some of his info right here. He also doesn’t match the Princess’ agent’s description of the changeling worker. We know that the changelings have to be posing as the same worker or workers. They’re probably also staying as guests there if the the other disguise they are using is indeed one of a businesspony...”

“Agreed,” Breeze commented. “I’ll take a look at the other workers.”

“Good plan. Let me get the stuff ready…” Flair pulled a small telescope-like device out of one of her saddlebags. The small contraption chirped as she turned it on. “Once we get the okay, I’ll scan for disguise spells with this.”

“Then we’ll take a reading of the processed love magic and see if we get any correlation.” Breeze adjusted her glasses. “Just as soon as Nest gets back to us…”

“Eh. I’m sure they’ll call back soon.” Flair sipped her coffee. “Mmm! This is good!” She set her drink down and looked around the room. The only other customers were all the way back at the other side of the building. A mare and a stallion sat together in a loving embrace. Flair huffed.

Her partner glanced up and raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong?”

“Lovey doveys over there.” Flair nodded at them. “They’ll screw with the love magic detection spell, won’t they?”

Breeze looked over at the two ponies and shook her head. “Well, they shouldn’t. That’s not how the spell works.”

“Oh.” Flair shrugged. When her partner looked back down at her datapad, the pegasus tapped on the table impatiently. “So, are you going to explain how the spell does work?”

“Do you care?” Breeze asked, not bothering to look up from her device.

“Well, I can’t flirt with the waiter anymore, so yeah, I guess I do.”

The unicorn mare smirked. “Well, it’s kind of complicated, and I know for a fact that you didn’t pay much attention in Intro to Magic at college, so I’ll give you the basic version!”

“Hey!” Flair exclaimed.

“Do you want the complex explanation? I can give you that one.”

Captain Flair grumbled. “Just give me the simple version.”

“Thought so.” Agent Breeze grinned. “Changelings don’t eat love, per se. Well, not directly. They’re kind of like termites, actually. Termites can’t actually digest cellulose. They ingest the wood, and then organisms inside of them convert the matter into something that the termites can actually use to sustain themselves.”

“Eww, bugs.” Flair shuddered. “Not a fan, ya know.”

“Aww, how sad. Anyways, changelings don’t digest love. They have to convert it into some other form first. They use a complex natural magic to process the raw emotion into something consumable. That’s why changelings can survive on other emotions, like lust or friendship, if they have to. If the emotion is close enough to love, they can make it fit, sort of.”

“Okay, I get that. Anything else?” Flair asked.

“The only other parts that you learn about in school, if you pay attention, is about alicorns and changelings that love each other.” Breeze looked pointedly at Flair. “Alicorn love doesn’t have to be processed. Their innate magic screws with the rules. Any alicorn that loves somepony or any pony that loves an alicorn is like a buffet to a changeling. They come running for miles.” She sighed. “That’s why Equestria has so much trouble with changelings. The princesses love the entire nation, so there’s a low level field of free food for any changeling around. That’s also why almost all changeling plots center around one of the princesses.”

“Makes sense. What about changelings that love each other?” Flair took another sip of coffee.

“Well, they can’t actually process each other’s love. They can still feel love, or so studies show, but they can’t feed off each other. Every once in a while though, there are changelings that can feed off the love of other ‘lings. They’re rare though, and those changelings wouldn’t be picked up on the spell.” Breeze glanced back down at her datapad. “Hopefully we won’t be dealing with those. We don’t have any way to detect that kind of changeling.”

“Okay, but what does all of this have to do with detecting the changelings?” Flair straightened her mane again and set her cup back down.

“You see, we don’t have to search for changelings. All we need to look for is the processed love. We sort through the white noise of the princess’ love for Equestria, and we can spot them, so long as they’re within range of the spell.” Breeze grinned smugly. “And the entire hotel is within my range.”

“Good for you. Here, have a prize.” Flair tossed a napkin at her partner. “So, why aren’t we scanning the building then?”

“The changelings would see the spell. We’re waiting for our long-range mages to cast a spell to disguise our surveillance. As soon as they do, they tell Nest, and Nest radios that it’s time for us to start, and then we—”

“Glasses, this is Nest. Fortune says that the day is foggy. I say again, the day is foggy, over.” Blueblood’s voice chimed in the mares’ earpieces.

“Nest, we copy. Will be in contact after preliminary. Over.” Breeze nodded and turned to Captain Flair. “Let’s see where those changelings have been disguising themselves, shall we?”

Captain Flair smiled. She raised the magic detector to her eye and pressed a small blue button. The device hissed, and Flair’s view went blue. She looked across the street at the hotel. The walls had become translucent, and Flair could see the white glow that she knew represented ponies walking around inside the building. She focused the device using a small wheel, and she could see further and further into the building. She grunted. “I’m not seeing anything on the first floor…”

“We should move up, floor by floor.” Breeze stood up and walked beside Flair. She raised a newspaper and acted as if she was pointing something out to the pegasus mare. Captain Flair stayed behind the newspaper and focused the device past it.

“Moving to second floor…” Flair muttered. She scanned quickly and shook her head. “Nothing here either.” She continued to move up the floors.

“Hmm… I wonder if they’re cleaning up after themselves,” Breeze commented.

“Nothing on six… seven… eight… ni— Wait a second. I’m getting something on nine.” Flair lowered the scope and hoofed it over to Breeze. “Here, take a look.”

Breeze raised the device to her eye and nodded. “Eeyup. That’s low level disguise magic. It’s not too distinct. It’s almost like they tried to clean up their magic residue and missed some of it… or something…” She hummed to herself for a moment. “It’s weird.”

“Do you want to send the info back to Nest? They could hook it up to a virtual floor plan and see what room it is.” Flair grabbed the datapad from the table and pulled a cable out of her saddlebag.

“Yeah, let’s do it.” Breeze attached the detector to the datapad using the cable and flipped through a few menus.

“Nest, this is Flame. We’re sending you a reading off the target. Can you overlay on the floorplan? Over,” Flair said.

“Flame, Nest. We’re receiving the data. We’ll get right on it. Over.”

Flair nodded. “Okay. Do you want to do the love spell now, Ammy?”

“Yeah, I’ll do it,” her partner responded. Agent Breeze put the devices and the newspaper down and sat back down on her chair. She closed her eyes, and her horn began to glow a dark blue color. She grunted in concentration, and Captain Flair felt a chill run down her spine as the spell activated.

“I… wow.” Breeze said. “Most of the hotel is clear, but I’m picking up one source… I think it’s the same location as the disguise magic.”

“How can we tell?” Flair asked.

“I’ll use another spell, silly.” Breeze’s horn flashed again, and she nodded. “Yeah. It’s the same location.”

“So, that’s our changeling.” Flair grinned. “I honestly thought that they would have been better at covering their tracks.”

“Me too…” Breeze grimaced. “Something doesn’t feel right about this…”

“Flame, Nest. We’ve got the room number here. It’s room nine-zero-four. It’s registered to one… Button Mash, of Ponyville,” Blueblood said matter-of-factly. “Flame, Glasses. You have permission to proceed. Bring him back unharmed, if you can.”

Flair grinned. She glanced into her saddlebag and nodded. “Well, I guess it’s time to change, isn’t it?”

~~~

Button trotted up to the front desk of the hotel with a wide grin plastered on his face. He looked over at the other side of the large wooden counter and called out to his old friend, saying, “Hey! Jay!”

The white coated manager looked up from his paperwork and grinned as he saw the other pony. “Button! How are you?”

“Pretty good! I just tried the breakfast here.” Button stretched his neck and sighed. “It was amazing! This place is great. Thank you again for hooking me up!”

“Aw, you’re welcome, bro.” Jay smirked. “But… I think you owe me a favor now…”

“Uh oh,” Button replied. “I don’t like the sound of that…”

“It’s an easy one, I swear!” Jay exclaimed. “You just have to answer a few questions…”

“Oh boy.” Button shook his head. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

Jay’s grin broadened and he leaned forward. “How was the date?”

Button rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on! Really?”

“Really! Did you guys, you know…” Jay waggled his eyebrows. “Get to know each other?”

“If you are asking if we talked and spent a lot of time together, then yes, we did. If you’re talking about the stuff you used to do with mares on the first date back when we were in college, then no.” Button shook his head. “We’re not like that. I mean, I wouldn’t mind if something happened, but I don’t know if she’s interested.”

“Well, she put up with you, right?” Jay asked with a light laugh. “She must be at least a little interested.”

“Ah, shuddup.” Button waved him off. “Anyway, I have to run. I’ve got some applications to turn in today, and I left them upstairs. Gonna grab them and head on off to the colleges. Here’s hoping I get one of the openings!”

“Yeah! Good luck, Button. Also, give your marefriend a kiss from me!” Jay winked.

Button snorted. “Not kissing, and not marefriend.” He strode off laughing.

“Oh, I bet she will be… Go get her! Mash her buttons!” Jay said and then roared with laughter.

Button shook his head and laughed quietly. “You never change, Jay.”

“Never!” The other stallion called out.

Button walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the ninth floor. He hummed quietly to himself as he ascended past all the other floors. The door dinged open, and he trotted down the hallway to his room. He opened the door with his keycard and stepped inside.

Button had kept his rooms pretty clean. He had left most of his possessions upstairs in his bedroom, except for his writing materials and his laptop, which had been left at the oversized table. Button shut the door and trotted over to the kitchen to grab his applications and—

“Button Mash?”

Button froze at the sound of the monotone voice. He slowly turned to see a pegasus mare hovering in the corner of the kitchen, just out of view from the front door. Her red and pink mane was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a black tactical vest and orange protective glasses. But the most terrifying part was the crossbow that she held in both hooves… and was aiming at him.

“I… I…” Button stammered. “Wh-what do you want?”

Another mare, this one a unicorn also dressed in a tactical vest, slowly walked down the stairs. She levitated a crossbow of her own as well.

“We’re here to talk to you about changelings, Mr. Mash. Do you know anything about them?” the pegasus asked.

“Oh, Luna…” Button swore. “I… I don’t know anything! I swear! Please, don’t shoot me!”

“Breeze, can you confirm the target?” the same mare asked.

Button felt his coat rise up as if the air around him was filled with static energy. He shivered as a blue aura covered him. As quickly as it came, the magic disappeared, and the unicorn mare nodded.

“Nest, do we have final permission to tag?” the first mare held a hoof to an earpiece.

Button’s eyes flared wide. His heart raced, and he could feel the fear course through his veins. “I, uhh…” He gasped and pointed at the window. “Oh sweet Celestia! Duck!”

The mares spun to look out the window, and Button ran right for the door. He made it halfway across the room before he crashed into a quickly raised shield right in front of him. He glanced back wildly to see the pegasus right behind him. She was grimacing.

“Nice try, changeling.”

“Changeling?” Button asked. “Wait. I thought that you were the changeli— Guh!”

Something across the room twanged, and Button felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked up to see that the unicorn had fired her crossbow, and he reached a hoof up to his chest. He felt something soft and fluttery and yanked it out of him. He glanced down and saw a red-feathered dart. “What in the… world…”

The room spun. Everything went dark. But just before the world faded completely, he heard a single voice cut through the shadows.

“We have the package. Returning to Nest. Over.”

Sleep overtook him.

Author's Note

Music for this chapter was Ain't It Fun? by Paramour.

Thanks to all the live readers! Stay classy, guys!

Greetings, Labyrinths, and Truth

Ponies, griffons, zebras, and creatures of all shapes and sizes quietly made their way out of the night and into the castle’s entranceway. Celestia smiled as she watched them pass by. From the nobles of Canterlot to the minotaur ambassador from Crete, the visitors all wore fine clothing and enormous smiles. They whispered quietly to one another as they slowly made their way past the princess’ podium on the side of the room.

Celestia stood in between her sister and Princess Cadence. She nodded serenely to her guests, thanking them for attending.

The orchestra in the great hall played its first note, and Celestia smiled. Chaput would undoubtedly recognize one of his country’s greatest composers, as would his underlings.

“Ooh, Tchaikovsky! I like this piece!” Princess Twilight exclaimed. She stood on the other side of Luna, greeting the visiting delegates. “Is this the Frederick Horseshoepin with the Royal Symphony?”

“It is,” Luna commented. “Only the best for our visitors, of course.”

“Indeed,” an new voice said. Celestia turned to see a familiar black and white griffon. General Chaput was not dressed in his military uniform today. Instead, he wore an immaculately tailored white suit. The entire outfit practically gleamed in the moonlight and the glowing illumination from the chandeliers. Over the top of the suit, he once again wore his blood-red cloak.

“Good evening, General,” Celestia said cordially. “I take it that you appreciate the music?”

“I do, very much. I have always adored Tchaikovsky, and your orchestra has a reputation for excellence. I simply cannot wait to hear it up close.” He gave a polite bow before turning to Cadence. “Ah, Princess Cadence! It is simply lovely to see you! You look delightful! How is motherhood treating you?”

“Thank you, General,” the princess replied. “It’s interesting right now. The teenage years are coming to a close soon, and she’ll be going off to university not too long from now.”

“Excellent! Have you considered any universities in Prance, even for just a semester? The opportunity to study abroad can do wonders for one’s education!” Chaput said smoothly. The line continued to move around him as he stayed to chat.

“Perhaps… that is an interesting idea. I’ll discuss it with Shining,” Cadence replied.

“Ah, good! Please, give my regards to the family.” He turned once more and smiled at Twilight. “Princess Twilight, It is an honor to see you again. Our brief talk at dinner the other day was simply fascinating, and I hope that we can continue the discussion soon! I feel that we could become excellent friends.”

“Well, thank you, General,” Twilight replied. “Your thoughts on the nature of magic are very interesting. I would enjoy a continuation of our discussion.”

Chaput gave another charming smile. “I will take you up on that, Princess.” Once more, he turned away, this time to look at Luna. “And Princess Luna. I must say, your Highness, this particular evening is magnificent. A crown jewel among the treasure of all the nights that you have so carefully crafted. Wonderful. Simply wonderful.”

“My thanks, General Chaput,” Luna responded formally. “It is a pleasant thing to remember that the same sun and moon shine down upon both Griffonia and Equestria. It really puts our disagreements into perspective.”

“Indeed.” Chaput nodded solemnly. “Very well spoken, Princess. You have a way with words as well as celestial bodies. Perhaps we could speak later as well, if you would so desire?”

“Perhaps,” Luna replied.

Chaput nodded and turned back to Celestia. “Well, your Majesty, I suppose that I shall adjourn to your great hall to bask in the beautiful music. Maybe we shall speak again soon?”

“Oh, of course, General. And I must say, your cloak looks quite dashing when you pair it with your suit.” Celestia’s eyes twinkled.

“And I have you to thank for it, Princess.” Chaput nodded respectfully.

“You’re most welcome, General. It really does become you.” Celestia returned the nod.

Chaput beamed at her. “I’m very grateful. Well, I won't take up any more of your time. Princesses, it was a pleasure.” He bowed to them and slowly sauntered off in the direction of the hall. Three griffons in the black uniform of the Griffonian Special Service followed closely behind him.

“I don’t trust him at all,” Luna whispered to Celestia. “He’s a snake.”

“Yes, but that means that we must be snake-charmers,” Celestia replied in a hushed tone. She then turned back to nodding at the crowd as they trotted past.

The four princesses stayed on their platform for another half an hour. They exchanged pleasantries with all who passed, but Celestia barely paid attention to those whom she greeted. Her eyes continuously glanced down the hallway through which Chaput had walked. The music continued, and she lost herself in thought.

“Princess?”

Celestia turned around to see Prime Minister Apollo Rector standing behind her. The older stallion smiled kindly at her.

“Hello, Apollo. Is it that time?” Celestia asked.

“Indeed it is!” the prime minister replied. “Most of our guests have arrived, the orchestra is finishing with their first set, and dinner is nearly ready to be served. I think it is my turn for door duty.” He winked at her.

“Thank the stars,” Luna grunted. “Please, you may have this job. I would much rather be listening to the music. Or eating. Or anything else than this…”

“Aw, it’s not so bad!” Cadence chirped. “We get to talk to everypony! And everyone too!”

“Well, you may enjoy this abysmal task, but I certainly do not,” Luna growled.

Apollo’s eyes twinkled. “I don’t suppose that you’d like to keep an old stallion company, would you, Princess Cadence?”

“Staying with you? Of course!” Cadence beamed.

“Good, good…” Luna stepped down from the platform. “I think that I am off to the great hall. Dinner sounds lovely, and I am famished.”

“I’ll join you, Luna,” Celestia said. “I think that I could use a change of pace as well.”

“Does anypony know where Fluttershy went?” Twilight asked. “We were going to go out to the gardens together. She loves the animals and wanted to show me some of her friends out there.”

Cadence shook her head. “I have no idea, although I think that I saw Rarity heading out to the gardens earlier.”

“Ah, okay! Maybe she’ll be out there with us too!” Twilight grinned. “I’ll be back inside soon.”

“Very well, Twilight,” Celestia replied. “We’ll be waiting.”

With that, the two sisters walked out toward the sound of music, and Princess Twilight went in the opposite direction. Celestia could hear Cadence and Apollo chatting cheerfully up on the platform as she and Luna passed through the magnificent archways that led to the hall.

“How do you do it, Tia?” Luna asked. “The endless tides of nobles… the platitudes, the simpering well-wishers, the scheming manipulators. All vying for your attention, pledging a devotion that only exists if you give them something in return. It sickens me.”

“It’s not all like that,” Celestia responded. “Most of the ponies genuinely care about us. There are a few who desire power, but not as many as you seem to think.”

Luna scoffed and shook her head. “The problem is that we can’t really tell the difference, can we? The good and the rotten smell the same.”

“Well, you probably can’t tell the difference if you’re smelling the nobles.” Celestia chuckled. “You should try to watch their actions instead.”

“Oh, you know what I mean…” Luna nudged Celestia with a wing. “Anyway… Ooh, dancing!”

Celestia saw Luna’s eyes light up as the duo entered the great hall. Ponies, griffons, zebras, and others waltzed about on the wide open floor, swaying in time to the music. Celestia grinned as she watched Luna’s reaction. Her sister had always enjoyed music, and dancing was one of her oldest loves.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Celestia asked teasingly. “Go on out there!”

Luna shook her head. “I’ll need a partner. Maybe I’ll ask one of the nobles…”

“Or perhaps I might be of assistance?”

Celestia and her sister turned to see Chaput standing beside them. He smiled pleasantly and extended his wing.

“Your Highness, will you do me the honor of allowing me to escort you upon the dance floor?” he asked cordially.

“I…” Luna glanced over at her sister nervously. Celestia gave a small, encouraging nod. Luna returned the motion and put on a large smile. “It would be my pleasure, General.”

The griffon beamed. “Perfect!” He extended a wing, and Luna grasped it with her own. The two slowly walked out onto the floor and danced.

Celestia watched them as they slowly moved around the ponies and griffons who were already on the floor. She could see Chaput’s beak moving, but she was unable to hear to words. Luna said something in reply, her face a mask. Celestia nodded and strode over to the refreshments table.

The Princess of the Sun smiled as she levitated a small plate with a single piece of cake toward her. She sat down at an unmarked table to watch the dancers, and took a deep breath. Luna said something to Chaput, and the general shook his head in response. A chill ran down her spine as she saw Chaput’s grin as he watched her sister.

It was very nearly predatory.

~~~

Prince Blueblood stood alone in the dark gardens of Canterlot Castle. The sound of the orchestra within the massive stone building filled his ears, but he paid it no mind. Parties like this had been his entire life, so many years ago, but he found himself less and less amused by them every passing year.

He sighed and leaned up against a large fountain. The stars and galaxies were like splashes of color upon the beautiful night sky, and the moon illuminated the labyrinth around him, painting the world into shades of grey.

The stallion gazed up into the night and smiled. The wind tousled his mane, and he enjoyed the sensation of simply being, instead of worrying about yet another project. The only thing he had to worry about was—

“Oh, excuse me…” a soft, cultured voice said from behind him.

Blueblood turned around to see… her.

Lady Rarity stood before him, blushing slightly with her front legs crossed. “I’m sorry, my Prince. I didn’t know that anypony was out here…”

Blueblood smiled sadly. “Oh, it’s quite all right. I don’t own the labyrinth, after all.”

The mare slowly walked up to him and stood by his side. The two ponies waited in the silence for a few moments. Blueblood glanced over at his companion a few times. Her mane was still the same vibrant shade of purple that it had been the first time he’d laid eyes upon her. Her face was more wrinkled now, but they were born of laughter, not sorrow. Time had been kind to her, and she still appeared as youthful and full of life as ever. Her simple, by her standards, silver dress glistened in the moonlight.

“So, how—”

“I was wond—”

Blueblood cleared his throat after the two had started talking at the same time.

“Oh, I do apologize,” Rarity said. “Please, you go first.”

“I was just going to ask how your husband has been? I heard that he was sick. Is he doing any better?” Blueblood asked, barely glancing at the other pony.

“He’s doing better now, but he’s still being treated by the doctors.” She smiled sadly. “They gave him six months to live a year ago, so there is that.”

“I’m sorry,” Blueblood said.

“Well, it’s not your fault. Cancer isn’t the most pleasant experience, but that doesn’t mean that we have to keep being sorry about it. He wouldn’t want us to do that,” she said. “Besides, if he continues to improve, he may beat it again!”

“Well, good! I’m glad,” he responded as he leaned back up against the fountain. “Did you have something you were meaning to ask?”

“I was merely going to point out that you are missing quite the party inside,” Rarity replied. She chuckled lightly. “I think I saw Pinkie dancing with the captain of the griffon airship. He looked confused and amused at the same time.” She snorted. “Pinkie referred to it as ‘camused.’ She certainly does bring up the energy level of a party.”

“That she does,” Blueblood muttered. He shook his head. “As interesting as that sounds, I do not think that I will be returning to the party tonight.”

“Oh? Why not?” Rarity stepped closer.

He shrugged. “I don’t find these events as enjoyable as I used to. The constant reminder of who I used to be can be rather jarring. Plus, I will most likely have to return to work at a moment’s notice.”

“Ah, yes. The duties of a secretary never end, do they?” Rarity’s voice contained a hint of amusement. As one of Princess Twilight’s most trusted friends, Rarity knew what his real duty was.

“Mmm. Indeed.” Blueblood nodded, and the two stood in silence for a while longer. He allowed his eyes to wander to the sky once more. The moon was a vivid contrast against the nebula that Luna had placed behind it. White contrasted against dark purple… much like Rarity’s coat and mane…

“You know,” he said. “I don’t know if I ever thanked you.”

“Whatever for, Prince?” Rarity asked, surprise evident in her tone.

“For forgiving me,” he said simply. “That first evening, at the gala… I was so horrible to you. I—”

“Blueblood,” Rarity interrupted. “It was nearly twenty years ago. You were a different pony back then, and so was I. But you changed, so there is no reason to thank me. That old Blueblood is long gone. I am proud to call the new one friend.”

Blueblood smiled and lowered his eyes. “If only I hadn’t been that way, so long ago… things might have been different between us.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” Rarity said as she placed a hoof upon his shoulder. “You are a kind stallion. Maybe in another life…”

He gazed deeply into her purple eyes. She smiled sadly, and he turned away.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I think that I—”

His words were interrupted by giggling from across the labyrinth. The two of them turned in time to see a yellow pegasus mare and a purple alicorn fly after a large brown owl. The owl hooted once and dove to the ground. The ponies followed suit, and they all landed in a large pile. The mares laughed as the owl nuzzled against them.

“Ah, Fluttershy…” Rarity shook her head. “Always with her animals.”

“Some ponies never change,” Blueblood commented.

The owl slipped out of the ponies’ grasp once more, and Fluttershy and Twilight raced after him again.

“Some ponies don’t need to, not any more, at least.” She looked at the stallion pointedly. “Blueblood, I already told you that you have nothing to apologize for. The past is the past, and what is done is done.”

Blueblood considered her words and then nodded solemnly. “Very well. I guess that we—”

“Prince Blueblood!” A red coated mare burst around the corner and moved toward the noble.

Blueblood turned to face her, his eyes narrowed. “Sergeant, what is it?”

The guard saluted quickly. “Sir, Nest requests your presence immediately. They said the package has woken up.”

Blueblood nodded. “Excellent, I’ll be there immediately. Let them know that I’m on my way.”

“Yes, sir!” The mare turned away and whispered something into an earpiece.

“Duty calls?” Rarity asked softly.

“As always. I need to go,” he said.

“Well, don’t let me keep you.” Rarity smiled and sniffed quietly. “I suppose that I will see you around the palace sometime? Maybe sooner rather than later this time?”

“I would like that,” he replied with a smile. “And maybe you can bring your husband once he’s well enough to travel?”

“Of course! I’m sure the two of you would have much to discuss.”

He nodded. “Indeed. But now, I must take my leave. Take care, Lady Rarity.”

“You as well, Blue. You as well.” She gave him another small, sad smile as he walked away.

Blueblood purposefully strode out of the maze. “Now… to find out what the bloody hell that changeling is doing here…”

~~~

“...and so then I told him, ‘Wait! That’s not shampoo!’ So he put the carpet cleaner down, and, as calm as could be, asked me if I would shut the door to the bathroom so that nopony else would hear his screams!” The pegasus who had introduced herself as Captain Flair almost fell out of her chair as she laughed at her own joke.

“Haha,” Button chuckled nervously. He sat in a dark, frigid room, hoofcuffed to a metal chair. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked around him.

It felt like a tiny metal box. In front of him was a wooden desk that held the only source of light for the room. The lamp illuminated an enormous mirror that took up the entire back wall. The rest of the room was lined by cold concrete, and the only other objects in the room were two more chairs and the ponies who occupied them.

His captors, the same mares from the hotel, sat across from him. The unicorn was frowning and scribbling notes upon a yellow pad of paper. A small device that showed a large minus sign was on the table in front of her. They had used the device to take a sample of his blood as soon as he had woken up, and they hadn’t been pleased when the symbol appeared.

The other mare was leaning back in her chair. She hadn’t stopped talking since Button had woken up, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

“Uh, not to be rude or anything,” Button began, “but why are you telling me jokes? I mean, you kinda drugged me, then chained me up, and then stole my blood… and you’re telling me jokes?”

The unicorn looked up and snorted. “The Director said that we’re not allowed to torture ponies anymore. So, instead of waterboarding them, we just make them listen to Ember prattle on. I think the waterboarding was more humane.”

Button shivered as he heard the word ‘torture.’ The room may have been cold, but that word chilled him in a way that the temperature never could.

“Hey! Not nice!” Flair said, and she turned to look at Button. “That was her idea of a joke. Haha. So funny.” She poked her partner. “Anyways, you’re not a changeling, so I figure we can at least treat you like a normal pony, I guess.”

Button shook himself and rubbed his forelegs with his hooves. “Well, can you turn the heat up or something? I can hardly feel my legs.”

“No-can-do, Mr. Mash,” Flair said with a shake of her head. “This far underground, and in an interrogation room? We’re not really set up for maximum temperature control.” She snuggled into her large coat. “Mmm. I’m nice and toasty, though.”

He glared at his captor. “Thanks for telling me that.”

The captain chuckled and stood up. She pulled out a set of keys and walked over to his chair. “Here. Lemme help you.” She undid his hoofcuffs and reached underneath the table. She quickly pulled out a large orange coat. “Hey! It even matches your mane!”

Button rubbed at his legs where the cuffs had been. He quickly slipped the coat over his body and sighed as the thick material surrounded him. “Thanks,” he said grudgingly.

“You’re welcome!” Flair said cheerfully. She sat back down in her chair and adjusted her long mane. “So…”

“Ugh, can you not stay quiet for five seconds?” the other agent, who had not introduced herself, asked.

Flair paused for a few moments and then nodded. “Five. Yep, I just did!” She grinned before turning back to Button. “So, Mr. Mash. If you aren’t a changeling spy, then what do you do for a living?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Really? You foalnap me, and now you want my life story?”

“Hey! No need to be rude!” Flair said. She threw her hooves up into the air in a defensive gesture. “I’m just trying to get to know you. You know, before the waterboarding starts.”

“Not allowed to do that anymore,” the other agent muttered.

“Oh, yeah…” Flair said thoughtfully. “Oh well. I guess that I’m just curious, that’s all.” She fiddled with the crossbow that she had propped up against the side of the table.

Button gulped. “I’m, ah, I’m a manager at a club back in Ponyville. I’m here on vacation and looking for jobs. I’ve got a degree in history, and I’m hoping to work at a college here…” He stopped and took a deep breath.

“Oh, history, eh? What part?” Flair asked. She looked at her hoof and rubbed at a small chip.

“Um, I specialize in early Equestrian history. Pre-Discord.” Button rocked from side to side.

The captain grinned. “Neat! I like those old stories. Damsels in distress, knights in shining armor, wars, windigoes, changelings, pirates, monsters! Fun stuff!”

“Yeah…” Button trailed off. He glanced nervously from side to side. The door to his left appeared to be locked from the outside, and there didn’t seem to be any other entrance. Shadows hung in the corners of the room, and Button could see his breath mist up the air as he exhaled. No way out.

“So, got a wife back home?” Flair asked.

“Ember! Pertinence?” the other agent asked.

“Curiosity!” the captain declared happily.

“I, um, no,” Button finished lamely.

“Mmm, okay.” The captain grinned. She flipped her mane back with a hoof.

“Why do you ask?” Button inquired.

The mare’s eyes flashed. “Well, you’re kinda cute…”

Silence filled the room.

“I… I don’t really know how to respond to that…” Button said carefully.

“Just ignore it,” the unicorn said. “It’s what I do when she flirts with me.”

“I do not flirt with you!” Flair said emphatically. “Well, not much.”

Button shook his head. “Who exactly do you two work for, again?”

“We work for—”

Captain Flair’s words were cut off as the door opened. Bright white light filled the room, and Button had to cover his eyes. Another voice spoke into the freezing chamber.

“They work for me, Button Mash.”

Button was finally able to look up just in time to see a pony he immediately recognized. The door behind Secretary Blueblood slammed shut, and the stallion glared at him, his eyes narrowed into slits.

“P-Prince Blueblood?” Button asked.

“Indeed.” His voice was as cold as the temperature, and he walked over to the table. Turning to face the agents, he spoke, “So? Do you have confirmation?”

“The test says negative, sir.” The unicorn shook her head.

“Great. So we nabbed the wrong one,” Blueblood said crisply. He glared at Button. “So, Mr. Mash. Why are you covered in the residue from a disguise spell and doused in something that suspiciously resembles the processed love that changelings consume? Are you working with them?”

Button’s jaw dropped again, and he quickly shook his head. “N-no, sir! I’m not working for them! I promise!” Button felt a shiver fill the air.

“Truth,” the unicorn agent muttered.

“Did you get a good enough baseline?” Flair asked quietly.

“Yes. The spell should work perfectly. I’ve got a large spectrum of emotions sampled, and we know what his truth looks like.” The unicorn agent glared. “He’ll tell us what we need.”

“Perfect.” The captain stood up and leaned against the wall. Blueblood walked over and sat down in the now empty chair.

“Mr. Mash. We received reports of the presence of changelings at your hotel. We came to investigate, and lo and behold, we see all the signs of an infestation… centered in your room. Do you have any possible explanation?” Blueblood held his hooves wide apart on the table as if he were inviting an answer.

“I… I…” Button stammered.

“Well? Speak!” Blueblood roared as he slammed his hooves on the table.

Button jumped, startled. “Okay! I saw changelings at the hotel, all right? I told the police, but they wouldn’t do anything about it!”

“Really?” Blueblood’s eyebrow rose. “How did you notice them?”

“I-I…” Button stammered in the cold. “I was just passing through a hallway and they were there! In a room! I saw them transform, and then I ran away! That’s all, I swear!”

Blueblood leaned back and stroked his chin thoughtfully. He waved the agents toward him, and they trotted over to him. He whispered something, and Button thought that he could vaguely hear the word, ‘informant.’

The unicorn gasped and slapped a hoof to her mouth. She looked over at Button, as pale as a sheet. Captain Flair looked at him and hummed. She shrugged and whispered something back to Blueblood. He nodded and leaned forward again.

Button fidgeted uncomfortably as all eyes turned to him.

“Did you tell anyone besides the police?” Blueblood asked very carefully.

Button’s mind raced. His thoughts immediately turned to Starry, and he nearly gasped. But suddenly, he felt a calm peace envelop him. It was as if all of his being had decided, all at once, to protect her. To keep her safe. To shield her.

“No,” he said calmly. “I only told the police.”

Blueblood looked at the unicorn agent. Her horn lit up for a moment before she nodded. “Truth.”

Button raised an eyebrow as he somehow managed to beat the truth spell. The ramifications of that fact were… interesting.

The prince sighed. “Very well. Answer one more question for me, please. Are you working for the griffons, the changelings, or any other extra-Equestrian agency?”

Button’s eyebrows shot up. “Uh, no. I’m pretty sure that I’m not…”

“Truth,” the unicorn said again. “He’s clean.”

“Well, horsefeathers,” Flair commented. “Why was he covered in all that changeling gunk, then?”

Blueblood rested his head on a hoof. “Well…” He paused momentarily before resuming. “I’d assume that the changelings knew that Mr. Mash here had detected them. They most likely set him up as a red herring.”

“I guess we’re just lucky that they caught him and not our informant…” Flair muttered.

“Wait, informant?” Button asked. “Did someone else know about the changelings?”

The unicorn agent shook her head. “That’s confidential.” She glared at Button.

“Breeze. That was uncalled for,” Blueblood chided. “We need not lie to Mr. Mash about this. He’s smart enough to figure out what is going on.” He gazed at Button. “Mr. Mash, you are not the only other pony to have discovered the changelings. We also have an asset at the hotel who gave us the same information you just described. He, however, was not detected.”

“Oh…” Button muttered.

“But we can use this. The changelings know about you, but we know that. We can take this deeper.” Blueblood grinned. “How would you like to work for me, Mr. Mash?”

Button’s eyes widened. “Work… for you?”

“Equestria needs you, sir.” Blueblood stood to his hooves. “These changelings are smart, and we need every advantage that we can get.” He nodded. “I will ask you again: Will you help us?”

“Hmm…” Button said quietly. He thought for a moment before slowly nodding. “If you need me, then I’ll help.” He shivered suddenly. It felt as if the temperature had dropped another ten degrees.

“Excellent! I suppose that we shall have to— Guh!”

Blueblood didn’t even have time to turn around as an enormous ethereal blue pony leapt out of the shadows and moved toward him.

Something red and sticky splashed onto Button’s face as he gazed upon the glowing blue spear that protruded from the prince’s chest. He followed the blade until it met the gurgling stallion’s collapsing body, and he stared in terror as Blueblood sprawled upon the ground, unmoving.

Unbreathing.

Author's Note

Song for the evening was Kim by Ryan Adams!

Thanks to all the live readers!

Poison, Blackout, and Dancing

“Shit!”

Agent Amethyst Breeze froze as Captain Flair’s expletive cut through the air. Director Blueblood fell to the floor with a sickeningly hollow thud as the monster who had impaled him removed his spear from the body. The glowing blue figure spun and hissed at Captain Flair.

Breeze felt herself instinctively raise the nearby crossbow and aim it at the murderer. Her magic surrounded the triggering mechanism, and—

—then the crossbow was knocked out of her grasp as a second ethereal figure leapt out of the shadows. The new foe batted the crossbow away as it fired, and the bolt bounced harmlessly off one of the metal walls.

Flair leapt at the first creature with a roar. She’d pulled a knife out of her tactical vest, and she had the blade raised at the enemy. She batted his spear away and slashed at him.

Breeze brushed away the shock of the attack on the director and leapt out of her chair. She bared her teeth at the enormous spectral horse and gathered her magic. Her horn flared with power and a blue beam shot out at the beast.

It dodged nimbly out of the way and gave Breeze a slow smile. A chill ran down her back and she prepared another spell.

“C’mere, you bastard!” Flair snarled as she slashed at the first creature. Breeze heard a grunt of pain and saw Flair’s enemy jump off to the side. He knocked over the table and took a swing at Breeze as he rushed past her.

His spear raked her side, and she cried out in pain. A moment later, Flair flew through the air, her knife raised. Breeze could see the rage in her eyes as she closed on the creature.

The enemies stood back to back, their spines arched and spears raised. The air became frigid around them, and ice swirled through the air. Breeze reacted instantly and summoned a massive ball of flame up above the foes.

They looked up and snarled at the fire, and their magic moved up further into the air. It engulfed Breeze’s spell and extinguished it. The first looked back at Breeze and raised his weapon just in time to—

—be stabbed in the side of the neck by Flair’s combat knife. He squealed as the blade ripped through his flesh. The ethereal appearance was marred by thick black blood that flowed from the wound that had broken through an artery. He clutched at his neck desperately as the copious blood rushed out of his body. The second one gasped, but he was cut off by a blow to his back from a powerful earth pony.

Button Mash snarled as he bucked the other creature with all of his might. The horse flew across the room and crashed into the wall. He crumpled into a heap.

Breeze grabbed the first horse’s spear and threw it toward the prone form. She saw the monster’s eyes widen as the weapon moved closer and closer, and he let out a snarl as it ran him through.

Flair knelt down and screamed as she ripped her knife out of her enemy’s flesh and then lowered it to his throat. He gurgled as she ripped his neck open. More blood spilled onto the floor, and the creature disappeared into a blue and black mist. The captain stood over and moved to the other creature with an unnaturally calm gait. She knelt down once more, and the other monster vanished as she gave him the same treatment.

Breeze gasped and felt herself collapse into her chair once more. Blood pooled all over the room from the different wounds, and her side burned from where the spear had struck her. She felt light headed, and gasped for air.

“Shit…” Flair muttered. She trotted over to Breeze and grabbed her. “Ammy? Can you hear me?”

Breeze couldn’t speak. her head rolled to the side and her eyelids fluttered.

“I think those spears were poisoned…” Flair’s voice sounded as if it were miles away.

Breeze saw a bright light above her, and the world blurred. She thought that she heard a voice talking, but she couldn’t quite make it out. She felt herself slip down to lay upon the clouds beneath her as the ocean waves crashed all around. She smiled as her father threw her a hoofball, and she tasted a sweet mixture of blood and watermelon. The clouds shifted, and she suddenly floated among a field of butterflies. A voice called out again, and she felt cold. The voice kept calling…

“Breeze…”

She sighed and sniffed the evening air. The smell of a symphony filled her eyes, and the voice called out a familiar word…

“Breeze!”

Lights fell from the floor and clanged against the mountains. Changelings flew through the air upon their minotaur steeds, smiling as the parade washed through the grass. A softly yelling voice calmly screamed her name from across the poker table...

“Ammy!”

Breeze gasped as her eyes opened. Flair’s voice filled the room, cold air rushing into her lungs. She saw Button Mash standing over her. The earth pony held a vial of blue liquid above Breeze’s head, and she could feel something cold and wet dribbling out of her mouth.

“Captain! It worked! She’s awake again!”

Agent Breeze groaned and stood up. She held a hoof against her head. “What the buck just happened?”

“You were poisoned,” Flair grunted. “I thought we’d lost you… I kept calling your name, but you wouldn’t answer…”

Breeze glanced over to see Flair kneeling beside Director Blueblood. Her front hooves were on his chest, pumping up and down rhythmically. Flair huffed as she performed the compressions. Her hair had come out of her ponytail, and sweat dripped down her face.

The director still wasn’t breathing. His shirt had been ripped open, presumably by Flair. His wound hadn’t been bandaged yet, and Breeze could still see the flesh oozing blood.

“Mash, what antidote had worked?” Flair said curtly. She stopped her compressions and put her mouth over Blueblood’s. She exhaled twice and then resumed attempting to restart his heart.

“Uh, it was the blue one labelled…” Mash checked the vial before continuing. “It says zeta bravo eight seven.”

“And you said blue?” Flair huffed as she pumped over and over.

“Yes,” Mash replied.

Breeze rushed over to Flair’s side. “Is he dead?”

“Not if I can help it…” Flair muttered. “The spear missed any vital organs, barely. A centimeter over, and he would have lost his heart. But he’s not breathing. It’s poison, the same kind that took you out.” She placed her mouth over Blueblood’s again and gave another two breaths. “They hit you both with the same spear.”

“So why did you give me the antidote and not him?” Breeze asked.

“Triage.” Flair didn’t look up. “You weren’t bleeding out. You had a better chance. I can’t help Blueblood until I get him breathing…” Compression after compression. “Breeze, do you know any first aid spells?”

“Uh,” Breeze’s mind raced. “That’s pretty advanced magic. I’m no healer.”

“Anything can help…” Flair looked up. Her eyes were bloodshot. “Anything.”

Mash banged against the door. He shoved with all of his might and shook his head. “It still won’t budge…”

Breeze nodded slowly. “I can cauterize… but I’m not experienced with it…”

“Do it!” Flair ordered. “Stop the bleeding. Mash! Get your flank over here! Finish prepping another antidote!”

Breeze concentrated and focused all of her power on the wound. She grimaced as she looked at the gaping hole in his chest, and bile rose up in her throat. She called upon her magic, channeling it into a small stream of fire. Heat filled the room as the flame lit up Blueblood’s chest. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air, and she quickly extinguished the spell. Breeze looked back at the results and nodded. The bleeding had stopped, sealed off by charred tissue.

“I… What do I mix the powder with, again?” Mash asked.

“One part saltwater, two parts ground crystallized magical ambience residue,” Flair muttered. She gave the director two more breaths. She gasped as she lifted her lips off of his. “Quickly!”

Breeze ripped Blueblood’s suit and made a bandage out of it. She lifted him up slightly with her magic and wrapped it around him. “Do you have your first aid kit, Ember?” she asked.

“In my saddlebag. Red kit. Right next to the black antidote box.”

“Okay, I’ve got it mixed!” Mash called. He rushed over to the ponies and shoved the vial into Flair’s outstretched hoof. The pegasus grabbed it quickly and poured it into the director’s mouth. She followed it up with two more breaths.

“Oh, you are not doing this to me right now…” Flair muttered. “You still owe me a drink, you jerk…”

Her compressions continued, and Breeze took a step back. Blueblood’s normally perfect mane spilled out over the floor, and his eyes were half closed. Flair hunched over him, her own mane spilling over his white coat. Blood pooled all around them, soaking into both of their coats and Flair’s combat vest.

“That’s a lot of blood…” Mash muttered to Breeze. She nodded solemnly.

“Wake… up… wake… up… wake… up…” Flair grunted as she pressed, and pressed, and pressed, and—

Blueblood gasped for air, and his chest heaved. His eyes fluttered, and quickly closed. He coughed once, and then was silent once more. His chest rose and fell in a slow pattern.

Flair gasped and fell backward. She put her hooves over her face, shaking violently. “Oh, thank Celestia…”

Breeze nodded and smiled. “You did it.”

Mash sighed and sat down wearily. He wiped sweat from his brow. “I can’t believe that it worked…”

Flair sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Okay, we need to get him comfortable. Mash, grab my jacket and put it under his head. Breeze, check the door. What can you hear out there?”

Breeze nodded and walked toward the door. She glanced over the table, where the spear that had stabbed her lay next to a small plate. The blood from the spear had been mixed with some kind of purple liquid, and a chart lay right next to them both. She grimaced. “How long was I out?”

“About six minutes…” Mash replied. “Flair was trying to keep him breathing, and she had me test the spear for poisons. She had her kit in her bag, and she walked me through the testing.”

“She carries that everywhere,” Breeze muttered. “I told her that she didn’t need it… Celestia, we got lucky here.” She pulled at the door, and it still would not open. Shaking her head, she pressed an ear against the cold metal. She gasped as she heard…

“What is it?” Mash asked. He and Flair gingerly placed Blueblood’s head onto the jacket and strode over to her.

“Sounds like screaming…” Breeze murmured.

The three ponies stood side by side, pressed up against the door. They listened, and the cries of death filled their ears. Flair backed up and huffed. “These weren’t the only monsters…”

“Windigos,” Mash said quietly.

“What?” Breeze asked.

He sighed. “These are windigos… Or, at least, they are similar. They don’t match the description accurately.”

Flair growled. “Great. Changelings, griffons, assassins, spies, and now nightmares from out of the history books. Can this get any more complicated?”

“What is different about these, Mash?” Breeze asked.

“Well, they’re using weapons. Windigos don’t do that, or at least we’ve never documented it. They aren’t corporeal either… but these ones died when we attacked them.” Button shook his head. “But everything else matches up.”

“I don’t care what they are. They attacked our house and tried to kill our director. They can bleed. I can kill them.” Flair smiled rabidly. “Breeze, blow the hinges off the door.” She walked over and picked her crossbow up again. She wiped the blood off her face and took to the air.

“We don’t know what’s going on out there, Ember,” Breeze muttered. “We only have one crossbow.”

“That’s why I’m going out alone,” Flair said slowly. She hovered over to the door and reloaded a new bolt from the quiver on her tactical vest.

“What? You can’t go alone!” Mash said. “It took all of us to handle these!”

The captain shook her head. “I need you two to stay with the director. Use the spears. Keep him safe.”

“But—” Breeze began.

“I don’t pull rank often. But you will stay here.” Flair’s eyes narrowed. “Now. I’ll say it again. Blow this door off its damned hinges. Then, put a shield spell over the doorway after I walk through.”

“I—”

“Do it!” Flair shouted.

“Okay…” Breeze said. She concentrated her power on the door and let the magic flow into the metal parts. She channeled the energy, and there was a small spark as the bolts holding the door that had been locked from the outside disappeared in a puff of smoke. The door fell, and Breeze caught it. She placed it up against the wall. The sounds of battle were far louder now.

Flair nodded. She fluttered outside and glanced back at Breeze and Mash. Nodding, she narrowed her eyes. “Use the shield. Keep them safe.”

“I will,” Breeze whispered. “Good luck.”

The captain flashed a lopsided smile. “Oh, I’m always lucky…” With that, she flapped away down the corridor.

Breeze concentrated, and a purple shield covered the doorway. She turned to face Mash…

And they waited.

~~~

Captain Flair inhaled deeply as a shield sprung into place behind her. She raised her crossbow’s stock into place and looked down the sight. She turned to the left and slowly flew forward.

The dark hallway around her was lined by doorways that Flair knew led to other interrogation rooms and observation areas. She opened the door to the room that was connected to their own interrogation area. She slowly slid the door open and—

“Graaaaaaa— Urgph!” The windigo within the room charged at her, but was quickly silenced as a bolt pierced its eye. It disintegrated, and Flair nodded.

She reloaded swiftly and flew into the room. She turned on the light within the room and sighed. The bodies of the two agents who were supposed to be watching the interrogation were slumped against the window. They both had spears still impaled in the back of their heads. Flair glanced inside and saw Breeze and Mash covering Director Blueblood with another of the jackets that had been in the box beneath the table.

Flair gently moved the corpses of the two agents back into their chairs and respectfully closed their eyelids. She sighed once more and shook her head.

As the mare stepped back out into the hallway, the sound of battle again reached her ears. She turned left once more and slowly flew forward. Her crossbow was at the ready as she moved past each doorway, prepared to fire once more. Slowly making her way toward the end of the corridor, she eventually reached the doorway that led to the stairs. Flair opened them carefully and gazed up the stairway. The screams were louder here, and she steeled herself.

Captain Flair flew up the staircase until she reached the top. She opened the door and immediately fired a bolt into a windigo that rushed at her.

Bodies littered the floor of Section Eleven’s main room. Dozens of agents lay on the floor, their bodies strewn about all over the room, from the front to the back. Countless spears lay around, and more windigos chased ponies about. A few analysts hid behind one of the enormous computer screens as four guards in suits fought against several of the creatures that were trying to kill them. Some of the analysts had picked up spears and were fighting back, but others were trying to give first aid to their fallen comrades. Windigo after windigo fell, but more appeared from the shadows to replenish their ranks.

Flair grunted and fired her weapon again and again. The other soldiers around the room did the same, but the tide continued to come rolling in.

The captain snarled and flew to the side as a windigo charged her. She held her crossbow in one hoof and drew her knife with the other. She stabbed it in the back of the head and fired a bolt into the face of another.

More. More. More. Foe after foe charged, and each fell to her blade or bolt. Sweat blurred her vision, but nothing could touch her. Shoot. Reload. Move. Slash. Block. Shoot. Move. Reload. Stab. Mo—

“Captain Flair!”

A familiar voice broke her focus. She pulled her knife out of the last corpse before it disintegrated. Quickly, she glanced about the room, crossbow raised, but there were no more targets remaining. She carefully lowered the weapon as she saw an analyst trotting over to her. His coat was stained with blood that wasn’t his own, and he was panting heavily. “Thank the Princesses, you’re still alive…”

Flair glanced around the room. The last windigo had fallen, and silence reigned. “Fortune, what the buck happened?”

The mint colored stallion sniffed loudly. “They came out of nowhere. It was like they knew exactly how we ran things. One of them hit the central system. We lost coms, alarms, everything. Another hit the backup. They hit our highest ranked agents first. They knew who had the highest ranks.” He shook his head. “They killed them all, Captain.”

“What?” Flair asked. “What do you mean?”

“General Atom. Colonel Blaze. Commander Nautilus. Everypony. They killed them all, at the same damned time.” Fortune shook, his eyes closed.

“Oh, Luna…” Captain Flair muttered. She glanced around the room to see all of the remaining ponies walking toward her. Some stayed beside their fallen comrades, trying to tend to wounds that Flair knew would be lethal. She cleared her throat before addressing them. “Do we have any officers left?”

Silence reigned. Two lieutenants from the Royal Guard raised their hooves, as did a few ensigns. Flair closed her eyes and sighed. “Shit. Shit, shit, shit…”

“I… I think you’re the ranking officer, Captain,” Fortune said slowly.

“Shit.”

The ponies looked at her, their faces contorted by the blood, death, and agony that lingered into expressions that spoke of dread..

“What happened to the director?” Fortune asked quietly.

Flair sighed. “He’s alive. Barely. We need to get medical attention for him and everypony else, now.” She turned to look at the other ponies. “Can anyone here repair the central systems? We need coms now.”

“I can do it, ma’am.” A unicorn mare rushed off to one of the side rooms. Two armed guards followed closely behind her.

“Good. I need a medically trained pony to get downstairs. There are two ponies with the director in interrogation room six. One is an analyst, and the other is an asset that the director had just recruited. The asset knows about these windigos.” Flair nodded.

“These… these were windigos?” Fortune asked.

“As far as we know, yes. I don’t have the specifics, but our asset knows something about them. Get them up here, and I’ll have him brief us.” Flair finally put her knife into its sheath. She slung her crossbow over her back and landed. “We need to contact the rest of the castle. Find out what the tartarus is happening elsewhere.” Her eyes narrowed. “They just wiped out our chain of command. The griffons are here. This isn’t a coincidence. Those mother-bucking carrion eaters betrayed us. They just declared war on Section Eleven and all of Equestria,” she growled.

Ponies nodded and immediately split off to complete the tasks as ordered. They stepped over the dead bodies of their comrades. Section Eleven may have been crippled, but these ponies were the best. Grim determination filled them all, and the final cries of the dead rang in their ears.

“Griffons controlling windigos? Do you think they can do that?” Fortune asked quietly as he strode over to her.

“At this point, it’s either that, or the windigos are coming back to try to take Equestria again. I don’t know which is worse,” Flair replied. She trotted over to the main console and tried to turn it on.

The computer powered up, but an error appeared on screen. An earth pony technician slid past her and plugged a tablet into the console to start a debug log.

“Captain Flair!” A pegasus trotted over to her. “We had a medic run a test on the spears. They were poisoned, and it’s—”

“A Zebran variation of the Moonkiller poison?” Flair interrupted.

The pegasus was startled and nodded quickly. “Yes! How did you know?”

“I had the asset run tests on it back in the interrogation room. We had to treat the director.”

The pegasus nodded vigorously. “The poison stops the heart, but we can treat it easily. We’ve got antidote kits all over the place ever since the terrorist threats last year.”

“Do you think we can save any?” Flair asked.

“Maybe. Some of the fallen only had small wounds. If we can get to them quickly…”

“We can save them. That’s your priority, Chief.” Flair nodded to him as his quickly trotted away.

“We have the central back up!” a mare shouted from inside the room that housed the main server. “They just pulled a few plugs.”

“Perfect…” Flair muttered as the computer screens flashed to life. She tapped her hoof impatiently as the loading bar appeared underneath Section Eleven’s logo.

“Ember!”

Captain Flair turned around to see Breeze and Mash trotting swiftly toward her. Two medics pushed a stretcher holding Director Blueblood. They rolled the director into a side room, and the other ponies ran over to her.

Flair smiled grimly. “I knew this was going to be a bad Discord-damned day when I got up this morning, but I wasn’t expecting this level of idiocy.”

“Yeah…” Breeze muttered. “What the buck happened? How did we miss this?”

“I have no idea,” Flair growled. “We just need to go with it. I’m trying to get us up to—”

“Captain! Coms are back up! The rest of the castle is under attack too! The windigos are everywhere!”

Flair froze as she processed the shouted words. She slammed a hoof against the desk in front of her. “Buck! Okay, everypony! Change of plans! Medics, save who you can. Everypony else get your crossbows back out.” She bared her teeth in a dark smile. “We’re not done yet…” She leapt into the air and flew across the room to where the medics had taken Director Blueblood. She burst through the door and flew over to him.

“Captain Flair! What do you n—” the lead medic began.

“I need his card, Ensign,” Flair interrupted. She reached into Blueblood’s torn suit and retrieved a keycard that he kept in an inside pocket. Immediately, she flew back out of the room and raced over to the director’s office.

“Ma’am! What are you doing?” Fortune called. He ran toward her.

“This is a blackout scenario, Fortune,” Captain Flair said grimly. “I’m opening the lockbox.”

“Are you sure?” Fortune asked. “You know the protoc—”

“You know what, Lieutenant? Buck the protocol. They’re after the princesses. There is no containment here. It’s time.” Flair burst through the door and darted to the bookshelf on the far wall. She pulled a red book titled Mark’s Manifesto, and the bookcase slowly slid away to reveal an electronically sealed safe. The outside had a keypad, two retinal scanners, and a reader for a keycard.

“I’ll need you here, Fortune.” Flair said.

The stallion nodded and trotted over to her. Both of them leaned down and allowed the reader to scan their eyes. Flair then scanned the director’s card and punched her Section Eleven code into the keypad. She took a deep breath and opened it up.

The safe hissed as it opened. Captain Flare reached inside and gently pulled out rather bulky box. Behind it was an elongated case, and she grabbed that too.

Fortune helped her carry both items over to the nearby table. He exhaled slowly. “You know, the griffons are going to see this…”

“Yes, I know.”

“There’s no going back…”

Flair glared at the wall. “There wasn’t ever any going back. The griffons, or the changelings, or the windigos… Shit, whoever it was, they crossed the line. They started this…” Her eyes narrowed. “But I’m going to finish it.”

She opened the large box first and removed the tight black suit housed within. Having tossed her vest aside, Flair pulled the new outfit over her head. Her hoof slid toward a button embedded into the ensemble, and a determined push prodded the suit into emitting a low hum. Silver magic flashed as the suit’s shields activated, and the captain promptly pulled a visor-equipped headpiece from the box. She placed it on her head, and a heads-up display immediately appeared on the orange glasses. The headpiece synced up to the suit, and her shield status appeared in the lower right-hoof corner of the right lens.

Next, she opened up the elongated container. The latches clicked and smoke hissed as it was released from the case. Captain Flair reached inside and pulled out what looked like a long barrelled rifle… that was glowing with magical energy.

The pitch black rifle whirred as it powered up. It too synced up to her armor, and her ammunition capacity popped into place above the shield readout. As she aimed the rifle around the room, a dot appeared on her HUD, illuminating the exact location of wherever the weapon was pointed. She reached inside the container once more and stuffed all of the extra magazines into the suit’s oversized cargo pockets. After, she lifted a latch with the case and pulled out a second smaller weapon. She stuffed the handgun into the holster on the suit. Finally, she grabbed the last piece of equipment. Captain Flair examined the long bladed knife. She pressed a button on the hilt, and the same silver magic that powered her shields extended over the knife, increasing its length by a foot, making it the length of a shortsword. The magic hissed, but she promptly turned it off. It went into its own sheath.

“So, how do I look?” she asked Fortune.

“Like somepony wearing a suit of top secret prototype equipment,” Fortune said in a monotone voice. “The griffons are going to know what we’re capable of after this. There’s no getting around that.”

“Oh, really?” Captain Flair smirked. “They won’t know about it if they don’t see it…”

“You’re going to be shooting windigos with magic-powered laser-infused kinetic rounds that make their guns look like toys. You think they’ll miss that?” Fortune shook his head. “This is going to start a war…”

“No. We’re going to end a war.” Flair held her rifle across her chest as she flew out of the room.

The ponies outside stopped to stare as she reentered the main room. Guards lowered their weapons, medics looked up from their work, and Mash’s eyes widened in absolute surprise.

“Attention, everypony,” Captain Flair called. She pressed a button on the suit’s control panel that was on her front left foreleg. The suit’s speakers activated, amplifying her voice slightly.

“I’m not a General or a Princess. I don’t usually do speeches, but I think we need one now.” She glanced around the room. “You all know what happened. You know the price. You know who the enemy is. We know it all. We’re Section Eleven, aren’t we?” she spat bitterly. “But we weren’t enough. We missed it. We bucked up, ponies. They got through, and they tore us a new one. We lost friends, co-workers, comrades.”

The crowd stirred, and Flair saw ponies glancing down at the dead who had been respectfully moved to line one wall of the room.

“We may have been beaten, but we are not broken.” Captain Flair held her head high. “They may have won the first round, but we will take the second. And the third. And every single thrice-damned round that follows. You know why?” She raised her rifle. “We are Section Eleven. And, in the end, we always win. Always. We’ll take the fight to them. For the fallen. For the survivors.” A wolfish grin split her face. “We’ll reach up these bastards’ asses and rip out their entrails and stain the ground with their blood. You know why? Because they started it, and we’re here to finish them. Not just for the fallen. Not just for the survivors. But for history. For us.” Her smile broadened. “And for the princesses. Are you with me?”

The crowd nodded, anger flushing their faces.

“I asked, are you with me?” Flair demanded.

“We’re with you!” they shouted.

“For Equestria! For Director Blueblood! For the Princesses!” she shouted.

“For the Princesses!” Section Eleven cried out as one.

Flair settled to the ground. She flushed with pride. “Section Eleven! Go!”

The crowd pulled out their crossbows. Unicorns carried them with magic, pegasi hovered with the weapons in their hooves, and earth ponies placed their crossbows into the specially crafted saddles on their backs. They gripped the firing mechanism with their grimly smiling mouths. Section Eleven marched to the doors and went out into the rest of the castle.

Captain Flair took to the air once again as she watched them go. After the last one exitted, she took a deep breath. “This is it…” she muttered. She looked down and pressed a button on her command pad.

The air around her shimmered as the prototype cloaking field activated.

“Now, let’s end this.”

~~~

Earlier that evening…

~~~

Luna wrinkled her nose as Chaput led her out onto the dance floor. The musicians had changed over to a traditional Equestrian waltz, and the ponies around her gracefully flowed back and forth in time with the elegant music.

“Such amazing music. It has been far too long since I have heard its rival.” Chaput bowed to her and reached his wing out.

“They are quite skilled,” Luna replied as she accepted his offer with her own wing. The two began their graceful dance. They gently moved back and forth, careful not to run into any of the other dancers. Chaput smiled at Luna, and she forced herself to reciprocate.

“You know, Princess, I get the distinct impression that you would rather not be out here with me,” Chaput said with a smile. “It almost hurts my feelings!”

“What? Why would you say that?” Luna asked. They slowly turned, their hooves and claws rising and falling in tandem.

The general swayed as the music gradually crescendoed. “Well, your body language is closed. You avoid pointing yourself directly at me, even though we are dancing together. You try to smile, but you glance away every few moments. Also, you purse your lips whenever we get close together. Subtle, yes, but it is there.”

“I…” Luna replied, taken aback. “I apologize if you feel that way, General. I do not seek to offend.”

“Oh, of course not! I suspect no ill intentions.” Chaput led the way into a long, slow spin. “In fact, I understand completely. A general from a nation that is, by all accounts, a force of rampaging monsters asks for your wing in a dance. I would probably not be entirely comfortable myself!”

“Your nation does not faze me, General,” Luna spoke carefully. She spun into the turn, allowing him to continue with the lead. After the spin, they took the traditional stance. He put one wing on her shoulder, and she draped one wing over his neck. Their other wings grasped each other, their feathers mixing in an interesting design of white and midnight blue.

“Really?” Chaput asked. “Well, you are the ‘Warrior Princess’ after all. I am most likely not the first enemy with whom you have danced… although I wonder how many of those were dances of steel instead of waltzes…”

She nodded. “I have participated in many forms of dancing in the past, General. Some were slightly more deadly than others.”

“Ha, and I suppose the verbal dance is one of those?” The general led them back across the room once more. He wore a wide smile and his eyes sparkled.

“A few times. However, it is my sister who rules that battlefield,” Luna said.

“Tsk, tsk.” Chaput shook his head. “My dear, you mixed your metaphors! We had already segued from our talk about battle to the subject of dancing!”

Luna scoffed. “I hadn’t realized that we were following a script. I thought that we were just talking.”

“But nothing is ever ‘just talking,’ Highness. There is always an undercurrent; a hidden meaning. Words are merely words if you only see the surface. Underneath, they have power. To bring life, or to kill.”

The princess’ eyebrow rose. “And what power do your words have, General?”

“My, such an astute question!” he said happily. “Allow me to respond with a question of my own. What power do you think that my words carry, Highness?”

Luna swayed in time with the song, as did Chaput. She considered his words for a moment before replying, “I think that your words bear the power that you want them to.”

“‘Want them to bear.’ Or, ‘to carry,’” Chaput responded quickly. Afterward, he sighed. “I apologize, Princess. I forget myself.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Luna said with a smirk. “You know, my sister can be the same way at times.”

“Really?” Chaput asked, and this time it was his eyebrow that rose. “Very interesting…”

“But yes. I don’t think that I could ever discern your meaning from your words alone, General. There is layer after layer of deception.” She shook her head. “Do you even know what everything that you say means?”

“Of course!” Chaput exclaimed. “Everything is intentional, everything is planned. Do you not do the same?”

“Do I deceive with every breath? I think not,” Luna murmured.

Chaput smiled once more. “Ah. So we reach the crux of the issue that began the conversation. Do you view me as a compulsive liar, Princess? Is that the source of your distaste?”

“Perhaps not compulsive, General,” Luna said as the dance continued. “But your propensity for deception is undeniable.”

“But, my dear! That is the very nature of the game!” Chaput spun her around once more. “Diplomacy is a game of moves and countermoves. Lies and replies. And really, if I were to be completely honest, would you actually believe me?”

“‘A lie is a lie, and the truth is the truth, but a half truth is more deadly than either,’” Luna quoted.

Chaput didn’t even miss a step, but his eyes betrayed his surprise. “Ah. So, did I miss a bug in the room when I spoke with your sister, or did she give you a memorized transcript?”

“Actually, I read some of your work. You wrote that in an article published in Prance after you graduated from school. ‘On the Nature of Truth, by Dr. Jacques Chaput,’” she said quietly. “Which makes the fact that you told my sister that you learned that quote from a Zebran ambassador very interesting, General.” Luna smiled. “How odd that you would lie right after you said that you would only tell the truth… Tell me, did the ambassador actually exist, or was he just a clever tool to downplay your own intelligence? It is one thing to quote another, but to quote yourself? You would look pretentious, and that would not do. Of course, you did quote yourself, which does make you pretentious. You just didn’t want to appear that way.”

Her dance partner did not respond, so Luna continued. “You claim to extend a talon in friendship, yet you hold a knife behind your back. How could I believe what you say? Could I ever trust you? So, yes, I am uncomfortable dancing with you. But life is not about comfort, and we do what we must.”

Chaput inhaled deeply. “Indeed. We always do what we must. Princess, my deception was never intended for nefarious purposes. It is merely what must be done. I’m sure that you are no stranger to lies yourself.”

The music rose once more, and Luna continued to follow Chaput’s lead. “I am not unfamiliar, but I do not live and breathe them.”

“Really?” Chaput asked. The music rose to its final crescendo and the dancers gave one last turn. The audience applauded, and the musicians took a bow. Chaput released Luna’s wing and leaned forward stiffly. He brought Luna’s front left hoof to his beak and gave it a polite kiss. Afterward, he looked up, a sly smile on his face. “I find that statement interesting when it comes from you… Miss Starry Skies…”

Luna froze.

“Oh, yes. You call me a liar, but you can’t even allow that poor stallion, Button Mash, I believe is his name, to know who you really are… Tell me, Princess, how does it make you feel to know that we are not so different?” Chaput whispered.

“It… I—”

“May we speak privately, Princess?” Chaput interrupted softly. “There are too many prying ears here on the floor, and our discussion may be considered sensitive if it goes in the direction that I predict.”

Luna considered the question for a moment before nodding slightly. “Yes. Privately would be better.”

“Excellent! Maybe one of the rooms where the servants had stored these magnificent tables? Do you think they would be isolated enough?”

She nodded again. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“Good… good…”

The princess and the general strode off the floor as the next piece began. Luna nodded at Celestia who sat at a large table, nibbling on a piece of cake. The other princess returned the gesture and smiled.

Luna moved nimbly through the crowd and walked out into the hallway. She led the griffon away from the music and toward a cordoned off doorway. Levitating the thick red rope out of the way, she opened the door and beckoned for Chaput to enter. The general smiled smoothly and followed her direction.

After she stepped inside, Luna flipped on a light switch and shut the door. Her face became a stony mask as she met the general’s eyes.

The room was small, just large enough to be used for storage. The paint simple light yellow walls was peeling, but the air smelled of flowers and well-washed cloth. There were a few extra tables lining the far wall, flanked by a few stacks of chairs. A slight cool draft came from somewhere in the room.

Chaput’s smile widened, and he pulled out a small electronic device. It beeped after he pressed a red button, and he nodded. “We may now speak freely.”

“Yes…” Luna began. “So, you are now spying on history teachers and their friends?”

“Oh, that would be unreasonable. I am spying on you, my dear. Spying on your coltfriend is just an extension of our surveillance.”

Luna flushed slightly. “He’s not my—”

“Spare me the denials, Princess,” Chaput said dryly. “We’ve watched you long enough to know what you feel. Whether you acknowledge it or not is inconsequential. What matters is that you are also a deceiver… and that means that you can understand.” He paced toward the far wall. “Not all lies are intended for nefarious purposes, Princess. Sometimes, the best of intentions dictate actions that others would consider unsavory. Such as your relationship with the young Button Mash. How would he react if he knew who you really are? Your position? Your power?” His eyes narrowed. “Your age?”

Luna remained silent and tapped a hoof.

“You do not intend to harm him, of course. You deceive merely for the sake of the greater good. Allow him to ‘fall in love,’ as they say, with the real you, not some romanticized view of a princess. Is that wrong? Of course not. It is perfectly reasonable, and I respect your foresight in this matter. But I must tell you, I am only doing the same.” He stopped pacing and continued his speech emphatically. “I do not want a war. I am not here to betray you. However, I cannot tell you the complete truth.”

“Why not?” Luna demanded. She stamped her hoof to the ground. “If you really wish to be our ally, prove it!” She brushed a strand of her mane out of her face as a cold breeze blew across her face. The hair on her back rose, as if something wrong had just happened...

Chaput growled his reply. “I told you, I cannot. There are greater things in motion than your nation or mine, Princess. Darkness stirs, and we must hold our cards close to our chests.” He walked forward until his face was very close to her own. “You never know who may be listening…”

Luna inhaled sharply. She shivered again as more cold air blew over her body. The princess felt a sudden itch on her shoulder. She almost turned, but quickly stopped herself. Luna looked closely at Chaput, and his eyes were wide. “Do you feel that too?” she whispered.

“There’s something here…” he growled, his gaze darting about the room.

“I’m going to count to three,” Luna said ever-so-very softly. “Be prepared.”

Chaput nodded curtly.

“One…”

The breeze continued.

“Two…”

Something hissed quietly.

“Three!”

Luna’s horn flared, and a burst of white magic shot off in every direction. It passed through the walls of the small room, and Luna’s eyes glowed with ethereal power. She gasped as she saw glowing forms through the walls. They floated in rooms all around them. The ballroom’s ceiling was filled, the hallways were packed, and—

—three of them were hovering right above her.

Luna shouted and quickly cast another spell as she leapt for the door. A wave of purple energy pushed the creatures away, shoving them into a corner.

The princess looked back to see that Chaput had followed her and dropped into a combat stance right beside her. He hissed, and his talons and claws extended to their lethal length. His wings flared, and his white head-crest stood up as he prepared for combat.

Luna sent more energy into her detection spell and grunted in exertion as she forced the spell to deactivate whatever method that her foes had been using to hide themselves. Another wave of white energy expanded outward, and she gazed upon her enemies.

“Windigos!” Chaput shouted.

Luna gasped as the fearsome creatures looked toward her. They raised their spears, letting loose a terrifying battle cry. The princess readied herself for an attack.

As the windigos leapt forward, Luna prepared a shield spell, and rushed toward them just in time to—

—completely miss her enemies as they charged not at her, but Chaput.

Author's Note

Thanks once more to all the live viewers! The song for tonight was Second Chance by Shinedown.

Also, if you like gaming fics, check out This Game of Mine by Swan Song. It's a great story that also features gamers, griffons, and coolness!

Cake, Memories, and Bullets

Celestia sipped her tea and nibbled daintily on a piece of cake. She watched the ponies on the dance floor and pretended to listen politely to the incessant prattling of one of Canterlot’s minor nobles. The mare had been speaking non-stop ever since she had sat down in the empty seat beside the princess.

Celestia nodded absentmindedly, her focus directed toward entirely different pursuits. Luna and Chaput had just slipped away into the hallway… just what Celestia had guessed was Chaput’s intention when he had asked to dance with her sister. Why he needed her alone, Celestia was unsure, but—

Her eyes shot open as a wave of magical energy filled the room. The music stopped abruptly, and the dancers froze in place. Celestia slowly rose to her hooves, eyes narrowed to slits.

She could practically taste the spell. The feeling of detection surrounded her, as well as something else... “That was Luna,” she whispered to herself. “Detection… and warning?”

Magic filled the air around her as she prepared her formidable powers. Layer after layer of invisible spells appeared around her body. She readied herself to summon her lance and armor from Otherspace, and energy flared around her in a disguised display of strength. Her mind raced, and she quickly sent out a spell that combined truth detection and empathic sensing. She looked out over the crowd, her face a mask of concentration.

The guards around the room raised their weapons and moved to surround the princess. Celestia could tell they were coming to protect her, thanks to her spell. All of the griffon soldiers in the room moved closer to each other, surrounding the Griffonian delegates. They had voluntarily turned in their weapons at the entrance, so they extended their formidable razor sharp talons and claws instead. They glared at the Equestrian guards who moved into position. Celestia could detect genuine shock and concern for their charges.

“Everypony, everygriff. Please stay calm…” Celestia said loudly. “If you would all move to the exits in a careful and orderly manner, we can—”

Another wave of magic blasted through the room, and Celestia suddenly felt the presence of great power. Silence filled the room as Celestia slowly turned to look at the ceiling.

Dozens. Hundreds. The room was full of the glowing creatures. They held spears, swords, shields, and—

“Windigos!” a distant voice cried, and Celestia recognized the accent of General Chaput.

A shrill cry pierced through the room as the noble beside Celestia fell to the ground, fainting in fear.

Chaos erupted. Nobles ran screaming for the door as the flying creatures that Celestia immediately recognized as Equestria’s ancient enemies swooped down to attack the fleeing mass.

The soldiers, both griffon and pony, turned to face the new threat. They were startled, but their training kicked in immediately.

Celestia gnashed her teeth as she activated the spell connecting her to Otherspace. Immediately, her shining golden and purple armor appeared over her body. Her helmet replaced her crown, and the magical shields extended to cover the brilliantly gleaming armor. With another spell, her lance-blade appeared. Six feet of devastatingly sharp, master-forged solanite alloy with two pointed ends floated beside her. Her golden magic flared, and it was coated in the burning power of the sun.

“Protect the civilians!” she bellowed to her guards. With that, she took to the air, her blade spinning in a blazing golden circle.

The windigos saw her charge and paused. Celestia showed no mercy as she attacked. Her blade cut a swath through them, rending heads from necks and slashing directly through foe after foe. However, after her initial assault, the survivors seemed to pool their magic together as they cast another spell. The group disappeared instantly, melting away into the shadows… As they did, a crooning song filled the air.

Celestia’s head shot into the air, her eyes wide as she felt a wave of angry magic flash through the castle. A black mist filled the hall, accompanied by a sense of dread.

“What is this?” somepony demanded.

“Fear…” Celestia muttered. The princess heard more screams coming from outside the hall. She looked down at the griffons and ponies below. A minotaur ambassador cowered under a table, and several zebras stood in a circle, their ancient magic spinning around them. She sent magic into her vocal chords and spoke in her Royal Canterlot Voice for the first time in many years. “All beings in the castle. We are under attack. Find shelter immediately! All soldiers are to retrieve weapons and protect the civilians! Arm the griffons!” She then cast another spell, and her voice repeated itself, filling the castle. As she did so, the mist dissipated as quickly as it had come.

“Princess!” a dark blue pegasus guard with a black mane down on the ground cried out. Celestia turned and flew over to him.

“General Shadow Streak. What is the status of the Night Guard?” she asked. All around her, the soldiers were racing to follow her orders.

“They’re already mobilizing. We all felt Princess Luna’s spell. She’d included an alarm spell along with whatever else she’d cast. We’ve got reinforcements coming as quickly as possible.” He took to the air and drew his longsword. “We’re at your disposal.”

Celestia quickly formed a plan. “Get the civilians out of here, immediately. Take them down into the underlevels, maybe Sec Eleven or some other deep area. Use the bottlenecks. We don’t know how many there are.” She hefted her own blade. “I’ll go after the windigos who were prepared to attack the great hall. It was a massacre waiting to happen, and they may try to pull it off despite the loss of surprise…” She grimaced. “I’ll stop them.”

“Yes, Majesty!” General Streak saluted and flew away, already calling orders to his own troops.

“Griffons! On me!” a new voice barked. Celestia saw the griffon Captain Ivanov flying over to her. He landed quickly and gave a stiff bow. “Princess. This isn’t our doing.”

“I know,” she replied. “Get your troops ready. While my ponies help the civilians, we’ll get to the entrance and retrieve your weapons. Then,” Her eyes flared. “We go hunting.”

~~~

Luna lunged sideways, trying to get herself in between Chaput and the windigos. She managed to catch two of them, but the third soared over her toward his prey.

The windigos hissed as they crashed into her dark blue shield. Her magic pushed them backward, sending them sprawling into a wall. She immediately turned around to assist the general—

—just in time to see him rip out the throat of the last windigo with his beak. His talons had pinned the ethereal creature. The windigo’s eyes flared open, and it out as thick blood splattered the walls. Chaput looked up, murder in his eyes and blood dripping from his face. He grinned darkly and growled a challenge at the other ghostly enemies.

Luna spun back around, pinning the windigos down with her magic. She raced over in their direction, her magic flaring.

But as she approached, a strange fog-like magic filled the room, as did the sound of a distant choir singing a song that Luna could just barely recognize but not name. The mist washed toward the windigos, and their eyes flashed with black magic.

Luna’s shield spell collapsed, and the windigos flew up into the air. Their voices joined the song, and the princess felt pure terror shoot down her spine. She gasped and stepped back. “What is this?” she asked.

“Emotion spells…” Chaput grunted. He shook his head and gritted his beak. “This… ahh…”

Luna stood her ground as the darkness pulled at her mind. Gravity seemed to increase, and the floor felt like it was rising up to meet her. The world spun, and a voice filled the room.

“You lied to me, Starry.”

She gasped and quickly turned. Button Mash stood in the doorway, glaring at her. “B-Button…”

“Liar.” He stared at her, his eyes narrowed to slits. “And you thought that I could love you…”

“Button!” she cried.

He shook his head in the mist and turned away. “Worthless. You’ll be alone forever. I don’t love you. I don’t care about you. Your sister despises you. Life was better while you were on the moon.” He looked back at her with a sneer. “Why don’t you go back there?”

“Button!” Luna shouted. “Please! Wait!”

“Luna!”

She ignored the screaming voice and rushed toward the doorway. “Button!”

Something crashed into her, pushing her to the ground. She gasped as she fell. A heavy weight held her down, keeping her from rising. In an instant, the fog disappeared, along with Button’s outline.

“Princess, stop! It’s a spell!” Chaput said. He shook her, and the world returned to normal.

She blinked rapidly, her breath coming out in rapid bursts. “I… what?”

“They’re windigos! They feed off and manipulate negative emotions!” Chaput panted, his front leg shaking. “They can make you… see things… It was—”

Something stirred in the shadows, and a blade sped downward, impacting the base of Chaput’s wing.

“Ahhhhh!” The general screamed as the glowing blue sword sliced into his flesh. It continued until it got stuck in his bone with a sickening thud.

Luna jumped up instantly and conjured a sword of black energy around her hoof. She shouted as she rammed it into the creature’s throat. She shoved it down, ripping right through him.

The last windigo jumped from the shadows, flying at her with his spear raised. Luna spun around, summoning a second blade around her other hoof. Her battle cry pierced the air, and the windigo’s head flew away from his body as she slashed his neck asunder. She hit the ground and growled, glancing around the room. Nothing attacked. Silence reigned.

“P-p-princess…” Chaput sputtered. The sword was still embedded in the bone of his wing. “Y-you wouldn’t happen to have any doctors nearby, would you?”

“Oh, stars…” Luna ran over to him. “Stay still! I’ll try to stop the bleeding…”

“Hey, it’s not too bad…” Chaput said happily, an edge of delirium in his voice. “I got to hear her voice again, you know…”

Luna’s magic filled the air. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the streams of power that flowed toward the griffon. Gently grasping the weapon, she gently lifted, making room for the glowing blue healing spell. Bone knitted itself back together, and—

The princess gasped as her magic fizzled out. The spell dissipated, and blood rushed from the wound.

Chaput giggled. “She called my name… I’d waited for so long. My dear. My own… Melodia…”

“Ponyfeathers,” Luna swore. She tried to cast her spell again, but nothing happened. It was as if she couldn’t even touch him with her power.

“But… didn’t she die? D-did she? Was it a lie?” the general muttered. His smile faded, and tears formed in the corners of his eyes. “It hurts!”

Luna snarled and glanced down at Chaput’s suit. She reached out and ripped a long strip off his jacket and concentrated her magic around the fine cloth. It glowed bright purple as the healing power filled it. She grunted as she jammed the cloth into the gap in the wing.

“Haaaaaaaaaagh!” Chaput screamed again, tears streaming down his face. “Melodia! Where are you?”

Luna channeled even more magic into the strip. The princess gritted her teeth as she strained against the pull of her power. Her horn flashed brightly as she fought whatever it was that tried to stop her spell. She pushed, and pushed, and—

“Melodia...” he muttered as his eyes fluttered and closed. His breathing slowed to a crawl, and his chest slowly stopped rising.

“No!” Luna pushed even harder, her magic growing brighter and brighter, and… suddenly, the magic around her horn disappeared, like the sun behind an eclipse. Her eyes flared completely white, and everything became silent.

She saw past the castle’s walls, beyond the ground, and into the universe itself. Stars swirled, and complete calm filled her. Distractedly, she glanced down and saw the unmoving body of the general. She tilted her head, unconcerned. Something glowed inside of the creature, like a river of dark green energy. She absentmindedly reached out with her power, grasping the vile stream. It felt slimy and hard at the same time, and tasted of poison. She squeezed.

The weak griffon beneath her kicked his hind legs out as the poison disappeared into the aether. Luna nodded and breathed. The creature below stirred, and he gasped for air.

The princess gazed forward, unseeing and all-seeing. Magic spun all around, moving through the walls. Creatures were everywhere, glowing silver-white. She could feel the life-force of the windigos, but something felt twisted and wrong about them. It was as if something had stolen their purpose.

Luna listened to their cries of death and mayhem for a moment before she sighed and closed her eyes. With a tiny smile, she felt the world return to normal, and—

“It can’t be…” Chaput breathed. He reached a talon out and touched the princess kneeling next to him. “You did that for me?”

She groaned and put a hoof up to her throbbing head. “What happened?”

“You don’t realize what you did?” Chaput asked quietly.

“I was just trying to help you, and then it… it…” Luna put her other hoof up to her skull and held them there. “My head…”

The griffon rose shakily off the floor. “That was ancient magic.” He smiled at her. “I am honored. Truly.”

“I—” Luna began.

“Princess!” The door burst open, and Luna recognized Knight-Captain Dovetail, head of the Royal Guard, as she ran into the room. “She’s here! She’s safe!” The earth pony knight-captain brushed her red and yellow streaked mane away from her blue eyes. Her golden armor complimented her brilliant white coat and glimmered in the torchlight as she sprinted over to the princess.

Four more guards ran into the room, their spears raised. They were followed by two griffons carrying the metallic rifles of the Father’s Army. They flew around, pointing the weapons at the corners of the room.

One of the guards, a unicorn, stopped running and fired off a spell. White energy filled the room. As soon as the magic reached one of the far corners, a shadowy figure shimmered into view. A windigo whose throat had been torn open by a beak slowly crawled away from the ponies and griffons. As soon as the beast was revealed, the griffons fired their rifles into its body. The windigo gave a final screech and disappeared in a cloud of dust.

Dovetail nodded curtly. “Princess. Your sister sent us to secure your location. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she panted. “Check the general.” Luna stood unsteadily to her hooves and walked toward the door. “The windigos… Does she know?”

“Yes,” Knight-Captain Dovetail said with a nod. “We’re sweeping the castle now.”

Guns fired in the background, and Luna could hear screams.

“I need to help them!” the princess said, stumbling forward. However, she was stopped as the Knight-Captain held up her hoof.

“Princess, you’re barely able to stand. I need you to see a medic so that we can be sure tha—”

“No!” Luna declared. “I have to help! Let me go!”

The Knight-Captain shook her head. “Princess, I need to you stay here and—”

A stallion sprinted into the room, a radio levitated in the air next to him. “Captain! We’re getting a message from Section Eleven!”

Dovetail turned aside and nodded. The radio activated, and a transmission cut through.

“—is Section Eleven, once again calling on all frequencies. We are under attack by windigos. Please send assistance! I say again, Section Eleven is under attack by windigos, and they have us pinned!”

“Get down!” another voice shouted, and Luna felt herself freeze.

Her eyes unfocused as those words echoed through her skull. Get down…

She staggered, pushing past the Knight-Captain, and walked out the door. Get down.

“Princess? Where are you going? Princess!”

Luna ignored the voice. Get down!

“Button…”

~~~

Captain Flair soared invisibly down the corridors leading away from Section Eleven. Her HUD displayed a map of the castle’s winding hallways, and she swiftly made her way toward the stairs leading up into the castle proper. She narrowed her eyes and spoke into her microphone. “Nest. Any updates? Over.”

“Negative, Flame. Our troops are moving up to the main entrance. No more contact so far. Over,” Agent Breeze replied over the coms.

“Nest, copy that. I’m taking the back stairwell up to the servant's entrance of the great hall… I’ll keep you updated. Over.” With that, Flair raised her rifle up to her eye once more.

The corridors wound forward, leading to a double doored stairwell. Shadows moved in the corners, but Flair’s HUD indicated that nothing was there in the darkness…

The captain descended to open the door, and—

“Through here! Through here!”

Flair shot further up and hovered directly beneath the ceiling, her rifle aimed at the doorway. Her jaw clenched, as the voice that had shouted came closer, and closer, and…

The doors opened, and a herd of ponies ran through. They cantered into the hallway, led by a silver coated mare in a frilly dress.

“Wait! Don’t run!” somepony yelled, but the crowd didn’t listen. They continued their mad sprint downward, running out of the doorway and down the hallway. They reached the turn at the end of the corridor and were quickly out of view. After the terrified ponies passed, three fatigued looking Royal Guards followed, along with two griffons carrying rifles.

Flair’s breath hitched as she saw the armed griffons. All five of the soldiers were sweaty and covered in grime. Two of them had torn uniforms, but none of them were wounded.

“We need to stop them! They’re hysterical!” one of the ponies said.

“Agreed,” the larger griffon grunted. “General Streak, can we get ahead of them somehow to stop them?”

They continued to run, and Flair followed them at a safe distance, but still within earshot.

Flair recognized the pony who replied as General Shadow Streak. “Ivanov, I have no idea. They’re out of control. At this point, the only thing that we can do is try to contain the situation and keep them out of—”

“Ahhhhh!” a voice cried from down the hallway.

“Derr’mo!” Ivanov swore. “Damn politicians! They’ll get themselves killed!”

All five of them took off in a dead sprint toward the curve. Flair followed closely behind.

“Nest, we’ve got a situation! Civilians in the hallway! They’re on the way in your direction. I think they’re under attack. I’m following! Over!” She sped over the soldiers, approaching the crowd at incredible speed.

But just as she rounded the corner, the ponies came running back to the staircase, crying out in terror. Flair inhaled deeply as she looked past them.

The silver mare in the intricate dress lay on the ground, a spear through her chest. Right behind her were windigos. Ten, twenty, thirty… Flair couldn’t even count them. She held back a gasp.

“Get them!” Ivanov shouted as he, too, came around the corner. He and his fellow griffon took to the air, raising their rifles. Bullets flew through the air, over the heads of the fleeing ponies and slamming into the amassed creatures. The ponies ran underneath the griffons and past the three Royal Guards who still stood on the ground. The guards drew their weapons and lined up, trying to block the way so that the windigos could not pass.

The creatures charged. Some fell from the assault, but the rest closed in on the ponies. General Shadow Streak stood in the middle, his blade raised and a sneer on his face. The two earth ponies beside him raised their spears, ready to fight. The windigos came closer, and closer…

Captain Flair lowered her rifle and raised her front right hoof. She pressed a large red button on the control panel on her foreleg. A small device popped out of the suit and it shot a round object down at the charging windigos. It bounced twice, beeping loudly as it did so.

She smiled as an explosion ripped through the back ranks of the enemies. Immediately, the captain dove in front of the ponies and dropped her cloak. She grabbed her blade from her belt and triggered the shield extension. With a single swing, she cut a swath through the first line of the windigos.

And then she fired her rifle.

The powerful conductors inside of the device triggered a magical reaction within the rifle’s ammunition. The crystal suspended inside of the hollow bullets projected a field of superheated energy within the metal casing. Pure magical energy surrounded the bullets before the rifle sent round after round toward her foes.

Captain Flair’s rounds tore through the ranks of the ethereal beasts. Each shot passed through the first line of windigos and just kept going. The bullets finally impacted against the far wall, sending shards of broken stone flinging through the hallway. The few who made it past her rounds quickly fell to her short sword.

Flair smiled grimly as she turned to see the stunned faces of the griffon and pony soldiers. Their jaws and beaks hung open, and they nearly dropped their weapons. She nodded to General Streak as she flew over to him. “General.”

He grinned and thumped his sword against his chest. “Captain! Magnificent show.”

“Is that a rifle?” the other griffon soldier hissed at Captain Ivanov.

The griffon officer ignored his comrade and landed on the ground. He gave a stiff bow as he looked at Flair. “My thanks, Captain…” He raised an eyebrow as he looked on her suit for a nametag or some other form of identification.

“Flair. Captain Flair,” she replied with a curt nod. “I assume that the windigos drove you all down here, yes?”

“Yes, they did,” General Streak replied. “The princess sent us down here to take the civilians away from the fighting. We’re supposed to lead them toward Section Eleven or another sublevel.”

One of the ponies who had run away stuck her head back around the corner. She slowly looked from the ponies to the griffons, her lip quivering in fear. “Are… are they gone?”

Streak turned to her and smiled. “Yes. They’re gone. We’ll get you to safety.”

“Okay,” Flair said. “We’ll turn back this way and head to Sec Eleven. We should be safe there until—”

“Flair!” Agent Breeze’s voice cut through the coms. “The windigos are back! They’re headed for the director, and most of our guards are out fighting their way up into the castle. We need you to— Argh!”

“Breeze? Breeze?” Flair held a hoof to her earpiece as she strained to hear her partner’s voice. “What’s going on?”

“Get down here!” Mash’s voice cried out over the radio. “Move out of the way!”

“Shit…” Flair swore as she hefted her weapon again. “Change of plans. Sec Eleven is under attack. Try to take the civilians down to the other subs.”

By this time, all of the formerly fleeing ponies had gathered around the soldiers. They panted, their eyes filled with fear as they looked at their protectors.

“But if Section Eleven isn’t safe…” one stallion said.

Flair sighed. “General, I’ll try to get Sec Eleven safe for you all to come, but I have to go now.”

“Can you handle it alone?” Streak asked.

She nodded in reply. “Yes. I’m going to have to. Our number one priority has to be the civilians. Keep them safe.”

“You shouldn’t do that by yourself,” Captain Ivanov said gruffly. “I’ll come with you.”

“No,” she replied, shaking her head. She narrowed her eyes. “I can do this.”

“You’ll need a second rifle,” the other captain countered. “Let me help.”

“But I—”

“Captain,” General Streak said. “If they really are attacking en masse, you’ll need assistance. Ivanov already saved my life, and he lost two soldiers doing it. You can trust him.”

Flair growled and nodded. “Yes, sir.” She turned to look at the griffon. “Follow me.”

With that, the two swooped down the hallway, heading toward the distant sound of battle and death.

Author's Note

Thanks to the live readers! This chapter brought to you by pizza. Yum.

Barriers, Meetings, and Schemes

“Oh, Celestia, they’re back!”

Button let himself drop to the ground as the first shadowy creature soared toward him. He yelped as a spear impacted the chair behind him, and he flailed wildly as he tried to crawl away from his growling enemy.

“Move, Mash!” Fortune leapt between Button and the approaching beast, a knife levitated next to him. The windigo saw the incoming weapon, but he couldn’t dodge in time. The blade flashed as Fortune implanted it into his skull. His foe screeched and exploded into a cloud of dust, and Fortune offered Button a hoof, a wild look on his face. “Come on!”

Button allowed himself to be lifted back onto his hooves, and the two of them sprinted for the door to Section Eleven’s main server room. Two other analysts followed them.

They had come without warning. Button had been sitting between Fortune and Breeze as the two of them used their computers to compile information and brief their troops about the attack. Button had watched quietly, trying to stop his mind from reeling. After being kidnapped by Equestria’s agency, surviving an attack from an enemy that he’d considered merely a piece of history for most of his life, and seeing technology that he had thought could only exist in fantasy, he’d been rather distracted… and that hadn’t helped him much when the windigos suddenly reappeared.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Breeze swore as she kicked her way into the server room and cast a shield spell to keep the windigos back while all the other ponies shoved past her to hide inside.

Button slammed the door shut after the last pony ran into the room. He and Agent Breeze pushed against it as heavy objects slammed into them from the other side, trying to force their way inside. Breeze grunted, and a purple barrier appeared across the entryway. She then sighed and stood back.

“Where the tartarus did they come from?” Fortune swore as his voice clipped. “We’re defenseless here…”

“Where’s the director?” Breeze asked.

“I think he’s… Oh shit,” Fortune said. “He’s back in a side room.”

“Who’s there with him?” she demanded.

Fortune paled. “Two medics… no guards. I don’t think we have any guards left in here…”

Button inhaled deeply as the pounding against the door continued. He glanced around the room. Seven ponies, including himself, stood inside the small, cool area. The analysts panted and leaned against the walls, trying to catch their breath. Four of them had crossbows, but the rest were unarmed or had only knives.

“We have to get to him!” Breeze declared.

Fortune stamped a hoof on the ground. “You’re right. How do we do it? I’m not an agent. They aren’t either. I mean, you’re barely an agent yourself. They’ll kill us!”

Breeze growled. “Okay… Fortune, Quad, Shock. Get the other crossbows and follow me.” She picked up her weapon with her magic and looked toward the door. “The rest of you, hold this room until we come back.”

“What?” one unicorn, a stallion with a bright blue coat, asked frantically. His jaw hung open and his eyes were wide. “I don’t know how to shoot!”

“Shock, shut your mouth,” Breeze replied crisply. “You’ve had the same training as me. You can shoot, and you, Fortune, and Quad are unicorns. Shield yourselves and follow me.”

“What do you want me to do?” Button asked her as he stepped forward.

She gave him a once-over. “Mash, I want you to bar the doorway. You’re the only earth pony, so—”

A scream from outside the room cut her off. She spun around and cursed. “That sounded like Aide! They must be attacking the director!”

