Aria rolled to her stomach, pain and adrenalin ricocheting through her limbs. Her ears were ringing and her muscles screamed at her to run. Her eyes burned and her throat was raw.
Beside her nestled into the dying grass was a white pegasus. She had smoke-gray wings and a fire-like mane. Her sides rose and fell evenly as she slept.
Aria tried to calm her racing heart. It was only a dream. Nothing more than that. She slowly lifted herself to her hooves and shuffled into the nearby brush, vomiting. The bile felt like claws gouging out her esophagus.
The sky was a faint gold with purple paint-strokes and orange splatters. Cirrus clouds streaked the atmosphere with blindingly white wisps and a vibrancy of colors that reflected from all around.
The two mares were closer than Aria liked to Solar Empire territory. Even along the borders of the Stellar Alignment and Celestia’s domain, Aria felt tension squirm in her stomach. She was too far from her princess.
She walked back over to the campsite, crushing the last few embers of the previous night’s fire. The air was stained with the stench of smog. Somewhere in the distance a pony shrieked.
For twenty-five years the violent war perished Equestria’s once peaceful lands. Fields were littered with corpses left for the crows. Rivers were soiled by blood and debris. Forests were scoured down in towering walls of fire leaving behind nothing but scorched land. A war that tore all of the prosperity away, just because a hunger for control resided in all of the leaders.
Aria’s mind gave a warning throb, cutting her thoughts off. She shook her head and the pain receded, leaving her blinking at the dead grass beneath her hooves.
How odd, her mind muttered. Where was that trail going?
“Up already?”
Aria turned abruptly, her magic flaring to life.
“Whoa — hey!” Blaze shouted, her wings spreading. She held up her hooves. “It’s just me!” Aria staggered a step away, her aura flickering silent and she flipped her ears back.
“Oh,” she said. “I thought you were someone else.”
“Who?” snapped Blaze, her eyes growing cold. “A Dusk soldier? A Sunrise battalion?” She got to her hooves and shook out her wings. In the smoky air, it looked as if ashes were falling from her dark feathers.
“No,” Aria scoffed, grinding a hoof into the ground. “Just...someone.” She tossed her mane out of her eyes and she stepped over to the saddlebags that were strewn about. Blaze huffed and began to stretch her legs and stomp her hooves. They beat the dirt in unintentional rhythm with the war drums sounding out in the distance. She stopped for a moment and both mares turned their heads, flinching at the deep rumble of a faraway explosion.
“Marauders,” Blaze whispered, watching a heavy plume of smoke rise from the fire bomb.
Aria nodded grimly and continued to pack.
“I’m surprised that King Gyros and King Thorax haven’t taken advantage of Equestria’s current state,” the pegasus muttered, turning away and beginning to organize her own bags. “But I guess their subjects are doing that for them? The leaders wouldn’t declare war unless clear reports got to them and if no one got caught.”
“Why would they bother?” Aria asked softly. “Equestria no longer has any resources that either of them would want. Not to mention the rumors of the dragon queen Ember planning a siege against all the armies. The changelings and the griffins wouldn’t risk such collateral damage.”
“Wait —” Blaze whinnied, whipping her head towards Aria. “The dragons are planning a siege?” Aria glanced at her friend.
“Her Highness forewarned is of this before we set out three days ago.” She rubbed her muzzle, irritated. “You never listen yet you’re still alive; it’s uncanny.” She levitated supplies into her bags. Smoke bombs, magic bursts, food, water, enemy documents and war strategies. Miscellaneous weaponry rested in the other bag; daggers, shrapnel to incorporate into the bursts, throwing knives and wing blades for Blaze.
“Why would I need to?” the pegasus grumbled, twisting her neck until a soft pop sounded out. “I know my job, I know how to fight. I don’t need to know about these distracting little rumors.”
And that, my friend, is how ponies die in this war, Aria thought in an oddly sad tone. She sighed and dropped her bags onto her back. She grabbed the knife she’d left out and she waved it at her partner.
“No more arguing,” she said briskly. “We’ve got a job to do and that means passing through the Stellar Alignment.” She scowled. “Which also includes disguises.”
Blaze’s eyes narrowed. “Stop threatening me by suggesting we chop off my mane. We both know this took me years to grow. You know how to hide me with that horn of yours.”
Aria sighed again, tucking the knife into its sheath on her right foreleg. She faced Blaze, her blue eyes lidded.
Blazing Reign was about three years younger than Aria. She was rude and bossy and rather annoying. But the mare was powerful and a strong ally. She wielded the ability to control fire at will and burn enemies with a touch of her hoof. Sometimes her power got out of control when she was dealing with strong emotions such as fury and grief. She didn’t blend very well within the Republic with her flame-like mane and snowy white fur — some were still convinced that she was an agent from the Solar Empire, yet she had sworn her full loyalty to the Moon Princess. She had been a part of Luna’s personal guard before Aria had even joined the war. The two had become mission partners and unlikely friends ever since.
Aria’s horn began to glow with fiercely bright aura, as if dragonflame had erupted from her soul and out of the bone protruding from her head. Blaze’s body began to dull into an awkward shade of purple — it contained a slight pinkish hue along with absurd blue fur-tips. An ugly color, but it would help her blend with the crowds. Her mane lost its volume and grew flat and black. The dismal color ate away the stunning fire-gold with blue wisps, making Blaze grit her jaw. Even her talent mark shifted, it twisting from its regal burst of flame into a brown bow and arrow. She looked down at herself in disgust.
“I loathe the color coordination in the kingdom,” she hissed, her purple ears falling flat against her head.
“There is no ’coordination’ in Twilight’s territory,” Aria responded plaintively, her magic wrapping around her knife once more. “You know you can always wear your cloak with the hood up and let me cut your mane and tail until we get back to camp.” Her knife darted to her mane, gleaming in the light. It roughly slid through, mahogany locks falling to the earth. “I can always regenerate your mane — you know that.”
