Four golden slippers clicked against the cold tile floor. They belonged to an alicorn. She had a coat as white as snow and a beautiful, flowing fluorescent mane and tail. She wore a golden diadem with a diamond embeded in the centre of it. The diamond had a slight tinge of blue about it. It was called a pure star diamond. It had supposedly been made in the heart of a star. It glistened on the alicorn's diadem as she walked along.
Accompanying the alicorn were four guards, each dressed in identical golden armour, a red mane protruding from each of their individual helmets. They each carried a long spear in their front right hoof. They marched along silently behind the alicorn.
The five ponies continued walking through the large corridors of the royal castle. The halls were decorated with pills and banners that contained the royal emblem. The pillars were made out of a silver marble. Large windows stood between each of the pillars. They had golden frames on them. The sun shone brightly through them, creating a pattern of window shaped silhouettes along the marble floor. The alicorn walked right over them, not noticing them.
The group eventually arrived at a set of wooden doors. Two more guards stood watch at the door. They stood at attention at the sight of the alicorn, both raising a hoof to salute her. She stood infront of them. She nodded curtly at each of them, letting them know they could return to their regular stance. The guards lowered their hooves and stood at ease. Both of theirs horns lit up with a light blue aura, which then surrounded each of the doors. They slowly opened. Once they were fully open the alicorn nodded and went inside. Two of her guards accompanied her inside, the other two joining the guards on watch at the door.
Once the three of them were inside the room, the doors slowly closed behind them. The room they had enetered was the castle's library. The walls were covered in bookshelves, each containing hundreds of books. Some of them were brand new while others dated back over one hundred years ago. The alicorn and her guards weaved their way through the maze of bookshelves until they came to the centre of the library. At the centre of the room stood a single table. Currently standing at the table were two stallions. One, a small, young, pale blue unicorn. He was reading through a large book. Opposite him at the table stood a larger, dark blue alicorn. He wore a black crown that contained a similar diamond to that of the other alicorn. He was looking intently at the small unicorn. He glanced over to his right amd noticed the alicorn standing there. He went over to her to greet her.
"Hello dear." he said, hugging the white alicorn. She returned the hugged."It's a pleasure to see you."
"The feeling is mutual." the white alicorn responded. She turned to face the unicorn."How are we today Master Starswirl?" she asked.
The unicorn lifted his head out of the book he was reading through. He looked over at the alicorn. He gave a small bow."Your majesty." he said."I'm doing fine today. How are you?" he asked raising his head.
The alicorn smiled."I am good today. Although I am worried with all this talk of war." the white alicorn said. The unicorn nodded in agreement.
"I know exactly what you mean. Your husband has had me researching magical spells all morning." the unicorn said. The white alicorn looked over at her husband.
"You've been preparing for war?" she asked. The darker alicorn's face went stale.
"It never hurts to be prepared." he said quietly.
"You're just asking for a war at this point. If we can avoid it we should be doing everything we can to do so." the white alicorn said."Next I'll find that you've had all the border patrol placed on alert and you've started recruiting again." the mare said. The dark alicorn glaned over at Starswirl nervously. The mare glared at the dark alicorn.
"Well funny you should say that dear." the dark alicorn chuckled.
"Cosmos tell me you didn't." his wife groweled. The alicorn stood quietly."You are the most incompetent ruler this kingdom has ever seen. You always rush into these things recklessly when they could be easily avoided."
"I'm just trying to keep my kingdom safe." Cosmos said defensively. The mare shot him a look that would kill any other stallion.
"It is our kingdom and our job to protect it." the white alicorn said.
"I'm sorry Galaxia." Cosmos said, sighing."I just don't think I can handle another war. Not after the Last Arcane war with the Draconequui. Our entire species was wiped out except for us." the dark blue alicorn said.
"I understand how you feel Cosmos. You were not the only one of us to fight. And I worry too, for our daughters. I do not wish for them to grow up knowing only war and hatred." Galaxia said. The two alicorns stood in silence.
"Whatever happens, we will face it together." Cosmos said, looking up at his wife. She smiled back at him.
