Shards of War, Shards of Peaceby Lord of FliesChaptersPrologue: AwakeningChapter One: IntroductionsChapter Two: Return to PonyvilleChapter Three: ReportChapter Four: The Circle VisitsPrologue: Awakening“Lieutenant, are you sure you want to do this?” “Yes, Miss Yearling, I am sure.” The Lieutenant replied, glancing at the treasure hunter. “You said these heroes are reasonable, yeah?” “Most of them, yes. Some of them served houses that were very opposed to Equestrian involvement in their affairs, however.” “I’m sure we’ll be just fine. You did choose one that will probably help us, right?” “Yes. That scribe might have been lying to me, though.” “That’s fine. Nothing worth doing is without risk.” As the two mares had this conversation, they came to a set of ancient doors made from crystal. Towering over them, the doors bore little decoration. The rest of the archaeologists were busily clearing the chamber of debris and setting up camp. “Do all of the tomb doors look like this?” The Lieutenant pointed with one of her wings. Yearling shook her head. “Not all of them. The ones containing the most storied ones, none of which have been found, are supposedly much, much more impressive. This is one of the lesser ones, though it looks like it was defaced at some point. So, the hero should be more impressive than the door would have you believe.” She gestured with a wing to the odd arrangements of shards the Crystal Ponies among them were treating with reverence. “Those happen to be Crystal Pony bodies, by the way. If I had to guess, they killed each other over who should get the treasure.” The Lieutenant frowned. “This treasure being the hero inside.” Walking up to the door, she glanced at Yearling. “All of this for a single pony.” “A very powerful pony,” Yearling replied easily, walking up to the door as well. She reached out and touched the door. A loud, low rumble echoed throughout the chamber. “Huh, must have been pre-prepared by those dead Crystal Ponies. Talk about easy.” The Lieutenant frowned again, and looked at the Royal Guards she brought with her. “Be ready for anything. Who knows what kinds of things the ponies who built this place put in place to defend it.” She stepped forward, but Yearling put out a hoof, stopping the Royal Guard. “Rainbow Dash,” she stated, “you haven’t told me why you wanted to come along, and bring your unit with you.” “You have to report to the High Princess after every expedition of yours, yeah?” “Of course, as part of the contract that I have with her.” Dash’s eyes narrowed. “Then that is reason enough.” The lieutenant pushed past the treasure hunter, giving her a cool glance and gesturing for the other Royal Guards to follow her. Yearling raised an eyebrow, and muttered to herself, “You’re not one to hide things, Rainbow Dash.” Sighing, she followed the loose formation of Royal Guards. The Royal Guards, Dash included, hung back, long enough for Yearling to take the lead. “You’ve got the best tomb navigation of us all,” Rainbow Dash said, as Yearling stepped to the front of the group. ****** After fifteen minutes of following the scroll that had been provided by the scribe, the group entered a chamber larger than the entrance chamber. “Is this the chamber?” “It appears to be, yes.” One of the other Royal Guards spoke up, “There’s a lot of history here.” Dash looked at him. “What do you mean?” He pointed a hoof and then swept it around, indicating the walls. “The writing on the walls looks like Ancient Crystalline. That would indicate history.” When Dash opened her mouth to speak, the Guard shook his head and added, “I can’t read it, though. I just know what it looks like.” “Miss Yearling, can you-?” “No,” Yearling interrupted, “I can interpret many Equine languages. But not this one. This one is utterly unknown to even me. We’ll learn together.” “Hmm. Any indication of how we awaken this hero?” “We should look around. There could be hints laying about.” Dash raised a hoof and gestured around. “You heard her, search around.” The Guards and archaeologists began looking around for any clues about the hero. With the hero’s sarcophagus in the middle of the chamber, the thirty ponies had to carefully move around the chamber. “Find anything?” “Nope, buncha currency over here though.” “Put those back! We’re here awaken that hero, not rob them blind!” “Miss Yearling, you find anything?” “Maybe, but one of the Crystal Ponies needs to look at it.” One of the Crystal Ponies walked over to where Yearling was standing. She was looking at a plaque on a pedestal. “Can you read this? I’m afraid that anything older than Modern Crystalline I can’t read.” The Crystal Pony looked at the plaque and nodded. “It’s Old Crystalline. That would make sense.” “Make sense?” “Old Crystalline was the language spoken by the common pony at the time of these heroes. It stands to reason that they would write the instructions in the language that any fool could read.” Yearling cocked her head and asked, “How do you know all of this?” A smile appeared on the Crystal Pony’s face. “I can read all of the older Crystalline languages,” he replied, “I’m a linguist by education and, of course, career.” “So, what does it say?” “‘When the time comes, that which is primordial is required.’” “How unnecessarily vague,” Yearling stated. Dash spoke up, “Anypony got mana crystals containing wild magic?” The Royal Guard that had identified the writing on the wall replied, pulling one from a pouch on his helmet with his magic, “Yeah. Right here, boss.” “Good, transfer that magic into the sarcophagus.” “Yes ma’am!” Yearling looked at the lieutenant and asked, “How did you-?” “Know what the plaque means? Dunno. Basic intuition, I guess. Since Crystal Ponies passively absorb background magic in place of solid food to sustain themselves, I figured that wild magic would be what we need.” She looked at the linguist. “Am I correct?” “Yes. You are. Peculiar…” The unicorn pressed the mana crystal to the sarcophagus and began the transfer spell. A minute passed. Yearling asked, “So, when this hero awakens, what do we do?” Dash looked at the mare, and responded, “You’re the expert, you tell me.” “I haven’t dealt with heroes of Crystal Pony history. How am I supposed to know?” The linguist spoke up, “I can handle it if you want, Lieutenant.” Raising an eyebrow, Dash felt her doubt creep into her voice as she spoke, “Are you sure you can do this?” “Yes,” came the response, “there is one thing that I can do.” “What?” “You’ll see.” After a few uneasy minutes, the mana crystal went dull. Stepping back, the unicorn looked at it. “It’s completely drained, ma’am.” Dash nodded. “And now, we wait.” ************ She woke slowly. She could not recall her name. It did not matter, she decided. That would return later, afterwards, once she got on her hooves. Her heart, lungs, and joints woke first. Slow breaths were the first thing she heard. Her slow breaths. Her joints unlocked, and every joint in her body relaxed. She gave a small sigh, a terribly quiet thing, but one of relief. Her eyes, though, still remained closed. She became aware of the mask on her face, the robes covering her body. Eventually, her eyes opened. The bottom of her sarcophagus lid met her eyes. She sighed, and put a front hoof against the sarcophagus lid. A single dot glowed where her hoof was when she pulled it away. Lines, straight and sharp, slowly spread from the dot. They spread to cover most of the lid. Then, the lid began dissipating. Once the lid disappeared, she sat up. Azure of House Jacinth, she recalled as she did so, that’s my name. Gasps reached her ears. Azure looked around. Ponies, thirty of them, stood around the sarcophagus, staring at her with varied expressions: some surprised, others shocked. The ones like her bowed in reverence to her. The ones in pewter armor regarded her with guarded looks. The one wearing pewter armor edged in silver, a pegasus mare, wore a small grin, rose eyes shining with excitement. All the armored ponies were not wearing their helmets, as though they were not expecting a fight. That was all well and good, Azure thought, as, with her reflexes severely dulled by her long slumber, she was not sure how good she could fight at this moment. One pony, eerily similar to the pegasus in the silver-edged armor, stepped toward her and began speaking in a friendly tone. Azure made no response, the language was far too strange for her to understand. One of the ponies like her approached her, his coat shimmering in the light of the chamber. He held out a hoof to her in a manner that said, Let me help you. Taking the offered hoof, she watched the stallion get very close to her. He poked the mask on her face, and she removed the mask. The stallion pressed his forehead against hers, and transferred knowledge from his mind to hers. Azure stared at him as he stepped back and spoke, in the same language that the pegasus had spoken to her in, “Do you understand this?” She hesitated for a very brief moment. Then she replied, slowly in that language, “Yes… I can…” The pegasus in the silver-edged armor’s grin widened. Chapter One: IntroductionsRainbow Dash couldn’t be happier. Well, she could, but then she wouldn’t have signed her platoon up for this expedition with Miss Yearling. “What is your name?” The linguist posed the question to the mare in the sarcophagus. The mare replied, just as slowly as the first time, “Azure… Jacinth…” Yearling nodded, and looked over at Dash. “Good,” she said, “good. Thank you for coming, Dash.” Dash shrugged. “Just doin’ my job, Miss Yearling. That’s all.” “And yet you of all ponies decided to sign up for this expedition. That’s bold, even for you, considering the cold this far north.” “I’ve been up here once before. You know, six years ago, when the Empire resurfaced. It was just as bad.” “I know. I’ve read the reports.” Azure asked, confused, “Resurfaced?” Yearling looked at the Crystal Pony. “Yes, about two thousand and six years ago, the Crystal Empire disappeared. The prevailing theory is that the Regent at the time, Sombra, cursed the Empire to disappear when he was defeated and banished into the wastes.” “That doesn’t… make sense…” Dash replied, “Yeah. I don’t get it either. Our records of that time are… spotty… at best. Only an alicorn could do something like that, sealing away an entire civilization. But High Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were punished severely for what they did during that war. And what they did wasn’t that.” Azure shrugged, a slight smirk on her face. “Who knows? It was years after I was sealed away… and only your alicorns know the truth…” Dash found that she didn’t like the tone of the mare’s voice. It seemed to imply that High Princess Celestia and Princess Luna might have been more involved with the disappearance of the Crystal Empire than what was known. It was true, though, that only they knew the truth. Sombra had been reduced to little more than shadowy shards that blew away in the wind, and none of the Crystal Ponies that had been talked to about the disappearance had spoken about it. Azure climbed out of the sarcophagus and walked toward a chest that nopony had seen. Pressing a hoof to it, she spoke, “What do you plan… to do with me?” Yearling spoke first. “I don’t have an idea. What about you, Dash?” “Yeah, I’ve got one. I’m not saying it out loud, though.” Yearling sighed and shook her head. The chest opened, and Azure began go through the contents, putting them in saddlebags that had been sitting next to it. “You know, whoever built these tombs made them very convenient,” Dash observed. “Aye, that they did,” replied the unicorn guard. “Sundance,” Dash said, calling the unicorn by name, “help Azure with packing her things.” Sundance gave a quick salute and headed to the mare’s side. Miss Yearling glanced at Dash, who gave a grin. After all, Dash thought, she’s trusting enough. ************ Azure noticed, out of the corner of her eye, a unicorn, one of the ponies in pewter armor, approach and ignite his magic to start levitating her things to the saddlebags. “Am I doing something wrong?” Azure shrugged. “No… You are not. There is no special order to… organizing my belongings. All of the… ones that need organizing have… already been packed.” The unicorn nodded. He then asked, “Do you know my name?” “No.” “You did not hear my lieutenant call me by name and order me to assist you?” “I did not.” “That’s selective hearing for you…” “What is your name?” “Sundance Snowblade. I’m a sergeant under Lieutenant Rainbow Dash. The other ponies in armor, Lieutenant Dash and I are Royal Guards of the Equestrian Unified Nation.” Azure nodded. “Do you know why… you are here, so far… from your homeland?” Sundance quieted his voice, so that only he and she could hear, and replied, “No, I don’t. Not a single one of us knows why. The Lieutenant knows, of course. She volunteered our platoon to be the ones guarding Miss Yearling’s expedition. But she hasn’t told us anything. Not the Crystal Ponies in our expedition. Not Miss Yearling’s crew. Not Miss Yearling. Not even us, those she trusts as much as her friends from her hometown. I don’t even think her friends or everypony else above her know, either.” Azure looked at him, stopping what she was doing, raising an eyebrow. Going back to packing her bags, she asked in him in a voice as quiet as his was, “What are you… going to do about it?” Sundance smiled. “Not a thing. Not a damn thing. It’s not my place to question my lieutenant. None of us under her command would question her unless the orders given are extremely immoral or evil.” Azure nodded. “I know that feeling,” she replied. “I understand.” A smile, a genuine one, came to Sundance’s face. “And we are done with packing your things, right?” Azure gave a quick nod. “Yes, we are.” Sundance stood up and looked at his lieutenant, the rainbow haired mare in silver-edge armor. “Lieutenant, we’re done over here. We’ll need more ponies to carry all of it, though. Lady Azure has quite a lot of things.” Lieutenant Dash nodded and began directing her subordinates to start picking up all of the things removed from the chest and packed into bags. The pegasus with a light gold coat