“Okay, we’ve got to go now!” Fortune exclaimed. He swiftly levitated the crossbows to the other analysts. “We can’t let them get him.”

Breeze and the others approached the door, weapons at the ready. She gritted her teeth and whispered. “On three. One… two… three.”

With that, the shield dropped and the four ponies dashed outside. Button slammed the door shut behind them. The other two analysts ran up beside him to assist with the barricade. They pushed against the cold wood, completely unarmed…

And they waited.

The screeches of windigos resounded through the room, and Button shivered.

“Move!” they heard Agent Breeze shout, but her voice seemed strangely distant.

“Get them off of me! Get them off of me! Get them— Ahhh!” Shock’s scream ripped through the air.

“They’re dying…” one of the analysts murmured quietly.

Button trembled as he heard Shock’s cries of agony continue. Slowly, the voice faded… until only the roar of battle remained. Button closed his eyes and wiped his face with a shaking hoof. After a moment, he opened his eyes once more, his gaze narrowed and jaw set. “I’m going to help them,” he said.

“What? You heard what she s—” one pegasus began.

“Yeah, I did. But they’re dying, and I’m not going to sit here and wait until it’s my turn,” Button cut her off. He took a deep breath and stepped back. “Ponyfeathers… If I don’t make it, will you two do something for me?”

The pegasi continued to hold the door, but one of them nodded. “What do you need?”

“There’s a mare here in the castle. Starry Skies. Can you tell her that… that…” He paused and wiped his face again. “Just tell her that I was thinking of her at the end, okay?”

The mare nodded. “I’ll do that.”

“Thanks,” Button said. He steeled himself, taking another deep breath. “Okay. Open it!”

The pegasi swung the door open, and Button charged through.

Breeze, Fortune, and Quad were pinned down on the other side of the room, hiding behind one of the massive computer screens. Their crossbows levitated over the top of the barrier, and they fired shot after shot at the dozens of windigos in the room.

Button leapt over a fallen desk and cantered at the first windigo who cowered behind another computer screen. He cried out as he spun around and bucked at the monster with his back legs.

The windigo screeched as it flew across the room. As soon as it landed, a crossbow bolt arced through the air, piercing it through the chest. Immediately, the creature exploded into a cloud of dust.

Button charged again, slamming his hooves wildly into a pair of the creatures. They went sprawling outward, and the analysts finished the job with a pair of well-aimed shots.

But as Button turned around, he saw that the other windigos had noticed him at last. They reared up on their hind legs, hissed at him, and lunged.

“Oh, horseapples!” Button dodged to the side, his hooves flailing as the windigos soared through the air. He hit the ground and spun sideways, rolling into a desk. The windigos landed where he had been standing just a moment ago and turned to face him. They hissed once more, their sinister eyes boring into his skull. A wave of nausea overcame Button, and the world seemed to get dark, as if all the fear in Equestria had come crashing down upon him.

“Buck, buck, buck, buck…” Button muttered as he shook off the intense feeling of dread. He glanced around wildly, searching for a weapon, any weapon...

The windigos leapt just as Button spotted a spear about a meter away. He crawled over as rapidly as he could. Grabbing the spear, he raised it up, and—

The first windigo lunged at him, but as the creature continued forward, Button’s spear impaled him directly through the center of his chest. The windigo gasped, and his eyes went completely dark. Button thought that he could just barely see the monster smile as it faded into darkness … but then the next windigo was upon him.

Button swung the spear over, hitting his next foe with the blunt side of the weapon. A crossbow bolt whizzed past him, killing the third windigo, but Button still had to worry about his current enemy.

He shoved at the monster with the haft of the spear and then dropped the weapon so that he could run on all hooves. Taking advantage of the windigo’s distraction, he bolted toward the other armed ponies and slid past the computer screen. “Thanks.”

“What the hay are you doing out here?” Fortune shouted. “We told you to stay back!”

“I’m not very good at listening,” Button replied. He looked to the side and saw Shock’s body, a spear sticking out from his side. Button gulped down bile that rose up in his throat and quickly reached down to grab Shock’s crossbow. He held the weapon in his front right hoof and leaned around the barrier. “Now, how the buck does this thing work?”

“Just point, shoot, and pray…” Quad replied as he fired at an incoming windigo.

“Well, that doesn’t help at all!” Button yelled. He pointed the weapon downrange and fumbled for the weapon’s triggering mechanism. He leaned over, looked down the sight of the crossbow, focused on one of the windigos, and pressed the trigger button, and…

Nothing happened.

“You need to pull back the bowstring!” Agent Breeze cried as her horn flared and two of the windigos caught fire. She grunted in exertion and quickly cast a shield spell. “Pull back the red lever. The pulleys will do most of the work for you!”

Button hastily did as he was told and once again aimed at a windigo. He gently pressed the trigger button and the bolt shot outward through the air. The crossbow slammed back into his shoulder. Button inhaled sharply at the unexpected recoil.

The windigo before him fell, and Button smiled. “Okay, I can do this!” He pulled back the lever again, but then stopped. “Ponyfeathers,” he muttered as he scampered over to Shock’s corpse and grabbed his quiver of bolts. He returned to his spot and loaded another bolt into the weapon.

The four ponies continued to fight off their foes. A few windigos would charge at a time, but they would be quickly incapacitated by magic or projectiles. Button got into a groove. Fire, reload, pull, aim, repeat. If any of the windigos got close, Fortune would cast a shield and Breeze would use some spell to fend them off.

“Okay, just keep holding them back…” Breeze muttered. The hoard of windigos pressed onward, their numbers barely affected by the ponies’ assault.

“Where’s the director?” Button asked as he shot at another windigo. “I’m almost out of ammo.”

Fortune grunted and cast another shield to block one of the windigos. He levitated his knife around the barrier and stabbed him in the neck. “He’s in the room behind us. He’s safe for now… We just need to fend them off.”

“Until what?” Button reloaded his third to last bolt.

“Just… keep shooting,” Breeze muttered.

Button shook his head. “We need to get help somehow!” He frantically looked around the room. The floor was littered with slain ponies, and dozens of spears marked the places where windigos had fallen. Chairs were broken, desks knocked over, devices smashed, and— “Wait! There’s a headset over there! We can call for backup!”

Breeze followed his gaze and nodded swiftly. “Yes!” she shouted.

“Can you reach it with your magic?”

The mare didn’t reply. Her magic surrounded the device, and it flew through the air toward her. She hurriedly placed it on her head and pressed a button on the side of the earpiece. “Flair! The windigos are back! They’re headed for the director, and most of our guards are out fighting their way into the castle. We need you to—”

Just then, a windigo leapt out from the shadows, slamming into Breeze’s side. He tried to bring his spear to bear, but couldn’t quite move it toward her quickly enough due to her positioning.

“Argh!” Breeze shouted as she fell to the ground.

“Get down here!” Button shouted. “Move out of the way!” He shoved past Quad and dove down toward Agent Breeze.

The windigo jumped on top of Breeze and wrapped one of his forelegs around her throat. The mare struggled in his grip and gasped for breath. Her foe adjusted his spear and brought the blade closer and closer to her neck. Breeze struggled against him, slowing the weapon’s approach.

Button leapt forward and snapped the spear in half with a powerful kick. He picked up the end with the blade and slammed it into the windigo’s head, making the creature disintegrate.

Breeze gasped and stood up. “Thank you.”

He nodded curtly in response and grabbed his crossbow once more. Button fired off his final shots into the windigos, Fortune and Quad doing the same beside him.

“This is Section Eleven calling on all open channels! We are under attack! Windigos have broken into our main room! They are after the director! We have taken heavy casualties, and we’re running low on ammo. If anypony can hear this, please, respond!” Breeze said into her earpiece.

“No more bolts!” Fortune yelled.

“I’m down to five,” Quad said. He smirked as he raised his crossbow. “Now, I’ll just need a few targe—”

A spear flew through the air and struck him right in the face. Button gasped as the pointed weapon punched through the unicorn’s skull, killing him instantly. The stallion slumped to the ground, and his crossbow clattered to the floor as his magic fizzled out and disappeared.

“Quad!” Fortune screamed. He ran over to his friend and tried to pick him up. “Oh, buck!”

Button didn’t even have time to react as three windigos leapt past the computer screen and closed in on the last surviving ponies.

Breeze’s magic surrounded one of the windigos and slammed him into the floor. Fortune turned to face the second, his eyes filled with tears. He launched himself at his foe, a battle cry on his lips and his knife in the air. Button spun around to face his own opponent.

The windigo lunged, and Button jumped out of the way just in time. Swiftly throwing himself sideways, he rammed into the monster, bringing his hoof down and slamming it into the spear. The weapon flew away, and the windigo danced after it.

Button didn’t give him time to get away though. He dashed after the windigo and roared as his hooves slammed into his foe’s back. The windigo tripped, and Button kicked out with all of his might. He managed to send the windigo crashing to the floor. Button jumped up into the air and came down on the windigo’s head. His back hoof crushed the monster’s skull, and it evaporated into the air, just as all the others had.

He immediately sprinted over to Fortune’s enemy and bucked out with his hind legs. His ambush proved to be just enough of a distraction for Fortune to ram his knife home into the windigo’s neck.

Breeze finished her own foe off with a fire spell. The three ponies looked at one another, anger in their eyes.

“We can’t keep this up!” Fortune cried. “Dammit, they got Quad! Shit!” He gasped and threw a hoof up against his face.

“We need to hide,” Button said. “Can you two keep a shield spell up in the room with the director?”

Breeze cast another shield to keep another pair of windigos back. She lit them on fire and then nodded. “We can do that. Flair should come back soon, and then... Wait. What about the other ponies in the server room?”

“Horseapples,” Fortune swore. “We’ll have to get them over here.”

Button nodded. “I’ll get them if you two can cover me.”

The unicorns nodded, and Button darted out of cover to sprint for the other door. A few windigos charged at him, but shield spells and lightning bolts held them back. He weaved through the debris on the floor and managed to get across the room unscathed.

“Open up!” he shouted as he pounded his hoof on the door. “We need to get you into the other room, now!”

The two pegasi mares came out immediately, their eyes wide. Button pointed past all of the windigos at the far wall. “Go!” he yelled.

The three of them sprinted as fast as they could. Button gasped as a spear flew through the air at him, but a spell knocked it aside. One windigo tried to block the way, so he lowered his shoulder, gritted his teeth, and ran even faster. He knocked the foe aside and stamped at him with a strong back leg, crushing another skull.

Finally, they reached Breeze and Fortune. The unicorns’ shield spells materialized behind them, and they all rushed inside the room.

Just as Button turned around to slam the door, he barely saw the entrance of Section Eleven open. Windigo after windigo poured into the room, and they all charged toward him. He gasped and pushed his body up against the entryway.

Breeze and Fortune’s horns flashed, and a brilliant purple and lime-green barrier covered the doorway right before countless bodies started hammering against it from the other side.

Button sighed and turned around. Blueblood lay atop a stretcher on the floor. Two mares stood against a far wall, shivering from the cold that filled the room. Button walked over to the director. He was still breathing now, and his emergency bandage had been replaced by a clean gauze. His chest rose and fell at regular intervals although his eyes remained closed. A slight grimace of pain rested on his sleeping face.

“This is Section Eleven, once again calling on all frequencies. We are under attack by windigos. Please send assistance! I say again, Section Eleven is under attack by windigos, and they have us pinned!” Breeze said.

Button felt a sudden chill run down his spine, and he turned slightly to his left. He gasped as he saw a windigo suddenly appear out of a corner, his spear pointed at Breeze.

“Get down!” he shouted as he charged at the creature.

Breeze turned and stiffened as the windigo swooped toward her. She moved to the side, but not quickly enough. The spear went into her, going through her shoulder at an angle. She cried out in shock and pain as she fell to the floor.

Button knocked the windigo down and wrestled him into submission. In a heartbeat, Fortune was there with his knife raised. He plunged it into his enemy’s neck, slaying the beast. As the windigo blew away, Button felt the room immediately become warmer.

“Breeze!” Fortune shouted. He ran over to the other analyst and held the spear in his hooves.

She groaned at him. “That… didn’t feel very good…”

Fortune ran a hoof through her mane. “Stay with me, Amethyst…”

She looked up at him with an eyebrow raised. “Do I look like I’m in any condition to go anywhere?”

Fortune chuckled. “You know what I mean…”

“Oh, Celestia,” Breeze groaned. “Why hasn’t the poison kicked in yet?” She looked at the spear still sticking out of her shoulder. “Buck, it hurts like tartarus, but I should be out by now…”

The thumping continued, but the barrier held. Button shifted uncomfortably at the unsettling sound.

“Well, Captain Flair gave you the antidote earlier, right? Maybe it’s still in your system,” Fortune said. He smiled lopsidedly. “Or maybe all that snark in your bloodstream killed off the poison.”

“Possible…” Breeze moaned. “Ahhhh…”

Button walked to the door and examined it. “Are you sure that this’ll hold?” He examined the shield. The magic pulsed in time with the impacts on the other side. Each time the light flashed, the spell became duller, almost as if something was stealing the magic.

Breeze and Fortune looked at each other uneasily. “Uh, no,” Fortune muttered. “I have no idea if it’ll hold or not.”

Button sighed. “Well then… I just hope that somepony got our messages…”

And so the ponies waited.

~~~

Luna cantered down the stairs of the castle. She panted as she threw open the doors at the bottom of the stairwell. Her magic surrounded her as she quickly teleported to the end of the long hallway and once again took off into a sprint. “Oh, stars… I’ll get to you, Button…”

The roar of battle filled the long corridor, but no windigos attacked the princess as she continued her mad dash to Section Eleven. She took the turns as swiftly as possible, her eyes narrowed in concentration as her heart pounded in her ears.

“I’ll save you.”

As she ran, she came upon a pony in a suit of glowing black armor and a griffon who were flying in the same corridor. They raised their weapons, but then immediately lowered them. “Princess Luna!” the pony called out.

Luna looked at the other beings. “Captain Flair. And… Ivanov?”

“Captain Ivanov,” the griffon responded gruffly.

“What are you doing here?” Flair asked.

Luna nodded in the direction of the end of the hallway. They continued to move toward Section Eleven as she spoke. “Section Eleven is under attack. I’m going to help.”

“Oh, thank L—” Flair cleared her throat. “I mean, thank you, Princess. We’re headed there too. Another hoof would be a lifesaver.”

The princess gave another curt nod. “Of course. Do you have any idea what happened there?”

“We were attacked earlier,” Flair said. “The windigos hit our chain of command. They took out the director. He’s alive, but still in Sec Eleven. If they get to him…”

“I heard that there were other ponies there too.” Luna took a deep breath. “Who else is with your director?”

“Well, we had a few analysts left there… I don’t think there were any more guards. They all left to help the rest of the castle.”

Luna grunted, her heartbeat still echoing through her ears. “Is that all? Nopony else?”

“Uhh…” Flair said. “Oh! There was an asset that we’d brought in to assist us with a situation not connected to the windigos. I think he’s still there.”

“What is his name?” Luna demanded as the group turned the final corner and entered the corridor leading to Section Eleven.

“His name is Button Mash,” the pegasus replied.

Luna’s heart plummeted. “Why was he present?” she asked harshly. “Why would you have a civilian down here?”

Flair recoiled. “Uh, Princess… we picked him up during our investigation of…” She glanced suspiciously over at Captain Ivanov. “Well, during our investigation of the issue that you brought to our attention.”

Luna grimaced. “Of course.”

The three of them finally arrived at the entrance to Section Eleven. The doors were on the floor, ripped off their hinges. The rabid sounding snarls of beasts came from within, and Luna’s magic surrounded her as she blazed with dark blue energy.

“What’s the plan, Princess?” Ivanov growled. “I’m at your disposal.”

Luna glanced inside to see dozens of windigos trying to tear down a shielded barrier, many of them throwing themselves against the glowing barrier. More of the beasts stalked through the room, smashing computers and forcing their way into the adjacent chambers.

“I’ll go in first and try to draw them together. Flair, is that suit fully operational?” she asked.

“Yes, Highness. All the way up to spec,” the mare replied.

“Good. I want you to use your rifle on full automatic and try to take down as many of the main group as possible. After that, switch to your blade. We cannot risk the director or any of the others. No explosives.” Luna turned to the other captain. “Ivanov, I want you in the air taking out any who are apart from the main group.”

“Sounds good, Princess,” Flair said. “I’ll be re—”

With a sudden crash, the windigos broke through the magical shield and knocked down the door in the other room. A scream pierced the air, and the monsters rushed inside.

“Forget the plan!” Luna yelled. “Save the ponies!”

She teleported herself above the mass of monsters and cried out as her magic expanded from her horn, coming down upon the windigos like a hammer forged of lunar energy.

The windigos jumped back in shock, and four of the creatures were instantly disintegrated by the magical blow. Half a dozen made it inside the room, and the rest of them turned their weapons on the princess.

Luna’s power surrounded her hooves, creating two magical black blades that seemed to suck the light out of the air. She swung her forelegs in wide arcs, cutting through her foes.

She heard Captain Ivanov firing his burstfire rifle. The griffon flew through the air, shooting with deadly accuracy. Windigo after windigo fell, but more came pouring out of other rooms to replace them.

And that was when Flair struck. The mare had cloaked as she entered the room, and she chose that moment to reveal herself as her fully automatic rifle tore through the windigos’ reinforcements.

A familiar voice cried out from within the chamber that the windigos had just entered. Luna gasped and slashed through the enemies between herself and her friend. She shoved her way into the room, just in time to—

Luna blinked rapidly as a windigo flew through the air directly in front of her. As he slammed into the far wall and sprawled onto the floor, Luna sent magic into her horn and summoned a small black blade that impaled the beast in its neck.

She quickly turned the other way, and her eyes opened widely. Button snarled as he slammed his back hooves into another windigo. He stood next to two prone ponies who were too wounded to defend themselves. The corpses of a medic and a pegasus analyst lay on the floor, fresh blood pooling from their wounds. Another medic, a pegasus, and a unicorn stood beside Button. All of them fought off their enemies with blades, magic, or their bare hooves.

Luna charged at the surviving windigos. She gave a shout as she slammed her own hooves into them. The force of her physical blows instantly killed two of the enemies, and a quick flurry of energy spells felled the few that remained standing.

“Ah!” Luna cried as something jumped onto her from the shadows. She tried to turn around, but—

“Princess Luna!”

Her breath hitched as she heard his voice. She continued to try to buck the creature off of her, but to no avail. She tried to—

Something, or somepony, tackled her and knocked her down to the ground. She skidded across the floor, tangled up with two other creatures. She saw a brown hoof clutching a long bladed knife arc through the air above her. The weapon sped downward and impaled itself in the windigo’s skull. One of the bodies disappeared, leaving Luna lying on the floor with a familiar stallion laying partially atop her. She felt a leg beneath her, pushing into her uncomfortably.

“Uh, Princess Luna…” Button Mash said hesitantly. “Hello.”

Luna looked up to see his face mere centimeters from her own. Sweat lined his face, and his cheeks were covered in dust. His hair was terribly disheveled, and he was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen in her life. She smiled at him, and he nervously returned the grin.

“Hi,” she replied.

Button shifted uncomfortably. “Uh, I’ll try to get off of you, but I think you’ve got me stuck...” he said.

“Oh!” Luna said. She flushed slightly as she lifted herself up off his leg. “Here you go.”

“Thanks,” Button said as he crawled off the princess. He cleared his throat and brushed himself off.

“Thank you for the assistance, Button,” Luna said.

“You’re welc— wait, you know who I am?” Button asked as he raised an eyebrow.

“I… uh…” Luna stammered. “C-captain Flair briefed me on the situation.” she replied.

Button nodded. “Oh, okay.” He grinned widely. “I thought that… never mind.”

The princess cocked her head to the side. “What do you m—”

“Princess!” Flair’s voice cut through the air. “Help!”

Luna looked up quickly. She gasped as she glanced into the other room.

Windigos poured through the entrance to Section Eleven like an unstoppable tide. The ethereal beings rushed at the two airborne captains. Their rifles fired, but the horde continued their approach unabated.

Luna’s magic enveloped her once more and she swiftly teleported to their side. Energy arced out from her horn as she electrocuted the first line of her foes. The princess dropped to the ground and re-summoned the blades around her hooves. She cried out as she spun around, slicing through the air and the flesh of windigos as if they were one and the same.

Ivanov’s rifle clicked, and he swore. “I’m out of ammo!” He tossed his rifle to the ground and drew his saber. With a screech, he swooped downward. The griffon slashed at his enemies with blade and talon. He ripped the throats from the first pair of windigos and quickly spun around to decapitate another. His talon reached out and clawed into the chest of a final foe, and he twisted his foreleg. The monster cried out in agony as it disappeared.

Flair flew up above them all. In one hoof she held her rifle, and her other clutched her sidearm. She soared over the windigos, sending glowing blue energy down into the furthest creatures as her bullets arced at her foes. The kinetic rounds ripped through their skulls and tore massive holes in the floor as they impacted on the ground.

Bodies flew all around Luna as she swung her limbs around in a whirlwind of death. Her magic flashed, and spells burned through her foes.

“They just keep coming!” Flair shouted. A spear flew at her and impacted her against her armor. “Shit!” The shields on the suit flashed brightly, but they held. The mare grinned wildly. “Oh, so that’s how well these work? Okay then…”

Flair joined the other two on the ground. She holstered her sidearm and pulled out her glowing shortsword. All of them spun around, cutting through the windigos.

More. More. More. They continued to pour into the room, and kept falling to the onslaught of the three soldiers. Luna panted in exertion as she felt fatigue pull at her bones. She gave a final swing as her eyes moved to the doorway. It was as if they would never st—

A brilliant purple flash filled the air, and the windigos shrieked in agony as they all instantly disintegrated. Luna gasped as she turned her head to see an alicorn covered in a shield spell stride confidently into the room.

Princess Twilight did not wear armor. Instead, the princess of friendship protected herself with pure magic that wove itself around her in an ever-changing pattern of incredible power. Her horn was alight as the last residue of her immensely powerful spell faded away. She nodded to Luna.

“Twilight,” the princess of the night said thankfully. “Your timing is impeccable.”

“Well, at least something went right tonight,” Twilight muttered. “I came as soon as I heard the emergency message. Is Blueblood safe?”

“I think he’s in the back room,” Luna replied. “What was that spell?”

“These are windigos. They feed on hostility and rage. I’m the princess of friendship. It was simple to come up with the solution, actually.” Twilight grinned and shook her head.

“You…” Luna said slowly. “You killed them with friendship?”

“Basically!” the other princess laughed quietly. “There’s some kind of irony in there somewhere, I’m sure.”

Flair landed and lowered her rifle. “Well. That was interesting. Let’s not do it again, okay?”

“I agr—” Luna began.

“Is… is it over?” Button asked as he poked his head out from the other room.

Luna spun around quickly, a smile tugging at her lips. However, she swiftly halted her reaction and kept her expression neutral. “Yes. Yes, it is.”

“The Royal Guard, Night Guard, Griffonian soldiers, and Section Eleven agents are clearing out the rest of the castle,” Twilight said. “We think this was the last of them.”

“Thank the stars,” Luna muttered. “How did this happen?”

“I don’t know…” Twilight replied quietly. She met Luna’s eyes with a grim look. “But we’re going to find out.”

~~~

Father Dmitri sighed as he leaned back in his chair and took off his glasses. He allowed his pen to drop down to his desk and ran a claw through his crest. The lamp beside him illuminated the luxuriously furnished study. Bookshelves lined the walls, filled with literature from all over Equus. From the “Art of War” to “The Zebran Empire: Grace in Defeat,” the books spanned the full history of war, strategy, and tactics.

Dmitri had read them all.

The griffon tapped a talon on his desk, which was currently covered from front to back with paperwork. Approval for construction of an orphanage for the children of his deceased soldiers, increased funding for hospitals, improving the living conditions for factory workers… All of the sheets bore his flowing signature. With another pile of documents to examine, he knew that he’d be having a rather long night. Wresting control of a nation from a corrupt king was one thing, but the administrative tasks of running the kingdom was quite another.

He cleared his throat and reached for his goblet of water. Raising it to his beak, he—

“Father!” somegriff cried from outside his office.

Dmitri stood as he recognized Yvonne’s urgent voice. He walked across the room and gruffly replied, “Enter!”

One of the guards outside opened his doorway and a female griffon walked inside, her face pale. “Father,” Yvonne said. “I just received news from our spy in Canterlot Castle!”

“What is it? Did Chaput complete his mission?” he demanded.

She shook her head. “No, it’s not that… There was an attack.”

Dmitri’s eyebrows rose. “What?”

“Earlier this evening, a collection of beings attacked the castle during their welcoming gala for our representatives,” Yvonne stated. “Father, the reports say that the attackers were… windigos.”

“Windigos…” Dmitri muttered. He stroked his chin with a claw. “What is the status of our entourage?”

“All we know right now is that Chaput was wounded. The report said that he nearly died.” Yvonne inhaled deeply. “Father, tell me… Was this attack one of yours?”

Dmitri gazed at the other griffon and slowly shook his head. “No. This is definitely not one of mine.”

She sighed. “Who could have a motive to do this? The report said that many of the ponies were killed, so it couldn’t be them. Chaput is daring, and we know that he has some kind of scheme, but would he risk his own life? Is there some other party in this game?”

The father tapped his back paw on the floor. He grimaced and shook his head. “Do you have a copy of the report?”

“Yes, it’s right here.” Yvonne took a folder from her saddlebag and gave it to Dmitri.

“Thank you,” he said as he returned to his desk. He sat down and put his glasses back onto his face. Muttering to himself, he read through the report. A moment later, he grunted. “Windigos in the castle, Chaput preparing for another revolution, and Equestria in peace talks. It’s not a coincidence, Yvonne.”

“So, you think it was Chaput, then?” she asked quietly as she sat down in the chair across the desk.

“I think that the possibility exists,” Dmitri remarked. “It’s also possible that the ponies may have staged this, or that these ‘Zebran terrorists’ who had been plaguing them are attempting to disrupt our relations.”

“That seems unlikely.”

He nodded. “Indeed. The most likely cause of the attack is Chaput.”

“I agree,” Yvonne said. “What should we do? Recall his party and send a new envoy?”

“And allow him to continue to manipulate politics here in the capital? No. It’s safer for us if he’s far away until we can prove his betrayal, eliminate his power base, and schedule a public execution.” Dmitri smirked.

“So we just allow him to have free reign in Equestria? He could be manipulating them, turning them against us.”

He shook his head. “No, we need a third option…” Tapping a talon on the table once more, he leaned forward. “Hmm…”

“What are you thinking, Father?” Yvonne asked.

“How is the council progressing? Can we trust them yet? What is the risk of a power grab?”

The female griffon rubbed her neck. “Umm… thus far, they have performed their duties perfectly. I would say that the risk of open rebellion is negligible.” She cocked her head to the side. “What is the relevance, Father?”

“Do you think that they could manage Griffonia for, say, a week without everything coming crashing down?” he continued.

“I… I think so, provided that they had adequate supervision from our political officers,” Yvonne replied slowly. “What are you planning, Father?”

A wide grin split Dmitri’s face. “I think it’s time that we end this little chess match. In person.”

Realization flashed in the other griffon’s eyes. “You mean…”

“Notify the FAS Honor, send a message to our ambassador in Equestria, and pack your bags, Yvonne.” His smile deepened. “We’re going to pay a visit to Canterlot…”

Author's Note

Music for this chapter was Demons by Imagine Dragons. Thanks to all the live readers and my amazing editors!

Heroism, Confessions, and Discoveries

Celestia looked out the window of her private dining room, narrowing her eyes to slits. Outside, ponies bustled around in the moonlight. The Royal Guard surrounded the castle, a Wonderbolt patrol flew overhead, and the Night Guard scoured the grounds for any surviving windigos. The griffons had been recruited to assist with the security at the behest of General Chaput.

Six ponies and two griffons sat at the low table. Chaput’s wing had been bandaged, and the general appeared to have mostly recovered from his ordeal. He sat next to Captain Ivanov, whose uniform was in tatters. He sniffed loudly as he wiped some of the dirt that still remained on his face away with a napkin.

Captain Flair and Agent Breeze sat across from the griffons. They had changed into clean clothes. Breeze wore a suit with a simple tie. Her side was bandaged and she sat uncomfortably. Flair wore the gold and white uniform of the Royal Guard. Beside them were Knight-Captain Dovetail and General Shadow Streak. The commanders of the two branches of Equestria’s guard quietly shared notes with each other. Dovetail pointed at something on a map, and Streak nodded.

At the far end of the room were the last two ponies. Luna and Prime Minister Apollo spoke to each other in low voices. Luna’s mane was disheveled, and Apollo’s suit was torn in multiple places. Neither had taken the time to change as the other ponies had, focusing instead on evacuating the civilians from the castle.

Celestia turned to look at the group. “I believe that we are only waiting for Twilight and Cadence, are we not?”

“Princess Twilight is currently with the Night Guard scouring the labyrinth for any survivors,” General Streak said. “She said that she would most likely not be able to make this meeting.”

“And Princess Cadence is with her husband. He was poisoned during the fighting and is currently recovering.” Dovetail nodded. “The prognosis is good, but there is still a chance that he has another reaction.”

“Very well,” Celestia replied. “We’ll fill them in as soon as they can return to us.” The princess walked over to the rest of the group. “Now, the first order of business… how did we allow this to happen?”

Dovetail growled. “That’s what I’d like to know. We scanned the castle multiple times as we prepared for the event. Our soldiers were everywhere. All entrances have been monitored. It shouldn’t have been possible for them to get inside, especially in those numbers.”

“We’ve collected the spears from the fallen enemies. They didn’t dematerialize like the windigos did, so we’ve used them to get an accurate number of how many we killed,” General Streak remarked. “Thus far, we’ve collected over a thousand weapons.”

“A thousand?” Captain Flair asked incredulously. “That… that’s ridiculous!”

“The numbers don’t lie,” Streak replied. “We’re still collecting more. I anticipate that the number will continue to climb for the next several days. It’s possible that they attacked with more than double that number.”

“Well, I for one find the timing of their assault to be quite intriguing,” Chaput added. “An attack on your government and intelligence agency as well as the head of the griffon diplomatic party… something obviously doesn’t like what we are discussing here.”

“Hmm…” Celestia muttered. “Very well. Let us take this one step at a time. Our number one priority is to ensure that our citizens are safe. Does anypony, or anygriff, have any ideas about how they managed to break our security?”

Nopony spoke, and the griffons remained silent. Captain Flair hesitantly leaned forward a moment later. “Princess, I have an idea. Well, it’s not so much of an idea as it is a source of ideas...”

The princess nodded. “Excellent. What is it, Captain?”

“Just before the attack, we had brought an asset into Section Eleven to assist us with situation in the city. As it turns out, he is actually a historian who specializes in early Equestria, and he seemed to know a good bit about the windigos. I thought that he might have some useful input that might help us find out what happened,” Flair replied. “I had some of Sec Eleven’s analysts escort him up here earlier. He should be waiting outside if you’d like to bring him in.”

Celestia smiled. “Well thought, Captain. Please, have him brought inside.”

“Yes, Highness.” With that, Flair trotted over to the door and peeked outside. She said something to the stationed guard and then turned around. An earth pony stallion followed her back inside.

The new pony glanced around at the uniformed soldiers and griffons and visibly gulped. His mane appeared to have been very quickly brushed, but chunks of debris still stuck out of a few parts of it. Dirt smeared his coat and his gait was slightly uneven, as if he were sore.

Flair nodded at him. “Princess, this is Button Mash. Director Blueblood’s last action before his incapacitation was to appoint him as an expert asset to Sec Eleven. We’ve honored his wishes, especially given Mr. Mash’s heroism during the attack on the castle.”

“I don’t know about the expert or heroism parts…” Mash muttered.

“Don’t sell yourself short, kid,” Flair said. “Mash saved Agent Breeze at least twice, and his actions kept the director alive until Princess Twilight and Princess Luna could get back to finish the fight.”

Luna shifted across the table, a small frown on her face. Celestia resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow as her sister uncomfortably glanced away from the stallion.

“I, uh… yeah,” Mash said nervously. “Th-the captain said that you wanted me to brief you all on the windigos?”

“Yes, please,” Celestia said softly. “And do not be afraid, little one. You saved my subjects, and we are eternally grateful.”

Button flushed and gave a small bow. “Thank you, Princess.” He cleared his throat. “Okay, windigos. According to our texts, windigos have been around for as long as ponies have been in Equestria. We have reports of ‘enormous ghostly ponies’ bringing hostility and famine to pony villages that date back to our most ancient writings. Most of us know of windigos due to their role in the Founding, and that’s where most of our description comes from.”

Chaput inhaled sharply, but Celestia ignored him, her focus directed at Mash instead.

“Descriptions of them include references to their size, color, and the fact that they feed on negative emotions. However, no reports ever mention that windigos physically attack anypony. Ever.” Mash narrowed his eyes. “Physically, these creatures match the descriptions of what windigos should be. But when we consider the change in their method of attack, from environmental control and emotional manipulation to physical assault... ”

Celestia nodded. “So, is it possible that these are not actually windigos, but something else?”

“Princess, these can’t be windigos, at least, not the same kind as from the history books.” Mash inhaled deeply. “It’s just impossible. They don’t match up. If they are windigos, they’re some offshoot and not the same as we’ve fought before. When you match the differences between the two types of windigos up with the fact that we haven’t even seen any of them since before the Age of Discord… I find it to be extremely likely that these are something different.”

“Great,” Flair muttered. “Now we’ve gone from the monster we know to the monster we don’t.”

“But we do know them,” Chaput countered. “They’re able to use shadow based magic to disguise themselves, disappear, fly through the air, and alter the emotions of their enemies. They use spears, so they aren’t technologically advanced, but they also use poisons that are lethal to ponies, so they aren’t stupid.”

“Plus, we know what type of poison it is,” Breeze added. “It’s Zebran.”

“The same type those terrorists used several months ago?” Dovetail asked sharply.

Flair nodded. “Yeah. The only reason we were able to save as many as we did was because we still had those poison kits on hoof.”

“That’s quite fortunate,” Chaput muttered. “Or is it? Was it an oversight by our enemies? Or could it have been intentional?”

Prime Minister Apollo cleared his throat. “Am I the only one who finds it odd that the last two major attacks on Equestria have featured the exact same type of poison?”

“No, you aren’t,” General Streak replied. “There’s a connection of some kind here.”

Celestia hummed quietly to herself. “This is all quite enlightening. Mr. Mash, do you have any idea how they managed to infiltrate the castle undetected?”

“Well,” he began, “if I had to guess, I’d say that they were already here, waiting.”

“What?” Chaput asked. “Why do you think that?”

“Everything that passes through the entrances gets scanned, right? That’s what the security I saw outside was doing,” Mash replied. “But that’s not always present, is it? It’s just for tonight. Windigos are stealthy and have powerful magic, and these variants seem to share that. But to beat a highly directed detection spell? I doubt they’d get past it.”

“And so, they get inside before we put up the detectors and then all they have to do is beat a detection spell from a single unicorn on random patrols through the castle instead of a specialized checkpoint,” Dovetail finished for him.

Mash nodded. “Exactly.”

“But why did they wait for this time to attack then?” Chaput asked. “If they intentionally got in before the security was in place, then they must have known how alert that we would all be during the gala. It would have been far more effective to attack in the dead of night, killing their targets and escaping before we could even respond. Especially considering their numbers!”

“Unless they didn’t actually want to kill everypony that they attacked,” Luna said quietly. All eyes turned to her. “Think about it. What do they gain attacking now instead of earlier? Nothing, if their intention is to kill. But what if they are after something more insidious?”

“Yes…” Dovetail muttered. “But what could it be?”

“Well, maybe—”

General Streak’s words were cut off as a frantic knock came from the door. Celestia’s ears perked up. “Who is it?”

The door cracked open, and a Royal Guard poked his head inside. “Princess! I have an urgent message from the griffon ambassador!” He held up a piece of paper.

“Bring it here,” Celestia replied.

The guard trotted inside, hoofed the paper to the princess, and bowed before leaving once more.

Celestia scanned the words and raised an eyebrow. “Well. This puts an interesting perspective on things.” She levitated the paper over to Chaput. “What are your thoughts, General?”

The griffon quickly read over the page and snarled. “That bastard…”

“What is it?” Apollo asked.

“Apparently, Father Dmitri himself has heard of this evening’s events and is planning to come to oversee the investigation of the assassination attempt on his general himself,” Celestia said calmly.

“Lies. I now know why the windigos attacked tonight.” General Chaput passed the paper down the table and clenched his beak shut. “This is a set up. Dmitri must have sent the windigos.”

“What?” Streak scoffed. “Why would he do that?”

“Create a nearly catastrophic circumstance between his envoy and his largest rival nation and then swoop in and play the hero,” Chaput said, his voice clipped. “I can guarantee that he’ll try to put the blame for all of this on me somehow. I’m sure of it.”

Apollo shook his head. “That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?”

“It makes sense…” Celestia muttered, her mind racing with thoughts. “Webs within webs…”

“How does Dmitri profit from this though?” Apollo asked again. “Does he want to start a war?”

“No, he wants peace with Equestria so that he can invade other nations unhindered. However, he wants Equestria on its guard so that you cannot assist his other targets without weakening yourselves.” Chaput shook his head in disgust. “If he blames this attack on me, he can come in, find the culprit, and sign a peace treaty. But Equestria would remember the attack and be on guard against more betrayal.”

“But if he has command of all these windigos, why not just attack?” Streak questioned.

“Your Princess Twilight can kill all of them with a single spell. Would a direct attack really have worked with these windigos composing the entirety of the assault team?” Ivanov said. “I don’t think so.”

“But—”

“Excuse me,” Celestia interrupted. “This discussion is very profitable, but I must mention to everypony that we are all going to be needed elsewhere very soon. There is much to do, so could we table the discussion of possible motives for now and focus on the concrete?” Her companions nodded, and Celestia smiled. “Very good. I think that we would be best served by addressing the issue of prevention. We have no way of knowing if these were all of the windigos. There could be more. Are there any suggestions for security measures that we could take?”

“Increase the guard presence,” Dovetail immediately replied. “More patrols, day and night. The Night Guard can take the evening shifts, and my ponies can take over in the morning.”

General Streak nodded. “And castle, and possibly city, wide detection spells every hour. We know that Princess Luna’s spell was able to detect them, and my unicorns have had great success replicating the effect by using the same spell.”

“We need to investigate the source of the windigos,” Ivanov added. “I say ‘we’ because we have no way of knowing if the attack was aimed at Equestria, Griffonia, or both.”

“I think that we can confidently say that Equestria was the main target,” Streak growled. “They went for our highest ranked officials.”

Chaput cleared his throat. “May I remind you that their attack against me was almost successful and the only reason that I am still among the living is due to the princess’ direct intervention. If I hadn’t happened to be with her just as the attack occurred…”

“But—” Streak began.

“General,” Celestia interrupted. “Regardless of the intended target, the fact remains that both sides were attacked, and the source could be anywhere, anypony, or anygriff. I think an investigation is an excellent suggestion.”

“I agree,” Chaput said. “Captain Ivanov has experience with countering criminal behavior. I’m sure that he can lead the investigation on our end.”

“Excellent.” Celestia smiled. “Now, we’ll have to get the Guard to start an investigation here in the castle.”

“Umm, Princess?” Flair asked quietly. “If you don’t mind, I think that Section Eleven might be better equipped to deal with this issue. Also, my ponies are angry about what happened to the director. I’d like to give them a shot at the bastards, if you’ll pardon my language.”

Princess Celestia considered the captain’s words for a moment before nodding. “Very well. Who will lead the investigation?”

“Well…” Flair glanced over at Agent Breeze, who had been sitting quietly, listening to the conversation.

The other mare’s ears perked up, and her eyes went wide. “Wait, me?” Breeze asked.

“Breeze has a history with the EBI. She’s an experienced agent with Sec Eleven, and I know that I can trust her completely.” Captain Flair met Celestia’s eyes. “If anypony can get to the bottom of this, it’s her.”

The princess smiled. “Perfect. Agent, I will get you all of the resources and support that you need. Perhaps you and your team can work with Captain Ivanov to solve this issue?”

“I... I suppose that I can do th-that,” Agent Breeze stammered. She glanced at the griffon and gave a shy smile.

The captain gave a slight bow and a smile of his own. “This is acceptable, Princess.”

“Very good. We will increase our security presence in the city and institute hourly detection spells,” Celestia said as she rose up from her seat at the table. “Do we have any other concerns?”

“No, Highness,” Dovetail replied.

Streak shook his head. “I have no more at the moment, Princess.”

General Chaput cleared his throat. “Princess, if I may?”

“Yes, General?” she asked.

“If this attack was aimed at least partially at myself and my griffons, I do not know if we would be the safest on our ship. If it is at all possible, could you possibly arrange for quarters for myself and my high ranking officers here at the castle?” Chaput sighed. “I hate to impose, but my security cannot be as tight as yours, just because of the difference in griff— excuse me, ponypower, and the fact that you can cast detection spells.”

“I don’t think that’s too unreasonable,” Apollo said. “After all, our original plan was for the envoys to stay at the castle anyways. The guest chambers are empty, are they not?”

“I…” Celestia glanced back at General Chaput, and she saw the griffon barely smile at her. “I suppose that this would be possible,” she said slowly. “However, there would be restrictions.”

“Of course,” Chaput replied, his smile turning into an enormous grin. “I’d expect nothing else, and I intend to follow your specifications to the letter.” He, too, rose off his chair. “Perhaps we could discuss them?”

“Yes,” the princess said. “Thank you all for your help tonight. We’ll meet again tomorrow morning to address anything that turns up in the night.”

“Very well,” Knight-Captain Dovetail replied stiffly. “I’ll have to check on the progress of the guard.”

“As will I,” General Streak said. He nodded to the ponies around the table. “Princesses. General. Captains.”

“Agent Breeze, would you be able to speak with me?” Ivanov asked as the ponies slowly made their way to the door. “I would like to talk about our investigation.”

“Oh, yes. That sounds like a good idea,” Breeze said. She trotted over to the tall griffon, her short purple mane flapping against the side of her neck as she did.

Captain Flair nodded to Mash. “C’mon, Mash. I’ll take you to the restroom so that you can get cleaned up a bit more. You’ve got stuff in your mane.” She pointed him to the door and they both headed that way.

Luna stood up abruptly and walked toward the door as well. She slipped out before anypony else, and Celestia allowed herself a small smile.

After everypony and Captain Ivanov had left, she turned to Chaput, who stood by the window smiling.

“Well, that was interesting.”

~~~

Luna rushed down the hallway outside the dining room. She trotted past several guards who saluted her and a few maids who dodged out of her way. She rounded a corner and glanced in both directions down the corridor. The princess swiftly opened a door to a side room. As she walked inside, she noticed that it was one of the castle’s supply closets. Nodding to herself, she summoned a small ball of light in the air above her.

Luna trotted forward and moved behind a rack of cleaning supplies. She had a decent view of the door and noted that it was still closed. Quickly, Luna closed her eyes and called her magic out to surround herself. She concentrated on her mental image, and her appearance slowly shifted. Her mane became shorter, her coat changed color, and she shrunk down. When she opened her eyes back up, she struggled out of her princess regalia and tossed them into a corner. Luna reached into her saddlebag to pull out her glasses, and—

“Oh, no…” she muttered. She pulled the eyeglasses out, but she still had her contacts on. Luna swore to herself as she took the contacts out with her magic and set them inside her saddlebag. Squinting as she put her glasses on, Luna levitated her saddlebag off of her back and on top of her regalia. After, she grabbed a few mops that were hanging from the wall and covered her belongings using the tools.

Luna sighed and took a deep breath, composing herself. A moment later, she carefully walked past the racks and peeked out of the door. Seeing that nopony was out in the hallway, she strode into the corridor and made her way toward the nearest bathroom. The soldiers that she’d passed earlier barely gave her a second glance, and she quickly approached her destinatio—

“Starry!”

Luna’s heart leapt up to her throat as she heard her name. She turned around quickly to see Button running toward her, a massive grin on his face. “Button!” she cried as she ran toward him as well.

The stallion caught her in an enormous hug and laughed as he held her. Luna pressed her face against his side, her cheek rubbing against his slightly damp mane.

“Oh, Luna, I thought something might have happened to you in the fight!”

The princess tensed up at the mention of her real name, and she pulled away abruptly. “Did… d-did you just…”

“I mean, I made it through because the princesses came down and saved us, but I thought that something might have happened, and I was worried that might have lost you, and…” Button inhaled deeply. “Okay. I’m rambling. I was just worried, Starry.”

Luna relaxed and smiled slightly. “I’m here, Button. And so are you.” She sniffed as she looked at him. His face was split into a wide grin, and his sides heaved as he inhaled deeply. His eyes met hers, and she felt her face flush as he smiled at her.

“Yeah. We’re both here, aren’t we?”

She continued to smile as his eyes twinkled. He took a small step forward, and her breath hitched.

Button drew closer to her, and he lowered his voice. “Starry, I was thinking…”

“Yes?” she asked.

“I… I almost died tonight, and I was thinking about… about what I would regret.” He took a deep breath and another step.

The princess gave a very small nod.

“We were pinned down, and I thought I wasn’t going to make it, and all I could think of…” he said quietly. “Starry, all I could think of was you.”

“I…” Luna started to reply, but cut herself off.

“And then the princesses came and saved me, and I knew…”

Luna snapped back to herself abruptly. It was as if a weight had fallen in her stomach as Button mentioned the princesses. She could see the honesty in his eyes, hear the conviction in his voice, feel the truth of his words… and it burned her. Her breath caught once more, but for a very different reason this time. The smiling stallion before her stood there, opening his heart out to her…

And she was a liar.

“...I knew what I wanted.” Button stopped, centimeters away from her face. “Starry, I—”

“Button…” she interrupted. “I…”

Button’s head moved back as she startled him. His smile vanished, and he took a step back. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“No, Button, it’s not you…” She sniffed. “It’s… it’s just me.”

He laughed bitterly. “Yeah. I’ve heard that before.”

“No!” she exclaimed. “It’s not that! I didn’t mean it… forget I said that! I just—”

“Hey. I understand.” Button smiled. “You’re an amazing mare. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” He backed up further. “I think… I think I’ll just go…”

Luna gasped. “Button! Wait!”

The stallion stopped. “Yeah?”

“I… I…” her eyes dropped to the floor. “I have to tell you something. It’s really important, before we say anything else. I don’t want you to go.” She looked up, and a single tear pulled at the corner of her eye. “Please.”

His face softened, and he stopped walking away. “Okay, what is it?”

“I’m—” Her voice cracked as she tried to force out the words. “I’m—”

Button stood patiently, waiting for her reply. He gave a small smile. “I’m not really your type, am I?”

Luna’s head jerked up. “Wait, what?”

“I’m not blind. Well, not totally. I’m guessing you’re… I think that…” Button hummed to himself. “You don’t like stallions, do you?”

Luna facehoofed. “Stars, Button. You’re an idiot.”

He blinked twice. “Wait, you’re not a—”

“Do you honestly think that I’d put up with you for this long if I didn’t like you at least a little bit?” Luna asked.

“Umm…”

“Yes. I like stallions. I actually like one in particular. But what I’m trying to say is something else.” She shook her head and took a deep breath. “I…”

Button just stood there, looking at her. Her vision clouded, and it felt like the hallway was closing in around her. It seemed like bats were flapping in her stomach, and she could hardly breathe. “Yes?” he asked in what was almost a whisper.

“I…” she stammered once more. “I can’t do this!” she cried out as she turned away and trotted down the hallway.

“Starry!” Button called out, but Luna ignored him. Tears ran down her face freely as she tried to force herself to breathe. She finally made it down the hallway and took a sharp turn before leaning up against a wall, pressing her hooves to her face, and weeping.

“Stars… what do I do?”

~~~

Button started to go after Starry as she ran away, but as she turned the corner, he felt the sudden weight of defeat.

“Shit…” he muttered to himself. “Stupid, stupid, stupid Button. You always do it.” He grunted and stamped his front hoof into the ground. “And you made her cry. Great job, sport.”

He sniffed loudly as he held back his tears. “Luna dammit!” He leaned up against the wall and slowly slid to the ground. “You talked to her for years and you can’t even pull this off. Hopeless.” Slamming his front hoof into his side, he bit back a grunt of pain. “You don’t even deserve her, do you?”

The stallion just sat there for a few minutes, his head held by one hoof, and his other banging against the wall, the floor, or himself. He gritted his teeth, stopping himself from crying. “I can’t do this…” he whispered.

Slowly, Button stood to his hooves. He ran one hoof through his mane and turned back down the hallway. Starry was nowhere in sight, so he sighed and walked back the other way, toward the bathroom. Numbly walking past the guards, he opened the door and strode over to the sink. He slapped the wall, turning on the light before he activated the faucet. The cold water flowed into the beautiful porcelain sink, but Button didn’t care about the extravagance around him.

He splashed the water onto his face and gasped as the icy liquid ran down his sides and puddled onto the floor. Immediately, Button threw more onto himself. Again and again, he covered himself in water until he couldn’t even feel the temperature anymore. His face was as numb as his heart, and he could finally look at himself.

The face of an exhausted and beaten stallion stared back at him. He’d washed some of the dust and debris out of his mane, but he’d missed some. His eyes had deep bags under them, his mouth was tightened into a pained grimace, and he could barely tell that he was even awake.

“Oh, Starry…” He hung his head down, and his tears joined the water as it fell off his face. Button grunted and slammed his hoof down again. The sink and the wall rattled, and Button did it again.

“Why did you let her get away?” he hissed. “You dumb bastard.” He looked up and glared at himself. “What the tartarus is wrong with you? Do you love her or not?”

He shook as he gripped the sink tightly. “Buck yeah, I do.” He growled and jumped back from the vanity. He stomped toward a stall and his breath heaved. “Then why the buck are you letting her get away?”

Button stomped and gritted his teeth. “I don’t want to! And if I don’t want to, why am I not…” He turned to face the doorway and looked out into the hallway.

His eyes narrowed, and he closed his mouth. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. “I’m not letting her get away.”

He ran out into the hallway and headed down the corridor. Racing past where the two of them had talked, he rounded the corner to see—

Another empty hallway. Button groaned and kept going.

He turned corner after corner, but there was no sign of Starry. Button ran past the guards and servants, past open doors and closed ones, searching for that beautiful mare who had been haunting his dreams since he’d arrived in Canterlot. He could picture her smile…

The same smile he’d seen on Princess Luna…

Hear her laugh…

Which sounded so much like the Princess…

And smell the scent of her perfume…

...the same perfume that he’d smelled on Princess Luna.

Button gasped and slowed to a halt. “What…” His mind reeled, and—

There! He saw her gorgeous mane flow past as she slipped inside of a door. He heard a small sob as it closed shut.

“I…” Button stammered. He quickly trotted over to the door. He heard something being moved inside and a quiet curse. The stallion cracked the door open to see—

Starry stood behind a rack of cleaning supplies. Her glasses sat on the rack, and he could see her shake as she sobbed. Button watched, transfixed, as she turned away from the door. He was about to say something, but what happened next stole the words from his mouth.

She changed. Starry’s coat warped as magic ran over her. Her mane stretched out and changed colors as it took on an ethereal appearance. She grew taller, and she kept crying while a horn grew outward from her head. At last, Starry… no… Luna stood up and fumbled for something beneath a few mops on the floor.

Button gasped and backed away. He clicked the door shut as slowly as possible as his hooves shook and his head spun. He replayed the scene over and over in his mind. He couldn’t understand. How… what… Starry… Finally, he understood. It all made sense as he reached the only conclusion possible.

“Oh, sweet Celestia. She’s a changeling.”

Author's Note

Song for the chapter is Chandelier by Sia. Thanks to my editors and live readers!

Morals, Reasoning, and Advice

Button stared numbly at the stairway leading to the lower levels of the castle and Section Eleven. The color of her coat shifting. He took a deep breath and an unsure step forward. Her mane growing longer and becoming ethereal. Pushing the doors open, he trotted downward, one stair at a time. Taller than before. The stallion groaned and gritted his teeth as he neared the doors at the bottom of the stairway.

Memory. Starry. Luna. Changeling. Who was she, really?

“Ponyfeathers…” he muttered.

Button forced himself to open the door and continue into the next corridor. Two guards in the hallway nodded at him, recognizing the newest informant of Section Eleven. He didn’t acknowledge them. Instead, he chose to keep moving, one hoof in front to the other.

“What are they going to do to her?” The words stung at him, even as he whispered them to himself. “Oh, Celestia… what if they kill her?” He froze in the hallway as the thought crossed his mind and his eyes opened wide. As he leaned up against the wall beside him, he gasped. “Shit… they will kill her!” The stallion’s lip trembled, and—

“Button!”

He snapped away from the wall as a familiar voice called his name. Clenching his jaw, he turned in time to see… “Rumble?” he asked incredulously.

The pegasus stallion in a perfectly neat Wonderbolt uniform ran over to him. His face was split into a grin as he pulled Button into a side hug. “What the tartarus are you doing here, Button?”

“I’m… I was here during the attack,” Button replied, returning the hug. “What are you doing here?”

“We were called in as soon as Captain Dash could break away from the fighting and radio us. Didn’t get here in time to see Princess Twilight’s big spell, but we’re able to help clean up a bit, at least.” Rumble released Button and squinted at him. “How’d you get tangled up in this?”

“It’s a very long story,” Button said. “To make it short, I’m helping Section Eleven with something.”

“Dude… you’re a spy?” Rumble asked as his jaw dropped. “That… makes a surprising amount of sense, actually.”

“What? No!” Button scoffed. “I was at the wrong place at the wrong time and saw some stuff. I’m not a spy.”

“Oh. Darn,” Rumble replied and smiled wryly. “Anyways, I’m supposed to report to Sec Eleven to meet Scoots for some assignment. Are you headed that way?”

“I… yeah, I am.”

The Wonderbolt’s grin widened. “Sweet! We can catch up!”

Both stallions resumed their walk toward the intelligence agency’s headquarters. Button looked shyly toward Rumble as he cleared his throat. “Uh, Rumble?”

“What’s up?”

“About what happened in Ponyville… at the bar with Scoots…”

Rumble nodded. “Yeah, I needed to talk to you about that.”

“The thing is…” Button began. “I’m so—”

“Thank you,” Rumble interrupted. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He was practically dancing as he shouted the words. “That was the best night of my life.”

Button stopped moving forward. “Uh, what? Are you thanking me for making Scootaloo run out into the night, totally pissed off at us?”

“Uh, yeah!” he replied. “Dude! She was pissed off because she’s been into me for years, and I’ve liked her for, ya know, forever, and neither of us told each other! But then I told you, and she got all confused. I followed her and finally caught up with her in an alley. She was crying and stuff, and we talked and confronted it and then…” He giggled conspiratorially. “And then we totally flew up to a cloud and made out for a while.”

“I…” Button said. “I, uh, I don’t know how to reply to that.”

Rumble laughed even louder. “We’ve been together ever since! Well, except when we’re on duty. That’s kinda not allowed, and we could get in trouble.”

They resumed their walk. “Wait, so you and Scootaloo aren’t allowed to be together?”

“The higher-ups don’t really like it when wingponies are knocking horseshoes, so yeah. If Captain Dash found out, I’d probably be in a lot of trouble.”

Button cocked his head to the side. “But what about Scoots?”

The Wonderbolt guffawed. “Aw, c’mon, Button! You know Captain Dash. Would she really say something to Scoots?”

“Yes,” Button deadpanned.

Rumble nodded and pursed his lips. “Yeah, she would. But hey, that’s why she doesn’t know!”

Button didn’t reply immediately. His mind raced as he stepped over a pile of rubble where some kind of explosive had blown a hole in the wall and floor. “So… you’d break the rules for her?”

“Dude, I love her. I have for a long time. I don’t give a flying buck about the rules if it’s her against them. If I love somepony, I’ll chose them every time.” Rumble’s eyes flashed. “Every bucking time.”

“But… what if she were doing something wrong? Like, if she were, say… a changeling?” Button asked cautiously.

Rumble snorted. “Wow. That’s, like, super specific.” He hummed to himself. “Well, if she were breaking the rules, I’d talk to her first. See why she’s doing stuff. I mean, it doesn’t have to be either her or the rules. There are more options besides breaking the rules and loving somepony. Most of the time, anyways.”

“But what if—”

“The changeling thing?” Rumble asked. “Look, love is love, Button. I don’t really see the issue if she’s a changeling. Actually, now that I think about it…” He snorted. “Kinky.”

“Eww,” Button said as he wrinkled his nose. “But you’d really be okay with it?”

“I love Scoots for who she is, not because she’s a pegasus,” Rumble said. “Now, if she were infiltrating Equestria for the sole purpose of taking over or something, there might be an issue, but that’s why I’d talk to her first. Anyways, it’s a moot point. She’s a Wonderbolt. Everypony in the military has to take a changeling test before they even have a chance to be admitted. I’m pretty sure she is who she says she is.” The other stallion raised an eyebrow. “Is there any reason for these questions, Button?”

“Uhh…” Button looked away. “Nope! Just… hypothetical, ya know?”

“Button…” Rumble stopped. “Are you… no way. You’re not in love with a changeling or some crap like…” His eyebrows shot upward. “Holy shit. Dude, when I said you needed to get a marefriend or get laid, I was not saying to go find a changeling to—”

“Rumble. No,” he interrupted. “This has to do with something else. It’s about… it’s about why I’m working for Sec Eleven, okay?”

Rumble narrowed his eyes at Button. He tilted his head to the side for a second before nodding. “Okay. Dude, you had me scared for a second.” Laughing nervously, he rounded a corner. “Okay, here we go! Scoots should be around here somewhere.”

Button stopped behind Rumble. He barely paid any attention to the other stallion. All he could see was Starry… or Luna, or whoever she was. “Buck…” he muttered.

“You coming?” Rumble asked.

The earth pony froze. “I… oh, horsefeathers! I just realized that I forgot something upstairs!” he lied quickly. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

Rumble nodded. “Got it, bro! I’ll see you around!” He flashed his identification to the guard at the door to Section Eleven and stepped inside. As he went, he waved at Button.

Button returned the gesture halfheartedly and then turned around with a sigh. He dejectedly walked away, back toward the staircase to the rest of the castle.

“What do I do?” he muttered. As soon as he cleared the corner once more and was out of the guard’s eyesight, he slumped against the wall and sat down on the floor. He put his hooves onto his face and took a deep breath. “I… oh, Celestia.”

Her smiling face flashed in his mind. He could hear her laugh, smell her mane. The way she loved the same art he did, how uncomfortable she seemed around crowds, her obliviousness to when the waiter had been flirting with her… the way she would joke with him. How she made him feel… and then what could happen if she was posing as Luna. The castle overrun by changelings, Celestia unconscious on the ground, Canterlot completely in their control.

“Damnit, damnit, damnit!” he cried, pounding a hoof into the ground. He shook as tears slowly dripped from his eyes. “Buck. I have to tell somepony, but…” All he could see was Starry.

“I love her…”

~~~

Luna threw open the doors to her quarters and ran to her bed. She barely managed to levitate her glasses off her face and set them on her bedside table before she crashed into the mattress. The thick blanket muffled her sobs and absorbed her tears. Her whole body shook as the events of the entire day crashed over her.

“I’m a coward,” she moaned. She pounded a hoof into the bed. “No, no no!”

She’d tried to go back for him. After she’d sat down in the hallway for a minute, she’d returned to their place in the hallway… but he was gone. He wasn’t anywhere that she could see, and the knowledge that she’d driven him off… that she’d pushed him away…

Another sob wracked her body. She trembled uncontrollably as she remembered what she’d said. “‘It’s not you. It’s me.’ You idiot!”

She hadn’t been able to find him, and she knew that she couldn’t hold back the tears any longer, so she’d gone back to her closet and turned back into herself. She hadn’t even had the presence of mind to put her contacts back in, and she’d run back to her quarters, still wearing her old glasses.

Luna lost herself in her despair. Clutching the thick blanket in a hoof, she shook the bed as she cried. “Oh, B—”

“Princess?” a quiet voice called as a knocking came from the door.

Luna quickly sat up and wiped her face. She fumbled for her glasses as she stood to her hooves. “Y-yes?”

The door cracked open and Gem Petal stuck her head inside. “Princess? We heard crying… are you okay?”

“I…” Luna began, but then she looked at the floor and slowly shook her head. “No. I’m not.” She sniffed loudly.

“May we come in?” the voice of a second called, and Shady Cove pushed the door open slightly. The tall peach colored unicorn stood beside Gem, the shorter earth pony. Both of their red manes were pulled back into ponytails, and they looked in at the princess together, their eyebrows raised in concern.

“Y-you may enter,” Luna said quietly. She sat back down wearily and held her head in her hooves.

“Are you hurt, Princess?” Gem asked as she trotted over to Luna.

Luna shook her head.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Shady sat down beside her princess and pulled her into a side hug. “Even if it’s just listening?”

“I…” Luna sniffed loudly. For a moment, she restrained herself, but then her composure broke. She threw her forelegs around Shady and sobbed into her shoulder.

The elegant unicorn held her close and whispered into her ears. “Hey. It’s okay. You can talk to us.”

Gem quietly walked back over to the door and closed it.

“I’m a failure, Shady,” Luna said. “Failure.”

“No, you are not!” the unicorn replied. “You are Princess Luna, one of the greatest ponies to have ever lived.”

Luna laughed bitterly. “It certainly doesn’t feel that way.”

“But you are!” Gem chimed. “Your Highness, you saved Equestria from Discord! You kept the nation together for centuries, you paint the moon and the stars, and you’re so kind that you even care about servants!”

“But…” Luna inhaled deeply. “I can’t do it any more. I can’t keep going like this.”

“Like what?” Shady asked quietly as she ran a hoof through Luna’s mane.

The princess sniffed. “I’ve been lying, Shady.”

“What?” the mare-in-waiting asked. “To whom?”

“To… him.”

The servants were quiet after these words. Slowly, Shady pulled away and looked directly into Luna’s eyes. “Who is ‘he,’ Princess?”

She wiped her eyes. “He… I think that he’s… I don’t know...”

Gem gasped. “Princess! Do you have a suitor?”

Luna shook her head. “I don’t think that I do any more.”

“I… why do you say that, Princess?” Shady asked.

“I lied to him. I was afraid, and… I never told him who I am.” Luna looked down and shook her head. “And then I tried to tell him, but I just… I couldn’t.”

Shady leaned over, and Luna met her eyes. “Princess…”

“And then I went back, and he was gone, and… and…” Luna tried to stop herself, but her tears flowed freely. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Talk to him.” Gem walked forward. “If you care about him this much, you owe it to yourself to see if he feels the same.”

“I don’t know any more, Gem,” Luna replied. “And even if I told him, I’ve been lying for as long as I’ve known him. I disguised myself just to talk to him! Even if he feels the same way about me, what will he think knowing that the mare that he loves isn’t even who she said she was?”

Shady froze. “Did… did you just say that you love him?”

“I—” Luna paused. “I… I think I did.” Her eyes unfocused. “I think… I think I realized that I’m in love today. I heard him yelling while he was being attacked by the windigos, and… and I realized that I have absolutely no idea what I would do without him.” She covered her mouth with her hoof as her eyes went wide. “He’s always there. I’m just a mare to him, not a princess. And I think that… I think that I do love him.”

Shady’s eyes glimmered from the light of the room’s lamp, and Luna could barely make out a smile on her face. “Princess, you need to tell him that. If he does feel the same, then he’ll understand. And if he doesn’t… then he’s an idiot, and he doesn’t deserve you.”

“Your Highness, I may be just a servant…” Gem began, “but I have to say something. I’ve never seen you this passionate about something before. I’m somewhat familiar with love,” she said with a smile, “and I can honestly say that you really do love him. Don’t doubt it. Don’t doubt yourself.”

“He needs to know,” Shady added.

“Y-you think so?” she stammered.

Shady nodded. “I do.”

Luna considered the words and slowly leaned back, placing her hooves onto the floor. “Yes. I need to tell him. And I need to tell him as soon as I can.” She nodded fiercely. “Shady! I need you to make some tea, probably Tia’s special energy blend. Then, I want you to prepare some of my clothes. There’s a green dress in my closet that looks too small for me. Please set that out on my bed.” Luna glanced into the mirror and huffed. “I’ll need to take a shower and prepare myself. I’m not going to wait. This has to happen immediately.”

Shady and Gem grinned at each other and nodded vigorously. “Immediately, Princess!” The mares scampered off to do as she had said.

Luna gazed into the mirror and wiped her face. She gave a small smile at herself. “I love Button Mash.” The Princess of the Night giggled like a filly as she repeated her words. “I. Love. Button. Mash.”

She threw her head back and smiled. “I can do this. I can, because I love him.”

~~~

Button threw his fedora onto the couch of his hotel room as he slowly made his way over to his table. He sighed and sat down into the chair, running a hoof through his mane as he did so. Glancing up at the far wall, he looked at the clock. “One in the morning,” he muttered. “Friday night. She’ll still be awake.”

He opened his laptop and tapped the spacebar twice, as he always did to wake it up. After quickly entering his password, Button pulled up the application for his internet phone. He grimaced as his cursor passed over the chats marked The Chosen Few-Main, TCF-Raid, and Duo. Button inhaled deeply as he moved past the next chat, the one that said Memory. He clicked the last chat that bore the name of the mare he intended to call.

Mom.

Button pressed the blue videophone call icon. The screen went blue, and her picture replaced the other chats. The speakers played a ringing sound as Button plugged his headphones into the jack and placed them on his head.

A moment later, everything went dark, and the image on the monitor was replaced by the smiling face of a very familiar mare. “Hey baby!” she said.

“Hey mom,” Button replied. He tried to be cheerful and forced a smile. “How are you?”

“I’m okay! It was a late night, but I’m off tomorrow, so I’ve got some time to cool down.” She grinned at him. “Just finishing up a match.”

“Online Sudoku-something again?”

She laughed. “Sudoku Duel. I just beat Roseluck by about half a minute. Feeling pretty good about myself!”

Button’s smile became more genuine. “Well, good for you. And I’m glad you’re feeling better too.”

“Yeah, I’m doing pretty well now. The meds kicked in, finally. Just got off of them two days ago, and everything’s back to normal. Oh! I just beat Lady Rarity’s top score! Woot!” She did a tiny jig in her seat. “Ah, good times!” After she finished her dance she looked into the camera. “So, you’re calling late tonight. Is something up?”

“Uh… yeah. There is something going on,” Button replied carefully before clearing his throat.

“Mmm. I can tell. Call it mother’s intuition.” Her eyes sparkled. “Actually, you don’t really call this late unless there’s something going on. You’re usually playing with your friends. What is it, Button?”

“It’s… It’s kind of a long story.” Button ran his hoof through his mane. “So, you know that I’m out in Canterlot, right?”

His mom rolled her eyes. “No. I thought you were just at an extended sleepover at Pip’s house again.”

“Ha ha. But really.” He cleared his throat again. “I know that I told you I was coming out here to take some time off and put in some applications, but there was something else too. I didn’t want to get your hopes up in case it didn’t work out, but…”

Her eyes widened.

“There’s, uh, there’s this mare, and—”

“Oh my Luna! You have a marefriend? And you didn’t tell me!” she practically shouted back at him.

Button winced. “Yeah. That’s kind of why I didn’t tell you. Yes, there’s a mare, but I wouldn’t call her my marefriend.”

Her shoulders slumped. “Drat.”

“She’s actually that mare that I’ve been playing with for the last two years, Mom. Do you remember me telling you about her?”

“Uh, Mirror something?” she asked.

“Memory Mirror. Yeah, that’s the one.” Button nodded.

She grinned. “I knew there was something there! The way you kept going on and on about the things you two did together! How I would hear you laughing in your room and I’d peek inside and hear you talking to her!”

“Wait, were you spying on me?” Button smirked.

His mom snorted. “Well, my son has phone calls with a mare every day for a few years straight. A mom has a right to hope, doesn’t she? And I was right, wasn’t I?”

“Uh, kind of…” Button said, his smile fading. “I guess I should tell you the whole story.”

“Please do.” With that, she leaned back in her chair, her front hooves draped across her chest.

“It all started on a call during one of our games. I told her I was coming to Canterlot and she mentioned that she lived there. Then she asked if I wanted to meet up with her. I told her sure, and we traded names and information. So when I arrived at the city, we got together for dinner, and…” His eyes unfocused and he felt a stupid grin spread across his face. “Mom. She’s amazing.”

She squeed and clapped her hooves together. “Yes!”

“We hit it off, and I took her out to a museum the next day. And we just kept seeing each other and spending time together, and… argh, she’s perfect, Mom. She’s hilarious, loves history and art like I do, likes spending time with me, and…” He blushed. “She’s… really, really cute…” he muttered.

His mom smiled wider than he’d seen her smile in a long time. “Oh, Button! I’m so happy for you!”

“Thanks… but…” He sighed. “There’s just one problem.”

“Uh oh.”

“I was at the castle today, Mom. And something happened. I don’t want to worry you, but… the castle was attacked last night.” He clenched his jaw. “I’m okay, but it wasn’t easy.”

She gasped. “What? How? Were you hurt?”

“No, Mom. I wasn’t hurt. Please don’t freak out.”

Her jaw dropped. “‘Don’t freak out?’ My son was just attacked at the palace, of all places! I think I’m entitled to be slightly upset!”

“Mom, I’m fine..” Button gestured at himself. “See? All in one piece.”

His mom inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. “Okay. Go ahead. But we’ll be talking about this later…”

“Okay. But about the attack… I don’t know how familiar you are with them, but it was windigos. Or something like them.” Button shook his head. “I’m not really sure what they are exactly. But I’m okay, and so was she. She works at the palace, see. Anyway, I found her after the attack, and I tried to talk to her,” he said before looking down. “Mom, I had to fight the windigos off alongside some other ponies.” He saw her eyes go wide, but he kept talking. “And while we were fighting, I just kept thinking about trying to survive, and I realized… I realized that one of the main things that I’d regret if I didn’t make it was that I hadn’t told her what I was feeling.” He looked directly into the camera. “I think I sort of fell in love with her a long time ago. She’s not like other mares, Mom. She’s smart, she understands me, and when I spend time with her it just feels… right. It’s like I feel complete with her around. I have no idea why, but I do.”

She smiled back at him. “Button... but what’s wrong?”

He grimaced. “I found her after the fighting was over and tried to talk to her. I started to tell her how I felt, but she cut me off. I panicked.” Chuckling, he continued. “She said the whole, ‘it’s not you, it’s me,’ bit.”

His mom’s face fell. “Oh.”

“Yeah. And she said that she needed to say something. I thought she was gonna tell me that she was a fillyfooler. I said that, and she almost slapped me.” He shrugged, and his mom gasped.

“You said that to her face?”

“I kinda did.” Button grinned sheepishly. “Okay. There was no kinda about it. I did.”

She shook her head. “She should have slapped you. I thought I taught you better!”

He waved her off. “I know! I wasn’t really thinking right. But she said it was something else, but she couldn’t say it. Then she just ran off crying. I didn’t follow her.”

“Why was she crying?” she asked.

“Mom, I barely understand what I’m feeling. I’ve got no idea what she was thinking, and she’s a mare! She might as well be another species.” Button looked up. “I met two griffons today, in passing. They might actually be easier to understand.”

His mom shook her head. “But what did you do?”

“I went to the bathroom and gave myself a pep talk. Then I went back out to try to find her. I couldn’t for a while, so I kept walking until I heard crying from inside a closet. I walked over and looked inside. She was there, and…” He choked on his words. “Mom. I saw her… change.”

She stared at him for a moment. “Wait. I’m confused. Can you run that past me again?”

“Mom, she’s a changeling. I saw her transform from herself into Princess Luna. She… she just changed. There’s no other way to say it.” He took a deep breath. “And… I don’t know what to do.”

She considered his words for a moment. “Well… I think I might know why she ran off crying.”

“What?” Button sat up straight. “Why?”

His mom rolled her eyes. “Button. Why are you so oblivious sometimes? She was obviously trying to gather the courage to tell you who she really is. And then you called her a fillyfooler, and she couldn’t do it. So she ran off.”

“Oh.” Button looked forward, unblinking. “Yeah. That actually makes a lot of sense.”

“I thought that I had raised a smarter stallion than this. You know, if she was trying this hard to tell you something that drove her to tears because she was so emotional just because of the idea of you finding out, she must feel at least something for you.”

“But…” Button began. “But she lied to me! About who she is!”

“You know, I don’t really blame her,” his mom remarked. “How would you have reacted if she told you right off the bat that she was a changeling? Would you have met up with her at all, or would you have thought that she was trying to manipulate you so that she could harvest you or something?” She raised an eyebrow. “If she went this far, it’s because she cared.”

“How do you know?” he asked.

His mom sighed. “Button, I was a young mare once. When I first went out with your father, I was so scared of showing any flaw because I thought that he wouldn’t want me if I was anything less than perfect. Mares who are looking for love, and I really think this is what is happening with her, want to look perfect for their stallions. She was probably terrified of driving you away.”

Button blinked. “Oh.”

“And Button. If you really do like her, or even love her, does it matter if she’s a changeling?” Her eyes met his through the screen. “She’s still who she is. The outside isn’t what you end up loving. Trust me, it goes away pretty quickly.” She giggled and pointed at her graying mane and the moderate wrinkles on her face. “I’m proof. If you love her, it’s for who she is. And if your problem is that she’s lying, well… what would you have done? Put yourself in her horseshoes.”

“Yeah…” he replied. “I think you’re right. But there is one thing.”

“What?” she asked.

“If she’s impersonating Princess Luna… I need to tell somepony.” Button clenched his jaw.

His mom sat still for a moment before slowly nodding. “Yeah. You do. But I think you should talk to her first.”

“Why?”

“Because she needs a chance to explain herself! If she was planning on coming clean with you anyways, she would have to let you know that she was a changeling, and she’d probably also tell you about why she was there.” She nodded. “Just communicate with her before you tell somepony. Who knows what will happen?”

“But she’s posing as a princess! What if this is some big changeling plot? If she knows I know, things could get ugly.” Button held his head with his hoof.

“Button, listen to yourself. She was already trying to tell you and had a hard time. Do you really think something bad would happen now that you know?” his mom asked patiently. “She wants you to know. Just… just talk to her. You can clear all of this up and hear her side of the story.”

Button considered that and then smiled. “You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right,” she replied smugly. “I’m your mom.”

“Oh, you.” He shook his head ruefully.

She grinned cheekily at him. “You know, I’m just glad that you finally found somepon— Err, somechangeling. Although it’s weird to think that I won’t have grandfoals… But grandbuggies could be fun too!”

“Mom!” Button said as he blushed. “Wh.. I… umm…”

“And the wedding! I wonder how big her family is. The reception would be packed!”

“Oh, Celestia,” Button sighed. “Ya know, we haven’t even kissed yet. You can’t plan a wedding before that.”

“Well then, get to the kissing, stat! I’m not getting any younger!” she declared.

His blush deepened. “Mom!”

She laughed. “Oh, it’s fun to tease you. You’re just like your father… He would love to see this, you know.”

“Yeah, Mom. I know.”

“But, hey. I’m here. You’re here. She’s here. Let’s make the most of it, okay?” she said quietly.

He nodded. “I will. Mom, thank you. You’re the best, you know that, right?”

“Well, yeah!” she declared. “Duh!”

“Gaaaaah,” Button groaned. “Anyways, I won’t keep you. I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, Button. Go get her, and kiss her. Kiss her a lot! Mares like that, okay?” she pursed her lips.

“Mooom,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m hanging up now!”

“Okay! Love you!”

“You too.” And with that, Button pressed the red end call icon. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. He ran a hoof through his mane once more. “Well. I’m probably not falling asleep tonight…” Glancing down at his laptop, he pressed the icon for Return.

“I wonder if she’ll log on…”

Author's Note

Song for tonight is Against All Odds by Phil Collins. Shout out to all the live readers!

Machinations, Revelations, and Faded Armor

Button’s avatar shimmered into being inside of his personal quarters. The walls around him materialized fairly quickly, followed by his decorations and trophies. The simple draped curtains that lined the room accented the red carpets and flowing architecture of the prefabricated chamber. Behind him was a bed that he’d won in an Arena championship, and flanking it on either side were tables that he’d forged himself on Discord’s Anvil, just because he could. Frames holding shields from all over Equus filled the space in between the curtains, proof of his conquests from Zebrica to the Frozen North.

He nodded to himself as he trotted quickly out of the room, paying very little mind to his meticulous decorations. He activated the social panel on his HUD and checked the status of his guildmates. There were three players online beside himself. Silver Feather was in the armory, Noble Rain was in the database room, and Indigo Quill appeared to be out in a slayer area. Button frowned as he recognized the name of the former member of the My L33tl Pwnies guild. That Rogue had been the one who’d killed him… before Memory had shot him in the head. He couldn’t help but smile fondly at the thought that followed. As he continued to walk forward, his eyes wandered further down the list of characters until he saw...

>Memory Mirror: Officer. Status: Offline.

Button sighed. “Oh well,” he muttered to himself.

As he passed through the hallway outside his room, he came to an elevator. He stepped inside and pressed the command for the armory. The lift rose out of the subterranean residential area toward the higher levels, and Button hummed to himself through the ride.

A chime cut through his thoughts, and Button glanced down to see a message flashing in his guild chat.

Silver: hey Fade, can you join the voice chat?

Button smirked as he tabbed over to the internet phone and joined the active call. As he did, a voice began talking in his ear.

“—and then the feathering coward wiped the security tapes! I can’t see anything here!” Noble spat. “Oh, hey Fade. Glad you’re here. We were attacked again earlier today.”

“What?” Button asked. “How did that happen?”

Silver’s growling voice answered him. “Same way as before. Some coward in here opened up an entranceway somewhere and let a Hacker in. At least we were able to identify the guild attacking us this time. In the last attack, they used a proxy guild. You know, creating a fake level one guild, joining that one, and then coordinating the attack.” Silver sniffed indignantly. “But this time, one of the idiots forgot to join the fake.”

“Yeah,” an unfamiliar voice that Button assumed was Indigo added. “It’s the Red Legion.”

“Red Legion?” Button’s voice was incredulous. “Like, the actual Red Legion?”

“Damn mercenaries,” Silver spat. “They’re after our spaceship parts! I just know it. They made a run for our hangar as soon as they broke inside. Noble and I managed to fight them off until Indigo activated the termination program.”

Button shuddered. “You actually used the T?”

“Yeah,” Noble cackled. “Flooded the whole place with corruption goo! Incinerated everypony!”

“Ahem…”

“Oh, sorry, Silver. Incinerated everyone,” Noble corrected herself.

“Including me, actually.” Indigo remarked. “But it was worth it!”

“And best of all, they didn’t get our ship parts!” Silver said. “Unfortunately, this means that we still have a spy. Noble is checking the databases now, and I’m down in the armory trying to get these damn autoturrets running correctly again. The goo messed with their circuits and wreaked havoc with the Code magic. I’m not our main tech anyways. We’ll need Mem to log on soon so that she can get this shit working.”

Button sighed. “Okay.”

“Where is Mem, anyways? You two talk more than anyone else here. Did she say why she couldn’t make it tonight?” Silver said.

Button trotted down another corridor until he came to the armory. He walked inside to see a griffon sitting on a chair, holding a plastorch in his claws. The husks of autoturrets surrounded him, and their control boxes were all stacked up on a table beside Silver. “Ah, I guess she just had stuff come up…” Button replied evasively.

“Bleagh. Real life.” Noble laughed. “I like this bette— ah, horsefeathers! The entire log for the building access punch-ins and punch-outs is corrupted! Damn Hacker whacked it all!” She grunted in exasperation. “With the camera feeds gone too, I’ve got nothing up here.”

“Bah,” Silver said dismissively. “Doesn’t matter. We know who they are, and we know what they want. Red Legion is a PvP guild. They don’t do any PvE at all. Instead, they get other guilds to give them the stuff they need from the environment and pay them back by raiding their enemies. Or by blackmailing the guilds that give them stuff. Either way, they’re the scum of the server, but they’re also huge. They’re totally rich at this point, and they’re probably getting ready for the space expansion. We’ve got the most ship parts on the whole server, so we’re their target.”

“Parasites,” Noble added. “But not the smartest parasites.”

“No, they aren’t.” The guild leader’s voice had an edge to it. Silver cleared his throat. “If they want our ship parts, they must have parts of their own. So…”

“So we just have to hit them first…” Button said slowly.

“Exactly!” Silver cackled. “Next time they attack, we’re going to be ready. We’ll have fully automated defenses, and we’ll make a blitz for their warehouses and take all of their shit. See how they like it!”

“Yeah!” Indigo cheered.

Button grinned. “Sounds like a plan. But how do you know that the spy won’t tell them exactly what you’re planning?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Silver remarked. “If they know, then they’ll have their base on high alert. That’s fine with me. We can take them any day. Also, it might discourage them from attacking as bluntly this time. Either way, we win.”

“And in the meantime, my team is farming the drop locations for more ship stuff.” Indigo’s voice was smug. “We’ve already gotten enough parts for two fighters and a harvester. Well, except for the engine parts. Those aren’t available until the update drops. But once it does, we’ll be the first out in space, and we’ll have a huge headstart on resource mining!”

“Wow,” Button said. “You guys have been busy since I was gone.”

“Yeah…” Noble replied. “Hey, speaking of that. You said that you’d be on tonight. Why’d you bail? What gives?”

“Oh, yeah…” Button said absentmindedly. “I was… uh, I was unavoidably detained.”

“Well, that’s not vague or menacing at all.” Silver snorted. “That makes it sound like someone held you captive or something.”

He chuckled nervously. “Well, I—”

>Memory Mirror has logged on.

Button gasped. A moment later, a few words appeared in his private chat box.

Memory: Button, can we talk? In person?

“Uh, I have to go, guys. I’ll be back later…” he said.

Faded: Yeah. Now?

“Aww, already?” Noble whined. “I wanted to show you the spaceships!”

Ignoring her, Button waited for the next message.

Memory: If possible, yes. Can I come to your hotel room?

He inhaled deeply as he typed his next message.

Faded: Yes. I’ll send you the address.

~~~

Luna waited for the elevator to slowly ascend up to the ninth floor of the glamorous hotel. She tapped a hoof impatiently as the lights for the various floors slowly lit up. Five… six… seven…

Adjusting her green dress and glasses, the disguised Princess of the Night took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “It’ll be fine…” she muttered. “Just tell him. He’ll understand.”

The door dinged as it opened, revealing a hallway. Luna glanced over at her saddlebag and rechecked the sheet of paper that showed the room number Button had sent to her over the in-game chat. Nodding to herself, she walked toward that door marked by the same number. As soon as she arrived, she raised a hoof up to the gorgeous painted wood. Taking another breath, she narrowed her eyes. “Here goes…”

She rapped twice on the door, and a moment later, a voice called out to her. “Just a second!”

Luna took a step back and smoothed out the front of her dress. Immediately after she did so, the door swung open to reveal Button Mash. The stallion had bathed since she’d last seen him at the palace. He’d brushed all the dust and debris out of his mane, and his coat shined in the light from the lamps around the room.

“Starry… hey…” Button smiled at her. “Come on in.”

“Thanks, Button,” she replied sheepishly, giving him a small smile. He held the door open, and she walked inside. “Oh my. This is very nice!”

The magnificent room was in pristine condition. The enormous windows across the living room allowed moonlight to filter across the floor, illuminating the room in opal splendor. All the surfaces were immaculate, clean and perfect.

“Do you want to sit down?” Button asked, gesturing toward the couches. “They’re pretty comfortable.”

“Oh, I bet,” she replied with a laugh. As she walked over to the long brown couch, she allowed herself to glance back at Button. The stallion fidgeted uncomfortably as he sat down on one of the other couches across from her.

The air hung heavy with silence as the two ponies glanced at the ground, the ceiling, the walls… anywhere but at each other.

“So, I was—”

“Button, I’m—”

Luna laughed quietly. “We do seem to do that a lot, don’t we?”

“Yeah,” Button replied with a chuckle of his own. “Go ahead, Starry.”

“Button, I’m sorry.” Luna hung her head. “I’m a coward. I’ve been hiding from you ever since we met in person, and you don’t deserve this. I wanted to tell you the truth back at the castle, but… but… I was afraid.”

Button didn’t reply, so Luna continued. “I want you to know, Button, I feel the same way as what you were saying.” She glanced up and saw him staring back at her. He was leaning forward, his hooves clasped in front of him. “I just… I can’t lie to you any more.” She stood up and took a deep breath. “Button, I’m not Starry Skies. That’s not my name. My real name…” She inhaled deeply. “My real name is—”

“I know,” he muttered. “I already know.”

“What?” she asked. Her eyes widened and she almost fell back into her seat again.

“After you ran off, I gave you a bit of time and then tried to find you,” he explained. “I saw you go into the closet.”

Luna’s jaw dropped.

“I saw you transform, Starry. You became… her.” He met her eyes. “Princess Luna.”

She put a hoof across her mouth. “Oh, Button… I didn’t want you to find out that way. I wanted to tell you myself…”

“I know. I figured that out from how you reacted.” He stood up. “Starry, I understand.”

“Y-you do?” she asked quietly.

“Of course. I’d have been afraid too, in your place. I’m not mad…” he cocked his head to the side. “Okay, that’s a lie. I am a little mad, but only because you thought that you couldn’t trust me.” He took a few steps forward.

Luna smiled. “Button, I’m sorry. I was just so scared…”

“Hey, hey! I get it. But, Starry. What you look like, your body… that doesn’t matter to me.” He came closer… “It’s you that I.. that I…” He inhaled sharply. “Starry, it’s you that I fell in love with, not whoever it is that you told me you are.”

Luna’s heart leapt into her throat as he said those words. “Button,” she croaked. “I…”

“I don’t care about Starry. I care about you.” He drew close to her, their noses mere centimeters apart. “And it doesn’t matter who you are… A pegasus, a unicorn, a princess…” He gazed deeply into her eyes…

“Button…”

“And I don’t care that you’re a changeling, Starry. I love you anyways.”

Luna’s smile immediately faded and her eyebrows furrowed. “Wait… what?”

Button smiled sweetly. “I know that you’re a changeling, Starry, but I don’t care. I don’t care!” He reached a hoof out to her, but she batted it away.

“Oh!” she declared. “You… I… how…” Luna fumed, turning away and walking toward the window.

“Uh, Starry?” Button asked. “Did I say something wrong?”

“You, Button Mash, are the most insufferable buffoon to have ever graced the surface of Equestria!” Luna practically yelled.

He recoiled quickly. “I… huh?”

“I am not a changeling,” she growled.

He raised an eyebrow. “Uhh, I kind of saw you transform, and—”

“Uhhhgh!” She threw her head back. “Stallions! Please, just listen!”

“I… okay,” Button finished lamely. He hunched down and looked up at her.

“Thank you. Now, as I was saying, I am not a changeling. I would remind you that changeling transformation magic looks like green fire, correct?” she asked. When he didn’t respond, she tapped her front hoof. “Well?”

“Yeah…” he said.

“Indeed. If you saw me transform, then you must have noticed a distinct lack of green fire. My magic doesn’t use fire to transform, Button, because I am not a changeling,” she ended emphatically.

He furrowed his brow and glanced around wildly. “Holy… you’re right…” He looked at her, eyes wide. “If you aren’t a changeling, then you must be…”

She crossed her front legs, waiting for him to finish.

“You have to be…”

Luna tapped a hoof…

“I…”

She groaned and slumped forward. “Okay! Let me give you a hint.” She reached out with her magic and turned herself to look out the window. Her dark blue magic extended into the sky and she hummed to herself as she pulled at the stars and nebulae that were so far away.

She heard Button gasp as the sky lit up as the stars glowed brighter and an enormous purple cloud filled the sky. The ethereal mist swirled, dancing among the lights from above. Another shade, this one dark blue, joined the first in the sky, and the colors swayed back and forth far beyond the city. Her magic surged, and the moon moved, coming closer toward Equus. The brilliant white light pierced through the heavens, making the stars fade due to its luminance. The mists continued their waltz, and Luna channeled the last bit of her power. But this time, instead of changing the sky, she called forth a fog within the room.

The magical cloud enveloped her, and she allowed her control over her disguise to fade away. Quickly, while she was hidden from view, she took off her dress, revealing her royal regalia. She reached up to her glasses, and— Luna cursed silently to herself as she realized that she’d forgotten her contacts. She left her glasses on as she completed her transformation back into her normal form.

Luna removed the fog from the chamber, and she slowly stood to her full height. The moon returned to its normal position, and the stars once more took their places in the skies.

She glanced up to see Button staring at her, jaw slack and eyes wide. She gave him a small smile. “Button, I am not a changeling. I am not Starry Skies.” With a flick of her mane, she met his gaze.

“My name is Luna.”

~~~

Button couldn’t move. He stood frozen in place, staring at the mare before him. He had stood significantly taller than Starry Skies, but Luna had him beat by several centimeters. She held her head high, her ethereal mane billowing in an intangible wind. Her dress was gone, and she instead wore the clothing of a princess, minus the crown. She still wore her old glasses though, and her smile was the same…

“Oh, Lu— I m-mean, uh…” Button stammered and flushed. “Uh, hi…”

“It’s still me, Button,” she whispered.

“Yeah, but with a lot more clouds and smoke and transforming and controlling the stars!” he cried. “And… and… you saved my life earlier today…”

It was her turn to blush now. “Yes, I did.”

“That kind of explains the whole smiling at me thing,” he muttered. Slowly, he took a step toward her. “You really are a princess.”

“Yes, I am.” Luna crossed her front legs.

Button stopped moving forward. “Wait… I’ve been swearing using your name like, the entire time I’ve been here with you…”

“Yes, you have,” she replied. After, she gave a nervous chuckle. “It was somewhat uncomfortable.”

“And the stuff I said about you when I thought that you were just a servant…” he clasped a hoof over his mouth. “Oh, crap. I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?”

“No. Actually, it was very endearing,” she said as she walked toward him. “Though, you did say something kind of wrong. You thought I was a changeling.” One of her eyebrows rose.

“Hey! What was I supposed to think? ‘Oh, the mare I’m falling in love with is Princess Luna?’” He scoffed at himself. “The changeling thing made a lot more sense, in the moment at least!”

“Is it really so far-fetched to believe that a princess might return your feelings?” she asked quietly. By this point, they stood barely a meter apart.

Button cocked his head to the side. “Um, kind of.”

“Well…” she said as she drew ever closer. “I do.”

He stared at her. A small smile pulled at the corners of her eyes, and he could see her dimples accentuating her beautiful cheekbones. Her mane fell on either side of her face, and, just past her glasses, were her eye—

“Your eyes are the same,” he whispered to her. “You didn’t change them when you were being Starry.”

She finally stopped right in front of him. Their eyes were almost perfectly even with one another. He stared into the icy depths. She gazed back, searching his face just as intently.

“No, I didn’t,” she breathed. “Button… you said that you would love me even if I were a changeling. What about as a princess? Is it still okay?”

“I…” he started. As he continued to look at her, his mind raced. “I thought I understood why you were hiding as a changeling… but why didn’t you tell me you were one of the princesses?”

She glanced away quickly. “I… I was scared, Button. Would you have believed me if I told you?” Turning back to him, looked down at the ground. “You were my only friend, Button. I didn’t want to lose you, especially after I met you.”

“But you’re amazing! Why would it make a difference if you were a princess, or a changeling, or anything?” he asked incredulously.

Her face lit up with a smile. “And that’s why you’re so special, Button. It does matter to most ponies.”

“But not to me,” he replied. “You’re right… I would still love you if you were a changeling, and I still love you as a princess.”

“You’re saying that word a lot,” Luna said, bringing her face closer to his.

“Well, you started it…” he replied.

“Oh, I don’t want to get into that now,” she whispered. “Actually, just stop talking.”

And then she kissed him.

His eyes went wide as her lips pressed tenderly against his own. A sweet vanilla aroma filled his nostrils and beckoned him forward with her scent. He reached his hoof up and grabbed her neck, pulling her in ever closer. She hummed to his tenderness and responded in kind by embracing him with her wing.

She tasted like mint and tea. Button allowed his eyes to close as he pressed into her, letting the wonderful feeling of her touch envelop him. Seconds became an eternity that stretched out like the infinite heavens she created. He didn’t want to let go, but his body soon screamed for air, and he had to break the kiss. With a gasp, they pulled away, but their hooves remained buried in one another’s coats.

“That was…” he said, staring at her.

Her face was flushed, and her mouth split into a wide grin. “Wow.”

“I haven’t done that in a while,” Button admitted, and she responded with a chuckle.

“Oh, you haven’t, huh?”

Button raised an eyebrow. “Oh. Yeah.” A smirk slowly spread across his face. “Well, I guess that means that we both should probably get some practice…”

Her eyes flashed. Without a word, she led him toward the couch and flopped onto the cushion, pulling him with her.

