Honor Reforged

Royal Palace, Throne Room, One Hour Later

As soon as the brilliant light show had finished and the sky was filled with only the moon and stars again, Zuko had wondered if anything had actually happened. Then he noticed that the placement of the moon in the sky was different… and he didn’t recognize any of the constellations in the black canvas of night above them.

When Mai noticed the latter and pointed it out as well, Zuko turned and called out to one of the guards on duty, ordering him to gather the fastest couriers and ready some messenger birds. He also shouted at another to wake the generals and the Fire Sages and to have them brought to his Throne Room at once.

An hour had passed, with Zuko doing his best to keep from being angry at the wait. Soon the guards arrived with scribes and couriers, ready to take whatever message he wished.

“Something strange has happened… I want messages sent out to every corner of the Fire Nation. Commanders, Mayors, Village elders, I need reports in on the state of everything. Anything odd, anything or one missing or out of place, I need to know about it as soon as possible. Now get to it!”

The scribes and couriers nodded, bowing or saluting before rushing on out just as the Fire Sages were brought in, followed by his generals.

“Forgive me your highness, but what could possibly warrant being woken up in the middle of night?” one of the Generals grumbled, earning a bit of a glare for a moment before one of the Sages spoke up.

“It’s about that strange white light that filled the sky isn’t it?”

“Yes. To any of you who didn’t hear or witness it, a strange white light filled the skies over the city an hour ago. When they were gone, the Moon was on the opposite end of the sky, and the stars had changed position.” He looked to the Fire Sages and said,

“I want all of you to make sure that Mai and I weren’t seeing things. Study the stars, look for the constellations that are supposed to be in the night sky at this time of year. And I want you to report on anything you can feel or discover from the spirits.”

“It will be hard to do the latter Fire Lord…” One of the older sages replies. “In fact, communing with the spirits could prove rather difficult.”

“Why?” Zuko nearly shouted, to which the sage simply said,

“An hour ago, I was mediating in the temple… for a brief moment, it felt like everything, physical and spiritual, was going dark for a moment… it reminded me of the sensation before a sneeze.” Zuko’s eye twitched a bit at this, but the next words pushed his annoyance away and replaced it with worry yet again.

“Then… there was a long moment of… detachment… before things felt like they had snapped back… but when I broke my meditation, everything felt… off. Different.”

Zuko’s brow furrowed for a moment as he considered the implications of this. “Did anyone else feel something like this?”

Two more of the ten sages who had arrived raised their hands, and Zuko closed his eyes before saying “Go, quickly. Study the stars, meditate, just… get me some answers!” The sages nodded and quickly hurried out as well as Zuko moved back to the throne, kneeling down and scowling a bit as he rubbed at his head. He did not like the ideas that were forming in his mind just from hearing that…

“Your Orders your Majesty?” one of his Generals inquired, pulling Zuko back to the now.

“Put the city on lockdown… only essential supplies and people to get through… I want ships and balloons sent out to check the waters and skies surrounding the Fire Nation. I need to know if… whatever that light was has affected us.. Or the whole world.”

“Do you think these strange lights were an attack?” His head General Zhuan Xun inquired, and Zuko scowls a bit again. Mai rests a hand on his shoulder and he takes a deep breath. His expression is stern as he replies,

“I don’t know… but I want all of our forces at the ready. If it was an attack, we won’t be caught sleeping.”

The Generals all nod, bow, and turn to leave, murmuring amongst themselves. Only once they had left did Zuko slump a bit and place his head in his hands.

“Hey.” Mai says as she squeezes his shoulder. “You’ve done what you can for now. There’s nothing else to do until we learn what’s happened.”

“I know… but I don’t like this… and I don’t like having to sit here and wait to find out what’s happened.”

Mai nodded. Patience had never been easy for Zuko, even if he had gotten better at it over the last year.

“Let’s head to bed… we should have some news in the morning.”

Reluctantly, Zuko nodded. Mai was right… for now, he had to wait for his messengers and soldiers to bring news to him. His mind nagged at him though, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that something strange and troubling had struck the Fire Nation…

Sleep however did not prove all that helpful. Dreams of his past flashed before his mind, moments of success, moments of failure. Of despair and hope… visions like this in his mind hadn’t happened since before he found his destiny and left to aid the Avatar…

Then the dreams seemed to settle… he was in the garden again, as a young boy… his mother was there with him, the pair gazing up at the stars. Even though he knew it was a dream, he nestled into her embrace, smiling as she smiled down at him before they both turned their gaze to the…

To… the… moon.

