The Fall of Canterlot

The Fall of Canterlot

IV.

Rising Tension

Ponyville, morning, two weeks after The Fall

Pinkie Pie merrily pronked through the shantytown surrounding the castle on her way to the newly rebuilt train station. Ponies waved as she passed; she waved back, exuberantly greeting each by name. Her hair bounced, curly as ever even as the humid air of the late summer morning soaked her coat. No weather could ever douse her earth pony magic, not with its unbreakable connection to her emotions. If she was happy, her hair was happy, and that was that.

“And I sure am happy!” she chortled to herself. “Maud’s coming to Ponyville today!” It had been Maud’s graduation the week before. Pinkie couldn’t attend; she still had too many duties taking care of the injured and sick ponies after Canterlot exploded. So she sent her love via letter(paying four times as usual for a slower delivery) and had just received a letter back saying Maud was coming today!

“I wonder why though,” Pinkie said. “She didn’t say! I hope it isn’t that she wants to move to Ponyville… iiiiit’s not in good shape right now.”

Up ahead the station--built with three platforms now, two dedicated for use as supply lines for aid relief and the military--bustled with activity. Train whistles blew as engines steamed in, their cars laden with cargo. Military ponies lined up to unload supplies as quick and efficient as any pony Pinkie had ever seen, while others patrolled, guns at the ready. Other trains, bound for destinations all about Equestria, rumbled past on the two bypass lines while many more waited patiently for their turn. Thanks to a detachment of Army engineers that tagged along with the 64th and as many Ponyvillians as were willing, the rails were rebuilt so fast that Ponyville was rapidly becoming the hub around which rail traffic in Equestria turned. For now, anyway. Applejack had told Pinkie the military were erecting a much bigger and better hub somewhere outside of town, but it would take months to complete. Equestria’s rail system, while not exactly on time, at least let ponies ride from coast to coast again.

She arrived, dancing about the platform, cheering. Her eyes ran down the train schedule written on a large chalk board, spotting the train from Quarryville, the nearest city to her parent’s rock farm. It was scheduled to arrive an hour and a half ago, which hopefully meant Maud would be arriving any minute. So she bounced about the platform, humming to herself as she waited patiently.

When she’d just about reached the end of her patience--about five minutes, a new record--a shiver ran down her left forehoof, the frog itching. At the same time her right rear hoof trembled. She gasped, her gaze darting about. “Oh no!” she cried. “That means something sad is about to happen!” Her mouth twisted into a frown. “Woah, been feeling that way too much lately.”

“Pinkie? What are you doing here?” asked a familiar voice behind her.

Pinkie whirled to see Trixie standing there, a large suitcase floating in her field. Her cape was draped askew, full of wrinkles and ruffles, the clasp half open. Her hat hung off one ear, bent over in the middle. Her eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks lined with tear stains.

“Woah, are you okay, Trixie?” Pinkie asked, rushing over and holding out her forelegs for a hug. “What’s wrong?”

Trixie’s lips trembled. She glowered at Pinkie, opened her mouth as if to say something, then shut it again. She fell into Pinkie’s outstretched arms, slumping against Pinkie’s chest. “I’m… I’m leaving Ponyville,” she murmured into Pinkie’s chest fluff.

“But, why?” said the earth pony. “All your friends are here!”

“Yeah,” Trixie muttered. “Except one.”

Even Pinkie, who’d been declared “the thickest head in all of Ponyville!” by Rarity on three separate occasions, understood this. She squeezed Trixie against her chest, ignoring the sound of choking that resulted. “Oh, poor Trixie. I miss Starlight too! But that doesn’t mean you should leave your friends, silly! We’re here for you, whenever you need us.” She let Trixie go and patted her head while the unicorn gasped for air.

Trixie scowled, gently pushing Pinkie’s arm away with her field. “Yes, so I’ve been told, by all of you. Many times. But Starlight was my first real friend, and I… I just wish to start over, somewhere far, far away.”