stepped forward. She looked at the lieutenant, and said, “Well, Dash, I think we should introduce ourselves, right?” Dash shrugged, and replied, “The two of them exchanged a few words. I heard my name come up. I don’t need to introduce myself. But I can if you really want me to.” There was a sigh from the light gold mare. “No. No, that won’t be necessary, Dash.” She looked at Azure. “I am Amber Kangxi Yearling, head of Canterlot University’s Equinology Department.” “You study what has come before? If I am associating… what you are saying with the… right word from your… modern tongue?” “Yes. Relating to the Equine races of our world, more specifically.” Azure tilted her head slightly, and asked, “Why come here, then?” Yearling smiled. “Your kind, the Crystal Ponies, is steeped in mystery. What we know is very little compared to other pony races. But a six thousand year disappearance from history? That doesn’t help with unraveling these mysteries. It deepens them!” “You are a very odd pony.” “I get that a lot.” She looked at Dash. “Dash, we should leave. We’ve got what we came for. Herpy is probably getting worried.” “Where did you leave him?” “Back in Aventide. Why?” Dash stared at Yearling for a moment. Then shook her head. “Fine,” she stated, “let’s go.” She looked around at the other ponies. “It will be a two hour walk back to the train station from here,” Dash continued. “After that, we take the train to Aventide. We will transfer over to the Military Transit Line and head back to Ponyville.” She glanced at Yearling. “And you, Miss Yearling?” “My team and I will head to back to the University to assist in study of the artifacts, of course." The Lieutenant nodded. “Very well,” she declared. “We shall return to Equestria!” Azure looked confused. “What is a… train?” Dash grinned. “You’ll see.” ************ The train ride was currently being uneventful. Dash looked at Azure. The large mare was sleeping, mainly to conserve her energy. Dash couldn’t blame her. What magic that she had absorbed from the mana crystal was a very small amount compared to what had been released, according to her. With as sluggish as she had been, Dash was surprised she could walk all the way to the train station at the pace that the rest of the party had been moving. “It’s probably a Crystal Pony thing,” Dash murmured. “Making the best use of their energy, even for what you could call a forced march.” Sundance was busily writing away in his notebook, probably his thoughts and notes on the behavior of Crystal Ponies based on what Azure had acted. The stallion had notes on how magic interacted with many things, from metal and wood to griffons and dragons. “That book of his is probably going to save us from something one day,” Dash noted. “But, it’ll be a spur-of-the-moment thing most likely.” She grinned. A nap sounded nice, and she’d take it under any normal circumstance. But there was that stallion in the trench coat and wide-brimmed hat that was trying to be inconspicuous with the glances he was making at Azure. Dash was going to keep an eye on him, and wait for him to do something. Hopefully he wouldn’t try anything, as only Sundance and the other unicorns of her platoon could take him down. She probably could, if she was fast enough. For now, though, Dash decided to watch and wait. And ponder, too. That stallion had an odd resemblance to the ponies of House Sparkle. What could that mean, then? Who was this stallion? Why was he on this train, keeping an eye on Azure? Dash didn’t know. And the answers would come in time, hopefully. Chapter Two: Return to PonyvilleWhen the train arrived in Ponyville, Dash directed her subordinates to carry Azure’s bags to Twilight’s Castle. She left the train after the majority of them disembarked from the train, stepping onto the platform and walking several paces forward. A grin spread across her face. Ah, to be back in Ponyville again. Sundance passed, and Dash spoke, “Sundance.” He stopped, and replied, looking at her, “Yes?” Dash dropped her voice low so only he could hear and asked, “There was a stallion in a trenchcoat on the train. Did you see him?” “The one that kept stealing glances at Lady Azure?” “Yes. I didn’t see him get off.” “Neither did I. We should have the platoon keep an eye out.” “Agreed. Did you manage to sketch down his face?” “Yes.” Sundance levitated a memo pad in front on his lieutenant, the book open to a portrait of the very same stallion. “I’ll cross reference this sketch with the portraits of House Sparkle. Start there first, then move to other Great Houses.” “Good. Get on it. I’ll show Lady Azure around if she wants.” Sundance nodded. He turned away and started walking to the Castle. There was a whistle. Dash looked over her shoulder at who made the sound. Miss Yearling stood in the doorway, looking at her. “Yes, Miss Yearling?” “We’re heading on to Canterlot. Take very good care of Azure.” “I will. Take very good care of those artifacts.” Yearling smiled. “You know it.” She stepped back, and shut the door. She then disappeared out of sight, back toward the compartment she had ridden in from Aventide. The train began creeping forward as it continued on its way. Dash looked at Azure, who had been one of the first ponies off the train. “So,” she asked, “how was your first train ride?” Azure shrugged. “Enlightening… to say the least. Not that bad, I suppose. It will take some getting used to.” “Welcome to Ponyville, Azure. The train station, at least.” The other mare nodded. “It is nice. I guess.” “Come, I’ll show you around if you like.” “Lead on, then.” “Okay. I’m kinda hungry, actually. Follow me.” *** Dash didn’t know what she was expecting. She did, kinda, but Pinkie was erratic at the best of times. And so, Dash stared as Azure just stood there, barely five paces into Sugarcube Corner, a bright pink pony on her back, looking distinctly unamused. She stared straight at Dash, deliberately. Pinkie, however, was grinning very happily. A reason for a party always, almost always in any case, made her happy. “Lieutenant,” Azure asked, “why is there a… pony on my back?” Dash gave a nervous grin. “That pony is Pinkie Pie. One of my best friends. She’s Ponyville’s resident party pony.” Pinkie leapt from Azure, who remained very still. Once Pinkie landed in front of her, she looked at the energetic pink mare and followed her every moment with her eyes. With a grin, Pinkie said, “Yep! That’s me!” “Why are you ecstatic?” “Because I can throw a party!” Azure pointed at herself. “For me?” “Yep!” Azure’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of party?” “A ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!” Azure looked to Dash for confirmation. Dash nodded. Azure looked back at Pinkie. “Go ahead?” Pinkie’s grin widened, and she bolted, up the stairs that led to her room. Her old one, in any case. “Is she always like that?” “Yep. Ya woulda thought that she’d mellow out being married and have a pair of foals. But it did not. Clearly.” “Oh. Who would… marry her?” “A stallion with energy very similar to that of hers.” “Oh... dear...” “Don’t worry. He’s just very eager and enthusiastic. I don’t think I’d be able to deal with a second Pinkie.” “You ponies are weird.” Dash shrugged. She looked over to the counter. “Missus Cake!” “Yes, Rainbow Dash?” “I’d like my usual!” “Of course!” Dash looked to Azure and pointed at an empty booth. “Come, Azure. Let’s sit down. I expect you don’t want to keep being stared at by every other pony here.” Azure shrugged. “I suppose.” ************ Sundance paused at the entrance to Princess Twilight’s Castle, numerous questions running through his head. What interest does that stallion have in regards to Lady Azure? Who is this stallion? Is he a threat? If so, how easy will it be to take him down in a fight? How long has he been following us? Where has he gone? Is he following me? He quickly looked over his shoulder, and then thoroughly checked for any sign of any following ponies. No sign of the stallion. He decided that the stallion was not following him. He might be well-versed in stealth and infiltration methods, however. And I am not. Stepping over the threshold into the Castle, he took a breath. If his and The Lieutenant’s suspicions were correct, then this mysterious stallion, a member of House Sparkle, was mysteriously-Sundance snickered quietly to himself, of course everything about this stallion was mysterious-interested in the recently awakened Azure of House Jacinth. Why? Sundance didn’t know. But the answers would come in time. They always did. He started walking again. Princess Twilight had a copy of all the books that detailed the family tree of each Great House. They would be in her personal library, in the Genealogy section. Passing through the corridors, and climbing the stairs to the third floor, Sundance nodded to the Silver Guard patrols as he passed them. When he got to the second floor, he felt a weight attach itself to his helmet, and he kept walking. There was no danger, he knew who just attached themself to his head, a slight smile on his face. It took several minutes, and another flight of stairs, but he reached the third floor. The library would be three corridors deeper in, and hopefully Princess Twilight would be able to help. Princess Twilight came around the corner, glasses on her face, book hovering in front of her. Sundance thought it rather convenient. Princess Twilight noticed Sundance and she looked up from the book. “Sergeant Sundance,” she said, “hello.” “Hello, Your Highness.” “Heading to my personal library for something?” “Yes.” “What for?” Sundance levitated his memo pad out and turned to the page with the sketch of the stallion from the train. He held it out to her. “I’m looking to identify this stallion using the Genealogy of House Sparkle.” Princess Twilight looked at the sketch. She raised an eyebrow. “Where did you encounter this stallion?” “He was on the train we took back from Aventide.” “I see. No need to head to my personal library, Sergeant.” “Your Highness?” “This stallion is my grandfather. Lord Sunrise Silver Sparkle.” “Oh.” Dammit. A slight frown appeared on Sundance's face. This complicated things. Very much so. “Why would he be so far north?” “He travels around the world. Experiencing whatever the world has to offer. I imagine that he traveled to the Crystal Empire to experience its culture. Any reason as to why you were going to look through the Genealogy of House Sparkle to identify him?” “That would be related to why Lieutenant Dash took us north.” “The lead on an Ancient Crystal Pony Hero that Miss Yearling found?” “Yes.” “Ah. Stealing glances, then?” “Yes.” “He does that. He means very well, I assure you. It’s probably curiosity, to be completely honest.” “Okay. But, Your Highness, the Lieutenant and I haven’t seen him since we got off the train.” Princess Twilight nodded. “He’s probably in the castle now, knowing him. You won’t see him unless he wants you to or my father comes to visit.” “Let me guess, Lord Sunrise Silver has advanced stealth abilities or something along those lines?” “Yes, actually.” Sundance frowned. “Wonderful. He could very likely be in this corridor and we wouldn’t know.” Princess Twilight nodded again. “Indeed.” She glanced up at the pony clinging to Sundance’s helmet and frowned. “Selena Dusk Sparkle, what are you doing?” The filly grinned. Sundance couldn’t see her, but he knew she was smiling. “Saying hi to a friend, Mama!” “Clinging to ponies’ helmets is not saying hi, Selena.” Sundance gave a small grin. “It is no trouble, Your Highness. I hardly notice the weight.” Princess Twilight huffed in slight annoyance. “Please, please, please don’t encourage her. Now I know how Shining Armor and Cadence feel when they were raising Flurry Heart when she was this age.” “That may be true, Your Highness, but Princess Flurry Heart is also three years older than Princess Selena.” “That is very true.” Sundance glanced, the best he could, at Princess Selena and spoke, “Your Highness, please climb off of my head. For your mother’s sake, please.” Princess Selena complied, a very slight sigh as her only response. Her weight left Sundance’s head. Four light clicks as her hooves touched the ground, and Princess Selena sighed again. “But, he’s so tall, Mama! I can see a lot of things from on his head!” “Yes, I know,” Princess Twilight replied, smiling, “but many ponies might find it rude that you’re doing that.” Princess Selena looked at the ground. She nodded. "I'm sorry, Mama." Princess Twilight gave a slight smile. "That is okay, Selena. I'm not mad." Sundance rubbed his chin with a hoof, and glanced at a nearby window. “I wonder if Lieutenant Dash is done doing whatever it is she’s doing with Lady Azure.” “What is she doing?” “If I had to guess, showing Lady Azure around the city.” Princess Twilight frowned slightly. “She’d better get back here soon. She has a report to make.” Sundance gave a chuckle. But he was worried for his Lieutenant. Princess Twilight could get very stern when she wanted to. The tone in her voice suggested that Lieutenant Dash might be getting a very stern talking to. Chapter Three: ReportIt was a slow day in the Royal Palace. High Princess Celestia looked through reports from the Royal Guard and the other branches of the military. Many of them were very similar to each other: finance reports, recent recruitments, and comments from the Logisticians about each. One from the Navy, however, caught her eye. The report was on the effectiveness of the new type of battleship that had been developed. “Dreadnoughts” these new battleships would be called, in honor of the warship, the ENV Dreadnought. They were faster, better armored, and better armed than any other battleship in existence. “Basically,” she said to herself, “they’ll be the most powerful warships on the planet. Impressive.” But Celestia herself was not feeling impressed. Not that it wasn’t impressive. It was indeed very impressive. She just couldn’t summon the feelings required to feel impressed. One of her Solar Legionnaires entered her office and then bowed deeply. “Your Exalted Highness, the Chroma Lieutenant has submitted her report.” “Very good, hand it here.” The