Zuko’s eyes narrowed, and he studied the silvery orb in the sky above. The Moon… it’s not the one he and his mother had always gazed at. It wasn’t the one that he had seen every night before bed as a child…

Instincts kicked in as he tensed up, the feeling of being watched… that they weren’t alone here in the garden, washed over him. His eyes scan the garden, looking for anything else out of place…

There! A shadow that didn’t belong, that was moving with a wind that wasn’t there! Zuko stood up and lunged, a ball of fire launching from his fist and flying towards the form. The shadowy being easily avoided his attack, moving faster than he expected into one of the hallways.

He gives chase, but just as he dashes into the hall after it and catches another glimpse of it, the dream ends and he jolts up with a start, body coated in sweat. A glance out the window shows that the sun has begun to rise in the sky…

Grunting in annoyance, he tosses he covers off and stands. He’s not sure if he got enough sleep… but he doesn’t feel inclined to try again right now… and with morning upon them, there is work to be done.

Canterlot, Royal Palace, +3 days since the Displacement

Celestia was not having a good day.

Actually, it’d be more accurate to say she wasn’t having a good week at this point. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since the end of the wedding when her day court was interrupted by an urgent message from Baltimare that a swarm of a hundred Changelings had appeared out of nowhere and raided the suburbs of the city, making off with dozens of ponies before they scattered as local police arrived to drive them off. By sunset she had received two more messages… and now it seemed every few hours reports of another raid was arriving to her throne room.

Day court had now been cancelled for the foreseeable future as the throne room was shifted into a war room, the leaders of Equestria’s military absent for the moment, owing to her giving the order this very morning to mobilize the Army and Wonderbolts.

Equestria’s territory covered the vast majority of the continent of Equs, leaving a great deal of room for many small villages and towns, some of which weren’t even on most maps. So much to cover… so much to protect and safeguard...

“This is what I fear it is, isn’t it Lulu?” Celestia asked as she gazed down at the map, adding another black pin for a town that she had just been informed was raided.

Luna nodded her head sadly. “Yes. I think it’s safe to say that the attack on Canterlot was not a one time thing… Chrysalis hasn’t given up her designs on Equestria.” She looked down at the map, not yet noticing any kind of pattern, shaking her head as she said “I’d like to say this isn’t an invasion, but…”

“Following the attack here at the heart of Equestria… it can only be that.” Celestia said, giving the map a sad look as she shook her head at her own naivety. “Chrysalis seems intent on war.”

“And if that’s what she wants, we’ll give it to her.” Luna says firmly, her gaze hardening as she says “I know you’ve offered treaties and such to Chrysalis before. I know that things were peaceful, well, peaceful enough under her predecessor King Exos… but you’ve given the Swarm a chance Celestia.”

“It’s not that Luna… it’s… even though I’ve made sure our soldiers are always in tip top shape… Equestria hasn’t fought a full scale war in over four hundred years… I’m… I’m worried. For all my subjects.”

Luna gave Celestia a sympathetic look, then draped a wing over her and nuzzled her. Celestia returned to gesture and sighed again. Luna gave her a slight nudge and said,

“If you need it Celly, I can manage the war in your stead… For you it’s been a long while, but my stay on the moon didn’t feel like a millenium. I still remember the border skirmishes and the war with the Diamond Dogs. And I have read everything you gave me on the state of our military now…”

Celestia looked to her sister. A part of her did indeed wish to remove the burden of making the decisions for this coming conflict… of the two, Celestia had always had the greatest distaste for war and combat. She had learned the ways of war out of necessity.

Luna on the other hand… Luna had always been a bit more martially minded. She had a fair bit in common with the old Warrior Nobles of the Ancient Pegasi… strike hard, strike fast, seize the initiative and then force the enemy to meet on your terms. Still…

“I can’t do that to you Luna… I can’t put it all on your shoulders.” Celestia says… but then adds “I won’t force you to remain here in Canterlot. If you wish to take to the field once sufficient forces are gathered, you may do so.”