For several moments, Pinkie lay silent. She didn’t move, or speak. She just stared, the look in her eyes distant and far away as though she were lost in memory. Finally, she held a hoof to her breast. She smiled. Not a happy beam or a playful smirk or any of her usual shenanigans-promising grins, but a warm, kind smile, lifted right out of Fluttershy’s playbook. “I understand. I felt that way once too, you know. It’s why I left the rock farm. Granny Pie died, right after I got my cutie mark, and I… I just wanted to leave. So I came here, to Ponyville! The Cakes took me in and I’ve been here ever since.”

Her smile faded a touch at the edges. “But I still visit my family. I haven’t forgotten them. How could I? They’re some of the best ponies you’ll ever meet! My parents ask me to stay longer every time I visit, too. They miss me a lot. I’ll miss you too, but if you gotta leave, you gotta leave. I get it.”

Trixie blinked, head cocked to one side. Her hat fell to the ground. “Who are you and what have you done with Pinkie Pie?”

Pinkie giggled. “Oh you.”

Trixie harrumphed, but Pinkie caught a hint of a smile gracing the unicorn’s face before it faded. “So, why are you here anyway, Pinkie?” Trixie inquired while she picked up her hat. “You never answered my question.”

“Oh, I’m waiting for Maud. She’s my sister and--look, there she is!”

A train chugged into the station, carrying cars of passengers. Maud Pie waved out from the nearest car window. She disembarked in what for Maud was a rush. “Pinkie, hi,” she said as she approached.

“Hi Maud!” Pinkie cheered as she gave her sister a hug. “Is something wrong? You look a little worried. Is it Boulder? Is he okay?”

“Boulder’s fine,” Maud answered. She cast her emotionless gaze on Trixie. “Who’s this?”

“This is Trixie,” Pinkie answered before the unicorn could open her mouth. “She’s another one of my friends.”

“I see.” Maud held out a hoof to Trixie. “Nice to meet you.”

Trixie hesitated, then gave Maud’s hoof a light bump. “I’m… happy to make your acquaintance. You’re not what I expected from a sister of Pinkie.”

“I get that a lot.” Maud’s gaze returned to her sister. “We need to talk.”

“Talk? Uh, okay, sure!” Pinkie let out a nervous laugh. Whenever Maud wanted to talk something was very wrong indeed. “What is it?”

Maud waved Pinkie over to a nearby bench. When Trixie made to follow, she said, “I need to talk to Pinkie alone.”

“Of course,” Trixie said, looking away and casting her eyes to the platform floor. “I’m sorry.”

“Aw Maud it’s okay, whatever you have to say you can tell Trixie too!” Pinkie said. Trixie’s eyes lit up, if only for a moment.

Maud’s flat line of a mouth tilted a centimeter downward. “Fine.” After Trixie joined them on the bench, Maud turned to Pinkie. “Something’s wrong with Mom and Dad.”

Pinkie clapped her hooves to her face. “Oh no! Is Mom sick? Is Dad sick? Did they get hurt? Did they get crushed by fallen rocks?!”

Maud pressed her hoof to Pinkie’s mouth. “Quiet. Please.” She took her hoof away.

Pinkie’s cheeks bloomed with red. “Sorry.”

“Mom and Dad aren’t hurt,” Maud continued. “You’ve heard of Goddess worship?”

Pinkie shivered, gagging. Everyone had by now; the new religion out of Baltimare was taking the nation by storm. Tens of thousands of ponies had already converted, with thousands more every day. And they all cried for the overthrow of the ‘false alicorns.’ They’d even adopted a symbol they all wore as amulets or lapel pins: a half sun and moon in gold and silver colors. “Yeah, they’re really creepy. And scary. They’re screepy!”

“Not to mention crazy,” Trixie added. “I cannot believe anyone would fall for such tripe.”

“Crascreepy?” Pinkie ventured.

Maud’s mouth twitched. “Mom and Dad have converted.”

“WHAT?!” Pinkie screeched, hooves flailing wildly in the air. Ponies all over the train platform stopped what they were doing and stared, though a few of the locals muttered “Oh it’s just Pinkie” under their breath.