“I don’t want a voodoo hair growth spell on me,” the pegasus growled, grabbing her dusk-colored cloak, cringing at it. “I barely accept the magic you cast on me anyway. To alter my appearance to look like some...some regular.” Aria rolled her eyes and cut off another length of her back mane. It laid rugged and torn against her dark gray fur. She turned her head and slashed off her tail as short as she could make it. She threw her dagger into its sheath and set the fallen hair on fire. She turned away, grabbing her own cloak as Blaze began to cough at the stench.
“Why do you do that?” choked Blaze, flapping her wings. “Why not just leave it or teleport it somewhere else?”
“Because the air isn’t getting any cleaner,” Aria responded blankly, flipping her hood up. “Might as well make a contribution.”
Blaze didn’t give her thoughts about that.
The two set out from the site, steering away from the battlefront and heading towards the heart of the Stellar Alignment. The sky began to fade from gold to a darkening purple with faint plumes of lighter colors alongside faint but shining stars.
Aria didn’t know much about the kingdom, having only passed through its outer borders to get to the Empire from the Republic and back. She was never sent there for missions or raids, but that didn’t bother her. The orderly area wasn’t much of a kingdom as much as it was a swathe of land with a castle, a town and three barracks outposted on the main forefronts.
Princess Twilight Sparkle was coronated by Celestia thirty years ago. After five years, Twilight married the head of her personal guard — a unicorn transferred from the north — and established a secure hold on Ponyville. Celestia took her matrimony as a sudden step into disloyalty and banished Twilight from Canterlot; as well as Princess Luna and Queen Cadenza.
Aria paused at that thought. Mi Amore Cadenza was a queen, wasn’t she? She held an entire empire to herself up north, she was wed and she had a princess daughter — an immortal — Flurry Heart. But was she ever called Your Majesty or Queen Cadenza within her domain? Or was she always going to just be the Crystal Princess?
Another throb stabbed her temple and she winced, her thoughts falling off into the abyss of forgotten memories within her mind.
Aria glanced over at Blaze, blinking the pain away. The pegasus was clearly fuming, tiny puffs of white smoke escaping her lips as she growled to herself. Blaze wasn’t wearing her hood, but when she ducked her head nopony paid her any mind.
The Stellar Alignment was swarming with ponies of all species. Twilight had kept her title as princess, but the add-on of friendship faded away when the famous Elements of Harmony disbanded. Pinkamena went to Celestia and probably ended up dead due to not being a unicorn or pegasus fodder. Rainbow Dash and Rarity had stayed with Twilight — Aria believed that the spectrum-maned mare was still busy convincing Cloudsdale to join Twilight’s forces to provide an aerial defense. Applejack was the lead general at the Republic after she had left Twilight. Nopony knew what had happened to Fluttershy after the first few attacks on the Alignment. Aria couldn’t remember where Starlight Glimmer had gone either — perhaps she was still in the kingdom or a lone missionary at her old town on the outskirts of Equestria, or maybe she went to the Crystal Empire to accompany Sunburst, princess Flurry Heart’s caretaker.
Aria looked around at the seemingly overpopulated town. Ponies garbed in purples, pinks, blues and magenta were flowing in and out of shops. Soldiers marched in their dusk-colored armor through the center of the roads, the thick and bulky pads they wore blended darkly with their fur in the dim light. Despite the controlled chaos and the slight sense of safety that emitted from the area, Aria could still clearly see where the war had dug its claws in.
Homeless ponies sat out front of some of the stores, few lingered near the trash bins, hoping to find something to eat. Wounded mares and stallions hobbled along with the bustling crowds. Ponies with bandaged legs and heads, pegasi with missing wings and lightning burns, unicorns with snapped horns and no eyes; injuries of all kinds resting in these ponies’ hides.
Aria pitied them. They’d chosen the wrong side in the war, and they all obviously knew it. Unfortunately, refugees weren’t very lucky when crossing forefronts, and aiding said ponies was clear treason in all the leaders’ minds.
Blaze grumbled under her breath about the looming castle in the distance. The crystal and polished stone structure caught whatever light was given and threw it in Aria’s eyes, causing her to squint and duck her head.
The pair walked steadily and evenly — too fast of a clip would raise suspicion, and too slow was bound to annoy the others and cause an outburst. Neither of which worth dealing with.
“Where are they?” Blaze suddenly asked, making Aria jump. “Weren’t they supposed to be in this bloody kingdom?”
“The veteran was described to be living in unclaimed land,” whispered Aria. “They’re in a forest about two miles from the Everfree. Apparently they have held a sturdy grasp on their land from the princesses.”
Blaze scoffed, a sneer curling along her muzzle. “Well why don’t they choose a side? Why not save us the trouble of recruiting them and just join the clearly superior of all the leaders?”
Maybe because they don’t want to be allied with Princess Luna, Aria thought grimly. She lowered her head as the pair took a side road between a crumbling house and an abandoned store. The alley led out of the town and Blaze ruffled her wings with an exhale from a pent-up breath. The smoke curled from her lips upward into the twilit sky. Excited energy flitted from the pegasus.
Aria could feel it too — the sudden calling towards the Everfree forest. Her princess was in there, defended by her personal guard and ponies ready to die for her. Aria would lay her life down endlessly for the moon princess without hesitation.
But she could not return without the veteran. So she swiveled her head away from the tangled mass of foliage and dense, dark trees, and went along the river that flowed around Ponyville. The water glistened with newfound oil and blood, residue from a factory within the town to produce medicine. Aria doubted that was the real product that came from it. The blood more than likely poured from northward. As Aria and Blaze walked, they passed litters of bones covered in garbage and a crumbling bridge, ivy and moss ensnaring themselves into the shattered stone.
Soon after the demolished bridge vanished out of sight, the mares came upon towering trees that stabbed the sky. Nettles laid in blankets around the massive trunks. Their bark was thick and deeply grooved and red in color, sap oozing down the sides. Blaze stepped up to one and sniffed at some of the pinecones that scattered underneath the massive girth of the canopies.
“Hm,” she said, kicking one. “Don’t see pine cones very often in Equestria.” Aria levitated one of the cones and inspected all the ridges and elevated points.
