There is no glory in battle worth the blood it costs.

There is a planet of black ash. Its surface is covered in red cracks that thrum with energy, as the core of the world itself is exposed. Lava bubbles up, spluttering and bursting along the surface of the dead world.

Three creatures stand on this dead world. One of them - a skeletal wolf with antlers, green embers dancing along their length. The second - a beautiful deer with a wheat-colored coat and grass-colored eyes. Her beautiful antlers, evershifting in their color and decorated with spools of golden thread - are marred, and made caustic. A pulsing black void grows along its mass.

The third creature is shattered. His form is mismatched - and along all the lengths of clashing contrasting flesh, lavender cracks spread across his body. His breath is shallow, and he bleeds for the first time in years.

”He won’t remember?” Faulyn docks her head to the side.

Nekrasis shook his head. “No. I’ve ensured it. His last memory is the rainbow.”

”Good.” She nods, glancing back towards her brother with a somber expression.

“How uncharacteristic. You’re usually not this emotional.”

”I have always had a soft spot for my little brother. He should’ve been the best of us.”

“And yet, it’s because of him that we’re in this mess to begin with.”

”No.” Faulyn shook her head. ”That would be my mother’s fault.”

“He’s going to begin to stir, now.”

Faulyn let out a sigh as she turned around, trotting over towards Discord. She kneeled down slowly and planted a chaste kiss on his forehead - before she and Nekrasis disappeared with a burst of green flame.

Moments later, Discord’s eyes snapped open - and then immediately shut as he groaned, rolling over to look away from the searing gold light that entered his vision. That promptly proved ineffectual - so Discord then covered his eyes, and slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. He glanced down at himself - blood trailing from his lips still, cracks running across his body…

Wow.

Discord paled. His vision flitted up - before a massive creature slammed down in-front of him, her impact kicking up a swirl of dust. She stood as a deer made out of solid marble, with brilliant feathered wings - and the head of a dragon, complete with intense golden eyes.

The Great Wyrm of Justice arched a scaled brow.

“You look like shit.”

There is a gray earthpony who walks within the Bone Dry Desert. He cringes at how soft the ground is underneath his feet. There is a call that all earthponies can feel underneath them, some sort of tug that reminds them of the presence of magic beneath them. Of the world beneath them - of the anima below them.

He finds it uncomfortably lacking, here. Perhaps, if he was to focus for a few seconds - he could call up a spurt of sand.

He would like to be able to call up much more than a spurt of sand, if the situation called for it.

“This feels dangerous.”

“Of course it is, Skips,” the pegasus walking ahead of him responds. She knows better to fly in the desert - here, the magic itself is hot. An oversimplification of a much more complicated subject, that neither of the two are intelligent enough to grasp the idiosyncrasies of…but in short, if she was to fly - she would burn up. “That’s half of what makes it fun.”

“Sure.” Skips shrugs. “But - the world has changed, Jules. Usually, our sightseeing doesn’t happen after a shadow dragon ate a mountain-”

“It didn’t eat the mountain.” Jules shot a look over her shoulder. “It ate everypony on the mountain. Then, the Princess blew up the mountain.”

“Jules. Two hundred thousand ponies died. That’s not something you can just - be so light about.”

Jules gave a noncommittal shrug. “Sure. But we didn’t die, did we? There’s nothing we can do about that. The past is set, and is set forever. And it should change how we live - but it shouldn’t stop us from having some fun, y’know?”

Skips paused for a second, before letting out a soft sigh. “Sometimes I hate that I love you so much.”

“I love you too, dummy.” Jules smiled softly towards him. She glanced further up ahead - gesturing with her hoof towards a light in the distance with some soft smoke coming up from it. “I think that’s them.”

“So - really. The whole cave is made of gold?”

“That’s what they say. They think it’s some old dragon’s lair.”

“What if it comes back?”

“Better not take anything, in that case.”

A beat of silence.

“...Aren’t you - worried about Bleedbeasts?”

“I mean.” The pegasus paused for a second. “A little? But like, not anymore than I'm worried about a coyote or something. The Rifts are up in the Badlands and over the ocean - this far south, at worst we'd find a stray one. And we can take one.”

“I’m not sure we can.”

They were close to the camp, now. There was the faint smell of smoke - though, there was an undercurrent of…something. Skips’ brow furrowed slightly.

“I think we could. You’re strong, right?”

