Chapters "Come on, Maree! You can do it! A little Higher!" Rainbow Dash cheered her daughter on, hovering just a few inches off the ground, as Maree ran at top speed next to her. "I want to see you fly! Today!"
Maree was a 10 year Alicorn filly, who Dash had taken in many years ago and treated as one of her own. The growth and development of her muscles had been stunted due to a birth defect, brought on by a significantly premature birth. It was thought she could never fly. But today she was going to prove the doctors wrong. Today, she was going to fly. She'd been getting stronger and faster everyday, and she was almost there. She could feel it. Every day, Maree would run along side Rainbow Dash, and every few seconds she would hop, flap her wings, and try to get airborne. She could jump high and far, and she could slow her descent greatly, but that wasn't enough for her. She had to fly. She wanted to fly. Ever since she was young, she had envisioned flying to be an exhilarating experience, and had longed to become airborne by her own two wings one day. It only made sense, after all, that a creature born with wings should someday fly. And that day was today.
Another leap; a fluttering of the wings; and a touch down. She hovered along for 30 feet. Hovered, yes, but she didn't fly. Another leap; another flap of the wings; she could feel this one drag on just a hair longer than the last; 35 feet. Hardly a chicken's flight.
"Come on, Maree, you can do better! Keep trying!" Dash cheered.
"I'm... *gasp* trying!*" Maree said, short of breath. Sweat was pouring down Maree's face. They'd been at this a long time, with little time for breaks. Dash was really pushing Maree hard, but it was working. She was getting better. She was flying further, and she was lasting longer every time. She was becoming quite strong for her age, despite the fact that she couldn't fly. Yet.
Once again, Maree prepared herself for another attempt. She was burnt out, and she knew that she wouldn't last much longer. A couple more attempts at the most. She leaped once again, heaving all of her faltering strength into her legs and wings. She flapped her wings with an adrenaline-drenched burst of strength. And then she... then.... then nothing. She had clenched, and her eyes were shut, but now she forced them open, trying not to lose focus. She looked down. The ground continued to roll by, but her legs were not moving. She couldn't believe her eyes! She was flying! She was really, really flying! An ecstatic grin exploded across her face, and she felt her wings come alive with a renewed sense of confidence and power, as she pushed passed the fatigue she had felt just a moment before.
Dash was overjoyed to see her little filly fluttering right next to her, and her happiness shone through her face. "Maree, Look at you! You're doing it! You're flying!"
"I'm flying!" Maree repeated, reinforcing the reality of the occasion. "I'M FLYING!!" Her was overflowing now, and she giggled gleefully, puttering along about 8 inches above the ground. She wasn't breaking any records, but she was, on all accounts, flying. The feeling was surreal. Maree's mind and heart were racing each other as the excitement of knowing that she was, at this very moment, triumphing over what used to be considered a life-long opponent took over her entire body. She was beating the odds at this very second, and was surpassing everyone's expectations, even, admittedly, her own.
The high of the moment started to fade when Maree finally realized she simply could not possibly keep going, and her flapping eventually slowed down enough that her feet made contact with the grassy ground again. She stumbled slightly, readjusting to a running pace, and slowed herself to a stop. Dash circled around and landed next to Maree, who was already in the process of laying down, exhausted.
"Maree, you did it! that was... amazing!" Dash exclaimed, wanting to hop up and down in excitement, but stopping herself. "For a while there, you... really were flying, I'm so ha-...happy for you!" Dash said, accidentally stopping for breathe in the middle of "happy". She didn't normally make irregular pauses like that, but Dash was just so happy; as well as tired; that she briefly slipped up. It was a tough thing for her to get over, and even now she wasn't totally used to it. Years ago, when Maree had gotten really sick, One of Maree's lungs had given out, and Dash gave her one of her own. Now, with only one lung, Dash had a much more limited amount of breath, and had to take pauses to breathe often during her sentences. It was hard for her to overcome at first, but through exercise and practice, she had it basically figured out by now. Still, she had to be careful not to overdo herself.
Maree looked up at her mother and smiled. "We did it together, Mom. I could never have pulled it off without your help." She said, picking herself up to give her mom a hug.
Dash put an arm around her little filly, returning the hug. "Yeah, we make a good team, huh?" She thought out loud, losing herself in their embrace.
After a moment, Dash stopped to take a look at the field they were in. In the early stages of their flight attempts, they had started in their big backyard, but once Maree got up to speed, they had to move to a larger site, so they came to this field just outside Ponyville. "Hah, I bet you must have cleared... a solid 300- no, 350 feet... with that last one! Not bad at all... for a first time!" Dash said, patting Maree on the shoulder. Maree smiled proudly. "I betcha all that running... works up a mean appetite! Just watching you... made me hungry! Let's go eat... what do ya say, kiddo?" Dash asked, starting off for home.
"Yeah, I'm starving!" Maree replied, following close behind. No matter the exhaustion, a pony always had energy enough to run all the way home to have a meal.
The next day, the duo were in a clinic, as it was time for a regularly scheduled check up for Maree. Their regular physician, Dr. Leon, was ready for them as soon as they walked in and began examining Maree. After running several regular physical and mental tests, Dr. Leon asked Maree to sit down in a chair while he talked with Dash.
"So, Dr. Leon, how is she doing?" Dash asked. The look on her face showed that she pretty well knew it was all good news already, she just wanted to hear it from another source outside her own head.
"Well, Ms Dash, as usual it's good news. She's doing remarkably well, and she is of comparable, even somewhat superior, physical strength and stature to other of her age. She's coming along wonderfully." Dr. Leon replied, smiling at Dash with his be-speckled blue eyes. "What's even more impressive is the development of her brain; She's a very bright young filly, brilliant even. And what's more, she isn't just smart, she's very mature for her age too. Her body remains that of a child, but her mind is practically grown up! It's so fascinating to watch." He said.
"Oh hey, that reminds me... how did those other tests... come out?" Dash asked.
"Ah yes, the IQ tests, you mean? I have the results, and I'd like to share them with you." Dr Leon replied, going to retrieve 2 envelopes. He opened the first and took out the papers inside. "Your test came back with a score of 99." He reported.
"Is that out of something?" Dash asked.
Dr. Leon chuckled a little. "No, you see, it's set on a scale you see, and the average is always 100, and is adjusted frequently to maintain that average." Dr. Leon explained.
"So... you mean I'm... below average?" Disappointment was clear in Dash's voice. Dr. Leon was quick to correct her.
"Not at all! The standard deviation in an IQ result is 15 points on either end of the scale; the difference a single point makes is virtually unnoticeable. You're a perfectly normal Mare, Ms. Dash."
"Well, if you say so.." Dash replied. You could still hear a little disappointment in her voice, but it was reduced this time. "Anyway, what about... Maree?"
"I'll get to that one right now! Let's see..." Dr. Leon opened the second envelope, taking out Maree's test. He looked it over carefully, seeming hesitant to speak on it. "Now, I want to remind you that this test is age adjusted; a higher score doesn't necessarily mean greater intelligence, rather it more accurately represents a higher capacity for learning." Dr. Leon explained.
"So her score is higher than mine, then?" Dash concluded, unsurprised. She had a feeling.
"Yes, actually. significantly higher..."
"Well, how much higher?" Dash asked.
Dr. Leon paused. "Her IQ... is 163."
Now it was Dash's turn to pause. At the risk of sounding stupid, she bothered to ask, "Is that good?"
"Dr. Leon chuckled again. "Good? It's brilliant! I imagine there's probably only a few ponies around with that kind of potential intelligence inside them!"
"Well Twilight does love to... go on about how much of a... treat she is to have around... always eager to learn... soaking up every ounce of... information, never repeating herself..." Dash commented. Then a look came across her face, and her attitude changed. "Say, Does Twilight ever get... tested here?"
"Yes, she comes by about twice a year for the same kind of test." Dr. Leon replied.
"What kind of scores... does she get?" Dash asked.
"I'm really not supposed to say without her permission.." Dr. Leon avoided eye contact.
"I'm not going to tell anyone... you're not gonna get in trouble... I promise!" Dash insisted.
Dr. Leon just sighed. Fighting with her never worked out in the past, why start now? "148."
Now Dash smiled wildly. "Smarter than Twilight! Ha! That's great, oh man... you just made my day, Dr. Leon!"
"Just don't go around telling everyone I said that!" Dr. Leon warned. "I'll admit, I've been very unprofessional with you in the past, but I can get into a lot of trouble for that."
"Well, anyway Doc, thanks for everything. And.. I mean everything." Dash said as they started to leave. "You've been helping me this whole time... I seriously wonder if either of us... Maree or Me... would have even made it... this far without your help." Dash started to smile, but then her faced turn to one that showed her coming to some sort of shocking realization. "Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed suddenly. "I just realized... I can't believe it..."
Dr. Leon, frowned. "What is the matter, Ms. Dash?" he asked.
"I just realized... after all these years of knowing you... I've never even asked you... for your first name!" Dash face-hooved herself. "Guh, I'm such an airhead sometimes..."
Dr. Leon, relieved, laughed out loud for a moment, and then looked Dash in the eye with a warm smile. "It's Stal."
Dash made a face, half smile, half confusion. "Stal Leon? Really?" She couldn't help but chuckle a little, even though she knew it was rude.
Luckily, Stal Leon took it with good nature, chuckling along with her. "Yes, my mother was just the sort of tongue-in-cheek mare who'd come up with a name like that.... bless her soul..."
Dash got the idea that Dr. Leon's mother was probably not around anymore by the look in his eye, and decided not to pursue the topic. "Well, Anyway, Stal, I'm sure I'll... see you again soon enough!" She said, starting to leave.
"Take care, and stay healthy!" Dr. Leon said, as he turned to return to his office.
Some time after dinner, Dash noticed Maree, sitting in the living room, just sort of staring off into space. Something seemed to be troubling her.
"Something wrong, Maree?" She asked.
Maree looked up at Rainbow Dash, but didn't reply for several seconds. By then Dash knew something was wrong. "I'm..." She paused again, looking away briefly. "I'm adopted... aren't I?" She asked. Dash's heart sank a little. It was about that time. She always meant to have this conversation, but no time ever seemed appropriate. She probably should have told her years ago. Maybe part of her believed Maree already kind of just knew from the look of each other. She looked Maree right in her deep, green eyes. She could see that Maree wasn't looking for the answer to a question; rather, she knew the answer, and wanted to know if Dash would bother lying about it. Well, Dash knew she'd look like a damned fool if she sat there and tried to tell an Alicorn that she was her real mother, so Dash figured she may as well just come out with it.
"...Yeah..." That was all she managed to say. She couldn't really think of any other way to put it. It was only a 'yes' or 'no' question, after all. "But, that doesn't mean I don't... love you as much as I would... if you weren't!" Dash said in a rush, or at least as much of a rush as you can be in with such irregular sentence spacing. "I took you in as my own, and that's... all there is to it. You are every bit as much... my daughter as anything I could have... made myself, even if we don't look... the same." Dash walked over and sat down beside Maree and put arm arm around her shoulder. Maree smiled at her.
"I know... and I love you too, because no matter who my parents are, you're still my Mom. That won't ever change." She snuggled up beside her mother, the security of her hug just as welcoming as it always had been. "So... did you ever know who my parents were?" Maree asked.
Dash thought back 10 years ago, when she first came across Maree. "No. You were alone when I... found you." She replied. "What would you do if you ever met your birth parents?" Dash asked out of curiosity, since the topic was upon them anyway.
"I guess that depends on what kind of ponies they are." Maree replied. A very reasonable response.
"I'd say they're probably Alicorns." Dash said.
"No, I mean like if they're good, or mean, you know!"
"Heh, I'm just kidding." Dash said. "Still though... Alicorns... I don't know any Alicorns who... aren't royalty. You could be a king's daughter... you know?"
"I guess so, but I wouldn't want to live like that." Maree admitted.
"What, you wouldn't want to... live like royalty, with all the... servants, and the money, and the...glamor and whatever else?" Dash asked.
"Well, I've got nothing against any of that, but if it was seriously worth considering getting rid of me in the first place, even if they decided to keep me, I probably wouldn't get along with them very well, just based on that fact." Maree pointed out.
Dash laughed. "I guess that's one way of looking at it."
"Besides.. I also wouldn't have come here, and met you." Maree added. They shared another hug.
"Well, I'm glad you're okay. I was afraid you might be... upset, when I finally let you in... on the truth." Dash said with relief. "I love you Maree, I really do..."
"I love you too.... Mommy."
blood is thicker than water, but love is far thicker than blood. If you have love, you will be happy, no matter where you are, or who you are with. This is the lesson to be learned from Rainbow Dash and Maree, as they share in their final, fleeting moment of ignorant bliss together, oblivious to the tragedy soon to befall them.. soon to befall all ponykind...
END OF CHAPTER 1.
Far outside Equestria, there was another kingdom; one self contained and cut off from the rest of the world. Born over one thousand years ago, this kingdom began as a prison for the Alicorn King, Hayperion, who once tried to wage a war among the gods; the first such declaration in countless thousands of years. He desired control and power, and for his greed he was cursed and banished to this land by his own wife's dying breath, where he and anyone loyal to him would be bound to this location, hopefully to perish and be gone from this world forever, saving this world from catastrophe. But Hayperion's subjects were not so easily subdued. In the face of oblivion, they flourished, and took to their new settlement as home, not prison. Their population grew, as opposed to declining, and each generation passed on the legend of their past; as well as the tale of their destiny to one day conquer Equestria; onto the next. Now Hayperion, once a mighty god, now a withered, bedridden old stallion approached his final days in life. It would seem that the time his people have awaited for over a thousand years would finally come to pass...
Hayperion's kingdom was located in a mountainous region far south of Equestria. It was always cold there. The small kingdom was populated entirely by soldiers; generations of training, knowledge, wisdom, and hatred of Equestrians had turned them into an incredibly powerful army. They were confined to their limited location by the curse of Hayperion's wife, the Alicorn Queen Equest, which stated that anyone who entered this land would not be able to leave, and no one could permit someone to leave in their place.. Hayperion's son, Paragon, once exploited a loophole, in which he left without notice, thus there was no one who was aware of his actions, and as a result he alone was able to leave and wreak havoc amongst the ponies of Ponyville and Cloudsdale. Now that this loophole has been exposed, however, Hayperion's knowledge of its existence has automatically extended to curse to covering that situation as well, binding Paragon to the kingdom as well.
It was 5 years ago that Paragon first broke free; he wanted to slowly destroy Equestria, targeting it's people rather than it's land. A weak pony had respect for power, respect for authority. When commanded by someone who demanded respect and who presented authority, they would follow that command. It was an innate pony instinct to worship those mightier than they, and Paragon knew all of this. He corrupted the weaker ponies with his influence, and eventually he controlled Cloudsdale. When he won the people of Equrestria, he won the war on Equestria. When his true nature was revealed however, he abandoned this scheme for a more blunt approach the same result; taking Equestria by force. He engaged Twilight Sparkle and her friends in battle, which he initially believed would be a simplistic task; it rapidly became apparent, however, that they were no ordinary ponies, and he was left badly hurt by the end of their fight. Though he inevitably won his match against the Mane Six, their fight was interrupted by the appearance of Paragon's half-sister, Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria, and with his horn having been broken in the chaos, he was unable to properly defend himself and was promptly defeated.
But Celestia made a mistake: she allowed Paragon to leave with his life intact, believing her to have won. She thought she had the upper hand over him. She was right to degree; she was the winner of that instance. Head to head, even at full power, the best Paragon could do is match her. But to think she had a true advantage over Paragon was a foolish thing. And he intended to throw that mistake back in her face; Paragon was an opportunist, he took advantage of exploitable moments wherever possible.
The once mighty king, Hayperion, lay in his bed, unmoving. Even for an Alicorn, the thousands of years Hayperion had weathered cost a tremendous fee; the same fee all life cost; and that would inevitably be death. After all, you never truly own the life you have; you merely borrow it for however long you are meant to stay in this world, and then at the end of it, you give it back. And while different creatures might take out smaller or bigger loans than others, in the end, all debts must eventually be repaid.
Hayperion had been given over a thousand years to look back on the last; and he needed every second he had been given to assess it all, for his past was more expansive than any creature in this world. He knew well and personally the Equine world long before any of it's current inhabitants had been alive, and he had seen ancient cultures come to life and die in the span of his time. Such a long history truly did make him seem immortal; but the feeling he had in his body now told a much different story. It told him that he was indeed mortal, very much so in fact, and that soon, he'd pay his last debts.
As he lay there, contemplating his considerable life, only really able to guess at what the world around him was like, being to weak to move; too weak even to speak; he thought about his family. His family had been shattered over a thousand years ago, and was now divided, living as far away from each other as possible. He had been the one to shatter it, he remembered. He threatened war, and upset the balance of the gods. He wanted power and control, and he shunned his wife and two daughters for that reason; he thought they were weak. Had he really been like that when he was younger? He tried to remember their names: Luna, the younger sister, who's dark complexion sharply contrasting her warm, bright heart, and Celestia, the older sister, a shining little angel with a bright pink mane, Hayperion figured that by now she'd be old enough to have her mature mane of a vastly different color. He wished he could see it. She always looked more like her mother, while Luna took after himself. It all aspects but personality, of course. She was far too sweet to commit the selfish atrocities he had...
He looked back on his life now with more regret every day. It was a stupid thing he did, and now he had at his disposal an army; an army of fools, who were like a might spear of revenge forged over a one thousand year old anvil of lies. He regretted that too, as even if he weren't helplessly weak from age, there was nothing he could do to stop them. They had their own desires, and their own idea of destiny. All that Hayperion had to do now in order to unleash hell upon Equestria was die. And that is why he was determined to live as long as possible. He wanted to give them every bit of time they had with their families like he never had.
As he lay there, Paragon walked into the room, feigning a smile for his ill father. Hayperion knew Paragon cared very little for his father's well-being, for the sooner he passed on, the sooner he'd be free again to exact his vengeance. This too, was Hayperion's own fault. He had filled Paragon's young, arrogant little head with terrible ideas about being the 'true heir' of Equestria, and about seizing the castle one day. Only now, in his final years has he been able to see clearly the apocalyptic devastation he was to unleash unto the world as a result of these actions, for now he sees Paragon has grown into a dangerously powerful and dangerously greedy Alicorn prince. He already tried to invade Equestria by himself and kill Celestia. His attempt may have failed, but next time he will be back by an entire army. That, he knew, Celestia could not handle.
"Good afternoon, father." Paragon faked a pleasant greeting. "Are you comfortable? How are you feeling?" Paragon knew he wouldn't reply, but continued to speak. "It's really a shame you can't walk anymore, father, the weather out is unusually pleasant. I dare say it almost feels warm, for once!" Paragon walked over to the balcony door, which typically remained closed during the winter, such as it was in their part of the world. "Shall I open a window for you?" Without getting a response, he opened the doors to the balcony wide, letting a cool draft of late-winter air wash over Hayperion, sending a chill down his body.
Paragon inhaled deeply, letting the cool afternoon air fill his lungs. "Can you feel it, father?" He asked. "Spring is just around the corner. in Equestria, I imagine that Summer is just about to break, and soon it will be Fall. That's, a fun, word, isn't it? Fall."
Hayperion simply lay in his bed, watching his son behind glazed eyes. you were my biggest mistake, Paragon. How I wish I could correct it. He thought to himself, wishing he could say it out loud.
"How I'd love to take them from their homes in the Fall, and leave them for dead all Winter. Don't you think that would be the ultimate blow to their morale? To have to muster their strength at temperatures below freezing, shattered and homeless? Ah, glorious. Whatever is left over in the spring, will be a light patrol's sweep away from total obliteration. A Flawless victory. And then we have the entire warm season to celebrate! It's brilliant, don't you think, father?" Again, Paragon asked aloud, as if he expected an answer. Hayperion continued to stare at him expressionlessly.
Please Paragon, don't! Take the opportunity you will soon be given and leave! Go somewhere warm, somewhere safe, live and let live! Hayperion continued to plead silently.
"Oh, the things I plan to do to those who have disgraced me so... the one by the name of 'Rainbow Dash', and her little friend 'Twilight Sparkle', I'll never forget those names... their little friends, and Celestia too- oh, they will know true misery." Paragon continued. "I will break their minds 20 years before I finally break their bodies!" He announced, pacing the room with energy. "I won't kill them, oh no, death would be too merciful! If they could live forever, I'd let them! Let them know the enormity of a thousand years of pain!" He was practically yelling at this point.
Hayperion, weak and frail, put all his effort into an attempt to respond. After a cough and two barely audible squeaks, he managed to whisper, "N-..oo...no..."
As if his father had yelled at the top of his lungs, Paragon turned to face him, caught off guard. "Father? Did you say something just now, I'm not sure I understood you correctly." He walked up to Hayperion's bed and made an exaggerated gesture of leaning his ear towards him.
With all his strength, Hayperion repeated himself, "N-..oo...no...." He whispered into Paragon's ear.
"No?" Paragon repeated, and paused. "Hm hm, I didn't think so." Paragon walked away towards the open balcony door, a grin on his face that told Hayperion everything he needed to know.
You know what I said! I said no! Don't do it!
"Anyway, as I was saying, Father, I'd love it splendidly if you could go right ahead and die as quickly as you can, so that I might begin my invasion. It's a bloody long trek, and I'd love to arrive in Equrestria before the Equestrian Winter sets in." Paragon said rather bluntly.
What?! What kind of world do we live in where a son would even consider requesting his own father to die for his own convenience! I may deserve to die, but I can't! Not now, not yet...
"I know It's not an easy thing to do, letting go of life, so how about this: I'll help you." Paragon turned around, a devious look on his face as he approached his father.
What are you doing? You can't seriously mean-!
Paragon's horn began to glow, and a pillow rose up from Hayperion's bed. "No injuries, of course, no need to turn this sudden death into a mystery murder. Like I said, I'd like to be out of here as soon as possible. Everyone's patience runs out eventually, and mine ran out 5 years ago!" And on that note, the pillow was pressed against Hayperion's facing, beginning the process of smothering him. Hayperion's body reacted naturally and panicked in a futile attempt to save itself, twitching and twisting in more movement than it had seen in a very long time. All his effort went in vain, however, as the pillow remained flush to his face, heavy pressure reinforcing it.
No! Not now, not this way... Not by my own son's hands..!
Hayperion's could feel his lungs burning from the lack of oxygen, and he knew he wasn't long for the world. He couldn't see his son's face, but he imagined it wearing a devilish grin.
Celestia...Luna...Equest, my dear... I'm sorry... I have doomed us all...
And his body went limp. Paragon continued for a couple additional seconds, just to be sure, and eventually released his grip, replacing the pillow.
"Ah, Now that wasn't so hard was it? You just needed a little push." Paragon chuckled, which rapidly escalated into a maniacal laugh. " "I guess that makes me King!" He declared, storming out of the room with vigor.
As he marched down the hallway of his castle, he passed General Iron Hoof, his right hand and the leader of his army. He was fairly old for a stallion, nearly 50 years of age. He was tall and muscular, but not as much so as Paragon. He was a unicorn, and his horn was framed by the helmet he almost always wore.
"General Iron Hoof," Paragon addressed him without looking at him. Iron Hoof stood at attention.
"Yes, sire?" He replied.
"Inform the people that the king would address his people now." He commanded, and immediately began to continue down the hall.
Iron Hoof, having not heard the old king speak in a long time, hesitated briefly. When he finally understood, he said. "Yes your majesty, very good. I shall inform the public at once."
As Paragon's people gather around the palace, ready to hear their new king speak, Paragon couldn't help but tremble with excitement. He stood perched from his balcony, where he could see every soul at his command. And there were a lot of them.
"My people!" He began with a strong, commanding voice. "It is my duty to inform you, that Lord Hayperion, our king of more than one thousand years, has finally passed." He announced, deliberately leaving out the cause of death. There was silence amongst the crowd. They were having mixed reactions to this revelation. "Although we must mourn the loss of his leadership," He continued, "This is also a time for celebration, for our time is finally at hand!" He declared. "For it is only now, after 1000 years, we are free! Free to fulfill our destiny, and claim this world as our own!" A cheer from the crowd. "We have prepared for this for generations, and we have become strong! It is time to show those Equestrians how strong we are!" Another cheer, louder now. "We sent here to die, under the belief that this harsh climate and our limited space would kill us! But we have proved them wrong, for instead we have flourished! We have persevered!" Once again, the crowd cheered. They we eating right out of Paragon's hooves. "We have become the greatest force in this world, and now nothing can stop us! Nothing can restrain us! Today, we march to Equestria to reclaim our ancient birthright! To arms, my people! By this sun's setting, we shall march for Equestria!" A final, deafening applause, showing to Paragon that his people were every bit as excited about this as he was.
Over the cheering, General Iron Hoof could be faintly heard, declaring, "All hail King Paragon, our new leader!"
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Now that Paragon commands an army, is there any hope for the people of Equestria, as they continue to be oblivious to this unsettling change?
END OF CHAPTER 2.
Maree watched all this from within the crowd. She wasn't sure she believed everything that had just happened. More and more, this was feeling like an awful nightmare, and she desperately needed to wake up. Her mother was outside Ponyville somewhere, probably hurt, Celestia had been taken captive, and two innocent ponies had just been killed right in front of her. And now, even as Maree stood there, Paragon was headed to Canterlot castle with a presumably enormous army to attack it. It was the type of thing she had heard of in dark fantasy novels, things that she had assured herself of long ago were so preposterous that they could never happen to her... not in real life.
But it became increasingly apparent that this really was was happening. The world really was falling apart right in front of her, and she could only pray that there was something that could be done.
The crowd started to congregate now, and concerned whispers vaguely became distinguished as conversation regarding what could, and would be done. Maree saw Aunt Twilight and her friends talking with with the Mayor, and walked up to meet with them, cutting into the middle of their conversation.
"At the very least, I can say that staying here would be dangerous." Twilight was saying.
"So, that was the same Paragon I heard all those nasty things about?" Rarity asked.
"Yup, that was him alright." Came Applejack's answer.
"Well, he certainly paints a hideous picture. That stallion was a monster!" Rarity exclaimed, regarding the two ponies Paragon and Selene had killed.
"Well, Twilight, as a well learned Mare and a student to our Princess Celestia, you know I value your advice on these such matters. But moving an entire town's population without so much as an advance notice is madness." The Mayor replied, after having thought about what Twilight had said to her.
"With all due respect, Ma'am, I don't think we have any other choice, Paragon clearly said he would return, and being here when he returns... we wouldn't stand a chance." Twilight countered.
