Celestia stood on the balcony of the western tower of Canterlot Castle and watched the events underneath her in silence through the vivid pulsing of the city's shielding spell. The troops marching formation, the banners, by now these were all to well known contents of her nightmares.
A dark blue Alicorn walked up to her from behind. She wrapped her wing around her sister and observed the activities as well. “They are going to attack in the morning,” Luna said to her in a low voice.
“I know,” Celestia responded. She had analyzed the division's movements at the bottom of Canterlot Mountain, too. The Rebels had laid siege on the mountain for six weeks now, long enough that their reserves of food and arrows were running critically low. The morale of the Royalist soldiers had already reached rock-bottom and even the few remaining griffon mercenaries were everything but optimistic, and unlike the Royalists, they were being paid handsomely.
Now, down below in the camp of the enemy, weapons were being handed out and the evening rations had been doubled. Both sisters had to date gathered an awful amount of knowledge about warfare, so it was not hard for them to tell that the enemy would again try to breach the cities gates in the morning. And this time, the Royalists would not be able to fight them out of the city.
From the basic matters like pros and cons of certain land formations to complex battle phalanxes, both sisters had become encyclopedias on the matter of war. By now, they could easily tell that the few forces that were gathered behind the gates of the wall and the blockade on the main street would succumb.
Sadly, they had acquired such knowledge far too late. Five years earlier and they may have been able to save Equestria. Now the oat fields and orchards were either burned down or in the hands of the rebels, and with the loss of Cloudsdale one year ago the sisters had lost one of their most important industrial parks. Also, with Manehattan being under siege as well, there would be no help from the 5th Royal division.
All that currently stood between order and the total decay of their culture, between civilization and a breeding ground for thousand years of dictatorships, were a mere two hundred Royalist soldiers.
It had been six thousand when the war had begun twenty-five years ago. It had been nine hundred after the battle of White Tail Woods, increasing to an imposing fifty-six thousand after the following wave of shock and anger had moved large parts of the teenage and adult population into the armed forces. However, after over a decade, most of them were gone. Lost in this horrible war of attrition.
All the sisters had tried to achieve, the very foundation this nation had been founded upon, was now about to be crushed under the fanatic hooves of the Rebels. They demanded democratic votes. They thought that individuals chosen by the public could do a better job than she and her sister.
All this after she and her sister had put themselves in great danger in their efforts to end Discord’s reign. In addition, she had put the guilt on herself and only herself that the Crystal Empire had once vanished. Not long after, she had banished Luna, her own sister, only to ensure the safety of their little ponies. Every day of the last one thousand and two hundred years she had lived through worries, danger and guilt, only to now be dethroned by some shortsighted fools?
The Rebels were not just trampling on all of the sister’s efforts and achievements, they were also completely unaware of the political turmoil their little revolution would cause. There were organization fundamentals that had been established over the centuries, international contracts, all things that either already were gone or would vanish together with the sisters. Even if the Rebels would manage it to establish a functional government, which Celestia deemed most unlikely, there would be the great risk of instability due to the much shorter life spans of normal ponies. If the Rebels were lucky, they might rule in peace for a decade or two. Perhaps they would escape collapse for an entire century, but in the end, a single, hateful and manipulative individual could seize total power over the land, and Celestia would stand against this with her last dying breath if she had to.
She very much hoped it would not come that far. She retreated herself from the balcony and into her study. Luna shuffled behind her. Celestia had not seen her little sister smile or even walk upright since this cruel war had reached its peak. Once her sister had been a joyful, energetic bundle of creativity and curiosity, but now this part of her was gone.
At the far end of her study, Twilight Sparkle, Shining Armor and Cadence sat on a sofa. All three were showing a deep, thoughtful frown.
“Are you okay?” Celestia asked them.
“No. No, I'm not okay,” Cadence responded with indignation. “What you are planning is genocide.”
“Wouldn’t be our first one,” Shining Armor quietly mumbled.
“This whole war has been a genocide,” Celestia argued. “We need to end it, or nothing will be left for future generations.”
“You are simply assuming that any other government than yours is doomed to end in a disaster. You are pessimistically assuming the worst without even giving the option of an alternative government a chance!” Shining Armor criticized her.
“Because history has taught us how it would end!” Celestia shouted. “And I am not going to sit by and let ponykind repeat its history.”
