[[ Prologue ]]
–––
“Princess Celestia? It’s time for us to leave.”
“Give me just a moment, Twilight. I need a few more moments to see if I’ve forgotten anything. I’ll join you when I’m ready.”
“Of course, Princess. I’ll be waiting outside in the courtyard with the rest of the officers.”
After a few quiet moments, the heavy marble doors to the Princess’s large room glowed a soft magenta, then swung closed. The magical aura enveloping it dissipated into thin air as Twilight let go. She stepped backwards, glancing up at the large double doors for a second more before turning to the side, heading down the corridor leading to the main hall.
It would be the last time she would walk through this ancient castle fortress.
As she made her way through the winding hallways and various staircases, she found that her hooves were beginning to slow down. Having been so very eager to join her former mentor on this reassignment, a sudden wave of nostalgia washed over her. It was a very intense feeling too, something she hadn’t felt in years. She couldn’t quite put her hoof on what exactly it was… but, ah. There it was.
She didn’t want to leave.
Twilight exited the long corridor, appearing on the left side of the main hall. She cantered towards another set of large, open door-gates which led to the entrance of the castle itself, but paused, turning her head up to look at one particular, huge glass-walled face of the castle. One single crystal-clear window made up the entirety of that massive wall, more than twenty pony-lengths in width and thirty pony-lengths in height. It overlooked all of Equestria. The brick-and-mortar walls on either side of the window were lined with shelves upon shelves, from floor to high ceiling, once filled with thousands of books.
It was her old library, her old study.
This time, the nostalgia hit her with the full force of a train. Twilight bit her lip gently as she remembered the old times: stargazing, mapping out the celestial bodies of the sky, studying the phases of Luna…
Swiftly shaking her head to break the old vision, she simultaneously resisted the urge to walk up the stairs and into her old study. There was nothing to see there, anyway; she knew that all of her things – her books, empty scrolls, writing materials, desk, telescope, even cushion – were gone, having been moved by the cleaning crew a few nights ago to prepare for the reassignment.
Still, it wouldn’t hurt to go up there for a little bit…
After a minute of deliberation, she finally relented. Approaching the staircase that led up to her old day residence, she made her way up the straight flight of stairs until she reached the top. It was smaller than she remembered – possibly because it had been so long since the last time she had been here. Her eyes focused on a great many particular places in the study, in her mind overlaid with memories of her belongings that had once taken residence in that empty space: her old writing desk, her large, comfortable red cushion, her telescope, too.
She approached the window and gazed out at the huge view before her. All of Equestria – all of the Great Kingdom – it was all there. Mixtures of yellows and reds and greens, interspersed with small towns, large cities, great blue rivers, and aquamarine lakes, dotted the landscape. And even further beyond, over the horizon, was even more. Many more times the amount of land that she could see lay beyond the yellowing horizon, hundreds of towns and cities populated by millions and millions of ponies.
Yet, Twilight knew the future held much grander sights to behold than this.
She stayed, admiring the beauty of the expansive landscape before her for a little while longer, before taking a step back. She closed her eyes, exhaling deeply, then turned around and descended the staircase. She needed to leave soon.
She approached the threshold to the huge entrance hall, then entered the large room, the last step on her final nostalgic journey to the exit.
Here in this room, all that remained was the brilliant, long red carpet, a walkway for visitors which led them through the glorious castle all the way to Celestia’s throne in the main Court. It seemed that this would be the only piece of expensive furnishing to stay in the entire building, partly because it would most definitely be a pain in the flank to remove; most everything else, though, had been taken away. The silk curtains which covered the numerous tall windows in the entrance hall, both left and right sides, were now gone, as were the ancient woven quilt-banners of Celestia and Luna above the high-ceilinged entrance threshold to the main hall. Also having been taken to safekeeping were all the portraits of important stallions and mares who were of great importance in times past and present. The decorative plants and tables and chairs, however, remained. Only those other valuable objects had been taken to safekeeping, carefully guarded and ready to be moved to their new destinations.