Something wet splattered across Skips’ face. His head whirled towards the source.

There was another spurt of fluid across Skips’ face. He stumbled backwards as he saw Jules collapse to a heap in the floor - the top of her head taken messily off, her jaw and throat exposed while blood gushed out from where the top had been torn off.

The chittering creature that stood hunched over her side was a thing of nightmares. Its head was wholly bone - and it had two rows of dozens of teeth, all pushed out at strange angles. Its entire body was sinew and muscle, connecting to a somewhat vulpine form. Starting from the chest, the stomach was left gaping open - a constant trickle of dark tinted fluid gushing from the wound.

Strangely, despite the organic nature of the beast, its claws were metallic and overgrown. They stretched out a half meter from their paws, then curled down another six inches. They were sharpened to a point - and the Bleedbeast that stood over Jules’ corpse had its claw stained with blood.

“Jules?” Skips whispered.

The Bleedbeast glanced down towards Skips for only a second - before its jaw unhinged with an audible cracking noise. Its head snapped down as its jaws clamped down around Jules’ body, tearing out a chunk of the pegasus and tossing it up into the air - then swallowing the flesh audibly mid-air, as if it was a dog catching a treat.

Skips ran. He ran as far and as fast as he possibly could - the sand kicking up underneath him, feeling the call of the earth itself as he pleaded for any possible ounce of speed. He ran, screaming all the way -

His head was bitten off in one clean crunch.

There is a ship called the Spitfire.

Construction on it began in semi-secrecy after the Fall of Canterlot. At the time - Equestria had been a hair’s breadth from utter annihilation. Canterlot was simultaneously the seat of power, and the concentration of military might within the nation. And while the Canterhorn was considered nearly unbreachable - that nearly had recently become a cause for concern.

In the span of a few precious years, already - twice, the Canterhorn itself had been threatened. Once, a minor incident by the Iampex - and then a second time by the Nightmares. Considering the fact that Frost and Discord both seemed to imply that bigger fish were coming…

The Spitfire was a work of art. It was the equivalent of the Concordia…just, instead of a city - it was a six hundred meter long ship, armed with state of the art arcanotech that could monitor a tenth of the continent at the time for any magical disturbances.

And, if it was also an airship - currently twenty six thousand feet in the air, just below where the True Clouds would have been.

Captain L’iamour of the New Concordian Elite was an impressive creature. He stood only a few inches shorter than Celestia - but was significantly more muscular, to put it lightly. The massive moose was muscle on muscle on muscle. Celestia’s office was one of the few rooms he could fit in wholly comfortably.

“Report, Captain. What’s the situation on the Spitfire?”

His voice was the most surprising thing about him. Rippling muscle, as tall as a deity - and yet he was extremely softspoken - almost as if he was constantly whispering.

“It’s a bit of a mess right now, Miss Celestia.”

Celestia arched an eyebrow.

“Sorry. Do you prefer a different title, or…” L’iamour scratched behind his head.

“Being called Miss Celestia is a first, I’ll say. But it’s not unpleasant. My questioning look is more a question at the nature of - how, is it a mess?”

“Well, at it’s core - this is a fight on a whole lotta fronts. The Spitfire is monitoring everything going on in the Badlands, and the Desert - but monitoring isn’t doing anything. And some of the Concord wants results. Wants action.”

Celestia’s eyes shut.

“What’s worse, are the Skypirates. Now, they ain’t stupid. They aren’t stealing anything that cripples us. But they’re taking food, they’re taking resources, they’re taking supplies - at this rate, they’re practically going to have their own Spitfire in a few months.”

“Have you managed to make contact with them?”

“We’ve captured a few of them, caught stealing. But we haven’t gotten anything from them. All just - noise. They’re giving us dead ends that we have to waste time tracking down. But the biggest issue - is the Bleedbeasts. They’re getting worse, Miss Celestia. They’re straying down deep into the Desert, and we can’t monitor all of them. There’s more Rifts, and the few we manage to set up camp around get overwhelmed. Like, there’s something on the other side - and it knows which ones to target.”

Celestia tilted her head to the side. “Are you suggesting that the Rifts are somehow intelligent?” Her hoof started fiddling with her hair.

“Seems like it, Miss Celestia. End of the day, though - there’s a lot of angry people, all in one place, all pissed off that nothing is getting done. I know - I know it’s not really helpful, but…we need something, ma’am. Something to show. Something to remind the people that this isn’t a losing fight.”