A pegasus soldier carrying a rifle approached. “Is something wrong here?” he inquired.

“Yes, something’s wrong!” Pinkie shouted. “My parents have--”

Trixie slapped a hoof to Pinkie’s mouth. Her eyes widened just a hair as she saw the pegasus was wearing a Goddess symbol on a chain under his uniform shirt. She grinned sheepishly at him. “Please, don’t listen to her, um, sergeant. Everything is fine. I promise.”

The soldier narrowed his eyes. “Better be,” he grumbled as he returned to his patrol.

“Thank you,” Maud said to Trixie with a slight upward twitch of her mouth. She turned back to Pinkie. “Please be more careful.”

“But, Maud,” Pinkie exclaimed, though this time she kept it at a reasonable volume, “this is really bad! Mom and Dad are super pushy; they’ll totally force their beliefs on Marble and Limestone! You know how Limestone is; I love her but she can be really angry sometimes. She might hurt somepony!”

“I know,” Maud answered. “That’s why I came. I need you to come back with me. Together we can convince them to stop believing.”

Pinkie nodded, with a confident grin. “Absoposilutely!” Her grin slipped away. “But, I’ve been really busy here. Applejack needs me.”

“Applejack understands family, Pinkie.”

Pinkie held out one hoof and bopped it with her other hoof. “Right, duh. I knew that. I’ll just go tell her and get my stuff and then we can be gone in a jiffy!” She hopped off the bench, rearing up for a pell mell gallop.

“Um, wait, please,” Trixie called, stopping Pinkie in her tracks. “May I come along?”

Maud blinked at her. “Why?”

Trixie flushed. “I’ve worked for your parents before, on the rock farm. They know me; I might be able to help.” She held up the suitcase. “And I was headed to Los Pegasus anyway. Quarryville is on the way.”

“I knew it!” Pinkie sang. “I knew it was my family’s rock farm you worked at. And you never told me, silly.”

“Oh. ” Maud looked to Pinkie, then back to Trixie. “I’m okay with it if you are, Pinkie.”

Pinkie’s smile stretched from ear to ear. “That’d be amazing!”

~ * ~

Afternoon, Ponyville, two and a half weeks after The Fall

Fluttershy traipsed through the castle corridors, her hooves clacking on the crystal floor. Apart from the bathroom lines few ponies hung around the castle anymore, thanks to the military erecting sufficient shelters. Fluttershy liked it that way. Quiet was better. She didn’t get much quiet these days, with the construction, or ponies arguing over who cut in line. So she savored it where she could find it.

She passed through the front entrance into the afternoon sun. A mailpony, not a local, judging by the unusual uniform she wore, stood sighing, tapping her hooves on the ground. “Um, hello?” Fluttershy greeted.

The mailpony rolled her eyes. “Finally,” she said with a thick Bucklyn accent. “Been waitin’ fah hours, feels like.” She ducked her head into her saddlebags and emerged with a copy of the Manehattan Times. “Here’s yah newspapah. Ten bits.”

“Ten bits?” Fluttershy repeated, quivering. “But that’s even more than yesterday.”

“Don’t care,” the mailpony answered. “You gonna pay or what?”

Closing her eyes, Fluttershy took a breath, then opened them again. “No. I paid eight bits yesterday and that’s all I’ll pay now.”

With a scoff, the mailpony forked over the newspaper. “Fine, whatevah. Here.”

Fluttershy counted out eight coins, hoofing them over. “Thank you.”

The mailpony took off without another word, soaring eastward. With a happy little grin to herself, Fluttershy stuffed the newspaper under a wing and headed back inside. She wasn’t going to let herself be pushed around.