“We could still retreat,” Twilight offered an alternative. “I talked to Major Steelfeathers. He thinks that his Pegasi could cover us and the forces on the way out.”
“And give up the capital?” Celestia asked in disbelief. “The libraries? The very center of our Diarchy? That would be a damning blow, Twilight. We can not give up our position.”
“I agree,” Luna, who had until then only observed, joined the discussion. “Losing the capital in this dire phase of the war would crush what’s left of our troops’ morale.”
Twilight looked to her brother, searching for help from the usually critical soldier, but even he shook his head. “They’re right, Twily. If we give up Canterlot, we may as well hang ourselves on the way out.” He winced when he noticed what he just had suggested. “No, I didn’t mean it like...”
“It's alright,” Twilight reassured him. “I am aware of what is going to happen to all of us if they do catch us. Maybe hanging would be a better fate than what they did to Spitfire.”
Speaking out this name caused everypony to look down. It had been eight years, but Spitfire's name still stood for a martyrdom, a constant reminder of the consequences of defeat.
“I say we have no other choice,” Celestia resolved. “We need to do it, preferably before they launch their attack and more innocent citizens die. We need to end this war, and we will do it in One. Single. Strike. Are you with me or not?”
“I stood with you in centuries of leadership,” Luna answered first. “I will stand with you now as well.”
It took her a moment to force down the last bit of hesitation, but then Cadence freed herself of the embrace of her husband, stood up and positioned herself in front of Celestia. “I don't see any other options, and I miss the Empire. We need to end this war and start a new chapter in our history. I agree on your plan.”
Celestia was only slightly surprised. Outwardly, Cadence still seemed like the warm and caring pony she once had been, but since the death of her daughter, her heart was as cold as the tip of an ice arrow.
Celestia now looked at the two siblings who were left on the sofa. “How about you? We can not do it alone. It needs all of us. Together.”
Shining Armor took a long, saddened look at his wife, then he stood up as well. “As a citizen of Equestria, let me say that this is madness and a war crime as never before.” He paused for a moment. “But as a General of the Royalist forces, I will follow your command, Princess.”
He shortly saluted, before he turned himself towards his sister. Celestia had actually expected her to stand up before her brother, but the Alicorn mare only stared across the room, to the book with the black cover which rested on a bookstand on Celestia's desk. Right now, it was closed.
Twilight had feared this book since the day she had found it. Celestia had ordered her to look for new ways of fighting the Rebels in Star Swirls private library, a place she thirty years ago had loved to explore. Whatever Celestia had expected to find, it was nothing compared to this.
Forbidden Spells, the cover simply said. The first page had offered a more detailed description of what she had to expect of this finding:
This is a Compilation
Of Spells of Magical Manipulation.
Devised to bend Time 'n' Space,
Long-since banned by Pony Race.
To proceed with this, be advised:
A Reader's clear Mind is premised,
Or else this Book will be thy
DOOM
For Twilight, this book had been more than just awe-inspiring. It frightened her to the core. She had studied Star Swirl for decades, even got an honorary doctor's degree from the Canterlot University for her advanced studied on his time-traveling spells. She had found the forbidden part of his library at the age of twenty-two and read every book in it until the age of twenty-four.
However, nothing there, not a single work, had come close to what this book contained. Inscribed within were immortality spells, spells to deprive anypony of his or her magic, spells to summon every sinister creature or spirit one could think of and even homicide spells; not one of them had been as tremendous as the one Celestia was planning to use.
Was there really any other option, though? They were running out of troops, out of food, out of hope. Equestria needed a solution to this war that now plagued it for two and a half decades.
She had run the calculations over and over again. The amount of energy this would set free would be enormous, but it was nothing four Alicorns and a fifty year old General would not be able to control and safely use. After the Royalists freed Canterlot, the Rebels would have to surrender, or else the next strike was already planned to hit Las Pegasus, the Rebel's capital and center of propaganda. After that, another strike would be delivered if necessary. Twilight was sick of this war. She had spent more time in her life at war than she had at peace. Now it was time for peace to return.
“I'm in,” she finally said.
Celestia released her breath. She had not even noticed she had held it. “Thank you. Thank you all for standing with me. This is no easy step for me as well, but it is a necessary one. Please, gather around,” she requested after she had levitated the book towards her. “Libre vetere, mihi te aperi,” she whispered towards the cover, forcing the age-old writ to open up. She flipped through the pages until she found the spell she was about to use.