Legionnaire crossed the room and set the report on the desk in front of Celestia. Celestia put a smile on her face and said, with the right tone, “Thank you.” The Legionnaire bowed and left the room, closing the door as they left. Celestia picked up the report with her magic, the gold glow casting a cold light. The report was nothing special. Very few bits worth noting in the reports. This proves that some Crystal Pony legends may, in fact, be true… ...waking a Crystal Pony from such slumber leaves them sluggish… ...Miss Yearling and her team have taken the cultural artifacts back to study… And at the end of the report was a single line that suggested the possibility of additional reports in the future: More information will be collected in upcoming weeks. “Interesting.” Underneath her signature, Rainbow Dash had included a note on another piece of paper with the report. P.S. Twilight and I believe that Sombra may not actually be dead. Please inform the Crystal Empress to be on watch for him. “Hmm. Twilight and Rainbow Dash have similar intuition as I do. Very well.” She shrugged. Not that she could do anything about it without the High Queen’s approval. Just the way it has to be. The way it’s been for two thousand years. Rising from her chair, she brought the report close. Removing the note, as she would inform the High Queen about the request herself. Stepping into her boots, she sighed. Cadence, Luna, and I can remember when we were on equal terms with the High Monarch. How the times have changed. The crown she wore became wrapped in a gold glow, and it floated over to her head, where she looked at it. By mortal standards, it was a thick thing, just over two centimeters. Gold, just like the rest of her regalia. For one such as her, it was near weightless, but, regardless, it weighed heavily on her head. She lifted it up further and put it on, feeling the familiar weight settle on her head. It is very light indeed, but a crown’s weight is not from the materials it is made from. Ruffling her wings, Celestia nodded and left her office. ****** Celestia paused at the doors to the throne room. She glanced down at the Throne Room Guards and asked, “Is the High Queen in the middle of an audience at the moment?” The guard on the left shook his head. “Her Imperial Majesty just had one.” Celestia nodded and entered the room, opening the doors with her magic. Relaxedly sitting on the high-backed throne, talking to one of her ladies-in-waiting, was the High Queen of the Equestrian Unified Nation, Maelstrom III Ravenwing. She glanced up at Celestia’s approach. “Celestia,” she grinned, “to what do I owe the pleasure?” Celestia held up the report and replied, “I received this report from the Chroma Platoon.” Maelstrom nodded. “It must be interesting if you are bringing it to me.” There was a nod. “Well, then.” Maelstrom held up a hoof when Celestia started to float the report over, “Show it to me when we have lunch. If it’s as interesting as I think it is, then I’d rather discuss it over something filling.” Another nod. “As you wish, Your Majesty.” Maelstrom grinned and clapped her front hooves twice. “Good, good. Let’s get going.” ****** For a lunch break, the food served was much more suited toward an actual lunch. “Your Majesty,” Celestia asked, after emptying her glass of wine looking at Maelstrom, raising an eyebrow, “do you intend to not resume court?” Maelstrom shook her head, a grin appearing on her face. “No. Parliament runs our glorious nation, really, so the Imperial Court acts more as a sort of civil court than an actual government one. And I’ve had enough of idiot nobles for one day.” “I suppose that idiots wearing fancy clothes and bothering you everyday would make anyone get tired of it after a while, Your Majesty.” Maelstrom looked at the speaker, a Crystal Pony. The grin grew wider. “Is that a commentary on systems that have nobility and royalty?” The Crystal Pony shrugged. “Just an observation, Your Majesty.” There was laughter from the other ponies at the table. “You may not have meant it, Sanguine Quartz, but that was indeed funny.” The Intelligence Officer stared at the speaker. A very slight frown crept onto his face. He looked over at the High Princess. Pointing at the report sitting in front of her, he asked, “Your Exalted Highness, what is in that report that you have there?” Celestia nodded and floated the report over to him, replying, “See for yourself.” Grabbing the report, pushing his untouched food aside, Sanguine Quartz began to read it. The frown had faded, but his expression remained neutral. He glanced up at Celestia and spoke. “So, the legends are true. What of it? There’s nothing in here that can help us root out the infiltrators that we’re hunting.” “Well,” came the reply from across the table, the speaker grabbing the report in his magic and pulling it toward him, and skimming through it, “this Crystal Pony is an asset we can use, Sanguine. No one will expect it.” “Indeed, Captain-General. But only if we can be sure that Rainbow Dash’s loyalty is to our nation.” “After all she’s done for our nation, you still-” “Shining Armor,” interrupted another stallion, one holding himself with a noble air, “an Intelligence Officer such as Sanguine Quartz is right to be suspicious. Rainbow Dash was, up until five years ago, part of Ponyville’s weather patrol and a Wonderbolt reservist. Then, when she became a Royal Guard, she enrolled in the Officer Training Program right out of Basic Training, which she then passed with flying colors. Think about it, she is naturally talented possessing a natural cunning and intelligence that not many ponies have. With such advantages stacked in her favor, why wouldn’t she be suspicious in some way?” “Marius, you too?” Marius Blueblood looked at the Captain-General of the Royal Guard, and smiled. “I am the Prince General of the Equestrian Unified Nation. My responsibility is that of the internal stability of our nation. With the Royal Guard as a key part of it, any personnel that are suspicious in any way need to be treated with a certain… grain of salt, shall we say.” He looked over at his brother, and asked, “What are your thoughts, Damocles? You have a report from the Chosen of Loyalty, a Lieutenant of our Royal Guard that confirms that what the Crystal Ponies have held as traditional belief for so long is true. We have unknown infiltrators in our midst, and we don’t know how deeply they are imbedded into our government and military. And the Chosen of Loyalty has, in a short period of time, risen far, and may have ambitions to rise further.” Damocles looked up from the report which had been passed to him. “This report is indeed interesting. But, as Sanguine has pointed out, it is utterly useless in assisting us in rooting out the infiltrators. It is true, however, that this Crystal Pony could be helpful regardless.” He looked at Shining Armor. “It’s much too early to tell if that will be the case. “As for the young Lieutenant from Cloudsdale, she is not a threat. She’s stubborn, brash, competitive, but loyal. We can trust her. But, we should make sure of it first.” Maelstrom spoke up then. “What do you suggest, then, Grand Prince?” “We head to Ponyville. We find out what Rainbow Dash’s loyalty lies and if Twilight Sparkle can be brought into this.” Shining Armor’s eyes narrowed. “And afterwards?” Damocles looked Shining Armor square in the eyes and replied, a smirk appearing on his face, “Who knows? Maybe we keep her out of the loop and sideline the Lieutenant. Maybe we bring them in, have them help us with this. We’ll have to see. You can’t always plan everything four steps ahead.” Maelstrom nodded. “There’s our next step. Celestia, take Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, Sanguine Quartz, Marius, and Damocles with you to Ponyville. Find out where Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle’s loyalties lie. Bring them in on this if you can. And remember: Do NOT speak of this to anyone outside of our Circle.” She looked at Shining Armor, and said, “Drop the barrier now. The time for secrecy has passed. Our move is made. Now, it is our foe’s turn.” ************ “So, they know about our infiltrators, then.” It was not a question from the Queen, but the messenger answered regardless. “Yes, My Queen.” The Queen smiled. “So, Celestia, what are you going to do about this, hmm?” She looked at the messenger, and commanded, “Send word to the cell commanders. Tell them to continue with the operation. They might know of it, but they haven’t taken action yet. So, we will watch and wait.” Chapter Four: The Circle VisitsIt was an average day for the citizens of Ponyville. But as the Royal Train pulled into the train station, the citizens knew something was going to happen. Something big. Hopefully, some of them thought, nothing that would mess with the town. Stepping out of the train first was High Princess Celestia. She looked majestic and regal as her coat and regalia shimmered in the light. Her face betrayed no emotion. Her sister and niece followed next, with Princess Luna glancing around for any threats. Cadence waved to the citizens that looked over, giving them a smile. The citizens waved back with smiles of their own. Peeking out from behind her was an alicorn filly. She smiled at the citizens and waved, and got waves in return. After them, a large white stallion wearing purple armor edged in gold stepped out of the train, a young unicorn mare following him. The mare looked at the citizens at the station and tried to hide herself from the citizens. Shining Armor chuckled at this. “They won’t hurt you, Skyla. The citizens of Ponyville are very friendly.” Skyla gave a whimper in response. Two ponies stepped out after those two. One of them wore a grin and gave a wave to the citizens. The other wore no less of a noble air, but the citizens near him shied away on instinct. “Damocles, cheer up! You’re scaring the common folk!” “I’m not doing it on purpose, Marius! It just happens!” “Cheer up!” “Don’t make me hit you.” “Okay.” After the Blueblood Brothers came two stallions. One with a twin-tone red mane and tail and a stallion who hung on the former’s every word. “Sir, can I try the food here?” “When I’m attending to the business I’m here for, yes.” “Sweet!” “Act smart. The more you eat, the more drills I’ll have you do. You must keep in shape.” “Ah. Of course, sir.” “Very good.” The group began walking from the train station, the High Princess leading the group. She glanced back at Sanguine Quartz. “Captain Quartz, what is the date on Lieutenant Dash’s report?” “Third of Second Rains, Exalted Highness.” “And today’s date is the Seventh. Hmm.” “Four days since the report was finished,” Princess Luna stated. “When did we receive it?” “Yesterday,” Shining Armor added, “the Sixth.” Sanguine Quartz frowned. “Why would it take so long for it to reach us?” “Well,” Damocles said, “if I had to guess, Lieutenant Dash gave it to Princess Twilight to ensure that there were no errors in the text. And knowing Princess Twilight, she took her sweet time proofreading it.” His gaze darkened. “A waste of time. Plenty of time for our enemy to root in her and her guard.” Shining Armor glanced at the Grand Prince. “My Lord-” Damocles glared at him, cutting him off. “I know you have the utmost faith in your sister and the Chosen, but I’ll remind you, that many, myself included, do not have the same level of faith in them that you do. And because of that, their trust is not at the same level as yours.” “Damocles is correct, Shining Armor,” Princess Luna said. “Twilight and the Chosen might be the first of my friends in this era, but I do not trust them completely. Experience demands that.” Shining Armor huffed and looked away. It was clear that he did not like the lack of trust being displayed by some of his fellow members of the Circle. The High Princess said nothing. Damocles and Luna had made very good points. Shining Armor, for one in a position of power like his, had a tendency to blindly trust, and put his faith in, those closest to him. Not that she could blame him, she treasured those few genuine bonds she had. She just hoped he wouldn’t make that same mistakes she did in regards to his bonds. ************ “And there we are, horns alight, ready to blast whatever… thing… is coming through the door, and it turns out to be my father, of all ponies.” Twilight was incredulous, and gave her father a look that said as much. “Really? Grandfather turned out to be that ghost?” Night Light was nodding vigorously, grinning. “Yeah, I know, right? The most famous member of our branch of the House at the time, and he was sneaking around the mansion.” Rainbow Dash, who had been enjoying the story, asked, “Did you ever find out why he was doing something like that?” “Yeah,” Night Light replied. “He’d woken up just half an hour earlier, couldn’t get back to sleep, and decided to get something to eat.” At this point, Star Velvet spoke up, “He was hungry? Seriously?” “That’s what I said once he realized we were in there, pulled the croissant out of his mouth, and explained what he was doing.” “Did… did he even realize what he was doing?” A fair question from Rarity, who looked more than a little perturbed by this. “He knew he wanted food and went to get it. I don’t think he realized he was invisible until we all flipped out.” Night Light began laughing, remembering that night. “Oh, you should have seen his face! Eyes big as dinner plates, mouth wavy as the sea during a bad storm, ears pressed flat against his head. The embarrassment on his face, though! It looked like he wanted to go curl up in a corner and disappear.” He stopped and glancing behind him and to his left, saying, “Isn’t that right, Dad?” “Yes, yes. That’s because, my dear son,” came a voice from behind him and to the left, “I was very focused on getting something to eat. You’d think that I’d remember that not everyone I know can turn invisible at will.” Everyone in the room, except for Night Light, jumped as the stallion they were talking about appeared, a look of playful exasperation on his face. His invisibility faded very fast, like something out of those science fiction movies