Her grin fell away as she contemplated the price. Even eight bits was absurd for a newspaper. Inflation had hit the economy like a freight train, driving prices to record heights. Before The Fall she wouldn’t have paid two bits for a newspaper from Manehattan. She thanked her lucky stars she didn’t have to pay for her own food, since she lived in the castle and was technically a part of Applejack’s staff. On her meager government stipend as an animal caretaker for the forest and with what few bits ponies doled out when took care of what the vet couldn’t, she’d have been destitute within a week, even if she sold off all the property that came with the cottage. (For who else would want property on the edge of the Everfree?) She’d starve on the street, as many ponies were undoubtedly doing around the country. The government used to run shelters all over so that there wasn’t a single homeless pony anywhere, but most of those shelters were shutting down now, thanks to the loss of Canterlot. The thought of a pony freezing to death from exposure at night tore at her heart.

With a sigh, she made for the guest rooms, knocking on Rarity’s door. “Rarity? I’m back.”

“Coming!” After several long moments, Rarity’s field took hold of the knob and opened the door. Rarity wore sunglasses, hiding her eyes now that they no longer needed bandages. Her field passed along the floor to Fluttershy’s face. “Hello, darling,” she said with a trace of cheer. “Come in, please.”

Rarity turned, her field scanning the floor as she took slow steps to the couch, sitting in it after carefully checking it over to ensure she wouldn’t fall to the floor by accident.

“You’re getting better at that,” Fluttershy said with a small smile. She joined Rarity on the couch.

“Well I’m trying, anyway.” Rarity shifted into a more comfortable position. “How much did the mailpony charge you?”

“She tried to charge me ten bits,” Fluttershy said, a trace of bitterness making its way into her voice. “But I talked her down to eight.”

“Either way it’s highway robbery,” Rarity sniffed, “but I’m proud of you, Fluttershy. You’ve come such a long way.”

“Um, thanks,” Fluttershy replied, her cheeks blooming.

“Of course. So, what horrible, wretched things are ponies doing to each other today?”

Fluttershy unfurled the newspaper. She winced at the headline article, squinting to avoid looking at the picture. “More ponies died in Manehattan.”

“More? This is, what, the fourth time now?” Rarity said.

“It looks like they were attacking the soldiers, with knives and… something the newspaper is calling a Bucklyn bomb.” She looked up at Rarity, her stomach twisting. “It lights ponies on fire.”

Rarity shivered in her seat. “Ugh, how awful. What a terrible way to go.”

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes. She sat up, bracing to counter any expression of suicidal desires. But after a moment, when Rarity showed no sign, she relaxed. She looked back to her newspaper. “It looks like the ponies who attacked the soldiers were Goddess worshippers; the mayor is asking Princess Cadance to make it illegal.” Her mouth twisted. “But Cadance can’t do that. Ponies have freedom of religion.”

“I wish she would anyway,” Rarity grumbled. “It’s like a cult.”

Fluttershy scanned the paper for other articles. “Duchess Seafoam has been holding meetings with the leaders of the other member states. She’s been giving speeches every day on how Cadance and Twilight should step down.” She sighed, pressing her lips together. “Poor Twilight. She hasn’t even come home yet because of all this mess.”

Rarity slumped in her chair. “I miss her too. I wish she’d at least call us, or send a telegram or a letter or something.”

“She’s probably too busy,” Fluttershy said with a sorrowful look. She looked back to her newspaper. “Oh, um, River Bends, the inventor of the motorwagon, is pulling out of Manehattan. She’s moving her business to the Crystal Empire. Says it’s more stable there.”

Rarity clapped a hoof to the floor. “That’s her name! It’s been on the tip of my tongue for weeks.”

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. “Why’s that?”

“Oh no reason, nothing at all,” Rarity responded, waving a hoof dismissively. “Do go on.”

The pegasus hesitated. “You know,” she suggested, not for the first time, “I could get you a wireless set, so you could listen to the news. Applejack has several extra she borrowed from the military.”

“But that’s just not the same,” Rarity protested, like she had every time. Her horn lit, her field tracing to feel Fluttershy’s face. “Besides, I like when you read me the newspaper. It makes me feel less… alone.”

That was new; she’d never said that to Fluttershy before. Warmth filled Fluttershy’s cheeks as she scooted closer to give Rarity a hug. “I’m happy to help.”

“You’re a dear friend, Fluttershy,” Rarity whispered. “I don’t say that anywhere near as much as I should.”