Luna smiled at that, nodding. “Thank you Celly. And don’t worry… it should take only a week, two tops, to rally all of our forces. And as soon as their ready, we’ll push the Changelings back to the badlands and starve them out. We will have the last laugh.”

Celestia could only nod at that, hoping that her sister was right. She had her doubts now… something felt different this time compared to the last conflict with Chrysalis…

Luna let her own eyes turn to the map, running calculations in her head as she recalled all the information Celestia had shared with her since her return… twenty five thousand strong for the Army, with reserves included that went up to thirty five… the Wonderbolts had five thousand strong themselves but most were worth two or three regular pegasi each…

Her eyes drifted towards the western edge of the map… towards the Lunar Ocean. Her ear twitched as she suddenly remembered something.

“Celestia, there is one thing that might make things more… complicated.”

Celestia turned at this, her eyes widening in worry, a brief flash of anger visible in her eyes. Luna raised a hoof placatingly as she said “It's not about the Changelings. But well…” Her own gaze grew distant as she moved a hoof to the map and began to lazily drag it about in the area of the Lunar Ocean.

“The last three nights… during my Dreamwalking… I have been finding... new dreamers A great many new dreamers.”

“What do you mean by ‘new’ dreamers?” Celestia asked, her worry slipping away slightly. Luna seemed to go silent for a moment, her expression thoughtful.

“I felt the dreams of people… people who I hadn’t felt before. Stranger still, many of them appeared seemingly out of nowhere within the Realm of Dreams. They were not the dreams of Ponies, but…” She shakes her head a bit and sighs.

“I haven’t been able to figure out much. However these dreamers appeared, their dreams are still hard to visit, I can only visit a few… the rest I must view from afar… And there has been one I’ve been reluctant to visit again.”

Celestia gave her a nod to continue, and Luna explained “The dreams of someone who carrys a great deal of baggage… his past has not entirely left him… His are the clearest and I have been able to enter his dreams… but each time, he seems to sense me. The first night, he tried to attack me…” At Celestia’s horrified look, Luna waved a hoof dismissively.

“I was in no danger… the Realm of Dreams is my domain… but that this person was able to sense me suggests a very strong will. And last night, he was more determined to chase me down… it took more effort than it should have for me to withdraw from his dream.”

Celestia was silent for a moment, considering what Luna had just shared… and quickly picking up on the unvoiced question.

“You want to know if I think you should try to learn more… visit this individual.”

Nodding, Luna said “All I really know is that these are a different people… unlike what we’ve encountered before… and that their dreams seem to be coming from somewhere out here.” She pokes the Lunar ocean again. “I know not whether they are dangerous, or if this is some ploy by Chrysalis…”

Closing her own eyes and weighing it, she soon nods. “I think you should continue… perhaps try some more discrete observation tonight.”

Luna harrumphed, giving her older sister a wry glare. “Are you suggesting I’ve just been barging into these dreams? I’ll have you know I’ve been working very hard to keep from being seen in any of them I venture into.”

Celestia stuck her tongue out at Luna, whose glare quickly melted… then returned as another messenger arrived with word of a village being raided, with three ponies kidnapped. Celestia sighs, makes sure to thank the messenger as she reads the report… then places another pin on the map.

This was going to be a long day.

Equestrian Military mobilized, reserves set on standby. Hurricane Company of the Wonderbolts is dispatched to begin repelling Changeling Raids and seek out their hidden bases.

The Fire Nation Colonial, Kori, puts her plan to assassinate Fire Lord Zuko on hold when Capital City is placed on lockdown and word begins to spread that the military is on high alert.

The FN Air Force deploys a dozen of it’s new Rong Yuan corvettes- larger than a simple air balloon but smaller than their old cruiser style airships, to begin checking the skies and seas of the Fire Nation archipelago. The Navy is also deployed and eight ships are sent off in each of the cardinal directions to determine what, if anything, has happened to their neighbors.

Changeling forces across the lands of Equestria continue making light raids, mostly targeting small towns and villages. Estimated that at minimum nearly six hundred ponies have been captured by he end of the week.

Chrysalis returns to her Palace in the Badlands, begins preparing for the arrival of captives for the next phase of her plan.