Rainbow Dash liked to watch. It started at his hooves, and progressed from there. It reminds me of what Changelings do when they transform, Twilight thought, frowning slightly. Lord Sunset Silver Sparkle stood there, casually sipping at a cup of tea, the cup suspended in his pale yellow magic. Silver eyes watched carefully for any hidden movement. A mane like the sunset, fell along the right side of his face. His coat was pale lavender, though his heavy clothes obscured the rest of his body, leaving only his head exposed. He grinned, looked at Rarity, and stated, “Young Rarity, you make excellent tea.” Rarity, at this compliment, snapped to attention and bowed deeply. “You honor me with your words, Lord Sparkle.” Sunset Silver looked at Twilight then back to Rarity. “You don’t need to bow, Young Rarity. A compliment is a compliment, no matter who says it.” Rarity rose from her bow, but nodded vigorously. “Of course, my lord.” Sunset Silver’s expression changed to one that said, Really? He looked at Twilight and opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and closed his mouth, looking at something behind his granddaughter, his expression becoming a very neutral one. Too neutral for Twilight’s liking. Twilight looked at the rest of the room. Her parents had risen to their hooves, and were bowing. Rainbow Dash and the other Royal Guards, along with her Silver Guard, were standing at attention. Rarity had turned around, and was also bowing. A shadow fell upon her. A chill ran down her spine. Turning, Twilight froze. Standing there, towering over her, was her beloved mentor, High Princess Celestia. She looked down at her student with the one expression Twilight hated seeing on her face, the one she wore when there was something very serious going on. “Uh, h-hello, Princess C-Celestia,” Twilight stuttered, internally terrified, “to what do I-I owe the p-pleasure?” “A State Matter, Twilight. Nothing like what you’re terrified of.” Twilight exhaled, breathing a sigh of relief. “O-of course.” “A very important one, Twilight,” Shining Armor stated as he came around from behind right side of the High Princess, other ponies behind him. Grand Prince Damocles Blueblood, his brother Prince-General Marius Blueblood, a twin-tone red maned Crystal Pony stallion, and a unicorn stallion younger than Pinkie Pie followed Shining Armor. Princesses Luna and Cadence stepped around to the left side of the High Princess. The two mares wore neutral, but serious, expressions. “Your brother is correct, Twilight,” Princess Luna said, “why else would we arrive unannounced on an otherwise ordinary day?” Twilight remained for a moment, then said, “That would make sense. We can use my personal library, if we need to.” “That would be good,” the High Princess agreed, nodding. She looked at Rainbow Dash. “Lieutenant Dash, you must come as well.” Dash saluted and replied, “By your command, Your Exalted Highness.” “Skyla, Flurry Heart, stay here,” Cadence said, putting a tone that did not permit discussion into her voice, “this is not something for you to be a part of.” “Y-yes, Mother,” Skyla replied, sheepishly, “as you say.” Flurry Heart was more enthusiastic with her response. “Alright, Mom!” The Crystal Pony looked to the younger unicorn. “Comet, stay here as well.” “Of course, sir,” was Comet’s response. The other ponies in the room looked at each other, subtle disbelief on their faces. Twilight couldn’t blame them. This was a lot of important ponies that had just shown up unannounced and wanted to talk to both her and Rainbow Dash. Twilight looked over at her parents and Rarity, and said, in a hopefully reassuring tone, “Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s nothing terrible. It’ll be okay.” Her parents and Rarity nodded. Night Light’s expression betrayed his doubt, but he said nothing. Twilight left the room, heading toward her personal library. The High Princess and the ponies that came with her followed her. Sunset Silver, attention away from him, followed as well, frowning as he did so. He glanced back at little Selena Dusk, and continued ahead, sighing. ****** The group of ponies, led by Twilight, entered her personal library. The lighting inside was harsh, as it made it easy to read words on a book’s page and was Twilight’s preference. However, it also had an odd effect on the High Princess’ appearance. A multitude of sharp gray lines became obvious as the light washed over her. Many of them were located on her front legs, and Twilight was sure there were others that she couldn’t see underneath the caparison that the High Princess always wore. Twilight’s eyes widened slightly as she realized what they were. Scars. The High Princess was covered in them. And the one underneath her left eye looked like it curved around to the back of her head. She found that she was uncomfortable looking at her mentor’s scars, and so she looked away. She and Dash stood in the center of the room, while the other ponies formed a circle around them. “S-so,” Twilight began, “what is it you wanted to talk about?” Shining Armor ignited his horn and cast a spell. “There. Now we can discuss this.” Twilight’s eyes lit up at the spell being cast, she’d never seen one like it before. “Was that both a silencing spell and a nullification spell combined with your traditional barrier spell?!” Shining Armor smiled. “Not quite. It is something far more powerful than being just those three spells.” His smile grew larger as Twilight tilted her head. “I call it Event Horizon. That is all you need to know.” Twilight pouted a little bit as her brother said that, but she nodded. Her brother was proud of his spells, and would only tell her about them if she really pressed him for information. The High Princess spoke. “As I said earlier, what we came here to discuss is a State Matter. One of utmost importance.” “Oh. I see. What is it, then?” “Before that,” Grand Prince Damocles interrupted, a look of doubt on his face, “what I want to know is this: what took you so long to look over Lieutenant Dash’s report on her expedition up north?” Oh. That. Twilight grinned sheepishly. “I might have lost it under a stack of books within an hour of Dash giving it to me.” The look of doubt deepened on the Grand Prince’s face. He looked at the Lieutenant. “Is this true?” Dash nodded. “Yes, Grand Prince. While Princess Twilight has a reputation for being extremely organized, she does lose things from time to time. She did, in fact, lose the report under her books. It was… frustrating, to say the least.” She shot a look at Twilight. She, of course, was correct. Dash’s frustration with her over that was still there, flashing through her eyes. Twilight’s sheepish grin widened and she averted her gaze for a moment. The Grand Prince shook his head, shooting a disapproving look at Twilight. “Very well. I have no further questions.” The High Princess nodded. “Now, Twilight, Rainbow Dash. I know you are nervous, but you have nothing to fear.” Twilight was slightly relieved. Dash’s expression remained neutral. But the High Princess’s expression had not changed, so Twilight remained nervous. “I’m sure everyone here remembers when Canterlot was invaded by Queen Chrysalis and her Changelings, seven years ago.” There were nods. Shining Armor’s gaze darkened severely at that, as did Cadence’s gaze. Twilight understood why that was. “Since ancient times, our Unified Nation and the Regal Hive, Chrysalis’s Hive, have been locked in a cold war. “When the war began, the military might of both nations were evenly matched and we could not openly wage war. That was then. Now, from what we have learned, her hive has had a severe decline in Changelings bred and trained for war since the last time our spies checked their numbers. She has very little in the way of a military now.” “That doesn't make sense,” Rainbow Dash spoke up then, “Chrysalis had enough Changelings to have what appeared to be a large army in Canterlot. If she had so few soldiers, would she not have attacked?” “Indeed,” was the response from the High Princess, “that would have been the smart choice. But I believe that many of those Changelings were simply worker class Changelings pressed into service. With that massive wave of magic that both Cadence and Shining Armor sent out forcibly expelling the invading Changelings, however, there was no way for any of them to being interrogated. “As such, the Intelligence Division has doubled down on their information gathering about the Regal Hive so that we can gain as many insights into Changeling culture as we can.” She stopped, and looked at the Crystal Pony. “Captain Quartz, this is your specialty.” Captain Quartz nodded. “Three months ago, we became aware of Changeling infiltration within the ranks of the military, the Royal Guard, and the government. I brought this to the attention of the High Queen.” He swept a front leg out in front of him, indicating the ponies forming a circle around Twilight and Dash. “She assembled us together to find a way to remove this infiltration. We have determined this: “The uppermost echelons of each of the three organizations I listed have not been infiltrated. For the military, the reason appears to be that of organizing a mutiny of the lower ranks. For the Royal Guard, it appears to be an attempt to create a spy network. For the government, if I had to guess, a coup d’etat appears to be the final goal.” He paused, allowing the two mares to absorb this information. The two nodded after a few minutes at the Captain’s inquiring look. He continued, “As it seems, there are no actual Changelings in our ranks. Rather, their agents appear to be sleeper agents. You know, agents inserted into a country that ‘go to sleep’ once they’ve been inserted. Regarding the agents, though, our intelligence may be wrong. It might actually be brainwashing of some kind. Much like what every Royal Guard goes through during training. Considering that we check for any sleeper agents during said training, I suspect that the agents in the Royal Guard might have been subjected to mild brainwashing by the Changelings. The others are most likely actual sleepers, or, you know, Changelings themselves. We’ll have to see. We’ve yet to come up with a solid solution for this.” Twilight stared at the Captain, and asked, “Why are you telling us this, then?” Lieutenant Dash nodded, adding, “I wonder that, too, sir.” The Captain grinned, replying, “Why indeed.” Shining Armor stepped forward, stating, “I’m going to cast a spell.” Twilight asked, “What for?” “To see if the two of you are among Chrysalis’s agents.” Shining Armor shot a glare at the Grand Prince as he replied. The Grand Prince responded with a glare of his own. Twilight and Dash gave nods to the Captain-General. “Do it, sir,” Dash said, “I am no traitor. I am loyal.” “I have no doubts that I am not an agent,” Twilight stated, her face becoming calm, almost serene. “I have no fear.” Shining Armor cast the spell. Everypony held their breath, Shining Armor most of all. Five minutes later, Shining Armor released his breath. He looked back at the High Princess and gave a big smile. “They’re not agents, Exalted Highness.” The High Princess, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence let out a sigh of relief. The Grand Prince nodded. Prince-General Blueblood gave a grin. Captain Quartz said nothing, but smirked. The Grand Prince looked at Captain Quartz and asked, “Captain, why did you tell them all of that if we did not know if these two could be trusted?” Quartz shrugged, the smirk not leaving his face. “You know what they say about military intelligence.” “Indeed,” was the Grand Prince’s reply. Quartz said something else, but it was in Crystalline. His smirk widened at the frown that appeared on the Grand Prince’s face. The High Princess walked over to Twilight and drew her into a hug. “I’m very happy you’re not one of Chrysalis’s agents.” “I mean,” Twilight responded, “I knew I wasn’t. I’ve not left Ponyville for about four months. My Castle has enchantments very similar to the ones that the Imperial Palace has. There have been no Changelings in my Castle since it was created. It is nigh impossible for someone to enter my Castle without my knowledge. I would have known if there were Changelings in my Castle.” “I see,” was the High Princess’ response. She murmured something under her breath. “What is the next step then? Surely it’s not just going around and recruiting more allies,” Sunset Silver, perched atop a bookshelf, spoke suddenly, alerting the assembled ponies to him. Twilight started, and looked up at him. “How did you get in here, Grandfather?” Sunset Silver shrugged. “I followed you in here. With my natural cloak ability and my ability to be very quiet, it’s not hard to listen in on secret conversations. My apologies, though. I shouldn’t have followed you in here.” “Don’t apologize, Lord Sunset Silver,” Princess Luna spoke, smiling. “It is no problem.” “Well, Lord Sunset Silver,” Captain Quartz replied, “I intend to capture one of these Changeling infiltrators.” “How do you intend to do this, Captain?” “If I may, Captain, My Lord,” Dash said, stepping forward, “about two weeks before the expedition, I became aware of the same thing. I’ve not told anypony else about this, as I didn’t know how deep and high this goes. But, uh, I might have documents from one of these infiltrators.” “How did you get ahold of them?” Dash looked down at the ground, a sheepish grin coming to her face. “I took them, sir. I took them on the suspicion that their owner may, in fact, be a Changeling infiltrator. I apologize for such behavior, Captain!” Captain Quartz approached Dash and looked down at her. His smirk became a grin. “Don’t apologize, Lieutenant. We in the Royal Guard have the authority to act on our suspicions if doing so would not interfere with the work of those around us. Did your… appropriation… of these documents interfere with the work of this suspected infiltrator?” Dash shook her head. “No, Captain. I took them when she was out on her lunch break. I hope she didn’t notice they were gone when she returned from her break.” “Very good, Lieutenant. Once we’ve left this… suffocating… library, show me and the Captain-General those documents you appropriated.” “Of course, Captain.”