The warmth blossomed throughout Fluttershy’s body. “Thank you, Rarity. You’re a dear friend, too.”

~ * ~

Crystal Empire, afternoon, three weeks after The Fall.

Duchess Seafoam marched through the halls of the Crystal Palace, chest out, nose in the air. Her delicate green curls, like so many bubbles of foam, bounced as she walked. Her elegant dress of burgundy and royal blue perfectly matched the gem-studded tiara atop her head. She wore a sash around her chest bearing the Goddess symbol in actual gold and silver.

Her personal attache, an earth pony mare like herself named Dusty Drafts rushed to keep by her side. “Must you walk so fast, your grace?”

“If you can’t keep up, Dusty,” Seafoam said with a scornful look, “I’ll find somepony who can.”

Dusty adjusted her glasses up higher on her muzzle. “That won’t be necessary.”

“Good.” Seafoam’s eyes scanned the crystal walls. The absurd material was everywhere. “Look at this place, Dusty. It’s so cold and heartless. A poor imitation of the glorious beauty of Canterlot.” She let out a laugh. “Just like the ponies who live in it.”

“Yes, your grace,” Dusty said automatically.

“Such a shame, Canterlot,” Seafoam said. “So much pony culture, our traditions, our sacred ways of life, gone in an instant. And these fools would rather send little toy soldiers to run around shooting ponies while accomplishing nothing of real value. Pathetic.”

“As you say.”

Soon they approached the palace throne room. The ornate doors--made of crystal, of course--were open. Guards clad in traditional plate armor stood at either side. Another pony at the door pressed a bugle to his mouth. “Now presenting Her Grace, Duchess Seafoam of the Duchy of Baltimare!”

Seafoam approached the throne, where both pretenders were sitting side by side. “Greetings, your highnesses,” she said, her voice dripping with venom. She held out a hoof to stop Dusty before the stupid mare could embarrass her by bowing.

The two fakers shared a look, though neither bristled at her disrespect, to her disappointment. “Greetings, Duchess,” said Cadance. “Welcome to the Crystal Empire.”

“Yes, it is so wonderful to be here,” Seafoam said without a hint of sincerity. “Let’s not waste our breath on niceties, shall we? Why have you called me here?”

Twilight coughed, clearing her throat. “Well, Duchess, you’re here because you’ve been, ah, causing a lot of problems. For us.”

“How direct of you,” Seafoam sneered.

“Well, you did say not to waste time with niceties,” Twilight shot back.

Seafoam chuckled mirthlessly. “So I did.”

“Duchess Seafoam,” Cadance said with the obedience-demanding stare of royalty, “you have been inciting violent riots with your rhetoric. Your endorsement of Goddess worship has resulted in it spreading like a wildfire, with devastating results to the fragility of Equestria’s current state of affairs. Your actions have directly led to the deaths of over one hundred ponies in Manehattan alone, and many more besides. You will cease these actions immediately.”

Seafoam burst into mocking laughter. “Or what, ‘Princess’ Cadance? You’ll strip me of my title?”

“Yes, we will,” Cadance answered.

“On whose authority?” Seafoam demanded, pointing a hoof at the pretender. “Yours? Twilight Sparkle’s? Neither of you have authority on the national stage; you never have.”

Now she was getting somewhere. Twilight Sparkle’s face burned crimson. “Excuse me, Duchess, but did you forget we’re Princesses?”

She sniggered. “Oh please. You’re not the Goddesses, may they reign eternal. You’re just unicorns with wings.”

“That’s it!” Twilight growled, leaping to her hooves. “I’ve had just about enough of--”

“Twilight, stop,” Cadance ordered, thrusting her hoof out in Twilight’s way. “Sit down.”

With a groan, Twilight flopped back down, folding her arms over her chest.

Seafoam chortled. She leaned over to Dusty, whispering in her ear. “Look at Twilight obey like the dog she is. Just like with Princess Celestia, she’s the shadow. Remember that.”

“Yes, your grace,” Dusty replied.