Celestia leaned back slightly in her chair. She let out a soft hm.

“Thank you, Captain. My apologies that you had to come all this way for such a brief conversation. Were things a little less tenuous here, I would’ve come to the Spitfire myself first.” She slowly pushed herself into a standing position.

“Please send word to the Spitfire that I will be returning with you, along with some guests,” Celestia finished.

L’iamour arched his eyebrow and looked up towards Celestia. “Guests?”

“Between the two of us - dealing with raiders and pirates has never been my forte. So I am thankful, that my sister is returned to us.”

L’iamour shifted around slightly. “Are - are y’sure that’s the right idea? I’m not the type to suggest she’s the Nightmare, but…”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed.

“-other people do think that. It might…” L’iamour scratched behind his head.

Celestia nodded slowly. “Your concern is noted, Captain. You are dismissed.”

The moose saluted, before promptly leaving the office.

Celestia let out a soft sigh as soon as the door was shut. “I need a vacation.”

“You know what’s funny?”

Rainbow Dash’s hooves struck the punching bag with such force that it sounded like a whip crack.

Fluttershy winced slightly, but perked up that Rainbow Dash had spoken. “What’s funny?”

“That I still hate Celestia.” She laughed dryly. It wasn’t a happy laugh.

“And why is that funny to you?”

“Because my life was a fucking lie. My false god hated me and my mother. She tore me up and stitched me into this fucking - abomination,” the filly-forced-mare gestured towards her still slightly mismatched form. While harmony’s effect had healed some of the more extreme trauma done to her body - the carvings on the inside of her eyelids, the exposed flesh between the clashing metal, restoring one of her wings…she was still something unnatural.

“And I still listen to her. I still can’t help but think Celestia and everything she stands for is a lie. I can’t help but want to stab a fork into her eyes then throw myself on her horn. Isn’t that funny?”

Fluttershy didn’t respond.

Rainbow Dash grunted as she smacked the punching bag three times in rapid succession. “I hate the Nightmare more, though. I don’t think I need to explain why. But even after everything she’s done - she thinks she can call herself Luna, and everything is just peachy. It’s not - fair. She took my fucking life from me. MY Life! And now I’m a fucking - monster. And I hate it.”

Fluttershy tilted her head down.

Rainbow Dash’s punches were getting harder and harder. Her hooves were beginning to crack and bleed. The bag had already torn open at some point.

“But at least she isn’t - the Monster.”

Fluttershy’s eyes flitted up towards Rainbow Dash.

“It’s because of her. All of this. She’s why my mother had to die. She’s why everything has gone to shit. She’s why - she’s why the world is all fucked up. And no one - FUCKING SEES IT!” Rainbow Dash’s tone shifted from a broken whisper to a cry of anguish as she tackled the punching bag, and started slamming down into it until it was crushed into a pulp - sand spraying all across the floor. Her hooves were bloody as she continued punching and pounding into the marble.

“I HATE HER! I HATE HER, I HATE HER, I HATE HER-” the pegasus was sobbing now as she threw her hooves down against the floor.

She wasn’t sure when she stopped.

She wasn’t sure when Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around her.

She wasn’t sure when she stopped crying - weeping, cradled in Fluttershy’s hooves.

Walls of dark iron, floor lovely moonstone. Lined with gold, plated with glass. Twilight circled through carved out grooves as she inspected the pink crystal locked in the center of the room, her horn alight as instruments of glassy obsidian prodded and poked at points on the crystal.

“It’s really annoying. Who would make a system like that?”

The crystal did not respond.

"And I don't understand why Celestia doesn't understand. Or, Fluttershy. I'm not stupid. I know I'm smarter than them. Is that egotistical to say?"

The drake that sat on top of the crystal meowed. Twilight nodded in agreement.

“That’s what I’m saying. It’s not - egotistical. It’s truthful.”

The crystal didn’t respond.

“I don’t want to say that Greater Leyline is without its merits. I still haven’t figured out why stars would be over where leylines are. I mean, I guess - unless leylines are rifts? But that - ugh. It doesn’t make sense. Rift theory should make sense. Maybe I should scrap it. Make a third model.”

The crystal didn’t respond.

“Oh. Right. Celestia, Fluttershy. They’re smart.” Pause. “Celestia is smart.”

The drake tilted his head to the side.