“You don’t see these kinds of trees in Equestria,” Aria corrected. She lobbed the pine cone over her shoulder and it landed with a light plop into the river a few yards away. “You can’t burn these ones, Blaze. Not easily anyway; they’re Dragon Blood trees. Their sap is full of water to provide resistance to flames.” The pegasus scoffed imperiously and squared her shoulders, giving the closest tree her most authoritative glare. She threw her hoof at the tree’s dense trunk. Burnt wood and light sparks showered down to the nettles on the ground. A scorched slash mark painted the tree.
“By the stars,” Blaze swore, blinking at her hoof. Aria chuckled and flicked her hood off her head.
“Come on,” she murmured. Aria trotted past the burnt tree and entered the small path that curled and cut through the dense forest. Blaze followed behind, muttering as her hooves continued to snag on roots. Aria followed the trail, unsure if she should stray or if she had to just believe in it to lead her to where she had to go.
She shoved the thought aside, but the gnawing in her gut made her pause and turn her head to gaze at the surrounding trees. Thick and twisted bushes clouded the floor and nettles laid scattered all around like pointy brown-orange snow. Ferns fanned silently in the light wind and Aria could hear very faintly the roar of a waterfall. Birds tweeted quietly, still believing that night was approaching. Blaze stopped behind her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked softly.
“Well, nothing at the moment,” Aria replied, turning her gaze towards the pegasus. “It’s just I have this feeling that I’m not going the right way.” Blaze rolled her stained eyes.
“What does that mean?” Blaze asked, letting her voice raise.
“It means I need you to fly above the trees and look for a waterfall... a large clearing with a house, at least.” Aria flipped her ears back, feeling a worn edge of annoyance for Blaze. The disguised mare huffed and spread her wings.
Try not to get yourself killed, she thought softly, her eyes glinting as Blaze took off to the sky. The dark form of her comrade was barely visible through the canopy, her soft wing beats hardly reaching down to comfort Aria.
A long, breathless moment passed of Blaze circling steadily as she surveyed the forest. Around and around and around. It was hypnotic.
Aria could feel her heartbeat thrum through her front legs as the pegasus seized and lost balance for a moment. Had she been struck? Did the Alignment find her?
She let out her breath as the pegasus spiraled down, looking uninterested and unharmed. Her hooves thumped softly to the dirt and foliage.
“Why did you falter?” spat Aria almost the moment Blaze’s eyes slid to her. Blaze smirked.
“Because I knew you’d freak out if something happened,” she answered smoothly, brushing a wing against Aria. She stepped away, glaring at her. Blaze pursed her lips and then shrugged, resuming her natural displeased face and disgusted attitude.
“Your waterfall is four kilometres towards the southeastern section of the forest,” she said blankly, inspecting one of her hooves. “One clearing half a kilometre away from it.”
Aria felt her shoulders loosen. The trail was leading them west. She knew her instinct wasn’t wrong. She leaped into the brush, crashing through branches and snapping sticks loudly. Blaze cringed at the sudden noise.
“You know,” the pegasus began slowly, “You could try to be a little more quiet than that.”
“Why bother?” Aria asked, looking back at her as she stepped into the indent in the forest. Aria continued to trot through the thicket, the density of the trees causing her to bump lightly against them. “Unclaimed territory, no scouts, no soldiers.”
Blaze paused as Aria caught her eye. After a few short heartbeats, the pegasus smiled wide, the first genuine and positive look she’d given Aria all day. It made Aria feel giddy seeing her companion like that.
Blaze spread her wings as Aria’s horn glowed to life, the odd and damaging colors washing away from Blaze’s form. Her fur grew snowy, her mane became one with fire, her eyes melted to glistening golden orbs. She grinned at herself and took flight, dodging branches and stretching her wings wide. Aria chased after her.
Unclaimed land in the war was rare. Freedom, much less so. Both cold and worn hearts of the soldiers warmed slightly at the small rush of relief they received from running in the Dragon Blood forest.
It wasn’t too long before the roar of the waterfall suddenly engulfed them both, forcing Blaze to the ground and causing Aria to crouch. The grass beneath her was sparkling with droplets, it dampening her hooves. Aria flattened her ears against her head, hoping to muffle out some of the noise.
“Well,” shouted Blaze through the thunderous noise, “Here’s your waterfall!”
Aria could only nod, her brows furrowed as she tried to focus her bouncing thoughts. The cascade was immense. The spray stuck to Aria’s fur tips and caught the dim light from above; the sky being an odd combination between day, dusk and night.
The actual waterfall was across an enormous lake at the bottom of a pit. The chute poured from a gouge on the side of the cliff. Aria and Blaze were on the opposite side of it, yet it held so much sheer power as it burst through the cliff it was as if they were inside of it. Aria tried to see past the spray flinging itself into her eyes, focusing her gaze over the grassy overhang right above the water. Just barely could she see the large, wooden and brick house with what looked to be two stories and equipped with two extensions on either side.
Why would they live so close to this massive downpour? Aria thought dully against the pounding in her ears. Just a short run away there’s a peaceful clearing. Why here?
Aria’s horn began to glow with her orange aura. The roar of the falls began to soften in the mares’ ears and then it became no louder that a heartbeat.
“Why didn’t you do that sooner?” Blaze snapped a second after Aria cast the spell. Her ears flapped and flicked and twitched. “Gah, now it feels as if I’ve got cotton stuffed in ’em.”
“Oh, shut your snout, you big filly,” Aria muttered, stepping up to the cliffs edge and peering down.
Far below, surrounded by sheer gray walls was a shore to the top right side of the lake. Waves from the waterfall’s entering point lapped eagerly at the rock shelf. Aria shook herself but the spray clung to her fur, dampening her mane and soaking deep into her skin until she involuntarily shivered. Droplets dripped from her horn and chin. As hard as she looked, she couldn’t see beneath the surface of the lake. Only tumultuous ripples and splashes.
“Hey,” said Blaze. Aria turned her head to find the pegasus using a wing to shield her eyes as she looked straight at the water. “There’s something shining within the mouth of the cave up there.”
Aria stepped closer to the mare and shifted her head closer to Blaze’s. The pegasus stiffened slightly, clearing her throat uncomfortably. Aria frowned as she stared at the entrance of the waterfall. A sudden gleam of silver caught a lone ray of light and announced itself to her.