He yelped as they landed, but his cry was cut off by the force of their lips colliding once again. Leaning over, he wrapped both hooves around her neck. She did the same, keeping him close as she leaned back. Button shifted himself to a more comfortable position as she ran a tender hoof through his mane, mussing it up slightly.

Sighing, he allowed himself to fall into her embrace again. In that moment, it wasn’t Luna or Starry, not Memory or anypony else. It was just her. He opened his eyes to see her beautiful face right against his own, and soon, he broke off the kiss with another gasp. “You’re gorgeous, and amazing, and… oooh…”

She kissed his neck and drew a hoof lazily over his back. A moment later, she released him and smiled upward. “And you… I love you, Button.”

“I love you too, Luna. I have for a long time, I think.” He lowered himself down gently and kissed her lightly on the nose. “You’re so smart…” A kiss between the eyes. “You’re funny…” The forehead. “So sweet…”

She grabbed him and his breath hitched. Slowly, so slowly, she brought his lips to her own. He groaned as he felt something softly seek access, and, as if by instinct, he opened up to the questing tongue. Her taste flooded his mouth, and she moaned into him as he ran his tongue over her own.

Luna’s eyes opened, and her magic enveloped the two of them. Button gasped in shock as they flew into the air and flipped over toward the other side of the couch. She set them down gently… with her on top of him.

“And you, my knight in shining armor…” she said as she traced his lips with her hoof. “You are the most kind…” She leaned over and held her lips above his own. “Caring…” Her lips grazed him, and she fluttered her eyes. “Gentle…” she breathed, and Button twitched in expectation. “And completely oblivious stallion of all time.”

She kissed him once more, gently taking his bottom lip between her teeth. Button pushed forward in response, and their tongues met again. He ran his hooves along her back and up the base of her wings. Gasping, the princess threw her head upward and she sighed in pleasure. He grinned as he reached up and kissed her neck, still running his hooves along her wings.

“Oh, stars…” Luna glanced down, smiling broadly. She quickly grabbed his face in her hooves and pulled him into a tender kiss.

He broke away and gazed into her eyes. “Well, I’m not totally oblivious…” He ran his hooves over her wings and leaned up to whisper into her ear. “I can tell that you like this, at least a little bit.”

She giggled and nipped at his ear in return. Button pushed his face through her mane and kissed at her neck some more. “And Luna, I don’t know about ‘knight in shining armor.’ You’re the one who saved me, after all.”

She nickered softly as he found a particularly sensitive area. “Well, maybe so, but you’re still my knight… even if you were all dusty and covered in grime when you were fighting.”

“Well, we can’t all be sexy saviors, you know,” he teased, continuing his treatment of her neck.

“Oh, I beg to differ…” Luna pulled away and looked right at him. “When you tackled me… you did save me. And you may not have been in shining armor, but…” She giggled. “Well, you could always be my knight in faded armor, couldn’t you?”

“Oh, the name joke! The pun! It burns!” Button said as he threw his hoof over his head in mock horror.

Luna giggled and pulled him into a close embrace. She held him tightly, running her hoof through his mane. “I’m glad you’re with me, Button.” She smiled down at him, but then it faded away. “I should probably get back to the castle… I need to check on the investigation.”

He groaned. “Do you have to, Lu?”

“Did… did you just call me Lu?” she asked.

“Yeah, I did. Do ya like it?” He kissed her nose.

She raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips. “No.”

“Ah, come on!” he cried. “Why not?”

“If you call me Lu, I get to call you ‘On.’ Or ‘Butt,’” she said with a straight face.

“Oh.” Button scrunched his nose up. “Yeah, no. I see what you mean. I’ll have to think of some other nickname… Luna.” He savored the taste of her name.

“Indeed.” She nuzzled against him. “But yes, I do need to go back soon…”

“Can you stay with me for just a bit longer?” he asked quietly.

Luna sighed. “I think I can stay away for a few more minutes…”

“Perfect.” Button breathed as they just stayed there, together. For a moment, he forgot about the windigos, couldn’t remember the changelings, and didn’t give a single flying feather about the griffons. There, for just that short time, all was right in the world.

Author's Note

Super shoutout to Wing for his help with the kissy stuff! Song for tonight was I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues by Sir Elton John!

Detectives, Heartbeats, and Perfume

Agent Breeze wiped her weary eyes as she stared at her computer screen. Ponies bustled around her, still cleaning up the massive mess that had been made in Section Eleven during last night’s attack. Replacement computers and screens had been the first items brought back into the intelligence agency’s main room after the windigos’ weapons and the bodies of the fallen had been removed. Breeze grimaced as she thought of the friends she had lost.

As she glanced over at the large clock on the wall, she sighed. It was only early afternoon, but it felt like she’d been awake for a week. The mare yawned and slowly stood to her hooves.

“You heading out, Breeze?” Fortune asked from his seat beside her.

She nodded. “For a while, at least. I need to eat. I haven’t had anything since yesterday.”

“Ouch!” He winced. “You should probably do that… also, when was the last time you slept?” Fortune eyed her.

“I slept…” she began. “I think I slept about seven hours… the night before last?”

“What? You didn’t even get a nap in last night?”

Breeze shook her head. “I’ve had to coordinate the beginning of the investigation, get the EBI working on analyzing the evidence of the windigos, direct some of the students that Princess Twilight sent over to trace the windigo’s magic, try to figure out how they breached security, and get everyone connected using a computer system that was partially damaged during the attack. That’s a lot to do in twelve hours or less.”

“Oh, Celestia,” Fortune muttered. “You could ask for help, you know?”

“Everypony else is busy. I have to do this,” she replied as she put her notebooks and pens into her saddlebag.

“Seriously, you’re not going to be any good to us if you run yourself ragged. And weren’t you injured?” Fortune shook his head. “Breeze, please, get some rest.”

Agent Breeze sighed. “I’ll try, Fortune. I’m going to get something to eat and then probably try to sleep for a few hours… until the EBI gets back to me.”

“Good!” He smiled. “I guess I’ll see you later today.”

“Wait, what about you?” she asked. “When did you sleep last?”

Fortune chortled. “Breeze, I left for, like, five hours earlier. You didn’t notice?”

“Oh…” Breeze shrugged. “I guess I was a little busy.”

He waved her off. “Ah, just go. Have food. Get sleep.”

She gave a mock salute. “Sir, yes sir.” With that, the mare turned and headed out of Section Eleven’s doors. She strode past more ponies cleaning up the hallway, repairing holes in the walls and bustling back and forth on very official looking business. Breeze recognized a few of Princess Twilight’s magic students as they scanned the hallway with an advanced detection spell. They nodded to each other and jotted down notes as the agent passed by.

Breeze made her way up the stairway until she reached the castle’s main level. She took a sharp left and headed down to the mess hall, where military ponies gathered to enjoy the aromatic assortment of freshly grilled vegetables. Her stomach growled, and she grinned happily.

The doors to the mess hall were already open, and Breeze entered in time to see a group of guards leaving the food line, their trays covered in a few plates with vegetables, bread, and some kind of soup. The agent grinned as she walked over to—

“Agent Breeze?” a cultured voice called out from behind her.

She turned quickly to see Captain Ivanov walking toward her. He had bags under his eyes, but his crest and uniform were in immaculate condition. He nodded to her as he approached.

“Oh, Captain Ivanov!” she said cheerfully. “Good morning.”

“Actually, I think it’s afternoon,” he remarked, giving her a small grin. “But I’m not certain, at least not after last night.”

“Yeah,” Breeze agreed. “I’m guessing that you didn’t get a chance to sleep either?”

Ivanov shook his head. “Alas, I did not. I’ve been flying back and forth between the castle and my ship all night. Your Princess Twilight’s magical detectives have confirmed that there is windigo magic present on our ship.”

“What, really? Why wasn’t I informed?” she asked quickly, her eyes wide.

“I had actually just received word myself and was coming to see you now.” He gestured toward the line. “Right after I stopped for some food, that is. Would you care to join me?”

She nodded to him. “Of course, Captain.” The mare and the griffon walked toward the line and stood behind a pair of Night Guards. The line was moving swiftly, and they were soon approaching the first cook behind the counter.

“But yes, we did find proof that the windigos were, at the very least, present on the airship at some point within the last week. We do not yet know how recently, since your ponies are not allowed on the airship and thus cannot cast their more complicated spells.” Ivanov pursed his beak. “I’m going to try to convince General Chaput to allow them access, at least for the duration of the investigation.”

“That’s… rather magnanimous of you,” Breeze remarked. “I thought that griffon airships were highly classified. As far as I know, no pony has ever been allowed onboard one of them.”

“Desperate times,” he said. Turning away from the line, he gave her a sideways look. “‘Magnanimous.’ I do like that word.”

Breeze chuckled. “Yeah, me too. I suppose that there’s a translation in Griffonian, isn’t there?”

“Hmm… we actually have a few different languages in Griffonia,” he said. “You’re probably more familiar with our northern language.” He grabbed a tray with one talon and carefully walked sideways down the line. “I think that one of the closer translations to the word would be velikodushnyy. It almost means generous, but magnanimous is pretty much the same.”

“Very interesting,” Breeze said as she levitated her own tray. “I do love languages. I studied Prench in school, and was going to start some Northern Griffonian but never had the opportunity.”

“Ah, parlez-vous prançais?” the griffon asked with a twinkle in his eyes. One of the cooks gave him a questioning glance as she put a scoop of grilled squash, zucchini, and peppers onto his plate.

“I just told you that I did,” Breeze replied with a laugh.

His grin broadened. “Actually, that’s all I know of Prench. The general has offered to teach me some, but I’ve never taken him up on it.”

“You should. It’s a beautiful language.” They continued down the line, taking the vegetables, a few pieces of bread, some of the twelve-bean soup, and a cup of water before heading toward an empty table.

“It really is. I enjoy different cultures and the intricacies of their spoken words.” The griffon pulled out two seats from one of the tables, nodding to Breeze as he did so.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling to him as they sat down. “So, you speak Equestrian and at least one Griffonian. Any others as well?”

“I began a study on Yakistani for a while, back when I thought I was going to be a linguist in the army. But then I was assigned to a military police team instead due to an emergency situation. Because of my former training with the Griffonstone Police Department, I was the most qualified to conduct an investigation for a murder that happened on a remote training mission.” The griffon took a dainty sip of water. “We were out on a mountaintop listening in on actual Yakyakistan communication when one of the instructors was murdered. There was an enormous storm at the time, so we had no way to leave and a murderer among us.”

“Ooh,” Breeze said before she took a small bite of bread. The mare smiled happily at her first taste of food in a very long time.

“‘Ooh,’ indeed. Fortunately, the killer was rather easy to uncover. When I confronted him, he tried to kill me.” Ivanov smiled. “He did not succeed.”

“I suppose not,” Breeze replied with a chuckle.

“I never did finish that language course. They gave me a promotion, slapped on a medal, and shifted me over to the State Security Committee. I had a whirlwind of training there, and after that, I met the general.” He took a bite of his vegetables. “Mmm. This is far better than the food on my ship. Travel rations are not the most edible form of sustenance.”

“I bet,” Breeze said. “The food was terrible back in Manehattan, where I was stationed before this. Then again, that was a Night Guard base. The Royal Guard here has the best food out of all the bases in the entire country.” The mare looked over at Ivanov and tilted her head to the side. “I’m sort of surprised that you like vegetables. I thought most griffons were carnivores?”

He chuckled. “The key word here is ‘most.’ I admit, I eat meat on occasion, but I am almost a vegetarian. That’s actually what led to my friendship with the General. The others on the base were eating mutton, and there were two griffons over in a corner with a pile of carrots and celery. It was the start of a beautiful friendship.”

“Well, that’s interesting!” Breeze sipped her soup. “Mmm, good. So, what did you do in the State Committee?”

“Probably much of the same work as your Captain Flair. Investigations, work in other countries, and many other jobs. On one special occasion, I was assigned to oversee an attack on Yakyakistan. There was a supposed traitor among the officers.” He grimaced. “Something went wrong, and the officer I was investigating was killed, along with almost every other commissioned officer. General Chaput, at the time Captain Chaput, was the highest ranked survivor. He took charge just by shouting at everygriff until they did what he said. Then he came up with the most insane scheme I’ve ever heard and managed to complete our mission.” Ivanov shrugged. “When we got back to Griffonia, he got promoted and requested that I be assigned to work with him on a permanent basis. He had a great deal of pull, and it happened. I’ve served under him ever since.”

“How did you feel, moving from covert operations work to regular naval assignments?” Breeze asked, finishing the last of her bread.

He took a bite of his own soup before replying. “I wasn’t sure how I felt, at first. But then the rebellion happened, and I was given a stolen airship to command.” The captain grinned. “Now, that I enjoyed. But enough about me!” Wiping his beak with a napkin, he nodded to her. “How about yourself?”

Smiling, she began to speak. “Oh, nothing so interesting. I went to college early for criminal justice and realized that I wanted to do something more. So I applied to the EBI after getting my degree and was accepted.” Breeze shrugged. “Solved a complicated case during training and was spotted by Sec Eleven. They asked me to join, and I did. Now I’m here. That’s it, actually.” She laughed. “Like I said, not quite as impressive of a story.”

“But intriguing nonetheless! What case did you solve?” Ivanov asked.

“It was one of the training cases that the EBI used to prove that some cases are unsolvable. It was an actual case that happened in Manehattan about twenty years ago. A pony was murdered, and the body was found. Killed by what looked like a crossbow, but no bolt was recovered. No evidence of magic, no witnesses, and the authorities could not, for the life of them, figure out where the murder had happened.”

“So, how does one solve a twenty year old mystery?” Ivanov ate more of his vegetables, his eyes never leaving the unicorn mare.

“Well, I’m from Manehattan, and there was something odd about the wound. It didn’t look like any bolt I recognized. The bolt would have had an oddly twisted point in order to make the exact wound. I crunched some numbers, and the design would have caused the bolt to curve leftward after being fired at a very fast rate, especially given the reports of the length of the bolt shaft. There’s no way something with that design would have been an effective weapon.” She smiled. “Of course, I came to the conclusion that—”

“It wasn’t a crossbow bolt,” Ivanov muttered.

“Exactly. The teachers said for me to drop it, but this was a new lead. Frankly, I don’t know why nopony had noticed this before, but all the reports and every bit of information said that it was a crossbow. It had to have been.” She shook her head. “So I contacted an old friend from school, an animator who was working on some video game project. He came over and helped me recreate the ‘bolt’ out of the wound’s evidence using a computer program. He made it look like a bolt, but it was when I asked him to change some of the dimensions slightly that things got interesting.”

“Oh? Do tell,” the griffon said with a smirk.

“I recognized the patterns. There’s a building in Manehattan that has these huge gargoyles on the sides. Some of them are holding highly decorated spears. Guess what the wounds looked like?”

The griffon’s smile widened. “Now, that is interesting.”

“Yep. I sent my information to my teachers, and they were very surprised. They contacted the authorities back at Manehattan and talked to them. With this lead, they reopened the case and actually found out what happened. It was a very long story, but it boils down to the stallion climbing the building on a drunken bet, falling to his death, being recovered, and then hidden by his friends. How they managed to track the friends down after so long, I have no idea, but at least the stallion’s siblings finally got some closure.”

“That’s rather incredible,” Ivanov said. “Very interesting work. I think you would have done well in the Committee. At least, I would have enjoyed working with you.” He gave her a charming smile.

“Well, thank you,” she replied, her face flushing. “But we get to work together now, so there is that.”

“There is. It is a very nice thing to work with somegr— somepony who is like-minded.” He raised his glass to her and winked before taking a drink. “But speaking of working together, and since we’re already here, I suppose I could fill you in on what we learned last night.”

“Please do,” the mare replied. She smiled as he leaned forward and began to speak, slightly angling her head downward and sideways, but keeping eye contact. Agent Breeze listened intently to the inflection in the words of the handsome griffon, her mind attempting to focus on the case.

“So, we started by checking our cargo manifests to see if the windigos had come with us from Griffonia, and…”

~~~

Director Blueblood inhaled sharply as his eyes fluttered open at last. The dim light from the room nearly blinded him and a sharp pain pierced through his chest. He groaned as he tried to roll onto his side, but a few tubes plugged into his foreleg prevented him from completely changing his position. Reaching down, he frantically tried to rip them out of him and—

“Blue!”

The stallion looked up, his vision still bleary. He could vaguely make out a familiar pony beside him… it was… What was her name?

“Nurse! He’s awake!”

“Ember...” he groaned. “What is…”

A door opened and another pony entered the room. The mare in a white hat ran over to him with some kind of object levitated beside her. She pressed the device to his chest as Blueblood rolled onto his back. He moaned as more pain flooded his body.

“Director, I am going to give you a shot,” a calm voice told him. “You’ll feel a twinge in your leg.”

He nodded briefly before he felt a pinch in his foreleg. Gritting his teeth, he held on until— Suddenly, the pain receded, and he gave a sigh of relief.

“Are you feeling better, Director? Please nod or shake your head. Don’t speak yet.” The nurse looked into his eyes intently.

“I can speak,” he managed to croak.

She huffed in annoyance. “Very well… Director, I’m going to go get your doctor, okay? Please stay calm and try not to strain yourself.”

“Okay,” he replied. Blueblood blinked rapidly as the mare trotted out of the room. Slowly, the world came into focus and he could finally see Captain Flair standing beside him.

The pegasus mare looked down at him, her eyes narrowed and mouth pursed. She gave a small smile to him as he gazed upward at her. “Hey, Blue. Don’t die.”

Blueblood laughed, and quickly coughed. The pain returned and he looked up at the ceiling, hissing quietly. “Oww. Don’t do that, Ember.”

“You had me worried, you big lummox. I had to give you mouth to mouth. Not exactly how I wanted our second kiss to go.” She sighed.

The stallion chuckled once more and reached a hoof up to his head. “Please, don’t make me laugh. It hurts…”

“Then stop almost dying on me! This is the second time.” She shook her head. “I swear, if this happens again before you buy me that drink, I am going to have to file a complaint.”

“With whom? I don’t think that fate has a public relations department. Or customer services.” The Director smirked. “Besides, don’t you owe me that drink? I’m pretty sure that’s how the bet went.”

“Oh, I don’t think so!” She tossed her intricate mane to the side. The soft red and pink hair flopped over her fresh white uniform. “I distinctly remember a ‘civilian asset’ coming to my base in Zebrica to oversee some of our operations. Said ‘asset’ had an amazing… asset, and I told him so. We had to go out into the jungle, and he didn’t want to listen to what I had to say when the map got confusing. Because he’s an idiot. So, we made a bet. If I could make it to the post first, he had to buy me a drink. If he got there first, then—”

“Then you had to buy him a drink,” Blueblood interrupted. He smiled slyly. “And I’m glad you enjoyed my asset.”

“Shush. The nurse said no talking.” She stuck out her tongue.

“Oh, that’s not how it w— ahhhh…” Blueblood pushed both hooves to his chest. “Celestia, this is unpleasant.”

“Are you okay?” Flair was at his side immediately. She raised a hoof up to his and met his gaze.

He smiled wearily up at her concerned face, meeting her brilliant blue eyes with his own. “It’s okay. Just a flesh wound.” He held her hoof tenderly, and the corners of her mouth tugged upward slightly.

“Well, good. Because you owe me a drink.” She pulled back, her hoof lingering on his for a moment longer.

“Excuse me, I made it to the post far before you,” Blueblood protested. “You owe me that drink.”

“Uh uh uh!” Flair waved her hoof at the director. “You misunderstand. If I’d been there first, you had to buy me the drink. If you got there first, you got to buy me a drink, thus making it a date.” She grinned. “I let you win.”

“Wait, what?” Blueblood asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’m… I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works.”

“Yes. That is exactly how it works.” She took a step sideways, moving closer to his face. “At least, it did until you told me you were just there to scope me out for a possible transfer to Section Eleven… and then you became my boss.”

“Indeed. Not that it took you long to figure out,” he replied as she stood over him.

“Well, I am observant. And pretty. You said so, remember?”

“That was the pain meds. Zebrican wasps are awful.” Blueblood started to laugh but quickly stopped himself. “Nope. No laughing. Not worth it…”

“Oh, come on! Blaming it on wasps.” She reached down, booped his nose, and chuckled. “I kinda like this whole immobilized thing. It means that you have a hard time stopping me from doing naughty things!”

Her helpless victim growled. “I’m still your boss, Ember…”

“Mmm, I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Technically, you’re on medical leave. I’m actually in charge of Sec Eleven now.” She leaned in closer and whispered into his ear. “That means that the whole ‘no flirting with your boss’ thing is finally not in effect. And I’m going to take complete advantage of that fact.”

“Wait, wait. You’re in charge? What happened to everypony else in the chain?” Blueblood asked, pulling away from her.

Instantly, her smile faded, replaced by a grimace. “There were a lot of casualties, Blue. We lost a lot of friends...” Her eyes flashed. “But we got them. We got every single twice-damned windigo. I enacted Blackout, and the princesses were able to fight the majority of them off.”

“I…” Blueblood felt his heart race, and he swallowed. There was a beeping beside him, and he turned to see his heart monitor flashing. The number on the display increased at a faster and faster rate, and—

“Shit. Nope, we’re not talking about that,” Flair interrupted. “But yeah. Now you get to buy me that drink.” As she spoke, her smile returned, but Blueblood could tell how forced it was.

He took a few deep breaths, and the monitor stopped beeping so loudly. “Well, maybe someday, Ember. What I said back before you joined Section Eleven still stands, though.” He met her gaze once more. “I’m the director. You’re an agent. We can’t do anything. I can’t buy you that drink, and we shouldn’t even be having this conversation.”

“You’re right. We shouldn’t be talking right now.” Her mouth quirked upward.

“I’m glad you— oomph!”

Flair’s lips covered his gently, cutting off his next words. He opened his eyes wide in shock, but then she pulled away. He saw something glisten in the corner of her eye. “There,” she said. “I told myself that I’d do that one more time… just in case.”

Blueblood tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out. “I… why… uhh…” He felt his face flush, and the monitor beside him started beeping again.

“Well. At least there was some kind of reaction,” she said sadly. “We could’ve been great, ya know. But with those rules, us almost dying on a daily basis, and… and whoever that other mare you’re still pining after is, it just can’t work, can it?”

“It…” he began, but stopped as he saw her face. “No, Ember. It can’t work.”

“I guess you can’t blame a mare for trying, eh?” Flair shrugged defeatedly.

“Ember, I—”

His words were cut off as the nurse returned, along with a pegasus stallion. They walked toward him, and Flair strode away.

She looked back as she approached the door. “I should probably go, Director. I’ll keep you informed about the situation after the doctor clears you for light duty. Get better, you hear?” Her smile was bitter, and her eyes still glimmered. “That’s an order.”

“Ember…”

She walked out the door, and the grinning face of the doctor came into full view. “Well, Director Blueblood! I’m glad you’re doing better! How are you feeling?”

Blueblood pushed down his conflicting emotions and cleared his throat.

“I’m fine.”

~~~

General Chaput sat at a desk in his new quarters in Canterlot Castle. The afternoon sunlight filtered through the windows as he scratched his quill against parchment. Smiling, the griffon lost himself in the feeling of the antique feather slowly moving over the rich, thick paper. He could smell the expensive ink and he relished in the sensation of writing.

A quick knock came from the door, and Chaput lifted his head. He stood up and walked over to the source of the noise. Opening it up, he looked outside to see a stallion holding a letter.

“General Chaput?” he asked.

“Yes, I am Chaput,” he replied kindly. “What is it?”

“Somegriff gave me this letter. He said it was for you.” The stallion handed him the envelope.

The general nodded. “Thank you, guard.”

“Sir!” the pony said as he snapped to attention. He strode away, and Chaput walked back inside, opening the letter with a talon. He removed a pink perfumed page and read the flowing script upon it.

Look in your closet.

Chaput raised an eyebrow and walked across the room. He came to the closet door, and—

“It took you long enough,” a dry voice remarked.

The griffon opened the door to reveal a familiar pony mare. She flicked her red mane out of her eyes as she walked into the room.

“Ah, you must be Operative Songbird. We meet at last.” Chaput gave a small smile. “That was some parlor trick. How did you get into my quarters?”

“There are ways, if you know them.” The mare cocked her head to the side. “I do not have much time. You asked for any significant information about the princesses to be delivered immediately, correct?”

“Yes, I did.” Chaput narrowed his eyes. “What is it?”

The pony flashed him a smile. “Princess Luna has taken a lover… and they know about the changelings.”

Author's Note

Thanks to the live readers! We hit a new record of 30 people in the chat at one point! Woo! Song for this chapter is Say Something.

Picnics, Milkshakes, and Shademechs

Button carefully spread out the red and white checkered blanket on the grassy ground. He smiled contentedly as the smell of the castle labyrinth’s flowers surrounded him. Birds flew through the afternoon sky, and the peaceful babble of fountains trickled around him.

“Perfect.”

And perfect it was. His picnic basket was placed on the edge of the blanket, the wicker container holding a few carefully prepared sandwiches, a bag of chips that he’d picked up at the local market, several apples, a bunch of grapes, and a single bottle of red wine. In the middle of the prepared area was a vase filled with blue and purple flowers.

The stallion looked around as he waited for his marefriend to appear. His smile broadened as he allowed that word to soak in. “My marefriend…”

“Button!”

His ears perked up at the sound of her voice cutting through the birdsong and the soft trickle of water. Quickly, Button stood to his hooves and glanced over to see—

“L— I mean, Starry.” He smirked as the ‘pegasus’ trotted over to him with a grin on her face. “You look amazing, as always. Although I was expecting someone a bit different.” Button winked coyly.

“Oh, shush.” She laughed as she walked up to him and kissed his cheek. Button pulled her close with his foreleg and nuzzled her neck.

“But really, any reason that you’re still, you know,” he asked, glancing sideways, “disguised?”

Luna gazed at him through her glasses. “Button… did you know that my sister’s love for cake has made the front page of newspapers all over Equestria dozens of times? What do you think would happen if the press knew that a certain somepony had a coltfriend?”

“Oh.” Button nodded. “I’m okay with this, Starry.” He gestured to the blanket. “Well, we don’t really need to worry about that. Right now, it’s just you and me.”

“That sounds lovely.” Luna sat down on the blanket, curling her forelegs under her. “It was a rather long night for me. I really need a break.”

“It was? What happened?” Button unwrapped the basket and pulled out the platter of fruit.

“Well, the patrols were finding windigo stragglers all night long. Most of our unicorns were able to cast detection spells, but not all of them were powerful enough to find every windigo in the area. Princess Twilight’s students came in to assist, but Celestia and I also had to help. I spent all night wandering the castle looking for wounded invisible assassins.” She grunted. “Not exactly how I wanted to spend my evening.”

“Well, I got to spend my evening exactly how I wanted to.” Button leaned down and kissed the top of her head, and she giggled in response. “I got to spend time with the most amazing mare in Equestria. And kiss her too. Can’t forget that last point.”

“That part of last night was very nice,” Luna replied in a low voice. “I got to spend time with my favorite idiot.” She smirked and looked up at him. “That actually balances out all the other stuff. In all, not too bad of a night.”

“Hey! I’m not that much of an idiot…” Button shook his head wryly as he lifted the sandwiches from the basket.

“Yes, you are. You are a very lovable idiot. My lovable idiot.” She reached out and grabbed the bag of chips that Button hoofed to her.

Button snickered. “Okay, so it was a little dumb for me to think that you were a changeling..”

“‘A little?’ Methinks that you are not aware of the magnitude of thine error.” Luna quipped.

“Oh? Middle Equestrian, eh? Two can play at this game, my lady.” Button cleared his throat. “‘O, lover of my soul! My heart! My jewel! My star in the evening sky! Why hast thou—’”

“Stop! Stop!” Luna cried, choking back her laughter. “That was awful! Where did you learn Middle Equestrian?”

“I didn’t. I was faking it. Well, I know some of the basics, but just from what I’ve studied in books,” he replied with a chortle. He took the fruit from the basket and placed it on a plate he had just set on the blanket. “You know, I am actually really happy that you’re not a changeling.”

“Really? What happened to your speech last night?” She raised an eyebrow.

He sat down beside her after pulling the bottle of wine and two elegant glasses out of the basket. “See, I’d have been okay with you as a changeling, or as Starry, or as anything, really. But as a princess…” He looked into her eyes. “I gave it some thoughts, Starry. You’re a princess who is pretty much out of her time. I’m a historian who would have loved to have lived back a thousand years ago. The culture, the honor, the chivalry… I love it all, and you’re the ponyfication of everything I adore about history. But you’re not some pony out of a book that could never convey the real you, no matter how wonderful the writing is. You’re here, and you’re real, and I love you.”

“Oh…” Luna just looked at him, her eyes unfocused. “I hadn’t thought of that.” Looking back at him, she smiled. “That’s actually kind of amazing.”

“I think that’s why we hit it off so well. Talking to you felt like…” Button grasped for the words. “It felt like coming home, L— Starry.”

He gazed at the mare before him. A smile sat on her soft features, and a lock of her mane hung in front of her face. She slowly flicked it away, her cheeks flushed. “I… I feel the same way, Button.”

Button leaned forward and met her lips in a chaste kiss. She leaned into him and wrapped a wing around his neck. A moment later, the kiss broke, and the two stayed right there. Their noses touched as they gazed into each other's eyes. The scent of her vanilla perfume surrounded him, and he sighed contentedly.

“So, I guess we should get to eating…” he said.

Her eyes flashed. “Maybe in a few minutes.” Then, she pressed their lips together once more, and Button forgot about the food for a little while.

~~~

“So, let me get this straight… your two hundred and fifty-eighth birthday was two months ago?”

Luna nodded in response to her coltfriend’s question. She finished taking a sip of her milkshake and wiped some of the chocolate ice cream away with a napkin before replying. “Yes. It was a quiet ceremony. I try to keep things like that private.”

“But… you and your sister refounded Equestria, what, one thousand two hundred and thirty years ago?” Button inquired. He set his empty milkshake cup aside and leaned toward her. “How does that work?”

“Well, it was one thousand two hundred and thirty-five. She and I ruled together for about two hundred and sixteen years before my… incident.” She grimaced. “When Celestia banished me to the moon, I was in a semi-comatose state. I didn’t exactly celebrate any birthday for that thousand years.”

“Wow…” Button said. He blinked his eyes rapidly. “Wait, so that means that you were…” He muttered something nearly inaudible under his breath before continuing. “You were in your twenties when you took control of Equestria!”

The princess nodded. “Indeed. We were very young and completely unqualified for the job, but we were there, and the ponies wanted to follow us. It also helped that we were a lot taller than most of them.” She chortled and took a drink of water.

The Dairy Princess wasn’t too busy that afternoon. Luna and Button sat at a tall table in the far corner of the room, away from the other few patrons. The taste of the sweet ice cream brought a smile to the disguised princess’ face, and Button grinned back at her.

“So, I guess it’s kind of convenient that I actually really like taller mares.” His eyes twinkled. “And older ones too.”

“Oh, you!” Luna kicked him lightly under the table. “It could be worse. You could be dating my sister.”

Button snorted, and ice cream almost went up his nose. “Oh, Lu— Ah, I forgot that I can’t swear by my marefriend’s name…”

“I use ‘stars,’” Luna remarked. “It works pretty well for me.”

“That works.” Button shook his head. “I was just saying that it just clicked who you were talking about whenever you were telling me about your sister while we were playing the game…” The stallion gave a low whistle before saying, “I’m dating a princess. What the tartarus.”

“Yes, I think we have established this,” Luna teased, reaching a hoof across the table to pat him tenderly. “Try not to hurt yourself.”

“Pfff. I have a master’s degree, you know.” He grabbed ahold of her hoof, squeezing it lovingly. “I’m not stupid. That much.”

“I know,” she whispered. “But it’s too much fun to tease you.” Luna blew him a kiss. “Your reactions are adorable.”

To that, the stallion merely raised an eyebrow. “Wow.”

The princess giggled. “On the bright side, for you, I also think you’re adorable when I kiss you. You scrunch your face up, and it’s just too cute.”

“Hey! I’m an adult! I’m not cute. I’m… I’m… I’m ruggedly handsome. And gallant!” Button sat up straight, put on a serious face and looked to the side. “This is a face that melts the hearts of mares the world over!”

“Puh-lease... “ Luna shook her head and giggled even more. “You’re adorable, and you know it.”

“Okay, I am pretty adorable,” he conceded with a smile. “You’re pretty cute yourself, too. No matter what shape you’re in. I particularly like the glasses. It brings out your inner dork.”

Luna spluttered. “Why, you… I am a princess! I am not a dork!”

“You spent three days making a forum post about one of your alt-character’s builds less than a month ago. With graphs. And derivatives and stuff. You used science to prove how to make a pure Warrior do more damage than a DPS spec’d Rager.” He stifled a chuckle. “You might be a princess, but the fact is undeniable. You. Are. A. Giant. Dork.”

“Yeah, well… it was cool math!” Luna protested.

Button scrunched his nose and leaned back. “Eww. Math is not cool. History is cool. Explosions are cool. Math is nope. Just nope.”

Luna laughed. “But yeah… I am a dork. Can you imagine if that information leaked out to the press?”

“I can see the headlines now! ‘Princess Luna Plays Video Games, Dates Loser Stallion From Ponyville, Wears Glasses, and is an Enormous Dork!’” Button took a sip of his own water. “Your reputation would be destroyed… or ponies might not care.”

“They always care, Button. That’s part of the reason I stayed so isolated since I returned.” Luna looked down at the table. “Everypony cares about the princesses. They see us as goddesses. Legends in our own time, forever elevated above everypony else. I once went out with a friend to dinner. She was a student at the school for gifted unicorns, and she was actually a descendant of one of my old friends, back before my banishment. Do you know what the press did?”

“What’d they do?” he asked carefully.

“They announced to the world that I had a marefriend. It was all over the country within a day. Neither of us could go outside without being hounded by reporters.” Luna sighed. “She was so shy that it drove her over the edge. She quit her studies and left the city. I haven’t heard from her since.”

Button reached a hoof across the table. “I’m sorry, Starry…”

“It’s not your fault,” Luna said with a sniff.

“But can I still be sorry that you felt pain?” he asked simply.

She looked up and grabbed his hoof. She met his gaze and saw the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. His lips twitched upward in a small smile, and she returned it. “I guess you can do that.”

“Starry, you don’t have to be scared of ponies. So the press gets a bit hyperactive. So what? Let them talk. If you’re happy, then it doesn’t matter what they say. And if anything like that ever happens to us, I won’t run back to Ponyville. I’ll stand beside you and hold up a newspaper to block the cameras as we run off to get more ice cream together.”

Luna chuckled at this. “And how do you plan to run with two legs occupied holding the newspaper?”

“I said we’ll be running. What I meant was that you’ll be running. I’ll ride on your back and cover us with magical shielding paper so that nopony will know that it’s us!” he exclaimed.

“Oh, stars. You have the oddest ideas, you goof.” Luna smirked at him.

“Hey, it’ll work! Plus, it might even be fun.” He wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Luna felt heat rush to her face, and she had to raise a hoof up to her eyes. “I can’t believe that you said that!”

Button snickered. “Well, it’s true!” With a sigh, he glanced down at his empty milkshake cup. “So, do you have to go back to work, or do you have some more free time? ‘Cause I was thinking… maybe we can log on and get some playtime in?”

“Ummm…” Luna scratched under her chin. “I think I actually do have some time!”

“Awesome!” Button grinned widely. “Do you want to head back to the castle and get your laptop? We could meet up at my hotel!”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Luna replied. “You get the snacks, and I’ll get the drinks?”

“Perfect.” Button stood up and nodded. “It’s a date!”

~~~

Button’s bullets tore through the air toward his helpless targets. The rounds entered the shimmering field containing six Shademechs and instantly froze, waiting for time to resume its normal course. Beside him, Luna fired her own weapons at the same foes. “Well, this is easy,” Button remarked.

The two soldiers stood in the wreckage of an ancient crashed spaceship. Twisted metal littered the ground, gleaming in the moonlight. More Shademechs, robot warriors who had been turned partially incorporeal by a corrupt spell, surrounded them, but the duo seemed entirely unperturbed by their presence. Luna had hacked a few of the mechs, commanding them to cast a shield behind them, and Button’s time control had rendered the few enemies in front of them useless.

“It’s mechanicals, after all. We’re not going to have too much trouble with them,” Luna said as she charged a glowing spell in the air above them. With a brilliant flash, molten light arced out over the shields around them and struck all of their enemies. They caught fire, burned by the power of Celestia.

“So, is it weird playing as a character who’s Favored by your real life sister?” Button asked. He tossed a grenade forward, and the nearest Shademechs exploded with a flash of blue energy.

Luna laughed. “I’m used to it by now. It’s actually kind of funny, Button. My favorite part is when ‘Celestia’ speaks to me in class-based cutscenes. The voice actress does a decent job, but it is different just enough to make me laugh. The developers could have just asked us to voice ourselves. I know that I would have agreed.”

“Really? Do you think that your sister would have?” Button turned around and dove through the shields. He lashed out at the closest mechs, striking them with his augmented hooves. They crashed to the ground in a spectacular shower of sparks.

“Oh, Tia would never pass up an opportunity to say lines like, ‘You, Child, shall be my sword. Through your power, my justice shall once more cleanse the world! Peace through victory. Salvation through life.’ She would have laughed her flank off at the level of cheese.” Luna chortled as she opened a portal up to the top of the wreckage. She stepped through and aimed her sniper rifle down at the few remaining monsters.

Button brought his hooves down on the next mech with a laugh. “Really? I never would have guessed that she was that kind of pony.”

“Most definitely.” The princess fired the rifle three times in rapid succession. Four creatures fell, and she trained her scope on a fifth. “She projects an air of… how should I put this? Serenity, I suppose. Ancient, perfect, motherly. But she’s a joker at heart, and her pranks were legendary, back before I was banished.” Another pair of mobs screamed as they perished, slain by her precision. “I think she adopted the more serious persona because she had to lead Equestria alone. But if you could have seen her with Paix, you wouldn’t have believed your eyes.”

“Wait, ‘Paix?’ Who’s that?” Button asked, pausing his attack briefly.

Luna looked at him, eyebrow raised. “You don’t know? I thought you were a historian.”

“Hey! I’m not a specialist in the life of Princess Celestia. That’s basically a branch of history in and of itself. Who’s Paix?” He resumed his attacks, striking down his enemies with his burstfire submachine guns.

The princess frowned. “Why… why don’t you know about Paix? Celestia’s husband?”

“Princess Celestia was married?” Button asked incredulously. “What?”

“I thought this was common knowledge! She didn’t exactly hide it…” Luna narrowed her eyes and cast a portal over to another part of the wreckage. She leapt through and trained her sights on new enemies that had lurked just outside her view.

“I’ve never heard anything about this before anywhere! What the tartarus?” Button exclaimed, sprinting toward a mech that was charging its laser rifle. “Do you know what this means?”

“It means that my sister is covering things up in history…” she muttered.

“It means that— wait, what?” Button took down the mech and spun around to cut through another with the sheer force of his physical blows.

Luna sighed. “I need to talk to her about this. Why would she hide Paix?”

“I have no idea,” he replied. “But hey, she must have had a good reason, right?”

“I suppose…” Luna fired three more shots and finished off the last of the shadowy creatures. “Button, can you get the loot? I’ll keep watch for any more mobs.”

“Can do!” Button turned toward the crashed ship and took to the air using his jetpack. Latching onto the side of the ship, he grabbed onto the thick armor plating and ripped outward. The strength of his augmented limbs bent the decaying metal, revealing another layer of protection. Button charged his cybernetics and struck downward with a cry. His strike broke through the ship, creating a hole through which he could see the corridors inside the wreckage. “Hey, Luna? Can you cast a portal through this?”

“Let me see…” The princess swooped over to him and glanced inside. “I’ll try.” She focused her chaotic energies on the darkened hallways. Concentrating on the far wall, she shaped the power into a portal and felt the spell activate. She turned around at cast the companion portal right behind them. “After you, my good sir.”

“Eh… it’s dark inside.” Button backed up. “What about ladies first, huh?”

Luna rolled her eyes. “Oh, so mister ‘I love the chivalry and gallantry’ won’t even go into battle in front of his marefriend?”

“Well, to be honest, my marefriend is kind of a badflank both in-game and out, so…” He winked at her. “I’m just kidding, Mem. Of course I’ll go first, although I fully expect to be repaid in kisses later.”

“Oh, you wish!” Luna nudged into him. “Hey, you called me ‘Mem’ again.”

“Whoops!” Button exclaimed. “Sorry. Old habits die hard, I guess.”

“Actually, you said you wanted to give me a nickname. Why don’t we just stick with Mem and Fade? Top secret pet names.” Luna walked beside him.

“That’s… a really good idea. I like it. Nopony will ever understand what we’re talking about!” Button chuckled as he made his character blow a kiss toward her. “Well then, Mem, let’s get going, shall we?”

“Lead onward, oh gallant knight.” The princess’ avatar stopped moving as she leaned sideways to kiss the stallion who sat beside her. “And maybe you can have some more later.”

“All righty then!” Button moved forward to enter the portal and—

Private Message. Sender: Silver Feather: Mem, Fade! Base is under attack! We’re gonna hit the Red Legion! I need you two back at base ASAP!

A smile broke across Luna’s face as she heard the chime come from Button’s computer as well. “Oh my,” she said.

Button turned to her with a grin. “You heard that griffon! Let’s go kick some mercenary flank!” His character pulled a glowing golden box out of his saddlebag as he flew toward the ground. He dropped the object quickly and typed something on his control pad. A strong white light filtered from the device, and Luna saw a few words appear on her HUD.

Accept teleport to base? y/n

Luna allowed herself a low chuckle as she pressed the ‘y’ button on her keyboard.

The world went dark, and the princess prepared herself for battle.

Author's Note

Song today was Love Song!

Interlude IV: Power

Father Dmitri stood in the afternoon sunlight atop the crow’s nest of the FAS Honor. The magnificent flagship of Griffonia’s fleet hovered proudly over the city of Griffonstone. Its quad turbine engines roared as they held the enormous monstrosity aloft. Dmitri peered down and could see the glimmer of the magical engines as they converted the ambient magic in the air around them into a means of physical propulsion. Griffons flew to and fro along the ship, storing equipment and preparing for the airship’s imminent journey to Equestria.

From his perch far above the ship, Dmitri watched his griffons complete their tasks. Airgriffs cleaned and recalibrated the ship’s flak burst anti-pegasus guns, the cannons that made up the Honor’s massive broadside armaments were being subjected to numerous tests by his technicians, and the classified payload for his experimental weapon had already been loaded into the ship’s secret compartment, awaiting only a command to be deployed.

The ruler of the griffons allowed himself a small smile as he turned around to examine the ship’s engines. The four horizontal turbines that recessed into the deck of the ship provided his lift, but it was the magical ‘propellers’ that set the Honor apart from its smaller cousins.

Germane technology had allowed the griffons to tap into magic itself instead of relying on their traditional technology. By accessing nodes of mana, the faux-propellers actually processed the air via an electro-magical reaction to allow nearly unheard-of levels of thrust. The Honor may have been the biggest ship in his fleet, but it was also one of the fastest.

Armored plating, engines that could outdistance any major pursuit, weapons for every application from swatting pegasi dogfighters to bombing cities, and a crew composed of Griffonia’s best of the best. Dmitri’s smile widened. “When the war comes… we will not fail.” His eyes trailed over to the airship’s most important asset. Set into the center of the deck was a large purple crystal that pulsed with shimmering energy. As he watched, crewmembers covered the artifact with armored plating, hiding the valuable object from sight. Dmitri shivered as he sensed the crystal activate. Magical suppression. No pony could cast a spell within almost one hundred meters, and any unicorn or alicorn spell would have a very difficult time staying intact anywhere near the suppressor. The device’s intricate matrix allowed it to detect technical spells and filter them out, making it so that the spells powering the engines would be unaffected.

“Victory, your name is honor.”

Dmitri turned to walk down from the crow’s nest, but he slowed himself as the air suddenly became frigid. A predatory smile slowly crept across the griffon’s face. He closed his eyes and reached outward with his senses. Something primeval stirred within him as his hidden power grasped at the projected emotions of the griffons all around him. Dmitri could feel the roughness of their stress, taste the bitter tang of their anxiety, hear the growls of their anger, and see the restless energy of a warrior race prepared for war. But there was something else… Something cold. Something empty. Something hungry…

“Windigo,” he hissed. “How went the battle?”

The air in front of him distorted, and, seconds later, the wispy outline of a large, proud pony appeared. The windigo, empty and hopeless, stared into his eyes. :Imprisoner. Father. Battle ended.: The words resounded in Dmitri’s head, psychically projected by the incorporeal creature of legend.

“Useless imbecile,” Dmitri growled. “Tell me. What happened at the castle?” The father’s eyes glowed bright blue, and a magic far more ancient than anything practiced by ponies or griffons surrendered to his will and latched onto his windigo target.

The windigo swayed back and forth, shaking. He fell to his knees and hung his head. :War. Ponies slain. Many brothers fall. General hurt. Not dead.:

“I know this already,” Dmitri said scornfully. “Did Chaput complete his mission?”

:Ponies trust him. He hears nothing from spies. Still traitor?:

“Chaput is a fool who thinks himself wise. He toys with forces beyond his ken. I do not doubt that he will betray me eventually, but for now, he has followed our plan to the letter.” Dmitri nodded to himself. “What of the princesses? Does she think we seek peace?”

:White goddess believes. Black goddess doubts. They want peace. Will not suspect sneak attack.: The windigo stayed kneeling on the floor of the ship, and his thought-speech bore an air of defeat.

“Good…” the griffon scratched his chin. “And how goes the plot with Yvonne? Are our assassins in position?”

:Pony militants influenced. Angry. Ready to kill. Present target. They strike.:

Dmitri clicked his tongue and nodded. “And then, when the general and the griffoness are slain, we declare war for our vengeance.”

The windigo barely raised his head. :Foolish plan. Ponies strong. Kill you. Free me.:

The griffon snarled and leapt over to the helpless monster. “You do not speak to me that way. You are mine, and I command.”

:For now.:

Dmitri’s claw shot out and he grabbed his victim by the throat. Tightening his grip, he raised the windigo into the air. It tried to resist, struggling against his talons, but it was no use. The windigo could not hurt his master, and he would never be able to do so.

“I always command,” Dmitri whispered. He squeezed, and the windigo’s head separated from his body, severed by razor sharp claws powered by the pure, distilled rage of a nation of killers. The windigo’s remains blew away with the breeze, and Dmitri inhaled deeply as the rush of the kill filled his heart. He stole the windigo’s defiance and kept his anger. The strength it had turned against him became part of his own power.

The wind blew through Dmitri’s feathers as he turned toward the stairs once more. His grizzled beak clicked as he strode forward, his mind set on Equestria.

“They may be strong… but when their fire goes out, I will remain.”

Author's Note

This chapter too short for you? Check out my new fic in this same universe that is centered around Princess Celestia and the lover that Equestria forgot... The Courtship of Princess Celestia.

Song for tonight? Radioactive in the Dark!

Friends, Pets, and Coins

Luna gazed out of the window of the Chosen Few’s stealth speeder. The ground rushed past them and seemed to merge together in a green-tinted blur. Trees, flowers, roads, stones, monsters, players, lakes… the sheer speed of the vehicle made it nearly impossible to make out the terrain below them.

“ETA, three minutes,” Noble growled from her seat at the front of the speeder. Her mismatched draconequus hands held the controls as she made a slight turn to the left. “Cloak is on, so the Legion shouldn’t be able to tell that we’re coming.”

“Perfect.” Silver nodded to himself and polished his one of his twin short swords. “Jexxc and Fawkes just sent a message to me saying that the Legion is massing outside the base. Fawkes is in charge of the other members. He’s up for officer status in a month, so this is good practice for him. The Legion will beat our defenders, but as soon as they get inside, they’ll be in for a massive surprise…”

“Heh,” Button chucked from beside Luna. “I guess you could call being incinerated a surprise.”

“I think that definitely qualifies,” Luna agreed. She reached her character’s leg over to give Button a side hug. “And an even bigger surprise when we steal all of their spaceship parts.”

Button snickered and returned the hug. “Ah, the joys of raiding.”

Silver glanced back at them and raised an eyebrow. “You two are acting weird.”

“Umm…” Button removed his avatar’s hoof quickly. “No we aren’t.”

“Dude, you just totally made your toons hug.” Noble looked into her rear-view mirror and raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you guys are getting into that roleplay junk. Next thing we know, you’ll be having a wedding back at the base. Gross.”

Luna and Button turned to look at each other. Smiling, the princess nodded to their comrades. “Do you want to tell them?”

“Are you sure?” Button whispered. “It might get weird…”

Noble coughed loudly. “We can hear you, ya know.”

“What might get weird?” Silver demanded, glancing back and forth between them.

Button shrugged. “Do you want to tell them, or should I?”

“I’ll tell them.” Luna smiled broadly. “Uh, do you guys remember that Fade went on vacation to Canterlot a bit ago?”

“Isn’t he still there?” Noble turned the speeder further left.

“He is…” Luna glanced at her coltfriend’s character. “And I live in Canterlot. We decided to spend some time together, and—”

“Holy shit, you two are bucking each other, aren’t you?” Noble blurted.

Button coughed and spluttered. “Noble!”

“Oh, what the… well, are you?” Silver asked. “I’ve seen enough romance movies to see where this is going!”

Luna giggled. “We’re not ‘bucking,’ but we are dating.”

Noble stopped the speeder in mid-air and spun her seat around. “You’re kidding. I was right?”

“Not about the bucking part,” Button muttered.

“Holy shit!” the draconequus repeated. She howled with laughter. “It all makes sense now! The duoing, the private chat, the suspicious absence of both of you last night… how did I miss this? You two probably reek of glowy red hearts and luuuuuuurve.” Cackling madly, she turned back around and resumed her piloting.

“Is this going to interfere with anything in the guild?” Silver asked quietly.

Button shook his head. “Nah, it shouldn’t. Actually, we should be on even more once I go back home. Spending more time together and all that.”

“Okay then,” Silver said with a shrug. “So long as you’re cool with it, I don’t care too much. Good for you, though. You two seem to fit pretty well.”

“Thanks, Silver,” Luna replied.

“Heh, fit together, if ‘ya know what I mean.” Noble snickered to herself.

“Noble!” Button kicked the seat in front of him, but the chortling draconequus just kept laughing.

“Anyways…” Silver pulled up his map. “We’re almost there. Noble, are you sure that your contact is ready?”

“Yeah, she just sent me a message that she’s in position. Do you have the thing?”

Silver nodded. “It’s in my pack. As soon as we get inside, she can have it.”

“Perfect!” Noble pressed a few buttons on the speeder’s command console. “Okay, I’m going to get us ready to land. Hold onto your flanks. Or, if you’re Mem and Fade, hold onto one another’s flanks.”

“Noble!” Button cried again. “Why?”

Luna muted her mic and leaned over to Button. “That doesn’t sound like a terrible idea,” she whispered.

Button blushed furiously and looked over at his marefriend waggling her eyebrows. He cracked a smile and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “Maybe later, eh?”

“Hey lovebirds, you ready yet?” Silver asked in a monotone voice. “You might have muted one of your mics, but Fade has one too, you know.”

This time, it was Luna’s turn to blush. “Oh, sorry.”

“Bow chicka bow-wow,” Noble crooned. She set the speeder down in a clearing close to an enormous plasteel-walled complex. The cloaking device stayed active as she turned the engines off. “Okay! Just a quick stealth trek over to the maintenance entrance, and she’ll let us in.”

Button shook his head wryly as he opened the glass canopy of the elegant vehicle. He activated his stealth mode before hopping out, weapons drawn. After glancing around and running a quick scan for threats, he glanced back at the others. “We’re clear.”

Luna followed with her own stealth field active. She activated her pistols and prepared her chaos magic as she took her habitual spot at Button’s side. “What’s the configuration, Silver?”

“Noble, you’re running heals today. Fade is on tanking, if possible, and I’ll be primary DPS.” Silver and his wing-draconequus came out of the speeder and stood behind the ponies. “Mem, I want you running control. Be aware, Red Legion is a PvP specialty guild. We may have to reconfigure if the fit hits the shan.”

“Meep meep,” Noble chirped as she pressed the command to lock the speeder. “Aww. I miss the non-stealth ones. They make the fun noise with me!”

“Stay serious, Noble. We’re need to have our heads in the game,” Silver growled.

The outline of Noble on Luna’s HUD gave a mock salute. “Yes, oh great master. We shall remain ever-serious. Shiny.”

Sighing, Silver shook his head and took a step toward Luna. “Fade, you’re on point.”

“Gotcha.” With that, Button walked forward and the rest of the group followed. Luna and Silver hovered above the ground to free up their front hooves or talons to hold their weapons, and Noble walked behind Button with her bow drawn and ready to fire.

After an uneventful trek through the underbrush, the party came to a massive white wall stained red by something that vaguely resembled paint. Luna grimaced as they took a right turn and followed the wall eastward. They didn’t see any foes, player or otherwise, until the came to a brown dirt road that led away from a small gate.

“Okay, this is the maintenance entrance…” Noble muttered as she scanned the area. “One guard, looks like. My contact should be inside.”

“Mem, can you portal Fade and me behind him?” Silver asked, raising his blades.

“Yeah, one sec…” Luna focused her magic on the wall behind the pony standing guard. The portal opened silently, and another appeared beside her melee teammates. They nodded to her before walking through.

“Mem, snipe him. Noble, hit him with a full draw. Fade and I will finish him off. On my signal. Three, two, one. Shoot!”

Luna fired her silenced sniper rifle at the guards head just as Noble released her acid-dripping arrow. With a cry, Button slammed into him with the full force of his augmented hooves. To finish the job, Silver crashed downward from the air with both swords, decapitating the still barely aware guard. His head rolled down the road, and Silver grunted in satisfaction. “Quickly!”

Noble and Luna dashed through the still open portal, and the full team strode over the the small door beside the gate.

Nodding to herself, Noble typed something on her wristpad. After a second, she grunted. “She wants to join our voice chat. Can I invite her and then kick her after?”

“Fine,” Silver replied. “Just hurry. I don’t know how long it’ll be until that guard returns or alerts someone.”

There was a ding in Luna’s ears, and a new, chipper voice joined the room. “Hey, guys!” the female voice chimed.

“Everyone, this is Traxx,” Noble said. “She’s one of the Legion’s mechanics.”

“Soon to be former mechanic,” Traxx added. “Noble said you guys have some openings on your team?”

“We do indeed,” Silver replied. “I’m Silver Quill, guild leader. Do you mind letting us in? I believe that we have something of yours.”

“Oh, sure!” Traxx declared. The door in front of the group beeped twice and then opened to reveal the smiling face of a deep blue pegasus mare with a black and blue striped mane. She wore a technician’s belt and had a stained brown apron filled with a variety of tools. “C’mon in! Wait, where are you?”

The group stepped inside and decloaked after the door shut behind them. Traxx nodded and cracked a grin. “Ah, of course! Sneaky, sneaky! Do you have the thing?”

“Right here…” Silver looked inside his saddlebag and muttered to himself. “I know it was here somewh— ah!” He pulled out a small metal cylinder with a blue light on the top. “As promised, one Discord-Forged tier five augmented screwdriver.”

“Yes!” Traxx took the item and did a small dance. “I’ve wanted one of these for a while!”

“Wait,” Button said slowly. “You’re betraying your guild… for a screwdriver?”

“For a tier five Anvil screwdriver? Uh, yeah. This thing can do a lot more than undo screws, bub.” She pointed it at a wall and pressed a button. One of the screws in the wall undid itself and then hovered over to her. “Look! Telekinesis!”

Button chuckled. “Well, okay then.”

“Okay, here’s the deal.” Traxx nodded at the door. “There isn’t a code to exit, so you can get yourself out by pressing the big red button. It’ll open and you can all scram-o. Noble, will you be able to get me that invite later tonight?”

“We can do that,” the draconequus replied. “Why don’t we do it now?”

“Nah, I need to get my stuff out of the base first. They’ll probably just send their killers after me if I leave now. Because, ‘ya know, principles.” Traxx shrugged. “Anyway, I’ll send you a PM later! You should be clear down to the hangar. Just go to the end of the hallway, take a right, and then go in the big room marked ‘hangar!’ It’s that easy!”

“Perfect. Thank you, Traxx. I think that I’ll enjoy having you in the guild,” Silver said.

“Oh, fun! Okay, gotta go! I need to grab my stuff before the guild finds out that I was the one who let you in!” She bowed to them. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…” Traxx trotted off down the hallway and took a quick left turn.

The chat beeped once again as Traxx removed herself. Noble laughed. “She’s always chipper like that.”

“Do you know her from somewhere?” Button asked as the group reactivated their cloaks and walked off to the hangar.

Noble snorted. “We work together in real life.”

“You have a job?” Button chuckled. “I thought that you were playing all the time! How do you have time for work?”

“Eh, it’s part time. But you know my rules! No RL questions about me.” Noble smirked. “Let’s talk about you and lover-mare instead!”

Snorting, Luna shook her head. “That’s not fair, Noble. You know about us. You should at least—”

“Wait…” Silver growled. “The path away from the hangar was on the left of the door. Why do we go right to get to the hangar?”

“Silver, this is the spacecraft hangar,” Noble replied. “ It can’t be in the same place as their ground vehicles.”

Luna hummed to herself as the group rounded the corner to the left. “I guess that makes sense.” She glanced back and forth and didn’t see any of the Legionnaires. “Maybe she got the location wrong…”

“Or maybe it’s a trap.” Silver sighed. “How well do you know her, Noble? Could she be a double agent?”

The draconequus sighed. “You’re being paranoid, Silver. She’s no more a spy than I am.”

“Okay. I believe you,” Silver said. He stopped walking for a second and grunted to himself. “Fawkes just messaged me. He and the rest of the troops just died. The Legion will be inside in a second, and then they’ll all get their present.”

“Awesome,” Button said, smiling toothily. “I can’t wait to read the rants on the forums when we steal all of their stuff right when they thought that they’d gotten ours.”

“Me either,” Noble added with a laugh. “It’s gonna be interesting to read about the backlash of all this.”

After a few more moments of careful walking, the group came to a doorway. Up above the metal door frame hung a sign labeled “Ship Hangar.” Silver trotted over to it and looked at the external control panel. “No trapbox… scan shows no trap or ambush inside… no code required for entrance… I think we’re good.”

Luna readied her rifle and nodded. “Okay, I’m prepared.”

Silver pressed the opening button, and the group quickly entered. The room was very large and well lit. Bare walls and a floor made of empty landing pads accentuated the barrenness of the area. A small pile of starship wings occupied the far corner of the room, but there was no sign of the large supply of parts that the hangar was supposed to contain.

Button snorted. “Well, that was anticlima—”

The voice chat chirped as Noble removed herself from the group. Luna narrowed her eyes. “Wait… Noble disconnected.”

“Oh, bloody tartarus! That’s not a DC! She left the whole thing!” Silver cried. Quickly, the griffon turned around and—

The door behind them shut. A viewscreen next to the door flashed to life, showing a familiar draconequus wearing a smile on the other side. Luna’s HUD showed a message that had just been sent.

Noble Rain: Activate your proximity voices, guys. I need to talk to you.

“Buck…” Silver swore. “Do it.”

Luna pressed a few commands on her pad and the sound of Noble’s mic filled her headset.

“Ah, there you are!”

“Noble, what the buck are you doing?” Silver demanded.

The draconequus raised a clawed finger and swung it back and forth. “Ah, ah, ah! My turn to talk! Guys, it’s been fun playing with you all. Really, it has. But I’m sick of it all. You’re all too serious. Too goody two-horseshoes. I need a guild that appreciates my talents! Ya know, like blowing shit up!”

Another smiling character trotted over to the screen. Traxx waved to them. “Hi again! I just wanted to add that we here at the Legion wanted to thank you for the ship parts and Noble! Oh! And for the super screwdriver! This thing is awesome.”

Silver swore and pounded a fist against the wall. “Noble, you bitch! Get your twice-damned motherbucking face back in here so I can slice your lying head off! I trusted you!”

“Silver. You’re an idiot. I like Traxx here better.” Noble chuckled darkly. “Did I mention? Traxx is a real life friend… and one of the guild’s co-owners. Now that I’ve given them such a head start on the space race, they’re actually going to add me as a co-owner too! After a bit of time, of course, but now I get to lead raids and stuff! Blow things up and get paid for it!”

“You filthy traitor! I’ll kill you and eat your liver!” Silver slammed his rear leg into the ground.

“First, eww. Second, I know that griffons are gross, but really? The liver? I’d have thought there was a different part of me that you’d want to eat, if ya know what I mean…” Noble threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, being the bad guy is fun! I should have done this a long time ago.”

Silver’s voice froze up and he gasped for air. “You… I… I…”

“Use your words, Silvy.” Noble tapped on the camera. “Oh, and you guys should get comfortable. We’ve blocked all teleportation in there, so you can’t get back to the guild. I disabled all of your traps, by the way. My new guildies shouldn’t have any problems at all getting the parts. I guess we’ll kill you eventually, just so that we don’t get banned for holding prisoners for too long. But by then, there won’t be any stopping us. Mwahaha,” she said in a mock-villainous tone. “So yeah! Have fun!”

Noble Rain has left your guild.

“Damnit!” Silver screamed as Noble and Traxx deactivated the viewscreen outside.

“Okay, okay…” Button muttered. “I’m gonna try teleporting all over the room! They may have missed a corner.”

“I’ll try to pick the lock.” Luna trotted over the the door. Silver slumped against the wall and then stood still. “Silver? Come on, we can’t give up.”

“Just…” he replied, panting. “Just give me a second.”

“Teleport doesn’t work here!” Button cried from the nearest corner.

“Silver…”

“She was my best friend, Mem,” the guild leader whispered. “And she didn’t even give two shits about us.”

“Silver, we need to try to get out of here!” Luna said softly. “We can deal with her later.”

“I…” Silver’s mic went dead, and then his avatar shimmered and disappeared.

Silver Quill has gone offline.

“Oh, stars,” Luna swore. “Okay, trying to pick the lock!”

Button ran from spot to spot in the room trying to teleport back to the base while Luna opened up the control panel and attempted to open the door with her hacking.

“Damn! Nothing anywhere in the room! They got it all!” Button sprinted over to her. “Any luck on the panel?”

“Just—” A shower of sparks flew into Luna’s face and she stamped a rear hoof in exasperation. “It just blew. They have a maxed out lock here. I can’t do it.”

“So we’re screwed?” he asked quietly.

“We’re screwed,” Luna confirmed solemnly.

“Well…” Button sighed. “Drat. There goes our spaceship stuff.”

“We can get more.” Luna trotted over to him and nuzzled against him. “I can’t believe that Noble did that.”

“I know! I thought she was our friend! She’s been with us for more than a year!” Button shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense!”

Luna sighed. “Some ponies don’t care about friends as much as they do about advancement. I didn’t think Noble was one of them, but I guess I was wrong.”

Yeah…” Button looked away but then glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Well, since we don’t have anything better to do… how about that flank holding that you talked about earlier?”

Luna’s eyes twinkled. “You want to stop playing a game and make out now?”

“Kinda! I mean, we’re sorta just waiting for them to kill us, so we may as well make good use of what little time we have left.” He bowed low to the ground and then held out his hoof. “O’ beautiful mistress of the night. Wouldst thou do Us the honor of skedaddling over to yonder couch to kissify a lot?”

She threw back her head and laughed. “I thought you’d never ask.”

The two characters stayed completely still as their players giggled and left the computers. They didn’t move as corruption goo filled the room, lowering their health bars to zero and sending them back to their base, and neither Luna nor Button cared.

~~~

The apartment’s door slowly squeaked open, and an exhausted Captain Flair stumbled inside with a muttered curse. Moonlight filtered through the curtains covering the windows as the apartment’s owner slapped the lightswitch on the wall. Dim illumination from a ceiling light with only half of the bulbs functioning lit up the messy living room just enough so that the pegasus could toss her uniform onto a chair before she collapsed onto her couch.

“Uhhhh…” Flair muttered to herself while she pressed her face into a pillow. “Twenty-two hours. Twenty-bucking-two hours.”

“Meow?” A familiar creature leapt up onto the couch to join Flair. The mare barely lifted her head to see the black and white face of her pet tomcat staring down at her. She could already hear his purring before he started to rub up against the back of her head.

“Hey there, Wumpus. What’cha doin’?” She groaned as she forced herself to sit up, grabbing the cat as she did so. Wumpus’ purrs grew louder as she clutched him against her coat and scratched behind his ears. “I missed you too, buddy.”

The black and white cat rolled over in her grasp and stretched out to reveal his furry belly. Flair chuckled and rubbed back and forth just how he liked.

“I’m sorry I was gone for so long, buddy. Work was hell. Literally.” She rolled her head around in a circle and sighed as it popped several times. “You might have liked it though. I got to kill things, and I know how much you like violence…”

The cat didn’t reply except by continuing to purr.

She smiled wryly. “Yeah, yeah. But I’m fine, thanks for asking. After that, I got the joy of being promoted because a bunch of my friends died, and then I got to stay up all night running around doing work.” Her smile faded. “Shit, we lost a lot of ponies last night, Wumpus. It was…”

Wumpus reached up with his paws and grabbed Flair’s mane. She yelped as he pulled her head toward him and started to fiercely lick her nose. With a chuckle, Flair freed herself and put her hoof in front of his adorable face as a peace offering. He grabbed at it with his claws and immediately resumed his kissing. Flair winced but allowed him to continue.

“Yeah. Not a fun night. But on the bright side, I got to talk with Blue again. For real this time, not like boss to ag— gah! Not so hard!” Flair leaned over and kissed her cat lovingly while he nibbled on her hoof. “So I talked to him, and… it’s not gonna work. Which sucks, a lot.”

Wumpus released her hoof and stretched out, extending his paws in both directions. He sighed and rolled over so that he could stand up and arch his back before sitting down on Flair’s legs. His tail twitched back and forth and his ears turned back at her.

“At least you’re still listening.” She ruffled the hair on his head. “He almost died last night, and I couldn’t take it. I reminded him how I felt, kinda, and then kissed him a little bit. And yes, I’m telling the truth. It’s not like last time. This really was just a little bit of kissing.”

The cat turned around and rubbed against her once before jumping down off her lap. He ran over to the doorway leading to her dining room and looked back with a long meow. Then, he rushed inside.

“Ah, you’re probably hungry, poor thing…” Flair stood up slowly and scratched her head. Her eyes drooped as she followed her pet. “Here, I’ll get you something.”

She exited the living room and walked into her small dining room. The room was almost completely filled by a table that could seat five or six ponies comfortably as well as several worn wooden chairs. Flair smiled fondly as she glanced at the only other piece of furniture in the room: an old bookcase that her father had given her when she went off to live on her own. The shelves were filled with cookbooks that she’d collected from all over the world and photographs from her various postings. From the elegant waterfalls of northern Equestria and the frigidly beautiful wastes of the Crystal Empire to the stark simplicity of a Saddle Arabian desert and the darkly wondrous Zebran jungle, the photographs were a monument to Flair’s life. Only two of the pictures had any ponies in them at all. The first showed Flair standing beside Breeze, the two wearing their matching Section Eleven badges, and the other was of a very young Flair with braces and pigtails standing beside her mother and father.

“Heya, mom. Hey, dad. Miss you guys.” She ran a hoof over the photo and smiled fondly. “Maybe I can make it to visit you next year, okay? It’s hard to get time off, and the Empire is pretty far away.”

Flair walked through the room into her kitchen. Compared to the rest of the apartment, the kitchen was immaculate. The pots and pans were all organized and the ingredients were carefully put away. A large rack filled with spices both familiar and exotic hung from far wall, and a large portrait of a Prench beach occupied its opposite. Flair nodded to herself and absentmindedly thought about something simple to cook as she walked through yet another door.

The next room held an ironing board, a washer, and a dryer as well as a closet stuffed with towels. In the corner was a litter box that Flair could tell would need to be changed. She sighed as she trotted over to the washer, where Wumpus sat beside his food and water bowls. The cat gave a pathetic mewl and walked in a circle around his half full food bowl.

“Ah, you silly goose. Here, I’ll get you a refill…”

After a moment, the cat was happily eating and drinking away and Flair had moved on to cleaning the litter box. With her face scrunched up in order to ward off the smell, she bagged up the used litter and set it into her litter trash can.

“Well, that’s that.” Flair dusted off her hooves and returned to her kitchen to wash up. “What do you think I should make, Wumpus? I’m thinking about having something with an orangey taste…”

Her cat continued to eat and ignored her.

She grinned lopsidedly. “Of course.” As she dried off her hooves, she leaned over toward her phone’s answering machine and pressed the flashing red button. A mechanical voice called out to her.

“You have one new message. Today, five-thirty p.m.”

A new, loud voice called through the speakers. “You! Yes you, little pony! Are you tired of living alone and being a doormat? Do you want to get a real job and pay off that college debt? If so, Iron Will Incorporated has the training you need to—”

She cut the recording off and shook her head. “Figures. At least I have one male in my life that I can rely upon to call me on a regular basis. Now, if only he had more than two hooves…”

Flair opened her cupboard and hummed an off-key tune to herself. Brushing her mane out of her face, she grabbed a box of white rice and put it down on the counter. She hunted through her pantry next and grabbed a few more ingredients. Once she returned to the kitchen, she saw that Wumpus had jumped up onto the counter to investigate the new smells.

“Ah, get down, silly cat!” Flair shooed him off with a chuckle and set a pot of water on the stove. “You know, I didn’t get to finish telling you about my day!”

The cat sat on the floor and looked up at her with blinking green eyes.

“So I talked to Blue, and kind of laid it on the line. I like him a lot, Wumpus. But I don’t think he really feels anything.” She turned the stove on and sighed. “He still loves Lady Rarity. He tried to deny it last time, but you don’t moan one mare’s name while kissing another for no reason. Even if you are high on painkillers. I think it might be time for me to move on, Wump.”

He meowed and rubbed against her legs, nuzzling against her.

“Yeah, I love you too. But I’m not getting any younger, Wump. It can’t be just you and me forever…” She reached down and picked him up. He meowed at the abrupt change but quickly started to purr as she rubbed her face up against him.

“But you know what? I think that I’m fine with it just being us tonight. Ya little stinker.”

~~~

Princess Celestia rubbed her eyes as she sat down on her massive bed. She’d set the sun a few hours ago and now Luna’s light filled the sky. Gazing out the window, Celestia allowed herself a small smile at the beauty of the night.

The moon posed at the zenith of the horizon, dominating the air with an unparalleled majesty. Stars dotted the sky, shining down upon the sleeping city. An evening breeze stirred the trees subtly. The gentle sway of the leaves added a slight contrast to the stillness of the rest of the night, but it did so in a way that served to accentuate the overall feeling that Luna conveyed with her art. Peace. Tranquility.

Hope.

The Princess of the Day opened up one of the small drawers of her bedside table. She reached inside with her magic and grabbed an ancient sheet of parchment, a tattered grey scarf, and a single Prench bit from many centuries ago.

Upon the parchment was a detailed sketch of a dark blue unicorn stallion. His lopsided grin and rakish golden locks seemed to make his eyes sparkle with youth and energy, while the wrinkles drawn beside his eyes told a tale of wisdom through hardship. Celestia gently traced the magically preserved paper and allowed her hoof to hover over his face.

“Hey there,” she whispered. “It’s me again. Oh, light, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it? I’ve been so busy…”

She squeezed the scarf lightly as a smile danced over her mouth. “I think you would have liked Chaput. He’s your kind of adversary. Smart, devious… and lying with every word he speaks.”

Celestia hugged the scarf close to her stomach. “You’d be the one handling him, if you were here. Not me. You’d insist, wouldn’t you?” With a small chuckle, she set the scarf and the paper aside and reached for the coin. As she tossed it into the air as he had, so long ago, she allowed her eyes to focus on the far wall. “Many of my ponies were killed today, Paix. I don’t know who sent them, but windigos attacked. Was it Chaput? Dmitri? The changelings? Zebras? I can’t tell any more…”

She held the coin and rubbed her hooves over the enchanted metal that had not been worn down for over a thousand years. “I usually know all the moves. I see all the pieces. You taught me that I needed to think twenty moves ahead and then have another plan in reserve.” She snorted. “Not on purpose, of course, but I learned that lesson when I was trying to deal with your antics.”

Celestia picked the paper back up and stared into his blue eyes. “But now, things are changing. The game is speeding up. The king is moving into play too quickly. He’ll be here tomorrow, and I’m not ready. There are too many variables, and it…”

With another sigh, Celestia put her head into her hoof. “Oh, Paix. I don’t know if I’m going to win this game. I’ve always had the final move. That last trick, or the coup de grace. Controlling the sun and having more magic than almost all of the unicorns in any given nation would do that for somepony. But how do I fight a battle where I can’t afford to lose any pieces? Any sacrifice is too great. And with their power, we may be overcome...”

The princess reached across her bed to grab a brown folder marked Confidential and sealed by a powerful ward. Her magic reached out and cut through the barriers, opening the pages to reveal a long document.

“I may be seeing you soon, Paix.”

Report: Griffonian Plutonium Implosion Devices. Codename: Endgame.

End of Act II

Insight, Explanations, and Whispers

“—and that’s exactly what happened.”

Captain Flair sat on a chair in Princess Celestia’s private dining room. Amethyst Breeze sat beside her, her hooves resting on the table as she finished describing the events from earlier that afternoon.

“Hmm…” Princess Celestia said as she rubbed her chin with a hoof. “This is an odd development. What was your take on the incident, Breeze? Not the facts, just your opinion.”

“M-my thoughts?” the agent asked unsurely. “I, uh…”

“Don’t worry, Breeze. You’ve done very well, and I trust you. I can have the facts, but there is always something missing unless I know what it felt like in the moment to the mare who was on the scene.” Celestia nodded. “Please, continue.”

Breeze cleared her throat. “Well, Your Highness, I believe Chaput and the captain. It really did sound like a genuine scuffle, and I was the one who led Vlad down that hallway, so they couldn’t have planned it.”

“‘Vlad?’” Flair asked quietly. She raised an eyebrow as the other mare turned to her with a blush.

“Ah, I mean Captain Ivanov. Sorry.” Breeze smiled sheepishly. “Anyway, Dmitri and Chaput were showing real signs of anger and heightened senses of alertness. Their body language seemed to be authentic. Captain Ivanov was as surprised as I was that there was a scuffle.”

The princess nodded again. “Very good. Captain Flair. Your take?”

“It’s fake, Princess. It has to be,” she replied. “It doesn’t make sense for them to be so blatant about going off on their own and then getting into an argument. That’s, quite frankly, stupid. And I may not think too highly of the general himself, but he is anything but an idiot. They already tried to fake us out at least once. Why not again?”

“But they had no way to know that Ivanov and I would be there!” Breeze interjected. “How does it benefit them if there are no witnesses?”

Flair shook her head. “Bugs.”

“Didn’t they disable the bugs in the room though? Chaput has his device,” she countered. “They disabled all of our devices.”

“Not all of them…” As she spoke, Captain Flair pulled a round, miniscule object out of her saddle bag. “Ever since we learned that the griffons are able to detect our listening devices and spells and disable them, we’ve been directing our best tech team to develop new methods. Dr. Wing and his team finished the latest generation of devices two days ago. We rushed production and had them distributed around the castle. This little conversation confirmed it. They can’t find our new tech.” Flair reached back into her bag and revealed a small speaker. She hooked the device up to it and pressed a green button.

A low-mid frequency static played through the speaker before the opening of a door could be heard. Breeze recognized the next sound as Chaput’s bug-detector. There were a few crunching sounds, and then a grunt of satisfaction.

“What do you want, Chaput? I don’t have time for this.”

“Dmitri, you twice-damned fool! Are you trying to be the greatest fool on the face of the planet, or does this just come naturally to you?”

Flair sneered as the sound of a blow landing filtered through the sound system.

“How dare you?” Dmitri asked, his voice raised.

Stopping the recording, Flair nodded. “We have the whole thing on tape.”

Breeze sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s classified.” The captain shrugged. “I’m sorry, Ammy. I couldn’t tell you. But, on the plus side, your description matches up perfectly with our recording, and you gave us a lot of insight into the physical aspect.”

“Great. Classified.” She put her head into her hoof. “But does the fact that you recorded this make a difference?”

“What do you mean?” Flair asked.

Breeze glanced up at her. “If they disabled all the other bugs. why didn’t they get this one? They must not have known about it, which brings me back to the fact that it can’t be a ruse! Actors need audiences. They didn’t have one, at least not one that they knew about.”

Flair considered this for a moment. She hummed quietly to herself. “I mean, it’s possible, but it still doesn’t make sense. Are you certain that Chaput and Ivanov didn’t plan this?”

“I was the one who took us down that hallway, not Ivanov. He couldn’t have planned this.” She shook her head. “And I’ve gotten to know Ivanov. He’s not a liar like Dmitri and Chaput. I believe what he said about not knowing about Chaput’s plans.”

“How can you be sure?” the captain asked. “I mean, are you certain?”

“Nothing is certain, Captain,” Princess Celestia interrupted. “However, I am inclined to agree with Agent Breeze in this matter. Even though Chaput has proven himself to be a very cunning individual, I do not think that he knows everything. The new bugs are not widely known. Not even you knew, Agent Breeze. I do not see a large chance for Chaput knowing that the room was bugged, and the added coincidence of Ivanov’s presence makes me feel that this was a private meeting that blew out of proportion.”

“I see what you’re saying, Princess,” Flair began, “but what about their very public announcement of their meeting? Chaput doesn’t do anything by accident. He made it extremely obvious that he wanted to speak with Dmitri, and this was after he told you that he thought Dmitri is the source of the windigo attacks. I think he’s working with Dmitri and that they are trying to get him onto your good side. I’d bet my hat that there’s a sting coming soon if we trust him.”

“‘Bet your hat…’” Breeze shook her head wryly.

Celestia nodded in reply. “All very good insights, Captain. In the end, this does not matter, however.”

“Doesn’t matter?” Flair asked. “How?”

“I have said this to many intelligence officers who have asked me the same question, Captain. Any manipulation, regardless of motivation, is an attempt to get the target to take the actions that the manipulators desire. Thus, the most important aspect is our response, not their motivation.” The princess rose to her hooves and walked toward the window. She gazed up at the sun that was near the horizon and sighed. “If this is manipulation, what is the desired effect?”

Flair rubbed her hoof against her chair. “Hmm… I think that they want us to trust Chaput and focus our attention on Dmitri.”

“Then how do we counter that?”

The captain smirked. “We consider everything that Chaput says to be just as suspect as what Dmitri says and keep a close watch on both of them.”

Celestia turned to the two mares and smiled. “Perfect. And what should we do if this incident was genuine?”

Breeze tapped the table. “Increase our security presence in the castle. Subtly, of course. That way, we can watch out for any betrayals from the father. Then, we ward Chaput’s room. If Dmitri is in control of the windigos, he could send them in and kill Chaput in his sleep. If we put a powerful enough friendship spell around his room, we should be able to keep the assassins out.”

“And we need to be aware of Dmitri’s ‘bodyguards.’” Flair glanced to the side with a grimace. “They’re special forces. Armed to the teeth, or beaks, or whatever, and I’m pretty nervous about their presence.”

“These are all reasonable ideas. I will have them implemented immediately.” The princess strode back toward the table. “Very well. I will review the tapes and consult with some of my advisors on this matter. If you both will excuse me, I have to lower the sun and prepare for my meeting with Dmitri before we have dinner. I suspect that our discussion will be nothing but the same political manoeuvring, outright lies, or thinly veiled threats as before.”

“Oh, joy,” Flair said dryly.

Celestia smiled. “Yes. Joy indeed. Thank you both. I realize that you both have been thrust into roles far beyond the scope of your training, and I am proud to say that you are both behaving far beyond any expectations. Keep up the excellent work.”

Flair and her partner both beamed at the princess. “Thank you, Your Highness,” Flair said. “We’ll get out of your mane. I’ll keep you appraised of any developments.”

“Please do.” Celestia nodded one last time. “Be safe.”

As the two mares left the room, Flair looked over at Breeze. “So…” The door shut behind them, and the captain raised an eyebrow. “‘Vlad?’ Since when are you on a first name basis with the captain of a griffon airship?”

“Uhh…” Breeze blushed. “Since today?”

“Today? Are you unsure or something?” Flair teased as they walked past Celestia’s guards and toward Section Eleven. “Ammy, are you…”

The other mare’s blush deepened. “I have no idea, Ember. I mean, I just met him, but—”

“Okay.” Flair stopped walking and blocked Breeze’s way. “You do realize that our nations are not at peace, right? If this meeting doesn’t go right, there is a distinct possibility that we’re going to go to war with Griffonia. Now, before you say whatever that it is that you’re about to say, I think you should consider that.”

Breeze’s face fell. “Oh. I…” She sighed. “Damn. You’re right.”

The captain’s expression softened. “Hey… are you serious about this? About whatever it is with Vlad?”

“I don’t know,” Breeze muttered. “I just met him, but he’s nice, he’s smart, and he’s a gentlesta— well, a gentlegriffon, and the first being that I’ve been attracted to in years.”

“Shit,” Flair muttered. “You had to pick an enemy officer, didn’t you?”

“It’s not exactly like I picked this, you know,” she retorted. “Anyways, it’s not going anywhere. We’re just being very polite, getting to know each other, and working on this case. But it’s nice to dream, you know?”

Wrinkling her nose, Flair shook her head. “Sorry, but I can’t dream about griffons. I need somepony with four hooves, thanks.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll meet a nice llama someday, Ember,” Breeze said sweetly. “They have hooves, right?”

Her best friend laughed and shouldered her. “Damnit, Ammy. Silly jokes are my job!” They chuckled together for a moment, but then Flair sighed. “But really. If you do like him, and he really does like you back, don’t let this stand in your way. I’m sure that the princesses will negotiate peace in the end. Maybe then you can see where it goes?”

Breeze looked up at her with a small smile. “Yeah. Maybe.” Lowering her head, she nodded to herself. “Thanks, Ember.”

“Hey. Thank you. You’re my best friend, and I want to see you happy.” Flair pulled Breeze into a hug. “You deserve it. Even if it is with a stinky griffon.”

“I’ll have you know that he is not stinky!” Breeze protested.

Flair chuckled. “I know. Just giving you a hard time.” She broke the hug and nodded down the hallway. “Do you have time to grab a bite? I need to get some food before I go back down to Sec Eleven and work all night again.”

“I, uh, I kinda just ate a little while ago… with Vlad…” Breeze blushed again.

“What!” Ember cried. “Oh, that’s it. You’re coming with me, even if you don’t eat!” She reached over and dragged her friend down the hallway. “Spill!”

“Well, he took me out to Glittering’s, and…”

~~~

Button carefully set his papers down on his table. The moonlight poured in through the massive windows, and the stallion grinned as he remembered who had put it there.

“Holy crap. I’m dating Luna,” he repeated in awe to himself. Shaking his head, he adjusted his final resume before stapling all of the neatly arranged pages together. He’d put in almost all of his applications into the various schools in Canterlot earlier that day, and all that remained was this final one. Canterlot Community College wasn’t his first choice for employment, but it needed a teacher for an introductory history class, so Button figured that he should at least try.

With a contented sigh, he sat down on his chair. With all of his work for the evening complete, he now faced the terrifying monster of free time. Luna had said that she’d be busy tonight with the state dinner, so she couldn’t get on. They were planning to meet up for breakfast and then some gaming in the morning. And kissing. Definitely room for some kissing in there too.

Button allowed himself another grin as he glanced down at his computer. “Well, I could probably get on and…”

As he opened his laptop, he saw a small chat bubble in the top right corner. He clicked it quickly, and his internet phone and chat app opened.

Mom: how did it go with that mare? -6:09 PM

“Oh.” Button facehoofed. “Ah, I forgot!” With a click glance at her green online status, Button cleared his throat and prepared himself. He put on his headphones, unmuted his mic, and pressed the call button.

After a second of ringing, his mother’s face filled his screen. She beamed and waved. “Hey, baby!”

“Hi, mom,” he replied. “How are you?”

“Nuh-uh!” she said, waving him off. We’ll talk about that later! Did you talk to your mare yet?”

“‘My mare?’” Button asked with a raised eyebrow. “Really?”

She cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. “You know exactly what I mean.”

He giggled. “Okay, okay. So, after I talked to you, I got onto our game and she sent me a message. We decided to meet that evening to talk about things.”

“Wait. You met her that evening? And you haven’t told me what happened yet?” She threw her hooves into the air. “Button!”

The stallion grinned sheepishly. “Uh, sorry.”

“Well, keep going!”

“She came over to my apartment and I invited her in. We talked for a little bit, and then I told her that I knew her secret.” Button inhaled deeply. “And… and I told her that I didn’t care. I love her anyways.”

“Love?” His mom’s jaw dropped. “That’s a rather strong word to drop on her!”

“It’s true,” he replied simply. “She seemed to be really glad and relieved… but…”

“Oh, no,” she moaned. “What did you do this time, Button?”

“I said it outright that I didn’t care if she were a changeling or not. She kinda flipped out, a bit.” Button shrugged. “I didn’t mean to upset her!”

“I guess you just have that effect on mares, Button,” she remarked dryly. “What part of your comments drove the poor mare that far?”

“Uhh, the changeling part.” Button ran a hoof through his mane. “She, she’s actually not a changeling, mom. That wasn’t her secret.”

She sighed. “So all of this was over nothing?”

“Eh, not really,” he continued. “She was lying to me, and she did have a secret she wanted to tell me…” He gazed at her for a moment.

She threw her hooves in the air. “And what happened? I swear, you are just like your father! Get to the important part!”

“She’s a princess, Mom.”

She stared at him, unmoving. A second later, she opened her mouth, but then she closed it. She raised a hoof to her face, lowered it again, and then attempted once more to speak. When no sounds came out, she returned a hoof to her mouth.

“Yeah. That’s basically what I said.” Button grinned. “Mom. I fell in love with Princess Luna over the internet… and she fell in love with me too.”

She brought a second hoof to her mouth and stared at him with wide eyes. She managed to squeak out two words after waiting for a moment. “Princess Luna?”

“Yes. Luna. My marefriend.”

“Is this your idea of a joke?” she asked. “Because…”

“No, I’m telling the truth, I swear!” Button replied. “After I said that I didn’t care if she were a changeling or not, she got really upset, called me an idiot, and then actually moved the sky. She did all that, just to prove that she was a princess. And after she transformed back into herself…”

“Oh. My. Celestia,” she swore. “The moon and stars did move a few nights ago… and we didn’t know why. You aren’t kidding, are you?”

He threw his hooves into the air. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Mom! I’m dating Princess Luna!”

Once more, she stared at him. As he gazed back, he saw the corner of her mouth twitch once. Then it twitched again. After that, a small squeak came out, and she gave a small laugh. And then the laughter grew louder as a genuine smile spread across her face. Button grinned in response as she burst out into uproarious laughter.

“My son… is dating Princess Luna. For real.” She threw her head back and howled with laughter. “Oh, Button… you’re such an idiot!”

“Hey! I thought we covered this already…” he grumbled.

“No, I think this needs to be said again. You were going on dates with a disguised princess, and you thought that she was a changeling.” She leaned forward and rested her head on her desk, her sides heaving. “A princess. A changeling. How did you manage that?”

With an exaggerated sigh, Button waved his hoof in front of his webcam. “Aw, cut me some slack, Mom. What made more sense? Me attracting a changeling, or Princess Luna? Me. Button Mash.”

She sat back up, her face red. “Oh, Button… I can’t tell you how happy I am for you. Although I do have a few questions…” Her expression became more serious.

“Me too, honestly.” Button nodded. “This is as new to me as it is to you.”

“Okay, so she’s a princess, but she didn’t tell you. Did she explain why?” his mom asked.

“She said that there were a few things. She thought I wouldn’t believe her or that I wouldn’t see her the same way if she’d told the truth. And I understand. I don’t know what I would have thought if she’d just told me right off the bat before I got a chance to meet her and realize how I actually felt.”

“That makes sense.” She rubbed her chin. “Now, don’t take this the wrong way, but… why you? She’s the princess. Why did she choose you, out of everypony?”

“She said it’s because I’m the sexiest stallion who ever walked the face of Equus,” Button replied with a straight face.

With the simple act of raising an eyebrow, she dismissed that excuse. “Seriously.”

“Darn.” He laughed. “She actually told me that I treated her like a normal pony, and not like a goddess. We were friends, and then… we became more than just that. It kinda also helps that she saved my life during the attack on the castle. But the main part was my sexy flank. She said it was too good to pass up!”

She facehoofed. “No. Just no. I’m not going to talk to my son about his supposedly sexy flank.”

“Who said anything about supposedly?” he said as he grinned. “But yeah. That’s what happened.”

“I still can’t believe this.” With the shake of her head, she looked at him through the camera. “Button…”

“Ya’ know, a stallion could feel insulted by those comments,” he joked. “What? Am I not good enough for a princess?”

“Button, I think that any mare, princess or other, would be lucky to have you. You’re an amazing young stallion, and I think that any mare worth anything at all could see that.” She met his eyes. “I mean that. You deserve this, and I’m so glad that you found somepony, princess or no.”

Button smiled warmly as he saw her love-filled gaze. “Thanks, Mom. I love you too.”

She shrugged. “But, really. You have to admit that this isn’t exactly the most likely of events.”

“I know, right?” With a chuckle, he ran his hoof through his mane again, ruffling it even further. “Button Mash. Dating a princess. Man, if only I could tell Rumble or Pip about this… they’d never believe it.”

“Why can’t you tell them?” she asked.

“Paparazzi. Luna likes her privacy, and if the world knew that she had a coltfriend, it’d be all they talked about for weeks. So, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, my marefriend’s name is Starry Skies, and Princess Luna is a private mare who keeps to herself. We’ve gone on all of our dates with her disguised. It makes things easier.”

She nodded. “Fair enough. But, uh…” she pursed her lips. “This is awkward… doesn’t it feel like, you know, cheating if you kiss her on a date?” Opening her eyes wide, she leaned back. “That is, if you’re at that stage in your relationship!”

“Mom,” he chuckled. “We’re both adults. Yes, we’ve kissed.” He pressed a hoof onto his face. “Ahh… I’m talking about kissing with my mother. Again.”

“Well, does it?”

He looked up and allowed a lopsided grin to escape. “Okay, let’s ignore my subtle hint to change the subject! No, it doesn’t feel like cheating. She’s her, regardless of what she looks like. It’s her, and all I have to do is look into her eyes to remember that.” He smiled at the far wall. “Her eyes are the same whenever she transforms… it’s always her.”

“Aww, so romantic!” she cheered.

Button shook himself and blushed. “Ah, I mean, I’m a strong grown stallion, and strong grown stallions can—”

“Uh-huh. Sure. You big softie.”

He pursed his lips and nodded slowly. “Well, yeah. I guess I am.”

“You always were, you know. So sweet.” His mom adjusted the cable to her headphones. “But the biggest issue is still there staring us in the face.”

“What’s that?” Button asked.

“Well, you’re both adults, but one of you is a tad bit older than the other…” she leaned forward. “Button, you realize that she’s older than your grandmother was before she passed away, right?”

Grimacing, he leaned back. “Mom. First, you’re comparing my marefriend to my grandma. Eww. Second, eww. Thirdly, eww.”

“Hey, I’m just saying…”

“We’ve talked about this, Mom. Here’s how I look at it. She’s an immortal. Age with her is different, because it has to be. It’s not about age here. It’s about maturity, and we’re both mature adults. So what if she has a few hundred years on me? We love each other, and that’s all we need,” he said. “Besides, I kinda like older mares…”

“Okay. I neither needed nor wanted to hear that,” she replied, shaking her head. “I’m going to ignore that last part.”

“Mwahaha, I have forever stained your memory,” Button declared in his best evil voice.

She glared at him, but her eyes glittered. “Wow.”

With a laugh, Button sat up straight in his chair. “But yeah… I love her, Mom. She’s perfect, and we just work. We both love history, we don’t feel like we fit in, and something just feels so right when I’m around her. It’s like something incredibly important was missing from my life before, and I finally found it. And now that I have it, I’m never letting go.”

“Oh, my…” His mom stared off into the distance.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I just realized… if you get married, I’m going to be the Princess’ mother-in-law.”

Button snorted and covered his mouth with his hoof. “Mom! I don’t know if we’re there quite yet, and—”

“If you really do love her that much, I won’t be surprised if that happens,” she said plainly. “But please, take your time. I think that I could wait for that to happen for a while…”

“Me too. Wouldn’t that make me, like Prince Button Mash? Like what happened with Shining Armor?” He inhaled deeply. “That’s… kinda terrifying.”

“In a very good way,” she agreed.

“Yeah.”

They looked at each other, and immediately broke into another fit of giggles.

“Oh, my…” Button sighed. “So, I have a bit of time. Do you want to play a game or something, Mom? We haven’t been able to do something fun for a while.”

“That sounds amazing, Button. And you can tell me more about these dates…” She smirked. “Ah, you have no idea how happy I am!”

Button pulled up his game library. “Oh, Mom. I think I understand. I really think I do…”

~~~

The city of Canterlot was known for many things. Beautiful architecture, elegant designs, solid education, and generous ponies, among countless other accolades. Some called it the jewel of civilization, the perfect example of peace and prosperity.