"What do you mean, 'moving'? Are we going somewhere?" Maree interupted.
"Maree, don't worry, right now the grown ups are talking, and if you could just hold on a minute while we discuss..."
"We can't go!" Maree exclaimed, cutting Twilight off. "Momy's still not back! She might be hurt, or lost... if we go, and she comes back when Paragon gets here..." She didn't have to finish her sentence as she saw the looks on their faces, "We've got to help her, Aunt Twilight! We've got to!"
"We're not going anywhere, anyway! Have you really so little faith in our own royal guards? Surely, with the help of the 3 princesses, they will be able to take care of the atrocious ponies." The Mayor continued to argue.
"I can't imagine that Luna would take any offensive action against Paragon at the risk of Celestia's life, nor would I expect Celestia to condone violent resistance at the risk of her subjects potentially being killed. They are both kind, and benevolent leaders. But in the same way as any decent pony, they are still selfish; selfish in the sense that they won't simply allow the people they care about be hurt, even at their own risk, or even the risk of the greater good." Twilight said. "The worst part is, I can't blame them for it, because I know any half decent pony would do the same thing. As long as Celestia remains their prisoner, it can be safely assumed that Canterlot will fall." As Twilight finished her thought, the whole group went quiet. that last statement seemed so surrel; it dealt with the possibility of their entire government, their society as they knew it, collapsing in on them, and treating it as an inevitability.
The Mayor thought long and hard, clearly unhappy with her limited options. "Do you really think it's that hopeless?" She finally asked. Twilight, unwilling to put the answer to words, simply nodded.
Maree was still looking for a way to bud in. "Aunt Twilight... what is going on?" She asked exhaustedly.
Twilight looked down at Maree, who was tearing up, probably confused, frightened, and frustrated. She was a truly brilliant child of course, but she was still young and naive. She didn't understand.
"Maree, you need to come with me for a little while, okay? We may have to go away somewhere, and if we do, I'm taking you with me. That way you'll be safe. Alright?" She offered delicately.
"But... What about Mom? We need to help her!" Maree insisted.
"We'll look for her together later, I promise! Right now we need to get everyone ready to go, and then we'll help Rainbow Dash, okay Maree?"
Maree hesitated. She didn't like that she had to wait, clearly. But it was the best offer she'd had since this ordeal began, she she accepted. "Okay.." She turned and walked a short distance away, leaving the rest of them to talk, while still remaining near by.
Twilight returned to speaking with the Mayor. "I'm going to pack. I'm planning on taking as many ponies as I can with me, and it's your decision as to how many followers I have." She stated very simply to her.
The mayor was clearly grieving heavily over this decision. She did not want to leave. Moreover, she didn't like her reasons for having to. "Alright. If we have no other choice, then I will have Ponyville evacuated. Let me know when you are ready to speak, and we will act."
Twilight nodded approvingly. "I'll need a map to do some scouting, and I'd like to be prepared to leave when I make the announcement. We need to move as quickly as possible. As of right now, we are facing a crisis situation."
As the afternoon began to transition into evening, the guards of Canterlot castle watched onward, ready to protect the walls of Equestria's capital building on a moments notice. On very few an occasion has there ever truly been a need for such protection; in fact, over the course of the centuries of virtually uninterupted peace, the royal guards, once an elite breed of highly trained soldiers, eventually came down to a volunteer force, possessing basic training and knowlege of combat and warfare; knowlege and training scarcely used, one might add.
As a Captain Steel Chariot of the Royal guard watched the horizon from his post, his attention was drawn to a distressed looking guard who came running up to him from behind, out of breath. He recognizd him by face, rather than by name, as one of the city guards.
"Ca...Captain Steel!" He exclaimed, trying to catch his breath. "I have news to report of a large force of armored ponies who have recently made it past the city limits and are marching towards the castle, most likely hostile!" The guard reported.
Captain Steel frowned, as he was thrown by this sudden news. "What? How large? Details man, speak!" He demanded.
The guard, taking a deep breath replied, "Thousands, upon thousands Sire. They do not merely walk through the city; they flood it."
Steel Chariot thought he might have a heart attack. "Thousands?! By the gods, what in blazes are you telling ME for? Alert Shining Armor, and inform the Princesses Luna and Cadence of this threat immediately! Move, man!" He commanded.
The guard did not move. "I am informing you, sir... because Princess Celestia... wishes to speak with whomever in in charge of the front gate." The guard said regretfully.
Steel Chariot took a moment to process this information. Then a grave realization came over him that was visible on his face. "No, she can't posssibly be.. among them?" He asked.
"Captive, sir." The guard confirmed. "She requests that no resistance meet them at this time, and that she speaks with the gatekeeper at once."
Steel Chariot's mind was boggled. They were being attacked, yet Celestia insisted on a total lack of ressitance? Just who could these invaders be, to cause Celestia to come to such a decision? He shuddered to think. Finally, he composed himself and spoke again.
"Very well, I shall meet them at the gate. Keep the other guards in a concentrated formation around the area and on high alert. But emphasize that they are not to attack them... at this time." Steel Chariot ordered, dismissing the guard.
Steel Chariot stood outside the gate of Canterlot castle, other guards surrounding him. He was eventually approached by a mass of armor clad ponies, headed by 3 Alicorns he did not recognize. Immediately behind them was Princess Celestia. As they arrived at the gate, the middle one, a tall, gold colored Alicorn addressed Steel Chariot directly.
"I presume you to be in charge. I demand you to lower the gate at once." He commanded.
"State your name and business." Steel Chariot replied, unintimidated.
Paragon smirked, and decided to humor the guard that stood before him. "The name is Paragon. As for my business: takeover. Hostile. Any complaints should be forwarded to the enormous army directly behind myself. They'd love to help you, as they've been dying for some action and haven't seen any since we got here. Pretty soon, I'm going to have to start making up excuses for them to hurt somepony. Would you like to be one?"
Steel Chariot did not budge. "Our gates do not open to our enemies. If you seek to challenge our walls, we will protect them." Steel Chariot stood tall and still up against Paragon's intimidating stature, which loomed well over his head.
"I don't think you completely understand just how long we've been waiting for somepony to say that.." Paragon's horn began to glow as he spoke, ready to start wreaking havoc. Many of his soldiers readied themselves as well. The Royal guards behind Steel Chariot braced themselves for a fight that they knew they could not win.
"Wait! Don't do it!" Celestia cried from behind Paragon. "Captain, please, stand down. Do not engage them."
Steel Chariot eased slightly, but the rest of the would-be combatants remained tense. "But your Highness, I cannot simply allow them to walk into Canterlot Castle unopposed! This is our home, and they mean to subvert it! I cannot allow that!"
Celestia's head hung low. "It is a fight you cannot possibly win. I myself have already fought and lost against them. Such a futile waste of life is pointless. Spare your own lives... please..." Celestia pleaded.
Steel Chariot was devastated. He had just been commanded by the highest authority in the land to simply lay down and allow an unknown hostile force take over the capital! Though he had lived to see few serious conflicts in his life, even Celestia had probably not seen many more herself; but on those few occasions, she had fought back actively. But these new enemies were... different somehow. They instilled an intimidation, a fear, in Celestia so profound, she was certain of their destruction in the wake of their wrath. And if even Celestia feared them, then who, with a mind even remotely assosiated with sanity, would question her reasoning? Though it pained him more than any wound he had ever suffered, Steel Chariot very slowly stepped aside, allowing Paragon to pass him.
"Disappointing." was all Paragon said as he passed.
"Lower.... lower the gate!" Steel Chariot ordered reluctantly.
Paragon and his men, with Celestia still in their company, marched inside the castle, and were surrounded by royal guards every moment, their moral visibled crushed, and all with the same grieving expression on their face as their great leader, Princess Celestia, walked shamefully through the castle, trapped within the company of their enemy. They had lost without ever having even fought.
Eventually they arrived in the throne room, where Princess Luna, co-ruler and younger sister to Celestia, and Princess Cadence, heir apparent to the throne of Equestria and Shining Armor's beloved, waited for them. Luna was horrified to see her sister, captured by these awful ponies, her wings redenned by the injuries she had sustained earlier.
"Celestia!" Luna cried from across the room. She started towards her sister, but was intercepted by Shining Armor, flanked by several guards.
"Stay back, Princess, we'll deal with this!" He said, approaching Paragon's group.
"Shining Armor, be careful!" Cadence cried from beside Luna.
Shining Armor slowly approached the Tempest Triplets, trying not to be intimidated by their famed might. He knew only what Celestia had said about Paragon, and even that was formidable. Nevertheless, he was indeed the Captain of the Guard, and he would not be bullied by these ponies. If he had to fight for his right to stand in the hallways here and now, then so be it. He would fight to the very end.
"That's close enough, pretty colt." Paragon cautioned. "You wouldn't want me to harm Celestia further, would you?"
Shining Armor stopped, but he continued to look Paragon right in the eye, his composure unwavering. "I won't be as easily intimidated as the officers you've dealt with so far. I am Shining Armor, the Captain of the Guard, leader of the Equestrian Royal Guards, and the most powerful unicorn in Canterlot. Few ponies within these walls can match my strength, and it is by that strength that I will challenge you!" Shining Armor declared proudly, motioning for the other guards in the room to ready themselves.
"Oh, you really know how to stand up for yourself, don't you? I like that in a stallion..." Selene commented, stepping out in front of the group. "That girl up there, who wished you would be careful? Is that your beloved? She's pretty. Too bad.. she's about to become a WIDOW!" With a twirl and a flash of the horn, Selene summoned ball of ice roughly the size of her head and launched it straight at Shining Armor. He had no time to react, and was blasted backwards into a table, which crumpled under his weight.
Selene laughed to herself as Shining Armor staggered to his feet. Suddenly, He righted himself and caught Selene off guard with an energy bolt, striking her in the shoulder and knocking her back a step. She yelped in surprise, an emotion that was immediately replaced by anger. There were daggers in her eyes as she turned back to him.
"RRGH! BASTARD!" She snapped, summoning half a dozen sharpened icicles to launch at him. Ready this time, Shining Armor shielded himself with a barrier, which the ice shattered against.
"When it comes to barriers, no one in Equestria can make one finer than me!" Shining Armor stated proudly. The guards were now ready to join in too, and they filled the gap between Shining Armor and the Tempest Triplets.
Helios stepped forward. "Now now, this isn't about you. This is about us and your leader. Now, step aside! " A linear wave of flames came flying out of Helios' horn, splitting the clump of soliders down the middle, parting the way to Shining Armor. Shining Armor, however, did not need to move. He aimed his horn straight at the fire headed for him, and it struck him right on the tip. He appeared to "catch" it, and with a flick of his horn, sent it straight back at Helios. Not expecting to be attacked by his own spell, Helios took the hit and staggered back.
Shining Armor was holding his own, even against two Alicorns. Paragon's soldiers, and even Paragon himself, were yet uninvolved in this fight, though the soldiers clearly wished to be. It took phenominal discipline to prevent them from joining this battle. Luna and Cadence both chose not to get involved as well, presumably to avoid tempting Paragon into changing his mind about his position in this fight. Once again backed by his fellow royal guards, Shining Armor stood in formation against the regrouping Alicorns. Though enraged only a moment before, both Helios and Selene now appeared to be no more than moderately impatient.
"Alright, no more games. This is starting to get embarassing." Selene declared, a sharpness to her tone. "Helios, are you ready?"
"Burn the ground, freeze the air. On your mark." Helios replied, his horn starting to glow in preparation for their attack.
The two Alicorns got close together, their horns glowing, as they waited for the coming attack. Shining Armor felt that this time, he would take the initiative.
"Guards, by my lead! Pincer Attack, go!" He ordered. Immediately, the guards split perfectly; half approached from the left, half approached fom the right, and Shining Armor charged the middle. As they drew near, Selene and Helios readied themselves.
"Steady... and... mark!" On Selene's command, the duo cast their spell in conjunction with one another; Helios aimed for the ground, Selene for the air. In an instant the air in the room cooled to winter-esque levels, while the ground became boiling hot. Shining Armor reacted quickly enough to shield his feet with magic, but the other unicorns weren't so quick.
"Off the ground! Pegasi, take flight and get the unicorns off the ground!" He shouted, keeping up with his charge. As he ordered, the Pegasi each picked up the nearest unicorn saving them from serious injury. They kept up their attack with only minimal loss of speed.
Helios and Selene kept up their spells, unmoved. They guards drew near now, and the Pincer Formation was nearly closing in on them.
"Wait for it..." Helios said under his breath. "And... switch!" He comanded just moments before the clamp. In perfect syncronization, Selene and Helios alternated their targets, Helios now casting his spell of flames at the flying pegasi, now close enough that they were beginning to clump together, and Selene frosted over the stone floor. The Pegasi, their agility strictly limited by the added weight, took the brunt of the attack and were knocked down again. Shining Armor, seeing his formation fail, tried to halt in order to regroup, but found himself sliding on the icy floor, losing his footing. He slid straight towards Helios, who bashed him with his knee, knocking him over. When Shining Armor looked up, Helios tried to stomp on him and he narrowly rolled out of the way. He got up in time to watch Helios' stomp melt right through Selene's icy floor.
It was clear that Helios being immune to Selene's ice was intended to be some form of advantage. "But I don't need to move to fight you." Shining Armor finished his thought out loud.
"Neither do I." Helios responded calmly. He send another wall of flames at Shining Armor, deliberately aiming above the ground. He wanted Shining Armor to move, obviously, but Shining Armor simply stood his ground, rebuffing the spell with another barrier.
"I already told you, something like that won't work!" Shining Armor reminded.
"Then what about something like this?" Selene's horn glowed again, and Shining Armor searched the room for something about to happen. He spotted it not a moment too soon; an icicle shot up from the ground, right where he was standing, and he jumped out of the way with mere inches to spare. Unfortuneately, this resulted in him losing his traction again, and he slipped and struggled to stay on his feet. Where he was bound to end up, should he right himself, a second icicle began to shoot out. Thinking quickly, Shining Armor deliberately let himself lose his footing, taking the fall over impalment any day. But before he had even began his next move, Helios attacked again, fire shooting out of his horn. Shining Armor blocked it once again, using the smoke to cover himself as he got back up.
But Helios used the smoke too, and had began a charge as it cleared. With his flaming hot hooves leaving small prints of thawed floor in his wake, Helios' traction was not lost, unlike Shining Armor. Shining Armor hesitated, waiting for some sort of trick; one that never came. Helios simply plowed into Shining Armor, causing him to slide across the room on his side. While still on the ground, Selene acted quickly and conjured yet another icicle from the floor, piercing both of Shining Armor's front legs with it, pinning him. Shining Armor cried out in pain, struggling to get free. He could not. He was trapped, and at the mercy of the Alicorns.
Paragon hovered over the scene, clapping his front hooves together. "Well done, well done, a fine show indeed!" He commented. "I like that you've left him alive. You know me very well, Selene."
Celestia, seeing Shining Armor in such pain, couldn't stand by anymore. "Shining Armor, no!" She ran out into the middle of the battle ground.
Paragon simply rolled his eyes irritably. "Selene, the prisoner's running. Fix it please." He ordered.
Selene fired a spell at Celestia. Only half paying attention, the spell hit Celestia, and she froze, literally, in place. Ice and frost formed all around her body, and an expression of shock was stuck on her face.
For the two remaining Princesses, this was quickly becoming an out of hand situation. Luna for one, was horrified to see her sister frozen in ice and ran up to meet her. “Celestia!" She cried out.
"I wouldn't touch her if I were you." Selene cautioned. Luna stopped right in front of Celestia's frozen form. "That's my special Everfrost spell I've cast on her just now. It's the coldest thing in the world; so cold in fact, it's self sustaining; consider it the exact opposite of the Sun. It can't ever melt unless I wish it to, and it makes whatever I cast it on awfully fragile." She explained, standing next her creation proudly. Evidentally, she too lost no traction on her own icy floor.
"Why... Why are you doing all of this?!" Luna exclaimed. "What have we done to deserve this this?!"
Paragon was pacing the space between the Princesses, as Cadence tended to her husband's wounds.
"The sins of your people are a thousand years old. Even if you knew of them it wouldn't matter." Paragon spat out in Luna's direction, in an uncharacteristically serious tone. "But since you asked, I may as well answer. Consider it your final request." He stopped, looked at Cadence and Luna once each, and continued. "The Alicorn King who fathered myself, Helios, Selene, Celstia and you, Luna, made it his will that rule over the kingdom of the Alicorns, before it was even named Equestria, would be given to his first born son. And that is me. Celestia and yourself are nothing but opportunists who took over in the absence in the presence of the true heir, and now, returning from our seemingly eternal banishment, I am here to claim what is rightfully mine."
"And just what... would that be?" Luna was afraid to ask.
Paragon smiled. "Everything there is, ever was, and ever shall be. Nothing more, nothing less."
"You're mad!" Luna exclaimed.
"You really think so? How different am I really, from your beloved Celestia? She too once tried to claim everything for herself." Paragon said.
Luna frowned. "What? No, you're wrong, Celestia is a benevolent leader, she is utterly selfless!" She countered.
"Please, just think about it! She once tried to remove you from the picture, remember? She was always the favorite, she got the bigger share, and she was adored by her peers, while you were shunned, and when you grew tired on this unfair settlement, what happened? How were you rewarded?" Paragon asked rhetorically. Luna staggered backwards, confused and dazed.
"How... how do you know about all this?" Luna asked.
"Oh, I became quite intimately familiar with your story during my stay in Equestria some time back." Paragon explained. "I know quite well what you are... what you once were... I even know a few things most do not..."
Luna became enraged. "I'm not like that! I haven't been like that for a long time! Celestia and I love each other, we don't fight anymore!" Luna stated, almost pleading.
"Of course you don't, Celestia doesn't need to fight you anymore, because she owns you now! You've learned your lesson, and she knows you won't dare cross her again!" Paragon pointed out. "She is still the one with the power, isn't she? Whenever a royal ceremony takes place, who is in charge of it? Whenever the public is to be addressed by the 'Crown Princess', who fills that roll? Celestia is no more your equal than she ever was, in fact, the gap is wider than ever. Before you were a Princess who shared her power almost equally with her older sister. But now... you are merely her subject. A subject of great power and influence, but nontheless, a subject." Paragon was getting closer to Luna's face, directing his words right at her, trying to cut into her very soul with his words.
"No, be silent! I won't listen!" Luna delcared, turning away.
"Why, Luna, why should I be? I haven't said anything you haven't heard inside your head all along, it is only now that those thoughts have been put into words! You're jealous of her, Luna, you always have been. Deep down, you still envy her, you still resent her, and you know it!" He was right up beside Luna's face now, and it could be seen on Luna's face that his words were having a visible effect on her. Now it was time for Paragon's killing blow, so to speak. "I know who cast that spell on you, all those years ago." Paragon claimed. Luna's eyes shot open. "And I know that when you succumbed to your hatred, to your jealously, you become a remarkable foe; you were transformed into the most powerful being in all of Equestria; a being far stronger than you are now, stronger than Celestia, even stronger than me!" And now he leaned in very close, almost whispering into her ear, "And you cannot deny that after you transformed... after you became more powerful than her... she refused to even face you, until you were weak again... weak enough... to control."
That was it. Luna spun around and lashed out at Paragon, striking him in the face. Paragon recoiled, but seemed to anticipate the blow, and recovered quickly. There was rage burning in Luna's eyes.
"I won't hear anymore!" Luna declared angrily. "I will hear no more of your defamation of my sister's good name!"
Paragon just chuckled. "That's right. Hate me. Hate everyone. Hate makes you strong. Hate makes you what you really are. Celestia may be her mother's daughter, but you are definitely our father's child." Paragon commented. "It's almost scary how much you look like him when you're mad."
"Luna, Cadence, get behind me!" Shining Armor's voice came from a short distance away, as he suddenly broke free of the ice with a spell, and jumped in front of Paragon. In a flash, he summoned a great barrier, dividing the room in half, keeping the Tempest Triplets and their legion on one side. "The two of you need to get out, now! We're out numbered and outmatched. We can't win! I'll hold them off as long as possible, and then we're going all out to slow them as much as possible! You must warn as many people as you possibly can about this!" Shining Armor ordered. From behind the barrier, Paragon and his siblings were already trying to break down the wall, and Shining Armor strained to keep it up.
"Shining Armor, I can't leave you! You need me!" Cadence cried.
"Cadence, I'm sorry, but you have to leave. I won't be able to hold this much longer!" Shining Armor said, wincing under the strain.
"You're not strong enough to face them!" Cadence argued.
"Knowing you are safe will give me strength! If you want to help me at all, then get as far away from here as you can! Now! Please!"
Cadence, with great hesitation, began to head towards a window. "Luna! Come on, we need to leave!" She took off out the window.
Luna was dumbfounded, unable to move or speak. The world was breaking all around her, and she had no idea how to fix it.
"Luna!" Came Shining Armor's greatly strained voice, snaping her out of her daze. "Get out of here now!"
Luna finally complied and headed for the same window. She took one last look at Celestia, Shining Armor and all the guards still in the room, and cursed herself for not being strong enough to save them. Tears in her eyes, Luna flew away.
Moments later, Paragon's team broke through the barrier, and Shining Armor collapsed. Paragon was clearly irritated that the Princesses had escaped.
"Soldiers! I want those two Princesses dead! tear down anyone who gets in your way! Take the officers as prisoners, but don't harm Celestia! That's my job!" Paragon ordered.
The seemingly lifeless statues that were Paragon's army sprung into action, and openly engaged the royal guards. The Tempest Triplets also fought, and finally, the true battle for Canterlot had begun.
Shining Armor is hurt, Celestia is captive, and the two remaining Princesses flee from Canterlot. It is absolute chaos in Equestria. What shall become of our protagonists?
End of Chapter 4.
Back in Ponyville, the citizens of the once quiet and peaceful town were in the midst of evacuating the town gathering themselves and whatever they can carry as they fled. Twilight was in her home packing with her friend and assistant, Spike. Over a decade had passed since Twilight moved here for the first time and nothing had changed more than Spike during those years.
Gone was the hatchling able to ride on her back, and in his place was a dragon already a head taller then Celestia and with a wingspan easily 15 hooves long. Twilight smiled as she remembered the modifications the libray had to undergo when he started growing, just to let him still fit inside it. She remembered the first time they had come here; when Spike had still just been a hatchling and she had actaully been forced to come here with him.
Back then, this move had been more than just inconvenient, she was homesick before she had even left Canterlot, and had no intention of getting attatched; no friends, no memories, no sentiment. She came here to do a job, nothing more, and she had every intention of going home to Canterlot as soon as it was over.
Fast forward to the present, as Twilight is preparing to leave Ponyville, and sick to her stomach over it. She had come to love this town so much. She met her closest friends, ponies she'd trust her life with, right here in this town, and she had become so attatched that it was physically hurting her to tear herself away. She knew that she was only doing what she had to do; even so, she couldn't help but mourn the loss of her home.
And the circumstances made it all the more miserable. It wasn't as simple as leaving Ponyville and going "home" to Canterlot. There was no Canterlot anymore. She hadn't heard anything yet, and she couldn't possibly know for sure, but she knew deep down what had happened. She could feel a hole in her heart, exactly the size of Ponyville, that mourned the loss of Canterlot as well. Her entire family: her mother, her father, Shining Armor, Cadence; not to mention Princess Celestia, were all there now. She could only guess what had hapened to them all. Paragon had no reason to harm her parents, but Celestia and Cadence were Alicorns; powerful potential enemies. Shining Armor was proud of his home and of his title, and even against a battle he knew he couldn't win, he'd fight. He'd fight because that was his duty, and he did it better than any other Royal Guard in Canterlot. As the surreality of her likely never seeing any of them again shifted into a nightmarish reality, Twilight fought hard against the urge to weep on the spot. She wanted to curl up into a ball and just cry, but knew she couldn't, she had to be strong. for Her family, for Ponyville, for Canterlot, for Spike, for her friends, for Maree. For everyone, she had to be strong.
"I can't believe we're really going to leave Ponyville... after all these years... it didn't seem like the day would ever come." Spike commented as they packed together.
"I know what you mean. It's all pretty surreal... but there's really no way around it. We need to prepare for the worst, and get as far away from here as we can." Twilight replied.
The town at this point was already underway with the evacuation. Twilight had mapped out a location far north that would work for their needs. It was in a mountainous area on a plateau approximately 1200 feet above sea level. The location was once a roosting area for dragons over a thousand years ago, until a vulcanic eruption had forced them to move; but the vulcano had been dormant ever since, making it a relatively safe place. It was a long trek, about 7 days on hoof, but it was well out of the way, making it easy to hide from Paragon's influence for the time being. It wasn't ideal, but then again, none of this was.
As per Twilight's advice, the evacuation had been staggered, meaning that only one group of several dozen ponies would be sent out every few minutes. Twilight's reasoning was simple; if they moved as group, and they were attacked as a group, they would risk dying in a group. They'd be less likely to lose individual members in a small group, and they would be more easily mobile. It would take longer, which was a huge risk with these time constraints, but it was ultimately the safest idea they could come up with.
In each group, a single pony was given a map leading to the new location for the town. They were under strict order that if anything should happen, and the chance of one of Paragon's soldier's finding one of the maps become dangerously high, the map must be destroyed at all costs. If Paragon disocvered their location, all would be for naught. Families had been sent out first, and next single parents with children would follow. Individuals with no immediate family would move last.
As Twilight packed, she thought about her friends; Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all alone, and would end up moving last. She would be going with Maree, which meant she'd be ahead of half of her friends. Applejack would get out okay, but Dash was still missing... Twilight had promised to go looking for her, but with all the things she had to do in preparation for the mass evacuation, there just wasn't time. Maree could sense it, Twilight knew. there wasn't going to be a search. There just wasn't time. She looked over at Maree, who laid quietly by a window looking out, perhaps hoping to see her mother walk in any minute.
Spike looked at her too, and sensed Twilight's feelings. "How do you think she'll take it?" He asked, not turning towards Twilight.