Even though it was her last time to gaze upon the entire castle, Twilight couldn’t help but smile. She shook her head and glanced down at the shiny, mirror-like marble floors to look at her reflection, then tapped her hooves a few times on the surface to summon the familiar echo of her hooves on the castle floor just one last time. Finally she found herself standing right at the entrance; a soft gust of cool air outside wafted from behind her and into the castle.
“I guess this is goodbye,” she murmured in a soft voice, half to herself and half-directed at the soul of Canterlot Castle itself. She bowed down towards it, then finally turned away from the building that had once been her home, before proceeding towards the large, loud arcjet-powered craft which stood by on the landing pad beside the gate entrance. The slightly overgrown grass around the pad was blown violently back by the intense exhaust of power from the jets mounted in various positions on the craft, with the three largest ones, currently powered down, mounted on gimballed joints to be aimed backwards during atmospheric cruise.
She had to fight the powerful gust a bit harder than she expected in order to reach the loading doors on the left side. Two Royal Pegasus Guards came to her assistance, quickly flanking her on either side, their snow-white wings flared and positioned forward to protect delicate eyes from fierce winds. The lavender alicorn was helped inside by a sunglasses-wearing official with an earpiece supplying him with a steady stream of information.
Twilight Sparkle made her way through the rather cramped accommodations of the craft past the entrance point, squeezing through tight corners to get to the narrow ladder leading up to the smaller bridge of the atmospheric craft. She made her way up and was saluted by the crew upon entrance.
“Princess on the bridge!” a gruff female voice coming from the pilot in front resonated throughout the small room. The craft was only about two-hundred metrics in length and forty metrics in width and required only a small essential crew; thus, a small bridge.
“Princess Twilight,” a unicorn, the captain of the ship, immediately stood up from his seat, the holographic projections in front of the seat disappearing when his presence left the large swivelling chair. He bowed down deeply in front of her before straightening up to speak, as was customary in the Royal presence. “All preparations have been made, and Escorts One and Two are waiting on Equestria One’s green-light. What is keeping Her Majesty?” he asked, seeming a bit anxious.
“Princess Celestia will be inside for just a little bit more. I believe she’s securing a few loose files from the physical Archives and the Net Archives. I assure you, we won’t be here for much longer, Captain,” she nodded. “Ah – do you mind if I stay up here in the bridge during our flight?”
“Of course not, Your Majesty,” he bowed. “There are a few more open seats here, so just strap yourself in when it’s time. Her Majesty, Celestia, is also welcome to join you and the rest of us for the trip.”
The captain swiftly returned to his post to coordinate ship positions after one last bow, while Twilight began to pace around the less-than-roomy bridge of the craft. Her eyes narrowed at the forward cockpit and what lay ahead: a massive bubble-like shield of bluish-white energy surrounding all of Canterlot. The last time such a shield was used was during the Siege of Canterlot during Changeling Queen Chrysalis’s invasion; this time, though no impending threat had been truly verified, the shield had been summoned for the sake of the safety of the evacuation and those high-ranking ponies within, including Twilight and Princess Celestia herself.
“The Princess is coming,” the communications officer alerted the crew on-board. Twilight glanced out the left side of the ship, through a wide viewport, to see her former mentor, the great Princess Celestia, approach and enter the ship with ease, almost as if the intense wind emanating from the powered-up engines wasn’t there at all. Her magical mane, composed of those four familiar bright colours – cerulean, turquoise, cobalt, and magenta – continued to flow like a captured, trained flame, completely oblivious to the intense winds buffeting everypony else as it wafted through the air the same way it always did.
“Princess Celestia on the bridge!” the pilot announced once more as the tall white alicorn entered. Everypony, including Twilight Sparkle, bowed deeply to her before she waved her hoof to them all to dismiss their gestures.