It’s artificial, her mind breathed.
“Those are turbines, aren’t they?” Blaze whispered, her golden eyes growing cold. “This whole thing is just a little display for visitors.”
Aria didn’t respond, she was at a loss for words.
A singular veteran, alone in an unclaimed forest and living behind a fake cascade. How in the world did they manage it?
Blaze suddenly whipped away, her ears pinned back in fury as she stomped into the treeline; following a cobblestone trail. Aria whinnied in surprise and trotted after the pegasus.
“Blaze? Blaze, what’s wrong?”
“This is a stupid mission!” she spat, fire flicking off her tongue. “Her Highness doesn’t need a disgusting, prideful and self-centered old goat in her army! She has us, Aria. She doesn’t need anypony else.” Blaze snarled and the droplets along her fur and body began to evaporate away from her.
“Blazing Reign!” Aria called, her mind a whirlwind of confusion. Why was she so worked up over it? “Blaze, we can’t just disobey Her Highness!”
The pegasus stopped and one of her wings smacked hard into Aria’s chest. Aria halted and looked at the mare, flabbergasted.
"What has gotten into y—"
“Shh!” she hissed. She pointed ahead, towards a small thicket of young trees and thorny shrubs. Aria allowed herself to look and felt her shoulders tense up.
A pitch black pegasus was hunched over, her silver-gray mane and tail catching what little light came through the canopy overhead. Her wings were partly outstretched and her soft murmuring barely reached Aria. It sounded like gibberish. Scattered around her were three bags: one held vials of variously colored liquids; another was stuffed with an array of clear bags and dried herbs as well as freshly pulled plants; and lastly the final bag had four books inside, page corners folded and numerous multi-labeled bookmarks shoved in between. A flash of red caught Aria’s eye and she tried to see clearer, but from what she could manage, the mare’s talent mark was a small beaker filled with bubbling crimson liquid.
Blaze was the first to speak up.
“Hey!” she barked, flaring her dark wings fully. Aria stepped aside to avoid getting smacked in the snout. She grit her jaw, giving her companion an irritated glare. She knew that pegasi had this odd way of showing dominance over one another — puffing out their chests and spreading their wings like a bunch of frustrated pigeons. Unicorns had so much more dignity than that. “What are you doing here?”
The mare flinched and her voice cut off. She turned her head and one large pale eye stared at the two through her bangs. Her wings folded tightly to her sides, immediately making her appear smaller than what she was.
Typical, stupid pegasus hierarchy, Aria thought bitterly, adjusting herself to seem more resigned and formal than Blaze.
“Excuse me?” the other pony squeaked. She hesitantly stood erect, moving slow like a pony would against a dragon. Aria hated to admit that she appreciated the fear from her. It showed that the pair weren’t complete embarrassments to the Republic.
“What are you doing here?” Blaze growled again, narrowing her eyes.
“I live here,” the mare answered instantly, now facing the two. A thick bandage was woven tightly around her foreleg. The leg tilted up as all her pressure was balanced between her other three hooves.
Blaze blanched at her words, her wings lowering slightly.
“You?” she choked out. Her eyes briefly met Aria’s.
She’s the veteran? Aria asked herself. She can’t be. She’s far too young. It’s impossible. She’s a...
“Liar,” Aria’s voice murmured, it came out in a tremble. Her lips squeezed shut and bright embarrassment colored her cheeks. That was supposed to remain unspoken.
The mare’s eyes narrowed, her pale irises gleaming. “I’m sure I’d be the one to know if I live here or not,” she huffed indignantly. “Who are you two? You’re not customers are you? Are you lost?”
“I’m Blazing Reign,” Aria’s comrade said in a low and shaking voice. She took a step forward. “Personal guard of Her Highness Luna, fourth division, hoof-selected delegate of the New Lunar Republic.” Her breath was palpable, heat filling the area and soft flickers of fire threatening to escape her maw.
The black pony’s face hardened with something else — anger, no longer tight with fear. Aria’s ears swiveled back defensively, readying herself for an assault. Her magic flickered and grabbed the hilt of her dagger.
Not that she’d be much of an opponent...
“You’re a part of the war?” the dark pegasus asked.
“Yes,” Blaze nearly shouted, causing Aria’s magic to fizzle. “We’re all a part of this war, you Alignment scum!”
“What is going on here?” a deep voice said behind Aria and Blaze. The fire pegasus whipped her head around, light smoke pluming from her nostrils. The black mare shoved between the soldiers and limped up to the source of the question: a bright red earthpony stallion. He had a black vest over his shoulders, a satchel, and a light gray mane and tail. A metallic chain with a silver ring rested around his neck and on his chest. He frowned slightly and stood in front of the other pony.
Aria side-stepped ahead of Blaze and looked into the stallions brown eyes. He calmly stared back.
“Who are you?” he asked finally.
“We’re —” Blaze started, a sudden wave of heat singeing Aria’s side.
“Blazing!” she barked, pushing her ears forward. She stood still, her eyes now on the pegasus. Blaze seemed shocked. “Silence yourself.”
The tension was stifling. A mare with clear behavior issues who could easily burn down the whole forest, a strong-looking earthpony, and what seemed to be a skilled alchemist — albeit an injured one. Aria had never studied alchemy. The mere idea of it was nearly nonexistent in the Republic.
Aria felt her insides relax as Blaze stepped down, lowering her head and ears and glaring at the uneven stone trail.
“Sir,” Aria acknowledged at last, turning her attention back to the stallion. His ears perked slightly. “We are missionaries and soldiers from the New Lunar Republic under a strict order by Her Highness Luna to retrieve a veteran who has been described to live here. Do you know of their whereabouts and if you could bring them to us?”
The pony blinked and his mouth tilted as if he were confused. Aria wondered if she had spoken too fast.
“I’m Powder Flask,” he said instead, cracking a smile. “The veteran? Yeah, she lives here.” He humorously lifted the chain around his neck. “Married to her, actually. Lily, go get her, okay?”