“Duchess Seafoam,” Cadance announced. “I will say once, and only once more: you will cease your actions and your disrespect to the throne, or I will strip you of your title and your lands.”

“No,” Seafoam said. “I will not obey the orders of a pretender.”

“Then by the power of my position as Princess of Equestria I hereby--”

“I don’t think so,” Seafoam interrupted. She grinned when she saw even Cadance was seething now. “Like I said, I will not obey the orders of a pretender. And neither will Equestria. I ask you to step down and allow someone who believes in our Goddesses to rule, as they intended.”

“Are you crazy?!” Twilight shouted, throwing her hooves up in the air. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were not Goddesses for pony’s sake! They were ponies just like you and me. That’s it.”

Seafoam scowled. “How dare you insult my beliefs?”

Twilight snorted. “Oh, sure, when you insult us it’s totally fine, but when I point out the truth--”

“What Twilight is saying, Seafoam,” Cadance said, glaring at Twilight for a moment before returning her gaze to the duchess, “is that we’re not going to give up our position. Equestria is on the precipice of disaster. Any change in leadership could tip us over that edge into total chaos. Surely, you must understand that.”

“So, you will not surrender the throne, and I will not give up my title,” Seafoam said. “It seems we are at an impasse. I suppose I have no choice, then.”

Twilight blew out an exasperated sigh. “Thank you, I’m glad you’re finally seeing rea--”

“The Duchy of Baltimare hereby secedes from Equestria.”

Seafoam burst with glee inside at the sheer shock she saw on the pretender’s faces. “You, you what?!” Twilight roared. “You can’t do that! There’s nothing in the Friendship Accords that lets you do that! It’s never happened in the history of Equestria!”

Seafoam nodded to Dusty. The attache pulled out a file folder of documents from her saddlebags and presented it to a guard, who took it up to the false Princesses. “As you can see, I am officially withdrawing Baltimare from the Friendship Accords, making our signature and its effects null and void. Without that, there’s nothing keeping us in Equestria.”

Cadance dropped all pretense of her royal demeanor. Her ears flattened against her skull. “No, please, Seafoam. You can’t do this. Please don’t do this. You’ll destroy Equestria!”

“Oh but you see, Cadance,” Seafoam smirked, leaning forward, “that’s the idea.”

“You’re insane,” Twilight blurted. “You’re completely, totally insane.”

Seafoam laughed. “No, I am perfectly sane. Insanity would be to preserve Equestria as it stands, a bloated, corrupt nation of fools and idiots. Insanity would be to allow the future of our children, of pony generations yet to come, to go without basking in the glory of our Goddesses. Insanity would be to let our culture wither away on the vine, to let pony blood be poisoned by donkeys and mules. I will be inviting any and all who wish to join me in remaking a new Equestria, a Holy Equestrian Empire! And then, ‘your highnesses,’ you will step down. Or I will remove you.” She pivoted on her hoof to leave. Dusty followed by her side.“

Wait!” Twilight called. Seafoam ignored her. “Please, wait!”

As Seafoam reached the door, Cadance shouted, “Guards! Arrest her, now!”

The guards immediately pointed their spears at Seafoam and her attache. “Halt!” one with the insignia of an officer gracing the front of his plate mail ordered. “You will come with us.”

“Dusty, if you would?” Seafoam said.

Dusty ducked into her saddlebags and retrieved a portable wireless earpiece. She hoofed it over to Seafoam, who placed it in her ear. “Colonel,” she said, “stand ready.”

“Ready, your grace,” crackled a voice through the speaker.

Seafoam turned to face the pretenders. “One order and my airship will unleash its full batteries on the city. Thousands will lose their lives. Try to stop me from leaving and I will give that order.”

Twilight burst into the air, her chest heaving, her eyes like little globes of fire as her whole body was enveloped in the glow of her magic. “You will not!” she ordered in the ear-piercing scream of the Royal Canterlot voice.

Seafoam just grinned. “Colonel, you may fire--”

“Wait!” Cadance shouted.

“Hold, Colonel,” Seafoam ordered.

Cadance lit her horn, her field overtaking Twilight’s like a bucket of water dousing flames. “Let her go, Twilight.”