Prologue: Awakening“Lieutenant, are you sure you want to do this?” “Yes, Miss Yearling, I am sure.” The Lieutenant replied, glancing at the treasure hunter. “You said these heroes are reasonable, yeah?” “Most of them, yes. Some of them served houses that were very opposed to Equestrian involvement in their affairs, however.” “I’m sure we’ll be just fine. You did choose one that will probably help us, right?” “Yes. That scribe might have been lying to me, though.” “That’s fine. Nothing worth doing is without risk.” As the two mares had this conversation, they came to a set of ancient doors made from crystal. Towering over them, the doors bore little decoration. The rest of the archaeologists were busily clearing the chamber of debris and setting up camp. “Do all of the tomb doors look like this?” The Lieutenant pointed with one of her wings. Yearling shook her head. “Not all of them. The ones containing the most storied ones, none of which have been found, are supposedly much, much more impressive. This is one of the lesser ones, though it looks like it was defaced at some point. So, the hero should be more impressive than the door would have you believe.” She gestured with a wing to the odd arrangements of shards the Crystal Ponies among them were treating with reverence. “Those happen to be Crystal Pony bodies, by the way. If I had to guess, they killed each other over who should get the treasure.” The Lieutenant frowned. “This treasure being the hero inside.” Walking up to the door, she glanced at Yearling. “All of this for a single pony.” “A very powerful pony,” Yearling replied easily, walking up to the door as well. She reached out and touched the door. A loud, low rumble echoed throughout the chamber. “Huh, must have been pre-prepared by those dead Crystal Ponies. Talk about easy.” The Lieutenant frowned again, and looked at the Royal Guards she brought with her. “Be ready for anything. Who knows what kinds of things the ponies who built this place put in place to defend it.” She stepped forward, but Yearling put out a hoof, stopping the Royal Guard. “Rainbow Dash,” she stated, “you haven’t told me why you wanted to come along, and bring your unit with you.” “You have to report to the High Princess after every expedition of yours, yeah?” “Of course, as part of the contract that I have with her.” Dash’s eyes narrowed. “Then that is reason enough.” The lieutenant pushed past the treasure hunter, giving her a cool glance and gesturing for the other Royal Guards to follow her. Yearling raised an eyebrow, and muttered to herself, “You’re not one to hide things, Rainbow Dash.” Sighing, she followed the loose formation of Royal Guards. The Royal Guards, Dash included, hung back, long enough for Yearling to take the lead. “You’ve got the best tomb navigation of us all,” Rainbow Dash said, as Yearling stepped to the front of the group. ****** After fifteen minutes of following the scroll that had been provided by the scribe, the group entered a chamber larger than the entrance chamber. “Is this the chamber?” “It appears to be, yes.” One of the other Royal Guards spoke up, “There’s a lot of history here.” Dash looked at him. “What do you mean?” He pointed a hoof and then swept it around, indicating the walls. “The writing on the walls looks like Ancient Crystalline. That would indicate history.” When Dash opened her mouth to speak, the Guard shook his head and added, “I can’t read it, though. I just know what it looks like.” “Miss Yearling, can you-?” “No,” Yearling interrupted, “I can interpret many Equine languages. But not this one. This one is utterly unknown to even me. We’ll learn together.” “Hmm. Any indication of how we awaken this hero?” “We should look around. There could be hints laying about.” Dash raised a hoof and gestured around. “You heard her, search around.” The Guards and archaeologists began looking around for any clues about the hero. With the hero’s sarcophagus in the middle of the chamber, the thirty ponies had to carefully move around the chamber. “Find anything?” “Nope, buncha currency over here though.” “Put those back! We’re here awaken that hero, not rob them blind!” “Miss Yearling, you find anything?” “Maybe, but one of the Crystal Ponies needs to look at it.” One of the Crystal Ponies walked over to where Yearling was standing. She was looking at a plaque on a pedestal. “Can you read this? I’m afraid that anything older than Modern Crystalline I can’t read.” The Crystal Pony looked at the plaque and nodded. “It’s Old Crystalline. That would make sense.” “Make sense?” “Old Crystalline was the language spoken by the common pony at the time of these heroes. It stands to reason that they would write the instructions in the language that any fool could read.” Yearling cocked her head and asked, “How do you know all of this?” A smile appeared on the Crystal Pony’s face. “I can read all of the older Crystalline languages,” he replied, “I’m a linguist by education and, of course, career.” “So, what does it say?” “‘When the time comes, that which is primordial is required.’” “How unnecessarily vague,” Yearling stated. Dash spoke up, “Anypony got mana crystals containing wild magic?” The Royal Guard that had identified the writing on the wall replied, pulling one from a pouch on his helmet with his magic, “Yeah. Right here, boss.” “Good, transfer that magic into the sarcophagus.” “Yes ma’am!” Yearling looked at the lieutenant and asked, “How did you-?” “Know what the plaque means? Dunno. Basic intuition, I guess. Since Crystal Ponies passively absorb background magic in place of solid food to sustain themselves, I figured that wild magic would be what we need.” She looked at the linguist. “Am I correct?” “Yes. You are. Peculiar…” The unicorn pressed the mana crystal to the sarcophagus and began the transfer spell. A minute passed. Yearling asked, “So, when this hero awakens, what do we do?” Dash looked at the mare, and responded, “You’re the expert, you tell me.” “I haven’t dealt with heroes of Crystal Pony history. How am I supposed to know?” The linguist spoke up, “I can handle it if you want, Lieutenant.” Raising an eyebrow, Dash felt her doubt creep into her voice as she spoke, “Are you sure you can do this?” “Yes,” came the response, “there is one thing that I can do.” “What?” “You’ll see.” After a few uneasy minutes, the mana crystal went dull. Stepping back, the unicorn looked at it. “It’s completely drained, ma’am.” Dash nodded. “And now, we wait.” ************ She woke slowly. She could not recall her name. It did not matter, she decided. That would return later, afterwards, once she got on her hooves. Her heart, lungs, and joints woke first. Slow breaths were the first thing she heard. Her slow breaths. Her joints unlocked, and every joint in her body relaxed. She gave a small sigh, a terribly quiet thing, but one of relief. Her eyes, though, still remained closed. She became aware of the mask on her face, the robes covering her body. Eventually, her eyes opened. The bottom of her sarcophagus lid met her eyes. She sighed, and put a front hoof against the sarcophagus lid. A single dot glowed where her hoof was when she pulled it away. Lines, straight and sharp, slowly spread from the dot. They spread to cover most of the lid. Then, the lid began dissipating. Once the lid disappeared, she sat up. Azure of House Jacinth, she recalled as she did so, that’s my name. Gasps reached her ears. Azure looked around. Ponies, thirty of them, stood around the sarcophagus, staring at her with varied expressions: some surprised, others shocked. The ones like her bowed in reverence to her. The ones in pewter armor regarded her with guarded looks. The one wearing pewter armor edged in silver, a pegasus mare, wore a small grin, rose eyes shining with excitement. All the armored ponies were not wearing their helmets, as though they were not expecting a fight. That was all well and good, Azure thought, as, with her reflexes severely dulled by her long slumber, she was not sure how good she could fight at this moment. One pony, eerily similar to the pegasus in the silver-edged armor, stepped toward her and began speaking in a friendly tone. Azure made no response, the language was far too strange for her to understand. One of the ponies like her approached her, his coat shimmering in the light of the chamber. He held out a hoof to her in a manner that said, Let me help you. Taking the offered hoof, she watched the stallion get very close to her. He poked the mask on her face, and she removed the mask. The stallion pressed his forehead against hers, and transferred knowledge from his mind to hers. Azure stared at him as he stepped back and spoke, in the same language that the pegasus had spoken to her in, “Do you understand this?” She hesitated for a very brief moment. Then she replied, slowly in that language, “Yes… I can…” The pegasus in the silver-edged armor’s grin widened.
Chapter One: IntroductionsRainbow Dash couldn’t be happier. Well, she could, but then she wouldn’t have signed her platoon up for this expedition with Miss Yearling. “What is your name?” The linguist posed the question to the mare in the sarcophagus. The mare replied, just as slowly as the first time, “Azure… Jacinth…” Yearling nodded, and looked over at Dash. “Good,” she said, “good. Thank you for coming, Dash.” Dash shrugged. “Just doin’ my job, Miss Yearling. That’s all.” “And yet you of all ponies decided to sign up for this expedition. That’s bold, even for you, considering the cold this far north.” “I’ve been up here once before. You know, six years ago, when the Empire resurfaced. It was just as bad.” “I know. I’ve read the reports.” Azure asked, confused, “Resurfaced?” Yearling looked at the Crystal Pony. “Yes, about two thousand and six years ago, the Crystal Empire disappeared. The prevailing theory is that the Regent at the time, Sombra, cursed the Empire to disappear when he was defeated and banished into the wastes.” “That doesn’t… make sense…” Dash replied, “Yeah. I don’t get it either. Our records of that time are… spotty… at best. Only an alicorn could do something like that, sealing away an entire civilization. But High Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were punished severely for what they did during that war. And what they did wasn’t that.” Azure shrugged, a slight smirk on her face. “Who knows? It was years after I was sealed away… and only your alicorns know the truth…” Dash found that she didn’t like the tone of the mare’s voice. It seemed to imply that High Princess Celestia and Princess Luna might have been more involved with the disappearance of the Crystal Empire than what was known. It was true, though, that only they knew the truth. Sombra had been reduced to little more than shadowy shards that blew away in the wind, and none of the Crystal Ponies that had been talked to about the disappearance had spoken about it. Azure climbed out of the sarcophagus and walked toward a chest that nopony had seen. Pressing a hoof to it, she spoke, “What do you plan… to do with me?” Yearling spoke first. “I don’t have an idea. What about you, Dash?” “Yeah, I’ve got one. I’m not saying it out loud, though.” Yearling sighed and shook her head. The chest opened, and Azure began go through the contents, putting them in saddlebags that had been sitting next to it. “You know, whoever built these tombs made them very convenient,” Dash observed. “Aye, that they did,” replied the unicorn guard. “Sundance,” Dash said, calling the unicorn by name, “help Azure with packing her things.” Sundance gave a quick salute and headed to the mare’s side. Miss Yearling glanced at Dash, who gave a grin. After all, Dash thought, she’s trusting enough. ************ Azure noticed, out of the corner of her eye, a unicorn, one of the ponies in pewter armor, approach and ignite his magic to start levitating her things to the saddlebags. “Am I doing something wrong?” Azure shrugged. “No… You are not. There is no special order to… organizing my belongings. All of the… ones that need organizing have… already been packed.” The unicorn nodded. He then asked, “Do you know my name?” “No.” “You did not hear my lieutenant call me by name and order me to assist you?” “I did not.” “That’s selective hearing for you…” “What is your name?” “Sundance Snowblade. I’m a sergeant under Lieutenant Rainbow Dash. The other ponies in armor, Lieutenant Dash and I are Royal Guards of the Equestrian Unified Nation.” Azure nodded. “Do you know why… you are here, so far… from your homeland?” Sundance quieted his voice, so that only he and she could hear, and replied, “No, I don’t. Not a single one of us knows why. The Lieutenant knows, of course. She volunteered our platoon to be the ones guarding Miss Yearling’s expedition. But she hasn’t told us anything. Not the Crystal Ponies in our expedition. Not Miss Yearling’s crew. Not Miss Yearling. Not even us, those she trusts as much as her friends from her hometown. I don’t even think her friends or everypony else above her know, either.” Azure looked at him, stopping what she was doing, raising an eyebrow. Going back to packing her bags, she asked in him in a voice as quiet as his was, “What are you… going to do about it?” Sundance smiled. “Not a thing. Not a damn thing. It’s not my place to question my lieutenant. None of us under her command would question her unless the orders given are extremely immoral or evil.” Azure nodded. “I know that feeling,” she replied. “I understand.” A smile, a genuine one, came to Sundance’s face. “And we are done with packing your things, right?” Azure gave a quick nod. “Yes, we are.” Sundance stood up and looked at his lieutenant, the rainbow haired mare in silver-edge armor. “Lieutenant, we’re done over here. We’ll need more ponies to carry all of it, though. Lady Azure has quite a lot of things.” Lieutenant Dash nodded and began directing her subordinates to start picking up all of the things removed from the chest and packed into bags. The pegasus with a light gold coat stepped forward. She looked at the lieutenant, and said, “Well, Dash, I think we should