"Together." she said.
The doors to the library flew open. A guard in silver armour rushed towards the pair of alicorns. They looked worried as he approached. He nearly collapsed as he tried to halt himself. He stopped inches away from the white alicorn.
"Your majesty." the guard heaved."I have news from the joint council. They recieved a letter moments ago from the deer delegate." he said lifting up a small piece of paper. Cosmos stepped forward and took the parchment. He opened it and read through it's contents. As his eyes went down the page his expression got darker and darker. Once he finished reading it he looked up at his wife and Starswirl.
"What does it say?" Galaxia asked him.
"It says that we are now at war." he said grimly. There was silence amongst the ponies in the room.
The king and queen of the pony race rushed through the castle halls. Accompanying them was Master Starswirl aswell as eight armed guards. They were headed in the direction of the council room. As they were travelling, guards could be seen rushing about the castle, no doubt in relation to the recent news received by the kingdom. As the ponies drew closer to the council room, they encountered more guards. Eventually they arrived at a large pair of golden doors. Four guards were standing watch outside. Ponies were rushing in and out of the room. The watch guards halted the stream of ponies to allow the two alicorns entry into the council room. They nodded their thanks as they went inside.
Inside the room was just as hectic as outside. Ponies were running around the room, shouting things at one another, some in anger, others in worry. The layout of the room was designed so that the walls were covered by rows of seats in a U shape. At the centre of the U was a small rectangular table. Three ponies sat at the table. Two large thrones were stationed opposite the table, facing all the rows of seats aswell as the small table. The two alicorns sat down on each of their respective thrones. Once they did silence fell upon the room. One of the three ponies, a pegasus in black armour, stood up at the rectangular table. He gave a quick salute to the king and queen.
"Your majesties!" he said, lowering his hoof back to his side."I assume you received our message." he said. Both of the alicorns nodded.
"Indeed we did. When did you receive the letter Commander Hurricane?" Cosmos asked the pegasus. Another pony stood up at the table, a unicorn in silk robes.
"We received the letter no more than fifteen minutes ago." the unicorn said.
"Thank you Princess Platinum." Galaxia said. The two alicorns looked at the crowd that sat before them.
The third pony at the table stood up, an earth pony in a smart dress.
"How does the kingdom plan to retaliate?" the earth pony asked.
The alicorns looked at one another grimly. King Cosmos spoke.
"We have been preparing the kingdom for war." he said. There was immediate uproar from the ponies in the room. King Cosmos banged his hoof against the floor, regaining silence throughout the room."That does not however mean it is the path we are going to choose."
"We will try and settle this dispute with the Deer peacefully. At the same time we will send messages to our allies, should the worst come to pass. If they do not accept our offer of peace then we will meet them head on." Queen Galaxia said. The ponies in the room stared at their king and queen. Commander Hurricane spoke.
"I can have our legions deployed within the hour. Once you give the order of course, your majesties." he said.
"We cannot go rushing into this Commander." the princess said."We must wait to see if they reconsider amd accept our offer of peace."
The two alicorns turned to face the earth pony at the right of the table.
"What do you think Chancellor Puddinghead?" King Cosmos asked. The earth pony let out a heavy sigh.
"I think that the kingdom should be ready for war, since it is on our doorstep." she said. Commander Hurricane smiled."However, I also believe we should prioritise the peace negotiations so we can avoid war all together." the Chancellor said. Now it was the princess's turn to smile. The two alicorns looked at the high council before turning to one another.
"What do you think our best option is?" Cosmos asked his wife. She had a grim look on her face.
"I think we need to set up negotiations as soon as possible. But I also don't want to leave our ponies defenceless." she said. Her husband nodded at her. He turned back to face the whole council.
"Commander Hurricane." King Cosmos said.
"Your majesty?" he responded.
"Deploy all legions to be on patrol. If any attack comes we shall be ready. I also want you to prepare an escort for the delegation who will be travelling to the Deer capital city." the king order. The pegasus nodded and bowed.
"It will be done, your majesty." he said getting out of his chair and departing the council room. The king then turned his gaze to the remaining high council members.