Twilight shook her head. "They're very, very close. It will be hard at first," she admitted, "but this is inevitably all for her own good. We just can't take the risk of waiting and looking to find Dash. Not with Maree. She's too important." Twilight sighed. "I hate to think of leaving a close friend behind, and the fact that we've gotten even closer over the years we've raised Maree makes it hurt even more, but I have to think of the greater good of our village." Twilight walked up to Spike, lowering her voice to ensure that Maree didn't hear. "Years from now, when she's older, she may be the only thing that can stop Paragon. She doesn't yet understand it, but her magic is phenominal; she's more powerful than Celestia, and probably even smarter than me. Someone needs to help her learn to use that power, and I'm the only one qualified for it. We're both too important to lose and I can't just ask somepony else to find Dash. The only thing worse than losing her is knowing that somepony else... died... looking for her."
Spike nodded slightly. "Yeah... that makes sense." He admitted. "Look Twilight, if it makes it any easier, you ARE right. This is what's best, and you're not doing anything wrong." Spike said, trying to comfort his life-long friend.
Twilight tried to smile a little. "Thanks, Spike." She gave Spike a hug, which quickly became more emotional than she had intended, as she pulled him tighter. "I've known you your whole life, Spike. You're my closest friend. So, if anything happens, I just want you to know..."
Spike stopped her. "Hey,Twilight come on, nothing's going to happen, okay? we'll be alright." He said assuringly.
Twilight smiled more genuinely. "I know, Spike. Just by hearing you say that, I know. but, anyway, I just want to say.. I love you, Spike." Twilight could feel a little shakiness in her voice. She was starting to get emotional.
Spike blushed a little. "Heh, that's not really the kind of thing that friends say to each other all the time, you know?" He said, a little embarassed.
Twilight laughed a little, something she hadn't expected to do in such dark time. "I know, but you're more than just a friend, you're a little brother to me and a part of my family."
"Yeah well..." Spike moved in for another hug, awkwardly at first, but became more comfortable as they embraced. "I... I love you too, Twilight." Spike finally replied.
A couple minutes later, the Mayor walked through the door, and looked around before quickly spotting Twilight.
"Twilight, I am here to let you know that the families have all finished evacuating. We're now accepting groups of singles with children. " She reported. She paused, before finishing her thought. "...That means that it's time for you to go. I hope you're ready."
Twilight met her by the door. "Yeah, I'm ready to go, I just need to grab Maree and we can head out. Thanks, Ms. Mayor." She went to grab her things, as the Mayor looked around.
"Say, where is little Maree, anyway?" She asked. Twilight looked over at the window she last saw Maree peering out of. She wasn't there anymore.
"She was just here a minute ago.." Twilight thought aloud. She started looking all aroun the house. “Maree!" She called into the space. Spike came out of his room now, helping to search. "Maree?" Twilight started to panic, as she started running out of places to look. "Maree!" She called over and over, each shout more scared than the last. She searched high and low, covering her entire house twice but Maree was nowhere to be found. "MAREE!" Twilight screamed, charging out the front door.
Maree looked high and low for Rainbow Dash. In the chaos of recent events, She had forgotten what direction Dash had been in. So, the only thing she could do was look in every direction there was. She felt bad about having left without Twilight; but knew that if she had asked, Twilight would have said no. She understood why, she just didn't agree with it. She wasn't going to leave her mother behind, and that was final. If that meant she had to sneak away to look for Dash herself, then so be it.
Maree eventually stumbled upon familiar land, and instantly remembered where she was. She wasn't very far away, she realized, and was more than half way back to her mother. She got excitied; they were going to make it after all! She climbed over the next hill... and immediately dove back down, her excitement replaced with fear. What she had seen shocked her so much, she wasn't sure if she'd seen it correctly. She cautiously peered over the rise again, and her eyes confirmed what her fears had alleged. Just a mile or two off, straight in front of her, was an army like she had never seen, with Paragon at the helm. They were back.
Her legs refused to respond at first, but eventually Maree coaxed them into a full on sprint, bolting for better cover. She ran as far as she could at top speed, adrenaline taking her vastly farther than she thought she could go. As she ran, she sensed a great, creeping shadow roll over her. She risked looking over her shoulder, and saw a sun-blotting cloud of Pegasi taking off and going ahead of the rest of the group. They moved with great speed, and were closing the gap between themselves and Maree quickly, whether they knew it or not. If any one of the thousands of pegasi spotted her, she'd be at their mercy in moments.
Twilight was in the middle of Ponyville, still frantically looking for Maree. She asked everyone she knew if they had seen Maree, but they were all too busy or too concerned with ther own safety to have even noticed Maree. She decided finally to head for Applejack's. It was the only place Twilight could think to find Maree in, seeing as it was one of the only places she'd ever spent a lot of time in. Though it was probably abandoned, now that she thought of it. Still, it was her only option. No sooner had she set her course than did she, too, see the cloud. Though she knew the very instant she set her eyes upon it what it meant, She couldn't help but stop dead and stare, utterly awe-struck at the sight. She'd never seen anything quite like it. It was even more terrifying than the changeling army she had seen at her brother's wedding. The formation in which they flew made it appear as though they were part of a gigantic claw, reaching out for the bite-sized morsal that was Ponyville, to feed it to an equally gargantuan mouth yet unseen.
Twilight was finally brought back to reality when she realized she could hear the terrified cries and screams of others who saw Paragon's army headed towards them. She suddenly became frightfully self-conscious of the fact that almost half of Ponyville's population remained, including both herself and Maree. A worse scenario could not be imagined and she knew she had to find Maree, and fast.
Maree was finally back in Ponyville, and not a moment too soon. Not 30 seconds after she entered the town limits, Paragon's first wave of attacks descended upon the city. People screamed and scattered as the armor clad pegasi, armed with bladed attacments at the ends of their front leg’s armor trimming, mercilessly attacked the innocent ponies of Ponyville. Maree was petrified at the sight. The scene she had witnessed the day before with the mare and her child being made into an example set by Paragon paled in comparison to the gruesome sight unfolding in front of her. Only when she locked eyes with one of the rampaging soldiers was Maree finally cured of he petrification, enabling her to begin sprinting once again. She had to get out of here now; she wasn't going to argue that fact any further. She had to find Twilight and leave as soon as possible. Trouble was, she'd never been to this part of Ponyville, and didn't know where her house was from here.
She made her own path as she went along, evading Paragon's army of terror as she moved. Blood was everywhere, and the sight and smell of it made Maree sick. She finally stopped and took temporary refuge behind an abandoned home. The fatigue of having been sprinting for so long and the atrocity being committed finally got to Maree, and she promptly threw up on the spot. As she finished throwing up, she realized she'd been discovered by a soldier who was now closing in on her location. She tried to flee, but with the soldier's far greater stride and far stronger wings, he caught up with her before she got up to speed, and pushed her back up against the wall. She was caught!
Maree was now crying out of sheer fear, knowing her life could end any second. Alone, tired, and confused, she would die miserably.
"Hm, well, look at this! An Alicorn, just floating amongst the common folk! You must be the one Paragon spoke of!" The soldier thought aloud, cackling at his discovery. "Oh, he wants you out of the picture really badly! If I bring back your corpse, I'm likely to get a promotion! Come here you!" He pressed Maree against the wall by her neck, brandishing his weapon.
"Why? Why is this happening?!" Maree asked, knowing there would be no answer. "I just want this nightmare to end!"
The Pegasus soldier got ready, rasing his blade above Maree's skull. "Let me help you with that. Just close your eyes, and before you know it, it'll all be over!" He reared back, and started the swing that would end Maree's life.
"MOMMY!" Maree screamed. One final image of her mother flashed through her mind, and then, there was an ear-spliting crashing sound. The soldier preparing to take Maree's life screamed in agony, and collapsed to the ground, releasing his grip on Maree, who collapsed as well.
Maree hadn't watched, and wasn't sure what had happened at first. One thing was very clear however: the pegasus soldier was dead. Maree was just as scared as she ever was, but now for an entirely different reason. As she tried to wrap her mind around what had just happened, she heard a gentle rumbling of thunder over head. It had been a lightning strike! Though she begged fate to show her it had been a fluke, it clealy wasn't. Maree's horn was still warm from the spell she hadn't meant to cast, and she even felt weaker from it. She had killed her assailant.
The mixture of emotions all neutralized one another, and she felt utterly drained. she sat there, unmoving for a long time as she came to terms with her actions. She had, although unintentionally so, ended someone else's life. She thought way back to the freak thunderstorm 5 years; ago her first indication that her mother was in trouble, and she had been right about it. She also remembered when Paragon struck down that poor child, no older than herself, with a bolt of lightning. Both times it had been Paragon, and now she had done just the same. Exactly the same . It frightened her to know she not only had the power, but even the capacity to do such a thing. She really was Paragon's daughter. The realization of that fact scared her more than any other. She had just seen evidence of it for the first time and it scared her.
Twilight was running through the town, protecting herself and anyone she could find against the waves and waves of Pegasi. As she ran, she managed to spot Maree, and immediately headed in her direction.
"Maree! Maree, oh thank Celestia I finally found you, I've been looking everywhere!" Twilight called out to her with relief. She received no reply. "Where have you been? What were you thinking taking off on your own?" Again, there was no reply. Twilighted growled in frustration. "Alright, look we don't have time for this, we need to get out of here, now!" She started to run, but realized Maree wasn't following. She was completely stationary. "Maree! Come on!!" Twilight went back and pulled Maree to her hooves, who finally started to follow along.
The duo were now in a full retreat together trying to escape this nightmarish scene. Twilight started to lead them back to her house to see if Spike had made it out alright, but she was cut off by the arrival of the remainder of Paragon's forces. The ponies of Ponyville were utterly overwhelmed, and althought Twilight worried greatly for her friends' safety, she had no time to check on any of them. With Maree in tow, they fled the town as quickly as they could, just as many other ponies did.
It was not as simple as that however, as many Pegasi soldiers tried to follow stragglers. It was vital that these hunters be evaded, and many in their efforts to illude or fend them off were killed or captured. By the time Twilight had put a respectable distance between herself and Ponyville, only a few ponies had managed to find and team up with her. They looked back at their forsaken home now, a scene of chaos and destruction. Twilight could even see smoke coming from some of the homes; the town was burning. Tears in the eyes of most, and hearts limp as corpses, the long, long trek to the one place they could call safe began.
In Twilight's group, there was about 9 others, excluding herself and Maree. Groups were normally closer to 40, and so their group was quite unusually small. Twilight could honestly say she didn't recognize any of them. They ought to consider themselves lucky, she thought, since she was the only one of them all who knew specifically where they were going; as they hadn't had time to be assigned to a group. Twilight possessed no map, but she knew excactly how to get there, having made the maps herself. This made their journey slightly less stressful, and slightly less dangerous as well.
Maree was quiet for the entirety of their journey. The events that transpired had left her visibly scarred, despite not having suffered any physical injuries. She ate very little, did very little, and didn’t speak at all.
Days passed, and with food limited to what they could find (understandably, no one really had time to bring any food with them) they were drastically limited on energy. By the third day, it took it's toll. While they were walking, one of the younger memebers of the group, a colt named Phoenix, stopped, collapsing from exhasution. His mother, a Mare named PyreFly, stopped to tend to him. The group halted, but only Twilight came back.
"Is everything alright? We should keep moving. Traveling by day, when we can see, and resting at night, when we are harder to spot, is the only way we can keep Paragon's troops from catching up to us." Twilight stood over the two.
"My son is exhausted. He can't keep walking like this. We have to stop." Pyrefly stated.
Twilight replied, gently but firmly, "We can't stop. Out in broad daylight, we're sitting ducks. We have to keep going..."
"I didn't say the group had to stop. All I said was that my son can't keep going, and that we need to rest." Pyrefly said, cutting Twilight off.
Twilight understood right away. "I see... I'm sorry, then, but you know what I have to do. For our people."
Pyrefly nodded solemnly. "I wouldn't ask you to do any differently. I wish you good luck on your journey." She said, dismissing Twilight, who rejoined the group ahead.
Mare looked concerned. "What's wrong? Why are they stopping?" She asked. It was the first time she had spoken the entire trip.
"They're tired. They need to rest. They'll catch up to us later, now let's go." Twilight ordered, and the group quickly mobilized- all except for Maree, who continued to stare at the two left-behinds. The look on their faces told Maree everything she needed to know.
she's lying Maree realized.
"Maree!" Twilight called back at her. Maree looked to see that the group had stopped yet again, waiting for her. Maree looked catching one last fleeting glance at Phoenix and Pyrefly, before following behind the group.
Phoenix and Pyrefly were never seen or heard from again.
End of Chapter 5.
Dusk Village Log: Day 1
We have finally arrived at the designated location, the place we will be calling home for however long this dispute lasts. The groups ahead of us have started to establish a rudimentary settlement here out of tents we sent with them. It was hoped that more supplies could have been sent with later groups; then again, it was also hoped that more groups would be coming. Approximately 3000 ponies have made it here so far; barely half of what we had projected, even with Paragon's preemptive attack. Presumably, many groups became lost along the way, or they were attacked. While Stragglers may yet arrive, as it stands, we are only 3000 strong; and the only known force left to oppose Paragon's devastating onslaught. We have dubbed this settlement Dusk Village; a rather pessimistic name, derived from the unspoken but widely shared belief that this may be the end of our time. I, Twilight Sparkle, have taken it upon myself to catalog our day to day progression, in the hopes that future generations may know of our struggle, and of our enemy. Assuming that this is not the last of our days.
Dusk Village Log: Day 7
A week has passed since my arrival here. New arrivals; stragglers from both before and after the attack on Ponyville; have been arriving continuously throughout the week. However, while the week started with as many as 60-70 arrivals per day, a mere 8 arrived just yesterday, and no arrivals have been seen yet today. I fear that this may be all that is left of Ponyville; a mere 3500 ponies. As of yet, none of my friends have made it here. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity are still unaccounted for, and even Applejack, who I had presumed to have gone ahead during the family migration, is missing. All I have left is Maree. Speaking of which, Maree has me worried, she has not spoken since our arrival. She eats acts very minimally, with greatly delayed responses. It's a textbook case of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and I wonder if she'll ever recover. The Mayor of Ponyville has yet to be seen, and thus I have taken up the position as leader to these lost people. I can only pray I am up to the task.
Dusk Village Log: Day 11
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy arrived together this morning, and I am relieved to see familiar faces at last. This is the happiest I've been in almost two weeks; however, there is still no accounting for Rainbow Dash, Applejack, or Rarity. We haven't had much difficulty with supplies yet; a large amount of food was sent in the first waves, and we are already in the process of foraging through the forestry at the base of the mountain for more. It's a long hike up and down, and i don't envy the workers who make that trek. Not much else to report at this time; it has been almost suspiciously quiet lately...
Dusk Village Log: Day 14
Maree's condition is slowly improving; she at least managed to say 'hello' to me this morning, and even managed a full meal at supper. I had hoped that by now, I could have started giving her lessons in magic, but clearly, that will be impossible for some time yet. Cold weather is starting to set in; the season has just started to turn. Our homes are nowhere near weather proof; it's going to be a long winter. We have established a defense protocol in case Paragon's troops are in the area, where all unicorns in the village band together and join me in a cloaking spell that refracts light around our settlement; rendering us invisible to anyone perceiving it from the outside. I hope we never need use of it.
Dusk Village Log: Day 20
Spike is dead. Today, only 4 ponies arrived; one of them was Rarity. She states that she was travelling with Spike, when they were ambushed by Paragon's troops. Spike protected long enough to permit their escape, but shortly before they were beyond visual range, she witnessed the killing blow, and Spike collapsing, lifeless on the ground. I... I can't quite articulate, with mere pen and paper, the pain I feel. I have isolated myself from the others all day. I can't let them see me like this... an utter, emotional wreck. If I am to be their leader, I cannot damage their morale like this. I... I need to be alone for a while.
Dusk Village Log: Day 37
Maree has become receptive to my lessons in magic as of the last few days; however, we have already hit a bump in the road. She seems to struggle greatly with accessing her magic. She should be past this phase by now, but she can't seem to perform even basic magical functions. Clearly there is some sort of mental block preventing her from succeeding. I must uncover this block and try to get past it if we're ever going to start training properly.
Dusk Village Log: Day 56
Winter has started to settle in; and it's taken it's first toll. The first fatality in Dusk Village's history has occurred; a lone stallion we seemingly knew very little about, succumbed to hypothermia on a routine trip down the mountain. Losing a worker is something we can't afford; there are only so many of them.
Dusk Village Log: Day 63
At last, a stroke of fortune! After over 2 months of this wretched, dreary weather and virtually non-existent morale, we of Dusk Village have been graced by the presence of Princess Cadence and her daughter of 4 years, Symphonia. She is unaware of Princess Luna's whereabouts, as they ended up separated during their escape from Canterlot. These two stumbled upon us by sheer accident, and a pleasant one at that. Naturally, the people of the village have insisted on her taking up a leadership role here; however, due to Cadence's inexperience with leading others, she has appointed me her chief adviser. Realistically, I am still making all of the decisions, she just voices them to the villagers, acting as a figurehead to help boost our spirits. Hopefully, this is some sort of turning point. Still little to no progress on Maree's training; every time she gets close, it all slips away from her. I would have thought, if anything, that training somepony with as much power as her would be dangerous, when in fact it's been rather anti-climactic. I'm starting to wonder if I might have put too much stock in her... nevertheless, I can't give up on her.
Dusk Village Log: Day 77
Today was a very dangerous close call. For the first time in 11 weeks, we witnessed Paragon's scouts flying over the village. We were barely able to initially our defense protocol in time to cloak the village. We have to try and keep this active until we see them circle back and leave. Only then can we be reasonably certain that they will not need to come back here again. Until then, we sit, and we wait...
Dusk Village Log: Day 80
Keeping the cloak active constantly is a near impossible task. We work in rotations, and the unicorns are exhausted. I hope this doesn't last much longer. I can't stand it. I have, at the very least, come up with a theory that may help me get somewhere with Maree. I believe that magic is at least partially dependent on emotion in most users, and reacts differently to each emotion. Infants, who have little to no capacity for knowledge or understanding, are prone to powerful outbursts of magic due to the fact that their cognitive abilities are purely emotional; however, these outbursts become less frequent and less volatile with age, as a pony develops logic, understanding, and common sense. If I am correct in this, it's possible that Maree may still yet be able to perform magic if I can figure out what psychological block has caused her to be cut off from her magic. Then, I can attempt to repair that damage and reconnect her with her emotions. Only then can she learn the ways of spell casting.
Dusk Village Log: Day 82
Today's log will be short. Paragon's soldiers have finally circled back and are gone. He believes we are not in this area, and now it is safe to uncloak the village. We're safe now. I'm far too exhausted to try and test my thoery of magic on Maree right now. Tomorrow. I have to sleep now. For a long, long time...
Dusk Village Log: Day 83
Maree has finally explained the nature of her... incident, with the soldier who assaulted her... I have to admit, I'd be pretty shaken up too. I have to try and console her, and try and make her realize that this wasn't her fault, and that she only did what she had to do. Hopefully, she can start to forgive herself, and come out of her self-imposed mental exile long enough to start training. I would do anything to have a psychologist right now...
Dusk Village Log: Day 87
I've finally made a breakthrough with Maree, and she's starting to get a better handle on her magic. she moved a book from one end of the room to the other without dropping it. We're not exactly gearing up to storm Canterlot, but it's progress, and I’ll take any of it I can find.
Dusk Village Log: Day 116
Today marks a very special occasion; we welcome into our village the very first natural arrival of Dusk Village; a newborn baby filly, born from an already pregnant mare who arrived in the first waves of new villagers. As of today, there is at least one pony in this world who would willingly call this place home.
Dusk Village Log: Day 124
Maree's progress is grinding to a halt again. She has't been improving at all for the last two weeks. There's definitely another block in there, and I have an idea as to what it is linked to; Rainbow Dash. I'm afraid that's something I can't fix. If that's really what's bothering her, I might never be able to straighten her out on my own. I have to pray that somehow, someway, Rainbow Dash turns up. Damn, and I was getting so close too...
Dusk Village Log: Day 156
The warm weather is finally back again, and surviving is becoming significantly less of a chore. We have the time and safety now to build proper, house-like structures out of the trees in the area. Again, I do not envy the diligent, hard working stallions carrying the lumber up the mountain. Back breaking work to be sure. It's become apparent that this settlement is at least somewhat permanent, and so we may as well build somewhat permanent homes.
Dusk Village Log: Day 365
We "celebrate" our one year anniversary today, as Dusk Village becomes 365 days old. Since our arrival here, 8 new foals have been born; by contrast, 19 ponies have died. That is a ratio we can't afford to keep. Something has to change. We need to come up with a plan; something to move against Paragon, and it needs to be soon, so that we can take advantage of the numbers we still have. While we still have them.
Move. Always move. Have to keep moving. step by step. One hoof in front of the other. Moving where? Who knows. It all looks the same. Yet it's always different. Different, but the same. Behind that tree is another tree. Beside that rock is another rock. Have I been here before? Is this new? Am I lost? Was I ever not lost? Where am I going? Where did I come from?
These are the thoughts that frequently populated the mostly vacant mind of Rainbow Dash, as she trudged along in this unfamiliar forest. The time that had passed since Paragon returned and ruined everything had, well... ruined everything. Rainbow Dash had awoken hours after being knocked out, only to find that she was alone. When she raced back to Ponyville, she found the place occupied by Paragons soldiers, the monster himself nowhere to be found. Anypony who hadn't been killed was a captive; soon to be a slave. Despite her shock, she carefully searched the town over the course of a few days. Maree was gone.
After that, Dash fled from the town, emotionally broken, in what she had feared right from the beginning to be a vain search for her daughter and her friends. She set off in any old direction, walking for hours every day, sleeping when she needed to. She almost immediately lost her sense of direction, and could only eat what she found. And usually that wasn't much. And all of that happened two years ago. two years.
Rainbow Dash might not have even realized how long she'd been away if she hadn't counted every agonizingly slow day she was away from her child. The endless travel and horrendous conditions of living alone and on the move had taken it's toll on Dash, physically and mentally. Once, in her glory, she had been a top notch athlete, and able to take on just about anything. Some might have even thought she had a certain beauty even. Now, she was nothing more than a cynical parody of her former self; a walking ghost of something once living, now very much dead in many ways. Malnutrition had worn away at her body to the point that she was very little more than skin and bone, her cheeks deeply sunken and her legs as thin as twigs. It was a wonder she could even stand upright. Her coat and her mane were messy and tangled nearly beyond recognition. Many times, her mane had gotten caught on branches or bushes, and she been forced to tear away; quite painfully; which left her mane an uneven, gnarled mess. Her body was covered in minor cuts and scars from the scratching of various uncooperative plants she'd been forced to navigate through over the months.
It was an endless struggle just to keep moving. Rainbow Dash did not even truly understand the reason why she kept going. She knew that the idea was that she might one day find Maree, but... after so long, she had no reason to believe it was even possible to find her anymore. For all she knew, everyone she loved... everyone she ever even knew, might be dead. And she'd have no way to prove it, or disprove it. She didn't know how to get unlost, she didn't know how to find anyone... she was gone from this world, for all intents and purposes; a revenant who wandered aimlessly in nameless, endless, repeating landscapes.
Physically sapped and suffering from heat exhaustion, Dash stumbled into a nearby clearing. Before exiting fully, she tripped on a rogue tree root. Without making any effort to catch herself, Dash plopped onto the ground, face first, and laid there, motionless. She hadn't even noticed her loss of balanced, nor had she felt the fall. She remained where she was, unmoving, uncaring. This is it. She thought. I have had enough. I've had enough of walking. I've had enough of searching. I've had enough of exhaustion, of disappointment, of hunger, of thirst. I've had enough of life. I will die here. There is nothing more that can be done...
It seemed as though Dash might keep this vow to herself. She remained on the ground, not even flinching for one hour, which soon became two, then three. Dash's mind finally wandered, and her eyes followed. She inspected her surroundings carefully, not that it mattered. She just wanted an idea of what kind of place she'd finally end up dying in. It was actually kind of pretty. This area seemed untouched by pony kind... or by any creatures, really. She didn't see a single animal in the area. Lots of tree and bushes, some of them bearing small, inedible berries.
But this place had, indeed, been touched by pony kind once. For when Dash continued to look around, she noted a stone formation in the distance. She initially believed that maybe it was a very steep hill side, but she vaguely made out that indeed, this formation was flat and flush. It was an unnatural formation; a wall. What the wall was a part of she could not tell through the brush, but her curiosity brought her back to her feet, and she set off to investigate. An unnatural formation meant that this was created by something intelligent, and intelligence was usually linked to civilization. Maybe, just maybe...
Dash pushed her was through the bushes, and finally broke out into a clearing where the wall was, and she was immediately struck dumb. What she had discovered was something perhaps nopony had ever seen... not in a very, very long time at least. What stood before her was a grand stone structure; a castle or temple, perhaps, once glorious and imposing, now aged and decaying. It seemed like it was made for giants; the door was more than twice her height and probably weighed a great deal. Dash was lucky it was already slightly open; she had her doubts about being able to open it herself.
Dash curiously stepped inside, holes in the building and the open gate helping to illuminate her way. The main hall was even more impressive than the outside, As Dash was immediately bombarded with ancient murals which lined a hall that seemed even larger than could be possible. Each one depicted large, winged beings; Alicorns, Dash soon realized; performing incredible feats at different points throughout history. Dash quickly came to the conclusion that these were past ancestors of Celestia and Luna, and she soon realized just how old this place must have been to have recorded these such events. Each mural was inscribed with some writing that Dash could not read; they had deteriorated over time and had become illegible.
As Dash walked along the corridor, she noticed a general pattern that the inscriptions were becoming clearer. She quickly guessed that these were newer, and had not deteriorated as much. After opening an interior door, walking into a second room which was brightly illuminated as a result of the ceiling having completely caved in some time ago, Dash was immediately bombarded by yet another mural, this one large enough to cover an entire wall. This new mural seemed relatively newer than the others, though it was probably still hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years old. It depicted several Alicorns in a row, each one larger and more radiant than the last, with a final, majestic-looking one at the end facing outward, while the others faced left. Beneath was yet another inscription, this one much longer than all the others. It was clear enough to read; or it would be, if Dash understood it. It was written in a strange, ancient language Dash had never heard of. She thought, briefly, that one of the princesses might be able to read it. too bad, she thought, I'll probably die here, never knowing what this thing says, and no one else will ever find it.