introduce ourselves, right?” Dash shrugged, and replied, “The two of them exchanged a few words. I heard my name come up. I don’t need to introduce myself. But I can if you really want me to.” There was a sigh from the light gold mare. “No. No, that won’t be necessary, Dash.” She looked at Azure. “I am Amber Kangxi Yearling, head of Canterlot University’s Equinology Department.” “You study what has come before? If I am associating… what you are saying with the… right word from your… modern tongue?” “Yes. Relating to the Equine races of our world, more specifically.” Azure tilted her head slightly, and asked, “Why come here, then?” Yearling smiled. “Your kind, the Crystal Ponies, is steeped in mystery. What we know is very little compared to other pony races. But a six thousand year disappearance from history? That doesn’t help with unraveling these mysteries. It deepens them!” “You are a very odd pony.” “I get that a lot.” She looked at Dash. “Dash, we should leave. We’ve got what we came for. Herpy is probably getting worried.” “Where did you leave him?” “Back in Aventide. Why?” Dash stared at Yearling for a moment. Then shook her head. “Fine,” she stated, “let’s go.” She looked around at the other ponies. “It will be a two hour walk back to the train station from here,” Dash continued. “After that, we take the train to Aventide. We will transfer over to the Military Transit Line and head back to Ponyville.” She glanced at Yearling. “And you, Miss Yearling?” “My team and I will head to back to the University to assist in study of the artifacts, of course." The Lieutenant nodded. “Very well,” she declared. “We shall return to Equestria!” Azure looked confused. “What is a… train?” Dash grinned. “You’ll see.” ************ The train ride was currently being uneventful. Dash looked at Azure. The large mare was sleeping, mainly to conserve her energy. Dash couldn’t blame her. What magic that she had absorbed from the mana crystal was a very small amount compared to what had been released, according to her. With as sluggish as she had been, Dash was surprised she could walk all the way to the train station at the pace that the rest of the party had been moving. “It’s probably a Crystal Pony thing,” Dash murmured. “Making the best use of their energy, even for what you could call a forced march.” Sundance was busily writing away in his notebook, probably his thoughts and notes on the behavior of Crystal Ponies based on what Azure had acted. The stallion had notes on how magic interacted with many things, from metal and wood to griffons and dragons. “That book of his is probably going to save us from something one day,” Dash noted. “But, it’ll be a spur-of-the-moment thing most likely.” She grinned. A nap sounded nice, and she’d take it under any normal circumstance. But there was that stallion in the trench coat and wide-brimmed hat that was trying to be inconspicuous with the glances he was making at Azure. Dash was going to keep an eye on him, and wait for him to do something. Hopefully he wouldn’t try anything, as only Sundance and the other unicorns of her platoon could take him down. She probably could, if she was fast enough. For now, though, Dash decided to watch and wait. And ponder, too. That stallion had an odd resemblance to the ponies of House Sparkle. What could that mean, then? Who was this stallion? Why was he on this train, keeping an eye on Azure? Dash didn’t know. And the answers would come in time, hopefully.
Chapter Two: Return to PonyvilleWhen the train arrived in Ponyville, Dash directed her subordinates to carry Azure’s bags to Twilight’s Castle. She left the train after the majority of them disembarked from the train, stepping onto the platform and walking several paces forward. A grin spread across her face. Ah, to be back in Ponyville again. Sundance passed, and Dash spoke, “Sundance.” He stopped, and replied, looking at her, “Yes?” Dash dropped her voice low so only he could hear and asked, “There was a stallion in a trenchcoat on the train. Did you see him?” “The one that kept stealing glances at Lady Azure?” “Yes. I didn’t see him get off.” “Neither did I. We should have the platoon keep an eye out.” “Agreed. Did you manage to sketch down his face?” “Yes.” Sundance levitated a memo pad in front on his lieutenant, the book open to a portrait of the very same stallion. “I’ll cross reference this sketch with the portraits of House Sparkle. Start there first, then move to other Great Houses.” “Good. Get on it. I’ll show Lady Azure around if she wants.” Sundance nodded. He turned away and started walking to the Castle. There was a whistle. Dash looked over her shoulder at who made the sound. Miss Yearling stood in the doorway, looking at her. “Yes, Miss Yearling?” “We’re heading on to Canterlot. Take very good care of Azure.” “I will. Take very good care of those artifacts.” Yearling smiled. “You know it.” She stepped back, and shut the door. She then disappeared out of sight, back toward the compartment she had ridden in from Aventide. The train began creeping forward as it continued on its way. Dash looked at Azure, who had been one of the first ponies off the train. “So,” she asked, “how was your first train ride?” Azure shrugged. “Enlightening… to say the least. Not that bad, I suppose. It will take some getting used to.” “Welcome to Ponyville, Azure. The train station, at least.” The other mare nodded. “It is nice. I guess.” “Come, I’ll show you around if you like.” “Lead on, then.” “Okay. I’m kinda hungry, actually. Follow me.” *** Dash didn’t know what she was expecting. She did, kinda, but Pinkie was erratic at the best of times. And so, Dash stared as Azure just stood there, barely five paces into Sugarcube Corner, a bright pink pony on her back, looking distinctly unamused. She stared straight at Dash, deliberately. Pinkie, however, was grinning very happily. A reason for a party always, almost always in any case, made her happy. “Lieutenant,” Azure asked, “why is there a… pony on my back?” Dash gave a nervous grin. “That pony is Pinkie Pie. One of my best friends. She’s Ponyville’s resident party pony.” Pinkie leapt from Azure, who remained very still. Once Pinkie landed in front of her, she looked at the energetic pink mare and followed her every moment with her eyes. With a grin, Pinkie said, “Yep! That’s me!” “Why are you ecstatic?” “Because I can throw a party!” Azure pointed at herself. “For me?” “Yep!” Azure’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of party?” “A ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!” Azure looked to Dash for confirmation. Dash nodded. Azure looked back at Pinkie. “Go ahead?” Pinkie’s grin widened, and she bolted, up the stairs that led to her room. Her old one, in any case. “Is she always like that?” “Yep. Ya woulda thought that she’d mellow out being married and have a pair of foals. But it did not. Clearly.” “Oh. Who would… marry her?” “A stallion with energy very similar to that of hers.” “Oh... dear...” “Don’t worry. He’s just very eager and enthusiastic. I don’t think I’d be able to deal with a second Pinkie.” “You ponies are weird.” Dash shrugged. She looked over to the counter. “Missus Cake!” “Yes, Rainbow Dash?” “I’d like my usual!” “Of course!” Dash looked to Azure and pointed at an empty booth. “Come, Azure. Let’s sit down. I expect you don’t want to keep being stared at by every other pony here.” Azure shrugged. “I suppose.” ************ Sundance paused at the entrance to Princess Twilight’s Castle, numerous questions running through his head. What interest does that stallion have in regards to Lady Azure? Who is this stallion? Is he a threat? If so, how easy will it be to take him down in a fight? How long has he been following us? Where has he gone? Is he following me? He quickly looked over his shoulder, and then thoroughly checked for any sign of any following ponies. No sign of the stallion. He decided that the stallion was not following him. He might be well-versed in stealth and infiltration methods, however. And I am not. Stepping over the threshold into the Castle, he took a breath. If his and The Lieutenant’s suspicions were correct, then this mysterious stallion, a member of House Sparkle, was mysteriously-Sundance snickered quietly to himself, of course everything about this stallion was mysterious-interested in the recently awakened Azure of House Jacinth. Why? Sundance didn’t know. But the answers would come in time. They always did. He started walking again. Princess Twilight had a copy of all the books that detailed the family tree of each Great House. They would be in her personal library, in the Genealogy section. Passing through the corridors, and climbing the stairs to the third floor, Sundance nodded to the Silver Guard patrols as he passed them. When he got to the second floor, he felt a weight attach itself to his helmet, and he kept walking. There was no danger, he knew who just attached themself to his head, a slight smile on his face. It took several minutes, and another flight of stairs, but he reached the third floor. The library would be three corridors deeper in, and hopefully Princess Twilight would be able to help. Princess Twilight came around the corner, glasses on her face, book hovering in front of her. Sundance thought it rather convenient. Princess Twilight noticed Sundance and she looked up from the book. “Sergeant Sundance,” she said, “hello.” “Hello, Your Highness.” “Heading to my personal library for something?” “Yes.” “What for?” Sundance levitated his memo pad out and turned to the page with the sketch of the stallion from the train. He held it out to her. “I’m looking to identify this stallion using the Genealogy of House Sparkle.” Princess Twilight looked at the sketch. She raised an eyebrow. “Where did you encounter this stallion?” “He was on the train we took back from Aventide.” “I see. No need to head to my personal library, Sergeant.” “Your Highness?” “This stallion is my grandfather. Lord Sunrise Silver Sparkle.” “Oh.” Dammit. A slight frown appeared on Sundance's face. This complicated things. Very much so. “Why would he be so far north?” “He travels around the world. Experiencing whatever the world has to offer. I imagine that he traveled to the Crystal Empire to experience its culture. Any reason as to why you were going to look through the Genealogy of House Sparkle to identify him?” “That would be related to why Lieutenant Dash took us north.” “The lead on an Ancient Crystal Pony Hero that Miss Yearling found?” “Yes.” “Ah. Stealing glances, then?” “Yes.” “He does that. He means very well, I assure you. It’s probably curiosity, to be completely honest.” “Okay. But, Your Highness, the Lieutenant and I haven’t seen him since we got off the train.” Princess Twilight nodded. “He’s probably in the castle now, knowing him. You won’t see him unless he wants you to or my father comes to visit.” “Let me guess, Lord Sunrise Silver has advanced stealth abilities or something along those lines?” “Yes, actually.” Sundance frowned. “Wonderful. He could very likely be in this corridor and we wouldn’t know.” Princess Twilight nodded again. “Indeed.” She glanced up at the pony clinging to Sundance’s helmet and frowned. “Selena Dusk Sparkle, what are you doing?” The filly grinned. Sundance couldn’t see her, but he knew she was smiling. “Saying hi to a friend, Mama!” “Clinging to ponies’ helmets is not saying hi, Selena.” Sundance gave a small grin. “It is no trouble, Your Highness. I hardly notice the weight.” Princess Twilight huffed in slight annoyance. “Please, please, please don’t encourage her. Now I know how Shining Armor and Cadence feel when they were raising Flurry Heart when she was this age.” “That may be true, Your Highness, but Princess Flurry Heart is also three years older than Princess Selena.” “That is very true.” Sundance glanced, the best he could, at Princess Selena and spoke, “Your Highness, please climb off of my head. For your mother’s sake, please.” Princess Selena complied, a very slight sigh as her only response. Her weight left Sundance’s head. Four light clicks as her hooves touched the ground, and Princess Selena sighed again. “But, he’s so tall, Mama! I can see a lot of things from on his head!” “Yes, I know,” Princess Twilight replied, smiling, “but many ponies might find it rude that you’re doing that.” Princess Selena looked at the ground. She nodded. "I'm sorry, Mama." Princess Twilight gave a slight smile. "That is okay, Selena. I'm not mad." Sundance rubbed his chin with a hoof, and glanced at a nearby window. “I wonder if Lieutenant Dash is done doing whatever it is she’s doing with Lady Azure.” “What is she doing?” “If I had to guess, showing Lady Azure around the city.” Princess Twilight frowned slightly. “She’d better get back here soon. She has a report to make.” Sundance gave a chuckle. But he was worried for his Lieutenant. Princess Twilight could get very stern when she wanted to. The tone in her voice suggested that Lieutenant Dash might be getting a very stern talking to.
