Golden Dawn: Dusk of an Empire

The rumors about Rael'ia's lack of military training were sadly true. Twilight and Spike, and even Rainbow Dash spent many an hour instructing the Elven Princess that even with their numbers, simply breaking down the front door of the Human stronghold on the Crystal Mountain would be far more difficult than she perceived. Talk of siege weaponry was countered with Tunnel Tanks and surprise attacks from below, flanking would be rendered ineffective by the Humans having the high ground all the way up. Rivers could be dammed to prevent Siren incursion. Anti-air towers had been placed in numerous locations all over the mountain, making air strikes costly and dangerous. When pressed to talk about what little experience she did have in military strategies, Rael'ia sheepishly explained that her generals usually came up with the plans and she simply carried them out; the vast majority of "battles" she had planned were the result of Interley simulations where the enemy was set to "easy" and her forces outnumbered theirs twenty to one. But this mission, this climactic battle was of utmost importance to her, so she felt it was only right that she was the one to draft the master plan.

With the help of the dragon and two ponies with the most tactical experience amongst the group, Rael'ia finished a suitable final draft of her attack plan. All that was left was to send it to her generals for amendments, final approval and delegation of forces. She let out a sigh of deep relief as Zina gathered the folder in her field of magic and disappeared with it in a flash. Rael'ia and the ponies had just sat down around her great round table for a pleasant evening conversation when Zina's head popped back into existence, as if from behind an unseen curtain.

"Oh, Princess Rael'ia, I nearly forgot. Shadowmaster Rubelle is waiting to see you. She says it is urgent."

"Already?" Rael'ia put a hand to her chin. "Have her sent in at once." Zina's head nodded before disappearing with an audible pop.

"Ooh, you have spies?" Rainbow Dash leaned over the table on her front hooves.

"Of course. The Petals in the Wind are our kingdom's finest, with Rubelle being the best of them all. In her position, though, something must have gone wrong if she's made the trip here."

They did not have to wait long. A few moments later the doors to the throne room swung open, revealing a lone tall figure cloaked within a hooded robe of scarlet lined with white fur. She entered the room with a graceful stride, slipping off her hood as she approached the table and knelt before the Elven Princess, who nodded in acknowledgement. She stood, raising her head and allowing Twilight to see her brown eyes and shoulder-length black hair, her burnt sienna skin, a headband of gold adorned with a white cabochon gem on her forehead and her surprisingly-Human ears. Under her robe she wore a deep purple garment that covered her neck, adorned with a single ruby red gem in the shape of a diamond below her throat.

"Mirande Bergamot, Head Advisor to the Thamaturge King Bastillion, the Creator of Angels, the True Sovereign of Fae... and so on and so forth." The gem on the woman's forehead glowed briefly, her features changing as the glow dimmed. Now she more clearly resembled an Elf; having long, brilliant red hair obscured by her cloak, vibrant eyes the color of periwinkles, pale skin and elegant, pointed ears. Even her voice changed from slightly deep and accented to higher and sharper. "Gods, do I wish he had a shorter title," she sighed.

"Ah, but you proclaim it so well!" Rael'ia giggled softly as she stood up, teleported in an instant past the table and giddily hugged Rubelle. She returned the hug just as warmly, then regained her composure as Rael'ia teleported back to her seat. "It is good to see you again, my Ruby Rogue."

Rubelle nodded. Her gaze then met Twilight's, yet no emotion betrayed her serious demeanor. "So it's true... you are in the company of Pony-kin. Six Pony-kin of unfathomable power, so the rumors say."

"Oh, the Humans know about us?" Fluttershy asked worriedly.

"But of course, the six of you have already become quite infamous. Five Pony-kin led by another with the powers of the three, laying waste to all who oppose... 'The Child Princess'," Rubelle spoke bitterly. "There's already some fairly high bounties on your heads, especially the purple one."

"Oh. How nice," Twilight coughed.

"I am not a child!" Rael'ia whined indignantly, scowling. "I'm almost a hundred and fifty! Another hundred and I'll have reached middle-age!"

"Anyway, that is not why I'm here. I'm here to deliver some rather bad news."

"Yes, I figured as much," Rael'ia was quick to calm herself after her outburst. "It must be bad if you left your post unattended to tell me yourself." Rubelle grimaced, quietly fiddling with a figurine of an Elven soldier left on the table. She reached into her cloak with her other hand, pulling out a handful of small, muddy-green metal balls the size of peas and setting them down gently.