But perfection can be a façade.

In the darkest alleys in the deepest shadows of the magnificent city was an ancient tavern. The building was nearly as old as the city itself, it’s stone walls worn and crumbling. The current owner of the building used it as a bar, and the location lent itself to use by the seedier elements of Canterlot. The police never came here. The owners looked the other way. The populace ignored its existence.

In short, it was perfect for his needs.

He sat in the back room, staring down at the meticulously drawn map of Canterlot castle. One other pony sat in the dim room with him. She watched from under her cloak, her breathing the only sound that pierced through the still air. The room itself was lit by a few candles on the tables. There were no windows, no decorations, and only one door. The walls were cracked and unpainted, and the only objects of interest beside the table and the few chairs were a stack of crates on the far wall. A cold breeze turned the ponies’ breaths into mist, but they paid no mind.

:Strike.:

He grinned. “Are the weapons ready?” he asked in his raspy voice.

She stood up and opened one of the crates that lined the wall. Using her magic, the mare levitated three rifles of Germane design out of their containers. Smiling, she turned to him. “Yes.”

:Kill.:

He nodded solemnly. Grasping a knife that lay on the table beside the map, he traced the outline of three of the castle’s rooms. “Prepare the troops. The beasts have come at last. The monster and the bitch have joined the perverter. Our time is now. For Equestria. For freedom.”

:Serve.:

“For the princesses.”

He stabbed the knife downward, impaling the room labeled General Chaput.

“We attack tomorrow.”

Author's Note

Song for this chapter was "Maneater" by Hall and Oates!

Recollections, Dreams, and Nightmares

Luna reached outward with her magic and flipped the lightswitch on the other side of her room. In an instant, the only sources of light were the moon far above the city and the few stars that managed to break through the cloud cover. The lunar princess sighed and snuggled into her pillow. She closed her eyes and touched the dreamsky…

She opened her eyes to see herself far above Canterlot. She could feel the air of the dreamsky flowing around her, bringing with it the sensations of peace, relaxation, and rest. Luna smiled and glanced downward.

The distant city was illuminated by countless purple lights that Luna knew represented the unique dreams of all of her subjects. Some shone continuously, the happy dreams of days to come. The light of some wavered slightly, showing the neutral stage of ponies in the non-dreaming portion of their sleep. For a few of the dreams, the purple light was tinged pink, and that meant that their dreams were of a more romantic nature… Luna smirked and shook her head. She usually stayed away from those.

But her main focus was the pulsing lights. When dreams were at peace, they were content to stay with their owners, comforting them and holding them close. But when darkness threatened the serenity of the night, dreams reached out to their princess. They called out in distress, and they knew that she would answer. When Luna saw the blinking lights, she knew that they needed her.

Tonight, however, Luna was not here for just any dreams. She had a purpose, a goal. Grasping the currents of dream magic around her, she felt for a very specific dream and one particular pony. The sensations ran through her body, guiding her, focusing her, until…

There.

Luna opened her eyes as she located the dream belonging to her sister. She glanced downward to see the castle, and—

“Oh, horseapples.”

Celestia’s dream had the slightest shade of pink to it as it shone brightly from the dreamsky’s representation of Canterlot castle. With a sigh, Princess Luna flew downward. At least, that’s how it seemed. The princess could not actually move in the dreamsky itself. Instead, she pulled the dreamsky, moving it around her until she arrived at her destination.

Luna peeked through the palace’s window and saw the wispy outline of a dreaming pony that she knew was Celestia. Clenching her jaw, she extended her power and allowed one of the tendrils of her dream power to reach out to her sister. As soon as it touched the alicorn’s aura, she felt something pulling at her heart, bringing her closer and closer…

The dreamsky faded, and Luna’s vision brightened until she could not help but try to shield her eyes… but without a corporeal body, she could not. A moment later, she felt herself land in the dream, and the world around her came back into focus.

Sky. Ocean. Beach.

Luna inhaled deeply. Her surroundings were so sharp, so intense that she knew that this wasn’t an ordinary dream. In fact, knowing her sister, this wasn’t a dream at all.

It was a memory.

Luna’s thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of a giggling mare from further down the beach. She glanced over to see two ponies just barely within her view. They ran together beside the ocean, their hooves splashing in the water.

The Princess of the Night glanced down at herself. Upon entering the dream, she’d assumed her neutral form, that of herself dressed in her standard royal regalia. With a quick burst of magic, Luna removed her crown and jewelry and pulled her mane back into a bun. She gave herself a pair of sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat, as well as a light beach dress.

Nodding to herself, she trotted over toward her sister and the… stallion. Luna gasped as she recognized him.

A much younger Celestia tackled her husband to the ground with a cry of victory. Paix gasped as she pinned him. “And the princess wins again!”

“Only because you cheat,” he retorted. “If you weren’t so damned cute, I would always win…”

“Oh, you liar!” Celestia leaned over and kissed him softly. “Now, what else can we do, since we’re all alone…”

Luna cleared her throat. “Ah, Celestia?”

The smaller white alicorn yelped and quickly stood to her hooves. She blushed a brilliant red and coughed nervously. “Ah, Luna! What are you doing here?”

“Hello, Luna!” Paix said cheerfully. “It’s good to see you!”

“You too, Paix…” Luna whispered.

The blue unicorn stallion narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. “Hey, what are those things on your eyes? Dark glasses? What are they for?”

Luna sighed and put her hoof to her face. “Stars. I forgot. Sunglasses won’t be around for another hundred years or so…” Immediately, she reached out to the dream and subtly manipulated a few facets of the self-contained reality. Her glasses disappeared, and Celestia was once again on top of her husband.

“Now, what else can we do, since we’re all alone?”

“Celestia? May I speak with you?” she called.

Once again, Celestia rose to her hooves. Her face was beet red as she glanced toward her sister. “Ah, Luna! What are you doing here?”

“Hello Luna! It’s good to see you!” Paix stood beside his wife and nuzzled the side of her face.

“I am pleased to see you as well, Paix,” Luna replied in her old, formal speech. “I apologize for… interrupting. I need to speak to my sister quickly, if you two can spare a moment.”

“Sure thing!” he said cheerfully. “I actually wanted to get us a blanket, Tia. The sand feels funny sometimes.”

“It’s the beach!” Celestia cried. “Why wouldn’t you like the feeling of sand?”

He whispered something into Celestia’s ear, and the alicorn’s blush intensified. “Fine. Quickly!”

Paix saluted and trotted away.

Raising an eyebrow, Luna allowed herself a smirk. “Well. You’re having fun, aren’t you?”

“Oh, shush! You know I’m on my honeymoon! I deserve a bit of peace.” Celestia shook her head wryly. “Wait. Aren’t you supposed to be back at the castle? Did you finish the meeting with the Germanes?”

“Uhh…” Luna nodded. “Yes. Sure...”

“Oh, good! Did they agree to the trade routes? We need those deposits, and they should appreciate our lumber supply…” Celestia gasped. “But what if—”

“Tia. Don’t worry about that.” Luna shook her head. “You’re on your vacation. just relax.”

Taking a deep breath, the younger-looking alicorn closed her eyes. “Sorry. It’s just… since the war ended, I can’t seem to relax.”

“I’m sure Paix can help with that,” Luna said, but then winced as soon as the words left her mouth as she remembered…

“Oh, light, not you too!” Celestia cried. “I thought his euphemisms were bad enough!”

The Princess of the Night lowered her head. “Celestia… I have to ask you something very important.”

“What is it?”

Taking a deep breath, Luna said, “Do you know who General Chaput and Father Dmitri are?”

“Uhh…” Celestia closed her eyes halfway. “The names sound familiar, but I don’t know why…”

“Tia, I need you to concentrate. Please, remember…”

Celestia gazed up at the sky. “Wait. They’re griffons, aren’t they? But… when did I meet them?”

Luna winced. “Celestia, I—”

“Tiiiiiiia!” Paix cried as he trotted toward them with a large yellow blanket on his back. “I’m back!”

“Oh.” Celestia stared into Luna’s eyes. “I haven’t yet, have I? This is just a dream…”

Both of them turned to see Paix running toward them, but then he suddenly froze in midair. His wide smile stayed on his face, and his eyes glittered with joy.

And then he crumbled into sand and fell to the ground.

The entire dream imploded around them. The sky, the ocean, and the beach disappeared, and all that remained was darkness. Celestia returned to her normal form, and the two alicorns stood together, side by side in the shadows.

“What do you need, Luna?” Celestia asked wearily. Her face fell, and she sighed. “I’m sorry. I get so lost in my memories, and… it feels so real.”

“No, I’m sorry, Tia,” her sister replied. “I didn’t want to wake you, but I had something important to ask, and I couldn’t risk us being overheard.”

The elder sister nodded. “Very well. What do you wish to know?”

“Dmitri and Chaput… I can feel their dreams,” Luna said. “I was thinking… I can go inside of them and see what they’re planning. I just needed to ask...” She sighed. “Would it be ethical?”

Celestia looked up. “I… what are you going to try, Luna?”

“I want to see,” she said quietly. “You can learn a lot about a pony, or a griffon, from their dreams. I wouldn’t do anything. I just think that it could help us.”

With a sigh, Celestia shrugged. “Luna, this is not my area of expertise. We have gifts that no other being in the world possesses. Should we use them for our own gain? For selfish purposes?”

Blushing, Luna recalled her use of her power to show Button that she was a princess… “I don’t know either, Tia. We’ve dealt with this before, though. You know when.”

“Yes. The zebras…” Celestia nodded solemnly. “We did what we had to, but was it right?”

“It saved lives then. This could now, as well.” Luna extended her wing to her sister.

“It sounds like you’ve made up your mind already, Luna. Why do you think this is the right thing to do?”

Clearing her throat, Luna said, “Think about it, Tia. The griffons have technology we cannot match. Is it fair for them to use it to spy on us? This isn’t about fairness. It’s about Equestria.”

Her sister shrugged. “I don’t know, Luna. To be honest, I’m not in the right place to make a decision like this.” Celestia looked at the ground. “I’m still a bit shaken.”

Luna trotted over and pulled the taller alicorn into a hug. “I’m sorry, Celestia… but I don’t trust myself on this. I’ve made some very wrong choices before, and I trust you far more than I trust myself. If you think it’s wrong, I won’t do it.”

She returned her younger sister’s hug. “Luna… there isn’t a right answer here. This is something outside the realm of most political ethics. I don’t know what to think, so you should… you should just do what you believe to be right.”

“Okay.” Luna gave her one last squeeze. “I’m going to do it then, but just to try to understand them. I won’t hurt them or attempt to control them.”

“Very well,” Celestia said as she released the hug. “Thank you for coming to me, Luna. It means a lot.”

“You’re welcome, Sister. And…” Luna met her eyes. “I’m sorry for disrupting your dream. I know how much you miss him, and I would never rob you of any happiness if I had any other option.”

Celestia smiled sadly. “I know, Luna. But don’t worry. I dream every night, and it’s always a memory. Sometimes, it’s him. Dreams like this… I love them, but it hurts whenever I wake up. The curse of being an immortal alicorn. You either control your dreams, or your dreams control you.” She shrugged. “I suppose we received opposite ends of that particular spectrum.”

“Do you want those dreams?” Luna asked quietly. “Because I can help…”

“Luna, I wouldn’t trade my dreams for anything in the world. Being able to see him, even as a memory, is worth any pain.” She glanced at the ground. “Any pain, at all.”

“Very well…” Luna replied. She reached out and pulled the dream magic toward her. Humming a single note, she wrapped the threads of the lost dream back around her sister.

“What are you—”

A bright flashing light cut off Celestia’s words, and Luna once more stood on a beach. She opened her eyes to see her sister laying on top of her husband.

“Now, what else can we do, since we’re all alone?”

“I can think of something,” Paix replied softly. He rolled her over and kissed her lips.

Luna nodded to herself and turned away. Her eyes closed, and she felt the dreamsky pull at her once more…

~~~

She drifted above the city once more. Luna stared downward with her lips pursed. Try as she might, she couldn't seem to find him…

Once again, she reached outward. Closing her eyes, she tried to feel for Father Dmitri. Her magic stretched through the castle, and, after coming up empty, extended out to the griffon airships and the city itself. Although the main airship’s anti-magic artifact could keep unicorn or alicorn spells out, it did nothing to Luna’s dream spells. But despite that, she was simply unable to locate him.

“He must be asleep,” she muttered absently. “Or…” Grunting, she ignored the possible implications. Luna sighed and abandoned her efforts. It was obvious that the attempt had proven futile.

The power of the Princess of the Night refocused, looking now for a different griffon who slept somewhere near the city…

Moments later, she located him. General Chaput lay in his protected quarters deep in Canterlot castle. Nodding to herself, Luna grabbed the dreamsky and pulled it past her, bringing herself down to the window outside his room.

As she peered inside, his dream stayed a steady purple light. Something seemed… off, but Luna couldn’t tell what it was. Shaking her head, she extended her tendrils and the light enveloped her once more.

Music filled the air.

Luna opened her eyes to see herself standing in an enormous room. Sunlight filtered through towering windows and reflected off a perfectly polished checkered marble floor. A brilliant chandelier hung from the soaring ceiling, and the walls were lined with artwork, bookcases, and musical instruments hung on the walls. A piano sat in the corner, and a griffon before it, playing softly. On the table next to him was an opened book, a glass of wine, and a chess board set up for a game.

Everything was perfect. From the exact sound of the piano to the individual brush strokes on the paintings, the details were so vivid that it almost hurt Luna to look at them. “This isn’t a real dream, is it?” she asked quietly.

General Chaput glanced up from the piano and smiled. “Ah, Princess! How wonderful of you to join me! I’m quite surprised that you haven’t tried to visit me before tonight. Honestly, I’m almost insulted.” He smiled and continued to play. “Please, sit. Would you like a drink?”

A large red couch appeared beside the piano, and so did another glass of wine. Luna gasped as she felt the dream conform to Chaput’s will. “This… how is this possible?” she asked.

The griffon closed his eyes as he played a particularly intricate part on the piano. “Ah, princess. This is my dream, is it not? Why shouldn’t it be mine to control?”

“This shouldn’t be! You’re lucid!” Luna yelped as she was suddenly whisked over to the new couch.

“Indeed I am. It’s a skill I picked up a while back, and then refined. With years and years of practice and self-discipline, I believe that I have taken this particular skill further than many have dared imagine.” Chaput played the final note with a smile. He snapped his talons, and the piano played itself as he leaned back and looked at her. “May I interest you in a scone? Or perhaps a muffin? I hear that many ponies in Equestria adore muffins.”

Luna waved away the food that appeared before her and used her own manipulation of dreams to dispel them. “General. Please do not try to redirect me.”

He sighed. “Princess, I am merely extending you the most basic of common courtesy. You are my guest, after all. Perhaps you intended to be an intruder, but I welcome you, and that is all that matters.”

She raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly. “Very well, General.” Raising the glass of wine to her mouth, she took a sip. “Mmm… this is quite good.”

“Thank you. I created the taste myself, you know. It combines what I consider to be the best aspects of several of my favorite vintages. My family owned a vineyard back in Prance, but I never really got into the family business. You’re actually the first being with whom I’ve ever been able to share this.” He smiled and raised his own glass. “So, thank you.”

Luna looked at him unsurely. “This isn’t how lucid dreaming usually works, General.”

With a chuckle, he replied, “Oh, I realize that, Princess. I wouldn’t quite call this lucidity. It’s more of my own control issues running rampant within my own mind.” He nodded to her. “For example, I know that you are you because I cannot actually change you. I tried to alter your appearance slightly as soon as you appeared in my dream. My unconscious usually brings in different themes to my dream, and then I alter them to my own preferences.”

“And you suspected that I was one such ‘theme?’” she asked, taking another sip of the sweet wine. The subtle taste of an additional orange flavor filled her mouth, and her eyes widened.

“Yes, I did. After all, I have been working with your nation closely over the last several days. Your sister has appeared and attempted to scold me on several occasions.” The music slowed, and the general waved his claw. The wine in his glass shimmered. “I apologize if the taste changes abruptly. It can be difficult to manage all of the aspects of the dream, but it is very much worth it, I think.”

“Hmm.” Luna set the glass down, and it vanished as soon as it touched the table beside her. “Well, it would make sense that my sister would come to say something to you. You have been spending a great deal of time in talks with her.”

“Talks that go nowhere. Empty diplomatic prattle designed to appease the masses and ease the minds of politicians who wait to pursue their true agendas in the dark,” Chaput growled. “And now…” He sighed. “Well. I don’t suppose that you came here to hear me ramble on about diplomacy. Or did you?”

Luna glanced upward and nodded. “I suppose I did, General.”

“So, espionage it is!” The general laughed again. “And then you discover this. It is odd, is it not? And yet, not as odd as what I’m about to tell you,” he added as he shifted in his chair.

Luna raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“Allow me to tell you a story, Princess. Once upon a time, there was a gallant knight…”

The air in front of Luna shimmered, and an enormous computer screen appeared. It flashed on and showed a stick figure drawing of an orange stallion.

“This gallant knight came to visit the capitol of the Nation of Harmony.”

Luna inhaled deeply as the pony galloped toward a very familiar looking city…

“There, he met his pen pal, a princess! But he had no idea she was a princess!”

A mare with wings and a horn bounced across the screen toward the stallion, but, as she approached, she gasped. A poorly drawn cloud of smoke enveloped her, and her horn disappeared and her crown was replaced by a pair of glasses that fell onto her face.

“And the two played together happily, and they fell in love!” Chaput laughed quietly from somewhere beside Luna. “But then, an evil villain arrived!”

From the right side of the screen flew a black and white griffon with a top hat, a monocle, and a red cape. He twirled his moustache and cackled sinisterly as he perched on one of the buildings above the two happy ponies.

“The villain watched, unnoticed, as love bloomed. By a stroke of foul luck, the ponies were attacked by dark, shadowy monsters!”

The princess and the knight leapt into the air and gasped cartoonishly as a half dozen black horses with… loaves of bread… in their hooves charged the ponies. Luna frowned and glanced sideways, but her surroundings were no longer there. She sat in an empty piece of infinity, surrounded by darkness on all sides, except for the screen. Chaput was gone as well, the only evidence of his presence being the music that still filled the room.

“The princess and the knight fought off their assailants, and, in the process, realized that they could not be without one another! The princess went to the knight’s temporary castle and revealed herself!” Chaput’s voice boomed from the darkness as Luna turned back toward the screen. “And then they kissed, a lot!”

On the screen, the ponies kissed, and red hearts flew all around them.

“But they had forgotten that the villain knew, and when the knight sent an internet phone call to his mother about the situation, the evil mastermind got all the juicy details!”

“Chaput!” Luna hissed. “What are you trying to achieve with this?”

“Oh, just wait! The story gets better!” he cried in a sing-song voice.

The griffon on the screen soared above them, rubbing his talons together gleefully. The ponies hugged one another as the creature watching them continued to cackle.

“And then, when the princess went away, the villain swooped down, and the two had a conversation! Well, I took some poetic license here, but you understand…”

As soon as the princess left the knight, still surrounded by glowing hearts, the griffon flew to her and whispered in her ear.

“And the princess could not believe her ears. He knew…”

Luna growled up at the sky. “If you hurt him, I’ll—”

“He knew, and he was not going to harm either of them. Most unvillainous of him, was it not? But not only did he have no intent to harm them, he came bearing a warning…”

The screen slowly faded away, and Chaput shattered the last remnants by walking through it. His beak was pursed, and his eyes squinted at her. “Your knight is in danger, Princess. You may see me as the monster, but I am not. Your view of this situation is as absurd as the story I just told you. Inaccurate. Foolish. We may not be the best of friends, but I am not your enemy.” Another griffon strode out of the shadows, off to the left. “He is…”

Luna turned to see none other than Father Dmitri standing, gazing at them as he growled. His talons and beak were covered in blood, and his eyes gleamed from some imaginary light.

“He will attack within the week. I suspect that I will be a target, as will other griffons in power. I don’t know how, but it will happen. The possibility exists that he will strike at your Button Mash, and his rather unexpected combat training will be insufficient this time.” Chaput waved a claw, and Dmitri disappeared. “Is that what you wanted to see?”

Princess Luna growled. “And so, you spin lies once again, don’t you? You had this prepared. You’ve wanted to tell me this. You admitted to knowledge, made an implied threat, and then tried to pass it off to another.”

With a sigh, Chaput snapped his lanos, and the room reappeared. The two of them sat before the piano. “Princess, it’s like I didn’t even speak. You see what you want to see.”

“No. I see what you show me. You are trying, once more, to manipulate us. I—”

Chaput stood, and the music stopped. His voice boomed through the room as he said, “You. Are. Not. Listening!”

She recoiled as the lights flickered and the sun disappeared from the window.

“I have tried telling you in a subtle way, but you have missed the point. Allow me to say it outright. No lies. No half truths. Nothing hidden, nothing secret. I am not your enemy, and I never have been. I stand beside you, wishing for peace. My fellow griffons may say that they do as well, but many do not. When your focus is upon me, you are missing the lies.” He held up his talon, and a light appeared. “If I had desired war and had commanded the windigos, I would have had them attack my own airship at the same time as I had myself kidnapped from the castle in a manner caught by your recording devices… and my own. Then, I would have sequestered myself away in what looked like a Section Eleven prison on the outskirts of Canterlot.”

Luna inhaled deeply as the light in his talon flared. Once again, the room disappeared, replaced by the darkness. The only illumination came from the power held by the general, who looked at it and snarled.

“After most of my crew was dead, I would have had a few survivors flee to Griffonia, where they would be met by our ships. We would have flown to Canterlot, and the plan would move naturally from there. If my plan had been to kill you with the windigos, I simply would have had them sneak into your room at night and poison you, stab you, and then light your corpse on fire after having them chop it into many pieces. Exactly the same way that the pony cultists of old killed Starswirl the Bearded. Disgusting, yes, but needed. Obviously, this did not happen.”

The light expanded, and Luna had to hide her eyes.

“If your death had been my goal, I wouldn’t have just killed you. I would have destroyed you so utterly that there would be no chance of your survival, immortal or no. But I do not want that. I never did.” He slammed his talon to the ground, and the light exploded all around them. The darkness disappeared, replaced by a golden glow. Luna looked up to see Chaput standing before her clothed in a shining silver robe. “I respect you. Your sister, you, your nation. You have done the impossible: you have created peace. I would never break that, though I am capable of it. Instead, I fight to protect you. You. Must. Believe…”

As the last word faded, Luna found herself standing in a wide open field, staring at a tall mountain. A city sat upon it, glittering in the summer sun. A soft breeze played across her face, carrying with it the scent of a peaceful afternoon. She could hear the laughter of griffon foals playing nearby, and she saw a group of griffons dancing together by a stream.

“This is what I desire, Princess. Not power. Not control. Not to manipulate. All I want is peace, and we can only achieve this by stopping our internal fighting and by working together.” Chaput nodded toward the dancers. “And look over there… do you see that?”

She gazed toward the griffons and raised her eyebrow as she saw—

“My fiancée was a pony, you know. Her name was Melodia. She was the most beautiful, kindest, sweetest creature to ever walk upon Equus,” Chaput said quietly.

A single mare danced with the griffons. Her grey coat shimmered in the sunlight as her white mane danced with the wind. A smile covered her face, and her pink eyes gleamed. Luna could see her twirl in perfect time with the music played by several griffon musicians, which made sense, given that her cutie mark was a grouping of three musical notes. Luna found it hard to focus on anything besides the mare, as everything else seemed to fade and become blurry.

“I still love her, and I fight for a future for others like her. A fight not against you, but against our militant natures. Against our aggression. Against the battle inside the griffon.” He chuckled. “In the end, it is a battle I may never win, but I’ll be damned if I let that stop me.”

Slowly, the scene faded to a brilliant white, and the princess and the general reappeared in the first room.

“And that, dear princess, is why I am on your side. Dmitri is the powermonger. I am here to help you.” Chaput lowered his head and once more played the piano. “Now… if you would… I very much want to be alone for a while. This particular talk has brought up uncomfortable memories. I would like to rest in private, please.”

Luna started to speak, but the volume of the piano increased and nearly drowned her out. Chaput gazed downward, but looked up as the same mare from before rematerialized across the room from him. She sat in a chair and held a violin. She raised her bow and joined in with the song. The general smiled, and the music took over the dream. The building blew away in an ethereal wind, and all that remained were the griffon and the pony, playing their song to an open sky.

The princess stepped backward, a frown on her face. She allowed the breeze that had come from the dreamsky to take her, and everything went dark.

~~~

Once more in the dreamsky, Luna frowned as she floated up in the air. She shook her head as she gazed down on Canterlot. Chaput’s last words echoed through her mind, and the Princess of Dreams pulled herself through the air.

“Peace, war, lies, truths…” she muttered to herself. “More slippery than a snake…” Luna hummed to herself and reached out her magic to the city beneath her. The dreams increased their luminance, shining brightly in the night. She shook her thoughts away and concentrated on the lights.

Most of the dreams shone steadily, indicating a peaceful night, but there were several blinking dreams that called out to her. She pulled herself downward and moved through the city’s streets. A blinking light here, another there. Her magic reached out to the first. An earth pony mare, having a nightmare of losing her job… Luna concentrated her power, and thoughts of her last vacation to the beach replaced the darkness. The light stopped blinking.

Another pony screamed out through the dreamsky. This one was a unicorn stallion who was afraid of the dark. The princess gave him dreams of flying through the mountains, and the flashing subsided.

Next was a unicorn filly who was afraid for her father who was in the guard. Luna winced, but as her magic reached out, she turned her mind to the father’s return, and the dream took shape. The filly’s nightmare fled, leaving only the peace of sleep.

Next was—

Button.

Luna gasped as she recognized him. His light flashed urgently, and the pull that bad dreams usually had on the princess was doubled, as if something inside of her called back to it…

He was dreaming of… love lost.

Without another thought, Luna threw the dreamsky back and propelled herself to his hotel. She flew in through his bedroom window and allowed her magic to draw her into the dream…

Darkness. Luna could see nothing there, deep in the depths of the dream. All was silent, and the cold air carried the bitter sting of regret. She shivered, and was about to call forth light when a soft cry reached out to her ears.

“Not again…”

Luna spun around, straining her eyes for something, a clue, a sign, anything. She readied her light spell, when—

There! Off in the distance, a single spark of light. Luna wrapped a spell around herself, and she instantly teleported the great distance toward the only sign of consciousness.

As soon as she reappeared, she gasped. The princess stood behind a large chair made of wood and iron. Thick black chains wrapped around it. A prison within a mind.

She took a step sideways, and her fears were confirmed. Button sat strapped into his cage, tears streaming down his face. He wore, of all things, a propellor hat, and his mane was styled like that of a young colt.

“Please, not again!” he cried. As soon as the words left his lips, he opened his eyes, and light burned through the nightmare.

Luna faced the newly appeared facet of the dream and found herself standing before yet another screen not at all dissimilar from the one Chaput had conjured for her. As she watched, an image appeared.

While the rest of the dream was blurred and insubstantial, the scene that played before her was sharp and concrete. She instantly recognized it. A memory, not a dream.

An orange colt near to adulthood stood behind a tree near a rather familiar boutique. Luna saw the young Button take off a hat, the same had that the Button in the chair wore, and put it into his saddlebag. He ran a hoof through his mane, tidying it slightly. After that, he reached back into his saddlebag and pulled out a box of chocolates and a carefully protected bouquet of brilliant pink and purple flowers. Button smiled to himself, replaced them in the bag, and trotted up to the door of the building.

“No…” the Button in the chair moaned. “Rarity opens it…”

Button smiled as he knocked on the door to the boutique. He rapped it three times, and a sing-song voice replied.

“Cooooooooming!” Rarity called. Button stepped back just before the door opened, and the mare inside glanced down at him with a smile. “Why, hello, Button! Are you here to see Sweetie!”

“Uh, yes, ma’am!” Button replied. “Is she here?”

“‘Ma’am!’ My, how polite of you!” Rarity chuckled. “Yes, she is. She and her friends are playing upstairs. Graduation is practically upon us already, so the Crusaders are getting their last bit of adventuring in before finals and the big dance!”

The colt blushed furiously at the mention of the dance. “Umm, yeah… may I step in, please?”

“Of course!” Rarity stepped to the side. “Now, we may not have too much time, however. I have a big date tonight, so the girls are going over to Applejack’s house when I leave. Will you be able to ask her— I mean, talk to her before then?” Rarity smiled sweetly.

“No…” came the moan from beside Luna. “Please…”

Luna clenched her jaw and took a step forward, but then the chair and the screen disappeared. She gasped and spun around. “Where…” And then she saw it again. With another teleportation spell, she returned to her spot slightly behind the chair.

Button cried out and put his hooves up to his face. “And Rarity knew that I wanted to ask her, and… and…”

“Uhh, okay, I can do that.” By this time, the Button on the screen had a face redder than Luna had ever seen it. “I can do that, I think.”

“Excellent!” Rarity cheered. “And, Button? Good luck.” With a wink, she nodded toward the stairs. “Don’t be nervous. Stay calm and composed. It becomes you.”

“Thanks, Rarity,” both Buttons replied. One of them grinned, and the other hid his face deeply in his hooves.

The angle of the screen changed so that Luna could see Button run up the stairs as quickly as he could. A smile split his face, and his mane flew behind him as he breezed up the s—

“Woah!” Scootaloo cried as she dodged to the side. She and Apple Bloom had been coming down the stairs as Button almost barreled into them.

“Ah! Sorry!” Button called out. He stopped and smiled sheepishly. “Wasn’t watching where I was going.”

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom looked at each other and giggled. “Oh, it’s fine,” Apple Bloom replied. She snickered again, and Scootaloo joined in.

“What’s so funny?” Button asked.

“Nothing!” they both cried.

“Huh.” With a shrug, he glanced up the stairs. “Is Sweetie upstairs?”

The other crusaders broke into another fit of giggles. “Yes,” Scootaloo managed to reply.

“I should have realized!” Button yelled from his seat in the chair. “Why didn’t I realize?”

Blinking twice, Button turned away from the young mares and kept going up the stairs. “Okay, see you later, girls!”

The laughing continued as Button went upward. As he entered the upstairs hallway, the sound of the two mares abruptly stopped. Button reached over to knock on Sweetie’s door, and it slowly sung open.

“Button, wait!” Scootaloo cried, but—

“Why didn’t I listen?” Button whispered. The chains tightened around him. “I’m such an idiot…”

The door creaked as it opened up completely. Button ignored Scootaloo and took a deep breath. An orange blur careened toward him as he slowly stepped inside.

“Stop!” Scootaloo and the Button in the chair called out simultaneously, but it was too late. Button tried to hide his eyes, but the chains bound his hooves, and he couldn’t close his eyes.

As he stepped inside, Button looked around the room, searching for the mare of his dreams. Thoughts of her beautiful mane, her perfect coat, her wonderful voice, her kissable lips—

—lips that were currently kissing Spike as the two of them sat on her bed. Button gasped in horror as he saw Spike hold her close, his arm wrapped around her body. She leaned into him, her hooves on either side of his face. The two were the same height as they sat beside each other, and as they caressed one another, Button shied back in horror.

“NOOOOOOOOOO!” Button screamed, trying to throw the chains away. “Not again, Celestia damnit! No!”

Luna’s jaw dropped as she saw her coltfriend writhe against the chains. Up on the screen, Button slammed the door as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo ran up to him, their jaws hanging open.

Scootaloo winced, and Bloom reached her hoof forward. “Button…”

The colt didn’t respond as he shoved past them. He ran down the stairs as the tears flowed. Without a word to Rarity, he opened the door, slammed it shut, and sprinted back to the tree where he had began. As he fell to the ground, his sobs echoed around the dream, intertwining with the other Button’s.

“Why…” he begged. “Why?”

The screen disappeared, and so did the chair. With it went Luna’s coltfriend, and the princess was left alone once again. This time, she knew what was happening, so she spun around to look for the single speck of light. She strained her eyes, and—

“Not again!” Button cried out, and Luna felt her heart fall into her hooves. She stifled back tears of her own as she focused on the light that was so very far away. With yet another teleport, she returned to Button.

The screen still floated there, and the scene started over. Button took off his hat, and repeated himself.

Luna growled, and her magic filled the air. She ripped into the dream and tore the memory and the pain away. The screen vanished in a ripple of light, and a golden glow replaced the darkness.

Button gasped and looked up. Luna flapped her wings and landed in front of him. Awestruck, the stallion gazed up at her.

“Button…” she said quietly.

“Luna,” he replied. “I… you saved me… again.”

His tears faded, and, without a single spell from luna, the chains broke. The heavy metal that had bound him clattered to the ground before evaporating like melted ice. The chair flew away, and Button stood before her. His hat was gone, replaced by his fedora, and his mane returned to normal.

“Luna… I… you…” he stammered. A weak smile crossed his face, and he threw himself forward and pulled her into a tight hug. As he grabbed her, she could feel him shaking, and the tears flowed again. But this time, they were different.

“Love you, love you, love you, love you, love you,” he repeated again and again. “I’m not alone any more. I’m not worthless. I don’t have to watch that over and over. You’re here, you’re real, you’re mine, and I’m yours… how could I forget?”

The princess felt her own tears return as she returned his hug. She gently kissed the top of his head. “It’s easy to forget. In a dream, after being alone for so long… but you’re never going to be alone again. I love you.”

“Been stuck here forever,” he said, his voice muffled as he pressed into her mane. “Couldn’t escape, until you got here. Thank you, thank you… I love you, love you, love you…” he continued deliriously.

Luna chuckled and covered him in her wings. “Always. Always, for you.” She pressed a hoof gently against the back of his hat, and her magic filled the room. Grasping for her own memories as well as allowing his own mind to fill in the gaps, she conjured up a scene from their game. The Shrine raid. His favorite. With a small bit of direction, she created her own avatar, complete with weapons and all, to stand beside them.

Button glanced up, and his mind immediately put him into his armor and weapons from the game. A coltish grin split his face. “Ah, man! I love this raid!” He leapt into the air, and his jetpack blazed, propelling him through the sky. “Let’s go, Mem!”

Chuckling to herself, Luna wiped her face and sniffed loudly. “Sweet dreams, Button Mash. I love you, and I’ll see you in the morning,” she whispered.

And then the dreamsky took her once more, and she returned to fixing the nightmares of the city, covered by the love of a stallion, lonely no longer.

Payments, Meltdowns, and Journals

“Wow, that was delicious…”

Button smirked as his amazing, impossible marefriend pushed her now-empty plate away from herself. They sat in one of the booths at Donut Joe’s Donuts and More. The early morning sun filtered through the blinds and shined onto the table that held the remains of their breakfast.

“I guess you liked those, huh?” Button asked. “I can’t believe you’ve never been here before! I’ve been in town for what, a week, and I’ve already fallen in love with it! How’d you miss it for so long?”

The disguised princess took a deep drink from her cup of juice and shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I just never got past Waffle Hut. Usually, I’ll pick one restaurant and stick with that one. I go to the Hut for breakfast, and I never got around to trying Joe’s. Cel— um, my sister comes here rather often, however.”

He chuckled at her accidental slip-up. “I can’t blame her, like, at all. I’d probably come here every day, but then I’d be broke and dead from sugar overload.”

Luna leaned toward him. “Actually, Tia eats here every day that she has off. I think her, you know, alicorn metabolism is the only thing that lets her tolerate it.”

“You’re kidding!” Button whispered. “Oh, stars. This is nuts. We’re talking about her like this…” He held his face with his hoof. “You do realize how crazy this is to me, right? I’m here, with you, and you’re… you, and she’s her, and…”

“Haven’t we addressed this already, Button?” she asked softly as she reached across the table and grabbed his free hoof. “Yes, I’m me, but I love you, and that’s the important part.”

“‘Alicorn metabolism,’” he muttered. Shaking his head, he looked up at her. “I say again, nuts.”

She brought his hoof up to her mouth and gave it a chaste kiss. “In a good way?”

“In the very best kind of way,” Button replied. He reached out and gently caressed the side of her face. “I love you.”

She blushed and looked down. But after a moment, she glanced back up mischievously. “I know.”

“Hey! That’s not the right reply!” he cried out in mock indignation. “I’m no expert at this, but I think you’re supposed to say something different.”

Instead of responding, Luna stood up from the booth and walked over to him. She leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on his lips. “I love you, and you know it.”

“Mmm,” Button responded as he leaned in to kiss her back. “Well, if you’re going to say it like this, I’d be okay with you telling me it every day. Actually, lots of times every day.”

“Oh, Button,” she replied with a chuckle. “Okay, I’m going to go pay. Meet you out front?”

He furrowed his brow as she reached for the bill on the table. “Wait, I thought that…”

“Thought what?” she asked as she raised her eyebrow. “Are you going to ask to pay again?”

Lowering his eyes, he nodded. “Yeah, I was.”

“Button, I know you want to be the gentlestallion,” she began, “but you don’t have to pay for me. In fact, I want to pay for you. I know how money is for you, and I know what it is to me.”

“But it’s not about the money. It’s the thought behind it,” Button said as he reached for the bill. “I care about you, and I want to take care of it.”

“And I care about you and want to ‘take care of it’ too.” She gazed into his eyes. “Button. This one is mine. Please.”

He looked at Luna intently. Behind her glasses, her eyes were wide, and her lips were stretched out. She still held the bill, as did he. With a sigh, he let go. “Okay.”

“Button…”

“Lu— Starry, I just need to say something. I haven’t had anypony to buy things for since a very long time ago. I know that you have money, but I’d still like to pay sometimes.” Nodding slowly to himself, he continued. “I want you to know that… well, I don’t know what I want you to know, exactly, but it’s something. You know, like ‘where your money is, that’s where your heart is too.’ I want to show you, not with words, but actions, that I care.”

She gave him a small smile. “I understand, Button. But our relationship is… different. We have a lot of kinks to work out, I think.”

“Yeah,” he replied. “Maybe we should sit down and talk about stuff like this. We have anything but a normal time ahead of us, you know.”

“Oh, I realize that,” Luna said with another laugh. She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “And Button, you don’t have to spend money to tell me that you love me. I know. Money doesn’t mean anything. It’s you and me that matter.”

“I guess,” Button said. “Oh well. I guess we can go pay then.”

The stallion and the princess trotted to the front and paid their bill. Luna nodded to Button, and they headed for the door.

Suddenly, Luna chuckled. “Does that count as a fight?”

Button snorted and nuzzled her neck as the two walked. “So long as all of our fights go like that, then I’d say it can be one. At least you didn’t call me an idiot this time.” He nipped lightly at her ear.

“Ah, stop! You know I’m ticklish!” Luna cried.

“No I didn’t!” he exclaimed before chuckling in his pretend evil voice. “Oh, my… the things I can do now…”

“Don’t you dare!” she shrieked as she nudged him with her wing.

“Mwahaha.”

The two laughed together as they exited the store and turned onto the street. “So,” Button asked. “Back to the hotel to run a few quests? Maybe start a PUG?”

Luna wrinkled her face. “The questing sounds nice, but I think I’d rather just duo today. Is that all right?”

“Fine by me!”

She smiled. “I’m glad we have time to do this. We’ll have to find a way to keep it up when you go back home. Maybe weekend visits or something?”

“Maybe…” Button said slowly. “Or… wait. Don’t you do, you know, dream stuff? We could dream together every night! Although that might get weird… What do you think?”

As he turned to Luna, he saw her slow down, her brow furrowed. “Uhh…”

Button blinked twice. “What? Did I say something wrong?”

“Button,” Luna said. “Since you brought the topic up… do you remember your dream from last night?”

“Umm…” Button bit his lower lip and squinted his eyes. “I actually dreamed about our game. Why do you ask?”

“What about before the game dream?” Luna inquired. “Was there anything else?”

He wrinkled his nose as he thought back to the night before. “Uhh…”

Chains. Sweetie. Spike. Loss. Pain… Her.

His eyes widened. “Oh, stars. Did you…”

Luna stopped walking and turned to him, her lips pursed and brow furrowed. “Button, part of my role as the Princess of the Night is to patrol the dreamsky. It’s a place where ponies and other beings go when the dream. I watch for nightmares there, and last night, one of the ponies I needed to help was you.”

“I…” Button took a step back. “Y—that was you, actually you, in that dream?”

“Yes. I saw what you were going through, and I had to help.” Luna gave him space. “Button, I had no idea—”

“Just give me a second,” he interrupted. “I need, I need to process this.”

Sweetie Belle, the flowers, Rarity, the Boutique, helpless, alone, worthless, shadows, trapped, pain, grief, unloved, hated, second-class, extra…

“Button, I…”

He shook his head. “Do you know how long I’ve had that dream? That nightmare? Years.” Button gazed into her eyes. They glistened in the sunlight as she stared back. The ponies around them hurried past, paying the two no mind. “I’ve never told anypony about those feelings, ever. I held it inside, kept it a secret, and dreamed about it every night for a week. I still go back to it sometimes, and… and you came into it and saw it all.”

She lowered her head. “Button, I’m sorry. I didn’t think that it would hurt you that I went inside. I just wanted to help you, because I love y—”

Once more, he interrupted her. However, this time he did so by stepping forward and grabbing her into a tight hug. He shook and gasped for air, breathing in the smell of her mane. Button held his love close as he pressed into her. “Thank you,” he whispered into her ear.

Button felt his marefriend stiffen in surprise but then melt into his embrace. She snuggled into his neck and kissed him softly. “I love you. When I saw you were feeling like that, I couldn’t help myself. I had to help you. And then I saw what the dream was, and… my heart broke for you. I know what it feels like, the regret. A long time ago, some friends helped me face my own demon, and when I understood what was happening…”

He sniffed and hugged her tighter. “I hope you understand. I love you, and not her. That was a long time ago. I don’t care about it now, but it still hurts.”

“I know. I know.” Slowly, the two pulled apart. Luna smiled at him, and they lowered their faces until their foreheads met. “Don’t worry. Dreams are like that. It’s the subconscious’ playground. Your feelings and thoughts aren’t completely your own there. I’ve seen it before, and I’ll see it again.”

“Well,” Button muttered. “You’re a bit more understanding than I am. I’d probably feel pretty jealous.”

“Button, she might have memories locked away in your mind, but I have you. That’s what I care about.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, there it is again. You’re amazing, you know that, right?”

“Yes. I do,” she replied smugly.

Button nickered and stepped back before shaking his head. “And so humble!”

“But of course!” Luna exclaimed.

The two laughed together as they turned back toward Button’s hotel. Luna extended a wing to embrace him, and she leaned her head against his neck. Button smiled. This was perfect.

~~~

Button and Luna appeared in the guild’s base and immediately were greeted by the blaring guild alarm.

He quickly brought up his guild chat and the voice channel of their internet chat group. The officer channel was empty, so he entered the general member area. As soon as he entered, he heard Fawkes barking orders to the group.

“—and get the breakers, Jexxc! We don’t know what kind of defenses they might be bringing!” he said to the lower ranked members who were assembled.

“What’s going on here?” Luna asked over the chat.

“Memory!” Fawkes cried. “You’re here! I thought I was going to have to lead this on my own. Procrastinatoes is under attack. They just messaged us over the alliance chat. It’s the Legion, and they said that Noble is leading them.”

Button growled softly. Procrastinatoes was one of their allies who focused on gear-grinding some of the highest end raids. They’d made a killing on the artifact market and had built up a massive base where they sold much of their goods. The base was considered a safe haven for trade, and if the Legion was attacking them, then they were breaking more than a few inter-guild treaties.

“‘Natoes has defenses, but they don’t have many player-busting toons,” Luna commented. “When did we get the message?”

“About thirty seconds before you guys got online,” Fawkes replied. “I’ve got the guild mobilized and prepping the speeders. We can leave as soon as they’re ready. Oh! And I just told them to get our shield busters. If they’re trying to rob the stores, I figured that they might put shields inside the entrances and then have their unicorns ‘port out or something.”

Luna nodded, even though he couldn’t see her. “Good thinking. Fade and I will meet you down in the hangar. Has anypony seen Silver today?”

“He logged off about half an hour ago,” Fawkes said. “Said something about going to the store.”

Button and Luna ran toward the hangar. The stallion sighed into the chat. “So he might not be back in time. How many do we have?”

“We’re the only three officers,” Fawkes replied. “Jexxc and Indigo are leading their own squads of five, and we have a reserve of three. The three of us make eighteen. If the chat is accurate, there are three other guilds coming to help, but the Legion is moving in force. The last count from ‘Natoes says that they have over fifty. They lost most of their defenses and their entire security force in a second. The other guilds claim to be bringing about ten toons each.”

“Almost even,” Luna said quickly. “We can take them. Is the entire Pwnies squad on with Indigo?”

“Yeah!” Indigo chimed over the chat. “We’re all here. Time to get revenge on these flankholes for what they did to us earlier!”

Fawkes chuckled. “Yeah. Our PvP specialists will be pretty helpful here. Jexxc is leading a squad of heavy melee and magic support. The three extras are healing spec’d.”

“Perfect.” Luna slammed a hoof on the control for the hangar’s door. They ran inside as she gave her orders. “Jexxc’s squad. You’ll be going to engage the bulk of the Legion’s forces. Their usual tactics dictate a large single unit that clears all areas before a smaller group of raiding specialists and packponies go through to steal loot. You’ll be looking for that single group. We’ll try to get the other guilds to support you. The three in the reserve, go with them. They’ll need all the healing they can get. Indigo, you’ll take the Pwnies and look for their packponies. Their best fighters will be protecting them, so be ready. Fawkes, Fade, and I will look for Noble.” She growled as the two of them rushed past the other bustling guild members who were preparing the attack speeders. “We’ll get her.”

“Heard!” Fawkes said. “Jexxc, Indigo. You two clear?”

“Gotcha!” Indigo replied.

Jexxc: eeyup

“Perfect,” Luna said before clearing her throat. “Chosen! Who are we?”

“We’re the Few!” The chat exploded as a multitude of voices responded to her call.

“What are we?”

“Chosen!”

“And we will be?” she asked.

“Victorious!” they roared.

“Go!” Luna cried.

Button smirked. “Ya know, it’s pretty sexy when you yell orders…” he whispered so that only she could hear.

His marefriend blushed. “Well, maybe I should do it more often then,” she replied huskily.

“Oh, yeah.”

The two of them jumped into one of the speeders as the last of the Chosen piled into their own vehicles. A new alarm filled the room as the roof of the hangar slowly creaked open. In a flash, the engines ignited, and the guild was on their way. Luna grabbed the controls and directed them toward the north, where the Procrastinatoes had built their base.

“So, going after Noble,” Button murmured. The different squads went into their own private chats so that they could plan, and the officers had done the same. “How do we feel about this?”

“I don’t know,” Luna replied. “She betrayed us, but she was our friend for so long. A really loyal one too. It just doesn’t make any sense that she did this. I still can’t believe it.”

“Eh,” Button said and shrugged. “I agree. It doesn’t fit, but it happened. I guess we never really knew her, right?”

“Maybe…” she said pensively.

The scenery below them moved past in a blur as they raced toward their destination. The three officers rode in the speeder in a contemplative silence as the formation of Chosen vehicles blazed through the air at maximum speed.

After several minutes, the sight of a very large purple plasteel building filled Button’s view. The Procrastinatoes changed the color of their base at least twice a month, and the color this time was a dark, royal purple. However, the flamboyance of the building was marred by the smoke rising up into the sky from where several of the walls had been blown down with powerful explosives.

“Daaaaaamn,” Fawkes muttered. “They must have blasted the tartarus out of the sides…”

A voice crackled through the proximity chat as somepony radioed the officers’ speeder. “Chosen! Thank Luna you’re here!”

Button snickered, and Luna shook her head.

“The Legion’s inside. They’ve taken out all our security. There are way more than we thought.”

“‘Natoes, this is Memory. I’m leading the Chosen,” Luna replied. “What’s the status of our complete forces?”

“So far, you’re the only ones to respond. We’re trying to get our toons to respawn and we’re summoning turrets as quickly as possible, but they’re running rampant,” the rushed mare said. “It looks like most of their troops are sweeping through, and then they have other groups looting all our stores. Their leaders are headed for the command center. If they get there, they could have complete control.”

“Or initiate a reactor meltdown,” Luna muttered. “The Legion doesn’t usually claim bases. They wipe them out.”

“Oh, shit!” the voice said. “We need to stop them!”

“We’re on it. Don’t worry, ‘Natoes. We’ll save your base.” Luna took the speeder in for a landing.

“Thanks, Memory. We owe you.”

The vehicle set down on the open field, and the air hissed as the canopy opened. “Don’t thank us yet,” the princess replied as she jumped out of the speeder. “We have our work cut out for us.”

“Roger that. I’m getting back to the defense,” the other mare said. “Good luck.”

The rest of the Chosen Few emerged from their own speeders and drew their weapons. Sniper rifles, flamethrowers, shotguns, glowing swords, a lance of lunar energy, and one triple-barreled rocket launcher glimmered in the air.

“Okay, Chosen,” Luna said into the main chat. “Main assault force, you’re going for the bulk of their forces. Draw them out, slow them down. You can’t handle them all, so try to distract them until the other guilds arrive. Pwnies, go after your targets, and hit them hard. I’m going to handle Noble.”

The troops nodded and stamped their hooves, claws, or feet.

“Attack!”

Button, Luna, and Fawkes sped off toward the main entrance of the base while the rest of the group headed into the blown down walls that led to the enemy forces. The three ponies came to the door and banged on it. Button glanced upward to see a security camera swivel down to look at them. The light on the device flashed from red to green, and the door rose to allow them entrance.

“Do either of you know the way?” Luna asked as they rushed into the magnificent entrance. Gaudy decorations were draped over the walls, and what little was not covered by the colorful fabric was instead concealed by expensive portraits that must have cost the guild a fortune. The ceiling soared up into the sky, and soft music played over the speakers. Button could almost forget that this was a war zone, until the roar of battle and the screams of agonizing death reached his ears.

“I’ve been here a lot,” Fawkes said as he pointed to a far hallway. “The main control room is that way. We should be able to get there really quickly!”

Button dashed forward and directed more of his energy to his shields. He slammed a hoof onto a control panel and opened up the door that led in the direction Fawkes had pointed. “Stay behind me,” he said. “Noble always goes for the controllers first. I’ll keep them off you, Fawkes.”

“Okay,” the unicorn said as his magic charged, giving his white robes a red glow. Fire coalesced around him, and his eyes glowed bright orange. “I respec’d yesterday. Fire master now. Noble shouldn’t expect this…”

“Good,” Luna said. They pushed forward, glancing warily from side to side. “We’ll see what happens…”

As they continued through the corridors, the distant din of battle still echoed around them, but there were no enemies to be seen. Button gazed down the sights of his machine guns and grimaced. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“Here!” Fawkes exclaimed. “This is it!”

Button turned to see an unassuming black metal door off to the left. A security camera was placed above the door, and, as the three ponies trotted over, it clicked to green and opened the door.

The room that was revealed was lined with massive computer consoles. Screens depicting security information glowed up on the walls, and the middle of the room was occupied by a single circular table. Everything was silent and empty, and—

In a flash, one of the far walls exploded, and three shadowy figures entered the room. Button rolled into cover and aimed his guns at the grinning draconequus who conjured a shield as she approached.

Noble: hey guys! come on into the proximity voice chat!

Their old friend raised her bow and aimed it at Button. As she did so, the mechanic that Button recognized as her friend Traxx walked forward to stand beside her. The pegasus still wore her beat-up overalls, but an added layer of metal armor was underneath it, and cybernetic implants flared with stored energy. She raised a hoof, and portals opened all around her. Seven metallic creatures appeared all around her. Two mantiborgs, a trio of ironbark timberwolves, and two chaos-tech spiders dropped into their combat stances and growled at the ponies.

As the summoned creatures took position, the final member of Noble’s team strode out of the shadows. A lean llama with black robes glared at them through a clear plasteel helmet. Three spinning swords floated around him as he bared his sharpened teeth. A red stripe ran down the front of his robes, and Button could make out a long barreled rifle mounted on his back.

Luna growled and activated her proximity voice. “Noble.”

“Ah, Mem! Good to see you again!” the mare crooned. “How are things with boy-toy?”

“Shut the buck up,” Button said. “What the tartarus are you doing?”

“Leading my last major raid before I get promoted, of course!” she said. “See, I’m a Centurion right now, but I’m about to be on the Council itself. All the tributes, money, power, and… well, anything that I could want!”

“And you’d betray your friends for it?” Luna scoffed as she peeked up over the table in the center of the room. “You don’t deserve any of this. Traitor.”

“But she has friends here!” Traxx rebutted cheerfully. “Plus, it’s just a game, Memsy-poo! What does it really matter if we blow up this base after taking their stuff?”

“It matters because—” Fawkes’ words were cut off as the llama faded into shadow and immediately reappeared behind him. His blades arced down, but Fawkes’ spellarmor deflected the blows and tossed the rogue across the room.

“Whoops!” Noble laughed. “Mr. Snarky here doesn’t like it when things get philosophical. Oh well. I guess we can continue this after I kill you all and blow up this ugly-flank base.” The shield fell, and Noble’s arrows arced through the air at Button. “Seriously, making it all purple? Jeeze, that’s gay, and not in the good way!”

Button leapt into the air and turned away from Noble. He looked over at Fawkes who was trying to fend off the llama and all of the mechanic’s pets at the same time. “Fawkes! I’ll take the rogue! Take out the little guys!”

“Gotcha,” he roared as his magic filled the room. Fire ripped through the ground and engulfed one of the mantiborgs. It roared in pain, but the wolves leapt at Fawkes, who had to stop his spell so that he could teleport away.

As Button charged his new foe, he released a swift volley of bursts from his twin guns. The llama raised a glowing black shield and then activated his cloak. Button growled and turned on his visor just in time to—

One of Noble’s arrows impacted the side of his head just as the llama came crashing down on him with all three of the magically levitated swords. The timing was perfect, as if that move had been practiced countless times before, and Button’s shields dropped to half power.

“Not today!” Luna yelled, and Button could see her portal over to Noble. The two mares attacked one another. Luna’s chaosblades flashed, and Noble pulled out her own swordstaff. Techsteel met chaos incarnate, and light flashed from the contact.

Button spun around and bucked out, knocking the llama back into a wall. His bullets followed swiftly and ripped through the magical barriers, but were stopped by the power robes. The rogue’s rifle rose up and aimed at Button.

He barely managed to dodge out of the way as the high-powered gauss round impacted the computer console behind him. Sparks flew through the air, and an alarm blared from above him.

Fawkes cried out in panic as the spiders swarmed him. Try as he might, he couldn’t hold them off. As soon as he targeted one, the others were on him. Even his area of effect spells were useless as the creatures would teleport away each time. The mechanic controlling all the monsters hid behind the other side of the round table.

“Fawkes!” Button shouted. “Don’t worry about the mobs if you can’t get them! Handle their controller!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the llama leapt toward him, his blades glowing black and silver. They impacted Button’s shields, but Button ignored that. He charged his implants and focused his energy forward. Both hooves slammed into the llama, and both of their shields collapsed at the same moment.

Luna shouted out in shock. “Fade!”

Button glanced over in time to see—

The llama attacked again, and Button couldn’t take the time to glance to the side. The stallion rolled to the side and leapt to his hooves with a snarl on his lips. His machine guns flashed, but the rogue skidded sideways and activated his cloak. Button’s visor clicked on, and he fired at the red outline of his swift foe. Some of his shots impacted, but most missed. He aimed again, and… his visor died as an EMP bolt struck him from behind, and he could no longer see the outline.

Traxx chuckled over the voice chat. “Lights out! Snarky, do your thing!”

Button spun around and charged the pegasus who had shot him. Her monsters leapt toward him, but he dodged, his eyes set on the mechanic. Fawke’s spells arced through the air, pinning her down. She yelped as both stallions closed.

“Stars, no!” Luna shouted. “Noooooo!”

Button glanced to the side quickly to see…

Noble stood above Luna’s body with her sword embedded in Luna’s neck. The pegasus stared blindly forward, her gaze blank and frozen. The draconequus laughed madly. “Mem! I thought you were better than this! The bad-flank warrior princess of the Chosen Few, eh? Ha! Lies!”

As a look of horror spread across his face, Button turned back to his target. Rage clouded his vision as he slammed his hooves into Traxx. The mechanic shrieked as he instantly killed her, shattering her armor and breaking her spine.

“Yes!” Fawkes cheered, but his celebration was cut short as one of Noble’s arrows flew toward him.

Blood splashed onto Button’s visor as the glowing shaft burst through Fawkes’ skull and came out his eye socket. The unicorn’s face lost control and spasmed uncontrollably as blood splurted from his mouth. With a gurgle, the mage collapsed to the floor and twitched as his life faded away.

“Seriously? I leave, and you all become wimps,” Noble said. “I thought you were supposed to be so skilled… I guess I made the right choice leaving you all.” She kicked Luna’s body. “Oh, and sorry about the marefriend. I guess you’ll have to try to kiss her better… if you make it out alive, that is.” With an enormous smile, the draconequus raised her bloodstained blade. “C’mon, Fadey. Time to get schooled.”

“Kick her flank,” Luna muttered in Button’s ear. “Bitch.”

His heads up display flashed twice as his shields returned to full power. Button’s own grin mirrored his foe’s. “Oh, Noble… you forgot something.”

“What’s that?” she asked with a scoff.

“I’ve kicked the living shit out of you three times before. I beat Alchemists in every PvP. And…” He looked upward. “I also invested in a micro-rocket launcher yesterday.”

Immediately, his weapons raised, and Noble yelped. She transferred all her power into a kinetic barrier, waiting for a rocket attack—

—a rocket attack that never came, since Button didn’t have a rocket launcher. Instead, he triggered his Blink and appeared behind the draconequus and her shield. His machine guns fired, set to fully automatic this time. His rifle popped out of his pack and joined in, and he charged up his cybernetic implants.

Noble cried out in shock as her shields failed from the massive onslaught. She barely had time to turn around before Button tackled her to the ground, abandoning all pretenses of civility. His hooves slammed down, breaking her arms. She tried to resist, but a blast from his implants paralyzed her temporarily. As she lay unmoving, Button stood up. He had ten seconds…

“Actually, Noble, what you forgot was something different. I’m a good liar, and you’re an idiot. You always believed me.” His smile became predatory as he leaned over and grasped her own swordstaff with his teeth. “This is for Silver, and Mem, and the Chosen.”

Her eyes widened as he brought the blade downward and cleanly decapitated her. The draconequus’ head rolled back, and blood seeped into the metallic floor.

Button stood up slowly and dropped her sword. The bodies of his friends and a single enemy littered the floor around him as the roar of battle continued outside the room.

Noble: you bastard

He snickered and brought up his own keyboard.

Fade: bitch

A second later, a reply appeared on the screen.

Noble: doesn’t matter. the rest of your team is dead. we got all the loot, and my llama just triggered the self destruct. have fun blowing up, boy-toy

Button spun around and saw the llama standing at one of the furthest consoles. He typed furiously before meeting Button’s gaze.

“No!” Button yelled as he activated his jetpack. Soaring through the air at his target, his guns fired once more, sending waves of bullets at the rogue.

His foe dropped to the floor after hitting a final key on the computer. As Button flew toward him, glowing green energy filled the air. Button felt his controls become sluggish as the telekinesis grabbed him and pulled him toward the ground.

An artificial voice boomed through the base’s speaker system. “Reactor overload detected. Activate emergency protocols or evacuate the facility. This is not a drill. I say again, this is not a drill.”

“Shit!” Button cried as he lay down immobilized. He struggled against the magic and was able to break free, and—

The llama struck him from behind. The sneak attack cut through his shields instantly and damaged his armor heavily. His front left leg was broken by the force of the silver energy that impacted him.

He fell down once more, and his foe stood above him. Button glanced upward as the llama pointed his gun downward at his face. Button closed his eyes, and…

The shot never came. When Button looked up, the llama was standing at the console once more. He typed at the computer for a moment, and the alarm deactivated.

Button stared at him, barely able to move. The rogue nodded to himself and trotted over to the defeated stallion.

A private message appeared on his screen.

Ellis: if anyone asks, you killed me and deactivated the meltdown. dont tell them i did this

After the message sent, the rogue raised his rifle and pointed it… at himself. A single shot rang out, and the llama collapsed to the ground, killed instantly by the gauss round.

“Uhh…” Button said as he stared down at the body in front of him. “What?”

“How… why did he do that?” Luna asked quietly in the officer’s chat.

Fawkes’ voice cut through the chat as well. “What happened?”

“He… cut the overload and killed himself,” Button said.

Silence filled the chat. “What the actual buck?” Fawkes asked after a moment.

Before he could reply, his com bleeped as the ‘Natoes called him. Button pressed the accept key. “This is Fade,” he said.

“You saved the base!” the mare from earlier cheered. “They may have gotten away with all of our stock, but they didn’t blow us up!”

“Well…” Button replied, staring at the dead llama in front of him. He glanced down at the message from Ellis and took a deep breath. “I got them. Are we clear?”

“The Legion’s gone. Our toons are respawning now. We’re sending aid to your wounded troops now.”

Button nodded to himself. “Good… good…”

As the com deactivated, Luna whispered in his ear. “This makes no sense.”

“I know,” he replied. He glanced away from his computer screen and stared into his marefriend’s eyes. “I know.”

~~~

Princess Celestia sat down on one of the marble benches in the castle’s labyrinth. She sighed as she gazed out over a small pond surrounded on all sides by flowerbeds. Birds flittered above the ground, their songs filling the air with beautiful harmonies. The crisp morning air filled Celestia’s lungs, and the princess was at peace.

She glanced around the small clearing. The perfectly maintained bushes that made up the walls of the labyrinth blocked all signs of any other pony. Her guards had wanted to accompany her on her walk, but Celestia had insisted upon going alone. A single moment, all hers.

Closing her eyes, she reached out with her magic. From the same place that she stored her armor and weapons, she retrieved a single item. In a muted flash, an old acoustic guitar appeared. The princess hummed to herself as her magic pulled at the tuners and changed the pitch of the instrument. As that happened, she summoned another object. She placed the capo onto the guitar and gave it a single strum.

She coughed twice, glanced around once more to see if anypony was watching, and then began to play. As the song filled the air, she sang along softly.

“All winter, we got carried…”

The birds ceased their song, as if to listen. The princess’ hooves danced gracefully over the fretboard while she swayed back and forth in tempo with the song.

“Away over all the rooftops, let’s get married…”

She remembered the first time he sang a song to her. A smile split her lips as she began the second verse.

“All summer, we just hurried…”

He’d been in his cell when he broke into a spontaneous song about how perfect his mane was. It was sarcastic, and Celestia had shaken her head at his silliness, but, on the inside, she had been laughing.

“So come over, just be patient, and don’t worry…”

It hadn’t been until she’d let him out that he’d played his lute for her. Celestia had always loved instruments, and she had mastered several stringed instruments over her life. At the time, however, she hadn’t ever made the time to learn. He’d taught her to play after they got engaged…

“So come over, just be patient, and don’t worry…”

Their daughter had started to play before she could speak. A genius, that’s what Paix had called her. She played the harp in the Canterlot symphony until she was too feeble to pluck the strings.

“Don’t worry…”

The song intensified. The birds settled down on the ground before her and tapped their little talons. Celestia smiled sadly at them as they joined their voices to her music.

The wind carried the sounds over the labyrinth, and Celestia lost herself in her memories. Their first kiss. The day he’d tried to propose, but she asked the question first. When he’d nearly been killed after tackling her out of harm’s way. Wedding day. Wedding night. The birth of their only daughter. The day he got sick. Her quest. His refusal. The first day without him.

“No, I don’t want a battle from beginning to end!” She sang powerfully. The birds grabbed onto the melody and harmonized.

“I don’t want a cycle of recycled revenge!”

Tears fell on her face.

“I don’t want to follow death and all of his friends!”

The guitar cried out, as did the birds. Celestia’s voice soared over the noise, and the sky was silent as it listened to the singing goddess.

They repeated the bridge, and Celestia’s strumming slowed. She opened her eyes as her final tear trickled down her face.

“Don’t want to follow death and all of his friends…”

The music faded, but the birds continued to sing the melody. As Celestia wiped her face, the sound of quiet applause reached her ears. She turned sharply to see General Chaput leaning against the hedge wall of the labyrinth. He wore his white suit and red cape as well as a broad smile.

“Bravo, Princess. That was magnificent.”

Celestia’s face instantly became a mask, and her guitar disappeared. Her magic whisked it away, and the princess stood to her hooves. “Thank you, General. I was unaware of your presence.”

“Oh, I did not mean to intrude.” He stepped toward her slowly as he gazed around the clearing. “I actually hadn’t intended to come out here at all.”

“Really?” she asked. “I was under the impression that you came out here each day for a morning walk.”

Chaput smiled. “Yes, I have been. however, due to some of the events of the last few days, I did not feel completely comfortable coming out here all alone. I had intended to stay in the castle today, but then I saw you come out here to the gardens. It seemed to be a good time to try to talk to you”

Celestia raised an eyebrow as she strode toward the general. “Oh, really? I thought you said your intention was not to intrude?”

“Princess,” Chaput began, “I didn’t wish to disturb your morning routine; however, I do need to speak to you.”

The princess stood quietly before the general. He took a few steps forward until the two stood in front of each other. “What do you wish to speak to me about?” Celestia smiled to herself.

After clearing his throat, the general narrowed his eyes. “You’re mocking me, aren’t you, Princess?”

“Quite possibly,” she replied sweetly.

Chaput shook his head and grinned wryly. “How nice of you. But all humor aside, I do wish for us to speak with each other.”

Celestia nodded. “Very well, General, I do have some time. About what do you wish to speak?”

“I do have a few concerns about our current political situation. However, I have a more pressing… personal question to ask.”

Celestia did not speak or move for a moment. After considering his words, she said, “What do you wish to ask?”

“How do you do it?” His voice was very quiet, as if all pretensions were set aside.

“Do what?” she replied.

“How do you live forever, Princess? How do you live for years, seeing those you have known and loved passing before your very eyes?”

Once more, Celestia stood silently as the question reverberated within her mind. “What brought about this particular question?” she asked calmly.

Chaput sighed heavily and began to pace. “In all honesty, Princess, I have wanted to ask you this for many years. As you may know, I possess a doctorate in philosophy, I have studied the teachings of the greatest minds of Equus for my entire adult life. I have memorized the works of Heroclitis, delved in to the misteries of Starswirl’s ruminations, and written my own interpretations of Neightzsche’s treatises on morality. And yet, despite all of this learning, there is one question I have never been able to answer: How does one deal with loss? How do we see the ponies and griffons dying all around us, and continue to go about our lives? When somepony means the entire world to us, how can the world continue when we lose them?” The general shook his head. “I have tried to answer this myself. Things have happened in my own life that I have not truly been able to conquer. I have felt loss, and it is a pain that no words can truly convey. In the end, I came to the conclusion that this is something I am not qualified to address.” He looked at her, his eyes narrowed. “But then I thought, ‘Perhaps there is one.’ So I ask you, Princess, how do you do it?”

Celestia raised a hoof and scratched under her chin. She pursed her lips, shook her head, and said, “My dear general, I have been trying to answer that question for over a thousand years.”

The griffon smiled sadly. “I was afraid you would say that. Princess, would you like to walk with me?”

She nodded. “Very well.”

The princess and the general strolled out of the clearing. They took a left turn and entered the labyrinth. The vibrant hedges all around them buzzed with insects moving to pollinate the budding spring flowers. The morning sun cast its rays upon the cobbled ground, and silence engulfed them.

The general said nothing as they rounded several turns, and Celestia waited. Sure enough, his words came a moment later. “I lost my fiancée many years ago. She was the most amazing mare I had ever known. I lived for her laughter. When she smiled, everything was right in the world.” He paused. After clearing his throat, he continued by saying, “It was my fault. We had an argument that was, in retrospect, over something so miniscule that I should have ignored it. It was the last thing I said to her.”

Celestia remained quiet. They took another turn, and she saw one of her guards out of the corner of her eye. He glanced at her and quickly looked away.

“It was because of her passing that I became fascinated with the concept of death. Not the nature of death, but the reason for its very existence. I have to ask myself, in those days, ‘Why?’ More specifically, ‘Why her?’”

“I have asked myself that before as well,” Celestia replied.

“Ah, yes. Your husband.”

The princess looked at him sharply. “What did you say?”

Chaput raised an eyebrow. “Your husband, Paix. I’ve read his journal.”

Celestia calmed herself and hid any expression. “How did you come to possess the journal?”

“My adopted father was a teacher at a university in Prance. He was a collector of ancient manuscripts. He would often peruse local antique stores looking for books he found interesting. At one point in time, he came across a tattered journal that one of the store owners believed to contain a fairy tale from Equestria’s early history. However, my father recognized a very powerful preservation spell upon the book. After a quick analysis, he determined it was an alicorn spell. Interestingly enough, the book contained the story of a Prench unicorn who married a princess named Celestia.” Chaput glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “But we all know that Princess Celestia never married. He had to ask himself, ‘Why would a journal about a pony who married a princess have a spell cast upon it by a princess?’ Because he had so many questions about the book, he decided to purchase it. Thus, I grew up being read the story of a Prench unicorn who married a princess. And for some reason, deep inside, I believed it to be true.”

“Do you still have the journal?” Celestia asked.

In response, Chaput opened his saddlebag and pulled out a book. He gave it to the princess. “I thought you would want this.”

Celestia carefully levitated the journal away from the general. She opened it and flipped through the pages. Surely enough, it was Paix’ hoofwriting inside.

“I take it that the story is true then?” he asked quietly.

As she looked at the words she had lost so long ago, she nodded. “Yes.”

“As I thought. We are not so different, Princess. When I lost Melodia, I went back to the old story from my youth. The story of one pony’s quest for immortality. Not for herself, but for another. And as I gave it more thought, I—”

A group of eight royal guards came around one of the labyrinth’s corners. Their eyes were narrowed, as if they were searching for somepony… or somegriffon.

“That’s him,” the earth pony that Celestia assumed was the leader said. But as his eyes moved away from Chaput, they widened. “P-princess Celestia!”

The alicorn took a step forward. She glanced at his rank quickly before saying, “Sergeant… Copperfield. What is the meaning of this?”

“Uh… Your Highness,” he began, “your sister, uh, sent us to get you. She said she had something important to discuss.”

“Oh, really? That is odd, considering that she went to sleep less than an hour ago,” she replied. “Who are you, and what have you done with my guards?”

The unicorn guard standing next to the sergeant shifted unsteadily and said, “What do you want us to do?”

Chaput raised an eyebrow. “And this, Princess, is why I was uncomfortable coming to the gardens today.”

Copperfield sneered. “Princess, this is not about you. We have intelligence that states that the griffons—”

The unicorn guard beside him raised his crossbow with a shout. “For Equestria!”

The crossbow fired.

Chaput shouted.

Magic filled the air.

And then Celestia heard gunfire.

Author's Note

This chapter is dedicated to Skelepone, a live reader who passed away last week. His profile was adopted by a friend, so his work lives on. Please, give his profile a look, even if it's just to pay respects. His stories are fun, and he would have loved it if you guys give them a read or a like. Skele was a great guy, and I miss him a lot. The llama character in this chapter is because of him. :heart:

Silence, Hiding, and Endings

Silence.

Celestia snarled as her shield leapt into place just in time to intercept the bolts that flew at her from the imposter guards that stood before them. The projectiles struck her shield, but no sound was made as the magic absorbed the shock from the blows. She turned to look over at her griffon companion, but a sudden impact against her spell sent chills down her spine.

In addition to the eight guards down on the ground of the labyrinth, four pegasi in the uniform of the Royal Guard hovered up in the air… and pointed their rifles down at the princess and the general. Their bullets thudded against the barrier, and the muffled thumps resonated through the protected bubble. The guards outside seemed to be shouting at each other, but Celestia couldn’t make out their words.

“Interesting…” Chaput commented calmly. “Their battlecry is the name of the nation whose leader they are attacking. How wise of them.” He walked forward and examined the shield. “Quite the spell… I suppose that it even blocks the soundwaves. Perhaps now would be a good time for us to leave? Teleportation, maybe?”

Celestia inhaled sharply as one of the guards, a unicorn stepped forward. He yelled something to his comrades. The princess shook her head as her mind raced. “If we leave… no. We need to stop them before we go.” She allowed a portal to Otherspace to open, and her armor covered her body in its warm embrace.

“Oh, what fun.” Chaput reached inside his suit and drew a long-barrelled revolver with an ornately decorated grip. He lifted it upward and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “I suppose just shooting them is out of the question?” His beak quirked into a lopsided grin.

Shaking her head, the princess reached out with her magic. “I’d rather not…”

Her spell wove its way through the spell and surrounded the imposters. She hummed to herself as the power took shape and reached into their minds. “Sleep…” she whispered to herself

Nothing happened. Celestia blinked rapidly. It was almost as if something had taken her spell and dispersed it, which nullified the effect.

“I suppose it’s fortunate that leg shots aren’t lethal,” Chaput growled.

The princess shook her head. “We shouldn’t need to shoot them at all.” As she said this, she redirected her spells to a new form. Instead of attempting to knock them out, she formed more shield spells… each one surrounding one of their attackers.

The false guards gasped as the purple energy enclosed them. They shouted, but Celestia heard not even a whisper.

“Oh.” Chaput lowered his weapon. “Well, that was eas—”

The unicorn who had stepped forward charged his horn inside of his shield. Celestia gasped as raw energy surrounded him and something else joined with his power. The sheer force of his spell was impossible. It was as if it were fueled by something beyond mere pony magic…

The unicorn’s horn flared brilliantly, and, in a single instant, all of the shields collapsed.

“Get him!” somepony shouted.

Celestia barely had time to fling herself sideways before bullets rained downward. Her enemies roared, and the princess felt the wind whip past her as projectiles blazed past her. It was as if they did not care if they harmed her or not.

They just wanted Chaput dead.

The general dove alongside the princess. His pistol flashed, and Celestia saw the guards on the ground drop into defensive positions as he shot at them.

Celestia turned her gaze upward, and her energy soared toward the skybound attackers. Her spells couldn’t touch the ponies in the air for whatever reason, but that didn’t stop her from attacking their weapons.

The scream of rent metal filled her ears as the rifles twisted inward upon themselves. Their bearers looked down in shock, and the princess smiled grimly.

Chaput, meanwhile, had pulled a second revolver out of his suit. He leapt forward, flying through the air as he dodged several crossbow bolts. The princess saw him land beside a pair of guards. His elbows lashed out as he dealt blows to both of them at the same time. Immediately, he dropped to the ground and swept the legs of the enemy on his left. A swift strike to the base of the skull took that earth pony out of the fight.

One down.

Celestia took to the sky, her focus upon the pegasi. The wore the uniforms of guards, but something was just wrong. As she closed on them, the problem became clear.

Their eyes glowed orange, and a bluish smoke oozed from the corners of their snarling mouths. The princess bit back a gasp of revulsion as they sped downward to meet her. Channeling the power of the sun, Celestia sent a flare of brilliant energy out at them. They squawked in surprise when the impossibly bright rays blinded them.

Celestia grabbed the first of them and teleported them down to the ground. The yellow pegasus screeched, and she silenced him with two rapid blows. His three allies barely managed to stay aloft in the sky.

The general had incapacitated another pair of guards. His five remaining targets had taken cover behind several marble benches to reload, but Chaput didn’t seem to care. He bounded over the ground like a lion on the hunt. Roaring, he came down on one of them. The grips of his revolvers hit his enemy’s spine with brutal force. The unicorn shrieked and crumpled, his back skewed into an unnatural angle. The other four gazed in horror as the griffon raised his head and snarled at them. The guards drew their spears and swords and charged.

Celestia couldn’t see any more as the pegasi began to recover from her assault. They pulled out their own melee weapons and dove down at the alicorn. She didn’t even move as they closed on her. All she did was calmly lift one of the marble benches up off the ground, and, as gently as possible, swatted the trio down to the ground. With a crunch, they crashed into the hedges. She set her impromptu bludgeon back down and trotted over to the three of them. When she saw that they were still breathing, she formed a rod of kinetic force with her magic and brought it down on each in turn. The force, applied directly to one of the more sensitive areas of the neck, rendered them immobile as they faded into unconsciousness.

Nodding curtly, she turned back to see—

—Chaput blocking a sword blow with one of his claws. He had dropped one revolver in order to grab the blade directly. Wrenching the weapon to the side, Chaput raised his second weapon and fired off two quick shots. The first ripped through his attacker’s knee cap with a sickening tear, and the second hit another target in his side. The first attacker shrieked in agony and collapsed, and the second reeled back in shock and pain from the grazing hit. The general dropped the non-bloodstained sword and raised his claw into a fist. He struck the stunned opponent and dropped him to the ground. Before he could face the last guards, Celestia acted.

Summoning bursts of sonic energy, the princess channeled her power into two precisely placed spells. Waves of sound erupted in the eardrums of the last false guards. They screamed as they were deafened, and the general finished them with a pair of swift attacks.

While the last of them crumpled to the ground, Celestia trotted over to Chaput. “Are you hurt, General?”

He shrugged. His cape had a tear in it where a bolt had passed through, and his face was bleeding from a pair of cuts below his left eye. The claw with which he had grabbed the sword leaked blood profusely, but he seemed unconcerned. “As well as could be expected. And you, Princess?”

“I’m fine,” she replied. “Do you have any idea who they were?”

“Oh, I have more than a few ideas,” Chaput said as he reloaded his revolvers and put them back into the holsters hidden under his suit. “Pony loyalists, windigo slaves, zebran traitors… Dmitri’s pawns…”

The princess inhaled. “You were expecting them, weren’t you?”

“I was expecting something.” He nodded. “It seemed evident that things were escalating, and quickly.”

“Indeed…” Celestia looked down at her assailants. “We need to notify the real guards and get these into interrogation as soon as p—”

“Princess Celestia!” somepony cried. The alicorn turned her head sharply to see one of her guards cantering toward her. Six more guards followed closely behind. “Thank the sun that you’re safe!” he cried.

“We’re fine,” Celestia said. “How did this happen?”

“They’ve been impersonating guards all throughout the palace! We’re under attack!” he replied quickly.

She paled. “There are more?”

“We’ve heard gunfire all over the castle. We need to get you to safety and—”

Cutting him off, Celestia lifted into the air. “Get Luna! Rally the guards!”

“They’ll be attacking Yvonne and the other griffons!” Chaput shouted.

Nodding her head, the princess took to the sky, ignoring the protests of her loyal guards. One final time, she tapped into her alicorn magic and sent out a spell ripping through the castle.

“Intruders in the castle! Protect the griffons! For Equestria!”

~~~

“So, what are you reading?”

Agent Amethyst Breeze peered over the top of her book and smiled at the griffon who sat next to her. She and Captain Vlad were eating their late breakfast in the mess hall that the princesses had set up for the griffons who currently resided at the castle. The large room had been a back-up mess for the Royal Guards, and it was currently filled with griffon soldiers who had just finished their morning physical training. Amethyst had been unsure about that choice at first, but it had become very convenient to be able to eat with Vlad as the two discussed their case… among other reasons. The uniformed griffon sat very close beside her, and she was very much okay with this development. He held a newspaper and munched on a spinach crepe as he looked at her book.

“It’s, ah, an adventure story. Science fiction,” she said, her face flushed.

“Oh, really? Who is the author?” Vlad took another bite of his breakfast.

She turned the cover over. The front of the book bore the words, In Fury Born, and the image was of a mare’s face above a futuristic starship. “It’s by Webbs. He’s written some great things.”

“Ah, interesting.” He smiled at her. “I usually read the news at breakfast, myself. I leave the entertaining reading for my free evenings. Right now, I’m working through a few of my favorite classics.”

She returned a wide grin. His eyes twinkled as he looked at her… She coughed twice and shook her head. “What are you reading now?”

“Scaramouche. It’s amazing. I’ll read it at least once a year, if not more.” Turning back to his food he took another bite. “I try to read a few dozen pages every evening. He helps me unwind before I fall asleep.”

“Me too!” Breeze exclaimed. “I’ll have a cup of tea, take a shower, and then read for an hour or two, if I have time. I have the hardest time sleeping if I don’t.”

“My dear, you have just described the perfect evening.” Vlad chortled. “One cup of hot Earl Gray, and I am ready.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? That’s… the same tea I drink.”

The two gazed into one another’s eyes for a moment, and a smile tugged at Breeze’s lips.

Vlad cleared his throat. “Amethyst, I was wondering if you would like to go out to dinner with me tonight. Not for work, but as a da—”

Breeze’s heart leapt into her throat as he began to speak, but the sounds of the mess hall’s doors slamming open cut him off. They two of them turned quickly to see six ponies in the uniforms of the Royal Guard storming into the room.

Most of the occupants of the mess were griffon soldiers or members of the griffon’s diplomatic party. In fact, Agent Breeze was the only non-servant pony to be present in the hall. Of course, this made the arrival of the ponies surprising, but—

The first three guards raised assault rifles from their sides and pointed them at the amassed griffons. “For Equestria!”

Gunfire.

Screams.

Panic.

Breeze yelped and threw herself to the ground, dragging Vlad down with her. She reached out with a spell and flipped her table over in an attempt to block the bullets. As if by instinct, she summoned a shield around as many nearby griffons as she could.

She could see unarmed griffons all around the room being torn open as the rounds ripped through their bodies. Some had time to get to the ground, but many were not that lucky. Breeze stared in abject horror as the head of one griffon female exploded as trio of bullets penetrated her skull.

“Oh, Luna...” she muttered. “What is—”

“We have to help them!” Vlad shouted. He drew his sword from its ornamental scabbard. The guard had not allowed the griffons to carry their firearms into the castle, but the traditional blades of griffon naval officers had been grudgingly allowed. “Amethyst, can you stop those bastards?”

Breeze nodded. She peeked above the overturned table to see more of the guards entering the room. At least ten of them were shooting at the griffons, and their accuracy was lethal. With a snarl, she wove a spell above them, trying to knock them out… but nothing happened. Her magic fizzled, and the guards continued their murderous rampage.

“They’re protected somehow!” she yelled.

Vladimir gnashed his beak and reached inside his uniform. He removed a small weapon that Breeze recognized as a Germane-constructed P7 nine-millimeter clawgun. “Take this,“ he said as he thrust the weapon into her hooves. He then tossed her three extra magazines, also from within his uniform. “Cover me.”

Breeze nodded numbly and didn’t take the time to question how he’d managed to keep the weapon on him. She levitated the weapon into the air and looked down the sights. Redirecting some of her power to form a shield around her griffon companion, she took a deep breath. “Ready.”

Vladimir leapt over the table with a bellow. At the same time, Breeze stood up and aimed the unfamiliarly shaped weapon at her foes. She closed one eye, gently cocked the pistol, peered down the sight, took a deep breath… and squeezed.

The weapon barked twice as she sent the rounds down at her foes. The first shot went wide, hitting the stone wall and blowing a chunk out of it, but her second was dead on target. The earth pony cried out in shock and pain as her bullet struck his neck. Blood splurted, and he crashed to the floor.

The other murderers turned sharply and aimed their guns at Breeze. She inhaled sharply and fell back to the ground just before their shots screamed over her head.

“Stars… I just killed somepony. A pony…” she whispered.

“Amethyst!” Vlad screamed.

She didn’t have time to think. Redirecting another shield, she protected herself as she rose to her hooves once more. Vlad had made it all the way to his foes already, still guarded by her magical barrier. The shimmering blue field didn’t stop the bullets flying at him. Instead, they slightly redirected the projectiles. Breeze couldn’t keep up many actual shields, so she had to settle for the less effective redirection.

The griffon captain’s blade arced through the air and bit into the flesh of his first enemy. The unicorn screeched as she was torn asunder. Breeze sent two more rounds at them, dropping another foe.

But there were still more coming.

Three griffon soldiers raced over to beside Breeze. They reached into their own uniforms and drew pistols identical to the one Breeze carried. “We’re the captain’s security force!” one of them shouted. “Can we shoot through your shield from this side?”

“Yes!” she replied quickly as she let off three more shots. All of them missed, and Breeze growled.

By this point, the ponies had realized that their prey were not completely defenseless. They raced over to other tables, flipping them over as well. One of their unicorns cast his own shield, and the two sides fired at one another from their impromptu fortifications.

Vlad danced toward the guards, his blade spinning in an elegant arc as he slashed through his foes. Four other griffons flew forward with blood-curdling screams as they tried to avenge their fallen comrades with nothing but their talons and beaks… but all were cut down by the rifleponies.

A few other griffons had pistols of their own, and they raced over to Breeze’s shield. The Equestrian agent grunted from the exertion of maintaining so many spells at the same time. “Griffons!” she shouted. “Take cover over by me! Get those tables over!”

The soldiers followed her commands immediately, and the few armed griffons tried to cover them by firing their holdout pistols at their foes. The shields protecting both sides redirected the rounds, making all of their shots nearly useless.

Breeze gasped as she felt something tugging at her spell. She glanced over at the guards and saw a unicorn staring at her with an intense look of concentration on his face. His horn flared bright yellow, and a cool blue aura surrounded him. His magic pulled against her shield, and she reacted.

Blue power met yellow, and the two unicorns warred for supremacy. Breeze gritted her teeth as the other unicorn ripped into her spell’s form. She struggled in vain to stop him and repair the damage. He was just too strong. There was something wrong with his magic…

With a grunt of surprise, she ducked down behind cover as her shields all failed. The ponies opened fire, and—

Vlad’s shout of victory resonated through the hall as he took a flying leap over the ponies’ barricade. After somersaulting through the air, he landed behind them. With three swift thrusts, the enemy spellcaster collapsed, his chest perforated by the long blade.

When the mage fell, so did his shield. Breeze aimed her P7 and fired off the last round in her magazine before quickly reloading. Every single one of the weapon’s eight bullets flew downrange as she fired continuously, and most of them hit their targets. As the ponies struggled to react to Vlad’s vicious assault, the surviving griffons rushed them. Those with pistols flew upward and rained death upon their assailants.

As quickly as it began, the attack was over. Captain Vladimir stood surrounded by his comrades, drenched in blood. He scowled as he raised his beak into the air and let loose a croon of rage. The others joined in, forming a chorus of rage… and regret.

Breeze shakily lowered her pistol and trotted over to the group. They stood above the bodies of their fallen foes and brethren. For every one of the dead ponies, there were four griffons who had already died or were breathing their final breaths. She inhaled sharply as she approached the captain. “Vlad…”

“Who would do this?” he growled, turning his gaze to the dead unicorn below him. “What kind of monsters would…”

“I don’t know,” she replied quietly. Griffons moved to try to help the fallen. “But I—”

“Intruders in the castle! Protect the griffons! For Equestria!”

Chills ran down Breeze’s spine as Princess Celestia’s amplified voice reverberated through the castle. The griffon soldiers hissed and flared their wings, and Vlad’s face paled.

“Oh, no…” he said. His sword lowered until it almost touched the ground. “No!”

“What is it?” Breeze asked.

“General Chaput! Dmitri, Yvonne!” Vlad cried. “We have to help them! We have to—”

The griffons who had told Breeze that they were the captain's security officers approached him. “Captain! Should we go after them?”

He nodded vigorously. “Immediately!” He swung around to face the crowd. “Soldiers of Griffonia! Your general is under attack! They threaten your father! Find them! Protect them!”

All of the soldiers looked up, their eyes full of fury. They roared their acknowledgement, and those who had weapons raced out of the hall. The others moved to the bodies of their fallen allies and enemies to pick up their weapons.

“What do you need me to do?” Breeze asked quickly.

Vlad looked at her, his beak pursed. “Amethyst, you aren’t a soldier. You should hide, and stay safe so—”

“Wait, what?” she asked. “I… huh?”

He inhaled sharply. “If they’re attacking in force, you should find somewhere to hide. Stay safe, and—”

“Bullshit!” she cut him off again. “I’m an Equestrian agent. I saved your life, and you… you…” He gazed at her, and she scowled. “Damnit, Vlad! You’d be dead if it weren’t for me!”

“Yes, and I’m grateful. But…” He walked closer to her as the griffons around bustled with activity. “I can’t see you get hurt.”

“It’s not really your choice,” she said as she took a step forward as well. “I need to help.”

“Amethyst—”

“Vlad!” she cried. “You… you…”

They stood before one another, nearly nose to beak. His eyebrows were creased, and his beak was pulled tight with worry. “Amethyst. Please…”

Breeze felt her face flush, and she made a snap decision. She leaned forward, and pulled him into a tight hug.

As she did, she felt him tense up and then relax. He pulled one of his wings around her, and moved his head down to nuzzle into her. Breeze embraced him, inhaling sharply.

“Okay. Stay beside me,” he whispered.

“You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried,” she replied. “Besides, you still need to ask me that question from before…”

Vlad pulled back and gave her a small smile. “Yes. But for now, be ready.” He drew his sword.

“We have lives to save.”

~~~

Captain Ember Flair hummed happily to herself as she opened the door to the Royal Guard mess hall. She flipped her mane out of her face and adjusted the immaculate Guard uniform that she wore.

“Space unicorn, shining in the night…” she sang quietly as she entered the line to get her morning meal.

Flair grinned at the other soldiers around her. Morning physical training had been refreshing. She hadn’t been able to attend for the last several weeks due to her schedule, but she’d made the time this morning. It was interesting to do her flight exercises alongside the griffon soldiers who had also been invited by the leaders of the exercises. She’d flown about two miles with Captain Ivanov, and the two had discussed a few things, including a certain blue unicorn…

“All around the world…” Flair muttered after she finished walking through the line. Turning her head, she glanced around the mess hall to look for a seat. Most of the tables were completely full, so she’d have to sit with someone. Maybe…

Her face split into a grin as the seated form of an old friend caught her eye. She cleared her throat and trotted over to the Knight-Captain of the Royal Guard who sat alone at the far side of the room. The pegasus mare sat quietly, looking at some paperwork as she ate. She wore a uniform very similar to Flair’s, and had upon her back a medium sized circular shield emblazoned with the rising sun that was the crest of the Royal Guard.

“Dovey!” she crooned as she flopped into a chair beside the other mare. “Wazzzzzup?”

The mare in question glanced up and, upon recognizing Flair, gave a strained look like she was struggling to pass a particularly troublesome stool before turning back to her food with a resigned sigh. “Hi, Flair."

Flair set her food down and nodded cheerfully. “So, remember that time when we were married?” she asked casually before taking a huge bite of her breakfast burrito.

“You know, Flair,” droned the Knight-Captain, “I was wondering, if you stare at a breakfast muffin long enough, do you become the muffin? Maybe that way you’ll just eat me and I can be spared the misery of being reminded of our mission in Prance. You know, the one with a totally not-true cover story. That was completely, entirely fabricated and not in any way true.”

Snorting, Flair swallowed her food and leered at her companion. “Didja just say something about me eating y— Ya know what? Never mind.” She shook her head, still glancing at Dove out of the corner of her eye. “What were you saying? I got a bit distracted by the innuendo.”

“Let’s actually pretend I wasn’t saying anything,” the older mare said with a weary sigh. “Maybe that way you’ll forget what it is you came to talk to me about and go away.”

“Aw, but that takes all the fun out of it!” Flair replied. “But seriously, I just wanted to stop by and say hello…”

“Yeah, except your ‘hellos’ always come with a—”

“—and that I love you and want you back,” she finished dramatically. She threw a hoof into the air and raised her head to the sky. “Oh, Dovey! You don’t know how it’s been without you! Please! Return to meeeeeee!” Eyes around the mess hall turned to the two mares, and Flair’s mouth twitched as she tried to hide a smirk. “MARRY ME REBEKAH!”

Dovetail’s ears flattened instantly, and her snow-white coat lit up with a tinge of pink. “...Yes. That. Exactly that.”

“I know why we couldn’t stay together…” She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “It was crazy. You were a rising star in the Guard, and I was a new intelligence agent fresh out of training school. Ours was a love doomed from the start… but our months of happiness meant the world to me.”

Dovetail snorted. “More like months of terrible one-liners, tail-flicks, and feather-markin— eep!”

