Shards of War, Shards of Peace

It 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.”