As Rainbow Dash stood there, she heard a sound coming from the distance off to her left, in the next room over. She heard what was apparently synchronized hoof-steps, as well as muttered conversation. Someone else was here with her. Instinctively, Dash hid, knowing not to trust just anypony who walked through. Paragon was everywhere, and the odds that these ponies had something to do with him were high. Sure enough, the first pony to walk into the room Dash was in was a stall, muscular unicorn clad in the bronze armor indicative of Paragon's legion. The soldier looked around, Dash hiding among the rubble to avoid being spotted. Just a few minutes ago, Dash didn't care whether she died or not; now, having found this ancient wonder, she felt a certain obligation to stay alive as long as possible, just to tell someone about this place. Of course, it was probably an instinctual preference of life over death fueling her decision as well.
The soldier looked around the room, regarding the mural with interest. There was no curiosity on his face, only purpose. After a minute or so, he called back down the hall he had come from. "General Iron Hoof! You'd better take a look at this!"
A minute later, several other soldiers; an even blend of unicorns and pegasi; entered the room just ahead of an older, grizzled looking unicorn, about 50 years in age, who wore iron armor as opposed to the bronze standard of the other troops. His legs were exposed, all except his front right leg, which was covered completely in armor. The same leg appeared to be injured, as he walked with a slight limp on that leg.
"I believe this is the place we've been searching for, sir. This appears to be the mural Lord Paragon described." The same solider reported to Iron Hoof, gesturing towards the mural in question. General Iron Hoof regarded the mural with the same look the soldier had. After a few moments, he nodded in approval.
"Indeed it is. Well done, soldier." Iron Hoof nodded. "Keep searching, find the other murals, and make sure no one else is here with us. This place is to remain secret."
The group dispersed, and Rainbow Dash made herself as small as possible. She had to get out of here quickly. She watched warily from behind the rubble she was using for cover as the soldiers gradually filed out of the room. As soon as they were gone, she made her move. She stepped out from her cover and peered down the hallway she had come from. General Iron Hoof was there with two other soldiers, making escape from the direction she had come in from impossible. She had to find another way out.
Next she tried the door to the left side of the room where the others had come in from originally. This door led to another hallway that appeared to be clear for now. She took a right down an intersecting hallway; she started down the left again, but immediately saw two more soldiers and backed around the corner. She prayed that they hadn't seen her. She realized she hadn't really paid attention as to what direction they had been going in. Fighting a voice telling her not to risk it, she peeked back around the corner. They were walking away, and their backs were turned. Dash decided to go right instead. She was making good progress until two more soldiers rounded the corner at the far end of the hall she was currently in. Panicking as she saw no cover, Dash barged into the nearest room she could reach; right into 3 other soldiers who were noting some other murals. Her heart stopped for a moment, as all their eyes slowed turned to focus on her. Not remembering how to flee, she simply stood there, bugged eyed as the soldiers approached her with malice in their eyes. Dash finally regained control over her body, and took off as fast as her wings allowed her. Now with both the two soldiers from the hall and three from the room chasing after her, Dash moved like she hadn't for years.
"Grab her! Don't let her escape!" One of the soldiers commanded.
Rainbow Dash took off and started flying; something she hadn't done for a long time; and was immediately followed. Luckily, she could still move pretty quickly all things considered, and stayed a steady pace ahead of the other soldiers. More and more soldiers joined the pursuit as the chase went on; Dash hadn't realized just how many of them there had been.
Dash tried to recognize anything as she sped by each hallway, praying for some glimmer of familiarity that would lead her out of this maze and into an open space she could escape from, but saw nothing. Left, right, left; she no longer had any idea where she was and could already feel her wings beginning to weaken, she hadn't flown like this in years and each stroke was making it harder and harder to breath. She couldn't slow down though, she was barely ahead of the soldiers as it was and knew that that they would kill her without remorse if they caught her. As she turned again she saw something that set her spirits surging, she could see daylight coming from the next turn; she was almost out!
As she turned down the final hall toward her goal, a beam of yellow light arced from the ground toward her; she had forgotten they had unicorn soldiers! Without anything near the agility needed to evade, Dash took the blow in her right wing and began to plummet to the ground. No! Dammit, not now, I was so close...
Suddenly, Dash felt herself be hit by something in mid-air. She was no longer falling. Instead she was... flying again, but in the opposite direction she had been, and not of her own accord. She panicked, thinking she'd been caught by one of Paragon's soldiers, and was being taken captive. She looked to see who was holding her. She couldn't believe it; a face she hadn't seen for years, one that had changed so much, yet was as unmistakable as her own. It was none other than Scootaloo, once a flightless little filly, now a full grown mare carrying Dash through the air!
"Scootaloo? I... don't believe it! You... you can fly?!" Dash exclaimed.
Scootaloo smiled, a hint of smugness in her expression. "I can do a lot more than just 'fly' Dash, check this out!" As she finished her sentence, she tucked herself in, diving sharply under the flock of pegasi who had been pursuing Dash. Before any of them could react, she was already past them, literally bouncing back up behind them, kicking off the ground and flapping again with almost no loss of pace. They quickly turned around to try and catch her, just in time to see her round a corner. She was remarkably fast. Down the next hall way, two unicorns emerged firing at Scootaloo from around the corner.
"Scootaloo, watch it!" Dash warned. With seemingly little effort, Scootaloo twisted in the air, avoiding both attacks, and dove at one of the unicorns. She tackled him to the ground and gave the other a solid buck to the jaw, knocking him out. The Pegasi had finally caught up again, and Scootaloo took off once more, winging past them. As they approached the next turn, Scootaloo seemed to take no notice of it and instead aimed for the wall directly ahead of them.
"Uh, Scootaloo? You're going to... turn, right? I mean, you're not even... slowing down..."
Scootaloo just smiled, that same confidence still written all over her face. "Don't need to. Check this trick out!"
As they got close, the wall started to glow. When they were just a few feet away, Dash saw something she didn't believe; the wall opened up, parting the way to let them pass! How did she do that?! Scootaloo, with Dash in her arms, flew through the open passage, which immediately closed behind them, leaving half of the pursuing pegasi to crash into a stone wall after them.
End of chapter 7
For a few moments, all around Dash was nothing but silence and darkness. She was on her feet again.
"Scootaloo?" She called out int the darkness.
"Right here!" came Scootaloo's reply,surprisingly close. She was standing right beside Dash, and yet Dash couldn't see her.
"What just happened? Where are we?" Dash asked.
A moment later, a bright, green light lit up the area around them, allowing Dash to see the faces of herself, Scootaloo and this new unicorn. Dash realized that she recognized this pony, and quickly felt a smile stretch across her face.
"Sweetie Belle! No way!" Dash exclaimed. It was yet another familiar face, and it raised Dash's spirits to know she was finally around friends again.
"Hey, Rainbow Dash, long time no see." Sweetie Belle smiled. "did you like my little trick just now?"
"What, with the walls? That was... amazing! I never would have guessed... that you guys would end up... saving my life!" Dash chuckled. She hadn't laughed for a long time.
"We're all about surprises. We don't have much in way of numbers, so we use tactics. If you can't beat 'em, out smart 'em." A third voice spoke now, and the speaker quickly stepped into the light to reveal herself. In keeping with the theme of familiarity, this third and last speaker was, of course, Applebloom, Applejack's little sister and the third member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The gang was all here again at last.
"Wow, all three of you are here... This really takes me back..." Dash shook her head, a wave of nostalgia washing over her as she remembered days when her life wasn't constantly under threat, when things were simpler and less hectic. "It makes me feel so old... to see how much you've all... grown." Dash commented.
Indeed, all three members of the CMC were full grown mares now, each of them bigger than Dash. Sweetie Belle was the smallest in stature of the three. She had let her mane grow long and curly and, somehow, despite these circumstances, she had managed to keep up being a beautiful mare like her sister. Applebloom, the medium in size, had become a strong, muscular mare, much like Applejack. She looked as strong as Applejack was. She could only imagine how she actually compared in practise. Scootaloo, once a tiny pegasus with ingrown wings, was the tallest and most slender of the group, with a relatively large, strong set of wings. She had kept her mane short, straight, and simple, just as she always had.
For a while they all just talked, catching up on old times. Dash realized that she hadn't really seen much of them for a long time; even before Paragon attacked Ponyville, she really just saw the CMC in passing, never really stopping to talk with them. It was nice to hear about all the things they'd done over the years, and how much they had progressed. Prior to the attack, Applebloom had been running Sweet Apple Acres with her sister, and Sweetie Belle had begun to study advanced magic, becoming quite proficient with it. Scootaloo had just started to break out as an established Pegasus racer, having come in 2nd place at the Pegalympics when she was just 17; the year Paragon attacked for the second time; establishing a record for the youngest racer to make the medals.
During the intervening time, the 3 had banded together in the darkening times to actively resist Paragon's control: sabotaging his supplies, slowing his advances, even liberating several prisoners on occasion. They'd made a name for themselves, and had become quite infamous among Paragon's ranks. At 19 years old each, they had all finally acquired their cutie marks just two years ago, and how appropriate they were! They all had the initials "CMC" printed on their flanks, which stood for their teams’ name, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. What they had finally realized was that alone, they did not possess much skill or talent, but when they worked together towards a particular goal, there was very little that they could not accomplish. Their talent was teamwork, plain and simple. It was interesting to Dash to see them all now as they were, all grown up. Even though they were basically adults, they still seemed like the same little kids that Dash knew from Ponyville. Except Sweetie Belle; she was the mature one of the group.
"..And so, basically, ever since we've been fighting against Paragon, doing anything we can to slow him down." Scootaloo said.
"I wish we could do more though. Sometimes, it doesn't really feel like we accomplish much..." Applebloom admitted.
"Hey, every little bit helps!" Dash said encouragingly. "I for one, haven't gotten... anything accomplished for two years... other than get lost and... starve myself half to death..." Dash held her stomach, which growled. She was unbearably hungry. "I don't suppose you've... got anything, do you?" She asked.
"No, Sorry. We haven't eaten yet today." Sweetie Belle said, shaking her head.
Dash sighed, then looked around. For the first time, she noticed that she didn't hear anything but them, which was odd. Surely, she should hear Paragon's soldiers searching for them.
"So, where are we exactly? Shouldn't we be... watching out for guards?" Dash asked, regarding the walls around them nervously.
"Ah yes, About that. It's actually a really neat trick," Sweetie Belle started. "Allow me to explain: simply put, the place we are currently in does not exist in our universe."
Dash went wide-eyed. "What? How is that... possible?"
"This ‘room’ is part of another dimension which I have accessed using a spell. In here, we cannot be contacted by anyone from our normal universe. As long as we are here, we cannot be detected." Sweetie Belle explained.
"That's wild!" Dash exclaimed. "That's absolutely... amazing!"
"It's not without it's drawbacks, however. I can only create a portal to this room in a completely sealed and dark room; there can't be a hint of light peaking in. So, the duration of the spell is determined either by the amount of time I can continue to cast it, or however long it takes for us to run out of air. Furthermore, and this should be obvious, we cannot travel anywhere through our universe while we are here. So, this place merely acts as a resting place for us when we need to get away, so if we actually want to get anything done, we have to leave."
Dash shook her head, impressed by how it sounded. "That seems like some pretty... advanced stuff."
"It's definitely a high grade spell." Sweetie Belle admitted.
"Sure has helped us out of a pinch from time to time." Applebloom added. "Though sometimes, finding the right room can be tricky. Especially in this place, you wouldn't believe how many tiny holes there are that make it so Sweetie can't cast the spell."
"Speaking of which, we ought to start moving again." Scootaloo said. "We have to get out of here eventually. We've got the advantage of having shaken them for now, but they'll be looking for us. We've got to get out of here and tell someone about this place."
"Yeah, I've actually only got about another minute on this spell anyway, so we might as well get out of here, so I can save as much power as I can." Sweetie Belle said, as he three of them all lined up. "Rainbow Dash, are you okay to fly? You look hurt."
"Dash had already forgotten her wing, and looked at it. "It's not bad. I only just... remembered it now when you... reminded me. I should be fine." She took a spot next to the CMC, next to Scootaloo.
"Alright, when I dismiss this spell and we go back through that wall, we need to make a break for it." Sweetie Belle explained.
"Remember, we gotta stick together. So no taking off and leaving everyone else behind, Scootaloo. Not everyone can move as fast as you." Applebloom added.
"I'm only doing it to take care of the guys ahead of us!" Scootaloo countered.
"And besides, you do it too, Applebloom. I'm not as fast as either of you, so you both need to slow down to keep in pace with me, got it?" Sweetie Belle looked at each of her teammates.
"Alright." They said together.
"Here we go, team, one... two... three..." Sweetie Belle counted down.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders, away!" They all said together, as Sweetie Belle dismissed the spell. There was not much visible different, since they were in a completely dark room anyway, but Sweetie Belle pulled back the walls just as she had before, and there was the hallway before them, just as it had been.
Immediately, all four of them took off at a top pace; diving out of the wall, and hoping to escape before they were spotted by any guards. Unfortunately, luck did not appear to be on their side today as they were sighted by a guard only shortly after they started running. They quickly darted forward as they heard him give the alarm, but quickly slowed as they realized they were leaving Sweetie Belle behind, and got ready to fight their way out. As they reached the next corner, twin arcs of brilliant yellow light shot out from it, striking the wall behind them. As the unicorns appeared in front of them, horns glowing with deadly intent, Scootaloo proceeded to literally throw Applebloom at them, knocking one of his feet and disrupting the others spell. As the soldier attempted to recast her spell, Scootaloo slammed into her, throwing her into the facing wall and knocking her unconscious. Rainbow Dash turned in time to see Applebloom finishing the other soldier with a buck to the jaw, dropping him cold.
They had little time to enjoy their small victory as they heard the hoof steps of more soldiers coming, forcing them to keep moving. They managed to make it another few turns without encountering anyone, when Sweetie Belle turned the next corner and found herself look down the snout of a unicorn. Before he had a chance to react she fired a beam of green light at him, throwing him to the ground; unfortunately, this attracted the attention of three more soldiers who immediately charged at the group. The CMC began charging as well, Scootaloo carrying Applebloom through the air as Sweetie Belle ran below. As the the unicorn soldiers began firing at them, the girls weaved in and out to avoid them, Sweetie Belle’s own horn glowing in retaliation. As the soldiers put up shields to fend off her attack, Sweetie Belle teleported behind them and fired at the first unicorn soldier, stunning him as she turned to the next unicorn. As the earth pony soldier turned to strike her, Scootaloo and Applebloom crashed into him, and began to pummel him.
The fight was over quickly as the three girls finished their adversaries.
“How many more of these guys do we have to beat to get out?” Scootaloo asked worriedly.
“Don’t worry girls,” Sweetie Belle announced “We’re almost at the exit, these should be the last guards, then we can make our way away from this forsaken place.”
Heartened by this, the girls followed Sweetie Belle past two more junctions till they came to a large gate, pulling it closed after them as they exited the ruins.
"We're out!" Dash exclaimed.
"Good job everyone, we got away!" Scootaloo cheered.
"Not quite." A voice came from behind them. They all turned around and saw a very disheartening sight: General Iron Hoof and about 40 other soldiers were waiting for them. "You might be out of the castle, but you're still in an awful lot of trouble."
End of Chapter 8.
Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Rainbow Dash all started backing up. They were cornered by General Iron Hoof and his men. Rainbow Dash briefly thought about turning back and going back inside, but as soon as she did, the massive gate opened up behind them, and the soldiers from inside the ruins closed the space behind them. Now they were completely surrounded from every angle.
"This chase has gone on long enough. You are all to be considered prisoners of Lord Paragon hence forth." Iron Hoof declared. "Further resistance is futile; you are utterly defeated."
"I wouldn't count on that!" Said Scootaloo, "If I can stand, I can fight! And if I can fight, I haven't lost anything!" Scootaloo stood her ground, a fierce look in her eye.
"I have no qualms about bringing news of your deaths in place of still living bodies before my Lord. And I sincerely doubt he would be anything more than mildly disappointed to hear about four fewer prisoners. If you fight us, you will die." Iron Hoof was very frank about his statement. He meant it.
The other Cutie Mark Crusaders seemed to agree with Scootaloo, but Dash was hesitant. Again, she felt herself clinging to life, despite the belief she had given up on it. Seeing old friends had given her hope again. She didn't want to lose it; and besides, somepony has to know about these ruins. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were significant somehow. The image of that final mural was as clear as day in her mind. Somehow, she knew it was important. Maybe it was the way Iron Hoof had looked at it; maybe it was something much more than that. Dash thought that maybe it would be better if she was taken alive. Whatever torture or maltreatment Paragon would provide; even for somepony like her who had crossed Paragon before; would be preferable to death. But would she really let herself be taken alive, while her friends fought and died? Stay alive, and hope for a brighter future, or die fighting by her friends' side. That was the decision.
As she stood there, thinking, it seemed as though the decision would be made for her, as Iron Hoof's soldiers starting closing in on the four of them. The CMC each took up a position facing the small army around them, roughly in a triangle, with Dash standing in the middle, confused and afraid. Her heart was pounding, as she tried to work up the courage to do what she knew was ultimately right. She had to turn herself in. No matter what, she had to stay alive. No matter what guilt it would bring her to abandon her friends inevitably futile resistance, no matter what torment awaited her in Paragon's castle, she had to live on.
"Wait, I-" Dash started but she was cut off sharply by a voice coming from the forest.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" The voice was loud and commanding. Iron Hoof and his men all stopped and turned to the source of the voice. Out from the forest emerged a tall, dark pony with a flowing, sparkling mane. Rainbow Dash and the CMC recognized her immediately.
"Princess Luna!" They all called out at once. They were overjoyed to see one of their princesses again.
"If you harm one hair on their manes, you'll regret it dearly." She warned.
"Princess Luna." Iron Hoof was not intimidated. "You have managed to escape our grasp for some time now. How generous of you to donate yourself to us so willingly." He motioned for the soldiers to move away from Dash and the CMC. His focus had completely shifted to Luna. "You are a far more desirable prize than those other ponies combined. Soldiers, capture her alive! I understand Lord Paragon has a special plan for dealing with her..." On command the soldiers began to move towards Princess Luna, who stood her ground fearlessly, seeming more annoyed than afraid.
"Do you claim to underestimate me?" She asked rhetorically. "In case you have forgotten, I am an Alicorn, just like Paragon, the only difference being that I am older and far more experienced than him. I wouldn't recommend taking me lightly..." As she spoke, her horn began to glow a deep blue. Iron Hoof halted, halting his men with a wave of his hoof, and waited. Something caught his eye from above, and he looked at the sky. It was night time. What he had seen was a star, but there was something wrong about it; it was getting... bigger?
A second later, Iron Hoof understood, a look of shock on his face.
"MOVE! EVERYONE, MOVE! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" He ordered, he and his men scattering every which way. Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo also moved out of the way. After a few more seconds had passed, a large meteor slammed into the ground; exactly where Iron Hoof had been standing mere seconds ago; throwing those present to the ground with all its colossal force. The meteorite tore a long streak out of the ground, before it eventually skidded to a halt a few hundred feet away. In the wake of the chaos, Iron Hoof stood and looked at Luna, his calm and stoic expression now replaced with one of remote fear. Luna simply replied by cocking an eyebrow.
"Dost thou require any further evidence of my prowess?" She asked him.
In response, Iron Hoof snarled angrily, and ordered his troops to gather around him. "You... I won't forget this humiliation! I might not be a match for you, but the next time you encounter me, you will be captured at last! You cannot evade us forever!" And with that, he summoned a portal, though which he and his troops escaped. Luna allowed them to leave, and eventually she was alone with the others.
The CMC ran up to Princess Luna, cheering.
"That was so totally cool!" Scootaloo exclaimed. "You're so awesome, Princess Luna, you saved us!"
Luna smiled modestly, but then looked a little sad. "I haven't saved anypony, I've only delayed our defeat."
The CMC immediately stopped cheering. "What do you mean? With help like that, there's no way we can lose! Your magic is more than powerful enough to make a difference in this battle!" Sweetie said encouragingly.
Luna just shook her head. "I'm glad I can be of help, and to see your faces so alive with hope is pleasant, but... I cannot help you." Luna said.
Applebloom frowned. "Why not?"
Luna stood there, and looked at each of their faces, hesitating. "I may seem strong, but really, I am weak. I couldn't stop Equestria from being taken over, even when I was with my sister and Cadence and all the royal guards. I call myself a Princess... I tell people what to do, I try to be fair and likable, and I try to run this country by my sister's side... but the moment it's safety came under threat... when the moment finally came for me to stand up on my country's behalf and defend it with my life... I froze. I was paralyzed with fear. I didn't know what I was doing, or how to do it properly. Once Celestia was captured and Shining Armor was defeated, I... I turned and ran. I turned my back on my soldiers. I turned my back on my home. I turned my back on my duties and ran away. How can I help anyone if I run whenever I am in danger? How can I take back my country when I couldn't even so much as delay it's take over? I am not strong enough. I am not strong enough to defeat Paragon. I am sorry, but I cannot help you."
"I think you can." Dash said, finally speaking up.
Luna looked over at the rainbow colored mare. "How?"
"Luna, there's something in... these ruins here... I need you to look at. It might be something... important, but it's written in... some language I don't understand. I figured you might have... a better idea of what it's about... being an Alicorn and all."
Luna clearly didn't know much about what Rainbow Dash was talking about off hand, but she shrugged anyway. "I'll do what I can, Rainbow Dash. Show me these ruins."
Rainbow Dash led them all back into the first hallway where she had first entered the ruins. Luna and Sweetie Belle used their horns to illuminate the way. Luna regarded the walls with a certain curiosity and even... familiarity.
"So what do you think... Luna? Do you have any... information for us?" Dash asked. Luna continued observing the many murals, almost as if she hadn't heard Dash speak. She was quite transfixed.
"Luna?" Scootaloo nudged the princess a bit to get her attention. Luna finally realized that she had been spoken to, and apologized for zoning out.
"Well, you must have something then, since you seem so interested in these pictures." Applebloom observed.
"Well, yes and no, I..." Luna paused, looking once again at the murals, almost as if to confirm her thoughts. "I don't have a very vivid memory of it... it was so very long ago, and most of my memories from prior to my... you know... are dull at best, but I believe... I think I was born here." She finally said.
Dash and the CMC were audibly surprised by this. "Born here? In this busted down old place in the middle of no where?" Scootaloo was dubious.
"Well, as you can well imagine, it was a very, very long time ago... this place did not used to be 'broken down' or 'in the middle of no where.' It was once a grand palace, where all Alicorns lived. Celestia and I were both born here. This used to be the heart of all ponykind's society, thousands of years ago. I can't believe how different it is now... I can't believe I forgot about this place..." Luna continued to observe the murals lining the walls with fascination. "These murals... I recognize them from my childhood... we used to have a book that spoke of each story these murals tell, and a copy of each picture went with them. Like this one here..." Luna looked up at one mural, depicting an Alicorn hovering over a great divide, different ponies on either side. "This mural is about the time when my grandmother once split the land, which was once in a perpetual war, in order to cease their quarreling. And this one..." She jogged down closer to the entrance to look at another mural, Where an Alicorn stood under a great rainstorm, standing before a group of other ponies. "This one is about how one of my great grandfathers brought many days and many nights of rain to a vast desert in order to support a band of outcast ponies who had been banished there in order to save them from extinction. As life began to flourish there, they settled and made a home there. By the time that Alicorn died, it had been transformed into lush, green fields. They truly were gods..."
"But, I'm pretty sure Paragon... mentioned something about... each generation of... Alicorns beings stronger... than the last." Dash pointed out. "If that's true, Luna... then you ought to be... amazingly powerful!"
Luna shook her head again. "No, I'm really not... I mean, I am, but... it's hard to explain... I'm... different." She sighed. "Because of the fact that I am different, I can't ever access my true power safely. I didn't always used to be like this, though... something... somepony made me different. They took advantage of me when I was emotionally weak and..." Luna trailed off. She was obviously talking about how she came about becoming Nightmare Moon, the first enemy that the Mane Six had ever faced together. Luna's alter ego and polar opposite, the Elements of Harmony managed to suppress her a long time ago. It had been a recurring source of guilt for Luna ever since.
"Luna it's okay... don't feel too bad about it... okay?" Dash said, trying to cheer her up.
"Yeah, I mean, it's not like it was really your fault." Sweetie chipped in.
"You don't understand!" Luna exclaimed, but then she just sighed again. "And it's probably for the best that you don't."
A long pause fell over the group. Eventually, Dash broke the silence, and spoke again to Luna.
"There's one more mural... I want you to look at... Luna." She started walking toward the next room. "This way!"
They all walked into the interior room where they faced the final mural again. Luna saw this, and for once she seemed completely unfamiliar with it. That did not bring Dash confidence.
"Well Luna? What do you say about... this one?" Dash asked.
"Wow, this one's huge!" Scootaloo exclaimed.
Luna looked at it for a while, trying to make something of it. "Well, I don't recognize it off hand. This might have been made after we left, or very shortly before. I was just a filly at the time, I don't remember much. But I do recognize this language." She said. Dash felt a little more hopeful.
"So, what does it say?" Sweetie Belle asked, taking the words out of Dash's mouth.
"Hmm, well, that's hard to say... it's written in an ancient, now mostly dead language, called Aliconus Linga ; literally meaning 'Gods' tongue.' It was the primary language of the Alicorns when they first arrived here. It was a highly sophisticated language which was very metaphorical and symbolic. Speakers often refrained from saying things literally, which made it difficult to interpret. Only the wisest and most intelligent ponies could deceifer it. The first ones to speak it fluently where a particular sect of the unicorns, thus earning them a high place in the natural hierarchy of ponykind. they were called Aliconus Osa; Gods' Mouth . They acted as the voice of the gods, conveying their message to the mortal subjects of this world. Believe it or not, this was actually the first language that Celestia and I learned to speak. We learned English as a second language growing up. It's been so long though, I haven't spoken or read this language in centuries." Luna frowned, looking at the inscription intensely, trying to decipher it. "Celestia would have an easier time reading this.. I was still very young when I started to learn English, thus replacing Aliconus Linga in my usual speech. Celestia, on the other hand, was 17 years old when she started; she knows both languages very well. Let's see... well, the first things that stands out to me is that this inscription is... different from the others. The others all recount things that happened in the past... but this one seems to be talking about... the future."
"The future?" Dash and the CMC were all intrigued by this.
"Yes, I have heard that in times long past, there was a very special strain of unicorns who were closest to the Alicorns that possessed a special talent unlike any other. By their own description, they all felt very strongly and assuredly about future events. Their connection with the future ranged from a guiding voice indicating what they should do next, to vivid mental images of things that would eventually come to pass. For this reason, they were kept very close to the Alicorns, who wished to help all the ponies of the Equine world as best as possible, and so they waited on the word of these special unicorns to act. In a sense, you could say that these special unicorns were in the fact the true rulers of the land before Equestria, as it was their premonitions that often dictated what the Alicorns would do to help the world. This went on for many generations, until..."