Flair slapped her wing up against Dove’s flank quickly, and then turned away. “Ahh, the good old days! Back before the chain of command pulled us apart! Before you became a crotchety stick in the mud of regulations and social conventions! But, Dovey…” She looked back and batted her eyelids. “You’re not technically my boss any more, so…”

“Hah, that’s right, you’re Captain now, aren’t you?” The Knight-Captain leaned back in her chair and smirked. “Is this what your people do all day down there in Intel now that I’m gone? Flirt with each other?”

“Did we ever not?” Flair asked, nudging Dove with her wing.

“Yeah, right. I bet you’ve turned the place into a bona-fide brothel now, didn’t you.” Dovetail said with a playful chuckle. “Ugh. I need a vacation.”

“Mmm, me too.” Flair allowed herself a gentle laugh. With a sigh of her own, she leaned sideways, resting her head on her friend’s shoulder. “Ya know… we could just run off to Prance again, just you and me. I bet old Mr. Stuffypants would give me my old cover-job back.”

Dovetail didn’t object to the sudden physical contact. Instead, she fixed Flair with a concerned stare. “For real though. I think you do need a vacation. Maybe even more than I do, at least.” The mare slowly pushed Flair’s chin up with a hoof to meet her eyes. “Are you okay? How have you been holding up?”

Flair turned away from the other mare and looked out across the room. The events of the attack replayed in her mind, and she closed her eyes. “Shit. Blue almost died… I lost a ton of old friends… and everypony’s counting on me.” She inhaled deeply. Her voice was quiet as she said, “I’m not doing well, at all.”

Without another word, the stoic Knight-Captain wrapped a hoof and silently dragged Flair into an embrace.

Chuckling sadly, Flair leaned into the hug. “What happened to those regs about public displays of affection, Dovey?”

“Whoever came up with those regs can go buck themselves,” Dove grunted. “Knight-Captain Armor got rid of them years ago, back when he was in charge. Even soldiers need a shoulder to cry on every now and then.”

“Well, thanks,” Flair said. She pulled back and gave another small smile. A thought crossed her mind, and her grin widened. “So… does that mean that I can kiss you anywhere I want now?”

“You can kiss my horseshoe when it goes flying into your face,” came the Knight-Captain’s reply, raising her foreleg quickly to Flair’s face, before harmlessly booping her on the muzzle.

“Ooh. Kinky,” Flair whispered. “Didn’t know you were into that stuff…”

“Well, we’ve both got hoofcuffs…”

Flair raised her eyebrows suggestively. “Bow-chicka-bow-w—”

Her voice was cut off as the voice of the princess filled the room and echoed through Flair’s mind.

“Intruders in the castle! Protect the griffons! For Equestria!”

Flair gasped and looked at Dovetail, whose eyes widened in alarm.

“Shit,” Flair swore under her breath.

“You heard the princess!” the Knight-Captain shouted to the silent mess hall. “Everypony to the armory!”

“Move!” added Flair. “Get your crossbows!”

The ponies burst into action. Meals were left forgotten as the soldiers rushed toward the doors. Flair launched herself into the air and reached inside her coat to unholster her weapon. “Dove, are you armed?”

The other mare shook her head. “My sword’s out in the armory.” She shrugged her wings and grabbed her shield.

“Here…” Flair reached down to a hidden sheath and removed a short blade that she had ‘forgotten’ to return when she’d taken off the combat suit. “Don’t tell anypony I had this…”

Dovetail caught the thrown blade and raised a knowing eyebrow. “So hey, what was that thing you were saying earlier about regs?”

“Regs, schmegs. Upitty ups might not want this out in the open, but I didn’t feel safe unarmed out here after the last attack.” She drew the side-arm that she’d also kept. “Thought shit like this might happen again— whoa!”

Flair lurched for a moment as the blade was tossed back to her, and she barely managed to grab it in time before it clattered to the floor. Looking up, she realized that the Knight-Captain had drawn her own blade.

“Yeah,” she said with a smirk. “Me neither.”

The airborne pegasus laughed. “And that’s why I love you.”

They nodded to one another and both flew toward the exit. Passing over the crowd of ponies, they dashed out into the hallway. Outside the isolated room, they could hear distant gunfire and the shouts of combat.

“Which way?” Flair asked.

Dovetail hummed to herself. “Our priority is Dmitri. If they’re after griffons, then he’s the target.”

The other mare nodded. “Okay. Where is he?”

“He’s most likely out in the conference room. He and Prime Minister Rector are supposed to be giving speeches for the media.” The Knight-Captain flew off to the left. “We need to get there yesterday.”

“Right behind you!” Flair shouted.

The two of them flew down the hallway, weapons out. Flair sneered as she cocked the pistol. The shouts grew louder and louder as they headed toward the center of the castle. They saw no ponies or griffons, and—

“Here!” Dovetail yelled. The two of them turned sharply into a wide doorway, and raised their weapons. On the far side of the room huddled half a dozen griffons and a pair of ponies. Several other ponies in guard uniforms fired rifles at them from behind a raised podium.

“Hey!” Flair shouted. “What the buck are you doing here—”

The first pony spun around and hissed at the pegasus. His eyes flashed red as he raised his rifle.

Dovetail tackled Flair to the ground as the bullets flew through the air. Flair yelped as she slammed to the ground. “Oh, it is on!” she declared.

Dovetail flew into the air with her shield raised. She rushed the rabid ponies as her sword blazed with energy.

Flair took cover behind one of the small wooden walls that lined the perimeter of the conference room. She aimed her sidearm and let off several rounds. The energy arced toward her target’s head, and the pony fell down, his entire head destroyed by the power of her shots.

Dovetail touched down and swung her blade in a lethal arc. She slashed through the pony who had attacked Flair, and then she moved on to her next target.

One of the griffons back behind cover screeched as she bolted around the corner to join the battle. Yvonne’s talons were out as she tackled one of the ponies. The blue unicorn fell to the ground with a cry before the griffon ripped his throat out with her beak.

Flair fired off more shots, and, before she knew it, the ponies were all dead. Smoke hissed out of her sidearm’s barrel, and the power pack emitted a high pitched hum. She scowled as she trotted over to the corpses of her short-lived foes. “What the buck just happened?”

“They walked into the room and started shooting,” Yvonne spat. “Why were your ponies attacking us?”

“They aren’t ours,” Dovetail replied quietly. “We have no idea what happened.”

“Well, I—” Yvonne began.

“If you’ll notice, they were shooting at me too,” Prime Minister Apollo said as he stood shakily to his hooves. “I believe that it would be safe to assume that these are not actual Royal Guards…”

Flair was about to say something, but the arrival of a group of armed griffons cut her off.

“Yvonne!” Captain Ivanov shouted. “Are you alright?”

“I’m unharmed,” she replied. “I cannot say the same of my aide, however.” Yvonne gestured toward the fallen corpse of a gold and white griffon on the other side of the room. “Have you seen Dmitri?”

“He isn’t here?” Flair asked, her eyes wide. “Oh, buck, we need to find him!”

“No need.” The entire group spun around to see Princess Celestia, General Chaput, and Father Dmitri walking toward the door. The princess held her head high, her elegant form covered in glowing golden and purple armor. Chaput’s face was stoic, and Dmitri was sneering at him. “Is everyone well?” Celestia asked.

“Only one death here,” Yvonne said.

“We lost many in the mess hall.” Vladimir’s voice was quiet. “Agent Breeze was the only reason that we’re still alive.”

Celestia looked around the room and nodded slowly. “Hmm…” She took a step forward and looked down at the corpse of one of the ponies. “I believe that it is safe to say that these were not my ponies. They were unnatural. As if something was not quite right...”

“And they were immune to my magic,” Breeze added. “I don’t know why.”

“I couldn’t affect them either,” the Prime Minister said. “I tried to put them to sleep, but something stopped me.”

Celestia nodded. “I was unable to cast spells upon them either. Do we know why?”

Breeze shook her head. “No, Princess.”

Flair took a step forward with a grimace. “I think I know who could find out though.”

The princess’ eyes flashed. “Oh, we’ll get to the bottom of this. The general and I managed to incapacitate several of them. When they wake up, we will interrogate.” She faced the Father. “Dmitri, you have my sincerest apologies for these events. Rest assured, we will devote all possible effort to an investigation.”

He growled and bared his beak. “Fine.” Spinning around, he walked out of the room.

Chaput shook his head. “Thank you, Princess. If you require any aid from us, you need only ask.”

She bowed slightly. “Of course, General.” Celestia raised her head again and glanced over at Flair. “Captain, please get your friend to work on figuring out why our spells did not work. Dovetail, I need you to come with me.”

“Of course, Your Highness.” Dovetail stepped forward. “Lead the way.”

Flair glanced down at the ground and stared at the pony who she had shot. He was still bleeding, and his leg was twitching…

“Ember…” Breeze said to her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she growled in response. “How was this even possible?”

“I have no idea.”

“First the windigos, and now this. Anyone else feel like we’re watching a rerun?” Flair asked.

Captain Vladimir nodded. “It does feel suspiciously similar.”

Chaput cleared his throat. “A sneak attack that fails due to ineptitude and disorganization. Ponies with glowing eyes and mysterious magic, and windigos who do not fit the profile for their kind. High priority targets and an attempt at large body counts. This is not a coincidence.”

“Shit,” Flair muttered. “Shit, shit, triple shit…” She glanced up at the griffons and ponies. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. Buck this. I don’t care who’s attacking us. They obviously don’t want this peace treaty to work or they want us all dead. Either way, we’re on the same side. And if there’s one thing that I know, it’s that these dumbflanks are even less competent than the Yaks.”

Ivanov chuckled.

“I’m not gonna let them win. This is the last attack.” She stamped her hoof on the ground. “We’ll figure this out, and then…”

She raised her lip into a sneer. “And then we’re going to end this, once and for all.”

Author's Note

Special thanks to Swan Song for the character of Dovetail! We roleplayed all of their dialogue together. Go give Swan some love!

Interlude V: Sanity

Father Dmitri snarled and slammed a claw into the stone wall of his quarters in the Canterlot Castle. His door slammed shut behind him, and he could taste his own rage as it enveloped him in a nearly tangible red mist.

“Fucking bastards!” he spat as he threw a chair across the room. “Thrice damned sons of whores!”

The air behind him shimmered, and Dmitri felt a presence appear. He paused, glaring out the window across his room. The griffon’s eyes narrowed, and his beak twitched.

:Weak. You are weak.:

The father turned slowly, glancing over his shoulder with a sneer. “You useless piece of shit. I gave you a single job, and you failed.”

The windigo trotted forward and cocked his head to the side. :General smart. Ponies strong. Goddesses ready. Not our fail. Your fail. Weak.:

Dmitri bit back a scream and stopped himself from ripping out the throat of his useless minion. “Oh, really? I was the one who couldn’t even kill a general who had followed the same routine every day for over a week? Or murder a weak female and an old pony politician?”

:Stupid plan: The windigo’s expression didn’t even change, but he flicked his muzzle forward in contempt as he paced to the side. :What gain if not fail? None. Ponies prove fault. Ponies discover. Ponies always win.:

“If I want your input, I will command you to speak!” Dmitri growled. His face flushed, and his vision clouded as his rage rose back into the forefront of his mind. Anger. Hate. Fire. Kill. Burn. Steal. Immortal. Power. Princess… Destroy.

:See? Insane. Griffon not made for this power. You die soon.: The windigo bowed his head. :And then we free.:

“I can have any power I want!” the griffon snapped. “I claimed yours, for you are unworthy, and soon, I shall… I shall…” His words faltered, and his knees shook. All he could see was red…

:Maybe a week. Then consumed. Sorry.: The windigo’s thought-send had no inflection, but Dmitri could feel the bitter sarcasm that permeated the last word.

Dmitri ground his beak and chomped down as a claw lashed out to grab onto a wall to hold himself up. He blindly reached out with his magic and grasped for the nearest source of power… the windigo before him.

The ethereal horse sighed. Kill me. Become strong now. Weak later. Cannot handle—:

“Shut! Up!” Dmitri screamed as he twisted. The windigo was ripped apart, and the creature didn’t even make a sound. The griffon felt energy rush into his soul, and he breathed a sigh of relief as his energy returned to him. “I. Am. Greater.”

He raised his head with another snarl and walked to the window. Opening the blinds, he sent out a call to his other servants who flew around the castle. :Bring me the traitor,: he sent. A whisper on the wind carried their answer.

:At once.:

The father clicked his beak. After turning away from the window, he moved to his mirror to examine himself. He glared at his reflection, and the face of death stared back.

His eyes were as black as the night sky, and his beak dripped with blood that he knew was his own. His eyelids twitched, and his cheeks were gaunt. Raising a handkerchief with a shaking claw, he wiped the blood away as he took a deep, shaking breath.

“I will prevail. I always do…”

The blood continued to flow, and he hacked painfully as his throat burned him. The magic pooling within him tore at his inhibitions. He wanted nothing more than to leave his room, walk up to the princess herself, and—

“Shut the fuck up,” he said to himself. “Get out of my head! I need… I need…”

He could see himself ripping Celestia in half with his talons, drinking her blood, and absorbing… stealing… taking what was rightfully his.

“Too soon… too soon… follow the plan. Don’t rush.” He looked up to see himself smiling back. “But we can do it… we can take it now! Why do we need these ploys? Why not just finish this?”

His eyes shifted from black to reddish orange, and blue smoke filtered from his beak and nostrils. “We can do it! We’re strong.”

Voices inside his head called out in a chorus, screaming their own voices. The words of the windigos he’d killed, the zebran shamans whose magic he’d re-claimed, the unicorns who had dared to stand before him, all those who now fueled his attacks.

“We are the incarnation of power! Equus’ pinnacle! The end of all! And the beginning…” he said in a thousand voices. The air around him blazed with energy, and he could feel himself slipping… as if the line between the mage and the magic had been blurred, and it was nearly impossible to see who controlled whom…

“Stop!” he shouted to himself, cutting through the darkness. “Leave me! I have the power! Bego—”

A knock at the door stopped him short. The voices were immediately silenced, and he gasped at the sudden reprieve. Running a claw through his crest, he composed himself as he took a step forward.

The door swung open, and he gazed out at the proud face of a red-maned mare. She raised her chin, and looked into his eyes. “Father… you wanted me?”

He nodded. “Yes. Come inside.”

“You realize that you most likely just proved my guilt to the princesses, don’t you?” she asked casually as she strode into the quarters. “They’ll know it’s me within the week.”

“Before this week is through, everything will be over,” Dmitri growled. “Pony. How did Celestia know about the attack?”

“How did she know?” The spy laughed derisively. “She didn’t.”

“Impossible. There is a traitor!” he declared as he began to pace. “She was with Chaput! She alerted the castle! She was ready!”

The mare rolled her eyes. “You may be my employer, but you are also a fool. That wasn’t Celestia’s doing. It was Chaput’s.”

Dmitri blinked, and his mind raced. “Oh. He builds up a morning routine, knowing that someone is watching, and then…”

“And then he turns it around right when you’re about to attack,” the spy finished. “I’ve been watching him, just like you ordered. He knows your plans, and he was ready. I bet that he even set up having that pony agent with the griffons, just to throw another wrench into your plans.”

His beak twitched and rose into a sneer. “Bastard…”

“Saving his own captain, and making the pony a hero to all of the griffons. The budding romance story doesn’t hurt either…”

Dmitri shook himself. “It doesn’t matter. This is a minor setback.”

Her eyebrow rose. “A ‘minor setback?’ They’re going to find out who’s behind this. Your game is over. Griffonia and Equestria will be allies, and when your betrayal is discovered, you’ll be killed. I’m just sorry that I won’t be around to see it.” She shook her head. “You blew my cover. I’ll have to leave, tonight.”

“Oh, my dear little pony…” Dmitri shook his head. “I don’t care what happens to you. And you misunderstand. The plan was never a war, and it was never peace. It was a means to an end, and the end is within sight.” He glared down at the mare. “But I need something from you… something that was given to Chaput. And you know it too...”

“And what is that?” she asked.

He grinned. “I know Celestia’s weakness… but what is Luna’s?”

The spy’s eyes widened as realization sunk in.

“His name is Button Mash, and he’s staying at the Citadel.”

Mistrust, Science, and Recoveries

Captain Ember Flair pushed the last pile of paperwork away with a disgusted grimace. She sat in the Section Eleven Director’s office, and she hated every second of it. The elegant bookcases, the immaculate glass chessboard, the ancient fireplace with the beautiful mantle… it wasn’t hers. It shouldn’t be hers.

It had always been his…

She shook her head, pulling herself back into the present. Work. After the attack, Flair had found herself drowning in reports. Security reports, combat reports, repair reports, report compilation reports. They would not stop, and she was about ready to light the next file that somepony gave her on fire.

The attack had been swift, and the body count was small. The main casualties belonged to the griffon soldiers who had been eating in their mess hall. Suspiciously few ponies had been wounded, and Flair’s instincts told her that something was stirring even deeper below the surface.

She stretched her wings out and tried to crack her neck before—

A swift knock interrupted her, and the captain growled softly. “If it’s another damned report, I’m gonna…” she muttered to herself before clearing her throat. “Enter!”

The heavy wooden door swung open, and a blue unicorn stuck her head inside the room. “Ember?” Agent Amethyst Breeze asked.

“Ammy!” A smile split Flair’s face, and she waved her friend into the room. “Thank Luna. I thought it was another stack of paperwork…”

“Well, I can go get some, if that’s what you want,” Breeze said coyly.

Flair groaned. “Oh, hell no. I’ve been reading for five hours, waiting for the princesses to be ready for the interrogation of those captured ponies. The last thing I want is more numbers, and reiterations of the same story I’d just read a dozen times.”

“Let it never be said that Captain Ember Flair has made no sacrifices for the good of Equestria.” Breeze trotted inside and sat at one of the chairs. “At least the office is nice.”

The captain growled. “If you like it so much, you can have it. I’ll take my desk and my tacky cat calendars any day.”

Her friend chuckled. “Of course you would.”

Flair joined in with the quiet laughter, but then her smile faded. “But, seriously. What do you need, Ammy?”

The unicorn narrowed her eyes. “Okay. So, after the attack, Vlad and I finished compiling our information. We were getting ready to start investigating the new attack when one of Princess Twilight’s magic investigators got into contact with us. She’d been working over at the griffon airship during the attack, and she was finally able to get her tracking spell working. We found where the windigos came from, Ember.”

Flair nodded, leaning forward. “It was the ship, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” the other mare replied with a nod. “The windigos came to Equestria on the first airship, and Vlad ordered a full investigation of the ship. He actually let a mage onto the ship to track the source. We confirmed it. All the windigos had hidden inside one of their cargo bays. The ambient magic from their ship’s engine must have hidden them. That’s why it took so long to get our spells to work.”

“Shit,” Flair muttered. “So, that means that either General Chaput smuggled the windigos in, or they came from some other faction within the griffon hierarchy. That’s… not a pleasant thought either way.”

“No, it isn’t,” Amethyst agreed. She stared off at the burning fire and sighed. “First the windigos, and now traitors. I fought beside griffons and killed ponies, Ember. This wasn’t why I signed up. I don’t want this…”

“Me either, Ammy…” Flair shook her head. “Shit, I miss the old days. Running around in Prance with Dovey, trying to keep my head together in Zebrica with Blue, or tracking down security leaks and investigating possible spies here with you. Not having to worry about who’s on our side, ‘cause intel told us. None of this almost being killed by assassins on a bi-weekly basis bull. Just… life.”

The unicorn nodded. “Speaking of the director… did you two get a chance to talk?”

“Not since after the attack.” Shrugging, the captain continued. “Being here in his office doesn’t really help much.”

“No, I think not.”

Flair sighed. “It’s not the first time I fell for a superior officer, and it probably won’t be the last.” She shrugged once again. “Anyway, we have too much work to worry about love and other mistakes. Although…” She squinted at her friend. “I find it rather interesting that you were eating breakfast with the griffons this morning.”

Breeze flushed purple. “I… uh, we were about to work on the investigation, and—”

“Uh-huh. Sure.” She grinned lopsidedly. “You know, I’m already getting reports of rumors all around the castle concerning a certain budding romance that saved the griffons during the attack. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about—”

“No!” Breeze interjected abruptly. Her blush deepened. “It… it was just a hug!”

Flair chuckled. “Sure it was.”

“Really!”

“Uh-huh.”

Breeze looked over the top of her glasses at her partner. “Seriously.”

“Still doesn’t explain why you were in their mess hall in the first place.” She leaned forward once again.

“We were going to be working. Ivanov said that the general had encouraged him to work more closely with me, to make sure that… that…” Breeze’s voice trailed off. “Oh.”

“Aaaaaand there it is,” Flair said. “That bastard. I don’t trust him, not at all. Windigos on his ship, putting you in a place where you’re in the line of fire, making sure the princess was with him during the attack… He’s manipulating everything.”

“But is he the one responsible for the attacks?” Breeze asked.

Flair inhaled deeply. “Maybe. Maybe not. We can’t be sure.”

“So, what else is new with him?” The agent shook her head. “We never trusted him.”

“Yeah, but now? After all of this?” Captain Flair stood to her hooves. “He looks good, Ammy. He fought alongside both princesses, helped prevent attacks on Equestria, and is the only griffon leader who has even a lick of sense, or so it seems. That spells danger, at least to me.”

“Well, at least we can trust Vlad. And Vlad trusts Chaput, so—”

“But can we really?” Flair gazed into the fire. “I know that you like him and all, but Ivanov is still a griffon. What if he’s part of another, deeper ploy?”

“Ember.” Breeze walked over to her friend. “Vlad has been completely open, and I’ve gotten to know him pretty well. He’s the real deal.”

Flair lifted her front leg and rested her head in her hoof. “I’d like to believe that, but—”

“Eventually, we have to trust someone,” Breeze said quietly. “The princesses are working with the general. I trust Vlad. Maybe the possibility exists that Chaput and Vlad are actually on our side, like they say?”

“I don’t know…”

“Well,” She set a hoof on Flair’s shoulder. “I think they might be. And for now, they’re helping us, and they’re acting like they’re on our side.”

The captain shook her head. “It…”

“Ember, if you can’t trust them, then don’t.”

Flair glanced up in surprise to see Breeze staring at her.

“If everypony trusted them, we’d be open to betrayal. I know it’s hard for you, what with… all that happened back in Zebrica. So don’t. Don’t trust them. Keep an eye out, and warn us if you see something off. But as for me, I’m going to trust Vlad.”

The captain nodded. “Thanks, Ammy. I’m sorry for saying all of this to you. Things have been pretty rough.”

Her friend smiled sweetly. “I understand. Don’t worry about it.”

Flair grinned. “Well, I—”

The intercom on the desk beeped twice, and Flair lowered her head with a sigh. “If it’s not one thing…” She trotted over and pressed the accept button. “Captain Flair.”

“Captain,” said the voice of Flair’s secretary, “the head of X-4, Dr. Wing, has requested your presence down in the lab. He says that it’s urgent.”

She sighed again and nodded. “Okay. Tell him I’ll be on my way shortly.”

“Very good, ma’am.” The intercom cut off.

Flair turned to Breeze. “Duty calls, yet again.”

The unicorn nodded. “I’ll still be here. I’m going to try to analyze some of the aural patterns we documented on the ship and here after the attack. Maybe we can find a way to detect the windigos before they get to us next time.”

“Sounds good,” Flair replied. “And, Ammy?”

She looked up. “Yes?”

“I hope you’re right about Vlad.” Flair smiled sweetly. “He seems like he might be an okay guy, for a griffon.”

Breeze wrinkled her nose. “Well, thanks. I guess.”

“Also, youtwomakeanadorablecoupleokaythanksbye!”

And with that, Flair dashed out the door and left a confused Breeze standing alone.

~~~

Chuckling to herself, Flair trotted down the corridor toward one of Section Eleven’s more secluded laboratories. The clop of her hooves on the stone floors echoed through the cold hallway, and the captain shook her head ruefully. Several ponies snapped to attention as she passed. She nodded to them, and they resumed their hurried walks.

The hallway took a sharp turn to the left and ended in a large metal doorway. Flair pulled out an identification badge and scanned it beside at a small terminal. The door swung open, and a guard on the other side nodded to her.

After she passed through to the new part of the corridor, the entire decor changed. The walls went from ancient cobblestone to the blinding white of modern plasteel. Brilliant fluorescent lights illuminated the spotless floor, and the walls seemed to glow from the reflected light. Flair squinted and walked further.

She passed half a dozen doors, and, as she did, she heard the hustle and bustle of Equestria’s sharpest minds at work. Each individual laboratory had its own security outside the door, but the racket of machines and more than a few explosions or gunshots reached Flair’s ears. The captain smiled at the security cameras that provided complete coverage of the hallway from their perches beside the lights.

These labs had once been dedicated to pushing the limits of what science and magic were capable of achieving. When the threat of war had pressed down upon Equestria, the princesses had repurposed them to preparing for the worst possibilities…

And, thus, the X-Projects were born.

Flair ignored the first few laboratories that were differentiated from the earlier rooms by their enhanced security and posted guards. X-1, the first of the more heavily defended labs, was dedicated to the design and refinement of Equestria’s rifles. Production had moved slowly, and the existence of any firearms possessed by the pony military was still highly classified.

The second door led to X-2, which worked on enhanced battle-armor for ponies who would be involved with heavy combat. Flair didn’t know how their production was going, but, judging by the gunfire inside, they appeared to be conducting yet another round of testing.

X-3, the last door before her destination, was easily the most technical of the four primary labs. The scientists inside were busy frantically reverse-engineering Griffonian and Germane airship technology and attempting to apply it to Equestria’s own air fleet, which would soon enter production.

Flair smiled again as she came to the door at the end of the hallway. X-4 had been her favorite lab ever since she had been given security clearance to know about the X-Projects.

She trotted up to the terminal and pulled out her badge again. This time, she hoofed it over to the guard who stood at the door. He nodded solemnly to her. Flair pressed her eye up against one of the sensors so that it could take a retinal reading. The machine flashed twice, and a hoof panel popped out of the side of the wall. She scanned her print on it, and waited for the final test…

The door slid open, and the captain glanced quizzically over at the guard. “Wait, what about the blood sample?”

“Machines all went down two days ago, ma’am,” the stallion grunted. “Some kind of glitch in the system. They should be back up by tomorrow.”

Flair raised an eyebrow. “Well, okay then. Thank you, Sergeant.”

“My pleasure, ma’am,” he replied as he looked back down the hallway.

The captain trotted through the now open door and was greeted by the sound of shouting. The corner of her lip twitched. “Ah, science at work…”

She rounded a corner in the short hallway and opened the first door to her left. As she stepped inside, she was met with the familiar sight of the main room of X-4.

The far wall was lined by nearly twenty computer screens. Right now, they were all asleep, displaying the insignia of Section Eleven. To the left was another wall, this one lined by whiteboards. Scribbles in red, green, and blue filled all available space, depicting equations and spells that Flair couldn’t even begin to comprehend. Squiggly red lines crossed out half of the work, and the words No! No! Not that many! obscured the work that had been beneath them.

“—and if you can’t even manage to make this work, how the tartarus are we supposed to get the diagnostic subroutines online?” A nasally voice pierced the air, and Flair looked at the center of the room to see a stocky red unicorn with a bitter scowl standing next to a suit of armor that was draped over a mannequin.

“I-I’m sorry, Dr. Vial…” replied a short unicorn mare with a blue coat and a white and pink mane. She shied away from the other pony, and her horn flared to life.

The third of the four-scientist team scowled as he adjusted the suit of armor. “Vial, calm yourself,” he said in a thick Germane accent. A sheen of sweat covered his green coat, and he shrugged his white lab robes out of his way so that he could access the armor more easily. “We just need to isolate the error, and—”

“There should have never been an error, Flurry!” Dr. Vial boomed. He tossed his messy golden mane out of his eyes. “Serenata must have messed up her incantation somehow! If you two would just pay attention…”

Flair’s eyebrows rose as the first scientist continued to berate the other two. She slowly walked over to the far wall where two familiar ponies waited. Knight-Captain Dovetail and Agent Fortune leaned against the wall, watching the action. Dovetail shook her head, and Fortune shifted uncomfortably on his hooves.

The stallion saw his boss moving toward him and sighed in relief. “Captain, thank Luna you’re here… I don’t think I can take much more of this.”

“What’s going on, Fortune?” Flair asked.

The light green analyst shuddered. “I have no idea, but it’s your problem now!” He nodded to Dovetail. “Have fun you two. Try not to strangle him!”

Before Flair could reply, Fortune trotted out of the room and headed for the entrance. Flair looked toward the Knight-Captain and pursed her lips. “Should I be angry at him, slightly miffed that he just gave me some kind of nasty duty, or just confused?”

“Well, you’re always confused,” Dovetail replied, smiling lopsidedly. “But you’ve gotta respect his tactical sense. He was only here to escort me because I needed an Agent, and now he’s got somepony to cover for him. That retreat was masterful.”

“Great. Miffed it is,” she replied to her old friend. “I take it that Vial is being, well, vile again?”

The Knight-Captain rolled her eyes. “I’m sure he’s never been described in that way before… but, yes. He certainly is.”

“—one simple enchantment! One!” the angry unicorn spat. “That took fifteen minutes to prepare, and…”

Flair shook her head. “Ah, great.” She looked at the center of the room again and saw the suit of armor that was the focus of the ponies’ attention. “Is that why you’re here?”

Dovetail nodded. “It certainly is. I needed to get the suit reconfigured. The basic design is for an average sized mare, so it was a bit big on me. I grabbed the nearest agent and dragged him in here so we could fix it.”

Eyeing the scientists, Flair snorted. “I’m not an expert in magically magical armor of magicismness, but that doesn’t look like they’re resizing it…”

“Your mastery of language never fails to amaze,” Dove said dryly. “And, no. They grabbed it and said that they had ‘upgrades’ to do. They’ve been at it for almost half an hour now. I tried to tell them that I needed to leave, but Vial doesn’t seem to be capable of listening.”

“Uh, I’m pretty sure that I cast it exactly how you wrote it…” the blue mare named Serenata said in her quiet Itailian accent. She pulled out a clipboard and squinted at it through her square-rimmed glasses. “Yes… yes… yes…”

“And the injectors functioned exactly as designed,” Dr. Flurry growled in his deep accent. “I don’t think our implementation was the issue.”

“Well, actually—” Vial began.

“Okay, I think this has gone on for long enough.”

The five ponies in the room turned to see a light lavender pegasus come trotting into the room. The leader of X-4 shook his head at the scientists. “I leave for lunch, and this happens. Nice.”

“Dr. Wing!” Flair called out.

The physicist turned and gave a smile to his old friend. “Hey, Flair. Good to see ya!” He winked at her. “I’ll be with you in just a second. Lemme just clean this up.”

Vial threw his hooves into the air and sat into a seat beside the monitors. “Maybe you can find the issue then.”

Dr. Flurry cleared his throat. “We’re trying to add the painkiller module to the Mark Three suit. Something went wrong, and the device is delivering one hundred and thirty-seven times the right amount. It’s a lethal dose.”

Humming to himself, Dr. Wing trotted over to the white-boards. “Let’s see…” He grabbed one of the dry erase markers and hummed to himself as he looked over the calculations. “The physical side looks cool… no issues there.”

“Told you,” Flurry muttered to the huffy Dr. Vial.

“Now then, magic!” Wing said happily as he moved to the other side of the board. His lopsided grin faded as he saw the red marks that had crossed out some of the magical equations. “Oh. This part is very not cool.” He sighed. “What did I tell you guys about writing over each other’s work? This is not pretty, at all.”

Serenata nodded. She said something to Flurry in a hushed tone.

Vial shook his head. “I told her to let me handle it, but—”

“Sere, you’re in the blue, right?” Wing interrupted.

“Yes, sir,” the mare replied. “I did the first computations, and—”

“And she was wrong,” Vial finished for her. “I fixed it in red.”

“Yeah…” Wing muttered as he looked over the smudges. “I’m pretty sure Sere was right in the first place. You mucked it up, Vial.”

“Yes, I… wait, what?” the unicorn said as he leapt to his hooves. “That… that’s impossible!”

“Right here.” Dr. Wing pointed. “That? Did you forget your one minus gamma-five terms again, Vial? C’mon, you’re dealing with a spell that couples to hoofedness. Making such a fuss over elementary crap. Drop the coupling terms, screw up the amplitude. Science, colt! Sere had it perfect earlier.”

The other stallion’s eyes widened. “How… I…”

“Just adjust that, and recast,” Dr. Flurry said to Serenata. The younger mare nodded, and her horn glowed with golden power. The suit of armor was surrounded by energy, and Flair heard the distinct sound of air hissing. A loud crack filled the air, and a display panel on the mannequin glowed green.

Serenata nodded happily. “That did it! That’s the perfect dosage.” She smiled over at Dovetail, her golden eyes glimmering behind her glasses. “We should be ready for the fitting now.”

“Finally…” Dr. Flurry muttered.

Dovetail trotted forward, nodding her head. “So, what does all of this do, exactly?”

Dr. Wing strode over to stand beside her. “Okay. So, you know how our suits feature adaptive multi-shield technology?”

“Vaguely…” the knight-captain replied.

“Well, our sensors figure out where constant attacks are hitting the suit, because those suck and drain the power. And stuff.” Wing shrugged. “We figured that if we could detect that, we could find out where we have suit ruptures. That led to a thought about making some kind of diagnostic spell, and, to make a long story short—”

“Too late,” Dovetail muttered.

“—we took the first step by making an automatic pain-killer injector.” Dr. Wing smirked. “Also, I love that movie. And, anyways! We’re going to have these babies standard-issue in the next generation of suits that come out next week.”

“Next week?” Flair asked.

Dr. Flurry grunted. “Yes. We’re almost ready. Just need to knock the issues out of the shields, finish the diagnostics, and work out the bugs in our new heads-up-display.”

Dovetail nodded. “Good. Now, can I please get this sized correctly? I have a meeting in about half an hour.”

“It shouldn’t take that long,” Wing said. “We have a machine that’ll do the adjustments. All we need are your measurements to punch into the computer. Vial here will handle that.” He looked over at the unicorn who stood staring at the whiteboard and shaking his head.

Flair smirked. “Well, I’m glad it won’t take long. Have fun, Dovey.” She winked at her friend before trotting over to whisper in her ear, “and try not to punch him too much, eh?”

Dovetail growled.

Dr. Vial turned around with a scowl on his face. “Very well. Come with me please, Knight-Captain.”

“Of course,” the mare replied. She narrowed her eyes and shot a burning glare at Flair, but the other mare didn’t pay any mind.

The doctor and the knight-captain left the room, and Dr. Wing breathed a sigh of relief. “Luna, that bastard gets annoying.”

“Blaming his mistake on Sere,” Dr. Flurry said. “How long until we get a new medical doctor? We asked for him to be transferred, yes?”

“We probably won’t get one,” Wing replied. “He might be a pain, but he’s one of the best when it comes to his field. Just don’t tell him that. He doesn’t need an even bigger ego.”

“If I may…” Serenata said quietly, “he seems to… overstep himself.”

Dr. Wing nodded and shrugged. “Well, yeah. But that’s why I’m here to put him in his place and fix his shit!”

Flair chuckled. “It may not make you feel any better, but I’m glad that the incompetence is shared in all departments. At least I don’t have to deal with all of it on my side.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Wing mumbled. “Anyways, what can I do for you, Captain?”

The mare’s eyes widened. “Uh, you’re the one who called me down here.”

“I did?” Wing squinted. “When?”

“Like, ten minutes ago,” Flair replied.

The physicist narrowed his eyes briefly and then shrugged. “Huh. Guess I must have slept since then.”

“So, you didn’t call me down here?” she asked carefully.

“Not that I recall…” Wing nodded to himself. “Although, now that I think about it, I do need you for a few things…”

Captain Flair made a mental note to check on the discrepancies in X-4 before saying, “Well, I’m here now. What’s up?”

Wing grinned. “C’mon. I’ll show you.” The stallion dashed toward the hallway and jerked his head to the side. “This way!”

She allowed a smile to slip over her face as she followed the enthusiastic scientist down the hallway. The voices of Dovetail and Dr. Vial came from one of the nearby rooms, but the two pegasi walked past. She coughed twice. “So, Wing. How are things working with Sere here? I know she’s pretty new and all.”

“Sere? Oh, she’s doing great.” He opened one of the other doors and held it open for Flair. “She’s letting herself get pushed around by Vial too much, but I think that’s just her shyness. She just graduated from Princess Twilight’s University for the Exceptionally Gifted when we tagged her for the program. Now she’s working with ponies who get to put fancy letters after their names, and I think it’s intimidating her. She just needs to realize just how full of shit Vial is, and she’ll be golden.”

The captain snickered. “Good. So, you’re grabbing ‘em pretty young now, aren’t you?”

The new room was almost as large as the other one, but the furnishing was quite different. A highly advanced magical fabricator sat in the far corner, churning away as it converted raw matter and ambient energy into what looked like a long weave of black fabric. A tall black locker was tucked away against the wall, locked by a high-tech magic-computer.

“Sere’s an exceptional case,” Wing said as he trotted over to the locker. “She has a degree in a very specialized field of advanced micro-magic theory. By the time she graduated, she was taking classes just from Princess Twilight. She’s not a particularly strong spellcaster, but she has the most precise manipulation I’ve ever seen, and she can cast spells that are exact on the molecular level. That is some awesome crap right there. And with what we’re doing here, we need awesome crap.” He punched a code into the keypad, scanned a hoof, and leaned over so it could take a retinal scan. “Here, take a look at this…”

As Flair trotted over, he reached into the locker and pulled out a vaguely familiar suit. Flair gasped as she recognized the newest powersuit.

“This, right here, is the mark four suit.” Dr. Wing set the sleek black armor onto a nearby table. “You may not believe it, but we accomplished this by basically taking the last iteration, ripping it open, and putting better stuff inside.”

“Wow, really?” Flair said with an appreciative chuckle. “I’d never have guessed…”

“Yeah!” Wing pointed at the front of the suit. “Like this part! More armor plating to stop the bad ouchies, and a big-flank battery to enhance hitting power! Wha-pow!” He mimed punching something with his front hoof. “We’ll be putting in the painkiller injectors in a few key areas, and we’re also trying to take a look at other places to enhance the armor without hampering mobility. Which is not exactly as easy as telling Vial that he’s an idiot, and that’s a fact.”

“Mmm,” Flair agreed. She eyed the shining metal, and something caught her attention. She cocked her head to the side and pointed at two black boxes on the sides of the suit. “What are these?”

He laughed in a mock-evil voice. “Oh, Captain, my Captain… this is the best part. These are our take on saddle-mounted weaponry. The next generation of our artifact-rifles will feature specialized stocks that allow them to lock into the suit itself. Look mom, no hooves! And the coolest thing about it? Do ya remember how you had that dot thingy on your heads up display?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I remember.”

“Well, we did a thing. A very fancy thing. Two words.” Wing tapped his head. “Mental. Commands.”

Flair inhaled sharply. “No way…”

“Yes way!” He tapped the suit several times. “Basically, we take the neural connections that are inside ponies’ noggins that let them use their natural magic, like weather stuff, or horns, or growing things, and use it to aim and fire the weapons. We couldn’t manage it last time, since we didn’t have Sere, but now we can pull it off! Sort of.”

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘sort of?’” she asked.

He shrugged. “Weeeeeell, it’s not perfect. At all. We need more testing, but we’re on the right track. But it’s gonna be awesome!”

Flair chuckled. “I bet. Anything else?”

“Strength, armor, shields, HUDs, weapons, painkillers… I think that’s it for this one,” Wing finished. He lifted the suit and put it back into the locker. “Oh! And one last thing. With Sere over here, we can manage to finish in hours some enhancements that took us weeks back when we were working out the kinks. That’s part her, and part us pulling our heads out of our flanks and doing things right the first time.”

She trotted over to him and took a look inside the locker. “Got any other cool toys in there?” she asked.

“Just another two or three suits,” he replied. “However…” Wing glanced over at the table. “I do have one other thing to show you.”

The two pegasi moved toward the large oaken table in the center of the room. Flair glanced down to see a small metal box sitting on the edge. Wing grabbed it and reached in through the open lid. He pulled out a black amulet attached to a red cord.

“What is that?” Flair asked.

Wing’s eyebrow rose. “This, Captain, is bullshit.”

“You may need to be a bit more descriptive,” she replied dryly.

The doctor sighed. “Okay. Those pony jerks who attacked the castle earlier today were immune to some magical spells. These,” he said, indicating the box that was stuffed full of the amulets, “are why. They generate a localized field of… we’ll call it bullshit.” He nodded. “They generate a localized bullshit field that screws with how magic works. It makes it so that any direct-effect spells, like variations of sleep and incapacitation spells can’t affect the wearers.”

The captain stood silently, processing the information. “That… doesn’t sound good.”

“No. It’s not.” Wing tossed the amulet into the air and caught it again. “The problem is, these babies wouldn’t stop the important spells, like the ones that light things on fire. They only hit the direct-affectation incantations, and that means bad things.” He met Flair’s eyes. “Something didn’t want us taking these jerks alive. They wanted us to have to kill them.”

“And it almost worked,” Flair growled. “Dove and I couldn’t take captives. The only survivors were the ones that attacked Princess Celestia.”

“Exactly.” He nodded vigorously. “I get the feeling that she wasn’t actually a target. From what I read over lunch, it seems like she was just there by accident.”

“Not by accident…” she muttered. “If Chaput was involved, then there aren’t any accidents.”

Shrugging, the doctor put his amulet back into the box. “If you say so. I’ll stick to magic and science things. They’re a tiny bit less likely to be lying to your face. But just a tiny bit.” He smirked.

Captain Flair smiled. “I guess. So, is that all?”

“Yes… actually,” he replied, “no. I lied. There is one other thing, and then I’ll let you go.”

“Oh, you’ll let me go?” Flair asked dryly. “Didn’t know I was a prisoner.”

“Science!” Wing exclaimed with a chuckle. “But, really.” He cleared his throat. “Are you familiar with Codename: Endgame?”

As she heard the words, Flair felt the hairs on her neck stand up. She shivered. “Yes.”

“You know that I have top security clearance, because science,” Wing said, “so it shouldn’t surprise you that I took the liberty of familiarizing myself with reports like this. Griffon nukes. What the hell.”

Nodding, Flair glanced up at him. “Of course. What about them?”

“Well, there’s something really screwy here.” Wing rapped a hoof on the table. “Okay. So, the first nuclear weapons in the world were made by the Germanes like, ten years ago. They tested them in the desert, and built a small-ish stockpile. The report indicated that Griffonia probably got their nukes from Germaney, but there’s an issue.”

Flair stood silently as he continued.

“Germaney made uranium-based nukes. To put it in words that actually make sense, they used uranium that they refined from naturally occurring deposits to create their bombs. It’s a long process, but it’s worth it if you can blow shit up. However, the Griffonian nukes are plutonium based, or so the agent who found them out reported. Now, either the agent is full of it, or we have a massive problem.” He shook his head. “Germaney never tried to go for plutonium. You can’t just refine plutonium like uranium. It’s a by-product of a bunch of stuff, and they’d need nuclear reactors to make it.”

The captain clenched her jaw. “So, you’re saying… that Griffonia made its own nukes?”

“Yeah, but that’s not the big thing.” Waving a hoof, Wing shook his head. “I figured that they’d probably made their own. Griffons like taking things and all, but they trust their own work way more than anypony else’s. No, the issue is that their possession of plutonium devices, which had only been created by one lab in Prance before now, means that they have nuclear reactors. And, if the report’s right, they have a shit-ton.”

“But what does it mean?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Captain, I think our reports of Griffonia’s production capabilities are way off. If they have nuclear reactors, then they have massive power generation capabilities. We haven’t heard jack about this before now. And if we missed some massive freaking reactors somewhere in their territories, what else are they hiding?”

“Shit,” Flair swore. “You’re right. How the hell did we miss this?”

“Probably because your analysts aren’t scientists, and they were to busy saying, ‘Holy crap, nukes!’” Wing waved his hooves above his head and pretended to scream. “Not fun.”

“No. Not fun at all,” the captain agreed. She eyed the black maned scientist. “Wing… can you look into this for me? I mean, the whole nuke situation.”

“Way ahead of you, Cappy.” He nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and… are we sure that all of their nukes are out in this storehouse area that the agent is reporting?”

She shook her head. “Of course not.”

“What if… what if they have one here?” he asked quietly. “Dmitri is bucking nuts, by all accounts. He brought a frickin’ huge ship to our capitol and smacked an enormous anti-magic bullshit field on it. We can’t scan it. We can’t get inside. We can’t do jack. What’s to stop him from having a nuke or three inside, for just in case?”

Flair exhaled deeply. “Nothing…”

He met her gaze. “Methinks that we may want to start thinking about… the possibility of bad things happening soonish.”

~~~

Captain Flair rapped twice on the wooden doorway to a large room in Canterlot Castle. A pair of guards stood beside her, watching her every move. The mare grinned at them as she waited for—

“Enter!” a refined voice boomed.

Her smile widened as she stepped into the glamorous quarters. Soft music played, and the gentle evening sunlight washed through a large stained-glass window on the other side of the room. The walls, covered in portraits and tapestries, were illuminated by several lamps scattered around, and the desk below the far window was occupied by a tall unicorn stallion.

Director Blueblood turned to face Flair, and she saw him smile as he met her gaze. “Ah, Captain! I’m glad to see you!”

“You too, Blue,” she replied. She trotted over to him as he stood to his hooves and pulled him into a hug. “You doing better?”

He pulled back slightly as she made contact, but then slowly returned the embrace. “Yes, very much so.” The hug ended, and he gestured at the large bandage on his chest that poked out from under his suit. “Magic is actually very effective at fixing wounds, I have discovered.”

“Oh, really?” she asked, a smile upon her face. “That’s good to know. I’ll keep that in mind if you ever get stabbed again.”

Blueblood wrinkled his nose. “No, thank you. I don’t intend to make this a repeated experience.”

“Eh, ya never know,” she said with a shrug. “As the poet said, ‘Shit happens.’”

“Indeed.” The stallion chuckled. “So, is this a social visit, or is it work related?”

Flair grinned up at his handsome face. “Social. I had some time to kill before the princesses needed me, so I figured I could check on how you’re holding up.”

“I will say, I’m quite glad for the company.” Blueblood nodded toward his desk. “I’m not cleared for any labor so far, so I’m working in secret on some paperwork and other fun things.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. “This is my least favorite part of all my jobs, and it’s the only bit that I can even try to accomplish right now. Oh, irony.”

“Bleagh, paperwork,” Flair agreed. “I swear, I have no idea how you do it. I almost suffocated from the sheer mass of paper in your office. Dump that on top of your government work and having to run your family affairs… no. Eww.”

“Ah, Captain. You understand now.” He gave a small laugh. “So, how are you enjoying my job?”

“Probably about as much as you enjoyed that spear through your chest,” she growled. “Although, you at least got the bonus of being kissed by a hot mare because of it.” She flipped her mane and batted her eyelids at him. “I didn’t get squat.”

Blueblood cleared his throat. “I take it that the administrative tasks aren’t quite your cup of tea?”

“Bah, fine,” Flair said. “Ignore my flirtations, ya big meanie. No, they certainly aren’t. I’d rather leave those to handsome stallions who are not me.”

“The weight you must bear for us,” he remarked dryly. “I wonder how you manage it.”

“Oh, I just think of your sweet flank, and I do fine,” she replied sweetly. Her eyes never left his face as she tried to gauge his reaction.

He ignored her. “I will say, I’m glad that you were there to take the reigns, as it were. I can’t think of another pony who I would trust more.”

“Oh, you do care!” Flair crooned. “For a second, I thought that—”

“Captain…” he interrupted. “Please…”

“Please what?”

He sighed. “Please... stop. I can’t do this. You know my feelings, and—”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, waving him off. “Blue, you’re my friend. Not anything else, unfortunately. And with that title comes the expectation that I’ll be flirting with you incessantly. Forever.” She batted her eyelids.

“Ah. So, it’s not genuine?” he asked.

A smirk crept across her face. “Not unless you want it to be.”

“Very well.” Blueblood nodded. “Friends…” he said, savoring the word. “Hmm. It’s been a long while since I really had a friend, you know.”

“Really?” Flair’s eyebrows rose. “I find that hard to believe.”

“No, don’t get me wrong. I have acquaintances, family members, admirers, and have had a lover or two, but…” he gazed off at the far wall. “It’s been quite a while since I had time to have a friend. Work, life, duty, honor, everything… it all piles up.”

She looked at him. His lips pursed, and his head lowered slightly. “I understand,” she said softly. “It’s easier to face it alone sometimes. You don’t have to worry about somepony else. No commitments on top of everything you already have. You can focus on what you need, and only that.”

“Exactly,” he agreed. “But… I wonder sometimes.”

“Maybe…” she said.

Blueblood met her gaze. “Maybe it would be easier…”

“With somepony else,” their voices said in unison.

Blueblood cleared his throat and nodded. “Indeed.” He gazed at her, and a smile crept across his face. “Well, Captain, I—”

A swift knocking at the door interrupted them, and the two ponies turned to see one of the guards poking his head inside. “Captain Flair?” he asked.

“Yes, Corporal?”

He nodded. “I just received word from the princesses. They said that they require your presence down in the sublevels. They said to tell you…”

She perked her ears up.

“...that it’s time. He’s awake.”

Flair inhaled deeply. “Thank you, Corporal.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded to her before ducking back out the door.

“I suppose we’ll have to finish this another time,” Blueblood commented wryly. “It wouldn’t do to keep the princesses waiting.”

“No, it wouldn’t…” she said. “But we do need to finish this talk, you know. We’ve got some stuff to work out.”

“Of course.” The stallion bowed. “Captain. I shall see you soon.”

“Oh, you can bet on that,” Flair muttered as she turned to walk toward the door. Her eyes narrowed as she thought about the pony traitor awake in his cell in the depths of Section Eleven.

“You can bet it all on that...”

Author's Note

The amazing character of Wing appears courtesy of Wing (le gasp!), who is my scientific adviser/residential evil genius. And an actual doctor of physics and stuff. ~~All~~Most science in this fic is not bullshit due to his assistance. Check out his awesome story, A State of Darkness, here! Tons of science! Lots of kneecapping! And moar Wingpony!

Panic, Shadows, and Love

Luna raced through the castle’s corridors, headed for her sister’s room. A feeling of abject horror filled her mind as she saw the bullet holes that peppered the walls of the long, twisting hallways. The floors around the damaged walls were more polished than the other areas, and Luna shuddered as she realized why.

Blood could be remarkably difficult to clean up after it dries.

The princess skidded to a stop outside of Celestia’s quarters. “Where is my sister?” she demanded.

The guards outside turned to face her. “Princess Luna!” the first said as he bowed. “Princess Celestia is not here right now.”

The Lunar Princess gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. “Do you know where I can find her?” she asked quietly.

“I think she went down to the Royal Guard headquarters,” the second guard chimed. “I heard her talking to Knight-Captain Dovetail about five minutes ago.”

She nodded distractedly. “Thank you, both of you.”

“Highness!” declared the first guard as he snapped to attention.

Luna spun around and headed back toward the center of the castle. Everything had happened so fast…

Servants and soldiers sprinted past her, carrying equipment and frantically moving to their posts. The ponies all hugged the walls as she zoomed past, avoiding the princess’ racing form.

She’d come back from her time gaming with Button to see the entire castle in a state of frenzied disarray. It was obvious that some kind of attack had happened, but Luna hadn’t stopped to ask anypony. There was only one who could answer her questions…

The walls went past her in a blur, and Luna quickly arrived at the guard headquarters. She inhaled deeply as she nodded to the unicorn who stood vigilantly outside the door.

“Princess!” the mare cried as she snapped to attention.

Luna waved her away. “I need to get inside, immediately!”

The guard moved aside immediately and punched a code into the door. “Of course, Your Highness.”

The doors slid open, and the alicorn raced inside. She sprinted past the few guards who remained within the large room. Desks lined the walls and filled all of the open space. Luna ignored the ponies and other obstacles as she rushed to the far office. Opening the door with a quick burst of telekinesis, she entered and glanced quickly around the captain's office.

Knight-Captain Dovetail glanced up from her desk and stood to her hooves as she recognized Luna. “Your Highness,” she said calmly.

“Dovetail,” the princess replied. “I just returned to the castle, and I need to speak to Celestia. I was told that she was speaking to you. Where is she?” She glanced around the compact office. The papers on the desk were carefully aligned, and all the decorations on the wall, including several Equestrian commendations for various valorous deeds, were all in their proper places. The drawers of a few filing cabinets were open, and Luna could see numerous manilla folders peeking out from the metal containers.

Dovetail cleared her throat. “I’m about to be on my way to meet her. The ponies that she incapacitated earlier are about to awaken. We’re going to interrogate one of them and get to the bottom of this.”

“Ponies… incapacitated…” Luna’s jaw dropped. Her eyes narrowed as she slowly closed her mouth. “Captain. Give me the thirty second version of what happened.”

The guard raised an eyebrow. “Yes, Highness. The castle was attacked at approximately thirteen hundred hours today. The enemy forces were dressed in Royal Guard uniforms, and they had proper documentation. Some of them were actual members of the military. These ponies, now dubbed ‘terrorists,’ attempted to assassinate the Griffonian delegation and massacre the griffon troops present at the castle. They were subdued, but we suffered losses.” She nodded to herself before walking over to one of the cabinets. “Your sister managed to defeat several, but left them alive. We’ve take them down to Section Eleven, and we’ll be interrogating them as soon as I get this… last… file…” The mare ruffled through the folders and then grunted in satisfaction. “Here we go…”

Luna blinked twice before turning numbly to face the captain. “How many did we lose?” she asked quietly.

Dovetail growled. “Not many, and too many at the same time. We only lost three guards. Eight more injured. The count is far worse for the griffons.” She shook her head. “Last count I saw said about twenty confirmed dead. More than twice that injured. This should never have happened,” she declared as she slammed a hoof down on the desk, her nostrils flaring.

“Indeed…” the princess agreed.

The captain shook her head and sighed. “Sorry. I just got word that I’d lost two of our guards. I’d known about the first, but we thought that Jam and Sticks were going to make it. They’d been hit by some kind of poisoned crossbow bolts. Our doctors almost got them back, but…”

“Was it the same poison that the windigos used?” Luna asked softly, her eyes glancing up to meet the captain’s.

“We think so.” Dovetail met her gaze. “No confirmation yet, but it looks that way. Same poison here as the windigos, if we get proof, and also the same as the Zebran attackers who hit Canterlot last time.”

“This can’t be a coincidence.”

“No,” the captain said. “But we’ll find out soon.” She gestured to the door. “I assume that you want to sit in on the interrogation?”

Luna bared her teeth in a fierce smile. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world…”

~~~

Celestia gazed through the one-way mirror and into the interrogation room. A single earth pony stallion lay strapped to a cold metal table. Two pony scientists stood beside him, hooking him up to an intricate machine that sat upon a table beside the pony’s head. His brown coat was matted with dried blood that Section Eleven hadn’t bothered to clean. His front right leg had been carelessly wrapped in a primitive bandage in an effort to stop the bleeding from where a bullet had torn through his kneecap. The scientists standing beside him regarded his unconscious form with obvious disdain.

The princess stared coldly down at him. Section Eleven’s databases had identified him as Bronze Mane, a former member of the Royal Guard who had been dishonorably discharged three years ago after assaulting four zebras and three griffons while he had been stationed in the Crystal Empire. He had been identified as a possible security concern due to his involvement with one of Canterlot’s only organized syndicates, the Silver Crowns. Mane had dropped out of public view several months ago, and Section Eleven hadn’t heard anything about him until they found him in the garden after General Chaput had blown a hole in his knee.

With a click, the door behind Celestia opened. The princess turned around to see her sister enter the room with a grim frown on her lips. “Tia,” Luna said. “I came as soon as I heard.”

The white alicorn nodded. “Thank you, Luna. I’m sorry that I cut your date short.”

“It’s nothing,” Luna shrugged. “I should have been here.”

“We aren’t infallible, Sister,” she told her younger sibling. “Nopony could have predicted this.” She allowed her words to ring in the air, and Luna nodded slowly.

“Still…” she sighed. “I should have helped, or fought them off, or saved some of the griffons, or… or… or something.”

“Luna.” Celestia trotted over to her sister. “There’s nothing we can achieve with theoretical statements. What has been is now set. We cannot change the past, but we control the future.” Draping a wing over the shorter mare, she smiled kindly. “So… are you ready to take charge of our destiny?”

“Lofty words from such a big softie,” Luna commented as she returned the hug. The chuckles of two princesses filled the room.

“Yes, indeed,” Celestia whispered, tightening the hug.

“But seriously… before we go… are you mad at me?” Luna’s soft question pierced the air, and the elder alicorn glanced downward.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “Why would I be mad at you?”

Luna’s lips pursed, and she looked up, eyes wide. “I wasn’t here… again.” She inhaled deeply before continuing. “The wedding… the zebras… this… when I was on the moon…”

“Luna…”

“I don’t want to do this to you again,” she said, her eyes boring into Celestia. “I won’t leave you alone. Not now, not ever.”

“I know.” Celestia’s voice reverberated through the stony room. She smiled softly. “We have each other, and that won’t change. You missed one event today, Luna. It happens. Also…” She smiled lopsidedly. “You were slightly distracted.”

Her sister blushed furiously.

“I remember what it was like, and I’m sure you do too. The times that Paix and I ran off together, leaving you alone to deal with the mountains of paperwork…”

Luna returned a small smile. “Oh, yes. I doubt that I’ll ever forget.”

“So remember, and don’t worry. I’ll never be mad, not really.” Celestia hugged her again. “I love you, and you deserve to be happy.”

The younger alicorn sniffed loudly. “Thank you, Tia. I love you too.”

They stood there, embracing one another. After a moment, Celestia broke the silence. “Oh, by the way. The fake guards tried to use you as an excuse when they attacked, you know.”

“What? Really?” Luna asked, pulling back sharply.

“Indeed.” Celestia chuckled softly. “They claimed that you needed me urgently. It was an attempt to isolate General Chaput, of course. I told them that you were sleeping.” Her eyes danced. “I’m not sure how they would have reacted if I told them that you were out on a date…”

“Oh, stars…” Luna swore. “Thanks. I’d hate to have that get out, even just to prisoners.”

The other princess nodded. “Mmm.”

“Anyways…” Luna shook herself. “Should we get in there?”

“I think they’re ready,” Celestia replied. “Follow my lead, Luna.”

“Of course. I’m right behind you.”

The two of them opened the door, turned down the hallway to the adjacent interrogation room. Celestia’s magic gently pushed the door open before the two of them stepped through to the other side. Several bright lights up on the ceiling glared down, filling the room with hash illumination. Celestia’s eyes narrowed as she faced the two ponies who were already in the room.

“Princess Celestia!” said the cheerful voice of the leader of the two. The light lavender pegasus nodded his head at her. “It’s an honor, as always.”

“Dr. Wing,” she said, returning his gesture. “Thank you for making it on such short notice.”

“Ah, no problem at all!” He tapped the large magical machine on the table twice with his hoof. “It’s always fun to test out new things. Things are fun!”

“What exactly is this device?” Luna inquired.

The stallion chuckled. “I’m glad you asked!” He moved over to the side so that the two alicorns could have a better view of his creation. “This is the Delta-Niner-X-Ray-Four-Five-Kilo-Lima Bullshit Detector Mark Seven!” He raised his hooves in a grand flourish. “Ta-da!”

Celestia’s eyebrow rose into the air. “All that complicated designation… and then it’s called a Bullshit Detector.”

The other scientist, a mare with glasses, cleared her throat. “Dr. Wing…” she said quietly. “I thought that you said its name was—”

“Okay, okay…” Wing said. “It’s actually called the Verum et Mendacium. That’s fancy for—”

“Truth and lies…” Luna muttered.

“Exacta-mundo!” he declared. “Anyways, it basically casts a lies-and-truths detection spell, records an interrogation, prints a readout of the accuracy of the subject’s statements, and makes a visual display so that a whole group and see if the little bastard is full of it or not.” Wing tapped the strapped-down pony, a lopsided grin on his face. “Pretty cool, huh?”

Luna cocked her head to the side. “Why not just have a unicorn cast a spell and interpret the results, like we have done for centuries?”

“Number one, that’s boring,” he began. “Number two, this records everything and gives a readout on the degree of deception that the spell detects. Fancy!” Wing’s grin broadened. “Plus, it’s not subjective like a lie detector spell. Most of the time, the unicorn casting the spell has to feel the level of truth in a statement and then interpret the results. That subjective shit isn’t gonna fly if we have the capability to make something like the good ol’ VeM.”

“It still requires a unicorn to run it,” the other scientist added quietly. “We haven’t managed to implant a self-sustaining runic equation that can convert the ‘feel’ of the truth into a readout.”

Wing waved the statement away. “Ah, don’t worry about the minor details, Sere! That’s why you’re here!”

“And who is this?” Celestia asked, looking at the mare.

She blushed as the princess gazed at her. “M-my name is Serenata, Your Highness.” She gave a shy bow. “We actually met once. It was at my graduation from Princess Twilight’s University.”

The Princess of the Sun nodded, and a smile split her lips. “Of course! One of Twilight’s students. If I remember correctly, you specialize in physical manipulation and…” She squinted as she thought back on the award ceremony. “...micro-magical theory?”

Serenata smiled broadly and nodded enthusiastically. “Y-yes! Exactly! I’m honored that you remembered.”

Celestia inclined her head. “We’re glad to have your talents here, Serenata. How long will it be until you have your doctorate?” she asked kindly.

“If all goes according to plan, it should only be two and a half more years,” she replied as she raised a hoof to adjust her glasses and brush her white and pink mane out of her face.

“Excellent. I assume from Dr. Wing’s statement that you’ll be running the spell itself?” Celestia walked forward and gazed down at her unconscious subject.

Serenata trotted up beside her and nodded. “Yes, Princess. I will.”

Celestia was about to speak again, but the re-opening of the door cut her off. She turned to see Knight-Captain Dovetail and Captain Flair walking into the room, their lips pursed and eyes narrowed. Flair flipped her mane to the side and trotted over to the far wall, leaning up against it and eyeing the stallion on the table coldly.

“Princesses,” Dovetail said. “I believe that we’re ready. Captain Flair and I have compiled our information on Mr. Mane…” She glared down at the restrained terrorist. “We’ll begin as soon as you are prepared.”

Celestia turned to look at everypony in the room. Flair met her eyes and nodded. Dr. Wing hooked the final wire into his machine, Serenata hummed to herself as her magic surrounded one of the three antennas of the device, and Dovetail took her place beside Flair. Luna stood beside Celestia, and the two nodded to each other.

“Do it,” the elder princess said quietly.

Serenata’s magic flared, and the Verum et Mendacium activated. The blue unicorn’s golden aura arced out of it and raced toward Bronze Mane. Dr. Wing stepped forward and pulled a syringe out of his saddlebag. After removing the cover, flicking it with a hoof, and squirting out any air and some of the liquid, he injected the patient.

Celestia stood silently, and the only sounds that filled the room were the hum of the VeM and the steady chug of the printout piling its record into a box behind the device itself. The display screen flashed to life, displaying a meter measuring the truth of Mane’s statements.

A moment later, the stallion inhaled sharply and let out an anguished moan. He clenched his teeth and blinked his eyes rapidly. The restraints tugged at him as he tried to break free, and he cried out as the pain from his destroyed kneecap reached him.

Princess Celestia strode forward, glowing with golden radiance. “Mr. Bronze Mane, formerly of the Eleventh Royal Infantry. Dishonorably discharged, stripped of all rank, and now branded terrorists for his actions in Canterlot Castle. Mr. Mane. My name is Celestia, and you have disappointed me.”

The stallion’s golden eyes widened, and he opened his mouth slowly. “P-p-princess…” he breathed raspily.

“Yes.” Celestia reached out with her magic and raised the table to angle his face toward her. “What have to you say for yourself?” she asked quietly.

“I… I…” he stammered, wincing because of the glare emanating from the lights and the princess herself. “I… I don’t understand…”

The princess moved closer and looked down at him. “You broke into my castle, attacked my subjects, and killed my guests. I do not know if I can clarify any further besides saying this: Your life is forfeit, Mr. Mane. Our law is clear. There is no tolerance for terrorists. Your life, your very existence continues only because I will it. I have asked you a question.” She pursed her lips. “I would encourage you to answer it.”

“I did it all for you,” he said before coughing violently. Blood splurted out of his mouth and almost hit Celestia. The princess’ automatic shield spell activated and deflected it away with an invisible burst of power.

“Truth,” Dr. Wing said in a monotone voice. He gazed at the display before turning to Celestia. “The bastard is telling the truth…”

Serenata chimed in, saying, “Or what he believes to be the truth.”

“Why would I lie?” Mane croaked. “I am in the presence of the goddesses themselves… my whole life, laid out before them. This is my dream, my reason for being…”

Celestia recoiled and turned away before glancing at the display. The meter pointed toward the word displayed at the top of the screen.

Truth.

“Holy shit,” Captain Flair muttered. “He’s bucking crazy, isn’t he?”

“It was always for you,” Mane whined. “Those freaks, the ones I attacked before I was robbed of my place, they were insulting you! They besmirched your honor, and they had to… had to... “ He gazed pleadingly into Celestia’s eyes. “...die.”

Celestia’s expression did not change at all as he continued.

“And then… then the griffon spawns of Tirek came here, and I knew that they were going to slay you. Steal you away from us. The voice… he told me so…” Mane’s head twitched sideways. “Always told the truth, always there, always friend… yes… yes…”

“Truth,” Wing repeated. “I don’t like this. Not one bit.”

Luna trotted up to beside the other alicorn. “Sister… it’s getting colder in here…”

Celestia turned, and, as she did so, her breath turned to mist. “It is, indeed.”

“Voice speaking to him? His insanity? The cold?” Luna shivered. “And that feeling of dread and… nightmares that I get around him.”

“Possession?” The Solar Princess prepared her magic.

Her sister shook her head. “It doesn’t feel like it. Possession doesn’t feel like a nightmare. It feels like screaming. This is more like…” She gazed down at Mane. “...it’s like he’s not seeing the world clearly. Influence?”

“Well, you’re the expert on this type of magic,” Celestia replied. “What do you think we should do?”

The other ponies glanced from one princess to the other uncertainly.

Luna regarded the terrorist with a look of pity. “I say we pull the windigo out and talk to it personally.”

Captain Flair gasped. “Son of a… there’s a windigo in him?”

“Something like that,” Luna replied quietly. “I can feel dream magic, and influence spells fall with my realm. He’s being controlled, indirectly. I’m sure of it.”

Dr. Wing sighed. “Damn. Sere, did we put an incorporeality setting onto this piece of junk?”

“No,” the mare replied dryly. “We did not.”

“Damn.” He shrugged. “I guess this won't help us here.”

Celestia inhaled deeply and turned back to Bronze Mane. He glanced around the room unsurely. “What… what is happening?”

“This should only hurt for a moment,” Celestia intoned before turning her magic toward him. His eyes opened in horror as the spell engulfed him, and—

“Eeeeeeaaaaaaaurgggggh!” His scream cut through the air, ripping through to Celestia’s soul. She grit her teeth and continued to channel her spell, feeling as it ripped something from his body and pulled it away…

Bronze’s golden eyes flashed blue, and his lips contorted into a vicious smile. “You call. I answer. Speak, Goddess.” The ice cold voice sent chills down Celestia’s spine, and the words were accompanied by a sudden drop in temperature.

“Hot damn…” Wing swore. “That was a possession, wasn’t it?”

“It was,” Luna replied slowly. “Should we extract the beast completely?”

Celestia shook her head. “Not yet. Wing. Will your device still function if the windigo is controlling Mr. Mane?”

The stallion glanced over at Serenata, who nodded. He turned back to Celestia with another lopsided grin. “Seems like it!”

“Windigo,” Celestia said. “Will you answer my questions truthfully?”

“If able,” the monotone voice replied.

The princess narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean by that?”

“Not my will. His. He controls. Stops freedom. Cannot speak his name.”

Luna hissed. “Chaput… or Dmitri. Or is it someone else?”

“Master is irrelevant,” the windigo droned. “Reasons unneeded. Truth a lie. Reality dreaming. Cannot see when blind. Remember the future. Wait for past. All becomes clear.” Bronze Mane convulsed as the windigo cackled.

“Why did you attack?” Celestia asked.

“Orders. Not choice,” he replied.

The princess hummed to herself. “Whose orders?”

“His.”

A sigh filled Celestia’s ear, and Luna shook her head. “I don’t think he can answer that.”

The elder princess grunted. “What was your objective?”

“Kill the partners. Blame the ponies. Begin war. Steal all. Power. Glory. Future.” Bronze Mane’s head cocked unnaturally to the side. “Him.”

“Why did you possess these ponies?”

The stallion controlled by the creature inhaled raggedly. “Willing. Loyal to goddess. Hate master. Hate master friends. Can kill. Available.”

“Oh, stars,” Luna swore. “It has to be one of the griffons. ‘Master’ sends the windigos to kill his own accomplices…”

“Dark goddess wise. Listen to h—” Another round of coughing cut his comment short. “Losing life. Master calls me…”

“Calls you where?” demanded Celestia.

“He needs power. Kills. Eats power. Absorbs. Steal my life. Stop my speak. Defeat you. Win. Power…”

Wing inhaled deeply. “Bullshit detector says he’s telling the truth.”

“Not bullshit,” the windigo chided. “Small time. Goddess. Beware.”

“Beware what?” Celestia asked quickly.

“Lies become…” the windigo moaned through Mane’s lips. “Must… break… Mane, speak!” The stallion screamed out, tears running down his face. “The voice!” he cried. “H-he says, ‘Lies become truth when the speaker is a fool. Truth becomes lies when hidden in shadow. You’re in danger. He… he wants…” His eyes screwed shut, and another scream tore through the air.

Celestia reached her magic out, but something blocked her. She couldn’t get to Mane, and—

“Remember us. Avenge us. Restore. Renew. Live.” the windigo shouted once more, using Mane’s voice as his own. After the final word rang through the air, he spasmed. Mane’s legs contorted, and Celestia heard the sickening crunch of his kneecap breaking even further. The pitch of the stallion’s scream rose ever higher, and a blue aura surrounded his body.

“Get back!” Dovetail shouted as she pulled the princess away. “Wing, turn off the—”

In a brilliant flash, Mane rose into the air, squirming and squealing. Energy reached out in an arc, striking the machine and knocking Serenata and Wing to the ground. The scientists screamed, and—

With one final cry, Bronze Mane’s body exploded into a shower of blue sparks. The stallion was ripped apart, but no blood fell as he evaporated into the air itself. The shock wave from the explosion knocked the ponies to the ground, and Celestia found herself lying beside Luna.

Luna stood shakily to her hooves, and Celestia followed suit. The younger alicorn gazed at the table where the stallion had lain. “What… what does it all mean?”

Celestia narrowed her eyes. “I have no idea…” She turned to look down at the device, which lay upon the ground. The recorder attached to the device was intact, and Celestia levitated it over to herself.

“But I’m going to find out.”

~~~

Luna pushed the door to her quarters open and sighed wearily. She trotted inside and flipped on her light once again. With a groan, she flopped onto her bed, tossing her crown onto her bedside table.

Two hours. They’d analyzed every word of the windigo’s rant over and over. In the end, she and Celestia had come to the same conclusion: It had to be Dmitri or Chaput. One of them had sent the windigos, and one of them was responsible for all of this. Every death, every bit of damage, all of it. One of them.

The princess rolled over and sighed once more. Chaput had the skill to enact a complex plan such as this, but Dmitri seemed more likely as the one that would take a direct approach. As much as it pained her to say so, Luna had told Celestia that Chaput was the more trustworthy one in this situation. He had to have a plan, but it was beneath the surface. He wasn’t this obvious…

She flipped onto her side again, unable to make herself feel comfortable. Groaning, she covered her eyes with her hooves. “‘The truth becomes a lie when hidden in shadow…’” she quoted to herself. “What an accurate statement.”

After sitting up, the princess ran a hoof through her mane. She knew that she should sleep, but she couldn’t bring herself to close her eyes. Her bed felt foreign, and the night called out to her. The surreal sequence of events of the past several weeks had turned her natural sleep schedule upside down, and exhaustion pulled at her eyes as the drive to remain awake pulsed through her veins. The call of the pillow, the taunting of the dark sky.

Luna shook her head wryly. “No use,” she muttered to herself. Standing to her hooves, the princess approached her computer and tapped the spacebar twice. Her lock screen appeared, and she quickly punched in her password. After the desktop appeared, she saw the blinking orange box that indicated that she had received a private message on her chat. She allowed herself a small smile as she clicked the icon. As the logo spun and the program loaded, she activated the launcher for Return so that it could boot up as she waited.

The chat finally appeared, and Button’s name flashed on her screen. Luna smiled as soon as she saw his blinking icon and quickly pressed on his avatar, which was a character from some old video game. His text popped into view, and Luna quickly read it.

Fade: hey beautiful
Fade: been missing you. i know that you’ve only been gone for, like, two hours, but still. wanted to let you know that i…
Fade: i just love you
Fade: don’t really have much more to say than that :)
Fade: message me back tonight? maybe we can play! :D

Luna smiled and shook her head. “Oh, you wonderful, wonderful sta—”

A knock interrupted her thoughts, accompanied by the word, “Princess?”

She quickly minimized her chat and spun to face the door. Blushing furiously and clearing her throat, she said, “Come in!”

Shady Cove pushed the door open and stuck her head into the room. “Highness… thank goodness you’re here! I’ve been looking for you ever since the attack.” The mare stepped inside. Her face was pale, and her normally perfect mane was in a state of disarray. “I was worried that…”

The princess smiled at her mare-in-waiting. “Shady, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

Nodding absently, the servant moved closer. “I… I think this attack scared me more than the last… one.”

“Why?” Luna asked.

“I don’t know. It’s easy to think of griffons or whatever those ghosts were as enemies. But other ponies…” She shook herself. “It…”

The princess strode over to the other mare. “I understand, Shady. Don’t worry. It’ll all be over soon.”

Shady looked up, her brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“We’ll get to the bottom of this. Celestia and I will be confronting our enemy tomorrow, and everything is going to be revealed.” She nodded. “Soon, everything will be back to normal again.”

“I…” Shady nodded slowly. “I hope so, Princess…”

Smiling broadly, the alicorn said, “It will. No more death, no more hiding, no more spies, no more secrets. Everything ends tomorrow.”

“Good. Good.” Once more, Shady nodded absently. “Well then, if it is all the same to you, Princess, I must be off to bed. I’m quite glad that you’re safe, but my poor heart… I don't know if I can take any more excitement this evening.”

“Of course,” Luna replied cheerfully. She was about to say her goodbyes when a thought crossed her mind. “Oh, Shady!”

“Yes, Highness?” the mare in waiting asked.

“Did you ever get a chance to make use of that dress?”

A large smile crossed Shady’s face. “I did, Princess. I went on a date yesterday, and I was able to wear it. I’ve… never had something like it before.”

“Well, I’m very glad for that.” Luna inclined her head. “You deserve it, Shady. Have I told you how glad I am to have you here with me? Not just as a servant, but as a friend?”

“Uh…” Shady stammered as she blushed. “Highness, I—”

“Really.” Luna walked forward and gazed into her eyes. “You were there for me when I needed you. You been a shoulder to cry upon, and gave me the advice that I needed most in that moment. That is the work of a friend. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy that makes me feel.”

The unicorn’s lip trembled. “Th-thank you, Princess…”

The alicorn reached out and pulled her friend into a close hug. “It’s Luna. And you’re welcome.”

Luna felt Shady tense up at the contact, but then the other mare returned the embrace. For a moment, she stayed there, holding the smaller pony, but then she released her.

“Okay... Luna,” Shady whispered.

Luna smiled once more. “Okay. I won’t take any more of your time. Stay safe, Shady. Tomorrow is a big day.”

“Of course…” she turned to walk out the door, but stopped at the exit. “Oh, and Luna?”

The alicorn turned back to see her friend staring. “Yes?”

“Be careful.” Shady’s expression was completely unreadable as she slowly shut the door. The clop of hoofsteps resounded through the room, and Luna nodded to herself.

The princess narrowed her eyes, but then shrugged before sitting back down at her computer. She pulled up the chat and typed out her reply.

Memory: Oh, you wonderful stallion… Of course I have time!

She hummed to herself and nodded slowly before returning to her keyboard.

Memory: Actually, I have a bit of time on my hooves. Maybe I could come over, and we could play at your place?

She waited for a moment, and then Button’s icon turned green. At the bottom of the screen appeared the words, Fade is typing…

Fade: that sounds perfect! :D

Chuckling, Luna reached down to type once more.

Memory: Good! Is anypony in your living area right now?

Seconds later, the reply appeared.

Fade: no. why?

With a chuckle, Luna sent her last message.

Memory: Because I’m coming over right now.

She reached over, grabbed her laptop, adjusted her glasses and mane, and then allowed her magic to envelop her as she pulled herself to Button’s hotel room.

A splash of light filled the room as Luna teleported, briefly illuminating the windigo who had floated up above her computer.

Lines, Traitors, and Discord

The luxurious hotel room spun into view around Luna as her teleportation spell deposited her into the center of Button’s living room. The princess glanced up to see her coltfriend sitting at his table. His headphones covered his ears, and he was glancing quizzically down at his computer screen. Hunched shoulders, mane still brushed back, rippling muscles…

Luna blushed and cleared her throat. “Button?” she asked quietly.

The stallion jerked upright in his chair and snapped around to glance at her, eyes wide. “Oh my Celes… stars, Luna!” he cried. “What was that?”

Her nose wrinkled as a smile split her face. “It’s called teleporting. I do it sometimes.”

Button sighed. “Wow. I never would have guessed…”

She walked over to him, grinning as she went. “You silly goose…”

“I’m not a goose!” he protested as he moved over to meet her. “Silly, yes, goose, n—”

The princess cut him off with a chaste kiss to his lips. He leaned forward to meet her, and she reached a wing around his back and pulled him close. After a moment, she brought her head back and rested her forehead against his.

“So, any particular reason for that?” Button asked softly. “I mean, not that I’m complaining or anything…”

She smiled again and rubbed the back of his neck with her wing. “Sorry. I just needed to remind myself of something.”

“Yeah, you better apologize,” he replied to her, a twinkle in his eye. “I am mortally offended by that action.”

“I guess I’ll have to pay you back…” She leaned in and gave him another kiss.

“Mmm…” Button laughed quietly as their lips separated. “I guess I forgive you.”

Luna chuckled and shook her head. “Well, good. I’d hate to have to apologize even more…”

“Oh, crap!” her coltfriend exclaimed. “What I meant to say was that I’m still horribly upset! I require more… uh… repayment?” he finished lamely.

Raising her eyebrow, Luna replied, “Uh-huh. Sure.”

“Really!” the stallion exclaimed. “Not joking, like, at all!” He barely managed to stifle a snort. “Okay, okay… maybe a little.”

“I’m sure there will be time for that later.” Luna swished her tail and nuzzled Button again before walking past him. Her smile faded, and she gazed at the far wall. “Button. There was another attack on the castle today.”

“What?” He trotted over to her and stared into her eyes. “How?”

“Pony terrorists, controlled by those windigos, or whatever they are.” With another sigh, Luna turned away from her coltfriend. “They attacked while I was playing here with you.”

“Damn…” Button reached a hoof around her and gave her a sideways hug. “Was everypony okay?”

Luna shook her head. “There were deaths. We lost several good ponies, and many of the griffons perished.”

“Holy shit. Were… were you and your sister the targets?”

After taking a deep breath, the princess said, “We don’t think so. It’s looking like this was a plot by one of the griffon leaders to kill the others and blame the attack on Equestria.”

Silence filled the room, and Button scrunched his brow. “That doesn’t really make much sense.”

“What? Why?” she asked. “Whoever caused the attack obviously had some motive, and taking the griffon throne, or securing it, seems as valid a reason as any. Plus, our interrogation of one of the terrorists confirmed that it was a griffon who ordered them to attack.”

Once more, Button seemed to consider what she had said. He chewed on his lower lip before looking up at her. “But why? Why would they do it like this?”

“I don’t think I follow,” Luna replied. “What is confusing you?”

“It…” he said with a sigh. “It just doesn’t match up. Why would the griffons try to kill each other like that? I mean, I understand them wanting to kill each other, but why like this? It’s messy, and it doesn’t fit their methods from back in the civil war.”

Luna dwelled on his words for moment. She squinted and glanced over at him. “How is it different?”

“Now, this is just what I learned from reading some of the public reports and the Republic propaganda, but still.” He rubbed under his chin with his hoof before continuing. “Okay. So, Father Dmitri killed the old king in personal combat. One against one, like their old traditions say. After that, the griffons drive him and his supporters out of the city, claiming that he cheated somehow. He barely escapes with his life, but then manages to engage in guerilla warfare for several months.”

The princess grunted and listened as he paced and spoke at the same time.

“The griffon mare, or whatever, she killed somepony in Saddle Arabia. The old griffon loyalists during the war put out info about it. She poisoned some Saddle Arabian and got caught. She was sneaky, but not sneaky enough. And General Chaput…” Button glanced over at her. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard about him killing anything outside of battle. He’s like, crazy honorable. Even his enemies were saying that.”

“So, what does this mean?” she asked.

“It means that things don’t work!” Button exclaimed. “It doesn’t fit their methods. Dmitri would straight-up kill the other two, Yvonne would probably murder them in their sleep, and Chaput would probably just destroy them with rhetoric or something. None of them do stuff like this!”

Luna nodded slowly. “You’re right…”

“That means only one thing…”

The two ponies looked into each other’s eyes before Luna said, “The other griffons weren’t the actual goal of the attack.”

“Exactly.” He nodded enthusiastically. “So, what was it?”

A thought struck Luna, and she suddenly stood up straight. “Oh, stars… they were trying to start a war, weren’t they?”

“I’d bet…” replied Button. “That’s not a happy thought.”

“No, it isn’t...” she agreed. After a second more of thought, she cocked her head sideways. “Wait. How did you know all of this about the griffons?”

He grinned lopsidedly. “I read things. Newspapers, books, internet articles. History is my favorite thing since apple juice, and today’s news is tomorrow’s history. No better time to start learning than now.”

“But you pieced that together remarkably fast.” Luna cocked her head to the side. “How? I only just told you about the attack.”

“I… I think I’ve seen it before,” Button replied slowly. “This attack looks really familiar. Like, super familiar. You know about Chief Zarek, the old zebran shaman who took power back when Equestria was first founded, right?”

A chill ran down Luna’s spine. “Oh. I see where you’re going. Also…” Her mouth twitched upward. “I was there. I hope that I remember…”

“Ah. Right.” Button snickered. “I forgot for a second. Dating princess. Super amazing princess who lived this stuff.”

“Yes.” She smiled.

“Anyway,” he continued, “Zarek did something really similar. He sent an ambassador to broker peace, and then had assassins kill his entire retinue. Poison or something.”

“No, they snuck into the castle in the middle of the night and killed them by slitting their throats.” Luna coughed. “I was practicing my dreamwalking at the time and felt it all happen.”

He cringed. “Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s not exactly your fault,” the princess said dryly. “I doubt that it would be fair for me to blame you.”

“Eh. I guess.” He shrugged it off. “But, really. I’m sure you see the similarities, right?”

“Yes.” Luna nodded. “I don’t know how we missed this…”

“Maybe you were too busy with, you know, terrorists and stuff?” Button asked. “I’d be distracted too, I think.”

She chuckled. “Indeed…” Gazing out the window beyond the stairs to the upper level of the hotel room, Luna continued, “But that’s not really why I came to see you. It is, somewhat, but mostly…”

Button moved back to stand in front of her. “Hey, hey… what’s up?”

“I realized that I have no idea what’s happening any more, Button.” She clenched her jaw and looked into his eyes. “This attack on top of everything that was happening got me thinking… what if something happens to me? Or Celestia? Or…” She swallowed. “Or to you?”

Button inhaled sharply. “Luna. Look at me. You and your sister are princesses. You took down Discord, slapped Tirek into tartarus when he broke out, and beat the living crap out of every single being that ever rose up and even tried to take you down. You’re practically goddesses. There is no way, not in tartarus, and not even in hell itself, that these griffons could take you down and keep you out. It can’t happen. I believe in you.” Reaching a hoof up to her chin, he gently ran a hoof through her fur. “You’re amazing, and you always win. You make them scared, because you’re dangerous. And you make me brave enough to face tomorrow. Because you’re you. That’s all.” Button chuckled. “Don’t worry. Don’t worry at all.”

“But what about you?” she asked quietly. “What about Equestria?”

Her coltfriend snorted. “Luna. My beautiful, impossible Luna. You do realize that I’m dating you, right? I don’t have permission to die, so I won’t. I’m sometimes good at following instructions, and this is one of those times. Besides…” He leaned in and whispered into her ear, “You still owe me some kisses. No way I’m going anywhere before I get those.”

Despite herself, Luna laughed. She felt heat rise on her face as she moved forward. “Well, okay then…”

She leaned in to kiss him, but he pulled back. Her eyebrow raised, and Luna inhaled.

“Before we do this… I just wanted to say one thing.” Button caressed her cheek. “About this morning… Luna, I hope you didn’t see what I said about paying as controlling or something. I didn’t mean it like that.”

The princess shook her head. “No, of course I didn’t!”

“I just…” He sighed. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’re perfect, and incredible, and… I just want to be enough, you know? I want to show you what you mean to me, and I don’t really know what to say or do for the mare who has it all. You’re so amazing, and… and…”

“Button.” She nuzzled up against him. “Don’t worry. This is new for me too. I don’t really understand it yet either.”

“I love you,” he whispered into her mane. “I have no clue where this is going, but… but as long as we’re going there together, I don’t really care. We can face anything, you and me, and I’ll be happy.”

“I love you too, you silly stallion,” she cooed. “I love you too.”

He laughed quietly beside her. “So… one last question.”

She pulled back and met his gaze. “What?”

“You ready, Mem?”

Luna smiled. “Always. Always.”

The two ponies’ lips met again, and Luna hummed to herself as she sighed contentedly. The smell of his mane wafted through the chilly air, and she felt—

“Oh!” Button exclaimed as her wing ran over his flank. “You naughty!”

She giggled innocently. “Shush.”

“Fine.” His eyes glittered as he moved back to her. “Two can play at this game…”

He crashed into her, their mouths locked together. Luna stumbled backward, reaching blindly for the couch. She pulled herself down, and he landed atop her. A hoof crept over her cutie mark and rubbed gently.

“Oooh…” she leaned into his neck and kissed her way to his jaw.

Button’s throat rumbled as he laughed. “There. My revenge quota is fulfilled, for now.” Their lips collided, and their tongues twined together.

After a few minutes of passionate kissing, Button pulled away from her, breathing heavily. “Luna… how far are we going?”

The princess gasped for air and stared up at him. His mane flowed down, disheveled but still presentable. She felt his strong body holding her. Safe. Warm. Loved. But something about the way he was looking down… “You aren’t ready, are you?” she asked.

“I don’t think we are,” Button replied quietly. “I mean, I love you, but… I don’t want to rush this.”

She smiled. “Oh, you wonderful stallion. I don’t either. Maybe… maybe we should just spend a bit more time together and then…”

One of Button’s eyebrows rose. “And then?”

“And then,” she said, her grin still plastered on her face, “we go run a few quests? You and me?”

“That sounds perfect,” he said. The stallion leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the nose. “But before that… where were we?”

Luna giggled and flipped him over. Their lips met once more, and the princess hummed happily.