“Fluttershy isn’t that kind of smart. S-she’s…smart with - ponies. And I like her. She’s my f-friend. But - I dumb it down a lot. And they don’t understand.”

The crystal didn’t respond.

“But I’ve dumbed it down a lot. Leyline theory suggests that these rifts are aberrations. Rift theory - heh - suggests that it’s r-rigid magic that’s an aberration. But…that doesn’t - f-feel right. Otherwise, why wouldn’t there be r-rifts before?”

“Perhaps,” a new voice rang out, “there were.”

Twilight blinked a few times as she cast her magical senses out towards the newcomer, while continuing her pacing. Internally, she was a little bit annoyed that she didn’t hear someone coming. What if she had been ranting about one of her secret projects? Or Antaicus? Twilight still didn’t want to tell Celestia about Antaicus - yet, at least.

Twilight frowned as her senses squeezed down a bit more on the creature who just entered her room. Their soul was cold, and vast - and something about it seemed sad. Twilight’s gaze flitted up - and her expression hardened as she observed a small alicorn, tears still marking her face - legs, slightly trembling as if standing was the hardest thing she had ever done.

“Oh. It’s you.” Twilight didn’t bother hiding the distaste in her voice. She’d rather be honest. “How long were you here?”

“After the dragon meowed.” Luna’s eyes flitted towards him. “Does he often do that?” Twilight shrugged.

“Perhaps, there were already rifts.” Luna tilted her head to the side. “Is there a reason there wouldn’t be?”

Twilight paused for a moment, as her intense distaste (to put it mildly,) for Luna was momentarily outweighed by her desire for conversation. “They can be observed. Monitored.”

“If you’re looking for them.”

“...Sure.” Twilight relented. “There’d be sightings though. They’re big.”

“Temporary,” Luna countered. “May I sit?” She gestured down at a small corner with a pillow on it. Twilight shrugged, and Luna slowly eased herself down with a soft grunt.

“There’d still be sightings.” Twilight pushed.

“They disappear quickly, no?”

Twilight nodded.

“Then, easily dismissed. Considering the heat - mirages, or ramblings of those suffering - what do you call it…heat stroke?”

Twilight shrugged. “Fine. Two out of three points. Bleedbeasts.”

Luna grimaced slightly. “I am unfamiliar with their nature.”

“So am I.” Twilight sighed. “Celestia won’t let me eat one.”

Luna opened her mouth to respond - then decided it was probably better not to ask.

“But they seem related.”

“It could be a new phenomenon. Perhaps, something exploiting the nature of the Rifts - whatever it may be. Not something inherent.”

Twilight frowned. “You’re smart.”

“Was I supposed to not be?”

“Well, your plan didn’t seem smart. You were going to kill everyone, so that they couldn’t be killed.”

Luna winced and averted her eyes from Twilight’s gaze. “...In essence, yes. I was - not exactly - sane, at the time.”

“I guess.” Twilight pawed at the ground. “Sometimes I consider killing everyone. It would make having a control group a lot easier.”

Luna stared at Twilight.

Twilight’s head snapped up towards her. “I mean. I wouldn’t.”

Luna pretended as if that was reassuring, and simply nodded.

“I guess - you’re not awful. I expected you to be awful.” Twilight stepped up from her pacing grooves and sat in-front of Luna.

“Most do.” The alicorn was noticeably more curt than before.

“Most people think I’m awful. They think I’m scary. Do you think I’m scary?” Twilight tilted her head to the side.

“Terrifying,” Luna nodded.

“Oh. I guess we’re even then.”

Luna couldn’t help but snort despite herself.

Twilight was silent for a few moments, before Spike slithered down the crystal and up onto her head.

“I still don’t forgive you for hurting Celestia, though.”

Luna winced again, turning her head to the side as if she had been slapped. “Neither do I, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight nodded. “Good. Do you promise not to, again?”

Luna found that eye contact came slightly easier this time. She nodded without hesitation.

“Okay. If you do, I won’t kill you, but you’ll wish you’ll be dead.” Twilight stated it so matter-of-factly, that Luna felt a cold chill go down her back.

“...I will - hold you to it.” Luna mumbled, reaching a hoof up and scratching behind her head.

There was a long beat of silence - as Luna shifted around uncomfortably, while Twilight simply stared at her.

“...do you want to talk more about magic?”

Luna didn’t meet Twilight’s gaze at first. When she did, she shivered slightly - before slowly nodding. “It would be nice to have someone to talk to,” she mumbled.