"...Until what?" Dash asked, though she expected that she might regret asking.
"Well, until Hayperion came to power. Hayperion despised the thought of gods serving the ponies of the Equine world. Rather, he believed it should be the other way around. Thus, he wiped out the psychic unicorns promptly, and dedicated his life to reversing the order of the ponies, reorganizing this once peaceful, holy coexistence into a religious empire, with himself as emperor. That is why our mother hated him; she despised what he was and what he stood for, as she still believed in the old way, which even now is still our way. It appears, however, that some of these special unicorns have survived, for this mural looks old enough that it was made while I was young, but still within my lifetime, which hadn't even begun until centuries after this supposed eradication." Luna finally concluded.
"Well all that's fascinating, but you still haven't told us what the thing says." Scootaloo pointed out.
"Oh right, yes, the inscription. Like I said, I'm very shaky with this language, and I could not give you an exact translation but, hmm... let's see... it talks about... a male. A male Alicorn... and about a certain event, what does that say?... the... something of the... Gods? the evening... the night of the... oh! the Twilight of the Gods!" Luna exclaimed. She seemed excited at first, but then frowned as that last phrase sunk in.
"Twilight of the Gods? What's that?" Appleboom asked.
"I've never heard of that." Sweetie Belle frowned.
"Well, it's always been a hypothetical thing until recently, but now that there are fewer and fewer Alicorns, I guess it's just about time... The Twilight of the Gods refers to a period in time where the Alicorns, having done all they can for this world, begin to die off, unable to continue reproducing, and eventually they leave this world behind. It is believed that by this time, ponykind, under their guidance will have attained true perfection, and thus would no longer need gods to keep them in line." Luna explained. "And that is precisely what this inscription is about. It's talking about the Twilight of the Gods, and how when they are gone, they will leave behind a perfect world. This last line is purely metaphorical from what I can tell. This final, perfect Alicorn who is supposed to complete us all is simply referred to as a.. 'flawless diamond'? Does that make sense to any of you, by chance?"
They all stood around and thought for a few moment. Sweetie Belle spoke up at last, and she seemed alarmed.
"Um, guys... correct me if I'm wrong, but in a literal definition, doesn't the word 'Paragon' mean 'flawless diamond'?"
Everyone went wide-eyed. The realization was almost staggering.
"And... and the inscription... specifically mentioned... a male Alicorn..." Dash could hardly breathe.
Luna collapsed to the floor of the ruins. She become so weak so fast that the light coming from her horn almost went out. "It can't be... is Paragon... really the one they were talking about?"
"Say it ain't so!" Applebloom cried.
"If this really was the message they were trying to convey... and Paragon really is the ultimate Alicorn..." Luna said, trying to sort out her thoughts, "Then.. could it be, that all along, we've had the wrong idea? That all this time, we've been fighting a battle we're destined to lose? Is the world really intended to end this way?!"
"I find that hard to believe." Scootaloo thought out loud.
"I won't accept it!" Dash exclaimed. "I've fought Paragon.... I raised Maree... I have done all these things... throughout my life... that I believed were... the right thing to do... I won't be told by some... stone slab in the middle of... nowhere tell me that... I've been wrong all along!" Dash was getting very worked up, and her breathing quickened to keep up with her speech. "I will keep fighting against... Paragon, because I know... in my heart that he... is a truly evil person... and that he must be stopped... no matter what this stupid rock... says!"
"Here, here!" Sweetie Belle cheered.
"Come on, let's get out of here, we need to find where the others from Ponyville are, so that we can fight Paragon together!" Scootaloo commanded, starting for the exit.
As the others started to mobilize, Luna stopped to take one last look at the inscription, and noticed something strange about it.
"Everyone, wait! Look at this!" She called to others. Dash and the CMC all rushed back over to the mural.
"What is it, Luna?" Dash asked.
"Here, at the very end; there are some marks that... well, they look like someone has scratched out the last few words of the inscription."
There was little relief and much confusion among the group.
"So, what does this mean?" Applebloom asked.
"It means that someone, thousands of years ago, took this last piece of information with them to the grave, and now we have no idea what the true meaning of this inscription is." Luna explained sadly.
"But wait! That might mean that... Paragon isn't the ultimate... Alicorn after all! Maybe whoever did this... did it to trick. Paragon!" Dash said hopefully.
"Or maybe this entire inscription has been an elaborate ruse by Paragon, set in motion centuries ago to make us go around in circles just like we are right now." Sweetie Belle pointed out flatly. "Look, we can't just keep changing theories like this every time we see something new. We need facts, and we need evidence to support those facts. I suggest we seek out those facts and that evidence so we can know once and for all what is going on here."
"But where do we even start for something like that?" Asked Scootaloo.
No one knew the answer.
"Well we have to start... somewhere, guys." Dash said in frustration.
"I have an idea, but it's not one that I like too much, as it puts us a great distance away from home, and it would not be a pleasant place to visit..." Luna said with hesitance.
"Where?" Sweetie Belle asked.
Luna did not answer immediately. "We could try going to Paragon's home land in the southern mountain range, outside Equestria." Luna suggested. "Paragon always holds onto high profile captives for as long as possible, and in my travels I went there to see that there were still some guards, but not nearly as many as there was in Equestrian cities. That tells me that there's something there worth guarding, albeit not much in Paragon's eyes. If there's anypony in the world who can help us, it ought to be one of the prisoners in his castle."
"How long will it take us... to get there?" Dash asked.
Luna thought for a moment. "From, here, it's a little over two weeks each way. All in all, it will take nearly a month long round trip." She concluded.
"That is an awful long time..." Applebloom admitted.
"Well, if there's any hope to be found there, then I'm all for it. Let's get going!" And she headed for the doorway again. Dash had to admit that the idea of a month long trip was daunting, but the idea of having some sort of direction; some kind of purpose; was refreshing. It was nice to be in the company of others again.
They got outside and started heading due south for their long journey. Before they had even left the vicinity, however, a portal opened up behind them, which caught their collective attentions. Form this portal spewed many armored ponies, all of them clearly from Paragons army. Before long, well over a hundred had gotten through. At the end of this small army, General Iron Hoof emerged once again, but this time he was accompanied by another pony; a very large, red-orange Alicorn with a short, curly mane. It was Paragon's brother, Helios.
"There! Lord Helios, these are the ones I spoke of." General Iron Hoof said, pointing to Dash's company.
Helios looked at them with a nasty smile. "Ah, well if it isn't my dear sister, Luna. At long last we finally meet again."
End of Chapter 9
Rainbow Dash, Princess Luna and the CMC all started backing away, fearful of the daunting force that stood before them. Though they had success in intimidating Iron Hoof and his soldiers, they'd have an awful time trying to intimidate an Alicorn. Helios was now among them, with more reinforcements than ever. Over one hundred soldiers were present, more than a match for the small group they had going for them.
"I-...I suppose I hadn't counted on your returning so soon." Luna admitted.
"Well, your failings are my gain, sister. I am here to bring you home." Helios chuckled, seeming quite excited.
"Well, unfortunately, I like being free, like most creatures that you haven't tainted, so I think I will pass." Luna countered.
"Well that's the trouble, you see, it's not so much a matter of choice, so much as it is a matter of time. By my estimates, That ought to be a matter of about 150 seconds, give or take." Helios eyed Princess Luna in a challenging way.
"Well, does your estimate account for this?" Luna's horn glowed for just a second, and the ground between the two groups immediately cracked and broke apart, shaking most of the soldiers down and kicking up a cloaking cloud of dust and dirt. As if on cue, all five of them turned and dashed for the forest nearby, disappearing inside a few seconds.
Helios, who had kept his footing, laughed out loud. "Ha ha, as a matter of fact, it does." He replied, long after Luna had disappeared. "Now for the fun part." He looked at his army, which was just starting to get back on its feet. "Soldiers, search that forest now! I want them all alive! They won't evade us forever!" And with that, the unicorns took off in numerous angles to effectively cover the forest, while the pegasi took to the skies for an overhead view. The chase was on once again.
Rainbow Dash lagged behind the rest of the group. She was so badly weakened in her state that all the activity she had done today had ravaged her of energy. She couldn't keep running; she had to stop soon.
"Guys, I-" She tried to call after them, but couldn't manage the breath as she ran. It just wasn't possible. "I can't... I can't keep... I... as fast as... you... I... guys..." The distance grew between them, and they hadn't stopped to notice her body fading behind them. As Dash continued to run, she felt her leg get caught on some plant, which caused her to lose her footing and fall. She couldn't catch herself, and fell flat and hard. She didn't even notice the pain; until she took her first step onto her right hoof. She immediately fell again, her right ankle alive and thriving with pain. The pain was unbelievable
"Guys?" When they did not respond immediately, Dash panicked. "GUYS?!" Finally, Luna and the CMC stopped to notice Dash and started to walked back to her. Scootaloo was first on the scene.
"Dash? What's wrong, are you okay?" She asked.
"No... my ankle I... oh god that hurts... I... I think I sprained it. I can't walk on it." Dash explained.
"I don't suppose anypony knows any healing magic of any kind?" Applebloom suggested.
"I never did get around to that..." Sweetie Belle admitted.
"Power enough to move the stars themselves, but not enough to fix a minor injury. How frustrating!" Luna cursed.
"Look, We'll talk about... healing later, right now... let's at least get... some damn cover!" Dash commanded. With Scootaloo's help, she hobbled over to an area where several trees were tightly packed together, providing some visual cover.
Luna, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Applebloom all stopped to look and Dash's leg to see how bad it was. It was a bright red color, and it was swelling fast. It was definitely a bad sprain.
"We need to keep you off that leg for a while," Sweetie Belle concluded, "At least for a few days."
"A few days?" Dash sounded worried. "But those soldiers are... following us right now! We have to keep... moving!"
"Look Dash, I've had a few bad sprains in my day, and let me tell, you, there's no easy way to deal with it. It takes time and rest, just like a lot of things do." Said Applebloom.
"But we don't have... time! We have minutes until they... catch up to us!" Dash exclaimed, becoming more and more frustrated with herself.
"Couldn't she just fly out of here?" Scootaloo suggested.
"No, she'd be too easy a target, she'd give away our location." Luna replied. "Sorry, Rainbow Dash, but you tend to standout."
"Then we'll just have to keep moving on foot! Come on Scoots, help her up!" Applebloom declared. Again, Scootaloo let Dash on her, and they did their best to hobble along as quickly as they could.
Despite their pace, Paragon's soldiers caught up eventually. Before long, they started seeing several of them moving by, causing Dash's group to have to take cover again.
"Damn, they're everywhere. I can even see them in the sky." Scootaloo said, looking up to see a few pegasi fly overhead. "If any of them see us, they'll tell Helios where we are, and then that's it." Everyone in the group started to hang their heads, feeling defeated. Dash made a quiet whimpering sound, which Scootaloo noticed first. "Dash? Hey Dash, are you okay?"
She lifted up Dash's had to see that she had started crying. But not just crying, more like bawling, she had completely lost control in just a matter of moments. Scootaloo was shocked, as this was her first time seeing Dash like this, and tried to console her.
"It's just not fair!" Dash cried. "We were doing so good... things were finally... going our way... I had hopes and dreams... and now we're all going to... get caught, and it's all my fault... because I couldn't watch where... I was going!" Dash hit the ground angrily with her left hoof.
"Hey, hey, come on Dash, don't be like that." Scootaloo said, trying to sound soothing.
"Yes, please, Rainbow Dash, I don't mean to be insensitive, but you're going to give us away if you don't calm down." Luna said.
Dash made herself calm down, but she was still crying a bit. "It's just... it's so frustrating. Every time things start to go... my way, something terrible... happens, and there's always... at least one other pony... who gets caught up in my... shit luck!"
"Dash! Stop!" Scootaloo grabbed Dash by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "Just stop, okay? Don't beat yourself up. It's only going to make things worse." She tried to settle down the pony she once idolized, but Dash wasn't having any of it.
Unable to move with all the soldiers in the area, Luna, Dash, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo sat helplessly in the night under their thin cover of the brush around them. It was only a matter of time before they checked their hiding spot, and then... it was all up to luck at that point. But with the odds stacked imposingly against them, none of them felt particularly lucky. Dash, having just then started calming down, spoke up again.
"I'm going." She declared all of a sudden. The statement worried the rest of the group, and all eyes were on her.
"What do you mean, 'going'?" Luna asked.
"I'm going to reveal myself... and fly as fast as I can... away from here. When I do, you guys have to... start running, and get as far... away from here as possible. It's our only hope." She looked at each of her friends' faces, biding a silent farewell.
"But, Dash, that's crazy! Who knows what they'll do when the catch you! It's suicide!" Scootaloo spoke up in protest.
"They'll keep me alive... as long as they can. Paragon and I know... each other enough, that... he hates me enough to... want to torture me as long as... possible. It's going to really suck... but at least you'll be free. That's the important thing. It's better than all of us... getting caught at once." Dash was very calm about what she said. She had thought about it a lot. "Besides, I'll only slow you down... if you try to move with me."
"This is crazy! Dash don't do it!" Scootaloo exclaimed.
"Yeah Dash, don't do it!" Applebloom agreed. Their eyes turned to Sweetie Belle who had been quiet the entire time Dash talked about her plan. "Come on, Sweetie, tell her she's crazy!"
Sweetie Belle waited a log time before she answered. Her lack of worry is what worried her fellow Crusaders the most. "If I could think of one good reason not to do it... if I could find just one excuse to try something else, and to say that her plan was crazy... if I knew of even one other scenario where we would be better off, I'd agree with you two. But I can't. Even though it will hurt us, even though it's not the best case scenario, it's the best option we have. The only option we have." Silence fell over the others. "I'm sorry, but that's all I have to say."
Dash walked over to Scootaloo, who, despite fighting them back as hard as she could, started to shed tears. Dash put a hoof on her shoulder, trying to console her. "Find what we are looking for. Keep the dream alive... and bring us back the hope... that we desperately need. We have a chance now... and I have to do this... to keep that chance alive." The more she spoke, the more Scootaloo cried. Applebloom had joined in, and both Luna and Sweetie Belle had to look away. "Everything will turn out alright. We'll meet again. I promise." Even Dash did not have faith in that last statement, but she maintained it for morale's sake. Dash started to separate from the group. "Good luck, everpony."
"Y-you... you too... Dash..." Scootaloo sobbed. And with that, Dash took flight.
The soldiers noticed her right away, just as she had hoped.
"There's one! After her!" One of them yelled. And they all stopped their searching and turned for her. Perfect.
Dash flew as hard as she could,evading the other pegasi who chased her and the occasional energy bolt fired by the unicorns. The brush made it hard to for her to gain any speed, but then again, the same challenge was presented to her pursuers. As she fled, She glanced over her shoulder. In her immediately view was about a dozen pegasi flying after her, but far behind them, she noticed a few colored dots that she recognized as her friends making their escape. The soldiers hadn't even noticed them. Dash's stamina was already quite thin from all the running and flying she had done that day; she couldn't keep it up for long, but it wouldn't take long for the others to escape. She was practically surrounded in almost an instant. The pegasi caught up slowly from in front, while the unicorns took shots at her from in front, hindering her movement. She finally figured she'd be better off over the trees, and broke through the tree tops. Now, at least, the unicorns could not see her very well. Her wings were worn out and her chest was burning; she was practically choking on exhaustion, as she could hardly breathe regularly. Drawing her pursuers as far back as possible, she could see the ruins again, and she figured she was only a few hundred feet away now. She'd done a good job; they'd have a heck of a time trying to catch Luna and the others now. Just as she was about to congratulate her efforts, Helios burst through the treetops right in front of her like a great, winged meteor. Close to blacking out from her exhaustion and poor oxygen intake, Dash didn't have nearly enough presence of mind to evade him. With a mighty swipe of his hoof, he punched her square in the jaw, and she fell like a stone.
She came to a moment or two later, utterly surrounded by unfriendly faces, coughing, panting and choking on her own fatigue. Her ears were still ringing and she couldn't hear much. After a moment, Iron Hoof came into view, and said something to his troops that Dash didn't make out. A moment later, they hoisted her onto hooves. She remembered her ankle, and kept off of it as they picked her up. Iron hoof forced her to look straight into his eyes.
"The others. Where are they?" He demanded sharply. Dash, still only barely conscious, spat at him. Luckily it was instinctual to be a prick towards these ponies, otherwise she wouldn't have even thought of that. Iron Hoof, irritated and losing his usual cool, stepped aside and said, "Fine, I don't have to deal with you." Now Helios stepped into view, and looked at Dash. She would have been afraid, if she was at all clear minded. Helios looked her up and down once, taking special note of Dash's ankle, and turned away without a word to her. Now he spoke to his soldiers.
"It seems that today, I command only the foolish and the inexperienced." He stated.
"S-sire?" Iron Hoof seemed confused.
"Not one of you seems intelligent enough to recognize a decoy when you see one. Do any of you see the others even near here? Do you hear the rustling of a rescue attempt going on in the nearby bushes?" There was no answer. "That is because she was drawing our attention so that they might escape. Look at her ankle; it's swollen like a balloon!. She couldn't walk like this, so she sacrificed herself for her friends' safety. Honestly, it's quite painfully obvious what happened here." Helios said this calmly, but his expression showed that he was quite furious.
"Those dirty tricksters! Soldiers! redouble your search! Move!" Iron Hoof commanded.
"Don't bother, in the time we spent following her, they've likely made a grand escape. It would take days to find them now, and our efforts would spread our troops too thin. Best to wait until they make their next move. They're bound to try something, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered staying alive." Helios looked at Dash again. "As for this one... I think Paragon would like this one. He spoke of a rainbow-colored mare once, and he did not speak fondly of her at all. We might not be at a total loss here." He chuckled in a way that greatly unnerved Dash.
It had been a few days since Dash was taken into custody by Helios and Iron Hoof. She was bound by chain in a dark cell, and was fed very little; though she had to admit, the little that she was fed was better than she had eaten for a long time. At least it was food. From what she could tell, Luna, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom had evaded Paragon for the time being, since she didn't hear any of the guards talking about them. Dash imagined it would be a fairly momentous occasion for them. With nothing else to do in such a place, Dash merely waited around, thinking about what had happened and wondering about what will happen. She hated being injured; it made it impossible to go anywhere. Although, being chained to a wall helped that a lot, too.
Dash heard guards enter from the exit on the far end of the room. Her cell was at the very end or the row, so she couldn't make out anything they were saying right away. They had hushed up by the time they reached her cell. There were two of them, a unicorn and a pegasus. She watched them cautiously as they opened her cell and walked up to her. Their ever stony faces made them impossible to read, and unsettling to watch. Dash often wondered if they were even really alive. The unicorn walked up right beside Dash, and his horn began to shimmer. Before Dash could wonder what he was doing, the lock on her chain came undone, and she was freed.
"Summons from Lord Paragon. He will see you immediately." He declared coldly. Before Dash could respond, the pegasus hoisted her up to her hooves. Her ankle was recovering, but it was still a little sore, making walking a challenge. She also hadn't really walked, or even stood, for a long time. The two guards walked her out of the cell and down the prison lane.
"What's this about? What does he want?" Dash demanded to know. Neither of them answered.
The three of them continued to walk through the hallways of Canterlot castle, the place that Dash had been taken when she was captured and the new capital of Paragon's ever expanding world. It was quite eerie how little the place had changed, physically, while spiritually, the place was now it's own polar opposite. It was once the heart of all Equestria, the place where a pony could feel safe and happy; now it was the home of their greatest enemy, and the holding place for the only ponies strong enough to fight back against Paragon. They walked for a while, until they reached a large, double-door, and then each guard stood on either side of it.
"He is through here." The pegasus stated. The silence that followed indicated that these mindless drones had completed their current task and were now essentially off duty. With limited stamina and a still injured leg, the thought of fleeing only briefly crossed Dash's mind before it immediately dissolved, based on how foolish the premise was. There was just no point in trying; she knew she'd be caught again before she even made it to the end of the hall, and by then all she would of accomplished would be a waste of energy and patience. She walked through the large double-doors as she was told.
In the room, there was a sight that made Dash's jaw nearly hit the floor. This place was clearly a banquet hall, as she noted a massive table many times her own length in size, covered with every dish of every food she could have imagined. The steam coming off each dish told her that it was all fresh. There a few dozen chairs all around the table, all of them empty. After about 30 seconds of staring at all the food, she finally noticed out of her peripherals the figure of a very large Alicorn who was standing beside her, about 8 feet away. she turned to look at him, already knowing who she'd find. It was Paragon, her least favorite pony in the entire world. Just looking at him pushed the thought of food right out of her head, replacing the image with memories of all the terrible things that she, as well as her fellow ponies had been put through, as a result of his ambition and his greed. It clicked just then what was going on here. He was going to eat right in front of her! A stranger form of torture she had never known, but effective, nonetheless. Her bottom lip quivered at the thought of being held back while she watched a pig eat a feast fit for a king.
"So glad you could join me, Rainbow Dash." Paragon feigned that same smile he always had. The way he smiled, he looked like somepony who'd never genuinely smiled in his life, and could only do impersonations of one based on very limited experience. "It seems like a lifetime since we met last." He casually strolled around the room while he spoke. He didn't look directly at Dash as he talked. "So much has happened since our last encounter, and the world has changed a lot in just two years..."
"What do you want... Paragon?" Dash tried to get straight to the point. She figured, at this point, having seen Paragon so soon, it either meant she was damned to death or cursed with immortality, and by now she had nothing to lose. "You've got me already. Anypony who is or could... possibly be a threat to you... is dead or away now..."
Paragon stopped and stared into the distance. "Well, that's not entirely true, but that's a matter I'll get into later." He replied, and continued pacing. "Rainbow Dash, I've wondered about what I'm going to do with you for a few days now. I've sought after you mindlessly, as though there was some special plan I had for you, and yet, once you were finally in my grasp... I had no idea what I was going to do with you. I thought maybe I'd just kill you, for old time's sake... but it just didn't feel right. I mean, certainly it wasn't the first time I thought about killing you, and if I did, it's not it would have been the only time I ever did it. No, that idea's just not appealing to me anymore." Paragon shook his head, and looked almost as if he were confused, or at least very disappointed. "What would I be killing you for, really? For beating me in a race? For uncovering my plan? For hitting me? Granted that one rightfully pissed me off. But really, that was just so long ago, I'm passed that." He stopped and turned towards Dash, looking directly at her for the first time. "And then I thought of a brilliant idea, one that gives a fair shot at survival, and is a certainty for my own entertainment!" With more vigor in his steps now, he closed half of the distance between himself and Dash. "Gladiation!" He said, excitement in his voice.
Dash looked quizzical. "Excuse me?"
"Gladiation, Rainbow Dash. I've begun a new event I'll be hosting every week, where two ponies enter an arena together and compete in whatever type of match I feel like on that day, and the winner stays on for the next week! The loser, well... they're not so fortunate."
"You're insane." Was Dash's reply. "I'd never agree to... that type of thing. I'd rather rot in a... prison cell!"
Paragon's eyebrows flickered and he tilted his head. "Well, that's too bad. I was hoping little Maree and all her friends might be around for a little longer.
That got Dash's attention. "What.. did you just say?"
Paragon 'smiled' again. "That's right, Rainbow Dash. I've known about their hiding place for quite some time now, and it's the merest of whims that keeps me from bulldozing it right this very moment." if Dash were sitting down, she would have slumped. She was horrified at the idea. "Their lives are as long as yours. When you die, they die. It's up to you how long that is." Dash stood still for a very long time. She was so frustrated that she'd been caught in this. This was something she'd never expected to come up. She really didn't have a choice, did she?
"So what's it going to be?" Paragon asked. "Are you up to the challenge?"
"I..." Dash didn't want to answer. "I guess... I don't have any choice."
"Excellent! I'm looking forward to it!" Paragon said with enthusiasm. After a few moments, while Dash mauled over her increasingly terrible situation, Paragon walked right up to Dash, his titanic frame dwarfing Dash.
"You, know, you're actually quite pretty, I'll admit that. It was hard to see when your foolish pride and your over confidence blotted out the view." He brushed his hoof by her cheek, in a way that would have made Dash very uncomfortable, had she been paying any attention at all. "Take that all away, and strip you down to the helpless, weak and ultimately vulnerable individual that you are, and you're actually quite pretty." He took a few steps, turned back to Dash, a devilish smile on his face. "Or maybe I'm just the psychotic type of bastard who likes to see women cry!" He laughed an eerie laugh that gave Dash goosebumps.
"By the way, you can help yourself to the food on the table there." Paragon added over his shoulder. "I want to give you your best opportunity to win. It's no fun if you lose on your very first attempt because you were too hungry." Paragon finally took a seat and just watched Dash. The conversation was over. Dash stepped over to the food. For some reason, she just wasn't very hungry right now.
Luna, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo finally emerged on the other side of the last mountain in their way. At the base, they saw their target: Paragon's castle. Weeks of travel had finally brought them there, through torrential rain and frighteningly cold mountain peaks, they had pushed through and had finally reached this destination in the hopes that somepony within these walls could tell them exactly what they need to hear.
There was a surprisingly small number of guards on duty, making infiltration relatively easy. Luna wondered if there might have even been fewer guards present than when she first scouted out this area. This idea concerned all of them, but nevertheless, they pushed on.
"So, where should we be looking?" Applebloom whispered as they moved through the corridors.
"I would first check the lower levels; that's probably where the dungeon will be." Luna replied.
They found a staircase and went down. When there were no more windows, and everything was illuminated by torchlight, they knew they were underground. In the dungeon, there was once again very few guards; a couple quick sleeping spells, and they were alone, safe for any prisoners who might still be alive.
They checked several cell rooms; no sign of life anywhere. Some of them seemed dead as recently as yesterday, which Luna felt deeply mournful for. If they had just gotten there a little bit sooner... but alas, this was no time for that kind of thinking. They continued to move along, and found nothing, until they got to the last cell. This one was larger than most, and was designed to hold several prisoners. Though they could not see anything, they heard the faint sound of... soft breathing.
"Hello?" Luna called out tentatively into the darkness. There was no light, and they could not see where the sound was coming from. "Is anyone in there?" She asked. There was no reply, but they could still hear the breathing.