The fire in Twilight’s eyes died. “But, Cadance--”

Cadance shook her head. “We can’t risk it. Let her go.”

The younger unicorn with wings floated down to her seat. “Fine. Fine! Go, Seafoam. Just… just go!”

Now Seafoam bowed, a mocking bow she filled with as much scorn as she could muster. “Thank you. Goodbye.” She inclined her head to her attache. “Come along, Dusty.”

“Yes, your grace.”

They trotted along at a leisurely pace. Seafoam gave the all-clear to her colonel, then said to Dusty, “That went perfectly, wouldn’t you say?”

Dusty’s mouth twisted into a frown. “If I may… was it really necessary to antagonize them so?”

“Of course,” Seafoam said. “You see, I knew they would respond to nothing less. As Silver Cross has preached, they truly are windigoes in pony skin.”

“Still,” Dusty replied, “I do not think it wise to imply war. You cannot believe we could actually win such a conflict?”

Seafoam inclined an eyebrow. “You ask me this while we’re still in the pretender’s stronghold? The very walls have ears, you fool.”

“My apologies,” Dusty said, her head bowed in submission. “I did not think before I spoke.”

“That much is obvious.” Seafoam’s earpiece let out a hiss of static. “Yes, Colonel, what is it?”

“Your grace, we’ve just received a transmission from Baltimare. They say it’s urgent.”

Seafoam scowled. “Well they can wait till I reboard the ship!”

”Of course.”

It took them only a few minutes to reach the airship. Like all modern military airships, it was a sleek, bulky affair, hunched over like a battering ram, over four hundred meters long. Unlike civilian airships which had wooden gondolas suspended under fragile balloons, military airships had their gondolas strapped directly to the underside of the balloon, with no open decks. Artillery ports, both explosive and magical dotted the gondola, alongside racks of machine guns to rake enemy fliers or pepper ground targets too fragile to need armor piercing shells. Bomb bays lay along the rear underside, with plenty of munitions to expend. Though it still used a helium balloon for primary lift, the balloon was wrapped in a skintight magical forcefield that rendered it as strong as steel plating while being light as a feather. Only another airship’s shells or a ground-based artillery piece of sufficient size could penetrate it, and even then with great difficulty, as the shield could be enhanced by unicorns on board. Massive propellers strapped to equally massive engines lay along the rear of the airship, able to propel it up to speeds reaching of up to two hundred kilometers per hour. Though most pegasi could fly faster with only so much as a stiff breeze at their backs, a single pegasus could not hope to assail an airship successfully, only outrun it.

Seafoam and Dusty strode up the metal gantry into the ship proper, the airlock closing behind her. “Dusty, please tell the Colonel to depart immediately.”

“Yes, your grace.” The attache rushed off to the bridge.

With that out of the way she made her way to the wireless room, waving the soldier on duty out. He left, closing the door “Yes, Chancellor?” she said into the microphone.

“Your grace,” her Chancellor replied, “We have a, err, unique guest, a griffon mare. She says she has a proposition for you.”

“A griffon?” Seafoam’s mouth twitched. She had little use for griffons. “What sort of proposition? Did she give her name?”

“No. She’ll only speak to you, in person.”

Seafoam harrumphed. “Arrogant. Oh, very well. Give her quarters. Cheap quarters, mind. No need to waste luxury on a griffon. I will meet with her upon my return.”

“As you wish.”

Seafoam closed the connection and departed to her cabin. As the airship’s engines thrummed to life and the massive ship whirled southbound, she sat at her desk, in a luxuriously comfortable armchair. Opening a drawer, she pulled out a snifter glass and a small bottle of brandy more expensive than the average pony’s yearly salary. She poured a glass and held it to her nose. The odor was intoxicating.

“To me,” she said, clinking her glass against the bottle. “To me, the future Empress of Equestria.” She took a sip; the flavor danced on her tongue, smooth and sweet. It brought a wonderful glow to her cheeks. She giggled. “Yes, Empress Seafoam. I like the sound of that.”