“But —”
“Now, please,” he cut her off gently. “It’s all right.”
The black pegasus flicked her ears back, her pale eyes jumping from Powder to Blaze to Aria. Her snout wrinkled in disdain and she hobbled up the path, her wings unfurling slightly to keep her balanced. Aria caught sight of an ugly burn along one of her sides. She cringed. No wonder the young pony had taken almost immediate hatred towards Blaze.
“I’m sorry,” Powder Flask said, breaking Aria’s focus. She stole a glance at Blaze. She was hunched over, haunches on the ground and clearly fuming. “Vibrant Lily has been a little disturbed by the war.”
“It’s no worries,” Aria responded. “Young ones don’t take kindly to violence anyhow. It’s not unnatural.” Blaze snorted, and Aria ignored her.
“Well you must understand,” he said, taking a look over his shoulder. “Losing part of your home to Princess Twilight and Princess Luna and seeing funeral pyres isn’t a very luxurious life.”
“Sir,” Blaze spat, not lifting her head. “As a soldier, I see gore-slathered weapons and gruesome wounds daily. Your little student will need to learn of all this eventually; sooner is always better than later in this case. And if anything,” she added, her golden eyes rising to catch the muddled light, “she should be in the war. Her talent is alchemy, right? She could thrive in the Republic as a nurse. We use the forests to gather medicinal plants to aid our injured. We have ponies who could teach her to care for our fallen.” Powder’s ears folded back.
“Lily is only fifteen,” he said, guarded. “I’d never allow her to go through that kind of scarring.”
“We have fillies in this war,” Blaze shot back. His frown deepened.
“Please don’t let them take you,” Lily’s voice sounded from up the path. Powder Flask and Aria turned to greet the upcoming ponies while Blaze got to her hooves and shook out her wings. “They’re all monsters! They’ll kill you!”
Aria frowned. She was not a monster. Another noise — the voice of the veteran, she had to suspect — reached her ears. It was soft and melodic, seeming to warm Aria’s spine. It comforted her.
But that much comfort from a voice alone brought a deep gnawing in Aria’s chest of foreboding.
Blaze’s wings pressed tightly to her sides, her eyes narrowing as the two ponies stepped up to the trio. Aria tilted her head, confused.
The pony beside Lily was...small, to say the least. She barely met the black pegasus’s height, and she was definitely smaller than Blazing Reign. Her mane was tied up messily, it shining beautifully like mercury. Her fur was white; unstained in any place that Aria could see. Her shoulders were strong, as well as her wings. Her mane’s bangs fell neatly over her right eye, obscuring it completely. Sweet wrinkles appeared when she smiled politely at the soldiers. The veteran wore an identical ring and chain around her neck to Powder Flask, and a pastel-blue sweater complemented her form nicely.
What caught Aria off guard was her one visible eye. It had a black and white pupil and a cream-colored iris. It was soft deep inside, but the edge grew stern after she had completely looked the two over.
“Hello,” she greeted, obviously betraying her thoughts on Aria and Blaze. Her voice was like the last note after striking a bell, low and engulfing. “My name is Silver Star. My daughter tells me that you’ve been sent here to find me.”
Aria didn’t find peace in the light and calmness that surrounded this mare: her sense of youth and purity was so easy to accept yet she knew she couldn’t be so. If this was the veteran, where was the feeling of pride that radiated from every battle-won soldier? Where were her scars?
Unless she fought and came home unscathed, Aria thought, feeling detached.
“You’re the veteran?” Blaze asked, cutting into Aria’s head.
Silver nodded and Vibrant Lily glared at Blaze with such venom that Aria was tempted to press her dagger to the young-one’s throat and tell her to leave.
“That’s impossible,” Blaze spat, as if the words tasted like soiled hay. “You look hardly older than I am. There’s no way you could have fought in the wars last recorded.” She broke the lock on their eyes and glared at Powder. “Where’s the real veteran? I’m sick of this stupid game.”
“She is the veteran,” he said, exasperated.
“Yes,” Silver murmured, a hint of amusement in her voice. She idly brushed a strand of mane out of her face and Aria attempted to be as discreet as possible to catch a glimpse of her other eye. “Forty battles, seven wars. All won.” Blaze sputtered in shock.
“Seven wars?” she panted. “Blasphemy.”
If Silver Star was insulted, she didn’t show it.
“Believe what you will,” she sighed. “But please, inform me of these summons. I must go back to my son.” She looked more bothered than before, her visible eye's lid lowering in disinterest.
Aria already didn’t want to invite her into the Republic. Not because she was supposedly ancient and an impeccable fighter, but because of the clear fact she had family. If any one of the enemy sides found out about them, they could easily overtake them and use them to control Silver Star. It was too great of a risk to take.
The awful twinge in her mind sentenced the overthought order to slip from her lips into the air.
Everypony looked at her, the strangers’ eyes darkening. Blaze only glanced at Aria before lifting her chin.
Too smug, Aria thought.
“Luna?” Silver asked at last. “She wishes for me to have an audience with her?”
Aria nodded, her heart racing. Silver had grown cold. The air was tense and she could feel the waves of anger tumbling off Blaze at the informality in which the veteran spoke Her Highness’s name. She tentatively lifted a leg to block her companion but flinched away, the heat scalding her.
“Tell her I refuse.”
“What?” she asked, astonished. “You can’t just refuse a summons from a princess!” Silver’s eyes grew stony, making Aria’s magic spark in hesitation.
“I just did,” the veteran growled. “I want nothing to do with the royalties. Let them kill themselves in this stupid skirmish for all I care.” She turned away, nickering to both Lily and Powder Flask. The stallion gave the two soldiers an apologetic shrug and followed Silver Star.
Blaze flared, her golden eyes growing dark. An indignant flush painted her face red. Aria stepped ahead of Blaze before she could lunge at the receding ponies, and galloped after them. Silver snapped her head head towards her and Aria skidded over the rocks to a stop. The two mares stared at each other for a long moment.
Do not return until you have the veteran. Her Highness’s words echoed in Aria’s ears. By any means necessary. Bring me the veteran.
Silver broke the silence, her visible disgust disheartening.