Perfect.

~~~

Bullets whizzed through the air, and Luna had to activate her jetpack to speed past the last group of turrets. Smoke surrounded her as she raced through the broken and jagged cave. Stalactites reached down toward her from the ceiling, and the princess had to swerve wildly over and over in an attempt to get toward her destination, which was the control panel on the far wall.

“Oh, crap!” Button shouted from down on the cave floor. His cybernetically augmented form danced around pressure plate after pressure plate as he rushed past the turrets that protected the lower pathway to the end of the level. “The door’s still down, Mem!”

“I know!” the princess replied. “I’ll have it up as soon as I can!” She spun around and fired off a quick blast of chaos magic at the nearest foes. The burst sizzled as it arced through the air, sending off sparks of red and purple confetti and leaves before imploding and turning the robotic sentries into mounds of chocolate.

She turned her attention back to her flight path. Ducking past the next cluster of sharp rocks, she—

“Woah!”

Luna glanced down to see Button tangled up in a net woven from glowing fibers. “Fade!” she shouted. “Are you good?”

“Uh, maybe,” he cried as his augments flashed. “Don’t worry about me. I can take this! Just get to those controls and get the door open!”

Nodding, the mare fired off another boost from her thrusters. Her eyes narrowed, and she turned on her tech visor. The room glowed golden, and she could see the outlines of another bunch of turrets waiting to ambush her. A timer ticked in the top left corner of her HUD, counting down the seconds until the entire subterranean base exploded in a burst of nuclear energy if she and Button couldn’t reach the end and defeat their foe.

Button wrenched himself free down below and leapt through the air with a snarl. His machine guns sputtered, and he took out several of his own foes before resuming his mad run to the closed blast doors.

The princess flapped her wings twice and ducked her head down as she rounded the final corner before making it to the elevated platform. The large metal surface held the panel that would open the blast door down by Button. She spun around, dodging the bullets that flew toward her. As she did, her crosshairs landed onto the first trio of turrets, and her sniper rifle let loose several shots. The robots exploded in a fantastic flash, and the princess got past them with minimal damage.

“Okay, I’m at the door!” Button said. Luna couldn’t see his avatar, but she could hear the fire of his weapons.

She slammed into the display with a grunt. The archaic computer console was suspended up at the top of the cave and rested atop a metallic platform surrounded by turrets. The princess waved her hoof absentmindedly, and the power granted to her by Celestia flared up to superimpose a Radiant Shield between herself and the oncoming storm of rounds.

“Beginning my hack now,” she replied.

Button inhaled sharply. “Better hurry! We don’t have much left on the countdown!”

Gritting her teeth, Luna raised her front leg that bore her holo-display and commanded her internal computer to sync up with the ancient terminal. The glowing blue device on her leg whirred to life, and a list of several different components flowed from the right to left. Letters, numbers, colors… She tried to see the pattern, spot the perfect location to place her splice. Waiting… waiting... waitin—

“Uhh, Mem?” her coltfriend asked. “Think you could, I dunno, smack it or something? There are more mobs popping up here, and I don’t know how long my shields are gonna hold…”

“I’m trying,” she said quickly. “Just give me… there!” With a single triumphant push of her button, she shot her computer spike into the system. The carefully engineered virus broke through the outdated firewalls and lanced through the basic programming of the terminal. The screen flashed, and Luna smiled to herself as she heard the door below screech open. “Go!” she shouted.

Button’s laughter filled the air. “Perfect! Okay, I’m rushing the trap controls on the far side. Can you keep the turrets off me when you get down?”

“I’ve got you!” Luna spun around and glanced at her HUD. Her Shield spell was at seventeen percent, and the golden light was already flickering. She reached outward and grasped at the remnants of her power. Pulling it back to herself, she allowed it to merge with her current pool of energy just as she opened up a portal to the other side of the cavern. The princess dashed through her spell before the Shield had fallen completely, avoiding all of the turrets’ attacks. Spinning around, she shot off one more portal beside Button, down on the floor of the cave. With one final burst from her jetpack, she dashed through to reappear beside her coltfriend.

“Show-off,” he muttered, but his voice carried an edge of laughter.

“Of course!” She chuckled and raised her sniper rifle. “Now, let’s see those hacking skills, Mr. Macho.”

He rolled his eyes. “Hardy-har-har. Just try not to shoot me this time.”

“That only happened once, you know,” Luna chided as she aimed her rifle at a few of the mutated minotaurs that sprinted toward them. With three bursts, they all fell.

“I counted three times, actually.” Button teleported halfway down the newly opened hallway. In contrast to the rough floors and walls of the previous cave, this area was completely covered in faded gray plasteel from back before the Exodus, when all the races of the world had fled Equus. Battle scars scored the walls, and several collapsed doorways broke the uniform appearance of the solid walls. Button’s implants flashed, and his golden tech blades flared out and slashed through two of the minotaurs.

She scoffed. “Your counting is inadequate, my good sir.” Her rifle spat and took out one of the distant sentry bots. “I distinctly remember shooting you exactly once.”

“Selective memory!” The stallion slammed his hooves into another set of two-headed monsters. “Also, on a side note, I really need to add a shotgun to this toon.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because.” He Blinked again and reappeared even further away from Luna. “Shotguns are cool.”

“You do realize that you’re running a primarily melee toon, don’t you?” The princess shook her head ruefully. “That may not be the best plan you’ve ever made.”

“But it’d be fun!” he cried. “Imagine. I teleport in, smack some silly fools, slice and dice with my blades, and then finish with a one-two-wham from my trusty shotgun. I’d name him ‘Tom!’” Button leapt through the air and triggered his jetpack. After a moment, he landed beside another computer terminal.

“‘Tom.’ Really?” she asked. “At least name it something impressive.”

“Well, I could call it ‘The Destructicator.’ Would that be better?” His voice carried a teasing edge. “Oh. And do you want me to deactivate the robots or reprogram them to hit the other mobs?”

She slew another few of their foes with perfect headshots before replying, “Just deactivate them. I’d rather kill the mobs than the bots.”

“Good deal.” Button pulled up his own holo-display and commenced his hack. “So, how about that name.”

“Honestly?” she asked. “I think that your naming skills need some work.”

“Aww. You wound me to my very soul.” He nodded his head. “Okay, I’m in. Gonna overload the power thingies now. And yes, that is the technical term.”

“And there is your magical word-smithery in action again,” she teased. She looked down her scope just in time to see energy arc out of the walls and strike all of the turrets and sentry bots in the room. They exploded in a dramatic cloud of sparks, and the shockwave knocked over the only remaining minotaurs. She finished them with a few swift shots, and then reloaded. “Why not name it something impressive and awe-inspiring like ‘Eternity?’ Or maybe ‘Destiny?’”

“Or ‘Super Species Slayer Seven Thousand?’” Button asked sweetly. The two soldiers raced down the now empty corridor. Luna leapt over the corpses of her fallen foes, and Button jetted through the air to avoid the wrecks of the turrets. After a moment, they came to the furthest door, their last obstacle before they could face the final foe.

“No. Just no,” Luna replied, shaking her head wryly. “You should just stop while you’re ahead, I think.”

“Meh.” The stallion charged his implants. “You ready?”

“Always,” Luna replied. They nodded to one another, and her Chaos Blades flared into existence. Raising their glowing hooves high, the partners struck at the reinforced bulkhead. The force of their blow shook the metal frame, and a second strike cracked the door right down the center.

Luna cast a portal through the narrow gap, and they leapt into the boss’ room.

Darkness. The light from the previous rooms faded, and Luna had to channel her solar power in order to illuminate the circular chamber. She nodded, turned, and—

—came face to face with a smiling manticore who was easily five times her size.

“Hello… heroes…” he hissed before striking at the mare and sending her flying across the room.

Button yelped, and Luna heard his techblades hiss through the air as he attacked. “Mem! I’ve got this jerk if you can stop the bomb!”

Luna grunted as she leapt back to her hooves. “I can do that!” She glanced wildly around herself. Her glowing orb of golden energy cast its luminance around the room, lighting up the circular walls. A staircase ran around the edges, leading to different hallways. Several layers of force fields sectioned off the massive chamber into different floors, preventing the pegasus from being able to fly directly upward. Bridges criss-crossed through the air higher in the dome, leading further and further upward. The staircases, hallways leading away from the room, and catwalks created a path that led to the uppermost part of the room where a single console sat beside a rather intimidating-looking round device. Luna recognized the bomb that threatened to blow up the whole installation.

Button danced around, slicing at his enormous foe. The manticore raised his hammer and flamethrower and attacked the stallion with a snarl. “You think that you can defeat me?” he roared. “I am Sin, destroyer of fate. You have entered my domain, and you. Shall. Fall.”

“Cheeeeeeese,” Button said slowly. “You’d think that bosses would have, you know, good lines and stuff. ANd better names. Better names are important.”

“Ah, cut them some slack,” Luna quipped as she sprinted toward the first staircase. Her jetpack flashed, and she boosted her way into the first winding corridor that she knew would eventually get her to the bridges that crossed the upper levels. “Not every fight can be like the Ether raid. They pump out a lot of content, and some of it is going to fall short.”

“But really!” he exclaimed as his shields flashed to block the burst of flame from Sin’s flamethrower. “Sin? Seriously? And the staccato vocal delivery? A boss who will blow up his base if you don’t keep him busy?”

“Face me!” Sin shouted. His hammer slammed downward, sending shock waves crashing into Button. “Face me as brave warriors, or die like the cowards you are! I would rather destroy myself than allow you to dishonor me so!”

“See?” Button asked. “Told you,”

“Shush. Just go with it,” she chided as she skidded across the slick metal floor. “Also, don’t let him blow us up, please. That would make me rather unhappy.”

Her coltfriend snorted. “Yeah, yeah. If I can keep his aggro, he won’t get us.” His machine guns spat fire at the boss, and he Blinked away and began to attack with his rifle. “So, what loot does this place drop again?”

Luna raced around the twisting corridors and sighed as she saw several smaller manticores drop down from the ceiling in front of her. Casting a portal behind them, she stepped through and resumed her mad dash forward. “Not much. I think there were a few unique sniper scopes, some light armor or robes, and a good bit of creds. Or nothing, if everything explodes.” She glanced back and allowed the Celestial power to fill her once more. Her Wall of Sunfire spell filled the corridor behind her with molten energy, and the manticores screamed as they burned.

“Eh, we’ve got this,” Button replied confidently. “So, would you use one of the scopes if you pull it?” Luna heard his rifle fire again and the tell-tale roar that indicated a critical hit. “Ooh! Headshot!”

“I might,” Luna remarked as she crossed the first bridge. Several mutated breezies leapt off the walls and flew toward her, but a burst of chaos magic swatted them away. A few more charged her, and their small machine guns bit into her barriers. “I’d probably save the scope for when I build a new rifle though. I’ll need to upgrade when the expansion comes out. The damage per second of this one just isn’t cutting it any more.”

“Yeah, because killing only seventy percent of your enemies in a single shot isn’t good enough, is it?” Button’s voice practically dripped with sarcasm. “Eh. Speaking of new weapons though, would you give the new one a name?”

Sin’s cries of pain reached Luna’s ears as she finished off the last of the breezies with her sidearms. “Possibly. Nothing silly like your ideas, though. I might name it something dignified. Something that really means something.”

“So, I guess that naming it ‘Boom, Headshot’ is out then?”

The princess snorted. “Yes.” Her lithe form danced past the fallen corpses of her numerous tiny foes as she entered the next corridor that would twist back around to the second bridge. “I was thinking about this a while back. I had one idea…” She glanced down to see Button standing in front of Sin with his shields overcharged. The monster’s flamethrower was currently covering the entire area, but Button’s powers kept him protected.

“What is it?” the stallion asked calmly, ignoring the fire all around him.

“I was thinking of calling it ‘Solstice.’” Luna cast yet another set of portals in order to traverse the hallway quickly. “Just for the symbolism.”

“Huh. That’s actually pretty cool,” he commented as he dispelled his shield. Lashing out with a tech blade, he slashed at Sin, ripping through his armored plating. “Why that exactly, though?”

Luna smiled shortly. “Solstice. The longest or shortest nights of the year. There’s something just… poetic, I suppose, considering my past. Long nights before, and then the acceptance of how the world should be. Short nights. The low points, and the highs. It… it fits.”

“It really does,” Button agreed. “So, uh, how close are you to the top?”

She leapt past a few turrets that appeared. Her magic reached out and created shields around the twin machines, stopping them from attacking her from behind. “One more level, and then I’m there.”

“Perfect,” replied the stallion. “It’ll be nice when this jerk gets put down. I’m sick of his monologues.”

“Is he still going?” Luna raced up the final bridge that led to the bomb. The timer on her HUD counted down to three minutes, and she grinned to herself. More than enough time.

The stallion snorted as he fired his machine guns. “Yeah. He just does… not… shut… up!” His words were punctured by the roar of his weapons and Sin’s flamethrower.

“Well, let’s see if this fixes the issue.” The console beeped in front of her, and the princess latched onto it via her neural uplink. She raised her holo-display and hummed to herself as she waited to send another spike…

“Woah!” Button shouted. “Minor problem! He just got a major buff from whatever you did right there!”

Luna glanced down to see the manticore ripple with red and orange energy as he roared his fury down at Button.

“Oh, stars,” Luna swore. “I’ll make this quick and then get down there!” She fumbled with her controls and tried to watch closely as the information flowed past her. Letters, numbers, colors, directions… She tried to see the pattern, to see…

“This isn’t fun!” Button shouted. Luna heard the whirring of some type of gatling weapon below, and she saw that that Sin had somehow acquired several shoulder mounted heavy weapons. His new heavy machine guns and rocket launchers were all trained on Button’s scampering form. The stallion tried to dodge the attacks, but he was failing even with his teleportation.

She gritted her teeth and ignored the two of them for a moment. There had to be a pattern. There had to…

“Luna!” Button shouted. “I’m not doing so hot here! Can’t you finish it?”

“There’s nowhere to put the spike!” she replied. “I can’t… I can’t…”

“Well then, just smash the freaking bomb! Or something! He’s gonna get me!”

The princess snarled and put her display down. “I hope this works!” Raising her hoof, she summoned a Chaos Blade and swung downward at the large explosive. She winced as her hoof made contact, and—

—the bomb fell to pieces and the timer disappeared.

Sin roared in horror. “What have you done?!”

Luna turned around triumphantly, just in time to see the force fields that had stopped her from flying right upward shimmer out of existence. With a cry, the princess leapt down toward the ground floor of the massive room. Her wings unfurled, and her sniper rifle snapped up and aimed at her gigantic enemy.

The enraged manticore barely had time to glance upward before her first two shots ripped into his skull. With a soul-wrenching cry, he staggered backward.

Button spun around and reactivated his techblades. Although the beast’s armor had made his unarmed attacks nearly useless, his short swords could still manage to rip through to Sin’s flesh. The stallion slashed outward with a snarl. “Yeah! Get him!”

Luna swooped upward at the last second and swiped at Sin with her own blades. “Fade! Go for the head! I’ll try to take out his weapons.”

“Got it!” he replied as he leapt into the air and triggered his jetpack. Sin roared and swatted at Luna just as Button reached his neck. The stallion latched onto him and stabbed through his armored plating and into his unprotected flesh.

As her coltfriend attacked his target, Luna lashed out at Sin’s new weapons. Her swords cut into the heavy metal, and the steel cried as it was torn away from its master. The rocket launchers and his guns were torn off, and Luna allowed herself a predatory grin.

“You ready, Fade?” she cried.

“Always!” came the reply, as it always did.

And then they struck.

Sin fell under the force of their onslaught. Bullets flew, swords struck, and the two ponies soon stood triumphantly over the corpse of their dead adversary.

“Well. That wasn’t too bad!” Button said cheerfully as he reloaded his weapons and cast a quick repair spell onto himself, fixing his damaged implants. “Where’s the loot?”

Luna shook her head wryly. “No victory celebration?”

“Nah,” Button replied. “I’d rather just get the stuff and the experience. We can party back at base, right?”

“I suppose,” said Luna. She trotted over to Sin and kicked him twice. “I’m pretty sure he’s dead. It should be safe to loot.”

He chuckled. “Wouldn’t want another of those situations, would we?”

Luna glanced over at him and pursed her lips. “You forget one time that a particular boss respawns, and everypony has to bring it up whenever feasible…”

“Yeah, yeah,” Button said with a snort. “Anyways, I think the lockbox was over on the far wall.”

The mare and her coltfriend trotted across the room. Once they reached their destination, Luna spotted the loot that Button had mentioned. A large plasteel container sat along the wall, sparkling in the light of the golden spell that still illuminated the entire chamber.

Button reached down with a hoof and lifted the top of the container. He reached inside, pulled out a small black orb, and hummed to himself. “Whelp. This is it. All we needed.”

A silver notification popped up on Luna’s HUD.

Quest Complete! 57,844 XP Awarded!

“Oh, sweet!” Button exclaimed. “It’s one of those scopes!”

“Really?” Luna asked, her ears perking up as he spoke.

“Yeah, take a look!”

She opened up the interface to examine the contents of the chest. Sure enough, Button had pulled one of the artifact-level scopes that the quest was capable of dropping. She smiled broadly. “Perfect!”

“Here ya go!” he chirped happily as he transferred ownership of the item to her. “Now then, we can—”

The blip of someone tagging the two of them on their chatroom cut Button off. The two of them quickly pulled up the other page and saw the message that had just been sent. The notification had come from the guild officers’ chat.

Silver: @everyone I need you all logged on and at the base ASAP. Something big is happening in five minutes.

Luna looked over at Button, and the stallion’s eyebrows rose. “What do you think that means?” she asked.

“I have no clue, but it has to be something serious,” he replied. “Okay, grab the stuff, and then let’s get back!”

“Sounds like a plan.” The princess pressed the loot all key and quickly transferred all of the new items over to her extra inventory storage. “Do you still have those emergency teleport beacons?”

Button nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I should be getting more next week too, so I guess we could use them now.”

“Perfect.” Luna stood beside her partner and nodded. “Ready when you are.”

He pulled out a small device from his saddlebag and punched in a short code. Immediately, a blue light illuminated the two of them, and, in a flash, the world around them spun into darkness.

After a short loading screen, they rematerialized in the main hall of the Chosen Few’s base. As their surroundings loaded, Luna squinted, lost in thought. “I hope it’s nothing bad.”

“Meh, can’t be any worse than what’s already happened.” Button shrugged. “Besides, Silver would have been cursing way more than that if it had been something terribad.”

“Perhaps,” Luna conceded. “Here we go.”

The princess and the historian stepped forward into the light of the large room. Gold and silver tapestries hung upon the towering walls, illuminated by a magnificent chandelier hanging up above a round table that could seat dozens of warriors. A lit fireplace on the other side of the room added its orange glow to the area, bringing out the shining metals in the room. Beside the roaring flames stood Silver Feather himself. The griffon paced back and forth, and, as soon as he saw them, waved quickly at them.

Luna trotted forward and heard Button typing furiously.

Faded: silver, can you join voice?

She nodded to herself and pressed the key that activated the voice channel of their guild chat. After a moment of loading, she heard Button join as well. She cleared her throat and unmuted her mic. “Testing…”

The chat beeped, and Silver’s icon joined theirs in the call. “Okay. You two are the first back. Good.”

“Silver, what’s going on?” Button asked quickly. “Are we under attack again?”

The griffon chuckled darkly. “No, we aren’t. However, the same can’t be said for the Red Legion.”

Luna gasped. “What’s happening with the Legion?”

“I just received word,” he began, “that Procrastinatoes has hired three of the other merc companies to hit those bastards in the throat. They only just sent the call out to their allies. The siege began about three minutes ago, and they want us to come help.”

She heard Button inhale sharply. “What the tartarus… why didn’t they tell us earlier?”

Silver snorted. “They said something about operational security or some other junk. Basically, they think we’re all filled with Legion spies.”

“They’re kind of right…” Luna muttered.

“Doesn’t matter,” the guild leader replied briskly. “We just need to get there before the mercs bust inside and loot the crap out of the Legion. If we go fast enough, we can get our spaceships back… and maybe get a bit of revenge.”

A broad smile filled Luna’s face. “Oh… I like this plan.”

“Yeah,” Button agreed. “This is a very, very good plan.”

Luna tabbed back over to her chat room and watched as the other guild members filled up their main voice chat. Fawkes and Jexxc were already sending orders to the regular members, and the Pwnies had assembled in their own group.

“Let’s get to the speeders,” Silver said. “We’ll brief the group on the way.”

“Perfect.” Luna opened the door and trotted into the hallway. The three of them trotted toward the hangar, joined as they went by more members who were only just logging on. After a few minutes of walking and another loading screen, they arrived at the enormous room that was filled with vehicles and a dozen player characters.

Silver said, “Hopping over to the main voice channel now.”

Luna and Button quickly joined the other chat so that they could speak to the other members. As soon as the room loaded, she heard Sliver speaking.

“—kay everyone, here’s the situation.” Silence filled the chat to give Silver room to speak. “We’re going on a raid tonight, folks. I know, it was a surprise. I only just found out myself. We are joining four other guilds and three mercenary companies who will be hitting the Red Legion so hard that those bastards won’t ever fully recover. Procrastinatoes is sending a few tanks, the Raven Nation sent its sniper squads, re-Dakted is hitting them with their heaviest mage units, and Ginger will be sending a team of…” His voice trailed off, and Luna heard some paper rustling. “...a team of healers and buff-builds. We’re going to be the primary guild for attacking the inside of the base.”

“What about the mercs?” Button asked.

Silver replied, “Procrastinatoes is pissed, guys. They want the Legion dead. They hired the Knights Gone Berserk, Shade’s Commandos, and Rekktribution. I don’t know the others too well, but the Knights aren’t cheap. At all. They’re almost at the same level as the Legion. Last time they went all out, three guild alliances died out.” He opened his speeder’s door and sat inside. “And guess what? ‘Natoes hired all of their forces. This is gonna be a protracted siege. If we can’t get in immediately, the Commandos are going to be blockading them for a week. Rekktribution already took out all their teleport relays. The bastards are trapped, and we’re about to gut them once and for all!”

A cheer filled the voice chat, but Luna did not join in the uproar. Instead, she sat down next to Silver in the speeder. Button joined her, and she typed a personal message to Silver.

Memory: We can’t destroy their base. Game rules. We can only use their own systems against them. How are we going to kill them off?

A second later, the reply came.

Silver: let’s just say that we’re ging to whittle their power down to nothing by killing their soldiers over and over again. but we may not have to do that. natoes has a trick

Memory: What is the trick?

Silver: they have the passcodes to the legion’s front doors :D

Luna inhaled sharply. Fawkes and Jexxc entered the speeder, and Jexxc gave her a small bow. The hulking minotaur sat quietly in his chair, and the slim unicorn form of Fawkes moved next to him. The princess typed the command to have her character nod to both of them before replying to Silver.

Memory: Well. Then let’s get to it.

Silver: boo-yah

Fawkes’ mic crackled, and his cracking voice filled the channel. “So, how is everyone?”

“Moving us to our squad’s channel,” Button said. Luna heard the tell-tale clip that signaled that she’d been moved out of the main chat and into yet another room. “I’m doing okay, Fawkes! But I’ll be doing even better after I kill Noble again.”

Jexxc: eeyup

“And take the ships back!” Fawkes chimed.

Silver sighed. “The only thing I’m scared of is if some of the mercs get to the hangars first. We need to loot the ship parts and then get the hell out of there before the whole place explodes.”

“Wait. Will we be able to blow them up at all?” Button asked. “The no-bombing rule is still in place, right? We’d get banned.”

“Oh, but we can blow them up,” the guild leader replied, chuckling slowly. “We just have to be sneaky about it and hit them where it hurts.” His voice paused as he ignited the speeder’s engines. “We’ve gotta hit them in the reactor.”

“Holy crap!” Fawkes exclaimed. “Their base is huge, so it has to have a really big reactor! Maybe a plasma, or a hydro, or—”

“Nuclear,” Silver interrupted. “They’re sitting on a box of nukes.”

Jexxc: can we detonate them?

“That’s the plan, big guy.” The griffon laughed again. “If we can get there and figure out their key-code, we can overload it, sit tight defending the room while the Pwnies and other members hit their hangar. We go out in a blaze of glory and respawn back in the base sitting pretty with the largest fleet of spaceships this side of the update.”

“Perfect,” Button growled. “Absolutely perfect.”

The speeder took off into the air, and the voice chat went quiet as the group dwelled upon Silver’s words. Luna glanced down at the terrain below them as they sped on past. She lost herself in thought and waited.

“So…” Button cut through the silence as they neared their objective. “How’re we gonna do this?”

“I was just in the main chat,” Silver said. “I ordered the rest of the group to follow our lead until we get to the front entrance. Then, they’re gonna go with the other guilds toward the Legion’s main storage areas. We have a super-convenient map from ‘Natoes, and I just sent it to the other guild leaders. Ginger will be healing us, and re-Dakted is on buff and protect duty. The mercs, Raven’s snipers, and ‘Natoes’ tanks will be pounding the crap out of their defenses and setting up the siege. Hopefully, the mercs won’t notice that we’re getting inside.”

“Did ‘Natoes not give them the code?” Button asked.

The griffon paused for a second. “No, they didn’t. Just us.”

Nodding, Button replied, “Good. So, the rest of the guilds are grabbing the loot, mercs and tough guys are outside fighting as many of their forces as possible, and we’re headed to blow them all up. Perfect. One last question though.”

“What is it?” Silver glanced back at Button from his seat driving the speeder.

“What about Deus?” he asked quietly.

The guild leader inhaled sharply and was about to reply when he was cut off by an incoming message in the in-game text chat.

Jexxc: who is day us?

“Deus, like the ancient Equestrian name for ‘god,’” Luna replied, “is the leader of the Red Legion. He’s probably the best player versus player fighter currently in the game.”

“Oh, crap,” Fawkes muttered. “Are we gonna have to fight him, ‘cause I don’t think I’m ready for that…”

Silver shook his head. “Don’t worry about him. ‘Natoes just said that he’s offline. They must have waited ‘til he had to go before starting their attack.”

“Ah, good!” exclaimed Fawkes. The unicorn mage sighed in relief. “I’m glad they got back to you so fast about it. I really don’t wanna fight him, haha!”

Luna glanced over at Silver, but the griffon did not respond. Instead, he pulled the speeder down so that they could land.

“Get ready,” Button growled. “I can already hear the shots…”

Sure enough, the first thing that Luna saw when she glanced back out the window was a heavy transport ship dropping off a pair of tanks in the wide open area outside of the Legion’s fortress. The two massive vehicles roared to life, and their turrets blazed as massive streams of pure plasma lanced toward the stationary guns atop the Legion’s walls. More vehicles, dozens of speeders and transports, and a horde of soldiers rushed at their common enemies. The princess saw the Legion’s guards running in terror as the wave crashed down upon them.

“Let’s move!” Silver shouted over the roar of combat as he leapt out into the open after they landed. “For the Few!”

The other speeders touched down, and the Chosen Few’s soldiers charged toward their objectives.

Luna activated her stealth field and portaled her way across half of the battlefield. Button leapt through after her, and the partners raced past the other characters to reach the Legion first.

The princess’ sniper rifle split the air with a piercing scream, and her first foe fell to the ground, his left leg shattered. Button Blinked over to him and stomped hard on the fallen dragon’s head, finishing him off.

Striking out with her blades, Luna slashed through a pair of low level unicorn henchponies that the Legion must have hired to fill out their ranks. She spun quickly and assaulted a third, but an incoming storm of laser beams cut her attack short.

“Get down!” Button shouted. “I’ve got this!” His rifle snapped into place, and the stallion aimed at the yak soldier who had taken aim at Luna. The weapon crackled, and several shots whizzed down at their target.

Luna threw herself to the ground and channeled a burst of chaos energy at the same yak. Button leapt through the air as bullets sped at the poor soul. Shields fell, and the large warrior let out a shriek of agony as he crashed to the ground.

“Gate is right ahead of us,” Silver growled before leaping forward to stab a zebra with his dual blades. “I’ll punch in the code, and then we’ll zerg on through. Remember your places. Synergy!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Button retorted. The stallion teleported over to a sniper who had just crested a hill behind them. He lashed out and caught his new foe in a grapple attack. After a short struggle, the zebra’s spine snapped, and Button flew back to the group. “Synergy, cohesion, et cetera. Just show me what to punch, okay?”

The guild leader scoffed. “Spoken like a true lemming.” He activated his stealth field and lept out in front of the group, making a direct line to the closest security door on the outside of the Legion’s wall.

“I just like to think of it as somepony without a superiority complex,” Button retorted sweetly before using his Code magic to detonate a sentry turret.

“Someone, thank you very much!”

Luna chuckled as she blasted past another pair of non-player character henchponies and automated guns. Her lithe pegasus form swooped past orbs of flying magic, incoming missiles, and a host of other projectiles that were fired at her from various sources. The few blows that landed were refracted by her chaos barrier, absorbed by her power robes, or deflected by her automated shields. Soon, the Chosen Few arrived at the front gate, and they assembled into a circle.

Fawkes’ horn lit up, and a thick red shield covered the area. His fire magic melted bullets and absorbed lasers and plasma, and the unicorn laughed. “We should do this more often!”

“Give me a number check,” barked Silver as he accessed the advanced terminal on the outside of the door.

“Lemme see,” Button said. He pulled up his own display and nodded to himself. “No losses from the Few. The last stragglers from our guild are almost here, and the mages and healers from Ginger and re-Dakted are right behind them. The mercs, snipers, and tanks are engaging the bulk of the Legion’s forces. I think that—”

His words were drowned out by a roar from beside the group. Luna looked up and gasped to see the Legion’s hangar bays opening just as twenty heavily armed and armored attack veloci-copters blazed out into the open air. They twisted to the side and shot out toward the allied mercenary forces.

“Well…” Silver said quietly. “Let’s just hope that they can hold their own…”

The princess looked back toward the door with her eyes narrowed. “That’s not our problem. They’re mercs. They knew why they were hired. Let’s just concentrate on our objectives.”

“Exactly,” agreed Silver. “I’ll be leading the officer squad off toward their main reactor. We’ll hit ‘em hard, hit ‘em fast, and hope to skies above that we can use this same code to overload their shit.”

“Indigo is leading the other group?” Button asked. “Since we have the rest attacking without any officers.”

The griffon nodded as he continued to work on the computer. “Yes. He’ll take the whole group down there, and that’ll be good enough.”

“Good, good. But one thing is bothering me…” Button inhaled slowly. “What about Noble? Do you think that Indigo can handle her?”

“Oh, she’ll be at the reactor,” Silver muttered quietly. “She and the other Council members will see what’s coming. I’m counting on it… and when the time comes…” He glanced up, and Luna could hear his voice become raspy. “I’ll finally get to deal with this issue, once and for all.”

“Silver…” Luna spoke softly. “Are you sure that you’re ready for this?”

He snorted. “I just want this over, once and for all. Tonight, we settle all of our debts, and this entire debacle can be behind us. The Legion is never going to rise this high again. They’re falling, and the ground awaits. Let there be light. The Few’s time has come.”

Button guffawed and flapped a hoof to his forehead. “Okay. That was melodramatic, even for you.”

He shrugged. “Don’t care. Oh!” The console beeped, and Silver took a step back. “Okay, Few. Let’s move.”

Luna’s rifle returned to its inactive position, and she charged her blades before trotting into the now-opened entryway. Button was close behind her, and then the rest of the assembled guilds followed suit. Silver’s icon disappeared from the internet chat as he hopped into the main call. The princess gazed around the room, her lip curled up into a sneer.

The Legion had decorated the base in red and black. No powered lights illuminated the room. Instead, magically maintained chaosfires burned on their torches. Rugs made from bears and manticores covered the floors, and suits of ancient Equestrian armor, stained by blood, lined the walls. A single portrait dominated the far wall above the passageways that led deeper into the base. The proud face of the guild leader, Emperor Deus Cuius Factus Sum Ego, glared down at them. His sharpened horn protruded out from his face, parting his golden mane. The glare from the chaotic lights cast flickering shadows over his white coat and red uniform. Blue eyes gazed off into the distance, and Luna felt revulsion rise up within herself.

“What kind of vain bastard would do that?” Button growled. “Seriously. That takes a special kind of… yuck.”

“Do you know what his name means?” she asked as they moved forward to the far corridors.

“My ancient Equestrian is a bit rusty, but isn’t it something like ‘I am god?’” Button moved in front of her and opened the door so that the two of them could step forward.

“Close. ‘God, I have become.’” Luna shook her head. “I believe that it is time to teach this prideful fool the meaning of hubris.”

“Heh.” Button nodded approvingly. “Yes, please.”

Silver’s icon blinked back into their chat. “Okay. Indigo and the rest are gonna split off from us here. We’re taking the left passage, and they’re going right. With a bit of luck, they won’t know what hit them until we’re re—”

Red lights popped out of the walls beside them, and the scream of a siren filled the entrance hall. A recorded voice flooded the room, booming, “Intruder alert! All hooves to stations! Security lockdown! This is not a drill! Say again, this is not a drill!”

“Well, crap.” Silver sighed. “I guess that we’re doing this the old fashioned way.” He drew his swords and took to the air. “Let’s go! No time to waste!”

The invading ponies rushed forward. As ordered, Luna took the first door to the left and raced down the new hallway. Button kept pace, Siver flew above, and Jexxc and Fawkes took the rear. The five of them dashed forward, rounding corner after corner. Silver flew out in front to guide them deeper and deeper into the base.

After a moment, they turned a corner to see one of the Legionaries running away at a breakneck sprint. The dragon held a device of some kind, and he mashed several buttons before leaping into a side room. Seconds later, blast doors on either side of the hallway began to close, and two dozen automated turrets emerged from the walls.

“Skies above!” Silver swore. “Jexxc, get to the end and hold the door open! Fawkes, use your shield, and everyone else get on those damned turrets!”

Luna snarled and raised her sniper rifle. She tossed a portal out in front of her and cast another onto the far wall. Jexxc and Fawkes caught on immediately, and they ran through. Once they reappeared on the other side, the minotaur grabbed the falling blast door and held it open. The character roared out with all of his might, and Fawkes summoned his shield to protect the two of them.

“Why don’t we just run through?” Button cried as he blasted off into the air using his jetpack. Cybernetic implants flared, and his hooves charged themselves with an electromagnetic pulse. He slammed into his targets, destroying them with a single blow.

“We need to finish off that dragon Hacker before we can move forward, or he’ll be bugging the shit out of us until we leave!” The griffon’s short swords burned with chaotic energy as he channeled Discord’s fury into his blades. His Rager ability activated, and he became a flurry of destruction. The glowing weapons slashed out, and reduced turret after turret into molten slag. “Mem, Fade, can you get them? I can handle this. Got a fully charged Berserk going now, so I’ll be fine.”

“On it!” Luna fired off one more shot at a sentry before rushing off to the door where the dragon had gone. “This way!”

Button leapt to her, and they forced open the door together. As they entered, they saw that this was a terminal room. Enormous computers that powered the Legion’s mainframe lined every wall except for a small section where a terminal rested on the ground. Crouched next to it was the long green dragon wearing a black robe. The hacker glanced wildly over his shoulder before typing a final line of text into his computer.

The princess raised her rifle to fire off a quick shot, but the Legionary danced out of the way just in time. A whirring noise filled the room, and Luna turned swiftly to see many robotic spiders climbing out of vents in the ceiling.

“I’ve got the jerk!” shouted Button as he rushed forward.

Luna’s chaos magic blazed, and she sped off sideways to attack the first group of automatons. The many-legged creatures screamed as their miniature lasers charged, but Luna silenced them all. She spared a glance to the side to see Button racing through the room, chasing the Hacker. The stallion cursed as his enemy triggered another trap that shot lightning out of the wall toward him. His rifle rang out, and the dragon stumbled.

The princess smiled grimly to herself and flipped backward to tear through the carapace of another robotic arachnid. Another, another, another… they all fell.

“Got him!” Button cheered suddenly. The death scream of the dragon’s character filled the air, and Luna breathed a sigh of relief as the spiders deactivated.

“Perfect,” she replied. “Let’s get back to the others.”

The partners left the room and trotted back into the corridor in time to see Jexxc smashing the wall apart with his massive axe. Fawkes was busy overcharging his next spell, and his horn glowed bright red. Silver stood off to the side, injecting himself with healpacks. Luna tossed a quick cure spell his way, and Celestia’s light bathed the griffon.

“Thanks,” Silver said. “Let’s hope that was all we’ll have to face until we get to the end…”

“Hooves crossed!” Fawkes chimed. “I dunno about you guys, but I’m loving this!”

“Me too,” Button agreed. He trotted over to the other pony and raised his front leg. “Hoofbump?”

Fawkes giggled. “Hoofbump!” He gently tapped Button’s hoof with his own, and then he nodded. “We ready?”

The princess cast another healing spell, this time on Jexxc. After, she said, “I am. Silver?”

“And we’re off!” the leader said. He took to the front of the group and glanced at his wristpad. “We’re almost there… just a few turns longer…”

The corridor twisted as they moved deeper into the base. Gone was the ornate pretension of the outer base. Here, practicality dominated art. The walls were uncolored, and the rooms were illuminated by bleak fluorescents that were suspended above the hard plasteel floor. Luna could practically smell the disinfectant that she imagined would be used to keep the hallway clean and bacteria-free. They passed doors with various designations, until they finally came to—

“Here!” Silver exclaimed. “This is it. Reactor room, labeled ‘Janitorial Storage’ on the map.”

“Wait, why isn’t it called ‘Reactor Room?’” Fawkes asked quickly. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Button answered by saying, “The Legion’s smart, Fawkes. Why would you put a big huge ‘attack here’ sign on your map? Nah, this is good. Smart bastards.”

“But not smart enough,” Silver said as he reached out for the control panel and typed in his code. “Now then, let’s finish this.”

The door slid open slowly, and the Chosen Few moved into the reactor control room.

In contrast to all the other areas, this one was small and unimportant. The walls were grey. The floors were grey. The ceiling was, once again, grey. There was nothing remarkable about the area whatsoever, save for the terminal on the far side of the room and the five Legionaries who stood between the few and their objective.

Noble, dressed in the flowing red robes of a Red Legion Council Member, stepped forward and bowed. A text message flashed across Luna’s screen.

Noble: Please, join the proximity voice. We have important matters to discuss.

Luna growled and twitched her hoof, debating whether to strike or wait.

Silver: Okay.

The guild leader left the chat and clicked into the built in game channel. Luna and the others followed suit, and a deep voice filled the princess’ headphones and sent chills down her spine.

“So, Lord Silver Feather, guildmaster to the Chosen Few. Conqueror of the Five Great Raids, master of Shadow Rage, and the first player to ever solo the Epic version of the Black Tomb. It is an honor to meet you.”

The zebra warrior who stood in the middle of the group stepped forward. He wore glorious golden armor that covered the robes that marked him as another Council Member. Orbs of purple light floated around him, and his eyes glowed orange. A smile split his face.

“I am Aeternae Honorem, Princeps of the Red Legion, and the Great Emperor Deus’ right hoof.” The zebra jutted his chin forward and sniffed. “You have infringed upon our territory. You have dishonored our stature. You have brought our enemies to our doorstep. But no more. Your attack ends here.”

Luna growled softly. She looked at the other Legionaries who stood beside Aeternae. She knew Noble, of course, and she also recognized Traxx, the pony mechanic who had assisted with Noble’s betrayal. She wore glowing power armor, and her hooves clutched an enormous gauss rifle. Mechanoid spiders chittered around her, and two controlled ironbark timberwolves growled slowly as they paced back and forth. On the other side of the Legion leader stood a minotaur that Luna had never seen before as well as another unicorn. They both wore Council robes beneath their armor.

“Princeps,” Silver began. “We have battled in the shadows for a very long time. You have played your little games. Spies, traitors, betrayal. But today, your reign ends.”

“Oh, really?” the stallion asked, his voice dripping with condescension.”My Emperor and I stole your second in command away from you. We built the mightiest empire in the entire game. We thrive on conflict, and none dare to stand before us. Even now, your forces fall to our might. Who are you to stand before us?”

“I am righteous,” Silver replied quietly. “I built my guild from nothing, with the help of my friends. Memory. Fade…” He turned to look at the draconequus who stood across the room from him. She shifted uncomfortably. “Noble. We worked from the ground upward. No outside support. No cheating. No profiting off the fears of others. We played the game, and we played well. We made a name for ourselves through the might of our talons, and the nobility of our choices. We made friends, and we kept them.”

Aeternae chuckled darkly. “So, you were strong. You could have ruled your puny alliance, but instead, you chose to cooperate. How does that make you greater than us? Your choice proves not your strength, but your lack. Your weakness. We could destroy you, and you would never be able to resist. That makes us greater. That makes us worthy.”

Luna snarled and spoke into her microphone. “You, sir, are mistaken. It is not action that proves strength. It is restraint. It has always been restraint. Any foal will knock over a tower of blocks belonging to another if he has the capability and the desire. It takes force of will and strength of character to resist those desires, those thoughts. Your wanton destruction and lack of regard for the feelings of those around you does not prove your strength. It proves your immaturity.”

“Spoken like a true weakling,” Aeternae said with a sneer. “You can try to bring philosophy into this, but the fact remains. Your reliance on others has been your doom. You have lost. Your goal was to destroy our base, but you cannot. We are not fools, as you are. One cannot simply overload our reactors. Any change to our power distribution requires two separate and distinct codes and keysets. Not even one of our Council Members could destroy this base alone.” He laughed. “You. Have. Lost.”

“You’re wrong about three things,” Silver said quietly.

“Oh?” the Princeps asked. “And what are those things, pray tell?”

Luna turned to look sideways at Silver. The griffon stood perfectly still, and his voice remained as cold as ice.

“First,” he said, “you said that we have lost. Wrong. The battle is never over until it’s over.”

Aeternae scoffed.

Silver continued, “Second, you said that our reliance on others has doomed us. No. Our reliance on each other is what has made us strong. You would never have fallen if we had fought you alone. If I had fought you alone.”

The zebra warlord tensed.

“And finally…” Silver laughed quietly. “You said that you weren’t fools. That is the biggest crock of shit that I’ve heard in my entire life. You’re the biggest batch of fools in the entire damn game.”

Silver’s foe stepped backward. “What are you sayin—”

Silver turned to face Noble and nodded. “Hail to the king.”

In a second, everything changed.

Noble Rain has joined your party.
Traxx has joined your party.

Aeternae cried, “What the buck is th—”

—and then Noble aimed her bow at his head and released her most powerful attack. The massively overcharged arrow sped away and split the zebra’s head in two. Traxx slammed her power armor down and ripped the dragon Council Member apart. Her timberwolves and Silver leapt forward and destroyed the last remaining enemy, and the unicorn fell to the ground.

“Plug in the code! Now!” Silver screamed.

“Got it!” Noble replied.

Luna watched dumbstruck as her two former foes moved over to the console, inserted their Council keys, and typed in their codes. Immediately, the voice over the speaker screamed out, “Reactor overload detected. Base will destruct in three minutes. Say again, three minutes.”

“Holy shit!” Button cheered. “Noble! You aren’t a traitorous bitch!”

The draconequus’ familiar laugh rippled through the chat, and Luna felt herself smile uncontrollably. “Hell no, baby!” Noble crooned. “Big-ass plan worked fan-bucking-tastically!”

“But we’re not done yet…” Silver said. “The rest of the team still needs to get the spaceship parts out, and we need to make sure that everything blows up all nice and pretty.”

“Holy shit…” Button repeated. “Silver, you magnificent bastard! You planned all of this?”

“Actually,” Traxx responded, “we all did. No time to explain now, but we’ll let ya know once we get back to base!”

The voice on the speaker spoke once more, but this time, it wasn’t an automated message. “Traxx! Noble! You bucking traitors! I’ll have your heads!” Aeternae screamed. “No matter what it takes, I will track you down, and—”

Noble sighed disgustedly and raised her bow once more. She let off another shot, and the speaker exploded into a shower of sparks. “Shit, I can’t believe I had to listen to that asshole for so long. Buck that. I like you guys better.”

“Damn right!” Traxx agreed. “Their troops probably just did a full recall. We’re about to be hit, hard. You guys ready to hold?”

“Yeah,” Silver replied. “Lemme just check something first…”

A chime filled Luna’s ears, and Indigo Quill’s icon appeared in the voice chat. “Indigo!” Silver barked. “You guys almost ready?”

“Yeah, yeah!” the unicorn said. “We’re just jacking their speeders and loading them up now. We secured everything, even what they took from ‘Natoes! Plenty of loot for all, but we nabbed the ship parts right off!”

“Perfect!” Silver laughed. “You’ve got three minutes! Finish them off, and get back to base. I have one thing to do, and then we’re gonna be hit.”

Luna took a position by the door. She peeked outside and didn’t see anything, so she signaled to Fawkes. “Shield it,” she ordered.

The mage did so, and Luna saw four messages appear on her heads up display.

Noble Rain has joined your guild.
Noble Rain has been promoted to ‘Officer.’
Traxx has joined your guild.
Traxx has been promoted to ‘Officer.’

“Okay!” Silver said. “Let’s do this…”

Fawkes’ voice bit through the channel. “Incoming!”

Luna looked up just in time to see a horde of angry Legionaries rushing toward Fawkes’ shield. Button stood beside her, and he activated his Architect powers. The air around the charging enemies shimmered, and time slowed for them.

“Two and a half minutes…” Luna muttered. “The last stand of the Chosen Few.”

“I guess you could call it that!” Button replied chipperly. “Or, you could look at it as the first fight of our undisputed rule of space itself! Besides, what’s a guild without at least one or two triumphant last stands?”

“Boring!” Traxx interjected happily.

Button chuckled as he pushed more energy into his time slowing spell. “You know what, Traxx? I think I’m gonna like you!”

“Woo!” Traxx cheered. “Oh, also. I almost forgot.” She pulled out a small datapad and punched in a quick code. “Ka-boomy!”

An explosion ripped through the hallway outside the reactor room as heavy-yield charges hidden inside the walls detonated. Shrapnel tore through the Legion’s troops, and Luna smiled. She drew her sniper rifle and aimed down the scope. Three more foes fell, and she reloaded.

“Two minutes…”

Fawkes shield was overrun by the sheer number of Legionaries. Jexxc rushed forward, supported by Traxx’s pets. Noble healed the group, but more and more enemies kept coming.

“One and a half minutes…”

Jexxc fell first. Then Fawkes. The horde raced onward, and Luna ran out of ammunition for her sniper rifle. She activated her blades and fought beside Silver and Button.

“One minute…”

Noble and Traxx were targeted next. The Legion seemed to take some perverse pleasure in killing their former officers. Silver cut through dozens, Button burned through their ranks with all of his guns, and Luna wrought havoc with her chaos spells. But the Legion kept coming.

“Thirty seconds…”

Silver was killed by a Shadow’s backstab power. Luna was able to avenge him, but even more flooded the room. They rushed the terminal, and hope seemed lost…

...but then Button reactivated his time slow spell.

“Hey, Mem?” he asked.

“What, Fade?” she responded.

“It was an honor,” he said with mock dignity. After speaking, the stallion was hit by seven slow moving rounds from various enemies who had fired before his spell took effect. “See you on the other side?”

“Oh, you bet your flank that you will…” Luna replied, her words tinged with a chuckle. “And you said that Silver was the melodramatic one…”

“Three…”

“Aww, just enjoy the moment,” Button retorted as he fell to the ground. “It’s our last stand, after all!”

“Two…”

“Fine, fine.” Luna smiled broadly as the countdown neared its end. “Yay us!”

“One…”

The world went white, and a loading bar filled Luna’s screen.

Moments later, she respawned back in her own guild to hear the sounds of celebration. The other officers who had fallen stood all around her. Noble and Traxx were dancing side by side, and Silver was laughing uncontrollably.

“Perfect!” he shouted. “That was brilliant! Noble, I could kiss you!”

“Well, I wouldn't be opposed to that at all,” the mare replied. “But your beak might hurt a bit, and we’d actually have to meet in real life, and my parents probably wouldn’t approve, but I’m game!”

The griffon coughed. “Wait, wha—”

His words were cut off as a line of text appeared on everyone’s screens.

The Red Legion has lost claim to the Appleoosa region due to power loss.

Button cheered. “Great! We showed those bastards!”

“They must have lost twenty or more guild ranks…” Luna breathed.

“Actually,” Traxx said, “they went from rank ninety-seven down to forty-three. Lost their base, lost the cred value of all their loot, and had so many deaths that I don’t even want to think about it…”

Silver let out a low whistle. “Damn. Deus is gonna be pissed when he logs back on.” A chuckle filled the voice chat. “I am completely okay with this!”

Luna inhaled deeply and turned to face the guild leader. “Silver… why didn’t you tell us that this was the plan all along?”

The griffon’s laugh slowly faded, and he said, “I wanted to, Mem. I really did. It’s not that I didn’t trust you or the others. I just had to be sure.”

“I was going in deep,” Noble added. “Bow chicka bow wow. The plan was for me to convince the Legion that I could bring some good stuff to them and add my expertise to theirs so that I could get in and help Traxx escape. The fake plan from the first time? That was the real plan.”

“But the reactions had to be real,” said Silver. “I knew that Noble and I could fake out the Legion, but for everyone else… I just wasn’t sure. We had to make this work. The Legion has been on our case for ages, and when they approached Noble with an offer, we decided to accept. She’d get them the codes to our building and help them steal our spaceship parts in return for a possible Council seat. Traxx was already on the Council, but she wanted out. The Legion didn’t like that.”

“The only way to keep them off my back was to smack ‘em so hard that they couldn’t get back up.” Traxx snickered. “And so we did!”

Luna squinted her eyes and nibbled on the edge of her lip. Something felt familiar… “So, you keep it a secret so our reactions are genuine… Then, you have Noble play the other side, and, when they trusted her the most, she betrayed them.”

“Exactly!” Silver replied. “I didn’t think that anypony would be able to play it up well enough, so it was better if you guys acted real. I’m sorry that I had to lie to you, but it was kinda needed.”

“Anypony,” Noble said with a laugh. “Ya know, you are one vain birdy!”

“Hey!” Silver said angrily. “That’s racist!”

“But true!” she insisted. “But that’s why you’re okay, ya know?”

The others continued to talk, but the princess ignored them. Her thoughts raced, and Silver’s words rang through her mind. I didn’t think anypony would be able to play it up well enough…

“Of course!” Silver chimed. “Would you have it any other way?”

Anypony…

“Meh. I guess you’re okay,” Noble muttered. “So, no. I wouldn’t.”

She inhaled deeply, and her thoughts ran back to what her sister had said earlier in the evening. We aren’t infallible, Sister. Nopony could have predicted this…

“Well, isn’t that nice of y—”

Nopony…

Fawkes’ shout cut off Silver’s words. “Hey! They guys are coming back, and they’ve got the Legion’s speeders!”

The windigo’s words returned to her… Truth becomes lies when hidden in shadow…

“They did it!” Button shouted. “Holy crap, we actually did it all!” He trotted over to a console and pulled up a camera display from the hangar.

And finally, she remembered what General Chaput had told her the day the two had danced before the first attack. I cannot tell you the complete truth. There are greater things in motion than your nation or mine, Princess. Darkness stirs, and we must hold our cards close to our chests.

The hair on her back stood straight up as she recalled his final words.

You never know who may be listening…

“Oh, stars!” she swore. “I have to leave. Now!”

Button turned away from the viewscreen that displayed the triumphantly arriving remainder of the Chosen Few. Their speeders landed, and the troops dragged out the spaceship parts and the rest of the loot with a cheer. He glanced at her as she closed out her game. “Wait, what?”

Luna shut her laptop and left it on the table. “I’ll be back, Button!”

The stallion looked up in alarm as she charged her teleportation spell. “Luna? Where are you going? Luna!”

Silver’s small voice spoke in Button’s headphones. “Luna? Who’s that? Who are you talking to, Fade?”

The princess’ eyes narrowed, and she focused her magic on Canterlot Castle.

“I understand now, Chaput,” she muttered.

And then she teleported.

~~~

Princess Celestia stood quietly in her private quarters. The moon shone through her window, and the alicorn waited, lost in memories. Her eyes closed, and she breathed in the cool night air. Her crown rested on the table beside her, and the princess relished the feeling of freedom… the last, she knew, that she would feel for some time.

“The end begins tonight,” she muttered to herself.

“Oh, Celly,” a familiar voice called from up above her. The deep words were tinged with the draconequus’ deep-seated sense of humor. “You’re always so dreary. Why can’t you look on the bright side for once?”

“Discord.” She looked up to see him swimming the backstroke on the ceiling. A flock of rubber duckies hopped all around him, giggling and burping fire. “Thank you for meeting me on such short notice.”

The God of Chaos snapped his taloned hand, and the ducks disappeared in a puff of cotton candy. He allowed gravity to claim him again and flopped onto Celestia’s bed. “It’s my pleasure, Princess!” he crooned. “I simply live to serve.”

She turned around and sighed. “It’s beginning.”

“I was under the impression that it had begun a very long time ago,” Discord replied as he conjured a file and began to whittle away at his nails. “After all, you did speak to me about this right before your feathery friends arrived in the first place! Although, I will admit that the windigos surprised me.”

“I knew it would be something…” Celestia said quietly. “But now, it has reached its peak. The attack will begin soon, and I’m not sure if we’re ready.”

“Princess,” Discord said in his driest tone, “if there is one thing that I’ve learned from battling you several times over these centuries, it’s that you’re always ready. Or, if you aren’t, you can certainly fake it very well. My mother would be proud!” In a flash, he turned into a female draconequus with copious amounts of makeup and a long frilly dress. “A mare after my own heart!” he crooned in falsetto.

She simply gazed at him, her eyes hard. “I’m not in the mood,” she said quietly.

Instantly, Discord returned to his normal form. “Drat. I suppose that you want to get to the serious part of our meeting now?”

“There isn’t too much to say.” Celestia shook her head. “It’s time. Are you prepared?”

“Yes, yes, of course I am!” he said indignantly. “You know me. Could there ever be any doubt?.”

“Yes. Because I know you,” the princess retorted, as a small smile threatened to creep across her mouth.

“Aaaaaand there’s the princess I’ve come to know and not dislike quite as much!” Discord cheered. “So. Do you mean that I should begin now, or later?”

“Now, if you’d please.”

Discord snorted. “Of course. I’ll send you a message once my task is completed. If you’re still alive, of course.”

Nodding her head, the princess said, “But of course. Thank you, Discord.”

“Oh, as I have already said, it is my pleasure. It’s not everyday that I get a request this… unusual. Especially from you.” He sniffed and batted away a few rubber ducks that had re-appeared beside him. “Shoo. Go home. I’m trying to have an adult conversation.”

“Desperate times,” Celestia muttered.

He chuckled. “Of course. Very well, Princess. Onward, to waffles!” The draconequus raised his arm in a mighty salute, and the outfit of an Equestrian general appeared on him. “Waffles, ho!”

And with that, he flashed away.

The princess sighed and looked at her bed. One last moment of peace… one last second to rest.

“Tomorrow, everything changes.”

Honesty, Guilt, and the Beginning of the End

Luna shoved open the door to General Chaput’s room in Canterlot Castle. The princess gazed forward, her eyes narrowed and a sneer on her lips. “Chaput,” she said to the room’s single occupant.

General Chaput turned to look over his shoulder. He sat at a desk, facing toward the far wall. He still wore his uniform, despite the night sky outside the window. His claws held a chess piece and a knife that he had been using to whittle a new white pawn. Giving his guest a small smile, he quietly said, “Ah, Princess Luna. Please, come in.” His eyebrow rose as his dry voice continued. “Thank you for knocking…”

“I don’t have time for this,” Luna growled as she walked toward him. “You knew. You always knew.”

“I think that this would go more smoothly if you started at the beginning, because I, for one, am quite lost.” Chaput stood up from his seat. “Why are you here?”

She inhaled deeply. “I had a realization tonight, general. Several things came together, and I finally understood… You’ve known everything that was going to happen here before it even began. The windigo attack, Father Dmitri coming here, the pony attack… everything.”

“Oh, and don’t forget the changelings,” the general remarked. His smile stayed on his face. “They are extremely important, after all…”

Luna very nearly stumbled after his words. “I… what? You… You…”

“Princess, I have told you the truth from the very beginning. I have no reason to deny anything here and now, and I promise to give you nothing but transparency and honesty.” He raised a claw and snapped his talon. “In an instant, inspiration strikes. A plan is formulated, a plot is foiled. A deal is struck, a soul is bought. A lie is told, or a truth uncovered. You had a moment, and you finally understand. I am your ally, and I always have been.”

She said nothing as he stared into her eyes.

“Verum et Mendacium…” the griffon muttered.

“What?” the princess asked, her eyes narrowed. “Truth and lies…” The words seemed familiar...

He smiled grimly. “‘Oh, how the light of truth blinds those who see it with naked eye.’” One wing flared out, and the general turned his gaze to the left. “‘Into darkness…’” The other wing joined it, and his beak clicked. “‘Into shadow…’” Chaput stood to his full height, his head raised high. Glimmers from the candles that illuminated the room silhouetted the griffon as his voice dropped to a whisper. “‘The greatest lies, with basis in truth…’”

Luna stood still as he slowly turned his gaze of steel back to match her fiery eyes.

“Would you like to hear my story, Princess?”

The wind outside the room howled, and the two faced each other for a moment. Waiting. Watching. Breathe in. Breathe out. Silence.

With a nod, she finally replied, “Yes.”

“Griffonia is quite the... tumultuous place.” Chaput began to pace. “Empty and leaderless for years before Dame Gilda restored honor, order, and the ancient dynasty to its rightful place on the throne. Our griffs were divided, hateful, and selfish to the point of self-destruction. But, in a moment, all of that changed. We used your ‘magic of friendship and harmony’ to unite as a single force. A force for change, and a force for good. The king was strong, and his subjects loyal. The perfect opportunity arose for Griffonia to return to its ancient glory, and we seized it. The first golden age of the griffons in centuries, the history books called it. Or, they would have… if the king had not turned on us.” He shook his head slowly.

“The madness?” Luna asked quietly.

He nodded. “The madness. It was subtle at first. Attacking the yaks and beginning yet another war. Enormous tax increases for no reason. His court martial of General Gravus. We had barely a hint of the true depths of his depravity until he turned on Mirefallow village. Dmitri’s hometown.” The griffon clucked his beak. “More than one hundred dead, and the attack blamed on the yaks, with whom we had just made peace, in order to motivate the country to rally against their enemies once more. By that time, I was… indisposed, I suppose, in the capital, and Dmitri was a trusted general. I saw the pressure on the citizens increase, all rationalized by the decision to destroy the yaks. Dmitri’s private investigators discovered the true attackers of Mirefallow, and he publicly accused the king.”

“Was this before the duel?” the princess asked.

“Yes, but not immediately.” Chaput clicked this talons on the hard floor. “First, the king had Dmitri stripped of his rank and banished for crimes against the throne. Dmitri and his fellow officers responded by breaking into the castle and stealing the king’s crown. They then spread propaganda all over city, claiming that the king was ‘no longer worthy’ and that the ‘true heirs of griffonia’ would rise up soon. Dmitri disappeared for three months alongside his loyalist of followers.”

Luna hummed quietly to herself. “This is interesting, but I don’t see the releva—”

“All will become clear,” Chaput interrupted. “If you wish to hear the truth, you must hear it in its entirety. An incomplete truth is a half-truth, and a half-truth is far worse than a lie. So, if you wish to listen, you must listen to everything.”

She narrowed her eyes as his words ended. Biting back a growl at his disrespect, she said, “Very well. Speak.”

“Thank you.” Chaput smiled once more. “Now, after his disappearance, he became the kingdom’s most wanted fugitive. But to some, he became a legend. Those who suffered under the reign of the king saw Dmitri as an icon, a symbol of freedom and hope. One of these griffons went by the name of Yvonne Talla. She was a radical political theorist, and she joined the soon-to-be Father’s group of renegades and convinced him to begin a rebellion… and they did.”

Luna watched as he resumed his pacing.

“Dmitri told the nation that he had destroyed the crown. ‘Griffons need no kings. They need only that which is within themselves.’ He reforged the ancient metal into a wide blade and attached it to a hilt that had been found in the ruins of Mirefallow. He declared the king’s rule ended and challenged him to a duel. The king gladly accepted, knowing that none could match his combat prowess. He had slain thousands of enemies in his days, sword held high in his claw and crown worn proudly upon his head. Over the years, he had become unstoppable.” The general snorted. “So, of course, it came as an incredible surprise when Dmitri felled him within a minute. Stabbed the king through the heart before ripping out his throat.”

She winced at the mental image, and Chaput shook his head.

“Dmitri declared the rule of the king ended, but then it was discovered that he had used a magical spell to enchant his blade during the fight. Somehow, he had conjured a frost aura which had slowed down the king, breaking the ancient laws of single combat, and nullifying the results. This was kept quiet from the public by the king’s regent in order to dissuade others from the notion that Dmitri was actually a mage of some kind, thus increasing his legend. The Father was chased from the city, and the rebellion began.”

“Where do you fit into this?” Luna asked quietly.

“Me?” he replied. “Well, my part of the story is where things get interesting. You see, I ended the war that the king had begun in order to justify his mistreatment of his citizens. Against orders, I might add.” He smiled broadly. “I took a calculated risk and negotiated a cease-fire all by myself. After I returned to Griffonia, I was knighted and then put under what amounted to house arrest. The king despised me, but I was a hero. Killing me simply would not have been appropriate. Within three years after my arrest, the king ordered the massacre of Mirefallow, and I partially blame myself. If I hadn’t ended the first war…” Chaput sighed and shook his head as he walked. “Too late now. However, it raises quite the interesting point. Dmitri asked me if I would support him in his move as soon as I returned to the capital. He was already preparing his rebellion long before the massacre, and Mirefallow was as much a tool to him as to the king.”

The princess nodded slowly. “So, it wasn’t about justice…”

“It was about power, for both of them.” The general shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. “This was where I faced a conundrum. First, I knew that the king did not have country’s best interests at heart, and I had seen hints of what he would become by his actions. On the other claw, I saw Dmitri, a rising star in the army, honorable, powerful, and prepared… but so hungry for power for its own sake. I could not support him.” Chaput laughed quietly. “Instead, I planned my own possible coup. Using purely diplomatic means with only the barest number of loyal soldiers, of course, and for the purpose of bringing true order to Griffonia. But then, right as everything came together, Dmitri’s rebellion began, and my plans were torn asunder.”

Luna smiled wryly. “You reveal yourself, Chaput. I know who you are now.”

“Oh? Who am I?” he inquired, leaning forward and cocking his head to the side.

“You are the one who sees himself as the hero of the tales of old. Proud, strong, and worthy. However, you forget, as they all did, your hubris. You are prideful, Chaput, and you are blind to your weakness.” She allowed herself a toothy smile. “You interrupt a princess without missing a beat, consider yourself worthy of ‘bringing order,’ and you forget yourself.”

“Oh, Princess,” he replied, “the difference between myself and these ancient ‘tragic heroes,’ as they are called, is that I am aware of my flaws. In fact, I embrace them. I am proud. I am arrogant. But I speak only the truth of who I am.” He smiled and cocked his head to the side. “My awareness is a strength. And, may I say, you interrupted me first. I merely adapted to play by your rules. I meant no disrespect.”

She growled back at him.

“Regardless,” the griffon said slowly, with a twinkle in his eye, “I realized that my plans had to be put on hold. Dmitri’s time had come, but it was going quickly. His loyal forces were few and poorly trained. The griffon army stood against him, and it seemed that he would lose.” It was then that Chaput stopped pacing and looked Luna directly in the eyes. “And that was when Dmitri had Yvonne replaced with a changeling.”

The princess gasped. “What?”

“It was not obvious, at first. But a small bit of investigation provided me with some interesting information.” He snorted. “The rebellion’s forces tripled overnight. Yvonne’s rhetoric became internally inconsistent, and the tide turned. I have no idea where the old Yvonne went, but the new one was ferocious. A warrior queen, and a combatant worthy to be partnered to the slayer of the great warlord king. They made impossible strides, and the I knew that they were about to start winning.” He flared his wings and stretched out his neck. “So, I did the only reasonable thing. I sent Dmitri a message saying that I had always supported him, but could say nothing because I was being watched so closely. I gave him all the support that I had gathered for my own rebellion, and threw my own name behind him. The populace loved me, so they followed. Victory was all but assured.”

“So, you manipulated yet another situation. How very surprising,” Luna said dryly.

“Sarcasm again. I admire your perseverance, but your fire may be better saved for another.” He snorted. “But, yes. I did. After a few decisive battles, led by yours truly, all resistance fell, and Dmitri was named the ruler of a new order. And so, the New Griffon Republic was born.” Walking over to his desk, he grabbed two chess pieces. “And with this victory came a new game. The black queen, a changeling.” He raised the elegant dark piece. “Yvonne moved quickly, and her hivelings infiltrated everything. Dmitri knew, and I knew. She knew that Dmitri was aware, but I stayed in the shadows.”

“Are those the changelings that we discovered here in the city?” Luna demanded.

“Of course not.” Chaput raised a white rook and smiled. “Those were my changelings.”

Her jaw dropped again. “Wait… yours?”

“Yes.” Chaput replaced the wooden castle. “I made contact with a rival group of changelings as soon as Yvonne began to poison our ranks and send her spies into the other nations. A bargain was struck, and I gained some spies as my own. I reached out to old griffonian agents and secured their loyalty whenever possible. My coup would happen yet, to bring down the corrupt replacements of a useless king. But first, I had to contend with the shifting queen…” He raised the tallest black piece. “...and the murdering king. You see, Princess, Dmitri has a very rare capability. When he kills a living being, he literally steals their souls and their magic. When he had disappeared before the rebellion, he had tracked down and slain several windigos in order to procure their magic. He needed it to kill the king.”

“So that’s what felt so wrong about him…” Luna breathed.

“Ah. Of course you felt it,” he said before nodding. “Good. Unfortunately, Dmitri toyed with powers beyond his ken. He brought himself to the brink of insanity by his actions. The honorable leader was gone, and all that remained was a stark, raving, power-hungry lunatic. That was when he formulated his plan.” Chaput set the piece back onto the board. “Princess, he wants to kill you and steal your power.”

Luna stood deathly still.

“That is his entire plan. Yvonne works for him, feeding off the love of our populace, and his legions advance upon the world with the express purpose of controlling everything. He sent the windigos to kill me and to take out your intelligence agency. The pony terrorists are controlled by windigos, and they were supposed to kill myself and Yvonne in order to clear the way for his sole rule. The changelings would soon be unneeded when he had the powers of the Two Sisters.” The general chuckled darkly. “He’ll attack soon.”

Silence echoed through the small room, and Princess Luna could feel her heart pounding in her chest. “How?” she croaked. “How do you know this?”

“Spies. Changelings. Traitors. Bribery, Lies. Basically, I played the politician’s game, and I played it well.” Chaput grabbed the white king and the white queen from the board. “I’ll say this much. I knew the windigos would attack soon, so I placed myself by the princess called by her nation ‘Warrior.’” He held up the queen. “You saved my life that night, and I responded by trying to help your citizens as well as I could. Next attack, I positioned myself near the other of the greatest beings to have walked the face of Equus, and she ensured my survival.” The king met the queen. “I told your sister when we first spoke that I was never your enemy. We are allies here. Our goals are the same. Peace. Prosperity. Survival itself.”

Luna growled. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“First of all, I told you all that I could.” He waved her comment away. “Second, our enemies are empaths. Dmitri and Yvonne can both sense emotions. If you had worked with me, they would have known. I only tell you this now because I am convinced that he will attack by morning.”

The princess’ eyelid twitched. “You are certain?”

“Of course. His failure this morning coupled with his investigations into your weakness as well as Celestia’s means that he is preparing himself. He will most likely strike as soon as poss—”

“Our weaknesses?” Luna blurted. “What do you mean?”

Chaput shook his head. “He can’t fight you one on one, even with all of his power. he needs leverage, so he’ll go for the easiest targets. He’ll probably take a hostage, and—”

Luna backed away. “Oh, stars… Button!” She glanced back at Chaput and said, “Go to Celestia! Now! Tell her what you told me!”

His eyebrow raised. “I see. You plan to move now?”

“I have to!” she said as her magic surrounded herself. “If he has already put his plan into motion...”

The room faded, and the last thing that Luna saw before her spell faded was Chaput’s sly smile.

~~~

A gentle knock shattered the silence within Princess Celestia’s room. The alicorn sighed and opened her eyes to glance over at her door as it slowly creaked open.

“Your Highness?” her room’s night guard asked quietly. “I apologize for the interruption, but there’s somepony here to see you, and she says that it’s urgent.”

Celestia blinked the weariness away and slowly pulled herself out of bed. “Of course, Rhinestone. Please, send her in.”

As the princess rose to her hooves, the door creaked fully open, and a red-maned unicorn mare slowly walked into the room. Celestia smiled kindly at the shorter pony. “Oh, Shady Cove.”

“Hello, Princess…” Shady said. Her eyes darted from side to side, and her front hooves tapped quickly on the wooden floor. “Thank you for seeing me…”

“Of course, Shady. I do apologize for my state, but—” Celestia yawned and raised a hoof to her mouth. “—ah… it is just about my bedtime.” Her eyes sparkled.

“Mine as well, Majesty,” the other mare agreed with a nervous laugh. “I didn’t want to disturb you, but I had to let you know…”

Celestia clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes. Her fatigue left her in a moment, and a sense of dread filled her. “What did you want to tell me, Shady?”

“I…” she began. “Oh, Luna. I don’t know if I can do this…”

Her words floated in the air, and Celestia felt a chill run down her back. “Miss Cove,” she said carefully, “this feels remarkably like a confession of some kind.”

The unicorn winced and shied away. “I…”

Celestia looked up and down at the mare before her and recalled her personal history. Poor family, far from the capital, supports her mother and father from afar, educated, politically neutral… the perfect story… “You work for the griffons, don’t you?” she asked quietly.

Shady Cove’s eyes widened, and she choked back a strangled cough. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

Remaining completely calm, the princess used her magic to shut her window shades. The magical shield spell still protected them, but somepony or somegriff could still read lips from a distance… “For how long?” Her voice remained completely nonchalant as her mind raced.

“Since a year before I came to work at the castle,” Shady whispered. “They came to me and offered to help with my father’s illness and mother’s disability. They’d get them to the hospital because we couldn’t afford it and get me a job at the castle. All I had to do was feed them information.”

“But of course,” Celestia muttered. “So, you’ve worked for them for six years. All that time, and you’ve eluded us.”

“I… I never made a nuisance of myself.” The unicorn looked down at the floor. “I sent along gossip and what I could overhear. Nothing dangerous or harmful.”

The princess bit back a snarl and kept her expression completely neutral. “How did your intelligence move?”

“I dropped scrolls in a box at the public library and recovered recorded information and sent the audio to my handler by face to face meetings.” Shady’s voice was barely audible. “I… I’m so sorry, Princess…”

“This is not the time for apologies,” Celestia almost snapped. She barely managed to keep the sting out of her voice. “Nor is this the time for justification. I need the facts. Who was your contact, what have you told the griffons, and why are you coming to me now?”

Cove snapped to attention. “Of course, Highness. I worked for the old griffon spymaster before the rebellion, and then I was out of contact for months when he died. After their war settled, General Chaput contacted me. I’ve worked for him ever since.”

The princess’ eyebrow rose. “Just Chaput?”

“Yes, Highness.” She nodded. “He treated me… better. He didn’t threaten my parents like the others did. General Chaput actually helped me, and all I had to do was only report to him…”

“What have you told him?” Celestia levitated a pad of paper and a pen over to herself and began to jot down notes.

Shady swallowed and glanced from side to side. “Daily routines of all high-ranking officials. Personal histories, court gossip, and… and I told him about Princess Luna’s colt-friend.”

The levitations spell flickered for a second as Celestia almost lost focus. She gasped quietly. “Chaput knows about Button?”

“Yes…”

Celestia shuddered. “Fine. I’m going to need you to answer my last question and then write down everything that you told the general.”

The mare glanced up and slowly nodded. “Of course. I came to you because I… I realized what I was doing.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was talking with your sister, and I finally realized that you’re ponies too.” She lowered her head. “I’d hated you both, for so long. My parents couldn’t help themselves, and nopony helped us. I saw you all up here in the castle, and I thought you knew but never cared. I wanted to betray you… I wanted to pay you back for what you’d done to us…”

Celestia sighed. “We can’t save everypony…”

“I know! I know!” Shady stamped her hoof, and Celestia could see a tear glimmering in the corner of her eye. “But it was easier to say it was your fault than to realize that… that…”

“That it’s just how the universe works?” Celestia finished quietly.

The unicorn nodded. “I just figured that out tonight.” She laughed bitterly. “Six years. I hated you for longer, but I was betraying you for so long, just over some stupid mistake. I spoke to Luna tonight, and she called me a friend… and I realized that I wanted to be her friend too. But I was still driving the knife into her back, and… and…”

“Guilt.” Walking over to the servant, Celestia extended a wing. “I understand.” She lifted her head up. “You’ve made mistakes, Shady. But you did the right thing coming to me.”

“Th-thank you, princess,” she stammered. “I’m so sorry. I j-just…”

Celestia opened her mouth to reply, but gasped instead. Something tugged at the edge of her magical senses as something out beyond the castle stirred. She turned quickly and used her power to yank back her sades. Out in the distance, a sea of glowing blue creatures shined as brightly as the moon. The windigos’ cries filled the sky with a bitter and mournful melody, and the air suddenly became very cold.

“Oh, light…” Celestia swore.

“Wh-what is that, Princess?” Shady asked, her voice squeaking.

“Highness!” the guard cried as he opened the door to her room. “The griffons! They’re inside the castle, and they have rifles!”

Celestia froze for a moment. The windigos’ song flowed through the room, and the first gunshot rang out inside of the castle.

“It’s started…”

~~~

Director Blueblood stretched his forelegs out and sighed contentedly. His book rested on the edge of his desk, and the stallion gently pushed it away. The ending had been as marvelous as he remembered, but his bed was calling out to him.

The stallion rose to his hooves and gritted his teeth as a small twinge of pain shot through his chest. Magic or no, his recovery was still going to take time. He slowly strode over to the large blanket-covered bed and reached out his magic to begin taking off his uniform.

Just before he did, the sound of a door creaking open stopped him dead in his tracks. Blueblood turned sharply and narrowed his gaze. “Hello? Corporal? Is that you?”

When no reply came out to him, he made his way toward his room’s entrance. His magic grasped at the knife he had sheathed inside of his uniform, and prepared himself for something. After a moment, he pushed the door open and saw...

The guard that had been posted outside the room lay slumped over, unmoving. Blueblood swore to himself and drew his knife as he rushed to the soldier’s side. A quick inspection revealed that he still had a heartbeat and regular breathing, but—

Light flashed, and Blueblood felt a stinging impact on the back of his head.

The room spun as he crashed down to the ground. Groaning, he cracked open his eyes in time to see a griffon shimmer into sight. At first, he could see through the creature, but then he became completely corporeal. The guard that lay beside him snorted and stood to his hooves. His entire body crackled with green fire, and his form shifted into that of a griffon. The first, who had struck him from behind, raised a claw to his beak and spoke quickly.

“Package number one is recovered. What is the status on the second?”

A hissing voice replied from a device on the griffon’s wrist to say, “Dark goddess gone. We grab now. Will bring castle.”

Blueblood tried to open his mouth, but the changeling saw him moving and raised a claw. With a dark smile, he struck downward.

Everything went dark.

Interlude VI: Button's Flight

Gone.

Button paced back and forth across his dining room, fuming as he went. Her last words to him echoed through his head. “I’ll be back, Button…” And then, in a flash, she was gone.

He’d said goodbye to their guildmates before shutting down their laptops. She hadn’t even said where she was going… A minute of sitting still in his seat hadn’t given him any ideas about why she’d left, so he’d decided to try walking. So far, it was about as effective as his previous strategy.

Clenching his jaw, Button turned to look back at his hotel room’s door. Maybe he could make it to the castle and—

No. Let her be. She must have had a good reason to…

He sighed and ran a hoof through his mane. “Nothing I can do…” he muttered to nopony in particular. The glow from the moon shone through the windows into his large room, and the stallion tapped on the hard wooden floor impatiently. “I hope she’ll be back soon, though.” He shook his head wearily and—

A crisp double-knock interrupted Button’s thoughts, and his ears perked up. A smile split the stallion’s face as he ran over to the door. “Oh, you’re back!” he cried as he swung the door open.

But instead of his marefriend, two stallions in police uniforms stood outside of his door. The first, a pale green coated pegasus, nodded to him. “Hello, Mr. Mash. I’m Lieutenant Spruce Wind, and this is my partner, Sergeant Ace Reflex.”

“Uhh…” Button said, gazing at the officers. The pegasus’ eyes were narrowed, and he glanced back and forth warily. “Hello?”

The second stallion, a unicorn with a red coat and grey mane, flared his nostrils and looked at Button through his sunglasses. “Sir, may we step inside? We have an important matter to discuss with you.”

Button hesitated for a moment as he gazed at the two of them. He pursed his lips and slowly said, “Do... do either of you have any identification? Not to be rude or anything, but this is kind of weird.”

Lieutenant Wind raised an eyebrow. “Sir, we really have to speak with you. Please let us in.”

Standing completely still, Button looked into the officer’s eyes. He slowly shook his head. “Umm, I don’t think I can do that unless I see a badge or something…”

Silence reigned for a moment as they stared at one another. After a moment, Sergeant Ace growled, “Well. I suppose that we’re just going to have to—”

Button slammed the door shut in their faces and turned the lock. “Celestia damn it!” he cried as he leapt over to the living room and started to push one of the couches toward the room’s entrance. “First changelings, then kidnapped by secret agents, then attacked by windigos, and then freaking griffons.” He shoved the heavy furniture right up against the door and glanced frantically around the room. “If you think some stupid costume is gonna fool me, then you’ve got something else coming!”

“Mr. Mash!” Lieutenant Spruce yelled as he pounded on the door. “You don’t understand! We’re here to—”

“Here to kidnap me again?” Button interjected. Quickly, the stallion dashed over to one of the cabinets. “Yeah, no! I’m not stupid! You’re changelings or something, and I’m not falling for it again!”

The banging on the door grew louder, and Button heard the sergeant swear. “Open the door now! You’re in danger, and we’re here to help you!”

“Bullshit!” He reached inside the cabinet and grabbed a large wine bottle. “Get the hell out of here! I’m gonna call the actual police!”

The imposters said something to each other, and the door shook as something heavy impacted on the heavy wood. “Mr. Mash! You have to open the door!” Spruce cried, his voice cracking slightly.

“The only things I have to do are die and pay taxes!” Running over to the window, Button glanced out frantically to check for any possible escapes. He started to unlatch the window so that he could have a better view. Maybe there was a balcony below him…

“No!” Ace shouted. “Don’t open the window! You can’t!”

Button turned back to look at the door, and his face contorted into an incredulous sneer. “Oh, and now you know what I’m doing inside my own room! Who the hell are you?”

“Please! You’ll let them in!”

Button shoved the window open and scoffed, “Bullshit!” He looked downward to see no balconies whatsoever. The building went down to the ground smoothly, without a single platform to interrupt somepony’s fall. At the base of the building stood three ponies in police uniforms who held a radio.

A chill ran down Button’s spine, and he shivered in the cold draft from outside…

“That’s it!” Sergeant Ace shouted. Gunfire sounded behind Button, and the doorknob exploded in a shower of splinters before the two ponies kicked the door in.

Button raced toward the room’s entrance and stood beside the doorframe. Raising the bottle, he inhaled deeply. One… two… three…

Lieutenant Spruce was the first one through the now destroyed door. He shoved past the couch and—

—fell over with a cry as Button’s wine bottle shattered when it impacted the back of his head.

Button rammed his shoulder into the other fake officer before spinning around to deliver a precise buck to his midsection. Sergeant Ace flew back into the hallway and slammed into the far wall. Both of the uniformed ponies stirred briefly before lying unmoving on the ground.

“Huh,” Button said. “That was… way easier than I’d expect—”

And that was when the windigo struck him.

He screamed in shock as his new foe’s hoof hit him in the side of the head and sent him reeling into the wall. With a gasp, he spun and raised his hooves just in time to swat the next blow away.

Three of the glowing blue horses hovered further into the living room. They stared blankly at him, spears in hoof.

With a strangled shout, Button shoved his nearest enemy out of the way and tried to throw himself toward the door. His hooves scampered across the wooden floor, and the windigos swooped down with their weapons raised. He couldn’t get away, he couldn’t move fast enough, he couldn’t—

Two shots rang out, and the first windigo crumpled to the ground. The barrel of Sergeant Ace’s pistol smoked as the unicorn aimed at another of the ethereal monsters. A trio of bullets flew outward to rip through the next foe.

Lieutenant Spruce groaned and stood to his hooves. He shakily raised his own weapon and slew the final windigo. He and his partner growled and turned to Button Mash.

The stallion grinned sheepishly at the saviors he had just attacked. After clearing his throat, he said, “Umm, thanks…”

“I have such a bucking headache,” Ace snarled. “You’re just lucky that the general wants you unharmed…”

“The g-general?” Button stammered. “General Chaput? I thought you two were changelings or something…”

“Oh,” Spruce said as green fire engulfed him. “We are.”

The two ponies blazed in magical flame, and a pair of sneering changelings stood in front of Button. He took a step backward and inhaled sharply.

“You’re an idiot,” the changeling who had been Ace said. “We’re here to help you—”

Button leapt sideways to grab a lamp off one of the coffee tables. In a split second, he jumped back and slammed the heavy object into Ace’s head and pushed Spruce into the wall before bolting out the door at a full sprint.

Spruce roared, “You bucking buffoon!”

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shiiiiit!” Button panted as he raced down the hallway toward the staircase. “Hell no! This is not happening again!” The door at the far end of the hallway flew open, and three other ponies in police uniforms moved toward him.

“Stop right there!” bellowed the first. “You’re under arrest!”

“Oh, buck…” Scampering to the side, he slapped the call button beside the elevator. “Come on, come on, come on! Just give me this one!”

As if the universe was listening, the elevator dinged open, and Button jumped inside and mashed the key for the ground floor. The imposter officers raced toward him, but the doors slid shut just before they could reach the elevator.

Soft music played over the intercom as Button stood shaking up against the wall. Thoughts raced through his mind. Attack. Pain. Scent of fresh flowers. Shock. Pretty painting in elevator. The slightly tinny piano echoed off the walls as the stallion gingerly touched the bruise that had formed on the side of his neck. He hissed and grit his teeth as he fought against the sting, and—

The elevator stopped at the third floor. Button froze as the door opened up to reveal…

A young filly skipped into the small space and smiled up at Button. “Hello, Mithter! I’m going to the pool!”

With a quiet laugh, Button shook his head. “Okay then.” He grinned down at her.

The doors shut, and the elevator slowly started to move again. The little pink filly cleared her throat and said, “Have you theen my mommy?”

He glanced down at her, brow furrowed. “Uhh… I don’t think so…”

“Mommy really wants to thee you!” she replied, smiling toothily. “Like, really, really, really! You ran away from the meanieth, and now we can go thee her together!”

As he looked down at her, the filly’s form began to shimmer and warp. “Oh, stars…” Button swore. He backed up as she grew taller and her mane disappeared. Fire engulfed her, and a changeling stood before him.

“I’m so glad that you left Chaput’s guards…” the creature gurgled. “It’ll be far better for you to come with me…”

The elevator reached the ground floor, and the door slid open. Button tried to dart out into the open hallway, to escape, to run free, but—

A sharp sting bit into his flank, and energy arced through his body. Button screamed as the taser activated, bringing him down to the floor.

The changeling set the weapon on the ground and chuckled. “Oh, Button Mash… Queen Chrysalis will be so happy to see you.” She smiled once more. “I’m coming home, mommy…”

A pair of windigos appeared at her side and swooped down to grab Button. The changeling pressed a key on her wrist-pad. “Package two is recovered. Moving to return point.”

Energy filled the air, and everything went dark as Button felt a teleportation spell whisk him away to somewhere else...

Desperation, Promises, and Eternity

The hotel room stood deathly still as Princess Luna’s enraged form broke the silence with a swift crack. As the alicorn teleported into the room, she surrounded herself with a magical aura and snapped her head to the side. Her eyes took in the empty room, and she swallowed nervously. “Button!” she cried.

No reply came from the darkness. With a magical flourish, Luna summoned a powerful spell to bathe the walls in brilliant light. The moon and stars outside offered no solace to the princess as she searched, in vain, for her love.

“Button!”

Nothing.

She gnashed her teeth and took off to the far staircase in a frantic gallop. As she ran up the stairs, she flung every door open and whipped her head from side to side. Nothing in the bathroom… nothing in the first bedroom… nothing in the second… Luna inhaled sharply and teleported back downstairs. A cry threatened to escape her lips, but she bit back in an attempt to keep herself calm. “Please,” she whispered. “Please…”

Couches were scattered around the room. Broken glass and shards of a shattered lamp littered the floor. Some dark liquid had stained the carpet, and Luna’s heart froze within her chest as she saw it. With a trembling hoof, she reached down to touch it. The sticky substance was still warm… She raised it to her nose, and—

“Wine?” she asked herself, confused. “Why would there be w—”

“Ahhhh, it burns!”

Luna froze and turned slowly to face the hotel room’s door. The unfamiliar voice had sounded like it was just outside… The princess crept forward slowly and cracked the heavy wooden door open.

“Just… just stay still! I can’t get the bandage on if you keep squirming…” a second voice spoke from out in the corridor.

“Oh, shit,” the first swore. “If I get my hooves on that blasted earth pony, I’ll wring his neck!”

The princess froze as she heard those words. Growling softly to herself, she glanced through the crack to see—

Changelings. Just outside of the door were two of the grey chitinous creatures. One of them leaned toward the other, his hooves holding a thick bandage that he was wrapping around the bleeding forehead of the other. Both of them wore Canterlot police uniforms.

“No, we’re not going to hurt him,” said the second, who was wrapping the bandage around his fellow changeling. “Even if the little bastard deserves it. General Chaput wants him back safe.”

“Hurt and safe are not mutually exclusive conceptsaaaaaaaaaaagh!” the changeling on the ground exclaimed as the bandage was tightened around his wound. “Shit, Ace, not that much!”

Ace snorted. “Grow up, Spruce. We need to get back out there to help the others find him.”

“Then finish up,” the smaller changeling with the head room retorted.

Luna reached out to the magic around her and threw the door fully open. In a flash, she lept into the room and raised Ace up into the air. The changeling yelped as he was held up against a wall with his hooves pinned apart from each other. A single burst of black and blue energy lashed out at him and struck him on the side of the head. With a resounding thud, the creature went limp as he lost consciousness.

Spruce gasped and stared up at the enraged alicorn standing up above him. “P-princess Luna!” he sputtered.

“Where is he?” demanded the Princess of the Night as her power coursed through her. Rage clouded her vision as she spoke with her Royal Canterlot Voice. “Where is Button Mash?”

The wounded changeling quivered as she roared down at him. “I don’t know. H-he attacked us and ran off. The others are looking for him.” His eyes darted from side to side. “They went that way!” One shaking hoof pointed toward the far stairwell.

Luna looked down disdainfully. “If a single hair in his mane has been harmed, you will learn exactly why I was banished to the moon for a thousand years.” She bared her teeth in a fierce grin. “I hope, for your sake, he is perfectly safe.”

And with that final statement, the alicorn once again channeled her magic into a kinetic blow. Spruce collapsed into an unmoving heap, and she turned toward the stairs.

The princess ran down the hallway in a furious sprint. Magic arced out of her body as she cast a detection spell and burst through the doors to the stairwell. The whole area seemed to flash as her eyes perceived the sensory input that her spell sent back to her. She could see through the walls of the hotel. Ponies were in their rooms. Some had somehow managed to sleep through her shouts, and others were up and moving. She ignored them. None were changelings, and none were her love.

Down she went. Floor after floor flashed past her enhanced vision, but she still saw nothing. Panic tugged at the edge of her mind, but she pushed it down. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, but the princess remained unmoved. “Hold on, Button…” she whispered. “I’ll find you…”

Eventually, she found herself at the ground floor of the hotel. Luna threw the doors to the lobby open and recast her detection spell. The ponies in the massive room gasped as the princess glowed with dark ethereal energy. Her eyes blazed silver and white, and she saw… nothing.

Her jaw clenched, and her wings flared outward. With a shudder, she glanced wildly around the lobby. Pony workers and a few guests stared at her, but they were just that: ponies. Not a changeling among them, and—

Something tugged at Luna’s extra senses. It was almost like a dissonant song was being played from across the room. Pain. Joy. Fear. Anxiety. Love… Button.

She gasped and snapped her head to the side. There, down the far hallway by the elevators! The princess took off into a canter and headed toward the source of the sensation. A few valets leapt out of her way, and one business pony threw himself to the floor to get out of her way. Without paying them any mind, Luna leapt into the hallway and extended her spell.

“Teleportation…” she breathed. “Oh, stars… where did they take him?”

Once more, blue and black energy swirled around her horn as she grabbed onto the residue of the powerful mass teleportation spell. She could practically see the etched symbols that had been mentally crafted by the spell’s weaver. Mass, designed for many targets. Swift. Pre-learned, as if the destination was familiar. And…

Castle.

Luna exhaled sharply. The path of the spell went out through the city and came to an end at the castle itself. As it neared its destination, the trail faded, but Luna knew it had to be somewhere on the grounds or within the building itself.

Her spell faded, and the alicorn stood straight up. Her eyes narrowed, and a small grin made its way across her lips.

“I’m coming for you, Button.”

And then she teleported once again.

~~~

General Chaput gently opened the ornate wooden box that sat upon the desk of his Canterlot castle quarters. The well oiled hinges made no sounds as the heavy oaken lid opened. With a smile, the griffon lifted a sheet of soft red fabric off of the contents of the container. Then, he reached inside and removed a large silver and white revolver with a handle perfectly crafted for his claw.

The corners of his eyes wrinkled as he slowly examined the shining metal. Beautifully forged for a Prench noblepony, the weapon had a certain splendor and majesty. The ivory handle that had replaced the original, which had been designed to be used by a unicorn, was well worn, and it had seen combat many times. Etched into the side of the old ivory read the inscription, ‘To my son: May light guide you home.’ Chaput gently ran a talon over the familiar words.

After checking to be sure that the weapon was loaded, Chaput quietly placed it into the holster for his left talon. The leather straps ran under his pristine white uniform, and his thick red cape hid the weapon itself from view. Once that was done, he reached back into the box and removed another layer of cloth and pulled out one more revolver.

This weapon was different. The longer barrel glimmered bright gold in the light from the fireplace. Intricate red carvings covered the entire weapon, and the design reflected modern ingenuity and power. A gift, from the old griffon king to a warrior who had prevented a war, against orders. A weapon given to a peacemaker. Chaput smiled at the irony. It, too, went into a holster after being loaded by the general. He grabbed several more bullets and put them into a pouch that joined his weapons beneath his uniform.

“I’m ready, Dmitri…” he whispered to the air. “For the country you betrayed. The griffons you have killed… and for the ones I have lost. May the light guide me home, and may peace overcome war.” His smile broadened and he turned to the door. “Three… two… one…”

Right on cue, a knock sounded outside of his quarters. “General Chaput?” a calm voice with a Canterlot accent drawled. “General. There is something we must talk about.”

The griffon growled to himself as he walked to source of the words. “‘About which we must talk…’” he corrected quietly before opening the heavy door.

A smug looking unicorn stallion in a Royal guard uniform stood before the general. His white coat contrasted with the red uniform, and the pony gave a very shallow bow that was betrayed by the twisted smile on his face. “General Chaput. For crimes against the nations of Equestria and Griffonia, you are hereby placed under arrest on the order of Father Dmitri and Princess Celestia.

Chaput did not respond immediately. Instead, he raised an eyebrow and met his enemies gaze with his piercing eyes. The guard’s grin faltered momentarily, and the Chaput snorted. He stepped into the corridor, toward his adversary. “Is this the way that Dmitri educates his operatives now? Tell a bold-faced lie with no basis in truth and express your enemy to go along with you without a single thought?”

“Oh, I never expected you to come quietly,” the unicorn retorted.

A sharp pressure pushd Chaput’s head forward, and the general turned to see a griffon holding a shotgun right at the base of his skull. A second griffon flew through the corridor and hovered next to the unicorn. He held a rifle that he pointed right at the general.

“Come with us,” said the pony, “or die. Your choice.”

Once again, Chaput stared into the eyes of the Equestria traitor. “Very well. But first, would you allow me to tell you something?”

Levitating his own weapon, a modified Germane hoofgun, the pony shrugged. “Eh, why not?”

“The easiest way to defeat a foe is to understand him.” Chaput’s beak clicked softly. “Understand their motivations. Probe their weaknesses. Divine their reactions before they themselves have an opportunity to even consider the possibility of having to react to the situation that you devise. Never tell a lie when the truth will work for you, and always remember that a half-truth is the most dangerous of the three.”

The guard scoffed. “And what does this mean? You talk about things as if it would make a difference. You are coming with me now, and—”

In an instant, Chaput spun to the side and gently redirected the barrel of the shotgun away from himself… and toward the other airborn griffon. The enemy behind him squeezed the trigger instinctively, and the blast from the weapon ripped the flying griffon soldier to shreds.

Chaput immediately pulled his golden revolver out of his holster and pressed it against the head of the one remaining griffon. He leaned back as he pulled the trigger so that the gore would stain the wall instead of him.

The unicorn reacted by raising his pistol, but Chaput’s revolver was too fast. With two shots, the general destroyed both of the unicorn’s front kneecaps. He fell to the floor with a shriek of agony just as another pair of griffons rounded the corner and charged at Chaput with a shout.

Diving to the floor, the general aimed his weapon and fired true. His first shot blew open one of the griffon’s helmets, and the creature didn’t even have a chance to make a sound before he fell to the ground.

Chaput was just about to aim at the second airborne soldier when the crack of a gunshot tore his gaze to the side. A bullet whipped past his face, and the general saw that the unicorn was still aiming his weapon, despite laying on the floor.

With a snarl, the general leapt ferociously toward the unicorn and swatted his weapon away. The other griffon tried to shoot him, but Chaput was too fast. He reached down to the ground where the unicorn lay and reached out for the first thing he could grab on his maimed floor— his horn.

A sharp twist to the side. That was all it took for the satisfying crunch of breaking bone to fill the corridor. A scream of agony followed, but Chaput was too busy turning to face the last griffon. The soldier flew toward him, sword drawn. Chaput calmly stepped to the side and slammed downward into the griffon’s neck as he passed, ramming the sharp end of the broken horn through his foe’s armor. Gurgling his last breaths, the griffon fell to the floor.

The hallway would have fallen silent if it were not for the pitiful cries of a broken unicorn. Blood poured from his utterly destroyed limbs, and sparks of random magic shot from the broken stump where his horn had once been.

His beak curving into a sharp smile, Chaput lowered his weapon to the pony’s head. “That is how you defeat your foes,” he said quietly.

“P-please…” Words barely broke through the outpouring of tears and gasps emanating from the stallion. “D-don’t kill m-me…”

Chaput snorted derisively. “So, we finally see the truth. Cowardice. You see it as fine for you to try to capture me, knowing that I am to be taken to my death. Yet when it is your life that fades into the everlasting dark, you suddenly understand. How typical.”

The guard’s tears intensified, and he lowered his head to the floor. “You w-wouldn’t kill somepony who was defenseless, w-would you?”

“The question is not if I am willing or capable of anything,” the general said coldly. The corner of his beak curled up, and he barely shook his head. “There is nothing of which I am incapable and nothing that I would not do to achieve my goals. If I were best served by sparing you, I would. If your death would further my goals, I would kill you in a heartbeat.

Another sob filled the air.

“No, little pony…” Chaput adjusted his grip on his revolver. “The real question is whether or not I can afford to allow you to live.”

“I won’t st-stop you!” cried the unicorn.

“Oh, you poor thing,” the general replied dryly. “That was a rhetorical question. And the answer…” He stared downward, his eyes cold. “Is no.”

His foe froze and looked up wildly. Tearstains marred the once handsome face, and he stammered, “N-no…”

“But I will promise you one thing.” Chaput put his weapon back into his holster. “I won’t shoot you.”

As soon as the revolver was away, the unicorn smiled. “Th-thank y—”

Chaput reached within his uniform and swiftly drew a wide bladed knife and rammed it downward into the pony’s skull. He pulled away as the blood spurted upward. The pony’s eyes barely had time to widen in horror before death claimed the last of Chaput’s enemies.

“I do not condone wasting ammunition,” Chaput finished as he calmly wiped the stained weapon on his foe’s jacket. “Besides, the blood splatter might have stained my uniform. That simply would not do.”

And, with that, Chaput walked away from the corpses and toward Celestia’s personal chambers. Gunfire echoed through the corridors of the castle, but the general stayed his course. The winding corridors held not threat for him as he calmly strode past mares and stallions who were running away from the chaos of battle. After a few moments, he turned a corner to hear a familiar voice speaking.

“—find out who is attacking, arm the full guard, and send Princess Twilight out to deal with the windigo threat.” Princess Celestia stood tall in the middle of the corridor, clothed in her regal battle armor. Her double bladed sword flashed in the air beside her, and even Chaput could sense the magical energy that surrounded the alicorn.

Clearing his throat, General Chaput approached Celestia. “Princess,” he said. “I see that I’m not too late to join the party…”

She turned to him with a stony expression. “General. Do you have any idea what’s happening?”

“Judging from the incompetents who just attempted to incarcerate me in the name of ‘Princess Celestia and Father Dmitri,’ I would wager that Dmitri has finally lost his mind completely.” Chaput shook his head wryly. “And what was that about windigos?”

“There’s an army heading our way right now,” Celestia replied, nodding toward a nearby window. Chaput turned his gaze to the side and saw a distant glimmer of a blazing army of windigos in the distance. “They’re headed for the castle, and we need to deal with them alongside whatever threat is already here at our doorstep.”

“Well,” Chaput began, “I would suggest that—”

A brilliant light flashed in the corridor, and six mares suddenly appeared in front of the alicorn and the griffon. Princess Twilight Sparkle glanced quickly to her mentor and readied herself. “I got the girls as soon as I received your message, Princess. What’s going on… here…” Slowly, she looked out the window, and her eyes widened. “Oh. That’s why you needed us…”

“Yes,” Celestia replied quickly. “I trust you know what to do?”

Princess Twilight turned to look at the other five former Element bearers. “Of course. Girls, get ready.”

They smiled back at her, and magic flooded the hallway. Light of every hue flashed, and Chaput had to hide his face. When he finally glanced back up, the mares were gone and a shining rainbow streaked out over the horizon to meet the oncoming horde of windigos.

“Are you sure that they can handle themselves?” the general asked. “That looks to be Dmitri’s full army…”

Celestia shot him a sharp glance, and Chaput winced inwardly. She shook her head, saying, “They are the best. I only hope that we can fare as well here.”

The distant gunshots continued growing louder, and screams joined in to form a symphony of violence. Nodding to his counterpart, Chaput turned to the source of the noise. However, before he could speak, the castle shook and all the lights flickered. The feathers on the back of his neck stood up, and Chaput stiffened.

A sinister voice echoed through the castle corridors, rattling the windows and permeating every cubic centimeter of space. Father Dmitri’s magically amplified words rang through Chaput’s ears as the madgriffon spoke. “Ponies of Canterlot… due to the massacre of Griffonian soldiers by your treacherous princesses, a debt has been created. A debt… of blood.”

Chaput snorted, but Celestia stood unmoving as she listened.

“For their crimes, I, Father Dmitri, demand the presence of Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and the betrayer General Chaput so that they may understand the consequences of their actions.”

The general heard Celestia inhale sharply, and he barely shook his head.

“I speak now directly to the three responsible for this atrocity. You shall come to the throne room. You shall come alone and unarmed. You shall be here within half an hour. If you do not follow these instructions, the consequences shall be, shall we say… severe.” Laughter followed, joined by a stallion’s shriek of agony. “I eagerly await your response. Griffons… continue your attack.”

“Typical,” Chaput muttered.

“He must be mad!” the princess snapped. Her magic flared and her sword was engulfed by white fire. “What does he think that he can accomplish here?”

“He can kill you,” Chaput replied quietly. “Princess, his goal is your death by his claws or his blade.”

“Why?”

His gaze became hard. “So that he can steal your immortality. He’s dying, Princess, and he possesses the ability to steal the powers of any being that he kills himself.”

Standing still for a moment, Celestia stared past him at the far wall. Slowly, so slowly, she clenched her jaw. “So that’s how the windigos that aren’t windigos are being controlled then?”

“Yes.”

The two beings stood silently for a moment longer as the battle continued to rage in the distance. Finally, Chaput said, “So, what would you have us do?”

Celestia turned to him and gave him a small smile. “I believe… it is time that we end this little game of ours.”

“One final gambit, then?” Chaput asked with a grin of his own.

“Not a gambit,” Celestia said, her eyes gleaming. “Are you familiar with the zwischenzug?”

His ears perked up at the mention of the chess move, and his smile widened. “But of course.”

“The unexpected move between moves…” Magic surrounded the princess’ horn, and a burst of energy filled the room. Three ponies and a griffon appeared, all standing in various states. They all reeled in shock as the spell deposited them onto the ground.

“Do not be alarmed, my little ponies,” Celestia said calmly to Agent Breeze, Captain Flair, Dr. Wing, and Captain Ivanov.

“What the hell was that?” Flair shouted. She leapt into the air and raised her weapon, a sleek black pistol that Chaput recognized as Equestria’s foray into magical artifact weaponry. It was exactly as described to him by his operative in Section Eleven.

“That, baby, is how a Princess of Equestria summons you for a date, one exceptionally catastrophic date.” Wing responded as he stretched his back. A second later, his ears perked up. “Wait… is that shooting?”

“The castle’s under attack!” Breeze exclaimed.

“No shit, Sheerluck!” spat Flair. “I was just about to charge those buckers and get ‘em!”

“Who’s attacking?” Ivanov asked Chaput after walking over to him.

The general leaned over. “Dmitri. This is the last stage. Are the troops in position?”

“Of course,” the other griffon whispered. “Now?”

“Now.”

As Celestia told the other ponies about the assault on the castle, Ivanov pulled a small claw-held communicator from his saddlebag before saying in Northern Griffonian, “All units, this is Eagle One. Duskfall begins now. I say again, Duskfall, Duskfall, Duskfall.”

Chaput allowed himself a small chuckle. Within moments, his own reinforcements would arrive, ready to protect the ponies against any enemy force.

Clearing her throat, the princess addressed the group. “I summoned the four of you here because I have a rather delicate mission that will require a small group of operatives.”

All the other beings stopped speaking and listened to her.

“General Chaput and I will be going to the throne room to meet Dmitri, as he has demanded. The four of you are going to use the emergency exit that is up above my throne to infiltrate the room and kill him and any of his operatives.”

Dr. Wing cleared his throat. “Uh, okay. Not that I’m not honored to be chosen or anything, but why us specifically?”

“You’ll have to break one of my spellwards,” Celestia replied simply. “Agent Breeze can get through it with you to guide her.” Once again, her horn glowed golden. A faint aura surrounded the pegasus scientist, and Dr. Wing gasped. “This will allow you to visualize spell frequencies temporarily. Direct her. Then, Captains Flair and Ivanov will kill the Father himself.”

Flair shook her head. “How is this going to work? They’ll know we’re coming, won’t they?”

“Not if they’re distracted,” Chaput interjected. “We’re your distraction. Dmitri is obviously prepared for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. If he can stop their magic, he will. We need to hit him from two sides. A double attack.”

The ponies and the single griffon all nodded.

“Captain Flair, you know where the hidden entrance is. Lead them there.” Celestia dismissed her own bladed weapon with a gesture. “Hide your weapons, General. We don’t have much time.”

“This way,” Flair said. “Up the stairs!” She and the others raced away, and Chaput sniffed.

“Do you expect them to succeed?” he asked.

“No.” She shook her head silently. “However, I think that Flair and Ivanov will know that. They’ll be smart, and they’ll survive. I expect Dmitri to know that we shall try. And the instant that they move in…” Her blade reappeared as soon as her cold words ended. “We strike.”

“Zwischenzug.”

“Precisely. Now, to find Luna...” Celestia’s eyes smouldered with anger. “...and finish this.”