"We need to see what's in there." Sweetie Belle concluded. "Chances are slim, I know, but this might be exactly what we're looking for."
"I got this." Applebloom said, turning around so that her hind legs faces the door. With a hearty buck, the door flew wide open as if it wasn't locked at all.
"Way to go Applebloom!" Scootaloo cheered.
"I could have opened it too..." Sweetie Belle muttered as they all walked inside.
Sweetie Belle lit up the room with her horn, and they looked around the large cell. Several dead bodies littered the floor, some of them having been dead for a while now, giving off a foul odor. On the far end, they found what they had heard from outside. A lone unicorn pony, who's coat was mostly yellow with a tint of green with a long green mane, laid on the floors, chained to the wall, breathing gently. She was awake.
The ground all rushed over to her.
"Are you alright?" Scootaloo asked immediately.
"We're not here to hurt you." Sweetie Belle said calmly. "We only want to help."
"I...I know... why.. I know why you... are here..." The unicorn replied hoarsely, her voice barely audible. She was not healthy.
Luna stepped forth. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am-"
"Luna... Princess... Luna..." The unicorn finished Luna's sentence for her. Everyone was surprised.
"H-how did you know that?" Luna asked.
"I know you all... Sweetie Belle... Applebloom... Scootaloo... I have heard all of your names before... in my dreams..." The unicorn explained. "I... am Marya. I am the one... who you have sought for so long..." Marya tried to move herself so that she could face Luna and the CMC more effectively, but she could not pick herself up off of the ground. "I have a long story to tell you all... And I have very little time to tell you of it... but I shall try my best." She said, as she began to tell her tale.
"I am the last remaining member of a special sect of the unicorn clans... who were gifted at birth with powerful foresight, allowing them to see their better future, so that they might... work towards making it happen, for the benefit of all ponykind." She started.
"Aliconus Osu." Luna thought out loud.
"Correct, my Princess. We of the Aliconus Osu served closest to the Alicorns many generations ago... until Hayperion came to power."
"We know what happened after that.." Luna said sympathetically.
Marya paused for a little while, probably thinking about her ancestors. "After that day, we were forgotten by history, and lived on the outskirts of Equestria... ours days gradually dwindled, and we lived our seemingly pointless lives in solitude... until one day, I was told by my mother... That I was destined to marry an Alicorn prince; the son of Hayperion, our slayer. I did not believe it to be true for most of my life... until I had my very own vision of the same future that they saw. I knew, after that day, that somehow, our marriage would inevitably benefit all of ponykind... I did not know how, or why, but this, I did know. When I approached Paragon at first, he did seem... different. Not immediately hostile, like his father had been. I knew that somewhere in that castle, Hayperion was alive, but he was at least too weak... too weak to ever meet me in person. I had my suspicions from the beginning; Paragon seemed to be be the only one in that castle who looked on me positively. We were married after a short time, and before long we had our child... but Paragon was not happy with our child." Marya stopped again. She looked like she might cry soon. "She was born far too early, and was sick and weak. Paragon was disgusted that an heir of his could be so pathetic..." Now Marya's tears started to flow. It hurt her very much to recount these events. "I understood very quickly. What I was to him... was no a partner, but instead some tool... for him to use to create an heir for himself. I meant nothing. He ordered to 'get rid of it', not even with the dignity to treat her as a living creature. I could not do this to my child, but I knew that if I did not... Paragon would kill us both. Instead I allowed my foresight to guide me to a town by the name of Ponyville... here I left my child, knowing that somewhere near here, someone would take her in, and treat her as their own..."
"Hey, that sounds an awful lot like..." Scootaloo started.
"..Maree?" Luna said, finishing the sentence.
"I knew, then, that it was not my marriage to Paragon that would directly influence ponykind... it was the birth of our daughter. I knew that she would be okay... I knew she would grow up and stop Paragon one day. It was suddenly clear to me what my purpose was... what the purpose of my child was..." Marya looked directly into Luna's eyes. Her own eyes were the most piercing shade of green Luna had ever seen, like two perfectly round emeralds looking up at her. "She is our hope, my Princess. he is our only hope..." Marya coughed meekly. Her eyelids fluttered a bit. She wasn't going to last much longer.
"Sweetie Belle, come here... I must give you something... before I am gone form this world..." She said. Sweetie Belle stepped forward so that she was right next to Marya.
"Place your hoof... on my chest... and wait." She said. Sweetie Belle did as she was told. Marya closed her eyes, and her horn began to glow a light green color. In response, Sweetie Belle's horn also glowed, and she looked as though she was straining herself somehow. After a few moments, the glowing stopped, and both unicorns relaxed.
Sweetie Belle took a step back, holding her head, which was a little sore. "W-what... just happened?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I have given you... the location of your friends... I have known of their place... for a long time... and I have waited until now.. for someone to come here... so that I can convey this message... this last message that you must hear..." Marya was straining to stay awake.
"What is it?" Luna asked frantically.
"The mural you saw... in those ruins. The inscription is incomplete." Marya explained.
"Yeah, we know that, we need to know what it says!" Scootaloo interrupted.
"I erased the last few words... so that Paragon might see it... differently than it truly was..." Marya continued.
"Hey, that's great! Did you hear that? It really was a misunderstanding!" Applebloom exclaimed.
"En ... asperie ..." Marya's voice was just a whisper.
"Come again?" Scootaloo said.
"En asperie... In the rough." Luna translated.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I'm not sure. But I know it will probably make sense later. Right now we need to go, and get find the others as soon as we can." Luna declared.
"What about her?" Applebloom said, motioning toward Marya.
"My purpose... is fulfilled... I have nothing left to do in the world... but leave it..." Marya said. All eyes were on her. "Take my message... take my story... but leave my life... for it belongs... to the almighty ones... who shall come for it... soon..."
Luna walked up to the dying mare. "We thank you for sharing this story with us. We will not allow your life to be in vain." She promised.
"Protect Maree... save Equestria... stop... Paragon... gooo..." And that was the last breath Marya ever drew before she was still and quiet. The others had a moment of silence out of respect for the recently departed.
On their way out, Luna and the CMC discussed the meaning of the last piece of the inscription.
"In the rough... what could it mean?" Applebloom wondered aloud.
"Well let's remember the whole last part... flawless diamond... in the rough... somehow, that addition is supposed to be significant..." Luna said, "Yet, it still sounds like it's talking about Paragon..."
"Marya made it pretty clear that Maree was involved somehow..." Scootaloo pointed out.
"That's true. I always looked at Maree as just another little filly, but who knows, she could be more significant than any of us realize..." Sweetie Belle replied.
"What we really need is somepony who knows the language to read the inscription in full, so that we can get a real idea of what it's all about." Luna concluded.
"Where can we find somepony like that?" Sweetie Belle wondered.
"Haven't I already said it?" Luna looked at the others. "My sister. She's the only one I can think of who can help us."
"But she's stuck inside of Canterlot Castle, and that's assuming she isn't... you know..." Applebloom didn't finish her thought.
"She's alive." Luna said confidently. "And we'll get her back, somehow. We just need a little bit of help..."
On their way out, they had very little difficulty escaping. The hallways were quite... eerily quiet. On the semi-final turn that would have led them to the main hallway, they had to back pedal after seeing several soldiers rounding the corner at the same time. Figuring they hadn't been seen, they decided to turn around; only to face a number of other soldiers who had snuck up behind them. Sweetie Belle yelped in surprise. They had been ambushed! As the soldiers from around the corner reached them, they were trapped on all sides. One of the soldiers from the group behind them stepped forward.
"We don't take kindly to strangers snooping around our castle walls uninvited." He said harshly. "Especially when said strangers are our enemies."
Luna acted quickly. She launched a spell at the wall next to them, blowing a hole right through it that led to the outside. "GO! GET OUT!" She yelled at the CMC. They made a break for it immediately. As soon as they were out, before the soldiers could even react, she cast another spell unleashing a blinding flash, which made their vision go black. Able to get away now, Luna also walked through the openning. But as soon as she did, four armed pegasi dropped down in front of her. With no time to react, one of them slashed at her with his hoof-mounted blade, cutting her deeply across the chest, while another caught her wing. The CMC heard her cries of pain, and turned around; only to see the soldiers from inside the castle recovering from their temporary blindness and emerge from inside the castle to encircle Luna.
"Don't stop for me! Run! Run for your lives!" Luna called after them. With no time to argue, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo fled the scene. They were not followed.
Luna, badly injured, did not resist her capture. "Princess Luna, so you are caught at last." The same soldier from before spoke to her. "Paragon has a special plan for you. I can't wait to see how it goes." He chuckled evily.
"Do with me as you will. Your time shall come to an end soon enough." Luna replied coldly. "You're 'king' Paragon will fall... it is only a matter of time now."
The soldier chuckled, and shook his head. "We shall see."
With the stage set for the last arc, it is time for destiny to converge on our characters. The retribution begins, next chapter...
End of Chapter 10.
Nine years had passed since the rediscovery of the Alicorn castle, and the prophetic message it contained. During that incident, both Rainbow Dash and Princess Luna had been captured, in an effort to sustain the greater goal of conveying these ancient secrets. Since then, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, consisting of Sweetie Belle, Applebloom and Scootaloo, being the only ones able to escape, with the message in mind and their home of Dusk Village on the itinerary, all set out on a long trek, hoping that the sacrifices of those before them had not been in vain. Upon reaching Dusk Village, the small town was ecstatic to hear of more survivors. Though they told Princess Cadence everything they knew, news about Rainbow Dash was kept from Maree. They felt that there was no need to trouble the girl. Cadence was disappointed however, to find that the inscription was not fully deciphered, and that to understand it fully, they would need someone with a more complete knowledge of the language in which it was written. Nine years had passed since then. Now, after so long, it seemed as though the return of Equestria might finally be in sight, as Princess Cadence called all of the leading ponies into the council room...
"What could this meeting be about?" Maree wondered out loud to Twilight Sparkle, who walked beside her as they made their way over to Cadence. In the years passed, Maree had become a fully grown mare of 21 years, and was indeed a beautiful mare with her golden coat and wavy, red-orange mane that she kept all to her right side. She was equally capable in both flight and the magical arts, but Twilight couldn't help but think- silently of course- that Maree had fallen short of their expectations. Maree was a very bright child, who Twilight had done her very best to continue to educate even in these hectic times. Twilight Sparkle, who walked beside Maree on their trip, was now over 40 years old, thought she still looked much the same as she always had, with the exception, perhaps, of a few new wrinkles around her eyes and a slightly dimmer coat.
"She didn't really say anything about it," Twilight admitted, "All she told me was that it was urgent she saw us all as soon as possible." Twilight shook her head a little bit. "I'm worried. It's very unlike Cadence to do these kinds of things without talking to me first."
The entered into the conference room together, the last ones to do so, the other members of the council already present. The system they had put into place since Dusk Village's conception was simple, yet effective; they had a council of respectable ponies who all debated their opinions over current pressing matters, and then they voted on whatever action they should take. Cadence was at the head, and was in charge of presenting said matters to the council. Other members included Twilight, who was automatically a member as Cadence's adviser, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who each represented one of the Elements of Harmony, Sweetie Belle and Maree, who had both been brought in at roughly the same time, made for a total of seven. Though they were the newest and the youngest, they were both intelligent and wise ponies who's opinions Cadence valued. A possibility existed that Cadence's daughter, Symphonia, who was now 15 years old, might join them one day, but she was still too young right now.
"Twilight, Maree, please take a seat." Cadence welcomed them in, though she was not her usual warm self. She had a lot on her mind, and it showed in her face.
They each took the remaining seats, and the conference began.
"Ladies, there's no debating the fact that we are indeed in need of some plan of action." Cadence began. No one added to this statement. "Our retaliation is long over due by now. We can no longer remain in the dark."
"Princess, with all due respect, this subject has been brought up countless times before." Rarity interjected. "And the same response comes up every time; we simply cannot act."
Cadence turned to face Rarity directly. "And what, predominantly, is it that prevents us from being able to fight back against Paragon?" Cadence asked. Her question was rhetorical, but several comments were immediately thrown in to back Rarity up:
"Supplies."
"Numbers."
"Morale."
"Power."
Cadence let them finish before she spoke again. "And this is something we have known about for all this time, yet it seems like we do nothing about it."
"But what can we do? Never mind the fact that we're hundreds of feet above ground level and in a very picky land for resources, we're also far away from our home and unable to help them from here. We just don’t have the numbers on our side." Sweetie Belle Spoke up.
"Which is why I've come up with a way to try and sway the numbers in our favor." Cadence replied. The whole group focused intently on Cadence. "It came to me in my sleep last night; it struck me like lightning, it even woke me up. It's an idea that I'd never consider under normal circumstances, and I know it will meet resistance, but it's probably the only viable option we have right now."
"What is it?" Fluttershy asked.
There was hesitance before Cadence replied. "I want to ask... I want to ask Queen Chrysalis of the changelings for her help." There were several unfavorable responses.
"What?! Are you mad? Have you forgotten what Chrysalis put us through all through years ago?" Rarity exclaimed.
"Yeah, she was a total party crasher! She practically ruined your whole wedding!" Pinkie Pie added in agreement.
"I have to agree with them, Cadence!" Twilight said. "Chrysalis is no better than Paragon! siding with her, if it were even possible, would be as good as a suicide pact! As soon as we were done working together, she'd turn on us! She’s deceptive and manipulative, and I refuse to cooperate with her. And I suspect she will feel much the same."
"Well... th-that's not... necessarily true..." Fluttershy spoke now, taking the first supportive position for Cadence. "The changelings... they thrive on love... and positive emotions... but ever since, you know... Paragon he... well, all I'm saying is that... well... there's not much love left to go around... maybe she could see that... possibly? And... help us..?" Her point was sloppily made, but very valid.
"Besides, I'm sure she can be reasoned with. She is intelligent... not to mention greedy. If we offer something she likes, then we'll have leverage." Sweetie Belle added.
"I still say it's a terrible idea!" Twilight was adamant. "I just... I can't forgive her for what she put me... for what she put us through. Cadence, surely you understand my feelings better than everypony here!"
"Can we please pause for a moment?" Maree finally spoke for the first time during this meeting, and all eyes turned to her. "Who exactly is this Chrysalis, and what have I not been told?" She asked.
"On my wedding day... 22 years ago... Queen Chrysalis and her army of changelings attacked Canterlot. She impersonated me to gain entrance, and used her magic to weaken Shining Armor enough so that the shield protecting the city would fall. After that, all hell broke loose. We were able to push her back in the end, but her threat loomed for a long time. For years after, we would discover ponies who were really changelings in disguise, and we would have to search for the real one. Some were never found. It was probably the most severe direct attack we've ever dealt with, until Paragon showed up." Cadence explained.
"Exactly and that's why we cannot trust her. Please, Cadence be reasonable!" Twilight insisted.
"If you want a reasonable decision to be made, allow us to come to a reasonable consensus. We will vote on whether or not we should send a party to attempt to establish diplomatic relations with Chrysalis. Vote 'For' or 'Against'." Cadence looked to her immediate left, which was where Twilight sat.
"Against!" Twilight declared firmly.
"Agreed. Against." Was Rarity's vote. Then it was Fluttershy's turn.
"I um... well... F-for..." She stuttered.
"Oh please, Fluttershy, you agree with everything Cadence says!" Rarity declared in outrage. She saw that Fluttershy was taken aback, and eased up slightly, but was still clearly annoyed.
"I just think that.. you know.. I just think that anypony's... capable of doing good." Fluttershy replied quietly.
"Well I hate to say it, Fluttershy, but I'm Against." Pinkie cast her vote. "It's not that I think you're wrong, I just think that, well, Twilight and Rarity are more right. Don't take it the wrong way."
The vote was now three Against to one For, and it was Sweetie Belle's turn.
"I vote For." Sweetie Belle said.
"What?!" Rarity exclaimed. "What in the world would compel you to vote For?"
"I spent a long time roaming Equestria during the time of Paragon's take over." Sweetie Belle started to explain. "I saw a lot of ponies suffering because of him, and it brought me infinite joy to help them when I could. But now, all I do is sit here making pointless decisions that don't get us anywhere. I'm not helping them here, and I know they're still there, and they're still suffering! I want it to end, and I want it to end now. If there's anyway I can make that happen, I'm For it."
"And I'm obviously For." Cadence concluded. "So we are currently tied, 3 For, 3 Against. Maree, you had the deciding vote. We will not interfere with your judgement, and we will act upon whatever you believe in."
Maree had already decided, and did not hesitate. "For."
Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Twilight were outraged. "What?! How could you even consider this plan?" Rarity exclaimed.
"Because Rarity, this Chrysalis, from the sounds of it, managed to infiltrate the Canterlot palace and impersonate one of the most influential ponies in the country, and deceived you all for hours, perhaps even days, before she enacted her plot. She fooled you all, and nearly beat you." Mare explained. Everyone, even those who had agreed with Maree preemptively, looked at her with confusion.
"Pardon me, Maree, but isn't that the argument being made against working with Queen Chrysalis?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"The argument being made, Sweetie Belle, is that Queen Chrysalis is not stupid. If she detects that she has a crisis situation on her hands, which she certainly will, she will negotiate, and she will help us. I have no doubt of that." Maree seemed strangely assured of this plan.
"Well then it's settled. We will send a party of representatives to speak with Chrysalis. We'll send three ponies in total, myself as the first volunteer included. Who shall join me?" Cadence looked around the room for volunteers.
Twilight sighed. "Well, I might not agree to the plan, but I will follow you wherever you go, Cadence." She said.
"And I'll go as the third." Maree volunteered.
Twilight looked worried. "Maree, no, you're still young as this could be dangerous. I know you're on the council, but.."
"Aunt Twilight, it's alright. I'll be fine. I want to go. I want to meet this Queen Chrysalis, to know what she is truly like." Maree insisted. "Besides, I can't help but feel that something good will come of my going there... something I'm going to do, or something that will happen to me... will play a significant role in our collective future."
Sweetie Belle looked at Maree funny, but didn't say anything.
"All I know is that I have to be there, Twilight." Maree had made up her mind, and Twilight relented.
"Alright, you can come. But please, be careful, alright?" Twilight sighed again, this time out of worry for Maree's safety.
"Then it is decided." Cadenced declared. "We shall set out first thing tomorrow. It will take us some time to get to he changeling kingdom; perhaps three days travel each way; and we will speak to Queen Chrysalis. I suppose this meeting is adjourned, then." Everypony got up from their seats and exited the room.
The next morning, Cadence, Twilight, and Maree all departed Dusk Village and set off to the changeling kingdom in the north-east. They were almost on opposite ends of the world from Paragon's old kingdom, in fact. Three days' travel brought them to a very flat plain, which always seemed to be cloudy and dark. On this plain, they found an abandonded looking town connected to a castle, which was apparently the home of Queen Chrysalis. This castle was in fact an old Equestrian castle, as too was the town it oversaw centuries ago. It had long since been conquered by changelings. The cause for the evacuation had been listed as unknown, as the encounter with the changelings was unprecedented, and the ponies at the time could not explain why people they knew and loved suddenly started attacking them. As a result, no one but the changelings truly know where their land of origin was, as this was their earliest known settlement in Equestrian records. Throughout the town, Twilight noted several holes in the ground that she quickly realize were dozens of small cave entrances into a catacomb that was probably enormous, where most of the changelings lived. That made sense, since the castle alone couldn't possibly hold so many. It's likely only the more intelligent or more powerful changelings inhabited the castle. The castle itself was in great disrepair; apparently the changelings were not fond of upkeep.
the trio of diplomats walked through the eerily quiet town in the direction of the castle. They were about three quarters of the way there when they detected movement from the holes in the ground. One by one, changelings crawled out the openings like gigantic, black ants. They filed in from every entrance, surrounding Cadence, Twilight and Maree, and in what seemed like just moments, there were hundreds on them already. they all hissed and sneered at the intruders, some of them crawling along the ground, some on top of the old buildings in the area. It was staggering to see how many of them there were. Twilight was already visibly disturbed, but Cadence and Maree tried to remain calm. Cadence stepped forward and tried to communicate with them.
"I am not here in an act of aggression. I am here on a mission of peace. I must speak to your leader immediately." She said in a calm, yet shaky voice. She was a little afraid, clearly, but she tried not to show it physically.
All of the changelings either continued to stare at her blankly or hiss at her, as if they hadn't even heard her.
"D-do these things even... speak?" Twilight wondered aloud.
Cadence also wondered this, now that it was brought up. "You know, I don't think we ever did definitely prove if they were sentient or not. This might end up being a lot more dangerous than I anticipated." She admitted.
Twilight's eyes bulged. "You're just thinking this through now?!"
"Well, they haven't attacked yet." Maree said, trying to restore confidence.
Cadence tried to address them again. "You're leader, the Queen!" She spoke very slowly.
All of the changelings began to chant out of sync, and their voices overlapped each other in a very unusually manner. It was a very strange sound they made as the all repeated what Cadence had said:
"The Queen......n.....the.......... the quee-quee......n..........the....................queen................ ...........queen.........quen-.............the ......th........e......queen the-.....-ueen.......... ..queen......th-................queen.........queen............................the -...een the queen............. ............................queen.........th-...................-e..............the queen...............................queen the .....................queen, the..............queen....................the ...... "
"Yes, The Queen, I need to speak to Chrysalis!" Cadence felt more confident now, glad to know they had some concept of what they were talking about.
Suddenly, all the noise stopped. Though it seemed impossible that 300 bodies could be made to not make a single noise, the silence was nevertheless nothing less than deafening. The very mention of her name was enough to grab every single one of their attentions in a way that nobody liked.
One changeling stepped forth. Unlike the others who appeared mostly mindless, this one had a purposeful look in its eye. It walked up to Cadence.
"Your... names?" It asked in a raspy, insectoid voice.
Cadence was surprised. "You can speak? I mean, you can speak properly?" Cadence replied, answering with her own question.
The changeling made no effort to reply to her directly. "Your names." This time it was more of a statement or command, rather than a question.
"Right, sorry." Cadence quickly apologized. "My name is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, but most simply call me Cadence. The others behind me are my sister-in-law, Twilight Sparkle and my..." She paused for a moment to think about Maree's relationship to her. She knew there was one, but she had never really thought about it. "...My cousin, Maree. We are representatives of the Equestrian Crown, and we would like to discuss diplomatic matters with your Queen, Chrysalis." Cadence was as formal as she could be, in an effort not to trigger any offense.
Maree turned to Twilight suddenly, and said, "You know, that reminds me: I've thought about it lately, and I don't think it's appropriate to call you my aunt anymore."
Twilight was caught off guard. Why would Maree bring this up now? "Huh? Why?"
"Well, if I am Paragon's daughter truly, and Paragon is Celestia's half-brother, as Celestia's niece, I am related to Cadence. And since you're her sister in law... we're actually related on the same generational level." Maree explained.
Twilight was very confused, but she started to understand a little. "So what would that make you in relation to me?" She wondered aloud.
"A half... cousin... in law?"
They both looked at each other silently.
"Just Twilight, then." Twilight concluded.
"Alright then... Twilight."
Meanwhile, the changeling sneered at Cadence. It hadn't really understood most of what she had said, other than one key word.
"Equestrians!" It snarled. The crowd of changelings started to become restless. "The Queen... does not... like... Equestrians!" This changeling, though evidently more intelligent than the others, still had a very limited grasp on language.
"Please, we do not need to start a skirmish, we just want to speak to the queen!" Cadence repeated, in the hopes that restating the same request enough time would allow her message to get across.
"Food is... scarce... Equestrian... is food..." The changeling's expression started to change from that of a sneer to a expression of lust. "Your love... is... tasty!" They were now aware of the fact that the others changelings were starting to close in on them. Even Cadence was starting to express concern.
"Wait, wait! Please, listen.." But they wouldn't. The had food on their minds and they were consumed by their need to consume. Just as they were about to close right on top of them Maree stepped forward in a very commanding fashion.
"Stop!" She ordered. They slowed, but they did not cease movement completely. "Look, you could take our lives, and eat all of our energy away, and you'd be fed for hours, maybe a day. But then what?" Finally they stopped. The changeling ambassador, as it were, glared at Maree. "You'd still die, just the same. we know you're in danger of extinction. We know your food has become scarce, and we know you're in just as much trouble as we are. Which is why we've come to negotiate a long term solution, one that we can both benefit from! All we have to do is speak with your queen. If she doesn't like our plan, then you can eat us."
Twilight couldn't help but speak up. "Uh, That was nice and all, Maree, but might I suggest we re-word it so that there isn't a point where they have permission to eat us, regardless of the outcome? I mean, I 'm really just not a fan of gambling... especially with my life..."
"Twilight, calm down." Maree hushed her elder. Twilight looked like she wanted to say more, but ultimately decided against it.
The changeling looked at Maree, what little mental capacity it had in maximum overdrive, thinking about her proposal. Finally, it spoke.
"...Follow." It commanded, and turned away. After a cautious moment of silence and stillness, it turned back to them and reaffirmed what they though they'd heard. "Come to... castle... meet the Queen... talk." The Equestrian diplomats were all relieved to hear that they weren't going to be eaten, and followed the changeling into the castle, all the while getting the nastiest looks imaginable by the other changelings who glared at them as they walked by casually.
The interior of the castle was dimly lit; you'd think the changelings had something against bright lights. Cadence, Twilight and Maree followed their changeling guide through the inner halls of the castle. Many other changelings scuttled by as they walked, throwing them mean, confused looks. The castle looked as though it was literally falling apart; the place probably hadn't seen repairs in centuries. Dust and grime coated every surface that wasn't otherwise occupied by other such nasty substances. They didn't travel long before they arrived at the throne room of the castle, which was quite crowded with other changelings, all mindlessly bustling around. It was very distracting in fact, and it took the trio of diplomats a minute to notice the very person they had come to see, all the way in the back of the room, perched atop a throne that didn't belong to her. Here, Queen Chrysalis of the changelings glared fiercely at them, locking onto them the moment they entered the room. The other changelings all stopped what they were doing to take notice as well, and again that painful silence fell upon them. They felt the melting glare of Queen Chrysalis on their shoulders as they walked slowly up to the throne. The look was so fierce, that only Maree could bare to return it.