“That won’t be necessary, but thank you for your consideration,” she said with a smile, then turned to the captain. “Is everything ready?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” he replied. “We’re waiting on your mark to depart.”
Princess Celestia nodded. “You may proceed,” she said, then turned to Twilight as the captain settled down in his seat. “We should strap ourselves in.”
Twilight Sparkle nodded. “Yes, Princess!” she replied, her voice quivering a bit in anticipation of the flight as she approached her seat and settled down in it, buckling herself in. When she finally got comfortable, she turned to her old mentor. “So… Princess? What was it that you needed to get from your room?” she asked curiously.
The elder alicorn glanced down, her long horn glowing a bright golden yellow. “Just a few things I didn’t want stowed with the rest of the heavy stuff in the ships,” she murmured in reply, pulling a small locket out from her golden crystal breastplate to show her old student. “A picture of Luna and me I kept safe all this time,” she said, opening the locket to show the small photo enclosed within.
Twilight looked down at the old black-and-white photo. In it, the two royal sisters were sitting down beside each other atop a checkerboard picnic blanket, with big smiles on their face as they leaned into each other. They were quite young in the photo – they were just past their filly stage, having barely entered high school. They were at that age where other ponies would consider those times their “awkward days”; but the two Princesses looked as perfect as ever.
The younger alicorn looked up at her elder with big eyes. “This is a really, really old photo,” she began. “And I see why you took your time in getting it; it must mean very much to you.”
"It does," Celestia replied just as the engines of the ship roared to life. The two alicorns nodded to each other in mutual understanding as the craft started up, and they looked forward, out the cockpit expectantly. Around them, the crew worked perfectly in unison as the large ship powered up its engines and began to hover in the air, slowly but surely gaining altitude.
“Escorts One and Two, Equestria One is in the air, repeat, Equestria One is airborne,” the captain spoke, his voice routed wirelessly to the other ships via arcane transmission. “Proceed to transitionary flight, Skydancer,” he murmured to the pilot, who nodded and pulled levers and pressed various buttons.
By now the ship had hovered high enough in the air and gained enough altitude to pass the high rooftops of Canterlot Castle’s main Keep. Both alicorns in the ship gazed at the castle, giving it their final goodbyes as the ship rose higher and higher until it cleared the tallest tower. The upwards motion was finally balanced out by a forward motion as the ship rumbled and lurched forward and pitched up, the three large arcjet engines having fired up at full power, pressing all the ponies tightly against their seats.
"Escorts One and Two, we are approaching cruising speed. Assume escort position,” the captain spoke, his horn glowing as he navigated the complex holographic panels displaying all the information he could possibly need to use.
"Roger that, Equestria One. One-One speaking, it's a good day for a flight, isn't it, Princesses?" came an unexpected reply through the intercom.
"I-It's a b-bit bumpy, but I c-could get used to this!” Twilight managed to speak, humouredly, through the rumble of the ship. It was her, of all ponies, that was most un-conditioned to flight, of course.
One-One chuckled in reply. “Roger, Princess Twilight. We’ll keep you safe.”
The ship exited the reaches of Canterlot’s large bubble shield, seamlessly phasing through the barrier of energy and entering unprotected airspace. It was here that the large arcjets of Equestria One pushed even harder, accelerating the craft even more rapidly forward. The atmosphere slowly began to thin out, at which point the stabilising jets ceased function and powered down, leaving only the manoeuvring thrusters and forward arcjets online.
When Equestria One had reached escape velocity it slowly stopped accelerating, now only maintaining its constant cruise speed. Twilight Sparkle relaxed and heaved a deep sigh, then turned to Celestia beside her once again.
“Princess, are my friends safe?” she asked, worry creeping into her voice. “You got them to Luna in time, right?”
Celestia nodded in reply. "Don't fret, Twilight. Everypony is safe and accounted for. We were the last ones to leave Canterlot and probably the last transport out of all of Equestria. It’s very dangerous down there and a full evacuation was necessary – this war with the gryffons has taken far too long and has given us no other choice. We must move on or risk extermination,” she replied solemnly.