~~~

The sky had never been so bright before.

Button Mash lay silently upon the soft green grass of a field just outside of Ponyville. He’d come here often to play with his friends when he was younger. The wide open space had felt so free, almost as he if he were somewhere else so far away in his imagination. In his mind’s eye, he could see himself as a knight riding into battle for the honor of his princesses. His enemies would fall before him, and there were always adoring crowds there to welcome him home. And when he arrived, she would always be there,waiting for him.

The grassy field disappeared and slowly turned to cold, hard stone. Sunlight cascaded past lofty towers, and a screaming mass of ponies chanted a single call to the magnificent warrior who strode proudly down the street.

“Sir Button Mash! Sir Button Mash! Sir Button Mash!”

His armor gleamed, and he held his head high as he trotted past his rabid admirers. The stallion nodded to them with a massive grin plastered upon his face. But despite his acknowledgements, he paid them little mind. They weren’t why he went off to war against untold hordes of gruesome monsters. No, he went for her… always for her.

Questing eyes roamed over the raging sea of ponies, seeking to find a singular treasure. Her mane, so perfect. Her eyes, so wonderful. Her smile, brighter than the sun that gave life. His heart raced at the thought of pulling her close, feeling her coat against his. His love. His life. His princess…

There! Up high, on the bridge above him!

Sir Button Mash, Savior of Equestria and Blade of the Realm’s Honor, leapt mightily. His innate magic pulled from the air around him, catapulting him high into the air. The wind rushed through his mane, and the stallion came ever-closer to his ultimate destination… her waiting hoof, where he would plant the holiest of kisses.

She walked toward him. Her mane fluttered in the wind, and her elegant silver dress reflected all of the colors of the rainbow. Lips widening, she smiled and said, “Come unto me, my love!”

In a flash, he reached out and brushed against the hem of her garment with the most reverent of touches. “My Princess…” he breathed.

She smiled at him.

“My love…”

Her eyes shined radiantly.

“My Sweetie Belle…”

And then the earth shook, and darkness fell.

Button opened his mouth to scream as he plummeted toward the distant ground. The world around him tumbled over and over as day turned to night right before his eyes. What had been was lost. Dreams. Wishes. Prayers. All were washed away as the world tried to steal everything that had ever mattered.

He remembered. Spike. Sweetie. Alone for so long. Years of yearning. A short glimmer of happiness at college… and then loss again. Her. Always her.

But then…

“Button…”

He felt the air leave his lungs as the sensation of eternal freefall faded. Gasping, he stood to his hooves shakily.

A soft darkness broken only by the ethereal glow of the night sky still reigned over the world. But it was different. Not a darkness that spoke of evil and loss, but the darkness of a nightfall that called out to him in the most quiet of voices, as if… as if it knew who he was. As if it cared for him.

As if it loved him.

“I can’t lose you…”

A voice on the wind; a cry in the wilderness. The moon and stars, they wept. The evening sky was dead. One lone note from a song lost in time pierced through the void and called out to him.

“Please…”

Back and forth, it swayed. The wide open world answered the call and a sweet harmony played through, weaving around the melody set forth by the one who had called to him by name.

His love. His life… his Luna.

“Luna!” he screamed out. “I’m here!”

No reply came to him. Instead, the melancholy choir of mourning angels continued to sing… and he could make out words in a language lost from eons of disuse.

“Please!” Button stumbled forward in the dark, searching for any sign of her. Over rocks and across dry broken straits he ran. But the song played on, and Luna wasn’t there.

“I can’t lose you again!”

Button gasped as her voice ripped open the sky. Sinister purple clouds descended from the heavens, and an enormous ghastly figure stalked through the land.

“Tantibus! Do thy worst!”

He ran. Never before had he run so swiftly. Everything blurred out, blocked by his singular desire; his one need.

She couldn’t be alone. Never again.

The thought of her… Button roared up at the sky, and lightning slashed at the figure. The sight of his massive foe illuminated by the raw force of nature filled him with determination, and he pressed on.

“You can’t have her!” His scream lanced out and the creature turned.

A cracked and broken smile split the monster’s face, but Button refused to flinch.

“Luna is not yours!”

The tantibus stepped toward him.

“Not now, not ever!” His foe approached, and Button readied himself. “I will defend h—”

In an instant, the tantibus struck. A single blow fell from above, and Button felt his spine snap. It was almost surreal, but so vivid at the same time. He knew he must have been in impossible pain, but he felt nothing… Over and over, he turned as he sailed through the air, sent out by the strength of his enemy.

Finally, he fell.

Button slammed into the ground with a sickening thud. His eyes closed, and he couldn’t seem to open them… Blurry… Fading… Lost…

“B-button?”

Her voice was so soft.

“N-no!”

Was she crying?

“No! You c-can’t be d-d-d…”

Button barely managed to crack open an eyelid to look up to see…

Luna stood over him, her eyes rimmed with tears. Her crown was broken in two, and her mane was dirty and knotted. The once proud princess fell to her knees and grabbed him tightly.

“Button! No, no no no no!Please don’t leave me! P-please!”

No words would escape his mouth.

She looked down, her eyes as black as the night above.

“I love you…”

And then light returned to the universe.

Button slowly blinked his eyes as he woke from his slumber. His entire body ached, he was prone on the cold, hard floor, and his hooves were bound together by… something.

Trying to clear his eyes, he continued to blink desperately. Unfamiliar voices hissed around him, and he could barely make out words.

“—until the princesses arrive. Follow your orders, and everything will go according to plan!”

“Of course, Father…”

The room around him came into focus. He was in the castle again. It looked to be… the throne room? Maybe? Or was it—

“He’s awake!”

Something shoved Button, and he rolled over awkwardly. His eyes darted around until he saw the smiling face of a battle scarred griffon.

“Well, he awakens…” Father Dmitri rumbled. His eyes glowed an impossible shade of blue, and his beak leaked black shadows. “We’re ready.”

Something grabbed Button and pulled him to his hooves.

“Let the princesses in…” Dmitri muttered

And then the doors to the throne room opened, and Button screamed out in terror.

Euphoria, Trials, and Nightmare Moon

Two gunshots rang out in the dark, and a pair of griffon soldiers collapsed to the ground at the end of the long castle corridor.

Captain Ember Flair lowered her magic-powered pistol with a grimace. Golden steam filtered from the barrel, and the pegasus mare flew forward slowly. “Okay,” she said calmly, “we’re clear.”

The rest of Flair’s team edged their way around a corner toward her. Ivanov’s sword was stained with blood from the previous group of enemy soldiers. Griffons, pony traitors, and changelings had already flooded the castle, and the griffon warrior hadn’t even blinked before dispatching his own countrygriffs. Breeze was levitating one of Ivanov’s pistols while she stood beside Dr. Wing. The scientist trotted forward with an enormous smile plastered onto his face, nearly oblivious to the battle raging around him.

“How much further?” Breeze asked.

Flair swooped over to her fallen foes to make sure that they were finished. After one last blast of energy to each of their heads, she said, “It’s right down the hall from here. Princess Celestia leaves it mage-locked, so you’ll have to spell your way through or something.”

“Oh my Celestiaaaaaaa...” Wing moaned. “Please tell me that she’s gonna cast a spell. Like, for real, I—” He turned to face Breeze, and his jaw dropped. “Oh, shit! Levitation spells look friggin’ awesome!” With an even wider smile on his face, he trotted toward Breeze.

Ivanov’s brow furrowed. “Um, is he okay?” The griffon stepped in between Wing and Breeze, who cringed away from the frantic scientist.

“Wing, can you please focus?” Flair asked crankily. “I swear, you’re acting like you’re on drugs or something.”

“But…” Wing raised his hooves with a barely contained giggle. “Magic! I can, like, totally see it! Oh, and speaking of which…” He reached over and grabbed the levitating pistol.

“Hey!” Breeze yelped as he pulled the weapon away, but her objections faded as Wing fired three bullets at a pair of changelings who rushed around the corner ahead of the group.

“Changeling magic looks like big puffs of smoke. Orange and green crap,” Wing commented as he hoofed the pistol back to Breeze. “Also, I’m not high, but the spell the princess cast seems to be having a euphoric effect on me. And it is glorious!” He grinned lopsidedly again. “Lead on! Let’s see this super magic door thingy!”

With a grunt, Ivanov nodded at the stallion. “Very well. Just… try not to get killed, pony.”

Wing posed and gave a cocky grin. “Ah, c’mon. Haven’t died yet, have I?”

Shaking her head, Flair bit back a smile. “Come on. It’s really close.” With that, she led the group further down the long hallway.

“What I wonder is how Dmitri managed to get so many troops into the castle so quickly,” Ivanov growled. “The Royal Guard is not full of incompetents. I know this for a fact.”

“Look, griffy-kins,” Wing said, “the answer is plastered all over the walls and stuff. It’s magic. Glowy bluey, wimbly wombly magic stuff. Gotta give it a name…” He muttered a few words to himself. “Anyways, my guess is that his windigos poofed the baddie-waddies in here, and now they’re wrecking shit for the fun of it.”

Flair glanced back at the group behind her. “This doesn’t look like ‘fun’ to me. They’re surrounding the throne room. This has to be some kind of p—”

“Plan, or plot, or ploy of some evil pontification!” Wing finished, giggling madly before slowing down. “Okay, I may be losing it a bit. Tell me if I need to shut up or something.”

“Not something,” Flair replied. “Ya just need to shut up.”

Wing put a hoof to his chest. “Oh, but m’lady! You wound me down to my very sou—”

“Can you two please just keep moving and joke later?” Breeze snapped. “The castle is under attack, and Princess Celestia is counting on us!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Wing waved her off. “Let’s go then!”

Flair sighed. “We’re here already,” she said as she pointed a wing at a nearby doorway. The heavy wooden frame around the metal door was inscribed with intricate designs that glowed golden and purple in the light of the moon. “Doctor, Breeze. Your turn now.”

Wing continued to blabber about magic, patterns, and enigmatic counter reactions to nodal spikes as Breeze attempted to follow his commands on how to breach the door, but Flair tuned them out. Gunshots continued to ring out through the castle, and the cries of death echoed all around her.

“I take it,” Ivanov said to her, “that you and I will be the ones actually entering the throne room instead of the others, correct?”

She nodded back to him. “Yeah. Wing’s lost it since that spell hit him, and Ammy isn’t a fighter.”

“That she isn’t…” he rumbled in agreement.

Glancing sideways at the griffon, Flair gave him a small smile. “Just between the two of us, are you serious about this?”

“About what?” he asked, eyebrows raised.

“All the flirting with Ammy.” Flair looked him square in the eyes. “I’ve seen how she looks at you, and you’re acting the same way.”

The griffon took a step away from her and looked over at the two other ponies who were lost in their concentration on the spell-warded door. “I-is this really the time?”

“Well, considering that we might die within half an hour and we’re waiting for those two to finish their part… yes, it is.” She closed in on him. “I’ll ask you again. Are you genuine about this?”

Ivanov clicked his beak and met her gaze with his own. He narrowed his eyes and slowly nodded. “I think I am.”

Flair’s face split into a grin. “Good. That means I can be honest with you. Ammy’s my best friend. She’s been alone for a while, and she seems like she might be opening up to you. So, I’ll be completely open here. If you hurt her…”

He snorted. “You’ll kill me?”

“No…” Flair muttered. “I won’t kill you…” Her smile widened. “If you break her heart, I’ll go to my reporter friends, and I’ll make your life into a living storm of paparazzi as they find out a bunch of really juicy secrets. I’ll sell the rights to your love story with her to Applewood, and you’ll never ever be able to live it down!”

“Umm…” Ivanov replied, his head tilted to the side. “Okay…”

Flair grinned sweetly. “And then I’ll kill you!”

“Eureka! We win!” Wing cheered as the door slowly slid open.

Captain Flair took to the air and raised her pistol. “Okay, Captain. Our turn now. Doctor, Ammy. I need you two to watch our backs. Stay here.”

“What?” Breeze exclaimed. “I thought we were all going in!”

“You two aren’t fighters,” said Ivanov. “If we’re here to help the princess and the general kill Dmitri, we’ll have to hit hard and fast. The two of us will be more efficient than a larger group.”

“But I—”

A loud explosion rocked the floor of the castle, and Flair felt her heart jump into her throat. “Oh, shit. That was right beneath us…”

Ivanov met her eyes again, and the two of them nodded to each other. “Go!” he snapped.

The two winged warriors took off through the newly opened doors. As soon as they passed through, a magical shield sprang up behind them, cutting them off from the other two ponies.

Breeze shouted at the shield and channeled her magic at the door, but Flair couldn’t make out her words, and nothing seemed to happen.

“What is this?” Ivanov yelled as he touched the shield with his claw.

Flair inhaled. “Looks like one of Celestia’s spells… an automatic protection spell?”

“That would make sense.” Ivanov walked to the door and nodded at Breeze. “I’ll come back for you…”

Flair began to say something, but a scream of pain ripped through the air. A familiar voice… a stallion who she already knew…

“Let’s go!”

They ran.

~~~

“There’s the traitor bitch!”

“Get her!”

Knight-Captain Dovetail snarled as she hurled herself to the floor of one of the castle’s corridors, just barely avoiding the first volley of bullets aimed at her head.

Two ponies in Royal Guard uniforms charged toward her. They looked almost normal, except for their advanced weapons and glowing blue eyes.

The pegasus captain quickly aimed her magical pistol at the first of her foes. Two snarls filled the air, and bolts of molten energy lanced out at the enemy unicorn. He gasped in horror at the sight of the impossible projectile, but he was too late. A moment later, all that remained at the far end of the corridor was a single insane pony who stood next to a faceless corpse.

Dovetail smirked and leapt back to her hooves before her other opponent could react. With a strong flap from her wings, she propelled herself forward. Her front hoof that wasn’t holding the pistol reached into her uniform and drew a long bladed knife. She pressed solidly onto the button on the hilt, and a field of glowing blue energy sprang out of the blade. The razor-sharp shield-like magic blurred through the air as the knight-captain ripped through her foe. He let off a sharp cry before collapsing to the ground next to his already dead companion.

“Hmm…” Dovetail muttered. “Why don’t you call me a bitch again?” Shaking her head, she gazed down at the corpses.

Gunshots and screams echoed around her, and she felt her lip rise into another snarl. She ran.

Terrified ponies, servants and other civilians, flooded the hallway, pushing their way into the swiftly moving Dovetail. She cursed to herself and leapt into the air to fly over them.

“Move! Out of our way!”

Dovetail snapped her head to the side and saw another pair of glowing-eyed ponies and an… unchanged changeling… rushing toward her from the other side of the corridor. They pointed at her, and she made a quick course adjustment to fly toward them.

Shots rang out, and a burst of green magic sped toward the airborne guard. She swerved quickly and managed to knock over one of the decorative suits of armor that adorned the walls of the hallway. It crashed down to the ground, knocking over three fleeing servants.

Letting loose two streams of magic from her weapon, Dovetail landed behind the fallen suit and covered her head as the rest of the bullets soared toward her. Most of the servants dashed back into the adjacent rooms to hide from the incoming attacks.

“Captain Dovetail…” a voice droned from down by the enemy ponies. “For your crimes against Equestria, we, the true face of Equestria, have tried and sentenced you… to death…”

“Wait,” Dovetail shouted back at him, “when was this trial, and why wasn’t I invited?”

The voice didn’t answer, and Dovetail counted in her head. One… two...th—

“Well, there wasn’t actually a trial. It was more of a symbolic metaph—”

Dovetail quickly rose above the suit and aimed her pistol. One quick trigger squeeze later, and the pony who had been speaking was blown backwards against his companions from the force of her attack. His chest had a hole the size of three hooves in it, and his words were cut off by his death scream.

She tried to aim once more, but the changeling was faster. He lowered his horn and released a volley of glowing rays at her. With a yelp, she ducked down again and chuckled to herself. “Keep talking, why don’t you…”

“You bitch! I’ll get you!”

Dovetail grinned to herself and glanced up to see the other pony aiming at her. She gave a small wave before ducking back behind cover.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill—ahhhhh!” His words ended in a scream, and Dovetail looked up to see that both the pony and the changeling had taken several crossbow bolts to the chests.

Several Royal Guards rounded a corner, gazing at the now dead attackers while holding their crossbows. Captain Dovetail stood up and nodded to them all.

“Captain!” the guard in front shouted before running over toward her. “Thank Celestia we found you… they’re everywhere.”

“I know, Lieutenant,” she replied solemnly. “I know.”

“What do we do?” he asked, his jaw set and eyes meeting hers.

Before she could speak, an explosion rocked the ground beneath her hooves, and the whole castle rumbled.

“Oh my Luna…” the guard groaned.

“Damn,” Dovetail spat. “That was from the lower levels. Might have been Section Eleven…”

The other guards trotted over. “Orders, ma’am?”

Dovetail glanced back and forth to the different sides of the hallways. Forward was the throne room, where the voice from earlier had told the princess to go. Back the other way was the path to Section Eleven… Five soldiers… Two directions…

“Okay. Lieutenant, I want you to take two of your ponies and head down to the lower levels. See if you can find whatever just exploded. I’ll take whoever is left, and we’ll keep headed to the throne room.” She nodded to one of the guards. “Sergeant. You’re with me.”

The lieutenant flashed a quick salute, and Dovetail turned back toward the throne room.

“It’s gonna be a long night…”

~~~

Princess Luna sprinted toward the center of the castle, shoving her way past the frenzied mass of fleeing ponies. Her head snapped from one side to the other as she tried to sense him, tried to see him, somewhere…

But he wasn’t here.

She’d run through the castle, ignoring the battle that raged all around. The magical residue from the teleportation spell was nowhere to be seen, and all the war spells being cast by the ponies, changelings, and the windigos far out over the horizon had clouded her senses.

“Button!” she shouted again, but could barely hear herself over all the fighting.

With a growl, the princess continued onward. Maybe she’d see it s—

There!

At last, she saw the glowing edge of the familiar magical residue. It was close… “So close…” she whispered to herself as she pushed onward. Pony guards cried out to her, but their words were lost to the running alicorn.

Left turn. Another left. Right here. Down the long hallway. All the way to the throne room. Luna rounded the final corner, and the sensation of the magical aura crashed over her. They were here, and—

“Princessssss…”

She skidded to a halt in time to see a group of seven griffons and a single changeling standing in front of the throne room’s door. They raised their rifles at her, but the changeling waved its hoof to stop them.

“We’ve been waiting for you.”

Luna narrowed her eyes. All seven of the griffon soldiers wore the pitch black uniforms and facemasks that marked them as members of the Brotherhood of Griffonia, Dmitri’s own claw-picked special forces. The changeling in front of them wore the same uniform, but did not have the facemask. He wore an insolent smile on his face, as if he were proud to display his true race.

“Where is Button Mash?” Luna asked quietly.

The changeling chittered a twisted giggle. “Oh, he’sss waiting for you too. I’m ssssure that you’ll ssssee him ssssoon… Assss long asss my queen hassssn’t gotten…” His eyes gleamed as he finished. “...hungry.”

Griffon laughs filled the air, and the changeling raised his hoof. “My massster and missstress have warded the door. You cannot passss… until we allow it…”

Luna stared at her amassed enemies who continued to laugh at her face. Something felt off about them, as if magic itself refused to see them. An empty space once occupied by power surrounded them, and their pride was nearly tangible.

“You will wait for the masssster now, little princessss…”

A guttural growl rose from deep within Luna. Her eyes narrowed, and she felt her lip rise into a sneer. Their demands… their supreme self confidence… their hubris…

“Do you know who I am?” she asked, once again speaking in a nearly inaudible tone.

The noise around her died down as the griffons turned to look toward her. Hisses and chitters emanated from the changeling’s mouth, and he said, “You are Luna, and you are my masssster’sss now.”

“No…”

As the princess’ single word cut through the air, a shiver ran down her spine. She saw the griffons shake as one and knew that they must have felt it too.

“Luna is a quiet princess who delights in peace.”

All of the enemies raised their weapons as the princess stepped forward.

“She sees the best in everypony and everygriffon.”

The changeling took a step back and met her gaze.

“Luna hates to kill.”

The light in the hallway seemed to fade, and the torches on the wall flickered as pitch-black energy filled the air. The alicorn’s mouth twisted into a smile as she recalled an image from her past. A demon standing tall in the night, a monster who turned against her own sister and nation. A creature that had been defeated long ago, never to return…

An image that her enemies would surely recognize.

Silence fell. Even the sounds of the gunfire all around them couldn’t reach through the princess’ spell. Her eight prey huddled together as purple lights swirled around her. Rising into the air, she whispered a final sentence; one last lie.

“I am not Luna...”

The magic came crashing down on her, and she knew exactly what was happening. Black armor covered her body, and she allowed herself to reach out into the eternal dark. The moon and stars called out to her, answering the call of their princess. Pure, unadulterated dreams flowed through her veins, and she threw back her head and laughed.

“I am your Nightmare…”

“Kill her!” screamed the changeling.

But it was already too late.

Luna landed on the floor and allowed her magic to reach out all around her. Shards of the ancient hardwood floor ripped themselves from their resting places of old and slashed through the air toward the griffons. A few of them had the presence of mind to shoot at the alicorn, but a well placed shield deflected all of the bullets. The wood ripped into the changeling and four of his guards. Where magic could not kill, the world did instead, bowing to the will of a queen.

With a roar, she leapt forward and conjured a black sword from the air. Her enemies screamed before she ended them. Their blood stained her armor, and they fell silent as they slipped away into the sleep eternal.

Luna breathed heavily and allowed her sword to dissipate. “Nightmare Moon may never return,” she said to herself, “but they don’t have to know that.”

Her eyes glanced over to a shining suit of armor that adorned one of the walls before the throne room. The reflection stared back at her.

She was almost the perfect image of Nightmare Moon. Her armor matched, her body shape was the same, and even her eyes and mane had changed. Of course, the distinct lack of the other personality inside of her mind was a big difference, but to everygriff on the outside, they were facing the greatest enemy Equestria had ever known. They would know fear...

And then they would die.

“We’re almost there,” a familiar voice said from back in the hallway.

“Very good. that means that we can— oh, light…”

Luna turned just in time to see Celestia and Chaput running toward her. Her sister stopped short and gasped as she saw Luna’s form.

“I thought…” Celestia whispered, and Luna quickly raised her hooves.

“Tia! Wait!” She backed up and shook her head. “It’s not what it looks like! I’m just trying to s—”

Celestia’s magic surrounded her, and Luna yelped as she was pulled toward the other alicorn. The Princess of the Sun rushed forward and stared into her eyes. “What are you doing here, creature?” she hissed.

Luna grunted as the telekinetic grasp held her tightly. She gasped for air and barely managed to wheeze out her words. “Not… a nice thing… to call… your sister…”

A gasp came from Celestia’s mouth, and her grip lightened. “Luna?”

“Uhh, yeah.” She smiled at her sister. “Will you please put me down?”

The magic immediately left her, and Luna landed lightly on her hooves. “Oww,” she said, rubbing her neck. “That wasn’t pleasant.”

“What happened?” Celestia demanded. “Why do you look like… her?”

Luna gave a small smile. “Psychological warfare.”

Celestia was about to say something, but Chaput cut her off by sticking his foreleg toward the door to the throne room. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we need to move.”

Luna glanced over just in time to see the door beginning to crack open…

And then she saw him.

Without a second thought, Luna took to the air and flew toward the throne room.

All the way across the room, Button Mash was being held by a snarling changeling. Beside him was Director Blueblood, held by another changeling, but Luna focused on her coltfriend. His eyes were barely open, but he turned to her… and screamed.

His voice tore through her head, but she didn’t stop herself. She covered the last several meters and entered the room.

Father Dmitri stood at the far end of the long chamber, gazing up at the majestic thrones where the princesses would normally sit. As she entered, he turned to her with a snide grin etched into his beak. “Ah, Princess. Please, come insi—”

He never got a chance to finish his sentence. Luna’s magic blasted him full in the face as soon as she was in the room. All of the griffons and changelings in the room were thrown against the walls, and Dmitri himself yelped as he knocked over Celestia’s throne.

“Release the ponies! Now!” she bellowed as she conjured a shield to cover herself. Just as she did so, several of the griffons managed to recover themselves and fire shots at her. She gnashed her teeth and flung blades of molten magic toward them. One fell over, slashed in half by Luna’s might.

“No!” Dmitri shouted. “Do not harm her! She is mine alone! Mine alo—”

Spinning to face her true foe, Luna released another volley of magic. “Be silent, hellspawn! You have assaulted Our might, and so now you shall face Our wrath!”

The dark spells lashed out, but Dmitri stood his ground. He merely raised a talon, and blue magic arced out to meet Luna’s. Her magic bursts were completely enveloped by Dmitri’s attack, and the griffon released another blow. Luna gasped as her shield was assaulted by a flurry of silver strikes.

Dmitri rose into the air, his eyes glowing a brilliant white. “Princess!” he bellowed. “I thought that we could talk about this like civilized beings, but you have forced my claw!” Mystical lights swirled around, and lances of the same silver magic struck at her, forcing her to concentrate her full power on her shield.

“Dmitri!” Celestia’s shout echoed through the throne room, and the father of the griffon nation smiled even more broadly.

“At last!” he shouted. “You! You have haunted my dreams, dominated my every waking thought! You, Celestia. The possessor of a power that you never earned, and never deserved!” Even more bolts of light swarmed around him, and Luna saw Celestia immediately cast a shield spell to protect herself and General Chaput.

“Stop this, now!” Celestia screamed.

Enraged laughter rose above the roar of the griffon’s spells. “I have waited for far too long to stop now!” Offensive spells shot out, and Luna gasped as she saw the sheer number of glimmering lights.

Celestia shouted something behind her, and Luna felt rather than saw her counter-attack. Pure light met Dmitri’s own shield, but the griffon just shrugged it off and cackled maniacally.

“Fool!” he screamed. “I have become more than you can even conceive! The power of ten thousand souls, burning as one, can more than match the source of your petty entitled sorcery! I have mastered magic, and the screams of your own dying ponies fuel my magery! You shall fall!”

Chaput stood tall before Celestia and yelled out to his fellow griffon. “Dmitri, you’ve lost your mind! Stop this madness!”

“Madness? Madness?” Blindingly white magic filled the air, and Luna had to cover her eyes to stop the pain. Even then, his spell still burned through her defenses.

Finally, it ceased, and Luna found herself standing next to Celestia and Chaput at the entrance of the throne room. She felt dizzy and could sense the aura of a teleportation spell that had pulled her across the room.

Dmitri waved his talons, and he, Yvonne, Blueblood, and Button Mash rose into the air. Blueblood glared disdainfully at his captors, but Button’s face betrayed his fear. Yvonne cackled as her body warped and trembled. Green fire covered her, and she transformed into her own changeling body.

“So…” Dmitri said slowly. “I think that you can see now that we are matched. Perhaps the two of you could defeat me eventually, or maybe I could overcome you given time.” He smirked to himself. “However, we do not have the time.”

Chaput growled, “I knew you, Dmitri. This was not our way!”

“Silence, you weak, useless, parentless bastard.” The Father scoffed at Chaput. “This is not your place.”

The general flushed, and he glared upward. “Can you not see what you are doing?”

“What I’m doing?” Dmitri’s cackle filled the air once more. “I am restoring the glory of Griffonia and elevating us to our rightful place in this world! These pathetic goddesses have had their time in the light. Now? Now the time is ours! All who bask in the face of our glory will know that we, the griffons, have risen! We are here! We are now! The time…” He raised a claw and screamed, “is now!”

Silver lights flooded the throne room, and Luna winced. She summoned her shield again, and could feel Celestia doing the same.

“I am stronger than you,” the father said as he continued to hold himself and the others up in the air. “All this rage around the castle… I feel so strong…”

Raw power seemed to emanate from the griffon, and Luna glanced quickly over at Celestia. Her sister’s face remained expressionless as her horn glowed. The glowing shield around her grew stronger.

“But not strong enough…” Dmitri grinned down at Luna. “No matter my strength, you are still the Princesses of Equestria. There is only one source of anger that would give me the strength to end you both… and I have it right here in the room with me…” He twitched a talon, and Button Mash flew toward him. With another laugh, he pulled a revolver from his holster and pointed it at the stallion.

“The anger of a princess, and the rage of a lover… both torn apart by loss…” Dmitri smirked at Luna. “Let’s see what happens, shall we?”

“No!” Luna screamed as she reached out with her magic. “You shall not touch him, you monster!” All of her power moved out, and she surrounded Button with her own shield, taking all the magic away from her own. All for him. “You will never touch hi—”

And then Dmitri moved his revolver to the side and aimed it at Luna’s head.

She realized.

Too late.

He pulled the trigger.

Luna gasped.

The bullet sped outward.

Celestia screamed.

And then the night lasted forever.

Peace, Princes, Masters, and Chrysalis

“Noooooooooooooo!”

A single hoarse scream ripped through the air, echoing the cry within Celestia’s soul. The princess gasped as her sister collapsed into a limp heap in the middle of the throne room. Luna’s motionless form sprawled out as dark blood oozed from the side of her head where the bullet had pierced her skull.

“You bastard!” Button Mash screamed out from beside Dmitri and the changeling who held him. “I’ll kill you! I’ll bucking kill y—”

Father Dmitri spun around and struck the stallion across the face with his claw. The earth pony cried out as long red gashes appeared from his ear to his mouth. Blood dripped from the wound, and Dmitri sneered. “You are here for that rage, weakling. However, that does not mean I have to hear you whine about it.”

Button gasped, and Celestia took a step forward.

“She isn’t dead…” Dmitri said as he sneered at Button. “... yet.” The griffon turned slowly, and his gaze rested upon Celestia. “You see now, Princess. I am worthy. You and your sister together cannot best me. And now, I have the rage of a lover and the fury of a goddess to fuel me, and—” Dmitri narrowed his eyes sharply. “You… why aren’t you angry?”

Celestia closed her eyes for but a moment. An instant. A single grain of sand in an eternal hourglass. Just as he had taught, so long ago. Find the center. The core of all that is. All that was. All that ever may be... “‘There is no fire that you cannot tame…’” she quoted softly to herself.

“What did you say?” Dmitri demanded.

As if the sun had gone down after a short winter’s day, all the heat in the room evaporated, replaced by the frigid bite of nothingness. Celestia opened her glowing white eyes. “‘There is no rage that you cannot contain…’” Her voice was louder now.

“Father?” the changeling holding Button Mash gurgled.

“‘Fury is a lie. Magic is peace,’” Celestia growled. The world became strangely dim. “‘And you shall become peace… and your peace shall burn them all.’”

Father Dmitri snarled. “I don’t know what you are trying to do, oh great and mighty bitch, but I—”

“Be silent.”

Celestia’s magically amplified whisper rattled the windows of the magnificent hall just before the princess blinked out of existence. In a brilliant flash, she reappeared right in front of Dmitri. Her hoof pulled back, and she felt nothing as she channeled all of her energy into a single blow that struck the father in the chest. There was no anger as he flew across the room screaming. Rage could not touch her as he rammed into the wall with so much force that the two nearby windows exploded into shards of falling stained glass.

The princess threw her head back as she remained airborne for an instant. Gleaming power surrounded her in a perfectly white glow before exploding outward. A wave of pure magic swept through the room, purifying the inhabitants. All anger melted away, and with it the source of Dmitri’s power.

Button Mash fell to the ground as his changeling captor released him. Celestia spared a moment to watch him groan before crawling toward his fallen love. She nodded. He would help Luna. Cocking her head to the side, the alicorn looked toward her fallen sister. There should be an emotion here… sadness, or perhaps hatred. Instead, there was a void…

Dmitri screamed in agony as he leapt back onto his paws and claws. “How dare you? You think that something like this can stop me?”

“No.” Celestia’s voice was completely monotone as she lowered her horn at him. “I expect it to kill you.”

The fury of the sun blazed forth from the serene goddess. Griffons and changelings dodged away from its path. The changeling who had held Button and another shapeshifter barely managed to throw themselves clear, but then a white unicorn struck them. Celestia would have smiled as Blueblood stomped upon the head of the creature who had held him hostage, but there was no need to do so. Only peace remained.

Dmitri screamed and raised a claw. Icy blue streaks arced out to meet Celestia’s sun magic. He grinned wickedly and cried out, “Now we see! Now we know! You are weaker! I am greater!”

And then Celestia levitated all of the shards of broken glass off the floor.

In the far back of her mind, Celestia knew. She knew it was wrong. Violence. Killing. Death itself. But in that moment, everything faded away in the light of purity and order. There was no room for mercy.

Half of the glass shards shot toward Dmitri himself. The rest of them raced out to every changeling and griffon in the room.

Celestia targeted their heads, and she had very good aim.

“Gah!” Dmitri squawked as he tried to throw himself out of the projectiles’ paths. The princess barely paid him any mind. She was too busy slaying his soldiers.

General Chaput was already moving. His revolvers flashed, and his foes fell. The perfectly synchronized slashes from the shards assisted him, and Celestia allowed herself a small nod.

A scream of agony from Father Dmitri broke through the rage of battle. A jagged blue blade, now stained by blood, jutted out of his side. “You… you…” he gasped. “How can you…”

Slowly, so slowly, Celestia raised a hoof, and the flying glass and streak of solar power stopped. Only Dmitri and a few of his followers remained among the living. The changeling who had been Yvonne had Blueblood pinned to the ground, so Celestia gently lifted her into the air. Button clung to Luna, and Chaput was hiding behind a column as he reloaded his revolvers. The chaos of battle stilled to total silence as Celestia’s magic enveloped them all.

“Father Dmitri.” Her voice was so quiet… “Equestria is a nation of peace. We are not killers.”

“Bullshit!” The griffon leader roared as he pointed at the corpses littering the room. “You are a killer, just as I am!”

The princess drifted gracefully to the ground. “Allow me to rephrase,” she continued in her monotone voice. “We do not kill those who have not already forfeited their lives. The moment you attacked my castle, my ponies, and my sister, you gave up your right to continue existing.”

“What?” Dmitri laughed grimly as he ripped the broken glass from his side. He roared in pain, but then blue light surrounded the wound, healing it completely. “Who gave you the power to decide who lives and who dies?”

“Equus itself,” Celestia replied simply. “I am not a princess. I am not some small ruler.” Her mouth shifted into a forced smile. “I am a goddess. And you have risen against me. You are not the first, and you will not be the last. I have slain thousands of upstarts. Liars. Hundreds of fathers to nations I could have crushed under my hoof with but a thought. You? You are just…” She walked forward, her horn glowing. “Another…” Her eyes gleamed. “Failure.”

“You show your pride!” spat Dmitri. “You claim to be a goddess? Arrogance! Folly! Pathet—”

“Truth,” Celestia replied simply. Her wings flared, and golden fire filled the room, illuminating but not burning. “I was chosen by Equus itself. The world upon which we stand decided my destiny centuries ago. And now, I decide the fate of the world. And of you.” The light from her spell faded, and Celestia glared at her adversary with cold eyes.

A dark grin spread across Dmitri’s face. “Very well then,” he hissed. “But tell me this, goddess...”

Celestia cocked her head to the side.

“How does it feel to have a dead sister?”

Something pulled at the back of Celestia’s mind. A primitive cry. Rage. Anger. Hatred. Fury. It was something… something…

Dmitri’s smile widened. “There…” His magic flashed briefly, and Celestia felt something stir...

A scream from behind her caused Celestia to turn around just in time to see the changeling Yvonne break free from her magic and rush toward the fallen body of Princess Luna. She held a round device in her hoof, and a maniacal grin spread over her face as she pulled the pin out of the grenade before flinging herself toward the alicorn.

“No!” Celestia shouted as she summoned her magic.

Yvonne flew through the air, coming closer and closer and—

Two gunshots rang out as Chaput fired both of his revolvers at the changeling. The bullets slammed into her side, and she toppled to the ground with a shriek. Celestia barely managed to cast a shield around the grenade in time to save her sister, but…

Dmitri’s laugh echoed through the hall, and the princess whipped around to see him grab Director Blueblood with both claws. “This isn’t over!”

Celestia’s magic arced out, but she wasn’t fast enough.

The father teleported away, taking the unicorn with him.

And then the room was silent, and Celestia felt a shiver run down her spine as a realization set in. “Airship… Endgame…” Her eyes widened.

Chaput trotted over to her, his face an emotionless mask. “You know where he went, don’t you?”

“He’s back where he’s strongest. Where my magic can’t touch him.”

“That’s not the only reason,” Chaput replied, shaking his head. “Princess… he’s going to drop his bomb.”

~~~

Nothing mattered except for her.

Button hugged his marefriend close, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. “No, no, no…”

Her normally ethereal mane had become matted and damp. The bullet had struck the side of her head, but had somehow not killed her. Maybe it was a graze, or maybe something else, but Button didn’t care. Nothing mattered except for her.

“Don’t you die on me…” he whispered as he stroked the side of her face with one hoof while pressing the other against the wound. His eyes darted about the room, searching for something to use as a bandage, but he saw nothing. No saddle bag, no clothing… nothing.

Something warm and wet trickled down his snout, and he vaguely remembered his own injury. It stung terribly, but he ignored it. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except for her.

“You’ll be okay, you’ll be okay,” Button muttered to himself. Celestia cast some kind of spell, and he heard the screams of griffons and changelings alike around him. The air hissed as projectiles whizzed past.

But none of it mattered.

Nothing mattered…

Except…

For...

Her—

The world became dark.

Button gasped despite himself. Everything disappeared. The room, his pain, even Luna herself.

“Luna!” he screamed out into the vast expanse of nothingness.

The silence that responded was stunning.

Taking a shaky step forward, Button walked. The floor beneath him was cool, almost too cool. He fumbled onward.

“Luna! Mem! Princess!” His voice echoed back toward him, his only companion. The emptiness seemed eternal. Before him, darkness. Behind him, darkness. All around…

Darkness.

His breathing grew heavy as he broke into a canter. His hooves carried him onward, but nothing changed. How could it? It was nothing, and nothing would never be not nothing. Button’s mind reeled. If she were here, would he even find her? Could he even find her? What if—

Some kind of music pierced the darkness and filled the void all around Button. The notes reverberated through the empty space, and Button felt…

“Faith...”

He spun around as the single word floated over the music.

“Hope...”

“Luna?” Button called again, but the voice ignored him.

“Love…”

Then, through the shadows, a light appeared.

“But the greatest of these…”

He ran. Button sprinted toward the single speck of illumination. His heart pounded in his ears as the soft white glow grew brighter and stronger.

It was her.

It had to be.

It had to be her…

“...is love.”

He gasped for air. He couldn’t breathe. Was it her? Was she—

“Button.”

In an instant, he froze. Her voice. Her call. The light flared brightly, and he had to hide his face from the intensity. The cold, hard ground softened as it grew warmer, and when Button finally reopened his eyes, he could see.

The world wasn’t black any more. It was blue. And green. And bright. And shining.

He stood on the top of a hill overlooking a thick forest. Off in the distance were mountains. A stream trickled through row after row of trees. Birds flew through the air, adding a countermelody to the soft song as their voices joined the wavy sound. The sun was high in the sky, and the moon was right beside it. Everything was… was…

“Perfect.”

Button spun around to see a stallion standing beside him. The earth pony recoiled in shock, but his new companion merely laughed.

“Oh, Button,” the unicorn said in a slight Prench accent. “Don’t be alarmed. I am not here to hurt you.”

“Wh-who…?” Button stammered. “Who are you?”

“Me?” The light-blue coated stallion chuckled. “I’m… an old friend.”

Button’s eyes narrowed. “Of whom?”

“Of your lover’s of course.” His eyes wrinkled as he smiled. “We are, after all, in her mind.”

“I— What?” Button asked as he took a step back. “We’re in Luna’s mind?”

“Does it really surprise you?” He gestured at the air around him. “We’re obviously not in the castle any more. The changing surroundings, the darkness, the distinct lack of physical stimulus such as the pain from a wound that I’m sure will become a roguish and endearing scar…” A soft laugh filled the air. “Yes, we are most certainly in dear Luna’s mind right now. But that’s not the interesting part.”

Slowly moving back forward, Button regarded the golden-maned stallion with a cool gaze. “I can tell that you’re having fun being smug and mysterious.”

Once again, the other pony chuckled. “I can see why she likes you. You’re most definitely her type.” His deep gold eyes shimmered. “But, to return to my point, the interesting fact is not that we’re here… it’s that we’re here together.”

Button tilted his head to the side.

“You see, I can’t be here with you.” He gestured at the sky. “In fact, I can’t be anywhere, much less my sister-in-law’s mind.”

“Sister-in-law?” Button eyed the other pony suspiciously. “You’re whose sister-in-law?”

“Technically, I’m nopony’s sister-in-law. I’m a stallion. That makes it rather difficult to be a sister.”

Button stared at his companion and sighed. “Seriously? You know what I meant. Who is your sister-in-law?”

“Your lover, of course.”

He blinked once. And then again. And then a third time. “I… I don’t get it.”

The stallion’s laugh floated on the breeze, accompanied by the continuing music and birdsong. “Well then, I suppose that you shall continue on in your misunderstanding. Who I am has very little bearing on our current conversation. My concern is who you are. Tell me, Mr. Mash…” He moved forward and gazed into Button’s eyes. “Who are you?”

“Umm…” Button coughed uncomfortably. “I’m… Button Mash?”

“My, such confidence…” he deadpanned. “No. That may be your name, but that was not my question. Who are you? Why are you here? And, more importantly, what does your cutie mark mean?”

The wind suddenly picked up, and Button felt a chill run down his spine despite the warmth from the sun. “What does my cutie mark have to do with this?”

“Everything.”

The word echoed through Button’s mind.

“I will ask you once again, who are you?”

“I…” Button stared forward. “I’m Button Mash.”

“That is your name.”

“I’m a stallion…” Button continued.

The unicorn snorted and shook his head. “Your gender.”

“...a manager at a jazz club…”

“Your livelihood.”

His lip rising into a grimace, Button said, “an aspiring history teacher…”

“Your dream.” The other stallion shook his head. “Who are you?”

“Princess Luna’s coltfriend.” Button stared forward, his eyes meeting the brilliant gold of his companion’s.

“Your lover. I do not believe that you understand me.” Magic surrounded the unicorn’s horn, and a purple aura swirled around the two of them. “I ask for more than mere facts. I ask you who you are. Deep down, beneath the shallow exterior that we all present, lies the center of our being.”

Waves of images washed through the air. The other stallion appeared in the passing scenes drawn in the magic. He sat in a dingy bar with other ponies. He was at a bank… and then in a jail cell. He stood beside an alicorn, sat at a great table, wielded a sword in battle, and… and the image of his cutie mark, a golden coin marked by the silhouette of a mare with a long horn.

“This is who I am. More than the sum of my past. More than the sum of my choices. This is what comprises my destiny and shapes my fate. This is who. I. Am. So, I ask you one final time…” The magic disappeared, and Button looked at the unicorn who stood before him. His eyes seemed old, and his face weary. He frowned, and he seemed to radiate a sense of… of…

“Who are you?”

And then realization struck.

“Honor…” Button muttered.

“What was that?” The unicorn’s ears perked up.

“Commitment. Dedication. Loyalty. Honor. That’s who you are, isn’t it?” Button asked. “That’s what makes you... you.”

The other pony inhaled sharply.

“That’s what you mean, isn’t it?” Button continued. “You want to know what causes me to make these choices. Why am I a history teacher? Why do I love Luna? What does my cutie mark mean?”

SIlence answered him as the unicorn waited.

“I think I understand,” he said quietly. “I think I get it. I’m a history teacher because of what I love. I love what I love because of who I am. It made me play games, made me want to be like the old Royal Guard, made me meet her… It…”

“Yes?”

“It’s who I am,” Button replied. “It’s who we are, isn’t it? We’re both… we’re both protectors. Guardians. Lovers…”

A smile split the stallion’s face. “Exactly!”

Button glanced upward and smiled softly. “You’re her husband, aren’t you? Celestia’s?”

“I…” he began before sighing. “I was.”

“Jean-Paix.” Button nodded. “You’re Jean-Paix.”

“No.” The other shook his head. “That’s my name. I was, am, and always will be hers. I am her protector and her guardian. Her lover. That is who I am. That is my destiny. I am her luck. Her prize. Her protector. Her everything.”

“And…” Button gazed into Jean-Paix’s golden eyes. “And I’m Luna’s.”

“Yes.” Paix nodded. “That is your destiny. That is who you are. It’s what your life has become. So now, I ask you. Why are you here?”

Button clenched his jaw. “I’m here for her.”

Paix raised his head as the music swelled. “And what does your cutie mark mean?”

“It means…” Button glanced at his own flank to see the orange and black shield that adorned his flank. “It means… that I’m her shield.”

“Her shield.” Paix chuckled. “Her knight in faded armor. Her shield in battles lost. Her light when all is darkness. Her love, her life… her prince.”

Button froze, and all the hairs on his back stood straight up. His cutie mark… his destiny… her… That was it. That was all of it.

“I—”

The world shook, and Button almost fell to the ground.

“We don’t have much time,” Paix said quickly. “Luna isn’t dead, but she is close. Her natural alicorn magic will keep her alive, but Celestia will need to cast a healing spell. After that, Luna will be weak. You must stay by her side and keep her safe. This is vital.”

“Of course!” Button exclaimed. “I wouldn’t do anything else.”

“I’m not finished.” The sky cracked open, and red light flashed through the perfect air. “Luna knows nothing of what happened here, and she probably wouldn’t believe you if you told her. Dreams, memories, life, and death… You’ll learn soon enough how intertwined those can be with alicorns and their lovers.” He chuckled as the ground shook. “After all, I can speak to you. This is impossible, but it’s happening.”

Button stumbled, and the earth split in two. Paix floated upward toward the glowing lights in the sky. “Wait!” he shouted. “What does this mean? Why did you tell me all this?”

“You think I know?” Paix replied with a laugh. “That’s adorable. Figure it out, Mr. Prince. I’ll see you later.”

Button opened his mouth to reply, and then everything went white again.

~~~

Captain Flair nodded to herself as she and Ivanov rounded the last corner in the long corridor. The dark walls came together into a dead end, and she tapped her hoof on the floor. “Trap door,” she said. “Help me lift it up?”

The griffon responded by moving to the other side of the wooden planks on the ground. Both of them grabbed onto small handles and lifted with all their might. The ancient oak boards groaned as they were lifted up off the floor. Flair grunted in exertion, and they set the wooden planks down beside the hole that it had covered up.

“I don’t suppose that ‘ladies first’ applies in this situation…” Ivanov glanced up at Flair and smiled.

“Oh, get out of the way,” Flair replied with a grim laugh. She drew her pistol and glanced down into the hole in the floor. It extended downward into darkness, and she couldn’t see the ground.

Ivanov pulled a flashlight out of his saddlebag, flipped it on, and dropped it down into the room below. The steady glow lit up the walls of a small storage area.

“Okay then…” Flair jumped downward and flared her wings just before she hit the ground. Her hooves clicked lightly on the tiles before Ivanov landed right next to her. With a quick movement, he scooped up his flashlight and nodded toward the door beside them.

“I assume that this leads to the throne room,” Ivanov muttered. “Unless Celestia has sent us on a wild goose chase…”

“I don’t hear any fighting though.” Flair trotted to the door and put a hoof on the doorknob. “You ready?”

With the bright hiss of metal moving against metal, Ivanov’s sword slid from its sheath. “But of course.”

Taking a deep breath, Flair readied herself before slowly sliding the door open in time to see—

Princess Celestia pacing the room while General Chaput knelt next to a prone Princess Luna and Button Mash. He was wrapping a bandage around the princess’ head. Changeling and griffon corpses littered the ground, surrounded by blood-covered shards of broken glass.

Chaput’s head jerked upward, and he raised one of his revolvers and pointed it toward Flair. His eyes widened in recognition as he breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his weapon. “Captain. You’re a bit late to the party, but it’s good to see you.”

Flair stepped out into the open and wrinkled her nose as the scent of blood assaulted her nostrils. “Better late than never… what happened here?”

“I killed them all.”

Flair turned to see Princess Celestia walking toward her. The alicorn’s face was expressionless and blood stained her otherwise spotless coat.

Celestia held up a hoof to stop Ivanov as he moved into the throne room behind Flair. “Captain Ivanov. I need you to get Dr. Wing for me. Now.”

Ivanov’s eyebrow rose as he glanced back and forth between Celestia and Chaput. The general inclined his head, and Ivanov nodded to the alicorn. “Of course, Princess.” Without another word, he went back into the storage room and flew back up into the dark corridor.

“So…” Flair glanced around the room. “I’m glad I was able to be helpful. Yay, flanking plans…”

Chaput chuckled. “It would have been useful. However, Dmitri has once more proven himself to be the greatest fool in all of Equus.”

“Sssstupid… Not… fool…”

All the ponies and griffons in the room spun to look toward the source of the croaking voice. Flair raised her weapon and pointed it at the huddled, bleeding form of a tall changeling who lay on the floor near Chaput and the motionless forms of Luna and Button.

In an instant, Flair and Chaput were above the dying creature, pointing their weapons at its head. The changeling rolled over and let loose a strained laugh. “You’re all pathetic…”

Chaput growled and pulled back the hammer of his golden revolver. “Stay still. One move, and I’ll finish what I started.”

“No.” Celestia slowly walked toward the group. Her eyes stayed frozen, and her lips were pursed into a straight line. “Do not harm her. She is mine.”

The creature became surrounded by a golden aura and rose into the air. She let out a groan of pain as her limbs shifted. Blood escaped Celestia’s magical grasp and dripped onto the floor. “Y-you… Pathetic…”

“Changeling. You will answer my questions truthfully. You will answer every question. You will not resist me.” Celestia’s jaw twitched as she spoke. “If you follow my instructions, you will survive.”

“I am already dead,” she croaked. “But I die with pride in my heart. I have ssserved my misstresss and my massster.”

“Are you not a queen?” Celestia cocked her head to the side. “Who is your mistress?”

She laughed again. “I wasss a Queen. But I gave that up. Now, I am but a ssservant to the true queen. The High Queen of the hivesss.”

“Who?” Celestia’s simple question rang through the empty room, louder than the battle raging outside. “Tell me who she is, Yvonne.”

“You know…” Yvonne answered with a laugh. “She, the one who failed. The one who learned. The one who united. The one who conquered. The one who ensssnaresss. The greatessst infiltrator. The puppet massster of nationsss.” A smile spread across her tortured features.

“Chrysalis.”

Yvonne nodded and laughed. “And she isss ready… Your fate iss ssealed.”

Flair growled and ran her hoof along the edge of her pistol.

“Where is she? Is she with Dmitri?” A hint of something edged its way into Celestia’s voice. Flair couldn’t quite place it, but it gave the words a ragged clip, and the princess’ stance grew more aggressive.

“Oh, she hass no need to hide with the massster. He is but a pawn.” Yvonne smiled sweetly. “No, she iss where she always wishess to be. She is here. Among you. She hass been for monthss… yearss…”

“Who is she?” Celestia asked. Flair could see her gritting her teeth as she spoke.

“She iss the High Queen! She hidess in the open, and when she sstrikess, you never ssee it—”

“Who?”

Flair shivered as the roar broke through the air. Celestia stamped a hoof on the stone floor, and the ancient rock cracked from the impact.

Yvonne threw her head back and laughed. “She ssaid that you would fail. She watched you asss a sservant. She walked besside you. She knew you, and you knew her. Who wass she, you asssk?”

The changeling smiled.

“She is...”

~~~

In the darkest room in the highest tower in the southern half of Canterlot Castle stood a single cloaked changeling. She stayed completely still as the battle rumbled down below her. Her drones were in position. The attack was going perfectly. She could feel Dmitri’s retreat. Her lieutenant had been wounded, but she would regenerate quickly. Queens always did.

Chrysalis hummed a soft tune to herself as she threw back the hood of her cloak. Green power glowed, and she gazed at the magical artifact in front of her.

The High Queen of the Changeling Hives smiled to herself as her magic channeled toward her treasured possession.

The device was a sphere several meters in diameter. It floated in the air, refusing to touch the ground. A ring of thick stone rested over it, hovering right at the middle of the orb. Green writing flared to life along the ring, and the device began to spin. As it did, Chrysalis felt the very fabric of the magic around her shift.

As the anti-magic field activated and covered the castle, Chrysalis gave a low laugh.

“At last.”

And then, she shifted. She shrunk to a shorter size, her features became ordinary and completely forgettable, and her cloak turned into the outfit of a simple servant.

Gem Petal turned around and left the room as her eyes glowed with green fire.

Expendables, Impacts, and Red

“Luna?”

The princess groaned as she tried in vain to open her eyes. The whole world spun on its own, but she stayed still. Her heartbeat throbbed in her head, sending pulses of pain through her entire body. Darkness’s embrace held her softly while silence tore at her ears. Everything hurt, and yet everything felt… right.

“Please…”

The utter lack of sound was broken by a familiar voice’s plea.

“... come back…”

Light consumed everything.

Luna’s eyes shot open and she gasped raggedly. Crisp air filled her lungs. Bitter yet sweet sounds of the castle around her came crashing down. Gunfire. Screams. And his laugh…

She inhaled sharply as a pair of forelegs wrapped around her neck. Button pressed his face into her messy and knotted mane.

“Stars… Luna… You’re okay.”

“Mmmpf,” she grunted in reply. “Hurts.”

“Oh, oops.” Button let go of her and pulled away. Her eyes focused on his face and his smile. “You’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay…”

“You’ve mentioned this,” she intoned as she pulled herself to her hooves. “What happened? How long have I been out?”

Button was about to reply, but another voice interrupted. “Seventeen minutes.”

Luna turned as her sister strode toward her. A smile began to spread across the younger alicorn’s face, but it stopped as she saw Celestia’s expression. “Tia?”

“We do not have much time,” Celestia said, her voice monotone and completely cold. “There is an anti-magic field covering the castle. Dmitri is preparing his nuclear strike. Chrysalis is here in the castle. The battle rages onward. The Elements are fighting off the windigo army. You are only alive because I managed to heal you before the field activated.”

“I… what?” Luna gasped. “Anti-magic… nuclear… changelings… What happened in those seventeen minutes?”

“I do not have time for useless questions,” Celestia replied coldly, and Luna recoiled in shock. “I have a plan. You must listen, for you have your own part to play.” She turned to gaze across the room. “Chaput. Dr. Wing. Dovetail. Flair. Come here, now.”

Luna took a moment to look around the throne room. Button still sat beside her, but he was far from the only pony in the room. Several earth ponies carried the corpses of changelings and griffons into a pile in the corner of the room. Shards of glass littered the floor, bathing in the blood of the fallen. Several windows had been shattered, and Luna could see flashes of rainbows and light off over the horizon.

Chaput arrived at Celestia’s side first. “I just got off the radio with some of my officers. The attacks continue, and they’re barely holdi—”

“They don’t matter,” Celestia interrupted. “Unless we can defeat Chrysalis, disarm the bomb, and remove the anti-magic field, they’re all dead anyways.”

Falling silent, he took a step back. Luna saw a flash of indignation in his eyes, but he hid it quickly. “As you say, Highness.”

Celestia hummed to herself, and a very faint golden glow surrounded her horn. A map of the castle appeared in the air in front of her.

This time, it was somepony else’s turn to gasp. Knight-Captain Dovetail flapped her wings twice and turned her startled eyes to her princess. “I thought that there was an anti-magic field up?”

“This is a weak-ass bullshit field.” Dr. Wing snorted before nudging Dovetail. “It’s just reducing magical capabilities, not suppressing them. The Germane judge gives it a three point one four out of ten.” He turned his front hoof downward in a gesture of disapproval before blowing a raspberry and snorting to himself. “Pi. Nice.”

“I can still manage some simple spells,” Celestia replied, ignoring the scientist. “As I have already stated, time is short. I need you all to listen attentively and carefully.”

The rest of the beings in the room crowded around her. Button stood up beside Luna while Captain Flair, Agent Breeze, General Streak, and Captain Ivanov joined them.

Celestia nodded to herself. “We now have four areas which require our attention. Princess Twilight has the windigo issue well in hoof, which leaves us to deal with the attack on the castle, the anti-magic field, Father Dmitri, and Chrysalis.”

Dr. Wing muttered something incoherent to himself.

“General Chaput.” Celestia inclined her head toward the griffon. “I want you to lead the defence of the castle. Organize our troops. Keep them occupied. Take your captain as well as Agent Breeze. General Streak, you will follow his orders as if they were my own for the duration of the battle.”

Agent Breeze gasped, and both of the generals stirred uncomfortably. Captain Ivanov wrapped a wing around Breeze, and Luna regarded them with a cool gaze.

“Dr. Wing, Knight-Captain Dovetail, and Captain Flair. Your job is to find a way to destroy the griffon airship quickly. We cannot afford to allow their explosive to survive.”

“But—” Flair began.

“Do not argue,” Celestia said icily.

Flair shook her head. “But they have Blueblood! We can’t just shoot down their ship! We’ll lose him.”

“There are casualties in every engagement.” The princess regarded Flair cooly. “The life of one pony is not worth all of Canterlot.”

“Princess, I—”

“No.”

Flair huffed. “Please, just liste—”

“This matter is closed.” The alicorn nodded slightly. “I would encourage you to stop.”

“Like hell I’m just going to—”

Celestia’s wings sprung out from her body. “I have already told you, do not argue.”

“Bullshit!” Flair roared, slamming a hoof into the floor. “I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you, but this isn’t what we do!”

Everyone in the room froze as the Captain moved toward Celestia, her eyes like fire. Luna inhaled sharply as the two glared at each other.

“Captain Flair, you are becoming hysterical.”

“And you’re becoming a monster!” Flair stamped her hoof again. “We fought a war with the bucking zebras over one pony being held hostage. I lost two of my only friends over there, and the only reason I’m still around is up there in that airship!”

Celestia stared forward without blinking.

“Yeah, there are casualties, but not if there’s another way! We can try something else. Just…” She growled to herself. “Give me one of those suits and two other ponies. We can get on the ship, grab Blue, and disarm their bomb. And if we die, then we can blow the whole damn thing to hell. I might be dead, but at least I could die saying that I tried and that I’m not… I’m not…” Flair hung her head and stared at the floor.

“Not what?” Celestia asked quietly.

She peered back up, and Luna saw tears in her eyes. “That I’m not some monster… and neither are you.”

The only sounds that filled the grand room were the distant shriek of gunfire and the cries of the departing fallen. Both mares stared into each other's eyes for what felt like an eternity.

“She’s right,” Luna whispered.

Every eye in the room turned to her.

“Oh?” Celestia raised an eyebrow.

“Blueblood isn’t expendable. Nopony is.” Luna winced and put a hoof up to her bandaged head. “Losses are just that. Losses. They are taken from us, not given because it is the easiest option. We don’t sacrifice them like pawns in a grand game of chess. You should know that as well as I do, Sister.”

The other alicorn remained unmoving.

“If there is another option, we should take it. If that fails, then…” Luna sighed wearily. “I am sure that our nephew would rather save the lives of others instead of his own.”

Celestia gazed forward without blinking. Slowly, so very slowly, she nodded. “Very well. Captain, you may attempt your plan. However, if the bomb gets too close, I will remove it myself, and there will not be any way to recover your bodies.”

Flair gulped. “Thank you, Princess. I won’t let it come to that.”

Celestia nodded. “Good. Now, for the other two issues. I shall confront Chrysalis myself. My magic may be weak, but I can still find her, and my might does not reside solely with my unicorn abilities.” The map lit up, indicating a section of the castle. “She is here. I can feel her now. She has unmasked.”

“Dummy,” Wing muttered. “Shoulda stayed hidden…”

“And, finally,” Celestia said as she turned to Luna, “you are going to destroy the anti-magic field.”

Luna nodded to herself, and Button coughed.

“Now, we have wasted enough time. There is nothing left to say.” Celestia turned and walked away from the group. In a flash, her armor appeared around her and her blade of fire hovered beside her. “You have your orders. Move.”

Blinking, Luna watched her sister leave. “That was… abrupt…”

“Princess?” Dovetail asked quietly. “Is she… stable?”

Luna didn’t reply for a moment. Before she could, Chaput spoke.

“Alicorn hyperfocus.”

All of the beings turned to him, and Luna took a step back.

“Magic is peace. The greater the magic, the greater the peace. Sometimes, emotions can stop the rational mind, and the rational mind is inextricably tied to the magical soul.” Chaput inhaled. “Alicorns are no exception. There comes a moment when one becomes so emotional that they cannot control their power. As you did, during the first attack, Princess.” He nodded to Luna. “It is ancient magic, overcoming the soul’s own aversion to itself. Magic and passion cannot coexist. So, the mind suppresses all feeling, for the sake of what must be. Surely you know this, Princess Luna.”

The younger alicorn slowly shook her head. “I… have not heard this before, General.”

He responded by raising an eyebrow. “How interesting…”

“Doesn’t matter,” General Shadow Streak growled. “We have to go. Now.”

“Indeed,” Chaput agreed. “However, I will not be joining you in the defence of the castle, General.”

“What?” The commander of the Night-Guard bristled. “You heard the princess! She said—”

“—she said that you are to obey my orders.” Chaput waved him off. “I am ordering you to obey her and lead the defence yourself. I am going with Captain Flair and her team. I have a score to settle with our good Father…”

Streak growled. “Fine. Captain Ivanov. Agent Breeze. Follow me.”

Luna did not watch as the three of them left the circle. Instead, she focused upon General Chaput. He stared coldly across the room.

“You do realize,” Flair said carefully, “that we’re only going to survive this because of our experimental suits, right? If you come with us, you’ll be facing Dmitri without any magical assistance.”

“Oh, I know. That’s why I’ll take my own suit.” Chaput smiled sweetly.

Dovetail scoffed. “Yeah, sure. If you had one of those, we’d have seen it.”

“Unless it was sitting in your armory.”

Flair, Dovetail, and Wing snapped their heads toward the smugly smiling griffon.

“I’ve already had one of them tailored to my size. My spy has impeccable taste and skill.”

Flair gasped, and Dovetail spluttered. “I… you… he… what?”

Dr. Wing merely shrugged. “Meh. Doesn’t surprise me.”

This time, all heads turned toward him.

“Why do you say that?” Dovetail asked carefully.

“Well,” Wing said as he shrugged. “Chaput is a sneaky bastard.”

The general recoiled and raised his beak into a sneer.

“Sneaky bastards do sneaky things,” Wing continued, oblivious to Chaput’s reaction. “That’s a sneaky thing. Thus, Chaput did it. It all makes sense. Actually, it would make less sense if he didn’t, because that would make him a not-a-sneaky bastard, which would make him not Chaput, because a Chaput is a sneaky bastard. But he did, so he is, so he did, so he is, so everything makes sense.” He nodded to himself.

“I… am not sure how to feel about this,” Chaput said carefully.

"Aww." Wing walked toward Chaput and patted his back. "You're an okay sneaky bastard cat-bird." Wing paused and threw his forelegs around Chaput to pull the griffon into a close hug. "In fact, you're our okay sneaky bastard cat-bird, and we mean it and love you in the best possible way. Your vibes really touch my soul, sneaky Chaput." He gave the griffon one final pat and then released him, grinning broadly before booping his beak lightly. He then hummed to himself and headed for the exit. “You guys wanna come along?”

Captain Dovetail blinked. “Did he just…”

“Yeah,” Flair replied with a groan.

Clearing his throat and adjusting his uniform, Chaput began, “Why did he—”

“Just… just don’t ask. Go with it.” Flair shook her head and followed after Wing. The other two looked at each other before going after the two pegasi. After a moment, they were gone.

Button choked back a giggle. “That was, uh, entertaining.”

Luna’s response was to merely raise an eyebrow. “If you say so. I just hope that they can accomplish their task…”

“I’m more worried about ours,” Button commented as he moved to stand in front of her. “How are we going to get that bullshit field thing down?”

“‘We?’” Luna shook her head. “No. I can’t let you do that.”

“What?” His voice carried his shock. “Uh, I’m coming with you.”

With a sigh, Luna shook her head again. “Button, I’m an alicorn. There could be dozens of soldiers between us and whatever is generating the field. I can handle them. You… you can’t.”

Button’s eyes wrinkled and his mouth stretched into a confused grimace. “But you don’t have magic! You can’t go alone! I can help you.”

There was no reply from Luna for a moment. He was right. She didn’t have magic. At least, not any that would help her in combat. All that power felt so far away, as if something were blocking her off. All of it, gone… except for…

A broad smile spread across Luna’s face as a sudden realization hit her. “Oh my. Button, I think that I will have you come with me, but we’re going to be doing something rather odd.”

This time, it was Button who raised an eyebrow. “Well, that sounds interesting.”

“Oh, it is.” Luna bared her teeth in a brutal grin. “I want you to use your imagination for a moment…”

~~~

“So, let me get this straight,” the red coated unicorn seethed through his clenched teeth. “You thought that bringing the general of the enemy forces into our most advanced lab was a good idea?” Dr. Vial growled gutturally. “Fools!”

Captain Flair and her fellows stood in the middle of X-12’s main lab. General Chaput and Dr. Wing stood face to face with the angry stallion, who glared at the two of them. Flair herself waited beside Dovetail as the other scientists walked into the room.

“Yeah, I did,” Wing snarked back to his subordinate. “In case you haven’t noticed, the castle is under attack by a bunch of homicidal maniacs who are not following our griffon buddy here. He’s on our side, dipshit.”

“Griffons only look out for themselves!” declared Vial as he sneered at Chaput. “I can’t believe that even you would believe otherwise, Wing.”

Inhaling through her teeth, Flair watched as Wing froze. Chaput also turned to face the pegasus.

“I… am going to try super hard to ignore that,” Dr. Wing responded quietly. “We don’t have a lot of time, but if we did, I would let you know exactly how I feel about that comment.”

All the ponies and the single griffon in the room paused for a moment. Vial’s stare met Wing’s, and then the first nodded in submission. “Fine. What are we going to do?”

A nearly tangible sigh of relief seemed to come from all the ponies. Wing trotted up to one of the whiteboards and grabbed a marker. “Okay, gang! Buck, that sounded way too after-school-special. Anyway, listen up! It’s time for super fast talking and probably a lot of fancy, big words, so make sure you have your adult-pony pants on!” He cracked his neck and quickly sketched out a rough drawing of the griffon airship. “This is the bad thingy. It has a bomb on it. It also has a pony on it. We need to kill the bomb and not kill the pony.”

Chaput coughed and looked at Flair. She shrugged.

“Hush, Chaput, I know I didn’t use the big words that my sneaky cat-bird loves so much, but that’s because this stuff sounds easy, but it’s really, really not,” Wing continued as he drew a large circular object on the deck of the airship. “This right here is a bullshit field generator. It makes our magic not work at-frickin’-all. That’s bullshit, and it makes our job a lot tougher. But let’s pretend that we figure out how to get past that. We still have to fight past a ton of cat-birds that we don’t like, find the bomb, figure out how to disarm it, find Blueblood, get him out safely, and make sure that that crazy asshat Dmitri doesn’t kill us all. That’s a lot of stuff, and we’ll need a plan.” He turned to the group. “If anyone has ideas, now would be a nice time to share with the class. Oh.” He clenched his jaw. “We also have about ten minutes before we need to take off to get there on time.”

Immediately, Flair stepped forward. “The griffons aren’t a problem. We can outfight them with our suits.”

Dovetail chimed in, saying, “And we can divide the workload here. One of us goes after the bomb. Another locates Blueblood. And one of us…” She exhaled deeply. “One will have to keep Dmitri distracted.”

“I will handle Father Dmitri,” Chaput said quietly. “I know how he thinks and how he reacts. If I challenge him, he will be unable to refuse.”

Flair nodded. “Good. While you do that, I’ll go look for Blue. It shouldn’t be too hard to find him. I guess that leaves you on bomb disposal, Dove.”

“Perfect,” the other pegasus responded. “So, how do I disarm a nuclear bomb?”

Silence reigned for several moments before Wing broke it with a sigh. “And that’s where things get complicated. See, the griffs have themselves a plutonium implosion device. Without getting too fancy here, it’s a bomb that has a bunch of thingies on the inside that do stuff to some plutonium, and then everything explodes. To disarm the bomb, we have to stop the little thingies from being in alignment with each other so that the boom doesn’t happen. We need to think about what a pegasus can do.”

“We need magic back, first off,” Vial answered as he stepped forward. “Then, we get a unicorn up there, and he can disarm the bomb using—”

“That’s not going to do a pegasus much good,” Wing retorted. “Dove is going to be the one there.”

“Have them teleport!” Vial insisted. “Once the anti-magic field is down, they teleport in to disarm the bomb.”

Wing shook his head. “No, there’s still a bullshit field active down here! That won’t work. We need something that a pegasus can do to the bomb. We can’t add extra steps. She’s got to do it.”

Vial scratched his chin and mumbled to himself. Flair stepped back, along with Chaput and Dovetail. The rest of Dr. Wing’s science team walked over, and they conferred with each other.

“Well, what about…”

“That couldn’t do it. But maybe…”

“No! That’s dumb! Stop saying dumb things!”

Flair sighed and rubbed the sides of her head. She could hear the distant roar of battle far above her. The floor occasionally shook from the force of explosions above. While the scientists argued, ponies were dying…

“Is Vial always this… obnoxious?” Dovetail asked quietly.

“Pretty much has been each time I met him,” Flair responded in almost a whisper. “I swear, Wing’s gonna punch him if he keeps this up.”

“Wait!” Vial declared, as if on cue. “I read a paper from a Germane scientist talking about nuclear theory and how a bomb could hypothetically be disarmed by a powerful enough neutrino laser! All we need to do is get a neutrino generator, hook it up to a strong enough power source, aim it at the bomb and—“

“I’m not even going to comment on how dumb that is!” Wing responded. “Actually, I am because it’s just that dumb. First, beam, not laser. Second, it’d take a thousand TeV, so unless you have a way to advance Equestrian technology by several centuries in the span of a few minutes, then that’s—Are you ready for it?—a really dumb idea. We need to—”

Suddenly, Flair gasped as inspiration struck. She grinned to herself. “Hey, Wing?”

“—and if that doesn’t work, we have to find a way to—”

“Wing?” she called out again, unsurely.

“—so long as the bullshit field is up, we can’t do jack sh—”

“Enough!” Flair shouted. All eyes turned to her. “If I’m hearing this right, the bomb works because of… thingies that work together to detonate the plutonium, right?”

“Not really, but according to Dr. Wing’s explanation, yes.” Vial scoffed.

Flair shot him a glare. “Good. Then all we have to do is get them out of sync. The suits give improved strength. Can we just punch the bomb until it doesn’t work any more?”

The scientists blinked as one. Then, they suddenly spoke in hushed whispers. Wing grinned broadly at Flair once he glanced back at her. “If the emitters are out of alignment, the implosion can’t even start. Baby, I love it when you talk science with me.”

“Punching a bomb? That… is the dumbest thing I’ve heard!” declared Dr. Vial. “That plutonium is radioactive! Exposing it could kill whoever is disarming the device. This plan is ridiculous!”

“You already maxed out the group’s dumb quota for the day,” Wing countered. “They don’t even have to punch it too hard. Just have to keep the internal shielding intact, and they’ll be fine. More of a tap than a punch. Kinda like this!” Wing reached over and slapped Vial lightly across the face. “See? Barely even hurts!”

Vial balked and spluttered. “I… you… it…”

Flair stifled a giggle, but calmed herself. “Okay! So, we have a plan. Three of us go up. I get Blueblood, Dovetail goes after the bomb, and Chaput keeps Dmitri busy. All of us in suits. I think… I think we can make this work.”

“That’s almost right,” Wing said. “But there are gonna be four of us up there. You need someone to take down the bullshit field so that our forces down here can keep fighting. And there’s only one pony here who has experience with that kinda thing, and he also just so happens to have been the lead designer of those fancy suits you seem to like so much. I’ll be going with you.”

Immediately, Dovetail shook her head. “Absolutely not. You’re a scientist, not a soldier. Your work is too important for you to be out in the field.”

With a snort, Wing smirked at her. “You do realize that I’m an officer of the Royal Guard, right? It’s not like I don’t know what I’m doing. Changelings are orange. They saw it. They saw it! Frankly, I know these weapons better than any pony alive. And, I’m the one who has the keys to get into the storage room where the suits are.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Bam. I’m going.”

Dovetail stood very still, gazing at the stallion. Slowly, she nodded. “Fine. But we’re going to have a talk when all of this is done.”

“Woo!” Wing cheered. “It’s a date, and I’ll be sure to teach you some physics if you show me some chemistry.”

She sighed. “I have a bad feeling about this…”

~~~

Dmitri could only see red, now.

Red from the blood on his side. Red on the floor of his flagship’s bridge where he dropped Blueblood before ordering him taken to the brig. Red blinking on the tactical display, just as he ordered the ship toward the castle and the bombs prepared. Red on the uniform of his captain who refused the order, saying that dropping the bomb from that close would kill them all.

Dmitri didn’t care. The red didn’t let him care.

Red in air as he slashed the captain’s face and ordered him, too, sent to the brig. Red lights as the ship went into high alert and began its slow lumber into Canterlot City airspace. Red from the feathers of the First Officer’s face as he took command. Red all around. Red everywhere.

“The end is coming.”

Author's Note

Special thanks to Night Scribe (fimfic account link pending D:) and Stahl for editing help here.

By the way, that dumb part about disarming nukes with neutrinos and stuff? That's in an actual article that Wing found for me. I'ma cite it, just for gits and shiggles. Check it out!

Citation Identifier (so the creators can see that I'm citing them :rainbowkiss: ): arXiv:hep-ph/0305062

Distractions, Hatches, and Mercy

“You know, maybe you should tell me the plan? Or at least part of it?” Button shouted as they sprinted down the long castle corridor. “I used my imagination like you asked!”

Luna didn’t answer. She muttered to herself quickly and quietly, dodging through doorways and past the cries of death and roars of destruction that echoed down the stone hallways.

“Hello? Equestria to Luna?” Button called. “Plan? Things?”

The princess threw open another door and leapt up a staircase. Another staircase. They’d already run up several.

He sighed. “For real, where are we g—”

“Button, I have to concentrate,” Luna said sharply. “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you yet until I figure out where…” Her head snapped upward and her eyes fixed on the top of the staircase. “It has to be up there, on the roof! Yes!”

Button blinked. “The thing making the anti-magic bullshit field thing?”

“Yes, that. We’re going to take it out, like I already told you.”

“And it’s not going to be guarded?” Button asked carefully as they approached the top.

“Of course it will be.”

“...But we don’t have any guns. And it’s a bullshit field. No magic. How are we going to…?”

Luna grinned ferociously. “I don’t need guns or magic. I have you.”

“Uhhh.”

“I’m the Princess of the Night, the Guardian of Dreams, and connected to a magic far beyond the grip of these devices. They can’t cut me off from that.”

The two closed in on the top of the tower. “Okay? So you can still control dreams. How’re we going to use it to do anything?”

Luna waved her hoof and the staircase turned upside down. The wall opened and three clouds flew inside the building. Rows and rows of burning torches turned inside out before she smiled at the door. It fell over.

Button’s jaw dropped. “What.”

“Button, I can control dreams and put ponies to sleep. You’re currently on my back as I run up this staircase toward the source of the anti-magic field. If you don’t believe me, just look at the ground.”

The stallion froze for a moment as he tried to process her words. Slowly, he looked down…

“Oh. I’m flying.” He floated in the middle of the curling spiral staircase. The walls glittered purple and silver and the door closed itself before opening again. “Ya coulda told me about this.”

“I did. Then I put you to sleep and you forgot the last several seconds. Button, I need you to pay attention now.” She looked right at him. “I can only maintain one dream at a time, and only if ponies willingly stay inside the dream. If they try to wake up, my magic will fail.”

“So, if I wanted to, I could just wake myself up at any ti—”

“If you do, there will be no kisses or cookies after this is all finished.”

Button blushed. “Okay, okay.”

“This also means that I will put each of the guards we meet into a dream state and it will be your job to keep them there. If they realize it’s a dream, they will wake up. Distract them. Keep them so focused on you that they never question reality itself.”

“And how exactly do I do that?” Button waved his legs as he floated after his marefriend. “Tell jokes, perform a lecture about ancient Equestrian dinner customs?”

“It’s a dream, you absolute noob. Anything you can do in a dream, you can do here.” She rolled her eyes. “Use that. Distract them.”

Button looked down at his hoof and, at his thought, a familiar faded armor began to cover his body. “Oh.” He glances up at her. “This is gonna be fun.”

~~~

“Ya know, I don’t think there’s anypony else I’d rather go on a suicide mission with,” Ember Flair commented as she and her three fellows rode Section Eleven’s elevator up to the roof. Metal walls surrounded them as a klaxon sounded above them. Flashing red and yellow lights illuminated everypony’s masked faces. “My old partner from years ago, a crazy-ass griffon, and an even crazier pegasus scientist! Together, we will fulfil our goal and save the world and probably die trying! But at least we’ll look like badasses, right?”

“Does she ever shut up?” Chaput grunted as he clipped on the last of his suit. With a whirr, his HUD activated.

“No, she doesn’t.” Dovetail slaps a magazine into her rifle. “Ember, this isn’t the time for your stupid speeches.”

Flair gasps. “I am hurt! This is absolutely the time for—”

Dr. Wing cackled over the comms as his massive shoulder-mounted cannon whirled into action. Twelve barrels, spinning at five hundred rotations per minute, ready to spit death and fire. “She lives!” Wing declared. “And also, now is totally the time for bullshit speeches. Not like we’re gonna have time later.”

Chaput sighed. “Death is a preferable alternative to your banter…”

“We’re almost to the top!” Dovetail barked. “Remember the damn plan. Flair is going after Blueblood. I’m going after the bomb with Dr. Wing. And Chaput can fight the insane asshole.”

“Dmitri,” Chaput said.

“Yeah, him,” Dovetail replied dismissively.

“Works for me!” Wing replied.

Up above them, the klaxon blared once again. The lights shut off and the ceiling opened up with a mechanical grind.

“Stay in tight formation, don’t attract attention, and fly fast!” Dovetail said. “On three. One, two, thr—”

Dr. Wing leapt into the air with Flair close on his hooves. A moment later, Chaput followed. Dovetail gritted her teeth. “Dumbasses.”

In an instant, her suit’s jets flared and she took to the sky. Her wings, covered in impossibly thin armor, flapped in the wind, but it was the jets on her back that provided the thrust. The night sky flickered and became green as her night vision automatically calibrated itself. Explosions ripped along the ground and the sides of the castle in impressively high definition. Up above the castle floated the griffon airship. Troops flew around in patrols, keeping it safe from pegasus attack. Or so they thought.

“There is an access hatch on the port side, third level,” Chaput’s accent chirped in her ear. A red marker appeared on her HUD. “I have marked the location. From there, we will be able to access the brig, the hold, and the deck. Blueblood will almost certainly be in the brig. The bomb is in the hold. And Dmitri is, if anything, predictable. He will be on the deck, watching his ‘glorious plan’ unfold. I will direct us once we arrive.”

“Gotcha,” Flair said back. “Hey, Wing. We won’t show up on their radar, will we?”

“C’mon, Ember! What would your mother say if she learned you had that much faith in me?” The scientist laughed. “The anti-radar bullshit field came out with the initial prototype. They won’t know what hit them until we shoot holes in the back of their heads.”

“Perfect,” Flair responded.

“What about the radio signals?” Chaput asks. “Will they hear your constant chatter?”

“Aww, that’s cute. Our sneaky Chaput wants to be super sneaky,” Wing said. “But there’s nothing to worry about. We’re raindrops in an ocean. They won’t hear a thing, my super sneaky Chaput.”

Chaput grunted and they flew onward in silence.

Moments later, half of the castle was ripped open by a massive explosion. Fire blew out of the windows and doors. Screams came in through the suit’s speakers. The attack team could see ponies and griffons on the ground crushed by falling rubble. In the distance, the Elements of Harmony continued their defense against the wendigo assault. Dovetail gasped. “Holy Tartarus…”

Chaput grunted. “Ignore it. We can’t change anything about what happens below. Concentrate on the mission.”

“Sweet Celestia,” Ember breathed. “What did they do??”

“We’ll find out later,” Wing answered, voice missing all of its usual wit. “As much as I’d love to fly back, Super Sneaky Chaput is right. We’ll deal with them after.”

“And kick their bucking faces in,” Flair muttered.

“Yeah. But first, the ones in the sky.” Wing’s cannon whirred again.

The airship grew larger and larger as they approached. Metal armor, access hatches, mounted weapons… It was a feat of engineering. And they were going to take it out with four troops.

“That the hatch, Chaput?” Dovetail asks as she looked toward the entranceway marked on her HUD.

“Yes. Let me open it.” Chaput flapped his wings twice and grabbed onto the side of the ship. He flipped open a panel beside the hatch to reveal a keypad. With a few deft button punches, he entered the code and the hatch popped open to reveal a maintenance crawlspace. “It’s a tight squeeze. Hope you all don’t mind getting cozy.”

“Not at all,” Dovetail replied as she squeezed in behind him. “Not. At. All.”