"Princess Platinum, I want you to go as part of the delegation. You are our best negotiator. Maybe you will be able to convince them to avert from the path of war." Cosmos said. The princess bowed.
"Of course, your majesty. I will prepare to depart at once" she said also getting up and leaving.
"And what of me, your majesty?" The Chancellor asked.
"I want you to stay here and keep the council organised. My wife and I will be indisposed for the time being. All council topics will come before you until we return." King Cosmos said. The Chancellor nodded. The two alicorns rose from their thrones and exited the council room, reaccompanied by their guards and Starswirl. Once out of the council room, they headed back to the royal library.
"I think you handled that rather well, your majesty." Starswirl said. Queen Galaxia nodded.
"Indeed, I agree with Starswirl." she said.
"Thank you very much." he responded."Now I want to return to the library. I have a feeling I can guess what the response will be to the delegation, and if I'm correct then we are going to want to be a lot more prepared." Cosmos said.
Princess Platinum stepped out into the castle courtyard. Waiting in the courtyard was a golden carriage, surrounded by over a dozen guards. Commander Hurricane was standing by the carriage. Princess Platinum approached the pegasus. He saluted her when she approached.
"Princess Platinum, your escort is ready to depart as soon as you are." he said. She smiled at him.
"Thank you commander. You are excellent for preparing this so quickly." she said. She stepped into the carriage. Commander Hurricane closed the door behind her. She popped her head out the window."I'll be home before you know it." she said, kissing the stallion on the cheek. He blushed as she did so.
"Please stay safe." he responded. The mare smiled at him.
"I promise." she said, returning inside the carriage. Commander Hurricane raised a hoof to signal the driver to go. The stallions pulling the carriage immediatly got into motion, slowly pulling the carriage along. Commander Hurricane watched as the carriage departed the castle grounds. Once it was out of sight he turned to face his second in command.
"I want a note sent out to all legions. Form patrols along the northern and and western borders. Have them move from one city to another. I want any possible threats neutralised before they set hoof on our soil, understood?" he said to the stallion.
"Yes sir!" the pony said saluting his superior. He immediatly galloped off in the opposite direction.
The two alicorns and the unicorn searched through the books in the royal library. Starswirl was flying through the bools as if they were only one page long.
"Have you found anything useful yet?" Cosmos asked the unicorn, searching through a book of his own. Starswirl paused to look at the alicorn.
"Nothing that would be benefitial, your majesty." he said returning to ravaging through books.
"Why are we doing this?" Galaxia asked, looking through a dusty book.
"It's just a precaution. Our armies aren't as big as the Deer's. Therefore if our armies are defeated, we need a backup plan." Cosmos said.
"Assuming we actaully go to war." Galaxia said.
"You know aswell as I do, the Deer are going to reject the offer of peace." Cosmos said, putting down the book he was reading."Maybe if there was a few more alicorns around I wouldn't be this jittery, but incase you haven't noticed they were wiped out, along with all of our cities which contained the books of alicorn magic." the dark blue alicorn said sternly.
"Do not bring up the last Arcane War." Galaxia shouted at her husband."The battles fought during that were horrendous. I would not wish the atrocities commited during that war on any living creature. I would rather die than relive something similar to it." she said, tears forming in her eyes."We lost so many friends and family to that pointless war."
Cosmos looked at his wife. He went over and took her in his grasp, hugging her tightly.
"I'm sorry." he said softly. The two alicorns stayed in one anothers embrace.
"Your majesty, I think I've found something!" the young unicorn called out. The two alicorns detatched from each other, rushing over to the unicorn. He levitated the boom infront of them. As they both read it their expressions grew dark. Cosmos looked at his wife. She looked back at him.
"We will need this dear." he said softly, holding her hoof. She glared at the book.
"Only as a last resort, if all else fails and there is no hope left." she said.
"I promise we will only use it under those conditions." Cosmos said.
"Alright. Starswirl, bring the book to the throne room." she said. The unicorn darted out of the library."I really hope it doesn't have to come to that."
"I hope so too." Cosmos said.