The lavender pony looked away slightly and heaved a deep sigh, slowly nodding as she tried to understand. “Alright, Princess Celestia,” she replied. “We’ll be rendezvousing with the rest of the fleet soon, right? Will I get to see my friends before we land at Luna?” she asked.
"Of course, my dear Twilight," she replied reassuringly. "Our craft will dock with the cruiser Dawn before I make the call. Your friends are there already and are waiting for you.”
Twilight Sparkle nodded, unbuckling herself from her seat when the all-clear was given. The rest of the fleet was just ahead.
–––
“Twilight! We’re so so happy to see you!!” a pink streak of fur barrelled into the unsuspecting lavender alicorn the moment she set hoof on the Dawn.
"Oof! Pinkie!" Twilight giggled and stumbled upright when her hyperactive friend had climbed off of her. “I’m so glad you guys are all here,” she smiled, taking the five other ponies in for a group hug. Various words of salutation greeted her immediately as Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy all asked her how she was, how her trip had been, and expressed how glad they were to be in each other’s company again.
“I’m glad we’re finally here together again, girls; I know it’s been a rough couple of months lately, what with the conflict going on,” Twilight spoke, addressing them as a whole. She glanced around at the busy hangar, the huge aircraft carrier-sized loading bay bustling with activity as ponies were being unloaded from their crafts and escorted to their temporary living spaces while the Dawn made its way to Luna.
"All I have to say is, this is one huge ship," Applejack remarked, chuckling as she, too, glanced around. "Ain't ever seen anything like it before in my entire life. Technology sure has progressed, hasn’t it? More than those ol’ tractors we used to use at Sweet Apple Acres!”
Rainbow Dash quickly butted in. “Yeah!! They loaded up hundreds of thousands of ponies in here already, can you believe it? And they say there’s at least a million of us already on the base at Luna! It’s so awesome that all this is happening!!”
“Yes, but, um… Just why is all this even happening in the first place?” the quiet voice of Fluttershy managed to interrupt, despite the loudness of the other four and the ambiance of the environment surrounding them. “Why are we here?”
Twilight Sparkle's smile faded. Now that she had been grounded by Fluttershy’s hard-hitting question, she began to think rationally now, able to avoid the novelty of the entire experience. “Well… Princess Celestia told me a year or so ago that the war with the gryffons wasn’t going well. You girls remember, right? She had us use our Shards of Harmony and help lead some troops against the gryffons in some of the more intense zones of conflict for a little while, and we were able to push back the fighting line back beyond our borders and keep them off our land.”
The girls in front of her nodded vigorously.
“Well… Since then, they’ve had a resurgence. We were transferred over to logistics duty, helping supply the front lines with necessary things, orchestrating the organisation of the entire operation, you remember that, too, right? After that happened, though, for some reason or another, we’ve begun to lose against the gryffons. The big cities fell, too; like the Fall of Manehattan, Rarity. You remember,” Twilight murmured solemnly.
“Yes, I do…” the alabaster unicorn sighed glumly, her gaze focused on the cold steel floor underneath her hooves. “But why this? Why are we all up here and not down there?”
Princess Twilight exhaled deeply once more. “Well… It was getting obvious that we were going to lose the war at our current rate, so Princess Celestia was forced to pull her trump card. And that required the evacuation of every civilian pony down on the ground – including you guys. You and me and everypony else on this ship and on Luna. But beyond that, the Princess didn’t tell me what else there was to it…”
"I think it's just a temporary place for us to live while everything down there gets sorted out," Applejack reasoned. “There’s no way everypony can stay on Luna forever, not with how much food we need and the like. We just need some breathing room.”