“You three,” Celestia said, looking at Twilight, her brother and his wife, “reinforce the city's shield as soon as we begin.” She walked back onto the balcony. She could have casted this spell from everywhere, but she wanted to, no, she needed to see it. Luna closely followed her, her head raised for the first time in ages. This war was just about to end.
Celestia took a last look at the forces at the bottom of Canterlot Mountain. Eight thousand Rebel soldiers were rallied down there, one fifth of the enemy's army gathered at a single spot. The conditions could not be any better.
“Let's begin,” she loudly commanded while she began to move the sun up into the sky. Her sister had risen a decrescent, nearly completely dark moon, to not spend the enemy any light. The sun emerged in the east, climbing up in the sky in mere seconds. At first, the sudden sunlight blinded everypony, but she hurried up to move her beloved sun into position behind her sister's moon. The moment the last bit of the sun moved behind the other orb, the land darkened again, only illuminated by the dim light of Equestria's second solar eclipse. Her sister had caused the first one more than ten centuries ago to begin a short war, so Celestia found it quite fitting that she was causing the second one to end a war that had lasted far too long.
Her hooves started to shake while she began to read the first line. “Powers of the celestial bodies, old and arcane.” She could notice a sudden surge, like the air was being charged up with magic. “Follow my voice, follow my will,” she continued.
Her horn suddenly ignited without her will, as did her sister's. Twilight and the others took this as the sign to reinforce the shield. They fired off every bit of magic they had, projecting three beams in the respective colors of their auras through the roof of the castle and into the shielding spell they had installed at the begin of the siege.
At the bottom of Canterlot Mountain, panic broke loose. Rebel lieutenants were running to the tents of their captains to ask in fright what was happening, while these captains were running to the tents of their majors with the same question.
When Celestia began to read the next part, Luna joined in unison. “Two forces, aligned as one. Focus thy power; focus thy might.” At the end of the next line, the eyes of the two sisters all of sudden began to glow.
For a moment, Celestia noticed a small vibration underneath her hooves, but it soon became irrelevant, since her hooves lost contact with the ground the very next moment. She was hovering, though she could still feel her wings clenched to her side.
Meanwhile on the sun and moon, far stranger things were happening. Their gravitational fields were being deformed, their stellar magic hammering against its bonds. For over a thousand years, this magic had fueled the two sisters, provided them with lifespans unusual even for Alicorns and a nearly inexhaustible reserve of magic. Now, while immeasurable amounts of magical force were fighting against their bonds with the celestial bodies, the royal sisters continued with the 3rd line.
“We order ye, set free thy force!”
Two rays of magic were emitted from the horns of the sisters. They passed through the city's shield and met on a point between the two celestial bodies. This created a shockwave of cobalt blue and golden magic deforming the gravitational fields further, until both finally joined together. The sisters continued to project the rays into the newly created gravitational center of the two orbs. Their magic kept interfering with this now-combined field until it began to seek fusion with another field. Since the closest one was the planet itself, the field began to stretch and reach out for the planet underneath.
Finally, fueled by mechanics of physic and magic alike, a single impulse of gravitation was set free and moved towards the planet, just as Star Swirl, and more recently Twilight, had calculated. The wave measured several hundred meters in diameter and dashed towards the planet's center at an incredible speed. Since Celestia and Luna had placed their celestial bodies right above Canterlot, the city was now the first barrier in the way of the wave.
It moved downwards, closer and closer towards the surface, until it made its first contact with the city’s shield. The magic barrier flashed in crimson red, causing the Rebels in the camp looked up for a last time. Their eyes were filled with fear. Then it touched down.
From one moment to the next, everything around Mount Canterlot was pressed downwards. The tents were crushed, the land was flattened. Thousands of tons of earth were pressed further downwards, creating a crater with more than a mile in diameter and a massive shock wave. Within seconds, earthquakes began to shake everything from the Smokey Mountains to Fillydelphia. Volcanos in the dragon lands erupted for the first time in ages and countless avalanches broke loose within the Crystal Mountains, but none of that had been unexpected.