The four of them slipped inside and shut the hatch behind them. Just after they did, another explosion ripped through the castle…

~~~

Princess Celestia. Queen of the Day. Ruler of Equestria. Protector of her children, her ponies. Only a few times in the country’s history had she ever taken the time to put herself into perspective. She was not a goddess like some might think. Immortality does not mean invincibility, but it also does not mean irreplaceability. If she died, life would go on so long as she gave her life to save her little ponies.

And today, like those few other times, she knew that she could very well die.

Her castle had fallen. The east wing had been destroyed by a changeling suicide bomber. Dmitri’s troops had taken the entryway. Her Royal Guard were trying to hold position, but it was a losing battle.

They will die, and they will die proud. Just as they should.

Her lips pursed tightly. Chrysalis had shown her hand too early. If she had waited only a while longer, the threat of the Griffon airship and the Windigo troops would have forced Celestia to action. But now, she knew her target. She could practically taste it.

“Really?” a familiar, far too familiar, voice hissed through the halls of her falling castle. “Your kingdom falls, your ponies are dying, and an ancient enemy is returning. And yet, the great ruler herself prioritizes little old me. I should be flattered, should I not?” Chrysalis cackles. “But you are playing my game now, Celestia. This is my turf. I have lived for so many years without power, without my family. You have known nothing but luxury and might. You have never had to face the death of everything you know and love. Until now…” Again, she laughs. The twisted sound echoes, cutting past the ring of death and fire that consumed Celestia’s whole world. “How does it feel, Princess? To experience the pain you and yours caused me and mine to endure for twenty years?”

Celestia breathed in. She took a step forward. Breathe out. Another step forward.

“The silent treatment? I have raised dozens of daughters, so I have experienced this before. But I never expected it from you.”

The princess slowly opened the door to the Royal Quarters. Of course Chrysalis would take residence in the rooms that Celestia considered personal and close. She expected nothing different from her.

“Very well. If we are not going to talk, then I have no use for you. Your time is over. Mine has only begun.”

Celestia stepped into her sitting room. Beautiful paintings, elegant furniture, and ancient suits of armor filled the room. The princess allowed herself a small snort. There were far too many suits of armor in here…

“Goodbye, Celestia. It was so fun catching up with you again.”

The suits of armor slowly turned to face the Princess. Their skin warped and stretched to reveal seven changelings with spears forged from sharpened obsidian. They raised their weapons at her and shrieked.

Celestia cracked her neck and her flaming blade sprang into motion, propelled by what little magic she could still muster through the magical suppression.

The first changeling leapt at her. With a single flap of her wings, she swooped to the side, knocking over an armchair as she did. Her sword slashed upward and impaled him through the chest despite his armor. He let out a squeaking groan and then fell still. The alicorn’s sword ripped upward, slicing him in half as Celestia readied it for the next targets.

They did not disappoint. Three of them flew at her in tandem. One from the left. Two from above. Their spears gleamed in the firelight, obviously tipped with some poison or another. It was irrelevant. They would not touch her.

Celestia ducked to the ground and allowed her sword to dash to the side. It sliced through the spears of the two higher changelings. Their gasps of surprise turned to cries of pain as she slashed their legs off at the knees.

Swiftly, the third stabbed downward. Celestia slapped his spear away with a hoof and stomped him to the ground. Slight pressure. The crack of a neck.

Her blade swung down and ended the two crippled changelings on the ground. She turned to the final three.

They put up even less of a fight. Her blade finished them with brutal efficiency, and Celestia allowed the weapon to hover next to their corpses.

“So. Perhaps there is more to you than—”

“You will die before this night is done,” Celestia interrupted. “Your children will die. Your people will be forgotten. Your name will be like ash in the mouths of the races who survive. There will never be another Changeling queen. I will hunt them all down and relieve their bodies from the burden of being attached to their disgusting heads. We were merciful last time. Never again.”

“...You could have just said you were angry. That would have worked just as well.”

“I am not angry,” Celestia replied quietly. “Not in the slightest.”

“Really? Then what are you?”

The princess stepped forward, crushing the skull of one of the changeling soldiers. “I am Celestia. And you are going to die.”

A moment later, she threw open the door to her own quarters. Her entire room was covered in green webbing. Changelings, small and large, male and female, filled the entire chamber They chittered and snapped at the alicorn, frothing at the mouth. Her bed and furniture were all thrown haphazardly against the far wall. And in the middle of it all was a simple green throne, filled by none other than Queen Chrysalis. She smiled as the princess approached.

“Hello, Celestia. Let us finish this.”

Author's Note

So. Almost two years later...

This story is not dead. Over the next month, I will be wrapping up the fic one scene at a time. Updates will be slightly sporadic, but I will not allow such a long gap to occur again. The end is approaching, and I am excited to finish what began so long ago. Thank you, everyone, from the bottom of my heart. I am sorry for making you all wait so long.

~Doccular

Act I: Prologue

Her Knight in Faded Armor

Act I

Luna stepped slowly down the darkened metal corridor. The scent of gun smoke and spilled oil filled her nostrils, and the din of distant battle beat on her eardrums. The corridor itself was covered in shadow, and Luna could barely make out the doorways to her left and right. Rubble from battles both ancient and recent blocked her way, and the Princess had to watch her step to make sure that she didn’t fall. But Luna ignored all of that. None of it mattered. All that mattered was the distant light at the end of the hallway.

“Okay,” she whispered to the pony following closely behind her, “I’m going to check the scope.” Luna stopped walking forward, and her partner, an earth pony stallion, nodded and stood beside her.

Luna flipped down one of the three scopes attached to the helmet that covered her head. The object slipped into place with a nearly silent whir, and Luna surveyed her destination.

The end of the hallway was brighter than the rest of the corridor. Luna zoomed in closer, and she could make out a Level Twelve control panel on the door as well as the telltale markers of laser traps all around the end of the passage. And, if she was not mistaken, there was also a trap door going downward, and several other doorways that could be filled by any number of fearsome guard creatures.

“Trap?” her companion asked.

“Trap,” she confirmed, her words clipped as she concentrated on the other end of the corridor.

Luna flipped her scope back out of her face and mentally sent a signal to the sniper rifle mounted on her back, above and to the right of her left wing. It hissed slightly as it activated, and the muzzle and scope attached to the rifle extended out past her face, ready for action. She slapped a button on her foreleg, and her chaos shields powered up, her dark purple robes shimmering with a green light as the twisting magic enveloped her. She sent another thought-command, this one to her other shields. A second layer of blue energy activated, covering the chaos magic with a blue field.

“We’re going loud?” the stallion asked.

“Not yet,” she whispered. “You pull, and I’ll cover you. Get whatever enemies that you can to come out of their holes, and then I’ll portal you out.” She turned to face her fellow soldier.

The stallion stood tall, clothed in a dull grey suit of armor that Luna knew could glow a brilliant azure at a single thought-command from the cybernetic warrior. His face was covered by a visor, but she knew the face behind it well. On his back was one of the universal combat kits given to every Splinter soldier, which mounted his weapons and his propulsion pack. Engraved onto the front of his armor was his name, Faded Shield.

“You got it,” Fade said. “But let’s try not to make this a replay of Magnum III, eh?”

Luna laughed quietly. “Hush. You know that was an accident, and I actually know how these portals work now.”

“I’m just sayin’...”

“Ah, just go, okay?”

The stallion laughed softly, and Luna had only a moment to see his armor power on before he shimmered out of view when his cloak activated. She switched to a different visor mode, and her combat HUD appeared.

In the upper left corner of her view, Luna could see statistics for the battle. Most of the rest of her forces were outside, engaging the enemies, or trying to find a way into the complex in which Luna now stood. She and Fade had fought through countless mechs and several mantiborgs to make it this far. She could see the blinking icons representing her allies and the foes they had identified, while in the upper right, her vital signs and weapon info were displayed. Everything was in the green, both shield layers were up, her portals were charged, and her rifle was full up on ammunition.

Perfect.

She could see Fade’s outline speed silently toward the end of the hallway. She smiled. Fade might have his quirks, but he knew how to utilize synergy. His particular blend of speed and stealth made him a very flexible warrior, and that complemented her skills perfectly.

“I’m in position,” he whispered through the com. “Count?”

“Three,” Luna said softly. “Two.” She gritted her teeth and connected herself to a nearby chaos node. “One.” She powered up her spellblade and braced herself. “Go.”

Fade suddenly blinked out of stealth and slammed a hoof onto one of the doors on the side of the hallway. Immediately, it opened up, and a large metallic wolf jumped out at him.

“Ironbark Timberwolves!” Fade shouted as his implants charged. He lashed out, hoof glowing with silver light. The wolf snarled and tried to jump back, but Fade was too fast. His blow caught the wolf on the head, melting the metal on its face and crumpling its snout into a molten heap. The creature howled in pain.

Luna locked onto her foe with her sniper scope and sent a single round down the corridor. Her bullet whizzed past Fade and hit her target with surgical precision. The snarling monster felt to the ground, his command circuits destroyed.

Three more doors opened, and more wolves leapt out of them.

“Portal, now!” Fade yelled. He backpedaled towards Luna as quickly as he could.

Luna released the chaos energy she had pooled and ripped open the fabric of space and time. A green streak appeared in the air beside her, and a matching one burst into existence behind Fade. The streak expanded into another dimension, and Luna could see Fade through the portal beside her. He rushed into the hole in the air and reappeared right next to her.

“Light them up!” Luna shouted. Her portals slammed shut, and her rifle clicked into burst mode.

Fade’s own submachine guns sprang out of his combat kit, and he glowed with blue power as he opened fire with both guns. At the other end of the hallway, the air shimmered, and the creatures leaping at them slowed to a crawl. The creatures wafted lazily toward the floor once the skill became active, for their bodies now obeyed Fade’s applied rules of physics.

Luna knew they had moments before Fade’s distortion field wore off. She chose her targets carefully, and her rifle fired off several bursts in quick succession. When the rounds passed into the field, they slowed, and Luna could see the air around them being corrupted by the chaos with which she had infused her bullets.

“Field down in three… two… one!” Fade shouted in the final, thrilling seconds before his ability would end. Shots furiously leapt from the stallion’s machine guns in those moments, and his armor clung to its evaporating glow.

The silver energy dissipated, and the wolves returned to full speed, but it was too late. The dozens of bullets that had been slowed by the field returned to full speed, and, with that single volley, the wolves all fell. Some were blasted into pure magic by the energy-infused rounds from one of Fade’s guns. Some transformed into flowers and strawberry milkshakes and fell to the floor, transmuted by Luna’s bolts of pure chaos. Others burst into Code and flew toward Fade, who absorbed their energy with a grin.

“Well, that was easy.” Fade cracked his neck and allowed his guns to return to their non-combat mode.

“Far too easy.” Luna kept her own rifle at the ready. “The trap must be bad.”

“Well, you’re the Hacker. You go first!” Fade bowed facetiously.

“Oh, hardy-har,” Luna replied. “The brave warrior gallantly sends his female companion out toward potentially lethal danger in front of him. My hero.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Fade waved his hooves in front of him. “When you put it that way… you should definitely go first.”

Luna laughed. “Fine. But you’re buying the first round when we get back to base.”

“Sounds good to me!” Fade said. “So long as we get out in one piece, huh?”

“Well, that’s the plan, isn’t it?” Luna cautiously approached the door. As she neared it, her HUD flashed out a warning light.

“Yep, traps. Lots of them,” Fade said. “I’ll get to work on disabling them if you can go through to start opening the door.”

“Can do.” Luna took to the air. Her wings flapped softly, assisted by the antigrav module attached to her pack. She glided along the ceiling until she came to a laser emitter. She raised her arm and glanced at her display panel. She sent a command to the internal computer, and, after a moment, a page showing various traps and components appeared. She studied it for a moment. “Looks like a C45 trap, Fade.”

A muted click came from below, and Fade’s voice chimed in her ear. “Aw, crap.”

Luna glanced back down to see Fade standing on a glowing panel on the ground. “You didn’t…” she began.

He chuckled nervously. “Heh, oops.”

A red light popped out of the wall above the door and started flashing. A siren sounded, and huge blast doors started closing over the doorway with the panel as well as behind them.

“Ponyfeathers!” Luna swore. She ignored the laser emitters and flew toward the door, trying to get there before the blast doors covered the control panel.

When she flew through the lasers, autocannons popped out of the ceiling and opened fire on both of the soldiers.

“I’ll keep them off you!” Fade shouted. He activated his jetpack and flew directly upward, placing himself between Luna and the incoming projectiles, and opened fire with both guns.

Luna arrived at the panel as quickly as she could, but the blast doors were almost shut. She cursed and raised her right hoof. She prepped one of the many gadgets strapped to her arm and punched the door. White and blue lightning arced through the metal, and the blast doors slowed. They didn’t stop, however, and Luna knew she didn’t have much time.

Pulling out a set of tools from her belt, she got to work on the control panel. She heard explosions and grunts behind her.

“Shields are at fifty percent! I’ve got two cannons down, but I think they have repair bots!”

Luna swore once again when she heard the words. “Code them! Rewrite the repair abilities to destabilize the internals!”

“I’ll try. I used most of my stored Code on the Wolves, so...”

“Just do it, and—” Luna’s reply was cut off by a surge of power from the control panel. “The damned trap is fighting back!”

“What the hell is going on?” Fade asked. “I’ve never seen anything like this!”

Luna groaned in frustration. Her tools were shorted out by the energy, and there was nothing she could do to stop the blast doors.

Luna turned back just in time to see a brilliant golden light arc out from Fade toward the turrets. The light enveloped them, and then flashed back out of corporeality. The cannons fired for a second longer, but then started smoking.

“Good job!” Luna shouted.

“How’s the door going?” Fade yelled over the sound of the cannons exploding.

“We’ll see in a second. I’m about to try something… unorthodox.”

The doors were right at the control panel. Even a few seconds longer, and Luna would have no access, and the entire mission would be a bust. Luna closed her eyes and once more reached out for the nearby chaos node.

Power colored purple, green, blue, and a hue that Luna couldn’t quite identify swirled around her front left hoof. The chaos formed a semi-coherent blade, and with an angry cry, she rammed it into the control panel and released her hold on the chaotic magic.

“Gah!” Luna was thrown backward by an explosion of many colors. The panel crackled and shook. Luna landed on the ground next to Fade, and quickly returned to her hooves to see—

The blast doors closing. “Drat. I thought that would work,” Luna grumbled.

“Because stabbing things always works, eh? That’s kinda your MO, Mem,” Fade replied, using his nickname for Luna.

“Oh, shut up.” Luna sighed and sat down. She brushed the dirt and dust off the front of her lightly armored robes. Her shields and chaos barrier came down, and her hoof brushed lightly against her identity nameplate. As the dust and debris fell off her, she could see the name etched into the chestpiece.

Memory Mirror.

“Well, it was a good try. Maybe we can go again tomorrow evening? We were really close this ti—”

“Wait.” Luna stood up suddenly. “Do you see that?”

The blast doors before and behind them shook to spark-inducing energy that pulsed through the metal slabs. “Well, this is different.” Fade reactivated his shields. “I guess we aren’t out of this yet!”

Both ponies slowly trotted up to the shaking barrier. Luna activated one of her visor scopes, and a new display appeared. She could see the technology controlling the door, or, as the case was, not controlling the door.

“Huh. Apparently that blend of chaos magic managed to turn the internal components of the blast door into confetti and bananas.”

“Bananas?” Fade asked. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.” Luna trotted all the way up to the door until she was right against it. She pressed an ear up to it and smiled. “I think we may be able to try some more... primitive structural reconfiguration. Would you like to do the honors?”

Luna could barely make out a lopsided grin on Fade’s face through his nearly transparent visor. “Sure thing, Mem.”

He turned to face away from the door and his cybernetic augmentation activated. With a mighty bellow, Fade bucked backward with both legs.

Weakened by the chaotic entropy spell swirling around within its controls, the unenhanced metal of the door was no match for Fade’s strength. It cracked cleanly in two, and the ponies were able to pry the doors away to reveal the main entrance.

“Okay. So now we just have to get this one open,” Fade chirped gleefully.

“Just don’t step on any more buttons, okay?” Luna smirked beneath her helmet.

“Hey!” Fade exclaimed. “If you hadn’t noticed, the entire floor is made of triggers! Stepping anywhere would have dropped the doors, and if I had flown through, we would have tripped the lasers. Those probably would have closed the doors too! Add that to the whole ambush thing, and I’d say that this was supposed to be a jerk of a trap.”

Luna shrugged. “Still. Don’t step on any more buttons.”

Fade grumbled and kicked the smoking remains of a turret.

Luna tossed her hacking tools over to him. “Mind using Reconstruct?”

Catching the tools out of the air, Fade grumbled a reply. “Fine.”

Fade held the tools in his hoof for a moment. Gold light flashed, and Fade tossed the fully repaired tools back to her.

“Thanks.”

“‘Don’t touch any buttons,’” Fade mimicked.

“I’ll take that as a, ‘You’re welcome,’” Luna said with a giggle.

After a few moments of work on the door, it opened up, revealing a small room with controls on the back wall.

“An elevator?” Luna asked. “Huh.”

“Aw, man. Elevators are bad. Something nasty is definitely gonna be waiting for us at the bottom.”

Luna smirked. “Hey, you don’t know that! There could be a symphony awaiting us at the top of a magical tower!”

“Nope.” Fade shook his head. “This fight is gonna be nasty.”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Luna agreed. “Are you all charged?”

Luna checked her own display. Her chaos energy was at maximum capacity, her shields were prepped, and her ammo was almost completely full. She slapped another magazine into her rifle and checked her emergency blasters, which were thankfully at one hundred percent charge.

“Yeah, I’m good. Reconstruct is on cooldown, but I should only need that if my shields are down and I start taking armor damage.”

“Okay then. Ready to face the darkness at the end of the tunnel?” Luna asked.

“Urgh, this is not going to be pretty.” Fade winced under his helmet.

“All right. Let’s go!” she said, deliberately ignoring Fade’s protest.

Luna and Fade stepped into the elevator and pressed the only button on the panel. Immediately, the two of them shot downward through the elevator shaft.

“Told you.” Fade poked her with his hoof.

Luna swatted him away. “Hush. This is serious business.”

Fade chuckled. “Okay, okay.”

After a few moments, the elevator slowed to a stop. The doors opened up, and the two ponies walked into a darkened room.

Glimmering magical torches were the only sources of light. The room was shaped like a dome with a large table and a single chair in the middle, while tapestries adorned the walls. Luna couldn’t make out any other doorways, which meant they were stuck in here until...

“Oh, it iss sso good to sssee new friendsss…” a voice hissed from the shadows.

The elevator behind them closed, and Luna could hear it shoot back up the shaft.

“Damn.” Fade activated his armor. “Damn.” His machine guns activated, and Luna could sense him drawing upon his Code reserves. “Damn, damn, damn. I freaking called it.”

“Come out and face us!” Luna declared. She raised her hoof, and her chaos blade sprang to life.

“Oh, why would I do that and ruin all of thiss deliciousss fun?” Something in the shadows fell over with a loud crash.

“Fine. Have it your way.” Luna closed her eyes and summoned the fire within her. The power of the long lost Princess Celestia flowed through her, and all the tapestries in the room, as well as the table and chair, burst into brilliant white flames.

“Ssso. The Princessesss ssend championss to face me once more…” The light filled the room and illuminated a being standing with its back turned to Luna and Fade. He stood as tall as a draconequus, though he did not possess such a chaotic form. He was clad in flowing black robes, and he held in his clawed hands an enormous halberd. The being turned to face them, and Luna gasped in shock.

His face was shaped much like a dragon’s, but elongated and distorted. His green scales glimmered in the light, and his orange eyes gleamed. But most shocking was the black mass covering the left side of his face. The sticky goo throbbed and pulsed, and it seemed to absorb the light from the fires.

“Are you ssurprised? Your foe, a mere dragon.” The being laughed. “And not even one of your own—” he spat the word “—sspecial dragonss. You all left me here. Abandoned me.” The creature lowered his halberd at Fade, and Luna noticed too late that the end of the weapon was a shotgun.

Fade yelped and blinked out of existence. He reappeared on the other side of Luna as the blast from the shotgun tore into the part of the wall behind where Fade had just been standing.

“Was I not worthy of ssaving!?” The dragon screeched. He dropped to all four limbs and skittered toward Luna.

Luna leapt into the air, as did Fade. The two flew to the center of the room, directly above the flaming table.

“Did you think that I would perish, while you all ssurvived?” The creature screamed, and shadows took physical form all around the room.

“I’ll handle the mobs!” Fade shouted, flying at the newly appeared foes.

“But I lived! I always live!” The dragon leapt at Luna. Long, twisted wings emerged from his robes, and he flew up to meet her.

Luna rolled through the air to the left, barely dodging the first strike of the dragon’s halberd. She glanced down quickly to see where her partner was.

Fade was completely surrounded by enemies, but his movements remained completely confident. His armor was fully activated, his guns were set to autofire, and he lashed out in every direction with cybernetically enhanced limbs. He blocked blows and dematerialized shadows, but more kept coming.

Luna had no more time to look. She turned back to face the dragon once more. He flew toward her, his mouth forming an enraged snarl.

“It never killed me! It made me greater, greater than you sshall ever be!” He swung his massive weapon at her, and Luna raised her chaos blade to meet it.

The weapons clashed, and sparks flew through the smoky air. The dragon leaned in close toward Luna and snapped at her with his fangs.

Luna yelped and disengaged. She flew backward and drew her blasters. She fired off several shots at the enemy, which he dodged. He turned his own weapon to bear, and Luna barely moved out of the way of the destructive blast.

“Can’t you see? Equestria is ours now! Not yours! Never yours!”

“Does he ever shut up?” Fade asked. Luna heard the sound of his rifle fire joining the submachine guns. Shadow after shadow fell, more still rose to take their place.

“I don’t believe so,” Luna replied. She gritted her teeth and flew at her foe. Her chaos blades blazed into existence again, and she slashed at his chest.

The blade missed, and the dragon raised his halberd once more. Luna smirked. She knew exactly what to do this time.

The halberd fired, and Luna’s chaos magic reacted instantly. A portal opened up directly in front of her, and another appeared right behind her foe. The blast from the shotgun traveled through the portal and struck the great monster in his own back. The beast howled in pain, and Luna leapt forward with her blades once more.

“I will— Gah!” Luna’s blade cut deeply into him, and his blood sprayed out across her robes.

“Good hit!” Fade cheered.

Luna turned to finish the job, but as she raised her sword, the dragon smiled. “Not thiss time…”

In a flash, he disappeared. The shadows evaporated, and light flooded the room. The fires and torches all went out.

“What the hay?” Fade asked. “Huh? That was the lamest boss battle!”

“It’s not over…” Luna whispered.

A cackling that Luna recognized as belonging to the draconic foe filled the room. “Let’ss ssee how the championss fare in a different kind of fight…”

From the ceiling emerged several large pipes. Luna gasped, and the pipes started pumping in glowing green liquid.

“Corruption!” Fade shouted. He launched into the air, Luna joining him. “We need to stop it!”

Before she could reply, Luna jerked sideways and flew up against the wall. She then hovered there and stopped moving.

“Memory!” Fade yelled. “What are you doing?”

Luna did not respond to him, but instead gazed off at the opposite wall.

“Oh, ponyfeathers.” Fade flew up to the ceiling and recalibrated his generators, directing them to focus his shield over the pipes. He managed to block three of them, but he didn’t have the energy to cover any others. Luna still floated in the air, unmoving.

“Gah!” Fade shouted. The liquid was filling the room. He teleported himself next to Luna, grabbed her, and carried her up to the top of the room. Despite the flow of the substance being slowed, the room was already half-filled with the vile green slime. “Memory, wake up!”

Luna didn’t move.

Fade fired off his weapons at the pipes, but it had no effect.

Luna stayed immobile.

He tried to use his tech abilities on the pipes, but he couldn’t do anything.

Luna was still.

The liquid level rose and rose, and Fade could do nothing. He screamed as the level rose up and touched his foot. His vision flashed a violent red as the pure corruption filled him, and he lost control of his body and fell into the goo.

Luna fell with him.

Fade had only a moment to see Luna’s limp body be consumed by the green toxin before the destructive power filled his body.

The last thing he saw was the blank expression on her face.

~~~

Luna groaned as she slammed a hoof down on her desk next to her keyboard. Her headset was slightly ajar, and her sitting form was comfortably wrapped up in a blanket. Next to her sat a small table holding several sugary drinks and confections of varying levels of healthiness— mostly on the wrong side, according to the palace nutritionist.

“Come on… Function as designed, you blasted machine!” She shouted at her computer, which, at the moment, was locked up. Her four-monitor setup displayed the last image that had appeared when the computer was actually working.

One screen showed her character standing inside the room in which she had just been fighting. The subtitled text of the words of her dragon foe still floated on the screen. The next screen displayed all of her cooldowns as well as her damage and resistance statistics. It also contained the in-game chat, map, and combat die roll log. The next screen showed her internet phone call with Fade as well as their chat log. The last window was set on the game wiki page that held all the currently known information about the new raid that they were attempting.

Luna groaned and allowed her head to hit the desk. “I must be dead by now,” she muttered.

A static noise sounded in her headphones, and, after a moment, she could make out a voice calling out to her.

“—emory! Memory? Hellooooo? Are you there?” her partner asked loudly in the call. Luna sighed with relief.

“I’m here, Fade.”

“Oh, good. I thought something happened to your connection and that you’d totally crashed or something.” Fade laughed into his microphone.

Luna shook her head, even though Fade couldn’t see her. “Not my connection. My computer completely froze up. I still can’t do anything. What happened? Did we w—”

Just then, her computer returned to its normal operating mode. Her character flashed silver, and the in-game world went grayscale. The ever-so unhelpful text box appeared, cheerfully displaying the words, “You are dead.”

“Oh. Nevermind,” she said.

“Yeah… three hours of work. All for nothing.” Luna heard Fade sigh. “But hey, I just wanted to let you know that we were killed by corruption goop coming from the ceiling. There probably wasn’t anything that either of us could have done, even working together.”

“Corruption goop?” Luna asked. “Ugh. I should have known that they’d throw in a class specific part to the raid!” She shook her head and her mouth twisted into a grimace. “Only an Alchemist could have transmuted that.”

“Or, if we’d had more tech, we could have shielded the pipes in time to track the dragon down,” Fade added. “But yeah, an Alchemist would have helped.”

“Well, the update did make Alchemists more viable in the end-game. I guess this is their way of ‘encouraging’ players to use the flavor of the month.”

“Eww.” Fade snorted. “See, that stinks. Now we can’t just duo the boss like we usually do! We’ll have to grab a third for our runs of that quest.”

Luna levitated one of her drinks to her mouth and took a sip. “Indeed,” she replied after swallowing. “Oh well. No use complaining about it. At least it’s an update, after all.” She clicked on the button on her screen labeled, ‘Return to Base’ Her screen immediately displayed a loading bar and showed a picture of the map of Equus as portrayed by the game.

“Yeah, but this one just feels like a placeholder.” Fade sighed in Luna’s earphones. “The next update is the big one. I mean, Batponies? A fully mechanical race? Whatever that new mage class is? And the ‘Favored by Luna’ perk tree all coming out at the same time? It’ll be sweet!”

Luna chuckled nervously, though with a bit of a smile as she thought of when the developers had asked her for the use of her name, not knowing that she played their game. “Yeah, that’ll be great…”

“You don’t sound so thrilled,” Fade commented. “Something up?”

She sighed. “Fade, sometimes I think you’re too observant for your own good.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” The smug voice laughed, but then paused. “Wait, what does that mean?”

Luna giggled. “Oh, nothing.” She stretched back and yawned. “So, what did you think of the raid?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. It was cool at first with the massive battle outside. But the corridor part? It was… weird. The traps were way different than usual, but it was still easy. Too easy. I feel like it’s missing something. Or maybe we were missing something. I dunno. And that boss fight was really wimpy.”

Smirking, Luna replied, “Oh, really? Mr. ‘This is gonna be bad, I’m calling it now’ says that the boss fight was too easy. Interesting.”

“Aww, I thought you forgot about that. But seriously though, did you even take any health damage in the last fight against him? He kinda just monologued and made a few half-hearted attacks.”

Luna thought for a second. “Actually, with all the defense buffs I had on, my dodge chance was so high that I didn’t even take any shield damage.”

“See, there’s something up. That can’t have been the boss fight. There must be a chase scene or something after that fight, and then there’s the boss. There’s no way we’re that overpowered.”

“Oh, I agree. We’ll just have to get back to it and try again.” Luna sipped her drink again. Her screen returned back to the grayscale image, and her character stood right back where she had started. A new text box appeared, and Luna quickly read it. “Oh, horseapples!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I forgot about the whole ‘No respawns out of a new raid within the first day of release’ policy.” Luna groaned. “We have to wait an hour or until the raid is over to respawn back at base.”

“Aww, I forgot too… That means we’re stuck here for a while…”

Luna pursed her lips and adjusted her headphones. “I guess so… or, we could just hop onto some alts and farm for a bit!”

Laughter rang in her ears. “Ah, Memory. You and your farming.”

“Is that a yes I hear?” Luna smirked.

“Actually,” Fade began, “I think I may need to hit the sack. It’s four in the morning, Mem. I’m running the lunch and evening shifts tomorrow at the club.”

Luna’s grin faltered. Fade worked a lot, and she often lost track of the time when the two of them played. “Oh, okay.”

“But I’ll be back tomorrow evening, and maybe we can retry the raid then!” Fade’s voice was more chipper now.

“Sure!” Luna replied. “Have a good night’s sleep!”

“You too, Mem. Say hello to your sister for me!” Fade said.

Once again, Luna felt her smile twitch. Fade knew she had a sister, but he didn’t know who exactly her sister was… “Okay, can do!”

“All righty then. G’night!”

The call ended, and Fade’s chat icon went red as he signed out for the evening. Luna sighed and exited to the main menu.

“Well, I guess it’s just you and me, game…” she said quietly. She browsed through her home page and looked over her characters.

At the very top was her main character, Memory Mirror. Memory was a pegasus Hacker, and beside her name and class were three icons that Luna knew meant she had training as a Chaos Mage and a Spellsword. The third icon showed that she was also a Chosen of Celestia, one of the most difficult perks to earn in-game.

Luna browsed through her list of alternate characters, but she didn’t really feel like playing any of them. Her eyes drifted down to the bottom of the screen, and a glowing button caught her eye. She smiled lopsidedly and clicked on it.

New Character.

The screen transitioned to a dark background, and a text window appeared. “Play intro cinematic?” Luna read aloud. “Eh, why not?” She pressed the yes button. The screen went dark, and Luna cozied up in her blanket.

“Equestria was beautiful once.”

The sound of a distant drum resonated in her earphones as a mare whispered in a voice filled with longing.

“Peaceful.”

The screen slowly brightened and the drum hit again.

“Safe.”

A cello began to play a single haunted note. The slow drumbeat continued.

“They say that you could walk outside unshielded.”

The screen continued to become brighter, and Luna could just barely make out what looked like the skyline of an enormous city.

“They say that foals could play under the sky.”

The screen now showed the beautiful city glowing in the sun. Luna smiled as she looked at the beautifully rendered, three-dimensional image. She could see towers and spires, castles and schools, and even the palace itself. She recognized it as an artist’s interpretation of Canterlot in the far future.

“They say that magic wasn’t our enemy, so long ago.”

The background behind the city grew brighter and brighter. The music swelled with the drums, growing in intensity. Violins joined the cello, and her screen became completely white. The brilliant light stayed for a moment, and the music suddenly stopped.

“But not any more.”

The music returned to her earphones with a vengeance. Electronic instruments joined the strings, and the city reappeared on the screen. This time, it was in ruins. The sun was blocked out by a red sky, and the beauty had made way for destruction. The scene changed once more, and the beautiful city of the past returned to Luna’s screen.

“For thousands of years, the four Princesses ruled peacefully. Equestria was a shining jewel of culture. The world was at peace. Science and magic advanced the lives of all beings, and Princess Celestia and her ponies led the way.”

The music calmed down, and Luna saw foals playing in the streets of the city. Carts flew in the air with enclosures for the passengers. Ponies laughed as they passed each other on the street.

“But, as with all things, it did not last.

The scene cut to a shadow of a pony in a lab coat laughing while a magical orb sparkled in front of them.

“A single scientist, driven mad by magic, ripped the fabric of magic itself. She changed its very nature.”

The music grew in intensity. Back at the city, the sky became orange, and the ponies on the street gasped.

“What had once helped life now threatened to destroy it. Magic lost all of its rules. If a being could think it, it could happen. And magic made it happen.”

The ground opened up as an earthquake split the street in two. Some ponies fell into the fissures, and others ran away for their lives. Lightning struck the ground and lit fires in the city.

“The Princesses tried to stop it.”

Luna grimaced at this part. The screen showed four ponies standing on a tower silhouetted against a red sun. She recognized them immediately, of course. Magic surrounded the four ponies, shooting out of all of them and meeting to form a single ray. The beam of energy lanced out at the sun.

“They failed.”

The ray sparkled, fizzled, and stopped. Suddenly, it reappeared glowing an impossible shade of crimson. It shot back at the ponies, and the four Princesses fell to the floor of the tower.

“But hope was not lost. Magic may have failed them, but they had one final option.”

The tower and the Princesses faded. The music rose to a crescendo, and a new image appeared on the screen.

Spaceships. Rows and rows of shining spaceships filled the screen. Ponies ran to and fro, boarding the hulking mechanical behemoths.

“If magic could not save them, then science would. The Princesses made a plan. Manipulating the new magic that changed dreams into reality, they made a fleet of ships to take their ponies to the stars.”

The ships took off into the red sky. Luna could see the faces of ponies, griffons, minotaurs, and many other beings pushed up against the windows on the sides of the ships.

“The Princesses would stay behind. They thought they could fix the world, but they needed time.”

As the ships cleared the atmosphere, the music rose to even greater heights. The violins cried out and the bass rumbled. The view turned to see Equus as a violet shield rose to cover the entire planet.

“They sent the ships and their precious cargo out into space where the new magic could no longer harm them.”

Drifting off into deeper space, the ships slowly faded into the distance and the view turned back to the now-shielded Equus.

“For a thousand years, the planet lay silent. The survivors stayed in their ships. They grew food, mined asteroids, had children… and they passed the mantle to their descendants. Generation after generation rose and fell, and the planet waited.”

The screen turned black, and the music slowly faded.

“It waited… for their Return.”

A silver word appeared on the screen, accompanied by a final note from the symphony.

Return.

Luna nodded to herself and smiled. The character creation screen appeared next, and the princess leaned back in her chair. She stretched out and yawned. Turning back to the computer, she pressed several buttons.

“Well, let’s see how Alchemists work now, shall we?”

Interlude I: Blood

Father Dmitri Kvorof always preferred his meat raw. There was something about the feeling of ripping into the flesh that was lost after the food was cooked. Was it the change in flavor that got him… or the smell? Perhaps the appearance? Father Dmitri shook his head and smiled. No, if he believed any of those reasons, he would be lying to himself.

Obviously, it was the blood that he loved the most.

The golden griffon held a hunk of flesh in a talon and examined it. The beautiful lines of the muscle enchanted him, captivated him, held power over him. Of course, the wonderful thing about that was that Father Dmitri had the ability to eat the object of his fascination. It simply would not do for something to control him if he did not possess the power to destroy it.

“So, what you are telling me is that you failed,” Father Dmitri said quietly. His eyes never left the meat in his talon. He toyed with it, turning it over and over.

“Yes, Father. I failed you, and I failed the Fatherland.” A single griffon stood in the middle of the enormous throne room. Tapestries, depicting scenes of griffons conquering creatures of all sorts and bowing before one of their kind sitting upon a throne that shone like gold, decorated the towering stone walls. Other beings had gathered beneath the soaring ceiling, and while each had the potential to captivate an audience, this griffon was the center of attention.

Father Dmitri smirked. That throne now belonged to him. “That is unfortunate, Comrade Volov. I sent you on a mission of utmost importance to deliver a confidential message to one of your very own Comrade Generals. And within the hour, you lost the message. This saddens me, Volov. This saddens me greatly.” He continued to twirl the meat in his talons. He never even looked at the other griffon.

“I… I’m sorry, Father. I was attacked and overpowered, and—”

Another griffon flew over to him and covered his back with a wing. She placed a talon over his beak to silence him. “Oh, Volov. You do not need to excuse yourself.”

“I don’t?” Volov asked, confused.

“No! Of course not!” The female griffon smiled at him. “Everygriff makes mistakes, and the blame rests on those who attacked you.”

“You understand?” The soldier’s face brightened and a huge smile crossed his beak. “Oh, thank you!”

“Nah-uh-uh… what?” the female asked. “Oh, we understand, but you shouldn’t be thanking us.”

Father Dmitri’s voice boomed in the cavernous room. “The griffon is the apex predator! The world and nature itself have appointed us to be so! We are greater than any who have come before, higher than any who will come after, and so much more than any others who are. We reign supreme in spirit, and we shall soon reign over all of Equus in truth!”

The ten guards who had escorted Volov into the room as well as the four honorary guards that Father Dmitri aways kept by his side all cheered. Volov shifted uncomfortably.

Father Dmitri stood up on his elevated throne. “We are griffon! We are perfection. And you.” He looked down upon Volov, finally meeting the other griffon’s gaze. “You failed. We do not fail. Tell me, Comrade Volov, are you a griffon?”

Volov shivered. The female griffon circled him, the guards all around looked upon him with disdain, and his Father’s eyes burned with fire. “Yes, Father.”

“And yet you failed… Volov. I cannot call you comrade, for you are not a griffon. And that means that you mean nothing.” He held up the hunk of meat once more. “Comrade Yvonne. Let us eat.” He tossed the hunk of meat into his beak.

With a blood-curdling scream, the female griffon’s beak shot out and ripped the male’s throat open. Blood spurted out of him, covering her feathers. He tried to squawk in his agony, but the action only caused more blood to flow from the jagged slash. The female pecked and clawed at his face. The attack lasted for a minute. In the aftermath, one griffon remained standing over an unmoving corpse. She held a feathery mass in her talon, and, with a cry, she brought the flesh to her beak and ate.

The guards cheered, and Father Dmitri turned to his left. He faced the quaking ponies who leaned up against the side wall. The seven of them were flanked by two guards on either side.

“So, my little ponies, do you understand?”

The ponies nodded furiously.

“This is how we reward failure. This is the price of betrayal. You are all servants in this house now. My house! My home! As such, you will follow my rules.”

The ponies trembled in fear. Most of them were unicorns, but two were earth ponies. Father Dmitri had little use for pegasi as servants, but the winged ponies were still his favorite.

“You will follow all expectations and guidelines. If you do not, you will be punished. You will follow all orders. If you do not, you will be punished. You will labor to the utmost of your abilities and beyond. If you do not, you will be punished.” His eyes flashed. “If you enter an area in which you are not allowed, you will be punished. If you fail at your tasks, you will be punished. If you are discovered to be an Equestrian spy, you will be punished. And, ponies, hear me well.” His voice dropped to a whisper that reverberated through the silent hall. “If this is how I reward my soldiers, how shall I punish you?”

The ponies stood silently.

“And one final thing. The meat I ate? The pegasi who were captured alongside you?” Father Dmitri grinned darkly as realization and horror spread across the ponies’ faces. “Yes. You may go now.”

The guards all left the throne room, leading the new servants to their quarters.

As the door slammed shut, another griffon walked out of the shadows behind the throne and slowly clapped his talons together. “Oh, well done. You frightened yet another group of hapless servants and slew another of my soldiers. Tell me, are we punishing all errors with death now? If so, I’ll have to be extra careful with my spelling whenever I write you letters.”

Father Dmitri gave one of his rare genuine smiles. “Oh, Chaput. You do know how to turn a phrase. How delightful to be graced by your company.”

The female griffon hacked violently several times. She leaned over and coughed out the feathers from the bite she had taken.

“Oh, and now they think that we are cannibals. Excellent.” Chaput’s accent sounded like a blend of one who had learned Prench as his first language and one who had learned Griffon and Equestrian from a Canterlot noble. He delivered his words with perfect dryness.

“Ach! I don’t think that creature had bathed in a week!” Vice Chief Yvonne spat. “Next time, Chaput gets to eat the guard.”

“Oh, that would make me sad,” Chaput replied. He leaned against a wall and examined his talons. “Unlike you, I prefer my meat cooked and of a species that is not my own, thank you.”

“If you even eat meat…” Yvonne muttered.

“Now, now. Play nice, both of you.” Father Dmitri turned to face Chaput. “You do understand why we put on this charade every time that we get new servants, do you not?”

Chaput raised his eyebrows and met Dmitri’s gaze. “Yes, I certainly do. Because she tells you that inspiring this level of fear in the servants will encourage them to stay loyal to you. Of course, that could never lead them to become spies if they weren’t ones already… No, that isn’t possible.”

Yvonne growled. “Maybe you should stay out of subjects you know nothing about…”

“‘About which you know nothing.’ Please do not end your sentences with prepositions. It is unbecoming.”

Father Dmitri sighed. “Enough. Chaput, do you have a better method in mind?”

The Comrade General nodded. “Actually, I do. Give them better quarters, adequate food, and pay them for their labor again. Slaves are not the most loyal of creatures. And please, consider not eating them whenever they drop a plate. We wouldn’t have to get so many new servants if the ones we have didn’t… expire, I should say, quite so regularly.”

“And how would you stop their spies? We would be swarming with them! They must fear us, or they will risk betraying us!” Yvonne said. Her voice carried the highest level of disdain.

“Comrade Yvonne, if you think that we are not crawling with spies already, then you are an even bigger fool than you appear. When you changed the policy a month ago to replace paid servants with enslaved labor, you allowed an uncountable number spies into this house. Even those who were not already spies now have a motivation to bring us down. I told this to both of you when the change was proposed, but budget cuts are apparently more important than our security. If you want to be rid of as many spies as possible, pay your servants. Win their loyalty. Then, if you discover that they are, in fact, spies… you dispose of them. Quietly.”

Father Dmitri stroked the tuft of feathers on his chin. “You say that spies would be here anyways, did you not?”

Chaput nodded. “I did.”

Father Dmitri waved a talon. “Then a few more would get them no more information than the ones we would never be able to weed out. The boost to our budget by changing how we pay for labor citywide makes me willing to pay the price of a few more spies.”

“I see.” Chaput sighed. “I shall desist. You realize, however, that this will make my negotiations with Equestria far more difficult, don’t you? They generally disapprove of any living creature being eaten, and when they hear that we enslave ponies and eat them when we are finished with them… well, let us say that the results may be detrimental to any possibility for peace. And peace, mind you, is needed if you plan on betraying them like you did all the other nations.”

“Mmm.” Father Dmitri grunted. “Well, I suppose that we are lucky that you are such a canny negotiator then.”

“Do you enjoy making my life difficult, Dmitri?”

“Father Dmitri!” Yvonne hissed. “Show respect.”

Father Dmitri grinned. “Actually, I am beginning to.”

Chaput glared. “I’ll assume that preposition was intentional.”

“You assume correctly, Comrade.”

Chaput smiled and shook his head. “Well, this was an amusing distraction. With your leave, I must go to prepare for the trip. I have many things to research.” He bowed stiffly.

“Very well, Chaput. Thank you for your input.” Father Dmitri waved at the griffon. “You may leave.”

Chaput nodded to both of them. “Oh, and one more thing. If you could please stop killing my best messengers? Volov had served me well for years. This was his first mistake in his entire career as a messenger. He did not deserve this.”

Yvonne growled. “He died as he lived. Serving the Fatherland. He was a beautiful example of our principles and the true meaning of loyalty to Griffonia. He should be proud. We should all be proud of his sacrifice.”

“Actually, he died at the talons of those he had dedicated his life to serve. He did so as an unneeded message to an audience who wasn’t even listening. There is nothing beautiful about that.” Chaput sneered. “And I’ll be sure to tell his family how proud they should be.” With that, Chaput left the throne room.

“I hate him so much,” Yvonne growled.

“I know, I know…” Father Dimitri stood up and walked toward the female griffon. “He is a useful tool, however.”

“There are always more tools. Maybe we could get one who would show you the proper respect, Father.”

“Chaput is one of the greatest minds of a generation. Disposing of him would be a waste. Until we need him again, I would rather occupy him with tedious tasks of little consequence, such as convincing the cowardly ponies to agree to peace. As if we even need to ask them. They are too afraid to attack us openly.”

“Yes…” Yvonne said. “And soon, your might will reach across the entire world.”

“As will yours, my dear. As will yours.”

Yvonne approached him and ran a talon through his feathers. “I do enjoy it when you show such power. It is quite an exhilarating thing to watch.”

“Mmm... “ Father Dmitri sighed. “And you were not bad yourself. Not at all…” He grabbed her talon with his own. “And I must say, the sight of you covered in blood is… enticing.” He ran his other talon through her crest.

Yvonne shivered and purred quietly. “Enough talking,” she whispered.

Their beaks met and tongues danced. All thoughts of anything else left their minds, and the last of the guards quietly removed themselves and Volov’s corpse from the throne room.

Act II: Dresses, Stairwells, and Thunder

“You look wonderful, Princess.”

Luna gazed into the mirror and eyed her reflection. Her mane billowed in an intangible wind, her coat was scrubbed to a beautiful sheen, and her crown had been meticulously polished earlier that day. She shifted uncomfortably in her beautiful dress. The black formal gown was gorgeous, yes, but the fabric rubbed her coat in an odd manner. The blue accents and simple, yet elegant design accentuated the darkness of most of the dress as well as Luna’s fit body.

“Thank you, Shady.” Luna nodded to the mare who stood beside her. Shady Cove was a tall peach-colored unicorn, and she had been one of Luna’s personal mares-in-waiting for a few years. Luna usually did not require her services, so she spent most of her time assisting with the management of the other servants in the castle.

“Now, are you wanting to apply the makeup now, or do you wish to wait until the delegates are closer to arriving?” Shady had a very cultured and formal Canterlot accent that sounded almost too perfect. Luna knew that this was because she had spent years retraining her voice to remove her natural accent when she had left home to serve at the castle.

“I think that I will wait. The delegates will not be arriving for several hours, and I would rather not spend any more time like this than I absolutely have to.”

Shady pursed her lips. “Your Highness, you are a princess, and a Princess of Equestria, no less. I believe that you should always look your best, especially today.”

“And that is why you are not in charge, Miss Cove.” Luna winked at her in the mirror. “I understand what you mean, but this is neither comfortable nor appropriate for daily wear. Plus, I might wrinkle the fabric or smudge my makeup if I were to be ready so early.”

“That is true…” Shady sighed. “Very well, Your Highness. I will remove it.” The unicorn used her magic to nimbly undo the clasps on the back of the dress. After a minute of careful spellcasting, Shady slowly pulled the dress away, and Luna was free once more.

“Ah, I can breathe again!” Luna inhaled deeply. “Modern fashion might claim to be progressive, but the attire is still just as constraining as the dresses a thousand years ago. I must admit, I am somewhat disappointed. It would be quite nice if the accepted dress could be something less confining.”

Shady huffed. “Very well, Your Highness,” she repeated.

Luna raised an eyebrow. “You disapprove, Shady?”

“Actually, I do. I find the dresses to be beautiful, and I have always loved them. Even as a filly, I adored them.” Shady very carefully placed the dress onto a specially designed hanger and then put it away in the princess’ closet. “The tradition, the elegance, the poise… all the way back to Princess Platinum, the highest mares in society have worn these dresses. It is a thing of pride for nobility, and I am saddened that you hate them so much.”

“Oh, Shady. I do not hate them.” Luna trotted over to the other mare. “I merely find them uncomfortable. Do you understand?”

Shady shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

“Have you ever worn a dress like this?” Luna asked.

After a brief pause, Shady quietly replied. “No, Princess. I’ve never been able to afford something so lovely.”

Luna met the other mare’s eyes. She smiled at the pretty unicorn. “Well, we shall have to fix that, won’t we?”

“Princess? What do you mean?”

Luna threw open the doors to her enormous closet. “Shady, in this room is every dress that I have worn to a formal occasion since my return to Equestria.” Her horn flashed, and the entire room-like closet was illuminated. “Most of them have only been worn once.”

Shady smiled at the dresses. “I adore this room. They are all so beautiful.”

“You may take some, if you wish.”

“W-what?” Shady’s eyes widened. “Princess, I…”

“Miss Cove, I have more dresses than I will ever need, and I receive a new one for every special occasion in the castle. I have absolutely no use for most of these dresses. I may not enjoy them, but others do. You love dresses, and it is a shame that these do not receive the use that they deserve. Pick out a few. I will have them taken to a seamstress who will refit them so that you can wear them. A few alterations, some accent changes, removing the holes for wings… they would suit you wonderfully.”

Shady’s eyes glimmered with tears. “Princess… I… I don’t have any words.”

“Well, who needs words when you have dresses, anyways?” Luna smiled again. “Go ahead. Take your pick.”

After a few moments, Shady pointed to two light blue dresses that went beautifully with her coat and her deep red mane. “May I… may I take these?”

“Certainly! But I’m surprised that you only picked two.”

“I did not want to be greedy, Highness. I would make the other servants jealous.” Shady smiled as she examined the two dresses. “These are so lovely.”

“You know, that reminds me… I probably have close to two hundred dresses in here.” Luna looked around the room at gown after gown that lined the walls, all hung up side-by-side. The room barely held all of them. “How many female servants would you say that there are in the castle?”

“Oh, maybe almost sixty, if you count the groundskeepers and others who aren’t called servants.”

Luna nodded. “Well, I think that two dresses each would make a very nice bonus for everypony, wouldn’t you say?”

Shady gasped. “Princess, you are serious?”

“Oh, yes. Completely.”

A huge smile split Shady’s face. “Your Highness, they would love it. It would be like Hearth’s Warming Eve coming early!”

Luna chuckled. “Then it is settled! I will make arrangements to have them distributed.”

Shady laughed. “Princess, you have no idea what this means to me.”

“Well, I may have a bit of an idea. I understand what it means to want something that seems just out of your reach. Besides, these dresses need a proper home.” Luna levitated the two dresses that Shady had selected off the rack. “I will take these to Lady Rarity as soon as I have the opportunity. I will have her call upon you to take your measurements.”

“Thank you, Highness.” Shady bowed. “This… this is a dream come true.”

“You know, I have always liked making dreams come true,” Luna siad. “Will you be able to return in a few hours to assist me in preparing for the arrival of the griffons?”

“Oh, most certainly.” The lady-in-waiting never lost her smile as she walked toward the door, recognizing a dismissal. “Thank you again, Princess.”

“You’re welcome again, Shady.” Luna grinned as the mare exited the room and gently shut the door behind her.

Luna sighed and trotted over to her dresser where she kept her everyday apparel. The early morning sunlight filtered through the blinds, and Luna stifled a yawn. Even though she had tried to sleep through the night, she had stayed awake, tossing and turning. She hadn’t been able to distract herself from the upcoming day.

“Griffons, formal lunch, take a short nap, and then the early dinner with Button…” Luna whispered to herself. The entire day seemed imposing, but the last part was what really worried her.

Luna looked into the second mirror in her room which hung over the dresser. She leaned in close and reached a hoof to her eyes. She gently held her eyelid up and used her magic to reach out and grasp her contact lens. She slowly removed the lens and placed it back into her case before moving on to the other.

The princess then opened her drawer and pulled out a pair of thick rimmed glasses. She placed them over her eyes, removed her crown, and concentrated her magic on her own body.

The power of the spell filled her, and she could feel herself transforming. Her body shrunk slightly down to the size of a slightly shorter-than-average mare. Her coat changed from the typical deep blue to a much lighter cyan-blue. Her mane shrunk down to a shorter length and lost its ethereal appearance as it morphed into a flatter, light grey shade. Luna directed her magic to pull her mane into a loose bun. She levitated a simple white headband out of the drawer and placed it onto her head.

Luna gritted her teeth in concentration as she used her magic to change the shape of her face. Her snout became shorter, her mouth rounded out more, and her eyes changed to a shape more appropriate for her smaller form. She kept them the same dark aqua color, however. A few white freckles appeared on the sides of her cheeks. Finally, she completed the last part of her spell. Her horn receded back into her head, and Luna surveyed the change.

The mare that stared back at her appeared to be in her late twenties. She cleared her throat and peered shyly through her glasses. Luna flipped her mane, and it stayed controlled, as she intended it. She turned to see herself from the side. She was thin, but not too thin. Her height was less than average, but not too much. She had graceful wings that could have belonged to any pegasus. In short, she was normal, in every way.

All except for her cutie mark. “Oops!” Luna exclaimed. “Can’t forget that!” She concentrated her magic once more. The power of her transformation may have hidden her horn, but she retained full control over her powers. Her cutie mark shimmered and was then replaced by five white stars in a close formation. She nodded in approval.

With only a final task left, Luna closed her eyes in concentration. She allowed her power to wash over her body, mentally recording the exactly feeling of her disguise. After a moment, her spell was finished, and she knew that she could confidently retake this shape in much less time if she ever needed to.

Luna opened a drawer and removed a simple mint green gown. She slipped it over her slim frame and examined herself again.

She smiled. It was perfect. “Hello, Starry Skies.”

~~~

Button Mash opened the door to the beautiful hotel. His jaw dropped as he surveyed the wonderfully decorated lobby.

The floors shone as sunlight bounced off the polished white and black marble floor. Portraits of gorgeous landscapes decorated the walls, the soaring ceilings were illuminated by a dozen chandeliers, and the windows featured amazingly intricate pieces of stained glass that filtered the sunlight into a dazzling array of colors.

“Button!”

Button turned around to see a stallion in a red uniform bounding over to him. He smiled broadly as he recognized him. “Jay!”

Jay, the white stallion who had been one of Button’s best friends back at school, returned the grin and pulled Button into a huge hug. “Sweet Celestia, it feels like it’s been forever!”

“It really has. How have you been?”

Jay shrugged. “I’m doing all right. I just got a promotion to manager, so I’m moving on up!” He puffed out his chest to show off his golden nametag, which read, ‘Jay Trotting: Manager.’

“Sweet! Congrats, dude!” Button bumped his hoof against his friend’s. “Thanks so much for the deal on the room. This place is amazing! I can’t believe that you got me so good of a price!”

“It’s my pleasure, bro! You saved my neck in trig that one semester, so I owed you one.” Jay grinned lopsidedly. “Anyways, how have you b—”

“Jay! We need you!” A mare in a matching red uniform called out to Button’s friend. He turned to face her.

“Coming!” he replied. He looked back at Button. “Hey, I’ll talk to you later. Head over to the desk to sign in and pick up your keys. Do ya think we could grab drinks tonight?”

Button shook his head. “Actually, I’m meeting one of my other friends already tonight. Maybe tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow would work! Who’s the friend? Somepony I know?”

“Actually, no. She’s a buddy from an online game, and I’m buying her dinner tonight.”

Jay’s eyes shot up. “Buuuutton! Good for you, bro! Go get her!”

Button rolled her eyes. “No, it’s not like that. We’re just fr—”

“Jay!”

Jay sighed and shook his head. “I’ve gotta go. Good luck on that date! I’ll see you soon!” He then turned around and trotted away.

“It’s not a date!” Button said.

“If you’re paying for her, then it’s a date!” Jay retorted over his shoulder.

Button smiled and shook his head. He trotted over to the front desk to sign in.

After grabbing his room keycard, Button strode toward the central elevator. He passed several patrons in fancy suits and ties who rushed about on their business. A pair of foals ran past him, and Button saw two mares in red uniforms whispering to each other in a corner.

Button walked past them all and entered the elevator. He glanced at his registration information and pressed the button marked “nine.” The door chimed and closed. Soft music filled his ears, and Button felt himself quickly rise up the elevator shaft.

After a few moments, the doors opened, and Button stepped out into a grand hallway. The decoration was in the same vein as the lobby, and Button gave a low whistle. He trotted down the hallway until he came to a doorway that matched his room number. He slid the keycard into the slot, and the door clicked open. Button felt himself gasp as he pushed the door all the way open.

It was unreal. The room had been marked as a luxury suite, and Button had slammed his eyes shut when he had seen the undiscounted price, but neither the price tag nor the name had done the room justice.

The first thing he saw was a gigantic living room area with no fewer than four couches. In the middle was a magical fire pit that Button knew could be turned off and on with the turn of a knob. On the other side of the room was an enormous dining room table surrounded by chairs sculpted from beautiful solid wood. The adjoined kitchen was fully stocked with the most modern of kitchen appliances. The room was large lengthwise, but the height was what really amazed Button. The ceiling went up and up for two more stories. The far wall by the dining room table was not a wall at all, but rather a single pane of glass. Button knew that it appeared as a mirror from the outside, giving complete privacy, but it granted a wonderful view of the city from inside.

And then there was the staircase. A marble staircase ascended in an intricate spiral up the middle of the room, where it met a walkway that extended to a second level of rooms. The design allowed for incredible visibility, and the effect was stunning.

“Holy crap on a cracker.” Button carefully deposited his bags on a couch and explored. His eyes absorbed the lower rooms slowly, and his mind reeled.

He trotted up the circular staircase and came to the top level. The walkway led to three rooms all adjoined to a single hallway. Button opened the doors to the rooms one at a time. The first was a “small” bedroom. It easily dwarfed the master bedroom at his house, and the bed inside was huge. The second room was an even bigger bedroom with a connected walk-in closet. When Button opened the third doorway, his jaw dropped again.

It was the perfect bathroom. The enormous tub, the intricate tiling, the—

Button pulled himself away and shut the door. He shut his eyes, took a deep breath… Then he smiled. And then he laughed.

“Oh my dear sweet Princesses. How in the hell am I only paying one hundred and fifty a night for this? Jay, you magnificent bastard…”

Button trotted back down the staircase. He picked his bags back up and entered the master bedroom. He opened up the closet and gulped. It was larger than his own room at home, too. Button deposited his three bags into a sad pile in the corner. He shook his head. “What a waste of space…”

He pulled his laptop case out of one of his bags and trotted over to the desk in the room. He pulled the laptop out and plugged the charger into the wall socket. Next, he walked over to the mirror and looked at himself.

His black fedora was tilted at an angle. He had on a light coat that looked woefully out of place in the magnificent room. His mane was slightly unruly, so he pulled out his comb. As he worked on his mane, he talked to himself.

“Okay… dinner with Starry at four tonight… that’s in seven hours. I can probably go by a couple of colleges and schools and pick up applications before having a light lunch around eleven…” Button cracked his neck. “And then, to fill up that free time…” His mind wandered to the tub in the other room. He smiled deviously.

“I think I’m gonna like this vacation.”

~~~

Celestia stood alongside a multitude of ponies in the center of an enormous field. Her entire entourage numbered almost one hundred, and she knew them all by name.

Off to her right stood Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. Their daughter was not with them today, but Celestia knew that she would be awaiting them back at the castle.

Prime Minister Apollo and First Secretary of State Blueblood stood next to each other in matching suits. The two politicians whispered to each other and laughed at some comment one of them had made.

Lady Rarity, Captain Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Senator Applejack all stood beside each other. They spoke quietly in a group and giggled with one another. All of them wore beautiful gowns or uniforms that befitted their stations. Lady Rarity wore a gorgeous purple dress that made Celestia’s own look casual in comparison, and her mane was done in an intricate design. Captain Dash wore her Wonderbolt uniform. Her goggles were slung around her neck, and her eyes glimmered with laughter. Pinkie wore the same dress that she had worn to her first Galloping Gala so many years ago. Amazingly, it still looked as good as new. Celestia smirked. Pinke was always special. Senator Applejack wore her own suit, and her mane was pulled back into a respectable braided bun. She wore glasses and whispered something into Pinkie’s ear. The pink mare giggled.

On Celestia’s other side stood Princess Twilight and Fluttershy. The two mares both wore beautiful dresses as well. Twilight’s mane had grown far longer over the years, and she had grown taller as time passed too. Her friend stood close beside her. Her long pink mane fluttered in the wind, and their quiet conversation barely tickled Celestia’s ears. Twilight used her wing to flick a piece of grass off Fluttershy’s ear and the two laughed.

Celestia sighed. The griffons were supposed to be arriving soon, and the one pony she needed the most was nowhere to be seen. She hoped that nothing had happened to—

“Tia! I’m here!” Luna cantered over to Celestia. She turned to see the other princess panting as if she had sprinted all the way from the castle.

“Did you just run here?” Celestia asked with a smirk.

“I… did.” Luna sniffed. “I can’t fly in this stupid dress. And I couldn’t teleport because I didn’t know exactly where to go…”

“Well, at least you’re here,” Celestia said. “Here, let me help you.” Celestia lit her horn and used her magic to straighten out Luna’s dress. The folds disappeared, and her sister looked as good as new, aside from her panting.

“Thanks,” Luna said. “Did I miss anything?”

“Not yet. The delegates should be here shortly.”

“Oh, good.” Luna sighed. “I’m sorry I’m late. I forgot to set my alarm, and I overslept. My mare-in-waiting had to wake me up, and we rushed through preparations.”

Celestia noticed the subtly applied makeup on Luna’s face. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to emphasize her striking eyes and accentuate the shape of her face. Celestia nodded in approval. “I see. Well, you look very good, Sister.”

“Thank you,” Luna replied. “By the way, I kind of promised to give away most of my dresses to the servants today. I just thought that you would like to know.”

Celestia nodded. “I heard, and I heartily approve. I may do so as well later. It will probably help morale greatly. I assume that you promised the services of Lady Rarity to refit them all?”

Luna nodded.

“Good. I’ll make sure that the funds are open. Sometimes the ponies who help us don’t get enough thanks. I believe that they will enjoy this.” Celestia smiled.

“Thank you, Tia. I was afraid that you might not approve, but that’s just me being myself.” Luna shrugged. “Oh, and did you get my request? I left it in your private dining hall.”

“Yes, I did,” Celestia said. “Starry Skies is now in the books as one of my mares-in-waiting. I have prepared a room for ‘her.’” She winked at Luna.

“Perfect!”

“You aren’t planning to keep up this charade for too long, I hope?”

Luna shrugged. “I still don’t know. It all depends on—”

“Look! It’s them!”

Celestia turned to watch the horizon. There, off in the distance, she saw it.

The airship.

A monstrous beast of technical ingenuity, the airship swiftly grew larger and larger as it drew nearer to the ponies who awaited it. Celestia raised an eyebrow as she examined the intricate machine.

The airship spanned somewhere in the vicinity of two hundred yards. It was wide and deep, and the hull appeared to be lined with Ironwood harvested from Griffonia’s extensive mountain ranges. Advanced cannons poked out of the side of the hull, and the top deck of the ship sported even more weapons of various types. Celestia could see a trail of red magical energy flowing from the back of the ship as it approached the field at an angle.

“Magnificent…” Luna whispered.

“Indeed.”

After a short time, the airship finally arrived. The engines roared like enchanted thunder as it slowly lowered itself onto the large cement landing pad that the ponies had prepared for them. Pegasi flew around holding glowing orange batons that they used to help the griffons land their craft safely upon the ground.

The behemoth settled onto the pad with a creaking moan, and a large ramp extended down from the ship, reaching the ground with a mighty clang. Four griffons flew into the air with trumpets in their talons. The haunting sound of their national anthem, ‘Hail Griffonia,’ filled the air. A pair of guards walked down the ramp followed by a single black and white griffon in an impeccably tailored suit.

Celestia inhaled as she recognized General Chaput. She put on her most regal smile and strode toward the end of the ramp.

The trumpeteers landed and finished the anthem just as Chaput and his guards arrived at the ground. The guards stepped to either side, and Chaput approached the princess.

“Princess Celestia. Your Majesty, it is an honor to meet at last.” Chaput extended his front right talon, and Celestia met it with her hoof. Chaput raised it to his beak and gently kissed it.

“General Chaput, I presume. The pleasure is mine.” Celestia retracted her hoof and their eyes met. His steel blue eyes gleamed with fiery energy, and Celestia returned his gaze. “I have heard many wonderful things about you. You have negotiated peace many times in your life, and we honor you for that.”

Chaput never broke eye contact. He didn’t even blink. “Thank you, Princess. I still have that beautiful cloak that you sent me after peace was negotiated with the Yaks several years ago.” Celestia took note of his use of the passive voice. “I actually brought it with me.”

“Wonderful,” Celestia replied with a smile. “If it pleases you, we have prepared a formal luncheon for you and your delegates as well as a meal for the soldiers on your wonderful airship.”

Chaput bowed slightly. “Ah, thank you, Princess. The troops will appreciate it.” He turned to face the airship. “It is amazing, is it not?”

“It is indeed,” Celestia said. “I am most impressed.”

“Mmm. It is the first of our Regal class airships. Her name is the FAS Thunder. A magnificent beast.”

“What an interesting name,” Celestia remarked.

Chaput smiled. “It is named for the sound of the engines. The new technology is loud, but it is quite efficient.”

Celestia nodded. “Very good. But perhaps you would like to continue this discussion over lunch?”

The griffon general nodded. “Yes, yes. The rest of my party shall descend shortly.”

As the princess and the general slowly walked away from the ship, a large group of griffons then began their own descent down the ramp.

While everypony and everygriff was paying attention to the party descending down to greet the ponies, a nearly invisible white blur flew out of a hatch on the airship’s deck. It breezed past several griffons and flew toward the ground on the other side of the airship. It came very close to three of the pegasi who had guided the ship into its landing. They all shivered as one.

Moments later, a dozen more blurs left the ship completely unseen, and they all flew off toward Canterlot.

Author's Note

If you happen to be a fan of airships, you should check out Goldenwing's fic "Omega: Vinctus." I can't link it since it is mature due to violent content, but it's a very cool fic!

Act III: Names, Speeches, and Insults

Act III

Luna stood quietly among the sea of ponies out in the fields next to the city of Canterlot. She squinted as she looked up into the dark blue sky, past the clouds and birds and toward the horizon. The entire group waited in near-perfect silence for the arrival of the griffon leaders.

“Well, this feels familiar,” Cadence muttered to Luna. The Princess of the Night turned to the side with a wry smile. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Cadence stood to her left, all three of them dressed in their finest clothes. Cadence shifted slightly and nodded up at the sky. “All of us standing here, waiting for some scary griffon or another to come swooping down. Although the last one wasn’t so bad, if you think about it.”

Luna glanced warily over at General Chaput, who stood several meters away, flanked by the griffon ambassador to Equestria and another griffon that Luna recognized as his personal guard. He stood shock-still, gazing off into the distance with his eyes narrowed and a grimace on his face. “Hmm, I don’t know,” Luna said. “I still can’t bring myself to trust him.”

Cadence shrugged. “He did almost die during the attack.”

“It could be a trick,” Twilight interjected. “The main thing to remember is that he didn’t die, so it is entirely possible that this was his plan all along.”

“Do you really think he would do that, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked demurely. “That sounds awful!”

Luna nodded. “It is a possibility we cannot ignore.”

Twilight wrapped a wing around her friend and pulled the smaller pegasus close. “But hey, he could be telling the truth.”

Fluttershy smiled and hugged Twilight back. “I’d like to think that he’s on our side. He was really nice to me earlier.”

“Well,” Cadence began, “we can’t really figure anything out right now. We’ll just have to wait until we know more.” One of her eyebrows rose upward and she glanced at the sky. “And speaking of waiting, when is that griffon ship supposed to get here?”

“It was supposed to be here five minutes ago,” Twilight replied. “But for some reason, my spotters are having a very difficult time using detection spells to track it. We have no idea where it is except for whatever eyewitness reports we get when our sentries spot it.”

With a sigh, Luna shifted her weight to her left hooves and stretched her neck. “I don’t like this.”

“Me neither,” Cadence agreed. “But since we’re waiting, I had something I wanted to ask you, Luna…”

“What?” the other princess responded.

“Who’s the lucky stallion?” Cadence grinned mischievously.

Luna paled as she inhaled sharply. “I… what?”

“Or mare! I don’t judge!” The Princess of Love giggled like a school-filly. “You can’t hide it from me, Aunty. It’s in my job title. I can feel the love jitters all over the place around you!”

“Oh my!” Fluttershy smiled broadly. “Princess Luna has a coltfriend?”

“Or a marefriend!” Cadence chimed.

Luna groaned and covered her blushing face with her hoof. “Oh, stars. I wasn’t planning on having this conversation yet…”

Cadence smiled conspiratorially. “Come on, Luna! You can tell us!”

Slowly lowering her hoof, Luna turned to them as a grin pulled at the corners of her mouth. “Okay… he has a degree in history, and—”

“Oooh, he!” Cadence clapped lightly but then put her hoof over her mouth in mock shame. “Sorry! Please, continue.”

After raising an eyebrow, Luna continued. “Ahem. As I said, he has a degree in history and works as a restaurant manager. He lives in Ponyville, and we met…” Her blush deepened. “We met online.”

“Did you use ‘findyourharmony.com?’” Cadence inquired. “I’ve heard great things about that site!”

“Uh, no.” Luna glanced down at the ground and traced a circle in the grass with a hoof. “We were playing a game and became friends. He came to visit Canterlot after we’d known each other for two years, and we kind of… clicked.”

“How romantic!” Fluttershy declared. She brushed her mane out of her face. “Has he met your sister yet?”

“Ah, not yet.” Luna snorted. “We’ve only been ‘dating’ for about two days now. We’re taking it kind of slow.”

“‘Kind of.’ I like the sound of that!” Cadence nudged Luna with a wing. “So, is he cute?”

Luna groaned and flushed again. “You sound just like Celestia!”

“Wait, Princess Celestia asked that too?” Twilight asked, taken aback.

“Yes, Twilight. My sister is almost as much of a stinker as Cadence.” Luna shook her head and snorted. “But yes. He is very cute.”

Cadence clapped once more. “Ah, more princessly love! That makes three of us! Now we just have to wait for Celestia.”

Luna’s smile faded. “I think that you’ll be waiting for a while.”

“Oh.”

Awkward silence overcame the group, and Luna took advantage of the silence to look around the crowd. Celestia and the Prime Minister stood off on their own, speaking softly to one another. The captain of the first griffon airship, Ivanov, stood next to Agent Breeze. They whispered and laughed softly to one another, causing Luna to frown slightly. Beside the pair were Knight-Captain Dovetail, Captain Flair, General Streak, and Captain Dash.

Luna snorted. “Has anypony else noticed how many captains are standing over there?” She nodded at the group of ponies and the single griffon.

Twilight glanced over and snorted. “Oh, yes. I’ve commented about this to Princess Celestia at length.”

“I don’t understand,” Fluttershy said. “They’re all captains, but they have different ranks. Why is that?”

“Well, it’s because of the different branches of the military,” Twilight replied. “Captain Dovetail is the head of the Royal Guard, like my brother was. The Guard’s commander is traditionally called ‘captain’ due to the history of the Guard itself. Princess Celestia changed the rank to Knight-Captain only recently so that it would reduce confusion with Captain Flair’s rank. Captain is also an officer rank in the Guard.”

“Oh, okay,” the pegasus replied before tilting her head to the side. “But what about Rainbow and the griffon?”

Luna cleared her throat. “With Captain Dash, it is once again tradition. The Wonderbolts began as a special forces team led by a captain. The rank stuck, even though the leader of the Wonderbolts actually has the same rank as a Colonel in the Guard. Ivanov is in the Griffonian navy, and ‘captain’ is the highest non-flag rank in their navy.”

“Which completely makes sense,” Cadence said and rolled her eyes. “I swear, macho military ponies and griffons are so alike. Give them a cool name and run with it. I say we change the name of the leader of the Guard to something else, give Captain Flair a promotion, and make Rainbow Dash an actual Colonel. Problem solved!”

Shaking her head, Luna said, “But that wouldn’t work. All those years of tradition have meaning, Cadence. One reason that Celestia likes calling some of her highest ranked officers ‘captain’ is that it reminds them that they may be at the top of their fields, but they still are servants to Equestria. They follow rules, orders, and do what they must for the good of everypony.”

“But what about General Streak?” Cadence retorted. “He’s not a captain and he seems to be doing fine!”

“Streak is one of my finest officers and is a member of the Night Guard. We have a vastly different tradition from the Royal Guard.” Luna nodded at the pegasus. “He has served well and earned his rank. He knows as well as anypony else what his duties are.”

“But— oh, forget it.” Cadence grinned as she shook her head. “Talking to you is just like discussing this stuff with Shiny. It’s all ‘tradition.’”

“Well, they didn’t call me the warrior princess for nothing,” Luna said quietly. “These things are important to us, Cadence. And we’re willing to put up with a bit of confusion about ranks if it reminds us of our past. It’s a beautiful thing, knowing that we stand in the hoofsteps of those who have come before us. Or, for them to know that.” She frowned. “I’m still standing in the same place, actually.”

“Immortality does seem to have that effect,” Twilight added. “I think that—”

“There it is!”

Somepony’s cry cut through the air, and Luna snapped her head up and squinted at the horizon.

An enormous airship flew toward them at a nearly inconceivably fast speed, given its size. Luna gasped as the ship grew larger and larger… and it was still kilometers away.

“Oh, Celestia…” Twilight swore. “That... I don’t even know what to say.” Fluttershy grabbed her into a hug.

As the ship advanced forward, Luna could make out countless cannons bristling from its massive broadsides. Its massive turbine engines could be heard even all the way down where the princesses stood. But the most unsettling part came a moment later. As she ship grew closer, Luna felt her connection to magic weakening until she couldn’t even feel the ley-lines or nodes around the ship itself…

Twilight stiffened. “That’s impossible. How in tartarus can they make a portable anti-magic field that big?”

“They shouldn’t be able to,” Luna growled. “It has to be Germane work.”

The airship sped closer and closer until it hovered about half a kilometer away from the party. Luna felt the anti-magic field almost reach them as a very large group of flying creatures left the ship and came soaring toward the ground.

“Range is approximately three-eighths of a kilometer…” Twilight muttered. A notepad and a pencil flew out of a pocket in her dress and she immediately began to scribble notes. Her horn flared suddenly, but then fizzled as a spell failed. She tried one more time, and her jaw set. “All attempts at casting spells with unicorn or alicorn magic into the field have failed. That makes it at least a magnitude eight aura… will attempt overwhelm tests as soon as enough casters have gathered.”

The flying griffons landed gracefully on the open part of the field. They formed a circle, their rifles held at attention. All of the griffon guards wore a pitch black uniform complete with facemasks and gloves over their talons. Only their wings were exposed to the open air, and these had been dyed as dark as the night sky. Luna inhaled sharply as the implication of this demonstration sank in. Faceless. Nameless. Not individuals, but a single entity.

The Brotherhood of Griffonia.

The members of Griffonia’s most elite special forces nodded in unison and the circle parted to reveal two griffons, one male and one female, who had been inside the circumference of warriors.

The male griffon strode forward confidently, a warm smile on his scarred face. He wore a simple black and gold outfit that contrasted strongly with General Chaput’s intricate white and red suit and cloak. Father Dmitri walked right up to Princess Celestia and knelt to reach for her hoof. “Princess Celestia. It is an honor.”

The Princess of the Day smiled serenely as she extended her leg to him. “Father Dmitri. The feeling is quite mutual, I assure you.”

Planting a chaste kiss on the hoof, he said, “Please, call me Dmitri. We are all equals under the open sky, are we not?” he replied cheerfully.

“Very well, Dmitri. In that case, I insist that you call me Celestia as well.” She inclined her head slightly.

“Ah, thank you, Celestia.” The griffon’s eyes swept over the crowd. “But where is your sister? It simply would not do for me to only greet half of the famous diarchy!”

Luna inhaled deeply and took a step forward. “I am here, Father.”

Dmitri grinned and scrunched his shoulders together. “You do me too much honor, calling me by my title. Please, you must call me Dmitri as well!” He walked forward and reached for Luna’s hoof. The princess offered it, hiding her revulsion as he touched it lightly with his beak.

“And I am Luna.” She lowered her hoof.

“Of course!” The smile that never seemed to reach his eyes sent chills down Luna’s spine. Bile rose in her throat as he gazed at her, eyeing her like a piece of meat.

Clearing his throat, the griffon spun around. “Yvonne! Please, come and meet our hosts!”

The light grey female griffon wearing a blood red uniform walked forward slowly. She did not bow or lower her head, and as her eyes met Luna’s, the princess could see the defiance sparkling in her green irises. She gave a false smile to the princesses as she approached. “Celestia. Luna. I am grateful that you allowed us to come to your magnificent country on such short notice.”

Celestia’s own smile was far more genuine, and Luna could practically hear the gears turning in her sister’s head. “You are quite welcome, Vice-Chief Talla.”

Yvonne’s beak formed into the beginnings of a sneer, but Dmitri moved in front of her before she had a chance to speak.

“Celestia, Yvonne detests titles of all types, due to her ideology. Please, would you call her by her first name?” Dmitri asked in a kind tone, but his eyes…

“Of course!” Celestia replied. “My apologies, Yvonne. I’d read a report that said you desired that griffons called Dmitri by his title, so I made an assumption. I meant no offense.”

Yvonne nodded. “There is none taken, Celestia.”

“Good! I’m glad!” Celestia declared.

After she finished, General Chaput walked to the group. “Father Dmitri. Chief Yvonne. It’s good to see you again.”

Dmitri narrowed his eyes at his general. “Chaput. I’m glad to see that you’re well. I’d heard that you were hurt during the attack. Are you sure you should be walking?”

Giving a small smile, Chaput nodded. “Actually, I’m fine to walk. My wounds were healed completely, thanks to the princess here.”

The father looked at Celestia and nodded. “Ah, my thanks, Celestia. It would not do for my greatest general to meet his end in such an unfortunate manner.”

“You are quite welcome, Dmitri, but I was not I who saved Chaput.” Celestia stepped aside and pointed to Luna with her wing. “It was my sister who was able to save him.”

“Oh!” Dmitri turned to Luna. “Wonderful! I am glad you were there for him.”

“I am as well, Dmitri,” Luna replied as she inclined her head.

Celestia cleared her throat. “Dmitri, Yvonne. If you do not mind, I would love to take you both back to the castle. We have prepared a luncheon fit for guests of your stature, and my servants have planned a tour of our castle for you both.”

“That sounds lovely, Celestia,” Dmitri responded warmly. “Is it acceptable if my honor guard comes with us? My council is very uncomfortable with my presence here in Equestria given the fact that the windigos were able to attack already.”

Luna glanced at the heavily armed griffons who stood at attention back behind the griffon leader. Their advanced rifles glistened in the sun, their armor gleamed, and the blank visors stared blindly forward as the faceless soldiers stood, unmoving.

“Very well,” Celestia said. “However, they will have to be accompanied by members of my own guards. I’m sure you understand.”

“But of course.” Dmitri nodded to his guards, and they all immediately walked forward. “Lead the way, Celestia.”

As the ponies and griffons made their way toward the city, Luna saw Chaput look over toward her. She met his gaze, and he raised his eyebrow. Their eyes met for just a moment, and then Chaput looked away. Luna shuddered as another chill ran down her spine.

Something was very wrong.

~~~

“—and so, the President of Germaney very calmly set his flagon down on the table and waved his servant over. He whispered something, and the servant’s face went pale and he ran out of the room. A moment later, he comes back with a new pair of pants, and the president put them on right there in front of all of us!”

Celestia laughed politely as Father Dmitri finished his last boisterous joke. The long table of nobles and dignitaries joined in enthusiastically. She sipped from her glass of water and looked around the room.

Dmitri and Yvonne sat immediately across the table from her, flanked on either side by General Chaput and their ambassador. The griffons, with the exception of Chaput, all had nearly empty plates of meat that Celestia’s griffon chef had prepared especially for them. The other princesses and the Prime Minister sat beside Celestia. Even more important ponies filled out the table, each with a plate of some kind of intricate food in front of them.

“Ah, Dmitri! Your stories are marvelous!” Cadence said smoothly as she batted her eyes at the griffon. “You simply must tell more.”

Celestia smiled behind her cup at her niece’s smooth charm. She’d taken to politics quite well, and Celestia felt a flash of gratitude that she did not have to play the simpering part herself.

Dmitri grinned. “Ah, my dear! I shall, soon enough. But now, I am sated, and I must ask a question of importance.” He set his napkin down and leaned forward, looking directly at Celestia. “About the windigo attack…”

Silence fell over the room as the nobles’ eyes all turned to the princess and the leader of Griffonia. Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Do you wish to discuss this now, Dmitri? Perhaps we should finish our meal, complete the tour, and then adjourn to a more private area for this discussion?”

“No.” Dmitri shook his head. “I have nothing to hide on this topic.” He cleared his throat and stood up from his seat. “Ladies and gentlecolts. I would like to begin by saying that Griffonia extends its gravest condolences for the loss of all of your ponies during the recent attack. Our hearts bleed for yours. We know the pain of loss, as you do.”

Celestia inhaled as the speech began. Dmitri’s natural charisma took over, and his smile became completely natural as he addressed the group.

“But in this time of loss, there is also hope. A burning light that shines the possibility of peace between our nations. For you see, one of the princesses saved our very own general from certain death during that most hateful of nights. Her heroism has kept one of the most worthy of us all here on Equus where he can truly continue to do good, for the sake of every living being.” Dmitri waved to Chaput, and the general replied with a subtle nod. “The hope did not end there! The ponies armed loyal griffon soldiers, and, side by side, they fought off the vile enemies of both nations. This brutal betrayal may have brought about the death of many, but it also serves as a symbol of what we can achieve together, through peace and cooperation.”

A light smattering of applause followed this declaration, and Celestia politely joined in.

“And yet, despite this beautiful prophecy of peace, we stumble upon a revelation. Not all of Equus desires such a peace. For, you see, we have enemies, my friends! Monsters hiding in the shadows! They are not allies, and they do not wish to see us prosper.” Dmitri slammed a fist onto the table emphatically. “They are our foes! The blood of the dead is on their hooves, their claws, their talons.” His eyes narrowed as he looked around the room. “They could be among us now, and we would never know. But there is one thing that we do know. They shall receive their just reward. They will be repaid. There shall be peace in our time…” His voice fell to a near whisper. “And nothing shall stand in the way of our peace.”

Much louder applause filled the room, as well as cheers from a few of the more ignorant Canterlot nobles. Celestia clapped lightly, but her shining eyes hid something much darker.

Dmitri sat back down, and Celestia nodded. “Well spoken, Dmitri.”

“Thank you.” The griffon sipped at his red wine. “Now, I don’t know about anygriff else, but I, for one, would very much like to see the rest of this magnificent castle before we sit down once again to discuss the details of peace between our nations.”

Chaput leaned forward. “Ah, Father. Before we begin the tour, I would very much like to speak with you about a matter of the utmost importance.”

“Really?” Dmitri met his gaze, and he clicked his beak. “Could it wait until later? I would not like to hold up our esteemed hosts.”

The general turned to look at Celestia and gave her a small smile. “Princess, I do apologize. However, this is a rather important matter, and I do not believe that it can wait.” His eyes hardened and his jaw set firmly. He gave a very small nod to her before turning back to Dmitri. “If the princess does not object…”

“Of course I do not object,” Celestia replied. “I understand completely. In fact, I think that it would be very good for us to take a short break before beginning the tour. I don’t think I’m ready to go for a long walk after eating so much,” she lied. The princess nodded to Chaput, who gave her a grateful tilt of his head.

“Oh. Very well then,” Dmitri said. “Lead the way, Chaput.”

“Yes, Father.” Chaput stood up from his seat and strode toward the door. “Ah… I would also ask that we speak in private, without the guards.”

Dmitri’s honor guard had immediately moved from their positions lining the walls to follow the two griffons, but with a single gesture from Dmitri, they returned to their previous position. “Very well, Chaput. But please, we must make this quick. The tour sounds marvelous!”

One of the castle’s servants opened the door, and the two of them stepped into the hallway outside.

Celestia cleared her throat. “We’ll wait for Dmitri, and then our tour will commence!”

The nobles who had been carrying on politely quiet conversations started to talk in louder tones now that the leaders were no longer speaking. Celestia leaned back in her chair as she felt a hoof tap her side. Turning, she saw Luna leaning forward to whisper in her ear.

“Tricks.”

Celestia nodded and glanced across the table at Yvonne who sat quietly and looked at some of the other guests. Her facial expression had not changed during the entire conversation, and she refused to look at the princesses. Waving to Luna, the older sister moved to whisper back.

“Something is ahoof… that speech was not what it seemed. Dmitri is a manipulator, however blunt. We can expect some kind of trap soon, be it diplomatic or otherwise. Be ready, Luna.”

The Princess of the Night met her eyes. “Always, Celestia. I’m always ready.”

~~~

Agent Breeze smiled at the griffon who walked beside her as the pair made their way down the corridors of Canterlot castle.

“I must say, Miss Breeze, working with you has been a breath of fresh air. It’s always a pleasure to work with a fellow investigator who actually cares about the case, as opposed to the security officers who usually assist me.” Captain Ivanov opened the doorway to a side corridor and nodded to Breeze. “After you.”

“Thank you, Captain,” Breeze said, still smiling. “And I have to agree. I’ve enjoyed our time together on this case. You aren’t anything like what I’ve heard about griffons.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Really? I will assume that is a compliment, but—”

“Oh, no!” she blurted. Her face flushed red as she stammered, “I-I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just that there are, you know, rumors about griffons and…” Glancing up, she saw his grinning face. The agent cocked her head to the side and pursed her lips. “You’re joking with me, aren’t you?”

Ivanov chuckled. “Yes, I am. I completely understand, Agent. We’ve heard many things about ponies, and I am happy to say that most of them are completely unfounded.”

“Most?” Breeze nodded toward a further doorway. “We can get to Sec Eleven to drop off the paperwork by taking that shortcut. But back to the point, what do you mean by most?”

The pair walked down the hallway, and Ivanov shrugged. “Well, there are stories that you hear of pony supremacists. ‘We have magic, can raise and lower the moon, and have saved the world many times over. Therefore, we are the greatest.’ I have found this to be completely untrue. You and your ponies have shown me nothing but the utmost courtesy, and for that I am very grateful.”

“Oh. I’d actually heard similar things about griffons.” Breeze shook her head. “I guess that every race has its opinions about others.”

“Indeed. Although, some of ours are quite true.”

This time, it was Breeze who raised an eyebrow. “Really? And what would those be?”

Ivanov smiled kindly. “Your society is very calm. There isn’t much crime. Your food is excellent. And…”

“And what?” she asked.

“You are also very beautiful.” Ivanov turned to look at her and them promptly blinked. “I mean, you ponies are! It’s a stereotype, you see, that ponies are obsessed with outward appearances, and… oh, my. I think I just made it worse.”

Breeze felt her blush deepen. “Uh, thanks?”

“I…” Ivanov clicked his beak. “I think that was a bit of a faux pas, and I apologize, Agent Breeze. I meant nothing beyond the bounds of professional courtesy.”

“It’s fine, Captain. Those things happen.” Breeze finished, and the two walked in silence. Her mind raced, and she felt the heat continue to burn on her face. Finally, she broke the silence. “And my name is Amethyst, Captain, although I usually go by Ammy. If we’re going to keep working so closely together, we may as well get to know each other better.”

“Ah,” he replied. “Very well then… Amethyst.” He sniffed loudly. “I haven’t done this in a while. First name basis with a fellow officer. Amethyst, you may call me Vladimir, or Vlad.”

“Captain Vladimir Ivanov,” she said slowly. “I like it, Vlad. Very distinguished.”

He gave her a small smile. “Well, I—”

The captain’s words were interrupted by a thump coming from a room along the hallway. The loud noise was followed by several grunts of exertion and a gasp of pain. Breeze stopped immediately, and Captain Ivanov froze beside her. The two glanced at one another before nodding and moving swiftly to the doorway. Breeze pressed her ear up against the door and listened.

“—would like to encourage you to put me down…”

Ivanov inhaled abruptly. “That’s the general,” he hissed.

“Oh, you’re encouraging me, are you? Maybe you should have thought of that before you insulted me,” another voice hissed in reply.

“That’s… that’s Father Dmitri.” The captain narrowed his eyes.

“Uh, should we be listening to this?” Breeze asked.

“If the general is in danger, then we should stay. If I have to intervene, I may need a witness.”

“Okay…” Breeze leaned back in to listen again.

“—not exactly like what I said was untrue, Father.” There was another sound of something being thrown against a wall and a slight grunt of pain. “Now, that was quite unneeded. I will once again recommend that you put me down.”

“You listen here, you smarmy bastard. I know that you’re up to something. You’re intentionally playing the princesses against us, aren’t you?”

Chaput’s exasperated sigh was loud enough to be heard through the door. “If you had been paying attention, you would know that I brought you back here to warn you. Now, would I be doing that if I were planning to betray you?”

“Yes. Because you are, as I have already said, a smarmy bastard. You’d get some smug sense of self-satisfaction out of it, wouldn’t you?”

“If we’re playing the repeating ourselves game, I suppose it’s my turn. Dmitri. You. Are. An. Idiot. The princesses are not fools. Your thinly-veiled threats in your so-called speech during dinner was so obvious that I think even you would have understood it if you had been in the audience. You’re threatening them. That is an extremely bad idea.” Chaput’s voice remained completely calm.

Ivanov cut off a snort of surprise.

“I don’t need you to tell me what to do, Chaput. You forget your place,” Dmitri snapped.

“No, I do not. You misunderstand yours. And, for your own sake, put me down.”

“Really? Why should I?” The reply carried the bitter stain of Dmitri’s sarcasm.

“Because I asked so nicely? Or maybe because killing each other would not be a wise thing to do here, of all places?”

There was a growl, and then Chaput grunted. “Thank you. Now, let us speak civilly. If you don’t attempt to solve your issues using such a primitive method, I will refrain from pointing out how foolishly you have been behaving. Explicitly, of course. I don’t know if I can stop myself from implying it.”

“Bastard.”

“My, what a creative insult. I wonder what you will… actually, never mind. I was about to make another comment about your intelligence,” Chaput commented blandly. “Now, to business. The subtleties of your entire visit most definitely will not be lost on the princesses. Calling them by their first names? You elevate yourself to their level by lowering them to your own.”

“I am at their level, fool,” Dmitri scoffed.

“Please. You are an upstart ruler barely out of diapers when compared with them. I am surprised that Princess Celestia did not burst into laughter on the spot. You could have at least been respectful.” Chaput chuckled darkly. “Although I suppose that wouldn’t have shown how very important you are. And we can’t have that, can we? But beyond that. You brought an anti-magic artifact to Canterlot, of all places? Do you want to start a war?”

“I wish to prevent it, Chaput. Do not forget yourself!”

“And now we’re back to the repeating ourselves game. I never forget, Dmitri. You merely misunderstand your own position. I could destroy you with a word, and you have known this ever since I pledged my support to you. You could kill me in a heartbeat, but your nation would crumble without me. We are at a stalemate, so that makes us equals. And at one time, I was proud to declare that. You were the colder than ice commander who faced down the greatest warrior king in a thousand years, and you won. But now? Now you would send an attack against your own griffons, blame it on the ponies, and try to ham-fistedly manipulate events into your own vision. You are weak. ”

“You… you dare to accuse me of being behind this attack? You fool!” Something slammed in the room, and Dmitri growled loudly. “How are you s—”

“Spare me. I don’t care for your denials. This is the end-game, Dmitri. You cannot kill me here. I’ve made sure of that.”

“Oh, really? And why can’t I kill you right now?” the father spat.

“Because my captain and an agent of Equestria’s intelligence agency are standing outside the door right now,” Chaput replied calmly.

Breeze gasped and looked up at Ivanov. He looked just as surprised as she felt, and he slowly stood away from the door.

“Ivanov? Would you come in here, please?” Chaput asked calmly.

With a sigh, he opened the door and peered inside. “General?” he asked.

“Ah, perfect timing. I was hoping that you two would be finished by now.” Chaput stood in a corner with his eyes narrowed and wings flared backward.

Dmitri spun around, his beak contorted into a snarl and his claws extended. He looked from Ivanov to Breeze, and hissed. “What the hell is this, Chaput?”

“My insurance policy, Dmitri. You see, we know. We all know. The princesses know that you planned everything. I know that you planned everything. And now, my captain and his friend here know as well… it’s over.” Chaput walked out of his corner, his head held aloft and a sneer on his face.

“You liar…” Dmitri said, his beak tight. He turned to Ivanov and Breeze. “You can’t trust him! He’s a traitor and a manipulator. He spins everything in his own direction!”

Chaput smiled sweetly. “Oh, Dmitri. You can’t lie any more.”

“I’ll have you hung after this!” he bellowed.

“No.” Chaput walked over to him and looked into his eyes. “You won’t. We’ll get to the bottom of this, and your treachery will be revealed. All of your plans, crumbled to dust. And do you know what the beautiful part is? Your melodramatic speech about the ones who caused the attack receive their just recompense?” Standing almost beak to beak with the other griffon, he cocked his head to the side and shook his head. “You were right. Let’s go, Ivanov. The father has a tour to go on.” With that, the general walked toward Breeze and Ivanov, beckoned for the two to follow him, and then shut the door as they left.

“Well, that was interesting,” Ivanov remarked. “How did you know that we would be outside? Breeze was the one who led us to this hallway.”

Chaput strode down the corridor and shook his head. “The answer is simple, Captain. I heard you two whispering outside. You both should know better. I thought you were spies…”

Breeze flushed and coughed. “I, uh…”

Captain Ivanov chuckled. “Ah, General. Only you.”

“Now, we must speak of something…” Chaput stopped and looked at Agent Breeze. “I would greatly encourage you to go to the princesses about this. They need to know the truth. Something is going to happen soon. I am certain. They must be prepared, and I will need protection. Dmitri is stupid enough to try to kill me even though you know that he has threatened me.”

Breeze nodded slowly. “I’ll… I’ll pass it up the chain of command.”

“Good. That’s all that I ask.” He nodded to himself. “Well. I should probably rejoin the party, I suppose. That way, I can see the next attempt at manipulation from our dear leader.” Giving them both a bow, he took a right turn through a doorway that led to another corridor. “Stay safe, friends.” General Chaput walked out of their view.

“Hmm… that was one of the oddest encounters that I have ever had with the general,” Ivanov said to Breeze. “I’ve never heard him talk like that before.”

“What do you mean?” Breeze asked him as they resumed walking toward their original destination.

“Afraid. I think that’s what the general sounds like when he’s afraid.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t much, but that was fear.”

“I didn’t really think that he was afraid,” she replied. “Why do you think he was? He seemed confident. He held his own even though he was cornered.”

The captain laughed. “He’s always confident. But he went too far when goading Dmitri. I think he lost his cool. Also, did you notice his eye twitch?”

Breeze squinted her eyes. “His eye was twitching?”

“Ah. It was on the side of his head facing me, so you must not have seen. It was. He was practically blinking uncontrollably.”

Breeze nodded. “I suppose you do know him the best…”

“Better than most, at least. I may not actually know him at all.”

She opened a door and nodded into it. “We’ll take this staircase.”

“Perfect.” He grabbed it and held it open for her. “After you, Amethyst.”

She smiled broadly. “Thank you, Vlad.”

As they went down the stairs, a thought crossed Breeze’s mind. She glanced back at her companion. “Vlad… you just saw your superior officer being threatened by the leader of your country, and then your superior sent an agent of a rival nation to tell her leaders about the situation… and you are okay with this? Doesn’t this represent some kind of conflict of interest here?”

Ivanov shrugged. “At this point, I just go with it. My loyalty is to Chaput, but, above all, it is to Griffonia. Father Dmitri may be the current leader, but… it is difficult. I’ve seen many superior officers come and go over the course of this civil war. In the end, picking sides will pit you against friends and griffons that you respect. But at some point, you must choose. I followed Chaput, not Dmitri, in the war. You see, I want what is best for Griffonia, and that is General Chaput. Period. He knows what he believes, and he stands beside it. If it came down to a battle between the general and the father, I know where I stand. I stand with Griffonia, and I stand with Chaput.”

Nodding slowly, Breeze continued to walk. “I think I understand. I suppose that makes sense, given the events in your country.”

“It’s not about the regime, Amethyst. It’s about the leaders. Are they who they say they are? I believe that Chaput is. He’s conniving, manipulative, and I have no idea what he intends to do, but I know that it will be for Griffonia and our griffons. And that is enough for me.” Ivanov sighed. “That doesn’t make it any easier, mind you. Blundering around in the dark, trying to follow the general’s plan.”

“I know the feeling,” Breeze said. “That word that we all hate to hear…”

They glanced at each other and smirked. “‘Classified,’” they said simultaneously.

“Of course,” he said with a chuckle. “But enough about that for now. Shall we refocus on the case?”

“Yes, please. We can drop this report off, and get back to work and—” The agent’s words were cut off as her stomach growled. She looked at Ivanov and smiled weakly. “And, uh, maybe take a break to eat something.”

“Mmm, that sounds like a plan.” He smiled at her. “Perhaps we could take advantage of the time and try one of the famous restaurants here in Canterlot? If there is time, that is.”

Breeze grinned again and nodded. “Well, we’ll need to let my analysts take a look at this data, and that should take some time. Also, I’ll need to talk to the princesses as soon as their tour is over. As soon as possible, in fact.”

“I suppose that gives us a small bit of time. You should take care of yourself, Amethyst,” he remarked. “And lunch would be on me, of course.”

“Oh, that’s nice of you!” she said. “You don’t have to, you know.”

“Ah, but that’s what makes it meaningful! Consider it the first proof that we do not have to be enemies or rivals. We can work together and get along like civilized gr— beings.” Ivanov shook his head wryly. “That slip of the tongue will trip us all, I believe.”

“I don’t mind,” Breeze replied. “Honestly, I don’t really see much of a difference, besides the whole appearance thing.”

He smiled. “I agree.” They came to the end of the staircase, and Ivanov smoothly walked past her to hold the door open.

She smiled at him once more. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” he replied. “Now, let’s get that info to your ponies…”