"Yeah... Well, I hope that's the case," Twilight murmured, then glanced up toward the nearest holographic viewer which caught her attention. It was a live feed of the beautiful blue-green planet below them, the only view they had of what was going on outside while their massive capital ship stayed far above the planet’s surface in orbit.
"Look at that… It’s our home…” she softly trailed off as she and the others gazed up at it in wonder, admiring its beauty for a little while before they left to go to their designated living space together.
–––
“Have all the preparations been made?” Princess Celestia asked the overseers of the operation. Her voice was gruff, the room was dark, the atmosphere very tense – it was the complete opposite of the once-carefree aura of the years of the old, peaceful, prosperous Equestria long past.
"Yes, Your Highness. We're waiting on your mark."
The white alicorn stood in front of a large window on the bridge of the Dawn which overlooked the planet. They were high in orbit, though were not anywhere close to Luna; as a result, the planet below them was still quite massive due to the short distance.
She was focused on the continent of Equestria below them, particularly the large swath of greyish, mountainous land just north of the green pastures. She knew the vast, mountainous regions were home to the gryffon kingdoms. Her brows were furrowed, her gaze intensely staring at the planet below. She remained that way for a while, thinking about her decision a thousand times over, weighing every single possible outcome, every single factor in the matter…
"Princess..." the cautious voice of the lead pony broke the long silence. “Princess, you can’t afford to pause now. The past eight months have all led up to this moment. If you wish to proceed, the time is now.”
She sighed deeply and looked back at the entire crew in their stations throughout the large bridge, all eyes focused on her. Jaw clenched, she managed to ask, “Will they forgive me?” in a cracked voice.
The lead pony didn't meet her gaze. "The soldiers below all know this day is coming. But the ponies you so carefully, meticulously picked out from the masses to save? If they find out… I don’t know.”
Princess Celestia stared down at the ground, her mane seeming to grow dull as it waved much less enthusiastically than it had just a few hours ago. She stomped her hoof to the ground firmly, each stomp filled with anger.
“It’s those damn birds… They left us with no other choice. Either have them take over and enslave us all… or kill them all, and a few ponies too, so we all can continue living. What choice would you make?” she asked through gritted teeth.
The commander still didn't meet her gaze. “I don’t know, Princess. I truly don’t. Everypony knows that you know what’s best for your subjects… so please, just make your decision.”
Celestia shook her head, staring at the cold steel floor for a few more moments before looking back up at the beautiful planet below her.
"Do it. I only hope that our children, and our children’s children, forgive us.”
The commander nodded and turned towards everypony else in the bridge. “Fire. Fire the weapons, now.”
The chain of command quickly issued the order to the next until the final link did what was requested of them. The button was pressed, and from above the Dawn, a barrage of unholy weapons of mass destruction rained down hellfire and brimstone – unbridled annihilation in the form of lasers fired from hundreds of satellites in geostationary orbit, all aimed at critical points below them. Gryffon capitals were vaporised in an instant as the atmosphere within hundreds of miles reached temperatures able to melt rock; there was nothing to say about the immediate vicinity of those areas impacted with the satellite lasers except that they were totally gone. Sites of immense and intense battles were vaporised as well, along with those pony settlements and cities that had been taken over by gryffons. Collateral damage was at its maximum – innocent ponies lost their lives for the sake of the perceived “greater good” – and it was all under the instruction of the powerful and wise Princess Celestia.
After a few minutes, when the bombardments had ceased, and the glassing was complete, the Princess turned to the communications officer.
Immediately understanding without a need for words, the officer began to search for any signs of radio signals from down below. She scanned through all frequencies and wavelengths, all channels of every known mode of communication. All eyes were on her now as she conducted her search.
Finally, with the room’s anxiety level through the roof, she sat up and removed her headphones. She gulped, throat running dry, as she prepared her report to the Princess, who stood no more than ten paces in front. The pony slowly turned around in her seat to face the rest of the bridge and crew, inhaling deeply before speaking.
"It's all gone.
“There’s nothing left.”
