Across The Pond

It had been a few days since the meeting Twilight's friends had attempted to speak with her about what was bothering her but whenever Twilight was about to say what had happened with the knife she would always go quite. They weren't stupid and it didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened but they didn't want to push Twilight so they told her they would listen when she was ready to talk about it.

The Emperor's mind was on the Thalmor's naval forces that moved towards the city and on Vallius, whom he had not had any contact with. It was to be expected. Vallius was to only contact him once everything was safe, and then only though notes in predetermined drop boxes. But Emperor Mede couldn't shake a feeling of worry.

Besides that, Vallius had killed a Blade and was labeled a traitor and at this point Emperor Mede wasn't sure he could give a full pardon to Vallius. Even though Vallius had been acting under orders from the Emperor himself. The fact that his plan had blown up in his face, and immanently at that,  did not help to settle his mind.

"Emperor Mede" came Strillian, interrupting the Emperor's thoughts.

"Yes, what is it Strillian?" asked Emperor Mede.

"Scouts say that the Thalmor are on the move again. They reportedly left Bravil and are making their way north. If the reports are accurate, and I do believe they are, then we must prepare our ships for naval combat" Strillian told the Emperor with much urgency in his voice.

"Prepare the ships Strillian. And I want you and your Blades on them" Emperor Mede told Strillian.

"But sire, we have to remain at your side in case they break through the city walls. We have to protect you" Strillian told the Emperor.

"You are the most competent fighters I have and if you and your men can bored the ships we might have a chance" said Emperor Mede.

"Very well sir. Anything else?" asked Strillian.

"How are the ponies, was their training successful?" asked Emperor Mede.

"The reports I read after my arrival in this city say so, but you aren't thinking about putting them in the fight are you? I thought we were just training them to defend themselves" Strillian asked.

"I am not thinking about making them fight, and that is why you were training them. I only ask because they may need to fight today, regardless of where they are" said Emperor Mede.

"That is an excellent point, what should we do with them, should they just remain in their designated room during the fighting?" asked Strillian.

"Why not let them decided for themselves Strillian" Emperor Mede suggested.

"Very well sir, I'll go find them now" Strillian said before turning and walking away from the Emperor.

The six ponies were in the room that was previously reserved for only Twilight that, after a few changes to the furnishing, had been made to accommodate the six of them. Twilight had asked Pinkie how the staff she had brought worked out of curiosity and was feverishly writing down anything of note about the strange magical weapon.

"Is it limited to just the lightning strikes? That is, can it do anything else?" asked Twilight after she had Pinkie Pie explain how she operates it. Pinkie Pie wasn't very good at explaining things but Twilight had gotten the gist of what Pinkie was trying to say, a skill she had acquired during her time in Ponyville.

"No, all it does is lightning" Pinkie said with a smile.

"I suppose it's still pretty cool, even if it is limited. I mean how much use is there for a lighting spell on a day to day basis?" Twilight asked aloud to no pony in particular.

Before any of them could respond there was a knock on the door.

"I wonder what they want this time" Rainbow Dash said flatly.

"Oh don't be like that dear, I'm sure what they have to say is important" Rarity told Rainbow Dash.

Another few more knocks came from the door and Applejack said "ya might as well come in"

The door opened and Strillian walked through the door frame, closing the door behind him. The six mares stared at Strillian, who was still silent.

"Well?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"The fight has finally made it's way to Imperial City. We don't know what will happen but we have reason to believe they are attempting to siege. My Blades and I will be out in the fight and the Emperor has told me to come and ask you where you felt more comfortable" Strillian said.

"What do you mean, comfortable?" asked Twilight skeptically.

"Well the emperor has granted you access to anywhere you might want to be when the fighting breaks out. And I do mean anywhere" Strillian stressed that point. "I have received reports from my subordinates and the reports indicate some of you would be more that capable during a fight."

"Are you asking us to fight with you Strillian?" asked Applejack, uncertainty in her voice.

"Only if you want to, I will not force you to fight and no one will think less of you if you choose not to. The Emperor just thought you'd like to make the choice yourselves" Strillian told them.

"I'll do it!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed immediately. Everyone in the room turned to stare at Rainbow Dash, who apparently didn't need or want any time to think about her answer carefully.

"Rainbow Dash, are you sure?" asked Strillian.

"Since we've been here the Empire has not only protected us but has trained us to protect ourselves. And they even taught some stuff about this place to the others while they let me nap in peace. They are clearly the good guys and if they are the good guys what does that make the ones who are invading, the Talemer or whatever they're called" Rainbow said.

"Thalmor, Rainbow, they are called the Thalmor" Strillian said. "Anyone else?"

"Ah reckon ah can't just let Rainbow go an' do somethin' stupid so I will be there, for her sake" Applejack said, wanting to make it clear she wasn't in it for the fight.

"Well Fluttershy and I aren't fighters but I will help in whatever way I can" Rarity said. Then she turned to her friends and said "If something happens to one of you I want to be sure that I do everything in my power to help."

Fluttershy just nodded her head in agreement with Rarity's statement. Fluttershy would do whatever she could do to help. So while she would probably never be entirely comfortable with hurting others herself she was prepared to help anypony that got hurt.

"Pinkie Pie? Twilight Sparkle?" asked Strillian, gesturing towards the two mares who had yet to answer her question.

Twilight looked up and asked "will Vallius be with them? I need to confront him about ... everything."

"It's possible, I believe he defected but we can't know for sure who he fights for now" Strillian told Twilight solemnly. Though Strillian had never met Vallius he had heard that he was very well trusted by the Emperor himself and supposedly had selflessly attempted to help Twilight. Though after hearing everything that happened and, in light of recent events, Strillian thought he had planned to sell Twilight from the start, and perhaps Ra'Zahmirr's death was planned.

But this was just speculation, speculation Strillian couldn't afford to pay any mind to at this moment.

Twilight sat in thought for a moment, thinking about the pros and cons of each decision she could make. When she had made up her mind she turned to Strillian and said with confidence and determination "if there is a chance that Vallius is there then I want to be there too."

"Maybe after the fight we can have a super awesome fun siege party" Pinkie Pie suggested loudly. "Hey Strillian, what's a siege?"