“It would.” Twilight agreed - before promptly sitting down on her lap. Luna recoiled at first, but Twilight began powering on into a rant. “The entire universe is founded on a single idea of an arbitrary defined concept that we call magic…”

Two broken deities, a dragon, and an infant god all got into a chariot.

This was not the setup for a strange joke - but rather a surprisingly accurate summation of what had happened three hours ago.

Celestia lounged out over her seat while Twilight and Spike slept pressed up into her side. Luna was trying to melt into her seat in the corner.

“I am not sure that this is necessary, sister.”

“Nonsense, Luna. We have to leave the castle at some point. And what better way to reintroduce you into the world by showcasing your military genius?”

Luna frowned. “My military genius was showcased to the world, sister. It killed 200,000 people.”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed. “We both know that wasn’t you.”

“It was within-”

“If you finish that sentence, I am going to throw you out of this carriage.”

Luna turned her head to the side. “That’s another point. Concordia is safe. We’re going into an active warzone. What if our - predicament - is showcased?”

“What if this is permanent, Lulu? What if we’re mortal now? We can’t just sit in Concordia, hoping no one figures that out. We have to act.”

Luna shut her eyes. “...you, have a point, sister.” She mumbled.

“...So. You and Twilight.” Celestia shifted around to face her sister fully. “How did that little meeting go? She didn’t express anger at being notified of your presence on this trip. I imagine that is a good sign.”

Luna looked out the window. “Your daughter is the most terrifying thing I have ever encountered. She compared my plans-”

Celestia cleared her throat,

“-the Nightmare’s plans of omnicide,” Luna relented, “to her casual thoughts of genocide for the sake of science.”

Celestia nodded. “She does that.”

Luna shot a glance over her shoulder. “Am I insane, sister, that I find it somewhat endearing?”

“It seems madness is genetic.” Celestia ran a hoof through Twilight’s hair.

“I enjoyed our conversation. She seemed to as well. ”

“What did you talk about?”

“She had some theories that I mostly understood.” Luna shrugged. “Some of it went over my head. I don’t believe I am as up to date on magical theory as you.”

“Ah. Was it the salt theory?”

Luna nodded. “It was.”

“A normal conversation with her, then. I’ve had to keep myself even more up to date than usual, because of her.”

“At least somepony keeps you on your hooves.” Luna smirked slightly. “You need the exercise.”

Celestia blanched. “Ex-cuse me?”

Luna tilted her head up and let out a small hm.

From his position nestled up against Twilight - one of Spike’s eyes opened, and a slow rasping laugh escaped him.

The trip carried on without much excitement - save the soft bickering of the two sisters, broken up by moments of a heavy guilt that lingered over Luna’s head like the Sword of Ramocles. Ultimately, though - a chariot could only get so far…and there were no pegasi in existence who could fly over twenty thousand feet in the air.

No - their destination was in the Aezil Jungles that wrapped around the edges of the Badlands. There, a small yet heavily fortified dock contained the only entrance to the Spitfire - a teleportation sigil.

Luna was thankful that the chariot pulled straight into the teleportation sigil room. The less interaction she could do today - the better, in her eyes.

The lurch of teleportation was slightly disconcerting to all four creatures within the chariot - along with the quarter of guards that kept it aloft. Even the trained guards stumbled for a moment - while Luna and Celestia, in their weakened state, couldn’t help but pause before standing up.

Twilight, on the other hand, burst into shadows while Spike leapt up into the air, flames licking from his mouth. Twilight reformed behind Celestia, while Spike skittered up her leg and landed on her neck.

Celestia held a hoof up to still Twilight.

“Your best behavior please, Twilight.” Celestia whispered. She planted a hoof on her head. She waited for Twilight to nod - albeit, slowly - before opening the chariot doors.

Greeted with rows of saluting soldiers - a blend of mostly ponies, with a few griffins present as active guards. She could see a few dozen minotaurs, a handful of moose - and even a panther and a dragon on deck, all managing the smaller airships that were attached to the sides of the Spitfire.

And there, standing at the end of the row of soldiers - was the mare herself. The titular captain of the Spitfire, the once-second in command to Steelshy Blade and Captain of the Wonderbolts -

Master-Commander of the Standing Army of Equestria, Commander-General Spitfire Sprint.

Celestia didn’t have time to open her mouth before Luna stepped out.

“GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS, MASTER-COMMANDER SPITFIRE!”

Celestia let out a deep sigh, as she recalled just then that she hadn’t informed Luna about every change in culture.

“Permission to speak freely, ma’am?” Spitfire led the two deities through the innards of the Spitfire. Celestia noted that simply being called ma’am sent a pang of loss through her heart, and that Spitfire was sending more than the occasional glance back - towards Twilight, instead of Luna - who was trying to melt into Celestia’s shadow.

“Granted.”

“I’m not sure this is wholly necessary. This isn’t an issue on two fronts, like Captain L’iamour suggested. This is an issue on one front. The Skypirates are an annoyance - we just can’t deal with that annoyance until the Bleedbeasts are dealt with.”

“Is that not, inherently, an issue on two fronts?” Luna tilted her head to the side.

Spitfire shook her head. “I think it’s a matter of semantics, then. The point is that one of those is a serious issue, and the other - is just an annoyance.”

“I will take that into consideration, then.” Celestia nodded. “But I wouldn’t be so hasty as to disregard the pirates as just an annoyance. If they are bold enough to steal directly from the ship…”

Spitfire let out a soft huff. “We’re almost at the Cortex. Magus Moondancer handles the research into the Rifts. She’ll debrief you on what we’ve figured out so far, and then we can discuss on how best to act after that.”

“The Cortex,” Twilight mumbled to herself. Spitfire repressed a shiver at her strange, slightly raspy voice.

Spitfire took them towards a sealed airlock. She promptly placed her hoof down against a panel - where after a soft beep, the doors slid open smoothly. Leading them a bit forward, the quintet (including Spike) stepped out onto a metal catwalk and railing that overlooked a massive room filled to the brim with instruments, arcanotech instruments that were whizzing around in a multicolored array of telekinetic blurs, scrolling text on massive crystals that crackled with electricity - and a massive curved glass wall, overlooking the blurry desert below. At the center of it all, there was a mare with frazzled red hair in a lab coat frantically circling a map of South Equestria.

The room was busy enough that it didn’t even grind to a halt once the princesses entered, like most workplaces tended to.

“Moondancer!” Spitfire called from over railing. The mare shot a glaring glance back towards Spitfire - before whirling around at the realization that not one, but two princesses were there before her.

“P-Princess! Es! Princesses.” She cleared her throat. “Princesses.” Moondancer scratched behind her ear. “What - um. What can I - help you - with?” She cringed, even as she said the words.

Celestia leaned over to whisper into Luna’s ear. “You’re not the only one who’s socially awkward.”

Luna glared, then just shot a look towards Twilight. Celestia repressed a snort as the duo began walking down the catwalk and towards Moondancer. Most of the room had slowed down by now - busy either staring, or bowing - or simply just slowing their frantic workings down a smidgen in response to the presence of royalty.

“At ease, Magus Moondancer. Master-Commander Spitfire has informed me you’re the Head Researcher on the Rifts.”

“Oh. U-um. Yes. I suppose I am.” Moondancer straightened up a little bit and cleared her throat again. “A-apologies, princess. I wasn’t - expecting a visit.”

Twilight - who stood a head shorter than Moondancer, though her horn curled upwards towards Moondancer’s eye level - leaned awkwardly around Celestia and glanced at the map. Her brow furrowed.

“Would you mind informing us of what you’ve learned so far, my little pony?”

Moondancer’s eyes widened before she frantically nodded. “O-oh, yes. Of course. Um. Where to start - okay, here.” Moondancer circled around the table in the center of the Cortex, before planting her hoof down on the map.

“At first, most of our efforts went into mapping the Rift. We were trying to figure out if there was some sort of pattern to them. That didn’t prove fruitful - but we’re still maintaining that, just in the off-chance that we spot something. So far, we’ve noticed two things about the Rifts, though. They tend to form in more desolate, isolated areas - and they haven’t been spotted in the same place twice.”

“They tend to last a variable amount of time. Sometimes its hours, sometimes its days, sometimes its weeks. Generally - the bigger they are, the shorter they last. But size doesn’t correlate to threat. The current theory is that the Rifts are somehow connected by some - rudimentary consciousness. Any and all of our efforts at containing Rifts are met with a huge swarm of Bleedbeasts, specifically at any fortified locations.”

“Captain L’iamour informed me of that much.” Celestia nodded, her eyes slowly running over the map.