Chrysalis herself bore little to no resemblance to the Chrysalis they once knew. She appeared to be much weaker and decrepit, showing signs of lost body weight and paler skin than normal. Her usually aqua colored 'mane' (a term which they only used due to it's resemblance to that of a pony's mane; it is yet unknown what the proper term for it is) was nearly gray in color, and even her face showed highly pronounced wrinkles. Relatively speaking in comparison to ponies, she looked as though she had aged considerably, but this was merely an illusion; her physical appearance had nothing to do with her age; rather it was the result of her being deathly low on life from lack of feeding. There was an awkward pause after the changeling finished escorting Cadence Maree and Twilight to the throne, so the changeling escort decided to try and explain their appearance.
"My Queen.. they come to speak... with you..." It began.
"I am one with the Collective, just as you are, drone, I am fully aware as to why they are here." Chrysalis replied coldly, her harsh, echoing voice reflecting the weakness her body displayed. "I don't understand your justification for allowing them in, however. This, I am still unclear on." She regarded the changeling with a look that might have killed lesser beings.
"Please, allow us to explain..." Maree tried to speak, but Chrysalis cut her off.
"You will not address me, child, unless you are first addressed by me!" She snarled at Maree, who retracted herself promptly. Chrysalis coughed a few times, and then spoke again.
"Why have you come here, to my home, and why should it matter to me at all?" She asked quite flatly.
Cadence was the first to reply. "Queen Chrysalis, you remember me, yes? I am Princess Cadence, Celestia's niece. We... met once."
Chrysalis' upper lip was twitching at unpleasant memories. "To say I remember you would be a hideous understatement. I live this miserably non-existence because of my failure in Canterlot on that day, 22 years ago. There isn't a single detail about that day that I don't remember, nor is there a day that goes by I'm not reminded of it." She leaned forward, looking Cadence directly in the eye. "You ruined me."
Twilight was outraged. "She ruined YOU? What about her? You tried to ruin the best day of her life! How dare you accuse her of-"
"YOU WILL BE SILENT!" Chrysalis hissed at Twilight, shutting her up immediately. "You will not speak again, lest you marry the idea of having your lifeless husks being discarded in my dungeon after we have all drained you of all the happiness in your life!" Cadence waited a moment for the tension in the air to cool down before she continued speaking.
"Chrysalis.. Queen Chrysalis, I will get straight to the point. I would like to negotiated a truce with you." She offered.
Cadence was confused, and even looked a little disgusted. "What is this?"
"Well, I won't lie to you Chrysalis, our situation has become quite dire as of these past few years." Cadence admitted. "We have been forced out of our home, and most of the ponies we know and love are dead or captured. At this point, very few of us remain who are able to actively fight back."
Chrysalis leaned back in her chair, a more understanding look on her face. "Yes... I have heard rumors on the winds of this... this... Paragon... who has claimed Equestria as his own. This concerns me not."
"On the contrary, I think you'd find that we are indeed linked..."
"There's nothing contrary about it, Cadence." Chrysalis cut her off again. "To what extent and under what circumstances you live are none of my concern. In fact, I'd prefer you all dead anyway." Chrysalis' posture was unmovable.
"I highly doubt that." Cadence replied. Chrysalis frowned at her. "You see, Chrysalis, you need us."
"How exactly have you managed to fool yourself into thinking that?"
"It's quite simple. you feed on positive emotions for sustenance. Now that we Equestrians are in danger of being wiped out, your old food source is going away." Cadence was starting to speak with more confidence. "Look at you. You look awful. You can't be far now. If you continue not to feed, you will die. And if you don't help us restore our people, all changelings will die. Your entire race will be extinguished, right alongside ours."
Chrysalis leered at Cadence, though her look was far less aggressive now. Cadence had her.
"And in exchange for my services... in what way shall we be rewarded?" She asked.
"Rewarded? You need us! Your very survival depends on this!" Twilight called out again.
Chrysalis slowly shook her head. "I do not deny that what you say is true, but I assure you, little girl, that I will live more than long enough to see you die at my feet, and I warn you, I can be a very spiteful person. I won't just work for you for nothing."
Cadence sighed. Chrysalis had her now, too. "Alright then. What do you want?"
Chrysalis thought for a moment, and for the first time since they had been there, she smiled. It was a much more subtle, more sly smile than Paragon's.
"Sacrifice." Was all she said.
Cadence shivered at the sound of that morbid word. "S-sacrifice..? What exactly do you mean by that?" She was afraid to ask, and far more afraid of the answer.
"My people hunger... they need sacrifice... to feed them..." Chrysalis fantasized about the idea, licking her lips.
"That is absolutely out of the question!" Twilight interrupted yet again. "We would never offer up our own people for such a cruel fate! It's madness!"
"Twilight, please..." Cadence tried to silence her. "In theory, how many ponies would we be talking about?" Cadence asked.
"Are you kidding? You can't seriously be thinking about this!" Twilight was appalled.
"It takes many ponies to feed many changelings..." Chrysalis' reply was deliberately vague.
"What would you get out of one couple? Directly linked and together, they would produce far more love for you to consume than individuals."
Chrysalis furrowed her brow, and looked as if in disbelief. "A couple? That is but a drop in the bucket for my numbers! Why, I would need new sacrifices daily for that to have any effect!" She exclaimed.
I will need to confer on this matter, please give us a moment." Cadence turned to face Twilight and Maree.
"Personally I think this plan is absolutely crazy!" Twilight exclaimed. "We can't even entertain this offer."
"Well to be fair, it's only a matter of feeding off emotional energy." Maree pointed out.
"Yeah, and besides, Shining Armor was exposed to Chrysalis' influence for days before we stopped her, and he recovered just fine." Cadence added.
"I'd still rather deal with her for a few days than deal with their entire army for 5 minutes." Twilight countered.
"And I agree, daily is too often. I think I can fight that." Cadence relented. "Other than that I don't we really have much choice."
Twilight hated the fact that she had to agree, logically. "It's such a horrible situation we are in..."
They all turned back to face Chrysalis, who was clearly enjoying her new position of power.
"We have discussed the situation.." Cadence began. "And we have determined that a new couple each and every day is more than we can allow. At most, I can only offer you a maximum of 200 per year. No more."
Chrysalis did not like this at all. "Then there is no deal!" She declared.
"Well if that's the way you see it.." Cadence turned around, headed for the exit. "Twilight, Maree, let us go. we can do nothing more here." The all walked together. There was tension in the air, as the two battled each others's wits. both needed each other out of sheer survival necessity, yet neither would budge on their deal. It all came down to a game of chicken to see who would duck first.
"Wait!" Chrysalis called after them. She sighed, realizing she had lost. "Very well. 200 sacrifices per year. She accepted. "But there is something else I shall have in exchange!"
Cadence was immediately suspicious. "What is it?"
Chrysalis smiled that grim smile again. "A husband. I wish to be married into the royal family, so that I have a place in line for the throne."
Ignoring all other absurdities with that request, the first thing that jumped to mind, oddly enough was, "But... there aren't any male heirs to the throne right now!"
Chrysalis seemed a little bit disappointed, but quickly counter offered. "Then I suppose I'll just have to settle for the next best thing... a wife..."
Cadence, Twilight, and Maree all looked at each, not sure if any of them had heard that entirely right. Before any of them had the chance to ask the obvious question, another changeling entered the room... or rather, a changeling like creature. He was definitively male, unlike most changelings (Chrysalis not withstanding) who were neutral in gender, and was much more robust looking with a fuller body than Chrysalis. His mane was the same color, but his horn was straight, not warped like most changelings. He only had fangs on his upper jaw, and his eyes were grayer than Chrysalis' hair.
"A wife... for my son, Prince Argon." She finished her sentence.
Prince Argon walked up beside her mother's throne. "You called me through the Collective, mother. What is it you would ask of me?" His voice was deep like thunder, loud enough that the vibrations shook the Equestrians a little.
"My Prince, I may have found a possible suitor for you..." Chrysalis told him, and then spoke again to Cadence. "So, what will it be, my Equestrian friends? Who shall wed my son?"
There was silence for a moment. Cadence was unusually quiet, and the look on her face told Twilight exactly what she was feeling. Twilight realized quickly that the only other suitor of full blood, really, was Cadence's daughter, Symphonia. At only 15 years of age, she was much too young to be sworn off to anyone for life. Twilight decided that she wouldn't let her be forced into something like this, and decided that she would stand in. Chrysalis would never have to know about Cadence's daughter. As A sister in law, Twilight can lay claims to the throne if all those before her in line are either deceased or willing abdicate responsibility. Under these circumstances, that seemed likely. Twilight stepped forward.
"Chrysalis, I-"
"I'll do it." Maree cut her off. All eyes were on Maree in an instant. "I will marry Prince Argon."
All eyes were on Maree. Her statement had come out of nowhere. Just a moment before Twilight could volunteer herself to seal the deal between the Equestrians and the Changelings, Maree cut her off, offering herself instead.
"Maree, No! What are you thinking, are you crazy?!" Twilight was saying.
Chrysalis ignored Twilight, and now focussed her attention on Maree. "And just who are you, exactly?"
"My name is Maree," she replied, "And although I don't like to admit it, I am the biological daughrer of Paragon. As such, I am by extension Celestia's niece, and and after Cadence I am the next in line for Equestria's throne." Maree said this with confidence, though on the inside, she was only just now realizing the gravity of that truth. I'm royalty... just like Mom said... I really am a princess...
"Fascinating..." Chrysalis rubbed her "hooves" together (again, a word used for lack of a better one) in thought. "Yes, I think that will do just fine... Argon, what do you think?" She turned to face her son, who looked Maree up and down with interest. He smiled, clearly happy with the beautiful mare he saw his two top fangs clearly visible in his mouth. And then something happened that made Maree do a double-take: Argon's eyes spontaneously changed color from a dull grey to solid red. Maree looked to her peers for some sort of confirmation, checking if any of them had seen what she had seen. Neither of them showed any indication of noticing it.
"Ah, yes, I can feeling your thoughts... I am glad you are pleased... Now that we have that we are in agreement, I suppose we should affirm our trust..." Queen Chrysalis got up slowly from her throne and approached the Equestrians. "What shall you give me to prove your trustworthiness?"
Cadence and the others all exchanged glances. "What did you have in mind?" Cadence asked meekly.
"It has been some time since I fed... your love... is strong... it would make a fine meal..." She chuckled under her breath. Cadence was, of course, reasonably hesitant. "Don't worry, I won't suck you dry... I just want a little snack is all..." She stepped closer to Cadence, who was shaking a bit. She had no idea what it felt like being drained by a changeling, and she wasn't really up to finding out. But she really didn't have a choice.
"A-alright... do what you have to do..." She looked away, eyes closed, bracing herself for whatever was going to happen to her.
Chrysalis barred her teeth in anticipation, a wild grin on her face. Her mangled horn started to glow, and a green silhouette appeared over Cadence. Gradually, little bits of Cadence's energy starting to collect in Chrysalis' horn as she drained her of her love, and of her life energy. It was slow at first, but it gradually picked up speed, and Cadence became visibly weaker. Her knees buckled, and she started to fall to the ground, panting and groaning in exhaustion. She put a hoof to her head, apparently suffering from some sort of headache as a result. Chrysalis, meanwhile, was going through some transformation; the sickly look she had taken up before began to fade, and gave way to brighter colors and more youthful, energetic features. Her skin darkened, her mane was restored, and the wrinkles evapourated. Still she continued, however, her eyes shut; clearly lost in her ecstasy. Cadence couldn't take much more; she was completely on the ground, and even her shoulders were sagging.
"Stop! You're going to hurt her!" Twilight pleaded. Maree just watched, trying to remain calm. It hurt her to see family suffering like this, but she'd been taught how to appear strong, even when you weren't.
Chrysalis, broken from her trance by Twilight's pleading, snapped to attention, abruptly ending her spell. She breathed in deep through her nose, and sighed heavily. The former and true Queen Chrysalis had been restored.
"Hm hm hm... sometimes, I get a little carried away... lucky you had your friends there to stop me..." CHrysalis said over her should as she returned to her throne.
Cadence was left on the floor, gasping and panting. "Are you alright?" Twilight was at her side, trying to support her.
"I feel... I feel awful... sad... hated... physically, I don't feel much different, but I'm just so... miserable all of a sudden, I..." Her voice was trembling, and a single tear rolled down her cheek, she caught it in her hoof, and looked at it as though she'd never seen it. "What is wrong with me... I can't control myself..."
"Come on ,we need to get you to your hooves and into a bed." Maree said, helping Cadence up.
Chrysalis looked out a window, perhaps somehow able to read the time of day, despite a constant cloud coverage making that nearly impossible. "Why don't we find a room for our guests? Battle strategies can wait until tomorrow..." Several escorts circled around the Equestrians, and started to guide them away from the throne room. Maree looked one last time at Argon, who sill watched her with that flirtatious smile, and for some reason, she felt a chill roll up her spine.
"Maree, what is the matter with you? Why would you do something like that?" Twilight demanded to know, in a harsh whisper.
"I didn't want anyone else to have to give up their lives for this cause, I felt it was the right thing to do."
"The right thing to do?!" Twilight exclaimed under her breath. "Maree, I'm almost middle aged at this point, I would have been the perfect candidate for this!" Twilight argued. "You're young, Maree, very young. And you have a long, long life ahead of you."
"She is right, Maree, you shouldn't have just jumped in like that without talking or at least thinking it over." Cadence agreed.
"Well, there's more to it than just wanting the best for you guys..." Maree said. "It's... it's very difficult to explain, but the momenet I saw Argon, I just... I don't know..."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "You better not tell me you 'fell in love with him at first sight,' or I'm going to smack you."
"No, that's not it at all!" Maree replied. "I mean, don't get me wrong... for a changeling, he's a pretty handsome stallion, but there was something else compelling me to act... I just knew somehow, that being with him would be good... that inevitably, somehow, the world will benefit from our union." She tried to explain.
"That's sounds an awful lot like the story that Sweetie Belle told me about Marya and Paragon..." Cadence pointed out.
"Maybe one day, about 20 or so years from now, you'll give birth to Argon's child, who will then inevitably grow up to kill Argon." Came Twilight's 'input.'
"That wasn't funny, Twilight." Cadence muttered.
"All I'm saying, Maree, is that you're behavior lately is... very unlike you. You're being reckless and impulsive, like..." Twilight trailed off.
"Like who?" Maree wondered.
"...You're starting to remind me of your mother... of Rainbow Dash."
Maree was quiet, and hung her head a little. She hadn't seen her mother in over half of her life. Han't even talked about her for years. She tried not to feel pain for her absence, for it seemed that she might never see her again, but it still bothered her the way it had happened. So sudden, no goodbyes... she left her there with Paragon. She turned around and ran for her life. She'll never forget that fear... that shame... and she'll never forget Rainbow Dash, her only true mother as far as she was concerned.
The trio walked in silence, escorted by the chagnelings, and were eventually led to a hallway where they were each assigned a room.
"Stay... here. Sleep... here." One of the changelings said, clearly one of the slightly more intelligent changelings. The other's bore no distiguishable expression, as though they were but mindless beasts. Twiligh and Cadence both nodded in thanks as they walked into their respective rooms, but Maree remained.
"I'm... not tired at this time. I'd like to remain out here."
The smarter changeling hissed first, followed shortly by the others who did so only in response to the first's reaction.
"If you must, you can follow me to ensure I am not causing trouble. I simply do not want to go to bed yet."
After a moment or two of thought, the changeling relented, seeing no harm to it inevitably, and they followed behind Maree as she explored. Occasionally she would stop to look at a door, but would have her curiosity cut off by the changeling guide cautioning her. "Not here, not here!" It would hiss, and she would move on.
Eventually Maree found herself on a balcony one floor above the throne room that whatever leader once lived in this castle so many years ago might have used to address the public. She looked out into the ruined kingdom, the changelings from inside long gone under ground. She wondered offhandedly just how large those tunnels were, and how many changelings there were... too many to counted, she figured. The sight of the kingdom was both depressing and fascinating. It was a historically significant sight... or at least, it might have been if anyone had remembered it. Somehow, this whole kingdom disappeared essentially overnight... no one ever knew why,and no one who was sent to investigate ever came back. It was a truly mysterious place, until about 20 years ago, when a successful search did take place, and the true nature of this kingdom had been discovered. The thought of it all made Maree think about home; not any home in particular, just the concept of it. What was home, really? Some would argue that home is where you were born, where you came from. After all, they call the place you were born your "hometown" so it would only make sense. But what about where you lived? SO one would argue that Maree had spent more time in Dusk Village than Ponyville, and some would argue, by that logic, that Dusk Village was her home. And besides, Twilight was born in Canterlot. Did that make Canterlot her true home? All of her friends and the very place she had lived was in Ponyville, but her family was in Canterlot. But then, what about Dusk Village? Did she really have a home at all? did any of them? Were they all homeless? Maree thought to herself for a long time. She eventually decided that you were only truly homeless if you thought you were, because home was wherever you made it.
"Like the view?"
Maree jumped and spun around when she heard the voice. It was Prince Argon.
"Prince Argon. Good evening." Maree kept a neutral expression. She'd never met Argon before, and had to remain cautious around him. Just being near him made her... uneasy, somehow, and she couldn't explain why, even though she knew that somehow, Argon was going to play a role in this change...
"I thought you were going to bed." Argon walked over beside Maree. As he passed the changelings who had escorted Maree, he glanced at them briefly. His mouth was silent, but his eyes said "go" and so they did, leaving the two of them alone on the balcony.
"I am not yet tired." Maree felt herself become alarmingly tense as Argon approached her for no reason that she could discern. As far as she could tell, on a conscious level, he was presenting himself as a non-aggressive, and non-threatening individual, yet there was just something about him...
"I'm not complaining, of course." Argon flashed a grin in Maree's direction, those piercing red eyes staring at her. "It gives us a chance to talk."
"About… what in particular?" Maree was becoming more tense by the moment. She was even developing a shortness of breath, and sweat was starting to form on her brow.
"Nothing in particular. Just common chatter. Getting to know one another. After all, if we are to wed some day, we may as well know a little bit about each other."
Maree tried to control her outrageous emotions, so that she could at least try to entertain in this conversation. "Well... what do you want to know?"
"Well, I suppose you could start with your name. You know mine. It started with an "M" I believe, but I didn't quite catch it." Argon tried to appear friendly, and took another step towards Maree, but Maree reflexively took another step make to maintain a distince. She didn't want him any closer than he already was, and he was clearly affected by that.
"I... my name is Maree."
"Ah, yes, Maree. What a lovely name... Maree, I feel a lot of passion surrounding you... and yet, there is also fear... vulnerability..."
"I beg your pardon?"
"Argon shook his head as if waking from a nap. "My apologies. I have a special gift... one that let's me feel the emotions of those near me. If you are uncomfortable with this, I will try and refrain from doing so."
Maree become even more unsettled knowing this. Surely, he knew how she was feeling; even if neither of them could explain why; so why does he continue to press on like this?
"If it's all the same to you, I prefer to keep my thoughts just that." Maree replied.
"Very well." Argon smiled, trying to assure Maree of his sincerety, but it just perpetuated the growing fear inside her. Yes, he had said it, it was fear... but she also felt... anger? Why was she angry? Now she felt even slightly guilty, and that was the weirdest part of all, almost as if she felt guilty for all the inexplicable emotions she felt in his presence.
"So, since I can't read your thoughts, could I at least ask you questions about your life? Where you grew up, what it was like?"
Maree tried to push her strange thoughts out of her mind as best she could so she could answer him properly. "I... I suppose there isn't... much to say, really. I grew up with my adopted mother, Rainbow Dash, in Ponyville. I lived there until I was about 10 years old, and that's when Paragon attacked us. I've been forced to live in Dusk Village ever since." Maree didn't feel it necessary to give him all the details. "It's a short story, but that's basically the whole of it. What about you?"
As soon as she asked; as soon as Argon tried to recall his past; a cold wave washed over Maree. The fear, anger, and sadness she had felt before doubled in it's intensity, and was now supplimented by mourning and sorrow. Argon's expression did not change, but his thoughts clearly did.
"I suppose my story isn't much more interesting. I've lived here for whole life of 31 years, in this very castle. I've never met an Equestrian in person, but my mother speaks of them. Not too fondly I might add. Though I don't understand why, based on what I've seen in you, Equestrians seem like kind and decent ponies to me." He smiled at Maree again, that same unnerving, fanged smile. "Though, that might just be why she doesn't like you. We're very different, my mother and I. For all the love she consumes, she doesn't seem to understand it very well. But perhaps that's not her fault..."
Again, an intense wave of emotion washed over Maree, and she visibly shuddered. She couldn't stand being near Argon anymore.
"Maree? Are you alright?"
Maree gave her head a shake to try and clear her mind. "I'm... I'm fine, but I think I want to go to bed now, I... I'm getting tired."
"But we've only been out here a few minutes."
"I... I need to go..." Maree stormed away, trying to escape the terrible feelings that had been settling in her mind. It was intoxicating, and she was barely able to function properly. She even accidentally bumped into the doorway frame on her way out. Argon apparently did not follow her, as her mind began to clear.
When Maree was finally back in her room, she felt relieved. So relieved, in fact, that it was like she had never felt anything in the first place.
"What the hell is wrong with me?!" She exclaimed out loud.
It was the most bizzare phenominon she had ever experienced. Only in Argon's presence did she feel like she did. but when she did start to feel strange, it was... choking. She had never felt so awful... so negative... in her life. Something was definitely wrong with Argon. There was something unusual going on inside of his mind. Just as she was starting to get over herself, she felt that strange, negative energy consume her again. She looked toward her door, and sure enough, a moment later, there was a knock. She forced herself to answer it, and just as she had expected, it was Prince Argon.
"Argon, please, we can talk more tomorrow. I'm really very, very tired..." She tried to close the door, but he blocked it with one of his legs. It took all of her willpower to avoid pressing it as hard as she could to crush his leg.
"I just wanted you to know that once we have finished our planning tomorrow, I'll be accompanying you on your way back." Argon said through the crack in the door.
Dammit!
"Very well then, thank you. Good night, Argon."
"Good night."
She closed the door as he left much harder than she had intended to.
End of Chapter 12.
The plan that the Equestrians and Queen Chrysalis formed together was simple, but effective. The changelings, with their unique ability to shape-shift, would infiltrate the ranks of Paragon's soldiers, impersonating them, and would wait until they were spread wide across the particular region they intended to attack, be it a city or some sort of labor camp. Then, with their ability to silently communicate with each other simultaneously; what they called the "Collective," they would all create a disturbance that would distract them from the Equestrians who would then move in and begin the attack. The hope is that the Equestrians would have a strong foothold by the time the Changeling's decoy wore off, so that the mission could be carried out successfully. As more ponies are freed, their numbers would increase, giving them the liberty to participate in more complex strategies aimed at larger targets. The only trouble was that as a result of the nature of this plan, the changeling mortality rate would presumably be quite high; despite this, Queen Chrysalis seemed almost completely unaffected.
They plotted out an approximate path they should take for the time being, based on the size of certain camps/towns, their proximity to each other, and the level of security they had. It was decided that to maximize the effectiveness of their attacks, the first few missions should be carried out almost simultaneously; which was easily done with the changelings; so that they could liberate a large number of ponies before Paragon discovers what they are really doing, and begins to deploy countermeasures. After that, a relatively long hiatus should be taken to wear down his patience, and then after maybe a few weeks, they hit him again from the opposite end that they struck from originally, since he will probably shift his soldiers toward the direction they were attacking from.
The entire time they discussed battle strategy, Argon kept talking to Maree; what his intentions were she couldn't be sure of, whether he just wanted to get to know her, if he was flirting in some way, or if perhaps there was something else going on entirely, she didn't know. All Maree knew was that it bothered her more and more every minute she spent with him, and she just didn't know why; there was something about him being near her that made her feel terrible in many inexplicable ways.
Argon's role in the scenario was essentially that of a spotter, to indicate to his changelings what to do, where to do it, and when. That was the purpose of him going back with Maree, Cadence and Twilight; to scout out the first target, so that the changelings would know what to do when they attacked. Once the plan was set and solid, the team of four, consisting of Maree, Twilight, Cadence, and Argon, set off towards Dusk Village, from which they would begin their attack. Finally, they were just days away from their first attack, a notion that filled them with both anticipation and nervousness.
They did not set out until near-evening of the first day, and so they did not get very far. They spoke very little to each other, except for Argon who attempted to talk with Maree frequently. Maree replied minimally, consciously avoiding his company. The less she spoke to him, the more comfortable she was. After just a few hours, they all set up their tents and packed it in for the night. Argon had no tent, and therefore had to sleep outside. He did not mind, however; he claimed he did it often of his own free will, provided the weather held up.
The second day, Argon's persistence was starting to wear down Maree's patience. She could not account for her negative feelings, but she knew when someone was being just plain irritating, and Argon was starting to get to that point. He went on and on about the changelings, his mother, himself, and occasionally he broke to ask Maree questions, to which she usually replied with as few words as she could.
"...And so through the Collective, all changelings are able to share a common pool of knowledge and intellect; any information gathered by one is shared by all. Of course, there are exceptions..." he was saying, "My mother controls the Collective, and therefore she can manipulate it, removing any useless or private information from it, and I've even heard of her being able to falsify information, however that would be much harder to do than removing information. And I would be able to tell the difference. I am another exception to the rule, and my reason is just as unique..." He turned to face Maree, and she could tell he was about to ask her another question. Just feeling his stare was bad enough when she didn't even face him. "It must be a very different experience with your kind, when you can't tell what those around you are thinking, Maree. Does it bother you, knowing that you can't determine when someone is lying to you?"
Mare glanced up at him. His blood-red eyes were fixated on him, waiting for a response. And those fangs... those top fangs, made him look like some sort of vampire, waiting to strike bite into his prey.
"As a matter of fact... yes, that does bother me at times..." She replied, not looking at him. Then she actually turned to face him and said, "Listen, Argon... I don't mean to be rude but I... there's a lot on my mind right now and I really just don't feel like talking, so please just... leave me alone, alright?" Maree started to walk away, but Argon cut her off. He was physically very close to her, and it made Maree shiver.
"Forgive me, Maree, but I thought that since you agreed to marry me, we could at least talk a little, and get to know each other. If I'm wrong, then please correct me." He said.
Maree, now uncomfortably close to Argon, could not even look him in the eye when she replied, "Argon, please, just drop it, alright?" She said this as sternly as she could with her whole body trembling from who-knows-what. Maree was now aware that Cadence and Twilight had stopped several paces ahead of them, but had not chosen to intervene. Maree wished that they would but she wouldn't ask, of course.