"You know how the Humans have struggled to create reliable Nullium bullets because of the metal's fragility? I'm afraid they've found a way to overcome that, at least for the standard issue firearms of the infantrymen. The bigger stuff is still too brittle to hold together when fired." Rael'ia groaned loudly and slumped onto the table.

"Damn... please don't tell me I'll have to come up with an entirely different plan now." Rubelle made a faint noise which made the Elven Princess lift her head. "I've just sent the final draft for our siege of the Crystal Mountain to the generals."

"Ah yes, that... so far you will be unexpected if you attack there, but the Humans also assume that any attack on their base there will be utterly suicidal. They assume you know better than to try it."

"Hmm... not sure ah like the sound of that," said Applejack.

"But... with the six of you present, and if the stories about you are true... you just might be able to break through," Rubelle mused. "I've done my best to dissuade any connection between your sudden appearance and the significance of the Crystal Mountain to all Pony-kin... so far, the King seems to have listened to me. After all... how can only six Pony-kin change the course of the war? Nevertheless, he has also put in a commission for another regiment of Angels."

"Lovely," Rael'ia sighed. "Well, could you please inform the generals of your intrigue? Maybe with your knowledge and advice my plan won't be a complete waste."

"Of course, Your Highness. I'll be off then," Rubelle bowed. In an instant her body briefly flashed and quickly dissipated into a cloud of sparkling red dust that blew away like wisps of steam. Once she had gone, Rael'ia buried her face in her hands with exasperation, grumbling to no one in particular about her bad luck.

"Don't worry, Rael'ia, I made sure to include contingency plans for the ammunition in your strategy," Twilight put a hoof on the Elf's left hand. "I thought they might've had something like that already."

Rael'ia gasped. "You did?!"

"Yup. In fact, I even spent the other night thinking of all kinds of 'what ifs'; what if they had Nullium artillery, snipers, cannons-"

"You're amazing!" Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by having them squeezed out of her in a hug. "Is there anything you can't do?"

"Hey, you should be saying those kinds of things about me!" Everyone looked towards the door as Aternus walked through and closed it behind him.

"And what brings you here, Archmage?" Rael'ia grinned smugly, releasing Twilight.

"I thought I'd come by to tell you that Ezri and I have finished the last of the alterations to your friends' armor." He waved a hand, creating a glowing clipboard out of Arcane magic and then blew it towards her with another wave. "She also wishes to inform you that said alterations have fully depleted our stores of Triple A-grade Magicite, and gone through 80% of Double and 35% of Single. Of course, excavations are already underway to replenish those stores."

Rael'ia winced as her eyes traveled down the clipboard, disappearing with a puff as she finished. That was a lot of resources. "Well, our success does depend on these six making it to the top in one piece. For that, I'm willing to go into overkill mode on their armor sets."

"Yea... overkill is... a way to put it," the Archmage looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "Frankly, the amount of power they'll have access to is completely ludicrous. You've practically turned them into demigods!"

"...I like the sound of that a lot," Rainbow Dash smirked, rubbing her hooves together.

"And probably a good thing too, if more Angels are being created," Rarity added.

"Another task finished," Rael'ia nodded. "Now all that is left to do is wait for approval... hopefully your contingency additions help convince my generals that this will work, Twilight."

"It will, I'm sure of it!" the lavender Alicorn smiled. Such unbridled optimism helped put the Elven Princess at ease.

"Well, if there is nothing else pressing to discuss, I shall be off," Aternus bowed. As he turned and left, evening refreshments materialized on the table and the seven were left to their conversation.

The next hour or so passed pleasantly. Each pony was excited to share with the others what they had learned during their stay in Fae so far. Applejack and Fluttershy regaled the others with their tales of the breathtaking Orc capital Terras'tra, the vast alchemical fields surrounding Lake To'reen and the synergistic relationship Orc and animals shared. Rainbow Dash amazed her friends with her involvement in the Border Copse incident, drawing Twilight in and grossing Fluttershy out with her insights into Harpy wartime culture. Rarity revealed that she had had a hoof in helping Master Gemcutter Ezri add sockets to her carefully-crafted suits of armor, and that perhaps in the future the Fairy could refer her to the top names of Fae high fashion. Think of the collaborations to come! Pinkie Pie had since visited the Temple of the Void a couple of times to visit her new best friend. During her last visit, somehow - to the complete and utter bafflement of the Void-Seers - she had willingly leapt right into the pool where the Void resided, only to emerge mere moments later covered in confetti and thanking the Void for a rousing game of polo.