Luna stepped forward. Moondancer flinched slightly. “Speak more on the Bleedbeasts. What have you been able to discern about their nature?”

“U-um…well, very little, honestly. They’re mostly organic. And they’re not - biologically possible. They don’t have enough organs or, really, anything to keep them alive. They vary dramatically in appearance - some are like foxes or wolves, some are like small dragons…the one thing we can say for certain is that they’re highly aggressive. We’ve been tracking their motions and sightings - you can see all those red dots there.” She gestured at the map.

Spitfire, at this point, stepped forward besides Moondancer. “They’re like rabid animals. They tear themselves apart trying to eat things. They have no fear, and they’re strong enough to tear a royal guard in two. I’ve seen it.”

Twilight leaned over next to Luna and nudged her with her shoulder. She gestured towards something with her eyes. Moondancer arched an eyebrow, then opened her mouth to comment on it - before Celestia interrupted.

“Speak freely, Moondancer. How best do you believe this issue should be tackled?”

Moondancer flinched slightly. “W-well…princess. That’s - the thing. I have no idea how to go about fixing this. We can’t move fast enough to get any measuring instruments to where a Rift is, so we have practically no data on them. I guess if we were able to close them, that might be a start? But we couldn’t possibly close them all.”

Twilight nudged Luna a bit more aggressively.

Luna cleared her throat. “Magus Moondancer. To clarify - the Bleedbeasts come out from the Rifts, yes?”

Moondancer nodded. “U-um. Yes.”

“What do the Rifts look like?”

“They’re, jagged. Sort of - fixated in points in space. They hurt when you look at them, and they’re filled with stars.”

“Have you tried - going through the Rifts?”

“W-well, we sent some teams in - and some measuring equipment. Their directive was just to get in, then to get out. They didn’t return.”

Twilight nodded. “All of them are dead.”

Moondancer, Spitfire, Celestia, and Luna turned to stare at Twilight - with horror, mild anger, mild dread, and interest respectively.

Twilight turned to Celestia. “D…do you trust me?”

“I do,” Celestia spoke without hesitation.

“I need everyone to leave the room. Except you two,” she gestured to Moondancer and Luna. “I need every book on magical radiation there is.” Twilight slowly began to pace around the map. She then paused - as if for dramatic effect - before her head whirled around, resting at an unnatural angle as she stared at Celestia. Moondancer visibly recoiled.

“And a lot of salt.”

Cadence wasn't sure if she would ever get used to Concordia.

It wasn't that it was beautiful. Beautiful marble, inscribed in the honor of the dead and fashioned by the finest craftsman of not just Equestria, but Aezilan. Beautiful in what it stood for - a new Aezilan, all races - ponies, panthers, dragons, parrots, moose, and everything else beyond and between could stand together.

But she couldn’t quite help but feel as if the foundations weren’t quite stable. A foundation of bones can only last for so long.

Regardless, for the time being - she had made herself as comfortable as one could be considering the circumstances of - well, everything. The Concord had definitely been a step in the right direction - but she couldn't help but feel restless considering the high tensions between practically every nation towards Equestria, the news of the Bleedbeasts and the growing presence of Rifts in magic itself.

Lost in thought, wandering through the halls of the Castle Concordia aimlessly, almost blankly…the love-deity grunted as she walked head-first into the Lord Utan.

Cadence gasped and stepped backwards. “O-oh! Excuse me, I’m - beyond sorry, I-”

The beautiful zebra mare held up a gold-plated hoof. Cadence’s mildly panicked stammerings came to a stop.

“Ease yourself, Master-Speaker.” The Lord Utan tilted her head to the side. “A fortunate meeting. You saved me time as a seeker.”

Cadence arched an eyebrow. “I- apologies. I don’t - follow?”

“Allow me to provide some clarity. A mutual friend of ours - Frost - has asked for your charity.”

Cadence’s eyes widened. Before she could say so much as a woord, the Lord Utan stepped forward and placed a hoof on Cadence’s shoulder.

“You should come to Zebriawae some time.” The Lord Utan pat Cadence’s shoulder a few times, before walking past her as if nothing had happened.

Stunned into silence - Cadence noted that she hadn’t even finished the rhyme.

-

Author's Note

Behold! A discord server!

In ten years time, the thing I will be most proud of in life - is my Sword of Ramocles pun.

1/24/2022 edit: whoops, typed Zebrica instead of Zebriawae.