“When and where am I supposed to meet with Luna?” Aria frowned.
“Why don’t you address her by her title?” she asked cautiously.
“Their crowns mean nothing to a pony like myself,” Silver stated coldly. Powder motioned for Lily to follow him away, he turning a worried glance to Silver. She didn’t acknowledge him and he took that as his cue to leave her. “No stupid alicorn owns me. I am under no law of theirs.”
“Shut your forsaken mouth!” Blaze shrieked, darting forward. Aria flinched momentarily and then swung a hoof out, ignoring the heat coming off her. She threw the pegasus to the ground with a thud and winced, leering at the burns on her hoof. The pegasus groaned, her ears flat but her jaw was grit tight with pain.
Silver looked at them with what seemed to be pity.
“Is there any way I can persuade you to at least meet with Her Highness?” Aria asked, panting slightly.
“Unfortunately,” Silver muttered, her snout wrinkling.
Aria dared to smile. “And what might those circumstances be?”
“By the stars above, what’s happened to you two?” the deep purple unicorn asked, his royal blue eyes wide. He lowered his pike and frowned, his torn ears swiveling forward as the mares lifted themselves off the trimmed grass.
Aria Spellweaver returned his frown, though seeing the stallion made her nerves lighten just a little. Blaze however tightened her wings to her sides and wrinkled her snout.
High above them, glimmering dimly through the canopy, the moon was in her dying phases — half of her obscured and the other glowing proudly. Though the light around them didn’t come from the moon; instead small lanterns hung in the gnarled trees’ branches, casting halos of brightness every few paces.
Aria remembered hearing the mothers in the Republic whisper to their foals that it wasn’t fireflies within the glass orbs nor dragonflame, but the souls of unicorns who had sworn allegiance to Her Highness and died respectfully for Luna’s cause. She remembered watching Her Highness murmur into each lantern, and it suddenly flaring to life in a brilliant burst of color. It always mystified her.
“Nothing that we couldn’t handle,” Blaze snapped at him, pushing past the unicorn and the two other guards. She crossed the bridge that was slung between two ledges and over a misty abyss, trying to stay regal and imposing as it wobbled and swayed under her hooves. Aria had no idea why she didn’t just fly.
“Apologies,” Aria said to the guard. He rolled his eyes and gave her a half smile. “She meant no disrespect, Shadowbane.”
“No need to cover for her,” he replied with a laugh. “Reigny’s just a hothead.”
“Yes,” she answered haphazardly, thrown off by the nickname.
“So….” Shadow started, but his voice trailed off when he caught sight of what was behind Aria. He met her eyes and shut his mouth, nodding solemnly and stepping aside to let her and her entourage pass.
“I’ll explain it soon enough,” she whispered to the side as she stepped onto the first plank of the bridge. The other unicorn didn’t respond, returning to his ridged guard stance as Aria passed.
The New Lunar Republic was located from the Everfree Forest to the border of the southlands., a vast swathe of vegetation that was littered with massive amounts of resources. The moon never went down in the Republic; though when a warfront got too close, distant glimmers of the dawn would creep over the furthest trees on the horizon. Although the moon never moved, she still disappeared and returned, brighter than ever after every cycle. The moon’s cleansing light seemed to fuel Her Highness’s soldiers to their greatest potential. It was as if Luna herself was the moon and her leadership brought her army glory and power.
Much more powerful than any other, Aria thought, her eyes locking with the silver sliver in the sky for a moment. She tried to ignore the sounds coming from behind her as she made her way to the castle. Its spires stabbed at the deep cloak of midnight blue above — poking the stars and embedding into the heavens. As Aria paused to look at the spires, she saw dark shapes flit around them like bats. She knew they were just messengers, but she was always curious how silently the pegasi could fly in such a hurry.
Blaze’s wingbeats are always loud and obnoxious. She could use a few lessons.
Aria nodded to both Crimson Lock and Hourglass as she approached the main doors to the castle. They were the guards posted for the hour and she’d known them since training. They gave her company curious looks but allowed their entrance. Aria herself had abandoned her cloak and one saddlebag, keeping her dagger sheath and swords as well as the bag that held her assignment papers and plans. The sounds of hooves hitting the marble floor encased her and she felt her jaw tense.
The throne room was a mere walk from the front gates, but Aria knew that Her Highness was rarely stationary and was always busying herself in the war room. She snorted slightly, amused. Why would any leader waste their time sitting in an uncomfortable chair when they could work at winning their fight?
Aria took a glance behind her to make sure Silver Star was still following. The white pegasus had said practically nothing the entire journey, and it unnerved Aria how silently she walked on the floor; as if her hooves were made of fog and held no form.
The castle itself inside was rather empty; only a long teal rug, pedestals adorned with midnight blue and silver vases and a few tapestries that held patterns of constellations and the phases of the moon decorated the vast space around. There was no sign of Princess Luna’s older sister, not even ancient stained glass windows that used to be inside had any mention of Celestia. Above the corridor there was an opening that went through all the floors of the castle up into a circular hole in the ceiling about seven wingspans in diameter. The moon shone directly in the middle of it, casting pale light into the castle. The tips of the surrounding three spires peeked faintly against the casting of twinkling stars. The air inside was cold and crisp, just the way it should be.
Aria stopped in the middle of the pool of light the moon opened into the room, lifting her head and letting her light wash over her sore body. It dripped into her fur and seeped into her skin, filling her with unimaginable peace. Blaze was standing somewhere nearby, she was sure due to the feeling of daggers digging into her sides. Blaze had always hated the ritual the republicans did whenever they entered the moon princess’s castle, mainly because for some odd reason she did not get the same peace they did. Aria believed it was because the pegasus had no intention of relaxing at any given moment.
“You done, pretty pony?” Blazing snarkily snipped, standing in front of the war room’s giant doors. Ribbons of silver embroidered with midnight blue swirled in the shape of half-folded wings on the doors. A single white star was split in two between them. Aria turned her head and shook herself, leaving the warmth of the moon and stood beside Blaze. A sudden chill encased her chest.
This was inevitable….