Maree tried to sidestep Argon once more, but he put his hoof on her shoulder to try and stop her. It wasn't a forceful touch, but it made Maree freeze in place. For just a second while Argon held Maree's shoulder, Maree experienced feelings: fear, anger, and misery all at once like she'd never felt in her life; not even since the day she left her mother behind; that crashed into her like a tidal wave. She regained control of her body for just a moment and wrenched away from him with all her might, not that she needed all that force.
"NO!" She screamed uncontrollably. "Don't touch me!" She wheeled around to yell directly at Argon. Argon was taken aback; his piercing red eyes suddenly shifted into a bright, sky-blue color, which confused Twilight and Cadence, who were watching, but Maree didn't seem to notice. After a few seconds of silence, Maree, having calmed down slightly, spoke again, in a more collected tone.
"Just... don't touch me, okay?"
She waited a few seconds for Argon to reply, which he didn't. His Eyes shifted again, this time to a deep, ocean-blue. He sighed, visibly, and turned away, seeming ashamed, or else very disappointed. Perhaps if she had been thinking clearly, Maree would have felt bad, or at least have been surprised by the fact that she could reduce a large, tough-looking stallion like that to little more than a sullen child. But right now, all she could be certain of was that she was finally starting to understand these emotional flashes. In that moment, she had touched his mind, somehow; these feelings were coming from him. She decided she'd walk with Twilight and Cadence from now on; she was quite certain that she didn't want Argon to touch her ever again.
Cadence and Twilight both asked insistently on what exactly had just happened between Maree and Argon, but Maree did not answer honestly. She told them that he was making hasty advances on her and that he was making her uncomfortable, and they seemed to buy it, or at least they pretended to. Whether or not they really believed it, Maree wasn't sure, but as long as they weren't planning on pressing the issue, she didn't mind. Until she understood the matter more clearly herself, she didn't need to tell them about anything.
The rest of the day went by very quietly and awkwardly, as the four ponies all walked in silence, Twilight, Cadence and Maree up front and a sad-faced, now blue-eyed Argon tailing a cautious distance behind. As they got closer to sunset, they started setting up their tents, continuing their silence, only broken on the rare occasion that one of them would ask for help with something. Argon never needed help, and never asked for it. It was clear that he was being isolated deliberately; everyone knew it, even though no one said anything.
Maree was starting to drift off to sleep when she heard someone talking to her from outside her tent. She recognized the voice immediately as Argon's, and briefly she considered ignoring him. Eventually she pulled herself out of bed and walked over to the entrance to her her tent and opened it partly, so that she could look at him without actually stepping or permitting him to step in. His eye's were still a deep shade of blue.
"Maree... I think we should talk. I want to apologize for upsetting you earlier. If I made you at all uncomfortable, I want you to know that it was never my intention..."
"Argon, stop." Maree cut him off. He sighed tiredly, and then spoke again, "Look, I know you weren't trying to upset me, and I get that all you want to to talk with me... but, I honestly can't stand it." She finally admitted. "I just... when you talk to me... when you're around me, I feel a wave of conflicting, negative emotions that I can't control, and they make me feel just awful... there's something about you that I don't like, something that I can't stand. I don't know what it is, but until I can learn how to control it, to suppress it... I can't be near you too often for too long. It just eats away at me."
Argon stared back at Maree for a while, possibly thinking about what Maree had just said, trying to make sense of it. As he stood there, Maree watched another change in hs eyes; the blue gradually faded, giving way to a light grey color. Suddenly he said, "Maree? Can I come in? I may be able to explain these feelings, but it's a very long story."
Maree was surprised at this sudden request, and initially she thought she might say no instinctively. But somehow, she didn't feel as bad as usual at this time; as if something had changed temporarily in Argon's mind that allowed her to tolerate him more so than usual. After another sigh to help brace herself, Maree let Argon in.
"What I have to tell you now is very personal, and is something that mustn't be shared by others. Do you understand?" Maree nodded. "There is... a lot that you don't know about my mother, and a lot about her history that Equestrians no nothing about. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that she's wonderful and lovely on the inside; in truth, she is not. Even I can see that. But she has her reasons for being the bitter, power-hungry, hateful husk of a creature she has become." Maree blinked, surprised that Argon would use such harsh terms to describe his own mother; though, based on their exchange, Maree could see how that description might come across.
"My mother, Queen Chrysalis, leads a very lonely life. For a long time, it seems as though no one could ever love her; until she met my father, Gawain, an Equestrian knight of high rank who had traveled to the changeling's territory on patrol. My father, despite knowing my mother's past, started to fall in love with the Queen of the Changelings, and despite her initial hesitation, my mother eventually reciprocated these emotions. She had never felt true happiness that was all her own; she had only ever fed on the happiness of others. But when she felt this love between her and my father for this first time, she discovered something amazing, something that should have changed the changelings forever; they can sustain themselves with their own happiness. in other words, when they are happy, they don't have to feed on others.
"There was a time where it seemed as though the changelings had changed, due to their sharing in Chrysalis' happiness through the Collective. the love my parents shared eventually resulted in my birth. However, after I was born, my mother felt temptation stirring inside her. As their love grew stronger and purer, my mother was tempted again and again to taste it; to begin feeding from it. But she had to promise herself she wouldn't; it would drive her mad to consume her own love, especially if she ever tasted a form of love so pure; she had never tasted the love of a newly wed husband and wife.
"I was about eight when it finally happened. I didn't know what it was at the time, but I know realize that my mother had finally allowed herself to taste the love that my father emanated. From that moment on, she was overcome by lust; she desired him, physically, as though she were trying to "create" love, so that they wouldn't run out. But she fed more and more, and my father, blissfully unaware due to the nature of the magic used by changelings, became weaker and weaker. You see, I can see an aura around all creatures. The color of this aura reflects the emotions that creature is feeling. And while my mother's aura was once a dark red, indicating compassion, it gradually changed to a color much closer to pink, indicating lust and infatuation. This continued on and on, until it finally happened..."
Argon trailed off, clearly pained by what happened next. Still he forced himself to continue.
"My father's aura changed too... one day, I saw an aura that scared me, because I had never seen it before: a black aura. I now understand what it means. It represents a total void of emotion. Nothingness. When my mother had completely diminished the love they once shared, she was an entire spectrum of emotions, feeling guilt, anger, sadness, sorrow, and tragically, more lust. It wasn't long until my father, no longer feeling anything for myself or my mother, left us both. I don't what happened to him after that, but I understand his critically weakened state lead to his death shortly after. "
Argon looked away and closed his eyes. He looked almost like he was going to cry, but he managed to stay strong for long enough to finish his story.
"The pain from having lost her husband, coupled by the agonizing withdrawal of her addiction, drove her insane with desire and self hatred. Eventually her aura settled to a permanent green: greed. She had her sights set on Equestria, the land of love and happiness, where she would find enough food to sustain her people for millennia. She removed the events of her marriage and everything pertaining to it from the Collective. Now only her and I know about those events.
"And so, this is my story. These memories, coupled with my special talent which involves me understanding the emotions of other has probably led you to feel the way you do. My emotions too are displayed, through the color of my eyes. Seeing you, and knowing I will be married to you one day, makes me remember my mother and my father... the memory of those intense negative emotions surface, and somehow, they are projected into your mind."
Maree felt the weight of this story heavily on her shoulders. It was all a lot to bear. All at once, she had learned about Chrysalis' past, as well as Argon's abilities and the truth behind her irrational disliking of him. She looked at Argon again, who was gazing out toward the entrance of the tent, his eyes starting to turn blue again as he thought about his past. Maree felt overwhelming sympathy for him; the pressure he must feel for making his mother happy again would be enormous. She realized that he probably had a means of knowing that she felt sympathy for him, but if he did, he didn't show it. Instead he turn back to face her, and said, "That was very inconsiderate of me, I'm sorry."
The comment threw Maree. "What? What do you mean, 'inconsiderate'?"
"I have always sought a way to make my mother happy again, and by marrying Equestrian royalty, I hoped that this might do just that. Now, by sharing my story with you, I also share the burden of that pressure with you, and I'm sorry."
"Argon... it's alright. No one should have to face that type of pressure alone. Even I have my family and friends in Dusk Village, despite our grim circumstances. Twilight seems to think I'm very strong, but... without her, I'd be nothing. In fact, I wouldn't even be alive." She placed her hoof on top of his, establishing a physical connection. "Everyone needs help sometimes, and support can only make us stronger."
Argon seemed to thank Maree with his eyes, but his body still said that there was something troubling him. He seemed aware of it, and answered the question before it could be asked. "This whole thing... our planned marriage... it's all based entirely on selflessness, external wants and desires... you're doing it to seal a deal with my mother so that you can save the ponies of Equestria... I'm doing it to further my own mother's power in an attempt to please her. Neither of us know each other or care about each other enough to justify getting married. We're doing this to make other people happy. In my opinion, a wedding should be the most selfish day of your life; the one day that's completely and totally about what you want, and accomplishing what you want. It's about something you've loved for a long time, something that you love right now, and will continue to love for the rest of your life. When that special somepony that you want to marry feels that same way, only then is a wedding justifiable."
"Wouldn't that just be ideal?" A few muscles tugged at the sides of Maree's lips, but she did not smile. Not quite. "We haven't even gotten a chance to start to like each other, let alone love each other."
"Can we? Can we love each other now, after all this? What I've told you, what we're going through?"
Maree shrugged weakly. She was tired, and she could feel it all over her body and it was starting to affect her mind too. "I don't know."
"I know you are tired, Maree, and rightfully so. I've kept you up too long, we should be getting to sleep soon." Argon read right through Maree's expression. Though his special talent probably helped him with that. "I'm sorry to have kept you up, and I'm grateful that you listened to my story. It's a relief to be able to share something with somepony outside the Collective. There's a certain level of... excitement, though that's probably not the right word, in speaking with someone who is not directly linked to your mind, thus allowing each other to read the other's thoughts." Argon stood up (they had long since sat for the long story) and started to make his way to the entrance of Maree's tent when she stopped him, as a thought came to her mind.
"Wait, can Chrysalis find out about our conversation? Isn't all of your knowledge and experience stored in the 'Collective', or whatever it is?" She asked him.
He smiled reassuringly. "Not to worry. I have learned, without my mother's knowing, how to temporarily detach myself from the Collective. With proper timing, I can make it seem like I'm just asleep or napping, where I would normally not be in touch with my brethren anyway. She doesn't know we spoke just now." He started to leave again, but Maree stopped her once more, but this time she hesitated when she spoke.
"Argon... would you prefer to sleep indoors for a change?" She asked nervously.
"Are you offering?" Argon replied.
"It's just... you've never asked before, but at the same time ,we've never offered... and I was wondering if you'd prefer to sleep in a tent. I mean, any one of these tents is large enough to fit two ponies." Maree knew the strange mixture of guilt and shyness was plainly visible on and around her face to Argon.
"But you're not just talking about any tent, I presume. You're referring to yours." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Well, yes, I can't very well offer you somepony else's tent." Maree said a little too quickly.
"Well then, I accept. Thank you for your hospitality... Maree."
It was 3 weeks into the beginning of Fall, Dash and Maree were out for a stroll outside Ponyville, and had just finished another flight session. Maree was improving steadily every day, and was now able to ascend and descend, as well as make simple turns. She could remain airborne for about 90 seconds at a time, but could recover quickly for the next flight. She was making great progress, all things considered.
Now the air had started to get cooler as Fall set in, and they wouldn't be doing as much training, so Dash tried to get Maree to do as much practice as possible.
""You're doing great, Maree! I can hardly believe.. The progress you've made in... just a short while!" Dash said.
"One day, I wanna be as fast as you, Mom! One day, you'll be looking over your shoulder to watch me, and the next, WOOSH! I'll be zooming right by you, you'll see!" Maree said with excitement.
Dash smiled. "Well, I don't know if you'll ever... get to be faster than me, but... you can try!" Dash rubbed Maree's mane as they walked, and they laughed together.
The pair continued to walk together through the fields on their way back to Ponyville. These days were good times for them and everything just seemed right for once.
"Ah, now there's a familiar face I didn't expect to find so easily."
The voice came to them from behind. Maree didn't recognize it, but Dash knew it all too well, She turned around in terror, and was confronted from a phantom of the past. Paragon was back.
"And you've got a little one with you too, how sweet!" He said, a nasty smile on his face, slowly walking towards them. Dash was dumbstruck. She tried to retain her composure on the outside, to show him that she wasn't afraid, when truthfully, she was.
"Paragon.. so, I see you mended your horn." She said as calmly as possible. Indeed, Paragon's horn had been returned to it's original, regal length.
"Mom... who is that?" Maree asked.
"No one. Maree, you need to go." Dash commanded.
"You're not even going to introduce me? Rainbow Dash, I'm hurt. Come little one, you don't need to leave just yet." Paragon chuckled.
"Mom, he scares me..." Maree whimpered.
"Leave us alone Paragon! Whatever you're planning... forget it, Celestia won't let you... get away with it!" Dash declared, backing up slowly, urging Maree to do the same.
"Don't worry so much about Celestia," Paragon warned, "she is not what's important right now..." Paragon continued to walk towards them menacingly, but then stopped, looking at Maree.
"Let me see your face, little one..." He said, squinting at Maree as though to get a better look at her. Maree unintentionally complied, looking up at Paragon. Paragon paused for a long time, frozen in place. Then, he laughed out loud. It frightened Dash, but she tried to hide it.
"What? What are you laughing at?!" Dash demanded to know.
"I don't believe it... so, you lived afterall. Must have been her doing, if she had followed my orders properly..." His voice trailed of as he remembered past events. Dash was totally lost. "My my, you've grown a lot, but it's unmistakable. You take after me in every detail, right down to the mane... except for those eyes... those are definitely your mother's eyes. Those damned, green eyes, always concealing her lies..." Paragon said, thinking aloud.
Dash was horrified to hear this. "No... you can't really be saying that..." She was breathless, for reasons others than the obvious for once. She had never even cared to notice, but Maree and Paragon... they really did look alike.
"Yes. I am am the father." Paragon said confessed. "I had nothing but disappointment and contempt for her the moment she was born. Sick, weak, and premature. A disgraceful child and an insufficient heir. I cast her out the first chance I got. It wasn't long after I discovered her mother's deceit. She'd been trying to undo me since the beginning, the miserable wench!" Paragon snarled.
Dash was overwhelmed by this information. When she was over the initial shock, she felt a small twinge of guilt. She had always felt a certain level of enmity towards Maree's parents, particularly the mother, for the way Maree was seemingly discarded when she had found her. Now she could see, quite clearly, that it was indeed the father who was in control of that relationship.
"M-Mom.. I don't understand, what's going on?!" Maree said frightfully.
"Maree, I need you to run... to Ponyville and warn everyone... right now! Go now!' Dash commanded.
"But Mom, what about you?"
"Don't worry about me! Just get out of here... quickly!" Dash ordered again.
Paragon was starting to lose his patience. "How about niether of you go anywhere, and you both just let yourselves be my first victims of round 2?" He suggested morbidly.
"NO!" Dash shouted, putting herself between Maree and Paragon, while taking a defensive stance. "Maree, I'm not telling you again!" She yelled over her shoulder.
"But.. Mom..." Maree was starting to cry. Dash looked over her shoulder, a look on her face that Maree initially mistook for anger, which frightened Maree; Dash had almost never been angry with Maree. But then she noticed something that made Maree even more afraid; Dash's bottom lip was quivering. She was scared, too. Without another words, Maree took off running as fast as she could towards Ponyville, leaving Paragon and Dash alone.
Dash stood her ground, facing the stallion who had killed her once, years ago. Only by the graces of her own daughter's phenominal hidden power did she stand here today to face him again. He was much stronger than Dash was, and she knew it. It would hardly even be a fight. But Dash knew that as long as she could act, she would resist against Paragon. He absolutely could not touch Maree, no matter what.
"I'm not sure what you hope to accomplish by doing this, you can't stop me from getting what I want." Paragon said dubiously.
"And what exactly... do you want?" Dash asked.
Paragon just chuckled a little and smiled. "Everything I can get my hooves on."
Dash glared and shifted, Preparing herself. "Even if I can't stop you... I can at least slow you down!" Dash said, charging at Paragon.
With an expertly time back step, Paragon avoided Dash as she took a swing at his face, stepping forward again at just the right time to bring his knee up into her chest. Dash fell back, but corrected herself with her wings and was on him again in a second. She tried to tackle him, but Paragon was all too well prepared for her. He ducked down with surprising agility for an Alicorn of his size, and Dash sailed overhead. By the time she'd stopped to turn around, Paragon was up and moving. Now it was his turn to be offensive. He got right up in Dash's face and reared back for a punch, which connected to the left of her cheek, knocking her to the ground. Disoriented but not out yet, Dash tried to get up, but stumbled a bit; right into Paragon's leg as he kicked her in the ribs. Down she went again, this time in no clear rush to get back up. She struggled slightly, holding herself part of the way on her front legs. She looked around for Paragon, but he wasn't where she had last seen him. She looked off to her right, and finally found him; far to late to stop him from giving her a solid buck to her face. She blacked out, collapsing on the ground. After a moment or two Paragon, Holding the side of her face, called her attention to himself.
"Is that all you can do to impede my progress? I'm not even warmed up yet." Dash believed she heard, though she wasn't totally sure. She was faint and weary, and losing consciousness quickly. "Well that's just too bad, I was hoping for more. You've let yourself go, I suppose..." He put Dash down, as she fought to stay awake. She tasted blood. "Don't go anywhere now. I'd like to to see what happens next... I'd like you to watch the world burn in my wake." And that was the last Dash heard of him before she had closed her eyes. I'm sorry, Everypony. I did my best. Please... stop him... And then everything was quiet.
Maree raced through the town, looking for Celestia. She knew she was in town somewhere; she'd heard something about her making an appearance among the common folk and had glimpsed her entry shortly before departing that morning. Even though Maree did not really understand what was going on; something about a bad Alicorn planning to do terrible things, and that he was... her father?! ; and she had to report all this as quickly as possible. A crowd was massed near the Town Hall, so she assumed that was where Celestia was. She broke through the crowd and found the tall, elegant, white Alicorn smiling and bowing modestly to her subjects. The crowd seemed upset by Maree's barging in, but Celestia was merely concerned.
"Is that you, little Maree? What is the matter?" She asked politely.
Maree stopped for a moment to catch her breath, and replied, "Princess Celestia, you have to help, there's this bad stallion outside town, and I have a feeling something terrible's going to happen because of him! I think his name was..."
Celestia was looking on, an expression of fear on her face. "Paragon." She said, finishing Maree's sentence. The crowd met Celestia's gaze. In the distance, they saw a mob of armor clad ponies marching into Ponyville. The crowd spread out more, concerned whispers and murmurs abound. Amongst them were all the other members of the Mane Six, including Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.
"Whatta y'all s'ppose this is about?" Applejack whsipered.
"Oh my... They look like they're up to no good..." Fluttershy said, watching the marching soliders surround the ponies.
"I Don't suppose this is part of some birthday party I don't know about, is it?" Pinkie Pie wondered aloud worriedly.
"Do you think they mean to do us harm?" Rarity asked to no one in particular.
Twilight stepped out of the crowd. "Who are you all? Why are you here?" She asked in as demanding a voice as she could manage.
"I'll take this, question, thanks." The voice came from overhead, belonging to none other than Paragon, arriving at the scene at last.
The worried whsipers became gasps of shock and fear. Everyone present recognized Paragon as the one who had once threatened Ponyville with it's total destruction, and none of them were more vividly familiar with the experience than Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Celestia, who each had their own hand in stopping Paragon the first time.
"Paragon! So, you've finally come back..." Celestia said, stepping towards Paragon, who stood at the center of his army, General Iron Hoof present a short distance behind him.
"Good to see you too, Celestia. What has it been, 5 years?" Paragon feigned plesantries briefly, before going on to answer Twilight's earlier question. "Fillies and gentlecolts of Ponyville, may I introduce the military arm of the future governing body of Equestria. That being me, if you couldn't guess as much on your own." He gestured, pointing towards the hundreds of armored soldiers who stood amongst them now. "Or at least, a small, small sect of it. The rest are headed for Canterlot Castle even as we speak, approaching a meet-up point. I will be joining them soon. You see, these strong, stone faced soldiers were once your brothers and sisters, over a thousand years ago. But a... difference in politcal views caused our two factions to split long before anyone here was even born. Except for you of course, Celestia. After all, yours was the birth that put the first crack into our now miles-wide division." Paragon explained. "We have been hardened by centuries of harsh climates and even harsher training, and now we have become the most powerful force on Equestria. However, though I put much confidence in my troops, I don't hold them in such esteem that they might storm a heavily guarded Equestrian Castle with 2 royal Alicorns present inside. So the rest have been ordered to wait outside while I prepare my...insurance." Paragon's infamous devlishish grin returned to his face.
"And what insurance might that be, Paragon?" Celestia asked, standing tall and strong, trying not to be intimidated.
"Only the best kind, Celestia. A hostage. You." Paragon declared, laughing.
Celestia scoffed. "I'd sooner die than be your prisoner, Paragon!" Celestia said, horn glowing.
Paragon shook his head, seemingly quite amused. "Oh my dear sister, you'll soon find that when I have the upper hand, dying is actually unbelievably difficult to do, much to what shall soon be your great displeasure." He chuckled evily. "But for now, don't think I won't fight you for what I want." He cautioned.
"I don't fear you Paragon, I will fight you if that is what you wish!" Celestia declared, taking up a defensive stance. The other soldiers made no motion to interfere.
"Actualy, Celestia, I was hoping there would be as little fighting as possible... I guess I'll have to move onto 'Plan B'." Paragon said. On cue two figures flying overhead briefly blocked out the sun. before Celestia could see what they were, she suddenly felt herself struck in the back by a ball of fire, which knocked her down. Before she recovered, she felt a second equally painful experience as two sharp objects pierced through each of her wings, pinning her to the ground. She screamed, and looked at her wings. Icicles?
After a brief struggle the two new assailants came into view. One was A pale-blue mare with a long, flowing mane and eyes that were nearly white. The other was a red and orange stallion, tall and strong like Paragon, but not quite equally. His mane was shorter and curlier. They were both Alicorns.
"Excellent shooting, you really got her with that one!" Paragon complimented genuinely. "Celestia, may I introduce your other sister, Selene, master of ice and frost." He pointed to the blue Mare on his left.
"So, this is Equestria. Nice place you've got here, sis. I think I'll enjoy moving in." Selene laughed, a laugh distictively different from Paragon's but it said the exact same thing. She was mocking Celestia.
"..And to my right, the equally talented and deadly Helios, your other brother, who commands fire." He pointed to his right and the Red stallion bowed, as if to conclude some performance.
"I'll have fun burning some of those pretty little fields we passed on our way in. " He said.
"And together, we are the 3 children of Hayperion, the Tempest Triplets. Together, we will conquer Equestria!"
Celestia looked up at her 3 opponents. She tried to focus, and managed to pull heself free of the icicles binding her. She knew that Paragon had only been beaten so easily last time because of how weakened he was by the time she got to him. But even at full strength, He probably wasn't as strong as she was. But the three of them together? Celestia was helpless.
Celestia stared down her enemies, increasingly worried by the turning tides. Twilight Sparkle watched from the sidelines, worried for her mentor's well-being, knowing she was powerless to help. Paragon spoke again, his unwavering confidence bolder than ever.
"Now, I'll offer you one final chance to surrender quietly and nicely before things get ugly." Paragon warned.
Celestia, knowing she could not take all three of them, continued to resist. "I told you Paragon, I'd sooner die than be your prisoner!" Celestia repeated, getting ready to fight for her people.
Paragon seemed almost excited by Celestia's defiance. "Ah looks, like plan B is still on track. Helios, would you like to start?"
Helios stepped forward, his horn glowing. "My pleasure..." His spell discharged, releasing a stream of whie-hot fire in a flamethrower-like stream straight outward. It missed Celestia completely, but it was soon made clear that it was intentional. It had been aimed at a nearby house instead.
Celestia was enraged. "Dammit, Paragon! I thought I made it clear that this battle is between us! Fight me!"
Paragon laughed some more. "But I am attacking you, Celestia. After all, does it not pain you when your kingdom is damaged? When your people suffer? When I strike this child?!" He plucked a young colt out of the crowd of observers, not even 10 years old, and struck him hard, causing him to cry. A mare, apparently the mother, screamed in horror, and tried to force her way into the circle, but was caught and held by two of the guards.
"NOOO! My baby Don't hurt my baby!" She screamed.
Celestia gaped. "Monster! Fiend! You horrible, ruthless creature!" She cursed him.
"That doesn't sound like a 'yes' to me, Celestia! Perhaps I need to try HARDER!" Seemingly out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning came from the skies, crashing down next to Paragon, right on top of the colt. He was dead instantly.
The mother was horrified. "NOOOO!" She screamed, breaking free of the guards' grip (or perhaps they allowed her to go) only to be met by Selene, who conjured another one of her sharpened icicles, which she used to impale the frantic mother. She, too, was now dead, not 3 feet from her baby.
"NO! no, no no please no more, STOP!" Celestia pleaded. "I'll come with you, just stop killing the innocent!" she looked like she might be sick.
This pleased Paragon. "Ah, wonderful... So we can finally move on. He waved his hoof, and the soldiers began to fall into line behind him. "Come along then, Celestia, we have yet a busy day ahead of us." He said as he put himself directly in the center of the crowd. "As for the rest of you, consider yourselves fortunate to have such a spineless leader with such a weak stomach. She has spared you all... for now. I look forward to enslaving you all in the near future." Paragon, Selene, Helios, Celestia, and the small army Paragon had brought with him to Ponyville all began to file out of the town. Over his shoulder,Paragon added one final comment: "And when I come back, do try and run, would you? Make a game out of it. I could use some fun of my own."
With Celestia captured and Paragon on his way to Canterlot Castle with his army, is there anything left that can stop him? What will the citizens of Ponyville- and all of Equestria- do about this hostile takeover? Is there anything that CAN be done?
End of Chapter 3.
Well, everyone here it is. Sorry it took so long, I would have had it up by the 30th, but my new editor is a bit of a tool, and even though he said he could have it done by last night, he just finished it about an hour before this got uploaded. He didn't even do that great of a job! I had to re-read the whole thing, I must have corrected at least a half a dozen errors he missed. Anyway, I'll try and be better about uploads in the future. School's starting soon, so that'll make things challenging, but I swear to do my best.
P.S. If you ever happen across a story titled "The Lunatic" Whatever you do, don't read it. I hear it's terrible.