Twilight had calculated for earthquakes. She had known that at least one third of the wave would unload itself into the mantle of the planet and cause major catastrophes everywhere in Equestria and minor ones on many places elsewhere. Nevertheless, Celestia had seen this as an acceptable inconvenience, collateral damages they could live with, especially since the capital would be spared from all of this thanks to the shield.
However, neither Twilight nor once Star Swirl had included the magical reserves of the sun and moon in their calculations. This magic was held in place by none other than the moon’s and sun’s very gravitation and now, with such an immense wave of gravitation leaving the orbs towards the planet, a part of this magic followed. Proportional to the size and magic of these orbs, the released amount was dwarfish and insignificant, but proportional to the size and magic of the Royals in the top of the Canterlot Castle, this power was nothing of the sort.
“WHAT...?” Twilight moaned under the incoming of the sudden force. Radiating with the strength of a hundred suns, a bombardment of white and golden light hit the crimson shield. The shield burned bright under the pressure of this constant ray of colossal power. Twilight’s eyes were filled with disbelief. There should not be a second wave! The gravitational outburst should have been the only effect of this spell! The gravitation, and...
From one moment to the next, she realized the flaw in her calculation, the mistake in her thought process. This was not a wave of gravitation. She could clearly feel it: it was nothing but enormous amounts of raw magical energy that simply had followed the first wave!
While the cogs in her head turned at incredible speed, searching for a solution, Cadence and Shining Armor sank to their knees, hardly able to hold up the shield. Under the continuing strain of the bombardment, Twilight felt the first flicker in the magical barrier.
It only lasted for a split second, but it was enough for the stellar magic to untile every roof in Canterlot. Fragments of magic suddenly dashed through the room like tiny shooting stars, coming from the roof and making their way through parquet and concrete towards the basement of the castle.
Twilight felt the others slowly giving in. Their magic output decreased with every second. Just as a second flicker was about to happen, she forced every bit of magic she had into the current flowing through her horn in the attempt to reduce the harm of any magic passing the shield.
From one moment to the next, her brother gave in. His magic lost contact to the shield, quickly followed by Cadence, who’s already-diminishing ray ceased as well. Twilight knew that she was now solitarily fighting the might of sun and moon at once.
It only took seconds until, accompanied by an indescribable pain, the tip of her horn began to crack open. She screamed and sank to her knees as well, feeling how this foreign power completely overwhelmed her. With her last breath, she looked up to Celestia.
“Cancel… the spell,” Twilight whispered with tears in her eyes. However, Celestia and Luna were still floating above the balcony in complete immobility. Twilight realized that they were completely trapped in the progress of casting the spell. She reached out with one hoof towards the Sun Princess. “Celestia,” she groaned in pain. “Help... me.”
The moment the shielding spell broke, the magic beam struck right through Canterlot Mountain like a titan’s fist. Every building, every fortification and palace, every Royalist soldier, Griffon mercenary or Alicorn alike, they all ceased to exist in the blink of an eye.
The beam heated up the granite as it continuously conducted itself into the planet’s mantle. For three to four seconds no effects were visible, until suddenly the mighty mountain was blasted into fragments.
After releasing this built-up power and with no ongoing spell altering them, both orbs slowly began to stabilize, but their gravitational fields stayed joint, leaving the orbs firmly in their current, eclipsed positions.
However, for the planet and its population, the positions of sun and moon would be of little relevance in the short term. The stellar magic the spell had unintentionally separated from the orbs was now bound to the planet, where it was naturally drawn to every other source of magic. Large amounts of it went to the cave which housed the Tree of Harmony. Other parts went for the Everfree Forest, the Mirror Pond, the Museum of Magical Relics in Vanhoover, or a deep gorge somewhere at the edge of Griffonstone.
Where most of the magic ended up, however, nopony could tell. It would be a continuing danger for the survivors of the blast. Sometimes, amounts of it gathered in lakes or caves and simply stayed there, sometimes parts of it roamed over the surface of the planet like an eternal lightning, and sometimes, it searched to make contact with sapient beings, like it had a mind of its own. Unfortunately for these beings, the consequences of such contacts were mostly unpredictable – but never pleasant, quite often resulting in the death of the exposed being.
The Royals had been correct in one regard: after twenty-five years of war and nearly six hundred thousand losses on both sides, Celestia had managed to end the war with just One. Single. Strike.