Chapter Three: ReportIt was a slow day in the Royal Palace. High Princess Celestia looked through reports from the Royal Guard and the other branches of the military. Many of them were very similar to each other: finance reports, recent recruitments, and comments from the Logisticians about each. One from the Navy, however, caught her eye. The report was on the effectiveness of the new type of battleship that had been developed. “Dreadnoughts” these new battleships would be called, in honor of the warship, the ENV Dreadnought. They were faster, better armored, and better armed than any other battleship in existence. “Basically,” she said to herself, “they’ll be the most powerful warships on the planet. Impressive.” But Celestia herself was not feeling impressed. Not that it wasn’t impressive. It was indeed very impressive. She just couldn’t summon the feelings required to feel impressed. One of her Solar Legionnaires entered her office and then bowed deeply. “Your Exalted Highness, the Chroma Lieutenant has submitted her report.” “Very good, hand it here.” The Legionnaire crossed the room and set the report on the desk in front of Celestia. Celestia put a smile on her face and said, with the right tone, “Thank you.” The Legionnaire bowed and left the room, closing the door as they left. Celestia picked up the report with her magic, the gold glow casting a cold light. The report was nothing special. Very few bits worth noting in the reports. This proves that some Crystal Pony legends may, in fact, be true… ...waking a Crystal Pony from such slumber leaves them sluggish… ...Miss Yearling and her team have taken the cultural artifacts back to study… And at the end of the report was a single line that suggested the possibility of additional reports in the future: More information will be collected in upcoming weeks. “Interesting.” Underneath her signature, Rainbow Dash had included a note on another piece of paper with the report. P.S. Twilight and I believe that Sombra may not actually be dead. Please inform the Crystal Empress to be on watch for him. “Hmm. Twilight and Rainbow Dash have similar intuition as I do. Very well.” She shrugged. Not that she could do anything about it without the High Queen’s approval. Just the way it has to be. The way it’s been for two thousand years. Rising from her chair, she brought the report close. Removing the note, as she would inform the High Queen about the request herself. Stepping into her boots, she sighed. Cadence, Luna, and I can remember when we were on equal terms with the High Monarch. How the times have changed. The crown she wore became wrapped in a gold glow, and it floated over to her head, where she looked at it. By mortal standards, it was a thick thing, just over two centimeters. Gold, just like the rest of her regalia. For one such as her, it was near weightless, but, regardless, it weighed heavily on her head. She lifted it up further and put it on, feeling the familiar weight settle on her head. It is very light indeed, but a crown’s weight is not from the materials it is made from. Ruffling her wings, Celestia nodded and left her office. ****** Celestia paused at the doors to the throne room. She glanced down at the Throne Room Guards and asked, “Is the High Queen in the middle of an audience at the moment?” The guard on the left shook his head. “Her Imperial Majesty just had one.” Celestia nodded and entered the room, opening the doors with her magic. Relaxedly sitting on the high-backed throne, talking to one of her ladies-in-waiting, was the High Queen of the Equestrian Unified Nation, Maelstrom III Ravenwing. She glanced up at Celestia’s approach. “Celestia,” she grinned, “to what do I owe the pleasure?” Celestia held up the report and replied, “I received this report from the Chroma Platoon.” Maelstrom nodded. “It must be interesting if you are bringing it to me.” There was a nod. “Well, then.” Maelstrom held up a hoof when Celestia started to float the report over, “Show it to me when we have lunch. If it’s as interesting as I think it is, then I’d rather discuss it over something filling.” Another nod. “As you wish, Your Majesty.” Maelstrom grinned and clapped her front hooves twice. “Good, good. Let’s get going.” ****** For a lunch break, the food served was much more suited toward an actual lunch. “Your Majesty,” Celestia asked, after emptying her glass of wine looking at Maelstrom, raising an eyebrow, “do you intend to not resume court?” Maelstrom shook her head, a grin appearing on her face. “No. Parliament runs our glorious nation, really, so the Imperial Court acts more as a sort of civil court than an actual government one. And I’ve had enough of idiot nobles for one day.” “I suppose that idiots wearing fancy clothes and bothering you everyday would make anyone get tired of it after a while, Your Majesty.” Maelstrom looked at the speaker, a Crystal Pony. The grin grew wider. “Is that a commentary on systems that have nobility and royalty?” The Crystal Pony shrugged. “Just an observation, Your Majesty.” There was laughter from the other ponies at the table. “You may not have meant it, Sanguine Quartz, but that was indeed funny.” The Intelligence Officer stared at the speaker. A very slight frown crept onto his face. He looked over at the High Princess. Pointing at the report sitting in front of her, he asked, “Your Exalted Highness, what is in that report that you have there?” Celestia nodded and floated the report over to him, replying, “See for yourself.” Grabbing the report, pushing his untouched food aside, Sanguine Quartz began to read it. The frown had faded, but his expression remained neutral. He glanced up at Celestia and spoke. “So, the legends are true. What of it? There’s nothing in here that can help us root out the infiltrators that we’re hunting.” “Well,” came the reply from across the table, the speaker grabbing the report in his magic and pulling it toward him, and skimming through it, “this Crystal Pony is an asset we can use, Sanguine. No one will expect it.” “Indeed, Captain-General. But only if we can be sure that Rainbow Dash’s loyalty is to our nation.” “After all she’s done for our nation, you still-” “Shining Armor,” interrupted another stallion, one holding himself with a noble air, “an Intelligence Officer such as Sanguine Quartz is right to be suspicious. Rainbow Dash was, up until five years ago, part of Ponyville’s weather patrol and a Wonderbolt reservist. Then, when she became a Royal Guard, she enrolled in the Officer Training Program right out of Basic Training, which she then passed with flying colors. Think about it, she is naturally talented possessing a natural cunning and intelligence that not many ponies have. With such advantages stacked in her favor, why wouldn’t she be suspicious in some way?” “Marius, you too?” Marius Blueblood looked at the Captain-General of the Royal Guard, and smiled. “I am the Prince General of the Equestrian Unified Nation. My responsibility is that of the internal stability of our nation. With the Royal Guard as a key part of it, any personnel that are suspicious in any way need to be treated with a certain… grain of salt, shall we say.” He looked over at his brother, and asked, “What are your thoughts, Damocles? You have a report from the Chosen of Loyalty, a Lieutenant of our Royal Guard that confirms that what the Crystal Ponies have held as traditional belief for so long is true. We have unknown infiltrators in our midst, and we don’t know how deeply they are imbedded into our government and military. And the Chosen of Loyalty has, in a short period of time, risen far, and may have ambitions to rise further.” Damocles looked up from the report which had been passed to him. “This report is indeed interesting. But, as Sanguine has pointed out, it is utterly useless in assisting us in rooting out the infiltrators. It is true, however, that this Crystal Pony could be helpful regardless.” He looked at Shining Armor. “It’s much too early to tell if that will be the case. “As for the young Lieutenant from Cloudsdale, she is not a threat. She’s stubborn, brash, competitive, but loyal. We can trust her. But, we should make sure of it first.” Maelstrom spoke up then. “What do you suggest, then, Grand Prince?” “We head to Ponyville. We find out what Rainbow Dash’s loyalty lies and if Twilight Sparkle can be brought into this.” Shining Armor’s eyes narrowed. “And afterwards?” Damocles looked Shining Armor square in the eyes and replied, a smirk appearing on his face, “Who knows? Maybe we keep her out of the loop and sideline the Lieutenant. Maybe we bring them in, have them help us with this. We’ll have to see. You can’t always plan everything four steps ahead.” Maelstrom nodded. “There’s our next step. Celestia, take Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, Sanguine Quartz, Marius, and Damocles with you to Ponyville. Find out where Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle’s loyalties lie. Bring them in on this if you can. And remember: Do NOT speak of this to anyone outside of our Circle.” She looked at Shining Armor, and said, “Drop the barrier now. The time for secrecy has passed. Our move is made. Now, it is our foe’s turn.” ************ “So, they know about our infiltrators, then.” It was not a question from the Queen, but the messenger answered regardless. “Yes, My Queen.” The Queen smiled. “So, Celestia, what are you going to do about this, hmm?” She looked at the messenger, and commanded, “Send word to the cell commanders. Tell them to continue with the operation. They might know of it, but they haven’t taken action yet. So, we will watch and wait.”
Chapter Four: The Circle VisitsIt was an average day for the citizens of Ponyville. But as the Royal Train pulled into the train station, the citizens knew something was going to happen. Something big. Hopefully, some of them thought, nothing that would mess with the town. Stepping out of the train first was High Princess Celestia. She looked majestic and regal as her coat and regalia shimmered in the light. Her face betrayed no emotion. Her sister and niece followed next, with Princess Luna glancing around for any threats. Cadence waved to the citizens that looked over, giving them a smile. The citizens waved back with smiles of their own. Peeking out from behind her was an alicorn filly. She smiled at the citizens and waved, and got waves in return. After them, a large white stallion wearing purple armor edged in gold stepped out of the train, a young unicorn mare following him. The mare looked at the citizens at the station and tried to hide herself from the citizens. Shining Armor chuckled at this. “They won’t hurt you, Skyla. The citizens of Ponyville are very friendly.” Skyla gave a whimper in response. Two ponies stepped out after those two. One of them wore a grin and gave a wave to the citizens. The other wore no less of a noble air, but the citizens near him shied away on instinct. “Damocles, cheer up! You’re scaring the common folk!” “I’m not doing it on purpose, Marius! It just happens!” “Cheer up!” “Don’t make me hit you.” “Okay.” After the Blueblood Brothers came two stallions. One with a twin-tone red mane and tail and a stallion who hung on the former’s every word. “Sir, can I try the food here?” “When I’m attending to the business I’m here for, yes.” “Sweet!” “Act smart. The more you eat, the more drills I’ll have you do. You must keep in shape.” “Ah. Of course, sir.” “Very good.” The group began walking from the train station, the High Princess leading the group. She glanced back at Sanguine Quartz. “Captain Quartz, what is the date on Lieutenant Dash’s report?” “Third of Second Rains, Exalted Highness.” “And today’s date is the Seventh. Hmm.” “Four days since the report was finished,” Princess Luna stated. “When did we receive it?” “Yesterday,” Shining Armor added, “the Sixth.” Sanguine Quartz frowned. “Why would it take so long for it to reach us?” “Well,” Damocles said, “if I had to guess, Lieutenant Dash gave it to Princess Twilight to ensure that there were no errors in the text. And knowing Princess Twilight, she took her sweet time proofreading it.” His gaze darkened. “A waste of time. Plenty of time for our enemy to root in her and her guard.” Shining Armor glanced at the Grand Prince. “My Lord-” Damocles glared at him, cutting him off. “I know you have the utmost faith in your sister and the Chosen, but I’ll remind you, that many, myself included, do not have the same level of faith in them that you do. And because of that, their trust is not at the same level as yours.” “Damocles is correct, Shining Armor,” Princess Luna said. “Twilight and the Chosen might be the first of my friends in this era, but I do not trust them completely. Experience demands that.” Shining Armor huffed and looked away. It was clear that he did not like the lack of trust being displayed by some of his fellow members of the Circle. The High Princess said nothing. Damocles and Luna had made very good points. Shining Armor, for one in a position of power like his, had a tendency to blindly trust, and put his faith in, those closest to him. Not that she could blame him, she treasured those few genuine bonds she had. She just hoped he wouldn’t make that same mistakes she did in regards to his bonds. ************ “And there we are, horns alight, ready to blast whatever… thing… is coming through the door, and it turns out to be my father, of all ponies.” Twilight was incredulous, and gave her father a look that said as much. “Really? Grandfather turned out to be that ghost?” Night Light was nodding vigorously, grinning. “Yeah, I know, right? The most famous member of our branch of the House at the time, and he was sneaking around the mansion.” Rainbow Dash, who had been enjoying the story, asked, “Did you ever find out why he was doing something like that?” “Yeah,” Night Light replied. “He’d woken up just half an hour earlier, couldn’t get back to sleep, and decided to get something to eat.” At this point, Star Velvet spoke up, “He was hungry? Seriously?” “That’s what I said once he realized we were in there, pulled the croissant out of his mouth, and explained what he was doing.” “Did… did he even realize what he was doing?” A fair question from Rarity, who looked more than a little perturbed by this. “He knew he wanted food and went to get it. I don’t think he realized he was invisible until we all flipped out.” Night Light began laughing, remembering that night. “Oh, you should have seen his face! Eyes big as dinner plates, mouth wavy as the sea during a bad storm, ears pressed flat against his head. The embarrassment on his face, though! It looked like he wanted to go curl up in a corner and disappear.” He stopped and glancing behind him and to his left, saying, “Isn’t that right, Dad?” “Yes, yes. That’s because, my dear son,” came a voice from behind him and to the left, “I was very focused on getting something to eat. You’d think that I’d remember that not everyone I know can turn invisible at will.” Everyone in the room, except for Night Light, jumped as the stallion they were talking about appeared, a look of playful exasperation on his face. His invisibility faded very fast, like something out of those science fiction movies Rainbow Dash liked to watch. It started at his hooves, and progressed from there. It reminds