Chapter 1
A dry, dusty breeze blew through what remained of the throne room. A few loose papers spiraled up into the air, only to be caught by a small dragon.
“Thanks, Spike.” The purple Alicorn seated at the throne said softly.
“Yeah.” He set the scrolls back onto a cluttered desk, most of it taken up by a war map. “Do you need anything, Twilight?” he asked, trying to be more helpful. The way Twilight looked so tired and worn out made him worry. He wished there was something more he could do, but Twilight refused to let him do much. ("You're just a baby dragon." she told him, as she tucked him in.)
“No… I’m fine. Why don’t you go take a break, Spike?” Twilight turned back to her papers.
“No, if you’re working, I’m working.” He insisted, organizing the papers, moving the small dagger belted at his waist out of the way. Even though he was armed, it was only for self-defense. Twilight refused to let him near any kind of conflict. His weapon was a just-in-case.
However, the groups of guards patrolling the ruined castle were heavily armed, with full war armor and high-grade weaponry. They clanked along, talking in hushed voices. All of them had the same, tired, eyes. With the threat of five other factions, rest didn’t come easy. Morale was low, the remaining earth pony population could barely upkeep the farms at the rate they were depleted. Even the children had to contribute to the war, helping in any way they could.
“Princess?” a guard trotted into the throne room, bowing. “The scouting group has returned from Everfree.”
“Oh. Thank you.” Twilight sat up, putting her papers down. “Let them in, please.”
The guard nodded, beckoning in three Pegasi, covered in camouflage clothing. They bowed respectfully, before speaking up.
“Your Majesty, we’ve found out that The Swarm is working on… something. We weren’t able to get a sketch or anything because there were far too many Changelings. The risk would be too high. It seemed like a tree, but it seems to grow off of the swamp gas. It was connected to the swamp itself, and emitting some kind of green light, similar to the ones Changelings use when they transform. There were some branches of it stuck in the ground. It wasn’t like roots at all, there was something running along the branches INTO the ground itself.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” Twilight frowned. “Double the patrols on our underground tunnels. They may be trying to get in from there.”
“I’ll let them know.” The guard bowed her head.
“Anything else to report?” Twilight gave the guard a nod of thanks.
“Yes, good news, this time. The Swarm appears to be quite hungry. They’re nothing short of starving, even the Queen looks thin. Normally, I’d suggest an attack, but they may be able to defeat us with sheer numbers. And we’re not exactly well-fed, either.”
“Agreed, we can’t afford to be reckless. Thank you for your reports, you’re dismissed. Get some food and rest.” Twilight picked up her papers again as they left, reading over the supply list. Resources were getting lower. Last week, they lost a major spring, the water drying up for an unknown reason. Her thoughts were interrupted yet again, just as she folded the document up.
“Would you like dinner?” a castle servant asked, after knocking on the door.
“Have you eaten?” Twilight responded, stretching herself out.
“Er… yes.” The servant shifted uncomfortably.
“That’s a lie, isn’t it?” Twilight asked quietly, turning her attention to him. “Go on and eat, okay? I won’t eat until my subjects have first.”
“Understood.” He bowed his head, exiting.
Twilight got to her hooves, looking out the window. For a moment, she saw Canterlot as she remembered, a bright sun, shining down on a lively and colorful city. But as she blinked her imagination away, she was gazing upon the Canterlot she’d grown to know. Grey buildings, their paint washed away, dead plants dotting the area, and an eternal mass of dark clouds, that no matter how hard the Pegasi tried, could not blow away.
“Some sunset, eh?” Spike tried to joke, hoping to see a smile on Twilight’s face. Relieved, she gave him a tired grin. “Come on, Twilight, you need to rest.” He noted how she was barely keeping her eyes open. “Just for a bit. I can handle if anypony comes, I’m your number one assistant, right?”
“Well… okay, then. Just for an hour or two, all right, Spike? Wake me up after that.” Twilight yawned, moving to the makeshift bedroom behind the throne area. Spike made sure that she was comfortable, before blowing out the lantern, closing the door to the room. While his friend slept, Spike took the time to view the stack of papers at the corner of the war map, moving markers around as needed. It seemed Tirek had expanded yet more of his territory. With his power, he could be going a lot faster. But he wasn’t. Why? Spike adjusted the pins, expanding Tirek’s territory into Discord’s.
The next markers to move were that of the Crystal Empire. Sombra’s crystal magic, which very little ponies outside of the Empire knew about, was more than enough to confuse those who fought against him. “Don’t worry, Rarity, I’ll rescue you.” He whispered, adjusting the pins as needed, the Crystal territory moving into Chrysalis’s forest.
The only markers left to move were their own and Nightmare Moon’s. He sighed, pulling up their pins and moving it back, to make room for where Moon managed to claim nighttime in. It did not take a war master to tell that the Harmony Guardians were outnumbered by every other faction, and were losing. What if they lost? Where would they go? What would happen to them? He shook these thoughts off. He couldn’t let himself get held down by worry. He had to stay strong, for Twilight’s sake.
“We’ll get through this.” He reassured himself. “Everything will be back to the way it was before. Twilight and her friends… we’ll all be together again. We made happy endings before… we can do it again."