The silence in the room was deafening. Not even the war table made any noise as everypony was sentenced to a death so painful that their heartbeats were steadily freezing in each chest.
Perhaps only Aria felt this way.
The galactic princess; the almighty moon goddess Luna, was in utter disgust as she looked upon them. She stood still as her mane flowed slowly; shooting stars and the edge of the moon were visible, as well as nebulas in her tail and asteroids floating aimlessly through space. Her piercing turquoise eyes were ice as they flicked and locked to everypony. She was garbed in deep blue robes, sashes of stunning silver and darker grays were slung over her shoulders and body. The accents of jewelry were her crown, which had each phase of the moon in stone, and her silver collar-necklace that was laced with teardrop diamonds. A deep blue veil covered the back of Luna’s physical mane, clipped to her crown. Her hooves were cloven in metal shoes, half fleur-de-lis formed within the thinner areas. Etched faintly were scuffs from them being worn down and at the corner of each of Luna’s eyes there was weariness. Yet still, everything about the alicorn presented perfection.
Aria’s heart trembled weakly in her throat as sweat gathered on the back of her neck. Her ears twitched. Her breath wavered. Never in her life had she been this nervous. Princess Luna’s legs and neck and wings were stiff with a terrifying amount of fury.
Aria turned her head with a wince as she took in what Luna was certainly going to kill her over.
Silver Star stood as tall as she could, her shoulders straight and her chin raised. The dim lights in the room illuminated her like a phantom, a pale glow seemingly surrounding her mane, wings and legs. Something old and fierce flickered in her visible eye; something that never died along with those around her.
However she was not the only pony who was receiving the full force of the moon princess’s malevolent gaze.
An ashen gray pegasus, riddled with scars and old bandages and a mane like blood stood nearly two heads taller than Silver. She was large, toned and bulky with visible power. Pointed teeth under a wicked snarl that curled her lip back sent a cold river of anxiety down Aria’s legs. The pegasus was a strong flier — her shoulder muscles bulging and rippling as she moved. But she did not lock her eyes on Luna. Aria could slightly catch a glimpse of a raggedy black bandana tied around her right eye as she turned her gaze anywhere but the princess.
Another mare, a unicorn, with fur just like Her Highness glared at the princess. Black, jagged hair sliced over her black and white eyes, and her tail was absurdly short. An old cigarette in her teeth was gnawed to a crumpled mess yet it still stained the air with its putrid odor. A couple of pale red scars maimed her, but the only truly noticeable one was on her left cheek, slitting too close to her eye. She wore a white scarf, stained with dried blood and possibly even gore.
The tall and lanky unicorn unnerved Aria the most. Obscured mostly in dark wrappings and a cloak, the pony with a hardly visible black and white mane was nearly as tall as Luna — taller than if they tried to stand fully erect. Their head bobbed, their body creaked, and the pony’s horn flickered faintly with pale gray magic. Their eyes were covered by the hood of the cloak that hung loosely over their skinny, arched back. The only fur noticeable was that of their muzzle, which seemed to be a dusty white like long-forgotten scrolls.
Lastly there was a crouched mare, her ears flat against a silver-white mane tied up in a bun. She bowed herself, the only one with any sort of respect toward the princess. She was also a unicorn, but exceedingly younger than everypony else in the room. Aria felt wary of the thin unicorn; her fur was glossy and full, unscarred like Silver, yet something about her was off. Was it that she had no talent mark or was it that her only adornment was a small silver chain necklace with a pure white crescent moon charm? Whatever it was, Aria didn’t like the youngling.
Truth be told, she hated them all. She didn’t understand why Luna couldn’t just trust in her and Blaze to protect the Republic. Or her already powerful army. She knew the princess went into battle herself more often than not. Besides, nothing (and no one) could match the power of an alicorn. Aria didn’t know why she needed these dusty, strange ponies. Because they were older, they were prone to become a casualty. That’s why ponies were set into battle training at the age of six and put into the war at ten. There was no room to waste resources on four mares and one... whatever it was, only to have them die relatively quickly.
“Aria Spellweaver.”
Aria flinched. She turned her head towards Princess Luna. The alicorn wasn’t looking at her, only locking eyes with Silver Star. The smaller pegasus frighteningly stood her ground, leaving a coldness to fill the room.
“Y — yes, Your Highness?” Aria answered, lowering her head respectfully. Her words seemed light and small compared to Luna’s strong voice.
“You come to my domain with four ponies too many,” the moon princess said, softer. Her words still stung in Aria’s chest and fear nearly crippled her as the midnight blue unicorn to her right huffed. “I asked for one pegasus veteran. One mare. Yet here I am with two outlaws, an unholy offspring and a foal.” She sniffed, displeased at the light whimper that came from the crouched unicorn.
“Your Highness,” Aria whispered, “I meant only the best intentions for this —”
“Silence.” Princess Luna briefly set her gaze on the unicorn and Aria squeezed her eyes shut, pain pinching at her temples. “You did, however, do your assigned job. I am relieved to know that this little pegasus has managed to stay alive all these years.”
Silver’s visible eye narrowed.
Aria bowed her head again as the seizing pain lifted just barely. “Yes, Your Highness. The veteran Silver Star was reluctant, and this was the only way we could bring her as your audience.”
“Personally, I think she’s just a coward and needed a bunch of misfits to back her up,” Blaze piped sourly, turning her gaze to Princess Luna. “If she’s so important then she definitely does not need these four.” She swept out a smoky wing towards them.
Aria carefully averted her eyes towards one of the mares. Her view landed on the crouched unicorn, bowed in fear.
Respect, she suddenly thought with burning agony. She grit her jaw and tried to ignore the prick of tears. She absently rubbed at her right temple, making no noise as the pain receded. That mare simply knows how to respect the mightiest of alicorns.
Yet she wanted to confront her. She wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her, shouting “What are you doing in this war, you idiot?! Do you have no sense? Where are your parents? Go home, you stupid, stupid filly!” Aria stiffened in her spot beside Blaze, her shoulders seizing up. She couldn’t say any of that. Not now; not ever. Every word of that thought was treason.