Twilight was the last to share her experiences. She began with the same vigor as the others, speaking praises about the Interley and various schools of magic that, if she managed to master them all, would prove invaluable in advancing their own magical sciences and technology. The eyes of every pony in the room soon glazed over; she just kept talking in one long, incredibly unbroken sentence, moving from topic to topic so that no one had a chance to interrupt (it was really quite hypnotic). It was only the faintest of strange noises that finally broke Twilight's train of thought.

"...And with the Fairies' pioneering work in neuroarcanic medicine, we'll someday be able to look inside our own brains, figuring out just what makes us tick from the insid- eh?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, quite interesting, dear," Rarity suddenly shook herself awake after noticing Twilight's monologue had stopped.

"Did you guys hear that?" Rainbow seemed to have been the only other one to notice. The others shook their heads and voiced their confusion when another noise alerted them. It sounded like a sack of apples being dropped, although from a considerable distance.

"That thump... yes," Rael'ia sat up. A siren blared far away for just a second before abruptly shutting off. The next noise followed moments later; now the sound of magic crackling like static echoed in the night air.

"Is... is it getting closer?" Fluttershy gulped.

The thumping and crackling suddenly intensified in frequency. To everyone's surprise, Aternus' voice could be heard ordering someone or something to halt, quickly cut off by more noises. Rael'ia and the six ponies immediately stood up from their chairs as the strange sounds grew slightly closer and louder. While Twilight remained beside the Elven Princess, the others slowly moved behind them. Suddenly, Aternus appeared on the lavender Alicorn's other side, appearing shocked and breathless.

"Princess!" he wheezed. "You... have visitors."

"What is that?" Rael'ia took a step behind her chair towards her throne. The sounds of magic and battery grew closer still until finally the doors to the room flew open with reverberating force. Everyone's eyes widened at the sight of their unscheduled company: a group of nine Pony-kin, six surrounding three in a ring formation. The six were clothed in identical leather and silver-gold scale armor and armed with spears lying on their backs, pointed behind them, shortswords at their flanks, bayonetted horns and wingblades closely resembling those of the Harpies. They were spaced protectively around the three, whose sullen glares of varying intensity were fixed directly on Twilight.

The first she noticed was the Pegasus. She wore a full suit of silver-gold plate armor, yet moved as if the gear was as light as a silk dress. Only her grey-furred head and cyan mane and tail were visible, along with her bright azure eyes. Her spear was much more ornate than those of the two Pony-kin beside her, featuring a blade set with aquamarines and sapphires as well as pearly Magicite cabochons.

Second was the Unicorn. The colors of her mane and fur dazzled her eyes and made her squint in pain just to look upon her. This one wore elaborate, gauzy robes of a blue so dark it was almost black, held together by a moon-shaped Magicite brooch on her chest. A golden chain wrapped around her horn, with a star-shaped Magicite hanging from the very tip down to her forehead's level. Her blackberry fur served to make her almost Day-Glo yellow mane and tail even brighter and more blinding; her mauve eyes expressed a sense of calm reservation, even boredom. An aura of searing yellow flashed from her horn as the group approached the round table and chairs, enveloping the furniture in its glow and floating them effortlessly to the sides of the room.

Last was the Earth Pony-kin, who walked in front of the other two. He stood tall and proud in his silver-gold plate armor, decorated with medals and other unknown regalia. A thick, broad shield rested on his back like a turtle shell, made of a silvery-green metal with brassy trim. His fur was a patchy, mottled cream and brick red, with a messy, short mane and tail of avocado green, and dark golden eyes that seemed to bore into Twilight's very soul, full of arrogance and anger.

The lavender Alicorn then studied the appearance of these ponies as a whole. Though their Cutie Marks were hidden by armor and cloth, their fur appeared more rugged and bristly, and their tails were mostly barren of colored hair except for the final four inches or so, taking the shape of a teardrop or broad leaf. The divergence of appearances that five hundred years and separate universes had created interested her greatly, but she quickly put it out of her mind.

"Presenting, the Pony-kin Ruling Triumvirate," one of the six called out as they came to a halt in the center of the room. "Lady Silverwing, Lady Midnight Sun, and Lord Autumn Jasper." A moment of stunned silence followed, the others fumbling for words in their minds.

"Ah! Welcome, Pony-kin!" Rael'ia was the first to recover. "I must say, this is quite an honor!"

"...Aren't you all supposed to be dead?" Rainbow Dash spoke next, earning her more than a few glares for her lack of tact.