me of what Changelings do when they transform, Twilight thought, frowning slightly. Lord Sunset Silver Sparkle stood there, casually sipping at a cup of tea, the cup suspended in his pale yellow magic. Silver eyes watched carefully for any hidden movement. A mane like the sunset, fell along the right side of his face. His coat was pale lavender, though his heavy clothes obscured the rest of his body, leaving only his head exposed. He grinned, looked at Rarity, and stated, “Young Rarity, you make excellent tea.” Rarity, at this compliment, snapped to attention and bowed deeply. “You honor me with your words, Lord Sparkle.” Sunset Silver looked at Twilight then back to Rarity. “You don’t need to bow, Young Rarity. A compliment is a compliment, no matter who says it.” Rarity rose from her bow, but nodded vigorously. “Of course, my lord.” Sunset Silver’s expression changed to one that said, Really? He looked at Twilight and opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and closed his mouth, looking at something behind his granddaughter, his expression becoming a very neutral one. Too neutral for Twilight’s liking. Twilight looked at the rest of the room. Her parents had risen to their hooves, and were bowing. Rainbow Dash and the other Royal Guards, along with her Silver Guard, were standing at attention. Rarity had turned around, and was also bowing. A shadow fell upon her. A chill ran down her spine. Turning, Twilight froze. Standing there, towering over her, was her beloved mentor, High Princess Celestia. She looked down at her student with the one expression Twilight hated seeing on her face, the one she wore when there was something very serious going on. “Uh, h-hello, Princess C-Celestia,” Twilight stuttered, internally terrified, “to what do I-I owe the p-pleasure?” “A State Matter, Twilight. Nothing like what you’re terrified of.” Twilight exhaled, breathing a sigh of relief. “O-of course.” “A very important one, Twilight,” Shining Armor stated as he came around from behind right side of the High Princess, other ponies behind him. Grand Prince Damocles Blueblood, his brother Prince-General Marius Blueblood, a twin-tone red maned Crystal Pony stallion, and a unicorn stallion younger than Pinkie Pie followed Shining Armor. Princesses Luna and Cadence stepped around to the left side of the High Princess. The two mares wore neutral, but serious, expressions. “Your brother is correct, Twilight,” Princess Luna said, “why else would we arrive unannounced on an otherwise ordinary day?” Twilight remained for a moment, then said, “That would make sense. We can use my personal library, if we need to.” “That would be good,” the High Princess agreed, nodding. She looked at Rainbow Dash. “Lieutenant Dash, you must come as well.” Dash saluted and replied, “By your command, Your Exalted Highness.” “Skyla, Flurry Heart, stay here,” Cadence said, putting a tone that did not permit discussion into her voice, “this is not something for you to be a part of.” “Y-yes, Mother,” Skyla replied, sheepishly, “as you say.” Flurry Heart was more enthusiastic with her response. “Alright, Mom!” The Crystal Pony looked to the younger unicorn. “Comet, stay here as well.” “Of course, sir,” was Comet’s response. The other ponies in the room looked at each other, subtle disbelief on their faces. Twilight couldn’t blame them. This was a lot of important ponies that had just shown up unannounced and wanted to talk to both her and Rainbow Dash. Twilight looked over at her parents and Rarity, and said, in a hopefully reassuring tone, “Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s nothing terrible. It’ll be okay.” Her parents and Rarity nodded. Night Light’s expression betrayed his doubt, but he said nothing. Twilight left the room, heading toward her personal library. The High Princess and the ponies that came with her followed her. Sunset Silver, attention away from him, followed as well, frowning as he did so. He glanced back at little Selena Dusk, and continued ahead, sighing. ****** The group of ponies, led by Twilight, entered her personal library. The lighting inside was harsh, as it made it easy to read words on a book’s page and was Twilight’s preference. However, it also had an odd effect on the High Princess’ appearance. A multitude of sharp gray lines became obvious as the light washed over her. Many of them were located on her front legs, and Twilight was sure there were others that she couldn’t see underneath the caparison that the High Princess always wore. Twilight’s eyes widened slightly as she realized what they were. Scars. The High Princess was covered in them. And the one underneath her left eye looked like it curved around to the back of her head. She found that she was uncomfortable looking at her mentor’s scars, and so she looked away. She and Dash stood in the center of the room, while the other ponies formed a circle around them. “S-so,” Twilight began, “what is it you wanted to talk about?” Shining Armor ignited his horn and cast a spell. “There. Now we can discuss this.” Twilight’s eyes lit up at the spell being cast, she’d never seen one like it before. “Was that both a silencing spell and a nullification spell combined with your traditional barrier spell?!” Shining Armor smiled. “Not quite. It is something far more powerful than being just those three spells.” His smile grew larger as Twilight tilted her head. “I call it Event Horizon. That is all you need to know.” Twilight pouted a little bit as her brother said that, but she nodded. Her brother was proud of his spells, and would only tell her about them if she really pressed him for information. The High Princess spoke. “As I said earlier, what we came here to discuss is a State Matter. One of utmost importance.” “Oh. I see. What is it, then?” “Before that,” Grand Prince Damocles interrupted, a look of doubt on his face, “what I want to know is this: what took you so long to look over Lieutenant Dash’s report on her expedition up north?” Oh. That. Twilight grinned sheepishly. “I might have lost it under a stack of books within an hour of Dash giving it to me.” The look of doubt deepened on the Grand Prince’s face. He looked at the Lieutenant. “Is this true?” Dash nodded. “Yes, Grand Prince. While Princess Twilight has a reputation for being extremely organized, she does lose things from time to time. She did, in fact, lose the report under her books. It was… frustrating, to say the least.” She shot a look at Twilight. She, of course, was correct. Dash’s frustration with her over that was still there, flashing through her eyes. Twilight’s sheepish grin widened and she averted her gaze for a moment. The Grand Prince shook his head, shooting a disapproving look at Twilight. “Very well. I have no further questions.” The High Princess nodded. “Now, Twilight, Rainbow Dash. I know you are nervous, but you have nothing to fear.” Twilight was slightly relieved. Dash’s expression remained neutral. But the High Princess’s expression had not changed, so Twilight remained nervous. “I’m sure everyone here remembers when Canterlot was invaded by Queen Chrysalis and her Changelings, seven years ago.” There were nods. Shining Armor’s gaze darkened severely at that, as did Cadence’s gaze. Twilight understood why that was. “Since ancient times, our Unified Nation and the Regal Hive, Chrysalis’s Hive, have been locked in a cold war. “When the war began, the military might of both nations were evenly matched and we could not openly wage war. That was then. Now, from what we have learned, her hive has had a severe decline in Changelings bred and trained for war since the last time our spies checked their numbers. She has very little in the way of a military now.” “That doesn't make sense,” Rainbow Dash spoke up then, “Chrysalis had enough Changelings to have what appeared to be a large army in Canterlot. If she had so few soldiers, would she not have attacked?” “Indeed,” was the response from the High Princess, “that would have been the smart choice. But I believe that many of those Changelings were simply worker class Changelings pressed into service. With that massive wave of magic that both Cadence and Shining Armor sent out forcibly expelling the invading Changelings, however, there was no way for any of them to being interrogated. “As such, the Intelligence Division has doubled down on their information gathering about the Regal Hive so that we can gain as many insights into Changeling culture as we can.” She stopped, and looked at the Crystal Pony. “Captain Quartz, this is your specialty.” Captain Quartz nodded. “Three months ago, we became aware of Changeling infiltration within the ranks of the military, the Royal Guard, and the government. I brought this to the attention of the High Queen.” He swept a front leg out in front of him, indicating the ponies forming a circle around Twilight and Dash. “She assembled us together to find a way to remove this infiltration. We have determined this: “The uppermost echelons of each of the three organizations I listed have not been infiltrated. For the military, the reason appears to be that of organizing a mutiny of the lower ranks. For the Royal Guard, it appears to be an attempt to create a spy network. For the government, if I had to guess, a coup d’etat appears to be the final goal.” He paused, allowing the two mares to absorb this information. The two nodded after a few minutes at the Captain’s inquiring look. He continued, “As it seems, there are no actual Changelings in our ranks. Rather, their agents appear to be sleeper agents. You know, agents inserted into a country that ‘go to sleep’ once they’ve been inserted. Regarding the agents, though, our intelligence may be wrong. It might actually be brainwashing of some kind. Much like what every Royal Guard goes through during training. Considering that we check for any sleeper agents during said training, I suspect that the agents in the Royal Guard might have been subjected to mild brainwashing by the Changelings. The others are most likely actual sleepers, or, you know, Changelings themselves. We’ll have to see. We’ve yet to come up with a solid solution for this.” Twilight stared at the Captain, and asked, “Why are you telling us this, then?” Lieutenant Dash nodded, adding, “I wonder that, too, sir.” The Captain grinned, replying, “Why indeed.” Shining Armor stepped forward, stating, “I’m going to cast a spell.” Twilight asked, “What for?” “To see if the two of you are among Chrysalis’s agents.” Shining Armor shot a glare at the Grand Prince as he replied. The Grand Prince responded with a glare of his own. Twilight and Dash gave nods to the Captain-General. “Do it, sir,” Dash said, “I am no traitor. I am loyal.” “I have no doubts that I am not an agent,” Twilight stated, her face becoming calm, almost serene. “I have no fear.” Shining Armor cast the spell. Everypony held their breath, Shining Armor most of all. Five minutes later, Shining Armor released his breath. He looked back at the High Princess and gave a big smile. “They’re not agents, Exalted Highness.” The High Princess, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence let out a sigh of relief. The Grand Prince nodded. Prince-General Blueblood gave a grin. Captain Quartz said nothing, but smirked. The Grand Prince looked at Captain Quartz and asked, “Captain, why did you tell them all of that if we did not know if these two could be trusted?” Quartz shrugged, the smirk not leaving his face. “You know what they say about military intelligence.” “Indeed,” was the Grand Prince’s reply. Quartz said something else, but it was in Crystalline. His smirk widened at the frown that appeared on the Grand Prince’s face. The High Princess walked over to Twilight and drew her into a hug. “I’m very happy you’re not one of Chrysalis’s agents.” “I mean,” Twilight responded, “I knew I wasn’t. I’ve not left Ponyville for about four months. My Castle has enchantments very similar to the ones that the Imperial Palace has. There have been no Changelings in my Castle since it was created. It is nigh impossible for someone to enter my Castle without my knowledge. I would have known if there were Changelings in my Castle.” “I see,” was the High Princess’ response. She murmured something under her breath. “What is the next step then? Surely it’s not just going around and recruiting more allies,” Sunset Silver, perched atop a bookshelf, spoke suddenly, alerting the assembled ponies to him. Twilight started, and looked up at him. “How did you get in here, Grandfather?” Sunset Silver shrugged. “I followed you in here. With my natural cloak ability and my ability to be very quiet, it’s not hard to listen in on secret conversations. My apologies, though. I shouldn’t have followed you in here.” “Don’t apologize, Lord Sunset Silver,” Princess Luna spoke, smiling. “It is no problem.” “Well, Lord Sunset Silver,” Captain Quartz replied, “I intend to capture one of these Changeling infiltrators.” “How do you intend to do this, Captain?” “If I may, Captain, My Lord,” Dash said, stepping forward, “about two weeks before the expedition, I became aware of the same thing. I’ve not told anypony else about this, as I didn’t know how deep and high this goes. But, uh, I might have documents from one of these infiltrators.” “How did you get ahold of them?” Dash looked down at the ground, a sheepish grin coming to her face. “I took them, sir. I took them on the suspicion that their owner may, in fact, be a Changeling infiltrator. I apologize for such behavior, Captain!” Captain Quartz approached Dash and looked down at her. His smirk became a grin. “Don’t apologize, Lieutenant. We in the Royal Guard have the authority to act on our suspicions if doing so would not interfere with the work of those around us. Did your… appropriation… of these documents interfere with the work of this suspected infiltrator?” Dash shook her head. “No, Captain. I took them when she was out on her lunch break. I hope she didn’t notice they were gone when she returned from her break.” “Very good, Lieutenant. Once we’ve left this… suffocating… library, show me and the Captain-General those documents you appropriated.” “Of course, Captain.”