"Excuse me,” the midnight blue pony snapped, her jagged and stained teeth flashing and shocking Aria out of her thoughts. “I was told I was gonna be meeting up with a princess. Not some giddied-up cry horse picking a fight with a filly who doesn’t know a spear from a log; a mentally challenged, deranged lovelord, and a fucking, bloodied hot mess.” She snorted, her strange eyes digging into Her Highness.
Aria was taken aback by how low she thought of the alicorns; if she belonged to any of the princesses, then it’d be no surprise if that pony had a bounty on her head. Maybe she really was an outlaw if she was so clear about her displeasure of them all.
Princess Luna merely raised her head as her ears pricked forward. One word, and the unicorn would be hung.
“I see,” Her Highness murmured, surprising Aria. “And what is your name?”
“Spathi,” the mare said.
“Ah, yes,” Princess Luna acknowledged with a small nod. “I remember you, blood spiller. Quite a hefty gut you must hold to be able to kill foals just to stay alive for this long.”
Spathi stopped chewing her cigarette. Her inverted eyes were wide with shock. Luna met her gaze, as calm as a frozen lake.
The silence began its awful reign once more. Her Highness was no longer stiff with anger and an imperial smugness seemed to emit from her. Aria withheld a smile as Blaze coughed over a snicker. Her Highness was going to win this standoff: not that Aria had believed otherwise.
“And you, Amnesty,” Princess Luna said to the gray pegasus, her attention abandoning Spathi. The mare’s one eye widened. “Are an assassin. So in that case, requesting your unwanted help wouldn’t be anything new, correct?”
“My name is Anna,” she snarled, her voice like distant thunder. Despite her name, if Aria had to judge her solely based on her looks and voice, she’d have guessed the pegasus was male.
It’s an ironic name for somepony so...bloodstained, Aria thought, lightly biting the inside of her cheek. She took as minuscule a step away from the bulky pony as she could.
“Yes, yes,” Her Highness cooed, putting out her lip to emphasize her true meaning. She waved her hoof and began to walk slowly around the seven mares, her wings resettling at her sides. “A boring edit from Amnesty. Yet I distinctly remember you creating such a mess of my general a few years ago. The courtyard stones are still stained to this day.”
Aria swallowed back the sudden burst of bile in her throat. She remembered that event.
“Well,” the mare said roughly, rubbing a scar under her metal choker with a rusted chain. She had two identical bracelets on her forehooves, each with a discolored chain. “Cadenza pays rather well.”
“Hmm,” the princess replied. She stopped beside Anna and inspected her hefty wings. Luna seemed to be displeased. Aria felt her legs tense up whenever she looked at the princess’s stunning eyes scroll over anypony but herself. She longed to feel the chill they sent into her skin as if they emitted icy air that engulfed Aria in cold wings.
“Now,” the alicorn muttered as she moved herself behind the wrapped creature. She lifted a shadowy tendril of cloak in her magic. “Who might you be, stranger?”
A flash of bright white and orange lit up the room as Aria’s heart leaped into her throat.
Pressed firmly against unscarred white fur was Aria’s dagger, the blood-red blade a stark and sudden contrast on Silver Star. The pegasus’s teeth were bared as she wrinkled her snout and peeled her lip back like a miniature wolf. Aria panted hard as the fear of displeasing Her Highness grew heavier and heavier in her stomach. She was surprised how hard it was to hold her ground against the smaller mare as her body was squeezed between the alicorn, Silver and whatever the cloaked being was. Her blue eyes were locked onto Silver as she caused Luna to drop the creature’s coverings and recede a few steps, her midnight-colored wings unfurling.
The moment she moved away however, Silver backed down as well, her eye narrowing as it watched the princess.
I can hardly imagine what would’ve happened if I hadn’t been here for Her Highness, Aria thought, aiming her dagger at Silver as she stepped beside Blaze once more. Her comrade seemed to be surprised at the little standoff that had just occurred and her darker wings were ruffled in surprise.
But still...she’s an alicorn. Silver Star is just a pathetic, overly confident pegasus pony. Why is she so afraid of her?
Silver was now standing ridged in front of Luna, just ahead of her hodgepodge group of mares. Princess Luna’s ears were flicked back, a minute sign of submission in this awful battle. Silver seemed to notice this and her powerful wings spread and her ears pushed forward.
Aria lifted her dagger again but the brief flash of cool on her fur made her eyes jump to her princess’s. They were locked onto her and she noticed one clear message in them.
Do not interfere.
A long, painful pause passed silently between all the ponies. Anna was tensed up, her wings half-spread as her head was tilted towards Silver. Spathi was grinning a little, her horn glowing with white aura. The crouched mare had stopped shaking and seemed to peek under her foreleg up at the cocky pegasus. The covered creature’s head was pointed at her as well.
Aria and Blaze hadn’t moved, but Blaze was puffing light smoke and the heat radiating off her sides was scalding Aria’s ribs. Aria herself was in a stance that would get her to her princess in the fastest way possible if she was needed.
Not a moment later did Silver’s group retreat a little further back and Luna advanced forward, her ears and wings displaying her personal pegasus hierarchy and her eyes narrowed and glittering dangerously. The mare’s glared into each other’s eyes for a long, violent moment.
“Spellweaver; Reign,” the ruler stated suddenly, jolting Aria’s mind to run blank. Blaze’s heat immediately cooled down at her side. “Take them all to the main camp. Except….” Her gaze landed on the still-bowing unicorn. “All except the quivering foal. Leave that one here.”
Anna and Spathi’s eyes widened as they glanced over to the youngling. Spathi’s horn briefly flickered and Anna placed a hoof on the mare’s shoulder; the gentlest gesture Aria had seen from her the entire trip. The unicorn slowly lifted her head and two large eyes met Aria’s.
Her irises were so dark that they nearly melted into her pupils; but with the faint lights in the war room, Aria could see the bluish highlights dance in her eyes. The little unicorn slowly got to her hooves and she looked at the others nervously.
Out of the corner of her eye, Aria saw the lunar princess grin. She didn’t want to acknowledge how unhappy her smile was.
“And get these creatures ready for my army.”
